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Epilogue: Three Little Munks
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Dear Mr. Seville,
We are very pleased to tell you that the Chipmunk World Tour will begin on August 1st of this year. The tour will be in the cities of North America, Canada, Japan(Sure you want to do Japan?), Australia, and the United Kingdom. We cannot wait for another amazing season.
Sincerly, Jet Records
Dave stared down at the letter, reading it again and again, trying to comprehend the massive changes these words would bring. The obvious one: money, of course. He would never have to worry about debts or how much a Happy Meal would cost after this. His munks would be number one on the charts once again. He would bet everything in his wallet they would receive an Oscar for best up-coming artists.
He easily predicted the same outcomes for the chipettes. With the collab tour, that meant double the tickets and popularity for both groups.
So why did he feel like this?
'This' being emotionally spent on the letter. The letter that was pulling sleep from his grasp, taking the smile from his face. He shouldn't feel like this. He should be happy.
But he couldn't be. There was no way to feel excited about leaving the rest of his family thousands of miles away, only hearing their voices through expensive phone calls and webcams.
Dave hung his head and placed the letter on his mahogany desk. He somberly scanned his huge calendar sitting before him. The dated squares told him it was two short weeks until August 1st. Two weeks until concert season started up once again. It would just be him, the chipmunks, and the chipettes for six months. Julie and Toby were beginning promoted shifts at Geek Squad, so they would not be coming on the tour as stage hands or anything else. Padamay started her Senior year on August 11th, and there was absolutely no way she was going to skip practically the entire school year, no matter how much she begged. Jaxon was graduating with her in May, plus he was becoming a full-time mechanic at his Uncle's shop alongside his brothers, so there was no room for a World Tour for him either. And bringing Claire and Jonah wasn't an option.
Dave sighed heavily, his chin on his fist as he ran his finger over the laminated paper of the calendar. Warily, he looked up to stare at the many pictures scattered neatly across his walls.
The biggest photo was, of course, of his munks- Theodore and Simon all smiles while Alvin was all smirk. That made Dave's mouth pull into a small grin. The next few photos were much smaller, but not without meaning. Brittany and Eleanor hugging a bug-eyed Jeanette far too tightly, Padamay piggy-backing on Toby, Julie and Jaxon arm wrestling at the coffee table, Padamay icing Jaxon's hand after Julie had beat him, himself and Claire on their wedding day, cramming strawberry cake into each other's mouths, which, it turned out, Dave was allergic to, and younger versions of he and Alice, smiling back at him inside an old, yellowed photo, he a long and lanky nine year old and her a chubby-cheeked little girl of seven years.
His eyes crinkled at the newest photo- a white framed picture of the latest Seville. Jonah screaming with wild laughter as Alvin played a secret game of peek-a-boo with him. When Claire had snuck up behind him and snapped the picture, Alvin had completely flipped out, refusing to talk to Claire for an entire month, which ended up only being two hours when she made him blueberry waffles for dinner that night.
"Hey."
Dave spun in his wheeled chair. Padamay stood in the door way, looking timid and frail and extremely out of character. Her arms were folded across her chest inside a large Batman hoodie-Jaxon's, Dave was guessing-her shoulders hunched. She wore no make-up. Her face was instead covered in dark circles of exhaustion and fatigue.
He looked closer. Clutched tightly inside her tiny fist was a piece of paper, the same letter as his. He knew.
"Hi," Dave greeted, his eyebrows rising as he took her in. "Wow, you... changed your hair."
Padamay crossed her eyes to stare at a lose curl hanging in front of her nose. Her pink highlights were gone and her dark hair was back in business, minus three pink, purple, and green highlights. They were all brightly neon. "Oh yeah," she said, cracking the smallest of smiles. "The chipettes were ecstatic."
"I'm sure they were," Dave grinned back tiredly. "Did Jaxon approve of the pink one?"
Padamay snorted, rubbing at her eyes sleepily, yawning, "He did when Brittany threatened if he said anything about it she would bite him hard enough to make a vampire jealous."
Dave chuckled quietly. She raised her hand from her eyes and looked over to the photos. Her baby blues darkened to the shade of a storm cloud as the seconds ticked by. Dave frowned. "You got the letter, I see."
Padamay wetly blinked back at him. "Yeah," she said thickly, glancing down at the paper. "Technically it was addressed to mom, but she gave it to me instead of opening it herself."
Dave nodded. The letter would be addressed to Alice because Padamay wasn't of age to adopt yet. His sister had legally adopted the chipettes like he had the munks, but gave every letter concerning the chipettes to Padamay.
Padamay stared out the single window, the shades casting sad shadows down her face. "I'm gonna miss them," she whispered in a hushed voice, like it was a secret. "So much."
Dave's mouth tightened to a line. He nodded once more. Padamay looked to him, begging, "Why can't I go? They're my girls; they need me."
"I know," Dave said softly but firmly. "And they do need you. More than you know. But you have got to finish school."
"I can quit school. I'd do it to be with them."
"I know you would, Pad. But trust me, there will be many, many concert seasons after this one, and they'll be a lot easier to deal with if you have school out of the way." He felt a smile grow over his frown. "Besides, Jeanette and Simon will go commando on you if you drop out."
Padamay snorted, whipping her eyes. She sighed shakily, nodding. "I guess you're right," she muttered. "It's just gonna be really, really hard."
Dave grunted, rubbing his temples. "Tell me about it."
The silence was broke with a loud, sobbing shriek. Dave inwardly groaned, putting his hands on the armrests of his chair to stand. "Is Claire back from the store yet?" Padamay asked.
Dave shook his head, stilling himself. "No, and the munks are with her."
"Yeah, the chipettes hopped in with her when we were walking over here," Padamay said. Jonah's cries began to increase in volume. Padamay held up a hand to Dave. "I'll get him," she said. Dave blinked, then slowly sat back down. Padamay crushed the letter between her fingers and tossed it into the trashcan by his desk, and hurried down the hallway.
Dave listened as Padamay opened Jonah's door. She immediately began cooing at him, using that weird voice girl's always spoke to babies with. But it hushed Jonah's crying, his screaming turning into gurgles and whines. Dave could see him lifting up his little arms, begging to be pulled from his crib. He heard the creak of the cradle as Padamay held him up and hummed to him. The floor boards creaked quietly as she rocked him back and forth on her feet, singing in a soft whisper.
"Don't worry about a thing. 'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright. Rise up this morning, smile with the rising Sun. Three little munks, perched by my doorstep, singing sweet songs of melodies pure and true. . ."
Author's Note:
Thank you time! Look for your name! ^.^
paulinaghost (For looking at the brightside to Dave's cricket attack)
mpkio2 (For following the story ever sense my very first post and being an epicly-epic writer)
Rougelover (For thinking chapter 1 was awesome)
Jamocha101 (For wanting Padamay to be ditzy)
DiceRox09 (For wanting to see Alvin's revenge)
Astra-The-Goddess (For Ha-ha-ha-ing)
NeonCookies24 (For loving my first horrible story and this slightly better one;p)
ChipmunkfanNo.1 (For thinking the Bloody Mary trick was clever)
Sonnygirl09 (For loving how Alvin used the mistle-toe)
Snow246 (For thinking it's funny)
Aeleita (For loving the oneshots)
Chiio-chan (For a la mode)
DancinginStars (For loving it and having a cool penname)
Sabor364 (For thinking Geek Squad looks perfect for Toby)
songfire15 (For not only reviewing but betaing as well:D)
Rose-Jane (For loving chapter 5)
Chipmunks4ever (For wanting me to hurry up and write:p)
Akira Sieghart (For loving my ideas and how I write romance)
Brellantterox (For thinking Dave was dumb but still loving it)
Angie J Trifid (For lolz-ing)
WALL-E and EVE In Love (For thinking it was fine)
Ruby Romance (For thinking chapter 7 was a nice one)
ChipmunksChipettes4Ever (For L-O-V-I-N-G it)
lakeeyia (For thinking it was the best fanfic she ever read)
ChipetteGirl10 (For wanting Ian to be the Best Man at Dave's wedding:D)
xox Baby Blue xox (For thinking Julie stealing Toby's car was hilarious)
MelsLuvsAATC (For loving Toby while he sang, "Don't Stop Believing")
FredWeasleyIshMINEEEEE (Because Fred Weasley is MINE!:p)
CoolCandy1249 (For being my 100th reviewer)
Storm Uchiha (For thinking chapter 16 was hilarious)
Chipmunks 1 fan (For wanting an entire chapter of Jax and Pad)
Modelgirl97 (For liking Jonah's name)
drkseeker233 (For thinking chapter 20 was sweet)
I apologize if I missed your name.
Special, special thanks to my beta, Songfire15, or Shannon, as I call her. She's the bomb... like tick tick. (Had to do it)
You guys have meant everything to me the past few... well, it's about two years now, hasn't it? Seriously, you have no idea how thankful I am for you guys. I know author's say that a lot, but until you see all those reviews, you really have no idea how much the author means it.
You all get + Brownie Points:)
Misadventures Sequel will be coming out soon.
Love you guys:)