by Aquisha
( )
Birthdays were never really a favorite for Eric. His mother, as calm as she could be the other 364 days a year, seemed to save up all her crazy for that one day, the anniversary of his birth. Now, usually it would be the normal myriad of guests and awkward silences with obscure relatives he hardly remembered, but this…. This was his twentieth birthday; the one that would christen him into adulthood…whether he liked it or not.
For the last few years, it hadn’t been that bad. Seeing as how he was married and lived in another kingdom, it was hard for his mother to be as hands-on as she pleased. But this birthday was too important to be planned through correspondence alone. Nope, this one had to be done in person. The result of this extended visit had been two weeks of grueling schedules and nearly impossible demands for everyone in the castle, but especially for Eric and Ariel.
Now Eric really didn’t want to get up out of bed, especially because when he got up that morning, Ariel was nowhere to be found. But even with no motivation at all to face the day of planning and fretting that he knew it was going to be, Eric still managed to get himself up, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. True, he was still in his pajamas, but under the circumstances, his being upright was an achievement.
When he walked in, he was first hit with the unmistakable smell of blueberry pancakes and coffee. Secondly, there was the beautiful sound of Ariel humming some light little melody she had probably just made up.
She was truly beautiful, even in the morning. Her hair was in a very loose braid that had obviously been slept on. It being the summer and too hot for her to wear her regular nightgown, Ariel had gotten into the habit of wearing one of Eric’s old shirts for pajamas with a pair of his navy pants that she cut just below the knee. Whenever he saw her in this “ensemble”, he would always think that she made it look better than he ever could, and this morning was no exception.
She had her back to him, pouring some pancake batter into a frying pan. Eric took this as a perfect opportunity to have a little fun and slowly crept up behind her.
“Mmmorning,” he said, grabbing her around her waist.
She gasped and gave a little jump at her capture, but quickly started laughing and turned around to face him.
“Good morning,” she said with a smile and giving him a kiss. “You’re obviously in a better mood.”
Eric grimaced at the thought of what had turned into an invitation-selection-summit the day before. “Not really,” he said letting go of her and leaning on the island in the middle of the room.
“Eric…,” said Ariel, knowingly. “I know she can get a little…excited. And trust me, I didn’t enjoy going through the fifteen minute discussion of whether it should be ‘You are “cordially”’ or ‘“graciously” invited’. But still, she’s your mother, and like it or not, you’re her only son, and when you turn twenty, that means that no matter what happens, you’re no longer hers to protect, and shelter, and…”
“Smother?” added Eric with obvious irritation.
Ariel just smiled.
“You know I love her,” said Eric sincerely. “She’s my mom. But this is ridiculous! I never wanted a ball, or five hundred guests, or a ten course dinner; she knows that! You know that!”
“I know, I know,” said Ariel.
“All I needed for my birthday was you and a guaranteed five miles separating us from another living soul,” he said, looking down and taking her hands in his.
There was a slight pause as Ariel looked at Eric. It was his birthday, it was something he should look forward to not dread with each passing day.
“Hey, I have an idea,” she said with that classic look of excitement in her eyes. “If you do your best to go along with this and try to enjoy your birthday, I promise that you can pick anyplace in the world, and we’ll go, just you and me, and we’ll have a little holiday. How about that?”
As she said this, she wrapped her arms around his neck and moved closer to him.
“Anywhere,” he asked, lifting an eyebrow.
“Anywhere.”
“Alright, deal.”
“Good.”
At just that moment, the doors of the kitchen flew open. Ariel and Eric both turned toward the door and froze at the sight of Vivian, Eric‘s mother, in all her glory. She was in her late forties with black hair that was streaked with grey. There was an obvious resemblance between her and Eric, the only difference being that her features were a lot smoother and more feminine than Eric’s. She was lean and elegant, completely dressed and ready for the day in a dark green dress with a very conservative neckline.
“There you two are.” Her voice was not stern, but it was forceful. Clearly, when Vivian spoke, there were no questions after.
“I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Eric, you have to be measured today for your new suit and Ariel, I need you to start cleaning around the castle. Who knows the last time the ballroom got a good scrub? Alright? Good. Oh, Ariel, dear, I think something’s burning on the stove. Oh, yes, and…good morning, dears,” she said, with a smile of true affection. Then, she turned, and left, leaving only the sound of her shoes on the marble floor echoing down the hallway.
After a second, they snapped out of their shock and Eric threw the smoking pan and is burnt pancakes into the sink. When that crisis was averted, he and Ariel were left in the quiet kitchen, just looking at each other, completely overwhelmed.
The over the next few days, much to his own surprise, Eric felt calmer than he had in weeks. He had successfully gotten through meetings about seating arrangements and Carlotta’s lectures on the importance of coordinating floral decorations with table settings. It had been a breeze all because he knew if he could just keep all this party preparation from driving him completely insane, he and Ariel would be in a villa in Florence in about a month (oh yes, he had already planned the entire trip).
However, it was when he went to go find Ariel that afternoon that things started to look a little rocky.
“Hey Grimsby,” he said, having to catch up with the brisk gait of his advisor. “Have you seen Ariel around anywhere?”
“Not since this morning. I think your mother might know where she is. “
“Well, where is mom?”
“I believe she’s in the music room with the court orchestra.”
“Thanks, Grim,” said Eric, slowing down to a halt as Grimsby hurried off.
As Eric neared the music room, he could already tell his mother was inside. The music that was bursting out of the doorway sounded to be an orchestration created to match the “Ode to Joy”…and was failing quite miserably. It was robust and loud and actually, downright obnoxious. Oh yeah, this was his mother’s doing.
“Mom?”
“Oh, hello Eric,” said Vivian, excitedly trying to talk over the music. “Gentlemen, gentlemen, take a little break, hmm? Yes, darling, what is it?”
“Mom, have you seen Ariel anywhere?”
“Oh yes dear. She’s in the ballroom scrubbing the floors.”
“Scrubbing the floors? Of the whole ballroom?”
“Yes, she’s been at it since this morning.”
“I better go check on her then.” And with that he turned to leave.
“Oh, Eric wait a second,” said Vivian as Eric turned around. “You have to hear the piece that Vincent wrote for your party.”
At this, Vincent gave a very proud bow.
“It’s wonderful. It’s called ‘Ode d’Anniversaire’. I thought it should have a French title.”
The orchestra started to play, and at the sound of the “music”, Eric, well, let’s just say he made the same face as when Ariel started brushing her hair with a fork. Vivian was too entranced by the music to notice him silently back out of the room. When he reached the hallway, he calmly walked away.
“Isn’t it wonderful Eric? Eric?” When she looked around, the birthday boy was gone.
Now, the ballroom was a massive piece of architecture, with beautiful Corinthian columns and a black and white marble floor. And there, in the middle of it, looking very small in the spacious surroundings, was Ariel. She was on all fours fervently scrubbing with a rag in the midst of suds and water. With closer inspection, it was obvious that her energy did not come from the unmitigated fulfillment of her work; this was definitely angry cleaning.
“Ariel?” asked Eric, a little pensive about breaking her rhythm.
“Oh it’s you!” she said sarcastically.
“Hey, Ariel, uh…Hun, are you ok?”
“Oh,” she said with a laugh. “Sure, I’m fine. I’ve just been here, cleaning this floor all morning and most of this afternoon. You’re wonderful mother has everyone stretched so thin that there is no one, got that, no one in the entire castle who can drop what their doing and help me. So, now, it’s been just me and the floor for about seven hours now. The floor and I are very close! But, what makes this day even better, is that there is this one spot on the floor that just will not come clean. I’ve washed it a good five times now, and still…there’s the spot!”
Eric just stood there, wide-eyed, starring at his wife. Ariel never really came unglued just because she could usually find some element of entertainment in just about everything. To see her this wound up was, for lack of a better word, weird.
“Alright,” said Eric, in the tone you might use when talking to a small child. Usually, he would never have gotten away with that, but Ariel was, well, out of sorts. “Let’s put the rag down and get you up off the floor.”
“Ugh,” said Ariel, getting up on her feet. She put one hand on her forehead and the other around Eric’s waist as they started to walk out of the room. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong.”
“No, trust me, it’s ok. Mom has that affect on people.”
“No,” she said with a laugh. “I mean, I don’t why I just lost it like that.”
“It’s fine. Listen, in about two weeks, I’ll be twenty, and Mom will go back home, and we will be eating pasta in some little bistro.”
“Really? A bistro? Italy! You want to go to Italy?”
“Yeah, if that’s ok with you”
“It’s perfect! Italy,” she said dreamily. “And we only have to wait two weeks.”
“Yeah, if we live that long.”
“Mmm. Something smells great,” said Ariel as she woke up the next morning. “What is your mother cooking?”
Eric sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. He thought Ariel being hungry that morning was a bit strange after the huge dinner she had the night before. She even had two helpings of dessert afterwards.
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, I’m beating you to it!”
With that he jumped up out of bed, with Ariel coming right after him. The race was on to see who could get ready the fastest. They both ran to the bathroom door, but Ariel got there seconds before Eric. Her one mistake was putting her hands on either side of the doorway to stop herself from sliding on the floor. Eric, who was right behind her, got his arms around her waist, flung her behind him, playfully of course, and ran into the bathroom closing the door.
Ariel, who was now on the floor laughing, got herself up and threw herself on the bed to wait for Eric to be done.
When Eric was finished he opened the door, expecting to find Ariel waiting right there. But what he found was Ariel, still on the bed, sleeping soundly.
“Ariel…hey.”
He had to shake her a few times before she even stirred.
“What?” said Ariel, rather irritated.
“I thought we were going downstairs to get breakfast.”
“What? Oh, yeah. Sorry, I was waiting for you,” she said yawning, “and I guess I just dozed off.”
“I didn’t take that long.”
“I know. I just, I don’t know, got really sleepy all of a sudden.”
“Well, get ready. I want there to be some food left when we get down there.”
By the time they reached the dining room, the smell of whatever was behind the double doors was downright intoxicating. Eric opened one of the doors and there in front of him was the most appetizing assortment of food he had ever seen. There were appetizers, entrees, desserts; every culinary dish imaginable was spread out on the table.
“Oh, good morning, kids,” said Vivian beaming. “Louis was just going to show me the menu for the party, but how can I serve so many guests a dinner that I haven‘t tried myself? So, I made him just whip up the entire meal!”
Eric was too entranced with the food to see Ariel go completely pale.
On the table, still steaming from the oven, were whole plates of beef, a roasted chicken, and worst of all a roasted pig, fresh off the spit, complete with an apple in its mouth. Apparently, it had all smelled wonderful until Ariel saw what it actually was. Now, for the obvious reasons, Ariel was a vegetarian, and usually she could stand the sight and smell of cooked meat. But this morning, for whatever reason, she could barely stay standing. She had to grab onto Eric’s arm just to stay upright.
“Ariel?”
“Umm,” she said, holding her stomach and looking straight at that pig. “I’ll…I’ll be right back.” With that, Ariel turned around and ran out of the dinning room.
“Ariel!” yelled Eric.
“What’s the matter?”
“I don’t know….” Eric thought for about a second and then looked up. “Meat! Mom, Ariel’s a vegetarian!”
“Oh my goodness, I completely forgot! Oh, Eric, I’m so sorry!”
“It’s ok Mom. I’ll go find her.”
After a good long search around the castle, Eric finally passed the room that Ariel used as her office. He almost walked by it until he saw red hair on the floor peaking from behind the desk in the middle of the room. He went in and walked around the desk, finding Ariel lying down on the floor with her hands on her stomach, eyes closed. He knelt down right beside her.
“Hi,” he said with a smile that showed his dimples.
With that Ariel opened her eyes. “Oh, Eric,” she said with a smile. “I’m sorry.”
“Ariel, it’s fine. Stop apologizing for things.”
“I never felt so sick in my entire life,” she said, putting her hand on her forehead. “That pig!”
They both started laughing, and Eric sat down on the floor.
“Mom says she’s sorry.”
“It’s fine, really. I don’t even know why I got so sick. That usually doesn’t happen. I don’t mind it when there’s meat around or even when people eat meat.”
“Really? You mean for three years I could have had a BLT whenever I wanted it?”
“Yeah, I don’t mind.”
“Aww,” said Eric, mourning the countless meat-filled meals he had missed.
Ariel just gave a little laugh. “Oh, Eric I’m sorry. That’s really sweet that you gave it up for me, though.”
“‘Sweet’ doesn’t make me feel any better.”
“Well, ok,” said Ariel, pushing herself onto her elbows. “What would make you feel better?”
“How about…I get your last dance at the party?”
“Sounds reasonable enough.”
“Good.”
With that they kissed, and Eric stood up and helped Ariel to her feet.
Later that day, after a rewrite of the dinner menu, Ariel and Vivian were busy in one of the parlors picking out swatches of fabric for possible table cloths at the party.
“Ariel, sweetheart, I’m so sorry about this morning. I completely forgot that you don’t eat meat.”
“Oh, Vivian, don’t even think about it. I usually don’t, well, react that way. Trust me, it’s alright. The food looked great though. I think Eric really liked it.”
“Well,” said Vivian, still looking at swatches, “I figured that food would be the only thing he’d get even remotely excited about. I just don’t know why he hates parties so much. What do you do with him when you to go out anywhere?”
“He’s fine when we go out,” said Ariel, putting down her fabric. “I mean, I guess the thing is, Eric doesn’t hate parties. Actually, he’s really fun when he goes to one. I think the problem is he hates being the center of attention. He can’t relax that way; he has to mingle and look good for a crowd. It‘s a lot to think about, so he can‘t really enjoy it.”
“That’s why he never enjoyed parties I threw for him,” said Vivian, slowly sinking into a chair. “See, there’s so much I don’t know already.”
Ariel looked over to see Vivian wipe a few tears from her eyes.
“Vivian,” said Ariel pulling up a chair beside her. “What’s wrong?”
“I just…I’ve seen Eric through everything. When his father died, when he took control of the kingdom, even when he married you. All that time, he still needed me. And now, he’s got you Ariel, and thank goodness for that,” she said with a smile, “you take such good care of him, but,…. Now, he’ll be twenty… he’ll be grown…and he won’t need me.”
Ariel just looked at Vivian, understanding how hard it must be for her to put her feelings into words.
“I just thought that if I could give him one last party, one last event in his life that I could control and watch over, then maybe I could just have him be my little boy one last time. I know it sounds silly….”
“No, Vivian, it’s not silly at all. Actually, it‘s quite understandable. But you know, you should really be telling this to Eric.”
“I know…”
“Really Vivian, I think he’d appreciate it.”
Vivian just smiled for a second. Then she wiped her eyes and looked at Ariel with resolve. “You’re right. I’ll tell him.”
“Good,” said Ariel with a smile. “Now, it’s time for lunch, don’t you think. I’m starving.” Ariel got up and went over to the table of fabric and starting putting things in order.
“Ariel,” said Vivian, going over to her. “You’re hungry…after this morning?”
“Yeah. I don’t know, my appetite just seems to come and go lately.”
“Hm…,” said Vivian looking at the fabric on the table.
“What?” asked Ariel, looking at Vivian.
“Well, Ariel, how have you been feeling otherwise?”
Ariel took a deep breath. “Well, I haven’t really felt…normal lately. I mean, there was this morning; I felt terrible, but now, I’m fine and I’m hungry. Oh…and when I am hungry, I’m hungry! It’s weird.”
“What else?”
“Oh, the other day, when I was on cleaning duty, I bit Eric’s head off and all he did was ask me how I was. …I don’t know, I think it’s just all this stress over the party.”
As Ariel was going through her, well, symptoms, there was a noticeable smile on Vivian’s face. As Ariel finished up, she was practically beaming.
“Vivian!” said Ariel, smiling, “what are you thinking?”
“Oh, Ariel,” she said, obviously in anticipation of something. “Just put everything you just said together and think of the one thing that it could mean.”
Smiling and biting her lower lip, Ariel looked from Vivian to the table. She really tried her best to think of what it could all mean. And then, like lightning, it hit her. Ariel’s eyes lit up followed by a huge smile.
“Oh, Vivian….”
“I think so. And I’m usually right about these things.”
“Oh, Vivian!” she exclaimed, putting her hands over her mouth; like that could hide her excitement.
“Ariel,” said Vivian, who was now tearing up again. “I’m going to be a grandmother!”
She just looked at Ariel, who was crying because Vivian was crying, and they both just hugged each other and sobbed. It was quite a sight, actually.
And this is where Eric walked in. The two most important women in his life were standing in the middle of a room of fabric, hugging and crying like they like they had one a lottery or something…and he, of course, was left out.
“What is going on in here?” he asked with a little concern.
“Oh…Eric…,” said Ariel, sniffling.
“It’s nothing, darling,” said Vivian, wiping her eyes. “It’s just…the fabric.”
“The fabric did this to you?”
Vivian and Ariel just looked at each other and smiled. Then, they answered in unison, “Yes.”
Eric just stood there with his mouth open. “Alright. I won’t ask. I’ll just leave.”
And with that, Eric left the room, completely vexed.
The next two days went by fast, especially because, as Eric noticed, things around the castle weren’t as hectic as they had been for the last week. His mother wasn’t ordering people around with the same zeal she had had before, and when it came to him, well, he hadn’t had to lift a finger.
Ariel was starting act more like herself, he thought. There were a few times when she would just completely forget her thought in the middle of a sentence or get really tired for apparently no reason, but that wasn’t too big a deal. He was just happy that for the first time in about three weeks it looked like all the members of his family were going to be able to enjoy his birthday. Hey, even he was starting to look forward to it.
“Ariel,” said Eric looking at himself in the mirror. “I need your help for a second.”
It always seemed that Eric could do everything for himself except for fix his own hair. It was just something that Ariel had a knack for and, so, once again he had to call on her expertise.
“I’m coming…” called the voice from the dressing room.
When Eric turned from the mirror, he was met with the vision that was his wife. She was standing in a pale green dress that was inlaid with beads in a beautiful pattern across the bodice, whose sleeves were really small little beaded straps that fell on her shoulder. The beadwork seemed to pour from the top down the dress itself, going from a very tight pattern at the top to a very loose assortment of beads at the bottom. Her hair was half up-half down; the down part was really just in a large curl that fell over her right shoulder, the rest of her hair was in a bun right on the back of her head with beads that matched her dress woven into it. She was…gorgeous.
Eric was speechless.
“Your hair, huh?” said Ariel, knowingly, as she fixed his thick waves.
“You’re beautiful. You’re, you’re…radiant.”
“Thank you,” she said smiling. “You’re not too bad yourself”
Eric was actually in a black suit, not the usual uniform he had to wear at most functions. He did have a red sash on that he just couldn’t do without and a few medals on his right jacket pocket. He was wearing white gloves and a white dress shirt, and altogether, he was actually very handsome. Really, Ariel thought he was very, very handsome, but since he never believed her when she told him this, and actually got downright embarrassed, she just made a mental note of it and carried on.
Their entrance into the party was grand. They were the most attractive couple there, go figure. They talked with their friends and mingled with diplomats and met the obscure relatives mentioned earlier in this narrative.
With Ariel by his side, Eric was actually enjoying the night. He found himself laughing and carrying on, like he would if it wasn’t his own party. And he realized that it wasn’t just him who was feeling this way either. Grimsby and Carlotta, who got to take the night off for the party, were acting like socialites, in the center conversations and telling jokes. His mother was beaming with pride over the end product of her years of skilled mothering. And finally Ariel. She was glowing. He had never seen her look more beautiful. As he watched her throughout the night, her smile and the life that was behind it made him really aware of just how lucky he was to have her.
At one point when Ariel was somewhere talking and Eric was alone watching the event near the punchbowl, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Well, what do you think?” asked Vivian, intently looking at the dancing couples.
“I think….” He took a deep breath before turning to his mother. “I think it’s wonderful, Mom. I really do. I’m having a good time, you’ll be glad to know.”
“You don’t know how happy that makes me,” beamed Vivian. “You know Eric, I want you to know why I did all this for you….”
“Mom, it’s ok. I know.”
“You do?” asked Vivian, puzzled. “Did Ariel say anything to you?”
“No. You’re my mother,” he said with a smile that Vivian recognized as hers. “I know you pretty well. It’s ok, Mom. You’re not losing me completely. I’m not going to get older and forget you. Although, this party will leave a pretty good imprint in case I ever do.”
Vivian laughed and looked with teary eyes at her son.
“You want to dance, Mom?”
“Me? With you? Now?”
“Yes, mother.”
“Alright.”
They walked out onto the dance floor and started to waltz.
“You act like you weren’t the one who taught me how to do this.”
“I know I did. That’s why you’re so good.”
At some shamefully late time of night, or day rather, all the guests had gone home and it was just Ariel, Eric, and the court orchestra left in the ballroom. By this time, Eric had taken off his jacket and gloves and had rolled the sleeves of shirt up to his elbows. Clearly, they were relaxing after a big night and enjoying this quiet time together.
Vivian, who had been saying her good-byes to guests, walked in, and seeing Ariel and Eric just standing in the middle of the ballroom, decided that the moment needed a little ambience. So, she walked over to the other side of the room, over to the orchestra. “Gentlemen, could you manage one more song tonight?”
Music started to play and when they heard it, Eric and Ariel, who had been laughing and talking about the night, stopped and just smiled.
“I believe you owe me the last dance of the night,” said Eric. “I highly doubt there’s going to be another one after this.”
“Alright, just let me take these off.” With that, Ariel kicked off her shoes. “That’s better. I‘m not scuffing these floors!”
They started dancing, but Ariel was a bit distracted by her noticeable shortness. Eric, knowing this to be a constant issue when they danced, picked up on it.
“It’s ok. …You’re not short.”
“I should have kept my shoes on,” said Ariel with noticeable irritation.
“It’s fine,” said Eric laughing.
Ariel put her head on his shoulder. And then, remembering that she had “news” to tell him she looked up.
“Eric,” she said smiling. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
“What is it?”
Now, from her vantage point, all Vivian saw was Ariel say something; with the music playing, she couldn‘t hear it clearly. Then Eric stopped dancing and apparently asked Ariel a question. When she nodded in the affirmative, Eric grabbed her around her waist and spun her around and around; all the time the only thing Vivian could hear was their laughter. At the sight of it, she let herself laugh too. After all, it wasn‘t every day she would see her son receive news of his first child. Then, with Ariel’s hand in his, Eric ran over to her.
“Mom, did you know?”
“I knew.”
“Oh, this is amazing! Ariel, I love you so much!” he said just embracing her. Then remembering something, he looked up. “We can still go on vacation, right?”
“I don’t see why not,” said Ariel, laughing. “Now, it’ll be perfect, because then we can have some time to ourselves before the baby comes.”
“And don’t you two worry about a thing,” said Vivian. “I’ll take care of the shower, the christening, birthdays….”
Then, noticing the pensive looks on Ariel and Eric’s faces, Vivian caught herself.
“Well, maybe not birthdays,” she said with a smile. “Oh, I’m so proud of both of you, and so excited for you!”
Just then the grandfather clock chimed the hour, and the music finally stopped.
“Oh goodness, it’s beyond late. I’m going to get to bed. I love you two very much. …You know that. Good night, dears.”
And with that Vivian left the room, once again, leaving only the echo of her shoes on the floor as she left.
“Well,” said Eric, “you need your rest. Let’s get to bed.”
With that he took Ariel’s hand in his and they turned to leave the ballroom. But, right before they reached the doorway, Ariel suddenly remembered something.
“Wait! let me get my shoes.”
“We’ll get them later….”
And with that, Eric spun Ariel around, lifted her into his arms, and carried her off to bed.
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