Late the following evening Robert, Morgan, Nancy, Giselle, and Edward made their way to the manhole that functioned as the portal between Andalasia and New York City. Noticing the absence of someone Robert asked, "Where's Nathaniel?"
Solemnly Edward responded, "He felt that he needed time to clear his head about certain things and I gave him leave to do so. He said he would return to Andalasia when he felt ready. Robert nodded in understanding. Then Edward held out his hands to Giselle and helped her down the hole and then quickly followed promising to be waiting for the three New Yorkers by the fountain in Andalasia. As soon as Edward had disappeared and a flash of light acknowledged his passage Robert swallowed hard and looked at Nancy, "I guess this is it. Are you ready?"
Nancy held out her hands to Robert with her palms down ready for him to help her down the hole. "Ready," she said with a nervous grin. Following Edward's example, Robert helped lower Nancy into the hole. Then he sat down at the edge of the hole with his legs dangling. Settling Morgan in his laps he wrapped his arms around her and told her to hold on tight around his neck. When he was satisfied she was secure he took a deep breath and let himself slip down.
Robert had been concerned that there would be a dizzying drop, or else a not so pleasant experience of ending up lying on the bottom of a city sewer pipe. There was an initial fall but after a second or so the fall slowed until it felt like he and Morgan were drifting down on a breeze. Quickly small spots of light began to appear, like when the stars come out as dusk falls. Robert heard Morgan gasp in amazement as they seemed to fall into a miniature version of the Milky Way galaxy and be surrounded by millions of small sparkling stars.
As these miniature 'stars' began to move towards them, Robert moved to try and shield Morgan from them. When the first one touched his hand Robert gasped. He had expected it to hurt but instead where he had been touched his skin tingled and while it was a strange experience it was not entirely unpleasant. As more and more the stars covered them both Morgan and Robert closed their eyes against the glow and they felt an upward pressure propelling them. Then suddenly everything stopped and Robert felt solid ground beneath his feet and arms around him. Opening his eyes he found Nancy hugging him, Giselle kneeling on the ground chattering to bunch of birds and other woodland creatures while Edward seemed to be reassuring a group of very anxious looking men.
Robert set Morgan down and watched as she ran over to Giselle amazed at seeing talking animals. Robert slipped an arm around Nancy's waist as they strolled after Morgan and he tried to take stock of how he felt. Despite the fact that he and everything else around him looked like a Disney cartoon nothing really felt foreign, just a little different. Physical feelings seemed less solid but emotions seemed much more powerful here, especially happy ones and so Robert finally understood Giselle's behavior when he first met her.
Nancy and Robert had just reached Morgan and Giselle and an older, refined gentleman announced that he was Quinn, the majordomo for the castle and he was there at Prince Edward's request to show them to their quarters and that Prince Edward asked them to join him later for a private dinner. Giselle gave Morgan a hug and them moved towards Edward as Robert, Morgan and Nancy followed Quinn at a rather leisurely pace since Quinn seemed to suffer from stiff legs. They were shown to a suite of rooms that was larger than Robert's entire apartment and seemed something straight out of a medieval painting, except not quite so depressing. Quinn said that servants would bring more appropriate clothing for them later.
Morgan enjoyed playing around on the feather bed until new clothes arrived. Squealing in delight at the princess quality red dress that had been brought for her she squirmed with happiness as Nancy helped lace up the back. Nancy and Robert were surprised to find clothing that was very similar to what they had worn to the King and Queen's Ball, except of far finer quality.
When they were finally escorted to dinner the three of them were greeted by a tired but radiant Giselle and Edward. Apparently for the first time ever Andalasia had been thrown into a panic when first their Prince disappeared on his wedding day and then their Queen had also disappeared two days later. As a result Edward, with Giselle at his side, had spent most of the day attempting to calm everyone at Court down while sending couriers to all parts of Andalasia to explain what had occurred as well as to announce his and Giselle's wedding and coronation to be held one week hence.
Over dinner Giselle asked Robert and Nancy when they wanted to get married. If they waited until after the royal wedding there would need to be a delay of at least a week to account for all of the celebrations that accompanied a royal wedding. But if they would also have more time to have exactly what they wanted. However, if they wanted to married more quickly it could be done anytime between now and Edward and Giselle's wedding but it would need to be a smaller affair.
Robert and Nancy exchanged a look and then announced together, "We'd like to have it sooner rather than later." And with those words a flurry of planning erupted. Edward and Robert discussed logistics while Giselle, Nancy and Morgan discussed clothing. Nancy asked Giselle to design a wedding dress for her (and Giselle then promptly asked Nancy to design her wedding dress) and all three of them worked on clothing for Robert and Morgan.
Within two days Robert and Nancy were married in the castle chapel. Very few people had attended aside from a few courtiers and servants who had helped plan the event and befriended the Prince's visitors. But while it was an intimate event, it was still an impressive and memorable one. Edward and Giselle were the Best Man and Maid of Honor while Morgan was the flower girl. Nancy looked stunning in the gown Giselle had designed that was in many ways a simpler version of her own Andalasian wedding dress. With the sun streaming in through the
large glass windows behind the altar the scene was a breathtaking one. But the best moment came when the priest pronounced them man and wife and told Robert he could kiss Nancy Robert picked up Morgan and he and Nancy each kissed one of her cheeks before leaning over and kissing each other.
Five days later the wedding of Edward and Giselle was almost the complete opposite of that scene. Robert and Nancy served as the Best Man and Maid of Honor but this wedding was much larger. It was attended by the entire court and as many of citizens of Andalasia who desired to attend and could fit in the church. Giselle set a new fashion with the dress Nancy had designed. The top of the dress was very similar to the dress Giselle had worn to the ball but then flared out into a flowing A-line skirt with a train that was three feet long. When the Prince and his Princess finally kissed there was much cheering and much relief. After a celebratory meal, everyone filed back to the chapel and the Prince and new Princess were crowned King and Queen of Andalasia. After being crowned Edward and Giselle bestowed the title of Duke and Duchess upon the newlyweds in thanks for their help and friendship.
After the week long celebrations the Phillip family returned to New York while Edward and Giselle tried to learn how to run a country, even one as peaceful as Andalasia. But the friendships formed continued despite living in two worlds. The Phillips family would frequently visit Andalasia for weekends and other vacations. And when they needed a break Edward and Giselle would visit New York City. Although they did convince a local fairy to change the portal location in New York to something a little less in the middle of traffic. All of them used the new experiences and feelings change their lives for the better. And so they all had their Happily Ever After, the very thing they had all wished for.
Author's note: Thank you all for reading this. For now the story is done. I do plan on doing some revisions to the story to add/improve some things that have popped up as I went along. So if there is something you felt didn't work, was out of character, or just needed some extra explanation let me know and I will take it into consideration. As of now I have no plans for a sequel if only due to a lack of plot presenting itself. But if people are interested I would be willing to do a series of one-shots within this universe both during the story and during the Happily Ever After. So let me know if there is a specific scene you would like or if you just like the idea in general. Thanks again for reading!