For the next couple of weeks, we went to the city nearly every night.

I took them places even I'd never been before. We did things together that I'd never tried myself. We watched The Lion King from the beginning among a couple other Broadway shows like Beauty and the Beast and Wicked. We watched sideshows on the streets and had a good laugh at the effortless ways amusement was brought to the humans. Sometimes I questioned if that meant we were ironically easily amused too.

I also let them try human food. They explained to me that they have to have their fish churned into a mush since they were still babies and their digestive tracts couldn't handle solid food yet, so I could only let them try very small things, like popcorn, snow cones, and cotton candy. They loved it. I even tried some myself for the first time, after much pestering – okay, it actually didn't take much at all – from the penguins. Of course, I still prefer my usual diet, but I actually found myself surprised that I'd never thought to try human food before. I developed a fondness for their cheese snacks.

Sometimes, I would even borrow a few interesting looking movies from the Video Room store on 3rd Avenue and we'd wait until after closing and watch them in Alice's office. As long as we kept the volume low and the blinds pulled, the night watchman would never catch us. The penguins seemed very interested in action movies and a few animated movies. They seemed particularly interested in the Commodore Danger movies. Sometimes during the intense scenes, Private would turn his head and bury his face in my arm. I would hold him protectively and remind him that nothing on the television was real, just people in costumes.

The penguins have taken an interest in combat. Ever since they took an interest in action movies, they seem to be highly intrigued by the fighting scenes. They especially loved The Karate Kid. For a while now, they keep trying out "wax on, wax off," "paint up, paint down," and "sand floor." I found it pretty adorable. Sometimes when they rough-housed, they tried out other moves they remembered from the movies. I usually stood by to make sure they didn't hurt each other. Private usually sat with me through most of it since he's so little and more susceptible to getting injured.

As far as during zoo hours, I'd learned to cope with my newfound attention. Occasionally, I did some tricks on my own and it caught the humans' attention – although I still questioned whether or not it was because of my involvement with the penguins, but a lot of times, I stayed up top with the penguins and we sometimes did tricks together. The humans especially loved it when we did our "merry-go-round" bit, where I would take each penguin in one of my arms and spin them around for a short while. While I still missed the days the humans came to my habitat to see just me, I had a lot of fun with the penguins, and decided to settle with the idea that at least I'm still getting some attention, rather than none at all. I'd never admit this to anyone, but I sometimes wonder if I had more fun than the penguins.

I heard rumors that the zookeepers decided to keep me around for a while longer, and that they wouldn't separate our habitats since the penguins and I had become so close.

Once again, it was after hours, and the penguins no longer had to throw something in my pool to get my attention. I anticipated spending time with them every day. Even though it annoyed me that the humans continued their ridiculous rumors that I was acting as a paternal figure towards them since we're really just good friends, I still couldn't find the heart to break away from them. And I have three of them, so that's saying something.

The penguins had started rough-housing again — this time "sword-fighting" with sporks after seeing Hook — and Private stood off to the side, studying their technique carefully. Occasionally, I saw him slash the air in front of him with an invisible weapon like he was trying to imitate their movements. I found it cute. Well, anything they did I found cute. I know, ironic. I pulled myself partially onto the island next to the littlest penguin and looked from him to the others.

"Hey, you're getting the hang of it, there," I encouraged, gently patting him on the back.

Private looked at me and smiled. "You think so?" he asked.

I smiled back. "Of course. I'll bet that soon enough, you'll be able to take all three of your brothers," I said with a wink.

Private beamed. We turned at the sound of someone crying out.

Skipper and Kowalski were standing next to Rico as he held his cheek. I saw a red substance spreading on his feathers and had a momentary sense of panic, which I forced down so I could try to calmly resolve the situation.

"What happened?" I said, pulling myself out of the water and approaching the trio. I gently picked Rico up and pulled his flipper away from his face. There was a cut across his cheek.

"My spork broke earlier," Skipper explained, "and I accidentally cut him with the sharp end! I'm so sorry! He's not gonna die, is he?" he asked in a panic.

I shook my head. "No. We'll take him to the infirmary. Come on," I said, grabbing the other three and hurrying across the pond and over the fence. I quickly made my way over to the infirmary and saw a window that was cracked open. Pulling it the rest of the way open, I climbed inside and rushed to the examination table. I ran into a problem when I realized I had no idea how to nurse a wound. I grabbed some gauze from another table and gave it to Rico.

"Here, use this to try and slow the bleeding while I try to figure out what to do about it," I told him. He sat down on the table and did as I asked. I looked at the titles of some of the books on the shelves, but I had a hard time reading them. I moaned in frustration and looked down at the counter, where I saw a pair of glasses. I picked them up and studied them. I only had a vague knowledge of the purpose of glasses, and from what I understood, it helped the humans to see better. I tried them on and studied the words again. The sharpness of my vision actually startled me for a second before I remembered what I was looking for.

I scanned the titles: Minor Surgeries, Diseases and Treatments, Animal Pregnancy, and —

"Aha," I said, grabbing the book that said Wounds and Care. I looked through the table of contents as I returned to the penguins. I found Cuts and Lacerations and flipped to the corresponding page.

"All right," I said, "it says I need to clean it first."

I reached around the room and found some latex gloves and slipped the ends of two of my arms into a pair of gloves, filling each of the fingers to the tips with my flexible skin. I flexed my new "fingers" a couple times to make sure I had control of them. I heard the penguins snicker and I looked down at them.

"Oh, you think that's funny?" I said humorously. They continued to laugh as I playfully rolled my eyes and continued gathering the needed supplies. "Okay, Giggly," I said, gently pulling Rico closer to me on the table, "hold still, all right?"

Rico nodded as I followed the directions in the book. I started cleaning his cut with a damp cloth and used an antiseptic solution to rinse it out. I used some fresh gauze to clean up some of the excess blood. I frowned at the next directions. I swallowed nervously.

"Hold this here," I told Rico, regarding the gauze on his face. He pressed his flipper to it as I left to find the needed items. I came back shortly after searching through various drawers and cabinets. I set the suture kit on the counter a couple feet away from the penguins. I took one of the needles and cleaned it with a cotton ball soaked with alcohol as the book instructed. Then I went to reassess Rico's wound.

It said to check and see if it was swelling at all. It did have some mild swelling down the sides, so I left to get some ice and held it right next to the cut, just as the book instructed, and soon enough, the swelling had reduced itself. I took a deep breath. Now came the hard part.

I took Rico in two of my other arms and held him firmly. "Okay, Rico, you're going to have to bear with me here. Try not to move, okay? I promise everything's going to be just fine," I told him. He hesitated, but then he nodded slowly. I made eye contact and tried to silently reassure him that everything was going to be okay.

The fear in his eyes seemed to soften and I realized that he was letting himself trust me. He was trusting me to take care of him. He trusted me not to screw up. I felt my hearts start to pound and I took another deep breath.

I followed the directions and pictures in the book on how to suture the wound. Rico looked uncomfortable and whimpered several times, but he seemed quite able to keep himself composed. After what felt like hours, I finally tied off the sutures. I set him back down and exhaled. I hoped the sutures were done properly. The other penguins surrounded him and examined the stitches with awe. Then they looked at me.

"You fixed him!" Skipper exclaimed.

I blinked. "I . . ."

"You made Rico better!" Private said excitedly.

Before I could respond, the four of them rushed forward and wrapped their flippers around my arms. Rico said something and Skipper translated.

"Rico says thank you," he said. "It hurt, but you made it better."

They stepped back and smiled up at me. Although, when Rico tried to smile, he winced and held his cheek where the sutures were and started to sob. I felt my hearts break at the sight and picked him up, cradling him like I'd seen other humans do with their small children.

"Hey, it's okay. You're gonna be all right now," I promised, petting his soft feathers with the non-suckered side of my arm. He wrapped his flippers around it and squeezed it firmly as if that comforted him somehow. I tensed up and watched him for a moment and a smile tugged at my lips. Comforting this little baby penguin, I felt different — like a new octopus. I felt as if I had an obligation to take care of them. Like it was my new life's purpose. I didn't understand it, and I don't think I ever will. It's not in an octopus's nature to care for someone like this, yet somehow, to me, it seemed completely natural. It was like . . . they were the best thing I never knew I needed.

"Dave?" said Private's voice, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, sorry," I said. "Let me just put everything up and we'll go back to our habitat."

After putting the book and suture kit back where I found it and discarding all of the materials I used in the waste bin, I gathered the penguins and made my way back to our habitat.

When we arrived, I put the penguins down on their island. I noticed the sporks laying in the middle – one with the tip still coated in Rico's blood – and frowned.

"And I think we've had enough 'sword-fighting' for a while," I said, reaching and taking up the sporks with an arm.

"Dave," Kowalski started, but I cut him off.

"No buts, Kowalski," I ordered. "I don't want to see any of you get hurt like that again."

Kowalski shook his head. "No, I was going to say —"

"Don't argue with me, Kowalski," I interrupted again. "I said no."

"No," Kowalski persisted, "I'm trying to tell you that you're still wearing the glasses."

I blinked and reached up to my face with an arm and realized he was right. I cleared my throat.

"Oh. Right. I'll, uh, go return them to the infirmary," I said, turning away. Then I turned back and held the sporks up. "But I'm still throwing these away," I said sternly. The penguins nodded sadly and I climbed back over the fence.

It only took a couple of minutes to return the glasses and discard the sporks. As I was returning to the habitat again, I saw the night watchman patrolling nearby and camouflaged myself on the nearest lamppost. The watchman scanned the area over and continued on his way.

"Hey."

I gasped in surprise at the voice behind me and hit the ground. I looked up to see Alex the lion leaning over the wall of his habitat.

"Whoa!" he said, holding up his paws. "Easy, I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Jeez," I said, pulling myself up and dusting dirt off of me. "You scared the ink out of me."

"Sorry," Alex said. I noticed now that the zebra and hippo were standing behind him, whose names escaped me. "I just noticed you were there and thought I'd say hello. How long have you been in this zoo? We didn't even know you lived here until a couple weeks ago when you started hanging around the penguins and we heard all the commotion about it."

I shifted a little. You'd think that my relationship with the penguins would have made me more comfortable around other people, but honestly, it didn't.

"A while," I answered quietly. "Most of my life."

The three exchanged glances.

"Wow," the zebra said, "I had no idea. Well, I'm a little late, but welcome to the zoo!" he continued, earning him an eye roll from his two friends. "I'm Marty."

"Uh, thanks," I said awkwardly. "I think . . ." I muttered under my breath.

"And I'm Gloria," the hippo said. "What's your name, sugar?"

I felt a little uncomfortable being called sugar, but I ignored it. "Dave," I answered.

"Alex," Alex said, pointing to himself. "Alex the lion," he added smugly, as if his species wasn't obvious. "So, what's the deal with you and the penguins anyway?" he asked.

"Yeah," Marty broke in, "everyone's saying you're, like, some kind of father to 'em or something."

"I think it's sweet," Gloria added.

"No," I said, holding up an arm. "I'm not some kind of father to the penguins. We just — we're friends," I explained.

"Really?" Gloria said suspiciously. "I don't know about all that. I've seen the way you act around those penguins. That ain't just friendship."

"I agree," Marty said. "I knew a starling like that over in the tropical zone. Took in some baby troupials when the mother died."

I rolled my eyes. "I am not 'taking them in' and I'm not some fatherly figure to them," I insisted once again. "Why can't anyone ever believe that I'm just being nice to my zoomates?"

"Well," Alex started, "you've never made the effort to form a bond with anyone before. What's so special about the penguins, then?"

I searched the ground for a response. Then I met each of their eyes again. "Look, it's just not octopus nature to be a parent. I'm not a parent. Okay?"

Before they could respond, I heard yelling in the neighboring habitat. I turned and saw that the penguins were fighting and arguing.

"Hey!" I shouted to them. They stopped for a second and turned in my direction, but then they started complaining all at once and started arguing with each other again. "Look, I don't care who started it! I'll come over there and finish it! Hey! Put him down, now! Don't test me, Rico! I want each of you to go to a different corner of the island now!" I watched as they did as I said and nodded with satisfaction. "I'll be over there in a minute," I called before turning back to the trio, who were staring at me humorously.

"What?" I protested.

"Yeah," Marty said thoughtfully, "everything that just happened? That, my friend, is parenting."

Alex and Gloria nodded in agreement.

"Gotta keep 'em in line," Gloria said, crossing her arms. "It's all about discipline."

"But you still love 'em," Alex said, leaning against the wall with a smile.

"I am just trying to keep them from hurting themselves or each other," I persisted. "I care about them, yes, but we're only friends. I'm not a parent. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go deal with some misbehaving penguins." I left before they could respond.

After settling the dispute between the penguins – which was over who got to play as Commodore Danger and who got to play as his enemy, Captain Nefarious – I sent them to bed as a punishment for arguing and fighting so immaturely. As I had been doing every night now for three and a half weeks, I made my little nest with my arms and the penguins rested themselves in them. I watched them as they drifted off to sleep.

Everything that just happened? That, my friend, is parenting.

Gotta keep 'em in line. It's all about discipline.

But you still love 'em.

I thought about the things Marty, Gloria, and Alex had said to me. It made me question my instincts. Sure, it wasn't in my nature to be a parent, but . . . I couldn't help but feel responsible for these little fluffballs. They've been my whole world ever since I saved the littlest one. It seemed that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't tear myself away from them. I had sworn to protect them. When their hearts broke, so did mine. It made me happy to make them happy. Holding them in my arms, I felt warm inside, even for a cold-blooded creature. When I look at them, I can feel it. I look at them . . . and I'm home. It took me a while to realize it, and I'd never admit this to anyone, but perhaps everyone else was right. My true nature didn't matter. Neither did the fact that the penguins weren't formed from my DNA.

I'd become a father. And I loved every minute of it.

— § —

Note: The quotes used in this chapter were, "You're the best thing I never knew I needed," taken from the hit single by Ne-Yo, "Never Knew I Needed" in The Princess and the Frog (2009); and "When I look at you, I can feel it. I look at you, and I'm home," spoken by Dory (portrayed by Ellen Degeneres) in Finding Nemo (2003), though "you" had to be exchanged for "them" for obvious reasons. Also, Commodore Danger is a reference to the Penguins of Madagascar TV series, which is a movie series they loved.

Next chapter will be posted on 07/16/2023.