The Thrill Is Gone

The following morning, Harry awoke with a minor drinking induced headache. It wasn’t anything too unbearable, not like the time in Greece when he thought his head was going to implode. It was more along the lines of a minor annoyance that only hurt enough for him to be conscious of it, but not enough for him to seek out an aspirin. Had he worked in a few glasses of water into his evening, he wouldn’t have been suffering from the headache at all. His body would have been hydrated enough to keep him from being hung-over, but unfortunately for Harry, he hadn’t had much water.

In fact, from the time they party started to the time he stumbled up to bed, he had only had one bottle of water, and that had been at Paulina’s urging. She knew that if he didn’t have some water, he was going to be hung-over when he woke up on Sunday, and she wanted to minimize the chances of that happening, because she and Harry were meant to take Isabel and Ronaldo to the zoo. So at her urging, Harry drank 16.9 ounces of water, but after that, he hadn’t touched another bottle for the rest of the night. He drank tequila with her friends, he drank beers with some of her cousins, drank some more tequila with her brothers, and then had a glass with her. He drank and drank and drank, but he managed to be somewhat mindful of it. He didn’t drink excessively enough for him to completely lose control of himself. He didn’t want to end up passing out in the garden or risk throwing up in front of her family. He drank enough for him to feel pleasantly drunk, for his cheeks to brighten with color, and for his words to become a bit slurred, but he was still in control of his own body.

Harry had drunk somewhat excessively, but nowhere near as much as Paulina’s older relatives. It seemed that they had all built up such a high tolerance over the years that even when they drank more than him, their words weren’t slurred and they weren’t left stumbling to get where they were going. Ricardo and his brothers, along with a few of his sisters, had drank more than the younger generation, but at the end of the night, the only noticeable difference was that their faces were flushed and they were laughing louder than before, some were even singing rancheras at the top of their lungs. The younger generation had a few members that weren’t quite as skilled at handling their liquor. One of Paulina’s cousins, a twenty-two year old by the name of Mauricio, had gotten so drunk that he had to be carried out by his siblings. Another cousin, a thirty-four year old named Anthony, had gotten a little rowdy. He and his brother, Daniel, had been having some problems lately, and when the latter made an ill thought comment, the former responded hot headedly. That incident was stopped by their older sister, Marissa, who smacked Anthony across the back of the head, and dragged him off by the ear before their mother and most everyone at the party had realized what was going on. That was something that Harry found amusing. It was hilarious how those grown adults, who had families and homes of their own, still feared their parent’s disapproval. He laughed about it to Paulina and Luis, the latter told him that it didn’t matter if they were six years old or sixty, if they messed up, their mother wouldn’t hesitate to use the chancla.

Unlike Harry and many of her relations and all of her friends, Paulina opted to not drink excessively. Her decision to only have a few drinks didn’t stem entirely from her feeling self conscious about drinking in front of her family, it stemmed from the fact that she very much wanted to remember the night, and that she had promised Isabel and Ronaldo to take them to the zoo. If she had drank to excess, if she drank like she did in England or whenever she was far from home, then she would’ve spent half the day sleeping and the other half, sprawled across the couch. She wouldn’t have had the energy to entertain an eight year old and a six year old. So she had two margaritas, and three glasses of tequila, enough to get her pleasantly buzzed, but not enough get her even remotely drunk.

And that was fine by her. She didn’t need to drink to have fun. She was enjoying herself by dancing with her relatives, Alistair, Kamal, Gethin, and Harry. In fact, she had a great time dancing with Harry, because by the time he started dancing to banda and ranchera music with her, he was pretty drunk, so he wasn’t even remotely self conscious about his movements. He let it all out. Their dancing might not have been done right, but she laughed all the while and he couldn’t stop grinning. That was more than enough for her.

The night had been a success, and as it began to wind down, Paulina began to bid farewell to her relatives and thanked them for having come. By the time her relatives had left, the only people that remained at her parent’s house were Luis, her parents, Harry, the security details and her friends. And one by one, she began walking her friends over to Rodolfo’s house. Those idiots had drunk to excess. Gonzalo ended up puking in her sunflower patch, Wilson had fallen asleep at the table, and the others were just so drunk that they couldn’t get over to the house on their so. So she walked them over to Rodolfo’s house, she took them to Rodolfo’s room, and lay two of them down on the bed, took off their shoes, and then pulled out the sofa bed and lay down another two friends on there. After that, she grabbed some extra blankets from Rodolfo’s closet and made a makeshift bed on the floor where she placed her remaining two friends.

By the end of that, she was tired and wanted nothing more than to have a good shower before passing out in her parent’s room. She was sleeping on their sofa bed, which was comfortable enough, but was nowhere near as comfy as her own bed. But it was a sacrifice she was willing to make in order to have Harry stay at the house.

When she returned to the house, her parents and Alistair were in the kitchen, putting away the food. Irmalinda had told Alistair to get to bed, that she and her husband had everything under control, but he hadn’t listened. He’d taken it upon himself to bring in the heavier items so that Ricardo only had to carry in the lighter containers, and it was him that was handing the containers off to Irmalinda so that she could put them away in the refrigerator. Upon making her presence known, Paulina asked if they wanted her to pick up the backyard, she had already helped them clear out the trash, but the tables and chairs were still out there. Her parents told her not to bother, that some of their relatives were going to come over later on in the day for a lunch of leftovers, but they did tell her that her güerito was outside on the hammock, and that she ought to bring him in.

It was then that Alistair spoke up. “Miss Balcázar, if it pleases you, I may go outside to bring in His Royal Highness.”

“Thanks Alistair, but you don’t have to trouble yourself over that. I’ll bring him in.” Paulina politely refused.

“Are you quite certain? He might need help getting about. He did drink rather excessively. I think it likely he may require certain assistance.”

“And I can provide that assistance. I can carry him, Alistair. You know I can.”

“That I do, Miss.” There had been an incident in Paris, in which Harry had gotten so drunk that he slipped in the shower, and Paulina literally had to carry him over to the bed by using a fireman’s lift. Alistair later found about it from Harry, and had to suppress his laughter.

“Then don’t worry.” She smiled reassuringly. “Now go on. Get some rest. We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. We’re going to the zoo.”

“I wish you a goodnight then, Miss.” Alistair politely bowed his head. “But I will assist your parents until they themselves retire for the night.”

“Very well then, goodnight,” she said.

Paulina stepped outside and moved through the dimly lit backyard in silence. It wasn’t long before she reached the hammock that was tucked away in the back, and when she reached it, her eyes settled upon Harry’s sleeping face. At first, she didn’t want to wake him up. He was going to be grumpy, he always was when someone woke him before he was meant to, but she couldn’t just leave him outside. So she said his name softly, brushed the hair out of his face, and eventually he woke, though not completely. It was obvious that he wasn’t completely there as he spoke to her, and when he stumbled to get into the house and up the stairs, it was obvious to her that he was half asleep and still drunk, but since he wasn’t accepting her help and was managing well enough on his own, she didn’t think anything of it. She just walked beside him, keeping a close eye in case he slipped, but he didn’t. He made it to the room on his own, and only required a little help to get undressed and tucked into bed.

As he lay there, he asked her to spend the night, he wanted to bury his face in her hair and inhale her soft scent, but she couldn’t do that, and she reminded him that she couldn’t. All she could do was tuck him into bed and place a gentle kiss on his forehead. And by the time her lips made contact with his skin, he was already fast asleep, and it was in the position he fell asleep in, that he woke up in.

He lay there for a few minutes, quietly staring up at the ceiling as he thought over what needed doing. He had to get his hands on some water or sports drink in order to rehydrate, he also needed to shower and get ready for his day out, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to get out of bed to do them, until five minutes after he’d woken up. With sleep filled eyes, Harry made the bed and tidied up after himself. He knew that Paulina was going in there to keep things tidy, but he didn’t want to give her extra chores to do around the house. So he picked up to the best of his abilities and then wandered down the hall to the bathroom.

Thankfully for him, the security details had woken an hour earlier to shower and get themselves ready for the day, Paulina had used her parents shower in the master bedroom, and Luis was fast asleep in bed. Harry took his time getting cleaned up. He relished the feel of the cool water against his skin, it was revitalizing, and by the time his shower ended, he felt ready for the day ahead.

He wasn’t nervous about going to the zoo with Isabel and Ronaldo. He was great with kids, always had been. Whenever there was a charity function with children, Harry always felt more at ease and shone a bit brighter. True to his nature, he was great with Isabel and Ronaldo. Isabel had adored him from the first day they met. She always told him stories, and he listened attentively, even if he didn’t understand what the hell it was that she was saying. Ronaldo, though not being as outgoing or talkative as his sister, did get on well with Harry. He shared his candies with him, and told him that if he wanted, he could watch soccer with him, his daddy, and his abuelito.

What did make Harry nervous was the fact that he was going to be in a public setting with Paulina and the children, and he worried for the wellbeing and safety of Isabel and Ronaldo. He knew that at the Los Angeles Zoo, the media would feel more comfortable taking pictures of him than they did at Paulina’s house, because in the five days since they’re arrived in California, the press had only managed to get a few shots of him. They press stood across the street so as not to create a disturbance and there was only a handful of them, which meant that life had been surprisingly calm for Harry, but at the zoo, the numbers would swell, he knew that for certain. The zoo was located in Los Angeles, which made it an easy commute for the paparazzi that didn’t quite feel it was in their economic interest to waste time standing across the street from the Balcázar home.

At the zoo, Harry would be out in the open, in perfect condition to have his picture taken, and the American photographers would take advantage of that, because they knew that the British tabloid magazines would pay top dollar for pictures of him walking around the zoo with Paulina and the kids. They would probably run a title saying something along the lines of the young couple being well suited with children and possibly planning to have one of their own, they would run something preposterous, and their readers would eat it up.

So Harry was definitely worried about the kids. He wanted them to have fun with him at the zoo just like they had fun at their grandparent’s house. He didn’t want them to end up resenting him for having put them in a position where cameras would follow them around. He needed their approval, because so much of their aunt’s heart belonged to them. He needed to keep them safe, because if something happened to them, their father would kick Harry’s ass. And Harry was already on thin ice with Raphael. Yes, they got along a lot better than before, but that wasn’t really saying much. It wasn’t like Raphael had rolled out the welcome wagon for him and started being as friendly and attentive as Luis and Rodolfo were. Raphael put on a brave front and was polite, sometimes even bordering on friendly to Harry, but it was obvious to Harry that Raphael was only acting that way to please Paulina. And he knew that if anything were to happen to Isabel or Ronaldo, Raphael would not hesitate in throwing down. He was just that sort of person, and Harry didn’t think there was anything wrong with that. If he had kids and they got hurt or scared because of someone else, Harry would probably react in the same. It was natural for dad’s to get like that, but Harry really wanted to avoid having it get to that point.

That was why he told Alistair that he was to be the security detail for the children. Alistair was the best at what he did, he had served Harry loyally for nearly a decade, and under his watch, the children’s security wouldn’t be compromised. Alistair thought it an odd request for the prince to make and an unnecessary one. Alistair and the others had already discussed that keeping the children safe was to be a top priority, but more than that, Alistair knew that Paulina would never let the press wrong her niece and nephew. She would sooner throw a punch than allow some asshole with a camera to wrong the children. But still Harry wanted to make sure that everything would be alright.

When Harry went downstairs, he found the security details sitting in the living room with Paulina and her parents. Irmalinda had offered the men breakfast when she went downstairs and saw them all sitting at the table, discussing the security plans for the day, but they had politely refused and informed her that Raphael and Teresa had invited them to breakfast at their home. They were to eat there at 8:30, and at 9:30, they were going to get on the road to make the drive over to the zoo.

To be perfectly honest, it wasn’t going to be a very stressful day for them. They knew Harry was fretting over the children’s safety, but the truth was that there wasn’t anything to worry about. Alistair, with input from Paulina, had already gone ahead and contacted the zoo. Paulina had wanted to keep the outing as low key and normal as she possibly could, but of course, when there’s a prince involved things can never truly be normal. So she had been there to answer questions as Alistair sorted things out with the zoo officials. The management had been very agreeable to the inquiries that had been made, and had even gone so far as to provide the group with a complimentary docent guided tour. The zoo officials had also stated that if at any moment things got out of hand, the group could on request, be provided with extra security, as well as official zoo vehicles to make traveling throughout the zoo an easier task.

The zoo management had rolled out the welcome wagon for the prince. They saw it as an opportunity for their institution to be favorably represented in the international media, which was worth every penny that they could spend in making the royal feel welcomed. The Los Angeles knew the importance of good press, that was one of the reasons why the San Diego Zoo was always booming and never had to worry about their budget, while the Los Angeles zoo constantly fret over that, but with free international publicity coming from the photographers, they imagined their visitors going up, because if the Los Angeles zoo was worthy of a royal visit, then others would surely come.

A brief conversation was held when Harry entered the living room, and after a few minutes of it, the young couple along with the security details bid Ricardo and Irmalinda farewell and walked outside.

“Are we running late?” asked Harry as they made their way to the vehicle.

“No.” Paulina told him. “If anything, we’re a little early. It’s barely eight, and Rafa and Teresa’s house is only a couple blocks away so we’re good.”

Harry remained unconvinced.

“Trust me,” began Paulina. “If we were running late, I would’ve knocked on your door and woke your ass up.”

“Would you have?” Harry gently scratched the base of his neck. “I reckon I should’ve stayed put then, had you give me a wake up call.”

“It wouldn’t have been all that enjoyable.”

“I reckon it would’ve.” He smirked.

“Do you?” she smiled and climbed into the vehicle. “Because I'm pretty sure it would’ve involved me smacking you with a pillow and telling you to get your ass up.”

“In that case, I'm please to have woken on my own.” He climbed in beside her. “Are you sure your brother and sister-in-law won’t mind the children being photographed?”

“They’ve already been around photographers, so it’s nothing new to them.” She buckled her seatbelt. “When word got out about us, some assholes went to their school to try to get information out of them.”

“Did they manage that?”

Paulina shook her head. “They didn’t try to get it right off the bat. At first, they just took some pictures, and then, a few days into it, they approached the kids to talk, but Teresa saw them and went off. It was fucking stupid of them to do it after school, when Teresa was obviously gonna be there. I mean, if they were gonna try to hassle them, it should’ve been during their recess or something, but yeah, they did it after school, and Teresa saw what they were up to, and went off.”

“As was only right,” said Harry. “The nerve of those bastards to go after children!” he exclaimed, rather heatedly. “Honestly, it’s one thing for them to stalk us and your brothers and parents, but not children. Why didn’t you ever tell me that happened? I reckon I understand now why Raphael’s not so keen on me. I’d be the same if my children were put through that.”

“I didn’t tell you, because you have enough to stress about. Okay? This was handled by Teresa. She sorted it all out. I was just told about it later on. And after that, the kids weren’t bothered anymore.”

“They will be today.” Harry reminded.

“I know they will, but its fine. Teresa said it’s alright for them to come out with us, and Rafa okayed it as well, so don’t worry, güerito. We’re good. That reminds me.” She opened her oversized bag and pulled out a large mineral water. “I figured you might be nursing a little hangover. So if you are, drink this. It’ll make you feel better.”

“Bloody hell, Paulin,” said Harry as he reached out for the bottle. “Ya know me to well.”

“Of course, I do.” She smiled, affectionately. “We’ve been at this over a year.”

Harry returned her smile, and then took a long drink, relishing in the taste of the crisp mineral water.

“So how you feeling?” he asked when he’d done away with a quarter of the water. “You had a bit to drink last night, as well.”

“I did, but it wasn’t that much. It was hardly enough to get a good buzz going.”

“Does that mean you’re alright then? No headache or none of that?”

“That’s exactly what it means.” A soft yawn passed through her lips. “And you’ll be fine once you get some water in your system. Your being dehydrated is the only reason you’re hung-over, but once you drink the mineral water and have some food, it’ll be sorted out.”

They didn’t talk much during the rest of the drive. Harry focused solely on finishing his mineral water, and for her part, Paulina simply stayed quiet as she stared out the window. Despite not having had much to drink, she still felt tired. Having assisted her friends over to Rodolfo’s house had really taken it out of her. They were grown men who, for the most part, weighed more than her, and having to practically carry them over to Rodolfo’s, and tuck them into bed had been exhausting, and had left her arms and shoulders feeling sore. She knew her body wasn’t going to recover from the strenuous endeavor in the next few minutes, it’d take a day or two to put itself back to normal, but she just hoped that she’d be able to keep up with her niece and nephew.

When they pulled up to Raphael and Teresa’s house, they were greeted by Sarabi, a nine month old boxer that was the family dog. Since Sarabi had never met Paulina, she began to bark, alerting her owners that there were strangers standing outside the gate.

“Oh come on, Sarabi. Don’t bark at me. Don’t you know I'm your tia? You can’t treat your tia like this. That’s no way to treat family.” Paulina spoke to Sarabi as she crouched in front of the gate. “You have to be nice. Look, why don’t you smell me?” She held out her hand. “You smell that girl? It’s Herc and Bilbo, and I know for a fact that you like them. Your mamma always tells me you have fun running around with them. Ah. There we go.” Paulina smiled when Sarabi licked her hand. “Can I go inside then, girl? Can I?” Paulina stuck her hand inside the gate, and gently scratched the back of Sarabi’s ear. “You’re a good girl, aren’t you? Your tia loves you very much, yes I do.”

“Are you honestly telling a dog that ya love her?” asked an amused Harry.

“Yeah,” said Paulina, blushing slightly. “Dogs respond to affection. Just look at her, she’s ready to play.” She blew a kiss at Sarabi, which made her nub of a tail wiggle. “Come on then, let’s get inside.”

As Paulina moved to open the gate, the front door of the house was thrown open by Isabel, who was followed closely by Ronaldo and Raphael, the latter was trying to get his kids to slow down before they tripped on their way down the steps. And thankfully for Raphael’s peace of mind, the kids didn’t take a tumble down the stairs; they reached their aunt with ease, and greeted her with hugs and kisses, the traditional Balcázar way.

Once they’d greeted Paulina, they greeted Harry and then the security details. And then Isabel, in true Isabel fashion, took Harry’s hand and led him into her house, eager to give him the grand tour. Harry was a good sport about it. He followed along, pretending to be interested in where the living room was, in what stuffed animals decorated her bed and what her favorite color was. He played the part of an uncle and by the time that Isabel had finished giving him and the others the grand tour, Teresa and Raphael had set the table for breakfast, and called them over to eat.

Not knowing what kind of food they were into, Teresa had stuck to the American breakfast basics; pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon and home fries. She’d never met a person that didn’t care for that sort of breakfast, and she was relieved to see her guests enjoy the food. She had initially planned to make menudo, but when she went to the grocery store to buy the beef stomach and heart necessary for the soup, she decided that maybe it wasn’t the best breakfast idea. It was far too risky. There was a good chance that the type of meat wouldn’t sit well with them, and even if it did, there was a possibility that the chili broth would upset their stomachs. So she stuck to a safe breakfast, and it worked out.

They remained at the house until Alistair deemed it necessary to leave in order to remain on schedule. Isabel and Ronaldo wasted no time in grabbing their hats. Isabel had gotten a new sunhat for the occasion, a pretty beige hat with a pink satin ribbon and large flower. Ronaldo carried along his Indiana Jones hat. He’d had it since he was four years old, and didn’t plan on getting rid of it until it fell apart.

“Remember to listen to your tia and the muchachos (Harry and the security details). They’re going to take care of you.” Teresa told her children.

“Mamma, we’re only going to the zoo.” Isabel reminded.

“Yes, Isa, but there are going to be cameras at the zoo. Remember how there used to be people with cameras at your school? Well that’s gonna happen again, except this time, they’re going to follow you around more, so listen to what tia, Harry, and the nice security details tell you. Okay? They know how to act in those situations so you better listen, because if you take off running on them or don’t do what you’re told, your tia is going to give you a nalgada (spanking), and when you get home, I’ll give you another.”

“We’ll behave.” Isabel promised. “Can we go now, mamma? Please?”

“Yes.” Teresa pulled Isabel into a hug and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Remember to listen to your tia. She’ll make sure you’re safe, and don’t give her a hard time.” Teresa knew very well how high spirited Isabel could be and really just wanted to make sure everything would be alright.

Raphael reiterated his wife’s statements, and after his children promised that they would listen to their aunt and be mindful of themselves, they climbed into the vehicle. Alistair sat behind the wheel, Harry was riding shotgun Kamal and Gethin sat in the third row, and Paulina sat in the second with her niece and nephew.

Not being one to shy away from strangers, Isabel struck up conversations with Kamal and Gethin, and spoke animatedly throughout the entire drive. She asked them if they’d ever been to a zoo before and what their favorite animal was and if they’d had any pets growing up. The men were kind enough to humor Isabel’s incessant questions. Kamal expressed his interest in komodo dragons and Gethin told her that he liked jaguars best. Isabel was disappointed to hear they weren’t fellow lion enthusiasts, but forgave them, deciding that she’d take it upon herself to show them just how amazing lions were.

Unlike his older sister, Ronaldo kept quiet. He was weary of strangers, not finding it particularly easy to talk to people he didn’t know all that well, so he kept to himself. He simply sat beside his aunt and rested against her as she wrapped her arm around him.

It was in that position that he remained until they pulled into the zoo parking lot. As predicted, there was a cluster of photographers standing in front of the main entrance. There weren’t nearly as many as there usually were in England, but there were a great deal more than the usual handful that stood across the street from the Balcázar home. The moment Paulina spotted the paparazzi; she turned to her niece and nephew, and basically reiterated everything their parents had already told them. She said that they always had to be next to her or Harry, because if not, they could get pushed around and separated. She told them not to talk to strangers, accept anything from people they didn’t know, or lose their tempers and lash out at the press. She spoke to them for a few minutes, and when she finished, kissed their temples and then put on generous amounts of sunscreen on them, before finishing up by putting on their hats and stepping out.

The press hadn’t immediately realized that Harry had arrived. The vehicle, in which he was driven, was a standard looking black Escalade, there was nothing about it that made them think that royalty was using it as transportation. It wasn’t until Harry stepped out that they realized he was there. And when they did, they moved quickly to get to him. The press didn’t swarm Harry as badly as the ones in England did. They were close to him, following him in an awkwardly shaped crescent, but they weren’t just a few inches or a foot away, they were – at minimum – three feet away, providing a comfortable buffer that both Harry and Paulina, greatly appreciated.

“How’s the day going so far, Prince Harry?” bellowed a photographer with awkwardly styled, short blond hair. He was unaware as to how to properly address the prince. “Having fun with the kids or do you wish they’d stayed home?”

“I wish you’d have stayed home.” Harry shouted as he walked along, holding Isabel’s hand tightly. “The day would’ve been all the better for it.”

Paulina snickered at Harry’s sass, and shot him an approving smile.

The photographer caught wind of the exchange and asked, “Do you think the prince is funny? Does he make you laugh a lot?”

“Come on, Paulina. Do us a solid and give us an answer,” spoke another photographer, a heavily tattooed young woman. “Your snicker as good as said that he makes you laugh.”

It took everything she had to keep herself from saying: then why do you need an answer?

The photographers didn’t let up on their questioning. They thought that if they kept at it long enough, they’d get responses out of them, but try as they did; they received no further acknowledgement from the young royal or his girlfriend.

Paulina and Harry walked up to the main entrance, at which point Harry announced that he was going to go get their tickets, but Paulina had already procured them. Having known all along that Harry was going to try to buy them, Paulina had gone on the internet and bought them from the zoo website. When Harry found out, he told her that she should’ve have done that, that he’d wanted to take care of it, but she waved her hand in dismissal and then pulled out the ticket confirmations that she had printed at home.

The tickets were hastily scanned by a nervous teenager who was working the entrance. He had been told to expect royalty, and was nervous because his boss had told him to be on his absolute best behavior. The teenager was terrified, because he wasn’t sure if his best behavior was good enough, and to make matters worse, when he saw the photographers following around the prince, he sort of froze, his nerves momentarily getting the best of him. Noticing the young man’s distress, Paulina shot him an encouraging smile and warmly thanked him for having taken their tickets.

“Where to?” asked Harry after they officially entered the zoo grounds.

Isabel looked up at him, a bright grin on her face. “Kettle corn?” she proposed. “It’s really, really good and we can eat it and walk around!”

“Isa, you just had breakfast.” Paulina reminded. “You’re not having any kettle corn right now. We have to wait a little bit.”

“But I want it right now!” Isabel pouted.

“Just because we have company that doesn’t mean I'm gonna let you throw a little tantrum, so don’t even go there.” Paulina stated, sternly. “You just finished eating like an hour ago so if you eat right now, you’re gonna get sick because you have at it when you get popcorn. So wait a little bit.” She watched as Isabel furrowed her brow in displeasure. “If you want, while we wait, we can go over to the lion exhibit and then go to the koala house, but you have to promise not to stay grumpy, because if you do, we’re going to the snake house first.”

“Okay!” Isabel couldn’t say no to lions. “Come on, Harry. We’re gonna see the lions!” she exclaimed as they began to walk along the path that led to the lions. “And my tia’s going to tell you the story of why lions and tigers don’t get along. Have you ever seen a lion before? I’ve seen them a bunch of times. The ones here are my favorites, but I also really like the ones at the San Diego Zoo. Their zoo is a lot bigger over there, but it’s also really far so we can’t go often, because my mommy and daddy say that we have a zoo right here so we shouldn’t drive all the way over there. But they take us two times a year, for me and Aldito’s birthday. Well, they only take us two times, but we always go like five, because my tio Luis and tia Polen and abuelitos take us, and then our abuelitos on my mommy’s side take us, and then tio Adrian and uncle Tommy take us. They’re always taking us places. Daddy says it’s because they can’t have babies even though they really, really want to, so they treat us like their babies.”

“Isa, I don’t think he wants to hear out entire family story.” Paulina chimed in.

“S’alright.” Harry reassured. “I'm pleased to hear she’s so often taken where she likes, and is doted upon. If I were her uncle, I’d do the same.”

“You might be, because if you make my tia a princess, you can be my uncle.” Isabel paused, taking a moment to think that over. “Are you gonna make her a princess?”

“Isabel Rosalia Balcázar!” cried a mortified Paulina. “Don’t say things like that!”

“I didn’t say anything mean.” Isabel shot back, her innocence warming Harry’s heart.

“I know you didn’t, but you can’t ask people that. Okay? It’s rude.” Paulina stated.

“But why?” questioned Isabel.

“Because . . . because that’s a very serious question for only grown ups to talk about. Now come on, let’s go see the lion.” Paulina held out her free hand to Isabel.

“I want to walk with Harry.” Isabel said, defiantly.

“Isabel, quit being annoying.” Ronaldo spoke up.

“I'm not being annoying!” she exclaimed.

“Then why you asking if he’s gonna marry tia Polen? Mamma told you not to ask that! She told you all morning, because you kept saying you were gonna asked him. And she said not to!” Ronaldo huffed. “And if you ask him again, then I'm gonna tell mamma when we get home.”

Isabel threw Ronaldo a scathing glare before relenting. She took her aunts hand, and proceeded to walk at her side for the first four of their zoo visit. Isabel acted more amiable, and didn’t act as sassy as she normally would have, and after an hour of being so amiable, Paulina allowed her to go back to Harry. Paulina didn’t worry about what Isabel might say at Harry’s side, she was far too focused on walking through the reptile house with Ronaldo. She placed the six year old boy up on her hip so he could comfortably stare at the displays. Reptiles were his favorites after monkeys.

As Ronaldo and Paulina explored the reptile house, Isabel and Harry walked a few steps behind them. Isabel didn’t ask him if he was going to marry her aunt. Not right away. She kept conversation on something else. She might have only been eight years old, but she knew how to get her way. It was just a question of choosing what things were worth getting her way on and which things were forgettable. And although the kettle corn was forgettable, given that she’d only just finished eating, the answer to her question wasn’t. So she went along with him, speaking animatedly about her favorite reptile and what other animals she wanted to check out, and then, without Harry even really noticing it, she brought up her former inquiry.

Harry was taken aback by how effortlessly Isabel had brought up her question. She had seamlessly transitioned into it. It hadn’t been awkwardly placed or anything. She had built up to it, and when she found a link to bring up her question, she took it. The skill with which she asked her question was equal to that of his grandmother. There was the same ease and grace, and in that moment, he had to suppress a laugh at the thought.

“It’s okay if you don’t know,” she told him in a soft tone. “I was just wondering if you’d make her a princess, because grown ups are always talking about that. My mommy says that we’re not supposed to pay attention about anything people say in the news, because they don’t know anything, but they’re always talking about if you two are gonna get married. And I was just wondering if you’d make her a princess.”

For a moment, Harry thought about explaining to the little girl that his wife wouldn’t be a princess. His would be a duchess. She’s be the duchess of whatever title was bestowed on him, and if he had children while his father was king, then those children would be entitled to be titled princes and princesses, but he couldn’t really tell her all that. She was too young to understand the complexities of the crown, there were a lot of adults that didn’t truly comprehend how it all worked. So he didn’t get into all that. He just gave her a simple, honest answer.

“It’s not that I don’t know.” Harry told her. “It’s that the future is a very complicated thing.”

“But do you want to?” Isabel stared up at him with her bright hazel eyes.

“What do you think?”

“I think you do.”

“Do you?”

She nodded. “You look at her like my daddy looks at my mommy. You get really happen whenever she’s around. I can see it on your face. And she’s the same way. So I think she really loves you and she’d say yes, if you ever asked, but you have to promise to always bring her back for my birthday. Because she can be a princess with you, but she still has to be my tia.”