Disclaimer: I do not own The Mr. Men Show or any of its characters. But I do own a few characters in this story and the idea that Mr. Grumpy has a brother and a niece.

Mr. Small closed the door and Mr. Grumpy groaned and started pacing. The small Mr. Man watched him, waiting to see if he would tell him what was wrong, but he seemed so lost in his thoughts. Finally, he asked," What can I help you with, Mr. Grumpy?"

The blue man jumped as if he forgot that Mr. Small was there. He sighed and sat down on Mr. Nosy's bed. "I'm totally lost," he murmured. "I tried to do stuff with her and get to know her, but when it comes down to actually taking care of her, I don't know what to do!"

Mr. Small frowned. Honestly, he didn't either. He's never taken care of a kid before. But it seemed so much more difficult for Mr. Grumpy than it was for him. Why was that? "Hmm…" Mr. Small walked over to his bed and sat on the edge of it. "I don't really know what to do either," he admitted. "When I'm with her, it just falls into place. I try to listen to her and of course show her kindness. I think you're just overthinking things. Relax and do what seems right."

Mr. Grumpy looked at him. "Why does she seem to like you so much? That's why I brought her here. I thought seeing you would cheer her up. She… um… started to cry…"

That took Mr. Small by surprise. "Did you ask her why she was crying?"

Mr. Grumpy sighed. "No," he admitted. "I just drove here and hoped you would fix it. But when I got here, I realized I should have done something myself. But I didn't know what to do!" He let out a frustrated groan and fell backwards on the bed. He was a terrible babysitter and a terrible uncle. His brother made a huge mistake when he left Little Miss Aloof with him.

The bed dripped just slightly as Mr. Small climbed up beside him, and Mr. Grumpy looked over at him. "You have to believe in yourself," the small man told him. "Your brother believes in you, and so do Mr. Nosy and I. Now it's time to believe in yourself. You can do this, Mr. Grumpy." He hopped off the bed and stretched out his hand for Mr. Grumpy to take.

He hesitated, before sitting up and taking his hand. Mr. Small pulled him to his feet. He gave him a weak smile and murmured," Thank you. For the talk. Again."

Mr. Small grinned at him. "No problem. Now come on." He started heading toward the door, but then paused and turned around. "You and Miss. Aloof are welcome to hang out here if you want."

Mr. Grumpy thought about that. He still found the friends kinda annoying, but they were helping him a lot with his niece. Still, he didn't think totally depending on them was a good idea. "Thank you, Mr. Small, but maybe we should head back to my house. We never did get lunch, and it's almost close to dinner time now."

In the living room, Mr. Nosy stood by the telescope, eyes fixed on the bedroom door. He was aware of Little Miss Aloof sitting on the step, sighing every few seconds. But his mind was on his two friends who were talking.

I wonder what they are talking about, he kept saying in his head.

Finally, the door to the bedroom opened and Mr. Small, then Mr. Grumpy walked out. Mr. Nosy ran over there, but Mr. Small gave him a slight shake of the head and Mr. Nosy stopped, frowning. He wanted to know what was going on, but he trusted his best friend to fill him in later.

The light green Mr. Man watched as Mr. Grumpy walked over to his niece. "Hey," he said, smiling. "Hungry? Let's get something to eat," he added when she nodded.

She looked up at him, trying to figure out what he and Mr. Small talked about, but it was impossible to tell by his expression. He seemed in a better mood, so that was good. She looked past him at Mr. Small and frowned, worried he didn't like her anymore.

"Come on." Mr. Grumpy headed toward the door, and Little Miss Aloof took a step after him, before turning to the friends. They looked at her curiously, and she opened her mouth, but then closed it again, not sure what to say.

Mr. Grumpy returned to her. He looked at her uncertainty. "What's wrong, Miss. Aloof?"

She hesitated, still looking at the friends. "C-Can they come?" she asked, testing to see what the small Mr. Man would say. If he refused, then she would know he didn't like her anymore. But they didn't say anything, just looked at Mr. Grumpy.

Mr. Grumpy opened his mouth, and then closed it. She saw that he didn't know what to say. Finally, he sighed and nodded. "Okay, they can come," he said.

Little Miss Aloof turned back to Mr. Small, who only smiled and dipped his head. "We would love to," he said, and Mr. Nosy looked happy too.

The young Little Miss's spirit lifted. Maybe he still liked her after all. She followed the adults out of the house and to the car. They were driving down the road when suddenly Mr. Small remembered what Mr. Grumpy told him. He looked at Little Miss Aloof and asked her," Why were you crying earlier, Miss. Aloof?"

He noticed the shocked look his best friend gave him, but he kept his eyes on the young Little Miss. She sighed and looked out the window. Finally, she answered him. "I… I thought you didn't like me anymore," she murmured so quietly that he almost didn't hear her. But he did and her words startled him.

"Of course I like you!" he assured her. "Why would you think I didn't?"

Little Miss Aloof felt very embarrassed, well aware of everyone waiting for her to reply. She fought back tears, just wanting to disappear from this awkward moment. "Well… um… when you didn't… um… want to come with us earlier… Well… I thought it was because you… didn't… like… me…" Her voice got lower and lower until it died out altogether.

She noticed her uncle glancing at her, frowning, and she felt Mr. Small reached from the back seat to rest his hand on her shoulder.

"That wasn't why we didn't come with you," he told her. "I just thought you and your uncle needed time together." He paused for a moment, before adding," He loves you, Miss. Aloof, and he's trying very hard to take care of you while your father is away." He pulled away from her, and Mr. Grumpy felt himself going red as the small Mr. Man continued. "This is new for both of you, and you need to be patient with each other. I promised your uncle we would help if he needed it, but I don't think he does. However," he added, when Mr. Grumpy quickly glanced at him, and then turned back to the road. "If he absolutely needs help, Mr. Nosy and I will do what we can. Right, Nose?"

The light green Mr. Man nodded and Mr. Small looked satisfied.

Mr. Grumpy glanced at his niece. "Um… Miss. Aloof?" he asked hesitantly, and she looked at him. "Would you… um…" He didn't really want to ask this because he personally hated the fair, but he knew it was coming to town tomorrow night and he thought maybe she would enjoy it. He put on a cheerful smile for her and said," The fair is in town tomorrow night. Would you want to go?"

The young Little Miss instantly brightened. She loved the fair! She remembered her parents taking her to the fair whenever it came into town. Then she frowned and looked away. She couldn't stop the tears this time.

"Miss. Aloof? Are you okay?" Mr. Small asked her.

She sniffled and wiped away her tears. "Y-Yeah," she stammered. "I… I remember my p-parents used to take me… to the f-fair…" She sobbed even harder, which startled the best friends and they looked at Mr. Grumpy, hoping for an explanation.

Mr. Grumpy felt sorry for his niece. Just then they arrived at the restaurant, and he pulled over. He hesitated, before reaching over to Little Miss Aloof, patting her on the back. "It-It's okay, Miss. Aloof." In a very quiet voice, he told Mr. Small and Mr. Nosy," Her mom passed away…"

"Oh!" Mr. Nosy exclaimed, while Mr. Small frowned deeply. "I-I'm sorry," the small Mr. Man murmured.

Little Miss Aloof took in a shaky breath and forced herself to calm down. She gave her uncle a weak smile. "I-I'm o-okay," she stammered, but he didn't look like he believed her. She sucked in another breath and wiped away the remaining tears. "I'm okay, I promise. Just… Every once in a while I'll break down when I remember… remember my mom… But I'm okay now."

Mr. Grumpy still eyed her, but then he sighed and unbuckled his seatbelt. "Okay, let's go eat," he said and got out of the car.

The others joined him in front of the restaurant, and Mr. Grumpy let the best friends go inside, but he stopped in front of his niece. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"We don't have to go to the fair if you don't want to."

"No, no, I want to. It'll be fun, Uncle."

Mr. Grumpy frowned, still not liking her calling him Uncle. It seemed so plain and boring. She seemed to notice this and started to apologize, then stopped and said," Wait, fun Uncle. What if I call you Funcle, short for Fun Uncle?"

"Hmm…" Mr. Grumpy thought for a moment. Nobody has ever called him fun. Usually he was short tempered and liked being by himself. But he wanted Little Miss Aloof to like him. She was a nice kid and the more time he spent with her, the more he found that he was thankful his brother left her with him. He may still get stuff wrong, but thanks to his talks with Mr. Small, he was starting to believe he could take care of her by himself. Maybe he could even watch her all by himself for the rest of her visit.

Suddenly he realized she was waiting for him to answer him. He nodded. "Yeah, Funcle will be good."

She smiled and hugged him, which surprised him at first. Then he hugged her back, feeling a warmness in his heart. Was this happiness? He very rarely had this feeling, but seeing his niece in such a great mood, he was the happiest he's ever felt. He found that he would miss her when Mr. Apathy came back to get her.

Not wanting to think about that, he pulled away from her and gestured at the restaurant. "Come on, let's get something to eat."

"Okay, Funcle." She grinned, seeming happy that she finally came up with a name for him. The more she said it, the more it seemed weird to call him "fun", but at least she liked it, so he said nothing as he followed her.

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