I am Muffy

Muffy's parents have been arguing a lot especially about her father's 'business'. Now Mrs Crosswire wants to move out and take Muffy with her. Will Muffy survive life in the real world and which unlucky family will take them in? Please R&R

Disclaimer:I do not own any of the characters in Arthur.

Chapter 4

Ring Ring, Ring Ring

"Arthur – please pick up the phone! It's going to fall of the hook!" called Mrs Reed from the kitchen. She was washing the dishes – David was a great cook, but he still had to learn about 'cleaning up after oneself' part of the process.

"Mom – DW's stolen the remote! I'm only answering the phone if you tell her to give it back!" was Arthur's reply from the living room.

Mrs Reed rolled her eyes in frustration. 'Children!' she thought angrily. Dropping the dishes in the sink, she hurried to telephone, arms still covered in soap suds.

"Hello? May I know who's speaking?" she said, a little too forcefully, as she gingerly handled the phone

On the other side of the line Mrs Crosswire was a little put off, but she bounced back; "This Caroline Crosswire, Muffy's mother and your old high school friend."

"Oh Caroline! I'm so sorry about my abruptness – the kids were just driving me crazy! Hold on a sec, will you -?" Mrs Reed cupped the phone, and then yelled loudly to Arthur and DW, "If you two don't calm down right now, you will both not be able to watch TV for a whole month" – Instantly the noise subsided.

"Now where was I?" she continued, "Ah yes – it's lovely to hear from you again – and you're lucky that you got me just when the storm got over. All the phone lines are back! But how come your line still sounds a bit fuzzy? I would have thought the Crosswire line would be premium quality" she added bitterly.

There was an awkward pause, while Mrs Crosswire thought of how to phrase her 'slightly problematic situation'.

The words came out all in a rush - "I'm sorry, Jane – you see I'm calling from a public telephone booth because Ed and I have been having problems lately. You know; more then the usual husband and wife bickering? Anyways, the truth is that -", she lowered her voice here; "I don't feel that it's safe that Muffy and I should live with him anymore."

On the other end of the line, Mrs Reed was reeling from the shock of this admission. "But Caroline" she gasped, "You and Ed always seemed so happy"

"Maybe things aren't always as they seem" replied Caroline bitterly.

Mrs Reed took a deep breath and said, "Well in that case, wouldn't dd-, divor-, oh darn it! You know what I mean! Couldn't you settle this in the courts?"

Caroline shuddered, "You know Ed, Jane. He's always been headstrong since high-school. A divorce or even separation would cause too much bad publicity and probably tarnish his reputation forever. Besides, I'm afraid of what revenge he'd seek, if I took that course… Though what you say is true – there really is no other way around this."

Mrs Reed was silent for a while. "Caroline, I'm sorry – the decision is yours, and I know you're interested in the best for Muffy – but if you divorce Ed, then he'll have to give you half of his fortune, which should pay for everything."

"No!" Caroline's moan was soft yet sure. "At any rate the legal proceedings will probably take months to go through – Ed would see to that.

What I was calling about was: Can you and David find it in your hearts to accommodate Muffy and I, until this drama is over?"

There was a definite silence on Jane Reed's end of the line. She was a kind woman and she couldn't bring herself to refuse this poor distraught woman – whether her husband was a dominating tycoon or not.

"Well…" she said slowly. "We do have a spare bedroom for you, and Muffy could sleep on the floor in Arthur's room. But one problem is, there's probably not enough room for all of Muffy's, ahem, possessions (Blue Whale life-size replica included)."

Mrs Crosswire smiled and glanced at Muffy who was looking with her nose upturned at all the passers by. "I only had time to pack a suitcase of clothes and some precious memorabilia for both of us so you don't need to worry about storage. I've also taken $1000 from Ed's stash under the pillows, so we should be alright for food."

"Great!" Jane Reed tried to force some enthusiasm into her voice.

"You don't mind if I come right over now?" asked Caroline Crosswire anxiously. "I'm sorry to spring this upon you, but it really is urgent. I think Muffy needs to be gradually introduced into her new environment and the sooner the better."

Jane was a little taken back, "S-sure.." she stammered.

"Great! Well, I'll see you there!" replied Caroline.

Jane hung up the phone feeling a little dazed. Did she seriously just allow two Crosswires to stay at her house for an infinite amount of time? She shook her head – was she going insane? There was no way the Crosswires were going to get along with her family – Caroline would not be that bad, but Muffy! Jane had seen that child throw fits worse than DW! There was no way Muffy would be able to live in the Reeds' modest dwelling. Why hadn't Caroline gone and booked them into a luxury hotel?

One thing was good though – at least Ed wasn't coming too; he was unbearable and it didn't surprise her to hear that he'd been mistreating his wife. That man was no good!

A/N: It'll get more interesting from now on. It's funny though, because I'm no longer just writing from Muffy's perspective, even though the story's called "I am Muffy". I guess that's because the situation that's going to unfold is so rich in emotions I have to spread it among the characters in order to prevent an overload for Muffy. Also this story focuses a lot on the adults – unusual for an Arthur fanfic, but you'll see why soon…