Disclaimer: I own nothing. (All misspellings are intentional and also not mine).
"Look, it's a wollipop."
"And that's a bunny."
"I see T-Rex."
"Hey, that cloud looks just like a air-o-plane."
"Uh, Spud? Uh – that is a air-o-plane."
Spud sat up and rubbed his eyes as the twins giggled. The babies were sprawled out in the grass, staring up at the clouds. Jake grinned, "If I had a air-o-plane, I'd fly around in the clouds all day. I wonder if my mommy and daddy would buy me one."
Spud, who had lay back down, turned his head toward his best friend, "I'm not sure babies are a'pposed to fly air-o-planes."
"Looky, there's a star, Jake," Dani suddenly announced, spotting the distance twinkle in the purple sky. "You could wish for a air-o-plane."
"Yeah, our mommy says if you make a wish on the firstest star you see, it's gonna' come true," Danny added.
"I wish . . ." Jake closed his eyes for a moment. "I wish I had a air-o-plane and I could fly around the clouds."
The others 'wowed' and 'oohed' at Jake's wish when suddenly Jake's parents were blocking the sky.
"Come on, kids. Time for your bath," Susan said, picking up Jake as Jonathan got the twins.
Later that night, unbeknownst to the babies, a thick fog began to snake its way into the neighborhood. As morning came and a rooster call awoke Spud, he sat up, blinking tiredly, then gaped. "Guys?" he said, grabbing the railing of the crib they were all in. "Jake?"
"Wum-uh – what's the matter, Spud?" Jake asked drowsily, waking up Dani and Danny in the process.
"L-L-Loo-Look out there," he said, pointing out the window. "Oh, please don't tell me those are . . ."
Jake gasped as he and the twins stood beside Spud, peering over the rail and out the window. "Clouds," Dani and Danny chorused, finishing Spud's sentence.
"Moldy cow," Danny exclaimed. "Jake's wish came true."
"We're up in the sky," Dani declared.
"My house must've turned into a air-o-plane," Jake theorized.
"Oh, great," Spud groaned.
Behind him, Jake had climbed out of the crib and ran toward his toy chest, proceeding to climb on top of it, so he could get a better view of the "clouds" from this window. "Wow! It really is a air-o-plane!"
Danny, who had joined him on the toy chest, turned to him excitedly. "Let's drive it through the clouds!"
"But how will we steer it?" Dani asked with a shrug.
"I gotta' idea," Jake said. "Follow me."
He jumped from the toy chest and led his friends out of his room and toward a door that led to the garage. "It's in my mommy's car. Help me."
Racing to the side of the green SUV, the babies piled on top of each other with Spud on the bottom, then Danny, then Danielle, and, finally, Jake on top. He crawled in through the open window. There was a pause, then, "Got it."
He peered out the window. "Whenever I go in the car with my mommy, she lets me drive with this," he held up a green steering wheel with a red base. "And I figure that, if it's good enough to drive a car with, it's good enough to drive a airplane-house with."
"Jonathan?" Susan called as she headed downstairs, dressed in sweats. "I'm gonna' go down and start a pot of coffee. Then I'm going out for my morning run."
The babies, who were huddled by the opening of the kitchen, just out of sight from the staircase, heard and Jake turned to his friends. "Did you hear that? My mom's gonna' go out. She don't know the house is flyin'. We gotta' stop her or she's gonna' fall right out of the clouds."
"This wish isn't turning out so good," Spud said dreadfully.
"Wait a mintint," Jake said. "In all the time I know my mommy, she never ever left the house without her shoes. We gotta' hide 'em, so she don't fall outta' the clouds. Come on."
Letting the steering wheel fall to the floor, Jake set out to stop his mom from leaving.
The four peered into Jake's parent's bedroom, where Jonathan was pulling on a sweater. Unfortunately, for him, it got stuck and he kept trying to pull his head through with whole with no luck. "Darn sweater."
Jake took his chance and tiptoed into the room, toward the open closet door. Grabbing the first pair of shoes in his reach, he passed them down to Dani, who passed them down to her twin, who passed them down to Spud, who tossed them to the side.
They continued to repeat this process for the remaining pairs of shoes. Jake gasped when he saw his dad close to getting the sweater on. He hastily grabbed the last pair of shoes and the babies quietly snuck away.
Jonathan finally got it on right as they disappeared out the door, none the wiser.
"Hmm, Jonathan, have you seen my running shoes?"
"Hey, they're very nice," he said, messing around with his hair as he stared into the vanity mirror, clearly not paying attention to his wife.
"No, they're missing," Susan countered. She shoved some clothes apart, looking around. "In fact, all my shoes are missing."
"How does somebody lose sixteen pairs of shoes?" Jonathan asked before turning to leave the room.
"I do not have sixteen pair," Susan glared after him. "It's more like five . . . ish."
Meanwhile, the kids were coming out of the laundry room.
"I don't your mommy will ever find those shoes," Dani said.
"Not where we hided them," Danny added.
"Thanks, guys," Jake said. Danny and Dani headed off to retrieve the highchair and began pushing it toward the kitchen window. "Now I gotta' get in that crockpit and fly this airplane-house back down before somebody gets hurted."
Climbing into the highchair, Jake fastened the tray in place and reached down for the steering wheel in Spud's possession. One setting it on the tray, he turned the key and pulling back on the lever. "Here we go!"
Spud headed to the sliding glass door and tried looking out of it, but all he saw was clouds of white. "We're not movin', Jake."
"Why isn't it working, Jake?" Dani asked, hand wrapped around one of the legs of the highchair.
"Is the house broke?" Danny asked.
"Hmm . . . we must be missin' something," Jake said, thinking. He looked up and immediately zeroed in on the ceiling fan. He pointed up at it. "That's what we need. A propeller."
Then they heard a door opening and the sound of Jake's dad's voice. "Well, Sus, good luck with the shoe hunt. I'm late for the Early Bird special at Hardware Village."
"Oh my gosh," Spud fretted, turning to Jake. "Now your daddy wants to go out."
"We gotta' stop him," Jake exclaimed.
Jonathan paused at the bottom of the stairs. "Okay, let's see – half a dozen wired nuts, one roll of electrical tape, and a first-aid kit? Wait, who wrote that?"
Right on cue, Grandpa Phil passed by, snickering.
"Pop!"
"Every time you try to fix something, you end up hurting yourself," Phil told him.
"I do not," he disagreed.
To prove his point, Phil pulled out a blue book and began flipping through the pages. "June 10th – fixed the air conditioner, broke your arm."
"It was a hairline fracture," he argued. "And I'll thank you not to keep a diary of my mistakes."
"No trouble at all," Phil grinned, turning to leave.
"Okay, keys," Jonathan felt around him. "Ke-keys, ke-where'd I put my car keys? Help me look, pop."
"Oh, great," Spud said as he and others watched from the archway of the kitchen. "Now you're gonna' tell us we has to find your daddy's keys and hide 'em like the shoes."
He had been joking. Jake, on the other hand . . . "Good idea, Spud."
"But, I only . . ." he began, just to be interrupted.
"Okay, babies, spread up," Jake ordered. "I'll look in my mommy's room on account of my daddy sleeps there. Danny, Dani – you look in here on account of my daddy always leaves stuff in here. Spud, you look in my grandpa's room on account of you can't smell anyway."
As the babies parted ways to look for Jonathan's keys, Susan was still searching through her closet for the missing shoes. "Hmm . . . not even slippers. I just don't get it – how can sixteen pairs of shoes just disappear?"
Behind her, Jake was crawling into the room. He brought up the sheet and peered under the bed, on the lookout for the keys.
Spud open the door to Phil's room. The darkness gave everything a scary appearance. "No keys in here," he said, quickly shutting it.
In the kitchen, Danny and Dani were opening one of the bottom cabinet drawers. Danny pulled out a barbecue fork and dropped it to the floor as he became interested in Cujo's bowl. "Hey, maybe the keys fell into Cujo's food."
"Good idea, Daniel," Dani said as they got on their knees in front of the bowl and began picking up hands full of kibble.
"Why do you always lose your keys, dagnabbit?" Phil asked in exasperation.
"Why do you always talk like a prospector when your aggravated, conflabbit?" Jonathan retorted, coming off as mocking at the end of his sentence, before he turned toward the hall closet.
Jake, who had been watching the two from the stairs, spotted the keys near the potted plant by the closet and scooted down the stairs on his bottom.
As Jonathan tossed a racket out of the closet in his search, Phil stood by, looking through his 'diary of Jonathan's mistakes'. "Here's another one: September 23rd – fixed the hot water heater" – he let out a small laugh – "blew yourself right out of your shoes."
"The directions were in Japanese," he replied defensively.
Jake was closing in on the keys, but just as he was reaching for them, Jonathan snatched them up. "Got 'em," he said, dropping them into the breast pocket of his sweater. "Okay, keys, list, money. I'll be back in a few, pop."
"And this one," Phil continued, scratching his head in confusion. "I still can't figure out. October 5th – changed the light bulb in the fridge" – he shrugged – "nine stitches and a case of pinkeye?"
"Alright, alright," Jonathan exclaimed. "I'll buy a first-aid kit."
Right as he was beginning to leave, Jake burst into tears. "Huh?" startled, Jonathan turned and knelt to pick Jake up. "What's the matter, champ? I'm coming right back. I'm just going to the store. Hey, I got an idea." Jake's tears ceased. "Why don't you come with me?"
Then started right back up again.
"He's probably just wet," Phil said, checking the one-year-olds diaper.
As both men were distracted, Jake reached into Jonathan's breast pocket and took the keys. As the twins immerged from the kitchen, both covered in dog food, Jonathan put Jake down – who proceeded to run off. "Anyway, he seems to be alright now. I'll be right back. Okay, lists, money, ke . . ."
His pocket was empty. "Where did they g . . ." he turned his head to see Jake crawling up the stairs, the keys clenched in his small hand. "Jake, no!"
Getting to his feet, Jake ran the rest of the way up the stairs and right for the bathroom. He stopped in the doorway, glancing from the toilet to the bathtub. Jonathan reached him too late as the keys disappeared down the bathtub drain. "No!"
Jake smiled as he was put into the playpen. Jonathan closed it and flipped the latch into place. "This outta' keep you out of trouble for a while." Standing, he wondered aloud, "How am I gonna' get my keys out of the drain?"
"I'll be right back with my fishing pole and a bottle of iodine," Phil said.
"What's the iodine for?" Jonathan asked.
"Trust me," the elderly man grinned. "You're gonna' need it."
"Mm," he rolled his eyes, but followed after.
"We did it!" Jake exclaimed as soon as the two were out of hearing range. "We save my mommy from runnin' off the clouds! We save my daddy from drivin' off the clouds!"
"And got ourselves all covered in dog food," Danny added happily.
"Now it's bottle time," Dani held up said bottle.
"No," Jake pointed toward the ceiling fan in the kitchen. "It's time to get that propeller. I gos a plan."
Barefoot and still dressed in sweats, Susan was dragging a mini trampoline into the living room. She sighed. "If I can't go out for my exercise, I'll just have to do it here."
Grabbing the remote control, she turned to the TV on to a workout channel where a woman did a backflip onto a trampoline similar to Susan's and began jumping. "One and two and three and four. You're doing great, ladies. One and two and three and four . . ."
As Susan copied the woman's movements, Cujo came running into the living room, barking. He stopped in front of the trampoline and stared up at her then at the door.
"Okay, Cujo. I'll let you out," she stopped jumping and headed to the kitchen, making her way passed the playpen, talking to the overeager pup. "Relax. Here we go."
The babies watched. "Oh no," Jake said. "My mommy's lettin' Cujo outside."
His friends gasped as they heard the door being opened. Through the sliding glass door, they watched as Cujo grabbed his bone and disappeared into the haze.
"Cujo!" Jake cried out.
"Uh-oh," Dani said.
"Sorry about Cujo, Jake," Danny apologized.
"Yeah, I liked him," Dani smiled sadly. "He had fleas."
"No, guys, I gotta' save him," Jake said, growing determined with each word. "I gotta' get back in the crockpit, catch Cujo, and fly this house home."
In the bathroom, Jonathan was sitting on a stool, Phil's fishing rod in his hand and the line down the drain.
"How're they bitin'?" Phil asked, appearing in the doorway with Susan.
"Let me know if you find my shoes down there, Jonathan," she said.
Both dad and wife laugh before turning to leave. "Heh, heh, heh," Jonathan mocked. "Very funny. Everybody's a comedian."
"Okay, watch out," Jake said as he and the others rolled Susan's workout trampoline into the kitchen, where it rolled in a circle before settling on its legs, right below the ceiling fan.
"Okay, now, Spud, you has to do the bouncing," Jake told his best friend.
"D'what?" he asked, taken aback.
"You have to bounce up on the pamperlean, grab that string, and start up the propeller," the black-haired baby explained.
"Me? Why me?"
"Cause you're the biggest," Danny answered.
"Please, Spud?" Dani pleaded.
"For Cujo?" Jake tried.
Spud looked at the fog and took a breath. "Okay . . . for Cujo," he headed for the trampoline.
Getting on it, he began jumping. With each jump, he grew closer to the string, but he just wasn't close enough. "I can't reach it, Jake!"
"Wait, I gotta' idea," Danny suddenly said, leaving the kitchen and making a beeline for the playpen, where there lay a T-Rex toy. He picked it up and pressed down the small trigger on the handle part – which made the T-Rex head open his mouth. "Yeah."
Outside, the sun began to shine as the fog diminished a little, but the babies didn't know this as Jake once again sat in the highchair, ready to take flight. Behind him, Spud was still bouncing on the trampoline, now using the toy to grab the string.
"Okay," Jake, looking down at Dani. "Bottle."
"Checks," she said, handing it to him.
He took it and looked to his other side where Danny stood. "Bib."
"Bib, bib, bib," Danny glanced around, trying to remember where . . . he spotted it hanging from the highchair and handed it up to Jake. "Checks."
Jake used the bib as a scarf and tied it around his neck. Then called behind his shoulder, "Propeller."
Spud was so close. Once, twice – third times the charm as the Rex's mouth closed down on the ball end of the string and pulled it down, turning on the ceiling fan. He let go of the toy as he fell on the trampoline just to bounce off and hit the floor. "Ouch," he muttered, slightly glancing over his shoulder. "Checks."
The bib turned scarf billowed around Jake like a cape as he gripped the steering wheel. "Okay, I'm takin' this house back to where it belongs – between my front yard and my backyard."
As he steered, the twins were peering out through the door that led from the kitchen to the backyard. "We don't see nothin'," Danny said.
"I don't think we're never gonna' get home, Jake," Spud said anxiously.
"We're gonna' get home and everything's gonna' be back to norman," Jack replied. "You'll see."
As the sun came out, the mist cleared before their very eyes. Not that the babies knew that . . .
"We did it, Jake!" Danny exclaimed triumphantly.
"Everything's back to norman!" Dani cheered.
Jake climbed down from the highchair, appearing crestfallen. "Not everything," he began to tear up. "We didn't catch Cujo."
Spud, Danny, and Dani's expression mirrored his . . . until said dog came barreling through the doors, barking. They gasped, then cheered and laughed as the dog knocked Jake over and began licking him.
In the bathroom, Jonathan finally got a bite. He reeled it in – his keys hanging from the hook. "Hey, I got my keys!" he exclaimed. "Yee-ouch!"
A loud crash followed the cry of pain.
"Got the iodine!"
"Honey, why are my pink pumps in the potato bin?"