Chapter 17- The Hungarian Princess, Part I

Autumn 1969

"Mommy why can't you cook?" Three-year-old Zsizsi asked, dropping her hotcake, causing the plate to rattle and finally come to a sound stop on the kitchen table. Oliver laughed as quietly as he could. He thought it was funny that Zsizsi was always so blunt.

"Yeah, why not?" Nicky repeated his sister's question.

"Nicky, don't remind your mother that she can't cook." Oliver whispered to his son.

Oliver and Lisa had had their share of cooking fights in the last year. Now that they knew neither of them could cook, Lisa had told her husband that "he would be a hypocritical"…uh a hypocrite if he tried to hold anything against her on that count.

"I think Mommy cooks good." Oliver knew Gizi, who was probably the most kind-hearted child in the world, was saying this just to make her mother feel better.

"Oh thank you shweetheart." Lisa felt bad and hugged Gizi tightly.

"Don't worry guys, we'll get something to eat tonight." Oliver reminded.

"Olivah!" Lisa was hurt by this comment.

"I'm kidding honey, I'm kidding." He laughed as Lisa glared at him.

"Speaking of vitch, the three of you need to be on your best behavior tonight. Nicky my schveetheart- that means you."

The whole family: including the triplets, were going over to meet Eb's girlfriend's family that evening. Lisa and Oliver were nervous about the little ones, they had only just turned three and hadn't really been out anywhere before. Staying with Kate Bradley and her girls for the evening, or with their grandmother, didn't count as going out. Staying with Eb, which they did often, counted practically as staying with them.

"Mommy, I don't want to wear that thing you're making me wear." Nicky whined, referring to the tuxedo his mother had chosen for him to wear later on in the evening.

"But dahling you'll look very handsome and respectabable."

"Lisa." Oliver sighed. "It's a farming community, dress them casually."

"Vhat's the fun in that?" Lisa pouted. She liked dressing up the children.

"Mommy can we paint our nails?" Zsizsi asked.

"Paint their…"

"Girls that's a vonderful idea!" Lisa exclaimed.

"No its not! Lisa they're babies they're only three."

"They're not too younger!" Lisa snapped. "If they vere in New York then…"

"Lisa…"

"Mommy what's New York?" Gizi suddenly questioned.

Oliver and Lisa just stopped, casting away all their differences and exchanging quick, horrified glances.

"Guys, we've told you about New York." Oliver informed. Lisa thought he could barely believe what he was hearing she wanted to faint.

"And you've been there before." Lisa blinked her eyelashes in disbelief.

"Where is it?" Zsizsi asked again.

"You don't remember?" Lisa asked.

"We already told you we don't know what it is!" Nicky was frustrated. Lisa giggled, to her it sounded like Oliver when he was frustrated.

"It's a great big vonderful city," Lisa began and Oliver could see her eyes light up at her explanation, "vhere your Grandmother Douglas lives, and vhere your Fathah grew up, and vhere he and I used to live togethah before ve had you." She smiled at her explanation.

"And Eb too!" Nicky included.

"He's not your…" Oliver tried to say he wasn't their brother but Lisa cut him off.

"Now, vould any of you like some hotscakes?"

"No!" The triplets exclaimed, scattering from the room.

"Olivah." She began once the children had left the room. "I vas thinking about taking the children to New York, it's been such a long time and…"

"Lisa I think that's a wonderful idea." He surprised her.

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow. She'd expected to hear anything but that.

"Sure. They need some actual breakfast."

"Oh Olivah!"

"I was just teasing sweetheart."

"Vell I certainly hope so."

"Well I am. Why don't you and the girls go tomorrow and Nicky and I'll join you in a few days." He suggested, pulling her into a hug and leaning his forehead against hers. "Considering where we came from….I think they should be learning something about city life." Lisa smiled; this pleased her greatly. "And how to be proper ladies and gentlemen…so you take the girls, and I'll take Nicky and we'll meet oh…on Saturday at Mother's?"

"That sounds vonderful!" She exclaimed. "You know, it vouldn't be proper for them to spend all their lives in the country; they have to know something about city life, they are princesses after all…"

"Oh Lisa they're not…"

"They are too and so am I!"

"Well, you're my Princess. Is that good enough?" He asked, kissing her sweetly. "Have a good day honey." He made his way out the door, dismissing his wife's assertion without another word.

"Vell that's not fair. In Hungary, I really am a Princess." She said to herself.

….

"Oh Dad can I go too?"

"No." Oliver told Eb.

"Well why not, it…"

"Olivah don't you think it vould be nice for him to…"

"Yeah Dad don't you…"

"Look, Eb I'm sorry. But I need someone to run the place while I'm gone. Next time, when we can plan it out: I promise. Besides, look where we're going tonight…we're going to your fiancé's parent's house for dinner, remember?" He asked, watching Eb straighten his bow tie. "You wouldn't want to leave her and…"

"Oh hi baby sisters!" Eb exclaimed sweetly when Zsizsi and Gizi ran into the room and began to climb on him.

"Girls, your brother is not for climbing!" Lisa exclaimed, she, however was more focused on putting her earrings in her ears.

"Mommy please I don't want to wear this." Nicky pled. He was the last to show up in the living room and was tugging on his tuxedo tie.

The day had faded away into sunset and the triplets were getting ready to go out just as they usually would've prepared for bed. Gizi and Zsizsi giggled at their brother from their place in Eb's arms. Nicky hated his tux but they adored their tiny, intricate, beautiful dresses.

"Lisa, that's ridiculous!" Oliver said when he saw his tiny son wearing a tuxedo that matched his own. "Why'd you get a tuxedo for a three year old boy?" If they were still living in New York maybe he'd understand it.

"Because he has to look respectabable and because he's so cute!" Lisa baby talked to Nicky. The boy tugged at his tie and looked up hopelessly at his father.

"Excuse us." Oliver insisted, taking Nicky's hand and beginning to walk back up the stairs. Nicky was relieved.

"Daddy, it's choking me, don't make me wear-"

"You don't have to son." He promised.

Like the entire Douglas family, Nicky enjoyed dressing up. In fact, the triplets felt hopelessly out of place if not dressed up. So when Nicky asked if he could just wear his regular clothes, Oliver happily obliged. His son usually wore what he did. Dress slacks, a shirt and a vest, and tiny oxford shoes.

"Are you ready yet Lisa?" He asked, letting go of Nicky's hand when he got to the living room.

She had hairpins in her mouth and was carefully brushing Gizi's soft blonde hair into a perfect ponytail. Zsizsi's hair was already finished and she gritted her teeth at her brother jokingly.

"Come on Mom, you've got to be ready soon…we're late!" Eb urged. "Mr. Tremble's really not going to like it if we're late."

"He's had children of his own, I'm sure he'll understand." Oliver reasoned, watching Gizi yawn. He didn't like Mr. Tremble any more than the next guy but figured he'd have to understand their being late. Anyone would know three three year olds were hard work.

…

The girls were reluctant to get on the airplane the next morning, especially since it met that they had to leave their father and Eb and all of their pets behind. Not to mention Nicky. The three stared at each other hopelessly then hugged.

"Okay…okay!" Nicky cried, signifying that he'd had enough of his sisters squeezing him.

"But we'll miss you!" Zsizsi reminded.

"Yeah, we've never been apart before, not ever!" Gizi cried.

"Oh…yeah…" Nicky was sad too and hugged his sisters again.

"Oh Olivah, isn't that shweet?" Lisa giggled as her husband kissed her good-bye. She'd just observed the triplet's parting from each other and thought it was the most adorable thing she'd ever seen.

"It is…hey guys don't cry!" He exclaimed getting on his knees to address his three crying kids.

"But I'm going ta miss them!" Nicky cried.

"Me too!" Gizi and Zsizsi cried at once.

"Oh! Oh!" Lisa was upset now and didn't know what to do.

"Last call Pixley Air to Chicago." The airport announcer called.

"Oh Olivah, ve can't apart them!"

"What?"

"Ve can't apart them, you know, break it up."

"We have to Lisa. It's okay, it'll be just a couple of days." Oliver said, giving each of the girls a kiss on the cheek and lifting his son into his arms.

"Alvight." She said, taking the girl's hands, pausing for a moment.

"Last boarding call Pixley Air to Chicago." The announcer said again.

"Lisa you better go." Oliver suggested when they heard the plane's engine begin to roar.

"Vright…" She said, taking the girls and hurrying to the plane. Lisa didn't get to kiss Oliver or her baby Nicky good-bye and she felt empty for that reason.

"Daddy why'd they leave me?" Nicky asked. His father held him on his shoulders so that he could watch the plane that contained his mother and sisters take off and fly into the air.

"It's okay Nicky, it'll be just a few days, I promise. And until then lets have some time alone, just you and me."

"Mommy I wanna sit with you!" Zsizsi plead as they were being seated on the plane.

"No Mommy, me, me!"

"Oh girls, I'm sorry but Mommy can only fit vone of you on her lap on the plane." She paused, sensing that both were scared and needed her equally. Both were scared and fought over who got to sit on Lisa's lap.

"Alvight then, we vill trade back and forth, alvight?" She said, lifting Gizi onto her lap and encircling Zsizsi with her arm. Lisa giggled as Zsizsi buried her head in her side and Gizi took to sucking her thumb.

"Girls, it's alvight. Don't be scared." She laughed. "You've flown before and everything vill be fine. And you don't have to leave Mommy's side. I promise."

After a while, Lisa noticed that Zsizsi especially liked flying and that Gizi wasn't half as scared as anybody thought she'd be.

"See, that vas a piece of cake." Lisa soothed, running her fingers through Zsizsi's hair and smiling at Gizi who know sucked her thumb.

"Mommy, there's cake?" Zsizsi asked.

….

Three Hours Later

Gizi and Zsizsi were overwhelmed by New York. They didn't remember ever having been there before. Lisa found if very difficult, at first, to keep the girls focused on walking anywhere when they got off the plane. Every little thing caught their tiny eyes and commandeered their short attention spans.

"Come on girls, stay with Mommy." Lisa would say in English a couple of times to get at least one girl to remember to focus.

Then she would usually have to repeat it in Hungarian so they would both follow along. She didn't think she'd ever heard the twins talk so much in her life, there was lots of 'Mommy what's that?!' and especially 'Mommy why…' and 'Mommy who…' All that and they were just in the airport! Lisa was relieved when Mother's town car picked them up, the girls were awed by that too.

"Alvright girls, vhat do you vant to wear to see Grandmother Douglas?" She planned on changing them in the back of the car, thinking that they weren't dressed nearly as nicely as they needed to be to see Eunice.

"Make up!" Zsizsi offered.

"We pretty." Lisa's face fell at this suggestion.

"Girls you don't need make up." She laughed. "But how avout a little blush?"

The twins nodded.

"I met what dresses do you girls vant to vear?" She asked.

"Pink!" Gizi shouted out a color.

"Blue." Zsizsi followed.

"Alvright my darlings that was simple enough." Lisa changed the twins' dresses and did their hair. She loved dressing them up. It was probably one of her favorite parts of her job as a mother.

"There, now you look perfect for Grandmother."

"Are we really going in there?" Zsizsi, the more outspoken of the girls asked what she and her sister had both been thinking. They stared up at the high-rise building as they piled out of the car.

"Yes darlings, come on." Lisa giggled, wondering how long it would take for them to not be amazed by every single little thing they saw.

The girls were quiet, watchful and held their mother's hands as they boarded the elevator that would take them to their grandmother. Each girl sucked her thumb in complete nervousness. They hadn't seen grandmother in a while and were nervous about the idea, especially since, they had no idea she lived in a place that was so…grand. Gizi looked over at her sister, and was comforted to see that she felt the same nervousness. The girls were completely captivated by the big white and gold double doors that their mother stopped to knock on when they got off the elevator.

"Oh Lisa, you've escaped!" Oliver's mother was ecstatic to see Lisa and threw her arms around her.

"Hello Mother!" Lisa said cheerfully. Hugging her as much as she could, both her hands were still in her little girl's hands.

"Lisa, why aren't…oh look how big they've gotten!"

"Hi grandma."

"Hi gwandma."

"Lisa, what have you been feeding these girls they are so much bigger than the last time I saw them, oh my!"

"Hotscakes." Lisa answered simply.

"Yuck!" the girls said in disgust.

"Hello my little darlings, come in, come in!" She exclaimed, hugging them. "And welcome to civilization."

"Huh?" Zsizsi asked.

"Oh Mothah ve live in civilization." Lisa tried to offer.

"Mommy how come there are no animals here?" Gizi asked, tugging on her mother's skirt and completely disproving her argument that Hooterville was part of civilization. Eunice gave her daughter-in-law an I told you so smirk and continued on greeting the girls.

The senior Mrs. Douglas had been overjoyed by having grandchildren by Oliver and Lisa, but wished they had names she could pronounce. In truth, she also wasn't quite sure who was who now that they were a little older and she hadn't seen them in a while. The girls looked very much alike and she thought that as they grew they grew to look even more alike. Eunice figured that you kind of had to remember them by their eye color. Someone had once told Lisa that Gizi and Zsizsi looked alike in the same way as Eva and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Mrs. Douglas' mind spun. Zsizsi was blue eyes, right? And Gizi was brown, or was it the other way around? Zsizsi followed her grandmother, but Gizi was still scared and would not let go of her mother's hand.

"It's alvright Gizi darling, Mommy's not going anyvhere." She said to Gizi, not in English, but in Hungarian.

Eunice's ears perked up at this, in truth, Mrs. Douglas, senior, was almost angered to find that her grandchildren were being taught Hungarian before English. She'd had no idea that this was occurring.

"Um, Lisa…don't you think you should be teaching these children…English?"

"It's easier for me Mother." Lisa insisted. "I don't know a lot of children's things in English, only Hungarian."

"Like what?" She asked as she poured the tea.

"Vell, like stories, lullabies. Things my mother sang to me, I only know them in Hungarian, not in English, and they mean a lot."

Zsizsi was playing quietly on the floor while Gizi had her tiny face buried in her mother's lap. Lisa ran her fingers gently through Gizi's hair to comfort her, knowing that Gizi was her scared little sweet one.

"Anyu!" Gizi cried.

"What's that?"

"Oh kedvesem Gizi. She said Mommy and I said shweetheart."

"Oh…"

"Mommy! He got away!" Zsizsi cried.

"Who got avay?" She asked Zsizsi.

"Froggy!" Zsizsi said nervously.

Lisa was stunned. Zsizsi had brought the frog? What daring, what skill…what a bad little girl! Lisa was half ashamed, half amused and now, part scared too.

"Fr-fr-f-frrr-frooog…ie?" Mrs. Douglas senior questioned.

"Why did you bring the frog?" Gizi raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Zsizsi vhy did you bring the frog?"

"Froggie's my friend."

"Yes, but darling, you know Froggies don't belong in houses or airplanes, any place else but outside! Now you find him, alvight?" She instructed.

"Fr-fr-froggie!" Eunice questioned again.

"Hurry girls, I can tell you're grandmother's scared to death." Lisa said.

…

Two days later

"Daddy, why can't I come and help you?" Nicky asked, following his Dad around the house. He was wearing a pair of his Dad's best oxford shoes…or trying to.

Oliver picked Nicky up from behind and kissed his cheek.

"That's nice of you son. But I'm afraid you're too little to help."

"Please." The tiny boy pleaded.

"Nicholas O-" Oliver sighed. "Nicholas what's the rule when Daddy says no?"

"Don't ask again- unless you're Zsizsi."

"Nicky no body ever said that was the rule."

"Zsizsi always gets what she wants."

"No she doesn't."

"Yes she does!" Nicky cried.

"Look I've got to go outside; we'll talk about this on the way to the airport, when I get back, okay?" He said, kissing his son's forehead. "Eb, you're still going to…"

"Play with my little brother for a few minutes while you load up the car, yes sir!"

"Yeah…" Oliver sighed, about to say, once again that the two weren't brothers. Oliver was about to walk out the door when he heard the phone begin to ring.

"Hello…a collect call from Hungary…no…yes I know but…my wife isn't here…an emergency…" Oliver was angered until he heard this. "I'll tell you what you do then Sarah, transfer the call to my mother's in New York. Yeah the number there is…."

Oliver had missed his wife and daughters over the past few days but now he was even more anxious to get to New York than he was before: once she got this message, she'd be off to Budapest.

.