Title: Of Eggs and Parenting: Chipmunk Style
Written by: Somnion
Disclaimer: I do not own Alvin and the Chipmunks. It belongs to Bagdasarian productions
Once again, thank you for all the reviews that you have written and all those who read this story. I was a little late in publishing this chapter; I am actually having my final examinations now. Updates may be slow until the examinations are over but I'll try to update as soon as I can.
Chapter 3: Home Alone
Eleanor was the first one to get up the next morning. It was no surprise after all, she was the only one who had her egg with her and she wanted to wish it 'Good Morning'. Turning to her bedside table, she smiled and greeted her little egg.
"Good Morning, Baby Dave," she said as she got out of bed as she gave her egg a kiss.
Eleanor was obviously in a good mood that morning, singing as she made her bed and drew the curtains open. Brittany and Jeanette, who were still in bed, closed their eyes tighter as they tried to go back to sleep. It was six o' clock on a Saturday morning and under normal circumstances, none of them would be awake at such an early hour. Eleanor continued her humming as she made her way downstairs to have breakfast, but chances are that Miss Miller hadn't even set the table yet given that she would not have expected any of the Chipettes to be awake so early.
Two hours later, when Brittany and Jeanette decided to wake up and begin their day, they were surprised to see Eleanor still having her breakfast at the breakfast table. Either she hadn't had anything to eat yet or this would be, as Jeanette figured, Eleanor's second breakfast as she was reminded of the hobbits from her Lord of the Rings novel. Jeanette began to wonder again; maybe Eleanor had a hobbit ancestry, such a possibility would explain her appetite. As Jeanette pondered over the mysteries of their possible Hobbit ancestry, Brittany was busy having her breakfast and talking with her younger sister.
"Oh, I hope Theodore doesn't notice that I switched eggs," Eleanor said worryingly.
"Don't worry about it, Ellie," Brittany said as she poured milk onto her cereal. "Boys are clueless. Theodore probably won't even realize that the egg in his case is just a dummy egg."
"Are boys really that clueless?" Jeanette asked as she broke out of her trance and Brittany knew that the only reason Jeanette was asking this question was whether it was true in regards to Simon, who obviously wasn't stupid.
"There are two kinds of boys Jeanette," she replied. "They're either as dumb as a rock or as unimaginative as a tree stump. Either way, they're both dense."
Eleanor giggled as she realised that her elder sister's generalization was obviously based on Alvin and Simon. As they finished their breakfast, they each had a shower and dressed up. They all wanted to see their eggs and so they got the phone and called the Seville's residence.
"Simon," Theodore called, "does Baby Dave look different to you?"
"Different?" asked Simon quizzically. "What do you mean by that, Theodore?"
"Well, he seems to be slightly browner than he was yesterday," replied the chubby little butterball.
"Theodore, eggs don't just change colour," reasoned the always logical Simon.
"Really, Simon? Are you sure?"
"Of course," Simon assured as he brushed his teeth. "It's probably just your imagination, Theodore. Don't worry about it."
Alvin rushed up the stairs as the two younger Chipmunks talked. "I just got off the phone with Brittany, guys," he informed his brothers. "They want us to meet them at their house with our eggs."
The Chipmunks wasted no time in getting ready and in about half an hour, all of them had cleaned up, brushed their teeth, dressed and were sitting at the breakfast table with Dave. After their meal, they made their exit except Theodore who was still hungry and was still at the table. Dave had already left to do the groceries and the two elder Chipmunks were ready to go. After a while, Alvin and Simon started to lose patience with their youngest brother's tardiness due to his insistence to finish of his hefty breakfast. Finally, they decided to go on ahead and told Theodore to meet them at the Millers to which Theodore agreed.
The Chipettes were waiting anxiously for the Chipmunks and Brittany was prompt to answer the doorbell when she heard it ring.
"Alvin! Simon!" she greeted with a smile, but when she realised that they were short a Chipmunk she asked, "Where's Theodore?"
"The little butterball is still eating his breakfast," Alvin said with a smirk as Brittany invited them inside.
"Oh, I see," Brittany said with relief, glad that Theodore's absence wasn't because Theodore realised that Eleanor had switched eggs. The Chipmunks entered the living room as Brittany escorted them in. Jeanette was waiting there but Eleanor was upstairs doing something or another. No sooner had Alvin sat down, Brittany suggested on taking their egg for a walk around the town.
"But I just got here," complained Alvin. "Can't I just sit down for a minute?"
"Well, you should have gotten here earlier if you wanted to sit down," Brittany snapped. "We've wasted a lot of time and there are a lot of places we need to visit with our baby."
Before Alvin could retaliate, Brittany grabbed the egg and his arm and was out the door in flash, leaving behind a very surprised Simon and an equally surprised Jeanette.
"Here, Jeanette," Simon said as he placed their egg on the table. "I brought it like Brittany told us to."
"Thank you, Simon," thanked the brown haired Chipette. "I hope you didn't have any trouble."
"Hardly," said Simon who was little confused at the question. "I mean, how much trouble could an egg cause? It's just an egg after all."
"Yes, I guess so," said Jeanette, a little embarrassed about asking the question. "Sorry I acted so silly."
Simon suggested that they should continue their report and Jeanette was, as always, quick to agree. The couple went upstairs to the Chipette's room to do their work. However, as they walked up the flight of stairs, Eleanor was just exiting the room when she saw her sister.
"Oh, Jeanette," Eleanor called nervously. "Is Theodore here?"
Jeanette shook her head. It obviously did not help to calm Eleanor down. "Oh, I hope Theodore didn't realise I switched our eggs?"
Jeanette's' eyes widened and her body tensed. Simon was right behind her and had probably heard what Eleanor had just revealed. She prayed that Simon didn't hear but unfortunately he did. Eleanor's secret was now compromised.
"You switched your eggs?" Simon asked, raising an eyebrow as he met the two stunned Chipettes.
"Simon!" Eleanor shouted in surprise. "It's not what you think...I..."
"Don't worry," Simon interrupted. "I won't tell but you should quickly switch the eggs back when Theodore gets here. He did notice a difference in the eggs this morning but I told him it was his imagination. Guess he wasn't completely wrong..."
Theodore had finished his breakfast and was just cleaning up the table. When he put all the tableware away, he grabbed his egg and was about to leave. However as he tried to open the door, he found that it didn't budge. He continued in his attempts to open it but soon realised that the door was stuck. He then remembered that Dave told them that the latch on the door was stuck and he was going to fix it. Theodore figured that Alvin must have forgotten and closed it on accident when he came in to tell him that they were going to the Miller's residence ahead of him.
"Oh no," whimpered the little Chipmunk. "I'm stuck."
He wanted to call someone for help but the phone was in the living room and not in the kitchen. He was really starting to get frightened being locked at home all alone. He knocked on the stuck kitchen door, hoping someone would still be there and would rescue him, but to no avail. Everyone had left to do their own things, leaving him alone. He sank back into a chair and clung to himself, almost at the verge of tears. He was very afraid being alone in a situation like this yet there would be no choice for him now. He would have to wait for someone to find him.
"I hope Eleanor won't be angry that I'm late," he said sadly.
Brittany and Alvin were having a ball, walking around town with their egg. They took it to the park, the arcade and even for a short look of the library. After a couple of hours, Brittany called for a break and Alvin, who had been on his feet the whole morning, was all too happy to oblige. They found a nice ice-cream parlour and decided to have some ice-cream. As Alvin walked to the counter to place their order, Brittany found them some seats. Placing the egg on the table, she waited for her partner to return.
"Alright, they should be here with the ice-cream soon," Alvin said as he took a seat.
"Isn't this wonderful, Alvin," sighed Brittany with a contented smile. "Ice-cream on a hot summer day."
"Sure is," he replied.
There were times when the two of them get along without fighting and whenever they did, they looked like a very pretty couple. Their constant fighting and arguing was obviously a part of their love/hate relationship and although it had a tendency to overshadow their many tender moments, it was something neither of them wanted to give up for it seemed that their arguments and fights added a little spice and flavour in their relationship. The peace continued as they ate their ice cream, so much so that Brittany teasingly let Alvin taste a little of her chocolate-chip ice-cream. It's a pity that the peace was broken when the bill came.
"What's this?" Brittany asked indignantly as she saw two separate bills.
"I asked the waiter for separate bills," Alvin said plainly.
"But...But shouldn't you be a gentleman and pay for a lady?" asked Brittany sweetly as she batted her eyelashes at her Chipmunk counterpart.
"Don't worry," said Alvin jokingly. "I will when I see one."
Brittany was well known for her notoriously short fuse and Alvin had just sparked it off, yet again. She slammed her share of the bill on the table before yelling at Alvin, causing all eyes to turn to them.
"Fine," she yelled. "Here's the money. Just you see if I'll ever go out with you again, you toad."
With that, she stormed out of the parlour. Alvin, who now, was also in a bad mood, took the money and paid the bill. He left immediately, much to the relief of the other customers, it had gotten rather awkward after Alvin and Brittany's little lover's spat.
Meanwhile, Simon, Jeanette and Eleanor were all awaiting Theodore's arrival but there was no sign of him. Two hours had passed and now they were beginning to worry. Simon even called his home but no one answered. Finally, Eleanor stood up and told them she was going to go and see Theodore herself and explain everything. Deep down, she had begun to worry that perhaps the reason Theodore refused to show up was because he had discovered her secret. She wished Simon and her sister, Jeanette, goodbye as she left for the Seville's.
"I hope things turn out alright," whispered Jeanette in a worried tone.
"Don't worry," was Simon's reply as he put his hand on Jeanette's shoulder to ensure her. "Theodore is very forgiving by nature and even if he is upset, he doesn't hold a grudge for long. Eleanor should be fine."
"I hope so."
They were planning to go to the library that day but just as they were about to leave, Miss Miller called Jeanette and asked her if she could spare the time to run over to the grocery store to pick up some flour and sugar. Jeanette was always eager to help and agreed to go. She dropped her satchel and apologised to Simon. She promised she'd be back soon and then they would go to the library. Simon sighed as he laid his backpack down against the wall. He sat on the living room couch and waited. His eyes wandered around, trying to find something to keep him occupied. It was then he spied a book in Jeanette's satchel and it had a library book code on its side. Simon recalled that Jeanette had to drop some books off at the library yesterday.
"Had she forgotten one?" he thought to himself.
Normally Simon would never go through someone else's belongings, after all he knew better than to do something like that. But he was worried that Jeanette may have accidently forgotten to return the book so he picked it up to check the return date. It surprised him when he looked at the dates, for the book was checked out only yesterday. However, what surprised him more was the title of the book; 'Naming Your Baby.'
"Why would Jeanette borrow a book like this?" He thought to himself. "There are no babies for her to name."
But then, his eyes fell on the egg case where he kept his and Jeanette's egg. Memories of the day before returned to his head as he, Jeanette and their siblings walked home from school.
"Umm... Simon, should we name our egg too?"
"Well, if you want to Jeanette, go ahead. But I don't see any reason in naming it, this being a school assignment and all."
"Jeanette..." he whispered under his breath, his mind still lost in confusion, as the realisation that Jeanette may have had maternal feelings for the egg all along finally hit him on the head.
Chapter 3 Ends
As always I look forward to hearing from all of you. Thank you very much for reading the story.
