2 month anni (:

On the 4th of September, I woke up a little early.  Hallie had been pretty good yesterday, which was amazing.  Alexis was FINALLY starting to slowwwwly warm up to us, although she'd just told us, upon asking, that she wanted to think for a few days about being adopted by us.  Things were looking up! (: 
I woke up on my side.  I smiled and turned my head to look at Flynn...what I saw was his feet. 
His...feet?  Okay...
I sat up quickly and saw I must've thrashed around in my sleep last night enough to have flipped myself to the other end of the bench. 
I looked at Flynn's sleeping face, and a weird feeling washed over me.  I felt like I needed to be close to him, for whatever reason.  Velcro Rapunzel, maybe, as he'd call it?  I dunno.  But regardless, I laid down on my side behind Flynn and carefully set an arm around him, breathing in the smell of his shirt.  I did this for a few minutes, but then he woke up.  I felt his hand on my arm, and then he turned to give me a smile. 
"Well, good morning, darling." He gave me a smile.  "What's up with you?" 
I shrugged and sat up, shoving the hair from my face so I could look at him.  I drew my knees to my chest and shrugged again, a little embarrassed to explain that I felt, basically, clingy today.
"I-I dunno.  It's stupid...but I feel...needy today, I guess.  I feel like I need to be close to you or something, I don't know.  It's dumb...Just - never mind." 
His face slowly created another smile as he sat up too.  "That's fine.  I get that way sometimes, too.  And it's not that hard to fix!" 
I quirked a brow, until he leaned forward and pulled me close into a warm, loving hug that made my spine feel tingly. 
I put my arms around him too, and unfurled my legs until I could lean a little closer into him.  We just sat there for a few moments, and I enjoyed his strong embrace.  But all good things must come to an end, and he slowly pulled away, bumping his forehead with mine and laying down on his back.  I flopped down on my side beside him, and he pulled me super snug and tight into his side.  I put one of my hands on his chest and propped my chin on his chest as well, staring into his brown eyes. 
My hubby, bless his heart, tolerated my oddness.  He gave me a smile and then he pulled me close into a kiss that made my head spin. 
When that was over, I gave him a wide-eyed look, to which he rubbed his thumb on my cheek. 
"I-ah....w-well..." I mumbled, trying to regroup my thoughts.  "Love you."  I finally spit out. 
He gave a quiet laugh.  "Love you too, honey." 
I grinned and shut my eyes, leaving my head on his chest.  Until a thought occured to me.
Hallie was silent. 
Hallie.  Was silent. 
I quickly pulled away from his arms and propped myself up on my elbow to look at him.  "Did you get up any with Hallie last night?" 
He shook his head.  "I slept like a rock.  Did you?"
"No..."
He got a mildly concerned expression on his face, and my feelings inside matched it.
I sat up, turned to face the other direction, and flung myself onto my side, leaning out to look at the babies, who always slept near the bench anymore. 
I leaned really far, and my arm was shaking, so I could likely faceplant hard any second, but I still made sure Hallie was sleeping safe and sound. 
She was.  Her tiny little chest rose and fell rhythmically.  She had just slept through the night, which was a surprise anymore. 
Then, I felt an arm snake out around my waist. 
"Hey, you're gonna smack your face off that dresser pretty soon here...you keep bobbing around."  He pulled me into his front, and held me close.  "Hallie's okay?" 
"She must have just slept the night..she seems fine.  I don't want to wake her up to check on her." 
"Okay."  His shoulders must've drooped an inch in relief, because I felt his arm grow heavier all of a sudden.  He planted a kiss on my cheek and I snuggled a bit closer, curling up into a ball. 
I was allowing my eyes to drift back shut when I heard tiny footsteps. 
Alexis appeared just outside of the bench. 
I jumped all over and quickly pulled away from Flynn, my face blazing red.  I don't know why I was embarrassed, but I was. 
"Hey, honey...why're you up so early?" 
"I wanted to talk."  She looked down, but then she tipped her chin up and stared at me.
"Okay," I resituated myself to sit up against the bench leg, and she came over.  I pulled her onto my lap and gave her a kiss on the forehead.  "What's your topic?"
"I...I want to stay with you guys.  Last night, I decided that you guys were the best family I've ever had, and you've stuck it out with me the longest.  And I like you." 
I smiled at her, feeling as if the weight of the world had gone off of my shoulders...about that topic, anyway.  "Oh, honey...I'm so glad you feel that way.  You know we both love you very much, right?  We'll let Tangled Fan know as soon as we can!" 
"Okay."  Her lips hinted at a small smile,  which I had honestly seen hardly anything close come from her. 
She rested her head up against me and I cuddled her close, turning to give Flynn an astonished smile.  He grinned, and he looked like he wanted to join in and create a group hug, but didn't; knowing she'd not take too kindly to that situation. 

But then she did something even more surprising.  "I love you...Momma."
First time she'd said that.  First time she'd called me her mother.  I was soaring. 
"Love you too, baby girl."  I gave her another extra-tight cuddle, but then she wormed away from me. 
Had I overdone it? 
Nope.  The girl was full of surprises. 
She took a deep breath and walked the few steps over to Flynn, standing to say it.  "And I love you, Dad." 
His face lit into the most adorable, surprised, and loving smile known to mankind.  He said he loved her too, and then, I think almost by accident, he pulled her into a bear hug. 
When he reluctantly let her go, I watched her face.  Flynn did the same thing. 
She looked up at him and gave him a smile. 
An honest to goodness smile. 
"I'm going back to bed."  she said, givng her eyes a rub. 
"Okay, sweetie." 
When she'd left, Flynn slowly turned towards me, wide-eyed.  I matched his expression and grabbed his hand. 
"I think the wall she's built around herself is finally falling, brick by small bri-"
He grabbed me into an excited hug before I could even finish my sentence.  When he released me, I laughed. 
"Excited just a  bit?" 
"I'm just so....so glad she's finally beginning to realize we won't hurt her...that poor child."
"I know...I'm really happy too.  I've been waiting so long for this to happen-"
"Two weeks.."
"Two and a half." 
"Fine, two and a half."
"But anyway...two and a half weeks for her to warm up just the slightest bit...and now it's happening!"  I squeaked at the last one, and he grinned. 
"Yup," he stared lovingly at me and I squirmed.
"I suppose we should get up..."
"Rapunzel.  Alexis just went back to bed because it was too early for even THEM!  Lay back and chill for awhile.  Enjoy that peace and quiet." 
I chuckled, nodding, and flopped backwards. 
He laid down as well, turned on his side to look at me, so I turned to face him. 
"You ready for a day out?" 
It took a second to register that today was our 2-month anniversary.  I will admit that.  xD  When it clicked in my mind, I nodded with a grin.  "Happy 2-month anni, honey."
He gave me a big smile, stroking my hair.  "Happy anniversary to you too, my precious girl."
My stomach fluttered in an explosion of butterflies, and I impulsively grabbed him into a kiss.  He reached over and pulled me close to him, and the kiss intensified before I finally pulled away.  When I did, he gave me a peck on the nose and a smile, but he didn't loosen his arm around me.
"So, you like being called 'my precious girl'?"  He joked, and I giggled quietly.   
I wormed away from him and rolled onto my back, staring up at the underside of the bench.  I randomly thought about how badly I wished I could dress up a bit for him for our anniversary outings - or even simply change my dress! 
"Hey," he said quietly, reaching to push the hair from my face.  "What's the matter?  All of a sudden, you just..."
"Oh, it's nothing."  I knew he'd give me the same old lecture if I told him. 
"Honey, in my experience, when you say something's nothing, it's usually something.  I won't laugh or anything, you know that." 
"I just wish I could dress up a bit for you once in awhile...I mean, you're always making up these great outings, a-and what have I done to thank you or return the favor?  Nothing.  And it's just...ugh.  See, I told you it was stupid."  I didn't meet his eyes during all of this until I was done. 
"Baby, I don't care what you look like.  You should know that by now.  You don't have to dress up or anything.  And you have returned the favor, time and time again.  First of all, you've stuck with me for the past two months, and sure we kind of got off on a rocky, hundred-mile-an-hour ride from being engaged to married with four foster kids in less than a week.  You've loved me when I don't deserve it - such as on Monday - and you're just there; and you've got a heart of gold.  That, precious girl, is what counts."  His eyebrows furrowed as he studied my face.  I was almost in tears over that one. 
"I-I...." my voice cracked, and I wasn't sure what to say anyway.  My lips blubbed uselessly as I tried to make words come out.  Until he leaned over and gave me a sweet, passionate kiss.  I closed my eyes and enjoyed every second until he slowly pulled away and smiled at me.  I was more than just slightly dazzled, and I stared silently at him until I could think up something to say. 
"O-oh, gosh...now I've really forgotten what I wanted to say," I joked, and he chuckled. 
"Good.  Just don't forget what I told you," he gave me that grin of his, and my heart fluttered.  But then that grin turned into his mischievous grin. 
And then he reached to tickle my side.  
With a slightly louder-than-expected gasp, I elbowed him until he removed his tickling fingers. 
"You're a brat," I laughed quietly, turning to my side away from him as if I was mad at him. 
"Oh, but you wouldn't love me any other way, would you?" 
"Hmph."  I tried to sound mad, but it failed....bigly.  He laughed through his nose and pulled me close to him, kissing my hair and wrapping his arm around my waist.
And then I heard Hallie whimper.
Flynn, who had been pulling me a tad closer, froze.  I held my breath.
And then she was quiet again.
I loosed my breath and shot a fist in the air.  "Yes!"  I exclaimed quietly, and then Flynn flat-out laughed. "Shh!"  I exclaimed, sitting to clap a hand over his mouth.
 Merida ducked her head under the bench.  "What is all the laughin' about?!  Or do I even want to know?" 
I turned to look at her, still keeping my hand pressed over his mouth.  If I left him speak now, I'd regret it.  "I, um..well, see, I was listening for Hallie to cry, because I heard her whimper, and when she quieted down again, I shot my fist in the air and was like, 'YES!'..and he found that highly amusing for whatever reason.  We didn't wake you, did we?" 
"Naw, I was up anyhow.  I was just wonderin' what all the laughin' was over."  She quirked a brow when Flynn tried to speak through my hand. 
I left him mumble for a few seconds, but then I felt my hand get wet.  He licked my hand.  He legit licked the palm of my hand. 
"Oh my gosh, you are sick!  I can't-ugh!"  I squealed, yanking my hand off of his mouth and shoving his chest hard enough to knock him backwards, before I wiped my hand off on his shirt.  "I can't believe you." 
Merida was chortling, giving me a gleeful grin.  Flynn was laughing. 
"I can't believe the both of you!"  I grumped, trying to sound disgusted - I didn't have to try too hard - and wiped my hand a couple more times and shook my head. 
"What I was trying to...say...whilst I was so r-rudely...restrained...is that I was wondering if you, Merida...Merida!  If you would watch the kids while we have a day out.  It's our two-month anniversary."  He said between gales of laughter and attempts to get Merida to pay attention. 
Merida allowed her chuckles to subside before she answered.  "Sure...I can watch 'em."
"Not sure I want to go with you today, you sick creature," I grumbled, looking at my hand. 
"Oh, come on..." he laughed, sitting up and grabbing me into a one-armed hug before I could move away from him. 
"That was pretty disgusting there, pal...but it was hilarious."  Merida said, still grinning.
"Says you, she who does not have a wet hand," I laughed. 
She left, and Flynn turned to me. 
"Sorry."  He told me, but I could see that dirty little grin he had on his face.
"No way are you sorry, I see the smirk on your fa-"
He broke me off.  "Okay...it was pretty funny.  Now...since she's up, do you want to just get up and get moving?"
"Sure," I said, pulling away from his arm and crawling out from under the bench. 
I rummaged around, found the ribbons and flowers that Tangled Fan had used in my hair once, got my brush, and got to work.  I might not have any other dresses to wear, but I have a lot of hair, and I could dress that hair up like it was in the movie, when Rapunzel gets to see the kingdom.  Annnd so I did! 
When I was done, Flynn was waiting for me. 
He gave me a huge grin, we said goodbye to the girls, and then we were off. 

When we had made our way to the floor, Flynn stepped away from me. 
"Give me a twirl," he smiled and gestured. 
"Why?"  I furrowed my brows. 
"Because," he chuckled, and I rolled my eyes, but I did give a twirl. 
That failed hugely. 
Remember how I always say I'm not graceful?   Un-graceful people should NOT EVER twirl.  Ever. 
I twirled, and I twisted my back the wrong way.  But then, on top of that, I got one leg tangled around the other.  I stumbled into Flynn, who was standing right by me, and then he staggered backwards. I kept going, and I tried to catch myself, but I couldn't.  Tangled Fan's floor was actually clean of clutter, so there was nothing I could grab onto.  Except for Flynn, and he was stumbling as bad as I was by now!
So finally, I went down right on top of Flynn with an oof and a thump. 
I caught myself before I smacked my head off of his, luckily. 
He gave me a surprised and slightly stunned expression, and I probably matched it. 
"A-are you alright?"  I finally managed. 
He chuckled, staring at me. "Yep...you?" 
"Well, yeah...I mean, I landed on something slightly softer than the hard floor...and you didn't," I laughed. 
"Remind me to not ask you to twirl.  Ever.  But what I wanted to say is that you are gorgeous, and I love your hair that way."  He gave me a warm smile, and cupped my cheek in his hand.
"Oh...well, um...thanks," I realized I was still on top of him, and I sat abruptly. 
He sat up too, and I realized I was still across his legs.  I scrambled awkwardly in an attempt to get up, but he took my hand in his - with such gentleness that I was surprised; he wasn't just keeping ahold of me so I couldn't go - and I stopped to look at him a few seconds before I slowly stood, squeezing his hand and not letting go of it.  He stood as well, and then swept me up close to him and into a tender kiss. 
When he pulled away, he bumped his forehead with mine and I stared up at his brown eyes, which were giving me a loving gaze.  I grinned as the butterflies started up, and kissed his cheek.  He tried to conceal the pleased grin, but it came anyway, and he pulled me a bit closer for a hug.  When we pulled apart, he took my hand in his again and gave me a sweet smile. 
"So...what're we planning on doing?"
"Well...you know how awhile back, when Jase rode Maximus, how you wanted to as well?  It slipped my mind until the other day...so why don't we go ride?" 
I gasped.  He was actually going to do this?  Awesome!  "Really?" 
He chuckled, nodding.  I squeaked with excitement and grabbed him into a quick, excited hug, before I left him lead me to where Maximus was at. 
"Let me ride him first, so he won't buck you off or anything," Flynn told me when I raced over to him excitedly. 
"Oh, he's fine...he was as sweet as pie with Jase," I told him.  "That was just a one-time thing, I think." 
"I just-" 
Maximus nuzzled my hand with his plastic nose, and I giggled.  "He'll be fine, Flynn...if I fall, you can say 'I told you so'." 
Flynn gave me an uncomfortable glance, but he finally sighed and nodded.  "Alright...but just don't get hurt, okay hon?" 
"Okay," I laughed, and Flynn gave me a boost up into the saddle. 

When I was situated, he let go of the reins reluctantly and rested a hand on my leg.  "You sure?"
"Positive," I grinned as I clucked Maximus on. 
He was perfect.  I walked, trotted, and cantered him.  He was acting absolutely perfect, until we went near the guinea pig cage on the floor. 
The guinea pigs in the cage both ran over to the cage side and started squeaking.  Max shied before loosing a round of violent bucks.  I gasped and clung to his mane, wrapping my legs around his barrel.
Mistake. 
He squealed, pinning his ears, and crowhopped in disapproval.  I glanced up just in time to see him almost ram into a bin, and he swerved.  I wasn't ready for it, and I flew off, landing right on my back. 
It knocked the breath out of me and I couldn't even get myself to move.
Flynn was at my side in a moment.  "Are you alright?"  He frantically studied my face. 
Well, it's kind of hard to speak when the breath's been knocked right out of you.  Finally, I managed to squeak.  "Y-yeah, I'm alright.  Just"-I coughed, and cleared my throat before continuing -"Just a bit stunned, and need to catch my breath." 
"I knew I should've gone on him first, or led you, or something...oh gosh,  I just need to listen to my gut instinct...you end up getting-"
"Flynn.  It's fine.  I'm fine" - we'll not mention my aching back quite yet - "Don't beat yourself up about it.  If anything, it's the guinea pigs' faults," I joked. 
"I know, but-"
I stuck my hand out.  "Help me up, please?" 
"Oh.  Sure."  He helped me up, and I gave him a smile. 
"Thanks.  See?  I'm walking, talking, breathing...I am fine."
"What about your back?  You landed hard on it." 
Crumbs.  I couldn't lie..."It does hurt, I'll be honest.  But I'm fine." 
"Let's go back-"
"Flynn, I am-"
He started to pick me up. 
"FLYNN!"  I yelped.  "Put.  Me.  Down.  Now!  And no, we're NOT going back home.  I'm fine.  If I feel like I need a break, I'll let you know.  Okay?  Quit obsessing, please." 
He stared down at me, and got a calculating expression on his face. 
Finally, he nodded and set me down. 
"Fine...but you're positive?" 
"I am positive, dear." 
"Okay."  He trailed his hand down my arm tenderly, and then he grasped my hand, pulling it up to kiss it. 
"I don't think you should ride him, though..." I joked.  "Sorry."
"Oh, I wasn't planning on riding anyhow.  I just wanted to before you, to try and work the sillies out of him.  I still don't trust that creature," he said, staring at me. 
"What?"  I asked, referring to his stare. 
He didn't answer me, he just simply took a stride towards me and pulled me close. 
I could hear his heart pounding, he was holding me so close. 
"W-wh..." I trailed off, and he tightened his arms around me. 
Well...either he'd answer me, or I'd eventually stop breathing from his tight grip.  Whichever came first?  I wasn't sure.

His heartbeat eventually slowed, and only then did he allow me to pull away.  He put his hands on my shoulders and swallowed.  "It just scared me, is all."
"Everything scares you," I chuckled, but I could see in his face that he had indeed been terrified. 
"Everything that includes you or the girls," he corrected. 
I nodded, silently scolding myself for chuckling at his obvious concern.  "Sorry."  I gave him a small, sheepish smile and glanced around, trying to think of something to get his mind off of me falling. 
"Why don't we sit up on the window?"  I suggested, nodding towards the window. 
He wet his lips and nodded, letting go of me.  I took his hand and led the way to the window, thankful for a distraction. 
We hopped up onto the windowsill and I sat down in the one corner, trying to very discreetly rub at my back. 
He saw me, though. 
He quirked a brow, but he sat and didn't say anything. 
Phew. 
Dodged a bullet on that one. 

We sat and watched the outdoors for a good long while.  We just sat in silence and enjoyed one another's presence, which was nice. 
After a good while, though, Flynn got restless.  He stood, and asked how my back was. 
It was pretty sore, but I was fine.  I told him so, and he didn't look very relieved. 
We left the windowsill, and walked around for awhile, just about general whatever, until Tangled Fan came hurrying in.  Great -I could ask her about Alexis! 
"Tangled Fan!  Wait up a sec," I exclaimed, waving my arms so she would see us. 
She stopped abruptly, and bent to look at us.  "Yes?" 
I glanced at Flynn and he gave me a  confused look, but then it clicked.  He gave me a smile and a nod before grasping my hand. 
"Can we adopt Alexis?  I think we're ready." 
She smiled and nodded.  "Awesome!  For sure...I'll just make a note to not toss her up into a box or anything." 
"That'd probabbbly be best," I laughed, even though I was mildly horrified. 
She left, and I turned to Flynn. 
"Well...we just added another to our family."  He gave me a crooked grin and I couldn't help the tingle that went up my spine. 
"I'm just so glad she's warming up to us!"  I continued walking, and he hurried to catch up with me. 
"I almost passed out when she as much as LOOKED at me this morning." 
"I know..I could see it in your face," I grinned as I remembered his expression. 

We walked for awhile, but once darkness crept up on us, we headed back. 
Everything and everyone was quiet, but they were up. 
"Merida!  How were the girls?" I walked over to her and asked.
"They were all good...weren't ye?"  She asked, and Jase and Alexis nodded.  We watched Jase hurry over to Flynn, and I reached to pick Alexis up.  "And Hallie was just a pleasant little girl, like she used to be." 
"Awesome," I exclaimed. 
The two babies were already sleeping, so I didn't bother Hallie. 
"And how did y'two enjoy yer day out?"  She gave me a smirk. 
"It was great, thanks so much for watching the kiddos for us!  I fell off of Maximus, but other than that, it went well.  We also ran into Tangled Fan, and Alexis...you're officially adopted now." 
She gave me a big grin and hug, and then squirmed to get down.  I let her go, and Merida gave me a quick, one-armed hug. 
"So how bad did yer hubby flip when ye fell?" 
"He managed to keep it to a minimum, after I told him to stop obsessing." 
She laughed and rolled her eyes. 
"Hey...you up for a girl's day out tomorrow?"  Merida asked. 
"Well..I dunno.  Flynn, what-"
"Go for it.  I can handle all the kids," he told me.

We sat up and talked for awhile, planning, but then we all went to bed. 
By the time we got to bed, my back was aching like nobody's business.  I sprawled out on my back, trying to stretch it out.  Flynn flopped down beside me and watched me as I writhed around in odd attempts to relieve the soreness. 
"Your back still hurt, baby?"  I glanced up at his concerned expression. 
I considered doing a quick little white lie, but I didn't.  "Yeah, it hurts." 
"Should I-"
Should he go get Tangled Fan? What was his first thought?  Mine was NO.  And so I said so. 
"I was going to ask if you wanted me to rub your back." 
"Oh.  No, it's-" I broke off as he did so anyway.  "Well..that does make it feel pretty good." 
He chuckled to himself and continued for a few minutes, until I suppose his hands got tired.  When he was done, I turned to my side and pulled him into a quick kiss. 
"Thanks,"
"Anytime..I'll do anything to please my girl," he joked, giving me a wink. 
I rolled my eyes and then they crossed as he gave me a peck on the nose.  I grinned and then flopped onto my back, trying to find a comfortable spot.
"Thanks for letting me go with Merida on a girl's day out tomorrow," I told him. 
"Excited?" 
"Kind of..." I smiled. 
"Just stay safe." 
Gosh...well, I do suppose one of the last times we'd gone on a girl's day out, I'd ended up hurting my arm, so he did have a point.  "I will," I laughed, and then he leaned over so we could share a sweet goodnight kiss.  When he started to pull away, I leaned into him and kissed him back, and when I pulled away, he gave me a big smile.  He told me good night and I returned it, and then I was out. 

Month and...four week anniversary :D

Hey everyone! (: 
Today is our month and four-week anniversary :D  I cannot believe that on September 4th, we'll have been married for two months already!!  (:  I guess that time flies when you're having fun....and getting injured right and left, having crazy Barbies trying to take your children, and a host of other things.  Anyway. 

Thursday morning, I woke at eight, just as the open window was beginning to allow the humid-ness of the outside to leak indoors.   The cold streak from last week was long gone; quickly replaced by more summery weather.  
I glanced up at Flynn and saw he was already awake as well.  Laying on his back, he smiled over at me.  I returned it, and then rolled over to face him. 
"Morning, my beautiful lost princess."  he said, a grin teasing the corners of his mouth. 
He'd been calling me his 'lost princess' since we'd watched the movie.  I quite honestly hoped that this phase would end soon, because it sounded weird and I am definitely not princess-like..but I still got a laugh out of it. 
I rolled my eyes and propped myself up on one of my elbows to look at him.  He reached over and gently pushed the hair away from my face and tucked it behind my shoulders, and when his warm hand lingered on my cheek, I took a hold of it and held it there, grinning at him. 
Then, I put a hand on his chest and leaned over to give him a kiss.  When I pulled away, he gave me a surprised, yet pleased grin.  "Morning, hon," I added with a quiet laugh. 
My hubby put an arm around my shoulders and gave them a squeeze, so  I rested my head on his chest and enjoyed a few minutes of quietness.  He broke the silence first, though.
"So...I've got a few things planned for today," he told me. 
"Oh?"  I flopped over onto my back and turned to look at him. "And what's that?" 
"You'll see,"
I shook my head.  "You're impossible." 
"Impossible, yet you still love me."
"Oh, I dunno..." I teased, trailing off and tapping my lip with my finger as if I was actually considering otherwise.  He laughed through his nose, cupped my chin in his hand, and was just starting to give me a slow, tender kiss, when I heard a small cry. 
With slight reluctance, I pulled away from him and raised my eyebrows, waiting to see if Hallie would go back to sleep or if she was up for the morning.  And then a more demanding whimper came, so I turned and crawled out.  Flynn followed me and when I scooped Hallie up, I didn't realize he was right behind me.  I turned to walk back and forth, to calm Hallie, and bumped into him with a thump.
"Oops-sorry!"  I exclaimed quietly.  He pantomined falling backwards, and I laughed...loudly, by accident. 
That woke Rayne.  And Jase. 
My face grew hot with embarrassment, and I apologized.  "Sorry, guys!" 
Rayne chuckled and said it was fine, but Jase just gave me a dirty look and went back to bed. Alrighty then! 
"You guys can head on out to do something, if you've got plans.  I can watch the kiddos when they get up."  Rayne offered, taking Hallie from me. 
"How'd you know-"
"It's Thursday, dear," Rayne laughed.  "You two always do something on Thursday!" 
"I suppose so.  But-"
"We'll wait till-" Flynn started to overlap me.
"Go!"  Rayne exclaimed, giving us both gentle shoves towards the edge of the bookshelf. 
"The queen of the dresser has spoken."  Flynn joked, straight-faced, and then dodged her joking attempt to swat him.  "Better go before she beats us up." 
I laughed and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder, hopping down onto the bed. 
He followed me and we made our way to the trunk.  We jumped down onto the trunk, and then Flynn hopped to the floor from there, holding his hands up to me. 
"I can make the jump, Flynn," I told him. 
"Yeah, but I can catch you as well." 
I rolled my eyes, but I knew there was no budging him on said issue...so I jumped. 
He caught me, and whirled me around in a quick half-circle until he was facing the other way, and then he put me down, giving me that grin. 
I giggled and then turned away to start walking.  He followed along beside for a few minutes, and then he snagged my hand. 
I turned to face him.  "What?"
And then I heard the music come on.  I glanced up and saw he'd sneaked Tangled Fan's iPod out of the drawer without me noticing.  Either that or he'd done it before I'd woken up. 
I laughed.  "You..."
He gave me a wink, and I slung my arms around his neck comfortably.  He settled his hands around my waist and we slow-danced our way through Taylor Swift's "Enchanted".  Then, I heard her new song, "Red", come on...I love that song and can't help but start jammin' out when I hear it... :D 
I started doing some odd jig to accomodate the beat of the music.  Flynn let go of me, and I laughed, juking back and forth and bobbing my head to the music.  After watching my antics, Flynn finally caught my hands and we danced along together to the song.  After that song, the "I See the Light" song from "Tangled" came on.  And I must admit, after hearing it the other day, I LOVE it!  (:  Flynn drew me close again and I rested my head on his shoulder as we slowly stepped back and forth to the rhythm. 
"I love this song," I whispered. 
"Well, it is the song in the movie when we both basically admit our love for one another."
"Yeah, but we've already done that." 
"True." 
When the last notes of 'now that I see you' were fading, Flynn suddenly took my chin in his hand and brought my face up to look at him.  When I looked up at his face, I realized he was giving me the most loving, tender gaze.  I gave him a smile, and he leaned down to give me a passionate kiss.  My heart thundered.  When had my heart really thundered over him? It had been awhile, I think.  But maybe not.  Or maybe I was just getting so used to the feeling that I didn't even notice it anymore.  But anyway.  When he finally pulled away, the next song was just coming on. 
He stroked the pad of his thumb on my one cheek and he still held my chin in his hand.  I gave him another smile and reached up to give him a peck on the cheek.  My heart could seriously stop racing anytime now....I got a little embarrassed, wondering if he could even hear my heart pounding.  I glanced down and fumbled for something to say, but nothing came out, which embarrassed me even worse.  You'd think that after almost two months of being married to this guy, I wouldn't get embarrassed around him over much of anything...but obviously, I still do.  He finally let my chin go and I released a breath I didn't even realize I'd been holding. 
"What?"  he asked, peering down into my face with a mildly concerned expression. 
Geesh, had I been that obvious?  "Oh, nothing.  Just thinking, I suppose."  Thinking about how weird I was to still get embarrassed around him if he as much as gave me a kiss.  Which is a normal thing for husband and wife to do.  But no...I have to go be -
"About what?" 
Oh, crumbs. 
"Nothing..ah.., I um, just really appreciate that you still like to...to dance, and go for walks, and..stuff." 
He chuckled and gently loosened his arm that was around my waist.  After that, since the other song was half over, we just stopped it and quit dancing..since that had been the last song on the playlist. 
When we'd shut the iPod off, he turned towards me.  "So, what do you want to do now?"
I shrugged.  "Whatever you want to do, hon." 
With a sigh, Flynn slung his arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze.  "Love you," 
I decided to tease.  "Well, I pretty much figured that." 
"Oh, really now?"  He asked, turning away to set the iPod up off of the floor.  "Are you so sure of that?" 
My sarcastic streak came out a bit, jokingly.  "Well, we're kind of married, and-"
Next thing I know, he's grabbed me up and started tickling.  I shrieked with surprise and wrestled away from him, slipping under his arms and taking off running. 
I turned to run backwards as I saw what he was doing.  He was chasing after me, and I laughed at his goofy face. 
"Hey, watch-"
"Yeah, yeah...you'll tell me to watch out for something, but-"
THUD. 
Half of me rammed into one of Tangled Fan's bins.  With an 'oof', I stumbled sideways and fell down on my backside. 
Flynn came jogging the rest of the way over, and I couldn't tell if he was worried or if he was trying to keep from  laughing. 
"You alright?"  He asked, holding a hand out to me. 
I shoved the hair from my face.  "I'm fine." 
"See...and you thought I was trying to trick you."  he said, and I could see the grin creeping up on the corners of his lips. 
"Yup.  You're mainly why I have trust issues!"  I joked, taking his hand and standing up. 
"Oh, c'mon...I didn't do anything when I offered you my hand." 
"Oh, but I bet you were thinking of things to do."
"Well...I won't say I didn't think of something, but I had enough self-control not to do it," he gave me a funny, almost soulful expression, and I giggled. 
"It's good to know that you at least know what self-control is."  I gave him a push and he grinned. 
Coming back over, he gave me a playful shove right back, and even though I only stumbled a couple steps, I gasped.  "Hey!" 
He took my hand loosely in his and spun me around.  "Want to go sit up on the window?"
"Sure,"  I smiled at him and led the way. 

When we got up to the windowsill, though...it was sopping wet.  It was raining, and the window was open a bit. 
Just as we were descending back down, Tangled Fan came blasting through the room and slammed the window shut.  I don't think she even noticed us :D 
When she was gone, I looked at Flynn...and Flynn looked at me...and I laughed.  "Well, she was in a hurry about that!" 
"Guess so," Flynn chuckled. 
"Soo...what do we do now?" 
"I say we work on drafts for that month in review thing..for a little bit, anyway?" 
"That could work," I agreed. 


We worked on that for a good while, and when we got back to the dresser, Hallie was wailing like nobody's business. 
"She's been this way ALL day long."  Merida, looking pretty frazzled, told me as soon as we got up there. 
"Ohh my goodness, my poor girl!  What's the matter, sweetie?"  I asked Hallie, taking her from Merida.  Looking up at Merida, I added, "I'm so, so sorry you guys had to watch her today, if she was crying like this!" 
"It's fine.  I just don't get why she's been fussy.  She's like this if someone holds her, but if someone isn't holding her?  Uhhh...you don't want to know.  She hasn't taken any naps today, either, so that can't help matters.  Jase was a good girl, though...she tried to help out with her little sis."  Merida cast a glance towards Jase, who was crashed on the wicker chair, sleeping. 
"Ahh," I said over Hallie's crying.  I looked down at her and bounced her in my arms, but she still kept up her red-faced squalling. 
Flynn gently took her from my arms and asked Hallie what the matter was.  When she still didn't quiet down, he carefully tossed her in the air a couple inches, and then caught her; which usually gets a giggle out of her;  and then tried the 'airplane' method of distraction.  Nooope.  Definitely not.  She started screaming even louder. 
"Flynn, honey.  I don't think she likes any of that...at all...it's doing more bad than good right now."  I said, touching his arm and reaching to say it in his ear, since nobody could be heard over her. 
"What do you think caused her to be so fussy all of a sudden?  She's been sooo good lately." Flynn asked. 
"I have no clue.  She just started crying, and wouldn't quiet down.  Allie got all shaken up after awhile, too, and it was like Screaming War 1 up here - who could scream the loudest?  I think Hallie won - and then...just whew."
"Do you think if we take her for a walk it'll-"
"Blondie took her for a quick walk down on the bed, and it didn't help."  Rayne tossed in. 
"Oh boy."  I sighed.  "Hopefully, she'll calm down.  I bet she'll go to sleep soon and sleep hard tonight, though; if she hasn't slept at ALL today." 
Hah.  Famous last words. 

At ten, we went to bed.  Hallie was still whimpering at a pretty decent, loud rate.  I had tried to get her to sleep by walking back and forth...and back and forth...and back and forth...but she still wouldn't.  Finally, I just took her back to bed with me when Flynn went. 
"What should we do with Miss Cries-A-Lot, hon?'  I asked him, sitting down with Hallie in my arms. 
"I dunno..see if she'll sleep with us."  he told me, stroking the hair from my face.  I was quite sure my hair was disheveled, because I hadn't braided it this morning and hadn't brushed it since. 
"Okay, but I'll probably go out to sleep on the whicker chair with her, if she doesn't quiet down soon." 
"Why?"
"She'll keep you up," I explained. 
"Oh, good grief.  I can hear her just as well out there as I can in here, so you might as well be a little more comfortable, sweetie.  She'll go to sleep soon, I bet." 
I gave him a skeptical smile and yawned. 
"I'll take her for awhile if you want to grab a quick power nap."  he offered. 
"Nope..I can handle her," I said, bouncing her in my arms. 
"Sure?"
"Positive.  Thanks for the offer," I said. 
I went to crawl out from under the dresser, to resume my 'go to sleep, baby' pacing, but before I could leave, Flynn pulled me into a gentle kiss.  "You've come a long way, hon.  About two months ago, you had a nervous breakdown because they were crying." 
I grinned and started to lean over to kiss him back,  but then she gave an extra-loud squeal.  "Okay, okay, honey...I hear ya.  We've all been hearing ya for several hours, baby girl..."
I walked back and forth with her until I thought for sure my legs would fall off.  Her cries started to get a little quieter.....progress, right??  So I decided to fumble my way down to the bed.  Tangled Fan still hadn't come in to bed, so I could walk on it.
I wandered around on it and then sung quietly to her, trying to calm her down. 
I sang 'I See the Light', just because it seemed to be a good, quiet, slow song.  And I sung a couple rounds of 'Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star' as well. 
FINALLY, around midnight or one-ish, I headed back to the dresser.  Hallie was silent and sleeping soundly. 
I laid her down beside Allie and Jase, and prayed that she wouldn't wake up. 
Success!  She took a shuddery breath, but then she went right back to sleep. 
I backed away slowly, and then crept to bed, so as to not wake anyone.  If anyone had been ABLE to go to sleep. 

I quietly laid down on my side, facing Flynn, and assumed he was sleeping.  But he wasn't.
He propped himself up on his elbow and gave me a smile through the darkness.  "Did she finally go to sleep?"
"Yes...knock on wood."  I laughed through my nose when he tapped on the bench we were under.  "Annd here's to hoping she stays asleep!"  I added. 
"I heard you singing to her," he whispered, stroking my hair. 
"Was I that loud?  Sorry-"
"No, it's fine.  You weren't very loud at all.  I was actually going to compliment you on your singing."
"Oh, I'm not that good." 
"Yes, you are."  he said, pulling me close and kissing my forehead. 
I sighed, my eyelids drooping, and he rolled over onto his back, still keeping an arm round my shoulders; pulling me closer to him.  I set a hand on his chest and managed to keep my eyes open long enough to give him a smile, glad to have such a sweet hubby.  I allowed my eyes to go shut, as I mumbled a good-night. 

Flynn here... weird buzzing things, letdowns and Duck Dynasty

Hey everyone...well, today was quite interesting. 
Started off, I woke up with just over seven hours of sleep.  I watched Rapunzel as she slept, but within minutes, she woke up as well.  She propped herself up on her elbows and smiled at me. 
With a grin, I asked, "How're you feeling this morning, dear girl?"
Instead of rolling her eyes and grumbling that she was fine, she grabbed my hand, rolled over to face me, and said, "I'm feeling pretty great right now!" 
Getting that she was teasing me, I chuckled.  "Same here."
THEN she rolled her eyes and gave me a smile.  I studied her face, wondering what to say or whatever, and she randomly reached over to kiss me.  Just as I put an arm around her and started to kiss her back....BOOM.  This weird feeling hit me.  Not because I was kissing my wife or anything health-related...it was like the whole dresser was vibrating. 
Before I could get up, Rapunzel jumped up and pulled away from me.  Mind, jumping up isn't a good idea, seeing as we sleep under a bench. 
She cracked her head off of the underside of the bench with a THWACK.  She ducked with a grimace, and I started to ask if she was okay, but by the time I opened my mouth, she was on her knees and crawling out. 
"What on EARTH is that??" I heard her exclaim. 
"Tangled Fan's...stupid...cell phone!"  Merida.  "She uses it for her alarm clock, and it..vibrates!" 
I heard thudding, so I scrambled out myself and went to stand behind my wife. 
Tangled Fan reached for her phone, and since Merida was standing on it, stomping her plastic feet on it..Rapunzel grabbed her and yanked her off of the phone just in time. 
Tangled Fan turned it off, staring at us.  "Didn't I warn you that my phone does that every morning?"
"No..." my wife said, casting a glance towards Merida. 
"I knew, but I didn't think ya put it there!" 
"Yeah..sorry guys!"  Tangled Fan exclaimed.  Then she left us to our own devices. 
My wife turned around, and apparently, she still hadn't noticed I was standing right behind her.  She thumped into my chest and looked up, an alarmed expresison on her face. 
"Sorry!"
I took her beside me, kissed the top of her head, and chuckled as I thought about her grand head-banging experience minutes ago.  "So, how bad did you crack your head off of that bench?"
She giggled.  "Well, I didn't knock myself out-"
"So THAT'S the thud I heard a few minutes ago!  Wow."  Merida laughed and looked at Rapunzel. 
"Yeah.  That HURT!  For us having soft plastic heads that'll squoosh, that hurt!"  she laughed again. 
Merida's grin subsided and the firey, 'I was woken up too early by something stupid' expression vanished. 
"Well..I'm going back to sleep, like the rest of em are doin.  I can't believe everyone slept through that, especially the babies!"  She said, stroking Allie's arm. 
"We were already up, so-"  Rapunzel started, but I broke her off, seizing an opportunity to freak Merida out. 
"We'll finish up what we'd started doing before that stupid phone went off."
Calculating glances from Merida arose, and she finally managed, "I..don't want to know."
"We were just talking!  He has a way of saying things and having them not come out right-"
"Yeah, yeah...I said I didn't want to know!"  Merida laughed. 
My wife elbowed me in disgust and I tickled her, making her giggle.  Then, we headed back under the bench. 
"Duck this time."  I joked, watching her stoop down to come in behind me. 
"Yeah, yeah."  she laughed, sitting beside me and crossing her legs at the ankles. 
I gave her a grin, and I must've freaked her out.  "What?  You're creeping me-"
I reached over to kiss her, breaking off her sentence.  When I pulled away from her, she bumped her forehead up against mine and reached to hold my hand. 
I sat back.  "So...what are your big plans for today?"
She shrugged and said she didn't really get to think much about it. 
I suggested that we watch some of that Duck Dynasty that everyone talks so much about. 
"You mean you'll allow me to walk that much?"  She said, wide-eyed.  Not sure if she was joking or not. 
I chuckled.  "If you feel up to it.  I'll try to not be so overprotective." 
She grabbed me into an excited hug.  When she pulled away, I gave her a grin.  "Sound like a plan?"
"Sounds like an excellent plan, hon!"  she said with a sweet smile. 
Suddenly, Jase came careening in, throwing 'good morning's to both of us.  She plopped her little self down, half on my lap and half on hers. 
Rapunzel reached to give her a hug, laughing through her nose. 
"Daddy, are you and Momma still mad at each other?"  Jase asked, blinking innocently at me. 
Great...I knew that was coming. 
"No, honey, we're not.  We just had a small disagreement, is all."  I said. 
"Good!"  She reached over and snuggled up against me with a slightly melodramatic sigh. 
I couldn't help but smile at her cuteness, and I looked up to meet my wife's eyes.  She smiled as well. 
After a bit, she pulled away from me and held her hands out towards my face. 
"What?"  I asked, leaning down towards her.  She took my face in her hands and gave me a kiss on the cheek, giggling.  I got the impression that she was trying to be like her momma. 
Awhile later, we left to watch some Duck Dynasty. 
Forgetting my promise to not be so protective, I told Rapunzel to stay where she was at on Tangled Fan's bed, and I would go get the iPod from the drawers nearby. 
When I realized what I was doing, I apologized and said it was fine, that she could come along like she wanted to. 
She laughed, leaning her head on my shoulder for a second before taking me by the hand.  "Thank you!" 
"Anything for my girl," I joked. 
It only took a few minutes to get the iPod, and pretty soon, we were settled on Tangled Fan's bed, watching the hilarity that is known as Duck Dynasty. 

Lemme tell ya, if you're one of the few people (or dolls...if any dolls read our blog!) that have never seen Duck Dynasty...you need to go on A&E's website and watch some.  Now.  It is so hilarious.  All I got done was laughing, laughing at Rapunzel laughing, and wiping my cheeks of tears, from laughing so hard!  And they've got good values going, too.  I'm sure that we'll be sneaking onto Tangled Fan's iPod quite frequently to watch new episodes...!
The hour went wayyy too fast, and before I knew it, our chosen two episodes were done. 
Rapunzel rolled onto her back, holding her sides and giggling. 
I grinned, and then randomly remembered a song I'd heard online a few days ago.  Deciding I'd show it to Rapunzel, I got to work finding it again. 
If you're wondering what the song is, it's "If I Didn't Have You" by Thompson Square. 
"Hey, silly!  Listen to this song I found the other day online," I told Rapunzel, glancing over with a grin. 
"Okay," she said, returning  the grin and rolling over to watch the screen. 
Halfways through the song, she looked up at me, starry-eyed.  She smiled.  "I think I love this song.  It's beautiful!"  I met he eyes and she suddenly sat up, grabbing me into a kiss. 
Well, gee.  Tell a person before you give them a fervent kiss, right in the middle of listening to a song.  I was just a wee bit surprised.....
I gave her a wide-eyed stare, trying to think of something to say.  She laughed at me, and I shook my head at her. 
"Don't surprise me like that!"  I laughed, finding words. 
She laughed even harder.  "But you do that to me all the time!"
"I suppose you have a point," I chuckled.  I stared into those emerald green eyes for a moment, but she quickly looked down into her lap. 
She asked what we would do next, and I suggested going over to look out the window.  We hadn't done that in ages! 

Too bad I didn't know that the cool breeze would affect her leg. 
We sat on the open window for about two hours.  A practically chilly breeze filtered through the screen almost the whole time. 
"I think we should head back...much as I hate to say it."  she said, standing. 
I stood up as well.  "Are you feeling alright?"  I asked, immediately concerned. 
"Yeah....," have I ever mentioned that my wife is a horrible liar? 
"It's your leg, isn't it?"
She nodded. 
I sighed.  I can't believe I hadn't thought about her leg!  When I voiced my thought, she exclaimed that it was fine and she didn't think about that either. 
By the time we were back to the dresser, her leg was stiff and she had a limp started up again.  Much as I didn't want to, I knew the best thing to do was probably to tell Tangled Fan about it. 
Luckily enough, I was able to slip out the open door without anyone noticing. 
I hurried down a really long hallway, and after awhile, I found Tangled Fan. 
"What are you doing out here?  The dog-" Tangled Fan stood up from her chair and gave me an odd stare. 
"Rapunzel's leg is bad again..It's my fault, and-"
"Let's go see."  She picked me up and we were back to her bedroom again within minutes. 
I was met with a cold glare from my wife, as soon as she saw me and Tangled Fan.  "Why did you-"
"I don't want your leg getting worse!  I'm sorry."  I said.  I felt just plain  horrible about it.  I knew I had gone back on a promise and let her down, and that just about tore the heart right out of me. 
Tangled Fan chatted with her, and I stood off to the side, concerned.  Luckily, Jase and Hallie were napping, so Jase wasn't playing twenty-thousand questions about Rapunzel. 
"No.  No WAY.  If I didn't go when I was knocked out, like you'd said-"  Rapunzel was giving her a hassle.  Tangled Fan wanted to take her somewhere and keep her for a few days, to get her leg healed up. 
"Rapunzel, it couldn't hurt."
Then, the claws came out.  "You just can't trust me, can you?!  I TOLD you I'd be fine and I'd make sure to take care of myself!  And you SAID you'd try to stop being so overprotective!  Why did you go back on your word?" 
"Because I...I just don't want you getting hurt any worse."  I said, staring at her and hoping she'd get it. 
She didn't.  She simply looked away from me. 
"I just want to do this because it's going to be chilly this week, especially at night."  Tangled Fan said.  "It's the middle of August!"  Rapunzel exclaimed. 
"But the weatherman's predicting a cool streak this week.  It'll only be for a day or two; you'll be back home in no time if you behave yourself."  Tangled Fan said. 
Rapunzel heaved a huge sigh, still staring down at her lap.  Tangled Fan turned to go, and I tried to wave to her, to get her attention, to do anything...but she pointedly turned her head away from me. 

Wearing my heart on my sleeve, I watched them go.  I felt like my heart could shatter.  I knew I had promised her I wouldn't be so overprotective, but what was better? My wife possibly ending up with a lifetime plagued with leg soreness and injuries, or my wife better, but really ticked off at me?  I told myself it was for the best, but why did it have to be this way? 
I turned around and saw Blondie, Rayne, and Merida all standing and staring at me. 
"Ye did the right thing," Merida told me, nodding. 
"Then why does it feel like I've betrayed my wife's trust?" 
"Because you sort of did.  But if it's for her well-being, you did the right thing."  Rayne said. 
I sighed.  "She's going to be so mad at me..."
"Yeah, she is, too.  Yer really gonna in for it."  Merida said. 
"Thanks for the moral support, there, Merida." I said flatly. 
"Sorry, but it's true.  She'll get over it, though, for sure."  she added. 
"I hope so," I whispered, trudging off.

The rest of the evening dragged by.  Jase was quiet, and Hallie was very fussy.  I kept myself busy by keeping Hallie quiet and plaguing my mind with 'what ifs'...which isn't a very fun game to play! 
I also confronted Tangled Fan, and even though she told me originally that I couldn't go see her, I harped at her enough that she relented and said that I could visit her tomorrow. 
Tomorrow cannot come too soon. 

The Odd Buzzy Thing...

The morning after our spat - which I guess was pretty small-scale, compared to some stuff I've seen online! - anyway, I woke up pretty early.  Flynn was already up, and I rolled over onto my stomach and stretched before I propped myself up on my elbows and smiled at him.
He gave me that grin of his and asked me how I felt...which had become pretty routine this past week!
So I decided to joke around and act like he does.  I reached over and grabbed his hand, rolling onto my side to face him.  "I'm feeling pretty great, right now!"
Thankfully, he got the joke and chuckled.  "Same here,"
I rolled my eyes and gave him another smile. He studied my face for just long enough to make me feel awkward, so I reached over and kissed him. As he put an arm loosely across my waist, beginning to kiss me back, this weird, buzzing sensation hit me. 

I jumped all over, jerking away from him.  I started to stand up...but the stupid bench we sleep underneath is low, and I whacked my head off of it with a sound THUD.
 The buzzing continued as I dropped to my hands and knees and crawled out.  Merida was up as well, and she was stomping on Tangled Fan's cell phone.
"What on EARTH is that??!" I yelped, hurrying over to her.
"Tangled Fan's...STUPID....cell phone!  She uses it for her alarm clock, and it vibrates!"  She exclaimed, scrambling up on it to jump up and down on it.
I chuckled to myself, but only for a moment.  Tangled Fan suddenly sat up, groggily reaching for her phone.
I jerked Merida off of the phone by her arm, and Tangled Fan turned the alarm off and set it back on the dresser, looking at us.
"Didn't I warn you that my phone does that every morning?"  she asked us.
"No..." I said, glancing at Merida.
"I knew, but I didn't think ye put it there!"  Merida exclaimed.
"Yeah...sorry, guys!" she exclaimed.
I nodded and turned around to go back to Flynn.
But Flynn had come to me.  I bumped into his chest, and I looked up quickly.  "Sorry!"  I exclaimed.
He put an arm around me and pulled me to his side, kissing my hair with a chuckle.  "So how bad did you crack your head off of that bench?"
I giggled. "Well, I didn't knock myself out-"
"So THAT'S the thud I heard a few minutes ago!"  Merida looked at me and laughed.  "Wow."
"Yeah...that hurt!  For us having soft plastic heads that'll squoosh, that hurt!"  I laughed.
"Well...I'm going back to sleep, like the rest of 'em are doin'.  I can't believe everyone slept through that, especially the babies."  She glanced down at Allie, who was sleeping soundly nearby.  She reached over and stroked her baby's arm lovingly.  I smiled.
"We were already up, so-"
"We'll finish up what we'd started doing before that stupid phone went off."
Merida gave us calculating looks and finally said, "I don't want to know."
"We were just talking!  He has a way of saying things and having them not come out right-"
"Yeah, yeah."  Merida laughed.  "I said I didn't want to know!"
I elbowed Flynn and giggled when he tickled me, before he led me back under the bench.
"Duck this time," he joked as I bent to go in after he did.
"Yeah, yeah," I laughed, sitting down beside him and stretching my legs straight out and crossing them at the ankles.  He continued staring at me with a grin on his face.  "What?  You're creeping me-"
He broke me off with a kiss.  When he pulled away, I bumped my forehead up against his and reached for his hand.
My hubby sat back and said quietly, "So...what are your big plans for today?"
I shrugged.  "I didn't really get to think about that much."
"How about we go for the day and just hang out?  And if Tangled Fan's iPod is charged, we could always find a few episodes of that Duck Dynasty online to watch," he suggested.
"You mean you'll allow me to walk that much?"  I half-joked, wide-eyed.
He chuckled.  "If you feel up to it. I'll try to not be so overprotective."
I reached over to hug him excitedly, rubbing his back with my hand.  Finally, he was going to be less obsessive about my safety!  When I pulled away, he gave me that goofy grin.  "Sound like a plan?"
"Sounds like an excellent plan, hon," my heart surged and I smiled at him.
"Morning, Momma!  Morning, Daddy!"  Jase suddenly came barreling in and worming herself between us - halfway on my lap and halfway on his.
I laughed through my nose at her and gave her a hug.
"Daddy, are you and Momma still mad at each other?"  she turned to look at him.
Uh oh.
I'd really hoped that she hadn't heard us or paid attention to us.  But apparently, she had.
"No, honey, we're not.  We just had a small disagreement, is all."
"Good." She reached over to her daddy and snuggled up against his side with a cute little sigh.
Flynn met my eyes, and I saw the enamored smile he had on his face...which made me smile as well.  She eventually pulled away from him and reached up towards his face.  He bent, asking her 'what'.  She took his face in her hands and gave him a small, precise peck on the cheek, giggling.
I chuckled at her silliness and then I heard Hallie start to cry.
"It seems like the children think we should get up early!"  I joked, crawling out to get Hallie.  And yes, I ducked this time!

A few hours later, we left the dresser; the girls in the care of Merida.  We went across Tangled Fan's bed, to the trunk.
"Stay here, and I'll get the iPod.  It's just riiiiight over there," Flynn said, pointing.
"I'll go with you," I said.
"No...you don't-" he broke off and glanced at me sheepishly.  "Okay, fine."
I laughed and leaned my head on his shoulder for a second, until I took him by the hand.  "Thank you."
"Anything for my girl," he joked, and then we went to get the iPod.

Within minutes, we were back on the bed.  I flopped down on my belly and leaned up on my elbows, and Flynn sat beside me and set the iPod on his lap.  After a few minutes of searching the internet, we found A&E's website and then found some Duck Dynasty episodes.
Flynn and I decided to watch two episodes.  Before we were halfway through the first episode, though, we were both laughing our heads off.  Yep, Jase (our daughter) was definitely nicknamed after a 'good human'...and a funny one at that!  The whole episode was filled with hilarious sayings and just tons of funny stuff.  I don't think I've ever laughed so much!  At one point, tears were streaming down my cheeks from laughing so hard.

An hour later, when we were done with the two episodes, I wondered if my stomach would ever stop hurting, I'd laughed so much!
I rolled over onto my back, still giggling as I thought about the two episodes we'd watched.  Flynn was still messing around on the iPod, though.
When he had done whatever he'd wanted to do, he looked at me and grinned.  "Hey, silly -  listen to this song I found the other day online."
"Okay," I said, grinning and rolling back onto my stomach to watch the screen.
Turns out, the song was "If I Didn't Have You" by Thompson Square.  I looked up at Flynn halfway through the song and smiled.  "I think I love this song...it's beautiful!"  He met my eyes and butterflies started up in my stomach.  I impulsively sat up and kissed him.  I think it surprised him, because when I pulled away, he gave me a wide-eyed, red-faced stare.  I laughed and he shook his head at me.
"Don't surprise me like that," he said with a laugh, finally finding words to accompany his expression.
I laughed harder.  "But you do that to me all the time..."
He chuckled.  "I suppose you have a point."  His eyes held mine in a tender gaze for a moment, and then I looked down into my lap awkwardly.
"So, um...what do you want to do now?  I really hope we can watch Duck Dynasty some more, someday, and we'll have to let Jase watch it, too.  And Merida  would get a kick out of it, for sure."
He shrugged, turning off the iPod.  "Whatever you want to do."
"I dunno what I want to do!"  I exclaimed, chuckling. I laced my fingers together and studied them.  Flynn put a huge and gentle hand on top of mine, and then suggested going over to look out the window.  We hadn't done that in a good while; since we haven't been right beside it!  From our new display, though, we can see across the room to it.
I nodded.  "Sounds great to me!"
He stood and offered a hand to me.  I gladly accepted it, and we made our way over to the window, which was open.
A cool, almost chilly, breeze was coming through the window.  Flynn and I sat down, and we just sat in comfortable silence, watching the outdoors.
However, after about two  hours of that, my leg was starting to feel really bad, after being exposed to the chilly breeze.
"I think we should head back, much as I hate to say it."
Flynn stood.  "Are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah..." I didn't meet his eyes.
"It's your leg, isn't it?"
I silently and reluctantly nodded.
He sighed and shook his head.  "I should've known that-"
"No!  It was fine.  I didn't think that the cool breeze would affect it."  I said.
He gave me a calculating look, and then we started making our way back to the dresser.
By the time we were back, I'd developed a slight limp...again.  I sat down promptly and kneaded my leg.
Flynn silently disappeared, and I wondered where he'd gone.
Until he came back with Tangled Fan.
I gave him a glare.  "Why did you-"
"I don't want your leg getting worse. I'm sorry."  He gave me a pained look.
I huffed and looked away, angry at him.  Couldn't he just stop being obsessively protective?!  
"So, I hear your leg's worse?"  Tangled Fan asked, picking me up.
"I'm fine.  It was fine, too!  I just..that cool breeze..we were over at the window for awhile and it seized up.  I'll be fine."
"Just to be sure, I'd prefer to keep you somewhere else, wrapped up nice and warm, to make sure you get the rest you need, before this leg problem gets worse."
"No.  No way.  If I didn't go when I was knocked out, like you'd said-"
"Rapunzel, it couldn't hurt."
I flashed him a glare.  "You just can't trust me, can you?  I told you I'd be fine and I'd make sure to take care of myself!  And you said you'd try to stop being so overprotective!  Why did you go back on your word?"
"Because I-" he broke off.  "I just don't want you getting hurt any worse."  He gave me a pensive stare.
I looked away from him and down at my lap.
"I just want to do this because it's going to be chilly this week, especially at night."
"It's the middle of August!"  I protested.
"But the weatherman's predicting a cool streak this week.  It'll only be for a day or two; you'll be back home in no time if you behave yourself." she said.
I sighed in defeat, on the verge of tears.  I couldn't believe Flynn had done this.  I would be fine in a few hours, if I just rested!  I...

Tangled Fan whisked me off before I could even tell Jase good bye or Hallie or anything.
She took me and set me somewhere else in the house, and then wrapped me up in a small, warm blanket.  I must admit that, despite my anger, it felt pretty good.
I curled up on my side and stewed over the fact that he'd done this.  I mean, I know it was for my own good and just for a couple of days, but really?!  I tried to stay mad, because I knew once the anger drained away, tears would quickly ensue...

Flynn here...HB & 2wk anniversary

Hey everyone...Sorry that this post's a day late.  Ugh!  
Anyway.
Thursday morning dawned hot and muggy...just like it has been for the past week!
Rapunzel was still sleeping, and my heart squeezed at how innocent she looked.
After a few minutes, she woke up.  She slid upright, and I did too, still keeping an arm around her.
Suddenly, a line from Tim McGraw's 'Good Morning Beautiful' (I think that's what it's called anyway) came to me, and it seemed appropriate, so I started whisper-singing it to her.
She elbowed me and chuckled at me when she recognized the lyrics, and then kissed my cheek.
Then I heard faint crying.  Hallie and Allie.  My wife and her gang of 'bloodthirsty' buddies hadn't gotten to talk to Tangled Fan yet.
Rapunzel jumped up.  "That's it.  We're gonna talk to Tangled Fan if it's the last thing we do!"
Instead of telling her not to get into a fight, I grabbed her wrist before she stomped off, and got up.  "I'm coming too.  Jase is still asleep, and I can hear and see her from the chair."
She strode over and beat onto the printer.  Within minutes, the trio all came down.  Merida and Blondie were lugging some stuff.
We made our way over to the chair, and I finally saw what they were carrying: a glass jar and a hair brush.  Alrighty then!

Merida set the jar down, Blondie crouched beside it with the brush and started banging it on the jar.  Merida kicked at the jar and waved her bow above her head like a mad-doll.
I protectively linked my arm with Rapunzel's, prepared to take her away from the situation if it went awry.  She looked across me at Rayne, and Rayne looked back at her with a shrug.  "I think she's having just a bit too much fun with that."
"Ya think?" she chuckled. "I feel like I should get in on it, but I think they're making enough-"
"What on EARTH is going on in here?!?"
We all turned towards Tangled Fan, either freezing or trying to act normal.  Rapunzel pressed closer into my side.
Blondie, who must not have noticed Tangled Fan in her frenzied beating of the brush, slammed the brush down again.  Noticing everything was silent, she looked up.
"Ummm...we have, that is...we've..RAPUNZEL!  Rapunzel has something she has to tell you!" Merida stammered, finally gesturing towards my wife.
"I.." She broke off awkwardly when everyone turned towards her.
I grabbed her one hand - she was flapping the other one around aimlessly - and gave it a reassuring squeeze, adding a smile.
Taking a deep breath, the whole story came tumbling out of her mouth.  "So the other day, we heard crying from the top of the shelf, and y'know, we were just wanting to check stuff out to make sure whoever it was, was okay.  So Merida, Jase and I went.  Flynn came up later, so he'll back me up too.  Anyway, HB - the Happy Birthday Barbie you adopted Allie and Hallie out to?  She wasn't paying any attention to the girls, and they were the ones crying.  I asked about them, and she said they'd be fine if she just left them be.  And that she always does it anyway!  She didn't want to mess up her DRESS, because her BOYFRIEND  was going to come over for a date.  By the way, she willingly admitted that she LIED to you about being married!  And THEN, she said that she just left the babies over on the edge of the shelf while she went on dates or whatever! I'm so scared they'll fall.  And since then, they've been crying NON STOP.  Don't you think you should take them away from her?!"
"I talked to Jase.  Apparently, she'd been fostered by HB before.  She said she was terribly mean and never did anything with her.  She was quite adamant about the fact that the babies needed to be taken from her."  I added.
"If you don't believe them, I'll side with 'em.  I saw it myself!"  Merida said defiantly.
"I will, also."  Rayne said, and Blondie nodded her agreement with all of us.
"Well...just to be sure, I"ll ask HB about this.  I'm pretty upset she lied, and i'm upset that she hasn't been doing ANYTHING with Allie and Hallie. I'll go do it now."
We all turned towards the shelf to see HB was gone.  The babies were wailing, and their legs were hanging over the edge of the shelf.  My stomach dropped.
Rapunzel gasped.  "Grab them bef-"
Grab them before they fall?  Yeah right.  They started to plummet from the top of the shelf.
Rapunzel wheeled towards me and pressed her face up against my shoulder, crying. Rayne clasped her hands to her stomach, horrified.  Merida hit her knees and covered her face, gasping.  Blondie loosed a bloodcurdling scream.  I held Rapunzel tightly to me and turned my face away to avoid seeing the certain accident, and I almost hyperventilated.
But then we heard Tangled Fan say 'got them'. Rapunzel lifted her head from my shoulder.  I looked up. We all turned towards Tangled Fan - and realized she'd caught them!
We all gasped.
Tangled Fan looked down at the dolls in her hand as if she didn't know what to do with them.  I could hear them wailing.
"I guess I'll toss 'em in the box up in the attic.  Nobody else'll want them-"
"Wait just a second!"  Rayne stepped forward, growing at least three inches as she bristled and stood straight.  My wife stepped back a step and pressed even closer to me with uncertainty.  "Rapunzel cared for those babies for a week!  The week she should have been honeymooning, and when she had no clue what to do and was overwhelmed!  Don't you think you should possibly ask if she wanted them BACK, after you so rudely took them from her?  And Merida's helped her so much with those kids, and she so loves that little Allie, that don't you think you should pardon your married couples rule just for her?  She will be a lot better a mother than a box full of Barbies would EVER be!  And while we're at it - why do I have to stay locked in that stupidly wretched doll stand ALL THE TIME?  Every morning, Merida and Blondie have to help yank me out of the stupid thing, and yet you put me in it anyway!"  She huffed.
Alrighty then.  How did that last part about the doll stand fit in to the rest of the situation?  I wasn't sure if I should be amused or terrified of her - I'd never seen serene Rayne go nuts like that.
Tangled Fan silently held Allie out to Merida.  She took her, beaming.
"You're sure you're ready for motherhood, Merida?" Rapunzel asked her.  "Trust me, you don't want to rush into it!"
"If I can keep this baby away from HB, yeah, I'm ready!" She stared into Allie's eyes.
Then Tangled Fan held Hallie out to my wife and I.
"I apologize for taking the four of them away from you.  I was in a hurry and didn't think to ask.  Forgive me?"  My wife ndoded.
She took Hallie gently into her arms and I gave her a one-armed hug, kissing her hair.  She smiled down at Hallie and Hallie gave a cute little grin.  My heart skipped a beat when I realized how far we'd come.

Suddenly, though, Merida said my name.
"Yeah?" I was almost afraid to even know.
"You planning on doing anything with her today?"  she gestured towards Rapunzel.
I was confused.  Of course I was - it was our two week anniversary.  "I was..kind of planning on it, cause it's our two-week anniversary..why?"
"I was gonna teach your wife here how to shoot a bow and arrow.  She might have to fend off an angry HB!"  She joked.
She looked at Merida, wide-eyed and slightly terrified in appearance.  She asked her if it was dangerous.
"Dangerously FUN!"  She laughed.
"It's just morning right now, so it can't hurt.  I want to watch this - good entertainment!"
"Hey.  I bet you can't shoot either!"  Rapunzel said, and I gave her a one-armed hug to show I was just jerking her chains.
"Actually, I know how to shoot a bow and arrow."  And I actually did.
"Really now...why don't I believe that?"  She joked before reaching to give me a quick peck on the jawbone.
"Then it's a deal!"  Merida said.  "Why don't we get at it?"
"I'm leaving before arrows start flying," Rayne laughed.
Rapunzel took off after her, and talked with her for a few minutes.
I watched her as she talked.  It amazed me how happy and bubbly she was, after she had been so grievous and everything only about a week ago when the kids had been taken away from us.
Next thing I knew, Rapunzel was back and standing beside me.  And Merida was pulling an arrow out of her quiver to shoot.
I stood back.  I didn't want to be anywhere near that crazy doll when she started shooting arrows!
She explained how to shoot the arrow, and then loosed hers.
Rapunzel was completely awed by Merida's shooting skills.
Merida handed Rapunzel her equipment, and I felt it was safe to come back over.
I leaned against a chair rung, somewhat behind Rapunzel.
She looked at me and laughed.  "If any a time to stand back, it's now.  You shouldn't trust your wife with weaponry she's never used before."
Merida and I both got a laugh out of that one. When the chuckles subsided, Rapunzel started trying to get in position.
Although Merida tried to coach her, she still just couldn't get comfortable with the arrow and the bow.  I could see her face start to go red as she fumbled around, trying to get everything set up, so I stepped up behind her and took her arms into my hands, guiding them to where they needed to be placed.
"There ya go.  That's exactly how you hold it!"
In Rapunzel's excitement to have gotten the position, finally, she let go of the arrow.  It went straight for the metal-edged table, and I knew what was coming. I didn't know if the arrow could inflict injury to any of us, but I didn't want to find out!  I wrapped one arm around Rapunzel's waist, grabbed Merida with the other, and yanked both of them backwards before we all huddled in the opposite side of the chair.  Merida had fallen to her knees.
It ricocheted, but it just landed on its side, on the chair.
"You're right.  Maybe I shouldn't trust you with weaponry you don't know how to use!" I teased my wife.
"Oh hush up," she said, suddenly getting the giggles.  Merida stood and gave her a playful shove.
"You'll catch on.  But your lesson learnt for today is: Never, EVER shoot anything towards something it'll ricochet off of.  Like metal."
She laughed harder and apologized.
Merida left to pick up the arrow.
I didn't even realize I still held Rapunzel in a death grip.
"You can let go now.   No flying arrows to shield me from...right now, anyway!"  I laughed and let her go.
"I'd best head over to see what Rayne's up to with the girls.  I'll be back later, okay?  Don't kill anybody or break anything."  I chuckled, starting to leave back for the shelf.

When I got back, I relieved Rayne of her babysitting duties.  Jase told me how excited she was to have at least one of her baby 'sisters' back.  And she told me how she'd watched Momma shoot the arrow with 'aunt' Merida and how she wanted to learn how to shoot too.  I told her that she'd have to wait a little while till she could shoot.  She got me into a game of tea-party, with imaginative teacups and everything.  I held Hallie in one arm and went along with Jase's game for the majority of the afternoon and part of the evening.  I kept getting this nagging feeling that I was forgetting something, but I couldn't figure out what.
Eventually, though, I got Jase and Hallie both to take a quick nap whilst I went to get Rapunzel for our walk.
"Hey, Merida - can I steal her for a bit?  The girls are napping if you want to go watch them, please?"
"Sure.  And hey, even though stealing is bad, I'll let you take her anyway."
Rapunzel chuckled and thanked her for being her teacher for the day.
They talked for a  couple seconds and then she turned back to me.  I guess I must've been standing a bit too close, because she rammed into me when she turned to face me.  I held my hand out, and she took it.
We went to the floor to walk.  "So how did everything go after I left?"
"It was awesome!  I can see why she loves to shoot!  It's tons of fun.  We took turns shooting.  It was sooo much fun. She's such a good - what do you call it - she's such a good marksman!  Or markswoman.  Rather...marksdoll!" she broke off to giggle.  "I think sometime you'll have to demonstrate your shooting skills, if Merida'll agree to let you use her bow.  I didn't kill or break anything, and only ricocheted the arrow once by accident!  I guess I didn't do too bad, but I've still got a LONG way to go before I'm as good as Merida, if I'll ever be!"
As she talked, I couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.  When she was done talking, we walked in silence.  Her face quickly grew red.
She took my other hand and wrapped the other arm around my waist.  "Um..so, no dancing today?"  she grinned up at me.
So THAT'S what I'd forgotten about.
"Oh, I'm so sorry - I totally forgot to ask Rayne to play the playlist I'd made up last Friday...what with the kids and-"
"It's fine - I was just wondering - and half teasing, too, because we'd done it every other time."  She smiled up at me, and I found myself mesmerized by her emerald green eyes.
I snapped out of it for a moment, and suggested we climb up onto the chair.
I kind of embarrassed myself, because I just couldn't stop looking at her and thinking of how lucky a man I was to have her as my wife.  She leaned quite awkwardly against a rung of the chair, pulling her braid over a shoulder to fiddle with it.  "I need to-"
I knew it would make the outing even more embarrassing and awkward, but I couldn't help myself.  An overwhelming urge to kiss her came over me and I grabbed her up into a kiss, cutting her off.
I could feel her arms jerk and then she just put her hands comfortably up on my shoulders.  I could feel her start to go down because her knees went out from under her or something, and so I tightened my grip on her.  Finally, though, I started to reluctantly pull away from her - and she stood on tiptoe to grab me back into a kiss of her own; all the while, my stomach felt like a whole zoo had been released into it as a stampede or something, and a weird sensation gripped my spine.
She finally pulled away from me and slid her hands down around to my waist, sighing.
I reached to brush some hair from her face, allowing my hand to linger on her hair for a moment until I finally spit it out.  "I love you," I whispered.
Her mouth made awkward 'I want to say something, but can't figure out what' movements, before she finally asked what the kiss was for.
Was it awkward that I didn't really know why I'd kissed her?  Yep.  I have no regrets.
"Just because," I said, grinning.  She smiled back at me and I wondered if hearts could burst from your chest.
"Because why?" she asked me.
"What, can't I kiss my beautiful wife when I feel like kissing her?" I said, trying to keep a poker face, in an attempt to tease her.
"It's not that I don't appreciate it..." she winked.
Lesson to everyone:  if you get an opportunity to tease someone - in a kind way, mind - don't ever pass it up.  I don't!
I began to lean down to kiss her again, since she said that, and she pushed me away with a laugh.  "You're laying on the sweetness just a bit too thick, honey."
I pulled her close again and rested my forehead on hers.  She put a hand on my face and smiled before shutting her eyes.  At that moment, I never knew my heart could ever be so full.  I had the most stunning, beautiful, loving, sweet wife on earth, I had two sweet, adorable little girls, and I prayed that none of them would never be taken away from me!
"Two weeks ago, I never would've guessed we would be so open like this.  I never would have guessed we would've ended up with four kids, losing them all, and then getting two back, either.  And I never would've guessed how much I love you!"  I whispered.
"Two weeks ago, I never would have guessed we would be this way, either.  I never would've guessed ANY of this, either!  And I pretty much knew I had the world's biggest crush EVER on you, but I didn't really know how much so!  And by the way...love you, too!"
She opened those emerald green eyes that left me weak in the knees, and I smiled at her, giving her a peck on the forehead before deciding to commence the teasing once more.  "HAD the world's biggest crush ever on me?"
"You're bad.  Now I don't just have a CRUSH on you...now I have the ribbon to prove it!  And you obviously had a crush on me in order to give me that ribbon."  she threw the teasing right back at me, and I chuckled.
Eventually, though, she pulled away and said we should get back to the kids.
I nodded, took her hand gently into mine, and we went back to the shelf.
When we got there, Merida and Allie, Hallie, and Jase were all sprawled on the shelf floor, sleeping.
Rapunzel giggled quietly, and I started to shake with my attempt to not laugh.
She asked if maybe we should just let them be, but Merida awoke abruptly, yelling a 'who's there'.  My wife and Merida talked for a few minutes, and I hung back.
As soon as Merida left with Allie, Hallie started crying.
With a yawn, Rapunzel went over to hold her, bouncing her and reassuring her.
Within minutes, Jase woke up.
She came and hugged me, and I hugged her back, my heart swelling with love for this little girl.  "Love you, Daddy!"  She said.  Then she went over to Rapunzel, hugged her, and told her she loved her, too.  By the time she made it back to behind the alarm clock, I think she was asleep - she sure hit the shelf floor with a thump!
The night dragged on after that, and every time Rapunzel would lay Hallie down again, she'd wake up and cry.  It was almost 1 in the morning, and we'd been trying to get her to go to sleep since 10.
I watched Rapunzel holding her and frantically trying to get her to sleep, her eyes growing heavier by the second.  She plopped down with Hallie, and I walked over, holding my arms out.
"What?"  she asked, wiping her eyes and looking confusedly up at me.
"You go to sleep.  I'll take care of her the rest of the night."
"No.  You'll get a migraine."  She shook her head vigorously.
I raised my eyebrows, wiggled my fingers, and offered again.
"Sit."  she whispered, and I obliged, wrapping an arm around her small shoulders.
"That's better," she joked.
I watched her eyes roll around, and she looked so tired.
"Why don't-" I started to tell her to go to bed, but she refused.
"I'm fine."  She said, leaning slowly into me so as not to wake Hallie.

Around three, Hallie FINALLY went to sleep and was able to be put down without screaming.
Rapunzel set her down and slowly straightened back up, and looked at me, wide-eyed despite her sleepiness.  She added a victorious little grin and I leaned in for a quick little kiss.
And then we both made a beeline for bed before the next crisis occurred.

Surprisingly enough, though, she slept all night long after that!  Which is a really good thing, because I was getting the beginnings of a migraine after staying up so late...but I didn't dare tell my wife about it.  And I would've gotten up with Hallie anyway - Rapunzel needed the rest.  It was good, though, because it went away eventually! Boo-yah.

Happy Birthday Barbie part 2 & 2nd week anni xD

Bright and early Thursday morning, I awoke cuddled up to my husband.  I sat up, and he, who was awake already, sat up too.  Right away, I noticed how hot it was in the room.  Again...it's been soo  muggy lately :(  

"Good  mornin', beautiful, how was your night?  Mine was-" I elbowed him and chuckled quietly when I realized he was singing lyrics from "Good Morning Beautiful" by Tim McGraw; and then I reached up and kissed his cheek.  

As I was doing so, I heard faint cries coming from the top of the shelf.  AGAIN. 

I jumped up.  "That's it.  We're gonna talk to Tangled Fan if it's the last thing we do!" 

He grabbed my wrist and got up too.  "I'm coming, too.  Jase is still asleep and I can hear and see her from the chair."  

I pounded on the printer, and Merida, Blondie, and Rayne all came down.  Merida was lugging some glass jar with her, and Blondie had...the hair brush?  

They set the jar down and Blondie started beating the brush against the glass.  Merida was kicking it and holding her bow high above her head, waving it.  

I looked at Rayne as Flynn linked his arm with mine protectively. Rayne looked at me. 

Rayne shrugged.  "I think she's having a bit too much fun with that."  

"Ya think?" I joked, and she chuckled.  "I feel like I should get in on it, but I think they're making enough-"

"What on earth is going on in here?!"  

Well...it worked.  Merida froze.  Rayne clasped her hands and tried to look normal.  I pressed a little closer to Flynn, not removing my other hand from my hip.  Blondie slammed the brush down hard one last time, and then looked up.  

"Ummm...We have...that is...we've...Rapunzel!  Rapunzel has something she has to tell you!"  Merida said, gesturing towards me with her bow.  

"I-" I broke off when everyone looked at me.  

I gestured aimlessly with my free hand, and Flynn clasped the other one, giving me an encouraging smile.  

I finally spit it all out about HB, and Flynn added what Jase had said.  Merida told Tangled Fan that she would back me up if she didn't believe my story.  Rayne said she would too, and Blondie nodded in agreement. 

"Well..just to be sure, I'll ask HB about this.  I'm pretty upset she lied, AND I'm upset that she hasn't been doing anything with Allie and Hallie."  Tangled Fan said.  "I'll go do it now."  

We all turned towards the shelf.  HB was gone, the babies were wailing.  I saw they were terribly close to the edge.  

"Grab them bef-" 

They started to fall.  

I pressed my head up against Flynn's shoulder and wrapped my arm around my stomach, feeling nauseated.  Rayne clasped her hands to her stomach as if someone had punched her.  Blondie screamed.  Merida hit her knees with a gasp and covered her face.  I started to cry and Flynn held me tight, and I could hear him breathing kind of heavily, as if he were trying to calm himself down.  Either that or hyperventilate.  

"Got them!"  Tangled Fan said.  We all turned towards her and she brought her hand over.  Sure enough, the babies were both in her hand.  She'd caught them! 

The four of us gave a collective gasp.  

"I guess I'll toss them in the box up in the attic - nobody else'll want them-" 

"Wait just a second."  Rayne stepped forward, anger flashing in her eyes.  I backed up a step in surprise and pressed closer to Flynn.  "Rapunzel cared for those babies for a WEEK, the week she should have been honeymooning, and when she had no clue what to do and was overwhelmed!  Don't you think you should possibly ask if she wanted them BACK, after you so rudely took them from her?  And Merida's helped her so much with those kids, and she so loves that little Allie, that don't you think you should pardon your 'married couples' rule just for her?  She will be a lot better a mother than a box FULL of Barbies would EVER be!"  She was shouting by now.  

I glanced over to Merida, astounded.  She looked back at me with wide eyes.  And Flynn looked like he was deciding whether to be surprised, horrified, or entertained by her sudden and unexpected outburst.  

"And while we're at it...Why do I have to stay locked in that stupidly wretched doll stand ALL THE TIME?  Every morning, Merida and Blondie have to help yank me out of that stupid thing, and yet you put me in it anyway!"  She huffed and looked relieved to have that all off of her chest...even though that last part had been completely random!  

Tangled Fan paused, and she looked as if she was thinking.  

And then she silently held Allie out to Merida.  "I assume you will take better care of her, than what HB did?"  

Merida looked up, beaming.  "You bet I will."  

"You're sure you're ready for motherhood, Merida?" I asked her.  "Trust me, you don't want to rush into it."  

"If I can keep this baby away from HB, yeah, I'm ready."  She took Allie carefully into her arms and stared into her eyes - their pale blue eyes matched almost exactly!  I couldn't help but smile at my friend's mesmerized expression.  

And then Tangled Fan held Hallie out towards Flynn and I.  

"I apologize for taking the four of them away from you - I was in a hurry and didn't think to ask.  Forgive me?" I nodded.  

"Did Janet get a good family?" I asked.  

"Yeah.  Non-Barbie, so don't worry.  Non-HB."  She joked.  

"Okay," I laughed.  

I took Hallie into my arms and Flynn gave me a one-armed hug, kissing my hair.  I smiled down at Hallie and she stopped whimpering and gave me a sweet little grin that made my heart squeeze. When I looked up, Tangled Fan had left.

Merida held Allie to her chest, picked up her bow - which she'd dropped - and pointed it at me and Flynn.  "Flynn."

"Yeah?"

"You planning on doing anything with her today?"

"I was...Kind of planning on it, cause it's our two-week anniversary...why?"

I refrained from telling Flynn that we didn't have to celebrate every week we were married.  It's not like I didn't enjoy it, and we might as well enjoy our marriage and our love that was still relatively new..but I was just kind of embarrassed.  I didn't have anyone else to talk to, to ask if it was normal to celebrate two-week anniversaries.  

"I was gonna teach your wife here how to shoot a bow and arrow. She might have to fend off an angry HB."  She laughed.   

I looked at her, wide-eyed.  "Isn't that...dangerous?" 

"Dangerously fun!"  She joked.  

"It's just morning right now, so it can't hurt."  Flynn said.  "I want to watch THIS - good entertainment!"  

"Hey, I bet you can't shoot either!"  I said, and he gave me another one-armed hug to tell me he was kidding.  

"Actually, I know how to shoot a bow and arrow."  

"Really, now.  Why don't I believe that?" I joked, before giving him a quick kiss on the jawbone, which was the furthest up I could reach with Hallie in my arms.  

"Then it's a deal!"  Merida said.  "Why don't we get at it?" 

"I'm leaving before arrows start flying," Rayne laughed.  

She walked past, and I hurried after her.  "Hey, Rayne?"

"Yes?" She turned to look at me with her normal pleasant smile.  

"Thank you so much."

"Oh, anytime!  Why don't I watch Jase and Hallie for you two whilst you and Flynn are out with Merida?"  I hesitated, feeling kind of bad to make her babysit.  "Of course you want me to!  Blondie and I need something to do - Merida's usually our entertainment."  

We chuckled, and Merida yelled an 'I heard that'.  Which made us ALL laugh!  

Anyway, I told Rayne thank you again, gave her Hallie, and Merida gave her Allie; and then I told her where Jase was.  

When I turned back, Merida was pulling her arrow out of her quiver.  Flynn stood back.  

She explained how to shoot it, pausing so I could get an idea on how to hold it.  

"And then ye loose the arrow - like so..." she pulled back just a bit farther on the arrow and then loosed it.  It went flying, and then bounced off the window!  

I gasped.  "That was pretty cool."  

She handed me her arm guard, the bow, and the arrow.  Flynn stepped closer and leaned up against the one chair rung.  I looked back and laughed.  

"If any a time to stand back, it's now - you shouldn't trust your wife with weaponry she's never used before."  

Merida and my husband laughed.

I wriggled into the sleeve, and held the bow up, laced the arrow straight across...but it just didn't seem right.  

"Hold your one arm stra-a-a-a-ight out - like this.  And then use your other hand to yank back on that string and arrow with all your might - like this."  

Merida mimicked the position I needed to have, but I still fumbled, hopelessly embarrassed.  

Flynn stepped forward, took my one arm and pulled it back towards him, and he straightened my other arm out almost the whole way.  

"There ya go."  Merida held her hands out.  "THAT'S exactly how you hold it!" 

I was excited to finally have the right position, and accidentally let my grip go on the arrow.  

It pinged off of the metal edge of the table in front of us, and ricocheted.  

Flynn grabbed me by the waist and yanked me backwards, grabbed Merida's arm, and pulled the both of us away as the arrow bounced back our way.  

It landed on its side, right on the chair.  

"You're right.  Maybe I SHOULDN'T trust you with weaponry you don't know how to use!"  Flynn joked.  

"Oh, hush up," I said.  Now that I knew I didn't hurt anyone, I got the giggles.  

Merida stood - when Flynn had yanked her towards us, she'd fallen to her knees - and gave me a playful shove.  "You'll catch on.  But your lesson learnt for today is: Never, EVER shoot anything towards something it'll ricochet off of.  Like metal." 

I laughed harder.  "S-s-sorry!  I didn't break anything, did I?"  

"Nope," Merida went over to pick up the arrow.  

I noticed Flynn still held me tightly.  "You can let go now...no flying arrows to shield me from.  Right now, anyway."  

He laughed, and let go of me.  

Merida handed me the arrow and told me to try, try again.

So I did...and I actually didn't almost kill anybody!  :D

After that, Flynn left for awhile and Merida and I took turns shooting the bow and arrow.  It was actually a good bit of fun! 

Eventually, though, Flynn came back over and asked if he could 'steal' me.  

Merida said that even though stealing was bad, she'd let him anyway, and I chuckled.  

"Hey, thanks so much!"  I called after her as she hefted up her bow onto her shoulder.  

"Yep!  See, it was a lot of fun, wasn't it?"  

"For sure!" I nodded and watched her walk away.  When I turned back around, Flynn was standing so close I rammed into him.   

He held out his hand, so I took it.  

We made our way down to the floor and walked.  Flynn asked how everything had gone with Merida, so I ecstatically filled him in.  When I was done with my monologue, we walked in complete silence.  I could feel him staring at me, and my face grew red. 

Fumbling for something to say, I took his other hand and wrapped one arm around his waist. "So, no dancing today?"  I said with a grin.

He suddenly looked as if he'd forgotten something.  

"Oh, I'm so sorry - I totally forgot to ask Rayne to play the playlist I'd made up last Friday...What with the kids and-"

"It's fine - I was just wondering - and half teasing, too, because we'd done it every other time."  I smiled up at him, and he almost looked like he'd lost himself in my eyes or something - it made my face get hotter!  Could I embarrass myself any more?  Apparently so...

We climbed up onto the chair at his suggestion.  

He just stood, looking at me, and I leaned 'casually' up against a rung of the chair.  

I fiddled with my braid, which was becoming pretty messy.  

"I need to-"

He suddenly leaned over and swept me up into a passionate kiss, cutting me off.  

My hands made awkward jerking motions, in my surprise, but then I put them up on his shoulders.  My knees started to go out from under me and a tingly sensation gripped my spine.  I was a bit shocked/surprised/whatever you want to call it.  But when he finally began to slowly pull away from me, I stood on my tiptoes to return the kiss, not wanting to let the warmth of his go. 

Yeah, I know.  I'm pathetic.  [ ; 

When I pulled away from him, I let my hands slide down to hold him around the waist, comfortably, with a sigh. 

He reached over and pushed some stray hairs away from my face, and let his hand linger on my head a moment.  "I love you," he whispered.  Chills rained down my arms - but they were happy chills :D  

"What was that for?" I asked, finally finding some words to say around my thundering heart.  

"Just because," he gave me that grin and I smiled back at him.  

"Because why?" 

"What, can't I kiss my beautiful wife when I feel like kissing her?" he said, trying to be serious.  

"It's not that I don't appreciate it..." I winked and he started to lean down again. I pushed him away and laughed.  "You're laying on the sweetness just a bitttt too thick, honey."  

He pulled me close again and put his forehead on mine.  I put my hand on  his face and smiled at him before shutting my eyes.  

"Two weeks ago, I never would've guessed we would be so open like this.  I never would've guessed we would've ended up with four kids, losing them all, and then getting two back, either.  And I never would've guessed how much I love you!"  He whispered, still standing close to me.  

Despite the oppressiveness of the muggy weather, I was in no big hurry to pull away from his arms.  

My heart swelled and I kept my eyes closed until I finished my answer.  "Two weeks ago, I never would have guessed we would be this way, either.  I never would've guessed ANY of this, either!  And I pretty much knew I had the world's biggest crush EVER on you, but I didn't really know how much so!  And by the way...love you too."  

He smiled at me and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. "HAD the world's biggest crush ever on me?"  

It took me a minute - okay, so my mind was a bit boggled at the time - but I finally got it.  "You're bad.  Now I don't just have a CRUSH on you...Now I have the ribbon to prove it.  And you obviously had a crush on me in order to give me that ribbon."  He chuckled.  

I could've stayed there forever, but my motherly instinct kicked in.  "We should, uh...we should probably get back to the kids."  

He nodded in agreement, took my hand, and we went back to the shelf.  

Merida was asleep on the floor, sprawled out, with Allie, Hallie, and Jase laying sleeping all around her. 

I giggled quietly at the sight, and Flynn shook with the attempt to keep his laughter bottled up inside of him. 

"Should we leave her here tonight?" I whispered...but it was loud enough to wake my friend.  

"WHO'S THERE?!" she yelled, quite loudly.  I was amazed that the babies slept through it.  

"It's just us," I was dying of laughter by now.  

"Oh.  Oh!" she jumped up and smoothed her crazy hair from her face.  "They were good.  The babies were a bit fussy but nothing totally crazily out of hand.  And Jase was very good.  She played herself out."  

"Thanks so much," I gave her a quick hug, and she scooped up Allie.  

"I'll see ya all tomorrow!"  Merida grinned before she left.  

As soon as she left, Hallie started to cry.  Yawning, I went over and scooped her up.  

"It's alright, sweetie-pie!" I bounced her and smiled down at her, my heart squeezing.  

Jase woke up long enough to want a hug from Flynn and I, and then she retreated to the alarm clock by herself and plopped down.  I think she may have fallen asleep before she even sat down!  

After awhile, Hallie STILL wasn't asleep.  Every time I'd lay her down, she'd start screaming.  

I glanced at Flynn.  "I bet this is because of HB."  

"Uhhh-huh." he said, sounding very unhappy, indeed.  

I suppressed another yawn.  "Hallie, baby girl...go to sleep..."  I crooned to her for awhile, but she still would cry the second I put her down.  

My eyes were super-heavy and I needed to go to sleep.  I sat down instead of pacing back and forth.  Within minutes, Hallie was sleeping in my arms, again.  Glancing at the clock, I realized it was close to one in the morning...we'd been at it since 10.  Wiping my eyes, I realized Flynn was standing with his arms out.  "What?"

"You go to sleep.  I'll take care of her the rest of the night."

"No...you'll get a migraine."  I shook my head.  

"Don't worry.  You need sleep!"  He raised his eyebrows and wiggled his fingers.  

"Sit." I whispered.  He obliged, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.  "That's better," I joked quietly, trying to wake myself.  My eyes still rolled around in tiredness.  

He opened his mouth to tell me to go lay down, and I shook my head, saying I was fine.  

After awhile, Hallie FINALLY let me put her down without waking and crying hard. I gave a victorious smile to Flynn, and he gave me a quick little kiss.  

And then we hurried to bed to get some rest before the next scream-fest commenced!  =D