Welcome to the 9th chapter. Let's get them all to the aquarium.

Sorry for the wrong upload earlier. Darn technology. Thank you to Aquade for pointing this out.

CHAPTER 9 – The Aquarium

(P to Marlene) I jolted awake when I felt everything move. For a moment, I feared I was getting transferred on my own, but then I saw Skipper and the kids also awake, so that quickly passed. "Welcome to California children," I said to them happily. "What? Could you speak up Mom?" they both asked me. * I repeated myself louder and this time they heard me. "So why are we having trouble hearing you?" Samuel asked.

"It must be the air pressure that suddenly decreased," Kowalski answered loudly so the kids could hear. "How long will that last?" Annabelle asked. "Anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours," Kowalski replied. Suddenly, both of the kids reached for their ears in pain. "Oww," they both said, massaging their heads. "What's wrong?" Skipper and I asked worriedly.

"I think my ears just popped," they both said. "It's worn off now. That's usually a sign for when your ears are normal again," Kowalski answered. We all breathed a sigh of relief at that being over. We felt ourselves being lowered down on another conveyor belt down to a truck. We heard the door close after the guys' crate was also put into the truck.

After a few minutes, we actually didn't wind up on another conveyor belt, but were still on the truck. "Where are we right now?" I asked. "Rico, look on a phone for where we are," Skipper said to him. We heard Rico release a phone, but thankfully it didn't make a sound when it turned on. "We're in San Jose in California Marlene," Kowalski reported. "Hmm… the Bay Area. Maybe we could get back up here and see if there's a version of Matthew in his hometown. After this of course," I said. "We'll have to pull it off at night, when the zoos are closed," Skipper said. "Agreed," I said.

For probably the next hour or so, we continued driving down what was probably a freeway, with location updates every 15 minutes or so. "We're currently 10 minutes out from the aquarium," Kowalski reported. "Everyone brace to be taken out of the crates. Swallow the phone back up Rico. We can't risk the humans seeing that," Skipper ordered. Rico did swallow it back up, but after shutting the phone off.

After the 10 minutes, we suddenly all felt the truck stop, probably in front of the aquarium. I was so excited to see if any of my family was still here after all these years. We were carried to something that was probably a loading dock and then moved again to a new spot and released into the back of a habitat.

I immediately recognized it. It was my home. We were in the back of my old cave. I peered through the front up ahead and saw both Penguins and Otters in the habitat! Apparently it was a home for Penguins as well now! That meant none of us would be separated. "Welcome to my old home," I said to Skipper and the kids happily. Skipper kissed me and the kids hugged me in response.

The guys' crate was also opened near us after a few more minutes and out they came. "Welcome to my old aquarium guys," I said happily to them. "It's for both Otters and Penguins. Interesting," Kowalski said, while also probably making a mental note. "None of us will be separated," I said very happy.

We all proceeded out of the cave into the area where everyone was. I tried to look for familiar faces, hoping to find someone from my family. Of course, it had been six years so anyone that I had known was older now. I tried to look for older versions of my parents and sister.

Suddenly, one of the Otters did start walking up to us! She looked familiar, and was not my mother. I knew instantly it was my sister. "Marlene? Is it really you?" she asked me. "Yes, Emily, it's me," I said happily to her, hugging her. ** "It's been so long since I've seen any family," Emily said, hugging me tighter. "It's been so long for me too," I said, hugging her tighter as well.

We both released each other and looked at each other. "Well, you've certainly grown since I last saw you," I said. "I'm still shorter than you though," she said sadly. We both laughed, remember the sibling rivalry we had. I was also laughing because of the similar sibling rivalry between my children.

"Mom and Dad taught me better manners than this. Come on, I'll take you to my cave," Emily said to us. We all followed her across the habitat and entered her cave. It looked a lot like mine, including drawings of what I presumed was Monterey and the ocean. "You have a beautiful home Emily," I said to her. She smiled. "Thanks. I tried to copy your art skills. It's nice to know I did well," Emily said. "Where did you go? How long are you here for? Who are your friends?" Emily asked me.

"Well, I was transferred to New York City from here. It's a beautiful city. And really big," I said. "Bigger than Monterey?" Emily asked me. "Very much. And how do you know how big Monterey is? We were born here, in captivity," I said surprised. "After you were transferred away, Mom and Dad said they were actually going to help both of us to be able to leave on that day. Let's just say it took me a long time to get used to the outside world," Emily said. I knew exactly what she meant. "It took me a few tries, too. I had some help as well," I said, waving to Skipper and the guys.

"Being able to go outside is great. Maybe one night I can take you all on a tour of my city," Emily said. "There's nothing we would like more," Skipper said. That made Emily really happy and she smiled. Boy, was she about to find out something huge.

"So how long are you here for?" Emily asked. "We're not sure. We have yet to decide," I said. "What do you mean?" Emily asked. "We all wanted a vacation, so we set ourselves up to be transferred to different zoos for the next month or two," I said.

"How'd you pull that off?" Emily asked. "We got into our zookeeper's system on the computer," I explained. "You can read?" she asked curious. "It took awhile, but yes. I suppose we'll have to teach you too," I said. "That sounds fun. I can't wait!" Emily exclaimed happily.

"So who are your friends?" Emily asked me. Everyone introduced themselves to her. "It's nice to meet you all. I'll enjoy hanging out with you all until you get transferred again," Emily said. "We will too," Annabelle said happily as we all smiled. "I've raised good children," I thought to myself.

"So Marlene do you mind if we catch up ourselves?" Emily asked me. "Of course not. Would you all mind waiting outside?" I asked everyone. They all nodded and left, and probably went to meet the other Otters and Penguins. "So what is it you wanted to talk about?" I asked my sister.

"Well, I thought I saw something between you and that flat-headed Penguin, Skipper. Mind explaining that?" she asked. "How'd you pick up on that?" I asked curious. Emily laughed. "You know how hard it was for you to hide a secret from me," she said coyly.

We both smiled, remembering all the trouble we had gotten into as kids. "Well, you're absolutely correct on that. You're very perceptive. Skipper and I are actually married," I said. Emily looked really confused. "You married a Penguin?" she asked. "Well, there's more to it than that actually," I said.

"I'm not exactly sure how to explain it to you, but Annabelle and Samuel are our daughter and son," I continued. Emily's jaw dropped and she looked dizzy, like she was going to faint. She suddenly started fainting, but I caught her before she hit the ground, thanks to my reflexes.

"I should have expected that," I thought to myself while carefully taking her to her bed. "Skipper, could you come here please?" I called for my husband. He immediately appeared. "Yes Marlene?" he asked me.

"Well, Emily did detect something between us. That's what she wanted to talk about," I said. "She fainted at us being married?" Skipper asked. "Well, she was confused, but didn't actually faint until I said Annabelle and Samuel were our children. We packed smelling salts right?" I asked.

"We probably should have expected that. And, yes, I packed some smelling salts inside Rico. I'll get them and the kids. But, boy is your sister in for a surprise when we tell her about the other world," Skipper said. "That's an understatement. Better bring back a few sets of smelling salts," I said. "Can do," Skipper said. He left the cave and returned with Annabelle and Samuel, along with a few sets of smelling salts.

"So Aunt Emily fainted at us?" Annabelle asked as they came in the cave. "Yes sweetie," I answered. "We probably should have expected that," Samuel said. "I agree," I said. I took one of the smelling salts and cracked it below Emily's nose and she started to wake back up.

"Are you alright Emily?" I asked, checking. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm just… really confused. I mean, I kept hearing from Mom and Dad that someone told them you'd find true love in an unexpected way, so I get you Skipper," Emily said while sitting back up.

"Thank you," Skipper said. "But I mean, we're mammals and Skipper is a bird. How did that work out?" Emily asked me. "Sorry children, this is where the classified information comes in," I said. They both looked sad, but left the cave and went back to meeting everyone outside.

"You do have responsive kids," Emily said. "Thanks. We pride ourselves on that," Skipper said. "So my sister and now brother-in-law, how did you manage to have children?" Emily asked us. We spent the next few hours explaining what happened from the moment I had met Skipper until yesterday, including the other world and the lab. We did have to crack open more smelling salts, especially when we talked about the other world.

After a few hours, Emily was starting to understand it all. "That's… absolutely wild. Everything's the same there?" Emily asked. "Almost. Some people are, like politicians, but for animals and non-famous people, it seems we're all unique," I said.

"We all used to be controlled by a TV network there. That's why you were transferred isn't it?" Emily asked. "We think so. While our, scripts we guess, were being written, our world reacted to those changes," Skipper said.

"So they had no idea, did they?" Emily asked. "Not until we were discovered last year. They were pretty shocked we had broken out of the TV, supposedly," I said. "I wonder what the people who thought they made us think," Emily said. "We still have yet to meet them as well. That'll be the first question we ask them," Skipper said.

"Best friends with a human that turns into a Penguin sometimes. That's actually kind've cool," Emily said. "We think so too. It's also fun to have millions of fans there," I said. "Always the showoff," Emily said to me jokingly. We all laughed. "I guess," I said smiling.

"But two classes of species having children. That's just amazing. I imagine you were all shocked when you found out," Emily said. "I certainly was. After all, I was pregnant with the children for three months," I said. "I fainted when she told me the news," Skipper said. We both chuckled remembering that day. "Your children do seem to take after you, from what I've seen so far. They also really look like you two," Emily said.

"We're still trying to figure out what else we may have passed down. It's harder to figure out, since they're crossbreeds," I said. "Pengotters. That's really cool. Way cooler than either of our species. But I don't want to know what would happen if the humans in, our world I guess, found that out," Emily said. "We don't want to find out either. We'd have to move worlds," I said.

"Maybe in the future, you can get me transferred to your zoo and then we can go to that world. They don't know that I even exist do they?" Emily asked. "They still don't even know about the kids yet. But we could probably get you there in the future," Skipper said. Emily smiled. "That sounds fun. But instead of a temporary visit to your home, I'd like to move there," she said. "The Big Apple isn't exactly bursting with Otters sis," I said.

"Maybe in the meantime I could try to find an Otter for myself," Emily suggested. "We'll have to teach you how to read so we can stay in contact through the Internet," I said. We all yawned, as it was getting pretty late.

"I look forward to everything starting tomorrow," Emily said. "Good. We'll see you tomorrow," Skipper said. "Goodnight you two. Say goodnight to my niece and nephew for me please," Emily said. "Goodnight sis. We will," I said. We left the cave and looked for Annabelle and Samuel.

We spotted them trying to adapt the tricks we had taught them to the new environment. They looked like they were managing to pull it off. "Once again Skipper, they're really quick thinkers," I said to him. "At least we know where that came from," Skipper said. "Yeah. From both of us," I said smiling.

"Good evening kids," we said as we walked up to them. "Hi Mom and Dad," they both said. "How many smelling salts did we have to use?" Samuel asked us. "We used five. Thankfully we packed a lot," Skipper said. "How did Aunt Emily take the other world explanation?" Annabelle asked us. "That's when we used the smelling salts the most," I said chuckling.

"So does she like us?" Samuel asked. "Very much so. She thought that Pengotters were the coolest species. She also couldn't help but notice how much you two look and act like us," I said. They both smiled and then yawned. "That's good. But after that day of travelling and meeting new people, we're pretty tired even though it's only 9," Annabelle said.

"That's called jet lag. Your minds still think it's midnight, since New York is three hours ahead of Monterey. Don't worry as it'll only last a day or two," Skipper explained. We all yawned. "In fact, we might as well all go to bed. Let's go to our temporary home," I said. We all filed into my old cave, which was actually unoccupied by anyone. We all fell asleep in minutes, dreaming of the fun we would have here.

That's a wrap on this chapter. Cool, Marlene has a sister! She seems to act like Marlene, a bit. But she does have her own personality, which is really showing through. So do you like Emily, too? Also, I've introduced a paradox. Interesting. Please review this chapter. I've got a few notes today. See you in the next chapter.

* I have that same problem when I'm on a plane. It's really annoying. At least the kids only had to deal with it for a few minutes. Sometimes I've had to deal with it for hours.

** I took the same careful approach to Emily's name as I took for Annabelle and Samuel. I hope that seems evident. And Marlene is the older sister in this case, in case that was unclear. Also, you know how Marlene has a chestnut brown fur color? Emily is a darker shade of brown, more like a walnut color.