This is inspired by a "Leave It To Beaver" episode called "Forgotten Party" (2x36: June 4th, 1959).
Cornelius and his ape friend, Arthur walked up to the front of the hut side by side after school taught by his Uncle Maurice.
"Hey, what are you doing this Saturday, Cornelius?" Arthur asked as Cornelius shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know, that's a whole four days from now," Cornelius responds standing at the front of the door. "I'm too busy thinking about tomorrow's stuff to worry about Saturday stuff… why?"
"Oh they are finally opening that new park by the school," Arthur said excitedly as Cornelius's eyes shot open and a smile formed on his face. "Do you want to go with me Saturday?"
"Sure, that sounds fun," Cornelius said with a smile. "I better go inside before my mother starts asking a lot of questions."
Arthur nodded, "Yeah. Too bad all mothers are so nosy."
"Definitely."
"See ya, Cornelius," Arthur said as they parted ways. Cornelius walks inside and walks down the hall to his room he shared with Nova. He walks in and finds his mother making their beds.
"Hi mother," Cornelius greeted as Cornelia looked up and smiled at her son as she changed the sheets.
"Cornelius, aren't you late coming home?" Cornelia questioned her son as he put down his books and paper beside his bed.
"Arthur and I stopped by and saw Uncle Luca," Cornelius explained as his mother sighs and tucked in the sheet corners under the bed.
"That's nice, how is he?" Cornelia asked, while grabbing the pillows and fluffing them with her hands.
"He's fine, but any ape who works out as much as Uncle Luca has got to be ready to give someone the business," Cornelius said watching his mother make his bed.
Cornelia looked at her son and chuckled softly, "Sweetheart, you know Uncle Luca doesn't go around and give apes the business."
"I know it, but he doesn't need to start the fight, only when they deserve it," Cornelius responds to his mother who looks at him surprised by his choice of words.
"Cornelius, that is not appropriate," Cornelia said sternly giving him a warning look, putting the pillows back on her son's bed. "You know darn well Uncle Luca doesn't do that, and I certainly hope you aren't."
"Oh no I'm not," Cornelius said backing off seeing the look on his mother's face. "Then that means Father will find out and yell at me."
"For heaven's sake Cornelius, when has your father ever yelled at any of you?" Cornelia asked with an eye roll walking over to change Nova's bedsheets.
"All the time, mother," Cornelius replied as Cornelia ever so slightly scoffed as she began to remove the sheets from her daughter's bed. "I bet fathers like to wait until you goof up something so they can yell at you."
"Honey, your father doesn't like to get mad at you and your siblings," Cornelius said walking out of the bedroom with the sheets followed by her son, to the backyard.
"You mean Father doesn't enjoy yelling at us?" Cornelius asked confused as Cornelia rolled her eyes.
She puts down the sheets on the bench and faced Cornelius half annoyed. "Of course not! If you all just listen and behave, then your father wouldn't have to do that."
"Yeah but if we all did that, then that takes out half the fun of being a kid," Cornelius said as Cornelia folds her arms and gives him the tiniest of smiles.
Cornelius walked inside as Cornelia laughed slightly and shook her head going back to doing the laundry for Nova's bed.
Cornelius walks into the living room and hears the phone ringing.
"I'll get it!" Cornelius shouted as he ran to the phone on the table next to the couch and picked it up, "Hello?"
"Hi is this Cornelius?" The male ape asked on the other line as Cornelius made a confused look on his face not recognizing the voice.
"Yeah, this is Cornelius."
"This is Theodore, how are you Cornelius?" Theodore asked sitting on a chair in the living room.
"I'm fine," Cornelius said walking over and sat down on the couch, holding the phone. His face it up remembering his old friend, Theodore. "How are you, Theo?"
"I'm good," Theodore replied with a smile. "I want to ask you something."
"Sure Theo, what do you want to ask me?" Cornelius repeated, happily reconnecting with an old friend.
"I'm having a birthday party Saturday, could you come?" Theodore asked with excitement holding the phone.
Cornelius sat in thought for a moment until he spoke up, "This Saturday? Yeah, I can come, what time?"
"High noon, and hey Cornelius… do you remember me?" Theodore asked nervously hoping he remembered him because it would be a huge let down if he didn't.
"Of course, you and I used to be good friends before you moved away from my neighborhood," Cornelius responds with a smile.
"Ok good," Theodore replied taking a deep breath in relief. "I didn't want to invite you if you didn't remember me. You're the only ape from the old neighborhood that my parents let me invite because you're my best friend."
Cornelius got confused and asked, "I am?"
"Yeah, and you be there because I practically had to beg and complain a lot to get my parents to agree," Theodore explained to his friend. "I also used Caesar is your father and he saved all of us, and that convinced them."
"Yeah ok, I'll be there Theodore," Cornelius responds with an eye roll annoyed about how often all of the kids use that phrase. "Bye."
Cornelius hung up the phone as Nova walked over to him.
"Who was that?" Nova asked standing next to the phone.
"Theodore," Cornelius said ripping out a piece of paper to write down the time of the party.
"Oh I remember him!" Nova said with a smile. "What did he want?"
"None of your business, Nova," Cornelius said looking up at the after writing the time down on a slip of paper and left it on the table.
"Cornelius!" Nova snapped at him. "That wasn't very nice!"
"Do I have to tell my sister all my plans?" Cornelius said standing up as Nova scoffed. "You don't tell me everything."
"Yeah, but it doesn't mean you have to be rude about it," Nova replied feeling insulted and walked into the kitchen to get a snack. Blue Eyes walked in from the front door and saw his two siblings in the kitchen.
"Hi guys," Blue Eyes greeted happily walking into the kitchen as well.
"Oh hi," Cornelius greeted back. "Hey Blue Eyes, can I take a picture of you doing a muscle?"
"Why?" Blue Eyes asked as Nova covered her mouth from laughing at Cornelius' comment.
"Well, I haven't used a human camera before and I want to see if it still works," Cornelius explained to his older brother telling half the truth.
Before Blue Eyes was able to respond, Nova cut in with a sneaky smile.
"He said if someone picks on him, he'll show your picture and tell who's going to beat them up," Nova said as Cornelius turned around and have her a cold glare.
"Squealer!"
Blue Eyes rolled his eyes and sighed annoyed, "That's stupid, Cornelius. I'm not doing that."
"Oh come on," Cornelius whined as he started following Blue Eyes towards the hall. "Just let me take it!"
Cornelia walked in from the backyard with Nova's bedsheets and saw that Blue Eyes is home from school.
"Hi Blue Eyes," Cornelia also greeted as Blue Eyes smiled at her.
"Hi Mother."
"Who was on the phone, Cornelius?" Cornelia asked her youngest son.
"Oh no one mother, just some ape kid," Cornelius said as he followed Blue Eyes down the hall to his room. "Come on Blue Eyes, just one picture!"
"I don't want any fighting you two," Cornelia said as she followed them down the hall to go to Nova and Cornelius' room across from Blue Eye's room, to put the bedsheets on Nova's bed.
…
Caesar is in the kitchen putting his dish away as Cornelia called him from the living room.
"Caesar, can you come here please?"
Caesar put the dish in the bucket on the counter and walked in seeing Cornelia holding a piece of paper in her hand.
"Is this something you wrote?" Cornelia asked showing him the piece of paper. "It says high noon."
Caesar takes a closer look and examines the printing. He shook his head and stifled a laugh, "No, it looks like Cornelius' scribbling. Remember he likes to write down the correct times so he doesn't make a mistake trying to tell the time from the sun?"
Cornelia chuckles and puts down the paper on the table next to the phone.
"Right," Cornelia replies as Arthur and Cornelius walk in and heads towards the front door.
"Bye mother, bye father, we're heading out," Cornelius said as he opened the door but Arthur walks over to them.
"Oh hi Caesar, Cornelia," Arthur greets as Cornelia smiles at him and puts a hand on his shoulder.
"Hi Arthur, we didn't hear you come in."
"I walked in while you and Caesar were eating breakfast," Arthur explained to both of them. "I went straight to Cornelius' room. Don't worry, I didn't break anything."
Caesar and Cornelia shared glances and chuckled seeing how cute Arthur is, and how similar his personality is to Cornelius. No wonder they are such good friends.
"We're glad you didn't break anything Arthur," Caesar said with a smile leaning against the table.
"Well you two have fun, and Cornelius, make sure you and Nova are home for dinner," Cornelia said turning around to face her son who is holding the door open.
Cornelius nodded, Yes Mother."
Cornelia gets annoyed seeing that Cornelius is still holding the door open. She must've told him at least a hundred times not to leave the door wide open like that.
"For heaven's sake Cornelius, don't leave the door open," Cornelia said firmly as Caesar chuckled seeing her discipline Cornelius. "You're going to let in all the bugs!"
"Ok, ok!" Cornelius said as they left closing the door behind them.
"I haven't seen Blue Eyes all morning, what do you suppose he's up to?" Cornelia asked her husband who shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know, but an teenaged ape who is not outside with his friends on a Saturday has got to be up to something," Caesar explained to his wife who nodded in agreement. He walked over to the hallway and called for him. "Blue Eyes!"
Blue Eyes walked out of his room and down the hall.
"Yeah Father?"
"What are you doing inside still?" Cornelia asked her oldest son.
"Well, I have to finish my writing exercise," Blue Eyes replied to his parents. "Uncle Maurice gave it back to me because I didn't write enough words."
"How many words are you supposed to have?" Cornelia questioned folding her arms.
"Fifty."
"So you're just rewriting the paper?" Caesar added into the conversation, standing next to Cornelia.
Blue Eyes shook his head, "No, I'm just cramming in twenty more words."
"Well may I suggest son, that after you cram in those twenty words, that you rewrite the paper," Caesar explained to his son giving him a warning look as if Blue Eyes didn't have a choice in the matter.
"Yes Father," Blue Eyes said with a small smile as he headed back to his room to finish his homework.
...
Cornelia is in the living room straightening up while Caesar is on the couch relaxing with his feet up. The phone starts to ring and Cornelia walks over and picks it up.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is this Cornelia?" Theodore's mother, Julia asks with her son standing next to her anxiously. "It's Theodore's mother."
Cornelia's face lit up with a smile, "Oh hi Julia! It's been such a long time."
"I hope I'm not disturbing you-" Julia starts but pauses to push Theodore away from her leg. She went back to the phone. "Anyways, is Cornelius on his way over? We're just about to sit down for lunch and Theodore is getting a little worried."
"Theodore?" Cornelia asked confused as Caesar sat up, getting interested in the phone conversation.
"Yes, it's his birthday and everyone's here but Cornelius," Julia explained through the phone as Theodore tapped her leg again.
"Is he coming?"
"Stop it!" Julia snapped at her son before going back on the phone. "He knows it's today doesn't he?"
Cornelia is absolutely shocked of what she's hearing. She could barely put any words into her mouth because she felt so embarrassed that the party is held up because of Cornelius.
"Well… um, Julia, there must be a misunderstanding," Cornelia stammered at a loss for words.
"Cornelius will be here won't he?" Julia asked as she pushed Theodore off her again. "I mean, Theo would be absolutely devastated if he doesn't show up."
"Oh dear, well don't get upset Julia," Cornelia said feeling just awful that this misinformation happened. She couldn't let them down now. "I'll have Cornelius there as soon as possible."
"Ok, thank you so much."
They both hung up their phones.
…
Cornelia started to pace the floor anxiously, then ran over to the hallway and shouted, "Blue Eyes!"
"What's going on?" Caesar asked concerned standing beside his wife.
"Cornelius forgot about Theodore's birthday party," Cornelia explain in a state of distress as she called out for her son again. "Blue Eyes!"
"How could he forget about his birthday party?" Caesar asked absolutely shocked as Blue Eyes began walking down the hall.
"Honey, when you're nine years old you can forget anything!" Cornelia snapped more harshly as she intended.
"What's up, Mother?" Blue Eyes asked racing into the room hearing how upset Cornelia sounded. Nova walked through the door and saw her family.
"Hi!" She greeted happily.
"Blue Eyes, Nova, I want you two to go outside and find your brother as quickly as you can!" Cornelia said in a hurry as she gently pushed Blue Eyes towards the front door where Nova stood confused.
"What did he mess up now?" Blue Eyes asked with a small smile.
"He forgot all about a birthday party!" Cornelia snapped as she faced her husband. "Caesar, why don't you take the horse and check the new park."
"Ok."
"Nova, Blue Eyes, search the entire neighborhood and I'm going to call Arthur's parents," Cornelia said firmly as she turned around and ran to the phone.
"Boy what a dumb thing to do, to forget an entire birthday party," Blue Eyes said with a chuckle leaving the hut along with Nova and Caesar.
"Blue Eyes, that's enough," Caesar scolded at him as they left the hut.
"Yes father."
"Come on Blue Eyes, we have to go find Cornelius!" Nova said in panic as she grabbed his hand and dragged him along. Caesar watched the two and chuckled before getting on their horse to go to the park.
…
Cornelia just finished talking to one of Cornelius's friends on the phone as Caesar walked in through the front door. Cornelia raced over in panic.
"Did you find him?" Cornelia asked in hope.
Caesar shook his head and crossed his arms, "No. I looked all throughout the new park and neighborhood. I saw every child except ours."
"Well, I guess I'll just have to call Theodore's parents and tell them he's not coming," Cornelia said with a sigh, feeling just terrible about the whole situation.
"That's what you should've done in the first place," Caesar snapped a little harshly than he intended.
Cornelia looked at him squarely in the eyes annoyed, "Now Caesar, I didn't want to ruin the party!"
"If we can't find Cornelius, it'll ruin the party anyways!" Caesar argued back, also annoyed.
"If I've known that, I wouldn't have told them he'd be there!" Cornelia snapped back at her husband who rolled his eyes and slightly scoffed.
They heard the back door being opened hearing Blue Eyes's voice raised. They both looked at each other before running in to see what happened. Cornelia gasped seeing how muddy Cornelius is, followed by Blue Eyes and Nova.
"And another thing, Cornelius-" Blue Eyes started to holler again at his brother, before seeing his parents and stopped talking.
"I-I fell down in a mud puddle," Cornelius admitted quietly, looking down at his feet feeling very embarrassed.
"Well," Cornelia stammered trying to think fast on her feet. She turned to her husband and sighed. "Um, Caesar, you get Cornelius in the bathtub." She then faced her oldest son. "..and Blue Eyes, go get a hairbrush and some stain remover." Cornelia faced her daughter and put a hand on her shoulder. "Nova, you're coming with me to help find a present."
Cornelia and Nova raced out the back door made out of bamboo sticks tied together by hand-made ropes. Caesar sighed and started walking towards the hall.
"Alright, come on Cornelius."
Cornelius and Blue Eyes followed behind Caesar to the bathroom.
Cornelius faced Blue Eyes and gulped nervously as their father headed into the bathroom down the hall.
"How mad do you think Father is?" Cornelius asked quietly, but visibly nervous.
Blue Eyes shrugged his shoulders and sighed, "He's pretty darn mad, Cornelius. I suggest you don't say a word right now and just do what he says before-"
They both jump startled when they heard Caesar's loud, angry voice from the bathroom. His voice sounded louder and more intense than usual because he's in the bathroom and it bounced off the walls creating a strong echo.
"Cornelius, get in here and take your bath!"
Blue Eyes and Cornelius gulped and ran down the hall to the bathroom on the right hand side of the hall.
…
Caesar is in Nova and Cornelius's room getting the stain remover, hairbrush and other things to help make Cornelius look presentable. He laid the supplies on his son's bed as he heard bickering going on in the next room near the end of the hall.
"Hold still, you little worm!"
"But you're getting soap in my eyes!"
Most utilities and supplies were handcrafted and made by many wilderness materials in a bunch of different biomes across the planet.
Caesar sighed and raised his voice loud enough so his children could hear him. "Blue Eyes, how is he coming along?"
Blue Eyes opened the bathroom door and replied, "Well, the mud is coming off… but I think he fell into something else… because it's not coming out as easily. Cornelius really stinks."
"We'll figure something out, now come on out!" Caesar said opening the door to have a face to face conversation with Blue Eyes instead of raising their voices. "Hurry up!"
Blue Eyes nodded, "Right away, Father."
Blue Eyes came out with Cornelius who is wrapped in hand crafted towels made of sheepskin. Caesar walks over and leads Cornelius in his room along with Blue Eyes.
"Now will you brush yourself out and use this stain remover," Caesar said handing him the bottle and brush. Caesar and Blue Eyes started to help Cornelius speed up the process by rubbing his body with their hands to dry Cornelius's fur quicker.
"How can you possibility forget an invitation to a birthday party?" Caesar asked his son in a harsh tone, helping to dry him off.
"Father, you don't need to yell at me… Blue Eyes already did that when he walked me all the way home," Cornelius explained to his father who heavily sighed and looked up at Blue Eyes slightly annoyed. Blue Eyes smelled his brother again and made a face.
"He still stinks, father."
Caesar smelled his son and made a disgusted look on his face. He looked down at Cornelius and put his hands on his hips upset.
"What on earth did you get yourself covered with?" Caesar scolded very annoyed.
"Gee, I don't know, I was too busy thinking about the mud then the other stuff," Cornelius replied filling his eyes with tears, upset that he's being pushed around and yelled at.
"We're just going to have to use my shaving lotion," Caesar said before looking down at Cornelius who is trying hard not to burst into tears. "And don't you dare cry."
Cornelius nodded pushing away his tears by sniffling.
"Yeah Cornelius, do you want to get a second round of hollering by Father?" Blue Eyes asked with a chuckle as Caesar immediately shot him a cold glare, putting hands on Cornelius's shoulders.
"The shaving lotion… got it," Blue Eyes said backing off, and ran out of the room to go into his parents room to get the lotion.
…
Caesar, Blue Eyes and Cornelius walked out of the hallway, as Cornelia and Nova walked over to them. Cornelia saw some stains on her son's fur and got slightly upset.
"Couldn't you two worked harder to get these stains out?" Cornelia asked picking at his stains.
"We didn't have much time, be thankful he looks this presentable," Caesar said as they walked towards the front door.
"Ok, here's the present," Nova said handing Cornelius a plastic toy gun.
"Why this toy?" Cornelius asked looking at the plastic gun, confused.
"I had to pick out the first thing we saw," Nova said feeling insulted that her brother didn't like her choice. "It's better than nothing, just be happy you have a present to give Theo."
"But-"
Caesar lost his patience and scolded Cornelius which made him swallow hard nervously.
"No buts Cornelius, it's your fault for getting us into this mess, so be thankful that your mother and sister got a birthday present and everything else we did for you today," Caesar snapped at his son loud, sternly and clearly. "You are going to that party, and you're bringing that present. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes Father," Cornelius mutters under his breath as he left with Caesar who firmly shut the door behind him.
…
Caesar and Cornelia are sitting on the couch as Cornelius quietly walked through the door. He felt ashamed of his actions today and didn't know how to properly apologize to his parents for sticking their necks out for him. Cornelius slowly raised his head and looked his parents who had unreadable expressions on their faces.
"Hi," Cornelius began as he cleared his voice.
"How was the party?" Cornelia asked nicely, with a small smile.
"It was fine," Cornelius replied, fidgeting with his fingers nervously. "Um, I wanted to uh, thank you for everything today."
Both parents glanced at each other and sighed.
Caesar smiled small and said in a hushed tone, "Cornelius son, come here."
Cornelius obeyed and walked over to his parents. He sat down on the coffee table in front of both of them.
"You do understand why we are disappointed in you, right?" Cornelia questioned her son, who nodded sniffling to hold back his tears.
"Son, you need to learn to remember your commitments before making new ones," Caesar explained softly putting a hand on his son's leg and squeezed it gently. "It not only affects you, but to the apes you made plans with. It wasn't fair to Theodore and his guests to hold up the party because you forgot about it."
"And it affected us as well," Cornelia added soothingly. "We put off our plans to help you out. That wasn't fair to us either."
Cornelius nodded as a single tear trickled down his cheek, "I know. I shouldn't be allowed to make plans ever again."
"Now son, don't beat yourself up too much," Caesar counselled his youngest son using his thumb to wipe the tear off his cheek. "It was a mistake, and we learn from our mistakes. That's a part of growing up."
"And we love you no matter what you do," Cornelia finished planting a kiss on her son's forehead.
Cornelius smiled small but turned more serious.
"I'm sorry for what happened today."
"We know, and we forgive you honey," Cornelia said with a smile as he smiled back feeling better about the whole situation. "We always do. Now, go apologize to Nova and Blue Eyes. They stuck their necks out for you too."
"Yes, mother."
Cornelius stood up from the coffee table and walked down the hall to find his siblings so he can apologize for what happened today.
Caesar faced his wife and put a hand on her leg, "Well, that was a hectic day."
Cornelia nodded, "Yes it was. Thank heavens it's been dealt with."
"You and me both."
The end.