Chapter 2
'There I am!" I said to Roger. I then saw Caroline, Adie in her arms, take their seat. I nudged Roger again. "And there's Caroline and Adie!"
"Who?" Roger questioned.
"Mien wife und daughter." I answered. I looked at them again and sighed with content. "Gosh, it feels so good seeing them again." I then looked at the goldfish body on the transplant machine. I saw Avery approaching my human form. My eyes widened. I had no time to lose! I looked at Roger.
"Quick Roger!" I said to him. "I need a favor!"
"Let me guess," Roger began. "You want my brain transplanted into that fish body. Let me think about that." He pretended to think, then looked at me. "No. I like my body just the way it is." He continued drinking.
"No, that's not the favor I was going to ask. I want you to take that goldfish body, and bury it in the snow. Make sure no one's watching."
"What will you do if I refuse? Will I get any thing good in return?" I saw Avery lead my human self to the machine. I nudged Roger.
"I'll tell you later, but right now I need you to go!"
"Okay, okay!" He then left with his drink. I saw him take the fish and go behind the machine. I sighed. If Avery can't put me into that fish body, what is he going to do with me? Surely he won't sacrifice one of his men and make me live in one of their bodies.
I saw Avery looking puzzled as he saw that the fish body wasn't there and started looking for it. He ordered Stan and the others to help him.
"Well," I heard my human form say. "If you don't mind, I got to get back to practice." I saw myself wave at them. "Auf Wiedensehen!" My human form headed off. I smiled. Then I felt something. I looked at myself and smiled. I was turning back into my human self…and naked! But, for the moment, I didn't care! My ball broke since I no longer fit in it.
It worked! The CIA's plan of transplanting me into the body of a goldfish has failed which means I am free! I am free of the Smiths and I can be with the family I was meant to be with. I can play with my daughter and watch her grow. I can play with Horst. I can make love to my beautiful wife and maybe make more babies with her. No more abuse and neglect. I can have the life I always dreamt about. Like Martin Luther King Jr. said, free at last, free at last! Thank God Almighty, I am free at last! I just wish I had done this 28 years ago.
Roger then came back.
"Okay," He said to me. "I buried that fish just like you asked. Now, what do I get in return?" He looked at me up and down and was confused. "Klaus, is that you?" I looked at him and smiled. "You're naked!" He handed me some clothes from the back. "Here, I packed these just in case you turned back into a human. Don't say I don't do anything nice to you." I put them on and thanked him. I then offered him my hand (Man, it feels good to say 'hand' instead of 'fin').
"Ja, it's me. I'm in my original human body since the fish transplant had failed. Now, let's go get me some winter gear, and just like that, I'm out of your life forever." I offered him my hand to shake. "This is Auf Wiedersehen, Roger. Say Auf Wiedersehen to the whole family for me. I'm sure going to miss you guys and I know you'll miss me." Roger began to sniff sadly.
"Aw, don't cry! Don't worry; I'll be in your heart forever and you're be in mine forever."
"I can't believe it was this easy to finally get rid of you." I frowned. I should've known he wasn't really sad. He cheered. "Hallelujah! The fish, well not a fish anymore, is finally out of our lives forever!"
My eyes then widened again as I saw Adie just walking in the snow all by her self.
"Adie!" I said with glee. "You're walking!"
"Huh?" Roger questioned and turned to see what I was seeing. "That's my beautiful girl; you're walking on your own."
My excitement then turned into sheer terror as I saw Bullock pick her up.
"Hey!" I snapped. "Put her down! What are you doing with her?" Stan came up to his boss.
"Uh, sir, what're you doing with that baby?"
"I think this is that German man's daughter." Bullock replied. "You know, the one we tried switching brains with that fish. I saw him looking at her and her mom earlier as they were taking their seats. If we can't ruin Germany's chances of winning with that fish, we might as well with this baby." My eyes widened. What?!
Caroline came up to them. She was fuming mad. She yelled to them in German (She didn't know any English). Bullock argued with her in German.
Caroline tried to take Adie away from Bullock, but the CIA boss slapped her across the face. I gasped as blood trickled down her cheek. No one does that to mien Caroline!
"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!" I erupted. I hopped out of the car. Despite the cold, I tried to go, but Roger grabbed my feet.
"Whoa there tiger!" He said. "I know you're mad, but you can't just kill him. Think of what how that might effect the future.
"I DONT CARE; I'M STILL GOING TO KILL HIM; HE DOESN'T DESERVE TO LIVE!" Bullock looked around, confused.
"Who's yelling that they want to kill me?" Stan shrugged.
"Don't know, sir. It sounds like a German guy who apparently knows you."
"I don't know any German that wants to kill me." Stan shrugged.
"Beats me sir."
Roger stopped me and forced me back into the car.
Caroline, standing back up, just looked at Bullock and took off. Avery looked at Stan.
"Do you want this baby, Stan?" He asked.
"I uh," Stan started to protest, but Bullock gave her to him anyway. "Great! I knew I could count on you, Smith. This child will help mend your wife's spirits after Bailey's fake death." He then called to his men and the private jet.
"But sir…" Bullock put a hand on Stan's shoulder.
"Come on Stan. Before they realize she's gone and catches us."
"Sir, kidnapping is wrong in all countries, even Germany. We shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't have agreed to this." I nodded. Way to go Stan; you tell him!
"Smith, our original plan was wrong too and it was kidnapping also. When we were supposed to transplant that man's brain with the fish's, we were going to take the fish home with us. Do you want Germany to win?"
"Well, no sir."
"Then, come on!" He went towards the plane. Stan sighed and looked at Adie who was sucking on his tie. "Sorry baby." He followed his boss.
Nein! Stan, don't do this! I then saw my past self-freaking out as my wife told him the news. I looked at the plane again and it was taking off.
"WAIT!" I heard my past self. I saw him run with the skis on and tried not to laugh. My wife ran behind him. "TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY DAUGHTER! ADIEEEEEE!"
I looked away. I didn't want to see this.
"Roger," I started.
"Whoa, Klaus!" He said. "You are one determined father." I looked again and gasped as I saw past me jump off a slope and tried reaching for a hold on the plane. I saw me miss and fall down into the snow. My wife ran to him and comforted him as they saw the disembarking plane.
"NEIIIINNNNNNNN!" I heard myself scream and burst into tears. I saw that my wife was fighting back her own tears. Bullock, from the jet, talked into a megaphone.
"Attention you East Germans, if you ever want to see this baby again, give up the Olympics in Canada in two years. I repeat, if you ever want to see this baby again, give up the Olympics in Canada in two years!" The jet then disappeared behind the trees. Seeing my wife and I crying like this was making me want to cry. I was sad and angry at the same time. How could they?! How can they separate a baby girl from her family like that? I hated, no despised, no loathed the CIA more then ever now! I turned to Roger.
"Okay Roger," I told him, fighting back a tear. "We got to go back a little bit. I'm going to prevent Bullock from taking Adie while you get rid of that fish." He looked at me, confused.
"You don't want to go and see if Stan and Francine will be good to her or not?"
"They weren't good to me. What do you think Adie will be any different?"
"Well, for one thing, she's human and second, she's not you."
"She has my blood."
"Aren't you curious to see if they treat her any differently?" I hesitated. I was a little curious. I sighed.
"Fine, you win. But if they treat her like me, we're leaving." Roger nodded.
"Gotcha!" He pulled the lever and we were off.
When we landed near the Smith household a day later, we saw Stan and Adie go into the house. Roger and I quickly crept in and hid behind the sofa, carrying our drinks.
"Honey, I'm home!" Stan announced to his wife. He put away all of his winter gear in the closet. Francine came in. Hayley was in her playpen.
"How did it go?" She asked. She then saw Adie. "Aw, and who is this cutie?"
"Well, do you remember that mission we had in the Swiss Alps in Switzerland?" Francine nodded.
"Yeah."
"Our original mission was to transplant a German guy with a fish's brain. Bullock lost that fish and that failed. Then we were going to take his wife, but Bullock already had the baby." Francine looked at her husband.
"You mean?" She began. Stan nodded.
"Yeah. This baby is that German man's daughter. Bullock ordered me to take care of her. She'll make a wonderful new sister to Hayley."
"But Stan, are you nuts? You can't take another couple's baby; that's kidnapping! We can't raise a baby that doesn't belong to us. That's wrong. Her poor parents must be worried sick over her. You got to take her back." Stan shook his head.
"Bullock ordered me to, Francine. I promised him that we'd take good care of her just like she was our child. He'll fire me otherwise." Francine sighed.
"Fine, but I still say it's wrong."
"That's the spirit honey..." Stan then knelt down by Hayley. "Meet your new sister, Hayley." Hayley looked at Adie and Adie looked at Hayley. "I'll let you two get acquainted." He sat Adie down in the playpen. "There you go. You two are going to be the best of sisters. I know it."
"What's her name?" Stan looked back up at Francine.
"Huh?"
"The baby. Did you get her name?" Stan shrugged.
"I think the German man shouted 'Adie' when we kidnapped her."
"Adie?" She looked down at her and smiled. She looked back up. "Adie; I like it. Adie Bailey Smith."
"Bailey?"
"Yeah, you know." She tried to hold back her tears. "After Haley's twin brother."
"Oh yeah." I could tell by Stan's voice that he still felt guilty after what he did to Haley's brother. He forgot to vaccinate both Haley and Bailey so he lied, telling him that Bailey had died, when in reality, he didn't. He lied to me too because he didn't want me to tell Francine the truth. Adie clung to Stan's leg. Stan looked down at her and smiled. He bent down and picked her up. "Welcome to the family Adie Bailey Smith."
Stan put Adie back into the playpen and left with Francine.
Roger and I watched Adie and Haley in the playpen as we drank our drinks. Francine came back a few minutes later and gave Haley her plush elephant with partly one ear chewed up. Ellie.
"Here you go, Haley." She said. "Now, play nicely with your new sister." Francine gave her a kiss on the head before standing up. "Mommy loves you." She went off.
Hayley, holding onto Ellie, walked to Adie. She tapped Adie on the shoulder. Adie looked at her, thumb in her mouth. Hayley offered the elephant to her.
"Ellie?" She asked. Adie smiled and took the elephant. I marveled at the scene.
"Awww!" I said. "Isn't it a touching scene to see young kids sharing, Roger?"
"Yeah." He said in that sarcastic tone of his. "It sure is. I'm surprised that Stan and Frannie hasn't found a grown human and an alien in disguise spying on children at play yet." He then changed the subject. "Do you want to leave?"
"Not yet. I want to see them at play."
"You mean you don't want to… this might be our only chance and you aren't going to…okay."
We watched Hayley and Adie play together when Francine and Stan came back into the room.
"Dinner time Adie and Hayley." Francine announced. Stan picked up Adie as Francine picked up Hayley. They both then went into the kitchen.
"Now?" Roger wanted to know.
"Not yet." I told him as we went after Stan and Francine. Francine took Ellie from Haley and put her in the playpen. I heard Roger snap his fingers from behind in frustration.
In the kitchen, Roger and I hid behind the counter. We disposed our drinks in the trash (We hoped Stan and Francine would think they were their own and not drinks from the future). Hayley was in her highchair with her mashed potatoes and gravy ad peas. Stan still carried Adie.
"Crap, Stan!" Francine cursed.
"Francine," Stan warned. "babies are present."
"Stan, we only have one high chair. Where is Adie going to sit?"
"Oh." Stan thought a bit. "Maybe Adie can sit on your lap and you can feed her while I feed Hayley."
"Okay, problem two, we only have one Sippy cup too."
"Well, we can wash it and they can share. I'm sure Hayley won't mind."
"Okay." Francine looked at Adie. "I hope this baby doesn't breast feed."
"If she does," Stan started. "I'll take Hayley and have my dinner in the living room! I don't need to see it and neither does Hayley."
"I'll try to make Adie drink out of the Sippy cup first." Francine said. Stan nodded in agreement as he got a bottle of beer from the fridge.
"You do that." Francine took Hayley's Sippy cup and held it to Adie's mouth. Hayley whined.
"Sippy, sippy!" She cried.
"Sorry Hayley," Francine told her. "But we need to see if Adie can drink out of your Sippy cup or not. I'll give you it and new milk later." She looked at Adie.
"Here Adie, drink." Adie looked at it, then at Francine as if wondering what she should do with it."
"Okay let's go" Roger said. "If she does need to be breast fed, I don't need to see it." I blocked him with a hand.
"Don't worry." I assured him. "Adie stopped breast feeding in November of '85. so that phase is now over."
"Good. I miss the goods."
"Please Adie," Francine begged. "Drink the milk from the Sippy cup. I don't want to breast feed again for a few more years." Adie just looked at her, then at the cup, then at her again, all while sucking her thumb. Francine sighed and was about to lift the cup away when Adie put her mouth on it and started drinking. Francine and Stan sighed in relief.
"Well, they look like good enough parents." Roger piped up. He then looked at me. "Are you satisfied?"
"Ja." I agreed with a smile. "I am. Too bad they're not good to me."
"Well, what are you going to do?" He changed the subject. "Can we go now?" I nodded.
"Ja, we can. But I still want to go back to prevent the CIA from taking Adie away. I'm her father and Caroline and I should be raising her, not the Smiths, no matter how nice they are to her." Roger let out a groan.
"If we must."
I was almost to the door when I noticed Roger not following me. I looked around and saw Roger going back into the kitchen.
"Roger!" I whispered loudly to him. I went after him.
I then saw him snatching one of Hayley's peas.
"Roger!" I whispered loudly to him again. "What are you doing?!" He looked at me as he ate.
"Well, if I'm driving again." He started. "I don't want to go on an empty stomach. A drink is not good enough. I need food in me."
"Come on!" He took another one and went after me.
"Okay."
"Stan?" Francine started. "Our trip to Las Vegas is tomorrow. We need to find a sitter for Haley and Adie."
"Alright." Stan just said. I stopped, dead in my tracks. Roger bumped into me.
"Klaus!" He said. "What are you doing? I thought we were leaving!"
"Shhh!" I hushed him, then looked back at Stan and Francine. Roger folded his arms across his chest in a huff.
"Well, if we're not leaving, I'm going to have some more of Haley's food." He went back to her highchair.
"'Alright' won't cut it, Stan." Francine told him. "We've been putting off long enough. Tomorrow morning we're going. Who's going to take care of Haley and Adie?"
"My dad could do it." Stan suggested.
"I don't trust him."
"Okay, what about your parents then?"
"They have to tend their shop."
"Oh yeah. We can ask Andy."
"Didn't he say that he was going to his son's football game?"
"Oh yeah. Well, it's a long shot, but how about Bessie?"
"Applebaum? Isn't she like 95?"
"Yeah, but what other choices do we have? She knows Haley very well."
"Hmmm, okay. I'll call her after dinner."
"And after dinner, we put the girls to bed and start packing."
"Sounds like a plan."
My eyes widened in terror as I remembered something. The fire!