AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you all for reading "Hope" yesterday! I hope you enjoyed it!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything related to "Meet the Robinsons."

STORY #5: Babysitting

STORIES OF REFERENCE: None

NARRATOR: Carl

JULY 11, 2025 – TODAYLAND, NORTH MONTANA, USA

After breakfast, I was summoned to the lab where Cornelius was located. Instead of taking the travel tube like I normally would, I walked through the halls of the mansion, past Franny's music room, Gaston's cannon range, the living room, and Wilbur's room. When I got to the lab, I found Cornelius holding his son on his right hip.

"Carl, I'm glad you made it," Cornelius said with a smile on his face.

"What can I do for you?" I asked enthusiastically.

"Well, Franny and I are long overdue for a weekend to ourselves, so we are leaving you in charge of Wilbur."

"Of all the people to take care of Wilbur, why me?" I asked with worry. "Can't anyone else do it?"

"Because I trust you," Cornelius answered. "Besides, the rest of the family have jobs to attend to."

"Lewis, I know nothing about children!" I told him with panic.

"Carl, calm down. It's simple. You wake Wilbur up at seven and you feed him a small breakfast. Then you just let him explore for a few hours before lunch time. After lunch, he'll explore some more before his snack at three. Then he'll nap for an hour. You'll wake him up just before dinner, and then have him explore for one more hour before he gets ready for bed."

"Are there things that Wilbur can do on his own?" I asked nervously.

"He can eat his own food, and he can put on his own shirt. But you might have to help him with his pants. You will still have to change his diaper. He hasn't been toilet-trained yet."

"That's nice to know," I answered with exasperation.

"Wilbur's smarter than he looks," Cornelius continued. "He has quite the vocabulary for his age. So if he needs something, he is very good at communication. But do not give him any sweets. He can change into his pajamas on his own and he can brush his own teeth. But he uses a cup to rinse his mouth. He likes it when someone reads to him before bedtime. Oh, and keep an eye on Wilbur at all times. He's just learning to run and he loves it. Do you think you can handle everything?"

"Lewis, I'm not sure. This is a big responsibility."

"Carl, if Franny and I can do it, so can you. We both have faith in you. Of course, if you need to call me, then don't be afraid to call."

Cornelius and Franny left shortly after our talk, and as he said, Wilbur loved to run and he loved to laugh. I chased him everywhere. He ran around the garage after his parents left and ended up taking the travel tube to the front yard. After he ran around the front yard, he found the protectosphere. When I caught up with him, he almost cried until he discovered he could move inside the sphere. And he took off running again, and I had to follow him through the obstacle course. I will admit: I was amused when Wilbur had trouble getting out of the water in the sphere. The amusement was over when the sphere broke down and Wilbur had trouble swimming in the water. I had to dive in and get him out of the water, and then we finished the obstacle course on our feet. I had insisted on carrying Wilbur the whole way to be sure he was okay, but he yelled at me to put him down, and he went off running again… all while laughing his little heart out.

Wilbur had taken the travel tube again from the garden, and it took us to the living room. But Wilbur darted right back outside into the front yard.

"I wanna do it again!" Wilbur shouted with joy when he ran toward the protectosphere.

"Wilbur, no!" I sternly yelled before stretching my arms out and pulling him toward me.

"Put me down!" Wilbur yelled, struggling to be free from my arms.

"Wilbur, no," I sternly replied. "Do you want to be stuck in the water again?"

"Yes!"

"Wilbur, I don't think Mommy or Daddy would be happy to hear that you got stuck in the water and drowned. Let's do something else. Let's play tag."

"Tag! You're it!" Wilbur exclaimed happily as he tapped me on the shoulder and jumped down from my torso, running toward the protectosphere.

"Wilbur!" I yelled, but it was too late: Wilbur was already in the sphere, doing the course again.

I let out a loud sigh and did the course again, trying to catch up with the little energetic boy.

"Wilbur, how do you have so much energy for a two-year-old?" I yelled, but all he did was laugh as he kept running.

I got nervous when we approached the water part of the course. Wilbur had fallen in the water in his first attempt. But words could not describe how surprised I was that Wilbur pushed himself to advance to the next level.

"He truly is Lewis and Franny's kid," I thought out loud as I watched Wilbur continue to push himself up to each higher level of the pools.

I followed him, and we eventually met back up in the garden.

"I did it, Uncle Carl!" Wilbur exclaimed happily. "I did it!"

"Wilbur, just Carl," I replied, chuckling at the name he gave me.

"Are you still it?" Wilbur asked.

"Not anymore," I replied, poking Wilbur on the right side. "Now you're it!"

I went up the travel tube to Wilbur's room, and he joined me there a few seconds after I got there.

"That was fun!" Wilbur said happily, climbing on to my lap.

"Careful, Wilbur. These are skinny legs."

"Why are they so skinny, Carl?" Wilbur asked with curiosity.

"Because this is how Daddy made me," I answered. "I would have preferred bigger legs like C-3PO's."

"What's a C-3PO?" Wilbur asked, and I chuckled.

"C-3PO is a robot from a space movie."

"Can we watch it? Please?"

"Wilbur, I don't think that's a good idea. Let's go eat some lunch."

"I don't want lunch. I want to watch the space movie."

"Wilbur, this movie has lightsabers and ships and laser guns."

"It has laser guns?" Wilbur asked with astonishment, and then he started jumping up and down in excitement. "Can we watch it, PLEEEEASE?"

"I don't know, Wilbur, you're only two. It might be frightening."

Wilbur and I ended up watching episode one of the Star Wars movies, to my disbelief. But I wasn't paying attention to the movie. I was watching Wilbur's facial expressions throughout the whole movie. Wilbur had kept mistaking TC-14 and C-3PO for me.

"Cool!" Wilbur had exclaimed each time a lightsaber was ignited. "Why don't we have those?"

"Because they can hurt people," I explained.

Wilbur laughed the entire time Jar Jar Binks and the other Gungans spoke.

"Carl, why is her face white?" Wilbur asked when Queen Amidala came on the screen.

"Because she is the queen and must be respected," I explained.

Wilbur was very fascinated with the space battles and space travel.

"Are those aliens?" Wilbur asked when the Jedi and the queen landed on Tatooine.

"Yes, those are aliens," I answered.

Wilbur kept saying the word 'cool' throughout the pod race that young Anakin Skywalker won and when the gang landed on Coruscant. When the senate was in session, Wilbur said 'vote now' along with the other senators.

My moment of worry came during the battle where Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi faced Darth Maul and his double-bladed lightsaber. While Wilbur was fascinated with the battle, he looked very frightened when Darth Maul stabbed Qui-Gon in the stomach.

"Oh, I understand why lightsabers hurt people," Wilbur said when Obi-Wan sliced Darth Maul in half. "Carl, did Qui-Gon die?"

"Yes, Wilbur, Qui-Gon died."

Wilbur had his mouth open throughout Qui-Gon's funeral, but he smiled at the end of the movie when Naboo celebrated the liberation of the Trade Federation.

"Can we watch another movie?" Wilbur asked, and then made a funny face. "Oh wait. Carl, I'm hungry."

"Now's a good time to eat some food," I replied, and I followed Wilbur to the kitchen. "What do Mommy and Daddy usually give you?"

"Veggies, which are yucky!"

"Hey, some veggies are delicious!" I retorted back.

"How would you know?" Wilbur asked. "You're a robot. Wait, do robots eat?"

"No, Wilbur, robots don't eat," I answered as I made him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "How does PB and J sound?"

"What?"

"Peanut butter and jelly."

"Ooh, yum!"

After I made the sandwich, I cut the sandwich into little squares so that Wilbur would have an easier time eating it.

"Thank you, Carl!" Wilbur said excitedly as he took a little square and started eating it.

"You're welcome, Wilbur."

While Wilbur was halfway through his sandwich, we heard a train whistle.

"What was that?" Wilbur asked, half curious and half frightened.

"That is a train whistle, Wilbur. But where is it coming from?"

Wilbur and I got off the stools and rushed over to a big train that was in the middle of the living room.

"What is this?" I yelled as Billie emerged.

"My new toy train!" Billie answered excitedly. "What do you think?"

"This is a toy train?" Wilbur asked in awe.

"Yup! I can give you rides to town and back or anywhere you need to go. I can even take you to the basement!"

"Can I ride, please, please, please?" Wilbur pleaded, and Billie and I exchanged looks.

"Wilbur, you need to finish your sandwich," I told him.

"I'll tell you what, Wilbur: you finish your sandwich, and I'll take you on a ride to town," Billie proposed, and Wilbur nodded his head with a big grin on his face.

I watched with a smile on my face as Wilbur excitedly ran back to the counter to eat his sandwich.

"I have to admit, Carl: I was worried that you were going to chicken out," Billie told me after she walked up to me.

"Wilbur's a character," I replied. "I chased after him all day, and then when he tried to get on my legs, I told him about a robot from a movie, and we watched that movie."

"What movie did you show him?" Billie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Star Wars: The Phantom Menace."

"You watched Star Wars?!"

"Wilbur wasn't frightened at all," I replied. "Which surprised me. He's only two years old, but the only time he was frightened was when Qui-Gon died. He was fascinated and kept asking questions throughout the movie."

"I'd be concerned," Billie said.

"Billie, Wilbur's a kid. Robots and humans alike need to learn to use their imagination to live."

"You have an imagination?"

"Well, no. But I'm working on it. I already broke one rule of the protocol of robotic life-forms: showing emotion."

"Well, that's different. Lewis was lonely and wanted company, so he made you and programmed you to think you are human."

"I know I'm not human, Billie," I replied. "If I was human, I wouldn't be doing numerous calculations in my head or multitasking with every limb. But Lewis taught me how to have feelings. I think my watching over Wilbur is one of the reasons why he taught me. So that I can understand other people, including children. Wilbur's the only child I've ever been around. I mean not since Lewis and Franny as teenagers, but they don't count."

"Well, technically, they count. Humans are considered children until they turn eighteen, but that's here in the United States. It could be different in other countries."

"I'm ready!" Wilbur said enthusiastically as he ran over to us with a big grin on his face.

"All aboard!" Billie yelled, and I took Wilbur's hand and helped him on board the train.

Today was pretty much the same as it was yesterday. I gave Wilbur his breakfast with his grandmother's help, and then I chased him around the house and in the protectosphere. We watched the second Star Wars movie: Attack of the Clones, and Wilbur was really inspired to help fight the battle droids with an imaginary lightsaber. He did scream once when Count Dooku chopped off Anakin's right arm but was instantly excited again when we watched Yoda battle Dooku.

"You know, Wilbur, there's a TV series that takes place between this movie and the next movie," I explained to him. "You'd really like it."

"Can we watch it, please, please, please?"

I looked down at Wilbur's brown eyes, and he had his hands clasped together with a puppy dog look on his face.

"Don't you want to run around a little?" I asked, remembering what he did the day before.

"No, I want to watch TV with you," Wilbur answered, and I let out a sigh.

"Alright, I'll put it on."

"Yay!"

I put on The Clone Wars movie, and Wilbur was immediately fascinated, mostly because of it being a cartoon movie. I smirked every time Wilbur laughed at a battle droid, though I wasn't sure if Wilbur was laughing at the battle droid's voice or that the battle droid acted human and didn't understand what Ventress was saying.

"You're outnumbered!" one of the clone troopers yelled out.

"Outnumbered?" the battle droid replied in question and then started counting the droids around it. "Wait. One, two—"

Wilbur let out a laugh as the two battle droids were shot, and he continued to smile until the movie was over. Then I put on the Clone Wars series, which started right after the movie.

"What are ya watching?" Gaston asked as he and his brother Art entered the living room.

"Star Wars!" Wilbur answered excitedly.

"We're watching The Clone Wars," I answered with a smile.

"May we join you?" Art asked.

"What do you say, little buddy?" I asked him. What did I just call him?

"Sure!" Wilbur answered enthusiastically as Gaston and Art took their places next to us.

"Oh, yay, movie night!" Fritz chimed in, holding his hand puppet in the likeness of his late wife, and he sat down next to Gaston.

"Wait, it's movie night?" Laszlo asked, and he sat down on another chair as the second episode started to play.

All of the Robinson family except for Franny and Cornelius joined us the rest of the night, and we ended up having popcorn and ice cream for dinner. Wilbur did run around the house for half an hour in his pajamas before finally going to sleep.

Sunday was a repeat of the last two days, but only instead of Wilbur and me watching The Clone Wars, the whole family joined us, and we ate all kinds of snacks all day, including pizza for lunch.

I chased Wilbur around the house, but this time, I was not able to find him.

"Wilbur?" I shouted, looking frantically around the house. "Little buddy?"

Various members of the family gave me suggestions on where to look for Wilbur, but I had not seen him in any of those locations. I could not even find him in the protectosphere course!

"Have you checked the storage room?" Laszlo suggested.

"No! Why didn't I think of that before?"

I ran to the lab, and then took the travel tube to the storage room. When I got there, I heard crying.

"Wilbur, are you in here?" I called out.

The crying got louder. I followed the sound until I found the little boy curled up in between boxes.

"Wilbur! Thank heavens you're okay!"

I stretched out my arms and grabbed a teary-eyed Wilbur before pulling him in towards me.

"Are you okay?"

"I didn't know where to go," Wilbur cried. "I got lost, Carl. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, little buddy," I told him as he cried into my torso. "You're not alone."

"Carl? I love you."

At first, I wasn't sure how to answer that because no one's ever told me those words before. Then I remembered all of those times where I saw love happening before my eyes in this house. I watched Franny and Lewis get married, and I was Lewis' best man. I witnessed Bud and Lucille open up their home to not one but four families. I saw love when Wilbur was brought home from the hospital on his birthdate. I saw love when each family member encouraged another to keep moving forward. I put a smile on my face, knowing what it meant to love.

"I love you too, little buddy," I replied.

Wilbur hugged me tighter. After some tender moments, I ruffled his small cowlick.

"Hey!" Wilbur exclaimed with some giggles in between his tears. "That's my hair!"

"Feeling better yet?" I asked him with a smirk on my face.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Wilbur answered.

"Should we go back to the living room and tell everyone you're okay?" I asked, and Wilbur nodded in response while wiping his eyes. "Alright, hold on. I'm going to give you a piggy-back ride!"

"Yay!" Wilbur exclaimed quietly, but excitedly as I placed him around my neck.

I climbed the ladder with Wilbur holding on to me tightly, and then we took the travel tube back to the lab. We walked out of the lab and through the hall, past Wilbur's room, and into the living room where the family was gathered. When they saw us, they blew sighs of reliefs and gave their thanks out loud.

"What's all the commotion in here?"

We all turned to see Cornelius and Franny walking in from the garage, and we all exclaimed excitedly, telling them how excited we were to have them home.

"Carl, put me down, please!" Wilbur requested.

I bent down so that Wilbur could get off me, and I watched him run up to his parents.

"Wilbur, it's great to see you!" Franny said in her high voice, and I chuckled.

"Was he good to you this weekend?" Cornelius asked.

"Yes, he was well-behaved," I answered with a smile on my face.

"Wow! I'm impressed, Carl," Cornelius replied. "He didn't play tag with you?"

"Oh, he did. All three days. But he wanted to watch movies and he was calm that whole time."

"What movies?" Cornelius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Star Wars." I paused as he blew a sigh of relief, to my surprise. "You're okay with this?"

"It's all astronomy and science fiction. Sure, there's some violence in it, but Wilbur needs to have an imagination. Star Wars was a good idea. Who knows? Maybe we're raising a Jedi Knight."

"Lewis, Jedi Knights don't exist here."

"You never know," Cornelius replied with a coy smile. "Keep an open mind, Carl."

I watched as Cornelius walked back to Franny and Wilbur, and I smiled, now knowing that I had what it takes to take care of a two-year-old boy, my little buddy.