Fluffy vs. Spike
"Tommy, guess what?" Didi said with a smile, looking down at her son as the doorbell rang. "Your Uncle Drew and your cousin Angelica are coming for a visit today!"
But rather than react with excitement Tommy merely cringed, face twisting up in a mild look of fear. And Didi didn't miss how Phil and Lil suddenly began to hug each other, clearly distressed by the news of Angelica coming to visit. Didi let out a sigh; it had been a week since Angelica had come over and upset the babies by breaking Mr. Fluffel and then taunting them about it. She'd hoped that Tommy would forget all about what Angelica had done, seeing as they'd replaced the lamp and everything. But it was clear that wasn't the case and Didi wondered just what else they'd missed when it came to her niece and her time with Tommy and the other babies. She'd tried to get rid of his favorite ball, broken his favorite lamp… Didi silently made a note for her and Stu to go through Tommy's room and see if anything else had disappeared. Just in case.
Kneeling down next to the playpen she rubbed his head. "Oh, it's okay sweetie. I promise that mommy won't let Angelica or anyone else take away any of your toys or upset you anymore, okay?" Tommy swallowed at that but did manage a smile, which made Didi feel a lot better.
"Hey bro," Stu said, opening the door while Didi was busy comforting the babies. She turned to see Angelica enter, her eyes red and head lowered, not meeting anyone's gaze. "Thanks for coming over. Can't wait till you see my latest invention."
"If its anything like that UFO toy you are going to have a winner," Drew said before looking down and nudging his daughter. "Angelica?"
"I'm sorry I broke Tommy's lamp, Uncle Stu."
"That's-" Stu began only for Didi to interrupt.
"Thank you, Angelica. We appreciate that."
The little girl's face twisted at that, like she'd expected absolution instead of acceptance. But it quickly passed and she went off to the corner, far away from Tommy and his friends, and took out some crayons and an activity book.
"What's wrong with Angelica?" Stu asked softy.
"She's been asking us for a pet and we passed by the pet store today and saw a cat she fell in love with," Drew said. "But I told her that we wouldn't get it today… she's still punished for breaking Tommy's lamp."
"That's pretty harsh," Stu said. His tone wasn't judging though.
"She'll eventually earn the right to get a pet but I'm not going to reward her just because she hasn't thrown a tantrum within the last few days." Drew sigh, shaking his head. "She needs to learn that actions have consequences."
"Of course," Didi said.
Spike, meanwhile, happily slept next to Tommy and his playpen, having no idea the bullet he'd just dodged.