Billy Joel's song, "The Longest Time" has been 'borrowed' to fit in with
this chapter. (Some words have been changed to support the meaning of the
story.)
Chapter 26: Three Munks and Three Babies!
FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS LATER!
Everyone was trying to get back to old routines, but they were finding it a bit difficult with three demanding babies all the time. There were moments where the babies would cry for hours on end without stopping. If it hadn't been for Vinny, Simon and Jeanette would have a difficult time calming them down. With the same tricks she used when Alvin, Simon, and Theodore were little was help in a major way. She would sing them songs. Usually it would be a Lullaby song, but there were other songs she sometimes used as well.
Simon had gone back to work a week after the triplets were born. He however did try to spend as much time as he could with the infants. Normally, his mom, Dave, or Jeanette would supervise him. Simon found comfort in this. Since he was still nervous to be alone with them. The little ones are so fragile, and feared that there might be a situation, which he might not, be able to handle alone.
Since today had a day off, he wanted to spend it with his kids. This morning he offered to feed the infants their breakfast, while Jeanette and Vinny tend to other things around the house. Dave was out at the studio and catching up on some paperwork, while Simon's brothers were out in the yard doing some chores. Simon can hear Jeanette's sisters, Brittany and Eleanor, just coming in through the front door. They start talking to his wife and mom in the living room.
Vincent cooed in baby babble while sitting on the high chair and bouncing. He looks at his dad with a cheeky grin and his tiny hand in his mouth.
Simon looks up at him with a raised eyebrow.
"You think so, young man? Well, I have a spoonful of mashed pears that say otherwise." Simon says playfully. He takes a tiny scoop out of the baby jar and shovels the little spoon gently into Vince's mouth.
"Nyum, nyum, nyum!" Vince says as he savors the flavor of the pears in his mouth.
Simon smiles with pride as he looks at all three of his children. They each sat in their own high chair. Tom and Mary, by now have already starting to wear glasses this past week. They sat happily as they are slurping on their bottles filled with baby formula, while their brother Vincent kept working on his mashed pears.
"Now, where were we...?" Simon ponders as he looks down at an open book that is laid out in the table. "Oh, yes. ' Physics R101."
The three little babies sat there quietly and smiled at their father as he kept reading as if he were reading a children's book.
"Magnetic angle for gamma rays Physics in Action...Gamma-ray bursts are the most energetic events in the universe, typically corresponding to the conversion of 1% of the mass of the Sun into energy. Every day an average of about one of these brief flashes of gamma rays - which come from any direction in the sky and last a few tens of seconds - are detected. Observations of the optical afterglow of the bursts reveal that they originate in galaxies that are several billions of light-years away. But what causes the bursts, and how the gamma rays are actually produced, have, until recently, remained a mystery..." Simon looks up at his children and gives them an excited look and adds an, 'ooh' to the suspense of the text he is reading before continuing reading.
Alvin walks into the kitchen through the back door and gives Simon a questioning look. "Simon, are you trying to "bore" your kids to sleep?"
"Whatever does the trick Alvin; it's almost their naptime anyway and I need to brush up on my studies before going back to college in a couple of months."
"So in other words, you're killing two birds with one stone."
"Precisely!"
"Clever!"
"Neea!" Vince squeals as he tries to reach for more mashed pears.
"Oh sorry, Champ." Simon says. He scoops another tiny spoonful of baby food and feeds it to his son. Simon looks up and realizes that there is a draft coming into the kitchen. "Ah, Alvin could you close the door, please."
"Oh, sorry." Alvin said as he starts to close the door not noticing that Theodore is walking in. He caught the door just before it could be slammed into his face.
"Alvin, watch it!" Theodore warns.
"Theodore, didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to sneak up on people?" Alvin said after Theodore closes the door
"Dave will be happy to know that the backyard chores are all done." He announced smiling at his brothers.
"Thanks guys." Simon replied.
The Chipette's enter the room and stops in front of the Brothers.
"We're leaving." Brittany announces bluntly.
"Where too?" Asks Alvin.
"Out to do some shopping." Brittany answers while studying her nails.
Simon realizes that all the female chipmunks have their coats on, including his mother and his wife.
"Are all of you going?" He asked nervously as he gets up from his chair.
"Well, yes." Jeanette replies. "It has been a while since I had a good shopping spree with my sisters, and Vinny could use a break herself from helping us with the children. We figured, since you have a day off that you wouldn't mind staying with them for a few of hours..."
"But..." Simon stared to say, but had to re-arrange his words carefully. "Do you all have to go?"
"Don't be nervous, sweetie. I'm sure you will be alright." Vinny said gently. "The girls have convinced me that I should have...uh, what was the term you called it...?" She asked Brittany.
"A girl's day out on the town." Brittany said proudly.
"It's not like we are leaving you entirely alone, Alvin and Theodore are here to help." Eleanor implied as she pointed to Alvin and Theodore, who at this moment were starting to tip toe away.
"Huh?" Alvin gave a look like a deer caught in headlight and his cheeks flushed.
"Where do you two think your going?" Eleanor asked with narrow eyes.
"We, uh, are going to, um..." Alvin stuttered. He looks over at the desperate look that Simon was making and slouched in a defeated. "Absolutely nowhere...but are here to help Simon take care of the triplets"
"Of course we are..." Theodore adds with a smile.
"Thanks guys." Simon said with a sigh of relief.
"Are you sure you boys are going to be alright?" Vinny asked still unsure.
"I'm sure we will be fine, mom." Theodore reassured his mother.
"Alright then, we will be back in a couple of hours...maybe more..." Brittany eyes glint with mischief, as she walks out of the kitchen and to the front door with the other four females close behind her.
As soon as the four of them leave, the three boys stood there for a moment and just looked at each other.
"So, ah, what do we do first?" Alvin asked still clueless.
"Well, we need finish feeding them. Vincent still needs to drink his formula." Simon said as he walked to the fridge and pulls out a bottle filled with baby formula and takes it over to the microwave for a little heating. Simon takes out the bottle after the microwave 'dings' and checks it to see if the temperature is right before giving it to Vincent for drinking. To Simon's surprise, he accidentally squirted it at his dad's face. Shocked Simon took off his glasses for cleaning and washing his face. Behind him heard his brothers roaring with laugher and turned to glare at them before putting his glasses back on his face. "Laugh it up you too!" He said with a half smile.
"You have to admit...that was just perfect on how he did that, Hahaha!" Laughed Alvin.
"Yea, Simon! Vincent is a good shot, Hehehehe!" Theodore giggled.
Simon looked down at his son that is smiling a bashful expression. "Now don't you start!" Simon warned.
--------------------
Soon after the babies had been feed, the boys took them to the living room for playing games and read them stories from children books. An hour later the air suddenly filled up with a most familiar smell.
"Oh man! Don't these guys do anything else besides eat, sleep, and soil themselves?" Alvin asks as he waved his hand in front of his face.
"At this stage...no, not really." Simon answers as he picked up Tom who was crying, taking him upstairs. Alvin grabs Mary-Anne, and Theodore takes Vincent. They both follow Simon to his room, which also happens to be the nursery. They figured it would be best to change the babies' dippers one at a time. They had two of them in the crib while they tended to the other.
Tom was the first to be changed. As Simon pulls off the dirty dipper he then hands it to Theodore to throw it in the trash bin.
"Pee-u!" Theodore says as he pinches his nose while holding the dipper as far away from him as possible until it could safely be dropped into the bin.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Alvin asks.
"I've changed diapers before, Alvin." Simon sighed. "It's not that hard."
"Okay." Alvin said with an expression, which said "whatever".
After Simon whips Tom's bum and hands the dirty cloth to Theodore he then holds out his right hand to Alvin. "Ok, Alvin...hand me the clean dipper."
Alvin reached into a large bag and pulls out a clean dipper...he looked at it for a moment and with a playful grin he started to use the dipper as a puppet. With the open part, Alvin uses both of his hands to make it look like a mouth. Slowly Alvin moved it closer to Simon's head.
"Gggrrr! I'm going to get you!"
"Give me that!" Simon was in no mood to 'play' and snatches the dipper from his brother's hands, while trying to hid a smirk on his face. He places it on his now all-clean son, Tom. "There, one down."
After, all three babies were cleaned. They went back downstairs and took the triplets outside to play and to get some fresh air after the big mess they dealt with earlier.
------------
A few hours had passed before the little ones started crying for no apparent reason. It wasn't that they need their dippers changed, because they were just did that not too long ago. The boys tried everything they could think of. Perhaps they were hungry? That couldn't be also, since they already that the mashed fruit before being changed. Their crying became louder and louder. They are loud enough to drive Alvin, Simon, and Theodore nuts. What could they possibly do?
The thought accrued to the boys that the three of them could use a naptime, so they brought them back upstairs again to their room and laid them down on their crib. Still no use...the three babies were screaming louder and showing no sign of letting up.
The phone rings and Simon runs downstairs to answer it. It was Jeanette checking up on the boys.
"How's it going?" She asked.
"Oh, fine...we're fine." Simon lied.
"You're not having any problems, are you?" Jeanette asked. She could hear one of the children crying faintly in the background, and it worried her.
Simon lets out a nervous laugh. "No, everything is under control, really."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." Simon lied again. "How about you? Is everything alright with you?"
"Of course. We're doing great. I just called to see how things are doing, and to let you know that we are going to be home soon."
"Oh?" Simon felt very nervous. He didn't want to feel like he was incompetent in looking after his own kids. "H-h-how long till you'll be home?"
"About fifteen minutes, why?"
"Ah, no reason. I'll see you then."
"Well, alright. I love you."
"I love you, too."
Simon hangs up the phone and swallows a large lump that formed in his throat. He can still hear his children screaming upstairs and now his wife, mother, and sister-in-laws are on their way home. Slowly, Simon made his way back upstairs. He pondered on what would be done for the children.
"What do we do...Simon? They just won't stop!" Alvin asked in almost a panic as soon as Simon entered in the room.
"How should I know?" Simon snapped.
"Well, they are you kids." Alvin replied back.
"So...mom always took charge over situations like this."
"Oh, that's really weak, Simon." Alvin said grimly.
"Guys, come on. What are we going to do here?" Theodore spoke up.
Alvin, Simon, and Theodore were becoming desperate and tried to think what their mom would do right about now. Suddenly Theodore had a thought, "Perhaps we could sing to them? Isn't that what mom does?"
"Yea." Alvin agrees.
"Oh, anything!" Simon said waving his hands in the air. "What song should we sing though?" He added as he walked up to the crib.
"I got one...Just follow my lead..." Alvin said snapping his fingers. He took a moment to visualize the music in his head then re-opens his eyes and peered down on the crying infants. "Woohoohoohoo for the longest time..."
Simon and Theodore looked at each other and quickly joined in... "Woohoohoo for the longest time..."
(Alvin)
If you'd say goodnight to me tonight
There would still be music left to write
What else could I do
I'm so inspired by you
That hasn't happened for the longest time
(Simon)
Once I thought my innocence was gone
Now I know that happiness goes on
That's when you came to me
When you put your arms around me
I haven't been there for the longest time
(All Three)
Woohoohoohoo for the longest time
Woohoohoo for the longest time
(Alvin)
I'm that voice you're hearing down the hall
And the greatest miracle of all
Is how I hear you
And how you admire me too
That hasn't happened for the longest time
(Theodore)
Maybe this won't last very long
But you'll grow all right
And it won't be long
Maybe I've been hoping too hard
Love can go this far
And it's more than I hoped for
(Simon)
Who knows how much further we'll go on
Maybe I'll be sorry when you're grown
I'll take my chances
I forgot how nice life is
I haven't been there for the longest time
(Theodore)
I had second thoughts at the start
I said to myself
Hold on to your heart
Now I know the babies that you are
You're wonderful so far
And it's more than I hoped for
(Simon)
I don't care what consequence it brings
I have been a fool for lesser things
I don't want you so sad
I think you ought to know that
I intend to hold you for the longest time
(All Three)
Woohoohoohoo for the longest time
Woohoohoo for the longest time
(fade)
------------
Neither of the brothers noticed that, Tom, Mary-Ann and Vincent dozed off.
"Would you look at that, Vinny" Jeanette said.
All three boys turned and blushed when they saw their mother and the Chipettes standing at the bedroom door, and grinning at them. The song not only worked in getting the babies to stop crying so they could fall asleep; it also touched the women as well.
Jeanette went up to Simon and kissed him lightly on the lips and hugged him. "Good job, never know you had it in you!"
"Ah, you know...it was nothing!" Simon said trying to make it sound like he knew what he was doing the whole time. He then looked at his brothers and all three of the smiled knowingly. It was good to know that the three of them could still 'charm' their way out of a difficult situation.
Chapter 26: Three Munks and Three Babies!
FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS LATER!
Everyone was trying to get back to old routines, but they were finding it a bit difficult with three demanding babies all the time. There were moments where the babies would cry for hours on end without stopping. If it hadn't been for Vinny, Simon and Jeanette would have a difficult time calming them down. With the same tricks she used when Alvin, Simon, and Theodore were little was help in a major way. She would sing them songs. Usually it would be a Lullaby song, but there were other songs she sometimes used as well.
Simon had gone back to work a week after the triplets were born. He however did try to spend as much time as he could with the infants. Normally, his mom, Dave, or Jeanette would supervise him. Simon found comfort in this. Since he was still nervous to be alone with them. The little ones are so fragile, and feared that there might be a situation, which he might not, be able to handle alone.
Since today had a day off, he wanted to spend it with his kids. This morning he offered to feed the infants their breakfast, while Jeanette and Vinny tend to other things around the house. Dave was out at the studio and catching up on some paperwork, while Simon's brothers were out in the yard doing some chores. Simon can hear Jeanette's sisters, Brittany and Eleanor, just coming in through the front door. They start talking to his wife and mom in the living room.
Vincent cooed in baby babble while sitting on the high chair and bouncing. He looks at his dad with a cheeky grin and his tiny hand in his mouth.
Simon looks up at him with a raised eyebrow.
"You think so, young man? Well, I have a spoonful of mashed pears that say otherwise." Simon says playfully. He takes a tiny scoop out of the baby jar and shovels the little spoon gently into Vince's mouth.
"Nyum, nyum, nyum!" Vince says as he savors the flavor of the pears in his mouth.
Simon smiles with pride as he looks at all three of his children. They each sat in their own high chair. Tom and Mary, by now have already starting to wear glasses this past week. They sat happily as they are slurping on their bottles filled with baby formula, while their brother Vincent kept working on his mashed pears.
"Now, where were we...?" Simon ponders as he looks down at an open book that is laid out in the table. "Oh, yes. ' Physics R101."
The three little babies sat there quietly and smiled at their father as he kept reading as if he were reading a children's book.
"Magnetic angle for gamma rays Physics in Action...Gamma-ray bursts are the most energetic events in the universe, typically corresponding to the conversion of 1% of the mass of the Sun into energy. Every day an average of about one of these brief flashes of gamma rays - which come from any direction in the sky and last a few tens of seconds - are detected. Observations of the optical afterglow of the bursts reveal that they originate in galaxies that are several billions of light-years away. But what causes the bursts, and how the gamma rays are actually produced, have, until recently, remained a mystery..." Simon looks up at his children and gives them an excited look and adds an, 'ooh' to the suspense of the text he is reading before continuing reading.
Alvin walks into the kitchen through the back door and gives Simon a questioning look. "Simon, are you trying to "bore" your kids to sleep?"
"Whatever does the trick Alvin; it's almost their naptime anyway and I need to brush up on my studies before going back to college in a couple of months."
"So in other words, you're killing two birds with one stone."
"Precisely!"
"Clever!"
"Neea!" Vince squeals as he tries to reach for more mashed pears.
"Oh sorry, Champ." Simon says. He scoops another tiny spoonful of baby food and feeds it to his son. Simon looks up and realizes that there is a draft coming into the kitchen. "Ah, Alvin could you close the door, please."
"Oh, sorry." Alvin said as he starts to close the door not noticing that Theodore is walking in. He caught the door just before it could be slammed into his face.
"Alvin, watch it!" Theodore warns.
"Theodore, didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to sneak up on people?" Alvin said after Theodore closes the door
"Dave will be happy to know that the backyard chores are all done." He announced smiling at his brothers.
"Thanks guys." Simon replied.
The Chipette's enter the room and stops in front of the Brothers.
"We're leaving." Brittany announces bluntly.
"Where too?" Asks Alvin.
"Out to do some shopping." Brittany answers while studying her nails.
Simon realizes that all the female chipmunks have their coats on, including his mother and his wife.
"Are all of you going?" He asked nervously as he gets up from his chair.
"Well, yes." Jeanette replies. "It has been a while since I had a good shopping spree with my sisters, and Vinny could use a break herself from helping us with the children. We figured, since you have a day off that you wouldn't mind staying with them for a few of hours..."
"But..." Simon stared to say, but had to re-arrange his words carefully. "Do you all have to go?"
"Don't be nervous, sweetie. I'm sure you will be alright." Vinny said gently. "The girls have convinced me that I should have...uh, what was the term you called it...?" She asked Brittany.
"A girl's day out on the town." Brittany said proudly.
"It's not like we are leaving you entirely alone, Alvin and Theodore are here to help." Eleanor implied as she pointed to Alvin and Theodore, who at this moment were starting to tip toe away.
"Huh?" Alvin gave a look like a deer caught in headlight and his cheeks flushed.
"Where do you two think your going?" Eleanor asked with narrow eyes.
"We, uh, are going to, um..." Alvin stuttered. He looks over at the desperate look that Simon was making and slouched in a defeated. "Absolutely nowhere...but are here to help Simon take care of the triplets"
"Of course we are..." Theodore adds with a smile.
"Thanks guys." Simon said with a sigh of relief.
"Are you sure you boys are going to be alright?" Vinny asked still unsure.
"I'm sure we will be fine, mom." Theodore reassured his mother.
"Alright then, we will be back in a couple of hours...maybe more..." Brittany eyes glint with mischief, as she walks out of the kitchen and to the front door with the other four females close behind her.
As soon as the four of them leave, the three boys stood there for a moment and just looked at each other.
"So, ah, what do we do first?" Alvin asked still clueless.
"Well, we need finish feeding them. Vincent still needs to drink his formula." Simon said as he walked to the fridge and pulls out a bottle filled with baby formula and takes it over to the microwave for a little heating. Simon takes out the bottle after the microwave 'dings' and checks it to see if the temperature is right before giving it to Vincent for drinking. To Simon's surprise, he accidentally squirted it at his dad's face. Shocked Simon took off his glasses for cleaning and washing his face. Behind him heard his brothers roaring with laugher and turned to glare at them before putting his glasses back on his face. "Laugh it up you too!" He said with a half smile.
"You have to admit...that was just perfect on how he did that, Hahaha!" Laughed Alvin.
"Yea, Simon! Vincent is a good shot, Hehehehe!" Theodore giggled.
Simon looked down at his son that is smiling a bashful expression. "Now don't you start!" Simon warned.
--------------------
Soon after the babies had been feed, the boys took them to the living room for playing games and read them stories from children books. An hour later the air suddenly filled up with a most familiar smell.
"Oh man! Don't these guys do anything else besides eat, sleep, and soil themselves?" Alvin asks as he waved his hand in front of his face.
"At this stage...no, not really." Simon answers as he picked up Tom who was crying, taking him upstairs. Alvin grabs Mary-Anne, and Theodore takes Vincent. They both follow Simon to his room, which also happens to be the nursery. They figured it would be best to change the babies' dippers one at a time. They had two of them in the crib while they tended to the other.
Tom was the first to be changed. As Simon pulls off the dirty dipper he then hands it to Theodore to throw it in the trash bin.
"Pee-u!" Theodore says as he pinches his nose while holding the dipper as far away from him as possible until it could safely be dropped into the bin.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Alvin asks.
"I've changed diapers before, Alvin." Simon sighed. "It's not that hard."
"Okay." Alvin said with an expression, which said "whatever".
After Simon whips Tom's bum and hands the dirty cloth to Theodore he then holds out his right hand to Alvin. "Ok, Alvin...hand me the clean dipper."
Alvin reached into a large bag and pulls out a clean dipper...he looked at it for a moment and with a playful grin he started to use the dipper as a puppet. With the open part, Alvin uses both of his hands to make it look like a mouth. Slowly Alvin moved it closer to Simon's head.
"Gggrrr! I'm going to get you!"
"Give me that!" Simon was in no mood to 'play' and snatches the dipper from his brother's hands, while trying to hid a smirk on his face. He places it on his now all-clean son, Tom. "There, one down."
After, all three babies were cleaned. They went back downstairs and took the triplets outside to play and to get some fresh air after the big mess they dealt with earlier.
------------
A few hours had passed before the little ones started crying for no apparent reason. It wasn't that they need their dippers changed, because they were just did that not too long ago. The boys tried everything they could think of. Perhaps they were hungry? That couldn't be also, since they already that the mashed fruit before being changed. Their crying became louder and louder. They are loud enough to drive Alvin, Simon, and Theodore nuts. What could they possibly do?
The thought accrued to the boys that the three of them could use a naptime, so they brought them back upstairs again to their room and laid them down on their crib. Still no use...the three babies were screaming louder and showing no sign of letting up.
The phone rings and Simon runs downstairs to answer it. It was Jeanette checking up on the boys.
"How's it going?" She asked.
"Oh, fine...we're fine." Simon lied.
"You're not having any problems, are you?" Jeanette asked. She could hear one of the children crying faintly in the background, and it worried her.
Simon lets out a nervous laugh. "No, everything is under control, really."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." Simon lied again. "How about you? Is everything alright with you?"
"Of course. We're doing great. I just called to see how things are doing, and to let you know that we are going to be home soon."
"Oh?" Simon felt very nervous. He didn't want to feel like he was incompetent in looking after his own kids. "H-h-how long till you'll be home?"
"About fifteen minutes, why?"
"Ah, no reason. I'll see you then."
"Well, alright. I love you."
"I love you, too."
Simon hangs up the phone and swallows a large lump that formed in his throat. He can still hear his children screaming upstairs and now his wife, mother, and sister-in-laws are on their way home. Slowly, Simon made his way back upstairs. He pondered on what would be done for the children.
"What do we do...Simon? They just won't stop!" Alvin asked in almost a panic as soon as Simon entered in the room.
"How should I know?" Simon snapped.
"Well, they are you kids." Alvin replied back.
"So...mom always took charge over situations like this."
"Oh, that's really weak, Simon." Alvin said grimly.
"Guys, come on. What are we going to do here?" Theodore spoke up.
Alvin, Simon, and Theodore were becoming desperate and tried to think what their mom would do right about now. Suddenly Theodore had a thought, "Perhaps we could sing to them? Isn't that what mom does?"
"Yea." Alvin agrees.
"Oh, anything!" Simon said waving his hands in the air. "What song should we sing though?" He added as he walked up to the crib.
"I got one...Just follow my lead..." Alvin said snapping his fingers. He took a moment to visualize the music in his head then re-opens his eyes and peered down on the crying infants. "Woohoohoohoo for the longest time..."
Simon and Theodore looked at each other and quickly joined in... "Woohoohoo for the longest time..."
(Alvin)
If you'd say goodnight to me tonight
There would still be music left to write
What else could I do
I'm so inspired by you
That hasn't happened for the longest time
(Simon)
Once I thought my innocence was gone
Now I know that happiness goes on
That's when you came to me
When you put your arms around me
I haven't been there for the longest time
(All Three)
Woohoohoohoo for the longest time
Woohoohoo for the longest time
(Alvin)
I'm that voice you're hearing down the hall
And the greatest miracle of all
Is how I hear you
And how you admire me too
That hasn't happened for the longest time
(Theodore)
Maybe this won't last very long
But you'll grow all right
And it won't be long
Maybe I've been hoping too hard
Love can go this far
And it's more than I hoped for
(Simon)
Who knows how much further we'll go on
Maybe I'll be sorry when you're grown
I'll take my chances
I forgot how nice life is
I haven't been there for the longest time
(Theodore)
I had second thoughts at the start
I said to myself
Hold on to your heart
Now I know the babies that you are
You're wonderful so far
And it's more than I hoped for
(Simon)
I don't care what consequence it brings
I have been a fool for lesser things
I don't want you so sad
I think you ought to know that
I intend to hold you for the longest time
(All Three)
Woohoohoohoo for the longest time
Woohoohoo for the longest time
(fade)
------------
Neither of the brothers noticed that, Tom, Mary-Ann and Vincent dozed off.
"Would you look at that, Vinny" Jeanette said.
All three boys turned and blushed when they saw their mother and the Chipettes standing at the bedroom door, and grinning at them. The song not only worked in getting the babies to stop crying so they could fall asleep; it also touched the women as well.
Jeanette went up to Simon and kissed him lightly on the lips and hugged him. "Good job, never know you had it in you!"
"Ah, you know...it was nothing!" Simon said trying to make it sound like he knew what he was doing the whole time. He then looked at his brothers and all three of the smiled knowingly. It was good to know that the three of them could still 'charm' their way out of a difficult situation.