Chapter 4 – Cookies with Whipped Cream.
Melina, Kaylee, and Donna sat down on the couch in the man's house. They all looked around the room a bit uneasy while the man was busy making lunch for his parrot in the kitchen. The room was cleaned neatly, especially considered that the man probably lived here all alone with his pet bird and had to do all the chores by himself. Not much later the man appeared from the kitchen. He was carrying a plate with cookies on top of it in one of his hands, and put it down in front of his parrot. Gabriel stared at the plate for a moment, then at the man, and back at the plate again. ''Whippy cream...?'' The parrot asked while tilting his head. ''No, you won't get whipped cream'' The man answered without looking up at the parrot. He took place on the couch, opposite of Melina and the others. Despite the man's answer, Gabriel seemed satisfied with the plate, as he bit a piece off one of the cookies and ate it. The man began to speak. ''My name is Morpho Haddock. Eighteen years ago, my fiancée and I gave up our firstborn child''. He stopped to look at Melina. ''You're that child''. Melina nodded slowly as a sign that she understood. ''Pixieville was at war because an evil gnome named Vikus took over the city by force. Vikus decided everything around here. He stole the powers of all of the pixies in Pixieville, and decided that you were only allowed to marry someone of your own species. If you didn't obey him, he would lock you in the dungeons of his castle'' Morpho told them. ''Your mother was pregnant with you at the time, and for your safety we decided to give you up for adoption in secret. We hoped you could live a normal life somewhere far away from here''. He stared at the ground below him. ''For years I've regretted my decision, but we had to do what was best for you. I thought I would never see you again...'' ''And what about my mother? Where is she?'' Melina asked. Morpho swallowed. ''She's dead. She died a few years ago from a terrible illness just before we could marry eachother''. He stood up from the couch and walked over to one of the cabinets that were placed next to the wall. He opened one of the drawers and took out a picture, which he handed over to Melina. ''This was your mother''. The photo showed a pretty elf with long hair. ''Her name was Gabriella''. ''Like the parrot?'' Donna noticed. Morpho nodded. ''I was very lonely when she died. That's when I decided to take in the parrot, so I had someone to talk to. I named him after my fiancée, to keep the memory of her alive. Isn't that right, Gabriel?'' He turned around to face Gabriel, but there was no one there. All that was left was a half full plate of untouched cookies. Melina and the others also looked around the room for a sign of Gabriel. ''Gabriel? Gabriel, where are you?'' Morpho called out to him.
A loud noise came out of the kitchen. It sounded like stuff falling over. Only a second later, Gabriel came flying out of the kitchen. He was holding the whipped cream canister in his claws. ''Whippy cream!'' he crowed while he flew around the living room. Morpho immediately flew up from the couch and ran after the parrot. ''Stupid bird! Give that canister here!'' He took off one of the slippers he was wearing and threw it at the bird, but Gabriel avoided it without effort. ''I have the whippy cream!'' the parrot crowed again. He flew towards the plate with cookies. ''Oh, you'll get it now! And it's whipped cream, not whippy cream!'' Morpho yelled at him. He ran towards the plate, but the parrot flew high above his head and circled around him as if he was mocking him. ''Give that canister here!'' Morpho tried jumping at the parrot. ''Missed! Missed!'' Gabriel said mockingly until Morpho was succesful and grabbed off the cap of the canister. ''Almost had it'' Morpho growled. Just as he wanted to try again, Gabriel pushed in the spray button with one of his claws. The whipped cream landed precisely in Morpho's face. Morpho, not realizing what just had happened, stopped moving for a moment to process it. ''Creamface!'' the parrot squealed, and let out some sort of birdlike sound that sounded like laughter. Morpho's face slowly started to turn red from anger. He put his finger up in the air and pointed at the birdcage that was standing in the corner of the room. ''I want you to go into that cage right now, or else we'll be eating parrot for christmas!'' he threatened. There was a moment of silence. No one dared to say anything. Then Gabriel tilted his head. ''With whippy cream...?'' he asked. Morpho almost exploded from anger. ''GET INTO THAT CAGE, RIGHT NOW!'' The parrot didn't need to hear that a second time. He let the canister drop out of his claws so it fell onto Morpho's head, and flew into the cage. Morpho growled and walked over to the cage, closed it and locked it. ''You won't get cookies for a while'' he grumbled upon which he turned around, before changing his mind and adding: ''And no whipped cream either!"'
Melina, Kaylee, and Donna all remained silent while watching the scene. Morpho went into the kitchen to grab a towel to clean the whipped cream from his face and hair. When he was done, he tried to force a smile. ''This is your first time in Pixieville, right?'' he asked Melina. ''I'd love to show you around. Maybe we can get to know eachother a bit better'' he suggested. Donna had her arms crossed. ''That's really nice of you, but it isn't necessary. We've looked around by ourselves already'' she declined his offer. She still didn't trust Morpho at all. ''Oh, but you don't have to come with us'' Morpho reacted as if that was obvious. Donna's mouth fell open. ''Did you really think we were going to leave Melina alone with you? No way. Melina will stay with us'' she responded fiercely. ''I can decide that on my own, thank you''. Melina stood up from the couch, but Donna pulled her back down. ''You can't be going into the city with him alone!'' she hissed. ''Why not? He's my dad''. ''Do you really believe him?'' Donna asked out of disbelief. Melina shrugged. ''How else could he know those things? No one would make a story like that up''. Kaylee, who had been silent up until now, finally opened her mouth to say something. ''She got a point'' she admitted. ''How else could he know Melina's name?'' Donna sighed out of frustration upon hearing Kaylee agreeing with Melina. She still wasn't convinced, but she knew she couldn't really force Melina to stay with them. ''Fine, but if he tries something weird, you'll immediately run back to us, promise?'' Melina nodded. ''Promise''. ''I'll make sure nothing happens to her'' Morpho said, feeling relieved that Donna finally left him alone. ''You better!'' Donna warned him while she and Kaylee walked over to the front door. Morpho went after them. ''And remember: run away if-'' Donna repeated, but she couldn't finish her sentence as Morpho had already pushed her outside. ''Yeah, okay, thank you, byeeee'' he yelled impatiently and threw the front door shut behind her. He gave Melina a smile once he noticed her staring at him. ''Don't worry, your friends will be fine''. He continued before she could give any questions. ''Shall we go then? I can't wait to show you around and tell you more about your mother!'' he said enthusiastically. A bright smile appeared on Melina's face. She loved to learn more about them. ''Okay!'' she replied happily. ''I need to go upstairs to grab my special city hat, and then we can leave''. Morpho told Melina that it would just take a minute, and quickly went upstairs. Once upstairs, a grin appeared on his face. ''I knew those paper cutouts from those magazines would prove to be useful sometime... My plan worked''.
Kaylee and Donna went back to the Molly Moo together. They had walked around the city for a while but couldn't find Ninfea anywhere. The only places they had yet to visit where the area where the elves lived, and the forest. They also hadn't seen Melina around. Kaylee secretly started to worry a little, but she didn't want to tell Donna. Donna would only give her an 'i told you so-'preach instead of trying to make her feel better anyway. Upon entering they saw Harvey, Caramel and Rex' son, polishing one of the tables. ''Oh, hey!'' he greeted them when he looked up. ''I didn't expect you to be back so soon. Dinner's not ready yet'' he continued. Voices could be heard coming out of the kitchen. ''No, no, and once again: no! I don't want it to happen!'' Caramel's voice sounded strict. ''No fair! Dad would've said it was fine! I wish I had another mom!'' A girl that was just a few years younger than Kaylee ran out of the kitchen and fled up the stairs to the second floor. She threw the door of her bedroom shut with a loud bang, loud enough for everyone downstairs to hear it. It was Anise, Harvey's older sister. Rex, who was sitting down at one of the tables in the Molly Moo, looked up from the newspaper for elves he was reading when he saw Caramel sighing in the doorway of the kitchen. He grinned. ''It's not easy having a teenage daughter, right?'' was all he said. ''What was it now?'' he continued when Caramel didn't answer him. She crossed her arms. ''She wants to pierce her ears because YOU gave Septimus a piercing as well''. ''Then we'll give her one for her birthday''. Rex shrugged and shifted his attention to his newspaper again. He didn't understand what Caramel was so upset about. ''No, we won't! She's only sixteen! She's way too young for things like that!'' Caramel exclaimed. ''You're her dad. You should agree with me on this!'' ''But Lenny would-'' Rex began, but Caramel interrupted him. ''If Lenny jumps off a bridge, will you jump as well?'' Rex had to think about that for a moment. ''No... because he's dead, so he can't jump off bridges'' he eventually gave as response. He didn't really understand what she was trying to say. Caramel let out a deep sigh of frustration. ''Well, nevertheless, she won't be getting a piercing, and I want both of us to agree on that!'' she decided. ''Yeah, yeah, sure'' Rex said while reading his newspaper. He didn't really pay attention to what Caramel was saying. ''You need to hear this!'' he suddenly exclaimed. ''Grind turned off the alarms at the Pixieville bank because of the annual money cleaning! This is the perfect opportunity to rob the bank!'' he beamed. Caramel grabbed the newspaper out of his hands. ''Give a good example to your children and go help out in the kitchen instead of planning a robbery'' she said while pointing at the kitchen. Rex let out a disappointed sort of growl but made his way to the kitchen anyway. Caramel wanted to follow him, but stopped in her tracks when she noticed Kaylee and Donna standing in the entryway. ''Back already? We've been preparing dinner just now''. She smiled. ''Isn't your friend with you?'' she asked when she didn't see Melina with them. Kaylee shook her head. ''No, she'll be back later I think''. Even though Caramel found it a bit strange, she nodded. She was way too busy to be asking questions, dinner didn't prepare itself. ''Well, I'll call you when dinner's ready''. She went back into the kitchen to help Rex. Kaylee and Donna decided to go upstairs.
On the second floor, Kaylee extended her head around the corner of Anise's room. ''Hey Anise'' she said cheerfully. Anise looked up from her phone. She was laying down on her bed while holding the phone in both of her hands. ''Kaylee!'' she exclaimed surprised. ''I didn't even know you were visiting!'' She jumped up from her bed to give Kaylee a hug. ''And who's that?'' she stared at Donna, who was still standing in the doorway. ''This is Donna, one of my friends'' Kaylee introduced her, upon which Donna gave a short nod. Anise politely held out her hand, but Donna ignored it. All she could focus on was Anise's elf ears. Kaylee nudged Donna. ''What are you waiting for? Shake her hand!'' she hissed through her teeth. ''No way! She's half elf!'' Donna whispered back. ''Don't be rude and just do it!'' Kaylee hissed again. Reluctantly, and with a sour look on her face, Donna eventually shook Anise's hand, who gave her a weird look because it took Donna so long to do so. ''Nice to meet you'' Donna said, although it was obvious that she didn't mean it. There was an uncomfortable silence. ''Dinner will be ready soon'' Kaylee tried starting up a conversation. ''I wasn't sure you heard''. Anise let herself fall back down on her bed and crossed her arms. ''I don't need dinner. I'll just stay here'' she stubbornly replied. ''Either until I die from hunger, or until my mom lets me pierce my ears''. Kaylee started to laugh. Donna couldn't help but do the same. ''That won't make her give in'' Donna said with a grin. She leaned against the doorframe. '''Mom wouldn't let me starve'' Anise said, although she didn't sound so sure. ''And otherwise I'll secretly ask my dad. I'm sure he'll allow it''. Kaylee sat down next to her on the bed. ''Why do you want one so badly?'' she asked. ''Because Septimus has one too!'' ''Who's Septimus?'' ''Only the coolest guy around, duh''. Anise grabbed her phone and scrolled through her gallery. Not much later she held up a picture. It was a photo of an elf boy with mixed purple and green hair. The boy on the photo had a cheeky grin on his face. ''Septimus is my best friend!'' Anise told them. ''He isn't afraid of anything or anyone! He's amazing!'' Her eyes were shining when she was talking about him.
Kaylee wanted to know more about Septimus, but before she could ask any further she got interrupted by a loud noise coming from outside. ''Gone with the Molly Moo! Gone with Caramel!'' A loud voice yelled. Both Kaylee and Donna quickly went to the window to see what was going on. Outside stood a pixie with dark blonde hair wearing a long white coat. In his hands he held out a huge protest sign upon which Caramel's face was shown, marked with a red cross throughout it. ''Who's that?'' Donna curiously asked Anise. ''Oh, it's probably that annoying dentist again'' she replied without looking up to check. She was right. It was Doctor Ronald Boxen, Pixieville's dentist. Boxen hated cakes and everything with sugar in it in general, and was convinced that the Molly Moo, a source of everything that was bad for the teeth, should close down because of that. He had been trying to thwart Caramel for years. ''He's here a few times a week. You'll get used to it eventually'' Anise continued. Kaylee and Donna exchanged glances. Why wasn't anyone doing anything to make the dentist go away? Confused, they went back downstairs, where Caramel was already watching Boxen from the kitchen doorway. ''Shouldn't we make him leave?'' Kaylee asked her aunt. She couldn't imagine Caramel letting the dentist do how he pleased. He was a nuisance and bothered every passerby with a preach about how bad the Molly Moo was for your teeth. ''Oh, no we don't have to'' Caramel replied calmly. The situation didn't even seem to bother Caramel. Instead, she made a small clock appear with her magic and watched as the seconds slowly passed. ''But we can't just let him do as he pleases!'' Donna didn't understand a thing about Caramel's reaction. Caramel didn't answer Donna and continued watching the clock. Then she started to count down. ''3...2...1...'' Exactly after Caramel had spoken out the one, an elf jumped through the window. ''I'm here. Is the cake safe?'' He suspiciously looked around him. The elf looked just like the boy named Septimus on Anise's photo, only a lot older. Rex also put his head around the corner of the kitchen to see what was going on now. ''He's there'' he pointed at Boxen, who was blocking the entrance to the Molly Moo. ''Do I need to get some cakes to chase him away?'' Caramel asked the elf, but the elf shook his head. He grinned. ''I thought of a new plan''.
The elf grabbed a cupcake from the store's counter and walked up to Boxen without given any explanation. He tapped Boxen on the shoulder. Surprised, Boxen turned around. ''Want a cupcake?'' the elf asked. He already took a bite out of the cupcake before Boxen could answer, and then gave the dentist a bright smile, showing all of his teeth. The dentist almost passed out of fear. The elf's teeth were full of holes. ''Horror teeth!'' Boxen screamed. As fast as his feet could carry him, he ran out of the Molly Moo. He was in such a hurry that he even forgot to take his protest sign with him. The elf went back to the others. ''What? It wasn't that bad'' he said upon which he showed his teeth. When he saw their shocked faces, especially Donna's and Kaylee's, he added with a grin: ''Kidding, they're just stickers''. With one of his fingers he tried to remove a sticker from his teeth. Underneath the black sticker a healthy tooth appeared. Both Donna and Kaylee let out a relieved sigh, and the elf gave Caramel a high-five. Caramel laughed. ''I didn't expect you to come up with a plan like this, but it worked''. The elf also started laughing and then shifted his attention to Kaylee and Donna, two for him unknown faces, and did some sort of bow for them. ''Let me introduce myself: the Molly Moo's cake saving hero''. With a grin he held out his hand to Donna. ''Floxy Crescend'' he said on a more serious tone after that. Actually, Donna didn't want to shake his hand, even less than Anise's, but since Caramel was watching she felt pressured to do it, and grabbed his hand. ''Don-'' A shock went through her body. ''-NAAAA'' she yelled while her body got electrified. When Floxy let go of her hand, all the hairs on her body were standing straight up. ''SHOCKED to meet you'' Floxy chuckled, upon which he showed his hand to the others. A small button which gave out shocks was attached to the backside of his hand. Even Rex, who usually didn't really show his emotions that much, secretly had to chuckle a bit. He didn't really mind Floxy's jokes, as long as he wasn't the victim of them. Donna's face turned red from anger. She slowly counted up to ten in her head, trying her best not to attack Floxy for it. ''Flox always helps me to protect the Molly Moo against Doctor Boxen'' Caramel explained. ''He's better than ten guards at once, and in exchange for his help he gets free cakes''. Floxy nodded. ''The two most beautiful things in the world are jokes and Caramels cakes'' he stated. He looked at the clock. ''I'll be leaving now then''. ''Don't you want to join us for dinner?'' Caramel asked. ''We're eating pancakes tonight''. ''I would love to, but I don't think it's a good idea''. Floxy threw a quick glance at Rex. ''Sapph's still mad at us because of Septimus''. Rex raised one eyebrow upon hearing that. ''She still is?'' Floxy nodded again. ''If I don't turn up for dinner either, she'll probably lock me out of the house''. This time he didn't seem to be joking.
Once Floxy had left, Harvey got out of the kitchen. ''Dinner's ready'' he said. He went to help out in the kitchen when Boxen had appeared. With the help of Kaylee and Donna, he placed the plates on the dinner table. ''Where's Anise?'' Harvey asked when the table was ready and he still didn't see his sister around. ''Uh, I don't think she'll be coming'' Kaylee replied, which made Caramel look up in surprise. She let out an irritated sigh. ''What's wrong with her now?'' She made her way to the stairs. ''Anise, dinner!'' she called out to her daughter. ''I don't want it! I'll stay upstairs!'' Anise yelled back from out of her room. For a moment it looked like Caramel would get angry, but to everyone's surprise she remained her calm self. ''Fine. Then you won't get dinner'' Caramel said and sat down at the dinner table. ''She'll be here soon enough once she gets hungry'' she explained when she caught the others staring at her. She knew her daughter well enough to know she wouldn't hold it out that long. One after another they sat down at the table to eat dinner.
After everyone had finished eating dinner, Donna and Kaylee left the table. They planned to go upstairs, until they saw Melina walking up to the entrance of the Molly Moo from outside. ''Melina! You're back!'' Kaylee exclaimed relieved. Even though she had been distracted by the events that had happened in the Molly Moo for a bit, she had still been worried about Melina. Donna however, didn't seem so happy. ''Where have you been? You missed dinner''. ''Oh, that's okay. I've already had dinner with my dad'' Melina told Donna with a smile. ''He showed me around the city and told me a lot of things about my mom. It was amazing!'' ''And you couldn't bring yourself to tell us where you've been?'' Donna still didn't trust the situation at all. Melina shrugged. ''I had too much fun. I just forgot about it. Sorry''. She didn't really seem to understand what was bothering Donna. Nothing bad had happened. ''He promised to continue showing me around tomorrow''. ''I thought you didn't care about your birthparents?'' Kaylee noted. She hadn't forgotten about Melina's reaction when she had asked the day before. ''Yeah, and didn't we decide to look for Ninfea together tomorrow?'' Donna agreed with Kaylee. ''Well, yeah, but...'' Melina admitted reluctantly. ''I mean, they gave me up for adoption for a reason, and didn't just leave me without caring, like I always thought they did. I just want to get to know them better, what's the harm in that? We can always go look for Ninfea another day. We've only just got here''. ''Excuse you?'' Donna sounded angry. ''And what about my dad then? While you're having a happy family reunion, my dad could die at any moment from now! Or maybe he already has!'' She shoved Melina aside and ran upstairs. Tears began to well up in her eyes, although she tried her best to not let the others notice. ''Donna..!'' Kaylee ran after her, but paused in the middle of the stairs to turn around and face Melina. ''She's right, Melina. We're not here for you, but for her''. Having said that, she continued her way upstairs, leaving Melina by herself.