Chapter Five: Faith

10:30pm Friday, December 15th

John Wilde opened the door to his apartment to see his wife watching TV. She was sniffling and gripping a handful of tissues. "Do you have a cold dear?" John asked.

"No." she sniffled.

It didn't take long for John to figure out what was going on. "Alright. What'd he do now?"

"I keep trying to tell him how important it is not to lie and trick others and he lied to me again! He had me give him money for a charity drive and he bought a toy for himself!"

"...Are you sure?"

"Honey, I saw him playing with it with my own eyes! He was building something with a bunch of brick-os he bought with MY money!"

"Hunh... I've never known him to like brick-os and it's not like him to trick you out of money like this. Lie to get out of something yes, but this would basically be stealing!"

"He...SNIFF!...He says he's 'building' a toy for charity. What a bunch of..."

"Honey please."

"I'm...I'm sorry."

"Well...You're not going to like what I have to say."

"You're not going to hit him with a rolled up newspaper are you?! We've never had to severely punish him before."

"No! No! What I'm trying to say is...I believe him."

"Are you crazy?! Come on John! He's never fooled you!"

"No he has not." John looked over to the top of the Christmas tree. "You know what that is right?"

Vivian was a little confused. "The star on our Christmas tree?"

"It's the star the guided the three wisemammals to Bethlehem. It's part of our faith. Faith is believing in something when common sense says not to. I mean, the bible is full of many fantastical stories that many would believe is myth, but we believe in it because we believe in the morals it teaches and we want to believe in something greater than ourselves. That there's a life beyond this life. We teach Nick that there's a Santa Paws because we want him to believe that there's magic in this world. More importantly, even if I'm being fooled, I'd rather believe in my son than believe in nothing."

"Well that's a beautiful statement dear, but I'm still not sure. Can you please go talk to him?"

"Of course."

John entered Nick's room. The pup was still awake and crying in frustration as he was trying to build the house and failing. "Hey son? Your mother wanted me to talk to you. Is everything okay?"

"No!" He sobbed. "I can't get it right!" I g-got the living room okay but I don't think I can get the kitchen done and I don't know how I'm gonna make a bed and and...mommy hates meeeeee!"

John went over and held his crying son. "It's okay son! It's okay! Your mother doesn't hate you, I promise. Is this the toy she said you were playing with?"

"I'm building it for charity I swear!"

"It's alright! I believe you."

Nick wiped a tear away. "You...SNIFF!...You do?"

"Yes. I even told your mother that."

Nick jumped into his father's arms and cried. "Oh thank you daddy! Thank you!"

John set the pup down. "Now can you tell me what this is all about?"

"I-I can't! I made a promise I'd keep it a secret!"

John relaxed and sat on the edge of Nick's bed. "A secret hunh? Well, let's see if ol' 'detective Wilde' can figure it out. You wouldn't be breaking a promise if I figured it out on my own, right?"

"No daddy."

"AND if I asked a 'yes or no' question and you happened to be nodding your head up and down or side to side, you technically wouldn't be telling either. Right?"

Nick smiled. "I do love a good technicality."

"HA! I know you do. Now let me see. You seem to be building a toy house. Right?"

Nick nodded his head up and down.

"And it's for charity. But a specific charity. So it's for someone poor?"

Nick nodded yes once again.

"Hmmm...yesterday you said Stacy was poorer than you and that you were keeping a secret for her. Is this for her?"

Nick was nervous about telling his father, but he nodded yes again.

"You're building a home for Stacy because she's poor and ..." The truth finally sunk in. "...And homeless. You're building a home for a homeless child! Oh Nick! Oh my wonderful son!" He scooped the pup up and rubbed his cheeks to his. "You are just the best child ever! Wait till I tell your mother! I KNEW I was right to have faith in you!"

"Just remember, I never said a word! You guessed it all."

"Y'know, for a little scam artist, you sure are good at keeping a promise."

With little Nick scooped up in his arms, John pushed open the door to the living room smiling. "Well I figured it all out without him having to say a word. Do you know what our wonderful son is up to?"

"I'm almost afraid to ask." Vivian replied. "Something good then?"

"He's building a house out of brick-os for his girlfriend. She's homeless."

Vivian couldn't believe it. "Stacy and her mom are homeless? You're building them a home?!"

Nick nodded his head yes. Vivian immediately grabbed the pup and almost squeezed the life out of him. "That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard in my life! You are the best child ever! Why didn't you tell me?!"

John explained. "He made a promise to Stacy that he wouldn't tell anyone. Even a tiny mouse has pride."

Nick nodded his head up and down again.

Vivian kissed her son all over his face. "Well I'm going to make you the best dessert you ever had!"

John knelt down to talk to his son. "And I got this weekend off so you and me are gonna work hard on this house together for the next two days. Okay?"

"AWESOME!" shouted Nick. "I could really use your help dad!"

"Well, I have an idea for plumbing, but we'd have to buy an aquarium pump and some tubing. Oh! And get some tiny and thin, LED light strips so they can have lighting inside the house. We might have to get some more brick-os too. There's a brick-o store in the mall."

"Can I help too?" Vivian asked.

"Of course! We'll all make a house together! It'll be a family event." Then John thought of something. "Wait a minute. Where will we put the house?"

"What do you mean?" Nick asked.

"Even tiny mice need real estate to put a house down in and the population in Little Rodentia's already sky high."

"Can they live with us?!" Nick asked. "Please?!"

"Well..."

"It's winter time! They can't put a heater to this thing, the plastic would melt."

"Yeah. Even if it ends up looking real nice, living in it is more of a seasonal thing if put outside. Honey what do you say?"

Vivian thought it over. "Well...Oh what the heck! They're mice! They won't take up much room!"

John smiled at Nick. "That settles it! If Stacy's mom agrees, they can live here in their brick-o house!"

"YAAY!" Nick cheered. "What's for dessert mom?"

"Well, you and your father are having blueberry pie and I'm eating crow."

"Eww!"

"It's an old expression." John explained. "It means she was wrong. Now while your mother is getting the pie ready, get me the house you got done so far and those brick-o blocks and we'll get to work on it right now."

"Okay dad!" Nick said as he ran into his room. He came back out with the house and the box of blocks and the two started going over it.

John joked. "Y'know, Stacy's lucky. In my day mice had to live in cabins made out of Lincoln logs! Ha-Ha!"

Nick just stared with a confused expression. It was obvious he didn't get the joke.

"Y'know? Lincoln logs? Those wooden toys with the cuts in them you build things with?"

Nick just shrugged his shoulders.

"Great. Now I feel old."

For the next two days, the family worked on the tiny house. They went to the Brick-o store, the hardware store and even bought some miniatures from the hobby store. Nick drew up blueprints for the house and John did his best to keep the design. He let Nick know that this would cut into the Christmas gift money, but Nick was okay with it.

"If Stacy gets to live with us, then it'll be like having a little sister!" Nick said. "That's on my list too."

Nick let Ben and Flash know he wouldn't have time to play that weekend. He talked to Stacy about when her and her mom could come over for a surprise. They agreed on Sunday night, so John, Vivian and Nick rushed to get the job done.

Sunday night arrived and both Stacy and her mom Helen arrived at the Wilde's apartment.

John pulled the door open and greeted the two mice. "Well hello! You must be Helen and I imagine this lovely young lady must be Stacy! Hold on, let me make sure." John got out a magnifying glass and knelt down. "Oh good! I was right. Come on in! C'mon on in! We have a big surprise waiting for you. Stacy, Nick is in his room, but he'll be right out."

"Good." Helen replied. "While he's gone, I need to talk to you about your son."

Vivian approached the mouse. "What about him?"

"Look, I'm sure he's a very nice and sweet fox, but I don't approve of this relationship."

Vivian folded her arms. John could tell she was very upset. "And why not?!"

"Why not?! Just look at the difference in size! Plus, I don't my daughter to have the...y'know, wrong influence."

Vivian was getting really angry. "What KIND of 'wrong influence' are you talking about?!"

John however saw the writing on the wall and tried to put a stop to it. "Now, now! Hold on ladies. I believe there's a bit of a misunderstanding. Nick told me he's just close friends with Stacy and the relationship angle is just a ruse to satisfy the other kids who have been teasing them."

Helen was surprised to hear that. "Well that be how Nick feels but that's not how Stacy feels!"

Stacy was embarrassed. "Mooom!"

"Well it's true! Stacy is madly in love with your son. She won't stop talking about him!"

Vivian gushed. "Awww! That's so cute!"

John sat on the floor to talk with them closer. "Well Stacy, I think Nick may be in denial. He went through a lot of trouble to keep your secret about you two being...y'know. Homeless."

Helen looked upset at her daughter. "Stacy!"

"He promised he wouldn't say anything!" Stacy replied.

"He didn't!" John said. "I guessed it all on my own when I saw him building your gift."

Helen was confused. "Building her gift?"

"It's for both of you. NICK! Come out here already!"

"I'm coming!" said Nick. He came out in a collared shirt. "I didn't want you to see me in my pajamas. Mom, dad, are we ready?"

"I don't know." Huffed Vivian. "Are you sure we're not a 'bad influence'?!"

John kissed the vixen on the cheek. "Now honey, this is all a bit of a misunderstanding. I think you know that more than anyone. Okay Nick, Viv, come over and let's present their gift. They walked over to the gift by the Christmas tree. A large, square box wrapped up with a bow, only the bottom was cut out so it could be lifted off. "Are you two ready?!"

Helen was confused. "Wait, this giant package is for us?! Where could we possibly put it?!"

"You'll see. First, I want to say that this was all Nick's idea and he did most of the blueprinting for this. We worked as a family all weekend on it. Here we go! Helen, Stacy I know you've been homeless for awhile so..."

John lifted up the box and showed the brick-o house. "Here's your new home! Merry Christmas!"

Helen's tiny jaw dropped. "Oh...my! Oh my!"

"It's made of brick-os. We even rigged it to have working lights and plumbing!"

Helen was at a loss for words and she started crying. "I...I can't! I can't! Baaww-Haww!" She hugged her daughter tightly. "Stacy honey, you have my permission to marry Nick!"

Nick got real scared. "Woah! Whoah! It's a Christmas present! Not a dowry! I'm only seven!"

Vivian and John laughed. Nick then opened the plastic door on the front of the house. "Go on in!"

The two walked up the stairs of the plastic porch and walked in. John explained a few things. "I used an aquarium pump, water tank and some tubing to make you guys a working plumbing system. The reason the house is a bit off the floor is that we needed to add a tray to store your umm... y'know, waste. Vivian can just empty the tray into our toilet from time to time."

Vivian looked a bit upset. "Oh, VIVIAN can, can she?"

"Heh!-Heh! Well...when I'm not home I guess. Not all of this is brick-os obviously. We had to get some miniatures from the craft store. The sink is as close to real as we could get and it really works!"

Helen tried the sink. While it splashed hard, it did in fact work. "Oh my goodness! Here's the water coming from?!"

"We have a tank at the back of the house." By this time. John, Nick and Vivian were laying on the floor looking inside the plastic windows as the two mice toured the house. "It's filled with water and it's used for the kitchen sink and bathroom sink upstairs. There's a tube attached to the toilet that drains into the tray. Gravity should do most of the work, but you'll need to pour water into the bowl to flush it out once you're done if you're gonna...y'know, drop a few raisins."

"Check out your bedroom Stacy!" Nick replied. "I worked on it. I got a picture of your favorite pop band out of a magazine and made it to a poster. There's also a poster of Zootopia that's a postage stamp I stuck on the wall."

Stacy went up the plastic stairs to her new room and jumped on her bed. "Thank you Nick! The bed is soft and springy!"

"Thanks!" Nick said peeking in from the window. "I had the idea of cutting up some bubble wrap and wrapping it in some foam paper. The pillows are some cotton balls and the pillow cases and sheets are cut out of my old clothes that don't fit me anymore. Mom did the stitching."

Stacy loved it. "Mmmm... Your smell is still on here."

"Ooookay...That's a good thing then?"

"Yeah. I love my new room!"

Helen pushed open the plastic window from her room to talk to the Wildes. "This is incredible! I-I can't thank you enough! But...Where am I going to put this? I can't just have this out on the street somewhere."

John spoke up. "Well, that's our second surprise. Me, Vivian and Nick talked it over and we'd like you to stay here so you're not in the cold. You can live in your brick-o house in the living room until you get off your feet."

Helen was taken back. "Oh no. I...I couldn't!"

"We insist!" Vivian said with a smile.

"Ummmm...I would need transportation. I know Little Rodentia is only a few blocks away, but that's a few miles for a mouse."

"Nick can drop you off on the way to school or I can walk you there myself."

"You and Stacy can ride in my backpack!" Nick said enthusiastically.

Helen rested her head on the windowsill and cried. "Thank you so much! I-I'm so sorry for what I said! SNIFF! I-I-I just couldn't believe the things Stacy was saying about how wonderful your son was! I...I've had so many wrong things taught to me about others over the years. Including foxes."

"It's not your fault Helen." Vivian said. "It's what society teaches us. We've both learned an important lesson this week. We need to learn to have faith in others."

John asked Helen again. "So will you stay with us for while? Mi casa es su casa within a muy pequeno casa. Just until you find your own place again. Okay?"

"Yes!" Helen replied. "We'll do it!"

Stacy came out of her room. "You mean we get to stay with Nick?!"

"For the time being, yes."

"YAAAY!" The tiny mouse cheered.

Nick was cheering too. "Awesome! It'll be like having a little sister!"

"Nick. I'm two months older than you."

"Yeah, but you're like, little-erer..littler? Litter?...Lit...You're small!"