George, of course, is already in bed by the time Victoria gets there. She slips into his room, shakes him awake, and says, “Still up for that bedtime story?”

 

“Momma!” George wraps his chubby arms around Victoria's waist. She's sitting on the edge of the bed, right next to him. “I thought you'd forgotten!”

 

“I would never forget,” swears Victoria.

 

The story goes like this:

 

Richard Redbeard has sailed the seven seas and back again. He's a pirate the likes of which no one has ever known before, with a dream that is nigh impossible.

 

That dream? To find the eighth sea of the world—the Chocolate Sea.

 

And today, he is certain he's gotten much closer.

 

“Land ho,” shouts Cory from her spot on the prow. The spyglass has left a dark ring around one of her eyes. “Captain, we've found it! Candy Island, sir! It's real!”

 

“Of course it's real,” bellows Richard, pointing towards the distant shape of the island. “I've been telling you that for years, Cory! Set our course, lass. We're going to Candy Island!”

 

Candy Island is exactly like one would think. The shore is made from crushed sugar, white as could be, and the shells are brightly colored rock candy chunks. Wafer cone palm trees with gummy spearmint leaves dot the edge of the shore, where the sugar sand turns into crushed chocolate cookies and a licorice forest.

 

The Chocolate Lady sets anchor just off the shore. Richard Redbeard leads his crew of lasses and lads to the shore. He's the first pirate on land, already pulling out an aged yellow map.

 

“All right, crew. Spread out,” shouts Richard. “We're looking for the gumdrop cliff!”

 

Like ants, the Redbeard Pirates spread out over the shores of Candy Island. They look high, and they look low. A young deckhand named Lon finds the gumdrop cliff; it's brightly colored ledges stand out against the dark line of the ocean. Waves crash against them, washing sugar crystals out into the depths.

 

Richard Redbeard leads the climb up the side of the cliffs. The gumdrops are sticky and loose. Twice, he nearly falls into the churning waters below.

 

When he makes it to the top of the cliff, Richard is met with the sight of the next landmark. The great marshmallow willow sits at the center of the gumdrop field. Great, sticky white gobs of mallow drip onto the ground. The drooping limbs hang over the syrup river.

 

“Hurry,” shouts Cory. “Over the graham cracker bridge!”

 

No sooner than the last pirate crosses the bridge, the whole thing collapses!

 

They follow the map all over the island. They use strips of taffy to swing over the pools of molasses quicksand. Monkeys throw Red Hots at the Redbeard Pirates as they traverse the peppermint jungle, where everything is red and white.

 

Finally, at long last, Richard leads his crew into a series of caves. Starbursts dot the ceiling, giving off faint glows. It's by these rainbow lights that Richard is able to make out the carvings in the wall.

 

“We found it,” he says. “The map to the Chocolate Sea. Lads and lasses, we've finally found it!”

 

Cory says, “All right, captain. When do we leave?”

 

“Right away,” bellows Richard Redbeard. “An entire sea of chocolate awaits, my boys!”

 

The crew of the Chocolate Lady sets sail before dusk sets. Richard Redbeard leaves Candy Island behind him in search of another, even sweeter landmark.

 

He has sailed the seven seas! An,d soon, Richard Redbeard will have sailed all eight of them.

 

By the time Victoria has finished her tale, George is fast asleep again. Victoria smiles. Softly, she says, “You are such a handsome boy.”

 

He looks like his father, save his soft golden curls.

 

Speaking of his father, Matt clears his throat. He's leaning up against the doorway of the bedroom. “Hey, sweet cheeks. I thought you were going to try to be home sooner today?”

 

“I was,” says Victoria. “I am. It's only a little after midnight. I got home way earlier than yesterday.”

 

“Not early enough for my tastes,” says Matt, but the twist to his lips makes it clear he's just playing around. Truly, there's no one in the world more supportive of Victoria than Matt is.

 

Slowly, so as not to make the mattress move too much and wake George back up, Victoria stands up. She smooths down the front of her black pencil skirt and joins Matt in the hall. They push the door shut but just a little bit.

 

Matt wraps his arms around Victoria's waist and kisses her, hard and fast and passionate. When he's done, he says, “I missed you.”

 

Victoria laughs. “I missed you, too. I also missed dinner. Is there anything left?”

 

Matt gives her a crooked smile. “Pizza?”

 

“Pizza?” She slaps Matt on the chest. “I said no more junk food! He needs a healthier diet, Matt!”

 

“Let him live a little!”

 

“He has plenty of time for living. And don't test my patience, boy, because we both know you're the only one that wanted to live a little. Like you didn't have pizza for lunch earlier, too!”

 

Matt shrugs. He tries to look innocent, but it mostly fails. “All right,” he admits. “I'm not good at being healthy. Still, you can't blame me for trying. I just wanted a filling meal!”

 

“You wanted to be lazy.”

 

“Says the woman that works so much she misses dinner.”

 

There's no way to counter that. Victoria huffs instead. Then she leans up and presses a kiss to Matt's lips. “I'm going to go get a shower. Heat something up for me.”

 

“Aye,” laughs Matt. “Anything for my princess.”

 

The shower doesn't take long. While the apartment has its perks, the shower isn't one of them. There's barely any water pressure at all, and the hot water lasts twenty minutes, tops. It's just long enough to get in, get washed up, and get back out.

 

On a splurge, Victoria uses cold water to shave her legs, and then gets out to towel off. The mirrors aren't even fogged up!

 

Mirrors....again, for what seems to be the first time in years, Victoria finds herself thinking about the note that had been pinned to her mirror, back in the suite.

 

Victoria will admit, that is the birth of her greatest fear. She gets dressed in her pajamas and tries to convince herself she will never be the sort of parent her mother had been. It simply isn't going to be possible.

 

Once she's satisfied with how she looks and feels, even though she is, admittedly, still a little bit unnerved, Victoria heads out into the kitchen.

 

It's her favorite part of the apartment. Next to drawing and designing clothing, Victoria has found she quite loves cooking. Now, that doesn't mean she's very good at it. In fact, the princess will be the first to admit she's a horrible cook. Many of her experimental dinners have ended up in the trash.

 

She even gave herself food poisoning, once!

 

Still, she finds it calming. The kitchen is decked out in shades of blue and green. There are marble counters and a black fridge. And, of course, there's Matt, sitting at the kitchen table.

 

He's laid out a spread of leftovers: take out dishes from the last few nights, pizza, and a bottle of wine that has not yet been opened.

 

“What's all this for?” Victoria asks, sitting down next to her husband.

 

Matt laughs. “I thought you might have forgotten.”

 

Victoria demands, “Forgotten what?”

 

Matt leans over and kisses Victoria on the cheek. Then he says, “It’s our anniversary.”