Chapter Text
Had he not stopped being amused by this? So thought Rhonda after she'd reached over to her nightstand to find her glasses no longer there. Day was breaking and they needed to get going. And Arnold had moved her glasses over to his nightstand, the rat! Rhonda turned to face him, but his back was turned toward her. Regardless, she knew what he had done and she knew he was smiling over it.
"Grow up, Arnold!" Rhonda, at the ripe old age of twenty-one-and-change, chastised her almost-twenty-one boyfriend with whom she was sharing the double bed. It wasn't the most comfortable bed, but hiking expeditions with Rhonda carried one incontrovertible truth: better a slightly uncomfortable bed than a wholly comfortable sleeping bag.
"Hey, are you ignoring me?" Rhonda demanded, knowing full well that he was wide awake.
"No," Arnold replied impishly. "But I find it very sexy when you get all worked up like that."
"So glad I'm playing into your hands," she mocked back. "It's such an honor being the best part of your day so early in the morning! Now hand me my damn glasses!"
"Oh, if only I could!" Arnold fake lamented. "So comfortable right now. Seems like such a shame to interrupt something so good…"
What happened next was a dance done enough times before to be committed to muscle memory. "Oh, Jeez!" Rhonda sighed through gritted teeth, before moving to retrieve her spectacles. Reaching over a stationary Arnold yielded no result, nor did slithering across his chest in an attempt to increase her reach. But the sneak was enjoying every second of her grinding and rubbing motions against him. She was convinced even the scent of her hair – grown well past shoulder length – was doing it for him. By the time she eventually retrieved and was donning the eyewear, the bedsheets were in disarray and Rhonda Wellington Lloyd was straddling her beau. Looking down on him as he came into focus.
"You know?" she smirked. "Sometimes you look better when you're all blurry."
"And you," Arnold countered, "have this gift of making snoring, bed hair – and don't forget the morning breath – so very alluring."
Rhonda was reaching for her pillow to remedy Arnold's candor when the interruption occurred.
"GROSS! Why are you two lying on top of each other? Did you sleep like that? Isn't it, like, really uncomfortable?"
The third voice came from the open doorway where also stood its owner: ten-year-old Amanda Shortman. She'd grown into a stark resemblance of her mother, down to her long brown hair which right now was all over the place.
"Morning, Amanda!" Arnold and Rhonda broke up their pillow talk to focus on Arnold's kid sister and greet her in playful singsong unison.
"And I still think it's unfair," she resumed, choosing not to be distracted by such fanciful notions as civility. "I mean, you did it again last night. Jumping up and down the bed like it's a trampoline! But every time I do it, I get scolded and told not to damage the furniture. It's just not fair when I hear even Mom and Dad jumping up and down like that!"
"Oh, you must be doing it wrong, Amanda," offered Rhonda in a playfully coy voice. She'd dismounted Arnold by then and was now seated on the edge of her side of the bed.
"But I want to know how to do it right," Amanda whined back.
"And I already told you, Manda," said Arnold in a placating tone. "You have to be much older to do it properly."
"Yeah," Amanda appeared to concede sadly. "That's what Mom and Dad tell me too."
Arnold's father did make good on his word to strengthen the family bond. Several sessions with Doctor Bliss followed the family's return to Hillwood. The sessions revealed several heretofore unanticipated issues: chiefly separation anxiety among all parties, and subconscious resentment in Arnold due to abandonment issues.
But they worked through it: they talked; they listened; they compromised; they supported; they loved. For many months the progress was encouragingly quick. Until it wasn't anymore. Until Amanda was born.
Learning to live with Amanda was not as easy an experience as Arnold had anticipated. Sure, there was the initial cooing and fawning period following the birth. Then he came face to face with the reality of just how much attention an infant requires to raise.
And as much as he loves his kid sister now, as much as he dotes on her, as protective over her as he can be, very little of that was apparent ten years ago after her birth. She commanded all her family's attention with her constant crying. He, on the other hand, felt robbed of the parental love that he'd been deprived of for ten long years and had worked months to reestablish.
It just wasn't fair!
He had no solution to his predicament. Neither did Rhonda, nor Phoebe. Helga was different in that she was both the least helpful and the most optimistic. She cited how her less-than-stellar track record with her own sibling made her the last person to be consulted. Yet in the same breath, she mentioned how she was working on reconciling with Olga, and so concluded: "Trust me, Footballhead. If I can make things work with Olga, then anything is possible."
In the end, it was Gerald who offered the breakthrough insight. Being an elder brother himself, he reminded Arnold of his plain, practical, and beautiful reality.
Plain, because: "My man, I know it sucks that she's getting the attention, but that's just how babies are! And I promise you, your folks ain't about to stop loving you any time soon."
Practical, because: "Don't take it from me, take it from Jamie-O! Timberly came around at a time when he thought Mom and Dad were seriously uncool. I don't know, but I think he welcomed our sister getting most of the attention. Less time for the folks to look over his shoulder."
Beautiful, because: "And besides, what would the alternative be? Your folks and Amanda? They'd still be undiscovered in the cave, and you'd be a mess inside for the rest of your damn life."
And with that…everything seemed fair again. Arnold never once complained about his sister from that moment. He even played a more active role in caring for her: babysitting her, feeding her, bathing her. His parents weren't sure what caused his change of heart, but they welcomed it all the same. Plus, he scored some significant brownie points with Rhonda who against type would help him occasionally in caring for Amanda. True to form, however, she'd leave diaper duties to Arnold.
But the bond formed between siblings was indeed strong and was indeed destined to last a lifetime.
"By the way," asked Rhonda, "where's the munchkin?"
"Yeah," added Arnold as he righted himself, before shuffling to be seated next to Rhonda. "Is the little ninja still sleeping?"
"Nuh-uh!" Amanda replied with an air of foreboding. "At least she won't be once she realizes she's alone."
"MANNA! MANNA!" a fourth voice from another room cut through the morning's proceedings, implying that someone important had just woken up and now required an audience.
"Like clockwork," sighed a softly resigned Amanda. She then turned in the direction of the voice to announce: "Over here!"
The trio in the room was then entertained by a series of faraway sounds. First came the shuffle-creak-shuffle-plop of someone tiny climbing out of bed not too elegantly, followed immediately by a rapid pitter-patter homing in relentlessly on its target.
"MANNA!" the little cutie shouted as she crashed into Amanda's leg to hug it with all her worth. Her moment of joy was cut short by two more voices.
"Hey, Munchkin, what about me?" asked Rhonda, talking at the youngster's level.
"Me too, Ninja!" added Arnold in a similar tone.
The moment the girl caught sight of the two big people, her eyes beamed pure joy as Amanda became forgotten and ignored. The little sprog let go and bouncily sprinted toward the bed. A word for each step.
"MAMA! DADA! MAMA! DADA!"
Certain events may seem complicated to chronicle when in truth they can be rather succinctly summarized. In the case of Rhonda and Arnold's daughter, she was a long time in the making and ultimately began with a shared human quality: curiosity.
Sixth Grade included classes in which Arnold and Co were made aware of such matters as puberty and its associated anatomical changes. At best the classes were treated with indifference, though they did offer insight into why Nadine acquired her more hourglass figure.
Junior high proved a different monster with bodily changes and detonating hormones. The girls started following Nadine's example, to varying degrees. Rhonda in particular became a taller, curvier, sleeker version of herself: a humble, distant prototype, if one might, of her current form.
The changes were relentless and not limited to appearances. Changes in behavior also abounded. Preferences too. Kissing, for instance. Arnold and Rhonda still found the activity enjoyable, but from junior high through to high school it felt…lacking. It needed…something more. And with puberty in full swing, Arnold Shortman and Rhonda Wellington Lloyd had that much more of each other to explore. It was a self-sustaining cycle: more curiosity led to more discoveries; more discoveries led to more curiosity.
Some examples. Arnold and Rhonda finally discovered what "missionary" meant. They enjoyed it. So too for "reverse cowgirl", initially at least for Rhonda. Arnold had to wait for his belated growth spurt before he could better support his girlfriend's weight and garner the same amount of enjoyment from the act. As an aside, Arnold has never shared that last bit of information with Rhonda, nor does he have any intention of ever doing so.
Through it all, safety and protection were also learned and taken to heart. Over time, though, joyful abandon became more rampant and harder to deny. During the same period, no prophylactic went from being a total mood-killer to a slight inconvenience when Rhonda introduced the concept of safe days.
And ultimately, the less-than-100% reliability thereof.
No doubt about it, the little girl – aged three going on to four – was Arnold and Rhonda's child. She'd been gifted with her mother's head and face, while her blonde hair, pale skin color, and green eyes showcased her father's contribution. She was worthy of both her parents' terms of endearment. "Munchkin" for being infinitely cute and huggable and squeezable. "Ninja" for being able to find her way into her parents' bed in the middle of the night from wherever she happened to be sleeping.
"MAMA!"
And in a well-rehearsed move, the kiddo ran into her mother's hands to be swooped into the air and held high aloft. She was now all smiles and laughs before being lowered into her mother's lap. "How's my little girl?" cooed Rhonda in a loving, motherly voice that nobody from her past would ever have thought her capable of.
"Hey, Mama!" Arnold exclaimed. "Save some for me!"
With an air of reluctance, Rhonda handed the child over to Arnold, who continued in no less doting a voice.
"Who's a good little girl? You are! You are!" he asked, while gently prodding at her ticklish belly. "Uh-oh!" he interrupted himself before continuing in a much more playful voice. "Somebody wants a raspberry. Somebody wants a raspberry!"
With that, he placed his daughter on her back on the bed, whereafter he lifted her shirt and blew hard into her belly button. His and her laughter – and everyone else's for that matter – only intensified.
It was up to Rhonda to pull everyone else back to reality, which she did with: "OK, guys! We have to get ready now! We've got a long day ahead!"
"In which case," Arnold announced as he rose while picking up his daughter, "Princess Arnda here calls first dibs on the bathroom!"
A few weeks of morning sickness – plus confirmation by two home-pregnancy kits – followed before Arnold and Rhonda first informed their best friends of the pregnancy. Gerald and Nadine were simply astounded by the news. Too astounded to offer any meaningful insight, though they did agree to keep the matter a secret and let Rhonda and Arnold disclose the fact at their pace. Meanwhile, Gerald Johanssen and Nadine Bakkerud did make it a priority to reevaluate and/or improve their own safe-sex policy.
What followed next for Rhonda and Arnold was simply the most uncomfortable, most difficult meeting they'd ever endured as they revealed their pregnancy to their families. The initial reaction was more subdued than anticipated, with most of the families' surprise centered around how they "never knew that Arnold had it in him." Serious minds prevailed, however, with equally serious questions being asked, considered, and answered.
Ultimately, the young couple opted to keep the baby, a decision that earned everyone's support. But support from all directions can have its humorous side, as it did when Brooke and Stella kept offering conflicting advice to Rhonda. At times it got heated between the two, bordering on personal. Overhearers would occasionally be amused with such choice barbs as "I'm surprised you even stuck around to give birth to your daughter" and "Look, I'll ask for your advice next time a volcano erupts nearby". But the greater good eventually won out and the familial support was once again unanimous and unequivocal.
With time and Rhonda's expanding belly, keeping the pregnancy on the down-low would have been impossible if not again for the fashionista's talent for using colors and patterns and fabrics to maximum obfuscating effect. Not everyone was fooled, Patty and Lila caught on almost immediately and were duly informed. Gradually, the rest of their circle of friends were brought into the loop. Same surprised responses as those before over the situation and Arnold's prowess; same reassurances that the kid was in good hands. One slight outlier was Helga, who was especially aggrieved by the announcement. She and Phoebe were planning on coming out at around the same time, only to have Rhondaloid and the Footballhead rob their event of its impact. Phoebe was quick to point out that the lack of impact could also be construed as a lack of drama. So when she and Helga did in fact make their announcement, their decision was accepted almost indifferently.
Regardless of who knew – and everyone who mattered, eventually did – Rhonda's pregnancy was characterized by a gradual reduction in physical activity and other sacrifices. For instance, the couple did miss out on the senior prom and there would be no blowout after-party at Rhonda's place. But Rhonda and Arnold made up for it with an intimate rooftop dinner on the night at The Sunset Arms. Rhonda in a tailored gown highlighting the sensual beauty of her curves and her bump. Arnold looking most dapper in a suit and tie. Meal catered for by a Michelin-starred private chef. Music by a world-renowned string quartet. A magical dance: boyfriend, girlfriend, with baby making three.
The fateful day eventually dawned and without too much fuss, Rhonda Wellington Lloyd gave birth to beautiful little Arnda Lloyd.
Over the years, Rhonda had tended away from resort-based vacations to more strenuous week-long hiking trips. She and Arnold had over time hiked such trails as the Otter Trail in South Africa and the Fish River Canyon in Namibia. By comparison, redoing the Green-Eyed trail from way back when would seem an anticlimax. But this hike wasn't for them; it was for Amanda. Arnda was a mere passenger being carried by her father in a papoose.
The village in San Lorenzo hadn't changed since their last visit, and that was a very good thing indeed. The party emerged fully refreshed from their quarters and after a hearty breakfast in the dining area, they were on their way.
The hike itself was eventful only to Amanda, who was taken in by the exotic location while showing off the same above-average fitness and stamina that her brother and Rhonda claimed to have displayed ten years ago at her age. Arnda was more a picture of contented distraction, cooing and gurgling every now and again to make her attention known.
Eventually, they reached their destination: the clearing with the cave entrance. The entrance was sealed shut, which was understandable. What was also understandable, at least to the adults, was the rest area they found with shelter from the elements, as well as water, fruits, and nuts laid out for them.
Amanda was very much surprised by this discovery. "Wow!" she proclaimed. "Did they know we were coming?"
Arnold, seizing another chance to toy with his sister's head, replied: "It's their jungle. They know everything..!"
"But how?" prodded Amanda.
"Magic!" answered Rhonda, her expression the very picture of playful bewilderment. "Just like a magical little girl we found in these caves all those years ago!"
The new scouts were very good indeed, having picked up on the man and his mate early into their journey up the mountain. While the agreement was still in place – the Green-Eyes would be left to their isolated existence, the secret of which would remain with the man and his clan – it didn't preclude anyone involved from visiting the mountains for posterity.
For that reason, the visitors arrived at their destination to the food and water, as well as another scroll highlighting the fortunes of the Green-Eyed People. And what good fortune they'd had! Nobody in the village could explain it, but since that day the afflicted received the medicine, they had never taken ill since then nor had anyone from subsequent generations borne of them. Nobody could explain it; nobody was complaining.
The elder watched the man whose hand he gripped more sincerely than anyone else's back then. He watched as the man and his mate read through the scroll. He watched them smile as if to acknowledge the message of his people's consistently good fortunes.
And whispered: You fulfilled your role, Noble One. The rest will be up to us.
"Wow! Is this where I spent ten years in Mom's belly?" Amanda asked, still unable to believe the circumstances behind her origin.
"Believe it, Sis," Arnold replied.
"It feels so awesome, doesn't it?" Rhonda asked her.
"It feels…" Amanda tried answering the question. "It feels so important…but I don't know what to do with it all."
"Just drink it in," suggested Rhonda. "Wherever you want to go, just close your eyes and let it take you there."
Rhonda's suggestion worked a bit too well, as within minutes Arnold's little sister was sound asleep.
"Looks like she's meditating, doesn't it?" Arnold offered. Rhonda could only chuckle back as she reminisced: "Funny, I don't recall us passing out like that when we were her age."
"Be nice, Rhonda!" Arnold rebutted. "We were high on adrenaline, we were on edge. We couldn't afford to be tired."
"I know, I know," conceded Rhonda. "She doesn't have a mystery to solve, she can take it as easy as she wants."
Rhonda moved Amanda under some shade away from the sun. But sleep between Arnold's sister and daughter was a contagious thing. Once Arnda saw Manna out like a light, she felt her eyes become heavy too in an act of solidarity. And within no time, the girls were passed out next to each other in and among the cushions.
Time for Arnold and Rhonda to contemplate what awaited them back in Hillwood. Top of the list was Nadine studying for her master's degree in Entomology.
"I still don't believe it!" Arnold mused. "Mom puts in a good word for her, next thing you know the colleges are falling over each other to sign her up."
"What do you expect? She's already considered an expert witness in the field. Poor Gerald..!"
"Yeah, 'Poor Gerald'!" teased Arnold as he interrupted. "You always say that: 'Poor Gerald'! How could he, a rising stand-up comic, ever keep up with a girlfriend like that? For god's sake," he continued, "he's about to record his first HBO special! He's not exactly a bum, you know!"
"I know! I'm just breaking your balls," Rhonda admitted. "Who knew he could parlay our childhood stories into a stand-up career? A bit like…what's his name again? That Cosby guy and his weirdo friends."
Before long the subject turned to Helga and Phoebe.
"You know…all these years and I still can't tell who wears the pants in that relationship," Rhonda lamented.
"Yeah, Phoebe's done one hell of a job reigning Helga in," Arnold commented. "You know, I'm still surprised Helga's dad didn't have a coronary when they came out."
"What's this?" Rhonda asked in an arch display of shock. "Are some people so far gone that not even the great Arnold Shortman can't give them the benefit of the doubt?"
She didn't give him a chance to get defensive or even talk back for that matter as she continued. "Besides, my little birdies tell me that things in that house are much calmer now. Otherwise she wouldn't even bother informing her family."
"Good point," said Arnold. "Very good point."
Rhonda wasn't quite done yet. "My birdies also say that Helga and Phoebe are looking at marrying as soon as Phoebe gets her medical and post-grad degrees in the next three months."
"Meaning…" began Arnold with a knowing tone.
"Oh yes," Rhonda confirmed with a determined smirk. "Meaning I want in on designing Helga's wedding dress! Phoebe's got the lines for a suit. Helga's got the curves for a dress."
"I'll say she does..!" commented Arnold, a little too dreamily for his own good.
"Anyway…" Rhonda snapped him back to reality with a stern look that commanded instant obedience. "I'll be schmoozing big-time with them for that job and—"
At that point, the conversation was cut short by a sudden rainstorm from which at least the party was properly sheltered. Arnold and Rhonda could only look on at the falling rain, knowing it would all be over in a matter of minutes.
Then out of nowhere, from Rhonda: "You know what? This reminds me of something…"
From a resource standpoint, the decision of Arnold and Rhonda to have Arnda wasn't poorly timed. After many years of trials and legal chicanery, Buckley Lloyd's legal team was able to patent the chemical formula and DNA profile of the knockout toxin while an independent pharmaceutical laboratory was able to synthesize it into something safer and more user-friendly. It was successfully marketed as a revolution in both anesthetics and in preserving harvested organs destined for transplants.
Buckley Lloyd remained true to his word when he cut the Shortmans in on the royalties. Their extra income was split 50:50. Half was allocated for Arnold and Amanda and their educations, while the remainder was plowed back into The Sunset Arms. Over time, the changes in the building became manifold.
Better heating and air conditioning.
Modern, efficient, reliable plumbing with more than one communal bathroom this time.
The internal layout itself was revised to make better use of the space. More rooms were added with better fixtures and fittings without sacrificing comfort. Finally, the most significant step toward the modern age: Wi-Fi.
The building retains its familiar façade and with it its nurturing, blue-collar charm. Occupancy is much improved nowadays, as is the rental revenue. Amanda now occupies Arnold's old room while her big brother has a bigger suite which he shares with Rhonda and Arnda. Rhonda rents another room from which she runs her business. It's a modest boutique that specializes in bespoke eveningwear and wedding dresses for a steadily growing clientele. The enterprise itself is a successful continuation of a project from her Small Business Course at a local college. No way was she going to depend wholly on her family for financial support of Arnda – though they do chip in anyway with food and diapers – and so embraced the life of a mumpreneur, juggling work and family. Ask her today if she misses her more idyll-rich days and she'll struggle for a definitive answer. At the same time, she'll stress how she couldn't imagine another life more rewarding than her current one. She'll also mention the kick she gets from how she and Arnold are the youngest parents at PTA meetings…
Arnold has also been doing his part in the matter. As a token of his responsibility, he got his job back at Mrs. Vitello's flower shop which he kept part-time through the rest of high school and through university. Like Rhonda, he didn't feel it right to depend completely on his family for financial support – though they'd provide it anyway…
As it currently stands, he is about to complete his degree in Psychology and wonders where to take it from there. Maybe follow the path to a clinical psychologist, or join the local police force and land a gig as a detective in the Cold Case Squad. The latter seems so very tempting, given his firsthand experience of the joy and/or finality that closure can bring to those who've been denied it and who need it the most. Maybe his grandparents can help him here. He's never forgotten how they shaped his life and this may very well be their final contribution as they happily enjoy their twilight years. He's especially grateful that his grandparents haven't been repeatedly asking him and Rhonda when they intend to get married. It's not that they haven't considered it, but they feel so very comfortable with each other right now.
But…who knows…?
Déjà vu.
Arnold felt it as Rhonda led him by the hand out of the shelter and into the rain. The rain did its job in drenching them, though Rhonda didn't seem to mind in the slightest. In fact, she took a few seconds to step away from him, before making a show of slicking back her hair and looking expectantly back at him.
"Doesn't this feel familiar?" she asked in a matching tone.
"I feel that it should," replied Arnold.
"Arnold," Rhonda began explaining. "We're barely into our twenties and we've shared more adventures and drama and love than most people do in their entire lives."
"Agreed…?" Arnold nodded, somewhat uncertainly.
"And do you remember how it all started?"
Rhonda next watched as Arnold's eyes lit up in recognition. That football game in the rain. That moment. That failed kiss. That spark that was lit, never to be extinguished.
"Just do it properly this time!" Rhonda asked. As if the man she loved more than any needed any prompting.
She felt his arms wrap around her waist as his mouth closed in on hers. The sensation of his lips caressing against hers, his ever-tightening hold on her, his quickening breath. She was reveling in this perfect storm of his love and tenderness, fully honored that these – his most intimate, most personal actions – were reserved for her and her alone. The least she could do was return his love through her own lips and hands and warm breath. She did so much more than the least, to their mutual enjoyment.
By the time the kiss had ended, so too had the rain, leaving a sodden couple staring at each other, as smitten as they'd always been.
"Did I ever tell you how I adore every square inch of your beauty?" asked Arnold to break the silence.
"No, but tell me more…"
THE END