Author's Note: I apologize to anybody who likes the prologue and epilogue I usually put on my Bobby's World and Rugrats crossovers, to make it seem more like a real Bobby's World episode, with Howie G and Bobby talking to one another at the start and end of the show/story, but since I'm writing this story as a request from Fan Fic user, olaughlinhunter, to prove to their mom that you're never to old for Rugrats, going to skip the prologue and epilogue, and just get to the meat of the story. Sincerely apologize if this deeply disappoints any of my Bobby's World fans.
Not Too Young, Not Too Old
Summary: This is not a parody of the song by Aaron Carter, featuring Nick Carter, with the same title as this story. Rather, when Bobby Generic's mom says he's too old to play with the Rugrats, it's up to Bobby and the Rugrats to prove to Bobby's parents, that you can't put an age on friendship.
Disclaimer: I do not own the original Rugrats and Bobby's World characters, they're the property of their original creaters. I own any OC's you don't recognize, while Peter is owned by TCKing12, Jesse is owned by JJB-Jesse Barrow, and Ron Breckenridge and his parents, are owned by Boris Yeltsin. And, these OC's owned by Boris Yeltsin, are Rugrats OC's.
Start of Story
It was a beautiful day in June of 2014. Bobby was nearly finished with his first year of school in Yucaipa, California, and just recently celebrated his sixth birthday. He even had a huge birthday party where his whole class and the Rugrats were invited, and unlike at his fifth birthday the year before, when his mom had a fake labor attack, thinking his twin little brothers were about to be born, causing his party to be canceled, nothing like that happened this year.
They had a play area set up for the toddlers, where Bobby had joined Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Zack, Jesse, Kimi and Dil, while all of his classmates were getting lined up to play pin the jetpack on Captain Squash.
"Come on Bobby, I'm Long John Silver, and you guys are my squirly crue." Said Tommy, as he put a piece of paper cut into a circle over one eye, making himself look like a pirate.
"Ok Tommy, I mean, Long John Silver, let's go find that treasure." Said Bobby, who also covered his eye by taping a round piece of paper to his face.
No sooner had he done this, when Martha came over to the play area.
"Come on Bobby, all your g golly classmates are here, and we're ready to play Pin the Jetpack on Captain Squash!" Said Martha.
Bobby looked up at his mother, then back over at his toddler friends, who were about to go on a pirate adventure.
"No mommy, I'd rather play with Tommy, Zack, and my other friends. You guys go on and play Pin the Jetpack on Captain Squash without me." Said Bobby.
"Well, ok." Said Martha, as she left the play area, with a look of disappointment on her face.
The rest of Bobby's birthday party went like that. Even when it was time for ice cream and cake, Bobby preferred to sit at the toddler table, next to Tommy and Chuckie, rather than at the big kid table with his classmates. As the day wore on, Martha started to get really concerned, so later on that night, after the kids had gone home and Bobby and his siblings were in bed. Martha and Howard G had a talk.
"I'm getting really concerned about Bobby." Said Martha.
"Oh?" Asked Howard G.
"Yeah, haven't you noticed since we moved here and you took that job at the world of shirts, Bobby has been spending more time with the toddlers in the neighborhood, rather than kids his own age?" Martha asked.
"Well, yeah, but, perhaps Bobby prefers playing with them opposed to kids his own age. He's always telling stories of his adventures with Tommy and Zack, and you yourself are always having Didi and Celeste over for coffee, so, I don't see the problem here." Said Howard G.
"The problem is, Tommy is age two and Bobby is now six. We really need to encourage him to play more with kids his own age." Said Martha.
"You know what Martha, you're right. From now on, Bobby needs to play with kids his own age, no more playing with the toddlers." Said Howard G.
"Then it's settled then." Said Martha.
The parents went to bed, figuring they'd bring up the subject to Bobby sometime the next day. At school, the teacher sent home fliers with all of the kids to sign up for the summertime T-ball league. Bobby wasn't sure if he really wanted to join. He hadn't really made any friends with the kids in his class, and it would give him less time to play with Tommy and Chuckie, and the rest of his new gang of friends. But before he could hide the flier from his mom, she saw it.
"Awe, look at this, T-ball for the summer." Said Martha, as she sat down at the kitchen table across from Bobby that afternoon after school, looking at the flier.
"Mom, I don't know if I really want to play T-ball this year." Said Bobby.
"Why not? You use to love playing before we moved here. Remember your old team The Stinkers? Now you can play on the Yucaipa Cups, and it will be a great way for you to make some new friends." Said Martha.
"But I already have friends, Tommy, Chuckie, Zack, and then there's Jesse and those twins, Phil and Lil, and let's not forget Tommy's little brother Dil, and Chuckie's little sister Kimi." Said Bobby.
"Honey, I know you like those kids, but they're three to four years younger than you. Wouldn't it be nice to have some friends your own age?" Martha asked.
"No." Bobby replied.
"Honey, I'm sorry, but I am going to insist that you join this T-ball league, to get some fresh air and exercise, and make some friends your own age. You're starting to stick out like a soar thumb when you hang out with those toddlers, and, well, I'm sorry Bobby but you're too old to be playing with one, two, and three-year-olds." Said Martha.
Just then, Howard G walked in the door from work, overhearing the entire conversation.
"Your mother's right Bobby, you are getting to be too old to be playing with those Rugrats in the neighborhood. I bet once you give it a try, you might make some really good friends playing T-ball, and you'll forget about Tommy and those other guys." Said Howard G.
"Ok dad." Said Bobby with a sigh, as he got up from the kitchen table, and went off to his room, with a sad expression on his face.
Martha and Howard G signed the sign up form for T-ball, and got it ready to send back to school with Bobby the next day.
Meanwhile, the babies were playing at Tommy's house in Tommy and Dil's playpen.
"Hey, Bobby didn't come play with us after school today." Said Phil.
"I wonder if all that cake and ice cream at the birthday party made him sick." Added Lil.
"Nah, he was probably just tired. I'm sure he'll be over to play tomorrow." Said Tommy with a smile, as he rolled the star ball to Kimi.
The next day, the Rugrats were all playing in the front yard at Tommy's house, while Taffy was babysitting them, and working on a new song for her band, when Bobby came by on his bike.
"Hey Bobby, wanna play?" Tommy asked.
"No, I can't." Said Bobby.
"Why not?" Zack asked.
"My mommy and daddy say I'm too old to play with you guys, besides, I have T-ball practice shortly. I need to go get my uniform on." Said Bobby irritably.
"T-ball, that sounds like fun!" Said Jesse with an excited smile.
"Yeah, but I'd rather play with you guys. Well, see you later." Said Bobby, as he pedaled off towards his house.
The toddlers all looked at one another.
"Too old, how can Bobby be too old to play with us, he's our friend. Besides, we play with Taffy and Peter and Tommy's grandpa and they're olderer than Bobby." Said Chuckie.
"You're right Chuckie, we've gots to show Bobby's mommy and daddy that just cuz we're babies, doesn't mean we can't be friends with Bobby." Said Tommy.
"But how are we gonna do that?" Phil asked.
"Hmmm, I don't khnow." Said Tommy.
A couple of days later, while Bobby was at school, Martha had the day off from work, and invited any of the neighborhood adults and their kids over for coffee. Didi, Celeste, Laura, Betty and Kira all had the day off, and jumped up in excitement at this news. So did the toddlers!
"Did you hear that guys? We're going to Bobby's house!" Said Tommy.
"So now we can show Bobby's mommy and daddy that Bobby isn't too old to be our friend." Said Chuckie.
"Exactly!" Replied Tommy.
"But how are we gonna do that?" Phil asked.
"Well, when I want to get my aunty to play with me, I'll pick up one of my blocks and hand it to her, and she'll usually get down on the floor and play with me. If we each take a favoritest toy of ours, and hand them to the growed ups, they'll play with us, and they'll see that just cuz we're little, and they're all growed up, doesn't mean we can't play together." Said Zack.
"Let's do it." Said Tommy, as he picked up a toy laptop computer, while all of the other toddlers each picked up toys at random to take with them to Bobby's house.
Half an hour later, they were all in the living room at Bobby's, while the grown ups were in the kitchen, sitting around the table drinking coffee. Tommy saw through the doorway that all of the grown ups were in there, and used this opportunity, to put Zack's idea into action.
"Come on guys, now's our chance." Said Tommy, as he picked up the toy he brought with him, the others, lining up behind him, with their toys, as they all filed into the kitchen.
Each baby went around the table, and started handing their toys to the grown ups. Tommy handed his toy laptop computer to Martha.
"Awe, you want to play with that with me?" Martha asked, as she flipped the switch on the side of the computer screen, to the on position.
"Press a letter button!" Said the computer.
"Can you find the first letter of your name Tommy?" Martha asked.
Tommy looked from her to the laptop keyboard, which had the alphabet letters in order from A to Z, not like they appear on a normal computer keyboard. He then pressed the letter T.
"T is for Tommy! That's your name!" Said the computer.
"Good job!" Said Martha.
The others went around, handing their blocks, plastic animals, and puzzle pieces that picked up at random from Tommy and Dil's playpen, to the other adults around the table. Then it came time for Phil and Lil to play with one of the grown ups. They had to share Didi. They stuck the blocks they were carrying into Didi's lap, and grabbed at her arms.
"She's mine Lillian." Said Phil.
"No, she's mine Phillip." Argued Lil.
"Now kids, we need to share." Said Didi, as Phil and Lil continued to pull on Didi's arms.
"Kids! Stop it!" Cried Didi.
Eventually, she couldn't take it anymore, as Phil and Lil pulled so hard, that Didi lunged forward to break from their grip, knocking into her coffee cup, which went flying across the table, landing on Martha's kitchen floor, splintering into a million little china pieces.
"Oh no, my beautiful coffee mug, aunt Ruth gave that to me as a moving away present. And now, it's, ruined!" Said Martha, as she started crying.
This was a signal to all of the other parents to gather up their kids and leave.
"Oh my goodness Martha, I'm so sorry! Do you want any help cleaning that up?" Didi asked.
"No, just leave, that would help." Cried Martha, as the parents grabbed up their kids, and all left Martha's house.
Once outside, the toddlers spotted Susie over in the yard next door, as she lived next door to Bobby, playing with a kid with light blond hair and green eyes, who was slightly older than Bobby.
"Hey Susie." Said Tommy, as he ran over to see who it was and to say hi to Susie.
"Oh, hi Tommy. Ron, this is Tommy, I met him last year when me and my family moved in. He helped me find my room!" Said Susie.
"Hi Tommy, I'm Ron." Said Ron, shaking Tommy's hand.
"Hi Ron, I'm Tommy, this is Phil, Lil, Chuckie, his sister Kimi, Zack, Jesse, and my little brother Dilly." Said Tommy, pointing to the other toddlersk, who had all gathered behind him at this point.
"Ron is eight-years-old and he goes to school with my brothers, Buster and Edwin! And he's also babysat us too." Said Susie.
"Wow, and your mommy and daddy don't mind you playing with Susie? Who's like, four-years-old?" Lil asked.
"Oh no, my mommy and daddy always say, you can't put an age on friendship. You're never too young or old to have a friend." Said Ron with a smile.
Just then, Ron pulled out the cup for his T-ball uniform.
"What's that?" Chuckie asked.
"Oh, this is the cup for my t-ball uniform. I play for the Yucaipa Cups, and on Saturday, we've got a big game against the Stinkers. I've invited Susie to come watch me play on Saturday, seeing you guys are friends with her too, would you like to come too?" Ron asked.
"Sure!" Said Tommy with a smile.
"Well, once their mommies and daddies say it's ok, I'm sure they'd all love to come." Said Susie.
Just then, Charlotte walked up with Angelica, while talking on her cell phone with Jonothan.
"There's Angelica, and there's her mommy Char Char, talking with Johnny again." Said Ron.
"Hello Susie, who's your new boyfriend?" Angelica asked in a nasty tone, pointing at Ron.
"Oh, hi Angelica, remember Ron? You met him the other day when he came with me and my mommy to pick you up from preschool." Said Susie.
"Yeah, he plays with Harold too, but not enough to keep him away from me." Angelica grumbled.
Thehn Angelica turned and saw the toddlers.
"Oh, and there are those dumb babies." Said Angelica.
"I wouldn't say that Angelica, they might be silly sometimes, but they're never dumb. So don't call them that. And as for you guys, I'll take care of the invitations to my t-ball game on Saturday." Said Ron with a twinkle in his eye, as he got on his bike that was parked in Susie's driveway, and went on his mission.
A few hours later, Ron stopped by Tommy and Dil's backyard to give them the good news.
"Well, I spoke with Bet, How How, Chazzy, Kira, Andy, Char Char, Lucy, Ran Ran, Diddly Ding Dong Didi, Cel Cel, Laury, Dana, King Pete Pete, Taff Taff, and Stuie…" Said Ron.
"Stuie? My daddy's a baby again?" Tommy asked in panic.
"What gave you that idea? Your daddy's name is Stu, so I nicknamed him, Stuie. Anyway, your mommies and daddies said you can all come to my game on Saturday!" Said Ron.
"Yay!" Said all of the babies excitedly, jumping up and down.
"Oh and, Tommy's daddy once turndid into a baby after getting hit on the head by a duck and he went by Stuie." Whispered Chuckie into Ron's ear.
"Oh, well, he doesn't dseem like a baby to me. He actually seems really nice!" Said Ron.
"That's cuz he learndid from the duck how to be growed up again." Said Lil.
"Oh, ok, well, I need to get home for dinner, but I'll see you all at my big game!" Said Ron, as he left Tommy and Dil's backyard, with a smile on his face.
Saturday came, and everybody gathered at the big game. When they got there, they saw that not only was Ron playing, but that Bobby was also on his team too. They also saw that Bobby's uncle Ted, was the coach for the opposite team, which, the Rugrats had no knowledge of this, the Stinkers use to be the team that Bobby played on, way before he knew them.
"Come on Bobb-o, you can do it." Rooted Ted.
"Now Ted, you can't be helping the other team, you need to be coaching your own team." Said Coach Jackson of the Yucaipa Cups.
"Oh, sorry coach Jacky, I miss my nephew being on my team. Oh why did they have to move?" Ted asked, with a disappointed look.
"Because they did. Now pay attention to your own team." Said Coach Jackson.
As the game continued, the Stinkers were doing better than the Yucaipa Cups, which was bad news for Bobby and Ron.
"And the score, the Stinkers, 8, the Yucaipa Cups, 0." Said an announcer.
"Oh no guys, Bobby and Ron need our help!" Said Tommy.
"But Tommy, we've never played T-ball before, and besides, I think we're too little." Said Chuckie.
"Too little Chuckie? When we wished for Reptar to save my daddy from that dragon at Fairy Tale land, were we too little then? When we stopped your daddy from marrying that mean nasty Coco lady in Paris, were we too little then? And what about stopping that bee at that basketball game that Taffy tooked us to, were we too little then?" Tommy asked.
"No, I guess not." Said Chuckie.
"Then come on. We've gots to prove that just cuz we're little, don't mean we can't be Bobby's friend. If we don't do this, we're gonna lose Bobby forever. Now come on!" Said Tommy, as he headed towards where the players were, the other toddlers following behind him.
Before they knew it, all of the toddlers were out on the field.
"Hey, what are you guys doing out here? You're too little to be playing t-ball." Said Bobby, as he approached Tommy and Zack, who were standing next to one another.
"Hey Bobby, get back over here, it's your turn to hit the ball." Said Coach Jackson.
"You guys need to get off the field, you're too little." Said Bobby.
"We're not leaving Bobby, not till your mommy and daddy say we can play together again." Said Tommy.
"Go! Now!" Snapped Bobby.
But Tommy and Zack stood where they were, frozen, not moving a muscle.
"Come on, you're gonna get hurt." Said Bobby, as he ran off towards his team mates, getting into position to hit the ball.
"Ok Bobby, you ready?" Said Coach Jackson.
"Yep, sure am." Said Bobby, as he prepared to swing.
He hit the ball, and it hit Tommy in the head, knocking him out, causing him to topple on top of Zack, who fell to the ground, with Tommy on top of him. Zack scooted out from beneath Tommy.
"Tommy! You ok?" Chuckie called from a distance.
Tommy lay there, motionless, his eyes closed.
"Oh no! Tommy! Come on Bobby, we've got to go help him." Said Ron, grabbing Bobby's hand, heading over to where Tommy fell.
"Uncle Ted! Uncle Ted! Get me some ice!" Cried Bobby.
"Ice? You've got it Bobbo." Said Ted, as he got an ice pack out of a cooler in the dug out.
"I thought I told you not to help the opposing team Ted." Said Coach Jackson.
"Excuse me, but my nephew's on that team, and he's in trouble. If you want to get a new coach to replace me, that's fine. I feel awkward being against my nephew anyway, and I'm not going to step down and not help Bobby who's in trouble, just because he's on the opposite team." Said Ted, as he grabbed the ice pack, and went over to where Bobby was, crouched down on the ground, next to his unconscious friend.
"Here Bobbo, just put this ice pack on Tommy's head, he should be ok in no time." Said Ted, as he handed the ice pack to Bobby, and he applied it to Tommy's head.
Martha and Howard G were watching from the stands, as they saw Bobby taking care of his friend. A few minutes later, Tommy started to stir. He opened his eyes, to see Bobby and Ron staring down at him.
"You ok Tommy?" Ron asked.
"Uh, what happened?" Tommy asked, sitting up.
"You didn't move, and I accidentally hit you in the head. I'm so sorry Tommy. I hope you can forgive me." Said Bobby.
"Only if you won't let age get in the way of our friendship." Said Tommy in a demanding tone of voice.
"It wasn't me, it was my mommy and daddy." Said Bobby.
"Well, let me tell you something Bobby. We may only be babies, but we've done a lot for the growed ups in our time. We founded my grandpa's teeth the day
Spike took them and a duck almost ated them. When my mommy and daddy had a garage sale, we helped them by emptying all of the house, and taking all of the stuff off our hands. And when Chuckie's mommy and daddy opened that coffee shop, and weren't having any fun, we played the fun way game with that fun way guy, and made their shop a fun place to be. If we can do all of that, then we're not too young to be your friend, and you're not too old to be our's. I don't care what your mommy and daddy says Bobby, if you're too old to be our friend, then I guess we're too young to help the growed ups, or learn to tell the truth when we don't like Susie's Reptar cerial bars, or to be nice, rather than bad to get Henry back. Everything we've learndid in our short little lives, all of the growed ups can learn from too, and thqat includes you. So now, it's up to you Bobby, are we your friends are not?" Tommy asked, looking Bobby in the eye.
Bobby stood there, staring at his purple haired two-year-old friend, realizing that his friend was right. You can't put an age on friendship, no matter how hard you try.
"You did save Tommy's life Bobby with that ice pack, only a true friend would do that." Said Ron, breaking the silence.
Bobby turned and looked at Ron. Then turned his gaze back at Tommy, where all of the other toddlers had gathered behind him.
"I did save your life, didn't I. Tommy, and to the rest of you guys, I don't care what my mommy and daddy say. You guys are my friends to the very end, and maybe I'm six and you're two, but it doesn't matter. We play together and take care of one another when we're sick or hurt, and that's what being a true friend is all about. Not the fact that there's four years in between us. For all I care, I could be sixty-six and you guys could be two, and we'd still be friends. Mommy, if you can hear me, I'm gonna be friends with Tommy and all of the other toddlers in the neighborhood, and there's not a thing you can do to stop me!" Shouted Bobby from across the field.
Martha and Howard G overheard what Bobby shouted, and thought long and hard about this. Martha turned to her husband.
"Uh Howie, I think we need to have a little talk with Bobby after the game." Martha whispered to Howard G, as Ron and Bobby escorted Tommy and the other toddlers back to their parents in the bleachers, Didi giving Tommy a bunch of hugs and kisses, thankful her little boy was ok, before they went and finished the game.
In the end, the Yucaipa Cubs lost, while the Stinkers won, but the toddlers didn't care, they cheered for Bobby and Ron anyway, because they were proud to be their friends, and, they lost gracefully. After all, if they hadn't stopped playing the game to help Tommy, the toddlers figured they might have lost Tommy forever, even though in reality, they would be at the emergency room right now, they were glad Bobby saved Tommy's life.
Later that night, as Martha was tucking Bobby into bed, she spoke up.
"Bobby? Can we talk?" Martha asked, sitting on the edge of Bobby's bed.
"What?" Bobby asked.
"You know Bobby, I've been giving it some thought, and after seeing how you and Ron took care of Tommy out there on that field when he got hit with the ball, it's obvious, you really care about him, huh." Said Martha.
Bobby nodded.
"And I also heard what you said, and you know what? You're right. Age doesn't matter when it comes down to real friends. Your father and I would like you to try to still play with kids closer to your own age, so, tell you what. You continue to play T-ball the rest of the summer, and we'll make sure to schedule in some time, for you to play with Tommy and the other toddlers in the neighborhood." Said Martha.
"It's a deal!" Said Bobby.
"That's an excellent compromise you came up with dear." Said Howard G as he poked his head in the bedroom door.
"A promise?" Bobby asked out of confusion.
"No dear, a compromise is when two people make a deal on something they can agree on. We'd like you to play with more kids your own age, but you seem to be really close to these toddlers. But when you agreed to continue the T-ball team, and I agreed to let you play with the toddlers as long as you stuck with the team, that was us, working out a compromise. You understand that Bobby?" Martha asked.
"I sure do mom, and thanks." Said Bobby, as he closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
"You're welcome Bobby. Now goodnight little manzy, you've had quite the day today." Said Martha, as she turned out the lights and left the room, closing the door behind her.
The next day, Bobby went over to Tommy's yard, where he, Dil, Peter, Ron, and the other toddlers were running through the sprinklers.
"Hey! I wanna play too!" Bobby shouted, hopping off his bike and running through the sprinklers with the Rugrats.
"Your mommy and daddy don't mind?" Chuckie asked.
"Nope, as long as I continue to play t-ball, we can play together all of the time." Said Bobby.
"That's great Bobby!" Said Tommy.
"And that's great you're going to continue to play t-ball with me." Said Ron.
"Yeah! I think we're all going to be the best of friends forever." Said Bobby.
"We sure are!" Said Zack excitedly, as everybody continued to run through the sprinklers, having a blast together.
The End