Sorry for being away for so long guys, I had to finish up my college work before I could find time to get this chapter done. To be honest I'm really excited about this one, since I've doing a lot of sickness-focused chapters lately, doing something with Hugs and Tugs first meeting and accepting their role as Bright Heart's adopted siblings is a real joy for me.
Enjoy the chapter!
By the time True and Bright Heart had been discharged from the hospital, shortly after his birth, the entire Kingdom of Care-A-Lot was in a flurry. After a week of letting the parents recover and get to know their newborn, an invite had been sent out for a party in their honor. A chance to introduce the newest member of the Care Bear family was something everyone was more then eager to partake in.
Almost everyone at least.
Up until this point, the youngest members of the Care Bear family had been the twin bear cubs, Hugs and Tugs. Barely in their toddler years and still in diapers, the two were the babies of the family up until this point. still very young and very inexperienced, they did not so much share the excitement for the purpose of the party, rather the fact that it was indeed a party, with the underlying promise that there would be cake and possibly presents somewhere along the lines.
The twins were sitting in a corner patiently with their main caretakers Grams, quietly playing by themselves with some toys they brought along while the other Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins chatted and mingled happily.
Suddenly, everything changed dramatically as the door opened and in came in the Founders, True Heart first, carrying an orange bundle with something inside it, and Noble Heart, holding the door open for his wife and child.
Almost immediately afterwards, everyone, including Grams, got up from where they were and rushed over to the them, leaving the twins staring at them in confusion. Their confusion soon turned to curiosity though as True Heart and her blanketed bundle were escorted to the armchair where Grams had been sitting just a minute ago. The vanilla cream bear softly sat herself down and adjusted her load in her arms. With a proud smile towards the eager audience, she slowly undid the part covering her precious treasure's face.
The room was suddenly filled with soft awws and coos from everyone presence, along with whispered compliments and congratulations towards the baby raccoon snuggled and asleep in her arms. By this point, the twins' curiosity had peaked and they got up from their toys on the floor and toddled over to one of the arms on the chair, staring confusedly at the child.
"Why is he so small?" Tugs asked, her voice at normal range, but loud for the atmosphere of the room.
"Yeah, and why is he asleep?" Hugs added. She and her brother were hanging from the height of the armchair's arm and kicking their shoes against the side of it.
A chorus of shh's erupted from the other Care Bears and Cousins, causing the twins to flinch in surprise and for little Bright Heart to wriggle in his sleep. Everyone froze and watched quietly as he squirmed for a moment before settling back down again.
"He so small because he's a baby and he's sleeping because that's what babies do," True Heart replied in a soft, quiet tone. The cubs nodded in understanding before trying to pull themselves up onto the chair's arm.
"So why is-"
"SHHH!"
Tugs and Hugs flinched again as the audience quieted them down again, placing fingers before their mouths in order to indicate that whispered tone were needed here.
"So why is he the center of attention?" Tugs asked, quieter this time, now leaning in to try and get a better look of the baby.
"Because he's the newest member of our family," Tenderheart explained, stepping up to the front of the crowd. "Whenever we have someone new join our family, we throw a party to make them feel welcomed and to introduce them to the family."
Tugs and Hugs nodded, though quickly grew confused and indignant expressions on our face.
"How come we didn't get a party when we first were introduced." Hugs asked.
"You did my little ones, you were just too young to remember it," Grams explains, coming over and picking them both up into her arms. "With Bright Heart being the newest addition to the family, you both are now the ones who are going to have to teach him and be his friend and playmate."
At the word 'playmate' both kids perked up.
"Playmate? He can be out playmate," Hugs asked, excitement rising in her voice. Even the new round of shh's didn't deter her joy.
"Can he play with us now, Grams? Huh? Huh! Can he, can he?" Tugs asked, bouncing in her arms. Grams Bear chuckled and set them carefully down on the floor.
"Soon my dear, soon. Bright Heart will need to grow a bit more before he is ready to play with you," she explained. Both cubs sighed in disappointment, but nodded in response.
As the party went on, True Heart eventually regained enough strength and passed along their child to his father in order to get around and mingle. Noble Heart took that as a sign to go around and invite the others to get a good look at his child and hold him for a while. Everyone clambered as much as they could around the horse, eager to get to see and possibly hold the newborn raccoon.
All except for the twins, who had returned to their spot on the floor with their toys. However, they paid them no heed, their attention locked onto Noble Heart, the other Care Bears and Cousins, and the baby being passed around. They frowned as they watched the infant get showered with love and affection from all of them, while they were left unlooked.
When the time came that Grams walked up to hold Bright Heart, the two felt a spark of jealously ignite in them and decided to take action. Getting up to their meet, they made their way to the group and towards Grams. Taking advantage of a nearby chair, they pulled themselves onto it, giving themselves a clear view and close proximity to both their caretaker and the baby. By now the baby was wide awake and staring in wonder at the world and the people around him.
When the young raccoon kit's eyes fell upon the twins staring beside him, he immediately squealed in delight and waved his arms and kicked his legs. Grams took notice of where he was looking and slowly brought him closer to the cubs, presenting him before them.
"Would you like to see the baby?"
The two, standing up, were at a height on the chair where they were almost at adult height, but still a little lower. At the height that Bright Heart was being held, he was slightly lower then they were.
This information is important, as so, because they were within reaching distance to the infant and the chair';s back wasn't too high or blocking their reach, the two cubs had little trouble reaching their paws over to the little kit's body.
Whereupon they immediately pinched one of his arms and his foot each.
Whereupon Bright Heart immediately started crying.
Noble Heart, who had been standing patiently next to them this entire ordeal, stepped into action once the noise returned again, part from his son crying and mostly from Grams and the other Care Bears and Cousins scolding them for pinching and causing him to cry. The twins had been painfully shocked by how loudly the baby was crying and, combined with all the scolding they were receiving, were now upon the verge of crying themselves. Fortunately, Noble Heart quickly stepped in.
"Oops, looks like Bright Heart here is crying because he needs a diaper change," he announced, trying to make his voice known among the chaos. He then focused on the twins in general, who now had quivering lips and bright, tearing eyes. He smiled warmly at them, trying to calm them down before the number of crying cubs went any higher.
"How about you two come with me and help me out?" He suggested.
While many of the others present looked shocked or appalled by the idea of these two mischievous bears doing anything more with the baby, the twins were all to eager to get out of this situation where they were being reprimanded and chastised. Scrambling down from the chair, they trailed after Noble Heart as he exited the room.
The four of them, or three plus one baby, made their way into the living room, then turned around, went up the stairs, and into the baby's room. There all the baby's furniture, including a crib, diaper-changing station, and chairs had been all set up, along with the addition of a sofa. As they entered the room, Noble Heart gestured the two to sit down on the couch. The two immediately obeyed, getting up, sitting down on the cushions, arms folded in their laps and head bent down shamefully.
Then Noble Heart, one of the two original founders of the Care Bear Family and leader of the Care Bear Cousin clan, with sniffling baby in hand, stood before the two pinching perpetrators.
"Now then, now that we're all a little bit more calm now, let's start from the beginning," he started, his voice stern, but not frightening. "Why did you both think it was a good idea to pinch the baby?"
The two squirmed uneasily under his firm stare and question. Seconds passed before Tugs decided to be the first to look up and explain.
"We- we don't really like the baby," Tugs confessed, shrinking down even more under Noble Heart's gaze.
"He's too little, he get's everybody's attention, and he's not really fun," Hugs continued, watching her thumbs twiddle in her lap.
"Yeah, and we can't play with him either. He's not very fun," Tugs added on. His head then dropped back down again.
"I see," Noble Heart said after a moment. He then stood up tall, bouncing his son in his arms to try and calm him down more. "Well, it would appear that I need to give you a little talk about babies and how you act around them. Excuse me."
With that, he walked towards the couch, the two cubs scooting over so that he could sit himself down right in-between them. Settling Bright Heart in his lap, he reached over and pulled the cubs back in close towards his lap, making sure they could see both his face and the baby alright. Bright Heart had now recovered and now was contently sucking his thumb and rocking back and forth on his little back. The twins watched in silent awe at his antics.
"You see you two, Bright Heart here is a baby, and babies can't do most of the things you can do yet. He's still too little to walk or talk or even lift his head up by himself. We need to feed him and wash him and take care of him a bit more because he is unable to do these stuff on his own," Noble Heart explained. "I know you both want to play with him, but at this age he doesn't know yet how to play and he's still learning to do things like control his emotions and understand things."
He paused and the cubs loomed up at him, eagerly awaiting his continued explanation. "Which is why he needs people like me and his mother to raise and take care of him. And he also needs Care Bears like you both as well."
"Us? Why us?" Hugs asked.
"Yeah, what can we do?" Tugs asked as well. Noble Heart smiled and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.
"You can be like his big brother and sister to him. You can show him all the things you like to do and be someone he can learn from. You can teach him all the important things that we Care Bears know and do. Now, it won't be easy being his adopted brother and sister, but I have faith that you both can step up the plate and be the best big brother and sister of all time, if you put forth the initiative to do so."
The twins solemnly looked up at him in awe, pondering his words and silently accepted them. For a moment at least, before an awful smell filled the air and their noses crinkled in disgust before it was covered by their paws.
"What is that awful smell," Hugs asked, behind her paws. Noble Heart frowned and picked up Bright Heart, still rocking about on his lap.
"Oops, looks like you really do need a diaper change buddy. Pardon me cubs," he exclaimed, before getting up and headed over to the diaper changing station. The kit squeaked and huffed with the change in place and movement, but did not cry like he did earlier.
"Alrighty then, now where is the baby powder and the diapers? Let me see..."
The cubs were still sitting on the couch, patiently waiting to him to finish what he was doing. While he muttered and looked around, their eyes fell upon to the opposite side of the room where a bag with some diapers and a bottle clearly labeled 'Baby Powder' sat unnoticed.
The two of them stared at it, then each other, then, simultaneously thinking what the other way, nodded. Keeping a paw on their nose at all times, they hopped off the couch and ran over to the bag. It was a small green one, but with one arm each it would be heavy. The twins solved this dilemma by grabbing one strap each and pulling it towards Noble Heart. The horse took notice of what they were doing and smiled gratefully at the as they plopped it down near his feet.
"Much appreciated you two," he said. They smiled, partially covered by their hands on their noses, and both gave him a thumbs up with their free hand.
It was in the evening when the party had winded down and almost everyone had left for home. All who were left were True and Noble Heart, their son, Grams Bear, and the twins. The new mother and father were currently sitting in the kitchen, sipping sweet tea from mugs as they peered out the kitchen door towards the living room and smiled at the wholesome sight before them.
The twins and their lilac senior caretaker were up on the couch, the twins holding little Bright Heart in-between them. Both had their arms extended to each other, acting as a little cradle for Bright Heart, bundled up in a blanket, to rest in. The two were in awe, watching silently as the little kit yawned and murmured in his sleep. Grams Bear was watching dutifully overhead, instructing the cubs how to correctly hold his head.
The two parent smiled, feeling accomplished with themselves. The twins were already fitting in to the role of older siblings to their child and hopefully as he grew so would they alongside them.
And so it came to be that Tugs and Hugs became his honorary adoptive siblings. Hope you enjoyed, thank for reading, please leave a review, and goodnight. Sincerely, v.t.7