Welcome to chapter 2! Let's see Skipper and Marlene start to execute their plan, shall we?

CHAPTER 2 – Emily's Return

(P to Marlene) "I'm glad they fell asleep easily," I whispered to Skipper, speaking of Annabelle, Samuel, and Matthew. "Me too. Then again, they were up for over a day. They appreciated that we played some quiet board games," Skipper said. "Yes, they were happy about that. But we'll have to try to keep the sudden noises during the day to a minimum. Otherwise, they might not recover as fast," I said.

"Tomorrow I'll put a ban on all things that cause sudden noises. And I'll let those three take a day off from training as well," Skipper said. "Sounds like a good plan. We should also let them sleep in," I said. "Yes, but not late enough for them not to perform. They seemed to relax when they were performing," Skipper said.

"Annabelle seemed especially happy to be getting popcorn," I said. "Samuel and Matthew also looked especially happy to get some fresh fish," Skipper said. "Yes, they did. Speaking of that, what time is it?" I asked. We both looked at the clock, which said it was 10:15. "It's 7:15 in Monterey. That means the humans there are long gone," I said. "Yes. Let's set this in motion," Skipper said.

We grabbed the computer from the lab and went up to the platform so as not to disturb the others. Luckily, no one stirred as we carefully went up top and closed the hatch. "I can't believe I'm setting my own sister up," I said, slightly chuckling. We turned the computer on. "I agree. That means when your sister gets the ring eventually, he'll become our brother in law," Skipper said. We both chuckled as we had nearly forgotten that.

"I almost forgot. Well, it'll be an honor for him, most likely, to become our brother in law," I said, making us chuckle again. The computer turned on and we clicked on the app we got to talk to Emily across the country. * "We're still not telling him until that ring reaches your sister's digit eventually," Skipper said. "Absolutely," I agreed.

The app loaded and we clicked on the contact we had set up for Emily. It rung for a few moments before Emily appeared on the screen. "Hi you two," Emily said happily. "Hi sis," Skipper and I both said. We laughed a bit. "So what's new with you?" Emily asked us. "Well, you know how we told you about Blowhole when we trained you?" I asked her. "Yes, I do. What happened? Is everyone alright?" Emily asked, concerned.

"We're all fine. The kids and Matthew are a little shell-shocked, but otherwise they're fine as well," Skipper said. Emily sighed in relief. "That's good. How was the kids' birthday today?" she asked us. "Other than having to calm them down sometimes, they really enjoyed it. Especially the fish cake we made for them," I said. "That sounds like fun. I wish I could have been there for that. Speaking of that, it's getting very close to July 4th," Emily said.

"Yes. That's actually why we called," I said. Emily's face lit up in excitement. "You found my mate today as well, didn't you?" Emily asked us. "We think so. How he wasn't obvious to us all this time is beyond us," Skipper said. "So I guess it's time to come there isn't it?" Emily asked knowingly. "Yes," we said.

"Send the transfer request for me. I'll accept it right here for the humans to see tomorrow," Emily said happily. Skipper and I, while keeping the chat open, navigated to the transfer system and looked through it to find Emily at Monterey.

We found her and sent an immediate transfer request. It sent and seconds later we heard it reach Emily on her end. She probably clicked on the notification and accepted it, as we got an immediate reply on our end saying the transfer was accepted.

"I'll see you all tomorrow guys. But as that Otter told us, that information is classified to us until I get a ring," Emily reminded us. "We didn't forget. No one except us knows you are coming yet. But we'll let them know you're coming through a general way," Skipper said. Emily smiled. "See you tomorrow evening," she said happily. "See you tomorrow evening," we said to her.

With that, we ended the chat and shut the computer down. "She's really excited," I said to Skipper happily. "Yes, she is. She's about to meet her mate. And he's about to meet her as well," Skipper said.

I kissed Skipper. "And that's for you, my husband," I said to Skipper. With that, we went back down and put the computer back into the lab in the exact same position we had found it in. Skipper and I then went to our bunks, wondering how tomorrow would go.

(P to tomorrow morning and to myself) I woke up gradually, instead of the alarm going off. I looked over at the clock and saw it was 8:30 in the morning. Anna and Sam were also awake, as I could see them getting up as well. "Good morning guys," I said to them. Sam mouthed something, but I couldn't hear what it was. Suddenly the three of us realized we were wearing earmuffs and took them off.

"Good morning guys," I repeated. "Good morning," Anna and Sam said. "Did they let us sleep in?" I asked them. "I think so. The coffee mugs look cleaned already, not to mention no one is down here. But the timeline is still normal, since we didn't fall out of our bunks," Anna said happily. "We'll have to thank them for letting us sleep in," Sam said. "I agree," I said.

Suddenly the hatch opened. "Good morning," Skipper and Marlene said. "Good morning," I said to them. "Good morning Mom and Dad," the kids replied. We climbed up the ladder, expecting our usual morning training to commence. "Actually, you three don't have to train for today," Skipper said. "Really?" we asked curiously. "You still need to try and relax first," Marlene said.

"Thanks Mom and Dad. So what do we do until we perform?" Annabelle asked. "Let's check for transfers," Kowalski suggested. "Good suggestion Kowalski," Skipper said. We all went down the hatch and went into the lab. Kowalski turned the computer on and navigated to both Alice's email and the transfer system.

"It seems someone is being transferred here," Kowalski said, reading the email. "Who? From where?" I asked. Kowalski navigated to the transfer system. "It seems yesterday Alice requested an urgent Otter transfer from the Monterey aquarium," Kowalski said. "Isn't that your old aquarium Marlene?" I asked her. "Yes. We went there for awhile on our vacation earlier this year," Marlene said happily.

"Did you still have any family there?" I asked. "Actually, yes. My sister Emily was still there," Marlene answered happily. "Is that who they transferred Kowalski?" Skipper asked. Kowalski clicked on the transfer and more details appeared. "It would appear so Skipper. According to this information, she was just shipped out and should be here this afternoon," Kowalski answered.

"I never knew you had a sister. So are you the older one or the younger one?" I asked Marlene. "I'm the older one by a few months," Marlene said happily. "Sibling rivalry. That's always great," I said. We shut down the computer and scurried to our places to perform when the zoo opened. Once again, it felt great to just relax and not worry about anything. (P to the afternoon)

After we had performed and the crowds had pretty much stopped coming in, we ran an operation to see when Marlene's sister would come in. "Anything yet?" Skipper asked us over the Walkie Talkie. Marlene, Anna, and I were all on lookout duty near the bell, watching for any trucks. "Not yet. Wait, yes. There's a truck coming right now," Marlene said happily as a truck stopped at the transfer area.

"When your sister gets delivered to your habitat, we'll all go there," Skipper ordered us. We watched as Alice and an assistant picked up the crate and took it towards Marlene and Anna's habitat. We carefully followed stealthily in trees and bushes. Finally, we were hidden in the tree in the habitat. "There you go Otter. Time to socialize with your new colony," Alice said sarcastically to the crate. **

We would have chuckled, but then Alice might have spotted us. The bell than rang and Alice smiled in her usual joy of being able to go home. We stayed hidden as Alice shooed the remaining visitors out of the zoo and then left herself.

Everyone came over to the habitat as we dropped down from the tree. "Rico, crowbar," Skipper ordered him. Rico released a crowbar and Skipper used it to open the crate. Inside was an Otter who looked similar to Marlene, but also different. Her fur was darker, more like a walnut brown instead of a chestnut shade. And unlike Marlene or Anna, all four of her paws were brown. She appeared to be a bit shorter than Marlene. She was also sleeping. Then again, she was woken up very early and moved here.

Emily must have realized the sudden of increase of light, as she started to stir. "Hi sis," Marlene said to her. Upon that, Emily opened her eyes and looked at us all. Her eye color matched her dark brown fur.

A smile grew on her face. "It's so great to see all of you again," she said happily to everyone. "It's great to see you again, too, Aunt Emily," the kids said to her, hugging her. She hugged them back.

She then turned to me. "Hello. Who are you?" Emily asked me. "Hello. I'm Matthew," I said, extending my flipper for a flipper/pawshake. "So you're the Matthew I've heard about. It's nice to finally meet you," Emily said to me, shaking my flipper. "It's nice to meet you, too," I replied.

We stopped shaking each other's appendage. "So this is New York, isn't it? It seems nice. The air isn't as clean though," Emily said. "That's because there's so many cars. Don't worry, you'll get used to it quickly," Marlene said. "So what time is it? Where did the crowds go?" Emily asked. "It's about 6:30. The zoo just closed at 6," Skipper said.

"Darn. I was hoping to have some performing fun with my sister and niece," Emily said. "You will tomorrow, Aunt Emily," Annabelle said to her. That brought a smile to Emily's face. "I look forward to that. So what do we do until then?" Emily asked us. "Well men, you should go build another bunk in the HQ," Skipper said to Private, Kowalski, and Rico.

They left to go do that. "As for you three, just try to relax. And don't get into any trouble," Skipper told us. "After what happened two days ago, how much trouble could we possibly get into?" Samuel asked his father jokingly. We all laughed and then Sam, Anna, and I decided to just walk around the zoo to relax.

"Did you do that?" Anna asked me. "Did I do what?" I asked her. "Bring Aunt Emily to New York," Samuel said. "As I said this morning, I didn't even know Emily existed until now. As a matter of fact, I'm starting to suspect your parents of doing that," I said. They both looked in thought for a moment.

"You've actually got a good point there. Why would Alice deliberately ask for Aunt Emily? She doesn't ever ask for a specific transfer. Only general ones," Anna said. "Well, as I remember actually, Mom and Dad promised Aunt Emily that we would get her over here eventually," Sam said. "Hmm… Did they do that so your whole family could be together or do they have other motives?" I asked them. ***

"They were the last to go to sleep the night before we left the aquarium. Maybe," Anna said. "Well, even if we ask them, they'll say classified, so I guess we'll never know," I said. "Yeah, we won't. Oh well," Sam said as we continued walking.

(P to Marlene) "It really is nice to have the whole family together again," Emily said happily. "It sure is sis. And now we can't be separated again. We made it so no one can transfer any of us," I said happily.

"That's great! So, what did happen two days ago? Those three looked relieved that I didn't ask what happened," Emily said as we walked into the cave. "Well, you should probably sit down Emily. And you need this as well," Skipper said, holding up the time-proofing vaccine he had hidden.

Emily looked at us curiously. "What is that? I hate needles," Emily said. We all laughed at how all of us hated needles. "Well, it'll prevent what happened to us two days ago from happening to you. In fact, only the kids and Matthew remember specifically. I don't remember that day at all," I said. "Alright then," Emily said, agreeing.

We gave her the vaccine. "Thanks. I'm glad that won't happen to me now. So what did happen?" Emily asked us. Skipper and I told her what the three had told us. She was shocked at what had apparently happened to us all. Luckily she didn't faint at anything, but paid attention to us the whole time. Finally, we finished.

"Wow. That's insane. I'm glad we're all fine. Those three had to fight for our independence," Emily said. Suddenly her face turned to shock. "Oh my gosh!" Emily exclaimed, realizing she had just met her future husband and mate. "We know. That's the reaction we had internally," I said.

"You think he's the one the Otter told us about?" Emily asked us. "Yes. But what do you think of him?" Skipper asked Emily. She looked deep in thought. "I think he seems nice. But how am I supposed to get his attention? After all I can't just say: Hey, a strange old Otter told me that we would become mates some day. Would you like to go on a date? Not to mention that Otter told us not to tell him that until I got a ring," Emily said.

"You're in a real predicament sis. But maybe you could try and show off extra when we perform. It'll get the humans attention, so why shouldn't it get his?" I asked her. Emily laughed. "That sounds like a good idea. I'll try that," Emily said. Suddenly the scene changed from inside the cave to the park near the pond and I had a snow cone in my paw.

That's where I'll end the 2nd chapter, as it's getting long. But, hey, cool, a cliffhanger. So Emily's back in the story. So have you figured out whom that Otter paired Emily up with? Leave that in a review, which I hope you write. I've got a few notes today.

* You know about Skype right? It allows anyone to talk to anyone either through the traditional phone system across the world or through a free Sky-to-Skype video chat. This is their version of Skype.

** Alice said that to Emily the exact same way she said that to Clemson in "Right Hand Man".

*** As said in Pengotters: The Early Months, Skipper and Marlene wanted to do that, but also have another motive.