ToonZ - The Gift of Christmas chp 20

By the time Bugs and Mickey had completed the business deal with Scrooge, the children and the Duck triplets had been able to make a list of toys for the children at the hospital. The list was long and had to still go by the owner of the toy factories; Scrooge made his own personal adjustments to the list when his nephews showed it to him. Surprisingly, there were a lot of toys he crossed off due to not being hospital friendly.

“Too sharp; too bland; too—what in Scotland is that?” Scrooge scoffed as he scribbled over the toy images he did not like. Coming to an oddly shaped one, he raised his head and looked at Huey—the triplets, Bugs and Mickey were huddled around the table in the fireplace room while the children and the Chipmunks played some card games to pass the time.

Huey pointed at the toy. “It’s one of them new things,” he said. “Totally in—!”

“Totally not,” Scrooge grumbled as he crossed over it.

“But it’s popular among kids, Unca Scrooge.”

“Givin’ toys to lads and lassies in a hospital has nothin’ to do with whether it’s popular or not, Huey. It’s whether they’ll enjoy it’s comfort on Christmas or not. Popular toys will only make the other children jealous, therefore any of the more unique ones are getting crossed off of the list you boys made.” Scrooge flipped a page and scratched another off before continuing. “Too many small pieces; too many accessories…” He recoiled at the next page and looked at the triplets with a confused stare. He pointed at the plush toy section he was on, and the mouse in red shorts that was circled. “Did you boys circle this?” he exclaimed, just as Mickey blushed and Bugs covered a laugh.

Louie shrugged with a grin. “It ain’t super SUPER popular, and it’s huggable, right?” he said, making Dewey chuckle.

Scrooge pointed his pen at him. “You dimwitted birdbrain,” he scolded. “That’s pathetic and redundant!”

“But kids love them!”

“They’ll get hugs from the real deal, so why give them a silly plush that they can buy at his theme park?” Scrooge vigorously scribbled over the plush toy, which only made Mickey cover his face in shame and Bugs throw his head back and laugh. “Poppycock! No redundancy in this project! And if Ah see that anyone circled a plush gray rabbit too, I’ll knock their heads clean off their shoulders with me cane—!”

“What if we circled a plush of a certain miserly duck?” Huey muttered behind his teeth, making his brothers chuckle.

Scrooge glared at him and held up his cane, which made Huey yelp and leap back while hugging his head. “Ah’ll knock yer head to the Valley of Trala la, that’s WHAT,” he snapped.

Scrooge’s knowledge on what would make a good toy for a sick child was astounding, Bugs concluded, yet not surprising. He had known for a long time, due to his and Mickey’s friendship with the duck, that Scrooge enjoyed dropping things off for children at hospitals each Christmas. Sometimes, due to his tightwad attitude, Bugs believed it to be that he gave away all the overstock of toys that never sold. It often seemed that way. But over the decades, he learned that Scrooge personally went through most toys and chose them himself. Since becoming a part of Donald’s family again in 1947, the Christmas that changed the Duck family forever, Scrooge tried sharpening his knowledge on toys again for his nephews’ sake—he had been a great doll fixer as a boy and young man, therefore having children around allowed him to learn how to sharpen those abilities again.

Having Mickey’s children and Donald’s son added to the family made it all the more a reason for him to understand what toys work in certain situations and what does not.

By lunch hour, the list had been refined and Scrooge’s order for a sound system had been put through, already on its way over. Now, all there was left to do was buy the toys.

“The triplets are makin’ the calls as we speak,” Scrooge announced as Bugs, Mickey, their children and the Chipmunks got ready to leave. “And Webby is makin’ a few dozen gluten-lactose-free cookies for you to take to the hospital too. That should liven things up a bit.”

“When should we expect the sound system and the toys?” Mickey asked as the Chipmunks opened the door and walked out, followed by Mickey’s children. Pluto and Ashton stayed behind to wait.

“The sound system should be delivered to the Warner Brothers Studios by one o’clock,” Scrooge replied while pulling out his pocket watch and reading the time. “As for the toys, they’ll be delivered to my place by three, if not two.”

“Could you bring them to my place, Uncle Scrooge? I was gonna have Minnie and Lola help us out, and the most spacious place to wrap gifts is my home. I’d rather not do it at our Studios or Bugs’ because our pals may look in and start snapping away again.”

Scrooge rubbed his chin and continued to look at his watch. “Mm, well; Ah suppose Ah could have Launchpad drop them off at your place too,” he muttered. “Ah’ll get a crate large enough for all the toys and get it carried over. If we manage to finish business with the Money Bin by the time the toys arrive, the boys and Ah will come lend a hand.”

Bugs held out his hand, and Scrooge shook it. “Thanks again for the endoisment, Mister McDuck,” he said.

“The pleasure’s mine, Bugs,” Scrooge replied with a nod and a smile. “While Ah dinnae deny that you and Mickey sometimes think too ahead for your teams, Ah do appreciate the hard work that goes into every project. Ah told you once that this friendship could go places. Ah hope ye dinnae regret having kept it up nao, despite your disagreements.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Good.” He patted Bugs’ back and ushered him out the door. “Nao, ye have a tight schedule, so get going. Granted things go smoothly, Ah’ll see you boys around four o’clock sharp at Mickey’s Mansion.”

Mickey and Pluto rushed out ahead while waving as Bugs stopped in the doorway for his son. “Let’s head out, Champ,” he said, just as Ashton walked over. “Mind yer manners.”

Ashton turned to face Scrooge and bowed politely, his ears flopping over as he did. “Thank you for the yummy snacks earlier, Mister McDuck,” he said. “I really like your house, too. Very homey.”

“Thank ye, Ashton,” Scrooge replied with a nod of his own. “Ah’m glad you enjoyed yourself, even if it was only to look through catalogues of toys.”

“I noticed that you had a series of books on the history of Scotland; may I take a look at them sometime? I like reading books about history and technology and stuff like that.”

Scrooge recoiled in surprise at these words and looked at Bugs. Bugs smiled with a shrug. “He also reads plays when he’s got nothin’ to do,” he said. “We homeschooled him, so his readin’ skills are a bit ahead of his age.”

The duck seemed impressed. With an amused grin, Scrooge looked at Ashton and nodded once more. “Ah’ll bring over a copy when Ah see you later tonight, then,” he said.

Ashton bowed again and skipped out the door. “Merry Christmas, Mister McDuck,” he said.

He was glad his parents had taught him how to be polite to others, and now that he understood what Bugs valued out of his and Mickey’s friendship, Ashton thought it was only best if he let the results of Bugs and Lola’s parenting shine through. Since he loved books just as much as math, it only seemed natural to ask if he could borrow one of the Scotsman’s.

“He’s not like you or your wife,” he heard Scrooge whisper to Bugs.

“He’s built up a more unique poirsonality,” his father agreed. “I like it.”

“… Dudley could use a friend like him, Ah think. They should get introduced. It would do me nephew some good.”

Ashton pondered this as he climbed into Mickey’s car, and wondered, after what he had learned in the past few days, if maybe his friends had the wrong view on this so-called D Gang.

*****

Mickey drove them back to Warner Brothers, where the Chipmunks awaited their instruments and then the coming of the new sound system. The children waited along with them, eager to hear them practice the tune they had heard them sing harmoniously.

Bugs and Mickey, alongside Pluto of course, gave updates to the director of the studios. With their newfound confidence and determination, there was no way the man could even help but to give an impressed smile. He congratulated them on their effort, and told them not to worry about the video recording of the event.

“Your perseverance is inspiring, despite the hectic past few days, Boys,” the man said. “I think that, if Scrooge McDuck has this much faith in you two to lend you that much cash, then I shouldn’t be worried about providing you with free cameramen.” He stood up from his desk and headed for the filing cabinet at the back of the room, adding, “The past may not change, but it’s nice to see that at least you two have finally learned to just let it go.”

It took Bugs and Mickey a moment to understand those words, but upon leaving the office, Bugs chuckled. “We can move on by ourselves,” he said, waiting for Mickey to close the office door. “The others will catch up.”

“I think the real Christmas miracle we were lookin’ for wasn’t for funding or help on this project at all,” Mickey added as they walked off. “I think our miracle was finally accepting our past and living in the present. If the gang can’t let it go, no amount of forcin’ them together will make it better. We just have to go with the flow and see where the current takes us. Just like the Sevilles said yesterday.”

Bugs giggled childishly and held up a fist. “Here’s tah bein’ at deh top of deh podium, in animation and deh art of rockin’ deh whole woild!” He looked at Mickey. “Daffy and Donald can go find their own climbin’ gear, cuz I ain’t pullin’ or pushin’ ‘em up no more.”

“Ditto!” Mickey said with a laugh, holding his fist up as well. “Though I’m still a head higher than you.”

“Don’t bring back deh past, Cheesehead.”

Pluto barked and danced around them until they came to a stop to the room where the children and the Chipmunks were. Pressing an ear against the door, Mickey could hear them singing the song he and Minnie had written. But instead of entering, he pulled back and looked up at Bugs. “We haven’t had our weekly lunch break yet, Pal,” he said, pointing over his shoulder. “Why don’t we head over to the cafeteria and grab a bite? They should be ready for a rough video practice when we come back. And by then, the new sound system should be in.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Bugs agreed as they turned and walked down another hallway. “We can call the goils and tell ‘em to meet us at your house too.”

Mickey giggled and danced with delight. “Things are finally falling into place!” he said.

*****