Haven't You Ever Been In Love Before?

Part IX

By the time Poppy and Viva returned with Rhonda, John Dory had made a full physical recovery from his egg detaching, minus the scar that had been on the top of his head for twenty-four years. Mentally, however...

“Check it out, JD!" Poppy said, holding up one of her and Viva's gifts for the baby. “This cute rocker not only bounces, but it plays soothing music for when she goes to sleep! I wish I had one of these when Flower was this little."

“Why'd you say ‘she?'" Floyd asked. John Dory just couldn't be any less interested.

“Oh, Viva and I made a bet on what we think the baby's gonna be," Poppy explained. “And I know for a fact there's a little girl in there."

“No, you do-on't!" Viva teased playfully. “It's a bo-oy!"

“Oh, ho, ho! And what makes you so sure?" Poppy laughed.

Viva smirked. “I have a couple of friends back at Hole N Fun, and when they had their little boy, the stars and planets aligned perfectly. You know what they say. ‘Born under Venus, look for a–'"

“Guys, shouldn't we be more focused on whether or not this baby will be healthy?" Branch suggested as he parted his hair to show them the blue and green egg. By the end of the first week, the pink glow was gone, but that was merely a sign that the body around the heart was developing.

“We're just having a little fun, Branchifur," Poppy insisted. “There's no harm in it."

“What about you, John Dory?" Viva asked. “Boy or girl, what do you want your baby to be?"

He wouldn't say it aloud, but the others could tell he just wanted his child to be alive. Despite how far the egg had made it without breaking, part of him still believed it wasn't meant to be.

“Look, I'm, uh, tired," he said quietly. “I'm gonna go get some sleep."

“John Dory, wait," Poppy pleaded, but he was already heading up to the guest room just as Bruce showed up.

“What's going on?" he wondered.

“I think a line's been crossed, yo," Synth answered as Poppy and Viva nervously glanced at one another.

“He still hasn't recovered yet, and not just from the detaching," Floyd admitted. “Branch, Poppy, you saw him when the egg came. Even when Willow used her magic to calm him down, he was obviously still hurting."

“Not to mention," Viva added, “during our trip, I did a little snooping and found boxes with eggshells inside of them."

“You think those could've been all his other kids, Vivita?" Synth asked.

“Maybe, it would explain the names on them," she replied. “But why would he hold on to them for that long?"

“Well, if I lost something or someone that special..." Synth explained as he turned away from them, holding a heart-shaped piece of orange glass in his palms, “... I'd wanna hold onto something that reminded me of them, too."

“Maybe when John Dory's ready, we can do something about that," Bruce muttered.

💔🪺❤️‍🩹🪺💔

While the others (minus Willow, for some reason) were sleeping in the guest room, John Dory snuck out to get a glass of water. On his way back, he tripped over a wire, landed flat on his face, and a tub of pink goo landed on his head.

“Ow! What the..."

“Ha, ha! Got you..." laughed one of Bruce's kids, jumping out from behind his bedroom door with two of his brothers, before realizing who it was he pranked. “Oh. Sorry, Uncle John. We thought you were Daddy."

“You're lucky I don't tell him about this," John Dory groaned, rubbing his nose.

“He didn't read us our favorite bedtime story," another boy said with pouty lips as he held up a book.

I'm gonna regret saying this, John Dory thought before saying to his nephews, “Look, Windy, Malik, and... Cory, isn't it?"

“Cove," he corrected.

“Cove, sorry," he apologized. “Well, since Dad's most likely asleep right now, I could read the book to you. Would you boys go to sleep, then? No more pranks?"

“Okay!" all three of them said simultaneously and ran into their beds. John Dory followed them and Cove handed the book to him. Luckily, it was Troll-sized.

“Okay. ‘Sleepy Pufflings.' ‘Sleepy Pufflings?'" John Dory questioned as he opened the book. “Wait, what are these things?"

“Puppets," Windy answered. “You use them to tell the story."

“Alright," John Dory said as he stuck his fingers into the three puffling puppets, and began reading.

Three little pufflings loved to play.
They had fun in the sun all day.

Then their mother flew down and said,
“Time for my pufflings to go to bed."

“Wow, this is garbage!" John Dory chuckled. “You guys actually like this?"

“Keep reading!" Cove whined.

“Okay, okay," John Dory muttered as he turned the page.

Three little pufflings started to bawl,
“Mommy, we're not tired at all!"

Then, their mother said with a huff,
“Fine, but at least you should brush your fluff."

“Now, you brush the fluff," Malik said. John Dory grabbed a tiny hairbrush and stroked the fluffy puppets with it.

“I could make this funnier, but there's kids around," he said to himself, and turned the page.

Three little pufflings with fluff all brushed
said, “We can't sleep, we feel too rushed!"

Their mother replied, feeling quite pish,
“Fine, but at least, you should eat your fish."

“Now, make them eat the fish," Cove whispered. John Dory pointed the finger puppets down as if they were eating the fish.

“Didn't even flame broil it," John Dory said. “Birds are weird."

Three little pufflings with fish all gone
rubbed their eyes and started to yawn.

John Dory took a brief moment to notice the boys yawning, as well. For a book that could've been written by a three-year-old, it certainly seemed to work wonders.

“We can't sleep, we can't even try."
Then, their mother sang a lullaby.

“Goodnight, my pufflings, close your eyes.
Safe and sound until you rise.

Though while in Dreamland, we may depart,
your mommy loves you... with all her heart."

John Dory fought back tears as his nephews slumbered. He wiped them away, put the book down, and snuck out of the room. He should've read crappy books like those to his own kids, but he couldn't because he...

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard a familiar, low voice singing a sad song and decided to follow it.

Sorry, again, that this took so long...