Once upon a time, a turquoise teacup in a little yellow house.
"Daddy! I want a new story tonight!"
Jane picks his little Hope up, he puts her to bed, turning on a little lamp next to her, that Hope always wants on at night.
"A new story? All right... are you ready?", says Jane, winking at his little girl.
Hope smiles, holding very tight Baloo, her dreams companion, a teddy bear her mom won for her at a fair's shooting gallery. She had been so proud of her mommy that day, no other mom had been so good in that game!
"Once upon a time, there was a teacup..."
"A teacup?", Hope asks, doubtful.
"A teacup, a turquoise teacup. It was a lovely one, always eager to welcome some good, hot tea. But it was also a sad, lonely teacup, always feeling so hopeless... And one sad day, the lovely teacup fell on the floor. Many turquoise pieces were scattered everywhere..."
Hope was listening very carefully, holding Baloo even more tightly.
"And just when the poor teacup thought there was no hope anymore, a beautiful little princess arrived, picking up all the pieces and taking them with her. She guarded them very carefully, for a long time. Finally, one day, she decides it has come the time to put all the pieces back together. With patience, and with love, she puts the teacup back together...
Hope, almost strangling poor Baloo for the excitement, asks: "As it was before?"
"Almost. Remember when we put a puzzle together? When it's done, the puzzle is completed as one piece, but you can still see all the little pieces that composes it, right?"
Hope nods, very serious now.
"Well, it's the same thing with our lovely teacup. It looks like a new one, and it's even more beautiful, but you can still see all the little cracks that remind us how the teacup used to be. But now, thanks to our little princess, the teacup is not only beautiful again, but it has also found a new home, a little yellow house. A safe nest, where our little turquoise teacup feels happy and well-protected, forever."
A big smile appears on Hope's face.
"Did you like this story?"
"Very much, daddy! And tomorrow I want to make a new puzzle!"
"Promised", says Jane, sealing the deal with a kiss on his child's nose.
As Lisbon arrives to kiss her little girl goodnight, she asks her: "How did daddy do tonight, with his story?"
"It was fantastic mommy! There was a broken teacup that a beautiful little princess put back together, and that now lives in a little yellow house!"
"What a lovely story! You sleep well now cutie pie. Sweet dreams...".
After another kiss from mom and dad, Hope falls asleep immediately, always holding her Baloo.
"A little princess, uh?", Lisbon says, with a proud smile on her face.
"The most beautiful, brave and badass angry little princess in the whole world. Our angry little princess".