Did I get them all? No, here's one. Now I'm — oh, wait, another one. Now I got them all — dang it!

After a month with the penguins, I discovered the meaning of the term "molting." Apparently, this is a stage in their growth when they lose all their feathers at once and grow in their first set of waterproof feathers. Since Private is a good number of months younger than the other penguins, he had a good laugh at his older brothers' predicament. That is, until they reminded him that he was going to go through the same thing one day soon. A good bit of the day consisted of itching and scratching — and, of course, flying feathers.

The zookeepers had to clean our habitat twice a day, but even still, feathers were everywhere. The penguins didn't much feel up to going into the city for those few weeks. I usually went to the city on my own, picked up a few movies (sometimes requests for movies we'd already seen) and we'd just watch them in Alice's office. I had to clean up any stray feathers before we left so we wouldn't leave evidence.

The penguins had grown considerably. They were no longer the tiny little fluffballs they were when I first met them. They were probably about double that size now. I'd taught them a lot in the past few months, but I also did a bit of learning, myself.

There is a lot that goes into parenting. No, you heard me correctly. I said parenting. I fully accepted it a couple weeks ago, right before the penguins started their molting cycle. Something pretty serious happened that made me realize just how attached I'd become to them. Allow me to explain.

It's Thanksgiving week and the zoo is closed from the twenty-third to the twenty-fifth, so I took the penguins to the city. I don't know much about Thanksgiving, like why it's celebrated, but the humans seem to make a big deal out of it. On Thanksgiving Day, the penguins saw the floats from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from a distance and insisted that I take them to see it. I still can't say no to them. Believe me, I've tried.

So, I took them into the city once again and found a good spot to watch the parade. There were people everywhere, but I could've probably stood right in the middle of the crowd and no one probably would've given it a second thought. Everyone's focus was on the sight before them.

I'll admit, it was fabulous. I'd never really watched the parade before. I've seen a few floats from a distance, but I never took a genuine interest. For a good while, we watched the breathtaking floats go by and watched the performances by the humans. We were in awe. I never knew that so much went into the parade. That's when I made the foolish mistake of letting myself get distracted.

I suddenly felt a sinking feeling inside me that I couldn't explain and looked down. All three of my hearts plummeted as I realized the penguins had slid down a nearby storm drain and were running into the crowd. I panicked.

"Guys! Wait!" I called after, nearly falling off the building in my shock, but they couldn't hear me over the music and the cheering humans. My first instinct was to go after them, but I couldn't run the risk that someone would see me and call animal control. I felt my whole body start to tremble with fear for my little penguins' lives. Then I realized I was sitting on the sign of a small clothing store, which was currently closed. I quickly found an air duct and climbed inside.

In a panicked haste, I grabbed a pair of jeans, a jacket and a shirt that said "I NY," a pair of boots, and the largest hat I could find. Then I grabbed the first pair of gloves I saw and went into a dressing room so I could have a mirror and set to work.

I fit an arm into each pants leg and into the boots. Then I slipped an arm into each shirt and jacket sleeve and pulled the leather gloves over the ends of my arms, filling the fingers to the tips. I wrapped my remaining four arms around me underneath the clothes. Lastly, I shifted my skin color a few times until I matched a believable human tone. I put my hat on and checked myself over.

Not bad, I thought. The humans are pretty oblivious, and they're distracted by the parade, so I shouldn't raise any suspicion. There was no time to contemplate this any further anyway. I tucked all the tags in and left like I owned the place. Trying to walk like a human felt awkward, but I didn't really care.

I moved quickly about the crowd, keeping my head low so my face was hidden under the bill of the hat. My eyes darted around the crowd, mainly at their feet. I was sure that I'd find them not too far from the store. They were right here. They couldn't have gone far! How fast were these guys?

The more time that passed that I didn't see them, the more panicked I became. Anything could happen to them. They could be stepped on! Or ran over by a float! Or kidnapped to be some little girl's pets!

They could be eaten.

By a dog.

With rabies.

My hearts started to pound harder and I gripped my head as I started to hyperventilate. They were gone. I just knew it. They were gone and they were never coming back. I'd lost them. I let them out of my sight. It was all my fault. They were gone.

I went back and forth down the sidewalk. As I started walking one way and didn't see them, I feared they may have gone the other way and I'd just increased the distance between us. Then as I started walking the other way, I started having that feeling again and turned back. I had no idea which way they went and I feared I was wasting too much time trying to figure it out.

I braced myself on a wall and choked, holding a hand over my mouth. I had never felt grief like this. I'd lost them. They were the only true friends I'd ever had. They meant everything to me. I hadn't realized how much until now. They're gone. It was my fault. All my fault. They're gone. They're gone. They're gone.

I wrapped my fake human arms around myself, slid down the wall until I sat on the ground, and sobbed. They're gone, I repeated in my head. They're gone. They're gone. They're gone.

There was a lump the size of a grapefruit in my throat and I felt a searing internal pain as I felt my hearts shatter, and the little pieces teared at the rest of my insides. I curled into a ball against the wall and convulsed as I started to sob uncontrollably.

"Dave!"

I started crying harder. I could still hear their little voices.

"Dave, where are you?"

I perked up as my breath caught in my throat. That wasn't in my head. That was real. I looked around frantically, scanning and rescanning the area. Finally, I spotted them down the sidewalk. I felt my hearts soar as I sprung to my feet and sprinted forward.

"Guys! Over here!" I said, waving a hand. They seemed to recognize my voice, but at the time, I'd forgotten about my disguise, so they didn't know where it was coming from. I reached them and scooped them up into my fake human arms, holding them close.

"Oh my God! You guys have no idea how worried I was!" I said as I started sobbing again, but this time with joy. The penguins looked up at me in confusion as I carried them to the nearest alley.

"Dave?" Kowalski inquired, seemingly realizing it was me.

I ignored him as I continued to sob. Suddenly, I had this overwhelming sense of rage. I firmly set them down on an overturned crate and started pulling off my disguise piece by piece as I started to rant.

"What were you thinking?" I yelled. "You four almost gave me a triple heart attack! I thought you were dead! Or kidnapped! You can't just leave me like that! Do you realize what you did to me? I thought you were dead! Did I already say that? See, now I can't even think straight! I thought you promised me you would always stay by my side in the city! I can't believe you just —"

I stopped short as I realized the penguins were about to cry. I softened a little as I sighed and rubbed my temples.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. I looked at them again as they looked down at their feet with sad expressions that just broke my hearts all over again. "It's just — I care about you guys. When you left me like that, I didn't know what to think. All I could do was think of different ways you could be hurt or killed. Do you understand that?"

They nodded slowly as they sniffed. I suddenly felt pretty guilty. What they did was irresponsible and reckless, but they were just kids. I gathered them in my arms again and held them close.

"Hey, I'm sorry I yelled. I just can't bear the thought of losing you," I said, cradling them close. They started to cry and wrapped their flippers around me, squeezing me tight. I started to cry again as well as I held them tighter, as if they could poof from existence if I didn't.

"We're sorry, too, Dave," Skipper said as he continued to sob.

"It's okay," I responded. "Just don't do that to me again."

We held each other in silence for a few seconds before realization hit me and I squeezed them tighter, unable to stop the sobs from escaping my throat.

For the first time in my month knowing them, Skipper had finally gotten my name right.

— § —

Anyway, back to molting.

After a few weeks of flying feathers, the trio of penguins finally started coming into their juvenile plumage. With this newfound milestone toward maturity came the big question.

When they asked, I had no idea how to respond. This wasn't really my area. Especially since they're penguins and I'm an octopus. This was one thing we did differently. How was I supposed to teach them? I wasn't sure I could. They needed someone their own kind to teach them something like that, not some old octopus. I'd just assumed they'd learn by letting it naturally come to them when the time came. But they kept pressing me about the subject. They first asked me about it one morning before opening hours.

"Can you teach us how to swim?" Skipper had asked.

I blinked. "Wait, what?"

Kowalski stepped forward. "It's just that — you're the only one that can. Please, Dave? We need you."

I felt myself tense. That was the first time anyone had said that to me, even the penguins. Needed me? I'd never felt needed before. I'd never been needed before. I suddenly felt as if I had to do this. The penguins didn't have their real parents, nor any adult penguin around that could act as a substitute. I had taken on the role as their adoptive parent, so it was my obligation to teach them life skills. Then again . . . that still didn't change the fact that we were different species. What if I taught them wrong? What if they drowned because of me? I didn't even know how long penguins could hold their breath.

"I don't know, guys," I said, looking between them. "You're penguins, and I'm an octopus. I'm not sure I can teach you what you need to know."

"But who will, then?" Skipper asked. Rico and Kowalski nodded in agreement. "There's no adult penguins here that can teach us. Besides, we trust you, Dave. Please?"

I looked into their pleading expressions and sighed. I was terrified of the thought of them drowning because of me, but the way they looked at me then, I just knew I'd give in to them. Not that that was anything new. They trusted me to teach them these things. I decided that if I stayed by their side the entire time, I'd be able to save them if anything were to go wrong. Just like I did for them in the city.

"All right," I said reluctantly. "I'll teach you how to swim."

The penguins perked up and exchanged a few quick high fives (or high ones, as they like to call it).

"Okay," I started, clasping two arms in front of me, "let's get started. Number one: don't go too far away from me. Number two: no roughhousing underwater. Number three: Stay close to the surface so if you need air, you won't have to travel far to get it. Understand?"

The three penguins stood upright and saluted. "Yes, sir!" they said in unison. They'd recently gotten really into the military movies too. I nodded.

"All right, then," I said. "Follow me."

I sunk myself below the surface of the water. A moment later, the trio of penguins dove in after me. They looked at each other, and then they smiled at me. I ushered them forward.

They caught on pretty quickly. I'm not sure if they just picked up on it or if nature took over like I had hoped. Surprisingly, they could go several minutes without air. Eventually, they picked up speed and I had to pump my arms continuously to catch up with them. Soon, we all surfaced.

"Whoo! This is awesome!" Skipper said as the three exchanged high fives. "Can we go deeper? Please?"

The three looked at me with those pleading expressions again. I was reluctant, but they seemed like they were getting the hang of it fairly easy. I nodded.

"All right. But be careful," I said.

They excitedly dove back under without responding.

"Dave?" I heard Private call before I could follow them.

"Yes, Private?" I asked as I swam to the island where he was waiting.

"What if I never get my waterproof feathers?" he asked, fiddling with his flippers.

I smiled. "Private, I promise you that you will have them in no time. Then the penguins can make fun of you for being itchy, hm?" I teased.

Private smiled. "You think so?" he asked.

"I know so. You'll be swimming alongside your brothers before you know it," I promised.

Private looked at me gratefully. I started to dive under to check on the penguins when he said, "Thanks, Dad."

I froze in place and slowly lifted my head. I looked at him. "What did you say?" I asked, sure I had misheard him.

Private seemed to shrink a little, as if he wasn't sure if he should repeat it. "I said, thanks, Dave," he answered quietly.

I smiled a sad smile. "You're welcome, scamp," I said, reaching an arm out of the water and ruffling the feathers on his head. He giggled as he shook the goo off his head. I dove under to check on the penguins.

Maybe I heard him correctly, maybe not.

The thought that there was even a possibility that he felt that close to me was heartwarming enough.

— § —

Note: The quotes used in this chapter were: "Wait, what?" spoken by Anna (portrayed by Kristen Bell) in Frozen (2013).

Next chapter will be posted on July 20th.