Disclaimer: I still own nothing. Why do you even bother to ask?
Radioactive Bubblegum—Yes, yes, I forgive you. As long as you promise to update that story about Gwendolyn that is. It totally rocked.
Princess Arwen Evenstar 77—Thanks
Sweetdeath04—Thanks. You may or may not pity her at the end of this chapter too.
HYPERdingdong39—Thanks. I think I have an idea of where to put them in but it won't come for several chapters.
Holly Rox—My ideas come from the little voices in my head. They don't shut up or leave me alone night or day and insist on manifesting themselves in the form of stories for me to put on FF.net! Honestly, sometimes all the ideas keep me awake for hours at night when I have school the next day. Which isn't a good thing, considering I only get about 6 or 7 hours of sleep anyway.
The Toaster—Thanks.
CaptainRoseShort—Me too. I don't think I'm a very good share-bear.
SpikeTV58—Yeah! When I wrote that chapter I started humming! *starts singing off key* I'm all alone, there's no one here beside me!
Paul—Thanks. Those are good ideas, but not quite what I had in mind for this story. You're close with the Trouble thing, but that's not quite what I had in mind.
Slime Frog—Thanks.
Elfin Emerald—Thanks . Yeah, I don't want to make her too self-centered, but at the same time, everybody gets a little bit like that. Yeah, as far as the defending Arty thing, I thought that would kind of be good because they sort of bonded now, didn't they?
Enjoy everybody! This chapter is dedicated to the ceramic Holly mask I made that hangs on my wall, AND dedicated to all my faithful reviewers!
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CHAPTER 4: The Barbershop
Holly walked into the shop and was greeted cheerfully by the old gnome, Frank, "Hey, Holly. How's it going?"
Holly just shook her head.
"That bad?" he asked.
"Worse."
"Sit yourself in the chair and tell me all about it. You want the usual?"
She ran her hand through her couple inches of hair and sat down in the chair. "Yeah. It's getting long again."
"So, what seems to be the trouble?"
"Trouble is exactly it," she said sourly.
"What'd he do this time?" He picked up the scissors.
"It started when Root had another of his bright ideas."
Frank snorted. "Concerning what?"
"Well, at the edge of the Haven there was an attack. A gang of goblins torched a house. There was this little baby. It's the only known survivor, though there still a body unaccounted for. A little shorter on the left there, Frank. So I show up for work today and instead of putting me on the case, Root ass the brilliant notion to stick me with babysitting the rugrat!" She slammed her fist on the arm of the chair. She sighed. "You know how I am with kids. He knows how I am with kids. Do you remember the time you asked me to watch your great-nephew for you?"
"I remember. His parents and I came home to find that he'd somehow managed to lock you in a closet and in the meanwhile needed his diaper changed and managed to bump his head against the table. He cried all night."
"Did you ever hear the story about the son of the Atlantean Ambassador?"
"The one you lost? Holly, half Haven heard that story!"
She shook her head. "All of you only heard that I lost him. None of you knew that it was Root's idea to give him to me to lose. And you didn't know that Root knew I would lose him."
"Wait a second, he gave you a kid that he knew you were going to lose?"
"Yeah. Some hare-brained idea from the Council to bring down a tough gang. Nearly got me killed in the bargain and Atlantis almost declared war on us!"
Frank tried to suppress his laughter and didn't quite manage it. But it was okay. He was one of the few people who could laugh at Holly Short (now Kelp) and live to tell the tale.
"I'm dead serious. You don't know what he had to go through to get him and Root back. Did I mention Root got kidnapped? That's the kind of stuff they don't let leak out. They don't care about saying I lost the kid, but if it makes the Council look bad, after all it was their idea, then it's all hush-hush."
"I know, Holls. That's the way of the world, isn't it?"
"Yeah. I guess so."
"You never said what the problem was. All I've got so far is that Root stuck you with babysitting and you're mad at your husband."
"Root had me bring the kid home. He said that the Police Plaza was no place for an infant and that she would be better off at my house. I brought her home and she wouldn't stop crying. Nothing would make her stop. I tried everything. Trouble was home though; it's his day off."
"And he was able to get her to stop crying?"
"Yes. And I think he wants to keep her. You should have seen the looks he was giving her, Frank. Very fatherly." She sighed.
"And?" he asked gently.
"Then he went out to the store for diapers and I was left with her and she started crying all over again. When he came back he had all this baby stuff. Diapers, blankets, clothes, baby food formula stuff. The works!"
"And?" he repeated gently but firmly.
"And him and I talked a few months ago about having a baby. He wants one. But I told him then I wasn't ready. I'm still not. I don't want to change our lives so completely when we're so happy right now. Am I wrong for wanting to be happy for a while? Am I selfish for wanting to spend time with him? She's only been with us a few hours and he's already glued himself to her. I think she's a permanent fixture on his arm. I love him, but look at me. I'm not the right person to raise a kid. I'm clueless. I can't even get a baby to stop crying. I don't know how to change diapers. I ruined the bottle of baby formula twice before I got it right. I can't do it. Gods, even Root and Foaly can handle kids better than I can."
"You forget. Julius Root had a daughter once. She was murdered when she was about your age."
"That was a long time ago."
Frank shook his head sadly. "That's not something you can forget, Holly. How to hold a baby? That stays with you forever. You weren't even born yet when she died. I knew her. A sweet girl. He was crazy about her. Spoiled her, but was very overprotective. Don't you think he misses that?"
"I…I suppose, a parent never gets over the death of their child anymore than a child can ever really get over the death of her parent."
Frank nodded.
"What about Foaly? Only child. Never married. No kids. No girlfriend. How do you explain that?"
"Maybe he wants all those things, Holly."
"No. He lives for his computers."
Frank just shrugged and cut one more piece. "There. Done. Do you really think you'd be such a bad mother, Holly? Are you sure it isn't just that you're afraid of what you don't know how to do?"
She didn't answer right away. She got out of the chair slowly and reached for some gold in her pocket. "If you weren't such a good friend I wouldn't let you interrogate me like this," she grumbled.
"Interrogate? You came in to talk to me."
"I came in for a haircut," she said. She tossed the money on the counter and walked back outside.
Frank just shrugged with a slight smile. He picked up the broom and started sweeping up the hair. She'd come around eventually. She'd be back long before she needed another haircut.
As a matter of fact, she got to the end of the block and turned around.
It was only a matter of moments before she darkened his doorway again.
"Yes?" he asked pleasantly.
"He didn't tell me not to get my hair cut," she said, still standing in the doorway.
He blinked. "He didn't? Trouble always tells you not to get your hair cut. Every month you come in here for a trim and every month, before you came, he told you, 'Don't do it, Holls, it looks so nice when it gets longer'. What happened?"
"He was so interested in the baby earlier, he didn't even hear me." She sunk into onto the chair. "Am I selfish, Frank? Really?"
"How do you mean?"
"I was an only child. I didn't have to share my parents with anyone. I never really considered that I'd have to share Trouble with anybody. I wasn't ready for this."
"These things take some getting used to."
"But what if I don't get used to it? What if the baby doesn't stay, but eventually Trouble and I do have a little girl or boy? What if I never get used to having to share his time? What if I end up resenting my child for the rest of my life?"
"Holly, calm down. There's no use plaguing your life with what-ifs," came a voice from the door.
"Foaly, what are you doing here?" asked Holly, looking up at the centaur.
Frank looked at him. "You just had a haircut last week."
"I know. I'm on my lunch break. I thought I'd come say hello."
"To me?" asked Frank.
"Actually to Holly. I went by your house and Trouble said you'd gone out. I figured you might end up here. Come on, Holly. I'll walk you home."
She looked from Foaly to Frank. Frank looked from Holly to Foaly. Foaly looked from Frank to Holly. "Go with him," said Frank. "We can talk another time."
"Alright. I'll talk to you later then, Frank." Holly followed Foaly outside, Foaly gave Frank a parting glance and Frank nodded in understanding.
"I just don't know what to do, Foaly," Holly said to him as they walked down the street.
"I don't have much advice to offer. Just this. Do what feels right. Don't you think Trouble's been through exactly what you're feeling right now? He got over it."
"How do you mean?"
"Trouble is an older brother. Don't you think he felt the same way when Grub was born?"
"I never thought about it."
"Trouble doesn't give you his whole attention anyway and you don't give him your whole attention. As the saying goes, 'You are the job'. Your work is your number one priority. You eat, sleep, and breathe it. It consumed your whole being. But you eventually found room to let a few new friends in. Me, for instance. And Root. And even Fowl, after a fashion. Eventually you even found room in your heart to let Trouble in as more than a friend. You love him. You know that. Your lives are forever entwined together. This may be the first major issue the two of you are facing, but trust me, it won't be your last."
"Maybe you're right." She hesitated, looking at the street signs. "Have you eaten yet?"
"No."
"Hungry?"
"Yeah."
"Good. I'm not quite ready to go back yet. I think I've still got some things to work out."
He nodded and instead of taking the right road, the one that would lead them back to Trouble and the house, they took the left road and headed for the deli.
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So what did you think? I hope you liked it? Soonest update will be Sunday, but it could be after that. I've got several other stories in the works and I promised I'd update them this weekend. *looks guiltily at pile of neglected fics* Review!