And Then the Depression Happened, Chapter 2
Naveen found himself leaning against the rail of the ship once more, looking out at the ocean. He couldn't help but feel happy to be going home. If nothing else just to get off the damn boat. The boat trip was painfully long, especially since neither he nor Tiana were meant for boat travel. To be fair it wasn't a particularly easy trip. Naveen was more and more glad that they hadn't decided to take the Pacific route.
Maldonia was part way between India and Saudia Arabia, and independent island country with such a blended culture that it was hard to figure out exactly where one root culture started and another ended. The close proximity to India meant that they shared a lot of the same dress, culture, and customs. At the same time Maldonia had strong ties to Spain to the point that the main line of Maldonia Royalty actually descended from Spanish royalty. The Maldonia wealth came from many different sources. A lot of his family's personal wealth came from Naveen's mother who was the only surviving heir to a very old and wealthy family from the Middle East. Madonia owned a territory that the United States used for military purposes, and paid very handsomely for that use. There was also a certain amount of British trade through their waters. Maldonia was very small, but wealthy in its own way.
"So, tell me again about your country," Tiana said, walking up to the rail next to Naveen. They'd actually be docking in a few hours.
"It's beautiful. Everything's from everywhere else. We have ithe/i most beautiful religious buildings. There are mosques with gorgeous minarets; and large catholic cathedrals, and even a few regular churches. The palace is from everywhere too. A lot of the design was borrow from India and from Spain. You'll be blown away by it my Evangeline," Naveen said. He didn't normally associate architecture with his country first, but he's already raved about the food, the people, the plants, the clothes. He was simply running out of new things to tell Tiana.
It wasn't like he'd expected to never come home again, he just hadn't thought about it much in New Orleans. He was too busy work, or playing with Louis and the band, or being married. He spent a considerably larger amount of time worrying about Charlotte making good on her promise to marry his brother when Asim got old enough. Since Asim was only 12 going on 13 this was considerably disturbing to Naveen… especially since Asim also seemed to like the idea. Naveen had basically been sending out letters to every prince he knew who wasn't his brother regaling them with stories of the wonderful (and in the case of the less well off Princes) and fabulously wealthy Miss Charlotte La Bouff.
Naveen slipped his arms up, resting his hands on Tiana's waist, pulling her close to him. "Do you think we're going to get the grandkid speech again?" he asked her, making his wife smile.
"Probably," Tiana said, leaning against Naveen with a smile. "At least the good thing about visiting your parents for a year is that my mama won't be asking when we're going to give her grandkids." It was becoming a running, is uncomfortable, joke in their family. Naveen knew Tiana was also wondering when they'd be able to have kids… he was too. He decided her wanted daughters, boys were too much trouble… although he wanted a boy first to be sure that someone else besides him could scare off any boys who would come around looking to date his beautiful daughters… though Naveen was getting ahead of himself on that. Tiana and he hadn't even had the child talk yet… not really.
As the crown prince it had been Naveen's responsibility to have a lot of heirs (something he was pretty sure he'd managed to avoid even now), but since his disinheritance that hadn't been a problem. He wasn't sure Tiana would like the idea of having to force out a couple of kids to fulfill a royal requirement. Naveen was also more than happy to live in New Orleans, play jazz, and wait tables. He was also very happy to do other things with his wife, but talking about such things was not appropriate to do in public.
"Yeah, but I'm sure we'll both be getting that talk while we're in my old home," Naveen said. He looked back at the water again. He wanted to get off this boat, but he wasn't sure how much he wanted to be home. It would be nice to see his parents and brother… but there were other things that would happen. He wasn't sure if he could prepare Tiana for the year to come. He'd had an initial reaction to her having been a waitress that wouldn't be far off… and may have even be nicer than what the reactions of other people, especially the court members would be.
They'd expected him to marry one of the noble daughters… or at least marry wealth. In their minds he'd married down. In his mind he was sure that he'd married up and that Tiana was too good for him. He'd been rather lazy, not a good son or prince. He slept around, a lot, and was horrible with Money. Then there was his beautiful wife who was so determined, such a hard worker, filled with dreams and ambition. Things had evened out now after so many years of marriage, but when they'd first been married he'd actually felt a little sorry for her because she was stuck with him.
Then there was the not so small problem of his past. The saying went that not even Jesus could win people in his home town. Lots of people like Naveen, but a lot of them would also not understand that he'd changed… he'd also have to understand that other people had changed as well. There were other problems as well that he'd been hoping didn't exist. He hadn't made the world's smartest decision in his youth. He'd been so bad that his parents had actually disowned him, the once crown prince. He'd told Tiana a lot about who he'd lived, and she guessed the rest, but that didn't mean that he wanted her to get all the details of all of his escapades… and with how small their country was that was a complete possibility.
Queen Ghada looked at her husband. "They should be here soon," she commented. She'd probably said it at least three times already, but she wasn't keeping count and she doubted her husband was either. King Rutilio Sabala (named for both his Spanish and Indian heritage) had been staring out the window for a long while now. Queen Ghada wasn't even sure if her husband had heard her speak at all. She stood and walked over to him, touching his should. That he didn't jump, but put his hand over hers made her realize how worried he was.
They both loved Tiana a lot. She was very lovely, smart, and hard working. She'd even managed to get their son to do what neither of them had ever been able to do, really care about something. The problem was that she wasn't at all what they'd expected when they'd sent Naveen off. Naveen had been the crown prince… still was for that matter. One of their big problems with Naveen is that he wouldn't even consider the idea of marriage. When they'd sent Naveen off with Lawrence it was with the idea that Naveen would actually work for his living for a while, and then they could bring him home. Not only had they not expected that Naveen would get married (They hadn't even realized that he'd been planning to marry for money until after they'd already met Tiana) but that he'd settled down, stop sleeping around, and actually work for a living.
Tiana was very good for their son, and they liked her very much… but Naveen iwas/i the crown prince, and they weren't getting any younger. Both the king and queen understood the sacrifices one would need to make for a kingdom, but they weren't sure if their son and his wife would understand.