Married Life

Chapter 50: I'd like to introduce

     You could hear the chatter amongst the village about the celebration.

     "Oh I'm so excited!! Babies are so adorable!!"

     "Do you think I'm overdressed? I know the invites said casual but I'm thinking this may be a little much."

     "You know, I thought those two would never have kids. I mean, we all know Queen Poppy loves kids, but King Branch? I've never even seen him with a child."

     "Alright I got 20 bucks from Daisy it's a girl, 50 it's a boy from Pepper, I'm liking that confidence."

     "What if it's twins!! Aw two cute little babies!!"

     Yeah, that boost of confidence the teal troll had earlier, wasn't working so much as he stood behind the stage, awaiting this wife's return. When she did, she revealed their wide awake child who was wearing a purple dress and pink bow.

     "You think she's uncomfortable?" Branch asked.

     "Hmm, I don't think so. She's already taken a nap and hasn't been fussy once. I'm just glad Satin and Chenille had something in the back of their shop or she'd be in a onsie." Poppy said as she rubbed her child's cheek.

     Not a sound came from Melody. Not even a smile. She just stared up at her parents and blinked.

     "I'm just a little worried that she hasn't smiled once. Not even a laugh.." The pink troll said with a concerned face.

     "I mean, she's a day old. I don't think she's gonna crack a smile for a couple of days."

     "A couple of days is a pretty long time.."

     "Hey, I think you can handle a couple of days without her smiling. She's give us one when she's ready." Branch said with a loving smile. He looked at Poppy's dress that went from her usual blue, to light purple. She looked stunning.

     Peppy came up from behind, practically scaring his son-in-law to death as he looked at the two parents.

     "You two ready?" Poppy took Branch's hand as her other arm held the baby.

     "Ready as we'll ever be." She spoke softly. Was the teal troll ready, no. But he had to suck it up. Eventually he would have to get up on the stage and present the child. Besides, he wasn't doing any of the taking anyway. It's all Poppy's.

     Their walk in front of the stage was slow. The loud chatter quickly lowered as came out. Trolls all around squinted to see the child, barely catching a glimpse to see if it was a boy or a girl. The pink troll smiled brightly as the teal one waved to the crowd. The snack pack stood at the very front of the crowd, holding up their fan signs to cheer the three of them on. Gently tapping the microphone they had put out so she wouldn't have to scream, Poppy began her speech.

     "Hey guys! I am super excited to be here with all of you today to introduce one of the most important people in my life, besides my dad and Branch. But first, I wanna see how pumped you are to meet the cutest baby in the entire world. If you think it's a boy, I want you  to wave your arms in the air. If you think it's a girl, I want you to clap your hands."

     This was a typical Poppy ritual. No matter what the event was, she had to get the crowd pumped. Not that that was a bad thing, Branch was just extremely worried that it would frighten little Melody. But turns out, she was totally unharmed. She laid in his arms with the blankest face. The teal troll made a couple of silly faces, but it made no difference.

     "Alright, so a good half of you think it's a boy and the other half thinks it's a girl. Awesome."

     As she pulled Branch closer to her, she smiled the same smile she did on her wedding day.

     "Just so you all know, the baby gets the cuteness from Branch." A light chuckle came from the crowd.

     "Alright, so without further ado, we'd like to introduce you all to our daughter.."

     Both Poppy and Branch lifted their child up in the air to reveal to the crowd.

     "Melody!"