Hey guys!
So, it's finally 2012, and I'm happy. Really happy. You know, except for the fact that we are all going to die on the 21st of December, but, still... :)
This story was waaaaaaaaaaay longer than it was originally supposed to be, so it's gonna be 2 chapters! Woot. This idea isn't very good, I know, but still, it's better than nothing.
I'm sorry if this is hard to read, it's just it's so long, I couldn't find a proper way to format the the dialogues. So any criticism regarding that is fine.
And who else looooooooooooooved Domestic Disturbance, Part 2? Raise your hands. *raises both hands*
But I'm really angry at Natara and Mal right now. They had this whole conversation about marriage, and their trust for each other. They were so close to kissing, and they didn't! What? Mal, you had this!
But anyways, enough of my rambling, and onto the story!
Natara lay down comfortably on the blood red couch, savouring the moment of peace that had engulfed the house. Bringing her large fruit juice to her lips and gulping it down, she checked her watch, rolling her eyes profusely at the time being proclaimed on it.
"Damn..." she sighed sadly, knocking back another swallow of her juice. "Arianna and Mal's gonna be back soon." Stretching out her arms, she untangled her body and levered herself upwards. "Well, it was nice while it lasted." Sloping down the room, she tiredly pushed open the kitchen door and shoved her mug into the sink, several dishes already resting inside clattering loudly. She grimaced at them, and stacked them into a more manageable pile. "Gotta do the dishes soon," she muttered under her breath, rubbing her swollen, fruit filled stomach. A light kick from her tummy snapped her out of her reverie, and she smiled wistfully down at it, patting it with renewed vigour.
"Only a month now!" she gleefully told herself, walking sluggishly out of the kitchen. Faintly, she could make out the tut-a-tut of a car in the background, and the shout of a toddler, saying "Faster, Daddy, faster!" "And now..." Natara breathed out, a tinge of humour evident in her voice, "the Chronicles of Noise begins." A car door slammed loudly, and Mal's voice floated through the open window, filling the room.
"Arianna, that's the fastest Daddy can go." "No, it's not! You can go waaaaaaaaaaay faster than that! Mummy said so!" Mal chuckled lightly. "Oh really? And what exactly did mummy say?" "Well, she said that you are a cop." "Um... yes. And?" "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand... Cops drive really fast! Like zooooooooooooom! And you didn't!" The front door creaked open as Mal and Arianna leaped through the door frame. Mal had a sly smirk plastered on his face and Arianna's fine, delicate features were screwed into a scowl.
"Oh, you wanna see fast?" Mal grinned down mischievously at the little toddler. "Yeah, yeah YEAH!" Arianna cheered joyfully, hopping to and fro. Beaming, Mal hastily bent downwards and fluidly scooped her off the lush carpet, throwing her over his shoulder and sprinting lightly down the room and into the corridor. 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!," she shrieked with excitement. Beating her tiny hands, clenched into fists on his broad back, she hollered, "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! THIS IS FAAAAAAAAAAAAAST!"After a seemingly long minute, Mal panted with exhaustion, patting her on the back lightly as he slowed down gradually into a standstill.
"Was... huff huff... Was that fast enough?" he gasped with tiredness. "That. Was. AWESOME!" she screeched in reply, bouncing on his blazer clad shoulder. "Again. Pwease Daddy, again." He gently set her down, ruffling her long, dark silky hair. "No, sorry, sweetie. This old man needs a rest." Arianna wobbled her bottom lip convincingly and stared up at him with big, bambi eyes. "Pwease." Natara cut in, wobbling over to them on unsteady feet. "Aria, Daddy'll do it again, I promise" she cuddled into the toddler, who instead scrutinized her expression thoughtfully, her eyes flickering all over her face. "Weeeeeeeeeeell... O.K. I believe you." Arianna wrapped her long arms around her mother and squeezed her tightly, constricting her like a snake. "Good girl..." Mal chimed in, gathering his girls in an equally tight hug. "Oh, and Arianna, I made some snicker..."
"SNICKERDOODLES!" Arianna peeled herself out of their hands, and hurtled towards the table, where the cookies innocently resided. Natara whipped her head around and pressed her lips to Mal's deeply, tangling her arms around his shoulders. She felt his arms circle her waist and she kissed him deeper still. Breaking tenderly away from him, she looked for Arianna, and spied her devouring the snickerdoodles, ripping and tearing into them with great relish. She pointed it out to Mal, who laughed raucously, tipping his head back.
"Natara Fallon, we have a daughter who eats like a pig." he chortled good-naturedly. "I wonder where that trait came from..." she smirked at him, rolling her eyes. Mal mock gasped, and slapped his hand to his mouth. "Not from me, I hope? Anyways, that's not the only trait that she's inherited from us." Quizzically, she squinted her eyes at him. "Whaddaya mean?" "The thing she does with her eyes. You know, the scrutinizing. She looked all over your face to tell if you were lying. That was a Natara for sure." She opened her mouth to reply with a witty comeback as her Android vibrated and chimed a series of beeps from where it was nestling in her pocket. "You really need to change that god awful ringtone," Mal remarked humourously. Shooting him a mock look of pure, stinging venom, she scooped the phone out of her pocket, answered it and brought it towards her ear in one clean swoop.
"Hello?"
"Natara! It's me, Amy!" Amy's usually serene and genteel voice was frazzled and harried, and Natara could hear the squeal of rubber tires and the gleeful shouts of a little girl audibly in the background.
"Wow, is there a ruckus outside or what? Are you O.K.?"
"I'm fine, really. I just have to ask you one favour..."
"Sure, shoot."
Amy's voice tumbled out in a babble as she blurted, "Could you please babysit Melissa for a few hours? I mean, it's only just, like, three hours at the most... If it's not too hard for you? Please? Kai and I are," she lowered her voice an octave and whispered, "going out to All Night, and obviously, we can't take her..."
"Um, O.K... Wait, All Night, the club? You're going clubbing?"
"Yeah, I mean, we haven't had any alone time since Melissa came around, and this is the perfect opportunity! And Kai loves clubbing. Weirdo."
"It's just... You don't seem like the kind of person who would do something like this!" Natara jibed her gently.
"Yeah, well, you better believe it because I'm dropping off Melissa at your house right now."
"And what is right now supposed to mean?"
"It means... literally right now. I'm rounding the corner to your house. See ya soon!" And she hung up abruptly, leaving Natara staring blankly at her phone. "Babysitting, huh?" She heard Mal silently pad across the fluffy carpet towards her, and felt him knot his arms around her baby bump with ease. Spinning around in his arms and placing her palms on his chest, she asked, puzzled, "how did you..." "Left it on speaker phone, sport!" he interrupted, laughing with gusto. "Hmph. Anyways, they're dropping Melissa..." "Melissa's coming over?" Arianna appeared as if out of thin air in front of the two of them, her hands haphazardly thrown upwards in excitement. "Yes, Aria, she's..." "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" Arianna shouted merrily, skipping around the room. "We can play dollies, draw, play tag, play catch, play cops and robbers... It's gonna be FUN!" They heard two short rat-a-tat-tats drift in from their bright red door, and Natara beamed at Arianna, gliding across the ground towards the doorknob.
"It's only two three year olds," she thought bemusedly to herself, "how hard could it really be to babysit them?"
The answer was hard. Really hard.