A/N: Hi! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I made the mistake of having five things going at once, so I'll work on one each day. So Fridays are official Bird days. If there's no update up the day after I've updated, there always will be one on Friday for this one at least. Yes, I am in waaay over my head, but now I know why they say not to bite off more than you can chew... actually, I discovered the meaning to that the day I discovered Habenero peppers... youch! G2G!

-Smeagol's (Jesus freak and proud of it) girl.)

Mort sat himself down on the park bench while Marissa ran around and began to play with the other kids. She had brought one of her barbies with, and had met up with another girl who had them.

"I see you're back," said Juliet as she stepped up to him. Mort smirked.

"She wanted to show off her new doll," he said, pointing to Marissa. "She says thankyou, by the way."

"You told her it was me?" asked Juliet.

"Actually, she thinks her imaginary friend gave them to her. Sorry if that's a problem." Juliet shrugged.

"It's not. As long as she liked them."

"Can I ask you a question? How is it that you seem to know so much about girls?" She laughed and he snickered a little.

"Well," she answered, sitting next to him. "I stay up late at night, studying them for a living. Really, Mort, we're not all that complicated."

"I can't understand half the things she says half the time. Last night she wanted to play dressup and pretend she was a princess."

"Did you?" asked Juliet. Mort looked a little embarrased.

"Maybe a little."

"Didn't you ever play dressup when you were little?"

"No. I played fun things like GI Joe's and hot wheels, and robot toys. They don't seem to interest her."

"Well duh! She's a girl."

"Sorry, but I don't understand 'girl'."

"Funny," she muttered. "I thought that you of all people would." He looked at her and shoved her, and she laughed at him.

"Sorry, but it's been a while since I've worn my pretend tiara."

"You can borrow mine."

"Miss Julie!" shouted Marissa as she ran up to her. Juliet, surprised that the girl was addressing her, gave her a hug and smiled.

"Hello, Marissa!"

"She wanted to know your name," explained Mort.

"Look what Mr. Jibby gave me!" she said with a smile, holding up the barbie.

"Oh wow! That's really cool! Mr. Jibby must be a nice person to give you something like that."

"There another one at home, but Mort said I should only bring one. He thinks I'll lose one."

"Because you will," said Mort with a smile. "We're still looking for your other Mary Jane shoe." Marissa giggled and Juliet smiled.

"You know what, you'll have to come over sometime and sleep over. We'll have a girls only day."

"Cool," said Marissa. "Do you have any dolls?"

"Uh-huh. And a big doll house we could play with."

"Wow, well we'll have to set up a time for you to do that someday, huh?" said Mort.

"Today?" she asked, putting on her puppy eyes.

"No," both Mort and Juliet said in unison. "We'll set it up sometime, alright?" said Mort. Marissa pouted.

"Alright," she groaned.

"Go play, the sun's actually shining today," said Mort. Marissa jumped off Juliet's lap and ran off to play. "You know, she won't stop beggin for me to let her go now," he said with a smile. Juliet snickered.

"I'll call you guys then when I get the chance."

"Thanks," said Mort. "I think she needs a female influence once in a while too, so I appreciate it."

"Why? Afraid she might turn into you?" He gave her a meaningful look, then covered it over with a smile.

"Maybe a little."

"Well, maybe I'll call this weekend then. I think I'll have Saturday off, so if she wants to come over on Friday."

"Sounds good. Call first so I know if it's still going to work."

"I'll do that." She looked back over to Marissa, and nudged him. "Uh, Mort?" He looked up and saw Marissa hit another girl, then snatch her barbie from her, holding it close to her and pouting.

"Hey!" called Mort, getting to his feet. The little girl Marissa had hit was crying, and Marissa immediatly put on an innocent face when Mort came up to her.

"She tried to steal my barbie," said Marissa, sticking out her lip.

"That doesn't mean you can hit her!" scolded Mort.

"I don't care," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "She stole my barbie so I hit her."

"That's wrong, Marissa. You don't do that to people. How would you like it?"

"She started it," whined Marissa.

"Apologize to her now," said Mort, not giving in to her puppy eyes this time.

"No."

"Marissa, apologize to her or we're going now."

"No," repeated Marissa, stamping her foot. Mort stood up and picked her up, kicking and screaming, "No! No! No!" Juliet couldn't help but smirk as she walked up to him. "Need help?"

"I'll call you," he said, with a nod. Marissa was sticking out her lip and crying loudly, which was causing other people to stare. Mort, feeling embarrased now, looked at Marissa. "Are you going to apologize?"

"No!" shouted Marissa, and Mort placed her in the backseat and buckled her in, then climbed into the driver's seat.

"I think someone needs a nap," he said to Juliet through the window.

"Call me if you need anything," said Juliet.

"I will."

"I wanna play on the swings!" wailed Marissa.

"No," said Mort. "You misbehaved and now you're going to be punished."

"NOOOO!!!" screamed Marissa as she began to throw a tantrum. Mort turned on the car and drove away, waving to Juliet as he passed her. When they got home, Marissa stomped in the house, arms folded over her chest and lower lip sticking out. Mort hung up his jacket and kneeled in front of her.

"Go to your room," he said, pointing to her room.

"NO!"

"Marissa, enough! Go to your room now!" he shouted.

"NO!" He sighed, stood up and took her by the hand, practically dragging her up the stair and down the hall, kicking and screaming. He picked her up and sat her on her bed. "Now you're going to sit here until you're ready to behave," he said, not giving in to her pouting and whining.

"I hate you!" she shouted. He gritted his teeth, but stood up, knowing that walking away was the best thing to do now, and left the room, closing the door behind him. He held the knob, and soon heard her climb off the bed and head to the door. Sure enough, she tried the knob, but he held it shut while she screamed at him. "I hate you!" she screamed. "You're mean!"

"Marissa!" he shouted. "Get back on your bed and be quiet! I have had enough!" His voice was booming and it must have startled her because she stopped trying the door. She did not stop sobbing loudly and shouting things at him, so he wen downstairs and sat on the sofa with his head in his hands. The phone rang and he answered it.

"How's it going?" asked Juliet. He groaned.

"Well, I've sent her to her room until she calms down," he muttered.

"So what's she doing now? Is she settling down?" Marissa started shouting things again, and he held up the phone for Juliet to hear.

"I SAID I HATE YOU! YOU'RE STUPID! THAT GIRL WAS STUPID! AND I'M NOT SORRY! I'M NOOOOT SOOOORRRYYY!!!"

He lowered the phone back to his ear and sighed. "That answer your question?" Juliet laughed.

"Well, nothing to do now but wait till it stops. But you've done good."

"I know, but she said she hates me. Should I be worried?"

"Mort, didn't you ever tell your parents that?"

"A few times," he admitted.

"It's normal. And if she hates you, that means you're doing a good job." He snickered.

"Glad to hear it. From the sounds of it I'll be getting the 'Employee of the Year' award soon." Juliet laughed.

"Just hold in there, take plenty of headache medicine, and once it's been quiet for abou fifteen minutes, check on her."

"I'll do that. Bye."

"Bye." He hung up and sat back as the tantrum continued.

"I'LL NEVER EVER FORGIVE YOU! NEVER!"

He shrugged and turned on the TV to the Sports channel. "Guess I'm going to have to live with that," he muttered to himself.

(A/N: I figured that Marissa had been a little too well behaved and it was about time for her to have a bad day. Almost all little kids do, even my perfect' little sister. R&R please!)