Fef Stuff I guess

Feferi had always been a happy girl, and that had always pleased you. Nothing in your cozy suburban life had ever been a cause to pop her bubbly, happy exterior. An smile was always on her face, and she was always as excited as a seven year old could be. So, she got a little upset when the topic of her mother was broached. But, chipper as she was, she put a smile on her face and continued on like a trooper. You always loved that about her. It made her birthday very, very hard on you when you really saw her cry for the first time.

 

The excitable little girl had always loved surprises, so you had decided to make her birthday party one as well. It was painful, sure, to continue brushing off her obvious, leading questions about birthday gifts and decorations.

 

")(-EY! Did you know T-er-ezi got a cake like, 6 f-e-et tall for h-er birthday! IN TH-E SHAP-E OF A DRAGON?" She squealed. You tried to play it down and keep the details secret, but she just kept getting the wrong message. Feeling hurt and ignored, she began to spend more and more time in the pool and in her room, and less time pulling at your pants leg and throwing water balloons, or inviting her friends over in the weeks preceding the party.

 

On the day of the party, you had gathered all of her little friends and gathered them in the living room, with the presents all stacked up high and the lights turned off. You shushed the impatient grumblings of the angry boy from down the street, and calmed the frantic preening of the odd boy with the dyed hair. It was her special day today, and nothing would ruin it for her.

 

When, after ten minutes of waiting in the dark long after the time she usually got up for her first swim, you heard the faint sound of sobbing coming from upstairs. Pushing your way back complaining children as you walked up the stairs, your heart thudded in your chest as you opened your daughters door and looked in to see her crying into a plush octopus, goggles strewn on the floor, lights off.

 

"Oh Fef, honey, what's wrong?" You asked, sitting down beside her and running your hands over her head and through that hair she was so proud of. Angrily, she turned her head away from you and shuffled away on the bed. "Why are you crying? It's your birthday."

 

"T)(at's why I'm crying!" She finally said, after brushing away her tears jerkily with a closed fist, rubbing her forearm over her flushed eyes. "You forgot! I can't believe you forgot!" You realized your mistake then, as she looked at you with hurt in her eyes and a pout on her lips, hugging her favorite toy to her chest in a death-grip. "Oh Fef, of course I didn't forget. I invited all of your friends! And got you so many presents you won't even know what to do with them all."

 

"Liar." She said, turning her head angrily away. "You didn't say anything! Everytime I asked!" You shook your head, frowning. "It was supposed to be a surprise. You love surprises." She turned away, rotating in place to turn her back on you. You reached out your hands, and stopped, putting them against your lap. You let out a weary sigh, unsure of what to do when an unexpected visitor was shoved in through the door.

 

"hey fef? are you okay?" The boy asked, holding a box almost as big as he was awkwardly behind his back, gasping when he dropped it heavily on the floor. "i got you a present. wwanna take a look?" He picked up the box again, and struggled to get it up on the bed, climbing up after it on short legs. You could tell he was so much shorter than the other children as he struggled to hop up on her bed, frantically kicking striped pants at the air. As she turned around and saw his eager face holding out a giant, badly wrapped present in purple paper and with a bow half-undone, card somehow glued to his hand, she tried to maintain a frown on her face as giggles shook her body. Tried to hide the growing smile on her face with a hand before she finally burst out into a full on guffaw, unable to take in the absurdity of the poor troll who had tried so very, very hard to make something personal for her.

 

"O)( Eri, you can't do anything right can you!" She snorted, grabbing at the box and ripping the paper off in clumps. As she opened the cardboard box within, she gasped as she removed the massive, fluffy seahorse plush within. A pure white animal without a tag or a visible stitch, she held it at arms length and disregarded the hurt look on his face as she asked "W)(ere'd you get T)(is weird t)(ing?"

 

"oh." he said, a hurt tone to his still baby-ish voice, as he folded his arms and looked away. "i spent all my allowwance on that...i wworked for wweeks to savve up..." he trailed off, sniffing. You stood back by the door, ear pricked waiting for trouble downstairs. The sound of familiar, cruel laughter dragged you downstairs as you prepared to deal with her again.

 

A small boy half out of his wheelchairs straps, grunting and trying to pull himself back in to his chair as the spectacled girl stifled a laugh and hid a pointing finger, only an "Oh." to explain herself. The other children did nothing, enjoying the pool outside and cooling down from the hot sun. She ran off quickly, and you helped him back up into his chair, and re-tied his straps, grabbing him a juice packet as his reward for enduring her constant, nasty teasing. You'd have a talk with her mother, if she'd every parent her child, later. But dealing with your own came first, you thought, as you went back up the stairs.

 

The only thing awaiting you, however, was not two bawling, fighting children as you had expected. Merely the two of them having adventures in a make-believe world, playing laser-guns and riding stuffed animals like horses in a nautical adventure of their own making. You'd give them their time to play, and invite them down later.

 

Something like that wasn't to be interrupted.