Hello everyone!
CHAPTER TEN!! I can't believe we're at ten already! I want to thank you all so much! At the moment there is 27 faces and 36 following, and I can't express how grateful I am to you all! Thank you all again!
This chapter has more backstory to it, so I hope you like it. I don't own trolls but Rose is my OC.
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"Branch, there you are! I was looking for your mat but I can't seem to find it." Peppy looked around, seeing the rock toppled over behind Branch.
"The creature yesterday turned over the rock, so my mat is hidden under it. I'll try to fix it in the next couple of days." He saw Peppy was carrying a large bag. "Is there a reason why you're out here sir?" He asked.
"I came to see you, my boy, and I figured since I haven't seen Poppy all morning she would be here as well." He looked at Branch. "You look terrible child, doesn't look like you had a good night. I heard about the child, and that you have taken her in, must be true. I thought I'd come by and see how you are doing. I also ran into King Trollex, he was going to hand you these letters so I thought I'd bring them to you."
"Do I look that bad? Poppy said the same thing." He muttered. "Well, why don't you come in? I'll take those letters." He went and picked the bag off Peppy's shoulders and led him to the new entrance. Once they got inside he looked at the older troll. "Would you like anything? Something to eat or a drink?" He asked.
"A coffee would be lovely, thank you." Peppy smiled.
"Sure." Branch smiled back, walking into the main area and dropped the bag of letters. "Hey, Poppy. Your dad is here." He said as he saw Poppy's hair move on the couch. "Is she still asleep?" He asked.
"Yeah, she is." Poppy stood up, smiling. "Dad, what are you doing here?" Poppy walked over to Peppy, meeting him halfway.
"I came by to bring Branch some letters and to see the little one." He smiled, seeing the grey trolling in her arms.
Branch looked at Poppy. "Do you want anything to drink? I'm making coffee." He saw Poppy shake her head. "Do you want me to take Rose so you two can talk?" He asked.
"I'm fine." She smiled at him, seeing him nod and go to the kitchen.
Peppy looked at her. "Have you talked to him yet?" He spoke quietly.
Poppy frowned slightly. "No, I was going to but with everything that happened yesterday I couldn't." She replied quietly.
"You need to tell him soon my dear, you should have told him months ago." He went and sat on a chair next to the couch.
"I know, it's just hard." She sat back on the couch, looking down at Rose who shifted in her sleep, grumbling slightly.
"I know it's hard, but he has to know. It's Branch anyways, I'm sure he will understand." Peppy smiled, seeing how nervous his daughter was. "Branch is a good choice."
Poppy blushed, about to speak but hearing Branch walk into the room, bringing Peppy his coffee along with one for himself. "Good choice? For what?" Branch asked, hearing the last sentence.
"Oh, nothing!" Poppy turned around suddenly to see him. When she turned Rose jolted awake, staring up at Poppy and yawned as she rubbed her eyes with her hand. Poppy looked down. "I'm sorry I woke you Rose, you can go back to sleep if you want." She said, seeing Rose staring up at her.
Rose shifted slightly in her arms and shook her head, glancing around the room and her eyes stopped on Peppy. Peppy smiled when he saw Rose looking at him. "Why, hello there little one." Rose quickly moved out of Poppy's arms and ran across the couch to Branch, hiding between Branch's back and the couch cushions.
Branch moved slightly. "Hey, be careful with your arm. Come out of there. No one is going to hurt you." He spoke softly, turning and reached for her. Rose took a moment but slowly came out, crawling onto Branch's lap. Rose glanced at Peppy, still nervous about the older troll, hiding her face in Branch's arm and holding onto his hand tightly. "Sorry about that sir, she gets nervous around anyone new." Branch gently placed his other hand on her back, hoping to calm her down.
"There is no need for apologies, It's alright. I did come unannounced." He reached and took a sip of his coffee. "She does seem to have an attachment to you Branch." He looked up to see Branch nod. "That's a good thing, and I'm glad it's you who is taking care of her." He looked at Rose, who was peeking over Branch's arm at him. "She looks so much like you did." He commented, before looking down at his coffee. "There are some things I would like to talk to you about, would you prefer to talk in private?" He looked up at Branch.
Branch looked at him curiously. "What do you want to talk about?"
"I wanted to talk to you about stuff I should have talked to you about a long time ago." He let out a small sigh.
Branch stiffened slightly, looking down at Rose then glance at Poppy. "It's fine if they're here. I would tell Poppy eventually."
Poppy looked at Branch. "Are you sure? We can go to her room and maybe start decorating."
"If you want to go you can, but if you want to stay that's okay too. I know you're curious." He looked up at her.
"I am curious to know, but I also…" She stopped when she felt Branch's hand on hers. She looked at him, his eyes staring into hers as if saying he wanted her to stay. "Alright, i'll stay. But if you want me to go at any time, just tell me." She leaned over and kissed his cheek, smiling.
Branch blushed slightly, still nervous around Peppy when it came to any thing more then a hug. Peppy was Poppys father after all, he wanted to stay on his good side. He smiled at her, keeping his hand on hers as Peppy nodded.
"Alright." He took another sip of his coffee. "I wanted to start by apologizing to you Branch. My motto was never leave a troll behind, but you were the one troll I did leave behind." He looked down. "It was my fault you left town and built your bunker. I was the king, I was supposed to look after everyone in the village. I let you down, and I'm so sorry Branch."
Branch stared at him as he spoke. "Sir, it wasn't your fault. You just lead all the pop trolls to a new life away from the Bergen's, you have to build a new village for the trolls. You had so much to do, even I knew that as a child."
"I still should have looked out for you. I fail you." Peppy let out a shaker sigh. "What do you remember about your childhood branch?" He asked.
"I don't really remember much, besides a few odds and ends." He shrugged, not going into detail.
"Do you know anything about your parents?" Peppy looked at him, seeing Branch shake his head. "You're mother, Fern, was a very kind troll. You look a lot like her, you have her eyes and hair. You act like her as well, she had a plan for almost everything. The one thing she didn't plan for was meeting you father, Birch. I didn't know him, he was a very mysterious troll. He showed up one day at the tree, no one knew where he came from. A lot of us greeted him immediately, but your mother and grandmother were very cautious about him. I think that's what got him interested in your mom in the first place, she would ignore him and want nothing to do with him. Over a couple of months she finally gave in and they started hanging out, but Trollstic was nearing faster than anyone wanted. Birch wasn't afraid of the Bergen's, he said he would fight them off so everyone can be free. He started giving us hope that we could live outside the cage. Your parents weren't together long, but they knew they wanted to be together forever so not long before Trollstic your egg was put in the care of your grandmother." Peppy stopped for a moment, looking at them as he saw Rose was also listening to his story. "That Trollstic was our most terrible one. There were quite a few trolls who decided to fight back, But very few came back alive. Your parents sacrificed themselves to try to make your future a happier place." He finished.
Branch stared at him before he looked at the ground, unsure of what to think. Rose stared up at Branch, squeezing his arm tightly as she rested her head against his arm.
Poppy looked at Branch as well, intertwining their fingers as he glanced at her.
"It was because of them I decided it was enough, and it took four years to dig the escape tunnels." He looked up at Branch. "You know, before you were grey you were one of the happiest, most troublesome kids at the tree. You were always making everyone laugh, and sneaking off without telling Rosiepuff. The first time we had most of the tree looking for you, a half hour later we found my wife carrying you because you snuck into our pod to take a nap with her." Peppy chuckled at the memory as Branch and Poppy stared at him with wide eyes.
"With mom?" Poppy whispered.
"But why? I don't remember any of this." Branch said, confused.
"I never knew why, but you would always bring a flower from your grandmother's garden and spend half the day with her. I figured over time you took a liking to her because she was very motherly to all the children, and you like the feeling. You would always follow us around, no matter what we were doing and Joy loved it. She always said she never had favorites, but it was easy to see you were her favorite trolling. It was because of you Joy wanted to have children, and you were one of the first trolls she told about the egg." Peppy smiled. "You were very curious about the egg, always asking where it came from and when it would hatch."
Rose tapped Branch's arm, looking at him confused. Branch looked down at her, confused for a minute before he blushed slightly. "You will find out with your older." He said, guessing she was asking about eggs.
Peppy smiled at the child before he continued. "There was one day, Joy teased about how protective you were for a trolling and said you could be a knight one day. You lit up like the sun thinking she meant that you were going to be a knight that very moment. That night, you fell through the roof of our pod and landed on the bed. You have us such a fright, a few trolls came running because of how loud we screamed. When we asked what you were doing you said you saw a spider in the pod and had to protect the egg like a knight would. Imagine Rosiepuffs face when we returned you back home at 3 in the morning." He chuckled.
"That does sound like Branch." Poppy giggled, looking at Branch who was blushing slightly.
"I don't want anyone getting hurt." He muttered.
"Because of that incident Rosiepuff had to keep a sharp eye on you, but you always had your daily nap at our pod. At least you did until Poppy hatched." He looked at Poppy and smiled, before looking at Branch again. "You were actually the first troll to see Poppy after she hatched. You were so timid about seeing Poppy for the first time you tried to climb me like a tree to take a look into Joys hair, and threw a flower at Poppy making sure not to get too close. That's actually part of the reason we named her after a flower. That day you started bringing in a bright red poppy flower and instead of giving it to Joy like you always did, you have it to Poppy. Joy thought it was the cutest thing, and after much consideration we ended up with the name Poppy." He smiled softly.
"I don't remember any of this." Branch frowned slightly, but felt Poppy squeeze his hand. "I really wish I could remember. She sounds like an amazing troll."
"She was, she loved you like her own. After Poppy was born you started giving her more space, I think you were intimidated but you always brought flowers and left them at the door. Not long after she got sick, and Rosiepuff would come bring you to see her and to look after Poppy. When she passed…" Peppy took a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing. "It was a great loss to the whole tree, but you did take it harder than most. You stopped coming by, but I always found a flower outside the door every morning." He stopped, looking down.
Poppy stood up and walked over to her dad and hugged him. "I know you miss her dad." She whispered to him.
Peppy hugged her back. "I wish she could have seen you now. She would be so proud of you, proud of the both of you." He looked at Branch, a small smirk on his face. "She told me one night that when you two were older she hoped you liked each other."
Both Branch and Poppy blushed slightly, glancing at each other shyly. Rose shook Branch's arm again, holding up her notebook to him. Branch looked down at her and read the one word on the paper. "More? More what?" She pointed over at Peppy shyly. "Oh, you want more stories." He saw her nod to confirm he was right. She started writing more after a moment. 'Food.' Branch's looked at her, smiling. "Alright, write down what you want."
"The rest of what I have to say aren't happy tales." He said, looking at the Branch.
Branch nodded, standing up with Rose still in his arms. "Rose is hungry anyways, so maybe we can talk another day we could talk?" Branch's voice came out more nervously than he wanted.
Peppy chuckled. "Of course my boy, if you ever want to talk just come ask."
"I can look after her if you two want to keep talking." Poppy suggested.
"You had her all morning." Branch said, looking at them. "Is there anything you two want to eat?" He asked.
"I already ate, so I'm good with my coffee." Peppy replied.
"I'll have a little of whatever you're making." Poppy smiled.
Branch nodded and walked to the kitchen, seeing Rose wrote cupcakes he decided to make pasta for lunch and will go get cupcakes for later which Rose agreed to.
Peppy watched Branch for a moment. "I have to say, Branch is more fatherly to her then I expected." He said, looking at Poppy who was watching Branch as well.
Poppy grinned. "Isn't he? I honestly didn't think he would have acted this way at first, but when he saw her in the hospital it's like a switch went off in his head. He barely leaves the room she's in, not that she lets him. She really clings to him, it's so cute!" Poppy explained, looking at her father. "I think he sees himself in her, and wants her to not go through what he went through."
Peppy nodded, his ears down a bit as he sighed. "I wish there was more I could have done to help him, but I had no clue what to do. I am glad she had Branch to look after her."
Poppy looked at her dad. "What did cause Branch to want to be alone for so long?" She asked him.
Peppy looked down. "That is part of the story I wanted to tell him, I will tell you two another day. For now, why don't we focus on Rose. Is Branch going to keep her or is he just looking after her until another family takes her in?" He asked.
Poppy glanced at Branch and Rose. "I don't really know. I think Branch's is thinking of only looking after her until we find a family to take care of her, but it's too early to tell."
"And what about you?" Peppy asked her.
Poppy looked at him confused. "What about me?"
"Well, what if Branch does end up taking her in as his child. What would you do?"
Poppy stared at him. "I never thought about it that way." She looked back at Branch and Rose. Rose was sitting on the counter watching Branch as he got her to taste stuff as he cooked, seeing Rose eating whatever Branch gave her. Poppy smiled, and turned back to her dad. "I'd be very happy if that happens. If that means we both take care of her, I would really like that." She blushed bright red as she thought of what her future with Branch might be.
Peppy smiled. "You will be an amazing mother." He said, causing Poppy to blush more.
"I think it's a bit early to say that dad." She said embarrassed. "I'm going to go check and see if they need help. Do you want a refill on your coffee?"
"That would be wonderful, thank you my dear." He handed her the empty mug and watched her bounce to the kitchen.
Poppy grinned, bouncing happily to the kitchen. She placed the mug on the counter and stood next to Branch, causing him to turn and face her. "Branch! Branch! Branch!" She bounces on her toes as she spoke.
Branch started mimicking her bouncing. "Poppy! Poppy! Poppy!" He teased playfully, smiling at her.
Poppy laughed and stopped bouncing, her arms going around him happily. "I wanted to see what you're making, it smells good!" She looked at Rose. "And I see someone has been a little taste tester. How is it?" She saw Rose hold her hand up, giving Poppy a thumbs up. "A thumbs up! Oh I can't wait to try it." She kissed Branch's cheek before letting go and started making Peppys coffee. Once she finished pouring the coffee she went to the fridge and started looking around for a moment.
Branch looked at her. "What are you looking for?" He asked as he continued to cook.
"I'm looking for the- Ah! Found it!" She pulled out a large bottle of juice.
Branch looked at the bottle and rolled his eyes. "You and that watermelon juice." He joked. Rose tilted her head and leaned forward, trying to get a better look at what Poppy had.
Poppy saw Rose and held it out to her. "Branch makes the best watermelon juice! Do you want a cup?" She saw Rose nod, and started looking for a small cup for her. Poppy poured Rose her cup and handed it to her. "Be careful not to spill it."
Rose took the cup and smelt it, looking at it curiously before taking a sip. Her ears perked up when she got the sip, drinking the cup quickly. "Hey now, don't chug it. You may get hiccups if you drink too fast." Branch told her. Rose looked at him, before holding her empty cup to Poppy.
"You like it! I told you it was good, right?" Poppy poured more juice in her cup, seeing her ears perk up more at the juice. "Branch is going to have to make more soon." She giggled, taking the coffee to her dad before walking back and scooping Rose up in her arms.
"Hey, you're taking my taste tester." Branch protested as Poppy kept walking with Rose in her arms.
Poppy turned her head and stuck her tongue out at him, grinning as she turned to Rose. "She's my juice buddy now!" She tapped her cup against Roses and drank her juice.
"Are you sure you don't want some Peppy? I made too much." Branch said loudly, adding in the last ingredients.
"It does smell really good. I will have a small bowl." Peppy got up and walked over to the table where Poppy was placing Rose.
Rose watched Peppy closely, causing him to stop. She took out her notepad and started writing, and slowly slid it over to Peppy. Peppy looked at it confused for a moment before he read it out loud. "Thank store?" He looked at Rose, then at Poppy.
"I think she means story. Thank you for the story, right?" Branch said, bringing over two small bowls for Peppy and Rose first. He saw Rose nod, and reached for her book. Branch slid her notebook back to her and leaned over her shoulder slightly. "The E needs to be a Y for story, but you were very close." He placed her bowl in front of her. Rose quickly fixed it before sliding it back to Peppy so he could see.
"You're welcome Rose. Thank you for listening." He smiled, passing her the notebook before he looked down at his bowl. He saw Branch come back with his and Poppys bowls. "Thank you Branch, this looks very good."
Branch placed the bowls down as Poppys grinned. "Branch makes some of the best food!" She said as she started digging in.
Peppy took a bite, smiling as he ate. "This is delicious." Peppy said as he ate.
Branch smiled. "The secret is to add a lot more salt to the boiling pasta." He said, before looking at Rose. "Have you tried…" he stopped when he saw Rose's almost empty bowl. "Okay kid, slow down. You can have more if you want." He said, surprised at how fast she was eating. "You're going to get the hiccups." He warned again. Rose looked at him and ate slower, but still quickly finished her bowl. She looked at him and waited. "Would you like some more?" He asked as she nodded eagerly. "Alright. I'm glad you're liking it." He grabbed her bowl and went to get her more, but was stopped when Peppy said his name.
"Could I have some more as well? That was amazing." He asked.
Branch smiled and took his bowl. "Sure." He went and filled the bowls and brought them back.
They all ate in silence for a while, before Peppy spoke. "Poppy, I've been meaning to ask what happened."
Poppy looked at him confused. "What do you mean dad?"
"Your neck, it looks like you bruised it." He already knew what it was but he couldn't wait to see their reactions.
Branch was mid chew, almost spiting out his food when he heard what Peppy said. Poppy was about to take a bite, her spoon close to her mouth then she froze. Both their faces darker as they glanced at Peppy. "O-oh yeah, that. It is a, um, bug bite. Yeah, a bug bite. It kept scratching it and it must have bruised." She said, covering her neck with her hand.
Peppy stared at her for a moment before nodding. "You mustn't scratch, it will just make it worse." He went along with her story, seeing both of them relax. "You should be more careful." He warned.
Rose looked at them all confused,before a small sound caught their attention. Rose quickly covers her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide. Branch smirked slightly, looking at her. "I told you. You got the hiccups."
