Greetings, Rugrats fanfic fans! Well, it's Monday, time for your weekly Weddings words. Well, last week I covered Tommy & Kimi, this week it's Chuckie & Lil. I apologize to the TL & CA shippers, but one can't very well have Tommy with Kimi, Tommy with Lil, Chuckie with Lil, & Chuckie with Angelica, all at the same time. And as the song goes, you can't please everyone, so you have to please yourself. But I can't ignore those other relationships, so I'm trying to deal with them & it will continue off & on until Angelica gets here at least.
I am overwhelmed by the reviews for Chapter 3. Like I said before, LK, Kimi's a pistol. Hopefully I succeeded in putting the Chuckie & Lil relationship over too. You don't know what it means to have such glowing praise from you, & from you SN. "Astounds"? Coming from you that means a lot. You two are legends of Rugrats fanfic. As are you, Kimmy Larisa. I reviewed the latest chapter of Deja Vu btw & before this day is out I'd better see what The Real Crib is about. KRACILT, whatever that means. Here's your favorite couple & I hope you like. Nightw2, thanks for your review too. Please read & review, y'all.
Rugrats is created, copyrighted, & / or owned by Klasky-Csupo & / or Nickelodeon, which in turn is owned by Viacom.
In the office trailer of DareDevilles, the agent for the star / hosts, who was also one of the executive producers (though if you'd ask him he'd say he was just a guy helping his friends), sat in front of his laptop. But his mind wasn't on his work; that had already been done. With the contracts signed & the season finale out of his hands, the show was practically running itself & would continue to do so for months at least. Things were quiet on the baseball front too; he & Dil had settled on an offer, one which would increase the wealth of both young men tenfold at the very least. The press conference would take place the next week. And his sister had decided to pass on her athletic career for the next few months; a sabbatical, as it were. Did athletes take sabbaticals? He knew professors did, but...
No, his mind was elsewhere, on a certain co-host, one with an adorable pink bow which she still wore in her hair, lovely brown hair, with soulful eyes to match. The way she walked, the way she talked, her every gesture & every odd noise that came out of her, just screamed KAWAII!!! as his mother would put it.
Now that he'd started thinking about their parents, no problem there either; his had always liked her & hers had always liked him. Well, her mother could be a bit overbearing at times, to those who didn't know her; but he did, so that was no problem. And her father, well, it was anyone's guess which of them was the more timid. No, all four parents would love what he was thinking about, what he'd been thinking about for years.
So what was stopping him? Timidity? It must be that. These were his thoughts as his gaze fell on the framed pictures on his desk. There was one of the Finster family, one of the group, & a blowup of a certain member thereof. His eyes stayed on the blowup as his left hand instinctively opened the desk's lap drawer & extruded the small black box he'd bought, how long ago, two, three months? Yep, no doubt about it, the only reason he hadn't done it was timidity.
RRRRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!
Thoughts shattered; back to business.
*click* "Finster."
"There's been another accident, C.C."
His breath caught in his throat, again. "How bad?"
"Same old same old." Meaning nothing serious, just another DareDeville dustup.
"Which team?"
"Team one." Phil & Lil. Even though he knew the situation was well in hand, he felt a clutching in his chest, as he did every time he had to go through such a situation.
"Where?"
"Dr. Carmichael's on the job. They're in the infirmary now."
"So am I." He terminated the line & the conversation that went over it, rising to his feet. So much of a hurry was he in, he didn't notice he'd carried the box with him, dropping it in a handy pocket.
*ka-thlump*
The door to the medicine cabinet closed, courtesy of the coffee colored right hand belonging to the medical consultant of DareDevilles. Her left hand was a bit full.
"Okkay, first I get you better, then I kill you." She had been through such ordeals so often she was used to it, but to cope she had been driven to the point of talking to herself. "Or maybe I'll just put you through a little extra pain while I'm treating you; that'd be appropriate.." And on & on she muttered.
*SLAM!!!*
A head turned. "Yours is in there; I'm done with her." Her free hand pointed to the left. "I'm about to treat mine, and try once again to give him a piece of my mind."
"He can use it." He rushes to the indicated door, then stops, his hand on the knob. "Susie?"
Her passage arrested, she turns from the door on the right. "Yeah, Chuckie?"
"Why do they do this to us?"
"I don't think it's intentional. These kids just have a death wish, the four of them. That's all."
His hand wavers between wiping, rubbing, & scratching the area between his blue-framed glasses & his orange mop of hair. "They need help."
A glorious smile broke out over the brown face. "What do you think we're here for? Now you go see about her." And with that she disappeared through the door. He followed her example.
And appeared on the other side.
She was half sitting, half lying on the examination table. Fully conscious, fully clothed, & fully in good spirits. As he closed the door she was in the middle of a full-body yawn, & she was making those cute noises she still made from time to time. "peep peep peep" he heard.
At this point his reserve left him. He circled around her & grabbed her suddenly into the most vicious hug he'd applied in memory.
" *MMFF!*, Chuckie? This is so unlike you; I think I like it."
As he hugged her, something in a certain pocket dug into both bodies, causing notice, not to mention a small amount of discomfort.
"What is that?"
As the identity of the offending object, together with memories from the office, interacted in his mind; Chuckie knew that it was destiny, ordering him to do it. Now was the time; he knew it. If he didn't do it now, he never would & he'd regret it the rest of his life.
"Could you just shut up for a minute & give me a chance to say what I--"
"You can't tell me to shut up; I'm a woman & you're a man!"
Confusion closed his mouth. "Is that in the rules?" he asked, referring to a mythical set of rules on intergender relations to which the members of the group had referred from time to time over the years.
A shock of brown hair nodded in affirmation.
"Where, right after the part about the guy having to be psychic?"
"No, that's on the first page. This is further on back."
"Around the part that says it won't do the man any good to complain about anything the woman wants to do, & in fact will inevitably encourage her to do more?"
"Past that. So you knew about that one? Good for you."
"How often have I complained about stuff you want me to do?"
A pair of eyes shot toward the top of her head in concentration. "Not very often, come to think of it."
"As much as I enjoy this refresher course, can we get back to what I was about to say?"
"Only if you skip past the 'shut up' part."
"Then could you let me say what I have to say before I lose my resolve?"
"There's some carpet cleaner under the sink, & alright."
The first part of that statement confused him momentarily. "Eh, skip it." He then assumed the position, the traditional suitor's position. His hand went to the appropriate pocket & drew out the box, which he then opened, exhibiting its glittering contents. "Lillian Deville, will you marry me?"
She said nothing, but slid off the table, landing directly in front of her boyfriend. She kneeled to look him in the eye, lifted the ring, & slipped it onto her finger. Finally...
"Yes, I will, Chuckie." Her arms reached out for him, & in due course of time, the two were in a position with which humanity has been familiar since the Garden Of Eden.
When they came up for air, she looked him in the eye. "Darnit Chuckie, what took you so long?"
The shock soon passed, as he realized she'd wanted this even more than he had, if that was possible. His mind didn't have to search far for an explanation as the office was again fresh. "Timidity, there's just no other way to explain."
"Makes sense." she mused. Then without warning, she slapped him across the face.
"What was that for?!?" he exclaimed.
A smug look came to her face. "For calling me Lillian; only Phillip does that."
Face fault. "You're kidding."
"It's a twin thing. In some ways Phillip & I are closer to each other than anyone else will ever be."
"Even the people you two marry?"
"Chuckie, we shared a womb! The two of us formed together, from shapeless blobs of protoplasm. We were stuck together, watching each other before we even had eyes, naked together in close quarters for nine months. How's anyone going to beat that?"
"I don't know." Chuck confessed, before sweeping her into another hug. "I'm bound to try, though."
As she settled into his embrace, those adorable noises escaped her mouth again, culminating in "Hmm, well, try all you want; I won't complain."
Then she noticed traces of concern still on her now fiancee's face. "What?"
"I'm just relieved you said yes."
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Well..."
"No, really. What reason could I possibly have to not jump at the chance to marry you?"
"I, I'd really rather not say; it'd just bring up old stuff that's probably best forgotten."
"Chuckie."
"Well, there might be someone else."
"Who?"
"I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry--"
"Chuckie, we're not in high school anymore, or even college. If we're going to make a life together we should be able to deal with everything in our past. And we're mature enough to do it. Now, who else would I be interested in?"
A head sunk, a head from which an extremely small voice gave out a single word: "Tommy."
As Lil heard that word, she gave out a reaction of disbelieving frustration, which among other effects caused her to blow at an angle to rustle her bangs. Then she set about to build the young man's self-confidence. "First, your sister would kill him, & me. Second, have I given any indication that I'm still interested in him?"
"Well, not in a long time, but..."
"But what?"
"Well," he finally gave in, "why wouldn't you be interested in him? Everyone loves him."
"So that's it." she deadpanned. "Tommy Pickles, the alpha male, the golden child, the chosen one, the heartbreaker, the fearless leader, the adventurer, the charismatic--"
"Wow, I feel a lot better." Chuck remarked caustically.
"Chuckie," she again looked him in the eye as she grabbed him by either side, forcing him to look at her. "He is all that & a bag of chips. But he's not you. You just don't realize how attractive you are. He might be the leader, but you're the stud."
He didn't believe that, & his expression said as much.
"C'mon, who was the star of The Babies, you or him?"
"John Waite."
Her expression slowly approached a level between flat & quizzical. "Okkay, I'd expect that from Phillip. And that was the Babys, not the Babies."
"Huh?"
"Never mind. How did you find that out?"
"Well, when you're an agent in the entertainment field, you have to keep your finger on the pulse of the industry, which includes the musical part of the industry, which includes the history of the musical part of the industry."
She just continued to look at him. "My brother's been talking to you about bringing back 'Il'n', hasn't he?"
"All he said was that if it ever comes back--"
"And that's a big 'if'."
"-- that he wanted me to represent you guys."
"Well, of course you'd represent us. But that is so not happening. Anyway, back to my main point, you're easily as attractive as Tommy. There's a sweetness about you, a vulnerability, that just makes women want to pick you up & take you home with them."
"I already have a Mom, Lil."
"You used to not, & believe it or not that works to your advantage. If your face was on screens coast to coast like ours are, there'd be an army of Chuckie lovers wanting to get with you. And they'd all have to deal with me."
"Really?"
"Really. Do I need to go through your romantic past?"
"I have one? I mean, I don't see any groupies trying for me like they do for the rest of you."
"Because you like to stay in the background. Honestly, if you wanted you could pitch a series 'The Many Loves Of Chuckie Finster'."
"Oh, now I know you're exaggerating."
"That's it; we're going into the past."
"Lil--"
"Chuckie, like I said we're mature enough to do this. If anything I was afraid someone else would grab you before I could."
"You really loved me that much? For how long?"
"Years, since junior high at least."
"Really?"
"Even when we were babies, I used to love tickling your tummy. People commented about Tommy's laugh, but he had nothing on you. Yes, I love you & not him."
Chuck took a break from the heart to heart to collect his thoughts. "And what if Kimi hadn't come along?"
"Now you know that's not fair. I don't know what would've happened. None of us do; we can't. For all we know I'd be with Tommy & you'd be with Angelica by now."
"As if!"
"It could've happened & you don't know it couldn't have. But Kimi changed the entire group dynamic. She loves him, & I love you."
She could see that he was going to need just a bit more convincing, so... "Alright, the Chuckie Finster harem is now open for review."
"How far are we going back?"
"To the very first one."
"And that would be?"
"Megan."
Now it was Chuck's turn to pfft! "Megan? She cheated on me, plus she was a psycho."
"I know, we all thought the both of you were nuts. But you were talking marriage."
"Alright, but I still think that's a bad example."
"Okkay, how about Emma?"
"Alright, I'll give you that one. But we broke up."
"Problems with her brother?"
"That was part of it, but not the whole thing."
"Okkay, well, then there was..."
And for the next hour the two of them dug through each other's pasts with fine-toothed combs.
Finally...
"Samantha Shane. This one's a bit painful for me, I'll have you know."
"Why?"
"I would've made a play for you about then if you hadn't been infatuated with her."
"Well then you'll be glad to hear that it was just a crush, like it was with Susie."
"Really?"
"Yeah. We had a nice little talk, & realized we weren't right for each other. I mean, she's Angelica's age."
"So's Susie, & that's not stopping my brother."
"Alright, bad reason. But really, it was just a crush."
"Speaking of Angelica..."
"Let's not."
"Chuckie, she treated you like Megan did. And she set you up with Samantha."
"Which doesn't change the fact that she's been the bane of my existence since I've known her. You don't know the hell she put me through!"
Lil could see Chuck's agitation mounting, so she let the matter drop.
As soon as he had cooled down, however, Chuck's curiosity surfaced. "What do you mean you would've made a play for me then?"
That caused a smile, the type that's accompanied by closed eyes. "Remember the lip balm?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I overheard Tommy telling you that when she gave you her lip balm it was serious."
"I remember that too."
"Remember me asking for it right then?"
"Yeah, you asked to borrow it."
"No, I asked if I could HAVE it."
"I don't get it."
"'She gave you her lip balm? That's serious.' So I wanted you to give it to me, because I wanted you to get serious with me."
"Whoah!" That left Chuck speechless for a long time. "I, I had no idea."
"Well, the male is less perceptive on matters of the heart."
His brow furrowed, then cleared. "What can I say, you're right." Then he smiled as he initiated yet another embrace. "Well, I finally did."
Now her brow furrowed. "Did what?"
"Get serious with you."
Her eyes caught his again. "Did you ever!"
And again they were lost in each other's lips.
"Mmm..." Another adorable noise from Lil.
That caused Chuck to break it up. "What?"
"I was just thinking; this was bound to happen."
"You mean us?" Nod. "Why, because of when Angelica made us get married?"
"Well, that's part of it."
Puzzlement.
"We're the catchphrase couple. 'Bestest Friend' & Miss 'Prettiful'."
"Well, actually I think it was Tommy that--"
"Chuckie?"
"Hmm?"
"Don't spoil the moment."
"Right." And with that they settled into yet another embrace.
Well, two down, one to go. Which means Phil & Susie are on deck. Next time, proposal number three, as soon as I can come up with a good name for it. And I thought I'd have a hard time coming up with three different ways to propose. I did, but this is harder. Hint: Jeff Conaway. I'm not saying any more about it until next Monday. Btw does anyone know what colors the Rugrats' eyes are? I'd really like to know; maybe I could work it in. I'd've liked to have put in Lil's eye color above, & it'd be simple to do that if I knew. Well, till next week, please read & review. I'm Nftnat, on e-mail I'm nftnat@aol.com , & on IM I'm Nftnat . Cy'all.
I am overwhelmed by the reviews for Chapter 3. Like I said before, LK, Kimi's a pistol. Hopefully I succeeded in putting the Chuckie & Lil relationship over too. You don't know what it means to have such glowing praise from you, & from you SN. "Astounds"? Coming from you that means a lot. You two are legends of Rugrats fanfic. As are you, Kimmy Larisa. I reviewed the latest chapter of Deja Vu btw & before this day is out I'd better see what The Real Crib is about. KRACILT, whatever that means. Here's your favorite couple & I hope you like. Nightw2, thanks for your review too. Please read & review, y'all.
Rugrats is created, copyrighted, & / or owned by Klasky-Csupo & / or Nickelodeon, which in turn is owned by Viacom.
In the office trailer of DareDevilles, the agent for the star / hosts, who was also one of the executive producers (though if you'd ask him he'd say he was just a guy helping his friends), sat in front of his laptop. But his mind wasn't on his work; that had already been done. With the contracts signed & the season finale out of his hands, the show was practically running itself & would continue to do so for months at least. Things were quiet on the baseball front too; he & Dil had settled on an offer, one which would increase the wealth of both young men tenfold at the very least. The press conference would take place the next week. And his sister had decided to pass on her athletic career for the next few months; a sabbatical, as it were. Did athletes take sabbaticals? He knew professors did, but...
No, his mind was elsewhere, on a certain co-host, one with an adorable pink bow which she still wore in her hair, lovely brown hair, with soulful eyes to match. The way she walked, the way she talked, her every gesture & every odd noise that came out of her, just screamed KAWAII!!! as his mother would put it.
Now that he'd started thinking about their parents, no problem there either; his had always liked her & hers had always liked him. Well, her mother could be a bit overbearing at times, to those who didn't know her; but he did, so that was no problem. And her father, well, it was anyone's guess which of them was the more timid. No, all four parents would love what he was thinking about, what he'd been thinking about for years.
So what was stopping him? Timidity? It must be that. These were his thoughts as his gaze fell on the framed pictures on his desk. There was one of the Finster family, one of the group, & a blowup of a certain member thereof. His eyes stayed on the blowup as his left hand instinctively opened the desk's lap drawer & extruded the small black box he'd bought, how long ago, two, three months? Yep, no doubt about it, the only reason he hadn't done it was timidity.
RRRRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!
Thoughts shattered; back to business.
*click* "Finster."
"There's been another accident, C.C."
His breath caught in his throat, again. "How bad?"
"Same old same old." Meaning nothing serious, just another DareDeville dustup.
"Which team?"
"Team one." Phil & Lil. Even though he knew the situation was well in hand, he felt a clutching in his chest, as he did every time he had to go through such a situation.
"Where?"
"Dr. Carmichael's on the job. They're in the infirmary now."
"So am I." He terminated the line & the conversation that went over it, rising to his feet. So much of a hurry was he in, he didn't notice he'd carried the box with him, dropping it in a handy pocket.
*ka-thlump*
The door to the medicine cabinet closed, courtesy of the coffee colored right hand belonging to the medical consultant of DareDevilles. Her left hand was a bit full.
"Okkay, first I get you better, then I kill you." She had been through such ordeals so often she was used to it, but to cope she had been driven to the point of talking to herself. "Or maybe I'll just put you through a little extra pain while I'm treating you; that'd be appropriate.." And on & on she muttered.
*SLAM!!!*
A head turned. "Yours is in there; I'm done with her." Her free hand pointed to the left. "I'm about to treat mine, and try once again to give him a piece of my mind."
"He can use it." He rushes to the indicated door, then stops, his hand on the knob. "Susie?"
Her passage arrested, she turns from the door on the right. "Yeah, Chuckie?"
"Why do they do this to us?"
"I don't think it's intentional. These kids just have a death wish, the four of them. That's all."
His hand wavers between wiping, rubbing, & scratching the area between his blue-framed glasses & his orange mop of hair. "They need help."
A glorious smile broke out over the brown face. "What do you think we're here for? Now you go see about her." And with that she disappeared through the door. He followed her example.
And appeared on the other side.
She was half sitting, half lying on the examination table. Fully conscious, fully clothed, & fully in good spirits. As he closed the door she was in the middle of a full-body yawn, & she was making those cute noises she still made from time to time. "peep peep peep" he heard.
At this point his reserve left him. He circled around her & grabbed her suddenly into the most vicious hug he'd applied in memory.
" *MMFF!*, Chuckie? This is so unlike you; I think I like it."
As he hugged her, something in a certain pocket dug into both bodies, causing notice, not to mention a small amount of discomfort.
"What is that?"
As the identity of the offending object, together with memories from the office, interacted in his mind; Chuckie knew that it was destiny, ordering him to do it. Now was the time; he knew it. If he didn't do it now, he never would & he'd regret it the rest of his life.
"Could you just shut up for a minute & give me a chance to say what I--"
"You can't tell me to shut up; I'm a woman & you're a man!"
Confusion closed his mouth. "Is that in the rules?" he asked, referring to a mythical set of rules on intergender relations to which the members of the group had referred from time to time over the years.
A shock of brown hair nodded in affirmation.
"Where, right after the part about the guy having to be psychic?"
"No, that's on the first page. This is further on back."
"Around the part that says it won't do the man any good to complain about anything the woman wants to do, & in fact will inevitably encourage her to do more?"
"Past that. So you knew about that one? Good for you."
"How often have I complained about stuff you want me to do?"
A pair of eyes shot toward the top of her head in concentration. "Not very often, come to think of it."
"As much as I enjoy this refresher course, can we get back to what I was about to say?"
"Only if you skip past the 'shut up' part."
"Then could you let me say what I have to say before I lose my resolve?"
"There's some carpet cleaner under the sink, & alright."
The first part of that statement confused him momentarily. "Eh, skip it." He then assumed the position, the traditional suitor's position. His hand went to the appropriate pocket & drew out the box, which he then opened, exhibiting its glittering contents. "Lillian Deville, will you marry me?"
She said nothing, but slid off the table, landing directly in front of her boyfriend. She kneeled to look him in the eye, lifted the ring, & slipped it onto her finger. Finally...
"Yes, I will, Chuckie." Her arms reached out for him, & in due course of time, the two were in a position with which humanity has been familiar since the Garden Of Eden.
When they came up for air, she looked him in the eye. "Darnit Chuckie, what took you so long?"
The shock soon passed, as he realized she'd wanted this even more than he had, if that was possible. His mind didn't have to search far for an explanation as the office was again fresh. "Timidity, there's just no other way to explain."
"Makes sense." she mused. Then without warning, she slapped him across the face.
"What was that for?!?" he exclaimed.
A smug look came to her face. "For calling me Lillian; only Phillip does that."
Face fault. "You're kidding."
"It's a twin thing. In some ways Phillip & I are closer to each other than anyone else will ever be."
"Even the people you two marry?"
"Chuckie, we shared a womb! The two of us formed together, from shapeless blobs of protoplasm. We were stuck together, watching each other before we even had eyes, naked together in close quarters for nine months. How's anyone going to beat that?"
"I don't know." Chuck confessed, before sweeping her into another hug. "I'm bound to try, though."
As she settled into his embrace, those adorable noises escaped her mouth again, culminating in "Hmm, well, try all you want; I won't complain."
Then she noticed traces of concern still on her now fiancee's face. "What?"
"I'm just relieved you said yes."
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Well..."
"No, really. What reason could I possibly have to not jump at the chance to marry you?"
"I, I'd really rather not say; it'd just bring up old stuff that's probably best forgotten."
"Chuckie."
"Well, there might be someone else."
"Who?"
"I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry--"
"Chuckie, we're not in high school anymore, or even college. If we're going to make a life together we should be able to deal with everything in our past. And we're mature enough to do it. Now, who else would I be interested in?"
A head sunk, a head from which an extremely small voice gave out a single word: "Tommy."
As Lil heard that word, she gave out a reaction of disbelieving frustration, which among other effects caused her to blow at an angle to rustle her bangs. Then she set about to build the young man's self-confidence. "First, your sister would kill him, & me. Second, have I given any indication that I'm still interested in him?"
"Well, not in a long time, but..."
"But what?"
"Well," he finally gave in, "why wouldn't you be interested in him? Everyone loves him."
"So that's it." she deadpanned. "Tommy Pickles, the alpha male, the golden child, the chosen one, the heartbreaker, the fearless leader, the adventurer, the charismatic--"
"Wow, I feel a lot better." Chuck remarked caustically.
"Chuckie," she again looked him in the eye as she grabbed him by either side, forcing him to look at her. "He is all that & a bag of chips. But he's not you. You just don't realize how attractive you are. He might be the leader, but you're the stud."
He didn't believe that, & his expression said as much.
"C'mon, who was the star of The Babies, you or him?"
"John Waite."
Her expression slowly approached a level between flat & quizzical. "Okkay, I'd expect that from Phillip. And that was the Babys, not the Babies."
"Huh?"
"Never mind. How did you find that out?"
"Well, when you're an agent in the entertainment field, you have to keep your finger on the pulse of the industry, which includes the musical part of the industry, which includes the history of the musical part of the industry."
She just continued to look at him. "My brother's been talking to you about bringing back 'Il'n', hasn't he?"
"All he said was that if it ever comes back--"
"And that's a big 'if'."
"-- that he wanted me to represent you guys."
"Well, of course you'd represent us. But that is so not happening. Anyway, back to my main point, you're easily as attractive as Tommy. There's a sweetness about you, a vulnerability, that just makes women want to pick you up & take you home with them."
"I already have a Mom, Lil."
"You used to not, & believe it or not that works to your advantage. If your face was on screens coast to coast like ours are, there'd be an army of Chuckie lovers wanting to get with you. And they'd all have to deal with me."
"Really?"
"Really. Do I need to go through your romantic past?"
"I have one? I mean, I don't see any groupies trying for me like they do for the rest of you."
"Because you like to stay in the background. Honestly, if you wanted you could pitch a series 'The Many Loves Of Chuckie Finster'."
"Oh, now I know you're exaggerating."
"That's it; we're going into the past."
"Lil--"
"Chuckie, like I said we're mature enough to do this. If anything I was afraid someone else would grab you before I could."
"You really loved me that much? For how long?"
"Years, since junior high at least."
"Really?"
"Even when we were babies, I used to love tickling your tummy. People commented about Tommy's laugh, but he had nothing on you. Yes, I love you & not him."
Chuck took a break from the heart to heart to collect his thoughts. "And what if Kimi hadn't come along?"
"Now you know that's not fair. I don't know what would've happened. None of us do; we can't. For all we know I'd be with Tommy & you'd be with Angelica by now."
"As if!"
"It could've happened & you don't know it couldn't have. But Kimi changed the entire group dynamic. She loves him, & I love you."
She could see that he was going to need just a bit more convincing, so... "Alright, the Chuckie Finster harem is now open for review."
"How far are we going back?"
"To the very first one."
"And that would be?"
"Megan."
Now it was Chuck's turn to pfft! "Megan? She cheated on me, plus she was a psycho."
"I know, we all thought the both of you were nuts. But you were talking marriage."
"Alright, but I still think that's a bad example."
"Okkay, how about Emma?"
"Alright, I'll give you that one. But we broke up."
"Problems with her brother?"
"That was part of it, but not the whole thing."
"Okkay, well, then there was..."
And for the next hour the two of them dug through each other's pasts with fine-toothed combs.
Finally...
"Samantha Shane. This one's a bit painful for me, I'll have you know."
"Why?"
"I would've made a play for you about then if you hadn't been infatuated with her."
"Well then you'll be glad to hear that it was just a crush, like it was with Susie."
"Really?"
"Yeah. We had a nice little talk, & realized we weren't right for each other. I mean, she's Angelica's age."
"So's Susie, & that's not stopping my brother."
"Alright, bad reason. But really, it was just a crush."
"Speaking of Angelica..."
"Let's not."
"Chuckie, she treated you like Megan did. And she set you up with Samantha."
"Which doesn't change the fact that she's been the bane of my existence since I've known her. You don't know the hell she put me through!"
Lil could see Chuck's agitation mounting, so she let the matter drop.
As soon as he had cooled down, however, Chuck's curiosity surfaced. "What do you mean you would've made a play for me then?"
That caused a smile, the type that's accompanied by closed eyes. "Remember the lip balm?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I overheard Tommy telling you that when she gave you her lip balm it was serious."
"I remember that too."
"Remember me asking for it right then?"
"Yeah, you asked to borrow it."
"No, I asked if I could HAVE it."
"I don't get it."
"'She gave you her lip balm? That's serious.' So I wanted you to give it to me, because I wanted you to get serious with me."
"Whoah!" That left Chuck speechless for a long time. "I, I had no idea."
"Well, the male is less perceptive on matters of the heart."
His brow furrowed, then cleared. "What can I say, you're right." Then he smiled as he initiated yet another embrace. "Well, I finally did."
Now her brow furrowed. "Did what?"
"Get serious with you."
Her eyes caught his again. "Did you ever!"
And again they were lost in each other's lips.
"Mmm..." Another adorable noise from Lil.
That caused Chuck to break it up. "What?"
"I was just thinking; this was bound to happen."
"You mean us?" Nod. "Why, because of when Angelica made us get married?"
"Well, that's part of it."
Puzzlement.
"We're the catchphrase couple. 'Bestest Friend' & Miss 'Prettiful'."
"Well, actually I think it was Tommy that--"
"Chuckie?"
"Hmm?"
"Don't spoil the moment."
"Right." And with that they settled into yet another embrace.
Well, two down, one to go. Which means Phil & Susie are on deck. Next time, proposal number three, as soon as I can come up with a good name for it. And I thought I'd have a hard time coming up with three different ways to propose. I did, but this is harder. Hint: Jeff Conaway. I'm not saying any more about it until next Monday. Btw does anyone know what colors the Rugrats' eyes are? I'd really like to know; maybe I could work it in. I'd've liked to have put in Lil's eye color above, & it'd be simple to do that if I knew. Well, till next week, please read & review. I'm Nftnat, on e-mail I'm nftnat@aol.com , & on IM I'm Nftnat . Cy'all.