Well, that does it! I've edited and posted all of my formally rejected fics, which I sincerely hope that you've all enjoyed. However, I'm not quite done just yet.
Some of you may recall that my original last fic, "As Usual", took place a few years in the future to show everyone a glimpse of what life has in store for everyone in this little slightly AU series of mine. Well, I managed to find a bit of spare time, and wrote a new little story to take us to that same setting one more time before I brought this collection of fanfics to a close. Thus, I hope you enjoy this story, and I just wish to sincerely thank you all for everything.
Sincerely, Dude13
"Oh, for the love of…."
Frances "Frankie" Foster groaned in dismay after pausing to take a good look at just how much progress she had made over the course of the past half-hour. Alas, the drawers of the massive oaken desk sitting in the middle appeared to be just as hopelessly crowded as ever with Lord only knew what, despite the fact that it felt like she had filled up half of the spacious office with clutter she had removed from in there. Mentally, the redhead cursed; as much as she hated to admit it, her efforts to try and keep certain places organized were a bit…well, lacking, or at least in comparison with the previous president of Foster's.
Such was why Frankie was taking advantage of this unexpected bit of free time that had occurred despite her normally busy schedule to try and tackle the disaster within the bowels of her desk, with frustratingly little success so far. The head of Foster's heaved a sigh while another woman watched the spectacle with an amused grin as she leaned against the desk and sipped some coffee.
"So tell me again; when did you decide to try and beat the world record for most disorganized office ever?" she cracked.
Frankie scowled darkly. "I'll let you know as soon as you remind me why I keep letting you drop to visit whenever you want."
Kathy snorted with laughter at the snide remark. "Touche."
"Seriously, give me a break. We can't all be as uptight as Peter Cotton-Butt ever was." The head of Foster's grumbled irritably.
"Speaking of, if only the rabbit could see this." The curly-haired woman giggled like a schoolchild, while Frankie just made a face.
"No thanks, I'd rather he stays with Grandma in….uh…."
"Where'd she drag him to now?" Kathy asked before taking another sip of her coffee. Frankie paused and thought hard for a moment.
"The last postcard was from Puerto Rico, so I still think they're somewhere in the Caribbean. As far as I care, the bunny could be in Antarctica instead of here, nitpicking at everything I do." She grumbled before reaching back into a drawer and lugging out yet another armful of junk.
"Whatcha got this time?" Kathy asked with a snicker as she knelt down to help sort through the small pile the redhead laid on the floor.
"A whole lot of nothing, that's what." Frankie muttered. "Let's see….some envelopes…a handful of adoption forms…some old phone bills that have already been paid for….who knows what this thing used to be...what the? Oh for Pete's sake! What's this photo album doing in here?"
"Don't ask me, I don't even live here." Kathy replied with a shrug and a chuckle as the redhead groaned loudly in deep exasperation.
"Jeez! I've been searching for this thing everywhere! Why in the world did I put it in the-"
Frankie's grumblings were abruptly interrupted by the sound of squeaking basketball shoes in the foyer, followed by the gentle inquiry from a familiar voice, "Frankie?"
"In here!" the woman in question called. No sooner had she answered when the pitter-patter of little feet suddenly announced the arrival of a veritable little blur into the room.
In a flash, Frankie's mood seemed to brighten instantaneously. Promptly she broke out grinning from ear to ear before hurriedly setting the old album aside and kneeling down with her arms wide open.
"Mommy!" the little blur of a four-year-old redheaded little girl squealed excitedly as her mother swept her up off the floor and into a hug.
"Hey there, sweetie!" Frankie happily cooed to her daughter. "Look who stopped by to visit us!"
"Hi, Aunt Kathy!" Bridgett squeaked with a fat, toothy smile as soon as she spotted her godmother standing not too far away. Kathy couldn't help but chuckle at the curious little sight the two posed; it almost looked as if her best friend was holding a minature version of herself.
"Hello to you too, honey. Where'd you come from?" she chortled warmly.
"Playtime." A gangly red beanpole of an imaginary friend answered as he sauntered in, taking care to duck in through the doorway. Seeing as how Wilt was still trying to catch his breath, it was quite clear that he had quite the time trying to keep pace with the extremely energetic child. Nevertheless, between gasps the good-natured figment still managed to greet politely, "Hey Frankie, hey Kathy."
"Playtime, huh?" Frankie giggled. "So what were you and Wilt up to today, huh?"
"Hide n' go seek!" Bridgett happily answered. "And I won, Wilt! Didn't I?"
"That she did." The ever-modest creature just affirmed, not one to add how he had obviously made some valiant effort. Judging by the dirt on his legs and the leaves sticking to him here and there, it appeared that he had attempted to hide in some bushes.
Frankie just tossed back her head and laughed. "You always just have to let her be 'it', do you? Still having trouble saying the n-o word?"
This comment promptly earned her a fierce tousling, sending her scarlet locks slightly askew from her imaginary friend who countered with his trademark smile, "You did the same thing when we played."
"Well it is pretty easy to find you." Frankie admitted truthfully as she give one of his towering legs an affectionate pat. "C'mon, looks like someone could use a shower or something."
"Are you sure?" Wilt instinctively asked. "I'm sorry, but…well, if you're busy, then I don't want to trouble you by-"
"I'd like to think that I can handle looking after my own kid for a little bit." She chortled before giving him a light push towards the doorway. "C'mon, you do enough around here as it is. I think you deserve at least a little break."
"Well…if you say so…." He finally acquiesced. "See you guys later.
With this he exited the room, though not before reaching over to allow Bridgett to bid him goodbye by hugging his good arm, giving the figment no choice but to break out into his trademark smile before he exited the room.
"Bye, Wilt!" she squeaked as her mother carried her over to the disaster zone behind the desk.
"You want to help Mommy out for a little? Hmm?"
" 'Kay!" Bridgett happily complied as she was set back down upon the floor amidst the piles of clutter.
"Now, you go take this papers here and throw them into the garbage, all right?" Frankie requested as she gathered up a few handfuls of crumpled adoption forms. "I'm going to-"
"What's that?" she piped up the instant she spotted the large photo album lying not too far away. Once her attention was nabbed, she toddled over, sat down and curiously began flipping through it. Seeing that the child was effectively occupied for now, Frankie wordlessly smiled at her before going back to her hefty task at hand.
"What's that you got there, honey?" Kathy asked warmly as she knelt down next to the little girl.
"Pictures." Bridgett answered correctly as she looked through all the assorted photos.
"Oooh, looks like you got a lot here." The woman said as she leafed through the pages. "Look, see, there's your great-grandma....there's the rabbit....here's Ed...ha! Hey, do you know who these two are here?"
"Mommy!" the little girl replied happily once she recognized the lanky redhead in the photo. "And….uh…."
Bridgett squealed with laughter as Kathy tickled her belly a little without warning with a mischievous giggle. "That's you, you little nut! See? You're just an itty-bitty baby in this picture. Heehee! I remember this….see, this was the party we all had after you were born."
"Really?" the child asked excitedly. "For me?"
"Yup. It was just after you and your mommy got back from the hospital, and-" Before Kathy could elaborate, the child suddenly began speedily flipping through the album as fast she could.
"Whoa! What're you doing?"
"Lookin' for Mac's!" she answered with a grin.
Kathy raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"Mac's pictures!" Bridgett squeaked excitedly. "I wanna see pictures of the party for when Mac was-"
"What?" her godmother exclaimed curiously. "What are you talking about? Mac was-"
"Ahem." Frankie suddenly cleared her throat none-too-subtly.
Puzzled, Kathy only shot her friend an odd look before she tried to explain again, "Anyway…honey, what do you mean? You know Mac was-"
"A-hem." Frankie looked up and repeated herself, which of course only bewildered Kathy a little further.
"Uh…like I was saying, Ma-"
"A-HEM." The redheaded woman finally climbed to her feet and began gesturing curtly to her best friend.
Totaaly mystified at this point, Kathy just did as bid while Bridgett asked, "Mommy, where's-"
"Hold on a sec, Mommy's just needs to talk to your Aunt for a second about some grown-up stuff." Frankie replied gently before she and the other woman retreated to a far corner of the room.
"You got something caught in your throat, or something?" Kathy asked impatiently in a hushed tone. "Seriously Frankie, what's-"
"Bridgett doesn't know." The redhead said bluntly.
Despite Frankie's directness, Kathy was still utterly lost in a fog of confusion. "…Huh? Doesn't know what?"
"Bridgett doesn't know." Frankie only repeated herself firmly, and for a moment all she received was a blank stare of incomprehension until finally her friend caught on.
"Wait….waaaait a second…you mean that she doesn't know Mac was adopted?" Kathy demanded as her eyes bulged in shock.
"What did I just say?" came the exasperated reply.
"But…but…hold on, just hold on here…" Kathy begged as she struggled to wrap her mind around the situation. "I...I don't get it. You're seriously telling me that-"
"How many times am I going to have to repeat myself?" Frankie groaned before shooting an anxious glance towards her daughter to make sure she hadn't overheard.
Kathy meanwhile was thunderstruck; she honestly didn't know what to make of any of this surprising revelation. "…..Why? Frankie, what's going on? What's with all the secrecy about-"
"How would you feel if someone told you that your big brother wasn't really part of your family?" Frankie asked, and then promptly realized the problem with what she had said. "Wait...hold on, I--"
"Excuse me? In case you forget, Frances Bridgett Foster, you adopted Mac precisely because you felt that he was just like family to you-" Kathy moved faster and pointed out the obvious error in her friend's reasoning.
"I know, I know, I know. I mean….look, I meant Bridgett's point of view. For Pete's sake, she's only four years old. Do you really expect her to understand all of that? It's a bit complicated for someone her age, don't you think?"
"….Well….okay, you have a point." Kathy conceded. "Still though, are you really sure this is something you actually need to hide from her? I mean, would it really be that bad if she found out? What's honestly the worst that could happen?"
"I don't know, and to be honest, I don't want to." Frankie declared firmly. "Chances are is that if she was told now, she probably wouldn't understand, and the results probably would not be pretty. As far as Bridgett knows, I'm Mac's mother just as much as I am hers-"
"Took you long enough to come to terms with that." Kathy couldn't help but point out snidely.
"Knock it off, all right? All I'm saying is that things are just fine as long as we're keeping everything as simple and uncomplicated as this, and I'm just fine with keeping it that way-"
"Huh? What do you mean? You're not going to find any baby pictures of Mac in there!" someone suddenly said rather loudly. Frankie promptly went silent in mid-sentence as she was promptly seized with alarm. As her expression contorted with horror, she and Kathy whirled around to affirm her terrible suspicion; there, by there doorway Bridgett stood, showing off the photo album to a certain azure blob of an imaginary friend who happened to be passing by at the worst possible time.
"Bloo, no!" Frankie yelped hoarsely in dismay. "Wait-"
"Can it wait a sec? I'm answering a question here! Sheesh!" Bloo replied as he waved her off with an exasperated sigh. "Okay, so….where was I? Oh, yeah! No way you're going to find any baby photos of Mac in there."
At that moment, Bridgett was the very embodiment of utter bafflement as she whimpered bewilderedly, "Why? How come-"
"What do you mean how come?" Bloo demanded as he rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding me? Mac was already eight years old when Frankie adopted him. How could she take any baby pictures? Go back in time? Well...maybe, if only she'd shell out the dough I need to finally make my time machine-"
"…'dopted?" Bridgett just repeated in a hoarse whine as her eyes widened in total confusion the likes of which she had never experienced before. "W-what-"
"Bridgett, wait! Wait!" Frankie yelped frantically as she dashed over.
"You know, adopted!" the little figment just went on casually, completely obvious to the distress he was causing her. "See, you know how here people come and adopt the imaginary friends here? Well, it was kinda like that. Mac didn't start living here until Frankie decided to adopt him so she could take care of him and stuff."
"Y-you…y'mean…h-he didn't…" the stunned little one stammered as she struggled in vain to wrap her mind around all of this. "M-Mac didn't always live here with-"
"Nope!" Bloo affirmed calmly. "Not until he was twice as old as you were."
The photo album tumbled from the child's grasp as she became absolutely dumbstruck, to Frankie's complete and utter panic as she reached them far too late. Desperate to avert a possible impending fiasco, the redhead swung into action. Hastily, she dropped to her knees alongside her daughter, and tried to muster up the sweetest, gentlest tone that she could.
"Bridgett? Sweetie?" she asked. Bridgett didn't answer; she just continued to stand there, totally frozen save her quivering lower lip.
"....Bridgett?" Frankie tried yet again, "You okay-"
She finally received her answer when the little one burst into tears. It was quite the spectacle to behold; in a heartbeat, she had gone from dead silent to wracked with sobs so strong her tiny frame shook under their force. While she wept freely, twin rivulets gushed down the sides of her face as the heartbreaking clamor filled the air.
"Whoa!" Bloo exclaimed in alarm as he backed off a few feet. "What's your problem!"
Frankie meanwhile let loose with a hoarse cry of panic before instinctively scooping her daughter up into her arms. As she cuddled the child close, the woman tried to coo soothingly, "Shhh, it's all right, sweetie! It's all right! Shhh, don't cry!"
"It's gonna be okay, honey," Kathy hastily joined in. "It's gonna be-"
Unfortunately, their bombardment of reassurances had as much effect as bullets against a Kevlar vest, and if anything, Bridgett's weeping only seemed to intensify as she buried her face in her mother's shoulder and began to gradually soak it in the tears that continued to flow forth unchecked.
While she started to comfortingly bounce the little one in her arms, Frankie glared daggers at the blobbish perpetrator of their present crisis.
"BLOO!" she snarled like an enraged mother grizzly.
"What? What?" Bloo quickly countered with a barrage of whining. "What'd I do? What'd I do?"
"We'll give you one guess, Blooragard Einstein!" Kathy snapped as she pointed to the distraught child in Frankie's arms.
"What's that supposed to mean?" the little figment demanded, while his bewildered expression indicated that he truthfully didn't realize what he had done. "Hey, I didn't do anything! I was only answering her question, and then next thing I know she starts totally freaking out like-"
"She didn't know I adopted Mac!" Frankie was all too ready to enlighten him with a growl before switching back to the role of reassuring parent for the sake of the little bundle of tears in her hold. "Shhhh, don't cry, sweetie, don't cry….shhh, it's okay…."
"Huh? She didn't know what?" Bloo replied confusedly. "Wait...why would you keep something like that from her?"
"….Are you serious?" Kathy groaned in disbelief once it became quite clear that for some inexplicable reason, the fact that Bridgett was now beyond inconsolable meant nothing to the imaginary friend. Rather than foolishly continue on with the so-far fruitless efforts with the exasperating figment, she re-focused efforts upon trying to calm the terribly upset child.
"What's wrong, honey-boo? Aww, why so frowny?" she tried to ask sweetly with a big, almost clownlike grin. To her discouragement, Bridgett didn't even seem to notice that she was speaking to her, and simply continued to sob almost hysterically.
"Now do you see why I didn't want to let her know?" Frankie snapped at her.
"Oh, right, this is really the time to cash in on your bragging rights!" Kathy just shot impatiently back as she started stroking the little one's head delicately. "Jeez! I've never seen her so upset before!"
"That makes two of us!" the redheaded woman moaned miserably as she tried every trick she knew to try and placate the child. No matter how much she cooed, rocked, hugged, or whispered soft reassurances, Bridgett's sobbing didn't seem to lighten up on smidgen, making this an alarming first for Frankie.
"Yikes! Just look at those waterworks go!" Bloo exclaimed in amazement as the flood of tears continued gushing from Bridgett's emerald eyes.
"You're not helping!" Frankie snapped as she whirled around and briskly walked off to try and put some space between her and the unfortunately aggravating little creature.
"Hey, I'm only saying!" Bloo said defensively as he followed. "Seriously, how much water can she have left in there? It's not like she's that big or-"
"Did we ask for your input?" Kathy hissed as she trailed along.
"Well, she's not!" he argued. "Look maybe, if you just wait a bit, she won't have anything left to cry out, and then you can just-"
"I'm really, really sure Frankie just said you're not being the world's greatest help here!" Kathy growled as the redheaded woman headed into the foyer and towards the staircase, up in the direction of Bridgett's room.
"It's okay," she cooed softly all the while. "It's okay, nothing to be upset about. Mommy's gonna explain everything, all right? You don't-"
Before Frankie could ascend more than five steps, the front doors suddenly opened announced, followed by the entrance of two teenagers.
"Hey, I'm ho-" one of the teens, a chestnut-haired boy, promptly went silent in mid-sentence in total surprise the instant he took one glance at the curious scene before him.
He wasn't the only one who was dismayed; once she saw Mac, Frankie froze in horror as she struggled to fathom her unbelievably bad luck. "Oh, no…."
Hastily she raised a hand to shield Bridgett's view, but she was far too late. With a shrill, heartbreaking cry, the little girl somehow managed to start crying as she promptly started wriggling about like a child possessed, thus seemingly confirming Frankie's worst fears; she appeared to now be terrified of the boy who she now knew wasn't even related to her.
"Bridgett, no! No! Calm down! Calm down!" Frankie started shouting as she struggled to get a firm hold upon the now extremely squirmy little one. "It's okay, you just-"
"Omigosh! What's wrong? What happened? She okay? What? Is she hurt? Is she just super, super upset? Why's she so super, super upset?" Goo immediately erupted into an explosion of concerned babbling before dashing over. Before Frankie could even so much as move a muscle in reaction, the girl had plucked her daughter right out of her grasp.
"Goo, what're you-" the redhead demanded, but Goo didn't even appear to hear her as she started rocking the little one in her arms as she started cooing to the child in a fast-paced chatter.
"Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry! It's gonna be okay, yup, it's gonna be just fine! You want a song? Hmm? That it? Is that gonna make you feel all better inside? Huh? How about a song? 'Rock a bye baby, on the treetop, when the wind blows the cradle will-"
"Goo, please!" Frankie, desperate to just get the hysterical child out of there, started to plead as she reached over to take her daughter back. "I can explain later, just-"
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, whoa!" Goo yelped as Bridgett managed to wiggle loose with a sudden desperate burst of effort. The second she hit the floor, she immediately bolted off as fast as she possible could with a heartbreaking wail.
Needless to say, Frankie was just a tad aback when complete unlike what she was expecting, Bridgett actually made a beeline for Mac, latching onto one of his legs with a pitiful cry, "DON'T MAKE HIM GO!"
For a moment, everyone else went fell dead quiet as they all become stricken by surprise, flat out bafflement, or at least in Mac's case, a combination of both.
"….Huh?" the boy grunted bewilderedly as he reached down and gathered his little sister up into his arms. Quickly, she clasped onto him and held on tightly like a shipwreck survivor clinging desperately to a piece of driftwood.
"What did you say?" Frankie asked as she rushed over.
"D-don't make h-h-him go, M-Mommy…" Bridgett managed to whimper piteously between sobs. "I-I like h-having him as m-my b-brother…I don't w-want him t-t-to go…"
"Wait…" her mother struggled to piece everything together. "Wait….sweetie, you think that…hold on, do you think that because he...he was adopted...and isn't related to us-"
"So he's not allowed to be part of the family?" Kathy finished.
"I-I don't care…" the little one begged shamelessly. "D-don't make him g-go…please don't m-make Mac g-g-go, Mommy…"
At first, the flabbergasted redheaded woman could do little more than stare wordlessly in disbelief. However, only after a few moments of this she suddenly found herself slowly cracking a smile that threatened to spread across the entire width of her face. Only a four-year-old could manage to come to such a ridiculous conclusion.
As Kathy heaved a heavy sigh of relief, Frankie burst out chuckling once it became more than clear that there was nothing to worry about. Meanwhile, even more profoundly befuddled than ever, Mac just gawked confusedly at the still-weepy child in his hold before he gave his parent a pleading gaze. "…I missed something here, didn't I?"
"You missed something here? Helloooo, not like everything's as clear to me as an invisible window someone just cleaned with a power washer!" Goo babbled as she waved her arms impatiently. "Could someone let us know what the heck in the whole wide world is going on here or something? Hmm? A little hint, maybe? Anything? Something? Please? Pretty please?"
"Someone's just a teensy bit confused here, that's all." Frankie laughed as she tried to take Bridgett back into her arms for a comforting hug. Immediately the little one, whose crying had finally started to subside, merely tightened her already firm hold on Mac with an anxious whine.
"All right, all right." The woman quickly conceded with a giggle as she started stroking the little one's head.
While the combined efforts of her and Mac finally started to calm down the youngest member of their unusual little family, Kathy couldn't help but remark, "So…this is the disaster you were trying to avoid here? Nice call on that one; God forbid we actually get confirmation she loves her big brother."
"Okay, you know what? I don't care about how much the rabbit says that I need to set an example for everyone, all right? You're really just asking for a knuckle sandwich, got it?" Frankie threatened grumpily.
Her friend, cheeky to the end, just grinned foolishly. "If that's gonna be the case, just make sure you cut off the crusts first, okay?"
"…Thanks for having me stick around for dinner tonight." Kathy said sincerely as she embraced her friend upon the front porch of the towering Victorian mansion.
"It's not a problem, it's always nice to have you spend your day off here." Frankie replied, before adding jokingly, "Even if you are second only to Bloo when it comes to being a pain."
The other woman laughed as she pushed her friend playfully like a schoolchild. "Ha! Just you wait, I'll be tied with him one of these days."
"Ooooh, I can't wait for that to happen." The redhead replied with a roll of her eyes as Kathy cupped her hands over her mouth and called into the house, "Bye Rudy!"
"I think he's probably helping Wilt out with the dishes in the kitchen." Frankie guessed when no reply came. Kathy shrugged.
"No big deal, not like we don't work at the social services office or anything. All right, I gotta get by rear out of here and back home. You take care, all right?"
"Bye Kath! See you around!" The redhead.
"Bye for now, Madam Foster!" her friend took care to cry out with a smirk right before she clambered into her car.
"You know I hate that nickname!" Frankie tried to sound angry, but could only manage a laugh as her friend drove off. Chuckling, she exited into the house and promptly went to go check whether a certain four-year-old had fully recovered yet from her ordeal earlier that day.
"How's she doing?" Frankie asked as she entered the TV room, where four assorted occupants sat sprawled atop the sofa.
"Well I'm doing just fine dandy, thank you so very, very, very much for asking!" Goo snorted with laughter from where she sat resting her head against Mac's shoulder.
"Oh, very funny Miss Comedian." Frankie answered sarcastically as she checked her watch and observed how late it was. "So, are you spending tonight here, or what?"
"Well, it's Friday night. Maybe!" the girl sat up and shrugged with a carefree smile.
"You know, one of these days I should really just set aside one of the spare rooms for you." The woman replied with an irrepressible chuckle before kneeling down to check on the little one in Mac's arms. "So? How is she?"
"Looks like she's doing fine to me." Mac answered with a smile. Indeed, he seemed to be speaking nothing but the truth as Bridgett dozed, looking as totally relaxed and content as could be. In other words, her staus was a definite improvement from the wreck she had been hours before.
Frankie could feel her heart melt at the sight, and couldn't help but plant a tender kiss on the little one's cheek. "Poor little thing….can't believe I actually put her through what I did."
"Well, we all thought it was a good idea." Mac reminded her. "Besides, it's not like we need to worry about it at all anymore. She's just fine, see?"
"Yeah, I guess." Frankie granted, though she still clearly felt a little guilty about what happened.
"Hey, at least she isn't freaked out by me or anything." The boy chortled, getting a smile out of his "mother."
"Well, now that I think about it, I guess I shouldn't have really worried about it to begin with. She is a Foster, after all; we keep our friends close, and whoever we say is family even closer." To prove her point, Frankie planted a kiss on the unsuspecting teen's forehead, to his dismay.
"Heehee! Momma's boy!" Bloo hooted with glee, as Goo burst out snickering ncontrollably. Mac meanwhile of course promptly burst out blushing furiously in embarrassment.
"Oh c'mon, let me grow up already, will you?" he begged with a groan. Frankie just giggled as she ruffled his hair affectionately.
"I'm not ready quite yet, pal." She giggled mischievously. "Now, I believe it's time for someone to finally get to bed. C'mon, sweetie, up we go….uh, Mac? Could you let go of Bridgett?"
"…But I'm not holding onto her." The bewildered boy protested. True to his word, he had released his grasp upon the little one as soon as Frankie had attempted to scoop her up into her arms.
It seemed that even while asleep, Bridgett didn't want to take any chances; despite everyone's attempts to explain everything to her earlier, she kept her little arms wrapped tightly around her big brother's neck, just to make sure he wasn't going anywhere.
Upon realizing this, Frankie took the next logical step and began trying to gingerly detach the four-year-old's grasp. No sooner had she began trying to remove her though when Bridgett, although still asleep, nevertheless just unconsciously tightened her hold with a whimper. Unwilling to awaken or upset her, her mother promptly backed off a little bit. Mac then made an attempt to remove Bridgett, and met with similar results, which of course dissuaded him from going any further as well.
"Uh…." Mac just grunted dumbly as together, he and Frankie just stared at the obstinate, yet cherubic little creature.
"So….now what are you guys gonna do now?" Goo inquired curiously from where she was intently watching the spectacle.
After putting every ounce of her mindpower into trying to figure out a solution, Frankie finally concluded that unfortunately, there was only one way to do this. She grimaced apologetically with a shrug. "Sorry, pal."
"Sorry? Sorry for-hey!" Before Mac knew it, in one swift movement, Mac had slipped her arms beneath him, and without too much trouble, hefted both him and the still-slumbering Bridgett clean off the couch together.
"Hey! Hey! Frankie, what are you doing?" he protested.
Frankie just tried to smile weakly as she awkwardly carried them out of the room and towards the main staircase in the foyer. "Hope you won't mind an eight o'clock bedtime tonight…"
The End