A/N:This is...a bit random and crackfic-ish, I know, but I wanted to add a new chapter. It was inspired by a piece of fanart on Pixiv that showed Jack with a penguin.
Jack had his share of unusual whims when it came to his hobbies. Last year, he had gone through a birdhouse-building phase, and there were about twenty of them now gracing their property. Then there was the (thankfully short-lived) time he'd taken up ice sculpture. But this had to take the cake. Now, he had decided that it would be a great idea for the family to have a pet emperor penguin.
"Can I have one, pleeeeeaaaseeeee?" he begged while on his knees in front of Carly.
"You've asked this before, and the answer's still no!" Carly answered sternly.
"But...but they're emperor penguins! They'd be a perfect pet for a King to own! And you can't see their eyes! It's funny!"
"Jack, this isn't like a dog or a goldfish. These are wild animals. They would be loud, and need a special diet and a saltwater pond."
"But we're rich, we can get all that..."
"AND," Carly continued while speaking over him, "They can grow big enough that they'd pose a danger to the kids. You don't want that, do you?"
This made Jack pause.
"No," he finally admitted. Then he belatedly realized that he looked very undignified.
"Hey, since when are you ordering me around?" he grumbled as he got to his feet.
"Since you specifically asked me to stop you from making stupid decisions."
"Oh. Right," Jack said. He thought for a moment.
"Well, can we get a monkey, then?" he asked.
"No."
"Damn!"