Day Eleven: Are We Going to an Adult Film or a Ballet?
"Please don't say that any louder," Daniel whispered pleadingly as he and Vala walked into the theater.
"It's a valid question," she whispered back, adjusting the hem of her sparkly navy blue evening dress because it was riding up under her navy blue pea coat. She'd asked if he was sure they were going to see a ballet and not an adult film.
His jaw already starting to ache from clenching it, he blew out a breath of resignation. "Fine. I suppose it is given the title," he allowed, glancing at the tickets to the Colorado Ballet performance of The Nutcracker he held in his hand, "but it is also wildly inappropriate to ask while we're here at this family event so… shh, okay?"
She mimed zipping her lips.
He knew it wouldn't last.
"I mean it, Vala," he murmured as they climbed the thickly carpeted stairs to get to their seats in the front row of the balcony. "If I hear anything about the part of your question not related to ballet, this is the last date we're going on."
She knew he didn't mean it.
"What's The Nutcracker about?" she asked when they were in their seats.
Daniel offered a helpless shrug. "Dancing sugar plums? I don't know."
She gaped at him. "Seriously?"
"Yes? I've never seen it before. There's a villain. I think. It might be a rat."
"Or a mouse," preteen girl offered from the seat behind them. "Sometimes the Rat King, sometimes the Mouse King. Sometimes he has seven heads."
Vala twisted in her seat. "That sounds kind of terrifying. Are there dancing sugar plums like he said?"
She shook her head. "A Sugar Plum Fairy, a ballerina girl. No dancing candy."
Vala shot Daniel a judgmental look.
"Have you really never seen The Nutcracker?" the girl asked in stunned confusion.
"I'm from… Australia," Vala said, because Carolyn had offered it as an explanation when they were out once and someone asked where she was from. She suspected the ballet was a thing in Australia too but she had to hope the kid wasn't nosey enough to dig deeper. "He's just… not into ballet."
She said she hoped they loved and then laser-focused on the stage as the lights dimmed in the theater.
Daniel watched the performance, it was too good not to, but he watched Vala too. She had a look of wonder on her face as she watched. He knew that her childhood had been more miserable than not, which meant she never really got to be a kid. Cynic though he was about holiday cheer and the true meaning of Christmas, he'd also heard the idea of seeing things anew through someone else's eyes.
Seeing her truly experience Christmas for the first time was making him love it again, something he hadn't thought possible, and he was grateful for it.
"You're staring at me," Vala whispered, her eyes alight. "Am I doing something wrong?"
Daniel shook his head. "No, you're perfect."
