Olivia Sparks

"Hello, hello!" a heavy-bellied Princess Maya greeted upon entering the mansion. The skirt of her wrap dress that fell an inch below her knee swayed as she made her way inside.

She was due to give birth any time of the week and was supposed to stay home but it didn't stop her from crashing into Notios Estate after receiving a text message from Queen Isla that they would be having breakfast with O Sui that morning. 

Of course, she didn't want to miss out on the fun, so she left her husband who was still asleep after pulling an all-nighter. Last night, he had to do damage control over his portfolio that was affected by a scandal that hit the front page the following day.

"What the freak are you doing in here?" Maxen pinched his nose bridge, his other hand held onto his hip for support. He could feel his body enter a limbo, spiraling down into oblivion over the fact that his whole family is present.

"Do you know that you can read Olivia Sparks in for free? So head on to to show your support to your lovely author who has three kids to feed. Thank you."

To him, if King Alistair and Queen Isla were fire breathers, Princess Maya on the other hand was someone who would fan the flames, watching with googly eyes as it set ablaze, eating whatever gets into its path, which was unluckily… him.

"Oh my gosh!" Princess Maya's hand flew to her mouth when Olivia stepped out of a corner. Her eyes shimmered with fascination, drinking in Olivia's form who was wearing a simple dress with tropical embroidery. "You looked like a fairy who wandered outside a forest, O Sui!"

"Thank you. Wait. O Sui? Who? Me?" She pointed a finger to herself, her head snapping between the siblings. Seeing Maxen rub the skin above his eyebrow, and Princess Maya bobbing her head, she made a guess that it's an inside joke of the Suis. 

"Silly me. Who else would be O Sui?" She elbowed Maxen who let out an awkward laugh.

Olivia mirrored Princess Maya's smile, but it turned into a sinister one as she turned her head beside her where Maxen was, asking through her eyes what the heck was his sister doing in their home. Her lips twitched when he just responded with a shrug. 

Letting it go, she took a deep breath. "And you look too wobbly to be walking around by yourself." She felt an odd knot in the pit of her stomach as she eyed Princess Maya's swollen belly. Fighting the urge to touch her flat one, she offered an arm to Princess Maya who gladly accepted it and happily chirped as they walked towards the dining hall.

The long walk to the dining hall was rather quick all thanks to Princess Maya talking incessantly, giving Olivia a rundown of the king and queen.

"Don't worry about Dad. He may look intimidating but he's a softie deep inside. I remember when I got married he almost never gave my hand away. Well, he did, but then, he snatched it back from Dexter. Imagine Mom's horror upon witnessing that. Why would the king take back what he already gave away? Good thing it was not caught on camera or he would have exposed himself on a live broadcast."

Olivia responded with a smile, clueless about what to say or talk about. Should she share something about her father too? But won't that story dampen Princess Maya's mood? She didn't want to sound like a party pooper or something. 

Although she loved how Princess Maya painted their family in technicolor of words, it was her first time hearing someone talk about beautiful family memories, and she couldn't mask the pang of jealousy that crawled under her skin.

Behind them, Maxen noticed her discomfort, so he squished himself between them, hooking Princess Maya's arm on one arm while his other coiled on Olivia's waist.

"You're talking too much, princess. I bet your little girl is covering her ears inside."

Rubbing her belly, Princess Maya mused, "Do you think so? Ughh the wait is killing me. Oh. Hi, Jack! It's been a while." She waved her hand upon seeing Jack waiting by the dining hall's door.

"Good morning to you too, Princess Maya. Good morning, Ms. Olivia. Your Highness." With a slight bow, Jack opened the door for them. "King Alistair and Queen Isla are on their way from the library," he spoke as the three entered the room in a row.

They stood by the window as they waited for the king and queen to arrive before they could take their seats.

"And I forgot to tell you about Mom," Princess Maya gasped, clutching her belly. She halted her step and pushed Maxen away from her track. "Do you know that Mom used to—" However, just as she was about to complete her sentence, a clapping sound interrupted her speech.

"Omo!" Queen Isla was smiling with pride as soon as she stepped inside the dining hall, a step behind her was a brooding King Alistair. She took hastened steps to where Olivia was, ignoring her son whose arms were outstretched to welcome her in a hug.

Hugging Olivia, or more like squeezing her, Queen Isla mused, "How was your sleep, darling? I heard you had a medical scare last night." She placed her hand on the small of Olivia's back and ushered the young lady to a seat which was beside her. 

"It was just my nose bleeding and Maxen overreacting." Olivia tried to keep her eyes from rolling but she still did when she saw Maxen from the corner of her eye smirking. She thought it must be the reason why his family was present, thinking it was he who needed medical attention at two in the morning. 

"Good morning, Your Majesty." She turned about-face and was about to curtsy when King Alistair cupped her elbow, pushing her up. 

He cleared his throat when three pairs of eyes landed on him, sparkling with a mixture of puzzlement and excitement. "It's ok. You don't have to be formal when it's just us in the room."

"Oh." Olivia paused, at a loss for words to say. She regarded the king and didn't know what to feel or how to react to his presence and the sincerity in his words. "Okay. I'll take note of that… Uncle?"

Sweet peals of laughter echoed in the room as Queen Isla and Princess Maya held onto their bellies. It was their first time hearing someone call the king 'uncle' and it was playing music in their ears.

"You can skip the uncle part. Just call him dad, and call me mom. Right, Alistair?" Her hand gestured to the king, tracing it to her c.h.e.s.t while her other hand was clasping Olivia's. Her smile widened upon seeing Maxen run his hand over his face in exasperation at how things progressed in the blink of an eye.

Out of respect, Olivia nodded her head although she was weirded out by the normalcy of the royal family. They were all rainbows and unicorns, a stark contrast to the other royal families she encountered in her life. Was it the tropical weather of the country? Or the fact that there's only a handful of them which explains the lack of apparent tension in the atmosphere?

She watched with a keen eye as the king helped Queen Isla to her seat, while Maxen helped Princess Maya.

Soon they found themselves seated where their names were placed and Olivia couldn't help but be amused at how Jack pulled off something as intricate as that in the nick of time. 

She noticed more name cards across her but her attention was stolen when Queen Isla squeezed her hand, yet again, smiling giddily at her which she mirrored just the same.

Suddenly, Queen Isla's eyes shifted to Olivia's c.h.e.s.t, where the latter's free hand was fiddling a key pendant. She bit her bottom lip upon seeing it, knowing what that key meant. 

Not even the king had access to the room when she had it renovated decades ago when they were still living in Notios Estate. 

It was when the former king died that they had to move to The Highlands because it was the official residence of the royal family, so she had to make a trip to Notios Estate every week to visit her private library which she passed on to Maxen when he came of age.

She gave him free reins to change the security system of the library thinking she's done playing her part as she passed the baton to her son, but to her surprise, he still gave her a spare key, saying, 'Just in case you get bored playing queen.'

Shifting in her seat to face Olivia, she started, "Are you hungry, darling?" She couldn't help but lift her hand and fiddle with Olivia's mermaid curls.

"It's okay. Are we waiting for more guests?"

"Yes. But don't worry, they're on their way. It was a last-minute invitation anyway." She wiggled her shoulders which raised suspicions and eyebrows in the room except hers.

"Speaking through the rim of his teacup, King Alistair commented, "I didn't know we're expecting more guests."

"Originally no. But the more the merrier."