Author's Note: Now we shall find out what has happened to our cocky, yet beloved Spot! Plus, I was in a bit of a Blink mood, so there's a bit of him in here too! Woo! And thanks for all your reviews, they pretty much keep me going!
Disclaimer: Same as always...
Camille dragged the limp newsie out of Ranger's stall as carefully and quickly as she could, laying him out on clean bales of hay. "Oh shit, oh shit," she was muttering frantically, smoothing Spot's hair from his face. Ranger was wandering around the barn aimlessly, snorting in boredom. She hurried over to the bay horse, returning him to his stall, where he stood indignantly, furious at the fact that his stall was still dirtied. Camille glared at him, and he pinned his ears to the back of his head in frustration. She turned away from the heated horse and jogged back to Spot, who hadn't moved.
She wracked her brain for an idea as to what to do, and coming up with nothing, she flung open the door, glancing around frantically for someone, anyone. Her eyes landed on a puff of dust traveling up the gravel driveway: Gill. School must have got out and she was delivering their homework.
Out of the corner of Camille's eye she also spotted Blink, skipping about; apparently feeling well after his sugary evening. "Blink!" she screeched, running full out towards him, nearly tackling the bigger boy to the ground.
He looked at her worriedly, holding her at arms length, "Whattsa mattah?"
"Spot!" she got out, pointing towards the barn. "He's…I don't know…come on!" she tugged his hand, pulling him to the barn, capturing Gill, who had just climbed out of her car, on the way.
The three crowded around Spot, who was beginning to stir. "Oh good! He's not dead!" Camille exclaimed, leaning over him further. "C'mon Spot, wake up."
Spot's eyes fluttered open. He looked at Camille and Blink, a genuine smile that no one had ever seen before spreading across his face. They sighed in relief, until Spot spoke in an unnatural voice. "Mommy! Papa!" He encircled Blink and Camille's necks with his arms, hugging them close. The two exchanged glances as best they could with their cheeks pressed together.
"I ain't ya fathah," Blink said, eyebrows knit tightly. Spot looked up at him, bleary eyed, tears brimming over in those pools of blue.
Gill smacked Blink in the back of the head. "Shush!" she scolded. "He thinks you're his dad, and if you don't pretend to be then you could hinder his recovery." Camille snorted at Blink's baffled expression. "And you," Gill rounded on her. "You have to pretend to be his mother, or, same as with Blink, you could completely ruin his recovery process."
Camille crossed her arms. "Fudge," she mumbled.
Meanwhile, Spot was sitting very confused, wondering why his mother and father were acting so funny. "Mommy? Papa?" he asked in a strained voice, begging for attention from the couple.
Blink and Camille turned cautiously towards the childlike Spot. "Er, 'ello…son?" Blink tried unconvincingly.
Spot sniffled, wiping his nose on the back of his hand.
"Comfort him," Gill whispered, pushing the reluctant 'parents' forward. "Console him."
Blink awkwardly patted Spot's back as Camille gingerly wrapped her arms around him; Spot leapt into her arms happily, giggling. "Papa! Join us," Spot requested of Blink, who, upon receiving a rather scathing glare from Gill, enthusiastically caught both Camille and Spot in a breath-catching bear hug. "How's my, er, family?" he asked pathetically.
Spot jumped from the smothering embraces. "Let's go play!" he demanded, running to the door and pulling it open to reveal Mush and the rest of the gang. "Uncle Mush!" Spot squealed, throwing his arms around the boy. "Have ya come ta play with Papa and Mommy and me?" Spot bounced excitedly.
Racetrack stepped forward. "Whattsa mattah whitchya Spot?" he asked, smoke billowing from his cigar.
Spot quivered and shook, then ran behind Blink. "Who's dat Papa?" he whispered at the eye-patched newsie.
"What's goin' on heah?" Race asked, angered.
"I don' like him Papa," Spot informed Blink as he grabbed onto one of Camille's hands, making her jump. Spot grinned up at her boyishly.
The rest of the crowd had leaked past Mush, who still stood stunned in the doorway. Snitch was back to his nervous self, even more bashful since his hyper outburst the previous night, and Davey had begun to stare at Alicia again, the effects of Race's warning on the first day of school wearing off. "Uncle Davey! Cousin Snitch! Ms. Alicia!" Spot screamed in excitement, racing over to hug them all. "Ms. Alicia is my teacher," Spot explained to Davey and Snitch, who stood next to each other in utter confusion. "We're learning numbers," he boasted proudly.
"He seems to have regressed into a made-up past of his own," Gill observed.
Spot spun around to smile at her. "Nanny Gill!" He turned back to Davey and Snitch, his hand up so that no one else could hear his hushed tone. "That's me nanny, she watches me when Mommy and Papa are away, or if they say they wants 'alone time'." He whispered the last two words and giggled, as if it were a secret.
Blink blushed at the connotations behind Spot's whispered words, glancing sideways at Camille to see if she had a similar reaction. Camille's hand rested on her hip, one eyebrow raised in amusement.
Racetrack's face was red. "A'right, what's goin' on?" he demanded to know.
Camille gulped guiltily. "He, well, he sorta got kicked in the head by a horse…"
"How do ya 'sorta' get kicked by a horse?" Snitch asked.
Alicia gasped, "Will he still be able to go to the dance?"
"Wait," Race broke in, "Why don' he remembah me? That ain't faih!" he advanced upon Spot. "'Ey! Spotty! C'mere!"
"No!" Spot wailed, throwing himself upon Blink in despair. "Papa! I don' wanna go ta the mad man! He scares me!"
"Buck up, Spot!" Race ordered, coming nearer.
Gill stepped between Racetrack and the 'family'. "Racetrack," she began to explain. "If Spot is expected to heal normally we don't want to cause him any stress in the current stage he's in."
Racetrack swore, stomping his foot as he left the barn in a rage, dragging Mush, who had remained in the doorway with a confused expression plastered to his face, along with him. "Wait," Mush protested, "That's me nephew!"
"No he ain't! That's Spot gone crazy," Race corrected with a scowl, his precious pride bruised from Spot's rejection.
Mush thought about that and nodded; following Race to make sure the Italian wouldn't do anything rash. If any newsie could calm someone down, it was Mush and his ever present cheer.
"Bye Uncle Mush!" Spot yelled sweetly.
Racetrack's string of Italian cuss words could be heard clearly from inside the barn. Blink cupped Spot's innocent ears with his hands, drowning out the crude sayings, even though they were in a language no one understood. The daylight outside was slowly waning, and Spot yawned.
"I think it's time for bed Spot," Camille suggested, meeting everyone's eyes, daring them to object. They all nodded enthusiastically to appease her.
Together, Blink and Camille tucked Spot into the bed located in the guest bedroom. "Mommy! Papa! Lay with me!" The two were about to protest when they heard a scolding cough come from the hallway. Gill had just walked by.
"Er, of course we'se'll do that," Blink obliged, lifting the covers and crawling uncomfortably between them. Spot sqweed and suffocated Blink with a tight hug.
"Mommy, on da othah side," Spot declared.
"Um, right," Camille mumbled, crawling over the two boys to get to Spot's unoccupied side. He caught her in the same suffocating vice grip that Blink had received.
Spot sighed contently, closing his eyes and slowly drifting off to sleep. His breathing soon became even, signaling his slumber, and Blink slid carefully out of the bed. Camille was climbing over Spot when the boy rolled, inadvertently taking Camille's stiff form and pinning her beneath him. "Help!" Camille hissed, trying to push Brooklyn's leader off of her.
Blink lifted the smaller boy off of Camille as she squirmed her way out from underneath Spot. "Thanks." Blink nodded in return, and as they left, Spot snuggled with some pillows.
"There's da happy couple," Racetrack sneered as they entered the kitchen.
"Shut it Race," Camille snarled, distraught about the turn of events that day.
"Dear me," he joked. "Whatevah should I do now that Spot's mommy has reprimanded me?"
Camille growled and tackled the dark haired newsie to the ground. Mush and Blink sprang forward, carrying her off of Race. "Easy," Mush calmed.
"Just because you're sore and jealous that Spot can't remember you, doesn't mean that you can take it out on the people that somehow did manage to get into his messed up little world," she yelled in as quiet a voice as she could muster while still sounding pissed off.
Racetrack had a look of surprise plastered to his face. "Gee, sorry, Chip," he said. "I didn' realize you'se was so uh, emotional."
Camille shook Blink and Mush off of her. She held out Race's hat, which she had bundled in her fist from when she had snatched it off of his head. "'S okay," she replied, then apologized too, for her unexpected attack. "Truce?"
Race spit in his hand appreciatively, he hated having girls angry with him, they could get brutal. "Truce," he agreed, and she grasped his hand. "So, Chip, how does it feel ta have Blink's child?" Race winked, then backed away with a chuckled as Camille punched him jokingly in the shoulder.
"Shuddup."
It was Friday evening and Alicia was smoothing back Spot's hair as he bounced happily in the chair she had him seated in. The boy was excited to be going to a special occasion with his parents and other relatives, he had even finally accepted Race as a friend after a long talk with Alicia. Spot just didn't understand why he was being forced to wear such strange clothes. He had been told five times already to stop fiddling with the red suspenders they were making him wear. "You're going to look so handsome," Alicia cooed. She had taken it upon herself to entertain Spot for the day since she adored looking after little kids. "Camille can't possibly resist you now." For it was obvious to the group at large that Spot and Camille had some potential, and that both were much to stubborn about it.
Spot looked up at her, scrunching his face. "What?"
"Oh, nothing! Nevermind!" Alicia yelled, realizing her mistake. Desperate for a subject change she blurted out, "Spot, darling, I think you look so dashing in those suspenders!"
He giggled up at her, completely forgetting the slip of the tongue. Blink staggered into the kitchen, as if he had been pushed. "Camille wants ta talk ta ya," he informed Alicia, jabbing his thumb behind him.
Alicia skipped from the kitchen as Blink came to sit by Spot. "How da I look Daddy?" he asked, Alicia had been able to convert him to using the more modern fraternal term.
Blink grinned down, for he had felt more fatherly as the day had progressed, and even though Camille wouldn't admit it, she was being sickeningly sweet as well. "Ya look great, Spot!" Spot bounced even faster, more excited than he had been before.
Alicia burst into Camille's room, beaming in triumph over conquering Spot's locks of hair, until she noticed Camille on the bed, chewing her fingernails to the quick. She was decked out in the costume Alicia had purchased for her: brown shorts, yellowy shirt, navy suspenders and a matching cap.
"Dude, what's wrong," she rushed over to her nervous friend. "You look spiffy!"
"I don't think I can do this," Camille squeaked. "I mean, Spot's a child now! We can't take him to a high school dance, what'll that do to him? I don't want to mess up my baby at some school function!" She buried her face in her hands.
"Did you just call Spot your baby?" Alicia asked with a giggle.
Camille sighed. "I've been calling him that all day, acting as his mother," she reminded the girl sitting next to her.
"Riiight," Alicia replied skeptically, then moved on. "But we have to go to the dance. The guys are actually excited for it…except Snitch, he's afraid that some girl will abduct him I think…and if you say Spot can't go you'll crush his itty bitty heart!"
Camille had to hand it to the girl, she sure knew where to hit you in an argument. She allowed herself a small laugh. "We'll have Gill watch over Snitch," she gave in. "And Blink and I will watch Spot, so you're in charge of Davey, Mush, and Race."
Alicia cheered at Camille's passivity. "C'mon," Alicia grabbed Camille's hands, dragging her off the bed. "We wanna get there early so we can spend as much time dancing away the night as possible!"
Camille stopped her friend, "We also wanna spend as much time possible looking for some sort of glowing object to send the guys home. Schleffel said if we miss this, catastrophic events could ensue."
"Lighten up!" Alicia bubbly responded. "We'll watch, but we're going to have fun while doing it!" She shoved Camille into the kitchen.
Spot automatically ran up, wrapping his arms around her middle and squeezed. "Mommy! Ya look different."
"Hey, hun," she greeted the boy. "You ready to go?"
Spot nodded, smiling.
"To the dance!" Alicia proclaimed, throwing her fist in the air dramatically, leading the way out the door.
"Woo!" Mush joined in, and Race and Snitch followed suit. Davey was trotting behind Alicia, per usual.
Spot leaped after them, not wanting to miss out on anything, and Camille and Blink left the house last.
As Camille locked up the door before the group's departure, a feeling of doom crept into the pit of her stomach, making her queasy, and with a strange thought that she may never return home again, she took a lingering look around the ranch, and climbed into the truck.
Author's Note: Yes, Spot did actually 'sqwee' when Blink and Camille climbed into the bed like he asked, that was not a typo, because I think it would be so adorable to see Spot Conlon of all people randomly sqwee!
And boy, it feels weird saying this, but the story is drawing to a close! There's only going to be like, one or two chapters left! *gasp* But who knows...maybe I'll be like some of those author's who just can't let their story go and continue writing and writing with absolutly no point because I simply don't want to end my story...much like this hideously long author's note ha ha!
Review please! and I will love you forever and a newsie of your choice will sqwee over you, deal?
