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Chapter 3: The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed. - Carl Gustav Jung
"I'm home!" Bubbles shouted in a singsong voice as she entered home.
The two-story, four-bedroom suburbia home was an inheritance from Mike's family, and the woman was eternally grateful for that. It'd really given them a headstart in the marriage business, with its nice front yard where the kids could play with their dad, and Bubbles could try her hand at gardening (her bush of petunias was really coming up nicely this year). The backyard was even larger as well as the hot spot for the neighborhood's annual barbeque celebration!
"Mommy!" a couple of twins ran from the living room, their little stubby arms up in the air.
"Mommy, mommy!" Her son Cole called in a moan, pulling the hem of his mom's midi-length skirt as he frowned at her with teary big brown eyes, dirty blonde curls bouncing at the top of his head, "Alice won't let me play with Octi!"
His sister followed right after him, "I didn't finish playing with him!" She pouted in anger.
Alice had her mom's light-blue eyes, though she did not inherit Bubbles' exact hair tone, she wore her dark blonde hair in high pigtails.
The woman gave Alice a questioning look, "Well, is it Cole's time to play?"
The girl's arms fell to her sides, slowly letting go of the precious doll, "Yeah..." she sighed, while Cole snatched the toy away from her hands.
Bubbles just pursed her lips and gave her daughter a look, "So play nicely. It'll be your turn again soon!" She warned, pacing by her daughter, being followed by a frowning Alice and a happy Cole, hugging Octi next to his chest.
She walked into the living room to find Mike slouching over his newest project design, the rest of the world blocked out from the man's ears.
She cleared her throat, "I can surely count on you to watch them, huh?"
Mike still didn't respond, he remained silent, studying the stiff carbon lines, pondering over the next move for the construction he was trying to visualize.
"Mike!"
The screech made the brown-haired man jump on his seat, as his eyes shot up and he realized his wife had arrived. His scare caused the twins to giggled in unison, while, Bubbles had her hands on her hips and didn't look happy at all. The man gulped, "Dear! Hey!"
"Don't 'hey' me, Michael Edward Believe!" She said in a scolding voice, "Don't tell me you've been working instead of watching the kids as I asked you!"
"Dear..." He sighed, brushing his hands over his brown hair.
Bubbles kept scowling at him, before turning back to her kids with a sweet smile, "Guys, why won't you play in the backyard? Mommy and daddy need to talk..."
The twins nodded before leaving amidst giggles.
"Daddy's gonna get scolded!" Alice whispered to her brother as they wandered away.
Bubbles darted her eyes at her husband, "Alice is right." She warned him, sitting by his side on the couch.
Mike just looked down at his work with a sigh, "Dear, I'm sorry. I really, really am... But this is a very tough project... I think it could be it, you know?" He said, looking up at his wife, "My career breakthrough!"
The woman let out a heavy sigh, throwing her head back, "Mike..." She closed her eyes for a moment before looking at him again, "You're an amazing architect. You're so good at what you do, and everyone can see that! What breakthrough are you looking for? It's like every project is important, and every project is your breakthrough. You always get praised for them, because you're just that brilliant, but it's never enough for you! You're never happy with them."
The man pursed his lips, peering down at his sketches, "It's not that. I just want, for once, I want to create exactly what I see in my mind... I want to see all the designs in my mind become real... like they used to, remember?" Mike's voice started to crack, "Everything just used to go from here," he placed a finger on his temple, before stretching out a palm, "to here!"
Bubbles' frown became a scowl, "But it came with a price, didn't it? Do you remember?" She stated in a small, firm voice, "Whenever you ever found yourself in a bad mood, or were in a bad place... mentally... your mind, Mike, it would just create such..." The blonde held her breath, shaking her head, "All the bad thoughts, Mike! The bad, sinister thoughts you had no control over, all of them became real too! All of them! Do you really want that again?"
Mike Believe felt a stabbing pain pierce his chest.
His paranormal gift was both a blessing and a curse. Unfortunately, over the years, the man had grown a little bit too fond of his blessing's advantages. One side of him wanted it back again, it wanted to create, to unleash its power... But at the same time, Mike's sensible side held it back: he was a married man with two kids... and if things went the way Bubbles and Mike was planning, probably a third one not too far in the future.
Behind the wheel of a large automobile. In a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife.
The man immediately suppressed his taunting thoughts. His imagination should remain caged, for the greater good. It was bad enough they had to restrict the kids' too. Mike had to take responsibility.
"Fine," He nodded, "you're right... You're right, Bubbles. I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry," Mike begged, pulling Bubbles into a comforting hug, "I get so lost inside my own head, I lose sight of all the good things that are right in front of me."
The blonde woman rolled her eyes with a smile, "Don't I know that!" She said playfully, before planting a kiss on her husband's lips, "But don't worry, you'll have plenty of opportunities to make up for not taking proper care of the twins." Bubbles told him with a cheeky wink.
Mike frowned at that, "Wasn't Jacquotte..."
"Not anymore," Bubbles told him with a headshake. Mike noticed his wife's lips become razor-thin, "Jacquotte is staying at... someone else's while Blossom's away this weekend."
The man cocked his head, "Buttercup?" He asked, to which his wife shook her head, "Professor?" Same answer. "Then who?"
Once all were presented, and misunderstandings were solved, Blossom and Jacque finally walked into the apartment.
"Honestly, you can't blame it on me," Jacquotte floated by her mom's side, "I mean, two grown men of the same age living together... what else do you expect me to think?"
Blossom glared at her with a growl, "You're still on very thin ice with me. Tread lightly."
"Nah, babe, that's ok," Brick assured with a peal of laughter, motioning them to seat on a large, brown leather couch. He noticed Blossom stare at him in confusion for a microsecond, probably from the pet name. Old habits die hard, what could he say? "It's fine, right Butch?"
His brother followed behind with a pout, his intentions of being the "cool uncle" flushed down the drain, "Not my best first impression, I will admit." He muttered, floating towards the fridge. "The two ladies will drink anything...? Blossom, do you still have a soft spot for alcohol?"
"Yes, she does." Jacquotte responded immediately before feeling her mother's elbow connect to her, "What?!" She hissed, "It's true! The alcohol cabinet is not getting any fuller! Especially that one bottle of scotch."
Blossom growled though she couldn't say anything against Jacquotte's claim. The teenager's antics lead to the girl having to witness her mother with a hangover more than once.
"Good thing we got boxed wine last week, then," Butch laughed, slumping the box on the coffee table before fetching two glasses. He tried it, curling his lips up, "Hm! Sweet. No wonder why all the chicks are hooked on it." He wiggled his eyebrows at Brick, who just rolled his eyes, before walking back to the kitchen counter.
Jacque just smirked as her mother discreetly poured herself a glass of the boxed beverage.
"So..." Brick sighed, taking a seat next to his unimpressed daughter and her mother, "I guess we are both done with the... hm, pleasantries. We can sort ourselves out." He said, watching his ex-girlfriend chug down her wine.
Yup. Soft spot indeed.
Jacque grimaced, meekly extending her hand up, "Huh... I'm still here, you know-"
"Yes, basically." Blossom cut her off, before sipping on her second glass of wine. Brick had always been the one to cut to the chase, "I spoke to Mr. Keane, and you two could just start seeing each other this weekend, maybe with someone else accompanying the both of you, before you two can be left alone on your own. I'm afraid we'll have to hold back this weekend because I'll not be here, so-"
"What, why?" Brick cut her off, raising an eyebrow. His question was directed both at Blossom being away and the statement suggesting he was not reliable enough to care for his own spawn himself.
The woman gave him a scolding look, "To answer your interruption, Brick, I'll be away on a business trip. Which means Jacque will stay at Bubbles' this weekend."
"Or I can just stay here!" Jacque interrupted the adults, frustratedly waving her arm up.
Blossom choked on her drink, "What?" She hissed, "Here? Here..."
The teenager vaguely motioned to her dad's and uncle's loft.
"I mean, this is clearly a sleeper-sofa," Jacquotte said, patting the couch she was sitting on, "and parenting is all about going big, right? No idea what Mr. Keane is trying to say by not letting me stay with Brick unsupervised, but it's not like I ever heard a single thing that came from his mouth anyway..." She mumbled, earning a glare from Blossom, "Plus, aunt Bubbles says I'm a 'delight' to stay with! My cousins love me! I mean, one of them does, the other's a wuss... We should be alright." She said, directing a cheeky smile to Brick, who didn't dare look over a petrified Butch.
Little to the girl's knowledge, Jacquotte was sitting right on top of where daddy Brick and uncle Butch hid money from their side businesses, including money that belonged to mobsters who didn't have a place of their own to hide it.
Blossom shot her an angry look, "Tell that to Chance Harrington."
"Come on, Blossom..." Jacquotte moaned, "First, he deserves it. Second, I'm just toughening him up for life, y'know? Pretty sure he's gonna thank me in the future. If he survives."
"Jacquotte!" Blossom hissed through gritted teeth.
"And if he doesn't, it's what they say: survival of the fittest," Jacque shrugged with a nonchalant smile. "Pin it on nature, not me."
"Harrington?" Brick cocked his head at Jacquotte, then Blossom. The surname hung a bell or two, "Didn't Princess..."
Blossom nodded in exhaustion, "It's their son."
Brick's jaw fell before he gawked at his daughter, nearly in disapproval, "Oh, you better learn how to do this shit in secret... nobody here wants a Morebucks-Harrington lawsuit!"
"Sounds like a bonding father-daughter activity to me!" Jacquotte retorted with a grin pointed to her unamused mother, "See, Blossom? You can take your Atlanta meeting by the horns, I'll just stay here. Brick will teach me to bully Chance undercover!"
Blossom growled, "You're testing me... I'm telling you right now, you better watch out-"
"I am not against it, Bloss."
The woman snapped her head at Brick, "What!?"
He shrugged with a smile, "First of all, kind of insulting to assume I can't take care of my own daughter. Second, pretty sure Butch doesn't mind either," He added, looking over his brother at the kitchen counter.
Butch burst out laughing, "Oh no, not at all! Au contraire!" He giggled with an eye roll, shooting his brother an agitated look, "Brick's offspring es mi offspring."
The brunette wasn't strange to drinking out of desperation while keeping a smile on his face. It made worried that, at that very moment, he could name at least five Russian names that had agreed to go over their place to retrieve part of their well-earned, though not so honestly, money.
"Don't worry," Brick smoothly turned back to Blossom, "I'm not letting Butch in charge of anything."
Blossom stared at him for a moment, both hands clutching the nearly empty cup. He had a point when he said it was insulting to assume he should have a third party monitoring him and Jacque. The woman had thought so too at first, chose to not say anything because of Brick's heavy involvement with crime. But now, looking at the man, sharing an apartment with his brother so nonchalantly, it made him seem so normal...
"Don't you think it's going too fast?" Blossom frowned at Brick, "I, I mean, it's not always I have to leave town, and usually I have my father, my sisters-"
"And I'm here," Brick shrugged confidently.
"But you can always leave me home alone for the weekend, y'know, Blossom."
Blossom just shot Jacquotte a look before turning back to Brick, "I mean it, really, we can schedule a time for you two to-"
"Why do you two keep talking like I'm not here?" Jacquotte cut her off, earning a deadly glare from the woman. Since Jacquotte was Jacquotte, she kept going, "Mr. Keane decided I need a father now." She mumbled, folding her arms, "So well, let's just get it going on with. Brick's down to it, so what's the matter?"
Brick and Butch exchanged glances before the redhead turned to stare at Blossom's icy glare aimed at Jacquotte. Many adults would succumb before that glare, any one of the three RowdyRuff boys would shit themselves whenever they were on the receiving end of the PowerPuff's infamous icy stare, but Jacquotte simply looked back at her mother with a deadpan stare, you could almost hear it say 'What?'
Brick's chest swelled at his daughter's sheer brazenness.
Daddy's so proud.
Finally, Blossom broke off her deadly stare to glance at Brick, Butch, and her daughter. The woman sighed, "Before I agree... I need assurance that I will see good behavior," she turned to Brick, "from all of you..." she muttered, "No side business!"
"What does that mean?" Jacque frowned in confusion, and again, was ignored by the adults.
Brick rose his hand, boy scout style, "I give you my word, babe."
The teenager merely sighed and rolled her eyes at them back to acting like she wasn't there. Meanwhile, Brick's mind hastily set up a plan to get the week's side business done by Friday.
"I know, Bubbles..." Buttercup sighed, listening to her sister talk on her phone speaker.
Being a sergeant had its perks, like an office of her own, and if anyone wanted to bother with paperwork, the brunette would just gesture to warn them she was speaking to a police commissary or a similar big shot.
"Buttercup, you're not listening!" Her blonde sister hissed, "You were the one to give Brick's contact to Blossom, and you only had it because you're in the police force and he's probably still a criminal! And Blossom's about to leave Jacque, who's already very problematic, with him!"
The brunette slammed her hand on the table, "Hold up! Hold the horses!" She bellowed, putting the phone off the speaker and over her ear, "Don't say something like that, you sound like Princess! Jacque's not problematic!"
Buttercup had worked enough time as a cop with the so-called "troubled youth". Problematic was never meant as a sympathetic term anymore, it had become a derogatory label.
"Ok, sorry... Sorry. But still, are we really going to leave a spunky thirteen-year-old to be babysat by a man with the shadiest past? They met last week!" Bubbles retorted, on her end of the line.
"C'mon, you know Blossom," Buttercup sighed, "it's her child. She knows what she's doing... Plus, we agreed I'll pay them a surprise visit sometime on the weekend, to make sure there's nothing fishy going on, so you can count on me with that."
On the other side of the line, her sister seemed to have calmed down, "Well, this relieving to hear..." She paused for a moment, "'We'? Who's we?"
Buttercup rose a confused eyebrow, "Blossom and I."
"Oh... You two planned it? Y, you two just cut me out like that, huh."
"What?" The brunette gasped, "Bubbles, what the hell are you talking about!?"
"First, Jacque's not staying at mine, and I have to deal with Alice being extra upset about it," Bubbles listed, "Then, she asks you to look after Jacque while she's at her Brick's! Without even considering me to help!"
Buttercup groaned, "Bubbles... I'm a cop, you're a mother of twins with the perfect house, and a family in suburbia... and a kids channel with thousands of subscribers." She explained, deadpanned, "One of us is clearly more equipped to deal with criminals than the other."
"WHAT!?" Bubbles' yell was so high-pitched, the brunette thought she'd gone deaf for a second, "How dare you say that!? I'm as much of a PowerPuff as you are!"
"Oh no, no... I mean, yeah, yes of course..." Buttercup moaned, reaching for her coffee mug, "I'm just used to dealing with big, burly men daily, is all I'm saying."
"I can deal with big, burly men just as well."
A picture of Bubbles sipping on her mimosa in a blue summer dress, chatting about a get-together with neighbors came to the sergeant's mind, "Bubz... You don't really have to..."
"But I can!" The blonde insisted, "I, I'll go with you then! Mike can watch the twins, you just tell me whenever you decide to go, let me know the time and address, I'll go!"
"Bubbles, did you hit your head again?"
"I mean it!" The blonde insisted, "A cop never goes to a mission without backup!"
"Wait, what? How did you know that?"
"I watch a lot of CSI."
Buttercup sighed in defeat. Blossom had asked her to bring someone else, and her partner was a candidate for that, but... why not Bubbles? Suburban YouTuber housewife mom or not, Bubbles had always been hardcore, through and through.
"Fine... But! It'll be out of the blue, unplanned, and to surprise them! Got it?"
"Got it, sarg!"
"Don't get too excited," Buttercup snarled in a low voice.
Right after hanging up the phone, her eyes fell upon a familiar face. "Just my luck..." The woman sighed, walking out of her office.
"Ace! Long time no see."
The green-skinned man jumped up, before spotting her.
"Butterz... Howdy!" He lowered his sunglasses to wink at her, "Thought my sis had made the lil' boy behave himself this time, but..."
Buttercup pursed her lips, looking down at the small boy sitting at the chair before one of her cops.
"What did he do, Steve?" She rose an eyebrow.
Steve sighed, running a thumb over his brown mustache before handing her a piece of paper, "Petty theft. Same as always. Miss Singh owns a candy store, and her son found greeny over here stealing... The old lady said it was usual, she just pretended she did not see him stealing." The cop chuckled, which made his big, round belly bounce slightly, "She asked us to not arrest him, but her son had called for police, so..."
The brunette sighed out loud, "The mother?"
"Rehab." Ace interrupted, "And naw, ain't no other family around, all in jail, rehab, or on the run." The man glanced down at his nephew for a moment before chuckling, "Looks like this lil' one is down the family's path."
Buttercup's stare turned dark, "Steve, what are our options?" She asked the cop without looking away from the green-skinned former criminal.
Steve shrugged, "Not much, boss... The usual. He either stays with a social assistant or with a family member until the mother's released..." The man clicked his tongue with a head shake, before jamming a thumb in Ace's direction, "And in this case, it'd be-"
"I'm taking him."
The words came out of the brunette's mouth before she could realize
"Boss?" The man looked up at her, "We, I'm afraid we are not allowed to-"
Buttercup crossed her arms across her chest. Glare still fixed on Ace, "My sister is a social assistant, she'll sign the papers to stay with him until a... more fit family member steps up."
Ace didn't seem the least phased at her remark. In fact, he burst out laughing, "Good luck with that... The apple never falls too far from the tree." He said, before leaving without as much of a 'goodbye' to his nephew.
Jacquotte treated staying at her father's with a permanent nonchalant attitude.
First thing in the morning, Brick caught himself barely greeting and immediately waving goodbye at a hushed Blossom, who smiled at him for a nanosecond before going back to babbling over the phone, while the teenager simply entered his loft with a blank stare, asking where she could take a nap since Blossom had woken her up "at six, on a Saturday, like nothing is sacred anymore".
Brick simply scoffed with a raised eyebrow, before guiding the teenager to his room.
"Your mother? A morning person? Unheard of." He chuckled, "C'mon, you can nap in my room."
"Blossom's more like a 'no-sleep' person," Jacquotte muttered, following him, "Thanks, but what about the couch...?"
"Oh, we can set that when you actually go to sleep," Brick shrugged, mentally making a note to not set the living room bed with Jacquotte there. There was still some money hidden on the couch, but as long as they did not let their guards down, this would stay hidden in secret.
As for Jacquotte, she slept for a couple of hours before being woken up by a phone call.
"What?"
"You are as charismatic on the phone as in real life..." A smooth, boy-ish voice scoffed on the other side of the line.
"Chance!? Fucking..." Startled, Jacquotte sat up, confusedly glancing at her phone screen and putting it back on her ear, "Is that fucking Chance Harrington!?"
"Wow. Even your manners are-"
"Since when the hell do you have my number!?" The girl hissed menacingly, "Also, where are you?"
Chance ignored the first question, "Hm, my house? Why, where else, would I-"
"I'm coming over to kill you and feed your deadly remains to your family in a stew."
"What!?" Chance burst out laughing, which only annoyed the girl even more, "Where did that... why!?"
"Because it's you." Jacquotte's reply was dry, "Plus, who said you can call me?"
Chance sounded amused on the other side of the line, "I just... heard from the grapevine you and your family would be attending mother's next party and-"
"What?" Jacquotte hissed incredulously. Blossom hated that Morebucks woman.
"...And apparently you have a father now?"
The question seemed to disarm the girl. "I know, surprising," she replied with a scoff, "Weekend visits and all that bullshit."
"Oh, so that is true? I heard mother say she couldn't wait for the next PTA meeting after the party."
"Wait, what?" Jacquotte muttered, "PTA?"
Chance proceeded to fill her in, yes, seemed that "mother" had invited "our family's" closest friends, PTA members, and their children, from both Pokey Oaks Middle School and Kindergarten.
Jacquotte's mind turned off of Chance's words after that. The thought of being near any of her classmates, especially Chance Morebucks and their snotty parents was disgusting, but... on the other hand...
"You know what, Chancy?" Jacquotte cut him off in a softer voice, catching him off guard, "I just remembered that. Hum... yeah, yeah. We are coming over your boring rich people thingy."
"Hm, hum, y, you are!?" Chance's usually smooth, snob's voice came out strangled, before he cleared his throat, "As in you-"
"Me, and Blossom, and Brick. The whole gang."
RR!