Elena stared at her sister with hurt eyes as Gabby looked through one of their picture books, not even bothering to look up at her sister.
"I no go outside. Not today," Gabby muttered with a sigh. "You go play with Snow White and talk to her with your pen dent."
"But I don't go without you!" Elena pouted with crossed arms, feeling the fall sun hit her face.
"I don't wanna go out," Gabby repeated.
"You sick? I can get Mommy and Daddy," Elena offered. She ran off to get Nell and Bobby Lee.
"Gabby? Are you okay, sweetheart?" Nell asked, picking Gabby up and settling her on her lap.
"Elena said you don't want to go outside," Bobby Lee added. "Is something wrong?"
"Doggies," Gabby muttered softly, turning away.
Nell and Bobby Lee glanced at each other, carefully trying to comfort their frightened daughter.
The fall sun, the trees losing their leaves. It couldn't be a year since that day. But it was as Elena looked confused and a little scared.
"Time flies when you're having fun," Bobby Lee murmured.
"Gabby's not having fun," Elena said as she tried to hug Gabby. "She scared of something."
"Well, it's been a year since it happened," Nell observed.
"Since what happened?" Elena asked.
"Since she was bitten by Rex," Nell sighed, putting her hands to her face. "You two were two at the time."
"Were we good?" Elena asked with a smile.
"Not with potty training!" Bobby Lee recalled with a chuckle. "But you were very good."
"Doggies?" Gabby asked, her eyes starting to tear up in fright.
"Yes, and you've been scared of dogs ever since," Nell said as she started rocking her. "You're all right with little dogs and plush toys, but larger breeds have always scared you."
"Why?" Elena asked, climbing up on Bobby Lee's lap.
"Well, let's get James, and he can help tell the story," Nell suggested.
"Good idea," Bobby Lee agreed, "He knows that story as well as anyone."
"After all, Rex was his dog," Nell agreed.
"James good with stories," Gabby said with a small smile.
"Very good!" Elena giggled before seeing Gabby look ready to cry. "No doggie here!"
"Elena, would you like to help me get James?" Bobby Lee asked, looking over to where James was working with the royal dog trainers. "He's over there, where he always is, with the royal dog trainers, but I don't think they'd mind if he took a break and told you girls a story."
"Okay," Elena smiled. "Later he tell Gabby Andrew story!"
"Let's tell you girls one story at a time, but I wouldn't mind hearing an Andrew story myself," Nell smiled.
A few minutes later, Bobby Lee and Elena had brought James back with them. "James, tell Gabby story?" Elena asked.
"Okay, what Andrew story would you like today, Gabby?" James asked.
"We're not telling an Andrew story yet, James," Bobby Lee started. "It's been a year since Gabby was bitten by Rex, and the girls wanted to hear the story of how he was sent away."
"Oh. That story," James muttered, frowning.
"Doggie went bye-bye?" Elena asked, a little confused.
"Yes, he did go bye-bye," Nell said, stroking her hair. "You were not happy about it. You even tried to bite Daddy when he was ordered to take Rex away."
James frowned at the memory. Just when he thought he'd gotten over it, even with his new dog, he had to be reminded of this.
Elena wiggled out of Bobby Lee's lap and onto James'. "Don't be sad, James," she said as she gave him a hug.
"I've had Rex since I was four," he stated flatly. "Then after he bites Gabby, even when it's her fault for playing too roughly with him, he's marked as the bad guy and he has to be sent away, even though I was watching both of them!"
Gabby almost started crying again, but Nell hushed her. "Sweetheart, James was just angry about Rex going bye-bye," she soothed her.
"Put yourself in my shoes," James muttered, "You'd be mad too if your dog had to be sent away!"
"Story now?" Elena asked, seeing Gabby calm down.
"If we must," Nell sighed, turning to Bobby Lee and James. "Who would like to start?"
"Well, it was a day just like this," James started, "Rex and I were playing after lunch. You and Elena were with Nell and Bobby Lee, playing in the leaves and the flowers. I knew that Rex was too big to play with you, so I stayed with him at the other end of the castle."
"I remember that," Bobby Lee agreed. "I heard Amber call you to do something, and Nell was watching the girls. You asked me to watch Rex for a minute while you saw what Amber wanted, so I took Rex with me."
"We knew Elena loved all animals, so we didn't think it would do any harm to watch Rex for you while you were busy with Amber," Nell added. "We told her to be gentle with Rex, and she just started petting him."
"And of course, when I came back was when it started," James frowned at Gabby.
"Friend no more?" Gabby asked with a frown.
"James still friend," Elena assured her with a smile. "He just sad." She glanced at James before hugging him. "Tell us why you sad."
"I finished my business with Amber, and I was coming back to get Rex," James started, "I was just coming up to you when somebody, I won't mention any names, Gabby, pulled on Rex's ears. As all of you should know, Rex didn't like that."
"You shouted for Gabby to get back," Bobby Lee agreed, giving Gabby a hug. "We all thought he was just going to snap at her, but instead, he bit her."
"We all shouted for Rex to get back as I pulled Gabby away from him," Nell added. "Unfortunately, the damage had been done."
"What damage?" Elena asked.
"Bite marks and blood," Nell shuddered as Gabby give her a hug.
"Was it a bad boo-boo?" Elena wondered with a frown.
"Yes," Bobby Lee sighed, gently putting Elena in his lap. "I wasn't sure who was crying more: Gabby, or Mommy."
"And of course, Dad had to find out," James muttered. "But instead of grounding me, which wouldn't work, seeing as how I spend my extra time in my room anyway, and instead of giving me extra chores, which also wouldn't work, seeing as how I help everyone around the castle anyway..." he paused as Elena and Gabby giggled, and even Nell and Bobby Lee smirked, "He took it out on Rex!"
"Why you not get timeout in your room?" Elena asked.
"Because timeouts don't work for James the way they work for you two," Nell explained, "Whenever James isn't at school, doing homework, practicing dazzleball or flying derby, doing squire duties for the knights, or helping someone around the castle with their chores, he'd be helping the royal scribes with their documents. Sometimes it takes a long time for them, since even though they're really good at writing, they can't spell, and they have trouble with punctuation and grammar. It's up to James to fix their mistakes and sometimes re-write the whole thing on new parchment."
"That's right," Bobby Lee agreed, "Roland said that it wouldn't do any good grounding him, since James is always in his room, and he does all this work, so giving him extra chores wouldn't do much either."
"So it was doggie that had to go bye-bye?" Elena asked.
"Yes, but not right away," Nell explained with a smile.
"Why?" Elena asked in confusion. "Gabby was hurt!"
"It's true that Gabby was hurt," Nell explained. "But we decided that if Rex was going to act like this around you, then he couldn't stay in the castle."
"James mad about it?" Elena asked.
"That's putting it mildly, Love Bug," Bobby Lee smirked.
"What happened next?" Elena wondered, giving Gabby a small hug.
"Well, we didn't know Gabby was scared of dogs until that night," Nell explained, stroking Gabby's hair.
"She woke up during the night screaming," Bobby Lee replied. "We thought it was just her leg that was still hurting from where Rex bit it, but we were wrong."
"She was having a really bad nightmare," Nell added. "I took her to Daddy's and my room, and she spent the rest of the night with us."
"Then the next day, Dad dropped the bombshell," James glared at Gabby. "Rex was being sent away for everyone's safety. He said that at the end of the week was when he had to go. Lucky for me, Aunt Tilly was there, and she told Dad that she'd take Rex in, and told me that I could visit him whenever I wanted."
"That's good, right?" Elena asked.
"We thought it would be a good compromise at the time," Nell admitted.
"But when Rex was gone, we had a new problem," Bobby Lee agreed.
"Problem?" Gabby asked with a frown.
"Yes," Nell answered with a smile.
"Concerning you, Gab-Gab," Bobby Lee added, kissing her cheek.
"It turned out that Rex had done more damage than we thought," Nell explained. "His teeth had torn some of the muscles in your leg. You had trouble walking, so we had to take you to the doctor."
"He told you that you had to be in a splint for a few weeks, so your leg could heal," Bobby Lee continued. "Then after your splint was removed, he said you had to have physical therapy to get the strength in your leg back."
"Then, of course, James' behavior changed completely overnight," Nell added. "He used to be so nice and helpful to all of us, even Auntie Sabrina and Auntie Madeline, but when Rex was gone, it was like he became a different person."
"Who was he?" Gabby asked.
"Like mean boy Jack!" Elena pouted with crossed arms.
"No, not quite like Jack," Nell shook her head. "James did everything he could to help us learn about autism, remember? And he never teased you or called you names like Jack does. When I say it was like he was a different person, I mean that we saw a different side to his personality that we didn't understand, and some of us didn't like it."
"He do naughty things?" Elena asked.
"Not exactly naughty," Bobby Lee tried to explain. "But he gave you two, Mommy, and even Auntie Madeline and Auntie Sabrina, a really hard time, especially with his new angry attitude."
"He nice to Daddy," Gabby smiled.
"Yes, he was nice to me, and Miss Bianca," Bobby Lee recalled, "But he was even giving his family a hard time and being rude to them."
"What they do?" Elena asked.
"Like they said before, they couldn't do much," James admitted. "Grounding me and sentencing me to work around the castle wouldn't make sense since I spent all my extra time in my room and helped around the castle, and they always tried to talk to me."
"But you no listen," Gabby muttered, looking ready to cry.
"Mommy, how you know Gabby's leg was bad?" Elena wondered, wanting to know.
"Gabby and I were taking a walk in the castle gardens to calm her down," Nell replied. "I saw that she was limping, and she said that her leg was hurting a lot. I carried her back to the castle and got Daddy, who was coming back from his afternoon shift as a junior guard. We took Gabby to the doctor, and that's when he told us that her leg was bad."
"After he told us about the damage, he had Gabby's leg splinted," Bobby Lee continued. "That was only so it could heal better. For the next few weeks, he had Gabby resting. He didn't want to have her leg hurting any more than it already was."
"When her resting in bed time was finished, we went back to the doctor," Nell continued. "He examined her leg, but Gabby said it still hurt to walk on it. He gave us the name of a new doctor, who would help Gabby with physical therapy to make her leg better."
"Leg still hurt?" Elena asked Gabby with a frown.
"A little," Gabby muttered with a frown.
"Well, it's going to take a while for her leg to heal," Nell explained. "But she's faithful about doing her exercises, and the doctor says her leg gets stronger after every session."
"And if you ever need help, you know I'll help you, right, Gabby?" James asked.
"Who are you and what have you done with James?" Bobby Lee joked, mussing his hair.
"That James," Elena looked puzzled.
"Oh, sure, he offers to help you now," Bobby Lee smirked. "But after Rex was gone, he gave everyone in the castle a really hard time."
"But not you or Bianca," Nell observed.
"Why?" Gabby asked.
"Well I really respected them both," James admitted as he frowned, hearing Gabby start to cry.
"My fault Rex gone!" Gabby wailed, crossing her legs. "Ow..."
"Gabby hurt?" Elena asked with a gasp.
"It's okay, Gab-Gab, you didn't do anything bad," Bobby Lee assured her. He'd seen Gabby stretching her legs, but he knew that she sometimes overdid it with stretching, and this was just one of those times. He knew she'd be fine in a little bit. "Just rest for a minute, and you'll feel better soon."
"Anyway, when I say I respected Bianca and Bobby Lee, I knew Bianca wasn't responsible for what was going on, since she wasn't there," James tried to explain. "Bobby Lee, well, I wasn't mad at him, since he'd tried to help me when I had to help Amber. He thought he was helping me when he brought Rex to visit you two."
"It's all my fault, then," Nell sighed, resting her face in her hands. "Roland should've kicked us out that day. I had enough money for all of us. I would've just needed cribs and training pants and anything else that the girls would need. I could've gotten by with just a few clothes until they became tight."
"Helen, sweetheart," Bobby Lee gasped in complete shock. "How did you get extra money? Why would you think such a thing?"
"I had a little extra money from doing odd jobs around the village," Nell admitted. Bobby Lee was about to ask her more questions, but a soft sniffle stopped him. They turned, and saw James biting his lip and taking a deep breath.
"It's not your fault, and it's not Gabby's fault," James sighed. "It's mine. I should have kept a better eye on Rex. I could have told Amber that I was busy watching him, Elena, and Gabby, and I didn't want to help her with her next party." He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to stay composed, but it was difficult. "I..." he tried to go on, but he buried his face in Nell's chest. "I'm sorry...It's my fault and I took it out on everyone!"
"James... I know you were upset to have Rex sent away, and to be honest, we all did wrong that day," Nell shushed him as she stroked his hair.
"What were those odd jobs you took, Helen?" Bobby Lee wondered as Elena hugged James.
"I was a house-sitter for some of Roland and Miranda's friends in the village," Nell smiled. "They told me that they were going out of town, and needed someone to look in on their houses for a few days. I'd do light housework and take care of anything that needed attention."
"Okay," Bobby Lee smiled. "I know you liked helping everyone. I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions."
"Don't worry about it," Nell smiled.
"What about Jaggy?" Elena asked. "When James get him?"
"A few months after that. Luckily, you two were potty trained by then!" Nell lightly chuckled with a smile. "Though that took longer than we thought with Gabby."
"We'll explain that much later," Bobby Lee muttered, seeing the twins confused.
"No doggie talk!" Gabby yelled, covering her ears.
"Gab-Gab, it's okay," Bobby Lee assured her. He smiled as he put an arm around James. "Actually, it's a funny story that does involve you and Elena."
Gabby smiled a little. "I like funny stories!" she giggled.
"Good," Bobby Lee smiled. "After having had enough of James' attitude toward everyone, Bianca and I finally sat him down and suggested that if he wanted to be around dogs so much, then he should work with the royal dog trainers. James agreed, and a month or so later, we all saw that he was being much nicer to the family. Of course, he still had a little bit of an attitude with Gabby, but we thought, one victory at a time!"
"Take it one day at a time!" Elena shouted, clapping her hands.
"That's right sweetheart!" Nell chuckled, snuggling her close. "James did improve because of Daddy."
"What about doggies?" Gabby asked shyly.
"Well, I was working with the hunting dogs and the guard dogs," James continued the story, "The trainers had me feeding them, help get supplies they needed, and even help give them baths when they needed it. I'd also play with them, and this one day, the dog trainers didn't need me until later. So until they needed me, I was helping Chef Andre in the kitchen."
"Cookies?" Elena asked.
"No, I was helping with the turkeys he and everyone in the kitchen was making for a banquet," James explained. "I was tearing the meat off the birds, and putting it on plates. I'd also put the bones in pots, so the chefs could make that turkey noodle soup all of you like."
"You've got to admit, that is good soup!" Bobby Lee grinned.
"Anyway, I was running late to help the dog trainers, so I had to run off when I was in the middle of picking the meat off one of the turkeys," James continued. "I forgot that I hadn't washed my hands, and so I still smelled like turkey."
"You said you saw the girls on your way to the dog trainers," Nell added.
"I was coming up to you to say hello," James explained. "At the same time, I saw all the dogs coming up. I didn't want to have the dogs start biting you like Rex did, so I pushed you into the bushes."
"That's right," Bobby Lee agreed. "I didn't know what he was doing at first, but my questions were answered when I saw the dogs knock him down. I just heard him cry out, but then he started laughing as the dogs licked him!"
"Doggie likes James!" Elena giggled, clapping her hands.
"But not me," Gabby muttered with a sniff.
"That's not exactly true, Gabby," Nell shook her head. "We should have remembered that Rex didn't like it when someone played roughly with him or pulled his ears. He really did like you when James first introduced you to him."
"But getting back to the story, Nell and I saw everything that was going on," Bobby Lee grinned. "Roland thought it was pretty funny when we told him about it that night, and he and Miranda agreed that since you saved Elena and Gabby, and since your attitude was better, you deserved a new dog."
"I remember that day," James grinned. "It was my birthday, and you said you had a gift for me, but it was outside with the dog trainers. I knew some of the guard dogs and hunting dogs had puppies, and you agreed that I could have one."
"That's right," Nell smiled. "You picked out a dog that had similar markings to Rex, but he wasn't the same breed."
"What was he?" Elena asked.
"He was an Irish Red and White Setter," Bobby Lee explained. "We couldn't decide on a name for him until some of the guards and I took the stage for some karaoke. We started one of our favorite Rolling Stones songs, and the puppy started barking along."
"Jaggy!" Gabby giggled.
"That's right, Gab-Gab," Bobby Lee smiled. "James named him Jagger, just like Mick Jagger. But now that he had a new dog, we didn't want history to repeat itself. We sat James down that night and told him that he'd continue to work with the dogs, but Jagger would have to be an outside dog."
"Good!" Gabby smiled.
"And James agreed that Jagger could live in the stable," Nell added.
"Where Snow White live!" Elena giggled, clapping her hands.
"Yes where your kitty lives!" Bobby Lee chuckled with a smile.
"Luckily for me, Snow White's kitty friends liked Jagger," James continued. "When Snow White came, you were afraid at first, since you thought he'd hurt her, but I'd seen Jagger in the stables at night after I took him for his nightly walks. He protected the cats, and he took a liking to Snow White."
"Jaggy play with Snow White!" Elena cheered.
"Yes, he likes her, and he protects her," James agreed. "I started training him to be gentle around you and Gabby the next day following the party."
"And when we learned that Elena had autism, James went right to the castle library and started doing research," Nell continued. "He learned that autistic children respond well to animals, like dogs, so he offered to teach Jagger how to be Elena's therapy dog."
"Good doggie!" Gabby shouted as she and Elena started jumping on her bed.
"Let them have their fun," Bobby Lee smirked, seeing his wife ready to scold them.
"And at least Jagger's an outside dog until the girls are older and can handle themselves around him, right?" James asked.
"That was our agreement," Nell agreed. "And you've kept your end of the bargain very well. And we all agreed that you'd keep a close eye on Jagger if the girls want to be around him."
"Your attitude has gotten so much better," Bobby Lee added. "You're not the obnoxious little brat you were when Rex was sent away. You help us at every opportunity, and we appreciate it so much!"
"Thank you," James smiled, hugging them both before Gabby started to cry.
"Mommy! Gabby's hold ring her bad leg!" Elena yelled with a sniff.
"Tell me what to do to help," James volunteered.
"Okay, Gab-Gab, just lie down," Bobby Lee murmured. "Listen, sweetheart, everything's going to be okay. We're right here."
"It hurts! Really bad!" Gabby wailed as Elena hugged her.
"We know, sweetheart. It's okay," Nell shushed, stroking her hand.
"You safe, Gabby, you safe,"" Elena assured her with another hug.
"What can I do to help?" James repeated. "Is there something she needs to make her feel better?"
"Mommy and Daddy know!" Elena shouted, tugging on Nell's skirt.
"Yes we do," Nell said, seeing Gabby start to tear up again. "Gab-Gab, did you hurt your leg bad?"
"Boo-boo," Gabby sniffed, trying to lift up her bad leg.
"Don't move it, Gabby," Bobby Lee murmured, slipping some pillows from her bed under her foot. "Just lie down on the bed and prop your leg up on these pillows. We won't stretch it if it hurts. We'll just keep it elevated."
A few minutes later, Gabby sighed with relief as the pain in her leg subsided. "Better!" she sighed with relief.
"Do you want me to carry you to your bed?" James asked, since they were both sitting on Elena's bed.
"Okay," Gabby smiled.
"You're a little heavy, aren't you?" James joked, making her giggle before she frowned.
"Sorry Mommy. Sorry Daddy, for being sad," Gabby muttered, looking down at her feet.
"No, sweetheart, it's not your fault," Nell murmured, tucking Gabby's doll at her side. "You just rest for a few minutes, and you'll feel much better before you know it."
"I think you were overdoing it with your stretches," Bobby Lee agreed. "You didn't do anything wrong, but we know how dedicated you are to practicing your exercises and how much you want to get better."
"Wanna be like Elena. She walk good," Gabby sniffed, taking her doll from its covers.
"Honey, it's not a race," Nell explained with a smile, kissing her cheek.
"Do it one day at a time?" Gabby asked.
"We've taught you so well," Nell smiled.
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Bobby Lee grinned, mussing her hair.
"Kitty story now?" Elena asked with a smile.
Gabby shook her head, taking her sister's hand. "I want Snow White."
"Why?" Elena asked with a gasp.
"She therapy kitty," Gabby giggled.
"I don't think she's had the same training as Jagger, but if you want, you can borrow Little Rex, since he's a therapy dog too," James offered, tucking his plush dog at her side.
Gabby smiled as she patted Little Rex on the head. "I like Little Rex," she giggled.
"And Little Rex likes you," James smiled, mussing her hair.
"Kitty story!" Elena repeated.
"We'll leave you three with the kitty story," Bobby Lee offered as Nell nodded at his side.
She was just grateful for James helping the girls out even a year after Gabby had been bitten.
James smiled as Elena and Gabby cuddled up on either side of him, and he took the book Elena held out, "Okay, you two...this story is about two little kitties who met a friendly puppy named Jagger and his owner...and any relation to persons living or dead is completely coincidental!"
"Sure it is," Bobby Lee smirked as he mussed James' hair. "And on second thought, I think I'd like to hear this story of yours!"
"Now that you mention it, I think I'd like to hear this story myself," Nell smiled.
"Get James?" Gabby whispered.
"If you feel up to it later, but yes!" Bobby Lee whispered back as everyone gathered to hear the story.