This story occurred to me and I was like, okay, sure. I only own Rachel, Sasha, Amy, Layla, Mark, and Tina. All other characters belong to their respective owners and the part where Layla takes down a group of villains was inspired by the movie "Spy Kids: All The Time In The World" which I do not own.

Wrapped In The Heart

It had been a quiet day at the Grant Mansion as Rachel worked on cleaning a few of the rooms. With the mansion being so huge, she broke it down into a few rooms per day and the others would pitch in to help her, so the work wasn't too overwhelming.

She had just finished one of the spare rooms when Snare-Oh came in. "Oh, Rachel. I'm glad I found you," he said.

"What's up, Snare-Oh?" she asked, seeing her friend looked worried.

"Well, I need some advice and help," he said.

Rachel wordlessly gestured for him to sit down on the bed and he did as she sat down beside him. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I wish it was," he said. "I just finished speaking with Magister Tennyson. He told me that my best friend from my childhood and his wife passed away."

"Oh, Snare-Oh," Rachel said. "I'm so sorry."

He nodded in thanks at her heartfelt sympathy. "When Mark, that was my friend's name, and I were younger, we were like brothers and we made a promise to each other that if anything happened to either one of us, the other would step in and care for the grieving wife and children. When we got older, we had it written down officially in a living will," he said.

Rachel stayed silent as she let him continue. "Mark married a beautiful woman named Layla. She was one of the most beautiful of our kind and she had a very bright spirit and a very big heart. They were so much in love. Almost a year later, they had a daughter they named Tina and they made me her uncle."

Snare-Oh stopped for a moment. "I remember when Layla was pregnant. She kept her job as a secretary for one of the Plumber's offices and she didn't take any kind of nonsense from anyone. She even went on a mission that was getting tough for some of the Plumber agents and took down the whole ring of villains herself," he said fondly.

Rachel laughed. "Really? She took down the whole scandal by herself?" she calmed down after a moment. "How far along her pregnancy was she then?"

Snare-Oh looked at her. "Believe it or not, she was eight months pregnant. We were worried about it, but when she came back and went to the infirmary, she and her baby were alright."

"Wow," said the young woman. "Bet that went down in the history books."

"It did," the mummy alien told her and then he became more serious. "Anyway, what I wanted to ask you was, would you be okay if another alien child came to live with us?"

"You mean Tina?" Rachel asked and he nodded, looking at her pleadingly.

"I still have to tell Amy, but I'm worried about how she'll take it that she's basically going to become an instant mother," he said.

Rachel gave it some thought. "How old is Tina?" she asked. "And what does she like?"

"She's four years old," said Snare-Oh. "And she likes princesses, especially 'The Little Mermaid'. Ariel is her favorite."

The young woman smiled. "My uncles gave Sasha and I some of our old stuff we grew up with and believe it or not, it's all princess stuff," she said. "When is Tina coming?"

Snare-Oh looked at her in surprise. "Tomorrow morning," he said. "You're okay with this?"

She nodded. "I can tell you want the best for your niece," she said. "And I know Sparkle will love having a playmate that's around her age."

The mummy looked relieved. "Thank you, Rachel," he said. "I guess I should go tell Amy."

"And I'll get the stuff from the attic and set up this room for her," said Rachel as she headed for the attic and Snare-Oh headed down to find Amy.

"Come on, Amy! You can win it!" said Amanda excitedly.

Both sisters were downstairs playing "Just Dance" and were jamming to the catchy songs as Ghostfreak, Feedback, and Sparkle watched them. Amy was watching the screen carefully and finished off a complex dance move and posed, getting a perfect score, which made them cheer. She then noticed Snare-Oh come in. "Hey, my Pharaoh," she said with a grin, making him chuckle a little.

"Hey yourself, my Egyptian star," he said. "Amy, I was wondering if you and I can talk in private about something."

"Sure," she said, her curiosity growing as she followed the mummy alien to the living room where they sat down. Snare-Oh looked worried.

"Amy," he said. "I have some news. Magister Tennyson called me and told me that a dear friend and his wife passed away."

Amy looked sorrowful and she took his hands in her own, making him gently grasp her hands in return as he continued. "My friend and I had made a written agreement that if something happened to the other, we'd care for the widow and the children. Well, my friend and his wife had a little girl named Tina, and she's coming to live with us, as I'm now her caretaker."

Amy was surprised. "So, his daughter is coming?" she asked.

Snare-Oh nodded. "Yes, she is also my niece," he said.

She looked down and Snare-Oh placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know this is a lot to dump on you, but there's also something else. Tina's mother's parents are not loving grandparents and if I didn't have Tina come here, they would have taken her to their employer," he said.

"Employer?" she asked.

"The Forever King," said Snare-Oh. "They struck a deal with them before Tina was born and my friend and his wife went to the Plumbers for protection. But now that they're gone, Tina's in danger if they find her."

Amy realized Snare-Oh had done the right thing. "You're right," she said. "This is unexpected, but we know what the Knights will do if they get Tina. When is she coming?"

"Tomorrow morning," he said. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"

She smiled. "Yes, Honey, I'm alright with it," she said. "I just hope I can be a good mother-figure for her."

Snare-Oh pulled her into a loving kiss. "You'll do fine," he said reassuringly as they both went upstairs and were surprised Rachel had the room set up and ready.

"Whew!" said Rachel, smiling. "That was a good workout."

The other two laughed with her and told the rest of the occupants the news. All were delighted to have a new niece and Sparkle was excited to have a new cousin that was close to her age.

The next day, Magister Tennyson called them. "We have a problem," he said. "The Knights are trying to break into the ship that Tina's on and her grandparents are with them!"

Snare-Oh stood up. "Rook, I think we'll need your truck for this," he said.

"Consider it done," said the Revonnahgander.

"I'll join you," said Rachel.

"Count me in," said Amy.

Feedback and Frankenstrike stood up, indicating they would join them. Gutrot then spoke.

"The rest of us will hold down the fort," he said. "Go get them, guys."

Nodding, the four aliens and the two humans headed off.

Magister Tennyson and the other Plumbers were holding off the Knights as best they could while Tina hid. "Don't let them get her!" said the Magister as the Plumbers knocked back a few Knights.

"Give us the girl!" said the Head Knight as Tina's evil grandparents goaded the Knights on, shouting at them to get their granddaughter.

Suddenly, the Knights were taken by surprise by an invasion of squirrels that then took off as Rook used his truck lasers to fire at the Knights. Rachel, Amy, Feedback, and Snare-Oh all jumped down to join the battle while Frankenstrike helped Rook with the other weapons, firing at the Knights, who fired back.

Thanks to the distraction, Feedback and Snare-Oh, along with Rachel and Amy battled the Knights with kicks and stun punches, knocking down several of them. Before long, the Knights had retreated and Tina's grandparents began fighting the four, who quickly split up and the two girls got the trapper ropes ready while their friends confused the other two aliens. After a moment, Rachel and Amy threw the ropes, which trapped the two evil aliens, who were furious, but couldn't do anything as they were arrested and taken away.

Tina, who had come out when Magister Tennyson called her, now ran into her uncle's open arms and he hugged her. "It's okay, Tina, Uncle Snare-Oh's got you," he soothed her as he turned to his friends, who smiled as they all climbed into Rook's truck and headed for the mansion.

Tina looked at them all curiously. "Who are they, Uncle Snare-Oh?" she asked.

"Your aunts and uncles," he said to her as he introduced them to her.

"We've been looking forward to meeting you, Tina," said Rachel. "The rest of our family is at the Grant Mansion, where we're headed."

Tina looked surprised. "You've been wanting to meet me?" she asked. "I thought I wouldn't be welcomed after what happened."

"Tina," said Snare-Oh. "I would never allow you to be turned away. You're my niece and I promised your father that I would take care of you."

"And your uncle's not alone," said Amy. "I'll be taking care of you too."

"We all will," said Rachel. "We're a family and we take care of each other."

Tina looked hopeful. "I'm one of the family?" she asked, a little uncertain.

"Yes," said Snare-Oh firmly. "You are."

They arrived home and the others welcomed them back and welcomed Tina warmly. The small alien was surprised at how accepting the others were to be her uncles and the human women to be her aunts. When Sparkle came up and hugged her, Tina hugged her back and the girls became fast friends and cousins.

Later that night, Tina sat on her bed as she looked at the posters and the rest of the room decorated with 'The Little Mermaid' stuff and smiled. "Uncle Snare-Oh must have told them about my favorite princess," she said.

"Sparkle is also a fan of 'The Little Mermaid'," said Snare-Oh as he and Amy came in to see Tina.

"I love it," said the four-year-old. "Uncle Snare-Oh, can I talk to you and Aunt Amy about something?"

"Of course," said Amy. "What is it, sweetie?"

Tina looked down for a moment. "A few days ago, I was talking with my dad and he told me that if something happened to him, Uncle Snare-Oh would take care of me and he told me that I should eventually call Uncle Snare-Oh my father. I was confused at that and he told me that he and mom would always be my parents, but that it wouldn't hurt to have another set of parents who will love me and raise me," she said. "I think he wants me to call you guys my mom and dad."

Snare-Oh was surprised that Mark had told his daughter that. "Sounds like he didn't want you to worry if something did happen," he said.

"And he wanted to be sure that you knew that no matter who your new parents were, he and your mom would always love you," said Amy with a smile.

Tina looked at them both. "So, would it be okay if I called you guys Mom and Dad?" she asked. "Sparkle told me you're getting married."

"We are," said Snare-Oh. "And if you want to call us that, that is fine with me."

"It's fine with me too, on one condition," said Amy.

"What's that?" asked Tina.

Smiling, Amy pulled out something Magister Tennyson gave her. It was a picture of Tina with her parents when she was a year old. "That you keep this picture where you can see it and always remember them," she said, giving Tina the picture.

The small alien looked surprised. "You're okay with it?" she asked her.

"Yes."

Tina placed the picture on her nightstand and smiled. "Thanks, Mama. Thanks, Daddy," she said and hugged them both and they hugged her back, feeling a spot open in their hearts for the little girl who was now a part of their loving family.

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GoldGuardian2418