The idea for this came to me as I was watching the Wild Thornberrys episode, Operation: Valentine, where Nigel finally tells Debbie about his first love. Spoiler if you've never seen the episode.
Twenty-Two year old Nigel Archibald Thornberry was sitting on a bus in El Salvador. He glanced at the woman sitting next to him, a young woman his age. She was glancing out the window. The bus suddenly lurched and stopped moving all together, white steam rising from the engine. He turned to the woman and kissed her on the cheek for no reason at all. She looked at him in surprise.
Nigel fidgeted, "Terribly sorry. I don't know why I did that."
The woman's eyebrows rose above her wire framed glasses, "I think we are going to be stuck here for a while."
"Might I introduce myself?" Nigel inquired, running a hand through his red hair.
She smiled slightly, "You tell me your name, I'll tell you mine."
"That sounds agreeable. I'm Nigel Thornberry," he replied.
"Marianne Hunter. Are you from England?" Marianne returned.
"Scotland actually," Nigel returned, "Am I correct in assuming that you are from the United States?"
Marianne nodded and pushed her blonde hair out of her face, "Arizona to be exact." (1)
"The Grand Canyon State. Several different eco-systems within the state too," Nigel blurted.
Marianne raised an eyebrow, "You seem to know a lot about eco-systems."
Nigel gave a slight nod, "I love animals. I find them fascinating."
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A few months passed, Nigel and Marianne had kept in contact via letters. Cordelia Thornberry, Nigel's mother, was curious as to why her son suddenly started getting letters from America. Nigel hedged the inquiry and kept to his new job. He was transferred to a sister organization in the United States. He was introduced to several co-workers, and before he was introduced to the final one, he recognized her instantly.
"Marianne," Nigel said upon seeing the blonde woman.
"Nigel?" she asked as she hefted a camera bag.
"Well this is a pleasant surprise," Nigel noted.
Marianne smiled and nodded, "It is."
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After a while their friendship became a romance, they had been dating for a few years when Nigel had proposed. When both families found out about the engagement, they wanted to meet their child's future spouse.
"Just be warned Nigel, my mother can be…overbearing," Marianne warned her husband to be as they stood outside her childhood home in Williams, Arizona. (2)
"It can't possibly be that bad dearest," Nigel replied.
Marianne squirmed slightly, "You're also going to meet my brother and sister."
"Splendid!" Nigel exclaimed as Marianne reached for the door.
Dinner at the Hunter Household was spent playing twenty questions or staring down Nigel. For his part Nigel handled Marianne's brother and sister quite well and made quite an impression on Frank and Sophie, Marianne's parents. After a few hours the pair headed to their shared apartment to get ready for a trip to Nigel's childhood home in Scotland. Nigel hoped that his mother wouldn't disapprove of Marianne. He knew that his father wouldn't mind.
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Marianne fidgeted under Cordelia's gaze. She was more overbearing than her own mother. The stern British woman looked between her only child and the American woman who was about to take her son away.
"Tell me how you met again?" Cordelia demanded.
"Nigel's already told us a dozen times Cordie," Colonel Radcliffe Thornberry cut in.
Marianne took an instant liking to her future father-in-law, he reminded her of Nigel.
"I would like to hear it again," Cordelia snapped.
"Oh mumsy, that story is rather old," Nigel remarked with a laugh.
"Didn't you save an Elephant a couple years ago, my boy?" Radcliffe asked.
Nigel nodded, "Yes, quite an amazing creature. I named her Rebecka."(3)
"What do your parents do for a living?" Cordelia asked of Marianne.
"My father is a Veterinarian," Marianne started, then leapt up when a cry of a fox cut through the air.
"Don't worry dearest, the animal wasn't in pain," Nigel assured Marianne, convincing her to sit back down.
"Do you like animals Marianne?" Radcliffe inquired of the young woman.
Marianne nodded.
"You should see her when she's helping shoot film for the organization we work for. She's absolutely smashing," Nigel chimed in.
"Nigel I can't say that I-" Cordelia started.
"When's the wedding?" Radcliffe cut her off.
Nigel and Marianne exchanged looks.
"In the late fall," Nigel managed.
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They had been married a year before they found out they were going to have a child. Marianne sighed at the prospect of telling her In-Laws about the unborn child. The wedding could have gone better. They had already told her parents about the child.
Nigel grimaced as he was speaking on the phone, "No mumsy, that's not necessary. We've got everything well in hand."
Marianne looked at her husband as he continued, "Marianne has everything under control," he paused, "Well there's not much I can do at this point in time."
Marianne quirked an eyebrow as she continued with the list of potential names for the child. She had a lot more girl names than boys. She watched as Nigel twisted the phone cord in between his fingers.
"Yes Mumsy, I will call you with updates about the baby," Nigel replied then hung up.
"Your mother wants to be kept informed?" Marianne inquired, her eyebrows raised.
Nigel nodded, "Though I haven't told her when the baby is due."
"Not for another six months," Marianne sighed.
Six months later Marianne had a baby girl, whom they name Deborah. The girl inherited Marianne's blonde hair but had Nigel's green eyes. Frequent visits were made by both families, and Deborah, who's nickname was Debbie grew happy and healthy. When Debbie was four years old Marianne found out she was going to have another child. Debbie was not happy when the new baby, another girl named Elizabeth, was put in her room.
The younger girl had a lighter color of her father's hair but had her mother's blue eyes. Four year old Debbie couldn't say Elizabeth, but shortened the name to Eliza, which stuck. As the two girls grew older, Eliza started bumping into things. Eliza eventually had to get glasses. Eliza started bringing home injured animals as well as various 'creepy' animals. With Nigel's help Eliza nursed the animals back to health and released them back to where they belong.
When Debbie turned fourteen and Eliza a mere ten, Nigel and Marianne were offered the job of capturing wildlife on film and educating the world about animals. Both girls weren't too happy in the beginning, being so far from home, but they adapted.
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Two years later, the day after Valentine's day, Nigel and Marianne were sitting outside the Comvee, both the girls and Donnie and Darwin were asleep. Marianne had just got done checking on Eliza, to make sure she was okay: She had an appendectomy the previous night and was still a bit sore.
"Is she all right dearest?" Nigel inquired as Marianne settled next to him.
"She still tired and I don't blame her. I'm going to have to keep her confined to the Comvee and the campsite for a couple of weeks," Marianne replied.
Nigel nodded, and stirred the fire.
"Is something wrong Nigel?" Marianne asked.
Nigel smiled and shook his head, "Just thinking about how all this started."
"That Bus in El Salvador?" Marianne inquired with a smile.
"And that kiss on your cheek," Nigel replied.
Marianne kissed him on his cheek, "Come on Nigel, let's go to bed. We do have an early morning tomorrow."
Nigel nodded and extinguished the fire. He followed Marianne to bed, happy with how his life turned out since he had met her.
A E/N: This just came together.
1. Sophie explicitly states Arizona as the location of where she and Frank live, in one of the episodes and it's mentioned on a few occasions by Debbie or Eliza.
2. I chose Williams rather than Flagstaff because it does snow in Williams, and it's less busy than Flagstaff. I also chose it because Frank stated he treat Horses in his practice. Williams is a bit more Rural than Flagstaff.
3. It's one of the many way you can spell that name. I chose the most likely for the way for Nigel to spell it.