Dani turns 4

She woke up early this morning, excited. I could hear her going about her business from my room. Her mom did not have a hard time sending her to bed the previous night- a rare occurence i may say. She knew that today was going to be a big day. She was celebrating her 4th birthday at Chuck-e-cheese's with friends!

She wanted to go to her party as a princess, so she donned her yellow gown, the exact replica of Belle's from Beauty and the beast, complete with the beads and glitters and all. She never had the chance to wear it again - not that she did not want to. In fact, had she had her way, she'd wear it to school, to the mall, to the playground, but mom would hear nothing of it. But today was different. It was her big day. Her cake had a minature princess "Belle" on it too. She felt good in her golden gown with all the ruffles. She slipped her tiny feet into the golden shoes which her mom bought just to match the dress.

Though i did not see her do it, i'm sure she took out her barbie comb and blowdryer and did her hair before her mom put on her head band. I'm also quite sure she put on her barbie lip gloss told her dad about it when she had the time.

I was still in bed when they left for the party. I promised them i would be there when she blew her candles, how could i miss my love's 4th birthday? Her dad drives fast and i knew they would get there on time for the 10AM start. And i knew i needed to get moving also if i wanted to catch them. So i took a bath, and drove my car to the gas station for a full tank. And drove my fastest to reach the venue, with a mental picture of all the kids scurrying all around, and moms running after them.

I reached Chuck-E-Cheeses about half past ten. The place was deserted. i looked around and found them. Just the three of them. Her mom just shrugged, "nobody showed up".

I reached down and hugged my lovey trying to protect her from getting hurt. "I'm sure everybody's just late like me. Let's wait."

And wait we did, while the four year old was busy inserting her tokens into the machine and collecting her tickets, oblivous to what was happening. The staff already told us that we didn't have to pay for the party since there were no guests. Finally, we decided it was time to blow her candles. One staff member asked if we still wanted the mascot to come out. We sure did. So there we were, her mom and dad, a staff, and Chuck-E-Cheese himself, singing ang clapping happy birthday to our lovey, Dani, who, like all kids, found the mascot amusing.

There were 5 birthday celebrants that day, each with his/her own long table for her guests. The little girl in the next table was turning 5 and she was dressed as a ballerina - ballet shoes, tutu, and all (plus a tiara too). she had piles of gifts stacked on the end table. the other celebrants...well i didn't care about them. they had lots of guests.

Two hours later, while we were busy squandering all the tokens we had, a guest finally arrived! Ariana. She was accompanied by her dad who apologized for coming late because he had not had any sleep yet. they were the only people who showed up. after having pizza and cake, Dani grabbed Ariana's hand and off they went to enjoy the rest of the day together.

And so it was. A princess celebrated her fourth birthday with parents who love her so much, an uncle who dotes on her, a friend who did not let her down, and a giant mouse in place of a beast. I guess the fairy tale ended well.

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