A/N: I probably should have named this story "The Cuteness of Katrina" instead. LOL! I think Charlotte's pretty cute too ;-)

Oh, and you get bonus points if you can guess who I based the man in the story on.

Until 16!

Changes 15

"I can't believe you're leaving tomorrow," Livvie said, sitting on the bed as she watched Alison putting some clothes in a suitcase.

"I know. We planned this trip weeks ago and now it's here. It feels like these past few weeks have flown by."

"How long do you think you'll stay?"

"Not sure. Couple of weeks maybe? I guess it depends on how much time it takes for Rafe to get things in order."

"Well don't worry about the bakery. I'll take good care of it while you're gone."

"Thanks, Livvie."

"You'll send me a postcard from Romania, right?"

"Of course!"

As the two talked, Charlotte suddenly ran in and crouched behind the door.

Livvie looked over at her daughter and laughed. "What are you doing, Charlotte?"

Charlotte just laughed.

A few moments later, they heard Katrina shout that she was coming, ready or not, and she walked into the room.

"BOO!" Charlotte shouted, jumping out from behind the door and laughing hysterically.

"Charlotte! What did I just tell you? You're not supposed to tell me where you're hiding! It's called hide-and-go-seek! Not hide-and-go-boo!"

"Hide again!" Charlotte said, running out of the room.

Katrina looked at her mother and Livvie, shaking her head. "She doesn't know how to play this game very good!"

Alison and Livvie laughed, watching as Katrina ran out of the room and down the hallway.

"I suppose the concept of hide and seek escapes a three-year-old," Livvie said with a laugh.

Alison looked at her watch, wondering what time it was. "Oh my god. It's 4:30 already. I'm surprised Rafe hasn't called me yet to see how my appointment with Dr. Meadows went."

"Is he still being all overprotective?"

"Yes. I mean he's overprotective anyway but whenever I'm pregnant, he just hovers."

"Yeah…it was totally the opposite with me and Jack when I was pregnant. He'd go to great lengths to avoid me."

Alison laughed. "Only because he was afraid you'd bite his head off!"

"So I was hormonal. So what?"

"You were so mean to him, Livvie!" Alison laughed again. "Poor Jack! He'd just stand there and take it while you'd yell at him!"

"Oh come on! Would it have killed him to go the extra three minutes out of his way to pick up the Oreos like I asked? And then he had the nerve to show up with those cheap imitation cookies he picked up at a gas station of all places! Like it would taste like the real thing! I think that would be enough to upset anyone."

"I seem to recall you throwing those cookies in his face and storming out of the house to go to the store yourself. I think that was more than just 'upset'."

Livvie shrugged. "Okay, fine, I was full of rage. But it was only because of the hormones. Besides, I really wanted Oreos!" she said with a laugh.

The phone suddenly rang. "That's Rafe," Alison said, reaching over and grabbing the cordless from the nightstand.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Angel."

"Hi, sweetheart. You about ready to come home?"

"In a little while. Just picking up some last minute things. Did you see Dr. Meadows today?"

Alison gave Livvie a look. "Yes, dear."

"Well what did she say?"

"She said my husband worries too much."

"Alison!"

"What do you think she said?"

"Well I hope she gave you a good bill of health because if not you can forget about going."

"Rafe, I'm packing my bags as we speak. Relax! She said the baby and I are both fine and that she didn't see any reason why I couldn't fly. So relax. And be nice. My grandmother is letting us use the Barrington jet. So if you don't let me go, I may not let you use it."

Rafe sighed on the other end. "You really would. You're so stubborn."

Alison laughed. "But you love me anyway."

"That I do. So, do you need anything while I'm out?"

"AHHH!" Charlotte yelled, running into the bedroom and hopping up on the bed.

"I'm gonna get you, Charlotte!" Katrina said, laughing as she climbed onto the bed with her and began to tickle her mercilessly.

"Mama! Mama!" Charlotte grabbed on to her mother as she laughed and laughed.

"Alison?"

"What? I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"Do you need me to pick up anything?"

"Yeah. There's something I forgot to get. Can you pick up those little travel size bottles…."

"I'm the tickle monster!" Katrina shouted, and Charlotte shrieked with more laughter.

"Hold on…girls! I'm on the phone! Rafe, I'm sorry. The kids were being too loud."

Katrina, upon hearing the mention of her father's name, hopped off the bed and ran to her mother. "Ooo! Let me talk to Daddy!"

"Hold on, sweetie. Can you get those little tiny bottles of shampoo and conditioner? You know what I'm talking about?"

Katrina tugged at her mother's shirt repeatedly. "Mommy! I want to talk to Daddy!"

"And make sure you get enough for all of us. I know we can get supplies there but we'll need something to tide us over."

"Mommy!" Katrina begged, getting quite annoyed that her mother wouldn't hand her the phone. "Please! Let me talk to Daddy!"

"Rafe, do you hear her? She's bouncing off the walls."

Rafe laughed. "Put her on."

Alison handed the phone to Katrina, who happily snatched it away. "Hi, Daddy!"

"Hi, Princess."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just picking up some things we'll need for our trip."

"Hey, Daddy, guess what!"

"What?"

"I found a penny and two nickels in the pocket of my old shorts!"

Rafe laughed. "Well then you're eleven cents richer! Put that in your piggy bank."

"I did. When you comin' home?"

"I'll be home soon."

"Okay. I love you, Daddy!"

"I love you too, Princess. Can you put Mommy back on the phone now?"

Katrina handed the phone back to her mother and hopped back on the bed.

"Rafe?"

"Hey. Was there anything else you needed?"

"Just for you to come home soon. We miss you."

"I will be home soon. I love you."

"Love you too." Alison ended the call, then put the cordless back on the receiver. "Well, I think this is it," she announced, closing the suitcase. "Livvie, can you help me zip it?"

"Sure." Livvie grabbed the zipper on one side of the suitcase, zipping it until it met the other one. "So you're all packed and ready to go, huh?"

"Guess so."

"Hey, Aunt Livvie, guess what!"

"What?"

"I got a suitcase too! Brand new! It's got Dora on it! You wanna see?"

"Sure."

"Hold on, be right back!" Katrina hopped off the bed and ran out of the room with Charlotte tagging behind her.

"She's been wheeling that thing around the house all week." Alison said with a laugh.

A few moments later, Katrina came in with her rolling backpack. "See, Aunt Livvie? It's got Dora and Boots on it and it says 'best friends'."

"Oh, that's nice. Are you all packed?"

"I'll show you what's inside." Katrina sat down and unzipped the backpack. The toys inside spilled out like an avalanche.

"Ooo!" Charlotte dropped to the floor, putting her hands on all of the toys.

"Whoa. That's a lot of toys. You bringing all of that to Romania?"

"Katrina Rose! What happened to all of the clothes I put in that bag?"

Katrina looked up innocently at her mother. "I had to take them out 'cause my toys wouldn't fit. Daddy said I could bring them."

Alison sighed. "Well we'll put your clothes in his suitcase then."

"Well, I hate to say this, but we should go," Livvie announced, getting up off the bed. "Jack will be home in about an hour and he'll be hungry. You'll stop by before you leave tomorrow morning, right?"

"Of course. We'll say goodbye then, alright?"

"Okay. Charlotte baby, what do you want for dinner?"

"Pancakes!"

"Pancakes? For dinner?"

"Make some pancakes, Mama!"

"Pancakes? You silly girl!" Livvie reached over and gave her daughter a little tickle on her belly. She turned to Alison. "Looks like we're having pancakes for dinner. We'll let ourselves out. Bye."

"Bye," Alison said, laughing. She then looked down at her daughter. "Alright, Miss Katrina, go get your clothes. We're going to make them fit one way or the other."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Katrina looked out of the jet's window, smiling as she saw cloud upon cloud. They looked like cotton candy to her, but when they flew through them, it just looked like fog.

There was then a clearing, and beneath the clouds, Katrina saw miles and miles of blue water. "Wow," she whispered, amazed at how big it all seemed. It just seemed to go on forever and ever.

Katrina got up from her seat and went over to sit beside her mother. "Mommy?"

Alison had been sitting quietly, resting her eyes. She opened them at the sound of Katrina's voice. "What, baby?"

"Are we almost there yet?"

"No baby. We've got hours to go."

"How far away is Transzania?"

Alison laughed. "Transylvania," she corrected.

"Oh. That's a big word!"

"It far away, Katrina. Like 4,000 miles away I think."

"Come here, Princess. I'll show you."

Katrina got up and went to sit beside her father. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to the folded paper Rafe held.

"This is a map," he answered, unfolding it to show Katrina. "It's a map of the world. Do you see that?" Rafe put his finger on the state of New York. "That's where we live. That's New York. And you see all of this blue?"

"Uh huh."

"Well that's the Atlantic Ocean. That's what we're flying over now." Rafe moved his finger along the map, showing the direction they were flying. "And we're going to go all the way across it until we get to here, and that's Romania right there."

"That doesn't look very far away."

Rafe laughed. "Well that's because this map was drawn very small. But your mother's right. It's about 4,000 miles away."

"Are we gonna be in this plane forever? I'm bored!"

"You have some toys from home in your bag. You have some coloring books, and your dolls."

"No, I don't wanna play with any of that. Daddy, I want you to tell me a story."

Rafe smiled. "All right." Rafe set the map down and Katrina curled up beside him.

"Once upon a time, there was this beautiful little princess. She had long, beautiful hair, the color of the sun. And she had these big beautiful blue eyes, as blue as the ocean."

"And her name was Katrina!" Katrina happily said.

Rafe smiled. "Yes, her name was Katrina. And she wore a pink, shimmering dress and a sparkling diamond tiara on her head. And she lived in this big white castle."

"And she had white horses that drove her around everywhere in a silver pumpkin carriage!"

"Who's telling this story, me or you?"

Katrina laughed. "Now tell the part about the queen!"

"Okay. The princess's mother, the queen, was also very beautiful. In fact, she was so beautiful, she looked like an angel from heaven. She also had a very kind heart, and she was always doing everything she could to help those in need."

"Don't forget the roses!"

"I was just getting to that part. The queen had this magnificent rose garden, full of pink roses, because it was the queen's favorite flower. And every morning, the queen and the princess would go out and pick roses for the castle. And they never seemed to run out of roses either. It was a magical rose garden. The roses were in bloom all the time, and they didn't even have thorns on them. It was thought since the queen took such good care of them, and that she had such a good heart, that angels must be watching over the garden."

"And what about the king?"

"Now the king…he felt like he was the luckiest man in the world. And you know why?"

"Because he loved his family," Katrina answered.

"That's right. He felt very lucky because he was in love with the most beautiful woman and they had the most beautiful little girl in the world. The king did everything he could to protect his family, and the kingdom as well. He didn't like to see any of his people suffering. And so they were all very happy together. But…"

"Evil was lurking," Katrina whispered.

"That's right. Because in a world where there is good, there is also evil. In the dark, dark woods, just outside the kingdom, their lived a man with a cold heart and no soul. Every day, he'd walk into town, and he'd watch as the king and the queen and the princess would drive through the streets in their royal carriage, and everyone would bow to them, throw them flowers, or run up to them and thank them. And the king would always take time to talk to everyone who came up to them. And the people felt very fortunate to have a leader that would protect them."

"Then the mean man came up with an evil plan!"

"He was jealous. He envied the attention and power that a king had. He was a very selfish and greedy man, and he wanted that power and prestige for himself. He was also very lonely. He had never married, and he wanted a family. He thought the king's wife was very beautiful. So he figured, if he could just take the king's place, then he would finally have everything he ever wanted."

Katrina held her breath, holding on to his every word.

"So one night, he gathered people just like himself, cold, dark, and angry people, and he told them his plan. And they all agreed…they thought it was a brilliant idea. For they wanted to create a world of people just like themselves, but they knew they couldn't do it with the king in their way."

"Then what, Daddy?"

"Well the first thing he did was to put a spell on the queen's rose garden. The next morning when the queen and the princess went out to pick roses, they were shocked to see that every pink bloom had turned black. And when they reached out to touch them, thorns that had not been there before suddenly pricked them, and they fell into a deep sleep right in that very garden."

"Then they got the king."

"Right. You see, meanwhile, the king was starting to wonder what was taking his wife and daughter so long. They had not come back inside yet. It was then that he was attacked. Many men came to him, knocking him down, bounding him with ropes. Then just like that, they threw him in the dungeon and handcuffed him to the wall."

"The poor king!"

"By then, the queen and princess had awoken, and at once, they knew something awful had happened. Standing before them was the man, grinning at them with eyes as black as the roses themselves. He told them the king was dead, and that he was now in charge."

"But he wasn't dead!"

"You're right, but the queen did not know that. She spent many days crying herself to sleep, thinking her love was gone. When really, he was locked away in the dungeon, being fed a measly piece of bread three times a day by the guards who worked for the man with no soul."

"The king tried to escape though."

"Yes, many times. But it was no use. He could not free himself, and he feared for his family, knowing that he might die if he didn't escape. For many days, the queen and the princess were held captive. There was no one they could turn to for help, as all of their servants had been thrown out into the streets and replaced with the evil guards."

"Then my favorite part happened!" Katrina said happily.

"One day, the princess went exploring around the castle, trying to hide from the guards, and to her amazement, she found out that her father was alive!"

"And she was gonna save him!"

"But she couldn't do it by herself. So at night, when the evil man was sleeping, the princess sneaked out of the castle, managing to hide from the guards. It was easy for her to hide, because she was so small."

"Then she got on her white horse!"

"She did. And she rode into town, spreading the word about what had happened. You see, the townspeople knew something awful had happened, for the servants who were thrown out had told them. But they didn't know what to do, as they feared the king was dead. But when they saw the princess, begging for help, there wasn't any argument. They knew they had to save the king. After all, the king and queen had done so much to help them. Now it was their turn to return the favor."

"So they marched to the castle!"

"That's right. You see, one person couldn't do it alone, but they could if they all worked together. So they marched to the castle with their weapons, defeating the guards. And as they did, the princess was able to grab the keys to the dungeon and release her father."

"Then what?"

"Then the king, now free, marched upstairs to find the man with no soul. By then, he had awoken, wondering what all of the racket was. Well the queen had ran out of her room, awakened from the noise too and was shocked to see her husband was alive! But she was afraid, as she feared she might lose him again. All she could do was watch as the evil man and the king had a great battle. And suddenly, the room filled with smoke, and the queen could not see anything. The princess ran to her mother, scared for her father as well."

"But then the smoke cleared!"

"And when it did, the evil man was gone, and the king was just fine."

"And all of the evil guards were gone too!"

"And finally, the kingdom was back to normal. The roses were pink again, and the servants came back, and the king went to his queen and kissed her. And he scooped the princess up in his arms and he kissed her too."

"And then they lived happily ever after!" Katrina said.

Rafe smiled. "Yes, they did. And that's the end."

"Oh I love that story, Daddy! Tell it again!"

Rafe laughed. "I think that's enough storytelling for now, Princess."

"Hey, Mommy, don't you love that story?" Katrina turned to her mother, but she didn't answer. Katrina looked at her father. "Mommy's sleeping!" she laughed.

"Mommy's tired." Rafe rose from his seat, walking over to Alison. He grabbed a blanket from the seat beside her and wrapped her up.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Princess?"

"You'd beat up a bad guy if he tried to get me and Mommy, wouldn't ya?"

"You know I would. I couldn't let anything happen to my girls," he said with a wink.