When Baby Shelly realized that no one was in the room with her, she immediately started crying. Tears ran down her cheeks as she softly kicked her feet.

No one was with her. No one.

Except two wooden puppets.

The puppets slowly sat up and turned their heads to look at her.

"What is wrong with her?" Snappy asked. "Why is she crying?"

"I do not know," Slappy replied. He picked her up and held her close. "Shh. It is okay. We are not going to hurt you." He rocked her back and forth.

Baby Shelly shook and whimpered, and Snappy gently rubbed the top of her little head. "It is going to be okay," he told the baby girl soothingly.

Slappy stroked her cheek. "She is so beautiful."

"Well, she is our maker's granddaughter," his twin brother stated.

"No, I mean...look at her. Her face. Her hands. She is such a beautiful girl. I have never seen a girl, older or younger, that has been more beautiful than this baby right here."

"Bro, she is just a baby. What if she does not like us? After all, we are walking and talking dummies."

His brother slapped him. "Who you callin' dummy? Dummy!"

As soon as he said that, raising his voice, Baby Shelly cried harder.

"Now look at what you have done!" Snappy snapped. "You made her even more upset!"

"Me? You started it!" Slappy shot back. "There was no reason for calling me the 'D' word!"

"I was making a point! Plus, I called both of us the 'D' word, not just you!"

"You are more of the dummy!"

Baby Shelly looked at the arguing puppets and started to giggle.

The brothers stopped fighting and looked at the happy baby. "She is laughing," Snappy stated.

"Better than crying," Slappy agreed. "I do not like when this beautiful girl is crying." He kissed her nose, and she smiled and covered her nose with her little hands.

"Hey!" Slappy and Snappy exclaimed at the same time, smiling down at her. "Uncover that beautiful nose of yours."

The baby girl uncovered her nose, and then grabbed Snappy's hand and sucked on his finger.

"Mmm. She is such a good sucker," Snappy said as he rubbed her belly with his free hand.

"Brother, do you remember what our maker said a long, long time ago?" Slappy asked him.

"No. What did he say?"

"He said that there would be a good chance that his son would get married and have a child. If the child was a boy, then we would have a best friend."

"But it is not a boy. It is a girl."

"He also said that if the child turned out to be a girl, then she would be our soulmate."

"But she is only a baby. We do not love this baby - do we?"

Baby Shelly snuggled close to Slappy and hugged Snappy's hand.

"Apparently, she loves us," Slappy said.

"Well, she is adorable."

"Snappy, we have to make a promise."

"A promise? What kind of promise?"

"A promise to protect this baby at all costs. I believe that she is our soulmate, and we must keep her safe from people who would want to hurt her."

"But will she not be afraid of us once she has more common sense of who we really are?"

Slappy shook his head. "Maybe at first, but if she is truly our soulmate, then she will not be scared of us. She will love us."

Snappy looked at the baby, who was playing with Slappy's bow tie. "I have an idea. Let us get her to say the words, so we will all be one."

"You do realize that she is just a baby and that the words are in a foreign language," his twin brother said.

"We should at least give it a try. She will say the words sooner or later."

"Fine." He set down the baby girl and kissed her forehead. "Alright, you beautiful girl. We are going to teach you some words, and you have to repeat them after my brother and I say them. Okay?"

Baby Shelly just cooed softly and sucked on her hand.

"...okay. The first word is 'Karru,'" the brothers said at once. "Can you say that word? 'Karru'?"

The baby girl stared at them and did not say anything.

"'Karru,' sweetie."

The baby looked down at her little feet.

Snappy sighed. "I give up."

"...'Karru'!" Baby Shelly exclaimed happily. The brothers gasped at what she had just exclaimed.

"Did she say what I think she just said?" Slappy questioned.

"Heck, yeah! Let us keep going!"

"'Marri,'" the puppets told her.

"'Marri'!" the baby girl exclaimed.

"'Odonna'."

"'Odonna'!"

"'Loma'."

"'Loma'!"

"'Molonu'."

"'Molonu'!"

"'Karrano'."

"'Karrano'!"

"Hooray! She said the words!"

Baby Shelly clapped her hands and giggled as Slappy and Snappy kissed her cheeks.

"She is now our slave," Snappy said.

Slappy chuckled and shook his head. "No, brother. She is not our slave. She is our queen, and we are her kings."