It was a normal late afternoon outside the local branch of the Department of Child and Family Services. That is, unless one managed to completely ignore the flamboyantly colored little bus resting in the far end of the parking lot. If that was just a tad out of place, what was positively no less out of the ordinary was the curious assortment of characters that sat waiting about inside the veritable little rainbow on wheels.

Frankie fidgeted nonstop with her sweater zipper as she kept her gaze locked on the front doors of the building. It was hard enough gathering enough courage to even make it out here, even with her tiny support group seated with her inside the vehicle. The last thing she wanted to do was to miss her chance. Anxiously she waited, struggling all the while to attempt to relax even the most minuscule bit. Alas, the last-minute decision to take the other member of her unorthodox little family was rapidly proving to be a bad choice.

"So are you breaking up with Rudy?" Bloo asked none-too-empathetically for what must have been at least the sixth time.

"No." she groaned, her patience now wearing threateningly thin. The still-unconvinced blob leaned over the top of the seat and prodded her shoulder none too gently as he continued to nettle her.

"Really?" he asked yet again.

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"...Really?"

Frankie's was now griping the steering wheel so tightly that her nails threatened to sink into the molded plastic as Bloo continued on, surprising oblivious to her warning signals.

"I dunno...I mean, what else could you be doing? Because I know that this definitely doesn't look like a date or anything. If it was a date, then why'd you bring all of us?" he pried, putting his less than masterful deductive skills to poor work. "I mean, you didn't even try to look nice. When was even the last time that you changed that sweater? It's like you've been wearing that get-up for ages. And if you ask me, you really could've used a little more shampoo in the shower this morning. You're not exactly going to get anyone with split ends like that-"

"You have five more seconds to put a sock in it, or I am serving blob casserole for dinner tonight for the entire house!" she snapped, sounding like she was very seriously considering the idea. Not taking any chances, Mac grabbed his imaginary friend and yanked him back down onto the seat.

"Hey!" Bloo protested indignantly. "C'mon, Mac! I'm not the one who's dangerously cranky here."

"Can it, Blooragard! I-"

"Uhhh...Frankie?" Wilt piped up meekly as he tapped one of the windows. "Sorry to interrupt, but...I think you should look outside."

She whirled about, cast her gazed towards where he was pointing, and let out an involuntarily yelp once she laid eyes on the familiar young man exiting the building. "There he is! Okay...okay, I just...I just gotta..."

Mac leaned over to give her a pat on the back as she took a few deep breaths, before finally fixing on a look of deep determination.

"Now or never!" she cried out defiantly and charged forward. "Here I-AUGH!"

With a yelp of dismay she lost her footing while scaling down the bus steps. Luckily for her, in her haste had forgotten to open the bus door the first place, and now leaned heavily against it at an awkward angle. "Little help, please?"

Wilt hurried reach out and opened the door, and once she exited the bus in a clumsy stumble, Frankie darted off towards her quarry. As she drew nearer, she slowed her pace to a trot, and finally to a walk. With every step closer she drew, she could feel the already massive knot in her gut grow tighter and tighter. It soon felt like she was trying to digest a cannonball as she finally drew close enough. Nevertheless, she still bravely stretched out her arm and gave her completely unsuspecting boyfriend a gentle tap on the shoulder as he unlocked his car.

"R-Rudy?" she said softly, her heart nearly in her mouth at this point.

"GAH!" he replied with a start. Quickly tensing up tighter than a snare drum as he let out a yell of surprise that some might have described as a few octaves too shrill. He spun about, only to instinctively press back against his car as he let out yet another involuntary shout. If anything, he was even more startled by the incredibly familiar face that had appeared from clean out of nowhere.

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" Frankie stammered nervously. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!"

"I...I just..." he paused for a moment to gather his badly scattered wits together, and took a good long look before murmuring, "Frankie?"

"...Hi." after a few agonizingly awkward moments of quiet, she finally greeted him with an embarrassed chuckle. "I...I'm sorry about that...I didn't mean to..."

"No, no...it's fine." he hastily threw on a reassuring smile as he began to recompose himself. "Really, it is! I just...well, I really wasn't expecting to see you right this moment..."

"I'd probably do the same." she said comfortingly, getting a nervous chortle out of the frazzled young man.

"Well no harm done. I think I'm okay. But...Frankie, what are you doing here? I-I told you that you didn't need to surprise me with everything here at work, right? Unless...wait, is everything all right?"

Frankie froze like a deer in headlights. On a daily basis, she helped successfully manage a massive home for scores upon scores upon scores of residents, and simultaneously handled the role of full-time parent with gusto. But right now at that very moment, she was only being asked just one little question, and-

"Yes." Her lips formed the word almost on their own as she automatically began to back her nerves wavered, she spouted halfhearted reassurances all the while. "Yes, everything is...it's just fine. Sorry about the scare, I was just in the neighborhood and...and I saw the time, so I guess maybe I could say hello, and..."

Her retreat was abruptly brought to a halt by two small hands that gave her a gentle but determined push from behind. Slightly taken off guard, she ground to a stop while Mac darted around, nabbed her by the wrist and resolutely tugged her forward.

"Oh, come on!" he groaned, doing his best to anchor Frankie in place while Rudy just looked on, somewhat befuddled by the curious sight that the two cut.

"Mac? Okay, just what is going on h...uh..." His confusion definitely wasn't assuaged the littlest bit when Wilt loomed up from out of nowhere, with Bloo trailing along.

"I think you gotta get ready for some heartbreak, buddy." Warned the imaginary blob. For a moment Frankie was fueled by a brief surge of annoyance, and immediately she whirled around to lash out with a light kick, which he thankfully managed to dodge with a yelp.

"Bloo!" Frankie snarled, before taking another couple of seconds to prep herself.

"Is...is there something I'm missing here?" her now terribly flummoxed boyfriend inquired. "Seriously, just what is going on?"

"We...we..." Mac squeezed her hand encouragingly, and after her umpteenth deep breath, she finally spilled it out in an anxious jumble, "Wegottatalk."

"...Wahattanock?" he unsuccessfully tried to repeat the frantic word scramble.

"No! We..." she paused, making sure each word now came out clearly. "We...we have to...talk."

"What the?"

Having parked her battered little sedan nearer to the main entrance of the offices, Kathy had actually made it inside her car and switched on the ignition before she finally spotted the somewhat abnormal gathering in the middle of the lot. After taking hasty stock of the situation, the young woman let out a grumble as she flicked the key and clambered back outside.

"Oh, I bet this is going smoothly as can be."

For a few seconds, all was absolute silence. Finally though, Rudy forced out a befuddled, "...Huh?"

"Rudy, I...well, you're really nice, see...and...and things having been going so nice, but...but...something tells me that something...uh...not nice is going on, and so I want to ask about it, but I also kind of don't, you know, because what if I'm wrong about it? But I don't know what else to do, but I'm worried this will just be like all the others, but I'm also a little freaked out that this will be like all the others either way, and-"

Once she noted the somewhat glazed looks of total incomprehension on everyone's faces, it quickly became all too clear that she was doing nothing more than letting a whole lot of nonsense pour out unchecked. Forcefully she stopped himself dead in mid-sentence and started to wave her arms frantically. "Ackpth! Wait, no! Do-over! Do-over!"

"Frankie, just say it already!" Mac begged exasperatedly.

"I'm getting to it! Just give me a second, okay?" The riled young woman shot back.

"But it doesn't sound like it." He folded his little arms and huffed.

"Well, I am, so can you just give me some space and go ahead and do it?" she snapped.

"Then just do it!"

"Fine, I will!"

"Okay then!"

"Fine!"

"Say it!"

"I told, you, I will!"

"Then do it already!"

"I can't when you're jumping down my throat, can I?"

As the confrontation began to quickly dissolve into an absurd squabble between the girl and her nine year old coach, Wilt attempted to cut in. "Frankie, c'mon, this is not okay-"

"No, you cut it out!" she growled snippily without even thinking. Almost immediately the guilt washed over her. "Oh, no! Wait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Deep breath? One more, please?" The lanky figment requested simply. Surprisingly enough she actually complied, and as she took in a long gulp of air, her now even more bewildered boyfriend finally tried to squeeze in a few words.

"Okay, I...I think you're upset...you want to talk about it a little later, or-"

"NO!" all three blurted out in near-perfect unison. Meanwhile, Bloo actually stood some distance apart, thoroughly enjoying the role of spectator for now, or at least trying to.

"Can't believe I didn't bring a video cam here..." he grumbled ruefully to himself as breathlessly Kathy jogged onto the scene.

"What is going on here?" she gasped. "Just what is Frankie doing? Bloo, c'mon, fill me in here."

"I think that right now, they're all crazy." the blob pointed and replied quite succinctly.

"...Ohh I am so glad that I had the sense to ask you for input." She fired back sarcastically.

Meanwhile, Mac was giving Frankie one more half-encouraging, half-impatient push from behind, nudging her forward as she finally found the courage to say what she needed.

"You need to tell me what it is, because I need to know!" she inadvertently shouted. Alas, for the moment it seemed to do little good in clarifying things for the poor young man.

"Tell you what? Frankie, what are you doing here?" he cried, his befuddlement now climbing to heights previously unknown. "What is going on?"

"I...I..." She floundered, but only for a moment before straightening up, and gazing him straight into the eyes. "You need to cut it out and tell me what you're hiding, and I am not taking no for an answer. Kapeesh?"

"I...I...I-I still don't know what you're talking about." he answered with a weak excuse for a disarming smile. In almost no time, the signs were all there; the noticeable quaver in his voice, the wide-eyed look of alarm, and a host of others. Immediately it became quite plain that there wasn't a lick of truth to his words.

"I knew it...I knew it!" Frankie looked triumphant, but only for a moment before she put her interrogation face back on. "You are so keeping something from me! And you better believe that no one is going anywhere until you come clean."

"No, really! I-I don't know what you mean!" he unsuccessfully tried to sway her, his evident panic betraying him. "Come on!"

"NO." she said firmly, finally getting into her element. When properly riled, few could even dream of coming toe-to-toe with the redhead woman, and now was no exception. "Rudy, we tried to agree to be honest with each when we started this...and you have not been holding up your end of the bargain! You've kept a couple things from me already, and you're only doing it again, and this time I know that it's big."

"Well...I..." he stuttered, his eyes darting about as if he was searching for an emergency escape route. This trip to his car had gone from weird, to bad and then worse in almost no time flat. Once it was all too plain that his feeble fibs weren't fooling anyone, he hastily changed to evasive tactics.

"Okay...okay...look, we're...we're still on for dinner in a few days, right?" he asked as he slowly took a step backward from the fiery-eyed woman. "How about we all just take a couple days, settle down, and-"

"Oh no you don't!" Kathy finally revealed her presence to the rest. Moving a bit ungracefully, she darted behind the retreating fellow and nabbed him tightly by the back of the belt and his shirt collar.

"HEY! Kathy, what the h-"

"The lady asked you a question, and it is definitely time for you to start giving some answers." She snapped as she fully joined the fray. "If my friend deserves anything, then it's a guy who is going to be straight with her."

"What? Okay, seriously, can someone just fill me in? Who else is in on this?" he cried out as his mix of panic and confusion quickly reached near-overwhelming levels.

"Rudy, stop it." Frankie marched up and stared him straight in the eyes and growled. "I don't like doing any of this-"

"I like this." Bloo piped up excitedly, and was promptly ignored by everyone else.

"-But I finally have to know what you're not telling me." caretaker finished. "What is it? Are you embarrassed of me? Are you hiding away something? What?"

"I keep telling you, it's nothing!" he protested, his frantic dismay more obvious than ever. "I-I've been trying to keep everything clean with you as best as I-"

"Oh, really now?" Frankie scolded him like an imaginary friend caught stealing from the cookie jar. She folded her arms tightly and cast a fierce glare upon him. The young man actually flinched; he could practically feel her piercing gash stab him to the core as she verbally lashed him with an impatient tone that would send a platoon of marines quivering with fright.

"I am getting pretty sick and tired of this. If you're going to try and treat me like an idiot, then think again! I know something is up. You never want me to visit you here where you work, you never even like to talk about the idea of me stopping by your place, and meanwhile you keep telling me over and over that you're completely fine with everything about me. Pfft! Yeah right, like I am buying any more of this!"

"Okay, okay, okay!" iIt wasn't long at all until he started to rapidly crack like an egg. "Look, can...can we not do all of this right now? Frankie, you're...you're being ridiculous here!"

"You want ridiculous?" she snapped frustratedly as she now started to get caught up in the heat of the moment. "Fine! If you don't start cooperating in the next ten seconds, then...then..."

She looked about and quickly locked her gaze on Wilt. Immediately her arm shot up, and she pointed animatedly at him as she said, "Then Wilt's going to show you a thing or two!"

Immediately she realized she had gone a bit too far when most of the others buried her in a hail of confused looks. Even Rudy knew all too well that the lanky figment was practically politeness incarnate. But still, when your girlfriend's adopted imaginary friend was over ten-foot tall and incredibly athletic, it was still probably best to err on the side of caution. Frankie's threat may have been a bit outrageous, but it did get results. Unfortunately, they just weren't the ones that she planned on.

"No! No! No! Don't!" he hollered before breaking free of Kathy's hold and dashing off as fast as his legs could carry him. Unfortunately that wasn't nearly fast enough; Wilt only needed to take one long stride before he could gently nab the escapee and set him neatly smack in the middle of everyone.

"Oh that sure wasn't a waste of anyone's time." Kathy scowled as all eyes present locked back upon the young man. Soon it became more than clear that there was absolutely no getting out of this.

"Please." Frankie flatly said one more time, although anyone with so much as a few brain cells would have been able to tell that she wasn't exactly giving him a choice.

Rudy looked like he had just been sentenced to the gallows. Nevertheless, after nervously licking dry lips, he relented morosely. "Okay...okay...I'll come clean."

He then slowly took his keys and reached for his car door, or at least tried to until Frankie barked warningly. "Hey! I thought you-"

"No, I will!" he explained. "But...trust me, this isn't something I can just tell you. It'll make more sense if I show you."

"Show us?" she repeated curiously.

"Uh-huh. My place. 39 Oakenridge Drive - my apartment's the third floor above the yoga studio."

"Wait, you mean 'Free Your Spirit?' Hey, I go there on Sunday morn-" Kathy put a hasty end to her outburst and tried to sound stern. "Uh, I mean...okay, fine! She'll meet you there. We all will."

Frankie flashed a grateful grin at her best friend, who flashed a thumbs-up before whirling about back towards the car.

"Yeah, we'll see you there!" Bloo piped up, before trying to suavely turn about and take off behind Kathy, much to her displeasure.

"Hey, hey! Okay, just who said that you're carpooling with me?"

"Kathy, c'monnnnn!" he whined, following along as she picked up the pace of her stride. We were looking totally cool right now! Now you're ruining it!"

"No, you ride with your crew. I'll see you at-hey! Hey, no! Where are you going? Hey, you get away from my car! I told you, you're not-AUGH! You get out of there, you hear me? Get out! OUT!"

As she dashed off to try and get a handle on her unwanted passenger, meanwhile Rudy and Frankie faced each other one more tense time. He had just been called out, and was not enjoying this one little bit, if the misery that marked every inch of his expression was any hair all.

The redhead however wasn't in any mood to play Miss Nice Gal. After givng him one more disapproving stare, she abruptly whirled about before wordlessly making her exit back towards her ride, with her child and imaginary friend loyally following in tow.

Soon they were back aboard the bus, and after she got into her customary position in the driver's seat, Frankie took a good minute to process everything that just happened. After sitting there in near dead silence while the others hovered anxiously nearby, finally it all suddenly seemed to sink in at once.

"I...I did it." She murmured, barely able to believe the words as they spilled from her lips.

"You did!" Mac affirmed with a hopeful smile and a relieved whoop.

"I...I did. Yeah, I did...I really...really...did it. I...I did it! I did it!" she kept repeating as her elation speedily skyrocketed. "I actually looked him right in the eye and...and I did it!"

Unable to contain herself, she let out an ecstatic cheer, and pumped her arms in the air excitedly before reaching down and sweeping her charge up in a tight hug. "Yesss! I showed him to keep things from me! Oh thank you! Thank you!"

Mac laughed as she kissed his forehead. "It wasn't anything...we just came along."

"Yeah! Well...and help out with some other things." Wilt conceded as he gave his "kid" a congratulatory pat on the shoulder.

"Like heck it wasn't anything!" she giggled as it felt like a mighty weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "I wouldn't have been able to do it all without you two! But now it's all over, and now we know! There was something he was keeping from me! I knew it, I just knew it! There was something wrong he was hiding, there..."

And like that, her glee promptly crashed in a blazing inferno once she noted the unpleasant truth. "There...there was something he was hiding from me, and...and...a-and..."

Suddenly the parking lot was ablaze with commotion as the dread-filled young woman let her head slump forward onto the steering wheel in her despair. As her forehead rested square atop the bus horn, she couldn't help but let out a piteous moan. "Oh...no..."