Princess Claire
Chapter 2
Disclosure and Acknowledgement:
I am using JE's wonderful characters for fun, not profit.
Thank you to Maggie, my wonderful content and copy editor.
Later that day.
Stephanie heard noises and her son's excited voice coming from his room. She walked to Frankie's bedroom and stood in the doorway. She watched her boy as he bounced on the bed.
"And then, and then I shooted the bad guy. Pow! Pow!" said Frankie, "and then he went boom! Like this." Frankie belly-flopped onto the bed.
Ranger, who was sitting on the bed too, said, "Good shot. You got the bad guy."
Stephanie watched this scene with a mixture of delight and confusion. Delight because her guys were having fun and she loved it when that happened. Confusion, because she and Ranger usually ran an efficient bedtime routine. Stephanie did the wet portion and Ranger the dry. Because Frankie was a sleepy head in the mornings and persnickety about his clothes, she and Frankie laid out his clothes for the next day before he went to bed. After the clothes were picked to Frankie's satisfaction, Stephanie bathed him and helped him put on his pajamas. Then Stephanie monitored Frankie's tooth brushing, gave him a drink of water and kissed his cheeks before handing him off to Ranger. Ranger would carry Frankie on his shoulders to his son's room and deposit him on the bed. Then Frankie would say his prayers, with some prompts from his father. After prayer time, Ranger would read Frankie a bedtime story or two, tuck Frankie and Belfry, Frankie's Batman bear and sleeping companion, in for the night and give each one a kiss. It was a routine designed to give Frankie face time with each of his parents and to calm him down for sleep. So, she wondered, why was Ranger allowing Frankie to jump on the bed? Stephanie cleared her throat to make her presence known.
"Babe."
"Hi, Mommy. Did you see? Did you see me kilt the bad guy?"
"I did. You got him good."
Frankie smiled broadly. "I did. I was great."
"You were," said Stephanie. "Now it's time to go to sleep."
"Do I hafta?" said Frankie as he looked at both of his parents.
"Yes, sir," said Ranger, "Your mom has called lights out."
"Phooey!"
Stephanie said, "I'll take it from here. Are you thirsty, Angel?"
Frankie nodded. "Daddy's thirsty, too."
"Okay, why don't we get you drinks of water, then it's off to bed for you, mister."
Frankie walked up to his mother. "Does Daddy have to go to bed, too?"
She smiled at her boy and said, "It's not Daddy's bedtime yet, but he'll be going to bed soon." Stephanie winked at Ranger and he winked back. Frankie saw his parents winking, so he winked too, or at least he tried to.
After Frankie got his drink of water, Stephanie led him into the bathroom to sponge off his face and neck. Then she led Frankie into his room and tucked him and Belfry in and gave them both smooches on their foreheads.
When Stephanie got near the door, Frankie said, in a loud whisper, "Mommy, I have to tell you sumpen."
"Okay."
"Come here."
"No. I can hear you."
"No, you have to come here."
Stephanie threw up her hands and walked over to Frankie.
"Mommy, tell me a story. Tell me a story like Claire's mommy tells her."
"Didn't your father tell you a story?"
"Yep."
"But I want a special story."
"It looked like Daddy was telling you a special story."
Frankie nodded. "But I want another special story, like Claire's mommy tells her."
Stephanie sat on the bed beside Frankie and Belfry. "Who's Claire?"
"She's a little turtle, like me."
"Oh, so Claire goes to school with you?"
"Yep. She's my girlfriend."
"I thought I was your girlfriend?"
Frankie giggled. "No, you're my mommy and Claire's my girlfriend."
"Good to know."
"Tell me a story, pull-ease."
"Sure. I'll tell you a story . . . tomorrow," said Stephanie as she got up from the bed and walked toward the door. "Sweet dreams."
"Mommy, I have to tell you sumpen."
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Good night."
"But, Mommy, I have to tell you sumpen for Belfry."
"Okay, tell me."
"No, you have to come here. It's a secret."
Stephanie gave in and went back to Frankie. She knew that she would. "Okay, what do you have to tell me for Belfry?"
Frankie had Belfry whisper his message to him. "Belfry says 'I love Mommy'."
"Well, tell Belfry that I love him, too."
Frankie whispered into Belfry's ear and then Belfry whispered something back. "Belfry wants to be bunnies."
Stephanie said, "I thought that you and Belfry didn't like to do snuggle bunnies now that you're big kids."
"Sometimes I like to be bunnies. Can we be bunnies now?"
Stephanie smiled and got into bed with her son and her bat bear son. She snuggled with them until they fell asleep.
oOoOoOo
After Stephanie got Frankie to sleep, she went into the living room and sat on the couch beside Ranger. Ranger, who was working on his tablet and listening to classical music, leaned over and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek.
Stephanie snuggled into Ranger and asked, "What was with Frankie tonight?"
"Not sure. But tonight he wanted a story that he was in."
"Hmm."
"Frankie said that Claire's, I guess she's one of his classmates, mom tells her stories that stars Claire. I didn't want to be outdone, so I told Frankie a story where he was the good guy and the star of the story."
"No, we're not competitive," Stephanie teased.
"I'm used to winning," Ranger responded.
Stephanie arched an eyebrow, a trick that she learned from Ranger. "Frankie mentioned Claire. He said she's his girlfriend."
"Girlfriend." Ranger shook his head. "I'll just have to get used to the fact that Frankie is a late bloomer."
"Late bloomer?"
"Sure. I had my first girlfriend when I was two."
"Really? A girlfriend at two?"
"Ramona. Big dark eyes. Long dark hair. I wonder how she's doing? I'll have to call my mother and find out. My mom and Ramona's mom are like this." Ranger put up two fingers to show the closeness between the mothers.
"Really? When you talk to your mom, ask her if Ramona will take you back."
"No can do."
"Why? Is Ramona living the life with some fabulously handsome and wealthy man?"
"A few reasons: one, my Abuela Ana didn't like her, two, last I heard, Ramona's a lesbian and living the life with the love of her life and three, I'm living the life with the love of my life." Having said that, Ranger took Stephanie to their room to be the star in their bedtime story.
