Lingering Longer

(A/N: Another late update! I'm really sorry, but this chapter was another one of those that I didn't particularly enjoy writing, probably because it introduced Nick and Fetcher and I don't think I can write them all that well. Anyway, thank you for being patient and here's chapter 10!)

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The news that Rocky had brought for Ginger that following afternoon had sent an instant smile to his face. She had been so overjoyed that he and Azul had broken the ice, and had decided to make amends between the both of them. When Rocky had explained in large detail about what they discussed (minus the 'family' talk of course), she could barely believe how quickly they had bonded.

She knew it had been a bright idea of hers for them to talk, now she felt as if there were no secrets kept anymore. She had hugged Rocky in delight, and as he returned it gratefully, something deep within his stomach kept prodding him over and over again that if he had let slip of something else, something involving other than inventing, or beholding the future…something to do with youngsters, and hatching…

He had turned his head away from such thoughts at the moment. What would Ginger think of him now, if he had suddenly brought up this subject? Maybe she would be surprised, certainly…especially if she weren't ready. What if she liked Rocky to be the way that he was now? Without dedication to a family life, and to be single and open to her, and only her?

It frightened him a little, knowing that this next stretch in the emptiness had seemed to jump up and hit him in the face so quickly, he had hardly any time to react. The word 'children' appeared as such a huge step to the next stage, and he wondered what his own response would be.

Crying at all hours, up all night…new words, new steps, a boy, girl…a name?

And the sweetest possession anyone could ever own.

Rocky had always been good with kids, his mother had said so herself. The idea of at least having one brought a new sensation into the pit of his stomach. Was it sickness, or something else? For the time being, he agreed to ponder, and pay attention to other things until the meaning had settled in.

Two days had passed, and during the early hours of the morning (less warmer as the chickens noticed, gratifyingly a relief), Ginger was late to rise, rather unusual as she was normally one of the first to be up and about. Rocky had made the infinitive decision to leave her as she was. A lot had happened and he supposed she needed rest.

He had given her a tiny kiss on the cheek before leaving their hut, and stepping out into the open. A slight fog was around, wet and cold on the breath, due to the chills of the previous night. Many of the hens were out enjoying it, especially those who had suffered terribly from the heat in the earlier week. Rocky strode through the mingled grass and let his feet take him away, all he needed was a walk to clear his head.

Azul could be seen already, working away in his own little corner at the raft, his back to the others and his busily constructing a minor noise on the sanctuary. Rocky offered a small smile towards him, even though he couldn't see it. He now knew about this newcomer, and his painful past, and couldn't help feeling terrible for all of the fuss he made. Of course Ginger didn't have feelings for him, it had all been a mistake, she didn't change her mind so suddenly as that.

"Whoa - " Rocky's breath caught in his throat as he felt a little bump against his leg, a tiny squeal and then the sound of rushing grass as someone fell over (softly, mind). A chuckle came from him as he looked down to see one of Babs' children, her little son Archie, kicking his tiny legs in the air and wailing in surprise.

"Hey, kiddo!" said Rocky, lifting up the chick with little force and setting him down on the ground. "Y'know ya have to watch where you're going, before ya bowl someone over. There could've been sores approaching!"

Little Archie was only a few months old, Babs' youngest child out of her three. Her other two little girls, Beth and Susie, were almost one year. They all had her clueless blue eyes, and her sweet nature, though Archie was the only one to suffer from her terrible memory problems. He liked nothing better than to spend his time spinning in circles, wondering if it would get him anywhere.

It obviously didn't.

Archie squeaked as Rocky helped him up.

"Where's those sisters of yours, buddy?" Rocky asked kindly. "I guess they ran off and left ya, huh? Whaddya up to, being so far away from ya mom? C'mon," The rooster picked up the lad in his wings and lifted him over his shoulder, all the while him chirruping away as if lost in some game.

Rocky's brown eyes softened at the sounds, and he bit down on his beak as he spotted Babs in the distance, knitting away as she normally spent her time. He could barely make out the future invention of a baby blue woollen hat, for her son it seemed. He swallowed a little and lifted Archie higher on his shoulder.

"Hey, I think we've got a mother in sight!" he said.

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The rest of that day, Rocky left Ginger to herself. He thought that she was beginning to look overworked with all of the oncoming arrangements, and he thought it best to stay out of her way a little. With her temper, and with all of the stress, he did what he could to be of a coward and flee (of course as a joke, taken).

Instead, he spent the rest of his time prowling about the island, not intending on being bored but not finding anything else to do, he flooded his mind with unanswered questions and dwelled on other matters.

Now he sat below the old willow tree again, deep and relaxed in the shade where he had spent most of his earlier hours talking with Azul. He rested his head against the thick trunk and let his head swim, all of his memories of Ginger's worry coming into mind, and he himself trying to place her motives into what he was suspecting. Did she really want children? That night on the hills, she had been so thoughtful…

But was he ready to become a father? He wasn't sure, and he was uncertain if it suited him or not. Rocky Rhodes? The Lone Free Ranger, a dad? Maybe to many youngsters if it turned out right, but right now…thinking about it like this, all alone, he felt sick.

"What's a guy to do?" he groaned.

"Hey up, what's all this then?" came a sly, crafty voice from below, and Rocky turned his attention away from the sky and towards the ground, where the two rats, Nick and Fetcher stood. The chief swindlers of the farm, they had followed the chickens around at no cost, wanting their eggs (dear to the hens at that time) for agreements to help them in their escapades.

Now, being away from all of that, they had relaxed into the sociality and ecstasy of the island, and had exchanged their usual business suits to more attention-grabbing holiday shirts and shorts. Their Hawaiian colours today didn't seem to cheer Rocky up at all; he just sighed under his breath and frowned a little.

"What do you want?"

"We're here to help you out, gov," Nick said with a smile.

Rocky pulled a face in what he hoped was a sneer. "Not to be rude, guys," he said. "But I don't think I need any help right now…or want it for that matter. You're probably just wasting ya time." He placed his head into his cupped wings.

This didn't stop the rats, however. They scuttled in close, ignoring the shuns.

Nick grinned slyly as he said, "Noticing that over a while, your strategic face has fallen into place with the dirt – where it tends to belong in my own honest opinion – anyhow," He waved his hands about. "We were just wondering - "

"What was up!" Fetcher finished gleefully for him.

Rocky scoffed. "Like you guys would wanna know."

"C'mon, mate!" Nick chuckled. "I can tell something's up, or you wouldn't want to keep it a secret so much, now would you? What is it? Nothing wrong with the little missus perhaps?"

"Not been bothering, has she?" Fetcher enquired.

"No!" Rocky blurted before he even had chance to consider it, and realised that he hadn't meant to say anything at all. "No…t-that's not it…" But his own hesitation frightened him in a way. Was it any of their business in the first place? And how did they always seem to know that something wasn't right? It was creepy.

The two rats exchanged unsatisfied glances. "Um-hm. Course."

Rocky rolled his eyes and turned away from them, his eyes lost in a deep frown. What was it to them why he was so down in the dumps? It wasn't like their minds would ever cross what he was thinking of right now. It was more a state of family matters, one left to think alone and…besides, he had never been the best of friends with the rats, not after the whole situation with the eggs. He didn't know why they were coming over anyway, except to cause trouble and be an annoyance.

"Shut up," he snapped. "Go away."

"Well, that's gratitude for you, eh, Fetcher?" Nick pretended to be insulted as he mocked Rocky's remark. "Can't even help a fella out anymore, what's this world coming to, I wonder?"

"Terrible," Fetcher finished echoingly. "Got no manners, he hasn't."

"Precisely my point," said Nick, turning point. "Come along, Fetcher, if he don't want to talk to us, I don't see why we're wasting our energy standing over here like ninnies. Let's go and leave him to disintegrate."

"That means crumble," added Fetcher.

They walked off, away from Rocky and headed for the centre of the island. Of course, the rooster didn't spend all of his time crumbling, he spent it to think. And maybe they had been right…he shouldn't have really told them to go. They knew what he had been pondering on, but how? Had he been that obvious towards it? Had he spoken aloud without even realising?

They were the only ones he could share with. But that all depended on one thing…could he trust them? What's to say that they would share the secret themselves, going off and spreading it far and wide for everyone to hear? And what if Ginger got hold of it? Rocky couldn't even bear to think.

So why did he do it?

"Hey, guys! Come back!" he called in exasperation, his mind lost to his own troubles.

To his surprise, and to his fullest extent of anger, he spotted them barely just poking their heads out from behind the nearest tree, chortling and sniggering to themselves. "You bellowed?" Nick joked.

Rocky found his frown returning. So they hadn't gone after all! They somehow, again knew that he was going to call them back, so they had waited for him on purpose. How did they always guess what he was going to do? For a moment, all the thoughts were telling him to just get up and leave them to their joke. But he needed someone to talk to. He just hoped they wouldn't say anything.

"OK," he began. "I'm not even gonna begin to say how spooky that is, for a start. And…I guess you've kinda gotta point. I have problems, all right – I'm full of 'em, and at the moment, I'm stocked to the top."

That was true. He couldn't even remember the last time that he had felt so confused as this, and it was all to do with a change of events. Why did everything have to differ from what it had been? It had been fine.

"Allow us," Nick butted in, both of them stepping out from behind the tree now. They stood up tall, looking important, and straightened out the creases in their shirts. "Ever since that new bloke's dropped in for a surprise visit, it's got you wired, hasn't it mate?"

"And you thought he was playing in on your girl," Fetcher grinned.

"Somehow – and I know this is right, he's told you a cockamamie story of what's being happening to himself, hoping for self pity and all of that."

"And you were feeling jealous. So what he does, you see…he plays the friendship card, and you fall right smack into his trap, like, er…like a mackerel!"

"So now…your feelings are twaddle, aren't they? Are we right? Tell us we're right."

Rocky couldn't believe how accurate they had been. In amazement, all he could manage was a numb nod and a humble grin. Deep down, his feelings indeed were mixed up, as he was unsure about everything. He wasn't sure if he really liked the idea of everyone knowing what he was thinking, he didn't want to come off at the thought of being read so easily.

But then…the rats hadn't guessed the biggest part of his mind, which had been troubling him. They couldn't possibly know the true wanting that he held, to finally come to the realisation that children might not be so bad. And he was still trying to find the strength and courage of telling this to Ginger himself.

Could he do that? So soon? How long would it take him…in the end?

He showed up his expression as a sign of relief, pretending to look horrifyingly sick at the thought that they knew what had been happening, and drew back a thankful smile as he stared down at their swaggering, cheesy expressions.

"Yeah…guys," he agreed stiffly. "You're right."

As Nick and Fetcher obtained adequate glances, and prouder than proud exclamations, Rocky secretly stared up at the sky, and was lost in the peaceful bliss of the clouds as he breathed out a long, breathless sigh.

Everything would fall in place soon. It just needed the time to get there.

And on the wind in the distance, the faint, cheerful but chirpy sound of Archie's laugh floated to Rocky's hearing, and it somewhat seemed to encourage him, sending a new found feeling into his heart that he had liked, but had never encountered before in his life.

To be continued

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(A/N: Ugh, this chapter was terrible. It took me ages to write and get it down, I think it must be the hardest one to write so far. Anyway, it might not be the best update, but the story is gradually reaching its end, and I should get there someday. For now, please R&R! Rocky will have cookies if you do! Rocky runs from the sugar )