Welcome to chapter 10. We're still at the aquarium. Let's explore that area and a bit more.

CHAPTER 10 – The Day

(P staying with Marlene) I yawned softly as I woke up. Looking around, I saw I was still at the aquarium. It felt great to be here again with Skipper, the kids, and the guys. It also felt great to see Emily after all these years. She seemed like she had grown up so much in the last six years.

A part of me felt sad that I had moved away from her and my parents, but another part of me felt happy, as I had married the love of my life and had children. Looking over at them again, Skipper and the kids looked so peaceful sleeping. It felt weird to be up first though, as Skipper and Samuel were usually up before either Annabelle or myself.

I decided to go for a quiet swim in the pool in the habitat to try and quietly practice for the crowds that would appear for as long as we were here. "It's too bad I can't be in any Internet popularity contests anymore though," I thought to myself. * Since that scandal all those years ago, I still couldn't win any awards.

Suddenly, I felt the water moving at me from behind, and it wasn't a current. I looked behind me to see who entered the water and it was Emily. She didn't seem to notice that I was also in the water though, which meant my stealth swimming training had paid off. I went up to the surface for some air and then sat on the cement to watch her practice, eager to see what she had planned for the guests.

She was being pretty quiet as well, but probably as to not wake anyone up either. She looked like she was having fun. I saw lots of moves similar to the ones I did. "She probably copied those from me all those years ago," I thought to myself happily. I also saw her do some unique flips and tumbles.

They looked like fun, so I made a mental note to ask her how to do those later. Suddenly, I saw her do the corkscrew in the water. She wasn't just swimming in a corkscrew fashion; it was a complete corkscrew like the one Skipper had taught us all. "Wow, where did she learn that?" I thought to myself. She stopped after that and came out of the water.

"Good morning Emily," I said to her. "Good morning sis. Did you just get out here?" she asked me. "I've been up for maybe a half hour or so. I saw you practice and you've totally impressed me," I said. Emily smiled. "Thanks. I gather you saw the corkscrew then?" she asked. "Yes. Where did you learn that?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. It just came to me one day. Want me to teach you how?" Emily asked me. I smirked. "Thank you for the offer, but Skipper already taught me how," I answered. We both chuckled softly. "Sounds like you have a great husband. If only I could be so lucky," she said a bit sad. "Don't worry, you'll find someone someday," I said, trying to cheer her up.

"Do you have any tips?" Emily asked eagerly. "I've pretty much got only one: Be patient. Believe me, I think Skipper and I wanted to tell each other how we felt almost as soon as I got there. But that other universe blocked us until we actually went there," I answered. "Thanks for the tip. I'm glad those people are done messing with our world. They are, right?" Emily asked.

"I think so. Skipper did make Matthew our head PR man. He's probably trying to help on that side of the Portal," I said. ** "Probably. I'd still like to go reveal myself there though," Emily said. "Well, after we get back and keep in contact with you, we'll try to figure out when would be a good time," I said. "Sounds like a plan sis," Emily said happily.

"Just one thing: Please don't tell my children about what caused me to no longer be able to enter Internet popularity contests," I said to her. "Oh you mean that?" Emily asked me with a smirk. I sighed. "Yes, I do. Please don't tell them," I said.

She thought for a moment. "Alright, I guess I won't. But Skipper knows right?" she asked. "Of course. We both don't keep secrets from each other," I said. "That sounds nice. I hope to have the same luck as you," Emily said. "I'm sure you will," I said.

"I wish I knew where Mom and Dad were though," Emily said sadly. "Did they get transferred like I did?" I asked her gently. Emily sighed sadly. "They were transferred somewhere five years ago," she said sadly, with tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm sorry you've been left alone Emily," I said to her, giving her a hug. My little sister hadn't seen anyone from our family in a long time. "I'm glad you're here Marlene," she said to me. "I'm glad that I'm here too," I said to her.

After continuing to chat for a few minutes, Skipper and the kids walked out and over to us. "Good morning everyone," I said to them. "Good morning honey," Skipper said to me. "Good morning Mom," the children said. "Good morning to you as well Emily," Skipper said to her. "And good morning to you Aunt Emily," both of the kids said to her. She smiled. "Good morning. It's cool to know I now have a brother-in-law and have a niece and nephew," Emily said.

They all smiled. "Thank you. It's nice to finally meet you," Skipper said to Emily. "It's nice to finally reunite with my family, which is obviously bigger now," she said. "And stranger," Samuel said.

We all chuckled softly. "Yes, it sure is," I said. "You two sure are interesting. I mean, Pengotters. The first cross mammal-bird species and I get to be your Aunt," Emily said happily.

"It's nice to have an Aunt. Especially one who understands that we can exist," Annabelle said. "You think there'd be any other type?" Emily asked knowingly. Smiles grew even bigger on the kids' faces. "I guess not. Thank you Aunt Emily," Samuel said happily. "You're very welcome, my little nephew and niece," Emily said.

"So how long ago did they merge the Penguin and Otter habitats sis?" I asked Emily. "I think it was three years ago. The Penguin habitat needed some repairs so they all came here. The humans must have noticed us interacting well together so they decided to just enlarge the habitat for both of us," Emily answered. "Interesting. But we can't say we're surprised," Skipper said. We all laughed softly, still not trying to wake anyone else up.

"Yes, you two did take it far further than the humans will ever know, at least here," Emily said. "Even though we only talked to the press there for only a little bit, it was fun to see them all shocked at everything," I said. "They'll really be shocked at us," Annabelle said. "Considering my reaction and yours Skipper, I'm sure they will," Emily said. We chuckled at the similarity between their reactions.

"So what is our schedule like here?" Skipper asked. "Well, we don't open until around 10 am to 6 pm *** and get fed at 11 AM and 3:30 PM," Emily answered. "Hmm, seems they've shortened the hours in the last few years," I said. "Yeah. But it's nice, we have more free time now," Emily said. "Sis, you don't know the true meaning of free time," I said smirking.

I looked over at Skipper, expecting to see to see some surprise at what I was revealing, but he was actually smirking as well, which surprised me a lot! The kids were smirking as well. "What do you mean?" Emily asked, curious. "Well, you did want to take us on a tour of the city. We'll tell you later when that happens," I said. "Hmm, alright then," Emily said, suspicious.

Shortly after that discussion, everyone else came out of their caves, including the guys. We all said good morning to each other and all planned our routine. The guys would perform with the other Penguins for the time being, and we would all perform together as a big family. (P to 10 AM)

It was finally time for the aquarium to open. The kids were really excited that we would all finally perform as a family, something we couldn't do at home. We were also excited that Emily would join us and before everyone had shown up taught us some of the moves she had learned over time.

Suddenly, the humans started filing into the room our area was in. Many of them looked confused at why our species were all together, which was really funny. "I guess they've never seen Penguins, Otters, and Pengotters together before," I said to everyone. "This happens whenever we're open. But it's still hilarious," Emily said. "It sure looks it," Annabelle said with a smile on her face.

Since our first meal wouldn't be until 11, we decided to just mill around and act like dumb animals. "It's fun being this coy," Annabelle said happily. "It sure is sweetie. We'll have to remember this for later. Of course, we'll need a third Otter," I said, directing that part at Emily. "Thanks sis," Emily said to me happily.

We all got ready to perform, as it got closer to our feeding time. Finally, after playing hard to get for a few moments, we began. First it was just Annabelle, Emily, and I doing dives and running around. Then Samuel and Skipper joined in.

The crowd looked pretty shocked at all of us interacting this way, at least from what I could see as we were performing. They were especially surprised when Skipper and I did the waving beak routine. We came close to kissing, but held back barely.

Finally, we all ran and slid up the rocks, jumped off them, and corkscrewed into the water. We got out and looked back at the crowd, who looked like they had enjoyed it. We would have bowed, except that to them, animals don't know what bowing is. ****

Suddenly a human came in, carrying a bucket, which probably had fish in it. All of us non-humans gathered around the person, hungry. "Well, they've all earned their meals right?" the person asked the crowd. I noticed that they had a microphone on, which meant there were speakers outside the habitat so they could talk to the guests. ***** We all got our meals and then just sat and swam casually around.

There was another human outside with a different kind of microphone, letting the guests ask questions. Some were general, like what our life spans are, where our species usually live, and so on. But someone did ask why we were all together.

"Well, a few years ago, there was some damage to the Penguin habitat, which used to be separated by a wall of glass. The glass was not broken though. We placed the Penguins here so they would be in a familiar area. But since these two species seem to get along, we just decided to get rid of the wall," the feeding human answered.

"So how did they all come up with what we just saw them do?" a guest asked. Obviously, they meant all of us. "We don't know. There is a lot we don't know about our fellow creatures," the feeder said. "That is just about the truest statement I've ever heard," Skipper said. To the human, Skipper was just making bird noises, whatever they sounded like, so the comment went unnoticed.

More questions were asked including one about the interaction Skipper and I had. "Could an Otter and Penguin ever have a baby?" a child asked. "I'm sorry to make you sad, but they cannot. A Penguin is a bird and an Otter is a mammal like us. There is no way," the feeder said. "And yet, there are two seven-month-old Pengotters right in your faces," Samuel said.

Once again, the comment went unnoticed. It took all our efforts to not laugh at the lie the feeder was saying. Both Samuel and Annabelle took a leap and landed in the water. After more questions and later performances, the aquarium was closed. "That was really fun!" Annabelle exclaimed. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. That was the most fun I've had in awhile," Emily said happily.

"It's still funny that we're right in their faces and yet the humans here think we're not possible," Samuel said smiling. "As long as they don't try to find out, they probably never will," I said. "Still not telling us mom?" Anna asked coyly. "Not yet. Sorry sweetie," I said to her, being coy right back.

"That was almost too close this morning though," Skipper said. "Yes honey. At least we can do it when they're gone," I said to Skipper before kissing him. "So where are your rings?" Emily asked.

"Rico, can we please have them?" I asked him. Rico let them go and Skipper and I caught them and placed them on our digit and flipper. "What a gorgeous diamond," Emily said, looking at my ring. "It took me forever to find and resize that," Skipper said proudly.

"It's the perfect size," I said to him, kissing him. "It really is gorgeous. I hope I get one like it some day," Emily said. "I'm sure you will sis," I said to her. She hugged me. "Thanks for the encouragement," Emily said. "You're welcome," I replied.

That's a wrap on this chapter. Did you like it? Do you still like Emily? Please rate and review this chapter. I've got a few notes today.

* Referencing "Tangled In The Web" where Marlene said to Julien she is out of competition for a scandal. We still don't know what that is, though.

** As revealed in Book 3, I am actually working hard right now (in the timeline) to wrangle control of their universe away from DreamWorks/Nick/Viacom to myself so nothing gets changed. If I could actually somehow get control, here in the real world, I'd immediately get a Skilene episode made.

*** That's actually the correct hours the Monterey Aquarium is open, according to their website. I don't know the specific feeding times, though, but this is their world so it doesn't matter.

**** Remember, those humans think everyone is just a normal animal, not smarter than the actual humans.

***** They do that in a lot of zoos and aquariums. If you've ever been to one, you've probably seen that.