Welcome to chapter 11. This story is fun, correct? Hopefully it is. So let's continue our story at the aquarium.

CHAPTER 11 – Stopwatch Time

(P staying with Marlene moving forward a few days) "Another fun day," Annabelle said happily to us all. The aquarium had just closed a few minutes ago. "Yeah, that was really great," Samuel agreed. "But we had another close call, didn't we Skipper?" I asked him. We both chuckled. "Yes, we did. I'm just glad the humans aren't getting suspicious," Skipper said.

"You two are so paranoid," Emily said to us jokingly. We smiled. "In this world, you have to be paranoid sometimes," I said. "I swear, you're always picking up more of my habits," Skipper said. "It just happens to two people who spend a lot of time together, I guess," I said happily, before Skipper and I kissed.

"So now what?" Samuel asked. "Well, you all did help me read better. Thanks to Mom and Dad, I started it, but I didn't finish until you returned Marlene," Emily said to me, with tears of loss forming.

Skipper, the kids, and I all gave Emily a family hug, showing her that we were here now. "Thank you," Emily said happily to us after we stopped hugging each other. "You're very welcome Aunt Emily," Annabelle said to her. For that, she received a messing up of the fur on the top of her head, making her giggle.

"Well as an idea, I can take you around town in a few hours, when the humans close up their stores and go home," Emily suggested. "Sounds like a plan. But we don't need to wait for the humans to leave," Skipper said. "We can just casually walk around them," I said. All of us knew what we were talking about.

"I guess it's time for you to show me what you meant by infinite free time isn't it?" Emily asked knowingly. "Yep. We did pack that, right Kowalski?" I asked him. "Yes, I believe so. Stopwatch please Rico," Kowalski said. Sure enough, we did pack the Stopwatch. "I know that it's 6:15. What does that do?" Emily asked, curious.

"Can we demonstrate it Mom and Dad?" Annabelle asked us. * "Sure honey. Just please, no jokes," Skipper said. The kids took the Stopwatch from Rico and got it ready. "Please place your paw on the Stopwatch Aunt Emily," Samuel asked her. She did. See you in a second," I said to them as they pressed the button. (P to Emily)

"Nothing happened," I said sadly. "Are you sure? Seems like it worked to me," Annabelle said. "Marlene, I don't think it worked," I said to my sister. I got no response. She just stood there, looking in our direction.

I walked over to her and waved my paw in her face and she continued standing there, unblinking. Suddenly I understood. "Oh, now I get it. It's called the Stopwatch because it stops time," I said.

"Yes, Aunt Emily. It's pretty cool. Mom and Dad said it came in handy for when we were born," Samuel said. ** "That's right, they did say that. It's a very cool invention. So what can we do when everything is like this?" I asked curiously.

"Pretty much anything. There's no humans or anyone to stop us," Annabelle said. "My sister and your father can't do anything either. I've got a plan before we bring them back," I said slyly. ***

"You and Mom sure are alike in a lot of ways. We heard Mom say almost the same thing a few weeks ago," Annabelle said. "It happens between siblings. I imagine you two have the same sort of thing," I said to them.

"Yes, Aunt Emily. We're both extremely curious. Didn't exactly go so great one time a few months ago," Samuel said. I chuckled. "I know, your parents told me. Well, it's alright as we're not cats," I said to them. We laughed.

"So what's your plan, Aunt Emily?" Annabelle asked me. "Well, there's no humans here anymore either. Let's make them kiss," I said, waving towards Marlene and Skipper. Annabelle and Samuel laughed. "Sounds like a great plan Aunt Emily," Samuel said. "Thank you. Let's do this, shall we?" I asked my nephew and niece.

"Lets," Annabelle agreed. We put Marlene and Skipper in a kissing position and closed their eyes so they wouldn't see what was happening when they woke up. We then returned to where we were standing before.

"So do I need to put my paw on the Stopwatch again?" I asked the children. "You're good, Aunt Emily," Annabelle said. "Thanks. Let's have some fun," I said. Annabelle was holding the Stopwatch and she pressed the button. (P to Marlene)

Suddenly, I couldn't see anything. I was giving a pretty good kiss to a beak as well. I assumed it was Skipper, as the beak did not pull away. We did pull away after a moment or so. "Well, that's always fun," I said happily. Everyone laughed. "Now which of you three did that?" Skipper asked, suspicious but obviously enjoying what had just happened.

"Aunt Emily," Annabelle and Samuel said, pointing to her. "Yes, it was me," Emily said, blushing. "Well thank you Emily. I've actually been wanting to do that all day," I said. "Me too," Skipper said agreeing. We all laughed again. "Time for your tour," Emily said. We all put our flippers and paws on the Stopwatch and pressed the button.

Sure enough as usual, time was stopped, except for us. "Where did you get such an idea for this anyway?" Emily asked us. We all looked at Kowalski. "I just thought of it one day," Kowalski said. "It's really good Kowalski. Just please don't let Julien ever get his hands on it again," I asked him. "I shall not," Kowalski replied.

We all started heading out. "What, you don't want gum in your fur sis?" Emily asked me coyly. **** "Trust me, it was a lot of gum. It took me two days to pick it all out," I said. "I believe you. I'm glad no one can throw things at us, since we're stopped by the glass," Emily said.

"It's too bad no one can throw popcorn at us though," Annabelle said sadly. "Popcorn?" Emily asked curiously. "Our habitat at home is open. Our zoo has a do not feed the animals policy, but the humans violate it often," I said happily.

"I'll look forward to that, for when you help me get transferred eventually," Emily said happily. ***** "We'll make sure you can't get transferred unless a request comes from our zoo when we get back here," I said. Emily smiled. "Thanks. I'll look forward to spending more time with all of you," she said. We continued walking out, passing the other habitats until we reached the exit.

"You two can leave, right?" Emily asked Annabelle and Samuel. "Yes Aunt Emily," they answered. I reminded Emily as to how they can do that. She actually still remembered though.

"You two are lucky with being born outside the zoo," she said to the kids. "So what does feral mean?" Samuel asked. "You really don't want to know children. Trust me," I said. "I guess you nearly caused some damage too?" Emily asked me, whispering.

"Yeah. We had a couple of close calls. I owe it to Skipper for getting me back under control," I said whispering. "Was that before or after you finally started dating?" Emily asked me whispering. "It was a long time before. But it did help, I think," I said. "Too bad the other world blocked you two all those years," Emily said to Skipper and I, no longer whispering.

"In a way, it did help a bit, even though it delayed the both of us. Without that delay, we might have never found our way to that world. You two would not exist if we hadn't gone there," Skipper said to the kids. "Minor point to the delay," Annabelle said. "That's about the only good point, other than myself not going feral," I said. We opened the door and all walked out.

"Ah, nice clean air. No smog or smoke," I said. "And the smell of the ocean is great too," Samuel said happily. We all inhaled deeply, inhaling the smell of the ocean. But something else was in the air too. ******

"Does anyone else smell that?" I asked. "Smell what honey?" Skipper asked me. "I'm not sure. But it does smell familiar," I said. "Familiar as from here or New York?" Emily asked me. "I think New York, specifically in Central Park," I answered.

"We all enjoy those treats. Which one does it smell like to you Mom?" Annabelle asked. "It smells like three, actually. Hot dogs, pretzels, and," I said before pausing to sniff again. "Snow cones," I finished. "Hot snozzles," Samuel said happily. "I'll take point," I said. We all followed my nose and walked by many humans while heading to wherever the smell came from.

"This really is cool. That Stopwatch gives you so much freedom," Emily said happily. "It sure does. If we could make you another one, we probably would," I said. "Yes, but we don't have my entire lab, so for now you'll have to remain without it," Kowalski said. "That's too bad. I'll enjoy that device," Emily said happily.

After a few more minutes, we finally reached our destination. "We've got enough sardines right?" I asked. Kowalski calculated on his abacus the exchange rate between money and the sardines. "Yes, we've packed more than enough to get some," Kowalski answered. Rico released four cans of sardines, all sealed and then we all grabbed the different ingredients and went outside.

"These are really good," Emily said, happily eating her hot snozzle. "They're nothing like the ones back in New York though," I said. "Close, but it is off. How did you smell these all the way from the aquarium?" Skipper asked me.

"I have no idea. I must have some kind of snow cone sense," I suggested, blushing. "Whatever the reason is, these are really good. It's nice to take a break from fish," Emily said. "The keepers here are much more involved than back in New York," I said.

"Based off what you've said, they really seem that way," Emily said. "They sure are. Alice almost never notices us missing or acting, well, like humans," Skipper said. "She didn't even notice we were gone in the other world either time or that I was pregnant," I said. Emily laughed. "When I go to New York, I guess I'll be able to have more freedom," she said happily.

After we were done, Emily led us on a tour of Monterey. It was a really nice city. It had that small-town feel, without it being a small town. There were certainly a lot of shops, especially souvenir shops. After probably quite a few real-time hours, we all walked casually back into the aquarium and our habitat after we made it so that Emily wouldn't get transferred from here unless a request specifically came from our zoo.

"That was fun sis! Thanks for taking us around Monterey," I said to Emily. She smiled. "No problem. When I get to New York, be sure to take me on a tour there," Emily said. "No problem. We'll be able to get around a lot easier, thanks to the car," I said. "It's good we made it bigger," Samuel said. "Yes, we made it so you two could also ride in it, but made it so more people could ride in it if needed," I said.

We all yawned, really tired. Skipper, who had been wearing the Stopwatch, pressed the button, unpausing time. Rico swallowed the Stopwatch back up seconds later. "Well, let's all get rested for tomorrow," Skipper ordered us. We all said goodnight to each other and filed into our caves, going to sleep.

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

* That whole scenario just came to me. Gotta love when that happens, though.

** Referencing the final chapter of Pengotter Pregnancy, where Skipper and Marlene used the Stopwatch to have the kids in the park to get the kids to not go feral ever. Now there are two people who can go feral though.

*** Some siblings have similar behaviors. And this was funny. It developed Emily more as well. Besides, Marlene and Emily did, according to them, get into trouble sometimes as kids.

**** Referencing "It's About Time" somewhat. We still don't know what happened to Marlene, but based on how much gum Julien stuck to everything, Marlene was probably covered in some as well.

***** Yep, you read that right. I will be moving Emily over to New York and into the story permanently. But not yet, as the events of Book 3 are still a few months out. Maybe in Book 4, though.

****** Another idea that just came to me. Maybe I'm referencing "King Julien For A Day" and/or Pengotter Pregnancy when Marlene smelled and desired the cotton candy? Probably. But I'm not exactly sure.

Bonus: Next chapter is a bit of a doozy. Prepare yourselves. That's all I'm saying.