Author's Note: This story is dedicated to both of my parents... :'(
Littlest Pet Shop Characters (2012) (C) to Hasbro and their creators.
Daddy's Little Girl
"Mommy, please don't go,"
She cries as she watches her mother leave. Mrs. Baxter is wearing a black trench coat with a matching large hat and a pair of dark heels. She is standing by the door with some luggage and baggage in her hands and she is about to head out. There's lachrymose in Mrs. Baxter's eyes—and so does her husband Roger and their little 5-year-old daughter.
Before she could leave the house, she takes one last look on her daughter. She momentarily let go of her bags and then crouches down so that her face is perfectly focused on hers. Mrs. Baxter carefully places both of her gloved hands on her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, baby girl, but I have to go. I know I'm going to be far away from home, but it's only going to be for a while. Daddy is staying home so he could take care of you when I'm gone." She says.
"But a while is a long time; what if you don't come back?"
Mrs. Baxter sighs softly, "Honey, I promise you. I'll only be gone for six months and afterwards, I will come back home. And don't worry; everything will be okay, for you, me and daddy."
She let her hands down from her daughter's cheeks. Then, Mrs. Baxter takes her hands to the back of her neck and she unclasps her necklace. She hands it to her.
"Before I go," she clasps the golden necklace with a heart-shaped pendant around her little neck, "I want you to hold on to this for me while I am away. This necklace means a lot to me because daddy got it for me on our wedding day—and I want you to keep it on you until I come back. Not only is this very special for me, it also helps you to remember someone you love. That's why I want to give it to you, so you can think of me. Promise me you won't let it go off your hands."
The brunette-haired and blue-eyed girl takes a look at the necklace by carefully holding onto the pendant with her fingertips. She sniffs with more tears in her eyes, "I promise, mommy."
Mrs. Baxter hears the sound of the double car horn, implying that the driver is waiting for her. With one last thing to do, she gives her daughter a kiss on the forehead and then a big hug.
"I love you, Blythe." She breaks off the hug and then looks at her one more time.
"I love you too, mommy." She cries.
Subsequently, Mrs. Baxter gets up and she goes to her husband. She gives him her last kiss and a hug. She tells him, "Roger, please take good care of our daughter."
"I will, darling," Roger answers, "Blythe will be in good hands. I promise you. You just have a good flight."
Mrs. Baxter takes her bags back into her hands.
"Goodbye, you two. I love you both." She says.
"We love you too."
"Goodbye… mommy." Blythe says with her voice breaking.
Finally—she turns and then departs out of the house. As soon as Roger closes the door, they gaze through the window to watch her put her final bags into the trunk of the cab. She returns the gaze for one moment before she goes into the backseat of the taxi. Once she closes the car door—the taxi leaves.
Blythe waves goodbye to the leaving yellow vehicle. She couldn't stop weeping about the departure of her loving mother. Roger notices the emotion in her. He takes her into his arms and then hugs her into his fatherly warm embrace. She cries on his chest.
Roger shushes her, "Don't worry, my little Blythie. Everything will be okay." He whispers to her while rubbing gently onto her back to comfort her. She picks up her head so she could make eye contact with her father.
"Listen," Roger resumes, "as soon as mommy comes back home, maybe we can all go someplace special where we could spend some time together. Just the three of us."
Blythe sniffs, "You really think so?"
"I know so."
She looks down at the golden heart necklace and she grasps the pendant with her fingertips. Already, her mother is in her mind—just like she said.
Sadly…
This may be the very last time that Blythe Baxter will ever see her mother.
~~X~~
Present Day:
Today is a normal school day. The school bell has rung and all of the students are exiting out of their homerooms. Before they go to their next classrooms, students are gathering around in the hallways to meet their friends. Sounds of incoherent chattering can be heard.
On their way to Blythe's locker, Youngmee, Sue and Jasper are having a conversation.
"What are you guys planning to do after school?" Sue asks the duo.
"Not sure," Youngmee answers, "My Aunt Christie is giving me a day-off today from Sweet Delights. I haven't had any plans to do anything."
"Neither do I; the only thing I have to do is to write for our History report… that is due in three weeks." Jaspers says.
"Oh yeah, that's right." Youngmee has come up with an idea for an afterschool gathering, "Maybe we can have a study session and work together on our assignments."
"Sounds great, Youngmee." Sue answers, "We can ask Blythe if she wants join."
"Yeah… about Blythe," Jasper trails off. The two girls make eye contact with him as they continue their stroll, "As anybody noticed that she is not being herself lately?"
Soon, the trio made it to Blythe's locker; she's going through her storage to gather some things for her next class. She's completely focused inside, that her friends couldn't really see her face. Albeit, they were able to see her today's attire: Blythe is wearing a sleeveless dark purple top, a black skirt that almost resembles a tutu, a pair of grey tights and a pair of black boots with purple shoelaces. For her hair, she has it styled long and wavy with her long, edgy fringe swept to her eye and a purple flower with tiny black netting clipped on the side. She even has some black studded bracelets on both of her wrists.
(Note that her hair is in a same style as she was in "If the Shoe Fits" during the entire party scene.)
"Hey, Blythe," Sue begins. When hearing her voice, Blythe gazes at them and they were able to see her façade. But what caught their attention is that instead of her usual optimism—she looks completely pessimistic. Her eyes looked as if she is about to cry, though no tears can be seen.
"Hey, guys," she answers with a slightly broken voice. She's trying her best to hold back her sadness. Apprehension can be noticeable between Jasper, Youngmee and Sue.
"Is everything okay, Blythe?" Youngmee asks as she steps next to her. "You've been like this for a few weeks."
"I'm fine, really," Blythe lies as she closes her locker after getting the things she needed. She straps her pink backpack over her shoulders.
"Blythe, we wanted to ask you if you want to come to the library with us and then work on our History reports together." Jaspers says.
"And maybe," Sue finishes off, "afterwards when we're done for the day, we could hang out at Sweet Delights to grab something to eat. We were hoping you would say 'yes' because—" she gets cut off.
"Actually, I can't." Blythe answers. "Sorry, guys."
"What?" Jasper seems slightly shocked about her response. Normally, she would never deny a good best-friends-gathering.
"Blythe," Youngmee remarks with worry. She places her hand on her shoulder, "You have been avoiding us lately. This is not like you."
Carefully letting her hand down, Blythe answers, "I'm really sorry everyone. Something has—"She trails off for a second, "Something just caught up to me and it's kinda interfering with me. But I really don't want to talk about it."
"Blythe," Sue begins with sympathy, "You can tell us anything. We'll understand."
"I have to go." And then the young blue-eyed brunette departs, leaving her best friends behind.
As the warning bell rings, Sue Patterson, Jasper Jones and Youngmee Song watch Blythe stroll down the hallways without turning her head back in respond or saying the proper bye. Apprehension is intervening with the trio.
~~X~~
Meanwhile at Littlest Pet Shop…
All seven of the pets are at the day camp, doing their typical agenda and activities. Zoe Trent is playing with her squeaker toys. Pepper Clark is juggling and laughing while balancing on a red and yellow ball. Penny Ling is laying on one of the beds while snacking on some bamboo treats. Sunil Nevla and Vinnie Terrio are playing catch with their own ball and they're laughing uproariously. Minka Mark is fooling around with energy as she swings around with her tail. And as for Russell Ferguson—he is just staring through the window, as if he is distracted by something. He's just staring through the glass, staring into space or watching Mrs. Twombly doing her daily agenda—and there's complete apprehension inside him.
The orange hedgehog lets out a sigh. When the ball rolls to Russell's hind paws, Sunil runs towards him to retrieve it. He notices the worried look on his spiky friend's face.
"Something wrong, Russell?" The mongoose asks him. Then, their little reptilian friend comes by. He, too, could see the worry in his eyes.
"Yo, Russell, is everything okay?" Vinnie asks him.
Russell turns around so he could face to the rest of his friends. The girls have stopped doing their activities and they went on to join the boys.
"What's going on?" Penny Ling wonders.
"Everyone," Russell finally begins, "It's Blythe that I'm worried about." They all incoherently fussed something in confusion for a mere second. Russell resumes, "Has anyone realized that she's different lately? I hate to let you down, but I have a strange feeling that… something is bothering her."
"I don't think anyone or anything is bothering her," Pepper says, "Although Blythe does look really sad every time she comes to the day camp at feeding time."
"Aw," Penny Ling's ears droop and her big eyes turn beady, "I really don't like seeing anyone sad, especially Blythe."
"And she has been keeping quiet throughout these days," Zoe stated, "She hardly said a word to us. And…" her ears drop with sadness and she whines, "She even stopped doing her latest designs."
"And taking us out for walks," Minka laments.
"And enjoying our fun," Pepper laments as well, "I really miss her laughs."
"I really miss her hugs," Penny whines while trying to hold back her tears and weeps, which is hard for a sensitive panda to do.
"I never been like this ever since Blythe left for summer camp," Vinnie says. "It's kinda like déjà vu all over again."
"Very true," Sunil finishes off. "Is it possible that she may stay like this for the rest of her life, Russell?"
Then, the six pets begin to have another sad commotion regarding to Blythe's behavior. Russell silences them again, "Guys, it's only been a few weeks. I'm sure that she will get…" he hesitates while resuming, "Well, I'm not totally sure if she… it's pretty possible that…" He pauses due to the interfering sadness. "I really don't know what to say."
Minka crawls closer to Russell with anxiety. She lets her paw on his shoulder, "Maybe Blythe is sick or something."
He carefully lets her paw down, "No, that can't be it. It's impossible for a human to get sick caused by sadness."
"How do you know?" Pepper asks him.
"Believe me, I read a lot—" Russell gets cut off when the pets suddenly heard the sound of the doorbell when the pet shop entrance opens.
They all look through the window to see who it is: Roger Baxter. And from the look of his face from where they're standing, something seems wrong. He and Mrs. Twombly make eye contact as they have a conversation at the front desk.
"It's Blythe's dad," Penny informs.
"What's he talking about with Mrs. T?" Vinnie asks. Behind the glass, they were unable to hear what the two are saying; their voices are muffled from their perspectives.
"Not sure," Russell answers. "C'mon guys, let's take a closer look."
All seven pets scurry through the little pet door at leads to the lobby. Without letting either Anna Twombly or Roger Baxter know they're there, they hide inconspicuously behind the corner of the closest shelf. Remaining silent and subtle, they perk their little ears to hear their talk.
"Roger, how's Blythe feeling?" Mrs. Twombly asks him. She, too, is feeling apprehensive about Blythe.
"Not so good," Roger informs, "Listen, this is something that you need to understand about her. You see, this time of the year is not the best for my Blythie; she goes into depression and—"
"Oh my," Mrs. Twombly says with concern.
"Depression?" The seven pets, in whispering unison, repeat the word like they have never heard of the term before.
Roger resumes, "Yes, I'm afraid it is. Anyway, every year she goes into this stage of grief and sadness because—today is actually the anniversary of the day she lost her mom."
"Oh, I am so sorry to hear this."
"Thanks, and unfortunately not only is this effective to her, also for me."
For a brief moment, the pets make eye contact with each other. All a while, Blythe's father talks about his grief of his wife.
"Lost her mom?" Penny Ling wonders.
"How can Blythe lose her mom?" Vinnie asks with naivety. "Is that even possible?"
"It's not that kind of lost," Russell answers, "It's—well, it's complicated to explain."
"Shh," Zoe shushes them in a whisper, "There's more." They resume eavesdropping on Mrs. Twombly and Roger.
"And," Roger has something else to say to the owner of LPS, "This is not easy for me to mention this, but starting tomorrow night—" He pauses, "I will be going on a long-term flight. And I will be gone for about a couple of months or so."
"Where are you going?" Mrs. Twombly asks. Roger mentions the countries that he will be flying at according to his duties.
"Unfortunately, she hasn't know about this yet; my biggest concern is how Blythe will be able to handle this predicament. This is actually the first time I'll be flying for a prolonged time and she might feel the same way as her mother. I didn't want to make her feel worse."
"My, how… complicated." She remarks.
There is a pause. A brief silence between the adults and the pets.
"Mrs. Twombly," Roger breaks the silence, "will you do the honor for me?"
"Yes, of course."
"Will you take good care of Blythe for me while I'm away—just for a couple of months?"
Another silence, then…
"I will try my best to keep a closer eye on your daughter, Roger."
Before he departs, Roger sighs, "Looks like I'm going to have to break the news to her sooner or later." He turns to the door and he makes his way up to his apartment.
As the owner resumes doing her agenda behind the counter, the pets—all now feeling empathy and sadness for Blythe—make contact with each other again. Afterwards, they head back to the day-camp area.
"Poor Blythe," Pepper says with her ears and tail drooping.
"Who knew that a sweet girl, like her, would go through so much?" Sunil comments as he steps closer to his best skunk companion—or his secret love interest.
Penny Ling, who is now tearing due to her sensitivity, begins, "I just hope she would pull through; I really hate to see others feel sad."
Zoe comforts the white and purple, big-eyed panda by setting her paw on her littler shoulder, "You're not the only one, darling. We all do."
For who knows how long this emotional moment takes, all seven pets are becoming somewhat more than apprehensive and empathetic for Blythe.
~~X~~
Back with Blythe…
It's dismissal time. As students are exiting out of the school building for the day, Blythe—still in her despair and misery—is walking all alone through the pavement. As she strolls and trying to ignore all the happy, loquacious kids at the front yard, she gazes down at her necklace: it's the exact same one that her mother has given to her when she was young. Staring at the golden heart pendant is causing her to think about her—just like she was told before her mother left.
"…it also helps you to remember someone you love. That's why I want to give it to you, so you can think of me. Promise me you won't let it go off your hands."
Hearing the sweet voice of her mother inside her head is making her feel more disheartened than earlier. Already, her blue eyes are starting to tear up and she hiccups subtly with a sob. While heading towards the curb to wait for Roger to come pick her up, Blythe is trying her best to hold back her sobs; she didn't want the other students to see her cry in public. She manages to take a deep breath albeit she can still feel the morose inside.
While waiting, she can hear two familiar voices behind her back—and it is not a good sign. Those familiar—and the most atrocious sounds—are from the malicious twins, who have been harming her ever since her first time in Downtown City. As they were strolling to their limo, the twins are glaring straight at Blythe.
"Well, look who, like, is feeling totally sad today, Whittany," Brittany, the ivory-haired twin, insults.
"Totally, Brittany," Whittany, the ebony-haired twin, remarks. "Just what, like, is she so sad about?"
"I don't know, but I heard it somewhere from her, whatever she calls them, that she lost something. Or someone, I guess."
Whittany scoffs, "What is the big deal about that? I mean, she could, like, get over with it instead of crying in public. What a baby."
Brittany replies, "Like, ditto." Then, the twins let out their signature wicked laughs, much to everyone's nuisance around them. Once they heard the horn of their limousine honking, the Biskit twins make their way to their ride home.
Blythe—having heard everything from the Biskits—turns to where they were. Now, her eyes are entirely flooded with tears. She cannot believe how heartless they can be; the way they insulted her for her loss is causing her more pain and agony than before.
Before entering the limo, Whittany and Brittany Biskit make a quick eye contact with Blythe.
"Aww," Brittany starts another insult with a mock at the end, "I think we made her cry. Wahh! So sad!"
"Like, totally!" Whittany teases. The Biskits laugh for the last time until they get into their limo and slamming the door shut.
The Biskit limo takes off and Blythe did the unthinkable. Turning away and wiping all the tears off her eyes, she takes out her smartphone and then quickly dials her dad's number. After about two rings, he picks up.
"Blythe?"
"Dad!" Blythe cries over the phone with so much distress, "Please hurry! I need you to come and pick me up right away!"
"What's wrong?"
She mentions him of what the Biskit twins did to her. Then—she tells him something impetuously.
"I—I just want to go home as immediately as possible…"
What she's really saying in her head:
I want to go kill myself.