Skipper almost dropped the baby that cringed to his chest for comfort.

"Wha...what?" He questioned slowly. He wasn't quite sure he heard. "D-Dead?"

"Yes, my friend. Dead. Gone. Never to be seen aga-"

"I GET IT!" Cried Skipper, tears running thickly down his face.

"But...how. How did this happen?! How..."

Ben walked over slowly, putting a cold flipper on Skippers shoulder. "Seals...seals got them. The entire flock. I'm so sorry..." He pretended to turn around and wipe away a tear.

Skippers eyes began to overflow. He held the tiny baby left, all that was left of his wife. He couldn't believe she was...gone.

"Yes, it's terrible...quite terrible...now, could I have the baby?" He made a grabbing motion for the young chick, but Skipper quickly stepped back, holding Private even closer. Bens eyes widened in surprise and anger.

"No, you can't. He's my boy." He wouldn't say it in front of the man, but he didn't fully trust him. Something about him seemed...off. Very off.

Ben eyed the Private, a flame starting in his eyes. Skippers eyes widened. This was a site of him that made him sure he wasn't fit to parent the young.

"Excuse me?!" Screamed Ben angrily. He crossed his flippers, once again a deep flame flickered deep in his pupils, like it was being fueled by his soul.

"He's my child." Skipper incised. Private seemed to shiver and shake, making him even more worried about his health. He patted the babies head and rubbed comforting circles in his back, promising peace for the rest of his life.

"Not exactly. Christine left the child to ME...um... I missed your name."

Skipper stared at him for a moment, before being unfrozen and answering "Um...it's Skipper. And what do you mean, she left it to you?!" He couldn't believe that. No, he WOULDN'T believe it! Christine promised him it was their child, no one else's. She wouldn't give it up to anyone else, not if Skipper knew her at all.

"Her will. She left James to me." Ben said smugly, his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised. Skipper wanted to punch that look off his face, but he didn't have the energy for it. It felt like he had been shot. First, Christine's gone. Now, he can't even keep his own son in his flippers.

"James..." He whispered, looking down at the tiny body in his flippers. "Th-That's what she named him?"

"Yes my friend. She named him James, after his British uncle, Nigel James. Quite cheesy if you asked me." He scoffed, his flippers crossed in a whinny manor.

"I love it..." Whimpered Skipper. James seemed like the perfect name for the young chick. He was lost in the babies face when suddenly, he was ripped from his flippers.

Skipper gasped and looked up to see Ben holding a struggling and squawking Private. He wriggled and begged to be let go. It was obvious Ben was holding way too tight.

"Sorry, sir, but I would like you to leave." Ben growled, throwing the baby onto the couch without much thought. Skipper gasped when Private hit the sofa with a soft THUMP, knocking the air out of the chick and making him gasp.

"Why should I leave?! You listen here and you listen goo-" he was cut off but Ben, who shouted at the top of his lungs "OUT! OR ELSE!"

Skipper narrowed his eyes, walking over to the baby and giving the confused young chick one more hug. He shot Ben a distasteful look before walking to the front of the house. Neither Ben nor Private followed him.

He grazed the kitchen with his eyes with one more sad sigh, then opened the door and left.

Walking away, he couldn't shake the feeling of something being terribly wrong with that man. Something so wrong it could end in his babies death.