"I Don't Wanna!"
"It can't be done, Brave Heart, it just can't be done!" Regal Heart groaned, exhasperated, breezing past him as he opened his front door to let her in.
"Um...Something wrong?" he asked mildly, not quite sure if he liked the way her tail was lashing. His sister snarled, and it seemed she couldn't form a complete sentence.
"She..and I told her...ready to...oooooh!" she folded her arms. Her ears were tucked so far back that her head looked like a shitake mushroom, and he would have laughed if it wasn't for the 'laugh at me, and you die' look on her face. He decided to keep a low profile until she had calmed down a bit, and he excused himself to get some Pepsi for the two of them. He had a pretty good idea what was happening, though. Regal's twins, Connie and Hope, were about the Care Bear Cousin equivalent of six years old, and Connie had really been acting up lately. Brave Heart had seen it himself.
The night before, Brave Heart had been over at their house for dinner. Everything had been okay at first; the twins were cute little things, and they were being very well behaved until Connie took it into her head that it was okay to chase her sister around with a jar full of spiders. Regal, who was terrified of spiders, had told her in a voice that was a bit higher than normal to stop it. Connie's reply had been 'I don't wanna!'. When her mother insisted, she had thrust out her lower lip in a pout, and deliberately shattered the jar on the kitchen floor.
Regal's husband, Stellar Heart Tiger, had acted quickly, using his tummy symbol to catch the offending bugs in a bubble, which he transported safely outside. Connie had made herself scarce after that, but the damage had been done; Brave Heart had actually winced at the ominous way in which Regal had said, 'I'll deal with her later.'
The rest of the evening had gone smoothly, however, and Brave Heart found himself wondering what had happened now. He went back into his living room to find his sister much calmer; she was sitting on his couch, leafing through a magazine without much interest. She looked up when she heard him coming, and cocked an eyebrow.
"You have a lifetime subscription to 'Highlights Magazine'?"
"Um..." Brave Heart grinned sheepishly, and handed her a can of Pepsi. "Yeah, it's a guilty pleasure. I like reading 'Goofus and Gallant'..."
She laughed, and tweaked his ear. "What's wrong with the 'Hidden Pictures'?"
"Nah, I always have trouble with those." he sat down, opening his Pepsi, and taking a long drink. "So, what're you in a mood about?"
"Oh, it's Connie..." she sighed, setting her Pepsi down on a coaster.
"What's she done now?" he asked.
"It's more what she didn't do." she replied, folding her paws in her lap. "After the 'spider incident' last night, I couldn't just let her off scot-free, so this morning I told her to clean her side of the room. It needs it anyway...Well, I went up after an hour, and she was taking a nap. And we got into this huge argument, and I had to leave the house because I didn't trust my temper, and..." she broke off as a ringing sound came from her purse.
"What's that?" asked Brave Heart.
"My cell phone..." she replied, digging out a small cell with a blue faceplate. "I better take this, it might be important."
"Sure." he nodded agreeably, sipping his soda.
"Hello?" said Regal, speaking into the phone. She laid her ears back, and her shoulders slumped. "No, you can't. No. You better not...I don't have to explain it, young lady. Because I said so, that's why. All right...bye." she turned off her phone, and shook her head. "Sometimes I don't believe the things I hear myself saying..."
Brave Heart covered his mouth, smothering a chuckle.
"What's so funny?" Regal demanded.
Brave Heart held up his paws in surrender, and shook his head. "Nothing."
"You think this is funny!" she looked hurt.
"No, no, it's just...I dunno, I guess I do think it's funny, kinda. But only that last thing ya said." he added quickly.
Regal Heart seemed satisfied with this, and even looked a bit guilty. She ran a paw through the short fur on top of her head, and sighed. "I'm sorry, I just seem to be getting annoyed more easily these days."
"That's okay, it seems like li'l Connie's really feelin' her oats these days, too." he replied.
"And that's the truth!" she quipped, using Lotsa Heart's catch phrase, and easing some of the tension in the room.
"So, what can I do to help?" asked Brave Heart, knowing that there was a reason for her visit.
"Well...I hate to spring this on ya..." she hesitated, looking at the floor.
"No, it's what I'm here for." he told her, "Spring away."
"Well...I was wondering if you could take Connie for the weekend..." she said reluctantly. She knew how it sounded, but she wasn't dumping Connie off to be rid of her. Far from it; she simply needed her brother's help, and for a very good reason. "I promised to help re-paint the Hall of Hearts, Stellar has missions, and Hope's going with him; Connie refused, and she can be very persuasive. He doesn't have much time before he has to leave, and I won't be able to paint and watch her at the same time. Since you'll be her Leader someday, and since she likes visiting you, maybe she'll listen to someone who isn't 'on her case' all the time. I just don't know what else to do at this point; last week, she almost had her father in tears because she said he was a mean daddy. I know how that sounds, I mean, he shouldn't take her seriously and all..."
"It sounds totally understandable." Brave Heart interrupted. He knew how sensitive his brother-in-law was, but he also knew that children, or cubs in this case, could be hurtful without meaning to. Though he had to admit, he was a bit surprised at his niece.
But Regal wasn't finished. "Then today, just before I left the house, she told me she hated me..."
Brave Heart's jaw sagged open in unabashed shock. He had to remind himself that Connie was really too young to know what true hatred was, and that it wasn't all that unusual for a child to say this when they didn't get their own way. He himself had said that to Take Care once when he was a cub, and was being forced to have an unwanted time-out. He picked his jaw up off the floor when he saw the look of sadness on his sister's face. "Well, you know she didn't really mean that."
"Yeah, but even so..."
"I get it." he told her, "So, when did you wanna bring her over?"
She looked up in relief. "You don't mind? She can be trouble..."
He grinned. "You forget, trouble is my specialty."
"But I don't wanna!"
Regal Heart paused in her packing, and sighed. "Connie, honey, I thought you liked visiting with Uncle Brave Heart."
"I do, but I wanna stay heeeere!" Connie whined, "How come he can't just come over here?"
"Because..." but Regal couldn't really think of a good reason. She forcefully reminded herself that she was the parent here, and decided on a compromise. "Okay, how about this...you don't have to stay for the weekend-"
"Yaaaaaaay!" Connie cheered, bouncing a bit on her bed.
Regal held up a finger. "Wait, not finished yet. You don't have to stay the entire weekend, but you do have to spend the day."
"Aw, but Mommy! All my toys are here!"
"Well, you can bring two toys with you. It won't be so bad; you'll have fun with your uncle."
Connie folded her little arms, and glowered. "Five toys."
"Two."
"Five!"
"Two."
"Five!"
"You want me to knock it down to zero?"
Connie chewed her lip in frustration, and Regal Heart nodded in satisfaction and said, "Good, I thought so."
"I'm not going!" Connie squealed, diving under her bed.
Stellar Heart peeked around the doorjamb, and offered a lopsided grin. "Oh, you told her, huh?"
"How did you guess?" Regal said caustically, seizing Connie by the ankles and dragging her out from under the bed.
"Nooooooo, no! Hey, a nickel..." the cub held up a shiny coin and blew a dust bunny off her fist, grinning proudly.
"Wow, look what you found!" exclaimed Regal, making a fuss over Connie's new treasure, while at the same time winking at her husband.
"Boy, I'll bet Uncle Brave Heart'll want to see it!" added Stellar, catching on and playing along.
Hope came into the room she shared with her sister, and saw Connie with a shiny, silver-hued nickel. "Ooh, can I have a penny too?"
Connie smirked, and said, "You silly, it's a nickel, not a penny, and this one's mine."
"Oh..." Hope looked at the floor, and scuffed her feet a bit.
Connie's smirk melted, and she said, "You wanna hold it?"
"Okay!" chirped Hope, holding out her paws. Connie handed it over, and after a moment Hope gave it back.
Regal Heart had half-emptied Connie's over-night bag, and was filling in the space with a few picture books. "Ready to show Uncle Brave Heart your new nickel?"
"No!"
The first thing that popped into Brave Heart's mind when he opened the door was just how alike Regal and Connie looked when they were miffed about something. At the moment, Regal just looked mildly annoyed. Connie, on the other hand, looked like she was ready to spit fire. Her ears were laid back, displaying the white spots on the backs of them; her little whip of a tail was lashing quickly back and forth, and the fur on the back of her neck stood on end.
"Hey, Regal. Hey, Connie, what's the matter?"
Connie stuck out her lower lip, and refused to answer him. Shrugging, Brave Heart turned to Regal and asked, "You wanna come in for a bit?"
"No!" Connie cut in before Regal could open her mouth.
After fixing Connie with a stern look, Regal briefly hugged her brother and said, "I really can't. I promised Tender Heart I'd help him give the Hall of Hearts a new coat of paint."
Connie, who was no longer paying attention, pushed past Brave Heart and entered his house. As they stared after her, Regal said to her brother, "You wanna hear something funny?"
"Sure." he turned back to face her.
"Well...it's not something I brag about...but as a cub, I was about as bratty as they come." she told him.
Brave Heart blinked incredulously. "You're kidding!"
"Nope, wish I was...I drove my parents nuts. Fortunately, I grew out of it pretty quick...There's no telling when Connie will grow out of it, though." she looked a bit sheepish still.
It was the strangest thing, but as soon as the Liger Twins had been born, Hugs and Tugs had resumed growing. Now all four cubs were out of diapers, and it was still the talk of the Kingdom. At this rate, or so Bright Heart reckoned, it would take them about three years to reach adulthood. Even Bright Heart couldn't explain why Hugs and Tugs had 'waited' until the twins were born to start growing again.
"Well," said Brave Heart after turning these thoughts over a bit, "I think we'll be okay. I wasn't exactly an angel either, ya know. She prob'ly just doesn't know what to do with herself."
Regal nodded in agreement. "If you say so...I'll be back for her tonight."
"I thought she was stayin' the weekend." he said.
Regal smirked, and said, "It was like pulling teeth just to get her here."
"Want me to read you a story?"
"No!"
Brave Heart was trying, but Connie was having none of it. Since she was there against her will, she was determined not to have fun. Contrary Heart indeed! She sat with a scowl on her face, and with her arms crossed. As tough as she was trying to appear, she just ended up looking silly. Brave Heart finally sighed, and attempted to reason with her. "Listen, Munchkin, I'm doin' this as a favor to yer mama...Why're you so mad at me?"
Unfortunately, Connie took it the wrong way. "A favor? You...you don't really want me here!"
"No, I didn't mean-" he stammered, trying to repair the damage.
"Well, I don't wanna be here either! I wanna go home!"
"Aw, Connie, of course I wantcha here..." he sat down beside her, but she jumped up off the couch. He didn't understand! She had never acted like this with him before. "You misunderstood me. I only meant-"
"Lemme 'lone!" she shouted, running off and locking herself in the bathroom.
"Jalapeño..." he muttered, running a paw through his mane.
"I'm not stayin' here..." whispered Connie, wrestling with the bathroom window. It was stuck, but she was determined. "Oops...he might hear it..." she went over to the sink, and turned on the water. Then she went back to the window, which finally 'un-stuck' itself with a pop-creak. Two minutes later she was gone, and her uncle was none the wiser.
Brave Heart got quite a shock when he answered a knock at his front door. Proud Heart Cat stood there, seemingly alone...but there were two tails sticking out from behind her, and one of them was striped and tufted. Brave Heart frowned as Proud Heart reached behind herself and brought out a very guilty-looking cub.
"Connie!"
The cub screwed up her face and gave him a prodigious raspberry. Ignoring this for now, Brave Heart asked Proud Heart, "Where'd you find her?"
"My garden..." the cat replied in very annoyed tones, "Pulling the heads off my chrysanthemums."
"Connie, I'm surprised at you!" Brave Heart shook his head at his niece, and folded his arms. "Sorry 'bout yer flowers, Proud Heart. I'll replace 'em."
"No, that's all right. Just keep a closer eye on this one; you don't want her getting lost again." said Proud Heart, turning to leave.
Connie looked apprehensively after Proud Heart, and with good reason. It wasn't Proud Heart she was in trouble with. She glanced back up at her uncle, and the look of hurt anger on his face silenced all smart-alec remarks.
"Inside." Brave Heart stood aside and pointed to the couch. Connie slunk apologetically into the house, wincing as the door slammed behind her. "All right, young lady, you just earned yourself a time-out! Go sit in the corner."
Connie whipped around in shock. "You're punishing me?"
"You're making me."
"But I thought we were friends!" she cried.
Brave Heart looked pained. "We are friends, but that's not the point! You could have gotten me in trouble today, or worse, you could have been hurt! Now go sit in the corner."
"You're worse than my parents!" she yelled, "I hate you!"
Brave Heart gave a sharp, hurt gasp, and the look in his eyes was something she couldn't face. Bursting into tears, Connie went to sit in the corner...but Brave Heart picked her up and held her instead. She squirmed and struggled, but he somehow managed to get her to the couch, where he held her on his lap and rocked her as she cried into his chest.
Brave Heart sighed, and asked gently, "Connie, why're you being like this?"
"I dunno! I just get so mad!" she sobbed, the words muffled by his fur.
"Hmm...You know what I think?" he asked.
"Mmmwhat?"
"I think you don't like being told what to do." he said.
She raised her face, looking puzzled. "No...does anyone?"
"Well...I guess it really depends on how they're told, but you don't seem to like it at all." he replied.
"Mm-mmm!" she shook her head sharply, and ducked her face into his chest again. "And I don't like gettin' punished, either!"
"Yeah...Ya know, I used to get into a lot of trouble with Noble Heart as a cub." he told her.
"Ya did?" she asked.
"Uh-huh. I was always getting into things, and like you I had my own ideas of what I wanted to do. Why do you think your parents punish you, Connie?" he asked her, putting a finger under her chin to make her look up.
"Cuz they don't want me to have any fun!" she promptly snapped, pushing his paw away.
He shook his head slowly, and rubbed the palm of his right paw as if it pained him. She looked concerned now, but didn't say anything. Finally, Brave Heart said, "I'm sure they've told you to stay away from the stove, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Well...Noble Heart used to tell us that all the time, and once I got sent to my room for playing with the dials. We had an electric stove back then, no flames or nuthin'. I thought he was just bein' mean, and I snuck back down to go back to it. Well...he caught me, and I was so startled I lost my balance...and put my paw right smack on the rangetop!"
Connie flinched. "Ouch...didja cry?"
"Oh, you bet I did! People probably heard me in China!" he smirked, and she giggled. "But the point is, I got hurt because I disobeyed. And that's when I realized why I'd been punished all those times I did something wrong. Noble Heart was only doing it to teach me...because he loved me. Just like your parents and I love you. There's a reason why we're so bossy sometimes, ya know."
"Didja get punished again?" she asked.
"Well, Noble Heart figured I'd punished myself, and he felt bad enough as it is." he replied.
"Oh..." she nodded, hugging him. "I'm sorry I was bad..."
"It's okay." he said, hugging back. "Come on, I'll fix us some lunch."
"Okay, but don't burn yourself again!" she shook a finger at him, grinning.
Brave Heart grinned back, saluting. "Yes ma'am!"
"Mommy!"
"Oof!" Regal staggered backwards as her daughter launched herself into her arms. After the many spats they had had that morning, she was rather surprised to receive such an enthusiastic greeting. "Did you have fun?"
"Yeah! Uncle Brave Heart was a bad cub too!" Connie chirped happily as she led her mother in, and Brave Heart's cheeks turned pink.
"Oh, really?" Regal smirked at her brother.
"No, I just...Come see the picture Connie drew." he stammered, changing the subject.
His sister rolled her eyes, and followed him and Connie into the dining room. "What'd you draw, Connie?" she asked.
"A birdie! See?" Connie held up a drawing, which was done in blue and yellow crayon. It was barely recognizable as a bird, but Regal was proud just the same.
"Wow, I'll have to put this up on the fridge when we get home!" she said.
Connie giggled, and went off to get her things together. Regal smirked at Brave Heart again, and said, "I always knew you had a bad-boy streak!"
"Oh, would you let it go?" he groaned, though he was having a hard time keeping a straight face. Regal Heart spoiled his efforts by poking him in the ribs, where she knew his ticklish spot was. The involuntary giggle this action produced sounded so much like the 'Pillsbury Doughboy' noise that they both burst out laughing.
"'Hoo-hoo' yourself!" whooped Regal, pointing at him.
"Oh, fine! Next chance I get, I'm ticking your feet!" he retorted.
"Don't you dare!" she shot back, still laughing.
"Mommy, I'm sleepy..." mumbled Connie, rubbing her eyes and blinking owlishly up at them.
"Yeah, we better get going." agreed Regal, hugging her brother. "How'd she behave, by the way?"
"Well...it was kinda rocky at first, but she was fine after a while." he replied, turning to Connie. "Right, Munchkin?"
"Right!" Connie gave him a peck on the cheek as he bent down to hug her.
Brave Heart waved from his doorway as his sister and niece walked over to their Cloudmobile. As he waved, their voices floated back to him, causing him to shake his head in resignation.
"I can't wait to go to sleep..." Connie said.
"Well, first you're going to need a bath." replied Regal, "You look like you've been tramping through a mud puddle."
"No bath..." Connie moaned.
"You need one." Regal tiredly enunciated.
"But Mom, I don't wanna!"
Brave Heart shook his head as he went back inside. "That is one stubborn cub..."
End