What If They Were Competent?

by Mr. Chaos

The Stipulation: One chapter a day. 500 words or less. Every episode of Rugrats. The Challenge: What if the adults on Rugrats were actually good parents? Watched their kids? Thought ahead? DIDN'T think it was fine for babies to nearly die every 5 days? Tommy is about to have a very different life with Stu and Didi actually using their brains.

49. Inside Story

Inside Story

"Now how did ya sprouts get out of your playpen?" Lou asked, catching Tommy in the middle of dragging a chair towards the counter. The babies had spotted the watermelon sitting on the counter and wanted to see what was inside.

"Oh, I let them out, pop!" Didi said with a smile from the kitchen table, looking over recipes. "They aren't getting into trouble, at they?" she walked around and looked at Tommy, who shuffled guiltily.

"Nah, just playin'," Lou said, winking at Tommy who giggled. "But I do think they are eyin' up that watermelon there."

"I'm not surprised… Tommy loves fruit." She reached down and picked Tommy up, using her free hand to motion for the other babies to follow. "Come on… you can play in the living room while I cut up the watermelon."

"Let her do that! Remove the seeds too so ya don't swallow one!" Lou teased. "Wouldn't want a melon growin' in your belly!"

Chuckie looked at Tommy as Didi set Tommy down in the living room, Drew and Stu watching an old movie while Angelica listened to the walkman she'd gotten for the trip to the Grand Canyon. "Do you think a watermelon could grow in one of our tummies?"

"I don't know, Chuckie," Tommy admitted. "I don't think so… doesn't seem like it's a nice place to grow anything." He reached down and patted his belly thoughtfully.

"Yeah!" Phil said, tugging on his diaper. "What comes out ain't that nice, that's for sure!"

"But it does smell a bit like the stinky mud daddy put out in the garden last year!"

Tommy pressed on his belly. "I wonder what it's like inside us… hey! We should find out!"

"How?" Lil asked.

"Uh…" Tommy said before hearing on the movie the scientist state he was going to shrink everyone down. "That's it!" He grabbed his toy flashlight. "Let's all shrink down and go inside us!"

Didi smiled as the babies babbled to each other, taking turns shining the flashlight at themselves, squealing and wiggling on the ground, crawling on their bellies, and generally just having a happy time.

"Sometimes I wonder what goes on in those little heads of theirs…"