"And they never menaced Mr. Aardvark again," Cyril said, finishing up the story.

"I think that did it," Ralph said, looking at Forest. He was fast asleep, sucking his thumb.

"Finally," Bert mumbled. He, Ralph, Melissa, and the Pigs were about to leave when Forest suddenly stirred. Bert and the others froze, afraid the baby was going to wake up and start crying again.

"Nobody make a move," Cyril said. Slowly he got up, but the minute he stood up, Forest started whimpering, so he sat back down in the rocking chair. Immediately, Forest stopped whimpering.

"Uh oh . . . . ." Floyd said.

"Looks like we're stuck," Ralph whispered, so he wouldn't wake up Forest.

"Right," Melissa sighed. "If we try to leave, Forest will start crying."

"That's ridiculous," Cyril said, and he stood up again, only to have Forest start whimpering. This time, the others tried to leave again, but Forest kept right on whimpering.

"Boy, we're at the mercy of a baby," Bert said.

Cyril groaned and sat back down in the rocking chair. The others sighed, too, and made themselves comfortable on the floor. They did not want to risk waking up the baby before Cedric and Sophia got back. It was getting late, and Forest needed his sleep.

"We might as well get comfortable until Cedric and Sophia get back," Melissa said, as she reached up and turned off the light.

The Pigs yawned, stretched, and sprawled out in front of the rocking chair. Ralph and Melissa followed, leaning against the wall, and each other. Bert stifled a yawn, grabbed one of Forest's stuffed animals out of the toy box, and used it as a pillow. Cyril sighed, and propped his feet up on Lloyd, using him as a footstool.

"Well, if you can't beat 'em," he said, stifling a yawn himself. "Goodnight, Forest."

An hour later, Cedric and Sophia returned to an extremely quiet house.

"It's awfully quiet," Cedric said. "We'd better check on the baby."

"Good idea," Sophia said. She and Cedric went upstairs to the nursery, and found the door open. They looked inside, and what they found surprised them.

Bert, Ralph, Melissa, the Pigs, and Cyril were all sleeping soundly. Forest stirred for a moment, and woke up, but he didn't start crying. He saw his mommy and daddy, gurgled happily, and reached his arms up at them. Cedric and Sophia looked at each other and laughed. Then they walked into the room (carefully stepping over various arms, legs, and tails of their sleeping friends). Cedric took Forest from Cyril, and put him in his crib. Then Sophia tucked him in, and stroked his ears. Forest yawned, stuck his thumb in his mouth, and then closed his eyes.

"Night-night, sweetie," Sophia said, softly. She bent down, and kissed her baby's forehead.

"Goodnight, Forest," Cedric whispered. "Goodnight, everybody."

Cedric and Sophia then quietly tiptoed out of the nursery, and closed the door behind them. They didn't want to wake any of their friends up.

The End