I do not own the Power Puff Girls or the Rowdy Ruff Boys.
Chapter Nine: Foolish Are Our Children
The professor left the house not long after his daughters did and made his way into the café and restaurant district of Townsville. Casual as he was, he still dressed smartly with a button down shirt and a park of slacks as he went to meet Mojo. When he'd come across the envelope earlier and saw Mr. and Mrs. Butch Jojo, his heart stopped. When it restarted, his blood pressure had gone up so quickly and so high he was sure heat was radiating off of him. He was glad he was alone, so he could work through his stages of grief. The shock and betrayal quickly gave way to anger. His anger took longer to get over. The workout he'd given himself while in his power suit, blasting discuses with Butch's name on them to bits, lasted for a good three hours. If he were honestly, he'd say he was still angry—pissed actually—but half was at himself while the other was spilt between his daughter and her husband.
"Ugh," he groaned. Just thinking of it made the professor's blood pressure rise. If he wasn't careful, he'd have a heart attack before Mojo did.
Speaking off, that was whom he planned to meet at a small café in the area. Keeping their children's secret the previous year up until the point where it couldn't was not a position he wanted to be in. He didn't want it for their children either. Granted he was keeping that he knew from his children now, but he wanted to speak with Mojo about it first. When they confronted the rebellious, if not simply wayward couple, he wanted to stand as a united from—prepared to handle the situation rationally. Though being rational wasn't exactly Mojo Jojo's strong suit.
Once he found parking, a rare feat for Townsville around midafternoon, he walked to the chosen café. It was a cozy spot, that served an amazing array of artisan coffee and tea blends. The professor was particularly fond of a Sumatran blend that had hints of blueberries to it. He hoped for their sake that Mojo ordered a chamomile tea.
The professor found Mojo was already there and sitting as far away from everyone else as he could sipping quietly from his teacup. After ordering his coffee and a pastry he went to sit across from Mojo. "Glad you were able to make it."
"What was so important that you made me come out in public?" Mojo asked getting right to the point. The former simian villain was still chaffed from earlier.
The weight of the envelope folded into his chest pocket felt wildly on display and heavy. He wanted to ease into this. "Have you spoken to Butch since you froze his account?"
The mention of his always wild son threw Mojo for a moment. "No." His scowl then deepened, and he reached for his cup. "Why?"
Suspicious as ever, the professor thought as his coffee and chocolate Danish were brought over to him. "It's just something has been brought to my attention, and with how things blew out of proportion last year, I thought it best to come to you first." As he said this he reached for the cream and sugar to put into his coffee.
Confusion started to settle over Mojo's face before exasperation took over, and he wondered what had happened now. "What now?"
The professor finished with prepping his coffee before he reached into his shirt pocket and set the envelope down between them. Mojo spared it a glance before reaching for it. The professor pulled it back just a bit and leveled him with a hard stare. "Remember that you are in public, please."
That statement alone clued Mojo in that whatever he was about to find out would definitely send him into a fit. Bracing himself, he took the envelope and unfolded it. The first thing he noticed was that it was still unopened. When he turned it over, he grew quiet and stared for a long time at the receiving address.
Mr. and Mrs. Butch Jojo
"Is this a joke?" He asked after he managed to quell his tirade, if just barely.
"I honestly wish it was." The professor said after a deep sip of his coffee. "I don't know what we should do?"
"We? What do you mean we?" Mojo asked, his voice rising. "You've been more than a little forthcoming about what kind of parent I am. Especially in regards to Brick."
This was not where he wanted this conversation to go. "Brick and Blossom's situation is a lot different than Butch and Buttercup's."
"Both sets are making foolish decisions, so I don't see a difference." Mojo grumbled before slamming his fist into the table loudly. The rattling of the table, cups, and cutlery drew a few of the other patrons' attention. They stared until they realized the one involved in the scene being made was Mojo Jojo. "I cannot believe this is happening."
"Well it is, and I would like to be a united front on this matter." The professor pushed trying to keep them to task.
Mojo scoffed in dark humor as he threw the envelope back onto the table. "United. Our should've been separate families are united enough. One son is shacked up and ready to raise a child when he is still a child himself. Now, another is…I can't even bring myself to say it."
"Married?" The professor supplied. "I am not happy about this. Those two went off with barely a word as to where they were going and got married. Out of all your sons, I have to say Butch is the one I like the least. His relationship with Buttercup has been more than I can stand as a father."
"Careful, you're starting to sound like me in regards to your disdain of my son." Mojo quipped, glad to be the one to reprimand his former guardian.
The professor scowled annoyed at the green skinned chimp. "Don't be so smug. Butch at least has earned my disdain."
"And your girls haven't." Mojo snapped back.
"Different fight for a different time, Mojo." The professor pressed. "In blissful ignorance, you didn't see how hard it was for me to see my daughter start to fall for your son, knowing he only cared about her when he wanted his dick wet."
"I was only ignorant because all of you chose to lie to me." Mojo reminded. "If I had known sooner that he was sleeping with her, I would've put a stop to it."
At the professor shook his head in resignation. "I doubt that would've been the end of it. Teenagers if they really want to, will find a place to do the things their parents don't want them to do."
"Then how did you know they were having sex?" His blood boiled as he remembered seeing Buttercup naked in Butch's bed, but thinking it was his son.
"My girls were talking about it. Unlike your boys, they aren't that adept at keeping me in the dark." The professor sighed as he thought back to Buttercup's bizarre moodiness. "With hindsight, how awkward she was before I confronted her about it made sense." The two then fell into a silence. Mojo took another sip of his now lukewarm tea. The professor reached for his Danish and took a larger than healthy bite. He couldn't let it go to waste. "However, that's beside the point. What are we to do about them now?"
"Make them get an annulment." Mojo stated firmly. "They can't be allowed to stay married."
"That's not a solution."
"Would you rather they remained married? You already said so yourself that you don't like my son." Mojo questioned, wondering what the professor could possibly think was better than an annulment.
Sighing heavily, the professor picked at his Danish before taking another bite, this one more moderate. "I want to know what the hell happened. As far as I know, they showed no inclination to get married before. Butch is the last one I trusted to be in a committed relationship." Though he couldn't forget the boy did leave the hospital prematurely to see Buttercup. Maybe there was some hope for him—some, not a lot. The father of three young adult girls was willing to take the chance but only because he occasionally saw the idiot boy try.
"You want to give them the chance to lie to us?"
"I'm lying to them now, by hiding this envelope from them. Blossom and Bubbles were over today specifically there to gather Buttercup's mail. There was every intention of lying again." The professor grumbled. "It's as if they learned nothing."
Mojo wasn't listening as he remembered Brick telling him he was over expecting mail. He'd blatantly lied to him about what he was there for. He could honestly just strangle those boys sometimes. "What do propose we do?"
The professor finished his Danish and took a sip of his coffee. "First, get Butch and Buttercup home."
"I honestly expected them home a lot sooner than this." Mojo said thinking about how he cut off Butch.
That thought also rant through the professor's mind. "Yes, I was sending my daughter money. While you were more than comfortable with your son facing the elements, I was not allowing my daughter."
"You're much too soft on them."
"And you're too hard on them." The professor retorted. "We should call them and tell them to return home. Now."
Mojo nodded as he finished off his tea and got up from the table. "I'll give him a call when I get home."
The professor nodded as Mojo left. His coffee was drained rather than savored as he prepared himself for a difficult phone call. Once his cup was empty, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed his rebel daughter's phone number. The phone rang a few times before it went to voicemail message. "Buttercup, I want you to call me immediately when you get this phone call. We have a lot to talk about young lady."
He hung up the phone and set it on the table before rubbing his eyes.
Butch sat with the phone in his hand, reading the brief message from his brothers that said Got your fucking marriage certificate. That message was sent from Brick. When asked what was wrong in a group message Boomer answered that Mojo made Brick's pancakes. Boomer followed that with Mojo tried to make their cake. Brick then followed with a bring your ass home and fix your own mess. I have my own life.
He sighed and put his phone away, looking up only when Buttercup came back with a bottle of body wash. She held the bottle out to him. He looked between her and the soap. "What?"
"You stink." She stated.
The raised brow and scoff that escaped Butch had Buttercup dropping her arm in question. Butch looked away from her and out to the beach goers. "You're a little ripe yourself. My brothers got the certificate. Also, your dad called." He then took a deep breath and decided to bite the bullet. "Can I ask you something?"
"What?" she sat down next to him, concerned by the sudden tension in his body.
"Why don't you want to be married to me?" Butch said while still keeping his eyes forward.
Buttercup swallowed the sudden dryness in her throat and pulled her knees up to her chest. "I never said that I didn't."
"You want a divorce." He stated.
"Yes." Buttercup answered honestly, her face flushing a deep red. "But…"
"But?" Butch turned to face Buttercup with brows raised, only to drop in confusion. "What's the matter with you?"
Buttercup's eyes and continued rising flush of her skin showed her mortification for what she was about to say. Butch would definitely get an ego boost sure to blow his head to epic proportions. "You're going to laugh at me."
"I think I'm more pissed than amused right now." Butch said turning to her fully. "We finally make it past us having sex with other people, coming to the conclusion that we don't love each other any less; and here you are wanting a divorce. I don't know what says we don't love each other more like a divorce."
"I…I do love you, Butch." She said before running a hand through her hair. "It's just…this marriage feels dirty."
"Dirty?" He felt like there were back to square one talking about this and turned away, only to have Buttercup grab his hand when he made to stand.
"Hold on." She said, taking a deep breath to try to quell her nerve before she lost it. "A while ago, when you looked at this ring, and I saw how much you wanted this to be here, I couldn't process how to deal with that. I…I didn't think you wanted—."
"How many fucking times do I have to say it? I love you." Butch yanked his hand from Buttercup and stared down at her with barely contained rage. "And have you processed yet?"
"Yes." Buttercup ran her hands through her hair again, and blew out a loud breath. "I swear if you laugh at me, I will supersonic sucker punch you. You'll be halfway to Townsville by the time you hit the ground."
Butch was not impressed with her stalling and folded his arms across his chest.
Her jade eyes closed, and she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. "I do want to be married to you, but not like this or right now"
"What the fuck does that mean, and why not now if you want to be married to me. It hardly makes sense to get a divorce and get married when we're already married. Let's just stay married." Butch glared down at her, not in the least bit understanding her reasoning.
"I mean, I want a real wedding; not a fuck fest with strangers." Buttercup's face burned with her uncharacteristic bout of girly girl behavior. "The dress, the suits, the flowers, the bride's maids, and grooms' men; everything that goes with a real wedding. Vegas was not a real wedding."
Now it was Butch's turn to be rendered into shock. He thought he knew all the different sides of Buttercup. He loved her for being tough. He knew she could be shy and sometimes insecure. He's seen her when she was sassy and badass. He knows she can be drop dead gorgeous when she decides to dress up. He definitely appreciated her understated sexiness when they were intimate. However, it wasn't until her present declaration that he remembered that she was still a girl underneath all that. Not just a physical girl, but a girl with wants and desire like every other girl. Butch was now unsure what to say to that. This was a side of Buttercup he never thought he'd encounter.
"I want my family to be there. The professor to walk me down the aisle. Us to shove cake in each other's faces. Pictures with all our friends. You to drive me away in your new hot rod or in a monster truck. That would make it a real wedding, marriage to me." Buttercup babbled, tears welling behind her lids. When she looked up at Butch to see him staring wide eyed at her she grabbed him by the shirt and shook him slightly. "Well? You're going to say something or what?"
Butch watched as Buttercup's lower lip wobbled. He truly was at a loss for what to say to Buttercup about this. He was simple. He wanted Buttercup, he had her. All the pomp and circumstance wasn't really necessary for him to get what he wanted. Scratching the back of his head at the suddenly awkward moment, he looked anywhere but at his wife. "Does it really matter that much?"
Buttercup shoved Butch away and turned away from him. She began rummaging through their bag and pulled out a few towels and grabbed the soap. Once she had the items she started to go inland. "Forget it! You're too much of a guy to understand."
Raising his eyes skyward, Butch repressed a groan of frustration. "You're being too much of a girl! Who cares about what our wedding looked like?" When she stepped further away from him into Hawaiian flora, he used his super speed to run up and catch her arm. "As long as I have you, what else matters?"
Buttercup dropped her bathing supplies and moved to body slam Butch into the ground. However, the difference between when she first did it and now was that Butch was sober. When she threw him, he braced for impact by landing on his feet and spinning. His leg swept Buttercup's legs out from under her, making her fall sideways. Caught off guard as she was, she still just barely caught herself with her flight powers and glared at Butch as he stood up. He cracked his and joints before stretching his arms. Buttercup floated until she was upright clenching her own fists. "You wanna fight?"
Butch didn't answer as he charged at Buttercup. The two collided in a flurry of kicks and punches that were mostly dodged. The few hits that landed were strong enough to rattle the smaller Hawaiian island that they were on. Those who inhabited the island felt the tremors from their sporadic impacts worried that it was the volcano on the verge of eruption. The fear was quickly replaced when they saw the two super powered teens fly into the air and were exchanging blows. They quickly became a spectacle that everyone was watching, and many were filming.
The two were evenly matched, but just barely. Buttercup's fighting was hindered by the tears blurring her vision. When she full out missed a punch that would've struck Butch's nose, he caught her arm and pulled into his embrace. He then stopped using his flight and sent them falling to the earth. Buttercup tried to pull away from him but Butch used his strength and a bit of his own flight powers to direct them toward the volcano. The people watched in shock and bit of horror as the two flew headfirst into the volcano. The molten rock enveloped them just as easily as it would do anything else. Unlike everything else, the two of them felt like they were in super warm and thick jell-o.
Their impact from hitting the semi hard surface broke some of Butch's grip on Buttercup. She turned and tried to swim for the service when Butch grabbed her ankle and tugged her back down. Having lived in over and jumped into a volcano for a significant part of his life, he knew that the width of the edge of the volcano was thicker lower down. Therefore, he pulled he down further into the volcano before slamming her into the side. Unknown to them, the shaking caused fear in the islanders and they ran as far as they could from the shaking.
Once Butch had Buttercup immobile, he stared down her. Both were holding their breath, and the indignation was strong on both their faces. Buttercup threw her arms against Butch's chest before he grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head. He then leaned down and pressed his lips to Buttercup's which felt slightly cooler than the magma around them. She resisted at first, but gave in when his hands tangled into her hair and the touches weren't so typical Butch. They were soft and gentle and loving. It was very similar to that time in the cabin when he first told her about the abuse H.I.M put him and his brothers through. It was tender and Buttercup was unable to resist. Buttercup's body molded against Butch's as their naked bodies—their clothes were destroyed upon falling into the volcano—pushed and gave against one another.
It was a combination of Buttercup being unable to hold her breath any longer and the feel of Butch's bare phallus against her core that had her pushing away from him and swimming to the surface. Butch followed her, breaking the surface of the magma moments after her. He saw her on the lip of the volcano opening, brushing cooled and hardening bits of lava off her body. Butch floated onto his back, spread eagle and unashamedly flaunting his nakedness to the sun. "I just want you. Nothing else matters."
"A wedding shows what our love represents. Vegas was a sloppy mess riding on the coattails of drugs and some demoralized couple." She kept her back to him as she sat down and brought her knees up to her chest.
Butch turned onto his stomach and swam over to her, resting his arms on the lip. "It's just a ceremony."
Buttercup turned her jade eyes to him from over her shoulder. "I don't want to remember getting hitched like this. Us angry and fighting without our friends and family. We deserve better than that."
It was hard not to consider that when she put it that way. Since their wedding, they really have done nothing but fight. Maybe she had a point there, however… "What did you mean by not now?"
At the Buttercup scoffed. "Are your serious? We're only eighteen. Thirteen if you want to technical. Either way, we're too young."
"Don't care." His emerald eyes shined with the earnestness of his statement. "You fought tooth and nail with me before to convince me my feelings. You stole my goddamn heart, Buttercup. I'll be damned if I let you go for something this fucking stupid."
"It's not stupid, Butch!" She turned to him growing frustration. "I don't want to be settled down before I've done all I wanted to do."
"We can still do that once we're married." Butch then pulled himself out of the lava and sat beside Buttercup. He sighed as brushed the hardening lava from his own body. "I'll even give you your dream wedding, but we're not officially divorcing. We can be separated."
"What does that even mean?"
"You stay at your house; I'll stay at mine. It'll keep both our dads relatively happy." Butch explained.
Buttercup's scoffed turned into a snorting laugh as she turned to face Butch. "Neither of our dads will be happy, because we'll still be married."
"I did say relatively." He gently reminded her. "Listen, just like everything else that's been thrown our way, we can make it work." He then leaned over to her and kissed her head.
Buttercup leaned into the touch and sighed contentedly. "I think this is the first time we've been naked together since Vegas. First time we've kissed like we needed each other too."
Butch nodded and rested his head against Buttercup's. "Yeah, and I really hate that we have to wait to fuck. I really miss your body wrapped around mine."
He was then pushed as Buttercup scooted away from him. "Of course, you're thinking with your blue balls."
"It's not just blue balls." Butch chuckled. "I've wanted to just sit and hold you in my arms, Cupcake."
Buttercup stiffened and stood up. "Don't call me that. Not after that—ugh." She then flew away at super speed to where they left their clothes.
Butch remained where he was and sunk back into the magma. He exhaled from below making the surface bubble.
Boomer set the truck into drive after finishing his lead got back into the truck. "Ready?"
"Yeah, you're doing a good job rookie." Alice told him as she buckled up. "Though I guess carrying a few crates of produce it nothing compared to throwing buses."
Years ago, Boomer would've felt a bit embarrassed, but now it was something he could laugh about. "Yeah, that wasn't my finest moment."
"Like showing up a day early for work?" she teased.
The Rowdy Ruff Boy sighed heavily before pulling out into traffic, heading back to the lot. "I shouldn't have told you about that."
"No, you should have. It was funny." Alice told him, as she eyed the younger boy. He was not unlike a lot of eighteen year old boys, softness around partially defined cheekbones, gangly muscles, and a mop of untidy hair. At twenty-four, the young man was a bit young for Alice but that didn't stop her from admiring the fresh meat. "That reminds me newb, this weekend a few of the guys from work are going to the lake. You should come."
"Why? What's at the lake?" Boomer asked as he focused on not hitting any of the other cars.
Alice shrugged before turning her face to hide a smirk. "Nothing much. It's just a place where we like to hang out and have a barbeque, if the weather is nice enough."
Boomer had only been working at his new job for about a week and a half. He wasn't sure what he felt comfortable with his new coworkers enough to spend a day with them. "I'll see." It wasn't an absolute refusal, but it wasn't an acceptance either.
Alice nodded as they made their way to the lot. Traffic was moderate for almost six o clock, still it took them forty minutes to get back. Once Boomer parked the delivery truck, Alice got out so she could fill out the paperwork for the day. "Come one, what else are you going to do this weekend?"
Boomer shrugged as he got out and went to go turn in the keys for the truck. "I don't know. Everyone's meeting up at my girlfriend's place tonight." As he was walking inside, he missed the slight frown that crossed Alice's face.
"Don't let her tie you down so young." She said while following after him into their building. "You're not quite old enough to be making any hard decisions."
Boomer wasn't sure how to take that comment, so he just remained silent. Once in the building they went their separate ways to prepare for their weekend. He was making his way toward the check in desk for the truck keys when one of the other guys tapped his shoulder. "Hey, you're paired with Alice, right?"
"Yeah." He placed the keys on the desk and started to fill out the proper paperwork.
His coworker—who Boomer remembered to be Jeff, an older guy on his third wife, or so he'd been told—shook his head in an almost pitying manner. "Just be careful, you hear."
"Careful?" he turned to him after he scratched out his signature. "Why?"
As he was handing in his paperwork, the clerk Kevin chuckled darkly. "She tends to have fun at the expense of the new guy."
"What do you mean?"
"If you're an old guy like me," Jeff laughed while patting Boomer on the back. "She'll just tease you and ruffle a few feathers all in good fun. You, however…"
"Mind your dick. You're her type." Kevin cut in as he was looking over Boomer's paperwork.
Boomer himself was struck bewildered while Jeff guffawed like no tomorrow. "I have a girlfriend."
"As you mentioned before to Alice." Jeff recalled when just moments ago she invited him to come to the lake with them. "Just humor her a little."
"Don't listen to Jeff. He's on his third wife for a reason." Kevin reminded Boomer as he gave the stink eye to Jeff. "Have a good weekend kid."
Boomer nodded as he took off his work cap. "Thanks. See you guys on Monday."
He then left with his coworkers looking after him. Kevin then turned back to Jeff and whacked him with his clipboard. Jeff jumped and turned to Kevin. "What?"
"You're going to get that kid in trouble. You know who his girlfriend is?" The clerk rose his brow at the dumb man before him. When he shrugged, he shook his head in exasperation. "His girlfriend is Bubbles."
"Bubbles?"
"One of the Power Puff Girls, jackass."
Jeff thought about which one was Bubbles before waving his hand dismissively. "He doesn't have anything to worry about. Bubbles is the sweet one."
Kevin rose a disbelieving brow before turning back his work.
Boomer flew to the professor's house, knowing he was running a bit late. Bubbles had texted him a while asking where he was. He didn't bother to answer as he zoomed over. He text had a sense of urgency to it that made him worry. When he landed his took a deep breath before knocking. Very faintly he heard come in, and cautiously entered.
When he walked onto the living room, he immediately saw Blossom, Brick, and Bubbles sitting on the couch. Blossom was holding Brick's hand as his leg bounced agitatedly. Bubbles stood up when she saw Boomer.
"You're here." Bubbles walked over to him and hugged him. He hugged her back but was released much too soon as she pulled him toward the couch.
"Yeah, what's going on?"
Bubbles sat down and turned to the chair in the far corner of the room. Boomer followed her eyeline and stiffened when he saw that Mojo was there with the professor standing behind him. He looked to the others on the couch sat on the arm.
The professor stepped forward and dropped the envelope on the coffee table. Brick and Boomer immediately recognized the envelope. Boomer's cobalt eyes shot to Brick's eyes ruby eyes that were only seen in profile. "How the fuck did you get that?"
"Oh, so you do recognize it?" Mojo said.
"How did you get in my house? Or even know where I live?" Brick snapped, before choking on the smoke that came up his throat.
"I didn't and still don't." Mojo said, growling at that reminder. That and that they chose to hide it at the one place, he'd never dare go. "Also, this isn't the one you picked up from my home."
"It's the one that was delivered here." The professor said, his eyes taking in his girls' reactions. "Now, does someone want to explain what is going on?"
Brick folded his arms across his chest. "Fucking Butch," he grumbled under his breath.
"Brick." Blossom placed her hand on his thigh and tried to rub soothingly.
"It's his fucking problem." Brick kicked the coffee table hard enough to break it. The professor sighed at the damage done to his home. Again. "They're the ones that went to Vegas, got hitched, and then ran off to Hawaii. Blossom and I will only have time to deal with his shit when he comes." His chine gestured to Blossom belly as he said this.
Before the professor could say anything, Mojo stood up and stepped up until he was directly in Brick's face. "Yes, you will, and how exactly did you get into this situation?"
The cracking of knuckles was only perceivable due to the sudden stillness in the room. The professor made to stand beside Mojo and pulled him back from being so close to Brick. There was a slight burning smell in the air that seemed to be coming from Brick's hands placed over his shirt. "We just want to know what happened."
"We don't really know." Blossom told them truthfully. When Mojo turned her way, the burning smell from Brick increased. "Honest. We just got the picture of them in Vegas wearing black and white with rings on their fingers."
"Show me this picture." The professor demanded. When the Bubbles blanched and Blossom gasped after putting a hand over her stomach, he worried about how this picture might actually look. "What?"
"Don't give them a chance to lie!" Mojo snapped at the professor. He turned back to Blossom and held his hand out. "Show us the damn picture."
"Hey!" Brick snapped, standing up to tower over Brick. "Don't speak to the mother of my child like that."
The professor stepped up so that he could get in between Brick and Mojo. This was not the way he wanted this to happen. "A fight is not what we want."
"Then what do you want?" Brick asked, turning blazing red eyes toward the professor. "Because a fight is almost guaranteed with that monkey here."
The growl that passed Mojo's lips had Boomer stiffening from his place. Bubbles reached over and squeezed his hand in comfort. The two of them hadn't said anything since the appearance of the envelope on the table. It was now lost amongst the chunks and splinters of the coffee table. They were at a lost as to what to say, and weren't unsure that anything they said would help the situation. As it were, it was much too late to prevent a fight from occurring. Brick and Mojo were already at each other's throats.
"I want to know what happened to my daughter and his son." The professor said as she looked Brick in his eyes with a furrowed brow. "I didn't say this at the time of discovering Blossom's pregnancy, but I was—am scared for her. I am put in a position where I am yet again scared for my child. I don't like the feeling. I need to know that my children are safe and happy."
Brick's glare softened as he looked at the professor, the man he'd unconsciously turned to during this process as a surrogate for Mojo. In less than three months, he was going to be a father; having his own child to worry about. Even now the thought that anyone or anything could harm him was devastating. "We really don't know anything other than they were just caught up in the high of it while witnessing for another couple. The last I heard was Butch telling me that Buttercup wanted a divorce."
"Good. That will probably be the only thing I can agree on, concerning—."
"Mojo!" the professor turned to him with exasperation drawn heavily on his face. He turned back to Blossom and Bubble, hoping they'd been in better contact with their sister. "Are you sure that Buttercup wants a divorce?"
Bubbles still hadn't found her voice, but she shrugged her shoulders. She never heard anything about it. Boomer shook his head denying knowing anything.
"I only heard what Brick told me." Blossom answered. She purposefully kept to herself what Buttercup accidently told her about being drugged. She herself wasn't sure, and she didn't want to put undue stress on the professor until they found out the whole truth.
The professor wasn't sure how to take that news as he wasn't sure what that could mean. He knew Buttercup loved Butch immensely, so she had to be divorcing him for a reason. He just hoped that reason wasn't a cause to kick Butch's ass—and there was a small part that hoped it was.
"Are we done?" Brick asked, finding it harder and harder to hold in his anger. Mojo's presence had irritated him to know end, and he couldn't shake the simmering sense of betrayal that came with knowing the professor invited him over. He just wanted to go home.
"No, we're not done." Mojo told him, his pink rimmed eyes glaring harshly at him. "You six were preparing to lie to me—us, again. Have you learned nothing from your pending monstrosity set to be here in a few months' time?"
A gasp escaped Blossom, before a slew of motion happened too fast for the naked eye to see. One moment, Brick, Mojo, and the professor was standing up, the next Mojo was across the room stunned into silence from the sudden impact, while Boomer held Brick back from further punishing their father. The professor was knocked to the ground disoriented and Blossom and Bubbles were struggling to pick their jaws up from the floor. When the girls' father groaned, it seemed to snap them out of their stupor. Bubbles helped Boomer restrain Brick and the two of them forcibly ushered him outside. Blossom had to utilize her flight as her belly made getting off the couch almost impossible. Once she was on her feet, she moved to help the professor to a sitting position.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Where's Mojo?" he asked holding a hand to his head.
Blossom looked to where Mojo had fallen and saw him gritting his teeth as he held back his yells of pain. His arm was imbedded with shards of glass from the photos that were on the mantle. Stepping toward him carefully, she kneeled and tried to reach for Mojo's arm to better inspect his injuries. "Let me help."
Before she could touch him, Mojo shoved violently her knocking her off balance. She landed on her side, unhurt if not a bit surprised that he would be so rough with her in her condition.
"I don't need your help."
"Mojo!" The professor yelled, appalled at his behavior now. "Let her help you."
Mojo ignored them both as he shakily stood up and walked past them both to the basement. Blossom slowly sat up and went to her father to pull him up from where he was sitting.
"Stubborn chimp."
"Are you all right?" Blossom asked as steadied the professor on his feet.
He started walking toward the kitchen with Blossom after him. "I'm fine. I tripped over my own feet when Brick shoved Mojo." He went to the freezer and pulled out one of his always ready ice packs. As he sat down at the dining room table, he held it to the back of his head. Leaning his head back, he glanced up at the missing patch of sheetrock. "How did that happen?"
Blossom glanced up and choked on a couch as she thought about that mishap. "Bubbles tripped."
His fatherly instincts tingled at the way Blossom answered that question, but his head was pounding too hard for him to delve deeper. "This was not how I wanted this to go."
"I know." Blossom said, before a slight tremor rocked the house. Then the yelling started with the boys' being the louder of the three voices. "Oh, damn it."
Blossom left the kitchen to go outside, where she saw Bubbles standing in between Brick and Boomer who were yelling at each other.
"How could you do that to Mojo?" He was equally shocked and furious that Brick would lay a hand on Mojo.
"Would you have just sat there an let him say that shit about Bubbles?" Brick yelled into his brother's face while Bubbles used her own strength to keep them apart.
"That's our dad! You could've really hurt him if you didn't already!" Boomer screamed back at him, ready to pull Bubbles out the way in case Brick took a swing at him. "I ought to kick your ass for what your just did!"
"Why don't you grow the fuck up, and stop standing behind an animal that would rather you stick your vanilla dick in someone other than her?"
The vanilla comment sent Boomer into an indignant rage that had him, moving around Bubbles and returning the punch that Brick landed earlier to get him off of him. The blow landed just under Brick eye and if he were a weaker man would've been left a fractured socket at worst, a black eye at best. Brick then jumped onto Boomer and the two fell to the ground as they started fighting. Bubbles tried to break them up, but was knocked onto her backside. Angry that the two of them were being such jackasses and on the front lawn of their house, she sonic screamed at the two of them.
The sound was loud enough to ring their ears and have them break apart from each other to cover their ears. Once she stops screaming, Blossom came from the other side and blew ice at them. It froze the two of them in place on the lawn, leaving them to resemble ice sculptures. Brick's inner fire helped him to melt away the ice. As he was doing that, Blossom stomped over and grabbed Brick's ear. Unprepared for the attack, he yelled out and stumbled backwards, barely catching himself from falling. Blossom placed her hands on her hips and sighed.
"I want to go home." She told him.
Brick looked at her, and seeing the irritation on her face made him pull his head out his ass. He sent Boomer, stuck in the ice another glare before leading Blossom to their car. After helping her in, he walked around with a parting glare in Boomer's direction. "Cut it out."
Brick noticed Blossom rubbing her belly and fanning herself. His anger dissipated as concern set in, making his brow furrow. "What's wrong? Hot flash?"
"Yeah. A bad one." She said as sweat formed on her brow. "The professor really wanted to have a civil conversation about that. It wasn't supposed to turn into what it did."
"It still did." Brick growled as he turned the air on full blast. "I'm sorry for that. It's just…"
"Mojo. I know, but you can't be angry every time you see him." Blossom told him. "How is our son going to develop a healthy relationship with him if you two are always fighting?"
Brick glanced at his girlfriend from the corner of his eye. "You want our son to have a relationship with Mojo?"
"Why not?"
"Mojo's being an ass."
"So are you."
Brick looked to deny it went Blossom rose a brow at him. She released a heavy sigh when her heat rose again. "I'll run you a bath when we get home."
Images of how their last bath went fluttered thrown Blossom's mind and she started to smile.
Brick caught her slight smile and didn't wonder long as to what she was thinking. Still, he couldn't resist the chance to tease her. "What are you thinking?"
"Wouldn't you like to know."
"Actually, I would." He smiled at her.
The two smiled at ease other while another long-suffering sigh escaped Blossom. "I need ice cream. Mint chocolate chip ice cream."
About an hour later, Brick and Blossom found themselves in their large tub sharing a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream. The cool water soothing Blossom's outside while the ice cream cooled her insides. Brick was at her back using his fire powers every now and again to prevent them from getting too cold in the water. The mint chocolate chip ice cream was a flavor he only recently began to like because Blossom demanded it so often. Once the ice cream was finished the two of them relaxed in the tub in a soothing silence.
In that silence was room for them to think. Brick thought about how he loved having these moments with Blossom, where she just sat in his arms. It didn't matter if there were skin to skin or had clothes between them. There was just a certain peace he felt when around her. It was miles away from how they were when they first were reunited, but that antagonism wasn't all their own. It was years of animosity passed down from his father and a bit from their own interactions. He could see now that she pushed him and was hard on him, because she knew he was better than what everyone saw. He in turn melted some of the ice around her and not take herself so seriously. She needed to know that she was more than just a Power Puff Girl.
Blossom thought about how their lives have changed since their senior year started. They'd long since stopped being enemies and were just slightly antagonistic acquaintances. She also helped him when he was under Princess' thumb, but that had more to do with her not liking Princess than anything else. Her liking Brick was something she wasn't ready to admit to herself at the time. How could she after being so…smart with him? Now, here she was having his baby, going to college, and living with him. She sighed and entwined her fingers with his.
"Ready to get out?" Brick asked.
"Yeah." Before she could move, Brick stood up with her in his arms.
"You're a starting to get heavy." He laughed when she smacked her hand against his chest. "Hey, that's all baby weight. Our son is the heavy weight."
Blossom scoffed as she was set down on her feet and wrapped her in a towel. As he was wrapping his own towel around his waist, Blossom went to the counter and got a bottle of conditioner and a comb. Before they'd started eating their ice cream, they'd shared a moment in the shower washing each other's hair and bathing. Brick came to stand behind her and tried to take the comb and conditioner from her when she turned away from him. "Blossom."
"Not this time, Brick. I want to take care of you today." Blossom said as she moved to the bedroom. "Come on."
Brick watched her sit on the bed and patted the space beside her. "What are you…?"
"I'm going to give you a head massage and condition those fiery red locks. I really hope the baby has your shade of red." Blossom told him as he came to sit in front of her. She took the tie from his hair and ruffled his hair. She then poured a generous amount of conditioner into her hand and started at the scalp. She rubbed her fingers firmly over his head. He sighed as he relaxed into her fingers. She ran the conditioner through his hair to the ends. She then took the comb and started parting his hair to work the conditioner through it. "You know, I don't do this for you enough."
"You're pregnant."
"That's no excuse." She told him as she worked through the sections of his hair, adding more conditioner as needed. "Your pilot light is going to go out of you don't take the time to take care of yourself."
Brick groaned in response. It was all he could muster as he was so relaxed. Blossom quietly worked through his hair until she got through the lot of it. Once she was done, she put the comb down and started rubbing her fingers over his scalp. Brick breathed deeply as he relaxed against her legs. "Yeah right."
"I mean it. You've got to relax." She leaned over as much as she could and kissed the top of his head. "You said it yourself. We're going to have our own shit to deal with once the baby arrives."
"Yeah, I just didn't like how Mojo was talking about our son." Brick said, his body heating up against her.
Blossom blew an icy breath onto Brick's head. "Cool it."
"It's just Mojo has not let up." He grumbled. "I'm tired of it."
Blossom sighed as she moved to sit down beside Brick. She grunted with her efforts. "I know. You've tried. I've tried, but apparently not in the right direction." She then leaned against him. "For now, maybe we should forget about Mojo. It might not be easy with him being your dad, but if I can't be stressed out, then neither should you."
Brick turned his head to look at Blossom and kissed her forehead. "Yeah, I guess."
Blossom placed her hand on Brick's face and made him look at her. "I mean it. For this point on. It's about us. You, me, and what's that nickname you have for him? Fireball?"
A soft laugh escaped Brick. "Yeah, our little fireball." He then leaned over and kissed Blossom. His arm moved around her back and she was pulled closer to him. When his other hand came up to pull her leg closer to him, she stopped and pulled away from him. Blossom got up as quickly as her flight powers and pregnant belly could allow and walked over to the bedside table. She only took a few moments to find what she was looking for and go back to Brick. When she held up her find, Brick rose a brow at her. "Really?"
"Think of it as practice for after I have the baby." Blossom suggested as she began to unwrap the condom. "Also, I'm afraid our water bill is going to be sky high if we don't find other ways to save water."
"You can fill the tub half with ice and I'll melt it for baths with my fire." Brick said.
When all he got was a head shake, he sighed as he removed his own towel and sat up on the bed. Blossom walk until she was kneeling on the bed and removed the condom from its wrapping. He sat back as she rolled the condom over him. As soon as it was in place, Blossom moved up so that she could straddle him. When she managed to keep her balance, she sank down on him slowly. Brick's hands held onto Blossom's hips as she slowly moved up and down over him. Even though he wished the condom wasn't between them, the feel of her was still generally the same and pleasurable. It was also more soothing, rather than their typical lovemaking that was hot and passionate. Brick figured it must've had to do with who was taking the lead. If it was him, this would be all about making Blossom come. He loved how her body would heat up and rival his own fire. With her taking the lead, she remained cool focusing on his pleasure. The heat was slow to build, and Brick was content to let it slowly crawl over him. Still he couldn't not participate in some way. His hand found its way to between her legs and started stroking her clit. Blossom gasped and it threw her rhythm off, making Brick have to steady her.
"Easy now." Brick told her. "Easy. This feels great." With his hand stroking her, Blossom's insides tightened around Brick and the heat started to build between them. Brick brought his knees up to brace Blossom as she leaned back changing the angle on their connection. She shifted her legs so that she was no longer kneeling, but sitting on Brick. This allowed her to move faster pushing them closer to orgasm. Blossom's head fell back as did Brick as they held onto each other. His grip on her hips tightened, wanting to hold her at just the right angle. When they came, Blossom when first with Brick followed close after. As they were coming down, Brick pulled Blossom to the side of him on their bed. He pulled the condom off and dropped it to the floor. He'd pick it up later before she could fuss at him about it.
On her side, Blossom was holding her belly, making Brick worry. When she caught his eyes, she shook her head. "I'm okay. He's just awake now. Really awake."
Brick warmed his hand and rubbed it over Blossom's belly. The baby calmed and relaxed after so much activity caused by his parents. He then looked to Blossom whose eyes had closed and was breathing softly, he scooted over to kiss her. "Thank you for this Cherry. Reminding me that someone has my back."
"Of course, Peaches." She kissed him back. "And I'm not the only one. Your brothers do too, and the professor.
Brick grimaced. "Ugh, don't mention my brothers or your dad while we're naked. Especially if we've just had sex."
"Brick, can you do me a favor please?" Blossom asked him.
"I'll pick the condom off the floor." Brick said as he rolled onto his back.
Blossom chuckled as she shifted to a more comfortable position. "Please do, but that's not the favor. Can you apologize to Boomer?"
"What?"
"Tell him you're sorry."
"We fight all the time. He'll be fine." Brick brushed off.
This was the part that Blossom didn't want to have to say, but knew it needed to be said. "It's not about the fight. It's about scaring him."
His brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean scared him?"
"Have any of you ever hit Mojo before?" she whispered to him.
That question caught Brick off guard, and he fell silent as he looked up at the ceiling. Blossom watched quietly as Brick processed that. She could see the wheels turning in his mind, so when what he did caught up with him, she reached over and grabbed his hand.
"Hey, hey, hey." Blossom tried to soothe. "You didn't mean it."
"Fuck." He placed his other hand over his face and took a deep breath. "We've never hit him before. We know not to because we're too strong. It's not like when we were younger. There was more Chemical X in his body, and we weren't nearly as strong."
"You held back. Part of you knew that if you put your full strength into it, you'd have done more damage." Blossom told him. "You know that. No matter how angry you were at him."
When he didn't say anything, Blossom urged him to lay his head against her chest. He was silent as he thought about what this would mean for his relationship with his brothers and Mojo. It was sort of an unspoken rule between them to never raise a hand to Mojo. Breaking that rule was almost like committing murder.
"You're going to apologize to Boomer. If Butch says anything, you explain to him what happened and apologize to him. You can work up to apologizing to Mojo." She whispered to him while running her hands through his hair and over his back. "You're going to be okay. Whatever happens with your brothers because of this will be okay. They'll forgive you. Whatever happens with Mojo will eventually work itself out."
Brick held Blossom tighter. "Mojo won't forgive me. Not for this."
Blossom wasn't sure if her words would be a lie or not, so she didn't say anything regarding Mojo. "I'll help you through this. I'll be by your side every step of the way. We both will." She then linked her fingers with his over her belly and kissed his head. "You're going to be okay."
That night as Brick was sleeping, he dreamed what would have happened if he hadn't held back. If he used more strength when he struck Mojo. He saw more than broken bones and bruises. He saw that his anger didn't stop at the being he thought of as more than his creator. He saw himself fight his brothers and not hold back. He fought until there was no one left to fight. No one, but himself. However, the image he saw wasn't of how he saw himself now. It was a younger version, but something about him was off. His hair wasn't as red as his own. His body wasn't the abnormal obviously non-human creature that defined their otherness. This boy looked human—or could've passed as one if not for the reddish eyes that stared at him with fear.
"Daddy?" he said, before Brick's anger turned onto him.
"AAHHH!" Brick sat up, scaring Blossom awake as he jarred her with his abrupt movement. His breathing was heavy, and he was sweating heavily.
"Brick, what's wrong?" Blossom asked as she ran icy hands along his overheated skin.
He didn't answer her and he rubbed the heels of his hands over his eyes and fell back onto the pillows. Blossom turned to him and watched as his breathing regulated.
"Are you okay?"
When he felt that he could breath normally, he looked up at Blossom staring at him with worry shining in her pink diamond eyes. The words didn't come, so he pulled Blossom down so that her icy body cooled and soothed the heat from his body. As Blossom was held to Brick, she felt and heard the rapid beating of his heart. She could only imagine what he'd been dreaming about, but whatever it was about—it scared him.
Until Next Time