CHAPTER 4

Trucy wasn't sure how she felt about Polly trying to set her up with Joe, but she didn't have long to consider it as Apollo strolled down the hallway and went to an open door. Trucy stayed a distance behind, but she could have been all the way back in the rec room and still have been able to hear the squeal when Apollo entered the room.

"ApOlo!"

"How's my favorite girl?" Trucy jogged down the hallway and peered around the corner of the door to see a little tan skinned girl with dark hair and dark eyes standing in front of Apollo.

"I'm good," she said. "but Miss Sparklepinks is sad." She said lifting the rag doll she was holding up so Polly could get a better look. Miss Sparklepinks had pink sparkly fairy wings and big lavender eyes painted on her pale face.

"Oh, why's that?"

"Well, she lost her magic wand. I've asked everybody and nobody can find it."

Rosie looked to be about six or seven, but she had an even more child like way about her. Rosie was looking into Apollo's eyes with great concern.

Apollo sat down on the floor by her bed surrounded by stuffed animals and baby dolls.

"That's too bad. Does that mean she can't make me my special tea? I'm really thirsty."

Miss Sparklepinks moved to whisper something into Rosie's ear. "No, Miss Sparklepinks says her teapot is magic. I'll get you some."

Rosie turned around and dashed over to the corner where a plastic toy box sat. She rummaged around in it for a moment before pulling out a pink plastic teapot decorated with star stickers. She held it above her head and hopped three times, spun once and sang, "Magic, magic, tea come to me!!" and giggled.

Trucy thought the only thing that could possibly be more adorable than this little girl was Polly who was busying himself creating a circle of dolls and stuffies for him and Rosie to sit with. One teddy bear kept falling on its face and Polly kept sitting it upright, tying to adjust its padding so it would sit properly and then just when he seemed satisfied that it wouldn't fall it would preceed to fall face forward again. Trucy almost laughed outloud at his determination to get the teddy to behave itself. He just kept trying over and over again. That was Polly. He was never one to give up easily. When he finally leaned it in a way he found satisfactory he grabbed a smiley face flower and hugged it to himself and reached out his hand for his cup of tea.

Rosie poured her invisible magic concoction into a tiny cup and handed it to Apollo.

"Thank you." He said, ever the gentleman.

Rosie stood in front of Apollo as he sipped at the tiny cup.

"Mmmm. It tastes like peppermint today."

"I thought you'd like that." Said Rosie proudly spinning her upper body ever so slightly with delight. Apollo sipped at his tea and shared it with the smiley face flower, which made Rosie smile.

"So how are you doing?" Apollo asked her the same way he would have asked anyone else. There was no cutesy tone to his voice, simply the air of concern he had whenever he asked a friend how their life was. If Trucy's eyes were closed she could have easily believed he was simply sitting having a grape juice with her Daddy.

Rosie sat down across from Apollo and poured herself a cup of tea that she shared with Miss Sparklepinks.

"Well, JenNIfur got to go to a home and I miss her."

Polly nodded.

"You still sure you don't want to? They're not all bad. My family is really nice."

"Tell me about your famLEE, ApOlo! Pleeeeaasssee."

"Oh, you already know about them."

"Tell me again, pleeeeaaaassseee! Tell me about Feeicks! Has he played anymore jokes on you?"

"Well, he glued my coffee mug to my desk one day last month."

"He's your daddy, right?"

"He's my friend and he's kind of like a dad sometimes, but he doesn't order anybody around."

Rosie giggled. "Feeicks! That's hard to say."

"It's a mouth full. I think that's why his wife calls him Nick, instead."

"Nick. That's easier. We had a Nick here at Cwrismas."

"Maya is his wife's name. She's really funny. She likes to watch kid's TV shows and she loves to eat hamburgers and she can't cook."

"Not at all?"

Apollo shook his head and made a frumpy face. "Nope. Not at all." Polly shook his head at the smiley face flower, too.

"I thought mommies always cook."

"Nope, mommies don't have to cook. They just have to be nice."

"Maya is nice?"

"Very nice." Apollo smiled. He loved Maya and he loved seeing how happy she made Phoenix he had been so sad before she moved in with the rest of the family.

"Do you cook?" Rosie looked worried. She wanted to know who was feeding her Apollo when she wasn't making him invisible magic tea.

"Sometimes, but usually Trucy or Vera cook."

"Oh, Twucee! She's your best friend isn't she?"

Apollo nodded.

"Well, your mommy and daddy sound nice. I like how Feeicks plays jokes on you, but I don't like EarA."

Apollo was surprised. "Oh, why's that?"

"Because she left you and it made you sad. JenNIfur left and it made me sad." Rosie ran over to Polly and climbed in his lap. "I don't wan you to be sad." She said hugging him.

"Oh, Rosie. It isn't like when our first mommies left us. Vera's coming back."

"But JenNIfur isn't. She has a real mommy and daddy now. She told me."

Apollo didn't know what to say. He just hugged Rosie. Sometimes he figured there was just nothing that could be said. Sometimes only a hug could help. He wished he had had more hugs when he was Rosie's age. Actually, he found himself needing a lot of hugs as an adult, too. Maybe that's why he fit into his family so well. There was always an abundance of hugs to be had from Truce, Maya, and Vera. It had even gotten to where Nick would hug him and not just a manly pat/hug, but a big loving bear hug. Apollo had never felt as loved as he did now with the Wrights as his family. It didn't matter that he wasn't actually related to them. They were his family. They made it clear every day that he belonged with them. He wished every orphan could find happiness like he had with such a welcoming, non-judgmental, loving family.

"You know who would really like your tea?" He asked his pint-sized companion.

"Who?"

"Vera. Sometime we'll all have tea together." Vera loved tea. She drank it everyday from dainty little cups and saucers. Polly liked hearing the tink of the porcelain teacup hitting the saucer, as she would sip at her herbal concoctions.

"ApOlo, are you gonna marwee EarA?"

Apollo smiled. He didn't have to tell the truth, but he didn't mind being honest with his friend. "You promise not to tell anyone?"

Rosie nodded, her eyes wide with the excitement of sharing a secret with her special friend. Polly leaned in towards his companion and then pulled back pointing at her doll.

"Wait, what about Miss Sparklepinks? I'm not sure magical fairies can be trusted…" Apollo looked uncertain but Rosie shook her head vehemently.

"We won't tell. I proow-mise!"

She pretended to zip Miss Sparklepinks lips shut, followed by her own and then threw the imaginary key over her shoulder.

"I hope so." Trucy's eyes got wide. She knew Apollo really liked Vera, but she couldn't believe he would admit to actually thinking about getting married to her! She knew he was kind of old-fashioned but wasn't he kind of young? Maybe he was simply amusing the little girl, but Trucy couldn't ignore the twinkling in his eyes.

"But I thought you were gonna marry me!" Rosie didn't seem to know whether to be upset or excited for her friend. She stuck her lips out in a pout and her eyebrows went down.

Apollo laughed. "That's very sweet, but I don't remember asking you." Seeing that her friend was flattered Rosie was happy again.

"When I get marweed, I wanna horse wagon."

"A horse wagon?" Apollo wasn't sure what she meant.

"Like Cinderella had."

"Oh, you mean a carriage."

"With pink unicorns pulling it."

"Oh. Well, that will be a really cool wedding. Can I come?"

Rosie nodded again very excited to have invited her first guest.

"So you really can't find Miss Sparklepinks' wand, huh?"

"Nope. Everybody's been looking forEVER, even Joe."

"Joe helped you?" Apollo was pleasantly surprised. He hadn't thought that Rosie's charming powers worked on Joe, too. The fact that they did affirmed his belief that under the tough-guy exterior Joe was really just another sweet lonely kid, like Apollo had been.

Rosie nodded, "But Joe told me it was a secret. He didn't wanna hurt his rep. ApOlo, what's a rep?"

"It's what big kids work hard to get because they think it's important." Trucy covered her mouth with her gloved hand to muffle her giggle. Apollo was so funny!

"Is it magic?"

"Definitely not, but they act like it is." Apollo and Rosie laughed.

"Big kids are silly!" Rosie said getting up and dancing around the room before settling back into Polly's lap.

"Hey, I'm not silly!" Polly argued.

"Oh, yes you are!" She said charging at his lap again. She tumbled into it in a fit of giggles. Apollo tickled her till she was pink in the face and then he placed his finger on the tip of her nose. "Well, I don't know where Miss Sparklepinks left her wand, but I do know what is more magical than a wand."

"What?" Rosie was shocked. What could be more magical than a fairy's wand?

"Well what do all great magician's have?"

"I dunno."

"What made Frosty come to life?"

"A hat!!"

"That's right and I happen to have a present for Miss Sparklepinks right here and my friend Trucy has taught me how to recognize a magic hat and this one is very magical."

Apollo pulled from his backpack a pink floppy sunhat and sandals for Miss Sparklepinks. Rosie took them in her hand and examined them like a paleontologist might examine dinosaur bones.

"Oh, you're wight. Verwy magic."

Rosie held the little hat over her head. "Magic, magic," she chanted.

"I can feel it ApOlo!" She shouted.

"Well, good. Let's see if the shoes fit…I've never bought a lady shoes before…"

Trucy felt embarrassed about spying on her dear friend, but she was so enthralled. Apollo was so good with the kids. He really understood them. She wondered how many other kids came back here after they grew up. She kind of figured it was one of the last places Polly would like to be, yet here he was, bringing gifts and talking to them and trying to help them get through it.

Trucy knew she should go. She had heard and seen things that weren't meant for her to see or know. Not that they were bad things. They were simply things that Polly had for some reason meant to be private. Maybe Apollo didn't want to call more attention to his past or maybe he was simply the type who thought nice things should be done privately. Trucy figured it was probably a little bit of both. So she figured she would slip away quietly before he even knew she had been there.

Trucy backed away from the doorway to Rosie's room and tripped over a metal garbage can that had been set in the hallway. It made a horrible clatter on the linoleum and Apollo and Rosie ran out to the hallway to see what the commotion was.

"Trucy?! What are you doing here? Are you spying on me?"

Trucy grimaced. She felt bad. Apollo was obviously mad, but all she could do was run to him and put her arms around his neck and hug him. How could she ever have thought he had a dark secret?

"Oh, Polly. You're such a good guy." She said with tears in her eyes.

Rosie was smiling.

"How'd you get her Twucee?"

"Magic." Trucy said and pointed to her blue top hat.

"The hat!"

Rosie ran into the other room to retrieve Miss Sparklepinks' hat and Apollo squared his face with Trucy's.

"You couldn't let me have one day to myself?"

"I'm sorry. I worried that something was wrong. You always tell me where you're going."

"I told you that you could call if you needed something. Trucy, I have my own life."
Trucy hung her head in shame. "I know."

"Well, now you know my secret. Other than home, this is the only place I fit in." Apollo looked down at the smiley-face flower toy he was still holding on to. He found the situation a little embarrassing. It was only Trucy, but still he'd been discovered having a TEA PARTY. It wasn't exactly the most manly activity. He could almost hear Klavier Gavin's superior chuckle. He was SO glad Trucy hadn't brought friends with her.

"Oh, Polly! You know what you need today?"

"What?" Apollo rolled his eyes. "What could I possibly need other than a less meddlesome best friend?"

"An assistant."

"What?"

"To bring cheer to the kids. I can help. I like games and stuff."

Apollo smirked mischievously. "Well, I know one kid who is very eager to meet you."

"Yeah, about Joe…" Trucy trailed off uncertain of what exactly to say because she wasn't exactly sure how she was feeling. Trucy trusted Polly every bit as much as she trusted her Daddy and she knew Apollo would never suggest she go out on a date with anyone who wasn't a good person, but she wondered how deep under that tough exterior the good was hidden. It also bothered her that Joe had naughty magazines. She was sure Polly would never own or even look at such things, in yet Apollo hadn't acted appalled about Joe's admission…what was that about? Trucy wondered.

"Oh, so you were eavesdropping back in the rec room, too! I can't believe you. How'd you even get in here? They should have better security than that. I'll need to talk to Cheryl. People off the street shouldn't be able to walk right in here. It's not safe."

"I lied. I said you knew I was coming." Trucy guiltily gazed at her feet.

"Great. Now I'll be in trouble. You need a criminal background check and…"

Apollo looked as though something had just occurred to him. Something bad. His face had fallen. It was obvious he was no longer thinking about scolding Trucy or Miss Sparklepinks or any of the things that had been occupying his ever-busy brain just a few moments ago.

"What, Polly? What is it?"

"I just realized Vera can't come here. I didn't even think about it. She won't pass the background check."

Apollo's eyes were welling with tears. Why the hell hadn't he gotten an innocent verdict at her forgery trial? Why did that have to be the case he failed on, the one that mattered the most to him personally?

"Well, Polly, I guess you owe her an apology for how you acted about her going to work with Interpol then. You weren't willing to let her go even though she told you she was doing it precisely for reasons like this."

Apollo knew Trucy was right. Exactly right. Vera had even said much the same thing to him before she left. Vera had said he needed to understand that she didn't want to leave him. She simply didn't have a choice. She had to take the opportunity to clear her name because her most ambitious dream of creating an art school for children from low-income families would never come to fruition if she was "Convicted Felon Vera Misham" for the rest of her life.

What denial he had been in. As usual, Vera was right and he was stupid. It was so often the case. Apollo felt like calling her right than and there to say he understood better and that he was really sorry for his anger over her decision, but he knew that this was his time with the kids and it was important. He would be talking to Vera that night. She faithfully called him every night and he convinced himself that that would be soon enough to apologize.

Apollo took a deep breath. He wasn't quite sure how his life had so quickly become entwined with another person's but it had. He couldn't seem to get Vera out of his mind. It shouldn't be that big a deal that she was away…in yet it was as though the only motivation he had to proceed through the activities of his day was knowing that at the end of the day he would hear her voice and he could hold the phone and close his eyes and pretend that she was in his arms.

Trucy tipped her head at Polly unsure if she had been forgiven yet or not. Apollo's mind returned to the present and he shrugged at her and said, "Well, I'm sure the kids would love a magic show."

Trucy smiled. She was thrilled to be of help to him in bringing some happiness to the children.

"But, Truce," Polly leaned in to whisper to her. "Even if you have your magic panties with you stick with other tricks, ok? This crowd is a little less refined than the people at the Wonder Bar if you know what I mean."