The Girl With The Royal Blood || Book Two

~♥~ Chapter 3: Family Reunion ~♥~

"Oh, hear the clash of people meeting
The laughter and the screams of greeting ..."
                  - Sylvia Path

Our plane landed in Paris at around noon. The sun was beaming, and the city never looked more beautiful.

"Mommy, look!", Athena points to the Eiffel Tower from her taxi window. I nod. "That's the Eiffel Tower, baby. It's a famous landmark."
She nods. "I've heard about it in school. Can we visit?", she looks at me eagerly.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but not today. First we have to meet Madison and Eric. But I promise we'll go later. Okay?", I smile. She nods slowly. She drifts off to sleep after a few minutes.

I brush a strand of hair from her forehead. How will I introduce her to Phil? And how will I explain what happened, and why she never met her father until now?

Until now, whenever Athena used to ask about her father, I used to tell her that we just weren't together because of some issues. But how will I tell her that her father choose the luxury over his family?

I must have been frowning, because Jaden took my hand in his. I looked at him gratefully. "Everything will be fine. I promise."

"What will I do when he sees her?", I ask softly. "We'll tell her when the time is right. And we will inform him that we hadn't told her anything yet. I'm sure he'll understand.", he reassured. I nod, but I wasn't entirely convinced.

We reached our destination after fifteen minutes. I practically ran out of my car to meet Madison, who was waiting for me in the lobby.

As soon as I saw her, all I could I do was run to her. We screamed and hugged hard. It had been five years since we last saw each other, but nothing had changed. We were the same girls who met at a regular dorm seven years ago.

She looked at me with tearful eyes. I was already crying. We smiled at each other and hugged again. Someone joined us in our hug. I looked up to see that it was Eric. I laughed and hugged him too.

"Where's Jaden? And Athena?", Madison asks while wiping her eyes. Before I could reply, Athena runs in the lobby. Madison squeals when she sees her and picks her up to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Look how big you've gotten! I almost can't hold you anymore! God, the last time I held you was when you were just a month old. Time flies, doesn't it?", she asks Athena, who giggles and nods in reply.

I smiled at them. She was going to be such a great mom. "Where are your bags? I'll get the key to your room.", Eric says and leaves.

Madison points to a sleek girl in the corner of the room, who had her back turned to us. "That's Renée. Do you want to meet her?", she asks. My eyes widen. "No way that's Renée.", I say. She was wearing a simple but beautiful purple dress, and her hair was nicely styled. And she was sitting in a way I had seen Talia sit before. She was the opposite of the Renée I had seen all those years ago.

"I know. She's changed so much. Are you going to speak to her?", she asks. I nod. "I have to. I can't just ignore her for three weeks, can I? Besides, I always had a soft spot for her."

She nods, and goes to sit and talk to Athena, who had already started blabbering some story. I take a breath and walk towards Renée. I patiently wait for her to stop talking to a guy. He notices me and interrupts Renée. "I think someone's here for you."

She gets up to see who it is, and a huge smile spreads across her face when she realizes who it was. "Amelia?", she gasps. I nod and go to hug her. We hug tightly and she smelled exactly the same, like a passionflower.

"Amelia! It's so good to see you. Ofcourse you're here! I didn't even imagine I was going to see you. How are you?", she asks. "I'm great, thank you. What happened to Renée the Rebel?", I grin.