It was dark and quiet when Tommy and Fabrizio returned to the Dawson farm with little Lily in tow. When they had made plans to take care of Lily for the night, they hadn't actually thought of what they were going to do with her. What did little girls like to do anyway?
"Fabri...we have to make the lass something to eat. Do we have any more cookies?" Tommy questioned, going over to the fireplace to start a fire.
"We can't let her eat cookies for dinner. Besides, we have no more," Fabrizio laughed, helping Lily off with her coat.
"Well, what do we feed her?"
"We feed her proper food, of course! My mama would make pasta and sauce and garlic bread. I loved that when I was a boy. Still do. I'll make some now."
"That's all well and good, but what to do between now and the time supper is ready?" Tommy placed his hands on his hips.
"Do whatever the girl wants, yes?" Fabrizio grinned, giving Lily a playful wink before disappearing into the kitchen.
"Bloody hell," Tommy grumbled under his breath, still at a loss for what to do. He looked at Lily who looked back at him with wide blue eyes. "So, what do you normally like to do, lass? I know Rose and boy-o read to you at night, but we have a ways to go until then."
"Tea party!" Lily exclaimed, remembering the tea set that a neighbor had dropped off for her just last week.
"Ah yes, you and Rose love the tea parties. But wouldn't you like to throw a ball around or something?" Tommy frowned, not really wanting to sit on the floor and pretend to drink tea.
Lily just shook her head, her expression serious. "I want a tea party and invite Mr. Bear and Mrs. Rabbit."
"But they're all the way upstairs...well...ok. But let's get you out of your coat first, yeah?"
"I have to dress up for the party!" Lily exclaimed.
"But you're already dressed up, lass. No need to soil up your other nice dress. Let's just keep on what we're wearing and have tea in these," Tommy scooped the girl up into his arms. "In the meantime, let's go get your friends together and I set out the cups, plates, and kettle."
One hour later, Fabrizio went in search of Tommy and Lily. The spaghetti and garlic bread was finished and he knew that they must be hungry. Hearing voices from the room next to Jack and Rose's, Fabrizio looked into the room to find Tommy sitting on the floor with Lily. A teddy bear and a stuffed rabbit were also sitting on opposite corners. Each had a tiny china plate and a tiny teacup in front of them. Fabrizio nearly laughed to see Tommy lift the tiny teacup to his lips as if he was taking a sip.
"What is going on here?"
Tommy nearly dropped the cup when he noticed Fabrizio standing in the doorway with the biggest grin on his face.
"Bloody hell! Don't you know how to knock?" Tommy frowned.
"Sorry. Dinner is ready. Just thought I would let you know," Fabrizio laughed. "I didn't mean to interrupt your tea party."
Tommy just rolled his eyes and then looked at Lily who was trying to urge the bear to drink his tea. "Lass, it's time we end the party. Dinner is ready."
"But we just got to the blueberry tea that Mrs. Rabbit likes," Lily pouted.
"Maybe next time, love. Come along, Uncle Tommy can't survive on tea alone."
"Can Mrs. Rabbit come?" Lily asked, her blue eyes wide and innocent.
Tommy wanted to say no, but with one look into Lily's eyes, he felt himself melt and give in. Bloody hell, this little girl was going to have him wrapped around her little finger! He sure did hope that Fabri and Jack had stronger willpower than he did. Even though, he had a feeling that Jack was a big ole softy as well, judging from how keen he had been over little Cora, may the wee lass rest in peace. He felt his heart ache at the thought of the little English girl that had befriended them onboard the doomed liner.
"Ok, grab Mrs. Rabbit. We don't want the food to get cold," Tommy instructed, his mood dampening a little.
Silence fell as Lily grabbed her stuffed animal and followed Tommy down the stairs and into the dining room, where Fabrizio had her plate waiting for her and was dipping out spaghetti for Tommy and himself.
"You'll love this, Lily. My mama made it for me when I was a bambino," Fabrizio grinned, his stomach rumbling from the flavorful aroma of tomato sauce and garlic.
"This does look and smell delicious, mate," Tommy grinned. "Boy-o and Rose are missing out!"
"Boy-o and Rose do not care I bet. I can just imagine what they are doing right now," Fabrizio snorted, settling down to his own plate.
"Hey, not in front of the lass mate!" Tommy scolded, tempted to reach over and cover Lily's ears, even though Fabrizio hadn't really said anything dirty and the child was probably too young to pick up on his implications.
Fabrizio just rolled his eyes and bowed his head. "We should say grace, yes?"
"Of course," Tommy bowed his head, feeling bad that he had nearly forgotten. They had only just started saying grace to set a good example for Lily, but at times they forgot.
"Who should say it though?" Fabrizio frowned. Usually, Jack would, but he wasn't here.
"Um...I'll say it, mate. Don't worry about it," Tommy shrugged. He took a deep breath and said a small prayer, sending up thanks for the food, for the shelter, for Jack and Rose being happily wedded, and for the presence of Lily who brought happiness and light to the house. Finished, they began to dig in.
After dinner, Fabrizio joined Tommy in bathing Lily and getting her ready for bed.
"Wait!" Lily spoke up as they entered her room. "I want to play with my dolls. I always play with my dolls before bed."
Tommy and Fabrizio looked at each other. Neither of them was interested in playing with dolls but knew that there was no choice.
"Next time you have the idea to send Jack and Rose away for the night, talk to me first," Tommy hissed in Fabrizio's ear.
"I will play dolls with you and afterward, Tommy can tell you a bedtime story.
"Will momma Rose and dada Jack be back in the morning?" Lily questioned, still not convinced that they weren't going to abandon her. "In the afternoon if not morning, lassie. Not to worry."
Lily was quiet for a few minutes then sighed, suddenly feeling sleepy. "I think I rather go to bed now instead of playing dolls. Can you read me a story, Uncle Tommy?"
"That I can do. How about a nice Irish tale? Something to remind us both of the homeland, yeah? Have you ever heard of the story of The Children of Lir?"
Lily shook her head. "Momma used to tell me about Tir na noog."
"Oh yes, the land of eternal youth and beauty. We should probably save that for another time, though. How about the Children of Lir? My momma used to tell that one to me at bedtime."
"Okay," Lily nodded, her little mouth opening in a yawn.
Once Lily was in her night clothes and tucked into bed, both Fabrizio and Tommy sat by her side.
"Okay, Tommy. Let's hear your story," Fabrizio smiled, looking forward to this. He always liked a good story and Tommy always had the best.
"Alright, listen up. This is the story about the children of lir. Once upon a time, there was this king of Ireland named Lir. He had four children, who at first were cared for tenderly by the king's new wife, the queen. But soon the queen grew jealous of the children. Jealous of the attention they would get from the king. Sometimes there was murder in her heart, but she never went through anything like that. Instead, she decided to get rid of them another way."
"What way?" Lily asked with huge eyes.
"She took them to a lake to bathe and since she was a druid, she took out a wand and turned them into swans!"
"Swans? Did their daddy know?"
"Yes, he found out and was very angry and went and told the queen's daddy, who was also a druid and he turned her into a bat. Now the thing is, she cursed the children into being swans for nine hundred years. Her father cursed her to be a bat forever, so she was rightfully punished for her crimes," Tommy nodded.
"But what about the kid's daddy? He was all alone."
"Well, he wasn't. You see, the children could still talk to their father. That's how he had found out what the stepmother did. They told him. So after the stepmother was punished, King Lir would go to that lake and talk to his children and listen to them sing their swan songs."
"Did they ever turn back to children again?"
"Not in the king's lifetime, sadly. But after the nine hundred years were up, they turned back to human again and found a new daddy to take care of them, and then they lived happily ever after."
"So they were adopted, like me?"
"Yes sweetie like you. And like you, their new parents loved them very very much and gave them all a good life and they grew up to live happily ever after. But they never did forget about their daddy King Lir. When their human lives came to an end, they finally joined their daddy in heaven and it was a joyful reunion."
"I like that ending," Lily nodded. "Do you think I'll see my mommy and daddy in heaven someday?"
"I sure do. We'll be seeing everyone we had ever lost up there. Papa Jack will see his parents. I'll see my sister. Fabri here will probably reunite with Helga. It'll be a real party."
Lily yawned again and stretched her arms.
"Okay, that's it for today, Lassie. Time to sleep. Rose and Jack will be back tomorrow and we want them to see that Uncle Tommy and Uncle Fabrizio know how to take care of cute little lassies, so we can watch over you again," Tommy winked, getting to his feet.
"Good night, Uncle Tommy. Good night Uncle Fabrizio," Lily closed her eyes, settling down to drift off to sleep.
"Good night, lass," Tommy beckoned for Fabrizio to follow him.
Fabrizio turned out the light as he exited the door and turned to Tommy as the Irishman shut it.
"That was a good story."
"That it was, even though I shortened it and changed some things. Sadly, the ending was not as happy as I made it out to be. But she had so much sadness in her life already. I wanted the ending to be a happy one for her."
"What is the original ending?" Fabrizio asked, following Tommy down to the kitchen, where they were to start cleaning up and washing the dishes.
"The swans did turn back to human, but they were old and wrinkled and since they had lived for so long, died right away."
"Yikes! What a horrible ending!"
Tommy chuckled. "Well, most fairy tales don't have happy endings. At least the original versions anyway."
Fabrizio just shook his head, starting to wash the dishes. "I bet I find one."
Tommy just shrugged and picked up a towel for drying the dishes that Tommy was washing. "Well next time it'll be your turn to try."
(A/N: Sorry about the lack of Jack and Rose in this chapter. Just wanted to show what Tommy and Fabrizio and Lily were up to during Jack and Rose's absence. Plus wanted to have Lily bond with her two uncles. The story of The Children of Lir can be found here: The Children of Lir - Short Kid Stories or just google it if the link doesn't work. It's a lot longer than what Tommy told and yeah, the ending is not really a happy one. The next chapter will see the return of Jack and Rose :)