Cartoon Cuts [Virginia Suburbia, early evening]

[sith_happened]

It was time for Juliet's first haircut--her blonde curls had stopped being adorable and had started getting knotted. And being sixteen months old meant that a patient and careful comb-through was not in the cards.

So there the three of them were in a brightly lit children's barber shop: Anakin, toting Juliet and Rory toting the camera.

Anakin was looking for the most competent person in the shop. Juliet was looking at the cartoons.

"Dora!"

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[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"How exciting," Rory drawled, bending to get the first of many, many pictures. "Smile for Mommy, Juliet!"

[sith_happened]

"Eeee!" Juliet replied, pushing her face close to the camera.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Your nose is lovely, honey," Rory laughed. "Hey. Hey, look up here?" she tried, snapping her fingers up above her head to get Juliet to divert her attention.

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Juliet looked up and clapped her hands. "Mamamamamama!"

"It's her first haircut," Anakin explained to the lady at the front counter, who looked not in the least interested.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"She has her daddy's hair and it's just growing all over," Rory added.

Again: not so much with the caring.

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She pointed to an older woman in the back. "Juanita will take care of you," she said.

"She's good at cutting babies' hair?" Anakin asked anxiously. "Has she been doing this long? Do you have her resumé? Did you conduct a background check?"

Anakin needed to calm down.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Can she hold scissors correctly?" Rory added. "Also: does she make fun faces? Juliet enjoys silly faces."

[sith_happened]

The woman at the counter gave them the patented smile reserved for clearly deranged parents. "She'll do whatever you want. That way, please."

"Play?" Juliet asked, tugging at Rory's hand.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Not right now. Right now, Juliet? We're going to be pretty. Like princesses," Rory wheedled, eyes wide. "Wanna be a pretty princess like Mommy?"

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Juliet looked up at her, then declared, "No."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Only pretty princesses get cookies after they get their hair cut," Rory tried, going straight to plan B.

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"Cookie?" Juliet repeated. "COOKIE! Biiiiig cookie?"

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"After haircuts!" Rory promised, taking another picture. "We're gonna be soooo pretty, Juliet. And look, Dora!"

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"After" was not a concept Juliet was all that pleased with.

"COOKIE!" she demanded as Anakin tried to get her to sit in the barber chair. "NOoooooooooooo!"

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Sweetie, look, it's fun!" Rory pleaded, kneeling down and making faces at Juliet. "Haircuts are fun! Look! Cartoons!"

[sith_happened]

"Cookie," she sniffled, stuffing her hand into her mouth.

The hairstylist began cutting. "Do you want to keep some of the hair?" she asked.

Anakin looked confused. "Why?"

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Yes, please," Rory requested, glancing up from where she was digging in her purse for animal crackers or something. "For her scrapbook, honey."

[sith_happened]

"You keep hair?"

He was so going to have to call Aeryn.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Look at her bitty cuuuurls," Rory cooed. "We'll want to remember how soft and pretty they were once she's older and borrowing your products to maintain that."

[sith_happened]

"Oh, she'll never use my products," Anakin declared.

Juliet tried to dodge out of the way of the scissors.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Juliet, look, it's easy," Rory tried, looking pleadingly at the hairdresser. "Mommy gets her hair cut all the time."

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"Nonononononononono," Juliet replied.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"What if I get my hair cut now?" Rory tried. "Or Daddy does?"

[sith_happened]

Juliet gave her an inquisitive look. "Cut?"

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Yup. Cut, 'cause too much hair makes our heads hot and it hurts when we take baths," Rory explained patiently. "Daddy and I can get haircuts too, just like you."

Rory beckoned the hairdresser over, pulling out a lock of her own hair. "She's gonna show you how haircuts work on Mommy, okay?"