The Mysteries Of Jeffy
Chapter 50
L
"He's beautiful, Mom!" Maya said, as she gazed at the face of her new little baby brother. "But I still don't understand where you found him."
Liz smiled, and Max grinned and shook his head.
"We didn't 'find' him," Max said. "Well, we did… but that was only after… well, I mean… we lost him first. Okay, that's not exactly what I meant to say, either. It's not like we just misplaced him… it's more like… Feel free to jump in anytime and help me out here, Liz."
"You're doing such a great job, Hon. I wouldn't want to stop you when you're on a roll."
"I'll forgive you, Liz. Have a little mercy here… Please?"
"Well, it's like this, Maya, your Dad and I had Jeffy in another timeline… only it wasn't a timeline, it was more of a displaced time bubble with no past. Then this timeline here got fixed, and that bubble ceased to exist, and Jeffy ceased to exist…"
"Dad, what's Mom talking about," Andya asked.
Max smiled. "Oh, she's explaining it right, Andya."
"Well, it's making about as much sense as you were."
Max pursed his lips tightly together and reached out pretending to whack Andya on the back of the head. Andya giggled and jumped out of the way.
"Well, it's true, Dad. I mean, you guys just suddenly show up with a baby, and you say he's yours, but Mom wasn't pregnant, and nobody told us anything about him coming. Now you're talking about some timeline that wasn't a timeline. And you say Jeffy was born in a bubble…"
"Yeah… sort of," Max said. "But not a little bubble that was just around him… a big bubble. A sort of time… anomaly. He was born here in the palace, but not in this time that we're in right now."
"I think I understand," JoLeesa said, "but when were you in that other time… bubble… thing? And how did Jeffy get born?"
"Really, Leese!" Alyyx exclaimed. "Even I know how babies get born."
JoLeesa looked at Alyyx.
"Okay," Alyyx said, throwing up his hands. "I admit, this one maybe isn't like what Dad explained to me when he told me about babies."
"Well, it did happen the normal way, Alyyx," Max said. "It took nine months for him to be born. We just weren't here… your mom and me."
"If you were gone, Dad… and Mom was gone… where were we?" JoLeesa asked.
"I really don't know the answer to that, JoLeesa," Liz said. "It's a very good question."
"Maybe you lost us," Alyyx said.
JoLeesa huffed and looked at Alyyx again. "She didn't lose us, Alyyx, you dummy! But if she had lost you, it might have been okay."
"Oh yeah? Well, if she lost you, Leese, she'd still have two others just like you. I'm the only one like me."
"Not any more," JoLeesa said.
"You wouldn't lose me, would you, Mom?"
"Of course not, Alyyx. And we wouldn't lose your sister either… any of them. We need all of you! You're all our children, and you're all special!"
"See, Leese!" Alyyx said. "I'm special."
"So are grelliats," JoLeesa said, "but they're vegetables."
"Mom!"
"Oh, Alyyx, your sister's just teasing you. Leesa, leave your brother alone. He's not a vegetable."
"I know. Vegetables are wholesome and good for you," JoLeesa said.
She noticed Max giving her a stern look.
"Okay, Alyyx, you're not a vegetable."
"Mom, I don't think I like what she meant by that."
"Alyyx!" Liz threatened. "I thought you guys wanted to see the baby!"
"We do, Mom," Andya said. "Can I hold him?"
Liz looked at Jeffy. "Sure. Hold out your arms." She placed Jeffy carefully into Andya's arms, and Andya smiled as she held him next to her and wrapped the blanket back over his feet.
"He's such a little angel, Mom."
Liz smiled.
Andya's eyes suddenly lit up, as an idea came into her head.
"What would you like to play with, little one," Andya whispered quietly to him. "A bunny? No, that's maybe not the best thing." Andya remembered her last experience with a rabbit. "An Earth puppy?" she said, almost to herself. "No… too frisky, a kitten, too. I know!" Andya waved her little finger under the blanket, and something appeared on top of the blanket between Jeffy's hands. Liz and Max both noticed it immediately, and both knew who was responsible.
"What is that, Andya," Liz asked.
Andya just smiled, and Liz moved closer to look at it, as Jeffy picked it up in his hands. It was fuzzy. It wriggled and made a quiet mewing sound, but it didn't look like something that would normally be alive. Jeffy seemed delighted by it, if the look on his face was any indication.
"What is that," Max asked, repeating Liz's question.
"What does it look like," Andya asked evasively, delaying the inevitable answer.
"A toupée that came to life and escaped off of some bald guy's head," Max said… "or maybe a Pekingese that had a tragic encounter with a tank."
"D'oh, really!" Liz exclaimed, swatting Max playfully on the arm. Turning to Andya, Liz said, "Look, Andya, you're going to have to tell us, you know. You might as well do it right now." The look in her mother's eyes told Andya that Liz wasn't going to accept another evasive answer.
Andya looked at the fuzzy little creature in Jeffy's hands.
"Well, Mom, a baby pawgor would be too big, and a puppy would be too frisky, and a rabbit would run away, so I… so I… made him a tribble."
"A what," Liz asked, wondering if she had heard right.
"I saw them on cable… from Earth."
"Tribbles?"
"Yeah! They're cute… and
fuzzy… and they don't bite or scratch or run away! It's perfect, Mom!"
Liz looked at Max, a totally bemused expression on her face. No words came to her, which was a bit unusual.
"Honey," Max said to Andya, "I think you should get rid of it."
"But why, Dad? Didn't you ever have a tribble when you were little?"
"They weren't real, Andya… like this one. And I do remember them. I also remember what the trouble with tribbles was."
"Aw, Dad…" Andya looked at Liz, and Liz nodded, though Andya thought her mom appeared to be relenting.
Andya sighed and waved her little finger under the blanket again, and the tribble disappeared.
"Thank you," Max said.
"Can I hold Jeffy, too, Mom," Maya asked.
"I guess so," Liz said. "Andya, do you mind?"
Andya handed Jeffy over to Maya, as Liz watched.
"Hi, Jeffy!" Maya said, looking at him and smiling. "You're so sweet! Where were you hiding all this time? I'm glad Mom and Dad found you wherever you were."
JoLeesa leaned over Maya's arms and kissed Jeffy on the cheek. "We're going to have a lot of fun, Jeffy. I'm really glad to have another little brother."
"Yeah, sure you are," Alyyx said drily.
"Well, I am," JoLeesa said. "The old one was defective."
"Mom!"
"You started it, Alyyx," Liz said. "Both of you knock it off!"
Liz looked at Jeffy then turned back to Andya with a look that said she was not amused.
"Andya, your Dad told you to get rid of the tribble! I did, too! I've never known you to disobey a direct order before."
"I Didn't, Mom! Really! I made it go away."
"But you brought it back."
"No I didn't, Mom!"
"Well, what's that then?"
Andya looked. Jeffy was holding the tribble in his hands, staring at it with a smile on his face.
"Mom, I didn't! I swear it! Maybe the molecules didn't all go away."
"Alright, just get rid of it."
Andya passed her hand over the tribble, and it disappeared. But almost as soon as she had done it, a small swirl of atoms brought it back to Jeffy's hands again. Liz sat down on a chair with a stunned look on her face. "Max?"
"I saw it, Liz."
Max looked at the little ball of fluff in Jeffy's hands and shrugged. "Maybe we can get it 'fixed.'"
tbc
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Author's Note: For non-trekkies who may never have heard of a tribble, in the original series of Star Trek, there was an episode called, "The Trouble With Tribbles." Someone brought one onboard, and everyone loved the cute, cuddly little thing. The trouble was, in a couple of days, no one could walk, sit down, or even open a door without thousands of tribbles tumbling out all over them. In a later episode of a later series someone almost started a war with the Klingons by selling a tribble on a Klingon planet.
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