By: RedSwift
Chapter 12
Darice groggily looked around her room. *Hmm, sunlight, I must’ve overslept.* She got up out of bed and smelled something. *Mom’s cooking? Now why the in the hell would I think of that?* As she made her way down the hallway, the events of the previous day. Once she opened her kitchen door and saw her mother standing there over the stove, cleaned up, she suddenly remembered everything.
“Good morning dear, did you sleep well?” Valerie chirped in a happy voice.
“Yeah, better than I have for a while,” Darice replied as she sat down.
Her mother set a plate and silverware in front of her, “That’s good, now what do you want to drink with your breakfast?”
“Coffee, black and strong.”
“OK, coming right up,” and she bustled around, getting the coffee ready while going over occasionally to flip her flapjacks. She set a steaming cup of coffee in front of Darice, and went to the stove and returned with a plate of flapjacks and toast. She set some in front of Darice and some for herself. She sat down and looked at Darice.
Darice looked up, “What are you looking at?”
“I never thought I’d see you again. Its so nice to be with you here, in your own home. Though I don’t really agree with your lifestyle here much or what you’ve done to yourself with those piercings and the way you look, I see that you’ve grown up. I really do like the adult you’ve turned into.”
“Yeah, I wish you’d been here to see the changes,” that comment sent a sting across Valerie’s features, “I didn’t mean it in that way Mom, I’ve just missed you all these years.”
“I know dear, but its going to take awhile to get used to all of this, not to mention eventually I’ll have to see your father.”
“He really won’t take this well. We speak sometimes, he’s been over a few times, but we’ve kind of drifted apart.”
“Oh, what happened?”
“Well, through high school I was somewhat of a trouble maker. Then I made friends with the people in my band. That really set him off. He knew Rex, and liked Adrian, but Støy he felt was a bad influence. When I graduated and went out on my own, we kind of drifted apart. I haven’t talked to him for some time now.”
“I thought I recognized Rex, he was that little kind of nerdy chipmunk from the next tree over, wasn’t he? What was his name again?”
“Yeah, that was him, his name was George, but he never liked it. He goes by Rex now.”
“Strange, I wonder why he didn’t say anything to me last night.”
“Well, after you left I became good friends with him, he was there for me to vent about you and what was happening in my life. He became a very good friend, and eventually we started dating, but things just didn’t work out. Luckily our friendship held through it and actually our friendship has grown much since then. He was there for all the hurt you caused me, so he probably doesn’t know what to say to you.”
“I’m glad for you Darice, I’d never imagine this life you’ve made for yourself. I’m just glad you’re happy.”
“Thanks Mom,” and with that they finished their breakfast, talking about things that had happened to each other in their five years apart.
Just as Darice was getting the sink ready to do the dishes, she heard a knock on her front door. She went out and looked out the peephole. “Oh shit,” she muttered to herself, “the one day he decides to visit.”
She hustled off back to the kitchen to let her mother knew the rest of her family was now at the front door.
“Well, I guess we should let them in,” she finally answered after Darice told her who was at the front door.
With that, Darice ran back to the door and opened it to see her father and younger brother and sister standing there.
“Daddy, what are you guys doing here today?”
“We were out and in the neighborhood, so we just decided to stop in and see you.”
“This isn’t exactly the best time Dad.”
“Oh, it isn’t? Why not? What’s wrong darling?”
“Well…”
As she stumbled for words, Valerie stepped from the hallway she’d been listening in at, “Hello Marcus.”
Seeing his wife shocked Marcus, “Well, hello Valerie,” he stammered, “what are you doing here?”
“Well, Darice found me yesterday after I was held hostage by some goons, she brought me back here, and we just finished breakfast.”
“I think we need to talk, alone. Darice, can we use your bedroom, it’s the quietest room in the house.”
“Sure, go ahead Dad, I’ll entertain the kids.”
“I’m not a kid anymore!” Linda pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.
Linda had always seen Darice as a sort of mother since she’d never known hers. Darice bent down to the six-year old, “No you’re not Linda, you want to play with your big sister?”
“Yeah, that would be fun!” she squealed in joy.
“Well, we’ll be back,” Marcus interrupted, and he and Valerie walked down the hallway towards Darice’s room.
Once they were out of sight, Linda looked up at her big sister, “Darice, who was that strange lady?”
Before Darice could answer, Tommy spoke up, “She’s the woman who gave birth to you and just left you with the rest of us.”
Darice scowled at Tommy, standing up and still having to look up at him *Boy, he’s really gotten taller.* Tommy was a tall lanky 15 year old mouse with coloring just like his older sister’s. They were often mistaken for twins when they were younger. He always wore regular t-shirts and blue jeans.
“Did you just have to come out and tell her something like that? Don’t you ever think?” she scolded him, hitting him on the back of the head.
“Hey, you watch yourself there Darice, she may think of you as her mother,” he said, pointing down at Linda, “but I don’t. So stop acting like you are.”
“I wouldn’t if you would start acting more mature, think of Linda when you say stuff like that!”
At this point, Linda began wailing. “I-I-I don’t liiike it when you you you fight!” she said between sobs.
“See what you did,” Darice whispered to Tommy as she bent down to put Linda over her shoulder, patting her back in reassurance. *She’s getting bigger too, boy, how long has it been since I’ve seen them?* She paced the room, scowling at Tommy while whispering to Linda that she and Tommy never mean it. Tommy went over and found the television in the corner and started watching.
Darice put Linda down and got out the few toys Linda kept here at her house, and they began playing with her dolls.
After about an hour, Linda said out of the blue, “So Darice, is that lady really our Mommy?”
Darice sighed. She really hated having to tell Linda this, but knew she would have to, “Yes Linda, she is. She had some problems back when you were a baby and just left us. Now her problems are almost gone and she wants to come back to us.”
“Well, I’m glad she’s come back, it’ll be nice having a Mommy,” she said matter-of-factly.
“I’m glad you can see it that way, she really is a nice fun person, and she can make delicious food. I know you don’t really understand this now, but remember no matter how Daddy, Tommy, or I act with her, we do still love her. She did something that we still haven’t forgotten about.”
“What was that?”
“I’ll tell you when you’re older.” Darice decided to get Linda’s mind off of the subject of their mother, “Hey, what’s Prince David doing with Princess Erica? He’s supposed to be with Cinderella!”
“I don’t like Cinderella, she’s not as pretty as Princess Erica.”
“Oh, I see how it is,” and Darice took up Cinderella, and had her take the Prince back into her arms, “ ‘Oh Prince David, I wish we could dance like this all night’,” she said in a high voice, and she answered herself in a low voice “ ‘I do too Cinderella my love’,” and she made him kiss Cinderella.
“Ooh, mushy stuff. I don’t want a boy kissing me, its gross!!!”
“You won’t feel that way in a few years, trust me.”
“No, never never never!!!”
The two kept on playing, and after about two hours, went over and watched some cartoons on the television with Tommy. They watched for awhile when a knock sounded at the door. Darice went to answer it. She opened the door and found Støy standing there, sans his normal all black, instead wearing a green t-shirt and blue jean shorts. *He kinda looks comical with the dyed fur and piercings without all those black clothes,* Darice thought to herself, suppressing a giggle.
“Støy, what a surprise, um, you wanna come in?”
“Sure I will,” he said, coming into the main room. He spotted Darice’s younger siblings over on the couch, “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had the little ones over, I should leave.”
Linda was peeking over the back of the couch at him, “Heya Uncle Støy, I’ve missed you!”
Støy had always had a soft spot for this kid, he didn’t know why, and what was stranger was the fact she’d taken to him! “Heya Linda, I”ve been busy, but I’ll make it up to you sometime. And don’t let your Dad catch you calling me Uncle, you know how he hates that.”
“OK Uncle Støy,” and she turned around and went back to her cartoons, fighting with her brother over what Spongebob would be like in real life.
“Kids,” Støy said to Darice.
“I know, but she’s so wonderful.”
“That she is.”
“So, what brings you into this neighborhood?”
“Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to do anything today.”
“Umm, since my Dad and Mom are talking in my room and I’m sorta babysitting, I’m kinda restricted.”
“Do you want to take the kids to the park?”
“I guess we could, just let me go tell my parents,” and with that she went down the hall. She returned a few minutes later with a pair of sunglasses and a big straw hat on, “Let’s go to the park everyone.”
“Yay!!” Linda squealed, “The park is so much fun, and maybe
I’ll see some of my friends.”
Tommy just got up and moped behind the group, not wanting to do much. The little
troop walked off towards the park on this gloriously beautiful day.
Disclaimer: Spongebob is Copyright Nickelodeon. Used without permission but with the utmost respect. Darice, Rex/George, Støy, Valerie, Marcus, Tommy and Linda are figments of my imagination trying to get out. You may post this story in any way, so long as you don’t modify my words or gain profit from it. (Boy, isn’t all this legal mumbo jumbo fun?)