Happily Ever After: The Married Life
by Jennifer Knapp

So the big day was finally here. Cinderella was finally getting married! "If only my stepmother and stepsisters could see me now," the soon-to-be princess thought, "they would regret all of the hardship that they put me through!" Cinderella's stepmother, however, had been forced to move from the kingdom soon after Cinderella's departure from the household. Stepmother could no longer afford to take care of her daughters and herself on the meager wage she received from her job. If only she could have married one of her daughters off to the prince, she never would have to worry about money troubles again since despite how hard she worked, it was never man's work and would never be paid equally.

Cinderella didn't concern herself with these details on her wedding day. She was preoccupied with the particulars of her ceremony. The flowers were perfect, the dress was perfect, all her guests were perfect; her wedding would be everything she dreamed it would be! Cinderella and her Prince got married and jetted off to their spectacular honeymoon in the tropics. After a few weeks spent together in blissful harmony, the two returned to the kingdom and began the mundane married life that every couple with rings on their fingers must someday face. Given the romance of their courtship and honeymoon, Cinderella thought, their daily lives must certainly continue in the same fashion.

Not that the story did not continue happily ever after. The prince and Cinderella were very content in their relationship. They made each other happy and that's what matters to the heart. Everything else, it seemed, was a bit more difficult to work. It started out with a few minor things. The Prince's clothes never seemed to make it off of his body to the hamper. Cinderella did not complain, however, she just quietly picked up the royal wardrobe and put it away. Being a prince, she thought, was a difficult job. The least she could do was a few nice deeds for her new husband. As time wore on, though, the Prince began to expect that his bride would clean up the trail he left. Since the wet towels disappeared from the bathroom floor every morning, he never bothered to question why and continued to leave them there. Soon Cinderella began to resent his royal slobbiness for the extra work that he created. But, she reasoned, this is what a wife is supposed to do, take care of her husband.

Cinderella's work soon tripled. No longer did the two of them cook dinner together after he got home from his days of ruling the kingdom. Instead, the Prince flopped onto the royal couch and watched royal TV while Cinderella prepared the royal dinner for the two of them. It didn't bother her, at first. It was just a nice deed to do for her busy husband. After a few weeks, though, the Prince never moved off the couch to offer a helping hand. The constant cleaning and taking care of castle business was beginning to wear on her. And then the Prince brought up the topic that so many newlyweds face: the B word. That's right, the Prince told Cinderella he wanted to have a little Prince so that his lineage would be carried on and the crown would remain in his family. Cinderella managed to stammer a "I'll have to think about it," before heading upstairs to the royal bedroom to think. "A baby?" she wondered aloud to herself, "but how will I ever manage to look after a child, clean the castle, manage the royal bank account and bills, and keep my sanity?" She went back downstairs. "Prince," she said, "I don't think I'm ready to have a baby. I was thinking that instead I would take some classes at the Royal College. I never got to go to school while I lived with my stepmother, I've always been interested in Politics. How can I expect to be a good Queen if I know nothing about government?" Stunned, the Prince tried to remember his mother ever doing anything but looking after him and his father. The two continued to talk for hours into the night about all of the household things that should have been negotiated before the two began living together. Everything should be split and neither should take the other's work for granted because life is difficult, whether the days are spent ruling a kingdom or helping to keep one castle of it clean. Life wasn't perfect after that but it was still happily ever after.