Rough

"You are the worst!" Sam hissed to Carly as the two walked through the mall. "How could you do this to me? You know how horrible this is going to be?"

"Oh calm down, it's going to be fun," Carly said, rolling her eyes.

"You're-You're-Ugh!" Sam said, shifting two-year old Tyler in her arms. "Your lucky I have a toddler here or I'd really be letting you have it!"

"There it is!" six-year old Clarissa exclaimed happily as her, Emma and Ashton spotted the large Fresno Girl doll store up ahead.

"Mom! Hurry up!" Emma said anxiously.

"Yeah! They're gonna run out of dolls!" Ashton said.

"No they're not," Sam sighed. "Unfortunately…"

"Alright girls, go find your dolls," Carly smiled as they stepped into the shop.

"Come on! They have new stuff over there!" Clarissa said as her and the twins ran off.

"Mom? Why'd I have to come?" Jason moaned, crossing his arms. "This store is so lame. Couldn't I stay home?"

"No, not for a few more years," Sam said. "Look, I know this store sucks, but hopefully the girls will find what they want quick and then I promise we'll stop by the video game place and I'll get you something, okay?"

"Okay," Jason agreed hastily.

"Mom, look at all these dolls!" Emma said, looking at a huge display as Sam went over to her. "Wow, they have a soccer one!"

"You want the soccer one? Great, let's get that one!" Sam said quickly. "Let's find a worker and-"

"Cool! They have a gymnast one too!" Emma gasped, rushing over to another display.

"Play!" Tyler squealed, pulling a handful of Sam's hair.

"Ow! No Tyler, you can't play in here," Sam winced, pulling her son's hand away from her hair. "And don't pull mommy's hair."

"Isn't this place adorable?" Carly grinned, joining Sam. "They have a doll hair salon, day spa and ice skating rink."

"I'm gonna get you for this, Carly," Sam said as Tyler once again grabbed her hair. "I'll convince Clarissa it will be so much fun to go play in a mud pit with her mom or something."

"Oh come on, the girls have been wanting to come here for ages," Carly pointed out. "And look how happy they are!"

"Mommy, they have a whole bunch of princess dolls!" Ashton exclaimed as she ran over to Sam, beaming. "They're so pretty! This is the best place ever!"

Sam couldn't help but give a small smile. "Glad you like it, sweetie."

"Here, I'll take Tyler for you for a little bit," Carly said, taking the two-year old from Sam as Ashton ran off to her sister and Clarissa.

"Careful, he pulls hair," Sam warned.

"Eh, he'll be fine," Carly said. "Hey, let's go look at those cute little doll bikes. They're so-ow!"

"Told you," Sam smirked as Tyler happily yanked her hair.

….

"Hey, baby," Freddie said later that evening as he came home from work. He spotted his wife laying on the couch. "Er, rough day?"

"Rough doesn't even begin to describe it," Sam mumbled darkly as Freddie gave her a quick kiss. "I spent four whole hours at that stupid Fresno Girl store."

"Oh right, you and Carly took the girls there today," Freddie nodded. "Did you guys have a good time?"
"Yeah, the girls did. And Carly," Sam replied. "I did not. You know I hate those stupid dolls. And being in a whole store of those things just staring at you is downright creepy. Plus I had Jason moping around because he was bored and Tyler running around the whole place on top of all of it."

"Come on Sam, that's part of being a parent," Freddie told her. "Doing stuff that you don't like to make your kids happy."

"Sure, that's easy to say when you didn't get dragged there," Sam pointed out.

"Well I had to work today, that's not my fault," Freddie shrugged. "But if I did go, I would've enjoyed getting to spend quality time with my children, even if it wasn't exactly my cup of tea."

"Take a look at this receipt and tell me you feel the same way," Sam said, pulling a long slip of paper out of her pocket. "Not only did that place rob me of an afternoon I could've spent anywhere else, they took all our money too."

"How much could two dolls cost?" Freddie said, rolling his eyes as he looked down at the receipt. "I'm sure it's not-Oh my God! Is this the receipt for the doll store or a car dealership? Did you buy them the whole place?"

"No," Sam said. "But you have to buy the dolls, then you have to buy clothes for the dolls, and then they talk you into the accessories, and then you have to buy like, five different types of insurance. I swear, if this place catches on fire, those dolls will be better protected than us."

"Well," Freddie said weakly, still looking at the receipt. "I guess we'll be living off bread and butter for the next few weeks to make up for this."

"I wish I had a time machine so I could go back and come up with this doll idea on my own," Sam said. "You realize how much that place must rake in a day? Probably more than we'll ever make in our lifetimes!"

"Alright, well, at least the girls are satisfied now," Freddie sighed. "Now they won't be begging to go there anymore. I just hope-"

"Mommy!" Ashton suddenly cried, running downstairs with her new doll. "Mommy! My doll's leg fell off!"

"What the-" Sam frowned as she took the doll and the severed leg. "Nice! These things cost a fortune and they break after one day!"

"She's broken forever!" Ashton wailed as Freddie lifted her up on his lap.

"No, she's not, sweetheart," Freddie said soothingly. "I'm sure we can fix it."

"No you can't!" Ashton pouted. "She's ruined!"

"Here, I bet I can just pop it right back in," Sam said. "I just need to…maybe if I…ugh!"

"See?" Ashton sniffed. "You can't fix her!"

"Wait, Sam, you said you got insurance for the dolls, right?" Freddie said.

"Well, yeah," Sam nodded.

"So you can just take the doll back to the store and they'll fix her right up again," Freddie said. "She'll be good as new, Ashton."

"Really?" Ashton asked softly.

"Yup," Freddie smiled, kissing the top of her head. "You and mommy can go-"

"Oh no," Sam said at once. "Ashton, you and daddy can go back to the store. It will be nice, won't it daddy? You know, so you can get a chance to spend quality time with your daughter even though the Fresno Girl store might not be your 'cup of tea'."

Freddie glared as Sam smiled innocently back.

"You'll take me, daddy?" Ashton asked sweetly, looking up at Freddie with her big, brown eyes.

"I-Yes," Freddie sighed in defeat. "We'll go tomorrow, honey."
"Yay!" Ashton smiled, kissing Freddie's cheek. "Thank you, daddy!"

"Have fun," Sam said, her eyes sparkling as Ashton ran upstairs.

….

"I'll need your photo ID, a copy of your medical insurance form and your doll's birth certificate," a worker at the Fresno Girl store said the next day.

"Yeah, sure, here you go," Freddie said, handing him the papers and the doll. "So you can fix her leg?"

"Her name is Elizabeth, daddy," Ashton corrected.

"Oh…so you can fix Elizabeth's leg?" Freddie said.

"Hmm, this appears to be a grade four break…it will require a cast and plenty of rest, but I'm sure we can get young Elizabeth back on her feet in no time," the worker nodded.

"Er…you-you do realize it's a doll?" Freddie frowned.

"Please have a seat in our waiting room and I'll bring the patient back to the operating room," the worker said, ignoring Freddie's comment.

"Daddy, do you think Elizabeth will be okay?" Ashton said as Freddie led her over to the waiting area.

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine, sweetie," Freddie said, trying not to pass out from shock as he looked around at some of the price tags around the store.

It was almost an hour before the worker came back to the waiting area, carrying a newly repaired doll, who now had a cast around her leg and was wearing a hospital gown.

"She's saved!" Ashton exclaimed happily, running to retrieve her doll. "She's okay, daddy!"

"Yeah, it's a real medical miracle," Freddie said. He turned to the worker. "Okay, well, thanks a lot. We'll just be going now and-"

"Sir," the worker said. "Sir, I'm afraid I can't let you leave the store without paying your bill."

"Bill?" Freddie frowned. "What bill. We have that doll insurance; I thought everything was paid for already."

"Yes, however you have our basic doll insurance package," the worker explained. "Which covers the operation, the x-rays, and the cost of the cast. It does not cover the time the doll spent in recovery or her hospital room cost. That is covered in our deluxe package. Would you care to purchase that?"

"What? No!" Freddie said. "Are you kidding me right now? You expect me to pay more money for a hospital room for a doll?"

"Yes sir, the bill comes to one hundred and thirty-six dollars," the worker nodded.

"A hundred and-are you-No!" Freddie said firmly. "Okay, I'm putting my foot down. It's downright criminal the way you people just take money for every little thing in this store! There's no way you can justify charging over one hundred dollars for shoving a doll's leg back on!"

"Sir, I'm afraid our prices are final," the man told him. "If you refuse to pay, then you are not permitted to leave the store with that doll in that condition. I'll have to go back and have the leg removed again and-"

"Daddy? I'm going to have to give Elizabeth back?" Ashton gasped, hugging her doll tightly.

"I-Ashton, look," Freddie sighed. "A hundred dollars is-it's-I just-"

But as Ashton stared sadly up at him, he let out a sigh.

"No," he said heavily, reaching into his pocket for his wallet. "No, you're not going to have to give back your doll."

He shoved his credit card into the worker's hand. "Fine. I'll pay your outrageous prices."

"Very good, sir," the worker smiled.

…..

"Elizabeth is fixed, mommy!" Ashton said, running through the front door after her and Freddie returned home.

"Oh…fantastic," Sam smiled, looking up from playing with Emma and her doll.

"Whoa!" Emma said excitedly, looking at her sister's doll. "She has a cast and everything! Lucky! I hope my doll breaks a leg so I can get one."

"Oh no," Freddie said. "No more dolls are getting broken around here until we win the lotto."

"Come on, Emma," Ashton said to her sister. "Let's go play upstairs! We decorate Elizabeth's cast with stickers!"

"How was it?" Sam asked as the girls went up to their room.

"That place is just one big scam," Freddie mumbled. "That feeds on little girls' happiness. Do you know how much it cost to fix that doll?"

"What do you mean? I thought the insurance chiz covered that," Sam frowned.

"No, our package was just the basic one," Freddie said. "It still cost over one hundred dollars."

"A hundred dollars?" Sam repeated, her eyes widening. "What? Are you serious?"

"Yeah, and when I said how ridiculous that was, the worker threatened to un-fix the doll," Freddie said. "And, well, you know that would've broken Ashton's heart. So I had to shell out one hundred and thirty-six bucks!"

"Aw, you actually paid that for her?" Sam smiled.
"Well what was I supposed to do?" Freddie sighed. "She really loves that doll."

"Yeah, I know," Sam said. "I just think it's sort of sweet how a little six-year old can manage to make one of the stingiest guys I know blow all that cash on a doll. Those two have you wrapped around their tiny fingers."

"They do not," Freddie said rolling his eyes.

"Yes they do," Sam nodded. "They're gonna have fun once they're older and learn how to use that power."

"You're crazy," Freddie said, shaking his head. "That couldn't be further from the truth."