Barbie Boy Chapter 3: Cops and (Cradle)Robbers

A/N:Thank you everyone for all your wonderful reviews and support. I'm happy so many of you are liking it. ^^"

"Metal!"

"No, no. My name is Mello. Meh-low."

"Meadow."

Mello didn't understand why the little red-haired boy couldn't get his name right. He smacked his head in irritation…and his eyes immediately started to water.

"Owww!" Mello cried as he clutched his forehead.

"Are you okay, Meadow?" asked Matt, leaning into the other child, wiping a few blond strands out of his eyes. Matt didn't like seeing his new 'girlfriend' cry.

"Don't cry. Please don't cry. You'll make me sad. You're too pretty to cry!" the striped boy leaned in and kissed the other on the lips, hoping it would make 'her' feel better.

Mello stopped crying and looked up at the other child. Matt had called him pretty…and he was smiling. His parents never smiled when he tried to look pretty in front of them…they usually yelled at him. But this boy, this boy was telling him that he was pretty, and he kissed him! The only people he ever saw kissing were married couples. Did…did that mean he and this boy were getting married? Mello didn't know how to react to that. Was he supposed to kiss Matt back? He was too confused to make a decision and instead threw his arms around the other boy and hugged him tight.

"Mello!"

The boy looked up to see his mother approaching quickly. Mrs. Keehl was being followed by a lady with red curly hair.

"Mello! Why did you let him kiss you?" she asked, pulling him away from Matt.

Mello frowned. His mother wasn't going to make him stop playing with Matt, was she? His parents always did things like that. They took away all the things that made him feel good and happy about himself.

"Matt," said the redheaded lady. "Matt, sweetie, I'm sorry but your new friend is a boy. Please tell him you're sorry for kissing him."

Matt looked up at his mom, confusion clouding his eyes. His princess was a boy? He looked back at Mello, who stared at him with his big beautiful eyes. If Mello wasn't a girl, then he was the most beautiful boy Matt had ever seen.

"You're a boy?" he asked the other child.

Mello nodded slowly. Yes, he was a boy…but why had the lady told Matt to apologize? Didn't Matt think he was pretty? Didn't he like him? Would he stop playing with Mello because he was a boy? But the goggled child merely shrugged.

"Okay, Meadow's a boy. But I tissed him because he was crying. "

"Honey, you need to tell him that you're sorry. You might have hurt his feelings."

Mrs. Keehl looked expectantly at Matt. It was undignified that the child had…had…had kissed her Mello! But she let the slight slide because after all, it was a simple misunderstanding. A simple apology would make everything go away and she could laugh about it later…as long her husband didn't find out. Mr. Keehl would be furious that she'd let such a thing happen while the boy was in her care.

"He didn't hurt my feelings!" cried Mello, suddenly releasing his mother's hand.

"You didn't hurt my feelings." He repeated as he hugged Matt again. He wrapped his fingers around Matt's hand and turned to his mother. "Mommy, can we play now?"

Mrs. Keehl sighed…It's innocent, she told herself. They can't know what they were doing. She smiled at her son, and nodded. Kids do things without knowing. She knew she'd be making a big deal out of the situation and only make it worse, so she didn't push the issue…for the moment. Silently, she reminded herself that something would need to be done about the boy. If he could be so easily mistaken for a girl…and not even have qualms about being kissed by another boy…something drastic needed to be done.

The women watched their children play for a while longer. Since there were no other 'incidents', Leanne Keehl decided that the Jeevas kid was safe enough if her son wanted to play with him some more. Perhaps being around another boy would encourage him to engage in more masculine activities. Leanne and Gina exchanged their contact information with a promise to meet again and Mrs. Keehl offered to introduce the Jeevas family to other respectable families in the neighborhood.

She couldn't know how disastrous such an offer would be…

A/N: Oh no! What could be coming next? And honestly, if you don't hate Mrs. Keehl right now, you WILL after the next chapter. XD We're going to meet Matt's father next...which will be...interesting to say the least. ^^"

review please. ^^"