Insightful, a future fic (Part 3B)

The idea of having a birthday party separate from the actual birthday was admittedly planned out under the assumption that there would be enough to do on Bridgette’s actual birthday to make cramming everything into one day too difficult. But even with all the cuddles and family time that they wanted, there was still a lot of day left to waste and not a lot to fill it with, which was a shame but there was nothing that could be done. It at least allowed for them to get a bit of a head start on preparing for the next day’s small get-together that would mark the first time they’d let their child spend time with any of their friends’ kids that whole summer.

“Sucks that we won’t get to meet that kid you were homing here with you,” Chase said to them after they greeted him at the door with that news the morning of the party, his arms wrapped around a few presents (that they honestly hadn’t been expecting), while Kody stood next to him, his hand holding Justine’s tightly in case she wanted to run. “You never did say much about them. Him? I think? It was a him, right?”

“His name is Jonah, and yes, we did that intentionally. Not exactly sure if you’d have liked him if you met him.” It wasn’t a lie that Green replied with, but rather a statement that made Chase have to wonder what he was implying. “Now, sorry if this comes off as rude, but what,” he motioned towards the gifts, looking at them suspiciously while Amanda started reaching for them, “is the meaning of this? Did we tell you to bring anything?”

He shook his head, letting go of one of the gifts once Amanda had grabbed onto it. “You didn’t, but we have things that Justine doesn’t use anymore that we figured Bridgette would be interested in. Old toys and whatnot. Wouldn’t bother with clothing, not when she’s got a mother who’d fashion her anything she wanted if she was asked.”

“So basically you’re re-gifting us with things we probably bought Justine when she was little?” Raising his eyebrows, Green saw Chase glance towards Kody, who gave a quick shrug at the question. “Okay, maybe you don’t know who got them for you, but I’m sure one of us will recognize something if we did.”

“She’ll be grateful to get anything, I don’t think she’ll care if it got to her in a roundabout way,” Kody said, his hand visibly tensing around Justine’s as he still held onto her, her looking around and asking under her breath where her friend was. He heard this and sighed, now having to look towards the couple in the doorway to ask them his daughter’s question for her. “It seems Justine would like to get to see the birthday girl right about now, could you kindly let her know where she is?”

Green stepped aside just long enough for Justine to be able to poke her head in and see that who she was looking for wasn't far away at all, and when he moved back Kody was forced to let go of her hand, allowing her inside. “I can't fault her for what you two decided to do, but I certainly can keep you from going inside. You weren't supposed to bring anything with you, we made that clear.”

“Come on, it's stuff that we could have easily asked them for, it's not like they spent their money on any of it. Lighten up about them breaking the rules.” Hitting him in the ribs with her elbow, Amanda looked behind her to see the two little girls in the house unattended and laughed. “Now while you finish up playing gatekeeper I'm going to make sure they stay out of trouble, presents or no presents.” Even with that in mind, she carried the single gift she'd taken as she stepped back inside the house, acting as if she was meant to have it all along.

“Something tells me she's going to have Bridgette open that without any of us watching,” Green said, shaking his head. “Maybe I should let you pass and we can all go in after all.”

“Huh, do you really think she would start the gift-opening without all the guests here?” Looking at everything else in his arms, Chase gave Green a smile when he saw him looking over at him. “Don't worry, I don't know who all you invited to this but I'm certain you didn't just invite us. When will the others be arriving?”

“Not soon enough, apparently.” This was already going worse than he'd anticipated, and Green was not looking forward to when the rest of the people they knew came over, bringing with them their children and maybe more gifts that no one asked for. “Just come inside and let's try to get things situated before anyone else shows up and adds more to what we already have.”

As he let them in, he could hear the two girls inside screaming about something, and once he was inside he saw that Amanda had indeed gone ahead and let Bridgette open that first gift, and her and Justine were currently fighting over who got to have the doll that had been part of the present. “She's already taken a liking to it,” Amanda explained, her holding Bridgette and the doll both in her lap while Justine tried to rip the doll from the girl's hands. “Which seems to be bad, because I think Justine thinks it still belongs to her. Even though I've never seen this doll before in my life, and I gave Justine, like, all her dolls..."

That admission brought Green back to glaring at Chase, who awkwardly laughed. “Okay, so we might have bought her one thing for her big day. A kid doesn't have her first birthday every year, we had to make it special somehow. Everything else is definitely things that we had at home, though, you can trust me on that.”

“I want the dolly!” Justine yelled, still trying to rip it from Bridgette's hands because she didn't understand that her fathers may have purchased it but it wasn't hers. “Gimme it!”

Smugly thinking about how this just proved that giving gifts was a bad idea, Green watched as Amanda held their daughter tightly and kept her from losing her new toy, while eventually Kody got involved and calmed Justine down about it. Them doing so came at the perfect time, as it seemed that right after the fighting was over that there was a knock at the door, followed with it coming open without anyone there to do the honors. “What kind of party do we have going on here?” Shed asked as he and everyone else invited walked in together, those carrying weapons setting them aside as they filed in. “Seems like a boring time, smh, and that means we've got to fix it.”

“And what, exactly, do you think we're going to do to fix it?” That question was asked by Heroi, holding a wildly-struggling Ash in his arms as he tried to keep the boy from running in-between people and getting trampled, but it was said with just enough of a flat voice that it almost sounded rehearsed. “We're not exactly the kind of people who fix boring issues, we're much better for fixing violent ones.”

“That sounds like quitter talk, my guy. Now let go of that boy and let him get out of the way, that’ll do wonders for livening this place up.” Laughing, Shed demonstrated what he meant by letting go of the relatively loose grip he’d had on his own son’s arm, and Tito went barreling straight for where Justine and Bridgette were. “Go on, let him join them.” He waited until he heard Heroi sigh, him setting Ash down so he too could run for the girls, and once he’d done that the two men looked between each other before their sights landed on the men who’d already been gathered. “Now that the two of us are just as empty-handed as the three of you…”

Chase glanced down at the gifts he was still holding. “Two of them, you might mean. I’m afraid I can’t take part in whatever it is you’re plotting, I’m not setting any of these things down where kids might tear into them. You’re more than welcome to steal Kody for a bit, if you need him.”

“Permission wasn’t exactly what we were looking for, but thanks for that clarification.” Giving a nod towards Chase, Shed backed up to where he’d set his weapon upon entry, picking it up and going right back towards the door. “Come on, men, we have something we’ve got to do, and I’m not taking any more ‘no’s as answers!” He had Heroi right on his heels, although he did have to stop for a moment to assure his wife that he wasn’t doing anything reckless or life-threatening, and once they were both at the door they turned to see that neither of the others had followed them.

“I…don’t think I understand what’s happening here,” Green admitted, his head turned towards where Amanda and Bridgette were so that he could be watching them as he spoke. “You’ve come into our home and are asking for me to follow you out, when I really should be one of the people who doesn’t leave here today?”

Proudly smiling at her husband for what he’d said, Amanda added, “Yeah, for all we know you’re leading him to his death, and I’m not explaining to Bridgette years from now that her dad died at her birthday party because someone decided they wanted to go out.”

He turned back to face the two men, only to find that Kody had joined them at the door in the time he hadn’t been paying attention. “I wasn’t going to go along with this until they showed me what it’s about,” Kody said, scratching at the back of his neck as he thought about how to word what he was saying carefully. “It’s nothing harmful, and I’m sure we’ll be back within the hour if you join us. Otherwise we might be gone longer than necessary.”

“I’m not entirely convinced I should go, sorry. Whatever it is you’re needing me for, I’m sure it can be done with someone else in my place.” Thinking for a moment, Green looked around to all the people he could suggest: Amanda, obviously, was not going to leave for anything short of certain death if she stayed in the house, Chase had already explained why he wasn’t going to set his gifts down and he wasn’t going to leave with those in arm, and Angel, well, he was sure she’d be *willing* to go, but for safety’s sake it was best if he didn’t suggest her. “Or without anyone at all,” he clarified, realizing his mistake. How were there so few people there right then? Hadn’t everyone come inside…?

“Eh, if you’re just going to fight it it’s not worth the time, tbh. We’ll be back when we get back, don’t come looking for us if we get lost.” With a wave, Shed and the two men going with him left, leaving the house feeling a lot emptier yet filled with questions of why people were leaving by young children.

Silencing those questions came easily, as the two mothers that were there were able to explain that the men had left to go do something (and behind her gentle smile it was obvious that Angel knew what they’d gone to do, she just didn’t want to say it for whatever reason). “I’m impressed that you didn’t jump at the chance to follow them out,” Chase remarked as he looked at Green, shifting how he was holding all the gifts so that they were slightly more balanced in his arms. “I mean, I get why you didn’t, but they grabbed weapons. What if it’s the training range they’re going to?”

“It’s not, don’t you dare start giving him that idea,” Angel said, cutting off Chase before he could add anything more to his statement. “They’re doing something to the benefit of everyone here and it’d have been best if he’d gone with them, but we can’t shame him for not going. He’s put his family first and that’s admirable, so leave it at that.”

“If they’re planning some kind of joke to ruin this party, I’m glad he didn’t go with.” Despite seeing the headshake that Angel gave at the idea, Amanda ran with it, her mind already fixating on the fact that so many people she knew were trying to destroy something she’d set up. “They’re going to come back with something that’s either going to terrify the kids, or anger all of us, and I’m going to hate them for it, and that’s why I’m glad that I at least married someone smart enough to not be any part of it!”

Sighing, Angel corrected her as best as she could without saying anything too revealing, knowing that all ears in the room were on her. “They aren’t getting anything that will terrify or anger anyone, unless you consider certain people’s presence angering, then we might have to work on that. You two *did* notice that people disappeared as we were all coming in, didn’t you? We specifically had Shed at the lead as a distraction for who was going to separate from the group right away.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t seem like the leading type for something like this, it did feel awfully suspicious to me when he came in.” Chase’s thought wasn’t necessarily one that the others shared, but it was something that was easily jumped off of, playing as if they’d thought the same thing as he had. “He used himself, his voice, and his child as a distraction for whatever it is he and the others are planning.”

“It’s not much of a plan, I’m afraid,” Angel said, shaking her head. “It’s more of the same that’s happened at every first birthday party we’ve had for any of these children,” she gestured towards the three older children in the room, “and it’s going to be what we do for any subsequent child that comes along.” She motioned towards herself and her rather swollen stomach. “One of those kinds of safe and normal surprises.”

“Which could still be anything, I remember what they did to Justine for her birthday and I won’t ever forget it.” Shuddering, Amanda picked Bridgette up off her lap and set her on the floor so that she could move around with her doll if she wished. “And that was back when Justine was the only child I could stand being around, so I definitely don’t remember what they did for either of the boys.”

“They didn’t do anything harmful to any of them, hush. It was just a little bit of a fright for the kids, but it wasn’t anything that would ruin a party.” Listening to this conversation as it was happening was making Green rethink not going along with the others, not because he wanted to be part of things but rather because he felt he needed to know exactly what it was they were planning on subjecting his daughter do. Angel noticed how he was starting to fidget where he stood and she chuckled. “I’m sure you can still find them, they haven’t been gone long enough to get too far.”

“You’re either going to put a stop to them or you’re not going at all,” Amanda said, trying to detract from any idea of going without a purpose. “I’m not letting you walk out today unless you’re actually doing something with your time. Or if you’re promising to protect our girl from something she doesn’t deserve.”

He wasn’t sure what would happen if he actually went to track the others down, but hearing Amanda’s one condition made him consider doing it a bit more. She wanted him to protect Bridgette from anything bad that could happen, and even though Angel was there insisting nothing bad was in store, there was just enough doubt in his mind that he couldn’t believe what she was saying. “I think I’ll be right back, then,” he said, looking at the two women and Chase, as well as the kids who were all on the floor, the older three surrounding Bridgette as she held on to her doll for dear life. “I promise I won’t be gone too long, it’s just to see what they’re doing and put a stop to it if I deem it to be too much for her.”

“Okay, but what if it's not too much? You're still going to put a stop to it then, right?” Amanda sounded concerned, as if she was fearful that something with ill intent towards their child was going to happen. He didn't want to give her a definitive answer to that, as he hadn't decided what he would do if whatever the guys were doing wasn't that bad, so he replied with a shrug. She didn't seem satisfied with that, but her lack of further comment towards him let him know he could do as he wanted right then.

After making sure to give his little girl a proper goodbye, so she didn't freak out once he was gone, he headed for the door, grabbing his sword on the way out. “While you're gone, can you make sure to remind everyone that this party's for a child and they need to keep it clean when they're back?” Chase asked as he was just about to leave, stopping him in his tracks. “I know they're all good people, but I also know that some of them get vulgar at times and I think it's best for everyone's children that there's no loud storytelling about beheadings and the like.”

“Uh, yeah, sure thing, I'll add that to my list of things I'm supposed to do while I'm out.” Seeing that Chase had Amanda and Angel both nodding in agreement with what he’d suggested, there was no way Green could get around doing it, which he was fine with even if it meant there was a chance for confrontation between himself and the other men. Opening the door, he made sure that no one else had anything to say to him before he left, looking around for any sight of where the others might have gone once the door was latched behind him. “Okay, now comes the hard part. I have no idea what they’re doing, so where they are is a complete mystery.”

He did a quick walk around the area, finding nothing out of the ordinary for a plain mid-September day, and sighed when he was back at the front door without a clue where to go. “I think I might have underestimated just how far they could have gotten in that amount of time. We’re all fighters, we’re all rather skilled at being quick on our feet and getting to where we need to go in no time flat. I doubt they’d have invited me out to the field, knowing how they think of me, so where could they have gone?”

The answer he was looking for quite literally came marching up the road, but it came in such a strange way that it took him a few seconds to realize what he was watching happen. It was everyone who’d left, plus the ones he hadn’t seen come in, carrying in their arms fake swords and the clothes they’d initially shown up in—because they were all now wearing crudely-made outfits that looked very similar to something out of his own closet. “Might I ask you what you’re all doing?” he managed to spit out after spending several seconds looking at the approaching crowd slack-jawed. “Is this some kind of game of bad impressions or what?”

“You were invited along to make sure we all looked okay,” Shed answered, a serious look upon his face as he and the others made it to the front step of the house. “What, did you think we were going to do something dangerous? We’ve all heard how enamored your kid is with you, someone had the bright idea for us to play around with that for her birthday and it stuck.” He was the first to toss aside everything in his arms except the fake sword, which became an action that everyone else followed with, leaving a pile of clothing and the occasional real weapon there beside the step. “Now let us inside, bro.”

“I don’t think so, that’s going to be rather overwhelming for her and I can’t let you do that to my child. Especially not on her birthday of all days.” Like he had been when the first people arrived, Green was blocking the way of the door, prepared to keep everyone outside until they changed their plans that he wasn’t in agreement with. This gave him the chance to actually look at how well everyone had proceeded to costume themselves as him, which wasn’t all that impressive as he didn’t stray too far from the typical uniform befitting someone of his chosen class. The part that got him, however, was that everyone had on a patch very similar to the one he always wore into battle, and while not perfect on any of them it was still obvious that someone had taken the time to replicate not just his uniform but his special red panda patch as well.

There weren’t very many people he knew of that were that talented with a needle and thread, and the one he’d have suspected most of doing this was clearly not involved, but there was no way that they’d have accomplished this without her involvement somehow. His shoulders sinking as he connected his wife to what was happening in front of him, he gave one disappointed look towards Shed, who smirked back at him. “You’re going to step aside and let us go through with this exercise now, aren’t you?” he asked, waiting for the path to be cleared.

“Exercise? I thought you said execute small children,” Heroi said, face completely serious as he spoke. “I was looking forward to that part.”

“You know what? All of you can go in, it’s obvious that everyone’s in on this prank except me at this point.” Opening the door before stepping aside so he didn’t have to see what followed, Green let everyone inside, minus Heroi, who he pulled out of line. “Except you, you’re not going anywhere near those kids if you think you’re executing them.”

Still with a serious face, Heroi looked Green straight in the eyes and replied, “It was a joke, you’re letting your overprotectiveness ruin the fun. Can’t murder anyone with fake weapons anyway, now can we?” He had a point, and so he was allowed inside, but before he got in the damage had already been done as there was very clearly a screaming little girl inside the house, freaked out by all the people who’d come in posing as her father.

She wouldn’t let him leave her sight for the rest of the day, even after everyone had changed back into their normal clothes and were interacting with her like they would any kid on their birthday. Even with getting to open presents she hadn’t expected and fighting over the ownership of more new toys with the other kids around, she made sure that she was always somewhere near him, and if he got up to go talk to someone she would follow him around, which in turn would bring the other kids as well. This lasted until long after the party had dispersed and everyone had gone home, her insisting that she needed to be right near him at all times that night.

“Looks like she hasn’t grown out of loving you more than me, even after a year,” Amanda said, while she worked on stitching the arm back on the doll Bridgette had been given earlier that day, because someone had decided to get rough in fighting her for it. “I’m convinced she’s always going to have you as her favorite, which is adorable, but at the same time…” She sighed, and he was sure her mind was going back to what she’d brought up the night before in the wake of losing their temporary child. It came as a relative surprise when she followed up with, “It must be payback for everyone else’s kids loving me so much. My own kid can’t stand me because of it!”

“Something tells me that’s not right, but you convince yourself of whatever, I don’t care.” Picking Bridgette up so that she wasn’t just sitting by herself watching him, but rather sitting on his lap to have absolute control over him, Green let out a long sigh. “I’m sure if everyone had decided to come in here pretending to be you, she’d be clinging to you like she is me right now, but let’s ignore that for some kind of pity party, hm?”

“She would have taken one look at everyone and decided that she didn’t want anything to do with anyone but you, and we both know it.” Shaking her head, Amanda went back to sewing the doll back together, only looking up whenever she heard small babbles of tired words coming from across the room. After so many checks, she set the doll down and rolled her eyes, gesturing to the little girl and her half-lidded eyes as she tried to fight falling asleep. “Look, she wouldn’t even fall asleep like that in my lap if I were holding her! Just admit that she loves you more and I’ll drop the topic. Forever.”

Knowing very well that it wouldn’t be dropped if he said anything, Green refused, merely leaning the girl back a bit so that she would fall asleep faster. The movement stirred her awake a bit longer, but eventually she was sleeping there in his lap, the soft sounds of her taking in breaths the only noise in the room until he spoke again. “She’s had a long day and she was given a huge fright with everyone pretending to be me, forgive her for choosing to sleep somewhere she knows is safe. Besides, you’d stab her with a needle if she tried sleeping on you right now, she knows better than that.”

“Okay, that’s a fair point, but if she was trying to sleep on me I wouldn’t keep trying to sew, I’m not skilled enough to hold my work up too high and I wouldn’t risk hurting her.” Amanda picked the doll back up, ready to start sewing once more, but she glanced over at the sleeping girl and set it down right away. “She’s like our own little doll, don’t you think? Someone we can make do whatever we want, someone so adorable and precious, someone we love because she’s ours…” She smiled, laughing as she did. “I guess I never thought of it that way and now that I have, I don’t think I want to think of her as anything but a doll.”

“She’s more than a doll though,” he reminded her. “She’s a real girl who’s going to grow up to be her own woman and accomplish amazing things, and thinking of her as a doll isn’t going to help her achieve that.”

“Oh, just let me do what I want this one time, will you? I know she’s not an actual doll, she’d have to have been stitched up many times by now given how many adventures she’s gone on, and she’s not even steady on her feet yet! I just don’t want to focus on how my baby’s going to be grown up before I know it!” Now picking up the cloth doll to resume actual work on it, Amanda didn’t say another word until they were heading to bed, and what she said then wasn’t anything more than simple goodnight wishes.

By the time morning came, she was over whatever had upset her and it was time to move on. One year was down, and now they could focus on retreading ground as they made their way through the second.

That second year flew by faster than imaginable, which was mostly thanks to how, within weeks of her birthday, Bridgette had found her way to being balanced on her feet and was running and hiding everywhere imaginable. She enjoyed playing silently until she’d lulled her parents into a false sense of security, then she’d be darting off into whatever kind of trouble she could find. Having gone through this before in watching Justine, they were prepared to handle it, but it was a lot harder to scold her when she did something wrong because this was *their child* they were dealing with, not someone else’s.

The novelty of running and hiding wore off quickly, and soon her attention turned to other things, namely starting talking up a storm with the few words she knew. Replacing the getting up and disappearing act was her being quiet enough for her parents to not think anything of her, just for her to scream out one of their names. She must have found their reactions, to jump up and make sure everything was fine with her and her surroundings, absolutely hilarious, because she kept doing it for what seemed like months on end, no humor lost on her even with repeated occurrences in the same day.

Her crowning achievement came at a gathering for Justine’s third birthday, where she managed to convince every single adult in the area, minus her own parents, that she was in dire need of attention. Her tears weren’t real, and her giggles gave it away that she was feigning pain for people to shower her with love, but for a moment it had everyone concerned for her. She had to be given to her parents multiple times that day, when she’d keep fake crying to get what she wanted and wouldn’t let anything happen without it happening to her as well.

Each time it happened, Green would look at Amanda unamused, and she’d be stifling laughter because what Bridgette was doing was clearly something she’d picked up from her. “You’re going to be the one to stop her from doing that, she could have ruined Justine’s day if she kept going,” he chided once they were home that night, Bridgette off doing whatever her little heart desired while her parents had their talk. “Could you imagine, her ruining things for someone who idolizes you, because she learned bad behaviors from you?”

“She’ll grow out of it, she’s only trying it out because clearly it works when I do it, now doesn’t it?” Amanda smugly smiled after giving her response, because she felt she was right, but the almost silencing glare she received in return was enough to wipe the smile off her lips. “Okay, fine, I’ll make sure I scold her next time I hear her doing it. But I guess that means you should, I don’t know, stop letting me get my way so much, maybe?”

“If that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get. Thank you for realizing you need to be the one to scold her, but make sure you actually do it. We don’t need this getting worse.” It turned out that there wasn’t any reason to fear it ever getting worse; Bridgette was a smart child, and when doing the act that one day didn’t give her the results she’d expected she gave up on it, slipping into a quiet and calm behavior pattern that was much more tolerable. Were there still days where she acted up? Of course, but that was just how every child was. She wasn’t nearly as bad as other children tended to be, though, and that might have been thanks to the patient, careful care that her father made sure to give her whenever she was around him. It didn’t matter what he’d been doing that day, he would always make time to give her love and attention and talk to her not like she was a young child, but rather that she was someone with a growing mind that needed to be treated as such.

It meant that she grew up knowing that she was loved, and that was what mattered above all. She could, in theory, do whatever she wanted because her parents would steer her correctly if she strayed too far from where she should have been, and she made sure to test all boundaries that were set out for her. Nothing was ever done by her for the sake of being mean, although sometimes the other kids would come in and be rude to her, make her cry, and set one or both of her parents off on them, and she’d slowly figure out how to be mean back, even though she rarely ever acted on those learnings.

That all changed when Jonah was dropped off at the house for the summer, him looking for the exact same kind of love and attention that Bridgette was already given, day in and day out. Whenever they weren’t playing together, and she’d retreat back to be with whichever of her parents was around, he would be right there with her, trying to push his way into the spotlight he felt she was hogging. And even though these were her parents and she had every right to be getting the attention she was getting, he wouldn’t take the little bit of attention he received for what it was. He was their child for the summer, he wanted exactly what their actual child was getting, and when he wasn’t getting it he would whine until he did.

Rather than listen to him whine because he wasn’t understanding that she got the most attention from her parents, Bridgette took what she’d learned from the other kids and started scolding Jonah whenever he’d get upset with her. Half the words she used weren’t real, and the others didn’t always make sense in the context she was using them, but her point was clear each and every time: she got to be with her parents because they loved her, and he had to wait his turn. This, predictably, would only upset him further, but she didn’t care once she’d said what was on her mind, and it usually ended there. But if he started calling her names for what she’d said, she’d turn around and punch him in the arm or chest, telling him, in the sternest voice she could manage, to stop being a baby.

It was hilarious to watch, even though it only soured relations between the two kids and with them having to share a living space for a couple months it was not exactly the best idea to allow it to happen. After she’d done it a few times she was kindly told to stop, to be nice to Jonah because he was basically her brother for the moment and he needed to be treated as such. She accepted that, but didn’t budge an inch on letting him get any time with her parents when she was with them, and as that had been the entire problem to begin with, something had to be done to fix things, and fast. Otherwise, would there even be a reason to allow Jonah back for following years, if he couldn’t get along with Bridgette because she wasn’t going to let him steal all her parents’ time?

That was the tone of the summer, trying to sort out that issue that was caused because she wasn’t keen on letting someone she didn’t know very well take up her time with her parents. If it had been any other child trying to get to spend time with them, she’d have allowed it because she knew the other children very well and was good about sharing with them when they weren’t being mean. But this was a kid she’d only get to know during the summers, he wasn’t like all her friends, and he arguably needed more love than she did but she wasn’t going to let him get it. “We need to do something about this, before they hate each other forever and she becomes nothing but a clingy baby,” Amanda said one day later in that summer, after having to witness the aftermath of the two kids’ battle once again. “She’s not going to learn anything if we keep coddling her, and as weird as it is that I’m the one saying this, maybe we need to stop spoiling her with our attention as much?”

“You’re right, it’s very weird that you’re the one saying that, miss ‘she looked at me with a tear in one eye and I had to drop everything to hug her for hours’. Neglecting her isn’t going to do us any good, though, and you suggesting it just puts the idea out there in the open.” Thinking for a second about any alternative ideas, Green looked at the two kids, Jonah sitting and nearly crying behind Bridgette as she stared almost doe-eyed at her parents, waiting for either of them to make motions for her to come to them. “Hm, the only thing I’ve got might not be something we want to do, but it’s better than neglecting her for him.”

“Say it, then? If you think it’s better than what I said, you shouldn’t keep it to yourself.” As she waited for the suggestion, she found herself falling victim to her daughter’s innocent stare, reaching forward to pick her up, despite them actively talking about why they shouldn’t do that. As expected, the moment Bridgette was on her lap, Jonah was trying to push his way in as well, something that would have worked better if they were able to be in the same spot without being mean to each other, as they were both just small enough to be held by the same person.

“Well look at you, not helping matters at all,” Green replied, grabbing Jonah to at least separate the two kids, although now the boy was whining that he didn’t want to be held like he was. “Okay, but the idea is that maybe we finally get around to introducing this kid to the others, so that we can go visiting or have people come visit and he can get attention from everyone, not just us. It’s not well-thought out, I know, but it’s what I’ve got so far.”

Over the sounds of Jonah begging to be let go so that he could try getting what he wanted instead, Amanda considered what had just been thrown out there, but when she didn’t give any kind of answer it seemed like she wasn’t convinced by it. What they were doing at the moment clearly wasn’t working, but was it really time to bring even more people for Jonah to get jealous of into the fold? That was why he’d hesitated to put his idea to words, and he almost wished he hadn’t said anything—until she laughed and told him that they had a perfect opportunity for doing exactly that. “We do?” he asked, not sure in the slightest what she was referring to. “When might that be?”

“I don’t have an exact time I can throw out there, seeing as we might run into the same problem we hit last year with him getting picked up before it happens, but maybe we could have another birthday party thing for Bridgette and make sure that we introduce everyone to Jonah at it?” That was a valid suggestion that played off his own, and she knew it, but they were both left to decide if that was an acceptable thing to do, especially since it was their child’s behavior that was forcing their hand on this in the first place. While her reaching her second birthday was important, celebrating it in a big way could possibly teach her that bullying other kids when they wanted something she had was acceptable, and having to break her of that mindset would be difficult if not impossible.

This was one issue that they were going to have to work at until the solution fell into their hands, no matter how long it took, because watching Jonah was something they were doing as a favor to someone and they couldn’t back out of it because of some childish bickering. And ultimately, the children slowly learned to get along, although it took some time for them to start sharing attention like they had the year before (when one of them couldn’t do much to fight it), and the idea of a party for everyone to get to meet Jonah felt less like it’d be rewarding Bridgette for being unable to get along with him and more like it’d be an actual birthday party for her, even if it was a little bit early.

Everyone they invited was more than willing to do something to meet the mystery child the couple had been watching, but to make it fun they made sure it wasn’t another “everyone gather at the house” kind of party. Holding it outdoors, at a small park that had seen better days but was an open space that multiple families could come spend time at, was the best option they had, aside from out at the training field where the adults would inevitably end up sparring rather than celebrating. Since they didn’t want any fights to break out during the event, the little park was what they went with, and after making sure that it was okay to hold such a gathering there, with a few armed warriors in the crowd, the plans were set and everything was put into motion.

There was just one small issue that no one had realized would *be* an issue until they were all gathered at the park: Jonah didn’t want anything to do with anyone but his summertime parents. The entire time they were trying to introduce him to the other adults and children, he’d cling to whichever adult it was that was doing the introducing, hiding behind legs and clamoring to be picked up so that he could bury his face in necks. Neither of them had any idea the boy was going to be so shy when it came to meeting the strangers, and they had to apologize to everyone over and over about it. On the other side, though, Bridgette was running around having the time of her life with her friends, playing with the other kids and not caring even slightly that her parents were being held hostage by the child she’d tried so hard to keep away from them.

At least, at the end of the day, she’d gotten to have some kind of fun as an early birthday present, and everyone else had at least gotten to meet Jonah for the first time, even if they may not have ever seen his face. “I’d say that went over well,” Green told Amanda once they were home that night, both of the kids already asleep so they wouldn’t risk being overheard. “I know there were some issues, so don’t even say it could have gone better, but we got a day of them not fighting out of it, and now everyone can say they know who Jonah is, so they don’t think we’re lying about watching a kid during the summer.”

“Aw, you thought I was going to say it could have gone better? I’m not always negative about things, you know, and there’s nothing to be negative about for what happened today!” Laughing, Amanda put a big smile on her face as she added, “Everyone liked Jonah even if he was shy about meeting them, and our big girl got to have fun with her friends. What more could we ask for from today, huh?”

“No idea, but I thought you’d certainly have something you’d thought up.” Hearing her laughter was making him smile as well, because it was nice for things to be going fairly well for once, especially after a summer filled with so much bickering between kids. “Let’s hope that the rest of his visit goes as well as today did, and then when he comes next year we won’t have to worry about him and Bridgette fighting anymore over our attention.”

“We can dream, can’t we?” she asked, tilting her head to the side as she continued to laugh. “I don’t know how long it’ll take for them to fully get along, but hopefully him leaving here in a little bit doesn’t make all this progress they’ve made disappear.”

There wasn’t an answer to be given to her then, but one was given when the time came for Kyoko to pick him up once again Jonah had to be pried away from his temporary sister, repeating that he didn’t want to leave his Bridgette behind. It was heartwarming to know that he loved her even after all the jealousy he’d previously shown, but at the same time, hearing his pleas to not have to go just made the separation worse. Bridgette didn’t mind too much, she was just going to replace his constant companionship with the friends she’d had to neglect for the summer, but for him and his precarious living situation it was one of the hardest things he’d have to do.

Life went back to its normal swing after that, things going like they had the year before, with their daughter growing up a bit more every day as she learned new things and started doing more with what she knew. She was speaking in decently-worded phrases, her thoughts coming out as actual sentences at times, and it was amazing to think that she was just barely two years old and already so smart and going so many places. The idea of there ever being an actual baby in the house seemed so foreign at that point, how had it ever actually happened to them so relatively recently before?

At least there were still babies that other people had that they could bring over, but with the youngest children belonging to any of their friends already approaching a year old, pretty soon it wasn’t going to be possible for them to spend any time with any babies. And then, one day late that fall, another baby appeared in their living space, brought over by her fathers that neglected to mention how they’d acquired her until after everyone had gotten to hold her. She might not have been procured in the cleanest of ways, but now there was a baby in the group once more, and everyone were there to support Wylie and her fathers now that she was around.

After hearing the supposed story of how they ended up with her a few times, and being told how it was plausible, the gears had clearly started turning in Amanda’s head and she was thinking not about stealing a child or anything of the like (she insisted she’d never try doing that again, ever), but something else entirely. “You know, we haven’t gotten to spend much time just the two of us as of late. Maybe we should do something to fix that,” she threw out one afternoon, Green certain that what he was hearing had an unspoken meaning to it, but not going to call her out on it until she made it obvious. “I mean, it’s been ages, don’t you think? We’ve never once put Bridgette into someone else’s care so we could both go and do something, and maybe we should.”

“You’re not talking about going out to train like almost everyone else does when they get away for a bit,” he replied, hoping to bait her into saying what she was thinking without making it obvious he was doing that. “Although I would love to get to go out training with you again sometime, it’s been far too long since we did that.”

She laughed, running her fingers through the back of her hair as she did. “I might be talking about training, or I might not be, I don’t know. Sounds like you know more about what I’m saying than I do.”

“Suddenly wanting to get away for a bit after being introduced to a baby? After hearing you talk about how much you want another kid of your own around? Yeah, I think I can say I know exactly what you’re talking about.” He was straight-faced with his reply, not sure how he felt about what they were dealing with. Being a parent was fun and all, but he remembered a lot of what they’d been told beforehand and wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to risk any of that again. “We’ll have to take this one step at a time, right now I think we can focus on finding someone who’d watch Bridgette for a bit so we could go out and do something together, but as for what that something is…”

She raised her hands defensively, feeling the point of what he was saying. “We can go out and do some training somewhere that’s not here in town, that’s enough for me if it’s enough for you. I’m not going to ask for anything but some time alone with you, where we don’t need to worry about what our kid might be getting into.”

As much as he’d like to, believing what she was saying was nearly impossible. He knew what she wanted, he knew she’d be disappointed with anything but what she wanted, and he knew that she was going to try to convince him that he wanted it too. But she’d been trying to do that for a long while now, how was them potentially slipping away from their responsibilities for a few days going to change his mind on that?

==> PART 3C