So Angelica was able to go home with Drew and Charlotte.
"What do you think will happen with Tommy next?" Angelica asked.
"We don't know yet, Angelica. I told Uncle Stu we will do our best to help Tommy off the couch when he's ready to be in his own bed," Drew answered.
"So that means we don't know how much longer he'll be on the couch, right?"
"Exactly, Angelica. We're only at the beginning, so it's too soon to know what will happen next," Charlotte replied.
"The beginning is always hard, Mommy. Let's hope it wouldn't happen to me."
"We're hoping not, Angelica. We want you to do yourself a favor whenever you're around Tommy, be careful so he could heal faster."
"All right, Daddy. I'll see what I can do."
"That means we all have to help Tommy, whether we like it or not," Drew said.
"I'll try."
"Just do it, Angelica."
"I'd be bored if I had to be on the couch for a long time if it happened to me."
"We know how you are, Angelica. You'd rather move around with Cynthia."
"If I ever had to be on the couch for a long time like Tommy, Cynthia's staying."
"Of course she will, Angelica. You're pretty attached to the doll, so that's why you wouldn't be there without her."
"I need a new Cynthia doll."
"We're not getting anymore dolls, Angelica. We have enough. There's nothing wrong with what you have now."
Angelica didn't want to complain to Drew and Charlotte, so all she could do was stay quiet instead.
"Angelica?"
"Yes, Daddy?"
"If Uncle Stu and Aunt Didi let us have Tommy spend the night, we'll have to be helpful. Uncle Stu said we could trade places. We could take over next week to help them out so they could have a break."
"All right, Daddy. But Tommy's not sleeping in my room."
"Of course he isn't. He'll be in the guest room."
"That's even better, Charlotte. No way would Tommy want to spend the night in a girl's bedroom."
"Good thing you agree, Daddy."
"Why would we put your cousin in your bedroom? He'd probably be embrassed."
"Your father's right, Angelica. We take Tommy on Monday next week."
"Next week? What did their doctor say about that?"
"Aunt Didi is going to call the doctor and see what he recommends about switching places."
"Switching places? He'd prefer to be with his other friends and not us."
"Angelica, you have to be nice to your cousin, whether you want him here or not. It isn't very often Tommy gets to stay over here because of all the trouble you cause."
"That means he's missing more school."
"For now. The doctor still doesn't want him to be on his feet where the accident happened, but I do like Uncle Stu's idea of trading places for Tommy."
"He's not staying with Chuckie and Kimi, right?"
"No. He's going to be with somebody that lives closer to him."
Angelica didn't say anything, but just let Drew and Charlotte do most of the talking.
"We should have Tommy, depending on what the doctor wants."
"Tommy's annoying. I don't want him here."
"Angelica! Go to your room!" Drew yelled.
"Fine, Daddy. I'm taking Cynthia."
"You will go over tomorrow and apologize to Tommy."
"Why do I need to apologize to him for?"
"From what you just said to us, that's why."
"He doesn't need to know since he isn't around us."
"Angelica, you're still going to apologize, whether he's around here or not," Drew replied.
"If he was here right now, you'd have to apologize and he would accept."
"Tommy and Dil are always welcome here since we're family."
"Family's important, Angelica," Charlotte added.
"Your mother is right, Angelica. Just go to your room and stay there for a while and think about what we talked about."
"Fine."
Angelica left the living room and disappeared to her room with Cynthia.
Once she closed the door behind herself, Angelica said, "I know I'm right about Tommy and Dil. Whether I like having them here or not, we still have them over.
"Why would Tommy have to listen to me say I was sorry even if he's not here to let Mommy and Daddy yell at me?"
"Let's keep her there until she's ready to come down and be nicer to us."
"I agree, Charlotte. She has to start being nice sooner rather than later."
"Of course she does. It doesn't hurt her to be nice every once in a while."
"I don't have to be nice," Angelica said to herself, "and they both know it."
Angelica has always been like this, and probably wouldn't change. She's used to being a brat and bossy.
"Cynthia, why do they have to keep telling me to be nice? I am never nice to anybody, expect for you," Angelica told her doll.
No reply.
"Why can't you say something, Cynthia? If you could talk, what would you tell me about these dumb babies? They're not dumb babies anymore. I know they try to be nice to me when I can't."
Angelica knew it's never too late to start being nice.
"Cynthia, I have an idea. Why don't I try being nice for one day? How does that sound to you?"
Angelica couldn't get anything out from her doll.
"I don't want to share this with Mommy and Daddy, and they don't need to know about it. I know they accept me to be nice, but I don't think it'll ever work. I know it's something to do with Tommy because of his accident he had with that strange neighborhood."
Angelica ended up staying in her bedroom until Charlotte called her for dinner.
Once Angelica joined Drew and Charlotte in the kitchen, she saw they were having chicken salad and muffins, which was Drew's favorite. It was blueberry muffins, which Angelica had always liked.
"Angelica, we were talking once you went to your room."
"What were you talking about, Daddy?"
"About you trying to be nice to other people. We just can't take this anymore of this. You know better than what you were just telling us," he began.
"I thought I heard some of it. What do you want me to do besides apologizing to Tommy?"
"Be nice," they both answered.
"It's not that hard, Angelica. If you keep this up, you probably wouldn't have anymore friends."
"Your father's right, Angelica. How would you liked it if somebody bossed you around?"
"I wouldn't mind."
"Well, you should, Angelica. once we're done eating, you go back to your room for the night."
"But, Daddy, there's nothing to do up there."
"You stay until you learned your lesson."
"Mommy, I haven't done anything since Tommy and his friends aren't here."
"But it still counts, Angelica," Drew replied.
"I don't think it does, no matter how hard you try to tell me to change and be nice."
"Just do it, Angelica."
Drew meant what he said, and Charlotte agreed.
"Angelica, do us one favor."
"What, Daddy?"
"You stay in your room until tomorrow morning and apologize to us."
"Okay, but it's not fun staying in my room."
"You made that choice, Angelica. You should have thought better about that."