"Yes, James Pleiades Hawkins, I would love to marry you."
Her velvety voice kept repeating that phrase over and over again in his mind, causing his heart to skip a beat in joy and swell up in the sheer happiness he was feeling. It had been hours after the fact that she had said yes, him burying his face in the crook of her neck and laughing and crying of joy. He slipped the ring on her finger and she sat there mesmerized by the jewels, fingering them gently as if her touch would break them. Then she looked at him and broke into a smile, and threw her head back and laughed, red hair cascading down her back. She got up and extended a hand for him to take to get up as well, and he could barely see her face as the rain was that dense. He smirked, laced his fingers with hers and pulled her down on top of him, mud splashing everywhere from the crash. She had a shocked look on her face then smirked back, cupping a handful of mud and flinging it at his face.
This went on for a good while, both completely covered by mud by the time Ben got out and dragged them inside. There in the doorstep, Ben handed them towels and they tried to take off as much mud as they could before Ariel (ladies first) went to take a shower. By the wrist she was being dragged by Ben to the bathroom while I looked back at her now fiancé and gave a tiny wave, as if defeated by the crazy robot. Inside he took her dress by the sleeves and yanked it up over her head. He turned on the hot water and put her in the tub, telling her he would be back with clean clothes in just a few and that her hair better be as red as he saw it that morning not, "This horrible muck color you've created." He shut the door shut, she finished stripping and sat on the bathtub as the showerhead poured water on her. Unlike the rain outside, this was warm and prickled her face until she was flushed pink.
Around her legs and feet the water was a brown muddy color with clumps of grass following the falls that lead into the drain. She watched it as it disappeared, her thoughts wandering. I'm getting married. Oh my God, I am getting married. To my best friend! The guy I thought I was going to have to spend my life following as he loved other girls. But he's getting married- to me! She suddenly felt restless, an urge to pace or run around rising in her chest. Instead she grabbed the soap and scrubbed at her scalp until it stung a bit. She rinsed and repeated until the water that dripped from her ends was clear. Then she proceeded to scrub her body clean until she could see the pale of her skin; or rather, the pink since she was scrubbing so hard. And once done, she just sat there in the warm rain as it trickled down her cheek and she inhaled the steam as if it would cleanse her very being.
The door creaked open and Ben announced that her clothes were on the toilet and to hurry because Jim needed to get showered because he stunk worse than Silver. "HA HA HA BEN. Get back here and we'll discuss that statement!" Jim hollered from far away. Ariel giggled and blush dusted her cheeks. Ben closed the door and Ariel grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself. She was about to towel-dry her hair when the door opened and Ben or Morph was not standing (or floating in Morph's case) there but
"JIM!" Ariel screamed, holding the towel over herself tightly.
"Oh, my god! Ariel! I'm sorry! I thought the- the shower… it was off and… I thought you were- um… gone. In your room- our room. Um… changing. Sorry. I'm… oh god I'm an idiot- I'm sorry." Jim rambled, red as a tomato. He was caked in dry mud and his face was streaked with brown, but the red was painfully obvious. Ariel just laughed and told him that it was okay, just an honest mistake. Jim looked up from the floor and had to keep his jaw from falling. Surrounded by the steam left from her shower, and the lights above them, the water droplets still on her wet hair captured said light and formed like a golden halo around her. She looked even more angelic, and with him staring at her like that, blush raced across her face and she looked even more beautiful and innocent.
He was about to lean in and kiss her when Ben just happened to stroll by, grabbed him by the back of the shirt and apologized to Ariel for the numbskull blocking the door. She gave one longing look to Jim then grabbed her clothes and went to her room. Once the door was shut, Jim fought out of Ben's gripped and glared at him.
"You ruined the mood, Ben!" Jim hissed, eyes squinting.
"Mood?! What mood? The girl obviously wanted to get by; you're muddy, dirty, muddy- wait, I already said that- and you stink worse than Silver. Get in that darn bathtub and get yourself clean before you go kissing the already-clean girl." Was all Ben said before pushing him into the bathroom and into the tub. He started the water, which burned to the touch, and would not budge until Jim picked up the soap and got all sudsy.
In the bedroom Ariel had put on her freshly-cleaned beige dress. It was simple, but she wasn't a demanding girl. She didn't need diamonds sewn into the sleeves of her dresses or rubies on her ears. Give her a dress like this and she would be a happy camper. She strode towards the mirror and brushed her hair with the brush nearby. Again and again, somehow the motion soothed her. She was worlds away however, listening to Jim curse at Ben and all his non-living relatives and Ben telling him to shush or he would ram a bar of soap down his throat. Then Morph laughing and mocking both of them, Jim laughing and then yelling as Ben threw the bar at soap at him. Accidentally, he swore. Blinking herself back to reality, she saw she had almost brushed herself bald seeing the amount of hair on the brush. Panicked she looked in the mirror but sighed in relief when she saw she wasn't bald at all.
However, she knew her hair had been tortured enough and laid down on the bed. Staring at the ceiling, she tried to see if she could make any shapes from the carvings. A three-legged dog, a chicken wing, a captain hat, a merman… Atlantica.
I wonder if Daddy misses me. And my sisters… I wonder if any of them have gotten married yet. Athena did like that one merman we saw on the walks… but she wouldn't ever admit it, being the oldest sister and being the 'responsible one'. I wonder how Daddy would feel if he found out that I was to marry Jim. I hope he would be happy. Oh, Daddy, I miss you. I really want to go home and see you… just for a little bit. I miss Sebastian and Scuttle and Flounder. But we're worlds away, and Jim… I can't leave him. It would kill me to leave him… I've become so attached and… now… he's my world. I'll admit it; I'm crazy about him. And-
"Ariel?" a voice came softly from the doorway. She tilted her head back, seeing Jim upside down. He smiled at her, then opened the door a little bit more. He was in a baggy shirt and boxers and CLEAN! She smiled and then rolled over on to her stomach. "Hi stranger." She teased, picking at the fabric of the sheets. Her ring sparkled in the light that came from the door and sent rainbows on the ceiling. Ariel looked up, seemed pleased with the fact, and then turned her attention back to Jim. "Are you hungry? Mom is almost here so Ben and I are cooking up a storm. Anything specific you want before Morph eats everything?" he asked, looking behind his shoulder to see if the blob was trying to get near the kitchen. No, he was on the couch morphing into utensils such as spoons and straws. "I'm hungry, but nothing in particular comes to mind… wait, yes it does. Edible food." "That wasn't me! Ben burned that batch of food." Jim retorted, remembering the mess he and Ben had created the last time his mother had come over, burning almost everything except the cake for dessert and the salad.
Ariel laughed, thinking of the same event (unaware Jim was recalling it as well) and got up from the bed and rushed towards Jim to embrace him. He opened his arms, twirled her in the air once in his grasp, and then gently lowered her to the ground and held her close. Her lips met his and they shared a kiss. She snuggled her head into the crook of his shoulder and just stared admirably at him. He picked her up, bride-style, and set her on the couch to watch him and Ben continue working. Morph slid down from the high perch of the couch and floated up next to her cheek, smiling and rubbing his gooey body against it. She smiled and put her hand up to her cheek and stroked the goo. He giggled and chirped, "Ariel, yum. Yum yum, yay." She wondered why he would say, "yum" but decided against thinking anything of it.
Together, they watched the two boys try to concoct something EDIBLE, but it didn't look like they were really quite succeeding. Ariel heard a knock on the door, called, "I'll get it! You both best stay in there before you burn something, like the house, down!" and proceeded towards the door, opening it. Her face broke out into a smile and she embraced her future mother-in-law.