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After rescuing Horseboy from the eels, the Dungeon Critters returned to Chirp's kingdom for some rest and recuperation, and to visit with Chirp's parents, King Bjorn and Queen Ursula.
The King swept Chirp up into his arms, exclaiming, "Sweetie, I missed you so much!"
"Dad," Chirp protested, laughing. "We were only gone for a few days."
"That's too long to be without my favorite daughter!" Bjorn said, planting a kiss on Chirp's face.
"Daaaad!" Chirp said, still laughing and squirming without really trying to break free of his embrace. "That tickles! And I'm your only daughter."
"All the more reason for you to be my favorite!"
"It's nice to see all of you again," Ursula said with more dignity. "I hope that Horseboy is all right."
"He's fine, ma'am," Goro replied. "We invited him to come with us, but after all the excitement, he said he just wanted to enjoy some peace and quiet at home."
"And he certainly won't get that here," Ursula said with an amused glance at her husband and daughter. "Well, perhaps another time. Please give him my regards. In the meantime, will the rest of you join us for dinner tonight?"
Goro's eyes lit up, as they always did at the mention of free food, and he gazed hopefully at his companions. Rose and Juniper exchanged a smile, and Juniper replied, "Thank you, Your Majesty. We'd be honored."
"And...er..." Ursula added sheepishly. "I hope there are no hard feeling about that...incident."
That "incident" being the time she had put Juniper on trial for the attempted murder of the King. It had been a false accusation of course, but an understandable one, as the real culprit, the evil Duchess von Fancypaws, looked exactly like Juniper.
Juniper said graciously, "Not at all, Your Majesty. The Duchess fooled everyone...except you, Rose."
She smiled tenderly at Rose, who blushed deeply and stammered, "Well...uh...I have to admit, she kind of fooled me a bit, too. But I knew you would never try to murder anyone."
Looking relieved, Ursula said, "Then we look forward to seeing you at dinner tonight." She nodded at them politely, then departed with Bjorn and Chirp, who sat on her father's shoulder excitedly telling him about their battle with the eels.
A servant showed them to a room where they could wait and rest until dinner. Another servant provided them with some light refreshments: a pot of tea and a platter of assorted dainty little cookies.
"Cookies," Goro sighed happily and immediately began piling a stack of them onto one of the small porcelain plates that had come with the tea service.
"Don't ruin your appetite," Juniper cautioned.
"No worries," Rose said, waving her hand dismissively at the large snake-man. "His stomach is a bottomless pit."
Goro took no offense and continued heaping his plate with cookies. The other two shrugged and helped themselves to some tea and cookies as well, albeit in smaller amounts.
"This tea is really good," Juniper said appreciatively. "Chamomile from the royal gardens, I believe."
"These cookies aren't half bad, either," Rose said. "I like the ones with the sugar sprinkles."
"You should try the ones with the nuts and candied cherries," Goro suggested, and the three friends sipped and munched in contented silence.
After all that remained of the cookies were a few crumbs (thanks mostly to Goro), Rose said, "Hey, do you think Chirp was serious when she said she wasn't adopted? Is even possible for a bear to give birth to a frog? Could it be that some ancestor married a frog in the distant past?"
"Well, my specialty is botany rather than biology," Juniper replied, frowning thoughtfully. "Cross-breeding between species is possible, but usually they'd have to be more closely related. A mammal and an amphibian producing offspring together is highly unlikely. Maybe if there was magic involved...but that still seems pretty iffy."
"What do you think, Goro?" Rose asked. "You've known Chirp longer than us. Is she adopted?"
"I don't know," Goro replied with a shrug as he contemplated the crumbs on the platter. "I never asked."
"What?" Rose exclaimed. "Why not? Aren't you curious?"
"Not really," Goro said as he picked up the platter, tilted his head back, and poured the crumbs into his mouth. "Didn't think it mattered. Family is family, after all."
Rose and Juniper exchanged slightly shamefaced looks. "I guess you're right," Rose said in a more subdued voice. "Family is more than blood. You're a snake; I'm a cat; Juniper is a dog; and of course Chirp is a frog, but you guys are all like my family."
"Same here," said Juniper, placing her hand over Rose's, and the two of them smiled at each other.
"Hey guys," Chirp said, bounding into the room. "I just came to tell you that dinner's ready. What're you doing?"
Goro immediately perked up at the word "dinner" and casually replied, "Oh, Rose was just trying to figure out whether you're really adopted or not."
"Goro!" Rose hissed.
"What?" Goro asked. "Isn't that what we were talking about?"
"I'm sorry, Chirp," Rose said, hanging her head. "You and your folks clearly love each other a lot, and it's none of my business whether you're adopted."
Juniper, who was still holding her hand, squeezed it gently. "I have to admit, I was a bit curious too," she confessed.
Chirp burst into laughter. "Oh ho ho, you guys look so serious! No worries, I was just messing with you."
"Then...you are adopted?" Rose asked hesitantly.
"Well, not exactly," Chirp replied. "It's kind of complicated. I'll let Mom tell the story at dinner."
***
They joined the royal couple at a long table set with a lavish feast--more food than even Goro could eat, though he looked more than willing to try. He did manage to wait politely until the King and Queen had been served before he began piling his plate high with mashed potatoes and veggies and slices of roast meat, with a buttered roll to top it off, wobbling precariously on the mountain of food on his plate.
After everyone had begun eating, Chirp said, "Hey Mom, tell us the story about how I became your daughter."
"Again?" Ursula asked, with a look of fond amusement. "Don't you already know it by heart?"
"Yes, but the others don't, and besides, I like hearing it," Chirp replied with the eager expression of a child waiting to hear their favorite fairy tale.
"I would like to hear the story, Your Majesty, if you don't mind," Rose said.
"Oh, go ahead, dear," Bjorn urged with a good-natured laugh. "I'm sure they're dying to know how a frog daughter was born to a couple of bears!"
"Well then," Ursula said, "Once upon a time..."
***
Once upon a time, there was a bear King and Queen, and--
"A brave and handsome bear King," Bjorn interjected.
"Are you telling this story or am I?"
"Sorry dear, please continue."
As I was saying...once upon a time, there was a handsome if somewhat reckless bear King, and his lovely and more level-headed bear Queen. They loved each other very much even though he occasionally interrupted her stories. Their kingdom was prosperous and their people were happy. Their life was perfect except for one thing...
They longed for a child, but none had been born to them after several years of marriage. In sorrow and desperation, the Queen began praying to Selene, the goddess of the moon.
"Why pray to a moon goddess?" Rose whispered.
"I don't know," Juniper whispered back. "Maybe because the way that the moon waxes could be reminiscent of the way a woman's body grows in pregnancy?"
"Ahem!"
"Oops, sorry, Your Majesty."
Every night, the Queen would go to the statue of Selene in the royal garden and lay offerings of flowers, fruit, and the sweetest honey from the royal hives.
"Please, oh goddess," the Queen would pray. "I beg you to bless us with a child. The kingdom needs an heir but more than anything else, my husband and I want a child to love and cherish. A son or a daughter; it doesn't matter. I swear to you we will love any child you see fit to give us."
The Queen continued her prayers and offerings for a month, from the night of the new moon to the night of the full moon.
When the Queen arrived the next night, she found a small, cloth-wrapped bundle lying at the foot of the statue. She dropped her offerings and let out such a cry that the royal guards came running.
"Call for the King, quickly!" she told them. "Tell him that our prayers have been answered!"
The King soon came rushing into the garden, saying, "What's all the commotion?"
The Queen turned to him with a smile of incredulous joy, tenderly cradling the bundle in her arms. "The goddess has blessed us with a child, my love."
"What?" the King exclaimed. "Are you sure?"
"I found this baby where I always leave my offerings for Selene. What else could it be but a gift from the goddess?"
She held out the bundle, and the King very carefully took it into his arms. He pushed aside a fold of cloth to reveal a small, round, and green face.
"Er...it seems to be a frog?" he said.
"A tadpole, actually," the Queen replied. "But she'll grow up to be a frog one day."
"A tadpole, then!" the King said impatiently. "And--wait, how do you know it's a 'she' and not a 'he'?"
"A mother knows, dear."
"But...but...but...she's a frog, I mean, a tadpole!" the King spluttered. "Are you sure the goddess didn't make a mistake? Maybe this baby was supposed to go to a frog couple."
"She is our baby!" the Queen insisted. "I told the goddess we would love and cherish any child she gave us, and this is what she gave us. I don't know why she chose a frog, but I will accept this child as my daughter and love her just the same."
She glared at her husband in a way that made it clear she was not going to change her mind. "A frog daughter, huh?" he muttered doubtfully as he looked down at the baby, who blinked at him sleepily. He gently tickled her cheek with one finger, saying, "Kootchie kootchie koo."
The baby's eyes opened wider and her mouth spread in a broad smile as she let out a little giggle that sounded like the chirp of a bird. And in that instant, the King's heart was captured and all his doubts dissolved like mist.
"She smiled at me!" he exclaimed.
The Queen's expression softened as she said, "She smiles just like you, dear. You already look like father and daughter."
"We do, don't we?" the King said proudly, rubbing his furry cheek against the baby's smooth one, and she giggled again. "You know, her laugh kind of sounds like a chirp. Why don't we name her that?"
"Chirp?" the Queen said, rolling the word around her tongue to see how it sounded. "Chirp...Chirp...I rather like it. Yes, let's name her Chirp."
The King raised the baby above his head and proclaimed, "All hail Prince Chirp, my heir and most precious daughter!"
The royal guards, along with the servants and palace staff who had come out to see what the ruckus was about, all gazed at each other in confusion for a moment. A frog prince was most unusual, but who were they to question the will of a goddess? Besides, the King and Queen seemed so happy after years of disappointment and sorrow over their lack of a child.
"All hail Prince Chirp!" the crowd cheered.
***
"And that," the Queen finished, "is how Chirp became our daughter."
"Oh wow," Rose said, blinking rapidly to hold back the tears that were welling in her eyes. "That was so touching!"
Goro nodded in agreement, using his napkin to wipe away tears from his own eyes.
More composed, though also moved, Juniper said, "That was a really amazing and beautiful story."
"I know, right?" Chirp said proudly. "I'm so special!"
"Er...yes," Juniper replied, slightly taken aback. "Being the gift of a goddess is pretty special, I suppose."
"Oh yeah, that too," Chirp said off-handedly. "What I meant was I'm special to have a mom who wanted me so badly that she prayed to the goddess for me, and a dad who adores me even though he wasn't expecting to get a frog daughter."
"I was just a little surprised, sweetie," Bjorn said, bending down to kiss her on the cheek. "Once I got over the shock, I was thrilled. You know you're my favorite daughter!"
"I'm your only daughter, Dad," Chirp retorted.
"But still my favorite!"
Juniper burst into laughter. "You guys are a wonderful family! A little unconventional, maybe--but wonderful all the same."
Ursula raised her glass, saying, "Shall we make a toast, then, to family?"
Chirp stood up on her chair, raising her own glass. "Yes, to family." She turned her gaze to her three fellow adventurers and added, "And to the friends who are family of the heart."
Her friends smiled back at her, and everyone raised their glasses and said, "To family and friends!"