//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 // Story: Player Number Three // by Candy-Sweets_12 //------------------------------// Sweetie Belle stepped off of the train, and found two arms wrapping around her body. She looked up to who she knew was Button Mash and instead found a pair of lips meet her own, causing her to blush in the middle of the platform. Once they broke away Button stared into her green eyes. "How was it?" Sweetie Belle smiled. "It was great." She said. She went on to talk about how they went shopping, and went to plays and musicals in the theatres, and saw a bunch of movies, went on tours together, and how they mostly talked. "That sounds pretty fun." Button said, causing her to smile. They reached the house and went inside, Button explaining what he did for the past three days. "I played games with the guys, and did a lot of cool stuff like get a cloud walking spell so that I could see Rumble's house." "What's it like to be on a cloud?" "It's really soft, and comfortable, but I accidently stepped on a gray one." He blushed a the memory. Sweetie giggled at the thought. "I'm never going to live that down." Button said as he let his head fall on the coffee table. Sweetie Belle walked up to him and put a comforting hoof on him. "I don't know what to say, I guess that it's your own fault." Sweetie Belle said. "It is, I just wish they'd stop laughing at me about it." He positioned his head to be held up with a hoof as he milked it about and pouted. "You'll live." Sweetie Belle said, seeing the look and going into the kitchen. She picked up the camera that fell out of her bag along with the pictures she took while in Manehattan. She smiled at them and put them to the side, and then turned for the scrap books. She picked the one titled friends on it and got out he supplies to decorate the pages, sliding next to Button, she showed them the pictures as she glued them in the scrap book, taking extra care of her favorite, It had the seven of them on a tour boat, a few with sunglasses on while Sweetie Belle held out the camera, she had gotten all of her friends in the shot, who all smiled as they stared out over the boat. Smiling a smaller smile, she glued it down in a page of the scrap book and decorated the sheet full of photos. Button helped, adding the few pictures he took of him in the cloud home and zip lining and several other activities. They continued into the late night, laughing and sharing memories with each other, it was a vacation they both needed. ************************************************ Button Mash raked the come through his hair full of knots and winced as he pulled at it. Sweetie Belle came out of the Bathroom prepared and rolled her eyes at Button. "How many times do I have to tell you to start with the tip first?" She said as Button gave in and gave her the comb, resulting in a lot less painful experience. "I don't understand how you put up with this every day." Button said. "Years and years of hygiene with Rarity and practice." She replied as she quickly finished. "Thanks, now are you ready?" "Hold on," Sweetie Belle went back into the bedroom with her hair in a ponytail and a small pink with purple tendril covering up her eye, she had a small purse to match her very light eye shadow. "Don't you think that's a bit much for dinner with my brother's family?" Sweetie Belle giggled. Imitating a line in her Rarity impression, she replied. "*Gasp* You can never have to much make-up." The two laughed as they left the room. ****************** "Glad you could make it lil' bro." Button's brother said as he patted his brother on the back, not wanting to make Sweetie Belle mad since he knew she did his hair, after all, he was the pony that couldn't move for a month. "How's it going little sis?" He asked, noticing the fancy hairstyle. "Pretty good. You?" "Same, and, how's my niece and or nephew making ya feel?" Sweetie Belle made a simple reply. "Huge." She answered. He laughed at her response and welcomed her in. The couple was greeted by his wife who welcomed the two warmly. Inside, instead of two colts running around everywhere, they found silence. "I put the kids to bed, we really wanted to talk with you." Melody, the mellow purple pegasus said. "What'd you want to talk about?" Button said, pulling the chair out for Sweetie Belle before sitting in his own. Button's Brother sat down as Melody set the plates on the table. "So how's everything going on at home?" He asked. "Everything's just fine, just a few days ago I went on a trip with my friends." Sweetie Belle said. "Did Button come?" Melody asked, sitting in the chair her husband pulled out. "No, I guess you could say we needed to be away from each other a bit," Button answered. "Good, that's what happens in a normal relationship." Melody said as she started eating the dinner. "What exactly do you mean by that?" Sweetie Belle asked, looking up at the older mare. "Well you two get along so well together, as far as I know, you've never had a single disagreement, and work together nearly perfectly. I was starting to think you didn't have flaws. It's like your the perfect pair/" He husband answered casually. Unexpectedly, the two laughed, confusing the other pair. "Do we really seem that way to you?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Yeah, I never seen any negative feeling cross your face when you are around him." Melody answered. "Well we get into fights every now and then," Button admitted. "it's just that we both agreed not to get anyone else involved and to figure out the problem ourselves. We are in no way perfect at all." "Good to hear, as bad as it sounds, it's healthy for a couple to fight." The older stallion said, slurping the spaghetti into his mouth. "Helps you to grow with your relationship." "Exactly who does the cooking in your house?" Melody asked. She smiled at the blush on Sweetie Belle's face. "I do." Button answered. His brother started laughing until he saw the scowl on Sweetie Belle's face, and went to around of fake coughing. "Sorry," he said. "I thought that you did the cooking Sweetie Belle." "I never told you I'm a disastrous cook?" She asked, looking up from her plate again and to the stallion. "Nope. It can't be that bad." "Ever tried eating liquid toast?" She asked. "No." He answered. "Good, because it's burnt to a liquid state. That's how bad I am." "How did you liquefy burnt toast?" Melody asked. "I tried pouring water on it and it dissolved into hot ashes, which made bubbles come out of it." "Wow you are bad." He said. "Gee, thanks." The mare said sarcastically. "Sorry, that was rude." "But your right, that's why I either get food from my friends, eat cereal and snacks, a lot of fresh food, and have Button cook the rest, even though it can sometimes be a little overcooked." "Coming from the mare who can liquefy burnt toast." He said. "Who's hayburgers do you think I've been living on at my parents house at home? I don't exactly get my cooking skills from my mom you know." She giggled. "Good point." "So," Melody said, trying to change the subject. "How are you guys preparing to become parents?" "Well we got a lot of supplies shipped to us from out of town, and it took forever to assemble the crib." Button answered. "Yeah, we still need to paint the room and get curtains to match the theme, we went with light green, so we got several things, a changing table, a carriage, diaper bags, etc." She answered. "And how are you two preparing yourselves?" Button's brother asked. "We ask for a lot of help from our friends." The two answered. "I've had experience before, I remember watching my sister's kids when they were only a few months old, so I know how to hold a foal and watch it." "Yeah, and there's no way I can forget watching your kids on my own." Button said before shuddering. His brother covered his huge grin on his face with his hoof and choked back a laugh. "My kids aren't easy to please." He agreed. "Like father like sons." Melody mumbled loud enough for only Sweetie Belle and Button to chuckle at. "So your birthday's coming up again in a few months," The older stallion said before wiping what little spaghetti sauce he had on his face with a napkin. "In a month and a half yeah, I'm surprised you even remembered." Button said. "What are you two doing to celebrate?" Melody asked. "I'm keeping that a secret. Button's done so much for me in the pass year, now that we're only a few months from parenthood, I owe a lot to him." Sweetie Belle said. "You don't need to do something grand or over the top you know." He said to her. "Don't worry, I won't." "How long will you be off of work?" Melody asked the two. "Since I work at home, Sweetie Belle will only be off for two and a half years before going on tours again." "But I've already released an album last year, I go to record my songs all the time, and my fans love it. I'm so lucky to have understanding fans, I'm already working on another song with Octavia." Sweetie Belle ranted. "That's good to hear, maybe I can join you sometime?" Melody added. "Sure, though I should finish the one we're working on first." "Good to here." Melody stood up and picked up the empty plates, as the other three continued to talk. "So how's your foal treating you lil' sis?" Sweetie rubbed her stomach. "They're moving around so much, just this morning my foal was kicking me in the ribs." She said. "I took notice of what time they're active, and what to do to calm them or wait until they tire themselves out. They're getting heavier by the day and my hooves are hurting like crazy. Melody laughed as she set the dishes in the sink. "I know how that feels," "Did you have really bad nosebleeds in the second trimester?" "Oh yeah, you should've seen the scene, I was so embarrassed." The mare laughed. "When I first got them a few months ago, it stained the bed, it scared Button so bad." Sweetie Belle tried to suppress a laugh at the memory, laughing even louder when she saw the blush on his face. "It did the same with my husband, he thought I was in an early labor or something." She laughed. "Can we help it if we're fearful for our foals and wives?" He replied swiftly. "You have a point there." Sweetie yawned and Button stood up. "You're leaving so soon?" "Yeah once I start yawning, I need to get home before Button has to carry me." "We understand, have a nice night." Melody said as she finished up and walked to the two. "You too, thanks for dinner." Button said. "Maybe we can do it again sometime." Sweetie Belle implied. "That'd be great. Have a nice night you two crazy love birds." Button's brother said as they walked out the door. Despite how early they left, Button ended up carrying Sweetie Belle halfway home. But he didn't complain, it was a great night. "Sleep well Sweetie Belle." He said to the mare perched on his back.