Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

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The Legal Stuff: Emerald Princess © 2016-2023 By Sofia Hammerstein
 
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 © 2016-2023 By Sofia Hammerstein. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
 
 
Chapter 6: Playing Princess

I WOKE UP and played with Lily for the rest of the afternoon. Mom made my favorite meal of green chile enchiladas that night! I was nearly in tears, though, as I suddenly became much more sensitive to the green chile than before. It tasted really hot! Mom saw my face and brought milk in my sippy cup to help.

‘Why can’t I deal with spice now?’ I asked Caireen.

‘Why on Earth would you want to eat such disgusting things?’ She asked in reply.

‘You can’t ruin chile for me. I’ll never survive!!!!!’ I told her. I was an authentic New Mexican and regularly had the spiciest chile dishes I could get my hands on!

‘Well, then just get used to it again, I guess. Remember, in Ireland, we don’t really do spicy food.’

I made it through dinner with Mom, Dad, and even Lily, all laughing at me. Lily didn’t even have a problem with those mild enchiladas! Dad had looked at me in amazement when he walked in. He, too, was terrified of something happening to my tiara before I explained nothing could happen to it. Clearly, we were all in way over our heads, and I just hoped that nothing bad happened to my family members through all of this.

As soon as Mom let me down from the high chair, I thought about walking to the toilet just to try and see what would happen. I found myself squatting in place just a few steps after I was let down, though. I sniffled, “Mommy, can you change me?”

“Give me just a few minutes, sweetheart; I need to put this food away first.”

I stood still, trying not to move and make it squish and get worse. Suddenly I found myself squatting again, and I guess I wasn’t done… I looked for Lily and saw her in Dad’s arms as he was heading upstairs. “Sofia, do you want your diaper changed too?” He asked.

I nodded and did my best to follow him. I climbed up the giant steps one step at a time and felt the mushy poop roll against my legs several times. I finally climbed the stairs and saw Lily lying on the changing table. I had to keep from crying, so I put my thumb in my mouth. Daddy saved the day soon, though, and he worked to get through my diaper cover, tights, and pushed the skirt of my dress up. After all that movement, my diaper was smeared with the mess, trying to escape it. My climb and his attempts to undress me had just made it worse!

“Icky,” he said to me with a smile. “You stinky!”

I felt more tears going, and he said, “Oh, don’t go crying, Princess, you’re a baby. This is normal.” He tried reassuring me.

Daddy had to use many more wipes than Mom had the night before, partly because he rarely changed Lily’s diapers. Usually, that was Mom or me… ‘Guess he’s having to step in now...’ I sighed.

I felt a mental hug from Caireen, but she didn’t say anything. Daddy eventually had my new diaper on, tights in place, and the diaper cover on and sat me down on the floor. I went up to him and hugged him around his legs. “Thank you, Daddy,” I told him.

He squeezed me back and said, “Any time Princess.”

Lily came up then and pulled me downstairs to the Basement playroom. We played with a playhouse she had down there and pretended to make dinner and feed some baby dolls. I had fun just because I was spending time with my favorite sister. I was a little surprised I was having fun, though, pretending too. Still, I guessed the activity was novel enough that I wasn’t complaining. I had basically been an only child until a couple years ago, so I’d never had a sibling to play with. An hour later, Mom came down and said, “Bath time,” to us.

“Do we have to?” Lily asked.

“Yes, of course we do, Princess Lily; princesses can’t be dirty!” I told her with a smile. “Come on!”

She smiled at me, and I avoided the tantrum she probably would have had otherwise. I had a thought as we went upstairs, “Mommy, before I get undressed, would you please take a picture with my iPhone?”

She looked at me funny but said, “Sure…?” We went down the hallway with Lily in tow. Mom took a picture for me in my room in front of the rocking chair, then with me sitting in the rocking chair, and then at Lily’s insistence with her sitting with me.

Mom then undressed both of us, and we repeated last night’s bath before she let me again stay up for a while. I had picked out a purple nightgown that was in my closet. It looked like a modern-day little girl’s nightgown, complete with an embroidered picture of Merida on the chest. Still, I could tell it was another one of Caireen’s special clothes by the way the material felt on my skin.

I got on my phone and texted Jacob about some school things before sending Hannah the picture of me standing in front of the rocking chair. I’d completely forgotten most of the day that I was wearing my tiara! I giggled a little as I sent it to her with the caption, ‘Princess Sofia.’

‘OMG Adorbs!!!!!!’ she sent me.

‘Thanks,’ I replied.

‘That’s a beautiful dress and tiara,’ she added.

‘I know, they’re kind of special too. I told Jacob you guys could come over Tuesday after I get the testing done Monday...’

‘You haven’t told him yet?’

‘He seems to be guessing something like this… well, not like this.’

‘Giggle, no one could,’ she responded.

I eventually finished talking with her and went over to the child-sized desk that my computer now sat on. Mom had sat my tiara there, and I wanted to look at it. ‘What is this made of?’ I asked Caireen.

‘Mithril.’

‘Like from Lord of the Rings?’ I asked.

‘Tolkien had an encounter with some of the Faeries at some point. That’s where he got a lot of his ideas from. It’s an uncommon substance that’s very special. This tiara was gifted to me from Queen Nicneven herself back before the fall of the Faeries.’

‘Who was she?’

‘Later,’ she promised me, ‘we have a very long time to answer the billion questions you have, my dear.’

I went to my Snapchat account and decided it would be wise to delete it now. I backed it up last night just in case I wanted to do this. I then deleted all of my other social media accounts while I was at it. ‘The only social media I’ll probably be on for a while will be my mom’s ‘OMG my baby girl is pretty’ posts.’ So far, of course, she hadn’t done any of those!

I was just getting ready to do some more research into Mergents when my mom came in. “Sofia, it’s bedtime.” I looked, and it was ten. When I turned around, I saw that she held a bottle and another of Lily’s bedtime books in her hands.

I smiled at that, “Story time again?”

“Yep!” She smiled, “Do you need a change first?”

I had to nod, “I wish I knew when I was going. I just eventually notice that everything is squishy.”

Mom picked me up and changed me quickly before carrying me to the rocking chair. She sat me like she had last night, and I began nursing the warm milk while she told me a story of Merida this time. I felt a warm feeling coming from Caileen, and I had a feeling she liked this story too. I lasted a little longer into the story, but I still didn’t remember Mom putting me down in my crib.

I WOKE UP in another crib, this time at Caireen’s castle.

I saw her standing there looking at me. “Come here,” she told me, picked me up, and cuddled me for a moment. She changed my diaper and put me into a new dress that was once again mainly green. My tiara was added, and I asked, “So does this castle have a name?”

“Emerald Castle,” she said with a smile.

“I take it you like green?” I asked with a smile.

“It’s my favorite color,” she said. “Although I won’t hold your favorite color being purple against you!”

She sat down on the floor with me, and we talked for a little while before trumpets blared a fanfare. “That will be your parents,” she said with a smile.

“Huh?”

“Your mom wanted to talk, remember?” She said, “It’s easier to pull them into here and talk than to leave one of us out when I use you to talk.”

“Oh.”

We waited a few minutes when I was surprised to see a well-dressed page come in. “The Duke and Duchess Hammerstein to see you, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you, James,” she dismissed him.

I saw both of them looking around at my nursery with open mouths. “I do apologize for being so forward, but with Princess Sofia coming here each night, I thought it would be wise to get the nursery back in use.” She said, “I am Caireen,” she said with a smile.

“Why did he introduce us with titles?”

“Well, on your side of the family, Rachel, may I call you that?” She paused for Mom’s nod, “Your family is the descendent of one of the last rightful Irish Kings in the 1700s. On Levi’s side, you are actually also descendants of a bloodline in Germany.”

“Oh,” Mom said. “So... that’s too long ago, though… why?”

Caireen sighed, picked me up, and said, “Let’s go somewhere more comfortable for sitting?”

They nodded and followed her to another door that opened into a beautiful sitting room that would fit right in a Louis XIV chateau. She pointed to a sofa and took her spot in a sitting chair beside it. Caireen looked at me, and I stayed contentedly in her arms.

“Okay, you’ve been very patient, and I appreciate it.” She told my parents with a smile. Sitting on her left knee, I could easily see her and my parents by swiveling my head a little. “First, please don’t be frightened, but I am not a mortal or a simple spirit. I am, in fact, what you would call a goddess.”

Mom spoke up, “I wondered. I searched your name after I learned it last night.”

“I know,” she said with a smile.

“Of what?” Dad asked.

“Generally, of children.”

“Is that why Nicholas became a baby?” He asked.

She shook her head, “I told Sofia about this last night, but here goes. She had already had her EFP set when she began changing. I was drawn to her because of her gentle and loving nature. I was impressed by how she had always cared for her baby sister. I’ve never seen a young man be more nurturing and caring with a baby! When I saw that he was changing so severely, I knew he was in danger of dying due to a severe case of what your people call ‘burnout.’ It was much too severe of a change, happening too quickly for him to survive. I knew she was becoming a toddler all over again and decided that I could help her and she would be able to help others in the future. The avatar talent that she has bound me to her, though… I wasn’t expecting that! She’s exceptionally powerful there!”

Mom and Dad just politely looked on at her to go on. “Anyway, the two of us will be bound together until Sofia passes from this Earth. A time which I believe will probably be a very long way down the road.”

“So how does this turn her fully into a princess?” Mom asked.

“Well, essentially, she’s become my daughter now too.” She noticed Mom and Dad looking nervously at her, “Don’t worry, I will never ever take her from you.”

“What do you intend to do with her?” Dad asked.

“I’m going to help her become an amazing girl with a magical talent few will be able to match. I’ll be with her to help her when she’s hurt, help her fight the battles ahead, and generally be her mentor. Unfortunately, I may occasionally be unable to help myself and have to throw in real-world gifts here and there… Sorry I couldn’t help myself last night and today.”

“We appreciate the gifts,” Mom said, “I didn’t really want to travel into the city until we get her tested.”

“A wise idea, I believe. Having a quiet weekend with your two daughters at home playing would be the best plan you could have.”

“What should we do after that?” Dad asked.

“Honestly?” Caireen responded, “I think Sofia would best be served by going to that Bechtel school for her education. I’m hopeful they’ll accept her when they see her testing.”

“What about her age? Will she ever grow up?” Mom asked.

Caireen shrugged, “Like I said, her EFP was set before I even got involved. I’m guessing she’ll be this size and have the same needs for the rest of her life. She’s powerful enough she should be able to do some spells to make her life a little bit easier down the road. Glamour spells to make her seem like she’s a teenager, some others to mask the odor of a poopy diaper, and down the road, probably one to change her diaper too…?”

“The pacifier addiction?” Mom asked.

Caireen laughed, “I have no clue how we’re going to break her of that. She managed a couple hours today while she was playing with Lily. It’s possible that if she’s distracted enough, she can do without. Any time she gets nervous or frustrated, she needs it like a smoker needs a cigarette!”

By this time, I started to feel my eyes drooping. My parents and Caireen must have continued talking through the night, but the next day I couldn’t remember anything after that.

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