Monday morning, I woke up at 9, which was relatively late for me.
I saw Flynn was already awake, and staring at me with a smile on his face.
He propped himself up on his elbows and I reached over to hug him and lay my head on his shoulder. He kissed my forehead. "Good morning, gorgeous."
I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't contain the grin that played across my lips. I'd been slightly annoyed by those daily greetings, not used to the attention or anything...but since his absence, I'd missed that!
He got up, and I did too.
He acted as if he had to somehow hold me - whether it was my hand or anything. I didn't exactly mind it, but it was just a tad awkward. He kept a hand on my side and grinned at me again, staring at me. I glanced down at my hair, which was kind of messy.
"Oh, knock it off - I know my hair's a disaster!" I gave him a shove.
"No...it's fine." He laughed quietly, and I promptly left to brush out and braid my hair.
When I had neatened up, Flynn asked quietly if I wanted to get going.
I walked over towards the chair, where the girls were sleeping.
I leaned over the chair and put my hand on the top of it, feeling a twinge of guilt.
"I think we should wait till they're up...don't you?"
He nodded, coming over behind me to look at them. He held my hand that was on top of the chair.
"Wow, everyone's getting up really late!"
I jumped, trying to back away from Flynn, and turn around to look at Blondie at the same time.
He held onto my hand even tighter, in surprise, and I worked to wrestle my hand free. Finally doing so, I gave her a small embarrassed smile and nodded.
"For sure!"
"But we're all gettin' up at the same time," Merida sat up and yawned. Rubbing her eyes, she stood.
With a grin, she turned towards us. "I'll watch the kids today for you two lovebirds if you want to fly away for the day." Flynn wrapped an arm around me and held me close to his side and I rolled my eyes.
"That'd be great, but don't you ever need a break?"
"You can pay me back sometime when I want to go see Angus or shoot, and don't want to take Allie with me." She winked.
Just then, Allie started to whimper, and that got Hallie worked up.
Merida scooped Allie up, and I picked up Hallie.
Flynn leaned over my shoulder and made a goofy face at Hallie, and Hallie quickly responded with the world's silliest, most adorable little smile. My heart swelled.
Just then, Jase woke up, looked around...and caught sight of her Daddy.
She thrust herself from the chair up into his outstretched arms and gave him an enthusiastic hug.
"I'm so glad you're here this morning still, Daddy!" She gave him a dimple-y smile and he gave her that grin.
He tickled her, and she shrieked with giggles, which awoke Rayne.
Her arms flew out everywhere as she jumped up and whirled towards us, a confused look on her face.
"Sorry!" I exclaimed. "Go back to sleep."
She laughed. "That's fine. Jase is happy to have her Daddy back, and I can understand."
Merida came over and took the girls from Flynn and I.
"You two go and have a nice day, and don't worry about coming back quick, either." She gave me a lopsided grip.
"Why're you in a big hurry to kick us out? Got a big date or something?" I joked.
"Yep." With a laugh, she went along with it.
Flynn came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder.
"So you're in a big hurry, too," I said, winking at him.
"Well, I've got a big date, too, after all!" He joked, with an innocent look on his face.
I rolled my eyes and started for the shelf edge. "Thanks, guys! We'll see you later. Bye, Jase!"
She waved at us, and we started the descent.
When we were down off of the shelf, Flynn promptly took my hand in his and gave it a squeeze, smiling at me. I grinned back and we just walked around awhile, chatting about general, random stuff.
I suddenly remembered what Rayne had told me about her backstory, and thought about telling Flynn. I opened my mouth to say about it, but then I thought better of it and didn't say anything.
Flynn caught my expression, though. "What aren't you telling me?"
I shook my head and smiled, trying to think fast. "Just don't know where I should start with telling you how glad I am you're back!" I substituted, and he chuckled.
We looped back around towards the bookshelf, and Flynn suddenly pulled me close.
"Dance?" He asked with a smile, taking my other hand and wrapping his arm around my waist.
"Of course, kind sir!" I joked, and he pulled my hand up to kiss it. I felt a tingle go up my spine. But I also had a surprise for him! As soon as I heard the music come on, I put my arm around his neck and started dancing on my own. Without stomping on his feet half-a-gazillion-times! Or tripping. Or scraping my heels with my own toenails. (Awkward!) Safe to say, our one-month dance went a LOT better than our first dance!!!
When the playlist on the iPod was done, I lingered in his arms for a moment.
I could tell my hubby was itching to ask how I suddenly knew how to dance, but didn't know how to say it and not seem rude or anything.
"H-how did you get so great at dancing all of a sudden? No offense, but-"
I giggled. "Rayne taught me. I asked her to teach me, so that when you came back, I'd have a surprise. However small that is, but hey - you noticed it!"
He leaned down to kiss me. "I sure did. You were awesome."
I smiled and he brushed some loose hairs from my face. I was just about to reach up to kiss him back, when we both heard a growling, "Hey, YOU!"
I pulled away from Flynn, slightly embarrassed, to look to see who it was.
And, gee. I never would have guessed...
HB. She came right up into my face and said, "So, are you happy now?"
I didn't answer her directly. I was slightly amazed that it had taken her till now to confront me. "It took you this long to find out they were gone?!" I asked, mystified.
"Don't you change the subject! I want them back, now!" She tapped her foot impatiently.
"Sorry...we legally adopted them from Tangled Fan. She took them after she heard that you were leaving them alone on the top of that huge shelf- and after she realized you lied to her. And she caught them when they fell off the shelf, because you weren't there to watch them!" I said, trying to keep my temper, but it was growing hard to.
"I'm single again, because of it!"
"Well, that's a shame that your boyfriend didn't stick with you during all this, but it is not my fault that your boyfriend thinks that way." I said. Wow, Barbies must be a LOT different in mentality and everything, than Disney dolls...
Suddenly, she realized what would make me snap. She knew she wasn't getting the babies back.
"Oh, hey!" She suddenly turned sugary-sweet and looked at Flynn. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you around in a few weeks and thought maybe you'd smartened up and left that ugly thing you call your wife."
I gasped and took a huge step towards HB. She was surprised, because she backed off a step and her perfectly-made-up face looked mystified. Flynn grabbed at my wrist, but I slipped away from him.
"Don't you dare even look at him. He is my husband, he is faithful, and he always will be. He would never do such a thing to me, and I am quite maddened that you act as if he WOULD! Also, I do not want to see you near me, Flynn, or my children ever again. You can do whatever you want, call me as many different kinds of ugly and stupid that you wish, but don't you DARE go near my family. And if I catch you-"
I started to shake my finger at her and stride towards her, my temper finally snapping, but Flynn grabbed me around my waist and hauled me back away from her.
"HB, you heard her. Go back to your own side of the room. And don't bother trying to make trouble again."
"Fine, if you want to be stuck with that awful, makeupless, awfully-haired thing..." she gave me a sly look as she probably wondered if I would yank away from my husband to start a fight - "fine."
She turned and walked away, as if nothing had ever even happened. I looked up at Flynn and saw such an angry, shocked face, that I hoped I never saw it again.
He looked down at me as if he'd suddenly broken out of a trance or something, and offered up a small smile. "Hopefully, we've seen the last of miss HB."
I nodded. "That's for sure."
He plopped down and held an arm out from his side. I sat down and put an arm around his waist, and he grinned at me.
"So...what do we talk about now..." I mused, rolling a questioning eye up at him.
"I'm personally just so amazed at how much we've changed in the past month and a half. We'd been deboxed. You hurt your arm and had to have surgery on it. I goofed up our proposal several times over. You came back and we decided to get married on the 4th of July...just a couple weeks after we'd gotten deboxed. Then we ended up fostering four kids. We had all of them taken away, and have most of them back with us again. You've endured so much, and you've had to take care of me when I have migraines. I had to go away for two weeks - and one day - to get my migraines taken care of. And what else are we going to do now?"
"Hopefully, things will wind down and we'll be able to enjoy life, instead of something happening CONSTANTLY!" I chuckled.
"I could live with that, for awhile," he pulled me close and kissed my hair.
Still, something was bothering me. I know I shouldn't let HB into my head, but that's what happened. I still wished that I was prettier, as in Barbie prettier, anyway. For Flynn, anyway.
I looked away absentmindedly, thinking about that. I couldn't even really do anything cute with my hair - just a braid or loose. The only time I'd ever worn a different dress was when we'd gotten married!
"Hey," he said tenderly. "I know that look." He cupped my chin in his hand and gently brought me around to face him. "What? HB?"
Sighing, I shrugged. "Just me being...me."
"Spill it. I like hearing you being you. Unless you're bothered about your appearance. That makes me sad, because you're beautiful."
I stayed silent, and he studied my face. He leaned down to bump his forehead with mine, and started to talk. "Babe, don't let her get into your head. She's just mean and attention-seeking. What do I tell you every morning?"
I knew the answer, but I just said, "Good morning?"
He chuckled. "Good morning, and I usually try to remind you how pretty you are, and how lucky I am to have you as my wife. You need to keep in mind that I really do mean it, and I'm not just saying it to say it! Why would I tell you "Oh gee you're the most wonderful, pretty, sweet, awesome doll on earth" just because I felt like saying those adjectives?"
I laughed and he kissed the tip of my nose. "I suppose you have a point. Thanks. And I am not awesome."
"Says you."
"Yeah, says me. I'm pretty sure my friends will back me up."
"No. They're on MY side!" he said, pretending to be bratty.
All worries about my appearance forgotten - or at least, temporarily ;) - I gave him a shove and giggled when he pantomimed falling over. I started laughing when he randomly tickled my sides when I was least expecting it, and then I got a bad case of the giggles.
Suddenly, he said, "What's that sound?"
"Oh, no, I'm not falling for-" I laughed.
"No, really!"
Then the door opened and Tangled Fan came bustling in with the vacuum. I was still giggling, and must've been taking too long to get out of the way, because Flynn rolled his eyes in fake exasperation, picked me up, and made a run for the lowest shelf on the bookshelf.
Once we were in there and he'd set me down, I gave him a sideways look. He gave me a sideways look back, trying to be stone-faced (although I could see that grin sneaking up on his lips!) and I started to laugh again, elbowing him, and he joined in on the chuckle.
Eventually, my giggles subsided, and I laid my head on his shoulder. "You're...I don't know. Awesome? Great? Grand?..."
"How about, 'I love you'. That basically covers all bases," he winked at me and I laughed again.
"Okay. I love you." I said with a grin, and he matched it with a grin of his own.
Finally, Tangled Fan left, and we came out of 'hiding'. We decided to meander over to the window.
I ran one hand on my braid, which was getting really messy, and stood beside Flynn as we looked out the window. It was pretty nice outside! I was glad. It matched the cheeriness inside! (:
"I need to brush this out, or rebraid it or something.." I muttered to myself, and Flynn glanced over at me.
"It looks fine. What'd I tell you, like, a half an hour ago?"
"Yeah, yeah. But it still needs brushed." I smiled.
We both laid down on the windowsill and watched the outdoors from there. And, unlike our 'honeymoon', we actually watched the outdoors, instead of staring at each other like two crazed/twitterpated/whatever dolls!
We discussed lots of things, including blog ideas for a 'month in review' where we'll read one anothers' posts, and then create a post with our own thoughts. I don't know, it's kind of hard to explain. Anyone think that's a good idea? I think it would be fun, but maybe I just want a reason to go back thru and read all my hubby's posts ;)
After awhile, we finally decided to go back to the bookshelf.
When we got back, the babies were asleep. Jase raced over and hugged us both.
I took Hallie from Rayne, and Flynn sat with Jase, listening to her ecstatic monologue about all the new games she couldn't wait to teach him.
I giggled at the thought of my big-handed, tall husband playing teaparty with little Jase, but I knew he'd do it if she wanted him to do it. He did all in his power to make that little girl smile! As a matter of fact, he did all in his power to make ME smile, too. I caught him grinning at me, and I smiled back. Rayne caught this exchange and I finally recognized the quick shadow crossing her features. I felt terrible! I wished there was some way to find her Eugene. But that's, what? Probably millions of Eugenes? The odds of that is, well...astronomical. :( I wandered over to her and gave her a one-armed hug.
"I'm sorry." I whispered.
"No, no no. It's fine! I told you to enjoy that hubby of yours, and I expect you to. Don't let me get in the way. I've just..been thinking a lot about him." she whispered.
"You have no outlet for that stress, either.." I trailed off, an idea forming in my mind. "Make your own blog! Or use mine."
"No way." She laughed. "Me writing a blog would be like Merida falling in love with someone! She's about as close to her movie character as I've ever seen a doll be. And it would be so horribly boring. 'Oh, I babysat Allie today, because Merida went shooting. Talk to you all later!' And I'm not a great writer."
"Stranger things have happened." I glanced around. "And why don't you get out more? We could introduce you to the 18 inchers, and if I could ever find Maximus again - I think Tangled Fan set him somewhere under a pile of junk - we could teach you to ride, and you could learn to shoot the bow and arrow, and...and all sorts of things! You never know."
"Thank you for the offer. I'll think on it awhile." She smiled at me and added in a whisper, "Your husband looks like he needs saved before Jase has turned him into a man-erina."
"..What?" I said, totally confused.
"Ballerina. He's a guy, though, so I say a man-erina. Although, I know there are male ballet dancers in the human world. I just think it's more fitting for the doll world." She explained, and I laughed.
"See? People would LOVE you blogging. And it wouldn't have to just be you. Merida and Blondie and you could share a blog?"
"Like I said - I'll think on it. If you could teach me how to set a blog up sometime, it would be cool. But right now, go spend time with your guy."
I flashed her a smile and went over to him. He was sitting on the wicker chair with Jase, and so I started to sit on the Hallmark ornament box - Blondie had vacated it for once - but of course not.
He snaked one arm out and wrapped it around my waist.
"Wait up a sec...there's room here for you," I turned to see his playful grin.
I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "What if I want to sit on the box?"
He quickly pulled me down onto his lap, so quickly that I squawked in surprise.
"You can sit here for a couple minutes," he winked, and I elbowed him. He pulled me in for a quick kiss.
"Not in front of the kids." I scolded him.
"That's okay, Momma! I know you like Daddy. And that's what dolls do when they like someone, right?" She looked up at me inquisitively.
"Umm...yeah, that's right," I tried to suppress the sudden burst of laughter threatening to slip from my lips.
I pulled her up onto my lap beside Hallie for a quick hug, but she preferred to sit on Flynn's lap, so she quickly scooted back down to him. She was such a Daddy's girl! My heart squeezed when I saw Flynn gaze down adoringly at her, and I couldn't help the huge smile spreading on my face. She was a Daddy's girl, and he was wrapped around her tiny little finger. Undoubtedly! I stared down at Hallie and enjoyed the peaceful expression her sleeping face had. Flynn gave my shoulders a squeeze and kissed my hair, and I looked up at him, also enjoying being able to see those chocolatey brown eyes again! Okay, I'm getting mushy. I'll stop now :D
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