Part 112

"OH MY GOSH!" All of the other mall patrons were stunned into turning towards the squeals in the food court.

"Oh my gosh!" Rosita said again. "Johnny, Ryan, what is this? Who is this? She is so cute!" She took the offered baby and cuddled her.

Neo smiled proudly and answered. "She's my baby sister! She came home last night! Her name is Noelle."

The mother pig hugged him. "That's so exciting." She looked at Johnny.

"She was left at the orphanage where we adopted Neo. Ms. Treble said the handwriting was the same," he explained. "We compared them and we think she's right."

Ryan nodded, taking the baby back from her. "So now, she's ours. It just didn't seem right not to. She's his sister."

"But we have nothing for a baby," Johnny explained. "And… we need help figuring out what all we need. And… well, we couldn't not tell you all and…"

Rosita hugged him. "Johnny, we will happily help you."

Neo ran over to Sarah. "Did you see my baby sister?"

The piglet nodded. "Herzliche Glückwünsche." She hugged her best friend the way she saw everyone else. This family liked hugs and so did she.

"Wanna help me pick out her nursery stuff?" He asked. "Dad said I could help."

"Ya!" She said with a bright smile.

Gunter laughed. Sarah and Neo had formed a fast friendship.

Meena looked at them. "That's sweet that you're letting him help choose."

Johnny nodded and whispered. "She was sort of a surprise and we want him to feel secure, that she's not going to take his place." He couldn't stop smiling.

She nodded. "Makes sense. I guess we're going to go to Little Miracles?"

"Yep," Ryan said. "If you guys are up for it. We just wanted to share this experience with everyone and we thought Alphie and Meena might like to start taking a look at nursery furniture and such."

Ash laughed. "That makes sense. Tyler and I actually need to hit their clothing section."

"We need new clothes because we had to leave our apartment last night," Raquelle said, making Ash smack her face. All eyes were suddenly on her.

"It's nothing serious. I'm dealing with it," she said firmly. "It's just that my parents showed up last night. Five minutes after we got home." Everyone gaped and she waved her hands. "We're okay. We snuck out and went to Tyler's apartment. And I'm buying a unit in the same complex. A four-bedroom. You never know when you'll need a guest room. Let's go shopping." She hurriedly deflected the conversation. "You two needed bigger clothes anyway."

Clay scratched his chin as they headed to the baby store on the second floor. He was growing weary of this pair harassing Ash. He would need to take steps to make them stop.

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In the first class section of an elite commercial jet, a hog wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a Hawaiian shirt sat drinking a glass of wine. He looked out the window at the landscape unfolding before him.

A young female cat went up to the front and picked up her little red phone. "Meine Damen und Herren, beginnen wir unseren Abstieg. Bitte achten Sie darauf, dass Ihr Sitz vollständig vertikal ist, und dass Sie Ihren Tisch zusammengeklappt ist. Stellen Sie sicher, dass Sie Ihren Sicherheitsgurt befestigt ist und Ihr Gepäck ist unter dem Sitz vor Ihnen oder in dem Fach auf der Oberseite von Ihnen gespeichert. Danke."

He smiled. He needed to see his brother again. And his niece. It was so lonely at home in their big family estate. All alone. But soon he would not be alone. Sure, his brother had refused to take his calls but he had to do something. He just didn't understand why he did what he did. And their father had ordered him to keep it secret. Protecting his brother was their priority. If he knew the truth, he would be heartsick.

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A few hours later, the weather was so nice that the group went to the park for lunch and to let the kids play. Johnny and Ryan were reading the instructions to the crib.

"Wow, this doesn't look… so… complicated," Ryan said. His face betrayed the terror he felt.

Marcus chuckled, while he took his turn with his new granddaughter. "I'll help you boys get all of these things set up." Johnny had told him about Ryan's adventures with tools. He tickled the little chin.

Off at their own table, Porsha sat with Glenn. "Your little sister is so cute. How old is she again?"

He nodded as he turned to watch the puppy playing with her new friends. "Nine. She came to live with us when I was fifteen. She was only supposed to be a foster but… Mom and Dad fell in love. So did I so… I asked why not just adopt her too. It made sense."

She looked up when she heard her name. Eddie was waving her over. "Oh come on. The meeting is starting."

He joined her reluctantly while Gunter began. "Alright, we have a few things coming up that we need to discuss…. Of course, there's Mother's Day. I don't want to say too much, it is a surprise, but keep Sunday night free. The kids are all helping us too." He sighed and Eddie squeezed his hand bracingly.

"And in a couple of weeks, we'll be going to Redshore City for the final showing of Out of this World," Eddie said. "Thank you, Porsha for bringing it down to that one night."

She nodded. "I'm glad I could. I really want it to be over too." She became aware of Nooshy taking the seat beside her and Marcus coming behind her. "Are we doing the same songs as we did in November?"

Gunter shook his head. "No, we want to mix it up again. We were thinking of different songs that might represent those planets. We just don't know which songs."

Porsha smiled. "What about going some original songs written by a new songwriter and composer." She suggested, looking at Glenn who blushed deeply.

"Porshie!" He said with embarrassment.

Rosita smiled. "Do you write music, Glenn?" She asked supportively.

He shrugged. "It's just a hobby… I dabble a bit." He reached into his pocket for his pocket journal. He offered it to the pig. "It's probably no good."

She read through the lyrics. "Nonsense. It's really good. And you have sheet music for this too?" She offered Gunter and Eddie the notebook.

He nodded. "That's on my computer. I can bring it next time if you really like it. You know, it's actually part of a musical I'm writing. I was thinking Porsha would make a great Rapunzel."

Eddie nodded. "How would you like to handle writing the songs for our last Out of this World? We'd pay you."

Glenn looked at Porsha who nodded eagerly. "Okay… I could do it. How many songs do you need?"

"Come by the theater tomorrow morning and we can talk turkey," Gunter promised. "We might not have time to do all-original songs, but we might be able to manage a couple."

Porsha hugged her boyfriend. "I told you that they'd love your writing." She giggled.

"Ash!" A shrill cry brought the party to a halt and the porcupine groaned.

"What the hell! Go away!" Ash screamed in desperation as her parents approached. "How do you keep finding me!"

Mrs. Cohen smiled. "Oh Ash, you're being silly. We just want to reconnect. Get to know our grandchildren." She looked at the porcupettes playing with their friends.

"They're not your grandchildren. You are no longer my parents. You threw me out at 18!" She screamed.

The male porcupine with the beer gut belched. "And look at you now. Obviously we made the right choice. Coddling children never works out."

"Loving your children isn't coddling them, Mr. Cohen," Sitara spoke up. "Meena lived with us until she married. And she's very successful." She smiled at her daughter.

"Mind your own business, lady," he snapped at her.

Calloway growled. "You will not talk to my wife so disrespectfully! You gave Ash up. She's our daughter now. Now you will leave or be arrested for harassment." He clutched Sitara's hand. He knew he might be taking liberties but they needed to be dealt with.

Ash smiled at him before the woman continued. "Mr. Calloway, while it is so exciting to meet you in person, this is not your business. Ash, where is Lance? I thought you said he was their father."

"None of your business! Clay is right! I don't need you! I never did! You're only here now to try and take advantage of my success! It's not happening," she bit out. "Now leave me alone. If I see you again, I'm having you arrested. Let's get the kids and go home."

Tyler nodded. "I'm with Ash. Stay away from us."

Marcus joined Clay and Sitara, followed by Johnny, Barry and Stan. "If we see you anywhere or if she reports you're still harassing her, you will regret it." The gorilla threatened. "What if we all took this back to their place? We can help them out with their nursery." He glared at the porcupines until they were forced to leave.

Glenn looked at his watch. "Actually, I have to get my little sister home. It's starting to get late. Airlia!" He called towards the playground. "I'll come by the theater tomorrow." He promised. "It'll be nice to have something to do aside from working at the hardware store. Ever since graduating early." His father's lawyer had raked their school over the coals until they allowed Glenn to simply graduate early instead of being sued. Johnny and Ryan didn't want them to sue the school over a little twerp.

Porsha pouted. "I miss you when you're not around." She admitted and he kissed her cheek chastely.

"I miss you too," he chuckled. "I'll see you tomorrow. How about dinner? I'll buy." He offered.

"I'd love that. Is it okay, Big Daddy? Big Mama?" She asked her parents respectfully. At the beginning, they were adamant that they start with group outings, to give them a chance to form some trust in the dog.

Marcus looked at Suki who nodded. "Alright. I think you've proven yourself so far. Very well."

Johnny was putting Noelle into her new stroller. "I'm glad the salesman took pity and let us have the floor model already assembled." He chuckled.

Ryan smiled at Neo. "How about a shoulder-ride home?" He offered.

Neo nodded. "Sounds great, Dad." He said and he let the tiger put him on his shoulders.

"We need to get Raquelle and Lancey home," Tyler said while Ash gathered them. "They'll be ready for a bath and their bed. We'll get dinner on the way home."

"We'll give you a ride," Alphonso said. "Oh, Meena said she invited the twins to stay the night with us. Ash said it was okay."

Tyler nodded. "Ahhh, okay. Yeah, sounds like a plan. Wow, Ash and I'll have the apartment to ourselves."

"Yeah, so take your chance," the elephant said with a teasing grin. "If Lance trusted you enough to ask you to watch over her then I'm sure he'd approve of you being together."

The orangutan blushed. "Alphie… is it that obvious? I mean, she kind of knows. I've sort of told her but… and I'm a patient guy. I'll wait as long as necessary." He scratched his head and looked at Ash. She was so pretty in the setting sun.

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AN: okay this has taken long enough. I can revise later if needed. Please review, tell me what you think. Please, pretty please.