Chapter 6
"Of course not, Theodore. What do you want to know?" "We wanna know if you know anything about mom's parents." Suddenly, Grandpa Chipmunk had a very stern look to face. "So, you finally decided to seek them out, eh, Vinny? Hmph, I had a feeling this day would come." "You sound upset." Vinny said. "No, not at all. Just having one of those 'it's about time' moments. I was hoping you'd do this sooner, but, it's all alright. So, what exactly do you want to know about them?" "Well, do you know exactly what they looked like?" Alvin asked. "Unfortunately, no. You have to understand, I didn't come around Vinny, and by association her aunt Cheryl, until Vinny and Tom started dating. From what I remember Cheryl telling me once, Vinny's parents had been gone for a very long time before Tom, and by extension me, came into the picture." "How long?" Alvin asked. "Well, Cheryl told me that she'd raised Vinny all her life. From the time she was a baby to the time she met Tom. So, let's see. Vinny was about fifteen when she had you boys, right, Vinny?" "Well, almost. I was still technically fourteen at the time." " Oh, right. Your what, forty three now?" "Almost." "And the guys just turned twenty-eight, if I'm not mistaken. So, let's see. Forty three minus twenty-eight comes to fifteen. However, we have to shave off a few months. So, really, it was about fourteen and… three quarters." 'That sounds about right." "Okay, I can't wait anymore. I gotta ask the question. You were a teenage mom, Grandma?" Olivia asked. "Yes, but, keep in mind that I was living in the woods at the time. The world of animals, dear. The whole 'teen mom' stigma didn't really apply there." 'And, remember this, Libby. I was nineteen when I had you. I was over the legal, yes, but, I also wasn't completely out of my teens. So, technically, I was a teen mom too. And so were your aunts." Brittany, Katrina and Jeanette nodded. "Hmm, well okay. If it all works, then there's no problem. Oh, uh, sorry for the interruption, Grandpa." "It's okay, honey. It gave me some time to think. I think I've got the time that needs to be firmly established figured out. Let's see if this sounds right. Vinny was fourteen and three quarters years old when she had the boys. She was thirteen when she met Tom. And you boys were born in 1995, so your mom and dad met in 1994. So, back up thirteen more years and the year Vinny was born and left with Cheryl by her parents ends up being 1981." "So, we're searching a timeline from 1981 to now, in the year 2023. Forty two years long. Which is exactly how old mom is." "Looks like we were right to use mom's age as a backtrack timer." Theodore said. "Wait, you already had this time line figured out?" Grandpa asked. "Not exactly. We knew mom had no memories of her parents, so we knew mom had to be very young when she was abandoned. We just didn't know how young. Thanks to you, Grandpa, we know now that mom was abandoned, pretty much, as a newborn." "Well, Alvin, let me tell you something else. Vinny wasn't abandoned by choice." "What?" "Just like how Vinny didn't have much of a choice when she had to give you boys up, Cheryl once told me that Vinny's parents didn't have any choice in giving her up. She didn't tell me exactly why they had to give her up, but she did tell me that they didn't have a choice." "Whoa, same circumstances." Jeanette said. "Man, when Cash said that this was vicious cycle, he didn't know how much of a cycle it really was." Theodore said. "Talk about the past repeating itself." Alvin said. Vinny seemed saddened by this news. Karen and max, who happened to be looking at Vinny from their mothers' arms, reached for their grandmother. It was as if they could instinctively sense that something was bothering her and they wanted to cheer her up. They began to grunt as they tried to reach their grandmother. This made Brittany and Jeanette take notice. "I think they want mom to hold them." Brittany said. "And right at this very moment too. It's almost as if they know she's sad and they want to give her a hug or something to cheer her up." Karen and Max grunted again as they tried to wiggle out of Brittany and Jeanette's arms in order to get to Vinny. "Well, we'd better give them what they want then." Brittany said. Jeanette nodded. The mothers walked their babies over to Vinny. "Here, mom. They want you. I think they know your sad and they want to try to make you happy." Brittany explained. Vinny's eyes teared up as she took the youngest of her grandchildren into her arms. But they weren't tears of sadness. They were tears of happiness, caused by an odd kind of joy. A joy that came from knowing that even the youngest of the family, the ones who weren't old enough to understand anything about the world, still loved her and loved her enough to instinctively want to help her cheer up when she was sad. Vinny's tears grew larger as she felt Karen and Max's tiny arms wrap around her neck. "Thank you, you two. I love you too." "I wish I had a camera right now." Eleanor said. Brittany, who was standing next to her said 'use the camera on your phone." 'Oh, right." Eleanor pulled out her phone and took a picture of the scene. 'Got it. I'm putting this into a protected file on my computer when we get home." "Send us all a copy." Katrina said. "Consider the e-mail already sent." "Hey, anyone notice that Kary's hug seems to be tighter than Max's?" Eliza asked. "Well, she does have a special bond with her." Helen said. "Special bond?" "Yeah, the bond created by being named after her. Ever notice that Kary seems to be closer to Grandma Vinny than she is to Grandma Miller?" "Oh, yeah. Yeah, I have. And that comes from her being named after grandma?" "I think so." "Guess that explains why Max is so tight with Grandpa Xavier. Cause he's named after him." "Maxwell Xavier Seville and Xavier Franklin. Xavier and Xavier. Yup, that's probably why." And so the visit continued. Meanwhile, Cash and Simon were walking deep in the woods. They had left Cash's car, with all available safety systems turned on of course, on the side of the road some time ago. Now, they were headed for Allie's house, which Simon knew the location of. "Hey, Simon." "Yeah, Cash." "Forgive me for asking this, but, are we there yet?" "Just about. If I remember right, it's just on the other side of that hill up ahead." "Okay. Um, one more thing." "What is it?" "This may sound stupid but, Allie's a chipmunk right?" "Yes, why?" "Well, she doesn't look like us. First of all, she has a tail. And, she has a lot more fur than any other girl chipmunks we know." "Well, think about this, Cash. There are only two species on this planet labeled as sentient. Humans and anthropomorphic chipmunks. Now, humans come in a variety of different sizes, skin colors and etcetera. And, since we're so human like, why shouldn't we have some variations too?" "So, in other words, Allie's a chipmunk like us, she's just a different variety." "Exactly. Her ancestors must've come from a part of the world where that kind of bodily form would make it easiest for them to survive. And at some point, Allie must've moved here, where she doesn't need that kind of form, but she obviously can't get rid of it. So, she stands out. But, it's not like that's a bad thing." "No, of course not. All the differences in people is what makes the world great. It'd be boring if everyone looked the same. I was just wondering cause I'd never seen a chipmunk like her before. Where do you think her type comes from?" "I honestly don't know, Cash. But, we can ask Allie herself that, cause here we are."