PART III

The past week has been, in a word? AWESOME! We've been literally EVERYWHERE! We got to see the Atlantic ocean in New York, meet the crowds of Chicago, go down to Miami and enjoy some tropics, and anywhere else you can think of! Everyday we either got new photos taken of us, or recorded our new songs. I haven't really been into the songs that much, but Ian says it's what the people wanted, so I put up with it. Simon's eyes never adjusted to his new glasses. So it was no different than before we met Dave, where only I was initiating things. Even though Simon earned his role as the dominant one. I didn't like it anymore.

Right now the three of us are dead on our feet. We were helping to film some sort of animal food for some of our sponsors. I wasn't sure when we started recording, but I do remember when Ian blew an air horn to wake us up. I flew back, and looked for who was attacking. But no one was. I really needed a nap. We tried a couple more times before the directors finally told us we weren't 'into it' enough, and asked to reschedule. I was excited to go home and take a nap, but Ian told us previously we had to record a new song. I just yawned in response and laid my head on Simon's shoulder. Maybe I can catch a wink of sleep before we get there.

There was no way that was an hour already! I feel like I was asleep for only five minutes! Simon tightened his arm around me, and gave me a worried look. Years in the woods without sight, he could tell when I wasn't myself. I pressed my head to his in a 'I'm alright' sign. In truth, I felt like I could sleep for days and not get enough. Maybe hibernation has been playing with us as well. Ian snapped at us, saying something about PDA again. Me and Simon separated. It feels like we're being driven apart. When was the last time we even got to kiss? I don't know, time's all wonky because of how tired we are.

We were thrown the new music, once again not us at all, and we began to sing it.

Don't stop, get it, get it,

Drop it like it's what you're made of!

Bring it back and,

"Doon't stooop, get it, geeet it…" I yawned, slurring off the last verse. It had gone blurry on the paper. I could barely keep my eyes open. I felt something on my back, then a weight that was leaning on me. I threw my arm on Theodore's back to, hopefully stabilize myself. Didn't work. Slowly the weight brought me down with it, and I fell on top of Theodore. My body called itself off at that point.

How long we slept must have been longer than the car ride here, because I wasn't as drowsy when Ian walked through the door, three brown drinks in his hand. "...guys, guess what Uncle Ian brought you! Coffee!" he said. I blinked a little as Theo threw me off his back. "I love toffee!" he said. I sniffed a little. It smelled sweet. I heard more than I saw Simon stretch behind me. I rubbed an eye as he lifted me up on my two feet. "It's coffee Theodore. Coffee. It's like a super cool, energy health drink with caramel, whipped cream, and two pumps of chocolate. Enjoy" he said as he set each of the large drinks in front of us. I shoved Theodore away from mine. When he left, all three of us hopped on the top and began drinking.

It was the best drink I think I've ever had! The coffee was weird at first, but the chocolate, caramel, and whipped cream helped it. I didn't even finish it before the largest rush of energy hit my system. It was kind of scary how fast my heart began to beat, along with how shaky my body was getting. Unable to hold still, I shot forward onto the bar attached to the microphone and began swinging on it. "HERE WE GO!" I was talking so fast about not needing sleep, I don't even know what I said! I spun so fast around the bar that I lost grip and slammed into the glass in front of me. I didn't even feel it. I saw Ian face palm as I slid off. Theodore was jumping up like 7 feet at a time, repeatedly saying 'Toffee', while Simon was running on the walls.

I decided to join him. "WHOO!ICAN'TREMEMBERTHELASTTIMEIHADTHISMUCHENERGY!" I screamed. I was moving faster than my mate. I couldn't tell what was up, and what was down. I did know when I ran into Theodore, then us flying into Simon, and finally hitting the floor. I think the coffee was dying down. I didn't have the need to run on the walls anymore, but I was still shaking with energy. I just began doing flips and cartwheels, singing some weird song I came up with on the spot. I sounded like I was two again. "Ok boys, clearly Uncle Ian gave you too much energy. So…" Ian said while walking in. Simon grabbed me, and held me still against his back. But I just couldn't sit still. "...I'm going to take you to a nearby park for a couple minutes, so you can burn off some of that energy, ok?".

Simon and Theo said yes, while I broke free and ran ahead. They followed shortly after. I did some parkour on the way there, unable to wait. When we got there, Ian sat on his park bench and instantly fell asleep with his magazine on his face. The three of us were left to our own devices. Theodore met some kids who wanted to play with him, and left to go over there. With how he was naturally slower as a chipmunk, he was equally matched with those six year olds. I was just about ready to start a high speed game of tag with my mate, when he threw me on his shoulder and ran us into a nearby tree. I was squealing all the way. It's been forever since me and him had some time alone. Mating on it's own was it's own breed, but while chocked full of caffeine? I was about to find out how much of a new beast that was.

Simon slammed me into the back of the tree. I still didn't feel that. His glasses were long gone, and he was laying sloppy kisses all over me. I was half moaning, half giggling the whole time. I gripped the fur on the back of his head and neck as I pulled him into just as sloppy of a kiss. If we didn't need our hoodies for later, I'm sure Simon would have torn it in half to get to me. He lifted me up by my butt, and grinded our bodies together. I have missed this beyond anything in the world.

Once the caffeine wore off, I began to feel all the injuries I didn't before. The bruise on the back of my head from when Simon slammed me into the back of the tree, the stinging of my cheek from when I flew into the glass back at the studio, and all the pain of over-mating. 'Overdid it' was a massive underestimate. I was still shaking from the exertion of mating. How much we mated in that short amount of time, I don't think either of us really knew. But I did know that everything hurt! "Si?" I whispered. He licked my cheek. "Hmm?". I hissed as I turned onto my side. "Remind me to never mate while on caffeine again". He sat up in alarm. "Oh gosh, Alvin, did I…" I pecked his lips to calm him. "Relax. You didn't hurt me. We just overdid it. I think…". My previous exhaustion began to come back tenfold.

My mate relaxed as I said this, but guilt was still clear on his face. "Hey, if you were hurting me, I would have made it well known to you. And probably everyone out there" I mumbled on his chest. He seemed to accept that comment, and kiss my cheek. "I suppose a little nap couldn't hurt" he mumbled with me. Just as I was about to fall back asleep, I heard outside "Boys! We need to get back to the studio!". Me and my mate shared a collective groan. We needed to sleep. That coffee didn't do much to help us. While Ian wasn't looking, me and Simon climbed out of the tree, fully dressed again. The tree got really warm from the two of us in there, and coming outside to the winter air woke us up. I shook the chills from my body.

Simon wrapped his arm around me and pulled me into his body. Right now he had one of his cases where he was really warm instead of cold. I took advantage of that. "Oh, there you boys are! Me and little Theodore were just getting worried". One look at our baby brother, and you could tell he spent most of his energy too. Maybe Dave was right. Maybe this isn't a life for a kid.

Can't stop, don't me, gonna get punk'd!

Hey, hey, hey!

Come and get Munk'd with the Chipmunks.

What, what?

Come and get Munk'd with the Munks!

Let me hear you say!

Come and get Munk'd with the Chipmunks.

What, what?

Come and get Munk'd with the Munks!

Go, go!

Come and get…

"Hey, hey, stop!" Ian said, walking into our rehearsal. I huffed in air, feeling ridiculous in these silver fur. "Come on guys! We need more energy, more dry ice, more WOW! We're the CHIPMUNKS for crying out loud!" He boomed to us all. I hopped forward, still catching my breath. "This is absurd! I feel like P-Diddy with fur!" I said, grabbing the silver jacket. "And to be fair, these new songs don't really sound like...us" Simon said behind me. So he noticed that too. "Well, do you know what I think? I think the new direction is perfect! It's all about 'today's edge'". Theo, still catching his breath, decided to quote Dave again. "Well, Dave said it was all about the music". Ian did not like that.

"Dave always said ble ble ble, well you know what?! Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave's not here! Ok? It's me! Cool Uncle Ian!" Me and my mate shared a look. I don't think either of us though he was really 'cool' anymore. He doesn't take care of us, not like Dave did. He just gives us whatever we want, and expects us to do as he says. Ian went away to talk to a dancer while I turned to look at my brothers. This wasn't good for us. All the work, the lack of sleep, the constant busy schedule. We needed a break, but he wouldn't give us one. But there also wasn't anywhere for us to go. Simon was talking to Theodore as I saw Ian walk off on the phone. I followed him to see who he was talking to.

It sounded almost like he was talking to Dave. When he got off the phone, I decided to ask. I really hope it was; I miss him. A lot. "Uh, Ian. Was that...Dave?" I asked, not realizing how hopeful it sounded when it came out. He slowly stepped back to me. "Uhh, yes. Yes it was. He just wanted to let you know that he's happy; he's doing great, and he's really, really happy". I barely noticed my brothers jumping up behind me within my cloud of disappointment. Theo almost knocked me on the drum when he hopped forward. Simon caught me, as I fell back. "And, is he coming to the show?" Theo asked, just as hopefully. I stared at him, this moment about to make or break me. "You know what? Here's the thing: I sent him tickets, and he sent them back! Yeah, I guess he's busy and all". I whimpered quietly as I looked down. Not quiet enough for Simon not to hear me though. He rubbed his head on mine.

"Hey, what's with the long, furry faces? We're gonna have fun! A nice, big show!". I bit my lip, hoping it would stop trembling. "Tell you what, you like deep tissue massage? I know a guy. Let me call my guy". Somehow that didn't make me feel better. He got us a massage before, and it made me uncomfortable. The only person I like touching me like that was Simon. He was annoyed for days that he couldn't get the massager's scent off me. Ian wouldn't let us get close like that to each other. At the mention of a massage, Simon held me closer. Ian was already gone, so we couldn't tell him otherwise.

We were finally back 'home' for the first time in weeks. It was nice having my own room, but there was too much privacy. I'm so used to cuddling up with Simon, Theodore right next to me. That's how we spent winters in the woods, and it was too lonely sleeping like that. I took off the covers of my custom red blanket, and hopped off the human sized bed. Looking through the hall, I didn't see anyone. I began to creep my way across the hall to where my mate's room was. I snuck in and saw him jerk up. Doesn't look like he could sleep either. "Alvin?" he called out quietly. I ran over to his bed and hopped on. He didn't move, but waited for me to come over. "I couldn't sleep. It's too...lonely on my own" I told him. He nodded, seeming to know how I felt. He opened his arms for me.

That simple gesture gave me that butterfly feeling in my stomach. I came closer to him and got under his custom blue comforter. He wrapped his arms around me and laid us back. "Yeah. This is better" he mumbled, holding me close. He began licking me. My guess is because I smelt like the newest massager Ian hired for us. I just let him do his thing, basking in the warmth only Simon could give. It wasn't long before Theodore snuck in our room as well. "I had a nightmare. Ian wouldn't let me sleep with him" he said. I could tell he was crestfallen. "Why don't we all go out and get some air?" Simon said. I liked the idea. This place wasn't home. Sure the toys and space were nice, but it wasn't...us. I nodded. But something didn't feel right as I watched Simon put on his mock glasses.

"You guys head out. I wanna grab something real quick" I said. Simon nodded, and took Theo out his window, to the roof. I ran downstairs into the kitchen. I hopped on an island that had a few drawers on it. I opened a few until I found what I was looking for. Simon's old glasses. The ones he could see out of. They were a little bent in the middle, but I fixed that really quick. I put them in my hoodie as I made my way to the roof, where my brothers were. Simon got up to greet me. "What were you going to get?".

I didn't answer. I just took off his mock glasses, and threw them over the side of the building. I could faintly hear them break at the bottom. Pulling out his real glasses, I put them on his face, cupping his cheek after. I watched as his eyes de-glazed, and he focused on me. I smiled sadly. "There. That's better" I said. He set his forehead on mine, holding my hands. Not letting go of his right hand, we walked over to where Theo was sulking. I looked up at the sky as we sat down. I noticed Simon looking at everything slowly. I suppose he never got a good look at the night sky before. I set my head on his shoulder. But just as quickly jerked it back up when Theo spoke to us. "Guys? I wanna go home". Tears flashed my eyes when he said 'Home'. I did too. But we're supposed to be home. Here.

"What do you mean? You are home" Simon said, his voice breaking at first. He set a paw on Theo's shoulder, but Theo shoved it off. "No! I mean, home home. You know! With Dave…" he said softly. I took a shaky breath, hating how difficult life was right now. "B..but Theodore! Come on! Wake up and smell the toffee! Dave...doesn't even...want us" I admitted. I blinked my eyes, trying not to cry. Simon held me closer and tried to hush me. "He doesn't even want to come to our show…" The three of us just held each other. We all wanted to go back. But Dave didn't want us, so we had nowhere to go. Simon kissed my head and laid his on top of mine. I just wanted to go home.

We each had a turn trying to sing while the doctor put a Popsicle stick on our tongues. If we were supposed to be singing stars, no one would have been able to tell with how spent our voices were. Talking hurt sometimes from how strained my voice was. I think my brothers were the same. Simon coughed when he tried singing, and Theo sounded like a choking bird. "You three sound like you've been gargling nails" the doctor said. She was nice. I sat down, feeling tired again. None of us slept well last night. Again. "Well Doctor? Is it bad?" I asked. She smiled and scratched the back of my head. "No, not now at least. You three just need a long break". I smiled tiredly. I could agree with that. She walked out of the room to talk with Ian.

I coughed a little, my voice stinging. I decided to do something other than sit here, so I went over to the mirror and played around with my look. Simon was checking out Theodore's throat when Ian walked in, knocking after he opened the door. "Knock knock!" he announced. "So guys, I just talked to the doctor, and I don't feel right sending you out like this" he said, shaking his head. "So, are you going to cancel the show?" Theo asked. I looked at him through the mirror. "No. No, then I'd have to give everyone their money back. No, what I'm talking about is having you guys lip sing!" he said.

I turned around to look at him this time. "Isn't that like cheating?" Simon said. I'm surprised Ian hasn't noticed his old glasses yet. Goes to show how much he pays attention to us. Ian fixed his jacket as he argued why it wasn't like cheating. I fixed some of the fur on my head as he said this was like 'helping'. "Yeah, all the superstars do it" he went on. "You just need to make sure you mouth the words exactly like we recorded them. Otherwise people will know".

"That we're cheating" Simon finished.

"No!" Ian said after inhaling greatly.

While I didn't like it as much as they did, what else were we supposed to do? "Guys, what other choice do we have?" I said to them, hopping onto the chair in front of me. "See, that's the spirit! That's why he's the one with the letter". That I didn't like. But at this point, I just wanted him to leave. He told us to tighten up, mouth the words, and ended with a false "I love you" before closing the door. I sighed. This just kept getting worse and worse. Simon looked at me with his arms crossed. "What?"

"Yeah, thanks for sticking up for us" he snapped.

I ran a hand through my hair. "Look, I just wanted him out of here. Can you blame me?". Simon's look softened after a moment, and he walked over to me. He pressed his face to mine. This was a very intimate gesture for us chipmunks. It stands for love and care, and means that he's here. "No. I can't. Let's just get this over with" He mumbled, pulling away. I nodded as he fixed my hair. I looked over at Theodore. He had a soft smile on his face. "Man, I can't wait to have a mate" he said. We all laughed. Then coughed.

You know you got it made when you drop an Escalade

For the drop top, iced out, rocks hot

Dropping dollars, ladies holler, hey

Gotta get that cream

You know you got it made when they setting a parade

When you drop down, write a cheque in town

All just for one day

Gotta get that cream

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"

(Whoa, don't you know that's how they roll?)

"Roll! Roll! Roll!"

(Can you get down with the)

Funk, funk, funk of the chipmunks

"Baby, you know"

Funk, funk, funk of the chipmunks

How we roll

Funk, funk, funk of the chipmunks

"Baby, you know"

Funk, funk, funk of the chipmunks

"How we roll"

How we roll,

"Come on, can you feel it?"

How we roll,

"Yeah, yeah come on"

"Here's Theodore!"

You know you're here to stay when you're always getting paid

And you don't stop, never, no, it won't stop

No matter what they say

Gotta live the dream, Kick it Simon!

You know you're here to stay when you hear they think you hit

'Cause we gots its, everybody fetch it

Got nothing to say

So we live the dream

"Whoa! Whoa! Who!"

(Whoa, don't you know that's how they roll?)

"Roll! Roll! Roll!"

(Can you get down with the)

Funk, funk, funk of the chipmunks

"Baby, you know"

Funk, funk, funk of the chipmunks

"How we roll"

Funk, funk, funk of the chipmunks

"Baby, you know"

Funk, funk, funk of the chipmunks

"How we roll"

How we roll,

"Come on, can you feel it?"

How we roll,

"Yeah, yeah, come on!"

"Break it down now..."

Oh, ohhh, haaa, ohhh, oh, ohhh, haaa, oh, ohhh

"Whoa-oh-ooo-whoa-oh-oo-whoa-oh-oh!

Oh-oo-oh-whoa-oo-ooo!

Whoa-oh-ooo-whoa-oh-ooo!

Baby, it's how we roll!"

"ALVIIIIN!" I heard from the crowd as I lip sang. I jumped in shock, ignoring the fact I was supposed to be pretending to sing, and turned around to look for the owner of that voice. When I spotted Dave, I was beyond elated. "DAVE!" I cheered. Simon and Theodore must have hear him too because they were right behind me. I pointed him out them. "He's here!", "It's Dave!" they said. I thought for a second. The lip singing, the lack of sleep, our exhausted voices. I was done with Ian. I wanted to go home.

So I got rid of the microphone set on my head, and threw them off with joy! "WHOOO!" I began to wave at him. The crowd noticed and began booing. I honestly didn't care if everyone thought we were frauds, I wanted to go home. I began to tear off my ridiculous silver outfit. It made me too overheated. "Alvin! What are you doing?!" Simon cried as I stripped down in front of everyone. "I am sending a message to our dear, old Uncle Ian!" I said crossing my arms. Simon smiled and started to tear off his outfit. "Sounds like a plan to me!" Theo followed next. "Me too!". My brothers leaned into me as the crowd 'booed'. I looked on proud for a second before I thought of reaking some havoc. "Come on guys!" I cried, jumping out of my stupid shoes.

I jumped onto one of the cameras, and hung upside down. "Hey Ian! Kiss my furry cheeks!" I said into the speaker. I hopped off with another cheer. I could hear Simon messing with the pianos and Theodore with the drums. Simon then went to the three women at the microphone. Me and Theo followed him. "Are you ready to ROCK!" he said, saying 'rock' into the microphone. We all jumped on the stands, lowering the mics down. "Turn it up girls!" I heard my mate say. "I can still hear you Simon!" I said with a smile. He blew me a kiss. I stuck my tongue out at him. After that, we played around with the dancers.

"Alvin! Simon! Theodore!" We heard Dave at the stage. "Come on guys, we're go home!" he said. We all skidded to a stop to listen. "I like that plan!" I said. We tried to run forward, but the curtain fell in front of us. Simon snapped an arm out in front of me to stop me from getting stuck under the weight of the curtain. We heard from our left Ian shout "Get them!". I watched as some large guys with yellow shirts charged us. "Look out!" I cried, running in one direction. "RUN!" I cried again, narrowly missing a guy who dived at me. I hopped onto a light stand with multiple lights. This one guy kept trying to grab me at each light. "Einiey, Miniy, Miniey, Moe, Miss a chipmunk, cause you're slow!" I said as he tried to whack me off with a mic stand. I stopped at the very top light and shined it right on your eyes. "Yippy ki yay Mama sita!". I laughed as I got away.

I saw Theo rolling a drum into one guy who was chasing him. And Simon lured the guy chasing him to a spot where a heavy bag fell on his head. That's when Dave showed up. Followed closely by two guards, but he was there, and that's all that mattered to me. "Dave!" We all cried, me skidding to a halt next to my brothers. I was about to run over to him, but a sharp pain emerged from my tail. "Ouch!" All three of us said. I looked back to see a foot stepping on my tail. I looked up and saw Ian. He picked us up, his grip on my tail like iron. "Hey! Put us down!". We all fought our hardest as he tried to put us in...a cage! "You boys better study your french, because we're going to Paris!".

"Oh come on, I just had my tail redone!" I shouted, trying to throw him off. Did nothing. He finally just shoved us in there, causing me to scream a little from the force. Simon was on me in a second, seeing if I was hurt. I held my tail, it possessing a thudding pain, but I pushed it aside. It wasn't seriously hurt. "Hey! Let us out of here!" I cried over and over. It was no use. I groaned. We were so close! So close to going home. I should have seen this coming, of course Ian didn't actually care about us! He was just using us for money. I banged on the bar once as the security guy set our cage down. Simon was looking at my tail. After the security guy left, I jumped on the bars and shouted "YOU'LL NEVER TAKE US ALIVE!".

Simon pulled me off. "They just did take us alive Alvin" he snapped. I groaned, feeling no better about our situation. "It's a figure of speech Simon! Instead of criticizing me, why not use your big brain to think of a way out!" I snapped. He rolled his eyes and pecked my lips. "Dear brother, what 'smart one' would I be if I didn't know how to get us out of here?" I raised an eyebrow. He adjusted his glasses, and stuck his arms out of the cage, messing with something. That's when we all hear a click, and the door opened up. "Wow, cool!" Theodore commented. I jumped out after they did, but as they went into the dressing room for their hoodies, I looked down at the fake chipmunk dolls I was standing on. Ian wants some talking chipmunks? Fine, he can have these ones! I stuffed three in there and closed the cage.

That's when I followed my brothers into the dressing room. Simon was holding my hoodie, looking for me. He almost instantly spotted me when I came in. When I finally had my hoodie on, Simon pressed his lips to mine. I melted into the kiss. When we pulled apart, he pressed his face to mine, for the second time today. "We're going home". I nodded. "Uh, guys? Not that it's not a cute moment, but we'll miss Dave if we don't hurry" Theo said. I looked back at Simon for a second. His grin matched mine as we ran out the back, and into the parking lot. It was still cold out, it being January, but it didn't take long to find Dave's old, red car.

"Guys!" Theo cried. One of the windows were down just enough for us to fit in. Theo had a little trouble, but still got in. I pulled my brothers in for a group hug. We were going home. To our real home. "Come on guys, let's surprise him!" I whispered, hopping into the back of the car. Seconds later, Dave shot into the car and sped off. I heard him mumbling "come on, come on" and struggled not to laugh. I nodded to Simon and Theodore. We hopped onto the table next to him. "Step on it Dave! You're losing 'em!" I said, giving some of my driving experience. He slowly looked at us, and I shot him an excited grin. He instantly stepped on the breaks, causing all three of us to fall forward. We got back up again, just as quickly though.

He looked amazed, but was smiling nonetheless. "How...how did you guys…." he said, pointing back. "We're talking chipmunks Dave. We can get out of a cat-carrier. It's not even hard to do" Simon explained. I gave him a smug look. He silently laughed. "You came back for us!" Theo exclaimed in his own wonder. I dropped my smug look, and looked at him with my own wonder. "Well...of course I came back, we're a family!" he replied. We all gasped. "Holy nuts!" I exclaimed. "What?" he asked in confusion. "Um, am I going crazy, or did he just say family?" I asked my brothers. They all looked excited. Dave seemed to drop some sort of face. "I know, but…..I...really missed you guys" he said. "I missed you too Dave!" Theodore said, breaking out of our small group to hug him.

Simon followed suit, softly agreeing. Then I was suddenly the last on left on the seat. "So did Alvin. He's just...too cool to admit it" Simon said, giving me a look. "Yeah, too macho" Theo followed. They all looked at me, and it was suddenly 10 times harder to say something. I faked a cough. "M..missed you too!" I coughed into my arm. "Ugh, sorry. Had some sentimentality in my throat" I said, clearing my throat. I tried again, but my voice broke. Stupid throat. "Well, I..hey! Who are you to judge me! I missed Dave! I'll scream it from the rooftops! I Love you Dave!" I said. 'Smooth Alvin. Real smooth'. Simon was silently chuckling, and Theodore was shaking his head.

Dave had a look of his own. "Come here" he said. I climbed up onto his chest. That's when I realized how close I was to an actual steering wheel. "Hey Dave?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow in response. "Now can I steer? Oh, please, please, please?" His face went flat and he looked straight forward. "Oh, I've always wanted to work the windshield wipers!" Simon commented. "Oh, can I beep the horn?" Theo added. Dave just smiled and gestured forward. "Have at it boys". I jumped onto the wheel, slipping once, but was fine right after. Simon messed with the wipers while Theo beeped the horn.

"I'm a good beeper!"

"Hey, save some horn for the rest of us!" Simon said.

Dave was driving too slow for my taste. "Come on Dave! Go faster!" I complained. "Not with you steering" he replied. "Dave, you drive like a sleepy, old bear!" I commented. "Ok Alvin, that's enough" he said. "Enough of what? Being awesome?" I argued. "Alvin, I said that's enough", "Look Dave, no paws! Whoohoo!" I cheered. He finally had enough and grabbed the wheel. "Ok boys, go sit down". I laughed. It was good to be back. Dave buckled us up and drove us home. Out of nowhere, a thought hit me and I began laughing. "What? What's so funny?" Dave asked. "Oh nothing. Just wondering if Ian noticed anything yet" I said between giggles. Simon and Theo laughed themselves.

When Dave opened the door to the house, I nearly cried in relief. It was clean and vacant of all our old toys. Just home. I dramatically fell onto the rug. "Remind me never to leave this house again". Simon looked down onto me. "What if we move?"

"Then you guys can leave"

"What if there's a fire?"

"Still not leaving"

"What if I told you I found someone I liked better?"

"You wouldn't!"

"Hmm, I don't know. I really liked that girl who had the blue dress on stage. I might still have her number". I growled possessively. "Why you…" I tackled him to the ground. He began laughing like mad. I finally shoved him to the ground and ran. "Hey, get back here!"

The doorbell rang, and Dave got up to get it. We had spread out a plate of toaster waffles and an unopened bottle of champagne. We knew Clare was coming over tonight. She wanted to see how we were doing. "Hi Clare!" We all said. "Hey guys" she said, just as cheerfully. Dave huffed. "Hope you like toaster waffles" he told her. Simon and Theodore pushed the bucket of ice and the champagne I was on forward. "And for us classy chipmunks, a bit o' bubbly!" I said. Clare laughed while Dave smiled. I tried to pop the cork off, but not a chipmunk's strong suit. "Come on, stupid cork! Doesn't WHOA!" I shouted as I fell back. Simon caught me, bridal style, and pecked my cheek. I didn't see what happened, but I heard some glass break.

Dave and Clare flinched back. I jumped back up. "Ha ha, o..oops?" I said nervously. Dave gave me his wide eyed look that meant he was mad. "You know what? Not going to say it" he said, calming down with a clap of his hand. "Uh oh" I said, watching as the champagne didn't stop pouring onto the floor. "Good grief" my mate said, rubbing the junction between his eyes. I saw Clare give Dave a look. "Still not gonna say it?" she questioned. Dave gave a strained smile. "Nope. Still not gonna say it". That's when there was some sparking and the power went out. Simon pulled me back on instinct. "Ok. I'm gonna say it". Dave finally gave. I braced my ears

"ALLLVIIIIN!"

"OOK!"