Aqua's POV
I hated this. I hated Robin. The only thing that wasn't keeping me from ripping that creature's throat out of mouth was Marth's arms around my waist and my head in his shoulder.
"It'll be okay Aquanette" Marth said.
"No it won't " I siad pushing away slightly. "Robin blackmailing Griffon for something that was probably out of her control it's not fair!" I said.
"I know, I know. But think about it like alchemy" Marth said.
"Alchemy?" I said confused
"Yea everything has an explaination and you're a smart girl and I know you'll find a way to help your cousin. Think about it like equivalent exchange" Marth said
"You're so smart" I said smiling. I gave him a small kiss on the lips and ran into the school
Turns out I did figure something out to stop the evil she devil. I overheard Robin and Thatch saying that they were going to that diner on main street that Marth always takes me too. It would take off from there.
Flannery, Griffon and I waitied by the back door.
"Okay Griffon send it to him" I said.
"Aquanette are you sure this going to work?" Griffon said.
"Yes! I am a Mustang damn it and I don't take anything lying down! Now send him that text message" I said putting my hands on my hips.
"Fine" Griffon said pulling out her green cell phone. She quickly sent him a message "Okay send" Griffon said pressing the send button. A few minutes later Thatch climbed outside through the bathroom window and quickly rushed over to Griffon.
"Griffon thank goodness" Thatch said hugging Griffon tightly. "You won't believe what this crazy broad is putting me through. She wants me to take her to the military ball" Thatch said.
"Don't worry Thatch the twins and I have a plan and you and I can go to themilitary ball together I mean if you want to" Griffon said blushing at the last part.
"Of course I do." Thatch said. "Oh wait" Thatch said pulling out her cellphone. "Ugh it's from Robin. Thank goodness she has to go home" Thatch said.
"Alrighty then. Aquanette let's get over to Major Stately's house let's give Thatch and Griffon some alone time" Flannery said.
"Right! We'll see you lovebirds later" I said with a smirk.
We arrived at Robin's house which was a lot smaller than our house which was probably because he was just a major. We walked in and were greeted by Robin's mom and dad we quickly told them what happened with a few key notes missing to protect Griffon and Thatch. We simply told them that Griffon was the new girl in class who had been through a lot and Robin was picking on her and stole her new boyfriend that she cared a lot for through blackmail.
"Mommy, Daddy I'm home! I had the best day ever with my new boyfriend Thatch I'll talk to him about coming to dinner tomorrow" Robin said as she walked into her living room and saw us sipping tea. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"We just had a little chat with your Mommy and Daddy" Flannery said sipping her tea.
"Robin Vienna Stately! You have got a lot of explaining to do!" Her father said as he and her mother walked out of the kitchen.
"Vienna?" I said confused.
"Like those cute little sauages?" Flannery said.
"Robin why would you do such an aweful thing to a new girl?" Her mother said.
"What do you mean?" Robin said.
"Blackmailing Robin? We raised you better than that" Her father said.
"I just did it to get back at them. Their icky cousin didn't even go to 5th through 9th grade" Robin said folding her arms across her chest.
"Robin that is impossible they wouldn't even let her in if that happened." Her mom said.
"But it's true! I looked in to it! Oops" Robin said covering her mouth.
"So you tried to did up dirt for this horrible lie?! That is it! No military ball for you!" Her father said.
"But daddy I always go to the military ball" Robin said.
"Not this year you can blame this all on you immature behavior. As a matter offact you're grounded!" Her father said.
"Grounded?! Me?!" Robin said.
"Yes two weeks, no friends, no phones, no credit cards, and no shopping and if I catch any word of you causing trouble again then I am going to make sure that you are kicked off the cheerleading squad" Her dad said.
"No! I promise I'll be good sir!" Robin said.
"Good and it better stay that way" Her father said. "I'm sorry it had to come to this girls."
"We're sorry too but we're just doing this for our cousin we're all she's got"Flannery said.
"We understand Robin don't you have something to say to the twins" Her mother said.
"I'm...sorry" Robin said through gritted teeth.
"Thank you but you really need to apologize to Griffon because of all the mess you put her through" I said.
"That's a great idea. Robin tomorrow at school you are going to apologize to Griffon and Thatch for blackmailing them and coming up with false information and the twins will be ther to make sure you actually do it" Her dad said.
"Yes daddy" Robin said sadly
"Now go upstairs now young lady!" Her dad said.
"Yes daddy" Robin said walked outside and saw Griffon and Thatch hand in hand.
"So did it work?" Griffon said.
"Damn right it did!" I said.
"Woo-hoo! You girls never cease to amaze me!" Griffon said.
"Duh! We're awesome like that!" We said.
Never mess with a Mustang
Griffon's POV
I really hate school now. I was waiting for the inevitable. Thatch & I knew Robin would yell the truth to the whole school at lunch, so we had prepared a quick & hasty exit. I dropped my head on the table.
"We're dead. I'm going to get kicked out for this." I groaned. "I can't stay in a school like this when I didn't even go to a normal school for four years."
"Why did you miss all that time?" Flannery asked.
I poked Thatch's arm. "It's all yours, boom-boom."
"How does he know?" Aqua wondered.
"She was in the hospital for the fifth, sixth & seventh grades." Thatch began. "It was when I first started volunteering. She had this weird-"
"Hey!" I interrupted.
"Correction, rare disorder that makes her legs really weak." Thatch continued. "She kept collapsing in the middle of the hallways or passing out in class from where she had to work extra hard to stay standing."
"What about the other years?" Flannery pondered.
I raised my head a little. "That's when my mom died & I started looking for other family."
"Wait, how did you get in?" Thatch asked.
I groaned again. "I had a letter of recommendation from the head of this big automotive production company." My head slammed against the table again. "He was one of my mom's employees. I ran into right before it was time to turn in the report & he wrote it up when I explained what I was doing. I didn't ask him or anything, he just wrote it up & told me to put it in the back of the binder."
"Ready to face the truth?" Thatch asked.
My head shot up. Robin was standing in the middle of the room. "Oh, God no." I cried, burying my face in Thatch's chest. "If there was ever a time for the ground to open up & swallow me, it'd be now."
"Just remember which door to go out of." Thatch reminded, wrapping an arm around me.
Robin cleared her throat. "Time to spread some trouble." I heard her say. "Attention: people! I have some shocking news about the new girl!" She yelled.
I shut my eyes tight. I knew by now that everyone was looking at her, whither they liked her or not. "Griffon Heights - our newest student - has…" she stopped.
I looked up. Grant, Simon & Travis had moved to surround the 'it.' "Whatever you have to say, keep it to yourself." Grant yelled at her.
"Do you really think that anything you say will effect how we think of her?" Simon asked.
"Then you won't care when I say that she hasn't gone to school since the fifth grade!" Robin called as loud as she could. "This is her first time going to school in four years!"
I buried my face in Thatch's chest again. "Tell me what their doing."
"They're staring at you. You wanna bail?" Thatch answered.
"No." I stood up & stated loudly. "So what? That doesn't mean I'm not as smart as the rest of you."
"Just what were you doing instead of going to school?" A boy yelled.
Thatch stood up & dragged me away towards that door. "You don't have to answer to them."
It was too late, though. Kids were crowding around the doors. "Go ahead, answer him!" one girl ordered.
"Leave her alone! She was in the hospital all that time." Thatch answered for me.
I felt my legs starting to go weak. "Thatch" I hissed in his ear. "My legs are gonna give out. I need to sit down."
"Why don't you tell everyone why you missed that one week of school?" Robin called from her spot in the middle. "Where were you? The hospital, right."
"Shut up right now, Stately." Thatch's snapped. He let me lean against him for support. With all these kids, we couldn't find an empty seat.
"His dad put him in there! His dad's been abusing him for a long time now. The only reason it stopped was because Mr. Lesser was put in jail for attacking him & his mom." Robin screamed.
"Thatch…" I said softly. "Come on. I need to get out of here."
Flannery & Aquanette pushed their way up to us. "Are you okay? You look sick."
"I'm gonna collapse." I told them. "My legs are gonna give unless I sit down."
They looked at each other. "We can help." They grabbed my arms & led me through the kids. I kept tripping & stumbling. "Look at her. She has ever right to miss school. She can't walk without feeling like she's gonna fall." Aqua told them.
I started to feel dizzy. "Guys, I'm getting light-headed."
"Move! Let her sit down. She could pass out. Do you really want her to have to go to the hospital? It'll be on all your heads." Flannery informed.
"You're just dragging more attention towards me." I said, slurring my words slightly.
Thatch ran in front of us & started walking backwards. "Come on, stay awake G."
I closed my eyes. "I can't." I stopped walking & started falling forward.
Thatch caught me. I couldn't open my eyes but I could hear them. Thatch yelled, "Aqua, go get some help." Of course, I passed out completely after that.
Roy's POV
Riza and I got a call from Aquanette telling us to come down to the hospital as soon as possible. We walked into the lobby and saw the twins sitting down. Flannery was hunched over with her head in her hands and Aqua rubbing her back.
"Aqua what's wrong?" I said as Riza and I walked over.
"She's just a little stressed out. Something really bad happened at school today" Aqua said still rubbing her sister's back.
"Flannery" Riza said knealing in front of Flannery. She slowly looked up. "I know you're really upset right now and your father and I want to help but you need to tell me what's happening okay?" Riza said. Flannery slowly nodded her head. "Okay start slowly"
"Well some how Robin Stately found out some really bad things from Griffon's past and how Thatch's dad use to beat up on him so then she used that to blackmail them both. We went to Robin's house to tell her to stop and then Robin parent's grounded her but then she came back and let the whole thing out and then Griffon's legs started to give out and then she fainted. I can't help but think that we somehow caused this" Flannery said.
"No not at all. You were just trying to help your cousin and I'm sure she appricates what you girls did it's just that sometimes things don't always go the way the way we plan them. We just need to help Griffon get through this okay?" Riza said
"Uh-huh" Flannery said shaking slightly. "Daddy I'm cold"
"I'll go get you a blanket while I go talk to the doctor" I said. I talked to the doctor quickly and he leaded me to Griffon's room
"Hey Uncle Roy" Griffon said quietly
"Doctor gave me some medicine said I should be up and walking in a few days pride's a little hurt though" Griffon said
"Don't worry you're strong you'll get through this you've been through a lot." I said.
"Yea I guess so" Griffon said.
"Well at least your handling this better than the twins" I siad.
"Why what's wrong?" Griffon said.
"Well they told us what happened and Flannery has this condition that makes her very sick when she gets to high levels of stress" I explained.
"So that's how she so calm all of the time" Griffon said.
"Yea she's always been like that" I said.
"I've been meaning to ask you how long have you been the twins' father?" Griffon siad.
"Let see it's been about 8 years now" I said thinking about.
"Wow so you've known them since they were little girls" Griffon said.
"Yea the sad thing is they still act the same way now as they did when they were little. Flannery still doesn't like thunderstorms, Aqua still puts ketchup on everything, Flannery still sleeps with a stuffed angel of course I still needed to get another one for her, Aqua still sleeps with a stuffed moose she has the same one, they still fight over little things but they make up like three seconds later" I said explaining all the little things I noticed about the twins over the years.
"Wow that honestly doesn't surprise me" Griffon said giggling.
"Yea well I'm going to let you get some sleep do you mind if I borrow this?" I said picking up a blanket "It's for Flannery"
"Yea sure and please tell the twins I'm fine" Griffon said.
"Will do" I said taking the blanket. I kissed her forehead and then walked out.
I came back and Flannery was sitting up more I wrapped the blanket around her and sat down next to her.
"How are you feeling?" I asked.
"A little better. How's Griffon?" Flannery asked. She never talked about herself for too long.
"She's going to be fine she just needs some rest. We can visit her tomorrow okay?" I said rubbin Flannery's back.
"Okay Daddy" Flannery said.
We came home, ate dinner, and quickly went off to bed. After I said good night to Aquanette I went into Flannery's room and sure enough her angel was lying on her bed. It was a simple little plush doll. A white gown, yellow wings, and dark red hair that I had speically made for her.
"Flannery where are you?" I said.
"I'm coming I was brushing my teeth" Flanenry said walking out.
"I came to say good night" I said.
"Oh okay good night." She gave me a hug and kissed my cheek.
"Try to get some sleep okay? I know you're going to be thinking about Griffon" I said
"You can read right through me daddy I'll try" Flannery said with a small smile.
"Alright good night kid" I said walking out.
I couldn't help but feel a little guilty about this. I was supposed to take care of Griffon, & that meant I should've known if she wasn't feeling well. It was her choice to tell me, yet she didn't. I would ask her about it tomorrow.
"Miss Heights is seeing a private visitor right now." Ms. Micheals stated calmly. "He should be out any minute now. She requested not to be interrupted."
A group of people passed by. "There he is. Go ahead in." Ms. Micheals told us.
I looked around. There were five boys standing there. Any one of them could've been the one that had gotten Griffon's attention.
"Hey Uncle Roy, Auntie R, twins." Griffon greeted as we walked in. "I think I have some good news."
"What?" The girls asked excitedly.
"Megan's condition has improved so much, they're letting her out of the hospital. Now all she has to do is get weekly check-ups." Griffon answered.
"Great. We have more than enough room for her." Riza told her. "She's welcome to live with the rest of us."
Griffon nodded. "Thank you."
"Could I talk to Griffon alone?" I asked.
Riza, Flannery & Aquanette walked out & I sat down in one of the chairs next to her bed. "Am I in trouble?" she wondered.
"No, I'm just thinking about something." I said. "Why didn't you tell us about your condition?"
"You guys are so nice." Griffon began. "You went out of your way to help me from the very beginning, & I didn't want to worry you." She sighed. "The thing is, all the doctors I've seen have always said that I should barely have the strength to get out of bed in the morning. Some days, I can't for a while. But I don't want to pressure people into being nice to me because of my condition, I don't want people to worry about me constantly. And, if I had only thought about me, I could've made things so much easier for me, yet didn't because it would inconvenience others."
"You need to know this. Sometimes you need to stop & think about the consequences of even the actions you think are good." I told her. "You need to take a little time to think about what you're doing to yourself by trying to put others ahead of you."
"I know. Freddie used to tell me that. I wouldn't use a wheelchair when I first got sick, since I knew how hard it was to do things & how it would slow others down if they helped me. It only made it worse & I had to stay in the hospital for two weeks." Griffon continued.
"Who came to see you?" I don't know what made me say it, but I was worried. I wanted that question answered.
Griffon shrugged. "I don't know. He just talked to me about the usual topics &, when I asked who he was, he gave me a letter & left." She held up an envelope & opened it.
"Well?" I asked.
Griffon looked up & tucked the letter back into the envelope. "Sorry, Uncle Roy. It's for my eyes only."
"What's it about?" I questioned.
"It's just about Meg. A basic letter informing me on her condition, like I don't already know, & something about my brother being here to visit her." Griffon told me.
"Your brother. Does that means he's here?" I wondered.
Griffon made a face. "Ha! No! He never stays one place long unless it's he's got a job. Most likely, he's long gone by now."
"Oh, okay, I'll let you talk to the girls." I stood up & went outside. "She's all yours." I told Riza & the twins.
"Wait Uncle Roy?" Griffon called. I turned around. "When can I go home? I miss it there."
"Not long. You can last a few days here, can't you?" I said. She nodded, but I knew she didn't agree.
Riza's POV
Griffon and Megan got out of the hospital on the same day. So we waited for Megan to come out in the lobby and the twins were more than excited that their little cousin was coming home. After all the time they had come to the hospital they had never seen her before so they couldn't wait.
"When is Megan coming out?" Aqua said.
"Griffon is helping her gather up her things" I said looking up from the magazine I was reading.
"I can't wait to see Megan. I've always wanted a little sister" Flannery said.
"B-But what about me" Aqua said.
"No offense sis even through you are technically 2 minutes younger than me I've always wanted a baby sister" Flannery said. "But I still love you" Flannery said pinching her cheeks.
"Yea whatever" Aqua said folding her arms across her chest.
"Okay Meg these are you cousins this is Flannery and Aquanette. Twins this is your cousin Megan" Griffon said. The twins quickly got on to their knees in front of Megan.
"It's nice to meet you Megan I'm Flannery and this is my sister Aquanette." Flannery said so Megan could tell them apart. "I made you a present." Flannery said holding a teddy bear made of different patches of shades of red.
"Wow thank you!" Megan said taking the teddy bear from her.
"I'm glad you like it" Flannery said smiling. Suddenly, Aqua pushed Flannery out of the way so she was in front of Megan.
"Actually Meg I made you a present too" Aqua said.
"Wow two presents? This must be my lucky day!" Megan said.
"Uh huh" Aqua said. She pulled out a teddy bear that was similar to Flannery's except it had patches of different shades of blue.
"Thank you" Megan said taking Aqua's bear from him.
"So Megan which one do you like better?" Flannery said sitting up
"Yea it's mine right?" Aqua said.
"I can't pick. Red and Blue are my favorite colors" Megan said with a shrug.
The twins let out a groan but smiled none the less. "Well we're glad you like them Megan" Flannery said.
"Ready to go home?" Roy asked
"Uh-huh" Megan said nodding her carried Megan out piggy back style to the car. We drove home and Griffon and Aquanette took Megan up to the room they painted for her. It was red with blue and purple stripes and flowers on the dinner all the girls went to bed Roy and I sat down in the living room.
"Seems like we're getting little girls all the time huh Riza?" Roy said.
"Yea first the twins, then Griffon, now little Megan seems like our little family is growing bigger and bigger all the time" I said with a smile.
"Don't you think it's about for a little boy" Roy said with his hand on my stomach.
"Hmm...I'll think about it" I said giving him a small kiss.
The next morning, I heard Griffon & Megan when I went to call them down for breakfast. "Come on, baby girl, give me a smile. You're gonna be fine."
"I don't wanna go there, it reminds me that papa's gone." Megan complained. She wouldn't be enrolled at the elementary school until next week, so she was going to work with me & Roy.
Griffon sighed, "Baby girl, mama & papa are always here. You always say that when I talk about them, now I'm telling you."
"Alrighty, let's go. I'm hungry." Megan called.
I stepped into the doorway. "Girls, I came to get you. It's time to eat." I said.
Griffon picked Megan up & sitting the girl on her hip. "Let's go Meggie."
"Okay." Megan smiled & ruffled her sister's hair. "Hurry up, Gigi."
Griffon laughed & headed down the stairs. When I got down, the girls had seated themselves on either side of Roy. I smiled at the sight of them getting along with him so well.
"So, which do you like better?" Flannery asked Megan. "Red or blue?"
Megan shrugged. "It's a really close call. But, given the choice, I'd go with blue more often than not."
"That's my girl." Aqua chimed.
"Okay, okay, hurry up. You don't want to be late." I commented.
Griffon sighed, "That's where you're wrong Auntie R. I'd rather not go at all."
"But you have to. It's a law." Flannery told her.
Griffon stuck her tongue out at Flannery. "I don't think I have a problem avoiding the law when it comes to cutting school."
"True." Aqua agreed.
Flannery stood up. "Let's go." They said goodbye to me & Roy.
"Bye, baby girl." Griffon said sweetly, kissing Megan's forehead. "Hey, guys. You forgot someone."
"Yeah, don't be meanies. I live here too." Megan pouted, crossing her arms.
The twins went over to her & gave her a hug. "Bye, Meggie."
"Bye guys. See you after school." Megan waved as they walked out the door. Then she turned to Roy. "Can I bring my notebooks with me?"
"Sure Meg. Go ahead upstairs & make sure you have everything." Roy told her.
Megan jumped up. "Okay, I'll get the list."
Megan, it turns out, loves to write. She has a thick notebook filled with poems & short stories &, lastly, a list of things Dr. Lesser had given her before going to Dublith.
She trotted back down with a small blue bag. You could see her two bears poking out of the top. "Okay, I got my travel bag." she stated.
"Did you name your bears?" I asked her.
Megan nodded. "Yeah, but their names are really long."
"Will you tell us?" I questioned, pulling the blue one out & handing it to her.
"Alright. The blue one's name is Azul Plava Blauw Bleu Blau Albastry. Azul for short. Whenever you get right down to it, you're really just saying his name is Blue said six times. All those words just mean 'blue.'"
"Oh really? Did your dad teach you all that?" Roy wondered.
Megan nodded, making her twin ponytails bounce. "The red one's name is Rosu Rojo Crvena Rood Rouge Rot Rosso. Which all mean 'red.' Rosu or Rose for short."
"You're pretty smart for such a little girl." Roy commented.
"You really think so?" Megan asked happily. "Thanks. I like proving that I know stuff that even adults might not know."
"Come on, we need to go now." I stated, patting Megan's shoulder. She jumped out of her seat, grabbed her bag & went to stand by the door & wait for me & Roy.
