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TaleSpin!

It was dawn and the Sea Duck was flying through the gap in the cliff of Cape Suzette, entering the city. Baloo, the pilot, a large gray bear wearing a yellow flight shirt and a red pilot cap, looked as though he was ready to pass out from exhaustion. This had been a long flight.

"Oh, man…if Becky's crazy ideas doesn't kill me, I dunno what will." Baloo mumbled. "Even an exploding gas station in the sky didn't kill me." He let out a huge yawn.

It was five in the morning by the time the Sea Duck landed and parked at the dock of Higher for Hire. Baloo barely managed to walk into the building, and deciding against climbing the stairs up to the bedroom he shared with Kit; he collapsed instead into his favorite red armchair in the corner of the office and immediately started snoring.

Upstairs on the wooden balcony, stood Kit, a small twelve-year-old brown bear cub in a white nightshirt and cap.

Kit was looking down at the large gray bear, watching him sleep. His keen hearing and ability to distinguish different sounds in plane engines had alerted him to the return of the Sea Duck and was able to wake himself up to the sound of it.

With a sigh, Kit went back into the bedroom and came back out, carrying a pillow and some thin blankets. He walked down the stairs and tiptoed over to Baloo. He threw the blanket over Baloo and tucked it in around the larger bear to make sure he was kept warm. Then he took Baloo's cap off and set it on top of the armchair above Baloo's head. He pushed Baloo's head forward and slid the pillow in behind Baloo's head before pushing it back against the pillow.

With that done, Kit wrapped his arms around Baloo's neck and hugged him for a moment before he stood back, smiling.

"G'night, Papa Bear." Kit whispered as he turned and climbed the stairs back up to the bedroom, returning to bed to sleep a few more hours.

Baloo opened one eye and watched Kit climb up the stairs to the bedroom.

"Thanks, Lil Britches." Baloo whispered before drifting back to sleep.

"Bye Miss Cunningham!" Kit yelled. It was a few hours later and it was time for school. He snatched his lunch bag and books off the table.

"Bye Kit, have a good day at school." Rebecca said as he ran passed her desk and dashed out the door. "Baloo?" she said, once she was sure Kit was gone.

Baloo was still in the same spot he was in when got home, in his favorite chair, still snoring and snoozing away.

"BALOO!" yelled Rebecca, so loudly that the big gray bear let out a yell and fell out of his chair in a heap.

"What's a bear gotta do to get some shuteyes around here?" Baloo demanded as he stood and stretched his back, straightening it out.

"Baloo, come over here and have a seat." Rebecca said in a serious, business-like manner. She indicated the basket in front of her desk that was used as a chair. I really need to get a couple of chairs for customers to sit on… she thought, eying the basket with distaste.

The basket flattens a little under the weight of Baloo as he sat down.

"Baloo, I've been thinking a lot about Kit lately." Rebecca said. "He's been with us for almost a year now and I was wondering if you had thought about adopting him."

Baloo looked a little startled at the question. "Me? Well…uh, no, not really…I don't think I'm cut out for this whole Dad stuff."

"Baloo…" Rebecca said, chuckling a little. "I've seen how you are with Kit and Molly, and from what I've seen, you'd make a great Dad." Then her facial expression became serious. "But Kit can't go on like this for much longer; he needs a parental figure, not just a big buddy… Baloo, he has already managed to call off two parent-teacher confidants at school and if he delays another one, someone might look into his background and discover that he's living here without an official guardian. And if that happens, Kit will be taken away to a foster home or…an orphanage."

Baloo sat there in shock, his brain going numb and cold as her words begin to sink in. Take Kit away? No, not his best friend and navigator. In his mind's eye, he could see Kit's miserable expression while staying cooped up in an orphanage and being denied all cloudsurfing activities. No, he cannot let that happen! He would not allow some big-shot orphanage clip Kit's wings! Never!

"No!" growled Baloo, in a hushed and determined voice, going into protective father mode. Wait, where did that came from? Maybe Becky was right, he would make a great Dad. A great Dad is measured by the unconditional love he has for his son and the willingness to do everything within his being to make sure his son was well cared for, well provided for and happy.

"Even if that doesn't happen, Baloo, without a parental guardian, Kit is free to leave this place whenever he wants." Rebecca reminded him. "So unless you want another Daring Dan incident, you may want to consider adopting him."

At the mention of Daring Dan, Baloo grimaced, his teeth bared and a low growl escaped him. That dirty bag of hot wind would have killed Kit if he hasn't arrived in time to save him from his fall to the rings of fire. He calmed himself before continuing the conversation with Rebecca.

"Why don't you adopt him, Becky? You're better at this official stuff than me."

Rebecca shook her head. "I wanted to, but he's more attached to you, he looks up to you and admires you. I'd even go as far as to say that he loves you. And who am I to take him away from his Papa Bear?"

Baloo was silent for a moment, recalling the Bullethead Baloo episode when Kit had used him as an example to his friends that pilots were real heroes and that the comic book heroes were just pretend heroes.

One thing about Kit is that he does not settle for the fictional heroes, he'd rather have the real heroes. When he was dropped off from the Iron Vulture to fall to his doom toward the ocean below, who came to his rescue? Certainly not some comic book hero! Baloo was his hero, a hero who just happened to be a cargo pilot and extremely talented at flying.

"You're just as brave and tough as Bullethead, aren't you, Baloo?"

Yes, Kit does look up to him, there was no denying that.

Then he remembered the time they first met. For a street kid with little or no trust in adults, Kit befriended and trusted Baloo rather quickly and a lot sooner then he would have done anyone else. Kit would not have trusted any other people as quickly as he did Baloo. It was almost like they were meant to be together as pilot and navigator. Maybe even father and son?

Baloo sighed deeply. Sure, why not? I do love that kid and I don't want anything ta happen to him. And if adopting him is the only way to keep him here, safe 'n happy, I'll do it.

"Okay, Becky, I'll do it." Baloo said.

"Good, now if you'll sign these…" Rebecca pulled out a few papers from under her desk and placed them in front of Baloo. "You and I will have joint custody of Kit."

"You—you've already had this planned out?" Baloo asked incredulously.

"Yes, I was going to adopt him myself but I figured that a joint custody of Kit between you and me was better." Rebecca explained. "This way we both will have say in any decisions we make regarding Kit. And I don't know if I've told you this, but Kit is like a son to me and I want to make sure he's happy and well cared for. And if something happens to one of us, Kit would still have the other parental figure."

"Yeah, yer right, Becky." Baloo said, he could tell Rebecca had put a lot of thoughts into this, there were no rushed decisions. "Where do I sign?"

Rebecca smiled and handed him a pen and the papers and pointed to where he needed to sign his signatures. When he was done, Rebecca took the papers and sealed them in a folder.

"Now, I'll have to take these to a judge and have him and the government to approve this adoption." Rebecca said as she got up and started getting her things ready. She put on her coat and she headed toward the door when she stopped and looked back at Baloo. "Oh, and Baloo… don't say anything about this to Kit, his birthday is this weekend and I want it to be a surprise."

"His….birthday is this weekend?" Baloo asked, flabbergasted. "I didn't even know when his birthday was… How did you find out?"

"Well…" Rebecca said slyly. "After much time and effort, I was able to get a hold of a copy of Kit's birth certificate; it came with the adoption papers from his old orphanage in Freeport. According to this, Kit was born in Freeport; his parents were Mathew and Lily Cloudkicker. And he was a healthy baby."

"That's good ta hear." Baloo said, smiling

"Yes, it is," Rebecca agreed. "And he's pretty healthy now, despite being a little underfed while he was living on the streets; he's still a bit small for his age because of that. He's turning thirteen and he could still pass for a ten or eleven-year-old."

Baloo nodded in acknowledgment. "Yea, I still need ta beef that kid up a bit."

Rebecca laughed as she opened the door. "Just don't overfeed him, Baloo, we wouldn't want him to end up with a big belly like yours, now would we?"

Baloo frowned indignantly at her as she stepped out into the cool morning air and closed the door behind her."

"I am not that big 'round the middle," he growled at the closed door, looking down and examining his belly.

It was noon by the time Rebecca returned. The door banged opened to reveal Rebecca jumping up and down, whooping and laughing joyfully.

Baloo, who had been fixing a one-foot tower of a sandwich with his back to the door, jumped, causing his sandwich to fly apart and shatter all over the desk and some of it ended up on the floor.

"Aw, Becky," Baloo whined, turning to look at her and pouting a little. "You just ruined a perfectly good sandwich..."

"Never mind the sandwich, Baloo!" Rebecca ran across the office, pouncing on Baloo and swinging around on his neck. "Whoo-hoo!" she yelled in mid-swing. "We did it, Baloo, we got custody of Kit!"

Baloo's expression of bewilderment transformed into one of excitement in a split second!

"Yea man!" Baloo exclaimed, tossing Rebecca high up into the air and catching her in his arms as she came back down. "Ha-ha! Kit is now officially my boy!"
They celebrated for a half-hour before they settled down. Rebecca sat down at her desk and Baloo sat opposite of her on the basket of a chair.

"Baloo…" Rebecca spoke after a catching her breath. "Let's not tell Kit about the adoption until his birthday this Saturday. Let it be a surprise, okay?"

"Okay, Beckers." Baloo agreed. "I'd like to throw him a surprise party at Louie's."

Rebecca frowned distastefully, but nodded in agreement. She really didn't like Louie, but he was Baloo's old friend and Kit seems to like him as well. She supposed she could tolerate him for one night, just for Kit. But if that matted fur starts flirting with me or calling me 'Becky Baby', I will smack him!

"Okay, Baloo," she sighed. "We'll have the party at…Louie's," she groaned on the last word with a despairing expression.

Saturday morning

"Rise and shine-ola, Kit!" Baloo said cheerfully, shaking Kit's shoulder a little, trying to wake him. Kit opened one eye and glared at Baloo as if to say 'You're waking me up early… on a SATURDAY?' "Wait till you hear what we're doing today!"

"What're we doing, Papa Bear?" Kit asked groggily, sitting up in bed and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He got up, took off his nightshirt and started to put on his usual green sweater but Baloo stopped him.

"Hey wait a minute, kid. Why don't ya take a break from that ol' sweater?" Baloo suggested, holding out a short sleeve shirt which was a 0darker shade of green than his sweater, with a yellow neck collar. On the front, there were two yellow letters that read 'KC.' Contrast from his sweater, which was old and worn, this shirt was brand new, it wasn't even used. "This'll look better on ya, and ya won't burn up in this, either. It's supposed ta get warmer today."

"Thanks Papa Bear." Kit said gratefully as he accepted the new shirt and put it on. "I love it!"

Baloo looked Kit up and down in his new shirt with a grin. "Glad ya like it… Lookin' sharp there, kid."

"So, what are we doing today, Baloo?" Kit asked.

Baloo's eyes were shining brightly as he replied: "It's a surprise, but I can tell ya this: We're gonna have so much fun today!"

"Have fun doing what?" Kit asked suspiciously. "If this is another trip into a volcano, I'd rather not get sunburns on my tail section again, just by sitting in my seat."

"Hey, we had ta cook two hundred pizzas in five minutes somehow." Baloo said defensively. "And I didn't particularly enjoy the experience myself. My poor baby… almost burnt to a crisp. Not my idea of fun, Lil Britches."

"Okay, then where're we going?" Kit asked.

"Told ya, kid…it's a surprise." Baloo said mysteriously, shoving Kit out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

"Baloo, I swear, if this is another one of your slime ball schemes, I'll..."

"Kit, trust me." Baloo said, cutting off Kit's threat.

"Last time you said that, you ended up spending all my hard-earned money." Kit said stubbornly.

"Well it worked out well in the end, didn't it?" Baloo said, growing a little tired of Kit bringing up his past mistakes and foolishness, but he kept a smile on his face. "I doubled your money just like I promised. Though if it weren't for Trader Moe, you would've had your fifty bucks doubled to a hundred and I would've brought that record myself."

Kit sighed. "Okay Papa Bear, I'll go with you to this surprise." He smiled in spite of himself, he was actually a little curious of what surprise Baloo had in store for him.

They reached the bottom of the stairs; they had paused a few times on the stairs in conversation.

"Race ya to the Duck." Baloo yelled, laughing as he dashed out the door.

"Hey!" Kit laughed in mocked indignity as he ran out after Baloo. Being smaller and faster, Kit won their little race as he ran past Baloo and reached the Sea Duck first.

They entered the c0ckpit of the Sea Duck and took their usual seats. It took a few moments for Kit to realize that the co-pilot flight stick was up in front of him. Usually the co-pilot control stick was folded and tucked away under the floorboard. He glanced questioningly at Baloo.

Baloo grinned. "Kit, today yer gonna fly the Sea Duck."

Kit's eyes widened in excitement and surprise. "What?! You—you really mean it?"

Baloo laughed, leaning back in his seat. "Knock yourself out. Now, what do you do first?"

"Um," Kit said, thinking. "I think I should do some preflight checks on the outside of the plane."

Baloo nodded. "Yeah, that's important, ya gotta make sure the ailerons and flaps are working just right."

Kit went back outside and walked all around the plane, stopping every now and then to check an aileron by wiggling it a bit. After he inspected the propellers and the pontoons, he was back in the c0ckpit.

"The Sea Duck's in good condition and ready to fly." Kit reported as he reseated himself in his seat.

"No surprise there, Lil Britches, she's a great plane." Baloo said, patting his flight stick fondly. "Now, I'm gonna steer her away from the docks and then you'll take it from there."

Baloo started the engine, the propellers started spinning and the engines made their usual noise, which were music to Kit and Baloo's ears. The Sea Duck backed away from the dock and turned around on the water to face the gap in the cliff ahead of them.

"Okay, Lil Britches, you take it from here, get her up in the air." Baloo said, leaning back in his seat with his hands behind his head.

"But, didn't you say I was too young to fly a few months ago?" Kit asked, remembering the time he wanted to fly so bad that he resorted to attending one of the Thembrian flight school's, much to his regret. Colonel Spigot had been harsh with him and with his experience from his days on the streets, Kit learned not to forgive harsh or cruel treatment directed at him so easily. It was outrageous that Spigot had sent a pack of Thembrian tanks after him, now he'd never trust anyone or anything from Thembria again, except Dunder and Bobo, the Thembrian kid he met and was bunkmates with.

"Look, Kit," Baloo said, looking a little anxious. "I'm sorry; I should've explained to you that you can only fly with a licensed pilot. What I really meant was that you were too young ta do something fancy, like the ol' Baloo Corkscrew."

"Oh," Kit said, looking slightly confused.

"Now, are we gonna sit here all day, or are you gonna fly this plane?" Baloo teased Kit, grinning amusingly.

"Oh, I'm going to fly alright." Kit grinned as he took the co-pilot flight stick in one hand with the other hand on the throttle. "I've waited my entire life for this…" He advanced the throttle forward half way. The Sea Duck moved forward, gliding along on the surface of the water, gathering speed as it went, after a few moments, Kit realized that he couldn't see ahead of him over the nose of the plane. He could barely see over the dashboard and through the windshield, but he could not see over the nose of the plane. So, not wanting to cause an incident with the buoy like Rebecca did when she was learning to fly by the book, during which she caught a buoy on the pontoon under the left wing. He cut the throttle and the plane slowed down and stopped.

"Kit, what's wrong?" Baloo asked, looking concerned.

Kit blushed. "I, um, can't see over the nose…"

"Oh," Baloo said; he seems to understand Kit's position, because he reached over and lifted Kit out his seat and set him up to sit on his lap. "Is this better?"

Seated on Baloo's lap, Kit had a better view of the Sea Duck's surroundings and what lies ahead of him over and beyond the nose of the plane.

"Yeah, much better. Thanks, Papa Bear." Kit said, smiling gratefully. He looked around and spotted a buoy close by and was glad he cut the throttle when he did, because now since he was able to see it, he could steer around it.

He advanced the throttle once again and steered the Sea Duck around the buoy. Now he had a clear runway. The Sea Duck glided into the gap in the cliff, gathering speed. Once it was up to sixty-five miles per hour, Kit pulled back gently on the flight stick and leveled off the water and into the air, climbing slowly up and gaining altitude. Soon they were up high above the oceans and Kit let out a shout of joy.

"I did it, Papa Bear! My first takeoff!" Kit said excitedly.

"Yeah, you did great, kid, I'm proud of ya!" Baloo said, embracing Kit from behind. "Now remember, takeoffs are easy, it's the landing that is hard."

"Yeah, I know." Kit said with a big smile on his face, he just couldn't shake off the thrill of being the one piloting the Sea Duck. "Landing and doing a Baloo Corkscrew is hard."

"Yeah, and the Baloo Corkscrew is for advanced flyers only." Baloo said. "But with a little training from ol' Papa Bear, you should be able ta pull it off when you're ready."

It took a few moments to realize what Baloo was saying.

"What?!" gasped Kit, hardly daring to believe his ears, he stared in stunned surprised over his shoulder at Baloo. "You're gonna t-train me…to fly like you?"

"Yea, until you get yer license, I'll train ya." Baloo said, patting Kit on top of his head. "Besides, the last thing I want is for you ta get caught by Air Pirates during yer first solo flight, you'll need to fly like the best in order ta outfly 'em."

"Papa Bear… you're the best…" Kit sighed happily as the Sea Duck flew over the horizon and out of sight among the clouds.

An hour later, they had landed and left the Sea Duck, locked and tied securely by iron chains to a post on the dock. They made their way across the dock and into the city, Baloo guiding a blindfolded Kit by the hand.

"Baloo, why am I wearing this?" Kit asked; sounding a little irritated as he tugged at the white blindfold over his eyes.

"Because it's a surprise." Baloo said simply, lightly slapping Kit's hand away from the blindfold.

"Aw Baloo," Kit whined. "The suspense is killing me and this blindfold's only making it worse."

"We're nearly there, Lil Britches, just bare with it fer just a few more minutes."

Kit listened to his surrounding. Now that he was blindfolded, it was like his ears became sharpened and amplified his hearings. There was a lot of noise going on, he could hear carnival music, the chattering of hundreds of souls and the joyous cry and laugher of children. He could also hear a lot of racket going on. His curiosity was growing by the seconds until he felt Baloo move to stand behind him.

"Well," Baloo said, untying the blindfold. "What'd ya think?"

As the blindfold fell away, Kit let out an audible gasp of astonishment. They were standing at the arched gateway of an amusement park. Kit gazed in awe at the countless carnival rides beyond the gateway. On top of the gateway, there was an arched sign that read Mousey Land in golden letters with a picture of a white mouse's face with two large, round ears above the words.

"Wow, Papa Bear," Kit breathed, his face splitting into a bright smile, though he still looked awed. "I can hardly believe my eyes, this place is amazing!"

"Glad you like it, kiddo." Baloo chuckled, ruffling Kit's head affectionately; causing his blue baseball cap to slip down over his eyes. Kit pushed his cap back into position as Baloo steered him to the ticket booth. "Tickets for two, please." Baloo said to a plump motherly and good-natured looking fox woman with long smooth blond hair behind the glass.

She looked down at Kit and thought he was cute, but she had the sense not to say so at loud, as most boys his age despised being labeled as 'cute.'

"My, what a handsome young man you are," she said instead.

Kit blushed scarlet at her compliment and looked down at his feet.

"Thanks, ma'am," he muttered modestly.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Kit, ma'am, Kit Cloudkicker."

"Well Kit, put your left hand through the window."

Kit obeyed, putting his hand through the armhole at the bottom of the window and watched as she grasped his hand in hers and taped a paper wristband around his wrist. He withdrew his hand when she finished putting his ticket on him.

"There," she said with a pleasant smile. "Have fun in Mousey Land, Kit. Now you, sir," she addressed Baloo.

Baloo gave her his hand and she wrapped the ticket around his wrist.

"That'll be seven dollars and fifty cents," she said.

Baloo looked at up at the price board overhead and read:

Kids (12 and under) - $2.50

Teens (13 to 17) – $3.00

Adults (18 or older) - $5.00

Baloo frowned in puzzlement for a moment. Kit was thirteen today, so he was a teen, not what they considered a kid and therefore the price should be eight dollars, unless...

Looking down at Kit, Baloo understood the fox lady's mistake. Kit was small for his age and passable for a ten or eleven-year old. He grinned as he decided not to correct her. That leaves me with a little more money for food and drinks...

Before lunchtime, Kit and Baloo rode on almost every ride in the carnival; Kit's favorites were the waterslide, the bumper cars (where he thoroughly enjoyed crashing headlong into Baloo and provoking the larger bear into crashing him back just for his amusement), the rollercoaster, the yo-yo swing and the merry-go-round.

They had to walk through the game area on their way to the food area. Baloo thought that they had arranged the amusement park this way on purpose, so people would get distracted on their way to get some food and would end up paying to play a few games. And it worked too, Baloo thought as he watched a young couple stopped to play one of them, the teenaged yellow lab was trying to win a big, gigantic teddy bear for his girlfriend

Kit, Baloo noticed just then, has stopped walking and was looking at one of the games, at the prizes to win.

"Hey, Kit," Baloo said. "You aren't thinkin' of playing one of these games, are ya?"

"Baloo… look." Kit pointed at a doll on the shelf. "Look at that…"

Baloo looked. The doll looks familiar; it was a light brown bear doll in a light blue dress with a matching bow tied to its dark brown hair. Baloo frowned, wondering where he had seen it before and why Kit has taken a sudden interest in it. And then suddenly, it dawn on him and he remembered— Molly had a doll just like that when he first met the little girl.

"Kit…" Baloo breathed. "That looks like the same doll I hid Khan's stone in!"

"Yeah, the same one I beheaded..." Kit said; sounding and looking guilty and remorseful. This wasn't the exact same 'Lucy' doll Molly had but it looks exactly like Lucy. "Please, Papa Bear; let me try to win this doll…for Molly."

Baloo knew Kit was feeling guilty for ripping the doll's head off while he was pretending to betray him, Rebecca and Molly to the Air Pirates when they first got together after Baloo's Air Service went out of business.

He looked over at the game that was offering the doll as a prize; it was one of those games that involved knocking down a tower of milk bottle tins with a tennis ball.

"Okay, Lil Britches, I'll give ya three shots ta win this doll and no more then that." Baloo said firmly. "Paying ta play a game is like gambling and I won't have ya gambling, it's a waste of money."

"Okay, Baloo, I understand." Kit said solemnly.

Baloo paid the weasel in charge of the game, and he laid out three tennis balls in front of them.

"To win a prize," the weasel said, pointing at the three sets of milk bottle towers. "You must knock down all three sets of tins."

Kit turned slightly pale, that meant that he could not afford to miss once with the three balls he has. Of course, he reflected dully. Having three shots to knock down one tower would've been too easy…

Taking one of the balls, Kit took careful aim, analyzing his chances to knock down all the bottles in the middle tower. If he hit the bottom middle of a tower with a straight fort ball, there's a chance one or two bottles would remain standing—then the idea came to him. He threw a curved ball at the tower, knocking all the bottles down. Surprised but pleased with himself, he proceeds to do the same thing to the second and third tower, winning the doll for Molly.

"Thanks for letting me play, Papa Bear, Molly is gonna flip when she sees this!" Kit said as they continued their way to the food area, holding the doll protectively to his chest, as though he had made it his life's mission to deliver it to Molly.

"You're welcome, Kit," Baloo said, smiling. "That was very nice of ya ta do that for Molly."

Kit grinned, looking very pleased with himself. He put the doll away inside his shirt with his airfoil.

They reached the food area, which was pretty crowded. Kit and Baloo made their way to a picnic table.

"You stay here, Lil Britches, while I go order us some food." Baloo told Kit, his expression telling him without words that he was to remain on this spot until Baloo returned. "What would ya like?"

"Hmm, maybe a couple of hotdogs." Kit replied, sitting down at the table. "And a soda."

"Okay, I'll be right back, kiddo." Baloo said, ruffling Kit's hair before striding off to fetch some food.

Five minutes passed and Kit sat there, waiting for Baloo to come back with the food, he was hungry, and his grumbling stomach confirms it.

A huge shadow passed over him and his first thought was that Baloo was back, but—

"Hey there, Ace…"

—It wasn't Baloo's voice and he knew whose voice it belongs to. He turned in his seat and found himself facing none other then Daring Dan Dawson.

"You!" Kit snarled. "What do you want?"

"Oh come now, Ace." Dan said, he was wearing the same clothes he wore last time Kit saw him. He stood there in all his red cape glory. He grasped Kit's shoulder and Kit gasped at his sudden and rough touch. He looked into Dan's eyes, which looked angry and revengeful. "Since you've ruined my aerial stuntmanship career, I've had to join the circus, cleaning after the animals! Oh, how I hate that job!"

"I failed to see where that's my fault," Kit said coldly, trying to shake the hand on his shoulder off, but it wouldn't budge. "You brought it on yourself—you tried to kill me!"

"You know, you'd make the perfect cannonball to be fired out of a cannon." Dan told him, his eyes glittering maliciously. "And I must insist you join the show."

"No way!" Kit spat, glaring up at him with great dislike.

Dan tightened his grip on Kit's shoulder, causing the young bear cub to wince in pain, but before Dan could say or do anything else, there was a furious yell of:

"GET YER HANDS OFF MY BOY, YA DIRTY BAG OF HOT WIND!"

Baloo suddenly appeared, punching Dan in the face with his fist, forcing Dan's nose inward into his skull and Dan fell sprawling onto the ground, clutching the front of his face where his nose was, his nose and half his beak was forced backward into his head.

Kit looked up, amazed at Baloo, who stood protectively in front of him, looking down at Dan.

Baloo grabbed Dan by the throat and lifted him up high so that his feet dangled in midair.

"If I ever catch ya within one yard from this kid…" Baloo snarled in Dan's face, spraying him with spits. "I'll beat ya so bad, you'll be able ta count all of yer teeth on one finger! Now…HIGHTAIL IT OUT OF HERE!" He roared in Dan's ear as he spluttered hopelessly in Baloo's iron grip. Baloo threw Dan from him with such force, that he collapsed upon his backside.

Sitting on the ground, Dan stuck a thumb into his mouth and blew hard, and like a balloon, the rest of his beak and nose popped back into place. He then scrambled to his feet and took off running, heading for the hills.

"That'll teach that no good pony ta mess with my kid…" Baloo grumbled under his breath. He turned with his face softening, to look at Kit. "You okay, Kit?" he asked, gently placing a hand on Kit's sore shoulder and giving it a massage .

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Um…thanks for getting rid of Dan, I really didn't wanna see him." Kit said, smiling gratefully up at Baloo as he massaged his shoulder. He had noticed Baloo referring to him as 'my kid' and was touched by it. At the same time, he wondered what that could mean. Deciding that it could wait until later, he asked: "So, where's the food? I'm hungry."

Baloo reached down and picked up a large snack box of food, which was full of hamburgers, hotdogs, corndogs, chilidogs, fries, onion rings, chicken nuggets, four large sodas and one medium soda.

"Whoa!" Kit breathed at the sight of the big snack box. "And you wondered why you're so heavy?"

"Hey, I'm a growing bear." Baloo said defensively

Though it was a pretty lame and weak defense in Kit's opinion, however, he made no further comments about Baloo's weight as he took his two hotdogs and medium soda. He was smart enough to know that too much soda was bad for a person's health, he had hoped that Baloo would quit eating so much and limit his soda intakes to two glasses a day, but that never stopped Baloo.

After lunch, Kit rode all the rides again for the second time, while poor Baloo sat at a bench, complaining that he ate too much.

"That's the last time I order three of everything off the menu for myself" Baloo mutters as he and Kit were leaving through the arched gateway of Mousey Land.

"Baloo, you said that last time you ate too much…" Kit reminded him. "Maybe I should order next time."

"Okay, Lil Britches," Baloo sighed, defeated. "As long as ya don't starve me on salad."

"Well…" said Kit slyly. "It is healthier…"

"Kit!" Baloo groaned, clapping himself on the forehead. "And here I thought we were pals… Alright, get me some of this salad if ya think it'll help, but please don't starve me on it, get me something filling ta go with it."

"Will do, Papa Bear." Kit said with a grin.

"Hey, Kit!" called the fox lady from her ticket boost. "Did you have fun?"

Kit stopped and looked over his shoulder at the kind fox lady.

"Yeah, I did!" he called back

"That's good, dear, come again," she said with a warm smile.

"I'll try." Kit promised as he followed Baloo onto the street that lead to the dock where the Sea Duck was parked. "I had a great time, Papa Bear," he told Baloo. "But how did you get enough money to take me?"

It was common knowledge that Baloo was mostly broke and Kit suspected that Baloo might have 'borrowed' the money from Rebecca again. But why would he take money from Rebecca just to take Kit out to an amusement park for the day?

Maybe he thought this was a great way to get me to have some fun. Kit thought with a shrug. Well, it worked; I had a lot of fun! But why would Baloo take money from Miss Cunningham just to take me to Mousey Land? And how did he afford this new shirt he got me? He picked at his new shirt and looked down at the letters on the front of his shirt that read KC.

"Baloo?" Kit finally spoke, walking close to Baloo's side and grasping his hand. He didn't want anyone to snatch him off the streets, away from Baloo. Being small for his age, the snatching wouldn't be too difficult. His boyish pride was screaming at him that he was too old to be holding hands with an adult, while his street survival senses was telling him that he would be safer if he held Baloo's hand in a crowded street, so he swallowed his boyish pride with immense difficulty. Better safe then sorry, right?

"Hmm?" Baloo said, he noticed Kit holding his hand but said nothing about it.

"How did you get the money to take me to Mousey Land?" Kit repeated, for he didn't received an answer the first time he asked.

"Well now…" Baloo looked down at Kit as the walked down the street toward the dock, holding hands. "I took it out of my Sea Duck savings—oh don't feel bad, Kit," he added hastily, seeing Kit's expression. "It was all worth it ta see ya havin' fun and happy today. I was glad ta do it and I wanted to make you happy."

Kit didn't know what do say, couldn't find the right words to express his gratitude, he was speechless from emotions. He looked up at Baloo with a bright watery smile.

"Oh Baloo!" he cried suddenly, his emotions getting the better of him. He jumped up and hugged Baloo around the neck. "T-thank you!" he sniffed. "This is the best day of my entire life, thank you!"

Baloo smiled warmly as he slowly wrapped his arms around Kit and held him, pressed to his chest.

"You're welcome, Lil Britches."

Still locked in the embrace, Baloo moved onto the dock, carrying Kit toward the Sea Duck.

Two hours later, the Sea Duck landed at Louie's Place. Kit was asleep in the navigator's seat, resting from having so much fun at Mousey Land.

Baloo shut off the engines and looked over at Kit, who was still sleeping.

Baloo got up out of his seat and went into the cargo hold, picked up a big wooden cargo crate and exited the Sea Duck through the side door, slamming the door behind him loudly so to wake Kit.

In the c0ckpit, Kit jumped bolt upright, having heard a door slam. He looked out through the windshield and saw Baloo making his way into Louie's. Sighing deeply, Kit got up out of his seat, opened the door and stepped out, walking up the dock toward the building. Baloo was already inside.

As he approached it, he found it very odd that the place was dark and quiet inside, considering Baloo had just entered.

He pushed open the double doors and stepped into total darkness.

"H-hello? Anybody here?" Kit asked, wondering if there has been a power outage.

Suddenly the light came blasting to life, stunning his eyes for a moment, he held up a hand to shield them from the sudden light. He caught a brief glimpse of Baloo, Louie, Wildcat, Molly and Rebecca standing in front of him before there was a loud shout of—

"SURPRISE!"

"Happy New Year!" Wildcat exclaimed.

Kit stood there like a deer in the headlights, rubbing his eyes. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw that the place was decorated with balloons and birthday banners.

Molly was giggling at Wildcat. "It's Happy Birthday, Wildcat," she told him.

"It is?" he asked, sounding so surprised. "I messed up, didn't I?" he looked at Kit "Could ya go back out and come back in so we can surprise ya again? I wanna get it right this time, man."

Molly shook her head. "No, it's too late,"

"Aw, nuts! I'll get it right next year, Molly-cat."

"Wh-what is this?" Kit asked, struggling to find his voice. "It's my birthday?"

"Yeah, Cuz, your big thirteenth!" laughed Louie. "I got something for ya, follow me to this table over here."

He led Kit to a table with a pile of presents, all in packages and boxes, wrapped in pretty wrapping paper. The gang all gathered around him to watch him open his presents

"How did you guys found out when my birthday was?" he asked, looking at Baloo.

"Don't look at me, kiddo, Becky's the one who found out." Baloo told him.

Kit turned his gaze to Rebecca, but she was looking at Baloo.

"Should we tell him first before he opens his presents?" she asked.

"Yea, I think so." Baloo said, smiling.

"Tell me what?" Kit asked, looking utterly bewildered.

"Here Kit, read this." Rebecca told him, handing him an official-looking paper.

He took the paper and began to read; he wasn't even halfway through when his mouth fell open and his eyes became big and round.

"I-I'm adopted?" he squeaked, looking awe-struck. "By both of you…?" he could hardly believe it; it was like a dream come true.

Rebecca sat down next to Kit and hugged him,

"Yes, Kit, you've been adopted." Rebecca said, planting a kiss on his forehead. "I thought Baloo and I could share joint custody of you, we both care for you and we both want what's best for you."

"Yeah," Baloo grinned. "Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us, Lil Britches."

Suddenly the terms 'my kid' and 'my boy' Baloo had used earlier that day made sense to Kit as his eyes went into overflow of emotional tears. The trip to Mousey Land had been part of his birthday present, even if he didn't know it at the time.

"Oh, Papa Bear!" he cried, bounding off his chair and jumping into Baloo's arms and sobbed into his shoulder, crying his thanks over and over. The adoption meant the world to him, he now felt like he truly belonged at Higher for Hire, the sense of belonging was now stronger and more real to him than ever before.

Baloo smiled and wrapped his arms around Kit and patted him gently on the back. It took several minutes for Kit to regain control of himself, he slid out of Baloo's arms and went back to the table baring his presents.

Molly ran forward, seizing one of Kit's present and handing it to him, saying: "Open this one first!"

"Thanks, pigtails," Kit smiled as he accepted his gift. "Oh, I got something for you too, Molly." He reached into his shirt and pulled out the Lucy doll he had won in the game at Mousey Land. Molly stared at it before she let out a squeal of delight.

"Lucy!" she cried, snatching the doll from Kit and hugging it to her chest. "Oh, Lucy, I thought I'd never see you again!" she looked up at Kit and flung herself at him and hugged him very tightly around the waist. "Thank you, Kit! You're the best big brother ever!"

"Aw…" cooed the adults.

Kit smiled, feeling all warm and cozy inside as he hugged her back, patting her on the side of the head. The act of giving felt a lot better then receiving. And now that Rebecca had co-adopted him, he was now officially her big brother.

"You're welcome, Molly."

"C'mon, short stuff," Louie said. "Some of us are getting tired of waiting. Open my gift already."

Kit grinned as he turned his attention to the large present Molly handed him. He ripped off the paper, opened the box and let out an audible gasp. Inside was a jumble of different plane models with the model of the Sea Duck perched on top,

"In that box, contains the plane model of every plane that has ever stopped by my place." Louie said, "I asked every pilot that has ever come in here for a model of their planes, even offered to cut their tabs in half for them ta gimme one." As he said this, he winked in Baloo's direction. "I knew you loved planes, so I thought you might like 'em."

"Wow, Louie…" Kit breathed. "I love it." He set the box of plane models aside, stood up, walked toward Louie and hugged him around the neck. "Thank you, Louie."

"Oh, you're welcome, Cuz." Louie said, hugging Kit back. "I'm glad you like it."

Kit continued to open his presents. Wildcat's gift was a hand-made airfoil with feet straps, so he could buckle his feet onto the airfoil. It was nice but he liked his old one better.

"Thanks Wildcat," he said, he appreciated the thought and work Wildcat put into it and decided that he would switch between his old and new airfoil from time to time.

"You're welcome!" Wildcat beamed; delighted that Kit liked his gift.

Kit opened another present, this one from Baloo and it was a long, thin package. It turned out to be a baseball bat and glove, along with a baseball.

"I thought we could play some ball sometime, just the two of us." Baloo explained.

"I'd like that, Papa Bear, thank you." Kit said with a smile.

He opened yet another present from Baloo. This time it was an album full of black-and-white photos of pilots of all kinds, standing in front of their planes, underneath the picture of every pilot was a full snapshot of their plane in midflight. Kit was awed by some of the pictures in the album, he flipped through some of the pages. Some of the pictures were actually newspaper clippings.

"Wow…" Kit said breathlessly, still staring and flipping some of the pages. "This is great, Papa Bear, thank you."

He set the album carefully onto the table so it wouldn't get carelessly casted aside. He opened the present from Rebecca, which turned out to be a nice fuzzy blanket, so soft and warm with airplanes all over it. He rubbed the blanket to his cheek, it was so soft that he closed his eyes lazily and relaxed from the softness of the blanket.

"I love it, Miss Cunningham, thank you!" Kit said, setting the blanket aside and hugging her neck for the gift.

"You're welcome, Kit, I'm glad you like it." Rebecca said, hugging Kit and planting a kiss on his forehead.

Soon, he had opened all of his presents and it was time for cake and ice cream

Louie brought out the cake. It was a normal birthday cake with a picture of the Sea Duck in the icings. It had red and blue sparklers sticking to the four corners of the cake. In the center of the cake was a candle in the shape of the number thirteen.

The light dimmed so that the candles shone more brightly and they all began to sing Happy Birthday to You with a little jazz mixed into it.

Kit couldn't help but let a few emotional and happy tears fall; this was the first time for as long as he could remember that people celebrated his birthday and gave him gifts and a birthday cake.

He drew a deep breath and thought: I wish we could be like this forever, together as a family. And then he blew out the candles,

His new family cheered when he blew out the candles. He considered Louie and Wildcat as the uncle figures, while Baloo and Rebecca fulfill the parental roles somewhat. And Molly, of course, as a sister. He certainly loved her as a sister.

The rest of the night passed with partying, dancing and music as well as talking and arranging things for Kit's future. Rebecca and Baloo didn't dare plan too far ahead; they wanted Kit to have a choice in some of it. So far, the most that they had decided on is that Rebecca would transform the home office in her apartment into a bedroom for Kit so that he could stay with her on nights when Baloo was doing a late night cargo run and couldn't be at Higher for Hire.

It was nearly midnight before the party was over. Kit was getting tired and Molly was already asleep in her mother's arms.

"Baloo, I think we'd better go, Kit looks tired and Molly's already asleep." Rebecca said.

"Alright, Becky, I'll pack Kit's new stuff and then we'll go home,"

Kit helped Baloo box his stuff up and loaded it into the Sea Duck.

"Thanks for the party, Louie." Kit said, hugging his surrogated uncle, who had came out to see them off. "I had a great time."

"Oh, you're welcome, Cuz." Louie said, hugging Kit back and then he let go. "Ya better get on that plane before they decide to take off without ya."

Laughing, Kit ran into the c0ckpit and shut the door behind him. He rolled his window down and waved to Louie while they were taking off.

Back at Higher for Hire, Kit was getting ready for bed, putting on his nightclothes and brushing his teeth. He then got into bed, wrapping himself in the new plane blanket he got from Rebecca,

Just then, the bedroom door opened and Rebecca walked in, carrying a glass of milk.

"Hey, Kit, I thought you might like a glass of milk before you went to sleep," Rebecca said, handing Kit the glass of milk.

Kit accepted it and said: "Thanks, Miss Cunningham." And then he drank the milk down, giving himself a white mustache in the process.

"Kit, call me Rebecca, we're family now." Rebecca told him.

"Okay, thanks Miss—erm, Rebecca." Kit looks a bit uncomfortable when he said it. Gee, this is going to take some getting used to, he thought.

Rebecca saw Kit's discomfort and decided that she wasn't going to enforce it on him to call her by her first name,

"Kit…" she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "If you're uncomfortable calling me that, then it is alright if you continue calling me Miss Cunningham.'

"Thank you," said Kit, looking relieved. He handed the empty glass to Rebecca, wiped his mouth on his sleeve and snuggled into his bed. "Miss Cunningham, could you...?" he blushed.

"Yes, Kit?" Rebecca prompted him, setting the empty glass on the bedside table beside the Hawaiian lamp, which was the current source of light.

He blushed deeper as he said: "Could you tuck me in and…and sing to me?"

Rebecca smiled while Kit blushed scarlet. He couldn't remember anyone tucking him in or singing a lullaby to him, and his desire to experience that was stronger than his boyish pride and embarrassment.

"Like I did with Molly?" she asked, sitting on the bed beside Kit and tucking his blanket around him,

"Yeah." Kit said, still looking embarrassed but pleased at the same time.

Rebecca smiled warmly as she knew that Kit was starved for a motherly affection and was determined to give it to him. She strokes his head and then his ear with the gentlest touch as she begins to sing.

"Home is where the heart is, wherever you may be. There'll always be a home for you, here inside of me."

Kit snuggled deeper into his bed covers and laid his head on Rebecca's knee as she continues to stroke his head and ear, closing his eyes lazily.

"Home is where the heart is, and whatever you may do. There'll always be a part of me, here inside of you."

Outside the doorway, Baloo peered into the room, watching Rebecca as she sang her lullaby to Kit.

"Four walls may surround you and protect from a storm, but my two arms around you will keep you safe and warm."

She gathered Kit in her arms and embraced him deeply, as if to emphasize how deeply she cares, how much she loves the young bear cub.

"If ever I'm not with you, if ever you're alone. Remember where my heart is, and you'll always have a home."

She laid him back down on the bed, covered him up and leaned close to him with her lip hovering over his face.

"Remember where my heart is, and you'll always have a home…"

Then, she kissed the sleeping bear cub on the cheek, causing a look of peace to come over his face as he slept.

Rebecca stood up and left the room where she nearly bumped into Baloo, He was grinning at her.

"Don't you dare start with me, Baloo," she hissed, feeling a taunt coming on. "He asked for a lullaby, like I did for Molly."

"Easy, Becky, I wasn't gonna tease ya." Baloo said. "Actually, I was gonna thank you for doing that, that was just the song he needed ta hear."

"I have to admit, it felt good to be able to do that for him." Rebecca as she moved past Baloo to descend the stairs. "Good night, Baloo."

"'Night, Becky." Baloo said.

Baloo stepped into the bedroom, put on his nightclothes and climbed into this bed. He lay there awake, looking over at Kit, watching him sleep peacefully and felt really glad that he made Kit's thirteenth birthday something special, something that Kit would never forget. With happiness in his heart and soul for having done that for Kit, Baloo turned over and fell asleep

Now two happy bears were sleeping soundly, as they should… All was well.

The End

Credits:

Author: KitCloudkicker52885

Editor: chrisno51

TaleSpin is copyrighted by Disney

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading my story! I hope everyone enjoyed reading Kit's Birthday. I would like some reviews, I'd like to hear how everyone liked this story, though whether or not you'd review is entirely up to you. Again, thank you for reading my story.