Drifted Together

Cartoon Shakespeare

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of the Gummy Bears besides those of my own creation.

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"Hey, watch where you're splashing!" Sunni yelled to her overly exuberant brother, Cubbi, and in return got a raspberry thrown at her.

"It's not my fault you sat so close to shore!" he yelled.

"Will you two kids stop fighting!" Grammi exasperated, "We're supposed to be out here to relax." Wisely both children stayed quiet and settled down. Gruffi was back a ways from the shore, sleeping, if the snore wasn't enough of a dead giveaway. Down by the shore, Zummi was out with just his paws in the water relaxing in his swim jumper. And Grammi was out near the children, watching them and keeping an eye out for ogres or humans. 'Since nobody else will' she thought in irritation, glaring at the sleeping bear.

"It's such a beautiful day! It's a great inspiration for my landscape!" Gusto cried in content

"I'm glad we decided to take the day off!" Tummi commented.

"Would you guys keep it down some people are trying to sleep!"

Grammi once again glared at the bear before grabbing the closest thing to her, which happened to be a small rubber ball that Cubbi had brought with him, and throwing it at the grumpy bear and hitting him in the stomach.

"Ooff!" he grunted, "What was that for?" he complained

"You're supposed to be helping me keep watch, not lazing around!" she replied haughtily.

"Hey! Look over there!" Sunni cried, "It's a boat!"

The adults all looked out and saw a small row boat, floating with supposedly no passengers. However the circling crows were saying something different.

"Get out of the water," Gruffi instructed as he stood up and grouped with Grammi, Gusto and Zummi, "…go stand by the forest." He added.

They knew not to argue and quickly Tummi, Sunni and Cubbi went and stood by the foliage.

"Grammi, go stand with the kids," he ordered.

"Why?" she huffed, feeling like she could help.

Gruffi scowled but the concern was visible as he whispered to where the children could not hear, "If there is a dead body in there, I don't' want them to see it."

That was simple enough and Grammi complied.

"Do we still have that rope, Zummi?" Gruffi asked.

"Y-Yes, it's in bhe tag…I-I mean the bag.

Gruffi nodded and retrieved it, quickly making a lasso. "I'm going to pull it to shore, I need you two to help steady the boat and bring it into the sand."

"You got it Gruffi." Gusto replied, moving toward shore with Zummi.

With it decided, Gruffi skillfully swung the rope around before tossing it in the direction of the boat and it landed on the tip of the boat. There was just enough room for the rope to grab onto the boat, and with a lot of effort, he pulled the boat in their direction. I took a little bit of time but eventually the boat got close enough for Gusto and Zummi to grab and start pulling. The sand of the beach parted as the boat made its way ashore. Gruffi dropped the roap and moved forward as Gusto and Zummi peered inside.

"Great Gummi's!" Zummi exclaimed in shock.

The occupant inside was a very sick, very dehydrated, heavily pregnant gummi bear. Her fur was dark blue and her nose was a light pink, but it was very pale and dry. Her fur was matted and dirty and she looked close to death. In fact, if it wasn't for the small moaning noises she made in her unconsciousness, they could have sworn she was.

"Grammi, get over here and bring a flask of water and a wet blanket!" Gruffi ordered quickly. "Help me get her out."

The three male Gummi's carefully lifted the fragile bear from the boat. "My stars!" Grammi cried as she came forward with the requested items. Two crows landed near the bear and tried to peck at her legs, where it looked like some crows had already gotten to them.

"Get away!" Sunni yelled, as she ran forward and swatted at the birds scaring them away. "Shoo!" Even with her orders and movements they still were not ready to give up their meal, and soon all three kids were hitting at birds trying to get them away while the adults helped the sick bear.

Gruffi wrapped the bear in a wet blanket and propped her up on Gusto's chest while he fed her very small amounts of water. "We need to get her to Gummi Glen, quickly." Grammi stressed.

They all nodded and quikly Gusto and Gruffi helped carry her between them with them on both sides of her as they acted as a chair for her. They were glad that the qwick tunnel was so close by; otherwise the journey would put more stress on her body, putting both her and the cub in more danger. They loaded the kids, Grammi and Zummi before Gusto and Gruffi settled into the backseat with her cradled between them. The ride was quick, but felt so long at the same time. The moment they got there Grammi yelled for them to bring her to the guest bedroom and ran forward to gather supplies and prepare the room. Zummi took the kids to the living area while Grammi ran around, before settling in the room as Gruffi and Gusto carried her inside. When she was settled, Gruff and Grammi requested Gusto join the others and he nodded in compliance before leaving to go wait with the others.

All of the children and the two adults waited there for quite some time before the duo came back into the living area to give a report.

"Is she ok?" Cubbi asked.

Grammi nodded, "She's ok for now, but it'll take a little bit before she'll be healthy,"

"And the cub?" Zummi asked anxiously.

Gruffi frowned, "Under extreme stress" he answered, looking to Grammi who nodded solemnly before she continued.

"I checked the cub and it is under a lot of duress from the ordeal. She's only about three months in, and if she delivered anytime within the next month the cub may not make it." Grammi sighed, "I'm considering her pregnancy to be high risk until after she delivers, we all will need to make the next few months as stable as possible."

Everyone nodded in agreement

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The next few days had been tense.

Grammi spent her time caring for the female bear and her cub and was not planning on anything else happening until she woke. The cubs were eager to meet her but mostly stayed out of the grownups way. Calvin had been by, and after being told of the situation, became a lifesaver as he mostly kept the cubs busy.

It was a few more days later until she woke up.

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She groaned in misery as she became aware of her pain…everywhere. Her muscles were weak and even breathing hurt her, but that didn't stop her from putting a hand on her cub. She gave a small sigh of relief as she felt her stomach, knowing that it was ok. The next thing that she became aware of was that she wasn't in the boat! Panic started to set in as she realized when was in a strange room and under the blankets of a bed.

Who had found her? Humans? She shivered in fear at the thought…Oh please god, don't let it be humans.

Suddenly a hand touched her head and she jumped, eyes flying open in terror as she tried to scoot away from the person who was touching her.

"Shhhh," a gentle voice soothed, "It's alright, your safe here…please calm down, it isn't good for the cub."

Cub? Humans call their young 'babes' so that would mean…

She closed and opened her eyes carefully trying to focus and she cried in relief when her eyes set upon a middle aged Gummi Bear, so she settled into the female bears lap and cried, grateful that the Great Gummi's were looking out for her and her cub.

Comforting hands pet her head and made soft shushes and promises that everything was fine. It took her a few minutes to stop but her soft sobbing slowly came to a halt. She was helped to sit up, before being settled into a bunch of stacked up pillows that hadn't been there before. Confused she looked around the room and found another gummi bear standing to the side. He was a middle aged male and he looked as if he were the strong family man type, but he way he stood.

"What is your name, darlin?" the female asked.

She looked back to the motherly bear. "S-s…" she stopped and tried to clear the scratchiness in her voice.

"Here" the male came forward with a glass of water and helped her sit up to take a drink. She slowly sipped the water to cool her irritated throat, "T-thank you," she said in a soft voice, so not to hurt her throat more, "M-my name is Sammi"

"Well Sammi, it's nice to meet you," the female said with a smile, "My name is Grammi and this is Gruffi." She motioned to the male. "There are a few others in our family, but you will meet them later on."

Sammi nodded then looked to the female, "My cub," she groaned, placing both hands on her stomach, "Is my cub ok?"

Gruffi nodded, "It's ok, but Grammi thinks the stress you were put under, might have made your pregnancy more fragile than before and you need to stay relaxed as possible until it's born."

Sammi nodded in agreement as she laid her head on Gruffi's shoulder, who had sat next to her. Her voice was soft and grateful, "Thank you" she whispered before falling back to sleep.

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Sammi slept the entire night and most of the next day, and when she woke, she found that someone was sitting on her bed once more, but she opened her eyes and saw a young adult gummi bear with light blue fur, wearing a bandana and tank shirt, both covered in paint. She moved and tried to sit up, gaining his attention.

"Oh! Hello there!" he said cheerfully, "I'm glad to see your awake, I'm Gusto!" he smiled and in return so did she.

"Hello, my name is Sammi," she greeted.

"Nice to meet such a lovely young female," he blurted before promptly blushing as he realized what he said was awkward, "D-do y-you…I mean, are you hungry?"

Sammi smiled and stifled a giggle, 'Yes I am, would you happen to have something I could eat?"

Gusto smiled, "Of course! Grammi brought this in for you, it's not much but she said that it was already more than you would be able to eat at the moment."

He picked up a tray from her bedside table and placed it in her lap. It consisted of very light foods like fruit and bread, but she supposed that her stomach may not be able to handle much more than that. She took her first bit and savored it. How long had she been on that boat? She found herself saying not to care because that was stress her cub didn't need.

"So where are you from?"

"I lived in the gummi caverns near St. Rathem, the forest was burnt down. I'm not sure where I shall live after I recuperate, but I'm sure that I will find one." She placed a fake smile on her face, knowing it would not be that easy.

Gusto frowned, "What do you mean? Grammi isn't just gonna let you go out on your own…in fact, I'm sure that you and the cub will be more than welcome to stay here in Gummi Glen!" He chirped.

Sammi startled as she was surprised. "Oh no, I cound't do that! I cound impose, especially with my cub, he will be noisy and wake everyone up and-"

Gusto softly placed his hand over her mouth with a smile. "You would not be imposing, you would be giving us a new hope of a new generation of Gummi's. You have no idea how happy it would make me- I mean US!... Us t-t-o stay"

Sammi smiled as small tears of happiness appeared, "Thank you! If that is the case…I-I would love to stay."

"That is wonderful news, dear!" A voice called from the doorway. Both turned to see a smiling Grammi standing in the doorway, "we were hoping you'd stay."

Sammi smiled back at them both in thanks.

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Sammi slowly gained her weight back over the next month and took on a healthy glow much to everyone's delight. Soon after meeting Gusto, she was introduced to the cubs and Zummi. The cubs got along with Sammi very well, and everyone could see that she was delighted to be around them. Zummi, she found, was a very wise, if not a bit unorthodox, bear and always got a few laughs from some of his magic mistakes. Grammi and Gruffi were always around to make sure she was doing ok, and Sammi didn't really mind.

However, it was the last bear of the family that really caught her eye, and vice versa. Gusto was a very energetic and outgoing gummi, and there was not a single moment with him that was dull. Sammi and Gusto actually got closer and closer every time the two spent time together. Everyone could see that they started to care deeply for each other, and it wasn't just because Grammi walked in the living room and saw them fast asleep, holding hands as they cuddled on the couch.

Happily, Sammi settled in quickly and seemed very content to be herself, which turned out she could be quite the rebellious one when she wanted to be and never liked to talk about her problems. They realized soon after she got settled, that there were still problems in Sammi's past that she was terrified of…one of them being humans. The first time she saw Calvin, was something they would never forget…

~Sammi was sitting on the couch, reading a book inside Zummi's library, waiting for Gusto to come and get her for their mid-morning talk like they did every morning after he went on his nature hike. She looked up as there were loud thumping noises coming from the hallway, they seemed slightly….heavier than usual.

"Calvin!" she heard Cubbi yell.

Was there another gummi bear somewhere in the forest? Why had none of the others mentioned him? She shrugged, neither feeling motivated nor have the energy to get off the very comfortable settee the she was lying on.

"It's good to see you Calvin, where have you been? You haven't been around in a long while." Grammi asked.

"Sorry Grammi, I've been really busy training lately. I just had enough time today to sneak out so I could come see you guys."

"I understand Calvin, just try not to be a stranger."

"I'd never do that!" Calvin chuckled.

Sammi, although hearing the conversation, was still engrossed in her book, when she heard the conversation wind down, she tuned out anything else besides her book, so much, that she never heard the comment of showing Calvin their new family member, so Sammi was startled when she heard someone call her name. She looked up at Cubbi's voice and froze instantly. There behind the youngest gummi was a human boy. Terror ran down her spine and she started to shake, she felt her face go pale and the book dropped from her lifeless hands as she stared at the human.

"S-Sammi? Are you ok?" she heard Cubbi ask.

Although the boy never moved, she moved as if she was being attacked by a wild animal. She slowly moved to the end of the settee before sliding slowly down to the floor, not caring how uncomfortable it was for her.

"Uh…Cubbi, I think we should get somebody." The boy went to leave the room, but the movement alone was enough to send Sammi into panic mode.

She gave out a cry of pure terror and retreated as fast as she could to a dark alcove in the wall, behind a statue, curling up into herself and muttering while she shook, and hyperventilated.

"Grammi! Gruffi!" Cubbi yelled out.

Fast footsteps were heard down the hallway. "What's going on?" Gruffi asked, "Who screamed?"

Cubbi pointed towards the alcove, "Something's wrong with Sammi!" he said, "I was going to introduce her to Calvin but before I could she started acting weird."

Gruffi and Grammi hurried over to the alcove to see the condition the girl was in. When Grammi started to go in to comfort her, Sammi screamed in terror and started flailing around to get away from the hand touching her. Grammi retreated and looked to Gruffi, "She's terrified Gruffi!"

Gruffi turned to the boys, "What happened?" he asked.

Calvin spoke up, "We don't know, she was fine until she looked up, then she looked like she saw a ghost and started shaking. All she would do was stare at me, while she tried to back up to the back of the room."

Gruffi quickly deducted what the problem was, "Cubbi, take Calvin and go somewhere to play and don't come back for a while," he ordered, "Calvin before you come back in, send Cubbi first so that he can get the ok. Do you understand?"

Both boys nodded, "What's wrong with her Gruffi?" Cubbi asked.

Gruffi frowned, "She's terrified of humans and we need to sort this out before Calvin can come back down"

They nodded again and left, to allow the girl time to calm down, but as soon as they left, Sunni and Tummi walked in, "What's going on?" Sunni asked.

Gruffi looked to the other cubs, "Sammi's scared of Calvin and now we need to calm her down. Tummi go get cold water, some cloths, a pillow and a blanket. Sunni I need you to find Gusto and bring him down here pronto!"

Both cubs nodded and ran out to do their tasks and Gruffi went back to help Grammi, who was trying to talk to Sammi, but getting absolutely no effect.

"Oh Gruffi! I don't know what to do! I can't get close to her and she won't calm down and she keeps muttering 'No', 'Jonny' or 'stop', the cub can't take this amount of stress!"

"I sent Tummi to get supplies and Sunni went to go get Gusto, maybe he can calm her down."

"What's going on!" Gusto cried as he ran into the library with Sunni and Tummi right behind him.

"Gusto, we need you to try and calm Sammi down now!" Gruffi ordered

The blue gummi ran over quickly to the girl and was unsure what to do, "Sammi, you need to calm down" he tried first with no effect then he tried, "Sammi, calm down, you're going to hurt the cub!" he stressed himself to no effect.

Gusto thought for a moment before turning to Grammi, "Do you have anything that can calm her down or make her sleep for a little while?"

Grammi's brows knitted in thought for a moment before looking pleased, "Yes! I'll go get it!" and quickly she ran to retrieve it.

Gusto then turned to Gruffi, "Gruffi, I'm going to reach in there, grab her and bring her out, you have to help me hold her down so she won't hurt herself."

Gruffi nodded and moved into position as Gusto got into position before carefully, yet forcefully, grabbing Sammi and pulling her out of the alcove.

"NO!" she screamed, "STOP! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME! PLEASE!"

Gruffi grabbed her knees and held her legs down while Gusto had her close to his chest so that she couldn't hurt him while she struggled

"JONNY!" she sobbed, "NO! DON'T HURT HIM! PLEASE!" tears rolled down her face as she fought against some unknown attacker.

Grammi ran in with some liquid in a cup, past Sunni, who was wrapped up in Tummi's arms, and up to the group. "Hold her jaw open!"

Gusto reached up and grabbed her jaw as she was screaming, and Grammi quickly poured some of the liquid in her mouth. For a moment there was no effect, but then she slumped forward, head on her chest and passed out from the liquid given to her.

The adults relaxed for a moment, but Grammi needed to check on the cub. "Children, I need you to leave the room and shut the door on your way out,"

Tummi quickly led the crying Sunni away and shut the door behind them. Gruffi got the pillow and blanket and brought them over, placing the pillow on Gusto's lap and lay Sammi's head on top of it before covering her legs with the blanket. He then ran over and got the water and cloths before he started to dip the cloths in the cold water and bathe her face, to cool her off.

Grammi quickly checked Sammi's pulse and breathing before feeling the cub through her stomach, so far the cub was stressed but fine. She then moved down lower and moved the blanket so it was over her legs. "Gusto, I need you to hold Sammi's legs, while I check the cub."

Gusto nodded nervously, "O-Ok"

Grammi helped him grab under her knees and pull them up so that she could work easier and soon was checking to make sure that Sammi hadn't caused labor with her panic attack. Thankfully, she had not.

"She'll be waking up in a moment, it wasn't that strong" she warned and the two boys nodded.

In just a few moments, Sammi was starting to stir and moaned, she opened her eyes and saw Gusto, Gruffi and Grammi above her. At first she was disoriented, wondering why she was there, but when she remembered that she saw a human, she tried to sit up, but Gusto was holding her shoulder's down.

"Stay lying down, you need to relax after what just happened," Gusto said.

"N-No I saw a human! Th-There's a h-human here. I-I have t-to get-" she started to hyperventilate again and Grammi quickly got in Sammi's line of vision.

"Sammi calm down this instant or you might kill your cub. We sent Calvin away, he's no longer here."

Sammi looked to Grammi in shock but Gruffi interrupted whatever she was about to say. "Sammi," he said to get her attention, "Why are you so terrified of humans?"

Sammi's face drained of color as she started to remember some bad memories and tears leaked from her eyes as she started to sob in sadness. Gusto pulled her up into his embrace before he encouraged her to speak, "It's ok Sammi, we need to know why so we can help you…"

Sammi took a few moments to regain her breath before she spoke. She looked to the ground and refused to look anyone in the eye. "Humans are the reason I was in the boat. Th-The-" she had to take a moment to recompose herself before she continued, "The humans were angry over the fact that we would not make juice for them to become stronger in the war that was currently going on between St. Rathem and a nearby kingdom. Th-They attacked our home, burned it down, k-k-killed most of the cubs." She started to cry again, not seeing the looks of horror and grief on the other bears faces, "They would take the mothers and any mated female, a-a-and make us watch as they killed our families, our mates! Th-they k-killed my mate! They killed Jonny! They beat him to death right in front of me!" by now the sobs were uncontrollable and no one could think of a thing to say. Gusto held Sammi tight, saying that he was sorry for her loss and that she had to go through that.

It took a while for Sammi to calm down to a point that she could even breath correctly, and they waited to say what they needed her to understand. Grammi thought it would be easier coming from her, so she started, "Sammi, I am so sorry that you lost your mate," she paused, "and we understand why you are afraid of humans, but you need to listen to me, ok?" Sammi looked up for the first time and gave a very small nod, "The humans that attacked you home, were petty evil jealous humans, but you need to understand that not all humans are alike." She paused at the disbelieving face, "Most of the humans around our home are NOT at all like those humans. He is a strong, brave boy that does anything he can to help us in any way."

"But-" Sammi tried to say.

Grammi shook her head, "Do you think we would let someone in our home, around our cubs, if they were anything like the humans that attacked your village?"

Sammi was silent but shook her head.

"Calvin is a very nice boy, and is Cubbi's best friend, we understand you are afraid of him and why, and we won't make you spend time around him or with him if you don't want to. If he's over, I will make sure that he doesn't go near you, but is it unfair for us to ask you to give him a chance? Give yourself a chance to learn that not all humans are alike, just like all gummi's aren't alike."

Sammi was still crying but looked at Grammi before looking at Gusto, "Do you trust us to not lie to you?"

Sammi nodded and thought a little more before she looked back to Grammi.

"I-I don't want to be around him when I'm alone, I-If one of you are with me I'll be ok….I-I'll give him a chance." She whispered.

The three other bears smiled.

…..Sammi had slowly over the course of a month or two gotten use to Calvin being around, but still wasn't comfortable enough to be alone with him. She would have short greetings or very light awkward conversations but Calvin didn't seem to mind, he even brought Kala one day, with the permission of the other adults, who let her know beforehand who was coming. Sammi seemed less scared of Kala than of Calvin, but the fact that it was an army of men who desecrated her village would account to her not having too much of a problem around the human women.

Slowly with her other problems, with Gusto's help, she was able to deal with them, especially with the death of her mate, whom she never really had a chance to grieve for. Gusto's support was everything she needed and the only thing she really wanted.

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Sammi hummed as she walked down the hallway, carrying dirty clothes to be washed. She was doing it in stealth mode because both Grammi and Gruffi told her they did not want her doing housework, so she did something's without their knowledge.

How do they expect a nesting mother to sit and not nest is beyond my comprehension she joked to herself. She was now close the end of her pregnancy and all the sitting was driving her up the wall.

"Sammi, where are ya goin?" Cubbi said as he came up behind her.

Sammi smiled, "I'm just going to wash these up and then go back to my room"

"I thought you weren't supposed to do work?"

She once again smiled, trying to get the young cub from reporting her to the older gummi's, "I'm ok Cubbi, I promise. I just need to do something before I go crazy."

"You still supposed to be work free and carrying a heavy basket counts has work." Gusto's voice popped in.

Sammi looked up, smiled, and groaned. He was leaning against his doorway and looking at her teasingly. "C'mon Gus! It's not that heavy!"

Gusto stood straight and walked up to her, "If you insist on doing housework, at least let me know so I can accompany you and help. You are supposed to be really close to your birthing." He held out his hands and she smiled as she handed over the basket.

"Fine, I guess I could do that," she smiled and he quickly returned it.

"I'll see you guys later, I don't' wanna stick around for all this mushy stuff," Cubbi voiced before running off.

Sammi and Gusto chuckled as he placed the basket on his outside hip and grabbed Sammi's hand with the other and they walked to the washing room.

"How are you feeling today?" Gusto asked.

"I'm kind of restless because I want to clean but been banned from doing so." She said wryly.

Gusto chuckled, "yea well Grammi's orders usually mean law," he joked.

Sammi nodded and leaned against his arm as they reached the washing room. He set the basket next to the wash board and helped her sit down and watched her start to wash. He put his hands on her shoulders and began to rub them and she gave a groan of relief.

"Gusto" she said after a few moment.

"Yea?"

"Why do you wanna be with me?"

His hands hesitated on her shoulders and he leaned down to look into her face. "Why wouldn't I?" he asked very puzzled.

Sammi stopped washing her clothing to place her hands on her lap. "I have a cub on the way Gusto, not many males would be interested, why are you? I don't understand what you see in me." She said sadly.

Gusto removed his hands from her shoulders and moved around to sit in front of her. "Sammi, I like you for you, I love that your cheery, I love that you are a very loving person. I love that you've shown me what a fantastic mother you will be and that is only some of the things that I see in you," he smiled, "and as for the cub, I think a cub is a blessing, there are not many of us left. I will accept your cub as my own if you allow it."

By the time Gusto was done, Sammi had tears running down her face and she launched herself into his arms, "I would love if you would be my cubs father!"

Gusto smiled. "I love you Sammi"

Sammi reached up and kissed Gusto deeply before releasing him, then placing their foreheads together. "I love you too Gus."

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After their confessions, Gusto had Sammi's things moved into his room as a surprise and she had been ecstatic. Today, Sammi lay resting in her and Gusto's room, but that didn't last long and soon could no longer stay lying. She got up and stretched her aching muscles before placing one hand on her back and another on her stomach. She was so restless and had not had a breath of fresh air the whole time she'd been here, so with a determined mind she set out to find Grammi. She walked down the hallway and didn't see her anywhere, so when she saw Zummi, she stopped, "Zummi, have you seen Grammi?"

"Uh, I think her and Sunni went outside to pick bummi gerry's…I mean gummi berry's"

Sammi nodded, "Thanks Zummi!" she smiled and turned toward the exit.

"W-wait!" Zummi cried, "You're not going outside, are you?"

Sammi frowned, "Yeah, I really feel crowded up in here. I really would like to get some fresh air and since Grammi's outside too I thought that would be ok?"

Zummi seemed to consider it. "Oh…well, yea I g-guess so…" he said uncertainly.

Sammi smiled before she set to the easiest exit and slowly and carefully climbed the stairs. As she opened the door she got a blast of fresh air and caused her to smile big. She closed the door softly behind her and could hear Grammi and Sunni just off to her right. Slowly and carefully, she made her way through to the gummi berry bushes. She walked around a bush and quickly greeted them, "Hi Grammi, hi Sunni!" she gave a large smile.

Grammi turned around with a look of surprise on her face, "Sammi! What are you doing out here!"

Samme frowned, "Zummi said you were outside, and I really needed some fresh air, so since you were out here, I figured it would be ok?"

Grammi had her hands folded across her chest and she looked to be thinking, "Alright, fine" she agreed, "But only if you sit down and do not pick gummi berries."

Sammi smiled and nodded in agreement before doing as asked.

"How are you feeling Sammi?" Sunni asked.

"I'm doing great Sunni, no complaints besides the usual back ache and swolled ankles, how bout both of you?"

"We are doing good right Grammi?"

Grammi smiled. "Of course dear, now Sammi, humor an old bear, how are you and Gusto doing?"

With a small blush, Sammi smiled, "We are great! He's so sweet! I'm glad we're together"

"Hey guys!" a male voice called and a small lanky human boy walked through the bushes.

"Hi Calvin!" Sunni greeted.

"Do you guys need some help?"

"Sure! Sunni jumped as the chance to get done faster presented itself.

Calvin nodded and went to a bush on the opposite end as Sammi, "How are you Sammi?" he asked quietly

Sammi, smiled small and guardedly answered, "I'm doing well, thank you."

Calvin nodded and turned to Grammi, "Where are the guys?"

"Gruffi took Gusto, Tummi and Cubbi to the forest to retrieve some fish and wood." She answered, "He's on one of his trips again, gotta teach everybody how to be a nature bear."

Everyone chuckled at that and continued picking….at least until Sunni reached in a bush and saw a familiar face peering out at them.

"Ogres!" Sunni yelled and ran from the bush just as two small arms went to grab her and Toady fell from the bush as he missed.

"Toady's got you now! Oh, Dukie will be so happy when we bring him three gummi bears!"

"Oh yea, you and what army?" Sunni mocked.

"That army!" he retorted and pointed behind them.

They turned to see six ogres behind them and they took notice that they were right behind where Sammi was sitting. Calvin steadily walked toward where Sammi was but before he got there, an ogre hit him sideways and he went flying away springing Grammi and Sunni into action. They quickly drank their juice and started bouncing toward Sammi as an Ogre was reaching for her. Grammi sneered; "Oh no you don't!" she said and landed on his hat, squishing it down over his eyes.

"Uhh!" the ogre grunted but another was quick and grabbed Grammi in the air.

Grammi groaned and struggled as she was caught. "Sunni, get Sammi out of here!" she yelled.

"Right!"

However, before she was able, Sunni was also grabbed and then also a terrified Sammi.

"Look!" one of the ogres commented. "A new gummi!"

He held her out for Toady to see and he felt free to comment, "and it's a fat one too."

Sammi gasped and growled at the little toad right next to her face, "You…You!" happily her foot was loose and she didn't hesitate to kick the small ogre between the legs, "I'm not fat, you little overgrown frog!" she yelled.

Grammi and Sammi laughed at the small, moaning and collapsed ogre, despite the situation they were in, it was amusing to see the small ogre get vented upon by a pregnant woman he just called fat. After the small toad composed himself he squeaked out, "L-Let's get them to Dukie!"

With that the ogres were off with the three female gummi's with them. Calvin watched from the bushes he hid in and quickly said to himself, "I have to find the others!" Quickly he jumped up and ran to the tree house, hoping the guys were back. He opened the closest entrance and jumped in, and as soon as he hit the bottom, "GRUFFI, ZUMMI, GUSTO? SOMBODY!"

"M-my goodness Calvin, wh-what's wrong! Zummi called as he came outside of his study.

"Ogres kidnapped the girls!"

"O-Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dear! We have to find Gruffi and the others right away!"

Zummi ran down the hallway with Calvin and just before they got to the quick tunnels. The bears in question walked through the doors.

"Gruffi!" they both cried.

Immediately, he could tell something was wrong, "What's happened?"

"Ogres kidnapped the girls!"

Gruffi grunted as he threw his stuff over to the side. "C'mon we have to go quick, Tummi, I want you to stay here with Sammi and-"

"Sammi was with them!"

"What!" Gusto cried, "What was she doing outside!"

Zummi answered quickly, "Sammi said she needed fresh air so she went out to sit with Grammi and Sunni as they picked gummi berries."

"C'mon gummi's let's go!" he halted the argument and they all piled into the quick tunnel car and took off towards Drekmore.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

On the way to Drekmore in the hands of the ogres, Sammi started to notice that the pain in her lower back was slowly making its way forward. She did her best to keep her groans in as the pain got worse, but eventually it was too much to hold back. A pained groan and whimper passed her lips as what she was sure was a contraction hit her.

"Sammi?" Sunni called from her place and Grammi was also paying attention just beyond Sunni, "Are you ok?"

During the pain of her contraction, Sammi furiously shook her head, breathing harshly.

"Oh great gummi's!" Grammi worriedly whispered, 'I was afraid this would happen."

By now the ogres were quickly entering the castle and carried the girls to the throne room.

"We captured three gummi's your dukieness!" Toady reported.

Igthorn jumped up, "Wonderful!" he observed, "No I will have three gummi bears to make my juice." He looked at Grammi and Sunni but when he gazed upon Sammi, he walked to her, "And who is this? I've never seen you before?" he mused to himself.

Sammi recoiled from Igthorn and felt another strong pain coming, so she tried to keep from screaming

Grammi scowled at Igthorn and growled, "Leave her alone!"

The Duke scowled right back and smiled sinisterly, "Well, I would be more than happy to give you proper greetings and accommodations if you would be so kind as to create a batch of Gummi Berry juice for me."

"Never!" Grammi denied.

The scowl was back, "Take them to the dungeons!"

Immediately the ogres moved and started down the long staircase and soon reached the bottom. Sammi moaned and tensed up as she felt water start to run down her legs and all over the ogre's hand. "EW! She peed on me!" he cried and scaring Grammi and Sunni as he almost dropped Sammi to the ground.

Another ogre opened a wooden cell door and threw Grammi and Sunni in before throwing Sammi right behind them. Grammi quickly moved to catch her and cushion her fall and as Sammi landed on her the cell door was slammed shut and then locked inside.

Sunni ran over to them as Grammi was sitting up, softly cradling a crying Sammi, trying to comfort her. "What do we do Grammi?" the small girl asked.

Grammi looked around noticing a large pile of hay and carefully grabbed Sammi under her arms. "Help me get her to the hay."

Sunni quickly helped Grammi balance Sammy and they slowly walked over to the hay. They laid her down and Sammi put her hands on her stomach, rubbing them across her hard stomach as if to soothe it.

"Sunni, sit by her head and try to keep her calm, ok?"

Sunni was scared but agreed, "Sure," she responded before sitting behind Sammi and actually placed her head in her lap, petting her sweaty fur away from her face and offered her a smile which was lightly returned.

"Sammi, your water broke so it's a for sure thing now, you will birth your cub today." Sammi nodded but still kept the worried expression on her face so she continued, "The cub is almost full term, he'll be ok. Alright?"

Sammi nodded but cried out as another contraction hit her. Grammi moved to kneel at her feet and placed a hand on her knee rubbing it in comfort through her pain, "Breathe deeply Sammi, breathe through it."

Sammi tried to follow instructions as she took deep breaths, scrunching her eyes in pain and as the pain started to recede she relaxed into Sunni, still breathing deeply as if trying to catch her breath.

"Sammi, I'm going to give you a checkup ok?"

Sammi nodded once more and tried to relax her body as she felt Grammi push her dress up to rest on the top of her thighs. Grammi instructed her to bed her knees and then began to examine her. The girl looked up to Sunni who was still petting her hair and Sunni plainly saw the fear. "Don't worry Sammi, Calvin saw us and the ogres, I'm sure the guys are on their way." The girl took a little comfort in that Gusto and the others were on their way to possibly save them.

"Ok Sammi, you're not even at the halfway mark, so we may have a little time, depending on how fast your birthing will progress."

Sammi nodded as Grammi continued, "You need to rest as much as possible, so you need to relax and try to sleep so you'll get more energy, ok?"

Once again she nodded and after Grammi put her dress back down, she turned on her side to be more comfortable. Soon both Sunni's and Grammi's comforting touches lured her into a light sleep.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The boys came up to the castle. "How are you supposed to get in without being seen?" Cubbi voiced as they came upon the gates.

"We'll just have to find a different way in." Zummi suggested.

"We can bounce on the south wall over there." Gusto observed.

Gruffi looked over, "Sounds good" he agreed and then they all walked over to the wall and drank their gummy berry juice. Zummi and Gusto grabbed Calvin and bounced up to the top followed by all the others. Slowly they creeped in the shadows of the castle.

"Where are they?" Calvin asked.

"Their probably in the dungeon…hopefully." Gruffi answered.

"Hopefully?" Calvin inquired

"I'd rather not go into this distraction-"

"Gummi Bear!" an ogre yelled.

Gusto was quickly to act and surprised everyone as he knocked the ogre out and he fell, making it look like he was sleeping.

"Well done Gusto, now come on the dungeons are this way." Cubbi said leading them to a small window in the wall in which they slipped through. The moment they got into the hallway they heard faint crying and yelling in the distance.

"This way! C'mon!" Gruffi ordered

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-..-

Sammi let out another scream of pain as she was hit with a contraction. She woke up a bit ago with the pains that had gotten worse and she didn't even bother to hold in her cries. Sunni was now sitting behind Sammi as she needed to be inclined to decrease pressure on her spine. Grammi was checking her again and she heard Grammi sigh. Sammi was heaving for breath, "W-what?" she asked, "What's wrong?"

Grammi smiled encouragingly, "Nothing's wrong, but your labor is going very quickly, you only have a few more openings before you need to push."

Sammi had tears show in her eyes in disbelief, "But…I don't want to birth here!"

Gramm frowned, "I'm sorry sweetie, you may not have much of a choice."

Sammi let more tears pass her eyes and she heard Sunni mutter comforting things into her hear, "It'll be ok Sammi."

She let out another high pitched cry of pain as another contraction rippled through her. She breathed as relaxing as possible, letting painful dry sobs out at random.

"Grammi!" a male voice called out.

"Gruffi! We're in here!" she hollered back. She heard muffled talking on the other side of the door before she got a response.

"We're going to get you out, is everybody ok?" he asked.

Grammi was relieved and went to answer but Sammi gave a pained cry, interrupting her, "We're ok, but Sammi went into labor!"

Another few muffled words were exchanged before Grammi heard the heavy wooden latch being opened. She went back to the girls and saw Sunni was helping Sammi breath through her contraction. As the door opened, Zummi, Gruffi, Gusto and Calvin came running while Cubbi and Tummi stayed at the door to keep watch. Gusto ran straight for Sammi and began comforting her, "It's ok," he whispered.

Gruffi turned to Grammi, "How long has she been like this?" he asked.

"Just as we were brought into the castle her contractions started and her after broke just as we were put in the cell. She's really stressed and she's only got a few openings left before she needs to birth the cub. We need to get to Gummi Glen quickly or at least Dunwhyn forest."

Gruffi nodded, "Calvin, I need you to carry her, you'll be able to carry her a lot faster than we could." Gruffi turned to Sammi, "We're going to get you outta here, ok? Calvin's going to carry you."

Sammi looked weary but then nodded. Calvin smiled as he carefully picked her up and cradled her as close as possible, "Don't worry Sammi, We'll get you home."

Sammi smiled and nodded.

"C'mon gang, let's get outta here!" Gusto urged.

Luckily, they had not been discovered in the cell, but now would be the hard part, since they couldn't go back out the way they came. Slowly they climbed the stairs, and several times Sammi had to muffle her cries so they wouldn't be detected. As they reached the door, Gruffi peered out the door and waited until the coast was clear. "Go!" he ordered and skillfully they all slipped into the shadows. The watched the ogres carefully, who seemed to be more interested in sleeping than anything else.

"We need to get as close to the gates as possible, then make a break for it." Calvin said.

"Are you sure we can make it?" Tummi asked in worry.

"Well, we're going to have to try." Grammi conceded.

"Well, I hate to point it out to you but we're as close as we're gonna get," Gruffi grumbled.

A small whimper came from Sammi, and it spurred Gusto into action, "We'll go on the count of three."

"One…..Two….THREE!"

Everyone took off at a run and immediately grabbed attention.

"Gummi Bears!" an ogre yelled out

"Keep going! Gruffi ordered as he and the others drank the extra juice they brought with them. As ogres got close they bounced over around, and on top of them to destract them enough to allow Calvin to get Sammy to the draw bridge.

"Stop them you moronic buffoons!" They heard Duke Igthorn shout followed by, "Pull up the draw bridge!"

The ogres next to the bridge began pulling on the lever to retract the rope and slowly the drawbridge began to go up.

"I don't think so stinky!" Cubbi yelled and skillfully pulled out three rocks form his pack and launced all three with his slingshot, hitting the ogre on the hand. With a loud 'ouch' the ogre let go and the bridge fell with a loud bang just as they got there. They all ran across the bridge and disappeared out of sight from the occupants of Drekmore Castle.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The Gummi's all gathered into the quick care with Sammi, Gusto and Grammi in the back. As soon as the quick care was off, Gusto sat behind Sammi with his chest to her back while Grammi checked Sammi's progress. "She's only got one more opening left! How close are we?" Grammi asked.

"Just a few minutes!" Zummi called back.

Those minutes seemed to drag by as they waited to arrive back at Gummi Glen. As soon as they stopped, Gruffi and Gusto carefully helped Sammi out of the quick care and helped her by half carrying her to her and Gusto's room.

"You guys go to the living area," Grammi told them as they went down the hall. They had to stop as a contraction hi Sammi hard and it caused her to lose her footing and cry out. "Breathe Sammi, we're almost there," Gusto comforted.

Once they got to the room, Gruffi and Gusto helped Sammi onto the bed and Gusto quickly situated her to lie on his chest in between his legs in the center of the bed. Gruffi quickly left to get the items they needed as Grammi instructed Gusto to help remove Sammi's dress. It took several minutes but it was finally off and Grammi covered her with a light blanket for modesty. As Gruffi made his way back into the room, Grammi was checking Sammi. "Okay Sammi, you're ready, on the next contraction I want you to push!"

Sammi's face was sweaty and wet from her tears of pain but she smiled and nodded, nonetheless. Gusto quickly took Sammi's hand and smiled, "You got this baby."

Her contraction hit and she pushed with all her might, screaming as her pain increased slowly. Grammi nodded, "Good Sammi, just like that! Keep going." For several moments she pushed before it ended and she relaxed into Gusto's chest heaving her breaths. "Good job, just like that on the next one!"

Sammi breathed heavily as she felt her body tense up and once her contraction hit, she pushed as hard as possible. The feeling of her cub's head was indescribably painful but as her contraction ended she felt the head actually pass her opening. "Great Sammi! Just one more!" Grammi coached. Sammi sobbed in pain and wished it would just be over! Her contraction hit again and with a yell of pain and forced effort, she pushed. The pain worsened and her cry was non-stop as the shoulders of her cub forced their way past her hips, followed by the rest of its body.

Sammi collapsed back onto Gusto, heaving breaths from the effort and relief from finishing her birthing. Her cubs cries woke her from a small doze and she wearily opened her eyes to the smiling faces of Grammi and Gruffi, as Grammi cleaned the cub with Gruffi holding the water basin.

"It's a girl." Grammi beamed and Sammi smiled happily. Gusto was petting her head and hugging her. "I'm very proud of you Sammi!" Sammi looked up and leaned into a kiss.

"Here you go Sammi" Gruffi said to her right. Her arms immediately opened up to take her now cleaned and swaddled cub. Her cub had the fur of her father, a beautiful fiery red and his dark brown nose, but her hair looked slightly curly and she had a cherub face.

"She's beautiful Sammi," Gusto whispered.

Sammi smiled and nuzzled her sleeping daughters face. She had a beautiful daughter, a loving family, and a male who loved her and her cub…everything was just as she wanted.