On the 4th of July, Rosie and Niffty made it their mission to make sure that Charlie and Beth would look their very best for the festival. As a matter of fact, they called Alastor first thing in the morning and insisted that he bring both girls to the cabaret right away.

"Nothing personal Alastor." Rosie said. "But judging from what Beth has told me you do not know the first thing about making a young lady actually look like a young lady. You just leave everything to us. Niffty you prepare Charlie and I'll see to Beth."

"Yes ma'am."

Niffty led Charlie into the second bedroom upstairs.

"Now where to start, where to start?" Niffty said looking at Charlie up and down. "A bath, certainly."

"A bath?" Charlie said getting nervous.

"Yes. A nice bubble bath with fragrant salts and oils. Now then, how do you like your bubble bath? What scents do you prefer?"

"I don't know. I've never had a bubble bath."

"Oh you poor thing. Well we better make this bath extra special then."

"Thank you but I don't think a bath is neccessary."

"I beg to differ. The festival always opens with performances provided by Rosie and I heard that Alastor is hoping to sing with you tonight."

"He is?"

"Yes so you must look your best and you can't look your very best without a bath."

"But I...I don't feel comfortable showing my body."

"You're embarrassed in front of another woman?"

"Yeah. It's silly I know but...I'm just really slef-conscious about my body."

"Very well. I'll just run your bath and leave you to do the rest on your own."

Niffty filled the tub with hot water and added oil of Magnolia Blossom and Lily of the Valley. She left behind a towel, a bar of honeysuckle soap, a sponge, a bathrobe, a comb, a hair dryer, and shampoo and conditioner scented to match the soap. Niffty then left the bathroom to get Charlie's dress ready for her. As soon as she was gone, the mermaid sat herself down in the tub and proceeded to relax. Human baths were defintely one of her favorite things about this world.

True the space was a little cramped but the warm water soothed her aching muscles and the soaps, the oils, the shampoo, and the conditioner all smelled so sweet. No doubt her mother would enjoy this form of bathing very much. Espeically since like Charlie herself, Lilith had extremely long and thick hair that was a struggle to manage. But today Charlie decided what she liked most about these baths were the bubbles. She would pop them one by one, take handfuls of the bubbles and blow them about everywhere, laughed at how silly her reflection looked in them. It was a great delight to her.

After playing with the bubbles, she washed, conditioned, and combed her long hair followed by scrubbing her body with the sponge and soap. The scent of Magnolia, Lily, and Honey Suckle was like Summer itself to her. She felt like she was surrounded by those very flowers and they were giving her a little of their loveliness so she could impress everyone tonight. Most of all Alastor. If he had asked her to sing on stage with him tonight then the answer would be an instant yes and she would not disappoint him.

She rinsed herself off, dried her hair and body, then put on her bathrobe. By the time she had finished her bath completely, Niffty had come back ready to dress her and do her hair. The dress was a rose petal pink with embroidered floral motifs, in soft pastel tones. A beautifully cut skirt featuring soft layers that created an elegant silhouette and it was developed with a vintage-inspired neckline. She was given a cream colored, tulle scarf to wear over her shoulders and a pair of matching strap on pump shoes.

Her hair was intricately twisted into, ironically, a mermaid braid which was adorned by silver and pearl barrettes. For her make-up she didn't need much. Her skin was flawless and her cheeks were already so very rosy. Niffty just gave her a sublte mix of lilac and grey eyeshadow and velvet blush lipstick.

"There you go." She said. "Perfection. Why if I didn't know any better I'd swear that you were a princess."

Niffty gave Charlie a hand mirror so she could see herself properly. Her eyes were filled with a great sense of surprise and wonder. She looked so different from herself yet also looked exactly like herself.

"What do you think?" Niffty asked.

Charlie responded by hugging her.

"I love it. Thank you."

"You're very welcome." Niffty said returning the hug.

Downstairs in the cabaret, Alastor was waiting patiently for the women folk to finishing getting dolled up. He hoped that Beth wasn't being too difficult.

"Well you look mighty handsome today Alastor." Niffty said coming downstairs. "And that jacket is just strapping on you."

"Thank you Niffty. Is Charlie ready?"

"She is and are you in for a treat." Niffty turnd her head to the stairway. "Come on hoeny, don't be shy."

Charlie slowly came down to meet him. Stepping into the light, she seemed to glow with beauty. Alastor was staring at her in awe, left speechless by her entire appearance. She was positively stunning.

"How do I look?" She asked with an anxious smile.

"You look...Wonderful." He was almost at a loss for words.

She beamed with happiness and didn't take her eyes off him.

"I heard you wanted to sing a song with me tonight." She said.

"Oh...Um yes. I thought maybe we could, you know since you love to sing and I love to sing. But if you don't want to-"

"No I would love to. I'm very curious to how we sound together. What will we be singing?"

"Something I think you'll like very much. But how good are you at memorizing a song?"

"Very good. Trust me. Just let me hear it one time and I'll know it by heart."

"You better be telling the truth." He chuckled. "Otherwise we'll be the laughing stock of the entire town."

"I won't let you down. I promise."

"I'm gonna hold you to that."

"Hey is everyone ready?" They heard Rosie call excitedly as she came downstairs.

"Ready for what?" Alastor asked.

"Ready to see your sister in all her glory. It was a trying process but the results are magnificent."

Alastor highly doubted that there would be much of any transformation on Beth's part. When she was younger, he had to basically force her into a dress for church. Granted the dresses he picked out for her weren't exactly stylish according to Angel. But Alastor didn't know about female style. He was a radio host for God's sake, not a fashion critic.

"Let's see her." Alastor replied.

"Okay. Bernard, drum roll if you please?"

Her employee nodded and started tapping his drum with anticipation. At long last the eleven year old girl descended down the stairway looking nothing like her brother was expecting. Her red hair had been styled to fall into thick cascades of beach waves with her mother's comb pinned in the back. The red, white, and blue Summer dress fit her perfectly and her tan-colored sandals clicked with each step she made. Like Charlie, Beth looked different but at the same time anyone could see that it was Beth. Alastor was nearly stunned.

"Isn't she gorgeous?" Rosie asked. "She looks so grown up, doesn't she?"

"She does." Alastor agreed.

Beth looked at him nervously.

"Do I look pretty Al?"

"You're as beautiful as Mother."

That comment made her so happy. When she saw herself in Rosie's vanity mirror, she couldn't believe her eyes. For the first time in her life she didn't see herself as ugly or plain. For the first time in her life she thought that she looked beautiful.

"Now then, Niffty and I have to get ready for tonight so you all just wait right here." Rosie said. "We'll try not to be long."

"That's okay Rosie. We'll just take this time to reherse." Alastor said.

He and Charlie went backstage and the other two women hurried on upstairs. Beth just sat down at one of the tables and started reading her storybook. She was reading The Little Mermaid story, well not exactly reading, more like studying the illustrations. She heard Alastor mention once that the mermaid character bore an uncanny resmblance to Charlie and Beth wanted to see that for herself. Alastor was right. Apart from the violet colored eyes and the younger age, the mermaid in the story and Charlie were identical. But there was something else in the illustrations that she noticed too. The princess in the story, the one who the prince married instead of the mermaid, until now she never realized that there was something familiar about her. She couldn't put her finger on it though.

Then in the illustration of the royal wedding, she spotted the princess wearing something in her hair. It was an oriental comb. An oriental comb that was just like the one Beth was wearing. Just like the one that had belonged to her mother. Same color, same material, same design. That's when an idea came to her.

"Alastor!" She called.

"Yes?" He answered.

"Can I see your wallet for a minute?"

"What for?"

"I know you keep a photo of Mom in there. I wanna look at it."

He handed her his wallet. Beth opened it up, pulled out the small photograph of their mother, and held it against the illustration of the princess. The princess was younger, had black hair and green eyes, their mother had red hair and brown eyes, but the two women had the same facial and body structure.

"Okay that's weird." She said. "Why does the princess in this story look like Mom? And why does she have a comb that's just like Mom's?"