It was a few days now since Thomas left for his big world adventure and the Fat Controller had left the North Western Railway to go find him, leaving the Thin Controller in charge until further notice. While Emily was left to try and cope with Thomas' absence, other couples would be having their own share of events to go through.
One bright day, Rosie the cherry-red tank engine was running merrily along the line with a special goods train for Arlesburgh Junction. All seemed to be going well for her as she flew along the line, passing other engines, green signals and more. She adored working hard on the railway. It made her feel special besides being really useful, and she was eager to see Stanley again whenever she could. But as she came up to Farmer McColl's farm, she would soon find that Stanley would help her around a little problem she'd be faced with.
"What's that up ahead?" said her driver. "Oh, goodness! Stop, Rosie!"
Rosie braked hard as she saw five cows standing on the line in front of her. Luckily, she stopped in time, a few yards away from the cows. She sighed with relief, but then wondered.
"What are these cows doing here?" she asked.
Her driver looked around. "There it is, Rosie. The fence is broken. The cows must have wondered out and got loose." He then ran up to Farmer McColl's door and knocked a few times. But there was no answer. After several attempts, it seemed that Farmer McColl wasn't home.
Rosie was disappointed. "Now I'll be late. This delivery is important!" Then she looked to the cows. "Go on! Shoo! Shoo!"
The cows just looked at her. One of them mooed to her, while another took a step or two toward her. Rosie didn't want to hurt the cows and just had to wait them out. But as time passed, she noticed they would not move. Every few minutes, she became more and more nervous about what the Thin Controller might say, and she even became a little impatient. She was waiting endlessly for Farmer McColl to come along and retrieve his cows, but as she kept looking around, she didn't see any sign of him.
"Well. This is brilliant," she huffed. "I'll be delayed all over a bunch of cows! Where are you, Farmer McColl?!" Some of the cows came a little closer to her, looking confused and dazed. Rosie kept waiting and trying desperately to coax the cows herself with a few whistles every now and then, but it was no good.
Finally, around an hour later, although it felt like two for Rosie, Farmer McColl came along the line and saw his escaped cows standing on the line. Rosie saw him coming by and whistled impatiently.
"Farmer McColl, could you please move these cows along? I'm running late as it is!" she said.
"I'm sorry, Rosie," said Farmer McColl. "My fence was getting worn in some spots and came apart. I had no wood to fix it and had to dash into town to order more. There's no end of work on a farm. But no worries. I'll move these cows along now."
Farmer McColl whistled to his dog Katie and she ran up to the cows, barking loudly. This made the cows move along and off the rails while Katie pranced alongside them, rounding them back to the barn with Farmer McColl. Soon, Rosie was huffing along the line again, but quite behind schedule.
When Rosie arrived at Arlesburgh Junction and made her delivery, she suddenly heard a voice that made her look and frown angrily.
"Hmm. You're late, Rosie," Daisy sniffed. "This won't do for Ryan, or any of us for that matter."
"It wasn't my fault, Daisy!" Rosie wheeshed. "I was held up by some of Farmer McColl's cows!"
"Oh…hmm, well, that is one thing I can understand from a steamie," said Daisy. "I remember when Champion stood in my way, and my horn didn't get him to move. He just came over to me instead." And she oiled away with her passengers. Rosie saw the Thin Controller coming along, making her nervous.
"Sir…I was held up by some cows on the line," she explained.
"Well, Rosie. You are a hard-working engine, and we know you wouldn't be intentionally late," said the Thin Controller. "But Farmer McColl will have the fence fixed soon. I'm just happy you made your delivery in the end."
"Thank you, sir," Rosie sighed. But as she made her way out of Arlesburgh, she was still rather annoyed at such a long delay just for cows. As she loved working so hard, she did not like being kept waiting for something as trivial and absurd as waiting for a bunch of loose cows to be moved away after an entire hour.
Rosie spent the rest of the day feeling annoyed at her little incident that day. When she was given any work, she intended to do it to the absolute best of her ability and just serve the railway for usefulness and getting as much done as she could. But with that sense of determination, it seemed that anything that got in her way could conflict with her high spirits and cheerful mood, and circumstances that would cause her delay made her unhappy and a little cross.
When she returned to Vicarstown Sheds that evening, she still felt annoyed by her little delay…when she heard a familiar whistle that made her look up. There was Stanley, coming along to pay a visit to his love.
"Hello, Rosie," he greeted. But Rosie didn't reply. Stanley looked and could see she wasn't happy.
"Rosie? What's wrong?" he asked.
Rosie did not smile at his approach. She sighed and let it out. "Hello, Stanley. It's nice to see you again, but I did not have the best day...because I was held up and delayed! The Thin Controller was at least kind enough to understand!"
"Understand what, Rosie? What delayed you?" asked Stanley.
Rosie began to sound more impatient. "Does no one fix fences around here? Five cows were on the line! Took an hour to get them to move! Silly cows!"
"Cows?" said Stanley.
"Yes!" Rosie wheeshed. "They were all just standing there and would not move for me! And I was made late for my delivery! And Daisy pointing out my delay didn't help matters either!"
"Well, at least you finished your work in the end," said Stanley.
"But you know how I love to work long and hard every day!" Rosie complained. "I didn't want to hurt the cows, and never would, but it's almost like they're peacefully stubborn, if that even makes sense! No matter what my driver, fireman or myself would do, those cows would not move! I need to be really useful, and I will not have a bunch of cows stand in my way of that!"
Stanley could see Rosie was not very happy. He also did not like hearing her complain. If she needed to express herself, he'd happily let her do so, but he didn't want it to go on for too long.
"When things like this happen, it causes confusion and delay!" Rosie huffed. "If I was held up longer than I was, the Thin Controller would have been cross with me! And for something I didn't cause!"
"But he wasn't, Rosie," said Stanley. "You told me yourself."
"I know, but…OOH!" Rosie hissed. "Just…why did that need to happen?!"
As Stanley stood there, listening to Rosie release her irritation and annoyance, he suddenly got an idea to stop her complaining and make her feel better. Not taking any more notice of her complaining, he slowly began to buffer up to her. She continued to complain out loud, until Stanley made his move.
"I mean, for being really useful, would it be too much to ask for-Oh! Ooh…" Rosie was suddenly cut off when Stanley began to slowly kiss her cheek.
"S-Stanley…Oh…oh, that feels nice…" she whispered. Stanley smiled and kept kissing her cheek a few times over. Rosie began to blush and giggle softly to Stanley's kisses. She could feel her annoyance fading away as Stanley pleased her as he always did. Stanley stopped for a moment to look at Rosie.
"That's behind you now, Rosie," he smiled. "You're a very good worker, and you have every reason to feel proud of that…and I just want you to continue feeling proud of that."
Rosie sighed. "I'm sorry for complaining so much, Stanley. I just had to express myself to someone, and I felt as though you'd understand."
"I do," said Stanley. "I'll happily listen to what you have to say, but I don't like hearing you in such discontent…which is why I'm here to please you." And he suddenly took hold of her lips, kissing her deeper. Rosie moaned and kissed Stanley right back, feeling even happier. This was exactly what she needed after the inconvenience she was faced with. Stanley very gently pushed her right to the back of the sheds, like Thomas and Emily did. Rosie kept moving her lips softly to Stanley's rhythm and blushing slightly redder as they kissed each other.
When they let go again, Stanley kissed her nose and smiled again. "There. You're not complaining anymore, my sweet rose."
"Stanley…did…did you kiss me to shut me up?" Rosie asked coyly.
"In a respectful way…yes, I was," Stanley smirked. "But I'd never truly shut you up, so to speak. I only did it so you'd feel better. Being happy is all I want for you. I love you, Rosie."
"Oh, I love you too, Stanley," Rosie smiled. "You're such a gem. I feel much better now."
"That's exactly what I'm for, Rosie," said Stanley. "To ease any stress you may have, and so you can look forward to my company."
Rosie smiled dearly, her little freckles showing beautifully on her cheeks. Then she gave Stanley a big, long kiss on his cheek, nibbling gently at his skin and returning the favor to him. Stanley absolutely loved the feeling of Rosie's soft little lips kissing his cheek, making him blush and whisper his love for her. Rosie now felt that she didn't need to express her problems more than she needed to. She just had to tell Stanley about it, then he could help her forget her troubles for the day and share the love only he could offer her.
Rosie eventually paused kissing her favorite engine and smiled at him. "Thank you, Stanley. You've really helped me right now. That was so lovely."
"Anything for you, Rosie," Stanley smiled before they kissed each other once more.
Happy Valentine's Day! Granted, while this isn't a Valentine's story, it's at least somewhat appropriate for Valentine's Day, so at least I won't be missing out on it this year. As I said, I'm trying to come up with more ideas for Rosie and Stanley, so this ain't the last time you'll see them. Anyway, leave your reviews and I'll see you all next time.