So today was...awful. Flynn left to go for a walk (I think he was going to go try to find Maximus, because Jase had been bugging him all day yesterday about wanting to meet and ride him), and I stayed home with the girls.
Well...Blondie was gone for the better part of the day. When she finally did come back to the bookshelf, I overheard Rayne ask how her date went.
Date? I was all ears - mainly because there weren't any other male dolls in this place, except for HB's ex, as far as I knew.
"It went well. Ray was very cordial. He asked how the babies were. I didn't know he knew about the babies!"
"Wait. Ray? He knew about the babies?" I piped up.
"Yeah. He said he used to be with HB, but he broke it off with her because she was so horrible towards him."
"Blondie...you don't LIKE him, do you?"
"Why would I go on a date with a guy I didn't like? He's sweet and caring. And the fact that he's a Mattel doll, too, is great - don't forget that I'm basically a Barbie as well." She smiled at me excitedly. I hated to tell her that he was obviously lying to her.
He broke it off with her because HB was so horrible towards him? HB had said that he'd left her because of the babies!
When I told her this, her expression immediately darkened. "So you're telling me that he's lying?"
I nodded. "I'm so, so sorry, but it might-"
"No! He'd never lie to me. He's one hundred percent honest! He wanted to come up to see the babies, but I told him they were probably asleep. He also says he would love to start a family with me - you know, sometime when we get married...adopt a baby or two, you know?"
"But HB-"
"I don't CARE what HB said!" She snapped.
"Listen to me. I.." A horrible thought crossed my mind. Starting a family with her? Wanting to see the babies? The whole thing smelled fishy - rotten fish smelly. "I don't know, Blondie, I don't have a good feeling about this, AT ALL."
By now, Merida was standing beside me. "I think I have the same idea you have, Rapunzel."
"HB's gotten Ray to try to suck up to one of us, so they could get the babies back." I said.
"He would NEVER do that!" Blondie squealed, stomping her foot. "Trust me!"
"I wouldn't put it past him though-" I heard Hallie whimper, and I glanced over to make sure Jase was still having a nap. I walked over to calm Hallie down. "Please, talk quietly so you don't wake them."
"Then don't wrongly accuse someone you don't even know!" Blondie yelled.
"Shh!" Merida and I both exclaimed.
Rayne stepped over to Blondie. "You don't know Ray. She's told me about him, and he seems like a wonderful guy. You don't know him, so don't make assumptions - especially such far-fetched and awful assumptions!"
"I'm trying to keep Blondie from getting hurt-"
"Don't. She will get hurt if you take her only true love away from her-"
"Maybe he isn't!"
"You don't know that!" That was the first time I heard Rayne shout.
Hallie started to cry. I grabbed her up a bit too quickly, and she started to scream. "Shh...honey, it's okay...it's okay...could you please just settle down or talk quietly? There is no need to yell."
"Why don't you-" Blondie started to yell, but Merida cut her off with a low growl.
"You wake those babies and Jase, and you'll be dealin' with ME, too."
"Why can you not just consider-"
"Because I know him. And you don't!" Blondie yelled, overlapping Rayne's 'because she knows him and you don't'.
Merida said, in a quiet tone that was brimming with anger, to shut up, and the two of them gasped.
I covered Hallie's ears long enough to get her calm and to sleep again. "Okay. I'm sorry. He's a great guy and I'm happy for you. Just please, quie-"
"No! I know you're lying!"
"Now I'm the one lying? I just said I was-"
Blondie cut me off again. Apparently, I couldn't speak a sentence without insulting someone. All I had done was tried to prevent a friend from getting hurt.
"Let her alone, Rapunzel. Same goes to you, Merida. I'm disappointed in BOTH of you." Rayne flashed us disapproving looks.
"Just-"
"Now wait a second-"
"Go, leave her alone. Both of you."
My eyes filled with angry tears. Merida put a hand on my shoulder.
"Go walk it off. I'll watch the girls for you." She tried to grin, but I could still see the anger flashing in her eyes.
"No...I should stay."
"No, it'll do you good." she gave me a gentle shove towards the bookshelf edge, and I wandered down to the floor.
When I reached the bottom, I allowed myself a good hard cry. I had just been trying to help my friend from getting hurt, and instead, two of them had turned against me. They probably both hated me now! Why couldn't they see that I was trying to help and keep me and Merida's kids safe?
I curled up into a ball and allowed a hard sob to loose itself.
"Hon?"
I gasped, sniffling and looking up in surprise. Flynn was crouched over me, staring at me with concern. "Oh, hey. You're back."
"Yeah, I am. I found him; we'll take her for a ride tomorrow. Why are you down here, crying?" He held out a hand, and I took it, standing.
"It's..n-n-nothing," I choked back another bout of tears.
He cupped my chin with his hand and looked at me with such concern and gentleness that I started to cry again.
"C'mere," he gathered me into his arms and held me close, swaying me back and forth until I got my tears under control. When I was done, he wiped my sopping cheeks - I felt bad about the wet spots on his shirt, too, because of my tears- and then studied my face until I finally burst forth with my story.
"Blondie's dating Ray. Ray is HB's ex. She...she..." I finally just blew and let the whole story out. He stood with his arms still around me the whole time, and listened without saying a word.
Sniffling, I finished my story and looked up at him. "Was I so horribly hateful towards them?"
"Don't take this the wrong way. I know you were trying to be nice and keep her safe and everything, but I could also see why she could get mad at you so quickly. You did kind of jump to conclusions a wee bit. I mean, maybe you shouldn't have spoken up about your concern. But he could just be truly interested in Blondie, and HB could be lying, or something. It's likely that he might change ways because he loves Blondie, or maybe he wouldn't even think of doing such a thing as kidnapping the babies."
"So you won't even consider my theory, either? Thanks so much for backing me up!" I tried to pull away from him, angry all over again.
"Wait."
"No! You can't even imagine him using her in that way? Get all nice with her and then kidnap the babies? He's probably still with HB in the first place! They're both liars! And-"
"Wait, just hear me out," he started, grabbing at my wrists in an attempt to keep me from leaving.
"You won't even consider my theory!" I pushed and yanked and shoved at him in an attempt to get away. He just grunted and held on to my wrists as I fought.
"Listen to me. Calm down. Rapunzel!"
"Let me go!" I yelled, stopping long enough to demand that. He released his grip, but as soon as I turned to go, he grabbed me into a kiss. I shoved his chest, pulled away, and glared at him. "Let me go."
"See? That always does the trick. You forgot I left you go."
I looked down at my hands, now hanging at my sides. "I-"
He put his hands on my shoulders, gently and loosely.
"Now, please listen to my theory. I agree with your concern. And I think the same. But try to think like Blondie, and Rayne. Rayne lost someone she loved dearly, so she's naturally going to back Blondie up on this, so she doesn't lose Ray. Blondie thinks she's in love with Ray, and it may or may not be mutual. At this time, she will defend him over anything. Even if it means losing some friends. Then there's Merida, who hasn't had that kind of experience yet. And then there's you. You got married to me right off the bat, and so you never had someone you love taken away from you forever, and you never really had the option of other men or dating them or anything."
My angry breathing slowed. "I...I guess you do have a point."
He slid his hands down my shoulders and up and down my arms. He offered up a grin. "Now. Do you see both sides now? Do you get why they were all on the defense? Do you get my perspective?"
I nodded, and as I realized how awful I'd treated my husband, when he'd just been trying to calm me down, the tears started falling again. Especially when I noticed a couple of streaks going down his cheeks. "I'm...so, so, so sorry, Flynn...I can't..."
He put a finger to my lips. "It's fine. You were mad, and hurt, and upset, and you were just on the defensive too. I get that."
My lips trembled and he pulled me into a tight hug. "How can you be so understanding and chill about...about EVERYTHING?" I gulped out before a sob.
"That's just how I am, I guess. I'm not chill about everything, though, mind you."
I wormed my arms out from his tight hug and then wrapped them around him as tightly as I possibly could.
He put a hand over my head and stroked my hair, which made me cry hard. I had been so terrible to him, and he still wanted to comfort me and be same old Flynn.
I finally pulled away from him enough to look up at his face. He met me with his old smile, and my lips trembled again. He bent to give me a tender kiss, unlike the more forceful one from earlier. Then, he tended to wiping my cheeks.
"Feel better?" My hubby asked when he was done, stepping away from me a few steps.
I shrugged. "I still feel horrible for treating you that way." I heaved a shuddery sigh and hated that I sounded like a baby that had cried itself to sleep.
"Don't worry about it. As husband and wife, we'll have our trials. Our spats. Our somewhat silly arguments and fights. But no matter what, I'll always love you and will try not to be mean to you over anything. Now stop crying, sweetie. I've already wiped your cheeks twice." He winked. And that's when I tackled him into another hug.
"You wouldn't have to keep doing that, if you'd stop telling me all these beautifully-worded sentences that make me feel bad!" I said.
"Well, I'm gonna say some more sentences here, just so you know." He looked down when I looked up and he grinned before giving me a peck in the hair. "Just so you know...I love you. Even if sometimes I don't seem like I do, or if you think I don't, or if I seemingly don't have the same point of view as you, remember those three little words that are the reason why we're married. Okay, hon?"
He cupped my face in his hands and gave me a pensive stare with his dark eyes.
I nodded, slightly exhausted and at a loss for words as to what to say next. Finally, I nodded again and said I loved him too. Even if I didn't act like it sometimes. Which I guess I hadn't acted like it earlier. :(
He took me lightly by the hand and gave me a careful smile. "Ready to go back up there?"
"No. But since Merida has the girls, we have to. If the girls and Merida were with us, I'd be tempted to just stay elsewhere for the night, to let those two others settle down."
He nodded and reached down to kiss my cheek before giving my hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'll back ya up."
"What, you're gonna go in there, frying pan swinging and claiming that this is the strangest thing you've ever done?" I said, referring to our movie.
He chuckled and said, "Mayyyybe. If it's THAT hostile up there..."
"I dunno, but we were all just about at each other's throats up there earlier." I admitted.
He raised his eyebrows and gave me a reluctant look before we started the climb back up.
When we got up there, all the girls were still sleeping, thank goodness. Merida was sitting at one end of the shelf with the kids, glowering. Blondie and Rayne sat at the other end of the shelf, ignoring us.
"We had a small spat again, when Allie cried and Blondie made the comment that they'd probably be in better hands with her and Ray."
"Small...spat?" I asked.
"Okay, fine. It wasn't small. But CERTAIN DOLLS need to keep their mouths shut!"
"Hey," I whispered. "Let them cool off."
"If Blondie-"
"If Blondie doesn't want to take our warning, we just have to keep extra close track of the babies, and if or when she falls off of Cloud 9 and gets hurt, we'll let her."
Merida started to refuse, but then she nodded. "Fine. But if one of those yahoos says anything to me, or you, fur WILL fly."
I chuckled...and then glanced towards the babies as Hallie started to squirm.
"If you yahoos would have left me alone to begin with, nothing would have happened!" Blondie yelled, finally registering what Merida had said.
"Shh!" Merida, Flynn and I all exclaimed at the same time, and Flynn and Merida stood to pick up the babies. Jase came running over to me and sat down on my lap.
"Momma, Blondie said she was dating Ray. I knew Ray. He's not nice at all. He was mean to me. Tell her! Tell her so he doesn't hurt her. And Momma, why are your eyes red?"
"I know, sweetie. And, well...it's nothing." I cast a glance at Flynn.
"You always say that, Momma!"
Geesh, was it THAT obvious?
"I...Um, I'm just sleepy - that's all, baby girl!" I smiled at her.
She looked at me as if she didn't believe me, but she just hugged me.
After awhile, I set a sleeping Jase down beside Flynn. I took a deep breath and strode over to Blondie and Rayne.
"Blondie, I'm sorry. I jumped the gun. Forgive me, please? I never meant..." I stopped when she turned her head away and held her hand up. "Rayne?"
Rayne put a hand on Blondie's shoulder and stared at me.
"It's not like I did something to make Ray break up with you or something," I added.
"Rapunzel." Rayne nodded her head towards Merida and the rest of the bunch over there.
"But..." I made aimless gestures, and she shook her head.
My lips trembled once more as I walked backwards a few steps away, shaking my head and trying to keep my tears swallowed down. I went back to Flynn. "Why don't we sneak back to our old shelf for the night, or something? Or at the bottom of the bookshelf. I don't want to expose the girls to this kind of stress. I tried apologizing, and they *both* blew me off."
Flynn nodded, giving me a concerned look. I knew he knew I was trying to keep from crying again.
"Merida, do you wanna come with?"
She cast a look towards the other side of the shelf, and then looked at Allie. She nodded as well, and gathered her baby up. I took Hallie from Flynn, and he scooped Jase up quietly.
We made our way down to the bottom of the shelf, and decided then to settle down there instead - when Flynn remembered that our old shelf was filled with books.
When we made our way into the bottom shelf, Merida promptly took a corner for herself and sat quietly with Allie, talking quietly to her. I smiled at her obvious love for that baby. Flynn came over and bumped his shoulder with mine before linking his little finger with mine.
"Hey, hon. It'll be alright," he whispered.
I nodded. "I know. It's just...hard. I even apologized, and they just totally blew me off! It's not like.."
"Don't get upset all over again. Focus on other things." He grinned at me and winked. For a moment, my heavy heart fluttered - and then I thought of something else.
"So Merida...do you think we should take turns staying up to keep track of the babies? In case someone decides to pull a fast one on us."
Merida looked up. "I think if I sleep holding Allie, I'd feel someone if they'd try to take her from me."
I nodded. "Same here,"
We got Jase settled in and then we went to go to sleep ourselves.
Flynn wrapped me up in his arms tightly and I kept a hand on Hallie.
After what seemed like forever, though, I still hadn't gone to sleep. I slowly and carefully worked away from Flynn, who was fast asleep, and away from Hallie, who was sleeping hard too.
When I was able to move freely, I walked to the edge of the shelf and sat down, yawning. I just sat and thought for awhile. What if Rayne and Blondie never forgave me over such a silly thing? I mean, I'd been trying to keep Blondie safe, and I'd been trying to keep the babies safe, too! I had just been voicing a concern, and I didn't get why nobody would believe me and thought I was meddling instead of trying to-
A hand rested on my shoulder and squeezed it.
I jumped all over, shuddered, and twisted around quickly to see what it was. "What in the-" Flynn. He came over, sat down beside me, and put an arm around me comfortably.
"Why're you up? It's, like, really super late."
"Why are YOU up? You'll get a migraine."
"I was wondering what you were up to," he looked at me with a concerned expression.
"Just thinkin'," I leaned into him and sighed. "And I can't sleep. But you need to go back to bed."
"You're upset because they're still acting mean," he said, and I nodded. "Don't worry. Everything will work out alright. Don't let this get to you." I nodded again.
"It's just hard, is all. Did I say something rude?"
He shrugged. "You're letting it get to you."
"And you need to go to sleep, or you'll end up with a migraine. Don't worry about me - I'll come back and sleep when I can go to sleep." Offering up a smile, I added, "Thanks for the talk."
"Anytime, sweetie." He made no move to get up.
"Bed." I demanded.
He started to shake his head, and I stared him down. He tried to charm his way out of my stare by grinning, but I kept my stare locked in on his face...even though I did almost smile back out of habit. He leaned close and tipped my head back to kiss me, but I turned away from him.
"Hey," he said quietly, laughing to himself.
"If you promise you'll go back to sleep right away, I'll kiss you. But other than that? Nope."
"Bribery, eh?" he winked at me and grinned.
"Yup." I nodded.
"That's not nice."
"But you'll do it anyway. Won't you."
"Alright, alright...fine." He chuckled at my persistence, and I reached over to do as was promised before he stood.
"Now, get to bed." I gave him a smile. "I'll go to bed when I can sleep."
"Okay," he said. "Remember what I told you about not letting it get to you, okay?"
I nodded, and he bent down to sneak in one more quick kiss and then did as he was told.
And so that's where we're at right now. I am so tired I can barely type straight, but I still can't get to bed :( Here's to hoping I can get to sleep when I finish this blog post! I'll keep you updated on the situation between us, Blondie, and Rayne. Ugh...I can't believe I made them so mad. I'm really hoping they'll listen to me and accept my apology -which was not faked, by the way; just for the record - and stop being so hostile.
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