DISCLAIMER: I do not own Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Chipettes, David Seville, Miss Miller, or any of the J.M Barrie characters as portrayed by Fox's Peter Pan and the Pirates. This is a work of fiction meant solely for enjoyment and not financial gain. The character of Harmony is of my own invention. All ratings are highly appreciated.

Chapter 1:

"David, thanks again for watching the girls while I'm on my retreat!"

"It's our pleasure, Miss Miller." David Seville smiled at the three young chipettes standing on his porch beside his own three adopted sons. "Hope you have a good time in…where was you said you were going again?"

"The Bahamas…ooh, this is going to be so nice. I get to work on my tan. Bye girls…be good and have a fun time!" The plump, gray-haired lady bounced down the steps, waving over her shoulder, and climbed into a wild pink convertible. With a quick check of her hair in the rear-view mirror and a blown kiss to the girls, she hit the gas and sped away in a loud squeal of tires.

"Bye Miss Miller!" the chipettes chorused, waving.

"Well, I sure hope she has a good time," Jeanette murmured. She looked a little sad to see their guardian disappearing down the road.

"Oh please!" her sister, Brittany, huffed. "How much fun can she have without us there? I still can't believe she's going to the Bahamas without us!"

"It's a seniors retreat, Brittany," Eleanor pointed out. "She'll probably be playing shuffleboard and bridge…"

"Not Miss Miller," Simon Seville cut in. "Knowing her, she'll be surfing and scuba diving as soon as her plane lands."

Dave laughed. "Maybe she'll even try bungee jumping." All seven winced at the thought. "Well, whatever she does, I hope she'll have fun. And we'll have a good time this week too." He clapped his hands together. "Why don't you girls come inside and get settled. Boys, will you help the girls with their bags?"

"Yes Dave."

Simon and Theodore took Jeanette and Eleanor's suitcases inside, leaving their brother Alvin to stare at the mountain of belongings Brittany had packed.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said, blue eyes wide. "Brittany, did you leave anything at home?"

Brittany scoffed. "Don't be silly, Alvin. These are just the bare essentials."

"Bare essentials?" Alvin was rooting through the pile and groaned as he tried to lift a suitcase. "What's in this thing! Bricks!"

"That's my makeup. Don't drop it." With those instructions, she sauntered inside, leaving the young chipmunk glowering at her back.

An hour later, Alvin finally limped into the living room, holding a stitch in his side and favoring a strained muscle in his shoulder. The others were all gathered around the tv, watching a special presentation of Mary Martin in Peter Pan. With a moan, Alvin levered himself onto the sofa between Eleanor and Simon and helped himself to popcorn.

"Aww, I just love this movie," Jeanette was saying. She clasped her hands to her chest and sighed. "Wouldn't it be wonderful to fly?"

"You'd think they could find someone better for the lead," Brittany murmured. "I mean, a woman?"

"You're supposed to use your imagination, Brittany," Eleanor told her.

"Whatever. They could have at least found someone cute…and dashing."

"Like me?" Alvin asked hopefully.

Brittany gave him a withering look. "You wish. Did you get all my things inside yet?"

"Oh yes. Everything's already upstairs and waiting for you." The young chipmunk in red batted his eyes innocently, then turned and nudged Simon in the ribs. "Wait till tonight when she wants to go to bed and finds the suitcase with all her pajamas at the bottom of the pile."

"Hey kids, dinner's ready!" Dave called from the kitchen. "Turn off the movie and come and get it."

The six chipmunks scrambled from the living room to the kitchen, Alvin and Brittany racing for the spot that was Alvin's usual seat. Alvin beat her and sat down, sticking his tongue out as Brittany crossed her arms indignantly. There was no more room for her or Eleanor on the bench seats surrounding the back of the table.

"Sorry, guys. A couple of you will have to make do with these." Dave appeared with two folding chairs. He set them up on the outside of the table. "Boys, why don't we let our guests have the good seats?" Dave looked primarily at Alvin, who pulled his tongue back into his mouth and sighed.

"Alright," he said, sliding out of his seat. Brittany brightened and started to move forward, but Alvin suddenly shifted and blocked her. "Here you go, Eleanor. You can sit here." He bowed gallantly as the chubby little blonde chippette sat down, then looked up at Brittany with a wicked grin. "Oh, I'm sorry, Brittany. I didn't see you there."

Brittany scowled, but graciously accepted the cushioned seat Simon offered her, pushing down on the top of Alvin's head as he straightened from his bow and throwing him off balance. He scrambled to catch his footing, both hands reaching up to hold his red cap in place. The two glared at one another across the table for the entire meal, causing their siblings to exchange worried glances. The chipettes were going to be visiting for two whole weeks, and that time would be miserable if Alvin and Brittany couldn't get along.

"We're going to have to think of some way to keep the peace around here," Simon murmured to Theodore, who nodded worriedly around a mouthful of Dave's vegetarian lasagna.

"I'm really strapped for time to finish that new song," Dave said as soon as dinner was finished. "So I hope you kids can entertain yourselves tonight. I'll be in my studio if you really need me…" He glanced at his watch. "Oh no, I don't know how I'm going to get it done in time. Would you kids mind cleaning up in here?"

"Don't worry, Dave. We'll handle it," Simon told him.

"I think we should all play a game tonight," Eleanor announced a few minutes later. She and Theodore were carrying the dirty dishes to the sink, where Alvin and Jeanette were busy washing and drying them. Simon and Brittany wiped down the table. "If Dave is working on a song, he'll probably want us to be pretty quiet, right?"

Simon, Theodore, and Alvin glanced guiltily at one another, thinking of the many times Dave had been busy with a deadline, only to be interrupted constantly by their antics.

"Sure," they readily agreed, and Theodore took Eleanor upstairs to find a game while the older four finished the tidying up. By the time the kitchen was spic and span, they had spread out the board on the living room floor and divided the pieces into three teams. Theodore and Eleanor were already sitting together on Dave's armchair, and Simon and Jeanette quickly took seats on the sofa, leaving two pillows on the floor for Alvin and Brittany.

The two looked at the cushions, then at one another, then at the knowing smiles on the faces of their siblings.

"We're playing teams," Simon announced. "So if you two want to win, you have to get along and cooperate with each other."

Alvin flopped down on the floor. "Looks like we don't have a choice," he said to Brittany, patting the cushion beside him.

"Traitors," Brittany hissed to her sisters. She reluctantly took the seat beside Alvin, who, after a meaningful glare from Simon, stuck out his hand to her.

"Truce?"

"Truce. But if we lose, it's your fault."

"This is jinxed," Alvin griped, shaking the dice in his hand and tossing them onto the board. As soon as the little cubes stopped rolling, Brittany moved their piece.

"…four, five, six, seven, eight… Alvin!"

"It's not my fault! I told you this game is rigged!"

"That's Pennsylvania Avenue with hotel…pay up!" Eleanor crowed.

"Aww nuts!" Alvin handed over the rest of their money and all the mortgaged properties and Brittany flicked their little car token off the board with a fingernail.

"Bankrupt. Figures. That's what I get for relying on Alvin's business sense."

"My business sense! Who said it was a good idea to buy the utilities? I wanted the railroads!"

"You also bought the purples! Nobody makes any money on the purples!"

Alvin shrugged. "I know…they just looked so lonely still sitting there…"

"Augh!" Brittany threw up her hands in disgust and whirled around on her cushion. Grabbing the remote control, she flipped on the television, which was showing an encore performance of Peter Pan. Annoyed with the game that was still going on behind her, she slumped down and stared dejectedly at the screen. After a few minutes, Alvin turned to watch also, drawn by the sword fighting between Peter and Captain Hook.

"I'll bet I could do that," he said, standing and swishing his arm through the air, a pretend sword clutched in his fist. "Take that! And that! You'll never take me alive, Captain Codfish!"

Brittany rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Alvin. Captain Hook would turn you into crocodile food. You couldn't fight a fairy."

Alvin stopped short and faced the girl. "Oh yeah? And you think you could do better?"

Standing, Brittany grabbed a blanket from the sofa and wrapped it around her shoulders in a cape. Then she pulled an umbrella from the stand in the hall and squared off before Alvin, the point level with his chest.

"Brittany the Brave can beat any pirate, any day. En Garde!"

She slashed at Alvin, who dodged with a grace and skill learned from years of dancing on stage. He leapt across the living room, causing shouts of protest from the others when he stepped in the middle of the board game. From the hall closet, he collected a plastic coat hanger and a cane left by Grandpa Seville. Pulling his red cap down over one eye, he snarled, "One-eyed Alvin takes that challenge. You'll walk the plank, Missy!"

"Missy! I'll show you Missy!" Brittany slashed at Alvin, who parried with his cane and jumped on the coffee table. Holding the coat hanger in his left hand, he swiped the hooked end at Brittany, almost catching it in her ponytail.

"Alvin! Watch out!" Theodore exclaimed. Alvin's jumps were threatening to knock over the glasses of lemonade he'd brought in from the kitchen. The chubby little chipmunk grabbed the glasses before disaster struck and moved them to the relative safety of a bookshelf.

"Alvin, must you do that?" Simon asked with brittle patience. One of Alvin's leaps had bumped him and knocked his glasses into the popcorn bowl.

"Ah hahahaha!" Alvin cackled maniacally. "Slippery Simon thinks he can stop One-eyed Alvin, but he hasn't got a chance!" Alvin slashed the cane at his brother, who ducked, grabbed a cushion, and threw it with amazing accuracy. It struck Alvin in the face, knocking off his cap and causing him to trip at Brittany's feet.

"Silver-toothed Simon catches the notorious One-eyed Alvin with a cannonball, blasting the foul pirate into…"

"You just grazed me!" Alvin shouted, rolling on the floor to avoid a stab from Brittany's umbrella. He bumped up against Theodore, who helped him sit up. "Thank you, my trusty First Mate Teddy…grab your sword and help me run the villains through! And you, Pistol-packing Ellie!"

"Aye aye, Captain!" Eleanor saluted, rushing quickly up the stairs and returning from the boys' room with a toy gun belt from a western toy set. She tied the two pistols to her plump hips with a scarf and wound the red bandana over her blond hair. Snarling fiercely, she drew the weapons and faced Simon and Brittany.

"Does this mean the game's over?" Jeanette queried. She watched her siblings, then shrugged and flung an arm dramatically across her face. "Oh dear, oh dear! The pirates have sunk our ship and I, Princess Francesca Louisa Anella Marlena Sophia Drusilla Huffington, am caught on the dread Crossbones Isle…without a chaperone!" She threw herself across the sofa and pretended to sob.

"We'll take the princess hostage!" Eleanor said to Alvin. "Her royal father will pay a high ransom for her safe return!"

"Not if we get to her first!" Silver-tooth Simon announced. "I intend to make her my bride and inherit her kingdom!" He rushed Jeanette at the same time as Alvin, swinging a cushion to deflect the slash of cane and coat hanger. Alvin's "sword" went flying from his grasp, so he grabbed another pillow, swinging wide for Simon and hitting Brittany instead as she crept up behind him.

"Oomph!" she cried, flying backwards into Theodore. Though the more timid of the brothers, he had armed himself with one of the larger cushions and now he rolled over and pinned Brittany to the floor, while Eleanor tickled her into helpless convulsions. As they struggled, Simon and Alvin had engaged in a full blown pillow fight, whacking away at one another with the cushions over Jeanette, who moaned and lamented her fate. Finally, Simon dealt Alvin a blow that knocked the smaller chipmunk off his feet and into the bookshelf. He landed with a slightly dazed look and flinched as one of the lemonade glasses wobbled, then crashed to the floor inches from his outstretched hand.

"Do you yield?" Simon demanded, brandishing the pillow again.

Alvin held up his hands in supplication. "Okay, okay…you can have the princess…" His blue eyes twinkled with mischief. "…if you can say her name!"

Simon froze. "Uh…um…Princess Francesca Louisa…Onomatopoeia…"

Alvin grinned wickedly. "Ah ha! You lose, Silver-tooth Simon! The princess is mine!" He reached for the bookshelf to lever himself to his feet and found a hand instead. "Oh, thanks…uh…uh…hi, Dave?" He giggled nervously as his father pulled him to his feet, his face stern.

"Alvin. Simon. What is going on in here? It sounds like the house is crashing down around my ears."

"Sorry, Dave." Simon straightened his glasses guiltily.

"We were pirates!" Theodore announced, finally allowing Brittany up. She was gasping for breath, tears running down her cheeks from being tickled.

"You were loud is what you were. Who started this?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. Five hands pointed straight at Alvin, who gasped indignantly.

"It wasn't just me! What about Brittany the Brave? And Silver-tooth Simon? And Princess Francesca Louisa Anella…" he faded off as Dave glared at him.

"It's getting late, kids. Why don't you clean up in here and then get to bed…and no more pirates in the house, okay?"

"Yes Dave," they chorused.

"I still have to work on this song, so try to do it quietly. Alvin, come with me."

Expecting a scolding, Alvin hung his head and followed Dave out of the room while the others started straightening out the cushions, picking up spilled popcorn, and putting away the scattered game.

"Pirates, eh, Alvin?" Dave asked once they were in the kitchen. He opened the broom cupboard and pulled out a broom, mop, and dustpan.

"Uh huh. One-eyed Alvin and his band of dashing buccaneers." Alvin launched into a tale of their adventures, including his arch nemesis Silver-toothed Simon and his partner Brittany the Brave.

"That sure is quite an imagination you've got, Alvin." Dave handed his son the broom and dustpan and led him back to the living room. "Sometimes I wonder if you'll be a writer when you grow up."

"Grow up? Ha!" Alvin bent to begin sweeping broken glass into the dustpan. "I'm in the prime of my life, Dave! I'm never gonna grow up!"

Unbeknownst to the inhabitants of the house, two sets of eyes had been watching the proceedings through the living room window for some time. Now, hearing exactly what they wanted to hear, the figures melted back into the darkness to await their time.