Chapter 2

It seemed to be a beautiful day in Monstropolis. The sun shining, the bees buzzing and the birds chirping as monsters went on their daily routines. Down on Sludge St, the Boggs family were spending the day outside in their backyard. Emilia was busy weeding out her garden. Randall was playing with a ball as Cheryal was reading a book. The little three-year old seemed content as he bounced the red ball against the side of the house.

Emilia looked over at the monstling. She smiled when she watched her little son play. Her eyes scanned his tiny thin framed. She frowned in worried. His size often worried her. Cheryal had told her he was born prematurely. And most mons that were normally are usually thin and sickly as children. This caused her to worry a lot about his health. Of course so far the only problem they had so far was he stuck a marble in his nose last year. But that was past and he was getting more active and towards them.

Her worrying disappeared when she heard him squeal in delight as a butterfly landed on his ball. He had yet to talk much to their concern, but they figured it was because of his earlier years, his biological parents had scared him into not talking. She went over and got down on her knees to be on his level.

"Look Randy, if you hold out your hand and keep very still the butterfly might land on it."

She held her hand out, not moving a muscle. After a while the fluttered over and landed on it. The little reptile looked at it then up at her in awe. The florist smiled sweetly at him as he repeated her actions. He giggled in delight as the insect landed on his upper right arm and crawled up it. His emerald green eyes sparkled. The tall monster was pleased to see her young son so happy.

His eyes widen as the tiny creature landed on the tip of his snout. Emilia couldn't help but let out a laugh as he sneezed. The moment he sneezed caused the insect to take off. Randall's fronds flattened against his head and whimpered as it left. She frowned in sympathy and pulled him into a gentle hug.

"Oh don't worry Randy. It'll come back. You just scared it. But it's okay."

He looked uncertain as he she looked at him.

"Okay then… well, how about you help mommy water the flowers?"

He looked over at her garden then at her. He seemed to be debating if he should or shouldn't. After a couple of moments, he pointed at himself.

"Yes," she nodded, "I want you to help me."

He looked back at her garden and timidly nodded. She smiled as she took his top right in her left. Due to her height she had to crouch to hold his hand. She led him over to her wide variety of flowers. It was arranged from the most docile of flowers such as violets to poisonous plants as deadly nightshade (a customer favorite at her shop). Now most monsters couldn't believe that their popular flower shop owner could have such foul smelling flowers like daffodils, but she always said that it was for business reasons. Every monster had a different since of smell. She took a hold of some weeds.

"See these plants here in my hand Randy? Look at them carefully. These are weeds. We don't weeds to be with the flowers because they hurt them. Want to help me pull them out?"

He carefully walked up and wrapped his small hands around his adoptive mother's. His face split into a happy grin when they pulled it out. She couldn't help but feel her chest swell with pride. He moved on to pulling out other weeds. She turned her attention to pulling out the remainder of weeds.

Cheryal looked up from her book. She smiled when she saw her partner and adoptive son working together in the garden. Though most of the flowers had an unpleasant smell, she kept her thoughts to herself. She knew how happy the garden made Emilia. So she wasn't surprising to see her partner sharing her love of plants with him. She watched him pulls a weed out of the ground before returning to her book. She looked up to when she heard Emilia scream.

"Randall!"

There, lying on the ground, was their son having a seizure. The surgeon yelped in surprise and fear as she ran over to the young reptile's side. Emilia was crouched next to his body. She looked up at her partner in fear. She had no idea what to do.

"Don't hold him Emilia that could cause serious injury."

Emilia held up her hands to show that she wasn't going to try to. Cheryal looked around to make sure that there wasn't anything to harm him. And gently turned him over to his side.

"Aren't you going to do anything?" The ten foot monster asked, concern full in her voice.

"All we have to do is wait till he's done. If it goes over five minutes than we call hospital."

Emilia bit her lip as they watched their child flay around on the ground. She wanted nothing more than to hold him and wait till he woke up and comfort him. But she couldn't. Cheryal was the doctor, and if she knew what was best for an medical emergency. She hugged herself as she watched helplessly. She looked over at Cheryal who kept her eyes on him. It amazed her how in the most horrific set of circumstances that she's able to stay so calm. It was the only thing that the florist admired about her partner. She was glad that she was here.

Cheryal knew Emilia wanted to help him. To grab a hold of his twitching body and whisper sweet words in his ear, but she couldn't. She knew, because that's what she wanted to do too. But she had to be a professional right now. Their son was having a seizure and she was the only one who knew how to handle it. She could not panic. If she did, it would cause Emilia too and it could cause Randall to be seriously injured and they did not need that. All they could do is wait till he came out of it.

After about two minutes the little reptile woke up. He sat up and looked around. When his eyes landed on his new parents, his eyes were wide with fear, his body shaking. Cheryal sat down next to him, gently taking his hands.

"Shh, it's okay Randy. You're okay. You just had a little problem, but it's over."

The little reptile had no idea what had just happen, one minute he knew he was helping his new mama pull weeds out and the next he woke up to seeing his new parents looking at him with worry. The confusion only made things worse for him and he started to cry.

"Oh Randy," Emilia cooed, scooping the child in her arms. "It's okay baby."

They stood up and brought the little child into the house. Emilia gently laid him on the couch. Cheryal went into the kitchen and came back with a green sippy cup filled with water. She handed it to him, who immediately took it and started drinking.

"Take it easy Randy. You just got done having a seizure. Do you know what a seizure is?" the purple monster asked.

The little reptile shook his head.

"Well Randy, a seizure is like falling asleep, only it happens unexpectedly when you're awake. And when you're in that sleep, your body shakes really badly. It may leave you confused when you wake up, but you will be okay. Understand?"

The three-year-old slowly nodded. Slightly confused, but did grasp the conduct of what his parent was telling. He sat his cup down, then crawled into Cheryal's arms. The surgeon was slightly taken back by his sudden need of comfort, but she smiled when she realized that he was opening up to them. She hugged carefully and he did the same. Emilia gently stroke his fronds, a fond smile on her face.

"We love you Randy, and we'll always be here for you."

The reptile smiled as he curled into his adoptive mother's chest. Yes… just the thing to prove that he would never be neglected and left to fend for himself any more. One thing was certain in his mind, this was the family he was meant to be with and he was glad they took him in.