The Ballad of Bo and Ro

"I finally finished it!"

Keefe ran into Sophie's room, holding a thick book with hearts on the cover.

"Finished what?" Sophie asked, closing the book she was reading. "I'm trying to study for Midterms."

But she actually was glad for the distraction, the book was about the Elvin and Troll Peace Treaty. In other words, it was boring.

"The Ballad of Bo and Ro!" Keefe said, plopping down on Sophie's bed.

"I can't believe he actually did it." Ro growled "I thought he was working on Elvin History the whole time."

Keefe feigned being shocked "I'll have you know that I would never actually study. What am I, Foster?"

"Just get to the point." Sophie said, rolling her eyes.

Keefe cleared his throat and began to read. "Tis the Ballad of Bo and Ro, Two orgres deeply in love."

Ro growled again.

Keefe cleared his throat again. "When they met, twas like the stars had aligned. They knew they would love eachother till the end of time."

This time it was Bo who growled, from his position in the hallway.

"They had snuggles and kisses and cuddles galore. Sparkles and rainbows and glitter and more."

Sophie heard Sandor snicker and Ro sent a glare into his direction.

"Nothing could ever tear them apart. They were two halves, that formed in one heart."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Ro yelled, annoyed. She grabbed the book from Keefe's hands and held it where Keefe couldn't reach.

"Hey, no fair!" Keefe whined as he jumped for the book.

Ro ran out of the room with the book, and Keefe tailing closely behind her.

This continued until Keefe managed to snatch it out of Ro's grasp.

"I got it!" Keefe yelled, sprinting into Sophie's room with the book. It obviously had some scratchs on the cover from Ro's grip.

Sophie heard Grady mutter "'That Boy." from the other room.

Ro looked like she wanted to strangle Keefe as he continued on with reading.

"Two lovers, bound together, will love each other forever and ever."

Sophie held back a giggle as she heard a strangled noise come from Ro's throat.

"Then one day, their love became too strong. They wanted to be together, lifelong."

Ro lunged for the book, but missed and landed on Sophie's flowery rug.

Keefe continued reading, even after Ro sent him a withering glare.

"They said their vows, and then they knew, that they would be each others boo."

"Boo?" Sophie said, trying not to laugh.

"I was running out of rhymes!" Keefe argued.

"Whatever you say." Sophie said, rolling her eyes.

"And as the two lovers stood land in hand in hand, they knew their love would be grand." Keefe said "That was the end of verse one."

"How many verses are there?" Sophie asked.

"Between 5 and 15." Keefe answered, earning himself a growl from Ro and a snicker from Sandor. "I don't think I can read them all at once, though, I might puke from the mushiness."

"I think it's time for you to go home." Ro snarled, pushing Keefe towards the door. "And say goodbye to your hair, it's long gone."

"I agree." Grady said from the doorway. "Not about the hair thing, but about Keefe going home."

"Fiiiiiiine." Keefe groaned, heading for the door. "See you at school tomorrow Foster."

"Bye Keefe." Sophie waved as he strided out the door.

"So, what about Keefe?" Grady asked, sitting down on Sophie's bed.

"What about Keefe?" Sophie asked. She did not like where this conversation was heading.

"What about Fitz?" Grady asked, raising his eyebrows.

"What about Fitz?" Sophie asked. This was starting to feel very familiar.

"I feel like I'm interrupting an important conversation here," Edaline said, peering through the doorway. "But I'm going to interrupt it anyway because Sophie needs to go to bed."

Sophie sighed, relieved that Edaline had walked in just in time.

"She's right." Grady said, though he obviously was annoyed. "Goodnight, Kiddo."

"Goodnight Dad." Sophie said, pulling her covers over her. "Goodnight Mom."

And for once she actually slept.

\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*

The next day Keefe showed her the next verse, which was a mix of mushiness and hilariousness.

School had ended for the day (thankfully, she had a really boring lecture during Elvin History) and Keefe had headed right on over to read the book.

Keefe cleared his throat and opened up the book.

"They thought they would always be with one another, but then they realized they couldn't be together."

Sophie smiled, remembering how Ro had been assigned as Keefe's bodyguard and had to leave Ravagog.