At the end of the week, everyone was ready to go to Avalor. Sofia, James, and Amber had offered to take Elena on flying horse rides every day, so she could get used to being in the air. Elena did very well each day, but it was always the landing that made her run into the bushes and get sick, so they kept the bags with them, just to be on the safe side.
Gabby, on the other hand, refused to ride the flying horses, since she remembered the horse she'd ridden at Amber's party. "No ride horsies!" she cried, hugging Nell's legs.
"You're not riding horses, Gab-Gab, you're going to be riding with us in the coach," Bobby Lee assured her. "You know you don't have to ride a flying horse if you don't want to, and you can ride one when you feel ready. Just take your time and get used to them."
"I agree with Daddy," Nell smiled, bending down as best as she could with Ricky in her arms. "Just take your time."
"Okay Mommy," Gabby smiled as she glanced at her brother. "Can I hold Ricky?"
"Why can't I hold him on horsie?" Elena pouted, holding Kitty close to her.
"We don't want him falling out of the coach," Nell explained. "We want Princess Elena and everyone in Avalor meeting him, and we want him to be safe."
"I won't hurt Ricky!" Elena gasped.
"Me either!" Gabby agreed.
"We know you won't hurt him, but this is his first time riding a flying coach," Bobby Lee explained. "And who knows, he might fall asleep on the way there, so we'll need you two, and Madeline and Sabrina to tell him about it."
"Okay," Gabby agreed as Elena flapped her hands excitedly.
"Me! Me! Me!" Elena sung, jumping up and down.
"JUST SHUT UP, ELENA!" Madeline screamed from her spot in the couch. "Don't you know that we can never be happy? Never?!"
"I smell meltdown," Nell groaned, putting a hand to her forehead.
"And I smell Ricky!" Bobby Lee chuckled as Ricky cooed. "Come on, little guy. Let's get you changed. After all we don't want you smelly for Avalor, do we?"
"That's right, Robert; you take care of Ricky, and Madeline and I will have a little talk," Nell said as she put a hand on Madeline's shoulder and started to march her out of the room.
"And we'll help Elena," Sofia added, as she, James, and Amber pulled Elena into a group hug.
The last thing Nell heard was the sound of Sofia, James, and Amber starting to sing some of Elena's favorite kitty songs as she and Madeline went to her room.
"Madeline, what's going on with you?" she started when she left the door open a crack behind them, "You were so good when we were in Orillia, and you did the remainder of your punishment here with no trouble, so what's going on?"
"It's not fair!" Madeline cried. "We'll never be happy again!"
"What are you talking about, Madeline?" Nell asked.
"You remember what Jimmy said!" Madeline sobbed, putting her head on Nell's shoulder.
"Butterfly, he isn't here," Nell assured her with a smile. "Come on. Do you wanna be grounded while in Avalor?"
"No," Madeline sniffed, wiping her nose. "I just don't know what got into me, Nell."
"I think I do," Nell murmured. "When you were having those mood swings when Elena and Gabby were a year old, Roland, Miranda, Bianca, and I looked up all sorts of things in the castle library. We learned that you might be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome."
"Is that bad?" Madeline sniffled. "Can it get better?"
"According to the books we read, it can't be cured with medicines," Nell admitted. "But there's one cure for it that might help you: Family."
"How could that help?" Madeline asked.
Nell hugged her. "Because family is the best setting to help those who suffer from something like this."
"Really?" Madeline asked.
"Oh yes," Nell smiled. "You know that after James started singing with his door open, Sabrina would sometimes come in and sing with him when she felt like that. And whenever I started feeling like that, I always tried to find someone to talk to."
"Would something like that work for me?" Madeline asked.
"It can't hurt to try something," Nell smiled. "Now come on. Let's see what everyone's doing."
"Okay," Madeline smiled a little. "I'll apologize to Elena too."
"That's the sister I know," Nell smiled, kissing her cheek. "I like when you're happy. When you lash out at the girls-"
"It makes you mad, don't it?" Madeline asked with a frown. "Like you want to b-burn me?"
"No, of course not," Nell murmured. "It makes me want to know why you get mad, and how I can help you."
"Okay," Madeline murmured. "Nell, I promise I'm going to work on this. I really will."
"I know," Nell smiled. "I'll be there for you every step of the way."
"Do you think I could also use James' dog Jagger to help me?" Madeline wondered. "You know, like how he works with Elena as her therapy dog. Could he could do that for me?"
"You know, Maddie, that's a wonderful idea!" Nell grinned. "We'll have to talk to James about that. I know he'd probably say yes, but I'm not sure if Jagger would need additional classes for this, like he does for Elena."
The sisters hugged for a few minutes before Bobby Lee came back with a cooing Ricky.
"Sister time?" Bobby Lee guessed, seeing Madeline feeling better.
"What makes you say that?" Nell teased, taking Ricky in her arms. "Was Daddy good, Ricky? Because he and I love each other very much and I don't like it when he's bad."
Ricky giggled and waved his arms, then reached out to Madeline.
"Shall we play 'Pass the Baby', Ricky?" Madeline smiled, giving him a hug.
"Is everything okay?" Bobby Lee asked, seeing Madeline smile for the first time since she had gone off to talk with Nell.
"Everything's fine, but I'll tell you more about what we talked about later," Nell murmured. "Madeline just got upset, but she's working through it, and she's having trouble with dealing with Jimmy again."
"The sooner he's out of our lives, the better," Bobby Lee murmured. "I heard you talking about using James' dog as a therapy dog for Madeline, too. We'll run the idea by James when we come back out, and see what he says."
"Agreed," Nell grinned, taking his hand. "Bobby Lee, did I ever tell you how great of a daddy are you?"
"A few times," Bobby Lee admitted with a smile. "If you think you're going to kiss me in front of the kids-"
"They're barely notice it!" Nell chuckled, hearing Ricky squeal. "Unless you're Elena. She notices everything."
"Mommy!" Elena giggled, hugging Nell's legs. "Avalor now! I want Ricky see Elena!"
"And he will, Love Bug," Nell assured her. "It's going to take a little while, but we'll be in Avalor with Princess Elena before you know it. And you'll get to see those jaquins we talked about."
"Jack wins?" Elena repeated.
"That's right," Nell grinned. "You know, the giant flying kitties..."
Ricky giggled at the thought of the giant flying kitties before seeing Kitty in Elena's arms and chewed on her ear.
"MINE!" Elena screamed, grabbing Kitty by her paws.
"No, no, Ricky. That's Elena's toy!" Nell lightly scolded, helping Elena take Kitty back.
"Go, Ricky, go!" James chuckled, having Amber glare at him as they watched Nell and Elena play tug-of-war with Ricky.
"Ricky! Want to play with Zoomer?" Bobby Lee held up the little jaquin toy that Princess Elena had given him.
Ricky's eyes widened, and he reached out for his toy. James took Zoomer for a moment and made him nuzzle Ricky's cheek, making him giggle happily and reach out for him.
"There you go, Ricky," James grinned, putting Zoomer in Ricky's arms. He gently mussed his hair as Ricky started chewing on Zoomer's wings.
"Disaster averted," Nell grinned, giving Kitty back to Elena. "Now, Elena, Kitty might have some baby drool on her, so I don't want you to get upset."
Much to Nell's relief, Elena wasn't upset as Ricky stopped chewing on Zoomer for a moment, wanting to play with his big sister.
"It was so nice of Princess Elena to give Richard Edward his own toy jaquin," Bianca smiled. "Elena Lydia shared her Kitty with him until the new toy came, and now she calls Kitty Zoomer's sister."
"Sister time! Sister time!" Elena sang, flapping her hands.
"And Kitty's such a good big sister to Zoomer, like you and Gabby are to Ricky," Sofia smiled.
Like Bobby Lee had said, Ricky had fallen asleep during the ride, snuggling close to his mommy's chest, since Nell was also sleeping as Elena glanced out the window.
She tried picturing Avalor in her head since her Wassailia present from Sofia. Her namesake's friends sounded nice but too big to play with.
She remembered meeting Princess Elena's sister, and thought she might like to play with her too. She liked hearing the pretty music her grandfather made, and the yummy food from her grandmother.
She picked up one of the books about Avalor that Nell had, and held it out to Bobby Lee, since Nell's hands were full, and she was asleep. "Read me?" she asked.
"Okay, Love Bug," Bobby Lee smiled and opened the book.
Elena didn't understand history but smiled at the good parts and frowned at the bad parts.
Especially with the part with the lady that had imprisoned her namesake long ago. Elena wondered if it hadn't happened.
Maybe her namesake would be as old as her grand mommy and Bianca.
As Bobby Lee read to her, Elena tried to stay awake, but she ended up falling asleep as she listened to him.
She wasn't the only one who had fallen asleep. Sofia and Amber had fallen asleep on James' shoulders, and James was also asleep, with Gabby sleeping on his lap. Madeline and Sabrina dropped off a few minutes later, and Bobby Lee nodded off a few minutes after they did, having read himself to sleep.
From where they were watching in a second coach, Bianca, Florence, Roland and Miranda smiled. "They're so sweet when they're asleep," Miranda murmured.
"Especially our grown ones!" Florence chuckled with a smile. " I always had trouble getting Robert to sleep when he was little."
"Oh James was much worse," Roland smirked, having Miranda glance at him.
"Really? I beg to differ," Florence grinned, shaking her head playfully. "Robert was difficult."
"Did Robert wake up every single time he heard a strain of music?" Roland asked. "My first wife would pass by James and Amber's nursery as they'd be sleeping, and no matter how quietly she'd hum to herself, James would wake up and want to join her. Amber, of course, would sleep right through it. Later, when she hummed to herself, she'd hear a faint 'la-la-la' as if James was singing along with her. We finally ended up asking Cedric to put a soundproof charm on the door after we left the room so James could get a nap in!"
"And I remember once when he sang himself to sleep in his room," Miranda smiled, recalling how James had been worn out after donating blood and fallen asleep while listening to music. "Of course, this is after he had his door open again."
"We saw that," Florence smiled, Bianca nodding beside her. "He tried so hard to finish his song, but he was just so tired that he fell asleep in the middle of it!"
"If you think little boys are bad, little Helen Genevieve would have them both beat!" Bianca recalled with a chuckle.
"Really? Bianca, please tell us. My daughter in law is asleep with her own little boy anyway," Florence smirked, enjoying the talk she was having.
"Helen Genevieve would wake up in the middle of the night and want to play," Bianca smiled. "Lydia would be sleeping in the sitting room, so she and I would have to walk around the house with her. We'd tell her all sorts of stories until late at night when she'd fall asleep. Sometimes she'd be sleeping so soundly that it was easy to carry her to her bed. But other times, we'd put her in one of the chairs and let her sleep there."
"I guess I'm the odd one out," Miranda smiled. "I never had a problem with Sofia at night. She might have a nightmare now and then and wake up crying, and I'd take her to bed with me. Or she might be sick, and I'd spend the night in her room with her, but other than that, she was well behaved and stayed where she was."
"Lucky you," Florence grumbled playfully, seeing little eyes look at her. "Elena, what are you doing up?"
"Avalor?" Elena asked with a smile.
"Go back to sleep, sweetheart," Bianca murmured, rubbing her back. "We'll be in Avalor in a little while."
Normally, Elena would be too excited to sleep, but she held Kitty close and closed her eyes again. "Flying kitties..." she murmured as she fell asleep.
A while later, the coaches landed in the courtyard of Princess Elena's palace. "Now comes the fun part: waking everyone up," Florence grinned, knowing how hard it had been to wake Bobby Lee up when he was younger.
Ricky and Elena were the first ones to wake up, squealing as they both saw what they thought to be kitties looking at them.
"Jack wins?" Elena gasped, flapping her hands. "Jack wins!"
Nell and Bobby Lee were awake by now, and they smiled, seeing as how Elena hadn't gotten sick when they landed. They opened the carriage doors where everyone else was sleeping, and they couldn't help but smile.
"I hate to wake them up," Nell smiled, "They look so peaceful."
"Well, we don't want them to miss seeing Avalor," Roland smiled. He gently shook Sofia, James and Amber awake. "Amber, Sofia, James, wake up. We're here."
"Already?" James murmured as Roland helped him out.
"Why didn't you wake us up?" Sofia yawned as Amber stretched beside her.
"You looked so peaceful that we couldn't wake you," Nell smiled, taking Ricky in her arms.
Ricky cooed, feeling something furry and small nuzzle his cheek.
"Jack win?" Elena asked, smiling at the interaction.
"How about we let everyone wake up, then after we get settled in, we ask Princess Elena if we can see the jaquins?" Nell suggested.
"Okay," Elena agreed.
As Florence and Bianca helped Madeline and Sabrina out of the coach, Bobby Lee gently shook Gabby's shoulder. "Gab-Gab, wake up, sweetheart," he murmured, smiling as Gabby blinked up at him.
"We there yet?" Gabby murmured.
"Yes, we just landed," Bobby Lee smiled as he took her in his arms.
"Good," Gabby muttered in relief. "Daddy, I wanna stay with you!"
"And not meet anyone?" Bobby Lee joked with a smile.
"I meet Princess Elena," Gabby admitted.
"You remember meeting her grandparents, don't you?" Nell asked. "Remember how much fun you had watching her grandmother cook those yummy treats for our Day of the Dead celebration, and the pretty music her grandfather played?"
Gabby smiled. She actually did like the food Princess Elena's grandmother made, and she and Elena both loved dancing to Princess Elena's grandfather's guitar music. "Okay, I meet them too!"
"Good girl," Nell cooed, kissing her cheek.
"I see you're here for Queen Elena," a voice said, smiling at the group. "Let me-"
"Mr. Gabe!" Elena giggled, hugging his legs.
"I'm under attack!" Gabe started to look around, but he smiled when he saw Elena. The rest of the guards came running up, but Gabe grinned and said, "Stand down, men. You all remember Queen Elena's namesake, her family, and the Royal Family of Enchancia?"
"Sorry about that, Captain," Bobby Lee smiled as he picked Elena up. "Someone just can't wait to meet her namesake again."
"No harm done," Gabe smiled. "We'll give you an escort up to the palace. Queen Elena should be finishing up her meeting with the Grand Council soon, and she'll be in the throne room in a few minutes."
As they led the group inside, some of the guards chuckled to themselves. "Cutest attack I've ever seen," one of them grinned.
"Now why can't all our enemies be that adorable?" another one smiled at Elena.
"Laugh it up, men, because one day she'll be grown," Bobby Lee grinned, stroking Elena's hair. "And probably will have an actual reason to attack."
"I would like to see her try!" Gabe chuckled, kissing Elena's cheek. "She'll probably be too adorable to get arrested!"
"Ricky, look! A guard! Just like Daddy!" Nell laughed as Ricky reached out for Gabe.
"Who's this little fellow?" Gabe asked with a smile. "I don't remember him from the last time."
"That's our youngest, Richard Edward Johnson the Second, but we call him Ricky," Nell smiled. "Princess Elena was there at his christening, and she gave him a flying jaquin toy, just like she did for Elena."
"That's right," Gabe smiled. "I was with her when she bought it. I thought she was buying a new one for Miss Elena here."
"No, but she still has hers, which she named Kitty," Nell smiled. "Robert named Ricky's Zoomer."
Ricky squealed, holding up Zoomer for Gabe to see as the captain of the guard chuckled, patting his head.
"Growing up to look like your daddy, little fellow?" Gabe joked, taking him in his arms.
"He like you, Mr. Gabe!" Elena giggled, clapping her hands.
"Awwwww," all the guards cooed.
Gabe smirked. "Okay, that's enough. Let's get everyone up to the throne room," He led everyone up the steps to the palace. He saw Armando, the palace steward, and had him deliver a message to Princess Elena and her family, telling them about their special guests.
As she watched Armando go inside, Elena was excited. She could hardly wait to see her idol again. A few minutes later, the doors opened, and Armando had everyone brought inside.
"Elena!" Elena giggled, running into her idol's arms.
"As queen I should be used to this," Her idol smirked, picking Elena up.
"Queen?" Elena asked with a pout. "Why?"
"I'm queen now," she smiled. "I'm still the same person who gave you Kitty; I just have a different title."
"She's right, Love Bug," Nell smiled. "She'll always be your hero no matter what her title is."
Elena considered this. She didn't care for changes, but she still loved the lady standing in front of her. "Okay!" she smiled.
"Good," Queen Elena grinned, turning to Nell and Bobby Lee. "Besides, it's only been a month since I became queen."
"And what a beautiful ceremony it was," Nell recalled with a smile. "I almost felt bad that Miranda and Roland had to miss it."
"But I looked handsome in my suit!" Bobby Lee chuckled as Nell smiled at him. "And Helen looked beautiful in her dress."
"Robert, it was just a formal, watching-someone-get-crowned-queen dress. Nothing too fancy," Nell grinned, pulling him into a kiss.
"We do like the simple things in life, right, Elena?" Sofia smiled as Queen Elena hugged her next.
"That's right; Keep It Simple, Sofia!" Queen Elena chuckled as she kissed her.
"That word play was brilliant, Queen Elena!" James grinned.
"That book of word games and puzzles you gave Isa for Navidad was a lot of fun, Prince James," Queen Elena smiled. "Mateo ended up making a copy of it for my cousin Esteban so he could solve some of the puzzles too! Isa and my grandparents solved them so quickly that he didn't have a chance to look at them."
"He mad?" Elena asked with a small smile.
"I was a little more than that, young lady," Estéban smirked from where he was before glancing at Nell and Bobby Lee. "Mrs. and Mr. Johnson, now is not the time for some lovebirds."
"Our apologizes, Estéban," Nell grinned, laughing a little. "Sometimes the love bug kicks us when we least expect it."
"I bad girl?" Elena asked.
"No, this is a different love bug, Love Bug," Bobby Lee grinned.
"Nice one!" James grinned.
"I've been hanging around you way too much!" Bobby Lee chuckled, mussing James' hair.
Esteban couldn't help but smile. "Perhaps Prince James would like to compete against me in a word challenge later? I've heard from your letters that he's rather good with such games."
"I think we'd all like to see that," Roland smiled.
"Yeah!" James agreed.
Ricky cooed, reaching out from Gabe's arms to be held.
"No no, Richard. I don't think you'll like Estéban," Gabe joked, smiling softly at the older man. "We wouldn't want another Naomi bothering him."
"Yes, that is true," Esteban muttered.
"Cousin, need I remind you of the time you drank that water and turned into a baby?" Queen Elena smirked.
"I don't think he remembers," Sofia admitted, taking Ricky in her arms. "But Ricky likes everyone he meets."
"Is that so?" Naomi asked, looking down to see Elena hugging her legs. "That'll be interesting to see."
"Yes...now why don't we let all of you get settled in your guest rooms?" Esteban suggested quickly, not wanting to relive the memories of that transformation. "I'll send word to the kitchen and have tea and refreshments prepared, and we can catch up with each other in an hour or two."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Nell smiled, taking Elena in her arms. "We'll see you later, Queen Elena."
