The Chameleon Brothers were out and about in the city. Aside from a few people shooting them dirty looks because of Gemina being naked, they were off to a decent start. Walking to work was a great way to expose Gemina to the sounds and sights of the world. She already had been exposed to the busy sounds of the city yesterday, but today, she got to experience more of it. The sound of cars, horns, yelling people, and trains were making her curious about the world. To a normal citizen, it was nothing special. But to a newborn, it was something extraordinary and new. Her glimmering eyes took everything in.
"Oooh…" she cooed as she continued studying all the sights and sounds. She began giggling and cooing as she gripped Leon's back folds tightly.
"You like this, Gemina?" Chuck asked as he and Leon smiled at her.
Gemina cooed back at them in response.
"Ja, O-Town is such a marvelous place.." Leon commented.
"You're gonna enjoy living here…" he added as the trio walked past two robbers breaking into a bank.
"Mm-hmm!" Chuck nodded. "I know today's gonna be a great day! I promise!"
Just as they made a stop at Harry St. they encountered Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt. The three best friends were all sitting at a bus stop, apparently waiting for their ride. The reason why they were here was mind-boggling to the Chameleon Brothers. It was a hard decision whether or not they should go talk to them. Two spirits who resembled them, except with devil horns and angel wings and ring respectively, poofed in front of them.
"No, no, don't talk to them! Just go to your stinking coffee shop already!" directed the devil spirit, who resembled Chuck.
"Be true friends and ask them where they're going. Maybe they'll offer you something sweet!" The angel spirit convinced them politely. The angel spirit greatly resembled Leon.
"No, they'll tell you to buzz right off!" barked the devil spirit.
"Aw, c' mon, why don't you talk to them? They mean no harm!" the angel spirit coaxed as it pointed towards the three friends. "Maybe you can apologize to them, remember? The agreement from yesterday?"
This statement was what ultimately convinced the brothers to go talk to Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt. The angel spirit winked at them as they walked towards the three friends. The devil and angel spirits then vanish as if they weren't there at all.
"Heffer and Filburt.." addressed Chuck.
"Hi, Chuck and Leon!" Heffer and Filburt greeted in unison.
"Why, hello Chuck and Leon," Rocko greeted more calmly.
"W-we have something to tell you.." announced Chuck and Leon nervously.
"What is it?" asked Heffer.
"W-w-w-we're sorry that we kicked you out yesterday.." the twins stuttered with sweat drops trickling down their necks.
There was a moment of silence before Heffer gleefully replied, "It's okay!"
"Say… Do you guys wanna go out to breakfast with us?" Heffer offered in his usual happy-go-lucky voice. Heffer always loved to hang out with his friends. He loved having fun and being carefree, even with Ed Bighead, the grouchiest person in O-Town.
The brothers look at each other before turning their attention back to the steer.
"We gotta go to work," Chuck declined.
"Ja, we gotta go to work," Leon agreed. "Besides, we already had breakfast!"
"Come on! Maybe your stomach's asking for more food!" Heffer persuaded them.
"Well that's true.." chuckled Leon. "Little Gemina needed a diaper change, so we cut our breakfast short.."
"Okie Dokie! It's settled then!" Heffer concurred.
Before the five knew it, the bus made its stop.
"Whaddaya know?! Our bus is here!" cheered Heffer. "Come on guys, let's go!"
The group walked into the bus in a single file line like schoolchildren. Heffer sat next to Filburt in the front seat, while Rocko sat between Chuck and Leon in the seat behind. Before the bus was ready to take off, the bus driver asked for their money.
"Your change, gentlemen?" the pig bus driver motioned, holding his palm out.
"Oh, yes, here you go, Mr. Bus Driver," Rocko walked up to the bus driver and handed him five dollars.
"And we're off like a herd of turtles!" Heffer said happily.
"Hey, I resent that statement!" Filburt glared at the steer as he bared his teeth.
"Oh, sorry, Filb. I didn't mean to offend you.." Heffer murmured, trying to prevent a fight from happening.
As the bus took off, Chuck tapped Heffer on the shoulder, "Heffer, I don't think this is a great idea.." He still wasn't 100% positive with the plan. While both brothers thrived on routine, Chuck was wary about messing it up even more.
"Why?" Heffer asked with a concerned look on his face.
"Our customers might get angry at us… The shop still isn't open for the day yet," explained Chuck.
"Don't worry, Chuck," Rocko consoled him, placing his hand on the chameleon's back. "Heffer and Filburt also offered me to go to breakfast with them. Mr. Smitty won't be pleased with me... He's a very high-strung toad, a smoldering old toad to be precise."
"But you gotta learn to let it go and have fun once in a while! Endure all the yelling and scolding when you return, and you should be fine!" he added, smiling at the nervous chameleon.
"We don't have a boss.." Chuck answered.
"Ja, we are our bosses," Leon agreed. "But we know what you mean."
He removed a sleeping Gemina from his back and passed him to his brother. It was a rarity for her to be sleeping in public. Usually, she would be wide awake, but she was probably pooped out from screaming and laughing all night. After all, she was a newborn and she needed her beauty sleep. Chuck bounced her in his arms a few times before wrapping her in a pink blanket.
"Aww, she looks cute when she's sleeping," stated Rocko as he gazed at the baby.
"Yeah, she's not so cute when she cries," Chuck commented.
The chameleon dug in the basket for a pacifier, but there weren't any.
"Dang it! We forgot to bring a pacifier with!" Chuck groaned.
"Maybe use the bottle nipple?" Leon advised.
"Clever idea!" Chuck unscrewed the nipple from the bottle and inserted it into the baby's mouth.
The brothers took turns kissing her forehead. Chuck then laid her in the basket. He set the basket on Rocko's lap. Rocko gawked at the basket in confusion as if he didn't know what to do with it. He had been a victim to the brothers' many scams before, but being expected to hold a Moses' basket for them was even more mind-boggling. He tried to open his mouth to say something to them, but his mind refrained him from doing so. He didn't want to get into an argument with them, so he just kept his mouth shut.
10 minutes later...
The bus had made a complete stop. Luckily, it was directly across the street from the group's destination. The destination was a breakfast restaurant called "The Sunny-Side Up Diner". This place was where Rocko and friends would go to if they didn't have time to make breakfast at home. The place itself looked like an average 1950s-60s style restaurant, except the sign was a huge piece of bacon with two eggs topped over it.
As the crew exited the bus, Rocko gave the bus driver another five dollars. He sighed grudgingly as he hopped off the last step.
"Have a nice day," The bus driver monotoned. The bus doors slowly closed before driving off to its next stop. The group watched the bus drive away. They then walked across a crosswalk and headed into the restaurant. The inside of the restaurant looked retro. There were booths, tables, and even a bar. The booths and chairs were red, while the tables seemed to be made of marble.
"So where do you guys wanna sit?" inquired Heffer.
"The booth," Rocko, Filburt, and The Chameleon Brothers answered.
The booth was a good choice. Unless Gemina woke up, nobody should notice her if the group was sitting at a booth table. Besides, the basket would easily fit snugly under the table. As long as Gemina would sleep through it all, no one should notice nor care.
"You know, this place is pretty neat!" Leon commented as he sat himself down at the booth.
"Yeah, Rocko, Filburt, and I go there twice a week!" Heffer said, scooching himself to the end of the booth with Filburt.
"You like that place this much?" Chuck asked.
"Yeppie doo, Chuckaroo!" Heffer nodded.
Just as the group was getting settled, the waitress stopped by. The waitress was a middle-aged cat with short blonde hair and brown fur. She looked to be about the same size as Heffer, except not as fat.
"Good morning, gentlemen," the waitress greeted in a raspy, gruff voice. "What would you like to have for your drinks?"
"Water, please." Rocko requested politely.
"Orange juice!" Heffer chirped.
"I would like an espresso with cream," requested Filburt.
"May we order a coffee?" Chuck asked the waitress.
"Ja, with cream?" added Leon.
"Alright… Alright…" The waitress muttered as she wrote down the orders in a notepad. "I'll be back with your drinks." the waitress walked away.
"Oh, they have the best bacon and eggs!" Heffer rattled on. "You should try them! They fry up the bacon and eggs, then they add a special seasoning… It reminds me of Chokey Chicken!"
"Mmmm… I love bacon.." Filburt murmured as he felt his mouth water.
"We were thinking about ordering French Toast.," Chuck said with Leon nodding in agreement.
"French toast? That's boring-" Filburt pinched the steer's mouth shut.
"I think I'll just order some waffles," Rocko decided as he read through the menu.
"So, what about the baby? Is she gonna order?" asked Filburt.
"No… she doesn't even have teeth! Also, she's sleeping right now, so don't wake her up," Chuck articulated.
The waitress returned with their drinks, "Here are your drinks," she placed each drink in the middle of the table.
"Can I have a straw?" asked Heffer in a rather childish tone.
The waitress took out a plastic straw and dipped it into his juice.
"Now, what would you like for your meal?" the waitress inquired as she took out her notepad. "How about you, kangaroo boy?"
"I'm a wallaby, thank you very much," Rocko corrected the waitress in an annoyed tone. "Anyway, I would like some waffles with syrup and grape jelly."
"Mmm-hmm.." The waitress wrote down the order. "Oh, and you two dinosaur men."
"We're chameleons," Chuck corrected the waiter. "And we would like some French toast."
"With whipped cream, strawberries, butter, and little pizzazz.." finished Leon.
"How about you two? Cow and turtle boy?" the waitress asked as she continued to write down the orders.
"He's a steer," Filburt corrected, pointing at Heffer.
"Can we have the Super Deluxe Bacon Special with some fried eggs please?!" Heffer suggested excitedly as he gave his menu to the waitress.
"OK…" The waitress wrote down the last order. "Your food will arrive shortly."
Just as the waitress walked away, Gemina began to wake up. She looked around in wonder as if she had no idea what was going on. She was still in her basket, tucked away in her blanket while under the restaurant table. She spat out the bottle nipple and began cooing. She was trying to get the brothers' attention, but they were too busy talking to their friends. It was boring being an immobile infant. The only things she could do was sit, eat, poop, sleep, and cry. She sighed unhappily as she continued to look around the restaurant from her basket.
"So as I was saying, what comes first? The chicken or the egg?" Filburt debated. "The world may never know.."
"I was thinking that the egg came first. After all, an egg is a seed!" joked Heffer.
The four all laughed at Heffer's statement. Even Heffer himself couldn't help but giggle at what he just said.
"That's so funny!" laughed Chuck. "If I had pants, I'd be wetting them!"
The fun was interrupted by a sudden wail from Gemina, "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
The chameleons immediately shuddered as the high-pitched cries traveled into their ears. Gemina crying in any public place; the restaurant, the store, their coffee shop, was their biggest fear when it came to parenting. At first, it seemed like they didn't have Gemina. It felt like the good old days when they didn't have any adoptive children to look after. Unfortunately, Gemina had to step in and crash the party. To avoid people shooting them dirty looks, Leon immediately scooped Gemina from her basket and took her outside.
"What's the matter, baby?" consoled Leon as he rubbed and patted her back. "Do you want to ride on my back?"
Gemina continued to scream and cry her lungs out. People walking by were shocked at what they were hearing in front of the restaurant. At a long distance, they could've thought that someone was being murdered. This was the case for a deer couple walking on the sidewalk, just across from the restaurant.
"Is someone dying or something?!" the male deer asked in fear.
"I don't know, but it sounds scary!" The female deer led his husband somewhere else.
Gemina screamed so hard that she almost broke her voice box. The chameleon kept on rubbing and patting her back, desperately trying to get her to stop crying.
There was one last solution. Leon unswaddled her and placed her on his back. She immediately stopped crying as if nothing happened. Now she was ready to go back into the restaurant. Leon walked back into the restaurant, apologizing to people who witnessed the meltdown.
"Sorry about that, guys.." He apologized as he switched Gemina from his back to his arms. "Gemina was being a bit fussy."
"Fussy?" Rocko said. "She was screaming the place down!"
The waitress arrived with the crew's meal. She placed each plate in front of each friend. Heffer and Filburt each had a plate of bacon and eggs, Rocko had waffles, and The Chameleon Brothers each had French toast. Heffer and Filburt's mouths watered at the sight of the food.
"Enjoy your meals," the waitress told the group as she walked off.
Heffer began downing his food like a hungry hippo. Rocko was disgusted by his friend's noisy eating.
"Heffer, can you eat a little quieter?" Rocko lectured as he nibbled his waffles.
Gemina was astonished by all the yummy food. She panted happily like a puppy as she tried to reach the food.
"No, no sweetie," Leon said as he pushed the plate away from her. He placed her back in the basket. Gemina was not very pleased with this.
The brothers began to dig into their meal. The sweet strawberries and fluffy whipped cream were fueling up their taste buds. It was the best breakfast they ever had. It was a plus over the boring toast and cereal they had earlier this morning.
Meanwhile, Rocko was enjoying his waffles. The waffles were home-cooked with delicious syrup and smooth grape jelly. Heffer and Filburt were each enjoying their bacon and eggs. They were gobbling it like a bunch of vultures.
As they were enjoying their meal, Gemina began to cry again. Chuck almost dropped his fork from how loud and sudden it was. She might be small, but her voice was surely big. The others just looked on as if they did something wrong. People were already shooting the group dirty looks. The chameleon scooped the baby from her basket and placed her on his back. Now peace was restored to the restaurant.
"Heffer, you were right," Chuck began as he munched on his French toast.
"This place is fabulous!" Leon finished.
"I told you! This place is like if Chokey Chicken was a breakfast restaurant!" Heffer bubbled as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.
"What do you think, Gemina?" asked Chuck as he transitioned the baby from his back to his arms. "Do you like this restaurant? Even though you were screaming most of the time?"
"Ah-gah," Gemina babbled.
"Oh, you are so cute… yes, you are, yes you are.." Leon began tickling her belly. Gemina began to giggle at him happily.
Rocko felt rather uncomfortable being seated between two chameleons cooing over a baby. He had no room to stretch because of their height. He ducked as the two passed the baby to each other. Gemina was still stark naked, which disgusted him greatly.
"Why don't you put clothes on her? Or at least a diaper!" Rocko gagged.
Both Chuck and Leon went quiet. They each stared at Rocko.
"Oh yes, I'll put a diaper on her!" Leon realized. "Along with this cute dress!"
He grabbed the basket and trotted towards the nearest bathroom. To his surprise, he walked into the women's' bathroom. All the women in the bathroom ogled the chameleon as if he was an alien from outer space.
"Heh, heh... Sorry, ladies.." He apologized as he slowly walked out of the bathroom.
He then went into the men's' bathroom. It did feel awkward for him to bring a baby girl inside there. Aside from her hair and genitals, Gemina looked no different from an average baby boy. So people shouldn't care. Leon slid under the big stall like a secret ninja going on a mission. His eyes grew wide like saucers as he saw a fat hippo man taking a dump. The man had the biggest scowl ever imagined on a person.
"Who ya lookin' at, buddy?" The hippo growled, raising his fist at the scared chameleon.
"Bye-bye!" Leon zipped out of the stall as fast as he could.
There was no place for him to dress Gemina up. He had to think of another plan. He glanced around the restaurant, trying to think of something. Suddenly, he found someone's lost lipstick under one of the tables. Maybe he could disguise himself as a lady to get into the women's' bathroom. After all, it was the only bathroom in the restaurant that had a changing table.
"That's it!" Leon thought as a lightbulb lit above his head.
He snatched the lipstick from under the table. Then he grabbed an unused apron and a waitress' mascara.
After dolling himself up, he snatched two oranges and stuck it inside the apron's pockets to make it look like he had breasts. He was also wearing the apron upside down to make it look like he was wearing a dress. Now it was time to sneak in.
He casually strolled into the women's' bathroom as if everything seemed normal. He was about to lay Gemina on the changing table, but another woman's baby was already on it.
"Oh, you were about to use this ma'am?" the beagle woman asked as she scooped up her baby. "Sorry about that.."
"You're fine, my good lady," Leon replied in a feminine voice. "Heh heh.."
He finally laid her on the changing table. He took out a clean diaper and a dress.
"Please don't pee on me this time.." Leon prayed silently as he slowly fastened the diaper on her. He sighed in relief as he swept his forehead.
He then slipped the dress and socks onto her delicate body. He squealed with joy as he scooped her up from the changing table.
"Oh, you look so adorable! Just wait until Chuck and all the others see you! They're gonna think you're a beautiful girl.." Leon effused as he hugged her tightly.
Gemina had other plans. She felt rather uncomfortable in this frilly dress. She frowned as she tried to take it off. The itchiness was giving her skin no room to breathe. So she puked all over herself and Leon.
"I just bought that dress!" whined Leon as Gemina giggled happily in his arms. The first bits of her personality was starting to show. She might become a tomboy someday...
The chameleon immediately took the dress off her, much to her happiness. She continued to giggle happily as he placed her on his back. It sure felt great being free from that itchy dress.
"You're such a handful.." Leon muttered as he walked out of the bathroom. He ripped the apron off as he left. He then tossed the dirty dress in the basket and sat back down with his brother.
"Leon," Chuck started. "Why are you wearing makeup? You look like a drag queen!"
"Oh, the irony…. It hurts!" Filbert moaned as he rubbed himself with an iron that he somehow found lying in the restaurant.
The brothers, Rocko, and Heffer gawked at the turtle as if he was a lunatic who escaped from the looney bin.
"Well, I was trying to change Gemina into some clothes… And she threw up all over that brand new dress!" Leon cried, being his usual melodramatic self.
"There, there.." Chuck assured as he patted his brother's back. "It's not the end of the world. We can wash it when we get home later today."
The waitress swung by the table to see how everyone was doing.
"You guys need to-go boxes for that?" she asked.
"Sure!" chirped Heffer.
"Alright," the waitress began as he placed a bill on the table. "That'll be $25.99, plus an extra $2 for the to-go boxes."
"$25.99? Isn't that expensive for breakfast?" Rocko inquired.
"Not at all, Rocko. Our prices are higher in our establishments," Chuck said snobbily as he lied a $50 bill on the table.
"You didn't have to shove it down my throat.," muttered Rocko.
Gemina began blowing raspberries happily. Spit and drool were everywhere, including on herself.
"My back feels wet.." Leon grimaced as he cautiously wiped the drool off his back.
"Come on, brother. We gotta go," Chuck prompted as he hurriedly grabbed Leon's arm. "Bye, Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt!"
"Bye Chuck and Leon!" Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt all said in unison as they waved at them.