Didi hummed to herself as she stirred the bowl, watching as the flour and egg mixed with the other ingredients to form a perfect brown mixture. Not too dark, not to light. Just right. She was standing in her kitchen, Betty off at the table looking over the drawings Kira was working on, nodding in approval. Scattered around the three moms were different cookie cutters, frosting bags, and candy add-ons.

"Yeah, this is gonna be perfect!" Betty said, rubbing her hands together. "With your designs, Deed's secret family recipe, and my steady hands we are going to with the Three Lakes Bake-Off for sure!"

"I don't know if it can be called a 'secret family recipe'," Didi said as she set the bowl down. "Mom might claim it was handed down from generation to generation but I'm pretty sure I saw this exact recipe in one of my cooking books."

"Eh, they ain't gonna check! Besides, everything sounds better when it's a 'secret' and 'family' recipe. Ain't no one linin' up for 'well known everyone makes'em recipes'!"

"I suppose that is true," Didi admitted. "And really the main focus is going to be the look, not the taste." She sampled a small bit. "Not that it won't hurt that it tastes good."

"Hey there! Don't go eatin' our winning entry!" Betty said with a laugh.

"Oh, I think we'll need more than that batch and the one in the oven," Kira said with a smile. "You never get things right the first time. We'll need to test out our designs many times before we know we have everything correct."

"Thank goodness Howard has a sweet tooth!" Betty replied.

At that moment Lou walked in, shaking his head. "I still don't get why you think doing a gingerbread house in the middle of May is a good idea! Ain't even close ta Christmas!"

"Gingerbread can be eaten at any time, Pop," Didi said.

"And it isn't a Gingerbread house it is a Gingerbread HOME," Kira corrected him.

"Eh… there's a difference?"

Kira quickly nodded. "Very much so. The theme of the Bake-Off this year is 'Neighbors Together'. That's why we're working as a team."

"And our entry is going to be a gingerbread version of this house with all the kids playing in the backyard."

Lou chuckled. "So what… Gingerbread Sprouts?"

Betty crinkled her nose. "Gingerbread Babies. Rolls off the tongue better. Judges like that sort of thing."

"Well, I still think ya should stick ta somethin' more seasonal! But what do I know. So… what else ya plannin'?" He leaned over and peered at Kira's designed. "Hmmm…"

Didi raised an eyebrow. "And just why are you so interested?"

"Oh… no reason."

"I know!" Betty declared, pointing a finger at the old man. "Lou Lou's enterin' the contest to, ain't she! You're here as a spy!"

"Why… I… I don't have ta take this!" Lou said, hurrying off.

"He didn't answer!' Betty cried out. "Come back here ya cheat!"

In the living room the babies were currently giggling and laughing, lost in their own little world. It had been a rather full year for them, full of changes. Since Tommy's first birthday he'd gotten a brother and Chuckie a new sister and they'd made new friends like Susie and gotten a new puppy, Spiffy! Now Tommy was only a few months away from turning two and was looking forward to all the fun things he'd be able to do when he was an even BIGGER baby! He'd learn how to talk to the grown ups so he could get all the things he wanted, and his parents would let him stay up later, and he could go to all sorts of other fun and amazing places! Kimi had turned two a few months ago and Phil and Lil would in a few weeks and Tommy couldn't wait to catch up. When he'd been a baby baby he'd thought that was the best, because when you were a baby baby everyone carried you around and did things for you. But they he'd learned that being a big baby was so much better. And now he realized that being a bigger baby would mean bigger FUN!

"Help Tommy!" Dil called out, sitting on a cushion in the middle of the play area. Much to the other babies' delight Dil had within the last month become more of a big baby, now able to talk better. He still wasn't as good as the rest of them but he didn't just scream "Mine!" and expect them to understand. He'd also learned how to crawl and was really getting around though that had caused some problems; last week he'd been speeding along, looking at the ground instead of where he was going, and rushed right into the table, causing a lamp to fall and break. That had scared him but not as much as mommy scolding him. Tommy had told him he had to be more careful and he really tried but sometimes he just forgot! He was still getting used to being a big baby!

"I'm coming Dil!" Tommy said, carefully shuffling along having managed to tie two pillows to his feet. He took a step only for the pillow to shift, making Tommy pinwheel his arms before he finally managed to steady himself.

"Don't fall Tommy!" Lil warned, having crawled up onto the couch. "'member, the floor is lava!"

"Be careful!" Chuckie called, sitting on a blankie that he was treating like a magic raft.

Kimi had been the one to suggest the game, saying it was one she'd played at the daycare she stayed at when she lived at Reptarworld. You weren't allowed to touch for floor and if you did you were out. Chuckie didn't like the idea of the floor being lava and asked for it to be something else but water scared him too and when Dil had suggested mud Phil and Lil had declared they would ONLY touch the floor and nothing else. So lava it was.

"How'd you get here, Dilly?" Tommy asked when he finally reached his brother.

"Jumps from there!" he said, pointing to a pillow that was close by. "Thought I… uh… make it? Make it!" He nodded, pleased he'd figured out what to say, while pointing to the couch Lil was sitting on… that was halfway across the room. "Stuck!"

"Okay, I'll drag you over!" Tommy declared.

Dil though shook his head, face puckering in displeasure. "I dos it!" That was another thing that had changed; Dil used to love everyone dragging him around, either on his blankie or in the Reptarwagon or by grabbing the back of his onesie. It had been a wonderful game and Tommy had spent whole days taking him around showing him stuff. But now that he was a big baby he wanted to always do things on his own… even if he needed some help. He wanted to move on his own, play on his own, do everything just like Tommy and the rest of his friends did.

"Oh… okay," Tommy said, shuffling over to the pillow Dil had originally been using and bringing it to him. "Okay, so lay it down, like this!" Tommy placed it next to Dil. "And then get on it like this!" He picked up his brother and put him on the new pillow. "Then grab-"

"I dos it!" Dil yelled, annoyed.

Tommy backed away. "I'm sorry Dilly! Okay, you do it!"

"Uh… little help!" Phil said. He was lying on a ball, rocking back and forth, nearly touching the floor. Kimi, for her part, was trying to build a bridge from where Chuckie was to the couch using stuff animals.

"Okay Phil, hold on!" Tommy began to shuffle over to his friend, Lil begging him to hurry before the lava gobbled him up.

Dil grabbed the first pillow and set it down next to the one he was on and ambling over to it. He did this twice before frowning… it was going really slow! Dil pressed his lips together in though before it occurred to him what he could do! Instead of putting the pillow close to him he could toss it and then jump! He was getting good at jumping! Yes, he was a little wobbling and he normally needed someone to hold him up because he'd fall over if he stood on just his feet… but he could jump like a froggy! Really far too… like a billion feet!

Dil grinned, excited with his brilliant plan. That would show Tommy he could do it on his own and he was a big baby! He didn't need him protecting him all the time!

Grabbing the pillow he carefully leaned back, flicking it once… twice…

And then he toppled back, the pillow flying out of his hand and crashing into the end table where the phone was, sending it falling down!

Dil's eyes went wide. "Uh ohs," he murmured. He'd knocked something over and mommy was going to be upset! And his friends would think he was still a baby baby who couldn't do anything right! He needed to do something… "Tommy!" He quickly called out.

"What is it Dil?" Tommy said, having righted Phil and hurrying over. Dil pointed at the pillow, hoping Tommy would completely forget he'd already gotten it for him. If there was no pillow there then no one could blame him! "What?" Tommy said, confused, walking over and grabbing the pillow before noticing the phone. "Uh… how'd the teley-phone get down here?"

At that moment Angelica and Susie, who had been in the other room coloring, came in and Angelica, seeing Tommy holding the pillow next to the fallen phone, cried out, "Aunt Didi! Aunt Didi! Tommy broke the telephone!"

Tommy's eyes went wide while Dil, deciding the floor was no longer lava, scurried back to the playpen and shut it before pretending he'd been playing with blocks. He'd just grabbed one when his mommy came in, shaking her head at what she saw.

"Oh, look at the mess you kids made!" she said. "And Tommy, you have to be careful around the phone!"

"Did he break it, Aunt Didi?" Angelica asked. "Is he gonna be punished?"

"Sound a little happier, Angelica," Susie snarked.

"No, he didn't break it, thank goodness. Still, let's get this cleaned up." The babies were quickly gathered up and put back in the playpen while Kira and Betty picked up the living room, soon having everything in order. "Now, you kids play good, understand? No more being naughty." With that the moms left their kids alone, Angelica and Susie going to the kitchen to try and ask for some water to drink.

"Why'd you knock over the phone, Tommy?" Lil asked. "Your mommy made us stop playing."

"I didn't knock it over," Tommy said, confused. "I was just over there getting this pillow for Dil." He looked at his brother, suspicious. "Dil… did you knock over the phone?"

"No! No phone!" Dil said with a rapid shake of his head. He sighed with relief when his friends accepted his answer. That had been close! He felt bad that Tommy got blamed but… he really didn't want to get in trouble and his brother always wanted to protect him so he was sure he wouldn't mind.

Phil sighed, sitting down. "Well, whadda we play now?"

The babies considered this before Tommy brightened up. "Oh! I know! How about 'Fetch'?"

"Like Spike?" Chuckie asked, pointing at the dog who was curled up with Spiffy, sleeping.

"Uh… kind of," Tommy said, scratching his head; he'd been doing that a lot, what with his hair beginning to grow in more. "One of you guys will tell us what someone as to find and they go and try and find it! And if they can then they get to pick next!"

"Oh… okay!" Kimi said. "So… who goes first?"

"I'll find first, since I thought of the game. And…" he looked at his friends. "Dil, you pick what I need to find!"

Dil would have preferred to find himself but at least he was getting to play. He racked his brain, trying to think of what Tommy could find. "Goober!" he declared, rolling from his belly onto his back and looking at Tommy.

"Okay! I'll find Goober by the count of 10! Lil, you count since you're the bestest!"

"Okay! One… two… three… forty… balloon… grape…twenty…"

As Tommy hurried out of the playpen and began to search the house for something that had Goober on it Stu entered into the kitchen and looked over the first batch of cookies that had just come out of the oven. "Wow, those look great!" He reached to grab one only for Didi to smack his hand.

"Stu, those are for the contest."

"But do you really need 20 of them?" he whined.

"We have to practice, Stu," Didi said, pointing over to where Betty and Kira were working on the first set of cookies. "These are going to be the ones that look like Tommy. What do you think?" She held up a gingerbread baby, which was different from a gingerbread man due to being smaller with stubbier arms and legs. The cookie in question had a blue shirt and white diaper, with big candy eyes and a frosting smile.

"Kinda looks like Mickey from the Rocky movies."

"ooooh!" Didi said in annoyance.

"Don't worry, Stu, you can have the rejects!" Betty declared.

"I guess," he said as he walked over to the radio, which the ladies had on for some decorating music. "But they are never the same as fresh made ones…"

But his complaints about just baked cookies were silenced as the DJ came on. "And that was Vinnie Mac with his last song before his death, "Aarrg Arrg I'm Dying You Idiot!". Now then, its time for our drawing for the day! And today's prize is a chance for you and your child to have lunch with Reptar at Sandy's Endless Hoogie Shop!"

"I love that place!" Stu said with a grin. "They make the best hoagies!"

"I figured," Betty said dryly.

"Now then, for the lunch… what is the name of the doll that was recalled last year because it kept bursting into flames?"

Stu's eyes went wide and he hurriedly raced to the phone, nearly knocking Kira over as he pounded in the number. He bounced up and down, nervous, until he heard the click. "Yes, has anyone guessed? The answer if Debbie Dimples!"

"That is correct!" the DJ declared. "You just won a free lunch with Reptar at Sandy's Endless Hoagie Shop!"

"WOOOHOO!" Stu cried out. "My name is Stu Pickles and I'll be there in ten!" He hung up and pumped his fist. "You hear that Didi!? I won!"

"I did! How did you know the answer though?"

"I'm the one that made Debbie Dimples!"

Didi's face fell, as did Betty and Kira's.

"You… might not want to let the radio people know that.

"Heh, right," Stu said, still excited. "Oh… oh, I have to get Tommy! He's going to be so excited!" He raced out of the kitchen, leaving the moms shaking their heads, only to run into Tommy who was dragging Dil's Goober doll towards the living room. Normally he might wonder why Tommy wasn't with the others but the dream of endless hoagies was blinding him to such things. "Champ! Guess what!" He lifted tommy up. "We are going to go have lunch with Reptar! Right now!"

Tommy's eyes went wide at that before he squealed in delight, throwing his hands out in glee. All thoughts of the game fled his mind as he chanted, "Reptar! Reptar! Reptar!". Not that his daddy knew what he was saying… but he understood his excitement and shared it.

"Come on, we need to go right now!" Stu said, hurrying back through the kitchen. "Bye Deed, don't wait up!"

Didi merely rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "That poor shop's about to go out of business." She looked over the cookie she'd done to look like Tommy, considering it before nodding. "I think this is a good one!"

"Put it on the table," Betty said before she glanced at the clock. "Jump jahosafat, we lost track of time! 'bout time for the pups' lunch!"

Didi, seeing Betty was right, quickly threw the next pan of cookies into the oven and before handing over the next set, these ones looking like little girls with dresses. "Okay, you and Kira move into the dining room to decorate these ones. I'll get the babies fed so I can keep an eye on the oven."

"Sounds like a plan!" Betty declared, her and Kira gathering up the cookies.

"I'll hold onto the other Tommy cookies… we should keep extra just in case the first one breaks."

"Good idea, Kira!" Didi said as she washed her hands.

In the living room the babies yawned and tapped their fingers against the ground as Lil counted. "Apples… a dog… four… ten!" She grinned and looked around only to frown. "Where's Tommy?"

"I guess he didn't find Goober," Kimi said.

"Uh… okay, how do we get him back though?" Phil asked. The other babies all blinked, none of them having thought that part out yet.

"Maybe one of us should get him?" Lil said.

"I dos it!" Dil said, crawling forward… and bumping right into the playpen. He sat up and rubbed his head, frowning. "Uh… open?" he asked.

But before any of the babies could open the playpen for him Didi came in, smiling and picking Dil up. "Time for lunch kids!" The other babies hurried past her, Dil grumbling as he wiggled. He could get there himself but mommy always carried him! And no amount of fidgeting ever got her to realize that! He was a big baby… he didn't need to be carried or be helped or anything!

When they finally got to the kitchen Didi placed Dil in his high chair while the other little ones scrambled into their booster seats. Susie and Angelica were already there waiting and plates with sandwiches were set out, though Dil got a bowl of fruit instead. He wished he could have a sandwich too but knew that he didn't even have any teeth yet and his one attempt to eat a bit of Tommy's sandwich hadn't gone well. He could suck on cereal to make it mushy but that was about it. So he settled for bits of fruit and of course his bottle, which his mommy set beside him but, thankfully, didn't try and feed him herself.

The phone rang at that moment and Didi smiled. "I'll be right back." She hurried off, leaving the babies to eat in peace.

"What's that?" Lil asked, pointing to the cookie Didi had left on the table.

Kimi reached over and grabbed it. "It's a cookie!" She giggled as she looked at it. "It looks like a baby!"

"It does?" Phil said, tilting his head. "I don't see it."

"It is a baby!" Kimi said, holding it up. "See? It has on a diapee, just like Tommy. And it has no hair. Just like Tommy! And a blue shirt, just like Tommy!"

"Huh… I guess so."

"Hey," Chuckie said suddenly with a frown, looking around the table. "Something isn't right."

"You mean besides me and Susie needing to eat with you dumb babies?" Angelica complained, earning glares from the others.

"Yes!" Chuckie said before scowling. "And no! We aren't dumb babies!"

"I think ya just proved you were, Finster!" Angelica said with a laugh.

"What's wrong, Chuckie?" Susie asked.

Chuckie looked around the table. "Where is Tommy?" The other babies looked around and realized their friend wasn't there. "And why didn't his mommy set a place for him? If he was just late she'd have still made him a sandwich."

Angelica smirked, deciding to have some fun with the dumb babies. "Oh, don't you know?"

"Know what?"

"What happens to bad babies like Tommy who broke the phone."

Phil frowned at that. "Tommy didn't break the phone! His mommy said it was fine."

"She thought that but realized she was wrong. That's why it rang… it rang cuss it was broken." She saw the babies all nodding, accepting that logic like the little dumbies they were. "And because Tommy broke the phone… the Gingerbread Man came."

"The… Gingerbread Man?" Chuckie said nervously. "Whose that?"

"He's a big giant man made out of gingerbread and he finds naughty bad babies!"

"And does what to'em?" Chuckie whimpered.

Angelica merely turned to Kimi. "That cookie doesn't just look like Tommy… it IS Tommy!"

Kimi, who had been preparing to take a bite out of the cookie, let out a gasp and shoved the cookie away, it sliding across the table, the babies staring at its smiling face with shock and horror. "Oh no!"

"TOMMY!" Dil wailed, grabbing the cookie as it nearly fell off the table and cradling it close. It… it was all his fault! He broke the phone and got Tommy blamed and now his brother was a cookie! "I gots you!" he promised the cookie, stroking its head and rocking it back and forth just like Tommy had done for him when he was a little baby baby. The cookie though just stared back.

"Yup!" Angelica said with a smirk. "And you'll never see Tommy again! He'll just be a cookie. Well… unless someone gets hungry. Then he's a snack!"

All the babies screamed at that.

"Angelica!" Susie said, fianlyl having enough of her lies. "Stop fibbing to them! Tommy is NOT a cookie!"

"oh yeah, Carmichael?" Angelica challenged. "Then why is there a cookie that looks just like baldy?"

"I don't know but that isn't Tommy!" Susie stood up in her chair, glaring at Angelica. "Tell them the truth."

Angelica just shrugged. "Okay…" she looked around the table. "If you are naughty the Gingerbread Man will turn you into cookies too!"

"oh no!" Chuckie whined. "no no no no! I don't wanna be a cookie!"

"Me neither!" Kimi whimpered.

"Tommy!" Dil wailed, hugging the cookie close. "My bruder's a cookie!"

"It's okay, Dil," Susie said, leaning over to pat him on the back. "Its not… whoa!" The chair slid slightly and Susie toppled, just catching herself but knocking her glass of water over, getting it all over the table, the floor, and her dress.

It was at that moment that Didi came in. "Oh, someone made a mess!" She helped Susie down from the chair and took her hand. "Come on, sweetie… that's why we don't stand on chairs though."

Angelica merely smirked at the babies, thrilled Susie wasn't around to ruin her fun. "So you babies better behave or you'll end up like Tommy… a little cookie just begging to be eaten. Heheh!"

Dil looked down at the Tommy Cookie before pulling at the collar of his onsie and shoving the cookie inside. "Yous safe, Tommy!" he said, patting the cookie-shaped lump. He sniffed… it was like Tommy was hugging him… only he was littlier… and sticky.

"But," Phil said as he chewed on his sandwich, "what should we do-"

"Close your mouth, Phillip!" Lil exclaimed. "Mommy said its rude to talk with your mouth full! The Gingerbread Man might come for you!" Her twin's eyes went wide and Angelica barely stopped herself from laughing as the babies nervously at their lunch, Dil half the time eating and the other half patting the Tommy Cookie, promising him he'd take care of him.

Meanwhile Didi took Susie to the bathroom and helped her wipe the water from her dress. "I'm sorry about the spill…"

"Its fine, Susie," Didi said with a smile. "By the way, that was your mom who called. Your Aunt Viv came for a surprise visit and she's coming to pick you up right now."

Susie beamed at that. "Aunt Viv!" Her aunt was the nicest, most wonderful person in the world! Susie loved it when she came to visit… she traveled the world taking pictures for magazines and always had amazing stories to tell Susie and her brothers.

"Yes indeed. Come on, let's go wait for them!" She took Susie's hand and led her to the door just as Kira and Betty left the dining room.

"I think this new cookie is wonderful," Kira said.

"Yeah, really captures her spunk. Put it on the table… bet the pups will want to see it!" She grinned as they entered the kitchen and saw the babies quietly and slowly eating. No throwing food, no burps, no smacking their lips and spitting stuff up. Just well behaved kids. "Hey there, good work there! Good babies all around!"

"And look at this kids!" Kira said, the babies' eyes going wide as Kira held up a cookie…

…that looked just like Susie.

All of them gulped while Angelica shifted nervously in her chair. She'd just made that up… there wasn't really a Gingerbread Man.

Right?