19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Teddy Bears and Flower Crowns

"Well, I see my invitation to the Teddy Bear Tea Party has finally arrived," Hawk declared as he waved the invitation at Aaron "I was beginning to wonder if you guys had forgotten about me."

"Naa, Ella just wanted to make yours extra special."

"I love it," Hawk said, grinning as he stared down at the carefully colored image of a teddy bear with a mohawk holding a guitar. "Thank you for helping her with everything."

"We had a blast," Aaron admitted, "it was exactly what I needed to get me out of my head and focused on something besides the past and all the bullshit with my family. Now, hurry up and get moving, so we're not late getting to The Thoughtful Spot."

"Why? What time is it?"

"Ten fifty-seven."

"Dude, the invitation says we need to be there at noon."

"I know, I helped spell everything," Aaron reminded him.

Groaning, Hawk flopped on his back and pulled a pillow over his face. "Dude, why'd you let me sleep so long?"

When Aaron tried to pull the pillow away, Hawk yanked him down, rolled them over, and kissed the hell out of him.

"Great, now I don't wanna move," Aaron muttered.

"That's what you get," Hawk grumbled before leaning in to kiss him again.

"Did I forget to mention that it's a formal teddy bear tea party?"

"You know you did, so quit fuckin' with me and show me what you picked out," Hawk demanded as he rolled off of him and poked him in the side to get him moving.

"Owe, watch where you're sticking those fingers."

"Funny, but you weren't saying that the other night."

"If we had more time, I'd bite you."

Grinning, Hawk wiggled his eyebrows at him. "Raincheck then?"

"Always," Aaron replied as he rolled out of bed and cross the room to the closet, where he removed a pair of garment bags Hawk hadn't even seen him sneak in.

Holy shit.

Aaron's consisted of black leather pants with thin purple pinstriping, a black vest over a purple shirt and a black and purple waistcoat. To top it all off, literally, he had a black and purple top hat with matching bowtie that Hawk couldn't wait to see on him.

As for his own costume, Hawk was completely blown away to find an elegant kilt ensemble in deep shades of gray and black. It even had a matching length of tartan pinned to the shoulder, and came complete with sporran, high socks and polished black dress shoes. Shit, it was the very thing Kelly would have chosen for himself if they were attending something formal.

Was enough to make him wonder what Aaron had chosen for the others.

"Go grab your shower, I've already had mine," Aaron said. "I need to dress and help Ella so we can greet everyone when they arrive. No being late, either or that raincheck will bounce when you go to cash it."

"Now that's not playing fair."

"Yeah, it is."

"How can you say that?" Hawk grumbled.

"They're your rules, remember?" Aaron said, flashing him a cheeky grin and a wink before he started striping.

Talk about not playing fair, there he was baring skin while basically telling Hawk he couldn't touch any of it. There'd be payback in his future, that was for damn sure. For now, he headed for the shower, still wondering about the rest of the surprises Aaron and Ella had in store for them. One of them had to be big, since Aaron had been out in the shed late into the night for the past three nights, working on something he'd forbidden Hawk from peeking at.

He found out on the walk out to The Thoughtful Spot, as he hurried out the door only to see Micah and Cade disappearing down the trail in front of him. Lengthening his strides, Hawk caught up to them, stunned when he saw Declan in front of them. Holy fuckin' wow. Hawk was flat out blown away by what he saw. The chair itself was completely covered, encased in a costume of its own which gave the appearance of an old style Victorian upholstered chair.

Declan was dressed in a classic Victorian prince ensemble, super elegant in its rich, deep black with gold accent and flowing ruffled collar. The whole look was topped off by a jaunty flatcap with a large feather attached to the side, giving it a very renaissance French appearance. Not only that, but they had somehow rigged a table, complete with a black gothic lace doily covering a gold cloth, to the front of the wheelchair, meaning Declan wouldn't have to move from it to enjoy his tea and snacks. It was so beautifully thought out and executed that Hawk wondered how long it had taken them to pull that off. Hell, there was even a miniature teddy bear on the table beside a vase holding a single black rose.

"That is seriously bad ass!" Hawk declared after walking around Declan to take in the full effect.

Declan laughed and damn, but he looked comfortable and happy in that setup. "That's exactly what I said when Cade helped me into it."

"Wait…you didn't have a hand in setting it up?" Hawk asked.

"Naaa, me and Aaron did it," Cade explained. "He brought the pieces when he came creeping over with the costumes and invitations. Honestly, I think he'd have done it himself if I hadn't caught him coming in with everything."

"Damn…it's fuckin' fantastic," Hawk declared as Kelly, dressed in all black save for his red shirt, caught up to them, looking like a dashing rogue. It fit him perfectly, right down to the red leather band he'd tied his hair back in.

"Whoa!" Kelly said the moment he got a look at Declan.

"Tell me about it," Declan replied. "I don't know how he knew that I'd have hated having Cade get me in and out of the chair in front of everyone, but he sure solved that problem."

"Yeah, I um, asked him and he just shrugged and mumbled something I didn't catch, then said we needed to hurry ‘cause he had a bunch of stuff he still needed to set up," Cade explained.

"Never been to a tea party before," Micah admitted, "but this has all the makings of something truly unique."

"Seriously," Kelly replied. "I'm loving the outfits."

"Same," Cade replied. "I'd wear this on a date. I'm gonna ask where he got it from, see if I can find something like it for sale somewhere."

"Yeah, I've got half a mind to do so myself," Kelly admitted as Hawk finally took in how Cade and Micah were attired.

Aaron had chosen a black and crimson top hat and a classic tux ensemble complete with tails and a walking stick for Cade. It had a strikingly steampunk vibe, complete with shimmering crimson and chrome accent pieces, and with the man's hair worn loose beneath the hat, he had a sort of gothic vampire vibe that mixed edge with elegance.

For Micah, Aaron had chosen roguish attire with a purple and black vest over a black shirt Micah had chosen to wear open at the collar. His tailored black pants and open, black trench coat with the wide cuffs and ornate twilight-colored buttons made him look edgy and dangerous. There was a highly detailed design on the collar of the coat and the cuffs too, all of which gave Micah a dashing hint of danger. All of them were sporting some semblance of Victorian vibe, and when they stepped into the Thoughtful Spot, it was to discover that the place had the same sort of décor as the costumes chosen for all of them.

"Welcome to Monsieur Remy le Nounours' tea party extravaganza," Aaron said by way of greeting. He even sketched a low bow, while Ella curtsied beside him. There was a basket on her arm too, and she smiled as she straightened up and approached them.

"May I crown you?" She asked, allowing them to see the unique and freshly made flower crowns she had for each other them.

One by one they knelt and she slipped the crowns over top of their hats, the sizes fitting so perfectly that someone, probably Aaron, must have measured the sizes they'd need before she made them. He even lifted Ella up so she could crown Declan, who smiled and bent, bowing over the table in response.

"C'est un plaisir pour moi d'être ici, Mademoiselle Elle, Tu es belle aujourd'hui. Merci de m'avoir invité à votre fête," Declan said in perfect French.

Ella's eyes got wide, and she smiled brightly even as she tugged on Aaron's sleeve.

"He speaks French like you do!" She declared. "What did he say, what did he say?"

Aaron looked just as shocked, but he quickly shook it off to answer her. "He said it's his pleasure to be here and that you look lovely. He also thanks you for inviting him to your tea party."

She twirled in her fancy French inspired dress with its flounces and ruffles, looking quite pleased with his words. "Someday I want to learn to speak French too!" she declared. "It's so pretty. Please join us. There are name cards at each of your spots."

Micah hurried to find his spot, while Cade wheeled Declan over to the space between two huge teddy bears that had clearly been reserved for him. Dani was there in an equally poofy dress, complete with her fairy wings, while Liam was wearing a mini version of what Hawk had on, which was utterly stunning.

"Okay, I've got to ask this ‘cause damn," Micah said as they got comfortable. "Where the hell did you guys learn to speak French?"

Aaron chuckled as he helped Dani pour tea from one of several decorative tea pots that adorned the blankets they'd spread out in the clearing. "Well I don't know about Declan, but I leaned online and so did Hawk, only he speaks Norwegian instead of French, or Italian, like Kelly."

Micah threw up his hands up looked around the blanket. "Did you guys make it your personal mission to learn as many languages as possible?"

"Naa," Hawk said as he sat beside Liam. "We each chose one so we could translate for the rest of the band when we were staying in certain countries."

Aaron nodded in affirmation, with Kelly nodding along with him.

"I just love to flirt that way," Declan admitted.

"That and our maternal grandparents are from France, so we grew up speaking the language," Cade added.

"I loved it over there," Aaron admitted. "We stayed in a floating village in Pressac when we were recording our third album. I cannot tell you how amazing it was to wake up with fog wrapped around my cabin and nothing but me and my guitar to focus on. The way the music dances across the water was unbelievable and at night we'd race model sailboats and dine with our feet in the water."

"It was pretty magical," Hawk said, recalling the sunsets there.

"Whoa, that does sound amazing," Micah remarked. "Should I go out on a limb and assume you recorded in Italy and Norway too?"

"Pretty much," Hawk said. "But not just there. We spent six months in a Ryokan in Kyoto and another four in Amsterdam."

"So I'm going to guess that your former band members speak Japanese and Dutch?" Micah said.

"Pretty much."

"Wow…that's…the things you guys must have seen," Declan mumbled.

"And done, and photographed," Aaron added in, chuckling.

"Is everyone ready for tea time?" Ella asked.

"We sure are princess," Aaron said, and all talk of travel and language faded as one by one, they passed their plates, and that of the bears, around the table for Ella to put the most adorable little heart, teddy bear, and circle shaped sandwiches on.

For the bears, Aaron had gotten her plastic sandwiches in similar shapes as the real ones she was serving and teacups that looked like they were filled with some kind of soft, squishy glittering plastic to simulate tea. Hawk was seriously impressed by the thoughtfulness that had gone into every detail of the tea party.

"So, for sandwiches we've got peanut butter and fluff, Nutella and raspberry, cucumber and garlic goat cheese, turkey and cranberry, and a maple honey ham with thinly sliced apples and smoked gouda," Aaron announced. "They'll be a sample of each on your plates."

"Dude…who did you get to cater all of this," Cade asked.

"We made it!" Ella said happily. "Me and Uncle Aaron."

"I helped too," Dani said, perking up.

She had the only non-teddy bear stuffed animal at the table as she was clutching her favorite toy, the little stuffed Narwhal Aaron had found along with a bunch of other cool stuff at some epically massive toy store.

Ella nodded at that. "Yup, Dani helped too. We had so much fun."

"This is decadent," Declan declared as he took a bite out of one of the sandwiches. "I'd never have thought to add smoked gouda and apple slices to a ham sandwich, but after this, I wouldn't want them any other way."

"Yey, you like them," Ella said.

"Sure do." Declan replied.

In an effort to make it look like the bears were eating too, all of them took their cue from Aaron and occasionally lifted one of the plastic sandwiches to the bears lips and made nom-nom sounds like they were chowing down or held a teacup to their lips, making slurping sounds like they were drinking.

Soft classical music played in the background, providing just the right ambiance for Ella to regale them with stories from her first-grade class.

"Mrs. Allen asked everyone what they wanted to be when they grew up," Ella said in between nibbles of one of her sandwiches. "And you will never believe what Davy said."

"What did Davy say," Cade asked.

"He wants to be a superhero and turn all the villains into snowmen so the sun can melt them," she declared.

"Pretty ingenious if you ask me," Hawk remarked, chuckling.

"And Sara wants to be a librarian so she can spend all day with books and learn everything," Ella declared. "She even got to sleep at the library once."

"Really, and how did she manage that, ‘cause that sounds like it would be fun," Declan asked.

"They have a lock in," Ella explained. "Sara's big sister went so Sara got to go too. She said they had all these big comfy pillows to sit and read on and they even played movies and had popcorn with fun flavors. She said there was story time with puppets and book themed snacks and even a librarian dressed up as the Cat in the Hat to read Dr. Seuss books."

"Whoa, where was that when we were growing up?" Kelly asked. "I'd have loved to go."

"Same." Hawk replied.

Aaron nodded, but he had the same sad look on his face he always got when they talked about childhood and Hawk knew it was because he was thinking back to those days and wouldn't have been allowed to join in.

"You'd have had to pry me out of a beanbag in the morning to get me to go home," Cade admitted.

Declan laughed at that and shot his brother a look. "Heh, what do you mean, pry? You'd have dragged that beanbag chair out with you and dad would have had to buy a replacement for the library."

"You're not wrong," Cade admitted, laughing.

"What about you, sweetheart, what did you tell them that you wanted to be?" Aaron asked her.

Ella beamed up at him, love and joy shining in her eyes. She'd never forget this day and Hawk would never forget the energy and effort Aaron had put in to make this something truly remarkable.

"I wanna travel all over like you and uncle Hawk," she declared.

"Really, baby girl?" Hawk remarked, a surge of pride shooting through him.

"Uh-huh!"

"And where do you want to go?"

"Everywhere!"

"Really?"

"Uh-huh, and then I'm gonna write all about them, just like you do."

Hawk chuckled at that and beamed across the circle at her seated happily between two of her bears.

"I can't wait to read all about your journeys." He told her.

"Can I sing for everyone? Pretty please?" She asked, gazing up at him adoringly.

Before Hawk could say anything, not that he'd have told her no, Micah nodded as did several of the others, all of them happy to indulge her. Of course, Aaron, being Aaron, didn't even wait for that, he just encouraged her to go ahead, so Ella sang the On Top of Spaghetti song she'd no doubt learned in class, which got cheers and laughter from the crowd. When she launched into B-I-N-G-O they all joined her.

"Ohhh, I know perfect song!" Dani declared. "Sing bear hunt! We gotta sing bear hunt with all the teddy bears!"

"Bear hunt it is," Hawk declared, doing the growly intro and asking everyone if they were afraid.

"I'm not afraid!" Liam, Declan, Ella, Dani and Aaron declared.

Then Aaron started tapping a clumsy beat on one of the silver domes, until Declan took over, clearly remembering the song too, and tapping out the beat properly.

Kelly, Cade and Micah caught on soon after that they were supposed to repeat the words Hawk sang, and before long they were all in time with one another and clapping along with the beat until the song came to its excitedly fast paced finale, followed by a long phew from everyone upon reaching the house safe from the imaginary bear they'd encountered.

"Yey, yey, yey," Dani said. She'd been dancing her Narwhal in her lap the entire time.

All of them were flushed and laughing and more than ready to sip a little tea, finish off their sandwiches and see what other surprises Ella had in store for them. It turned out she had fruit cups filled with strawberries and kiwi slices, dotted liberally with a creamy mango cream cheese sauce and the most adorable chocolate, fruit and sprinkle topped fairy cakes to round things off.

Hawk found himself feeling absolutely stuffed and content by the end, and leaned back, his hand brushing Aaron's, their fingers entwined as they reclined there, while Dani leaned over and was painstakingly adding extra sprinkles to two fairy cakes. She had a big grin on her little face when she was done, too, but instead of eating them, she glanced over at Aaron who gave her a little nod and motioned with his hands to her.

In her puffy pink dress and glittery pink wings, she stood, carefully picked up the plate and carried it around the table to where Declan sat, a look of pleased astonishment crossing his face when she approached him and proudly sat the plate on his table.

"You your own tea party," she said as she said it down. "Can I have snack with you?"

"Absolutely," he said, grinning as she slid one fairy cake off the plate onto his, before standing across his table, which was the perfect height for her to join him. Hawk took several photos of them together to add to the ones he'd taken throughout the event, which as far as he was concerned, was a monumental success on every level.

By the time they'd consumed the last of their treats, the kids looked sleepy eyed and ready for nap time, as did several of the adults.

"And as we bring the tea party portion of our afternoon to an end, we'd like to invite everyone to scoop up the bears closest to them and come on inside for movie time in our super stellar pillow fort where napping is optional," Aaron announced.

"All this and a movie too, awesome!" Cade declared. "So that's why the invitation said to bring a comfortable change of clothes along."

"Yup!" Aaron replied.

"Way to play it all close to the vest," Hawk said as he stood and helped Aaron up.

"Hey, surprises are fun at any age," Micah said. "Today was awesome."

"Seriously," Cade remarked.

The only one who hadn't said anything was Declan, who looked a bit apprehensive about the idea. Hawk was about to ask what was up, when Aaron leaned over and had a few whispered words with Cade.

"We can have you out of that in no time, bro," Cade assured him.

"And we've already made you a spot," Aaron said softly, still looking a bit shy about talking to him but it was clear that in these last few days, the times Aaron had popped over to the guest house just to hang out had helped not just him, but Dani too, as she stood close to the chair, talking around the thumb she'd shoved in her mouth.

"Watch Lady and Tramp?" she asked him, batting those pretty eyes of hers until all of Declan's reluctance seemed to melt away before their eyes.

"Oui, mademoiselle," he said earning a huge smile from her.

"That means yes!" she cheered, scooping up a bear almost as big as her. She hugged it and her narwhal in front of her as she danced inside to change.

Kelly nudged Aaron's shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, how'd you guys get her to stop being freaked out about the chair?" Kelly whispered.

"Simple," Aaron said, flashing him a wink. "We proved to her that chairs couldn't actually eat people by tipping that damned office chair over on Hawk and making him stay down there until she came to the conclusion that there weren't going to be parts of him missing no matter how long we left him on the floor."

"You didn't."

"Oh, they did, the bastards," Hawk muttered, then groaned, because there went another offering to the swear jar. "Then we got Declan to show her a bunch of the cool shit he could do while in a chair, including waterskiing and she was fascinated. I swear, that one is gonna be my little daredevil, she's already asked how she could learn to waterski too."

"You're gonna be gray by the time she grows up," Kelly remarked.

"Yeah, me about it," Hawk grumbled before hurrying after Liam, who'd managed to stumble over the bear he was carrying and now lay half dozing on the large, fluffy thing.

"It's okay, I'll be gray right along with him," Aaron said as he hurried to help him and damn, now that Hawk thought about it, he was certain that it would be a damn good look on both of them.