Later that evening, at the Heeler campfire, Bluey had a thought in her mind. "Mum? Dad?" She asked, "Mind if I ask you something?"
"What is it, sweetie?" Chilli asked, looking over at Bluey.
"Um," Bluey tried to begin, "Since Jean-Luc and his family are staying longer, can they stay with us until the end of their holiday?" She gave a subtle tail wag, hoping for a favorable response.
"Well... Um..." Chilli stammered, trying to figure out what to say. She thought for a moment and cleared her throat. "You see," she started to explain, "As much as I'd like to accommodate them, I'm not sure that we actually can, sweetheart."
Bluey's tail stopped and her smile disappeared. "Oh..." she said.
"But," Chilli added with a smile, "We can still see if we can help them stay somewhere closeby, okay?"
Bluey smiled back. "Okay, Mum," she agreed, "Is it okay if we invite them over for brekky to talk about it?"
"Well, sure!" Chilli said, "It'll help us plan out everything better and also get to know Jean-Luc's family more."
"Exactly!" Bluey nodded, "I'll get up extra early to invite them over."
"You do that," Chilli said.
The next day at the break of dawn, Bluey woke up as early as she said she would. She got herself ready for the day and ran over to Jean-Luc's grounds before they could start their breakfast.
"Jean-Luc!" Bluey called out, "You and your family are invited to have breakfast at my camp this morning!"
Jean-Luc smiled and wagged his tail in excitement. He translated the invitation over to his parents who were grateful and agreeable to joining the Heeler family.
"J'ai juste besoin de ça," Jean-Luc's dad said, grabbing their bottle of maple syrup, "Laissez-les essayer du vrai sirop de chez eux." The Labradors all chuckled.
Bluey played along in the chuckle, not understanding what was just said.
Jean-Luc noticed. "It's okay, Bluey," he assured, holding her hands, "My dad just wanted to bring the maple syrup for your family to try. To let you all taste something from my home."
Bluey smiled sweetly as the two looked at each other for a moment.
"Si vous deux tourtereaux n'allez pas vous embrasser," Jean-Luc's dad teased, "Nous sommes prêts à y aller." Both he and Mrs. Labrador laughed playfully. Jean-Luc just blushed.
"Huh?" Bluey looked questionably to Jean-Luc for a translation.
"Um, he said they're ready to go," Jean-Luc stated with still a blush on his face, summarizing to the point of what was said.
"Oh, okay," Bluey said with a smile. With that, she lead the way back with the Labrador family following her.
Back at the Heeler site, the adults were working on preparing the breakfast. Bingo was busy looking for the jaffle iron, and Socks was busy forming a cup of mild coffee for Muffin to help wake herself up.
"Here it is!" Bingo exclaimed, finding the jaffle iron. She grabbed it and ran to Chilli. "Here you go, Mum," she said, wagging her tail with a sense of accomplishment.
"Thanks, Bingo," Chilli said as she traded for the pan, "Now we can start cooking." She walked over to Bandit who was almost finished dipping slices of bread in some egg mix. "Here, hon," she said, handing it over to him.
"Thanks, babe," Bandit said, grabbing it and placing a piece of soaked bread in it, "This is going to be one bonza breakfast for our guests!"
Chilli noticed Bluey and the Labradors walking nearby. "Speaking of our guests..." she said, gesturing in their direction.
Bluey was leading the way as the Labrador family was close behind her.
"G'day there!" Chilli greeted, "I hope you all are hungry!"
"Yeah," Bandit said, still frying up the toast, "We made a special brekky today. French toast!"
"Dad," Bluey laughed, "I don't think French toast is really French. Besides, Jean-Luc and his family are from Canada, not France."
"Oh," Bandit pondered for a brief moment, "Oh, well, then we'll have Canadian toast for breakfast!"
Jean-Luc translated into context and everyone joined in laughter over the little joke.
Stripe and Trixie walked by, carrying a cooler to over by the table.
"Hello," Trixie greeted, "I'm Trixie, but you can call me 'Trix,' and this is my husband Stripe."
Jean-Luc translated to his parents. They introduced themselves, and Jean-Luc translated into English.
"They say hello too and that you can call them 'Antoine' and 'Céline," Jean-Luc explained as his parents smiled and waved.
"You know I took a bit of French when I was younger in secondary school. I wanted to learn a bit before going to Europe," Chilli stated, "Unfortunately, it's not enough to carry a deep conversation as I'd like to anymore."
"That's still good though," Jean-Luc praised.
"Yeah, I guess," Chilli said, "Just keep your English fresh so you'll never lose it."
"Thanks," Jean-Luc said with a tail wag, "I'll keep that in mind."
"And I can help you with that," Bluey stated, "I want us to keep in touch, even when you leave!"
"I'd like that!" Jean-Luc said, taking out his phone, "What app do you use?"
The two of them were busy exchanging contacts as the adults chuckled softly about them.
"Jeune amour..." Céline said with a soft giggle.
Chilli smiled along with it, knowing what they said. "Yeah," she agreed, "Young love."
Bandit overheard the comment. "Breakfast!" he conveniently shouted as he finished cooking the last bit of French toast.
Everyone then gathered around the picnic table to eat. After a few bites, they all enjoyed the French toast.
"Oh, Dad!" Bluey exclaimed, "Did we bring the hundreds and thousands? I want to show something to Jean-Luc!"
"Um, I think so," Bandit said, trying to remember, "I think there's a small jar of them inside one of the caravan cabinets."
"Okay, thanks, Dad!" Bluey said as she ran into the caravan.
Jean-Luc was curious. What did Bluey want to show him? And what are hundreds and thousands? Hundreds and thousands of what?
Muffin gasped. "Fairy bread!" she exclaimed in excitement, "I want some too!"
"Alright, Muffin," Stripe said, "Just keep it down. You're not four anymore."
Muffin just grumbled instead as Bluey returned.
"Found it!" Bluey said happily, holding a small container of sprinkle dots in her hand. She showed it to the Labradors. "See," she said, "That's hundreds and thousands."
"Oh..." Jean-Luc said in fascination.
"You put it on some bread to make fairy bread," Bluey continued, sprinkling some onto a paper plate and pressing her buttery toast down on it, showing it to him, "See?"
"Fairy bread!" Muffin exclaimed. She took Bluey's plate with the excess sprinkles from her to make herself some fairy bread.
"Wow!" Jean-Luc exclaimed. He was impressed by the concept of the fairy bread. "Can I try?" he asked.
"Yeah!" Bluey said, handing over the container.
Jean-Luc sprinkled his plate, pressed down his toast, and took a bite. "Mmm!" he chewed, savoring how good the fairy bread was. It genuinely surprised him.
"We usually put it on just regular bread with butter though, not on French toast," Bluey explained, "But I guess this is just as good too."
"Well, I like it!" Jean-Luc stated, taking another bite.
"I guess this makes it more special with the French toast," Bluey added. It was special. She felt like it was a sweet merge between their two cultures into one.
"I have something to share with you too," Jean-Luc said as he reached over for the maple syrup, "Remember how we brought this?"
Bluey looked at it. "Oh, yeah," she said, "We have maple syrup here in Australia too, but we can never really get it because it's too expensive for us to buy. I've never had it before, honestly."
Jean-Luc smiled. He knew just how to fix that. "Well, you can have some of ours," he said, giving the bottle to her, "We have lots of it back home!"
Bluey smiled at the gesture.
"Try it on your toast," Jean-Luc recommended, "You'll love it!"
"Okay," Bluey said. With a new piece of French toast, she poured a bit of the maple syrup on it. She bit into it and her eyes widened. Was this what happiness tasted like? "Whoa!" she exclaimed, speechless of her new experience.
"What do you think?" Jean-Luc asked, "Do you like it?"
"I... I love it!" Bluey responded.
The Labradors chuckled at Bluey's cute reaction. To them, maple syrup was just an ordinary experience. To see Bluey's newfound amazement was amusingly foreign to them.
"Well, anyway," Chilli said after a shared chuckle, remembering the purpose of the invite, "We wanted to invite you over to plan the rest of your stay."
Jean-Luc translated for his parents.
"Yeah," Bluey added, "Since you all will be staying longer, we were wondering if you needed any help in accommodations."
Again, Jean-Luc translated. His parents responded.
"My parents say that even though we appreciate your help," Jean-Luc said, "We already made plans with my Uncle Marcel. He lives over in Gold Coast though."
"Oh," Bluey said in slight disappointment, "That's like, a hundred kilometers away from us." Gold Coast was a good hour and a half drive from Brisbane, even past CrazyWorld. Bluey clung to Jean-Luc.
Jean-Luc could only give her a hug and pat her shoulder in order to comfort her.
Antoine then said something that gave Jean-Luc a hopeful smile.
"I think things will be okay, Bluey," Jean-Luc assured, gently wiping a small tear from her cheek, "My dad just told me that Uncle Marcel sometimes travels over to Brisbane for work. He likely wouldn't mind helping me see you, but we'll still be talking online most of the time as I doubt he can drive me everyday."
"That's alright," Bluey said, feeling better, "Even just once will be great. Just promise we'll never truly be apart ever again."
Jean-Luc smiled as he looked into her eyes. "Of course, I promise, Bluey," he vowed.
The next few days, Bluey and Jean-Luc made the most of their time together at the campgrounds. They went swimming, explored more through hikes, stargazed atop hills, sending each other nightly text messages, and even just spent time by their tree together. That was until it was time to pack up and leave for yet another year.
Both families were packing as Bluey and Jean-Luc remained by each other. From that point, they'd get to be together only once, maybe twice if they're lucky. Then maybe another trip to the campgrounds again. Who knows?
"Oh, Jean-Luc," Bluey said in his arms, clinging onto him, "When can we see each other again?"
"I... I don't know exactly," Jean-Luc answered, unsure of when his uncle will be travelling to Brisbane, "I'll have to ask my uncle, but hopefully it won't be too long until we see each other again."
"Yeah," Bluey said, still feeling down.
Jean-Luc thought of an idea. "Would you like a video chat on FaceTalk tonight?" he invited.
Bluey then turned her frown into a smile. "Okay," she agreed with a small nod, "I'd like that."
"Alright, Bluey," Bandit informed, still not too keen on having the two youngsters be so close like that, "Time to say goodbye now and head on over to the car."
"Okay, Dad," Bluey said. She then returned her attention back to Jean-Luc. "So tonight then?" she asked, giving him one last hug.
"Tonight," Jean-Luc said, hugging her back.
They both embraced each other for a brief moment as if it were to be the very last chance to hold each other that they'd ever get. Then slowly, they separated themselves and walked towards their respective families, still looking at each other. When they were seated in the cars, still locking sad eyes, they placed their hands on the windows. And with that, the two families drove off in their separate routes.
That evening, at a rest stop, Bluey logged on to her messenger app. After a few minutes, Jean-Luc logged on as well.
Jean-Luc: Hi, Bluey.
Jean-Luc: I'll start the video now.
He sent the video call request on FaceTalk and Bluey excitedly accepted it right away. And after a quick load, the video started between them.
"Hi, Bluey," Jean-Luc greeted.
"Hey there, Jean-Luc," Bluey greeted in return, "We just got to our rest stop for the night. How about you?"
"Same," Jean-Luc replied, "Just checked-in."
"Where are you?" Bluey asked.
Jean-Luc asked his parents on the town's name. "We're at this place called Lightning Ridge," he told her, unsure of where that even is on the map. Even though he's visited his uncle several times before, he had never really paid attention to the routes themselves.
"Oh," Bluey said, "That's still real far from where we've stopped." She didn't feel like disclosing her location as it would to do anything for them anyway. It was still a far away distance.
Jean-Luc picked up the hint from her. Instead, he decided to change the subject to a happier one. "Bluey?" he asked, "What would you want to do when I come visit you in Brisbane?"
Bluey raised a small smile. "Oh, there's a lot we can do," she noted, "We can see the planetarium. Or go on the ferry to a café. We also have a lot of parks; we can take a walk through one of you want!" The choices were endless, and it would take forever if Bluey were to mention them all.
Jean-Luc thought they were all great fun ideas. He thought for a moment. "The planetarium sounds fun, but maybe too expensive for now," he commented, "But I think a walk in the park and lunch at a café would be perfect."
Both of them wagged their tails.
"Great!" Bluey said, "I get to show you around my city!" She giggled cutely.
"Sounds like it'll be fun!" Jean-Luc said. He was truly looking forward to it.
The two of them continued on the video chat for the next hour until they were starting to get sleepy. However, neither of them minded. It merely brought in new bonding feelings for each other.
"I really do miss you, Bluey," Jean-Luc said sleepily, yawning.
"I miss you too, Jean-Luc," Bluey cooed just as sleepily, also giving out a deep yawn, "If only you were here, I'd give you a big cuddle." She hugged her phone and giggled softly.
Jean-Luc blushed and giggled as well. "I would too, Bluey," he said as he began drawing hearts with his finger on his phone; however, Bluey couldn't see it. "Maybe even embrasser too," he flirted, purposely using his French as he was too timid to say it in English.
Bluey didn't know what "embrasser" truly meant, but if it's with Jean-Luc, she wouldn't care at that point. She originally believed it was French that meant some fond "embrace" or something between them. "Oh, Jean-Luc," she said flirtatiously with another yawn, "We can 'embrasser' all day."
Jean-Luc's heart fluttered in his chest from Bluey's words and tone. "Do you want to when we see each other again?" he asked.
"Mmm-hmm," Bluey smiled and nodded, nuzzling her phone.
Jean-Luc sighed lovingly, also nuzzling his phone closely.
The two of them then dozed off to sleep together within their video chat.
It took the rest of the next day for the Heelers to return to Brisbane. It would be another hour after them until the Labradors reached Gold Coast.
Walking in through the door, Bandit sighed heavily from the drive. "I think I'm getting too old for these long drives," he said.
"I offered to switch back in Dalby," Chilli reminded.
"Yeah..." Bandit said, defeated, "But I thought I'd be able to make it all the way all in one go."
"Oh..." Chilli sweetly cooed, rubbing Bandit's back, "I'll give you a nice back rub if that helps."
"Aw, yeah..." Bandit said, starting to feel better from the back rub.
The two smiled at each other when Bluey ran past them with her phone in her hands.
"Bluey!" Bandit scolded her for ruining the moment.
"Sorry, Dad!" Bluey apologized as she ran up the stairs, "I just have to charge my phone!" She ran into her room and closed the door.
"Oh, she's just a teenager," Chilli reminded her husband, resuming the back rub, "Don't tell me you forgot when we became a couple." She gave a snarky playful grin.
"We weren't teenager young," Bandit stated.
"Still," Chilli said.
"I was 20 and you were 18!" Bandit defended.
Chilli chuckled. "So?" she countered. She lowered herself closer to Bandit's ear. "Let her figure out for herself if Jean-Luc is really the one for her," she whispered, "Just like I did with you." She then gave Bandit a sweet little kiss on the cheek.
Bandit thought about it for a moment. "Alright," he settled, "I know she's not all that young anymore, but I just wish she'd stay my little girl forever is all."
"And she always will be," Chilli reassured with a smile.
Bandit looked at her and eventually smiled back, believing her.
Meanwhile, Bluey scrambled around her bed in search of her phone's charger. When she and Jean-Luc had fallen asleep in their video call last night, her phone had died. She needed to get her phone back on... ASAP!
"There it is!" Bluey happily said as she grabbed the cord. She plugged her phone in and it eventually turned back on after a few minutes. She sighed in relief.
No new text notifications yet from Jean-Luc. Bluey figured the same must be true for him on his phone being dead after last night.
Soon Bingo opens the door and walks in, carrying Bluey's diary. "You forgot your diary in the car, Bluey," she said, handing it over to her older sister.
"Oh, thanks, Bingo!" Bluey said, grabbing her diary, "I guess I was in a big rush." She chuckled in embarrassment of forgetting one of her most prized possessions.
"It's okay," Bingo said, smiling sweetly as if it was no big deal. She paused for a moment to think.
"Bluey?" Bingo asked curiously, "Do you like Jean-Luc?"
"Of course I do, Bingo!" Bluey answered.
"No, like really like him," Bingo clarified, "You know, like how Mum and Dad like each other."
"O—Oh," Bluey blushed, clinging tightly onto her diary. She just didn't know how to respond to her about it. She wanted to let the whole world know that she really liked Jean-Luc, but at the same time, she felt like she could only trip on her words to admit it.
"I... I guess so?" Bluey poorly stated. Her blush only grew redder from saying that.
"So that's a yes?" Bingo guessed.
"I think so," Bluey said, "It's just too hard for me to say."
"Why?" Bingo asked.
"I don't know," Bluey shrugged and shook her head, looking down, "I also want to tell him, but I... I just don't know how to tell him."
Bingo didn't know how to help her with her feelings. With her ears held downward, all she could do was give Bluey a hug.
After a moment, Bingo had a suggestion. "Maybe you should see how he feels," she recommended, "Then that might help you tell him how you feel."
Bluey thought about it for a moment. "I could," she said, "At least I'd get some form of closure about it and know where my feelings lie."
Both of them smiled at each other with Bluey grateful for Bingo's advice.
It wasn't long until Bluey's phone gave off a TING-TING!
Bingo had a feeling she knew who that could be. She gave a hinting smile to Bluey. "I'll let you to it," she simply said as she walked out the door, "I'm going to go see what Muffin and Socks are doing downstairs. I think they might want to watch movies with Aunt Trixie and Uncle Stripe."
Bluey smiled back. "Alright, Bingo," Bluey said.
With that, Bingo closed the door as Bluey picked up her phone. It was a text message from Jean-Luc.
Jean-Luc: Hi Bluey! Sorry about not texting all day. My phone died last night and it's charging now.
Bluey knew as much. She sent him a text back.
Bluey: It's all good Jean-Luc. Mine was too. I'm just glad we can talk now. Are you in Gold Coast?
Jean-Luc: Yes. We just got to my uncle's house.
Bluey: That's cool. We got home a short while ago too.
Bluey: Any word on when your uncle's coming by Brisbane?
Jean-Luc: I don't know. We just got here and all.
Jean-Luc: But brb. I'll go ask him right now.
Bluey: Okay.
A couple minutes went by before Jean-Luc returned back to text Bluey back.
Jean-Luc: He said he has a job out by Mount Cotton tomorrow. He told me that he doesn't mind dropping me off at your house in the morning.
Jean-Luc: That is if you want to. I'm not sure if you'd be tired from the drive back from the campsite.
Bluey: No I'm fine.
Bluey: I'd really love to see you tomorrow. This might be the only time we get to see each other.
Bluey figured that since Jean-Luc will only really be able to see her just once for the rest of his vacation, it'd be tomorrow. Thus, that would mean chances are very low for spending Christmas together.
Jean-Luc: I know Bluey. Don't worry. It'll be okay.
Bluey: I hope so.
Bluey: So what time will you be here tomorrow?
Jean-Luc: We'd have to leave out very early in the morning because he has to be there before noon. So I think I'll be there around breakfast. I hope that won't inconvenience you.
Bluey: No it's okay. Maybe you can join us or we can go get brekky somewhere. lol
Jean-Luc: lol
Jean-Luc: I guess we'll see tomorrow on what we feel like.
Bluey: Yeah.
Bluey: lol
Jean-Luc: I'll let you charge your phone now Bluey. I'm going to bed so I'll be fully awake for tomorrow with you.
Bluey: Okay Jean-Luc. I can't wait to see you again.
Jean-Luc: Neither can I Bluey.
Jean-Luc: I'll call you in the morning when I'm on my way so you'll know.
Jean-Luc: Good night Bluey.
Bluey: Okay.
Bluey: Good night Jean-Luc.
Bluey then laid her phone down next to her on her pillow and headed out the door to inform her parents of her planned outting tomorrow.
Bandit had actually fallen asleep on the couch, undisturbed of the TV noise as Stripe and Trixie watched from the other sofa. The other girls were asleep on the living room floor. And Chilli was in the kitchen preparing some popcorn.
Bluey went into the kitchen. "Mum," she said, "I just wanted to let you know that Jean-Luc's uncle is working tomorrow and will be dropping Jean-Luc off here in the morning so he and I can spend the day together. Is that okay?"
"Of course, sweetie," Chilli permitted, pushing the microwave buttons for the popcorn, "What do you two plan on doing?"
"Nothing major," Bluey stated, "Mostly a walk in a park and ride the ferry down to a café for a spot of coffee. That's what we've thought of so far."
"Sounds like a lot of fun!" Chilli said, excited for her daughter.
"Yeah," Bluey said, "We also wanted to go over to the planetarium, but it seemed too expensive for now."
"No worries," Chilli simply said, grabbing the now-cooked popcorn from the microwave, "There'll be other dates. No need to cram everything all in one go, you know."
The concept of her outting tomorrow now being labeled as a "date" made Bluey blush. When she and Jean-Luc were planning it, the thought of it being a date didn't come across her mind. But she liked it the more she thought of it.
"You won't believe how many dates your father and I have been on until we knew we were meant for each other," Chilli added as she poured the popcorn into a large bowl.
"How many?" Bluey asked curiously. She thought maybe she could use the number as a possible reference.
"Oh, I don't even remember how many times," Chilli said, rummaging through a cabinet for a bag of chips, "It's not so much the number of times you date, but how much you get to know the other person during the date. It could only take a few times or many times until you know they're the one for you."
"But how do you know if they're the one for you?" Bluey asked.
Chilli looked at her daughter and figured just how much Jean-Luc must mean to her. "I don't know, honey," she said, wishing she could have something more definite, "I'm afraid that's just something only you can figure out for yourself if they compliment your life."
Bluey thought about her mother's words.
"If you think Jean-Luc is the one for you, your heart will tell you once you figure everything out," Chilli advised.
"Thanks, Mum," Bluey said, giving her a hug.
Chilli hugged her back. "Wanna watch a little movie with us?" she invited.
"No thanks, Mum," Bluey declined, "I want to wake up early before Jean-Luc gets here. He even said he'd call me on the way."
"Okay, darl," Chilli said with a small chuckle, bringing the bowl of popcorn and bag of chips into the living room, "Let us know if we get too loud."
"Okay, Mum," Bluey said and she headed back to her bedroom for the night.