Title: Of Eggs and Parenting: Chipmunk Style

Written by: Somnion

Disclaimer: I do not own Alvin and the Chipmunks. They belong to Bagdasarian Productions

Once again I'd like to thank all reviewers and readers who have supported and read this fanfiction. Alas, all things must come to an end and the same thing is true for this story. I hope you have all enjoyed this piece as much as I enjoyed writing it. I have ideas for some new stories so please look out for them. So now, here is the final chapter of this story. Enjoy.

Chapter 5: Three Sets of Parents

Eleanor had looked everywhere for Theodore. She went home to look for him and then around town but she couldn't find him at all. Panic piled upon panic as the possibility of Theodore finding out that she had switched their egg and that she had broken his trust made her heart beat anxiously in her chest. However, after a half an hour of running all over town, her fatigue was beginning to catch up with her. She decided she needed to take a breather. Looking around, she found herself at her school. The doors were locked since it was a weekend but at least the benches were outside so she could sit on one of them as she caught her breath. However, as she sat down she realised there was another person present. It was Theodore! The little Chipmunk hadn't noticed her yet; he seemed to be preoccupied at the moment as he tried to look through the windows of the school as though he was looking for something.

"Theodore!" Eleanor called as she ran up to her best friend.

"E-Eleanor," stammered Theodore when he realised that he was not alone.

"I've been looking all over for you, Theodore," said Eleanor. "Where have you been? I thought we were supposed to meet at our house?"

Theodore was shaking and he clutched in his hand what Eleanor recognised was the egg case they had made the day before. His eyes didn't meet hers at all. He looked away from her the whole time. Theodore was acting strange and Eleanor really began to worry.

"I'm sorry, Eleanor," he whispered.

"Sorry? Sorry for what, Theodore?"

"I...I was locked in our kitchen. Everyone had gone and I was stuck in there for two hours... There was no food in the pantry and I...I ate our egg."

Theodore opened the egg case to reveal the broken eggshells that he had kept inside it. Just as Dave was before, Eleanor was at a loss of words. It's true that Theodore had only eaten the dummy egg but she really didn't know how to react to this sudden turn of events. Theodore, however, thought that due to her silence, she was angry at him and that she was still in shock.

"I was going to meet with Mr Hooper and tell him what happened," Theodore explained. "At least then, if he knows it was my fault and not yours, he won't give you a bad grade. I'm really sorry, Ellie... This is all my fault..."

Realising where the conversation was heading, Eleanor quickly interrupted.

"Oh, Theodore, I'm so sorry," she said as she hugged him, surprising the green clad Chipmunk. "Locked in the kitchen for two hours, it must have been horrible for you."

"But, Eleanor," stuttered the confused Chipmunk, "I ate our egg. We could get a bad grade because of me. I thought you would be angry with me."

Eleanor opened a small pouch she tied on her waist. In it was an egg case which she had made. Opening it, she revealed its contents to Theodore.

"Ellie...Is that...?"

"I'm sorry, Theodore," she apologised. "I really wanted to take Baby Dave with me last night. So I switched eggs with you. The one that was in your case was a dummy egg. I'm sorry I lied to you. Won't you forgive me?"

"Ellie," Theodore cried, who was now smiling brightly and filled with joy, "you've saved us. Thanks to you, Baby Dave is still alive. There's nothing for me to forgive you for."

"You're not upset I lied to you?"

"Not at all," he said cheerfully. "I'm so glad, Ellie. Um...are you upset that I accidently ate the dummy egg? Because it could have been Baby Dave if you hadn't switched eggs."

Eleanor shook her head. "I know you would never do anything to hurt Baby Dave. Although we're pretending it's a baby, it's still an egg and it would have been unfair of me to make you starve if you were stuck like that. So no, I would not have been angry. I would've understood Theodore."

Theodore was so overcome with joy; he gave Eleanor a big bear hug before returning the egg to her.

"Ellie?" he called.

"Yes, Theodore?"

"From now on, let's promise to do our best for baby Dave and never keep secrets from each other."

With a smile, she nodded and said, "It's a promise."

"We've looked everywhere," Brittany said with a pout as she walked into the Seville's home. "We practically turned that ice-cream parlour upside down and I asked all the staff and even the manager there. No one had seen it."

"Where could it be?" groaned Alvin in frustration as he entered his home.

"This is all your fault, Alvin," snapped Brittany angrily.

"My fault?" he shouted in return. "If you hadn't stormed off and caused such a scene, this would never have happened."

"Well, if you would have been a bit more of a gentleman, I wouldn't have stormed off."

"Well, you should have been cooperative and paid your share of the bill."

"Well, you shouldn't be so cheap, Alvin."

"Well, you should learn to control your temper, Brittany."

At this point, Brittany was shaking from head to toe. Alvin figured that she was just about to burst into a fit of fiery rage but what happened shocked him. Brittany did burst alright, but not into a rage but into tears.

"What does it matter whose fault it is?" she wailed as she sat on the couch, her face in her hands to hide her tears. "It doesn't change the fact that we lost our baby."

She was right, Alvin thought to himself. It didn't matter who was right or wrong in this case. The fact that remained was that they lost their due to their reckless and irresponsible behaviour.

"What kind of mother am I?" Brittany cried. "I would tease Jeanette about her egg but in the end she's an even better mother than me."

Alvin really didn't like seeing Brittany this way. She had many other faces; smiles, frowns and pouts, and he liked them all. However, a sad face was the only he truly didn't like to see. He walked up to her and sat beside her and put his arm around her.

"You know, Brittany," he said. "Even though we lost our egg, I wouldn't want to have anyone else as the mother for the egg than you. Furthermore, it wasn't only your fault, it was my fault too."

"Oh, Alvin," sniffed Brittany as she wiped away her tears from her eyes. "I don't care if we name her Farah or if we name him James, I just want our baby back."

"That can be arranged," said a voice from behind them which they both recognised as Dave.

"Dave!" the chipmunks cried in unison.

"I think this belongs to the two of you," Dave said as he returned a red egg case to the delighted couple. Brittany screamed for joy as she received the egg case from Dave, thanking him over and over again.

"Where did you find it, Dave?" asked Alvin. "We looked everywhere but we couldn't find him."

"Well," he explained, "I actually saw you two at the ice-cream parlour. I stopped there for some ice-cream after the groceries and that was when I saw the two of you. I was planning on say 'Hi' but since you two were having so much fun, I didn't want to intrude. However, after your little stunt at the parlour, I noticed that you had left your egg behind. I was going to give you both a lecture before I gave it back but it seems you kids have learned the lesson all by yourselves."

"Thanks Dave," thanked Alvin who was extremely happy that he was spared from one of Dave's lectures.

"You're welcome, Alvin. I trust that you two will hold to your word and stop fighting with each other."

"Yes, Dave," Alvin replied. "We promise we'll stop fighting. Isn't that right, Britt?"

Brittany nodded in agreement. Dave smiled, pleased with the young couple's change of attitude, and then he headed to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

"Well, Brittany, we still have to decide on a name," Alvin said as Dave had left the room. "I'm okay with Farah, so if you like we can name her that."

Brittany smiled as she scooted over to Alvin, her hands still cradling the egg case that held their egg.

"Let's name him James, Alvin," she said softly, surprising Alvin who had never figured Brittany could speak in such a soft tone. "We'll name our next one Farah."

Simon rang the doorbell of the Miller's household. Miss Miller was in and she answered the door.

"Oh, it's Simon. How are you, Simon?" she welcomed warmly. "Here to see little Jeanette, I'm sure."

"Yes, Miss Miller. We have a school assignment together," he replied.

"Well, come on in. Jeanette's upstairs."

Simon headed upstairs to the Chipettes bedroom. He was about to the knock the door to get permission to enter but then he heard Jeanette talking. He couldn't show her what he had made for her with one of her sisters in there. However, it was not long before when he realised she was not talking to her sisters but to her egg.

"It's getting late, baby," Simon heard her say. "It's time for you to sleep. Mother will sing you a lullaby."

Simon then heard Jeanette sing a sweet lullaby to the egg and although his good sense of reasoning advised him against it, hearing her sing had prompted him to open the door quietly to take a look inside. Watching Jeanette then and there had really made it clear to Simon just how maternal Jeanette really was. He stood at the door and listened to her entire song and watched as she finally placed the egg case on her bedside table when she had finished. It was just then that Jeanette finally noticed Simon's reflection in the mirror, surprising her.

"Si...Simon," she said with a slight jump. "How long where you there?"

"Some time," he said bashfully. "Sorry I didn't knock."

Jeanette began to worry and questions began to race through her mind. What had Simon seen? How long had he been there? Did he see me singing the lullaby? Did he hear me talking to the egg? However, all those questions were not nearly as important as the question that made her tremble slightly.

"Does he think I'm silly that I did something like that?"

"Umm... Simon, about all that singing earlier...I can explain. You see..."

She stopped when she saw Simon draw from behind him a small wooden crib, a little smaller than the cribs for dolls and presented it to her.

"Simon," Jeanette asked, confused with Simon's gift. "What is this for?"

"The baby does need a place to sleep," he said as he looked away from the brown haired Chipette. "So I...I thought I'd make one for her."

"But, I thought this was a school project. That we were going to do it scientifically. Isn't that what you wanted, Simon?"

"But it's not what you wanted, was it, Jeanette?"

Jeanette nodded her head silently in response. Things had become very awkward between the two chipmunks. Not only had Simon built a little crib but also had referred to the egg as 'Baby' for the first time. Jeanette now gathered that Simon had found out how she truly felt about the egg and although it was Jeanette's hope that Simon would realise her maternal feelings; now that he did, she didn't know how to approach the situation without looking like a complete idiot. The silence was becoming deafening and the tension in the air was so thick, you could have called it a fog. Simon was the first to break the silent atmosphere that was brewing in the air between them.

"I found the book you checked out yesterday," he said.

"I see," Jeanette whispered in reply, her eyes cast down as she tried to avoid his gaze to hide her embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Jeanette. I didn't realise you felt that way and I'm sorry I didn't realise it sooner," Simon apologized.

"It's not your fault," she replied as she tried to take some of the blame. "I should have just told you how I felt. Even though it's just an egg, I was really hoping that we too could pretend it was a baby."

"Well," Simon said, seeing an opening to break the awkward air between them, "if that's how we're going to approach the assignment, I get to tuck her in to bed since you've sung to her."

Jeanette was a little surprised with Simon's sudden suggestion but felt a weight lift off her heart as she saw him take the egg and place it into the little crib, tucking the egg with a blanket which he had sewn from an old tablecloth. This is how she had imagined their assignment to be and now it was happening before her.

"By the way," Simon asked after tucking in their egg. "Have you named the baby yet?"

"Actually," she replied, a shy smile on her lips, "I was hoping her father would name her."

Simon scratched the back of his neck, a gesture of nervousness as he looked away from her bashfully. He sat on the bed next to Jeanette and reached for the book of baby names from her satchel.

"I would like it if we named her together, she is our baby after all," he said as he handed her the book.

Jeanette opened the book and smiled, laying it open on their laps as they screened through the pages to find a name for their baby.

Next Monday after school, at the supermarket

"I told you Brittany and I would make good parents," Alvin boasted as he flashed their A-grade report.

"I'm surprised Mr Hooper gave you and A despite nearly having lost your egg," Simon said bluntly.

"Well, an A is an A," Alvin replied with a self satisfied smirk.

"But since all of us got A's, I guess the bet is off, huh?" Theodore said as he reached for a package of "Tooty Fruities" from one of the shelves.

"It's too bad we only could only watch them for the weekend," Eleanor said with a sigh. "I really miss Baby Dave."

"Oh, my poor Baby James," Brittany cried. "Your mother misses you so."

"Yea," Jeanette agreed. "I really miss Baby Marie too. Her crib is going to be empty tonight."

"Not necessarily, Jeanette," Simon said with a smile as he looked at the shelves on the next aisle. Realising what Simon had seen, all six chipmunks gave each other knowing smiles as each couple picked an egg from the shelf. For the Chipmunks and the Chipettes, the lessons from egg- parenting had only begun.

The End

Thanks for reading and i hope you guys had fun.

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