Three months have passed and the town has gotten used to the strange child that Pear and Bright call their son. For some, the residents noticed and tolerated the boy while most saw him as adorable and couldn't stop cooing at him.

As for the parents, they couldn't be happier with their son. Sure, some nights he would wake them up with his crying, but what parent doesn't go through that hardship?

That morning, the family was getting ready for the reunion tomorrow. "I can't wait for John to meet everyone," Pear said while fitting John with some clothes Granny knitted for him. Of course, John could not help but squirm as his mother tickled him while getting his clothes on and then let out a big laugh as she blew a raspberry on his belly and nuzzled him. "Ohh you are so cute!!" Pear said as her son giggled from his mother's affection.

While Pear played with her son, Bright watched the two from his chair with a smile, before it faded at the thought of tomorrow. He's seen what his own mother did when she first saw his son. He can only imagine what his other relatives would do or say.

Just as he kept that train of thought going, he felt his mother's hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright, son. Once they meet that boy's smiling face and hear him laugh, they'll know he's an Apple, through and through."

Bright smiled before patting his mother's hand. "Thanks, Ma. I needed that." He then got up and walked over to his wife and son. "Come here, ya little rascal."

John giggled as his father picked him up and held him high. Whether the rest of the Apples accept him right away or not, he had two ponies that meant the world and beyond to him, right there in the living room with him.

The next day

John was being bounced on his daddy's knee while Pear and Granny put the finishing touches to the picnic tables. "Looks like someone's happy about today," Bright said while giving John's belly a couple of pokes.

"Haaa Hahaha!" John laughed from the pokes.

"You made sure he has a fresh diaper on?" Granny asked.

"Don't worry, Ma. This little guy is dry and ready to mingle," Bright said with a smile.

"Ah!" John squeaked as he bopped his pa's nose.

"Oh! Why you little sneak." Bright Mac said as his son giggled.

"Looks like he'll grow up to be a tough little guy. Aren't you, aren't you?" Pear said before giving John a raspberry.

Granny watched the young parents play with John before she heard a rumbling over the hill. When she looked off into the distance, she saw the first of what will soon be many family members coming over the hill. "Here they come!"

Soon numerous wagons came rolling in with ponies cheering and greeting each other with hugs and smiles since today was the day of the Apple Family Reunion.

"Look John, your cousins are here." Pear said while letting her son look at the foals jumping out of the wagons.

John let out a happy sound before reaching out to his new family. "You ready to meet them?" Granny asked while Mac carried him over to the front gate.

As the family got closer, they started to get a good look at John, and it stopped them in their tracks. There was a little tension in the air that made the new parents a little nervous. Luckily for them, Granny stepped up and held John's little hand, making him wave at everyone. "Well? Ain't you coming? The little guy wants to meet you all."

"What is that?" One of them asked after seeing John play with his pa's fingers.

"His name is John Apple. Buttercup and I adopted him a while ago." Bright Mac corrected one of his cousins before tickling his son's belly.

"Boop!"

"Ahh!" John squealed as some of the mares in the group decided to get a closer look at him.

"Oh, my star apples."

"He is just precious! Look at those cheeks!"

"Now don't crowd him, girls," Granny smirked.

Two of the mares from the crowd came up and went absolutely nuts over little Johnny. One of them, a mare with fading pink hair and glasses, gently pinched the baby's cheek. "Ooooh, look at that cute little face. I remember when your daddy had a cute face like yours."

"Yeah, what the hell happened?" An older mare with false teeth joked before kissing the top of John's head. "I'm your great aunt Applesauce. And this lovely young lady is your cousin Apple Rose."

John laughed as he grabbed Apple Roses's hand and giggled when Bright Mac handed him over to Aunt Applesauce.

"Mind his head." Bright Mac said with worry as his aunt scoffed.

"Mac darlin' I held you when YOU were this small, I'm not so old that I'm out of practice."

As the older mares cooed over the baby, the colts and fillies came over to see their new cousin. And all of them had questions for the parents. "What is he?" A filly with pigtails asked.

"How old is he?" A colt with sandy blonde hair asked.

"Where did he come from?" A filly holding a doll asked while jumping up to get a better look at John.

"Why is he soo ugly?" A teenaged colt asked, only to get his arm pinched by his mom. "Ow!"

"Bite your tongue, boy!" The colt's mother scolded him "He is adorable!" She said as she gently tickled John's cheeks, making him giggle and grab her finger.

Pear came over and Aunt Applesauce handed her son back to her. "To answer most of those questions. The doctor told us he's a few months old. We found him in a basket on our doorstep, crying out in the rain of all things." That earned a few gasps from the gathered family. "As for what he is."

"He's an Apple and our son." Bright came over and kissed the top of his boy's head. "As far as I'm concerned, that's all that matters."

Many of the apples approved of Pear Butter's love for her new son but some remained skeptical even as they watched the little one laugh at his mother's touch.

"Now enough chattin', I'm sure you all must be hungry after such a long trip."

As if he understood, John reached out for Pear with pleading eyes.

“Seems like we ain’t the only ones,” a relative said.

“He’s a hungry little colt, I’ll give him that,” Pear said. Bright handed her a blanket as she picked John up in her arms.

Pear covered the blanket over herself and John as she undid her shirt button to let John suckle on her nipple for her milk. John wasted no time and latched on to his mother and drank away, making Pear smile lovingly under the blanket.

"Come on y'all, this reunion and gonna start itself!" Granny cheered as she opened the gates and the family marched on to the picnic table where a feast was laid out.

After everyone sat down, they all ate a delicious spread of pies, cakes, tarts, and fritters, all apple flavored.

"Mmm, you outdid yourself, granny." Apple Rose said after taking a bite out of a fritter.

"Mmm, that's good eatin'!" One of the uncles said loudly as John finished nursing and was burped by his mother.

"There we go, such a good boy." Pear said with a warm smile when John noticed the apple treats on the table.

"Ooh."

"I think the youngin' wants a taste of some good old home cooking." Auntie Applesauce said as John managed to grab a fritter.

John put the fritter in his mouth and gummed the treat, doing his best to bite off a piece. Unfortunately, all he could do was get drool all over it and get crumbs on his chin and shirt.

"Aww, it's alright, honey." Pear placed the fritter down before grabbing a bowl of applesauce. "Until you get your teeth, you'll just have to be happy with applesauce." She got a spoonful and fed it to her son.

The moment the sweet apple mush hit his tongue, John squealed in delight before reaching for the bowl, tipping it over, and making a mess. While John played and ate the applesauce, Bright got out the camera. "Now this, is one for the album."

Bright took a quick photo as Pear continued to feed their son until he was nice and full and ready to be put down for his afternoon nap.

"I'm gonna go put this little munchkin in his crib. It's night, night for you!" Buttercup cooed as he let out a big yawn.

"Such a sweet kid, he'll be great practice for when you have foals of your own." One of Bright Mac's relatives said.

Bright stood up from his seat and stared down at his cousin from Manehattan. "What did you say about my son?"

"What? All I said was the kid will be good practice for your real kid. Then once he or she is born, you can drop the kid off to somepony else." The cousin went and drank from his fourth cup of cider. He was then grabbed by his shirt by Mac and was sucker punched. "What the hell, cuz?"

"You don't talk about my son that way! Any of you!" Bright yelled to the rest of his family, namely the ones that gave John a disgusted look when they saw him. "He's mine and Buttercup's son and your relative! If you don't like it, then ya'll just shove it right up your ass!"

"Mac, simmer down!" Granny smith said sternly to her son.

"But ma-"

"Mac, let your ma handle this." She said in the same tone before standing up from her seat.

She walked over to the relative Mac punched and grabbed him by the ear. "Owww, ow, ow, ow! That really hurts, auntie Smith!"

"Good, you deserve more for what you've said to your second cousin. Now, I want you to think about what you said about a child and no more of this!" She swiped the mug from him and kept chewing him out.

Back inside the house, Buttercup had put John in his crib and sat in the chair next to it. She heard her son let out a yawn before slipping her hand through the bars to hold his little hand. "I love so, so much." Pear soon got tired and joined in her son's nap.

Author's Note

First, I would like to thank my fellow League members for their input on this chapter. Sorry for taking so long, but I had work and other projects.

Now, for the clips.