Yeahs! Ch. 10!! 8D --
He just stared for a moment, puzzled. His eyebrows were arched and furrowed with bewilderment. Jojo's eyes trailed over the woman, attempting to figure out who she was. She stood, with a wide grin on her lips, with her long blonde hair put up in pigtails that were held high up on her head. She seemed freakishly and rather frightfully perky/happy. Jojo was interrupted in his analysis, however, by Ned's voice trotting up behind him.
"Hey, Jojo, who's at the do…oor…." Ned trailed off, looking at the woman before him. He seemed to be just as confused as Jojo, if not more.
The woman giggled in a surprisingly high giggle, and she swung back and forth on her heels, with her hands interlaced behind her back, "Hiya! I'm your replacement babysitter. Peggy had gotten reeaal sick, so she wanted me to come in her place, mm-kay?"
Both father and son gave her an unsure look. They both knew the name 'Peggy'; they had for the past month or so. On and off for the past year, Sally had found it in the best interest of everyone if she had a little more help with their ninety-seven kids, as Ned's job become more pressing and required more work with each passing week. He practically came home and passed out just after dinner nearly every day. They probably had at least ten different 'nannies' in this year (it was on rare occasion for someone to stay more then a month or even week after watching over all of their children) Peggy had simply been the latest of them all. It was not that it was surprising to see someone different on their doorstep this morning, but more surprising that they had not been informed of it. Peggy was the type of girl that made both Ned and Sally aware of every tiny detail of their daughters, ranging from the tiniest of cuts to the correct pronunciation of a new word. Not only that, but Peggy would always make sure that the Mayor and his wife knew if she would be even ten seconds late. So, it was simply strange and out of character for her to call a replacement without even so much as a call to them, the McDodd household.
"But, um, what's your name, again?" Ned questioned, watching the female with puzzlement still bristling his fur.
She merely giggled in that same high-tuned voice. Jojo thought of possibly finding a tuner knob, similar to a radio, just to turn down the frequency. She held out her hand to Ned, grinning ever so widely, "Rida! Rida Velvita!"
Ned, uneasily, took her hand to shake it. He looked to her, unsure, and spoke her name in a detached voice, "Vel…vit…a?"
"Yup! Velvita!" that grin would not leave her face, nor would the freaky happiness that Jojo noticed before.
"Well, um…Rida," the Mayor spoke, releasing her hand to look at her again, taking in her appearance, seeing if maybe he had seen her somewhere before. He came up blank, "Peggy never told us that she – "
The phone burst to life and rings echoed through the kitchen. The girls had continued on with their breakfast, relatively oblivious to the situation. Jojo, however, had turned to eye the phone curiously as it rang; continuing to watch even as his mother picked up the phone. Sally stood there a few moments, her voice soft against the mouthpiece, but Jojo could somehow decipher her words despite the fact he could not hear the voice on the opposite end. It was still enough, at least for him, to learn what the conversation consisted of.
"Yes, hello? Oh, Peggy, did you - ? You did? She just showed up. Alright. Yeah, I hope you feel better. Get some sleep. Yes, I'll tell them. Bye, Peggy," Sally lifted her head to look at Ned. She shrugged, but nodded, nodded nonetheless, ensuring that Rida had been checked off. She then glanced back to the swerving table, leaning up slightly in order to get a decent glance of all 96 of her girls.
"Girls, that was Peggy. She says 'Hi'," Sally spoke coolly with a smile to her children.
"But why's she sayin' 'Hi'?" spoke Hogey.
"She's still coming, like always, right?" spoke Hilda, who sat just opposite of Hogey.
"Sorry, Girls," spoke Sally, with an apologetic smile to them all, "Peggy's a bit…under the weather. She sent someone else to keep you company today, though."
"But I want Peggy…" pouted the younger of the girls, who sat not but a foot or so away from Sally.
Sally only smiled – it was kind as it always was with her children. She took only a step closer to the daughter that spoke last and lifted her into her warm arms. Her fur ran up against the girl, soft and gently, "It'll be alright, don't you worry, and besides, you'll have two new people to play with today – Melody and um…"
"Rida," spoke the replacement babysitter, ending Sally's statement for her.
Nonetheless, Sally had continued on, anyway, "Right, Rida."
"Wida?" repeated the small girl.
Sally smiled and put her nose to her daughter's, giving the tiny Who girl restful Eskimo kisses, "Yes – Rida."
After reassuring this to her, she placed her back into her seat and glanced to her husband, "Er…Ned. It's already eight o'clock."
Ned blinked, tilting his head. He didn't quite comprehend; his head too cluttered this morning to get things back in line.
Sally just sighed, placing one hand to her forehead in a sense of shame and using the other to point to the doorway he still stood at, "Work, remember, dear?"
Then it clicked and Ned's body grimaced with a number of short jerky tremors, "W-work?!" he spun around in such a manner of klutziness that he very nearly fell, "See ya, hon! See ya, Kids!"
His words were rushed, but this was quite understandable as he darted out the door in practically a blur. Still, if one paid close attention they would be able to hear a clutter of 'clangs' and 'clunks' as Ned tripped upon the concrete no more than 20 feet away from the door.
Rida had only glanced back for a moment, blinking, as if to analyze what had occurred. It had only been a moment, but she simply shrugged, looking to Sally. She did some form of salute with a wide grin on her face, "Alrighty! Watcha want me to do first?"
Sally stared at her for just a second or so, merely thinking of a way to answer properly, until she came up with something appropriate, "Um…Well, I first have to head to the store, but while I'm gone make sure they get the table cleaned up and that they all get their baths, and make sure you keep an eye on Melody in particular. I'll be back in two, maybe three hours."
"Table, baths, two/three hours. Gotcha!" beamed Rida, as if she was jotting it all down on an invisible notepad.
Arching an eyebrow, Sally still felt unsure about the circumstances of the situation. From what she had seen of her, Rida was a rather peculiar person. Still, she also knew Peggy as a more-than-just-decent sort of babysitter. She wouldn't have just dropped off anyone to watch over her children. Sally sighed and the corner of her eye caught the clock that tick-tocked along the wall. Seconds and minutes were beginning to drift by and the time was getting late. She'd have to determine things a little better sometime soon, but she had to attain a few needed necessities needed for the household of currently one hundred Whos. With this thought thick in her head, she looked back to her children, beginning her way to the door, "Kids, I'm going out to the store. Rida is staying to take care of you while I'm gone. I love you all."
In the same way they always would, the girls responded back all at once.
"Bye-Bye, Mommy!"
"Bye, Mom!"
"I wub you, Mommy!"
This last 'I love you' came from little Heady. It was a small sentence, but Sally had smiled not only at the words but the mere sound of the voice. Each day, it was being heard more and more as Heady's vocabulary expanded. Now, in this fragment of time, it seemed particularly easing to Sally. Still, it made it that much difficult to leave this morning, especially when things weren't quite right in her head. This small 'I love you' did more to Sally than it normally would, despite the fact she heard it every night and every morning. She took a breath and smiled again to her daughters, like a mother should, then had gone to the door. As she wrapped her slender fingers about the sleek doorknob, though, she realized something was still off. She lowered her head a bit, in order to see her son, still standing there.
"Jojo? Weren't you heading for the observatory?"
Jojo just stood, his eyes set on Rida. They were narrowed and his eyebrows were arched with befuddlement. Somehow, like his mother, he believed something to be out of balance. His fingers were barely curled around the frame of the door, but the fur bristled at the knuckles. He was brought back into this state of reality only when Sally repeated his name ("Jojo?"). It was only then did he look up and it was only then did he release his gaze from Rida.
He looked to his mother, murmuring, "Yeah, I was heading there now."
And both left without a word.
000
"So?" urged Ka'oo in a hushed whisper as he beat the nubs of his fingers in a melodic tone along the roof of the mayor's home. His body was low and pressed against the roof in order to conceal himself from anyone who happened to be looking in their direction. His head was rested in his crossed arms while his eyes were set on his younger sister.
"She's in," whispered Bella as she shut the cell phone in her hand. She lifted up her torso from the heated stone of the roof, but only slightly.
"Your talent for imitating voices…well, it's a bit scary, really," murmured Ka'oo as he trailed his eyes to his own set of fingers as they continued to beat against the rigid material.
Bella grinned along this and she lifted her chin, responding in a proud and satisfied tone that was emphasized not only on her lips but also on the entire posture of her body, "Why thank you."
Ka'oo smiled, but it was only a partial crooked smile. In that one smile there sat so many words. In that one smile…there sat uneasiness, frustration, and heartbreak. He rested his cheek on the rough roof, the heat transferring onto his fur from the touch. He pulled out a cigarette. This had become his new 'accessory' since Ned had left with Melody. Numerous times, he was warned that it could blacken his lungs and cause them to shrivel, but, to him, all that didn't even matter anymore.
He lit the item that his fingers were curled about with a golden lighter. There was a small clicking sound as a single flame arose. As he did this, he held no emotion in his eyes, only the cold hollow sense of a corpse, "I quit today."
Bella blinked, unsure what to say to his statement. She sat up entirely now, no longer caring if she was seen or not this early morning, "…Quit?"
Ka'oo had nodded, now brushing the tip of the lit cigarette along the stone, watching the speckles of lights drift away from the crinkled tip, "There's no point in staying now, is there? The whole point of me being there was to watch over Melody and that didn't exactly work out as planned."
"So that's it," Bella responded, cleaning her black sunglasses with the edge of her thumb, "Well, that's stupid."
"Excuse me?"
"I said it's stupid. You could've still visited her, here. If you were the doctor she requested, then you still could've given her home-visits," Bella explained simply with a shrug, not even glancing to her older brother.
"She wouldn't have done that. She went to him, Bella. You should've seen that face of hers light up when she heard him speak," Ka'oo stomach's dropped and he gritted his teeth together, "And even if she did allow me to visit, there's no way I could stand the sight of her being with a family she doesn't belong to…"
Without a second thought, Bella thwacked him at the back of his head, annoyed.
"Hey – what the hell?!" began Ka'oo, glowering as he held the back of his head where her hand had come in contact.
"Stop sounding so dang emotional!!" Bella ordered, and her chest was heaving up and down with frustration, "You can still see her, can't you? We can all see her and watch her! Even if we aren't part of her life directly, anymore, we can still find ways to care for her, even if she doesn't realize it! Maybe to her we don't exist, but we'll know and we'll still be able to protect her. You get what I'm saying, Ka'oo? Shouldn't that be enough to know that she's okay and with a family that can treat her properly?!"
Ka'oo couldn't speak. He had no such response for that, and he bit his lip. He glanced to the winding path from the Mayor's house, watching the Whos come and go; just watching, but not entirely. His mind was elsewhere…His mind was on Melody. He could not and would not respond to Bella, having lost his voice from the moment she said 'we don't exist'…
-- Yeahs - The end of Ch. 10. x ' D... erm... right. Not much to say about this one.