Chapter 1

Oswald snuck out of the house, leaving Mickey's dumbfounded stare as Amelia tried to introduce Andrew to him, and decided on helping them get their luggage in the house. He walked over to the van now parked in front of the yellow house and looked around, secretly wondering where two smaller mice were. He shrugged after a moment's glance around himself and pulled on the back hatch, letting the door pull itself up. As it lifted, Oswald found himself being attacked, pushed down onto the street behind the van by two bodies.

"We got you, Unca Oswald!" a voice cried out.

Oswald looked at his chest and found Ferdie and Morty looking up at him. "Hey kids, glad you remember me."

"Of course we'd remember you!" Morty said, pushing himself off the rabbit as his brother did the same.

"Who knew you were really our uncle though!" Ferdie exclaimed, hugging Oswald around his neck.

"Well I couldn't let Mickey know, could I?" Oswald laughed. "I was time traveling."

"That story about Wasteland, it was real, wasn't it?" Ferdie asked, letting go of Oswald's neck to look him in the eye.

Oswald lifted the small mouse off his chest so he could get back to his feet. "Yeah, I just left out a few things."

"Can you tell us the real story tonight?" Ferdie asked, his ball cap sliding on his head as he jumped at the thought.

Oswald fixed the cap, smiling at the kid. "Sure. And if your mom and pop say it's alright you could meet your cousins too."

"He's not our Pop," Morty said, crossing his arms over his chest as he pouted.

"Oh?" Oswald asked, hoping to get some information from the kids as he went ahead and started pulling out luggage. "Then what happened to your father?"

"He died," Ferdie admitted, sitting down on the curve.

"Oh, I'm sorry. When was that?" Oswald sat down a suitcase next to the mouse as he looked down at the kid.

"I think around the 70's," Morty said. "Whenever it was was when Mom wanted us to stay with her instead of Unca Mickey."

"Any idea why she stopped letting you see him after that?" Oswald asked.

"Blame Arthur on that," Ferdie said, picking dirt from the cracks in the sidewalk he sat on. "He was the first one after Dad died."

"Yeah, he felt embarrassed that Mom was Unca Mickey's sister so he said some junk about not letting him raise us," Morty said.

"So this Andrew fella, is he any good?" Oswald asked, pulling down the lift gate to close the van back up.

Ferdie looked over his shoulder at Morty before Morty answered, "He's okay, I guess."

"That bad, huh?" Oswald smirked at Morty's surprised face. "Don't worry, I won't tell them."

Morty's face relaxed before the mouse smiled. "Thanks Unca Oswald."

"So you two wanna help me get this stuff in the house or what?" Oswald asked, lifting two bags on one arm and pulling a rolling suitcase behind himself as he positioned himself to walk back into the house.
"Sure." Ferdie got up from his seat and picked up a bag to throw over his shoulder before leading the way into the house.

-.-.-.-

"I didn't know you were dating," Mickey found himself saying, not sure how else to respond to the news.

"Glad to finally meet you," Andrew said, holding out a hand to the mouse. "Amelia's told me a lot about you."

Mickey shook the hand of the mouse standing almost the height of Mortimer, a nervous laugh stuck in his throat. "All good, I hope."

"Oh Mickey," Amelia scolded with a smile.

"It's all good," Andrew admitted, taking his hand back to put around Amelia's waist. The two looked at Mickey for a moment, not sure what to do next.

"Oh sorry," Mickey exclaimed, realizing the two were waiting for introductions. "This is Minnie and Ortensia, Oswald was around here."

"Hi," Oswald's voice said as the door opened. Everyone turned to see the rabbit pulling in luggage with Morty and Ferdie trailing in behind him.

"Oh, you didn't have to bring all that in," Amelia said, rushing over to help Oswald put down the bags. She turned to her boys and said, "I had asked you two to bring it all in."

"Sure Mom," Morty mumbled as he kept walking to the stairwell.

"Sorry Mom, I'll go get the rest," Ferdie said, sitting down the bag he grabbed before going back outside.

"So, Amelia, do you remember Oswald?" Mickey asked, offering the open seats as he sat back down on his recliner.

Amelia and Andrew took the sofa, sitting next to Ortensia as Amelia shook her head. "No, not personally." She looked up at the rabbit leaning against the arm rest next to his wife's seat. "Though according to what I've heard, you're our brother?"

Oswald nodded his head. "Yeah, a year older than Mickey."

"But you being in Universal and Wasteland, I don't think I'd ever have the opportunity to meet you before," Amelia pointed out, turning to Mickey for an explanation as Ferdie came in with the last of the luggage. The small mouse grabbed his bag before quietly heading for the stairs.

"It wasn't my idea, but back at the beginning of the year I ended up time traveling to 1942," Oswald explained, surprising both Amelia and Andrew. "Morty and Ferdie remember me, but Mick did introduce me to you then."

"Oh! You're the rabbit that had so many kids!" Amelia exclaimed as hints of memories made way to her mind. She turned to Ortensia next to her and asked in surprise. "Are you his wife?"

Ortensia nodded, wondering a few things of her sister-in-law.

"How do you handle so many kids?" Amelia asked. "Two manage to give me gray hairs."

Ortensia raised her brows, noticing Amelia clearly dyes her hair brown then. "I run my house the same way my mother ran hers," she stated.

"Oh, is your family coming for Thanksgiving?" Amelia asked brightly only to notice with surprise at Oswald's grimace as Ortensia looked down at her lap.

"Her father and brother are coming down tomorrow," Oswald asked, placing a hand on Ortensia's shoulder.

"Why don't you two get settled in?" Minnie offered, seeing her friend needed a moment.

"I'll help ya'll get your stuff upstairs," Mickey offered, standing up and grabbing a bag before leading the two up the stairs.

As soon as the three were out of sight, Oswald leaned over so he could look Ortensia in the eyes. "Are you okay, Kitty?"

Ortensia rubbed an eye before looking at Oswald. "Yeah, sorry."

Oswald leaned down and quickly kissed her cheek. "You don't have to be."