Time for chapter 4. And today is the 1-year anniversary of my writing! Cool! It's all come a long way since Ultra-Feral. Now let's help Skipper and Marlene more, shall we?

CHAPTER 4 – Strange Children

"Well, we're actually still confused at that, even to this date," Kowalski said. "How old are you two?" Skipper and I asked Samuel and Annabelle. "We're both just over five years old. Our birthday was at the end of June," Samuel said. "All this in six years," Skipper and I said, in shock again.

"Could you, err, restrain us?" Skipper asked everyone. "Please?" I added. We both asked for that because we knew we would probably freak out again. "If you wish," Emily said, pressing a button on the control panel. The wall with the TV flipped around and out of instinct, Skipper and I jumped into fighting positions.

It must have been from our battle with Blowhole that we also failed to remember. "Relax, Mom and Dad. You've said you both defeated that dolphin," Annabelle said to us, trying to calm us down. We calmed ourselves down and placed ourselves into the locks. They worked, preventing us from moving. But since we knew we were with friends and family, we didn't panic.

"Thank you for calming us down," I said to Annabelle. "It's no trouble at all Mom," Annabelle said cheerfully, trying to not set us into a panic. Skipper and I fought with all our might to not freak out and we didn't. "So how did we have children?" Skipper asked everyone.

"Was it through an invention of yours Kowalski? We're a mammal and a bird, after all," I said. "Well, actually, it wasn't through an invention. Or any outside forces. Even I still don't know how. * After your wedding, you two went on your honeymoon. When you came back, you started to experience strange symptoms Marlene," Kowalski said.

(Flashback POV)

"Kowalski, what's wrong with me?" Marlene asked him. Skipper and Marlene had just dropped into the HQ, trying to figure out what was happening to Marlene. "What do you mean Marlene?" Kowalski asked her.

"I don't know. I've been behaving strangely. I've been having cramps, I'm puking randomly in the morning, and I've been eating a lot more than my share of food. Look, my stomach is growing," she said, pointing to it.

"I've been trying to exercise off the food, but no matter what, I'm still growing," Marlene said. Kowalski was writing on his clipboard what Marlene was telling him. "About when did this start?" Kowalski asked her. "It started about two weeks ago," Marlene explained.

Suddenly, her face scrunched up and she cried out in pain, falling off her seat at the table onto the floor. Skipper was trying his best to comfort her. Marlene looked at him in tears of pain and confusion. "What had happened to her?" they both wondered to themselves.

Finally, after a few moments, Marlene's pain went away. She was so scared, and Skipper hugged her. Marlene buried her face into Skipper's feathers, hugging him, so confused and afraid. After a few minutes, Marlene stopped, but continued to cling to Skipper. "See Kowalski! That happens every so often!" Marlene exclaimed, panicked.

Kowalski was still taking notes. "I see Marlene. So it started a month after you returned from your honeymoon, since that was a month before you told me this started? "Yes Kowalski. But what does that have to do with Marlene's pain?" Skipper asked him.

"I could go use Alice's computer to figure out what these symptoms are and what's causing them," Kowalski offered the two. "That sounds like a good plan Kowalski. Thank you," Marlene said to him. "You are welcome Marlene," Kowalski said to her.

(P to when Kowalski returned) "So Kowalski, what's up with me? What did you learn?" Marlene asked him, curious. "Well, first let me ask you a few questions. Skipper, you are a bird, correct?" Kowalski asked him. Skipper scoffed. "Yes, I'm a bird Kowalski. I've got a beak, feathers, and flippers, after all," he said.

"Very well. And you Marlene, you're a mammal right?" Kowalski asked her. She also scoffed. "Yes, Kowalski. I've got a mouth, fur, and paws," Marlene said. "I think you two just eliminated that barrier," Kowalski said. "What barrier?" both of them asked curiously. "No children," Kowalski answered.

Both Skipper and Marlene laughed. "Oh, Kowalski. You know a bird and a mammal cannot have children. After all, Penguins lay eggs and Otters give birth," Marlene said. Kowalski just was in shock. He was running the math on his clipboard of how this was even possible.

"Err, Kowalski? A response please?" Marlene asked him. Kowalski just acted like the two weren't even there, just working out the math on page after page. "Kowalski. We both know that even though we're two classes of species, we can mate. We did that. But that should not have worked," Marlene said. Still no response came from Kowalski.

Marlene and Skipper looked at each other before both looking at Marlene's belly. "Wow. Just wow," the two said to each other. "We're going to have a baby Skipper," Marlene said happily after a minute. "Yes, it would appear so Marlene," Skipper said happily to her.

They both placed a flipper and paw on Marlene's belly. "There's a baby inside of me," Marlene said to Skipper happily. "There's no one on Earth I would want to have a child with than you," Skipper said to her. They kissed in a big embrace. Both of them were now extremely excited. They had defied the laws of nature and were going to have a child of their very own.

Suddenly, both of them felt something from inside of Marlene. They curiously looked at her belly. "What was that Skipper?" Marlene asked him. "I don't know. And Kowalski's still doing the math," Skipper said to her. Sure enough, Kowalski was still running the math.

Suddenly, they felt that disturbance from inside of Marlene again. "I think that was a kick Skipper," Marlene said happily to him. "A kick. Our child kicked," Skipper said. They kissed again. ** There was no denying it now. Soon they would become parents.

(P to present day Marlene) "Wow. Just wow. But what happened when I had them?" I asked the original three. "It was very strange. Of course, your children are an interesting crossbreed," Kowalski said. "Thank you Kowalski. And with that, we'll go above until you're done talking about that," Annabelle said to him.

"What do you mean?" I asked her. She and Samuel really were our little girl and boy. I was so happy, yet still so confused. "Well, you've said that moment would scar us for a long time. We don't want to be scarred like that, so we'll wait up above," Samuel said. Skipper and I chuckled. "Well, go ahead. We'll tell you when you can come down without being scarred," Skipper said to our children.

"Thank you Mom and Dad. Sorry that you're still chained up, though," Annabelle said to us. "It's for ours and your safety. And you three no longer have to do maintenance duty tomorrow," Skipper said to Private, Kowalski, and Rico. "Thank you Skipper," they all said as our two children climbed out of the hatch.

(P to flashback view again) "Kowalski, what do I… Ahhh!" Marlene screamed, in labor. It had been three months, as everyone calculated, since she had gotten pregnant. Now, she and Skipper were about to become parents. "In my research, it never came up for both an Otter and a Penguin. But for Otters, help your child and push," Kowalski instructed her.

They were all out in the park, under the effects of the Stopwatch. A few weeks earlier, Marlene had gone feral at Skipper and to prevent that for the child, they were going to have it in the park. *** Marlene was in excruciating pain as she pushed. As soon as the baby was out, she, Skipper, and the child would be a full-fledged family.

After a few minutes, Marlene finally did it. "Err, Kowalski, I thought Otters give birth?" Skipper asked him. "What do you…" Marlene started to ask everyone before seeing Skipper holding an egg! **** "I'm just… what the… how is that…" Marlene struggled to say.

The egg was much larger than Penguin eggs usually were. Kowalski took photos of the egg, for science. Suddenly, it started to crack. After a few minutes, the egg was fully open. The baby cried with all its might. But it was not a Penguin. It was an Otter! "What the… Otters are live-born! Not in eggs!" Marlene and Skipper exclaimed, confused.

Suddenly, Marlene was in pain again. "Kowalski, what's happening?" Skipper asked him. "You might have another child," Kowalski said to both him and Marlene. Marlene went through that process again. Suddenly, instead of a silent egg, both of them heard crying as Skipper held another baby. It was not an Otter! It was a Penguin!

"What?!" both Marlene and Skipper exclaimed, in even more shock. Both of their strange children were crying, having just been hatched and born. Marlene took the little Otter from Skipper, while he held the Penguin.

"What do you want to name them Skipper?" Marlene asked him. "Do you have any suggestions? You've said you've always wanted a daughter and she was the first bo- err, hatched," Skipper said. Marlene thought for a moment. "How about Annabelle?" Marlene asked her husband.

Upon hearing that, the little Otter stopped crying and looked at her parents with big, wide, and innocent eyes. Marlene and Skipper were still in shock of their children. "Do you think she likes that name Skipper?" Marlene asked her husband.

"She stopped crying. And that's a beautiful name for our daughter," Skipper said proudly. Their little Penguin, identified as a boy, was still crying.

"Annabelle. My strange, little Annabelle," Marlene said happily to the little girl. Annabelle smiled at her mother, having been named. "What do you want to name our son? You've said you've always wanted a boy," Marlene asked Skipper. He thought for a moment. "How about Samuel?" Skipper asked his wife.

Just like with Annabelle, the little Penguin stopped crying at hearing a name. "He seems to like it Skipper," Marlene said happily. "He sure seems to. So Samuel is the name for our son," Skipper said proudly. Samuel smiled at his father. "Samuel. Our strange, little boy," Skipper said.

(P to present day Emily) Skipper and Marlene had just fainted in shock right in the middle of Kowalski's retelling of the arrival of the children. "Kowalski, are the smelling salts in the usual place?" I asked him.

"Yes Emily, they are," he replied. "Thank you," I said to him. I went into the lab and from one of the cabinets, grabbed a smelling salt each for my sister and brother. Then I cracked it under their noses and they woke back up.

(P to Marlene) "Proof! We demand proof!" Skipper and I exclaimed, trying to deny that our children had come into the world the opposite of what we had expected. "Well, I did take photos of the egg," Kowalski said. "You left that out of the retelling?" Skipper asked him. "It wasn't essential at the time, but I shall get them now," Kowalski replied.

"Thank you," Skipper and I said to Kowalski before his disappeared into the lab. When he returned, he had a folder filled with notes and photographs. Sure enough, there was an egg! Skipper and I looked through the folder, seeing the process of the egg cracking in Skipper's flippers. And Annabelle had come out of the egg!

We were absolutely speechless. We could not believe it at all. It was so hard to comprehend. Not only did we have children, but our Otter-looking daughter had come out of an egg that had grown inside of me, while our Penguin-looking son had been live-born from me! Kowalski took the folder and locked it away in the lab.

We were still in absolute shock when he returned moments later. We weren't even blinking. We were just staring straight in front of us. We literally were having so much trouble comprehending what everyone had just told us.

After 10 minutes, we snapped out of it. "Wow. I mean just, you know, wow," Skipper and I said. "We understand. After all, when you told me, I reacted the same way as you are right now," Emily said to us. "But how can I not remember that?" I asked everyone. "How do we not remember Annabelle in an egg and Samuel as a live-born Penguin?" Skipper asked everyone.

They all sighed. "We don't know. I don't think we'll ever know," Emily said sadly. "Do… do they know how they were, err, hatched and born?" I asked the four. Samuel and Annabelle were still above. "Actually, yes. They also were surprised when you told them," Private said to us.

"We can imagine. Well, it's safe for them to come down now," I said. "I agree. Let's go get our children," Skipper said. We were both released from our holding panel. After rubbing our feet, paws, and flippers for a few seconds, we opened up the hatch.

"Annabelle? Samuel?" we asked them. "Yes, Mom and Dad?" they asked us. "It's safe for you to come back down," Skipper said to them. "Do you remember us now?" Samuel and Annabelle asked us as we went back down. "No. But you're our children. No matter what, we will always love our strange children," Skipper and I both said to them.

We gave them both big hugs. Skipper and I, even though we didn't remember it, had mated and had children as a result. Our lives had changed so much in nearly six years. But why did we still not remember anything? "This is just… strange. All of it. The memory loss, being married, having children, you being transferred here Emily…" I said, trailing off.

It was just so strange. It was like our memories had been reset. But what did it? It wasn't Blowhole, as everyone said. But what? "We understand. It's just that we don't know why you don't remember either," Emily said to me. "Kowalski, what have you invented recently?" Skipper asked him. "Actually, it's been a few months since I last invented anything Skipper," Kowalski answered.

Well, there went that theory. Skipper and I sighed, with both frustration and sadness. We had forgotten everything. Defeating Blowhole, our wedding, our honeymoon, the children, Emily returning, and probably more. "I think I just… need to take a walk and process this all," I said. "I do as well," Skipper said.

"Of course. This is a lot to take in. But we'll be waiting for you here when you get back," Emily said to us comfortingly. I tried to do my best smile at her. "Thank you sis," I said to her. "You are welcome Marlene," she said to me. With that, Skipper and I climbed up the ladder to get some air and try to process this all.

Another cliffhanger. But how was the chapter? Please rate and review it. I've got notes today, as usual.

* Obviously, since they have not come to our world, the substance from the In Our World stories that first appeared in Book 1 is not there. So pure luck this time.

** Different than in Pengotter Pregnancy, but still fun.

*** Referencing Pengotter Pregnancy again. That happened in one of the chapters of the story. It's a good plot device.

**** Obviously, very different than at the end of Pengotter Pregnancy. Both of the children were live-born, not in eggs. I thought here, it would be more fun to make Annabelle hatch, especially since Skipper and Marlene don't remember it.