Chapter 2
"Oh come on, Uncle Mickey," Morty whined as the group of seven walked down the sidewalk.
"No 'come on's," Mickey said. "I don't know what we might get into and you're still in a cast from our last adventure."
"But she's going," Morty said, pointedly looking up at the girl glued onto Mickey's hip.
"She doesn't belong here as it is," Mickey reminded, giving a look to Minnie.
Oswald caught the look and struggled to hide a laugh, receiving an elbow to the ribs from his wife. "Sorry," he tired, giving her an apologetic look.
"Ferdie, Morty, you two are staying with us and that's final," Minnie said, giving the two a stern look.
"Yes ma'am," the two said in unison, Ferdie giving his brother a look.
'"Is Clara still active?" Ortensia asked as they turned down the walkway to their house.
"Yeah, turn her off if she's going crazy again, but I think she should be fine now," Oswald offered as he came to a stop. "We'll keep in touch best we can."
Ortensia quickly placed a kiss on his cheek and said, "You better."
"Stay safe," Minnie wished, copying the action onto Mickey's cheek.
Oswald pulled out a set of keys and unlocked his van, already going to the driver side door. He got in as Mickey pulled open the sliding door and helped the girl into one of the bunny children's car seats. Oswald turned around to watch, realizing aloud, "I wish we had something better for her. These were designed for bunnies, not babies."
"It'll have to do," Mickey said, tightening the belt so it fit her better. He gave the girl a smile, replacing the girl's teddy bear, before stepping back and closing the door. He hopped into the passenger seat and said, "Okay, get us to the White Mouse."
Oswald turned over the engine and pulled the car into drive as he said, "Seems wrong to take a baby to a pub."
"Gotta get to Manny somehow," Mickey said. "I wonder if Sentinel might know anything about a missing girl."
"Who's that?"
"He's the owner." Mickey let out a sound before saying, "Oh, and if a snowman starts trying to tell you jokes, just deal with them. Twostep'll tell him off anyway."
"Friends of yours?" Oswald asked, throwing him a glance.
"You could say that. They're kinda like the three stooges."
"It is funny," Oswald started, a smile on his face. "The mouse who wants everything to make sense ends up drawn into magic."
"Any wonder why I avoid it?" Mickey said, resting his head against the seat's headrest. "Most magical place on Earth and everyone looks to me. And I just want things to make sense."
Oswald felt a smile pull at his cheeks. "Is that how you ended up being a detective?"
"Probably a big part of it," Mickey said, raising his head.
A string of sounds came from the seats behind them, getting Oswald to steal a glance in the rear view mirror. He got a glimpse of the girl playing with the teddy bear, talking nonsense sounds to it. Looking back at the road he said, "That's good she knows more sounds than just Daddy and Mama."
"Wish I knew why she thinks we're her parents," Mickey said, turning back around to look out the front windshield.
"Ever wanna be a dad?" Oswald asked, keeping his eyes on the road.
"I don't know, maybe," Mickey said, turning to look out the side window at the buildings they passed. He quickly turned to look at Oswald as he added, "Not as many as you have, but maybe one or two."
"I know it takes a special kind of person for all the bunny children," Oswald said with a laugh. He slowed to a stop at a light and asked, "And Minnie?"
"She's talked about it a few times and I know she'd make a great mother," Mickey said. "We're just old fashioned."
"You know, married life isn't all that bad," Oswald said, the light changing to green to let them through.
"You two make it seem easy," Mickey said with a laugh.
"Years of practice," Oswald said. His smile fell as he recalled the longer spell of their marriage when his wife was inert. He shook the thoughts away, glad he knew she was safe at home.
"Don't even ask me why I haven't asked Min," Mickey said, leaning his head on his hand as he turned his attention out his side window. "Maybe we've dated for so long I can't see any other way."
"Hey, I've never actually gone here. Where do I park?" Oswald asked, seeing the store fronts at the street's edge.
Mickey raised his head and said, "The next street take a right. There's some spaces behind the shops that should be open."
Oswald followed Mickey's directions and pulled into a parking lot surrounded by buildings. He took a spot and in no time the three were walking around the buildings to the White Mouse. Mickey picked up the little girl so she was carried into the pub, a little bell sounding off as they stepped through the doorway.
"Mickey! Is that the family you left us for!?" a strangely accented voice called out.
"Is this your kid!?" a frosty voice asked with a laugh the sound of ice cubes.
"If anybody wonders why I don't bring people here, you three are to blame," Mickey said, pointedly looking over at a table against the wall.
Oswald looked the table's occupants over, a living snowman the first to catch his eye sitting with a lanky human and a wolf-like dog, a server in a kilt holding menus with a large smile on his face.
Mickey let Oswald over to the table and stayed standing as he looked down at the wolf in the booth seat. "Can I sit here?"
The wolf looked up, his shaggy fur making it look like he had a bit of a mustache growing, with his arms crossed over his chest. "I thought we were closer friends than this."
"It's not what it looks like," Mickey tried.
"Daddy!" the girl exclaimed, giving the wolf a pointed frown as she wrapped an arm across Mickey's neck.
"Not helping," Mickey mumbled, throwing a glance at the girl.
"Got married and had a kid and did you think to tell us anything?" the wolf asked, resting his arms on the table to lean forward. "And who's this? More family you're excluding from us?"
"Only one out of all of that is close to the truth," Mickey said. He looked over at the server and said, "Twostep, can you get Sentinel over here? This is something he might be able to help with."
"Sure thing," Twostep said, turning to leave. Over his shoulder he ordered, "But you better tell me what all's going on too!"
"I know," Mickey said, giving Oswald a smile. He took the seat beside the wolf, the shaggy dog eyeing the smaller mouse still in Mickey's arms.
"So are you gonna introduce us or are we left in the cold?" the lanky man asked as Oswald took the last free seat around the table beside him.
"Right," Mickey said, shifting the girl so she sat more comfortably on his lap. "Right beside you is Hob, Ice, and this is Pipwolf. The man who just left is Twostep and he's getting the place's owner."
"Well that helps him, what about us?" Ice asked.
"You don't keep up with company news, do you Ice?" a deep voice asked, getting attention drawn to a large man whose head was hidden beyond the rafters.
"Why should we?" Ice asked with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Then you'd know this is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit," Sentinel said, holding out a hand towards the rabbit. "Mickey's older brother."
"He's the family I wanted to spend more time with," Mickey pointed out. He looked back at the owner and asked, "You haven't heard of anybody in the realm missing a child?"
"Afraid not, but I don't tend to hear that type of news," Sentinel admitted. "Is this about the girl?"
"Yeah, we found her this morning and found out she could use magic," Oswald said.
"What type?" Twostep asked.
"She floated everything not bolted down when she took a nap," Mickey offered.
Hop let out a laugh. "That sounds like something Manny did when she was a baby."
"Do you think they're related?" Mickey asked.
"Could be, or they're just the same race," Pipwolf offered, scrutinizing the little girl who gave him a large smile.
"You don't see too many black mice in the Realm of the Impossible though." Hob pointed out.
"How would you know that? You never leave this place," Twostep said, receiving a few laughs.
"Pipwolf, take them to Manny and see what she might know," Sentinel said.
Pipwolf let out a low growl, lowering his head below his shoulders towards the table.
"I thought you finally were good with seeing Manny," Mickey said, surprised by the outburst. "You passed your Guide's exam."
"I let it expire," Pipwolf mumbled.
"She can't be too mad at you for taking us to see her," Mickey said. He raised up the girl so she could look Pipwolf in the eyes and added, "For her? So we can find her real Daddy?"
"Alright, alright," Pipwolf said, holding up his hands in defense. Mickey lowered the girl back to his lap as the werewolf added, "Kinda low, using her cuteness."
Mickey gave him a knowing smile, getting a laugh from Oswald.
