Flynn here...Alexis

Hey everyone....wow, I haven't posted here in forever.  Sorry, guys! 

As you may know by my wife's recent posts, Tangled Fan asked us if we'd adopt another girl, named Alexis...who is around Jase's age.  You may also know that Hallie has been crying and screaming lately.  A. LOT.  I wish my wife would allow me to get up with her once in awhile - it wouldn't kill me.  Even if I do end up with migraines, and Tangled Fan had said I was cured anyway.  But no...she about ran herself into the ground this week, staying up with her.  I'd offered several times to get up with her, but she wouldn't let me.  Regardless..
Tuesday night, she was really fussy...again. 
We went to bed at seven, because we knew it would be an early start tomorrow morning, but Hallie started crying an hour later. 
"I'll-"
"No, hon.  You get some sleep, and I'll quiet her down."
"But you need-"
"Huh-uh."  She shook her head and then left to get Hallie.
I did go back to sleep for awhile, but around one in the morning, I woke up and reached to pull my wife close to me...but my arm hit the top of the dresser, instead of her side.  I peeled my eyes open and felt around, but she wasn't in 'bed'. 
I stumbled out from under the bench and then stopped, blinking.  When I could halfways see in the darkness, I saw her.  She was laying on her side, curled in a ball with Hallie up against her.  Both were sleeping so soundly, I considered just leaving them there.  But when I saw how close to the edge of the dresser they were, I figured I'd best move them. 
I picked Hallie up and took her to sleep with Jase and Allie, praying she'd stay asleep the rest of  the night.  When I made sure she was going to stay asleep, I turned back to my wife.  I carefully scooped her up, hoping to not wake her up, either.
I set her on her back and pulled the handkerchief blanket up over her, looking down at her sleeping face.  I risked touching my lips to her forehead, and then laid down on my back, sighing and shutting my eyes. 
For a second, anyhow. 
Suddenly, I felt my shirt collar being pulled, and then my wife grabbed me into a kiss.  So much for being asleep.  My eyes flew open in surprise, but then I shut them again and enjoyed the kiss until she pulled away. 
"Did I wake you?"  I whispered when she pulled away.  She situated herself on her belly, propping herself up on her elbows. 
She shrugged, so while I waited for an answer, I pulled the handkerchief back up and then spread my arm out to invite her to curl up beside me. 
She quickly accepted, and my heart squeezed when she put her small hand on my chest and rested her head beside it.  And then she gave me a smile to boot. 
Trying to find something to say, I asked her if she was ready to meet Alexis. 
"I guess - anxious, but ready."  she told me, and I gave her shoulders a squeeze before telling her that she needed to get to sleep, adding that hopefully, Hallie would sleep the rest of the night. 
"That's for sure."  she told me, giving a little sigh and snuggling in a bit closer.  "Love you." 
A broad smile crossed my face when she said that, and my heart squeezed before I told her I loved her as well.  I reached to kiss her hair and within a few minutes, I was back in Sleep-Land. 

The next morning came a bit too soon.  My wife was still asleep, so I watched her blissful face for a couple minutes before I figured she needed to wake up 
"Wa-a-a-a-ake up, darling.  Rapunzel...wake up.  Rapunzel...hon.  Rapunzel...Rapunnnnzelll...dear, wake up....We need to get moving...wake up, Rapunzel....Rapunzel.  Ra-"
"I'm up, I'm up already!"  she fairly grumbled, peeling her eyes open. 
Okay...so maybe I overdid my annoying act a bit much.  "Good morning to you, too, my little sunshine."  I told her sarcastically, and she laughed. 
"Sorry."  she finally lifted her head off of my chest to look at me.  I grinned at her drowsy expression, and a smile teased her lips.  "What time's it?" 
"Tangled Fan will be back in..." I trailed off as I thought about the time.  "Probably a half an hour."
"Half an hour?!"  she moaned and let her head drop dramatically onto my chest.  "Can't we just stay here...and go back to sleep...while Hallie's actually not screaming?"
 Boy, didn't THAT sound like a good idea.  I chuckled, though.  "Tempting as it sounds, we need to get moving." 
She sighed, and started to push herself up and sit.   I impulsively snaked my hand out, grabbed her arm, and when she turned to give me a confused look, I took her chin in my other hand and pulled her close to kiss her. 
When I parted my lips from hers, she gave me a dazzled smile, so I gave her a grin back. 
Her face started growing red, and she looked down before leaving to brush her hair out. 

So I stayed under the bench with my eyes shut, thinking about my wife.
Suddenly, though, I heard her say, "Watch this."  to someone..so I figured I'd just keep my eyes shut.  If she was going to try sneaking up on me, she'd get a good surprise - how could I pass that up?!! 
I felt her finger trail lightly across my cheek, and I resisted twitching. 
Then, I heard her draw in a breath, inches away from my face. 
Perfect opportunity. 
My eyes flashed open, I grabbed her arms, and I yelled "Boo!" at the same time.  Who says men can't multitask?  They can multitask when it comes to teasing, anyway. 
She screamed, doing a weird yanking away/slapping at my hands dance, and then smacked her head off of the bench. 
That was classic. 
I started laughing, and sat up.  I could hear Merida laughing her head off as well. 
She rubbed at her head and looked in my direction.  I couldn't keep from laughing.  I pressed my lips together, but that didn't help.  My wife wandered over towards me, and I figured I'd give her a quick kiss to show I didn't exactlyyyy mean to laugh at her expense.  She came in close to me, and I was just about to kiss her, when she planted a hand on my chest and shoved me down onto my back. 
"Hey, no fair!"  I laughed.  She giggled at me and shook her head. 
Merida finally stopped laughing, and Rapunzel stuck around.  She held a hand out to me, grinning, and I cautiously took her hand, expecting her to either be nice and help me up, or pick at me and do something un-helpful.  She decided to be helpful. 

A little while later, we were standing in front of a certain little girl by the name of Alexis. 
She had curly red hair and greenish-blue eyes, and her appearance reminded me loosely of Merida. 
She was shy, and terrified of me. 
She was also formerly adopted by Ray and HB.
After some quiet discussion, we decided we'd try fostering her.  I was a bit unsure that she'd ever learn to trust me - I mean, she'd totally flip if I'd as much as look at her cross-eyed.  But I wouldn't give up on a chance to show her I wasn't going to hurt her, either. 

So that's how we ended up about an hour later, back on our dresser and trying to get acquainted with Alexis. 
We found out that Jase and Alexis had been adopted at the same time by HB and Ray.  We also found out (sorry about the off-the-wall random moment) found out Merida is REALLY as bad a singer as she said she was! 
The majority of the day went pretty well. 
Jase, on several occassions, tried to get Alexis, or "Lexi", to warm up to me - all of which failed.  The shy little girl kept close on my wife's lap, beside Hallie. 
Speaking of Hallie, she was very good all day long.  She only really cried once or so.  Anyway...
The day went by pretty quickly.  All too soon, we were heading to bed ourselves, after we put the babies to bed. 
We gave Jase hugs, kisses, and exchanged I love yous with her, and then I watched as my wife reached to pull Alexis into a hug.  She gave her a kiss on her cheek, but Alexis remained blank-faced and unaffected by Rapunzel's tenderness. 
I reached to give Alexis a hug and kiss goodnight, but she grabbed onto Rapunzel's neck so tightly I thought she'd choke her.  She buried her face in Rapunzel's shoulder. 
"Good night, Alexis.  Love you,"
Her little head jerked up from my wife's shoulder, and she gave me a silent, wide-eyed stare until Rapunzel set her down and Jase hauled her over to where they'd sleep. 

When we went to bed, Rapunzel promptly flopped down on her back and heaved a huge sigh.  I laid down beside her and she turned her head to look at me.  "Was this a good idea?"
For a few seconds, I wondered what in the world she was talking about.  But then I remembered - gee, how could I forget?  "She just needs time.  She's just scared, shy, and no wonder; if Ray had her.  I'll get her to warm up to me, I'm sure." 
"You're right.  And that's true as well..you're good at getting people to warm up to you!" 
She flopped onto her belly and gave me a smile, propping herself up on her elbows. 
"She just needs time...it IS a lot different from when we started fostering Jase, though.  Anyway...we should probably get some rest."
She nodded, and I met her eyes for a moment before I reached to kiss her. 
And then Hallie started to cry. 
We froze, and then she pulled away with a sheepish glance towards me.  "Night, honey...I'll be back whenever I can be back."  With a sigh, she left. 
I tried to go to sleep, but I couldn't, so I just listened for her to come back to 'bed'. 
Pretty soon - I was surprised that she'd gotten her quieted down so quickly - she came back in, curled up nearby, and she must've thought I was asleep. 
I turned onto my side and whispered in her ear, asking if Hallie had gone to sleep. 
She rolled onto her belly and propped herself up.  "Yup...for now.  The big girls are asleep, too."  (Jase & Alexis). 
"That's good..." I told her, studying her pretty face. 
"I didn't wake-"
"No, you didn't."  I told her. "C'mere."  I held a hand out to her, and she quirked a brow and gave me a 'what in the world' look, but she took it.  I reached up and pulled her into a kiss.  When I started to pull away, she gave me a sweet kiss back.  It ended all too soon and so I brushed the hair from her face, giving her a grin even though I'm sure she couldn't see. 
I told her good night, and that I would get up with Hallie through the night, so she could get some rest. 
"Thanks, hon...but I can get up with her.  No big"- she paused to muffle a yawn-"no big deal."
  Really?  "Tangled Fan said I was supposedly cured of migraines....why not put it to the test?  Then you don't have to obsess about me getting eight hours of sleep, and I can be a Daddy to Hallie and if either of the other girls gets up through the night.  And you don't have to run yourself down.  It's a win-win-win!"
She laughed through her nose and sat up, looking at me. 
"I'd prefer not to put it to the test, though.  I don't want to risk you-"
At that, I sat up and pulled her into a kiss to break off her sentence. 
She shook her head.  "I don't want to risk you getting-"
I broke her off again, with a mischievous grin.  "Do I have to do it again?" 
"Oh, shush up!"  she said, unable to hide the silly grin on her face and the fact that she was holding back a laugh.  "I'm...being serious here."
I leaned close to whisper in her ear.  "Then why do you have that goofy grin on your face, if you're being Miss Serious?" 
She almost burst out laughing, but caught herself and just snorted. 
"Oh, why do I even bother...!" she groaned at me as she let herself fall facefirst onto the dresser. 
I laughed through my nose at her and rubbed her back for a few seconds before I flopped down as well. 
"Night, hon.  Love you so much."  At least, that's what I thought she said.  It was kind of hard to hear her when her face was pressed into the dresser top. 
But regardless.  "Love you too, dear girl."  I mumbled before I went to sleep.