AN: This little story is for musiqueismyjam1041 who wanted to see a continuation of what happened between Ralph and Rachel, so if you haven't read the previous chapter you are going to be lost. It is also for Otuowa Yanney who wanted to hear Walter's daughter's voice, and for lookingforthestars who thought the idea of Ivy was interesting, so now you can meet her! And for hpdude_4life who just needs a little fluff to combat Waige withdrawl. Sorry it's not more Waige-y, my friend. Next time.
This is rated K.
P.S. Forgive me for any mistakes I made with the Spanish. I have the vocabulary of a three year-old and I'm very rusty on the grammar.
JUST US GIRLS
The door popped open before Rachel could even knock. Expecting Ralph, she didn't immediately see who answered. Until her eyes dropped down a couple of feet. Peeking around the edge of the door was a pair of inquisitive brown eyes with a mop of riotous, dark curly hair topped with a gaudy plastic tiara just visible above them.
A little arm snaked around the door and a pudgy, dimpled hand grabbed her wrist, pulling her inside the entryway. The umber eyes narrowed in evaluation as Rachel was subjected to a thorough inspection by the small girl in front of her.
"You are obviously Rachel," she said when the examination was done. Her voice was sweetly high pitched like most children's, but there was no hint of a lisp or any other babyish qualities to her words.
"And you must be Ivy," Rachel answered.
"Princess Ivy," the tot corrected her, looking indignant with her hands placed on her hips. However, it was difficult to look stern when barefooted and wearing a lacy, pink nightgown and a lop-sided tiara.
Rachel bowed low and said, "Forgive me, your highness."
Ivy burst into giggles showing the two distinct dimples in her cheeks. "It's okay. My brother is always forgetting. What is your surname? I'm interested in family origins."
"My last name? It's Aguirre."
"Oh, that's Spanish! Encantado de conocerle," Ivy grinned expectantly.
Ralph's voice piped up from the other room, "Are you talking to yourself again, Squirt?"
"No. Me hablando a su amiga," his sister called back.
"English, please. Not all of us have the gift of gab in multiple languages." Ralph came into view and froze in his tracks.
Rachel's lips twitched as she glanced at the top of his head. Ralph's eyes widened and he whipped off the plastic crown he'd forgotten he was wearing, leaving his dark hair standing up on one side. "Ivy, you know what Mom says about you opening the door," he grumbled, frowning at his little sister.
"I was careful! And I wanted to see her. You said she was pretty enough to be a princess too. And I concur."
Ralph blushed and his eyes dropped to his shoes.
"Well, thank you, Ralph. Y muchas gracias, Princesa Ivy. Hello, by the way. Can I come in?"
"Oh, uh, s-sure," he said and gestured toward the kitchen with the crown in his hand.
Ivy was beaming. She grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her along while chattering merrily, "We were just playing a game and having a snack. Do you like peanut butter and banana sandwiches? They're my favorite and they're nutritionally dense if the bread is whole grain, so my mommy approves when I eat them. I think your mom would be okay with it if I share mine with you, don't you? Ralph always cuts mine into geometric shapes for me, but you can tell him what shapes you like and he can cut them different for you if you want…"
Ralph looked pained and mouthed, I'm sorry to the older girl above his sister's head.
Smiling broadly, she answered aloud, "It's fine. I know I'm a little early."
The trio sat at the kitchen table eating snacks and finishing the game the siblings had started. Kicking the rungs of her chair with her heels, Ivy jabbered away like brainy magpie citing facts and spouting nonsense in four distinct languages showing off for her new friend.
Ralph kept a constant eye on the time when he wasn't stealing surreptitious glances at Rachel. He was relieved she didn't seem too bored or annoyed with all of Ivy's yakking.
When the game was over and the little girl won, thanks to Ralph's inattention, he announced it was bedtime. Ivy's countenance darkened. She folded her arms. Pouting and scowling, she said, "Princesses don't have bedtimes!"
"They do if they don't want to be reported to the king and queen," Ralph shot back, "You know you promised Dad you would go to bed on time tonight so Rachel and I could do our homework."
"But I still have eleven more minutes! And it's only six forty-nine in Alaska!" She argued stubbornly.
"I really regret that I taught you to tell time, and remember it's actually eight forty-nine in Colorado." Ralph shook his head and sighed, "By the time we get your teeth brushed and you have your story, it'll be eight o'clock. Unless you want to skip your story…"
"No! I want a story like always! Can Rachel come for the story part too?"
Ralph cringed. Ivy liked him to read with different voices for the characters.
"I'd love to hear your story, Ivy. Thank you for inviting me," Rachel said with a mischievous grin, "I'll just go out to my car to get my book bag while you brush your teeth, then I'll meet you in your room. Which one is yours?"
"It's the second door on the left down the south hallway. See you in a jiffy. That term really means the time it takes light to travel one centimeter in a vacuum, so it may be a little longer than that, but soon, okay?" Ivy bounced up and zipped out of the kitchen toward her bathroom.
Ralph and Rachel were left in the noticeably quiet kitchen and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "I'd better go and supervise…"
"Okay. I'll see you in a jiffy." she answered with a wink.
Ralph was sitting in the rocking chair with Ivy perched in his lap when Rachel crept in. She sat on the edge of the little girl's bed listening to the siblings take turns reading from the book 'Fox in Socks'. She was captivated by them. They were absolutely perfect together. They read faster and faster competing to see who could get through the tongue twisters the quickest without messing up. She could tell they did this routinely. When they were finished, Rachel stood and clapped her hands delightedly. Ralph gave her a shy, crooked smile in return.
Ralph made a show of checking under the bed and in the closet for bad guys (since monsters don't exist in real life according to Ivy) and he tucked his sister in. She threw her little arms around his neck and gave him a loud smacking kiss on the cheek. Clearly embarrassed, he returned her affectionate gestures perfunctorily before whispering good night.
"I love you, Ralph! You're my favorite brother!"
"That's not a compliment, Runt. By the process of elimination, I'm also your least favorite brother," he grinned, then finished quickly "But, um, l-love you too, okay?"
Ivy beckoned Rachel over to sit on the bed and whispered loudly as all children tend to do, "Be nice to Ralph. I can tell he really likes you." She put her tiara on Rachel's head, "You can be his princess now."
"Thank you, Ivy. I will try to be worthy of the crown. Sweet dreams!"
Ralph was mortified and hustled them out of Ivy's room leaving the door slightly ajar. "Um, I'll get my book and meet you in the living room," he said not making eye contact.
"C-can I, uh, offer you something to drink or anything?" Ralph asked when he joined Rachel a few minutes later.
"No, thanks. I'm still full of peanut butter and bananas and milk."
"I'm really sorry about my sister."
"Oh, I find her charming and adorable. And so smart. Like her older brother, right?"
"She evidently has an overdeveloped hippocampus. She remembers everything verbatim and repeats it relentlessly. My Uncle Toby says her off switch is in her subconscious, because she's only quiet when she's asleep." Ralph gave her a sideways smile and joined her on the couch.
They spread their books out on the coffee table and talked nothing but physics for the next forty-five minutes. Ralph was comfortable for the first time that evening. He was finally in his element and he could briefly forget to be nervous with the girl beside him.
"Let's take a break. I think my head is going to explode," Rachel said slouching back on the sofa.
Anxious once again, Ralph glanced sideways at her. "Okay. Uh, what would you like to do?"
"Talk? I don't know that much about you even though we've been lab partners for months. I've learned more about you tonight from Ivy."
"Accuracy cannot reasonably be expected from a four year-old. Even a brilliant one like her," Ralph replied.
"Well, tell me something about yourself then. What do you like to do besides physics?" Rachel asked, amused.
He was quiet for a few minutes, his thoughts racing. What could he tell her that didn't sound lame or nerdy? Shrugging, he settled on the truth. "I like astronomy. I have my own telescope. And I enjoy mineralogy and chemistry. I like to build engines and try to make them run more efficiently or experiment with alternative fuels. Sometimes I write code for new computer programs either by myself or with my stepdad or my friend Sly." Would she think he was a pathetic loser now? Ralph braced for rejection.
"Wow. Those are all really awesome and worthwhile hobbies. So much more interesting than watching reality TV and talking about celebrities. Why don't you take me stargazing sometime? I bet you know where all the cool stuff is in the sky. A girl could learn a lot from you, I think."
Pleasantly surprised by her reaction, Ralph said, "You really think so?" He thought maybe it was time for the touching experiment he and Walter discussed, so he scooted a bit closer to her on the couch. He cautiously slid his hand over next to hers on the cushion. His heart was beating erratically as he scrambled for something to say and tried to muster up the courage to take her hand.
Rachel turned to him and smiled, "I know so. Even being around you makes me feel smarter."
Her hand covered his first and gently squeezed. His eyes shot down to his knees. Ralph was afraid to move. He didn't want her to take her hand away, but he wanted to give her encouragement, so he tentatively turned his hand over and slowly laced his fingers with hers. She didn't move away, so he glanced up at her from the corner of his eye. To his intense relief, she was smiling.
Rachel was the first to break the silence. "Ralph?" she asked, "Have you ever had a girlfriend?"
Ralph swallowed, then he blurted out the bald facts, "No. Most normals don't react well to me. They find me annoying or strange."
"I think that's annoying. Normals? Is that what you call people who aren't brainiacs like you?"
He thought she sounded amused rather than offended, so he nodded, "But all normals aren't alike. My mom is different and so are you. I appreciate how you defend me to other normals."
"Just for the record, this normal thinks you're amazing and incredibly cute."
Blushing, he tried to think of a compliment for her, but his mind was on overload and he came up blank for a time. He finally grasped onto something nice he could say back to her, "You are absolutely lovely. And-and you always smell great." Okay. That might have sounded a bit weird. It felt like he had no control over his mouth.
Rachel squeezed his hand again and said, "See? That was sweet and genuine."
Sweet? Ralph looked at her full in the face then. His smile was bright and he felt a little light-headed. He had to remind himself to breathe. Rachel smiled shyly back at him, but her focus was on his mouth rather than his eyes. Now that contact had been established, should he try to kiss her? Would she be amenable to that? His eyes landed on her mouth and she seemed to be moving a bit closer.
Ralph was almost panicked. He had no idea what to do. Luckily Rachel appeared to. She leaned in and touched her lips softly to his. It felt electric. He couldn't focus on her with her face so close, so he shut his eyes. And let himself feel. Oh, my. Instinct took over and Ralph returned her kisses getting a bit bolder and deepening the contact after a few minutes.
Until they heard a small voice from behind the couch say, "I thought you were supposed to be working on physics!"
The teenagers sprang apart and Rachel started giggling. "I guess we're working on chemistry now," she said and Ralph joined in the laughter.
