Chapter 3
Wednesday
November 25, 2015
"Can we go over to Unca Oswald's?" Morty asked as he jumped down from the kitchen table, his breakfast remains still on his plate.
"Finish your milk," Amelia said, taking her own plate to the sink. She looked at Mickey, who was already at the sink himself, rinsing out his glass and said, "Thanks for letting us stay here."
"'Course," Mickey said, turning off the water to look at her with surprise.
"Done, can we go now?" Morty asked, sitting his now empty cup on the table.
Amelia looked at the two's plates before nodding. "Alright, but if Oswald doesn't want you over, come right back."
"Yes ma'am," Ferdie said as his brother was already on his way out the front door. The small mouse jumped from his seat and headed out the door, following his brother. "Morty, wait up!" he called, seeing the mouse already a house away.
Morty turned around to see his brother running after him. "You need to get your nose out of books more."
"Do you think Unca Oswald really has four hundred twenty kids?" Ferdie asked as he caught up, ignoring his brother's jab.
"I don't know. He's a rabbit, so maybe," Morty shrugged. "We'll find out soon."
The two quickly checked the road for cars before rushing across. Morty rushed ahead and slammed his hand on the doorbell. He turned to see his brother still coming up the walkway, giving him a smug smile.
The door opened, getting the two to see a small blue bunny standing there. "Hi, Dad's got his head stuck and can't get to the door right now."
"How'd he get his head stuck?" Morty asked.
"I think 94 was getting in trouble again," the rabbit sighed with a shrug. "Who are you? You look like Uncle Mickey."
"We're his nephews. Morty and Ferdie," Ferdie introduced. "Do you really have four hundred thirty nine siblings?"
"Yeah, I'm Oswald Junior 1, but you can call me Steve."
"Is everyone Oswald Junior and a number?" Morty asked.
"Little annoying, definitely for my sisters, but yeah," Steve nodded.
"Oswald Junior 1, what are you doing with the front door open?" Ortensia's voice asked as she appeared in the entry hall. "Oh, Morty, Ferdie. Come on in. Introduce yourselves to your cousins."
"Come on, let's go see if Dad's got free yet," Oswald Junior 1 said, rushing away with the two behind him. The blue bunny led them to a gathering around the stairs, Oswald struggling to get his head free from the bars.
"94, what did you use?!" Oswald called out, the two mice realizing his head was glued to the bars.
"Chap stick and Tang," a girl's voice laughed. "It really works!"
Morty noticed two bunny children giving each other high fives.
"Yes, it works. NASA uses it as a super glue!" Oswald exclaimed, popping backwards with the broken bars still attached to the sides of his head.
"Uh oh. Scatter!" a new voice called out.
Morty and Ferdie found themselves pulled out of the stair well and well out of Oswald's rage as the rabbit looked for Oswald Junior 94.
"So what do you guys do for fun," Morty asked Oswald Junior 1 and two other bunny children that had come with them. "Other than sticking Unca Oswald's head in bars."
"Well, we just got a console in the game room," One of the bunny children shrugged.
-.-.-.-
"Oswald, why did you even stick your head through the bars?" Mickey asked, looking at his brother sitting on the work bench in his garage, the glue still holding.
"Morty and Ferdie didn't do this to you, did they?" Amelia asked, following Mickey over to Oswald's house after hearing the call.
"No, the bunny children tricked me," Oswald mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Anything you can do to get them off?" Ortensia asked.
"Oh, I can just picture Homer's face at seeing me like this," Oswald said.
"Do you have any Goop-B-Gone?" Mickey asked.
"In the drawer above my sockets," Oswald said.
"I'll find Oswald Junior 94," Ortensia sighed, leaving the three in the garage.
Mickey retrieved the orange liquid and looked down at Oswald, trying to hide the smirk on his face.
"Sure, go on. Laugh," Oswald said, dropping his arms in defeat.
Mickey smiled in sympathy, noticing how Oswald hid his face with his ears in embarrassment. He pulled off a sheet of throw-away towel and poured some Goop-B-Gone on it before trying to get the bars off his brother's head.
"Well, since you're okay, I'll see how Andrew's getting along wi-"
"No, stay," Oswald interrupted, his ears popping up and smacking Mickey in the face.
"Hey!" Mickey exclaimed, stepping back in surprise.
"Sorry," Oswald said, waiting until his brother went back to trying to get the glue to loosen its grip. "Amelia, I'm sorry Ortensia and I couldn't make it to dinner yesterday."
"Oh, it's alright," Amelia smiled.
"No, I mean," Oswald sighed. "Other than what stories Mick's told me and that one time meet in forty-two, I hardly know you but you're my sister."
The garage grew quiet as the two found themselves speechless.
"Got it!" Mickey exclaimed, pulling free the bar he'd been working on. He looked at Oswald's head and smiled, "And you can't tell you'd been glued."
Oswald put his hand where the bar once had been only to dab at it. "I'll have to wash up before my head starts collecting things, but thanks. Can you get the other one, too?"
Mickey threw the used towel in the trash before ripping off another one.
"Go in there and apologizes to your father," Ortensia's voice alerted them as the door opened.
Oswald Junior 94 slowly walked in, her ears hanging low as three pairs of eyes turned her way. "I'm sorry, Dad. I shouldn't've been playing around with NASA super glue."
"I wanna know why you tested it out on me?" Oswald asked, looking down at his daughter from his seat on the work bench.
"26 dared me to," the girl admitted. "He bet you wouldn't get stuck."
"You can't do whatever someone dares you to," Oswald said. "I'll talk to him later. Do you know what you're going to do?"
"Give Mom my phone?" Oswald Junior 94 sighed, defeated.
"No, you're going to help me make two new bars for the banister," Oswald said. "This Saturday."
"Aw Dad," Oswald Junior 94 started to whine only to cut herself off at Oswald's face turned stern. "Yes sir."
"Now go and get two rulers in the bar's place so 224 doesn't get hurt," Oswald said.
Oswald Junior 94 nodded her head before hopping away.
"Do you wanna deal with 26 or should I?" Ortensia asked, staying in the doorway of the garage.
"You can if you want to. I wish that kid would quit daring everyone," Oswald sighed as Mickey went back to unsticking the other bar.
"You're not the only one," Ortensia sighed before leaving the garage, closing the door behind her.
"Why would you only be worried about Oswald Junior 294?" Amelia asked.
"224," Oswald corrected. "He's blind."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Amelia gasped, covering her mouth in surprise.
"Don't be. He was born like that and has proven to us years ago it wasn't a handicap," Oswald smiled. "Still, everyone keeps an eye out for him. And we don't need him daydreaming and count the steps wrong now there's two bars missing."
"I still wanna know how you can't remember when they want a real name, but you can remember who's what number," Mickey laughed.
"I'm just better with numbers," Oswald shrugged. "Anyway, you try coming up with four hundred twenty different names."
"Alfred, Alexander, Ashton, Alec, Andy, Aaron, Abe, Adam, Adrian, Alex, Alvin, Am-"
"Fine, I get it. You can list off a lot of names," Oswald interrupted his brother, eyeing the mouse.
"And that was just the A's," Mickey smirked. He tugged at the bar, glad it popped off with ease. "There, free at last."
"Thanks," Oswald jumped down to his feet. "You two wanna stay around? We're going to get Homer and his dad soon."
"I really should get back to Andrew," Amelia said. "You'll have to introduce us later."