A/N: Happy Mother's Day wishes to all of us, whether we are mothers in the true sense or mothers to those among us who need some mothering. We all do it, there's a little mother in all of us. I hope this fic brings a smile to you as I celebrate our favorite couple. This is a bit of a departure for me – I hope you enjoy it! Happy reading, Lisa
SING A SONG OF RYE
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Prompt:
Pretty Little Dutch Girl
I am a pretty little Dutch girl, as pretty as I can be.
And all the boys in the neighborhood are crazy over me!
The day was bright and cheerful as it always was in her home. The children were all happy as they came down to breakfast. The dell was alive with all the animals, the horses, cows, chickens and pigs and everything else.
Wait children? A dell – like farmer in the?
As they all gathered around the table the boys were excited to get to school. Elizabeth's table was laden with biscuits and pots of jam, scrambled eggs and bacon courtesy of their own backyard, fruits and nuts, bread and honey, and pitchers of milk.
"So, anything special going on at school today?"
"Not really, Mom," Cam answered, "Uhm, Miss Muffet gave permission for Jack and Jill and Little Tommy and Little Jack to go to Banbury today."
"Oh, that sounds nice," their Mother answered, "What's in Banbury?"
"Some woman on a white horse," her husband answered, "it seems foolish to let children miss school for such a silly thing."
"Totally," Jake and Quinn agreed with their Dad.
Suddenly Elizabeth clapped her hands and cried, "Come on guys it's time to go!" As the kids came trouping out the door she handed each one a lunch and sent them off with words of encouragement for the day and a reminder to mind the guards. She also made sure they each had a pocket full of rye.
"Cam, Jake, Quinn, you mind that feline, Senor Boots! He can't be trusted. Remember!" She called out to them as they ran up the lane. Smoothing her apron she turned back into the yellow and white house.
Quinn? I want them to watch for a Spanish cat? Apron?
"Okay, Mom, we'll remember!"
"I've got to get going too, Elizabeth. I'll be home around six," clapping on his well-worn hat, he stooped to give his wife a deep and loving kiss. His two twin girls, Rosie and Daisy, giggled.
"Be careful, Jason. Look out for that guy from St. Ives, he's a snake," Elizabeth reminded lovingly. "I don't trust anyone with seven wives," she muttered to herself.
"I will, don't worry. The guys and I will take care of him. He's not gonna bother anyone else again," he reassured her. "The king's guards are here, so you have nothing to worry about. They'll keep you safe."
Wait, guards? King's guards? But Jason is a farmer, we have our own dell, and we do alright for money but guards?
He dropped a light kiss on the top of each of his daughter's heads, "You two mind your Mama, hear."
"We will, Daddy!" They both sang out.
As Elizabeth cleared the table and went about her usual routine for the day only to be interrupted by the twins asking about the lady on the horse.
"Mama, we wanna see the lady on the horse," Daisy exclaimed loudly, "can you take us?"
"No, no, honey, I can't. Not today," she patted Daisy and ran her hand over Rosie's shoulder. "But, you know," she considered for a moment, "maybe Daddy can take us on the weekend, how would that be?"
"I guess that would be okay," Daisy murmured, "but whatawe gonna do today?"
"Well, first I think you and Rosie should go round up the kittens and help them find their mittens. It's going to be cold soon and they'll need them," she explained to her two girls.
Wait! Who are these girls? Cats with mittens, ridiculous!
Rosie her blond curls bouncing nodded and Daisy answered laughing, "Okay, Mama. I think I know where to look for the mittens. Then can we go play?"
"You can," Elizabeth answered happily. "Who are you going to invite over?"
Daisy smoothed her silky chocolate hair behind her, "I think Marjorie Daw, and Nancy Etticoat and Poll Parrot," she answered.
"An we gonna play See Saw, Allaroun d'Mulberry Bush and Ten Little Indians!" Added a giggling Rosie.
The afternoon passed peacefully enough, as it usually did.
Jason came in from work with his usual jaunty step whistling the girl's favorite. It wasn't long before the twins were singing along . . .
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star . . . How I wonder what you are . . . Up above the world so high"
"Daddy, Daddy, lif me up, high likin the song," Rosie clamored.
"Yeah, Daddy, lif me too, lif me too," Daisy cried jumping up and down as she continued to sing the song . . .
"Like a diamond in the sky . . . Twinkle, twinkle, little star . . . How I wonder what you are."
Jason lifted the two little girls one at a time over his head.
"Higher, Daddy!" They each squealed.
Jason stopped whistling and laughed, "I can't go higher, girls, even Daddy's not that tall. You'd need to go talk to Jack to go higher."
"Really, Daddy, could we ask Jack, really?" Rosie and Daisy were so excited at the prospect.
Jason regretfully shook his head, "Not until you're older, girls, and taller so you can reach the leaves," he gently dropped a kiss to each of their foreheads, "now go help your Mom."
Jason got on with the task of cleaning up from being out at the market all day. As he heard the clock mouse in the in the hall chime out . . .
"One! One! One!" There was a small pause, "One! One!" There was another small pause and some panting from the tiny mouse, "One!"
Elizabeth came out of the kitchen and wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug, "I think we're going to have to get a new clock or maybe some more clock mice. Did you hear him panting, poor thing?"
Jason smiled, as he dropped a light kiss on his wife, "I'll look into more mice."
"Good," she giggled, "he might peter-out in the middle of an hour and then I'll never know the time!"
"I'll take care of it," he nodded.
"I heard you with the girls," she giggled, "did you have fun?"
Jason smiled at her as he dried his hands, and gave her a quick kiss. "I did." He was just about to engage in thoroughly kissing her when the boys boisterously came through the back door of their happy home.
"Dad! Mom! We're home!" Cam, Jake and Quinn cried out as they dropped their books on the tables by the door, "Wait 'til you hear what happened today!"
"Hey, boys," their Mom greeted as she walked through to the kitchen, "Dinner will be ready in just a little bit. Get washed up for dinner and help Daddy with the dogs."
"Hey, guys," their Dad said, coming out of the washroom at the back of the house, "Give me a hand out here with the dogs and then you can tell me and Mom all about what happened today. Okay?"
Three young voices all readily agreed, "Sure, Pop! No problem!"
Quinn, who is Quinn? I'm still stuck on Daisy and Rosie? Dogs? Wait, mice? I want more mice for the clock?
She loved this time in her kitchen. She wasn't a great cook but she could put a healthy meal on the table. It would be three times the fun when Rosie and Daisy were older and could really help. Right now it was just nice to have their company. And since she was only a few weeks away from having this new baby they could bend to get things from the lower shelves so much easier than she could right now.
A half hour later Rosie and Daisy had set the table and Elizabeth was just placing the roast in the center when her guys came in dripping wet.
She burst out laughing, "What happened? Did you end up in the horse tub? Maybe I should just call you the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker," she laughed a bit harder and she could see Jason behind their sons trying desperately to keep from laughing.
Elizabeth shook her head at the sight and took the roast off the table, "Okay, you three, upstairs and get dried off and changed. I'll keep dinner warm," she swung back into the kitchen and called over her shoulder, "be nimble, be quick!"
As the boys came barreling down the stairs about fifteen minutes later they were finally ready to sit down to dinner.
Dinner was a lovely feast of roast and potatoes, jars of Peter's Pickled Peppers, a good bowl of curds and whey, a large salad from Mrs. McGregor's garden, a mincemeat pie and plum pudding. As they all tucked into their food Jason asked the boys about their day.
Quinn, ever the storyteller, had been just bursting. "Well," he started excitedly, "the first thing that happened was with Bo Peep." He looked around, and paused for effect.
"What happened to Bo," Rosie asked nervously, "I like her and her sheep are so nice and soft . . ."
"Well," Quinn said in a rush, "It seems that Bo Peep lost her sheep cos she fell asleep. When she woke up and went to look for them someone had cut off all their tails and all the sheep were cryin' somethin' awful. It must have been horrible." He paused to take a bite of his roast, "Anyway, Bo said she found all their tails and she was gonna try to put them back on but she couldn't and she cried and cried and cried," he shook his head in sympathy, "it was very sad."
"Oh, my," their mother gasped, "that is just awful, the poor dear. I should call her mother and see how she's doing."
"That'd be nice, Elizabeth," her husband added. "Her Dad's always afraid she'd going to fall asleep with the sheep because she's usually up too late talking to Mary about her garden."
"Was there anything else, boys?"
"Lots," Cam added.
This time it was Jake who answered, "Yeah, Boy Blue, he got to be the bell monitor this week," he explained quietly, "and, well, he insisted on blowing his horn like he does to call in the sheep. But, Mary brought her lamb to school, which she isn't supposed to do," he sighed sorrowfully, "it's just a little thing and it was fun. But," he shrugged, "it stepped on Blue's horn and then it wouldn't play anymore. Blue was really mad and started to chase Mary's lamb and it was a mess." He shook his head in disgust, "Blue is such a whiner."
That got a laugh from the table. Everyone knew what a crybaby Blue could be.
"What happened to Mary's little lamb?" Daisy asked, trying not to cry.
Quinn explained gently patting his little sister's hand, "Don't worry, Jake and I got the lamb and Cam calmed Blue down.
"And the lamb is okay?" Rosie asked, her blue eyes brimming with tears.
"An what about all Bo Peep's poor sheep they lost all their tails," Daisy started to sniffle.
"Well," explained Cam, "Miss Muffet explained that the tails can't be put back on and she and Polly Flinders calmed her down."
"So you boys had a very eventful day then today," their mother added.
Their Dad was his usual quiet self at dinner but he praised Cam and Jake and Quinn on being good boys and taking care of their friends.
They heard the pitter-patter of the mouse running as it called out "One! One! One!" There was a pause but you could hear the tiny huffing and puffing. "One! One! One!" There was a second pause, and then a small wheezing sound, and then, "One! One!"
"Oh, Jason, honey, we need a new mouse!" Elizabeth giggled as she went to soothe their clock mouse.
As she turned to clear the table there was a knock on the door.
Jason swung the sunshine yellow door open to find Jack Spratt and his wife, Nolene. Mr. Spratt looked distraught and Jason opened the door wider to accommodate Mrs. Spratt and called out to Elizabeth.
"What is it?" she said coming into the living room smoothing down her apron, "Oh, Mrs. Spratt, how nice to see you!"
"Mrs. Morgan, it's nice to see you, too," the rotund woman said, handing Elizabeth a seven-layer chocolate cake.
"What is it Mr. Spratt?" Jason asked their visibly distressed visitor.
"Jack and Jill have disappeared and so have Tommy Tittlemouse and Jack Horner. Word has it they went hill climbing. We're getting together a search party. Can we count on you?"
"Of course," Jason said, grabbing his jacket and his gun, "Take the cock horses from the stable and head over to Banbury. The kids went there this morning. I'll go towards St. Ives."
Gun?
He turned to Elizabeth, "Don't worry about me. I'll be back as soon as I can. If you need anything you ask Johnny and Francis, okay?" He gave her a deep kiss and then one to her forehead. It was kind of like his good luck talisman to kiss her on her hairline and it was always sweet when he did it.
"You take care of Cam and Jake and this little one and you. You are my life, Elizabeth."
He shrugged into his leather jacket and was out the penthouse door in a flash.
Where's my house? What about Daisy and Rosie and Quinn? Leather?
She shot up in the bed, "JASON!"
"I'm here, Elizabeth," he soothed, "I'm right here," he smoothed the hair out of her eyes.
She flung her arms around him and hugged him as tight as her small slim arms were able. She pulled back from him and looked around. This was her room, their room, she looked around. Chocolate comforter with light blue stripes. Check. Silk drapes in taupe, chocolate and pale blue box check. Check. She looked down at the carpeting, pale blue. Check.
She ran her hands over Jason, checking to see if he was real. Strong, muscled chest. Check. Chiseled jaw and cheekbones. Check. Spikey blond hair and sky blue eyes. Check. Okay, this is him. He looks the same.
Slowly her confusion cleared, "Jason," she said hesitantly still looking around, "I had the oddest dream . . ."
He smiled as he smoothed his thumbs over the backs of her hands. He knew she'd been dreaming about something. It had seemed mostly happy with small bouts of concern.
"What," he asked softly, continuing his gentle caress, "did you dream about?"
She lifted herself to a sitting position, "Well, I'm not entirely sure," she looked around again. "It was really strange. You were there and we were married. Francis and Johnny were there. And Cam and Jake were there. But there were other children too."
"Really?" Jason was surprised. "What other children? Whose children?"
Elizabeth looked into his eyes and could see his concern. "Ours. They were our children. But, Jason, it was really weird." She searched for the way to tell him. "It was like we were living in a nursery rhyme."
"A what?"
"Oh, right," she nodded, "you don't know those. They don't put nursery rhymes in travel books or histories or how-to's. We are definitely going to have to expand your library, Jason."
"Okay, but what's a nursery rhyme? Is that like a fairy tale, because Brenda and Robin tried to get me to read those to Michael and I don't even understand them . . ."
"No, Jason," she shook her head, "actually, these are worse because mostly they make no sense," she explained. "I mean some of them do. Some of them teach counting, or are just fun things to teach kids things like games and stuff, some are riddles and some are just, well, just fun."
She could see the confusion on his face. "Okay, here's an example of a nursery rhyme, it's called 'Pretty Little Dutch Girl' and it goes like this – I am a pretty little Dutch girl, as pretty as I can be. And all the boys in the neighborhood are crazy over me!"
His brow was furrowed in confusion, "What the hell does that mean?"
Elizabeth chuckled, "It doesn't mean anything."
"And this was in your dream?"
"Well, no, not that one. But, you were a farmer and we lived in our own dell, like in the rhyme 'The Farmer in the Dell' and the house looked like something out of a nursery rhyme or at least what you see in the books. And everything had to do with nursery rhymes. And we had three other kids, Quinn, a boy about two years younger than Jake, and two twin girls, Rosie and Daisy, and I was pregnant."
She looked off and giggled as she remembered the dream. "I made dinner with Peter's Pickled peppers and Mrs. McGregor's salad and mincemeat pie and plum pudding like in Little Jack Horner. And the clock was run by a mouse that could only chime 'one' and so when the time was more than one o'clock he had to keep running around the clock and calling out 'one' and he was so winded. I kept telling you we needed more mice for the clock. And the boys were at school with Little Bo Peep and Little Boy Blue," she giggled, "and Mary brought her lamb to school just like in the rhyme. And their teacher was Miss Muffet . . . oh, and we had curds and whey at dinner too . . ."
"Elizabeth, I have no idea what you're talking about," Jason interrupted her, but she could see that there was laughter in his blue eyes as he looked at her. "I think from now until you deliver this baby we better cut down on the chocolate and bacon sandwiches before bed. Last week you had that crazy dream about some folk tale, what was that one?"
"Oh, yeah," she nodded, "Little Red Riding Hood," she said softly as she remembered, "that was a scary one. This one wasn't scary just strange."
Before he could answer her or reassure her, the door to their bedroom burst open and Cam and Jake ran in like the hounds of hell were on their heels.
"HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM!" Both boys wished her at the same time.
They were a bit too big to jump on the bed like they did when they were younger, but they each came over to Elizabeth's side and gave her a hug and a kiss and sat at the foot of the bed.
Jake and Cam looked at each other and then at Jason and then back at their Mom.
"Dad," Cam asked hesitantly, "Mom had one of those nutty dreams of hers again, didn't she?"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and Jake started to laugh.
Jason looked at the two boys and having schooled his face nodded with an unmistakable seriousness as he tried hard not to laugh.
Elizabeth flung a pillow at Cam, "Smarty pants. How did you know?"
"Well, Mom," Jake explained, "you get this weird look like you're not quite sure where you are and Dad just looks confused. Except that one time when you had the dream that Aunt Carly was the Wicked Witch of the West and Alexis was her evil sister, the Wicked Witch of the East."
"Yeah, and Uncle Sonny was an Evil Wizard instead of a good one," Cam added and both boys burst out laughing. Jason chuckled softly as Elizabeth just looked frustrated.
"So, this is how you treat yout Mother on Mother's Day?" She pulled the blankets tighter around her, "Nice, boys, very nice."
"Aw, Mom, you know we love you," Jake, newly ten, said jumping off the bed to give her another hug.
"Yeah, we love ya lots, Mom," Cam said coming around to give her a second hug and then resuming his spot on the bed.
"So, Mom, what was the dream about this time," Cam asked, "and how long will it take to explain it to Dad?"
Jake added, "Please don't tell us it was another folk tale, I don't think I could take it!"
Elizabeth looked at both boys and burst out laughing, "Actually, guys," she glanced over at Jason and put a comforting hand on his forearm, "it's worse."
"WORSE?" They burst out at the same time. "How could it be worse," Cam asked.
"Oh, no," Jake said as realization struck, "NO . . . not, please, not nursery rhymes?"
Elizabeth broke out into a full laugh and nodded her eyes shining with tears of happiness.
The boys each looked sympathetically at their Dad. But Jason was enjoying their fun even if it was at his expense.
Jake got off the bed and laid a comforting hand on his Dad's shoulder, "It's going to be a long Mother's Day."
"Yes," Elizabeth agreed, "but it's gonna be fun!"
"Okay, guys, why don't we get started." Jason swung his feet out of bed and got up, "You two," he nodded to both boys, "meet me in the kitchen. I'll start breakfast."
He walked around to his wife's side of the bed, "Elizabeth," he gave her a deep kiss, "I guess you'll have to get a book on Nursery Rhymes so you can tell me this dream of yours and I can have a prayer of understanding it."
"Let's get out of here," Cam said to his brother, "they're going to be kissing for like the next half hour." Jason and Elizabeth didn't even hear them leave.
She returned his kiss, "You're such a good sport," she kissed him again, "and just think, when this little one get here, you'll know all about fairy tales and nursery rhymes."
"I can't wait," he kissed her again, and then knelt by the bed to gently kiss her rounded belly, "one more month, little one, I can't wait to see you."
He looked adoringly at his wife. They had to work so hard to get here and he was grateful for every moment.
"I'm so proud to be with you, Elizabeth," he softly kissed the inside of her right palm. "I'm so happy that we finally got together," he kissed the inside of her right wrist.
Jason sat back on the bed and took her in his arms and tenderly continued kissing her throat and chin and then finally captured her mouth in a deep kiss. She joined the kiss hungrily. He broke away after a few moments, "The last seven years have been wonderful," he kissed her again, "I love you so much it makes my heart hurt."
"Jason," she said breathlessly, his kisses always left her breathless, "the boys . . ."
"I have to give you my Mother's Day present, Elizabeth . . ."
"But, the boys . . ."
"They'll wait," and he kissed her deeply again, "Happy Mother's Day, Elizabeth . . ." and the kissing continued.
Credits and End Notes:Nursery Rhymes or Nursery Rhyme characters referenced in this fic include, in order of appearance:
The Farmer in the Dell
Ride a Cock Horse
Miss Muffet of Little Miss Muffet
Jack and Jill – A Fic Prompt
Sing a Song of Sixpence
Puss in Boots
Three Little Kittens
Marjorie Daw of See Saw Marjorie Daw
Nancy Eddicoat of Little Nancy Etticoat
Poll Parrot of Little Poll Parrot
All Around the Mulberry Bush - the game
Ten Little Indians - the game
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star – A Fic Prompt
Jack and the Beanstalk
Hickory Dickory Dock
Rub A Dub Dub – A Fic Prompt
Jack Be Nimble
Peter Piper
Little Bo Peep
Little Boy Blue
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
Polly Flinders
Jack Spratt
Tommy Tittlemouse of Little Tommy Tittlemouse
Jack Horner of Little Jack Horner
As I was Going to St. Ives
Pretty Little Dutch Girl – A Fic Prompt
Some of these rhymes or characters have appeared more than once.
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Posted at RTN: May 8, 2010
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Disclaimer: All characters that are the property of ABC, Inc. and The Disney Corporation are
fully acknowledged. No copyright infringement intended. All character identities are merely
borrowed for fun. All nursery rhyme characters are in the public domain.
Story concept is the property of the author publishing under the pen name, CMJavaGirl.