#Uncle Arthur

[coffeecat1983]

It's done!

I illustrated the ending scene from Mario Bros: Facing Fears (Is Never Easy)

"You know, seeing the boys like that and hearing about Mamma, it got me thinkin'," Arthur said.

Tony normally would have joked with him that thinking was nothing but trouble, but something in his twin's tone made him stay quiet. Arthur leaned forward, folding his hands. "What would you do, if I died?" he asked softly.

[katlyntheartist]

Uncle Tony, Uncle Arthur, and Aunt Marie! Happy with how the turned out but im not sure how i feel about tony’s mustache. Also Arthur’s mustache is based off of Game Luigi’s ‘stache.

Pio and Mia

[collinsportmaine]

Samatha Stevens and her Uncle Arthur wish you a Happy Halloween!

[anomaly1003]

Gotta give the uncles some love too ❤️💛💙

Canon or not, Uncle Tony and Uncle Arthur are twins in my book!

[dragon-fly34]

//~Super Mario Roleswap AU~// (Facts and Headcanons)

-Peach and Daisy are cousins, but many people ask if they are sisters, that's why their business is called Peach sisters.

-When Teressa (Tatanga) kidnapped Luigi, she didn't want to take the mushroom kingdom, because she knew that Bowsetta (Bowser) loved Mario and wanted the mushroom kingdom, so she chose Sarasaland.

-Mario and Luigi's family has a real monarchy, meaning their father rules the Mushroom Kingdom, Uncle Arthur rules Sarasaland and Uncle Tony rules the Flower Kingdom.

-King Boo is the only one who doesn't change gender in this AU, he switches places with Hellen Gravely, so they are called Queen Hellen and Boo.

-When the brothers were 6 years old, that's when Bowsette (Bowser) met Mario and fell in love with him.

-Before Teressa met Luigi, she was already a childhood friend of Bowsetta.

-Waluigi loves Piranha plants, he has had one in his observatory since he arrived in the galaxies.

-Queen Hellen has the power to turn people into statues (She turned Peach into a statue 3 times).

-When someone talks bad about Peach, Daisy immediately becomes angry. But when it's with Daisy, Peach can end the person right away.

[tigers-eyes-26]

Aftermath Chapter 2

The front door of the apartment opened. The boys’ mama announced to Peach, “Benvenuta a Casa nostra. Welcome to our home!” A little girl with a pink hat ran out of the kitchen. She looked behind the group of relatives expectantly. Her face fell when it was only Princess Peach who had come to the house.

“Where’s the gorilla?! The giant turtles!? Or the mushroom people?!”

“They decided to stay behind.” The Princess explained.

“Aw nuts!” the girl crossed her arms disappointed. She returned to the Kitchen.

The Princess raised her eyebrow at the exchange.

“That’s just Marilyn our baby cousin, once she gets to know you more, she will think you are cool.”

Mario and Luigi hung their hats and took off their gloves. Peach took off her gloves too. She felt so overdressed. In the living room was their Nonno.

“No. no?”

“Ah no, hehe Nonno. It means grandfather.” Luigi explained.

Everyone in the family stopped to give him a kiss on the cheek before they dispersed to the kitchen and other places in the house. He was watching TV, the news blared loudly at him. He hardly acknowledged the greetings of the family. Peach wondered if he could even see with his bushy white eyebrows. Luigi turned the TV off and yelled into his Nono’s ear. “QUESTA E PEACH!”

The elderly man swatted Luigi, “non imprecare contro di me!” he chastised.

“NO! IL SUO NOME E PEACH!” Luigi gestured to Peach.

“Le Ragazza in bianco?”

“SI!” The brothers both exclaimed.

The elderly man raised his eyebrows and finally focused on what was going around him. He looked at Peach in her wedding dress with Mario at her side. Peach smiled and waved unsure if she should do anything else. The old man gestured at Mario incredulously. “Tis tai per sposare?? E NON ME L’HAI DETTO!?”  Peach jumped when the old man started to yell.

Mario waived both his hands to dismiss whatever his Nonno had said. “No! LEI E SOLO UN’AMICA!”

the old man scoffed. “Amica…” he gestured for Peach to come closer. She did. Nonno grabbed her face and pulled her closer so he could see her. Peach squeaked in surprise. “Bellissima.” He commented. Once his inspection was done, he looked at Mario. “Faresti melglio a sposarla, nipote.” Mario rolled his eyes at his grandfather. The Patriarch of the family grabbed one of Peach’s hands and shook it heartily. “Benvenuta alla casa nostra!”

“Um…” she cleared her throat. “THANK YOU…. IT IS NICE TO MEET YOU!”

He gave her a smile and shooed them off to the dining room.

Peach leaned over to Mario. “Did he understand me?”

Mario smirked. “He knows English. He had to to get a job here. He used to be a boxing coach. He’s just old and doesn’t wanna anymore.”

Marie, their red-headed aunt rushed out of the kitchen into the dining room to meet Peach. “Cognata told me you need a change of clothes.” She eyed Peach up and down. “Yeah, you are about my size.” She took Peach by the arm and guided her upstairs. They passed a dark room, “That’s the boys room.” Then walked through another door. It had a queen bed and a pink twin bed. The red headed woman opened a closet and started to dig. Peach was loaned a simple light purple sundress. “I only wear this on Easter Sundays so you can borrow it.” She also was given some white and pink tennis shoes. “After having a kid, I hardly have time to go for a run.”

Coming down from the stairs Peach saw the brothers lying on the couch their Nonno nowhere to be seen. “Good” she thought “they need rest.”

Over dinner Peach was placed in between Mario and Luigi. There were questions fired back and forth. Peach wanted to know everything about this world and the family, and they wanted to get to know her and test her. With how much chatter was going on it was amazing that anyone finished their plate. But they did the food was just too good not to finish.

After dinner Mario tried to gather some plates. His mom stopped him. “No. no. no. three have done too much today. Off to bed with you!”

Peach was allowed to take a shower first, in the small bathroom that was in between Arthur’s family bedroom and the brother’s bedroom. She was loaned a large red T-shirt with Brooklyn written on the front and some gym shorts to sleep in.

Peach was given Marilyn’s bed. Marilyn would sleep with her mother and her father Arthur would sleep on the family room couch. Peach learned that on the third floor was the brother’s parent’s room, then Uncle Tony and Nonno shared a room. She was told it was because Tony and Nonno snored the loudest.  

It was all quite cozy and quaint. Peach thought about the brother’s family and about the many toads who had raised her. She thought about how the colors differed from her world and this one. She thought about how nothing floated in the air. There wasn’t any magic or power ups to help the people out of the crumbling houses. Her head was so full of thoughts that the buzzing lulled her asleep.

Princess Peach woke up to amazing smells. How long had she slept? Her surroundings were unfamiliar, but as she woke up more, she remembered the events of yesterday. She got dressed in the purple sundress and headed downstairs. Nonno was again set in front of the TV. She could hear someone cleaning dishes in the kitchen. In the dining room food was set out but no one was at the table. The rest of the family had probably gone off to work or school. She wondered how long she had slept.

“OH! Sit down Princessa. Eat!” The brother’s mom paused doing the dishes and came out with a kettle of hot water. “I didn’t know if you drink tea or coffee. I have both.”

“Thank you” Peach sat down. “Tea please.” The matriarch poured them both tea and sat down with Peach.

“Did you sleep good?”

“Yes, thank you for letting me into your house.”

“Well of course! Any friend of my boys is welcome here anytime….. except maybe Jimmy Rossi he’s a punk!”

Peach smiled thinking about the life the boys had before going down the warp pipe. Peach asked about their lives and their mother happily got out a photobook and gushed about them. About an hour into the enlightening conversation there was a creak indicating someone was coming down the stairs. Mario and Luigi sleepily joined the table. Their mother went to brew some coffee for them.

“Hey what have you got there?” Luigi commented on the book Peach held. She quickly held it up to her chest to hide its contents from the boys. Only the outside of the book had the words ‘Mario and Luigi’s Photos’

Mario slung his head back and placed his hands over his face. “MAAaaaa! Have you been sharing embarrassing stories again?!”

“The Princessa wanted to know how you two grew up!” She defended.

The family members went back and forth in Italian. Peach smiled and placed the photobook on her lap. She placed a hand on both the boys’ shoulders. “It’s ok I did ask. I won’t tell anyone about these stories.”

Mario pointed a finger at her. “If you tell DK I’m dead! He would never let me live it down!”

“I won’t tell DK I promise” she held up one hand while the other one over her heart.

“You can’t even tell Toad!”

Peach faltered a little. “But he would love to hear all about your childhood!”

“But he’s a motor mouth the whole kingdom would know by the end of the day!”

Peach held both her hands up in a diplomatic way. “How about you tell me the stories I can share. My toads will want to know about their new heroes after all.”

Mario slumped down and crossed his arms. “Fine.”

Peach took the photo book from her lap and laid it on the table so all could see.

They continued story telling as they cleaned up breakfast. The boys got ready for the day, they kissed their mom and Nonno goodbye and the three of them headed back to the disaster site.

Peach got an update from Toad and DK that the night was quiet. None of the surrendered army tried to escape and the first responders had gotten the last person out of the rubble. None tried to trespass the roped off area during the night.

The two then asked how Peaches night was. Toad was jumping up and down with excitement and DK wanted to know if their family was as embarrassing as Mario was. The only reply she could give them before diving back into her duties was “It was nice.”

The two groaned. “You gotta give us more than that Princess!”

She smiled. “Later maybe.” With that she walked toward one of the neighborhood leaders to ask how his people were doing.

----------

Author’s notes: Also sorry for the Italian I do not know Italian, I know Tagalog. If there is anything I need to change please let me know.

Chapter 1:

[rrrick]

[niki-mis01]

Why are they teasing my boys like that?! Just, GET OUT😭....here’s a drawing of them because why not, they look cute

[multicolour-ink]

Headcanon that pio is subconsciously jealous of his younger twin bros idk but he doesn't think of it. Meanwhile tony and Arthur think they have the coolest big bro

I can see him being jealous only by the fact that they always have each other, whereas Pio was expected to be the other mature figure in their lives and never got time to be a kid.

I don't personally headcanon Arthur and Tony to be twins, but I do think the two are much closer in age and Pio has a much larger age gap.

[houseofcatwic]

Paul Lynde

[destinyfromhighschool]

A collection of screenshots from the dinner scene (Part 3)

[buckcluck67]

uncle Arthur sad

[dragon-fly34]

Where did aunt Marie and uncle Arthur met for the first time? And what was Marie’s reaction when Arthur asked to married her and raise a daughter together?

Hi! Thanks for the ask, I needed it 🙏🫂

(I will answer the questions in sequences starting with the first and until the last 👍)

Besides, I already had some ideas when they met on my roleswap AU, but I never got back to them so I'll mention Roleswap AU in the ask too.

Have a good read and follow everything as there is a lot of text:

After the birth of Mario and Luigi, Mario's family had to leave MK due to Kamek's kidnappings, remembering that Arthur and Marie didn't even know each other at that time, we imagine that the family tried to forget all that trauma and make Mario and Luigi have a normal life (?)

(I'm not that good at this type of text so don't judge me because of that)

So when the Mario brothers were around 6 to 8 years old, they looked at their uncles and asked "why don't you have a wife for yourself like our father?" and the uncles looked nervously at their nephews and replied "because we haven't felt true love like your father" and then they were like that 🤨

Maybe Arthur saw Marie one day and they started talking a lot and soon saw that they had a lot in common, so they started seeing each other a lot.

Marie loved Arthur's playful way, it was very cute even at times annoying, he was also very gentlemanly with her, imagine him teaching her Italian:

Arthur: You're doing well in Italian Marie, but I want to teach you a great word. Marie: Great, what's the word Arthur? Arthur: Ti amo amore mio (I love you, my love) Marie: What does this mean? Arthur: It means I love you my love. Marie: Questo è così carino e adorabile... ( Arthur: 🥹💞

Arthur soon realized that he felt something different than he felt for Marie, it was something different when it was with his brothers (Pio and Tony), his parents and his sister-in-law Mia, it didn't take long for his brothers to ask “Chi è questa Marie, fratello? La tua ragazza?” and he answered “Lei è solo un'amica! Non una ragazza, idioti!” and then he runs after the two, blushing with rage.

Also in Roleswap AU, the two met at a party (maybe MK's birthday or a reunion of the kingdoms) Arthur was still prince of the Flower Kingdom and Marie was princess of Sarasaland, they talked all night and became fast friends, Arthur would look at each other romantic for Marie just as Pio looked for Mia when they met.

Now answering the second question:

This will be a little difficult as I'm not very good at this type of posting, but I can try.

Let's say that after months (or years) Arthur had the courage and asked Marie to marry him, I imagine everyone was excited and happy at the same time.

Now to answer the last question, I actually had a cool idea:

I like to think that the name Marylin was a conjunction that Arthur and Marie made when she was pregnant.

Arthur kept using his name to try to make a name for a boy and a girl, but all the names he said were either bad, so Marie took her name and put it together (I think the pronunciation of the name Marie and Mary are almost identical, so she took the name Mary and made some funny combinations until she added Marylin and they both agreed)

So when Marylin was born, she was similar to Mario and Luigi when they were born, but with light brown hair and eyes, so they both cried a lot together with Mario and Luigi (who at the time were 13 years old), because they said they were going to protect her.

If you've read this far, thank you very much, sorry for the delay because for some reason my computer and cell phone erased the rest of my things (and now I'm writing again), but thank you anyway.

[obviouslyelementary]

Guys I have a question, the thing about Mario and Luigi’s niece in the movie is like a translation mistake? Because isn’t a niece the daughter of someone’s sibling? If she is aunt Marie and uncle Arthur’s child, wouldn’t that make her Mario and Luigi’s cousin?

Unless they are her godfathers by like decisions, she should be their cousin right? Not their niece?

Im so confused

[tigers-eyes-26]

Aftermath Chapter 1

The fight was over….kind of… As Mario was celebrating with his brother and new friends a shout rang out. “What the hell is going on here!” They turned to look at the Brooklynites that had gathered to see the mess. They had a mix of horrified and confused looks on their faces. At the front was Spike, he had been the one to yell. Sirens of the first responders could be heard coming.

Mario and Luigi put their hands up in a calming gesture. “We can explain.” And explain they did!

They explained to the first responders as they helped the people who were in their houses when the rock airship burst through the ground. They explained to the mayor when she was deciding what she would share with the community at large. And finally, to the newscasters as they gave a press conference.

After the press conference they heard a familiar voice ring out. “Fiigli miei!” The brothers ran past the barricades to find their family. They gave their Mama a big hug. She squashed their faces together so she could look at them both. “Where were you!?!” She cried.

Their Papa stood behind his wife gesticulating wildly. “We were worried sick! We was gonna file a missing persons’ report!” He muscled his way in to give them a bone crushing hug.

“We talked to the city repair guys, and they hadn’t seen youse at all!” their uncle Arthur explained behind their papa. “We thought you two had drowned in the sewers!”

Their uncle Tony gestured to the huge mound of rubble and the smattering of gorillas and humanoid mushrooms and walking turtles. “Wah-what the hell is going on here!?” He was blown away.

Their papa let them go and noticed the environment for the first time. His mouth dropped open.

Mario and Luigi looked at each other and sighed. They would have to explain again.

The family had sat on a stoop far away from the hubbub. Their mama had brought some leftover pasta and some bottled water. The first responders had given the brothers some granola bars and water but having their mama’s pasta felt like heaven. Luigi was enjoying the food so much he hardly contributed to the explaining.

After the explanation was done their papa looked at them with a serious and contemplative face. Their uncles wanted to comment but their papa held up his hands to shut his younger siblings up.

Their papa started in a low growl. “That was stupid of you to jump into the sewers without notifying anyone.” Mario frowned. “You almost got Luigi killed!” he boomed out. Both Mario and Luigi opened their mouths to rebuttal. Their papa silenced them with his hand. He took a moment to calm down. “But it was respectable for you to go after your little brother.” Their papa turned to look at Luigi. “I’m glad you stepped in when Mario was being reckless trying to face a monster alone.” Rare tears fell down his weathered face and soaked into his mustache. “I’m happy youse made it home ok. Ti voglio bene. I need you two to watch out for each other. Capisce?”

The brothers were surprised at the tears. “Si, Papa.” They quietly answered. Their Papa stood up to find a spot to compose himself. Their Mama followed him rubbing his back.

The brothers looked at each other in the eyes. Thinking about how worried their Papa had been for their safety. He just wanted them well.

“Sooooo,” Their uncle Tony broke the silence. “Is the princessa coming to Sunday diner sometime?” He wiggled his eyebrows at the twins.

“Ziooooo!” Mario groaned.

Luigi chucked at his brother’s embarrassment.

Speaking of the princess her worried voice ran out over the crowd. “Mario!?” Both Mario and Luigi bolted to the sound of her voice. They found her around the conner away from the crowd and cameras. She was looking at the distressing scene of two of mayor Pauline’s bodyguards pointing guns at DK.

 “Oh boy.” Mario’s face fell in annoyance. He and Luigi walked up to the scene. “What’s goin’ on here?” the bodyguards shifted their attention. Mario held up his hands to show them he didn’t have a weapon. Luigi gave a tiny yelp and did the same.

DK happily spoke out. “I was just telling Mayor Pauline here that I liked her leadership skills.”  The guns again were trained on DK. The brothers looked at each other. Donkey Kong had no idea he was in danger. He continued, “but then her guards thought I was some kinda threat. I don’t blame them. I am pretty intimidating.” DK flexed.

Behind the guards was Pauline, she looked unamused, her arms crossed.  

“Mayor Pauline, I think there has been a misunderstanding.”  Luigi started the de-escalation.

Mario piped in. “Donkey Kong may be a moron.”

“HEY!” Donkey interjected.

 “But he is one of the good guys.”

“Oh,” The Mayor quirked her eyebrow at the brothers. “Do ‘good guys’ afront political leaders with catcalls.”

Both brothers narrowed their eyes at DK and gave a double finger purse at him to say. “CHE?!?”

Mario recovered from DKs shear audacity first. “Like I said a total moron.” He cautiously walked in front of the disgruntled DK. “We’ll have a chat with him about how to respect political leaders.” Luigi joined his brother even though he didn’t like the fact that a gun barrel was pointed at him.

Pauline uncrossed her arms. “Drop your arms.” The bodyguards obeyed her command. She turned to the black SUV that was parked next to the curb. “Let’s go.” She opened the door and slid in. Her guards got into the front seats. Luigi tugged DK’s arm to get him out of the way of the car. Once the SUV was down the road both brothers turned to face DK and simultaneously gave him a tongue lashing.

It all sounded like gibberish to him.

“What!?! She’s cute!” DK tried to defend himself only to get verbally ran over by the two brothers.

DK put his hands over his ears. Man, these two were annoying! The tirade continued. DK felt a hand on his arm. He turned to see Princess Peach with a worried face. He rolled his eyes. “Yes! yes! I already know what you are going to say Princess. We are not from around here and should keep a low profile and not draw attention to ourselves.” He huffed sitting down in defeat.

She only smiled at patted his arm to show her appreciation. She turned to the ranting brothers. “Mario! Luigi!” The two stopped to look at her. “Now that that trouble is over it is almost night, and we don’t know where to go. Could you help us out?”

Mario and Luigi talked to the neighborhood leaders and first responders and got sleeping gear for the toads, Kongs and the surrendered koopa soldiers. They also distributed out some sandwiches and bottled waters. The brother’s family helped out too even though they didn’t live that close to the disaster zone. 

Their Mama approached her boys. “You two must be exhausted.” They were. “Marie has food prepared at home; you want to bring your friends over?” They looked at all the magic world residence. It wasn’t possible for Marie to have made food for them all. They asked DK he refused but told them to give their dad his regards. Mario rolled his eyes.

They asked Princess Peach. She did want to go but was worried about leaving her people alone in a strange world. Toad spoke up and urged her to go. He would watch over the people. He shipped Mario and Princess Peach so hard and wanted to hear all about her meeting his parents. Peach finally agreed. She announced that she would go and learn more of this world and Toad and DK would temporarily in charge until she returned in the morning.

---------

Author’s notes: I didn’t like that suddenly the family lived right next to the disaster zone. That the flooding was happening right outside their door, and they didn’t know about it until Mario turned on the news?!  I think they were farther away. Brooklyn is a big place. Also I didn’t like the ending with the family. Mario’s father is proud of him because of what? Did their dad even know all what happened. No! will fighting an other-worldly foe will fix your problems with your family? No! That takes a while. But I wanted their family to be worried about them. They are still loved and missed. So that has been bothering me about the ending so I’m fixing it.

Chapter 2:

[roseofithaca]

A Very Special Delivery

(I couldn't contain the feels, so I had to write a fic. Sorry in advance!)

The sun seems brighter than usual as it begins to set over the western treeline. Bad men live in those forests, she knows, she's been warned ever since she could walk to never go off wandering beyond the fence alone. Sometimes she had nightmares about those men, especially after Jackie told her those silly ghost stories, and when Mama found out she chased him around the barn with a pitchfork for an hour. Looking at the treetops now, though, she doesn't feel afraid. Something tells her that she could finally go walking in that forest for hours on her own, picking the prettiest flowers and chasing the bunnies, and not a single man or beast could harm her.

She doesn't leave. Not yet. She sits on the step of the porch, bare feet swinging, soaking up the golden rays of the sun on her face after what felt like months in her little room. It's a warm afternoon, the kind Mama would usually tell her to wear a hat or hold a parasol to protect her pale skin, but she doesn't need that anymore. She stretches her tiny fingers in front of her, wiggling them about, imagining she's playing the sunbeams like keys on the piano. And somehow she manages to hear what music the light makes (much better than Mama's playing, not that she'd tell her that...Maybe just whisper to to Daddy in private).

A soft clapping of hooves in the distance interrupts her performance. A cooling shadow falls over her as she looks to see the silhouette of a man riding towards the house. This man is real tall, bigger than Pa, much bigger than the delivery men who sometimes come to collect the milk and eggs. They don’t usually come this late in the day either.

He could be one of the bad men from the Tall Trees. A monster from her brother’s stories come to steal her away. She’s all alone out here, which is odd, and no one would see if this man gobbled her up like the big bad wolf.

But that ain’t gonna happen. She knows that, as soon as she gets a look at the man’s face. Any tingle of fear is washed away by those eyes.

The man eases his horse to stop. A great big, beautiful mare with black spots and a chestnut mane that looks well brushed. Even the horse looks friendly; strong but friendly, just like her rider.

She gets to her feet, one hand on the wooden railing, as the man dismounts.

He takes off his hat; “Good evenin’, little lady.” He greets her, gruff but gallant, and she’s reminded of the knights from Jack’s other stories. She likes those ones a lot.

“Hi…” she squeaks, feeling oddly bashful; “Uhh, how d’you do?” She tries to be polite, as Ma would want her to be addressing a stranger.

He smiles and nods; “How d’you do. I hope I haven’t scared you.”

“You ain’t, mister.” She tells him, honestly, still clutching onto the wood with one hand. The man isn’t scary at all. Every bone in her body tells her that he wouldn’t hurt her.

There’s just something about him, about this moment, that’s got her feeling real strange. Like something important is about to happen and she doesn’t quite understand it, or know if she wants it. The world suddenly feels too large, when for all her life it’s mostly been this house and this ranch and the few trips she took beyond that fence, to the river or over the fields, only twice into the nearby town for a movie and an ice cream.

He gives a chuckle at her answer and takes a step closer; “I sure am glad to hear that for once.”

Her eyes glance to the object he’s holding to his chest.

“I know that hat! Pa keeps it above the fireplace!” She says with a point of her finger.

“That a fact?”

She nods; “Mmm hmm. The deer that Daddy killed wears it. I think it looks silly. Deers don’t wear hats! Only antlers!”

The man laughs again; “I guess that’s true, but it wouldn’t be the strangest thing I saw, I’ll tell you that.” He walks closer and places the hat on top of her long, dark hair; “Here. Why don’t you hold onto it for me, for a bit?”

The black leather falls over her eyes, it’s far too big for her. But she tips it back, holding the rim with both hands, looking up to give the man a smile. There’s a tiny wince in his face as he looks down at her and she worries, for a moment, that he’s about to cry. A sniff, then he’s back to beaming at her.

“Mind telling me your name, darlin’?” He asks.

She doesn’t see any harm in it; “Morgan. Miss. Morgan Abigail Marston.”

“Morgan Mar…” The man cringes, shaking his head and muttering something under his breath; “John, you sentimental little bastard.”

“Huh?”

“Nothin’, nothin’.” He brushes off.

“I get called Abby though. Pa only calls me Morgan if I’m in big trouble.”

The man snorts another laugh; “Yeah, that sounds more right. And how old are you, Miss. Abby? You mind if I call you Abby?”

She shrugs, not minding at all; “I’s three and a half this May.”

“Three and a half? You sure do talk clever for one so little.”

That’s true, she does. From the moment she learned to talk, she’s been a little chatterbox, as Uncle says. The grown ups would go from endeared to exasperated by her constant babbling. She knew what she was trying to say, but they rarely seemed to understand her, grown-ups were dumb like that. Jack seemed to know what she was saying more often, he’d share with her words that Ma and Pa didn’t seem to know, which only confused them more when she spoke. It’s only very recently that she had to be quiet, as talking made her very tired, her little chest so sore and heavy all the time.

“How old are you, Mister?”

“Take a guess.”

Abby looks from the spurs on his boots up to his sandy brown hair, then tilts her head.

“Sixty?”

“Sixty!” The man’s eyes widen, affronted; “I ain’t sixty, you little…!” he bites his lip and groans; “God damn Marstons. Your pa is older than me now and he ain’t sixty!”

Older than him now? That don’t sound right.

“You both very old! And I’m still learning my numbers!” She defends, crossing her arms.

That makes the visitor soften; “Okay, that’s fair. Math weren’t ever my biggest strength either. Writing was more my thing.” He takes seat on the step of the porch, beside her. Even sat down, he’s taller than her whole height.

Abby looks down at her toes; “I ain’t good at that either. My brother teaches me but…the letters get all jumbled around. Makes my eyes sore. I like to draw though.”

“Really? Me too.”

“I can draw better than Pa. He has this book he shows me, filled with all these pretty drawings of animals and weird places, but I know they were all done by someone else. I know ‘cause his drawings look like the ones I did when I was two!”

The man gives her a grin; “I don’t doubt it, Miss.”

Abby feels at ease enough to remove her hand from the banister, sitting back down beside the man, balancing his hat on her head. They sit in the most comfortable silence that she’s ever experienced, like she’s known this stranger for as long as she’s known Ma, Pa, Jack and Uncle. Like he’s always been there, which is funny and impossible, yet feels as true as the sun on her face. The sun that probably should have disappeared behind the horizon by now.

It's as if the whole world is playing her favourite game where they all pretend to be statues when Mama stops playing the piano. There are birds chirping, chickens clucking and cows mooing in the distance, but the sun refuses to budge from its serene position in the sky, and there isn’t another soul in sight to disturb them except for the man’s horse. Even Rufus is nowhere to be seen, though the last time she saw him was when he was curled up at the foot of her bed, giving her weak hand the occasional nudge with his wet nose.

“You ain’t told me your name, Mister.” She says after a while.

“Forgive me, sweetheart.” He sighs, “My name’s Arthur. I’m a…very old friend of your parents.”

“Arthur? Like King Arthur?”

The man doesn’t seem to like that, as he rolls his eyes; “Yeah, sure, like King Arthur. Except I’m anything but a king. I’m just…an ugly, dumb fool!”

She doesn’t think he’s ugly at all. In fact, he looks the same as she always pictured the King when Jack read those stories to her. Like a hero.

“What are you doing here, Mr. Arthur?”

“Oh, it’s just ‘Arthur’, miss. Or…if you want, you can call me ‘Uncle Arthur’, like your brother used to…But. O-only if you want to, of course.” Now he’s the one who’s gone all shy, a hint of color beneath the thick stubble on his cheeks.

“Uncle Arthur.” She gives it a try, then nods; “Okay!” That does sound right. Very right. She didn’t even know she had any Uncles…except for the one, who was more like a grandpa anyway. “Why you here, Uncle Arthur? Why ain’t I seen you before?”

He takes a sad breath; “I’ve been away for a very long time, Abby. And I’ve missed your ma and pa and brother terribly, but…Well. You’ll understand soon, why I haven’t been able to meet you till now. I’m very glad I have though…You’re the spitting image of your pa.”

“Aww, really?” Abby pouts, disappointed, wishing she looked more like Mama.

Uncle Arthur chuckles again, putting a large hand onto her back; “Now don’t worry, you’re much prettier than he ever was!”

Better than nothing, she supposes.

“Anyway…I came here ‘cause I was asked to make a delivery.” He explains.

“You here for the eggs? Or the milk? You ain’t here for Jack, are you? I asked baby Jesus to swap him for a sister instead but I weren’t serious-.”

“No, no, I ain’t here for them, sweet girl.” He rubs at her back; “…I’m here for you.”

A chill runs through her.

“Me…?”

Arthur nods, solemn, fingers clasping securely around her shoulder; “Your daddy…He asked me if I could come get you…and take you some place real nice, somewhere you’re gonna be very happy.”

She believes him. She trusts him.

But…

“Don’t they want me anymore?”

His mouth gapes like a fish, it would be funny if she wasn’t so ready to cry; “I…’Course they want you, sweetheart, they…They love you more than anything in this world!”

Abby sniffs, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand, salt-water filling her eyes.

“I know they been real sad lately…” She tells him, voice breaking; “Mama’s so tired, I haven’t seen her sleep, she always sitting next to my bed. And Pa…He got so mad when the doctor came to visit me, I ain’t ever seen him that angry before. I didn’t understand what they were saying. Mama was crying, then so was Jack, even the dog started…”

“…But not you?”

She shakes her head; “I wanna cry, sometimes, but I can’t always. Mama said I’m the same as Daddy. He don’t like to cry either. We both have…’hot heads’, she says. I saw Daddy cry once though, when I woke up the other night, he was on his knees next to my bed. I think he was talking to Jesus, but I was too tired to listen…”

Arthur holds her a little closer into his side.

“You haven’t been feeling very well, have you Abby?” He asks, carefully.

She shakes her head. It had been so easy to forget. Forget the burning pain in her lungs. Forget the icy shivers wracking her tiny body. Forget the black shadows dancing on her walls as the fevers got worse. Forget how stiff and heavy her arms and legs felt.

“I’m all better now. See? I don’t cough anymore! I can breathe like I used to!” she takes a great theatrical inhale and exhale to demonstrate; “It feels really good!”

“I know, sweetheart.” Arthur smiles; “I remember…”

It hits her then. The truth. Without even needing the concept fully explained to her, she knows exactly what’s happened. The reason she feels so much ‘better’. The reason she’s out here all alone. The reason the world is playing musical statues.

The reason her Uncle Arthur has come to get her.

She takes a glance back at the house. The closed front door. The drawn curtains.

“…Can’t I say goodbye?”

Arthur gives her a squeeze; “You can, but…You can’t see them right now. It’s…a bit complicated, how it all works, but…”

“Okay,” she accepts, feeling the lump in her throat.

He pulls her close and she buries her face in his jacket, one little hand reaching around his middle. The tears fall now. Not big, loud sobs, 'cause she’s not a baby. She’s strong and brave like Mama and Aunt Sadie, who she’s never met but Jack tells her about. Of all the characters he’s introduced her to and let into her dreams, she’s her favorite.

Uncle Arthur’s thumb rubs circles into her arm; “We can sit here for as long as you want. And then, whenever you’re ready, we’ll go for a ride. Okay, darlin’?”

Abby nods, the tiniest whimper squeaking from her lips.

She doesn’t need long. There’s no need for her to pack. No tiny suitcase to stuff full of her clothes and pencils and crochet animals. Instinct tells her that, where they’re going, everything she wants will already be there waiting. Besides, she can come back and visit later, if she wants, as Arthur tells her. He says that he’s come to check in on them from time to time, even when she was born and long before then. It’s hard, he says, to be there and see them all, but not be seen back…But he did it. Many, many times. She thinks she will too.

For now though, Morgan Abigail Marston detaches herself from her uncles side once the tears have all dried. She picks herself up and brushes herself down, fingers smoothing against her dirty nightdress.

“Uhh…You sure you don’t wanna put on some clothes? Or shoes?”

Abby shrugs, “Nah, I’m good.”

Arthur snorts; “’Course you are. You’re your pa’s daughter, all right.”

He offers her his hand and she takes it, letting it swallow hers up. He leads her off the steps and towards his horse, who pads at the ground with her hoof.

“Miss. Abby, meet Boadicea. Boadicea, meet Miss. Abby Marston.” Arthur introduces them, patting Abby’s back; “You wanna pet her?”

She nods. Oh, yes! She eases closer, reaching her hand out as the mare dips her head for the child to stroke her mane. Her fingers run through the silky smooth locks of hair, just as soft as she imagined.

“I think she likes you, kid. She must think you’re special.”

Abby glances around the ranch.

“…Can’t I ride my pony?” She was getting so good before she got sick. Not quite ready to ride without still being tethered to Rachel and Daddy, but close.

“Aww, I’m sorry, Miss. Like Jack and your folks, I’m afraid she’s gotta stay here…”

“Oh…okay.” She has to accept that too.

There’s a soft neighing sound in the distance. Is that her pony, Belle, calling for her? Does she know that she’s going away?

Arthur scoops her up off the ground, holding her like she weighs less than a handful of straw.

“Now don’t you worry. There’s plenty of ponies for you to ride where we’re going…and more. You got a bunch of other aunts and uncles all excited to meet you…I’ll warn you now, your grandpa Hosea might squash you with all the hugs he’s got…And my little boy, Isaac, he’s around your age and can’t wait to play with you. Anything you want, anything you can imagine, it’ll be yours. And then one day…won’t even feel that long to wait…your ma and pa will come find us. Even Jack, eventually…But for now, you okay to ride on Boadicea with me? I know she’s bigger than you’re used to, but…You’ll always be safe with me. I promise.”

She nods. Once again, there’s not a flicker of doubt in his words.

She lets him place her at the front of his saddle. Her legs are far too shorts to reach any stirrups but she holds onto the leather seat as Arthur mounts up, swinging his leg over and then wrapping one arm tight around her front, his other taking the reins.

“That feel all right?” He checks with her, letting her shift so she’s comfy.

“Mmm hmm,” she nods, “…I feel so tall!”

“Yeah, you are. Tallest lady in America, you are, Abby Marston.” He teases, fixing his hat on her before it can fall off; “…You ready to go?”

She takes another look at the house. Her home. Her…life.

“…Bye Mama. Bye Pa. Bye Jackie…Look after them for me…And Rufus, look after Jack…” she whispers to the house. Then she takes a deep breath; “…Okay. I’m ready, Uncle Arthur.”

A click of his tongue, a gentle tug on the reins.

“As you wish, my lady. Let's get you home.”