Brothers and Trials

Merry Christmas!

Private was struggling to find Christmas gifts for everyone. Usually each of his brothers would all work together to get one gift for each of them, but Private wanted to do something special. He was four years old for crying out loud! He put on a serious face and counted out the small amount of coins he had gotten from working with Granny Acorn. His big brothers, Rico and Kowalski, were now working with a nearby garage that was run by a man named Ted. Skipper was starting to get money from Buck for being an assistant sensei at the dojo.

Private smiled as he counted out his money. "Wow, ten whole dollars!" Smiling happily, Private made his way to where his brothers were gathered in their "Living Room" in their base. It was a small room with a small table in the middle. Kowalski was working on his reading skills, with Skipper helping him. Rico was stacking cans again. "Skippah."

The oldest stopped what he was doing for a moment to smile towards the youngest. "What's up, Private?"

"I wanna go shopping with granny for Christmas gifts. Can I?"

The three boys looked to eachother, then to the youngest and smiled. "I'll take you to Granny's, but you better behave, Private." Skipper smiled as he ruffled the boy's hair.

"Yay!"

Skipper dropped Private off and promised to come back for him in two hours. It would be one of the few times that they trusted Private to be on his own with someone other than them. Private smiled.

Granny Acorn brought him to a store and let the little tyke run loose. He grabbed three items that were in his budget. He went up to the register to pay for them, but found that one of the items, an action figure he had chosen for Rico, was more expensive than he had thought. He frowned. Then he perked up as another idea came to mind. He ran back to the aisle that he had found the action figure in, grabbed a doll named Ms. Purdy, and then rushed back to the cashier. This doll was cheaper and he had managed to get some military clothes for her as well.

When he presented the gifts on Christmas morning to his big brothers, he was a bit nervous. For Skipper, he had gotten a dinosaur toy that grew in water. For Kowalski, he had gotten an egg of fart-putty that he thought could be like a pet or lab buddy for his big brother. When he handed Ms. Purdy to Rico for Christmas, he was really nervous. He had wanted to give his brother something cool, but instead, he only had enough for a girly toy.

When Rico looked at the doll, he grimaced at first when his little brother explained what happened. He then smirked as he dressed the doll for combat. He whispered something to Kowalski who just grinned. Kowalski took the doll into his lab for a few minutes and when he came out, the doll was no longer blonde, but instead, she had black hair just like the boys. "Well what do you know, now she looks like mom, eh, Rico?" Rico grinned as he held the doll. He then brought his little brother in for a hug. She may have started out as a Ms. Purdy doll, but now she was a commando mom doll for Rico, and he wasn't going to lose her.

Kowalski went back to his lab that night and looked at the fart putty that Private had suggested to be his pet. He smirked. "Maybe I might just make it come alive one day... then it really would be a pet...hmmm... Jiggles sounds like an appropriate name... but not today...hehe." Kowalski then peeked into their bedroom that the four shared to check on the others. He smiled.

Skipper was tucking in the other two, who were now sleeping on their respective beds. Rico had his new "Commando Mom" doll in his arms, hugging it like it would bring back his mother. Private was sleeping with his usual Lunacorn doll, but also with a new toy that his brothers had all gotten him, a little stuffed penguin. Skipper smiled as he ruffled the two's hair like he did every night as they went to sleep. It had turned out to be a great Christmas for the four of them. "Cute and cuddly, just like always boys..."