The next day Stella had planned out a huge surprise for Rolando. She did feel a little devious about it. It happened to be at her house and since Rolando was still at the hotel, she had sent a carriage to pick him up. She couldn't deny she was getting the jitters about it because this was something huge!

Rolando stepped out of the carriage and smiled brightly, walking up to his girl with open arms. "Ah, Stella, hello." He pulled her into a hug and pressed a gentle kiss into her soft rosy red lips, which he lingered on for a small bit. He was so glad to see her shining face. She always brought a smile to his lips, even just by thinking about her.

Stella giggled as she kissed his back before pulling away. Her cheeks were still a bit red, but not because of the cold, but because of how smitten she was. "Bonjour, my love. The surprise I have for you is waiting inside, but first, you have to close your eyes." She said in a cheeky schoolgirl sort of way. She was going to make sure he was surprised if it was the last thing she did.

Rolando raised an eyebrow but said no more, closing his eyes. If she wanted to surprise him then who was he to deny her that? He trusted her completely. "I better not be rammed into anything." He joked as he let her lead him inside the house and to the living room, or that was what he guessed since he knew the way there.

Stella smiled and chuckled at his words. "I promise, cross my heart." She then placed her finger up to her lips at those in the room before turning to Rolando. She was a little hesitant because she didn't know how he would react. "Open your eyes!" She exclaimed, placing her hands behind her back and lacing her fingers together.

Rolando opened his eyes and to his surprise, Nathan, Persia, and their children along with Willard and Baretta were all in the living room. His mouth dropped open, his jaw went slack as tears welled in his eyes and he was struck with a wave of emotions. "Stella, this is a marvelous surprise. Thank you so much for my love for this." He hugged her tightly before turning towards the Rosenbergs. "I couldn't be happier to see you in person than now." He was at loss for words.

Nathan chuckled at Rolando's enthusiasm and happiness about seeing them again. He didn't seem to hold any ill will towards him for what he did. He was sure he would understand. "How have you been, Rolando? It has been a while and my deepest apologies for not telling you sooner." He felt a bit bad about keeping him in the dark, but it was what was best.

Rolando shook his hand and shook his head. Nathan needn't apologize, he understood - for whatever reason, it may be - for him to do what he had done. "I have been very well. It is alright. I may not know why, but I understand. I don't blame you." He told them with a gentle smile gracing his lips as he accepted the teacup from Stella. He wasn't one to hold grudges against anyone.

Nathan shook his hand in return after standing up. That did make him feel a little guilty because after all he had abandoned the kingdom and lied to him, but it was for his good. He needed to continue to tell himself that. "We have been as good as we can, laying low and using Persia's maiden name as a cover. Thankfully no one here has even though we were the Canadian royals due to faking a French accent when in public." He explained.

Roland nodded as he listened to what Nathan explained. "I am glad no one connected the dots. If Medusa ever found out, I do not think you could escape her this time. I can't imagine her reaction if she ever finds out you never died. Goodness, that would be terrible." He solemnly said, a tug of pain at his heart of the thought of losing them again.

Nathan waved his hand at what Rolando was saying. He had grown cold to her name and anything about her. He felt nothing for her. Maybe a little hatred not that he would admit that. "Let's not worry about that now. The good thing is that we are alive and you are here with us and we are catching up on lost time." He was making it known the past was the past.

Cyrene was no longer wishing to be quiet and stood up. She was so used to staying out of the 'grown up' talk, but she was old enough now she could speak freely. "Rolando, I almost forgot what you looked like since I was only a small child. I always wondered what happened to you and am glad to know you're alive and well." She beamed, hugging him tightly.

Rolando chuckled and hugged her back tightly before pulling away. He placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her up and down. "Look at you, Cyrene, all grown up. You've grown into a beautiful young lady, and much taller than you were when I last saw you. Not only that, your grammar is impeccable." He teased gently, knowing she had a bit of a speech impediment. 

Cyrene giggled at his teasing and didn't take any harm to it since she knew he wasn't serious. "Once we got here, I was given a private tutor and my speech impediment soon became a thing of the past." She proudly declared, sitting back down on the couch. "However sometimes it does pop up, but very rarely." 

Stella turned to the other children of Persia and Nathan. "Rolando these are Persia and Nathan's other children, the ones they had since being in Paris. Ariel, Marilla, and Gideon. Ariel, Marilla, and Gideon, this is Rolando, your former military sergeant, and your father's long-time friend." She introduced them to each other.  

Ariel was a bit shy seeing she had never met him beforehand. She was a naturally shy person in general.  "Hello." Her voice was soft as she waved gently at him, pushing her braid to her back and placing her hands on her lap to which her eyes went. He seemed like a nice man, even if she had never met him before. 

Gideon jumped up and ran over to him, looking up with a bright smile and just as bright eyes. "Hello, Father speaks a lot about you, so does Cyrene. She says you were like an uncle to her and were a lot younger than now. But you don't look old! Maybe a little gray but time will do that to a person." He bluntly said, no shame in his voice for his tone or words.

Cyrene's face went red at what her brother had said. "Gideon, you know that isn't nice." She shot at her brother, crossing his arms. She couldn't believe he would bluntly call Rolando old! Yes, he might have implied it although he denied he was, she knew him pretty well. He thought Rolando was old, no matter what he said, she knew the truth and wasn't too happy with him.

Gideon rolled his eyes at what his older sister had said. Good grief. She always scolded him and he hated it. "What? It's true! The truth hurts sometimes. Nothing I said was wrong." He was trying to make a form case by saying very little. He just wished she would let it go and allow him to say whatever he wished. He was allowed to after all.

Marilla smiled from her place on the floor. She looked up at him and hugged the bunny on her left arm. "Hello, it is nice to meet you." She sweetly greeted before going back to her painting on the floor on a canvas with various blue colors humming gently. It might have been abstract and a little messy, but she seemed to be having fun.

Rolando smiled at each one of them that greeted him. "It is nice to meet all three of you. I am sure glad to meet you three and I am sure Cyrene is glad to be the older sister and have siblings of her own to watch over as Clarissa did for her." He then realized he probably shouldn't have brought up her name. It was still a touchy subject.

Cyrene nodded. It hurt to know I wanted to speak with Rolando about something that happened a few days ago. "Oh, I have been wanting to talk to you about that boy, Vincent you were raising." He was going to go down this road and he didn't care if Rolando was close with them or not. He was the guardian of the boy.

Rolando knew this was coming so he did his best to interject before any more was said. "It is a big misunderstanding. I can explain. When we heard about Willard and Baretta offering a reward for their granddaughter, Vincent just wanted the money for himself. So when Risa came to the castle asking for a passport to Paris, we saw that she looked just like a younger version of Persia at eighteen." He began to explain, making sure no one would get a single word in.

He ran a hand through his hair as he continued. "I didn't want to suggest such things because it could have been a mere coincidence. Vincent let it go and he was having a battle during the opera on what to do. And he chose not to get the reward money and he tried to explain what was the real reason but it got blown out of hand. Now Risa hates him and Vincent is in such a sad state."

He looked between Perisa, Nathan, Willard, and Baretta as he spoke. "I was only told by Vincent what happened and I believe he had no intention to hurt you. He has turned over a new leaf because of it and has been making mends. I suppose it was rock bottom for him and a good thing happened." He was a good thing but it was still sad it happened.

Nathan was feeling a little bad about jumping to the conclusions he had. However, his life prevented him from dwelling on it. "Oh, well, I was not expecting that. I must apologize to both of them for making things bigger than they were and jumping to conclusions I shouldn't have. However, I suppose there was a good outcome after all." Of course, he had to treasure that even though it happened it was a good thing.

Persia lost him after he said this Risa girl looked like a younger version of herself, which she found shocking. "She looks like a younger version of myself? That is a rather odd coincidence." She couldn't tell if a spark of hope sparked on her at his words or it was a twinge of pain. There was no way it could be her daughter. That would be too much of a coincidence. 
    
Cyrene, on the other hand, had a bit of hope in her heart and a small spark at what Rolando had said. "So, she could be my sister? If she looks like my mother now, then that means she is related to us, right? We won't know unless we meet her." Even if she wasn't her sister, she still wanted to meet her. Perhaps her sister was alive and she could see her again! Coincidence or providence. It didn't matter to her.

Rolando shook his head, hating to be the bearer of bad news. "Not necessarily. Risa knows nothing about her past, all she has is a pocket watch with Paris on it." He forgot about it having a lullaby engraved on it since Risa hardly ever spoke about that part.  "I am taking her to the place where it was created here to find out who bought ones like that."

Persia stood up and walked over to the window. "Rolando, Nathan's parents bought one of them for Clarissa as a clue to invite us to Paris. It also had our lullaby engraved on it. Does hers by chance have a lullaby engraved on it?" Another coincidence that seemed to be more of fate than anything.

Rolando couldn't recall if Risa had it or not with all that had happened. All he remembered was a pocket watch with Paris, the whole reason Risa wanted to come here. He would have to ask her the next time he saw her. "Oh, if Risa's does then -" He was cut off by Nathan who didn't want to think about such things. 

Nathan didn't understand how they could still have such hope after all they had been through. "Even if Risa has the watch our daughter had, doesn't mean she is her. For all, we know she found it on the ground, took it or she was given it by someone. That doesn't prove anything. Besides, everyone knows Persia's lullaby. It is quite popular since it was something her mother had sung to her." He was being logical.

Persia was not too happy with how cold he was being. He never wanted to talk about her and when he did he said things like that. He was so cynical about everything. It made her upset. "I didn't say it did Nathan. I know you are bitter about what happened and I am sad about it too, but I am not jumping to conclusions about a girl we never met." She spoke, raising her voice a few octaves with narrow eyes.

Nathan grumbled something under his breath as he looked at his wife. There she went again. Getting worked up over something as stupid as that. "I never meant to jump to conclusions. I was having a bad day. No, it is not an excuse for my actions, but it is a logical reason why I did such things. I am not proud of it but I can't change what happened." He explained, having to remind her again.

Persia rolled her eyes, not too happy with his reply. "Perhaps it is a wake-up call for you to change how you see things and maybe even keep quiet when you shouldn't be speaking and listening to others for once." She coldly said, looking away from her husband and at Rolando. "My apologies, you had to see that."

Rolando couldn't deny that it made him a bit uncomfortable. They no longer were the picture-perfect couple everyone wished to be. What happened that day had driven a wedge between them. Yes, they might have had days where everything was good, but it seemed more than not the bad days outweighed the good. "Oh, no, it is fine." He insisted. 

Stella knew Cyrene was right and she didn't like seeing them at each other which was common for the two. "We won't know anything unless you guys meet. I can try and arrange a meeting between you and Risa. Although she still doesn't want to hurt your feelings by seeing her and getting your hopes up over a mere coincidence. Not only that, she is embarrassed and hurt that you thought she was in on such a con. She would have never agreed to that." She explained, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

Persia crossed her legs and leaned her arm on the armrest. She didn't want the poor girl to think that she believed that. She was appalled by what her husband had said and did. "I don't blame her after being humiliated in the opera house. She must know we are sorry and never meant to hurt her or jump to such conclusions, at least by me." She wasn't speaking about herself, but her husband, Nathan.

Stella was glad they or at least a few of them were open about meeting her. "I can try no promises though. I talked to her all day yesterday and she wants to stay here even if she doesn't find her family. So you are bound to run into each other and Risa is planning on looking for a job to earn some money of her own." She was a little too happy Risa had decided to stay and make a life for herself here.

Cyrene was secretly hoping they ran into her. She had to know whether this girl could be her sister or not despite what her father said. She could have a friend who was older than her and if she reminded her of her sister, that wouldn't be so bad. "I certainly hope we do, because then I can have a friend a bit older than I and can speak with girl things." She simply said, sipping on some of her tea.

Stella then had a thought pop into her head which she had completely forgotten about until now. "Oh, I wonder if Éclair is bonding with Loyal? Éclair seems to not enjoy a Loyal's presence which saddens me since I thought I raised her better. She has been making the poor puppy feel like an outcast and I regularly scolded her about it." She sighed gently, picking up her teacup and drinking from it.
 
Marilla looked at everyone in the room and cocked her head to the side. "Who's Loyal?" She had no idea who she was talking about. She knew Loyal was a dog but she didn't know if she was simply a stray or a pet of someone she knew. "I was wondering where Éclair was, though I did think she was just sleeping." She crossed her legs as she shifted on the floor.

Rolando smiled, glad she had asked such a question. "Loyal is Risa's dog. She found her alone a few months before she was to leave the orphanage and she was her only friend until she met me. She is a beautiful puppy and quite energetic, she also is a great help and leaned her paw many times on the way here." He knew the story better than anyone.

Ariel couldn't help but coo about what she was told. She had always wanted a pet but Nathan would never allow it. He never gave a reason for not letting them have a pet. Their mother did give them a reason for not having one. "Aw, I want a dog too! Mom, why can't we get a dog?" She asked, it never crossed her mind or came up in any conversation which is why she was asking.

Persia was amused and gave a slight smile at her daughter. "Because your father and I will end up taking care of it when you get lazy. Not to mention you have no time for a pet with all you guys do to keep busy and out of trouble. Having a dog is a huge responsibility. Perhaps when you are a little older and become more responsible." She reminded her younger children.

Gideon found that rather odd for her to say because he had a few pets. "Mother, I have Lizzie, my bird, and Birdy, my lizard. They are my pets. How different are they from a dog?" He asked, scratching his cheek. The bird and lizard had gotten hurt and were helping them back to health. Of course, he figured Lizzie would never be able to fly again which was sad.

Persia laughed softly. Oh, how sweet he was. She knew the two were quite different. "That is very different, Gideon since it doesn't take much to care for, unlike a dog or cat. Which is something none of you are getting until you are much older." She replied knowing it was like apples and oranges. No matter how many times they brought it up her answer would be the same.

Marilla rolled her eyes and scoffed at what her brother had said. "Who names their lizard, Birdy and the Bird, Lizzie. Shouldn't it be the other way around?" She never had the courage until now to say how she was feeling about those names. She was always scared he would try and be mean to her, like pulling her hair or throwing something at her.

Gideon was offended she had said such a thing, it wasn't very nice. "It's different. It's better than naming your dream dog Sir Bark-a-lot, like what type of name is that? Why can't you name him Sir Lancelot, at least that sounds better." He shot back at her, crossing his arms. Now they would be going at each other, back and forth until someone stopped then.

Marilla gasped and placed her hands on her hips. "I was five. I have grown and will name my dog something more mature like Toulouse or something like that. Even if I chose to name him that, how is it any of your business? It will be my dog and you won't have any say in anything I do with him or her." She replied, sticking her nose up in the air.

Gideon didn't care if she was five or not. Anyone would know that would have been a dumb name for a dog. "So what? When I was five I could come up with better names than you did." He shot back sarcastically, rolling his eyes, and scoffed. He didn't notice his mother and his father were about to speak up when Cyrene interjected.

Cyrene was tired of all the fighting her parents and siblings did all the time. This was why she kept to books and other things so this wouldn't happen. "Gideon, Marilla, please stop. This isn't the time to bicker with a guest in the house. You shouldn't do that when he is gone either. it isn't nice and you should be on your best behavior." She scolded them with gritted teeth. Sometimes she didn't understand how they could argue like that.

Marilla groaned and crossed her arms, looking at her sister with narrow eyes. "We weren't bickering. We were just having a little banter, that is all. Mama and Papa have them all the time so what is so much different than us?" She had a point. Nathan and Persia did argue a whole lot and she was merely copying what they did. If they could do it, why couldn't she and her brother?

Gideon for once was agreeing with her. She made a reasonable explanation. "Yes it got a little heated but we weren't bickering, just debating. What was so wrong about that? Couldn't they have a nice healthy debate over such things?" He found the logical reason. Besides, it wasn't like they were yelling at each other. 

Rolando chuckled at the kids, this was something he never thought he would see. He quickly spoke up before Nathan or Persia had anything to say. "Ah, this was something that I never got to experience with Clarissa and Cyrene, they got along 90% of the time and very rarely fought. I suppose it was because they weren't too far in age and Clarissa was so doting on Cyrene and did all she could to protect her." He mused at the thought. It was such a good memory.

Cyrene nodded, a bit saddened now about this whole subject once again. She did recall how her sister always stood up for her and was always there when she needed her to. They needed to get off that subject and onto something else. "That is indeed true. Now, Mother, Father, perhaps I should take Ariel, Marilla, and Gideon out around town while you catch up with Rolando. I believe they will feel rather bored with grownup talk." She smiled softly.

Persia was fine with that since it would make things better for them to catch up. "That is fine. We do have adult things to speak about with Rolando that you are too young to understand. Stella, can you accompany them? I know Cyrene is old enough to do it herself, I just would feel more comfortable if you went along to help." She just couldn't let any of her children go without an adult due to Medusa still being out there.

Stella was happy to agree to chaperone the kids in Paris. "I'd be delighted to take them. Let us leave now and perhaps we can get lunch out, no?" She did happen to eat out a lot mostly because she was too busy to cook. She had a lot of priorities, from meeting people to gatherings, philanthropy. She was a busy woman and it wasn't like she didn't have the money for it. She saw it as helping small businesses.

Cyrene was glad Stella had agreed to tag along. She didn't want to be fully responsible for the trio. Besides, eating out was something they rarely did. "Ah, lunch out. Something I haven't had in a long while. It will be great. Fresh air and window shopping while my siblings get their energy out." Those were the things she enjoyed doing. Plus it was easy to make friends doing those things as well. 

Gideon, Ariel, and Marilla followed Cyrene and got their coats, gloves, hats, and pulled on their boots making sure they were bundled up. Stella followed in suit making sure that they wouldn't be cold during their outing. The group told everyone goodbye and soon were taking a trip to town leaving the grown-ups to talk. Hands were held before they left the yard to make sure no one would run off.

Rolando turned to the others and clapped his hands. Now that the children were gone he could get to the serious issues. "I think we should first talk about what happens if Medusa comes since she probably knows Clarissa may be alive with the reward money and all. She is bound to figure things out. She is smarter than she looks." He knew Nathan underestimated her which led to their kingdom's demise.

Persia reached for a teacup and poured some water into the cup after grabbing some tea leaves in the strainer. "That probably wasn't such a good idea to announce that Clarissa could be alive since that could also get back to us being alive as well. We know we need to be even more careful. She could be on her way to investigate the claims." She didn't approve of what her in-laws had done.

Rolando sighed, not liking the idea she could pop up at any time now. "I will make a few calls but for now, don't change your life just keep an eye out, and hopefully we will catch her before she tries anything again if she ever comes here and finds you guys." He truly hoped Medusa didn't hear Clarissa may be alive because that could have set all their fates for the final time.

Persia nodded, crossing her legs and setting her teacup down. "I can't bear the thought of her coming after us again. After we escaped death, that was all because of her. Who's to say that this time she won't finish it once and for all? She has had years to bask in the glory of our death only to find out we're not dead? I can't imagine how much hatred she must have." She didn't want to think about such things even if they were true.

Nathan scoffed, rolling his eyes at his wife's words. She had always been too worried about everything. "Oh come now. You are worrying too much. If she comes we will be prepared. We have done a great job at leaving no footprint. There is nothing that ties us to Paris even if she came here." He had made sure no one knew they were here.

Rolando sighed gently. That was good and all but it didn't bring him any relief. "That may not even stop her. I truly hope we can find her and have her arrested for what she has done. Sadly no one has seen her since that night, it is like she has disappeared." He knew she hadn't but she hadn't been seen once.

Baretta, who had been lately quiet, decided to speak up. "I still think you should have escorted her out of the country and made sure she could never come back. You could have avoided this mess!" She grumbled, throwing her hands in the air as she stood up and walked over to the window. Gazing out, she looked back at them. "You can only blame yourself."

Persia couldn't believe she was blaming them. Yes, she should have done that, but for anything, Nathan should have done that. She didn't have the heart to face her again after that whole ordeal. "We can't speak about the past since there is nothing we can do about it. We can only learn from our mistakes. If only someone could understand that." She passive-aggressively noted, glancing at her husband.

Nathan groaned. There she went again with stubble jabs at him. She was still holding his previous actions against him. "Anyways," He thought it was best to just ignore her words. He wasn't going to let them affect her. "I will ask a fee of my trusted friends to keep an eye out for anyone matching her description asking about us." It was the only thing he could think of doing.

Rolando would also keep an eye and ear out. He had a lot of contacts here as well, most were only loyal to him. "I will help. I have been meeting up and talking with some of my old friends. They wouldn't mind helping with that." It was a small favor he was sure they had no problem with. Even if they did, he could always owe them a favor. He didn't mind that if it helped his friends.

Persia was glad Rolando wasn't mad at them for what happened. He was truly a wonderful man. Anyone who called him a friend was no doubt blessed. "Thank you. Hopefully, we can put everything behind us and stop her once and for all." It might have been a huge ask but she was optimistic that things would work out for them.

Whatever was in store for them, they knew they would take all the precautions needed to ensure they didn't have a repeat of history, and this time there were no second chances. They needed to be ready for anything because no one knew what Medusa was planning. After all these years, if she had planned something, it would be ten times more words than before.

❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅

A/N:
This took me a little longer than I wished but it was because I was busy and didn't have much inspiration for this. My deepest apologizes and believe me when I say I am okay with this chapter, not happy about it but that is for another day.

Edit: I added another 2k words onto it. I did fix a lot of the grammar issues and will probably go back through this all again and edit it a few more times.

Chapter talk:
Finally, Rolando gets to meet his friends who he hadn't seen in forever. You can tell Nathan and Persia, since that night, have been at each other. It had always been there but it didn't show until that night at the opera.

I will make this a bit longer later whenever I have an idea for it. I just wanted to get this finished so I can move on to another chapter and work on getting this done. Then go back and fix all I need too.

And lastly, anything else I forgot to ask away my pals. I am happy to answer anything!

In closing, all rude, impolite and mean comments will be replied to in a diplomatic way, reported or deleted if I feel like it is attacking me personally.

Thanks for reading!