I don't know how to describe my return. I remember being alive. I remember being dead. And a ghost. And now I'm young again, still partly a doll, and living in a house on a tropic island. If that weren't strange enough, the first thing I saw was my son, also young again, and positively buzzing with excited energy.
Freddie and I have always been two peas in a pod, both over-zealous in our expressions of love, both entirely committed to one another. Having my baby boy in my arms again, I thought, was the best feeling in the entire world. The very best.
But that was before the next person I saw.
How was this happening? How? Did Eden end up drinking that potion? Oh, how long ago I'd died. She had to be the one who did this. Who brought us all back.
"Emmett," I managed in barely a whisper.
"Hi," he said, with a smile.
And from behind him I heard a voice say, "I hear aliens don't invade from islands," and again my feelings were overwhelmed just a point beyond what I thought possible.
There she was. There she always would be.
I don't often cry, but at that moment, I was so overwhelmed that all I could do was bawl, while the others held my hands. I never thought I'd be human. I never thought I'd be a wife. A mother. A sister. A daughter, even. I had all those things and now, somehow, I have them again.
Mona Lisa and I were in the process of catching up as the sun began to sink below the waves, when suddenly there was a chill, a very strange feeling, and all of us became aware of an oblong stone head plummeting to earth in a nearby park. We had to investigate.
By the time we got there, the other Classics had all arrived too. And I do mean all of them.
Everything after that was a bit of a blur. Emmett and I introduced ourselves to all of our little descendants where we could, before they were swept into the arms of their former loves.
In all honesty, there was very little time to do that, and rightly so. They were all very preoccupied.
Emmett and I slipped away, but from what I learned later, the reunions lasted well into dawn.
The one we all found out about in the most detail was Camillo's grand gesture to Coralie, driving her out to one of the deserted beaches on the very cusp of the bay.
As the sun came up, he dropped to one knee and asked her how she felt about marrying a man she'd just reunited with a few hours ago.
"From what I understand, you like fast marriages. And we can do it right this time," he said.
Obviously she accepted, and Mona Lisa insisted that we throw her a party.
"No one," she said seriously, "has ever been a bachelorette longer than my mother."
So Coralie hesitantly agreed. Mona had held onto the outfit we'd used for my party, eons ago, and Coralie fit it like a beautiful, expensive glove.
Naturally, it was Carlotta who oversaw Coralie's toast.
She reminisced about their first meeting, about the days in the cottage, about Coralie teaching Goopy to walk.
She talked about Camillo's inability to leave her be while she wrote and her stern lectures on "over-zealousness."
We all listened with smiles. Even those of us who weren't there for that.
I couldn't help but be reminded of my own bachelorette party.
I did rather enjoy the dancer as well! It's been a while since I've been able to harmlessly flirt with anyone. I just need to find Goopy and investigate how well his bum regenerated, now, don't I? I kid, I kid.
I got to know Freddie's daughter, Eureka, the dancer, and a lovely young woman named Silvia, who spoke about her recently cured vampirism.
By the time dinner was served, Carlotta had finally given in to her discomfort and changed into maternity clothes. She hated to steal the thunder, but "my dress just doesn't fit anymore!"
Coralie was ecstatic.
As the party dwindled down, I sat down with the family and listened to them talk about their regained youth.
"We're all very excited to meet Grandpa Camillo," the short-haired, elegant Champagne said to me. "And Grandpa Emmett as well," she added with a blush.
"I've really missed my dad too!" Allegra, the colorful, bubbly one said with a big grin.
"It's true," Mona Lisa said. "They haven't shut up about it."
They talked a bit about where they want to go, what they want to do this time. Eden, however, said with a glance at wispy little Eunice, "I'd rather like to stay here, I'd think. Plant a garden, raise some chickens and a few babies ... this island reminds me of a fa--"
"Fairy tale," every immortal said, tiredly.
"I think that's a wonderful idea," Eunice said, standing up. "I think we should stay."
And that's how Eden became the first Classic to move out on her own.
She and her wife are living in the rose cottage near one of the sugar beaches. They have applied to the city for a chicken coop. They have talked about a family. I look at them and my heart swells. I know how that feels. I know how much they love each other.
I remember Eden as a little girl. In some ways she hasn't changed at all. In some ways she was always my granddaughter too.
I'm so glad she will live happily. Ever after.
