Ted's Teepee

About This Story: Theodore shares his teepee retreat with Eleanor while feeling left-out of other family activities. Age-wise they are 9. I don't own any part of the Chipmunk franchise, just borrowing them from Nickelodeon, Janice Karman, & Ross Bagdasarian, their family, & their company.

About This Chapter: Rated G/PG, some fart jokes, sibling prank humor, friendship moments

Pairings: Theodore/Eleanor

Sweet Retreat

"Despite her small size, and her status as the youngest in our family, she doesn't let that stop her spunkiness. She has a way of caring for everyone, almost like a mom. And she sees the positive in everything, and the good in everyone. She is probably the sweetest person I know, and one of my best friends in the entire world! She even gives awesome hugs!"

Theodore smiled to himself as he wrote this on the most recent page of his blank notebook he used as a journal, as well as for writing poetry and drawing little sketches. He smiled looking around himself at the dark blue conical walls of the teepee in the chipmunks' bedroom that he was using as a retreat. A lantern for extra light hung from a string in the middle of the ceiling of it, making it easier to pretend he was camping out in the woods. Just being here made him forget about how his older brothers were downstairs playing some zombie video game without him - well, almost. But for the most part it sure helped him escape from his loneliness and his feelings of being left-out.

"Theo? Are you in here?" A comforting voice could be heard entering the bedroom, as well as some footsteps.

"I'm in here, Eleanor. Just a minute..." Theodore put his journal in a tote bag, then started unclipping a few of the clothespins that held the teepee's entrance shut.

Once he moved the flaps enough to see her, he said, "Sorry, I didn't realize we had company. Did you come from downstairs?"

"Yeah, I came through the front door with my sisters." She answered. "We were just gonna hang out downstairs with you guys for a while. Alvin and Simon were playing video games, Britt and Jeanette were watching or cheering for them, or gonna play winner, I don't know. Anyway, I asked where you were, and Simon said you might be up here in your bedroom." Glancing into the teepee, she added, "Nice teepee! Whatcha doing in there, anyway?"

Theodore shrugged. "Just hangin' out. I like to come here when my brothers are busy doing other stuff. If you wanna come in, I'll show you around."

"What? Really?" She looked over the teepee in surprise. "Are you sure it's big enough for two of us?"

He scooted over to one side and patted an empty spot on the floor to his right, as if inviting her to sit. "Oh, yes. I have been in here together with both of my brothers, before." He laughed. "One time Simon said he wanted to do a 'scientific experiment' to see how many chipmunks could fit. I could fit in here with both Simon and Alvin, plus about seventeen or so stuffed chipmunk dolls or other stuffed animals stacked on top of us."

Eleanor giggled as she entered the teepee and sat in the empty spot. "Sounds like fun!"

Theodore continued as he started putting the clothespins back in place to close the teepee flaps. "We were smaller back then, though. I think we were about six when we did that. It really felt like we were bonding for a while. The only thing that wasn't fun was that I was almost suffocating near the bottom of the pile. In fact, it was all fun and games until somebody farted. Pretty sure it was Alvin, but of course he blamed me. I was like, 'Are you kidding? I can hardly breathe as it is down here!' I remember screaming for everyone to get off of me, and thankfully they did. Simon and I were all pushing Alvin out of the room and opening windows so we could breathe."

She placed her left hand on his wrist as he was about to fasten the last clothespin in place. "In light of that story, are you sure you want to seal us in here?" She giggled.

He laughed. "I guess I could leave that one open." Instead, he fastened the clothespin on only one side of the flap, leaving a four-inch opening. "I don't know why I even told you that story, I mean, I doubt girls can relate to it. Sorry if I grossed you out or anything."

"Really, Theodore?" She giggled. "You think girls don't fart? I mean, Jeanette and I figured out that Brittany has a terminal case of gas now and then. But there's no warning when she releases it, it's like a 'silent-but-deadly'. Ugh!"

"Brittany has that problem?" Theodore asked.

"Why else do you think she wears so much perfume?" Eleanor laughed. "Of course she blames me most of the time, Jeanette if she's closer. She's also the reason we had to keep a stash of gluten-free food on hand." In a sing-song voice, she added. "All that gluten keeps her a-tootin'."

They both shared a laugh. Theodore thought to himself, "She's the coolest! I can even share fart jokes with her, and she finds it more funny than disgusting. I'll have to add that to the journal entry about her, later."

He assured her, "But don't worry, this teepee has been aired out long since Alvin 'condemned' it."

"Good to hear!" She nodded as she glanced around. "This teepee is actually roomier on the inside than it looks from the outside. And you have a lantern hanging for extra light. Nice!"

"Thanks! I'm glad you like it, Ellie." He smiled bashfully. "You know, I come in here a lot when my brothers do guy stuff and leave me out."

"Awww..." She patted his shoulder sympathetically. "I know how that feels, sometimes. My sisters do some girl stuff together and they leave me out. I don't know if it's because they think I'm too young to understand, or if they think I'm too much of a tomboy to appreciate whatever they're doing. I try to think they aren't excluding me on purpose, just to give them the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes I do stuff with Jeanette, or with Brittany, and the other sister feels left out. Jeanette says it's a common 'side-effect' that happens with groups of three - that someone can feel like the third wheel, if not careful. Usually, I'll go cook something in the kitchen, or sew, or clean to keep my mind out of the gutter when I feel like the third wheel."

"Awww!" He glanced over at her to return the sympathy. "Now it's kind of sad to think that your house is so clean, and that you have a lot of clothes - some that you make for us - and that we have so many leftovers."

"I learn to live with it." She shrugged. "I don't feel as bad about having 'alone time' anymore. I kind of like it and look forward to it. I guess you could say I even need it."

"True." Theodore nodded. "If I'm not cooking something in the kitchen, I like to come in here and do something creative." He turned around to retrieve the small tote bag. "Check it out - I have books to read, mostly cookbooks and culinary magazines, then some coloring books, and crayons and colored pencils..."

"What's this?" Eleanor picked up the journal, opening the hardcover to see the title page. "This book belongs to..." She read what was printed in a tan color by the company that made the blank journal. Then she read what was written in green ink, "...TJS." She glanced over at Theodore.

At first, Theodore was a little embarrassed that she had discovered the journal, but was afraid that if he made a big deal about it, that she would only want to read it more. "Yeah, I use that for writing stuff like poetry, potential song ideas, and stuff, as well as drawing."

"Cool!" She smiled. "So, you have a creative streak, Theodore...something that starts with a 'J'...Seville. Funny that it never dawned on me before to ask your middle name."

He chuckled shyly. "Yeah, my middle name is Jameson."

"Oh..." She nodded, "Theodore Jameson Seville. I like that."

He went on to explain, "Since Dave didn't get to pick our first names - to this day I don't really know who did - our birth parents who were chipmunks? I don't know, I've just always been 'Theodore' as long as I can remember... Anyway, since Dave knows he didn't pick our first names, when he adopted us and we became Sevilles, he passed on some other family names to us. He said that Jameson was his mother's maiden name."

"Wow..." She smiled, "That's quite an honor. Do Simon and Alvin have middle names? I can't believe we haven't heard Dave mention at least Alvin's middle name by now. Especially when Dave yells at him so much. We hear him say, 'ALVIN!' But it's funny we never hear, 'Alvin...Something...Seville!' Oh, I do hope his middle name doesn't start with an 'S', since that would give him some very unfortunate - but sometimes very fitting - initials."

Theodore laughed. "Don't worry, I think Dave already thought of that." He quickly peered outside the hole in the teepee entrance. "Good, no one else around. Alvin doesn't really want me to tell people his middle name, even though it's nothing embarrassing, and it doesn't start with an 'S'. But he's kinda superstitious about it, and thinks that if someone can say his full name, like three times in a row, it'll make him disappear or melt or something - you know, like in 'Beetlejuice', that movie I can't even watch without you, except for that one dinner scene that's pretty funny."

Eleanor laughed. "Who or what would make Alvin think that?"

Theodore had a smug expression on his face. "I did, of course. It was the best way I could get back at him for telling me that I would turn into a dog for accidentally eating dog biscuits, or for him telling Dave that it was me having 'accidents' in the kitchen while we tried to hide a puppy in the house who wasn't house-trained yet."

Eleanor's jaw dropped, and she playfully slapped Theodore's arm while laughing. "Why, Theodore! I didn't know you had it in you. And I didn't know Alvin would actually believe you."

He beamed. "Well, I got Simon in on it to make it even more convincing. He brought out some papers with a bunch of random math calculations, telling Alvin he had been running some calculations, and that he could prove scientifically that it could happen. Of course, Alvin's not gonna look through sheets with math stuff on it, he'll just take Simon's word for it. I later asked Simon what those calculations really were, and he said it was for some small-scale model rocket he was building in the basement. He was glad I made him part of this joke, since he likes to get Alvin back for pranking us and 'preying on my gullible nature'."

"That's awesome!" Eleanor laughed. "I've often wondered how you can put up with having Alvin as a brother."

Theodore smiled. "If it weren't for Simon, I know Alvin would drive me crazy. But come to think of it, if it weren't for Alvin, I think Simon and I would drive each other crazy. It rarely happens, only when Alvin's not around, but it does happen. I admire how you can put up with Brittany as a sister. She's usually nice to me, but I can see how it takes a certain kind of person to enjoy living with her."

"Yeah, I'm sure if it weren't for Jeanette as our go-between, Brittany and I would tear each other to pieces. But when Brittany isn't around, Jeanette and I can get on each other's nerves if left to ourselves long enough, and it only seems to happen in Brittany's absence, when we have no other witnesses. I honestly don't know how that happens, since she's so quiet, easy-going, and sweet. I guess it just shows how annoying I can be." She shrugged and added a wink.

"I can't imagine how you'd do it, either." Theodore smiled. "I mean, I'm having a great time with you right now!"

"Me too!" She nodded. "With you!"

A/N: Some "credits" for this chapter: Theodore's middle name is Jameson, & that is mentioned in the 2015 Nick cartoon series in episodes (so far) "Lil' T" & "Dog Days". But I was just going out on a limb adding that it was Dave's mother's maiden name. "Dog Days" is also the episode where Alvin blames Theo for the accidents while they are hiding a puppy that isn't house-trained yet. The one where Alvin tells him he will turn into a dog for accidentally eating dog biscuits is the 1980s cartoon episode "Theodore's Life As A Dog". I'm also going out on a limb about Brittany's gluten sensitivity, but why would she need to wear all that perfume? My sister, Molly, & I appreciate fart jokes like that. So no one can say that girls don't appreciate that kind of humor! Near the end of this chapter, when Eleanor is saying she doesn't know how she can drive Jeanette crazy, but "I guess it just shows how annoying I can be." That part was inspired by a friend from a small group at church, Anne, who said she and her husband (one of the church elders/shepherds, whatever you wanna call them) can drive each other crazy sometimes. Someone else in the group asked how that is even possible, since her husband is such a laid-back and easy-going guy. Anne said, "That just shows how annoying I can be." We all laughed in our small group. Before she said that, I thought she was up on a pedestal, all "saintly" & stuff, but she said that & I could see she was just one of us! Also, the line where Eleanor says "Me too! With you!" Is from the end of the 1997 movie "Romy And Michele's High School Reunion" (Lisa Kudrow & Mira Sorvino). I had always wondered the purpose of that teepee in the boys' bedroom of the Nick cartoon episodes, & especially why Theo seems to be most drawn to it. This story was going to be just one chapter, but it ended up longer than expected, so I'm breaking it into 4 chapters.