Sweet Ideas [Finished]

[Kari Muffin]

She was silent for a moment as she looked away, down at her own tea. "Sometimes I think he wants to be a doll again because it would be easier. He only became human again after he fell in love with my mother.... and now that that's shattering I can see him breaking. Deep down I don't think the mentality ever left him. His sister destroyed him."

She curled her toes as she continued to watch her tea. It was probably her father's favorite blend. The one that always made her gag, he always accidentally made it for her when he was stressed. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath. "I realize it's not easy being you. So please stop to think that it's not easy being me either. I have plenty of issues to deal with, and I'm still blaming myself for... not saving someone. So can we at least try to be less... mean to each other? Even if I am a Club I'm the father of your child and I want to be part of her life."

There. She said it.

Linnea perked up when her Daddy took his hand of her ears. She giggled a bit and watched him pick up his tea. She wanted some too! If Daddy liked it then she would to! She prepared herself to beg when she noticed Rosemary's cup on the table. She reached for it, but clearly couldn't make it. "Waaaant!" she whimpered.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Apocalypse was forgetting to breathe again, and his head was spinning. He slowly sucked in a breath through his teeth, feeling the air rush into his lungs and help calm his mind. In. Out. In. Out. It was something else to focus on, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't ignore what Rosemary was saying. He wanted to. It would have been much easier for all parties involved if she hadn't, if she didn't care, if she stayed as far away as possible. He didn't like her because of what she made him think about.

But he understood, beneath all the frustration and residual rage. Deep down, he understood it wasn't Rosemary's fault. He knew that the blame for his... condition rested, almost entirely, on Peaches. "I'll try." he finally said, but he refused to look at the other woman when he did. He didn't want to be nice to her. He wanted to hate her, and he probably always would.

But he could be civil.

Then he gave her a sidelong glance as he offered Linnea the cup, careful to keep a firm grip on it to keep it steady if she decided she wanted to drink. "I was thinking I might find Peaches and rip out a handful of her hair." he remarked, casual as he could be. He looked down at Linnea, helping her take a sip of the drink. "I could get someone to make us matching friendship bracelets out of it, but I suppose friendship's not the word for it."

[The Jenn]

Femi woke from her nap to a gentle shaking and quietly murmured words. Her eyes opened slowly and she rubbed at them with sleep heavy in her motions. How long had she been in bed? The light said she'd been resting for at least a few hours. It left her feeling quite good. She smiled up at Kazifel and tugged him closer for a kiss on the cheek, and a nuzzle. Then his words made their way through the sleepy fuzz of her brain.

"Visitors?" she asked with an excited perk of her little ears. "What kind of visitors? Oh, have you made tea? Of course you have, what am I on about. You never fail to be the perfect host." She kissed him again and gave him a quick hug before hopping out of bed. It was less spry than it would have been in years past, but she didn't let any stiffness bother her. They had people in the house! Goody.

On the way downstairs, she made a quick detour into her doll room and dashed towards the left wall of shelves, plucking a pretty little stuffed Morganberry canine from his perch and taking him out of the room with her. He was a softer doll, made for holding and squishing rather than careful play like her porcelain or wooden dolls. She enjoyed occupying her hands while they had company, Kazifel in one and a doll in the other.

They went down, her right arm latched onto her husband's and her steps eager. When they entered the living room, she paused at the conversation and blinked. "I like friendship bracelets," she said in a puzzled but hopeful voice. "What color are they?" She looked at Rosemary without any recognition, glanced askance at the slightly scary-looking human with the strange eyes, and then gasped as soon as she saw the baby. Her claws dug into Kazifel's arm, a familiar enough occurrence, and she squealed in a painfully loud and high-pitched manner of excitement.

[Kari Muffin]

Rosemary was about to make a snarky remark when her mother entered the room.

It was a bad day.

She glanced at Pale, "Just remember what I told you, please." Honestly she didn't want to make her mother burst into tears. Not to mention they had Linnea along. At least the high pitch squeal that came next was a good indicator of mood. Things would go sort of well. Hopefully Dad would be able to save the day.

The little squirrel attempted to drink the tea. And found it entirely too bitter. She promptly spit it back into the cup before pouting up at her Daddy. Her thoughts were interrupted, however by the high pitch squeal. Her head snapped around in the direction from where it came. Oh! It was a big pretty white thing! Maybe she could play with it? Would Daddy let her!

"This is Rosemary and Apocalypse. They wanted to give us some good news. Remember how I told you about Rosemary? They wanted to bring along their baby to meet you. Her name's Linnea," He swallowed hard. Anxiety was welling up as he looked at his daughter, a pitiful look flashing across his face.

[carcinoGeneticist]

The sound of footsteps alerted the man to the fact that Rosemary's father had returned, and he seemed to have developed a growth. A large, white, and furry growth, one that had a puzzling expression on her face. This was Rosemary's mother, then? So that's where the woman had gotten her ass, and where Linnea had gotten her... well, everything other than her hair. His reaction was tempered somewhat by her suit - a Spade. They weren't great, but they were a hell of a lot better than Clubs in his book. For a moment, he wondered if she'd brought the doll down to give to her grandchild, but something about the way she was clutching it and the expression on her face told him that it was entirely for herself.

"Purple," he responded, meeting Rosemary's eyes for a confused moment. "I, uh, guess we could make you one too. I'd just need to get more... material." Then, the squirrel's attention was ripped away from the subject of trinkets and onto his daughter. He lifted the girl gently and stood, letting the woman get a better glance at the girl while looking at Rosemary again.

Her mother really was insane. Apocalypse would know. He'd lived in the head of a crazy person for years.

"Say hi to your grandma, Nea," he promted the little squirrel, tickling her beneath her chin while he continued to watch the Tulgey warily. Something about this made him feel entirely wary. For a woman as clearly mature (and shapely) as Rosemary's mother was, she certainly seemed more like a child.

[The Jenn]

Femi clutched her doll in an elbow-death-grip as she stared at the beautiful little squirrel, her other hand clinging to her husband like her life depended on it. The words came out absently. "Rosemary. Apocalypse. Hello. And Linnea, oh, that's an absolutely darling name! What a beautiful little baby she is!" That word almost set off sparklers behind her eyes and her face melted into one of those sappy expressions that permanently afflict older mothers who don't like an empty nest. She took a hesitant step forward and then stopped, still attached to her Kazifel and unwilling to go forward without him. The human was creepy, but the baby was precious.

"Oh yes, of course, I can be your grandma! I've never had any grandbabies before." It seemed perfectly fine for a stranger to assign her a role in this child's life, for whatever reason. She didn't care in the slightest. She just wanted to hold the baby. "She's beautiful. Can I hold her? Linnea, do you like dolls?"

[Kari Muffin]

Rosemary's eye twitched slightly as she watched her mother. Not being recognize was painful. She could feel the burning in the corner of her eyes. And to top it off she wanted to hold Linnea? Was her "Daddy" going to stand for that?

Kazifel felt himself suddenly pulled. Oh. She wanted to hold her. Well this was going... better than he expected. At the very least she wasn't crying or miserable about the use of the word "baby." He moved forward a bit to accompany her, he wasn't going to fight her. He was just rather curious to see how she planned on doing this while not only holding him but one of her dolls.

Linnea perked a great deal. "Hiiii!" she said cheerfully waving a paw. "Grandma hold!" She demanded just as cheerfully, and wiggled a bit in her father's grasp. Her flipped forward when she heard the term "doll." Mommy had bought some of those for her, really soft ones. So maybe White Grandma would have some! "Dolls! Yay!"

[carcinoGeneticist]

This was just weird. Apocalypse felt his desire to get the hell out and bring Linnea with him growing more and more by the instant. He opened his mouth for a moment to ask if the woman didn't even remember her own daughter, but thought better of it. This could be one of those things that Rosemary said would set the woman off, which he seriously did not want to see. Especially not when his daughter was around. If she got hurt in any way...

The last thing he wanted to do was let some crazy stranger hold the squirrel, but with the way the woman was chattering and Linnea was squirming, it didn't really seem like he had much of a choice. He grimaced slightly, then shifted so that he could hand her over. If it would make them both happy, right?

"It'll be good for her, having a grandmother," he said vaguely, glancing at Kazifel with an eyebrow raised. He had slept with this woman? And produced children? Yeah, she was pretty, but... She was like a child. Which made him wonder if Rosemary's father was a pedophile. Rather abruptly, he moved to the woman's other side, keeping as close to the little squirrel as he could, wanting to be close enough to snatch her away should it become necessary.

[The Jenn]

Completely oblivious to the man's hesitation or reservations, Femi eagerly shifted her grip on her husband so that her elbow circled his arm, leaving the hand free. Her other arm had the doll pressed in with her elbow, so that hand was also free and she could cuddle the odd little child close. She did so with a delighted cooing noise. "Yes, that's right! Grandma hold. And dolls! Grandma has lots of dolls, oh yes she does. Would you like to see Pietro? Pietro is a handsome doll. He's good for hugging."

She inched the tiniest bit closer to Kazifel when the human started hovering, trusting her husband to keep any creepers away from her in their own home. In the meantime, she cooed and snuggled and tickled all over the strange and beautiful little baby, mixing in things like, "Such a pretty girl," and "Oh, aren't you the most precious little thing with that tail," and other such nonsense. The Morganberry doll made its way from her elbow to her fluffy chest somehow, in front of the girl.

[Kari Muffin]

Was this a good thing, or was this a bad thing? Kazifel honestly couldn't tell. He watched as Apocalypse handed over the adorable little Linnea, who was quite thrilled over being fawned over by the older squirrel. Everything was going to be fine.

He took a deep breath when Pale came closer. He looked at the man meaningfully. Distance would be appreciated with a paranoid Tulgey. Rosemary should have told him that. He watched as the stuffed animal magically made it's way to Linnea.

The squirrel squeaked happily, hugging her Grandmother and the squishy stuffed animal. This was much more fun than drinking that nasty water stuff.

Rosemary decided to be part of this too. "Maybe you should sit down with Linnea on the floor? She'd have more room to play with you at the very least." And then Dad might be able to explain to Pale what the hell was going on.