Aaannnnddddddah, chapter six!

Chapter 6: Cam the Escape Artist.

Private and Kowalski were waiting, as Skipper and Rico came back to the habitat. Kowalski and Private gave Skipper Ace and Cam. Ace snuggled next to Cam, happy to be back with his sister.

"Aren't they sweet?" Private cooed, smiling. Rico nodded in agreement.

"Where are the other eggs?" Skipper asked.

"Inside," Private replied, "where we left them."

The four penguins went inside their HQ and each penguin picked up his egg, and placed it on his feet. Kowalski's was cracked.

"You're kidding me? Mine got broken!" he exclaimed. Private picked it up and inspected it.

"It's not broken," he explained. "It's hatching." He handed it back to Kowalski, who held it tenderly, as the shell broke off and left him holding his fluffy, little daughter. Her grey eyes had a look of wisdom in them, which she would surely find useful as she got older. She had the same eye lashes as Cam. Kowalski smiled, as she gazed at him. Her little orange beak smiled back.

"Wha ya guna nam er?" Rico grunted.

"Um, Cleopatra, after the Egyptian queen. Cleo for short." Cleo nuzzled her beak into his chest feathers. She sighed contently.

Ace, Cam and Cleo all sat on a thick blanket on the floor, as the Skipper and Rico baby-proofed the HQ and Private help Kowalski build a special crib for the babies. At one point, Cam decided she wanted to help them, and tried to lift the hammer. Kowalski snatched from her before she hurt herself.

"Maybe we should put them in a cage?" Skipper suggested, after Ace tried to shoot Kowalski's shrink ray.

"No, I don't think so," Kowalski said. "Well, I COULD cut a cage in half and use it as a make-shift baby pen."

"Then do it," Skipper said, as he stopped Cam from climbing onto the table.

Kowalski soon had the three chicks and two eggs in a make-shift baby pen. The babies soon grew tired and fell asleep. Private waddled over to check on them.

"Aren't you three just the sweetest?"

That night, Cam woke up and looked around. She held onto the bars of their baby pen, as the crib wasn't yet finished, and saw Skipper, in the lowest bunk. She stared at him for a moment, and then started climbing out of the cage.

When she finally got out, she made her way over to Skipper, and climbed into his bunk with him. There she fell asleep, snuggling next to him, and cuddling his flipper.

The next morning, Skipper sat up, and saw Cam, sleeping next to him.

"What the?" he said.

"Morning, Skippah," Private hopped out of his bunk, and yawned, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Private, did you put Cam with me last night?" Skipper asked.

"No," Private replied, noticing the fluffy chick. "Did you, Kowalski?"

Kowalski shook his head, and hopped out of his bunk, rubbing his eyes.

"Nah meh," Rico said, also getting out of bed, and stretching.

Skipper looked down at Cam, who had now woken up, and was smiling at him. "You're a little escape artist then, aren't you?" She giggled.

Kowalski and Skipper fed their chicks after the older penguins had breakfast. They went topside for some training.

"We can't be cancelling training everyday, until the chicks are older," Skipper reasoned. Private opened his beak. "And ALL of us need training. You can't skip training to baby sit." Private frowned.

"We could ask Marlene," he suddenly said. "Remember, Skippah, she did say if we needed a baby sitter we could ask her."

"Good idea, soldier," Skipper agreed. "You go take them to Marlene's and come straight back."

"Yes, sir."

Marlene was more than happy to baby sit the twins, Cleo and the eggs. Private thanked her many times before he left.

The eggs showed no sign of hatching that day, and three chicks were fairly well behaved for most of the morning. Then, Cam happened.

The chicks were sitting in their baby pen, which Rico had brought over, after remembering it. Cam decided she wanted out, so she climbed out, like last night. She looked around her new surroundings, wondering where daddy was. She started to crawl towards the wall, in the direction of the pond.

She stopped when she felt the water on her little flippers. She giggled at the cool feeling, and crawled deeper. She still giggled, sitting in the water that came up to her middle. She crawled deeper still, so the water was now up to her chest. She liked the feeling, I mean, she was a penguin, and penguins do like water. She crawled deeper, and could no longer feel the bottom. She panicked, screaming and crying as loud as she could. Luck for her, it was very loud, and Marlene came running out of the cave, from puréeing fish for their lunch. She quickly jumped into the water where Cam was, which was up her shins, and got her to dry land, just as the penguins flipped over the wall.

"What are you guys doing here?" Marlene asked, trying to calm Cam down. "Is training finished already?"

"No," Private answered. "We heard Cam screaming, all the way from our habitat. Is she alright?"

"She is now," Marlene assured him, as she handed her to Skipper. "She just had a bit of a fright."

As soon as Cam was in Skipper's flippers, she stopped crying. "Why is she all wet?" Skipper asked.

"Did ya know she could get out of that baby pen?" Marlene asked. "She climbed out, somehow, and she apparently liked the water."

Just then, the bronze monkeys hit the bell on the clock tower. The penguins gathered up the chicks and eggs, and left. They made it to their habitat, just as Alice opened the gates.

Once again, Private had to go ask Julian to dance for the humans, so the chicks wouldn't get too upset. He gladly obliged, knowing that Darla wasn't requested to do it.

Hope you enjoyed. Cam is an escape artist. I wonder what kind of trouble it would get her in later on. (I seriously have no idea! XD) Please review.