The walk to the penthouse was quiet. Peabody was quiet, thinking. Because he was quiet and thinking he failed to notice Sherman was abnormally quiet too.

They passed 55th avenue and Sherman spotted someone sitting on a bench wearing a black trench coat and hat who was looking right at them. Sherman couldn't see their face very well since they had folded their collar up to shield it from the cool fall winds. They quickly looked away when Sherman noticed them.

Sherman thought nothing of it, but then out of random chance he turned to look behind them and saw the same person walking about 50 feet behind.

Sherman looked forward again and bit his lip. They finally came to the front door of Peabody Industries and Sherman looked behind them again. The person was standing across the street among a crowd of people waiting to cross at a crosswalk.

"Mr. Peabody?" Sherman whispered.

"Yes, Sherman?" Peabody asked as he pushed through the revolving door.

"I think we were followed." He whispered.

"Followed? By who?" Peabody asked in alarm.

"That person right…there." Sherman pointed, but the crowd of people had already crossed the crosswalk and their stalker was nowhere to be seen.

"He's gone."

"I'm sure you just imagined it, Sherman. New York is a big city, and people travel the same directions all the time."

Sherman shrugged and didn't give it any more thought. He was too excited to see Mr. Peabody's house again.

They entered the elevator, but this time Mr. Peabody pushed the button below the penthouses button and entered the access code.

"Where does that button go?" Sherman asked.

Peabody smiled. "You'll see."

The doors opened, and Sherman felt like he had stepped into the future. The architecture was completely different to the penthouse above. The colors were blue and silver and the textures were shiny metal and floor was a deep black.

Peabody walked over to his lab door and opened it.

"Come on in." he said.

Sherman walked in and his mouth opened again.

Inside there were white tables holding chemical test tubes, countertops holding various electronic parts, gadgets, and giant server racks with their lights flashing.

"What is this place?" Sherman asked.

"My lab." Peabody said. "I invented the WABAC in here. You were lying over there in your cradle when I first thought of the idea, but I was able to finish it in time for your first birthday." He smiled fondly.

Then he pulled a free-standing whiteboard over to where Sherman had sat down in one of the chairs and jumped up onto the platform in front of it in order reach the whole board. He pulled out a sharpie marker and began to draw. "Now, first thing I need to do is calculate…" he began muttering to himself.

Sherman had no idea what any of what Peabody was drawing meant, it looked like math, but there was a lot of numbers and a whole bunch of symbols he didn't recognize. All he knew were the plus and minus signs.

Peabody stopped writing for a moment and tapped the marker against his snout, thinking.

Sherman took this moment to ask him.

"What memories do you have of us?"

Peabody looked at him. "All of them of course." He said.

"Can you tell me one?" Sherman asked.

Peabody smiled as he waved his marker around. "Well, this one does come to mind, it was Christmas 2010, and you were beyond excited. You couldn't get to sleep, even after I read you the Night Before Christmas, you still had so many questions, like how Santa would deliver your presents since we didn't have a chimney." He chuckled as his eyes lit up at the memory. "You were very disobedient, and kept waking me up, but finally morning arrived and you were so excited."

Sherman grinned.

"Another involves the WABAC-"

Sherman gasped. "Really? Where'd we go?"

"We went to visit Vincent Van Gogh to get some painting lessons from him. Did you know you were the one who inspired him to create his famous Starry Night art piece?"

Sherman's mouth opened. "I did? How?"

Peabody smirked. "By being impertinent again. I had given you a canvas so you could draw on your own, but you decided the wall was much better for the artistic vision you had, so you began to paint on Mr. Van Gogh's wall with a deep dark blue using your hands, and once he saw it, he had a stroke of artistic genius and created the painting now known as 'Starry Night'"

Sherman gazed at Mr. Peabody in wonder. "Wow…" To think he had influenced history…

"When you learned to ride a bike was pretty notable as well. You had insisted you were ready to ride a bike without training wheels and I had agreed, you were already very good on your training wheels. So, I took you in the WABAC to Mannheim Germany, 1817 to visit Karl von Drais, the inventor of the first bicycle, where… you…"

Suddenly Peabody faltered, Sherman watched as Peabody scrunched up his face, fear mixing with his expression.

"Where I what? What's wrong, Mr. Peabody?" He asked, frowning.

"I- I can't remember… why can't I remember!?" Peabody asked himself, holding his head in one paw.

He couldn't remember what happened next. He knew he used to know, it was on the tip of his tongue, but it was as if his memory stopped right at the point they left the WABAC in 1817.

He picked another memory.

"I don't know why I can't remember, maybe it will come back to me. But another was the time I took you to one of Jackie Robinsons baseball games. You were a fan of baseball at the time, and so you had brought your baseball glove. Mr. Robinson had hit a home run, and the ball was headed into the stands, and I boosted you up to catch it, and you did, but you fumbled, and… I…"

Again, he couldn't remember what happened next.

He grew even more fearful and suddenly a lightbulb lit up in his head. He began to pace in front of the whiteboard. "It must be due to the timeline change, my memories are slowly being altered, and the longer I stay in this timeline, the more I will forget…"

He began furiously writing on the board again. "We are on the proverbial clock now…"

"What's wrong Mr. Peabody?" Sherman asked.

"I believe that the longer I remain in this timeline, the more I will forget, and my memories will be replaced, and I will assume this timeline is the correct one…" Peabody said absently.

Before Sherman could reply to that, he screamed and held his head in his hands as it suddenly split with a massive headache. He fell to the floor still clutching it, and the last thing he heard before he passed out was Peabody yelling his name and seeing his back paws thumping onto the floor in front of him as he jumped down and rushed over.


He woke up and flung the covers off himself. Birthdays were always fun in the Peabody household. Mr. Peabody would most likely take him somewhere in the WABAC today.

5-soon-to-be-6-year-old Sherman tiptoed down the hall to his father's room. He opened the door as quietly as he could and snuck inside. He saw his father still lying on his bed, still as a statue.

Good. Mr. Peabody's still sleeping.

He slowly and carefully tiptoed over and began to crawl onto the bed. Peabody's back was facing him.

He braced himself, jumped into the air and yelled "aarrghh!". He intended to land on his father and scare him awake but just as he jumped Peabody whirled around in the bed and stretched his paws out and yelled back.

It was startling, but he was already in the air, headed right for Peabody. He landed right into Peabody's open arms onto his furry chest. Peabody lay there holding him tightly in his arms, tossing side to side, growling playfully.

He laughed and tried to escape, gripping the sheets, but his father was too strong and held him tight.

Peabody stopped moving and let him go. "Happy birthday Sherman." He said.

"Aww, how did you know I was here Mr. Peabody?" he asked.

Peabody chuckled. "I have excellent hearing; I could hear you sneaking in."

He quickly dove under the covers and snuggled himself next to Peabody's fur. Suddenly his father stiffened. Why did he stiffen?

"Do you want to go to sleep again Sherman? We just woke up." Peabody asked, frowning.

He looked up and smiled. "No. It's just warm and cozy in your bed." They lay there for a few moments, him mostly enjoying the company and his father's warm fur and body heat.

He finally piped up. "Mr. Peabody?"

Mr. Peabody looked at him. "Yes Sherman?"

He fixed him with a worried expression. "Do I have to inhurit your job?"

Peabody chuckled again. "It's inhEHrit, Sherman, and what are you talking about?"

He was ever so slightly hurt by the correction and tone in which it was given, but regardless he snuggled his head in closer to the fur right under Peabody's neck and said "Johnny at kindergarten says that he has to do what his dad does when he gets older. He says he has to 'inheerit' his dad's job. His dad told him that. But I don't want to do what you do, I want to study dinosaurs!"

It was a few seconds before Peabody answered. He cleared his throat. "Sherman…" He began slowly. "You are under no obligation to undertake my livelihood when I pass."

What does that mean? He cocked his head. "Huh?"

Peabody laughed. "It means you don't have to do what I do when you get older."

"Oh," He was relieved now. "But Johnny's family-"

"We're not Johnny's family Sherman, we don't do what they do." Peabody interrupted him.

"However, there is a difference between taking on my life's work when you get older and inheriting. Just because you are 'inheriting my job' does not mean you have to do it. You could…" Peabody hesitated. "sell off parts of it, or even the whole company to someone else. But I would hope that you will keep it, and make it as successful as I have, maybe even more so." He finished, smiling.

"Now," he sat up and clapped his paws together. "Since it's your birthday I have the whole day planned out, first we'll have a breakfast of pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream and then we'll go to the beach."

He burst into a wide smile. "You mean it Mr. Peabody!? I've always wanted to go to the beach!"

"Yes, and if you hurry we can leave right after breakfast." Peabody said excitedly.

He flung the covers off them, bounced off the bed, and shot out the door to get dressed.


"Sherman? Sherman!"

The voice was muffled but it was getting closer. Or rather, he was getting closer to consciousness.

Sherman came to in Peabody's lab, Peabody was leaning over him, shaking him.

He groaned and fluttered his eyes, the headache he had was now rapidly abating.

"Oh thank goodness," Peabody sat down in relief. "What happened Sherman?"

"I dunno… I had another dream, I guess…"

"What was it about?" Peabody asked.

"It was my birthday… I was turning 6… I snuck up on you in bed… I thought you were sleeping, but you knew I was coming." He said slowly. "Then we just talked."

Peabody slowly smiled as Sherman described it.

"I remember that day, despite being a young child, and in no position to inherit anything, you were still worried about it."

"But you were… different."

Peabody sighed. "Yes, I suppose I was colder and more distant back then." He smiled as he looked at Sherman. "But a recent event helped me realize just how much you mean to me."

He and Sherman stood back up and Peabody continued writing his calculations, interspersed with stories from Sherman's childhood, ones he could remember at least.

All too soon, Sherman had to go. He looked at the clock above the door and gasped, "I gotta go or I'll be late for dinner!"

"Thanks for everything, but I don't know how I can help you with the time contin-cont-the time thing, I gotta go, bye." Sherman said quickly as he got down from the chair and gathered the bag of clothes Mr. Peabody had given him and his backpack and made his way out the door of the lab and over to the elevator.

Peabody followed him. "Did you want me to walk you back to the foster home?"

"S'ok, I know the way." Sherman smiled.

"Well my door, or rather, my elevator is always open, come over anytime." Peabody said, smiling back. It felt weird saying that to his own son.

"Thanks, bye Mr. Peabody." Sherman said as the doors closed, and Peabody was left alone.

He walked back to his lab and continued writing his calculations.

Suddenly, an alarm went off. He went over to one of the computers in the room and pulled up the security camera feed of where it was coming from. Since it was a weekend and his receptionist was not working, he had programmed the motion sensors in the lobby to go off if anyone came inside, likely wanting to see him.

He looked at the camera feed of the lobby, and noticed someone standing in front of the counter, looking around. Peabody recognized them as the local news reporter.

"What does the media want?" He sighed, exasperated.

He strode to the elevator and rode it all the way to the bottom floor. As he stepped out, he straightened his glasses and bow tie and the person noticed him and walked over.

"Hello Mr. Peabody, my name is Kelly Jackson with The Herald Examiner, and I was wondering if I could ask you a couple questions?"

The woman who addressed him had long straight black hair done in a straight ponytail and looked at him with piercing blue eyes.

He tried to be cordial. "I'm sorry Ms. Jackson, but it is a Sunday, and I am very busy-"

"This will only take a few minutes, I'm trying to make tomorrows newspaper." She smiled, but Peabody could tell it was a fake smile.

Peabody sighed again. "Alright, what did you want to know?"

Peabody thanked his lucky stars that she hadn't come 5 or 10 minutes earlier and caught him with Sherman. He would've made him stay up in the penthouse anyways, his rule of not allowing Sherman's face to be shown on the media still applied, timeline change or not.

Kelly lifted a notepad she was carrying and placed her pen on it. "Mr. Peabody, is it true you are thinking of adopting a human boy?"

Peabody was taken aback, he guessed it would be about Sherman, but that went too far with assumptions. "I-I beg your pardon, where on earth did you get such an idea?"

Kelly scribbled furiously on her notepad. "I'm sure you are aware you have been spotted with a local orphan boy, which is highly irregular. Given all your causes, you've still never been particularly fond of children's charities. What is your purpose for spending time with this boy?" she asked, looking up at him. "Are you thinking about beginning to support children's charities or causes?"

Rather than attempt a feeble answer, Peabody remained quiet while he rapidly tried to think of answer that would make sense.

"Yes, I am… exploring the possibilities of what I could accomplish in the space of our societies orphaned youth." He smiled.

"By adopting an orphaned boy? Or something else?"

"No, I am not sure yet, I am exploring my options." This was also a waste of time, he needed to get back to work.

He clapped his paws together. "Well, this has been great, but I need to get back to my work," he ushered Kelly back to the revolving door.

"Ok, well is it alright if I come back to do a follow up interview?" she asked.

"Yes, that will be fine." Peabody smiled, just wanting her to go away.

She finally left and he internally sighed, rubbing the bridge of his snout.

"The media is a right pain in my side sometimes…" He needed to finish those calculations, but he needed refreshment first…

As the elevator doors to his penthouse opened, the phone rang.

He let out an annoyed groan and walked over to the phone.

"If this is another reporter I swear…"

He smiled and answered it. "Peabody residence, this is he."

"That looked like an interesting interview."

At first, he didn't recognize the voice. "I beg your pardon, who is this?"

"You don't know me? My my my, I'm offended Hector, it's only been 2 months since we last talked."

Peabody's eyes widened and he froze. There were very few people who knew his first name, and even fewer who actually called him by it.

"Richmond Wolf?"

"Ah, so you do remember me, yes, it is I, Richmond Wolf. So tell me, how has life without your precious Sherman been?"

Richmond did it. Peabody didn't know why or how he did but he did. His hate for this man suddenly bubbled up stronger than ever now.

"So you did do this!" he growled into the phone, sputtering. "Wh-why? How?"

"Yes, of course I did, an eye for an eye, as I always say."

Richmond's calmness only enraged Peabody more. But he managed to muddle through the emotions threatening to overwhelm him and ask the important question.

"An ey-? What do you mean? Did I do you wrong?!"

Richmond's dry, humorless laugh came through the phone loud and clear.

"Did you do me wrong? Oh my word, that's a good one Hector, of course you did!"

"What did I do?" He honestly didn't know.

"Do you seriously not remember? Let me give you a refresher…"