Sleeping Beauty's Happily Ever After

*Author’s note: Sleeping Beauty has 2 names in the Disney movie: Aurora and Briar Rose, so I have used them interchangeably.
Prince Phillip adjusted his tie with clammy palms. He’d jousted with rival knights, fought off dozens of Maleficent’s (evil witch) minions and even slain Maleficent herself in the form of a dragon. Yet he went weak in the knees at the thought of the task that awaited him tonight. Tonight, Aurora had invited him over for dinner to meet her three fairy godmothers for the first time.

Standing on the front porch of their cottage with a large bouquet of chrysanthemums clutched tightly, he could not bring himself to knock on the door. Was he dressed right? Was his hair messed up from his ride (horseback) over? WERE HIS SOCK MATCHED?!

He was saved from his frightening speculations by a shrill squawk, “ROSIE! There’s a strange man on our porch again! Really, the drunks that get lost in these woods….” The door was flung open by Rose, who looked just as flustered as Phillip felt. She ran her eyes over him briefly (thank goodness his socks were matched) and hissed, “You could have just knocked!” before ushering him nervously into the dining room.

“Phillip? You’ve met my godmothers; this is Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. Aunties, this is Phillip.” Merryweather glared at him from behind her spectacles which enlarged her eyes comically. She muttered in what was supposed to be an undertone but came out quite audibly, “Skinny ankles, poor posture…tsk tsk.” Flora took the chrysanthemums from him, “For us? Oh you shouldn’t have! Here let me put them in some water…” Fauna ran her fingers through the blooms. She whispered to Merryweather, “A local species. Approximate cost: $3.50. Not much effort for a first impression…” Merryweather sniffed.

Aurora looked visibly vexed. “Come…Come let’s have dinner. My Aunties cooked.” Phillip gratefully sank into a chair as Rose ladled some omelet and mashed potatoes onto his plate. “Aunties, eat,” he remember to say before tucking into the food with gusto. He immediately knew something was wrong as the three fairies began whispering among one another. “Goodness gracious…atrocious table manners…worse than a pig…” Phillip stopped shoveling food down his throat, to Aurora’s relief.

Aurora could now breathe easy. She took a dainty bite of the omelet. It crunched. Trying not to make a face, she glanced around the table. Flora, Merryweather and Phillip were all poking around their omelets and frowning. Only Fauna seemed perfectly content to munch away on her crunchy omelet.

“Fauna, dear, are you sure you made this omelet right?”

“I think so! It said “Beat six large eggs and I did.”

“Aunty…did you…did you CRACK OPEN the eggs first?”

“Now why would I do that?”

Aurora immediately pushed her plate away and Phillip said, “I just remembered. I’m a…uh…a vegetarian. I can’t eat eggs.” And Merryweather frowned. “I think its time for dessert,” she declared.

Over their Crème Brule, the fairies suddenly turned to Phillip. Aurora began to sweat. The grilling had begun.

“Phillip, dear, how long have you known our Rose?”

“For about, a month I think.”

“That’s not very long. And you want to get engaged already?”

“Well…”

“Never mind that. And you have a house for her?”

“We were thinking of crashing in on my Dad…”

Frowns all round. “Aah, I see. And how many girls have you dated?”

“Umm…. 8 I think….”

“Dated SERIOUSLY?”

“Uuh…7?”

Gasps of dismay. Phillip shifted uncomfortably. This was probably his cue to leave. “I’ll umm…see you later Aurora. Thanks for the dinner, Aunties.” And without another word he dashed out the door at a speed that would have impressed Speedy Gonzales.

Later that night, Aurora called up her pal, Pocahontas. “Hey Pocahontas. Party still on?”

“Yeah. You coming? There’ll be a buffet spread and three guys for every girl.”

“Awesome I’m starving. Okay save a hot guy for me for when I get there.”

“Won’t Phillip mind?”

“Nope, we are like, so over.”

“Wow, wasn’t he just at you’re place tonight? Snow told me.”

“Yeah, he was. And I don’t think he’ll be coming back. You see, when I think its time for me and my guy to break up,” here Aurora smirked. “I take him to meet my Aunties.