Hey guys! This is my first Selection FanFiction, so please don't be harsh. This is a mother's day prompt, so I made it slightly AU. It takes place after The One, but the royal family all survived. Just a warning that there might be some facts that I get wrong, and others that I made up. Please correct me if I'm wrong or if you have a better suggestion.

A Little Surprise

Sunlight streamed through the windows of the room as Mary pulled away the curtains, waking me up. I sighed as I felt Maxon's arms around me, and wished that I could stay in them a while longer. But it was Mother's Day, and I had some last-minute preparations to do.

"Maxon," I said gently. "Maxon." When my only response was a snore, I decided to have a bit of fun. I mean, waking up at 4:00 was his idea after all. "Mary," I whispered, getting out of the bed. "Can you get me a bucket of cold water? With ice? Please?" She stared at me in confusion for a minute before she realized what I was doing. She chuckled softly as she went to the bathroom to get my bucket.

After making sure that Maxon was still asleep, I went over to my desk and shuffled through my papers until I found what I was looking for. I scanned the page as I checked for the things that needed to be done. "The cake's done, the hall needs a few last-minute decorations, but the maids are taking care of that. I should go check up on that later," I muttered to myself. I knew I was stressing out too much, but I really wanted today to be perfect. I only wanted he best for my mother-in-law.

Amberly was just so… so… I can't even describe it. She just wants the best for everyone and goes out of her way to make her loved ones happy. I realized that we'd never really given her anything in return, so Maxon- sorry- King Maxon, Clarkson and I had made a plan to give her a Mother's Day party to say thank you.

The former king had a change of heart when his wife almost died trying to save him from a bullet. Amberly had been in the hospital in critical condition for a few weeks, but she pulled through. She's just so strong. After that, Clarkson apologized to me and to Maxon, and came clean to Amberly. She was devastated, I know she was. Yet she still loves her husband, and he wants to show her just how much he loves her back.

"Miss, I have your water," Mary said, breaking through my thoughts. "Thanks Mary." I said with an evil grin on my face as I took the bucket of water from her. I turn and look down at my sleeping husband, feeling a bit guilty for what I was about to do. I quickly pushed the feeling away as I poured the ice-cold water onto him.

He woke up with a jolt, sputtering and saying some very un-royal words. "What the- America!" he shouted, seeing me with the bucket in my hands. "Why did you try to give me an pneumonia?" I tried not to laugh at his shivering state, but failed miserably. "You said to… wake you up… at 4:00am… so I did." I managed to get out between laughs. "You should see your face!" He frowned at me as he got up from the soaking wet bed, and hobbled over to me. "Well, my dear, you should see yours," Before I could ask him what he meant, he tackled me, getting me wet in the process. "Maxon!" I cry. "I am not your dear!" He shakes his head at me in disbelief as we get up at get ushered away by our respective maids.

I wait patiently as my maids pick out my outfit for the day and get to work. Unfortunately, they don't let me see myself until they are done. I really hate it when they do this. "Are you guys done? Can I see now?" I whine. Very un-ladylike, I know, but I was honestly annoyed. Mary giggled at my impatience. "Not yet, your Majesty. Not yet." I huffed and crossed my arms as I waited for what seemed like an hour to see what my maids had done to me.

Finally, after a long, agonizing wait, Gelda, my new maid, told me, "You can look now." I turned around, and I almost cried when I saw my reflection. I was dressed in a strapless, sheer gold, a-line dress, with a big diamond embellishment on my left hip. The material of the dress gathered into the embellishment, giving it a layered look. My shoes were five inch open-toed heels, made the same color as my dress. My hair was twisted into a high bun with a braid in the front of my hair. A gold ribbon was braided into it. My make-up was light, with a slight smoky eye, bronzer, and a coral lip. A small tiara was sitting atop my head, the way it usually was. I never wore my crown.

"Girls, I- Thank you!," I gushed as I reached out to hug them. "It's a replica of Lady Amberly's look when she first entered her Selection. It was slightly different and another color, but almost the same." Gelda said. My heart warmed at the thought of how this would affect Amberly. I hope she got the message.

When I walked out the door, Maxon was there waiting. He was wearing a gold tux over a white dress shirt, and his hair was styled in a hot, messy way, his crown fitted atop his head.. "Hi, goldie," I joked as I walked up to him. "Don't talk, my dear. Look at yourself," he said jokingly. "Maxon," I asked. "Do you know what the gold is about?" "My mother always said how we were worth more than gold to her so…" he trailed off. I nodded in understanding. "Walk with me?" Maxon gave me his arm. "I would be delighted," I laughed as I took him up on his offer and we walked out of the room.

We made our way down to the Grand Staircase, going down to the Grand Hall, when we almost ran into Amberly. At the last second I pulled Maxon out onto the balcony. We held our breath as she walked by, hopefully not suspecting a thing. "That," Maxon breathed, "was close." "Tell me about it," I said as we hurried down the stairs. Clarkson met us in the middle of the hall, a clipboard in hand. "Ah! There you are!" he exclaimed. "America, they need you in the Great Room. Maxon, you need to go get the guests. I will go make sure that Amberly relaxes and doesn't walk in on the preparations. You know her, always on the move! Now go, both of you. We have an hour." As he walked away, I couldn't help calling out, "Nice cuffs!" I mean, they were. Gold is awesome.

As I walked into Great Room, I couldn't help but admire the decorations. The whole room had been decorated soft cream and ivory lace, giving off a golden glow. "So… I take it that Lady Amberly likes gold," I wondered out loud. "Yes," a maid came up to me. "Specifically amber, Your Majesty." I laughed at that. It made sense though. I spent the rest of the hour checking to make sure that all the decorations were done and that the music was set and that I was ready for my song at the end of the party. Amberly always said that she loved to hear me sing, so I figured, why not? I was just about to walk out when Maxon came bursting in, almost hitting me square in the face. He really is a loving husband.

"She's coming!" he yelled. Everybody ran to their respective spot, with me and Maxon on the sides of the doors. Not close enough to be hit, mind, you. That would be bad. The lights were shut, and we could hear the sounds of heels and hushed conversation through the doors. "… come here?" Amberly was saying. "It was closed off for breakfast." "Yes, my dear, but not anymore." I internally groaned at that. My dear? Really? Had Maxon taken that line from his father?

Suddenly the doors were opened, and Clarkson and Amberly stepped inside. "Clarkson… why are the lights-" The lights opened and she barely had time to register it before Maxon and I jumped out at her. "Boo!" I swear to God she jumped a mile high and whirled around to face us, hand on her heart. "What did you do that for?" Then, the rest of the room erupted with shouts of "Surprise!" and she jumped and whirled around again. "What is this?" she gasped, catching her breath. Maxon and I came up on each side of her. "Happy Mother's Day."

Her eyes widened. "Excuse me?" That's when the doors opened and the guests filed in. Royals from everywhere came in, along with Amberly's three older siblings and their kids. She looked back at us in shock, but we just pushed her toward them. I smiled along with Maxon when I saw her tearfully embrace her siblings, Clarkson by her side. Maxon and I made our rounds, thanking everyone for coming. They all said how nice this was of us, and how it was beautiful. At one point Adele came up to me and embraced me. Hard. When she pulled back, tears were streaming down her face. "Thank you," she said. "I don't think I've ever seen her this happy." "Hey," I replied. "What are daughters for?" She smiled at me again and left, leaving me as happy as could be.

Maxon and I made our way up to the stage, and everybody started clapping. "Thank you," Maxon said. "Thank you for coming here and being with us today. We planned this party for one reason; to thank the women in our lives. The women who raised us and taught us how to behave. Our mothers." It was my turn now. "Sometimes we tend to forget how important our mothers are, and how much they mean to us. At one point or another we all say that we don't need them anymore, but that is never true. No matter how embarrassing they can be, and no matter how much extra paperwork they make you do," I fixed Amberly with a pointed glare and earned a few chuckles. "The truth is that we'll always need them. Always love them. Happy Mother's Day!"

As Maxon and I stepped down, we were bombarded with people praising us. But we just pushed through. Finally we were met with the sight of Maxon's parents embracing, Amberly with tears in her eyes. When she saw us coming she brought us into a hug, tears streaming down her face. No words were said, the emotion in the hug was enough. When she calmed down, Amberly looked at us seriously. "Why did you do this?" Maxon and I looked at each other, and smiled. "Because you do so much for us, we thought this time we'd do something for you." "Oh, Maxon. Having you and America as children is all I need," Amberly tearfully admitted. "Well," I said. "We went that extra mile. For you, it was worth it." Amberly wrapped us in a hug again, but then she seemed to realize something. "America, your dress!" I looked down at it. "Yeah?" "It's… it's just like mine when…" she looked at Clarkson, then at me and Maxon's smiling faces. "Oh, you guys!" she exclaimed. "You know, Amberly,"I said. "I have a question." "Yes dear?" "How did you breathe in this dress?" I put my hands over my stomach as I doubled over. "It's tight!"

As she laughed, I looked up at her. She looked so alive, so happy. And in that moment all the tight dresses and paperwork in the world were worth it.

Awww… I really thought that Amberly deserved that. All our moms do. Please review, follow, and favorite! And is you have read The One, PM me about your feelings. I want to know!