John was away for the week and Ashley was in Gracie's room getting ready to tell the kids a story.
"Ok which story do you want to hear?" Ashley asked the kids.
"The one about the princess who didn't know she was a princess" Gracie said.
Ashley smiled because all of the children loved that story and must have heard it hundreds of times.
"Ok" she said.
"Once upon a time there was this girl named Ashley and she was very unhappy" Ashley began.
"Because she had to live with her evil step-parents" Gracie said.
"Yes because she lived with her evil step-parents but one day Ashley decided to run away and she did she went to live with her favorite cousin Jeff"
"Just like you mommy" Talon said.
"Ashley had this best friend named Amy who knew that Ashley liked this man so Amy told the man that Ashley like him. But what Amy and Ashley didn't know was this man was a handsome prince in disguise looking for someone to marry"
"The handsome prince took one look at Ashley and knew that she was the one that he wanted to marry right mommy" Gracie asked.
"Yes he did" Ashley answered.
"And then something amazing happened Ashley discovered that her parents weren't her real parents and that a kind king was in fact her true father. Ashley was upset at first because she felt like she had been lied to all her life but she learned that it didn't really matter because she finally had a caring parent that she always wanted."
"So now the prince and Ashley could be married because she is really a princess right?" Gracie asked.
"Yes but that wasn't the case because both Princess Ashley and the prince were afraid to tell each other how they really felt. They had been really good friends and if things didn't work out they might never be friends again. So the prince started dating this woman, but only Ashley knew the truth that the woman was really a hag in disguise"
"I hate that lady" Gracie said.
"Me too" Talon added.
"So Ashley and the prince didn't talk for a long time and in that time Ashley began to date a very nice man but her love for the prince was still strong. She hoped in time her love would lessen and she would be able to love the man she was with"
"But fate wouldn't have that Ashley was forced to see the prince again and both Ashley and the prince admitted their love for one another but Ashley was still with her boyfriend so they couldn't be together. But that didn't stop their friends from trying. Amy and Ashley's other best friend Trish told everyone in the kingdom that the Prince and the Princess were dating even though they weren't."
"But the prince and the princess couldn't tell everyone the truth because they wouldn't believe them so they pretended for one night" Gracie added.
"Hey I think you know this story better than I do" Ashley said.
"But you tell it better" Gracie said.
"Yes, Ashley and the prince did pretend for the night and the next morning they were going back to their old lives away from each other. But once again fate stepped in. They sent Ashley and the prince a baby who needed them both. So it was decided Ashley would stay with the prince until something was decided with the baby boy. But when she told her boyfriend he didn't understand so Ashley broke up with him."
"Then Ashley and the prince got together" Gracie said.
"Yes but it didn't last long the princess had to go away for 4 years and the prince couldn't handle being alone so he ended up being unfaithful which is something none of you ever want to be"
"What does unfaithful mean?" Gracie asked.
"Yeah mommy what it mean" Talon said.
"It's when someone does something really bad when they are dating someone and that is all I'm going to tell you because you'll find out more when you are older" Ashley replied.
Frankie and Christian had fallen asleep while listening but Talon and Gracie were wide awake listening intently.
"Ashley took the baby and left the prince for what she thought would be forever but the prince was truly sorry and Ashley took him back. By this time they were expecting their second son. So now the prince and the princess had 2 sons but they still weren't married. And some people consider having children out of wedlock a sin. But the prince and the princess didn't care because they loved each other and their children."
"This is the part where they find the little orphan girl right?" Gracie asked.
"Yes this is where they find the little orphan girl. But things weren't all that happy by then someone put a spell on the princess and made her leave her family"
"And her family was really sad" Talon said.
"Yes they were. A year had passed and then spell was finally broken but the princess couldn't go home because she was carrying another man's baby and she was afraid of what the prince would think about her. But eventually she did go back but what she found wasn't the same as it was when she left. The prince had become king but he was bitter and unhappy. He wasn't being the king that the princess knew he could be."
"Like in the Lion King" Gracie said.
"Just like the Lion King" Ashley replied.
"But then the prince got very sick and needed the princess to take care of him and she did. But being around the King was really hard for her because she still loved him but he hated her. But the King could never truly hate the princess and as she took care of him he fell even more in love with her. But the King was getting worse and the princess feared he would die."
"But he didn't" Gracie said.
"The king survived and they realized there was nothing in their way anymore and they got married. The End"
"Ok time for bed" Ashley said.
But a crash from downstairs interrupted them.
"Gracie take the phone and bring your brothers into my bathroom and lock the door" Ashley ordered.
"What about you?" Gracie asked.
"I'll be fine just do what I told you" Ashley said in a firm tone.
Gracie reluctantly nodded and shook Christian and Frankie awake. Ashley left the room and waited at the top of the stairs till she heard the bathroom door lock. Then she quietly made her way to the first floor. She made it to the kitchen to grab a flashlight but as she was going to turn around she felt a cloth being placed over her mouth. She black out due to the chloroform.