The next day, Silas was scheduled to arrive at the Sneer mansion. Cyril was acting somewhat like a drill sergeant, lining everyone up for inspection.
"All right men," he said, until he eyed Sophia. "And you, too, Sofa Girl. I want this to go off without any problems. Silas Morales is one of my best friends . . . . ."
"He has best friends?" Floyd muttered.
"He even has friends?" Lloyd asked.
"I heard that!" Cyril shouted.
"Pop does have a softer side, we just don't see it very often," Cedric commented.
"Very funny, very funny," Cyril grumbled. "I don't want any funny business around here. Silas has a temper, and he finds it very hard to control."
"Is that something the two of you have in common, chief?" Boyd asked.
Cedric and Sophia had to fake a coughing fit to keep from laughing at that. Cyril glared at them both, and they stopped.
"Any more wise cracks out of you pigs, and I'll grind you into bacon bits!" he shouted at the Pigs. The Pigs gulped, and shut up.
Cyril was about to go on about this whole thing, when there was a knock on the door. The Pigs ran to answer it. When they opened the door, they saw a tall, thin aardvark standing there, wearing sunglasses and chewing on a cigarette.
"Hey, how're ya doin'?" he said to the Pigs. "The name's Silas Morales."
"Come in, come in," Lloyd said. "The boss is expecting you."
Silas walked into the mansion and faced Cyril, Cedric, and Sophia, who were just staring at him.
"Well, look at what the cat dragged in," Silas said.
"Silas," Cyril said, a little surprised at how his friend looked. "You . . . . you look exactly like you did in high school."
"The gym'll do wonders for ya," Silas said. "Man, Cyril, you've changed a whole lot since I saw you last! That big business starting to get to ya?"
"As long as it makes me money."
"Hey, I hear ya. You were always trying those get rich quick schemes. Who knew it would pay off? Now me, I made my first million in the stock market, and things skyrocketed from there. You can never go wrong when you invest in stocks, Cyril."
Cyril was at a small loss for words here. Silas walked around the main hallway, looking around. Then he saw Cedric, Sophia, and Forest.
"Cedric Sneer," he said. "Last time I saw you, you were no bigger than . . . . well, than this little ankle biter here."
Silas laughed, and tussled Forest's blush-purple hair, which slightly squashed his ears. Forest didn't like that one bit. He didn't mind when Cedric tussled his hair, only because Cedric didn't squash his ears. He started to whimper, and he buried his face in Sophia's shoulder.
"A little shy, isn't he?" Silas asked.
"Not usually," Sophia said. "He's normally very good with strangers."
"Silas, that's my grandson, Forest," Cyril said. "And this is Forest's mother."
"Sophia," Sophia said, extending her hand to Silas.
"Nice to meet you, and Forest, Sophia," Silas said. "Cedric's done well for himself, I'll tell ya that!"
Cyril sort of snorted, but he didn't say anything. After awhile, he gave Cyril the grand tour of the mansion. Silas nodded, but he seemed unimpressed.
"Not bad, Cyril, not bad," he said. "You've done well for yourself, but I gotta tell you, this place is about as big as my summer place."
"Your summer place," Cyril repeated.
"Yeah, my regular place is much bigger than this."
Cyril nodded. He wasn't sure what to say. Silas was leaving him speechless, that was for sure. In any case, Cyril went into his office to get some work done, and Silas went with him.
"Still working your tail off day in and day out?" Silas asked.
"I don't rely on the stock market like you do," Cyril said. "One day it could just come crashing down."
"Maybe, maybe not."
"In any case, I've had to split my time between business and other things."
"Like baby-sitting right? See, this is why I never got married. I didn't want any hassles coming in between me, and my business."
"Cedric was never a hassle. Forest can be, sometimes, but I don't look after him too often unless neither Cedric nor Sofa Girl are around. Besides, Cedric's going to take over my business, and then Forest will, when the time comes."
"Well, I guess that's one perk to getting married and having a kid."
Cyril didn't say anything after that. Silas left the office and began wandering around the Sneer mansion. He glanced outside and saw Cedric, Ralph, and Bert throwing around a baseball. Sophia and Melissa were sitting on a bench with Forest, watching them. Forest kept trying to get off his mommy's lap in order to go play with the boys. Silas walked outside, and caught the baseball in mid flight to Cedric.
"Playing a little ball, eh?" he asked. "Didn't picture you as the athletic type, Cedric."
"Hey Cedric, who's this?" Bert asked.
"This is Silas Morales," Cedric said. "He's a friend of my pop's. Mr. Morales, these are my friends, Bert, Ralph, and Melissa Raccoon."
"Hi," Ralph said.
"Nice to meet ya, Shorty," Silas said, shaking Ralph's hand as hard as he could. Not only was Ralph's hand shaken, but Ralph was pretty shaken as well.
"Shorty?" Bert asked. "Oh yeah, he's a friend of Cyril's all right!"
Silas laughed, and walked over to the bench. The minute Forest saw him, he started to whimper again.
"What's the matter with him?" Silas asked.
"I don't know," Sophia said, as she stood up. "He was fine a minute ago."
"Maybe he just wants to get into the baseball game," Melissa said.
"Good think I brought out the soft ball," Cedric said. He picked up a smaller baseball off the ground, and squeezed it. It was made out of foam, so Forest couldn't get hurt.
Sophia put Forest down on the ground, and Cedric threw the baseball to him. Forest giggled, and picked up the ball. He threw it, and it rolled on the ground to Ralph.
"Atta boy, Forest!" Bert cheered. "That's the ol' pepper, kid! You'll be the next Willy Mays!"
"I thought you wanted to turn him into the next Wayne Grizzly," Melissa said.
"In the winter, he can be the next Wayne Grizzly," Bert said. "Any other time, he can be Willy Mays."
Everyone groaned, and continued the baseball game. Melissa got up to join them a few minutes later, which left Silas and Sophia alone on the bench.
"I noticed Cyril calls you Sofa Girl," Silas said. "Why is that?"
"He doesn't think I'm good enough for Cedric," Sophia said with a shrug.
"That's Cyril for ya. He's always been picky about the women he dated. And it looks like he's picky about the women his son dates, too! He'll probably be picky about the girls Forest is gonna date when he's old enough!"
"Probably. But Mr. Sneer's not all bad, once you get used to him. He's gotten used to all the changes going on, me and Forest included."
"Yeah, Cyril doesn't deal with changes too well. Although I find it hard to believe he wouldn't like a pretty girl like you, Sophia."
Silas smiled sneakily, and twirled a finger around a strand of Sophia's hair. Sophia was a bit taken aback, and she stood up off the bench.
"Umm . . . ." she said. "If you don't mind, Mr. Morales, I think maybe I'd better . . . . ."
"Naw, hang around," Silas said, standing up. "You think Cedric can play ball? You ain't seen nothin' yet! I was the Evergreen High School baseball champeen! Yo, Shorty! Let me use your glove!"
"My name is Ralph, Mr. Morales," Ralph said, handing Silas his glove. "Not Shorty."
Silas didn't say anything. He picked up the regular baseball, and threw it into the air a couple of times. Sophia picked up Forest, and took him out of the line of fire.
"Yo, B!" he shouted at Bert. "Stand right there! I'm gonna put it right in the ol' bread basket!"
"Give me your best shot!" Bert shouted.
Silas wound up, and threw the baseball as hard as he could. Bert did manage to catch it, but the force of Silas's pitch practically threw the raccoon into a nearby tree.
"Yeeeouch!" Bert shouted, yanking his glove off. He began to shake his hand out. "I think you nearly broke my hand!"
"And that's why they call it the Morales Meteor," Silas said. He walked over to Sophia and Forest and smiled.
"How'd you like that pitching, kid?" he asked, taking Forest out of Sophia's arms. Immediately, Forest started screaming. Sophia ran over and took her baby from Silas.
"Oh Forest," she said, soothingly. "What's the matter, sweetie? Shh, it's all right. It's okay now."
"I think it might be time for his nap," Cedric suggested.
"Good idea," Sophia said, although Forest immediately started to calm down when he was back with his mommy. "If you'll all excuse me . . . ."
And with that, Sophia left. Cedric was a little perplexed. Forest never screamed his head off like that when a stranger held him. He was usually good with strangers.
"I've never seen Forest react to anyone like that before," Melissa said.
"You know babies," Silas said. "They don't like strangers."
"But Forest is usually good with people he doesn't know," Ralph said. "He adjusts to them right away."
"Yeah, and if Cyril doesn't make him cry, then I find it surprising!" Bert shouted.
"There must be something he doesn't like about you, Mr. Morales," Ralph said.
Silas shrugged, threw the baseball back to Bert (at a much slower speed), and walked into the mansion.