Hello, everyone! It's iheart again. Yesterday, I celebrated Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, and I'm going to try and be a better person. Sticking with the theme of that holiday, I came up with an idea for Veggie Tales, and typed up a short one-shot about repentance and forgiveness, especially where marriage is concerned.
This is pretty much unconnected to the other Veggie Tales one-shots I've done, so you can call it an AU. Oh, and in case it weren't obvious, Bob/Madame Blueberry is my OTP.
Of course, before I start, I must thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and Our Father in heaven for giving me the idea for this story. You have given me this talent to help others, and I hope you will be pleased with the works of my hands. You are great and deserve to be praised! Amen!
Story Title: Forgiven in the Rain (originally titled Kissin' in the Rain)
Tags: Romance/Drama/Hurt/Comfort
Summary: Standing before him in the doorway, holding a small umbrella to keep the rain from damaging her brunette hair, was Geneva herself. She looked just as surprised as he was, in no part due to his rough appearance and the fact that he was standing in 40 degree weather with only a nightcap on his head. Bob/Madame Blue (whose name is Geneva in this story). One-shot. Based on tumblr's "Imagine Your OTP" prompt.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Veggie Tales. Which should probably be a good thing, because things like this would happen all the time. Plus, I don't own the song "Singin' in the Rain", which this title puns off of.
Prompt: Imagine your OTP kissing in the rain...
Forgiven in the Rain
For what felt like the umpteenth time that night, Bob opened his eyes to find that no, he hadn't fallen asleep yet, and yes, it was nearly time for him to get up and go to work. He groaned, and opted to turn the clock around so he wouldn't be reminded of the time. His eyes were heavy and he felt exhausted beyond belief.
And yet, he couldn't go to sleep.
For about the tenth time that night, he thought of his wife. He wondered where she might possibly be. She certainly wouldn't be in Paris, for it brought up all sorts of painful memories for her. She might be somewhere romantic, like Saint Croix or an island in the Caribbean. She always wanted to go, and tried to talk him into going as well, but due to his seasickness they never did. He'd told her to stop mentioning the vacations to him, and though she sometimes responded with a pout, she'd obliged.
Right now, he wanted her there, and he wouldn't have cared less about what she wanted to talk about. He would gladly listen to her talk about her vacation plans for hours if it meant she would be with him again. No matter how hard he tried to convince himself otherwise, he hated being alone.
He wished she were here with him. He wished that the argument over their finances, and her shopaholic tendencies, had never happened. And he really wished he hadn't told her that he regretted the day he married her out of the desire to make her shut up for once.
No matter how much he wished it, the fact was that it had happened, and nothing could be done to change it.
They'd had their share of problems and lovers' quarrels, what with his workaholic tendencies and her frivolous behavior. And there was the time where both of them had used brutal honesty to point out one of their flaws, be it his or hers. And both of them had said things out of anger before.
"It's things like this that makes me regret the day I married you!"
Brutal honesty or not, angry or not, he really shouldn't have said that.
What he'd said really had made her shut up for once, and she looked ready to burst into tears. His anger had been quelled when he saw her face, and realized what he'd done.
But before he'd been able to do anything to apologize, she'd walked over to the closet, dragged out her old suitcase, and started to pack her clothes. She'd told him that she had to leave, as she was the main problem in their relationship. She'd acknowledged that she'd taken advantage of his goodwill, his love for her, and his willingness to please her and manipulated him into doing whatever she wanted. She'd told him that she was going to leave, and change herself.
He'd freaked out, begged her to stay, but nothing he'd done changed her mind. And before he could offer another reason for her to stay, she walked out the door into the cold winter air, leaving the country indefinitely.
He'd been convinced that she'd come back in a week or two. But it had been five years since she'd left, and she hadn't contacted him at all during that time. He'd been praying for her all that time, and spent many days not being able to sleep due to worry. He'd prayed for days, asking for forgivenes for what he'd done, and asking God to give him a second chance. He sent emails to Geneva nearly every week, but she never answered any of them.
He was certain that she wasn't going to come home, and often found himself thinking that maybe he should just give up. She might have already found somebody else. And who can blame her? After all, their marriage sounded like it'd come straight out of a soap opera.
Just then, the doorbell rang, and Bob turned around, startled. "Who would be ringing the doorbell this early in the morning?" he muttered. Sighing, he got up and trudged down the stairs and to the door. He didn't care if he looked haggard or not. He just wanted to get this over with.
He opened the door, and for the first time in several days, he was wide awake.
Standing before him in the doorway, holding a small umbrella to keep the rain from damaging her brunette hair, was Geneva herself. She looked just as surprised as he was, in no part due to his rough appearance and the fact that he was standing in 40 degree weather with only a nightcap on his head.
"Bob, what are you doing out here dressed like that?" she demanded, concern in her voice. "Put on a bathrobe or something to keep you warm! You could catch pneumonia or something!"
His body acted without his mind's consent. In the span of a few seconds, he had gone from standing in the middle of the doorway to pulling his wife in for a kiss. A surprised gasp hitched in her throat at the sudden action, and for a moment he thought she was going to protest, but she merely dropped the umbrella and returned the kiss eagerly, neither caring about anybody or anything around them. They were just happy to be with each other again, and didn't realize how much they'd missed each other until Bob made his move.
When he finally let go, he shivered as he realized just what he'd done, as he was standing outside with no protective clothing and he'd knocked down her umbrella. He blushed slightly.
"Sorry," he breathed.
"Oh, don't be, Bob," she said. "I…I more or less needed that."
"No. I mean, I'm sorry about everything. I should have never said any of those horrible things to you, even if you did deserve it. I thought that you were never going to come back, and I was afraid that I would never get the chance to apologize-"
"It's alright, Bob. I came back to tell you how sorry I am, too."
"It's not alright! Our marriage was nearly over because of that argument!" he yelled. "I thought that you would have gone and gotten married to some other guy by now!"
Geneva looked at him as though he were out of his mind. "Why would I do that?"
Bob looked at her, surprise in his tired eyes.
"Bob, don't you remember what I told you when I confessed that I loved you?" She looked him straight in the eyes. "I told you that you were the only one I had sights for. And the reason I've been gone for five years is to better myself. I nearly came back here the same way I was before I left. And I couldn't do that. You've worked hard to make me happy. Now, it's my turn to make you happy."
"So…you were gone all that time, for my sake?"
Geneva nodded. "Oui. If there's one thing I hate, it's making others upset. And that's what I did five years ago. I made you so upset back then, that I caused you to have that outburst. When you blew up at me, I had a major realization. I was the problem. And I had to correct it, otherwise I would hurt you even more." She looked down at the ground, seeming to fumble for the words to say. "I...I really do want this relationship to work. I've dreamed of marrying you, Bob, and staying together until we're both old and wrinkly. Well, you might be. I of course will keep my skin well-conditioned."
Bob sighed. Leave it to her to say that. But he couldn't deny that she was right. "I...I want this to work, too. Jen," he said, his voice repentant, "I'm really, really sorry about what happened all those years ago. I should have never said that to you, even if I were angry at you. Can you ever forgive me?"
"Of course I can! You would know if I chose not to," she replied. "I just want to know if you'll forgive me."
"Jen, I can never be mad at you for long, and I'm not really one to hold grudges. I forgive you for what happened. I'm just glad you're here. I was sure that I was going to go crazy from loneliness."
Geneva laughed, but her laugh was cut short when Bob started to sneeze, several times. Her small lips turned upwards into a frown. "Bob, you need to get inside the house. There is no way I am letting you go to work if you're sneezing like this," she said.
Bob didn't bother protesting as his wife ushered him into the house, muttering about how she was starting to feel under the weather as well and that they'd have to stay home for the next few weeks. The tomato replied that he didn't mind much at all, as it meant that they would be able to make up for lost time. She blushed slightly, but then shook it off and went back to her original conversation. He smirked to himself as the blueberry continued her rant. On normal circumstances, he would be annoyed by it, but he was so happy to have her back that he didn't mind at all, instead allowing her to have her way.
It looked like both of them would be using up their accumulated off-time after all.
THE END
I was inspired by Fizzy Starburst's "Imagine" fic, and I went on tumblr to see what other prompts they have for OTPs. Some were inappropriate, and others were kind of weird, but I like this one. It has the right amount drama and fluff to balance out things, although they'll be in bed sick for a while…
Maybe the next one-shot will focus on Larry and Petunia, or Archie and Lovey. I'm not sure. But those are my other favorite couplings, so I'll probably write stories on them.
I hope you walk away with this with a powerful lesson: repentance and forgiveness go hand in hand. When you show that you have learned from your mistakes and are working to make a conscious effort to change yourself, that is when you can earn forgiveness.
I hope you enjoyed, and let me know what you think!
~God bless, iheartgod175
