His Parent's Brag, Part 3
Title: His Parent's Brag, Part 3
Author: TalliW
Characters: Jenny Lewis, Nick Cutter, Abby, Connor, Sarah, Becker, Lester and a Hypsilophodon
Rating: K
Disclaimer: Primeval is the property of Impossible Pictures. I write just for fun.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Fredbassett for beta-reading. I couldn't have done it without you.
AN: This story is dedicated to a1cmustangpilot who inspired me with her wonderful tales about the Pyroraptors.
Part 1 is here
Part 2 is here
"Cutter, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?" Jenny Lewis stared angrily at the disheveled man on her doorstep who had had the audacity to keep ringing the doorbell and rouse her from slumber.
A small head emerged from Cutter's righthand jacket pocket and a joyful, "Eek, eek" greeted her.
"It missed its mummy," Cutter declared sheepishly and took the Hypsilophodon out of his jacket pocket.
Jenny stared, perplexed, at the creature. "I hope this is a nightmare and I'll wake up any moment," she muttered under her breath.
Nick Cutter put on his best pleading expression, the one which always had worked with the ladies to get him what he wanted and he hoped that even hard-bitten PR-women weren't immune to it.
"The intensive parental care Connor mentioned seems to go even more deep with this species. It appears that both its parents are necessary for the offspring. Jenny, please. Your child needs you."
"You're barmy, Cutter. That's just a dinosaur. I don't have a child. Don't you think I would know about it if I had given birth to one?"
"And I would certainly remember if I'd fathered one. But tell that to this Hypsilophodon. It thinks we're its parents and it's crying a river because it's missing you," Cutter snarled.
He was tired, he had a big headache and a grizzling baby animal on his hands. All he wanted was to get some rest. Why did Jenny have to be so unreasonable?
"You know you're just as responsible for the Hypsilophodon as me. At least you could invite me in," he snapped at her.
Before Jenny could respond, the little creature began to squeak. "Eeeeeeeeeek, Eeeeeeeeeek," it whimpered as its parents growled at each other.
Cutter cradled it like a child and tried to soothe it. "See, now you've upset it again."
Jenny pulled a face. "Oh dear." She bent down to the dinosaur in Cutter's arms. "Everything is all right, little one. Don't worry."
Hearing her soft words the little lizard quieted and stretched its neck towards Jenny.
"Well, Cutter, then you'd better come in with the dino before the whole neigbourhood wakes up."
Cutter smirked in satisfaction and followed her inside. Apparently Jenny wasn't immune to his pleading look either.
The first thing the Hypsilophodon spied in Jenny's flat were the number of flower pots and it squeaked covetously.
After Cutter had lowered it to the floor, it ran quickly into the living room with Jenny and Nick close on its heels.
Jenny furrowed her forehead as the dinosaur tried to reach the leaves of the Sparrmannia africana standing in a corner of the room.
"It seems to be hungry," she remarked and went into the kitchen.
Some minutes later she came back with two small bowls in her hands and put them down behind the lizard.
The hungry Hypsilophodon turned around swiftly as it smelled the food and lunged at the waterbowl. It drank some water greedily before it started to chew on the lettuce and chicory shreds.
Jenny looked pointedly at Cutter who blushed faintly and felt the need to defend himself. "I've have already feed it. I'm not daft."
"Good to know," she barbed and sat down on the couch. "Did you consider it might need food frequently, just like a human baby who has to be fed every few hours?"
"Great," he sighed exaggeratedly and sank down on the couch beside Jenny. Together they watched the little dinosaur munching happily on the salad.
"I hope it knows when to stop. An overfed dinosaur is the last thing I need." Jenny said in concern as the Hypsilophodon drank some more water and then dedicated itself to the food again.
Cutter shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know much about animals eating habits. And he knew even less about those of living dinosaurs. He only remembered his dog had thrown up if he had eaten too hastily. But that was something he'd better not mention right now
"Perhaps we should call Abby," Jenny mused but a glance on the clock told her it was a little late to call someone.
Nick Cutter didn't seem to have a problem with the late hour. Jenny watched in irritation as the professor took his mobile out. She snatched the phone from his hand before he could push speed dial.
"You can't call her now, Cutter. Abby needs her rest," she hissed and put his mobile away in the pocket of her dressing gown. "And so do I," she sighed.
"Seems it isn't necessary to call her anymore anyway." Cutter nodded in direction of the little dinosaur who had just moved away from the bowl although it was still a third full with food.
The Hypsilophodon looked drowsily up to its parents. Its belly was full and it had quenched its thirst. Everything was all right now.
"Good." Jenny stood up and stepped into the corridor.
"Where are you going?" Cutter asked confused.
"Normal working people sleep at night. And that is what I intend to do now as well. Good night, Cutter."
"OK."
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked angrily when the professor trailed after her her together with the baby Hypsilophodon.
"Just show me your spare room and I won't bother you any further."
"The spare room is filled with things I've packed up to give to charity. You can either go home or crash on the couch. Your choice."
"What part of the dinosaur needing us both didn't you understand? If I leave it it will start to squeak again. And I think the couch might be a little short for me."
The bedroom door closed with a bang in front of Cutter and he glared angrily at the wooden door before he turned around and went back into the living room.
The baby dinosaur stared, bewildered, at the door then followed Cutter.
The couch was indeed a little short and Nick tried to get comfortable despite the fact that his feet were hanging over the armrest.
He snatched the Hypsilophodon before it could set to yammering again and put it on his chest.
After some wiggling down, the little creature got comfy on Cutter's belly which was squashier and nicer than the hard ribs.
Lulled into sleep by the steady up and down of Cutter's breathing and the soft moonlight shining through the window, the dinosaur finally found some rest.
The professor wasn't so lucky. His neck started to kink, his left leg began to cramp and he felt the need to scratch his crotch. Too worried he could wake up the baby lizard he refrained from moving until he had the feeling his whole body was itching and cramping.
He moved his leg gingerly and instantly alarmed the Hypsilophodon who looked up at him with big round eyes.
"Go back to sleep," he told it but the animal now got fidgety and started to waddle around on his belly.
"Enough is enough. Either you lay down again and sleep or I will put you back down on the floor. If the moonlight disturbs you I could close the curtains."
The Hypsilophodon stopped pacing, squatted down then sprang up again whilst making odd noises.
"Shit," Nick mumbled, took hold of the Hypsilophodon and stood up. He had seen that behaviour just recently and then it hadn't boded well. He switched the light on, grasped the "Times" from the coffee table and spread it on the floor.
The dinosaur looked confused as Cutter put it down on the rustling paper.
The pressure in its guts got stronger with every second but it still remembered well its father's reaction when it had soiled the carpet. It stepped away from the newspaper and looked out for a safe place to relieve itself. But Cutter put it back on the paper. Two more attempts to get away were stopped in the same manner and finally the baby Hypsilophodon gave up. It squatted down and pooed on the odd surface.
.
This time there wasn't any loud cursing and wild scrubbing on the carpet. Cutter grinned with satisfaction and patted the hatchling on the head.
The little dinosaur stepped tentatively away from the paper and watched its father throwing the dirty newspaper in the wastebin. It needed a moment to make the connection then filed the new experience away. Apparently it was all right to make a mess on papers if the need arose.
Feeling better now the Hypsilophodon ran to Jenny's bedroom and braced himself against the door to get inside.
Cutter ran after him and tried to snatch the dinosaur before it could start wailing and wake Jenny up. But he only banged his elbow on the door as the creature swerved to the side.
Suddenly the door was opened with a jolt.
"For God's sake! Cutter, what's the matter now?"
Nick Cutter, stunned by the view of Jenny Lewis in a very elegant blue silk nighty, needed a moment to order his thoughts and find his voice again whilst Jenny was already tapping impatiently with her foot.
"It think it doesn't like to be separated from you. Perhaps you could leave the door open a little bit," he said finally.
The Hypsilophodon used the opportunity to dash into the bedroom.
Cutter grinned as the small creature raced around the full-size bed to find a way to get up there.
"What have I done to deserve this?" Jenny sighed. She snatched the Hypsilophodon in mid-race, put it on the pillow and went back to bed.
"Good night, Cutter," Jenny said loudly as Nick still stood at the door staring.
Finally he turned around, muttered something unintelligible and returned to the too small couch in the living room.
Jenny watched how the hatchling snuggled into the pillow before she switched off the bedside lamp.
She was just about to fall asleep when the Hypsilophodon got fidgety again and demanded to be put down to the floor.
After Jenny had fulfilled that wish, the dinosaur raced into the living room to check on Cutter.
Five minutes later it ran into the bedroom again and wanted to get back on the bed.
She got really miffed when the small animal repeated that action half an hour later and she decided that it could sleep somewhere else now.
Jenny hadn't reckoned with the creatures vociferous voice which sounded exceptionally loud in the nocturnal silence and she realised ignoring the hatchling wasn't an option.
The loud whimpering brought Cutter to the scene.
"I came here to stop that bawling and finally get some sleep. If I had known you would mistreat it so it start yammering again I would have stayed at home.
"I wish you had done that," Jenny answered wearily. "What should I do? It's running back and forth between us. If that continues we will never get any sleep tonight."
"It's quite simple. We have to stay together in a room so it knows we are both there for it."
"You're not serious, are you?" She grimaced as she grasped the fact that Cutter was right. They had no other choice.
Cutter stepped into the bedroom and looked around. ""Do you have a sleeping bag or a campbed?" Never mind." He took the folded blanket he had spied on the chair and spread it on the floor beside the bed.
"At least I can stretch out this time," he mumbled, resigned.
The Hypsilophodon snuggled happily against Cutter's side as he lay down on the blanket.
Jenny shook her head over what she was going to do, but she couldn't let Cutter sleep on the floor.
"Cutter, stand up and come to bed. I don't want to be responsible if you get a bad back. But you stay on the bedcover and there will not any shedding of clothes. If you misbehave I will throw you out of my flat and you can deal with the whiny dinosaur baby on your own again. Did I make myself clear?"
Cutter nodded as he climbed onto the bed with the Hypsilophodon. He didn't comment when Jenny pulled the bedcovers up until her chin whilst he stretched out on the bed with a feeling of relief.
The hatchling got comfortable between them, content that his parents were finally carry out their parental duties.
"If someone had told me I would be lying in my bed with you and a dinosaur tonight I would have thought he was crazy," Jenny said as she turned off the light, hopefully for the last time that night.
"When you put it like that it does sound rather bizarre," Cutter answered with a chuckle. "It seems the little one is still restless. Perhaps you should sing him a lullaby."
"Are you going totally bonkers now? I will not sing a lullaby to a dinosaur. He probably can't sleep because of the strange surroundings, the soft bed and the weird people next to him. God knows I couldn't sleep in the Cretaceous either."
"We could arrange some of your flowerpots around the bed. It might simulate the familiar surroundings of the Cretaceous."
Jenny didn't even bother to reply. She just closed her eyes and hoped she would get off to sleep.
Twenty minutes later, the sound of regular breathing filled the room, complemented by an occasional grunting from Professor Cutter.
Go to part 4