[No POV]
"Oh, hello Fred" Wilma says as she walks out of the bathroom with Pebbles
"I was just giving Pebbles her bath. She and Bamm-Bamm were playing in the mud earlier-"
"Da-da, Da-da!" She stretches her arms out towards Fred and greets him
"Awww... hey Pebbly-Poo!"
"Da-da missed you... and he brought you something special."
Pebbles looks at him, inquisitively
"I'll go get it from the car" He says and walks outside
...
"I wonder what his surprise might be..." Wilma thinks to herself, but immediately finds out as Fred jogs in through the door, holding a bag.
"Here Pebbles, I got a fresh bottle of grape juice, and a shirt just like mine, for you."
"Oh Fred, how sweet of you!" Wilma says with a peppy tone
"... It's leopard skin, just like Da-da's."
"Now we can be twins!"
He hands it to her and she cheers
Pebbles puts her arms in the air and tugs on the shirt she's wearing - her way of asking for help with putting on her new one.
"Now, now, sweetheart... we should wait until AFTER you've had your grape juice."
Fred picks her up and brings her to the kitchen
"Y'know, this purple stuff really stains! ...your mama got mad at me for spilling grape juice on mine, heh-heh."
He proceeds to give her a lift into her high chair before pouring some juice into her sippy-cup.
"Don't drink it too fast, or you'll have a tummy ache later." Fred suggests as he hands it over
"I'm gonna go talk to mama while you finish up your grape juice... then you can try on your new shirt, okay, Pebbly-Poo?" He pats her on the head and walks into the living room, where he can talk in private while still keeping an eye on Pebbles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wilma is sitting on the couch, practicing her knitting skills
"Uh, Wilma? Can I sit here?" He asks as he cautiously sits down, not wanting to annoy her already.
"Sure, why not? It's your house too, y'know." She scoots over to make more room
"I know... it's just-"
...
"Are we doing... alright?" Fred asks, hands folded nervously in his lap.
"What do you mean, Fred?"
Wilma seems confused
...
"I've been worried that you might be getting tired of me." He blurts out.
"Why- that's crazy! I'd never 'get tired' of you, no matter how many shenanigans you pull." She says, not once looking away from her knit work.
"But... sometimes I worry that you'd rather have married someone else. Someone... slimmer, maybe taller... someone less sloppy, or more gentlemanly-"
"I've been paranoid. I don't want to be a no-good husband to you, Wilma."
Fred scratches his head, clearly emotional, after sharing what he's been insecure about.
...
Still confused, Wilma hugs him, sensing the seriousness in him coming forward about what's been going on in his mind.
"Why do you think that, Fred..?"
"I wouldn't want anybody else, I chose you and ONLY you."
...
"Because I have a big mouth."
...
"I say stuff when I'm grouchy, and my brain falls behind. Leaving me regretting the mean things I've said."
He looks to the floor in shame.
"...even if I never even meant it."
Now, a tear drips onto his shirt collar. He sniffles.
Wilma lays her head on Fred's shoulder and says "I do that too. We're human... and when it all boils over, we say our apologies and we still love each other."
...
"If you want us to work on that, together, we can."
She smiles warmly
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay, Wilma. I'd like that."
"I do hope you still love me the same as when we first got married."
...
"Even if you've gotten to see too much of how I'm a buffoon."
He tries to laugh along with what he says, but it doesn't turn out very realistic.
Wilma is able to tell that Fred's still sad.
"Honestly, Fred, I think I love you more now than I did back then- I know you better and have had lots of time to spend with you." ...
"Is that all you wanted to tell me?"
She encourages him to open up a little more.
"Well- not exactly.."
He frowns
"You can tell me, Fred."
"I'll try and have an open mind and I won't say anything mean, will that help?"
She takes his hand that rested on his leg and holds onto it.
"Something happened, Wilma." He says, feeling guilty, sniffling again
"...Are you okay?" Wilma looks in his eyes out of concern. They're glazed over as he gives up trying to hold back the tears.
There's a pause while Fred thinks
"Yeah. I'm okay."
"But the other night when I was hanging out with Barney after work..."
"We got a little drunk since they were serving alcohol."
...
"It happens, Fred." She assures him
"-that's not everything"
He interjects
"Oh?"
"When we were drunk, we didn't want to drive since neither of us were fit to. Instead, we sat in the car for a while in hopes it'd wear off."
"...and then, something happened and Barney kissed me. But not only him- I felt something in my heart and kissed him back."
Fred turns his face away, fearing a lecture from Wilma.
She giggles
"That's pretty cute."
"Y-you're not mad?" He replies, shocked.
"No. It's not like he's a stranger, it was bound to happen at some point. Plus- now Barney knows you've got a soft side... ha-ha-ha"
"But if you ever do it again, don't forget about me... save me some attention, too."
"Oh, Wilma..." He clings onto her in a swift move, then sobs over her shoulder.
She rubs his back to try and comfort him. -never before had she seen Fred's sensitive side quite like this.
"In a way..." She whispers
"...this brings us closer."
Fred pulls back, still holding onto her, and inquisitively looks in her eyes
"...You think so?" He questions.
"I'll confess something, too, Fred."
...
"You and Barney are cute. ...and Betty... we've... er, done some things."
Wilma comes clean
"Sometimes, despite how much you admire someone- a best friend always has their own special place, too."
"...the Rubbles' are good people, Fred. If I can be close to Betty, it's only fair that you get to share Barney."
Fred's eyes widen
"You two... uh?"
He places his hands in his lap, realizing that trying to picture Wilma and Betty doing... something... wasn't a good idea.
"Don't be all shy with me, mister Flintstone." She says, sternly, but in a teasing way.
Her little ways of getting to him are like no other. Fred blushes and removes one of his hands
"I-I need to go get Pebbles. I think she's done with her juice... now. -ah." He hurriedly gets up from the couch and grabs his newspaper to cover the front side of him, then proceeds back into the kitchen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay, Pebbles. I'll let you out of that chair now." Fred says and brings her into the living room with Wilma
He quickly sits down on the floor, cross-legged, and helps Pebbles change into her shirt.
"How cute!" Wilma squeals
"You look just like Da-da"
Fred chuckles and adds "Well... I'd say she rocks it even better than I do."
"Don't make it a competition, you two!"
Betty calls through the window
...
"Oh hey, Betty"
Wilma waves
"We were just passing by and figured we'd stop by and say hi"
"Why not come in? We don't have any evening plans, not to mention the new episode of Peek-a-boo Camera comes on tonight."
When Fred hears that Betty and Barney are coming in, he turns bright red and runs into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.
"I can't let them see me like this!" He whisper yells, covering himself despite being alone
"-oooh I've got an idea!"
...
"I'll just pretend to be taking a dump, then I'll go back out there when this 'issue' subsides."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wilma's POV:
Where'd Fred go?- he was literally just here.
Barney will probably want to see him.
"How are you, Wilma?" Betty asks, politely, followed by "Hi-ya" from Barney
"I'm doing alright, but can we talk for a sec?- I got some new gossip."
I ask, anxious to tell her that our secret is safe with Fred.
"Sure, I'm always up for gossip... you know me, Wilma." She giggles and follows me into the kitchen
Her voice changes into a whisper. "What's the news?"
...
"So... Fred told me something and I knew right away that I just had to tell you, too."
...
I step closer so I don't have to talk as loud
"He and Barney... evidently had a... romantic moment the other night, and I told him about how we did too-"
"Uh-oh. How did he react to that?" She seems slightly worried, judging by the look on her face
"He got... 'excited' -and tried to hide it. I told him that it's okay and now he's alright with our... connection."
I pause and then add "Something tells me that they did a little more than kiss... because of how nervous he was about 'fessing up... but I'll try not to pry, and we'll probably find out on our own."
"Hehehe- we always do!" Betty says, seeming like her usual self again.
-But she's right. We have our ways of spying on our husbands. -It works well, needless to say.
"Can I tell Barney?" She questions, not wanting to cause any trouble
"Of course, it's Barney after all." I approve.
He's one of the most genuine guys I've known, no offense to Fred. Barney just has that angelic essence to him-
A nice guy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Betty gives a hand motion to Barney, telling him to come over here.
"Yeah, honey?" He replies
"We want to tell you something."
Barney swallows hard, and it's obvious that he thinks he's in trouble.
"Wilma and I... we're sort of... -how do I say this- ... uh, lovers." She tells him, bluntly at that.
There's a silence.
"I-I-I think I need to go lie down"
His mouth hangs open in shock
...
Betty gently grabs him by the shoulders as he tries to walk out
"Please don't be upset." She plays the innocence act
"Upset?" He says, softly -still sounding surprised.
"I was worried that you'd be the ones upset..."
-his hands held bashfully behind his back.
Then, standing still for a moment before eventually speaking again
"I have something to confess too."
Betty and I look at each other with a sneaky smile
"So... I, um... I've had a huge crush on both Betty and Fred since a teenager."
"The thing I tried to say was that I was only into girls, so Fred was pushed by the wayside..."
"...the other night gave me an outlet, and I finally came forward and... I kissed him."
...
"Sorry if you're gonna be upset at me... but I enjoyed it and... it was something I don't regret being brave for."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Barney..."
"I'm not upset at you, honey. As your wife, I'm glad you finally let it out. He's your best friend and it would make me feel terrible to keep you from him."
"...plus, I'd have to leave Wilma then too. -Fred's cute, go get him."
Barney says nothing, then he walks out of the kitchen and goes back to the couch to lay down.
-Dazed by the influx of information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I step closer to Betty and whisper
"What you just said is almost exactly what I told Fred."
"So we're in the clear?" She asks
"Truly, I really think so, Bets."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's note:
You didn't expect it to work out this well, now did you?
But- you know these characters and how close they are- let love be love, my friends.