Welcome to chapter 12! It's now early February 1996. Let's see what's in store for the family today, shall we?

CHAPTER 12 – The First Performance

(P to Marlene) I gently stirred from sleeping. As I was doing so, I felt kisses from Mom and Dad. I giggled as I awoke, loving them. They were great parents. "I love Mom and Dad," I said happily. "We love you too Marlene," they said happily to me. I opened my eyes and when I saw them I felt joy.

We all hugged, happy to be a family. I was their one and only daughter, their first child, as they said. That meant I was truly special. I loved being the center of their attention. I was vain, according to them. Or at least, what I overheard.

"What are we doing today?" I asked Mom and Dad. "We're just going to train you for some performances for the guests," Mom said to me. "Sounds fun Mom!" I said to her. They smiled at me, glad I said something positive.

We headed out of the cave and everyone else was enjoying the morning with their own families. I was glad we were all friends with each other. Sure, we had our rivalries, but I really liked all our friends. We were still fighting over height though.

"So what do I get to learn today?" I asked Mom and Dad. "You know the beach ball that was given to us a few days ago from the keepers?" Dad asked me. "Yes Dad," I replied. "Well your father and I have been using it for the last few days and we want to teach you how to use it now," Mom said to me. "Cool!" I exclaimed.

They got it from the water where it was floating. "First Marlene, we're going to teach you how to pass it around between us," Dad said, before he and Mom demonstrated. I looked really cool with them jumping around and throwing the ball, not to mention using their tails as well.

"I want to try that!" I said, after watching for a few minutes. They chuckled at me, embarrassing me. "Ok Marlene. So do you want to try it with your tail or paws first?" Mom asked me. "I want to try it with my tail," I said.

Since I had been learning performances, I wanted to be the best. I overheard Mom and Dad say that they were sometimes shocked by my eagerness. But there was just something there, to get me to want to be the best.

"Ok Marlene. Now try to hit the ball back to us and we'll then use our tails as well," Dad said to me. He threw the ball in the air and whacked it with his tail at me. Somehow I knew exactly what to do and swatted the ball back to Mom for her to give to Dad. They were impressed, but Dad caught the ball, stopping this for now.

"Wow. Good job Marlene!" Mom said to me. "Thanks Mom," I said proudly. I did it on my first try. "How did you learn that so fast dear?" Dad asked me. I shrugged. "I don't know," I answered honestly. "Well good job. Now let's try something else," Mom said, before jumping onto the ball.

She was being pushed around a bit by Dad before he stopped and she continued with momentum around where we were for a minute before stopping. "Neat!" I said, walking over to where they had stopped. "Need help climbing?" Dad asked me. "Yes please," I answered, blushing.

They helped me climb onto the beach ball and I narrowly avoided using my claws. I then stood on top of it, feeling pretty good. "Ready?" Mom and Dad asked me. "I think so," I answered honestly. They responded by starting to roll the ball around. I almost decided to jump off, but held on with my feet.

I continued to go when they released it and felt an idea come into my head. I began to bounce the ball with me on top of it to keep going. And then I really shocked Mom and Dad when I went to bouncing around on one upper paw, flipping myself around. When I stopped rolling around I jumped off the ball and into the water.

"Was that good?" I asked my parents. "That was fantastic sweetheart. Where did you come up with that idea?" Dad asked me. "I don't know. It just came to me," I answered truthfully. "Well now you'll have to teach us how to do that," Mom said. Oh boy, a role reversal would be fun!

Suddenly we spotted the keepers and our bellies grumbled. It was time for breakfast. We all got into one mass and said hello to each other, since we hadn't done that yet. As they fed us, I felt really good. But I was getting sleepy. My body was tired out from the exercise and being so small. Mom and Dad took notice and gave me a look that said they would help me sleep in a bit.

(P to Diana) I didn't know why, but I was feeling hungrier than usual. Even after everyone was done eating, I stuck around for a minute or two longer. Sebastien and I shot each other a look that essentially said, "Let me talk to you after we put Marlene to bed."

After I was finally done, I headed into the cave with Sebastien and Marlene. She was rubbing her eyes with her little paws, being adorable as usual. She had sure impressed Sebastien and I. Maybe one day our little girl would be a star. But for now, she was going to take a nap. We tucked her in and then headed to a different part of the cave to speak.

"I'm so impressed with what Marlene did," I said happily to Sebastien. "Me too. She did so much for being so little. She's only just about 6 months old and look at her. Talking and having fun," he said. We kissed, so happy we had created such a wonderful child.

"So Sebastien, I gather by the look you gave me that you saw I was eating more food than usual," I said to him. "I did. What do you make of that?" he asked me. "Well even though we've been using the ball lately, that hasn't made me any hungrier. Something's going on," I said to him.

We both thought for a moment before I came to a realization. "Sebastien, didn't we have a night to ourselves a few weeks ago?" I asked him. He blushed, as we did have one. We asked Olivia and Charles to watch Marlene so we could have a night of fun.

"Well have you missed it?" he asked me. I knew what he was asking. I wracked my brain. He was right, I had missed it. It should have happened a few days ago. "Oh Sebastien, I love you. I think I'm pregnant again," I said happily to him, kissing him.

"A second child. So soon after the first," he said as we looked at Marlene. "Oh wow, two children. That's going to be a handful, if I'm only pregnant with a single one," I said. We then panicked in our minds of me being pregnant with multiples this time. Having two children total would be harder, but having four or five? Insanity.

"Let's just hope that you are only pregnant with one," Sebastien said. "Yeah. But how do we explain this to Marlene?" I asked him. "Well besides the gross things, I think we should be honest with her," he said. "I was thinking that too. Our little Marlene will now be a big sister," I said happily, kissing Sebastien in love.

Another one! And if you know my In Our World stories, you know who it is. But for now, I'll leave it a mystery for those of you who don't want it spoiled. Please leave a review, as they mean a lot to me. I have no notes today.