Chapter 3

The gang split up, running through the crowd, looking for a new mommy and daddy for Peter. Kimi approached an elderly man smoking a cigarette.

"Go away little girl." Snapped the old man, taking another drag of his cigarette.

"That man sounds mean like Angelica, and he smells!" Said Kimi, running away from the mean old man.

Phil and Lil approached a guy dressed up as Reptar.

"Hey, maybe Peter would like Reptar to be his daddy." Said Phil.

"He already has a baby, Philip!" Snapped Lil, poking Phil in the ribs.

"Oh yeah." Muttered Phil, as the 2 of them left Reptar.

Dil, completely forgetting about searching for parents for Peter, went and found his own mommy and daddy. Didi looked down to see Dil, all by himself.

"Awe, there you are Dilly." Said Didi, picking Dil up and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Looking around, she couldn't see the other kids.

"Oh dear, the kids are gone again. Stu!" Didi shreaked, shaking Stu. The two of them, Didi carrying Dil, made their way through the giant crowd that had gathered to watch the fireworks, looking for the other kids. Kira and Chaz, Betty and Howard, and Aunty Celeste, following closely behind.

Just then, Tommy and Chuckie approached a guy dressed as a clown.

"Hey, maybe Peter would like a clown to be his daddy." Said Tommy.

"I don't know, he looks awfully scary looking." Replied Chuckie.

"Awe come on Chuckie, he's not that scary." Said Tommy.

Just then, the man pulled off his clown costume to review a giant diaper.

"Come on kids, pull my finger." Yelled the giant baby.

"Aaahhh." Screamed Tommy and Chuckie, as they ran through the crowd, the giant baby chasing after them.

Tommy and Chuckie caught up to Kimi, Phil and Lil, who joined in the running.

"What are we running from?" Kimi asked.

"A giant baby who's trying to get us." Answered Tommy.

"And we don't even have Angelica's magic lamp this time." Yelled Chuckie.

"Yeah but I guess fireworks make everybody come out from their hiding places." Said Phil.

"Look!" Exclaimed Lil, pointing to Dr. Lipchitze and a guy dressed up as Thorg from the Toy Palace.

"Thorg hungry, Thorg want to eat." Yelled the guy in the thorg costume.

The toddlers screamed and continued to run through the crowd.

"Where are Peter, Dil and Zack?" Chuckie asked.

"I don't know." Replied Tommy.

"What are we gonna do now? Those guys are still after us." Said Phil.

"Maybe if we jump into the rejecting pool, we can send them all back to fairy tale land and the toy store." Said Chuckie.

"Good idea Chuckie, let's do it." Said Tommy.

Everybody gathered around the edge of the reflecting pool, ready to dive in.

"On 3 everybody, 1, 2, 3." Said Tommy, as everybody grabbed hands and jumped into the pool.

Just then, Zack and Peter approached a lovely couple. A brunette man dressed in a pair of blue jeans, black leather jacket and a white t-shirt that said Sarycuse on it, and a woman with golden blond hair, dressed in a pink flowered dress.

"Are you kids lost?" Asked the woman.

"Awe, you boys are so cute!" Said the man, giving Peter a hug.

Just then, a security guard spotted the other toddlers in the reflecting pool. He picked up his bull horn.

"Kids in the reflecting pool, get them out, get them out." Said the security guard into his bull horn.

Just then, the couple with Zack and Peter turned towards the reflecting pool to see Tommy, Chuckie, Kimi, Phil and Lil jumping up and down.

"We'd better go rescue those kids. Come on." Said the male figure as he along with his wife, Zack and Peter, headed towards the reflecting pool.

Peter and Zack stood back and watched, as the nice couple reached in and fished their friends out of the water. Back on land, the gang looked around, no longer seeing Reptar, Dr. Lipchitz, the giant baby, or Thorg in site.

"Angelica was wrong, but right too." Said Tommy.

"What do you mean Tommy?" Chuckie asked.

"The rejecting pool doesn't make you disappear, it makes things you don't want disappear, like my fear of water and that giant baby." Replied Tommy.

"Yeah, and Zachary and Peter, saved us once again." Said Chuckie with a smile.

"No Chuckie, I think Peter has a new mommy and daddy, look." Said Tommy, pointing to the couple who fished them out of the water.

Just then, everybody's parents walked up to them, along with a woman in a red and white striped uniform that said, Orfanige on the name tag.

"Oh, good, you made it." Said the orfan owner lady.

"Peter, I'd like you to meet your new foster parents, Sonny and Layla Coafeks. They're lawyers that came all the way from New York City for the Fourth of July weekend, just to sign the adoption papers and take you home." Said the orfanige lady, leading Peter over to Sonny and Layla.

"It's an honor to be adopting our first child." Said Layla.

"Yeah." Said Sonny with a smile, picking up Peter and giving him a hug.

Just then, the fireworks concluded, with many colors in the sky.

"They're so prettyful." Said Lil, gazing up at some beautiful purple and yellow fireworks going off in the sky.

"Yeah but those fireworks make my ears hurt." Said Chuckie, as the final cracklings of the fireworks were heard, sending the outside of the museum into total darkness.

As soon as the fireworks concluded, everybody clapped and cheered.

"Thanks Zachary, you founded me a new mommy and daddy." Said Peter with a smile, shaking Zack's hand.

"You're welcome. I was happy to help, and I hope you enjoy life with your new mommy and daddy." Said Zack.

Peter smiled, and gave Zack a hug. The rest of the rugrats joined in, making it a group hug.

A little while later, Peter left with his new parents and the other parents approached the rugrats.

"Tommy, you're soaking wet!" Said Didi, picking Tommy up off the ground.

Betty and Kira did the same, picking up their kids, noticing they were soaking wet.

"Well we'd better get home, though it could take a while the parking lot's likely to be a mad house with the gobs of people who came to see tonight's fireworks display." Said Chaz, as everybody followed him back through the crowd to the parking lot.

"Yeah, we'd better get home and get you kids changed out of these wet clothes before you catch a chill!" Said Kira.

Later, in the car, the kids were seated in the way back in their car seats.

"Well, that was the bestest adventure I've ever had, but saving the day sure is tiring." Said Zack, letting out a huge yawn.

"Yeah, but you did great!" Said Tommy with a smile.

"No I didn't, I got us all wet and in trouble." Replied Zack.

"But you helped me overcome my fear of the water. You convinced me to face it." Said Tommy.

"And… And… You helped our new friend Peter, find a mommy and daddy." Said Chuckie.

"Yeah, I'm gonna miss Peter." Said Zack.

"But at least he can live happily ever after." Said Kimi.

"And this is one Fourth of July, I will never forget. The fireworks, the rejecting pool, the music, corndogs, and the bravery we all performed today. It can't get any better than this." Said Zack with a smile, as he closed his eyes.

Everyone nodded with a smile, as they yawned and fell asleep, the car inching its way down the road through the long line of traffic, as the families headed home, from their big Fourth of July celebration, at the newly renovated art museum.

The End