Choosing Home

Chapter Forty Two

"Hey, are you free tonight?" Akiho whispered in Elle's ear about a month and a half after his little texting conversation with Ben, Chad, Mal, and Emir. It had taken that long to a: finish getting the ring made, b: ask for permission and c: tell his parents.

Let's just say his mother had sat him down and grilled him for two hours about everything there was to know about Elle...and she had already met her.

After the grilling, his father had reached out to his friend Ryder to enlist the help of some other reindeer for his plan to propose to Elle. Plus his dad also called Aunt Elsa to ensure that the Earth Spirits of the Enchanted Forest wouldn't run rampant during his son's date.

Aunt Elsa had given her word that the Earth Spirits would be on their best behavior.

"Well I was but I'm guessing I won't be?" Elle said, a teasing tone to her voice as she looked over at him as they lounged in the gardens . "Where're we going?"

"It's a surprise," Akiho told her. "But wear something nice and your bathing suit underneath. We'll be swimming but that's all I'm telling you."

Elle grinned, despite her chair she'd been gifted the ability to swim by her grandfather and great-grandfather at her christening. So even though she couldn't walk...she could always swim.

Plus it took a load off of her parents' minds every time she went to Cotillion. Elle still wasn't sure why it was always on a yacht but it was.

"Ooh a surprise," Elle chuckled. "Now my interest is piqued for sure! How nice are we talking though? Like Ben's coronation nice or picnic nice?"

Akiho tilted his head as he considered the question. Based on what he was planning, he wanted to say coronation nice but then again they were going to be in the woods. The last thing he wanted was for Elle's good clothes to get ruined.

"I'd say picnic nice," he told Elle, trying to ignore the sense of nervousness forming in his stomach. "But that's all I'm going to say. I don't want to ruin your surprise by spoiling too much. I'll pick you up at seven?"

"Sounds like a plan," Elle said, returning the kiss Akiho had given her and giving him a small smile. "Love you."

"Love you too. See you in a couple of hours," Akiho said as he got up. "You want me to help you back to the castle?"

"I'll ask mom, don't trouble yourself," Elle told him. Akiho gently kissed the top of her head before heading off.

Elle smiled as she watched him walk off before pulling out her cell phone. "Mom? Can...can you come get me please? I need to go through my wardrobe."

"Of course Elle, I'll be right there," Ariel said and Elle could hear the smile in her voice. If Elle was more paranoid, she would have thought that her mother knew what Akiho had planned. But her mother was always happy if her kids were.

"Thank you."

"Akiho taking you out on a date?" Ariel asked as she walked into the gardens a few moments later.

"Yeah. He won't tell me where, just that I should dress picnic level nice," Elle said with a grin. "And to have a bathing suit on underneath, we're going swimming later."

"Right then. Let's see what we have to work with clothing wise," Ariel said, gently pushing Elle up to the castle. The gardens were very beautiful but unfortunately had a hill that made it difficult for Elle to go into them by herself.

"Thanks mom," Elle said. "I wish I knew why he was being so secretive about this."

"I'm sure you'll find out soon," Ariel told her eldest daughter as they entered the castle and made their way to Elle's room. "Now, what are you thinking in terms of your outfit?"