Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Princess and the Frog characters.

--

Summertime Surprise

Summer was blossoming in New Orleans, without a doubt.

It seemed as though all the little shops and petits cafés were taking advantage of the new season: they all made sure to incorporate the brightest and most beautiful summer blooms into their displays and decor.

It was a wonderful thing, Naveen gathered, smiling as the group of familiar jazz musicians paraded down the street. He strummed absent-mindedly on his ukulele as he turned the corner, approaching a flower shop. Always one to stop and smell the roses, Naveen let his eyes wander to the different displays of arranged bouquets.

His gaze fell to a vase of freshly picked tiger lilies. After picking out the softest, most delicate of the flowers, he gracefully flipped a coin into the hand of the flower shop's owner, and out of habit, he winked at her. She swooned, almost pitifully, as Naveen thanked her, flashing her his glittering smile. He almost forgot about the effect he had on most women, even as an engaged Prince. Especially as an engaged Prince.

Naveen chuckled to himself as he made his way over to the café where Tiana said she'd be waiting for him. He found her, at a small table by herself, under the shade of a conveniently placed small tree, scribbling industriously on a pad of papers. Wedding plans, Naveen reasoned, looking at Tiana. Her only companion was an untouched glass a sweet tea, filled to the brim.

He hadn't even made it all the way to her table, but Tiana already sensed his presence.

"Well it's about time you showed up, Your Highness," she said, flatly, not looking up from her work.

Tiana was not amused by Naveen's tardiness. With the wedding coming up very closely, and still, many things left to do before the big day, she found her patience growing short with him and his lazy tendencies. Tiana reasoned that she would not be able to feel completely relaxed until the day after the wedding and its reception. Then, and only then, would she be free of annoying distant relatives and their equally unpleasant protests to the seating charts, incompetent caterers that could not handle the sheer simplicity in her Daddy's old recipes (she would have completely taken over all the cooking if it were not physically impossible –it took Eudora a lot of time and effort to convince her of such a proposition– so instead Tiana left the cooks painfully detailed recipes and explications, and refused to pay for their catering services until they got the food down just right), and the wedding dress fittings.

How she despised the fittings: hours upon hours, spent in her room as her mother poked at her like a paper doll.

Tiana winced slightly, inwardly, but reminded herself that it would all be over soon.

Naveen flashed his fiancée his perfect, shiny grin, as he strummed his way over to her table. Holding the ukulele in one hand, he leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. He set the flower on the table, over her notes to make sure she'd see it. "Good morning to you, too, my darling fiancée."

She picked up the flower, and felt a small smile grow on her face. It was a nice gesture, she thought to herself. Very sweet.

But no, Naveen was late. She decided that she wouldn't be so easily swayed. She wouldn't give him that benefit, not today.

"It's afternoon, Naveen," Tiana said, plainly, as he took the seat across from her. "You're late."

Naveen looked at his watch before he continued to strum animatedly on the instrument. "By only fifteen minutes! I'm getting better!"

Tiana sighed, displeased. "That's not the point. We still have quite a few things to discuss before the wedding, and we need every minute-"

"Tiana! Relax!" Naveen interjected, calmly, leaning into his chair. He stopped playing the ukulele, and took in a deep breath, slowly, coolly. "It's the first day of summer!" She frowned at him, looking sincerely disappointed in his easy going passivity. He set the instrument down, and leaned over the table to put a finger to her chin. "We're almost there, mi enamorita," he said, grinning, pressing his lips to hers. "Just a week more of this, and I will have you all to myself for an entire month of honeymooning."

She smirked, crossing her legs. "Two more weeks, actually," she corrected.

He laughed. "Faldi faldonza!" he exclaimed. "Are you enjoying yourself, toying with my impatience?"

"A little bit." She paused, smiling, slightly, won over by his charm. "Thanks for the flower, by the way." She picked up the tiger lily again, bringing it to her nose.

Naveen smiled widely, and picked up his ukulele. "You are most welcome, dear Princess," he breathed, over his instrument's song. "And I'm simply elated that you appreciate the gesture. I actually started off with a full bouquet of these lovely blooms."

"Really?" Tiana asked, with a curious inflection. She was humoring him.

"Of course!" Naveen cried out. "But it seems as though you are still completely oblivious to the amount of young ladies that consistently trail behind me, those poor creatures."

"How many young ladies?" she asked him, tone growing a little annoyed, a little defensive.

He laughed, sheepishly. "No more than usual, mi prutta! One...two?"

"One, two, too many," said Tiana, firmly.

"Eh...yes. Well." He sighed. "There were some girls, who I blatantly ignored, of course, who believed the flowers were for them. I made sure to hide the softest and sweetest one away from their sticky fingers, leaving that flower," he continued telling his story, pointing at Tiana's tiger lily, "for you."

Tiana rolled her eyes at him. "Well," she stated. "That was an excellent little story, Naveen."

"Not entirely a fabrication!"

"Of course not." She looked at him, not amused. "Let's get down to business."

"Naturally," Naveen exhaled. "Let us."

Tiana began reading things from her notes, quite animatedly actually, and Naveen felt as though he had to give her credit. With the actual wedding ceremony so close, and with all of the major items of business taken care of, the minor details of the plans were beginning to make him dizzy with boredom; and as Tiana was talking, Naveen could feel his eyes crossing. He tried distracting himself, strumming, while still attempting to look completely immersed in...in whatever Tiana was jabbering about. His eyes wandered: she still had not touched her glass of sweet tea, and she was so concentrated on her papers, he thought she wouldn't mind if he took a sip...

Tiana swatted Naveen's hand away from her glass, and continued reading off her notes.

He sighed, annoyed. Tiana must have been born with a sixth sense. Or a hidden third eye. He smiled, imagining a huge, unsightly brown eye at the center of her forehead, gazing, rolling, observing him when he thought he was out of her sight. For sure, he'd never get away with anything with that monstrosity around. He shuddered, loudly, considering the possibility of such a thing.

"I know!" Tiana exclaimed, probably in response to his groan. "My sentiments, exactly! And I told Mama and Lottie that," she paused, counting on her fingers, "probably about a billion times that we could not have them at our wedding! It just wouldn't be appropriate! But Mama told me to at least confront it with you first; she thought maybe you'd appreciate all the stories behind them, or something like that."

Naveen, completely lost, could offer nothing to her statement but an enthusiastic nod, in agreement to whatever it was she was talking about.

"So," she started. "Just to be clear, it is a no, right? I can quote you on it?" She smiled, eyes lowering. "I just wanna make sure your opinion is well represented, Naveen."

Naveen straightened in his seat. "Oh, yes!"

Tiana stared at him quizzically. "Oh yes, you want them, or oh yes, I can quote you?"

"Oh yes, as in, of course I do not want–"

"Don't want to be quoted?"

"Yes." Her eyes widened, surprised. "I mean...no. I do not want the dreadful things–"

"Well they aren't that bad," Tiana said. "I just didn't think that–"

"Tiana, please, let me finish." She nodded, allowing him to keep on speaking. "No, I do not want those things at our wedding, and yes, you can quote me on that."

"Oh," she said, softly. "I didn't know you felt so strongly about it."

"Well, I do!" Naveen declared, passionately. "I do," he repeated, a little softer.

Tiana shrugged. "Alright, honey, don't get too worked up about them."

"And in fact," he went on, "you can burn every single last one of the ghastly things!" He was easily getting carried away.

Tiana giggled. "Sugar, I don't think your baby pictures are that bad. He grinned, a little embarrassed. "I mean, considering how you turned out, you've got nothing to be ashamed of!"

"Heh...well...if you say so."

His fiancée scratched something off an apparent to-do list. "Alright," she muttered, almost to herself. "No baby pictures..."

Naveen sighed, off the hook, for now. He just had to remember to remain silent and nod appropriately whenever Tiana asked for his input on any of the little details. He continued fingering the instrument and started coming up with funny sounding chords, but Tiana interrupted his composing.

"Would you put that thing down for a second?" she asked him, pleading with him. "I know this isn't exactly the most exciting thing we could be doing now, but you haven't stopped playing that uke ever since you got here!"

"Am I distracting you?" Naveen asked her slyly, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." Tiana remained serious, pouting her lip. "You are."

"I am only practicing for the reception! Did we not establish that I'd be performing with Louis and the Band?"

"Oh you're right!" Tiana cried out, shuffling through her stack of papers, quickly, efficiently. Good, he landed on something that she did not already touch on. There was no way she could accuse him of tuning her out.

"Then I'll have to call the venue again. I gotta tell them to keep us booked for another hour or two."

Naveen's eyes widened in surprise. He remembered the frantic search he and Tiana did for the perfect venue for the reception, months earlier. After hours of meticulous searching for a place, measuring the width and length of most ballrooms, after getting a little too personal with some of the owners of said ballrooms, and after finally negotiating prices, Tiana left Naveen to handle actually booking their party.

A simple enough task, she decided. Just to call up the place and reserve the space for the night of the wedding.

A task he never actually did. But not because her forgot to do it, no, never that.

Naveen felt his chest tighten.

He laughed nervously. "Well, maybe you don't have to call them right away," he said, slowly.

"Of course I do! The wedding's in less than a month!" Tiana smiled, only mildly curbing her excitement. "Seems like just yesterday we only started planning." She sighed, bringing her hand across the table to touch his. "And in about two weeks I'm gonna be married to the Prince of Maldonia!" Tiana giggled, giving his hand a squeeze.

Naveen laughed, sheepishly. "Right," he gulped. "Two weeks."

"It's really winding down," she said, sighing. He watched her face soften, dreamily, almost. "You still have the number for the Royale place, right?"

"Of course!" he stated, a little too loudly, scratching the back of his head.

There was an awkward silence between them, at least, Naveen felt it to be awkward.

Tiana finally took a sip from her glass of sweet tea. "Do you think you could give it to me?" she laughed, when he didn't say anything else.

"I do not have it!" he exclaimed, very quickly. "I mean, it is not here. With me. Right now." Which wasn't exactly a lie. Although he must have thrown out the number weeks ago.

Tiana raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay…" she said, staring quizzically at her fiancé. "I didn't expect for you to have it right now."

A nervous laugh escaped him. "I did not lose that telephone number!" Naveen said, plucking at the ukulele, jittery.

"Alright, Naveen." She offered him a small smirk. "No one said you did."

"I must have left it in my room at Charlotte's house!"

"So let's head on over there now," she said. "I've been meaning to go visit Lottie today, anyway. We got things to discuss about the wedding dress."

"I mean," Naveen started. "I can just call them later for you, instead! You have already contributed so much to this whole ordeal."

Tiana smiled. "I really don't mind calling them, sugar," she said.

"But I insist," he articulated, with an almost desperate inflection.

Tiana took notice of his change in demeanor.

"Naveen," she started, slowly but surely feeling herself getting angry with him. Naveen could see her transforming; her left eyebrow was raised exceedingly high, her hands, once folded neatly over the café table, broke apart. She was rapping her fingers over the surface of the table.

Uh-oh.

"You did book the reception hall, right?"

"Eh...well, Tiana-"

"Naveen! Do not tell me you forgot to reserve our party!"

"I did not forget!" he answered defensively. "I just...never...exactly...called that place."

"So which place did you call?"

He smiled, very handsomely, almost charming, but offered her no answer.

"Naveen."

"Yes, my alluring and most charming fiancée, the brightest star in my sky, my Evangeline?" He already knew that flattery would get him absolutely nowhere, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to try and soften her expression.

"Where are we having the reception to this wedding, if not at the place we agreed on together?"

"I did find a place," Naveen started. Caught in the act, he might as well tell her. "A very nice place."

Tiana kept her lips pursed. She didn't say anything, but her eyes told Naveen to continue.

"All on my own, yes, but I can assure you that you will love it."

She straightened, putting the glass of sweet tea to her lips. "And you didn't think to tell me this before today?"

"I can guarantee you that you will find it agreeable with your tastes," he emphasized. "You and the owner are very similar people."

"Naveen?"

"Yes, Tiana?"

"Haven't we made every single, last change to this wedding together? As a team?"

"Yes. But-"

"Okay. I just wanted to make sure of that. Because I have no idea why you'd make such a huge change like that and not tell me!" She began folding her papers together, hurriedly gathering all her notes into one pile. "What's the name of this place anyway? Where is it? Is it even paid for already?"

"Tiana," he started, slowly. "Do not trouble yourself over this."

"How do you expect me not to-"

"Trust me," he said, finally.

*

"Well, hello Tia, honey," Charlotte said, only slightly surprised at how Tiana stormed onto the patio, silently, but almost in a rage. Tiana did not even give the butler a chance to seat her - instead, she pulled out the chair herself, quickly, in a huff. She crossed her arms over the tabletop, and lowered her eyes, steaming.

"Where's Nav-?"

"Don't," Tiana interrupted, holding a hand up, "even say his name." She put her head in her hands. "I am in no mood to hear the 'N' word, Lottie."

Charlotte rolled her eyes, but offered Tiana a small, knowing smirk. "What did hubby do this time, Tia?"

Tiana glared at her friend. "We ain't married yet, Lottie," she answered, icily.

"Well excuse me, Miss Princess of the Bayou!" exclaimed Charlotte, slightly offended at Tiana's sudden ornery demeanor. It was very unlike her to act this way without at least explaining to her what was wrong first. And by then, she would have already cooled off. She really must have been heated. "I haven't the slightest idea of what Nav-"

"-Don't say it, Lottie!"

Charlotte lowered her eyes, and leafed through her salad with a fork. "I haven't the slightest idea," she repeated, "of what Naveen has done to get your knickers all in a bunch! But sugar, don't take it out on me!"

Tiana straightened, expression softening. "I'm sorry, Lottie." She breathed, in and out, slowly before continuing. "It's just..."

Charlotte pushed the salad away, bringing her hands up to her face. She let her head rest in her palms. She looked expectantly at Tiana, across the small table, as her eyes rolled wistfully to the giant magnolia tree at the back of Charlotte's yard. "Yes..?"

"I'm tired," Tiana sighed, bringing her fingers up to her eyes in an attempt to cool them off. She slouched into her seat. "I'm exhausted from all this wedding planning. There's just always so much to do and some days I just feel like we're going nowhere!" She paused, bringing her hand to her cheek. "Actually, Lottie...it's worse than that."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"You know molasses, right? Ever tried pouring it out of a jar?" asked Tiana.

Her friend just stared at her, nodding only to appease her and to assure her she completely understood where she was going with that analogy.

"That's how I feel about all this planning," Tiana said, sighing. "Except, instead of it pouring down into a bowl, it's flowing backwards. Back into the jar. And Naveen is not making it any easier."

Charlotte put a hand to her mouth, covering it in surprise. "Are you actually admitting to feeling overwhelmed?" She asked, eyes widening. "I always knew you were human, Tia! I never doubted it for a second." She giggled.

"Charlotte," Tiana said, firmly, tone serious. "I'm not joking."

"Tia! Ain't nothin' wrong with feelin' overwhelmed. I woulda expected it, especially in the way you over exhaust yourself into everything you do. Cheese and crackers, Tiana!" Charlotte exclaimed. "It's about time you showed some signs of fatigue."

"I'm not admitting to defeat just yet, Lottie."

"It's not defeat, Tia! Geez, Louise, sugar!"

"Lottie, you don't even know the stunt he pulled on me today!" Tiana groaned, sliding back into her seat.

Her best friend waited, expectantly.

"Prince Charming, here, tells me that he never called the venue for the reception. Just flat out, never called it. Never thought it was necessary."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Oh, Tiana." There she went again, worrying over the little things. Admittedly, Charlotte could reason with Tiana that it was somewhat of an issue, but there was still time before the wedding. The couple could, without a doubt find a place that would willingly host the reception for the Royal Wedding.

"Lottie, don't you 'Oh, Tiana,' me! This is serious! We have well over seven hundred people comin' in for this wedding, and I haven't the slightest idea of where we're gonna put all of them!"

Charlotte sighed, thinking out loud. "So you really don't have a venue? At all?"

Tiana groaned. "Naveen said he booked 'some place'." She frowned, recalling everything he told her. "Some obscure place that he never even told me about, and he won't tell me where it is, or when he booked this place-"

"Well honey, at least you have a place! It's not like he didn't book anything. And it isn't like y'all are gonna be picnicking out in the bayou!"

Tiana shrugged. "I still wish he could have told me!"

"Tia," Charlotte said. "Give the boy a chance to surprise you, for once! Let things happen spontaneously sometimes! Ain't nothin' wrong with things not goin' exactly the way you planned them."

A maid came onto the patio, asking for Tiana. "The Prince is calling for you, Miss. He wants to know if you'd go out for a drive with him this evening."

Charlotte looked at the maid, then back at her friend. "Well?"

Tiana, after thinking it over for a few seconds, followed the maid inside to take his call.

*

"Close your eyes. I have a surprise for you." Naveen stopped the car at the corner. He got out of the driver's seat, giddy and excited, and made his way around the car to open the door for his fiancée. "Come on."

"Naveen," Tiana said, not making the slightest effort to move. She rested her chin in her hand. "We just had a long day of 'last minute' wedding planning. And it's late."

"Of this, I am very well aware." Naveen finally opened the passenger door, only to face an exhausted groan from Tiana.

She looked at him, pulling his arm close to her, to look at his watch. "Oh yes," she said, finally, after calculating the time. "Way past my bedtime. In fact," she yawned, stretching, "we should both be in bed. Right now." She sank into the car's seat as she felt her eyes closing.

"Oh, Princess, don't tease me," Naveen said, chuckling. "Our wedding is only two weeks away; I think you can handle a few more nights without me."

Tiana glared at him, a little too tired to force out a witty comeback. "Not what I meant," she said, yawning.

"But you were thinking about it, yes? You can tell me, just for the record, of course."

"No," she said, stone faced, but she got out of the car. "I'm still not happy with you."

"Tiana. Do not worry about the reception. I can guarantee you with the utmost sincerity and absolute assurance that you have nothing to worry about."

She glared at him, again, but with a little less intensity.

"You are still worrying," he said, actually hurt. "Have I failed to convince you?"

Tiana looked away from him; she could feel her expression softening.

"Do you not trust me?" Naveen asked, and he knew she would crack under this question.

She smiled, although she didn't want to, and closed her eyes. She put her hands on her hips. "Alright, Froggy," she said, finally, "my eyes are closed."

Naveen took her hands, and brought them over her eyes. Resting his chin over her shoulder, he whispered, "For added security. I need to be assured that the surprise isn't tarnished by your Peeping Jane tendencies."

She laughed. "Just take me where you gotta take me."

He guided her, slowly and in silence.

"Y'know somethin'?" Tiana asked him, finally, after a few minutes of her blindly following him.

"What is it, Princess?"

"Mama says I'm not puttin' enough time into the wedding 'cause I'm up all hours of the night working on the restaurant."

"Who said anything about the restaurant?"

"I know this block," she answered, slyly, peeking through her fingers. "I know this street. I know the way my heels click-clack on the sidewalk when we make this turn."

"Peeping Jane!"

"I'm simply curious as to why you can't just tell me the surprise!"

"Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the tale of Curiosity and the Feline."

"We're going to the restaurant," Tiana said, proudly. She had uncovered his secret. "The 'feline's' outta the bag." She pulled down her arms and opened her eyes as she made her way up the building's steps. She reached for the doors, but felt Naveen's hands over hers, stopping them from turning the doorknob.

"Ah-ah-ah!" He cautioned. "Close your eyes."

"Naveen."

"Just do it!"

She closed her eyes, gripping his hand in excitement as he opened the door. He brought her inside, and she heard him flick the light switches on, one-two-three-four.

"Alright," he said, softly, as her eyes shot open.

The rays of light coming from the chandelier in the middle of the room illuminated the space spectacularly, shedding a golden light on the whole of the restaurant. Lanterns, hanging from both levels of the mill, shone over the tables sprinkled all over the new hardwood flooring. The tables, which had already been covered with elegant cream and green tablecloths, each featured a lily pad centerpiece. Small potted shrubs were placed strategically on the railing of the second level, contrasting with the taller plants at the base of the restaurant. The architecture was also very well taken care of, with elegant coffered sections in the ceiling, and golden arches that royally kept the building standing, sturdy.

Tiana put a hand over her mouth as she walked down the inside steps of her restaurant. She stood, looking up at everything in awe, absorbing everything in.

Was this a dream? Was this beautiful and wonderful dream that she had since childhood, an actual reality?

"Oh my goodness."

That was all she could manage at first, taking in the pure grandeur of it all.

She was discovering new things about the restaurant everywhere she looked. The detail in the painted walls, the patterns in the columns, the stage for the live band! Instruments were already placed upstage.

She turned her gaze up again to the chandelier, sparkling in all its magnificence, in the midst of a...

"A skylight?" she exclaimed. She could see the New Orleans night sky from the center of the dance floor, stars twinkling, shining their light into the restaurant. It was perfection.

"Now you see why the surprise had to wait until nighttime, yes?"

"When could you have possibly gotten this done?" Tiana asked Naveen, as he made his way over to her, gently squeezing her hand. "It was nowhere near this spectacular last week! How on earth..." He pulled her close, his eyes joining her gaze towards the sky. Stars twinkled overhead.

"I have been taking lessons from you, in case you haven't noticed. Hard work, determination-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, all that jazz. But seriously." She looked at him expectantly. "This has got to be at least a month's worth of construction and painting and..."

Naveen smiled, shrugging. "It does help being the son of two fabulously wealthy monarchs," he said. "People just want to work for you, and work efficiently for you, as well."

Tiana looked at him, eyebrows raised. "You didn't threaten anyone, did you?"

"If by threatening you mean exploiting my princely title to the absolute fullest extent of my ability, then yes, there was quite a bit of threatening done."

"Just as long as no one got hurt."

"Oh no. Have a little confidence in me." He chuckled. "You do remember me telling you about how I booked a restaurant for the reception, do you?" he asked, after a slight pause.

"Yes," she said, smirking. "I was ready to get so angry with you today when you told me." Embarrassed for questioning his judgment earlier, she gave his hand a little squeeze. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you."

"As you should be," he said.

Tiana rolled her eyes, elbowing him in the ribs.

"But you should know that I will accept your humble apology." He smiled down at her, pulling her tight into his embrace.

"You did good, Froggy."

"Prince Froggy," he corrected.

"Prince Froggy," she repeated after him, kissing his cheek.

-4,501 words-

Author's Note: Happy Resurrection Sunday everyone!

So, this story took a while to do, and it actually became much longer than I originally planned it out to be, but I'm still very proud of it! Again, I hope characterizations are on point (although I do think I'm getting a grasp on the voices of everyone). It was very fun to write, and I'm just glad that I could get it out before Spring Break draws to a close. Yes, I'm highly upset by my vacation ending, but it's been fun! Future posts will be quite sporadic up until school ends, just giving you guys a heads up on that.

Hope you guys enjoyed it!

Read, review and critique, please!

-vee.