This is my very first Animaniacs fan fiction attempt. I was watching the show recently for the past few months as reruns on the Hub, thank you Hub, let me add! And this is my story for why I think Mindy calls her mother lady, I think everyone theorizes this anyway, that woman ISN'T her mother. So this is the story and everything. Read & Review

Nancy Manning was in her bed once again alone. She was terribly sick. Her husband, Mortimer, came in to check on her and he held their newborn baby daughter named Mindy in his arms. "Are you okay, Nancy?" Mortimer asked. "Any luck on feeling better?"

"I'm afraid not," Nancy coughed. "Hi sweetie..." Nancy smiled as she saw baby Mindy looking back at her with her crystal baby blue eyes.

"Maa...maaa..." Mindy tried to say mama or mother, but couldn't due to her age.

"She's growing fast, Nancy." Mortimer smiled. "I hope you can watch her walk sometime."

"Me too, Mortimer, I'm going back to sleep now, okay?" Nancy smiled.

"Of course," Mortimer left.

"Mortimer?"

"Yes Nancy?"

"Could you leave Mindy?"

"Okay, you call me when you're ready." Mortimer placed Mindy down next to her mother.

Nancy was sick with breast cancer. She had an unsuccessful surgery and had only months to live now. Nancy was very beautiful, she had chocolate-brown eyes and long blonde hair. She often wore dresses and was very thrilled to have a daughter. "Hey Mindy..." Nancy coughed again.

"Hi Ma!" Mindy giggled and crawled over to her mother.

"That's right," Nancy smiled. "I'm Mommy... Mother... Mom..."

"I love you!" Mindy pulled into a hug with her sick mother.

"I love you too, Mindy." Nancy smiled.

Moments later, Mortimer came back as Mindy got a little cranky and whimpered. "I'll feed her, you stay in bed, honey." Mortimer left and held Mindy over his shoulder.

"Bye Mindy." Nancy waved and coughed a little.

"Okay, I love you, bye-bye!" Mindy giggled.

Soon Nancy eventually died. Mortimer took two jobs just to keep Mindy on her feet as she grew toddler age and wasn't old enough for school quite yet. Mortimer noticed his only daughter had been depressed lately and decided to go to the pet store one day after leaving Mindy with his mother. Due to being busy a lot, sometimes Mindy didn't recognize her own father.

"Hello Mindy, sweetheart!" Mortimer greeted with a warm smile.

"Hi Mr. Man!" Mindy waved.

"Sweetie, I'm your Daddy. Call me Daddy, Father or Pop, but not man! I got a surprise for you." Mortimer said.

"Huh?" Mindy looked.

Mortimer then stepped aside with a leash and he had brought a dog with him. He had a big black button nose, and looked like a wonder dog. Mindy grew an instant liking to him. She hugged him.

"This is your new dog, Mindy." Mortimer smiled. "Just for you! What should we call him?"

Mindy looked around the dog and focused on his nose. It was like a shiny button on her new overalls and found it to be the most significant thing about him. "Buttons!" Mindy smiled and held onto the dog's muzzle playfully.

"Buttons it is." Mortimer smiled and sat with his mother while Mindy and Buttons played together.

"I'm very sorry about Nancy, how long has it been now?" Mortimer's mother asked.

"Just a year," Mortimer replied. "I don't think Mindy's noticed though, she's very young."

"True, but she needs a mother, Morty."

"There's this woman named Tessa in my accounting office," Mortimer pointed out. "Maybe I could ask her out, she seems nice with me, but I don't think she likes kids too much."

"Try it out," Mortimer's mother suggested.

"Okay, mind watching Mindy and Buttons tomorrow evening?" Mortimer asked.

"Not at all." she smiled, she didn't mind.

The next night Mortimer was getting ready to go out with Tessa. He got on his best suit and while he was getting his tie adjusted, there came, stumbling Mindy. "Hey sir, whatcha doin'?" Mindy asked.

"I'm getting ready to go on a date, Mindy." Mortimer told her.

"Whhhhyyyy?" Mindy asked.

"Because I really like this lady named Tessa."

"Whhhhhyyy?"

"We'll take about it when you're older."

"Whhhhhyy?"

"Because you're too young to understand now."

"Whhhhhyyy?"

"It's a grown-up thing, honey. Now go play with Buttons or something."

"Okay I love you, bye bye!" Mindy waved and walked off back downstairs.

"Love you too, Mindy." Mortimer smiled.

Mindy played with Buttons and they shared fun in the living room while Mortimer's mother watched them. She couldn't help but laugh whenever Mindy would throw a ball against the clock and Buttons would charge for it and hit his head against the clock. "Silly puppy!" Mindy giggled.

"He certinately is, Mindy." Mortimer's mother smiled and petted Buttons gently on the head. "And a very good dog. How about I get you a nice juicy steak, huh boy?"

Buttons panted and yipped happily as his ears pricked up.

Eventually, Mortimer came home with Tessa. She had long light brunette hair, green eyes and a very slender figure. She came home with Mortimer one night and she eventually moved in with him. They had been dating a lot and Tessa was a little sneaky when it came to Mortimer and having him to herself.

Tessa blackmailed many people into getting Mortimer's mother into moving into a retirement home. This meant that Mindy and Buttons couldn't be watched over by her anymore. Tessa also didn't like Mindy much, she had never really been fond of children. She didn't even like Buttons and often kicked and pushed him around. All Tessa ever really cared about was actually having a handsome boyfriend and having someone to brag about in her social life.

"Mortimer, face it," Tessa told Mortimer as they were at the dinner table together and Mindy was eating, not paying attention to her father and step-mother. "Your daughter is very rowdy."

"Tessa, she's our daughter now..." Mortimer mumbled nervously.

"I don't care!" Tessa snarled. "She needs to go outside and get some exercise!"

"Well that's true, plus she's too young to be in school now..." Mortimer turned to Mindy. "What can we do?"

"I see a lot of decent parents put their children on leashes." Tessa told him with a sinister smirk. "Maybe Mindy should be on a leash."

"Tessa, she's not a dog!" Mortimer protested.

"Are you saying you're putting your daughter before your wife?" Tessa sounded angry. "Mortimer, if you don't do something about her, I'm leaving you!"

Mortimer's eyes widened and he turned to Mindy. He couldn't put his only daughter on a leash, but he knew he had to keep a female role model in the house for Mindy. He then accepted and allowed Tessa to buy a leash to put Mindy attached to on the tree so Mindy could get exercise and stay out of Tessa's way. Tessa smiled as that was settled, then she tripped over Buttons in the living room floor. She turned to the dog and growled.

"You know Mortimer," Tessa got up and straightened herself out. "When I was a kid, dogs slept outside!"

"But Buttons is harmless!" Mortimer defended.

"So you're putting your own dog before me now?" Tessa sounded innocent.

Mortimer was uneasy but he then built a doghouse and forced Buttons to be an outside dog from now on. Tessa then went outside to see things going her way. "Mindy, I'm going to be your new mother and you should refer to me as it."

"Okay lady," Mindy looked up at her.

"Not lady! Mom! Mama! Or Mother, I'm your new mother!" Tessa growled and walked off.

"Okay I love you bye bye!" Mindy waved.

And that's the story and origin of Buttons and Mindy.