Chapter Ten
Nell awoke the next morning to see Chrissy still in Madeline's arms. She smiled to herself at the sight of Madeline holding the doll she'd had since she was two years old. "That should calm Madeline down today," she said to herself as she looked at the picture of their mother and father.
Chrissy seem to have a calming effect on Madeline; she hadn't awakened once during the night. Nell smiled at her youngest sister, who was still asleep. Her smile became a smirk; whenever she spent the night with Madeline, the girl was known for sandwiching her head between two pillows, which acted as makeshift earmuffs, so she'd be "somewhat protected from Nell's freakishly loud snoring." As she got out of bed, she thought, 'I'd better go see if Elena and Gabby are awake.' She knocked one of the pillows off Madeline's head as she slipped from the room.
Madeline awake a few hours later. "Good morning, Chrissy!" she smiled at the doll, then got herself ready for the day. She got dressed, brushed her teeth and hair, and made her and Nell's beds. Before leaving the room, she went over and gently shook Sabrina's shoulder. How her older sister was able to sleep through something as loud as Nell's snoring was a complete mystery. "Sabrina, you awake?"
"I am now," Sabrina mumbled, "Madeline, what do you want?"
Madeline smiled and held Chrissy out. "Sabrina, look what Nell still has! It's Chrissy! With a new dress!"
Sabrina smiled. She hadn't seen Chrissy in a long time. "Chrissy!" she smiled as she took the doll. She held her for a minute, then passed her back to Madeline. She looked around. "Where's Nell?"
"She must have gone to check on Elena and Gabby," Madeline replied.
"It's part of her routine!" Sabrina chuckled before giving Madeline a hug. "I'm sorry that you can't come with us tonight."
"I know. But after saying all those awful things, I kinda deserve my punishment," Madeline sighed, sitting down on Sabrina's bed.
"Bri, I don't mean to be who I am sometimes. Don't tell Nell but Jimmy and Beth and Robby have gotten to me lately and I've done some things to my arms that I'm not proud of."
"Madeline, whatever it is, even if it's just paint, you can tell me," Sabrina assured her with a smile, making Madeline unsure. "Maddie, we're twins and twins share everything. Even colds."
"I know," Madeline admitted, "But I'm not ready to share this secret yet."
"Okay," Sabrina said after a few moments, "But you know that when you're ready, Nell and I will listen."
"I know, and thanks," Madeline murmured. She brightened a moment later. "So, Miss Bluecape, are you ready to trick-or-treat?"
Sabrina grinned. "As soon as Amber helps paint my squirrel on my arm, I am!"
"That's great," Madeline smiled. "Make sure Bobby Lee gets a picture of you in your full costume for me!"
"Well with him being 'Anna's boyfriend' I'll probably get something out of ice instead!" Sabrina joked, hugging Madeline before looking at Madeline's sleeves in alarm. "Maddie, your sleeves are staining a little and it looks like you know what happens to Elena and Gabby sometimes when they fall."
"Bleed? Sabrina, I'm sorry I- I just can't say," Madeline muttered with a sigh. "Here why don't I help you get ready this morning? Nell told me that we used to do it all the time! With her help for laces and things like that. And you'll be out of here faster!"
"Maddie, I'm sorry, but Nell really needs to see this," Sabrina said firmly. "And don't worry about my laces; I can find someone to help me." She looked out the door and saw Nell coming up to them. "Nell! Madeline needs you. Now!"
"Sabrina, what's the matter..." Nell trailed off when she saw the red stains on Madeline's sleeves. "Madeline Elizabeth O'Malley! Have you been scratching your arms again?!"
"Again?" Sabrina gasped. "Madeline, you've done this before?!"
"A month after Nell found out she was pregnant," Madeline confessed. "Nell saw me scratching my arms, and she thought I was being bitten by mosquitos. She said not to scratch and she gave me some medicine for them, but I just kept scratching."
"She told me that Jimmy, Beth, and Robby have gotten to her," Sabrina confessed to Nell.
"The sooner those three are executed, the better!" Nell growled. Her angry look softened when Madeline and Sabrina started crying. "Oh, Madeline, my little Butterfly, I'm so sorry I didn't know how bad this was. And Sabrina, baby girl, I'm so sorry you had to find out about this."
"I didn't mean to! They just wouldn't leave!" Madeline sobbed, burying her face in Nell's skirt.
"Did you have that nightmare of when we're older again?" Sabrina asked with a frown.
"No!" Madeline yelled, looking up at her sisters. "It was with Elena and Gabby!"
"You mean...they were after Elena and Gabby this time?" Nell asked. When Madeline nodded, Nell gripped her sisters in a tight hug. "Madeline Elizabeth, Sabrina Marie, I promise both of you, those three will never see the light of day again," she vowed. "What's more, Jimmy McDonald will never EVER set eyes on Elena and Gabby!"
"You promise?" Madeline asked.
"I swear, by everything I hold dear, that Jimmy McDonald, and his worthless family, will NEVER come near us again!" Nell said firmly. "Now, Madeline, what do you say we get your arms cleaned up and bandaged?"
Madeline nodded, and followed Nell to the bathroom.
"Am I in trouble for tattling?" Sabrina asked, helping Nell get supplies.
"No no. Baby girl, you did the right thing," Nell said, helping Madeline out of her shirt. "Butterfly doesn't need an inflection."
"Infection?" Sabrina suggested.
"She doesn't need that either," Nell smiled. "And let's not tell James or Sandra about that little slip. We know how good they are with words."
"What happens here stays here," Sabrina repeated what Sandra had told her.
"That's right, Sabrina!" Nell chuckled. "Now, what do you say we go down to breakfast?"
"Yeah!" Madeline and Sabrina cheered.
With the girls dressed and Madeline's arms covered in bandages, Nell took the girls by the hands.
"Girls! No throwing!" Bobby Lee scolded, causing Sabrina and Madeline to giggle at their nieces.
"Is everything okay?" Nell asked.
"Helen! There you are," Bobby Lee smiled. It turned into a smirk as he added, "No wonder I slept so late and I feel so refreshed!"
Nell started to reply, but she was cut off by Elena and Gabby. "Mommy!" Elena cheered as she and Gabby jumped into her arms.
"Good morning, you two! Are you ready to go trick-or-treating tonight?" Nell asked.
"Yeah!" Gabby jumped up and down.
"Cost room now?" Elena asked.
"How about we start getting you ready after lunch?" Bobby Lee suggested. "A lot of us are going trick-or-treating, and some of us take longer than others to get ready!"
"Very funny Bobby Lee!" Amber smirked, giving Sabrina a smile before turning to Patricia and Robert. "Sorry about Elena and Gabby throwing their food. James taught them that."
"All boys do it!" Florence laughed as Patricia chuckled in agreement. "Though I hope it doesn't stick with Elena and Gabby forever."
"Believe me it won't," Bianca assured her before softly smiling at the three sisters. "So girls how was your little sleepover last night?"
"Is that what it was? I thought it was sister time!" Madeline joked as Nell and Sabrina could see a glimmer in her eye.
"Sister time! Sister time!" Elena sung, giggling as she flapped her hands.
Nell reached out to stop her when she saw Sandra come up. "Is everything okay? Nell, I want to apologize for last night," she greeted her, "And don't worry; Zeke's been given the morning off today since he's going to be up late tonight helping with trick-or-treaters and the castle's Halloween party, so he and Spike are still sleeping, so they didn't see Elena flapping her hands."
Nell smiled. Bianca and Sandra had told her about what they'd discussed with Sabrina last night about Madeline. "We're fine, Sandra. And you don't have to worry about a thing. I know you were just curious about it, and I appreciate you keeping what you learned a secret."
"Of course," Sandra said, hugging Nell close. "You've been through so much. How can you be so strong?"
"Sometimes I think back to what I do have and other times I think of the princesses. My childhood favorites were Cinderella, Belle, and Mulan so they're my main inspiration in times of trouble," Nell admitted as a piece of pancake landed on her head. "Elena! Gabby! Who threw that?!"
Sandra saw Elena and Gabby pointing at each other and joked, "Don't start with the 'it was like that when I got here' routine, girls; squires, both male and female like me and James, and junior guards, like Bobby Lee, are the only ones who use that!"
"Good idea, Sandra!" Bobby Lee joked back, mussing her hair.
"If one more piece of food is thrown, the one responsible won't be going trick-or-treating," Nell said firmly.
"I be good!" Elena shouted.
"I be good too!" Gabby shouted.
"And you, James? You be good too?" Nell smirked over at James.
"I'm always good," James smirked back.
"Most of the time," Amber smirked, playfully rolling her eyes.
"Besides Gabby Anna here thought it would be a good idea to practice their throwing of food in case of a 'mean doggie' comes near them at any point tonight," Bianca explained as Gabby glared at her.
"Gabby, Mommy understand," Elena assured her sister who looked ready to cry.
"Of course I do," Nell murmured as she picked Gabby up and hugged her. "Gab-Gab, you don't have to worry about mean doggies. The ones we've seen around here are very well behaved. But if one does come up to you, you know Daddy's here to protect you. He won't let anything bad happen to you, and neither will I."
"Okay," Gabby smiled. "Cost room now?"
"How about we eat first, then we talk costumes?" Nell smiled as they went to the dining hall.
"Okay," Gabby muttered, looking up at her mommy with a smile. "Me and Elena be good!"
"Very good!" Elena yelled, jumping up and down. "Sofia good!"
"Sofia good?" Nell smirked, knowing her little girls and when they want to be silly.
"I clone myself one time, and I never hear the end of it!" Sofia pretended to pout. "How many times do I have to apologize for that?"
Roland scooped her up, and he and Miranda covered her with kisses. "Sofia, we forgave you for that a long time ago!" Miranda smiled as Sofia giggled in their arms.
Roland nodded beside her. "And we know how you feel. Sometimes you feel like you have to be in two places at once and something has to be done. But you did learn a valuable lesson from it."
"I did. Plus helping Mr. Cedric clean up his workshop for a week instead of having lessons kinda reminded me never to clone myself again," Sofia said, feeling Elena and Gabby tug on her dress. "No. I'm not cloning you two."
"You're enough trouble as it is!" Bobby Lee smirked, covering the twins in kisses.
As everyone sat down, Elena and Gabby watched as Sandra followed the maids into the kitchen to help with cooking and serving. "What Sandra doing?" Elena asked.
"She's helping in the kitchen before she eats with us," Patricia smiled.
"Remember how Sandra said she had to work in the kitchen, then she kept doing it?" Nell reminded them.
"We help too?" Elena asked.
"No, you stay here and eat," Nell smiled. "Sandra knows what she's doing."
"Oh yes," Bianca agreed. "After our talk, she said she was going to the kitchen before she went to bed. She started working on something that looked delicious."
Sandra came out with the maids, and placed a big pan of something on the table. "Okay, everyone, eat while it's hot!"
"What that yucky thing?!" Gabby asked with crossed arms.
"Gabby Anna!" Bianca scolded, trying hide back her laughter.
"Well it does look kind of yucky," Bobby Lee smirked, musing Gabby's hair.
"Why it jello?" Elena asked with a frown.
"It's not," Sandra smiled. "It's just a new egg recipe I wanted to try. I hope you all don't mind being my guinea pigs."
"Of course not," Roland smiled as Sandra helped serve everyone.
"It's what we're here for," Robert agreed.
"No matter what Gabby Anna says, this looks wonderful," Bianca smiled, "You know you didn't have to go to such trouble for us, Princess Sandra."
"It's no trouble," Sandra assured her as she helped pass around a plate of sausages, "You know I love helping in the kitchen, and I always look for recipes to try."
"Besides it never hurts for my girls and husband to try new things," Nell smirked, seeing Gabby and Bobby Lee's sour looks. "Even if two of them are very picky."
"Yummy jello!" Elena giggled, clapping her hands.
"Eggs sweetheart," Patricia smiled, happily liking that Elena liked Sandra's food.
Gabby watched as Bobby Lee took a deep breath and sampled some of the egg dish. She was surprised to see him smile. "Sandra, this is amazing!"
"Sandra good cook?" Gabby asked.
"Just try a little bit, Gab-Gab," Bobby Lee smiled.
Gabby took a small bite. "Yummy!"
"I'll write down the recipe for you," Sandra offered.
"Please do!" Bianca smiled.
"Boo boos?" Elena asked, noticing the bandages on Madeline's arms bleeding a little.
"Nell! Elena's looking at my bandages!" Madeline pouted before shuddering softly. "I'm scared."
"Maddie, it's okay. Elena's just curious," Nell assured her with a smile before seeing egg on Elena's face.
"I kiss it better?" Elena asked as Nell cleaned her up.
"Are you okay?" Zoe asked.
"I'll be fine," Madeline assured her. "Elena, I appreciate the kiss to make the boo-boos better, but I really don't want to get into how I got them." She looked around anxiously, thinking that Ezekiel would show up to give her a hard time, but she remembered that he wasn't there.
"Okay," Elena smiled and hugged her.
"If you don't want to tell us, we won't pursue it," Robert assured her, Patricia nodding at his side.
Madeline smiled. "Thank you!"
After changing Madeline's bandages and cleaning up Elena and Gabby, having her at least thankful that unlike their infant days she didn't have to carry baby wipes around, Nell want straight to her and Bobby Lee's room.
She found herself in their shared closet, mindful of Bobby Lee's clothes as she sometimes forgot that he was a size smaller than she was.
She smiled as she located the Anna costume she was going to wear tonight. She picked up Bobby Lee's Kristoff costume and brought it out with her. She was lucky she remembered to wash the paint off her knuckles; a mix of the Blues Brothers and Princess Anna, though interesting, would look weird.
She picked up Elena's toy snowman, thinking that it would be a cute accessory to the costume. "Do you want to build a snowman..." she sang softly.
Nell softly hummed the rest of the song, braiding her hair like Lydia and Bianca had once taught her.
"It's too early to build a snowman!" Madeline chuckled, coming into the room.
"Madeline, I know that! Though I think it's Princess Anna's interest. Like Elena and kitties!" Nell joked with a smile.
"Will you braid my hair like that?" Madeline asked.
"Of course! Come on in," Nell smiled, letting Madeline sit on the bed. As she worked on her hair, she said, "Maddie, even though you can't go trick or treating tonight, Patricia talked to me about a compromise. She said she's going to need someone to help entertain at the Halloween party. Cedric and Aleena are going to be doing their magic, of course, but I mentioned that I've often heard you singing a certain queen's song when you're in your room. I'd see you wave your hands like a certain someone does, and you sound wonderful!"
"What are you saying?" Madeline asked, not wanting to get her hopes up.
"Aleena helped make this for you," Nell smiled, holding out a child-sized version of Queen Elsa's dress. "If you're interested."
"You bet I'm interested!" Madeline grinned. "Thank you, Nell! And I'll be sure to thank Aleena too!"
The two sisters hugged before Madeline frowned, looking away from her sister for a moment.
"What if the people don't like me?" Madeline asked with a frown.
"Maddie, they will," Nell assured with a kiss on the cheek.
"I don't know," Madeline muttered softly, looking down at her arms. "Stupid Jimmy."
"I couldn't agree more," Nell smirked. "But it's going to be all right. People won't see the scars since a lot of them are faded. We'll also talk to Aleena about a concealment spell for the fresher ones, so if anyone comes close to you, they won't see anything."
"That sounds okay," Madeline admitted, "Just so long as I don't have to tell anyone about them."
"Don't worry, butterfly," Nell smiled. "If you don't say anything, they won't say anything. And even better news: Aleena said you can keep the outfit."
"Wow!" Madeline gasped, "So next year I use it as a costume?"
"That's the idea," Nell smiled.
"Let me go! Girls I need to get to your mommy!" Bobby Lee yelled playfully as he came into the room with Elena and Gabby hugging his legs.
"Aw! They love their daddy!" Madeline giggled, walking over to the twins. "Girls are you playing a game with Daddy?"
"Yeah!" Elena giggled as Bobby Lee tossed her up.
"You play with us too?" Gabby asked.
"Not while I'm in timeout, I can't," Madeline sighed. "But maybe we can read together, since James sometimes does that with you when you have timeouts."
"That's fair," Nell agreed. "While it's true you can't go out, you can do something together inside."
"Help with cost room?" Elena asked.
"I'd love to," Madeline smiled.
Nell smiled, watching Madeline leave with her daughters as Bobby Lee placed a hand on her shoulder.
"We've gotten good at this parenting thing haven't we?" Bobby Lee joked with a grin.
"Oh believe me Robert we have more firsts to get through!" Nell laughed, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"We'll get through it one day at a time," Bobby Lee smiled.
"Mommy jewelry?" Elena asked.
"I did say they could look through my jewelry for anything they wanted for their costumes," Nell smiled. "Okay, girls, let's see what we can find to make your pretty costumes prettier!"
"Yay!" Elena and Gabby giggled, jumping up and down.
"Just not Mommy's necklace!" Madeline warned, helping them look. "Nell would not be happy if you took it."
"Mommy not happy?" Elena asked with a frown.
"No. That's her necklace," Madeline grinned, patting her head.
"I'll look through the jewelry box with you," Nell offered. "I'll show you the pieces of jewelry you can borrow, and the ones you can't."
"Okay," Elena smiled.
"Okay," Gabby agreed.
"I'll even let you borrow something, Maddie," Nell continued, "But you know Mama's necklace is off limits to you too."
"Nell, I think you forgot that I have my own copy of Mommy's necklace, thanks to Mister Cedric," Madeline reminded her.
"Right. Being old has made me forget somethings," Nell joked with a smile.
"You're not that old!" Madeline laughed with a clap of her hands.
"Thank you, Maddie," Nell smiled. "You always know what to say."
"So does this mean I get time off for good behavior?" Madeline asked with a smile.
"Nice try, Madeline," Nell smirked, "But don't worry. The time will go so fast you won't even notice it."
"Nell, I'm eight. My time out is like Elena's meltdowns," Madeline frowned before taking Elena in her arms. "But I love my nieces!"
"Auntie Madeline cost room?" Elena asked with a smile.
"Yes I do have one!" Madeline grinned, kissing her cheek. "I'll be helping Mr. Cedric and Miss Aleena tonight."
"We see you?" Gabby asked.
"Don't you want to trick-or-treat first?" Nell asked.
"Yeah!" Elena and Gabby shouted.
"Well, you can do both," Madeline assured her. "The party won't be starting until eight o'clock tonight, and you'll be back before then."
"That's a good point," Nell agreed. "Sure. We'll take the girls out, then we'll come back and see you at the party."
"Good idea," Madeline grinned, walking towards Nell's bookshelf and tossing some classic literature books before finding a narrow child's book. "Elena! Gabby! Look what Mommy's been hiding!"
"Elsa and Anna book!" Elena giggled, looking through the book. "Why a sticky here?"
"Oh. That's for the design," Nell muttered, softly, glancing at her husband in embarrassment.
"That's right; you wanted us to be Anna and Kristoff," Bobby Lee remembered. "And there's another page marked for Madeline's Elsa dress right here."
"I can trick or treat as Elsa next year! Nell said so!" Madeline smiled.
"Yes I did," Nell smiled.
"Sticky bye bye?" Elena asked with big eyes. "Sticky don't go in book!"
"Unless it's important," Princess Elena smiled, picking up her namesake. "Ready for trick or treating little one?"
"Treat! Treat!" Elena giggled, flapping her hands excitedly.
Nell looked around, just to make sure Ezekiel wasn't around. When she saw that the coast was clear, she said, "Elena, sweetheart, please try not to flap your hands. You were lucky just now, since Ezekiel's won't be around until tonight, but we're going to go around the village with Sandra later, and a lot of people won't understand what you're doing. You're not a bad girl," she added, seeing Elena start to tear up, "but you don't want people to say the wrong things, do you?"
"I be good girl," Elena promised.
Nell kissed her forehead. "That's all I'm asking."
"But why can't I flap?" Elena asked with a frown. "It part of me."
"She's got a point," Bobby Lee grinned, musing her hair.
"We know, sweetheart, but you don't know any of the people in the village where we're going," Nell reasoned. "They might be like Jack and say something, or they might not. We can't know for sure. However, if you feel like you have to flap your hands, Daddy and I will be on either side of you, and we'll make sure someone is in front of you and behind you. That way, you can flap your hands, and people won't see it."
"Camouflage?" Bobby Lee suggested. "Good idea, Helen!"
"We can try it for the first few houses, anyway," Nell reasoned. "But try to keep your hands still when you're on a porch and someone gives you treats. You can flap when you're back with us and they close the door."
"Like you say, it's worth a shot," Bobby Lee agreed.
"Yeah!" Elena cheered.
"In that case, we'll leave Anna and her ice harvester to get ready," Madeline grinned, taking Gabby by the hand.
"Bye bye Mommy!" Elena giggle, grabbing onto Princess Elena's hand.
"Are you excited about trick-or-treating?" Princess Elena asked.
"Yeah!" Elena smiled. "You dress up too?"
"No, but you and I can be twin princesses," Princess Elena smiled. "And anyway, my grandparents are taking Isa with us, so they'll be able to come and see you show everyone your costume as well."
Elena smiled at the words, hugging her idol close.
Princess Elena's family was very kind and very nice as the three year old hoped to one day visit Avalor and maybe get her chance to ride a real life version of Kitty.