A few weeks had passed and "The Papple," as he now sometimes referred to himself, a moniker bestowed by Marlon, had begun to adjust quite well to his surroundings. He enjoyed his morning routine of accompanying Maher to the kitchen and helping make a latte for Ella on the days she slept over. He also enjoyed choosing the different fruits and snacks that would go into her lunch.

Papple had a little "one for you one for me" system during his fruit selection duties. He claimed adamantly that he was just testing out the fruit, and who knows if there wasn't a kernel of truth to that statement.

Though Papple always found it surprising whenever Ella was not at Maher Place, her schedule was actually quite regular, he just hadn't figured that out quite yet. Generally, Ella tried to spend weekend nights at Maher's, unless she was called into work, and the rest of the nights she stayed at her little studio apartment on Wall Street.

One of Maher's and Ella's favorite activities to do together was to have a lazy Sunday, where they would just stay at home and read or Ella might doodle or write letters to her parents or friends at the dining room table.

On one such Sunday, after fidgeting for several minutes with his book, The Old Man and the Sea, which had been given to him by his mentor when he had left to start his venture capital firm, Maher finally set it down and asked, "Ella, do you want to bring some of your other toys over?"

"Why?" she asked, surprised at the question, as she set down the fruits she had been cutting up in the kitchen.

"I was thinking that maybe we could introduce Papple to them in a sort of controlled environment. You know, to help him integrate with other toys like him. I think he wants to have some friends--you see how obsessed he is with the television."

They both looked over at the little pineapple, seated snugly on two stacked pillows with a bowl of grapes and a little coloring book, coloring way outside the lines.

"Ella!" Papple exclaimed. "You see Papple drawing? Now Papple done. Can Papple watch friends in Small Room?"

Ella, being stricter than Maher, had begun to limit to the number of hours Papple could watch television as she preferred that he do something more interactive to improve his learning. A few coloring books had been purchased, and although Papple showed limited talent in that area, she was at least satisfied that he was doing something productive.

"Papple, you mean you want to watch the television, right?" she asked. Despite numerous attempts at explaining the concept of a television, Papple remained convinced that since the television was just another room in Maher's Place. This resulted in many nights where Papple would have Maher keep the television on while he peeked into Other Room, which shared an adjoining wall to the t.v., trying to "catch" his "friends".

"Yes! Television," he proclaimed with a smile.

"Of course, my little sweet fruit!" Ella said as she walked over and sat down beside the stack of pillows. Papple got up and dragged his little coloring book to Ella, spilling the crayons haphazardly. With great pride he brandished the book in front of her, displaying an array of discordant colors.

"Beautiful Papple! You're my little Picasso!"

Papple did a hop of satisfaction and nestled up to Ella and emitted a noise that sounded something like a chirp.

"Okay. Now we watch friends in Small Room?" Papple, asked. Despite his general easy going attitude, he could have laser sharp focus when he wanted something.

"Okay, Papple," she said, picking up the remote control. "But remember, they aren't in Other Room. It's a television."

"Okay," he replied, throwing Ella a skeptical glance. Though he didn't quite believe her, he also knew better than to prolong the discussion, which would take time away from watching whatever was on.

When Ella returned to the kitchen island, she resumed the conversation with Maher.

"I don't know, baby. I'm so afraid they're going to reject him," she said with a sigh. "I mean, just look at him. He's our little fruit show! One of the Hello Kitties would be horrified."

As if to solidify her thoughts, at that precise moment, Papple let out a snort and a fart so loud that he managed to startle himself and fall off the two pillows. The next minute and a half resulted in sad attempts of Papple trying to climb back on top of the stack. When he realized his efforts would be futile, he gave up and leaned against the back of the couch instead and continued to watch his show in that position.

"See what I mean?" Ella said.

"Well, we can't keep them separated forever," said Maher. "I mean, what will we do when you move in?"

Ella blushed, this was the first time that Maher had ever brought up the possibility of living together. "So we're talking about moving in now, are we?" she teased.

Maher grinned and said, "Well, can't have those toys not knowing their father, can we?"

Ella laughed. "Okay, but in all seriousness, we do need a game plan."

"Like what?"

"Maybe I can bring over one of the other toys and introduce them to each other. Papple hasn't even met another toy yet, so I don't know how he would react either."

"Who would you bring? Kitty?"

Ella looked horrified. "Oh no, Maher. That would be a disaster. Remember I told you there was a full on meltdown when I brought S.K. home? Kitty acted like I had just killed her and when she found out that S.K. was a gift from you, let's just say an entire Kleenex box died that night."

"Oh, I didn't think she even remembered me."

"She idolizes you, Maher! Her programming has her as a bit of a Daddy's girl and it definitely is true."

"This is all still so weird to me, you know?" Maher said, as he shook his head. Never in his adult life did he think he would be discussing the feelings of stuffed toys with his girlfriend, or in fact, with anyone at all.

"I know!" exclaimed Ella. "I'll bring Sir'Duke."

"Sir'Duke?"

"Yes, he's this sports loving panda bear my brother got for me when he first moved to college."

"That's a bit of a strange name."

"Yeah, it's a play on the names of one of my dad's favorite Stevie Wonder songs and my brother's alma mater, Duke."

"Your brother is a Coach K fan, then I assume?"

"A complete fanatic," Ella confirmed. "Anyway, Sir'Duke is probably the most outgoing of the kids and he's sure to make friends with Papple. We can see how it goes. Plus, you'll get a kick out of him. He's a huge Mets fan too. In fact, that's how I know so much about the team!"

Maher shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe that you've been getting all your sports facts from a stuffed toy! Though I must admit I was pretty impressed at your knowledge base!"

"Oh trust me, he is encyclopedic when it comes to sports teams. You two will get along very well. Just hide your chips and snacks. He can eat a lot for a little thing and can talk your ear off if you let him."

And with that it was decided that Papple would be introduced to his first fellow stuffed toy.