"He did," Alyssa said, grinning.
Julie offered a tolerant smile and proceeded with her story. "Jack called out, 'He broke the carriage!' And then, with the carriage coming to a complete halt, Juliet tried to get to the door to climb out, but before she could get to it the door swung open, and there before her in a dashing suit of shining black armor stood a knight, his sword poised to fight if he had to."
"The grumpy knight!" said Alyssa, clapping happily.
"Jack and the other cowardly bandit were shaking in the corner, and Juliet could only stare at the man behind the knight's mask. She couldn't see him, but she was very grateful to him for saving her. So, as any self-respecting maiden would do, she wanted to thank him. 'I am ever so grateful that you stopped to save me, kind sir,' she began. But, to her surprise, the knight seemed to be very impatient. 'Yeah, yeah, yeah,' he said, gesturing for her to climb out of the carriage. 'Come on, I don't have all night. As it is, stopping to save you has made me late for dinner.' Juliet was confused, and she frowned up at her grumpy savior, but she climbed out of the carriage and climbed up on his horse anyway."
Julie heard a soft chuckle from behind her so she stopped, startled, until Alyssa sprung from her bed and went running across her floor barefoot, throwing her arms around Aaron's waist and proclaiming, "Daddy's home!"
Aaron easily lifted her into his arms, giving her a kiss and gazing at her adoringly as he said, "Are you really making your mother tell you the grumpy knight story again?"
"Uh huh," she said with a cheerful nod.
"Don't you ever get tired of it?"
"Nope," Alyssa said, shaking her head vehemently. "It's my favorite story, Daddy."
"It's different every time it's told, how can it be your favorite?" he asked her.
"But it's always kinda the same," she told him. "The grumpy knight always saves Juliet and they always live—”
Aaron covered her mouth, raising his eyebrow and saying, "Now now, you're going to give away the ending." He placed her back down on the ground and looked up at Julie. "Why is she still awake?"
"She conned me into another bedtime story," Julie stated. "Plus, she wanted a kiss from Daddy before she went to sleep."
Shooting Alyssa a look as she climbed into bed, he stated, "That is an excuse, young lady."
"Daddy, come sit down. Mommy's going to finish telling us a story," Alyssa said, patting the bed.
"But I don't have to listen to this story, dear. I already know how it ends," he told her, absently leaning in to give Julie a kiss.
But Julie grinned at him impishly, saying, "You might be surprised."
"All right, but hurry it up. I would like to see my daughter asleep before midnight and my wife… at least in bed. I'll tell you a bedtime story," he told her, smirking.
"Ooh," Julie said, returning a playful smile. "Okay, where was I?"
"The grumpy knight saved Juliet from Jack and told her she made him late to dinner."
"He's a nice guy," Aaron remarked dryly.
Smiling, Julie said, "He can be. Anyway, after saving Juliet he whisks her up to the castle. As it turns out, the grumpy knight was on his way to the celebratory feast. Once they're back at the castle Juliet remembers why she ran away in the first place, and the news of Prince Marcus's engagement."
"He shouldn't have kissed her if he was gonna marry some other girl," Alyssa stated, shaking her head.
"No, he shouldn't have," Aaron agreed. "Prince Marcus is an idiot."
"Aaron," Julie said in the same tone she used to scold Alyssa.
"Go on," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Not all princes are good," Julie allowed. "But some of them are. Those are the ones you want to live happily ever after with. Now, back to the story…
"With the news of Prince Marcus and his engagement to Princess Emily, Juliet didn't feel comfortable working at the castle anymore. The servants had known of her involvement with Prince Marcus, and when word finally got back to Princess Emily she was very angry, and ordered Prince Marcus to send Juliet away. The prince agreed, and Juliet realized that he was not the prince she thought she loved, because he wouldn't send her away…"
Stealing a glance at her husband, Julie noticed that even in the fairy tale, his face bore signs of vague irritation.
"Anyway," she said, moving along quickly, "Prince Marcus told Juliet that he was going to send her to live in his brother's castle, and she would get a job in the kitchens there. Juliet was sad, but she would rather that than to have to go back to live with her stepmother and Jack, so she packed up the few things she had and prepared to leave the kingdom.