Down in New Orleans: Beyond the Princess and the Frog

Prolouge

Fourteen years ago.......

"And so your great-grandpa kissed himself a princess, and we opened up our restaurant to everyone in New Orleans, just like my daddy had always wanted." The old woman finished her tale, smiling at the children crowded around her. Her dark skin was lined with wrinkles, and her curly hair was white as sugar on beignets, but her brown eyes sparkled with youth and vitality.

"And the best part? We all lived happily ever after."

There were about five great-grandchildren in all sitting at her feet, the oldest being about eleven and looking rather bored, the three year old boy quietly paying with his trucks, and the rest of the children watching in fascination.

Most prominent of these children was a little girl who was bout five years old. Her wide brown eyes sparkled with excitement and fascination as she had been hanging on to every word the old woman said.

The little girl spoke, excitement clear in her voice. "Great-gramma Tia? Is your story really true?" She hoped it was, it all sounded so fantastical she hardly dared believe it. The adventure, the romance.....

But most of all the magic.

The oldest girl rolled her eyes. "Cecily, everyone knows that alligators can't play trumpets, so of course it isn't."

Cecily scowled at her older sister. "Don't be a meanie Mary-Beth!"

Great-grandma Tia shook her head. "Oh Mary-Beth, always so serious. Do you think that the moon doesn't exist just because it goes behind a cloud?"

The other girl shook her head. "No."

The old woman smiled. "Then how can you easily dismiss something like that? Everything I tell you is true, every word."

Mary-Beth quieted down, thinking over what she was just told. "Okay, I guess." She saw Cecily grinning smugly at her. "Don't you stay anything." She replied back.

"I wasn't gonna." Stated the little girl smugly.

Then out from the kitchen, an old man came out, carrying a tray of sugar dusted pastries. The old woman smiled at him, a smile that they both shared with each other from a long life of love together.

He passed the tray down to the children, and planted a kiss on the old woman's cheek. "Telling our story again, ma belle?" There was a hint of an accent in his voice, and he smiled mischievously when he finished kissing her.

Tiana smiled back. "Yes, Naveen. All of it."

Naveen chuckled. "Well, did you make sure to tell them how handsome I was?"

Tiana swatted at him playfully. "You still are handsome you old toad."

They smiled, as if sharing some sort of inside joke with one another, then looked at their great-grandchildren.

"Alright, finish up and get ready for bed darlings, we promised your mother and father we'd have you in bed by seven."

The rest of her siblings groaned, but Cecily didn't for her head was too full of dreams.....

Time skip

"Goodnight baby." Tiana planted a kiss on Cecily's cheek as she tucked her in, placing one of her favorite stuffed toys beside her in bed.

Cecily snuggled under the covers before turning to her great-grandma.

"I liked the story, great-gramma Tia." She said in a whisper.

Tiana smiled. "I know you did baby, why I never seen another person ready to hang on to a story as you." She tickled her great-granddaughter under the chin, making Cecily giggle.