Little ones
July 11 1987
The car was waiting at a red light, Yakko knew that they were going to be home soon. He looked out the car window at the Kmart across the street, busy as usual.
He and his family didn't say anything, they all remained silent. He looked over at Wakko who was happily picking his nose. He then turned his attention to the large baby carrier that was placed between them. He peered inside the carrier in curiosity, a tiny, furry little body was sound asleep inside.
It was a baby girl, it was a complete surprise to him. He was almost completely certain that it was another boy. While he was a bit bummed at this discovery, he was still incredibly happy to meet his baby sister.
Her name was Derenia, he'd been calling her Dot since they sounded similar. She looked very similar to Wakko when he was just born. The little girl had thin, black scruffy fur. Her ears were incredibly small, much smaller than Wakko's, they were almost the size of his thumb. She had a similar nose to him, though it was more representing his mom's nose than his. The baby had large eyes, both were closed at the time. she was gnawing on her tiny little hand, fast asleep.
He smiled, it was exactly how he expected his sibling to look. Though he had gone through this before, having a new sibling felt just as magical as it did before.
For Wakko, it seemed that his brother's reaction to their baby sister was similar to his. He seemed to be very curious about seeing the little furry creature for the first time. His brother was much younger than he was when he went through this for the first time, it seemed like Wakko was confused, and maybe a little creeped out too when he saw his sister for the first time.
Luckily, it seemed that his brother was starting to adjust to having another sibling. The fear inside Yakko, that Wakko didn't like Dot, was starting to slip away.
He yawned, he was tired. The last couple of days felt so long. He was so excited to get home and get some quality rest. Though, he and Wakko would probably spend time with Dot before he did so.
Maybe I'll end up not going to sleep after all, he thought, but at least I get to spend time with my sibs in the meantime.
The traffic light finally turned from red to green, the car made a left towards a 10 story apartment building. Yakko grinned slightly, he was finally home after spending the last two days at his grandma's house.
The car turned into the parking lot of the red brick building, it drove down the lot until finally parking in their signature parking space. His mom put the car in park, then opened the door, exiting the vehicle. He unbuckled his seatbelt, happy to have arrived home.
He opened the car door, his mom greeted him when he got out. His father exited the car after him, he was probably going to assist Wakko out of the car next.
"Why don't you wait by the trunk Yakko", his mom told him," your gonna help carry some stuff inside".
Yakko groaned," fine, I'll help".
As much as he didn't want to help, he knew he had no choice. His mom had asked him to do this, and he definitely cannot deny her request. He stumbled toward the trunk of the car, his dad was coming out the other side carrying his brother in his arms. He then set him down on solid ground.
His father then opened the trunk, he looked towards him with tired eyes.
"You're gonna help out son", he said quietly," Just take anything you can carry. Whatever is left I can take".
His dad then got the trunk open, Yakko leaned inside. He decided to take the bag of presents that his grandma had given them, he was excited to take a look at them once they got inside. Besides, he knew it would be the easiest thing he could possibly carry.
Wakko suddenly appeared out of nowhere, it startled him a little. His sibling was jumping up and down in excitement.
"What in bag, what in bag?", his brother asked.
"There the presents that grandma got for us, remember"?
"Yes, me do, me do", Wakko chanted," me take look".
"Not yet sib", Yakko told his anxious brother," you'll have to wait".
"But whyyy"!!
"Because it would be a bit silly if we dug through the bag right now".
"No, me want to see now"!!!
"Shut up Wakko", his dad shouted, " your brother is not going to show you if you're acting like a moron"!!!
His brother grew quiet, his happy little face had now turned into a sad one. He put a hand on Wakko's shoulder as a sign to let him know that it would be ok.
"Now come on sib", he told his brother, " we have to get back to our apartment now".
He started to lead his brother to where his mom was standing to get clear from their father. His mom was holding the baby carrier in her hand, he could see that Dot was still sound asleep inside.
"Honey", she called out to his father," are you getting the suitcases"!?
"Working on it", his father replied aggressively," give me a minute"!!
His mom then turned her attention to him.
"I'll let you and Wakko spend time with your sister", she told him," you don't have to help us".
He felt relieved. Less time helping his parents unpack all the luggage means he can spend more time with his siblings.
"Thank you mom".
She smiled," your welcome. And make sure you let your brother have a turn at holding Derenia".
"I will mom".
"And hold her gently, I don't want you dropping her on the floor".
"I know mom, I'll be careful".
Yakko tried not to become irritated as he had this conversation. He knew that his mom was overprotective, she was always ganging up on him when he did exactly what she wanted him to do. She finds her statements to be very annoying and wished she didn't say anything at all.
I have been looking after my brother all by myself for over a year now, after all.
"And if she cries", his mom went on," and if I'm not in the same room, please go and find me right away. I'll take care of it for you".
"I'm fine mom", Yakko reassured her," I've handled babies before".
"But this is different, she was just born a few days ago".
"But you let me hold Wakko when he was just born, and that turned out fine".
"Well...I suppose so, but if anything goes wrong, find me right away. Do you understand"?
"Yes mom", he replied," I will".
He was glad that their conversation was over, he didn't want to talk to his mom for a while.
"Rocko", his mom shouted," are you almost done"!
"I'm coming, Jesus christ can you just wait a second"!!
His father closed the trunk, he rolled out 2 big suitcases. It was the kind that had wheels so you could roll it on the ground instead of carrying it.
"I got them", his dad said," now let's get inside now".
The family started walking towards the front entrance of the apartment complex. Yakko decided to carry his brother inside because it appeared he was starting to get ancy. And he didn't want him to have a tantrum in the parking lot and get into trouble. So he quickly took his right arm and scooped his brother up from the ground. He held Wakko tightly in his right arm, holding the bag of presents in his left hand at the same time.
Entering the front doors, Yakko felt a cool breeze hit his face. It was hot and dreadful outside, so it felt nice to step into a building that had air conditioning. It felt good to be back in a more familiar environment.
There was a woman sitting at the front desk of the apartment. She had long, brown hair, red colored lipstick, and she was wearing a short, light blue dress. As they approached the desk, the woman looked up from the newspaper she was reading. A bright smile was smeared on her face.
"Well if it isn't the Warner family", she said in a sweet, wholesome voice," is that your baby daughter I see"?
"It certainly is Jenny", his mom told her, " it's been stressful these last couple of days, but I'm so glad to finally be home".
Jenny took a look at the baby girl inside the carrier. Yakko could see that she was sticking her hands inside, apparently like she was touching his sister's face. Her smile seemed to get brighter as she continued to look at the infant.
"Aww, she is just the cutest thing in the whole world. She's just as cute as Wakko was when he was a baby, but she is just adorable".
"Adorable", Wakko repeated," me so cute".
Jenny turned her head to look over at him and his brother. Wakko was babbling nonsense, he couldn't understand a word he was saying.
"I take that back, you're all so cute. Even you Yakko".
Wow, thanks a lot.
He did appreciate that the clerk was nice to him, but she could sometimes be a little too much. She's always sitting at the same desk every single day at every single hour. Every time they leave the apartment, she's always there to greet them. She is always saying how cute they are. He knows that she's only trying to be friendly, but it just comes off as just plain annoying to him.
But the worst part is his mom always stops to talk to her, every single time. His mom had no one else to talk to, besides him of course, so it makes sense that she became friends with the clerk at the front desk.
After Jenny went on for a little about how cute he and his brother were, she finally turned back to continue talking with his mom.
"I can't take all this cuteness", she ranted, " it's simply just too much. Oh, I forgot to ask, what's your daughter's name".
"Derenia, but the boys have been calling her Dot. Yakko said it's easier to pronounce, so I think it'll just become her nickname, I guess".
"Well you know children", Jenny agreed, " always coming up with strange nicknames to call each other".
"Alright, I think it's time we get back to our apartment", his father interrupted," we have a ton of shit to unpack".
"Rocko, the kids"!!
His mom gave an angry glare at his dad. He slapped a hand against his face, his father appeared to be very annoyed.
"Sorry", he muttered," lets just go, I'm tired".
His mom grabbed the baby carrier from off the desk, she gave one last wave to Jenny.
"Hope you all have a great day", she said, waving as they started to walk away.
Yakko set his brother down on the floor, he was getting tired of carrying him. Wakko was starting to get heavy. He decided that he would hold his hand though, just so he wouldn't run away.
Wakko smiled at him, he gave a smile back. He knew that this day would be a sibling day, a term he came up with to describe a day where he did nothing but spend time with his sibs.
His dad put the key into the doorknob of the apartment door. He turned the key, and opened the door. The family entered the apartment, he smiled, he was so glad to finally be back home.
Yakko, pulling his brother behind him, followed his mom to the living room. His dad went straight to his bedroom with the suitcases. It just became the norm that he would do that every time he got home from somewhere.
He followed her to the living room, she gently set the carrier down on the couch. Yakko placed the blue bag full of presents next to the carrier. He looked up at his mom, a sense of excitement in his eyes.
"Can we take a look at the gift back?", Yakko asked his mom.
"Be my guest, I'm not stopping you".
He jumped up onto the couch, Wakko mimicked his actions. His brother sat behind him, he looked to be just as excited about the gifts as he was.
"We look in bag?", his brother asked.
Yakko smiled," yup, we're gonna take a look at what's inside the bag".
He grabbed the bag, sliding it closer to him. He felt his brother peer over his shoulder to get a look at what he was doing. He opened up the bag, his face turned glum. All he could see in the bag was a bunch of baby stuff.
He looked up at his mom in disappointment. She had taken his sister out of the carrier and was cradling the infant in her arms.
"There's no toys in here", he whined," I thought grandma was going to get us toys".
"Don't mind all the baby stuff", she said, " dig through the bag and your bound to find something".
"Bag bag", his brother chanted," what in bag"!?
Yakko stuck his hand inside of the bag, he started to dig his hand around inside of it. He tried to feel anything that felt like a toy of some sort. When he finally felt something, he immediately pulled it out of the bag. He was surprised when he saw what the item was.
"A yo-yo?", he asked, sounding surprised, " what can I do with this"?
"You could learn yo-yo tricks", his mom told him," I used to have a yo-yo, it looked cindove like that one. I had a lot of fun learning all sorts of tricks".
He still had a confused look on his face.
"Look, you can't expect to get a new Hot Wheels car every time somebody gives you a present. What grandma gave you was nice".
"I suppose so", he shrugged his shoulders," it sort of sounds fun".
He set the Yo-yo down beside him. He continued to dig through the bag to see if there was anything else. Unfortunately, there was nothing. The yo-yo was the only thing his grandma had got for him. He decided to say nothing about it so as to not make his mom angry.
Well, at least I got something.
Yakko looked up at his mom again.
"Nothing?", she asked.
He nodded his head," yeah".
"Huh, mabey grandma thought you would really like a yo-yo".
"I guess so".
"Well I hope you have a lot of fun with it. And if you have any thoughts on learning some yo-yo tricks, you know who to call".
"You"?
His mom nodded," of course, I'll be happy to teach you some tricks if you want to learn".
"Can you teach me some now"?
"Unfortunately I can't", she told him," I'm going to rest for a while, I'm really tired".
Yakko started to get very excited, he knew what this would mean.
"Mom", he asked," can I hold Dot"?
"Of course you can", she said," why would I not? I was just about to offer".
All he could do was smile, this is what he'd been waiting for all day. The moment where he would hold his little sister for the first time. He was especially excited when it was Wakko's turn to hold her, as unlike him, he had never held a baby before.
His mom gave the baby over to him, he felt that his body was tingling, he was so happy. He grabbed Dot carefully, slowly bringing her into his arms. His jaw nearly dropped, it was the same magic all over again.
Wakko sat beside him, his eyes were wide open. His face looked just as shocked as his, he had never seen his brother look so intrigued in his entire life.
"Hello Dot", Yakko said to his sister softly, " I'm your big brother Yakko. And this is your other big brother, Wakko".
He turned to face his brother, his face was still shocked.
"Gonna say something sib", he asked his brother.
Wakko still gave no reply, he waved a hand in front of his face to try to get his brother's attention.
"What", Wakko finally said.
"Are you going to say hi to our sister"?
There were a few seconds of silence.
"Well"?
"Hi baby", his brother finally said," me Wakko. Me sib".
The baby's eyes started to slowly open for the first time. Dot's eyes were wide open, she stared intently at both him and Wakko. He was overjoyed, his sister's eyes opening for the first time felt even more magical than when Wakko did so.
Wonder why that is?
Wakko seemed to be getting more comfortable being around his sister, as he inched closer to her to get a better view.
"Sissy", he said," hello baby".
Dot had no reaction, she wore a blank face. Wakko then looked confused.
"Why no hi back"?
"Dot is too young to say hi back", Yakko explained," she can't talk, and she can't walk either".
"Why"?
"She has to learn how to do that", he continued," don't worry, it came as a shock to me as well".
"When"?
"When you were a baby".
"But me talk", his brother exclaimed," me talk I can".
"Well you can talk now, but that wasn't always the case".
"But me can"!!
"Alright", his mom interrupted," why don't I take Wakko for a while so I can explain to him".
Wakko looked over at their mom, holding out her arms for him. He watched as his brother jumped into her arms, and his mom carried him away.
He sighed, why can't I be as good at explaining things as mom?
Yakko decided not to think about it further and get back to his sister. Dot was still staring up at him with wide eyes, sticking her fingers in her mouth.
"Aww, you're such a cutie", he said," just think of all the things that we can do together".
His sister didn't reply of course, but he could tell that she couldn't wait as well.
After a long day of spending all of his time with his sister, Yakko was thoroughly exhausted. He was brushing his teeth in the bathroom, Wakko was sitting on the tub waiting for his turn. Recently, he'd been given the job of brushing his brother's teeth every single night. His teeth were now starting to come in, and he'd been very cranky lately.
Huh, maybe that's why it was difficult to talk to him earlier.
He spit toothpaste into the sink, rinsing his toothbrush of all the gunk that was on it. He put his toothbrush into a small cup that held all the toothbrushes. He grabbed his brother's toothbrush, he remembered that it was the light blue one. He has to be careful because his toothbrush is the dark blue one. Two weeks ago, he accidentally brushed his teeth with Wakko's toothbrush. It gives him the Willie's just remembering about that day.
He held up the toothbrush, a signal to his brother that it was time to brush his teeth. Wakko got up from the tub and ran towards him. He ran up to him and clanged onto his leg.
"Get off my leg please", he ordered," I have to brush your teeth".
"No, me like leg".
"Get off my leg", he said again, more aggressively this time.
Wakko did as he asked immediately, probably because he thought he was in trouble. Happy that his brother was now following his orders, he decided to get started. He squirted a little toothpaste onto the toothbrush, and then wet it under the sink.
"Open your mouth Wakko".
His brother followed orders and opened his mouth as wide as he could. After he did this, Yakko started rubbing the toothbrush against his gums, scrubbing his tiny teeth.
As he did so, he thought about everything that happened. It was just as he had expected, he spent all of his time with the newest member of the Warner household.
Pondering that thought, he remembered something that he did not like at all.
Oh no, I nearly forgot, Wakko is sleeping with me tonight!!!
Unfortunately, with their apartment being small in size, and with the arrival of baby Dot the other day, his mom had no choice but to make his brother sleep with him. He'd watched Wakko nap in his crib, and he's always moving around in there. He couldn't sleep in a still position if his life depended on it.
On the other hand, he's sensitive when he sleeps. He needs the room to be a certain way in order for him to get comfortable in his bed. He'd lost track on how many times he woke up because he heard the chatter of the neighbors next door.
Hopefully, if all goes well, he could get at least a decent amount of sleep tonight.
He finished up brushing Wakko's teeth, after his brother spit into the sink, he started to clean the toothbrush.
"Hey Wak, don't you remember about tonight"?
"What?", his brother asked. He tilted his head, looking confused.
"Don't you remember that tonight you're not sleeping in your crib"?
"Why"?
"Because of our sister, what do you think"?
"Where sleep then"?
"You're sleeping with me", he said," now doesn't that sound nice"?
No, not for me!!
Wakko looked delighted, he was so happy after hearing that news.
"Me sleep with you"?
"That's right sib, you heard that right".
His brother got very excited after that, the happy little boy ran to the middle of the bathroom, twirling in the air. He giggled and babbled nonsense. Yakko held out his arms for Wakko, he ran into them immediately, he hugged him tightly.
"Woah, calm down a little sib", Yakko said," I know you're excited, but there's no need for a big show".
"Me want big show"!!
Yakko rubbed his sibling's head, he could just be so adorable sometimes. Together, he and his brother exited the bathroom and went back into his room. He turned on the light, flinching a little as the bright light lit up the entire room.
Wakko made a high pitched squealing noise, babbled something he couldn't understand, and then out of nowhere, he started running towards the bed in the room. He jumped into the air, and plopped onto the bed, making a boom sound as he did so. His brother started laughing hard and loud, it filled the entire room.
To say that Yakko was annoyed after his brother did this.
"Shh, you gotta be quiet", he said," you'll wake mom and dad, and then we'll both get into big trouble".
"Trouble, trouble", he chanted.
"No, we don't want to be in trouble, we want to stay out of trouble".
Yakko then turned off the light in the room. Wakko shrieked as he did so, he couldn't see his brother but he knew he sounded like he was scared.
Don't tell me he's afraid of the dark now, he complained in his head, he's never been afraid of the dark before.
He groaned, why does he have to go through this? He approached where the bed was and plopped onto it. He could barely see Wakko in the dark, but he could see that he was crying.
"Please don't cry", he tried to sooth Wakko," it's only the dark".
His brother continued to cry.
"Scary", he said," me don't like this".
"Lay down Wak, it's gonna be ok, I promise".
Wakko followed orders, but he did not stop crying. Yakko groaned, this was harder than he thought. He tried to think of a way to make his brother stop crying.
Then he remembered something that mom used to do when he was scared at night. She would always tell him a story to make him fall asleep. Whenever she did this, he would always fall asleep afterwards. If it worked for him, than it could work for Wakko too.
"How bout I tell you a bedtime story", he told his brother," I'll tell the story of..Uuh..".
He cringed, he sounded just like his dad.
"The story of uuh...Little red riding hood, yeah that's a great story. You ever heard that story"?
Wakko sniffed, wiping the tears from his eyes.
"No", he said quietly.
"Well I'll tell you now", Yakko said," now how does it start...oh yes, once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in the woods with her mother. Her name was Little Red Riding hood. One day, her mother asked her to bring some cookies to her grandma..".
As Yakko told his brother the story, he noticed that Wakko had finally stopped crying. He had a smile on his face, he looked intrigued at the story.
He felt proud, to think he was so nervous.
"And after the hunter chased the big bad wolf out of the house, Little Red Riding Hood and her grandma sat down at the table and ate the cookies. And they all lived happily ever after, the end".
Wakko clapped after the story had finished.
"So did you like the story?", Yakko asked.
Wakko nodded," me like story".
He couldn't help but smile, maybe he could tell his brother a story every night, just to make him happy.
I really am the best aren't I?
End of Chapter 11