Cody learns to love

13

Cody came back from work earlier. Call him paranoid but he didn't want his babies staying home alone for long. And yes, Fox counts as a baby too in such matters. A very mature and responsible baby but still a baby. He would have Cody's head if Cody told him that. That's why Cody didn't tell him.

Boil was kind enough to cover for him and without picking the twins up, only stopping at the primary school in Little Keldabe for Kix, the way was faster, too. The way didn't feel so short, though, even with crying Boba and Kix telling him his theories about jellyfishes helping with sea sickness distracting him. Or maybe it felt so long because of that.

"Jellyfishes don't have brain. Did you know that?" Kix asked.

"Really? I had no idea! And how do they think, then?" Cody asked. He was already good at pretending to be interested, Kix wasn't the first kid he was raising. Besides, this was hardly the most boring random topic he's discussed with a child. The fact that something could survive without a brain would give some hope to the guy he's fished from the fountain that day.

"They don't think," Kix explained. Wow, he sounded really excited about those jellyfishes. "They just drift with the waves. So I was thinking, maybe if jellyfishes can drift through the sea like that and they don't get sick, if you had a jellyfish in your stomach, you wouldn't get sick either!"

"That's... an interesting theory."

"I think so too. I want to discuss it with the doctor when we go there the next time. Can we go to the doctor today?"

"I will be going with Echo and maybe with Wooley, Jesse and Fox if they aren't any better than in the morning. But you are not sick."

"But I want to discuss my theory with the doctor!" Kix complained.

"Kix, I don't know if jellyfishes are his thing. I think he knows more about humans than jellyfishes."

"Of course the doctor knows a lot about jellyfishes!" Kix exclaimed. He seemed horrified by the implication that the doctor might not know something.

"I know, I know. I just think maybe you would have even more luck with someone specialized in marine biology," Cody tried. The moment he said it, he knew that was a mistake. Kix wasn't the first kid he was raising.

"But I don't know anyone- Wait! We can go see a marine biologist! Please, Cody, can we go see a marine biologist?!" Kix begged. And he did so loudly. Only now Kix seemed to realize they weren't alone and that people were staring. He shrunk a bit and looked at Cody who already knew what was coming: the tooka eyes. A powerful weapon. "Please?"

"I don't really know any either. Bly and Rex are the extroverts, they certainly know some marine biologist," Cody used his favorite tactic: redirecting the tooka eyes and an impossibly innocent but stupid request at someone else.

"I will ask them," Kix said and it sounded like a promise. Bly and Rex better hide.

By the time they thankfully reached the house and Cody was sparred more crazy theories. Kix was excited to see Jesse, who despite being almost a year older than Kix was like a twin to him. Jesse was going to know a lot about jellyfishes by the time Kix is finished with his random facts and theories.

To Cody's amusement, all of the kids were piled up on the living room floor. Wooley was asleep with his head on Fox's lap while the others were playing cards. None of them wanted to lose, Cody guessed, so they were playing again and again.