Spark- JATP Season 2 Fanfiction

Chapter 23- Dahlias

Julie's POV

I close my eyes and sway my body back and forth, the music washing over me. I smile widely as I listen to the melody coming from the piano, swinging my feet as they dangle off of the piano bench.

The beautiful melody stopped, and I open my eyes, watching my mother take her hands off the keys.

"I like that one the best, Mommy," I say as she smiles down at me.

"Me too, JuJu," she says, ruffling my curly hair, making me giggle.

"Will you teach me how to play?" I ask, giving  her my best baby doll eyes. She laughs, the sunlight lighting up her hair and face from the window behind us.

"Of course I will," she says, lifting me up and placing me on her lap. She takes my hand, which is tiny in comparison to hers, and places it gently on the keys.

"And you put your pinky finger there... good..." she says, adjusting my little fingers to rest on the right keys. I press down, creating a loud clashing sound on the keys.

"It doesn't sound like your song, Mommy!" I pout, furrowing my brow and sticking out my bottom lip. She laughs. 

"It takes a lot of practice to learn a song, honey," she says, kissing the top of my head. "You can't just sit down and play it on your first try."

"But I want to play it on my first try, Mommy," I protest, pressing down on the keys again. The piano still makes that awful sound.

"That's not how it works," my mother says, gently taking my hand away from the keys. "You have to practice every day for a long time. But when you learn how to play the beautiful song in the end, it'll all be worth it."

I scrunch up my nose. It seems like too much work to me. But if I can play like my mother in the end, then it must be worth it.

"Okay, Mommy," I say, smiling up at her. "When do we start?"

She looks out the windows. The sun is getting low.

"How about tomorrow? It's almost dinner time, Daddy is picking up your baby brother from Grandma's house," she says, lifting me off her lap and placing me on the ground. I pout for a moment, but soon my face lights up.

"Can we go to the garden before dinner?" I ask. My mother nods and I let out a squeal of delight as I jump up and down. She laughs.

"Come on, let's go," she says, taking my hand. We walk out of the studio, my tiny little legs trying to keep up with my mother's long, graceful ones. 

I skip the entire way down the path to our house. But instead of going inside, we walk around it, and my smile grows wide when I see the garden.

Besides the studio, it is my second favorite place to be. The sun shines off the petals of all the different flowers, making them seem to be glowing. The bees and the butterflies dance around, landing peacefully on the flowers. Birds fly overhead, chirping merrily as the take off from the peach blossom trees. There is a warm breeze and I sigh, taking in the beautiful sight before me.

"The garden is getting big!" I say, letting go of my mother's hand and skipping through the garden, my fingertips brushing the petals of the flowers as I go by.

"It is, Daddy planted another section yesterday, remember?" She says, following me down the narrow path between the magnolias and the lilies. When I skip through the rose section, I point at them excitedly.