Disclaimer: The characters belong to the Great Aoyama. And nursery rhymes belong to whomever.

And for those who would have liked a dubbed fic: Shinichi is Jimmy Kudo, Yusaku and Yukiko are respectively his father (famous detective story author) and mother (early retired actress). Ran (Mouri) is Rachel Moore and Sonoko Suzuki is her best friend Serena Sebastian.

This story takes place before "The big Shrink" (in other words before Conan appears) but after Ran and Shinichi went to visit his parents in the States (book 21 Plane case, books 34-35 Golden Apple).
Dagron.

Diddle Diddle Dumpling

"The wheels on the Bus go round and round, round and round, round and..."

Shinichi moaned. He was exhausted, sitting in the rear of the car. He was attempting to sleep while his Dad drove on. I did say "attempting"...

The evening had put his mother in a wonderful mood, and although she would have liked to drive them home, Yusaku had kindly decided he should do it. So instead she was singing some silly American Nursery Rhyme.

"Mom! Why must you sing such a childish song...? You've been singing it since we left the party!" And during which time his father had managed once again to put his reasoning down, while they were discussing one of his latest novels. That, whenever it occurred, usually took quite a while, and also left Shinichi in a bad mood whilst his father whistled happily. Of course, it was often difficult to say if the victory was real, Yusaku being rather good at fast-talking...

Yukiko brushed one of her curls back, before answering her son. He suspected she probably had a glass or two of alcohol plenty.

"But Shinichi, I need to know this song by heart before we return to LA. You do remember that I'm helping out at a local theatre group there right? This song is part of one of their plays!"

Shinichi knew that his parents would be returning to Los Angeles the next evening, but it didn't make him more patient with her babbling. He had had an extremely long Day.

First of all he had had some mock exams, and although he was always a good student, he had worked hard at them. He had also been busy in the soccer club. Thus he was tired mentally and physically. Also, it didn't help that he'd been having trouble sleeping lately and that his parents chose to surprise him by arriving at a late hour the previous evening.

And there was also the surprise of having to come with them to this Party.

"Huh? A Party to celebrate your Father's works? And you need to go too?" had said Ran, when he had told her, while they walked home.

"Yup." Shinichi said. "That's why I won't be able to come help you organise Sonoko's party. I wish they could have warned me earlier though..." He sighed. He would have way preferred listening to Sonoko's waffle while in Ran's company, than to listen to a group of groupies surround his Dad while his mom grumbled something disobliging beside him.

"Huh? Ran!!" They had arrived near Shinichi's home, and Yukiko had caught a sight of them.

"Shinichi's Mom! It's nice to see you again." Answered Ran, delighted to see Yukiko.

"Hadn't seen you since you came over to the States with Shinichi a few months back. How are you doing?"

While the teenage girl and his mom exchanged pleasantries, Shinichi forgot his wariness, and smiled. Ran was so beautiful when she too smiled.

He wasn't allowed to day-dream long though, because Yukiko suddenly ushered him inside saying: "Go on Shinichi, go get changed, we haven't got all evening..."

"Huh? I need to get changed now!"

"Yup, we're leaving in half an hour. You want to come too Ran? I can lend you a frock if you want one..." Shinichi blushed at the idea of being able to see Ran in one of his mother's smart dresses.

"No, thank you, misses Kudo. I promised Sonoko I'd help her out tonight. Have fun!"

And with a swing of her long dark hair, Ran was away. As if I could have fun...Thought Shinichi. He was thankful his parents didn't drag him often to these parties, but he knew them for what they were: boring. That of course, was unless a case occurred, but what with his luck these days...

And now there he was, in the car, only wishing to crash out after what had proved to be an uneventful and dull evening. He'd have to remember to take some ear muffs next time something like this occurred. His mother had started singing another nursery rhyme. Something to do with a guy in his night gear jumping over a candle, that is, if his English was still up to scratch in his state. Ooh Boy He tugged at his collar and loosened his tie, before once again trying to block out his mothers voice in order to snooze.

It wasn't his mother's voice that jerked him awake a few moments later. It was his Father's.

What now?! He leaned over to look at the dashboard.

The car had broken down. "Oh great... We're going to have to walk."

There was no way he or his father could fix the car in a dark street. They all three got out, and while Yusaku called a car repairs service and a taxi (if he was lucky), Shinichi and Yukiko took out there things from the boot. Luckily there wasn't much, and, oh glee, his mom had stopped singing.

Two hours later, the taxi driver at last dropped them at their home. Once in his room Shinichi groaned and barely slipped one shoe off before crashing onto his bed. He hadn't had the strength to remove his shoes at the door. In a matter of seconds he was sound asleep.

Yukiko stretched and yawned. The sun was already up. She smiled when she heard the birds singing in the garden. She felt even better once she had refreshed herself in the bathroom. Humming to the birds' tune she returned to her room, only to stop in front of Shinichi's. The door was ajar, and she could see her son sprawled on his bed linen, in his smart smocking, one shoe on the floor and the other still on. She chuckled, before getting that twinkle in the eye everyone gets when they have a clever idea. She tiptoed rapidly to a closet not far, and took out a Polaroid camera. Carefully, she took the shot. She returned to her room humming, but this time it was a different song.

Shinichi felt that he was awake before he could even guess why. He tightened his eyelids and groaned. Noise was gritting at his ears. What was it? It sounded like a voice, but he couldn't understand what it was saying. He concentrated more out of habit than real curiosity. "Diddle Diddle Dumpling," Oh, it was his mother, probably singing another of those nursery rhymes while trying to wake him up. He could feel her shaking him.

"My son John went to bed with his trousers on..." Ah, it was one he hadn't heard her sing before. "One shoe off and one shoe on..." Why was she singing that song? "Diddle Diddle Dumpling, My son John..."

He muttered slightly as he opened his eyelids, only to see...

"Good Morning John!"

"Argh, Mom! What are you doing calling me John, and singing English at me first thing in the morning?" He sat up scowling at his mother; she was simply giggling at him.

"It's not my fault you did the same as the guy from that song. I just thought it was so funny."

"Huh?" Only then did Shinichi notice that he had in fact gone to bed all dressed up, except for one shoe he had kicked off before crashing out.

"Okay, okay," he said, before his mother could start another fit of giggles. "Now get out so that I can get dressed." He felt rather embarrassed.

"Okay Johnny dear," she laughed as he shut the door behind her.

Five minutes later his was awake and in normal clothes. He found his mom sitting, staring at the sight she had in front of her. Yusaku too had fallen asleep in his suit, but he hadn't even reached his room. Sprawled in the chair by the phone, he was softly snoring.

"Hey, don't tell me you had a fight last night you two..." Shinichi staged-whispered to his mom.

"What do you think? Of course not. He said he promised to call some guy as soon as he got home. I told him it could wait till later but he insisted."

"Wow, and he fell to sleep on spot. I see."

Shinichi then noticed his mother smile cheekily, as she reached out for an indelible pen on the table next to the phone.

"Hey! You're not thinking of doing what I think you're thinking?"

"Of course I am! I waited for him to come back for a whole hour before drifting off." She answered as she started drawing on her husband's face. "And there's also the matter of the car braking down last night." She started humming again as she scribbled a flower above one eye-brow. Shinichi was thinking about the dreadful evening he had been forced to attend the previous night, and of a certain dispute about one of his father's stories.

"Hey, let me do some too!" He said, smiling with his mother as Yusaku unknowingly found his face being filled with childish scribbles.

--:--

Later that day, at Sonoko's party...

"Hey Ran, I nearly forgot..."

Ran looked at Shinichi as he handed her a small square envelope.

"My Mom asked me to give you this."

"What is it?" she asked.

"I don't know, she told me not to look."

Ran snipped the envelope open, and drew out a piece of card.

She turned it around to discover a photo of Shinichi. She blushed when she noticed that it was one of him in a suit. He was sprawled on his bed, with one shoe off and one shoe on. The missing shoe could be seen on the floor. Shinichi peeped over her shoulder, before she heard him mutter angrily something about "diddle-diddle-dumplings" and "johns." He was as red as her.

"Wait till I get my hands on mom." Shinichi whispered to himself

"Hey, what are you guys looking at!" Sonoko had come round.

"Oh, er, nothing!!" the both said, looking guilty.

Shinichi quickly ran off to join some of the guys by the drinks, leaving Ran alone to fend off a curious Sonoko.

But boy, does Shinichi look cute on that Photo. She thought.

-Fin.-