Esther was just as Aida had imagined her, except maybe for the look on her face. Francisco had not told her anything about his father, so he came of no surprise.
"Why, I'm delighted to meet both of you."Aida's father said. "Your son is quite a delightful boy."
"Yes."said Jasmine. "Aida speaks most highly of him."
"This is Aida's sister, Jasmine, the Sultana of Agrabah."Francisco said, as he introduced Jasmine to his parents.
"Congratulations."said Esther, when she saw Jasmine, the first thing she'd said, besides 'pleased to meet you', all evening. "I do hope everything turns out all right."She went to give Jasmine a hug.
"Congratulations."said Ignacio.
"This is her husband, Aladdin, the Sultan."
"Congratulations to you, too, Sultan."said Ignacio.
"Congratulations."
"Hoping for a boy, I suppose?"said Ignacio, smiling.
"Either one."said Aladdin, smiling.
"No, I would hope for a boy."
"I don't care."
"Now, that's admirable, but I must say, I would have been highly disappointed if my first born had been a girl."
"Well…"Aladdin shrugged.
"Have you thought what name you will give the baby?"asked Esther.
"We're not quite sure."said Jasmine.
"Aida thinks if it's a boy, they should name him Ali, just like, she's told me, Aladdin called himself, when he tried to impress Jasmine."said Francisco, smiling. "And I think that seems like a great, and sensible idea."
"My sister comes up with the most un-sensible ideas, Francisco. I thought you knew that by now."
"Well, I don't think they're un-sensible, but the contrary."
"Then I'm guessing you're not a very sensible person, either."
"Nope, my son isn't sensible at all."
"Now just what is that supposed to mean?"
"It probably means that now we know why you two get along so well."
"Are you people trying to say we're crazy?"
"No, just a bit off your rockers."
"You may say that about me, however, I can't permit you to say it about my fiancé."
"She's heard it loads of times. If not here, in the Palace, then when she lived with my aunt."
"Now, just exactly how did you impress your future bride under a different name?"Ignacio asked Aladdin.
"Long story."Jasmine answered.
"Well, well, then, should we proceed to the dining room, then?"asked Aida's father.
"Yes, of course."agreed Aladdin.
Aladdin took Jasmine's arm and led the way, then Jasmine's father, Francisco and Aida, Francisco's parents, and, bringing up the rear, Cassim, with Iago on his shoulder.
"You should get rid of that animal."Esther told Cassim, irritably. "I don't think it's healthy to bring animals into the dining room, especially birds."
"The parrot doesn't do anything."Francisco told her. "He just doesn't like crackers, that's all."
"Get that animal out of here."she insisted.
Genie came, and removed Iago.
"Birdie, monkey-boy, and Rugman, to the kitchen! Time to help serve the supper."he said.
"Those three have become slaves with Genie around."laughed Aladdin. "They can't relax with him around. When he doesn't have them doing one thing, he has them doing another."
"Why don't you tell us about yourselves."Jasmine suggested to Esther and Ignacio.
"Well, I'm not so well-traveled like my son, but I've visited Europe, at least. The Old World. That's everyone's dream, at least in Yucatan, anyway. I don't know about the people here."
"What places?"
"Paris, of course, on our honeymoon. All the women like to go to Paris, for fashion reasons, and all that. London, on business, Venice, Rome, the Vatican, of course, Berlin, Madrid, you get the idea, that sort of place."
"Aida has traveled a lot, too. With my aunt."
"Yes, Francisco did mention something."
"Yes, my aunt has always had itchy feet, and I don't understand, you'd think she wanted freedom, but sometimes I think she embraces the chains that bind her."
"Chains?"
"You know, but then, she isn't very responsible, like, with ruling, and all that. Her husband does most, if not all of the work. She just spends the money."
"And who runs the house?"asked Esther.
"I think she hires someone. I never saw anyone bother her about anything."
"And I don't suppose you grew up with no sense of responsibility?"
"Oh, well…"
Francisco cast a severe look at his mother.
"Esther,…"whispered Ignacio uncomfortably.
"I only expressed what I thought seemed more likely."
"Well, responsible in what sense, Miss Esther?"asked Aida.
"Running the house, of course."
"Well, if I don't have that responsibility now, I suppose I can learn, can't I?"
"Do you have any skills?"
"What kind of skills? I can read and write, I can sew, do embroidery, knit, all those kinds of things. I also learned to paint, I know quite a bit about art history, too, and I can sculpt, well, I'm not, like, you know, that that good, but I guess I'm getting there. However, music is one area I don't really have any skills in. I learned to play the violin for a while. I still remember a little bit, I can play a simple song, but from there, to singing, or playing another instrument, I can't."
"You paint?"
"Well, yes, I like landscapes, mostly. I can't do very many here, since we live in the desert, and there's hardly any vegetation, but when I was in Europe, I did many."
"You should see them, they are beautiful."said Francisco. "With Aida, the house will look so different. She knows a lot about colors, too."
"No, I don't. I just know which color complements which. Like blue and orange."
"Well there, you see, there's something."
Aida could see that Miss Esther was being impressed beyond her will.
"You don't do portraits?"she asked.
"Well, I have a hard time drawing people. People who can really do people well are very rare, and I'm just not one of them. I do, however, know quite a bit about fashion."
"Oh, yes, I've heard about that."
"Speaking about people drawing people, I want to find the best artist there is, and have him brought to Dzonot. I want there to be a beautiful portrait of my wife, and I want it where everyone can see it."
"You didn't tell me you wanted a portrait of me! No, I don't think it should be done."said Aida.
"Why not?"
"Well, because, well, no. I'd feel so stupid."
"Why would you feel stupid about being beautiful?"
"Oh, you're just trying to make me feel…special."
"You are special, Dearest."said her father.
"Oh, Father!"
"Father's right."
"Jasmine! You people just say that."
"Jasmine and your father are right, Aida. I don't think you should be so modest, and if it makes you feel any better, I should simply say that you are no where near as beautiful as Jasmine."said Aladdin.
"Now that's a fact."Aida agreed.
"Well, I disagree."said Francisco. "I definitely disagree."
After dinner, on their way back, Francisco asked his parents what they thought of Aida.
"I think she was simply marvelous."said his father.
"If you want my opinion, you should know that I don't think she should be a very suitable wife for you. I don't think she will be up to being the mistress of Dzonot."
"Well, you'll be there to teach her, then, won't you, Mother?"
"She seems…too young."
"You were just about her age when we were married, Esther."said Igancio.
"She hasn't been brought up to know what will be expect of her."
"Her sister is a sultana, for crying out loud! Surely that must give her some idea. Besides, as for what people will say, look, no one would be able to tell that she was Muslim, would they? She doesn't look too different from the people you see all the time. Dark hair, green eyes, perhaps that's the major difference, but then a lot of people in San Gaspar have green eyes, even though the majority have brown eyes. They would only know if we told them."
"And if she didn't go to church."
"We've never attended church in town, anyway, and you've always wanted us to attend separately from the workers."
Francisco did not forget his plans to bring Aida a serenata. Two night, after, she awoke to someone singing, somewhere below the balcony. She wrapped her robe around her, and walked outside. There was Francisco, holding a bouquet of flowers, and singing to her.
