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*Our story begins on a quiet afternoon at the Starling Mansion*
*We see Tom lounging on the couch, watching a horror movie and eating pizza*
*In his mouse hole, Jerry is putting on a little tuxedo, Destiny is wearing a dress*
Jerry: How do I look, Des?
Destiny: Amazing, Sparky. That dance party is gonna go great.
*Destiny spins around*
Destiny: How do I look?
Jerry: Beautiful. Then again, when are you not beautiful?
*Destiny giggles*
Destiny: You have quite a way with words.
*They step out of the mouse hole and approach Charity, who’s in her basket*
Destiny: I’m sure you’ll have a great day with your Uncle Tom, my little Star.
*Charity smiles and squeaks*
Jerry: Hope he’s not run too ragged.
Destiny: Oh, Sparky, of course he can handle it.
*That's when Jerry sees Tom on the couch, still pigging out on pizza, he clears his throat*
Tom: Huh?
Jerry: Do you know what day it is?
Tom: Uh, Wednesday?
Jerry: It’s my day out with Destiny, remember?
Tom: Wait, that’s today?
Jerry: Yes! Don't you check the calendar?!
*Tom smiles nervously*
Tom: Uh…not in a while.
*Jerry slaps his own forehead*
Jerry: Well, you’ve gotta look after Charity!
*Charity looks up at him*
Tom: Oh gee, I uh-
*Charity reaches for him and coos, he can’t resist that cute little face, so he picks her up*
Tom: I’ll do it. Anything for my Squeaker.
Destiny: Best of luck, Tom. And see you later, Star.
*She kisses Charity on the head and Jerry follows suit, they both wave goodbye and depart*
*Tom turns his attention towards Charity*
Tom: Alright Squeaker, looks like it's gonna be you and me for a while.
*She sees her parents go and starts crying*
Tom: Aw, no. D-Don't cry, they'll be back later, I promise.
*He looks around and hands a rattle to her, shaking it; she takes it, throws it at his head, and continues wailing*
Tom: Ow!
*He whines as he rubs his head*
Tom: For a baby, she’s got quite an arm.
*Peony hears this and comes in*
Peony: Is everything ok in here?
Tom: No, Charity’s all upset and I don’t know how to quiet her down.
Peony: Hmm…have you tried feeding her?
Tom: Not yet, but it’s worth a shot.
*He gathers some mangoes and bananas, puts them in a blender, and then pours the contents into a bottle*
Tom: There, that should do it.
*Charity reaches out for the bottle, Tom hands it to her and she finally relaxes as she suckles on it*
Tom: Thanks, Honey.
Peony: No problem.
*Charity soon finishes it and starts to look uncomfortable, she starts to fuss and squirm*
Tom: Now what?
Peony: Maybe she's-
*Charity then lets out a monstrous belch, Peony snickers and Tom waves the scent away from his face*
Tom: Geez, that’s worse than mine.
Peony: Looks like she gets something from her uncle.
*Tom chuckles at this*
Tom: Yeah, I guess so.
*Charity flaps her wings and gets a few feet off the ground, she hovers around the room*
Peony: She’s come a long way, hasn’t she?
Tom: Yeah, she wouldn’t get off the ground at all before.
*Charity bumps into a vase, knocking it over, Tom yelps, dives forward, and catches it*
Tom: Phew! That was close..
*Charity then bumps into a mug on a table, Peony also catches it*
Peony: Looks like she still needs to work on her aim.
*Charity then flies into a wall with a big bump*
Tom: Squeaker!
*Charity is stunned momentarily and starts to fall, only for Tom to run over and catch her just in time*
Tom: Are you okay, Squeaker?
*Charity looks up at him, and immediately cheers up and giggles, nuzzling into his fur*
Peony: You’ve got to be more careful, Rose.
*She gently pets Charity on the head, Charity licks her hand*
Peony: I think it’s bath time for you.
*She takes Charity into the bathroom with Tom following her, Tom puts the stopper into the tub and turns on the water*
Tom: Please don’t freak out, please don’t freak out, please don’t freak out.
*Peony slowly lowers Charity into the water; Charity starts to squeal in alarm and flap her wings frantically, splashing water everywhere, especially on Tom*
*Tom spits out some water*
Tom: She freaked out..
Peony: Charity, please calm down.
*Charity ignores her and continues fussing and trying to fly out of Peony’s hands*
*Thinking fast, Tom gets a rubber duck and shows it to her, squeezing it and making it squeak*
*Charity turns her attention towards the rubber duck*
Tom: See? Mr. Quacks is your bath buddy!
*He fills the duck with bath water and squirts it, Charity is amused by this and giggles*
*While Charity is distracted, Peony covers Charity in soap suds and shampoo*
Peony: There we go, you’re getting clean already. Good thinking, Sugar.
Tom: Aw, it was nothin’, Honey. I’ve dealt with kids before, remember the time we looked after Tyke?
Peony: You sure were a big help there.
*She rinses Charity off with a pitcher of water and wraps her in a towel*
Peony: Aw, she’s a cute burrito.
Tom: More like a batrito.
*Peony giggles at this*
*Charity coos contentedly as Peony rubs her dry, and then she takes the towel off her, causing her fur to get all poofy*
*Peony giggles at this*
Peony: My fur always does the same thing. Then I might get the zoomies.
Tom: And it’s always cute and funny to watch.
*Peony chuckles at this*
Peony: It's even funnier when you do it.
*Charity picks up Tom’s toothbrush off the sink and waves it around*
Tom: Uh S-Squeaker, that's my toothbrush.
*She taps him on the nose with it and then throws it into the toilet with an audible splash*
Tom: Ugh…
Peony: Ew.. That's a terrible outcome.
Tom: I’ll…fish that out later. So, uh, who wants to go to the livin’ room and play?
*He boops Charity’s nose, she giggles, and they go to the living room*
*Tom sets Charity on the floor and she starts to tug on his tail*
Tom: U-Uh Squeaker, that's my tail.
*She tugs harder on it*
Tom: Yeow!!
*Charity cutely giggles at this and she tugs even harder*
*Tom howls in pain when she does this, Peony looks around to find something to distract Charity and finds a piano toy with the face of a dog*
*She presses a key on it and it barks in a musical tone, so Charity lets go of Tom’s tail and looks at it*
Peony: Look, you can be a little musician now! Isn’t this pretty?
*Charity looks at it in intrigue and presses a key, which lets out another synthesized bark, she is fascinated by this and presses random keys*
*Tom groans as he holds his tail*
Tom: You really saved my tail there, Honey.
Peony: No problem, Sugar.
*Charity plays the toy piano very off-key; Tom cringes a bit as his ears pull back, but he tries to smile*
*Spike and Tyke are walking by and their ears perk up when they hear this off-key musical barking; they start to bark and howl*
*When Tom hears this, he joins in on the barking and howling; Peony covers her ears*
*Peony looks in the fridge and finds a chicken bone, she then tosses it out the window, so Spike and Tyke stop their unpleasant duet and take the bone home*
Peony: That takes care of that.
*Tom is still howling and barking*
Peony: Okay, you can stop now.
*Tom continues to howl and yap*
Peony: Sugar!
Tom: Oh, sorry.
*Charity is still playing the toy piano, cutely giggling as she does so*
Tom: Surely we can give her somethin’ that isn’t nearly as noisy.
*Peony thinks to herself for a second, then suddenly her ears perk up as she gets an idea*
Peony: I'll be right back!
*She dashes off, and comes back with a stuffed deer*
Tom: Daisy? I haven’t seen her in quite a while.
*Peony giggles at this*
Peony: I've been saving her for something like this, now’s as good a time as any to let somebody else play with her.
*She holds up Daisy and speaks in a higher-pitched voice*
Peony: “Hi, I’m Daisy Deer! I’m Peony’s old childhood friend!”
*She hands Daisy to Charity, who grins and cuddles the deer*
Peony: Aww…That's so sweet.
*Tom smiles at this, and Charity nuzzles the deer’s head*
*After a bit, Charity emits a very squeaky yawn and rubs her eyes*
Tom: Looks like somebody’s tired.
*He picks her up, takes her to her basket, and tucks her in*
*Charity closes her eyes and cuddles up with Daisy*
Tom: Sweet dreams Squeaker..
*And with that, he gently sneaks away, only to stub the big toe on his left foot on a rattle; Peony cringes in preparation, knowing what will happen*
*Tom inhales deeply, trying not to scream, and speed-walks out of the room; once he’s out of there, he howls in pain*
Tom: AROOO! AH-AH-AHA-HOO-HOO!!
*He jumps around clutching his injured foot*
Tom: Why’s it always gotta be the left one?!
*Charity still hears him, and she starts crying, Tom and Peony's ears perk up as they hear this*
Peony: Oh whiskers..!
*They go back to the wailing Charity, Peony picks her up and tries to quiet her down with a song*
Peony: Rock-a-bye, baby, on the treetop, when the wind blows, the cradle will rock, when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall-
*Charity bawls even louder*
Tom: Peony, y’know she’s scared of heights!
Peony: Sorry, Sugar. I didn’t realize how dark it was until now.
*Tom takes a deep breath and sighs*
Tom: Hand her over to me for a sec.
Peony: O-Ok.
*She gives Charity to Tom, who clears his throat*
Tom: Hush little baby, don’t say a word, Tom’s gonna buy you a mockingbird…
*Charity hears his voice and starts to relax*
Tom: And if that mockingbird don’t sing, Tom’s gonna buy you a diamond ring…
Peony: If that diamond ring turns brass, Peony’s gonna buy you a looking glass…
*Charity slowly closes her eyes and drifts off*
Peony: Whew. You’re a really good singer, you know that? *She whispers*
Tom: Thanks. You too, Honey. *He whispers*
*He gently places Charity back in her basket and tucks her in, he and Peony then carefully sneak away*
*Shortly after they leave the room, Charity starts to flap her wings in her sleep, and eventually, she’s airborne*
*She flies around the room, muttering in her sleep*
Tom: Ok, Jerry and Destiny should be home soon, Charity is sleepin’ like a baby so.. Whaddya wanna do now?
Peony: Wanna watch a movie?
Tom: Sure, which one?
Peony: I'll let you pick this time.
Tom: Dumbo? That’s a classic.
Peony: That’s such an adorable movie!
*As they sit down to watch it, Charity flies into the room*
Tom: Holy sassafras!
Peony: Oh dear!
*Charity ascends to the ceiling and nearly flies into the fan, Peony gasps in horror and covers her eyes, but Charity then abruptly descends*
*Charity flies right in the direction of a lamp, Peony picks up the lamp to clear her path, Charity then takes a sharp right and flies towards the TV*
*Tom yelps and tries to grab Charity, only for the latter to make another sharp turn and she soars in the direction of a chair*
*Tom pulls the chair out of the way, and Charity zooms towards an open window*
Tom: Sheesh! When did this kid get so good at flyin’?!
*Peony runs ahead and slams the window shut before catching Charity, that’s when she notices that Charity is still asleep*
Peony: What the? She was asleep.
*Tom walks towards them and tilts his head in confusion*
Tom: Yeesh, forget sleepwalkin’, she was sleepflyin’!
Peony: That explains why she was flying so high up, she’d never normally do that.
*Charity coos in her sleep, so Peony takes her back to her basket and tucks her back in, so Charity cuddles up to Daisy in her slumber*
Peony: Aww.
*They hear a knocking at the door, Tom goes to get it, and standing at the door are Jerry and Destiny*
Jerry: We're home!
Destiny: Dang, that was one wild party. Another mouse got hammered on cheese fondue and then all heck broke loose from there.
Jerry: No kidding! Anyway, how’s our little girl?
Tom: She’s good, just put her down for a nap.
*Peony comes by*
Peony: Welcome back.
Destiny: Was Charity any trouble?
Peony: …Nnnno.
*She rolls her eyes*
*Jerry raises an eyebrow at this*
Jerry: You're rolling your eyes, Peony. We all know what that means.
Peony: Okay, I’ll admit she got into some mischief, but I think it was worth it.
Tom: Yeah, it was. It ain’t easy, but seein’ Charity happy makes bein’ an uncle all worthwhile.
*Suddenly, his ears perk up when he hears the toilet flushing*
Tom: Oh, no…my toothbrush!
*He hears Alex’s voice*
Alex: Tom!!
Destiny: What? What happened? What did you do?
Tom: I’ll explain later.
*He whines as he gives himself a facepalm*
Tom: I should’ve taken it out when I had the chance.
(The End)