The group continues their dash through the forest to catch up with Luna. Meanwhile, the one-year-old dog reaches the edge of the small stream. She sees the source of the sound that guided her here. Two one-year-old cats getting dragged downstream by the strong current, Luna leaps into the air and makes a big splash when she hits the water. She swims over to them one has a star birthmark on the tip of its right ear and the other has a sun-shaped birthmark at the tip of its left ear. Luna grabs the first cat where its mom would have to carry it when it was a kitten and swims back to shore. She sets it a safe distance away from the steam and goes back in to rescue the kitten.
A few minutes later the group arrives to see the first cat shivering furiously. Tracy quickly takes off her jacket. She wraps the kitten up in it.
"Mom, can I hold it? Anastasia asks.
Tracy nods. She hands it to her daughter. The group looks over to see Luna is trying to rescue the other cat. The dog is a few feet away from the shore. A huge wave sweeps the animals downstream. Tracy's samurai instincts kick in. She whips the leash around her head like a lasso and tosses it towards her dog. They hear it splash when it hits the water.
"Luna, Marder la corea, you can do it," Tracy says.
The dog bites down as hard as she can. Tracy praises the dog as she pulls them in. A few feet later the leash starts to come apart where Luna's teeth pierced it. Tracy starts to pull them in faster in hope that the leash would stay together. A few pulls later it snaps because it got caught on a rock. Luna climbs onto it and barks as loud as she can.
"Dad, she is stuck, how can we help Luna and the kitten now?" Jade asks.
"Don't worry sweetie, I have a plan. Kevin, Antonio, Mike and Carter please come with me," Jayden says.
The men walk into the stream. They form a human chain; Kevin is the first in line. He extends his arms out towards Luna. The dog slowly inches towards him.
"Luna, Salta, jump to Kevin," Tracy says.
Luna gets ready to jump. A small wave splashes a thin, sharp twig up. She yelps when it cuts her leg a few inches above her right front paw. She quickly back away while whimpering in pain.
"Don't worry girl you're going to be fine. Please just jump, Salta," Tracy says.
The dog whimpers again when she sets her right paw down on the rock to get ready to jump again. She springs up into the air. Kevin catches her gently so the cat on her back wouldn't fall off. He passes her down the chain. Tracy takes her dog from Carter. Antonio and Chad take off their coats. Antonio wraps Luna in his and Chad wraps the kitten in his. The men get out of the steam.
"How did these little ones get here?" Dana asks.
"Good question, but we figure it out later. These animals need to see a vet now." Tracy says.
"The vet clinic on the corner of Emerald Point and Bright Horse Ridge closes in fifteen minutes, if we leave now, we should just make it," Carter says.
They leave the scene of the rescue mission the same way they entered. They climb back into the minivan. Tracy gets in the driver's seat. She turns on the engine and follows Carter out of the parking lot. Twenty miles down the road she sees the flashing of the lights of an ambulance, two fire trucks and police cars.
"This can't be good," Tracy says.
"Mom, what's wrong?" Anastasia asks.
"There is a really bad accident up ahead," Tracy answers.
"How are you going to help Sol and his brother Estrella and Luna?" Anastasia asks.
"Anastasia, honey, try your best not to get too attached to them. I said that I would help them. Let me make this very clear we aren't keeping them." Tracy says.
"Why not, mom, they are so cute," Anastasia says.
"I know they are honey, but they could have owners. Plus, we already have one pet." Tracy says.
Carter pulls into the parking lot of the nearest restaurant. Tracy makes a left turn to pull in as well. She parks the car and tells everyone to stay put. She gets out and walks over to Carter and Dana.
"Is there another way to get to the clinic?" Tracy asks.
"I'm afraid not, but I do know of one other place that you can go to help Luna and the kittens," Dana says.
"Really, where is it?" Tracy asks.
"The aqua base, I'm sure that the medical wing should have everything you need," Dana says.
"Good idea Dana," Carter says.
Tracy walks back to the van and gets in. She makes a right turn and follows Carter to the aqua base. The kids' eyes light up brighter than they did on Christmas morning as they drive down the tunnel leading to the entrance to the aqua base. Tracy puts the van in park and turns off the engine when they reach the lift. The lift slowly goes up and the group gets out of when it comes to a complete stop. Tracy takes Sol out of Anastasia's arms. She looks over at Anthony to see her son, let out a big yawn.
"I think it is nap time," Tracy says.
"I want to help you take care of Sol," Anastasia says.
"Sorry sweetie, but I think you need to take a nap too," Tracy says.
"Why?" Anastasia asks.
"Because if you don't take a nap now I can guarantee that you'll be fast asleep when it's time to watch the sea turtles hatch tonight," Tracy says.
"Okay, I'll take my nap," Anastasia says.
"That's my girl," Tracy says.
Ryan and Captain Mitchell lead Jayden, Mike, Ashley, Emily and Mia, and all the kids to the bedrooms. Emmaline, Jade, Madison, and Anastasia share one room. Ashley, Emily, and Mia guide the girls to their beds. They climb into their beds.
"Mom, will the cats be okay?" Jade asks.
"Yes, sweetie, they'll be fine," Ashley says.
"Yeah, my mom is great at helping animals," Anastasia says.
"She sure is," Jayden says.
They tuck the girls in and tell them a story to help them fall asleep. Ten minutes later the girls are fast asleep. They tiptoe out of the room. Ashley turns off the light. Ryan leads them to the galley. Meanwhile, the others walk into one of exam rooms; Tracy sets Sol down on the table. He looks up at her. She sees the same look Luna gave her when she showed up at the Shiba house.
One of these days my good nature is going to come back to bite me. Tracy thinks.
Dana hands her a stethoscope, a thermometer, a jar of petroleum jelly, alcohol and a roll of paper towels. Antonio sets the animal first aid kit from the van down on the table. Tracy puts the stethoscope on her neck, and sets everything else down on the table. She starts by taking Sol's temperature, it was 99.6. She puts the ear pieces of the stethoscope in her ears to listen to his heart and lungs. His pulse is 125, his resting respiration rate is 50 breathes, and his pulse 180 beats/min. She finishes her exam by taking his blood pressure, it's 150/97.
She takes stethoscope off and hands it back to Dana. She checks Sol's hydration level next. She gently but firmly grips the skin between his shoulder blades and lifts it up with a twisting motion.
"What are you doing?" Kevin asks.
"I'm checking to see how hydrated, he is." Tracy answers.
Tracy lets go of Sol's skin. It takes ten seconds for it to pop back into place. She does the same thing with Estrella and gets the same result.
"Dana, I'm going to need your help setting up an IV drip for Sol and the other cat. I'm afraid that they're severely dehydrated they need fluids now." Tracy says.
Dana nods. She gets everything Tracy needed. A few minutes later Tracy finishes setting up the IV drips. She gets to work and fixes the cut on Luna's leg. A few minutes later two of staff members walks in. Tracy goes over to them, tells them what to do and about Luna's temperament towards strangers. Luna goes over to Estrella and jumps up onto the bed. She lies down next to him. The cat slowly moves closer to her. He rubs his head against her chest and starts to purr. Tracy and the others leave to room after Tracy takes a picture of them.
They head to the galley as they enter the room Tracy sees Mike quickly eating a huge plate of food. She doesn't say a word and walks up to them.
"Hey, Tracy, so how are our four legged friends doing?" Ryan asks.
"Okay, Luna cut wasn't too deep all it needs is to clean out once a day so it won't get infected. The two cats were severely dehydrated." Tracy answers.
"Do you know if the cats have owners?" Emily asks.
"I have this strange feeling that they did, but I think they were abandoned." Tracy says.
"That's terrible," Emily says.
"How did you know that they had an owner?" Ryan asks.
"I noticed some of the fur was rubbed away and it was in the shape of a collar." Tracy says.
"They could have been an indoor/outdoor cat and the owner could have just taken the collar off when he/she let them outside." Emily says.
"If that was the case Em, the owners would have been out looking for them." Tracy says.
"That's true my little angle fish. What are we going to do once the cats are well again?" Antonio asks.
"Simple my golden knight, I've already told the kids that we're not keeping them. Carter, do you think that you and Dana could take them to the animal shelter tomorrow morning?' Tracy says.
"Sure thing," Carter says.
"How about we switch gears for a minute. Tracy, you were looking for a house weren't you?" Ashley asks.
"Yea, Ash-tree I was. I found the perfect one, but I can't show you the pictures their on my laptop back at the Shiba house." Tracy says.
"Here's a good question, how much is the down payment?" Kevin asks.
"$130, 000, we have 100,000 saved up, so Antonio convinced me to let his parents give us the rest that way we won't have to take out a loan." Tracy answers.
"That reminds me, I have to go call them. I'll be right back." Antonio says.
= Samurai First's =
Antonio walks over to the far corner of the room. He takes his cell phone out of his pants pocket. He searches through his contacts till he finds his parents' number and presses the green call button. He places on his right ear and listens to it ring a few times.
"Hello, hijo, how are you doing?" Sonia asks.
"I'm fine. Tracy finally found the perfect house for the family, but we still need a little more money for the down payment. Do you think that you and dad could help us out? " Antonio says.
"Hijo, you know that your father and I will do anything to help our grandchildren. How much do you two need?" Sonia asks.
"Just thirty thousand dollars," Antonio says.
"When do you need it by?" Sonia asks.
"Tomorrow, Tracy called the realtor and she said that the house would be going off the market in two days." Antonio says.
"How about we meet you at the realtor's office, and we do everything then." Sonia says.
"Sounds great, thanks mom." Antonio says.
"You're welcome," Sonia says.
Antonio puts his phone away, and goes back over to the table. He sits down next to his wife. They talk about how they're going to spend the rest of the day at the beach. Two hours later they hear the sound of their kids running footfalls as they come down the hallway. The parents get up and walk over to the doorway. The kids tackle them a few seconds later. After a quick tickle fight the kids climb off their parents so they can get to their feet.
"Mom, how is Sol?" Anastasia asks.
"He and his brother were severely dehydrated honey." Tracy says.
"They're going to be okay, right?" Anastasia asks.
Tracy nods. They head back to the medical wing to check on their four legged friends. They enter the room and see them running around.
"Sol and his brother are back to acting, how a one-year-old cat should." Tracy says.
"Is there a way to find out if they have owners?" Jade asks.
"Yes, Jade, some owners microchip their pets, so all I need is a scanner to see if Sol or his brother has one." Tracy answers.
"Where is it located?" Kevin asks.
"It usually is inserted deeply under the skin between the cat's shoulder blades." Tracy says.
Dana hands her a microchip scanner. Tracy picks up Sol and passes it over his shoulder blades in a circular motion. The screen reads that no microchip is found. She does the same thing with Estrella, and gets the same result. She sets Estrella down and hands the scanner back to Dana.
"Well, neither of them have a microchip." Tracy says.
"Does that mean we can keep them?" Anastasia asks.
"Honey, I told you on the ride to the clinic. We are not keeping them." Tracy says.
"Please, mom." Anastasia begs.
Tracy sees her daughter start to make her puppy dog eyes. She reminds herself not to give into it. She shakes her head no. Sol leaps into the air. Tracy catches him in her arms. Sol starts to lick her face.
Antonio watches as his wife tries her best not to smile or laugh. He also can tell that she is fighting an internal battle of not falling for the cat's sweet and loving personality. Estrella walks up and rubs her leg. A few seconds later he starts to purr. Sol stops licking Tracy's face and just pressing his nose against her cheek. Tracy bends down and sets him back down on the floor. The cats look up at her. Tracy sees their gold eyes sparkle. This makes them look even cuter. Tracy tires not to give into their look, but eventually she broke down.
"Look, we'll bring them home, but we are just being a foster home for them." Tracy says.
"What do you mean mom?" Anastasia asks.
"Being a foster home means that they'll live with us for a while till the local animal shelter tries to find them a forever home." Tracy answers.
"Why can't you just keep them?" Mason asks.
"Well, son, I think Tracy wants to teach Anastasia and Anthony that they can't keep every animal that Luna rescues or may show up at their doorstep." Emily says.
"Right," Tracy says.
"What are we going to do till the turtles hatch, dad?" Jade asks.
"We thought that we could spend the rest of the day at the beach." Jayden answers.
The kids cheer loudly. The parents take that as they're okay with the plan. Sol and Estrella go over to the far corner of the room. They curl up into a ball and take a cat nap. The group leaves the room and Luna follows them.
= Samurai First's =
They climb back into the van. After a quick trip to the local swimsuit store to buy the kids some swimsuits and the adults bought some too. Anthony picked out a blue Surfboards Swim Trunks. Ashton picked out a royal surfboard iXtreme - Little Boys Swim Suit. Mason picked out black/white Jumping Beans® Shark Swim Shorts. Jake picked out a TMNT swimsuit. Anastasia picked out a blue floral print Kanu Surf Little Girls' Lei Racerback One Piece Swimsuit. Jade picked out a Jump'N Splash Girls Polka Dots One-Piece with Matching Flip Flops. Madison picked out a Cream Brown Leopard Ruffle Tutu Lace Bikini Swimsuit with matching Cap. Tracy bought a Fantasia Aqua Controlfit Swimsuit for herself. Emily bought a Red Dancing Leaves V-neck One-Piece suit. Mia bought a pink Moonstone Beach Square Neck Controlfit Swimsuit. Ashley bought a red bikini. The men just picked out swim shorts that match their ranger color. They also stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up some beach toys. Antonio bought a Disney Princess Purse Fishing Kit for Anastasia and a Marvel Iron Man Backpack Fishing Kit for Anthony.
Tracy bought some other foods good for a beach barbeque just in case Antonio took the kids fishing and didn't catch anything. While they were leaving they walk past the AS seen on TV section. The kids stop in their tracks when they see the Bright Eyes Blankets.
"These are so cute," Anastasia says.
"I want the Panda." Jake says.
"Mom, I want the kitty," Jade says.
"Pato," Anthony says.
"I want the puppy," Madison says,
"I want the panda," Mason says.
"I want the puppy, too." Ashton says.
The parent knew that the kids would need something to keep them warm once the sun went down. They grab the boxes off of the self and out them in the cart. After they check everyone goes out to the car. They drive to the beach. The kids get out just as fast as they did when they got to the aquarium. The group finds a spot to put down their gear.
"What should we do first?" Ashley asks.
"We should find some firewood so we are able to cook dinner." Tracy says.
"Good idea," Jayden says.
Jayden and Carter leave the group to go gather the firewood. Kevin and Chad dig a fire pit. Ashley picks up one of the kids buckets and goes over to the ocean to get some water to put the fire out when they leave. Jayden and Carter walk down the coast. They spot a few good pieces of driftwood scattered on the sand in front of them. Jayden picks up a few pieces and hands them to Carter.
"Carter, when are Joel and his wife going to be here?" Jayden asks.
Carter hears someone call his name. The men turn around and see Joel, Rawlings and Kelsey walk up to them. Joel is wearing a green pair of swim trunks. Rawlings is wearing a floral print one piece that perfectly complements her body type. Kelsey is wearing a navy one piece. Carter introduces Jayden to them.
"Carter, I have great news, I' m going to be a father." Joel says.
"Congratulations, being a father is a lot of hard work, but..." Jayden says.
A few seconds later the red samurai ranger gets tackled by his kids. They others try not to laugh when he hit the sand.
"Daddy, did you and Mr. Carter finish getting the fire wood yet? Jade asks.
"Yeah, I want to go swimming," Ashton says.
"We're almost done, so can you let daddy up. Please," Jayden says.
The Shiba kids nod, they climb off their father. Joel helps him up and he looks down at them. Ashley walks up and kisses him on the cheek.
"Did you have to send the kids to tackle me?" Jayden asks.
"I didn't send them to do that, honey. They did it on their own," Ashley says.
Joel looks down at Jade. He notices that she looks just like her mom. Mrs. Rawlings places her hand on her baby bump. She wishes that their new baby will be just as adorable as Jade or as handsome as Ashton. They head back to the group. Jayden and Cater build the fire. Tracy tells them to wait an hour or so before they light it. They nod. Kevin and Chad take Ashton and the other kids swimming. Antonio takes Anastasia and Anthony fishing.
Luna starts to bark happily and see her tail wagging the same way. She turns to her left and sees what caused the puppy's jubilant reaction. Ballade is wearing a modest bikini. Fiarce is wearing a black pair of swimsuit. Angela and Amelia are wearing a ruffled leopard spot bikini. Antonio James is wearing a pair of swim trunks with an ice kanji pattern on them. Amelia lets go of Ballade's hand and runs up to her big sister.
"Sissy," Amelia says.
She gives her big sister a big hug. Tracy groans loudly. She couldn't believe how strong her little sister is when she starts to squeeze the air out of her lungs.
"I'm happy to see you too, herminta, but I need to breathe." Tracy says.
"Lo siento, gran hermana," Amelia says.
"Está bien, que has estado practicando a su español no es," Tracy asks.
"Sí," Amelia says.
Tracy chuckles lightly. Amelia lets her big sister go. Tracy didn't see her big brother.
"Hey, mom, where is Chris anyway?" Tracy asks
"He's around her somewhere." Ballade says.
Chris sneaks up behinds her. He is about to shout into her ear.
"Don't even think about it, gran hermano." Tracy says.
"You're not fun anymore," Chris says.
"I'm still fun, Chris, I just refuse to let to scare the life out of me, that's all." Tracy says.
"Where are Anastasia and Anthony?" Ballade asks.
"Antonio took them fishing," Tracy answers.
"Sis, have you heard from the vet school yet?" Chris asks.
"Tracy, you forgot to call your family after they called you two days ago." Kevin snaps.
"In my defense, I was still trying to process everything after they called me, okay?" Tracy says.
"What did they say sweetie?" Fiarce asks.
"I'm in and that class starts on Aug 31st." Tracy says.
"Doesn't Anastasia start preschool this year too?" Chris asks.
"Yes, don't remind me." Tracy says.
"Let me guess, you're wishing that Anastasia didn't grow up so fast?" Ballade says.
"Yes, is it wrong of I say that I don't want her to go?" Tracy asks.
"No, honey, every parent has those thoughts when their first child starts school." Ballade says.
"Sis, I thought you said that Antonio got a job at that sea food restaurant?" Chris asks.
"He did and his first day is Aug 31st too," Tracy says.
"Mom, can we go swimming too?" Angela asks.
"Sure, sweetie, just be careful not to play too rough with the little ones." Ballade says.
"We'll be careful, we promise." The triplets say.
They head towards the water. After they introduce themselves to the others, everyone starts swimming around. A few minutes later Amelia and the others start playing catch with the beach ball. On the other side of the beach Antonio and his kids cast their lines into the water. They wait patiently for a bite. Ten minutes pass and no one got a tug on their line.
"Dad, did the fish swim away?" Anastasia asks.
"No, sweetie, they're down there we just have to wait a little longer." Antonio says.
A few seconds later, Anthony's pole starts to bend towards the water. He reels the fish in just like his dad told him. After the fish was close enough to him, he grabs a hold of the line and goes over to his dad. Antonio looks to his left and sees his son running up with a five inch long yellow croaker on his line.
"Daddy, look at my fish." Anthony says.
"Good catch son," Antonio says.
"Thank you daddy," Anthony says.
A few minutes later everyone had caught a fish, so they head back to the others. Tracy turns around to see her husband and kids walking up.
"We caught the bigger fish," Anthony says.
"Yeah, the smaller one is daddies." Anastasia says.
"They're confused," Antonio says.
"No, we're not," The kids say.
"I have an idea why do we build a sand castle." Tracy says.
The kids nod. Tracy calls to her younger siblings. The group gets out of the ocean. After they dry off, everyone finds a spot to build the sand castle. Twenty minutes later the castle is finished. Tracy takes a picture of it with her phone. Ballade takes a few more pictures with the digital camera; she brought to capture all the memories from today. Thirty minutes later they eat dinner.
"Mom, can we make smore's please?" Angela says.
"Sure," Ballade says.
After everyone had a couple Smore's they clean up and put most of the gear back in the car. Afterwards, they sit down in front of it. Tracy notices that the kids are starting to look bored.
"Antonio, I have an idea, how about you go grab your guitar from the car." Tracy says.
"Sure," Antonio says.
Antonio leaves and comes back with his guitar. He sits down next to his wife. He tunes the guitar and winks at his wife. Tracy gets up and stands a few feet away from the fire. Antonio starts to play some Flamenco music. Tracy starts to dance to the music. A few steps into the dance Anastasia, Amelia and Angela get up. They go over to her, and start dancing with her. Ballade takes out the camera and starts to record this great memory. Five minutes later Antonio plays the last note. The others clap and the girls bow. Ballade stops recording the video and puts the camera away. They go back over to the group, and sit down.
"Mommy, can you and daddy sing?" Anthony asks.
"I have a better idea, how about we all sing a song?" Tracy answers.
"I'm in," Ashley says.
"Us too," Mia and Emily say.
"Us too," Jayden, Antonio, Kevin and Mike say.
"What song should we sing?" Tracy asks,
"What about the Austin and Ally Glee Club mash up," Ashley says.
The group nods. Tracy goes to the car to get her iPod and the speakers. She finds the song and presses play. The rangers walk over to where Tracy, Anastasia and her little sisters danced. After the song ends Tracy walks back over to the speakers and turns her iPod and the speakers. A few hours later they go over to the sea turtle nest site. The kids are wrapped up in their bright eyes blankets. Tracy starts to shiver as the cool night air. Antonio wraps his arms around her and pulls her into his chest.
"Thanks honey." Tracy says.
"You're welcome," Antonio says.
Ten minutes later they see the baby turtles begin to push their way up and out of the nest. The group thought that all of them were out but more kept coming out and heading to the sea. Tracy keeps hearing the kids say aw as the turtles waddle out to the sea. Twenty minutes later all the turtles hatched. They group walks back over to the fire. Ashley puts it out.
"Mom, can't we stay five more minutes?" Anastasia asks.
"No, sweetie, it's late." Tracy says.
Tracy glances over at Anthony and watches him drift to sleep. Antonio catches him a few seconds later. The rest of the kids fall asleep the parents catch them. They carry them to the van, and buckle them in. the parents get in as well. Tracy takes one more picture with her phone. She smiles seeing all the kids zonked out after the busy day they had.
Translation
Marder la corea- bite the leash
Hijo- son
Pato- duck
Lo siento, gran hermana – I'm Sorry big sister.
Está bien, que has estado practicando a su español no es - It's okay, you've been practicing your Spanish haven't you?
Sí – yes
Gran hermano- big brother