Planning Cupcake a Birthday Party

"And so for eighteen long years, the whereabouts of the princess remained a mystery, while deep in the forest, in a woodcutter's cottage, the Three Girl Mice carried out their well-laid plan. Living like mortals, they had reared the girl as their own and called her Cupcake."

Looking out the window, Cupcake hummed a lovely tune called "I Wonder," attracting many bluebirds. For eighteen years, her hair had grown 70 feet long, and her eyes became a bright green color, though she still had her peach skin. She wore a purple dress with long, frilly pink sleeves and a lavender bodice without any shoes. She was indeed beautiful. As she hummed a tune, she closed the shutters to her window and walked away.

"On this her eighteenth birthday, the Three Girl Mice had planned a party and something extra special for her surprise."

Tanya, Olivia, and Gadget were downstairs looking over a book of dresses, picking something out to make for Cupcake, who is actually Rapunzel. By the time the day is over, they can finally tell her that she was a princess.

"Well, now about this one?" asked Gadget, as they look over the book. And they found the perfect one.

"This is the one I picked." said Tanya.

"Oh, she'll look beautiful in that!" Olivia smiled.

"Now I thought of a few changes here..." said Tanya.

"Uh-huh." said Gadget.

In the book, the Three Girl Mice found a purple dress similar to Queen Aurelia's dress.

"Don't forget a pretty brooch." said Olivia.

"Yes, and we'll frill the shoulder line." said Tanya.

"We'll make it orange." said Gadget.

Tanya giggled. "Oh no, silly, red."

"But..." Gadget began.

"How about purple?" suggested Olivia.

"Of course, we'll need a pair of shoes and lighter-colored bloomers to match..." said Tanya.

"Yes, but how are we going to get her out of the house?" asked Gadget.

"Oh, I'll think of something." said Tanya.

Of course, they didn't know that Cupcake walked down the stairs and into the living room and heard them.

"Well!" Cupcake smiled.

Tanya, Olivia, and Gadget hid the book from the girl's eyes as she walked towards them. "And what are you three dears up to?"

"Up to?" repeated Gagdet.

"Up to?" repeated Olivia.

"Up to?" repeated Tanya.

"Eh, eh, eh, we, we, well, we, we ..." stuttered Tanya, as she tried to say something. Cupcake continued to stare at the mice with a lovely smile. And she doesn't know that she was a princess and her real name was Rapunzel.

As Tanya tried to think of something, Gadget spoke for her. "Want you to pick some berries." she finished.

"That's it, berries!" said Tanya, as she handed Cupcake a purple cloak with a hood and a decorative button at the neck and showed her to the door in a quick manner, leaving her confused about what was going on.

"Berries?" said a confused Cupcake, as she put on the cloak, buttoned it up, and put up the hood.

"Lots of berries!" said Olivia, as she, Tanya, and Gadget escorted her out the door.

"But I only picked berries yesterday." said Cupcake.

"Oh, we need more, dear." said Tanya.

"Lot, lots, more!" added Olivia.

"Yes!" said Tanya.

Then the mice pushed Cupcake out of the cottage through the front door. She looked back with a suspicious look and smile on her face. Something's not right with them.

"Now hurry back, dear." said Tanya.

"And don't go too far." said Gadget.

"And don't speak to strangers." added Tanya.

"Goodbye, dear!" called Olivia.

"Goodbye!" called Gadget.

"Goodbye!" called Tanya.

"Goodbye!" said Cupcake, as she waved goodbye and walked off deep into the forest, carrying the basket in her hand.

Then the mice closed the door and got back inside. "I wonder if she suspects." said Gadget thoughtfully.

"Of course not, come on. Will she be surprised!" said Tanya, as they went around the room, gathering things. Tanya went to the trunk and took out multiple red fabrics and sheets as Olivia went into the kitchen to find ingredients to make the birthday cake. All three are very excited. "A real birthday party!" said Gadget.

"With a real birthday cake!" said Olivia.

"Yes, and a dress a princess can be proud of!" said Tanya.

"I'll get the wands." said Gadget, as she headed up the stairs.

"Yes, you...the wands?" said Tanya. But she was startled when Gadget mentioned the wands and closed the trunk quickly.

"Oh no!" gasped Olivia, who was also startled.

"No wands, Gadget!" Tanya warned.

"But the eighteen years are almost over" Gadget protested.

"We're taking no chances." said Tanya, as she handed Gadget the fabrics for making the dress.

"But, I've never baked a fancy cake." said Gadget.

"Oh, you won't have to, dear." said Tanya

"I'm going to bake the cake!" Olivia called from the next room.

"You?" asked Gadget, who was kind of surprised.

"She's always wanted to, dear, and this is her last chance." said Tanya.

"Well,..." said Gadget, who was not so sure about Olivia cooking.

"I'm going to make it seventeen layers with pink and purple, fuchsias, lavenders, violets..." said Olivia, as she thought about what to put on the cake.

"And I'm making the dress." said Tanya.

"But you can't sew, and she's never cooked!" said Gadget.

"Oh, it's simple." chuckled Tanya.

"All you do is follow the book." said Olivia.

Tanya pulled out a small stool and directed Gadget to stand on it. "Up here, dear. You can be the dummy." she said.

"Well, I still say we ought to use magic." said Gadget.

Then Tanya threw a sheet of red cloth over Gadget and began cutting with a pair of scissors.

Then Olivia laid all the ingredients for the cake before her. She looked into the book and read the ingredient instructions. "Flour, three cups." said Olivia, as she searched for them, muttering, "Cups, cups, cups, cups, cups..." At that moment, Olivia realized that the three cups of different sizes were already on the table and used them to pour flour into the bowl. "One, two, three."

Tanya cut a circular hole into the sheet. "What's that for?" asked Gadget.

"Well, it's got to have a hole in the bottom." replied Tanya.

"That's for the feet to go through." added Olivia.

Then Tanya tossed the sheet over Gadget again, and Gadget noticed there was something wrong with the sheet. "It's red!" said Gadget.

"Oh, lovely shade, isn't it?" Tanya smiled.

"But I wanted it orange!" complained Gadget.

"Now, dear, we decided red was her color." said Tanya, flatteringly.

"You decided?" asked Gadget.

Tanya giggled to herself as she left Gadget inside the sheet and went over to get tape measure. Gadget mumbled incoherently until Tanya came back with the tape measure and wrapped some around the waist.

"Two eggs, fold in gently." said Olivia, reading from the book. But she didn't understand what fold in meant. "Fold? Oh well." Olivia shrugged, and she just put two eggs into the bowl and folded them in. She pressed down on the batter, and she heard the shells cracking, causing the batter to overflow from the bowl.

Now Gadget was completely covered in the red cloth from head to toe. "I can't breathe!" she called, whose voice was muffled under the sheets. Tanya cut the cloth open at the top, and Gadget popped her head and arms out and took a look at the dress from the inside. "It looks awful!" Gadget complained.

"That's because it's on you, dear." said Tanya, cutting the remaining cloth from the right side.

"Now yeast, one tsp. Tsp?" said Olivia, looking into the book. This time, she didn't understand what the word Tsp meant.

"One teaspoon!" Gadget corrected her.

"One teaspoon, of course!" Olivia giggled sheepishly. She put the yeast on the teaspoon and finished adding the rest of the ingredients to the batter.

Then Tanya measured the size of the dress. "Oh, gracious how the child has grown!' she exclaimed.

"Oh, it seems only yesterday we brought her here!" said Gadget, remembering the old days.

"Just a tiny baby!" said Olivia, remembering as well.

Then all of a sudden, Gadget sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye. Tanya and Olivia saw that.

"Why, Gadget!" said Tanya.

"Whatever is the matter, dear?" asked Olivia.

"After today, she'll be a princess. And we won't have our little Cupcake!" Gadget sobbed tearfully.

"Oh, Tanya!" said Olivia, who began to cry about Cupcake as well.

"Now, now, now, now, we...we...we...we all knew this day had to come." said Tanya, shedding a tear and wiping it from her eye as well. It had been eighteen years, and they began to think of Cupcake as their own child that they never had.

"But why did it have to come so soon?" Tears slid down Olivia's cheeks.

"After all, we've had her for eighteen years." said Tanya.

"Eighteen wonderful years!" Gadget said dreamily.

Then there was a moment of silence as they thought about the wonderful years they had with the child. They fed her, bathe her, and helped her go to sleep. Gadget sniffled and wiped another tear from her eye again. Then suddenly, Tanya changed her expression. "Good gracious, We're acting like a lot of ninnies! Come on, she'll be back before we get started." said Tanya. And they all resumed their work.