Aveline patted herself in the back for successfully staying still all through takeoff.
For the first time in ages, she willingly allowed herself to think of the past.
"What do you want to be when you grow up, Vee," Caroline Parker asked, as she laid on her back with her daughter in the backyard of their mansion.
"A princess?" Six year old Aveline replied.
Caroline laughed out loud. "That's such a you answer to give, Vee. What kind of princess?"
"A pretty one with pretty clothes, and shoes, and bags—" she paused for a while, and then added. "And princes."
"Oh baby!" Caroline giggled.
"Don't tell daddy though. He says no princes until I'm thirty. Isn't that too old to be a princess?"
Caroline pulled her daughter in for a hug, laughing her heart out.
Aveline opened her eyes, as a huge smile covered her face.
It was the only bright memory she still had of her mother.
She cherished that memory dearly, because it was the only way she remembered her mother's infectious laughter.
