Chapter 4

"What happened over at Oswald's?" Andrew asked, looking up from cutting apples as Amelia walked into the kitchen.

"His kids glued his head to the stairs," Amelia admitted, grabbing her apron off the pegs at the back door. She put it over her head and quickly tied the strings behind her.

"Ouch?" Andrew let out a laugh, keeping his fingers safe as he chopped.

"How's your grandma's apple pie coming along?" Amelia asked, steeling a glimpse at Andrew's scribbles of a recipe.

"'Ey! How'm I supposed to keep this thing a secret if you peek at the recipe?" Andrew asked, turning over the card.

"Then you shouldn't've written it down," Amelia pointed out, a smile on her face as she turned her eyes from the card.

"I'd share my Grandma's secret with you if you'd just-"

"Andrew," Amelia interrupted with a sigh as she turned on the sink. "We've talked about this."

"I know, and I don't have any problems with you keeping your last name, you know that," Andrew tried as the woman washed her hands.

"That's not the only thing," Amelia reminded, turning off the water before leaning over to grab the towel.

"Sorry I brought it up," Andrew offered.

Amelia went to the fridge and pulled out some milk and eggs, getting everything she needed for carrot cake. The two worked on their separate counters in Mickey's kitchen in silence.

"So how many are we feeding?" Andrew asked, hoping to break the silence.

"Oswald and his 420, Ortensia with her father and brother, us, and Mickey and Minnie," Amelia informed.

"Do you think I need to make more?" Andrew asked.

Amelia looked at his pile of apples and smirked. "How many do you plan on making?"

"Well, I figured maybe I'd make seven?" Andrew offered.

"As long as the bunny children don't have a big slice, and surly not all of them want apple pie," Amelia thought aloud. "That should be good."

"I'm sorry for Ortensia and Oswald," Andrew admitted, reaching for a bowl to put the apple slices in. "They have to deal with this every day."

"They've got it down to a science by now, I'm sure," Amelia said. "Also their house is built for that many people. It doesn't look so big on the outside but it's massive on the inside."

"I still wouldn't want that many kids," Andrew half laughed. "Two is plenty."

Amelia stole a glance at the mouse, surprise on her face as she kept her mouth closed.

-.-.-.-

"You're not still sticky, are you?" Ortensia asked as she petted the side of Oswald's head.

"I shouldn't be," Oswald said, turning his eyes to his wife sitting next to him.

Mickey sat down next to the two, the three waiting at the train station, and said, "The train's just running late, it should be here in about half an hour or so." He turned his eyes towards Morty and Ferdie as they walked around the station, checking on the twins.

Ortensia took her hand back, determining Oswald's head to not be sticky, as she said, "I'm starting to hate trains."

"They're fine," Oswald said, putting his arm around her. "What's Amelia and them doing?"

"Working on some cooking for tomorrow," Mickey offered. "Minnie was on her way when I left to help."

"After a while you just get used to cooking for an army," Ortensia admitted offhandedly. "It's weird when it's just us now."

"Is any of Minnie's family able to come?" Oswald asked.

Mickey turned his eyes away from the two, finding the twins down the long building they sat in with others waiting for the train to arrive. "Most of Minnie's family disappeared a while ago," Mickey admitted.

"What?" Oswald exclaimed.

"Well her parents died in the fifties and her grandparents I never got to meet," Mickey offered, looking at the couple beside him. "Her uncle Mortimer disappeared back in the seventies during an adventure and I don't know what happened to the rest of her family. They don't make contact with her as far as I know." Mickey let out a sigh, leaning his elbows against his knees as he leaned forward to look at the ground between his yellow shoes. "They're not the only ones… Marty, Madeline, Ben, Digger, Jonah, Uncle Manley… even little Matilda…" He let out a snort. "The only one that hasn't seemed to disappear is Moocher."

Oswald scrunched his brow in confusion. "Who are they?"

Mickey turned his head to look over his shoulder. "Family. Uncle Manley's Madeline, Marty, Digger, and Ben's dad, Matilda's Digger's daughter."

"How big is our family?" Oswald asked.

"Used to be good sized," Mickey admitted. "It was slow and sporadic but eventually they just never contacted me back."

"Why did you give up then?" Ortensia asked.

Mickey looked at her with surprise.

Ortensia eyed him harshly as she added, "They're closer family than Oswald and I are considered, so they should still be around. You know they're still around. If I had that much hope for my own mother…" her eyes started to tear up, forcing her to cut herself off.

"I'm sorry," Mickey said, not sure what to say.

"Kitty," Oswald said, rubbing her shoulder with the hand around her.

Ortensia wiped her eyes with her fingers before saying, "Momma disappeared back in the thirties."

Oswald turned to Mickey and admitted, "We think because she disappeared before Wasteland was created…" his voice fell away from him as he looked back at his wife.

"I'm so sorry," Mickey said, realizing she disappeared while they worked for Universal and vanished the way other company's cartoons did.

"You still have a chance to find the family that has disappeared on you," Ortensia said. "Don't give up."

"Maybe Moocher still knows where someone is," Mickey said, trying to think through how to find them as he sat up.

"Cousin Moocher?" Ferdie asked, stepping closer to the bench the three sat on.

"You remember him?" Oswald asked.

"Sorta," Ferdie said with a shrug. "He invited Unca Mickey to his island and we found out he'd been inviting all the family over one by one to use them. Last I heard anything about him, Mom was yelling at him over the phone to get a job."

"When was that?" Mickey asked.

"Couple'a weeks ago." Ferdie turned back around at a sound from his brother, noticing Morty standing on a bench to look outside the station. He gave Mickey a glance, the older mouse nodding his head, before running over to see what Morty was looking at.

"Let me guess, Cousin Moocher lives up to his name?" Oswald asked, looking back at Mickey.

"That's why I thought he might know how to contact the rest of them," Mickey said with a nod of his head. "Everyone called him the black sheep of the family."

"Is he our cousin or their's?" Oswald asked, pointing towards the boys.

"Ours," Mickey offered. "They picked it up after hearing me call him that."

"Do you still have any pictures of the family?" Ortensia asked.

Mickey looked towards the track for a moment in thought before saying, "Maybe. Morty and Ferdie were helping me years ago put the pictures together and in order so they might be in the attic." He turned back to the two and let out a laugh, "Warning though, there's some weird ones in the family."

"Weirder than the black sheep?" Oswald asked.

"Moocher might've just been a lazy bum but every family seems to have someone like that," Mickey threw off with his hand. "Last I knew Marty owned a rubber tree plantation, Digger lived in Australia with his daughter, Matilda, at a boarding school, he probably got that from his dad, Uncle Maxwell, who's a professor in history. Uncle Manley was in archaeology, Boomer was a railroad tycoon. Shoot, by now Madeline's probably marred with how into the top circles of society she always was."

"I wouldn't say weird," Ortensia offered, smiling at her brother-in-law. "In a way, it sounds like you are very similar to the rest of your family. You're all people who want the best of what you do. That's just ambitious." She looked at Oswald and added, "Even you have that trait, leading Wasteland and even gaining back a heart." She looked again at Mickey. "If anything, it just proves more that your family is related to Walt."

"When you put it like that," Mickey started, leaning back in the chair as he looked out the window upwards.

"Unca Mickey!" Morty called out as the two ran towards them. "Unca Oswald!"

"The train's here," Ferdie called out, running after his brother.

The sound of a train whistle took their attention behind the running twins just before the train took the bend to line up with the side of the station.

"Good, that should be them," Oswald said, taking his arm away from Ortensia as he got to his feet. Ortensia and Mickey quickly followed suit as the train slowed down just outside the building.

The five stood together as they waited for the passengers to step off. Watching the door everyone was filed through to come inside the station, a large cat could be seen through the crowd as he made his way in.

"Daddy," Ortensia let out as she left Oswald's side for the older man.

J.P. Whiskers turned at the sound and smiled as he found himself in a hug. The two broke away only for Ortensia to find herself in a hug from her brother, the smaller cat almost off his feet with only the bag on his back keeping him grounded. They broke away, Ortensia rubbing his head as she let out a laugh before turning back towards the group she had left to point them out.

"Glad to see you again, Mr. Whiskers," Mickey said, offering his hand for a shake.

"I have half a mind to move back down here," the old cat grumbled loud enough they could hear over the noise in the station. He sat his suitcase beside himself before taking the handshake, eyeing both Oswald and Mickey.

"My sister could've been killed, no thanks to you two," Homer said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Homer, Daddy," Ortensia chastised. "It wasn't their fault."

"They could've done something better to protect you and Minnie," Mr. Whiskers said, glancing at his daughter.

Hoping to change the subject, Mickey motioned to the two mice beside him. "Mr. Whiskers, Homer, these are my nephews, Morty and Ferdie."

Ferdie took a half step to stand a bit behind his brother as they looked up at the large cat.

Mr. Whiskers looked passed his white beard at the two smaller mice before slowly a smile appeared under his features. "Two strapping young men," he complimented. "You two figure out what you want out of life?"

"What type of question is that?" Morty asked as his brother looked curiously around him at the older man. "Aren't you supposed to ask what we want to do when we grow up?"

"That's assuming you will," Mr. Whiskers pointed out.

"I…" Ferdie started, turning eyes towards him. He looked up at the older cat and started again, "I want to make people happy, like what Unca Mickey and Unca Oswald have been able to do."

Mickey silently turned his head towards his brother, surprised to hear that come out of the young mouse's mouth. Oswald gave him a similar surprised look, his face pulling into a smile.

"Bravo," Mr. Whiskers congratulated with a nod of his head. "That's a wonderful thing to aspire for. What's your name, son?"

"I'm Ferdie," he offered, stepping so he was standing beside his brother.

Mr. Whiskers turned his eyes towards the second small mouse and said, "So Morty, I'll give you time to think about your answer."

"Great, more homework," Morty mumbled, putting his hands in his pockets.

Mr. Whiskers turned back towards his daughter, as if about to say something, only to yawn. "Sorry," he offered.

"Come on," Oswald offered, picking up the man's suitcase off the ground. "Your grandkids have been dying to see you again."

"How's little Maddy?" Mr. Whiskers asked as the group headed towards the door.

"Maddy?" Oswald asked.

"She goes by Mable now," Ortensia said towards her father. Turning to Oswald she added, "Three twenty-seven."