Flynn here - I am BACK!

Hey everyone! Haven't heard or seen anything from me in a long time, have you?  Well, I am back and supposedly cured of migraines.  I have no idea why but that's what Tangled Fan said.  Hey, as long as I really am, I won't question it!

Sunday evening, around six or so, Tangled Fan came down to the 'craft room'.  I jumped up hopefully.
"You're going back!"  she said with a singsong voice, and I could hardly contain my excitement.  I couldn't wait to see my wife and the girls!  Even Merida, Blondie, and Rayne!
She was in a hurry, though, so she just tossed me on her bed and left me to my own devices.

From the bed, I looked up when I heard a familiar giggle.  I peered across the room to see what appeared to be Merida and my wife fooling around, whilst Rayne documented it all with Tangled Fan's cell phone.  She - Rapunzel - took Merida's shooting equipment and started to pose.  Merida, behind her back, made a funny faux-exasperated expression, and the whole scene made me chuckle.  I couldn't wait any longer, so I started to make my way to the shelf.
I climbed up, and I ended up being kind of out of Rapunzel's sight, being that she was turned in a weird way for the next picture.
Jase saw me though.
Her whole face lit up and she immediately slid down off of Blondie's lap, exclaiming, "Daddy!!"
Since my wife STILL didn't realize what was going on, I put my finger to my lips and then swept her up into a big hug.  She wrapped her little arms around my neck and kissed my cheek excitedly, whispering "I'm so glad you're back Daddy!" in my ear.  I grinned at her and she giggled before wriggling to get out of my arms so she could go back to what must have been a very important conversation with Blondie.  I stood and wondered how one should greet a spouse who had no clue you were back from a two week absence.  Finally, I chuckled as I considered teasing her.  When in doubt, tease.
 "Should I leave?  If you've got that bow and arrow out, I'm gonna leave, because you're just plain dangerous with that thing."
The bow dropped to the floor.  She slowly turned to me with that deer-in-the-headlights-stare, for a few moments.  Her mouth gaped open, and I grinned at her.  I knew it wasn't sinking in for her - Tangled Fan probably hadn't told her I was coming back today.
She slowly took Merida's arm guard off, bent to pick up the bow, and she blinked about a hundred times.  She stood slowly, handed Merida her equipment back, and looked back at me.
She then grew wide-eyed once more, and an ear-to-ear smile brightened her whole face.  Her eyes started to tear up, and that's when she flung herself at me.
I stepped forward to catch her, swung her in a circle, and hugged her, chuckling the whole time.  Tears streamed down her cheeks.  She grabbed me into a fervent kiss that made me back up a step.  When she finally pulled away, I set her feet back down on the shelf.  Then I noticed everyone was clapping and beaming at us as if we'd just gotten married or something.  I felt a little awkward, but then I realized I didn't really care!
I bent down to give her a kiss.  After I pulled away, she sniffled.  Her tears were finally slowing, and she gazed up at me with a sweet smile, almost like she was mesmerized.
I grinned at her and wiped the tears from her rosy cheeks before sweeping some hair from her eyes and let my hand linger a moment on her cheek.  She hugged me so tight I wondered at how I could even breathe anymore.  My wife laid her head on my shoulder and I stroked her silky hair a few times before gathering her up into a tight hug and laying my head on top of hers.
After awhile, she pulled away from me.  I took her hands and held her out at arm's length.
"Still stunning as always!" I teased her with a wink and she giggled.
"You're handsome as always, too, good sir!" She joked back and returned a very over-exaggerated wink.
I pulled her in close to me again for a few minutes, before she asked if I would tell them all my 'big story'.  What big story?  I was just locked up down in the craft room in the basement for awhile, getting my sleep patterns tracked and modified. Woohooo, big adventure there; not.  But hey, if the girl wanted me to talk about it, if it pleased her, I'd do it.  I pulled away from her tight grip and bent to give her a quick kiss on the nose before I took one of her hands loosely in mine.
I led her over to the wicker chair and sat, patting my lap with a grin.  Surprisingly, she silently sat down, with no disagreeing.  Had she seriously missed me THAT much?!  Regardless.  I loosely wrapped an arm around her, and, realizing that all faces were turned to me, I chuckled and gave my speech.
Long story short; somehow I'm cured from migraines, as long as I get 7-8 hours of sleep, I don't get a migraine; but if I get less than that for a time of two or three nights in a row, I'll get a migraine, guaranteed.  It was really boring down there with literally no in and out traffic, and the only time anything got even a bit exciting was when I tried to escape to go back up here to visit with my girls.  Which had failed, of course.
During all of this, Rapunzel just simply had a very pleased, adorable smile on her face.
After all of that, the chatter commenced.
"So, you failed on your prison break, eh?  In your movie, you had a gang of Snuggly Duckling thugs that broke you out.  Of course, then ya kind of got stabbed by Gothel, but it was all okay in the end..." Merida said.
"Yes.  I fail at prison breaks.  Obviously!"  I joked.
Blondie handed over both of the girls.  Rapunzel took Hallie, and Jase sat on what was left of my lap.
A mischievous expression lit Merida's face again.  "Maybe...Tangled Fan is Mother Gothel!  She keeps us all prisoners, after all!  Well, Rapunzel, guess ye didn't get away from 'er after all!"  She joked, referring to the movie.
"Oh, stop," Rayne laughed.  "She isn't Gothel."
"How do ye know?"
Rayne started to respond, stopped when she couldn't think of anything to say, and shrugged.  We all laughed.
Jase piped up.  "I'm so glad you're back, Daddy.  I love you!"
"Love you too, sweetie," I said, my heart swelling.  I didn't think, at that moment, that my heart could be any more full!
"Were you scared?  I would have been scared down there." Jase asked innocently.
I started to shake my head, but then I caught myself.  No use lying to my own daughter - I had been terrified down there, afraid I'd never get back to my family if sleep deprivation wasn't the problem.
"I was scared, a little bit."
Rapunzel stared at me, mystified.
"Of what?  Were there monsters down there?" She blinked her green eyes - Jase said this, not Rapunzel.
"I..well, I guess I was afraid that something would happen and I'd not be able to come back.  Your daddy's a worrywart like that."  I said lightly.
"Well, I think you're very brave!"  She said, cuddling up against me.
Rapunzel and I both chuckled quietly.
"So how did the babies sleep?"  I asked my wife.
"They were up and down, as usual...some nights they'd sleep all night, and others they wouldn't."  She said, looking down at Hallie, who was squirmy.  
"And hello to you, baby girl.  I didn't get to see you yet, you were sleeping when I came in!"  I said, making a goofy face at Hallie and grinning when she grinned at me.
Rapunzel smiled, too, but then she announced that we all ought to get to bed.
Merida agreed.  So then we got to work trying to get the babies to go to sleep.  After awhile, their eyes finally closed, and we laid them down on the chair.  Jase was completely and utterly tired.  She muttered 'good night' to both me and Rapunzel, and I took her into my arms to lay her beside the babies.  She was asleep within seconds.
The others all dispersed to their sleeping spots of choice, and Rapunzel and I headed over to behind the chair.  I could hear Merida sawing logs like nobody's business, and held back a laugh.
When we got back to our destination, I sat down up against the wall and looked up at my wife as she worked her way back.  I knew she'd reinforce the 7-to-8-hours-of-sleep rule, but I still wanted to talk with her.
"Why such an early bedtime?" I asked, speaking quietly so as to not wake anyone up.
She slid down to sit down.  "We were up at 5 with the babies, and up through the night with them, too.  It was too hot for anyone to sleep last night, anyway."
I made an agreeing kind of noise and she nodded.  I held my arm out from my side and raised my eyebrows at her, silently inviting her to come closer.  She quickly accepted with a grin, and curling up beside me.  Soon, though, she looked up at me and sighed.  "You should get to bed, too."
I protested.  "I could go to bed at midnight and still get back up at seven, and not risk a migraine!"
She started to protest MY protest, and trailed off.
"Why don't you tell me how everything went while I was gone?" I asked, trying to swerve away from the topic of sleep.
She shook her head and told me to go to sleep.  I shook MY head, and decided to tease her.
"I could tickle it out of you..."-When she started to squirm away from me, I tightened my arm around her so she couldn't-"Or get you up at - let's see - four in the morning?  That would be roughly seven hours of sleep."
"You.." she trailed off again, shaking her head.  "Fine."
"So...?"
"Everything went okay, I guess.  Nothing really major.  I did try to follow Tangled Fan once, to see if I could find you, but she caught me and took me right back up to the shelf.  Jase was exceptionally good.  I was expecting her to be really upset, but she was pretty okay.  And the babies were restless sometimes, like I said earlier.  Merida's leg hurt only once in that two weeks, which was great.  And...I guess that was basically it.  Boring, in other words!" She joked.
I smiled at her before resting my cheek on top of her head, giving her shoulders a squeeze.  I decided to tease her, expecting her to drive herself crazy trying to figure out how to make me tell her what we would do tomorrow.  "I'm planning on a full day tomorrow."
"Oh?" She asked, and her eyes clouded with confusion.
"Today was our one-month anniversary, and since we didn't get to celebrate, we'll do everything tomorrow."
Instead of harping at me about details, she just smiled and said she couldn't wait.
I considered teasing her with the classic "what have you done with my wife, the one who usually goes nuts in an attempt to figure out the details of the plans I've made?", because I was quite frankly surprised, as you probably would be as well.
But instead, I just took her chin and tilted her head up so I could give her a kiss. Then, I winked at her and asked her 'guess what'.
"What?" She said with a grin starting to play across her lips.
"Love you  - I love you big, flowery bunches."
She giggled quietly and shook her head at me.  "We're both hopeless, you know that?  And I love you too.  Big flowery bunches."
I chuckled at that, and gave her another squeeze as my heart squeezed too.
We talked quietly about whatever, and whispered what I guess would be called 'sweet-nothings' for awhile, and then I finally succumbed to her grumbles that I needed to go to sleep.  She leaned over so we could share a goodnight kiss, and then I snagged her hand and held it until we went to sleep.

He is baaaackkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Sunday evening, we kind of all got bored sitting on the shelf.  Blondie was playing with Jase, and the babies were sleeping on the chair.
I spied Tangled Fan's cell phone on her bed, so I said, "Why don't we have our own photoshoot?  Of us just  being weird, instead of what Tangled Fan directs us to be like."
"I second it!" Merida jumped up.
Rayne laughed.  "You two can be weird.  I'll take the pictures."
I nodded and ran off for the bed.

When I got back, soon after I left, we got started.  Blondie didn't want to participate either, so she just continued her conversation with Jase.
We  fooled around more than striking good poses for pictures.

We did get this one in, though.  

And then we got the idea to take a picture of me pretending to shoot Merida's bow and arrow.  

THIS is the picture that came out of it.  It made me laugh.  Merida wasn't exactly supposed to do that - acting exasperated - but she did :P  

I was getting ready for another picture, which Rayne demanded, when I heard Jase say loudly, "Daddy!"  I thought she was just talking to Blondie about him, like she tended to do, so I didn't pay any attention to it.  Plus, I didn't see him from the corner of my eye.  I figured Rayne would yell at me if I made a photo blurry, so I didn't twitch.  

I heard Blondie begin to talk quietly to her again, so I figured it wasn't any big deal.  

I heard a low chuckle.  Flynn?  No.  Couldn't be.  I tried to refocus, assuming I was just thinking about him too much.  

"Should I leave again?  If you've got that bow and arrow out, I'm gonna leave, because you're just plain dangerous with that thing."  

It was Flynn.  It.  Was.  Flynn! I thought it was, anyway.  

The bow fell from my hands and I turned to give him a blank stare for a few moments.  My mouth dropped open, and he gave me that super awesomely cute grin.  ;)  

My heart thundered so hard I could practically feel it beating against my ribcage.  

I slowly took Merida's arm guard off of my arm and  bent to pick up  the bow, blinking.  I thought I was imagining it.  I honestly thought I was imagining it all.  

I stood up, handed Merida's equipment over to her, and looked back at where I thought I'd seen Flynn, hoping it wasn't me hallucinating or something.  He still stood there, and I grew wide-eyed.  A huge smile pulled at the corners of my lips.  Tears (Good ones, mind you! :P) pricked at my eyes.  

And then I threw myself at him from where I stood.  He stepped forward and caught me.  

He took me off my feet and swung me around in a quick circle, hugging me close and chuckling.  Tears were streaking down my cheeks.  I thrust myself towards him and gave him a kiss.  He went back a step and when I finally pulled away, he set me down on the shelf again. 

Merida, Blondie, and Rayne were all clapping.  

I glanced around, embarrassed for only a second.  I was too excited to not hug or kiss him!   

He bent and gave me a gentle kiss.  My heart thundered like nobody's business, and I finally succumbed to the feeling of excitement I'd been holding back. When he slowly parted his lips from mine, I sniffled and looked up at him with a smile, gazing at him, mesmerized.  

He grinned and wiped my cheeks, brushed the hair from my face, and then let his hand linger on my cheek.  A weird tingle went up my spine and I tightened my hug on him.  

I pressed my head against his shoulder and he stroked my hair a few seconds before he held me tight, and pressed his head against the top of mine.  

I finally managed to calm my heart.  I pulled away from him and he took my hands, stepping away a few steps to hold me at arm's length.  

"Still stunning as always!"  he winked at me, and I giggled, feeling quite giddy.  

"You're handsome as always, too, good sir!" I returned his wink and then he pulled me close again.  

Even though I could have stayed like that forever, I said, "Why don't you tell us all  your big story?  I'm sure you have one."  

He pulled away from my hug and swooped down to give me a quick peck on the nose before taking one of my hands.  

He pulled me over to the chair - when had the babies awakened?  I looked around to see Merida sitting with Allie, and Hallie was with Blondie.  

He sat down and patted his lap with THAT grin on his face. For once, I didn't refuse his silent offer.  

He slung an arm loosely around me and realized we were ALL watching him.  

With a chuckle, he began his story.  "Well, first off:  I am supposedly cured of migraines.  I can't really understand why, but that's what Tangled Fan said.  As long as I get around 7 or 8 hours of sleep, I'm good.  If I get any less than that, for a period of more than two or three nights in a row, I will get a migraine eventually.  Every time, guaranteed.  Tangled Fan told me she would bring back a small jar of that paste stuff for you, Rapunzel, so that if I ever do get migraines again, you can just plaster some on my face. 

"It was so boring down there.  She put me in what she called the 'craft room'. No kidding there wasn't any coming and going, except for Tangled Fan, so she could record stuff.  Once I did try to escape, but she caught me trying to climb and get the doorknob, and asked me what I preferred - getting better, possibly, or seeing Rapunzel and the kids until she caught me.  I don't see what a few minutes' visit would've done to the 'stress free sleep study', but whatever.  

The important part is that I'm back now!"

During this whole monologue, I couldn't stop smiling, and he kept tossing loving glances my way.  

The whole group of us chatted amongst one another for awhile.  Blondie handed both of the girls over to us and we held them and talked quietly with one another about the girls.  

After awhile, I happened to glance at the alarm clock across the room and noticed it was 8 PM.  Everyone looked tired - we'd gotten up impossibly early this morning, after all.  And Flynn needed to rest up.  

"Well...I guess we ought to go to bed."  I sighed and glanced at Flynn again.  

"True, my friend...quite true."  Merida said, stifling a yawn.  

We got to work putting the babies to sleep, and when they were out, we set them down on the chair.  Jase was soooo sleepy, I don't think her eyes would stay open.  She muttered a good night to us, and then Flynn gently laid her down beside the babies.  

Blondie, Merida, and Rayne all went to their normal sleep spots, and Flynn and I retreated to behind the chair.  I could hear Merida snoring within minutes.  Quite loudly, I might add! :P  

When we got back behind the chair, Flynn sat instead of laying down. 

"Why such an early bedtime?" he asked quietly.  

I slid down by him.  "We were up at 4 with the babies, and up through the night with them, too.  It was too hot for anyone to sleep last night, anyway."  

"Ahh," he said.  I nodded, and he slung his arm out and silently offered me a spot beside him, which I quickly accepted, of course :D  I curled up beside him, putting my head on his chest and resting my hand on his chest.  Sighing reluctantly, I looked up at him.  

"You should get to bed, too."  

"I only need seven or eight hours of sleep.  I could go to bed at midnight and be back up at seven and not risk a migraine!"  he protested quietly.  

"But..." I trailed off.  

"Why don't you tell me how everything went while I was gone?"  

I shook my head.  "Go to sleep."  

He shook his head, and I caught an impish look in his eye.  "I could tickle it out of you..." when I started to jump up to get away, he tightened his arm around me.  "Or get you up at...let's see...four in the morning?  That would be roughly seven to eight hours of sleep." 

"You..." I trailed off, shaking my head.  "Fine."  

He loosened his grip until his arm was gently around me.  "So...?"

"Everything went okay, I guess.  Nothing really major.  I did try to follow Tangled Fan once, to see if I could find you, but she caught me and took me right back to the shelf.  Jase was exceptionally good...I was expecting her to be really upset, but she was pretty okay.  The babies were restless sometimes.  Merida's leg hurt only once.  Annd...I guess that was basically it.  Boring, in other words!"  I joked quietly. 

He smiled and rested his cheek on top of my head, giving my shoulders a squeeze.  "I'm planning on a full day tomorrow."  

"Oh?" I asked, kind of confused.   

"Today was our one-month anniversary, and since we didn't get to celebrate, we'll do everything tomorrow."  

"I can hardly wait," I smiled at him. 

He pulled my chin up to give me a wonderfully tender kiss.  When he pulled away, he winked at me. "Guess what?"

"What?"  I knew, but I played along.  

"Love you - I love you big, flowery bunches."  

I giggled quietly and shook my head.  "We're both hopeless, you know that?  And I love you too.  Big flowery bunches."  

After awhile, he finally laid down, and I did, too.  I reached over to give him one last kiss goodnight, and then he found my hand and held it loosely.  And we were both asleep within minutes.  

Still No News...And Soooo Tired...!

Last night was rough.  The babies were restless last night and cried a lot, so therefore, we were all up a lot through the night.  And then Jase got woken up plenty, so she was bound to be Miss Grouchy, naturally.  A five year old without a good night's sleep is never a good thing!  As far as that goes, ME without a good night's sleep and stressed over my hubby is never a good combination, either!
Tangled Fan's last show for this week was yesterday; she tossed her bins and bags of stuff in the bedroom and then ran back out to do stuff.  She didn't come in to sleep until midnight, and I didn't get a chance to corner her and talk to her, because as soon as she went in the room, she collapsed on her bed and went to sleep :(
Anyway...I'm really hoping, really, really, REALLY hoping he's okay!  Only a couple more weeks until his maximum time is over, but I'm praying he's cleared to come back before then!

I just thought I'd pop in for a few seconds to type this...you never know.  The next post might just be from my hubby himself!  I can hardly type straight right now, because I'm so tired, so I suppose I'll leave you all with this till next time...Sorry there wasn't any exciting news!  I really WISH there would be some exciting news.  Preferably the news that my hubby is back and migraine free...!

Another quick check-in...

Hi everyone..
STILL no word on Flynn!  :(  I *finally* managed to corner Tangled Fan on Tuesday morning and tried to talk to her, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she got a panicked look on her face and yelped something about a horse halter...I guess it had to do with the fact that one of her shows was yesterday.  Ugh.  She has another one on Saturday, so I probably won't be able to get any further information.  I just hope that those shows aren't hindering her experiments or whatever on Flynn.
Today whilst I was watching Tangled Fan zooming in and out, gathering stuff for Saturday, I decided to ask Rayne to teach me how to dance.
My logic?  I wanted a surprise for Flynn, no matter how small it was, for when he came back.  I know, I know - dancing isn't that huge of a great surprise.  But when you're a doll, there isn't too much you can do to surprise someone.
She agreed, and taught me how.
"You place your...well, this is going to be awkward."
"You think?" I joked sarcastically.  I didn't really think about hand placement when I'd asked her to teach me how to dance.  Merida was in the background, giggling so hard she snorted, which caused us all to laugh.
"You place your one hand HERE, and the other hand HERE.  Then, you..." she kept instructing me, until ultimately, I stopped stomping on her feet, tripping myself, and basically was a bit more graceful with the whole dancing thing.
That took awhile!  You would be amazed at how clumsy a princess doll can be.  I'm quite frankly really embarrassed and ashamed that I can't be more graceful.  I mean, seriously.  Look at Rapunzel from the movie.  She had SEVENTY feet of hair, carried it around with her all the time, RAN from danger, escaped drowning, HUNG from her HAIR to PAINT the walls...danced without even being taught how...and then there's me.  I try sooo hard not to be clumsy around Flynn, because I don't want him to see me being clumsy.  But, I guess since he's my hubby, he's gonna see the good, the bad and the clumsy... :P  If he ever comes back...!  I'm getting a little antsy that I've not heard anything yet about him.
Anyway, I'll keep you updated as I can.  Hopefully, the next post will be about Flynn's homecoming!  Or possibly even a post from Flynn himself!  Ugh, yeah I know - like he's gonna be back by then.  :(

Another quick check in

Well, I was up a LOT last night, because the girls were fussy and Jase suddenly wanted her momma.  When the babies finally quieted down, Jase went to bed with me - not that I minded or anything!  And last night, Tangled Fan was actually in her room for about a half an hour before she went to bed.  I was going to demand an update on Flynn, but she was flying back and forth too quickly for me to catch her attention :(  She was in an out quite a bit thru the day.  Once, I waited for her and tried to slip through the door to find him myself - what would a quick little visit do, anyway?? - but she snatched me up.
"You need to be careful - I almost stepped on you.  You don't want that to happen!  You will see Flynn when it's time."
I was too disgusted to grumble, so I just crossed my arms and huffed when she set me back up on the shelf.  Ugh!

Anyway.  I thought it was pretty comical last night.  Apparently, she's having problems with her show shirts fitting right - she has  two horse shows this week - and she kept flying around back and forth.  Try Shirt 1 on, tuck into show pants. Grumble to self.  Try Shirt 2 on, tuck into show pants. Grumble a bit more.  Try Shirt 1 on again.  Mutter.  Shirt 2 on again.  Mutter.  Shirt 1 on AGAIN.  Sets on hanger.  Shirt 2 on again.  "Hmm."  Sets on hanger.  And then this went on for almost twenty minutes, I kid you not, readers!  That's craziness.  I'm glad I'm not into the horse showing business, if it takes ALL THAT fussing!

Anyway, wanted to let you all know I won't be on to blog when Tangled Fan's not home - I can't get the laptop out of her dresser drawer (she keeps it there because of the lack of a desk in her room.) and the power cord is HUGEMONGUS. I'm telling you guys - It's like, really heavy and at least six feet long - okay, maybe I'm exaggerating.  But really.  A heavy power cord, miles (now I *am* exaggerating!) long, vs. a one-pound doll that's 11 inches tall.  Hm.

I guess I'll let you go, I'll keep you updated as I can!  Talk to you all soon, and I really, really, really, hope that the next post will be about Flynn's homecoming!  Hey, a girl can hope, right? ;)

Quick check in

Hey everyone .... sorry I haven't been able to update anything lately - I've been sooooo impossibly busy with the girls, and helping Merida with Allie.  Friday, Merida's legs were bothering her something awful, so I took care of Allie for the day whilst she rested them - despite her grumbling!

Thursday, I decided to take Jase and Hallie with me to visit the 18 inchers.  Merida stayed home, and I suspect her legs were bothering her a bit then, too.
Elizabeth, Hayley, Christy, and I had a good visit...Kailey's still being unwelcoming towards us.  I'd like to find out sometime why she's that way.

Wednesday was spent with two very finicky little babies and Jase, who hadn't gotten much sleep because of the babies, was Little Miss Grumpy Pants as well.

Tuesday, Merida and I went out shooting for awhile, whilst Rayne and Blondie babysat for us.  It was a very much welcomed outing, because I was still bummed out about Flynn.

I know, I know.  It's pretty silly that I'm so bummed out about him being gone - it will only be about three more weeks -  UGH!  THREE more weeks?  ONLY?  :( - anyway...it's not like he'll be gone forever.  But there's still a small worry in my mind that sleep deprivation isn't what the problem is, and he'll have to be away even longer, and me or Jase or Hallie won't be able to visit.  I wonder how he's been doing, and I worry all the time about it.  Tangled Fan hasn't been around in her room a lot this past week so I haven't been able to ask her about him!  I'm going to be a basket-case soon!  I soo need to get my mind off of things.  I suppose in a little while I'll maybe see if Jase wants to do anything special so we can have a 'girl's day out' or whatever today...it'd do her good!

A Heart to Heart With Rayne

So, something's been kind of bothering me.  Since Saturday, when Rayne said "Because you love him," when I'd been blubbering around about Flynn's departure, I'd been wondering why she'd said it in such a weird tone.  So Monday, I decided to ask her about it.
Merida and Blondie had taken the three girls for a walk to give me a short break, and I took the opportunity to talk to Rayne.
"Hey, Rayne?" I asked, and she turned to look at me.
"Yes?"  She looked at me with a questioning stare.
"You know how the other day you said 'because you love him' to me...when I was kind of falling apart all over the place?" I blurted quickly.
She furrowed her brows.  "Umm..yeah, I do.  Why?"
"You just said it weird, like you were thinking about something else, or someONE else....?" I hinted at my question.
She nodded.  "I just don't really want to talk about it."
"Why?  Was it someone here?  If it was, I'll-"
"No, no, Rapunzel, it wasn't someone here.  I WISH it was someone here."  She sighed and sat down, patting the floor beside her.
I sat beside her and stared at her until she spilled it.
"So you know how you and Flynn met, right?"
I nodded.
"My Eugene and I met the same way, at the warehouse.  We'd been next to each other for months, and were planning on getting married as soon as we were let out of our boxes.  We were so sure we would end up in the same home."  She shook her head, biting her lip.  "He was so sweet and nice and caring.  One day...one of the workers at the warehouse...t-they came over, grabbed my Eugene's box and tossed him into a cardboard box.  I was so..so sure they would put me in there too, and was excited, because I was sure we would get married incredibly soon."
She paused, and I laid a hand on hers.  She gave me a bittersweet smile and continued.
"They started to walk away, and I started pounding on the box as much as I could in my plastic ties...I screamed...they only looked around as if a mere fly was buzzing about their heads.  I screamed until I went hoarse.  But they never came back.  A week later, I was shipped out, along with some gifts Tangled Fan had bought.  I thought maybe he would be there, and we'd just gotten shipped out separately or something dumb like that.  But he wasn't here.  Blondie was the only one here, aside from the bigger dolls."
She wiped her face of the tears streaking her cheeks, and I felt horrible for her.
"I am so, soo sorry, Rayne."  I stared at my hands in my lap, as I thought about how I would have felt if that had happened to me and Flynn.
"It's fine.  What is done is done, and I can only hope that someday, I'll find someone like my Eugene.  But I doubt it will ever happen..."
"You can't ever lose hope, Rayne,"  I bit my lip, trying to think of a way to comfort her.
"Yes..but I can be realistic," she gave me a pensive stare, before finally adding, "honey, you enjoy that husband of yours as much as you possibly can.  Never, ever take him for granted.  Do that for me, please.  And don't be afraid to show your affection towards him, around us.  We don't mind.  And don't think we didn't notice your awkwardness!"  She gave me a wink and I knew she was trying to lighten the mood and distract me from the subject.  My eyes were misted over from her advice.
I just nodded, not trusting that I wouldn't start crying if I opened my mouth.
"And if you ever need to talk to me while he's gone - or ever, for that matter - don't be afraid to.  I don't bite..much!"
"Oh, I saw your crazy-eyes when you confronted Tangled Fan the other day about the babies.  I don't trust that you WON'T bite me!"  I finally joked, wiping at my eyes.  "And if you need to talk to me, I won't bite."
She laughed and leaned over to hug me.  "Don't you worry about him, girl.  He's so twitterpated over you, he'll likely get it in his head to get better quickly, or I wouldn't put it past him to fake a recovery so he can be back with you."
I chuckled, my cheeks turning warm.  "He'd better not fake anything...I don't want to go through this again!"
She nodded in agreement.  "I wouldn't want to be in your position, either.  But everything will be  okay."
I gave her a small smile and turned when I heard the girls coming back up the shelf.
Jase came running over to me excitedly, jumped into my lap, and commenced telling me the story about what her, 'Aunt Blondie', and 'Aunt Merida' had done today.  Merida handed Hallie over to me and went to sit with Allie, who was asleep.
I felt better to have spoken to Rayne, and to have my girls in my arms again.

On another note, I haven't seen Tangled Fan long enough to ask about Flynn.  She's come down with a cold and is also busy with what I overheard is a bunch of horse shows soon in the next three weeks, so I just hope that that won't delay anything!  Oh goodness...if anything is delayed, I might just die!  I know, I know; I'm being way too dramatic there :P

Saturday the 20th

Friday night, Flynn was up tossing and turning plenty, and eventually woke me up, saying he had a migraine.  Tangled Fan promptly applied the same paste that she had last time he'd had a migraine, and told me to  let her know how he was in the morning.
 Saturday morning, I woke up early, and Hallie was crying.
I crept over to her and scooped her up.  She immediately quieted down, so I sat back down beside Flynn, who was still sleeping.  I yawned, looking around groggily at the different surroundings.  Flynn had probably been up more through the night, based off of the fact that he was still asleep, and I felt a pang of concern.
I brushed the hair from his sleeping face and rested my hand on his shoulder, a little worried about his pale face.

After awhile, he did get up, squinting at the light.  And so then I knew why he was so pale.
"Morning," he said, with a gravelly voice.
"Morning, hon.  Still have a migraine?"
"Naw, it's-"
"I'll get Tangled Fan to see if she'll mix that paste up for you or give you some medicine."  I started to stand, but he snagged my arm gently, shaking his head.
I touched his face and realized his skin had gone clammy and sweaty.  I gave him a small smile and turned to go, Hallie still in my arms.
I scaled the shelf and then went over to the chair, which Tangled Fan was sitting on, watching the guinea pigs.
"Flynn's still got a migraine, could you please mix up something for him?"  I asked. She nodded, scooping me and Hallie up, and she deposited us on the shelf again before she headed out.
I walked over to my husband, and gave him a kiss on the forehead.  "She'll be back in a minute."
He shut his eyes and nodded.  It killed me to see him have these awful migraines...
She came back with the world's smallest dosage of Excedrin, and then warned me that  if he didn't start feeling better within the hour, to let her know right away.

I led him over to the wicker chair and tried to keep my shaky hands under control.  "I'll check up on you in an hour, okay, hon?" I said quietly.  

He nodded, staring at my hand a few seconds before he took it and held it tightly for a minute.  Then, I heard the babies start to cry, so I went with Merida to pick them up.

Sitting beside Merida, I took Hallie.  

"He's got a migraine?"

I nodded.  "It's a bad one this time, too.."

"So that's why you're so pale."

"I am?"  

She nodded.  "Everything will be fine, don't worry."

I gave her a small smile. 

Rayne came over and took Hallie from me, just as Jase was waking up.

She came running over to me and I caught her into a hug.  

"Morning, baby girl," I smiled at her. 

"Morning, momma!  Why's Daddy look so sad?"

I glanced over my shoulder and saw his eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes squeezed shut.  "He's got a really bad headache.  So we all have to be really quiet and not yell or anything, okay sweetie?"

She nodded.  "He'll be okay, right?"

I gave Merida a sidelong glance.  

"Of course he will be!" Merida said cheerfully.  

"Why don't we play, um....tea party or whatever you want to play?" I asked, trying to take both my mind and hers off of the migraine.  

She excitedly bounced off my lap and sat beside "Aunt Merida".  

Including Allie and Blondie, Jase excitedly taught us how to play her special tea-party game. 

Next time I glanced at the clock, an hour had passed.

I stood up and put my hand on Flynn's shoulder.  

"How're you feeling?" 

He didn't meet my eyes.  "A-awful..." His voice was faint and gravelly. 

My heart started pounding.  I started to go run to find Tangled Fan, but when I turned around to leave, Flynn grabbed my hand.  "No.  She'll just...I don't know..b-but she'll...just stay with me, please."  

Well, gee.  Way to make someone feel better by asking them to stay with them.  Usually, good outcomes never come from that.  But of course I obliged.  

It happened that Tangled Fan was on her way back anyway.  

"You're not any better, are you?" She held her hand out.  

He shook his head and my heart thudded so hard against my chest, in fear, that I thought I might pass out.  

"Okay.  What we're gonna do is this.  Come with me, and I'll take you to a separate room where there's hardly any going in-and-out of anything - people, dolls, animals, nothing - and I'll record your sleep patterns to see if that's what's causing the migraines.  Once you start onto a good sleep pattern and are getting them less, I'll keep you for awhile to ensure that's the problem and that you get used to the pattern.  This could take anywhere between one week and a month, just depends."  She explained, and by then, every inch of me was shaking.  

"What if that isn't the p-problem?" I asked quietly.  

"We'll go from there if it isn't." 

Flynn looked up at me, trying to give a brave smile, but his furrowed brows told me he felt awful.  

"I'll be able to visit him, right?" 

Tangled Fan shook her head, and my stomach dropped.  Up to a month without seeing him?  

"Why don't we go now and get you settled for tonight," Tangled Fan suggested, and I pushed away the tears stinging my eyes.  

"G-give me a couple minutes."  He whispered, and she nodded, leaving.  He stood and looked me in the eye.  "Will you be okay?" 

I nodded, even though I didn't know if I would be.  "Everything will be fine.  If you can get freed of these dumb migraines, I'll be so glad."  

"Me too," he said, giving me a weak smile.  

So what was I waiting for?  I grabbed him into a hug, as tightly as my arms could hold him.

He bent to give me a kiss, and I hated so badly for that kiss to end.  When he started to pull away, I leaned in to return it.  Eventually, though, we had to pull away from one another.

He held me out from him just slightly, and slid his hands up and down my arms.  "You're sure?" 

I tried to give him a brave smile, but I could feel the corners of my lips shaking and twitching.  Real convincing smile there, not.  He smoothed my hair and I thrust myself towards him to hug him again, putting my head on his shoulder and breathing in the smell of his shirt.  

He turned to sit down, and I still held onto him tightly.  He took Jase and Hallie into his arms and hugged both of them, too.  

"Jase, you be good for Momma," he told her.  

"I will, Daddy!" she said.  "I love you!  Get better soon!"  

And that's when he broke down.  The lump growing in my throat grew bigger.  

Tangled Fan came in, and I took the kids from his arms and gave him one final kiss on the cheek.  He started to reach down as if to give me a last kiss, and I started to turn my head towards him to receive it, but then Tangled Fan whisked him up.  

Taking in a shuddery breath, I gave a small wave, trying not to meet his eyes.  If I looked at those eyes right now, I'd cry like a baby.  And I didn't need to cry in front of the girls. 

When Tangled Fan had left the room, I sat back down with Jase; Blondie took Hallie, and we continued our tea party. 

I tried to keep a smile on my face, and tried to keep my mind on what Jase wanted to do, but my thoughts wandered several times.  How was Flynn doing?  Was his migraine getting better?  Worse?  How long would he be away?  What if that wasn't the problem? What if there was something very serious going on?  What if...

Jase suddenly cuddled against me, and I realized she had fallen asleep.  I scooped her up and gently laid her down on the chair; the babies were already laying there, sleeping.  

Then, I looked up.  I saw our marriage ribbon, dangling from a spare doll stand that had been tossed up on the edge of the shelf.  

I took it in my hands, sat down, and stared at it, holding it tightly.  I remembered our wedding day.  How uncertain I'd been about marrying him.  If we hadn't gotten married when we had, would he be headed for the Dumpster by now, instead of this?  Would he have been ripped away from me like the girls had been?  One day I would've woken up and gone to visit my fiance, and found him gone?  Was this how Flynn had felt, before we were engaged, and I'd been taken away to fix my arm?  

My head swam until I felt like I was drowning.

Merida came over, knelt beside me, and told me everything would be okay.  

And then I just lost it.  

Merida hugged me, and Rayne came over and slung her arm around my other shoulder, too.  I put my arm over my eyes and sobbed.  

"What if he's...he's really sick or something?"  

"He'll be fine."  Merida said.

"And what if he gets worse or s-s-something?"  

"He'll be fine." Rayne told me this time.  

"How can I miss...him s-so bad?" I sobbed, shaking all over.  

"Because you love him," Rayne said in a strange tone.  

I felt stupid.  He'd only been gone for, like, five hours. And how would I deal with the rest of the time he was away?  Up to THIRTY DAYS?!  It sunk in that he'd be gone longer than we'd been married, and I started to cry harder.  I considered how embarrassed I'd been to have him celebrate every week we'd been married.  Now I realized he wouldn't be here for our one-month anniversary.  He wouldn't be here to comfort me when something stupid made me cry or whatever.  I wouldn't be able to be there for him if he had any more migraines during that one-month period.  I wouldn't wake up cuddled in his arms every morning until the end of August!  Oh gosh.  That made it sound horribly far away :(  

I wouldn't see his cute grin.  His silly jokes.  His silly attitude around Jase.  That would all be gone for that  month.  Jase wouldn't have her Daddy for a month.  She looked up to him so; I had no clue how I would deal with her constant questioning about when he'd be back - I knew she would question about it. How would I keep her from being worried?  How....

"Momma?" 

I jumped and wiped my eyes quickly.  Merida and Rayne pulled away from me and the three of us looked at Jase as if we didn't know who she was or something.  

"What's wrong, Momma?"

"Oh, nothing, sweetie."  I tried to smile at her.  

She climbed up into my lap and rested her head on my chest.  "You miss Daddy, don't you?"

How did she know?  "Um...a little bit, yeah."  More like a LOT.  

"How long will he be gone?"

"A long while."

"He'll be back though, right?"  

I told you she'd interrogate me.  

"Yes, he will be."  What if something seriously wrong was the matter and he was just tossed in the Dumpster before a proper goodbye was issued?  I would just die if that happened.  

"Well.." she thought for a moment.  "Then instead of being sad, why not think of all the things you want to do with him when he comes back?  That's what I'm gonna do.  Time'll fly if you do that!"  

Smart, this child was.  "You're brilliant, sweetheart.  You know that?"

She grinned at me with those little dimples.  "Do you want to learn how to play another game?"

If it kept my mind off of things, I'd do anything.  "Sure."  

Hallie started crying, so I picked her up and held her whilst I listened to Jase teaching me how to play another game she'd made up.  

We did this until darkness crept in around us.  

Jase yawned and climbed up into my lap to hug me.  

I hugged her tightly in return.  "Love you, baby girl."

"Love you too, Momma!"  She smiled at me.  

"Why don't you sleep with me tonight?"  I offered, hoping to have her beside me. I needed that so much now.  Please say yes please say yes please say yes....

"Nah...I like my chair," she said.  

"You sure?" I smiled at her, hoping she wasn't just being polite or something.  

"Yeah, Momma!  Night,"  she said before climbing up into the chair.  

Allie was already asleep on the chair, and Hallie was fast asleep as well.  I laid her down beside Allie, and went behind the chair to sleep.  But I couldn't go to sleep. 

So I found Tangled Fan's iPod, found some mood-appropriate songs, and listened to them, with the earbuds close to my head so I could hear the music without waking anyone else.  Eventually, I did turn the iPod off, when I started to feel drowsy. 

As soon as I put the iPod back, the darkness wrapped me in a hard, unwelcoming hold.  I sighed, picking my way back over to my spot, and laid down on my side and just prayed that Flynn would make the world's speediest recovery and he could come back soon. Like, less than a month soon...Preferably by tomorrow morning, but beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.  Rather, desperate dolls can't be choosers of how quickly their spouses can come back home.  All my tears were gone, and I had that awful feeling when you feel like you need to cry, but you can't, and so you just sit around feeling miserable.   I have no idea when I finally gave in to sleep.

Well...I suppose I'll keep you all updated.  I'll see if I can pry some updates out of Tangled Fan, but I doubt if I will be able to!  :(