"C'mon, please, just do this for me."

Larry was nearly on his knees, pleading to the Egyptian statue. Him and the others were gathered in the Egyptian exhibit, hoping to retrieve one of the ingredients for the healing spell. Currently, Larry was attempting to get the tears of a God, and was pleading for Anubis to shed a tear. Though, so far, it appeared they weren't going to get the results they wanted as Anubis was too prideful to cry. Larry had tried everything he could think of, having the others and him attempting to make Anubis cry from pain, pinching at his large, Jackal-like ears and stepping on his toes... Though, Anubis seemed to have a high tolerance of pain, almost as if he couldn't feel a thing. They had given up on pain inflicting methods, and had even considered getting onions and peeling them in front of the large, active statue.

"Anubis, please, we need your tears, that's all we need. Maybe only one. You know it'll help heal Ahkmenrah." Larry pleaded to him. "You've got to do this. Try and think of something that makes you cry."

"Nothing makes me, Anubis, the mighty God of Egypt, shed a tear." he replied, almost looking disgusted at the thought.

Larry sighed, shaking his head in defeat before turning and looking back at Teddy over his shoulder. The others seemed to shrug their shoulders in hopelessness, while Teddy looked lost in concern, trying to think of any ideas to help the situation. Sputtering in his quick moves to try and think of something, Teddy stepped forward, clearing his throat. "Wait," he started nervously. "I might have something to say that could change your stance."

Larry looked up at Teddy from his knelt position, one he had performed earlier in hopes of showing utmost respect for Anubis would help persuade him. Though, that had failed as well. Larry stood, standing next to Teddy, also interested in what the wax man had to say.

"Good sir, may I tell you a story?" Teddy asked the statute, using every ounce of curiosity and respect he had in him when speaking.

Anubis stared, cold and stern towards them all. "I have no doubt that it will fail to make me do such human acts as crying, but you may try." he stated, crossing his arms to express his defiance even further.

Teddy nodded gratefully. "Thank you." He seemed as if he was preparing himself, nervous to tell his story to the God. Clearing his throat once more, he began to speak. "Well, you see, I had lots of pets in my day in the White House. Lots and lots of them. I loved them just as much as my children did. There were many different exotic animals, but we all adored Algonquin, our pony, the most. He was a sweet little thing, my boys couldn't get enough of him." Teddy started, pausing for a moment to see if there was at change in the stern Egyptian. Surprisingly, he saw a small smile perking on the statue's lips. Teddy saw the simple stories locked away in his wax memories seemed to be softening Anubis.

"One time, one of my sons, Archie, was sick in bed. It was dreadful, he was on bedrest for weeks... Though, my other two sons, Kermit and Quentin, decided they'd cheer up their brother." Teddy said with a smile on his lips, fondness at the memories, even if he hadn't personally experienced them. "They knew Archie loved Algonquin the most over all of our other pets, so they thought it best to bring the pony to him. They brought him up in the elevator, and let him go into Archie's room!"

Teddy paused again, mostly for himself as he was chuckling at the fond memories, though everyone else seemed humored from the story as well. Sacajawea held her hands to her mouth, trying to suppress her light giggles, Attila grinned from ear to ear, and even Larry seemed to chuckle from the cute, funny story. Though, the fact that Anubis seemed to be in a fit of giggles from it surprised them all. The statue laughed and laughed, and Larry could have sworn he saw tears in his eyes.

"Keep going, Teddy, it's working!" Larry leaned to Teddy's ear, whispering to him. Teddy nodded, starting to speak again, loudly so he could be heard over the loud laughs of Anubis. "And the best part was that dear Algonquin didn't want to leave! He was too memorized by his reflection in Archie's mirror, I had to personally get the stubborn pony out!" Teddy finished, and by that time, everyone was laughing and chuckling at the sweet story. Everyone had a soft spot for animals, even Anubis apparently!

Anubis was nearly roaring, bent over in laughter, tears of joy sparking in his eyes. Larry immediately caught sight of this, and rushed forward, grabbing the empty jar he had acquired for collecting the tears. He hustled over to the statue, holding the jar up high, waiting to collect the tear that was rolling down Anubis' cheek. Slowly, the tear reached the end of the Egyptian's face, and started to fall, landing right in the jar. "Yes!" the night guard cried in his victory, quickly putting the lid back onto the jar. Everyone else started to notice what had happened, looking over and seeing Larry holding up the jar.

"Good job, my boy!" Teddy said, approaching Larry and slapping him on the back playfully.

"Hey, you were the one that got him to cry." Larry responded, smiling back to him before looking back at the Egyptian God. "Thanks, Anubis. I hate to say it, but I told you so."

Anubis gave no response as he regained himself, starting to play back into his regular act of pride and coldness towards strangers, almost like he was pretending the whole situation never happened. Larry scoffed at his reaction, shaking his head at the stubborn statue.

"Well, one down, two to go!" Larry said before catching a glimpse at his watch. "...But we're gonna have to get the other stuff tomorrow night, it's almost sunrise."


They all hurried back to the front desk where Ahkmenrah, Jed, and Octavius were. Larry carried the jar filled with Anubis' tears in it, needing to give it to Ahkmenrah to hold until they were able to complete the healing spell with the other two items they had yet to retrieve. As the group approached the front desk, they saw Ahkmenrah knelt over the small trashcan bin, vomiting. It struck Larry as particularly odd to see the Egyptian doing such a thing. Honestly, it struck everyone as very strange. An Egyptian prince doing such an act as throwing up... Ahkmenrah usually was collected and calm through any situation, but seeing him with sweat beading down his forehead as he retched into a trash bin was very out of the ordinary.

"Woah, Ahk, you okay?" Larry called, walking hastily and approaching him. Knelling down next to Ahkmenrah, he put down the jar on the floor beside him, watching his friend with great concern.

Ahkmenrah coughed and spit into the bin, seeming to be nearly finished. After a few more seconds of heavy breathing and regaining himself, he lifted his head, nodding. "Yes, I'm fine... Just nauseous apparently." he said, looking to Larry, looking absolutely and utterly lost and dazed.

Larry was reminded of his ex-wife when she was pregnant, remembering the awful fits of morning sickness she had for the first trimester. "That's normal, Ahk. You'l be fine." Larry said, hoping to comfort Ahkmenrah and give him some advice. Ahkmenrah honestly looked exhausted already, though perhaps that was just from vomiting. Still, Larry had lots of sympathy for the Pharaoh. Having nine months of agony crammed into three nights seemed like it would be a nightmare.

"Larry, I think you'll also find some physical changes in me as well. " Ahkmenrah stated, sounding shaken and confused as he stood from his crouched position on the floor. As he stood, his hands moved and held at his abdomen, almost as if he was afraid to show what was there. Though, after a moment or two, he moved his hand to give a clear view of his stomach, revealing the slight bump that had formed there, pressing against the belt of his jeweled garb.

Everyone's eyes seemed to fixate on it, as it had never been there before and it was all still a bit mind-boggling. It was just a small bump, but a noticeable change from Ahkmenrah's usual flat stomach.

Larry seemed to stare in a stunned silence, unsure of what to say. Although, Jedidiah appeared eager to talk about Ahk's physical changes. "You shoulda seen it! It was crazy! All the blue, magic stuff was there like earlier!" he blurted out, catching everyone's attention.

"What do you mean?" Larry asked, turning to look at the miniature man that stood with his companion on the front desk.

"He started having pains a little while ago and then swirls of that blue stuff from Taweret showed up again! Then boom, he's got a bump!" Jed explained along with nods in agreement from Octavius.

Larry's eyebrows raised in surprise at learning this information. "Jeez... Ahk, you sure you're okay? What else happened?"

"Not much else. The nausea and I've had occasional cramping as well."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Larry chuckled lightly, smiling. "Oh, but hey, we got the tears from Anubis. It's almost sunrise though, we'll have to get the other stuff tomorrow night." he said, handing the jar to Ahk.

"That's terrific, Larry! Thank you, I'm sure we'll have everything we need in no time." the Pharaoh said excitedly, happy to hear that they were coming closer to making the healing spell.

"It's no problem, Ahk. Just hang in there for a bit, we'll get this sorted out." Larry reassured, reaching a hand out to give a pat on Ahkmenrah's shoulder. Ahkmenrah nodded in agreement with Larry, smiling lightly. "Well, As long as I survive through this... Although, I am excited at the prospect of a child."

"That's good! At least it isn't a burden or anything. Well, yeah, it will be, but the second you see him or her you'll fall in love with them." Larry explained. Ahkmenrah tilted his head slightly and smiled in fond surprise at Larry's reminiscing. It was odd for everyone there to see Larry's fatherly, gushy side, but nonetheless sweet.

Unfortunately, in the middle of the tender moment, they all caught sight of the first streams of sunrise peaking through the sky outside, signaling for them all to return to their exhibits.

"Right, okay guys, I'll see you all tomorrow." Larry said, looking back to his group of nocturnal friends. As they did every night, they said their sweet goodbyes and ventured back to where they all belonged. Larry helped take Jed and Octavius back, walking beside Ahkmenrah as well.

"Fellas, you keep an eye on Ahkmenrah, okay? Let me know if anything seems too weird. Then again, pregnancy is pretty weird." Larry said to Jedidiah and Octavius, chuckling lightly with the small men that he carried in the palm of his hand.

"Can do, Gigantor!" Jed said triumphantly. "But, uh, any advice? Is Ahk gonna have weird mood swings?"

Larry grinned at how nervous Jed seemed when asking that question. "Not too bad, hopefully. I think everything will be fine."

The night guard directed his attention towards the Pharaoh that walked beside him. Ahkmenrah carried the jar in one hand, the other resting against his stomach lightly. "Don't bite their heads off or anything. I know they're wax, but that'd be pretty hard to explain to McPhee." he joked lightly, bringing a smirk out of Ahk was well.

"No, but seriously, Ahk, you should just take it easy, okay? Just relax for the next two days." Larry said in a light voice. "We'll get everything worked out, no need to stress about anything." he continued, proceeding to overkill with his concern.

"I'm not stressed, Larry. I will be fine." Ahk said, shaking his head and laughing. "I bothered to research about pregnancy on the device you call a computer at the front desk. I think everything will be okay, I'm just going to be growing a bit."

"Not exactly a bit- Oh, well never mind. You'll see." Larry sighed, still smirking.

And with that last comment, they reached the Pharaoh's tomb. Larry, Octavius and Jed said their farewells to him before Larry returned the minuscule men to their exhibits just as the sun started to brighten up the sky, the night fading away completely.


author's note:

i'm terribly sorry for the wait on this chapter! i've had some awful writer's block and motivation troubles lately. also, yes, i do know that ahkmenrah doesn't have a stomach, due to him being a mummy, meaning his organs were removed at the time of his mummification, but i chose to ignore that fact when writing this as in one of the christmas promos for NATM 3, he was drinking hot chocolate... so i feel as if the writers themselves ignored that too. (or didn't bother to think about it.)

i hope you all enjoyed this chapter! it's unbeta'd, please forgive me for that, and if you happen to catch a grammatical error, tell me about it in a review or drop me a PM and let me know! :-) also, yes, the story about teddy and algonquin the adorable pony is true. (researching teddy roosevelt was actually really interesting and fun!) i know that it was pretty lame and cheesy, but i couldn't find anything else, and i decided something that happened in teddy's life would be a nice little thing to toss in there, plus NATM is pretty cheesy anyways :-)

anyways, i thank you all for sticking with me in this, and i hope to write more often for this story. though, i cannot guarantee anything as school is starting again soon and I may be busy. thanks to all of you who give me love and life by supporting this story :-) annndddd one last thing, if anyone has any egyptian baby names, i'd love to hear them!