Chapter 4: Toddler Moxxie (Age 2)

It had been a week. Moxxie awoke in his crib, feeling extremely uncomfortable around his ankles. He sat up in the crib, hitting his horns against the hood. He noticed his ankles were hanging over the edge. Moxxie lay on his back and shuffled forward, his knees were now over the crib. He was too big for it. Moxxie was now half way out, he was nervous, he did not want to fall to the floor. Cautiously, he leant over the crib and to his left he saw his beautiful wife sleeping. Being daring, he decided he was going to jump over her and land on his bed, once again by his wife's side. "3, 2, 1…" he thought to himself as he made his jump, only just missing his wife. He stood up, he was still extremely small, he had only grown an inch. He managed to stand on his two feet and walk on the bed, although he felt extremely wobbly and it was a difficult task for him. He figured he must be at least one year old at this point. He let out a high-pitched sigh, had he only aged six months? It was easier for him to crawl, he let himself fall on all fours and crawled to the top of the bed and into the blankets. He rested his small and round head on his pillow and fell back to sleep.

Two hours later Millie woke up and felt something soft and stout touching her back. She turned around and saw a small and feeble Moxxie snoozing by her side. He defiantly looked older than he had the previous night, even if it was only a little bit. His baby fat had decreased and he had grown an inch, he was defiantly too big for the crib. However, he was still extremely infantile.

Millie continued to stare at him, and stroke his pudgy cheeks. "Moxxie." She muttered to him. Moxxie's eyes flapped open, he smiled all of his milk teeth showing. "Miwee" He smiled back at her in a high-pitched, sickly voice. This concluded it to him; he was two.

"Awww…" Millie smiled and picked him up, cuddling him against his chest. She then giggled with relief that her husband was finally on the route back to normal. She then held him in the air and above her head. "You are so beautiful." She smiled before lying him on his back in her arms. "A wuv woo." Moxxie babbled at his wife.

"Love you too sweetie." Millie said, tickling him under his chin. The pair stopped like this for an hour before Millie's tummy started to rumble. "I guess it's time to get up." She said, Moxxie nodded in agreement. Millie placed Moxxie on the floor on his feet and grabbed his hand and led the clumsy toddler into the living room.

She lifted him on the couch and handed him the remote, Moxxie found it very slippery and difficult to handle. "Miwee, help pweeze?" He asked, looking up at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Of course, sweetie." Millie said putting on Song of the South for her husband before sitting down beside him and wrapping a long arm around him. "So how are you feeling honey?"

"Weak." Moxxie admitted staring down at his still baby feet.

"That's ok, I have a treat for you today. But first, let's have breakfast." Millie got up leaving Moxxie alone she soon walked in with jam on toast cut into triangles for Moxxie with a sippy cup full of fresh orange juice. "Fanks" Moxxie grinned munching into the toast, getting jam all over his fingers and mouth. Millie then sat down with her jam on toast and a cup of black coffee to watch the partially animated musical with Moxxie.

After a few minutes Moxxie climbed down from the couch, his horns only just made it to the seat. Millie looked down at him, "What are you doing Moxxie?" She inquired.

"A got jam on da couch; A was just gonna clean it off." Moxxie lisped, looking down at the floor, embarrassed. He hated his toddler speak, it was embarrassing the way his mouth and tongue was simply unable to pronounce some sounds.

"It's ok Moxxie, I'll get it." Millie got up and cleaned her husband's mess which was just a small lump of jam on the couch, most of the mess was on his hands and around his mouth. "Sowy Miwee." He sighed, face glowing with embarrassed.

"It's ok Moxxie, you can't help it." Millie smiled picking him up from under his arms and carrying him up to her chest. "Let's get you dressed." She gave Moxxie a quick bop on the nose before carrying him to the bathroom. She had already laid down his clothes on the toilet seat. She then lay Moxxie on his back, took his diaper off and cleaned around his genital area before standing him up and getting him to step into a pull-up. "Sowy woo had ta deal with vat." Moxxie apologised.

"It's alright Moxxie, honestly, this whole thing was my fault. I should've looked at what I was picking up. You're ok and you're on the mend, that's all that counts."

"Fank yoo for taking care of me…"

"It's my pleasure sweetie."

Millie then put Moxxie in a yellow t-shirt and blue overalls with giraffes patterned all over them. She then took Moxxie to the car and placed him in a child-safety seat in the back and drove him to The Greed Ring. Moxxie was hoping that he would not be taken to visit Loo Loo Land, before remembering he was much to small and young for what Loo Loo Land had to offer.

Moxxie was soon lifted out of the car seat and strapped into a push chair. He was getting wheeled forward by his wife, he looked up at a sign which read "Mammon's Loo Loo Zoo". Moxxie smiled, he had never been to the zoo before, it was something he was always interested in trying out, but just never got around to it. His parents would never take him there of-course, he then realised that his first ever trip to the zoo he was going to see it through the eyes and perspective of a two-year-old. Everything was going to be so big and colourful to him, his heart was racing in his chest at pure excitement. He couldn't wait to see all the animals at the zoo.

"One adult and one two-year-old please." Millie said to the hellhound at the counter.

"13.50 Devil Dollars please." The hellhound replied.

"Thanks."

Millie wheeled Moxxie into the zoo and picked him up out of his push chair to watch silky green hell sea-lions splashing around in glistening, sparkly purple water. Millie picked Moxxie up in her arms so he could see the seals frolicking in the water, passing a spiked ball to and from each other via their noses. Moxxie was smiling in delight from seeing this, he could hear Millie's cute laugh in his ears. "Fank woo." He babbled to Millie and hugged her face tight.

"Your welcome baby." Millie responded rubbing the back of his head, once again stroking his hair.

Moxxie and Millie saw many animals that day giraffes, tigers, pandas, reptiles (snakes, chameleons, lizards, geckos, frogs, dragons) bears, meerkats, capybara, kangaroos, cheetah, jaguars, snow leopard, okapi, elephants, otters and monkeys. The pair even stopped for nuggets and chips at a concession stand, Moxxie was glad to finally be able to feed himself. Millie wheeled him up to a binterong, it was climbing slowly above them on a tree. Moxxie felt his body go heavy and his eye lids start to flap, he tried to struggle them open but it was no use, he just drifted off to sleep.

Millie couldn't hear his smooth and gentle snoring until she reached the bongo next door. She sighed down at the napping toddler and thought, "best get this little one home". Millie wheeled Moxxie back to their car and placed his flappy and sleepy body into the child seat and buckled him in. Her eyes glowed with how cute he was. She couldn't help but stare at him for a while before driving him home and laying him down on the couch under a thin baby blanket.

One hour later Moxxie woke up to find himself on the couch. He rubbed his eyes and sat up. "Miwee?" He asked.

Millie came into the room from the kitchen. "Yes Moxxie?"

"A fell apeep didn't a?" He asked.

"Yes, you did, you were tired, must have been all of the excitement."

"Sowee Miwee."

"What for?"

"Yoo made an effort to take me to the zoo and I ended up fallen' apeep on woo."

"It's alright Moxxie, we'd been through most of it anyway. Besides, you're still only a baby."

"I'd never been to the zoo before. Ma 'arents would never take me vare."

"I know. But that doesn't matter. How would you like some spaghetti for your tea. Just plain with some meatballs to avoid mess. I'll feed you if you want."

"A'd like to twi myself, but if I need woo, al ask."

"Of course, honey."

Millie made Moxxie's tea whilst he sat beside her on their bench and watched her cook, he couldn't wait until he got to do the cooking again, it was one of his favourite hobbies and past times. Millie then sat Moxxie down on the couple's dining room table on top of a toddler booster seat and watched him clumsily eat his evening meal. After that she picked him up and carried him to the bathroom and placed him on the toilet seat as she ran him his bath. Even though he was trying his hardest to hide it, Moxxie was looking forward to being bathed by his wife again. It had been the highlight of his days for the past week. Once the bath was full enough Moxxie was again undressed and bathed. Just as Millie turned around to get Moxxie a towel to lift him out of the bath, Moxxie flicked his fingers on top of the water which gave Millie a small splash in the bath. Millie turned around and smiled, "Moxxie" she giggled and knelt back down beside the bath and gave Moxxie a small splash back. "You cheeky little rascal" she giggled as Moxxie's childish laughs came back in response as the two engaged in a small water fight until Moxxie's eyes started to once again get heavy. It was 8pm, very late for a toddler. Millie slowly picked him up from the bath and wrapped him in a warm and fluffy towel before smoothly drying him off and placing him in a dinosaur shaped ozonize. Moxxie was then carried to bed and tucked in.

Moxxie reached out his weak and tired hand to his wife from under the blankets. Millie held Moxxie's hand and rubbed it to Moxxie's quickly developing little smile. Moxxie blinked one last time as he succumbed to sleep. Millie could tell that Moxxie wanted more time with her but his weak body was too tired to stay awake any longer. "Sweet dreams baby." Millie whispered. She then turned on the baby monitor just in case and placed it by Moxxie's side of the bed before leaving the room and happily slumping on the couch, sliding the TV remote in her hand and turning on her soaps. "That's it Moxxie, go night-night." She giggled and joked to herself as she watched the programmes her husband despised in piece.