Bring It On Home – Little Big Town
A/N: After this chapter I will be skipping ahead in time a little bit faster. I wanted to focus on the aftermath a bit more thoroughly and how it was for them and now I'm going to do a chapter or two for each year as Sofia prepares to take over as queen. Or something like that. Maybe more chapters per year, maybe less. Just depends on how it goes
It was anything but easy for her but in time Sofia managed to make it through the first month back at royal prep. As she returned home from school she ran through castle doors and to Cedric's office bursting in without knocking, startling both Cedric and Baileywick.
"Guess what?" She asked, excitedly, oblivious to their annoyed looks.
"What is it, Princess Sofia?" Baileywick asked her, kindly offering her a chair to sit in.
"Today marks my first whole month I've been back at royal prep. I think we should celebrate! I bet nobody thought I'd make it this long." She told them.
True, Cedric and Baileywick had their doubts a few times in the beginning but they also had faith in her strong and resilient spirit.
"Princess Sofia, we never doubted you for a moment." Baileywick told her as he patted her on the back. "We will celebrate your one month tonight at dinner. How does that sound?" He asked her.
"Sounds great!" She told him. "I'll see you both later." Sofia said before vanishing to go underground.
"So you never doubted her, huh Baileywick?" Cedric asked, smiling knowingly.
"Oh, just about every day the first two weeks when she'd come home crying about how she can't take it anymore. But then the next morning she'd be on her way to try again." Baileywick responded with a smile of admiration.
Cedric chuckled, "Yep, she never gave up, although she vowed she had quit every day when she got home. After about two weeks things began to calm down and by the third week she was okay and now she is almost on the verge of happy when she returns. Almost."
"She'll get there." They both agreed.
That night after dinner, Cedric saw Sofia off to bed and then went back to work to try and finish up paperwork. He had been working late hours to try and catch up. Things had become very busy lately as the holidays approached. The weather was getting colder and the village needed many repairs in preparation. Also, there seemed to be more paperwork and business than usual. He just couldn't get on top of it all. Thankfully things with Sofia seemed to be going smoothly now and she was going to school and entering a few parts of the castle willingly. That meant no more arguments for them. However, his stress level was still higher than usual.
When his eyes became too blurry and began to burn he decided it was time to call it a night. He slipped into bed and fell asleep quickly. It seemed as if he'd only just fallen asleep when it was time to wake up again. He groaned in agony turning over burying his face in the pillow. Sofia shook him, "Cedric, are you alright? Do you need a potion for energy?"
"Actually that's not a bad idea. You remember which one it is?" He asked.
"Yes, I think so. It's labeled, right?" She asked.
"Yes, just add three drops into a cup of tea. Thank you, Sofia." He told her as he fell back asleep. Moments later she was shaking him awake again handing him his cup of tea sitting on the bed beside him.
"Cedric, sit up. Here is your tea. Drink it. You'll feel better. How late did you stay up working?" She asked as he sat up, taking the cup from her.
He took a sip, tasting the bitter taste of the potion, but knew it would work to give him the extra kick he'd need to get through the day. "Apparently I stayed up too late." He said. As he finished the cup, rubbing his face and climbing out of bed, stretching.
"You can't keep running yourself ragged like this. It's not healthy to work so much." Sofia warned as she left the room with the empty tea cup.
"Someone has to do it. It won't get done on its own." Cedric said as he headed for the shower. When he entered he noticed there was a new quote on the wall in the mirror, as there usually was every morning. Today it read: "Stressed is just desserts spelled backwards." There was also a smiley face and a heart painted on the wall. Cedric smiled at her art work.
Cedric made his way through the castle as Baileywick followed behind him. "Next on the list, your majesty, you need to go to the village and speak with the local school again about an update to their playground and adding a new building next year."
"Oh right, right. I had forgotten about those meetings." Cedric said as he rubbed his temples as he felt a headache coming on. "What about the paperwork?" He asked.
"We can take care of that when we return, I suppose." Baileywick shrugged. "But we can't miss this meeting, it's very important for the school and the village."
As the flying coach took off towards the school, Cedric used the power of the amulet to heal his headache. It began to diminish and he felt better though he knew he needed more rest. He felt the potion wearing off he had drank this morning. "How long should this meeting last, Baileywick?" Cedric asked.
"Not too long, your majesty. Only about thirty minutes. Although if we let them know you're on a tight schedule we could probably be out of there in about twenty minutes." Baileywick told him looking at his pocket watch.
"I think that would be best. I'm not feeling very well." Cedric said with his head in his hands.
Soon they arrived at the school and Cedric pulled himself together using more power from the amulet and was able to get through the meeting. He agreed to donate money and man power to update the playground next month and the following school year to have a new building added on to accommodate the growing community. They quickly left the meeting and headed back to the castle so Cedric could go to bed and recover.
Once inside the castle he didn't have enough strength to transport himself to his secret underground home so he had to wait for Sofia to return home from school. He fell asleep on the couch in his office, telling Baileywick to send her in once she returned from school.
The carriage came to a stop and Sofia noticed Baileywick waiting for her outside which was unusual. He came forward and offered her a hand. "Welcome home, Princess Sofia."
"Thank you, Baileywick. Good to see you." She said as she stepped out. "Is everything alright? Normally I'm not greeted outside."
"Actually, King Cedric has fallen asleep on the couch in his office and has requested you come in there once you return home and transport him back to your secret location that you both refuse to tell me about. He didn't have enough strength to transport himself there to go to bed. He became fairly ill and had a headache." Baileywick explained.
"Oh no, I told him he needed to stop working so hard." Sofia said as she ran inside to check on Cedric.
She quietly entered his office and saw he was sleeping sprawled out on the couch. Sofia smiled at how she imagined he would cringe if he knew how awkward he looked with his mouth hanging open quite unattractively and one leg hanging off the couch. Sofia giggled to herself before transporting them both underground. She used her wand to levitate him into the bed and change him into comfortable pajamas.
Walking into his workshop, Sofia flipped open his spell book and looked up what she was after. She thought she knew the spell but wanted to make sure she did it correctly; she didn't want to mess up on Cedric with this kind of spell. Once she had it down she walked back to the bed and recited it pointing the wand at Cedric. "There, that should do it." She said as she returned to the castle above to find Baileywick.
A few minutes later she found him in Cedric's office organizing paperwork.
"Is King Cedric alright?" Baileywick asked.
"If I didn't know any better I'd think you have grown fond of the man over the past severely months working together." Sofia said laughing.
Baileywick smiled, "He is my boss and he irritates me like no other but he also has a kindness and generosity I didn't expect from him as well. It was surprising to say the least."
"Cedric is exceptionally compassionate and caring. But nobody took the time to see who he truly was." Sofia replied sitting down opposite Baileywick. "And he is alright; I put a sleeping spell on him to ensure he sleeps for a while and gets enough rest. I had an idea but I need your help Baileywick.
"Alright, Princess Sofia, let's hear it."
"Cedric has been under so much stress and been so busy. Even once he returns home at night he still works until the early hours of the morning. He hardly sleeps. So I was thinking, what if we help him by going through and finishing some of his paperwork for him? He hates doing paperwork anyway."
"I don't know Sofia. He could be angry."
"I'll take the blame. I could say I forced you. Or I could say I did it all myself. He would believe me if I said I forced you. Just think how much it would help him out. Look at this huge stack of paperwork he has." Sofia said pointing to a stack at least two feet high on his desk.
"Okay, fine, but I don't want to get in trouble for this." He said as he grabbed the first stack and explained to her how to fill it out. A few hours later, Sofia yawned and noticed a sizable indent had been made in the stack of paperwork. There was only a few inches left.
"Would you like me to bring us some snacks, Baileywick?" Sofia asked.
"Thanks for the offer Princess Sofia, but I believe that is my job." Baileywick told her with a smile.
"It's okay, I need to stretch and move anyway. Why don't we both go to the kitchen?" She suggested. "We could just make some sandwiches and eat in there and then return and continue working"
"Sounds perfect to me." Baileywick agreed.
In the kitchen, Sofia began to open cupboards until she found all the ingredients for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She made one for both her and Baileywick and they sat side by side and ate in silence.
They returned to the office and sat down to finish the paperwork. There wasn't much left. Sofia yawned again. "You don't have to finish this Sofia. You are exhausted." Baileywick said.
"There isn't much left, it won't take long to finish. I want to surprise him tomorrow with it all completed." She said as she grabbed the next sheet of paper. "I'll be alright. I could always take a sick day from school tomorrow anyway. I haven't missed any days since I've returned, despite my rocky start, too."
"Okay, if you insist." Baileywick responded as he too grabbed another paper. About an hour later they completed all the paperwork. Baileywick wished Sofia a goodnight and went off to his bedchambers as Sofia transported herself underground to go to bed. She was exhausted. All that paperwork was draining, boring and tedious work. It's no wonder Cedric hates doing it.
Checking on Cedric, Sofia found he was still sleeping soundly; the spell had worked great. She crawled into bed beside him and fell asleep dreaming of soaring through the sky on her guardian dragon.
Cedric awoke the following morning in his bed and wondered how he had gotten there and wondered how long he had been sleeping. Last thing he remembered was getting in the carriage, leaving the meeting from the school. At that moment Sofia walked in the room with a cup of tea.
"Good morning, sleepy head. How do you feel?" She asked, handing him the cup of tea.
"Like I've been hit by herd of angry elephants. I'm not sure what happened or how I got here." He said, sipping the tea.
"Well, I returned from school and found you asleep on your couch in your office. I brought you back here and put you to bed and you've been asleep ever since." She explained to him with a smile.
"What time is it? How long did I sleep for?" He asked, looking around for the clock he was just now noticing was missing. "Where is the clock?" He asked Sofia suspiciously.
"I have temporarily removed it because you need a day off. Baileywick has agreed as well and you are not to worry. We are taking care of things while you rest. You worked yourself too hard until you made yourself sick." Sofia told him, looking truly concerned. "Cedric, you promised me you'd always be there for me and you'd never leave me. You have to take care of yourself if you plan on sticking around to take care of that promise. Okay?"
Cedric felt bad when Sofia put it that way. He looked down into his cup of tea before looking up into her sad eyes. "I'm sorry Sofia. I promise. For now on, I'll take better care of myself."
"Thank you." She said giving him a hug. "Now that that is settled... Today you're going to be treated to a little TLC."
"Excuse me?" He asked with raised eyebrows.
"TLC… You know… Tender love and care. You're going to relax, rest and I'm going to take care of you. First I'm going to make you your favorite breakfast, then you can indulge in a warm bubble bath and then we can relax by the fire and read or play a fun game. Or both! But today is all about you and relaxing. No thinking about work or anything to do with castle business. Okay?" Sofia told him resolutely.
"Wait… shouldn't you be in school?" Cedric asked, eyeing her warily.
"Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be. But I took a sick day to take care of you. Because you're that important to be me. Now don't you feel special?" She said as she smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm going to go make breakfast now. It'll be ready in about 15 minutes."
Cedric stood from the bed feeling a little shaky after sleeping for so long and not eating. He walked into the bathroom and the first thing he noticed was the new message staring back at him in the mirror. Today it read: "What do you call a fake noodle? Answer: An impasta!" He started laughing and walked out of the bathroom into the kitchen.
"Really? Impasta?" Cedric asked as he walked up to the stove to see what Sofia was making.
"You saw the joke, huh?" Sofia smirked as she flipped over French toast.
"It's hard to miss." He chuckled. "Do you need any help?" He asked.
"NO!" She yelped, slapping his hand away. "You are to do nothing today but rest and relax."
"Fine! Sorry to have asked. I'll just go sit down and order you around. Maybe I can conjure a bell to call for you like a service maid." He said with a cheeky smile, using his wand to make a bell appear in his hand and ringing it as he walked over to the table and sat down, continuing to ring it.
Pulling out her own wand, Sofia made his bell disappear, "I don't think so." She finished cooking and brought the plates over to the table for them to eat.
"Thank you, Sofia. You made my favorite." He said with a big grin as he began to eat.
"Yep and then after you finish eating you can take a nice warm bubbly bath."
"I don't take bubbly baths…" Cedric replied dryly.
"But they're so relaxing. It'll be good for you."
"No thanks. A shower is just fine."
"Bubble bath!"
"Shower!"
"Bubble bath!"
"Shower!"
"Shower!" Sofia copied Cedric.
"Bubble bath!" Cedric replied just saying the opposite of whatever Sofia said without thinking.
"I'm glad you agree with me. Thank you." Sofia said smugly.
"Hey, you tricked me. That's not fair." Cedric protested slamming his hand down on the table.
Getting up from the table, Sofia made her way to the bathroom and shouted so he could hear her, "I'll prepare the bubble bath for you since you probably have no idea how it's done anyway. You have to make sure to put in LOTS of bubbles!" Sofia giggled.
Cedric put his head in his hands and sighed as he finished his breakfast then stood from the table clearing the dishes with his wand. He went to the bathroom and saw the bath filled a few feet high with bubbles.
"I will drown in bubbles in there!" He complained.
"No you won't. Trust me. You'll love it. After this you'll be sneaking bubble baths all the time." Sofia said as she finished readying his bath and left the room.
"Highly doubtful..." He muttered to himself as he immerged himself in the hot water filled to his chin with rose scented bubbles.
"Hmmm… this actually feels quite delightful. And smells great. Mmmmm…" He sighed as he rested his head back and began to relax.
Emerging from the bathroom Sofia asked Cedric, "So, was I right?"
"I plead the fifth…" Cedric said as he walked past her into the reading room.
"I told you so." Sofia mumbled smugly with a smile on her face trying not to giggle.
"What game do you want to play next? I can't play another game of chess. You beat me every time. It's hardly fair." Sofia said, folding her arms and glaring at Cedric. "Pick something else."
"Fine. I will let you pick the next game to make it a little more fair this time." Cedric agreed. Sofia was already up and running out of the room to grab the next game with a smile on her face. "Within reason!" He yelled out after her already fearful of what she was going to choose.
Moments later she re-entered the room with a stack of games. Cedric groaned inwardly. "Ugh, what have I gotten myself into…?" He said.
"Too late to take it back now." Sofia told him, laughing.
"But I thought today was all about me?"
"Oh sure, but you said I could choose the next game."
"And which, of these oh so scintillating games are you going to choose for us to play?" He asked sarcastically.
"Well… I was thinking of Yahtzee?" She said grabbing it from the bottom of the stack.
"Oh." Cedric said, sitting up and grabbing the sheets and dice from her. "I thought you were going to choose something like Monopoly. But Yahtzee can be fun."
"No, Monopoly takes too long and gets boring after a while; especially with only two people." Sofia said.
They set up their game and were soon in a competitive mode. Cedric thought he'd have an upper hand since he's had years of experience over her but he realized she's quite clever and seems to have luck on her side.
"Yahtzee!" Sofia yelled out for the second time in the first game.
"Are you cheating?" Cedric asked. "Where is your wand? Let me see your wand." He demanded in a playful tone causing Sofia to giggle. She pointed to it on the table in the kitchen. He realized she couldn't be cheating; she really did just have luck on her side.
Cedric rolled the dice and Sofia tried to hold back her laughter, "This is not funny, Sofia." He told her, smiling and looking at his terrible hand he'd been dealt. He picked up all his dice and rolled again. Finally he rolled a pair of fives. He rolled the other three dice and got one more five. So he used his fives.
Handing the dice to Sofia Cedric told her, "I'm going to watch you closely this time. Make sure there's no funny business going on."
"Okay. You pay close attention. Maybe you'll learn something." She told him.
"Oh, good one." He laughed.
She shook the dice in her hand and rolled. They both watched the dice roll across the table and as it came to a stop both their jaws dropped. She had five one's staring up at them. Sofia turned her head slowly up towards Cedric… "Yahtzee…?" She squeaked with a huge grin before she got up and took off running as he chased her out of the room giggling.
When he finally caught her he began to tickle her, "I'm not cheating, I swear!" She yelled between her giggles.
"You've rolled three times… and rolled three Yahtzee's. You expect me to believe that's not cheating?" He asked as he continued to tickle her.
"I'm not!" She called out as she continued to laugh and scream. "I don't even have my wand."
"I know…" Cedric said as he laughed. "But it was fun to accuse you of cheating anyway."
"That wasn't very nice." She chuckled as she stood up and walked back to the table.
"If you roll one more Yahtzee I quit this game." Cedric told her as he began to roll his next round.
After Cedric got a full house Sofia picked up the dice and held them in her hand for a moment before shaking them. She concentrated for a bit and then rolled them out on the table. They both watched intently as the dice came to a stop. Sofia's eyes went wide and without saying a word she jumped up quickly and ran away from the table as Cedric roared, "That's it!" Sofia began to giggle and scream as she ran down the hall looking for a place to hide and the chase was on again.
