For anyone keeping track: this is the 100th chapter written for the Lily Joy series! I want to give a special thank you to my dear friend, myboygeorge, who has been helping me out with so much of this particular story. It wouldn't be what it is without you :) I also want to give a special thanks to the ones who have stuck with me since chapter one—Writer200, phnxgrl, and of course, Baby Bird :) Buckle in, because the best is yet to come!
Note to Writer200: pay attention to the twins' dialogue. There's going to be a little something I slipped in there that you're going to recognize ;)
Also: there's a reference to one of the best Desperate Housewives actresses in this chapter :) Tell me when you see it!
One last thing, I swear: I don't own anything associated with the American Girl Company, except for my Addy doll :)
January 3
Shaw house, Astoria
Calvin's Point of View
Tomorrow I have to go back to work at Tillie's illustration studio on Fifth Avenue, but today, Justice and Jubilation are coming with me to help me pick out an engagement ring for Melissa. Because I told my sisters that they could come with me after New Year's Eve, they spent all of New Year's Day badgering me about it because in their eyes, it technically was after the new year because the clock had struck midnight on December thirty-first. (The twins were a bit bummed out when they realized that they had missed that part because they had spent most of the night waiting for Kate's babies to be born before they could let themselves fall asleep) So I wouldn't lose my temper, I told the girls that we'd go ring shopping and then out to lunch at the American Girl Place on January third.
That's today.
"Calvin, Calvin! Is it time to go yet?"
Justice was looking at me from the where she was perched on a barstool at the kitchen island, finishing up her oatmeal and toast.
"Not quite, Justice. I still have to finish loading the dishwasher, and you and Jubes have yet to get dressed."
My sister indicated her nightgown she was had on. "But I'm already dressed, Calvin! It's not like I'm naked!"
Next to her, also on a barstool, Jubilation gave a snort of amusement at her sister's goofiness but didn't look up from the Calvin and Hobbes comic book she was perusing through.
"You're right about that, Justice," I told her with lots of practice patience. "But you definitely need to get dressed now."
"But I don't like getting dressed!" She whined. "I don't!"
On the desperate side now, I turned to mom and dad, who were both leaning against the counter next to the refrigerator and surveying the scene with way too much amusement.
"I could use a little help here."
"Justice has hated getting dressed since she was ten minutes old." Dad cheerfully supplied. "She actually arched her back and tried to kick me when I started dressing her in a onesie."
"That's not help!" I protested. "That's an anecdote!"
"You didn't technically ask me a question…"
I sighed heavily and turned to mom, who just shook her head. "You aren't going to get any help from me on this one."
"Why not?"
"Because I want you to think of this whole outing with your sisters—from start to finish—as a trial run for when you and Melissa have your own kids."
My cheeks flushed beet red at her words. "You really want grandbabies, don't you?"
"I do," she answered honestly. "But don't pin it all on me! Your dad wants grandbabies, too!"
"Really? I never heard that before…"
Dad looked at his watch, needing a distraction. "I need to get going now because among other things, I have a party of twelve to attend to this morning."
I sighed again, seeing right through his lame excuse. "Yeah, whatever. See you later, dad."
He said goodbye to all of us and left quickly with mom following suit, which meant that I was alone with both of my sisters in less than ten minutes. Both of them were watching me closely, waiting for me to tell them what to do next.
"Give me your breakfast dishes and go get dressed. Remember—since we're going to the American Girl Place later, so that means that you two can wear the special dresses you got for Christmas!"
"You mean the dresses that even match our dolls?" Jubilation breathed in excitement as she finally looked up from her comic book. "Those ones?"
"Yes, Jubilation, those dresses. They're upstairs in your closet, aren't they?"
She nodded and opened her mouth to respond, but Justice but into the conversation first. "Calvin, our dresses also match the ones that our dolls have!"
"That's true." I remarked. "Is there a question in there?"
"Can me and Jubee bring our dolls with?"
"Of course, but you two need to seriously hurry up!"
"Are we catching the taxi or the subway or the bus to the ring shop on Fifth Avenue?"
"The train, actually."
My sisters were off like rockets when they processed these words because for some inexplicable reason, they have always loved going on train rides. In their excitement, they forgot all about handing over their dishes, leaving me to clean up after them. They came back down about ten minutes later, mostly dressed and with their beloved dolls in tow.
"Calvin, I'm almost all ready to go," Justice told me seriously when she found me. "But I can't remember where my ballet slippers are."
"Did you check by the front door, silly?" I asked as I gave her nudge in the right direction. "That's where Jubilation and I are going to find our snow stuff, but you can't wear your slippers today because it's too cold for those. You need your Ugg boots today."
Justice turned red in embarrassment and changed the subject as fast as she could. "Did you put all of the dishes away in the dishwasher? There was a lot of dishes this morning because the Singhs and all of the Ryans were here for dinner yesterday…"
"Don't you worry about that right now, okay? You need to focus on getting your boots and your coat on."
"All right, but I gotta ask you a serious question, first."
I sat down on the bench by the front door where Jubilation was already working on getting her own Ugg boots on and quickly put my own sturdy snow boots on.
"Do we look pretty?"
Justice did a little spin to show off her dress, which featured a black velvet bodice with a long navy blue skirt, tied off in the back with a matching sash. An outline of silver snowflakes on the hem of the dress gave it all an extra shine, as did the silver-colored tights on her dress.
(Jubilation's dress was identical)
"You both look absolutely beautiful."
Justice flushed red again (she's more prone to that than me or Jubilation are) and focused on getting ready, unlike her twin, who was few steps ahead of her and already putting on her long pea coat over her dress.
"Calvin, it's my turn for a question."
I became wary as I put on my jacket and gloves because it's no secret that Jubilation is capable of asking the kind of questions that get under your skin quickly.
"What question would that be?"
"You're a boy, so how do you know what pretty and beautiful are?"
"I know because I tell Tía Missy all the time that it's your heart that makes you beautiful."
I was met with a smile and raised eyebrows. "It is also 'cause you and her babysit Lucy and dress her up in cute dresses? She is one of the prettiest babies in the whole wide world…"
"Who's the other prettiest baby, then?"
"Yours and Tía Missy's baby, duh!"
I seriously could keep from turning red this time, and Jubilation was way too amused by it.
"Justee!" she giggled, hurrying over to her. "Calvin turned bright red 'cause I talked about his and Tía Missy's baby girl!"
Justice was puzzled. "But they don't have a baby yet, Jubee. Tía Missy's tummy has be huge and we have to feel the baby kicking."
Jubilation rolled her eyes theatrically. "So? He still turned red! Do I get a double high five?"
"Of course!"
They exchanged high fives, using both hands, giggling even more.
"Jubee, I have a question."
"Yes, twin?"
"Help me with my coat buttons? You're a lot faster at it than me…"
Jubilation cheerfully helped her sister finish the buttons on Justice's coat for her and then made sure that they had their precious dolls, Dana and Holly, were tucked away in their special carrier before they proceeded to put on their scarves, gloves and hats on. At the last moment, Justice grabbed her backpack, saying that we might need it later. I shepherded them out the door after that, saying that there was absolutely no more time for dilly-dallying.
We hurried over to Astoria Boulevard train station where the N Line would take us directly to Fifth Avenue, which meant that we would have some time to relax on the ride. The twins both fell asleep the second the train started moving and I didn't wake them because they had both been up at six-fifteen this morning in anticipation of our outing, which meant that they were awake a whole hour ahead of when they normally got up, and it was a quarter to ten o'clock right now. They're going to need as much sleep as they can get because neither of them would forgive me if they didn't have enough energy to make it to the American Girl Place and enjoy it… because even with their nap, they're still going to crash very hard later on.
As we traveled along, my mind began wandering because I have a general idea of the kind of ring I want to get for Melissa, but I still have to let my sisters be able to pick something out that they could both agree on that I also liked and wasn't too far out of the range that I was willing to spend on her. (I have enough money to buy absolutely any ring in the store that I desire, but I've never been one to flaunt my cash, so I wasn't about to start doing that now) The one thing that concerns me is how I'm going to keep Justice and Jubilation from squabbling if they get into a disagreement about something.
I'm also concerned about when Melissa return with Jessica Rose. They didn't specify an actual date, and even Yoshi, who knows the true nature of what the girls are doing and what they're up to, won't say a word about it Ashley won't talk about the girls' absence at all because of how much it disrupts the daily balance of Alexis' life, and speaking of whom, she'll just freak out if the topic is brought up, and that's the last thing that anybody needs because pregnant or not, Alexis Castle has a vicious Irish temper that is never a pretty thing to be in the path of.
(You know… now that I think about it, Yoshi has been as protective of Alexis, almost as much as Ashley always has been, but I think that it's because when Amaya marries Jim, that's going to make Yoshi something like an uncle to Alexis, and anybody who knows Yoshi and the kind of things he went through in his past, they know that Yoshi will protect his family. At all costs)
But like I said, I don't know when Melissa and Jessica will return, but ever since Jeffery and Sophia turned up with Bella in December, I haven't been able to shake the feeling that the reunion is actually closer than I know…
When the train pulled into the station and came to a complete stop, Justice and Jubilation both woke from their slumber with a start.
"Holy cats!" Justice exclaimed as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Did we miss anything?"
"Calvin, how long have we been asleep?" Jubilation demanded. "I can't believe we fell asleep! We hate napping if we aren't sick!"
"You two were sleeping practically the whole time we've been on the train," I informed her before turning to my other sister. "And no, Justice, you two didn't miss anything. I promise."
"Good, Calvin." She breathed a sigh of relief and then giggled. "Time to get off now and head to Fifth Avenue?"
"That's right. Do you have everything?"
She checked her surroundings thoroughly before grinning at me. "Yes, I do!"
Satisfied, I turned to Jubilation to see that she was already fixing herself up.
"I'm ready, too!" she held up the doll carrying case that the dolls were tucked away in. "Dana and Holly are also ready to go!"
Fifteen minutes later
"Wow." Justice breathed in awe as we looked up at the big building we were standing in front of. "It's really big…"
"Yeah." Jubilation gave a nod of agreement. "It's huge."
We were standing in front of the Tiffany & Co., and my sisters were both suddenly looking a little unsure about things.
"Do you remember what I told you?" I asked to snap them out of the reveries they were in. "It's what we talked about when we were leaving the station just now."
"Don't touch anything, be polite, indoor voices." They chorused obediently.
"But if it makes you two feel better, you may hold your dolls to keep your hands from wandering."
Justice and Jubilation cheered up a great deal at this and when we were inside the lobby, I helped them tuck away their scarves, gloves and hats into the backpack that Justice had insisted on grabbing before leaving the house. (She'd wanted it for a 'just in case,' 'Plan B' scenario and smugly pointed out that a place to store their things was exactly what she'd been thinking of) After that had been taken care of, she pulled Dana and Holly from their carrier and gave them to Jubilation to hold while she rolled up the cloth carrier they'd been sitting in and then got me to help shut it into her backpack, since she was having difficulty with it.
They didn't give me their full attention until they were sorted out and holding the correct doll. However, we didn't even take five steps when we were intercepted by a tall blond Caucasian woman in a black pinstriped power suit and a pair of black pumps that added about five inches to her height. The kind of pearls that my mom wears for a special Bureau event was adorned her throat and her hair was pulled into a stylish bun, so she just gave the kind of appearance of a no-nonsense kind of person, so imagine our surprise when she gave us a dazzling, friendly smile.
"Welcome to Tiffany's!" she greeted us warmly. "What can I help you look for today? A piece of jewelry for your mother, perhaps?"
Jubilation moved forward to speak before I could even open my mouth. "We're actually looking for a engagement ring! We came out from Queens to get here!"
"Wow! That's a long way to come from!" the lady made a show of being impressed, but I could tell that she was being sincere, not wanting to put my sister down. "I have a little girl at home named Inga, and she's about your age. What's your name? Mine is Portia Thiessen."
My sister tucked her doll into the crook of her left arm and extended the other, holding her hand out for a handshake.
"I'm Jubilation Amaya Shaw. Pleased to meet you. Inga's name sounds familiar. You said she's your daughter?"
"I did say that, yes." Portia said as she and shook Jubilation's hand. "Is Inga in your class?"
"Yes! She's really nice to me all the time, especially in reading class."
Portia smiled happily but changed the subject slightly. "Tell me, Jubilation, is that your doll?"
"Uh-huh. Her name is Dana, like mommy's favorite actress, Dana Delany—"
I put a hand on Jubilation's shoulder, silencing her. "Jubes, you need to chill so that we can have a chance to talk to Miss Portia."
Jubilation simmered down immediately and let Justice and I get our say in. Portia was just as charmed by Justice as she was with Jubilation and was nice enough to me as she guided us away out of the lobby.
"Your sister said that you're looking to purchase an engagement ring today?"
I nodded. "Yes, I am and I told the twins that they can help because my girlfriend is a very important person to them."
"That's very sweet. Is there anything you have in mind? A particular price range or style, perhaps?"
"On this occasion, money is no object," I admitted at length, hoping that she didn't see me as a snob, being a young person with lots of wealth. "But my girlfriend would prefer something that's a little less on the extravagant side."
"I completely understand because I was the same way when I was telling my husband the kind of ring that I preferred, although he was still my fiancé at the time." Portia showed me the diamond ring on her finger that she was talking about as an example. "My ring is a Tiffany Novo style, but you also can't go wrong with the Tiffany Bezet Round or even the classic Princess Cut styles. Which would you prefer to start with? I saw you and your sisters come in, so my supervisor assigned me to you three. I'm yours as long as you need."
After consulting with my sisters, who both insisted on getting a look at Portia's wedding ring for themselves, we decided to start with the Tiffany Bezet Round style, but nothing caught our eyes, nor did anything in the Princess Round style. Probably getting her amazing patience from experience as being a mother, Portia retrieved every single ring that we were interested in and then put each one back without complaint.
It was Justice who saw the ring first, and it was in the Tiffany Novo style.
"Miss Portia, Miss Portia!" she cried excitedly, barely remembering to use her indoor voice. "I see one!"
"Which one, Justice?" the saleswoman wanted to know. "Can you tell me which one it is without getting your fingerprints on the display case?"
Justice nodded and whispered something into Jubilation's ear, pointing in the direction of the case where rows and rows of diamond rings were lined up.
"Miss Portia, my sister told me which one she wants to show our brother." Jubilation said in a matter-of-fact voice. "Justice had to tell me which because she still has trouble knowing left from right."
"I had trouble with that same problem when I was a kid." Portia sympathized. "Which ring is Justice talking about?"
"The super tippy-tippy-top row, sixth from the left, she said."
"That's right smack dab in the middle." She remarked as she lifted it of the display case and put it into my outstretched palm. "Here we are."
Is it tacky of me to say that the feeling of the ring in my palm took my breath away?
Well, it did.
Because I've known from attending special events with Melissa that she prefers to wear silver jewelry over gold jewelry, I was delighted to see that the twins had chosen a silver ring set with tinier diamonds set into it, and in the middle of band, at the top, was a larger diamond (one point five karats, according to what Portia was telling me), and the way that it sparkled, even in the overhead lights, it felt magical.
"This is it." I told them, handing the ring back to Portia. "This is the ring that I'm going to propose to Melissa with."
My sisters cheered and hugged me, but were slightly disappointed when I shooed them away so I could discuss the payment plan with Portia. Speaking of whom, she was very surprised when I wrote out a check for the amount that was on the price tag. I'm sure it's not often that a customer as young as me is able to do that, but I could still tell that Portia was pleased with making the sale.
"The band is a bit wide," she remarked as she set the piece of jewelry into a blue ring box. "So you could get it engraved if you want to."
"I would like to, but what I'm thinking of is more than the standard initials of both partners, like lots of Tiffany customers choose to do."
"Lucky for you, we just began a service today, actually, where we can start engraving longer things on the band. As far as I know, you would be the very first person to use that service."
She passed a notepad and expensive ink pen towards me.
"If you know what you already like, you may write it down, but if not, I have a binder full of ideas to help you out."
"Trust me, I already know." I picked up the pen and began to write the words as neatly as I could so nobody would have trouble reading the words. "The words are from the first song we ever danced to."
Once I was done, I passed it back to her and then shelled out the extra cash for the engraving fee.
"Portia, I have a question."
"Yes?"
"How long will the engraving take? My sisters and I are going to be on Fifth Avenue for a few hours today, so we could stay in the area until it's done."
"We have a few professional engravers on site, so if I take it to them now, it will be done in a few hours, and someone will call you if you leave your number with us."
I pulled one of my business cards from my wallet and slid it across the table.
"This has all of my contact information on it."
"Outstanding." She put the card next to the ring case and rose from her chair, extending a hand towards me. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you."
I stood up and returned the handshake. "Likewise. I will be back later."
With that, we parted ways I headed back to my sisters, both of whom were thrilled to pieces that our next stop was the American Girl Place, just up the block.
Twenty minutes later, American Girl Place
Thankfully, we were able to make the twelve-thirty reservation that mom had called in for us yesterday. Seeing as the whole building is about catering to fans of American Girl Dolls and that a majority of that age group is on the seven-and-up crowd, the decorations in the café were no exception because it felt like I was in a kid-friendly version of the Russian Tea Room. As if all of the extravagance wasn't enough, there were lots of doll-sized chairs that could be attached to the large dining tables, in between their owner's chairs. And so the dolls wouldn't be left out of dining, my sisters immediately began choosing dishes from an array of pretend food for them to eat.
We placed our orders—pink lemonade to drink for all three of us, Pasta Primavera for myself, chicken tenders with salad and macaroni and cheese for Justice, and a triple-decker grilled cheese sandwich with a cup of tomato soup for Jubilation—and then let the waitress take our menus and leave before we got to talking, but it wasn't until we were well until our meals had arrived a little later that our conversation turned into something that I found quite amusing.
"Calvin, when are me and Jubilation gonna be aunties?" Justice asked as she looked up from tending to her doll. "I know that patience is a virtue like mommy and daddy always tell us, but still…"
Jubilation comically choked on her lemonade but still managed to interrupt me, sputtering. "Justice Leila, ew!"
"What?" she asked innocently as she ate a little more of her food. "It's just a question!"
"But I'm eating! That's not the kind of thing that you talk about at the dinner table, especially in public!"
"But Jubilation Amaya, mommy says it's part of biology."
(By now, my sisters had forgotten that I was even watching them)
"What's biology?"
"Study of people, or something like that."
"Oh." Jubilation absorbed this information and then remembered the original topic and made a disgusted expression, wrinkling her nose. "But it's still weird to talk about when we're eating! Mommy would say to not to!"
"But mommy's not even here!" Justice pointed out. "She's at the Federal Building where she works, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember now." she laughed.
"But you want to be an auntie, don't you? Don't you want for you and me to have a little friend to spoil, like how LJ, Jamie, and even Jeremiah and Johanna now all have Toby, and how Tía Missy has Mo, Zeke and Lucy?"
"A little friend like that would be nice…"
"Exactly!" Justice chirped. "So how are we gonna know about when we're gonna be aunties if we don't even ask? Silly Jubilation, I know that you're like me and can hardly be patient about anything, even though grown-ups tell us all the time that patience is a virtue…"
Defeated, Jubilation continued eating her meal while Justice cheerfully tucked into her food. Both of them looked back at me, waiting for an answer.
"I think that you two are going to be aunties a little while after Tía Missy comes home."
"When's that gonna be?" Jubilation wanted to know.
"I'm not sure, but I really hope it's going to be soon."
"So do I. You're going to ask her to marry you when she gets back, right?"
"That's the plan."
"Do you know how you're gonna do it?"
"No, I don't. Do you have any ideas?"
She shook her head. "Justee might, though."
We both looked at our sister curiously, and right on cue, she put her food down and swallowed before voicing her thoughts.
"I think that Tía Missy would like it if you asked her when it was just you and her. Nobody else."
"Yeah?"
"Uh-huh. I don't know what else to say, but that's what I think about how you should ask her to be your wife."
"That's a great idea, Justice." I told her with complete sincerity. "Thanks!"
She blushed and turned back to her doll, but I was pretty sure she mumbled 'You're welcome, Calvin.'
The rest of our meal enjoyed thoroughly by both of my sisters when we talked about other things, like how they were returning to school the following day, and before I knew it, my phone was ringing and the person on the other line was telling me that the ring was finally ready for me to take home. Justice and Jubilation were more than happy to go back to the jewelry store, but it wasn't until we were back home and I was in my room that I pulled out the ring to look at the inscription on the inside ring.
It was from mine and Melissa's favorite song by Bruno Mars.
'When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change 'cause girl, you're amazing, just the way you are.'
