High expectations
April 3 1986
Yakko carried his empty bowl, which had once contained cereal, to the small kitchen. They moved into the apartment about a month ago, and he was still trying to get used to the new environment he was in.
They lived on the 5th floor, all the way at the end of a long hallway. When you enter the apartment, you're greeted by a big boring wall, such a pleasant site. The doors to his bedroom, and his parents bedroom, were practically right there when you entered, with a bathroom in between.
If you turn right, there's a pathway to the living room, which was rather medium in size. If you take a sharp right, there's the entrance to the kitchen, It was tiny in comparison to their old one, the space was only big enough for 3 people to stand in at the same time.
There's another entryway on the other side of the kitchen, which leads to the dining room table. Across the room was his brother's crib, the small apartment wasn't big enough for a nursery, his mom said it would have to do for now until he outgrew it.
Yakko placed his bowl in the sink, His mom was standing by the counter packing her lunch. In a few minutes from now she was going to be leaving for work.
"Mom, can I ask you a question"?
She glanced over at him.
"Ask away", she said.
"Do you know where Daddy is"?
"At work".
"He's at work?", He asked, a little shocked at the answer he received.
"Today is his first day at his new job", his mom explained," my bad, I was meant to tell you last night, but I was so exhausted".
"If work makes you exhausted, then why do you go"?
His mom smirked.
"Well I don't have a choice Yakko, If I don't go to work, then I'll be fired. You know how sad your father was when he was fired, don't you"?
He shivered, that was a memory he wanted to store at the far back of his brain.
Why can't I just forget about that day, Yakko thought, oh wait, I can't, that's why we're here right now!!
Then he realized something.
"Who's going to look after me and Wakko, is Aunt Arenia coming over"?
"No, I thought you could manage looking after your brother for a few hours".
"What"!?
"Don't worry, you'll be just fine. You spend a lot of time with your brother, and you help me out when I feed him and change his diaper"?
"But this is different", he protested," Your always there by my side, what if something bad happens"!?
His mom put a hand on his shoulder.
"You don't have to worry", she said softly, " it's not as hard as you think. Wakko will be napping for most of the time, and if he wakes up, just spend time with him like you would normally do".
"But what if I have to change his diaper"?
"Like I said, you've helped me do that before. And do me a big favor, don't throw up this time, and if you do, not on the floor".
Oh yeah, another memory I want to forget.
He didn't mean to throw up the first time he helped his mom change Wakko's diaper, but it was so disgusting. Yakko hoped the little stinker could hold it until his parents could deal with it.
"Do you think I'll do a good job?", Yakko asked.
"Of course I do", His Mom said," You always help me out when I need it. I can't see why you couldn't do a good job".
He didn't know if he should believe his mom or not. In the past, she said something really similar to this, yet he ended up ruining things just like he expected.
"Alright sweetie, I have to go now. I'm counting on you to do a good job".
"Don't worry, I will".
I hope.
Yakko watched his mom exit the kitchen, and leave the apartment, the door closing behind her. He went into the living room and sat down on the couch, he sighed, this was his first time without any adult supervision on him, he was completely alone. It didn't feel right, he felt like he needed adults around.
He looked over at his brother, still sound asleep in his crib, sucking a pacifier in his mouth. It was only a matter of time before he woke up. He slumped further into the couch, he stared at the windows smeared on the wall. It was a cloudy day today, it looked like it was going to rain.
He started to think that this may not be as hard as he thought it was. His mom was right, Wakko mostly slept throughout the day, it could be hours before he would even wake up.
Yakko then heard a soft noise, he looked over again at the crib across the room. Wakko no longer had his pacifier in his mouth, his face was scrunched up, tears dripping down his cheeks.
As soon as I start thinking positively.
He got up from the couch and walked towards his brother's crib. He pulled out a stool from under the crib, and stood up on it, to get a better view. Wakko looked up at him, his big eyes still dripping with tears. He put his arms into the crib, to try and grab his brother, this could go horribly wrong.
Yakko tried to latch his hands around his brother's waist, trying to get a grasp of him. Wakko fussed as he tried to grab him, he kept wiggling around in the crib, making it much harder than it needed to be.
Finally, after some trial and error, he was able to get a hold of his brother. He slowly lifted him out of the crib, trying not to accidentally drop him. Luckily, he didn't, he held his brother close to him, letting the baby rest his tiny hand on his shoulder.
Now came the hard part, what did his brother want? The first thing that came into his mind was a bottle of milk, his mom had told him many times that Wakko needs to be nourished first thing after he wakes up. Lucky for him, Wakko seemed to have stopped crying, so it looked like the process would be stress free.
He hopped off the stool, and started walking towards his brother's highchair, positioned at the table. This was when Yakko realized that it would be quite a challenge to get his brother up into the highchair. The highchair appeared to be much taller than he was, he had noticed he had been getting quite taller recently, unfortunately, he just wasn't tall enough to complete the task.
Yakko started imagining horrible situations, an image of his brother falling, smacking down onto the ground was smeared in his brain. He knew his mom would definitely not be pleased with him if she found out that he caused harm to his brother. He needed to think quick, Wakko was becoming more fussy by the second.
He looked over at the couch in the living room, it was a green leather couch, it seemed they had that couch for his entire life. It would be smart to put him over there, and he couldn't think of anything else at the time.
Wakko started crying again, the infant was squirming around in his brother's arms.
"Shh calm down Wak", Yakko said softly,"I'll get your bottle soon, I promise".
The infant calmed down a little as Yakko walked over to the couch, he placed his brother down on the soft cushions. The baby looked up at him with a mopey glare, looking at him with his big puppy eyes.
"Now stay there, I'm getting your milk now".
Please don't run away, please don't run away, or crawl, you can't walk yet.
Yakko left his brother unintended on the couch, he looked back at him just to make sure he was still there. He walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge, he saw three formulas, one for the morning, the other for the afternoon, and the last one for the evening. In no particular order, he grabbed the bottle to his left. He walked back to the living room, pleasantly surprised to find his brother sitting in the same position as he had left him.
He sat down next to his brother, pulling him up into his lap. He then forced the bottle into his mouth, Wakko's eyes widening as he did so. Yakko found it to be quite satisfying, he had never fed his brother his morning bottle completely on his own before.
After a couple of minutes, he pulled the bottle out of the baby's mouth. He then lifted his brother over his shoulder, and proceeded to start patting his back. He did so until his brother burped, it startled him a little, he thought it was the loudest burp he had ever heard.
The baby giggled a bit, and so did he, and they both sat there for a while laughing. Usually his mom would yell at him, telling him it was no laughing matter, but he remembered, none of his parents were home. He could basically do whatever he wanted right now, and none of his parents would be there to stop him.
The laughing finally died down, Yakko was now desperate to find something else to do with his sibling. Then, Wakko started to get fussy again, and soon he was breaking out into tears. Yakko thought it was probably a good idea if he put his brother down for a nap.
He got up from the couch and carried the crying baby to his crib. He got up onto the stool and carefully placed his brother gently down in the crib. He tucked him in, patting him on the head slightly. But unfortunately, he found his brother was still crying.
Desperate to make the crying stop, he looked down at the floor and noticed Wakko's pacifier. His brother loved that thing, he couldn't sleep without it. He grabbed the pacifier from off the floor, he then reached into the crib, and was barely able to put it into his mouth.
The infant seemed to have stopped crying, he sucked on the pacifier pleasurably. Yakko sighed, he pleased his brother once again, he could get used to doing this.
Yakko sat down on the couch watching TV. Nothing interesting was on, mostly boring news and lackluster sitcoms. The only thing that pleased him was cartoons, but those would only air on Saturdays. But luckily, airing today was his favorite game show, Press your luck. It wasn't his first pick for televised programming, but it kept him interested for a while. His favorite part of the entire show was when someone got a whammy, he would always laugh when the little animated skits would play.
Suddenly, he heard a tiny yawn from across the room. He looked over at his brother's crib, he had just woken up from his nap. Yakko was a little confused, he swore that he just put Wakko down for his nap a little while ago.
I guess time really flies by.
Yakko got up off the couch and walked towards the crib. He got up on the stool and peered inside, Wakko was looking up at him with a little happy grin on his face. He had just given his brother his formula about an hour ago, and he didn't smell anything, so his diaper didn't need to be changed.
Then he realized something, this could be a perfect opportunity to introduce his brother to his toys. Usually, Wakko plays with his rattle, or occasionally plays with blocks. Most of the time he does nothing but stare at the wall in fascination. He had never got the chance to play with real toys, and with both his parents gone, Yakko thought this was the absolute perfect time to do so.
"Say Wakko, do you want to play with my toy cars with me"?
As expected, Wakko replied with nothing.
"Oh it will be really fun, it's my favorite toy in the whole wide world"!!
Wakko continued not to say anything, he looked up at him with a blank stare.
Well, I guess I'll have to pretend my brother can talk, now won't I?
"I'll take that as a yes".
Yakko lifted his brother out of the crib, Wakko seemed to be less fussy now than he was earlier. Balancing his sibling on his hip, he walked in the direction of his room. He opened the door with his right hand and entered his room. His bedroom was about the same size as his old one, though it's clear there's not a lot of space in there. Even though it's been over a month since they first moved here, Yakko still had trouble getting used to the new environment, it just didn't feel right.
He set his brother down on the floor next to his bed, he hoped he wouldn't crawl away while he wasn't looking. Yakko walked across the room to his dresser, he reached for a small container, where all of his Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars were. He walked back over to where his brother was, pleased that Wakko hasn't moved an inch since he left. He carefully sat down on the floor in front of his brother, and started digging through the bin.
"These are my Hot Wheels cars", Yakko explained,"I have a lot of them. Mom always allows me to get one every time we go to the grocery store".
Wakko did nothing, he sat there in silence, staring out into space. Yakko hoped he was paying attention, he wanted to properly introduce his sibling to this.
Then he realized something, in order to introduce his brother to his toy cars, he had to show him how to play with them. He dug through the bin and pulled out a small car at random.
"Why don't you try playing with this", he said as he handed the car to Wakko," it's very fun".
Wakko grabbed the car out of his hand, he stared at the object, curious of what it was. Yakko sat there and smiled, he was reminded of when he was introduced to toy cars for the first time when he was only 1 year old. He couldn't stop playing with them for days, his parents had to force him to stop playing with them. And now he was 4 years old, and he was spreading his love for them to his brother. He pictured in his head him and Wakko, laying down on the floor rolling the cars around on the floor, without a care in the world.
Yakko's dream was interrupted when he noticed his brother put the car in his mouth.
"Wakko NOOOOO", he screamed in horror as he grabbed the car from his brother.
Yakko held the car close to him, he tried not to gag, he could feel the saliva through his glove.
"Why did you put that in your mouth"!!
Wakko gave him a terrified glare, and while the infant said nothing, a message of guilt was clear to him.
I need to wash this, and probably my gloves too.
Deeply furious about what his brother had done, he stormed out of his bedroom and into the bathroom. He flicked the light switch, slightly flinching as the dim light turned on. He went to the sink, turned on the faucet and started rinsing the car. He took a bar of soap and scrubbed every inch of the small metallic toy.
He couldn't believe that Wakko had the nerve to do something like that. All he wanted to do was share a passion with his younger brother, and all he did was smother the toy in saliva. He was worried about puking in the event he had to change Wakko's diaper, the toy was now fully clean again and he still felt like he had to gag.
Perhaps mom was right after all, Yakko thought to himself, maybe it really is a good idea to wait a little bit longer to introduce Wakko to my toys. Once he's at an age where he can play with toy cars correctly, and not put them in his mouth.
Yakko dried the car off with a towel, still the car felt a little wet from the saliva, and from being rinsed for 2 minutes straight. He finally exited the bathroom, turning off the light behind him, and walked back to his room.
When he entered the room, he found something incredibly unexpected. His jaw dropped, he couldn't believe what he was looking at, Wakko was standing. The baby stood on his heign legs, leaning his arms on the edge of his bed. It looked like he was struggling to keep his balance, he wiggled his torso back and forth slightly as he struggled to stand up.
Yakko was thrilled, he never thought that his brother would even be able to stand, and look where he was now. And then it came to him, if Wakko was able to stand, then he would probably be able to walk as well.
He ran up to his brother, grabbing him and lifted him up into the air.
"You can stand", Yakko hollered in pure joy," you can stand Wakko!! And pretty soon, you'll be able to walk just like your big brother"!!
Yakko thought that he had never felt happier in his life. To think that he went from despising his brother to being overjoyed by him in the matter of a few minutes was incredible, and a little shocking at the same time. He couldn't wait to tell his mom when she came home.
"Mommy Mommy guess what"!!
"What is it sweetie", his mom asked as she was just entering the apartment.
"Wakko can stand, Wakko can stand"!!
"What", she said, a bit surprised," you're kidding right"!?
"No, he did", Yakko told his mom", Wakko stood up on my bed, he did it earlier"!!
"Alright then, if you're sure. Speaking of which, where is your brother"?
At that moment, a tiny head peaked over the wall spearing the living room and the kitchen. The baby crawled up to his mom's leg. His mom smirked, she didn't look to be convinced by his statement. it seemed like it was back luck that April fools day had just passed by as well.
Then, if it was a miracle, Wakko grasped onto his mom's leg, and slowly pulled himself up into a standing position. He giggled as he did so, he bounced himself up and down sticking his tongue out. His mom was in just as much shock as he was, Yakko gave a "I told you" look as the scene played out.
"Y..Yakko, do you know how incredible this is"?
He shook his head.
"You didn't learn to stand until you were nearly a year old, your brother is six months old and he can do it almost without any struggle".
In all the excitement, he hadn't realized that his brother was still really young. He shouldn't have been able to stand up by six months old, but as if it was a miracle, he can.
"Is my brother magic", Yakko suddenly asked.
His mom busted out into laughter.
"No of course not", she said as she took a breath,"he's just simply developing like a normal baby should".
"But he was able to stand before me".
"I know, but like I said many times now, every baby develops at their own pace. It doesn't matter if your brother learned to stand before you, all that matters is that he learns how to do it regardless".
"Ok", he replied, he literally couldn't think of anything else.
His mom picked Wakko off the floor, clutching him between her arm.
"Right now, Wakko needs to hold onto something in order to stand, but pretty soon he'll learn how to balance himself. And once he can stand without any support, your brother will be able to walk in no time".
"When will he learn that"?
"When he's ready to. Anyway, how did it go"?
"Great, I fed him his bottle, and I played with him".
"Wonderful, I knew you could do it"!!
She then proceeded to rub his head, he grinned, he couldn't believe that he had been so worried earlier.
He tossed and turned in his bed, he simply couldn't sleep. He couldn't pinpoint why, there wasn't a storm outside, and there was nothing else that could stop him from sleeping. The last time he had felt like this was when they just moved into the apartment, but it's been over a month since then.
Suddenly, he had the urge to get a glass of water. He wasn't particularly thirsty, but he thought that a glass of water might help him go to sleep faster.
He got up from his bed and walked across the dark room. He opened the door slightly and peered outside, to make sure no one else was around.
Seems like everyone is asleep.
With this thought, he pulled the door open, making sure to do it as slowly as possible to not make any noise. Once the door was open all the way, he tiptoed out of his room and to the kitchen. While he didn't love their apartment, he greatly appreciated that the kitchen was much closer to his room. If he tried to do this at his old house, it would've only been a matter of time before he was caught.
He entered the kitchen, walking in the direction of the sink. He stood on his toes and reached for a cup in the dish drainer. He turned on the faucet and started filling his cup with cold water. When the cup was halfway full, he turned off the faucet. He then started to chug the water, he felt so much better, though he would probably have to pee after this.
Yakko then heard a door open, his heart dropped, he nearly spit out his drink. He placed the cup on the counter, bracing himself. But it wasn't the sound of a bedroom door, it sounded more like the front door. Stumbling into the kitchen was his dad, probably just got back from work.
"Why are you awake son", his father mumbled.
"I was just getting a glass of water".
"That's fine, you gonna finish that"?
He shook his head. His dad then grabbed the cup and started to drink it, washing it down until it was all gone.
So much for a drink.
"I think you better go off to bed now".
"But I can't sleep".
"Well you're not going to sleep unless you try to".
Makes sense.
"Ok, goodnight dad".
To his surprise, his father did not reply to his statement. Strange, he usually would give him a heart warming reply, a hug and a noogie. But he didn't, he didn't do any of that. Come to think of it, his dad hasn't acted like himself for quite some time now.
And his mom wasn't all that better either, while she remained more in character than his dad, it seemed like she no longer had time with him. She was working nonstop for the past month now.
All he wanted to do was go back to the good old days, where his parents were happy and cheerful. He wished they could hang out together more. He gave his dad a sad glare as he started to head back to his room.
End of Chapter 7