Hush, Little Penguin

Not a Normal Penguin

The drugs.

Oh, the drugs.

Sometimes, Peso wondered why he decided to become a doctor.

Well, he knew why. He knew what it felt like to be helpless, injured, sick and untreated. He wanted to make sure no one felt like that again.

But, he was surrounded by drugs. When he worked for Dr. Golen,, those drugs had made him extremely nervous. He saw them, and he saw the drugs his father drank, the drugs his father tried to pump into his body, the drugs that changed him, that ruined his life.

He stayed away from drugs for four months, under Dr. Golen's care. Finally, he worked up the courage to try. He experimented with the drugs, took away all the Bad, and replacing it with Good. Finally, he could see them as an opportunity.

But, the Drugs were still there. Still in his home, even after Koni left. In Peso's body, circling through his bloodstream, and making him a monster. Upgrading his allergy to peppermints to become deadly, causing extreme stomach sensitivity, problems, problems, Problems!

Peso still woke in the middle of the night from nightmares, to a wet bed, and the need to throw up. The work of the Drugs.

So, The Drugs went to work after the attack.

Peso stayed by Dashi's side as she mended Snow Bear. He was in shreds, but still fixable.

Peso felt the Drugs working up, scrambling his brainwaves, making the urge to cry impossible to resist, making him want to cry and cry and never stop.

Dashi watched him sympathetically. After Peso left the hospital, they took a look at his medical files, and found his father had pumped a number of drugs into his system, effecting his body and mind in certain ways. That would explain some of Peso's childish behavior.

So, Dashi let him cry, letting him nestle against her as she fixed Snow Bear. Peso knew it was such a small thing; that he shouldn't be crying. But, he couldn't help it.

Barnacles found him up in his crib one night, when he should've been sleeping. He remembered all those months thinking Peso was just a normal penguin. Peso was anything but.

"He ruined my life." Peso mumbled, fiddling with the blankets. Barnacles simply nodded. He knew Peso was tying not to dwell over it, but something like this was hard to forget. It was stuck with him, until the end of time. And, as a result, Peso was also wondering why all this had to hap[en to HIM.

Barnacles let Peso cuddle in his lap and sob, repeating the phrase over and over. He held him until he cried himself to sleep, and stayed with him that night.

Peso was not a normal penguin. And the Octonauts couldn't be more grateful that Peso was staying with them.

Peso woke up one morning to find the captain sleeping beside him. Peso had long since stopped worrying that he was bothering the captain. So, he nestled against the bear's chest, feeling safer, and cozier. He slept for a while longer.

He thought about the Drugs.

Why did they have to ruin his life?

Why did this happen to nice people, but never to people who deserved it?

For the first time in his life, Peso wished and evil wish.

He hoed Koni was suffering through everything he'd put him through.

Barnacles awoke to a soft pressure on his chest. Peso was sleeping there, lulled by the gentle movement of his breathing. He looked solemn. Usually, he looked peaceful when he was sleeping, not solemn. Barnacles stroked Peso's head, and kissed him gently.

Peso was not normal. Peso was his son.

Coral was in a tough state.

When caring for Pinto, she was fine, but at night, Pogo found her crying in her room, uncontrollably, sobbing about what an awful mother she was. Pogo couldn't comfort her.

He knew one person who might.

He called Barnacles, and explained what his mother wanted. Barnacles took it in a stride, on one condition: that Coral stopped thinking she was an awful mother.

"Peso still thinks highly of you, Coral, and he still loves you. He and I both know that if there were something you could've done about it, you would have done it. You had no choice." Coral sniffled and wiped away tears, nodding. Barnacles smiled gently. "You're still his mother, you know."

As he put Peso to bed that night, he wondered when he would tell him.

The last signature was signed.

Barnacles never thought he'd be a father so soon.