It took most of the afternoon, but here ya go. Tis the end here! Mr. Counter Man, if you would, this is the next Monday in the series. And what's after this in this series - it's totally gonna be A Monday Marriage.
And what's next up for you readers? It's 2 Ball!
Epilogue
One Week Later
It had been one heck of a few weeks, that’s what Kermit had come away with. A death was never easy to take and it was far worse when it was someone in your family, but he had done his brotherly duty by returning home. His brother needed him and his nephew needed him.
But now…now they seemed to be fine.
The last week in Leland had been spent making the proper arrangements for Robin’s move into his father’s home and the eventual move of both Jimmy and Robin. The move itself had gone relatively smoothly, thanks to having several brothers, sons, and nephews to help with the moving; there was of course the matter of what to do not only with Leaper’s things, but the former house that she and Robin shared. That was where Kermit’s sister in law Poppy came into play.
A certified realtor, Poppy was able to put together the appropriate paper work in order for Jimmy to sell the house. That was the other issue – getting Leaper’s affairs in order. Apparently the frog had thought highly of her life span because she only had a few things to be left after her untimely death. Fortunately, the arrangements she had made were during her time with Jimmy, meaning that her house was still under both of their names and that meant Jimmy had the authority to sell it or demolish it, whatever decision he wanted.
It still seemed too soon, too raw for Jimmy to handle, so Poppy and Bobby Lee decided they would take on the responsibility for the mean time.
Leaper’s will was sporadic, but it needed to be read and properties needed to be divided up as necessary. Again, Leaper had pretty much left these decisions to fate, so ultimately, Jimmy had been given not only custody of Robin, but custody of his former wife’s effects. The couple had never officially divorced, as they had learned, only separated, which made things all the easier to discuss.
Once that had been settled, though it did take a few days, Jimmy and Robin were at the point where they thought things would finally go right. There was still the matter of Leaper’s things, but that was something that could be dealt with in time and it certainly didn’t Kermit or Piggy there in order to do it. Kermit had been reluctant to leave, for obvious reasons, but he knew there was only so much he could do. He had initially come down to offer his support and it had been accepted and appreciated, but now, things were calm and would be alright.
With things at his former home apparently underway, Kermit gave Piggy the go ahead to contact Scooter and get them a place back to California. His assistant was more than happy to find them a way home, though he did note the seriousness of Kermit’s tone when the frog mentioned he needed to have a word with him as soon as they returned. Piggy was also a little worried about the apparent melancholy that seemed to come over her frog, seemingly worse than when he had first heard the news of Leaper’s death.
Their drive to the airport had mostly been silent, with regards to the music that was softly playing in the background; even their plane ride was quiet, with Kermit in a reflective state that only worried and concerned the diva that sat next to him. Children did seem to perk him up, when they saw him and wanted hugs that he was more than happy to give; adults too always asked for hugs from Kermit, where she and others always got the autograph hounds, though on occasion, kids would clamor for hugs from them too.
Despite the attention, hugging children and their parents seemed to do the opposite of what would normally happen – Kermit, albeit embarrassed by the attention, happy about putting smiles on people’s faces.
Scooter met them at the airport, as they both knew he would. It was tempting to just discuss the plans that would need to be put in place, but after the drive and the flight, the two were too tired to discuss anything other than one worded answers until they both ended up dozing off in their seats. It seemed as though they blinked and suddenly they were home, as though Scooter used his already incredible magic to traffic them there.
“Sorry Scooter,” Kermit whispered, yawning as soon as the words were out. The trio had left the car, taken the bags inside the house and were sitting comfortably in the living room. “I did want to go over some things, but…”
“No worries, Boss,” the page said, smiling at the two. “It’s been a long day and a long couple of days, I’m sure.”
“You bet,” the frog chuckled. “I’m just sorry we missed the show tonight. Did it go well?”
Scooter nodded. “We handled it and got it together in the end,” he said. “Like we always do.” Glancing up at the clock on the wall, Scooter stood, waving the two back to their seats when they attempted to do the same. “I know the way out,” he smiled. “Already gave the usual suspects the day off tomorrow, for a show well done.”
“Excellent,” Kermit murmured. “Fabulous job, Scooter. As always. Did you want tomorrow off, too or do you think you could come by tomorrow morning or afternoon. Whichever you like.”
“However you want it, Chief. I’m your guy.”
“Through and through,” Piggy added, giving the page a tired smile.
“I’ll leave you to it.” Nodding to the couple, the red head left for the night.
Giving the frog a slight squeeze on his leg, Piggy stood up, saying, “Moi is headed to bed, Mon Cher. Are vous coming?”
“In a minute, darlin’.”
“Kermit?”
The look in her eyes told him everything he needed, that she was concerned that something was wrong. Giving her a tired smile, he nodded, “I’ll be there in a bit.” Nodding, Piggy turned and went ahead to their bedroom.
Left alone, Kermit leaned back against the couch, sighing deeply. Piggy and Scooter weren’t wrong – there was something on his mind, something that he would need to discuss alone with Scooter tomorrow. This trip hadn’t been just about supporting his younger brother and nephew, it had been an eye opening experience, confirmation of what he had been feeling for quite some time and just hadn’t the courage to go forward with.
Sighing once more, Kermit heaved himself off the couch and took his time towards the bedroom, stopping to look at the guest room on his way. Piggy had designed it with Robin in mind, though it was only supposed to be a temporary home whenever he came to visit and now, it would soon be a permanent solution. Kermit found it to be exciting, terrifying, and depressing all at the same time. He loved Robin, he truly did, loved him like his own and maybe that was why he found this situation so out of his depths.
He continued his trek, stopping at the entrance to watch Piggy as she got ready for bed. She sat at the vanity, doing whatever it was she did to look as pretty at night as she did during the day. He stood and watched her for a bit before walking over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders and a kiss in her hair. Their eyes met in the mirror that stood before them. “Have I told you how much I love you?” he asked.
“Not lately.”
“Well, I do,” he said. “I can’t thank you enough for everything.”
“Moi is pretty awesome,” she said, smiling at him.
“That you are.”
Giving one of the hands that rested on her shoulder a squeeze, she asked, “Everything okay, baby?”
Nodding, he whispered, “Yeah. A lot to do come tomorrow.”
“Scooter will handle it, as he always has.”
“That he will,” he said. Taking a deep breath, he continued with, “You know, if anything ever happens to me…”
“Is something going to happen to you?”
“Not unless you have something planned,” he countered, giving her a quick smile. “But if it ever does, you know…”
“I do.” They continued staring at one another until Piggy had to ask, “Is that what you’ve been thinking about?”
“Among other things?”
“I’ve never known you to be so morbid.”
Kermit shrugged. “Situation and all.”
“You worry too much.”
“So you’ve said.”
“Are you gonna be a downer all week about this?”
Kermit huffed before giving her shoulders a squeeze. “Please,” he said. “You’d never let me get away it. You can be a real taskmaster when you want to be.”
“Well thank you, Mr. Kettle.”
The frog chuckled, moving away from her and falling on to the bed. “It’s been a long week, baby.”
“Yes it has,” she said, turning to look at him. “You think Jimmy and Robin will be okay?”
Sitting up slightly, Kermit said, “Honest, I don’t know. I’d like to think so, but…”
“They’ll be fine,” she said. “Eventually, but they’ll be okay. And they’ve got you.”
“They’ve got us,” he corrected.
Piggy couldn’t help but smile at that. Not that she ever doubted his allegiance to her, but there were few times in which he admitted it, admitted that they were a team and that they were great together in more ways than one. “Kermit James Frog,” she replied. “I am completely in love with you.”
Giving her a seductive smile, he grinned, “Prove it.”
Piggy was more than willing to prove her point, that is until one of the phones started ringing. “I’ll kill you if you answer that,” she growled, inches from kissing him.
“Not my phone,” he said, doing what she hadn’t. Wanting to get back to the original plan, Piggy reluctantly grabbed her phone, sighing deeply when she saw who was calling.
“Yes?” she answered, giving Kermit a look. “He’s right here. Yes, he’s fine. One moment.” Handing the phone to Kermit, she replied, “The bear’s on the line, looking for you.”
Kermit winced slightly, forgetting that he had promised to call Fozzie once he had gotten home. Tentatively reaching for the phone, he gave the diva a sympathetic smile. “Hey buddy!” Kermit tried to pay attention to Fozzie, while watching Piggy finish getting ready for bed. Very slowly. “What?” he asked, startled by something Fozzie said. “Oh yeah, sure. I am totally listening…”
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