As the little monkey slid down the tree, Mattie Grissom giggled. He loved playing with his Little People Zoo that Uncle Jim had given him for his birthday. Best of all, it had buttons, lots and lots of buttons. Some of the buttons named the animals and some of the buttons made a song. There was one button that talked about the animals. Mattie loved those buttons. Awhile later he decided to look for other buttons to press. In the living room he found a little box with lots of buttons. Gleefully he pressed every one. The tv came to life and the stereo speakers blasted music. Daddy came in from his study and took the box away from him. Daddy pressed buttons and it got really quiet. "Mattie, I'll teach you how to use the remote when you are la little older, but for now...let Mommy and Daddy help you with it, okay?"

"Okay," he sighed.

Daddy went back to his study. Mattie began looking around again. He found a button in the kitchen that he could reach. The microwave lit up and began making nosies. Wandering into Lindsey's room, he found buttons on her clock. The little red lights were blinking and music was playing when he left her room. He decided against going into Mommy and Daddy's room; he got into trouble last time he went in there on his own. Then he heard Mommy calling from the door. He ran to see her. She had lots of bags and was putting them in the kitchen. "Hi Mattie," she smiled at him. "Want to help Mommy?"

He grinned at her and followed her to her car. As she unloaded more bags, he crawled into the front seat. Looking at the dash, he found more buttons. These were cool buttons. One made the windows go up and down. He thought that was the best. Mommy carried her bags in but Mattie stayed to play with buttons. He jumped in the seat as he got different repsonses from the buttons. The car began to shake and the door slammed shut. Just as Catherine headed back to the car, Mattie pressed the final button and the doors locked. She reached to open the door but of course, it wouldn't open.

Mattie danced with joy as he watched his mother try to open the door. She put her hands on the window and motioned for him to unlock the door, pointing at the button. He looked at it and reached for it, making it click. She reached for the handle again. Click. It was locked again. Beginning to panic, she tried once again to get him to unlock the door. Smiling he complied...click. As she reached again for the handle, she heard the annoying sound. Click.

Gil appeared from inside the house. "Where are your keys, Cath?"

"Still in the car. I dropped them when I was getting the bags."

Mattie was having a good time. Both Mommy and Daddy were looking at him, talking to him, and trying to get him to press the buttons. He played his little trick again when Daddy told him to unlock the door. Daddy turned red when Mattie clicked it back to lock. Then Mattie saw that Mommy was really getting upset and he began to cry. He slid down on the seat as the tears washed down his face. Mommy looked like she was going to cry to. Daddy had that look; the one he got when he was about to have an idea.

Lidsey appeared. "Guys," she said, exasperation clearly written in her features, "the spare key...dah..." and she handed the key to her Dad.

Looking a little sheepish, Gil unlocked the door as Catherine swooped in to grab their son. Hugging him tightly, she fled into the house. Gil recovered her keys and headed inside too. Catherine was calming Mattie and chastising him at the same time. Once she and their son were sane again, she sent him back to his room to play. Cahterine looked at her husband, exhausted from the little scare. He hugged her and began to chuckle.

"What?" she asked.

"Well, you have to admit...his timing was perfect." His frustration had been replaced with pride.

Late that night...very late, Mattie was having a bad dream. Mommy was crying in the dream and Mattie was upset. He woke up, tears in his eyes. Quietly he made his way to his parent's room, using the sound of his father's snores to locate the bed. Crawling in, he nestled between them. After a few minutes, he got cold and worked his way under the covers. Nestling up to his mother he felt safe. Then he realized that she was naked. That little fact seemed to catch his attention. She wouldn't let him sleep naked, why did she get to do it. He rolled over...Daddy was naked too.

Mattie thought about the situation for a minute. When he got into to trouble, it was always Mommy and Daddy that scolded him. But they didn't have a Mommy or Daddy in the house to scold them. That must mean that they were too old to get into trouble. Comforted by the fact that his parents wouldn't be sent to their room or grounded or anything, he snuggled up to his Daddy.

That was when he made another interesting discovery; Daddy has buttons! Mattie was sure of it...two of them on his chest. Mattie wondered what would happen if he pressed Daddy's buttons. He pushed one...nothing. He pushed the other...Daddy groaned. Daddy's buttons must be broken. He rolled over to see if Mommy had buttons. Wow, she has big buttons and they're all squishy. He pressed one. ..she must be broken too. Then he pressed the other...she mumbled something...so he tried again.

Sleepily she murmered, "not again, Gil...too tired." And she rolled over.

Mattie decided to try Daddy's buttons again. Rolling back over, he pressed one. This time Daddy mumbled..."Cath...oh baby..." His voice sounded funny. Then Daddy began to move toward Mommy. Mattie had to hurry to keep from getting squished. He headed back to his bed, wondering about his parent's buttons.

About an hour later Catherine Grissom woke up with her husband firmly attached to her. His arm was wrapped around her waist as he held he tightly to him. His intentions were evident from a certain part of his body pressed against her. She turned to see his bright blue eyes watching her. "Gil?" she was still very groggy.

"Hmmmm?"

"What hmmmmm...you're the one all over me."

He smiled, "couldn't resist your invitation."

"What invitation?"

"Well, my lovely, when you fondle my nipples, it usually leads to other activities." He was wearing a devilish grin now and his eyes were sparkling.

"I didn't...wait, I seem to remember that you were tweaking me."

"No, you woke me with ...wait; where's Mattie?"

They slipped out of bed and put on robes. Padding down the hall, they peeked into his room. There he was, asleep in his bed; innocently sleeping as only a three year old could. Returning to their room, they headed back to bed, ready to push a few buttons of their own.

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I really hope you like my Mattie stories. I tried to think what the child of PureJoy would be like and Mattie was the result.