The Baby

By: Rhuben

Summary-How Tum-Tum views his life as the baby of the family.

Michael Douglas.

Also known as Tum-Tum.

Also known as "the baby" of the family.

Oh, how he hated being referred to as the baby. He wasn't a baby. He was just the youngest of three kids. With his more…chubby physique it was no wonder he was always referred to as those two dreaded words. That didn't mean he had to accept it.

He was just as mature and responsible as his older brothers. Whenever there was a first sign of trouble, he'd go running off to his mom to let her know what was going on. Of course his good deed never went without some unwanted consequences. Time outs. Dessert taken away. Glowering looks from his older brothers and threats to be sat on were a daily occurrence.

He just didn't want to see his brothers get hurt. Nor did he want to be left out. Maybe with a whine of "mo-o-om" he'd be allowed to do what the big kids were doing. They never babied him and yet they never wanted him to tag along either; a combination that made him want to find out what they were doing even more.

He wanted to be just like them and do what big kids do. But no one gave him the chance. He tagged along with whatever adventures his brothers went on, and he was proud to say he held his own, however there was never a time where he didn't get through without the help from his brothers. Under the belt kicks and punches were his specialty growing up, but he didn't need to literally be carried through at times.

And he didn't need it now.

Now at 13 years old and all by himself at the top of the middle school hierarchy, he was his own person. Finally, no one could make "When Rocky was in my class", or "At least you're not like Colt" comments towards him. He got decent grades and was making a name for himself on both the scholastic swimming and lacrosse teams.

Gone was the short baby fat laden boy and in place stood a lean, muscular young man ready to take on High School. Despite wanting to be referred to as Mike more and more often, Tum-Tum still stuck with his close family and friends. It wasn't like he could ever outgrow the nickname; jelly beans were still his go-to snack, and with his fast metabolism he could eat as much as he wanted, and he did, and still kept the weight off.

A bonus to his active lifestyle and even better, Rocky and Colt never played those sports. Rocky was always the more logical type and stuck with ninja training and Colt couldn't get enough of basketball and baseball. It was nice to get away from the "you're going to play basketball like your brother, right?" questions and potential recruitments to join whatever club or activity they had previously taken part in.

It's not like he didn't like his brothers. In fact, at times it was pretty cool to have them around.

He got driven to school by them while others were still being driven by their parents and in a cool car no less, received the hand me downs of the cool clothes he always dreamt of having, and they occasionally he got to spend time with his brothers by themselves. Sports, movies, girls, school, their parents, there wasn't a single topic off limits they couldn't talk about and be rest assured that it'd be kept secret.

That didn't mean they got any less bossy as they got older.

"Tum, would you pick a stupid channel, already?" Tum-Tum grunted as the couch's side pillow careened into the side of his head, distracting him from Colt's quick retrieval of the remote from his hand. "You've gone through all the channels already."

"Hey!" Tum-Tum kicked the pillow to the floor before launching himself across the couch and onto his brother, reaching for the remote. "It's my turn to pick what we watch."

"Yeah and you're probably going to pick something boring," Colt protested, leaning away from his brother. "Look, an action flick is on."

"No, I won't," Tum-Tum protested, "give it back."

"Rock, catch." Colt threw the phone across the living room to Rocky who caught it in his hands. He tapped the remote against the bristly hair that lightly dusted his upper lip. He let out an amused laugh as Tum-Tum turned his annoyed gaze towards him.

"Come on, Tum, do you really think you're going to take this from me?" he asked, hiking an eyebrow.

"I know one way," Tum-Tum said, his lips curing into a smirk. "Mo-o-om! Rocky and Colt won't give me the remote."

"Give Tum-Tum the remote back, it's his turn to choose what you watch tonight."

"Oh, grow up, Tum," Rocky said with a roll of his eyes, slapping the remote down onto the arm of his chair. "Sicking mom on us?"

"Worked, didn't it?" Tum-Tum asked with a laugh of triumph. Colt grabbed him around the waist and pulled him to the carpeted floor. "Ahhh, get off. Rocky, help me!" Laughing, Rocky climbed out of his chair and jumped on top of his brothers, helping Colt hold Tum-Tum down. "Mooom!"

A/N: And finally finished this quick "series." Hmm, this one's the shortest of the three. I'm thinking of these quick stories as an introduction to how I'm going to write Rocky, Colt, and Tum-Tum for my idea for a 3 Ninjas story.

Thanks for reading.