Chapter <b>195 </b>


    “Okay,” Alice said.


    “Agreed,” Julian added.


    I guessed it was decided, then.


    Alice’s POV


    Okay, I got myself invited to the party. That was all good, but it was only the start of my n <i>to </i>get Mom


    and Dad back together.


    The next step? “Gosh, I really wish I had a new dress to wear to the party,” I said, loud and a bit whiny, just in the right tone to get Dad’s attention.


    “You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Dad said. “Amber, why don’t I take you and Alice <i>to </i>the store? You could get matching dresses. Would you like that, Alice?”


    I nodded. “Yes!” And, okay, I wanted to get Mom and Dad back together, but having a new dress and


    feeling like a princess would be nice too. Why not both!


    Mom didn’t agree so easily. She gave me a kind of look that told me she knew I already had a bunch of dresses in my suitcases. But those dresses weren’t a new dress, which I tried to tell her by sticking out my lip and slouching my shoulders a little.


    In the end, I was the winner. Dad rounded us up and took us to the dress store.


    It was filled with beautiful fabrics and dresses, I didn’t know where to put my eyes, and ended up


    spinning in circles. I was a little dizzy, until Dad put his hands on my shoulders, keeping me steady as he urged me forward into the shop.


    At the counter, there was a nice lookingdy who smiled with a lot of teeth.


    “We need matching mother–daughter dresses,” Mom said and gestured to me.


    The woman pped her hands together. “I have the perfect thing!” She disappeared into the store for a


    minute and then returned with two different pairs of dresses. One set was purple, the other more blue. An


    ocean color with some glitter in the skirt.


    “Which do you want to try first, Alice?” Dad asked me.


    I pointed at the sparkly one, thinking it might make me feel like a mermaid in that color with that glitter!


    The saledy smiled as she carried the dresses to the changing rooms. Dad stayed out in the main area. There was a bench there. While Mom and I went into the back to change.


    Mom helped me with my dress because there was a zipper in the back I couldn’t reach. The minute I was


    zipped up, I turned to look in the mirror and gasped!


    I did look like a mermaid! Laughing, I swished my dress back and forth. Behind me in the changing room, Mom put on her own matching dress. Hers was the same color but it was a little different around the neck. Mine had a high cor, but Mom’s was lower. Still, she looked like a mermaid too.


    “You have to swish your skirt, Mom. Like this.” I showed her.


    She followed my lead, swishing her skirt back and forth. Her skirt was a bit bigger than mine and


    swished even better than mine.


    Mom wasn’t just a mermaid, she was a mermaid queen!


    Dad had to see this. He would fall in love with Mom all over again, and my n would be closer to being a


    victory.


    “We have to show Dad!” I said at once and unlocked the changing room door before Mom could stop me.


    “Alice!” she called, hurrying after me as I darted from the room. I ran back to the main room, and Dad looked up.


    He smiled when he spotted me, but that smile froze when he saw Mom next.


    His eyes went wide and his mouth opened a little, just like the princes do in my movies when they see the princesses for the first time.


    I couldn’t stop grinning. My n was working!