Act I “Peace and happiness awaits you.”
Chapter III
Rey awakes from an extravagant, king-sized bed- rising into an upright position- and realizes that he is still in Serenity. Rey rolls his eyes back and falls back into the bed, but not long before someone knocks on the bedroom door. Rey detests getting out of bed, but decides that he should answer the door anyways. Leaving the bed, Rey approaches the door and opens it.
“I was wondering when you were going to wake up,” Lilly said, who was standing outside of Rey’s doorway.
“I should still be sleeping,” Rey remarked.
Lilly promptly scoffed at Rey’s remark and insists that he follow her downstairs. Ullani, Zorion and Mingle have been waiting for him in the Palace dining room and sent Lilly to retrieve him. Apparently- and to Rey’s surprise- Zorion has arranged a breakfast banquet for Lilly and Rey. Lilly grabs Rey by the wrist and guides him downstairs, towards the dinner room, which of is in the wing opposite of the Guest Wing.
Upon entering the dining room through the main doors, Rey could not help but notice the three, fairly large chandeliers hanging in a linear formation across the ceiling, with the central chandelier being the largest. The central chandelier is of a golden make, and the outer chandeliers are silver. The chandeliers hang over the long, furnished hardwood table standing as the obvious center piece, surrounded with various seats of golden metal frames and velvet, satin seat cushions.
Ullani was sitting in the larger, distinctive seat at the end of the long table. Zorion sat in the seat to her right, and next to him sat Mingle. To the left of Ullani, were August and April, whom Rey can only wonder why they were invited to the banquet. Lilly already claimed a seat next to April. Rey, not wanting to sit anywhere near Mingle, settled with sitting next to Lilly. The table was covered by a massive, velvet tablecloth, lined with golden borders. Several large dishes full of food sit atop the table cloth, on the linear center of the table.
“Good morning, Rey,” Zorion greeted. “I hope you brought an empty stomach.”
“Zorion has prepared a breakfast banquet in commemoration for you and Lilly and your arrival to Serenity,” Ullani informed gleefully. “And look who has come to celebrate: The couple you met in Leisure Fields.”
“That’s…wonderful,” Rey said sarcastically.
“Since, we are all here, we can dig in!”
The one thing Rey could agree to with the Serenites was to eating a lot of food while he can, since as far as he was concerned, it was the only thing good going for him. Everyone else already had food on their plates, but were waiting to eat, until Rey’s arrival to the dining room. Rey did not hesitate to collect food from the various plates presented in front of him. Berries, grapes, apples and bananas sat together in a pile on a large plate. Other plates held cheese wheels, ham, fried eggs, biscuits, cinnamon rolls and much more. There was such a wide variety of food on the table to keep track of.
“Since, you are new here, I thought it be in your best interest to find a home,” Zorion said.
“You got us a place to live,” Lilly asked.
“And even better, we found a couple to look after you,” Ullani cheered.
Rey bowed his head in disappointment. “I wonder who they may be,” he said in his frequent, sarcastic tone.
“Surprise,” August cheered. “It’s us! Ullani came to August and I with the request, and we just couldn’t refuse!”
“I guess that makes us a family now,” April said, with a soft smile towards Lilly.
Lilly cheered and leaned over to give April an eager hug. Rey wasn’t satisfied with the news and was concerned with the reason why Lilly is so enthused with the setup, despite that they will be missed in Ms. May’s class and have no room for establishing new lives in such a presumptuous place. He felt the need to bring this up. Despite this, Rey had the invading suspicion that Lilly and himself are expected to linger a long time in Serenity, maybe even permanently. At any rate, Lilly doesn’t seem to mind either way, and Rey feels obligated to tag along, since he is responsible for Lilly’s discovery of this whimsical realm. Therefore, Rey played along, accepting the part as son to August and April, just as Lilly has so eagerly accepted the part as daughter.
After the banquet, everyone gathered in the Palace lobby. Ullani, Zorion and Mingle wanted to see off the newly established family from their visit at the Palace. Zorion and Mingle stood aside as the Ballerina Queen represented them in giving their farewells. Ullani gives August and April her thanks for accepting the parental role with a courtesy, which August responded with a positive, polite and honoring bow. Finally, Ullani, leaned down to receive a hug from Lilly with her own. She turned to Rey and at least offered her hand and a friendly smile. Rey insisted on keeping his hands to himself, crossed in front of his chest, refusing to offer the Queen any form of politeness. She didn’t take this personally, but was positive that Rey would warm up to her and everyone else, in due time.
August and April left the Palace with Lilly and Rey and followed the main road across Tranquility Town’s North District. The four quickly made their way out of town and through the gentle grasslands of Leisure Fields, making their way to August and April’s cottage. The cottage, much like the couple’s favorite gondola, sported the colors of sky blue and pink, the main structure being pink and the rooftop being sky blue. The frame work, windows and front door contained a lime green color, however.
August unlocked the front door and swung it open, letting the eager Lilly go in before him. April and Rey casually followed in behind August. Lilly took in the décor inside of the cottage living room. A sky blue wallpaper of pink polka dots covered the walls, in much of the household. The blue, rigidly shaped couch was made of blue leather. The two recliners sitting at the couch’s perimeter had a similar design and a couple of simple, small tables sat in between each chair.
The glass, boomerang table was supported by a hard wood structure and four, short and stubby legs. The lamppost sitting on top of the table, was supported by a metallic frame- similar to bronze- made up of three frames crossing each other near the top and bottom of the lamp. The pink, analog television set sat on a green drawer set on the opposite side of the room, facing the couch and coffee table, presenting a circular screen and two simple, analog switches and a thin, channel meter. Several pictures framed in blue and pink decorate the polka dotted walls, presenting portraits of August and April and times they have spent together.
“It’s so cozy, here,” Lilly complimented.
“We are glad you think so,” August said.
“Come on,” April said. “We want to show you something.”
Lilly and Rey followed August and April in the cottage’s stubby excuse for a hallway. April opened one of the bedroom doorways to reveal a Victorian mahogany drawer that has been converted into a love shrine by August and April. Several portraits have been pasted on the vanity’s extravagant, mirror backframe. The scotch tape holding the pictures to the mirror has clearly left residue on the expensive mirror. On the drawer top, stand a set of framed pictures and a vase holding a couple of roses- one sky blue and the other pink- and filled a quarter full of water. A disco ball hangs from the ceiling fan, hanging in the center of the room. Lilly immediately sighed to the romantic theme, while Rey shifted his eyebrows in discomfort.
“We customized this piece to celebrate the love August and I have achieved together,” April proudly explained.
“We go to this room to remind ourselves how long we’ve been together, though it hasn’t been for very long,” August stated. “We hope for a successful and passionate marriage for many years to come.”
“That’s so sweet,” Lilly complimented, just as Rey grumbled and rolled his eyes.
“Well, now that we are officially parents, I think it is necessary to convert this room into a children’s bedroom.”
“Now, wait a minute,” April protested. “Honey. You don’t mean to move the shrine from this room, do you?”
“The children need a place to sleep, don’t they? We can’t just have them sleep in the living room.”
“Yes, but…Where will the shrine go?”
“…We’ll have to put it in the attic.”
“I really don’t know about that.”
“…Can we resolve this later, after we’ve settled the kids in?”
“Yes, I suppose so,” April scoffed. “Go ahead and move it to the attic, if that is what must be done.”
“Thank you, sweetie. It will be safe in the attic, I promise.”
Lilly and Rey was staring at August and April with a sudden concern as the couple had suddenly got into a mild fuss in front of them, but was relieved that they had quickly resolved it. “How about some snacks,” April asked the children after a brief silence. Although they had all just had a big breakfast, back in the Palace, no one was opposed to midday snacks at this point. Lilly and Rey watched television in the living room, as April prepared snacks in the kitchen and August moved the love shrine into the attic. The show on TV was called “The Adventures of Mingle” a romanticized depiction of Mingle’s go-for lifestyle in service of the Ballerina Queen and the people of Serenity. The show was on marathon and lasted all day. April delivered a small platter of snacks to the living room, as the children watched the show. April joined the kids in the living room and later, after having had completed his task, August joins the children the group the rest of the family in the living room.
August and April put Lilly and Rey to bed in their newly established bedroom, though they had to temporarily sleep on bed mats. After they cover the children, April kisses them goodnight. “Sleep well, children,” August said, for which Rey replied “Mm-hmm.” The parents shut the lights off and gently closed the bedroom door. April holds onto August’s hands as the two stand in the hallways.
“So, we are parents now,” April said, looking into August’s eyes.
“Yes, we are,” August said. “I think we will do just fine.” August briefly and firmly hugged April and kissed her forehead, before the two made way for their own bedroom.486Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxTbyMJKKS
