"Neon," the little girl uttered.

"Sure, I'll get you the new paint. But daddy has to go now. Will you be okay? Will you take care of mommy and Emma for me?"

She nodded, rubbing her tiny palms on her eyes.

"That's my girl. Now, where's Daddy's kiss?"

Ava tightened her grip around Leo's neck and kissed his cheek.

"Best. kiss. ever." He replied grinning. Putting her down, he kissed her head, then walked towards his bike, waving goodbye to his twins daughters, Emma nested on his wife's and Ava seated on the stairs of the front door. Leo heaved a sigh, turned the engine on and rode away.

_______

Previous Christmas

Katie read a magazine and sipped her fifth mimosa of the flight whilst watching the twins drawing on the floor with their father. They could get easily moody after hours confined into the Cordonian King private jet, no matter how rich and comfortable it was. Yet, Leo knew exactly what to do to put them at ease. She was fully aware there many perks on marrying Leo, but she was pleasantly surprised to find out he was an exceptional father.

Their first year of marriage was lovely, but Leo truly became a wonderful partner when they found out she was pregnant. When the twins were born, he hired nurses to help and learned with them how to change diapers, give baths on babies, effective ways to put the babies to sleep and what to do in cases of emergency. His excitement about being a parent grew with every little milestone of their children. With the help of the babysitters, she could easily bask in several moments of leisure, just like the one she was having at that moment. However, she couldn't say the same about his evolution as a husband.

She didn't know exactly what it was. He was a delightful company to go to friends and work parties, their sex life was amazing, he was a caring man and he tried to adapt to a commoner life, but something was amiss. When the kids weren't around, he'd get easily bored and stayed away from home for hours. It was like he didn't want to be there.

"Daddy, look," Ava pointed to her drawing.

Leo examined the colorful sketch and grinned. "Is that our new house?"

The toddler nodded.

"A slide on the front door? This is amazing! We should send this to our architect," he cheered.

"Daddy, look at mine," Emma handed him her drawing of him riding a motorcycle.

"Aw, man... I look fantastic. Thank you, hun," he kissed the little girl's forehead.

"My drawing is good too," Ava pouted.

"Of course it is, little bee," he picked up both kids sitting them his lap, "You two are my little Frida Khalo."

A ghost of a smile crossed Katie's lips. Maybe she was asking for too much from a free-spirited man like her husband to stay more at home. He was never an indoorsy kind of guy and he mentioned several times how much he disliked to feel trapped in one place. Would Dean enjoy domestic bliss moments?

"Excuse, ma'am. We are about to land in Cordonia in twenty minutes and it's requested for you to fasten your seatbelt," a flight attendant said.

"Sure, but I need to put my kids on their seats first," Katie answered.

"You don't need to worry about that, ma'am. His Royal Highness and the nanny took care of them," the flight attendant gestured to the side, where the girls were on their seats with headphones on and Leo was on the chair across them looking at the view of his childhood homeland.

"Oh... Okay. Thank you."

"Call us if you need anything, ma'am."

_______

"Ugh!" Leo's socks flew across the closet as Katie searched for any evidence that Leo could've been unfaithful. Since last Christmas, Katie had a hard time trusting Leo again and whenever he traveled, she would go through his things until she was completely satisfied with what she found, but mostly with what she didn't. "Yasmine, did you find anything?" Katie shouted.

Her neighbor and closest friend in town looked on his nightstand. "No. Just an old book, a Harley Davidson manual, a few correspondences... Wait, I think I got something. Have you seen his bills?"

"Of course I have. I'm the one who picks up and organizes the mail."

"Really? Does he let you see it?"

Katie appeared in the doorway. "Which one?"

"His personal credit card bill," Yasmine said shaking the paper in her hand.

Katie stepped closer, picked it up and sat on the bed, analyzing the content of the bill. "There's nothing here."

Yasmine sat by her side. "What about these flower shop purchase?"

"He sends a bouquet of jasmines every year so his brother can put in their mother's grave on the date of her birthday."

"Aren't they half brothers?"

"Leo says Liam's mother was his real mom."

"And this bill from Godiva chocolates?"

"He bought those when Jess was here last month. They like to have candy after they drink too much. He also gave Ava and Emma a few strawberries covered in milk chocolate, which I do not approve, but at least he didn't give them truffles."

"And the Bluebella bill?"

"He bought it for me. We were together at the store, I tried on a nightgown and we had to buy it."

"Because he liked it?"

"Yeah..." Katie looked down at the paper. "That's one way to put it," Katie mumbled to herself blushing.

"I don't understand why your marriage is falling apart if your sex life is really that good," Yasmine said.

"Because the problem is all the rest," Katie hissed. Her neighbor looked at her astonished. "Okay, maybe not all the rest, but the partnership stuff. You've seen him. He barely stays at home with me, he doesn't engage into any of the social activities of the neighborhood because he's always on the road, he’s too friendly with other women. Am I crazy for wanting him to be a better husband?"

"Not at all. But you said yourself he doesn't want to feel trapped to anything or anyone. Maybe doing those things is his way of dealing with the commitments all marriages require," Yasmine acknowledged. "You should probably cut him some slack. And do the same thing for yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"If he isn't around and you think he's cheating on you, leave him be and get a male companion while he's on the road."

"Cheating on my husband, Yasmine? Really?" Katie folded her arms and glared her friend. "Did you not understand this is exactly what made this marriage fall apart in first place?"

"Sorry... It was just an idea. But hey, it's your marriage. You call the shots," she stood up. "I have to go, because, different from you, I wish my husband left the house more often," she rolls eyes.

"Okay, I'll walk you out." Katie followed her friend and opened her door for her to leave. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Go get some rest before picking up the girls. And Katie," Yasmine placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Think about what I said. It'll probably be the best for both you," she said hugging Katie.

Katie hugged back then waving to her friend goodbye as she disappeared on the street. She bit her lip thinking about Yasmine's suggestion and glanced at her, scrolling through the contacts until Dean's number appeared on the screen.

_______

Previous Christmas

Leo and Katie walked in, each one of them holding a sleepy twin. They were greeted with rare smiles from his father and stepmother. They not only appreciated to know Leo's behavior changed since he got married, but they also liked that he already had kids. Also in the welcome committee, to Katie's displeasure, was Madeleine. They didn't bicker, but his ex-fiancee seemed to enjoy the glaring contest during the tea. Leo, however, couldn't care less.

"When are you moving to Monterey?" Regina questioned.

"As soon as we arrive. We just need to buy the furniture and decorate the house," Leo replied.

"It's a lovely house by the beach, but it's bigger so the girls can have more space to play outside," Katie added.

"How quaint," Madeleine taunted sipping her apple tea.

"Well, it sounds like an excellent place to me," Liam chimed in. "Hello, brother," he smiled.

"I couldn't agree more," Leo stood up and greets his baby brother with a hug.

That was the first time Leo went back to Cordonia twice after years avoiding to go there since he got married. As the former crown prince, he knew the importance of his presence in the country to show his support to Liam in his first month as the king. He also could see right through his brother's stoic mask. Liam was heartbroken for losing the woman he loved and being engaged to a woman he barely tolerated. His baby brother needed him and helping him to deal with it was his mission.

During lunch, the Royal family and their guests had a pleasant meal filled with gourmet dishes, fine wine and the twins' adorable antics. After coffee, however, Leo spent the entire afternoon with his brother, leaving his wife with the girls. She did say she wouldn't mind if he went, but Katie didn't think she would feel so bored. And alone.

After putting her daughters down for a nap, there wasn't much she could do. She thought about going to the palace library, but the thought of bumping into Madeleine or Regina was enough to make her regret spending Christmas in Cordonia. So she went online.

On her random scrolling through social media, she stumbled upon a familiar face on one of Jess's pictures at Pictagram. Dean Mitchell. Katie bit her lip staring her laptop. “You don't want to go down that road, Katie…” she mumbled to herself. A new comment alert appeared on a picture she was tagged in with her sister.

"Nice pic. You both look great."

"Ah, fuck this..." Katie clicked on his personal profile and began to go through the images. He had several pictures in Capri, Porto, Santorini, Dubai, Ibiza showing his bartender skills. Pictures of him and Elsie eating ice cream, kite surfing, hiking. As she scrolled, a picture of a white flower hairpin popped up.

"A small token of an amazing night with an unforgettable person."

Katie sighed smiling at the screen. Before she knew, she had given likes on many of his photos. "Damnit!" She smacked her forehead. "I can't even dislike this, he already got the notifications."

Minutes later, a direct message came on her phone.