Alan and his best friend Ellie are enjoying being able to hang out on their summer break. Ellie has known about Alan's desire to be Allie for several years, and they plan one of their many shopping trips to the mall while their parents are at work. Little does Allie know that her simple day of secretly being out with her best friend would suddenly spiral into a whole new life!

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The Legal Stuff: Suddenly Royal © 2020 By Tiffany Shar
 
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2020 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
 
 
Preface

I saw the announcement for Erin's Reluctant Princess Contest and immediately had an idea, but with everything going on in the world couldn't get much energy to write it. Since my last book that I posted on here it's been a really busy time in my life, but I really wanted to get a chance to put this story out there! Since I've procrastinated beginning to post there will be some days I'll throw another chapter up in order to make the deadline there. I have eight chapters written and plan on four more for this part of the tale.

I first have to say this is a work meant to entirely be fun and fluffy. It is meant to be one of those popcorn and pajamas tales, not high level fantasy! This was inspired by many a princess movie I've seen, and I hope you enjoy it as a fun tale! (Special shoutout of thanks to Carla Ann for editing this for me! It's a last minute push here and I appreciate her help!!!)

Chapter 3:

I WAVED AT Ellie who was looking out the window in astonishment then. She made a ‘call me’ motion with her hand and I nodded. I waved at Mom too and sat down inside the door that Giuseppe opened for me.

He closed the door and I watched him sit down in the passenger seat up front. “Umm… why…?” was all I could get out.

“Your grandmother insisted,” he told me.

“Okay… where are we going?”

“Your grandmother has a reservation at a restaurant downtown,” he told me.

“Okay…” I said and found my phone with ten text messages from Ellie on it.

A freaking limo? She asked me.

I texted her back and forth and had a massive guessing game of who in the hell my dad had been as we traveled into the city. I took a selfie of myself and sent it to her.

OMG she sent me back.

I nervously chatted with her as we finally pulled up to a restaurant downtown. I recognized it as the best restaurant in the city, one which had recently earned two Michelin stars. I smiled at being able to try it! I had read about the restaurant and wanted to try it, but of course Mom had laughed at me when I suggested it!

I started to open the door, but Giuseppe beat me to it and said, “Right this way Miss.”

I shook my head believing it must be some sort of dream. ‘My mom knows about me, and I’ve just ridden in a limo to meet with some long-lost grandmother who must be loaded!’

Mom did well for herself as a lawyer for a big firm, but I never considered us to be really wealthy since it was only her income coming in. Well… that and I know she got child support payments for me. We never worried for money I guess, but I wasn’t like some of the kids at school that were constantly getting the latest toys and gadgets growing up. I followed Giuseppe inside and stood as he quietly talked to the Maître’D. “Right this way,” he said a moment later and led us back to a private room where an older lady sat at a small table set for two.

She was older, but didn’t seem old enough to really be my grandmother. Maybe early fifties at the most, and something about her radiated… power?

“Mon dieu… c’est une surprise!” she said standing up.

Mom had for some reason insisted I learn French as a kid… It had never made sense to me given all of my friends that spoke Spanish. ‘Grandma and Dad are why?’ I heard the door close behind me and stepped closer, “Umm… Bonjour… Je m’appelle Allie…” I told her nervously.

“Definitely not what I expected,” she told me tersely in more French as she held her hand out and gave me one of those high society limp handshakes that I’d seen Mom endure before. “I’m your grandmother, Maria,” she told me.

“I’m umm… I’m sorry about your son,” I said a moment later awkwardly.

“Thank you dear… I know you didn’t know him, but I imagine the news probably affected you as well since he was your father. Please sit,” she told me.

I carefully did the best I could to sit gracefully in the chair while smoothing my dress.

“You’re not new to dressing as a girl, are you?” she asked me in English, surprising me. ‘Glad she speaks more than French…’

I shook my head and blushed, “No ma’am, I’ve been dressing as myself in secret for a couple years now.”

“Giuseppe said your mother only just found out this afternoon?”

I blushed deeper… “Umm… yeah… that was a fun conversation that will be continued later I’m sure.”

“If I may say so you do look like a convincing young girl.”

“Thank you,” I said as the door opened and a waiter appeared.

I noticed my grandmother already had a small glass of wine in front of her as the waiter asked, “What can I get you to drink?”

“Umm… iced tea?” I asked nervously.

“Certainly,” he told me. “You want to begin the meal now?” he asked my grandmother.

“Give us ten more minutes to talk and then bring out the first course please.”

“Absolutely,” he said and left.

“So… how old are you again?”

I blushed, “Fifteen ma’am.”

“I wanted to be sure. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought you were a lot younger.”

“Everyone always does… I know my dad was supposedly tall, but I seem to have gotten my height genes from Mom’s side.”

“She was always struggling in too high of heels to manage that,” she nodded. “You’re still young though, you might still grow some! Your father hit his big growth spurt at your age.”

I shrugged, “I’ve yet to see it…” I said as I silently hoped I wouldn’t suddenly be getting hairy and bulky.

Food began coming out beginning with a salad course that I didn’t really want to eat. I forced it down though since I didn’t want to make a bad first impression. Six small plates of food came out after that in a slow succession. Each looked to belong on the cover of a magazine, or on a competitive cooking show. We talked awkwardly about me through dinner and finally finished dessert of a small chocolate mousse and ganache concoction that was to die for!

“So… umm… Grandma, what do you do?” I asked my first question of her. “Where do you live? Your accent is sort of British, right?”

She smiled, “I grew up in England actually, but I married your grandfather and moved to a small country called Osané in the Mediterranean where he was from.”

“Umm… is my grandfather still alive?” I asked hesitantly.

“I’m sorry to say that Alexandros passed away not long after you were born.”

“Alexandros?” I said curiously, “That’s my name.”

“It is?” She asked with a twinkle of her eyes, “You were the fourth generation Alexandros Leonidas Alessi,” she told me, “But maybe you’re really the first Alexandria?” she suggested.

I nodded, “That’s what I’ve always thought of my name as… but there’s nothing showing that…” I sighed.

“I think your father would have approved,” she told me.

“So, you never answered me, what do you do?”

“I’m the Queen,” she told me.

I giggled, “You’re joking right? This really is some weird dream I’m having...”

She looked affronted, “My dear I would never joke about such a thing.”

“But that would mean my dad was a… prince?” I asked.

“Yes, he was, the Crowned Prince, to be precise.”

“But… I assume he had a wife and more kids?”

She looked sad and shook her head, “No… I don’t think he ever met anyone that held a candle to whatever it was he saw in your mother.”

“Really? What a way to show it?” I said.

“I would suggest talking with your mother more about that before judging him too harshly.”

I sat there for a moment, “Wait, if my dad was a prince, what does that make me?”

“Right now? I would say a princess?”

I laughed, “You’re kidding, right?”

“Heaven’s no I would never joke about something like that! Though since you’re a boy it would make you a prince right now.”

I made a face, “Do I have to be a prince?”

She sighed, “Well, it definitely is a problem in a way if you are a Princess instead since you wouldn’t be able to father your own children to carry on our line of succession.”

“That’s the only problem?”

“From what I can see you appear to be very pretty as a girl, so that probably is it. But that’s a big one!”

Not knowing what else to say to that I said, “Thank you… I don’t know anything about that though… I’ve always figured someday I can adopt.”

“I suppose that would be one way… An adoption would appeal to some people I suppose.” She paused, “The bigger problem here is that we’re going to have to decide very quickly what you want.”

“What I want?”

“Prince or Princess, before we announce you to the world.”

“Announce… Announce me to the world?” I gasped, “Why would we do that? Why the rush?”

“Because Alexandria, Osané must have a named successor now that your father is dead. If I do not name one within the next six months, then the next family in the line of succession will take power when I pass away. Practicality wise I want to announce you as my successor in the next three…”

“Wait… what?!?”

“But I’m only fifteen! And… I have no idea… how…”

I began hyperventilating and blacked out.

.........

“YOUR MAJESTY I think she’s coming around…” I heard a voice say.

“Huh?” I asked confused as I opened my eyes.

“Where…?” I started to ask but looked into the concerned eyes of the woman I had met mere hours ago. I laid my head back down on the floor where they must have put me. “This can’t be happening…”

It took a good twenty minutes before I was really feeling halfway up to moving. “Let’s go ahead and get you home dear, you’ve had enough shocks for today…” my grandmother told me.

“You think?” I told her, more than a bit embarrassed by the day!

A few minutes later they were by my side as we traveled out to the limo that was waiting. I looked at the front of the vehicle and realized she probably wasn’t having fun at my expense… there were two miniature flags that I assumed were Osané’s standing on the end of the vehicle. ‘Were those there earlier?’

A camera flash surprised me as Giuseppe held the door open and I let Grandma go first into the vehicle and followed her inside. The ride was silent for a bit before a silly question came to mind, “Umm… Grandma?”

“Yes dear?”

“If I’m a princess… like a real one… do I get a tiara?”

She laughed at me, “You’ll have a collection of them actually, but I daresay we would pick out one ‘favorite’ for it to be the main one.”

“But…” I paused, “You said Dad was… Wait, does that mean I would have to be a Queen?”

“Part of the job I’m afraid…”

“But I’m not normal…” I told her.

“You’re most certainly not… and at some point there will be a scandal…”

I looked at her and decided she didn’t look entirely happy with that, “Umm…”

“That being said Osané has adopted a number of laws in the last few years that bar discrimination in the workplace. It would be unwise for the monarchy to be any different.”

I gulped, “What… what should I do when people find out?”

“What your heart tells you to do my dear,” she told me as we glided to a stop in front of my house. “You’re going to have a million questions Alexandria, and that’s just tonight when I leave. Tomorrow I’d like you to spend the day with me and we’ll answer a couple hundred of them?”

“Can my best friend come?” I asked her.

“How about after tomorrow she can?” She told me.

“Can I tell her about this?” Realizing they hadn’t wanted her to know anything earlier.

“How much do you trust her?”

“With my life, she’s never told anyone about me being transgendered!”

“Then yes, but you must swear her to secrecy. Tomorrow we need to discuss some more things with the two of us and your mother at our embassy.”

“You have an embassy here?”

She laughed, “Osané is a small country, but we do have two embassies here in the US. One here, and one in New York City.”

“Wha…”

She actually gave me a thin smile, “Tomorrow… for now give me a hug and go talk to your mom. I guarantee she’s dying to know about everything.”

I nodded and hugged her, feeling a bit odd as she did the European kiss thing too. I crawled out the door that Giuseppe held open and walked up to my house and unlocked the front door. “Mom?” I called out.

Silence greeted me though as I looked at the time and saw it was just nine. Her event probably didn’t end until at least ten from what I remembered, so I kicked off my shoes and walked over to our couch and sat down. I pulled my phone out and pulled up a video chat with Ellie.

“Spill girl!” Ellie told me.

“Umm…” I tried to think of how to even begin.

“Wait, hold on, is this that good of a story?”

“It’s a doozy of a fairytale…”

“Mom, can I go over to Al’s house?”

“It’s nine at night…”

“I’ll be back by eleven?”

“Is his mom there?”

“No, I thought I would go hang out with him so he’s not alone.”

“Going to a boy’s house by yourself is not exactly something I should be saying yes to…”

“Mom! It’s not like that!!!” She said in exasperation loud enough to hurt my ears.

“It better not be Elliana! I guess… But no hanky panky.”

“Mom! Who even says that anymore?” she said embarrassed, but told me, “I’ll be over in a minute.”

Sure enough a few minutes later the doorbell rang and I let her in.

“Your hair looks amazing!” she told me and gave me a quick hug. “You still look like a little kid, but you look really pretty like that!”

I smiled at her, “My grandmother basically said the same thing…”

She laughed at me and we sat down on opposite ends of the couch. “So, what’s the big deal? Your grandmother must be loaded if you went to dinner in a freaking limo?”

“You don’t know the half of it…” I told her.

“You said it was about your dad? He died?”

I felt a tear down my cheek, “Apparently… I never even met him! If it wasn’t for the child support and the gifts for my birthday and Christmas, I would assume he was already dead before this. I always dreamed of actually meeting him…” more tears came down my cheeks and I grieved for a moment.

“I’m so sorry Allie…” she hugged me tightly.

After a bit when I got myself under control, “So apparently my dad wasn’t just some guy…”

“Obviously he was well off, those gifts you got were always expensive!”

“I used to think he was just trying to buy my love…”

“Why didn’t he ever just come and see you?”

“I don’t know that part… but Ellie… I found out tonight that my dad was…”

The front door suddenly opened up and Mom called out, “Alan, I’m home!” Before turning and seeing the two of us. “Oh honey,” she saw me with the red face and came to hug me.

More sobbing, more tears, and eventually Ellie asked, “What were you saying about your dad?”

“Ellie… apparently my dad was a prince.”

“What?” she said, “A prince? Like a future king prince? No freaking way?”

I nodded and found my mom nodding as well. “Mom, you knew?”

“Not at first,” she told me.

“So, if he’s a prince, what does that make you?” Ellie asked.

“Princess or a Prince…” I told her. “I can tell you which one I’d rather be…”

“You’re like being for real? What country?”

“Osané,” I told her, “It’s apparently some small island nation in the Mediterranean not far from France…”

“You’re just making this up, right?”

I laughed, “I wish… today has been weird.” Ellie’s phone rang, “Yeah Mom, I’m sorry, we’ve been talking and the time got away from me. I’ll be home in a minute. Yes, Alan’s mom is home now…”

“Ellie, thanks for coming over… before you go though you have to promise me not to tell anyone about this. It has to be as much of a secret as Allie…”

She hugged me, “Count on it, little sister.”

I walked her to the door and Mom said, “Hot chocolate? I think we have a lot to talk about?”

I nodded and followed her into the kitchen and sat silently while she moved about. Her expensive skirt suit looked good on her, “How was the event?”

“Boring like always, but it’s something I have to do if I ever want to be a full partner…”

I nodded, she had way too many politics at work in my opinion. “I guess…”

She finished making two cups of the chocolatey good stuff that was our tradition for heavy conversations. “So, where do we start?”

“Why the hell didn’t I know my dad was a prince?”

She looked awkward and embarrassed, “We felt it was better to keep you out of the limelight…”

“What?”

She sighed, “I guess let me start at the beginning. Sixteen years ago, I was in my junior year of college, and had this one boy in class that I couldn’t help but stare at all of the time. He was so handsome! I was too much of a chicken to go up and talk to him though, so I just stared from afar. A few weeks into the school year I was riding my bike and he accidentally stepped out in front of me. I went flying and he came like a gallant knight to check on me and helped me up.”

“That’s sweet,” I admitted.

“It was… Well, he insisted on taking me to get lunch then and before I knew it, I was head over heels in love with Alexandros.” She smiled, “Alexandros was such a hot name that my roommate and I would say it all of the time.”

“Mom that’s kind of weird…”

She laughed, “Well, I didn’t have much of a choice on your name. The two of us had been dating for six months before I missed a period.”

“Me?”

“Yep, and he was as excited as I was scared about you!”

“So, what happened, where did he go?”

“His duties happened sweetie. His dad suddenly passed away, and his mom found out about me. She met me at the funeral and decided I was a commoner and not good enough for her son.”

“How could she?!?” I said. “That is such a… a…”

“Bitchy thing to do?” She finished for me. “You’re right, it was. She didn’t feel like they could afford the scandal of a commoner marrying her son. And they certainly couldn’t afford to have it known that there was a child of an unwed relationship out there…”

“So, what? They covered me up?”

She nodded, “Alexandros didn’t want to, but he felt duty bound to his mom, and more importantly to him the people of the country. We agreed you would be given the family name, but unless he failed to marry and have other kids you would not be in the line of succession.”

“Grandma… she said he didn’t marry or have other kids…”

Mom smiled at me, “I don’t think he really wanted to abandon us…” she sighed, “Unfortunately this probably complicates even more things on the bigger issue.”

“Bigger issue?”

“My son is dressed as a girl? I sent him to meet his grandmother as a girl?”

I felt uncomfortable, “I’m sorry…”

She wrapped me up in a big hug, “I am too. I don’t know how we went this long without me ever knowing about you.”

For the next hour we kept talking about me, and moving forward with being me. Eventually she said, “It’s getting late Allie, why don’t you get ready for bed?”

I hugged her and said, “Okay…” as I yawned. I went to the bathroom and looked at my red face from tears, but otherwise smiled at my hair and the fact I had worn a dress in front of Mom and she wasn’t trying to murder me or something. Grandma even seemed okay with it… I began picking through the braid Mom had done and brushed my hair out. I grabbed a scrunchie and put my hair into a loose ponytail before going back to my room. I had one set of pajamas I had hidden away a few years ago that were hand-me-downs from Ellie. She had given them to me not long after I came out to her. She had only worn them one time to make her grandparents happy at Christmas. She thought they were too babyish, but I couldn’t help but smile as I pulled on the pajamas with Belle, Rapunzel, and Cinderella on the top. I’d always been afraid to wear them since Mom came in to wake me up in the mornings each day…

She came in just as I was getting ready to lay down in my bed. “Those are cute, where did you get them?” She asked as she walked over to me.

“Ellie, she thought they were too babyish.”

“She couldn’t have worn these recently?”

“They’re from Christmas sixth grade…” I told her.

“You really are a small munchkin, aren’t you?”

“I’m still taller than you!”

She laughed and grabbed the blanket from me and tucked me in like she did when I was little. “Allie, I don’t know what this is all going to bring in the next couple months. But know that I love you with all of my heart. Tomorrow your grandmother wants to see us both for lunch. I’m planning on getting you into a couple doctors first thing in the morning though.”

“Why?” I asked nervously.

“Because if you’re going to be my little girl, instead of my little boy, you’re going to need to see doctors. I have a few transgender clients I’ve represented, so we’re going to use some of the resources I know of to make sure you are okay.”

I smiled, “So… you’re okay with… me?”

“Does it matter?” She asked me. I nervously shrugged my shoulders. “Yes, I am okay with you. If your grandmother doesn’t beat me to it I plan on beginning to make up for lost time shopping with the little girl you never told me I had!”

She kissed me on the forehead and said, “Good night, Princess.”