The rest of the morning passed without incident. Professor Utonium fed Bubbles and Blossom and let them play on the floor while he made the preparations to take them to the daycare center. Utonium and Sandy really needed on because Sandy had to teach and, while Utonium worked at home, was more often than not too busy to watch three infant girls who had recently learned to crawl and were getting into everything he could. It was difficult to get the children into any daycare, despite the fact Sandy could pull some strings, none of them were able to get the babies into a daycare.

A month ago, Utonium and Sandy put the girls into the Babe in Arms Daycare Center near Sandy's school. One of the Daycare's nannies, against specific instructions, removed the childrens' Restrainers. Long story short, it ended in some massive property damage and nearly resulted in a lawsuit by the owners of the Center. After that incident, the "Three Tiny Tot Wrecking Balls", as they were so horribly dubbed in newspapers, were banned from nearly every daycare center in the entire Townsville district.

Utonium had had to take a lot of time from his work to take care of the girls. He was the only one who could. Sandy, even though she loved the girls as strongly as any mother, loved teaching far too much for Utonium to even consider asking her to leave. So, the girls had to be watched by either Utonium or a very well paid babysitter. They'd even dedicated an entire checking account simply for babysitters because the Babe in Arms Incident made them very reluctant to get close to the girls.

He phoned the new Daycare and confirmed the appointment for later that afternoon. He put the girls down for their nap as he got everything ready. Very few people could appreciate how much trouble it was for one person to get three infants ready to go anywhere. He had to double-check the car seats to make sure they were securely buckled in the station wagon they used for family trips. He had to make sure the diaper bags were packed with everything the girls might end up needing, clothes, food, bottles, et cetera.

Still, it would hopefully be worth all the trouble. This was the only Daycare in the city that Sandy could even convince to even interview the girls. Sandy had said that it was difficult, but it sounded almost as if the Daycare wanted the girls, specifically. They found that odd, but, in the end, their need for a Daycare Center outweighed their initial concern. They were that desperate.

After making sure everything was all set, Utonium went into the nursery to check on the girls. They had woken up so he had gotten them ready to go and put them in their car seats and drove off to take them to the Hillside Infant Manor daycare center.

* * * * *



Bubbles sat in the middle of three child seats in the backseat of Professor Utonium's station wagon. Something had been gnawing at her since they took their naps and she decided to bring it up with her sisters.

"Hey, Girls," she said, "are you startin' to remember stuff?"

"What do you mean, Bubbles?" Blossom asked.

"Well," Bubbles said, "it's this stuff that keeps gettin' in my head. It's like I'm 'memb'rin' stuff that never happened to me." "I know what you mean," Buttercup said "the same thing's been happenin' to me. Like, you see that wedding picture of the Professor, Ms. Keane, and that old guy?"

Blossom and Bubbles nodded that they knew what she was talking about.

"Well," said Buttercup, not quite sure how to describe what she was thinking, "even though I never saw him before then, I keep thinkin' he's our grandpa. It's like someone kept tellin' me that's who he was."

"Yes, I've had similar experiences." Blossom said, "I think that our minds are beginning to adjust to this new history...world...whatever this is."

Blossom didn't want to tell her sisters everything she was feeling though. Blossom was very worried there was more to that fact that they were remembering this world, Blossom was worried they'd begin forgetting the old world. Blossom had recently started feeling gaps in her memory, gaps that were quickly filled by memories of their "new" life.

One such problem was when they went up against Princess Morebucks, but that memory was now very hazy. There was another memory forming in it's place of a nanny or babysitter or something taking off those Restrainer-things on their ankles. This was soon followed by Bubbles getting knocked down by another baby and throwing a temper tantrum that rocked the building they were in to it's foundations. Followed by Buttercup bouncing a ball through the roof and Blossom knocking over cribs single-handedly.

She wasn't sure if the others were experiencing the same problem, or, if they were, not noticing it. But she didn't feel now was the time to bring that up, not until they had more on a handle on this odd situation.

"I wonder who did this to us." Bubbles asked.

"There's only one person we know who would do something like this," said Buttercup, "HIM. Problem is, he's already done this to us before and he said he never does the same thing twice."

She was remembering an earlier incident in which HIM made the Girls dream about being born normal children with a birth defect.

"Well, this is different Buttercup." Said Blossom, stating her view, "The first time, he simply made us think we were normal kids. This time, I think he actually did something."

She had a point, it was probably hard enough making everyone in Townsville see the Girls as normal kids, it seemed just plain impossible for HIM to make everyone see them as infants. Still, there was no way of knowing yet if HIM was behind this.

"But what'd he do? And how'd he do it?" Bubbles asked.

"What I'm more worried about," said Blossom, "is who's protecting Townsville?"

That really had Blossom scared, and now Bubbles and Buttercup were thinking it too. A second later, Utonium spoke up from the front seat.

"Oh, look girls," he said, trying to get their attention, "it's the town hero, Major Man."

Utonium heard the Girls shout "majan", but they really said "Major Man!"

Sure enough, Major Man was flying through the skies. Red cape, white tights, everything.

"That phony is the defender of Townsville!?" Blossom said outraged.

"Well, guess that answers that question." Buttercup said.

They continued their journey to the new Daycare.

* * * * *



Professor Utonium looked at the large mansion. It seemed a bit grand for a Daycare Center, but Utonium just figured the owners were concerned with quality. He got out of the car and went to the back door to open it. Inside was a custom-made stroller designed for three children folded up for easy transport.

He pulled out the stroller and unfolded it to reveal three side-by-side seats. He took the girls out of their car seats and sat them in the stroller in the same order they were in the car, Blossom on the left, Bubbles in the middle, Buttercup on the right. He bucked them in and rolled the stroller into the Hillside Infant Manor Daycare Center.

Weird name. Thought Utonium as he wheeled the stroller into the door.

Wow, was all Utonium could think as he examined the lobby. It looked like an old mansion out of the movies, not a Daycare Center for infants. It was very extravagant, so much so that Utonium hoped this place wouldn't cost too much money. Though they'd pay whatever the place charged. He and Sandy had no choice they had to.

He found a petite woman at the front desk. She had a face that looked as if she was wearing flesh-colored makeup on her face. She looked at him with what seemed to be hunger, anticipation, or disgust, Utonium couldn't quite tell which. She was wearing a red, sleeveless coat with touches of pink at the collar and waist. As he slowly approached the desk, he saw the nameplate, which read Heidi Ingrid Montan.

"Can I help you?" asked Heidi, in a melodious, feminine voice.

"Yes," Utonium said, beginning to wonder about this woman, "I'm here for an interview about getting my daughters enrolled in your daycare. My wife, Sandy Utonium, called earlier about our appointment."

"Ah, yes," said Heidi, "the Utonium Triplets. This must be them. I have the papers all set, your wife took care of everything. The interviews are unnecessary. You just have to sign on the dotted line."

Utonium was beginning to feel odd about this place. Were he and Sandy so desperate to have the kids looked after he'd sign them over into the care of a strange, menacing-looking woman for even a few short hours? The simple answer to that was...yes.

* * * * *