Of Raptors and Kratts

Happy Mother's Day

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?"asked Koki skeptically. The Wild Kratts team were currently flying directly over the Kratt Brothers' home town of Warren Township, New Jersey. Today was Mother's Day, and they were on an extremely tight schedule in which no one wanted to arrive to their individual destinations late. There was, however, one small dilemma involving a certain young Velociraptor.
"Got a better one?"countered Chris. The rest of the team were hesitant. Last anyone checked, there were no dinosaur daycares anywhere in the world and they were forbidden by Hammond to tell of Amber to anyone. Yet they all knew that the now eight-month old theropod could not be left alone. Nearby, Martin was making some last minute adjustments to Amber's parachute. "Exactly. Amber's coming with us."
"Don't worry; we'll make sure our family keeps it a secret. Wild Kratt's honor."said the older Kratt reassuringly.
"Okay. But if you guys end up on tomorrow's headlines, we'll all have to answer to Mr. Hammond."warned Aviva, tapping her boyfriend's chest.
"C'mon, Aviva." Chris replied. "If we can't trust our family to keep a secret, then who can we trust?"
"Touché."
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking."announced Jimmy Z over the Tortuga intercom. "We have arrived at our destination. Thank you for choosing Air Tortuga, where even turtles fly." Directly below the turtle ship was a subdivision dotted by numerous houses, one of which was the childhood abode where Martin and Chris were raised.
"Here's our stop. Home sweet home."said the Kratt in blue as he, his brother and their raptorial companion stood before the edge of the open door, parachutes ready, overlooking their home. Chris took the time to bid farewell to his girlfriend.
"See you tomorrow, Aviva."he said, planting a short but sweet kiss on her lips.
"Have fun."
Martin walked over to the pair, grabbing Chris by his backpack as he dragged him to the door. "C'mon, lover boy. Let's go."
Aviva chuckled as she watched them go.
They were ready. "See you all on the creature trail!"
"And tell Mamma Kratt we said hi!"said Koki just as the intrepid Kratt Brothers threw caution to the wind and jumped out the door, free falling hundreds of feet to the ground. After a moment of hesitation and anxious pacing, Amber summoned the courage to tune off her better instincts and follow them.
Martin and Chris were still free falling when a screaming flash of orange fell right past them, showing no signs of slowing down. The pair exchanged glances. "I'll get her."said the Kratt in blue nonchalantly. "Coming, Amber!"
Tucking in his arms and legs, the older creature adventurer sped towards the falling raptor like a blue torpedo until he was able to reach her, activating her parachute, slowing down Amber's descent.
The moment she realized she was no longer plummeting, the young raptor took a moment to take in her surroundings, feeling a certain weightlessness as she gradually descended like a leaf passing in the wind. Close by, the Kratt Brothers deployed their own parachutes, slowly floating down to earth alongside the astonished dinosaur. So this was probably how the birds felt whenever they were airborne.
"Mom! We're home!"called Chris and Martin as they gently descended down to earth before the front porch, where their mother, Linda Kratt, was waiting from her place seated on a rocking chair. She was a fairly middle-aged woman of average height with short brown hair and light blue eyes. Her attire consisted of a light green coat with a blue shirt underneath, along with a blue scarf adorned with polkadots tied around her neck. Additionally, she wore red lipstick and a pair of earrings.
The moment her beloved sons touched down to the earth, she was already on her feet to greet them.
"Martin! Chris!"said Mrs. Kratt, enveloping the pair in a tight embrace. "It's so good to see my two creature adventurers! How have you been?"
"Oh, you know. Traveling the world, meeting new creatures. The usual."replied the Kratt in blue, happily accepting the hug.
"It's wonderful to see you too, Mom."added Chris. "We really missed you. So much has happened these last few months."
"Happy Mother's Day."
Suddenly, Mrs. Kratt gasped as she drew back in fright as a large reptilian creature tore itself out of a fallen parachute before it stood directly behind the Kratt Brothers on its hind legs bristling with formidable claws, a long, skinny tail waving from side to side. The creature in question tilted its scaly head in an almost birdlike manner.
"Oh my goodness! What is that?"
"Is something wrong?" Martin and Chris raised their eyebrows at their mother's reaction until they looked back to see the cause of her concern.
"Oh. Hey Amber."said the Kratt in green casually. Amber chirped a greeting.
"Oh right!"said Martin sheepishly as he began introductions, his hand upon the raptor's head. "Mom, this is Amber. Amber, Mom."
"She's a Velociraptor."added Chris.
"A Velociraptor? But aren't they extinct?"
The Velociraptor in question approached the slightly alarmed older woman whom her caretakers cared for deeply, occasionally bobbing her head. Mrs. Kratt only remained completely still, almost too petrified to move; of all the animals her children brought back, this one surely took the cake.
"Don't worry, Mom; she's really friendly."said her eldest, beaming an infectious grin.
"Well, at least it's not another roach." Mamma Kratt remarked, recalling the last time when her adventurous sons came back with a Malagasy hissing cockroach. Repulsed though she was, she didn't have the heart to voice out her feelings.
To say that Mrs. Kratt was amazed would be a slight understatement. "Incredible." She tentatively outstretched her hand for the raptor who sniffed it inquisitively. Her blue eyes flew wide open as she felt a wet tongue licking her palm.
"Don't worry. She won't bite."said Chris reassuringly.
Casting aside her fear, she tentatively reached out to gently touch the dinosaur's scaly hide, which was surprisingly warm for a creature of reptilian origin. Amber purred upon contact, raising her head to allow the awestruck woman to stroke under her chin. Linda smiled. "Aren't you a sweetie pie?"to her sons, she asked: "Where did you get her?"
"It's kind of a long story."her eldest son replied.
"I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to hear it while I prepare dinner tonight."Mrs. Kratt mused, still petting the Velociraptor who now laid on her stomach, amber eyes closed as she purred in bliss. "Your father and the girls should be here soon."
The brothers exchanged excited glances; this was actually turning out better than they expected.
  A few minutes later, mother and sons worked tirelessly around the kitchen, preparing dinner for the evening: Mrs. Kratt's famous beef stew to be exact. As Martin and Chris were busy chopping up the vegetables and dicing the meat, their mother laid out the rest of the ingredients on the kitchen counter.
"Now where did I put that wooden spoon?"thought Linda aloud to herself, searching through every drawer and cabinet
when she felt a nudge from behind. Turning around, she spied Amber with the wooden spoon held between her teeth. "Thank you."
  The inquisitive dinosaur cocked her head in childlike curiosity as she watched her caretakers' mother cooking the stew, occasionally leaning in to sniff the pot. Amber's interest eventually waned before she began to look curiously around the kitchen, investigating every little thing that caught her attention.
"Curious thing, isn't she?"said Mama Kratt, observing the young raptor as she opened the kitchen drawers with surprisingly dexterous hands, poking her snout inside as she sniffed the contents. Linda could barely hold back her laughter upon seeing Amber delicately grasping a tiny porcelain teacup in her claws.
"Oh yeah."her younger son replied. "We've learned that raptors have a natural sense of curiosity. They'll investigate anything that catches their interest."
"She better be careful; curiosity killed the cat." As if on cue, Amber stood before an open refrigerator. Chris' eyes widened in dread.
"Amber, out of the fridge!" Hearing his firm tone, the dinosaur immediately backed away from this interesting new food storage, slowly closing the doors with her tail.
Several minutes passed.
"Martin."said Linda aloud, not even bothering to turn around. "I don't need eyes to know you're sneaking meat to your scaly friend over there."
Her suspicions were confirmed as she looked over her shoulder, where Martin's hand froze, holding a hunk of beef or two to Amber's waiting jaws. Realizing he had been caught, the Kratt in blue quickly hid the meat behind his back, casting his mother a bashful grin like a child caught red handed in the act of preparing mischief.
"Guilty as charged."he said sheepishly. The young Velociraptor's cheeks were tinted a bright pink, momentarily glancing down upon her clawed feet, before she snatched the beef shank from Martin's hand before walking to another part of the house.
"Don't worry; I'm sure there's some leftover steak in the freezer for our guest."
Chris muffled a laugh which threatened to bubble from his lips when a male voice called: "Honey, I'm ho— oh my god what is that?!"
  Martin and Chris exchanged worried glances. "Dad!" Immediately both creature adventurers darted over to the front door where a middle aged man stood at the threshold, armed with a golf club, safeguarding a pair of young women who stuck close behind him. Before the terrified trio was Amber casually sitting on a convenient antique sofa.
Seeing new faces, the raptor warbled a chirp in greeting, baring her razor sharp teeth as she had seen her pack do countless times.
This only prompted the two girls to scream in response, which in turn, frightened Amber as she jumped off the sofa with a shriek, her skin turning pale yellow.
The Kratt Brothers watched these first impressions from the sidelines. "Ummm... surprise?"
**** Later That Evening...****
"... and that's how Amber came to be with us."
Martin and Chris had just finished narrating their experiences in Jurassic Park to their captivated audience which included Mrs. Kratt, their father William, and their twin sisters Susan and Christine. The whole family was seated around the dinner table, enjoying in Mamma Kratt's cooking and idle conversation. From her place next to the Kratt in blue, the young raptor helped herself to the remaining raw hunks of beef promised by the nice lady, leaving the bones picked clean.
Susan and Christine, the brothers' twin sisters, were the first to break the silence. "Wow!"
"That is so cool! You guys really saw living, breathing dinosaurs on that island?"asked Christine.
"In the flesh." Martin verified, passing along his Creaturepod that was full of video footage and photographic proof of their adventures.
"And you guys met Amber when she was born?" In that moment, the young dinosaur gently nudged Susan's shoulder with her snout. Without hesitation, the girl reached out to pet the theropod's scaly back, much to Amber's pleasure. Despite her fearsome appearance, the Velociraptor was very docile.
"Right from the egg."said Chris, smiling at the exchange. "And we've been taking care of her ever since."
"But you can't tell anyone about it."the older brother warned, unaware of a certain theropod sneaking a piece of meat from under his nose.
"Not of Jurassic Park. And especially not of Amber." added the younger of the two, gesturing with his hands in emphasis. "The world's not ready to know about living dinosaurs."
The twins exchanged glances. "Don't worry, bros. Your secret's safe with us."they answered with synchronized winks.
"And if you guys ever need a veterinary appointment, you know who to call."said Susan, since both Kratt sisters worked as vets.
"Thanks."replied the brothers gratefully.
  Before long the talk touched other, more personal matters.
"So Chris. You and Aviva are together?"asked Christine. Her youngest brother eyes widened as he froze, the spoon falling from his hand with a tiny CLANG! At his side, Martin could barely control his ever growing smirk.
"As in together together?"added Susan, now all ears. Chris nodded, blushing ear to ear. "How long?"
"I–It should be our first anniversary in a month or so..."guesstimated the Kratt in green.
The response was immediate. "Awww!"
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmyhosh!"
"You two must be so adorable together!"
Linda smiled. Like any proud parent, she was happy that her youngest son had met someone to share his life with, and it was clear through the way he talked about her, that he was extremely happy. She briefly remembered the days where her children used to chase bugs and her boys would complain that girls were gross. It seemed that with the exception of the latter, not much had changed. William simply chuckled.
"When are you gonna pop the big question to her?"she asked her son in green.
"Mooom!" Chris whined, face as red as a tomato; he knew what his mother was implying. The entire Kratt family roared with laughter at his embarrassment, Martin laughing the hardest. Even Amber gurgled her raptorial chuckle. Luckily William mercifully stepped in for his son. "Give it a rest, Linda. He'll do it in his own time. He's got his old man's charm." Here he gave the youngest a wink. Not that it helped much..
Not helping, Dad... thought Chris, slumping on his chair as low as he possibly can. Part of him wished he was buried ten feet under.
"I was only teasing, dear."
"Can I be your best man?"Martin asked Chris. The Kratt in green gave his brother an incredulous look as Amber tilted her head in confusion, giving them quizzical glances.
(BG Music: Nobody Loves Me But My Mother by B.B King https://youtu.be/exZbMjN7-ag)
The rest of the evening was spent watching family movies in the living room, eating popcorn, and listening as Mr. Kratt played a song on his prized harmonica, dedicated to his lifelong partner and mother of his children. Martin also took part in the musical performance, strumming his acoustic guitar. Once he had finished his performance did everyone break into rounds of applause.
"Now what do we say kids?"asked William rhetorically.
In perfect synchronization, the Kratt family replied: "Happy Mother's Day!"
Suddenly, Martin snapped his fingers, remembering something. "Oh yeah! That reminds me!" Here, he nudged Chris who's brown eyes immediately lit up.
"Oh right! Our Mother's Day present!"
"What'd you get?"asked Christine.
"You guys didn't bring jungle bugs again, did you?"remarked Susan feigning disgust; that was one day nobody would forget anytime soon. Needless to say, it took all of her brothers' powers of persuasion to keep their father from exterminating their surprise guest from Madagascar.
Her oldest brother shook his head with a chuckle. "Oh no, nothing like that!"
"We got something even better,"added the youngest with a wink, drawing out a small gift wrapped box from his pocket.
  The older Kratt dug through his backpack, its contents littering the floor as he searched for his own gift. "Rubber chicken? Nope. Slingshot? Nope. Boomerang? Nah. Teddy bear? That's not it. Halloween mask? Mm-mm. Ooh, chocolate bar. Ah-hah! Here we are.." In Martin's hands was another box, only slightly bigger.
The two exchanged knowing glances as they presented their gifts. "One... two... three! Happy Mother's Day, Mom!" Simultaneously, both boxes were opened, revealing what was inside. Mrs. Kratt gasped in mild surprise. Inside of Chris' box was what looked to be a pair of earrings made from honey colored gemstones. Martin's box carried a traditional necklace adorned with blue beads and a number of pointed teeth.
For a moment, Linda was at a loss of words. "Wow,"she finally said. "These are beautiful."
"Made from real fossilized amber."the Kratt in green informed. "Mr. Hammond gave me the idea." Unsurprisingly, John Hammond and InGen possessed one of the largest private collections of amber in the world. But the kindly old man was more than generous enough to spare a few for the Wild Kratts team.
"And I have Amber to thank for donating the teeth to make the necklace."added the eldest, patting the young raptor's head. In response, Amber wagged her tail as she beamed a raptorial smile, revealing a mouthful of razor sharp teeth.
Without warning, the happy mother pulled her two creature adventurers in a tight embrace. "Oh, I have two of the best sons in the world."
As the day drew to a close, Martin, Chris, and Amber made themselves at home in the brothers' old room filled with wildlife posters on every wall, and plastic toy animals on the shelf. The two creature adventurers sat on their bunker bed as Amber curled into a ball on top of the rug; at ten feet from nose to tail, she had certainly grown too big to sleep on the bed. In her clawed grasp was a torn up teddy bear, cotton visible in some places, its nearly severed head literally hanging by a thread.
"Goodnight, boys."said Mamma Kratt, making her way out the door. "Sweet dreams."
"Night, Mom!"replied the bros simultaneously.
"And good night to you too, Amber."she whispered, smiling at the sight of their newest family member already fast asleep.
**** Happy Mother's Day, y'all!
Special thanks to the guest dude for the idea! I only had a few days to write this chapter, so I wanted to keep things short and sweet. And yes, those are the real names of everyone in the Kratt family.
Fun fact: William "Bill" Kratt, Jr., is the son of famous musical-instrument manufacturer William Jacob "Bill" Kratt, Sr., founder and previous owner of Wm. Kratt Pitch Pipe Company, hence the inclusion of the harmonica in this chapter..