Author's Note: Remember to review! Reviews encourage the muse and the muse encourages me to write!


Chicago, IL

The Little Angels Foundation

Nancy didn't even bother looking up from the block tower she was making. The newest arrival was bellowing and making a giant fuss, roaring like he was Super Reptar's rival Monkie Moe, pounding his chest as he moved about the playpen. It might have been frightening if Nancy wasn't almost 2 years old and the new arrival was just old enough to know how to walk. The other babies in the large playpen continued on their games, all to used to new ones making a scene. Heck, some of them had done it themselves when they first got into the pen. There was no reason to make a fuss. The adults were just outside, working on their computers, and would come rushing in if things got too intense.

"Pay 'ttention to meeeeeeeeee!" the 10 month old roared, kicking at Nancy's block tower. One of the soft, squishy blocks tumbled to her right while the bellowing tot in front of her lost his balance due to his wild kick and fell to the ground with an ompf. "Be quiet!" he shouted at her, frustrated.

"I wasn't gonna make funs of you," Nancy said gently. "Wes all fallen overs before... it happens. That's why the floor is squishy!" She bounced up and down on the playpen's foam mat. "I'm Nancy! What's your name?"

"I'm Derek and this is my place now!" the baby roared as he righted himself. "I'm biggest and tuffest ever and that makes me boss."

"You're not the boss," another baby said with a shrug. "Melinda is."

"Melinda?" Derek said with a laugh. "Who dat?"

"Me!"

Derek turned and stared at who was toddling over to her. Melinda didn't look that threatening to Derek at all. She was wearing a simple pink t-shirt, her strawberry blonde hair held back by a headband with a huge flower on it. She had on a diaper that had smiling teddy bears dancing on them and she gripped by the feet a well loved Katrina doll (the little sister of Cynthia PI, of course). She had on a skirt but didn't even cover up her diapers, let along her chubby little legs or sock-covered feet. The 13 month old smiled at Derek, eyes sparkling as she waved.

"I'm Melinda! Nice to meet you!"

"Well, it's not nice to meet you!" Derek shouted, moving to shove her. Melinda easily twisted, causing Derek to fall down on his face. He was quickly up, no worse for wear, other than wounded pride. "You aren't the boss here nos more! I am! I'm the tuffest! The powice bwought me and that means I'm tuff!"

Melinda merely sat down beside Derek, studying him a moment before speaking. "No, that means you're scared."

"I'm scared 'bout nothin'!" Derek roared. He didn't get how this little girl could just sit there as he threw a tantrum. Every other time he'd thrown a fit around other babies they'd cried or given him what he wanted. Melinda just looked at him with a sad smile. He didn't like that… it made him feel funny.

"Yes you are," Melinda said gently. "Police only bring babies here when something bad happened. Was it your mommy or your daddy?"

Derek shifted, for the first time since he arrived dropping his voice to a conversational tone. He was so startled by her question he didn't even try to cover up his emotions with bravado. "Mommy took too much of her med'cine. She needs it or she feels funny. But dis time she tooks too much..." the little boy plopped down next to Melinda, tears in his eyes. "She wouldn't wake up...I cried and cried but she just kept starin' at the ceiling…"

Melinda hugged the whimpering tot. "You don't have to act brave here. We babies stick together! Did your mommy forget to give you a bottle sometimes?" Derek nodded pitifully. "They don't forget here. And if you need new clothes they get them too." Derek shifted, suddenly embarrassed that he was wearing a shirt clearly too big for him and covered in stains. "Everybody loves everyone here! We'll take care of you... won't we guys?"

"Yeah!" the other babies called out, crawling and walking over to greet Derek. Some of them had been in the same position he'd been in, scared and frightened, and now it was their turn to offer comfort just as they had been given it.

"Jorge, could you ask Mr. Mills to get Derek a shirt? Say he doesn't like this one." Jorge, who was 3 and a half but could still understand baby talk, nodded and hurried over to the edge of the playpen, motioning for one of the babysitters to come over so he could let them know that Jorge was sad and wanted a new shirt. Jorge was one of Melinda's best helpers and in return she always made sure he got the sugar cookies he liked best when it was snack time.

Derek, for his part, looked up at Melinda after several more babies had introduced themselves to him. "How did you know all dat 'bout me?"

"I'm a psychic-ologist!" Melinda said proudly. "I know all about babies and what they want, including me!" She giggled, lifting up Katrina so she could look her doll in the eye. "Like, right now I'm all bouncy and I'm looking at the door so that means I want mommy... and here she is!"

All the babies turned as, on cue, Melinda's mom walked out of her office, her smartphone glued to her ear. "Yes, yes I know that you normally charge $500 but we agreed on $200…. Well, considering this is for kids with cancer I thought you'd like to have your name attached to a good cause and not pull the usual crap. Oh, you know what I mean! I've heard about how you milked the grocery store on 5th.
She paused, listening to the person she was calling. "Or maybe you'd like me to contact the Tribune and give them a juicy new story. Can see the headline now:" Melinda's mom waved her hands in front of her, tilting her head to keep her phone pinned to her ear, "Topps Painters Choose Money Over Sick Kids". I'm sure that will play well with your customers." She paused. "Oh, don't give me that. You think you are the first to try and hold one of my projects ransom? Hold on!" She covered the phone with her hand and shouted, "Garth, what was the name of that electrician that tried to jack up the price on us when we rewired that nursery in Detroit?"

Nancy giggled, waving to her daddy as he called out, "Hillis Electrical, Angelica!"

Angelica smiled. "Thanks." She put the phone back to her ear. "Google Hillis Electrical and see what happens when you try and screw with kids when I'm around. I'll wait." Turning towards the playpen Angelica fierce smile became one of true selfless love as she knelt down and held out her arms. "Come here sunshine!"

Melinda giggled and toddled over to her mommy, Angelica lifting her up and cuddling her close while she waited for the painter to get back to her.

"That's her mommy?" Derek asked in shock.

Nancy nodded. "Yup! Melinda's mommy runs everything here!"

"Wow."

Angelica nodded her head, tickling Melinda's side even as she talked to the painter. "That's what I was hoping you'd say. I'll make sure to mention to everything I work with what a kind and generous soul you are. Thank you." Hanging up Angelica slipped her smartphone into her pocket before juggling Melinda so she could remove her jacket. The baby didn't mind, reaching up to try and grab her mommy's hair only to mutter when she realized that mommy's new pixie cut made grabbing hair harder. "Alright, sunshine, that was the last work task I had… let's see if we got everything on the personal side settled. Finster!" A lanky, awkward looking young man half stumbled out of the office, ringing his hands nervously as he looked at Angelica, almost as if he were afraid she'd bite his head off.

"Is that Dr. Finster?" Derek asked, looking at the man his mommy would have called a dweeb. He remembered hearing one of the policemen mention that they were taking him to 'Dr. Finster's place' and if that was him then Derek was unimpressed.

"No, I think that's the comboober guy," Nancy said as the scrawny fellow hurried over to Nancy's daddy so he could submit his invoice. "That is Dr. Finster!"

Chuckie Finster maybe have started life as a shy, skittish, and awkward little boy but he certainly had grown out of that phase. Between his sophomore and junior year of high school Chuckie had befriended his school's new gym teacher Mr. Strum, who had moved in a few doors down from them. Strum had seen much of his younger self in Chuckie, admitting that when he'd been young he'd been a 'string bean' as well. Chuckie had been shocked that a handsome and well built man could compare himself to him but Strum's kind nature and determined attitude to never give up had rubbed off on the shy boy and by the 3rd week of June Chuckie had begun working out with the man at a local gym. Strum wasn't a dumbbell-head that thought bulging biceps were everything; he believed in a well rounded routine and thus got Chuckie to jog, swim, lift weights, and even try yoga. In Strum Chuckie also found someone willing to listen to his fears and concerns without worrying about making them ashamed of him or being judged. While is parents loved him Chuckie didn't want to burden them, to make them worry more about him. Strum was a sympathetic ear.

By the end of summer Chuckie (or Chuck, as Strum preferred to call him) had undergone a metamorphosis. Baby fat and bony limbs had turned into lean muscle, he'd shot up 3 inches, and in August he'd had his braces removed. His stepmother had decided to get him new glasses, ones with thin wire frames instead of his thick plastic ones. And Chuck had grown his hair out and begun to tie it back in a loose ponytail. When he'd walked into school the first day everyone had been shocked that the handsome young man they were looking at had left three months earlier as a trembling string bean. Within a week Chuck Finster was one of the most talked about teens in school and by the end of the month he was one of the most popular.

But new friendships and a new body didn't mean that Chuck had forgotten what it was like to be alone and scared. He took it upon himself to protect every freshman that came into the school, working with his best friend Tommy to make their high school a bully-free zone. Two years later after many laughs, school events, a Prom King Crown, and special recognition at graduation from his mentor, Chuck Finster left high school as a legend and an inspiration.

And in the present day he continued to build his reputation as the man people didn't just want to be but who they wanted fighting by their side.

Leaving his office a few moments after the IT guy Chuck exited and looked over at Angelic. While not a body builder by any means Chuck was athletic looking at the very least, with a swimmer's build that he did little to hide under his designer dress shirts and tailored slacks. After he'd gotten his degree in child psychology he'd sworn never to grow a beard, feeling that it was simply too stereotypical for a shrink to sport a Van Dyke ("I'd look like that quack Lipschitz" he'd told a colleage). Instead he merely kept his hair long and pulled back in a ponytail (he utterly refused to get a 'manbun'). Today his tie had been tossed aside and a few top buttons of his shirt were undone, revealing a white undershirt under the cream-colored button up he was wearing.

"You bellowed," Chuck said.

"Tell me you remembered to order the plane tickets." Angelica began to pace before Chuck could even open his mouth. Melinda stared at her mom as Angelica began to rant, the little psychic-ologist making mental notes to discuss her mommy's ability to handle stress at their next therapy session (aka Mommy-Melinda play time). "You didn't, did you? I asked you to order them yesterday and now you didn't and it is going to be a scramble-"

Chuck walked over and placed his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to stop and look him in the eye. "I didn't get them yesterday because I bought them a month ago. They are still in your desk drawer and I have our id numbers saved in both our phones in case they get lost. They know that we are bringing Melinda and that you want steak because you can't eat fish on a plane ever since you watched 'Airplane!'. Our bags are already packed save for toiletries and even if we forget them your mom has every we need at her house. The hotel is all set as is the rental." Angelica let out a shuddery little breath and Chuck leaned in, kissing her forehead. "Everything is all set, Ang."

Angelica sighed, resting her head on her husband's shoulder. "I freaked out, didn't I?"

"Just a touch." Chuck reached over and picked up Melinda, his baby girl screeching in delight as he hoisted her above his head. "What do you think, Princess? On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad was that freakout?"

"A four!" Melinda said, though to her parents it came out as "blub"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too." Melinda beamed at her daddy agreeing with her and Chuck sat down on one of the overstuffed love seats Angelica had insisted be installed in the Foundation's main area; memories of visiting her mom's workplace and their horrible hardwood and plastic chairs still haunted the blonde. After a moment Angelica joined them, Chuck reaching around to hug her as she snuggled up to him, kicking off her flats and tucking her feet under her as she curled up next to her husband and daughter. Melinda, for her part, began to tug on her mommy's fingers, giggling whenever Angelica wiggled her digits. Their employees were used to seeing them curl up on a couch after a hard day and didn't even glance at them as the two adults and their little girl watched the other babies at play.

"That the kid they rescued from the house uptown?" Chuck asked, nodding towards Derek. Hank Mills, one of the 'baby wranglers', had just finished redressing him in a cute little red shirt that had happy ducks on it. The baby looked down at the shirt, tugging on it before he reached up and grabbed Hank's shirt in response, burrowing his little face against the man's chest. Angelica smiled sadly as the wrangler cradled the now sniffing and murmuring tyke in his arms, allowing the no-longer-thrashing tot to seek comfort in his embrace. Sadly they were all used to babies coming in starved for love and attention.

"Yeah. Neighbors complained about hearing him crying… his mom ODed and they found him in a messy diaper trying to wake her up." Angelica felt her eyes water and forced herself not to cry. "How can someone bring a baby into this world when they can't even take care of themselves?"

"People are selfish, Ang." Chuck ran his hand over Melinda's head, smiling down at his daughter. "What's the plan with the little guy?"

"No relatives, or at least any that want to take him in. I've got Tracy calling that couple from Colorado, Mitch and Bill, you remember them? They've been looking to adopt and I think Derek would be a perfect fit."

"And you won't let him go until your sure of it," Chuck said, giving his wife a squeeze.

"Dam… darn straight, Finster," Angelica said, forcing herself not to swear in front of the baby.

"You know that kinda loses its power when your name is Finster too," Chuck pointed out.

"Point taken."

The two of them grew quiet, allowing the happy squeals and giggles of their littlest members flow over them. For those that had only known them when they were young it would have been shocking to see shy and skittish Chuckie and famous baby-loather Angelica finding such peace in the middle of baby chaos but time had marched on and now in their thirties the two found joy in the delightful screams of infants and toddlers. Most of the tots in the massive padded playpen belonged to their staff, be they sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, or even a few grandkids. But there were a few infants like Derek who had lost family or didn't have homes who stayed at the foundation until Angelica and Chuck could find them safe, happy places to live. It was their lives' mission to ensure as many babies as they could find had the happiest of childhoods and the giggles of delighted tots were proof that they were succeeding.

"So," Chuck finally said softly, making sure to keep his voice low enough so not to alert anyone but his wife, "what really has you freaked out?"

"What do you mean?" Angelica asked. "Not freaked out at all. Not at all!"

Chuck rolled his eyes. "You've been using that innocent act since I was in diapers and it hasn't gotten any better. Do you believe her, Melinda?"

"Nope!" the baby giggled. "Mommy is fibbing! Ten ceecees of cookies, stat!"

"See, she agrees with me!" Angelica said. Melinda scowled at that, though neither could see that. Silly mommy not sticking to her prescription.

"Ang…"

Angelica sighed, closing her eyes as she wiggled closer to Chuck, almost as if she were competing with Derek to see who could nuzzle the hardest. "This is the first time we'll be all back together in nearly 15 years."

"What? You mean the whole gang? We saw each other at Phil's wedding, remember?"

"Yeah, but that was at a hall with music and a ton of other people to talk to. This is the first time all of us, the old gang, will be together in town. No one missing, no one only able to call. Yeah, we have the parties to plan but otherwise there will be a lot of time where we can just get back together and talk."

"I'm sensing there is more to this than simply a reunion."

Angelica let out a shaky breath. "What if I go back to the way I was?" Even though she wasn't looking at him she knew the look he was giving her. "I know its baseless fear, but I still feel it in here." She tapped her chest. "I hate how I was back then… god, I was such a little brat. I picked on all of you, a tricked you, I'm pretty sure I scarred Tommy for life-"

"Yeah, that's why he named you godmother of his son," Chuck said, running his fingers through her hair.

"Did they teach you to interrupt your patients in shrink school?"

Melinda looked up at him and Chuck had the impression she was giving him a 'come on, you better than that, daddy!' look. "Continue," Chuck said after a moment.

"I think back to how I was, how I treated so many people and… and I hate who I was. I just hate her. And it's worse now that we have Melinda. I look at her and I think "If she had met the old me she would have been so scared…". I know it isn't possible, I know it isn't going to happen, but I'm scared to death I'm going to fall back into routine. I'll go back to being a bi… a very not nice person… and treat everyone horribly and only care about myself. And I don't want that, Chuck… I don't want that." She sniffed a little, still fighting back her tears, hating that she was acting like such a baby in front of… well… her baby. While she'd changed greatly from whom she'd once been she still hated looking weak and childlike and sobbing on a sofa in front of a bunch of infants wasn't very dignified in her opinion.

"I cans fix mommy, daddy!" Melinda babbled, wiggling her arms and legs. "Firsts we needs to check her tempypurr, then see if she's gotten taller, then give her a wollypop! That fix her ALLLLL up! Code Wolly! Code Wolly!"

Chuck ran his fingers along his daughter's belly, allowing her giggles to fill the air as she happily yammered to herself. One of the things he'd learned when it came to helping anyone, be it a baby, a kid, or a grown woman who had accomplished amazing things and had a wonderful life, was that sometimes you needed to be quiet and let them get to the point where they were ready for you to speak. Push too soon and you'd run into walls. They'd deflect or deny or just not listen. No, sometimes you needed to gather yourself while letting them calm down and mentally prepare for what you were about to say. Only then could the healing begin.

That didn't mean it was easy, however. This was his wife, the woman he loved, terrified of her own past… a past that, if Chuck was honest with himself, was a pretty crummy one. Not for lack of want or love… but for her own actions. Because she was right… she had been a brat. She had bullied them and picked on them and made him and his friends feel like dirt. That girl and the woman he'd married were nothing alike. The Angelica that had told him that when the TV turned off all the cartoon characters died was not the same Angelica who'd called him 8 years ago and begged him to help her with her foundation, pleading about the kids she wanted to save. The Angelica that had delighted in calling him four-eyes and dumb dumb was not the one that had woken him up in the middle of the night two years ago and said "I love you, you love me, let's get married" and laughed as the two of them ran to the courthouse in wrinkled clothing and mismatched shoes. The Angelica who screamed "DUMB BABIES" was not the Angelica who had sobbed when their daughter was born, calling her the greatest gift in the world.

"We have to cancel the trip," Chuck finally said.

"I know that you are-wait, what?!" Angelica bolted up, Melinda, who had almost fallen asleep, let out a roar of protest at being wiggled about.

"We can't go back," Chuck said, eyes wide with fright. "If we do then I'll go back to being scaredy cat Chuckie Finster again!"

"You are Chuckie Finster… just not as scaredied…" Angelica began, only for Chuck to cut her off, leaping to his feet and setting Melinda down on the couch. The baby looked at her two parents and mentally sighed, telling Katrina to cancel her other appointments as she would have to work with her current patients.

"But it will happen! I don't want to be scare of butterflies or milk or the toilet or crossing the street…"

"I don't remember the milk one," Angelica said as she watched her husband pace, Melinda watched her father move back and forth, lips puckered. "And come on, you aren't going to go back to being scared at your own shadow. That was years ago and you've completely changed and one trip won't change that and you clever bastard you just made me argue against myself!"

Chuck paused, a smile forming on his lips. "They did teach me that at shrink school."

"Melinda, I am so going to tackle daddy in a moment."

The baby clapped her hands. "Yeah! That is the bestest way to gets out negative aggressions! Work through the pain!"

Chuck sat back down, shifting their daughter to Angelica's lap. "The past is the past, Angelica. Does it shape who we are now? Of course. I'll admit that when you called me up all those years ago I almost said no because of how you used to treat me. But," he quickly added, before his wife could beat herself up anymore, "it was your mistakes that made you the woman I love. If you hadn't stolen that car-"

"Hey!" Angelica said, covering Melinda's ears. "Ixnay on eftthay!"

"-you wouldn't have been given community service, you wouldn't have worked at the hospital with those sick kids, and you wouldn't have discovered your true calling. You've paid the babies of the world back a thousand times for the little annoyances and pains you heaped on me and Phil and Lil and Tommy and me and Kimi and Dil-"

"You said you twice." Chuck just gave her a knowing look. "And I suppose you do deserve to be in there twice, go on."

"-and you took the girl you once were and turned her into something utterly wonderful. That said… what is it we tell all the employees here?"

Angelica sniffed a little. "Tuesday is Taco Tuesday?"

"Other than that."

"Check all the diapers for screwdrivers?"

Chuck laughed, knowing that things were better if Angelica was getting this playful. "Other than that."

"The past doesn't define one's future."

"Exactly." He gestured at Derek, the baby having finally gone to sleep in Mills' arms. "That little guy started out with the worst lot in life. But it will not define his future. He's going to have loving parents and get to play baseball and go to school and find love and have kids of his own. Yeah, his mom ODed and that is tragic… but it won't define him. Just like your past won't define you."

Melinda let out a tiny yawn and Angelica smiled, kissing Chuck on the cheek. "You're right… I have changed… we both have… and seeing everyone isn't going to make us revert back to who we were-"

"YUCKY!" Nancy cried out, pointing at Angelica and Chuck kissing.

"…okay, that was just bad timing," Chuck muttered while Angelica stared the tot in shock.

~MC~MC~MC~

Author's Notes: I really love the relationship Chuck and Angelica have… it is just a nice, mature relationship that allows the two of them to grow while also showcasing their best traits. And Melinda is my favorite of the Generation Two Rugrats I've created.

Next up we see what Tommy is up to.