"Pace"

"Prologue: And Baby Makes Six"

Author's Note: I don't own the Care Bears. Soulful Heart Fox belongs to NebulaBelt, and Regal and Co. belong to me. I had the character Patient Heart Liger in mind for a long time, but Patient Heart Wolf was actually brought to the public eye first. I've already spoken with the creator of Patient Heart Wolf, and he's told me he has no problem with our characters sharing a name. They're not one and the same, and my character will usually go by Pace anyway. Just to avoid confusion, the italicized passage is a flashback. Enjoy!

The ticking of the cat-shaped wall clock seemed unusually loud as the three ligers sat in their parents' kitchen, waiting for the phone to ring. Chance, who was at the mental age of a fifteen-year-old but the chronological age of two and a half, was tapping his fingers on the tabletop. At first the tapping seemed to be random, a nervous tick of some sort. Soon, however, Connie was able to pick out the badly done rhythm of "The Addams Family" theme. Hope, who was chewing her lower lip raw as she periodically glanced at the clock, never even noticed. It was only when Chance started snapping his fingers at the appropriate places that Hope cracked a smile.

"Do you know any others?" she asked.

"Yupper." Chance grinned, and began drumming the complicated beat to 'Wipe-Out'.

Connie plucked an apple from the fruit bowl on the table, and regarded a small bruise on its yellow flesh with a look of disdain. "What's taking so long?"

Chance stopped his drumming, and said, "Well, Mom took seven hours to have you and Hopie, right?"

Connie put the apple back, and selected an orange instead. "Yeah, but we were the first cubs, and there were two of us. It shouldn't be taking this long." She sunk her teeth into the rind to get it started, grimacing at the slightly bitter taste, and began to peel the fruit.

"It's only been three hours. Relax." said Hope.

"Not quite three hours." Chance pointed to the clock. It had been a Christmas gift to Regal from Proud Heart, and the lioness had put the silly thing up in their kitchen for reasons of her own. Her parents had owned a similar one, but she didn't like to talk about her parents these days. The minute hand reached the 12, and the clock gave a tinny-sounding 'Meee-yowww'. Chance shrugged, and said, "Now it's been three hours."

"Ugh..." Connie rolled her eyes, but as usual this only amused him further. "Anyone want some orange?"

"Sure, I'll bite," said Chance, "Sail it over."

"Yes, please." said Hope pointedly, giving Chance a look.

"Aw, don't be a goody two-shoes." chuckled Connie, tossing Chance a quarter of her orange and giving some to Hope as well.

Hope split her chunk of orange into sections and said, "You think we should call Soulful? Tell him what's up?"

Connie shook her head. "Nah...You wanna give him a coronary?"

"Whatcha mean by that?" asked Chance, leaning forward in interest.

"Oh, you should have seen the look on his face when Mom went into labor with you. We were right there, weren't we Hope?"

Hope giggled, and nodded. "Oh yes. Poor guy...I thought he was gonna have a stroke!"

Chance smiled a little, and shook his head. "It isn't that funny, though. I think everyone but Mom went into 'panic mode' this time. What'd he do?"

Connie wiped orange juice from her lips and said, "Who, Soulful? Kinda got all buggy-eyed, and took a slooooow step backwards. But he didn't start to really squirm until later on, when he was watching us and waiting for the phone to ring. We spent about a half-hour asking him really awkward questions."

Chance rolled his eyes. "Just like a girl..." he tried unsuccessfully to duck as Connie pegged him in the head with a plum, then asked, "Did he answer any of them?"

"No." laughed Connie, "You'd think that red fur of his could hide a blush, but-"

"Connie..." Hope warned, "be nice."

"Mm." Connie popped a piece of orange into her mouth and dropped the subject. It occurred to her too late (as it usually does) that Soulful Heart, had he heard their conversation, probably would have thought she was making fun of him. These days, it was a rare thing for Connie to intentionally hurt someone's feelings. Accidents and misunderstandings, however, still happened on occasion. Connie, her cheeks burning with shame, filed her part of that particular conversation under the 'Do Not Repeat' section of her mind.

"So, what's it like?" asked Chance, "Having a baby in the house?"

"Well, it can be a lot of fun..." said Hope.

"A lot of work, too..." added Connie. "And we'll be expected to do some of the dirty work this time around. You too, Chance."

Chance looked wary. "Dirty work?"

"Diapers." said the twins in unison.

"Whoa, I'm not changing any diapers!" protested Chance, waving his paws. "That's a girl's job!"

"Oh?" Connie gave a vindictive smile and tapped her chin with a forefinger. "I wonder what Dad'll have to say about that. Him, Uncle Brave Heart, Noble Heart, a lot of them powdered your little tushie more times than I can count!"

"Ohhh…" Chance moaned, burying his face in his arms to hide a blush.

"They can be a lot of fun." Said Hope again, discreetly elbowing her sister. "And they need a lot of attention."

"Yeah…" Chance nodded, glad that the subject had turned away from his 'little tushie' for the time being. He was blissfully ignorant of the fact that when he himself had been a newborn, one of his sisters had been a little jealous of him. Surprisingly, it hadn't been Connie. Connie's fears had been resolved before his arrival, but Hope's hadn't begun until a week after his birth.

Conversation had tapered off, and now Hope reflected on what had so far been the saddest time of her life…


Chance had a mild case of colic; it wasn't nearly as severe as Connie's had been when she was a cub, but his crying still kept his parents and sisters up most nights. Hope was unused to going without sleep, and she was becoming cranky during the day, quite unlike her usual chipper self. The pained bawling of a colicky baby generally didn't bother Connie, who was a very heavy sleeper.

Day brought little relief. Chance would often stay awake as long as he could, as if he feared he might miss something, and he was a very light sleeper. The slightest hint of a noise, and his dark eyes would open so quickly that Hope almost expected a 'pop' to accompany it.

Hope loved her baby brother, there was no mistaking it, but the truth was that she missed the days when her parents only had the two of them. For one thing, she and Connie hadn't been required to be so quiet before. They had to walk softly and use their 'inside voices' now. Sometimes they forgot, and Chance would give a loud, sustained wail. This made their parents rather cross, and resulted in either a lecture or a time-out. Connie didn't seem to mind, as if she knew what to expect, and she generally took her corrections without complaint. Hope, on the other hand, was confused and rather hurt. She hadn't expected her new baby brother to be so small and helpless, or that he would depend so much on their parents.

Hope had been under the impression that when Mommy brought home a new friend for them to play with, they would actually be able to play with him. Just what was this tiny being who couldn't string two gurgles together, much less talk or play? While Hope bore no animosity towards the new baby, she felt…lonely. A week after Chance's birth, their mother had agreed to read Connie and Hope a bedtime story. It was early in the day that the twins had made their request, but by the time the girls were tucked in it was only Hope who had remembered. She waited for her mother to remember, but when it was clear that she had forgotten, Hope got out of bed and padded to Chance's room to remind her.

Regal Heart would have been most grievously sorry, had Hope been able to pluck up the courage to speak. Chance was sleeping as Mommy rocked him, and Hope knew that it wasn't good to wake Chance. Feeling rejected, she went back to the room she shared with Connie and got into her sister's bed, cuddling close for comfort. Connie rolled over in her sleep and put her arm over her twin in a loose hug, just as she had when they had shared a crib.

The next day, Regal noticed that Hope was being very quiet. She was about to ask what was wrong when Connie's face hit her oatmeal with a resounding 'plop!'. Thinking that they were tired from another sleepless night, Regal had asked Soulful Heart Fox if he could babysit them today. She asked him specifically because he was usually available, since he went on fewer Missions than most of the others; also, much to her surprise, he had become rather fond of the cubs. He was a bit of a grouch, but the cubs simply accepted it as a part of who he was, rather than expecting him to conform to someone's idea of an 'ideal Care Bear Cousin'. Perhaps this was why he liked them. Of course, no one could say for sure but Soulful himself.

And so, Connie and Hope found themselves in Soulful Heart's care that day, and Hope felt more rejected than ever. From her point of view, it seemed that their parents had dropped them off in order to spend more time with the baby. On this day a small series of misunderstandings had led to Hope sitting in a small corner of Soulful's living room, refusing to be comforted. She didn't raise her voice in tearful complaint; she simply stared at the wall and sniffled quietly, blinking when the tears blurred her vision.

Poor Soulful Heart was at a loss. No matter what he did to cheer her up, she merely shook her head. Admittedly, he wasn't exactly good at cheering people up, but for some reason this failure rankled.

"Want some ice cream?" he asked.

She shook her head no.

"Want a story? We're on chapter six of 'The Hobbit'…" he wheedled.

No.

"I can make a funny face." Connie chimed in, "Wanna see?"

(sob) No.

He chewed his lower lip, looking helpless and frustrated. "Hope…" he said, trying to make his voice sound less gruff than usual, "What's wrong?"

Hope's response wasn't what he was hoping for. She merely pressed her face against him, crying softly and pitifully. He could barely make out the words 'no one wants me', and his heart gave an unpleasant twist. This was a part of caring that he could do without. He was trying to find the words to explain just why that wasn't true when Connie came to his rescue. Remembering her encounter with the redbird, she explained that their parents would be busy with Chance for a while because that was what babies needed; they'd already had their turns, and now it was his turn. Just like on the playground.

Soulful gave her a funny look, as if it struck him as odd that a cub her age would have come up with a grown-up notion like that on her own. "Where did you learn that?"

Connie felt a giggle bubbling up inside her. "A little birdie told me…" she was promptly overtaken by a fit of the giggles, and Soulful shrugged.

Hope was calming down now, but she was still upset. It wasn't until Connie had picked up a decorative bottle (it had been a gift, one that Soulful kept because it was from Grams Bear, who he didn't want to offend) and jammed Soulful's tail into it that Hope's mood changed for the better. Soulful wasn't amused, to say the very least, but Hope had finally laughed for the first time that day. Connie took her time-out quite cheerfully, and Hope spent the next few minutes helping Soulful Heart free his tail from the bottle.

That night, Hope had finally confessed her feelings of rejection to her parents, and they had almost looked devastated. After a long talk, Regal and Stellar made plans to take the twins on an outing the next day while Brave Heart took Chance for the afternoon. And Chance hadn't minded in the slightest.


A cream-colored paw with a pinkish-peach palm pad waved in front of her face as Chance sang, "Yoo-hooooo, Forest of Feelings to Hopie…"

"Huh?" Hope jumped, accidentally tossing the section of fruit she was holding into the air. "What?"

Chance flashed a bright smile, pushing his stubborn forelock out of his eyes. "You tell me. I said your name twice, and it's like your brain just went…" he hummed the theme from 'The Twilight Zone', and said, "Lights were on, but no one was home. Guess you're pretty worried, huh?"

She had to smile. As bad as that time had been for her, it had been mercifully brief. Chance was no encroacher, and he certainly kept the doldrums from setting in when he was around. "I'm fine, Chance. Just thinking…"

The phone rang, and while all three of them jumped, Connie actually fell out of her chair. Chance sprang to answer it, but she scrambled to her feet.

"I got it!" yelled Chance.

"No, if I had to end up on the floor, I'm darn well gonna answer it!" was Connie's sharp retort.

"Who died and made you Noble Heart?" he smirked as minor scuffle involving shoving and rib poking began between the two of them.

Hope calmly picked up the phone, pinched her nostrils shut, and intoned nasally, "Hello, you have reached the residence of Stellar Heart Tiger and Regal Heart Lioness. As we are presently occupied with what appears to be an amateur wrestling match, no one can come to the phone right now. Please leave your name, a brief message, and the victor will return your call at his or her earliest convenience. Thank you. Beeeeeeep!"

Hope's siblings stared at her in open-mouthed astonishment as silence greeted her over the phone. Then, as Stellar Heart (for that's who it was) gave a bewildered 'Huh?', Connie began a slow, reverent applause while Chance mimed wiping away a tear.

"That was beautiful…Spoken like a true smart-aleck, Hopie." Sniffled Chance, suddenly flinging his arms around Connie's neck. "Hold me!"

Hope scowled, and covered the mouthpiece. "Will you two knock it off? It's Dad!" Then, taking her paw off the phone, she said, "Mom had the baby? They're okay?" she put him on 'speaker phone' so that the others could hear him.

Stellar, wisely deciding not to try to figure this one out, chuckled and said, "They're fine, just fine. You have a new baby brother."

"Yes!" Chance whooped, slapping Connie on the back. "Told ya it was gonna be a boy! You owe me a pizza, Connie!"

"How's about a knuckle sandwich?" she muttered, though try as she might she couldn't hide a smile. Out loud, she said, "What does he look like?"

"Well," said Stellar, "He's orange, like me. He has brown stripes, like the three of you. Tender Heart just gave him his symbol; it's a turtle with hearts on the shell." He paused as if to let that sink in, sounding bewildered by it himself; he couldn't guess what a symbol like that might stand for. He continued, "And he has a short mane, too. Looks different from yours, Chance. More…I dunno…more in his eyes than yours ever was, but not quite as spiky. You have to come down and see him!"

"Can we come now?" asked Hope.

There was a moment's indistinct conversation on the other end, and Stellar said, "Take Care says it's okay, as long as you're quiet."


Two hours after Stellar had made his phone call, Regal was sitting up in bed, looking tired but contented as she held her newborn son. The ligers were there, as were Tender Heart and the two original guardians, True Heart and Noble Heart. Brave Heart, who had gotten the message while he was on a Mission halfway around the world, wouldn't arrive home for another two hours…which suited Soulful Heart just fine. It was purely by coincidence that the fox was at Take Care's office at all. Due to a mix-up at the Hall of Hearts, he had ended up taking one of her books home by mistake. He had come by to return it when he heard the soft coo of a baby in one of the back rooms. Of course, he knew what that meant. Regal had finally had her baby.

Curiosity had gotten the better of him so that when Take Care told him that Regal was up to having a few visitors, it was only with token protests that he allowed Take Care to show him in.

"He's beautiful, Regal." True Heart was saying as she reached out to stroke the cub's tightly curled fist. He reflexively gripped her finger, but didn't wake.

Soulful merely sat and looked, witnessing but not participating, until Regal asked if he wanted to hold her baby. After a moment's hesitation, conscious of everybody's eyes on him, he shrugged and nodded. He already had some mild experience with handling babies, so he wasn't worried about dropping him. While it seemed more like he was copying what he had seen others do rather than naturally responding to some sort of 'parental instinct', his grip was steady and safe, and the cub showed no signs of worry. 'Wait until he opens his eyes and sees me,' he thought, 'then we'll hear some crying…'

And then the cub did open his eyes, and he realized that he was in a stranger's arms; a stranger with a very piercing gaze. Soulful visibly braced himself for that tiny mouth to open in a wail of terror, but the baby only furrowed his brow as if to say, 'What're you looking at?' Soulful never blinked, and neither did the cub. "So…" said the fox, "What will you two name this little fellow?"

Regal and Stellar exchanged a glance, and Regal said, "Well, we talked it over, and we think the name 'Patient Heart' suits him."

Soulful had to admit, it was rare for an adult to match him stare for stare, let alone a cub. Finally, however, the baby showed signs of annoyance rather than fear. With a decisive 'Unh!', little Patient Heart reached up and covered Soulful's eyes.

Against all expectations, Soulful Heart gave a mirthful snort and said, "This kid's got guts."

To Be Continued…