Disclaimer: Princess and the Frog belongs to Disney, not me.
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New Orleans: May, 1908
"Dora?" James called. He closed the door and hung his hat on the peg. "I'm home."
"We're upstairs, honey."
He rubbed the knots at the base of his neck as he made his way slowly up the stairs. "What are y'all up to?" he asked.
Eudora sat in the old maple rocking chair with a dark green skirt spread across her -year-old Tiana played at her feet with a rag doll. "Pansy talked Eli into letting her ride in an exhibition, and she wanted a new dress for the occasion," she said. "This hem is going to kill me."
James leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "I know how you hate 'em," he said. He sat down on the floor beside his daughter. "Hey, baby girl! Were you good today?"
"Lottie bit me," Tiana reported.
James looked at his wife. "She did what now?" he said.
"Tell Daddy what you did, baby," Eudora said.
"Bit her back," Tiana said, unconcerned.
"Charlotte was pitching a fit about something and bit Tiana on the arm," Eudora explained. "She didn't cry or anything. She just looked at me like 'what am I gonna do with this crazy girl?' And Pansy said go on, bite her back and give her a taste of her own medicine."
"And she did?"
"Sure did," Eudora said. "Bit Charlotte right back. That little girl was so shocked she stopped crying right that second. And the two of them went right back to playing."
James laughed. "My little girl's got spunk," he said. He picked her up and tickled her. Tiana giggled, dropping her rag doll.
"Let me use up the rest of this thread and I'll warm up your dinner," Eudora said, jabbing her needle in the thick forest green fabric.
"Don't worry about it, Dora, I can handle it," he said. "Tiana'll help me. Won't you, babycakes?"
"Iss, Daddy," she said, raising up her arms to be held. James picked her up and tossed her in the air, making her shriek with laughter.
"Oh, don't do that, James, she just had her dinner," Eudora said.
"All right, all right," he said. "Come on, Tiana. Let's go get Daddy something to eat."
He carried her downstairs and set her on the table. She watched with interest as he pulled out the plate of cornbread from the warmer and stirred the red beans and rice left of the stove.
"You hungry, babycakes?" he asked.
"Nah-uh," she said, shaking her head. Her curly pigtails bounced, and he smiled.
Eudora stomped down the stairs. "That hem is going to be the death of me, James," she said.
"Taking that long?" he said.
"I swear, I've been at that thing all day," she sighed. She picked up Tiana and sat down at the kitchen table with her daughter on her lap. "Tiana's been a little angel about it though."
"And Mrs. LaBouff doesn't mind you bringing her there?" James said.
"Pansy loves it when I bring Tiana over," she said. "She says Charlotte needs more sensible friends like our girl."
"Sensible?" James said, swallowing a bit of red beans and rice. "They're two years old."
Eudora smoothed her daughter's curls. "It's funny to see the two of them playing together," she said. "Charlotte's so bouncy and noisy, and Tiana's so calm."
"She takes after her mama," James said, squeezing his wife's knee.
"I just wish…" Eudora's voice trailed off and she glanced towards the floor.
"Wish what?" James said.
She stood up. "Nothing," she said. "Want me to get anything else for you?"
"What do you wish for, Eudora?" James pressed.
Eudora hugged Tiana. "I see Charlotte with all of her pretty dresses and her toys…and when she gets older she'll get to go to a big private school…and what does our Tiana get?" she said.
"Now, hold on just a minute, honey," James said. "Just because we're not as rich as the LaBouffs doesn't mean our girl can't have a good life."
Eudora stroked the little girl's hair. "I know, I know," she said. "I just wish things could be easier for her. She's going to have to work hard for everything."
"There's worse things than working," James said. He reached out and tugged his wife closer to him. "Our little girl's going to be just fine." Eudora smiled. James stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist. "She'll start school in a couple of years, and we'll save up enough money for her to go off to college. Of course, we'll have the restaurant by then."
"Of course," Eudora grinned. She kissed her husband on the cheek. "You've been dreaming about the restaurant since the day I met you."
"I was a bit too distracted to think about restaurants on the day I met you," James said.
"It was the Sunday school picnic," she said. "We were out in the gardens behind the church."
"You had on a lavender dress," he remembered.
"I made it just for that day," she said. "And I was so happy you noticed it."
"I noticed you, honey," James said.
Eudora smiled at her husband. "And someday our little girl will catch the eye of some lucky boy," she said.
"Not any time soon, I hope," he said.
Tiana yawned and leaned out of her mother's arms towards her father. James picked her up; she snuggled against his broad shoulder. Eudora smoothed a loose curl away from the toddler's face. "I just want to see her happy," she said.
"She will be," James said. "She will be."
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Maldonia: August, 1908
Naveen opened his eyes and peeked over the edge of his blanket into the darkness of the nursery. The only light came from a small lamp on the bedside table.
He squinted. "Graciela?" he whispered.
She didn't answer. He was all alone.
Naveen pushed back the blankets and slid to the floor. The enterprising three-year-old crept towards the door. He pushed it open quietly and peeked into the muted light of the hallway.
No servants bustled about, and Graciela didn't materialize in her mysterious all-knowing way to carry him back to bed. He crept down the hall and made his way towards the ballroom.
The palace was always in upheaval over a party or ball or fancy dinner. He never got to stay up late to see them- he begged every time, and his father would only laugh and tell him he could when he was older. But he was three now- wasn't that old enough.
So every night that he was put to bed amidst the sounds of music and laughter, he would lie there, his eyes closed, waiting. When Graciela left and closed the door behind her, he would sneak out of his room and sit on the stairs high above the ballroom, listening to the music of the orchestra.
He liked to watch his pretty mother, too. She was always easy to find- right in the middle of everything, with her golden tiara glittering in her long dark curls. He could always hear her laugh above everything. She laughed all the time, her large eyes flashing brightly and her cheeks red. Sometimes his father would watch her when she laughed, but it wasn't the way Naveen watched his mother. His father always looked worried, his eyebrows knitted together and his mouth drawn down. He would pull her aside and make her sit down. She would argue playfully, but she never won. Instead, she would sit on the sidelines, sipping from a crystal goblet of water, until she could sneak back onto the floor and dance again.
Naveen scooted down the wide marble steps. He frowned. The orchestra wasn't playing. But they were always playing. He could hear voices echoing through high-ceilinged room.
"Has the doctor been sent for?"
"He should be here soon."
Naveen crept down to the landing and peered through the gilded railings of the balcony. The party guests stood against the walls, pale and wide eyed. The members of the orchestra sat in silence with their instruments clutched in their hands. The glass doors leading to the verandah stood open; the hot sea breeze blew through the room.
His mother lay in the center of the ballroom, the skirts of her pink satin ballgown spread around her like an overturned rose. His father knelt beside her with his hands wrapped around her tiny one. "Mira," he called. "Mira."
Naveen ran down the wide steps and ducked through the crowd, unnoticed by the party guests. His steps slowed as he approached his parents. His mother looked pale white, as if she was a doll instead of a person. "Mami?" he said.
His father turned around. "Naveen," he said. "Naveen, you shouldn't be here. Go back to bed, son."
He edged closer. "What happened to Mami?" he said.
"Your mother's heart is very sick," his father said quietly.
Naveen bent over his mother and touched his small hand to her cool cheek. "Mami," he said. "Wake up, bella prutta."
His father choked and picked him up. "Naveen, Mami can't wake up," he whispered.
Naveen froze, his arms wrapped around his father's neck. "Why not?" he said.
Two men dressed in white entered the ballroom, pushing a gurney. Carefully they lifted his mother, her rose-petal dress draping around her. He heard a woman cry softly. The gurney squeaked as they rolled it away.
Naveen struggled out of his father's grasp. "Don't take her," he said. His voice echoed in the marble ballroom, high and clear. "Wake up my mami."
His father knelt beside him and wrapped his arms around him. "Mami is in heaven," he whispered.
Naveen blinked. "Get her back," he said.
"No one can bring her back," his father said. "She's dancing in heaven with the angels now."
Naveen stared at the disappearing men in white as they rolled his mother away. Confused, he buried his face in the crook of his father's neck and covered his ears against the sounds of weeping.
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Author's Notes:
First off...WHEW! I'm glad you guys are letting me know that you like this story! I hope you still like it after this chapter...
Second, let me explain about Naveen's mother. When I was planning out this story (and writing out the timeline), I started wondering why there's a fourteen-year difference between Naveen and his little brother. The first explanation that came to mind was that it was his father's second wife. And that made me wonder about what would have happened if Naveen's mother died when he was little. Then I started developing Mira, and everything fell into place.
The backstory to all this is that Mira was a young and rather flighty girl who just wanted to have fun and go to parties, but she had a heart condition that left first her parents and then her husband concerned about her health. Basically she burned out at a young age and died of heart failure.
Sheesh, am I angsty or what?
I do know that I want to adopt little Naveen. Too cute!
Also, I second Eudora's sentiments- I have a side business sewing, and I HATE doing hand hems.
I hope you like the story so far! Let me know what you think!