A Child's Choice

Chapter 9

Ebony's Necklace for the ball

The remaining month before the ball sped by, with Alex going out of his way to do things for Ebony. He bought her more gifts, which she returned many of them, he tried to cook for her, and she eventually banned him from the kitchen after he failed, spectacularly to make dinner, and he tried to get her to do things with him, with and without the children, but she turned him down about the alone activities every time.

Alex was at a loss of what to do, he'd tried everything he knew, and every time, Ebony had turned him away. He was almost at the point of despair. He knew she liked him too, maybe even loved him, because she would get this sad smile on her face when he did things for her, before she returned them. He had seen how she smiled at him, and only him. Not even the children got the smile that he did. She seemed to be trying to avoid him, but at the same time, spend time around him. She jumped when she found she was the only one in the room with him suddenly.

He wondered what was keeping her from giving in. He'd have to find out at the ball then.

The day of the ball, the children were very excited to finally be able to open their costumes, which had arrived a week beforehand. Alex took Jacob off to get his on again, and Ebony took Dakoda off to get dressed.

As Dakoda rushed ahead of her into the room, Ebony wondered exactly what she would be going in this time. She gasped again when she saw it. It was a floor length green gown, with a darker top, that seemed entirely made of lacey flowers. Dakoda stood there, open mouthed, staring at the two identical dresses. The bottom half of each dress was made of a floaty material, in the same green as the top part of the dress, done in layers. It had a few flowers, in the same colour green, sewn onto the skirt.

As Ebony did Dakoda's hair and makeup again, Dakoda kept asking her if she liked the dress. Ebony thought the dress was beautiful, and wondered how her son had managed to find a dress like that. Dakoda soon answered that question. As soon as she was finished in front of the mirror, she went and found a small doll hidden behind the dresses, one for each dress. The dolls were wearing the same dress as they were about to, and Ebony smiled. Now she knew how Jacob had done it.

After getting her own hair and makeup down, she helped Dakoda into her dress, before putting her own on. They each slipped on a pair of white shoes, with a small heel each, since Dakoda insisted they wear exactly the same outfit. The only thing different between them was their necklaces, which were again presented by each of the boys when the walked down the stairs into the lounge room.

Jacob had Ebony's, a beautiful choker, made of diamonds in more lacey patterns, with pearl drops hanging off it, the biggest in the middle, getting smaller as they went further away. In the middle of the diamond lace work, there was a green emerald that matched the dress colour perfectly.

Alex presented Dakoda with hers, and she loved it, but sad that she didn't have exactly the same as Ebony. Alex explained that there was only one necklace like Ebony's, and only one like Dakoda's. They were each unique, just like Dakoda and Ebony. And that even if they had different necklaces, everyone would be able to tell they were together.

Dakoda was happy with this, and put on the small chain, with several equally spaced emeralds circled in silver, and hugging her father.

Alex and Jacob were wearing a long coat, black with silver trim, black skin-tight pants, and black knee-high boots, with silver around the top of the boots.

Their shirts were both white, and Ebony thought they both looked very fine. After the girls had put on their jewellery, the boys both went and picked up some lengths of material, and revealed the final surprise. Ebony and Dakoda each had emerald green cloaks, and the boys both had black ones with silver trim, in keeping with their outfits.