The Next Step: The Fifth and Final Rowlf Story

[The Count]

You're welcome. No worries about Chapter 1, so long as you fixed in your saved copy and can send out said corrected version if we ask for it.
Take care Beth.

 

[Muppet Newsgirl]

That's okay, that's okay. In French, bookstore is "librarie" and library is "bibliotheque," so it's no big deal.

So our unnamed girl now works at Coming Unbound...very intriguing. Keep up the good work!

 

[The Count]

Yeah... We have the same problem in Spanish, library is "biblioteca" and bookstore is "librería".
But it doesn't detract from the greatness that is this story, nor the fact we'd like more of it posted soon please.

 

[redBoobergurl]

Here's a bit of a shorty, but still an update. And the tension is building....

Chapter Four:

Rowlf and Wanda threw themselves into preparation for the evaluation and Wanda continued studying everything she could about parenting and adoption.

Kate and a couple of associates came to do the evaluation and things went reasonably well. Reasonably well considering it was the Muppets of course. There was only one minor explosion from Crazy Harry while they were there and the Swedish Chef burned the appetizers but aside from that they were impressed with what they saw.

So much that two days later Rowlf and Wanda got the call they’d been waiting for. They were at the theatre when it came in.

“Rowlf? Wanda? Phone call for you!” exclaimed Scooter.

They came racing to the phone.

“Who should pick it up?” asked Wanda.

“You’re driving this train sweetie, you take the call,” said Rowlf.

“Ok,” said Wanda nervously and picked up the phone. Rowlf stood by and held her hand as he heard her say “Ok” about 20 times.

“Great, well, thank you,” said Wanda somewhat deadpan as she finished the call and hung up the phone.

“Well?” asked Rowlf.

“We’re officially on the waiting list! They want to give us a baby!” exclaimed Wanda.

“Yes! This is great!” said Rowlf picking Wanda up and swinging her around.

“It could be months before we could actually get one,” said Wanda.

“That’s ok, all that matters is that we’re on the list,” said Rowlf.

They told all of their friends and celebrated that evening.

* * * * * * *

The young newcomer was getting braver and bolder and starting to venture out into town more frequently. She was doing an excellent job at the bookstore and liked the little apartment she was living in.

On her visits to town she still tried to keep a low profile but was finding it easier to blend in with the locals. She was learning more and more about the individual who was her reason for coming here in the first place and she felt it was nearly time to go and see them.

“It’s now or never, just gotta do it,” she thought to herself after returning home one evening. She couldn’t just lurk around town forever. She had to fulfill her purpose for coming.

* * * * * *

Before Rowlf and Wanda knew it, two months had passed. Two months that they had been married, two months since they had begun the adoption process. A little less than two months since receiving the phone call that they were now officially on the waiting list.

They tried hard not to think about it all of the time however. They threw themselves into the show and focused on just being married. In fact, they were really enjoying themselves. Things were going well.

They were going so well in fact that when Wanda started feeling strange she was afraid to tell Rowlf because she did not want to worry him.

Kermit is the one who actually discovered it when she fainted backstage one day.

“Wanda! Are you all right?” asked Kermit running to her side. She came to rather quickly.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I keep having these dizzy spells though. Please don’t tell Rowlf!” said Wanda begging Kermit to keep it between them.

“I think you should go to the doctor, something isn’t right,” said Kermit.

“I think you’re right. I still don’t want to tell Rowlf though unless there’s actually something to be worried about,” said Wanda.

“I’ll cover for you, you just go get checked out. Besides, I need you healthy and strong in my show!” said Kermit.

Wanda thanked him and ran off to the doctor in town thankful she was able to squeeze in an appointment over lunch.

“Hi Wanda, I’m Dr. Prell,” said Dr. Prell.

“Nice to meet you,” said Wanda.

They talked about her symptoms and Dr. Prell gave Wanda an exam. Then she took some blood and ran a few tests.

Wanda waited anxiously in the exam room hoping Rowlf hadn’t noticed she was gone yet.

“What could possibly be wrong with me? I hope it’s not serious. Maybe I’m just anemic,” she thought to herself.

Finally the doctor came back into the room.

“Wanda, I have some news for you,” said Dr. Prell.

“And?” asked Wanda.

“I have reason to believe you may be pregnant,” said Dr. Prell.

Wanda fainted again.

 

[The Count]

You know... Sorta knew that was coming, from the dizzy spell to her visit to another Muppeteer turned doctor, to the blood test. Yep, Wanda's, um, with child to avoid some of the other colorful terms that could be used instead.
But while I'm interested to see just what her litter produces, I rully want to know more about this newcomer girl especially since you say she's going to do whatever it is she came to town to do.

Please Ish... Post more!

 

[theprawncracker]

*faints along with Wanda* *gets back up* Can't believe I missed the last chapter! Sorry Beth! It was marvelous! *faints again* *gets back up again* More please! *faints once more*

 

[The Count]

Hey Uncle Deadly! We need those magic lightning fingers of yours over here to get your roomie back and writing!

 

[redBoobergurl]

*Cough, cough* Ok, um, I'm a little nervous about this next chapter. Stuff is revealed, stuff hits the fan, um, yeah I've said too much. Don't hate me for what I'm about to do and just stick with me. This story has much left to tell.

Chapter Five:

After Wanda came to, Dr. Prell asked if she wanted to call Rowlf and have him come down for the ultrasound.

“Well, I would, but this is all happening so fast, see he and I are in the process of adoption,” said Wanda.

“I’m not going to lie to you Wanda that is what I would’ve recommended given your situation. But, it appears nature has taken its course here. I don’t know what to expect exactly,” said Dr. Prell.

“Is it safe? I mean, will we be ok?” asked Wanda.

“You’re young and healthy; I have no reason to believe that everything won’t go smoothly. We should still be prepared for some possible risks though. That’s why I want to do an ultrasound as soon as possible. We can see with what we’re dealing with and approximate a due date,” said Dr. Prell.

“Ok, ok, I’ll do the ultrasound, but can I come back tomorrow? I really want to talk to Rowlf, make sure he’s ok with all of this,” said Wanda.

“Sure, talk to the front desk before you leave. I understand what a shock this is and that you need time to let it sink in. Tell Rowlf that you can call me with questions anytime,” said Dr. Prell.

“Thank you so much Doctor,” said Wanda. She collected up her things and started to head back to the theatre. What was she going to tell Rowlf?

* * * * * * *

At the theatre Rowlf finally noticed his wife was missing. He started asking around to see if anyone had seen her.

He received typical responses including Gonzo’s theory that perhaps she decided to try tightrope walking while carrying a flaming umbrella and singing Summertime resulting in spontaneous combustion, but of course Rowlf dismissed that idea right away.

He caught up with Scooter who said he had last seen Wanda talking to Kermit backstage.

“Ok, then where Kermit is?” asked Rowlf.

“Over here, what’s up?” asked Kermit.

Rowlf turned around as Kermit was coming up behind him.

“I was just wondering if you’d seen Wanda lately. I was going to see if she wanted to grab lunch and I haven’t been able to find her,” said Rowlf.

“I honestly can say I haven’t seen Wanda,” said Kermit lying through, well, frogs don’t exactly have teeth, so lying through his tongue.

“Scooter said he saw you talking to her backstage awhile ago,” said Rowlf.

“Oh! You mean anytime today? I thought you meant in the last little bit here,” said Kermit doing his best to stall.

“Kermit, what’s going on? You’re a horrible liar,” said Rowlf.

“Um,” gulped Kermit.

* * * * * * *

“It’s now or never,” the young girl said again as she stepped up and opened the door to the Muppet Theatre.

“Wow! This is incredible. I never pictured myself here,” she said as she looked around taking it all in.

“Excuse me, can I help jou? What’s a pretty lady like you doing in place like this?” asked Pepe as he saw her standing around looking lost.

“Um, well, I’m here to see Rowlf the Dog,” she said.

“Look, he’s married hokay, why don’t you and I go off somewhere instead?” asked Pepe.

“It’s really important that I see him,” she said.

“Hokay, hokay. You sit there, I will go find him. Dios mio, she can have dis sexy prawn and she wants the married man,” muttered Pepe as he went backstage.

He came upon Kermit and Rowlf as Kermit was still trying to dodge the subject of where Wanda had disappeared to.

“Hey doggie man, there’s a real sexy young lady here to see you hokay? I don’t know why, I told her she could hang out with me and she insisted she needed to see you,” said Pepe.

“That’s odd, I’m not expecting anyone like that,” said Rowlf.

“I’ll come check it out with you,” said Kermit, grateful that Wanda had been momentarily forgotten.

In the meantime Wanda came rushing in the back entrance of the theatre that led to the backstage area.

“Wanda! There vous are. Rowlf was looking for vous,” said Piggy.

“I know I was gone longer than I thought I would be. Do you know where Rowlf is? I really need to talk to him,” said Wanda.

“No mon amie, I have not seen him lately,” said Piggy.

“I just really need to talk to him,” said Wanda.

“Are vous ok?” asked Piggy. Wanda looked sort of pale and not like herself. Piggy could be self centered and into herself but she could tell when one of her friends needed help.

“No, yes, I don’t know,” burst out Wanda and looked as if she might cry.

“Come with moi dear, let’s go to my dressing room,” said Piggy and put her arm around her friend’s shoulder.

While they headed upstairs, Rowlf and Kermit found the girl Pepe was talking about.

“Hey, it’s that odd girl from the bookstore!” mumbled Rowlf as they approached her.

“What was that?” asked Kermit.

“I’ve seen this girl before,” said Rowlf.

The girl spotted them. She took a deep breath and then approached them. She was excited to meet Kermit, but had kind of hoped she could do this alone. Maybe it was better to have witnesses though.

“Hi there I’m Rowlf, Rowlf the Dog and this is Kermit the Frog. I understand you wanted to see me?” asked Rowlf.

“Yes, yes I did. Hi Kermit it’s nice to meet you,” said the girl shaking hands with the frog.

“Well, what can I do for you?” asked Rowlf.

“Ok, um this isn’t easy for me,” said the girl.

“Do you want to sit down over here?” asked Kermit pointing back at the benches where she had been sitting.

“Um, sure,” she said.

They sat down.

“Ok. My name is Annie and I have something important to tell you,” said Annie at last revealing her name.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” asked Rowlf. He was getting a little frustrated with this young girl and he wanted to get back to looking for his wife.

Annie took off the headscarf she’d been wearing from the day she arrived in town. Underneath she had been hiding her ears. She now revealed that she was also a dog. A dog that suddenly looked a little bit familiar to Rowlf.

“Do you remember someone named Regina Dalmatian?” asked Annie.

“Wow, yeah, it’s been years since I’ve seen her. Back in my piano bar days at least,” said Rowlf.

“Ok, she’s my mother,” said Annie.

“Yeah, you kind of look like her,” said Rowlf.

Kermit looked at Rowlf a little puzzled. Then again, he didn’t know all that much about Rowlf’s piano bar days before they had met.

As if he read Kermit’s mind Rowlf turned to him and said “Regina was a waitress at one of my regular gigs way back in the day.”

“Oh, you never mentioned her before,” said Kermit.

“Well, we went our separate ways a long time ago. How is she these days?” asked Rowlf turning back to Annie.

“Ok, well that’s why I’m here. See, she died last year. It was a heart condition. She was sick a long time,” said Annie.

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” said Rowlf.

“So, I’m here because she told me before she died that I deserved to know where I come from and well, I don’t know how to tell you this but, I wanted to come meet you because, you’re my father,” said Annie.

Kermit's eyes grew wide with shock as he looked over to his oldest friend.

Rowlf opened his mouth to speak but found no words would come out. He was paralyzed.

 

[The Count]

*Stunned silence. More please!
Be back when I... *Loses voice and fades away.

 

[redBoobergurl]

Hmm, is that good or bad....