The Uncle and the Princess
All these stories will be in Gracie's POV.
Gracie's five which makes it about session 9
Might want to brush up on the plot of the episode, "Need."
My father's body is a map. I can trace on it the adventures my mother and father had together. Each scar, dent, and worn joint is a visual reminder of some adventure. Of course, the ones he tells me aren't the real adventures. How ever my father really earned those marks is a secret, like everything else about his and Mom's job. But he tells me stories at bedtime, fairy tales, one per wound.
I touch the underside of his left knee, and he grins at me. He likes to tell the story, he gets to make fun of Uncle Danny in it.
"So your Uncle Danny sees this beautiful princess, and you know what he does when that happens."
"He falls in love," I say.
"Instantly," Daddy grins, "So this princess gets mad, because…" He always pauses here so I know it's even more of a lie than the rest, "because of the evil pixie dust." There is a lot of evil pixie dust in Daddy's stories, "So the evil princess and her very evil father the king, who drank evil pixie dust for breakfast, threw us in the diamond mines. We slaved day in and day out, until at long last we saw out chance for escape. Super Sam," that is what he always calls Mommy in our stories. Mommy always saves the day, " fought bravely."
"Did the rest of you fight?" I ask longing for the familiar answer
"Course we fought, but…"
"One Super Sam is worth a thousand mortal men," I finished, "So you all got away?"
"Well most of us got away, but you know your Uncle Danny," he says.
"He dies a lot," I said with a grin.
Daddy grins at me, "But don't worry,"
"Because he has a really great fairy godmother, and never stays dead."
"That's right Gracie girl."
"So Uncle Danny dies," he continues, "and the princess drags him off to give him a sip of the evil pixie dust which brings you back to life."
"But only at the price of your soul," I add.
"But he didn't know that yet," Daddy adds. "He took just one sip of the pixie dust, and it had him. That's why drugs are bad Gracie girl. Just say no." I didn't really get what he meant, so I just let him keep talking. "So Uncle Danny decides to get married to the princess."
I roll my eyes, "But Uncle Danny was already married."
"Yeah, pixie dust makes you forget stuff like that. So I went to tell him having two wives would be a seriously bad plan. One is hard enough, 'specially when she's got a pixie controlling her."
"And you told him Super Sam was chained up and working in the mine."
"Right, and with Super Sam chained how much could you expect to get done? Then these guys working for Uncle Daniel…"
"Smack you right in your bad knee."
"Why do they always go for the bad knee Gracie? Why?" he says tickling me.
"Don't know Daddy!" I say giggling.
"And they make me kneel before Uncle Danny."
"Because you certainly wouldn't have any other way."
"Of course not, but I manage to convince Uncle Danny to come home with me."
"Because you are just that wise."
"And persuasive, so Uncle Danny agrees to marry the princess, we all get on the magic carpet, and head home."
"But Uncle Danny doesn't marry the princess does he Daddy?"
"Not that princess, sweetheart, but he really wanted to. Really, really wanted to. But more than anything Uncle Danny wanted,…"
"…just one more taste of the pixie dust. But Auntie Janet fixed him right, Daddy?"
"Only because Super Sammy told her all we had to do was wait. Then Danny would hurt for a while before he got all better."
"'Cause Super Sammy always saves the day right Daddy?"
"Of course, baby," he says kissing me.
Mom's standing at the door with her arms crossed. She's trying to look very mad. But she's also trying not to laugh. "Jack," she says.
"Samantha," he says with a grin.
"We've had the discussion about classified before, Jack."
"Sammy you cannot classify pixie dust. There's got to be some kind of a law."
