(Bluey)
This Chapter of Bluey's Kaleidoscope is called:
•[Keepy-Uppy]•

The towels were clipped to the laundry line as you placed the laundry basket over your head. "I can drive, just not manual though. I've tried once before, but the grinding sound scared me." You snickered then grew awkward. "Plus, that Uncle and Foster Father didn't take too kindly to that." You look at Bandit through the holes of the basket.

Bandit's ears fall a little in sadness. "They shouldn't have gotten that mad at you if you were trying to stop their naughty kids from driving the vehicle into the lake."

"Uh...those kids were actually older than me." You say sheepishly.

"What? Seriously? And you got the blame and they got away with it?" Bandit was upset that happened to you, but he was also glad you told him. You needed to let a lot of things out. "Well, one thing's for sure, a lot of us around here are more understanding and open minded."

"BANDIT! High Ball!"

You watch Bandit immediately rush over to catch an oval ball.

"Got it, Pat!" The blue heeler grinned at you, "How's about I introduce you to one of my good mates? I bet his son is outside too." He motioned you to follow.

You hesitantly follow behind after placing the basket down.

In the backyard, you noticed a decent gap between the bushes of the neighbor's fence. There stood a golden retriever and a smaller version of them. Maybe around Bluey's age? They looked extremely excited once you got closer.

"Nice catch, Bandit." The older retriever hopped over the fence.

Unfortunately, you couldn't help, but give a warning growl when the stranger stepped closer.

He froze up and laughed sheepishly, while holding up his hands. "Sorry?"

Bandit chuckled and gently patted your head. "It's alright, (Y/n). They're our good neighbors and not dangerous strangers. I forgot to tell you that Pat loves to join in on our shenanigans."

Pat nods with his tail wagging, "Yeah. I've always got to keep my guard up around here. Ain't no tellin' what the Heeler's are up to." He takes the ball from Bandit, "Just for good measure. Name's Pat and this is my son, Lucky."

The younger retriever waved cheerily. "Hi!"

You wave back and grow embarrassed. "I'm (Y/n). Sorry about that. It was a reflex that I've got to work on."

"It's alright, Mate. No harm done. I'm glad there's another addition to the Heeler family. If you ever want to come on over and play ball and what not, feel free!" Pat hops back over the fence, "It also gets pretty crazy during Rugby season, so choose your team wisely, my friend."

"I'm not really familiar with some sports, but I know enough that I'll most likely choose the team opposite of Bandit's team. Just for the fun of it and to tease him." You laugh when Bandit gets you into a headlock, ruffling the fur on your head.

"Of course, you would ya Little Tyke!" He joked.

You blew a raspberry and nudged the back of his knee, causing him to let you go, so he wouldn't hit the ground. "Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!" You mock while running away.

"I need to stop letting my guard down around you, Kid!" Bandit shouts playfully and shakes his head while laying there on the ground. "I love that kid." He stared up at the sky, seeing a few hot air balloons drifting around the area.

There were things the blue heeler thought about. Some bad, some good. Questioning himself, yet, always comes to the conclusion that he was so very lucky and blessed with who he turned out to be. Who he was to a lot of friends and family. Being worth it to be able to see his own kids and hoped to see possible grandkids. Maybe he was thinking very far ahead and that was okay.

Your face popped up in his line of view and Bandit yelped in fright. "You're not having an existential crisis, are you?" You ask.

Bandit rolled his eyes with a grin, "You're full of surprises, aren't you?"

"I mean, we've all been there and some of us still have those thoughts. If it's because of the old man taunting, I'm sorry." You sit down then lay against his side.

"Buuut?" Bandit smirked, waiting for the rest of your so-called apology.

"BUT, also not sorry because the key to being an awesome dad is aging without maturing. I give you points for th-AH!" You laugh when the blue heeler jabs at your ticklish spot.

"Did you look that up? Because I can't tell if you're serious or not." He rests his arm over you.

You shrug, "You'll have to wait and find out. Although, with all this joking aside....This kid loves you too, Old Man."

Bandit hummed, "That's good because I promise to always love you." He shut his eyes as the two of you laid there in peaceful silence. Except a few random vocal birds flying around.

"Don't you have chores to finish?"

"Yep. Except I'm too lazy to move right now. Think you finish them up for me?"

"Not a chance. I can help, but not completely finish them for you."

"Good to know."

It goes quiet again, but you were wondering about something. "Do you think your side of the family will like me?"

Bandit opened his eyes to look at you with a gentle smile. "The answer is a strong YES, Mate. My mum, my dad, and my two bros. You'll most likely be seeing my younger brother, Stripe, more often with his little ones and his wife."

"Is he the only other one with kids?"

Bandit nods, "Your little cousins. Muffin and Socks. They're younger than Bluey and Bingo, so they're a bit more....uh...excitable?"

"Okay. I'm taking that as a warning." You chuckle and think about the portrait you saw of Chilli's Family. Maybe you'll ask her yourself later. "Are there any other neighbors that I need to meet? I like Doreen and Pat is 50/50." You say, mainly getting names so you won't give another warning growl.

"Let's see. There is Wendy and her daughter, Judo. They're to the side of us." Bandit points in the direction of Wendy's house. "Her daughter sometimes comes over to play with Bluey. Wendy is more of Chilli's friend, kinda like a mum group." He chuckled. "Every now and then, Bluey's classmates come over with their parent's and she goes to their house as well."

"Wow. Bluey really loves to make friends. What about Bingo?" You raised a brow when Bandit didn't say anything.

Honestly, he didn't really know and that made him think more. "I'm not too sure. She hasn't mentioned anything about friends, I mean, she is still just a little tot. Bingo likes to play with anyone, especially Bluey's friends and they don't mind."

"Oh."

"How's your head today?" Bandit finally sits up and stretches.

You tap your forehead and joke, "Well, there's nothing loose and rolling around."

"So, you think you can go back to school?"

You two make your way to check on the towels. "Yeah. As long as I'm not doing extreme physical activities for a while. I mean, the hit to the head wasn't my first injury, so I'm used to healing fast."

Bandit stopped to stare at you and frowned at the casual tone to that statement. Only this time he'll let that slide, until you're ready to talk about a lot of things.

~*•0•*~

"Seriously? A family tree? That's like something from a kiddy group project." You place Bandit's tablet to the side while you lay back to look up at the tree in the backyard. "Ugh. What am I supposed to do?"

Your four friends were on the call, each doing their own thing, but gave you unsure looks. "Well....friends are family right?" Theo shrugged sheepishly. "Or anyone who cares about your wellbeing." Ida adds in while placing hair curlers in her hair.

Then Zara snickered, "Nah. It's about Family."

Antoine rolled his eyes while adjusting his glasses, "Sérieusement? Zara, do not start with memes again."

Theo held back a laugh, "You don't turn your back on Family, Antoine."

"Yeah, Toine. What's real.....is Family." You continue on while laughing. "In all seriousness though. How is someone like me going to get a good grade on this?"

Ida gently soothes mud on her face, "Then fail. You said so, yourself that this is some 'kiddy' group project, so why should it matter? Although, Mr. Heeler has a great family. I'm positive you'll be able to figure it out on your own."

You hum. "I guess."

Zara sticks her tongue out in disgust, "Why are you putting mud on your face, Ida?"

"Same, but also different reasons that you like to play in the mud." Ida jabs back.

You, Theo, and Antoine give each other an uneasy glance. "Alright, I'll start thinking of some ideas. See you guys later!" You say while waving and end the call before the two girls start bickering.

"Ha ha! See, Dad? Our toys saved the balloon."

You hear Bluey and see the two small heelers in the playroom, along with a red balloon sitting on a block tower. Bandit is leaning against the frame of the opened room and smiling with a smug look.

"Not for long!" He turned the ceiling fan on as the balloon began to lift into the air.

"No!" Bluey and Bingo call out.

Luckily, the young blue heeler jumped up and tumbled into the block tower to bat at the balloon.

"It's heading for the fan!" Bingo shouted.

The balloon bounced harshly off the fan and started drifting out toward you. The girls scream in panic and you jump when Chilli calls out from the kitchen patio.

"(Y/n)! Don't let that balloon touch the ground! It's Bluey's last one!" She quickly disappeared back inside.

You run over and belly flop to bat the balloon back up in the air, unfortunately it was too hard as it drifted higher in the air. "Oh no." You get up to keep an eye on it, "Do you two know that you need to play this game inside so the balloon doesn't pop on the grass?"

Bingo froze, "What?! But Mum said nothing would happen if it touched the ground."

Bluey does the same shocked expression after she bats at the balloon. "It's my last balloon and Dad is the one that made the game harder."

"Catch it!" Bingo points.

You three rush over and Bluey dives for another bat at the balloon close to the ground. This time it drifts over to Pat's backyard. "It's going into Lucky's yard!" Bluey says when Chilli finally came outside.

"Lucky, hit the balloon back over!" You call out after seeing the small retriever still outside, kicking a ball.

He perks up and nods, "I got it! Bwut!" He hits it while sprinting, his excitement causing him to slip when trying to turn around. "Sorry, I don't think I can get it in time!"

You were tempted to jump over, until Pat rushed out of his house, mug still in his hand. "Mine! Mine!" He hits it toward his son. "Yours, Lucky! Get onto it!"

"Good one, Dad! I got it! I got it!" Lucky happily hits the balloon.

You smile when Pat gives his kid a thumbs up.

"That's it, Boy! Mine!" He goes to bat the balloon only to pull a leg muscle, dropping his mug and holding the back of his thigh. "Ooh! I've done me hammy! Lucky, you get it!"

You couldn't help, but laugh at Pat. "Maybe stretch before you run out like a mad dog, Pops!"

"I'm! Ooh! Not that! Ah! Old!" Pat laid on the ground while holding his leg.

"(Y/n)!" Chilli scolded.

"What? It's true." You grin sheepishly. "But thanks anyway!" You eye the balloon as it comes back over the fence.

"Yeah! Thanks, Lucky's dad!" Bluey says.

"No worries, kids!" Pat smiled slightly through the pain.

"I can catch it! I can catch it!" Chilli runs after the balloon.

You notice Bandit walking out of the house with an umbrella and another smug smile. "Bingo, we've gotta tackle Dad. Bluey, help Mom with the balloon." They give a thumbs up while you pick up Bingo. "Bingo, you gotta give him a koala hug."

"Okay." Bingo nods with a serious look.

"Looks like—"

You cut off Bandit and jump at him with Bingo. "—A Koala Hug!!!"

"Ahhh!" Bingo clings to his head.

"AH!! Ambushed by the Koala and the Monkey!" Bandit falls to the ground at the weight of you and Bingo.

"I got it— Gah!" Chilli felt Bandit grab her ankle and she laughed, "Bandit!! Bluey, get the balloon!" She grunts at the extra weight tossed onto her, which happened to be you and Bingo.

Bandit laughed in victory after easily tossing you and Bingo to Chilli. He grabbed the umbrella again and opened it, "Gotta try harder than that kids."

The balloon bounced off the top of the umbrella, keeping it away from Bluey and causing it to drift to the ground with a pop. "No!" Bingo and Bluey kneel down by the popped balloon while you and Chilli stand beside them. "Aw, my balloon." Bluey said sadly. "It's popped." Bingo added in.

"It's all good. We can blow up another one." Bandit smiled.

"That was her last balloon." You say.

"Oh." He sheepishly closed the umbrella. "Did I make that a little too fun?" The girls nod and you kneel down to pat their heads. "Sorry, Squirts. It's a hard one to get right." He sits beside you guys in guilt.

"I'd say it was fun to watch though!" Theo laughed from the tablet. "You forgot to end ALL face calls, Dumb-Dumb!"

Your face flushed with embarrassment after realizing you only ended the call with the girls, not with Theo and Antoine. "Aw, Cheez-Its."

Bluey giggled, "Yeah, it was pretty fun." She waved at Theo then off toward Lucky's yard where Pat and Lucky were still watching your guys shenanigans.

"Yeah, it was definitely quite fun." Bingo picked up the balloon pieces.

"I'll throw those away for you." You say and take the pieces from her and froze when Theo called out to Chilli and Bandit. Quickly, you run over and nearly drop the tablet.

"I think (Y/n) needs some help with an art project!"

That's all Theo was able to say before you hastily press the end call button. "I'm going to put the tablet away!" You gulp and force a grin.

Stepping over the toys and heading for the stairs to the living room, you stopped at the top to stare at the portrait on the wall. A young Bandit and his two brothers. Rad and Bandit seemed like they were teasing Stripe in the picture. Your finger taps nervously on the edge of the tablet because....you we're going to meet Bandit's younger brother, Stripe, tomorrow. Plus his wife and daughters.

Your gaze lingers to the pictures near the front door.

A young Chilli with her parents and older sister? Then another picture of her mom sitting on a horse.

You sigh and go into the kitchen to toss away the balloon pieces into the trash bin.

~*•.•*~

The two adult heelers watch you speedway inside and give each other a look that indicates one of them should check up on you. "You know, I think we've got one last balloon left." Chilli smirked at Bandit.

"Really? For real life?" Bingo and Bluey asked, confused.

"Yeah....a big blue one."

Bandit stood up and gulped when they all looked at him, "Uh oh."

Chilli nudged Bandit, "Why don't you girls get the balloon ready while I go see if your Big Bubby needs help finding the charger, then we'll be back out." She makes her way up to the living room, hearing the cabinet with the trash bin inside close. "Alright. What's up, Kiddo?"

You nearly jump at her sudden presence. "The ceiling fan?" You let out a snorting laugh as Chilli squeezed you from behind.

"You know what I mean!" She chuckled happily.

"I don't know, do I?" You put the tablet on the counter and turn around to hug her.

"Well, aren't you a sassy one." She pats your head and keeps her hand there. "But, seriously, (Y/n). What's bothering you, Hon?"

You pull away and tap on your arm. "I'm just really nervous about meeting the rest of the family....I know Bandit said his family will love me, but....I still feel unsure about it." There were other thoughts you wanted to say too, but you decided to keep it to yourself for now.

Chilli could tell you wanted to say more, though she knew tackling one situation at a time is better than tackling it all at once. "I know the feeling." She held you to her side and giggled softly, "I felt the same way when I had to meet Bandit's family before we got married. I kept having doubts when Bandit said his family will love me when we meet." She remembered the anxiousness and stress even in her sleep. "It felt like holding onto a balloon and I was afraid it was going to pop....I didn't want it to pop. So I kept juggling it and making sure it didn't pop."

You watch her breath out with a peaceful smile.

"I know you've got a lot of feelings and thoughts to juggle, (Y/n). Just remember to take a deep breath and let it go. Trust me, you'll feel better and realize you were being too hard on yourself."

"Mm....what if I like to pop balloons? Do you think I'll get a prize at the end?" You joked innocently.

Chilli grinned with amusement, "You silly, of course you can! Whichever makes you feel happy, then go for it!"

"Mum! (Y/n)! We're ready!" Bingo skipped excitedly into the kitchen.

"Cool! Let's Bing-GO!" You shouted and placed her on your shoulders, then ran outside. She squealed and held onto your ears.

Chilli followed behind and laughed at your joke.

Bluey's tail wagged when you guys finally stood beside her and Bandit. She held her dad's tail, "The big blue balloon is blown up!"

You put Bingo down, "The Big Blue Baboon?"

Bluey and Bingo giggled uncontrollably, "No! Big Blue BALLOON!"

"What?! He's a Big Blue Baboon!" You repeated and snickered as Bandit pouted.

"BAL-LOON."

You nod and give a thumbs up, "Oh! A Big BALLOON Baboon. Nice!"

This caused the girls to squeal more in laughter. "Yeah, we'll go with that. Ready?"

"Aw, what?!" Bandit huffed.

"Should we play keepy uppy?" Chilli wiped a tear from laughing too much.

Bluey glanced at Bingo then at you which you smirk and give a thumbs up. "Nuh-uh." She tsked.

Bandit grew curious yet a little afraid at the looks. "What? What?"

Bluey lets go of his tail, "Go free, Birdie!"

"Pbhhhhhhhht!"

You guys burst out in laughter at Bandit blowing out air and running around the yard like an uncontrollable balloon letting out air. He crawled on the trampoline and bounced around wildly against the safety nets. All of a sudden, he gets out and heads straight at all of you.

"AHH!!"

"This Big Balloon Baboon still has air in it!!!" You laugh and groan at Bandit's weight on top of you guys, until he rolls over to lay on top of you. "Ah! No!"

"Dad!" Bluey and Bingo try to push him off you.

"Tickle him!" Chilli reaches to tickle her husband and he tried to roll away, only for you to cling to him.

"Tickle-tickle!"

"Ambushed again!" Bandit laughed out.

~*•.•*~

Later in the evening, Bandit was sitting in the living room and reading a newspaper and Bingo was quietly flipping through her book, listening to the audio. Chilli was in the kitchen, figuring out what to make for dinner and Bluey was drawing in her bedroom after seeing you go into your room.

She hummed and sang a random tune about balloons. "Small Balloons~ Big Balloons~ One Balloon~ Two!~" She giggled to herself. "Bwut! Bwut! Bwut!"

"Augh! That won't work either!"

Bluey looked at your half opened door when you growled in frustration. Her head tilted in confusion and followed a balled up paper that tumbled out from your room.

Maybe you needed more paper.

Bluey nodded and cheerfully gathered up a few blank papers. "Hey, (Y/n)!" She waits for your reply and pushes your door open when you acknowledge her. "Do you need more paper? Because that's a lot of scrunchy paper around your room."

You raised a brow, noticing she was by herself in her room. "Thanks, I might need them for later." You take the blank papers. "Bluey, do you usually do things by yourself?"

The little blue heeler sits down to unscrunch a balled up paper. "No, but you were alone up here and I didn't want you to be alone, so I was coloring across from you." She opened up another balled up paper and took notice that some of them were trees with writing on them. "Why are you drawing trees? Oh! You should add some flowers. No, wait! Fruit, like bananas! No, no! Add some little birdies. Aw! A bird nest would be better. Hold on! Let me get my crayons!"

You blink at Bluey and couldn't help, but smile fondly at her as she scooped up her crayons from her room floor. "Hey, Bluey."

Bluey lays out the crayons in front of you and smiles at you, "Yeah?"

"Can I get a hug?" You hold out your arms.

Her tail wags and she jumps into your arms, hugging you tightly. "I love hugs."

You giggle softly and hug her back, "Me too. Especially from my Little Sister." She squealed joyfully as you ruffle the top of her head. "How about we add some stickers to the drawing?" You pull out some sticker packets.

"Definitely!"

You two talked about a lot of random things while drawing a tree, plus a family portrait. Mainly drawn by Bluey while you just added stickers here and there, until you playfully stick random stickers to Bluey's fur as she giggled.

"Why didn't you like your trees that you were drawing?" Bluey asked while placing stickers on your face and arms.

"Well, they didn't look perfect." You pick up a balled up paper and sigh, tossing toward the empty box that you had sitting in the room, until Chilli or Bandit went shopping for more items for your room.

This whole art project was silly, yet complicated. Honestly, right now, it seemed like you were drowning in an ocean of crumpled papers and the paper balls kept raining down. Coming up for a brief moment and not finding an anchor in the situation.

"Oh." Bluey saw your ears fall back in sadness.

You lay back in defeat, feeling the ocean and rain turn to snow. It began to pile up and the pressure was slowly crushing you as you lay still.

"Bwut!"

A snowball flops onto your nose and falls off your nose in smaller pieces. That snapped you out of it and you left your head to see Bluey scoops up more snow before tossing it up in the air. She laughed when it all bounced off her and onto the ground again.

You chuckle, "What are you doing?"

She grins and holds up a snowball, "Snowball fight. Ha!" She aimed and threw it at you.

"Oh, you're going to regret that!" You feel the pressure leave your body as you get up to run after your little sister.

The snowballs were being thrown around and both your laughs drowned out Chilli's voice that called out that dinner was ready. Soon, the rest of the Heelers came in to see what the commotion was about, only to get pelted by the snowballs. Immediately, they joined in, causing the snow to melt into grass and the snowballs to blow up into colorful balloons.

All of you bat them around in a game of keepy uppy. Some began to disappear into the sky, then some drifted around before popping into nothing.

"Bwut!" You say, hitting the balloon with the palm of your paw and watching it fall into a cardboard box, popping into a paper ball.

"Seems like this will be the recycling box. I'll just put this in the garage." Bandit held the box in his arms and smiled at you. "Anything else that needs to go in here, Mate?"

You shake your head and lean down to pick up Bluey's drawing of her tree. Under it, she tried drawing you and her playing keepy uppy.

"Aw! That's definitely going up on the fridge." Chilli held the other drawing that Bluey had done of a family portrait with you in it. "Maybe we can even frame it later." She ruffled Bluey's head and smiled warmly as you taped your drawing on your room wall. "Food might be cold by now, but there's no harm in warming it back up."

"Oh yeah!" You, Bluey, and Bingo say in sync then rush out the door. "I want stickers on my face too!" Bingo pipped up.

"Crazy kids." Bandit shook his head with amusement and quickly snuck a kiss to his wife's muzzle, "Our crazy kids." He followed you and your little sisters down the stairs.

Chilli's heart was once again stolen away at her husband's loving antics. "Oh Bandit. Always living up to your name, Love."

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A piece of paper kringled under Chilli's foot and she chuckled, picking up the scrunched up paper. "Looks like they forgot one. Hm?" She raised a brow at her name peeking out from the balled up paper.

~*•o•*~

By now, dinner went by well and everyone in the house was asleep, except Chilli.

Laying in bed next to a snoozing Bandit, she stared at the ceiling of their bedroom. The mother inside her grew restless and quietly, she got up to check up on her kids first.

In Bluey and Bingo's room, Chilli covered Bluey in her blanket, seeming to have kicked it away in her sleep before kissing the side of the little blue heeler's head. Next, Chilli placed Floppy the pink bunny back into Bingo's arms and kissed her forehead.

Chilli walked across the hallway to peek into your room. Nothing out of the ordinary, except your phone laying on the floor, most likely it fell out of your hand when you dozed off. She plugs it into the charger for you and carefully tucks you in your blanket. A simple kiss to your head was enough for you to relax more in your sleep and your body slowly recognizing everyone's presence.

"I'm not going to lie, Mrs. Heeler. (Y/n)....is a special case and in terms of adoption has its challenges for everyone."

The hot tea sat on the coffee table and the warm glow from the single side lamp illuminated Chilli's worn out form. Earlier, while you and Bandit helped the girls get to bed, she grew curious about all the crumbled papers.

All had quick sketch ideas of a family tree. Some scribbled out in a frustrated mess.

Sure, it should've been a very easy and simple concept to make, but Chilli had a feeling that you were trying to figure out something more than just a drawing of a tree with family names. So, she began to lookup ideas to help, but none did not sit right with her.

She sighed heavily, "What kind of mother am I, if I can't help with something so simple?"

Doubt of her ability to be a good mom began crawling up her shoulders. She stared across at the pictures of her family. She really missed her older sister.....Chilli picked up her phone and scrolled down to Brandy's contact number. Her finger hovered over the call button.

"You can disregard what I'm going to ask because it is an extremely personal question. I'm quite curious myself....." Ms. Sadie glanced down at a paper and grew anxious. "I'm also going to ask because it will affect (Y/n)'s wellbeing if it's not handled carefully."

The phone screen shuts off before the device is tossed onto the couch.

How did her thoughts end up here and make her feel so helpless? She missed her mother who would always take her into her arms and melt away all the bad things.

'What should I do, Mum?' Chilli thought.

"Chilli."

The red heeler freaked out when someone softly called out her name and calmed down when seeing you standing near the other side of the couch, your blanket wrapped around you. "(Y/n), you scared me. Is everything alright, Sweetie?" Her motherly instinct kicked in as she held out her arms to invite you to sit next to her.

"Sorry." Hesitantly, you take a seat and lean into her side.

"It's okay." Chilli rubbed your head and ears. "And I'm sorry, too. I tried helping to make this easy, but I'm still trying to figure it out." She picked up the crumbled family tree.

You take it from her, "Family is complicated."

"Yeah. It is." Chilli lays her head against yours. "It's complicated when you don't know where you stand with everyone." She feels you nod. "But I do know that it's really worth the effort in making your own family with those that you feel are important to you and those that care about you."

"Maybe it's complicated because I never really get to meet or know anyone for too long." You ball up the paper again. "I know it'll take a lot of effort, but I'm willing to start making my life better. Anyway, this art project isn't due for another month, so I'll have enough time to find out what I'm going to plan for it." You yawn and smile tiredly at Chilli. "And let's not worry about it for now, okay? My problem right now is the Barbecue tomorrow."

"Well, one thing for sure, I think you'll enjoy teasing Bandit tomorrow with Stripe. Everyone will love you." Chilli rolled her eyes playfully. "Even my family. There will be no doubt about that."

You notice Chilli's distant gaze. "Will I meet them too?"

"My dad, yeah." She glanced away, "I don't know about...my sister, but I know once she comes back around, she will love you. My mum.....she would've immediately welcomed you with open arms and lots of smooches."

"Why didn't I get an invite for this cuddle session?" Bandit flops down on the couch beside you, immediately pulling you and Chilli into a tight embrace. "And why aren't you two in bed at this hour?"

Chilli rolled her eyes, "Oh~, since when did you want to be a responsible one? I should be asking you the same thing."

You snicker and feel content at being sandwiched between the two parents. You yawn as your eyes droop little by little.

"Didn't feel you beside me and I got up to check on the kids, noticing one of them was missing from their bed too." Bandit glanced down at your now sleeping form. "They still nervous about tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I did what I could to reassure them." She held hands with Bandit.

"Don't worry so much, Babe. You've done more than enough." He kissed the wrist. "I mean, they're literally THIS close to us now." They look at your peacefulness from being asleep between them. Bandit lovingly brushed his fingers over Chilli's head and felt her body relaxing more. This continued on for a few minutes and he smiled warmly at both you and Chilli, sleeping soundly.

"You're a very good mother, Chilli. Your mum would be happy.....and she'll be laughing now that I have to somehow get you two up the stairs to your beds."

You laughed in your sleep.

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"Does Ms. Cattle know about your arrangements?"