It was a long night. Alexis came in around two in the morning, saying she couldn't sleep.
I knew she was probably uncomfortable with Rose and Lacey now living here as well, so I offered for her to sleep with us.
She gave me a sheepish smile before flopping right on top of me and burying her face in my shoulder.
"You're nervous about Rose and Lacey, aren't you?" I whispered.
Flynn, who had been woken up as well, turned to hear her response.
"Y-yeah...it's dumb, I know." she mumbled.
I gave her a kiss in the hair, a cuddle, and told her it wasn't dumb. I slowly rubbed my hand up and down her back, and turned to look at Flynn. He was still awake.
"Go back to sleep," I told him. "You'll get a migraine."
"Don't worry," he reached to give me a kiss on the forehead.
Then, Alexis mildly surprised me.
When she stood, I sat up and asked her what the matter was.
She shrugged. "Just uncomfortable..I'm gonna go on the other side."
I watched her as she made her way over to Flynn's other side and curled up right beside him.
That, dear readers, is excellent progress.
Flynn turned to give me a surprised look, before he cautiously put an arm around her. And then he pulled me close to his other side. I reached an arm across him, and managed to put it across both him and Alexis. She gave a content sigh and then I was out.
The next time I woke up, it was six in the morning; but Alexis was gone and Flynn was awake.
"Morning, my dear girl." he gave me a smile and then brushed the hair from my face.
"Morning," I blinked groggily as I realized Alexis wasn't there. "Where'd Lexi go?"
"She went back to bed. Something about me snoring..I dunno, though."
"You probably were," I chuckled.
He grinned and pulled me close. I gave him a peck on the cheek, and was just about to fall back asleep...
"Hey! Oh, good, you're up!"
Rose.
I gasped in alarm, yanking away from Flynn and whirling to look.
She was dangling upside down, over the edge of the bench.
"Oh..morning, Rose," I said, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.
"I'm so glad you're up, too. I've been up for awhile, but it was lonely with nobody else to talk to. Hey, do you wanna go for a walk?" she gave me a bright smile.
Who can give bright smiles and be coherent at six in the morning?
Apparently, Rose can.
"Why don't we wait awhile? Or you could go with Lacey. I'm sure she'd-"
"Lacey doesn't DO walks. She doesn't do talks, either. She's not the greatest sister. But you're up now..Your husband could come, too!" She gave me a very hopeful expression, but her eyes held a hint of pleading as well.
"I-I dunno..." I trailed off as her face fell.
"It's okay. Maybe I can get Lacey to go for a walk later," she said, starting to sit up.
"Wait...well...let me talk it over with Flynn, first, okay?"
"Okay! Take all the time you need. I need to brush my hair anyway." She gave me a relieved smile and disappeared.
I turned back to my hubby and faceplanted on his chest.
"Do I really have to?" I moaned quietly.
"Be nice," he chuckled quietly, tipping my chin up so he could look at my face. "Just think about how uneasy you were when you first came here. At least we had each other. Rose has her sister, but I don't think her sister's very fond of her other sister. She's probably uneasy, she doesn't know who to talk to and who to avoid, if anyone, and she needs a friend. Merida probably scares the tar out of her, and Blondie's...well..Blondie. Rayne's just quiet and laid back, but she might seem unwelcoming. To her, you're the only one who is willing to talk to her."
Well..he did have a point. When I had come, I'd been insecure, timid, and basically a nervous wreck. Rose probably felt similar.
"Okay...you've got a good, valid point, as usual...I'll be back in - well..whenever she decides to come back.."
"Okay," he chuckled. "Have fun. Love you!"
"Love you...I'll try not to faceplant in the middle of the floor," I giggled, only half-faking a yawn.
I crawled out from under the bench, ran my hands through my hair a couple of times - which is really hard, with hair as long as you are tall! :D
Rose met up with me and I led the way to the floor.
"This room is HUGE!" She squealed, looking around. "Much bigger than that box we were in."
"Yeah...that's for sure," I laughed. "We have free range of it, as long as we don't go in the closet or out of the room. Trust me, you don't wanna go in the closet, anyway. It's packed full of junk."
"Ahh," she giggled. "So..what do you guys usually do?"
"Well...Blondie and Rayne usually stick to the dresser, but Merida and the rest of us go for walks a lot. The other day, Flynn and I took our girls down here for a day out...and we basically just explore, go for walks, or whatever."
"I bet the girls enjoyed that! Lacey will probably be up there with Blondie and Rayne..she's boring. Actually, she's a bit mean. She always has been...I think she flaunts her glittery dress and girly appearance, while I'm just...plain, you know? No eyelashes, either. And she doesn't like to be within earshot of me, ever. The ride in that box was pretty..interesting. At least Pascal will - oh! I forgot my little buddy! He'll be so scared-"
"He'll be fine, I'm sure. He can't get hurt, unless-" I almost said, 'unless he falls between the wall and the dresser or something'..but then I caught myself. "He just can't get hurt."
"Okay..." she said. "Anyway...Pascal's my only real buddy. Lacey tolerates me, but she-"
"Doesn't LIKE tolerating you." I finished, taking a random guess.
"Exactly!" She exclaimed, and then she heaved a sigh. "I suppose you hate me, too."
Hate her?
Well, no...I just wasn't used to being around such a talkative doll. I thought JASE was talkative...
And she was actually sort of growing on me.
"Oh, no...you're fine. You're pretty cool, in my opinion."
"Really?" She turned and grabbed my hands in excitement. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you so much!" She gave me a quick, excited hug and then bounced up and down.
I laughed at her enthusiasm, and she charged ahead of me. "You're the first doll to ever say that! Most everyone calls me wordy or annoying."
"You just like to talk, is all," I said.
"Exactly! And will anyone here be hateful about me being...me?"
I thought for a few minutes, considering her question.
"Well...Rayne's pretty laid back, but she puts up with everyone. She's almost like a mother figure. Blondie's...she can be nice, but she can also be catty as well, if you get what I mean? And Merida's really funny, and she'll talk plenty, but she can be quick to jump the gun and begin the name-calling competition. She can also seem pretty cranky once in awhile; it's just because her leg joints were made incorrectly, so they hurt her a lot. And you know that you can talk with me. Flynn puts up with a lot, too. He has to put up with me, so..." I laughed. "Oh, and I'm sure Jase would just LOVE it if she can have someone new to teach all her games to."
She laughed. "I'm sure you're not that bad. And I'd love to learn all of Jase's games. She's hilarious!"
"She is...And I don't know...Flynn has to put up with a lot. Just ask him," I giggled. "He'll probably go into great detail."
She laughed, and then she turned to walk backwards while talking.
How can you do that? If I'd do that, I'd trip or fall down...or both.
"Hey, could we trade dresses? I mean, it'd just be for a little while, and if you don't want to, that's fine and I totally get it. Do we have any other clothes around here? I've been stuck in this dress for three years straight. I'm soooo tired of it!"
THREE YEARS? I'd only had my dress for a handful of months, and I was tired of it!
"Oh, um, sure...when we get back to the dresser, we can swap them."
"Awesome!" She clapped. "You're really pretty, by the way."
Well, she's not random. Not at all. Jumping from everyone hating you to clothes to compliments is completely un-random. :D
"Oh, I dunno...but thanks," I felt my face grow hot.
"I bet I can ask your husband about that, and he'll go into great detail about how pretty you are," she joked, and I laughed. "Why don't you...I dunno. Why don't you two even go near each other?"
"We just try not to gross out any newcomers," I laughed. "Trust me."
"Aw, don't worry about that. I think it's really cute that you two are so in love. All the other dolls I've known, that were at my old home, they were always holding hands or kissing, or talking, or something...not staying a whole dresser away from one another!"
I chuckled. "Okay, so we're not the only ones that act that way, then?"
"Oh, for goodness' sake, don't be so self-concious! Enjoy your hubby," she laughed. "Don't worry about what others think."
I smiled and an idea suddenly popped into my head. "Have you ever heard of blogging?"
Her face lit up. "Oh my gosh, I've always wanted to blog! I figure it'd be a good way to get my thoughts out of my head without annoying those around me...but then I thought that I'd annoy my readers, if I'd get any. Do you blog?!"
"Yes...yes, I do," I said. "If you like, I could show you the ropes, and if you decide to, you can start your own blog."
"Ooh, I'd LOVE that!" She bounced excitedly, and I laughed again.
We chatted for awhile, about anything from the girls to her dress to her old home to our current location. Yipes. Finally, around eight, she decided she'd better go back and see what Lacey was up to, if she was up yet.
When we got back to the dresser, everyone was up.
Rose immediately raced over to her chameleon -Pascal? - and took him into her hands, cuddling him against her cheek. And then she turned around.
Lacey was right behind her, and she looked steamed.
"You didn't tell me you were going off running around, Rose!" she said this in such a low, hateful tone that chills prickled my arms.
"You're not my mother, Lacey. I'm fine, see?"
"But you left me alone with all these...all these..." she trailed off and whispered in her ear.
"Well, you can think that all you want. They're all nice to me!" With a curt nod, she walked away from her sister.
Lacey glanced around, realized that EVERYONE was watching her, and her lips twitched before she went and lowered herself into the wicker chair to sulk.
Rose walked over to me the same time as Flynn, and she rolled her eyes towards her sister. "See what I mean?! Anyway...you wanna trade dresses?"
"O-okay," I said, glancing towards Flynn, who had slowed his steps.
She dragged me over to a spot where we could change without being seen, and then we traded dresses. She had my dress on and fastened within seconds; but I had sleeves and a longer skirt to contend with. And Velcro.
I had the dress on. The dress was nice and comfortable, and it was really pretty. But I couldn't reach the Velcro.
How had Rose done it with mine? My elbow joints wouldn't bend around far enough to pull the edges together and fasten them.
I grumbled and fiddled around for awhile with it, behind Merida's cape, which we'd set up to have a bit of privacy.
"Everything okay, honey?"
Flynn.
He pushed aside the cape, and I gasped. The dress STILL wasn't shut in the back, so it showed my back clear down to my painted underwear. And it was loose.
"It's not...I'm not....it's-" I stumbled around for how to explain that he needed to avert his eyes so I could finish fighting with it. All while I was still turning circles, frantically trying to find the edges and Velcro them together.
He laughed. "Need help?"
"No, I can get it - no, don't, Flynn - it's not shut in the back-"
"So I see," he told me, striding over and Velcro-ing it for me.
He turned me around and held me at arm's length.
"Thanks," I laughed.
"I would ask you to twirl, but last time you twirled, you ended up falling and taking me with you." he gave me a wink. "But wow, you look gorgeous."
"Oh, no I don't," I laughed.
He bent to give me a sweet kiss, and then whispered in my ear, "Oh, but you do."
I gave him a grin and then I pulled away from his arms to take down the cape.
He followed me like a dog as I made my way over to Hallie to pick her up.
"Ooh, Rapunzel! You're beautiful in that dress!" Rose exclaimed, clapping her hands.
"I dunno..but you look really great!"
"Thanks so much! It feels sooo good to get out of that dress!" she grinned.
"Wait...Ye two switched dresses?" Merida asked, looking up from Allie. "Ahh, yeah..ye both look nice!"
Rose beamed.
Flynn put an arm around my waist and hugged me from behind. I gave him a small smile, but I couldn't help but notice Lacey's quiet stare.
I pulled away from him, and Rose noticed Lacey's stare.
"Lacey. Stop it." Rose grumbled, and she - Lacey - rolled her eyes, blowing her sister off.
That evening, Alexis took it onto herself to talk to Lacey.
I saw her creeping over to Lacey, who was sitting off by herself. I started to jump up and run over to her, but then I decided I'd best wait.
But I did eavesdrop.
"L-Lacey? Are you shy?" Alexis asked her.
She stared silently at my little girl, and then shrugged. "Are you?"
"Yeah. It's no fun. Do you miss your old home?"
"You won't understand - you're too young."
Little did Lacey know...
"I've been tossed around to different families all my life, I think I might be able to relate a little bit."
Lacey looked right at her, and shook her head. "I can't believe that...you seem pretty nice."
"Thank you...but you didn't answer my question. I'm old enough to understand."
"I just miss my old friends. My sister's nice enough, but she talks sooo much...sometimes it's really irritating. We used to be so close, but we grew apart after a fight. Don't you ever fight with your sister - remember that. But anyway. That's all."
Alexis nodded. "Well..if you need to talk, I'm here. I understand if you're really shy - I am too. And everyone here is really, really nice. And you should try to be nicer to your sister."
I couldn't help but grin at her honesty and her offer. She didn't know that Lacey more than likely would decline her offer, simply because she was so young, but she had made that offer anyway.
"Okay. Thanks for the chat." Lacey told her, patting her shoulder. Alexis gave her a grin, and left.
I hurried over to Flynn, and plopped down to whisper in his ear.
"Well, hello, sweetie. What's up?" he smiled. I knew he wanted to put an arm around me or pull me into his lap or something, but he didn't because of Lacey and Rose.
"You'll never guess. Alexis talked to Lacey. She. Talked. To. Lacey. She offered a listening ear for whenever she wanted - because I guess she must feel a connection because they're both shy. I dunno. But she talked to her...!" I whispered.
He gave me a wide-eyed, eyebrows-raised stare. "Wow," he whispered, finally.
That night, it took a little bit to get the babies to sleep. I was soooo tired...Rose stayed up with me, Merida, and Flynn, trying to get the two babies to go to sleep.
I bounced Hallie and rocked her in my arms, finally sitting down with a yawn. Oh my gosh...I just wanted to go to sleep...! Merida finally got Allie to go to sleep, and offered to help with Hallie, but I told her to get some rest. I tried to get Rose to go to sleep, and Flynn as well, but neither would.
Finally, I don't know about Hallie, but I drifted off to sleep...until I felt Hallie being lifted up from my arms.
I startled, and looked up to see Rose was gone, and Flynn was carrying Hallie over to her bed.
When he turned back to me, he was surprised to see my eyes were open. He jumped a little, and chuckled to himself.
"You scared me."
I laughed quietly, and went to stand. He stared at me for a moment, but then he strode over and scooped me up.
"Put me down, Flynn. I can walk the five steps over to bed!" I grumbled as he walked. "Put me-"
He pulled me into a tender kiss before he ducked and put me down on my back under the bench.
"Well..thanks, I guess." I said, and he gave me that grin of his while he gazed lovingly down at me. I squirmed awkwardly.
"Now..get to sleep."
"Same goes to you," I shot back, and he chuckled quietly before he flopped down on his side.
I reached over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and then went to sleep.
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