"Stop moving ! I'm going to mess it up, and I don't want you to try to stab me."
"It's been years since I tried to stab you", I observe. Cardan sighs. "If you say so. I still remember last year when…"
I kick him in the leg, and he exclaims "Jude !" in an annoyed manner. The eyeliner he is trying to apply must have smudged with my sudden movement.
Before I can look in the huge mirror of our bathing room to see the mess I made of his work, his faces approaches mine and with a flick of his tongue he licks the unwanted product on my cheekbone. That's one way of removing makeup, I guess.
Cardan bites his lips, focused, while he applies the last blue glitters on my eyelids. I stroke the fluffy part of his tail, trying to stay still. "At last, you're ready ! You wild little thing. If we're late, I am not taking the blame."
I protest. "But you're the one who took hours to get ready for a 4 years old birthday party !"
Cardan kisses my shoulder, while going swiftly for the door. "First of all, I'm the King and this 4 years old is royalty. I have to look as magnificent as ever. Second of all, I'm not saying I will put the blame on you. I will blame this." With a dramatic arm movement, he points to the ornate blue velvet suit he is wearing and the lace shirt you can glimpse underneath. I broke a fingernail on the tiny beading of that stupid shirt, trying to close it without scratching Cardan's soft skin.
"No witty comeback, sweet Jude ?" I have to walk extremely fast to catch up with him as we enter the corridor. "How could I say anything witty when you look like that ?"
And that's true. He looks amazing, his ears enhanced by jewelry, his unnatural beautiful face covered in blue glitter. Heather once called him "her Coachella inspiration" and even though I'm not sure what it means, I'm sure it's about the way he carries himself with confidence.
His tail caresses my leg. I'm not exactly ugly either, in the matching-blue silk dress I'm wearing. The dress is huge, but comfortable and perfect for dancing. I'm wearing white gold and sapphire jewels and am crowned with a silver crown looking like laurels. Cardan had so much fun covering me in jewels these last few years.
When we arrive at the doors of the great hall, I inhale, trying to stay calm. Taryn invited three little human friends of Liriope, and she told the parents they were having her birthday at a MacDonald's. A strong smell of blueberry lingers in the air, even with the doors closed.
Cardan checks on me before pushing the doors playfully. His eyes glimmer with pride.
The scene we walk in lets me speechless. I don't know how, but the Bomb has arranged for the fire in the fireplace to turn blue, and the fire dancing on all the candles too. The Roach and Heather are sitting on tiny stools, doing some butterfly makeup on two little girls, one of which has swan wings. Oak is sulking in a corner, in the splendor of his 13 years. These days, it seems nothing can make him smile, not even his adorable niece.
Human kids music is being played by a satyr dressed in a weird fluffy blue fur suit. A cake twice my Liri's size stands in the middle of a banquet table covered in blue food. The Ghost is carrying my niece on his shoulders. He seems so careless I almost don't recognize him. Taryn watches them, while explaining how to play Twister to two children with moth wings.
Three human kids are dancing with Vivi around our thrones, all dressed in blue. I agreed for them to come on the only condition that neither me nor Taryn would let them out of sight
No one pays attention to us. Cardan laughs about it in my ear. "I guess not a single child here cares about us being royalty."
When she sees us, Taryn gets up and almost runs to us. "Thank Faerie, more grown-ups. We have a severe disadvantage : they're eight and we're… Well, we're us."
She claps her hands, getting everyone's attention. "Hey guys, now that we're all here, let's play a game, shall we ?" The kids scream of excitation, so loudly they resonate against the walls. Cardan's is one of them, making Oak laughs.
Taryn exclaims, "Let the Twister begin !" As Cardan uses his title to be the first to turn the wheel, Liri gets down off her father's shoulders and walks towards me. We hug tightly and I inhale the baby scent of her head with emotion. I remember when she was under three kilos, and now she's a whole person.
"Aunt Juju ! I thought you would not come." I laugh. "Well, you know how your uncle is. Can you guess how much time it took him to look this good ?"
Garrett joins us. He is wearing a human blue tuxedo, matching his daughter's tulle tutu. "Sweetie, do you enjoy the decorations ? If so, you have to thank Jude." Liri opens her mouth, but I correct her dad. "Not at all. This is all the Bomb and the Roach's doing. You have to thank them. I just lend you the place, which is nothing."
Liri runs towards the Roach, who is trying to put his left hand on a blue circle without pushing Oak's horns.
I elbow the Ghost. "Don't try to make my niece thank me for anything. It's your Queen's only order." He smiles. "You know how faeries are. She has trouble integrating at school because of her manners."
"Really ? Give me names and I will…" He cuts me with a movement of his hand and a wolfish grin. "Don't worry, I'm on it."
"Seeing your smile, Taryn disapproves of this plan, I'm sure." His smirks accentuate. "Taryn doesn't have to know everything I do to protect our daughter." We snicker, complicit old spies.
On a lighter subject, he asks me "Did the Roach truly participates willingly in this ?" I laugh, looking at all the blue garlands falling from the ceiling. "It was his idea, actually." The Ghost is incredulous. "The things we do for kids…"
"You know he wouldn't do all this for any kid. It's the things we do for our loved one's kids…" Garrett opens his mouth, but a brazen voice calls his name and before I can blink, he's not by my side anymore. Liri could call him from anywhere in the world and he would be there in a matter of seconds.
When my name is called for the Twister, I have to first put my right hand in a blue circle, and then my left leg on a yellow one. I have a moth wing in my face when I feel a tail wrapping around my right foot. I turn around to see Cardan behind me, trying his best to come and kiss me. It makes me laugh so much I fall on my ass, on Taryn's hand, making her fall as well, and soon we're just a pile of laughing and hurting people.
Liri seems upset she didn't win, and even if she looks so much like Taryn and me, I can't fail to notice Vivi's influence on her. My cat eyed sister gets on her knees to be at her height and murmurs something in her pointed ear. Liri laughs mischievously, and joins her group of human friends. When I ask Cardan what Vivi said to her, he tells me I'll see soon enough.
After us adults had a few glasses of mint liquor, Liri declares it's time for cake and gifts. She is so small she has to be held by the Ghost and Taryn to be at the candle's height. In a strong exhalation, she blows the four candles on the gigantic cake.
I feel Cardan wincing. "Why do kids have to spit so much when blowing a candle ?" "Shhh !" The Roach overhears us and laughs so much the Bomb has to hold him straight.
Heather, who took videos of the whole events, takes a picture of the Bomb and me elbowing our two stupid partners.
"Time for gifts !" screams a blond kid in jeans. The mantra "Gifts, gifts, gifts !" is repeated in unison by all the four years olds, as well as Vivi. Taryn seems ecstatic that everything is going well. She poured her all her heart into the planning of this party.
A pile of boxes appears suddenly, and in a feverous manner, Liri starts opening the gifts at a supernatural speed. "I'm glad she's putting her faerie's heritage to good use" I whisper to my sister, who tries not to laugh.
Earlier this week, Cardan went to a toy store in the human world and got her the biggest Barbie mansion he could find, while I went to Mother Marrow's hut. I got Liri a blanket in silver thread that will make her have sweet, beautiful and vivid dreams and protects her of nightmares.
The human kids are playing peacefully in whatever soft glamour Liri and Vivi spun for them. When my niece opens the largest box - Cardan's gift, Liriope can't stand still. "I'm sure it's the pony I asked, I'm sure !"
Taryn winces. "Sweetie, remember what I said about the pony ?" But her daughter doesn't listen to her, and when the gift is unwrapped, she struggles to hide her deception. She still gives Cardan a big kiss and tries her best to not cry. When a big tear is about to run on her cheek, Vivi steps in.
"Remember what I told you earlier ? That my surprise was not allowed inside ?"
Taryn looks anxious. "Vivi, I told you. She is not getting a pony." Liriope sighs dramatically, and Cardan pats her shoulder with an empathic pout. I hear him mutter : "Otherwise I would have gotten her a whole herd of horses."
My big sister snarls to my twin. "I know ! Stop assuming I'm always trying to cause chaos ! I listen to your opinions, mind you." I bite my lips, trying to suppress a laugh, and she must hear me with her supernatural hearing because she adds "Most of the time."
The Bomb, who went outside to check one the mysterious gift, comes back wearing her magic mask and her blurry shape murmurs some words in the Ghost's ear. He gets pale, but Cardan, who apparently heard, bursts out loud with laughter. "Wicked sister-in-law, I take my crown off to you." Vivi looks satisfied with the comment, and I feel unease twisting my stomach.
Liri seems decided to go outside to see this surprise, whether we follow her or not. I want to see the gift as much as my niece now, I don't like being left out of the joke. Taryn follows her daughter through the corridors and I follow them, Cardan still chuckling behind me.
When we enter the courtyard, a toad the size of a very big dog is waiting by the stables. The amphibian is blue from head to toe, and has big brown smart eyes. Liri cry out in pleasure, and runs towards the toad. Taryn's face is unreadable. Garrett complains loudly a toad is exactly like a pony.
Cardan, already petting the toad in between its eyes, intervenes. "A toad is absolutely not a pony."
Heather hesitates for a moment, but she sides against Vivi. "I'm sorry but I agree with the parents on this one. Can you imagine the time it's going to take for them to care after this toad ?"
"Blueberry is very self-sufficient !" counters Vivi. Liri looks like she's living the dream. "She's called Blueberry ?!"
I make my way towards the toad, its unusual color sending blue reflects on the floor. The pet is calm and sniffs me carefully.
Taryn rolls her eyes. "Of course she's called Blueberry."
She reflects on her options for a minute. "You know what ? Fine. We'll keep Blueberry. But you have to promise me you'll never gift me or my daughter anything alive again."
Vivi pouts, but agrees. Cardan is giggling, helping Liriope to mount the to… Blueberry, when Taryn turns her attention to the High King. "You too, Cardan. Promise me you'll never gift my daughter anything alive either, since you seemed to think Vivi is some kind of evil genius."
"The evil genius is Jude" observes Vivi.
I protest. "Not true ! I'm not the one who got my niece a gigantic toad."
Taryn, sermonizing Cardan, hears me. "That's right ! Jude made us a great gift that will keep my child sleeping at night, offering me some rest. You gifted my daughter a way of running away !"
The Roach, watching the toad roll on her back to get more scratches on her belly, declares, "I feel like Blueberry is not the type to run away."
Oak, who followed us with the rest of Liriope's guests, seems excited at the sight of the blue toad, oblivious to the general mood. "Taryn, do you remember when Oriana forbade you to take me to the river but you did and we went on a toad similar to this one …?"
Taryn turns red, and Cardan and I can't hold back our mocking smiles as Vivi laughs hysterically at our younger brother misstep.
The Bomb is saddling Blueberry, and the Ghost is verifying each step, while Liriope stroke her new pet, murmuring secrets only a 4yo would trust a toad with.
I watch the way the sun hits her auburn hair, and Cardan hugs me from behind, letting his arm rest against my waist, his minty breath against my neck. I take in every little detail, letting the happiness sink in. I want to remember this afternoon forever, the laughs of kids, my siblings arguing over whether Blueberry will keep growing or no, my boyfriend kissing my hair in the lazy sunlight.
I like to think about immortality if I get to spend it this way.
