Chapter 61

General Pov

Lacey woke up in the early morning to the sun shining through the window; she looked outside, and it was snowing before she realized it was Christmas.

"Hey, Janessa, Kathleen, wake up! It's Christmas!" she exclaimed as her sisters got us, quickly changed, and raced out of their room.

"Woah! Slow down, girls, make your way to the breakfast table first." Said Edaline as she was going downstairs as well; when they reached downstairs, everyone was already sitting down.

There were waffles, Pancakes covered with syrup, eggs, bacon, sausages, biscuits, fruit, oatmeal, and French toast covered with butter, coffee, tea, orange juice, milk, or water.

The breakfast was a quiet place for some, but not all; papa Genevieve, Derek, and Charlotte had conversations while Hadley and Phoenix did too, like Phillip and Edaline, while Courtney and Fallon talked since Bailey, Cole, or Gabriel weren't here yet.

But the most silent ones were Isla and Tobias; no one knew what happened except them and Genevieve; she hoped they would figure it out; it was Christmas, a day where everyone should be happy.

When everyone finished breakfast, they made their way to where the Christmas tree was and saw the beautiful presents that lay there, and everyone started searching for their own.

Firstly, they looked for them, then when everyone had theirs, they would open them; Genevieve noticed that Charlotte, Lilian, and Liam were just sitting down and eating more Christmas cookies.

She quickly got their presents and headed towards them as Charlotte looked surprised.

"Here, these are for you guys as well." Said Genevieve as she handed them their presents as well.

"For us?" asked Lilian as Genevieve nodded.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" said both of the children; they were used to only two presents each Christmas, but this time they probably had as much as ever.

They had twenty presents, so it was ten for each, just like the triplets, not counting the other five that Charlotte also had.

"Thank you, Genevieve; if it hadn't been for you and Hadley, we would have never experienced the greatness of Christmas with your family." Said Charlotte smiling the best she's ever smiled in weeks.

"Were family now, Charlotte; even if my sister and Phoenix don't want to say it to anyone, we both know they love each other." Said Genevieve as they both looked at them.

"Here you go, this is for you." Said Edaline as she handed Philip a present she had personally made for him thanks to Genevieve.

"Edaline, you didn't have to get me anything." Said Philip as Edaline smiled; he was always too kind since the discussion they had before they decided to give each other another chance to see how things would go.

"I know, but I wanted to." Said Edaline as Philip opened it; it was handmade gloves and a neck scarf.

"Edaline, these are amazing; where did you get these?" asked Philip.

"I made them." She responded with a smile, as this surprised him.

"What? How?" he asked her as she laughed.

"Well… I had some help, and with that, the needle won a couple of times, but now I'm alright." She said as she held up her fingers as they looked like nothing had ever happened to them.

"I… I don't know what to say…. Except thank you… thank you, Edaline; these are so wonderful." Said Philip as Edaline smiled with joy and was about to leave, but Philip stopped her.

"I… to have something for you." He told her as she was surprised to hear this,

"Something for me? Really?" she asked as he nodded and handed her a small box; she opened it to reveal a pair of beautiful dangling earrings and a white Teardrop necklace.

"Philip, these are so amazing and beautiful; where on earth did you get them?" she asked as he smiled at her.

"that's a secret; I never reveal them." Said Philip.

"Well, thank you, Philip; they are adorable." She said and smiled while she looked over to her sister Fallon; she had just gotten a gift from Cole.

"What is this?" she asked him as he handed her the gift, and she opened it to reveal a pink bow with arrows.

"Oh! But I thought you didn't want me to be with you." She told him.

"That was before, but I know it doesn't matter how hard I try; you won't give up." Said Cole.

"That's right, you cannot change my mind, so I might as well join in," said Fallon as he looked at her with a smile.

"Yeah, so I might as well help you." Said Cole.

"Thank you, Cole; here this is for you." Said Fallon as she handed him a box, and he quickly took a step back.

"I couldn't," he said as she smiled and set a hand on his shoulder.

"If you don't take this gift, I will be offended and would have to tell you its orders." She said sarcastically and smiled as Cole simply rolled and moved his head towards the sides.

As he took the gift and opened it to reveal a picture frame with a picture of what seemed to be his brother Gabriel and his parents, he was shocked towards this.

"How did you get his picture of my family? And How did you know Gabriel was my brother?" he asked her.

"You think you're the only observant here? I see how you are with him; it's how my sisters are with each other, plus he looks a bit like you. You both have your mothers' eyes, but you have your father's appearance more while he has your mothers." She said as he looked surprised.

"Plus, I already talked to him way before I talked to you, and he told me about your parents, and the only thing you guys had left was that small picture, so I decided to give you guys a better picture; I hope you love it, happy Christmas." Said Fallon as she left smiling and left Cole speechless.

Queen Genevieve

Many more presents were passed that morning; mostly everyone was happy but Tobias and Isla; they seemed too miserable, but there wasn't much we could do; they won't listen, so all that could be done was give them support.

We read all the Christmas letters we got from our family; Ashlyn is going well with her kids, Emily is going well and learning how to speak, while Adam is starting to crawl and walk a bit more now.

Blair is happy with her daughter, and she's the same as Adam beginning to crawl a bit, and there's Delia; she has big news for us. After trying for so long and giving up last time heard she is currently pregnant.

That was the best news; being pregnant is a blessing and the most beautiful thing in life; she says she thinks it might be twins because she's currently two months pregnant and already feels some sickness.

Hopefully, she gets better, she thought as she went to look for her husband, he had disappeared with no trace, when she was about to give up, she heard a door open from the studies to reveal her father and husband they seemed to be talking about something.

"I don't know, Derek?" questioned Randolph.

"I don't, but I think it is the only way." Said Derek.

"What is?" questioned Genevieve; they had had obviously not seen her pass by and looked nervous now.

"Nothing, dear, it's nothing." Said Derek as he looked at Randolph.

"I'll be on my way; I promised Lacey I would play with her." Said Randolph as he left while Genevieve just looked at Derek with her arms crossed and frowning.

"What?" he questioned.

"Your hiding something from me; what is it?" she questioned as her husband smiled at her.

"It's nothing, honey, really." He added.

"Promise me something." She told him as he nodded.

"You won't leave me alone." She asked as Derek smiled at her.

"Of course, I promise." He immediately told her as he pulled her in for a kiss, and she didn't hesitate to do it, then they parted.

"But seriously, you can't tell me anything that happened between you and papa?" Asked Genevieve, she was concerned because whenever this happened, there was always a flaw.

"I'm sorry, honey, but I can't, it could put you in danger, but all you need to know is that I will be traveling soon. I don't have an exact day yet, but it will be after Henry's birthday in two months." Said Derek as Genevieve looked a bit annoyed.

"Again, Derek, we agreed that you wouldn't decide anything when we're on holiday, especially at Christmas. Why can't this wait?" She asked him.

"I know, but not it can't." He said as she only got upset even more.

"So, you can't tell me what you're planning or even going, and it can't wait?! We agreed on no secrets, Derek; why did you start with this now?!" She exclaimed. As Derek simply shrugged.

"If everything goes well, you will know in time; if not, you will know when the time comes." He simply said as she then walked away with a worry; what did he mean by that? She wondered.

She went to look for her son since he was the only one who comforted her when she had a disagreement with Derek; it was her son, after all.

He had his father's hair but her eyes, but that's not all; he also had his smile; in a way, she was calmed by him.

"Hi Isla, how is Henry doing?" She asked as she smiled.

"He's the best nephew, but I feel like he needs a friend to play with soon." She said with a giggle as Genevieve glowed with laughter.

"Good one, Isla; for now, I don't know; he's too young to say anything but maybe in the future." Said Genevieve.

"Have you thought about more kids? Perhaps a girl?" Asked Isla as Genevieve thought for a moment.

"Maybe, I've thought about it, but I haven't really talked about it with Derek, but for now, Henry is all I need." Said Genevieve as she took Henry and lifted him slightly; it was hard to believe that he was almost one.

It seems like it was just yesterday, she had him, and things took a wrong turn, and now they were all happy. Everything was too quiet, which worried her even more, when Derek didn't want to tell her the plans he had in stock.

Princess Isla

Both Isla and Genevieve played with Henry as Isla suddenly sighed, which made Genevieve concerned.

"What's wrong, Isla?" she asked her.

"Nothing. I've just been thinking a lot about the choices that I've made or things that happened to me." She said with a broad smile.

"What have you thought?" asked Genevieve.

"Well…... I went to visit mother; I told her everything and stayed with her for a while, and then she helped me realize that Tobias and I did things the wrong way, him for trying to buy me and me for not listening." She said.

"What are you going to do then?" asked Genevieve.

"Well, like you've said before, there's a difference only we can make; I've decided to let things cool down; if we get through this, maybe there's hope for us; if not, then it wasn't meant to be." Said Isla as Genevieve was pretty astonished at what she heard.

"I love him, Genevieve, but I think things got way out of hand, and this space will help us with time; we need time to think things through." Said Isla.

"well, I'm glad you figured out what to do, but how long will it take? And does he know about this? Or are you guys just going to start fresh?" asked Genevieve.

"Well, I think I should talk to him." She said as Genevieve smiled.

"I think he's over at the stables if you need to go see him." Said Genevieve.

"Thanks, I'll go see him right now." She said as she made her way over there as she was arriving she heard some voices, she quickly sneaked somewhere since she didn't know who it was yet.

She then saw that it was Tobias and one of the maids that worked in the castle her name was Tiffany, she was the prettiest out of all the rest, she had beautiful long hair the color of a blond.

She seemed to be talking to Tobias in a flirty way which didn't go well with Isla; she must have heard that they ended their 'relationship,' and she probably wanted to jump on his bones.

"So, I thought we could probably go somewhere later tonight; I have the night off." Said Tiffany as Tobias frowned and slightly smiled.

Isla wanted to do something, but she knew for one she had no opinion because they weren't together anymore, and she had no right, but still, she looked at them as Tiffany gave him a kiss on the cheek as he just stood there, she had enough.

"Tobias?" she said as he turned around to face her.

"I came to talk to you, but you seemed busy, so I'll leave you alone." She finished.

"But Isla?" he said, but Tiffany held on to him even more.

"Don't worry, Tiffany won't get in trouble this time." She said as she left.

She couldn't believe it, this is what feared her even more, but she knew that once it was over, he had the freedom to be with who he wanted. But of course, it still hurt her how fast it was for him to forget her and all the time they had together,

"Forget him!" she said to herself, 'if that's what he wants, he's free to do so, but he will not make fun of me again' She thought as she made her way back to her room.