The instant her friend replied, Frankie honestly didn't know what to think anymore. She was beyond baffled, "flabbergasted" couldn't even begin to portray her surprise, and to say that she was astonished would've been such an understatement it would almost be a sin.

Shocked to the point of petrifaction, the dumbstruck young woman just stood frozen by the iron gates. Meanwhile, with a massive burst of effort, Kathy finally managed to free herself from her infuriatingly stubborn seat belt.

"Stupid piece of junk!" she groaned her arms in the air as she stumbled clumsily from the car. "I swear, that…uh…"

It was then that she finally her friend was so stunned she resembled a wax statue. Hastily forgetting about her seatbelt injustice, Kathy dashed to her side.

"Frankie?" she inquired worriedly as she grabbed the caretaker's shoulders and shook gently. "Frankie?"

When the redhead remained as motionless as before, Kathy started to wave her hand in front of her bugging jade eyes.

"Yoohoo! Hello? Helloooo? Anyone home? Hello? Frances Bridgett Foster, are you in there?"

"W-what…what's going on?" the other woman finally managed to murmur dazedly.

Kathy gasped and immediately her eyes nearly bugged out to the point to the point where it looked like they were just about ready to pop clean from their sockets. As much as it utterly dismayed her to admit it, in the midst of all the excitement and apologizing, she had completely forgotten to explicitly inform her friend about one very crucial detail.

"Oh…oh God, I…I-I…" she sputtered in horror. "Oh God, I…I thought it was obvious that…well, you were…I-I planed to tell you up front, b-but…but I didn't expect to see you freaking out in the middle of the…so I thought I'd be better if we cleared up how…look, you caught me off guard when…"

Meanwhile, even though the painfully obvious answer to her question was literally right there in front of her face, it still seemed too good to be true for Frankie, as if this was all one of the cruelest hoaxes ever devised. Raising a trembling hand, she pointed shakily and attempted to ask,

"Y-you're…y-y-you're actually my…you're g-going to be m-my…"

To prevent her from stuttering until kingdom come, Kathy nodded wordlessly with a poor excuse for a weak grin. Still a flustered mess, Frankie gawked blankly for a few moments before she managed to stammer,

"Why d-didn't you t-tell me first b-back at the cemetery?"

As she went flush from head to toe with tremendous embarrassment the likes of which was infinitely beyond description, Kathy took a deep breath and searched for a reply.

"Because…uh…b-because…I-I just…" the hopelessly embarrassed woman murmured until, unable to think of anything else, she finally answered, "Because…. because I'm an idiot?"

After what felt like an eternity of incomprehension, Frankie finally woke up to the unbelievable truth. As a ghost of smile appeared on her face as she emitted a ragged laugh. It wasn't a pretty sound, but it was genuine nevertheless as she choked,

"Kath…"

Before she could get any further, the indescribably overjoyed redhead burst into tears. While Frankie wept freely in her relief, Kathy heaved a deep sigh of relief as she spread her arms wide and drew close to wrap her friend in a comforting hug.

"It's okay-UURRK!"

Without a word of warning, it suddenly felt as if an anaconda had just ensnared her in its coils as Frankie promptly trapped her in a fierce bone-bruising squeeze.

"Thank you…th-thank you…" she whispered happily.

"It's…all right. …" Kathy gasped as the wind was squeezed clean out of her. "I-it's- WHOA! Frankie! Hold on!"

Her gasped pleas went unheeded as the caretaker, now utterly overwhelmed with elation, unintentionally hefted her a clean foot off the ground while continuing to constrict her tightly.

"Thank you…thank y-you…"

"It's no prob-aaacck! What…what are friends fo-urk! I-I…I should b-be the one who's-ow!" Kathy yelped as her attempts to reply were all for nothing with the incredible strain on her vice-gripped lungs, and she burst out wheezing in panic,

"Too much! Too much! Overkill! Where's your 'off' button? Ow! Frankie!Frankie! That's enough!" she cried as it felt like her spine was about to snap clean in half. "That's enough! Let go! Let go! Puh-leeze!"

Once the redhead understood that she was about to unintentionally squeeze her friend to death out of heartfelt gratitude, she immediately put her back down and released her embrace. As Kathy clutched her aching sides and gasped for air, Frankie meanwhile lit up with a brilliant scarlet blush as she sputtered apologetically while patting her on the back,

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, I-"

"It's…it's okay…it's fine, really…" Kathy rasped, and spent the next minute or so catching her breath before she bent over to pick up her clipboard. "Now…shall we begin?"

"S-sure, of course, but…I just do't believe that…why are you…." Frankie exclaimed as they started strolling towards the front door. "…No,how in the world did you…I-I thought that your boss was going to be my-"

"As far as I know, she was supposed to handle your case personally. Guess it was a good thing the copier jammed on me, or I might've missed you completely yesterday." Kathy answered before grimacing guiltily. "I'm sorry, I…at first I honestly just couldn't believe what I was hearing at first and I was…well, by the time I snapped out of it, you had already left-"

"Missed me?" Frankie repeated. "You mean you heard-"

"Everything she said." She replied, shaking her head in amazement. "Cripes, and I thought I knew what crazy sounded like… oh God, I'm sorry, I had no idea you were dealing with that: I would've flipped out too if I was in your place. Seriously, that…that was just insane, that's what it was! I can't believe she was treating you like a…a…sheesh, when you called her a fanatic, I didn't think you were being easy on her! No wonder you can barely trust anyone from the department…jeez, I really hope you don't think we'reall that crazy. Trust me, she does not represent-"

"But that doesn't explain how you got-" Frankie tried to protest before her friend gestured for patience.

"Hold on, I'm getting to that. Okay, see, I stepped into the hall, and…look, if the fact you needed help at that point wasn't obvious, then I'm the Queen of France. See though, I thought that if I only spoke up for you as a friend, my word wouldn't be worth too much, but vouching for you instead as a…see, I thought that…"

After trying unsuccessfully to explain, she sighed and finally said, "Okay, seriously, don't ask me how I came up with it. Frankly I think it's a miracle a half-wit like myself came up with something like that spur of the moment, but long story short, I just launched into the performance of my life."

"You what?" Frankie inquired curiously.

"Honestly, I just started bombarding her with questions, like I had never even seen you before, ever." Kathy explained. "I just went on and on, asking who you were, why someone as obviously unstable as you actually was looking after a kid all by yourself…oh my God, I must've ripped on you for five minutes straight at least. I was like a parrot, repeating everything she just screeched at you, that you were too young, too inexperienced, you know, like we were dealing with the travesty of the century here."

"And…she actually bought it?" the caretaker asked incredulously as she started smiling at the thought.

"Ate it up like a pig at an all-you-can-eat buffet; you got her too wound up to think better of it." Kathy boasted proudly. "Never in her life did she expect to meet someone who mistrusted you more than her; she made me spend the rest of the day reviewing your file, then officially reassigned me today. Now…what can anyone possibly do when I meet you for the 'first time' and find out that you're not half as bad as they say?"

Nearly dizzy with elation, Frankie had to brace against the house and giggled weakly as they paused at the front doors. "I…oh my God, I don't believe that…h-how I can thank-"

"If anything, you shouldn't have to." the other woman chortled. "I'm not doing a favor as much as I'm actually doing my job for once this whole mess. I'm supposed to make sure kids like Mac are in a good home, and if I let him get taken from possibly the most maternal person I know, well… I'd be doing one hell of a crappy job, don't you think?"

"I…I-I still don't know what to say." Frankie kept on babbling, wearing a peculiar grin that expressed both gratitude and bewilderment. "Tha-"

"You're my friend, Frankie." Kathy reminded a weak laugh as they walked inside. "That means we have to look out for each other, right?"

The redhead had no need to reply, as her opportunity to prove her companion's words came literally just moments later. No sooner had they entered foyer, the room suddenly echoed with a hair-raising animalistic screech.

"YOU LEAVE US ALONE!"

With this valiant cry, an azure blur, roaring like a wild beast, soared in from seemingly nowhere as he attempted to pounce upon the social worker. Just before the blobbish missile reached his intended target, Frankie barely managed to jump in the way and snatch Bloo clean out of the air.

As Kathy instinctively stumbled back a few paces to a safer distance with a startled cry, the imaginary friend instantly began to try and struggle free from the redhead's hold, thrashing about like mad as he howled ferociously,

"No! You won't get away with it, you hear me? Not again! You're not taking Mac away! You're not! I saw you park by the curb, thinking you could get the drop on us! Well, think again, because you can have Mac only after you pry him out of my cold dead hands! I swear, you lay one finger on him, and I'll-"

"Bloo, calm down! Calm down!" Frankie yelled try and make herself heard over his defiant screams while she battled desperately to keep a good hold him, lest he got free and attempted to maim her best friend in his over-protective rage. "It's okay!"

"No, it's not!" Bloo only screeched defiantly. "They're doing it again! Investiagtion inshmestigation, they sent someone over just to take away Mac! We can't let them! We can't!"

"You don't understand! OW!" Frankie yelped as he began flailing his little stubs indiscriminately in his struggle to get loose, a scored a hit right on her cheek. "Quit it! OW! It's okay, Bloo! Look, it's Kathy! OUCH! It's only Kathy! Please, stop for just one second and take a look! LOOK!"

Finally, he yielded to the redhead's frantic pleas and intently scrutinized the spooked young woman standing not too far off, using her clipboard as an improvised shield.

"…Hi, B-Bloo…" Kathy greeted cautiously with a timid disarming grin. For the next few moments, all was silent, save Frankie who was exhausted after the epic struggle, and now gasped heavily for breath. Finally, after an unbearably tense quiet, Bloo, wide-eyed in genuine surprise, admitted softly as recognition dawned,

"Oh…it is her…"

"See?" Frankie murmured wearily with a smile as she started to set him down upon the floor. "I told you so -HEY!"

She again just barely managed to grab him after he tried to lunge with a vicious roar. Kathy immediately burst out shrieking and pressed her back to the wall as redhead and blob started the intense fight all over again.

"Bloo, what did I tell you? Calm down! You have to calm down!" Frankie begged as she fought furiously to keep a firm grasp upon him, while Bloo started howling again while fighting tooth and nail to get loose.

"No! You won't get away with it, you hear me, Kathy? Not again! You're not taking Mac away! You're not! I saw you park by the curb, thinking you could get the drop on us! Well, think again, Kathy, because you can have Mac only after you pry him out of my cold dead hands! I swear, Kathy, you lay one finger on him, and I'll…"

It had taken quite some time to convince the fanatically loyal imaginary friend that Kathy wasn't a pawn in the grandiose conspiracy to separate him from his best friend. Even after he had been persuaded that she was working on their side, though, the blob was still extraordinarily riled up after working himself into a near frenzy. Luckily, Frankie had just the unorthodox technique to calm the figment after his failed preemptive strike.

Now, as the two sat upon the stairs, taking a badly needed rest after their absurd ordeal, Bloo lay as docile and limp as a beanbag upon Kathy's lap while she rubbed his belly as her friend taught her.

"Aw," she couldn't help but gush shamelessly at the contented grin her former attacker wore. "Look at him, he's like a big blue puppy. Oooh, yes he is! Does he wike it when his bewy his wubbed? Does he?"

As the significantly calmed figment just nodded contently, Frankie blew a few strands of scarlet hair from her eyes and murmured wearily, "You have no idea how I managed to figure that little trick out."

As she watched her friend coo at the imaginary friend, she couldn't help but inquire as she anxiously fidgeted with her ponytail, "So…are you…a-are you going to report this, or…or are you-"

"Yes, that'sexactly what I'm going to do, because we all know that imaginary blobs freak out only in the presence of abusive guardians just like you. " Kathy replied sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. "Frankie, there's nothing for you to worry about anymore!"

"But…I know, but-"

"Give me a break, will you?" The social worker implored. "Out of all people, I should have some clue that Mac is perfectly fine here, case-closed. Considering half of what that kid's been through, the fact he's always happy as a clam every time I stop by has to mean that you're definitely doing something right. It's okay, everything's going to be fine! Just settle down-"

"Hey, its not exactly easy for me to mellow out after what I've just been through." Frankie countered sourly with a scowl. "I've been working my fingers to the bone and stressing out all week-"

"Oh, stress and chores, like that's a huge change to your usual routine." Kathy remarked sarcastically. "Sheesh! If you ask me, it sounds like someone really needs a boyfriend-"

The redhead groaned. "Oh, we're not going down there-"

"So you're the only one who has all the trouble, while meanwhile I come home every night to dozens of strapping suitors lining up for blocks outside my apartment?" Kathy joked cheekily as she persisted. "C'mon, after what you just went through, it'd be nice-"

"You might as well tell me to balance Sweden on my head, because I'd have just as much luck. Besides, even if I could find someone I think I'd like or even remotely have a chance with, you know I get wound up into a nervous mess." Frankie grumbled.

"Oh, so you get a tad-" her friend tried to remark before Frankie actually continued.

"Plus, whenever I go out with anyone, I…I always kinda feel bad about leaving Mac home alone, and-"

Kathy immediately burst out snickering, much to her friend's annoyance.

"What? What's so funny?" Frankie demanded with scowl. Kathy continued giggling as she answered,

"Leaving Mac homealone? In this house? That's impossible!"

"You know what I mean!" she replied defensively. "It's just… I feel sort of guilty about…hey! Hold on!" Frankie snapped. "Quit it! I thought told you, we're not going to-"

"Oh c'mon!" came the merry chuckle. "Just-"

"Nuh-uh! We're ending this now-"

"Hey, I'm only doin' my job. In case you just forgot, as of now I'm officially responsible for you, and right now what we need to do is to get your mind off this whole entire mess, pronto and take you down a notch." Kathy explained calmly with a grin.

"But I-"

"Oh come on," she persisted. "Isn't it nice to talk about something else for once?"

"…Does it have to be my love life?" Frankie grumbled as she made a face.

"Anything's good considering the stress you've been under…and believe me, you do look like you've been to hell and back." Kathy retorted as she promptly went ahead with the unorthodox therapy and chatted on. "Seriously though, you of all people at least deserve a good date for once. Besides, as the boss told you yesterday, we can't have you being a single bachelorette, can we?"

She only continued giggling mischievously, even after Frankie shot her a dirty look and groaned irritably,

"I said I don't…"

After pausing for a second to actually think about the topic at hand, she suddenly admitted softly, "Well…a night out would be nice…"

"….Oooh, how about that guy we always see biking around my neighborhood?" Kathy threw out yet another suggestion. "C'mon, why not? He's a hunk!"

Frankie, looking actually genuinely relaxed for the first time in days, snorted with laughter as she lounged comfortably upon the stairs while they chatted casually.

"You kidding?" she chuckled. "I'd be babbling like a moron in a second if I even tried to say hi."

"You and me both, sister. But that's the beauty of always losing track about how many drinks you've downed on a night out." Kathy joked. "Its hard to get nervous when you can't even remember your last name."

"It's also hard to tell how many nose rings a guy has, too." Frankie teased, and as the two dissolved into a fit of the giggles like a pair schoolchildren, a revolted figment stuck out his tongue as he clamped two stubs over the sides of his head.

"Ewww…girl talk…" Bloo grumbled in disgust.

"Well, if you don't like it then…" Kathy chortled as she stopped rubbing his belly, to which the imaginary friend squealed in panic,

"No, no, I'll be good! I'll be good!"

Frankie rolled her eyes as she nudged her friend. "Now if I had a dollar for every time he's said that…"

"Well, it'd be good-bye to your day job then, wouldn't-"

Their chatter was suddenly interrupted when the front door suddenly swung open, allowing two forlorn little figures to enter the foyer. One of them, a somewhat morose-looking little boy, lifted his head and started to announce dutifully,

"I'm ho-"

In the midst of everything, Frankie had completely lost track of the time. Rather than be surprised, however, she instantly became afire with delight the second she realized the good news she head to tell him. Brimming with excitement, the caretaker bolted from her perch and yelled happily,

"Mac!"

The startled little boy had no idea what caught him more off guard; the humongous grin on his guardian's face, her gleeful ear-splitting shriek, or the enormous bear hug she scooped him up into only moments after he had stepped through the door. Needless to say, considering that Frankie had been little more than a broken shell just that morning, her radical change in demeanor left him utterly flummoxed.

"Hey! Hey!" he yelped as she planted a gigantic sloppy kiss on his forehead. "What the…?"

"Mac! Mac! Mac! Mac!" Bloo dashed from his roost on Kathy's lap and started racing around Frankie and his creator like a figment possessed, squealing ecstatically as he shared in the merriment. "Mac, you'll never believe it! Never! Never ever! Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever! Never ever! Never! Never!"

"Never what? Never what? Never what?" Goo started demanding as she swam in confusion. "What's going on? What? Did someone win the lottery? Did someone get a present? Did you get a fruit basket in the mail? What? What? What happened? What're we celebrating? What's-WAUGH!"

Hopelessly swept up in elation, Frankie bent over and managed to scoop up both little girl and imaginary blob. As she awkwardly and barely managed to hold onto them all at once, she burst out laughing.

"Our caseworker is here! Our caseworker is here! She's here! She's heeeeeerrrrre!" she whooped, twirling about once before the horrendously unbalanced load in her arms forced her to tumble flat onto her rear, causing the little ones to spill out of her grip. As Frankie only continued to giggle like mad, Mac's head spun with excruciating befuddlement, for that was the last thing he'd expect her to be so ecstatic about.

"….What?" he managed to cry hoarsely before his imaginary friend and adoptive big sister descended upon him in a crushing family hug. "OOF! Wait-"

"What are you talking about? What are you talking about? What?" Goo broke out protesting shrilly as she was instantly beset with panic. "Here? Now? As in right this very second, this very instant, this very moment while you're all blabbing on and on like a bunch of crazies now? Where? Where?"

"I'll give you three guesses." Kathy snickered as she strolled over. "And the first two don't count."

"That's not fair!" Goo hollered as she exploded into total outrage. "You people are confusing me and Mac to death, because after all that freaking out we've been doing all day, you're saying it's now suddenly time to be all happy-hugs-and-kisses because some stranger from social services is finally here, which makes no sense at all, because why the heck are we supposed to be so giddy when these are the same awful, awful, awful, awful, awful, people who are trying to take Mac away? Huh? Huh? Tell me that! Explain that! Explain that! And I don't even see any stupid dumb rotten social worker lurking about anywhere, unless you want to count Kathy standing around here, but that's really only because she…works…for …"

As everything finally fell into place in her mind, the little girl trailed off from full-blown rant into dead silence for a few moments before she grunted in astonishment,

"Oh….….ohhhhhhhhhh…………wait…wait, Kathy, I…I-I didn't mean all that stuff about being nasty…a-a-and awful…a-and stupid…and dumb, and…"

Luckily for the mortified child, Kathy wasn't offended as much she was extremely amused by the over-the-top tirade, and only broke out tittering while she assuaged the little girl's soaring embarrassment with a pat on the head.

Meanwhile, still trapped in the confines of the hug, Mac was sent reeling with shock, unable to believe what he had just heard.

"Frankie…is…is Kathy really…is she actually going to be…" he stammered uncontrollably in utter amazement. As she could feel the beginnings of tears prickling her eyes, the young woman beamed brightly as she answered softly,

"I told you everything was going to be all right, didn't I?"

Once reality finally struck that the nightmare was indeed over, Mac found himself ginning uncontrollably along with her from ear to ear as within moments he was ecstatic almost beyond words.

"S-so…so we don't…w-we don't have to worry about…" he sputtered. Frankie laughed as she delicately wiped at his watering eyes with her sweater sleeve.

"Never again." She proclaimed, scarcely able to believe the words coming out of her own mouth. As she started to choke up, she turned to her friend and began to babble,

"Kathy, I-I -"

"You say 'thank you' one more time, and those words will seriously lose all meaning." Kathy cut her off with a laugh before offering, "How about you promise not to hug me again, and we'll call it a deal, okay?"

"D-deal." Frankie half-chuckled, half-sniffled as she stood up, right before suddenly realized that their agreement had quite the gaping loophole. Grinning weakly, she glanced down at the little ones and asked deviously,

"Well, what are you guys waiting for? Aren't you going to thank the nice lady yourselves?"

"Ackpth! No, I didn't mean just you-WAUGH!" Kathy wailed as before she knew it, both the children along with the imaginary blob eagerly leapt forward and latched onto her like barnacles, forcing her to tumble backwards in a heap.

"Now, what do we say?" Frankie giggled as Mac had his arms wrapped firmly around the social worker's neck, Goo clung tightly to her stomach, and Bloo looked like he was squeezing her waist so hard, it was as if he was trying to split her in half.

"Thank you!" they chorused between their laughter as Kathy squirmed about like mad to free herself form the uncalled-for barrage of gratitude.

"Okay, okay, I get it! I get it, you guys are thankful!" she yelped miserably. "Enough! Enough! For the love of Pete, Frankie, this isn't a Disney movie!"

Rather than call them all off, Frankie only tittered mischievously as she bounced up and down with delight.

"Nuh-uh!" she refused gleefully. "Wilt still doesn't know yet! I gotta go tell him too!"

"No!" came the fruitless protest. "You're not getting the ten-foot-tall Mr. Nice Guy, you hear me? He'll have to thank me too, and I swear, if he ends up crushing my spine while I'm dangling five feet off the floor, I'll…"

Her objections were all for naught. Giggling like a giddy toddler, Frankie had already scampered off, leaving her friend hopelessly pinned to the floor by a trio of over-grateful little ones. Hopelessly trapped, Kathy groaned despairingly,

"…I'm going to have a couple broken ribs by the time I leave this house, aren't I?"

"…I don't believe it." Miss Corningston murmured incredulously as she sat at her desk and leafed through the report for at least the sixth time. Kathy, expertly acting as convincingly bewildered as she could, simply shrugged.

"I'm just telling you what I found, ma'am. Tough to believe, yes, but…well, so far, it looks like the Foster girl checks out."

Her blatantly frustrated superior shook her head furiously, unable to accept it. "Are you sure? Did Miss Foster seem to be a bit rough at all with the boy? You did take care to speak to the child, right?"

"To be honest...happy, healthy, well-fed, and not a scratch on him." Kathy answered, trying to sound as somber as possible as she sighed and then suggested, "I…I hate to say it, ma'am, but…I think we were wrong on this one-"

"No." immediately came the stubborn denial. "No, we can't. I've seen what she's capable of-"

"Only under extreme stress, while dealing with us. You have to admit, we have been putting her under heavy pressure over the past week." Kathy reminded gently. "From what I saw, though, I frankly thought that she had quite a good handle on everything at home, and we probably have to admit, that says a lot considering for her job she basically keeps a whole house full of imaginary friends running like clockwork. Honest, ma'am, I've never seen anything like it, it was just…"

Pretending to be at a total loss for words, she paused for effect and exclaimed in her 'astonishment,"

"I never would've expected it, but…I was pretty impressed, actually-"

"But you reviewed her file; you know that she has serious anger management issues-"

"Temper problem? Possibly." The young woman agreed. "But just because she has some nasty outbursts now and then doesn't necessarily mean the boy is in any danger. Actually, from what I saw…well, it was around the child that she was at her calmest. Now I know, I could barely believe it, but…again, I'm just telling you what I observed, and truthfully it looked like everything was fine-"

"Impossible!" her superior thundered. "Something's not right here, I…I could've sworn that…how can she…"

As the older woman trailed off and started leafing through the report yet again, searching in total vain for the slightest bit of proof to confirm her suspicions, Kathy stifled a grin as she asked,

"Should I continue to keep on eye on her for now?"

Miss Corningston nodded firmly. "Absolutely. I want you to stop by whenever you can, and try and keep as close surveillance on Miss Foster, just in case that-"

"Actually, I was thinking of dropping in to give her a surprise visit tomorrow afternoon-" Kathy started to explain.

"It's not what you think you'll do, that's exactly what you're going to do. Remember, if you find anything that seems amiss-"

"I remember the protocol; I'll report it to you as soon as I can." The younger woman finished smartly, playing the role of the obedient foot soldier flawlessly.

"Thank you." Her superior murmured with a heavy sigh as she struggled to absorb the completely unexpected news. "That will be all for now."

Kathy nodded respectfully, and wordlessly strode out into the hallway. Once she made the journey upstairs to her own cramped cell of an office, she plopped herself down in her chair, and promptly put her cell-phone on speed dial.

After waiting patiently for a few moments, she greeted the speaker happily, "Oh, hey Wilt! It's Kathy, and I just…hmm? She's busy right now? No problem, could you just tell Frankie that's we're still on for lunch tomorrow?"