A/N: Yay, update! :D I bet you're all thrilled about that, huh? Anyway, let's get down to business. To defeat, the HUNS! Did they send me- Huh? What's that? *Charlie Brown trumpet* Oh, this isn't my Mulan fan fic? *Charlie Brown trumpet* Oh, my bad... Yeah, this is an update for my possibly only Rugrats fan fic submission Childhood Friend Romance. Read & Review, there's a nice little surprise at the end! :) if you review..umm... I'll let you hold baby Chuckie? :D whatya say?
Chaz and Melinda decided to start preparing for a new baby. They grew fond of the idea right away and already got started. They painted a spare room in their house blue and got a crib made by Chaz's father, Marvin, and bought as much Dummi Bear stuff as they could. They weren't sure about the Dummi Bears themselves, but they were told by other parents that the bears are a huge hit with kids. Melinda was starting to show a bit in her belly and there was now a baby shower.
"So, you're sure it's going to be a boy?" Didi asked, handing Melinda present as she asked Chaz.
"Oh, yes, the doctor was very certain," Chaz replied, adjusting his glasses.
"So, what do you think will become of the boy once he grows up?" Stu asked.
"Can't say for sure, but I'm positive he'll be a bureaucrat like me someday." Chaz shrugged sheepishly.
"Either way, the boy will be my baby and I will love him no matter what." Melinda said as she unwrapped the present and smiled as she took out a pair of red shoes. "Oh, these are just too perfect! I'm sure the baby will love them. Thank you, Drew!"
The brown-haired Pickles boy smiled smugly, then turned back to Chaz. "So, have you thought of names?"
"My father thought it'd be best if the baby were named after him, but we might change it once we meet our special little guy." Chaz still shrugged.
"How about Johnathan?" Charlotte pitched in.
Melinda laughed and shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks, Charlotte, I was never really keen on that name..."
"I swear, you spend more time with that Johnathan person than you do me..." Drew mumbled to his wife, but not directly to her.
"Oh, speaking of babies, how's Angelica?" Melinda asked. "Does she like that Cynthia doll I got for her?"
"Oh, yes, very much, thank you, Melinda," Charlotte smiled. "Sure, Angelica's chewed on it a bit, but she just loves that doll, it's like her best friend."
"I was going to give it to our baby, but I thought maybe he'd like a teddy bear more than a dolly." Melinda told her.
"Angelica's almost talking too, I think her first word was 'cookie'." Drew stated.
"Angelica's such a little angel... Just think, if we had kids of our own, they could play together." Stu smiled, wrapping his arms around Didi's waist.
Didi giggled sheepishly, looking up at him.
"Thanks for inviting me to your baby shower, guys," Howard smiled, just glad to be there. "I didn't think you guys really cared."
"Well, of course we do," Melinda told him, smiling. "Why couldn't Betty come?"
"Aw, she thinks the whole thing is just girly and frilly..." Howard shrugged. "I can't imagine why."
Chaz handed more presents to Melinda. The woman happily took them and enjoyed all the presents. However, there seemed to be something missing. A teddy bear. Chaz had waved everyone home and he shut the door as the baby shower ended and he came back in.
"Melinda, what would you like for dinner?" Chaz called out, but no one answered. "Melinda? Melinda, where are you?"
"I'm in the office, Charles!" Melinda called.
Chaz smiled and followed the angelic voice of his wife. He poked his head in the office and saw Melinda by the sewing machine. "Melinda, what're you doing?"
"I'm making a teddy for the baby," Melinda answered. "All those gifts are nice, but I want to make something very special for the baby. There's nothing better as a gift than your mother's love."
"That's true..." Chaz smiled shyly.
Melinda had kept sewing the bear she made for her future baby son. She finished it and stitched it together. It wasn't perfect like a store-bought bear, but she thought it looked great in her opinion. She smiled and showed the bear to Chaz. "What do you think?"
"Wow..." Chaz whispered and took the bear. It was very soft and seemed very fluffy and lovable. "You're great... Do you often sew?"
"Sometimes, my mother used to sew all the time, such as my old baby blankets and the blanket for when our old sheep dog had puppies."
"Do you ever miss your parents?"
Melinda heaved a sigh. "Sometimes... But I just know that they're watching down on me from Heaven. They're protecting us and the baby."
"I don't know if I could ever raise the child without you." Chaz took her hands.
"Charles, I'm never going to leave you or the baby."
"Promise?"
"I promise... Cross my heart... Stick a needle in my eye..."
"Oh, Melinda, I could never do that!"
Melinda chuckled at his reaction.
A couple more months passed. Melinda was staying home more often and Chaz stayed with her. Chaz's parents came over to offer to help while Melinda needed to get all the rest she could get. The poor woman would be up to throw up a lot and ache and pain. Chaz tried to remind himself that Melinda wasn't meaning the awful things she had been saying with the contractions and hormones piercing her heart and soul.
Both just hoped the baby would come soon, but not too soon and keep them both happy and healthy as the baby should be. Melinda was often in bed with the television set and often received visitors. Mostly of course from Charlotte, who had proclaimed herself as Melinda's best friend. Melinda DID like Charlotte as a friend, but sometimes Charlotte took it too far and used it as an excuse to get her feelings out on the woman ever since she first moved into the neighborhood and befriended the friends she knew since school and now into marriage and children.
Chaz often cooked and cleaned, but he didn't mind. He was doing it all for Melinda and their future son. Everyday, Melinda wished the baby would hurry up and come so she could get this over and done with, but she felt if she wished too soon, the baby would come right away and she wouldn't be ready. Melinda had strange dreams every night. She wasn't sure if it was fearing of what the new baby would do or just hormones from the pregnancy.
She sometimes dreamed that she would have spoiled child who would demand a lot from her. The bratty boy would yell at her all the time and demanding more and more while Chaz treated him like a prince and she would have to work as hard as Charlotte on a regular basis. She did not want to raise a spoiled brat of a child. She wanted the baby to be loved and nurtured as much as possible, but not an actual prince for a child.
Melinda then dreamed her baby would be the adventurous type. The baby would go off on adventures without her or Chaz's knowing. She had the strangest vision of her newborn son having something odd like a screwdriver in his diaper and he would use it against the playpen and escape and be the bravest baby. True, Melinda didn't want her child to be scared of everything, but that seemed a bit extreme. What if the poor boy were to get himself hurt?
Melinda's last dream had to be the craziest of them all. She just thought: What if she had more than one baby at once? What if she had twins? What if the twins kept fighting over who was the best and fight for Chaz and her's unconditional affections? A lot of these baby possibilities overwhelmed Melinda's brain. One became even worse as she woke up, wincing as she felt a splash in the bed.
"Charles...?" Melinda bit her lip.
Chaz woke up instantly and slid on his glasses, turning on the light. "Melinda? What is it?"
Melinda gulped. "It's... Time..."
Chaz's eyes widened. He quickly rushed over downstairs to the telephone to quickly call the hospital. He then came back upstairs as soon as he finished the call and took Melinda. "I-It's going to be okay, Melinda, watch your step..."
Melinda did just that, squeezing Chaz's hand. They made it as fast as they could to the car and to get to hospital. Chaz frantically drove on the road to make it over to have the delivery of the newest Finster family member. It was very late, but due to how Chaz was acting, you'd think he had been asleep all day and active at night to prepare for this moment.
The two finally made it to the hospital. Chaz signed himself and Melinda in and a nurse quickly came and took Melinda in a wheelchair. Chaz breathed wheezily and took out his inhaler to catch his breath. He was very shaky now and wanted to help Melinda, but was told to wait for her in the waiting room. His teeth chattered, he shook in his seat, his legs crossed back and forth numerous times. He just couldn't sit still, this was far too much for him. Was Melinda going to be okay? Would the baby still be alive as soon as it was born? What was he going to do?
"Mr. Finster? Mr. Finster!" a voice called.
"Huh? What?" Chaz looked around. He looked as though he was just waking up after a nine month black out nap. "W-Was it a dream? Where am I? What happened?"
"Mr. Finster, please settle down," the nurse coaxed. "Would you like to meet your new son?"
Chaz gulped and twitched a bit. "S-S-Son?"
"Yes, come with me." the nurse smiled and took him to the back.
Chaz shook a chill down his spine and followed the nurse cautiously. He heard the several barely audible hospital callings to page the doctors all around the building. He winced as he heard the sick people in the hospital. The simplest cough sounded like a deathly wheeze, some people who were staying over night looked like they were dead in their designated beds, Chaz was already squeamish enough around the crimson liquid sprouted from a poor victim, but seeing it in a hospital just made his stomach crawl more than ever. He was almost about to throw up, but he forced himself to do it in his mouth.
"Mr. Finster, we're here." the nurse finally said and opened the door to Melinda's room.
Chaz felt a lot better once he saw Melinda. A great weight was lifted off his shoulders as he came close to her with a bundle in her arms with a baby blue blanket. "Melinda, how are you?"
"A lot better..." Melinda breathed, exhausted from screaming and labor that felt like centuries ago. "Would you like to meet your son?"
Chaz smiled, nodding.
Melinda held the baby close and she showed the face to Chaz. The baby was as pale as him and had her shade of red hair. The baby even had freckles. "He looked so much like you... I decided to name him Charles too... But, for short, he can be Chuckie."
"Chuckie?" Chaz repeated the tiny tot's nickname. "Chuckie Finster... That's a perfect name for him... Our little baby... Our little rugrat..."
"Charles Crandall 'Chuckie' Finster." Melinda told the baby's full name.
"Crandall?" Chaz raised an eyebrow at that middle name. "My middle name is Norbert."
"I know, but I wanted the baby's name to be unique, Crandall was my mother's maiden name."
"Oh, okay... I never heard of it before."
"My little Chuckie..." Melinda cooed at the baby.
The rugrat babbled a bit, not speaking, but half-smiled up at his parents. It wasn't his first smile yet, but it was nearly a smirk. Both Melinda and Chaz felt so happy today than on their wedding day, the day they shared a dance together, and the happy times during school. Melinda smiled as she took out the bear she had made for Chuckie and handed it to him.
"Chuckie, this is your bear... You can do whatever you want for him, he's yours." Melinda whispered to her baby.
The baby put his pugdy arms around the bear and he started to nearly nibble on one of the ears. Melinda and Chaz looked at him and shared a full smile with each other. They knew being parents wasn't going to be easy, but they would make the most of what they could with it. They would, like Chuckie would eventually, take it one step at a time and evolve from baby steps that their son would soon do on his own to impress his parents.
A/N: I don't like hospitals when I'm visiting someone... It always seems so... creepy... *shudders* So, how was that one? :) lemme know, you know what to do, read & review