The Blau Family Surprise

Rosa goes for a solitary walk after hearing the news.

“Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” shouted Rosa in her usual manner as she opened the front door of the nest and flew in slamming the door shut behind her. She ran right into her father who as usual was standing a few feet back from the door. As she did so, he wrapped his wings around her. “Daddy guess what?” she asked stepping back to look around her father’s portly figure to see if her mother was standing in her usual place, barring her entry into the kitchen before giving her at least a kiss. But her mother wasn’t in her usual place.

“What Rosa?” asked George, but for the moment Rosa had been sidetracked. She didn’t like change much, and to her Sybil not standing guard over the entrance to the kitchen was change.

“Where’s mummy?” she asked sounding slightly disconcerted.

“Is that what you wanted to ask me Rosa?” George smiled at Rosa and stood aside for her to make her way into the kitchen.

“No, daddy,” she replied not moving, “but where’s mummy?”

“In your room,” replied George eager to see what Rosa would think of that answer. Not much, as it turned out to be.

“Oh ok,” and then she continued her walk towards the kitchen to see what Julia had ready for her to snack on. When she was halfway down the hallway, Rosa stopped before she reached the door to her room and turned to face her father. Rosa was trying to formulate her next steps, because the fact her mother wasn’t standing waiting for her represented a change in behaviour, and Rosa didn’t like change, especially when she wasn’t part of implementing that change.

“Why is mummy in my room?” she asked finally, again sounding a little down.

“Cleaning your room, Rosa dear. Would you like to help her?” That didn’t need any thought. “No daddy. Why would I want to do that?” asked Rosa now getting back into form. She was now on solid ground. She snickered and decided that any further discussion would probably lead her to help her mother, and that was definitely out of bounds.

“Well, it is your room, Rosa. Don’t you think it would be nice to help your mother?”

“Nope,” she replied still heading down the hallway. It was obvious her father wasn’t going to drop the subject. She turned, put her wings in her hips and faced her father. “Daddy, I’m a JAP and JAPs don’t clean their rooms.” She hesitated for a second and then added, “that’s why we have mummies.” Damage done. She was satisfied. Now back to the kitchen.

“Rosa dear,” she heard her father quietly call her. She stopped just before the kitchen door right where her mother until that day stood and she knew she had to answer her father.

“Yes, daddy,” she sounded defeated.

“What were you going to say when you came into the nest?”

Oh good! Rosa suddenly brightened up. Good daddy, he had moved on. “Oh yes daddy, tomorrow is a holiday.”

George looked quizzically at his daughter, “what holiday is that?”

“My bestest friend told me it’s a holiday in her religion and she’s invited all her friends over to her house after school.”

“Oh I see,” replied George slowly, wondering what Hindu holiday it could be.

That morning he had stopped in Snead Ferry on his way to work to welcome the owners of an Indian store that had recently opened, and they hadn’t mentioned anything about a holiday. But there are so many religions in India that George thought that maybe it was a holiday for Anjali, but not for the Indian store owners.

“No dad,” Julia had walked into the hallway upon hearing the back and forth between her sister and father. “No daddy,” she continued in her southern drawl, something that irritated George immensely. Ever since they had moved down to North Carolina from New Jersey, Julia had decided in order to be well accepted in that part of the country, that she had to perfect a southern drawl. No amount of telling her it was annoying changed a thing. “It’s a Hindu festival called Holi.”

“That’s right,” interrupted Rosa, “it’s a Holi day. Isn’t that where the words holiday came from?”

Sybil, who while pretending to tidy Rosa’s room in the hope she would help, finally gave up and walked out into the corridor carrying a box of Rosa’s dolls. “Mummy! Where are you taking those?” Rosa panicked.

“I’m tidying things up in the little JAP’s room,” she replied with that patented evil smile on her face.

“No mummy, you can’t throw those dolls away. They are my favourite dolls.” And with that, she walked up to Sybil, took the box away and walked back into her room. They heard her scream and both Julia and George flew into her room. Sybil didn’t budge.

“What’s the matter?” asked George.

“Look what mummy’s done. She’s destroyed my room and now I’ll have to tidy it up.” George smiled at his wife’s deceptiveness, while he and Julia walked slowly out of the room closing the door behind them.

Timmy, who had just finished his science project, walked into the hallway and joined the little group. “What’s Rosa screaming for?” he asked.

“I got her to tidy her room,” his mother replied walking by her husband and grabbing his wing.

“Where are we going?” George asked trying to resist her pull.

“I want to show you something,” she replied and reluctantly George followed his wife. She led him into the living room and pointed to the corner where her sewing machine stood. George was shocked. “You’re actually going to finish the curtains for Rosa’s room? The ones you started when she was just a wee chick.”

“No silly man,” replied Sybil rolling her eyes. “It’s for the new baby.”

“Whose new baby?” his heart began racing and he started to hyperventilate.

“Ours silly boy,” she added.

“What, what, what, when did this happen?”

“Remember the day when Queen Esther here wanted to be queen for the day?”

“Yes, but what has she got to do with all this?”

“Well remember I pulled you back into bed because you didn’t want to get up until the day was over.”

“Yes,” replied George meekly.

“Well, there were consequences.”

“Oh no! we’re too old to be parents again, Sybil.”

Julia overheard the conversation from the kitchen and came flying out in glee, as did Timmy followed by Rosa who had done enough tidying up for the day. “What’s this I hear!” shouted Julia absolutely thrilled. Rosa wasn’t too sure because she would no longer be the youngest chick, and Timmy clapped his wings in excitement.

George was the only one not thrilled by the prospect. “I hope it’s a boy then,” he replied, his head drooping.

“No!” the rest shouted in unison, “no we want a little girl, because she won’t have to have a bris.”

Melody on the other hand couldn’t keep to herself and poked her head through the window. “How many times do I have to tell you,” said Sybil sternly, “how many times do I have to tell you not to do that, because you keep knocking the windows out because you have a big head.”

“Sorry, Sybil,” Melody moaned and as she about to extract her head, George jumped up and held the window in place so it didn’t fall on the ground. “Anyway, congratulations. That means I get to be a great aunt.”

The Blau family looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Nobody was going to explain to her the fallacy of her statement.

“What’s this I hear?”

“Oh dear,” they all groaned, it was Elizabeth. “Am I going to be an aunt again?”

“No!” they all shouted, including Melody. No one would want to wish that on the new chick.