Chapter Fourteen:
Rowlf sat in the cargo section of a plane nervously twiddling his thumbs. How had things gotten to this point? He would never forgive himself if something happened to Wanda or their unborn child.
He shivered at the though of their unborn child. He had no idea what they were in store for, but somehow they were going to have a child of their own. A little him. A little her. Despite his worries he could not help but smile at this. And suddenly it was clear, as his good friends sang in one of their movies, love led them here.
* * * * * * *
In the waiting room at the hospital Kermit and Fozzie nervously paced the floors. Gonzo and Rizzo were raiding the vending machine. The Electric Mayhem was huddled together working on a song for the new baby. Piggy sat in a chair playing with a handkerchief and every once and awhile locking eyes with Kermit. Robin and Sweetums sat in another part of the room playing Go Fish.
As soon as Wanda said she didn’t feel right Kermit had rushed her out the door to the hospital. On the way though, they passed Scooter and Sara and so Kermit just said it was an emergency. Well of course, Scooter came in the house, got Piggy to crack and soon everyone was aware of what was going on and all rushed to the hospital themselves. Of course Kermit was a little angry at first, but then he remembered, Rowlf and Wanda were very important to everyone and he also knew that Wanda would be grateful to have the family there.
Piggy sighed and looked up at Kermit again.
“Kermie? How long have we been here?” asked Piggy.
“Only about a half hour actually,” said Kermit.
“Is that all? It feels like an eternity,” said Piggy.
The doctors were concerned when Wanda described how she was feeling and they wanted to give her a full exam and figure out just exactly what were they dealing with. They told Kermit to go wait and they’d have an update as soon as possible. That’s when Kermit called Felicia, not realizing Rowlf was with her. Now he continued to pace with Fozzie.
Suddenly a doctor appeared in the doorway.
“Are you all with Mrs. The Dog?” asked the doctor.
“Yeah, we’re family,” said Kermit. The doctor didn’t question it, the Muppets were well enough known in Hensonville.
“The good news is that there is nothing wrong with her. She experienced some stress, not uncommon for first time mothers, and it put stress on the baby, but the baby will be fine,” said the doctor.
“What about Wanda?” asked Kermit.
“She’ll be just fine too, we’re going to keep her here overnight for observation, but then I don’t see why she won’t carry a perfectly normal baby to term,” said the doctor.
“Thank you so much doctor, her husband is on his way, he’ll be happy to hear that,” said Kermit.
“No problem. Any other questions?” asked the doctor.
“Dog or cat?” asked Gonzo getting a few snickers from those around them.
“Boy or girl?” asked Robin excitedly.
“Well now, Mrs. The Dog asked me not to divulge that information. Now, if any of you would like to see her, you can go in groups of two or three, she does still need her rest,” said the doctor.
He left and everyone burst out into applause that she would be all right and then grumbles about the fact that she was keeping the baby’s gender and species a secret.
“All right, quiet down,” said Kermit gaining surprisingly quick control of the group.
“I think we should all just go home and let Wanda get some rest, after all, Rowlf will be here soon,” he continued.
With that, most everyone vacated the waiting room except for two individuals, Piggy and someone else who slipped in unnoticed when the doctor was giving them the news.
“Annie?” asked Kermit recognizing the young dog.
“Yeah, um, my dad called and asked me to come down here, he wanted me to make sure everything was all right,” said Annie.
“That’s very nice of you,” said Kermit not really knowing what else to say.
“Forgive mon petit frog here for being so rude and not introducing moi. I am Miss Piggy, you must be Rowlfie’s daughter?” asked Piggy pushing Kermit aside.
“Yes, I am Rowlf’s daughter,” said Annie.
“Nice to meet vous,” said Piggy. Kermit smiled. Sometimes the pig knew the right way to break the tension.
“So are you guys going to go see Wanda? I kind of wanted to go see her, but I don’t know if she’d want to see me,” said Annie.
“Well, we certainly can go ask her, can’t we Kermie?” asked Piggy.
“Sure, we’ll be right back,” said Kermit.
They made their way to the room that they were told Wanda was in. She was sitting up in bed watching TV.
“Hey guys! So sorry to cause so much drama and craziness,” said Wanda.
“Eh, nothing anymore crazy than usual,” said Kermit walking over and kissing her cheek.
“We’re so glad vous is all right,” said Piggy.
“Me too. So, is Rowlf back yet?” asked Wanda anxiously.
“No, he’s still on his way. You do have another visitor though,” said Kermit.
“Who? Camilla? Janice?” asked Wanda expecting one of her close friends.
“No dear, um, Annie is here to see you,” said Piggy.
“Annie? Who’s Annie…oh….,” said Wanda pausing when she realized who it was.
“We can tell her to come back when Rowlf is here,” said Kermit.
“No, its fine, I have to meet her eventually. Send her in,” said Wanda.
Piggy went and told Annie it was ok and then she and Kermit left them alone. Kermit gave Wanda a look as he was leaving that more or less told her they’d be hanging around if she needed them for anything. In return Wanda winked back.
“So,” said Wanda.
“Yeah,” said Annie.
“You’re my step-daughter,” said Wanda.
“I guess I am. I never though of it that way,” said Annie.
“I also am guessing that you know I was less than enthused to learn of your existence. I want to apologize. It’s nothing to do with you, I still have to adjust to the fact that Rowlf loved another woman once, but I hope that you and I can be friends,” said Wanda.
“Thanks, I appreciate that. And just so you know, she may have been my mother, but she was not a good person,” said Annie.
“What do you mean?” asked Wanda.
“She lived her whole life to the philosophy of love em and leave em. She was your basic groupie. We followed so many different men all over the country it’s a miracle I turned out the way that I did. And then she waited until she was on her deathbed to tell me who my father really was. I still love her because she is my mother, but she was really a horrible person,” said Annie.
“Wow, I’m sorry to hear that you had a tough time growing up, I kind of know what that's like, see my mom wasn't the greatest either,” said Wanda.
"Rowlf told me a little about that. I'm sorry for you too, but I'm glad you're making things better with your mom," said Annie.
"Me too. It's too bad you don't have that chance, I'm so sorry that your mom is no longer with us," said Wanda.
“Well, that’s part of why I came here and why I’m so glad Rowlf is my dad. See, I have always wanted to settle down in a nice community like Hensonville. I want to make friends that I’m not going to leave in a few months time. I want a chance to be connected to something,” said Annie.
“I think your dad can relate to that,” said Wanda smiling as she recalled Rowlf’s journey that led him back to her.
“Yeah, he told me some of the things he’s been through in the recent years. Anyway, I’m not asking you to be a replacement mom, because I’m all grown up now, I don’t really need a mom. But I could use a friend,” said Annie.
“I think I can be your friend. You know something else don’t you?” asked Wanda.
“What’s that?” asked Annie.
“You’re also going to be someone’s sister,” said Wanda smiling.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot why you’re in a hospital!” said Annie laughing. She cautiously approached Wanda then and they shared a hug and proceeded to spend the afternoon together laughing and sharing. All anger Wanda had left towards Rowlf at this point had completely and totally dissolved.
Rowlf found the two of them together when he finally made it to Hensonville General Hospital.
“Wanda! Is everything all right?” he asked running to her side.
“Everything is fine. We have much to talk about though,” said Wanda.
“I think that’s my cue to go, I’ll see you both soon,” said Annie.
“Thank you for being here. Where’s everyone else?” said Rowlf giving his daughter a hug.
“They went home a long time ago. Don’t worry, I understand they were all here, camped in the waiting room,” said Wanda chuckling.
They said goodbye to Annie, promising to call when Wanda got home the next day. Rowlf then sat down with his wife knowing they had much to discuss.
* * * * * *
Kermit and Piggy left when they realized Annie and Wanda were bonding and headed home to have dinner with everyone else.
It was chaotic, because dinner at the boarding house would be nothing else.
No one noticed the blinking light on the phone alerting them to a new message.
When the meatball fight broke out a little bit later and an errant meatball thrown by Animal hit the machine, no one also noticed when it said “Messages deleted.”
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