Note: My first phic for the Phic Phight! This is my attempt at fluff, which I don't normally write so I hope you like it!
Maddie Fenton walked through the Amity Park mall hand-in-hand with her husband. She smiled watching her children chatter in front of her. Her oldest daughter Jazz, her son Danny, and her newest daughter Danielle.
A lot had changed in a little time for their family. A month and a half ago, Maddie found out Danny's secret (due to a little incident with an anti-possession gun). After they sorted everything out with no ill effects on her son, Danny told his father and as a family, they had a long discussion about Danny's powers, his ghostly adventures, and his future as Danny Phantom. But the most important part: he had introduced them to his clone Danielle, who he claimed as a little sister. Soon after the parents asked the girl if she wanted to be a part of their family, leading to this trip to buy supplies for her new room.
"So Dani, do you know what kind of sheets you want for your bed?" Jazz asked.
The younger girl shrugged. "I don't know. Haven't really thought about it…..Nothing pink though." Her nose wrinkled at the last part, earning rolled eyes from Jazz and a laugh from Danny.
After a second, Danny added. "We'll find you something cool that you'll love." Then looking across the mall, his eyes lit up as he pointed. "That's the store I got my awesome galaxy poster from. They've got a lot of stuff. You wanna check it?"
The twelve year old nodded. "Yeah." Then her lips turned up in a mischievous grin. "I wanna see if they have a Danny Phantom poster."
Danny playfully groaned. "Come on. You don't want a Danny Phantom poster."
"I don't know." It was Jazz's turn to laugh at her sibling's faux annoyance. "I wonder if they have a poster with that new Phantom girl too?"
Dani blushed, before snickering a second later. Soon all three siblings were smiling and laughing with Maddie watching happily, with a little lingering sadness. The three had been through so much together, their familial bond solidified before Jack and her were even learned of Dani's existence. Maddie wished she could have been there for her youngest sooner. Part of her mourned the time they had missed because Danny hadn't felt safe to tell his parents about his powers and the time they could never have had, because of Dani's unconventional origin. But at least, Jack and she were here now and trying to make everything right.
Maddie was brought out of her thoughts by Dani's excited voice. "Look at that."
Eyes light up with childlike wonder and excitement, she pointed at one of the shop windows. It housed a display of colorful stuffed animals in a variety of clothes. The girl eagerly surveyed the yellow and blue walls of the store, lined with more animals and clothes.
Dani jumped up and down, looking at the parents. "Please. Please. Please Can we go in?"
Maddie's attention also turned to the store, a Build-a-Bear workshop. She bit her lip; this wasn't exactly in the plan today when they were supposed to be buying furniture and decorations for Dani's room.
Seeing Maddie's reaction, Dani's expression fell. "It's okay if we don't have time."
But the dejected reaction had the mother quickly changing gears. "No Sweetie. We do have time." They weren't in a hurry. And well even if they were, Maddie wasn't going to sacrifice this precious childhood expression for keeping a schedule. She smiled, softingly attempting to show her sincerity. "Let's go, Dani"
"Okay, Mrs. Fenton" The girl gave a half smile but a little tense uncertainty remained in the girl's posture. And the woman tried not to let her face fall at how Dani addressed her; she had told the girl that she could call her mom but her youngest wasn't there yet. And that was okay; with Dani's history with parental figures, it made sense for her to still be uncomfortable.
Dani then looked questioningly between Danny and Jazz. "Do you guys wanna come too?"
Maddie could practically see the debate in the boy's mind. But the teenage disdain of 'childish' things won out. He wrinkled his nose, ever so slightly. "No thanks. I'll be at Gamestop."
The girl nodded, a little sad but perked up as Jazz rolled eyes. "There's nothing childish about liking stuffed animals." She took the younger girl's arm. "I want to come with you Dani."
Now Danny rolled his eyes. "I'd just rather look at video games than teddy bears. You two go with Mom." He then offered a brotherly smile. "We'll look at posters later. K, Dani?"
"Yeah." Danielle agreed before she looked at Jack. "What about…." She trailed off.
Jack walked forward and patted Danny on the back rather hard, causing the boy to stumble forward. "I'll go with Danno. You girls have fun with your Mom."
"Yeah." "Okay." Jazz and Dani said.
"See you later, honey." With that, Maddie led her daughter into the store as Jack and Danny walked away. She chuckled softly as Danny slightly groaned, asking his Dad not to embarrass him which Jack avowed he would never, ever do.
Maddie turned her attention back to the store. Eyes wide, Danielle eagerly studied the stuffed animals along the wall with the bids of unstuffed plushies. "There's so many bears. Oh…." She pointed at a white horse with a rainbow mane. "It's a unicorn!" Walking a few steps to the left. " Is that from those Star Wars movies Danny showed me?"
Jazz stood beside her. "That's Darth Vader."
"Oh. And what kind of animal is that supposed to be?" The girl pointed at a yellow plush with red cheeks, long pointed ears, and a lighting shaped tail.
"It's Pikachu from Pokemon." The older girl explained. "It's a video game series."
"And this one's dressed up as Spiderman, right?" Dani asked, motioning to a brown bear in a red and blue suit.
Maddie stepped forward. "That's right, sweetie. Danny had one like that when he was little."
"He did?" One eyebrow raised in question.
"I took him here to make it when he was four." She smiled, remembering her son's bright eyes and childish laughter as he picked it out. "He slept with it everyday for years."
"He did! Wow" Dani laughed, expression slightly mischievous as if considering how to tease her brother with that information.
"Don't give him too much of a hard time." The mother shook her head good naturedly. "Now which stuffed animal do you want?"
"I can have one?" The surprise in the question hurt Maddie more than she let on.
"Of course sweetie. Pick out the one you want and we'll get it for you."
Dani's face lit up, much like Danny's had when he made his bear. After a few seconds, eager eyes fell on a black dragon with large green eyes and tiny wings. "That one. I want that one."
"Oh. He's so cute!" Jazz beamed. "Good choice."
With an agreeing nod from the mom, Dani picked up one of the unstuffed dragons. Then she frowned slightly. "What do we do now?"
Gently taking the girl's hand, Maddie walked her over to a kiosk. "You can pick out a sound box for it first." The woman pressed one of the panels. "It looks like they have dragon sounds." Deep guttural rumblings and something like a purr sounded. Then there was a curious chirp.
Dani's nose wrinkled, curious but unsure, prompting Jazz to add. "They have other sounds too. How about this one?" She pressed a panel showing the name of a lullaby. "My kioloa that I got from here played that song."
The younger girl looked over at her. "You had a bear from here too?"
"Yeah. A kioloa I named Kissy. She and Bearbert were my favorites as a kid."
"Cool." Dani said. She pressed several more of the panel, considering which she wanted. Finally she pressed another dragon sound, this one a little higher and lighter than the first. "I like this one."
"That's a good one." Maddie added.
After getting an employee's help to get the sound box with the right sound, the three got in line to get the dragon stuffed. The other kids with their parents happily chatted and laughed, clearly excited about their new stuffed animal. Still lovingly clutching her toy, Dani arrived at the front of line.
Another employee, the name Sarah on her name tag, smiled at the girl. "Oh, it looks like you have a Toothless there."
"What's a toothless?" Dani's wrinkled brow earned a deeply confused expression from the employee.
Jazz and Maddie both kindly laughed. "Your dragon's from a movie and that's what the character's called." Jazz explained.
"Oh." Dani blushed, embarrassed.
Maddie patted her on the shoulder. "We can show you when we get home, okay?"
The girl relaxed at the quiet affirmation, smiling again. Then having knocked off the confusion, the employee, Sarah, held out her hand. "Let's go ahead and stuff your dragon then. Where do you want your sound box?"
Dani handed the toy over and pointed to the front right paw. "There, please."
"Okay." Sarah maneuvered the box and then positioned the open seam of the dragon onto the pipe coming off of the stuffing box. She pointed to a pedal on the floor. "Can you step on that for me please?"
Nodding, Danielle put her foot down. The vacuum roar of the machine started up as cotton fluff blew into the animal.
While gently holding the toy, Sarah kindly asked. "If you've never seen the movies, why did you pick out Toothless?"
The girl shrugged. "He's cute and looked cool. And I like dragons."
"I like dragons too." Sarah added. "Lift your foot real fast." Dani did so with a nod. "Now, let's check if it's stuffed enough for you."
The girl reached forward, feeling the dragon's paws, body, and head. "A little more. I want it a little firmer, I think."
"You've got it." Sarah smiled.
After adding a little more stuff, Dani checked the firmness again. "That's good." She looked at Jazz and Maddie behind her. "Do you wanna feel too?"
The two redheads checked. "He is nice and firm, sweetie." Maddie added while Jazz hummed in agreement.
"Good." Sarah nodded. Then she reached into the container of felt hearts and dropped one in Dani's hands. "Now the most important part. The heart so we can bring your new friend to life."
Eyes widening in awe, Dani clutched the fabric heart like it was incredibly precious.
In an excited voice, the employee instructed. "Now rub the heart between your hands to warm it up."
While Sarah mimicked the motion, Dani rubbed her hands together, middle confusion morphing into a wide smile. Maddie found herself also doing the motions with a grin.
"Now rub it on your head so your dragon will be super smart. And… jump up and down so he'll always have energy to play."
After rubbing her head, the girl jumped, laughing. Maddie and Jazz gave a few jumps too, encouraging the young girl to throw herself into the action.
"And flap your arms like a dragon flying."
Giggling Dani waved her arms as if flying with her other family members joining in. Maddie beamed taking in the grin on her youngest face and Jazz's excitement as the girl let herself act silly too.
"Finally, close your eyes and make a wish." Laughter quieting but still smiling, Dani clutched the heart close to her chest and closed her eyes. "Now, give the heart a kiss and it's ready."
The girl lightly kissed the heart before handing it over. The employee took it and placed the piece inside the stuffed dragon. Then she pulled the strings to close the seam, sealing the stuffing inside. "Here you go."
Receiving the dragon, Dani hugged it to her chest, gently swaying side to side. Maddie put a hand on her back. "Now we wash and brush him. Then pick out some clothes."
They walked a few feet to a mock bathtub with some paw shaped brushes. A younger girl, about eight, slowly brushed a stuffed horse while a boy beside her made 'water spraying' noises with his mouth and pretending to wash his toy dog. Dani joined in, brushing her dragon for a few moments.
"We can go look at clothes now." She looked up at Maddie.
The three walked the few aisles and looked at the accessories along the wall. Jazz pointed. "They still have that Tinkerbell outfit I loved so much. Do you remember that Mom?"
"I do. Do you see anything you like, Dani?"
The girl shook her head, not impressed with any of the princess outfits. She walked around another corner. "They have a lot of superhero stuff that's really cool. Oh..I like this!" Dani pulled out a bear-sized shirt with Spiderman, earning a chuckle from Jazz. "Can I get this?"
Maddie walked to her side and grabbed the shirt. She studied it for a moment. "Yes honey. It looks nice. Do you want to pick out one or two other things?"
Dani nodded, looking around again. She came to the 'How to Train Your Dragon" clothes and accessories. "Are these the stuff that goes with the dragons?"
"It's the same collection, you could say." Jazz said as she walked to Dani's other side. "But they don't actually have to go together." She picked up a pair of pajamas. "These are cute though."
Dani wrinkled her nose. "Ehh, I don't really like it. This is cool though." She picked up a small faux leather saddle. "So someone could actually ride the dragon."
"Nice" Jazz nodded.
"Is that all you want?" The mother asked.
"Yeah. So do we go pay for it now?" Dani asked, already putting the saddle on the toy.
Maddie held up a finger. "Not yet. You still have to name it and get a birth certificate." Dani titled her head questioningly but didn't ask. Instead she let Maddie lead her to a computer. "Go ahead."
Following the on-screen instructions, Danielle scanned the dragon's tag and put it down. The box to type in a name popped up. "Didn't the lady say his name was Toothless?" She raised an eyebrow.
"But you can pick something else if you want to."Jazz shrugged.
Putting her hand on her chin, Dani thought for a few moments. "I like….Inky. Yeah. I'll call him Inky."
"I think that's adorable Dani." Maddie lightly patted her back.
"Thanks." Dani typed in the name and with everything set up hit enter.
"Now, if you don't want anything else, we can go pay."
"I'm good." She picked up the newly named Inky and followed Jazz and Maddie to the check out.
Everything was placed on the counter and scanned. Once the total came up, Maddie paid with a credit card. After the sound of something printing, the employee offered the Birth Certificate to Dani. "Here you go. Do you want a box for Inky?"
Dani looked at Maddie and Jazz questioningly before deciding herself. "Yes please."
With a smile, the employee folded and handed the white box with simple blue line drawings.
"It looks like a little house." Dani said, after accepting the box. She hugged Inky to her chest again and placed him in the box.
"Have a good day." The employee said as the family began walking away.
"We should meet up with Dad and Danny again." Maddie said as they started towards the Gamestop.
Dani still held the box, gently swinging her arm while Maddie smiled down at her. "Do you like your dragon, Dani?"
"I do!" She stopped, putting down the box. The girl hugged the woman. "Thanks Mom."
Maddie's jaw fell for a moment before her lips turned up. She ruffled the girl's hair. "You're welcome, sweetie."
Dani grinned up at her for a few moments before grabbing the box again. As Danny and Jack came around the corner towards them, she jogged forward. "Danny! Look at what I got."
The girl eagerly showed her older brother the toy while the boy listened with clear focus and interest. Making a little growling noise, Dani pushed the dragon's head onto Danny's face in a kiss. Danny laughed, taking the dragon and repeating the action to Dani's giggles.
Maddie beamed, watching as Jazz joined the other two in laughing. Dani had been through a lot; they all had but she was adjusting to her new position and happy. She had finally called Maddie, her Mom. Yes, a lot had changed in a short time for their family. But they were good changes and Maddie wouldn't give this up for the world.