Alarmingly, Tom hurried out of the resident services. Redd and the twins were near the plaza, the boys stood fearless in front if him. They don't seem scared at all. Still, Tom wanted to race towards the fox, pounce on him and give him a scratch that made him understand, that he has no right being around his nephews.
But Lucifer stood in his way. "Calm down!" He warned. "He's not doing anything to them."
Tom narrowed his eyes suspiciously and pricked up his ears to hear the conversation.
"Where are you from?" Tommy asked.
"We have never seen you here before." Redd, who had leaned down to the little ones, replied, "Well, I'm traveling from island to island on my ship and this time I've decided to visit Te Fiti."
The tanukis' eyes shone with excitement. "That sounds exciting!"
"...exciting!" Redd smiled. "Tell me, what's your name?"
"I'm Timmy!"
"And my name is Tommy!" The fox eyed them both with interest.
"You can call me Redd." He cocked his head to one side. "Are you Tom's children? You look very similar to him!" The two laughed. "We are his nephews!" "... nephews!" He nodded with a grin. "I see. You have a great uncle then, don't you?"
"The best!", Timmy and Tommy confirmed in chorus. Tom smiled, his heart filling with warmth. "Yo, Redd!" Lucifer suddenly called. Redd turned his head to the left. "Hey, cousin!" He called back, lifting his paw.
When he saw Tom, he wagged his tail and his face was beaming with joy. "Nooky! You're here too." Tom didn't reply, stood there petrified and gave Redd a hostile look. "Uncle Tom!"
His nephews ran up to him and gave him a big hug that almost made him lose his balance. "Slowly, you two!" He hugged them and patted their heads lovingly. "Hey, I want a hug too!"
Redd stepped over to the tanukis and stretched out his arms with a pleading look. Tom put his ears back. "Stay away from me!" He stood protectively in front of the boys. "And especially from my nephews!"
"Aw, man ..." Lucifer put an arm around Redd's shoulder. "Welcome to Te Fiti, bro," he announced.
"Tom won't throw you off the island." Redd stared at the tanuki in disbelief. "I can stay? Really?!" Tom looked defiantly away. "Yes, yes," he grumbled. "If it really has to be." The fox pulled him into a tight hug.
"Thank you, Nooky!" He cheered. "I promise you, that I will follow your rules and won't do anything stupid!" Tom pushed him away. "I hope so!" He growled. "If you steal even one resident, I'll find out and then you have a huge problem with me!"
Redd looked innocent. "Don't worry, I'll be a good fox," he promised. Timmy and Tommy jumped happily up and down. "Hooray! Redd will live with us on Te Fiti forever. That will be fun!", They said happily.
Forever ... It echoed in Tom's head and he felt sick at the thought. "Uncle Tom, will Redd stay at our home?" Tommy asked with a pleading look. The tanuki shuddered. "Under no circumstance!"
The twins sank their heads sadly. "Why not?!" Redd laughed. "It's okay. I'll stay in my treasure trawler." Tom sighed in relief. "But I can visit you ...", he paused when he noticed Tom's gloomy face and quickly added: "Or you visit me!"
The little tanukis nodded eagerly. "Oh yes, we'll do that!" Said Timmy. "May we, or Uncle Tom?" "... Uncle Tom?" He hesitated at first, but then reluctantly nodded, although he felt uncomfortable about it. But they wouldn't listen to him anyway.
"Yeah! Can we see his boat right now?" Tommy asked with wide eyes. "Yes, please!" Timmy begged. Tom crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, and who will take care of the store then, hm?"
The twins were silent and looked sadly at the ground. "Unfair..." both mumbled. "Don't worry!", Redd encouraged the two. "I'll show it to you later." The tanukis looked satisfied.
"All right. After work then," Tommy said. "See you later, Uncle Tom! Bye, Uncle Redd!" Thereupon the two set off. "Uncle Redd?", Redd repeated in surprise and looked after them.
Tom suppressed a growl. "You really have two cute nephews!", Redd said to Tom. The tanuki said nothing. "Then I'll explore the island now," decided the fox. "See you, Nooky!"
But before he turned around, Tom grabbed his shoulders and growled menacingly: "I'll keep an eye on you, Redd." Redd twitched his ears. "Save yourself the trouble. You can trust me completely."
He smiled kindly and then turned away from him. Tom watched him suspiciously, as the fox disapeared between the trees. "The kids seem to like him a lot." Tom was startled at Lucifer's voice, who was still standing next to him and was meanwhile busy with his cell phone.
The redhead looked up, his eyes flashing mischievously. "Afraid that the boys would prefer Redd over you?" Without waiting for an answer, Lucifer turned and headed for the beach. Tom twitched his tail. "I am not..."