Chapter Three

"So, I know you told me that you know a little about cooking," Frankie said as she stood with Mac in his new room at the house, "but if you have any questions then please ask me. There are some friends that love cooking who are going to be helping out but," Frankie laughed, "managing friends might not make the work any faster or any easier. I'm having the groceries delivered but it might still take an hour or two to prepare all of it."

Mac looked down the list and nodded. He would later grab a notebook so that he could sort out the different dishes for the friends and decide which of the friends helping him would be best in each role there was. He saw Frankie looking around the room and she sat down.

"I'm really interested in your film career, Mac" she told him and he smiled as he thought about the classes that he had taken. "I never feel that my degree comes in useful but hey, here I am, and some of the things that we do actually raise a lot of money for the house. I think Mr. Harriman would freak if he knew but you gotta roll with what you've got."

Mac nodded, "Thanks, Frankie," he smiled. He had to agree with her, the house at least felt a lot more refreshing although he was starting to miss the friends that weren't there. He saw Frankie's eyes widen though as she noticed something near the window ledge. She hummed as she went over and picked up the small bag filled with sugar.

"Not to be invasive -" she began and Mac stood up quickly. He knew what she was thinking.

"I don't do drugs," he told her quickly, "I'm not on drugs or anything. I've never done drugs, when you know you're going to be surrounded by imaginary friends then drugs aren't interesting any more. That bag was…Bloo."

"The bag is Bloo?" Frankie asked and Mac hung his head.

"Well, Bloo wanted me to be a little less interested in paperwork and a lot more interested In him. He must have thought that I changed as I got older which I did, everyone does, but imaginary friends are less likely to, you know 'cause they're imaginary. Well, Bloo handed me this bag of sugar because when I was a kid sugar really affected me but it doesn't anymore," he told her and Frankie opened the bag to smell it and nodded.

Mac sighed but then turned to Frankie curiously. Sugar didn't really have a smell so how was she able to believe him just by sniffing it. He watched her, unsure of whether to ask her about it or not. Frankie laughed as she put it back in place.

"He's probably missed you so he's acting out," she said and Mac nodded. "I mean, it wouldn't be hard to miss you. You always treated him well and made sacrifices for him and found him new homes where he would be safe and loved. I mean, you were a great owner and you are a fabulous creator. Bloo's most likely responding to that. Did you want to take tonight off from cooking to spend more time with him?" she asked and Mac shook his head.

"Honestly, I'd prefer to do the job that I was assigned to do. Bloo will be fine without me. He has to be fine without me." Mac looked to Frankie before the list and took out some paper. He managed to draw the kitchen and where each of the tasks should be performed. Frankie watched him. Despite her seeing the old Mac, it was definitely obvious that he had changed. He still had that sweet personality though. He was perfect to have this job but she did understand Bloo's feelings. The blue blob had built Mac up so much in his head that he had created an ideal that even Mac couldn't live up to.

Mac stared at Coco as they stood outside the kitchen together. He knew that she had asked to work on the eggs for the meal and he trusted that she had the skill and precision to do a good job but she was a bird. He felt a little guilty knowing that he was giving the task of preparing eggs to a bird and now as he stood opposite her he just wanted to make sure she wasn't going to somehow steal the eggs.

"Are you sure that that's the station that you want to work at?" he asked and Coco rolled her eyes.

"Co Cooo" she said in a drawn out manner as if she was starting to tire of being asked that question. Mac took a breath in before shrugging.

"You aren't going to, I don't know, make the eggs disappear," he said and Coco looked at him for a long time. "I'm not sure. I mean, you lay eggs."

"Co co co co," Coco said as she turned her head away whilst annoyed.

Mac had to guess that she was telling him that these weren't her kind of eggs that they would be cooking and it was okay to cook the eggs that hens lay. Coco wasn't an omnivore either, she had eaten foods with meat in them. Mac sighed before nodding slowly.

"Okay, but I'll watch you and if you need to be moved then I'll do so. This meal is for everyone, okay?" he asked and Coco nodded.

"Cococo co coco coco co" she said before putting on a chef hat and making her way into the kitchen. Mac sighed as he let his back rest against the wall. He was a little exhausted from his job already but he had been through worse and his endurance was something that he had been known for."

"So I see that somebody is resting instead of working," Bloo commented as he passed him and Mac smiled.

"As if you're one to talk," he winked. He looked at the friend that he had made when he was little and thought about the past. He had changed a lot since that time. "I'm off duty at eleven unless there's an emergency, now I know it's after your bedtime but how about we forget about that and play some video games. I know I'll crush you."

"Nah," Bloo shook his head, "I need my blooty sleep," he said as he turned and walked off and Mac looked at him in surprise. He honestly hadn't expected that Bloo would turn the offer down. He opened his mouth to say something but bowed his head and shook it. He was hoping that he hadn't upset Bloo by coming back here, maybe it wasn't a transition that Bloo was ready for.

When he had known that he had to leave Bloo and focus on more serious issues like school, Mac had had a hard transition himself. He kept thinking about the house, wondering what all the friends would be up to but without Bloo there, he hadn't wanted to return. In a way, during those earlier years, he had felt guilty and as if he was letting the whole house down with not being present. Those feelings were starting to return but instead of the whole house, Mac was wondering if he was letting Bloo down.

"Mac?" one of the smaller friends asked in a sweet voice and Mac nodded to them. "Are you ready to start?" she asked and Mac smiled, his eyes looking in the direction that Bloo had gone before he rolled up his sleeves.

"Absolutely," he told her before she led him into the kitchen.

As he stood in the house, Mac looked at a picture of Madame Foster that was hung on the wall and thought back to the times when she was alive. He had just been a kid when he had first entered this house. He had been someone who loved the wonder and silliness that the house brought and despite the fact that he was always considered kind of geeky and a little nerdy, it had brought him a lot of good memories.

He took a deep breath before starting to call out the directions for the friends to prepare dinner together. He was happy to see the friends enjoying taking part with helping out with dinner. When times had come with people pampering them it had been nice for them but far too much work for Frankie. She had found a happy medium and a harmonious way of them working together.

Mac just needed to figure the same thing out with Bloo. There was nothing that he needed to apologize for, right?

End of Chapter Three

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Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Two

Beequeen65, The Howling Behemoth