When I woke up the next morning it was just about ten o'clock. I had the day off today and didn't really have to worry about doing a thing. Except maybe showing Prince Carter around a little bit, but as I laid in bed and thought about it, it probably wasn't such a good idea to take him out and show him around town when he had just disappeared yesterday. There were probably people, royal guards included, looking for him.

Even though there was no reward for the prince's return, I'm sure that wouldn't stop people from capturing him or letting a royal guard know of the prince's whereabouts in return for some money.

It was probably best to wait a couple weeks until the excitement had gone down and people figured that they weren't going to see the prince anywhere around here. We would just have to see how things were going to go as the days passed by since the prince had run away from his family and life. I had a feeling this whole situation was going to get complicated pretty quickly if it already wasn't.

Sighing, I got out of bed and then proceeded to make it before walking over to my closet and looking through it until I finally figured out what I wanted to wear today, settling on a light pair of shorts and a peach crop top. After pulling out the clothes I had picked out, I decided to choose my shoes later and I headed off to the bathroom to see if it was available. Jade was nowhere in sight so I walked into the empty bathroom and shut the door.

Thankfully this old house had two extra bathrooms upstairs, one for me and Jade to share and one for Logan and Zach to share. So Jade and I didn't have to listen to our brothers complain that we were taking too long in the bathroom. Jade and I usually didn't fight over the bathroom since we always seemed to miss each other when we needed it.

I wasn't sure if she was awake at the moment, but as long as she didn't need the bathroom for good half an hour while I took a shower and then got ready for the day, then we weren't going to have a problem.

When I came out of the bathroom with my pajamas in hand, I headed back to my room, which wasn't that far from the bathroom since they were right next to each other, and threw my pajamas on the bed before heading back to my closet. After grabbing some shoes and socks, I headed back to my bed and sat down on it so I could put my shoes on. With my shoes on a few minutes later, I headed downstairs to get something to eat since my stomach wouldn't stop grumbling even for a minute or two.

I walked into the kitchen after coming down the staircase and walking across the living room. There in the kitchen, I found Mom and Prince Carter. Mom was making pancakes and Prince Carter was sitting at the kitchen table, eating some of those pancakes. I heard Mom call out a good morning so I said good morning back as I went over to the stove to see if Mom had started a pot of water for tea.

"Do you want some pancakes sweetheart?" Mom asked me as I picked up the kettle and opened it up to check inside. I saw that there was water inside as Mom added, "Water's already hot so help yourself to some tea."

"Thanks Mom. And yes, I would like some pancakes," I replied glancing over at her to smile before going over to a cupboard not too far away from the stove to collect a mug.

"No problem. And do you want three, like usual?" she asked me. I glanced over at her again, nodding my head, before looking back at the opened cupboard.

Once I had chosen a mug, I went back over to the stove and poured hot water into the mug. I set the kettle back down out of the stove, picked out my favorite tea, and then headed over to the kitchen table to join Prince Carter, who seemed to be enjoying Mom's pancakes since he was stuffing them in his mouth pretty quickly. It probably wasn't how he normally ate since I'm sure his mother would never allow him to eat the way he was eating now. And it was probably nice for Prince Carter to not be following so many rules all the time.

He could eat however he wanted here, just as long as he still had the basic table manners. I'm sure that Prince Carter had eaten pancakes before, but with the way that he was eating them now, it was like this was the first time he was having them. Maybe whoever cooked pancakes for him at the palace didn't make pancakes the way Mom did.

"Are you enjoying those?" I asked him. Prince Carter looked up at me and nodding his head.

"You have had pancakes before, right?" I asked him. He nodded his head again.

"I guess they're better than the ones you have at home?" I asked him. He nodded his head for the third time and I got the impression that he didn't want to talk at the moment. Instead, he wanted to eat and continue to enjoy his pancakes in peace so I didn't ask him anything else.

A few minutes later Mom placed a plate of pancakes in front of me and I thanked her. I reached to grab the syrup that Mom had refilled not too long ago with a fresh and warm batch for me to pour over my pancakes. Once I had pulled the syrup over to me, I picked it up and then started pouring it over my pancakes. I set the syrup down once I was finished and then picked up my fork and knife to cut up my pancakes so I could start eating them.

My stomach was definitely getting hungrier at the sight of food. So I didn't waste any more time and started eating the pancakes that Mom had made for me. It didn't take me too long to finish them since I was pretty hungry and when I sat back in my chair, I saw that Prince Carter was watching me.

"What?" I said after looking up at him.

"You're not like the other girls that I've met. And I've met quite of lot of girls," Prince Carter said watching me carefully as I grabbed his silverware and put it onto my plate before grabbing his plate and then tucking it underneath mine. I stood up and then picked up the small stack of our plates before going over to the kitchen sink to wash them off.

"Morgan isn't in love with you like those girls you've met. That's probably why she seems like she's not like the other girls you've met," Zach said as he came into the room and looked over at us. Eventually he looked over at Mom and saw that she was making breakfast. "Yes! You're making pancakes! I want like five. Thanks Mom!"

Zach kissed Mom on the cheek before going over to grab a mug and then pouring himself some coffee. I finished washing off the plates and then sat them on the counter until Logan came to put them in the dishwasher. It was his job to load up the dishwasher and then unload it once everything was clean inside. After I was done I went back over to sit down at the table so that I could finish my tea.

Zach came over to sit down next to me once he had poured himself a cup of coffee. Not too long after that Mom set down a plate with five pancakes on it in front of Zach, who immediately poured the syrup on top and then dug into his breakfast. It seemed like he wasn't the only one who was hungry this morning. I'm sure that Prince Carter had also been hungry besides just really liking Mom's pancakes.

"I don't know why they all go crazy when I step out of the palace. All I do is go to the events that my parents tell me go to. I guess it just comes with being royalty," Prince Carter said sighing.

"It's because you're attractive," Mom said as she worked on more pancakes. There must still be people who needed to eat. She turned around and then said, "Did I say that aloud?"

"Yeah you did Mom," I replied smiling at her.

"Oh, well it is the truth. I've got my own prince so I'm definitely not interested in marry you and living happily ever after, but I can see why every other girl, expect for Morgan, wants you to fall in love with them and make them their husband," Mom said brushing off the embarrassment she might have felt when she blurted that Prince Carter was attractive.

"I hope they all know that I can't marry every single one of them. That'd be a lot of work," Prince Carter said. Zach chuckled and then said, "I'm pretty sure when you do get married, there are going to be a whole lot of sad girls and women in our country."

"I almost don't want to get married and put a girl through all the hate that she's going to get if she were to marry me," Prince Carter said sighing.

Maybe that's why Prince Carter didn't have girlfriends. He didn't want to have a serious relationship because he would be putting that girl in the spotlight and in front of many girls and women who wanted to be in her place. She'd have to be a strong woman and love him very much to deal with all the hate that she could get from every woman and girl who didn't want her to be with Prince Carter. And she would have to deal with all the attention that she got from the media, who would want to photograph her every time she left her home.

Then she would have to one day rule our country when Prince Carter's parents stepped down from the throne to let Prince Carter take over. It was probably why his parents kept trying to set him up with someone who may not be a princess but was still in the spotlight just like him and knew how to handle the lifestyle that came along with being royalty.

"When you meet the right girl, you'll probably change your mind. I'm sure you'll want to protect her from everything that comes with your lifestyle, but the right girl will put up with everything you deal with," Mom said looking over at Prince Carter and then smiling at him.

"So far I haven't met the right girl. Or at least I don't think I've met her yet," Prince Carter said looking over at me as I finished up my tea.

"Maybe she's not in the royal circle that your parents keep trying to make you date," Jade said coming into the kitchen. She was dressed pretty nicely. And I was pretty sure she had taken her time to pick out her outfit since she would eventually run into Prince Carter.

I looked over at Zach to see if he had noticed Jade's outfit. He looked over at me and rolled his eyes before giving me a knowing smile that told me he had seen our little sister's outfit and the extra effort she had made to impress the prince. I hoped that Jade knew that a nineteen year old boy usually didn't go for fifteen year old girl so she probably wasn't going to get the chance to be with him like she wanted to be.

She was going to be one of those girls who got their heart broken when the prince did find the one girl that he was going to spend the rest of his life with. I just hoped that Jade didn't know that girl. That would probably just make the hurt even worse, but that was going to be hard to avoid since I was the only girl that she knew and didn't have to worry about who could end up falling in love with Prince Carter.

"You look nice sweetheart. Are you going somewhere?" Mom asked her. I saw her look in the direction of me and Zach. She knew why Jade looked more dressed up than usual.

"Oh no," she replied as she came over to the table and sat down across from me and next to Prince Carter, who smiled at her when Jade looked over at him.

"Oh okay. Do you want some pancakes?" Mom asked her.

"Yes please," Jade responded looking over at her shoulder at Mom. She looked back over at Prince Carter after answering Mom. "So, what have you always wanted to do that your parents wouldn't let you do?"

"There's a lot of things. I wouldn't know where to start," Prince Carter replied as he shrugged his shoulders. It seemed like Jade had cleared her day so that she could hang out with the prince.

Not surprising that Jade did that, but what was surprising was that Emma wasn't here yet since I thought that she would come back over as soon as she could. It probably wouldn't be too much longer until she arrived though. Maybe she was actually waiting until what she thought would be a decent time for her to come over.

Emma had no idea if my parents knew about Prince Carter since I hadn't called her at all last night so she was probably waiting until when she normally came over and it wouldn't look weird that she was coming over at that time. I'm sure that she was eager to get over here though and see Prince Carter again. She probably also wanted to make sure that I hadn't kicked him out or that it hadn't actually been a dream.

"I don't know if it's a good idea to take Prince Carter out right now," I said looking over at Jade.

"Why not?" Jade asked looking over at me with a confused look on her face.

"Well there are probably a lot of people looking for him since Prince Carter did just escape. He's going to get recognized really easy. We should probably just wait until all the hype dies down and it's safe for him to go outside," I replied.

"That's probably a good idea. Plus, you can't use the car today since Dad is going to hang out with some friends today to celebrate the end of the school year. And riding around bikes would definitely get Prince Carter more noticed," Mom said.

"Do you only have one car?" Prince Carter asked keeping his voice low even though I was pretty sure that Jade and Zach would be able to hear him. I nodded my head after looking over at him and then looked back over at Mom who's back was turned to us before saying, "Did Francis bring over his bike for Prince Carter to use?"

"Yes he did," Mom said as she flipped over a pancake.

"You'll have to ride a bike to work like Zach and I do," I said looking back over at Carter, who was already looking at me.

"You know how to ride a bike, right?" Zach asked him. Prince Carter nodded his head and then said, "It's been a while since I've ridden a bike though, but I'm sure I remember how to do it."

"Then I guess that's what we can start off doing today, making sure you can still ride a bike. I'll show you how to get to work later though. I don't work today," I replied.

"Lucky, I have to go into work," Zach said grumbling a bit.

"You know that you love going to work so you shouldn't be complaining," I replied looking over at him. He nodded his head and said, "Yeah, but I just want to stay home today."

It grew quiet after that as Mom sat down a plate of pancakes in front of Jade along with a fresh batch of syrup all warmed up and ready for her to use. I watched as she poured the syrup all over her pancakes and heard someone coming into the kitchen. Looking up, I saw my last sibling coming into the kitchen, looking eagerly at the pancakes that Mom was making. He was definitely hungry, but that wasn't surprising since Logan was always hungry. I heard Mom tell him good morning and then ask him how many pancakes he wanted.

Logan responded with three and then came over to sit down next to Jade as he waited for his pancakes to be made. We all chimed out a good morning to Logan after he had sat down and he replied with the same response that he had given Mom when she had said good morning to him. Before anyone else could say anything else though, the doorbell rang. I stood up and said that I would get it.

"Five bucks that's Emma at the door," Zach said.

"Oh please, I don't need to bet you that. I know that's Emma at the door," I said rolling my eyes at my older brother and then heading out of the kitchen. As I left I heard a chair scrapping across the wooden floor and then footsteps following after me as I walked over to the front door, which was only a few steps from the kitchen. I looked over at my shoulder and saw Prince Carter following me. "You know you didn't have to follow me, right?"

"Yeah, I know," he responded shrugging his shoulders as he caught up to me. I had reached the front door by now so all I had to do was open it up and let Emma in.

"Emma's the girl who you meet yesterday. The one who suggested for you to stay here," I said just in case he had forgotten who Emma was and was worried about someone seeing him here.

"Yeah, I know," he responded again.

"Okay then," I said.

I turned towards the door and opened it up. Emma was standing there on the porch, practically in the doorway and looking around to see if she could find Prince Carter. When she did she smiled at Prince Carter and completely ignored me as she walked into my house before I could say hello or invite her in. I rolled my eyes as I shut the door and then locked it. While Emma was busy talking to Prince Carter I headed back into the kitchen and sat down where I had been sitting before.

Emma and Prince Carter came into the kitchen not too long after I had come back. I watched as Prince Carter sat down where he had been sitting before and Emma look a little lost as to where she was going to sit. I'm sure that she wanted to sit down next to Prince Carter so she could talk to him easily and be near him, but I was comfortable in my spot and I knew that Jade wasn't going to give up her seat either so Emma chose to sit down next to Zach.

"Hello Mrs. Branson," Emma said as she sat down next to Zach.

"Hello Emma. Did you eat breakfast already?" Mom asked her. I saw Emma nod her head and then said, "I did. Thanks for offering though."

"Of course, honey," she replied giving Emma a smile before turning her attention back to the pancakes she was cooking for Logan. I noticed that he was still waiting for his food.

"So, what are we doing today?" Emma asked a few minutes later when no one else spoke up.

"Laying low. Mom and Morgan says it's not a good idea to take Prince Carter out right now while people are still looking for him and wondering where he is," Jade answered.

"I guess that makes sense. He'd be back in the palace if we took him out so soon," Emma said.

There wasn't really anywhere we could take Prince Carter right now since Dad was going to be using the car today. If he wasn't going to be using the car, then I would have suggested taking him to the beach, which was an hour away. It would have to be a beach that not too many people went too though, but it was probably better that Prince Carter didn't go out at all while everyone was still talking about how he escaped.

I'm sure that it was all over the news. And it probably was going to stay on the news for awhile until people got bored of wondering where Prince Carter went off to. His parents would probably keep looking for him even after people stopped caring so much after awhile. I felt bad for them though because there were going to spend quite some time wondering where their son was and if he was ever going to come home.

"Do you want to let your parents know that you're okay?" I asked Prince Carter. He looked over at me, but he wasn't the one who spoke up.

"I think that's a good idea. As a parent, I would be worried about my child if she or he ran off. I know you think they're smothering you, but you should somehow let them know you're okay and that you just need some time before come home," Mom said turning around to look over at him.

"How would we let them know that I'm okay?" Prince Carter asked looking back over at me since he had looked over at Mom to listen to what she had to say.

"Probably going to a payphone and calling them from there," I replied.

"Probably one that's not around here. If they can trace where he's calling from on a payphone, then it's a good idea to take him a couple towns away," Zach added.

"I agree. So that means your parents are going to have to wait a little longer to find out that you're okay until we can use the car," I said.

Prince Carter nodded his head but didn't say anything. I wasn't sure if he was happy about the idea of calling his parents. Maybe he didn't want to talk them right now. I had no idea what had happened the last time Prince Carter had talked to his parents. He could have gotten into a fight with them and that's why he decided to run away from them during the parade. I knew that he didn't seem to really have a plan once he got away. Prince Carter hadn't brought anything with him so maybe he hadn't really planned on running away until that moment on the float.

It could have been a last minute decision. And I wonder what would have happened to him if Emma hadn't decided to run off and we hadn't happened to run into him. Where would he be right now? Would someone else have helped him out like we were? Or would Prince Carter have ended up in the wrong hands and be in worse trouble?

"You know that you're going to have to face your parents one day, right? You can't avoid them forever. And if they don't know how you feel, then things are never going to change," I said.

"Yeah I know," he responded.

"Good," I replied giving him a smile before looking over at Jade. "Hey Jade, can we talk for a few minutes before we go do whatever we're going to do?"

"Yeah sure. Let me just clean off my plate," Jade said picking up her plate and then heading over to the sink to wash her plate off. I stood up when she was done and then we headed out of the kitchen together.

I led her towards the backyard so we could talk in private. Jade followed me into the backyard and we went to sit down in the chairs that sat on the porch. She was looking at me when I looked over at her and started telling her that Emma had decided that she was no longer going to be trying to go after the prince. Jade looked happy at that, but her smile eventually faded away when I told her that Emma had changed her plan to get the prince to fall in love with me instead.

Even though I could tell that Jade wasn't happy with what I had told her, she didn't say anything for awhile. I watched her for a bit as I waited to see what she was going to say before deciding to speak up instead of continuing to wait for her to speak up.

"You know that I'm not interested in him, right? So I'm not exactly supportive of Emma's plan, but that doesn't mean you should get your hopes up. Maybe the prince will fall in love with you,t your heart broken if he doesn't feel the same way," I said.

Jade looked over at me and smiled before, "Thanks Morgs. I'll be okay though. And even if I'm not, I'll know you'll be there for me if things don't work out the way I want them too."