It was midday when Anne finally emerged from the basement.
She tried to be silent, but-
"ANNETTE SAVISA BOONCHUY!" exclaimed a stern voice.
Anne tensed up as she turned, and saw her mother standing there.
Her arms crossed, and glaring with great disapproval.
"M-MOM!"
"What were you doing in there just now!?" demanded Oum, angrily.
"M-Mom, I know what it looks like. But-"
"I know you and Oliver are...CLOSE." continued Oum, *trying* to calm herself down.
"And as much as I trust that boy, you KNOW that I draw the line at sleeping in his room!"
"I know!, I'm sorry!" stuttered Anne. "I lost track of time, but I SWEAR that-"
"what's all the noise?" spoke a tiny voice.
Oum looked down...and her eyes nearly popped out of her sockets
upon seeing a NEW Frog child standing near Anne's ankle.
"Hi...my name is Maddie, Maddie Flour." spoke Maddie.
Oum looked at Anne, her expression demanding an answer.
"Okay, let me explain..."
[The Family Room, MUCH LATER.]
Once again, the Boonchuy and Plantar families were gathered in the living room,
Listening intently as Anne explained who the 'blue frog' was, and How and Why she was here now.
(And just as before, Anne made sure to leave out the more 'perilous' details.)
"...AND, that is why I overslept in Oliver's room." said Anne.
"I was worried about Maddie, and wanted to watch her with Oliver."
Olivier was silent throughout this whole discussion.
He felt a little bit hurt that Anne's parents would even 'suspect'
that he might 'take advantage' of Anne like some kind of creep.
...but he didn't hold it against them in the slightest.
Afterall, Anne WAS their only child who had been missing for five months.
And having come to terms with his own parental feelings for Maddie, Olivier knew that
if he ever caught her and Sprig in a similar situation, he might've reacted the same way.
"It's okay, Anne. we believe you." said Bee. "But, let's NOT make this a habit."
Sprig finally jumped over to Maddie. "This is GREAT!, I'm so glad you are here, Maddie!"
Maddie looked away, trying to hide her smile. "It's nice to see you too...Sprig."
Oum exhaled sharply. "Are there ANY OTHER Frog People here that we don't about?!"
Olivier darted his eyes. "I am...FAIRLY certain Maddie will be the last expected house guest."
"good. I don't think we can afford ANOTHER mouth to feed." said Oum.
"I'll do my best to earn my place here, miss boonchuy." spoke Maddie, politely.
Oum looked at the mildly creepy frog girl. "that is okay, blue frog.
You are our guest, and we will provide all that you need to be comfortable."
Maddie smiled, confident that she would like living here.
"First thing's first, though." spoke Olivier. "We need to make you a human disguise."
"Disguise?" questioned Maddie, puzzled.
"Yes." said Anne. "Not all humans are friendly, and Talking Frogs isn't considered Normal.
So unless you want to be experimented on in a government laboratory, you need to disguise yourself in public."
"I see..." spoke Maddie.
"Don't worry." said Anne. "I am sure some of my old clothes will work."
"Worked for US!" exclaimed Polly.
Maddie forced herself to smile at Polly.
Anne then approached Maddie. "come on. Let's find you an outfit that you'll like."
"Do you have anything in BLACK?" asked Maddie, as she hopped off her seat.
"ehhh...we'll see." said Anne, in an unsure tone.
As Anne walked off with the frogs (including Maddie), Olivier started to get up as well.
"Oliver, wait."
Olivier stopped, and turned to see Anne's mother approach him. "ye-yeah?
The Thai woman placed her hand upon the boy's shoulder. "I owe you an apology, Oliver."
"huh?"
"When I didn't see Anne in her room...and saw her come out of yours. I panicked." began Oum.
"I immediately expected the worst from Anne, AND you...and I'm sorry."
Olivier paused for a moment. "it's...alright."
"No, it isn't." said the woman, who then knelt down to Olivier's level.
Olivier stared at Anne's mother as her eyes became glossy from her tears.
"you protected her, you protected my baby girl when I could not." continued Oum, nearly crying.
"you never gave me ANY reason to doubt you. yet, for JUST a moment...I lost my trust in you over a misunderstanding."
Oum looked at Olivier again, letting a tear fall down her cheek.
"I am so...so sorry, oliver." said Oum. "Can you ever forgive me?"
Olivier simply wiped away Oum's tears, and smiled at her. "there is nothing to forgive." said Olivier.
"It's like you said: It was just a misunderstanding. and, I get it.
If I were a parent in your situation, I might've reacted the same way."
Oum smiled, and then hugged the boy. "I promise I'll never doubt you again. you are a GOOD boy."
Olivier froze, once again feeling strange emotions from being hugged by his girlfriend's mother.
It brought him back to his childhood...and all the times his mother, aunt and grandparents would hug him.
He hadn't felt that type of affection is a long, LONG time.
Olivier finally hugged Oum back, accepting her motherly embrace..
"wow...it's just like in my fanfic." spoke Bee, as he watched this scene with a smile.
[Later..]
Olivier approached the closed door to Anne's room,
and gently knocked the door with the the knuckles of his hand.
It had been about Ten Minutes, and he was curious to see how Anne was doing with Maddie's disguise.
(("YEAH!?")) called Anne's voice.
"It's ME." spoke Olivier. "I wanted to check on your progress...Can I come in?"
(("SURE, DUDE. I THINK WE GOT A WINNER.")) answered Anne.
Olivier opened the door, and walked into Anne's room.
His eyes immediately set on Maddie...and nearly chuckled at the outfit she was wearing.
Maddie was wearing a dark purple turtle neck sweater that looked pretty big on her
BUT, the oversized sweater did it's job at covering Maddie's arms and most of her legs, as well.
The Turtle Neck part of the sweater was raised up, however.
Which covered the lower half of Maddie's head, leaving only her eyes and hair visible.
(Anne didn't even bother to change, or conceal Maddie's mop-like hair,
as it ironically didn't look that different from how some human kids styled their own hair.)
"How does she look?" asked Anne.
Olivier's first impression of Maddie's human disguise was how much she resembled Kikimora,
the impish she-demon who worked as Emperor Belos' aid and the superior of his Aunt Lilith Clawthorne.
(even the face that she had only one visible eye due to her bangs made her look like 'Kiki.')
...BUT, he decided to keep that critique to himself.
"She looks great." said Olivier, forcing a smile.
Maddie's eye (which were all she could currently emote) lit up. "REALLY!?"
"of course. people may still find you 'Scary', though." said Olivier, being honest.
Maddie scoffed at this. "As long as they think I'm a human like them, then I am okay with that."
Olivier smiled, feeling somewhat proud of Maddie for embracing how different she was from other people.
It was something that was very 'close to home' for him, and didn't want her to be harassed for who she was.
"OKAY, let's give this disguise a field test." said Anne.
Maddie looked at Anne. "what kind of test?"
Olivier gave Anne a look. "Aaaannne..."
"Don't worry, dude. I learned my lesson: This won't be like yesterday." said Anne.
"We're just going to take a simple walk down the street and to the local nature park."
Anne then snickered. "In fact...(*heh-heh*) it will be-"
"for-the-love-of-titan, don't say it-"
"-a Walk in the Park."
Both Olivier and Maddie groaned at Anne's terrible joke.
"joking ASIDE...a day in the park DOES sound pretty good." said Olivier.
"yeah, dude. there is even a playground there that is TONS of-"
"Playground!?" exclaimed a voice. "Can *I* come?!"
Everyone looked to see Sprig standing at the open door.
"How long have you been-"
"CAN I COME!?, HUH-HUH?!" continued Sprig (ignoring the question.)
Olivier sighed. "fine...But ONLY if you bring Polly, too."
"Great!, I'll go tell her!" Sprig quickly hopped away, excited.
Olivier then looked at Anne and Maddie. "anyone else have a bad feeling about this?"
Anne just shrugged, while Maddie raised her hand up.
"yeah...me too."
After a moment passed, Olivier spoke again. "Maddie. go wait with Sprig, I need to speak to Anne for a moment."
"Okay." said Maddie, who sprinted away.
Anne looked to Olivier. "So, what's on your mind, dude?"
"quite a lot, I am afraid..." began Olivier.
Anne looked at Olivier with a more serious expression.
"I hope things are still cool with you, and my parents."
"I think so...which is what I want to talk with you about."
Anne paused. "what do you mean?"
Olivier looked at Anne, a stern look in his eyes. "when are you going to tell them?"
Anne grimaced. "t-tell them what?"
"EVERYTHING, Anne...All the things you left out about our little Odyssey in Amphibia." said Olivier.
"About Sasha...Marcy. King Andrias, AND THE FROGGIN INVASION hanging over our heads!"
Anne froze, startled at Olivier's sudden outburst...which Olivier noticed.
"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to snap at you." said Olivier, his tone more calmer.
"but...I hate having to lie to your parents for you. They're good people...and, I don't want betray their trust."
Anne frowned. "I know...BELIEVE me, I want to tell them everything-"
"Then, why haven't you?" retorted Olivier. "Enough time has passed since we first arrived here."
Anne looked down, exhaling sharply. "oliver...It's HARD for me, okay!?" began Anne.
"Not only did two of my best friends both betray my trust on the SAME DAY,
but Marcy...what happened to her-I *STILL* haven't fully grasped it all in my head."
Anne looked at Olivier, her eyes getting moist.
"I know I should've told my parents everything by now. but I *NEED* more time to deal with it.
And, once I feel I can THINK about what happened without breaking down...THEN, I'll *try* to tell them."
Olivier stared at Anne with a soft expression. "I...I'm sorry. I didn't realize how much this was still affecting you."
Anne said nothing...so Olivier approached, and embraced his girlfriend.
"anne...don't ever be afraid to talk to me about this." said Olivier.
"I didn't want to be a burden on you." spoke Anne, quietly.
"So I...I tried to hide it, so we could focus on more important things."
Olivier touched Anne's chin, and moved her head up to look at him.
"you are NEVER a burden for me, Anne...EVER." spoke Olivier.
"and whatever pain you are going through, you shouldn't ever have to hide it from me."
Olivier then gently cupped Anne's face.
"you were there for me when I was hurting, and tried to hide it from everyone.
and even when I pushed you away, and shut out everything...you were STILL there for me."
Anne started to blush as she remembered when she and Olivier first met.
They had both been different people back then.
She used to be more care-free, and lazy. while HE was reclusive, and wary of others.
Now, she was more responsible, and Olivier was more open to other people.
"You were there for me..." repeated Olivier. "Now, let me be there for you."
Anne smiled as she grasped Olivier's hands, and stared back at Olivier with loving eyes.
"you're right...and I will." said Anne. "Olivanne Against the World", right?"
Olivier cracked a smile. The pair then leaned closer...and softly kissed.
"HEY!" exclaimed a sudden voice.
Anne and Olivier quickly broke their kiss, and looked over at Polly.
"You love birds DONE, or what!?" exclaimed Polly. "We're READY to get going!"
"Give us just a few minutes!" spoke Anne.
As Polly left, Anne and Olivier looked at each other again.
Anne froze as she gazed at the soft, tender look in her boyfriend's eyes.
He then gently caressed Anne's cheek with his hand...and kissed her forehead.
"if you ever need someone to talk to...my door is always open." said Olivier.
Anne blushed as she smiled.
"and, Anne..." continued Olivier.
Anne looked at Olivier. "yeah?"
"Even though I don't like it...I will continue to keep your secret." spoke Olivier.
"But the longer you put this off, the harder it will be once the truth DOES finally come out."
Anne frowned, and nodded. "I know...I just need more time."
"I understand." said Olivier, as he linked his hand with Anne's
"and when that day DOES come...I will stand by you, no matter what."
Anne smiled warmly, comforted by Olivier's words. "thank you, oliver. I love you."
Olivier raised Anne's hand up, and kissed it gently. "I love you, too."
The pair gave one final loving look at each other...and then walked out of the room together.
[End of Part Sixteen]