Juno and Ivy: Becoming Sisters (private for Shy-diapers and Justagirl4fun)

[justagirl4fun]

Juno shot Ivy a disapproving glare but nodded at Mary. "Okay. But we're watching it tomorrow, right? Even if she doesn't like it?"

"We're watching Moana," Mark said soothingly as he hurried to put the movie on.

[Shy-Diapers]

Ivy frowned and hid behind her stuffed bear, not wanting to make the girl mad again and possibly this time get the bear taken from her. She smiled at Mark when he told her they were watching her movie though. 

“Yes sweetie. Well watch Brave tomorrow. Go get your gift card and I’ll get my computer.” Mary said, glad the argument was over. She got her laptop and sat on the couch and logged onto the American girl website. 

[justagirl4fun]

Juno got her gift card and scurried back to the living room. "Here it is! Grammy said it's fifty dollars! That's a lot, right?"

Mark put the movie on, grabbed Ivy, and got settled in the recliner with her. 

[Shy-Diapers]

“It is a lot.” Mary said smiling. She hoped to not disappoint Juno in the fact that she knew the traditional American Girl dolls were a lot more than $50, by hoped they’d be able to find something. “Let’s see what we can get with your money.”

Ivy smiled and cuddled up to Mark, enjoying the movie. She attempted to sing along when the songs would come on. She knew them well, but her English wasn’t quite good enough to make all the words come out well, especially when singing. She was enjoying herself though. 

[justagirl4fun]

"I want the Kit doll!" Juno said excitedly. "My friend Everly has her, and she's so cute."

Mark smiled and snuggled Ivy as she sang along to the movie. After watching it at least a couple of times a week for almost a whole year he was pretty sick of it, but he loved seeing Ivy happy.

[Shy-Diapers]

Mary frowned. “Your gift card isn’t enough to have the normal kit doll. You can get a mini one, but the normal size is more than you have sweetie.”

Ivy smiled. She was enjoying being out of the hospital so far, no more tubes or wires hooked up to her, and the lights weren’t as harsh and the house smelt better than the sterilized hospital. She wasn’t too fond of her alleged sister, but she didn’t want to be mean to her, and she wanted to be good for her parents. 

[justagirl4fun]

"But I want the big one! What about my birthday? I didn't even have a party or presents yet, an' Ivy got all kinds of stuff!" Juno argued, remembering all the cards and packages that were frequently delivered to the house. "Nobody remembers me."

[Shy-Diapers]

Mary sighed and looked at Mark. The doll would be an additional $60 and she wasn’t sure if it was a good idea at the moment. She knew Juno hadn’t gotten much, but didn’t want to decide without Mark. “Honey, the doll she wants is sixty dollars more than the gift card. Do we get it for her?”

[justagirl4fun]

Mark frowned. He knew they still owed Juno a birthday party, but between the $30,000 in adoption costs and Ivy's medical bills, money was going to be tight for a while, and sixty dollars was a lot to spend on one doll. "Honestly? I think that's way too much for a doll. Isn't there something cheaper?" he asked, not being familiar with the American Girl dolls at all. "And remind me to thank my sister for sending the gift card," he added with more than a hint of sarcasm. 

[Shy-Diapers]

“They have miniature versions of the same dolls.” Mary said to Mark before turning to Juno. “If you get one of those you can get two.” She said smiling. “Or honey we can always go to target and get you one of those. They look exactly like the American girl dolls, and then you spend the money on some outfits from the American girl site.” She said, knowing the target ones were about $15-$30, a third of the price of American girl dolls. 

[justagirl4fun]

"But I can't play with my friends with the little ones!" Juno argued. She didn't understand why she couldn't get what she wanted when she had the gift card. "What about the Wellie Wishers? They're smaller than the regular ones but not tiny," she suggested, not knowing that those were still ten dollars more than she had.

[Shy-Diapers]

“Mark what about that? It’s an extra ten dollars, but I think that that’s not too much.” Mary said, feeling bad that they couldn’t get Juno exactly what she wanted. “Maybe we can get you a target one and then you can get some clothes and accessories from the American girl website. Then the doll will be as big as your friends’ ones.”

[justagirl4fun]

"Yeah, I guess that sounds reasonable," Mark conceeded. He couldn't imagine what doll could be worth sixty dollars, but he was too tired to argue about it.

"Okay." Juno was a little sad to be settling for something less than what she wanted, but it was better than nothing. "But I want Kit's Christmas dress. And there's an outfit with a skirt and sweater that's so pretty."

[Shy-Diapers]

“Well why don’t we get Kit’s Christmas outfit and we can go to target soon and get you one of those dolls. Then Kit’s outfit will fit her perfectly. Does that sound good?” She checked the price of the outfit and it was within the gift card amount. “You can get another outfit or a pet or something too honey. And then that’s all your money.” She said, willing to spend ten extra dollars so her daughter could get more than one thing from the website. 

[justagirl4fun]

Juno went back and forth between two different outfits and Kit's dog, eventually settling on a patterned skirt with a yellow top, coral sweater, shoes, and a hair bow. By the time they were finished she was starting to yawn.

[Shy-Diapers]

“Hand me the gift card sweetie.” Mary said. She put the gift card in and then her credit card before making the order official. She smiled and kissed Juno’s head. “It’s bedtime I think.”

By this point, the credits were just finishing, and Ivy was thoroughly yawning too. She was still weak and easily exhausted, but she was a lot better than she was a few weeks ago. “Ivy tiwed.” She said sleepily. 

[justagirl4fun]

"Let's go brush your teeth, and then it's bedtime," Mark said before carrying Ivy upstairs to the bathroom. He sat her on the counter, got her toothbrush ready, and handed it to her.

Juno rubbed her eyes and yawned again. "Carry me?"

[Shy-Diapers]

“Ok honey.” Mary said. She picked Juno up with a little struggle and carried her to the bathroom. “Brush your teeth and then it’s pajama time.”

Ivy took the brush and started brushing. She did about as well as any five year old can. She’d gotten the hang of it after being shown how to do it quite a few times. She spit in the sink and then reached back up for Mark. “Ivy seep.” She mumbled, rubbing her eyes. 

[justagirl4fun]

(I'm so sorry! Been busy with work and stuff...off today but catching up on laundry and other cleaning, ugh!)

"Good job! Nice clean teeth!" Mark praised. He carried Ivy to her room and checked to see if she needed a change before bed.

Juno brushed her teeth and used the toilet before shuffling to her room and picking out her favorite red plaid flannel pajamas. 

[Shy-Diapers]

(It’s fine. I’ve been busy too. No worries.)

Ivy smiled and yawned, cuddling up to Mark. She was pretty wet and would definitely need to be changed before bed or she’d leak through during the night. 

Mary smiled and helped Juno get dressed for bed and then tucked her in and kissed her forehead. “Goodnight sweetheart.” She said before leaving the room.

[justagirl4fun]

Usually Juno liked a story before bed, but after the day's excitement, she was tired enough to fall asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Mark changed Ivy, made sure she had her favorite stuffed animal, and tucked her in. "Good night, sleep tight, see you in the morning light," he said, as had become their nightly ritual, before kissing her forehead.

[Shy-Diapers]

Ivy smiled and quickly fell asleep. It was quite the day, especially compared to where the most interaction was from a visitor in the hospital, but she couldn’t play there very much. She was out like a light very quickly. 

Mary sighed and quickly got ready for bed before collapsing on the bed. “It’s so nice to be home.”

[justagirl4fun]

Mark changed into a t-shirt and flannel pajama pants and climbed into bed with his wife. "It sure is. Could have done without the attitude, but I guess that's to be expected."

[Shy-Diapers]

“It’ll be hard to get the girls used to again. They barely got a chance to be together before we had to leave.” Mary said with a sigh. She laid down and rubbed her temples a bit. “I feel bad that we can’t afford much for Juno, but we certainly didn’t expect to have Ivy in the hospital for basically a year.”

[justagirl4fun]

Mark sighed. "She'll live without a hundred-dollar doll. We'll find deals on stuff at Target and Wal-Mart, she'll still have a nice birthday. She'll forget about the doll before long."