A/N: Just a heads up that the next chapter will probably be late. I got a new job (YAYYY!) but I also have to move (boo). I'm going to do my best, but things will be chaotic for me these next few weeks.
As they quickly settled into a new routine, Naveen found that he had never been happier in his life. He had also never worked as hard, or felt so exhausted and achey - faldi faldonza did his muscles ache.
But as soon as he looked at Tiana, everything else would melt away.
Naveen had known that she was a hard working woman, but this was the first time he'd ever really seen her in her element. It was awe inspiring to say the least, and Naveen did his best to keep up with her but everyday was a challenge.
Even on the first day after working on the sugar mill it must have been obvious to Tiana. She had rubbed his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek.
"You must be sore," Tiana had said.
Naveen had given her a grin and quipped, "It's the good kind of sore."
He had gotten a big kiss for that.
With the goal to complete the restaurant by the time Naveen's family returned from their trip, Tiana had made a tentative schedule for them to follow. She adjusted it every evening to reflect on the work they had done during the day. Even though the list of tasks to do never seemed to get any smaller (Tiana always seemed to think of something else that needed to be done) Naveen was happy to let her be in charge of it all. After all, what did he know about fixing up a sugar mill?
True he had repaired the burnt ballroom back in Maldonia, but at least there the foundation had been strong, and compared to the sugar mill it had been a piece of cake to work with.
Here it seemed like every piece of wood was rotten to the core, even the floor. After Naveen had fallen through one to many times, it was decided that ripping out the floorboards and replacing them with plywood was the first task that needed to be accomplished.
Naveen had gotten quite a few splinters in his hand doing that, but thankfully Tiana was always there to kiss it and make it better.
Yes, even with Tiana so focused on the task at hand, there was still plenty of time for stolen kisses. And then on the day they finished putting the plywood in place, Naveen was at last able to lie with his wife and make love to her in their restaurant.
Afterward, Tiana giggled as they caught their breath, tangled up in each other still lying on the floor.
"What's so funny?" Naveen asked, tracing her skin with his fingers. The sun was warming them both, beaming as it did from the holes in the ceiling, but even so goosebumps trailed in the wake of his touch on her skin.
"I was just thinking," Tiana hummed in satisfaction, then started giggling again. "I've spent my whole life imagining I would do in here once I bought the sugar mill. Making a meal for the mayor, or the president… Getting the key to the city…."
She turned to face him. "Some things were more unrealistic than others."
"Not true," he said and kissed her nose. Tiana most definitely deserved the key to the city. Whatever that meant.
"You're sweet." Tiana cupped his cheek, then giggled again. "Anyway, I was just thinking how in all my years of imagining things, I never once pictured doing… that."
Her giggling was contagious, and Naveen chuckled low and soft as he began to kiss and nuzzle along her neck. "What about doing it again?" he purred. "Can you picture that?"
"Now that I can picture just fine."
Yes it certainly was a happy time for both of them. Despite the long hours they worked every day, they often went early and eagerly to bed, remaining in the common room of the boarding house just long enough to make the reason for their exit too obvious.
Tiana doubted they were being inconspicuous though. The way he always found a way to touch her, and hold her hand, his foot nudging hers under the table, those longing glances he gave her from across the room.
They made love nearly every night, and slept curled together, their bodies touching, loath to be apart despite the summer heat. They woke in each other's arms, and then if the mood was right (which if often was) Naveen would pleasure her again.
If he had to be honest, Naveen had never been happier in his life. Except… well, not everything could be perfect.
"We have to do something about this." Naveen flopped himself down on their bed, his stomach grumbling.
"And what do you propose we do?" Tiana plopped down next to him, her arms and legs crossed. Her fingers tapped furiously on her arm, and her foot bobbed rapidly up and down.
"I don't know," Naveen replied, dragging his hands down his face. "I'm too hungry to think."
"She cannot do that to us," Tiana fumed. "I know it's in her rules but we paid for that meal! So what if we're a few hours late!"
Was it really their fault that it was so easy to lose track of the time while working on the sugar mill? Was it really their fault that it was on the other side of town and that the streetcars didn't always run on time? Well… some of that was, but it was beside the point. How could Mrs. Proulx just deny them their dinner after they had worked so hard all day?
"If an empty stomach is what it takes for you to learn your lesson then so be it," Mrs. Proulx had told them after they had rushed through the door, only to find the dining room empty and the food put away.
"I've never gone hungry in my life," Naveen whined and clutched his empty stomach. "Even as frogs we ate better than this."
Tiana gave a sympathetic smile to her husband and smoothed the hair back from his brow. "Should we go into the bayou and make some swamp gumbo then?"
Naveen grinned. "With mushrooms?"
"Lots."
"Mmm. That sounds so good right now." Naveen sighed contentedly at Tiana's touch. Ever since moving to the boarding house, Tiana hadn't had anywhere to cook, so it had been a long time since he had tasted her food. Even so, he could almost taste the spices and flavors of the gumbo and….
Naveen groaned. "Just thinking about it is torture."
"I'm sorry, Froggy. It's my fault we were late tonight," Tiana said. "I just get so caught up in everything when we're working on the sugar mill…"
He reached up to stroke her cheek. "It's fine, princess. I'm not blaming you. Mrs. Proulx is what Maldonians call a sutzka."
Tiana raised an eyebrow. "Should I even ask what that means?"
"No," Naveen laughed. "It's not for polite company. So make sure not to say it in front of my parents. Or Ravi."
"Noted." Tiana sighed and laid down next to him, propping herself up on her elbow. Her own stomach was growling now. "I guess this means we'll have to change the schedule and work a little less each day to make it back on time for dinner." She sighed again, thinking of their looming deadline.
They still had wiggle room to finish everything before Naveen's family got back, but it wouldn't take long to get behind schedule.
"Or we could just work harder during the day," Tiana said, thinking out loud. "We might not have to change anything if we didn't take as many breaks."
Naveen pouted. Breaks usually lead to kissing and making love. She couldn't mean stopping that. Could she? "But I like our breaks."
"I know. I do, too." She scooted closer to him and trailed a finger down his chest. "But it's not like we'd be stopping all together. We'd still have evenings, and," she blushed, "mornings."
Saying it out loud like that made her wonder: did they really do it that much? Tiana had wanted him a lot before their wedding, but now that they were married it seemed to unleash something inside her she hadn't even known existed.
It had always been fun teasing and flirting with Naveen, but now it took on a whole new level. It was exciting and exhilarating and… she didn't want to stop their breaks either. But if it meant staying on schedule she could make that sacrifice. And it wasn't like they couldn't make up for it later…
Lord, what was Naveen turning her into.
"Or how about this," Naveen said, with a twinkle in his eyes. "We wait until everyone goes to sleep, and then I'll sneak down to the kitchen and get us something to eat."
"You can't do that," Tiana hissed, though she was smiling. "Mrs. Proulx has eyes in the back of her head. She'll catch you and then she'll kick us out! You know how protective she is of her kitchen."
After suffering through a few more of their landlady's meals, Tiana had tentatively offered to help cook, but Mrs. Proulx did not appreciate the gesture.
Naveen waved a hand, dismissively. "I won't get caught. I used to sneak around the castle at home all the time."
'Sneak around with other women, you mean?' she thought, but didn't say anything. Instead she just glared at him.
Naveen seemed to follow her train of thought and quickly backpedaled. "Sneaking around to the kitchen! For snacks!"
Though he had done the other kind of sneaking as well (sometimes sneaking to the kitchen with other women), but he wasn't about to say that to Tiana. Whether or not she believed him, at least her gaze softened.
"I know I can do it without getting caught," Naveen continued. "And I don't know about you, but I really don't want to go hungry tonight."
"No, I don't. But we can't." Her voice was soft as she pleaded with him. "I don't want us to get into any more trouble than we already are." She took his hand and kissed his wedding ring. "Please? For me."
Naveen sighed and smiled wearily. "Alright. For you." He put his arm around her and pulled her close. It was so nice to hold her this way. Even with their empty stomachs, it wouldn't be so bad because they had each other.
Still, that didn't mean he couldn't complain about it.
Naveen tried so hard to never ever complain about how hard it was working in the sugar mill in front of Tiana. Of course it was amazing helping her make her dream come true, and Naveen loved doing that, but that didn't mean it wasn't hard for him.
But he also knew that if he voiced any word of complaint that Tiana would think he regretted his decision to abdicate, which he most definitely did not. At least with Mrs. Proulx they had a common enemy that they could both complain about - and did, frequently.
Naveen sighed and nuzzled into her hair. "I just wish there was a way we could cook in here. Then we wouldn't bother Mrs. Proulx and her precious kitchen."
"Well, you know food in the rooms is also against the rules," Tiana pointed out. "Besides, there's nothing to cook with in here. We'd need a hot plate or something."
"What's a hot plate?"
"It's exactly like it sounds. A plate that gets hot when you plug it in," Tiana explained.
"Oh," Naveen laughed. "I should have been able to figure that out."
"Mama has one," Tiana said. "She'll show you how it works."
"Oh really? Hmm…." He trailed a finger down her back, thinking. If he was able to borrow the hot plate from Eudora then maybe-
"Don't even think about it," Tiana said.
"What?"
"You know we can't have food in the rooms," Tiana said, poking his chest to emphasize her point. "Even if it is a good idea, we can't-"
Naveen grinned and rolled over so he was lying on top of Tiana. "Ah, so you think it's a good idea?"
Tiana rolled her eyes, but smiled and held him close as he began to pepper her with kisses. "I didn't say that."
"Yes you did! You think it's a good idea!" He unbuttoned the front of her dress and began to kiss her chest and the top of her breasts. His hands cupped her breasts, kneading them the way he knew she liked, making her moan ever so softly. "Admit it. I'm right."
"It's no use distracting me and buttering me up like this," Tiana said, pulling off his tie and tossing it to the floor. "Because it doesn't matter if you're right or not, we still can't have food in the rooms."
"But don't you miss cooking? Creating delicious things to eat?" Naveen asked, pressing his weight to her. Judging by the way she smiled at him, she could feel his hardness even through their clothes.
"I do miss it," Tiana said. Her breath was quickening at his touch, and she kissed him slowly along his jawline. "But we'd be breaking the rules."
"All we have to do, is wait until Mrs. Proulx isn't here." Naveen's breath was hot on her skin, and Tiana shivered when he lightly bit on her ear. "She always goes out on Sunday's. It's like clockwork."
"I know, but-" she moaned at Naveen's kisses, "you don't really want to spend the evening talking about Mrs. Proulx, do you?"
Her hands moved down to the crease in his pants, and he laughed even through his moaned. She was turning the tables on him, distracting him when he was so close to changing her mind.
Oh well. Naveen was happy to be distracted, especially by his sexy wife.
"Mmm, no not particularly." He gasped when she cupped him and started unbuttoning his fly. "I think there are better ways we can use our mouths right now."
Naveen kissed her deeply on the lips.
It was a few days later when Naveen told Tiana that he had an idea.
"Oh really?" Tiana replied teasingly as she looked up from her notebook. Dinner was long over and they were back in their room where Tiana was recording what they had accomplished during the day and figuring out what they would do tomorrow.
She had inherited the notebook from James, and it was full of his ideas on how to turn the sugar mill into an award winning restaurant. Tiana consulted it every day, and was very pleased to see the list of things they had done growing longer, while the to do list growing smaller. Though there was still a lot to do (they hadn't even patched the holes in the roof yet), they had ramped up the pace during the day and Tiana was still confident they would stay on schedule.
"What's your idea, Froggy?" she practically purred, thinking it was something naughty, because knowing Naveen there was a good chance that it was. And Tiana felt herself growing excited at the possibility.
Good lord, what had she turned into? But was it a crime to want her husband that way? And Naveen was so handsome and so… well, good, it was hard to not get intoxicated by it all.
She still felt shy sometimes, but Naveen was always patient with her and helped guide her through it. He always seemed to know just how to touch her to make her shiver with pleasure. It was like she was as fine tuned as his ukulele.
"I was thinking about the band," Naveen said.
Well this was unexpected, but alright. "The Firefly Five?"
"Yes. Um… well…"
It was then that Tiana saw he was fiddling with a well worn piece of paper. He had drawn something on it, but kept folding and refolding it too much for her to make out what it was.
"What is it?" she asked calmly, recognizing how nervous he was. She smiled softly at him, hoping that would help relax him.
Naveen cleared his throat. "Well, I was thinking about where they will play in the restaurant, once we have finished it." He fiddled a little more with the paper, before continuing. "I know you have the spot all picked out, but I am not sure it is the best place for them to be."
Tiana tensed. "What do you mean?"
"It is just that there are five of them, plus Louis, and me sometimes, and the grand piano…. All of us tucked in that back corner? It is not much room, especially for Louis. Not to mention the sound will be quite lost."
"Okay. So what's your idea?"
Naveen brightened. "I thought we could… I thought we could add in a stage." He came by her side and showed her the paper he had been fiddling with. "Look, I drew up plans for it. See? We could put it here in the back and have lights all along the edge. It would be plenty of room for all of the band members and we could also put a dance floor here too!"
Tiana looked at his carefully drawn up plans. Naveen must have spent a long time on it, judging by how straight the lines were and how everything seemed to be drawn to scale. Any other time she would have kissed him and praised him over it, because it really was perfect, except….
"Oh." Was all she managed to say.
Naveen frowned. "You don't like it?"
"No, no, it's not that sweetheart," Tiana said, trying to sound upbeat. "You did a great job."
"But?"
Tiana bit her lip. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she couldn't help thinking of her notebook and all the plans in it. Those were already perfect, so why change anything?
"If we put in a stage and a dance floor, we're gonna lose a lot of tables," Tiana explained gently. "And we can't have a restaurant without tables."
"Oh. Right. Of course." Naveen smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes like it normally did. "I should have figured that out." He took the drawing back from her and tossed it aside. "It was just an idea anyway."
Naveen mumbled something about getting a glass of water, and briskly left the room, leaving Tiana alone with her thoughts. Was he mad at her? Surely he understood her point of view, right?
She glanced over at the discarded paper on the floor and picked it up. He really had spent a lot of time and effort on it. Even if they weren't going to use the design, it would be a shame to throw it away.
Without knowing why, or what she would do with it, Tiana tucked it into her dress pocket for safe keeping.
Even while riding the streetcar on the way to the sugar mill, Naveen knew it was going to be unbearably hot that day. They had the windows rolled all the way down, but the small breeze that was afforded them when the streetcar was moving hadn't helped the sweat that was already slicking his skin.
For the first time, Naveen wasn't happy to be going to the sugar mill. Not that Tiana seemed to notice. She was busy going over her notebook again, finalizing their plans for the day, which she would then tell him once they were there and settled.
Naveen crossed his arms, unable to think about anything except for how much he hated that damned notebook of hers. What was so important in there anyway? She hadn't ever bothered to share it with him, either, which only seemed to further his irritation.
How had he never realized it? She practically kept it under lock and key! It just wasn't fair. Didn't he deserve to know what was in it? And didn't he deserve to have some say in what they did every day instead of having Tiana decide everything?
Naveen pulled at his shirt, fanning himself with it. Even though it was early, his shirt was already sticking to him from sweat and the humidity. He sighed. Just great. Another shirt ruined.
The bell clang, signaling their stop, and they both exited the streetcar and headed to the sugar mill. Naveen couldn't help but notice that the usually busy streets were practically empty. Everyone must be inside in front of their fans, or in the movie theater - the only place in town with air conditioning.
Jealous hatred surged through Naveen at anyone lucky enough to escape working in this stifling building with the sun bearing down on them from those stupid holes in the roof that hadn't been fixed yet. Never mind that if either of them went up on the roof it would probably collapse under them, and so they were reinforcing everything supporting the roof first, but Naveen was hardly thinking rationally that morning.
Tiana used her key to open the door and when she opened it, an intense wave of heat rolled over them. It seemed that even in this early hour, the sun shining down into the building had created a bit of an oven inside the sugar mill.
Naveen swore to himself as they stepped inside. More sweat beading up on his forehead. He wiped it away hastily with his handkerchief, knowing it too would be ruined by the end of the day.
"So the plan for today is to finish reinforcing the stairs," Tiana said, oblivious to the heat. Or maybe she had noticed, but was too busy paying attention to marking things off in her notebook. Of course.
"We should be able to finish that by lunch, and then we can get started on the upper railings." Tiana turned to smile at Naveen. "Sound good?"
Naveen shrugged and kicked absentmindedly at their pile of tools and wood, stacked neatly in the corner. The corner that should be a stage.
"Doesn't matter to me, you're just going to do what you want anyway…" he mumbled.
Tiana lowered her notebook and stared at Naveen. "Excuse me?"
Naveen thought ever so briefly about ignoring her, or changing the subject, but he wasn't in the mood to step aside. "I said why are you even bothering to ask me? We both know you're just going to do whatever is in your precious notebook."
Tiana blinked, then frowned. She felt her fists clench around her notebook, but not too hard. She didn't want to rip the paper. Because this notebook was precious to her. Its pages marked all the stages of her dream from the very beginning. It was history. It was her history, and Naveen of all people should know that it was important.
"Excuse me?" Tiana asked again, cooly.
Naveen turned to her, his arms crossed. "You heard me."
"If you have a problem with the way we're doing things," Tiana said, "go ahead and say it."
"Oh, so you actually care what I have to say now?"
"Excuse me?!" Tiana's voice went high with exasperation. "I have always cared what you have to say!"
"But you don't consult with me about the plans," Naveen pointed out, bitterly. "You don't consult with me about anything! You keep everything hidden away from me, and anytime I have an idea you shoot it down!"
"Is that what this is about? The stage?" Tiana huffed. "I told you we can't because we'd lose too many tables. This is a restaurant and in case you didn't realize it we will serve food and we can't do that without tables!"
Naveen groaned and threw up his hands. "Faldi faldonza, you're not even listening!" He stomped over to the back corner. "This," he gestured wildly, "is a bad place to have the band play. There isn't enough room! And the sound will be absorbed by the walls and the curtains!" He raised his voice to prove his point. Even in the emptiness of the sugar mill, his voice was sucked up by the walls.
"If the layout isn't changed," Naveen continued, "you'd be better off with no band at all! Is that what you want?"
Tiana clenched her jaw. "We're not changing the layout."
"You're still not listening to me!" Naveen shouted. "I thought we were business partners!"
"We are!"
"Then why aren't you treating me like one?"
"You don't understand," Tiana said. "We can't change it!"
Naveen looked at Tiana once more, then threw his hands up in surrender. "Fine," he said firmly. "If you don't want me here, then I'll leave."
"Fine, then go!" Tiana said.
"Fine, I will!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
Naveen stormed off leaving Tiana alone in the sugar mill.
Later, Naveen would look back and wonder how it was that he hadn't created some sort of path from all the pacing he had done behind the sugar mill. Because that's where he went after fighting with Tiana. Where else was he going to go?
Well, it was New Orleans, so there were plenty of places he could go, but there wasn't anywhere else he wanted to be.
He just needed to cool off, that's all. Figuratively and literally, because god it was hot.
At least there was a water pump in the back, and as Naveen filled bucket after bucket of water, he could hear Tiana moving things around inside and banging on nails with her hammer. He could practically hear her say that they needed to stay on schedule, which only annoyed him further.
Why did she have to be so stubborn? Couldn't she see that he was right? Naveen had learned a lot about construction from repairing the ballroom in Maldonia, but he would still be the first to admit his knowledge paled in comparison to Tiana's. But this wasn't just about construction, or restaurants, or food, it was about music.
If only she would just listen to him! True that he had gone about everything completely wrong today, but even when he first brought the idea to her she hadn't listened. If they could just talk about it they could find a solution.
Was it that she didn't trust him? No, that couldn't be it… could it? No. She wouldn't have asked him to be her business partner if she didn't trust him, hell she wouldn't have married him.
Naveen finished drinking one of the buckets of water and began to pump another one.
None of this seemed like the Tiana he knew and loved. She was always so practical, and nice, and considerate. She wouldn't want to send the band away just for the sake of what was written in her notebook. It would break Louis' heart.
Then again, when it came to her restaurant, sometimes Tiana could get blinders on very quickly.
He sighed, dipping his handkerchief in the cool water and running it all over his face and neck. It wasn't enough, so he wet his hair, but when even that wasn't enough he just dunked his entire head in the bucket of water. Damn it, it was so hot out!
But it did help clear his head, and he thought he was ready to go back inside and talk things through. He didn't hear any noise coming from inside anymore, and thought that Tiana would be ready to talk as well.
She was probably thirsty, too. He had basically camped out by the water pump, and he hadn't seen her come down to get any water. So Naveen pumped another bucket full and carried it inside.
"Tiana?" he called out, but there was no reply. "Are you still mad at me?"
Naveen walked over to the stairs, remembering that was what Tiana had wanted to finish that day. To his surprise he found that they had been fully reinforced. His wife was nothing if not efficient.
He started to take the steps up to the second landing. "I'm really sorry about earlier," Naveen continued. Was it his imagination or did it seem to be getting hotter the higher he went? Oh right, heat rises.
"I want to stay here and help you with everything, you know that. I was just upset, so let's talk about things, yes? We can find a - Tiana?"
Naveen stepped onto the landing and saw Tiana sprawled in a heap on the floor. He dropped the bucket and ran to her.
Tiana opened her eyes feeling very disoriented. She was lying on her back near one of the windows they hadn't replaced yet. Not long after buying the sugar mill, they had discovered that this was the coolest place in the building. Even on the stillest days, there seemed to be a breeze coming through the window.
Breathing hard, she turned her head to that breeze and closed her eyes in bliss. It felt good.
It took her a few moments to realize that there was something on her head, and she reached up to pull it off. It was Naveen's handkerchief, wet with water. No wonder the breeze felt so cool and nice on her skin. She put it back with a sigh.
It was then that she realized she was wearing only her slip. Her dress was discarded a few feet away, and she was covered in more wet pieces of fabric, though her sluggish mind couldn't quite figure out what they were.
"You're awake! Oh thank god."
Tiana turned to see Naveen coming through the backdoor carrying two more buckets of water. He had a worried look on his face as he quickly came over to her side, and as for the rest of him… Tiana blinked. He was only wearing his undershirt and undershorts.
Any other time she would have laughed to see him running around in his underthings with his shoes on and socks still rolled up his calves. It could be something from a Buster Keaton movie.
Now didn't seem the right time to laugh, though, and Tiana wasn't sure she could anyway. And then it hit her. He had soaked his clothes in water to help cool her down. That's what the wet fabric on her was.
"Na-veen," she choked out.
"Shh shh shh. I'm here." He carefully set down the buckets and the cupped her face in his hands, then kissed her in quick succession on her forehead, her cheeks, her lips. His kisses were warm, but she didn't mind.
"Are you alright? No, don't answer that, save your strength. But can you drink some water?" He paused for just a moment. "Do answer that. Just nod yes or no."
She swallowed and nodded.
"Alright. Here, let me help you." Gently, he lifted her head as he brought the bucket ladle to her lips. "Nice and slow, yes?"
The water was so cool and refreshing, it almost made her cry. But she also wanted more. She hadn't realized how thirsty she was, and it took every ounce of control she had to not gulp down that entire bucket.
"What happened?" she asked when she had finished.
He took the handkerchief from her head and dipped it in the other bucket of water. "You fainted," Naveen explained, placing it back. His hands were shaking, she noticed. "From the heat, I think."
She sighed. Heat stroke. She should have known better.
It was all coming back to her now. Naveen had stormed out after their fight and Tiana had put her anger into her work, determined not to fall behind schedule. She had pushed to finish the tasks herself, but then her vision became blurry and then everything went black.
"I found you and brought you down here to cool off."
It sounded so simple when he said it that way, but in truth he had been so scared to find her like that. Her body temperature was so hot to the touch, and her breathing was so fast, it took all he had not to panic, though that idea was very tempting.
Naveen had quickly run through his options. Should he call a doctor? There was no electricity in the sugar mill yet, so of course they had no phone. The nearest one was in the drug store maybe a mile away, and Naveen wasn't about to leave Tiana alone.
He had picked her up in his arms, going on instinct. Remembering how nice it felt to cool himself off with water, he decided he would do that for Tiana. He had brought her to the coolest spot in the building, and used his wet handkerchief to lower her body temperature.
It quickly became clear that this wasn't enough, so he took off her heavy dress and in lieu of towels, used his own clothes to do the job.
"It was the best idea I had at the time," Naveen said, somewhat sheepishly.
Tiana reached out a shaky hand to him. He took it and pressed it to his lips, before bringing it to his cheek. "You did the right thing," she whispered.
Tears sprang to his eyes and he kissed her palm again. "I have the wash tub filled if you still need to cool down."
The wash tub was something they had started using to clean themselves just enough to ride the streetcar to the boarding house where they could clean up properly. It was nice to have but with the water from the pump being so cold it took a lot of mental preparedness to actually get in.
So it was really saying something when Tiana said that the tub sounded like a good idea.
Naveen gently helped her off with her shift and carried her over to the tub.
"Brace yourself," Naveen said and lowered her into the cold water.
Tiana gasped from the cold but exhaled in relief. This was exactly what she needed. Once she was properly settled, Naveen slowly poured water through her hair and down her back.
"Thank you," she breathed.
Naveen squeezed her shoulder. "Are you feeling alright now?" he asked. "Or, better at least?"
"Much better." She turned to give him a reassuring smile, and found he still had that worried look on his face. So she reached for his hand and squeezed. "I'm sorry I scared you like that."
He took her hand in both of his, holding it gently, brushing over her wedding ring with his thumb.
"I'm sorry I failed you," he whispered.
"Huh?" Maybe she was still out of it, but she had no idea what he was talking about.
"I promised to watch over you and keep you safe," Naveen explained. "But because we got in that stupid fight I wasn't even here to take care of you."
"You're taking care of me now," Tiana pointed out, but he kept on.
"I was acting like a spoiled brat and because of that you could have… I thought…" his lips were trembling now.
"Oh honey. Come here."
Naveen let out a sob and fell into Tiana's open arms. She was soaking wet from her bath, but he didn't care. As he held her tight, all he could think about was that he never ever wanted to let go of her.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered.
"I'm sorry, too." Tiana kissed his cheek. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Naveen brought their lips together in a sweet kiss. He wanted to kiss her deeper, harder… he never wanted to stop kissing her, but of course he didn't want to overwhelm her either.
He would settle for anything as long as she was alright.
"Tiana," he said at last, "let's go home."
"Yeah, okay," she replied after a moment. "I think we're done here for today."
Needless to say, they got quite a few looks on the streetcar ride back to the boarding house, what with their clothes being so disheveled and well… wet. Naveen didn't care though. He was too busy holding Tiana's hand and making sure she was alright.
She had drunk a lot of water before leaving, but was it enough? What if she collapsed again on the streetcar?
Every time the streetcar made a stop he would ask "Are you alright? Do we need to get off here?"
But she would just smile and say she was fine. Eventually she curled into his side and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'll let you know if I'm feeling faint, okay?"
Naveen kissed her on her temple, but kept an eye on her for the rest of the trip.
At least for once they didn't have to worry about missing dinner, and Naveen made sure Tiana ate her entire helping of the (once again) flavorless food Mrs. Proulx offered.
Back in their room Naveen found himself hovering over Tiana's every move. He wanted to hold her and kiss her and keep her close. Anything to reassure him that she was alright. The image of finding her lying on the sugar mill floor kept replaying itself over in his mind. Only holding her in his arms seemed to keep it at bay.
Luckily Tiana didn't seem to mind, and she willingly nestled into him as they rested quietly in bed.
"I think I owe you an explanation," Tiana said, breaking their silence.
"You don't owe me anything," Naveen replied, kissing her cheek.
"Yes I do." Tiana stroked his cheek softly, and kissed his lips. "You deserve to know, and… well…."
Reluctantly, she pulled herself from his embrace and retrieved her notebook from the other side of the room.
Holding it carefully in her hands, she said, "You were right when you said I haven't been treating you like a business partner, and I'm sorry."
"Tiana-"
She held up her hand to gently silence him. "Please just… let me say this."
Naveen paused, then nodded his assent. "Alright."
Tiana smoothed down the battered notebook cover. "The restaurant has been my dream for so long… mine and my daddy's… I think I'm still not used to sharing it." She looked up at Naveen. "I'm sorry for that, too."
He reached for her hand and squeezed it gently.
Tiana continued. "I found this notebook after he died. It's full of his plans and ideas for making the perfect restaurant." She opened the pages and flipped through them slowly. "I studied it like crazy, poured over every page, and memorized every detail, determined that I would bring the restaurant to life exactly like he would have wanted it."
"Eventually I didn't need to read it anymore, but I still analyzed everything, even going down to the way he wrote every letter on the page." She smiled softly. "He was left handed, just like me."
"And then it got to a point where if anyone said or suggested any changes, it felt like they were almost disrespecting everything he had done."
Naveen cringed inwardly. "Oh."
"That all happened before we even met," Tiana said. "And then after we turned back human, I…" she tucked a curl behind her ear. "Promise you won't laugh?"
"I promise," Naveen said immediately.
"Somehow I got it in my head that… because now I knew that magic was real…. I thought that if I made the restaurant exactly as it was in Daddy's notebook, then maybe…" Tiana swallowed. "Maybe he could come back."
"Oh darling." Naveen gently pulled her back into his arms and kissed her temple.
"Pretty silly, huh?" Tiana said, sniffing. When had she started crying?
"Not silly at all," he whispered, kissing her again, and again, and once more for good measure. "Like you said, we know that magic is real better than anyone, so of course it's possible. Is there a spell on the restaurant? Or on the notebook, perhaps?"
Tiana shifted. "No. Not that I know of."
"Oh," he said again. "We could ask Mama Odie? She would know. Or she might even be able to cast-"
"No," Tiana interrupted with a sigh. "She wouldn't cast any spell like that. And you know she would just tell me to dig a little deeper and I would figure out that even though he's gone, his spirit still lives on in me and in the restaurant."
"You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?"
"Mostly since this morning," Tiana said. There was something about getting in a fight with your husband and then collapsing from heat stroke that made you examine your thinking in a way that nothing else did. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."
"I wish you would have." Naveen kissed her dimple. "Of course I understand that you want it to be everything your father planned."
"But the thing is… Yes, Daddy and I shared this dream to begin with, but you and I share it now." Tiana handed Naveen the notebook. "Turn to the last page."
Naveen raised an eyebrow at her, but did as he was told. He grinned when he saw his own drawing of the restaurant with the stage placed carefully inside. "Really?"
"Yeah." Tiana kissed him and settled back into his arms. "And I want to hear any other ideas you have, too. Partner."
Naveen laughed and kissed her back. "I did have an idea for what to do with those tables we would lose."
"I'm all ears."
They talked about it all night. Naveen really had some wonderful ideas, (have tables in the upper landing for a VIP area. Of course!) and Tiana couldn't believe they hadn't talked like this before. It was different than what she was used to - which of course was telling people her ideas and plans. This discussing, brainstorming, and just truly sharing the dream with him felt so nice.
Sometime around dawn it started to rain, with flecks of lightning sprinkled in for good measure. The wind picked up and then the thunder boomed louder and louder as the storm raged on.
Tiana got out of bed and looked out the window.
"Is it bad out there?" Naveen asked.
She could hear the unspoken words behind his question. How bad would it be working in this weather? Even just getting to the sugar mill would leave them soaked, and this looked like a storm that would last all day. With all those holes still in the roof, there was no way they could stay dry, and not to mention it was dangerous working on construction with lightning in the air.
One health scare was enough for the both of them.
"It looks pretty bad," Tiana said, and turned back to him. Gosh he looked so cute stretched out in their bed, his pajamas all wrinkled even though they hadn't slept. "What would you say if we took the day off?"
There was no denying the hopeful look in his eyes, but Naveen still put a hand on Tiana's forehead once she climbed back into bed. "Who are you and what have you done with my wife? Did you hit your head yesterday? Are you sick?"
She rolled her eyes, but smiled. "I'm fine. I just think we deserve a break, is all."
"What about the schedule?" Naveen asked, trailing his fingers along her arm. "Won't this make us behind?"
"Let's not worry about the schedule anymore," Tiana said. She pressed a slow, lingering kiss on his cheek. "It'll get done when it gets done."
Naveen was certainly never one to turn down a day off, and he smiled at his wife and pulled her close. "I do have a few ideas for what we can do to amuse ourselves."
Tiana giggled and kissed his nose. "You mean, something like this?" Blushing, she rolled them both over until she was on top, straddling him. It was still new to her, being on top like this, even though Naveen had guided her through it some time ago. She liked it, that much was true, but she still felt shy about it, especially when she was the one starting things. Which made her next move all the more terrifying, and exciting.
Naveen hummed happily and kissed her tenderly on the lips.
"So I was thinking..." Tiana murmured against his lips, then paused, as she tried to figure out how to phrase it. She did want to ask him before trying it, just in case.
"Hmm?" Naveen rubbed her nose with his, letting his hands run over her body. "What is it, princess? You can tell me."
"Well… umm… when you use your mouth…" she was blushing hotly now.
Naveen smiled against her lips. "Go on."
"Is that something you would like? From me, I mean?"
"Wha- I mean, yes- but you don't hav-only if you want-," Naveen stuttered incoherently.
But the way his pants suddenly creased gave her a better answer.
She kissed him and then slid down the bed, moving aside the sheets and helping him off with his pajamas, leaving him bare.
This was a lot more intimidating now, but Tiana wasn't about to back down.
She kissed his stomach, and he let out a breath. "You'll tell me if you don't like it, won't you?" Another kiss on this stomach, lower this time. "Cause I don't really know what I'm doing."
"Tiana…" He reached for her and stroked her cheek softly with his thumb. "Just…" he was blushing now too, "watch the teeth, yes?"
"Noted," she said with a laugh, and then kissed his tip.
Naveen let out an earthy groan, and that spurred Tiana on. She kissed all along his length, marveling at his enjoyment of her simple touches. He was like putty in her hands, and she could see why he liked doing this to her so much.
She wrapped her tongue around him, licking his stiffness. "Is this okay?"
He moaned and muttered something in Maldonian.
"What was that?"
He licked his lips. "Don't stop."
So she didn't.
It was by mutual agreement that they would change the way they worked on the sugar mill from then on out. Rising earlier in the day to take advantage of the cooler weather was a challenge, but taking a nap during the hot afternoon hours helped a lot. This meant that they were working later into the evenings, which of course, resulted in their being late for dinner night after night after night.
After another angry spat with Mrs. Proulx about the missed meals, Tiana, unprompted by Naveen, borrowed the hot plate from Eudora. Now the question remained: when could they cook with it?
It became somewhat of a covert operation to learn more about Mrs. Proulx's schedule without being obvious about their plan. Some of the other tenants had been living there for years, and could tell them exactly what they wanted to know.
On Sunday's, Mrs. Proulx always went out to visit her sister, and could be counted on to be gone until 4:30 when she returned with ingredients to make the evening meal.
She was nothing if not systematic.
So they began to plan, and little by little brought in their own ingredients to make a pot of gumbo. Just a handful of ingredients at a time, enough to fit in their pockets and not cause any suspicions. Once they had brought the contraband in their room, they carefully hid everything in the backs of their dresser drawers.
Then they just had to wait.
"She's gone." Naveen whispered, quickly closing their door behind him.
"Are you sure?" Tiana asked. She was kneeling on the floor by the hot plate with James' gumbo pot resting on top. All the ingredients to make gumbo were prepped and ready to go, but only when they knew for sure Mrs. Proulx was gone.
"Yes, I just watched her leave."
"Okay. Here we go." Quickly, she began to make the roux. "I've never broken the rules like this before," Tiana giggled. "This is kind of fun."
"Ah, I knew you'd enjoy it, princess," Naveen said with a wink, then sighed with pleasure as the aroma of the roux hit him. It was nothing more than flour, butter, and a few spices, but it was more flavor than either of them had smelled in weeks. Naveen's mouth was already watering. Then when she added the rest of the ingredients, he was practically drooling.
"Just a couple more minutes," Tiana said, stirring the pot. "This is the quick version, so it's not gonna be perfect." She lifted the spoon to her lips for a taste test. "Mmm. Still pretty good, though."
"Let me have a taste," Naveen said. When he tasted the gumbo, his knees buckled and he had to sit down. "Achidanza, Tiana," he laughed. "Eating that makes me want to get married to you all over again."
Tiana laughed. "I'll settle for a kiss instead."
Naveen was just about to oblige when someone knocked on their door.
They stiffened and locked eyes. Tiana's were wide with panic. It was hours before Mrs. Proulx was due to be back!
'They couldn't get caught now,' Naveen thought. 'Not when we haven't eaten the gumbo!'
The knock sounded again, more urgently this time.
"What do we do?" Tiana whispered in alarm.
"Hide the gumbo," Naveen whispered back. "I'll take care of the door."
It quickly became apparent that there was nowhere to properly hide a simmering gumbo pot, not to mention a hot plate that was too hot to be moved.
Naveen just hoped that if he didn't open the door all the way, Mrs. Proulx wouldn't notice. Except when he opened the door, it wasn't Mrs. Proulx on the other side. It was Henry, their neighbor from across the hall.
"Hello, Henry," Naveen said, loud enough for Tiana's benefit. "What can I do for you today?"
"Hey Naveen. Miss Tiana." Henry nodded politely to Tiana when she appeared next to Naveen. "I was… well, gosh I don't know how to say it. I guess I was wondering… are y'all cooking gumbo in there?"
"What? No of course not," Naveen lied confidently.
"Why would you say that?" Tiana added, laughing nervously.
"You can smell it in the whole building," Henry replied. "And I saw you sneak in that hot plate a few days ago."
Tiana blanched. "You won't tell Mrs. Proulx, will you?" she asked before Naveen could even cover for them.
"Of course not," Henry said. "I'd hate to see a nice couple like you get kicked out of here on account of that silly rule. Especially when the gumbo smells so good…."
Tiana smiled. "Henry," she said sweetly, "would you like some gumbo?"
"Yes please."
"Well come on in," she said. "There's plenty to share."
Henry practically barged in and Naveen helped serve him up a meal. Tiana poked her head out in the hallway and shouted, "Hey everybody. I made gumbo!"
All the tenants swarmed into the hallway, grinning widely.
"I thought I smelled something good in this house for once!"
"Let me at that gumbo!"
"Hoo-ee that's gonna be good!"
It wasn't long before everyone in the boarding house was packed into their tiny room eating gumbo. Tiana's heart was so full looking around at everyone enjoying her food. It had been so long since she had cooked something, and even longer since she had been able to share it like this with a crowd. Gosh she missed it.
"I'm gonna be first in line when that restaurant of yours opens up, Miss Tiana," Henry said.
"Not if I get there first," Lucy, another tenant said.
"You'll have to reserve your tables now," Naveen said, proudly. "Everyone in New Orleans is going to want to be there."
Everyone started to hound Tiana and Naveen, begging to have a table reserved, when suddenly everything went quiet.
Mrs. Proulx was standing in the doorway.
"What in the Sam Hill is going on in here?" she asked.
"Uh oh," Naveen whispered.
"Don't you dare say that it could be worse," Tiana said. "It's already raining, and I don't want a hurricane to come blowing through here."
"I wasn't going to say it," Naveen said, even though he was.
They were huddled together in the driest spot they could find in the sugar mill, but there was still a lot of water dripping down on them. They both had their hats on and were wrapped in coats and blankets (and each other). Anything to try and keep the rain off them.
"And you cannot say anything to Mama about this," Tiana continued. "She'll kill us if she found out we got kicked out of the boarding house for using her hot plate."
Mrs. Proulx practically had steam coming out of her ears she was so angry when she caught them with food in their room. She went wild scolding all of the tenants for simply eating the food, but then when she turned on Tiana and Naveen it was brutal.
They had broken the rules, and so Mrs. Proulx had booted them out the door.
Rather than go through Eudora's wrath in addition to Mrs. Proulx's, they had decided to move into the sugar mill. It wouldn't be so bad, they had reasoned. Until they put plumbing and electricity in they would have to live a little rough, but it was nothing they couldn't handle.
Then it started to rain and the reality of their situation set in.
"I don't blame you if you're mad at me," Tiana said.
"Why would I be mad at you?" Naveen asked. He tucked the quilt around her tighter.
"Because it's my fault we got kicked out of our nice warm room," Tiana pointed out.
"Well, it was warm, but I don't know about nice." Naveen kissed her cheek. "Mrs. Proulx hardly made the environment welcoming."
"I know, I know," Tiana sighed. "I guess the nicest thing about this is not having to deal with her rules anymore."
"And her food." Naveen made a face. "If I never have to taste her food again, it will be too soon."
Tiana wholeheartedly agreed. "I guess we'd also be saving money on rent. And we can work longer in the evenings now that we're not rushing home to get to dinner."
"And we'll also know exactly where the roof is leaking," Naveen said, with a laugh.