"Banana, you're here! Tank you so much for comin'!" Sally exclaimed thankfully.
"It's no problem, really. Larry had some duties to attend to and the other kids are a bit too big to play with your son." Banana replied.
"An' who is dis little lad?" Sally cooed, referring to little Piño, who was being held in his mother's arms. He gave a shy wave before burying his face in his mother's chest.
"Sorry about him, he's being a little shy because of all the new surroundings and stuff. He was very amazed by all the big trees and treehouses you have in this country. It's quite exquisite!" Banana exclaimed.
Sally gave an understanding nod. "Dat's okay, I just hope tis works. Come along, he should be up awake from his nap by now."
"He's been having a hard time connecting with other children. I dink he's scared of 'em. Since you're my best friend, I thought I should come to you first. Maybe the lads will click?" Sally guessed.
They stopped in front of a large multicolored door. The nurse gave Sally a small nod before they went inside. "Da boys will be perfectly safe with da nurse while us Moms catch up over some tea!"
Banana sat her son down and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Be good for Mummy ok, Piño!" She said before following Sally. Piño turned to the kid who was playing with blocks on the other side of the room.
The kid was the most colorful person Piño had ever seen in his life. His hair, ears, and tail were a beautiful mix of red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. The most mesmerizing thing about him was his big, bushy tail. It looked so soft and cuddly and Piño just wanted to touch it so bad.
He made his way over to the other child, coming from behind to touch his beautiful tail. He turned his head in Piño's direction, his little ears and nose twitching. He grimaced and moved himself and his blocks(all the ones he could reach) further away. Piño attempted to move closer again and the same thing happened.
In his hurried escape, the boy left some of his blocks behind and out of curiosity, Piño picked one up. The block had one column of raised yellow bumps and another column with just one. Piño had never seen anything like it before. This mysterious rainbow boy was full of surprises, he wanted to know more. Piño walked towards him but the boy moved yet again.
"Hey, stop runnin' away! It's not very nice!" Piño exclaimed.
"Stay away from me an-an' den I won't hafta run away!" The boy exclaimed back.
"I'm just tryin' ta give you your weird blocks back! What're these supposed'ta say anyway?" Piño asked.
"It's da alphabet, don't you know anyding?" The boy replied.
"I do know da alphabet and dis ain't it!" Piño replied, offering the block back to the boy. He reluctantly took it, running his chubby fingers over the raised bumps.
"Yeah it is!" The boy replied. "Dis is 'P'." Piño looked at it again. That didn't look like any "P" he'd ever seen in his life.
"Is dis some sort of secwet spy code?" Piño asked.
"What?! No, it's called bwaille, stupid." The boy replied.
"Hey!Dat kinda rudeness isn't even called for! Dis is why you don't have any fwiends!" Piño exclaimed. This made the boy get very quiet.
"No it's not." He replied quietly. "I don't got any fwiends 'cause I don't wike kids."
"Don't wike kids?" Piño asked, "How can you not wike kids, you are a kid! I mean, you are a kid, aren't you?"
"Well of course I am but...kids are woud a-an' sticky an' dey're always pushin' an' bumpin' into me when I'm tryna play at da park!" He replied.
"Kids are natuwawwy woud, dey wanna let da whole world know how much fun dey're havin'! You should try it sometime!" Piño exclaimed.
The boy scoffed, his bushy tail flagging in frustration. "I am havin' fun, at weast I was before you got 'ere!"
Piño could sense that the boy was lonely. Yeah, that had to be the reason he was so grumpy. Who in their right mind didn't want any friends to play with? He quietly sat down next to the boy, careful not to spook him.
"Wook, I'm sowwy, I was being kinda mean." Piño apologized. "I'll be your fwiend, if you want."
The boy shook his head. "No, you're only sayin' dat 'cause Mommy made your Mommy bring you here and force you to be fwiends with me."
"Well, I'm not gonna wie, dat is why I'm here but you seem kinda cool and I wanna be your fwiend."Piño replied.
"Weally?" The boy said in disbelief, a hint of a smile on his face.
Piño nodded. "Weally."
"Well," The boy began, "I guess I could make an exception fwom my no-kids policy for you...what's your name anyway?"
"Da name's Piño. Piño Colada Koopa! And you?"
"Chester,"The boy replied. "My name is Chester. Chester Nut Koopa."
"Chester? Dat's a weally cool name!" Piño exclaimed.
"Dank you…" Chester said, a little taken aback by the sudden compliment.
"Like Chestnut, wight? Dat's what your new nickname is gonna be, so deal with it!" Piño declared.
"My Mommy an' Daddy alweady call me dat, so it's not new." Chester informed him.
"Weally? Then I guess I'll call you dat too! Nice to meet you Chestnut!" Piño replied, petting Chester's on the head.
"Hey Chestnut," Piño began, taking a strand of Chester's multicolored hair into his small, chubby hand.
"Yeah?" Chester asked.
"I dink you might be da most bootifuwwest person I've ever seen in my wife."
Chester was very surprised by the sudden confession, but he couldn't help but smile from ear to ear.