Dab Howlter was not looking forward to his parents coming home.
As soon as Dil and Tabitha would come back, he wouldn't be able to play around with Phil and Dan anymore – or at least that's what he believed – and his fun little week would be over.
In-between Phil's… petulant moments… they'd had a fairly good time making squareflakes and glitter faces and telling stories.
Now it was Sunday morning, his parents were due home in a few hours and Dan had insisted that they all look their best, so now he was in the bath.
Dan was with him, of course – you don't just leave toddlers unsupervised in the bath – and doing his best to wash his hair.
Dan sighed and gave a short snigger,
"If you cover your eyes, it won't be that bad," he said, putting his elbow on his knee, a blue plastic jug in his left hand, filled with water. He didn't want to put up with Dab being all fidgety, too, after he'd had to deal with Phil the day before.
"Soap!" Dab frowned, pouting. Like all children, he hated getting shampoo in his face.
"I know, I know, just cover your eyes!" Dan insisted, filling the jug with water again to try once more to rinse the suds out.
They'd been here for half an hour already.
It was still early in the morning – around seven o'clock – and the sun was shining in through the bathroom window (of which was uncomfortably placed above the bath).
Phil was still fast asleep on the sofa in the lounge. It was the first time he'd slept well in a good two nights and Dan wasn't about to be uncaring and wake him up, so it was up to him to get Dab ready for when Dil and Tabitha would return. He'd insisted on everyone looking their finest and so took it upon himself to make everything perfect. It was only fair for him to do some work for once, after all.
"Look, it's almost all out, so it'll have to do. You can get dressed now…" he continued, standing up and putting the jug down next to the bath, picking up a towel from the rail and laying it on top of the pile of clothes on the floor, "I'll leave you to get dressed, alright?" and he walked out of the room.
As he entered the living room, he met Phil's gaze from the settee. His head was rested on the arm of the chair and he still looked tired.
"Good morning!" Dan smiled, gently.
"Hello…" Phil yawned. He'd only just woken up a minute or two ago, "Aren't the rest of the family coming home today?" He asked.
"They certainly are," Dan nodded, "And I'm trying to make sure everything is just right! Thought we should all look our best, so I've just washed Dab's hair and given him a shirt and trousers to wear. I'm going to get into a suit but I don't know about you…"
"Don't you think that's just a bit formal?" Phil coughed, sitting up straight and running a hand through his fringe.
"We want to make it look like everything went swimmingly," Dan replied, "Try not to look… depressed."
Phil flashed him a grin,
"Maybe you should just stick to a shirt and tie," he said, "Smart, but not too serious."
"Good idea," Dan agreed, "Now, do you want a coffee?"
"We don't have a coffee machine."
"Oh yeah… Well, in that case, would you like some tea?"
"Yeah, go on, then; thanks, Dan."
"No problem!" And he switched the tea maker on, "You know, when they come back, we're going to have to step up our investigating game and start finding a way home again."
"Yeah…" Phil muttered, standing up, "We're going to have to go for a walk and explore, aren't we?"
"We'll have to start thinking logically, too," Dan said, turning to him with a tender smile, "But don't worry about it, OK? We can do this."
"For once, I believe you," Phil answered, walking over to him, "For some reason, I think that after our little break, we can come back to this with fresh minds. Tomorrow we'll go for a walk, have a think, put our heads together and we'll figure something out. It's not too bad, though; I'm getting to like it down here, you know?"
"Me, too. Though I'd much rather be at home," Dan admitted, "But I know what you mean," and he held his arms out, "Now c'mere, Philly."