Chapter 2

-Flashback-

It was the chipmunks' first night home alone. Dave had just left a few hours ago. He told them that he was putting all his trust in them and to prove to him that they can handle being home by themselves. Claire was visiting relatives and Miss Miller and the Chipettes were to be leaving on vacation in a couple of days.

Alvin was sitting on the coffee table with his thumbs twiddling away at a video game controller. He stuck his tongue out as he twisted and turned his body around.

"To the left! Jump! Oh yeah! He's gonna get it now!" Alvin cried.

"We don't need the commentary, Alvin," Simon muttered as he continued tweaking with a toy rocket he had been working on for the past month. He was anxious to finish it so he could test it out and launch it in the back yard.

"Oh! Boo-yah! I win again! In your faces!" Alvin screamed as he jumped up and down in excitement.

Theodore toddled out of the kitchen, dragging a bag of cheese balls behind him. He hopped onto the coffee table next to Alvin.

"Oh yeah!" Alvin said as he opened the bag and took out a cheese ball. He held it up with pride and he said, "Here's to me! Monster Truck Mania champion!" Theodore held up a cheese ball too and they toasted their cheese balls as if they were glasses of champagne.

They then began to chow down on them, getting cheese powder all across their lips. Simon hopped off of the desk he was working at to join his brothers in their little cheese ball party.

"So how's that rocket of yours coming along, bro?" Alvin asked cheerfully.

"Very well actually. I should be able to launch it any day now I hope. You see, if I add some sodium to the fuel along with a dash of-"

"You lost me after 'I'," Alvin said.

Simon shook his head and ate a cheese ball.

Alvin laid down casually on top of a dry washcloth that was sitting on the table. He put his paws behind his head.

Theodore said, "I'm anxious to find out what's going to happen with this record deal. This is huge! If Dave is able to convince these guys to get us in, we're going to be even bigger than we are now!"

Alvin replied, "Oh yeah. I'm sure he'll be able to. I mean who would pass up singing chipmunks?"

It was silent for a few seconds until Alvin said, "You know, I'm really glad that Dave's able to trust us now to stay home by ourselves. I know he's nervous, but he's really got nothing to worry about."

"I have to admit, freedom is a very nice privilege. We just have to use it wisely and be able to keep his trust in us," Simon agreed.

"Dave has nothing to worry about. We can handle anything!" Alvin said.

It was silent again. All was calm and cool. Suddenly the three chipmunks' ears perked up to the three rings of their doorbell, followed by a series of knocks. They looked at the clock. 9:27pm.

"Who would be knocking at our door at this hour?" Simon questioned.

"Ah… Probably just some fan or press," Alvin said hopping off the table. "But if it's the Chipettes playing some sort of prank on us, I'm going to say something!"

Alvin scurried over to the window next to the front door with his brothers right behind him. He pushed back the blinds a little while turning on the outside light. There was no one standing there. Alvin jumped off of the windowsill and grabbed hold of the doorknob, turning and opening it.

He was beginning to feel a little nervous as he opened it just a crack. His fingers slipped gingerly in between the crack and then pulled the door open some more.

His brown eyes widened a bit at the sight of a small basket sitting on their welcome mat. Simon and Theodore's heads appeared over his shoulder.

"A basket?" Simon said.

Alvin pulled the door open some more and skittered over to the basket, searching it.

"There's no card, so I don't know whom it's from or anything," he said. The other two came out from the doorway and joined him, examining the mysterious package.

"Do you think its full of sweets and goodies?" Theodore asked excitedly.

"If it is, I wouldn't eat 'em. We don't know who it's from," Simon said.

Alvin looked inside the basket. There was a blanket over the opening.

"Do we dare?" Alvin asked though his paw was already reaching over to pull the cover off of it.

"What if it's a prank? What if some sort of scary clown pops out or something?" Theodore said.

"That doesn't make any sense. If something were to pop out, it would be in one of those 'contents under pressure' type things. Not a basket with a blanket over it," Simon said.

"Well, we'll never know until we look," Alvin said his fingers now curled around the edge of the white blanket. He carefully pulled the blanket uncovering what was inside. The three chipmunks peered in. Inside this basket was a few more blankets and buried under one of them was a very petite-sized lump. It was smaller than they were. The lump was moving up and down ever so slightly.

"I don't think that's a muffin," Alvin murmured. The three pairs of eyes that stared inside the basket were all huge and not blinking at all.

Alvin took his index finger and lightly pulled the top blanket off of the tiny lump just enough for the boys to be able to tell what it was.

"It's not…" Simon began.

"It is…" Theodore breathed.

A very fuzzy, small head with tiny ears on top peeked out from under the lilac blanket. Alvin dared himself to pull the blanket down a little more revealing its full head. A baby chipmunk lay sound asleep in front of them. It's pink nose wiggled as it inhaled the evening air. Its fur was a soft amber color. It was lighter than Alvin's fur, but darker than Theodore's.

The boys just stood there frozen, staring at the baby chipmunk as if it was an alien brought down from outer space. They didn't know why they were so awestruck by this. It was just a baby chipmunk. They had all been baby chipmunks before themselves. But why was it left here? Left for them?

Once Alvin got his voice back, he blinked several times.

"Whoa… this… this can't be!"

"Where are its mom and dad?" Theodore asked.

Simon said, "That's a very good question, Theo. It only looks to be about a day old. The parents aren't supposed to leave it until a week after its born. But what gets me is that no wild chipmunk would have access to a basket or blankets."

"Why would someone want to leave it here?" Theodore asked.

Alvin replied, "Maybe people are believing that Dave is the guy who takes in chipmunks."

"Maybe it fell out of the sky! Maybe Dave ordered the stork to come and leave this baby chipmunk here!" Theodore said.

Simon sighed and put his paw on his youngest brother's shoulder, "We need to have a talk, Theodore."

"Guys! What are we supposed to do about this?" Alvin asked.

"We need to wait for Dave to get back. He'll know what to do!" Theodore suggested.

"But we can't just leave it out here! It's a baby!" Simon exclaimed.

"Look, we'll take it in for now and call Dave in the morning," Alvin said.

Theodore put in, "But if we call Dave, he's going to rush right over here. We can't do that. He's at the most important meeting of his life! It could mess things up for our career and for him! I don't want to do that to him."

Alvin frowned and said, "He's right. We are going to have to do this on our own."

"Well, Dave is expecting us to show that we're responsible and that we can handle whatever comes our way, so this is as good a time as any I suppose," Simon said.

The three turned back to the small, infant chipmunk. They stared at it for a few seconds.

"So who's going to bring it in? C'mon. We can't carry this whole basket in with us," Alvin said.

Each chipmunk looked at one another.

"Oh…" Simon groaned and slowly and cautiously lowered his arms down into the basket. He scooped up the small bundle along with the lilac blanket that was over it and rested it in his arms.

It felt odd. To have something so delicate, small, and soft stirring a bit in his arms. Simon looked completely uneasy holding it. Alvin and Theodore were afraid he was going to pass out for a moment. Simon took a deep breath and carried the baby into the house. Alvin closed the door behind them and locked the door. He flipped the outside light off and followed Simon and Theodore into the living room.

"This is just temporary, guys," Simon said softly, "Maybe if we find its parents we-"

Theodore stopped him and said, "Simon, I don't think we are going to find the parents. It was purposely left there for us."

"You're… right…" Simon responded.

"Well then…" Alvin began while patting the baby gently on the top of the head, "welcome to the Sevilles."