"Hey Mom? Do you think we could all go for a swim later?"

Vinny looked up from her plate. Alvin had just finished his breakfast, and was now looking at her with big wide eyes. To her other side, Theo was helping himself to his third serving of pancakes, while Simon hadn't touched his.  'Hm.  I wonder what's wrong with him this morning... Maybe some time outdoors was what he'll need.' she thought.

"Ah!" Vinny snapped out of her thoughts, looking to her eldest. "Why sure, Alvin. We can all go right after you boys help me with-" 

"The dishes!  I'll help!" Theodore quickly polished up the last of his pancakes, even licking the maple syrup off his plate. "Uhh, Simon, aren't you going to eat... any of that?" He pointed to the untouched pancakes on his brother's plate.

"Er… No thanks, Theodore. You can have my share today." Simon smiled a bit as he handed his plate over. Without delay, Theodore went to work demolishing the rest of the pancakes. As Vinny would have said, waste not, want not.

"Simon? Aren't you going to eat? It's not good for you to skip out on breakfast," Vinny pointed out. Her voice was almost soothing as she put a paw on Simon's shoulder. She could almost swear that her middle son was blushing as she rubbed his shoulder.

"Hehe… It must've been all that cream, right Simon?" Alvin gave his brother a playful nudge on the side. "He sure loves his whipped cream alright."

"W-what are you talking about, Alvin? There's no whipped cream on the table." Simon said, turning his gaze to his brother. 

Alvin, wearing his usual mischievous grin, just nudged Simon again, winking as his brother's cheeks burned a bright red. "Oh, I'm sure you know exaaaactly what I mean, Si."

Shaking his head, Simon just pushed away from the table. "Please, Alvin. I'm not in the mood today." 

As he started for his room, Alvin hopped up as well, chasing Simon into the hallway and reaching out to grab hold of his brother's arm. "Hey! What's got you on the edge? Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

Simon almost growled as he wrenched himself free from Alvin's hold. "Just leave me alone, okay? I know what you and Theo did last night and I'm processing it." 

Alvin, putting his paws on his hips, simply glared at Simon. "Oh yeah? You know, huh? Well, process this, Dr. Puddles, just how do you know?  It's not like we were making ourselves known.  Besides, what's the problem?  You clearly liked what you saw.  Why not join in yourself?"

Cheeks darkening, Simon just shook his head again. "What I do is n-none of your concern! Just don't bug me about it, okay?" He huffs, managing to squeeze pass Alvin, disappearing inside his room.

"Ohh you-!" Alvin stopped himself, taking in a deep breath before sighing heavily. He turned around, where Theodore just happened to be walking up. 

"Hey, what's going on?" His baby brother's voice was soft, tinted with worry. "I heard the door slam…" he says quietly, wiping off his hands on his shirt.  He looked up at Alvin's face, arms crossed over his chest.  "Alviiiin... what did you do?"

"What??  It's not me, it's… Simon." Alvin says, crossing his arms as well. "He knows about what we did last night, and I think he's mad because I know what he did."

Tapping his fingers a little, Theodore just nodded. "I'm gonna talk to him." He says with a  nod. "Can you go tell mom that I'm getting dressed? I'll try to be quick."

"Sure…  whatever.  If anyone is gonna get through to him, I guess it's you, Theo.  Go for it." Alvin gave Theodore a pat on the back. He watched his little brother scurry off into the hallways, before going off to the kitchen. 

__________________________________________________

"Simon…? Can we talk?" Theodore asked, pressing his cheek against Simon's door as he grabbed the doorknob. He pushed it open slowly. "I, uh, heard how you kinda stormed off…"

"Ugh… Theodore…" Simon mumbles. He was curled up on his bed, lightly clutching his swimming trunks. "Why are you worrying yourself about it?" He asked. 

"Because I hate seeing you guys like this.  Can I come in?" Theodore answered.  

Simon was quiet for a while.  Minutes later, he spoke.  "Fine... come in."

The door opened up and Theodore walked right in, climbing up on Simon's bed. "You know, Simon, I may not be as smart or cool as you and Alvin, but I can tell how someone's really feeling. And you're definitely down in the dumps about something."

Letting out a sigh, Simon rolls over enough to look at Theodore. "Why do you ask questions you already know the answer to, Theodore? You and Alvin both know about what I've done last night." He says. 

With a shrug of his shoulders, Theodore just scooted closer to Simon, gently resting his head on his brother's shoulder. "Cuz… I don't really care what you did. I just wish you would have joined us, is all. We really had fun!"

"Yes, you did, but with our own mother, Theodore." Simon reminded him. "And I can't just… bring myself to do that. Even with what I did, I'd never be able to go all the way like you two." He pauses, swallowing around a lump forming in his throat. "I… Feel like I've just been trying to resist and ignore it all. Like I was supposed to."

Nodding, Theodore just hugs Simon from the side. "Simon?  Is... is it cuz mom kinda looks like Jeanette?" Almost immediately, Simon froze up. He bit down on his lip, trembling slightly as he looks off to the side. "I-I mean, not that I'm thinking of Jeanette that way!  Honest!  You know I like Eleanor!" Theodore squeaked, holding his paws up and waving them defensively. "I just thought that that was why you were… ya know…"

"I know, I know. It's okay, Theodore." Simon flicked his tail a little. "Let's not linger on that thought, alright? I'll try to not be so down today. We're here to have fun, right?"

Theodore was quiet for a moment, but then he nodded his head. "I'll believe you this time, Simon. But...  don't worry about anything too much, okay?" Theodore leaned in, giving Simon a light kiss on the cheek, grunting as he climbed off the bed, heading for the door.

"Uh… Hey, Theodore?" Simon calls. "You know... You really can be pretty smart sometimes." He says, giving his little brother a soft smile.

Hearing that, Theodore shakes his head. "Nah, I just really love you guys." He hums, shrugging his shoulders as he disappears out of the room. Simon just sat there, looking at the door as it closed. He turned his gaze down to the trunks, wrinkling his nose a little.

__________________________________________________

"Well? How'd it go?" Alvin asks, his tail flicking side to side anxiously as he rushed up to Theodore's side. They had all left the cabin, making their way back towards the stream. 

"Oh, come on, Alvin, can't you see?" Theodore commented. Up ahead, Simon was walking side to side with Vinny. He had even decided to abandon his swimming trunks, now practically parading about in his birthday suit.

"What in the heck did you say to him…?" Alvin mumbles softly, watching the two of them ahead. They were talking about…. something. 

"Well, I just made him feel better, I guess." Theodore responded, humming as he started to pull off his shirt. 

"Hmph. Oh well. At least he's not being Mister Grumpy Munk or whatever." Alvin says to himself, following Theodore's lead.

The remainder of their walk was spent in silence. Once they were back at the stream, Simon moved ahead first, crouching down to let the water flow between his fingers, then jumping in. They waited for a while, only to almost jump in surprise as he resurfaced further down the stream. "Come on in! We're swimming, aren't we?" he called.

"Geez, aren't you the eager one?" Alvin said, folding his arms.

"I'm in, Simon!" Theodore replied, happily tossing his clothes aside before leaping into the stream, causing a fair amount of water to splash out. Alvin, cradling his clothes in hand, still lingered back at Vinny's side. He looked up to her, giving her a light nudge. "So, uh… what were you and Simon talking about?" He asks her.

Looking down to Alvin, Vinny just reached out to pat his head. "Now now, Alvin. I didn't tell anyone our little secret, did I?" She asks, giving him a little wink. As Alvin opened his mouth for another question, Vinny quickly stripped from her own clothes, laughing as she slowly slid into the water. "Come on! Unless you really do like being last?" She taunted, causing Alvin to growl, shaking his head to get rid of his blush before tossing away his own clothes and running at her. 

"Alvin Seville is never last!" he roared. Vinny yelped as she quickly swam away, just barely escaping the splash zone.

When he surfaced again, Alvin was sputtering and spitting out water, shaking his head. "First one back to the moss rock wins!" He calls out, letting out a grunt as he swam as fast as he could manage.

*........*

As could be expected, Alvin managed to pull ahead in their impromptu race, but only just barely managing to beat Simon. Vinny came next, closely followed by little Theodore. While Alvin was still striking his proud(and revealing) pose atop the rock, Simon and Vinny were down below in the water still, talking to each other.

Theodore, having decided to sun himself a little nearby, blushed slightly at the few words he caught being exchanged, most of which he'd not known the meaning of until recently. He squirmed a little, closing his legs just in case. 'At least I made him feel better.' He thought to himself.

Time seemed to pass quickly. They didn't bother packing up a second picnic for their outing, nor was there really much else planned for the day.

"Hey, Theodore?" Simon called, breaking the calming silence as he beckoned his younger sibling. He stood up, meeting Theodore halfway. As soon as he could, he took the little butterball off to the side. "Theodore, I just want to take this time to really thank you." Simon said, reaching to mess up Theo's hair. "You really were a big help, little brother. I would have never had the courage to bring it up with Mom." He says, pulling Theodore into a tight hug.

"Oof! G-Glad I could help, I think!" Theo replies, his tail wagging around as he nuzzled into Simon's bare chest. "So… are you and mama gonna, you know?" Giving Theodore a smile, Simon just crouches down to give him a thankful little kiss on the forehead. "I'm sorry, but that's our little secret." He replies, giving a playful wink.

Hearing this brought a smile to Theo's face. "Oh, Si, that's great! Me and Alvin were gonna have some fun with mama again too!" He cheered, squirming a little in place. "Whoa whoa whoa there, little guy." Simon said, waving his paws a tad. "I… Think Mom meant this just for me. Tonight at least." He says, putting his paw on Theodore's shoulder. Tail noticeably drooping, Theodore looked down to the ground. "Oh… Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"Hey… Come now, don't be like that." Simon says, gently nudging Theo. "I'm sure you and Alvin could find something to do in the meantime?" Theo just nodded his head. "Yeah… Yeah, we can. It's only fair, anyway. Me and Alvin both had our own special time with Mama, so it makes sense that you can too." He says, giving his big brother a firm nod. "So… you go and have lots of fun with mama tonight, ya hear?"

__________________________________________________

Simon sighed softly to himself as he looked down at his feet, swaying them a little. The most they had done today was just swim about for a while. Afterwards they were just inside watching TV until everyone eventually dissipated to their rooms.

And yet… even with the OK from his mom, and the encouragement from his brothers, something deep within Simon was still reluctant. It pinged in his mind, telling him to stay in bed tonight. Every time he stood up, the feeling only grew to the point where he had no choice but to sit back down.

"Come on, Simon…" he growled to himself. "What are you afraid of? So she sort of looks like Jeanette. Big deal! You're only bringing unnecessary stress upon yourself." He said, forcing himself to his feet again. This time, he managed to walk all the way to the door, grasping the knob. 'Forget what your mind may say… do what your body wants.' He thinks to himself, taking a few deep breaths.

"It'll be a great learning experience." He says as he finally opens the door, slipping on out. "After all, even the greatest minds had to let their hearts lead the way every now and then." He says, tail flicking as he passed by Alvin's door.

Somehow, the grunts he heard from within gave him a feeling of reassurance.