Sequel to "Driving Lessons" and "Welding Hearts" by Isobeljones2000 (available on WattPad) and "Shellington's Big Day", which was written by me (available on FanFiction, DeviantART and WattPad)

Contains Shellington x Dashi

Chapter One

It was a perfectly ordinary day on the OctoPod.

Dashi the dachshund was seated at the console, keeping an eye on where the ship was heading. "We're approaching New Zealand, Captain," she reported.

Shellington strolled over and seated himself beside her. "I cannot wait to study the different types of creatures that live in this part of the ocean!" he chirped excitedly.

"Maybe we'll get to meet..." interrupted Kwazii dramatically, "...the fearsome bunyip! I hear they hide in the swamps, waiting to pounce upon unsuspecting victims, and gobble them up!"

Peso gulped.

Shellington swivelled round. "They're supposed to live in Australia, Kwazii."

Kwazii froze. "Oh." He was a little surprised that Shellington knew more about marine legends than himself.

Peso breathed a sigh of relief.

"Something we will be meeting is the many species of cormorants that live on the beaches of New Zealand," continued Shellington. A picture appeared on the control panel of a bird with dark feathers and a long, hooked beak. "They are semi-aquatic birds that can dive up to 45 metres below the surface when hunting for food. They have fairly short wings, which help them move underwater, and four toes each on their webbed feet, which can propel them at top speed."

"Pah!" spat Kwazii, "What could be more boring than a bunch of old cormorants? Isn't there going to be any real adventure? Any squid-headed monsters guarding vast hoards of treasure lost by Captain Cook himself?"

Where does he get his ideas from? thought Barnacles.

"Captain Cook visited Australia," corrected Shellington.

"I knew that!" insisted Kwazii.

"We'd better be on guard for stormy weather," cautioned Dashi, looking at some pictures on her computer of dark clouds above the ocean, "There's been a lot of sunshine these past couple days."

"Tweak, ensure the hull is not likely to breach in the case of a storm," instructed Barnacles.

"You got it, Cap!"

The captain rested his hands on his hips.

"Octonauts - let's do this!"

...

An hour later, the Octonauts had made it to a white sandy beach, jagged black boulders dotted here and there, but with little intrusion from any form of life. Barnacles and Tweak remained in the gup A, chatting about some upgrades Tweak was planning on making to it, whilst the others went off exploring.

"I don't like this..." worried Peso, "I thought you said we were going to meet some cormorants, Shellington."

"I did think we were going to meet some cormorants," affirmed the sea otter, "But there doesn't seem to be any here."

"...maybe some New Zealand swamp monster paid this beach a visit and gobbled them up!" suggested Kwazii helpfully.

Peso trembled.

"We're not anywhere near a swamp, Kwazii," replied Shellington, "It's more likely that there isn't any food around here so the cormorants have gone to another beach. Perhaps we should go somewhere else."

Dashi made a sudden groan. Shellington's head turned swiftly to see his wife resting on a rock, clutching her stomach in pain.

"Are you all right, Dashi?" he cried, rushing to her aid.

"I'm OK, Shel. I'm just feeling a little sick, that's all."

Peso dashed over. "Do you need anything?" he asked, feeling her forehead.

"I'm fine, really. You go on without me, Shel. I'll join you when I feel better."

"I can't leave you..." Shellington began, before Dashi suddenly had a dizzy spell and collapsed to the ground. "DASHI!"

Tweak and the captain leapt out of the gup and sped over to the small crowd that was gathered around the unconscious dachshund. "What's wrong, Shellington?" cried Barnacles.

"I don't know, Captain. My wife was feeling a bit ill and then she just fainted!"

"This could be serious, Shellington," Peso said solemnly, "I'll need to take her back to the OctoPod to see what's wrong with her."

Barnacles and Shellington each lifted her arms and hoisted her onto their shoulders, carrying her back aboard the gup A.

...

Shellington paced up and down the corridor outside the sick bay for ages before finally the door opened and there stood Peso, a grim expression on his face.

"I'm afraid I have some news for you, Shellington," he explained.

"Is she very ill, Peso?" enquired Shellington, almost feeling sick himself.

"Actually..." Peso's face transformed into a smile. "...Dashi is pregnant!"

Shellington froze. He was lost for words!

"Congratulations, Shellington," said Peso with a beam.

"You mean...I'm a father?" stuttered Shellington, "Jumping jellyfish!"

He gave a laugh and hugged the breath out of poor startled Peso.

"I can't believe it!" He let go of Peso and was about to charge straight into the infirmary, but the young penguin restrained him.

"Careful, Shellington," he cautioned, "Dashi's very tired and she might be sleeping."

"Sorry," whispered Shel and they both crept quietly into the clinic. Dashi was resting on one of the beds, her paw resting on her stomach, smiling at the thought of what she knew was curled up inside of it.

"Do you know whether it's a boy or a girl yet?" Shellington asked Peso quietly, not wanting to disturb his wife.

"Not yet," responded Peso, "It's too early to tell. When the pup has grown bigger, I'll perform an ultrasound scan and maybe we'll be able to tell then."

Dashi stirred. "Mmmmn?"

Oh no! I've woken her up! Shellington cursed himself.

The dachshund sat up slowly.

"Are you feeling better, Dashi?" asked Shel, taking hold of her paw.

"Much better, Shelly. I guess I'm gonna be feeling sick a lot more from now on so I'd better get used to it!"

"If need be, I'll tell the captain you need to lay off your duties as an Octonaut," offered Peso.

"Should I ask the captain to announce the baby?" enquired Shellington.

"Not just yet. Dashi has only made it into the second week of pregnancy. We need to wait a bit longer before we can tell the others."

Shellington settled himself beside his spouse, who rested her head on his shoulder.

"This is going to be a big step for both of us," contemplated the sea otter, "I don't really know whether I'm ready for fatherhood."

"You'll do just fine, Shel," assured Dashi, "I've seen how you were with all those vegimals when they first hatched. You'll make a great dad."

As soon as these words came from his wife's lips, Shellington began to wonder - deep down inside his heart - if perhaps he was indeed capable of his upcoming responsibilities - and if he wasn't, then he would soon have to be, as Dashi's baby was due in seven weeks!

Note: Dog pregnancies last about nine weeks.