The Confession

The next morning Chip woke up to the sound of his electric alarm clock going off. He looked over at the red numbers displayed on the face of the clock, 7:00. Remembering what had transpired last night he sighed. That was the closest he had come to telling her the truth about how he felt about her since they had met. After thinking about what had happened last night for a few minutes, he got up and put on a shirt and went to the kitchen for his morning coffee. "I'll take a shower after breakfast," he thought. When he got to the kitchen the rest of the gang was there except for Gadget. Looking around at everyone's faces he could tell that they had decided to let her sleep as long as she wanted. Going over to the mouse size coffee maker in the kitchen he poured a cup and sat down at the table as Monterey finished cooking breakfast.

"I think we should take the day off. Yesterday was a rough one for all of us and I think we deserve a rest every once and a while." He was slowly stirring his coffee with a small spoon as he said this, not bothering to look up to see their reactions. All he got in response was grunts and squeaks of affirmation.

"Foxy and I wanted to see a movie together." Dale said finally. He looked over at Foxglove, who was starting to smile at the thought of spending alone time with the chipmunk.

"Zipper and I could check out the harbor and see if any cheese shipments came in," Monty said with a glimmer in his eye. He was about to go into one of his infamous cheese attacks just thinking about the possibilities.

He was interrupted from his cheese attack by Chip, "Ok, I wanted to spend some time with… I have some plans for today. I hope Gadget doesn't' spend all day in her workshop. She really needs to have some time to sort out what happened yesterday." Everyone flinched at the mention of the almost disastrous incident that happened less than 12 hours ago.

All was going well, they had gotten into the lab fairly easily. It looked to be a pretty standard lab animal holding area. Cages were stacked neatly against one of the larger walls. They were setting the animals free and were ahead of schedule, when some of the animals started celebrating too early and started making a ruckus. Not quite finished getting all the cages unlocked, Gadget heard someone coming down the hallway to the room they were in. Refusing to leave some of the animals behind she worked feverishly to get the last cage opened. The lights came on at the same moment the lock opened. Seeing the cages empty the doctor looked around for the reason the locks on them had failed. Catching colored movement out of the corner of his eye he quickly turned to see Gadget, in her pink coveralls, trying to escape out of the air ducting but the doctor was too quick and, seeing what her intended destination was, he quickly threw a book into the air ducting to block her path. Altering her course without slowing, she went right through his legs and quickly climbed the lab counters.

Wearing dress shoes on a freshly waxed floor doesn't allow for much traction, and the doctor slid into the wall with a heavy thud. Collecting himself he got up and quickly looked around trying to locate the pink mouse that he had been chasing before his cartoonish stop. Not seeing her he got up and hurried in the direction she had been seen going. Just as he was passing by the sink he saw her tail disappear down the drain. Quickly turning on both faucets he flooded the pipe system with water and hopefully drowning the culprit he had been chasing.

Running as fast as she could trough the snaking pipes she heard a sickening sound, RUNNING WATER! She threw every ounce of energy she had left in her body and ignoring the aching in her muscles and lungs. She ran faster than she thought possible. She was not moving fast enough though. Suddenly the torrent of water overtook her and she struggled to get air. It was like being in a bad water slide. She fought for every half-breath of air and started coughing as water came with the air into her lungs.

Being knocked around and disoriented she tried to grab anything that she could get her claws into, but to no avail. Suddenly something hit her head hard and she struggled to maintain consciousness. She slowly blacked out just as she left the in house plumbing and entered the main line to the water treatment plant. Unconscious and floating on her back she was lucky Chip had found a way to the main line and quickly swam out to rescue her with the rest of the rangers standing on a ledge holding the end of a rope tied around Chip's waist.

Shuddering at how close he came to losing her, Chip continued sipping on his coffee when movement at the staircase caught his attention. Gadget was standing there in her usual pink colored coveralls, looking down at the floor realizing that everyone was wondering how she was doing but not wanting to stir up painful memories.

"Good morning all," she said meekly trying to avoid eye contact with any of the other rangers. Suddenly she met Chip's gaze head on and felt a feeling of comfort just starring into the chipmunk's eyes. Feeling flushed at her gaze being returned with equal fervor, she quickly looked to the kitchen to see what was going on in there and also to get a cup of hot chocolate and maybe a muffin.

"So what's on the schedule for today," Gadget said amidst nervous laughter as she realized that everyone's eyes were on both Chip and herself.

"We're taking the day off, Gadget luv." Monty said not noticing the looks the others were giving him.

"Ah ok," was all she could say as she remembered the conversation she had with Chip last night.

Everyone ate breakfast with relative quickness and silence. After breakfast everyone went to get ready for his or her day's activities. Monty and Zipper quickly left for the harbor using the ranger mobile. Dale and Foxglove left in the ranger wing for the movie theater, leaving Gadget and Chip in the tree alone.

"Gadget, are you ready?" Chip called from the kitchen now dressed in his usual bomber jacket and Indiana Jones hat. He had taken a quick shower and had come out to make a picnic lunch for the two of them.

Coming down the stairs Gadget replied, "How do I look?"

All Chip could do was stare at the radiant looking mouse. Standing at the foot of the stairs she slowly turned around to allow Chip to see both the front and back of the off white dress with light embroidery work all over that she was wearing. A "V" shaped neck line not going too low but low enough to be flattering. Not too tight but still showing the curves in the right places and highlighting her slender waist. She had a red hair ribbon in her hair, which was pulled up into a loose ponytail. Accenting the dress was a pair of light pink pumps on her feet, which were barely visible below the skirt. Catching a light scent, wafting trough the living room he immediately recognized the scent and its source. She was wearing the perfume he had bought her last Christmas. It was the Sweet Pea perfume that he had bought from the mice at Bath and Body Works.

Finally realizing he was staring, and drooling slightly, he shook his head slightly collecting his thoughts. "You look BEAUTIFUL!" he said hoping this wasn't a dream, pinching himself discretely. Nope, he wasn't dreaming. "THANK YOU!" he thought to himself still looking at the, now blushing, mouse as she came over to the sofa to wait while he finished packing their picnic lunch.

"Foxglove thought I should wear something other than my pink coveralls and I didn't have anything else to go out in that would be appropriate."

"You look great. I'm almost done here, then we can go."

He quickly finished packing the basket and rushed back into his and Dale's room to put on a little cologne of his own, and combed his hair a little in case he ever took off his hat. Running back to where gadget was he offered her his arm. She timidly accepted letting out a soft giggle and blushed slightly at his gesture. Walking to the dining room table, with Gadget still on his arm, he picked up the picnic basket that he left there and walked over to the front door holding it open for her before stepping out behind her.

Both were so nervous that they traveled in silence to the other side of the park. Chip was taking her to a spot the humans couldn't get to and that only a few of the other residents of the park seemed to know about. It was just on the banks of a little creek that ran through the park and was densely surrounded by foliage. He had been secretly coming here ever since he had moved into the park to think about things, or just to get away from the rest of the rangers and have a moment alone. Seeing that this area was so secluded Gadget looked over at Chip questioningly. "It's a place I discovered shortly after I moved into the park. None of the humans come here." Chip said in response to her inquisitive looks.

Finally taking a good look around at her surroundings she noticed how beautiful and tranquil it was. It wasn't very big but it was big enough for them. The sound of the creek as it went by was a small trickle but provided a nice ambiance. There were a few other couples there but they were a good distance away. Taking a quilt that he had packed into the picnic basket he spread it on the ground next to the creek bank. After smoothing it out he helped Gadget sit down in her dress while maintaining her modesty. Sitting down himself, he got out some of the things he had packed. Handing some berries to Gadget, he took the opportunity to truly admire her beauty. Her waist long sunshine golden hair hung neatly over her back and onto the blanket, catching and reflecting the suns rays making her look unworldly beautiful, held in place by a red ribbon. The dress clung to her upper body, but not too tightly. The skirt started at the waistline and gently flowed till it reached her ankles. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Chip swallowed hard and continued to serve the picnic lunch he had prepared for them.

"Chip?"

He looked up from serving the lunch to look at the female mouse that had said his name.

"Yes?" Chip said, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Thank you for being there for me last night." She said a slight note of embarrassment in her voice. She was looking at the ground as she spoke.

"Your welcome Gadget. Anytime you need a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to I'll be there."

Blushing slightly realizing what a good friend she had sitting beside her. "He is good looking," she thought as she examined him for the first time. Actually sizing him up to see if he was her type. He was solidly built, not too muscular but not too lean. He probably had a six-pack but she couldn't tell trough all his fur and didn't want to look like she was feeling him up to check, so she just imagined what he looked like under his puffy fur. "Darn chipmunks. It's too hard to see what their bodies look like, unlike mice." She looked at herself while taking a bite of a sandwich Chip had handed her. She knew every curve of her body could be seen through her fur, although not too easily.

Chip was enjoying the quiet time with Gadget. He wondered if he should ask her about last night or not. "Was that just her being glad she was alive or was it something more?" Shaking the thought from his head as he chastised himself for thinking that way. "How could I think like that about her? She's perfect, and I'll never be able to be what she needs. Why did I ask her out here? I know this will only make it harder on the both of us," Chip thought, looking at Gadget.

"It's really peaceful here, thank you for bringing me here. This is just what I needed."

"Your welcome. I think I like coming here with someone. It doesn't feel quite so lonely," He said while looking around.

They sat and talked about times past and the other rangers. Most of all they talked about Dale and Foxgloves sudden relationship, both secretly wanting one of their own. The sun slowly made its way around the sky and started to sink into the western sky, but there were still a few hours before sunset.

Both smiling looked at each other. They inched closer to each other, staring deeply into the others eyes. They closed their eyes as their lips met in a gentle kiss that grew more and more passionate as time went on. Embracing each other they began feeling the others back. Breaking the kiss they looked at each other blushing at what they had just done.

"Golly," was all that Gadget could say meekly. That had been better than she thought possible. She had wanted to do that for so long but never could find the right time to do so.

"That was amazing," Chip finally said looking at Gadget passionately.

Kissing a little more they looked around and realized it was getting late. Most of the other couples had already left for the night.

"We should probably head back now. The others might get worried about us," said Gadget blushing hard at what she and Chip had just done.

"OK," was all Chip could say as he gathered what was left of the picnic they had just eaten. Neatly folding the blanket they had sat on, Chip again offered her his arm and guided her out of the dense foliage. The sun was beginning to set by this time.

Meeting Dale and Foxy at the front door they went inside. Chip quickly went to the kitchen and put what was left in the picnic basket away. Gadget sat down on the sofa next to Dale and Foxy and asked them how their movie date was. After a while of listening to Dale and Foxy go on about the horror film Chip came over and asked to talk to Gadget. Taking Gadgets hand he took her out the front door and asked her to follow him as he climbed the rough bark of the old oak tree they made their home in. They climbed about two-thirds of the way up on the tree when Chip climbed onto a small deck that was made out of Popsicle sticks. It was sparsely furnished. A few outdoor chairs, a small table, and a miniature park bench were all that were there. Sitting down on the bench, Chip motioned for her to do the same. Complying, she sat down and out of seemingly nowhere Chip produced a small blanket and wrapped it around Gadget, it was starting to cool off and he didn't want her to get cold in her dress. They sat there and watched the sunset through the breaks in the leaves. Gadget was now leaning against Chip, who was running his fingers through her hair with his left hand and had his right arm around her shoulders, holding her tightly. They sat like that for what seemed like hours just enjoying each other's company.

"We probably need to get back before anyone thinks we're up to something." Chip said not really wanting to go.

Just nodding she didn't want to go but knew the rumors would start flying if they didn't get back soon. Getting up she started to fold the blanket Chip had given her she shivered as a brisk wind blew across the deck making her shiver. Seeing Gadget shiver he took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders and helped her fold the blanket. He then helped her climb back down to the front door to the house.

Stopping just outside the front door like a couple coming home from a date they walked in the front door. Gadget went to her room and Chip, who had gotten his jacket back, sat down in the living room and turned on the news to see what had happened that day while he was with Gadget. Putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket he felt something that wasn't there before. He pulled out a slip of paper and quickly read the note.

I had a really great time today and would like to talk to you. Meet me at the deck at midnight. I need to tell you something.

Gadget.