CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Mary couldn't be happier. She was feeling better and now she was able to walk on her own.

"Looks like you're ready to go." Tom said as he entered her room.

"What?"

"You look great! I almost forgot that you can heal much faster than a normal human can."

"I never knew about that anyway."

"Wanna go home?"

Mary smiled. "Of course."

"Then let's pack your stuff."

Tom helped her to get ready, then he went to the administration to complete some paperwork. He went to Dr. Simons's office but couldn't find him. A nurse told him that the doctor has left to Chicago last night to attend an urgent surgery. Tom went back to Mary's room and they left.

"I'm going to miss this place." Mary said as they reached Tom's car.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, you can't have people to bring you food in bed all the time."

"I can do that." Tom said and gave her a kiss. He helped her to sit in the car. Mary hesitated for a moment but then she remembered that she wasn't driving. Tom put her bag on the backseat and he went to sit in the driver's seat.

"Where to?" he asked her.

"Anywhere. I'm starving. But first, I want to fix my hair and face. I feel terrible."

"Women!" Tom shook his head and laughed. He took Mary to the closest beauty saloon and waited for her in the car. After a couple of hours Mary opened the door of the car and got in.

"How do I look?" she asked.

"Gorgeous. As you always are."

"How sweet of you." Mary said with a smile.

Tom drove to a restaurant and they had lunch together. Mary couldn't feel happier. She was out of the hospital and she will be visiting her homeland soon.

"You know, I'm really excited about going to the kingdoms." She said as she helped herself with some orange juice.

"Yeah, I want to see that place too." Tom replied.

"I wonder how it looks like."

"You're going to find out soon. How about talking to Wolf and Virginia tonight when we go home? We can see if we can go there earlier than expected."

"Good idea." Mary said.

After lunch Tom took Mary to his house, as Mary was supposed to be dead and she didn't want to show up at her neighborhood as a ghost. He parked his car in front of the house and helped Mary to get out of it. They entered the house and Mary looked around her in amazement. Tom has decorated the living room with colorful balloons and ribbons. And he had prepared a big sign saying: Welcome home Mary!

"Tom, I don't know what to say." Mary said. "This is great."

"I'm glad you're back. I have waited for this day for so long." He said and took her in his arms. "No more tears. No more pain. It's going to be different from now on. I promise to love you and care for you until the end of time."

"Oh Tom, I love you."

"I love you too." Tom said and kissed her lips passionately.

After they broke their kiss Tom took Mary's bag to their room. Mary sat in the living room and kept staring at the decoration. After a few minutes Tom came back with the little mirror in his hand.

"Want to talk to them?" he asked.

"Yeah."

Tom held the mirror in front of him and said. "Mirror, show me Wolf."

The mirror cracked and shimmered and Wolf appeared in his room talking about something with Virginia.

"Wolf? Can you hear me?" Tom said.

Wolf looked around. "Virginia, did you hear that?"

"Yeah. It's familiar." Virginia replied.

"It's me Tom! Get a mirror!" Tom said.

"Wolf, the mirror! There!" Virginia pointed to the mirror on the wall. "Hi Tom!"

"Hey Tommy! How are you?" Wolf said.

"I'm fine. I just wanted to tell you that I brought Mary home today."

"Really? Tom that's great!" Virginia said.

"And we were wondering if we could visit you. I mean, if you don't mind of course."

"Of course we don't mind! Are you kidding?" Wolf said, excited by the fact. "When are you coming?"

"I don't know. Maybe in a couple of days." Tom said.

"Alright, as soon as you decide the time call me with this mirror so I would come there and bring you."

"Sure." Tom said. "Okay, I better go now. Take care and see you soon."

"Bye!" said Wolf and Virginia together and Tom's image disappeared.

"Wow! It couldn't have been better if we planned it!" Virginia said.
"Now that Mary could come, we will discuss the situation with her. We have to do something about it. I don't want Wendell to start a war and I don't want to lose you." Wolf said.

"You won't lose me. I promise. Just relax now and wait." Virginia said. "Now, can we go out for a walk?"

"Of course. Let's go." Wolf took her to the palace gardens for an afternoon walk.

Two days later.

Mary was preparing breakfast, while Tom was taking a shower. She prepared bacon and eggs and some tea. She opened the fridge and took out butter and jam and put them on the table. After a few minutes Tom came into the kitchen and quickly went to kiss her.

"Good morning sweetheart." He said as he planted a kiss on her neck.

"Good morning pumpkin." Mary replied. "Hungry?"

"Oh yes. Starving!"

"Good. Because I'm starving too." She replied with a smile.

They sat near the table and had their breakfast. After which Tom went to his room and contacted Wolf to tell him that they were ready to go to the Fourth Kingdom.

"Mary, Wolf will meet us at Central Park in about an hour. Are you ready?"

"Yeah, just need to check our bags again."

Mary went upstairs and after a few minutes she came back with the bags. Tom took it and put it in his car.

"Tom, don't you think we better leave the car here? We can go by a taxi." Mary said.

"I guess you're right. At least, I won't worry about the car being robbed. Wait here, I'll just put the car in the garage. You can call a cab."

"Okay."

Tom went out and took the car to the garage. He took their bags out again and locked the garage door.

"So, how much are we supposed to wait?" he asked Mary as he entered the house again.

"Fifteen minutes." Mary replied.

"Okay. We can watch cartoons in the meantime." Tom said and threw himself on the couch and took the remote control in his hand. He searched different channels for a cartoon and finally settled on the Cartoon Network.

After fifteen minutes they heard a car horn coming from outside. "That must be it." Tom said and turned off the TV. He went out and came back again. "It's the cab. Come on honey." He took the bags and they went to the car.

"Where to?" The driver asked.

"Central Park." Tom replied.

"Okay." The driver said and headed to Central Park.

"Tom, there's Wolf." Mary said as they reached the park.

"Yeah, I see him." Tom said.

They got out of the cab, Tom paid the driver and they walked toward Wolf, who was smiling to them broadly.

"It's great to see you on foot again Mary." Wolf said.

"Thanks Wolf."

"So, are you ready?" Wolf asked.

"Yeah, but how are we supposed to go?" Tom asked.

"See that blue thing there?" Wolf pointed to a blue shimmering space.

"Yeah, I see it." Mary said.

"That's the portal. We're going through it." Wolf said. "Let's go."

He took the bags and looked around, when he was sure that no one looked he threw the bags through the portal.

"Now, Mary. You go first. Just step through it and it will take you straight to the mirror room. Virginia is waiting for you there. She'll catch you and you won't fall."

"Thanks for the warning." Mary said and stepped through the portal.

Wolf looked around again. "Tom, now you."

Tom also stepped through the portal and Wolf followed him. After he reached the mirror room he turned off the Travelling Mirror.

"Welcome to the Fourth Kingdom!" he said with his arms wide open.

"This place seems strange." Mary said as she looked around. There were different kinds of mirrors there. Each one had its own special design and length.

"You'll feel that way for a while, until you get used to it." Virginia said.

"I hope I can pass that stage a little bit fast." Mary said with a smile and Virginia smiled back.

"Let's go to Wendell's office. Tony and Wendell are waiting for us. The servants will take your bags to your room." Wolf said.

As they entered Wendell's office Tony got up and greeted the guests. Wendell bowed to them gracefully and kissed Mary's hand.

"It's an honor to meet you." Wendell said to the couple. "Wolf and Virginia have told us about you."

"That's so sweet of them." Mary said, blushing slightly.

"It's an honor to meet you too Your Majesty." Tom bowed.

Tom and Mary spent the day with Wolf and Virginia who were showing them the palace. It didn't seem to have an end. It was a huge place with corridors heading to different directions that would make a person dizzy and lost.

Finally, when it was evening, they reached their room. It was big with a huge bed in the middle. Mary was staring at the decoration with an amazed expression on her face.

"This is wonderful!" she said. "I can't believe my eyes. This is just beautiful."

"I'm glad you liked it." Virginia said.

"Alright, we'll leave you two now to get some rest. We have so many things to do in the morning." Wolf said.

"Good night." Virginia said.

"Good night." Tom said.

"Thanks for the nice tour." Mary said.

Wolf and Virginia went to their room, while Mary and Tom started to change their clothes before getting into bed.