"Favorite shape?"
Rita tapped her chin thoughtfully with a soap covered hand. "Uhm, I don't know. . . triangle, maybe?"
She'd never really gave shapes all that much thought before, choosing her answer from the first thing that popped into her mind.
"Okay, what about favorite color?" Her nine-year-old little brother Noah asked from where he sat at the dining table, a notepad in front of him and a pencil in his hand. Her twin little sisters Milly and Molly sat across from him, listening and sucking on popsicle sticks.
"Hm, well. . ." As she thought of her next answer, Rita rinsed off the plate she had been cleaning, then placed it in the drying rack. She had been in the middle of cleaning up dinner when the three young mice came walking in for an interview, it would seem. She hadn't asked what for, figuring it to be some sort of school project or something.
Once upon a time Rita had fancied the color red. It was fiery, intense, and sexy, but after the whole ruby incident that sucked way too many years of her life, only to find out it had been a glass replica, she'd much rather put all of that behind her. Including the very color.
"Let's see. . ." Green?. . . No. No way. Rita shuddered as she thought of a pair of frogs she hoped to God she would never see again in her life.
"Well. . . how about blue?"
Blue is a nice color, yes? It was calm, cool, clean, and best of all, it didn't remind her of anything disturbing or traumatic. Instead, she thought of the blue skies of the surface world when she and Roddy had been flying above his neighborhood. Or of the oceans she'd seen on the front of brochures or magazines that had made their way to the sewers.
Yes, blue is most definitely a gorgeous color.
"How about the size of your finger?"
"What?" Yanked out of her daydreams by the unexpected question, Rita paused her washing to glance at her siblings in confusion.
"Specifically, the one between your middle and pinkie." Noah clarified, pronouncing 'specifically' as 'spek-fic-ally'.
Rita chuckled, trying not to get distracted by the adorable mess up. "I. . . don't know. Why on Earth would any of you need to know that for?"
"Oh, Roddy wanted to know."
Rita raised a disbelieving brow. Setting the plate back in the water and drying off her hands, she rested them on her hips. "Really now, Roddy wanted to know what my favorite shape, color, and finger size is?" She giggled. "What's he planning on doing? Propos—"
Oh, God. Oh, no. That couldn't possibly be what he was doing, was it? The kids must've misinterpreted it or something, right?
Noah shrugged and flipped the notebook around, revealing the list of questions they had been asking for the past half an hour, written in Roddy's familiar, messy scrawl.
Suddenly feeling lightheaded, Rita gripped the sink behind her for support.
"Wha—when. . . w-why would he—Roddy wants to propose to me?"
A thump from the hallway drew Rita's and the children's attention over to where their mother was gaping in shock at her, a basket of laundry scattered on the floor.
"Roddy proposed?"
Oh, bloody hell. Rita opened her mouth, about to correct her, but the older female was already flapping her hands like a bird and shouting into the living room, "Oh, honey! Did you hear that? Roddy finally did it! He proposed!"
"Atta boy! Bought dang time!" Her father shouted back from where he sat in a recliner, skimming a newspaper.
"What? Dad!"
"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so happy for you!" Rita watched in frozen horror as her mother swooped into the kitchen to engulf her in a hug that cut off all oxygen flow, laughing joyously. "Finally, we can stop worrying about who will properly take care of you before your father and I pop off!"
"Okay, okay. First of all," Rita began after prying herself out of her mother's surprisingly strong hold. "I can take care of myself just fine, mum. Second, neither of you better pop off anywhere until every single on of your spawn are off to college! And third, what do you mean "Bought dang time"?"
"It means one less child to feed." Her father answered flippantly without so much as glancing up at her.
Rita gasped, outraged. "You two damn well know I provide just as much to this family!"
Her three siblings, which she had forgotten completely about, gasped in shock from her use of foul language. Her mother glared at her before shooing the three out of the room, ordering them to brush their teeth and get their jammies on.
"Rita, we're perfectly aware of how much you do and as much as we appreciate it, we just want you to be happy is all."
"I am happy! I've never been happier. What does marriage have to do with any of that?"
Her mother gave her a look while crossing her arms over her chest. This wasn't the first conversation they've had about the direction of her future, but this was probably the most specific one. "It's a new, brighter step towards a secure future."
"Okay!" Rita quickly threw her hands up, pausing the exchange. "Before we get too caught up in this, I need to tell you that Roddy has not, I repeat not proposed."
"Pardon?" The older female blinked, stunned. Rita suddenly had flashbacks to when Roddy had eavesdropped on a conversation and made some terrible assumptions. Who knew her own family was just as bad?
"He hasn't?" Her father balked, unexpectedly furious. "Well, why the bloody hell not? What's wrong with him, then? Gone barmy, has he? Or does that little twat think he's too good for my girl, eh? Why I ought to give him what for!"
"Calm down, dad!" Rita quickly pressed the old mouse back into the recliner before he accidentally gave himself a hernia. "Doctors said to take it easy."
"You think a little pain will keep me from defending my daughter? He better start praying cause when I get my hands on him, I'll choke the ever lovin—"
"I believe he is going to propose soon!" Rita blurted before she could think better of it. Almost instantly her father's face relaxed and he slumped back into the cushions.
"Oh, well, good on him. He should thank his lucky stars cause I was about to crack a walnut on his head!"
With a now content look on his face, the male mouse scooped up his fallen newspaper and snapped it back open in front of his face.
Rita felt her shoulders slump in defeat as she returned to the kitchen where her mother was busy picking up her fallen laundry. When she looked over at her crestfallen daughter, she frowned and walked over, taking those callused paws of her and squeezing them reassuringly.
"Rita? Honey, what's wrong? Why aren't you happy? Is Roddy treating you okay?"
"Roddy is fine, mum. In fact, he's absolutely perfect."
"Then I'm afraid I don't understand. Why do you look like your world is ending?"
Rita chuckled and wiped at the corner of her eyes with the heel of her palm. "I'm not. Really, I'm not. I'm just. . . overwhelmed is all."
Her mother, unfortunately, still appeared to be very confused over this answer. Quickly ushering her daughter into one of the dining chairs, Mrs. Malone went to start a kettle of water on the stove.
"So, why are you feeling overwhelmed?"
Rita sighed, wringing her hands between her knees as she tried to put her jumbled thoughts into somewhat coherent words. "I-I don't know. . . I guess, I just—never pictured myself as a bride or someone's wife. I've always thought it would just be me and the Jammy Dodger sailing the sewer tunnels of London forever."
"Well, why on Earth not? You're a terrific catch! Just look at you, you're brave, clever, funny, not to mention incredibly bonny. You're welcome by the way."
Rita chuckled at the sly wink her mother gave her before turning back to finish preparing them tea. "I never thought I couldn't catch a man's attention. I just never thought I'd want to. I was always fine on me own, working the drain pipes, scavenging for treasures. There never seemed any room for anyone else in that picture."
"Well, Roddy's already your first mate and helps you with all of that. How would marriage make any difference?" Mrs. Malone asked as she set the two steaming mugs down on the tabletop before settling herself into a chair across from her.
Rita though felt far too frazzled to be sipping on tea. "But it would be different, mum! Everything could change! Maybe not right away, but eventually. If Roddy already wants more now, then who's to say he won't want even more later? One day he could want our own house, then the next he'll want a dog, then it's only a matter of time before he's wanting kids, and then. . . and then we'll both need better paying jobs. I might have to sell the Jammy Dodger II to make ends meet and he'll be working twelve-hour shifts and I'll. . . I'll be stuck at home, rotting away with all these slobbery, whiny, brats!"
"Alright, alright, easy now, Rita. Calm down and drink this, you'll feel better."
Doing as she was told, Rita picked up the mug and slowly swallowed the hot liquid. The warmth pooling in her stomach and spreading outward felt like a comforting hug. Her mother rubbed a soothing paw along her back.
"While I don't think there's anything wrong with being a stay-at-home mother. . ."
Rita winced as she realized her inadvertent insult to her own mother.
"That's not necessarily what will happen to you if you marry Roddy. Keep in mind, you two are very much different from your father and I. Just because we decided to take this route doesn't mean you two will."
"But what if he does?" Rita demanded.
The older mouse sighed, setting down her tea and busying her hands with folding the laundry. "M'afraid that's something you two are just going to have to discuss with each other."
Rita grimaced, completely unprepared to have that kind of serious talk with Roddy. Besides this latest incident, nothing Roddy had done has even remotely hinted to this kind of thinking. So, what happened? What changed? What made him want to do this now?
As if she were hearing what Rita was thinking, her mother said, "Just because you don't want something now, doesn't mean you won't in the future. Change isn't always a bad thing, Rita. I mean, look at Roddy. He gave up an entire life of luxury to spend it down here with you and he doesn't sound like he regrets it one bit."
Rita frowned, unsure how to take that. She knew it wasn't what her mother was implying, but it sounded as if Rita should be grateful to Roddy for that. And she was, don't get her wrong. If he hadn't given up everything, her, her family, and all of Ratropolis would be six feet under sewage water, but did that really mean she owed him marriage? Technically, since he saved her life, it meant she owed him her life.
"Rita? Rita, are you okay? You've gone awfully pale." Mrs. Malone shook her daughters shoulders, triggering the younger mouse to bolt to her feet.
"I'm sorry, mum. I think I need to get some air."
Without waiting for a reply, Rita rushed out the back door before she could be stopped and kept running until she was climbing aboard the Jammy Dodger II. Starting the engine, she sped away from her home as fast as possible.
I've always pictured Rita to be a bit of a loner and somebody who doesn't quite like committing to things unless there's a visible exit that she could take if she needs to. In this case, marriage is not one of those things. Learning to embrace change and commitment can be terrifying but sometimes very much worth it in the end. Something that may take some time for her to come around to.