Darla was still in Paris, but right now, she was packing all of her bags in the hotel room she often stayed in while visiting away from home with her daughter and Nanny.
"Good girl." Drell said about the decision she made.
"Drell, I'm twenty-two, I'm not a little girl anymore." Darla laughed a little.
"I know, I just wanted you to know that you're making the right decision." Drell said.
Darla then struggled to close her last suitcase. "Ugh, this one is always so stubborn!"
"Allow me." Drell gently shoved her over, then stood over the bag before sitting right on top of it.
Darla then was able to click it shut. "Ah, that's more like it."
"Just need a little muscle power." Drell said, showing off one of his muscles.
"Oh, brother..." Darla rolled her eyes to that.
Drell chuckled.
"I should call Eloise to let her know I'm coming home early..." Darla was about to go to the phone.
"She's in the city, giving Leon a tour." Drell told her.
"WHAT?!" Darla asked. "How do you-"
Drell showed his crystal ball to show Eloise was traveling the city with her new friend all around with Akito, Estelle, Vincent, Felicity, Larvitar, Teddy, Vulpix, Misdreavus, and Ditto following them.
"Oh, right." Darla said.
"Never underestimate me..." Drell chuckled.
"Oh, but I must tell her I'll be home sooner than anticipated..." Darla looked unsure.
"Didn't you promise her a surprise over the phone last night?" Drell prompted.
"Well... Yes, but..." Darla rubbed her arm.
"What better surprise than her mother coming home early?" Drell suggested.
"You're right." Darla smiled.
"Of course I am." Drell smirked smugly to that.
"Don't make me call Atticus." Darla smirked back.
"All right, all right, I kid, I kid." Drell laughed, putting his hands up in surrender.
"Hm... How to get a flight on such short notice?" Darla asked.
"How about I bring you to the hotel just as the ball finishes and Eloise has her own personal best night ever with her own prince at the hotel's Debutante Ball?" Drell offered.
"You'd do that for me?" Darla smiled.
"Hey, you're Atticus's family," Drell smiled back. "You deserve it, plus your daughter misses you like crazy when you're not home."
"Tell me about it..." Darla sighed. "Sometimes I feel like a bad mother because I'm barely home with her. I think Pierre just wanted to keep me here all to himself."
"Well, now you won't ever have to deal with him anymore." Drell smiled.
"I suppose that's true..." Darla smiled.
"When you're ready, I will take you," Drell said softly as he watched the crystal ball to the hotel now and saw that the head chef of the kitchen and a laundry woman were complaining to Mr. Salamone about the burnt and soaked dinner dishes and now pink laundry due to Leon's boarding school uniform accidentally being mixed in with white sheets about Eloise's shenanigans. "I see your daughter takes after her father, no?"
"Indeed she does." Darla sighed.
"I hear they say she has your looks and his sense of humor." Drell said.
"Yeah, yeah..." Darla slightly rolled her eyes. "I love her, but she's uncontrollable sometimes."
"Perhaps she acts like that because she misses you?" Drell suggested.
"I have the same suspicion." Darla said.
"Why do you let her stay at the hotel anyway?" Drell asked. "Couldn't you ask Patrick and Emily to watch her for you?"
"I don't wanna be a bother or burden by dumping my daughter on them..." Darla said. "I thought maybe staying at the hotel would be a good idea... I was visiting New York City with Amber once and Eloise really loved one of the employees, Bill. Plus, since my old nanny was already living in the hotel, I thought maybe it would be a good idea, she was one of my best friends growing up and she was always like a mother to me."
"Well, that sounds like a good enough reason to me." Drell said.
"What do you mean?" Drell asked.
"Urchin and I never got married..." Darla said. "I mean... We love each other very much, and we even realized it after we visited Hawaii with Cherry and Atticus the first time and I first met my old friend and pen pal at the time, Lilo Pelekai, but... We never got married."
"Why aren't you two married?" Drell asked.
"We never got around to that..." Darla said. "We just never knew where we would live... And about a year or two after I moved into the hotel's penthouse on the sixteenth floor with Nanny, Pierre came back for me and we traveled all over Europe together. I nearly completely forgot all about Urchin and my daughter."
"So, it's all Pierre's fault." Drell said.
Darla looked back. "You think so?"
"Yes, I mean think about it, who's been keeping you from spending more time with Eloise?" Drell asked.
"Pierre..." Darla narrowed her eyes now.
"And who seems to only want you all to himself?" Drell asked.
"Pierre..." Darla answered again, firmly folding her arms, now angry with her so-called best friend from France.
"Who's to blame?" Drell put his hand to his ear with an eager smile with her rage.
"Pierre!" Darla snarled, she looked a lot how she did as a child when certain things wouldn't go her way back in Hollywood.
"Then let's go and also after the ball, you go and find Urchin and figure out a day you two get married." Drell said.
"Yes, sir." Darla firmly agreed.
Drell nodded to her with a smile. Darla checked out of her hotel and was now on her way to reunite with her little girl.
Meanwhile, Eloise kept showing Leon all around New York City as it was now 1:30 and there were six and a half hours until the ball.
"Afternoon, Maggie." Eloise greeted the horse-driver.
"Eloise, my lass," the woman greeted back with a smile. "Thank you for the chicken, it was quite fine. Quite, quite fine indeed."
"Maggie, this is my friend Leon, along with my cousins, Akito, Estelle, Vincent, and Felicity," Eloise introduced. "Guys, this is Maggie."
"Pleased to meet you, Maggie." Estelle curtsied.
"Likewise." Maggie smiled back.
Akito and Vincent bowed to the Irish woman.
"Where are you from?" Leon asked, noticing an accent.
"Ireland, my friend," Maggie informed. "Lucky charm works better with the toursits." she then gestured to the green plant in her hat.
"Leon's never seen New York before." Eloise told her.
"Never seen New York?" Maggie sounded appalled. "Well, that's almost a crime!"
"Indeed." Eloise nodded.
"How fast shall we go then?" Maggie asked as they climbed into the buggy's seats which were big enough for all of them to fit inside warmly and safely, covering themselves with the blanket as the Pokemon sat near their feet on the floor.
"Fast as you absolutely everly can!" Eloise replied.
"Then the 'Quick Like a Bunny' tour it is!" Maggie agreed before hitching up her horses to make them go around the streets so Leon could see New York City up close.
"What's the 'Quick Like a Bunny' tour?" Teddy asked.
"It'll take about half an hour." Eloise replied as she put Ditto on top of her hat.
The horse neighed and then trotted along to show them all the sights and sounds that New York City had to offer. There were slow taxi cabs driving beside them, coming into traffic unfortunately for them.
"Oh, great, traffic." Vulpix groaned.
Luckily, they made it out of traffic and could now explore. They all looked up and around the great and tall buildings of the city and pointed out various famous sights.