Hello my friends, my friends hello, to quote our favorite pink fastrunner. The third chapter is up for all to see. I hope you enjoy.
Thank you to all who have reviewed, favorited, followed, and helped me with this fic. If you have any questions, PM me or ask them in the review page, I'll answer them at the end of the following chapter.
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Rock on!
Chapter 3. Dangerous and Dirty Subjects
The next day, Littlefoot told his friends exactly what he and his grandparents had discussed the previous night while munching on treestars. Needless to say, the reaction was predictable.
"So those club tails were…"
"Mating? Yeah" he replied nonchalantly. He normally took more satisfaction in proving Cera wrong. But the implications of what they had all just learned subdued the mood significantly.
Petri looked at the treestar he held in his hand and gulped.
"All of a sudden me not so hungry anymore."
"Me neither. No, no, no."
Spike nodded his head in agreement as well. He may not say much but it did not make him stupid.
"So what happens now?" Cera asked, poking at her food with her paw.
Littlefoot shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose we'll get married and have babies of our own someday. That's the way the circle of life works. At least that's what my grandparents said."
"Well what if I don't want to get married or have babies?" Cera asked sounding defiant. "This whole process sounds gross."
"My grandparents said they had the same reaction when they were our age. But as they grew up more the idea became more appealing."
They then exchanged glances, as Littlefoot rested himself down upon the grass.
"I do not want any of that at all, I do not," Ducky said throwing her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, besides" Cera chimed in. "We do most things now without the adults anyway. We're already grown up."
"Eh kind of" Littlefoot said.
"Sort of" shrugged Petri.
Spike grumbled in his own unique way.
"Spike is right. We may be bigger but we are not yet grownups," Ducky translated. She had her own unique of understanding what her adopted brother was trying to say.
"So why even bother learning about this?" Cera asked as she slumped down on a nearby rock.
"Because this is the age where it all starts. This is the age where we start changing," Littlefoot said.
"Changing how?"
"Me thought we just get bigger," Petri said swooping down on Spike's back.
"It's more than that. At least that's what my grandparents said," Littlefoot replied. "They didn't tell me anything beyond mating"
" 'Mating', what a weird word," Cera muttered.
"It's how we all exist," Littlefoot countered.
Then he got a really devious idea. One sure to get a rise out of his three horn friend.
"Hey, it just occurred to me your dad and Tria had to mate in order to conceive Tricia. Tell me, how does that make you feel? Knowing that your dad had to get on top of her and…"
He never got a chance to finish his sentence, because Cera charged at him so quick he barely had time to get out of the way to avoid her wrath.
"Why you! Come here!" she yelled in fury as she charged again.
"Gotta catch me first slow-horn!"
"Littlefoot I'm warning you!" she said through clenched teeth, face turning beet red.
All he could do is laugh as Cera chased him around in a circle desperately trying to catch him. The others started to laugh too, that is until Cera managed to ram him into the ground and topple him over. He quickly got back up and started to push back with his own strength sending her sliding backwards.
"Oh no you don't!" Cera snarled. And with a mighty push she sent him flying on his back.
Groaning, Littlefoot was about to get up again until he noticed the female three horn standing over him. She did not look pleased.
Laughing still but not as hard, Littlefoot gave her a toothy grin.
"Gee, Cera easy with the horns. Pretty soon you'll need them to keep your future husband in line."
For a split second, he thought he had just teased the wrong horns, but just as soon as he said it, Cera rolled her eyes and gave a small smile herself.
"You're unbelievable, you know that?"
The rest of the gang, who had been holding in their collective breath in fear that Cera might blow her top, began to laugh again and after a moment or so, so did she.
Littlefoot got up and grinned sheepishly.
"I am quite the charmer, aren't I?"
"Don't push it longneck" but she beamed at him just the same.
She's a lot cuter when she smiles, I wish she did it more, Littlefoot thought to himself.
Wait what?
"Well I'm feeling much better now, yup, yup, yup," said Ducky happily.
"Me too. This whole mating thing stinks," Petri remarked, flying above their heads.
"Ditto on that," agreed Cera. "What are we so worried about? I'm not having babies any time soon. This conversation is getting old anyway."
Littlefoot agreed, though the thought still made him a bit unnerved, he wanted to move on from this.
"Yeah, I guess it is. Come on, let's find some more treestars. I can reach most of the tallest trees now."
"Please, I can just knock them down on my own."
And so they set down the old beaten path towards their favorite spot to eat treestars, although Spike stopped along the way to smell the roses (and subsequently eat them). It seemed that the issue at hand was at an end. Or so they all thought.
The evening slowly turned to dusk as Littlefoot and his grandparents began settling down for the night. Stars appeared like diamonds, twinkling down on the dinosaur world, constellations shone brightly as they had for millions of years and for millions of years yet to come.
"Well I think it's about that time," Grandpa Longneck observed.
"Yes it's time to rest," agreed his wife. She glanced down at her grandson. "Littlefoot are you ok? What we told you yesterday is a lot to take in at once."
"I'm fine, Grandma, don't worry. I learned something really important. As you guys said, it's part of life."
She smiled. "Good. You really are quite mature for your age. You amaze your grandfather and I every day."
"Thanks, Grandma" Littlefoot said happily as she nuzzled him.
"Well now, I think it's time for some…" his grandfather stopped and narrowed his eyes, the darkness clouding his older vision.
"What in the name of sanity is that?"
Slowly but surely, a group of dinosaurs were getting closer and their voices louder.
They do not sound happy, Littlefoot observed. Then after a few more moments he recognized the group as the parents of his friends.
Uh oh…
His grandparents looked stunned, as Mr. Threehorn and the rest of the group approached.
"Longneck!" he thundered.
Littlefoot could see Ducky and Spike's mom as well as Petri's. He did not have a good feeling about this.
"Mr. Threehorn what on earth is so important that you felt the need to intrude upon us at this time of night? We are trying to sleep."
"Your grandson, that's what," the large triceratops replied aggressively. "He's been filling my daughter's head with…dangerous and dirty subjects," he ended shivering.
The other adults murmured in agreement.
"What kind of example is this?"
"Our children are being corrupted!"
"Absolutely shameful!"
Shaking his head in disbelief, Grandpa Longneck, ever the voice of rationality, attempted to reason with his fellow adults.
"Please, please my friends there is no reason to get upset at Littlefoot. If you should be upset at anyone it's us, we were the ones who told Littlefoot about this delicate matter."
Mr. Threehorn snorted in disgust.
"Be that as it may, he felt the need to share it with the rest of our kids when they are entirely too young to hear about such matters."
Littlefoot glanced over at Cera, who appeared very uncomfortable and even regretful.
"Daddy, please…" she started, but she was quickly shouted down by her father.
"Hush Cera, I will handle this."
He turned back towards the three Longnecks.
"You've got some explaining to do. Especially you, young one."
Littlefoot at this point felt slightly betrayed by his friends.
"Guys!" he said. "Why did you tell your parents?"
Cera, Spike, Petri and Ducky looked away bashfully.
"Me no know we wasn't supposed to tell nobody," Petri said.
"Me neither. Nope, nope, nope."
Mr. Threehorn took advantage of this confession to pounce.
"Aha! So you admit it? Our children came to us tonight telling us what you told them. Have you no proper manners boy?"
At this stage, Grandma Longneck stepped in with far more resolve than she normally gave. She was used to Topsy Threehorn's antics by now, but this was going beyond the pale.
"Mr. Threehorn you are entirely out of line. Littlefoot merely observed what we all know to be a natural part of life. There is no fault to be had here."
More murmuring, but this time there was seemingly less outrage.
"Still," Mr. Threehorn said but noticeably more subdued. "This subject is not something our children should be learning about."
Grandpa Longneck spoke up now.
"My friend, you are blind to the fact that your daughter, our children are growing up before our very eyes. They are not hatchlings anymore, but young adults. We all knew that sooner or later that this would happen. The day has come to teach them about the natural ways of the world."
The talking persisted and opinion seemed to be turning in favor of the old longnecks.
"There's no getting around it," Susa Duckbill said at last, lowering her head. "They aren't children any longer. They need to know the truth. But…" and without warning she started shedding tears.
"There, there" Petri's mother said, comforting the swimmer. "Initially I was angry too, but I agree with Grandma Longneck, we cannot blame Littlefoot for acknowledging what we too were once ignorant of."
Mr. Threehorn was especially sheepish at this point, knowing he had overreacted and frightened the young longneck, as well as his daughter.
"Daddy," a small voice spoke up. "I already told you, Littlefoot didn't do anything wrong. Please don't be upset."
His daughter's words softened the old Triceratops's heart. He cared for her wellbeing and sometimes that drove him to rash actions.
"Oh…well I suppose you're right. But what are we to do? If our kids are to learn about this how are we to go about it? My own father would never speak of it."
Another round of murmuring and discussion took place in which the grownups seemed inclined as usual to argue amongst themselves. That is until grandpa Longneck managed to become the voice of reason again.
"My friends please, we all realize the implications of this. But now is not the time to discuss the matter. We are all tired and just a bit overwhelmed. Let's all agree to meet tomorrow and decide what must be done. For now, we need to rest."
The adults and even the young teens agreed.
"He right. Me pooped from today," Petri said, eyelids drooping.
"Might as well wait until we're all more refreshed," agreed Mr. Threehorn. "Come on everyone."
Slowly the crowd began to disperse, but the large male triceratops stopped suddenly.
"My apologies, Grandpa Longneck, you too Littlefoot. I didn't mean to…"
"It's quite alright Tops," Grandpa said kindly. "No lasting harm done."
Nodding his head, he turned around and began to walk home.
"Let's go, Cera."
She followed him obediently but not before glancing at Littlefoot one last time, giving an apologetic glance and he couldn't be sure, but was she blushing?
"Come, Littlefoot. The night circle is already rising," said his grandma.
"Right."
Littlefoot made his way back to his favorite sleeping spot and soon began to doze. He could hear the soft snoring of his grandparents beside him. He was glad that he wasn't in trouble, but he couldn't shake the feeling that after the last couple of days, things would never quite be the same.
Well there you have it, old Topsy gets upset, Grandma and Grandpa manage to diffuse the situation, and now the gang has knowledge of the 'birds and the bees' as they say. What will result of this? Find out in the next installment of 'This Is Growing Up'!
-Punkrocka23