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Loving the real world isn't that hard, if Barbie wants to be totally honest, she finds it's just really, really easy to love every part of it, even the lousy parts, which usually always involve men. But it is easy to love every part of it when she has Gloria and Sasha by her side every day. And by having them both by her side, she loves life and everything that comes with it.
But she can't say the same for Richie or about men in general. She really doesn't like them at all. Never liked even Ken. And okay, Richie doesn't either, like Ken used to think, but she doesn't like him and she also hates having to share Gloria and Sasha's time with him, because they're too good and he's... just Richie.
"You're not good at this." Barbie says for the first time, totally honest. She'd read an article earlier that morning while she was out of work to do at Mattel that said honesty was a big step toward good friendship and strengthening bonds. And she could totally try to strengthen bonds with Richie, because maybe that was what Gloria and Sasha wanted.
"Excuse me?" He asks confused and shoves another handful of cheetos in his mouth, knocking some across the floor and couch.
"Spanish. You're not good at Spanish." Barbie continues to say, glaring at him with her eyes almost closed and lips pressed firmly against each other. She'd also read that keeping a serious posture would also help back up what you speak, and of course, it had many descriptions of how to do that. "And not good at being a husband either."
"Barbie, I don't know-"
"Like Ken, you're pretty bad at most of the things you try. You really should try to improve them all for Gloria." Barbie won't let him finish. She really is tired and needs to say it all at once because she sure as hell won't do it again. The internet forgive her, but if there's one thing she's not good at, it's holding a conversation with Richie. "You get the house dirty and don't clean it up afterwards and also, you don't bother learning the things you can't do yourself, like asking Alexa for directions or ironing your own clothes. It's not cool. It's boring."
Barbie takes a deep breath after speaking everything quickly and then, smiles at him.
"And you also spends a lot of time at the bar on weekends and smells like beer afterward." She pats him twice on the shoulder, still with the smile on her face and Richie just doesn't react, just watches her in complete shock. "It was nice being honest with you, Richie."
Barbie walks towards the door and opens it, bumping into Gloria and Sasha getting out of the car with many bags in their hands. Barbie is sad she didn't go along, she loves the shopping day.
"My favorite girls!" She greets them both with a big smile and Gloria smiles back, while Sasha rolls her eyes at them both, trying to hide a little smile. "Shopping day without me?"
"There is no shopping day without Barbie." Gloria says and lifts the bags so Barbie can get a better look at them. "I'm stocking the fridge."
"Real food runs out, it's true, I forgot about that." Barbie replies and runs to help Gloria and Sasha with some bags, while Richie doesn't even get off the couch. She always forgets how men tend to be useless and just... men.
"How was work, Barbie?" Sasha asks as they walk back home.
"Cool, it's pretty cool working on something that involves just making sure everything is right with the Barbies. And it's okay, they're great." Barbie replies with a smile, but Sasha can quickly identify the slightly sad tone in Barbie's voice.
"Do you miss them?" Sasha asks, helping Gloria and Barbie put away the things they bought.
"Yes, they were my friends. All the Barbies were very special to me." Barbie answers truthfully and slips her hand around Gloria's waist as she passes her to put things away in the closet, not even noticing.
"And no... Ken?" Gloria asks in surprise, taking a seat at the kitchen counter. "I mean, there were a lot of them there."
"I never cared about them." Barbie says thoughtfully and Sasha raises an eyebrow at her. "They're just... Ken."
Silence takes over the kitchen for at least a few seconds, before Sasha points a finger at Barbie and gives Barbie a very, very big smile.
"Are you a lesbian?" Sasha asks, sounding more excited than before.
"What's lesbian?" Barbie asks, mirroring Sasha's excitement and clapping her hands.
"Sasha!" Gloria warns her daughter and looks at Barbie with a silent apology in her gaze. "Barbie, that's such a personal thing to ask and-"
"Lesbians fall in love and have a willingness to have a relationship that doesn't involve men or some romantic and... sexual interest in them." Sasha explains to Barbie and looks at her mother with flushed cheeks at the last sentence.
"Oh...I love women. Women are amazing." Barbie replies and then looks at Gloria, thinking about the article she read earlier and the honest conversation she had with Richie. "Like your mom. I would marry her, but I would never marry Ken. That should say something because I never wanted anything like that with either of them."
"Totally!" Sasha replies with her voice coming out a little thinner from the excitement. "But you can't date married women like my mom, only the single ones, okay?"
"Oh..." Barbie is confused and says nothing more. Gloria runs a hand over her own head, completely embarrassed by the conversation that was happening in the kitchen of her house, with a revelation of Barbie and her husband in the room next door.
She would definitely draw a lesbian Barbie and an embarrassed Barbie later.
"You'll find a girlfriend." Sasha comforts her and runs her hand down Barbie's forearm.
"I hope so because that's sounds cool." Barbie agrees with a smile.
And Gloria feels jealous of a woman who doesn't even exist yet, but whom she knows now that there's a chance she'll show up in their lives and have Barbie as her girlfriend and consequently cut her out of Barbie's life.
She feels like she's going to throw up and it's not even because of the smell of cheetos coming from the living room.
"That one is so pretty!" Barbie points to a short-haired woman that Sasha is showing her, while the three of them are lying on Gloria's bed, watching Sasha swipe one image after another on an app called 'tinder'.
"You said that about the dozens of other women we've seen, Barbie." Gloria mutters and swipes her finger across her phone screen, switching to the next one.
"All women are beautiful." Barbie replies with a smile and then looks at Gloria. "You are beautiful, especially in the suit you were wearing at work last week."
"Did you notice? I thought no one noticed." Gloria asks with a smile and lowers her phone to look at Barbie without the light on their faces. "It was so pretty, wasn't it?"
"Of course it was! And it really enhanced you, you looked perfect. And it totally highlighted your highlights in your hair!"
"Oh my god, did you notice that I touched up the highlights? Did you like the new color? I was a little unsure." Gloria runs her hand through her hair and tucks it behind her ear without even realizing it.
"Of course you did, you look gorgeous with anything." Barbie smiles and runs her hand through Gloria's hair and then holds her cheek quickly, making Gloria blush and giggle nervously.
Sasha nearly chokes on the realization that hits her face in a matter of seconds as she stands between the two in the middle of the bed and watching the interaction that seems straight out of a movie similar to Imagine Me and You. But there was nothing straight about it.
And she discovered all of this while they were trying to find the perfect date for Barbie!
Barbie and her mom were totally gay for each other. And that's fine, Barbie was just discovering herself as a lesbian and Sasha knew Barbie had a thing for her mom, it's not like Barbie was the best person in the world to hide it. But the realization that her mother's admiration was not just because Barbie is Barbie, but because she also had a crush on Barbie, caught Sasha completely by surprise.
She should start finding a date for her father.
"Richie's moving in this weekend." Gloria says to Barbie, as they walk side by side through Mattel, finishing their shift at the same time, somehow. "You should live with us now. It might be much better."
"I live in the house across the street from you." Barbie says with a giggle and then stops, looking contemplative at the possibility. "You know what? It sounds really nice. I'll be able to be closer to you guys."
"Sasha is going to spend a week's vacation at his house to help him with the house moving, so we can get you moved in. Does that sound good?" Gloria asks, opening the car door for Barbie.
"Sounds great." Barbie replies with a smile. As the two begin to pull away from Mattel, Barbie quickly places her hand over Gloria's on the steering wheel and looks at her carefully. "Are you really okay? I've read that divorces can be very difficult."
Gloria is silent for a few minutes and just stares at the road, not risking a single glance at Barbie. The truth about her marriage was that she had gotten used to the routine she got into to ensure a good life for Sasha and a well-structured family, something she didn't have as a child, made even worse during her teenage years. So it was comfortable to maintain a relationship with Richie. And he is a good father, which made it easier for her. Even though he wasn't the best of husbands and was very immature, seeming to need a mother and not a wife, at the end of the day, he had always been a caring father to Sasha and someone who would always be there for her. But, it had all stopped being exciting a long time ago. It was comfortable, but comfortable wasn't always good.
It didn't help to keep it up for too long with the realization that Barbie, a woman who didn't really know their world and how real relationships worked, made her feel more complete and seen, than her husband of years. And that's amazing. To be seen and to know that you have someone loving and respecting every part of you as a woman was amazing. She had never loved another woman in that way, but the thought of being with Barbie for the last few months made her happy, only for the reality to dishearten her in a matter of hours.
So divorce was the best choice she had made in years. She had to do something to make this feeling something fixed, before she lost Barbie to another woman forever.
But, just the thought of confessing her feelings to Barbie made her nauseous. No, Gloria would wait for the divorce situation to settle down and for them to get used to each other's daily presence in their lives day and night, and then she would tell Barbie everything she feels. And of course, not to mention all the conversation she should have with Sasha.
Why are human relationships so difficult?
"It's been hard, he's the father of my daughter. But in these months, what I already knew for years became more present and very scary. He was just being my friend and not the man I love as a husband and should want to spend my life next to. I think Richie felt the same way, since he wasn't surprised." Gloria explains and lifts her palm just enough for Barbie to quickly intertwine their fingers and bring Gloria's hand to her lips in a gentle, tender kiss. Before releasing her hands so as not to be in the way while she drives. "It'll be better this way. He's just... Richie. And I have to chase after what's best for me and what's going to make me feel good every day."
"I'll be by your side as long as you and Sasha want me to be." Barbie assures and touches the picture of Gloria with Sasha, Richie and Barbie that she left on the dashboard of the car.
She really wouldn't be single for very long if she got any dates on tinder. Barbie is amazing. Which only made the panic grow in Gloria.
"So, you're going to be with us forever." Gloria smiles and winks at Barbie, who blushes and giggles.
"Till death do us part?" Barbie jokes and Gloria smiles.
"Definitely."
Six months of divorce and six months that Gloria was at the peak of stress because of course, she didn't have the slightest courage to tell Barbie how she feels and she wasn't wrong for thinking Barbie would get a quick Tinder date, because she did. Several. But even though Barbie thought all the women looked beautiful, she always found an excuse to give up on the date and stay home with Gloria and Sasha for a girls' night that consisted of them watching a bad movie and eating a surprising amount of popcorn for only three people. But now, another Barbie friend from Mattel convinced her that the time was right for a date since in the next few weeks everyone would be getting prepared for the corporate Halloween Party and she had to find a date to go matching with because it was cute.
It wasn't cute, she wanted to match with Barbie! She had the perfect costume that consisted of the two of them dressed as musketeer Barbies! And now Barbie was going to match... with somebody else.
"Never wear lip gloss when you go on a date. Never." Sasha sternly explained to Barbie, handing her a pink matte lipstick that matched the white flowered dress she was wearing. "If you guys are going to kiss, it's going to be a mess."
"I don't know if I want to go anymore." Barbie sighs and looks at herself in the mirror. She looks nice, very nice, but she doesn't feel any excitement about going out with Valerie35lovecats. And she loved cats too.
"You shouldn't go if you're not certain about that." Sasha explains and Gloria nods, also very tidy for a Saturday night, that she had no appointments with anyone.
And okay, Gloria and Sasha were going to follow Barbie just to make sure everything went well and Valerie35lovecats wasn't some kind of psycho or a very well made fake, even with the dozens of pictures and audios she sent to Barbie. Not everything on the internet could be trusted and they wanted Barbie's protection.
"I'd rather hang out with you two." Barbie pouted and looked at Gloria in the black dress with silver details that Barbie herself had picked out earlier. "Can't we go out? Why don't you ever ask me out on a date?"
Sasha chokes on her own saliva and Gloria's eyes widen in surprise as she gives her daughter's backside small, gentle taps.
"What?" Gloria asks as Sasha calms down and feels her own heart nearly burst out of her mouth as Barbie faces her seriously.
"We do things girlfriends should do and I never did with Ken, why didn't you ever ask me out on a date?" Barbie asks curiously and looks a little confused.
"Look, this is too much for a daughter to hear and... I really don't want to hear about it." Sasha raises her hands and then covers her own ears, grimacing. "I'm out and calling for dad to come pick me up as soon as possible. I'll just be back to say bye."
Sasha hurries out of the room and closes the door behind her, while Gloria continues to stare at Barbie with flushed cheeks and her heart beating frantically in her chest, not even knowing that Barbie's was the same for the sense of courage she decided to have that night.
She should be honest with herself and Gloria, right? The same way she had been with Richie seven months ago. Barbie read about it, decided to put it into practice and it worked. Now, she had also read in an article on sapphic.com that many people find it difficult to talk about their feelings and that this can end up having an unintended impact on established relationships and she didn't want to ruin everything with Gloria. She couldn't do that because she loved her and Sasha. So telling Gloria that she wanted a date and a chance to date Gloria seemed to be the best choice... right?
She didn't read about getting dumped in an article, but she's already done that a lot with Ken and she can imagine it might be hurtful, considering how upset Ken was that time and almost ruined everything.
"I didn't think you'd like it. You never said anything about it to me, Barbie." Gloria mumbles very low and Barbie sighs, walking over to her and taking Gloria's hand in hers, intertwining their fingers. "And I went through a divorce and-"
"I like you." Barbie confesses, looking deep into Gloria's eyes, thinking about how much she likes her and also about the color of her eyes and everything that is part of Gloria. "I like being with you and the girls' nights. I like when you wait for me to get off work, even on days when I take too long to end my shift after you. I like when you sing with me while you drive and the way you tuck your hair behind your ear whenever you get a compliment and get embarrassed. I like your drawings and how they brought me to you and I like listening to you singing in the shower the songs you end up making up because you always get the lyrics completely wrong."
"I don't miss the lyrics." Gloria whispers, approaching to Barbie with a big smile on her lips, which Barbie returns in seconds without thinking twice.
"You do. I know all of Barbie's songs, darling." Barbie replies with a whisper and brings Gloria's hand up to her heart, making her feel her heart frantically beating over her touch. "But it's part of what I like about you, among the thousands of other things. It's also included when you forget your key at home and always call me, asking if you left it here, even though you know the answer will be yes. And I absolutely love when you smile like that and the little corners on the side of your mouth appear."
"I like you too, Barbie. I love you." Gloria replies and Barbie's heart speeds up even more against her hand. "I always have and I always will."
"I don't understand about a lot of things yet. About how romantic relationships are supposed to work or how to deal with my own feelings and heart, which I'll probably talk about at the therapist. But if there's one thing I do understand, it's what it's like to love you and Sasha. And loving you two is beautiful, even in the moments that life and the world aren't. But you always make it be, and that's what I want."
Barbie feels her heart about to explode at her own revelation and fears for the first time since she became human that she is very close to having a heart attack and according to the articles she has been reading, palpitations seem to be a very recurring symptom in such cases.
Gloria's breathing quickens and she holds Barbie's cheeks with both hands, looking at her tenderly, feeling about to dissolve with love for the woman in front of her in a matter of seconds. Then she simply asks what she wants months from now.
"Can I kiss you?"
Barbie's eyes match the tenderness of her gaze and she leans her face on Gloria's hands, overjoyed at the affection, shocked that she's never felt like this even once, not even with the dozens of advances she's gotten from some Kens and people in the real world, understanding what it is to be a lesbian and what it is to be loved and loving Gloria.
"Yes." She whispers back and closes her eyes, leaning into the kiss like she's never done with Ken before.
Gloria's heart responds by pounding harder and she almost runs out of air as she closes her eyes and leans in to press a gentle kiss to Barbie's lips, feeling happy as she never has in years. She earns a happy, warm sigh from Barbie and takes the opportunity to press a warmer kiss, as she presses Barbie against the dressing table carefully. A sound vibrates quietly against her and then Barbie kisses her back, holding her waist tightly.
"You should cancel your date with Valerie35lovecats." Gloria says almost breathlessly as they pull apart and Barbie looks at her in surprise and with the same almost lack of breath.
"Yeah, yeah that sounds good." Barbie replies and then grimaces in confusion. "I'm feeling my heart in so many places."
"Oh." Gloria laughs nervously understanding what she means and just runs her hand over the back of Barbie's neck affectionately. "We'll figure it out together, not today, but soon."
"Are we going out together today?" Barbie asks and Gloria nods, kissing her again but this time much faster, not avoiding a happy sigh as she pulls away.
"Yes, we are. But not at the same restaurant as Valeria35lovecats." Barbie smiles at her and hides her face in Gloria's neck who hugs her tightly, until she hears the bedroom door open and seeing Sasha raise her thumb up as she looks at the two of them together and hugging. "And we're going as Barbie musketeers for Halloween."
"We'll look amazing." Barbie replies and smiles, moving away a bit and opening her arms to Sasha who runs over to them and receives a tight hug from both of them.
Now Barbie understands what it is like to love people and love women, but above that, she understands what it is like to love Gloria and Sasha and that is better than anything she has ever found in the world and Barbie has the realization that she has already found her home. And she won't want to leave her home or be away from them ever again. Because they are amazing, but they're even better together.