"...Mother?"
A blonde haired five-year-old tilted her head in confusion, wide eyes blinking as she took in the woman standing before her. The woman turned, startled by the appearance of her daughter.
She went over to kneel before the little girl, planting a kiss on her forehead.
"Yes, it's me, sweetheart."
The little girl squinted at her mother, she didn't look anything like she usually did.
"You look funny," the girl blurted, reaching out to tug at the short auburn strands falling in front of her face.
"Ah, we don't pull people's hair," the woman admonished, pulling the locks from the little girl's grasp.
"Jo?" A voice called from behind them.
The woman peered over her shoulder, giving a smile as her eyes landed on her eldest daughter.
"Hello, Hope."
"Mother." The older girl nodded with a smile.
Jo ran over to her sister pulling the girl down by her sleeve to whisper in her ear.
"Is that really, Mother?"
Their mother coughed to suppress the laugh she wanted to let out, only to cut off as she jolted. An arm had wrapped around her waist, pulling her back into a firm chest.
"I see you've been caught, sweetheart," her husband muttered.
She reached back to lightly swat him even as she leaned further into his warmth.
"Hush, Nik, you're here now too."
"Ah, but," she could hear the smirk in his voice, "I wasn't the one caught. I made my way over voluntarily."
She just huffed. "We should get going anyway."
"Of course, my love."
The two quietly slipped out, leaving Hope to her explanations on why their parents looked nothing like themselves.
When the two returned the following morning they weren't expecting the ambush that laid in wait.
There Jo stood, arms crossed, an adorable pout on her face.
"Hope said we'd have story time when you got back."
"Story time?" The two chorused together, confusion shared.
"Yes," Hope drawled as stepped out from the hallway. "Jo was ever so curious as to why Mother and Father went from blonds to a redhead and a brunet." Her tone was mild, but her eyes glinted with mischief. This was punishment for the two abandoning her to Jo's endless questions.
"She got that from you," the woman hissed in her husband's ear.
Unruffled, he just turned to look at her eyebrows raised, lips twitching in suppressed laughter.
"Are you sure it wasn't from both of us, Caroline?"
She just jabbed a warning finger in his direction, before turning to regard her daughters.
"I suppose Liz wants to hear this too."
"Of course," Hope chirped. "Why, she's already set up the pillows in the drawing room."
Some time later the three girls were settled on three giant, plush pillows arranged in the center of the drawing room floor. Their parents sat across from them atop fluffy pillows of their own.
Caroline sighed figuring a physical demonstration might be a good start. She reached up to pick out the pins in her hair carefully tugging the wig off to reveal her flattened blonde curls trapped beneath a hair net. Unpinning the net next, she shook out her hair, running her fingers through it with a slight grimace. She usually showered after these annual ventures.
Jo's and Liz's eyes had widened, though Hope looked mildly bored, having seen all this before.
"Your father," Caroline tossed a quick glare in his direction, "tends to just use some temporary dye. Despite the fact it would only be fair if he used extensions one of these days," she added pointedly.
"Your faces still look weird." It was Liz this time to offer up a blunt observation.
"Good eye, sweetheart. That would be the makeup. In fact…" The man trailed off as he rose, stepping out of the room for a few moments and returning with a small package in hand. Resettling, he reached out to cradle his wife's chin, tilting her head to face him. She let her eyes flutter shut as he took a few makeup wipes and cleaned the heaviest of the products off her face.
"Whoa," Liz mumbled watching her Mother's face emerge out from beneath a stranger's. Even Hope watched riveted, always finding this part fascinating.
Once he finished, Caroline returned the favor. Though his own makeup wasn't as heavy. The removal of his facial hair did a surprising job in shifting the impression of his features.
But as cool as she found this, Jo was getting a bit impatient.
"Okay, okay, that's cool, but it's story time now."
She shrunk down at the mildly reprimanding expressions on her parents' faces.
"Is that how we make requests, Joanna Forbes?"
"I mean...Will you begin telling us the story, please?"
Caroline let her daughter fret for a moment before letting her off the hook.
"Very well, about ten year ago your father and I married as you well know. What you may not know," Caroline focused particularly on Jo and Liz as she said this, "is how we first met. You see most people have one first meeting, but we had three…"
Caroline couldn't help but observe the Prince out of the corner of her eyes, though she did her best to never do so while he was looking. And never look directly at him. Ever.
But to say she had been taken aback by his attitude was an understatement. Not only did he allow her to order him around, even obeying commands to do obviously tedious tasks, but he put his full effort into completing them. Based on the whispers she was hearing, he had been nothing but polite and efficient all evening. Perhaps it was an impressive facade, but he hadn't slipped all night. Through two more banquets after the one he had arrived at and a ball.
Though the real test would be when they went into the city to do the more hands-on volunteer work.
"Here you go, sweetheart," Niklaus said with a smile, handing over a carved figurine. It wasn't his best work considering he did it in a few minutes, but the girl he handed it to hardly cared. Delighted, the little brunette threw her arms around him before running off with a blush, shouting a 'thank you' over her shoulder.
"You were good with her," he heard the Princess say quietly from over his shoulder.
Twisting, he peered up at her from where he was still crouched.
"You sound surprised. ...You really think that low of me?"
The instant 'yes' hurt him more than he expected and his face must have faltered for she softened.
"...Or at least I did. You have really surprised me tonight, Prince Niklaus."
He felt his finger twitch as his name slipped past her lips. This was the first time she had uttered it all night. Before, she had either noticeably not addressed him as anything or added a flat 'Prince' when in hearing range of others.
Mentally shaking his head, he decided to take the chance to ask the question that had been burning in him since her first verbal attack.
"Apparently, that is the case. May I ask why? Why the surprise? Do I come across so harshly to you?"
The Princess bit her lip, looking contemplative as she stared down at him. After several long, silent moments, she offered her hand, wiggling her fingers slightly when he just stared at it.
He decided to take it, her hand warm and, to his surprise, very lightly calloused. He didn't get the chance to ponder it longer as she pulled him to his feet and released him.
"Now is not the best time for this conversation, but I suppose I do owe you an explanation. Later, alright?"
"You were mean to Father?" Jo exclaimed in surprise.
Feeling a bit sheepish, though she tried not to show it, Caroline delicately replied, "Perhaps a bit. This is why it's always important to take the time to know the full scope of a situation before making a judgement."
Having finished her tale, Caroline regarded the Prince's face. He actually looked horrified and embarrassed. Perhaps, she truly had misjudged him. Or he had grown out of such behavior. She could concede that it had been eight years, and people to do change. Feeling a bit embarrassed herself as she acknowledged that truth, she stood quietly as she waited for him to compose himself.
Letting out a groan, the Prince rubbed a hand across his brow.
"So you were there that day," he muttered to himself.
"Pardon?" She asked, confused.
Letting out a sigh, the man looked up at her from under the hand still on his brow.
"Well, you see…" He trailed off, his hand falling to his side as he struggled to find the words he wanted. "It seems facetious to chalk it up to the folly of youth, but in a way that's what it was. I was upset about other things at the time and my brother had given me a false impression of your character. So I may have been a bit of a, hm, a snob that day. I wanted to get your attention."
She couldn't help the snort that escaped her. "You certainly succeeded."
He shook his head, sardonically amused at himself. "Not the way I wanted. Obviously." Shifting the subject, Niklaus decided to reveal his own foray into hiding his identity. "You know, it's an odd coincidence that I have also met you before…"
Liz and Jo were both giggling, delighted by the way their father told the story of his first meeting with their mother. Hope too was smiling, having never heard this history in so much detail.
"It's like something from a fairytale!" Jo announced with glee.
Caroline blindly reached a hand over, weaving her fingers together with her husband's.
"I suppose it does sound like one, doesn't it?" She agreed with a smile. "And I suppose it deserves an appropriate end then?"
Her children all nodded in assent, some more enthusiastically than others.
"Well, in honor of how your father and I met, we take a day or two every year, just before the holidays, to explore the kingdom. Not as royals, but as ordinary citizens. Frankly, I think some of our best work for our people has sprouted from information we learned during these trips."
"And they really don't recognize you?" Hope asked.
"Perhaps, they do," Niklaus admitted. "But even if they intellectually know the truth, it may still be easier to speak to us when we don't look like the King and Queen. I've been told it can be quite intimidating for some." He said this last bit with a wink, tone more playful.
"Well, I hope some of them realize. I mean Jo recognized you from behind."
"Did Their Majesties stop by yesterday?"
"Hm, well, there was a couple who called themselves Candice and Joseph King."
The first speaker burst into laughter, charmed. "Some years, they're really not subtle are they?"
The second chuckled in agreement. "To be fair," she added, "they were really well disguised. If it wasn't for the last name, I'm not sure if I would have realized."
"Regardless, I am proud to have rulers that care so obviously for us, no?"
"Aye."
"Aye!" Chimed someone from behind them, the bar having been full of patrons low-key listening to the latest gossip.
"Long live the Queen and King!" Someone else shouted.
"Long live the Queen and King!" They echoed.