DISCLAIMER: The 10th kingdom characters belong to Simon Moore and Hallmark Entertainment.
Happy Birthday, Tony!
"Do you think dad will like this?" Virginia asked as she held up a white silk shirt.
"He should! Look at the price!" Wolf said, "huff-puff! It costs more than his house!"
"Oh, come on, Wolf! I'm serious!" Virginia said.
"All right!" Wolf scratched his temple; "I like the red one better."
Virginia picked up the shirt Wolf was referring to and held it in front of her.
"It looks nice, but dad doesn't like red shirts."
"But I like it!" Wolf said and took the shirt from Virginia's hands. He put in on his chest and admired himself in the mirror.
"It suits you," Virginia said with a smile, "but we're here to buy something for dad, not you."
Wolf put the shirt back on the shelf and made a sad face. Virginia walked to his side and put a hand on his cheek.
"I'll buy you that shirt on your birthday, okay?" she asked.
Wolf nodded, but Virginia's statement didn't seem to change his face expression. Virginia sighed and continued searching for a shirt.
"Why do you want to buy him a shirt anyway?" Wolf asked, "a nice piece of pork would be perfect for me on my birthday."
"You're absolutely right, Wolf. Your birthday, and this is dad's birthday we're talking about."
Wolf scratched his temple and followed Virginia silently through the shop.
After searching in more than six shops Virginia decided that she wasn't going to buy anything for her father. She walked silently through the streets of New York, heading back to their apartment with Wolf.
"Why don't we buy him a ticket to some concert?" Wolf asked, "the concert we went last week was wonderful! And huff-puff, Tony would like to dance!"
"That was a discotheque, Wolf." Virginia said.
"Oh," Wolf said and walked by her side.
As they entered their apartment Virginia sank on one of the couches in the living room and sighed.
"Don't worry, creamy one. Well find something," Wolf said as he knelt in front of her. He took her hand in his and kissed them. "Your kingdom is so huge and you have so many shops to choose from. I'm sure you'll find something nice and fluffy."
Virginia smiled at her fiancé. He was trying to make her feel better but it wasn't working. Couldn't she just close her eyes and open them and see a present wrapped on the table, ready to be taken to the Fourth Kingdom where Tony was at this moment?
"You should sleep," Wolf said, "you look tired and I don't want anything happen to you or our cub."
"She'll be fine."
"He, my love, he. It's going to be a boy."
"I want a girl."
"Maybe next time, but this one's a boy. I'm a wolf, I know these things."
"If you say so," Virginia smiled and got up, "I'll go to bed."
"Good thinking," Wolf said and got up. He took her to their room and after making sure she was in bed, he left for the kitchen.
He opened the refrigerator and looked inside. It was full of different kinds of meat. The full moon was going to be after two weeks and they were preparing for it. It was going to be Wolf's first full moon in New York and both of them were worried. Virginia didn't want to tie him up in a room, but Wolf was insisting on it. He thought he might decide to pay the neighbors a short visit that night, and he didn't want that to happen.
Wolf took out a piece of chicken meat and started biting at it. He was thinking of what present could they buy. Tony birthday was approaching and they still hadn't bought anything.
He sat at the table and continued chewing on the raw chicken meat, thinking of something that Tony would like to receive. It had to be something special. Something that would remind him of his daughter. Something that would last forever and wouldn't be thrown out. Something like a picture.
"A picture!" Wolf exclaimed, "of course! Huff-puff! I'm a genius!"
He stuffed the last piece of the chicken in his mouth and checked his pockets. He had a fair amount of New York money (as he called them) and about 50 golden Wendells.
He went to check on Virginia before leaving, and saw that she was already fast asleep. He planted a kiss on her forehead and went out.
"A place where they sell photos," he kept reminding himself, until he found a photo studio. He opened the door and entered.
"God evening, Sir. How can I help you?" a girl in her early twenties asked.
"Uh…" Wolf scratched his temple; "I need something to put photos in it."
"A photo album? Follow me," she said and led him to a section where they had different kinds of photo albums.
"Huffety-puffety-huff!" Wolf said, his eyes wide opened at the huge selection in front of him. "I'm confused."
"What kind of an album do you want?" the girl asked, "is it for wedding photos? Birthday party, newborn?"
"It's for my father-in-law. His birthday is in two days and we don't have anything for him."
"All right," the girl pulled a light green album out of the shelf and handed it to Wolf. "It fits a thousand photos."
"No, thanks." Wolf handed the album back; "we don't have a thousand photos to put in there."
"Okay," the girl put the album back in its place and took out another. This was yellow and could fit five hundred photos. After that she showed him a dozen more albums, but Wolf kept shaking his head.
"What about this one?" she showed him a deep red album with a white rose painted on the front. "It could fit only thirty photos, but there are spaces which make you able to write something about each photo."
Wolf took the album and looked through it. The pages inside were all white with red little roses in the corners. The covers were velvety and he liked the color and the white rose on the front cover.
"I'll take this one," he said.
"Good choice," the girl said with a smile.
After paying for the album, Wolf headed back to the apartment. He entered slowly and made sure Virginia was still sleeping.
He put the album in the living room and went to their room to start his searching. He took out some old albums out of the closet and went to the living room. He looked into Virginia's old photos and took out some of them and put them to a side. Most of the photos were Virginia alone or with Tony.
After choosing the best photos he could find; he started putting them in the new album. Then he got up and searched for a quill and ink.
"They should use something to write!" he told himself as he looked in shelves and drawers. Finally, he saw a pen near the phone and picked it up.
"This is exactly what I was looking for! Magic quills!" he sat down on the floor, where he was working with the photos and took the red album. He opened it and started writing whatever he thought about each photo.
"Virginia and Tony at the seaside. She looks absolutely succulent!"
"Virginia at her twentieth birthday. What a creamy, dreamy girl!"
"Tony and Virginia at Dizzy Land. That huge mouse needs some magic surgery for his large ears."
"Virginia at Dizzy Land with a duck!"
He kept writing and when he was finished, he put the pen and the album on the table and started collecting the other photos. He put them back in the closet, where he found them earlier and came back to the living room.
"She said we had some wrapping paper around here," Wolf muttered to himself as he started searching again. "There!"
He took a light blue paper out of one of the drawers and started wrapping the album. After that he brought a dark blue ribbon and put it on the wrapped album. Tony's birthday present was ready. All he had to do now was wait for Virginia to see this. No, she would see it wrapped only. She wouldn't know about the content until Tony opens it.
He left the present on the table and went to the room. He changed his clothes and went to bed. Virginia was sleeping peacefully. He snuggled next to her and fell asleep instantly.
Wolf woke up in the morning at the sound of Virginia calling from the living room. Without thinking, he jumped out of bed and ran out of the room.
"Virginia, are you all right?" he asked.
"Wolf!" she held the present in her hands, "did you get this?"
"Yeah," Wolf said, "I… I went out last evening, after you were asleep."
"What's in it?" she asked.
"Huff-puff, can't tell!"
"Come on, Wolf! I'm supposed to know what are we going to give my dad for his birthday!"
"Not this time, sorry." He grinned.
"You're evil!" she made an angry face.
"And you better start packing while I go to the bathroom. We must be at the portal at twelve o'clock."
Wolf went to the bathroom while Virginia packed their bag. They didn't need to take many clothes, as they were sure Wendell would provide them with new clothes for the birthday party.
Virginia was excited to see what Wolf bought for her father. She was more curious than excited, as a matter-of-fact. She hoped that he didn't buy something stupid.
Tony wasn't happy about his birthday party. He never liked growing old, and Wolf made sure of it. Wolf kept reminding him about his age in different ways. Each move he made Wolf took it as an opportunity to make fun of his age.
The guests arrived at the Palace of White. Tony was more than happy to see Queen Cinderella. At least he wasn't the oldest among them.
"Wolf, why don't you tell me what did you buy?" Virginia asked.
"I want it to be a surprise," he said.
"I can keep a secret!"
"I know, my dear. But this is different."
"Okay, I'll ask dad to open his presents now." Virginia went to her father's side and whispered something in his ear.
"Do you think I'm a five year old?" Tony asked her.
"Please, dad! I want to see what did you get!" Virginia made puppy eyes.
"Oh, all right! You win!" Tony went to the pile of presents, which lay in a corner of the ballroom.
"Which one should I open first?" Tony asked.
"The blue one!" Virginia said excitedly.
"This is from you, isn't it?"
"Me and Wolf. Well, mostly Wolf. I don't know what did he get you."
Tony hesitated for a moment. Should he trust his son-in-law? But one look at his daughter made him lose any suspects he was holding.
He unwrapped the present and took out a red book.
"What's that?" Virginia asked, and turned to look at Wolf, who smiled.
Tony opened the book only to find out it's a photo album. "Wolf, did you write this?" he asked.
"Yeah, happy birthday Tone."
"Wolf this is wonderful!" Virginia hugged him tightly, "I love it!"
"Thanks Wolf," Tony said and shook Wolf's hand.
"I hope you like the photos I chose," Wolf said, turning pink in the face.
"They're wonderful," Tony said and kept looking through the photos. "Dizzy Land?"
"Isn't that what it's called? Virginia told me about it." Wolf said.
"It's called Disney Land, Wolf!" Virginia said and laughed. Tony laughed too and patted Wolf on the shoulder.
"Nice work, Wolf. I love it." To Wolf's surprise, Tony gave him a hug.
Wolf couldn't feel anything but happy at this moment. He wanted to make his creamy, dreamy girl happy, but he succeeded to make his father-in-law happy, too. He couldn't ask for more. He had what he needed in this life. A lovely woman by his side, and a new family was going to be created soon. Wolf wanted a family, and he has got it.
The end
A/N: Review! Review! Review!