Six years away from the family.... six long, crazy, torturous years. Some days she wasn’t so sure why the Care Bear family was so set on helping humans. With the ways she’d been treated by then during medical school she didn’t particularly like most of them. There were a few exceptions. Maybe it was because her family helped mostly kids. Kids were definitely more accepting.
Four years of medical school and two years of a residency program on earth and she was done. She’d decided not to pursue anything further as she didn’t plan to stay on earth anyway.
Noble Heart had attended her graduation two years ago, and popped in to see her a few other times but as busy as she was, they hadn’t had time for anything more than a quick lunch. Other than that, she’d been on her own. Now, though she was slightly nervous about returning after all these years, she couldn’t wait to get home. She loaded up the last of her belongings, said goodbye to her roommate and study partner, Abby, and headed home.
She touched down in her own front yard some time later and immediately began unloading. Before she knew it... her stuff was scattered all over the living room floor. But she’d been sidetracked. Now that she was home, there was so much to do. She needed a clinic and equipment and medications... some of it she’d been pondering and planning for a while, but now that she was home it seemed like a more pressing issue.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at her front door. She had hoped to have some more time to herself before she got swarmed by her family. She sighed and turned to answer the door, only to be greeted by Independent Bear.
Indy smiled, “Welcome home, Take Care.” In the last six years, Indy had grown up. He was as tall as the founders now, maybe a bit taller and he had let his hair grow out, reaching the middle of his back, his muscles were more defined and he wore a black longcoat and nothing else.
She couldn’t complain that he’d dropped by. He was certainly on the list of family members she wanted to see soon, even if she hadn’t quite wanted visitors this soon.
“Hey.... thanks...” she answered. “Good to be back.” She paused. “Good to see you. You really grew up.” She was almost nervous. She’d thought about him a million times while she’d been gone but each time has tried to push those thoughts out of her mind.
She’d asked Noble Heart about him a few times, in between asking about the cousins.
“How are you? It’s been a long time... what have you been up to?”
“I’ve been good. I’m now an official guardian of the Kingdom of Caring, thanks to Sage Heart and Life Heart,” he looked Take Care up and down, “You’ve grown up too.”
“That’s incredible! Knew you’d do it... never had a doubt.” She answered and he knew she meant it.
Where Indy’s hair was down his back, she kept hers closer to her shoulders. Short but long enough to pull back if she wanted to - and most days she did. Today however, it was down and a bit curly. She’d lost weight too, no longer the typical slightly rounded and chubby Care Bear she once had been.
Realizing just how messy the living room currently looked, she apologized, “Sorry for the mess, I haven’t had a chance to unpack yet.”
Indy looked over her shoulder and smirked, “I can see that. Before you stress over that, want to go for a walk?” he offered his hand to her. “I haven’t visited our reading spot since you left.”
“Yes!!” Her answer came out in a bit more of an excited tone than she planned. Then, rather than just taking his paw, she pulled him into a hug first. It had been six years since the last hug and she couldn’t wait any longer. “You really haven’t been there in the past 6 years? Why not?”
Indy hugged her back, “I did go once, about a week after you left, but it didn’t feel right. Just reminded me that you weren’t around. It was lonely…”
She took his paw as they headed out the back door and toward the forest... “Yeah... I missed you too. I was crazy busy most days, but I missed you. It’s good to be back. So much I need to work on, but it’s good to be home.”
“I’m happy to have you home.” Indy walked hand-in-hand with Take Care down the path in the forest, “A lot’s happened while you’ve been gone. We have a couple new enemies, No-Heart and Cold Heart. The cubs are almost teenagers now. The adults are all talking about getting a school set up to teach them more advanced things.”
“A school is a good idea... who are they thinking about for teachers?” She was hoping not to get roped into that right away. but knew with all the knowledge she had acquired it would make sense for them to ask her.
“Not sure, they haven’t told me much about it yet. I’ve been too focused on No-Heart and Cold Heart,” Indy said.
“Tell me about No Heart and Cold Heart. Just how dangerous are they? I think Noble Heart was trying to keep me from worrying - he mentioned them but didn’t really give me many details.”
Indy scratched his chin, “Well Cold Heart’s this mad scientist obsessed with cold and has an assistant named Frostbite. He’s not much of a threat even with the cubs. No-Heart’s a different story. He’s a powerful wizard and he keeps coming up with new schemes. Worst was something called the ‘cloud of uncaring’ that almost beat us. A kid Wish Bear helped managed to stop it but… it was a close call that day.” He turned to Take Care, “Sorry, didn’t want to worry you.”
She nodded, “Glad it worked out and everyone was ok. I get it. I needed to stay where I was and focus on studying and learning and putting that into practice. But now that I’m home, it’s important that I know. Especially if he could end up hurting one of you. That makes it my problem. We both protect in our own ways.”
“So... what do you want to do once we get there?”
“Mostly just talk somewhere I know we won’t be disturbed,” Indy looked away for a moment, “I really missed you while you were gone. I thought about you every day.”
She smiled... “I know. Maybe I should have tried to come home a few times. I think I was afraid I might not go back if I did. I really missed you too.”
Indy smiled, “Maybe, but there’s no point wondering about it now, you’re home.” They finally arrived at the reading spot and sat down on one of the fallen logs. Indy took a deep breath and rubbed the still intact bark on the log, “It’s nice to be back here, to think this is where it all began for both of us…”
She sat down beside him. “It really is… you going a bit overboard with your powers created the place and then we found each either near here some time later. Remember that first day - you foot injury due to the rock? Meeting up here so many times over the years when you weren’t training as I wasn’t cub sitting.” She chuckled a bit and paused for a moment growing a bit serious.
“You really waited for me, didn’t you? Six years later and you still care as much now as you did then...”
“I did and I think I care even more,” Indy said. “You not being here, it made me think about how I felt about you.”
She smiled and he could tell it meant the world to her to hear that but she was struggling a bit with her own feelings. She cared for him deeply but just how much was she ready for. There was so much she still had to do. How much was he ready for? Would he be able to handle the fact that her career was always going to be a huge part of who she was? He protected them with his powers but she had to be ready to handle any injury, attack, or illness that came their way and it was a daunting challenge. One she wouldn’t and couldn’t back down from.
“In the crazy and stressful moments, and in the moments where they made getting my education very difficult, which was quite often, I’d think about you. All the time we spent together, the meals you used cook for me, the times we hung out and talked or read back here. That time we both had to cub sit together and you saved Birthday from being flattened. Those memories helped to keep me going and reminded me just how special you are to me.”
“I thought about you too when things got tough,” Indy leaned up against her, “When I had to fight No-Heart or Cold Heart’s monsters, or training was getting tough, I just remembered there had to be a home for you to return to when you finally finished. I wanted to make sure there was a home here for you to return you.”
She kissed his cheek, “Thank you. You did it and I’m home.” She snuggled into him a bit more, really noticing the muscles, “You definitely built up some muscles along the way.” She grinned.
Indy blushed when she kissed him and smiled, “Thank you. I had to get stronger, you slimmed down too. Everyone here seems to have stuck with the ‘pudgy teddy bear’ look, except Champ.” Indy smiled, “Want to stick around here or should we head back to your house and unpack?”
“Stay for a bit... I’d almost forgotten how nice it is back here. There’s a million things to do when I get back to the house. A few more minutes here might be nice. Plus... I can hide out from the welcome home committee. I’d be willing to bet there’s party planning going on.”
Indy smiled, “I don’t need a sixth sense to know they’re doing that. And I’d like this too.” Indy put his arm around Take Care’s back.
She chuckled, “Yeah. I guess you don’t need the sixth sense for that.”
She yawned, still leaning on him. She could have almost fallen asleep but forced herself not to instead choosing to level with him and open up a bit.
“I really like you, Indy. There are some feelings here I never thought I’d have for anyone and coming home has only made that stronger. I don’t know exactly where we go from here... but....”
“I know, I feel the same way. Things I’d never thought about until I saw you again today.” Indy said, “We have our own responsibilities but we can figure something out.”
She nodded. “Yeah... I hope so.”
They were quiet for a little while, each leaning on one another enjoying the closeness and company they hadn’t had in so long, and even years ago they’d never really leaned into or snuggled up to one another. It was definitely different.
A few minutes later their peace was broken by a faint sound nearby, Indy's ears perked up as he felt the tingle of his sixth sense in the back of his head. "Take Care, can you hear that?"
“Yeah...” Take Care focused on the sound because it was a good distance away, then jumped up quickly. “I think that’s someone crying - like a cub, but how?”
Before Indy could even answer. She took off- jumping over the log and running through the forest toward the sound. Someone needed her and there would be no stopping her from going and helping. Indy was right on her heels a moment later, just two steps behind her. Just as inclined to help as Take Care was.
Take Care slowed as the cries grew louder and she knew they were getting close and didn’t want to scare the cub too much.
Ironically, the sound came from near one of the largest trees in the forest, which was where she first remembered waking up as a cub. Indy matched her pace as she slowed.
“Quietly...” she told him. “I don’t want to scare it and have it run off.”
She approached carefully and could see a light blue bear cub sitting in the grass under the tree crying.
“Hi kiddo....” she called softly.
The cub looked up at her clearly afraid and freaked out.
“Goodness you’re little... I was 5 or 6 when I found myself here... how on earth did you get here?”
“Probably the same way we did,” Indy whispered. He reached out to the cub slowly, palm upwards, “Don’t be afraid, we’re Care Bears, we’re here to help.”
The cub studied them both for a minute, as her crying began to calm. She reached for Indy’s outstretched paws and grabbed onto them, pulling herself up to her feet, then Indy gently picked her up.
Take Care smiled and chuckled a bit. “Well that was certainly easier than I thought it would be. And you used to be nervous around the cubs?”
“She’s just one, and she’s scared,” it was then he felt the cub shivering, “and cold,” he focused his psychic energy into his hands, sending a warmth into the cub. After a moment the cub stopped shivering then turned to Take Care and reached towards her. “I think she wants you to hold her,” Indy carefully passed the cub to Take Care, “You’re the doctor, anything you can tell me?”
“Alright, kiddo... come here...” Take Care took her. The cub immediately grabbed onto her and snuggled into her fur, trying to keep herself warm. Take Care used her own Care Bear stare to create a small blanket and then wrapped it around the cub and checked her pulse.
“Let’s get her home... I can check her over completely there. She’s got a bit of fever but it’s not bad. Not sure how long she’s been out here but at her age any length of time out here is too long in my opinion. Your warming energy definitely helped.”
“Ma-ma...” the cub looked up at her.
“Sorry kiddo.... I don’t know where you mom is... but we’ll look after you for a bit and find you a home... don’t worry.” Take Care looked at Indy, “do you mind driving us back? She seems to have decided she’s not letting go of me for the moment.”
“Not at all,” Indy’s tummy symbol lit up and he conjured a cloud car, then took the driver’s seat. Once Take Care was seated in the passenger seat with the cub in hand, Indy drove them back to Take Care’s house.
"How did you warm her up?" Take Care asked.
"Little psionic trick I learned, mostly for the times I needed to go after Cold Heart," Indy said.
“It’s quite genius... able to keep yourself and others warmer with it!” Take Care complimented as they landed. She headed into the house thankful that no one else had shown up yet, and grabbed the red duffel bag off the chair before attempting to lie the cub down on the couch.
The cub however, immediately started to cry and grabbed for her.
“Hey... don’t fuss kiddo... I want to make sure you are ok...” as she picked her back up, she noticed something. The cub already had a tummy symbol - a greeting card, with a frowning sunshine with a thermometer in its mouth on the front of the card.
“Ok... that wasn’t there when we first found you...” she looked at Indy. “Was it?”
“No... it wasn’t.” He answered.
The little cub grinned and snuggled back against her chest. “Ma-ma...”
“Oh, kiddo... again... I don’t know where....” Take Care paused and an odd look began to spread across her face - one of confusion, shock, and surprise at her sudden revelation. “No way.... I’ve read about it... didn’t think it was actually possible.”
“Read about what?” Indy was a bit confused as he stood next to the couch and looked down at the pair of them.
Take Care tested her theory. She put the cub back on the couch and then got up and began to walk away. The cub immediately started screaming. “Ma-Ma!!!!!”
Take Care picked her back up, “ok.. ok... I get it... calm down... I’ve got you....”
“She’s imprinted. Basically, she’s made an incredibly strong emotional connection. For whatever reason, she’s decided that I’m the one she trusts. I’m her new mother.”
The little cub then looked at Indy... “da-da...”
Take Care tried passing the cub to Indy. “Da-da” she repeated. She accepted and stayed with him a minute or so before reaching for Take Care once more.
“And I think she’s done the same with you on a milder scale.”
Indy almost jumped, then couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at the situation, “Did we just become parents?”
Take Care rolled her eyes and gave a resigned smile, “More-or-less.”
Indy passed the cub back to Take Care, “So what should we call her?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know... I’ve never named a cub before... the cousins already had their names.”
“You’re a near genius...” Indy reminded her with a chuckle, teasing her a bit. “Surely you’ve got this...”
“Her tummy symbol is some type of greeting card. It appears to be a get well soon type card. What about Get Well Bear?”
“Sounds great, Take Care.” Indy turned to the mess of partially unpacked… stuff strewn across the floor. “I guess I’ll get this stuff put away, or at least out of the way. Where should I put it?”
“Red bag stays with me. I’ll need it for her if I can ever get her to let go of me long enough for me check her over.” Take Care shook her head at the cub, but had a slight smile on her face.
“The others... you can toss them in my room, if you don’t mind. I’ll unpack tonight.... unless you see something you’re just eager to put away.” She chuckled. They both liked things neat and tidy as a rule. Having a cub was going to be interesting because cubs didn’t care about being neat, not one bit...
“This is going to get really interesting. How am I supposed to build and run a medical practice with a one-year-old cub?”
Indy waved his hand across the room and all the objects levitated off the ground and together then towards Take Care’s bedroom, which Take Care watched wide-eyed.
“You’ve really come a long way,” she commented as Indy returned.
“As much as you have.” Indy hung up his longcoat by the door then sat down next to Take Care, “As for how you’ll manage,” Indy gave her a kiss on the cheek, “You won’t do it alone. Everyone will help you get your practise set up, and I’ll help you raise Get Well.”
“Thank you...” Take Care returned the kiss. “Well... she has decided you’re ‘da-da’ so.... you’re hired.”
The cub refused to leave Take Care’s lap for the next couple of hours, so Take Care finally resorted to lying her down in her lap so she could examine her. But the little cub had nothing more than a small cold that would pass in a few days. At this mild she didn’t even need anything for fever. She relayed it to Indy and then added, “but she’s going to need a diaper change and want a bottle soon... and I don’t have any. I can fashion temporary diaper. But we need to see if we can round up a few bottles.”
“I can get those. Should still be some in the Hall of Hearts,” Indy stood up, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Great... while you’re doing that, I’ll go over and inform Noble Heart and True Heart that I came home, became the family doctor, and a mom, all on the same day... that should be a fun conversation.”
Since she knew Noble Heart and True Heart were living together, it stood to reason she’d be talking with both of them at the same time. And it was two less family members they’d have to explain it to later.
Indy gave a nervous laugh at the thought as they exited, “How about I drop you off at their place then pick you up on the way back?” he offered as he headed for the still conjured Cloud Car.
“Sure... it’s not that far of a walk, but might not be a good idea to have her outside that long at the moment.” She grabbed the small blanket and followed Indy out the door to the cloud car.
It really wasn’t a long walk and Indy dropped Take Care off a moment later, promising to be back as soon as he had the baby supplies from the Hall of Hearts.
Take Care knocked, holding Get Well with her other arm, though the cub really had no problem holding on to her. In fact, she still seemed to prefer being as close as possible to Take Care.
“Take Care, I was looking for you earlier.... what’s this?!” Noble Heart had seen the cub.
“A very long story.” Take Care answered. “Mind if I come in?”
“Of course not, want some tea?”
“No... it’s fine...”
“I’ll make some more...” Grams spoke up and Take Care realized Sage Heart and Life Heart were inside as well. “Am I interrupting a meeting? Do I need to come back?”
“Absolutely not. You and Indy are part of our leadership team now. Really you always have been as far as I’m concerned, you know that.” Noble Heart answered.
“Especially now that Independent Bear is the guardian of the Kingdom of Caring,” Life Heart beamed with accomplishment.
Take Care wasn’t sure if there was going to an offer to give her an official title, but she gently shot it down. “He told me, and that’s awesome. But don’t need a title, just the ability to do what I’ve been training for six years to do. I’m going to need some help in setting up the clinic and getting equipment.”
“Told you she’d say that...” Noble Heart chuckled.
“Come... sit...” True Heart waved her over. “Tell us what happened...”
So Take Care did. She figured she might as well tell the whole story, but did leave out the details of them cuddling and cheek kissing. Not that everyone in the room didn’t catch the hints that she and Indy were growing closer.
“Here’s the issue... the cub has imprinted. She’s made a very strong emotional connection to me and almost as strong of one to Indy. She’s decided, for whatever reason, that I’m her mother and he’s her father. I’ve read about it... but didn’t actually think it was possible. I can honestly say that is. She’s done it. She has to stay with me... if I were to hand her off to someone else to raise it would do serious emotional and psychological harm. Indy’s offered to help, since she made the connection with him as well.”
“If you’re sure,” True Heart stood up, “As long as you’re here we want you to meet some other new members of the family.” She motioned for Take Care to follow her as she lead her into another room.
Take Care was lead into a nursery with three cubs sleeping in cribs, a blue bear, a pink bear and a pink horse with wings. True Heart carefully stroked the two bear cub’s heads and whispered, “This is Hugs and Tugs,” she indicated first the pink then the blue cub, “They’re my children, mine and Noble Heart’s.”
Life Heart had followed them and walked over to the pink horse, “And my daughter, Sweet Heart Pegasus. Before you ask, I don’t know why she’s a pegasus instead of a unicorn, it’s just an odd quirk of magic.”
“Things have changed up here.” Take Care adjusted her hold on Get Well gently, who had turned to look at the other cubs in the room. “Well at least I’m not the only one who has to look after a cub.” She looked down at Get Well, “And you’ll have some friends your age too, Get Well.”
OoOoO
Indy moved through where the “WELCOME HOME TAKE CARE BEAR” party that was being set up in the Hall of Hearts. He waved hello to the various bears and cousins all scattered around the room, they hadn’t asked him to help because they respected that parties weren’t his thing, either in the set up or the participation, didn’t mean they hadn’t thrown one for him when he received his own title of guardian. As soon as he was out of the main hall, Indy beelined for the old supply closet.
He sighed in relief when he found that almost all the old baby supplies had been kept, albeit covered in a fine layer of dust. “Ugg, going to need to clean most of these.” He looked around for a bag then his eyes trailed across one of the old intact cribs, Gentle Heart’s old crib in fact (all of the old stuff had been stored in here even from the cousins). He got a small grin and pulled it out then began loading the old cloth diapers and bottles into the crib itself before he picked up the crib and began carrying it out of the hall.
After a brief detour to the kitchen to check for baby formula (thankfully some still sealed in cans was leftover, or had it been provided by the Hall itself, Indy wasn’t sure), Indy ran into Love Heart Bear as he ran to the kitchen to grab a tray of snack food for the party. Indy tried to head for the side door before Love Heart could question him, but was too late.
“Indy, what’s with the old baby stuff?” Love Heart asked.
Indy stumbled slightly, catching a bottle in his telekinetic grip before it fell out of the crib and putting it back, “Just getting some needed supplies.”
Love Heart just stared and scratched his head, “Supplies for what? A baby?”
Indy didn’t feel the need to lie, not like they wouldn’t find out soon anyway, “Yep. Take Care and I adopted a cub we found in the Forest of Feelings.” Indy hurried out the side door before the green bear could fully process what he had said.
“Wait what?!”
Indy winced slightly as he packed the Cloud Car’s trunk with his cargo and strapped it shut with a bungee cord. His sixth sense was flaring like crazy as he got in the driver’s seat and took off, “I think I just lit a powder keg.”
OoOoO
“So... you’re going to run a medical practice and raise a cub? And Indy’s helping? Are you two a couple... or?” Grams got right to the point. “I could take the cub...”
Take Care groaned. “Did you hear any of what I just said?”
“Easy Take Care....” Noble Heart warned... Everyone knew she had a temper but for once True Heart defended her.
“No... Take Care is right to be a bit frustrated. She’s protecting her daughter. We adopted all these cubs. We know how much we love each one of them and what we’d do to protect them... she’s doing the same. It’s not going to be easy. But we know she’s nothing if not determined.”
“Indy and I are not a couple. Yes, we like each other. What that future holds, neither of us know. His job is to protect the family using his abilities and training. As the family doctor - my job will be to try and prevent illnesses and injuries and treat them when they do occur. So we both have a desire to protect and care for others... we just go about it a bit differently. We both realize this isn’t going to be easy.”
“And yes, I’m keeping Get Well - it’s not optional. It has to be this way.”
A knock on the front door seemed to dispel the tension in the room as Indy stepped in. “Take Care? Get Well? I got the supplies, are you ready to go?”
“Yes,” Take Care stood up, “Gotta go, I have a lot to do. We’ll talk about setting up my clinic tomorrow.” She left before anyone could protest.
“Did it go well?” Indy asked as Take Care exited the house.
“Better than it could have, True Heart stood up for me,” Take Care took her seat in the passenger’s side again. “Find everything?”
“Bottles, cloth diapers, a crib and even formula,” Indy got in the car and they drove off back to her house.
She nodded, “sounds like you got it all. Thank you.”
They were soon back to her house and setting up in the one extra bedroom she currently had. It was obvious that this was going to be a temporary solution. She was going to need a bigger home and clinic and she wanted (and now needed) them to be connected.
“Gentle Heart’s crib… I didn’t realize Noble Heart had even kept them...” Take Care commented, walking in as she was trying to burp Get Well from the bottle feeding. Not only did she get the burp, but also a sneeze. Take Care wiped Get Well’s nose with the cloth.
Indy nodded, “it was the first one I spotted and I know how close you two are. If you’d rather not use it.”
She stopped him, “no, I think it’s perfect. I’m going to change her diaper and try to get her down for the night. She needs some extra rest.”
“Alright, I’ll get these cleaned up.” Indy headed for the kitchen to wash both the bottles and cloth diapers. It didn’t take too long and Indy had them hung up and sitting out to dry when he returned to Take Care.
Take Care had just lay Get Well down to sleep in Gentle Heart’s crib when Indy entered the room, “Sleeping softly?” he whispered.
“Yes, she is.” Take Care was about to say more when Get Well tummy symbol started to glow from beneath the blanket and at the same time the painting of Gentle Heart’s symbol started to glow. When the glow finally subsided Gentle Heart’s symbol on the crib had been replaced with Get Well’s: a greeting card, with a frowning sunshine with a thermometer in its mouth on the front of the card.
“Wow... will you look at that?” Take Care whispered loudly. Their daughter stirred just slightly and Take Care immediately regretted her excitement.
“Guess she’s officially part of the family?” She whispered quietly after a few more minutes.
“She is,” Indy gave Take Care a kiss on the cheek, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” As he was about to leave he felt his sixth sense go off and bolted to the door, opening it quietly right before Sage Heart had a chance to knock.
“Shhhh,” he whispered, “Take Care just got Get Well to sleep.”
Sage Heart nodded and saw Take Care approaching just behind Indy, “I just wanted to let you both know I told everyone you couldn’t attend the ‘welcome home’ party because you had to look after the new cub,” he smiled, “They took it pretty well, but Bright and Gentle said they’d stop by after the party. We told the rest of them not to swarm your house.”
“Well.... this is one way to get out of a welcome home party...” Take Care chuckled, the full weight of the day starting to catch up with her.
“Thanks, Sage Heart... I appreciate you asking everyone not to bombard us.”
“No problem, let us know if you need any help.” Sage Heart nodded then left.
“I’m going to head home then, call me if you need any help.” Indy said.
“She and I should be ok... thanks for everything today.” She kissed him on the cheek.
Indy blushed then turned to leave, not bothering with his Cloud Car and just walking to home.
OoOoO
Construction in the Kingdom of Caring was a lot easier than it was on earth. Noble Heart and True Heart had discovered techniques with their tummy symbol to let them rapidly construct or expand buildings with basic layouts using only their tummy symbols, useful when Noble Heart had needed to expand the Cousin’s nursery home to accommodate a new room for Take Care when she had first joined them. With Bright Heart’s help Take Care had drawn a basic layout she’d need for her clinic which would also double as her house from now on: waiting room with reception desk, exam room, surgery theater, supply closets and the rooms of her house: kitchen, bedrooms (one for herself and one for Get Well), bathroom and living room.
The clinic/house was set up between Care-a-Lot and the Forest of Feelings, out in the open so anyone could see it but as close as it could be to everyone who might need to visit. Getting her medical supplies and machines took a bit longer, in fact by the end of it Take Care wasn’t entire sure how they had pulled it off so successfully. But after two months the clinic was fully set up and operational and Take Care was ready to start her new career as the Kingdom of Caring’s doctor, they just needed to move in her personal possessions.
Indy had been an immense help, helping Take Care to move and position all her furniture and equipment in the house, save for the few days he was called away to deal with the most recent attack or scheme from Cold Heart or No-Heart; he took his duties as seriously as Take Care did. Today he had just finished helping Champ and Brave Heart set up Take Care’s living room; they finished just as Take Care entered with Get Well awake and watching from her arms.
“Alright there!” Brave Heart and Champ set down Take Care’s couch then turned to face her: Champ had taken to wearing a red sport’s jacket and headband everywhere while Brave Heart was just wearing a brown western jacket. “What do you think, Take Care?” Brave Heart grinned.
She looked, it wasn’t exactly centered in the room and she was a bit weird about that... “Mind pushing it about 5 inches to the left so it’s a bit more centered? Other than that, looks great.... what do you think Get Well?”
There was no answer from the little cub, she simply gave her mom an odd look then spotted Indy. “Da-Da!!”
Indy smiled and walked over to the two as Brave Heart and Champ moved to accommodate Take Care’s request, and held out his finger to Get Well, who grabbed it eagerly. “Yes, da-da’s here.” He chuckled.
“I think that’s everything, sports fan,” Champ swiped his head, “Ready for lunch?”
“Am I ever!” Brave Heart felt his tummy gurgle, “Gonna join us?” he turned to Indy and Take Care.
“You go on ahead, Get Well’s got a pretty strong grip on me here,” Indy smiled.
“Alright, we’ll make sure Birthday and Treat don’t eat everything,” Champ said. Brave Heart just rolled his eyes and helped push Champ out before he could say anything else awkward.
“Thanks guys!! I appreciate all your help!” Take Care called as they left, chuckling at Champ Bear’s comment.
“You too, Indy... you’ve bent over backwards to make all of this work and move everything in. Thank you.”
“Thank you,” Indy was still looking at Get Well, who didn’t seem to want to let go of his finger. Seeing the cub’s expression finally prompted him to ask something he’d been thinking about during the entire construction of the Clinic. “Take Care, can I ask you something…I mean something besides the leading question I’m asking now.” he was stumbling over his words a bit.
She smiled.... she would have teased him and said that he just had asked her a question but he beat her to the punch. “Yes... you can ask me anything, you know that...”
Indy took a deep breath, “Take Care, can I move in with you? I mean I’m already coming by every day to help with Get Well and you’ll need the help now that you’re being a doctor for everyone so if she wakes up in the middle of the night,” Indy took a deep breath, “and… I want to be here to help you.” He mulled over if he wanted to tell her anything else.
Take Care was taken aback by this one... this was a huge step and not something she had seriously thought about. They were great friends and in all honesty it was more than just friends and she knew that, it was just hard to commit to. But she was going to need the help, and they did make a really good team.
“Yeah.... you can. It makes sense...”
Indy brightened up, "Thank you, and... Well there's something else I need to say." Indy started to blush as he worked up his nerve, "Ever since you've come back and we've been looking after the little one," he smiled down at Get Well, "I feel we've gotten closer. When you weren't here I thought about you all the time, just waiting until you came back. I feel...I... Take Care I think I'm in love with you."
By now Independent Bear's face was completely red and the sight of her 'da-da's' face turn the same color as a tomato made Get Well giggle and shriek with laughter, finally letting go of his finger.
You wouldn’t think Take Care could get much redder than she already was... but Indy’s confession had challenged that idea because she certainty grew two shades redder for a minute. She hadn’t been expecting that.
She really hadn’t been expecting this one... at least not yet. Eventually, maybe. She watched as their daughter giggled like crazy at Indy’s tomato red face and couldn’t help but laugh herself. Get Well was truly tickled over it.
“Ok... ok... kiddo....” Take Care tried to get her to settle because it seemed to only be making Indy worse.
It didn’t really work. She kept giggling and shrieking with laughter. So Take Care just ended up pulling a still very red-faced Indy into a hug.
“Red doesn’t suit you the way it does me,” she gently whispered and teased. He laughed.
Then she took a more serious approach, something she was well known for. “It’s ok... I mean... I think it’s been building a long time. Probably since we first started hanging out in the forest but especially since that day we cub sat all the cubs. I felt something back then, when we went outside to talk. We had so much in common - our independent nature, our love for reading and being outdoors, a desire to protect and serve and help others, albeit in different ways. Before I left, you supported me like no one else, except maybe Noble Heart, but with him as my father it’s different. You knew it meant not seeing me for years, yet you never once tried to hold me back instead you supported and encouraged me. We’re the only two of a similar age, kind of in the middle of everyone else. And yes, I feel it too...let’s see where this goes. I need a bit of time to focus on being the family doctor but maybe we can build a bigger relationship along the way.” It was all she could promise because her mind was swimming. First finishing medical school and residency, gaining a daughter, setting up a clinic and beginning to run it, and now Indy’s confession and wanting to move in. She felt a little overwhelmed but she was trying not to freak out for his sake.
She chuckled, “On the other hand... this does put one more thing on my plate because now we need another bedroom for you.”
Indy exhaled and his face turned back to its normal silver color, though he was still a bit red in the cheeks. “I think I can handle that. I’ll talk to Noble Heart after lunch, hopefully he can do more of that ‘building magic’ they used to build this place. Want to head to the Hall for lunch?”
“Yeah... let me make a bottle for her first though, just in case she doesn’t like what they’re serving.” Since she was a little over a year old, Take Care had started her on solid foods already - softer items and things she could easily eat and not get choked on. Still, she wanted a bottle on hand just in case. Better to be prepared and not need it than to suddenly find yourself with a screaming cub.
“You mind taking her?” She asked, getting ready to pass the cub over to him so she could head to the kitchen. “Won’t take me but a couple of minutes then we can go.”
“No problem,” Indy took Get Well into his arms, “Hear that, Get Well, I’m going to be living with you from now on.”
Get Well giggled and smiled up at him.
Take Care smiled, he really was making a good father to the cub. She’d had no plans on being a mom anytime soon. All those years of cub sitting had burned her out a bit, so she thought. Plus she wanted to focus on her career. But Get Well had changed things up a bit. She loved the little cub. But it was going to be challenging. Maybe now it wouldn’t be quite so hard.
Soon she had the bottle ready and put it into the small diaper bag - with a couple of extra diapers and some bibs, and put that strap over her shoulder.
“Ok... we should be good to go.”
Thankfully, by the time they got to the hall of hearts everyone was already seated and eating. Indy and Take Care were able to get their food and retreat to a quiet corner of the cafeteria (something also added by building magic once the Cubs were old enough to eat on their own) and eat their lunch in relative peace, each of them feeding Get Well alternately.
Love-a-Lot Bear, wearing a short skirt and pink blouse, watched them intently with a huge smile on her face. "Aww just look at those two lovebirds," she cooed, "like a new married couple with their little baby."
This earned her an elbow in the ribs from Love Heart Bear who was seated next to her. "Remember what True Heart said about starting rumours and poking into other people's love lives"
"Especially those two, they prefer their privacy," Brave Heart added, he was seated next to Love Heart.
Love-a-Lot huffed in her seat and went back to her lunch, but she was determined to have the last word, "I was still right about them being a couple."
Everyone at her table groaned, they weren't going to hear the end of this for quite a while.
They were far enough away where Take Care couldn’t hear so she didn’t notice at first, but when she glanced around she saw Love-A-Lot and groaned. And she saw Brave Heart give Love-A-Lot a sterner look. She could imagine the conversation taking place.
Love-A-Lot caught her glance and grinned. Take Care shot her a death glare that clearly said “mind your own business.”
Normally, she couldn’t read lips well that well, but she could clearly tell that Brave Heart told Love-A-Lot... “told you so.”
Take Care looked at Indy and nodded that direction... “it begins.... Love-A-Lot is up to something...” she fed her daughter another small bite of turkey. Get Well was clearly enjoying it as she kept clapping.
"Just our luck," Indy rolled his eyes, "at least it looks like Love Heart and Brave Heart can keep her in check for now. I'll let you know the instant she sets off my sixth sense." Indy wasn't quite sure how much he was joking as he took his turn to feed Get Well.
Gentle Heart and Bright Heart approached the other two chairs at their table. “Would you mind if we join you?”
Take Care looked up, “please... before Love-A-Lot gets the idea to steal the chair.” She rolled her eyes.
Get Well saw it and tried to mimic the action, only half succeeding. All four of them cracked up laughing which made the little cub start giggling again. Luckily, Indy had held off on the bite of food he was about to give her.
Bright Heart was wearing a fur lined baseball cap and vest while Gentle Heart was wearing a long skirt and a rather loose sweater.
Gentle heart was the first to get her laughter under control, "Aww Get Well's so cute," she reached over to tickle the cub under her chin which only made her giggle more.
"So Take Care, are you ready for this? Being a doctor I mean," Bright Heart hastily added to clarify what he was talking about.
Take Care chuckled at the clarification to his question. “Yes... been waiting a long time for this. Looking forward to beginning. Not that I want you guys sick or hurt... just that.. well, I’m ready to help. More than just bandaids and ice packs.”
Get Well seemed to have lost interest in the meal and reached for Take Care... “boddle”
Take Care picked her up. “Bottle time, huh? Well... I’m glad I packed it” She reached down and into the small bag and pulled it out. Get Well took it and popped it in her mouth, snuggled in to Take Care a bit. “Ma-ma...” Take Care kissed the top of her head. “Love you, kiddo....” she whispered.
Take Care looked back over to the two... “Since she imprinted on both of us and Indy is her father, he’ll will be looking after her while I work. When he needs to deal with No Heart or Cold Heart, then Noble Heart has offered to help.”
Bright Heart was perceptive enough to figure out what was going on, "So you're moving in together?" At the looks he saw from Take Care and Indy he hastily added: "I mean he's going to have to go over there every day to look after her so it would make more sense if he just moved in so he wouldn't have to make the commute everyday. Also I've seen his house, Indy lives a pretty Spartan lifestyle so it doesn't have much he has to move in."
Indy couldn't help but smile, "always the perceptive one Bright Heart."
Take Care nodded, preferring to keep things private but obviously this wasn’t something that they were going to be able to keep silent. Still she didn’t want any crazy rumors flying around. “As soon as we can get an extra bedroom added on. Guess I should have planned for a bigger home and clinic. Didn’t realize I’d need expansions first thing,” she chuckled.
“That seems fast, sis. You haven’t even been home that long,” Gentle Heart commented.
Take Care smiled, “We’ve known each other since we were teenagers. We make a good team.”
Get Well had recently acquired the walking skill though she was still wobbly. She tossed her bottle down on the table and climbed down from her mom... making the few steps over to Gentle Heart and held her arms up.
Gentle Heart looked at Take Care almost asking for permission.
“She’d like you pick her up...”
“Well, I figured that much out.” Gentle Heart replied with a chuckle, as she carefully picked up Get Well and sat her in her lap. The cub immediately reached out to feel her wooly fur and looked at her curiously.
“Hi sweetheart...” Gentle Heart looked down at her
“Hi!” Get Well spoke back and then put her head against Gentle Heart’s chest and her thumb in her mouth. With the other paw she waved at her parents.
“She likes you,” Indy chuckled. “Maybe you could babysit sometime when I’m busy.”
“Maybe,” Gentle Heart reached down to let Get Well grab her finger.
“So what have you heard about what happened while you were gone?” Bright Heart asked.
“Well... looks like we have two new enemies, No Heart and Cold Heart and you guys grew up a ton...” she was summarizing. “What else did I miss?”
“Mostly their various plans,” Gentle Heart shuddered, “No-Heart once trapped me in a maze on one of Birthday Bear’s missions.”
“And then there was Cold Heart’s concrete rain,” Bright Heart sighed.
“Cold Heart is insane in every definition of the word,” Indy’s tone carried a weariness of exasperation.
“Oh, there’s the school the founders are planning,” Bright Heart lit up. “They’re actually talking about working with people on earth to set it up. I don’t know all the details but they said we’re going to be in school with human children, but still here in Care-a-Lot.”
“I didn’t know what,” Indy sat up straighter. He and Take Care exchanged looks, both were nervous about the idea of humans going to school up here.
“A school with humans? Have they lost their minds?” Take Care asked. She wasn’t too loud but her tone clearly showed her displeasure with the idea.
Bright Heart and Gentle Heart were a bit taken aback. Take Care tried to cool her temper with a second question that was bugging her.
“Concrete rain? Like… it rained concrete or turned things to concrete?”
Indy sighed, “He flew around dumping concrete on everything, as though that would make people stop caring somehow. He got the idea from a kid who wanted more places to roller skate.” He turned to see the look of bafflement on Take Care’s face, “I just responded to it, then spent the better part of the day banging my head against the wall.”
“Good thing the walls are made of clouds,” Gentle Heart couldn’t help but giggle.
“As for the school, we’re all a bit skeptical but… hold on,” Bright Heart pulled out a notepad he had been keeping notes on, something he had to do with all the thoughts for inventions among other things wandering around his head, and flipped through a few pages. “Oh right, Love Heart found another lost Care Bear Cousin on Earth living with a human family, but she didn’t want to leave them to live up here. I didn’t meet her personally but I saw her, sandy yellow fennec fox named Cassandra Avalon. Noble Heart gave her the name Confidence Heart Fennec.”
“One thing led to another and then they announced they were going to try and link her town, Readington, with something like the Rainbow Rescue beam.” Gentle Heart looked up at Take Care and realized they might have gone on a bit too much.
Bright Heart took over again, “The Rainbow Rescue Beam is my own design, a teleporter we can use to jump right to caring missions. I’m still working on it.”
Despite everything, Take Care couldn’t help but smile, “Are you sure you need to go to school, Bright Heart?” Bright Heart beamed at the praise but didn’t say anything.
“Wait, another lost Care Bear Cousin? There’s more?” Take Care asked.
Bright Heart spoke again, “There’s the pandas, Perfect and Polite. Tenderheart, Swift Heart and Good Luck found them in valley surrounded by snowy mountains and invited them to live up here, but they couldn’t adjust and decided to return home. They have to stay there because their love keeps the valley from being taken over by snow and ice again.”
“And Good Luck has a crush on Polite,” Gentle Heart added.
Take Care shook her head, “ok... yeah... I missed a lot and that’s the understatement of the year.”
“Crazy enemies with crazy plots, new family members living on earth... at least some things never change.” She smiled. “Thankful to have you two as “little” siblings. I missed you guys. Bright Heart, That Rainbow Rescue Beam is a great idea. Keep working on it.”
A few more minutes if conversation passed, but Indy quickly noticed Get Well was just about to fall asleep. “I think it’s someone’s nap time...”
“Yeah... We’d better head back to the house...”
“Aww... it’s been fun spending time together and holding her. She’s really precious.” Gentle Heart almost hated to pass her back.
