Author's Note: I'm sorry if this story isn't getting updated more quickly. I was busy last night, then got home, ate dinner, got all caught up on emails and such, and by that time, I was exhausted, so watched Rugrats on The 90's are All That and went to bed. I planned to write this morning, only when I awoke today, I didn't feel good, and seriously thought I was coming down with a cold, as my nose was stuffy and there was a tickle in the back of my nose. So I fell back to sleep for a while, not waking up until this afternoon, and while my throat is slightly soar, I'm feeling better, and have more or less, mapped out the next chapter in my head, and so, without further adue, let's get on, with chapter 3 of this story!
Chapter 3, The Zoo, and a Baby Orangatan?
Tommy POV
I fell asleep for a while on the pile of newspapers that were in the corner of the place where I was hiding out with this Bob and Mike person. Unfortunately, I couldn't sleep forever, as it started to grow uncomfortable, so I waked up, and founded the potty, which was in another corner. Sadly though, I guess it couldn't flush, as it smelled, and was full of poop, but I didn't care. I really had to go, so I went. Then, realizing how uncomfortable I was, I made my way over to the huge metal door, as I tried to pry it open, but it was too heavy. I was about to pull out my trusty screwdriver from my pocket, and see if it could help me escape, when Bob and Mike waked up on their beds across the way.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Mike snapped, as he picked me up from over at the door.
"Now you know better than to be trying to sneak out late at night. Don't you know how dangerous that is?" Mike snapped, as he stomped around the room, and slammed me down hard on my pile of newspapers.
I let out a cry of pain, as it really hurt.
"Shut up! Shut up kid!" Mike screamed.
I shut my mouth immediately and just sat there, unsure of what to do at this point.
"Seriously Mikey, must you be so mean to the kid?" Bob asked, now standing next to Mike, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"This kid tried to escape." Said Mike.
"In that case, bad baby. Bad! Bad! Bad!" Bob shouted.
"You stay on your newspapers until morning, understand?" Mike scolded.
I slowly nodded, hoping they could see me with what little moonlight was streaming in through the windows in our tiny place.
"Good, we'll see you in the morning. Goodnight." Mike hissed, as he and Bob went back to bed.
I sadly, could never get comfortable to go back to sleep, so I just sat there, staring out the window next to my newspaper pile, until the sun waked up.
End of Tommy POV
Bobby POV
After we all returned from the Spy Museum, the rest of the day and evening was pretty quiet, as we were all saddened by the loss of our two-year-old purple haired companion and good friend, Tommy. I was only hoping we could find him over the course of the next week, but it was hard to think of anything. All I could think about were the few memories I had with Tommy. How when we first met, I seriously thought he was a bad person because he was in a cranky mood, as a result of getting his first splinter, wasp sting, and a terrible cold around the time we met, not to mention, dealing with the loss of his friend Chuckie, who was off at some trial preschool program the same week I moved to town. And then there was my brother, who told me about the terrible two's, and how they make a person mean, and to avoid all two-year-olds at all cost. I finally got to know Tommy near the end of a welcome to the neighborhood party his parents had thrown for me and my family, and while he didn't feel much up to talking, we discovered that we had a lot in common, just by what little talking we did, and the story I told him, about how Reptar and Captain Squash helped one another, and a week later, when we reunited at the park, after he was over his cold, we became really good friends. Over the course of the last year, we had gotten to know one another quite well. He helped me to become a better roommate with Derek, we celebrated Thanksgiving and Chanukah together, we were together when we got our first library cards, he helped me find Roger, along with Fifi and Roger's first batch of puppies when they escaped at Easter, and most importantly, he helped me overcome my fear of thunder storms and helped me find a cure after I got sprayed by a skunk, when we went together on a camping trip just a hair under a month ago before going on this trip. And now, Tommy was gone, and it was up to me, detective Bobby, to get him back.
Eventually, nighttime came, most of us weren't very hungry, but I at least had one slice of leftover pepperoni pizza, if for no other reason, to make my mom and dad happy, as they didn't wish to see me not eat, then I crawled into bed, in hopes that the next day at the National Zoo, we'd either find Tommy, or at least, nobody else would go missing.
End of Bobby POV
August 7, 2014…
The next day, everyone awoke at the hotel, went down for breakfast, where they didn't eat much, and got into the lemozine, to head off to the National Zoo. While in the limo on the way to the zoo, Bobby burst into song.
Peter's taking us to the zoo this morning, zoo this morning, zoo this morning.
Peter's taking us to the zoo this morning, and we can, stay all day.
Everybody except Chuckie, joined in along with Bobby at this point.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.
So are you, you, you.
We'll come too, too, too.
Let's go to the zoo, zoo, zoo.
Now Zack sang a verse solo.
We'll see all the rhynos, chomp, chomp, chomping.
Showing off their big horns and stomp, stomp, stomping.
We'll watch those rhynos, chomp, chomp, chomping, cuz we can, stay all day.
Everybody except for Chuckie, came in with the chorus.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.
You come too, too, too.
Me and you, you, you.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.
Now Jesse sang a verse solo.
We'll see all the birds as they hover, hover, hover.
Looking like Dectar as they hover, hover hover.
Don't get too close to that hover, hover, hover, or we wohn't, stay all day.
Everyone except Chuckie chimed in at this point.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.
You come too, too, too.
Me and you, you, you.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.
Everybody at this point stopped, as they stared at Chuckie, noticing he wasn't singing along.
"Why aren't you singing Chuckie?" Kimi asked.
"Who wants to sing at a time like this?" Chuckie asked.
"Come on Chuckie, remember what Timon told us when we were all at the beach that time, and Tommy was acting meaner than Angelica, thanks to being possessed by that shadow person? Sometimes you just need to burst into song, as it helps you get through troubled times." Said Bobby.
Chuckie took a deep breath and sighed.
"Oh all right, I'll sing a verse." Chuckie said reluctantly, as he took a breath and started to sing.
We'll see those giraffes with their long necks stretching.
Eating off of trees with their long necks stretching.
We'll never hear a sound from their long necks stretching, but we can, stay all day.
"That a boy Chuckie, now doesn't that feel good?" Bobby asked.
"Yeah, I guess so." Chuckie replied, a hint of sadness in his voice, as he knew deep down, Tommy would really enjoy this song.
This time, they all sang the chorus again, and Chuckie joined in with Bobby and the other toddlers.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.
You come too, too, too.
Me and you, you, you.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.
Finally, it was time for the last verse, which Susie and Dil sang together.
Lions and tigers, sleeping so peaceful.
Laying around as they look so peaceful.
But when meal time comes, they're not so peaceful, so stay out, of their way.
As the limo turned into the parking lot of the zoo, everybody sang the chorus, one last time.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.
You come too, too, too.
Me and you, you, you.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.
No sooner had they finished singing, when the limo stopped to let Taffy and her band, Peter, and the rest of the gang and their families off.
"We're here kids, at the National Zoo." Said Kira, as she got out everybody's strollers, helped get them all strapped in, and everybody made their way from the limo up to the gates, where they checked in and saw to meeting up with their tour guide.
No sooner had they approached the gates and gift shop, when they ran into Hazel, who was at the zoo with her parents. Everybody knew instantly who it was, when Lil turned to her brother next to her in their stroller, and she saw that goofy dreamy look on his face.
"Morning Hazel." Said Bobby, as she came into view.
"Morning Bobby, how are you all doing?" Hazel asked.
"We're all right, still no sign of Tommy though." Chuckie said disappointingly.
"Well not to worry Chuckie, as your detective, I'm going to find him, but I can't do it alone. Everyone who's in favor of finding Tommy, please raise your hands." Said Bobby.
Everybody except for Angelica, raised their hands in the air.
"You don't wanna find Tommy Angelica?" Kimi asked.
"No, I don't wish to find that dumb baby, I wanna become President." Said Angelica.
"Angelica, give it up already, you're never gonna become president." Said Susie.
"Oh we'll just see about that Susie." Snapped Angelica.
"Well you're on your own then, as I'm gonna help Bobby look for Tommy." Said Susie, as she went up next to Bobby, and took his hand.
"Really? Thank you!" Said Bobby.
"Tommy was the first baby out of all of you who I met, as he helped me find my room when I moved into my new house. I'm not giving up on him yet. And seeing that you Bobby, are my friend, next-door neighbor, and another good friend of Tommy's, I feel I should help you." Said Susie.
"Ok good. However, in order to find Tommy, we're all gonna have to split up at each place we visit, when I see that our families are too wrapped up in the tours, not paying attention to us anymore. However, since Peter is too wrapped up in smooching with my sister, thus, being too busy to look after us, if we're going to split up, we should use the baby buddy system, to ensure none of us get lost." Explained Bobby.
"Oh no, not the baby buddy system. What is it anyway?" Chuckie asked.
"That's where we all split off in pairs." Bobby replied.
"Pears? Sorry Bobby, me and Phillip don't gots any pears." Said Lil.
"Uh, no, and since we're now potty trained, we don't wear diapies no more, so it's harder for us to keep a lot of fruit or other food around." Said Phil.
"Not that kind of pear, the other kind. You know, going in two's." Said Bobby.
"Oh, like how we went on the ark. Me and Lil went together cuz we're twins." Said Phil.
"Yeah, and I went with Tommy, cuz we're two bestest friends." Said Chuckie, as a tear went down his cheek.
"Don't worry Chuckie, I'll go with you." Said Kimi with a smile, as she came up next to her brother, and put a hand on his shoulder, as she and Chuckie were walking, rather than riding in strollers.
"Thanks Kimi." Said Chuckie.
"Nuh uh, nope, I've already decided who's going with who. If we're all suppose to be grown up by the end of the week, we can't cling on to our siblings forever. Besides, I already can tell that Phil and Hazel wanna be together." Said Bobby, as he pointed at Phil and Hazel, who were still looking at each other, with goofy love expressions on their faces.
"Wow, thanks Bobby." Said Phil.
"Yeah! You're the greatest!" Hazel added.
"But who's gonna go with me?" Lil asked.
"I'll go with you." Jesse replied.
"Fine, but just, don't touch me, ok?" Lil hissed.
"Fine, I won't." Jesse replied, a bit disappointed, as he really liked Lil, but sadly, Lil didn't like him in that special way like Hazel liked Phil or even Rosie liked Tommy.
"I wanna go with Kimi. After all, if I could lead everybody through Cynthia Land to get Tommy a get well present and ride the roller coaster of doom that time when he couldn't come with us, because he had that hand, foot, and mmouth disease, or whatever it's called, who says I wouldn't be good with helping to find Tommy, and keeping watch over Kimi?" Zack asked.
"Oh ok, just don't do anything to hurt my sister." Chuckie said.
"I promise Chuckie, nothing bad will happen to her." Zack replied.
Chuckie nodded at Zack with a smile.
"And so, that leaves Dil to go with Chuckie." Said Bobby.
"You mean I have to watch Dil? I knew this was a bad idea." Said Chuckie.
"Come on Chuckie, besides, you and Dil share something in common." Said Bobby.
"What?" Chuckie asked.
"Uh, we both miss Tommy terribly, and both have red hair. Sometimes, I think you look more like my big brother than Tommy does, hair wise anyway." Said Dil.
"Oh ok, just don't drool all over my hand ok?" Chuckie asked.
"I haven't drooled all over your hand in several months. I'm a big baby now, I don't do that no more." Said Dil.
"So it's settled then. Until Tommy is found, those will be your groups. When I give the signal, we'll split up, and go all over wherever we're venturing that day to look for him. Got it?" Bobby asked.
"Got it." Everyone else replied in unison, just as the tour guide approached all of the parents.
"Good morning, my name is Vicky, and I'm gonna be your guide today, as we explore the National Zoo, and look at all of the animals." Said Vicky, an elderly looking woman, who appeared to be around Lou or Lulu's age, wearing a blue tour guide uniform, as she led all of the families, Hazel's family included, out of the gift shop, and into the main zoo area, where she took them around, and showed them several different animals.
While all of this was going on, in another part of Washington D.C. at a costume shop, Bob, Mike and Tommy, were looking for the perfect disguise to hide Tommy in.
"I found it! We'll dress up Baby Thump, Reptar, whatever he wants to be called, as an orangutan." Said Bob, as he held up an orangutan costume, that was Tommy's size.
"Come on Bob, it will never work." Said Mike.
"Oh sure it will, you'll see." Said Bob, as he pinned down Tommy, who struggled to get away, but failed to do so, as Bob got the costume put on to Tommy over his clothes.
The body was one piece, that buttoned up in the back, while the mask covered the head, was a separate piece. It fit perfectly, as Tommy's nostrels and eyes fit perfectly, matching up with the eye and nose wholes in the face mask.
"Perfect!" Said Bob with a smile, as he took a pocket knife, and stripped off the metal alarm piece, so they wouldn't get caught shoplifting.
"Now kid, while wearing this costume, you must keep quiet, not a single word or sound, unless you're in real danger, got it?" Mike said, sternly.
Tommy nodded, and the three of them left the costume shop, and headed off for the zoo.
By the time they got there, nobody was at the gate of the zoo, as everybody was off on tours being provided by the zoo itself, or looking at the animals by themselves, giving Bob, Mike, and baby orangutan Tommy, a way to easily sneak in. Once inside the zoo, Bob turned to Mike.
"Now what?" Bob whispered into Mike's ear.
"We let the kid loose, sneak off into the gift shop and offices, report there's a baby orangutan on the loose, summoning everybody to go off looking for him, we sneak the money out of the safes, and make a run for it." Whispered Mike into Bob's ear.
"Ok." Said Bob, as he placed Tommy in his orangutan costume on the ground.
"Have fun little fellow." Said Bob teasingly.
"Hope you find your orangutan mommy and daddy now." Added Mike teasingly, as they ran off, leaving Tommy in his costume, to roam the zoo all by himself, which is exactly what he did.
In another part of the zoo, Peter and Kelly sat down on a bench beneath a tree to rest, and spend some time alone together, while in another part of the zoo, Taffy and her band mates were talking with one of the managers about their upcoming tour and kickoff concert, and handing out flyers to help promote it. In another part of the view, all of the adults, Derek, and Angelica were eyeing a baboon exhibit in awe, completely forgetting about Bobby, Susie, and the toddlers, telling Bobby this was the perfect chance for everyone to escape with their buddies, split up, and start looking for Tommy. Quietly, everybody who was in strollers, got out of them, grabbed their buddy's hand, and before they knew it, everybody was running in every which direction around the zoo, looking for Tommy.
Sadly, nobody had much luck finding him, but something interesting happened when Chuckie and Dil approached the elephants, and when Dil went to get a closer look, his shirt got caught on the wiring of the fence.
"Help! I'm stuck!" Dil cried.
"Don't worry Dil, I'm coming." Cried Chuckie, as he ran to help get Dil unstuck, just as his shoelace got caught on a tree route on the ground, as he ran by a tree that was near the fence.
"Uh oh, now I'm stuck. Help!" Chuckie screamed.
Tommy, unknown by anybody that it was him, as he was still dressed as an orangutan, overheard Dil and Chuckie's screams for help, so ran over and quietly helped them get unstuck.
"Oh, thank you…" Chuckie started to say, when he turned around, and saw who, or what, had helped him.
"AAAHHH!" Chuckie screamed.
"What is it Chuckie?" Dil asked, as he tottled next to Chuckie, and saw what Chuckie was staring at.
"Looks like a monkey with red hair." Said Dil.
"But it's, little!" Chuckie replied.
"Hmmm, must be a baby." Said Dil.
"But how would he have gotten out here?" Chuckie asked.
"Hmmm, he must be loose, we've gots to find the others and have them help us get this redheaded monkey back to where he belongs." Said Dil.
"Well, ok then." Said Chuckie with a sigh, as he and Dil took the monkey's hands, surprised at how friendly he was, as they went off looking for the others.
The first pair they found was Jesse and Lil over by the giraffes. Jesse kept trying to tickle Lil, but she kept screaming and trying to squirm away.
"Stop it Jesse, just, stop it!" Lil cried.
"No, it's fun!" Jesse said in between giggles.
"Guys, we've gots an even biggerer problem now." Said Chuckie, as he came up and tapped Jesse on the shoulder, who snapped out of his giggle fit and turned around, to see Chuckie and Dil on either side of a baby orangutan.
"What do you want us to do?" Jesse asked.
"Help us!" Chuckie begged.
"Ok, we'll help, just as long as Jesse stops trying to tickle me." Lil hissed.
"I'll stop tickling you." Jesse replied, as the four toddlers and monkey headed off to another part of the zoo where they found Zack and Kimi by the lions and tigers.
Chuckie gasp at the sight.
"Come on Zack and Kimi, let's get out of here and find this monkey's home." Said Chuckie nervously.
"It's ok, the lions can't hurt us, and that's not a monkey, it's an orangutan. Me and Kimi overheardid a tour guide talking about them when we were wandering through the zoo looking for Tommy, who, we haven't found…" Zack started to explain, before Chuckie cut him off.
"You know where this orangutan came from?" Chuckie asked.
"Sure do Chuckie, come on!" Kimi said excitedly, as the six of them and the orangutan, all headed off for the orangutan house, running into Hazel and Phil on the way, who were sitting in a grassy patch of grass near one of the rest stops, enjoying a snack of bugs and talking, completely forgetting about what they were suppose to be doing, until Lil snapped her brother out of it, grabbing his hand, Hazel tagging close behind them, as everybody ran to the orangutan house, where they found Bobby and Susie.
"What are you guys doing here?" Susie asked, upon seeing all of the toddlers and the orangutan.
"Awe, how cute!" Susie exclaimed, upon seeing the redheaded monkey.
"It's a, oran, oran, uh…" Kimi started to say, before Zack cut her off, correcting her.
"An orangutan, who's losted." Said Zack.
"Awe, he's so cute! But it looks like he's lost. Poor little thing." Said Susie.
"Well, I'm gonna see that this baby orangutan finds his way home." Said Bobby.
All of this time, poor Tommy was finding it hard to keep quiet, he didn't realize he could do such a good job of tricking his friends and brother, but he would then remember that while in this costume, he had to keep quiet, so he kept his word and played along, waiting for just the right moment to reveal his identity.
No sooner were Bobby and Susie looking for a way to get the orangutan into the house, which was a sheet of glass in front of them, with two adult orangatans inside the cage, when somebody from the zoo, along with everybody's parents, came up behind the kids.
"There you are!" Didi cried, as she picked up Dil, the other parents, picking up their kids and giving them hugs, thankful they were safe.
"And here's that baby orangutan that was recently reported missing. Come on little fellow, let's get you back inside where you belong." Said the zoo security guard, as she picked up the orangutan, who was really Tommy inside a costume, and placed him inside of the orangutan house, laid out some fresh fruit for them to eat, and left the three orangatans to go about their business, now that they were all safe and sound inside their little habitat.
Meanwhile, Bob and Mike had reported the baby orangutan loose, causing the store clerk at the gift shop and the zoo manager to disappear to report this to security, at which time, they each snuck in and grabbed at wods of cash, stuffing their pants pockets, before making a break for the exit of the zoo, making sure not to get caught. Once they had run several miles from the area, they stopped and turned to one another.
"So?" Mike asked.
"So what?" Bob asked.
"Where's the kid?" Mike asked in a loud tone of voice.
Bob put a finger up to his lips, hushing him.
"We'll sneak back in tonight after closing time, sneak off to the orangutan house, and get the kid back." Bob whispered into Mike's ear, as they ran back to their bomb shelter on the outskirts of town, and hid the cash in the shoebox they were keeping beneath Mike's bed, where they were stashing all of their money, and taking another look at that itinerary that Bob had grabbed the previous day at the Spy Museum.
"So where to tomorrow?" Bob asked.
"The Museum of Natural History." Mike replied, looking up from the piece of paper containing the itinerary on it in his hand.
Back at the zoo inside of the orangutan house, Tommy now realized, he was quite hungry, and in some serious trouble. Eyeing the fruit that the zoo keepers had set down for the orangatans, Tommy went to eat some, when he noticed, that while he could see out of the eye wholes of the mask, and breethe through the nose piece, there was no opening for his mouth, causing him to have to take his mask off, which he didn't mind doing, as he was starting to get hot, to sit down and eat the fruit. He ate every last piece, as he was starving, after hardly having anything to eat since breakfast the previous day, but it then hit him, the two adult real orangatans who were with him inside of the house were frightened by his appearance, so they scurried away to the highest branch of the trees that made up the corners of the habitat house where they lived.
While Tommy continued to dine on the fruit, several tourests walked by the outside of the glass, staring in at what appeared to be a half human, half orangutan in their eyes, eating the fruit. Frightened by this sight, several tourests ran off, screaming!
"Weir orangutan! Weir orangutan!" Screamed several people, as they ran off away from the orangatans, either to leave the zoo, or to look elsewhere at a sight that was less frightening.
Realizing he was scaring people away, Tommy knew at that instant, he needed to find a way out of the habitat, but sadly, it was a solid piece of glass blocking him from the outside, and there was no doorknob on the inside of the door where the zoo keepers came in, for fear that the real orangatans would try to let themselves out, since they were closely related to humans, and could work doorknobs if given the chance. Then, realizing he had his screwdriver on him, Tommy would find a way to climb out and let himself out, except he now ran into another dilemma. It was stored in his shorts pocket beneath his orangutan costume, and while he could get the mask off by himself, he couldn't get the body part off by himself, because it was a one piece suit, that buttoned in the back, and sadly, the almost three-year-old hadn't exactly figured out how to unbutton clothing, nor try to get at them from behind himself. Frustrated, Tommy started banging on the glass.
"Reptar!" Tommy shouted, as he banged on the inside of the glass of the orangutan habitat, but after scaring everybody away, nobody heard him, nobody, except for one person.
A short distance away, once everyone was found, the Pickles, Devilles, Finsters, Barrows, Wehrenbergs, Carmichaels, Generics, Peter, and Taffy and her band, as well as Hazel and her parents, all settled down in the grass to have a picnic lunch of some sandwiches they had bought at a consession stand at the zoo. While eating, Chuckie overheard Tommy's cry from the orangutan habitat.
"Reptar!" He heard Tommy cry from the habitat.
"Guys, I just heard Tommy's voice." Chuckie turned and said to the others.
"Nah, you're just making things up." Said Phil.
"No really guys, I heard him. Tommy!" Chuckie called.
Back at the orangutan habitat, Tommy overheard Chuckie call his name, but worried if he scared those tourests away by taking off his mask, revealing only his face, making him appear as a half human half orangutan, he knew he'd really scare Chuckie, so he quickly put his mask back on, just as Chuckie and the other toddlers, ran out of the grass back to the orangutan habitat when the adults weren't looking, to see if Chuckie was right. But sadly, when they got there, all they saw was the baby orangutan, staring back at them from the other side of the glass.
"I told you you were hearing things." Said Phil.
"Yeah." Lil added.
"I seriously thought I heard Tommy's voice, but maybe, it was just the wind." Said Chuckie, before he burst into tears, the other toddlers, all collapsing to the ground, as they too burst into tears.
Tommy really felt bad, and if only he could break free of his costume and reveal his identity, but by this time, it would have been too late, as the picnicking parents all overheard their crying kids in the distance, as they gathered up their trash, threw it away, and ran to gather up their crying children.
"Looks like the kids are getting hot and cranky from this day of excitement." Said Betty, as she gathered up Phil and Lil, who were still crying, as she tried to comfort them.
"Maybe we should head back to the hotel, besides, we need to check and see if anybody has called our room with any news about Tommy." Said Didi, as she picked up Dil, and the crying toddlers were all led away in the arms of their parents, as everybody went back out of the zoo to the parking lot, Kira, stopping off at the gift shop on the way to pick up some postcards, while Peter called for the lemozine to come back and take them back to their hotel.
Once the limoazine arrived, everybody got in, and Bobby, burst into another song, as he tried to calm his friends down.
Well we stayed all day and we didn't find Tommy.
Looked all over the zoo but we didn't find Tommy.
A baby orangutan but no sign of Tommy, and yes we, stayed all day.
We went to the zoo, zoo, zoo.
You came too, too, too.
We went to the zoo, zoo, zoo.
Yep the zoo, zoo, zoo.
By the time Bobby finished singing his song, the other toddlers, exhausted from their running around, had fallen asleep in the lemozine, as it pulled up in front of the hotel, where the parents quietly got out, and carried their sleeping kids up to their rooms, where they continued to take a nap, and the bulk of the adults, joined in, as everybody was pretty exhausted at this point. And poor Didi, on top of being exhausted, grew even more frustrated, as she checked the messages on the phone for their room, to find that no messages had been left by the police, with regards to the whereabouts of where Tommy was.
Back at the zoo, poor Tommy grew exhausted, so he found a pile of grass, where he curled up and took a nap, until it started to get dark outside, and he awoke inside the orangutan habitat, having to go potty really badly, but had no way of getting his costume off, so the poor child, peed in his pants, and started to cry. At this point, the zoo had closed for the night, and Bob and Mike, now dressed in black masks and black suits, made their way back to the zoo, hoping to rescue Tommy, or in their eyes, Baby Thump slash Reptar, before hitting the Natural Museum of History the following day. Overhearing Tommy's cries from the orangutan habitat, they snuck around to that part of the zoo, on the outskirts of the area, as they looked for a way inside of the habitat. When nobody was looking, Mike hoisted Bob up on his shoulders, as he dangled down into the top of the orangutan habitat, pulled a rope out of his pocket, and dangled it down in Tommy's face.
"Here kid, wanna play tug of war?" Bob asked, trying to get the child's attention.
Tommy eyed the rope, which had a Reptar yoyo on the end of it, which he grabbed, no sooner was he playing with the yoyo, when Bob was pulled back by Mike, causing Tommy to be lifted from the ground, leaving his orangutan mask behind, as well as the orangutan habitat. They were about to make it, when they were almost out, Tommy's costume got caught on one of the vines near the top of the fence that blocked the habitat off from the outside world.
Unsure of what else to do, Bob quickly took a pocket knife out of his pocket, cut Tommy out of the orangutan costume, causing it to rip apart into shreds and fall back down into the habitat, as they quickly snatched up Tommy, who at least still had his regular clothes on, jumped down from the top of the habitat wall down to the outskirts of the zoo, and the two criminals and their kidnapped child, made a run for it before anybody could catch them, till they got to their bomb shelter, where Bob and Mike collapsed down on their cots, and Tommy went over to his uncomfortable pile of newspapers, where he once again, sat there all night, staring out the window, eager to see what would happen the following day.
Back at the hotel, after everybody had had a long afternoon nap, they got up and went to eat dinner at a nearby Tye restaurant, that was recommended to them by Hazel's parents, and they even agreed to treat everybody to dinner, after hearing about what they were all going through this week, with the loss of Tommy. While at the restaurant, Betty and Didi, who were sitting together, struck up a conversation.
"You ok Deed?" Betty asked, noticing her friend looking quite sad, as she sat there, twirling her fork around in her food, hardly eating a bite.
"Honestly Betty, what is it with going through a major chrisis with Tommy, every year around his Birthday?" Didi asked.
"Come on Deed, you don't go through this every year." Betty replied.
"Yes I do. Remember last year? Stu and I were temporarily divorced while I was taking college courses, so Tommy, who was still under the influence of The Gray Plague, as we waited for a vaccine, Dil, and I were living in an apartment on campus, and I was so worried each and every day that my poor son wouldn't make it. Then, his second birthday came. We went to the drive in, and after the movie, I saw the text proclaiming that there was a vaccine, so I rushed Tommy to the hospital, only to have a flat tire on the way, which Stu very nicely fixed, and we made it there. Tommy was cured, Stu and I made up, ending our mini divorce, and other than Tommy having a bad year health wise, as a result of the Gray Plague weakening his immune system, or at least that's what we learned last week at his checkup from Doctor Shackter anyway, he's alive, and we made it this far. And now, his third birthday is just a few days away, and my little boy is not with us. Who knows if my child is even still alive!" Didi said, before she burst into tears.
"Awe come on Deed, I wouldn't give up hope yet, I'm sure we'll find Tommy before we leave on Sunday, and you'll see him turn three-years-old." Said Betty.
"Well, I've already decided, if Tommy isn't back in our possession when it's time for the rest of you to head back home, and for Taffy to head off to her next place on her tour, you all can leave me behind, and leave me with enough money to get two plane tickets back, as I'm not coming home until I find my son." Didi protested.
"Speaking of Taffy and touring, where are we heading tomorrow?" Betty asked, attempting to change the subject.
Overhearing Betty's question, Taffy, who was seated further down the table, spoke up.
"Tomorrow, we're heading to the Museum of Natural History." Taffy replied.
"I hope we can get through this trip without the kids wandering off." Didi thought to herself, as she decided to eat a little bit of her dinner, just to not look rude in front of Hazel's family, who very nicely treated them to this meal, even though she wasn't really all that hungry.
And this, ends chapter 3. So, what will happen the following day at the Museum of Natural History? You'll have to wait until chapter 4, to find out!
Author's Note: The song that Bobby and the other toddlers sang on the way to and from the zoo was somewhat of a parody of a song from another TV show I watched when I was really little, way before I ever watched Rugrats, called Sharon, Lois, and Bram's Elephant Show, and just like the parody, the original song was about going to the zoo, I only changed some of the wording a bit, and the part about Dectar in the verse that Jesse sang about the birds, was obviously, not in the original song.