Everyone in the castle knows how hardworking the kids are when it comes to helping others and working on their own specific projects, and how hard it can be to get them to take a break, especially James! After successfully getting Sofia and Amber to sleep, Miranda gets some unexpected, but always welcome help, from Queen Melinda when trying to get James to call it a night, but he keeps finding ideas for a new story that he's working on. Fortunately, they find a way to get him to take a break and sleep for the rest of the night. The dream spell James was under was from chapters 5-7 of my story The Day the Music Died. Thanks to Sofia2017 planning for helping with the story. Celtic Thunder is not mine.

Miranda was coming down the hall to her and Roland's room after she checked on Sofia and Amber for the night. The girls had been hard at work planning Amber's upcoming spring party, and they were completely exhausted. It was too late to carry Sofia to her bed, so she carried her to Amber's window seat and tucked her in there. As she helped Amber into her bed, Miranda had told the girls to wait until tomorrow before they continued their plans, and she was surprised that Amber had agreed with her. The party wasn't going to be as big and fancy as her other parties had been, but at least Amber was learning that bigger wasn't always better. She was also learning to let others give her their ideas and not to take over. However, the girls both had ideas that they didn't want to forget about, and they had been in deep discussions for a good part of the night until Miranda intervened. She was coming up to James' room when she heard a voice from behind the door.

"I know it's late, but I've got so many ideas for this story! And I know you guys will help me too!"

"James?" Miranda called softly as she slipped inside. She smiled as she saw him on the bed, surrounded by his plush writing assistants. "It's late. You need to take a break, and I think your friends agree with me."

James looked up from his notebook. "I know Mom, but it's only 10:15 p.m., and it is the weekend after all!"

"Maybe so, but even the best writers know when to call it a night," Miranda smiled. She glanced at his plush tiger Prince Blizzard and nodded. "What's that? You agree that it's time to have James take a break since he's been working so hard?" She looked at his plush dog Little Rex and Sir Blaze-a-Lot. "The two of you are right too; James can work on this tomorrow."

James smiled a little. He always tried to come up with a cut-off time when he was writing, but sometimes he got caught up in an idea and he didn't want to forget it or lose his train of thought. He also couldn't help but laugh as Miranda nuzzled Sir Blaze-a-Lot against him. "Alright, we'll call it a night!"

"And calling it a night means that you stop writing until tomorrow," Miranda smirked as she saw James scribbling something new down as soon as he finished his sentence.

"I know, but I had another idea just now and I didn't want to forget it," James admitted.

Miranda gave a mock-exasperated sigh. "James, what will it take to get you to sleep?"

James shrugged. "Maybe if I run out of ideas? But I just thought of something else right now!"

Miranda sighed, but she couldn't help but smile. All three of her children were certainly dedicated when it came to personal projects or lending a helping hand to someone who needed it. Amber did everything she could to make her parties as extravagant as possible, but she also wanted people to have fun. Even though he was singing around the castle again, James continued working on papers that needed editing, as well as helping everyone in the castle with their various tasks. Even Sofia would go out of her way to make other people's jobs easier, whether she was in the castle or in the village, and Roland, Baileywick, or Cedric would end up carrying her to her bed when she fell asleep helping someone.

As she watched James write his new idea down and re-read his story, Miranda smiled. She had an idea on how to get him to take a break, and she went over to his collection of tapes and CDs. She remembered Sofia saying once that she helped James calm down when she sang to him when he was resting. Of course, he'd also been under a sleeping spell at the time, so he just thought it was a dream.

She rooted through the box for a few moments and had just found a CD, when someone spoke behind her. "I always enjoyed singing this one to Amber and James when they were younger."

"Queen Melinda," Miranda smiled when she saw the ghost of Queen Melinda appear before her. "It's good to see you again. And maybe you'd like to help me get James to take a break?"

"I'd love to," Melinda smiled. "If there's one thing James responds well to, it's music. Let's see if we can find something for him."

As she looked through some more tapes, Miranda mused, "I know Sofia broke the sleeping spell James was under that one time with music."

"Oh, yes," Melinda nodded. "Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast, or the busy prince!"

"And we all agree that music makes everything better," Miranda smiled.

Melinda nodded. She had seen how James had suffered under the effects of the dream spell he'd been under before he started singing in public again. He'd even convinced himself that if he didn't sleep at night, he wouldn't have nightmares, so he stayed awake as long as he could. He tried to take naps during the day, since the spell apparently worked at night, but the nightmares had increased, so that idea no longer worked. It was only when he heard Sofia singing as she undid the spell that the nightmares stopped. At the time, he had thought there were two girls singing to him, but Sofia told him that he was working too hard and had probably dreamed that there was a second singer. The spell had been lifted a long time ago, but James would still help everyone. He'd also stay up late working on either editing papers or writing his stories, but this time it was because he wanted to.

After a few moments, she smiled as she found a tape. "This one," she said as she showed it to Miranda. "This always helped James go to sleep when he was working on a story."

Miranda smiled. "Let's try it!"

Melinda smiled as she sat next to James. She began rubbing his back as she started the song.

Out on the Mira on warm afternoons
Old men go fishin' with black line and spoons
And if they catch nothin', they'll never complain
I wish I was with them again

James looked up and smiled when he heard the song. He remembered Melinda singing this to him and Amber when they were little, and this was a favorite lullaby of theirs.

Miranda smiled as she remembered singing this to Sofia. It was nice to hear it again, and she took the next verse.

As boys in their boats call to girls on the shore
Teasin' the ones that they dearly adore
And into the evening, the courting begins
I wish I was with them again

The two queens sang together, Can you imagine a piece of the universe
More fit for princes and kings?
I'll trade you ten of your cities for Marion Bridge
And the pleasure it brings

James tried to focus on his notebook, but Miranda shook her head. "One more line?" he asked hopefully as she took the pencil.

"You said that five lines and two ideas ago," Miranda chuckled.

"But Mom…" James tried to protest.

"Don't give me that 'but Mom,' James," Miranda smirked, "I've seen the same thing with Sofia when we lived in the village when she offered to help our friends and neighbors with their own things, and even now I have to make sure that she doesn't wear herself out when she helps people here in the castle!"

As she remembered singing this to Sofia when they lived in the village, Miranda took the next verse, Out on the Mira on soft summer nights
Bonfires blaze to the children's delight
They dance 'round the flames singin'
Songs with their friends
I wish I was with them again

"And need I remind you of all the times your father, sister, and I have tried to convince you to take a break from writing?" Melinda added.

She joined in the verse, And over the ashes the stories are told
Of witches and werewolves and Oak Island gold
The stars on the river face sparkle and spin
I wish I was with them again

James smiled a little as Miranda took his notebook and put a bookmark in the place where he'd been writing. "I guess that's one thing me and Sofia have in common."

"If you say so," Melinda smirked. "Now, I want you to do something for me. Close your eyes." When James obliged, she continued, "Now, imagine it's the ending of one of your stories. Your characters have solved the mystery, or the adventure is over, and you all want to relax."

Miranda caught onto the idea as Melinda started rubbing James' back. "That's right. Just imagine this is your victory song. Something nice and easy, since you want to unwind."

She and Melinda sang the chorus again, Can you imagine a piece of the universe
More fit for princes and kings?
I'll trade you ten of your cities for Marion Bridge
And the pleasure it brings

James smiled a little and he was finally relaxing. Since his eyes were closed, he didn't see Miranda slip his notebook and pencil out of his hands. She put the notebook on his desk, and the pencil went in a different corner, so James wouldn't be able to use them again for the rest of the night.

As she drew the blanket over him, Miranda started the last verse, Out on the Mira the people are kind
They'll treat you to homebrew and help you unwind
And if you come broken, they'll see that you mend
I wish I was with them again

Melinda tucked Prince Blizzard, Sir Blaze-a-Lot, and Little Rex in with him as she joined in, Now I'll conclude with the wish you go well
Sweet be your dreams and your happiness swell
I'll leave you here, for my journey begins
I'm goin' to be with them again

Miranda smiled as she finished the song with her, I'm goin' to be with them again

Miranda carefully stroked James' hair and kissed his forehead. "Good night, James."

"I remember doing this when he first started writing his stories," Melinda smiled as she blew James a kiss of her own, "He'd get lost in his own little world and forget about everything else. But he certainly is a talented writer, and he comes up with so many wonderful stories."

"I see that," Miranda smiled. "And I can't count the number of times I've tried to convince Sofia to take a break from all the things she does. It's good that they want to help people, but they shouldn't overdo it."

"I agree, and I see that James has finally fallen asleep," Melinda smirked, motioning toward James, who was finally sleeping. "Works every time!"

"James does respond well to music," Miranda agreed. She looked at the plush animals that were at his side. "And perhaps his little friends will tell him their ideas for his story in his dreams."

"Which they can all work on in the morning!" Melinda chuckled as Miranda nodded in agreement.