" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"
Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were awesome. Now here's the next chapter. BTW: Thanks Viva1La1Bam for pointing this out. I really appreciated it. You bring up an interesting point. Not to make a big deal out of the review or anything, but I like to explain details to readers. Anyways. I already knew that Skipper was out of character here and there. I was trying to aim and bring out a different side of him, that doesn't usually show, and weave back into his original personality before I drifted too far away from it. Also, the reason why this story is at a faster pace than " To Private's Eyes", is probably because I started off with the largest obstacle in the first chapter. I'm not really sure. Maybe it's the way my brain wanted to type out the story. LOL. Anyways. Thank-you for reading this message. Warning: I may revise, blah, blah, blah. LOL. You know what I mean. BTW: I'm a little unsure about this chapter. Something seems off about it and...Oh, my, gosh! I've become paranoid just like Skipper! He's contagious(screams). Okay, maybe I'm not paranoid like Skipper nor is paranoia contagious. LOL . Anyways. Please let me know what you think about it and please enjoy. Sorry this A/N was so long.
Chapter 7
" Many things," Private squeaked.
Marlene looked at him with a skeptic expression on her face and folded her arms. " Name one."
" I'd rather not," Private stuttered.
" I'm giving him the rest of " The talk" on his birthday," Skipper butted in.
" The rest of " The talk"," Marlene questioned as she turned towards Skipper. " Skipper, what did you tell him
in the other part of " The talk"?"
" I told him a little bit about the facts of life, which I kept appropriate for his age group, most of the time,"
Skipper stated firmly. " Why?"
" Most of the time," Marlene raised an eyebrow, which was startled, but at the same time furious. The other
penguins stared at the couple.
" While giving Private " The talk", I may have accidentally told him a few things that went above his age
group level," Skipper stuttered, but remained stern.
" A few things," Private squealed. " You told me more than just a few things, Skipper. You told me stuff that'll
give me nightmares for days."
" And did you have any nightmares, at all, after I told you any of that stuff," Skipper raised an eyebrow.
" Now that you mention it. No," Private thought out loud, going back to his normal self.
" Good," Skipper grumbled.
Suddenly, the otter habitat became quiet. The animals inside had started to become a little uneasy about it.
" Well," Kowalski glanced down at his flipper, pretending that there was a watch there. " Would you look at
the time? I got to go. I'm going to go make a gift for Doris." He stood up from the table. " Thanks for the
muffins. 'Bye," Kowalski ran off outside, toward the penguin habitat.
Rico pointed his flipper toward the door of Marlene's habitat. " Finish movie," he squawked then waddled off,
following after Kowalski.
" I guess, I should be going to," Private stood up from the table. " I promised the mother duck I would stop
by the pond and help teach her ducklings how to swim."
" Hold it Private," Marlene uttered. " What exactly did Skipper tell you in " The talk"?" Private took a deep
breath then told Marlene every thing that Skipper had told him about the facts of life. Marlene stood shocked
and wanted to scold Skipper for scaring Private like that. He was still a little too young to hear about that
stuff, but he was getting close to the age to where he could, though. Skipper turned sideways, away from
Marlene, knowing that she was not the least bit satisfied with what she had heard. He had also glared at
Private, from the corner of his eye, for not keeping his big beak shut. Marlene took a deep breath to cool her
self down before proceeding to talk to the young penguin. " Private," she looked at him, reassuringly. "That's
no reason to be afraid of your birthday."
" It's not," Private stuttered.
" No," Marlene retorted then smiled. "It's just a part of life and some thing that you need to be well aware of,
as well as everyone else, when they reach that certain age."
" Even you two," Private asked curiously, looking at both Marlene and Skipper.
" Yes, Private," Skipper smiled as he turned to the young penguin. " Even us two. Now, aren't you running
late for something?"
" Oh, my goodness," Private screeched, slapping his flippers on the sides of his face then began exiting out
of the habitat. " I've got to get going. 'Bye. And thanks for the muffins! They were delicious!"
" 'Bye, Private," Marlene and Skipper shouted simultaneously as they waved at him.
" Okay, Skipper," Marlene turned to Skipper, who was now looking at her. " Explain yourself. Why did you
have to tell Private that stuff about the facts of life, so early?"
" My father told it to me, when I was his age, except he told me the whole, entire story," Skipper retorted.
" Wow," Marlene raised both of her eyebrows in surprise. " The apple doesn't fall to far from the tree. Does
it?"
" And what is that suppose to mean," Skipper folded his flippers then narrowed his eyes.
" I mean that you and your father told too much information to a kid, that wasn't ready to be heard by them,
yet, because they're still very young," Marlene squeaked.
" Hey, at least I told Private only part of what my father told me," Skipper argued. " Mostly because I didn't
want to traumatize him for life."
" But it still affected him, though," Marlene shouted in a concern tone.
" Not as bad as it affected me," Skipper stated defensively. " I was given the whole talk within the same day
and had a bad reaction to hearing it afterwards."
" So you had to go and scare Private out of his wits like that, without even considering what it might've done
to him, too," Marlene argued back.
" Look. I didn't know. Okay," Skipper growled. " Besides, I've already told you that it was an accident."
" Did you apologize for that accident," Marlene glared at Skipper.
" Well," Skipper thought for a moment then felt guilty about it. " No…I didn't apologize, but that's beside the
point of this conversation here, Marlene."
" Skipper," Marlene sighed. " I have a question for you. And please don't take this personally, but what
happens if you decide to have kids or adopt kids in the future? Would you do the same thing to them, too?"
" Honestly," Skipper thought out loud, taking a flipper to the bottom of his beak. " I don't know. Probably.
Why?"
" Just curious," Marlene shrugged as Skipper stared at her, with a raise eyebrow.
" Why are you curious about it," Skipper then wrapped his flipper around Marlene's shoulder and smiled at
her. " Come on. You can tell me. I don't bite. I may bark at you, but no biting. I promise?"
" Well," Marlene took a finger to her chin. " All right. I'll tell you. I just want to know how you would be with
kids, that's all..."
" Oh, no," Skipper jumped nervously. " You're not…I didn't…we just kissed and…we only dated for…I don't
think...unless that other otter..."
" No, Skipper," Marlene raised her voice with a chuckle. " It's not that. Besides, I said " decide". Remember?
So, no need to get all paranoid.I'm just asking, because if we ever get married some day and decide to
adopt a kid and yes, I said "adopt", I want to make sure that you can handle the responsibility and have the
patience for it."
" Oh," Skipper blushed and wiped his forehead with his free flipper. " Whew. Thank goodness. For a second
there I thought you were…never mind. Anyways. If you really want to know, I'm great with kids and I love
them. If I were to have or adopt any, I don't know exactly how I would be. If we were to get married,
which is pushy at this point since we just barely started dating, and adopt kids, the same thing would apply,
but I have to admit to you that I can be a little irresponsible and impatient sometimes, seeing that I
command an elite force."
" Sometimes," Marlene raised a skeptic eyebrow. " From what I've heard from Private, you built an obstacle
course and put Eggy through it before he had even hatched, plus I heard that you were trying to push him
into becoming a leader, like you."
" Guilty as charged," Skipper chuckled nervously. " Though from what I've been told, Eggy has picked up on
some of my excelente leadership skills."
" True," Marlene retorted then felt Skipper remove his flipper off of her shoulders. He stood up from his seat.
" Where are you going," she asked curiously.
Skipper looked down at her. " I just remembered, I have an apology that I need to go make," he leaned
down, kissed Marlene on the cheek, and began waddling away. " I'll be right back. Love you, Marlene."
" Love you, too, Skipper," Marlene waved at him.
Suddenly, he stopped at the doorway. " Oh? When I get back," he looked over at Marlene. " Would you like
to take the stroll around Central Park or would you rather just rest up and save it for another time? Because
either way, I'm good."
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Wow. Skipper thought what now!? Never mind. The problem's been fixed. Anyways . Coming up next in Chapter 8. Catch Marlene's answer to Skipper's question. Please stay tuned and find out more. BTW: I apologize for any characters, who are or may be out of character. I have been known to do that and I don't know why. It could be one of my OC's and I could write them out of character from time to time, easily and by accident, of course. LOL . Anyways. Thank-you for reading this message.
