It was a beautiful star filled evening in February. Today was a happy day in the Finster household. It was Kimi's 12th birthday. Everyone in her family and her friends were there. Her boyfriend and future husband Ken, his mother Osana, her husband Kola, the other rugrats and their parents, her Japanese and french grandparents, even Robin Banks had come.
Everyone was singing "Happy Birthday" to Kimi. Before her, on the table, was a french vanilla cake with chocolate icing, and twelve purple candles.
Finally, after everyone finished singing, Kira said, "make a wish Kimi."
Kimi wished that something wonderful would happen in the future. Then she blew out all twelve candles. Everyone cheered.
A little later, Kimi was opening her presents.
From Tommy, she got a new music cd from the 60's. One of the songs was "All I Have To Do Is Dream".
From Dil, she got a joke book.
Phil gave her an Ant Farm.
Lil gave her a bracelet.
Angelica gave her some pink quartz earrings.
Susie gave her a makeup kit.
Chuckie, Kira, and Chazz gave her some new clothes.
Koki and Kyoto gave her a Japanese statuette.
Robin gave her a swiss army knife from his younger years as a scout.
From Ken, she got a beautiful Japanese doll.
Finally, she opened Pierre and Anita's present. With an excited smile, she tore off the paper and the ribbons.
Inside was a book. It was actually a photo album.
"How nice" said Chuckie. "A photo album."
Kimi opened the album. Then her smile faded.
"Kimi what's wrong?" asked Chazz.
The photographs in the album showed a young frenchman with a little girl. Everyone knew who the man was. His name was Jean-Pierre LeClerc, Kimi's father. Everyone knew that the girl was Kimi when she was less than a year old.
Then suddenly, to everyone's shock, Kimi burst into tears. Then she stood and ran out of the living room, leaving everyone behind with looks of suprise on their faces.
A little later, Chazz, Kira, Ken, and Chuckie came into Kimi's room. Kimi was sitting on her bed, with her head buried in her hands, sobbing. She took a nearby framed photo of her father near her bed, looked at it for several moments, then started crying again.
"I think we should leave her alone for now" said Kira.
"I think that's for the best" said Chazz.
He and Kira left. Chuckie and Ken stayed behind.
"If those aren't tears of happiness, please stop crying" said Chuckie.
"It's ok Chuckie" wept Kimi. "I'm fine. I turned twelve today! And once again, dad couldn't see it!" She sobbed again.
Ken sat down next to Kimi and hugged her. "There there" he said. "Everything's alright."
But Kimi didn't stop crying.
Meanwhile back downstairs, everyone was going home. The only people left were Pierre, and Anita.
As Chazz and Kira came downstairs, Pierre said, "if it's any trouble, we're sorry about the way Kimi reacted to our gift."
"It's not your fault" said Kira. "This has happened at every one of Kimi's birthday parties."
"If it's any help" said Anita, "we still have a part of our youngest son left."
"What do you mean?" asked Chazz.
"Several days before our son's death, we extracted some of his DNA and put it away in our safe for safekeeping so that we would always have a part of him. But now, with today's modern advanced medicine, it may be possible to recreate him" said Pierre.
"You mean... cloning?" started Chazz.
"Not quite, but, as they say, it's an incredible simulation" said Pierre
"I should make a call to Stu!" said Chazz.
A little later that night, as Chuckie and Kimi slept, Kimi was listening to her new music cd. She was listening to "All I Have To Do Is Dream". She was also looking at the photo album of her father. She started silently crying again.
Meanwhile, Chazz called Stu and told him about Pierre and Anita's DNA from
their son. Stu said that he would try to create a machine that would
reproduce a person from DNA, but it would take quite some time.
That night, Kimi had a dream. She was in a church hallway like in Notre Dame. It was about ten years in the future. She was dressed in a white gown. Standing at the front of the hall was Ken in a black suit and tie. It was the day of their wedding. However, despite the happy surroundings, it was a sad dream. The reason? Kimi's father couldn't walk her down the aisle since he was in heaven. Unlike everyone else she knew, her friends, her family and their friends, they all had grown up with a father. And Kimi had none.
The next day, Stu began work on his next project. For one whole week he worked hard. Finally, his work was completed. The machine looked like a computer with a tube on the top. It was connected to a large upright metal box. The machine's purpose? To recreate a human being from DNA.
Stu called Pierre and Anita for the final test. Pierre opened a safe in his mansion and took out a small box. Opening it revealed a test tube filled with a blue liquid. It contained Jean-Pierre's DNA.
A little later, Pierre and Anita met Stu at his basement workshop. They gave him the test tube. He poured its contents into a tube on the machine he had created. On the computer, the screen was filled with the DNA data. A picture of a young frenchman appeared on the screen along with his personal information such as his name, his date of birth, and his nationality.
Stu typed a few commands on the keyboard. The computer began to hum as it performed its duty. A man began to take shape in the metal box.
Finally, the machine stopped humming. Out of the box came a young frenchman.
"It works!" said Stu. "Quick, get everyone together!"
A little later, everyone was gathered in the living room at the Finster household.
"I have a special suprise for you Kimi" said Stu. "Me and your grandparents have made it just for you."
"Think of it as a late birthday present" said Anita.
Stu turned to the doorway. "Come on in!" he said.
Into the living room stepped a young frenchman. He walked further into the room and stood before everyone.
"Hello Kimi" he said. "I have been temporarily recreated thanks to today's modern technology. My name is Jean-Pierre LeClerc. I'm your father."
Kimi and Kira could not believe what they were seeing or hearing! Kimi realized that her birthday wish had come true.
"Dad?" Kimi asked, bewildered, "Is that really you? No, let
me guess, a robot, right Mr. Pickles?"
"No," Stu replied truthfully, "This is a genetically exact replica
of your real father."
Kimi's face broke into a huge smile. She ran and hugged her father.
"Oh, dad!" I'm finally going to get to know you! Oh this is to good
to be true! I must be dreaming!"
In all of the excitement, no one noticed when Chuckie silently slipped away
to his room.
"So, dad, what do you want to do?" Kimi asked.
"Well, why don't you show me around town," Jean-Pierre suggested.
"Great idea!" Kimi cried.
"Wait, isn't it past your bedtime?" Chazz asked.
"Oh, Chazz, I've been reunited with a genetically exact replica of my real
father. Besides, it's my birthday! Can't I stay up late tonight? It's Saturday
for Pete's sake!"
"Well..." Chazz began.
"Of course dear," Kira interrupted, "But take Chuckie with you."
"OK!" Kimi called, "Chuckie, let's go show my dad around town!"
There was no answer.
"Chuckie?" Kimi called, "Well, maybe he went to bed. Come on
dad, we'll walk down to Tommy's house and we can go around town with him and
Dil."
Kimi lead her dad out the door.
"Who are Tommy and Dil?" he asked.
Meanwhile up in his room, Chuckie was missing Melinda, his old mother.
"It's not fair!" he thought sadly, "If Kimi can have a clone
of Jean-Pierre, why can't I have a clone of my mom? Wait maybe I can! If Stu
can clone Jean-Pierre, maybe he can clone Melinda, too!"
Chuckie jumped up off his bed and wiped his tears away. then he bounded downstairs.
"Mr. Pickles, Mr. Pickles, Mr. Pickles!" Chuckie cried as he descended
the stairway.
"Chuckie? We been looking for you! Where were you?" Stu asked
"No time for that!" Chuckie replied, "I want you to clone Melinda!"
"Uh, well we would need some of her DNA," Stu said to Chazz.
Chazz thought for a second and shook his head. Chuckie smile turned to a frown.
"Well, maybe Grandma and Grandpa have some," he suggested.
"I'll call and ask," Chazz said, picking up the phone.
Marvin answered. Chazz talked with him for a little while, then hung up.
"Sorry, they said they don't have anything that would have Melinda's DNA,"
Chazz told him.
Chuckie hung his head and walked slowly upstairs.
"I have to be alone," he said quietly.
Meanwhile Kimi and her father had reached Tommy's house.
"Now you go hide behind that tree. I want to surprise Tommy," Kimi
whispered to Jean-Pierre.
He ran behind a big tree as Kimi ran the doorbell.
"Coming!" sang Didi's voice from inside the house.
"I'll answer the door!" Tommy's voice.
The door opened.
"Oh, hi Kimi, are you feeling better?" Tommy asked his friend.
"Oh, I feel a lot better now! And it's all thanks to my new friend. Well,
he's not really a new friend, I mean I've known about him for a long time, but
I haven't actually seen him since I was a baby," Kimi told him.
"Who is it?" Tommy asked. Kimi smiled.
Just then Jean-Pierre stepped out from behind the bush and started walking
toward them.
"Tommy, I'd like you to meet... my father," Kimi said when her father
reached her side.
"Wait, let me guess," Tommy said, "One of my dad's robots."
"No," Kimi said truthfully, "This is a genetically exact replica
of my real father!"
"Awesome!" Tommy cried after he'd taken a while to realize the situation.
After Kimi had introduced her dad to all of her friends, Kimi and Jean-Pierre
decided to walk around the park, stop at the ice cream shop for a shake, see
a movie, and take the scenic route home. Kimi and Jean-Pierre walked slowly
through the park talking and talking. When they finally got to the other side
of the park, they walked out into the city. John-Peirre watched the cars go
by.
"These cars are different than the ones I saw a home.
"Yeah, well it's been a 12 years since then. Things have changed,"
Kimi told him.
They crossed the street and walked a block to the ice cream shop. Kimi opened the door and stepped inside. Jean-Pierre followed. Kimi lead him to the counter. A waitress asked them,"Hello; what will you be having today?"
"What do you want?" She whispered to Jean-Pierre, "The menu
is up there."
"I'll have an ice cream sundae," he told the waitress.
"What flavors?" she asked.
"Chocolate and vanilla," he replied.
"What topping?"
"Whipped cream and a cherry."
"How about you?" the waitress asked Kimi.
"A banana split with chocolate, strawberry, and vannila ice cream strawberry,
vanilla and chocolate sauce, whipped cream and a cherry sprinkles, multicolored,
and malt with a large strawberry milk."
They sat down at a nearby both as the waitress prepared their orders.
"What were all of those things that you ordered to go on top of you ice
cream?" Jean-Pierre asked Kimi.
"I forget." Kimi replied.
Soon the waitress called their order and they went up to the counter to pick it up.
When they finished their ice cream, they started to walk to the movie theater.
"That ice cream was very good," Jean-Pierre said.
"Yeah, it's my favorite place," Kimi told him.
Finally they reached the movie theater. Kimi bought to tickets for "Little Spies", and they went inside to buy popcorn and candy. Then they went to the theater to get a good seat. Kimi found two seats in the third row and they sat down. Soon the movie started. Jean-Pierre was amazed by the special effects and digital animation.
On the way home they talked and talked some more. Then they reached Kimi's house and Kimi had to go to bed.
Downstairs, while the kids were sleeping, Kira and Chazz were trying to decide
what to do about Chuckie.
"He seemed so sad," Chazz said.
"Well, maybe one of your relatives will have some of Melinda's DNA,"
Kira said.
"Maybe," said Chazz, "I'll call everyone.
So he did. But none of them had any of Melinda's DNA.
Then, there was a knock at the door. It was Robin Banks.
"Hey, Mrs. and Mr. Finster," he said, "I got a call from Kimi.
She said you cloned her father."
"Well actually, it was Stu," Chazz replied, "and now I'm not
so sure if it was such a good idea. You see our son, Chuckie, is missing his
original mother, but we don't have any of her DNA."
"Well, maybe we could go to the police station and see if they have any
of her DNA in their lab. I sort of work there now, you know."
"That's a wonderful idea!" Kira cried, "Let's go right now!"
So they ran outside and climbed into Robin's car. Robin got behind the wheel and drove them to the police station.
When they arrived he took them to the lab and looked through the computer files
that showed what people had DNA samples taken and kept in the lab.
"I think I found it!" Robin said.
"Linda Fischer!"
"It's Melinda Finster. Or her father's last name, Houghland," Chazz
corrected him.
"Here's her name. Hmm. Apperantly, the tube was taken some time ago by
a Mrs. and Mr. Helen and Oscar Houghland," Robin
informed them.
"That would be Melinda's parents," Chazz said, "We can go home
and call them."
So Robin drove Kira and Chazz back to their house.
When they got there, they tiptoed quietly inside, as not to wake Kimi and Chuckie.
Chazz picked up the phone and dialed Melinda's parent's number.
Helen answered the phone.
Chazz spoke with her for a while then hung up.
"They will come over with the DNA tomorrow," Chazz told Kira.
To Be Continued
| Back To Rugrats Fan Fiction | Back To Main Rugrats Page |