The Newcomers, Continued

It was a long night.  Alexis came in around two in the morning, saying she couldn't sleep. 
I knew she was  probably uncomfortable with Rose and Lacey now living here as well, so I offered for her to sleep with us. 
She gave me a sheepish smile before flopping right on top of me and burying her face in my shoulder. 
"You're nervous about Rose and Lacey, aren't you?"  I whispered. 
Flynn, who had been woken up as well, turned to hear her response. 
"Y-yeah...it's dumb, I know."  she mumbled.
I gave her a kiss in the hair, a cuddle, and told her it wasn't dumb.  I slowly rubbed my hand up and down her back, and turned to look at Flynn. He was still awake. 
"Go back to sleep," I told him.  "You'll get a migraine."
"Don't worry," he reached to give me a kiss on the forehead.
Then, Alexis mildly surprised me. 
When she stood, I sat up and asked her what the matter was. 
She shrugged. "Just uncomfortable..I'm gonna go on the other side." 
I watched her as she made her way over to Flynn's other side and curled up right beside him. 
That, dear readers, is excellent progress. 
Flynn turned to give me a surprised look, before he cautiously put an arm around her.  And then he pulled me close to his other side.  I reached an arm across him, and managed to put  it across both him and Alexis.  She gave a content sigh and then I was out. 

The next time I woke up, it was six in the morning; but Alexis was gone and Flynn was awake. 
"Morning, my dear girl."  he gave me a smile and then brushed the hair from my face. 
"Morning," I blinked groggily as I realized Alexis wasn't there.  "Where'd Lexi go?" 
"She went back to bed.  Something about me snoring..I dunno, though." 
"You probably were," I chuckled.
He grinned and pulled me close.  I gave him a peck on the cheek, and was just about to fall back asleep...
"Hey!  Oh, good, you're up!" 
Rose.
I gasped in alarm, yanking away from Flynn and whirling to look. 
She was dangling upside down, over the edge of the bench. 
"Oh..morning, Rose," I said, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice. 
"I'm so glad you're up, too.  I've been up for awhile, but it was lonely with nobody else to talk to.  Hey, do you wanna go for a walk?"  she gave me a bright smile.
Who can give bright smiles and be coherent at six in the morning? 
Apparently, Rose can. 
"Why don't we wait awhile?  Or you could go with Lacey.  I'm sure she'd-"
"Lacey doesn't DO walks.  She doesn't do talks, either.  She's not the greatest sister.  But you're up now..Your husband could come, too!"  She gave me a very hopeful expression, but her eyes held a hint of pleading as well. 
"I-I dunno..." I trailed off as her face fell. 
"It's okay.  Maybe I can get Lacey to go for a walk later," she said, starting to sit up. 
"Wait...well...let me talk it over with Flynn, first, okay?"  
"Okay!  Take all the time you need.  I need to brush my hair anyway."  She gave me a relieved smile and disappeared. 
I turned back to my hubby and faceplanted on his chest. 
"Do I really have to?"  I moaned quietly. 
"Be nice," he chuckled quietly, tipping my chin up so he could look at my face.  "Just think about how uneasy you were when you first came here.  At least we had each other.  Rose has her sister, but I don't think her sister's very fond of her other sister.  She's probably uneasy, she doesn't know who to talk to and who to avoid, if anyone, and she needs a friend.  Merida probably scares the tar out of her, and Blondie's...well..Blondie.  Rayne's just quiet and laid back, but she might seem unwelcoming.  To her, you're the only one who is willing to talk to her." 
Well..he did have a point.  When I had come, I'd been insecure, timid, and basically a nervous wreck.  Rose probably felt similar. 
"Okay...you've got a good, valid point, as usual...I'll be back in - well..whenever she decides to come back.." 
"Okay," he chuckled. "Have fun.  Love you!"
"Love you...I'll try not to faceplant in the middle of the floor," I giggled, only half-faking a yawn. 
I crawled out from under the bench, ran my hands through my hair a couple of times - which is really hard, with hair as long as you are tall! :D
Rose met up with me and I led the way to the floor. 
"This room  is HUGE!"  She squealed, looking around.  "Much bigger than that box we were in." 
"Yeah...that's for sure," I laughed.  "We have free range of it, as long as we don't go in the closet or out of the room.  Trust me, you don't wanna go in the closet, anyway.  It's packed full of junk." 
"Ahh," she giggled.  "So..what do you guys usually do?" 
"Well...Blondie and Rayne usually stick to the dresser, but Merida and the rest of us go for walks a lot.  The other day, Flynn and I took our girls down here for a day out...and we basically just explore, go for walks, or whatever." 
"I bet the girls enjoyed that!  Lacey will probably be up there with Blondie and Rayne..she's boring.  Actually, she's a bit mean.  She always has been...I think she flaunts her glittery dress and girly appearance, while I'm just...plain, you know?  No eyelashes, either.  And she doesn't like to be within earshot of me, ever.  The ride in that box was pretty..interesting.  At least Pascal will  - oh!  I forgot my little buddy!  He'll be so scared-"
"He'll be fine, I'm sure.  He can't get hurt, unless-" I almost said, 'unless he falls between the wall and the dresser or something'..but then I caught myself.  "He just can't get hurt." 
"Okay..." she said.  "Anyway...Pascal's my only real buddy.  Lacey tolerates me, but she-"
"Doesn't LIKE tolerating you."  I finished, taking a random guess. 
"Exactly!"  She exclaimed, and then she heaved a sigh.  "I suppose you hate me, too." 
Hate her? 
Well, no...I just wasn't used to being around such a talkative doll.  I thought JASE was talkative...
And she was actually sort of growing on me.
"Oh, no...you're fine.  You're pretty cool, in my opinion." 
"Really?"  She turned and grabbed my hands in excitement.  "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you so much!"  She gave me a quick, excited hug and then bounced up and down. 
I laughed at her enthusiasm, and she charged ahead of me.  "You're the first doll to ever say that!  Most everyone calls me wordy or annoying." 
"You just like to talk, is all," I said. 
"Exactly!  And will anyone here be hateful about me being...me?" 
I thought for a few minutes, considering her question. 
"Well...Rayne's pretty laid back, but she puts up with everyone.  She's almost like a mother figure.  Blondie's...she can be nice, but she can also be catty as well, if you get what I mean?  And Merida's really funny, and she'll talk plenty, but she can be quick to jump the gun and begin the name-calling competition.  She can also seem pretty cranky once in awhile; it's  just because her leg joints were made incorrectly, so they hurt her a lot.  And you know that you can talk with me.  Flynn puts up with a lot, too.  He has to put up with me, so..." I laughed.  "Oh, and I'm sure Jase would just LOVE it if she can have someone new to teach all her games to." 
She laughed.  "I'm sure you're not that bad.  And I'd love to learn all of Jase's games.  She's hilarious!" 
"She is...And I don't know...Flynn has to put up with a lot.  Just ask him," I giggled.  "He'll probably go into great detail." 
She laughed, and then she turned to walk backwards while talking. 
How can you do that?  If I'd do that, I'd trip or fall down...or both.
"Hey, could we trade dresses?  I mean, it'd just be for a little while, and if you don't want to, that's fine and I totally get it.  Do we have any other clothes around here?  I've been stuck in this dress for three years straight.  I'm soooo tired of it!" 
THREE YEARS?  I'd only had my dress for a handful of months, and I was tired of it! 
"Oh, um, sure...when we get back to the dresser, we can swap them." 
"Awesome!"  She clapped.  "You're really pretty, by the way."
Well, she's not random.  Not at all.  Jumping from everyone hating you to clothes to compliments is completely un-random.  :D
"Oh, I dunno...but thanks," I felt my face grow hot. 
"I bet I can ask your husband about that, and he'll go into great detail about how pretty you are," she joked, and I laughed.  "Why don't you...I dunno.  Why don't you two even go near each other?" 
"We just try not to gross out any newcomers," I laughed.  "Trust me."  
"Aw, don't worry about that.  I think it's really cute that you two are so in love.  All the other dolls I've known, that were at my old home, they were always holding hands or kissing, or talking, or something...not staying a whole dresser away from one another!" 
I chuckled.  "Okay, so we're not the only ones that act that way, then?" 
"Oh, for goodness' sake, don't be so self-concious!  Enjoy your hubby," she laughed. "Don't worry about what others think." 
I smiled and an idea suddenly popped into my head.  "Have you ever heard of blogging?" 
Her face lit up.  "Oh my gosh, I've always wanted to blog!  I figure it'd be a good way to get my thoughts out of my head without annoying those around me...but then I thought that I'd annoy my readers, if I'd get any.  Do you blog?!" 
"Yes...yes, I do," I said.  "If you like, I could show you the ropes, and if you decide to, you can start your own blog." 
"Ooh, I'd LOVE that!"  She bounced excitedly, and I laughed again. 

We chatted for awhile, about anything from the girls to her dress to her old home to our current location.  Yipes.  Finally, around eight, she decided she'd better go back and see what Lacey was up to, if she was up yet. 
When we got back to the dresser, everyone was up. 
Rose immediately raced over to her chameleon -Pascal?  - and took him into her hands, cuddling him against her cheek.  And then she turned around. 
Lacey was right behind her, and she looked steamed. 
"You didn't tell me you were going off running around, Rose!"  she said this in such a low, hateful tone that chills prickled my arms. 
"You're not my mother, Lacey.  I'm fine, see?"
"But you left me alone with all these...all these..." she trailed off and whispered in her ear. 
"Well, you can think that all you want.  They're all nice to me!"  With a curt nod, she walked away from her sister. 
Lacey glanced around, realized that EVERYONE was watching her, and her lips twitched before she went and lowered herself into the wicker chair to sulk. 
Rose walked over to me the same time as Flynn, and she rolled her eyes towards her sister.  "See what I mean?!  Anyway...you wanna trade dresses?" 
"O-okay," I said, glancing towards Flynn, who had slowed his steps. 
She dragged me over to a spot where we could change without being seen, and then we traded dresses.  She had my dress on and fastened within seconds; but I had sleeves and a longer skirt to contend with.  And Velcro. 
I had the dress on.  The dress was nice and comfortable, and it was really pretty.  But I couldn't reach the Velcro. 
How had Rose done it with mine?  My elbow joints wouldn't bend around far enough to pull the edges together and fasten them. 
I grumbled and fiddled around for awhile with it, behind Merida's cape, which we'd set up to have a bit of privacy. 
"Everything okay, honey?" 
Flynn.
He pushed aside the cape, and I gasped.  The dress STILL wasn't shut in the back, so it showed my back clear down to my painted underwear.  And it was loose. 
"It's not...I'm not....it's-" I stumbled around for how to explain that he needed to avert his eyes so I could finish fighting with it.  All while I was still turning circles, frantically trying to find the edges and Velcro them together. 
He laughed.  "Need help?"
"No, I can get it - no, don't, Flynn - it's not shut in the back-"
"So I see," he told me, striding over and Velcro-ing it for me. 
He turned me around and held me at arm's length. 
"Thanks,"  I laughed. 
"I would ask you to twirl, but last time you twirled, you ended up falling and taking me with you."  he gave me a  wink.  "But wow, you look gorgeous." 
"Oh, no I don't," I laughed. 
He bent to give me a sweet kiss, and then whispered in my ear, "Oh, but you do." 
I gave him a grin and then I pulled away from his arms to take down the cape. 
He followed me like a dog as I made my way over to Hallie to pick her up. 
"Ooh, Rapunzel!  You're beautiful in that dress!" Rose exclaimed, clapping her hands. 
"I dunno..but you look really great!" 
"Thanks so much!  It feels sooo good to get out of that dress!"  she grinned. 
"Wait...Ye two switched dresses?"  Merida asked, looking up from Allie.  "Ahh, yeah..ye both look nice!" 
Rose beamed.
Flynn put an arm around my waist and hugged me from behind.  I gave him a small smile, but I couldn't help but notice Lacey's quiet stare. 
I pulled away from him, and Rose noticed Lacey's stare. 
"Lacey.  Stop it."  Rose grumbled, and she - Lacey - rolled her eyes, blowing her sister off.

That evening, Alexis took it onto herself to talk to Lacey. 
I saw her creeping over to Lacey, who was sitting off by herself.  I started to jump up and run over to her, but then I decided I'd best wait. 
But I did eavesdrop. 
"L-Lacey?  Are you shy?"  Alexis asked her. 
She stared silently at my little girl, and then shrugged.  "Are you?" 
"Yeah.  It's no fun.  Do you miss your old home?" 
"You won't understand - you're too young."
Little did Lacey know...
"I've been tossed around to different families all my life, I think I might be able to relate a little bit."
Lacey looked right at her, and shook her head.  "I can't believe that...you seem pretty nice." 
"Thank you...but you didn't answer my question.  I'm old enough to understand." 
"I just miss my old friends.  My sister's nice enough, but she talks sooo much...sometimes it's really irritating.  We used to be so close, but we grew apart after a fight.  Don't you ever fight with your sister - remember that.  But anyway.  That's all."
Alexis nodded.  "Well..if you need to talk, I'm here.  I understand if you're really shy - I am too.  And everyone here is really, really nice.  And you should try to be nicer to your sister." 
I couldn't help but grin at her honesty and her offer.  She didn't know that Lacey more than likely would decline her offer, simply because she was so young, but she had made that offer anyway.
"Okay.  Thanks for the chat."  Lacey told her, patting her shoulder.  Alexis gave her a grin, and left. 

I hurried over to Flynn, and plopped down to whisper in his ear. 
"Well, hello, sweetie.  What's up?"  he smiled.  I knew he wanted to put an arm around me or pull me into his lap or something, but he didn't because of Lacey and Rose. 
"You'll never guess.  Alexis talked to Lacey.  She.  Talked.  To.  Lacey.  She offered a listening ear for whenever she wanted - because I guess she must feel a connection because they're both shy.  I dunno.  But she talked to her...!"  I whispered. 
He gave me a wide-eyed, eyebrows-raised stare.  "Wow," he whispered, finally.

That night, it took a little bit to get the babies to sleep.  I was soooo tired...Rose stayed up with me, Merida, and Flynn, trying to get the two babies to go to sleep. 
I bounced Hallie and rocked her in my arms, finally sitting down with a yawn.  Oh my gosh...I just wanted to go to sleep...!  Merida finally got Allie to go to sleep, and offered to help with Hallie, but I told her to get some rest.  I tried to get Rose to go to sleep, and Flynn as well, but neither would. 
Finally, I don't know about Hallie, but I drifted off to sleep...until I felt Hallie being lifted up from my arms.
I startled, and looked up to see Rose was gone, and Flynn was carrying Hallie over to her bed. 
When he turned back to me, he was surprised to see my eyes were open.  He jumped a little, and chuckled to himself. 
"You scared me." 
I laughed quietly, and went to stand.  He stared at me for a moment, but then he strode over and scooped me up. 
"Put me down, Flynn.  I can walk the five steps over to bed!"  I grumbled as he walked.  "Put me-" 
He pulled me into a tender kiss before he ducked and put me down on my back under the bench.
"Well..thanks, I guess."  I said, and he gave me that grin of his while he gazed lovingly down at me. I squirmed awkwardly.
"Now..get to sleep." 
"Same goes to you," I shot back, and he chuckled quietly before he flopped down on his side. 
I reached over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and then went to sleep. 

Flynn here...Enter Lacey and Rose

Hey everyone..so wow, it's been almost 2 weeks since I posted anything on here.  Twelve days, to be exact.  Safe to say, things are going better than the LAST time I posted...  Hallie's back to her sweet little self, and all of our raw nerves are restored.  For now.  :D 
Anyway...So Friday, we took the girl's for a day out...I'll include some pics from it, since Rapunzel forgot to in her post about it. 

 

 

 

So yeah..it was really fun, but we were all exhausted when we got back home! 

The next morning, I slept in until around 9:50AM  or so.  Rapunzel was still asleep, and from what I could hear, (or, rather, from what I COULDN'T hear), everyone else was still asleep as well. 

I watched Rapunzel sleep, and I was just thinking about how sweet she looked...when she woke up.  She peeked up over her elbow to look at me, and I saw a string of drool on her chin.  Legit, true story, I kid you not. 

Trying to keep from laughing - which was very hard - I told her good morning and asked if she slept hard, hinting at her to wipe her chin. 
"Uh...yeah?  Why, did you?"  She asked me, quirking a brow and giving me a confused look. 
"I slept well, thank you.  But I think you slept really, REALLY well," I said. 
She gave me a 'what on earth are you talking about?' look, and I chuckled. 
"Your chin.  Wipe it, please." 
She reached to do so, and her expression went from confused to horrified when she looked at her hand. 
"Oh my gosh!  Was I seriously drooling?  Oh, gosh...I - ew.  Wow, um..sorry!" she glanced around before she frantically yanked the hem of her skirt up and wiped her other hand on it.  I tried not to burst out laughing at her flustered-ness, and her lack of knowledge of just how much skirt she'd pulled up.
FINALLY, I laughed.  "No harm done to me." 
"Yeah, well, that's really attractive."  She grumbled, and I'm sure she didn't mean for me to hear her talking about herself in that manner. 

Her face went red, and she began to sit up.  I snagged her arm, pulling her towards me. 

"Oh, c'mon.  Everyone drools once in awhile."  I added that she had looked cute regardless, and she gave me her classic eye-roll. 

"You're just disgusting."  she sat up, and I grinned to myself at her adorably flustered expression. 
I gave her a wink and then couldn't hold it back anymore, so I sat up and put my hands on her shoulders, grabbing her and pulling her towards me for a kiss. 
She was stiff as a board at first, but she finally relaxed into it.  When I pulled away, she stared at me, her eyes huge with surprise. 
"After seeing someone drooling, I don't think my first reaction would be to kiss them, but that's just me." 
I chuckled and reached to give her a quick hug. 
And then Hallie started to cry. 
I let go of her, and she said, "Uh oh...duty calls!"  With a grin, she crawled out from under the bench, and I followed her. 

 

Everyone else was quiet, until Tangled Fan burst through the door, tossed a box onto her bed, and slammed the door shut on her way out. 

Merida fairly yowled as she jumped up and looked around. 
Blondie jumped up quickly, and I glanced over to see she was tangled up in her hair.  She didn't notice, and tried to take a step.  She stumbled towards the edge of the dresser, and so I took a big step over and grabbed her arm, quickly working to unravel the hair from around her. 
"Thanks," she said, red-faced. 
I nodded, and then I glanced back over to my wife. 
She was right behind Merida, and Merida was peering over the edge of the dresser to see the box. 
Rapunzel grabbed her arm and then the box jostled, a few muffled thumps coming from it. 
"What IS that?!"  My wife gasped, backpedaling and dragging Merida backwards with her.  Alexis and Jase made themselves scarce. 
Merida yanked her arm away from Rapunzel's death-grip, and she tripped over her own hair, falling into my chest. 
I grunted, but I still kept my eyes locked on the box.   
She said something, but I didn't hear her, and I only glanced down at her for a second. 

 Merida came over to her, and started talking, but I didn't pay attention. 
Next thing I knew, Merida was dragging Rapunzel towards the edge of the dresser, and since Rapunzel was clutching desperately at my hand, I was being dragged behind her as well. 
Finally, after I had pushed past Rapunzel and jumped down, tumbling through the pillows, I looked up to see my wife's pale, terrified face. 
I can't say I was feeling very brave, either. 

 But I held my hands out to her.  "Jump - I'll catch you.  Then you won't have to crawl through the pillows." 
"N-n-n-no, that's fine."  She stuttered, her eyes flicking between me and the box. 
"Come on...jump!  I'm nervous, too, if that helps any." 
Nervous?  Hah.  More like terrified. But I gave her what I hoped was a convincing grin.  
Rapunzel grumbled something inaudible before she finally jumped. 

When we FINALLY got the box open, we found two more Rapunzel dolls. 
One was named Rose, and another was named Lacey.
Lacey was quiet and shy, and even slightly snooty. 
Rose was outgoing, talkative, and friendly.  Oh, and talkative.  And did I mention she likes to talk?  A LOT?! 

 

Rose clung to my wife's side all day long, talking about this and that and-ooh this is neat and who are they and what are those and what's it like being married and...okay, you get the message. Right?

I was hardly able to go anywhere near my wife to even get a word in edgewise. 

Finally, as I was walking past one time, I overheard Rose talking to Rapunzel. 
"Aw...cool!  He's lucky to have you.  You're so sweet, and pretty!" 
"Oh...I dunno..." my wife said, and I noticed her ears going red. 
I strode back over and wrapped my arms around her from behind.  "I know!"  I said. 
She laughed, pulling away from me and shooting me a slightly apologetic glance. 

I left to go pick Jase up as I'd intended originally, and Rose resumed her gleeful chattering. 
"She talks a lot."  Jase told me as soon as  I'd picked her up.
I chuckled at her bluntness.  "Yes, hon...she does."
"Why?" 
Why did she?  I had no clue.  "I dunno...you'd have to ask her that." 
"Okay," she nodded.  "I wonder if she'll quiet down enough to go to sleep tonight?" 
I tried to conceal a laugh as I took in her apparent concern.  "I suppose she will.  I sure hope so, anyway!" 

We talked for a few minutes, and then she left to go play with Alexis. 

Throughout the day, I held Hallie, talked with Jase, played with her and Alexis, and tried to block out Rose's incessant chatter.  I didn't know how my wife could handle it!  She's definitely more patient than I am...! 

Finally, that evening, Rapunzel got away from Rose and leaned over the wicker chair, which I was sitting in. 
"Hey...you wanna go for a little walk?"  She asked, whispering in my ear. 

Oh, dear goodness.  Please.  PLEASE, let's go before she starts talking again!  I know, it was mean to think that, but that's what I thought.  "Sure, baby," I said, giving her a relieved smile.

Rapunzel left to ask Merida to watch the girls, and then she came back over for me.  We hurried off of the dresser, and onto the floor. 

Thank goodness we'd gotten away from Rose before she'd started up again! 

"I thought you would never ask..."  I told her, taking her hands into mine. 
She laughed, and then I put my hands on her cheeks and pulled her to me, kissing her fervently as I let go of all I'd held in alllllll day long. 
When I pulled away, she took in a deep breath, as if to say something, but nothing came out. 
"I've been holding that in all day," I half-joked, giving her a wink.  She rolled her eyes, but she slung her arms around my neck.  I pulled her close, and asked how she was holding up. 

"Yeah, she's very, ah...talkative."  she muttered, her face pressed up against my shoulder. 
"That she is....that she is.  And Lacey's so shy." 
"Yeah...Alexis is really shy about it, too.  We'll have to make sure to give her plenty of one on one time, so she doesn't feel left out or anything.  We've come so far already, we can't let her go now." 
I kissed her hair and then cupped her face in my hands.  "Yup.  We'll make sure to," I said with a grin.  "I love you." 
"Love you, too."  she said.  Funny how that could make my stomach feel funny.  I pulled her close, and we just stayed there. 
And enjoyed the quiet. 
Ahh...quiet.  I like quiet. 

But eventually, Rapunzel sighed.  "I suppose we need to head back up..."
"Yeah, I suppose so," I said.  I started to let go of her, but she gave me one last squeeze, so I returned it before taking her hand and leading her back up to the dresser. 

When we got up there, Rose promptly hurried over to Rapunzel.  I left go of her hand, and she shot me an 'oh, not again' glance before turning towards Rose.
"Where'd you guys go?" 
"Um...just for an...outing...we do that a lot," I heard her say. 

"Oh, cool!"  Rose exclaimed.  "Hey, so-"
"We probably should all get to bed, Rose.  You've got to be tired, and I know I am!" 
"Well, yeah...I am tired.  Where do I sleep?" 
I didn't stick around to eavesdrop..Instead, I scooped up Jase in one arm and Alexis in the other. 
"You girls are looking pretty tired, there," I chuckled at their sleepy expressions.  "Good night, sleep tight, love you both bunches!" 
They repeated that, and then I gave them each a hug before tucking them into bed.  Rapunzel got Hallie in bed, and told the girls good night. 

 

By then, everyone was in their chosen sleeping spots.  Rapunzel and I crawled under the bench, and she sighed. 

"Oh my goodness...peace and quiet!"  She stretched, yawning, and I chuckled to myself.
"Quiet sounds pretty good, doesn't it?"  I asked quietly. 
"Yes...DEFINITELY!"  My wife moaned, and I grinned. 
"C'mere, and enjoy the quiet while you can," I joked, and she curled up beside me, allowing me to wrap my arm around her. 
"Night," she said. 
"Night, dear girl.  Love you,"  I told her, but by the time I had gotten to 'you', she was snoring. 
I kid you not. 
:P  So here's to hoping Rose is less talkative tomorrow!

 

 

 

The Newcomers

We all slept in a little longer than normal...I know we probably did because of our exhausting, yet fun day yesterday, but I don't know what Merida, Rayne, and Blondie's excuses were :P  I woke up around ten, my face smooshed into the top of the dresser.  My arms were crossed above my head, and so I peered up over my elbow to see Flynn.  He was already up and watching me with a loving gaze.  He was on his back, and as soon as he saw my head come up, that loving gaze turned impish almost immediately. 
"Morning, honey...sleep hard?" 
"Uh...yeah?"  I said, quirking a brow.  "Why?  Did you?" 
"I slept well, thank you..but I think you slept really, really well."  He chuckled when I still didn't get  it.  "Your chin.  Wipe it, please." 
Wipe my...chin?  Why did I -
I wiped cautiously at my chin, and my hand came back wet. 
"Oh my gosh!"  I gasped.  "Was I seriously drooling?  Oh gosh...I..ew.  Wow..um..." I glanced around, horrified, before I wiped my hand on the hem of my skirt.  "Sorry!" 
"No harm done to me," he laughed. 
"Yeah...well, that's really attractive..." I grumbled to myself, embarrassed.  How could I get so embarrassed about drool?  Apparently, I could.  I started to sit, but he caught my arm and pulled me close. 
"Oh, c'mon.  Everyone drools once in awhile.  Besides, you looked cute as all getout, sleeping so hard, drool or no drool." 
"You're just disgusting," I grumbled, rolling my eyes and sitting up, trying to decide if I should be disgusted or laugh. 
He gave me a wink before he sat and grabbed me into a kiss.  It surprised me, and when he pulled away, I gave him a wide-eyed stare for a few moments before saying, "After seeing someone drooling, I don't think my first reaction would be to kiss them..but that's just me." 
Laughing, he gave me a quick hug before I heard Hallie start to cry. 
"Uh-oh...duty calls!"  I grinned and crawled out from under the bench. 
I scooped her up, and surveyed the quietness surrounding us like a thick blanket. 
Everyone was still asleep.  Merida's curls were strewn all across her face, and Blondie was wrapped up in her hair.  Rayne was curled up on her side.  Jase and Alexis were sleeping hard, and Allie was even still asleep. 
"Wow," I whispered, and Flynn nodded.  I bounced Hallie in my arms until she quieted, and then we just sat quietly. 
Until Tangled Fan came bursting through the door and woke EVERYONE up by haphazardly tossing an oblong box onto her bed and then rushing back out, shutting the door relatively hard. 

"What in the-" Merida growled, jumping up. 
Blondie got up, too, but she was still wrapped up in her hair, so when she took a step, she stumbled towards the edge of the dresser.  Flynn ran over and grabbed her, unwrapping the hair from around her so she wouldn't fall.  And then there was Rayne.  Rayne slowly unfurled her legs, then peeled one eye open; then the next, then she yawned and sat up, almost as if she were a robot or something.  The girls came racing over to me, and Allie started crying. 

"What IS that box?"  Merida asked, boldly stepping to the edge of the dresser to peer down at it. She bobbled terribly as she leaned towards the edge, and I snagged her elbow to keep her from falling. 

The box gave a few muffled thumps, and jostled slightly.
What in the WORLD?! 
"What IS that?"  I gasped, shocked.  I backpedaled, dragging Merida backwards with me and hoping I didn't bowl any of the girls over. 
Merida pulled away from me.  I stumbled over my own hair, and rammed into Flynn by accident. 
"Oof!  Sorry, hon!"  I exclaimed, looking up at him.  His eyes were about as wide as mine probably were, and he only looked at me for a moment before he resumed staring at the box. 
"Rapunzel, I bet'cha I know why Tangled Fan's been on eBay so much!  C'mon, everyone." 
"Why?"  I pressed up against Flynn.  I admit, I was terrified of whatever had made that box move and make noise.  I didn't even want to know. 
"Quit bein' so lily-livered an' help me out!"  Merida told me, gesturing towards the bed. 
I clutched at Flynn's hand.  "M-maybe I should stay here and watch the..the girls?" 
"Naw.  Blondie!"  Merida called to Blondie, and she looked up at her.  "Watch the kiddos while we do this?"
"Sure, my arms are useless anyhow, cause they won't bend."  Blondie said. 
"Thanks.  Rayne, c'mon!"  Merida called. 
I tried to back up another step, my heart thundering, but I couldn't, and Flynn wouldn't budge.  Finally, Merida, giving a grumble under her breath, grabbed my arm and hauled us BOTH over to the edge. 
Flynn finally came to his senses by the time he and everyone else had descended the dresser.  He held his hands out to me.  "Jump, I'll catch you.  Then you won't have to crawl through the pillows." 
"N-n-no, t-that's fine," I stuttered out, and he nodded silently towards the boxes. 
"Come on...jump!"  he gave me that grin.  "I'm nervous too, if that helps any." 
"No, actually..it doesn't," I grumbled, but I did jump. 
He caught me, and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before setting me down.  Then he took me by the hand and half dragged me over to the box, where everyone else was gathered. 

The box was extremely well-taped, so we all grabbed a corner ot the tape and started ripping at it until we got it off enough that we could pull the flaps open. 
I squeezed my eyes shut when I helped yank the flaps up, and I must admit that I was terrified. 
I opened them again to see everyone ducking to see what was in the box. 

Merida reached in, and I saw a hand come out.  Rayne grabbed the other hand and they started pulling with all their might; so Flynn gestured towards the other side of the box, and I hurried over to help him.  I clasped a cold, plastic hand about the same size as mine, and with a grunt, I started pulling as hard as I could.  Praying I didn't yank the hand right out of the wrist joint, that is!
They were dolls, apparently.  And they were very well crammed into the box, surrounded by packing material. 
With one last yank, Merida and Rayne managed to pull the one doll out, and once she was out, the other one - the one we were pulling on - came out so quickly that we all almost fell down. 
Flynn let go of her hand and backpedaled a few steps, managing to catch himself, but I fell flat on my back.  The doll slid to a stop right on my lap. 
I sat up and pulled my legs out from under her. 
Another - no, TWO more Rapunzel dolls. 
"Whew.  Thank you sooooo much!"  the doll laying beside me exclaimed.  "Thank you to both of you!" 
I stood, holding a hand out to her.  She gladly accepted it, and I pulled her up onto her feet. 

The other one was already standing, and she immediately ran to the other one and gave her an excited hug.  The other one stayed stiff as a board. 
"Sis!  I'm sooo glad we're outta there!"  She exclaimed.

I walked over to Flynn, and he put an arm around me.
We watched as the  other girl gasped, pulled away from her sister, and dove back into the box. 
When she came back out, she held two brushes, a paintbrush, and...was that a chameleon?...in her hands. 
She handed the chameleon to her sister, and her sister lovingly allowed it to climb up onto her shoulder. 
She smiled, and then she opened her mouth.  And never shut it.
"I'm Rose, and my sister is Lacey.  Oh, and this is my chameleon, Pascal!  Who are all of you?  I'm sooo thankful to be out of that box! It was hard to breathe in there.  Oh, Lacey tends to be really quiet, so don't mind her."  Rose chattered. 
We all murmered our names and welcomes, and Rose gave us all a broad smile. 
Lacey hung back close to her sister, peering awkwardly at us. 
"So...where do we live at?  Like..you know...where we're displayed at?"  Rose asked. 
"Right over here."  Rayne said with a warm smile, leading the way. 
I hung back with Flynn, but Lacey hung back behind us. 
Flynn helped me up, and then I held a hand out to Lacey. 
She gave me a small smile, but wouldn't meet my eyes.  She accepted my help, and climbed up onto the dresser. 
"Wow, this is a great place!  Look at this, Lacey!" 

I turned to look at Rose, and saw she was on TOP of the bench. 
How had she gotten up there?  I stared at her, wide-eyed. 
Lacey shook her head, and Rose rolled her eyes. 
The girls were up by now, and so I walked over to pick Hallie up. 
Alexis saw Rose and Lacey and immediately clung to my skirt. 
I knelt beside her and pulled her up into my lap.  "It's alright, sweetheart.  They're nice."  I kissed her hair and she cuddled up against me, burying her face into me.  I sat there, Hallie in one arm and Alexis in the other, until Alexis felt confident enough to move. 
Jase was already playing with Blondie. 
Rose walked over to me, and Alexis hurried off to find Jase. 
"Oh, these three are yours?" 

I smiled and stood. "Yup...the redhead is Alexis, the brunette is Jase, and this little one is Hallie." 
"May I hold her?"  Rose asked, holding her hands out and giving me a smile. 
"Sure," I handed Hallie to her and she gave her a huge grin.

"They're all so adorable!"  She exclaimed.  She gave her a cuddle before handing her back to me. 
"So...this is where ALL of you stay?" 
"Yeah...it gets interesting once in awhile, but it's nice."  I explained. 
"Where can we sleep at?  I don't want to invade everyone else's sleep spots." 
I explained where we all slept at, and she nodded, looking around. 
"Well, I suppose I'll sleep on top of that bench there...it's pretty cool.  Lacey can find somewhere to sleep...she'll probably never climb up on top of it." 
"Ahh," I nodded. 
"How long have you been married to your husband - what's his name again?" 
"Flynn," I smiled.  "We've been for two months - we got married on July 4th." 
"Aw...cool!"  She grinned.  "He's lucky to have you.  You're so sweet - and pretty!" 
"Oh...I dunno."  I felt my face heat up. 
"I know," Flynn strode over and gave me a hug from behind. 

I laughed and pulled away from him, self-concious.  Rose grinned at our antics, and Lacey watched from a safe distance. 
That's basically how the day went. 
Rose stuck to my side, chattering nearly incessantly.  Lacey kept at a safe distance, and so did Alexis.  The rest of us just went about our normal routine - or about as normal as we could. 

By evening, I thought my ears were going to fall off, from hearing and replying to Rose's chatter. 
And I knew it was bugging Flynn that he couldn't be around me as much as he was used to...because we didn't really feel comfortable around the two new girls. 
Finally, when Rose had taken a quick breather from chatting, I hurried over to Flynn, who was sitting on the wicker chair. 
I leaned over the back and whispered.  "Hey...you wanna go for a little walk?" 
He gave me a relieved smile.  "Sure, baby." 
I concealed a smile and then I walked over to Merida.  "Mind if you watch the girls for us for a bit?" 
"I can't blame ye.  Sure, I can watch 'em."  She whispered the first part. 
"Thanks so much," I grinned and turned back to Flynn. 
We hurried off of the dresser, and as soon as we hit the floor, Flynn took me by the hands.  "I thought you would never ask." 
I laughed, but then he grabbed me into a passionate kiss. 
When he pulled away, I took a deep breath and willed my heart to stop thundering. 
"I've been holding that in all day."  He gave me a wink, and I rolled my eyes.
I put my arms around him, and he pulled me close in return.  "How're you holding up?  Rose really took a shine to you." 
"Yeah...she's very, ah...talkative."  I mumbled, pressing my face against his shoulder. 
He chuckled.  "That she is...that she is.  And Lacey's so shy." 
"Yeah.  Alexis is really shy about it, too...we'll have to make sure to give her plenty of one-on-one time, so she doesn't feel left out or anything. We've come so far already; we can't let her go now." 
He kissed my hair and then pulled away to cup my face in his hands. 
"Yup...we'll make sure to."  he gave me that grin and I gave him a smile in return.  "I love you." 
"Love you too," I told him, and he pulled me close once more. 
We stayed that way, in complete and utter, beautiful silence, until we finally decided to go back to the dresser, put the kids to bed, and go to bed ourselves. 

Well, it's going to be interesting to see how tomorrow goes!  Rose is surely the talkative one....and Lacey's a polar opposite!  Hopefully, Alexis will start feeling more comfortable..I hate seeing her so uncomfortable in her own home! 

Day Out With the Girls! (:

This morning, I woke up curled on my side.  My hair was EVERYWHERE.  I'd dreamed really weird last night, so I'd probably tossed and turned plenty.  I sat up, glanced down, and saw that some of my hair was twisted around me as well.  Oh boy.  I started to unwrap myself from my hair, and by the time I was done with that, Flynn was up.  I flopped onto my belly and told him good morning. 
He smiled, turning onto his back.  "Morning, gorgeous." 
"Oh, hush it.  My hair was a lot -" before I could finish my protest, he had pulled me into a gentle kiss. 
When he pulled away, he gazed at me and pushed the hair away from my face.  "I meant it, dear girl." 
I gave him a grin, and he gave me a peck on the forehead before I eventually put my head on his chest and cuddled close for a few minutes.  He held me in his arms, and I let my eyes go shut again, until an idea suddenly popped into my mind. 
I sat up, and he made some noise I suppose was meant to display disappointment. 
"Did you have any plans for today?"  I asked. 
"Uh..no," he quirked a brow and stared at me. 
"Why don't we take the girls for a day out today?  Let them play and get good and tuckered out," I explained. 
He nodded.  "That would be good.  We'll leave when they're up?" 
"Okay," I grinned and leaned down to give him a quick little kiss.  He pulled me close again and basically, we just waited for the kiddos to get up. 

Once the kiddos were all up, we headed out.
I carried Hallie and helped Alexis down to the floor, while Flynn carried Jase on his shoulders. 
When we were on the floor, we set Jase and Alexis down to go play.  Flynn took Hallie from me, and we followed the girls as they ran...and ran...and ran, until they were all out of breath and red-cheeked. 
They stopped long enough to catch their breath and convince us into a game of duck-duck-goose. 
When Hallie was asleep, we laid her down nearby and then the game was commenced. 
There's something just so funny about watching Flynn play with the two of those girls.  When one of the girls would choose him as 'goose', he would pretend to run really fast, but of course, he wasn't. 
One particular time when he was left without a seat, he chose me as 'goose'. 
"You're awful," I grumbled, laughing.  I ran, but being behind me, he grabbed me around the waist and gave me a  tickle before letting me go again.  I was giggling so hard that I had to stop, and he recklessly slid to a stop, nearly falling down, before he plopped down in my place in our little circle.
I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe, and the girls were just shrieking with laughter. 
I chose Jase as 'goose', and she took off running as fast as those tiny legs could run.  I let her win, and then chose Alexis.  When she ran WAY faster than Jase, she won as well.  So then I chose Flynn. 
He laughed and scrambled to get up and ran....I beat him.  :D 

We played with the girls, gave them rides on Maximus, and let them run wild all day long. 
Alexis was terrified of Max, but after plenty of Jase's convincing, she reluctantly allowed Flynn to toss her up into the saddle.  I led him forward as Flynn walked beside, just as he had done with Jase, and I carried Hallie in my other arm. 
After a couple seconds, I glanced back at  Alexis's face.  She had the biggest grin on her face. 
I smiled, and asked her how she was liking it. 
"It's awesome!  You're an awesome horse, Maximus!"  Alexis exclaimed, leaning forward to hug Maximus. 
And didn't that horse arch his neck and get the most pleased look on his face. 
We led her around for a few minutes, listening to her unusual babbling of how awesome Maximus was, and when Flynn scooped her out of the saddle, she reluctantly left his back.  She put her arms around Flynn's neck and gave him a bigggg hug, though, and he got a huge smile across his face. 
And then she came over and hugged my legs.  I laughed, leaning down to scoop her up so I could carry her in my other arm.  We went back to Jase and let Maximus go do his own thing. 
"Momma...can we watch Duck Dynasty?"  she asked as soon as we got back to her. 
I glanced up at Flynn, and he shrugged.  "I'll go see if the iPod is charged - I'll be back in a few."
"Thanks, Daddy!" she exclaimed.  "Can I come with you?" 
"Alright, I suppose you can," he chuckled when she jumped up and held her arms out to him.  "We'll be right back." 
"Okay," I said, and once they had left, I turned to Alexis. 
"How're you enjoying today?" I asked her, giving her a cuddle. 
"I'm really enjoying myself...it's been really fun!  Maximus is such  a good horse."  She gave me a grin. 
I returned her grin, and we sat down to wait. 
Flynn and Jase came back within twenty minutes....and then the laughing commenced.  =D

We went through an hour's worth of Duck Dynasty, and by then, it was dark and the girls were all getting a little cranky because they were all tired.  Soo we headed back, after Flynn put the iPod away. 

By the time we got back, I was about ready to fall over, I was so tired.  Everyone else was asleep, so we quietly crept around, putting the two older girls to bed.  I sat down with Hallie and tried to get her to go to sleep, while Flynn tucked a handkerchief around the girls - it was sort of chilly tonight. 
The next thing I remember, I was being laid on my back. 
I peeled my eyes open and took in a deep breath, looking up.  Flynn was hovering over me, and when he saw I was awake again, he brushed the hair from my face and smiled.  "Go back to sleep, hon." 
I made a noncommital noise, and sat to watch him when he left my side. 
He was bent over, retrieving the handkerchief from the one corner underneath the bench, and then he turned towards me, spreading it out. 
I had a hard time keeping my eyes open, but I still watched him.  I don't know why, though.  I just watched him.  xD  He gave me that grin as he spread the handkerchief over my legs.
"Lay down so I can-" he started to tell me, but I grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him into a goodnight kiss and broke him off. 
He returned it with a tender kiss of his own, putting a hand on the back of my head and the other arm around my back, lowering me down onto my back as he kissed me.  When he withdrew his lips from mine, as well as his arms, he stroked my hair and stared down at my face for a few moments, the most adorable smile on his face. 
"Now...shut those gorgeous, sleepy eyes of yours and go to sleep, honey.  I love you," he added with a wink that made my heart squeeze. 
I tried to mumble out a good night and an I love you in return, as I rolled onto my belly, but I'm not sure it came out as such; and I was out before I could even hear him ask what I'd just muttered.  :D

Today was so awesome..I'm really hoping that we make a habit of taking the girls out for play days...I think they liked it quite a bit as well!  (: 

Girl's day out...

Thursday morning, my back was still a little sore, but Merida and I went out anyway.  We headed out as soon as everyone else was up. 
"So..what'cha wanna do first?  The only thing I really planned on was shootin'.  If ye wanted to do that, a'course." 
"Sounds like fun," I agreed with a grin. 
We did that first - I don't know how long we swapped the bow and arrow back and forth, shooting and giggling. We mostly giggled at my failure to aim the arrow. :D

Merida was laughing so hard at the fact that I stank at shooting...

Um, yeah. 

She about died laughing when I accidentally shot that one off. 

After that, we had a good, long chat about the girls and just stuff in general, too; after we were done shooting. 
"Y'wanna find  that horse Maximus for me?  I'll get his buckin' issue fixed."  Merida asked randomly. 
Okay...
"N-no...I don't think we should," I shook my head. 
"Angus  used to have the same problem.  He just needs a rider to hang on and show 'im he ain't gonna get a break from ridin' just cause he bucked ya off." 
"I just don't want you to get hurt." I shrugged my shoulders up to my ears.  She couldn't get hurt, especially since her legs were bad enough as it is. 
"Oh, phooey.  It'll be nothin'!"  Merida grabbed my arm and started to walk. 
"Fine," I grumbled. "But I'm not happy about it!"  I pulled away from her and led her to  Maximus. 


He was where we'd left him yesterday. 
Merida strode over to him boldly, letting him sniff her hand. 
"Yer a nice lookin' horse, but I hear ye've got some buckin' issues," Merida told him, and he looked away. 

I giggled, staying somewhat away, and Merida hopped aboard. 
She rode him around and around, at all paces.  Finally, he did throw a super-hard buck, and I gasped.  Merida fell forwards, but stayed in the saddle. 
"Don't ye be doin' that now.... I'm tellin' ye, ye won't get the better of me!"  I heard her yell at him as he went into another buck. 
Oh boy.  A willful horse and a willful, stubborn rider?  Who would win first - the million dollar question, if you ask me. 
"Be -ooh!  Be careful!"  I called as he bucked some more. 
"He ain't gettin' away with it!"  Merida yelled back to me, and then she reached her hand down and pulled one of his reins to her hip joint, holding it there until he stopped moving. 
"Good boy.  Now, git goin'," she told him with a nudge. 
He moved off, and as soon as he began bucking, she'd stop him.  He had to turn in small circles until he stopped, though, so he hated that. Within about a half an hour, he was behaving perfectly.
Merida hopped off of him, giving him a pat. 
"Well, ye got yerself a willful horse, there,"
"I..see that," I laughed.  "And a willful friend." 
"Got that right.  Ye can't let anyone - including horses - take advantage of ye." 
"You've got a point there," I told her. 
"Well, ye gonna ride?"  Merida asked.  "I wanna see if my handiwork worked." 
My heart started to pound.  What if I fell again? 
"W-well..."
"Get on 'im, lass!"  Merida exclaimed.  "If ye fall, Flynn can chew me out." 
She gave me a shove towards him, and I climbed aboard. 

He was a perfect angel for me. We walked, trotted, cantered...everything, and he was just perfect. I felt like I was flying! It was pretty fun to ride, when you weren't getting bucked off at every turn!

After a good while, I finally stopped him and climbed off.
"You're awesome!" I exclaimed, patting him vigorously. "Wait'll Flynn hears how good you were! Oh, and Merida - you're awesome, too! I can't believe that that's all it took!"
"Lil' bit of work never hurt anybody...Mister Max here probably had someone timid that rode 'im, so when he'd buck, they'd get scared, get off, and he'd be done working. Bad habits get started that way."
"Ahhh," I nodded in agreement.  I guess that did make sense. 

As we continued in our day, a weird feeling kept growing inside my stomach.  Maybe it was because I'd been gone away from Flynn AND the kids for all day?  I'd never been away from my entire family for the whole day  - usually it was Flynn and I. 
"Ye feelin' alright?" Merida finally asked me after awhile. 
"Yeah...It just feels so weird being away from Flynn and the girls," I confessed. 
"Same here - it feels really, really weird to be away from Allie.  But let's enjoy our free time while we can!" 
"For sure," I agreed, laughing.

Sometime around nine, Merida piped up about the fact that Tangled Fan had been on her laptop a LOT lately. 
"Well, yeah...since her guinea pigs got sick, she's been trying to find reasons why and vets that take guinea pigs in the area.  I've looked on her history page," I admitted. "That, Blogger, some social media thing, and something called Pinterest?  Oh, and eBay." 
"eBay, y'say?  Great."  Merida grumbled. 
"What?" 
"If she's on there a lot, she's usually plannin' on sellin' somethin', usually us." 
I gasped.  "But...who?"
"Could be anyone.  I just hope she remembers that our kids aren't up for grabs on that website." 
I was horrified.  What if she forgot that we'd adopted the girls?  What if she even sold Flynn or me on there? 
"Don't worry, she'll not sell any of the kids without answerin' to me!"  Merida said. 
"And me," I said, my heartbeat quickening as I worried.  But my place was NOT threatening a full-size human - human vs a little, foot-tall plastic doll?  Hah.  "We better head back..it's going to be too dark to even see." 
"Yup," Merida said, and we hurried back to the dresser. 
It was quarter-till-ten when we got to the dresser.  Everyone else was asleep, and I felt a twinge of sadness - I had hardly gotten to see the girls today, and the same with my hubby. 
I crept under the bench, trying not to wake him, curled up on my side, and went to sleep despite my worries. 

For a little bit, anyway. 

I ended up having an awful nightmare that Flynn and all of the girls had been sold on eBay, and shipped out before anything had sunken in with Tangled Fan; and I'd just woken up to find them all gone. 

I sat up abruptly, clammy-skinned and breathing heavily, my heart pounding. 

"What's the matter?"  I whirled to look, and Flynn was awake, staring at me. 
"N-nothing," I managed, drawing my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around them tightly. 
"Must be something, since you started gasping out 'no, can't be!  no, no no!' in your sleep." 
"Sorry," I said. 
"No worries.  But tell me, please?" 
I sighed, and he sat up.  "Fine."  I spilled the whole thing out to him.  I figured I'd probably had a nightmare like that because of what Merida and I had discussed earlier, so I threw that in as well.   
"Oh, honey, don't worry about stuff like that."  His face held an expression of concern, and then he drew me up onto his lap. 

My heart still thundered, and I buried my face in his shirt, hugging him as tightly as  I possibly could.  He did just about the same to me, resting his chin on top of my head and rocking from side to side.
"We're not going anywhere, baby.  Don't worry yourself so much that you end up with nightmares about it, okay?  There's no use worrying over the uncontrollable, anyway.  Here, look at me," he took my chin and drew my face up to look at him. 
"What?" I asked, still trying to keep the scared tears from coming, after the nightmare. 
"Nothing's gonna  happen, okay?  So don't get upset and don't cry," he told me, brushing the hair away from my face. 
I nodded, swallowing and trying to stop being so upset. 
He reached down to give me the world's most tender kiss, and I leaned into him, returning it when he started to pull away.  When our lips finally parted, he stared down at me, blinking sleepily. 
"You need to get to sleep, and I'm just being silly," I told him, starting to get off of his lap. 
"No, you're not being silly.  And I'm staying up with you as long  as you need me to."  he told me, touching my cheek with his hand and dabbing my lips with a quick little kiss.  Amazing how just that made a tingle zing up my spine, despite myself. 
I pulled his hand off of my cheek and held it, and he gave it a reassuring squeeze. 
I got off of his lap, and he flopped down on his back. I took in a deep breath, trying to calm myself, but then he gave my hand a gentle tug, pulling me down beside him. He wrapped me up really tightly in his arms and I allowed him to draw me close to his side, which he did, adding a kiss in the hair before I rested my head on his chest, letting his heartbeat and the sweet nothings he was whispering soothe my nerves until I was able to go back to sleep. 

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.