So I'm just getting straight to it. This chapter ended up a little less focused on the Warners than I intended. Sorry about that in advance.

The next chapter should make up for that, though.

Hope you enjoy it nonetheless. 😅

In the meantime, I'm gonna take a little break and get started on a cover drawing for this.

It's been a few days since the 'mall disaster' as Kassie dubbed it. They had gone back there, as promised, to get the children some more clothing. A limit had been set for an over-eager Dot. Turns out they actually liked the feeling of wearing clothes that they weren't drawn with.

But, as Andy had to point out after they got home that day, winter was coming closer, so they would need to buy some warmer clothing. Yes, the Warners had fur to keep them warm, but it didn't get much thicker than it currently was, so it wasn't going to fully protect them from the cold. So they bought a couple of long-sleeves shirts, sweaters and even managed to convince Dot to give a pair of pants a try, just for winter they promised.

Kassie had been in the middle of folding the freshly ironed clothes when the doorbell rang. Strange. They weren't expecting anyone, were they? When Kassie opened the door, she was met with a very familiar face.

The fox toon on the other side of the door smiled with her arms open for a hug. "Hey girl!"

"Vicky!" Kassie happily jumped in to hug her best friend. "I didn't know you were coming over. Why didn't you call?"

"What? And ruin the surprise visit?" Vicky laughed. "Nu-uh hun."

Pulling out of the hug, Vicky pushed passed Kassie and started looking around the house, as if looking for something. That was strange, considering Vicky had been at her place plenty of times before.

Kassie crossed her arms and gave her best friend a judging stare. "Vick? What are you doing?"

"Oh!" The fox started twirling with her necklace. "I was juuuust…uhmm… Looking for my book! Yes! You know, the one I let you borrow a couple of days ago?"

Arms still crossed, Kassie snickered. "Really? You were trying to find your book on the ceiling lights?" She shook her head in amusement. "Victoria, I've known you since the moment you were created. I know when you lie. And girl, that was he biggest, boldest and worst lie you've ever told."

"I mean, that was hardly the biggest and boldest." Vicky muttered. "But fine. I was looking for your kits!" She clasped her hands together in excitement. "It's been almost a week and I just couldn't wait any longer to meet them. I'm sorry."

Kassie was a little taken aback. "It's uhh… It's fine, I guess." She didn't know how to respond to that. It was one thing that she called them her kittens in her head, but another thing when someone else says it out loud. "But, you do know they're not my kids, right? I'm just taking care of them."

"Mmhm, sure hun." Vicky crossed her arms playfully. "You can't tell me you don't think of them as yours."

"Well, yeah." Kassie admitted. "But I also know they're not mine. I have no right to claim so."

Vicky nodded, only half listening to the lies her best friend was telling herself. "Soo… Can I meet them yet or…?"

"You're doing pretty good there, kiddo."

Yakko beamed at Andy's compliment. Squashing down that weird rumbling in his throat, he turned to smile at his teacher. "You think so? I think I missed a couple of notes here and there."

"Well, sure." Andy told him honestly. "But you gotta give yourself credit for the notes you did hit. Especially in the short time you learned this song." The dog strummed a few notes on his guitar, trying to get a tune going for a new song. "You got a real knack for the piano, little meister."

There was that odd feeling in his throat again. Just as he was about to start playing this Jingle Bells song again, the door slammed open and this weird fox lady barged in. It didn't seem to phase Andy at all, whereas Yakko's tail puffed in fright.

"You know, I was kinda wondering how long it was gonna take you, Vicky." Andy didn't even look up from his guitar when he addressed the fox. "I honestly expected you earlier."

The fox, who Yakko now knew was named Vicky, just brushed his comments off. "Come on, Andy, I have some self-control."

"You really don't."

Opting to ignore Andy's remark, Vicky instead turned to the young toon child sitting by the piano. She gasped. "Oh my goodness! He's so cute! Just look at those floppy ears, and that fluffy little tail!"

"Yeah… About that." Kassie followed her hyperactive friend into the room. "His tail usually isn't that fluffy, if you catch my drift."

Andy finally looked up from his guitar to look at Yakko. "You okay there, bud?" he asked.

"Y-yeah. Just got startled by the noise." Yakko replied a little shakily.

Feeling guilty, Vicky went over to him and pulled him into a hug. "I'm really sorry for scaring you. I just got a little overexcited about meeting the kids my best friends took under their roof." She let him go and stuck out her hand to him. "Let's try this again. Hi, I'm Victoria Lynne, Vicky for short. I've worked on the same show as Kassie and Andy. So what's your name, cutie"

After straightening out the lavender shirt he'd decided to wear today, Yakko took Vicky's hand. "Yakko Warner. Thanks for the 'cute' compliment and all, but you got the wrong Warner for that. My little sister is the cute one here."

"Don't sell yourself short there, Yakko." Vicky giggled.

While Yakko held up the polite talk, he was honestly a little weirded out by the fox. First she slammed the door open, a sound that reminded him way too much of the door to the toon-proof room they were locked in before the water tower, and then she makes some big deal about meeting him. He was secretly glad when Kassie convinced her to leave them alone.

After the door closed, Andy turned to Yakko again. "Sorry about her, Yak." he sighed. "Vicky's just like that. She always gets overexcited about first meetings. She'll cool down in a few minutes." Yakko didn't answer, so he put away his guitar to kneel down next to the boy. "You okay there?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm okay. Just…" he pointed vaguely at the door. "Quite a character, that friend of yours."

With a chuckle, Andy ruffled Yakko's head. "You're one to talk." They shared a good laugh. "You wanna try Jingle Bells again?"

The cracking of Yakko's knuckles was the only answer needed.

"Okay, so first attempt failed. Big deal! I'll just be more careful with your other kits." Vicky brushed off Kassie's silent agitation.

"Don't you dare say it's 'No big deal'!" Kassie hissed. "The kids have gotten a full blown panic attack because of a broken vase before! You need to be gentle."

"I will. I will." Vicky noticed the disbelief on Kassie's face. "Girl. I'm sorry okay? I'm just so excited for you and Andy. I mean how can I not be?" She took both of Kassie's paws in her own. "You finally get to be the thing you were created to be. And don't give me that face, you know it's true."

Kassie exhaled, pulling her hands out of Vicky's. "This isn't about me, Vick. It's about them. I'm not going to call myself their mother, that's for them to decide." She continued walking passed the stairs. "Now come on, then. Wakko should be-"

She was cut off by someone walking down the stairs. Dot came down with a book and in her new favorite outfit, a pink shirt with a white flower pattern and a purple skirt. Kassie shot Vicky a warning look before addressing the youngest Warner.

"Hey, Dot." The girl just waved as she continued to read her book. "What are you reading?"

Dot shrugged as she plopped down on the couch. "Some crappy romance novel about a pig and a wolf who fall in love, but the wolf's dad is against it or something."

"Oh, I read that one! It's so bad!" Vicky exclaimed. "What chapter are you on?"

Dot looked up from her book, finally noticing the guest. "Uhh… Chapter five? Who are you?"

Vicky, much calmer than with Yakko this time, went over to Dot and held out a hand to her. "Victoria Lynne, Vicky for short. I'm a friend of Kassie's."

"We worked on the same show together." Kassie clarified.

Shaking Vicky's hand, Dot introduced herself. "I'm Dot, call me Dottie and you die."

A little taken aback by that comment, Vicky chuckled nervously. She decided it might be time to leave her alone and meet this 'Wakko' Kassie mentioned.

"Well, it was nice to meet you. Your brother sure wasn't lying about you being the cute one. Have fun with your book." Vicky walked away with Kassie to the backyard patio.

Kassie stopped in the doorway. "Oh Dot. If you think that chapter five is bad, just wait until the next chapter."

As the door closed, Dot's curiosity perked. She skipped ahead and read a few lines from the sixth chapter. Her face scrunched up from what she read.

"Seriously? He calls an entire wolf-pack to get rid of one pig? This is so dumb."

She got back to the page she was just on and continued reading.

The moment the toons walked through the backdoor, Kassie held Vicky back. When Vicky was about to ask what was up, Kassie shouted.

"Wakko! I'm outside, so be careful where you throw your stuff!"

When Wakko heard her voice, he immediately dropped the roller-skates, ones that he'd been about to throw that direction, at his feet. "Okay!"

This left Vicky confused. What was he throwing and why did Kassie have to warn him? The answer came when they started walking and Vicky spotted all sorts of things strewn about the backyard. Bowling pins, horseshoes, chairs, a roll duct tape, even a rowboat!

Wakko noticed them coming and waved happily. "Kassie! Look at this!" He reached behind him, in his hammerspace, and pulled out two paddles. He threw them in the rowboat and reached into his hammerspace again, this time pulling out a baseball bat.

"Wow, that's looking good Wakko. You picked it up real fast." The boy absolutely beamed at the compliment. "It's a good thing your hammerspace can't get full."

"Wait." Vicky stopped her right there. "You mean to tell me that he pulled all of this out of his hammerspace?" Wakko nodded proudly. "…That's some kid there, Kass."

Choosing to take that as a compliment, Wakko smiled widely. "Thanks, Ms. Strange-fox lady!"

"Vicky, don't talk about him like he's not right in front of you." Kassie scolded playfully. "That's very rude."

Vicky quickly covered up a snort. "Oh, I'm ever so sorry, my dearest friend. How can I live with myself?" She got into full actress modes. "Oh, and I haven't even introduced myself yet either! Oh, the shame!"

The two friends shared a laugh as Wakko just watched on, feeling a little left out. When the fox knelt down, holding out her hand and introducing herself, she expected it to go similarly to the other two. What she didn't expect was for Wakko to dig through his hammerspace and stick a piece of packaged gum in her hand. This got a good laugh out of her and she was gonna eat it, until she noticed the date.

"Seriously though." Vicky got back on topic. "The kid has a real talent with his hammerspace, but we both know you have to store something in there first before you can get it back out. Can't create something out of nothing." She stood up and gestured to all the things littered in the backyard. "So where did all this stuff come from?"

Wakko shrugged. "I don't know. I thought they were just props from the Warner Studio, but now I'm not so sure."

"Are you gonna return it?" Vicky had to ask.

Kassie pretended to think on that question. "Mmmm… Nah." she settled on. "The studio doesn't seem to be missing them. Besides, I don't think some of their belongings should be returned."

It wasn't often that Vicky had to play the mature friend. "Then what are you gonna do with this?"

Kassie pointed to the shed in the back of the yard. "We've just expanded our shed and stored Wakko's things in there. We might keep it, or sell it. We haven't really decided yet."

"Expanded?!" Vicky was in shock. "Girl! The last time I went into your shed I needed a map to not get lost! How much clutter does the kit have?"

"I haven't cleaned out since 1940!" Wakko happily chimed in. "I didn't even know I had to."

They let Wakko get back to de-cluttering his hammerspace and went back inside. Vicky had to sit down. These kids were…something. Yakko had been normal enough, though that might've been because of her overexcited behavior scaring him. Then when she met Dot, she expected a cute little girl and while she certainly was cute, her 'call me Dottie and you die' comment caught her completely off guard. She made a mental note to ask about that. And lastly Wakko's hammerspace abilities. She'd met famous toons who couldn't even pull half the stuff out of their hammerspace!

A glass of milk was placed on the table in front of her. "You doing okay there?" the smug voice of her best friend asked.

"Yeah. Your kits just…were not what I was expecting." Vicky confessed.

Kassie gave up on correcting her by now. "Yeah, well. If you'd called beforehand I could have warned you."

"That still would've ruined the surprise visit, hun." The fox kept defending her actions. "I'm going to the little lady's room. Be right back."

As Vicky walked down the hallway, she barely missed walking into Dot who stormed down the stairs. She threw herself on the couch next to Kassie.

"I was wondering where you went." Kassie said. "How was the book?"

"Sappy, cliché, nonsensical and weird." Dot replied shortly.

Kassie nodded along. That pretty much summed it up. "So… A good read then?"

"Yeah. Except for the part where I laid down and somehow got my hair completely tangled up." Dot showed her the back of her head, which was indeed pretty messy. "Can you brush it for me?" she asked. "Usually I'd ask Yakko, but his butt's been glued to the piano stool since this morning."

Chuckling, Kassie took the hairbrush Dot held out to her. "Your brother just found something he's passionate about." she told the youngest Warner. "Don't worry about it. He'll come out of the room sooner or later."

As on cue, the door to the music room opened and Yakko stepped out. Kassie momentarily paused brushing Dot's hair.

Yakko caught her looking and gave a little wave. "Andy got inspiration for his song."

"Got it." That meant not seeing Andy for at least the next hour or two.

Seeing as the small couch was occupied by Dot and Kassie, Yakko sat down on the other couch, the one where Vicky just sat. He noticed a glass of milk on the table. Weird. There was a cup of tea for Kassie there, and he knew Dot didn't really like milk. Then who was this for?

Shrugging, he picked up the glass and drank it. He was feeling a little parched so if it wasn't for anyone else, then he'd just take it. That was the sight that Vicky returned to.

Holding back a giggle, she stood on the other side of the table. "So, how is that milk?"

Kassie, who had been too occupied untangling Dot's hair, turned to look at Yakko. The boy, in his confusion, hadn't answered. "Yakko, that was for Vicky." Kassie told him. She moved to stand up, but Vicky sat her down.

"It's fine. I know where the kitchen is." she told the cat. "Besides, it looks like you're a little occupied."

That certainly was true. When she got the knots and tangles out of Dot's hair, they might have to look into ways to prevent it. Maybe they should look into a sleep cap, because there was no way this was just from laying while reading.

It was a little less then an hour later when Dot noticed something. Wakko had since already come inside, after storing everything in the shed, and they had been watching TV, when out of the corner of her eye she saw Yakko. He was curled up on the couch, hugging his stomach with a look of discomfort on his face. One look at Wakko told her he'd noticed too.

Kassie and Vicky had been a little too caught up in their conversation to notice. So when Dot pulled at Kassie's arm and pointed out Yakko's pained expression she immediately focused on him.

"Yakko? What's wrong, hon?" She knelt down in front of him, putting a hand on his knee.

Yakko curled up tighter. "My stomach really hurts." he groaned.

"Maybe you ate something weird." Wakko chimed in, trying to help.

"Or maybe you should eat. You've been stuck on the piano since forever." Dot added her own thoughts.

The thought of food just made Yakko nauseous, though. Vicky jumped in to help. She adjusted Yakko's position, explaining to him that sitting straight will help him feel better. It sure didn't feel better!

Vicky reached into her hammerspace, pulling out a full doctor's bag. "Now then, Yakko. Did you eat today?" she asked, writing down the information on a notepad.

Usually Kassie would've scolded her for using someone to practice her doctor's skills on, but seeing the seriousness on her face, she dropped it this time.

With a nod, Yakko confirmed he had eaten, but nothing weird. Just the usual. When he was asked to describe his pain, he told her that it felt like his belly was all swollen up and that he felt nauseous, meanwhile Vicky was listening to his stomach.

She had an inkling of an idea of what might be going on. Still, she had to be sure.

"Have you ever had milk or dairy before today?" Vicky finally asked. When Yakko shook his head, she was pretty sure she knew it. "You might be lactose intolerant." She put her stethoscope around her neck now that she wasn't using it. "Of course, I can't be a hundred percent sure, but it sounds very similar to what a friend of ours has."

Wakko tilted his head. "What does that mean?"

While Vicky explained lactose intolerance to the kids, Kassie went to the kitchen for something to help Yakko. She remembered her creator always gave his daughter peppermint tea, or ginger slices, or even ginger tea when they were out of ginger. They should still have some ginger somewhere.

"What are you doing?" Wakko's voice startled Kassie, causing her to nearly bang her head on the cabinet. "Sorry, did I scare you?"

"A little." Kassie said, pulling her head out of the cabinet. "I was just looking for some ginger to help your brother's stomach ache."

Wakko was quick to reach into his hammerspace to pull out a full gingerbread house. "Will this help?"

Choosing not to question where he'd gotten a gingerbread house from, Kassie shook her head. "I'm not sure, Wakko." His face fell. "But it's really nice of you to try and help your brother, sweetie. I'm sure he appreciates the thought."

To cheer him up, she knelt down to nuzzle him. Out of all the siblings, Wakko had taken the most liking to nuzzling. She stopped abruptly when she heard a familiar rumbling sound. Thing is, it didn't come from her this time.

"You can purr?!"

"I can?" Wakko put his hand on his chest, feeling it vibrate. "Oh, I guess so." That gave him an idea! "Do you think it could help Yakko feel better?"

Still a little shocked that her kitten could apparently purr, Kassie couldn't think of an answer. "Wha- Erm… What makes you think so?" she eventually got out.

"Because I always feel better when you purr." Wakko told her.

Kassie couldn't help but smile at that response. "Well, the only way to know is to try, isn't it?"

With that being said, Wakko ran straight back to the living room. He climbed onto the couch his brother was sitting and hugged him around the middle. Yakko winced at the contact. Not being used to pain was such a…well, pain!

"Not that I don't appreciate the hug, Wak. But what are you doing?"

Wakko strained to get the purr going again, and it showed. "I'm trying to help." he explained in short. Let's see, what happened last time he did this?

"That's nice of you, little brother, but I don't really see ho-" He cut himself off when he felt a vibration in his side and heard the familiar sound of purring. Was that Wakko?

Wakko, meanwhile, was happy to get his purr started again. "I did it!" He buried his chest closer to Yakko's side.

While still surprised, Yakko couldn't lie. It did ease the pain a little. Before he knew it, he was purring back at Wakko. Ah, so that's what that weird feeling in his throat was.

When Kassie returned from the kitchen and found two purring kittens, she wasn't even surprised. She just handed Yakko the ginger tea, turns out they were out of ginger after all, and sat back on the other couch next to Dot.

"So, why aren't you joining the cuddle-pile?" she asked the youngest.

Dot shrugged. "I don't know how to purr." What kind of reason was that? Seeing Kassie's confused face, Dot elaborated. "Yakko's always helped us feel better. And now he feels bad and purring helps him feel better, so I just wanna help." She grabbed Kassie's shirt as she pulled herself up. "How do you purr?"

"I… I don't really know, honestly." Kassie confessed. "It's just instinctual. I do it when I feel happy, or when I want to comfort one of you." Seeing Dot's ears droop, she tried something. "Try this. Think of something that makes you happy. As soon as you feel that purr, hold onto it."

Dot tried it. She thought of all the fun things she and her brothers did at the studio. All the tickle fights they had, which she always lost. When she felt someone taking off her hair tie and scratch the base of her ears, that was when she felt the rumble in her throat.

So that's what it felt like. She did as she was told and held onto that feeling, eventually feeling it better and actually hearing the rumbling. Dot immediately jumped off the couch and jumped onto the one where her brothers sat.

Now it was a true Warner cuddle-pile.

At this point Vicky decided to take her leave. Kassie saw her out, closing the door behind them to give both them and the Warners some privacy.

"You'd better take him for a check-up." Vicky told her. "All of them, actually. I could still be wrong about the lactose intolerance, so be prepared for that."

Kassie nodded. "I know, but thanks."

There was just one thing Vicky wanted to know. "Do you know what's up with that whole 'Dottie' thing?" Okay two things, but let's get this one out of the way first.

"I'm not sure. That's the first time I heard her say that." Kassie told her. "Maybe it's a family thing? A nickname that only her brothers can call her, maybe?"

That brings Vicky to the second thing. "In all seriousness, though. How are you holding up? I know from experience that it's not exactly easy to take a child under your roof, let alone three!"

"Well…" Kassie drawled. "I won't lie. I feel like I fail at this whole parenting thing sometimes." she admitted. "I mean, I was created as a mother, but…"

"Are you kidding me?" Vicky asked in shock. "Oh honey. No one ever said parenting was gonna be easy. Mistakes will be made, on both sides mind you." she huffed out a laugh. "I learned that the hard way when I got custody of Danny. But that doesn't mean you're failing. You're still learning, so is Andy…and so are your kits."

Kassie smiled as she pulled her friend into a hug. "Thank you, Vicky."

"No problem at all." Vicky said, embracing her back. Then she pulled back. "Remember, if you want me to come with you for that doctor's visit, I'm just a phone call away."

When the fox left, Kassie went back inside. Her kittens were still happily purring on the couch and were most likely not gonna move until the eldest felt better. Not that she blamed them. She just went upstairs with her forgotten basket of clothes to continue folding it there, to give the children some time for themselves.

And if the siblings stayed in their purring-cuddle-pile long after Yakko felt better, well, that was no-one else's business but their own.

Later that week Yakko was indeed diagnosed with lactose intolerance. Other than that the siblings had a clean bill of health, aside from being a little underfed. But that would be easily remedied.

Hope you guys aren't too turned away from lactose intolerant Yakko thanks to the milk I've been hearing so much about on AO3.

Next chapter will be a special one~ 😉😊

(Also, the book Dot was reading is based on a kids musical I watched on TV as a kid.)