PART II
The weeks following the release of our song were great! Dave stopped snapping at us so often and the people who saw us on the street always praised us. Dave even made us some hoodies! Simon and Theodore had almost exactly the same ones. Only Simon's was bigger and a soft blue, while Theodore's was smaller and a deep green. Mine was almost like theirs. Only mine was a sharp red and had a big, fat, yellow A dead center. It was something that always made me smile when I looked in the mirror. I've been thinking he secretly sees me as a favorite. As for my mate, Simon has been more loving to me than ever before; something I'm still adjusting to. Because he couldn't see before, it was always me initiating things. Kisses, hugs, and all of it. Now that he can see, he's used that to sneak up on me and nip my neck or ears, tackle me when I'm not looking, ect. It's different since I was always letting him feel in charge. Now he's really acting like it, and it makes me conflicted. But forgetting all that, the best night of the year has finally arrived! And we were, dare I say it on Christmas Eve, acting as a family? We were handing Dave the ornaments out of his box, as well as a few we added ourselves.
Simon handed him a candy cane, something that is really sweet and pepperminty, as we tried. I gave him a fish cutter for cookies. He gave me a weird look but put it up anyways, making me feel happy that he cared. It looked great up there. Simon gave him an unopened toothbrush. Dave made a comment about it, but put it up too. That's when Theodore handed him half a sandwich with a string. He didn't put that one up, but I wasn't surprised. I mean, a bird would steal it by morning so there was no use in keeping it in the open. By the time we were done, it was bedtime. I stretched and curled up in front of Simon who wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. Dave said we couldn't stay up to see Santa otherwise he wouldn't give us presents. I wasn't dumb. I knew Santa wasn't real. If he was, we would have gotten presents out in our tree, but we didn't. But that doesn't mean I wasn't looking forward to presents and spending time with my family, something Dave was steadily becoming apart of.
I snapped awake from a jolt of pleasure on my neck. I gasped awake, and the first thing I noticed was that Theodore was gone from his spot in front of me. The second was that Simon was kissing my neck and lightly biting it every now and then. "S..Simon…" I whispered. He bit my ear, pulling it lightly. I bit back a moan. He nuzzled the back of my head. "Merry Christmas Alvin". I took a shuddering breath and looked at the clock on the wall. It was midnight. I moved back to look at him. "You couldn't have waited until morning?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. Simon pushed my shoulder down a little aggressively so that I was laying on my back. "We wouldn't have time to do this if we waited until morning" he whispered huskily. I blinked as he pressed his lips to mine and crawled on top of me.
His paws ran down my body, and when an intense burning feeling arose from my abdomen, I realized what he wanted to do. I broke the kiss, thinking of all the flaws of this plan. "S..Si, what about Theo?" Simon bit my neck again, causing a loud gasp to escape me. "He went to sleep with Dave. And as long as we're quiet, we shouldn't wake them". He bit my neck again, this time making me whimper. I decided to get him back for all his teasing. I was dominant in this relationship first, and I'm not about to let that go. I pushed off my back and pinned him, kissing him ferociously. He jumped at first, but decided to fight back. Pinning my chest to his, he sat up with me still on his lap. We never broke our kissing as we tried to fight each other with pleasure.
One slip up is all it would take for either of us to know who will officially be the dominant one in the relationship. I always thought it was going to be me, but since Dave gave Simon his glasses, that hasn't been the case. Our breathing was becoming heavy as we were both feeling the heat rise within each other. Simon broke the kiss to tear off my hoodie. I did the same right after him. I started to kiss his shoulder, a soft spot I knew he had. He gasped, and for a split second I thought I won. But he recovered quickly and used his height against me. He began gnawing on my ear, sending me into a crazy bliss. I shoved past it, fighting for the role of dominance. I went back to kissing him, nibbling on his bottom lip. He hummed lowly.
I cupped his face, trapping his lips on mine so they couldn't venture elswhere. That's when he decided to use his tongue. And so the tongue war began. My mouth was the battleground and steadily holding him at bay. But what I forgot about was his hands. Mine were keeping our faces in a kiss, but his were traveling along my body. Up and down my sides, under my fur, and against my ribs. I didn't want to admit it, but he was wearing me down. My breathing was shaky and my body jittery from the exertion. In my mouth, I couldn't keep up with all the feeling. Simon began to win. His hands were roaming everywhere they could reach, and I was honestly struggling. My hands fell from his face and onto his neck and shoulder. I gripped them both, trying hard to hold out against him. But that's when he did something to throw me over.
He grinded our crotches together.
I broke the kiss with a loud moan. The intensity of that area was a new level, and all Simon needed to win. In a second, he grabbed my shoulders and threw me down again. He looked me in the eyes as he pinned my wrists. He leaned down inches from my face and whispered right on my lips, never breaking eye contact "I'm in charge". My breath caught. I always knew my mate as nerdy, shy, and clumsy. He can be confident and bold on the occasion, but this? This was a new side to him I have never seen. And it made my blood boil. He straddled my hips, never breaking eye contact.
I watched the wall as the sun began casting light through the window. I could see the dust particles falling everywhere. My head was nestled in my mate's chest, his soft fur like a pillow. He was grooming me after our, I don't know, fourth round? My mind was hazy each time, and all I could think about was the pleasure. I didn't think anything could possibly feel that good. My mind is still hazy! I hummed and snuggled closer into my mate. He chuckled and held me closer, purring. I wasn't sure, but I think I was purring too. We just laid here for who knows how long, warm and content. That's when an old clock of Dave's, one he said he was going to get rid off, dinged.
I didn't react. Simon did. "We should get up" he mumbled.
"You mean we could get up" I mumbled back.
He shook his head a little. Then he got up, breaking my bubble of warmth and comfort. I moaned in complaint; we could sleep in. It's Christmas, there's no rush. I didn't open my eyes, but I could feel my mate lean down and kiss my cheek. "Well, we're normally early birds. Dave might notice if they're up before us. And unless you want him and Theo to know what we did…" I groaned, this time in annoyance. Because he was right. He's always right. My eyes didn't open as I sat up, still too sleepy and tired. "I hope you're not sleepwalking on me. Not sure if I could deal with that". I didn't open my eyes as I tackled him down. I did when I had him pinned. He wrapped his arms around me, kissing me. There was a new buzz there when he kissed me, one I don't think was there yesterday.
He rolled, flipping our positions so that I was under him. I could feel a blush creeping up on my face. Not that anyone could see it or anything. He licked my cheek slowly. "I thought we went over this already; I'm in charge" My breath hitched again when he said that. He chuckled while getting off me. I took a second to calm my pulse before getting up and redressing myself. From behind, Simon swiftly -yet very gently- pulled me into his embrace. And kissed my cheek. And nibbled my neck. I blinked back the pleasure, knowing full well I was still 'in the mood'. "Sorry. You're too tempting" he mumbled, pecking my cheek again and letting me go. I shoved him off, now frustrated that he was toying with me.
I shook myself to rid the feeling, and began internally hyping myself up for Theodore. He still believes in Santa, and while I don't, I'm not about to spoil his fun. It's fun in it's own way to hype our baby brother up for the holiday. I shoved Simon out of the way and ran straight for Dave's room. "Theodore!" I cried right before I burst in. "Theodore, wake up! It's Christmas!" I said jumping around. He was sleeping right on Dave's face. Right over his eyes. "Get up man, it's CHRISTMAS!" Simon shouted. Theodore woke up almost instantaneously. "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" he said. Now all we needed to do was wake up Dave.
I rubbed my tail over his nose as Simon sang "On the first day of Christmas, Da-ave wo-oke up! Come on man, it's Christmas!" Dave was slowly waking into the land of the living. I was jumping up and down on him before I shouted "Wake up lazy bones!" We all jumped off him and rushed over to the tree. "Oh yeah, Christmas" he mumbled. "Come on, you can sleep when you're dead!" I called back. Theo lagged behind a bit. When we arrived at the tree, Simon spun me around a few times and threw me up into the air. We both giggled, knowing this was for our baby brother. It also seemed as we didn't wake them up this morning with our, ahem, activities. When Dave and Theodore showed up, we ran under the tree.
"This is turning out to be my favorite Christmas ever!" I said while diving under the tree to grab the present I took...I mean, got for Dave. "You're going to wanna open mine first" Simon said after me, grabbing his. "No, open mine first!" Theo argued. Hah, peasants. My argument was totally more sound. "Open mine first Dave, it's better!". He stood for a second. "Wait, you guys got me presents?" he asked. I had dragged mine on the table as my brothers were jumping up with theirs. "Of course!" we all cheered. I was bubbling with excitement, hoping he'd appreciate what I stol...got for him! He laughed lightly, clearly excited for his. With a clap of his hand, he started with Simon's. Oh well, mine is still better.
I looked at his face, trying to decipher what he was feeling. "Wow, it's a…" he said, trying to figure out what it was. "It's a paper clip compass" my mate said proudly. I smiled, looking to see if he liked it. It might not be mine, but it was still Christmas. "A paper clip compass. Now I'll never get lost" he said with some joy. It wasn't much, but he still put up the front of liking it, meaning he cared. I smiled proudly, pushing mine forward a bit. "Me next!". He picked mine up and began unwrapping it.
"Huh, my wallet" he said.
"Do you like it? Really? I wanted to get you something you use everyday!" I said with hope. It wasn't a lie, but I couldn't get him something new. I'm a chipmunk for pete's sake! "And I have been using this for 10 years now. Very thoughtful Alvin, thank you" he replied. My grin became wider as I felt Simon put a hand on my back. I pushed back the goosebumps I got when he touched me. "Yeah, the look on your face says it all Dave". Simon and me then looked at the folded piece of paper Theodore had. When Dave picked it up, Theo jumped onto the chair Dave was on to look at it with him. "Nicely done Theodore" he said out loud.
"Let's see; To Dav; Merry Christmas! Love Theodore. And it's got a nice picture of...uh...some pineapples?" he questioned. I half winced half internally laughed. "Those aren't pineapples! It's our family!" he replied cheerfully. I looked to Dave to see how he reacted to that. Anytime we said family in the past, he would try to tell us we weren't one. "Look fellas, let's make sure we understand each other here…" and, there he goes again. I expected it, but didn't let it dampen my mood. "...I'm not your...your dad or anything. Right?"
"But you're like a dad" Theo replied.
I crossed my arms as I looked to him with a nod. Our real dad never really took care of us. He just got us food, threw it at us, and slept. Kind of neglectful. Nothing like Dave, who got upset when we left without telling him. "Not...really. We're friends for sure, but...I write your music, manage your career…"
"Make us sweaters…" Simon butt in,
"Feed us…" I added.
"Let us sleep in your bed when we have nightmares…"
"That's what friends do" he stuttered. My mood deflated a little. But what he said next was a distraction from that. "So, who wants to open their presents?" he clapped. Kind of ironic. "Uh, is that a trick question? WE DO!" we all cheered. I wonder what he got me? I hope it's something cool. "Presents, presents, presents!" I cheered. My brothers gave their own cheers. "I can't wait to open my first...envelope?" I questioned. Inside was a card. Not a gift card. "They're savings bonds" Dave said. "Uh, cool" I said. "You know, in seven years you're going to get to by yourself something nice" he said. "Do you have any that you might have bought seven years ago?" I asked. Simon whacked the back of my head. "Ow!" "Alvin, manners!" he snapped quietly.
I suppose this singing career might have made me a little ungrateful. "Thank you Dave" I said, Theo echoing me. That's when the doorbell rang. And Ian came walking in with a bunch of toys and a large red bag. "Ho ho ho!" he boomed.
"Ian?"
"Who wants presents?"
He set the large bag of goods on another chair. "Wow" we all echoed. He set a remote control helicopter down in front of us, while unstrapping the fake guitar from his body. I instantly looked at the remote in awe. "There's more where this came from. Bring them in boys!" he went on to say. Suddenly more men with more presents were walking in the house. Each with armfulls of wrapped boxes! "Oh yeah!" I cheered.
"Jackpot!"
Dave and Ian talked for a bit, but all I could focus on was the piles of presents being set down in front of our tree.
"Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about" my mate cheered, doing a little dance with me.
"Weird, what happened to your presents guys?" I told them.
Simon nipped my ear playfully. I growled in response.
"Which one is mine?"
"That big one...I think is for me"
That's when Ian looked at us. "Well, you're in luck because your Uncle Ian came through" I fisted the air as he handed Dave present after present, naming which of us three each was for. He gave a small package, not even a fraction of any other present's size to Dave. I felt a little bad. But just a little. I did backwards flip. "Thank you Santa!" I cried.
"Oh, and guess what boys? Uncle Ian is throwing a large launch party for the new CD. Press, celebrities, the whole nine yards".
I grabbed Theodore in a back hug in joy. "AWESOME!" He mumbled something to Dave before bidding us goodbye. "Peace, we out". Him and his men left. Not before the three of us said goodbye too. "Bye Uncle Ian!". "Now it really is Christmas" my mate said in awe as me and Theo went to play with the helicopter. When Theodore pressed a button, it started up. Too late did I realize my tail was caught in one of the pieces. When the helicopter went up, so did I. Upside down. "Mayday, Mayday!" I cried. Then I whooped in joy. This gave me an energetic rush of adrenaline that I felt the first time we rode in that truck. Only, more intense.
The buzz outside the fake cauldron we were in got me excited. I couldn't stay still. We've practiced, and practiced, and practiced until we slowly began to hate the song. But with a fresh audience, and our very first official performance, I was hyped beyond belief. I was trembling with so much energy, Simon was struggling to keep me still. "Hey, don't overdo it. We're all excited". I didn't choose to listen to him because his smile was just as wide and excited as mine. "Shut up Si, you're just as excited as me. Both of you are!" That's when Simon lurched forward and snatched my midsection, trapping me in his arms. "You know what, you're right Alvin. Let's waste some nervous energy" he proclaimed. That's when he began tickling me.
"AHH! HAHAHAHA, SIMON STOP IT!" To my utter horror, Theodore joined in, getting my feet. I couldn't help the involuntary kicking I was doing. "GUYS STOP IT HAHAHAHAHA! I CAN'T BREATHE!". I squirmed out of my mate's arms and ran to the other side of the fake cauldron. They gave chase, not giving me a second to breathe. "AHH!" I screamed. The cauldron was thick and soundproof except for the floor where some air vents were, so no one could hear us. Because I hadn't gotten a decent amount of air before I ran, my endurance was way low. I was overtaken very quickly. We were all laughing as we stopped to catch our breath. Me more so than them. I huffed in air as my brothers cuddled me. Simon from behind, and Theo hugged me in the front. I laughed and pulled them both close. I love my brothers more than anything.
That's when we heard our Uncle Ian speak from above.
"Alright! Alright. Everyone settle in. Thank you for coming! Tonight is a very special night. Here at Jett Records we pride ourselves in bringing tomorrow's music today. And guess what? I did it again!" There was some cheering. I grabbed my brothers' hands and stood us up.
"This is it guys. Nine years in the wild, and this is our time!" Theo hugged me tighter and Simon set a long kiss on my cheek. "Ladies and Gentleman! Here to sing their new hit single: give it up for Alvin, Simon, and Theodoooore!" There was more cheering as the DJ started up. I bit my lip in excitement as we felt the cauldron go up and fog began filling in. The top was open a bit to let some fog out. Ian told us it added affect. In my ear, I felt the microphone pop, meaning it was on. I mentally braced myself. The top opened up and we jumped out. I spun on the edge of the cauldron before dropping down. When I heard the beat, I hopped up, meeting my brothers there. 'Here we go' I thought.
I told the Witch Doctor I was in love with you!
I told the Witch Doctor you didn't love me too.
And then the Witch Doctor he told me what to do,
He said:
Oo, Ee, Oo, Ah Ah, Ting Tang, Walla Walla, Bing Bang!
Oo, Ee, Oo, Ah Ah, Ting Tang, Walla Walla, Bing Bang,
Oo, Ee, Oo, Ah Ah, Ting Tang, Walla Walla, Bing Bang,
Oo, Ee, Oo, Ah Ah, Ting Tang, Walla Walla, Bing Bang!
"Yo DJ, pump this party!"
Everybody, can we do it?
(go! go! go! go!)
Come on people, let's get to it!
(go! go! go! go!)
Come on, shake! Come on, roll, everybody hit the flow!
Come on, shake! Come on, roll, with the Chipmunks here we go!
Alvin,
Simon,
Theodore!
(Simon)
I told the Witch Doctor you didn't love me true!
I told the Witch Doctor you didn't love me nice!
And then the Witch Doctor, he gave me this advice, he told me to:
Oh-Oo-whoa! Come on too!
Oo, Ee, Oo, Ah Ah, Ting Tang, Walla Walla, Bing Bang,
Oo, Ee, Oo, Ah Ah, Ting Tang, Walla Walla, Bing Bang!
(Girls)
You've been keeping love from me,
And that's not very smart.
So I went out and found myself,
Someone who told me how to win a heart!
(Theodore)
Yeah!
My friend the Witch Doctor, he told me what to say!
My friend the Witch Doctor he told me what to do.
I know that you deny when I say this to you:
But Whoa-oh! I love you Baby!
Oo, Ee, Oo, Ah Ah, Ting Tang, Walla Walla, Bing Bang!
(Hey baby!)
Oo, Ee, Oo, Ah Ah, Ting Tang, Walla Walla, Bing Bang,
(go! go! go! go! go! go! go! go! go! go! go! go!)
Oo, Ee, Oo, Ah Ah, Ting Tang, Walla Walla, Bing Bang,
(go! go! go! go! go! go! go! go! go! go! go! go!)
Oo, Ee, Oo, Ah Ah, Ting Tang, Walla Walla, Bing Bang!
We all finished the verse and struck a pose. I was leaning on my right with my arms crossed. With every cheer was a new wave of pride and happiness. But, there was just one opinion I needed out of everyone. I looked over to Dave, seeing Theodore follow in suit. He was smiling and giving us a thumbs up. Theo looked to me and we were thinking the same thing. We began making moves to hype up the crowd. The DJ encouraged people to dance while our cover of Funky Town played in the background. After our performance, we were told to spend some time signing things and getting pictures. We met face after face, giving CD after CD, cameras flashing when a familiar face appeared in the crowd.
"Hey guys! Mind if I grab a few pics?"
Dave shot up in surprise. "Clare! Uh, not at all, fire away!". Knowing this meant something to Dave, I put on my best grin. "Great! Got a new assignment. I'm covering your rise to fame" she said, looking at him. Oh yeah, she wants him. "A-hem!" I cleared my throat. "Oh, this is Alvin, Simon, and Theodore" he introduced us. My brothers said hi, while I stayed quiet. Wonder if she remembers her bad date. "Forgot you guys haven't officially met yet". Way to give a reminder. I gave him a look. He gave me one back. She angled the camera at us. Simon's head was below mine to my left while Theodore's was to my bottom right. I put bunny ears over their heads. 'Hah! They won't know what hit them!' I thought. She laughed and my grin grew wider.
"So Dave, I'm sorry about that night…" she started. I began to ignore them at that point. Until she said "Look at you now! You've got the career, fame, kids: you're like a family!".
"Don't say 'family' in front of Dave! It gives him gas! Like, clear-the-room gas!" I said, plugging my nose.
"Does not!" he argued.
"He doesn't want a family" Theo half mumbled and half complained.
"Hey, why don't you guys go play, or raid the dessert table, or something" Dave cut, trying to change the subject. I waved my hand, dismissing him. "Don't take it personally, guys. Some people don't know a good thing when they've got it. Right Dave?" Clare said, winking at us before standing, giving Dave a look, and walking away. Dave stood back up and called to her, but gave up. I rolled my eyes before looking at Simon. He had a similar look. I leaned into him and he instinctively wrapped an arm around me.
I laughed before saying "No offense big guy: you suck at this". I could feel Simon slowly shaking his head too.
We decided after she left to follow Dave's suggestion: raid the dessert table. We thought packaged cookies were good: this? This was something three months ago we could never imagine. "Has anyone tried these chocolate meatballs?" Theo muffled. "I'll probably go into insulin shock...but it's worth it!" my mate replied. I hadn't eaten yet. I was just taking a real moment to compare where we used to be, to where we are now. No more crowded trees, no more fighting against other animals, no more cold hands or feet, no more worrying about having enough food...we were happy. I smiled as Simon dug into a green-frosted dessert while Theo dug into a yellow one. 'Ok, enough mush. Let's eat! Now, what to start with?' I thought looking around.
"Oh, a sweet, sweet molasses meal!" I said, climbing a spinning tower with fruit desserts. Ian walked up behind me. "Hey Al-ster! Love the song bro, up top!" he said, holding a hand up for me to high five. "Sup, playah!" I replied, hitting that high five. I brushed some crumbs off my shoulder as he spun the dish slowly. "See you're enjoying my little spread. Wait, what am I talking about, you probably eat like this all the time". Not true. I wish, but "Well, Dave says he doesn't want to spoil us" I thought outloud.
"Dude, you're a rockstar! You're supposed to be spoiled!" also not what Dave says.
"I mean, you should be riding in limousines, private planes, and you should be going to parties like this every night!"
"Really? Because Dave says we need our sleep" I replied.
"Look, this is hard to say: Dave's holding you back. I could be making you 20 large a day!" huh?
"Hm...is that a lot?"
"Yes. And, there's something else. No, you know what, I'm not gonna-ok I'll tell you! Behind your backs, Dave calls you…" he leaned in closer "...the rats" my eyes widened in surprise. And probably hurt. "Rats?" I replied, hoping I heard wrong. "Yeah, well…" I didn't really hear what else he said, looking down, trying not to cry. I blinked a few times. "...I mean, me? I consider you boys family" Ian said. I wasn't sure how long I ignored him, but it couldn't have been long. "If there's anything you need -anything at all- just give your uncle Ian a call, alright?" he soothed, kissing both my cheeks. I laughed nervously, hoping he didn't see me on the verge of tears. As he walked away, I wiped my eyes.
Simon hopped up to me and sniffed my cheeks. Even if he's our uncle, I don't think he liked him kissing my cheeks. Despite the fact he was covered in green frosting, I accepted his hug.
"Come on pal! You drive like my grandmother! Get a wheelchair! MOVE OVER!" I screamed.
Simon said something behind me before he called my name. "Alvin!"
"Can't help ya Si! I'm about to take the lead here!" I cried.
A week had passed since the party, and I felt kind of distant from Dave. Theo was in the kitchen, digging into the gift basket Uncle Ian gave with all our new toys. I was playing with the racing game while Simon was messing with some balloons. I heard Dave walk through the door, but paid little mind to it. What I did pay attention to was when Simon introduced the maid Uncle Ian hired for us.
"Uncle Ian hired us a housekeeper. She's also a misuse" I heard him pur out loud.
"I heard that Simon! Watch it!" I called behind me. I could also hear his chuckle.
"Come on! Move it or lose it pal! Get in the slow lane! Road hog!"
"Where'd you get that game?" Dave asked me.
"Uh, Uncle Ian. MOVE IT! Get some training wheels!"
That's when Dave walked over to the TV and shut it off. I threw off my hood. "What are you doing? I was about to beat my high score!" I complained. "Too bad. Where's Theodore?" I crossed my arms and glared at him as Theo perked up in the kitchen. I hopped onto the couch as he brought the whole basket Theodore was in. "Ok, meeting now!" he ordered. He sent our maid into another room. While Dave was about to rant, one of Simon's balloons fell near me. I grabbed it, knowing it was full of helium. While he started to talk about how hard our adjustment has been, I began breathing in some of the helium.
"...from a tree somewhere, and now you're…"
"Major rock stars!" I said, my voice now human sounding and low. My brothers jumped but tried not to laugh.
"Ok..whatever, but now that you're…"
"Major rock stars!" I said again, leaning on my knee. Dave made a grab for my balloon, but I let it go. We waited until all the helium was wasted before we continued.
"Doesn't mean you can have or do whatever you want!" He yelled.
"Well, Uncle Ian says we should always be happy" Simon replied.
"You know what? He's not your Uncle!" he argued, taking down the tangled balloons.
"He also, David, said we should be making $20 a day!" I said, feeling smug.
"Well, you know what, you're making way more than that! And because I care, I'm putting it all away for you guys! Just like storing nuts for the winter"
"Ah, winter's for losers!" I snapped. Simon set a hand on my back to calm me down. He knows how riled up I can get.
"Yeah, and shouldn't we have a say in how to build our investment portfolio?" he asked. Truthfully, I didn't know what that meant, but I still agreed. We might be young in the eyes of, well, everyone, but we spent 9 years in the wild. If there's one thing we enjoyed about it, was freedom.
"Where is all this coming from? You guys are just kids!"
"Kids Dave? Or Rats?!" I snapped back at him. Simon crossed his arms next to me. He knows how much that hurts me. At this stage of our relationship too! Heck, one of the first things I said to him was a warning not to call us squirrels. Theo decided to barge in between us. "Well, Uncle Ian says we're family!"
"Well, if you love 'uncle Ian' so much, and don't think I'm looking out for you, WHY DON'T YOU GO LIVE WITH HIM?!" he shouted.
Dave hasn't yelled at us like that ever. I flinched back and froze. I heard him slam his bedroom door, but still didn't move. 'Does he...not like us anymore?' I looked to my mate, who looked just as hurt as me. Maybe we did take it too far. He has been taking care of us. Guilt rushed through me. We should apologize.
Theo woke us up in the middle of the night. "I found this under his bed. I think...I think it's for us…" he said. Simon turned on the light near us as he began to read it. "Dear fellas, I'm sorry but...you should go back to your home in the forest…" the feeling of tears hit me harder than I was expecting. "I guess...he really does want us to go…" I looked to my mate. He looked upset for a second before he saw me. He then dropped his end of the letter and pulled me into a hug. I couldn't stop the silent tears from falling. Theo joined us, snifflinf every now and then. "No" Simon said. I turned my head to look at him. "We aren't going back to the forest. Not again. We should...we should call Uncle Ian". I nodded with the decision. He seemed to care enough about us.
By morning, we had our small things packed in some small suitcases Dave got us. We told Dave we understood he wanted us to go, and that Uncle Ian was coming to get us. It was probably the first quiet morning any of us had in awhile. Dave was quiet, but let us go. He watched over us as we left, and I couldn't look at him, afraid I would cry again. Simon sensed my sullen mood and let me lay down in his lap. "Well, if Dave thinks he'll be better off without us, maybe we will too. We should look on the bright side" he soothed. I nodded. Even if Dave doesn't want us, I still have my mate and my baby brother. I sat back up and hugged them both. "You're right Si. Maybe this will be better for us".
The ride was relatively quiet until we arrived back at Uncle Ian's mansion. Memories of when we first sang to Ian popped up, but I pushed them back. We grabbed our stuff and followed Ian to the door.
"Boys: Welcome to your new home" he said. Someone opened the door from the inside, and all I could see was the mounds of new toys everywhere. While it was a distraction, I felt instantly better. "Oh yeah! Daddy's home!" I said.
"Can we play with all this stuff?!" Theo cheered excitedly. I was half waiting for him to answer, and half still looking around in amazement.
"Sure, why not? It's your house" he replied, sounding totally chill.
I was still looking around, deciding what to play with first when Simon brought up rules. 'Gee, way to kill the mood'.
"Oh, I do have one rule: that there are NO Rules!"
I cheered! The amount of stuff I could break! Oh, this is going to be great!
The first thing I set up was my tiny guitar on a human sized speaker. I played a chord and my brothers flew off the couch. The entire house shook!
Simon was setting up some sort of tennis ball shooter from what I could tell. He told me and Theo to come see what he was doing. We had signs made to hold up when he does his 'thing'. Whatever that was. I watched as he swung in and was literally shot into the air! I lost sight of him at one point! That's when he belly flopped into the pool. Me and Theo clapped, and held up our signs. Theo had a 10. I had a 7.5 with some hearts on it. Ian had a dollar sign. Ha.
"wh-a! Wh-a! Prepare to taste the fury of my vengeance!"
"Ha, ha, ha! Don't make me laugh!"
My brothers were jumping on a trampoline and doing kung fu.
"Pray for a quick demise young chipmunk!" my mate said. Both were unaware of my skill as I snuck around without them noticing. I was slowly moving to some Nerf shooters. Or whatever they were. "Ha! He! Who!" I cried, jumping on each of them. One flew in between my brothers. The other two hit a housekeeper with our milkshakes.
They prepared to fight me, but I reloaded and shot them again.
"Yo kung fu is no match for my rockets! HEEYYAH!" I said, while doing moves of my own. Suddenly I heard a sort of growling.
"Sneak attack!" my mate shouted in his fake low voice, remote controlling a car with Theo on it. I saw a rope attached to it and barely jumped off the falling table. I fell on my stomach with an 'oof!' before shooting up and trying to take the remote from my mate. "Hey, give me that!" I cried, starting a ferocious game of Tug-o-War between us two.
"You had a turn!"
"Who says you even get a turn?!"
"Give me that four eyes!"
"Try and take it, shortie!"
"Let me have it!"
"Get your grimy paws off it!" he jerked me to the ground.
"I want it!"
"Scram!"
We argued at the window, but completely forgot Theo was on the car. It drove by the window, Theo screaming wildly. We looked at each other. "Uh oh". I took the remote, secretly smiling, and we ran to the door. Too late because halfway there, Theo and the toy car flew over us and crashed into a table. We ran over there, freaking out. "Why didn't the airbags deploy?!" I asked, trying to spot any green. "Theodore! Don't go into the light!" My brother said. That's when Theo climbed out from behind the car.
His eyes spun for a second before he cheered "Let's do it again!"
"Awesome!"
Before we could, Uncle Ian walked up behind us. "Playing hard?" We all cheered before hopping into his piano. "Good. Because tomorrow, you start working hard. Coast to coast in five days" he said. "Well, Dave says touring is no life for a kid" Theo piped in. I looked at Ian, seeing what he had to say about it. "For a normal kid. You guys are super stars!" I began to pretend to play a guitar. "Which reminds me: Simon, let's get rid of those boring glasses, and try on these super cool, in-the-now glasses". That gave me a weird feeling, when he took my mate's sight from him. I didn't like it.
"Oh my..oh!" he said, looking speechless when he put on a smaller version of his glasses on Simon.
"These would be great if I could see out of them" That made my weird feeling get worse. I didn't like that Ian just took my mate's sight from him. "Your eyes will adjust". Ian's dismissal made me feel even worse. I walked over and grabbed his arm. The glasses looked nice, but they didn't suit him. "Oh yeah, and can you two lovebirds keep the PDA down in public? Don't need the world giving you boys a hard time, now do we?" he also said. I felt a little hurt that he didn't want me and Simon to act like ourselves in public. "But, we always act like mates. Public or not!" I argued.
"Hey, I'm not telling you guys you can't be together. I honestly don't care who you like. I'm just saying there are some people out there who would be mean to you two if they found out that you guys are a couple while also brothers. You hear me?" I gave Simon a look, he couldn't see me back, but he also looked at me. "Al..alright Uncle Ian" I said. He smiled. "Good boys. Now, let's hit the road!" Theodore cheered and hopped down. I helped Simon down, but called shotgun. Ian's just looking out for us. But, why did it all feel so wrong?