Genetic Disaster

“I suppose we could do like…dog collars or something, like they do sometimes with puppies that look alike.” Willow muses. “Like the snag free ones that pop off, so if they grow fast it doesn’t choke them. At least until they’re a little older. They all seem to be girls which makes it only harder.”

She leans back, the baby releasing Charlie and squirming so she can press against his neck. Her little body, now dry from her toweling, rumbled with a purr.

Three girls. Charlie winced, slightly, at the bite to his nose, but he willingly reached out to collect the little biter into his arms, offering an instinctive purr to lull any frustration from being handled so soon after birth.

"Puppies," he repeated with a small, humored huff. It soon turned into an enamored giggle, however, as the little baby wriggled up against him.

"I guess it's better than nothing, right? We'll make it work."

Ears lifting at Willow's chosen names, he seemed to give a little eager nod, obviously pleased by them. Flowers. God. That was just so-

"Perfect," Charlie breathed, leaning to sit himself gently next to Willow and press a kiss right to her temple. Against her skin, he nosed with affection. "Lily, Rose, and Daisy. Couldn't have picked better ones, my love."

Now they just had to figure out which was which!

But later. That was for later.

The most exhausted lizard man alive...

And then over his shoulder Charlie went as Worth went to find the nearest couch or bed--or even lawn chair or something--to deposit him in. Doctors shouldn't let other doctors take naps on the dirty floor.

He sure was floppy. Wibble wobble.

Being hoisted over someone's shoulder was not something that had happened for some time. Devang, more common than not, was the only person who really could, but Charlie was not really in a mood to argue it, acting like a hunted pelt that draped over a luxurious shoulder, snuffling to himself until he was put onto a nearby plush couch.

Charlie melted, a little, into the cushions.

"Uh- yuh. A Spotted Towhee is kinda like a sparrow, but s'got a black head, mostly black back and wings and tail, and it's belly is white with orange around it. And it's got lil white spots on the black areas. A Redstart is kinda similar, but no white spots, and it has brighter orange and yellow in th'wings and tail." Obviously, Lark was just going by black and orange for Charlie. Aesthetics. But that was the case for most of the bird assignments. Except Lark himself.

At the plant, Lark gently ran his pawpads over it...and he leaned in and gave it a sniff. Trying to smell what Charlie smelled, see if he thought he could have identified it too. He wasn't so sure he had the skill for it, but it did smell nice and fresh, like most plants do. "Yuh, it's pink arrigh'. Course it's healthy, yer in charge. Uh...maybe this'un? But uh- do y'also have some like...tall grasses r'somethin'? I like when th'wind hits that sorta thing."

"So I've been assigned black and orange. Halloween colors?" He asked with a small snort. "I think I could be okay with that. At some point after Willow's feeling better, maybe I'll take her out for a fly, even. Really embrace the bird."

Patiently, he waited for Lark to investigate the plants further. The scents were difficult to distinguish unless one was truly in tune with the differentiation between them. Or, like Charlie, it was the only real way to figure out what was what. He too was still learning, however, and he would have to stick his nose in quite a few more plants and herbs before he felt truly like an expert.

"Tall grasses..." The hybrid hummed in thought, turning to venture further down along the roof's rows of planters.

"Six?? No, fuck no, where'd yah get six? I have three, and I'm cookin' ONE."

You having premonitions??? Stop that! Four is more than enough for Lark! Probably! He definitely hasn't been contemplating that it'd be nice to actually CHOOSE to have kids for once and be in charge of where and how it happened and with whom- nope! Not at all!

FOUR IS ENOUGH.

"Don' you mean football team? Assimilation Jim?"

Oh, don't worry, he's still playing with Charlie's hair. Just not braiding it forever or trying to make the braids stick. Picking leaves out and then putting them back neatly where they belong without scratching Charlie's scalp.

He squinted.

"Wait I'm... I'm miscounting." He'd forgotten that Falcata was his. And forgotten that Taika was not Lark's. The two were so independent and hadn't exactly come around until they'd been near adults that Charlie was having a hard time lumping them in as children.

Ahem.

"Nevermind. Forget it." Don't question him about that. He'll just be embarrassed.

Charlie sat up after a second to give a little shake and shudder at his hair being fiddled with.

"Football. Soccer. Whatever! They get mad at you if you call it one thing or the other around here." Huff huff. "I don't watch sports."

He did laugh at Lark's suggestion though.

Luckily for Worth, Charlie was tired enough to simply... let that happen, his legs and tail dangling from where he was being lifted.

"Crazy, isn't it? Right after giving birth to three eggs, I rolled out of bed and got on the treadmill. Took about three days, but here I am, the peak of physical fitness."

"Yuh, well- my kids didn't shapeshift until they were a lil bit bigger, so yuh, that works out. I'll need some of them fer th'new baby, but I'm only havin' one new one, and I've got 'nuff stuff t'dress three whole kitten kids, so..."

He started messing with Charlie's hair. Gonna braid it.

"Uh- yuh, but th'way we altered th'pants, they're adjustable...so it migh' still work? Guess we'll find out?"

He let go of a braid, and combed it back out. He doesn't have any hair bands on him.

"You and your gaggle of kids," Charlie said with a small snort of a laugh. "I think you'll end up beating me by one." If he had to count. Walker, Uliam, then these three...

"Five. I think you'll have... six, if I remember right? ELEVEN between us?"

God.

"We could start a soccer team."

He didn't move as his hair was being fiddled with, his eyes closing after a moment to appreciate it, even if it was short-lived.

The kiss, at least, seems to REJUVENATE HIM. Now, he can hunt for at least another few hours, his tail giving a happy little sway from one side to the other.

"Cows are hard anyway... we're in the city." Or a bit too close to it.

"I'll have better luck with birds." Nod nod nod. Don't worry Willow, he's got PLANS, leaning to nuzzle into her temple in turn.

Lark gave Charlie some excited little pats on his shoulders.

It took him a moment or two to understand before he brightened.

"Oh! Huh. I guess I didn't think about that. I mean they're still at a point where they're not... wearing pants, but - It'll come in handy later, if you're willing to part with them."

He thought for a few seconds.

"My mother always did tell me I carried my weight well."

The two in the bassinet squeaked with the effort of breaking free of their shells. The one on the left would be the first to break free, the slick creature pushing up against his palm before shaking its body to try to get the last few stubborn bits of egg off. The last one would break free only moments afterwards, shivering as they press tight against his palm for warmth. Willow giggles, reaching to stroke them both.

With the new pair of babies finally free of the confines of their shells, Charlie gathered them to his own chest before making his way back over to where Willow sat, settling in next to her on the bed and cradling the others as he worked with a small towel he'd plucked from nearby to clean them as best as he could.

"Do they...?" He asked, glancing from where he knew Willow to be down to the babies he could not see.

"They have... slightly distinct scents..."

And as if to try and commit them to memory, he brought each up to give them a pleased little snuffle.

"That might change over time, but... Until they've got their own little distinct personalities, maybe we can give them something unique to wear...? I didn't think we'd be having so many, honestly." Two, maybe. But three? It would definitely be a challenge.

His ears twitched suddenly, and he blinked with a realization.

"What, uh... What were you thinking for the names...?"

Charlie was not especially looking to stress Willow with such a big decision so soon after birth - she needed to rest, he knew. But something about ensuring that each of them had a name seemed more pressing than anything else, at the moment.

As they passed the living areas, Lark gave a curious look...and felt a pang of...something. Regret? And maybe a little nostalgia, realizing he used to visit Charlie in his old place a lot, and now...it was gone. And Charlie had been here for a while, and Lark had barely seen it. Did it feel like home to Charlie?

"Uh- yuh, I prolly wouldn' wanna go full cactus. Goose woul' prolly take it as a challenge." He could genuinely imagine his daughter getting in fisticuffs with a plant after it dared give her a tiny prick. Best not to invite that sort of situation.

Lark's tail raised high and he took a deep breath when they were outside, enjoying the rooftop air and the smell of happy plants. He immediately walked nice and close to every row, getting a whiff of everything. Herbs especially were fun to give a sniff, though he wasn't really after herbs.

"You don' need a nickname, I jus' need to be annoyin'." Lark grinned and walked a little closer to Charlie to gently bump against him with his tail. A much gentler version of elbowing him. "Although! I DO need to give you a bird name!"

How had he not given Charlie a bird name yet?? Charlie earned his way into the honorary bird names AGES ago, but Lark hadn't assigned him one yet! "I feel like y'could be a Spotted Towhee or a Redstart..." Just off the top of his head.

It was a process. Charlie had been in the old place so long that this was a new thing for him. It helped that Willow was there - and their new babies, both filling the space with scents that made it feel that much more homely. But he would be lying if he said he didn't miss the old clinic from time to time.

Better memories were to be made here, however. And he wasn't about to dwell.

"A bird name?" He asked, tilting his head further as he trailed after Lark. Not hovering, but not going so far that they couldn't maintain a conversation. "Mmmm... most I remember about birds are the more common ones. Corvids and swallows and things like that. You're naming things I've never heard of. I would say you could show me a picture, but..." Kind of pointless, now.

"Maybe you could just describe them."

As the other settled near to the plant he was mentioning, Charlie leaned over and gave it a sniff.