Adam yawned as he woke up, the daybreak peeking through the windows of his Neopian house. He stretched, standing up out of bed and pulling on some pajamas, picking Abby up and gently tickling her tummy. "Wakey wakey, little girl, we've got a big day ahead~!"   

Abby whimpered a bit as she was woken up, but her whimpering soon turned to giggling! The Zafara was now extremely sensitive to tickles in her painted state!  "Stawp, -giggle-, stawp, daddy, I'm -giggle- 'waaake!" Abby squealed, fully awake and squirmy too! 

Adam smiled and ruffled her headfluff, giving her tummy a gentle poke. "You sure about that? I can keep it up!"

Abby's giggling quickly faded. "I'm suuuwe! Nu more tickwes, pweeease!" She gently grabbed at the finger that poked her, playing with Adam's hand. 

Adam smiled and gently booped her adorable little nose. "Boop! Alrighty then, let's see if you need a change before breakfast~" he told her before unbuttoning her onesie, and gently tugging the rear waistband of her padding back. 

Abby blushed, she knew she was messy.

Adam smiled. "Someone must've had to go last night! Let's go get you all cleaned up and changed~!"  He carried her to the bathroom, pulling the tapes of her diaper off and going about the business of cleaning her up.

Abby blushed heavily, staying still for Daddy as he changed her.

Adam slid the messy padding out from under the Zafara, balling it up with the wipes inside, taping it shut and then tossing it in the diaper bin. He grabbed the anti-rash cream, baby oil, and talcum powdier, proceeding to apply each one until he was confident Abby wouldn't get a rash. He took a thick, adorable pink diaper and slid it under the Zafara, pulling her tail through the designated tailhole in the padding, taping it up snugly and giving his work a gentle pat. "Good girl, staying still for daddy!" He scooped her up, nuzzling into her headfur lovingly as he walked to the kitchen with her.

Abby hung on to the teenager's shirt, swishing her leaf-tipped tail happily as she was carried. "Daddy?" 

Adam looked down, gently holding one of her floppy ears and rubbing his thumb in circles over a patch of black fur. "Yes, Abby?" 

"Do I have to eat baby food, or can I jus have a bottwe?"

She asked, tilting her head into the ear-rubs, loving it.~ 

"A bottle is fine for breakfast, sweetie." He replied, getting one out of the fridge and holding her close. "Warm, or cold?"

"Warm, pwease." Abby requested, looking about the room, as if looking for something. 

Adam put the bottle in the microwave for what he judged to be a good amount of time, gently scritching

behind her periwinkle ears. "Something wrong, Abby?" 

The Neopet blushed softly. "P-paci.." she mumbled, embarrassed that she was getting upset at not having it. 

"D'awwwww, poor girl, I forgot about that! Well, you're gonna be nursing from your bottle soon, so we'll get it after you fill that cute 'lil' tummy of yours." He smiled softly as he told her, pulling the bottle out of the microwave.

Abby let out a soft whine of dissapointment, clinging tightly to her Daddy.

"Shhh, shh, you'll have your pacifier soon." He gently reassured her, oh-so-gently bouncing her in the crook of his arm as he carried her to the living room, sitting down on the couch with her in his lap. He turned on the TV to the news and weather, holding the warm bottle of milk to his Neopet's maw.  He smiled warmly down at her. "Drink up now, the weather looks good and we've got lots to do!" 

Abby suckled on the bottle, her mood soon perking up as she took long swallows from the bottle, her little tail swishing back and forth happily.

Adam smiled and rubbed her tummy. "That's a good girl!" He held the bottle for her, scratching gently over her tummy with the other.

The Zafara, absolutely loving the warm attention, swished her tail faster, closing her eyes and enjoying the affection she was getting.

After a little while, the bottle being three-quarters empty, Abby stopped drinking, and tried to push the bottle away from her maw. 

Adam gently pulled the bottle away. "Wow, you did a good job! All done?"

Abby nodded, then let out a soft "Eep!" as Adam gently put her over his shoulder, patting her back until a soft -Urrrp!- was heard. "There we go, all better now?" He asked, smiling and scratching behind her headfur.

Abby nodded, swishing her tail back and forth, her diaper rustling with the movement of it!

Adam smiled warmly and nuzzled her. "Time to get dressed!" He scooped her up, gently swinging her back and forth as he carried her back to the bedroom, opening the wardrobe and picking out an adorable pink dress, and getting a lanyard for her pacifier as well. He looked around, finding it, and proceeded to put the lanyard on the pacifier, setting it down as he took off her onesie and pulled the dress over her, helping her get her arms through, draping the paci-lanyard around her neck. "Awww, you're so cuuuuuute!" He teased, gently tickling her chin!

Abby blushed shyly and giggled, tailswishing more in the comfy pink dress! Adam carried her back out to the living room, switching the TV to cartoons and putting some toys out for her. "Now, I want you to be a good little Zafara and sit tight, because Daddy's gotta get dressed too." He set her down, heading back into the bedroom.

Adam glanced at his dresser, opening the drawers, deciding what to wear... He pulled out a pair of jeans, an Alpinestars tee, and a deep red button-up shirt. He took off his pajamas, putting on the outfit and looking in the mirror. He decided it looked good and would be warm enough for the day, leaving the shirt unbuttoned as he packed up a diaper bag for Abby.

As he was doing so, he chuckled to himself at how stereotypical his outfit was. He was only fourteen, but he was dressing like a dad in his late 20's.  "The clothing fits the occupation, though." He mumbled to himself, thinking out loud.

He came back out to the living room, finding Abby laying against the couch, suckling on her paci and watching cartoons. "Alrighty, Abby, time to go!"

Abby jumped a little, she was so entranced by her cartoons that she didn't notice Adam walk in the room! She crawled over to him, and Adam scooped her up, smiling and giving her head another gentle nuzzle. "So adorable~"

Abby blushed, smiling, shyly covering her red cheeks with her hands. "Nuuuuh, 'nah cute!"

Adam smiled warmly and booped her nose. "Yes cute, and super cute too!" 

The Zafara's blush intensified, and she buried her head in his chest. He chuckled, carrying her out to the garage, getting her all situated in the baby trailer he had attatched. He buckled her into it. "Oop, almost forgot! Stay right there!" Adam jogged back into the house, getting Abby's Ashia plushie from the house and handing it to her. "Here you go, I thought you'd probably miss this while we were out. Wouldn't want you getting all upset and fussy, would we?" He smiled, putting on a teasing voice as he said 'upset and fussy."

Abby hugged the plushie tight, whimpering softly in embarrassment as she buried her short muzzle into the plushie, blushing hard.

Adam frowned with concern. "Awww, honey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." He said, kneeling down and gently rubbing the spot on her ear like earlier.

Abby sniffled and looked up at him, hiding her blushy muzzle behind her plushie still, before the blush slowly faded and she pulled the plushie down.

Adam smiled. "That's the face I like to see!" He climbed on the bike, clicking the gears into the lowest setting and starting off, the plushy-snuggling Zafara in tow.

As they arrived in Neopia Central, they saw the familiar bustle of the capital area, hundreds of Neopets and their owners walking, running, and bustling through the square, heading into shops and out, mingling and talking with their friends, and meeting new ones. For some reason, most of the owners tended to be on the young side (and primarily female), anywhere from 8 to 12, while there were a few 'elders' around that only stood out due to them being taller than the main crowd, and usually having painted neopets, or a flashy outfit on their pet of one type of another that didn't originate from the NC Mall.

Adam parked his bike over by the General Store, helping Abby out of the trailer and putting the diaper-bag over his shoulder, holding her in his arm. "Do you want to ride on my shoulders, Abby?"

The baby zafara giggled and nodded! "Yuuush! I bet I can see forever up dere!" She said, smiling.

Adam chuckled. "Not quite forever, but it'll be better than sitting in my arms!" He put his hands on her sides, hoisting her up onto his shoulders! "Uuup we go!"

Abby smiled and held onto his head, her legs draped over his shoulders as he held onto her legs gently.

He walked over to the patch of berry bushes between the Post Office and Movie Central, seeing a few of the elder owners chatting. There was a group of three, a 16 year old girl with a Plushie-painted Usul, a 14 year old girl with a Baby Kacheek, and a 17 year old boy with a Stealthy Lutari.

The girl with the baby Kacheek turned and smiled at Adam, the neopet in her arms perking up and excitedly squirming to see the other baby pet! "Whoa, calm down, Huskie!" She managed to get ahold of the Kacheek before he could run up to Adam.

Adam smiled. "Husky? Cute name for a little guy like that! I'm Adam, this is Abby."

The 14 year old smiled. "I'm Serena, and of course, you already know this little monster's called Huskie."

Serena motioned to the other two. "The Usul's named Kathy, her owner is Bailey, and the Lutari is Brinston, his owner is Caleb." 

Caleb smiled, extending a hand to Adam. "Adam? Nice to meet you." Adam met the offer, shaking hands with the boy.

Bailey also smiled, greeting Adam the same way. "So, what were you guys chatting about?" Adam asked. 

"We usually meet up here every week or so to chat about our pets, see what everyone's been doing lately. Me and Brinston have been running around the Winter Celebration, helping out with the decorations." Caleb said.

Serena explained how she'd been hunting around the marketplace for Baby items to fit her Kacheek, and Bailey talked about how her Usul was helping her run a discount fashion shop.

"What about you?" Caleb asked. "What's the story of Abby there?"

Adam smiled, telling the tale of her first painting, the glowing paintbrush, then the year doing odd jobs, finally ending with how she was just painted Baby a day ago.

Caleb chuckled. "Yes, the Baby neopets are certainly head-turners, due to them being so rare, yet common enough to see one or two around Neopia Central every day or so. All the new owners stare and pine for their pets to be the same way, but lose determination. So many pets have been abandoned from that, I'm sorry to say. Young'uns simply don't care." He said, giving his Lutari a warm scratch on top of the head. 

"Yikes." Adam replied. "I think taking care of Abby here is going to be a bit of a journey. I'm steadily running out of Neopoints, and I don't have a paycheck coming in from anywhere.

Caleb smiled. "I'm sure Bailey could use a hand in the shop, maybe she'd be willing to have you work at her place and give you a steady source of income. As for Abby there... you're going to want to get a babysitter, or maybe a big brother or sister to take care of her. A second pet would probably be better, due to being always available, and you could take them both to work every now and again... assuming they don't cause trouble."

Bailey nodded. "That'd be great, having another hand in the shop-" "Heyyyyy!" Kathy whined, interrupting her. "I thought I was all you needed!" 

Bailey groaned. "Kathy, how many times do I have to say, that was BEFORE I saw how you organized everything! It took me DAYS to sort out the colors!"

Adam chuckled, leaning over to Caleb and talking in a low voice as to not be heard by the two quarreling parties. "I can see why she needs the help." 

Abby leaned forward, leaning over Adam's head and into his line of sight, gently tugging the teenager's hair to get his attention.

Adam eeped! "Yes, honey?" He asked, gently pulling her off of his shoulders. 

"Can I go pway wif Huskie?" She asked.

He looked over to Serena, his facial expression basically saying "What do you think about that?" 

Serena smiled. "Fine by me! Play nice now, okay Huskie? Be calm, she looks like a shy one." She set the Kacheek down, and the young pet toddled over halfway to Adam, waiting patiently.

Adam smiled and set down Abby, gently ruffling her headfluff. "Now stay by the bushes here, okay? Let me know if you need anything."

Caleb snickered. "Honey? You don't look like a girl to me."

Adam shrugged, blushing softly. "Not having a mom for 10 years kinda made me turn into my own, in a sense. I'm more girly than you think, buddy, you should see my closet. Half of it is dresses for Abby, most of them are pink, and I'm the one that picked 'em out for her."

Caleb nodded, understanding completely. "I see where you're coming from. My dad was gone for seven years, same thing happened with me."

By this point, Bailey and Kathy had quit their arguing, and Bailey approached Adam with ideas on pay, hours, and other such things, and they talked for a good while about the subject.

By the end of the conversation, Abby was tired out, as was Husky. The Zafara toddled up to Adam, tugging on his pantleg. "Daddy?"

Adam looked down. "Yes, hon?"

"I'm tired..." Abby said, putting her arms up for hugs. Adam smiled and scooped her up, holding her close with both arms and checking her padding. She was soggy, but not soggy enough to warrant a change.

Serena scooped up Huskie, who was also just as sleepy. "I'm going to head home and put this little guy down for a nap. See you three here in 2 or 3 days?" She said.

"Sure!" came the unanimous reply.

Adam smiled and bounced Abby in his arms. "I think she'll be able to stay awake for a little while longer. 

Bailey smiled. "If you have a certain thing for Zafaras, I've got this cool outfit for a boy if you happen to adopt one. Come on down by the shop once you adopt something, I'm sure we can find a nice outfit for them. I won't take it out of your pay, either."

Adam nodded, nuzzling into Abby's headfur. "Alright, I guess I'll head to the pound and see who I can find." He headed back to the mountain bike, putting Abby in the trailer and turning off into the Plaza, pulling up to the Pound. He saw Abby peacefully napping in the bike trailer, and decided it would be best to let her nap. 

Seeing all those hungry, sick, lonely pets could really depress some. As he walked in the building, he saw the three doors of a pet's fate. One said Abandon, and an ominous feeling radiated from it, the feeling that those who enter may never see the sun again. The ominous feeling tainted the second door, Transfer, and the only reason he didn't spin around on his heels and walk right back out was the third door, Adopt, a warm glow of hope coming from the door, or at least, from the pets behind it. 

He steeled his nerves, and pushed open the door, being greeted by a friendly Uni. "Welcome, welcome! Come on in, we so rarely get visitors nowadays!" He walked in, glancing quickly at the three pet files pinned on the board. Two were thuggish, angry looking Grundos, while the third was a depressed looking Zafara. "How does the adoption system work?" He asked. 

"It's quite simple, actually." The Uni replied. "You pick one of the three pets, pay the adoption costs, then do a little paper work and then they're free to have fun in Neopia with their new owner." 

Adam nodded. "How much is the adoption cost for the Zafara?" He asked.

"1200 Neopoints." the Uni replied. 

"Can I talk with him first?" He asked 

The Uni nodded. "Take the file off the wall and head into the first room on the right, I'll send him in.

Adam grabbed the file, walking into the room and sitting down at the small table, waiting for the green Neopet to come out. 

After a few minutes, the door opened, and "NinjaGrump" (according to his file) walked out, his eyes on the ground as he found the chair and sat down.

"Hey there, erm... NinjaGrump.... how are you?" Adam asked. 

He got no response.

"That name's a bit of a mouthful.. you don't mind if I call you Enjie for short, do you?" He asked, taking a closer look at the file, noting the date he was abandoned was over 3 months ago, and he winced slightly at the idea that this poor thing had been dealing with neopets like those Grundos with no support from anyone else.

"Why?" was the only thing he said, looking up at Adam with tears in his eyes.

"Why wha-" Adam started, but Enjie continued. "Why did she leave me here? Why?"

Adam blinked. "Who is 'she'?"

Enjie buried his head in his hands. "My owner... She said she would love me, she would keep me always... then she left for a few days.... she came back and took me here, then I never saw her again..."

Adam frowned concernedly. "How old was your owner?"

Enjie cried silently, tears dripping down his arms from between his fingers. "She told me she was eight years old..."

Adam sighed. "That's why she left you, she was an irresponsible young kid. They get a pet, then they decide they want another one, and to avoid the guilt of having a pet they don't want, they abandon it here and move on."

Enjie looked up at him. "If she was like that, will you be like that too? Will you leave me here with all the other mean pets, to sit here and rot?"

Adam got up from his chair, walking over to the green Zafara, gently placing a hand on his shoulder and kneeling down as to be eye-level with him. "Enjie, let me tell you the reason I came here today. I've got a little baby Zafara named Abby who needs a big brother to care for her when I can't. I'm going to get a job soon, and I need someone who can give her as much attention and love as I do while I go to work. If you can be a kind big brother, and you follow the rules of my house, you'll never have to see this place again." He rubbed Enjie's shoulder gently as he spoke.

Enjie sniffled. "I can do that..... you promise not to bring me back here? Ever?" He asked, his eyes still shimmering with tears as he stared into Adam's.

Adam nodded. "Let's go to the lobby and get that paperwork signed, you're gonna be sleeping at my place tonight." He offered his hand to the Zafara to hold. 

Enjie held onto Adam's hand, and Adam stood up, walking to the lobby with him. The Uni smiled. "So you want to adopt Ninja there, huh? Alrighty then!" She pulled some adoption forms out of a drawer, along with a pen. "Your name here, his here, date, time, adoption fee here, and sign there." She said, pointing to each line as Adam filled it out.

She nodded. "That looks about right. Now, the adoption fee?"

Adam nodded, pulling his wallet out of the diaper-bag, the gray pack still on his shoulder from earlier. He sorted through the coins and notes, coming out with a thousand-point note and two hundred-point notes, putting them down on top of the paperwork.

The uni looked over it, then took the paperwork, putting it in a folder and putting that in a file cabinet. "Alright, you're good to go!"

Enjie looked up at Adam, almost in disbelief that he was finally leaving this horrible place, and the person taking him away from it was this cool, and seemingly kind.

Adam smiled and ruffled his headfur with one hand, leading him out of the Adopt door and out the pound's exterior door. He walked back to the bike to find Abby still napping, but just about to wake up. He unzipped the trailer, gently picking her up. "Abbbyy..." He said softly, cooing to his little Zafara to wake her up. "Time to wake uuuuup~" 

Abby babbled sleepily for a second as she blinked. "N-nnn.. gwuh.... whaddya want, da-da?" She rubbed her eyes, looking up at him.

"It's time to meet your big brother!" He said, gently turning her around and lowering her into Enjie's arms. 

Abby meeped softly, but calmed from Enjie's warm smile. "Hi, sis!" He said, cradling her gently in his arms.

Abby blushed as he cradled her. "H-hewwo bubbuh.." She murmured softly, her shyness kicking in a little more than usual due to her sleepiness.

Enjie chuckled softly. "Don't worry, I don't bite."

Adam smiled at the two of them. "Enjie, go ahead and climb in the trailer with Abby, we've got a couple more places to go."

Enjie blushed. "Can we get something to eat? I haven't eaten for... I don't even know how long. They don't feed you anything in there."

Adam nodded. "We can stop by one of the shops and get you some food." He said, watching Enjie climb into the trailer with Abby. He zipped up the trailer, and hopped on the seat, pedaling onward to the marketplace. 

As Adam rode towards Bailey's shop, he saw a little food shop and stopped by it, loading up on groceries for Enjie and putting them in the back of the trailer, making sure to get both of his pets a lollipop too!

Abby giggled and nummed down on hers, but Enjie decided to save his in favor of one of the big salads Adam had bought for him, the green Neopet chowing down on lettuce and veggies and ranch dressing.

Adam chuckled as he watched the two. "Cute~" and kept riding, being sure to avoid any potholes as to avoid flying lettuce leaves!

Bailey was by the front window as she saw Adam riding down the hill, and she stepped out of the shop, waving him over. "Hey, over here!" She said, Kathy following her outside.

He squeezed the brake levers gently, efficiently coming to a precise stop right next to the building. He unzipped the trailer, helping both Abby and Enjie out, holding Abby close to him. "Well, here we are! I adopted a pet, and I got lucky enough to find a Zafara! His name's Enjie."

Enjie walked over to the Usul, freely chatting about things pets freely chat about.

"He certainly seems to be a friendly one!" Bailey said. "He'll be sure to make a good big brother for Abby." She invited Adam in, calling Kathy in with her. 

Adam accepted the invitation, walking in and looking around. "Wow, you certainly know how to organize things. And you've got quite the inventory here!"

Bailey nodded. "I've got this outfit for a Zafara, apparently it's a 'Mercenary' suit. It'd look good on Enjie there along with some sunglasses. Due to the people that usually shop here, though, the suit wasn't a very smart buy. Nobody's interested in it because everybody's always coming here with their Usuls and Techos, not many Zafaras pop in here. And if they do, they're usually looking for a dress or something."

Adam nodded. "Can I see it?"

Bailey looked over to Kathy. "Kathy, be a dear and go fetch that for me, would you? And get that 404 shirt and some nice sunglasses too."

Kathy grumbled as she was forced to cut her chat short. "Fiiiine." As she thought she was out of earshot, she grumbled to herself further. "Why am I the one who has to do everything around here?" 

Bailey rolled her eyes. "She's just upset about what I said earlier, she's not USULally like this."

Adam chuckled at the pun. "I see what you did there."

Bailey smiled. "You found that funny?"

Adam nodded. "I found it to be Punny, being completely honest with you."

Bailey laughed. "Nice way to turn the tables on me!" Her next attempt at a pun was interrupted by Kathy trudging in with her arms full of dark-looking clothes, grumbling and putting the pile on the counter with a dull *Thwumph!*

Bailey smiled sweetly. "Thank you, dear. You can take a coffee break if you want."

The Usul nodded and headed off into the back room.

Adam smiled at Enjie, the outfit looking pretty cool on him after he had gotten it all on. "I like the look, it fits you well!" 

Bailey nodded in agreement. "It does. Now, Kathy and I have to get prepared for the afternoon rush, if you want to start working tomorrow you can come in by 8 AM and I'll find some stuff for you to do."

Adam smiled and nodded. "Alright, then I think we'll get going." taking Enjie by the hand and leading him back out to the trailer, helping him climb back in it. He held onto Abby a little longer, checking her diaper, finding it pretty messy, and rather saturated. "We're heading home now, I think Abby needs a bath and a nice, long, comfy nap."

Enjie nodded. "Alrighty then!" taking his little sister from Adam's arms and cuddling her close to himself.

Adam zipped up the trailer yet again, hopping on the bike and pedaling back to the main square. He saw a photographer taking professional shots near a fountain of owners and their neopets, and stopped by it, making sure to get a picture of him, Abby, and Enjie together, paying for a print of it and heading back to the house, where Abby and Enjie both got a nice, warm bath, and napped, happily playing together for the rest of the day.