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Chapter Text

Zoot was lying down on a sofa, covered in a thick blanket to keep warm and watching the TV, where some of his Muppet co-stars were being interviewed on a talk show. The Muppets were Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Dr. Teeth and Pepe the King Prawn.

"So," the host started. "Love."

"What about it?" Kermit asked, tugging at his collar, feeling Piggy's eyes on him.

"Is there anyone special any of you are seeing?" the host asked.

Miss Piggy immediately embraced Kermit, "As you all know, my heart belongs to Kermit, and Kermit's heart belongs to moi!"

"Good grief," Kermit muttered, struggling to get free.

Gonzo smiled, "Camilla and I have been together for years! Everyone should know this by now."

"Yes, we all know about you and Camilla, Gonzo, and I must say, you make a lovely couple. Strange, but lovely," the host stated. "Fozzie, what about you?"

"No, I'm not seeing anyone right now, but if you're curious about what I'm looking for in a girl, I'll tell you: a nice, caring and good-humored girl who loves me for me and also loves my jokes...and one whom my ma will approve of. The last one is very important," Fozzie explained.

"Interesting, I see you look more at personality when you date," the host said. "And Pepe, all the tabloids know that you love to get around, but will you ever commit?"

"Which law is the one where I have the right to remain silent? The 5th one, okay?" Pepe asked.

"PEPE!" the other Muppets scolded the prawn.

"I'm just kidding, okay! Yeah, I want a girl who is gorgeous with a spicy personality, but not too spicy because I don't want to get burned!" Pepe stated, then laughing.

The audience and the host laughed too. "Interesting. Now, Dr. Teeth, what about you? A rocker such as yourself must have a lot of groupies. Have you ever gotten intimate with any of them?"

"To be honest with you, no, but I have had some lovers in the past. Right now I've been intimate with someone for a very long time. A person that's groovy, mellow, talented and might I add good-looking," Dr. Teeth said, grinning.

Zoot smiled at the TV, but his grin was immediately turned upside down when Pepe said, "Hold on, I thought you were dating Zoot, okay."

"I was referring to Zoot!" Dr. Teeth snapped.

"Really? Oh then my bad! Hahahahaha!" Pepe said, laughing.

"Zoot? As in the saxophonist for you band? Huh, I never really expected him to be your type, since he's so quiet and you're so loud," the host pointed out.

"You know what they say: Opposites attract!" Dr. Teeth said.

"I guess that is true," the host said. "So what about Clifford and Lips? Are they seeing people?"

"They've got eyes don't they," Dr. Teeth said, causing the audience to laugh.

Zoot rolled his eyes, "You had to make that joke, John? You just gave Fozzie a run for his money."

"Very funny, but seriously, I know a good handful of women who want to get their hands on Clifford and know what Lips' hair feels like," the host said.

"If that's the case, you might want to keep them away. I don't want Clifford or Lips to get claustrophobic," Dr. Teeth joked, making the audience erupt in laughter again. "But seriously, I can't be the one to reveal the dating info on Clifford and Lips. They'll reveal that themselves...maybe."

Zoot smirked, "Good thing, you said that. Clifford and Lips would've knocked you senseless if you outed them to the public."

Then, a female figure walked into the room. "So, that's the guy who might one day become my brother-in-law?" Zoot's sister, Lisa asked.

"Yep," Zoot confirmed.

"Have you told him about your...situation?" Lisa asked.

"...No, not yet. I want to wait a little more," Zoot said softly.

Lisa shook her head, "You're going to have to tell him eventually, and soon, before they pop out into the world."

"I have two months!" Zoot argued.

"Still, better safe than sorry," Lisa advised her brother.

Zoot groaned and focused his attention on the TV again.

"You know, I haven't seen Zoot in any of your shows lately. Is he okay?" the host asked.

"We're sure he's fine. He asked us sometime ago to go on vacation because he needed to get away from all the stress and pressure for a while," Kermit explained.

"And by sometime ago, we mean 5 months, okay," Pepe added, earning a glare from Kermit.

The host went wide-eyed, "5 months! That's a pretty long time! Are you sure he didn't just quit?"

"Listen man, I've know Zoot for years. He'd never quit his job out of the blue like this. It just takes him awhile to chill," Dr. Teeth stated. "I just talked to him last night and he said he's doing alright."

"That's a lie," Zoot thought. He left his cell phone at the boarding house and no contact information for his location. There was no way anyone would contact him.

"Oh really? Then when is he coming back?" the host asked.

"I...forgot to ask," Dr. Teeth lied. "But I'm guessing it might be another week or so."

"Maybe," Zoot muttered to himself. He really wasn't sure when he'd go home. He needed more time to get himself together before returning.

Dr. Teeth then looked at the camera and did the "I love you" sign with his hand, saying, "Zoot, if you're watching right now. I love you and I miss you."

Zoot smiled and muttered, "I love you too, John" before shutting off the TV.

Chapter Text

At the Muppet Boarding House, everyone was up and getting ready for the day. Some were in the kitchen getting breakfast, some were still trying to get their turn in the bathroom, and some were discussing the interview that occurred the night before.

"Wow! I can't believe you revealed to the world that you and Zoot are dating!" Rizzo said to Dr. Teeth in the dining area. "Are you sure Zoot would've been okay with that?"

"Yeah, we've been meaning to make our romance public for quite some time. I figured the best way to announce it was on that talk show," Dr. Teeth explained.

"Good idea. That way all your fans can see it and will know that they can't hit on you or Zoot anymore," Clifford, who was seated nearby, said. "And hopefully put a stop to some of that weird fanmail you kept getting."

"So, I guess you and Lips are next in line?" Rizzo asked the purple Muppet.

"Naw, we're going to wait a little bit longer," Clifford said. "I'm cool with coming out, but Lips is still a little nervous."

A few decades back, Lips and Clifford met on the set of The Muppets at Walt Disney World and they really hit it off. The two grew apart during the 90s and early 2000s, but in the late 2000s, the two reunited and became close.

Lips eventually developed a crush on Clifford but kept his feelings hidden, since he was sure that the Muppet didn't feel the same way...or so he thought.

Clifford could easily tell the blonde had a thing for him, so he reciprocated those feelings by singing a romantic song he wrote especially for Lips and performed it on the Muppet Show. As soon as the curtains closed, Lips ran up to Clifford and smothered him in kisses.

At that point, Gonzo joined them at the table, holding a bowl of his breakfast: oatmeal and jalapenos. "So, were you being serious about you said about Zoot during that interview?" the whatever asked.

"What part?" Dr. Teeth asked.

"About how you talked to him the night before and he might be home within a week or so," Gonzo stated.

Dr. Teeth glanced down at the table and said, "No, I made that up so the tabloids wouldn't start rumors about things like that Zoot's trying to avoid us and we're having issues. I haven't spoken to him at all during the last 5 months."

"It's so strange how he just suddenly asked for a vacation and take off the next day, leaving his cell phone behind and no contact information, and be gone for this long, man," Clifford said. "Something MUST be up."

"Yeah, you'd think he'd leave an address so we could mail him or something," Rizzo said.

"And I heard from Floyd that Nigel's starting to get a little peeved about this. He's already making plans to have Flash be officially part of the orchestra now," Clifford said.

Gonzo's eyes widened, "Nigel can't do that!"

"I know, but he's starting to get a little impatient. If Zoot comes back, he's going to get one heckuva lecture from him," Clifford stated.

Dr. Teeth then looked at Clifford and said, "'If Zoot comes back'? What do you mean by 'if'? Of course he'll come back! He's a Muppet! He's family! He's my lover! Why wouldn't he come back?"

Clifford held up his hands and said, "Sorry, Doc. Bad choice of words. I meant when Zoot comes back."

Gonzo poked his oatmeal with a spoon silently before asking, "But what if Zoot doesn't come back? What if he really did quit but he didn't want to tell us because he was ashamed?"

Dr. Teeth stroked his beard; he hadn't thought of that. Maybe Zoot really didn't want to be a part of the Muppets anymore. Maybe he used his vacation excuse as an easy way to escape. Dr. Teeth shook the thoughts out of his head and said, "Zoot will come back. Just wait and see."

Then, the phone in the kitchen rang out.

"I bet that's him right now!" Dr. Teeth exclaimed, getting up from his chair and going to answer.

He grabbed and receiver and spoke into it with a smooth voice, "Muppet Boarding House. Dr. Teeth, the love machine speaking."

"Um...is Kermit the frog there?" an unfamiliar and awkward voice asked.

Dr. Teeth's smile fell and he said, "One sec." He set the receiver down and hollered, "Hey Green Stuff! Phone call for you!"

Kermit ran up and said, "Thank you" before grabbing the phone and talking to whoever it was.

Dr. Teeth walked back into the dining area to find Clifford, Rizzo and Gonzo laughing.

"You were so sure that it was him!" Rizzo shouted.

"Oh man, that was bad!" Clifford exclaimed, leaning back in his chair.

"I think you mentally scarred that caller for life!" Gonzo added, slapping his hand onto the table several times.

"Oh lay off, you guys," Dr. Teeth said, walking out of the room. Clifford and Rizzo went to the living room to watch TV and Gonzo dumped his breakfast and went to find Camilla.

Kermit had finished his phone conversation at that point and hung up, but before he could exit the kitchen, the phone rang again. He picked it up and answered, "Hi-ho, Muppet boarding house. Kermit the Frog speaking."

"Hey Kermit," a familiar voice said.

"Zoot! I was wondering when you'd call. Should I get Dr. Teeth for you?" Kermit asked.

"N-no! I just need to speak to you right now," Zoot quickly said.

"Oh? Why?" Kermit asked. The frog wasn't sure if it was just him, but something sounded off about Zoot's voice. He was more quiet than usual, and also a tad nervous. "How was your vacation?" the frog asked.

"It-it's fine. How's the band been holding up without me?" Zoot asked.

"They're doing fine, but Dr. Teeth misses you like crazy," Kermit stated.

"I figured," Zoot replied, then sighed. "Listen, Kermit. I'm...not going to be home until 2 months from now."

Then, there was a loud crash from the phone and a man's voice hollering, "You CANNOT be serious!"

"Shut up, Zach!" Kermit heard Zoot snap.

Kermit had never heard Zoot get angry before! This was getting strange.

"Sorry about that," Zoot said in the quiet voice again. "That's not all I wanted to tell you though. When I get back to the boarding house I'll...have two more people with me."

"Really? Who are they? Family of yours?" Kermit asked.

"Y-yeah, they're family," Zoot answered.

"I take it that they want to work on the show with us? What are their talents?" Kermit asked. He never knew much about Zoot's family so this should be interesting.

"Oh, they're probably not going to need jobs for awhile and as for talents...it could be awhile until they figure them out," Zoot explained.

"Okay, so they just need a place to stay. How long will they be staying?" Kermit asked.

"Probably as long as I'm there," Zoot answered.

"So, a permanent resident?"

"Y-yeah...will that be okay?"

"Of course! Zoot, anyone who's family to you is family to us!" Kermit stated.

Zoot sighed in relief, "Thank goodness. I was worried that you would say no. Oh, and a few more things; they'll be kind of small for a while so they won't take up too much space and they'll have their own beds with them."

"Okay, so I guess we'll see you in 2 months," Kermit said.

"Tell the others I said hey," Zoot said.

"Wait! Don't you want to talk to Dr. Te-," Kermit started saying until he heard the dial tone. Zoot had already hung up.

Kermit hung up the phone and thought to himself, "Zoot was going to return in 2 months and he was going to bring two people with him who are going to move in."

Kermit smiled. He loved seeing his Muppet family grow. But why did Zoot sounds so soft and nervous? Who was this Zach person that Zoot was shouting at to shut up? And why did Zoot seem to not want to talk to Dr. Teeth, his lover?

Kermit shrugged. Guess he'll just have to wait until Zoot gets home to get the answers he needed.

Chapter Text

"So, who are the two new people Zoot will have with him when he gets back?" Scooter asked.

Kermit, who had just explained Zoot's situation to a handful of the other Muppets, said, "All he said was that they were family of his."

"Well that narrows it down," Miss Piggy said sarcastically.

"Actually, it DOES narrow it down," Janice stated. "Some of us in the band happen to know Zoot's family."

"Yeah, he has a really nice younger sister named Lisa," Floyd said, then he went stiff and said flatly," And an older brother named Zach."

The rest of the Electric Mayhem, minus Lips, groaned.

"Who's Zach?" Lips asked.

"Only the squarest man we've ever known!" Floyd exclaimed. "He hates our music, he hates US, and he has the worst attitude anyone could have!"

"Hate Zach! Hate Zach! Hate! Kill!" Animal shouted.

"Wow! That bad, huh?" Clifford asked.

"You don't know the half of it!" Janice said. "He, like, always tried to keep Zoot from hanging out with us. I felt so bad for him."

"Actually, now since you mention him, I think I heard Zoot yell at him during the phone call. He told him to 'shut up' after Zach said 'you cannot be serious' after Zoot told me he'd be home in 2 months," Kermit stated, remembering the one moment on the phone.

"Zoot was hanging around Zach! No wonder why he's been gone for so long! Zach must be holding him hostage!" Floyd concluded.

"Oh man, we gotta rescue him!" Lips stated.

"Hold it!" Kermit hollered, silencing the two musicians. "Come on guys, if Zoot was in any sort of danger, he would've definitely told us. Also, Zach wouldn't have let him use the phone to call here.

"Yeah, that's true," Floyd said. "Sorry, got a little over-zealous and made some assumptions a little too quickly."

Then, Janice's mouth dropped, "Zoot has a niece and nephew!" she gasped.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about Hannah and Daniel. They're Lisa's kids," Floyd said, smiling thoughtfully. Then his eyes widened, "You don't think…"

"They're both small and they won't need jobs for a while, also they'll be here as long as Zoot is," Janice explained.

"If that's the case then something must've happened to Lisa!" Floyd said.

"Oh, poor Zoot! Maybe Lisa died or something and Zoot went home to grieve and get custody of her kids," Janice said.

Lips then stepped up and added, "Maybe that's why Zach's there. He probably wants custody too and he and Zoot are fighting about it. That could explain why he's been gone for so long."

"You know, that actually makes sense!" Kermit agreed. "Maybe that's why his voice sounded off on the phone. He must've still been upset about the whole thing."

Finally, Dr. Teeth stood up and practically snapped, "Is nobody going to talk about the fact that he didn't want to talk to me about any of this?!"

Everyone in the room froze and looked at the keyboardist. Clifford eventually nodded and said, "Doc does have a point. Kermit said Zoot didn't want to talk to him at all when he called, which is kind of odd."

"Yeah, if Zoot was going through family troubles, he would've talked to one of us first, mostly Dr. Teeth, not Kermit," Floyd agreed.

"I don't understand. Zoot usually tells me everything. Why's he so secretive now?" Dr. Teeth wondered out loud.

"Maybe he thought that you wouldn't understand," Kermit suggested.

"I'd understand! If the situation is what we think it is and Lisa died, I can sympathize! I know what it's like to lose a loved one, especially someone that's family or you thought of as family!"

After snapping that, Dr. Teeth started shaking a little until Rowlf patted him on the back and asked, "You okay?" Dr. Teeth just sat down on a nearby crate and buried his face in his hands.

Pepe tapped Rizzo on the shoulder and asked, "Was Teeth talking about someone in particular when he said he knows what it's like to lose a loved one, okay?"

"Yeah, Jim," RIzzo answered.

"Jim, who's Ji-oh, you mean Henson," Pepe said.

Clifford turned around to face the prawn and rat and said, "Yeah, now you two shut up. Now's not a good time to be talking about that."

Finally, Dr. Teeth looked up and spoke, "Sorry, I guess I'm just a little upset that Zoot may have felt like he couldn't talk to me about this."

"Don't worry about it, Dr. Teeth, we get it," Floyd assured his bandmate.

"Okay," Kermit said, "I guess that brings an end to all that needs to discussed. So everyone back to work now."

All of the Muppet scattered immediately...well almost all of them. Dr. Teeth remained sitting on the crate, looking down at the floor.

Kermit walked up to him and asked, "Do you think you'll be okay?"

Dr. Teeth jumped, not expecting Kermit to go up to him like that, and quickly said, "Who, me? Yeah, Green Stuff, I'll be fine. I just...need to think to myself for a little while."

Kermit nodded, "Okay, just let me know if you need someone to talk to because I'm your frog for the job."

"Okay, thanks," Dr. Teeth said as Kermit walked away.

Why did it seem like Zoot was trying to avoid talking to him? What was going on with his life that was so bad that he didn't want his own lover to know?

Kermit said it'll be two months until Zoot got back, but Dr. Teeth wanted answers now! He'd hate to think that Zoot was going through some sort of distress right now, especially if Zach was hanging around. He always tried to make Zoot miserable! Man, he hoped he was doing okay.

Meanwhile, Zoot was sitting in the living room of a house, listening as a man that kind of resembled him yelled at him, "He's not going to love you anymore when he finds out about this! He'll leave you! He'll fire you from the band!"

"Step off, Zach," Zoot snapped.

"You know it's true. That's why you didn't want to talk to him on the phone when you called the boarding house. And you didn't tell Kermit either! You just said that you'd bring two more people with you to the house. Once the frog finds out who those 'people' are, he'll kick all three of you out, and you'll be homeless!" the man, named Zach, ranted.

"That isn't true at all! Dr. Teeth and the other Muppets aren't like that!" Zoot argued.

"You don't know that. They could be, but you've never seen that side of them before," Zach countered. "Just stay here Zoot. You'll be better off without those freaks!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" Zoot shouted.

"ZACH! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE NOW!" Lisa snapped from another room.

Zach let out an annoyed huff and stormed out of the house, slamming the door.

Lisa, a woman with long navy hair, entered the room. "I can't wait till he goes back to New York. I hate it when he comes to visit," she grumbled.

Zoot then started sobbing, "What if he's right though? What if John does leave me?"

Lisa sat next to him and said, "Hey, you said it yourself. Dr. Teeth isn't the type to abandon someone over these situations. Listen, you're going to have to tell him eventually. I'm sure John would hate to miss out on this big moment."

"Don't say big, it makes me a little self-conscious," Zoot said.

"Sorry," Lisa apologized. "But I mean it, you'll have to call and tell him sometime about this. It's either that or he'll find out about it on his own, which probably isn't going to be good for both of you."

"Like the tabloids find out and post it in a newspaper or something? I doubt that'll happen; they care more about Kermit and Miss Piggy," Zoot said. "They always overlook me, so I don't think I'll have to worry about those creeps."

"But still, you never know," Lisa warned.

Chapter Text

A few weeks later, nobody had heard from Zoot and for a time, it seemed like he'd never call. Dr. Teeth mostly remained in the boarding house just in case Zoot did call so he'd be the first to answer. In fact, the only time Dr. Teeth did leave the house was to rehearse for the Muppet Show when he was needed that week.

This had started to become a bit of an obsessive habit, so some of the other Muppets have started trying to figure out ways to get him away from the house and the telephone. After a few failed attempts, Clifford and Floyd finally got him to a local coffeehouse for a chat.

"Listen Doc, we all know you're worried about Zoot, but staying at home and waiting for him to call isn't going to do anything," Floyd told his friend.

"Yeah man, I'm sure that Zoot doesn't want you stressing yourself out like this," Clifford added. "Besides, what's going on with him right now might not even be a big deal."

"Zoot's bringing two family members back to the boarding house with him in a little more than a month. I'm pretty sure that's a big deal," Dr. Teeth stated.

"Yeah, but I don't think Zoot wants the rest of us to worry about him like this," Clifford said. "We're all a little concerned but not to your level, man. It's not healthy."

Dr. Teeth nodded, "Yeah, you do have a point, but I haven't spoken to him in so long. I just need to hear his voice or something so that I know for sure that he's okay."

"Yeah, we get that," Floyd agreed. "But for now; just be chill."

Meanwhile, back at the Muppet Boarding House, Kermit and all the other Muppets were going about their business when Lips was about to take Animal for a walk, since Floyd wasn't at home to do so.

He opened the door, took one look outside, and quickly slammed it! He dropped Animal's chain and ran to the bottom of the stairs, where he hollered, "Kermit! Look outside!"

Kermit, who was in his bedroom, heard the trumpeter's shouts and looked out of his window. He nearly fainted. There were at least a dozen reporters standing on their front lawn, gripping cameras, notepads, and microphones.

"What are they all doing here? Piggy didn't make up another story that we're married again did she?" Kermit thought to himself.

Then he noticed Scooter weaving through the crowd, gripping a newspaper in his hand. The orange Muppet made it to the front porch, where Kermit heard the door open and slam again.

"Guys! You might want to see this!" Kermit heard Scooter yell.

Kermit ran out of his bedroom and down the stairs to the dining area where Scooter was. Lips, Animal, Fozzie, Gonzo, Rowlf, and Miss Piggy eventually joined them.

"What is it, Scooter? Does it have to do with why all those reporters are crowding our front yard?" Kermit asked.

"Yep! Look at this!" Scooter said, unrolling the newspaper for everyone to see.

Kermit saw the front page headlines: It featured a picture of Zoot and he appeared to be sitting on an examination table in doctor's office, but that wasn't what stood out in the image: What stuck out was the fact that Zoot's abdomen was swollen to the size of a large melon!

The following images were of Zoot with his shirt rolled up and getting an ultrasound it seemed, and a picture of the ultrasound itself, which featured two nearly fully-grown fetuses!

"No way!" Gonzo gasped.

"Zoot's pregnant?!" Miss Piggy exclaimed.

"And with twins!" Rowlf added.

"How did that happen?!" Lips asked.

"Who knows, but it's happened!" Fozzie shouted.

"BABIES! BABIES!" Animal hollered.

"So THAT'S why he was being so secretive," Kermit said, reading the article. Apparently the reporter that got this information was given a tip from an outside source, but it didn't say who.

Zoot DID say that the two people he would be bringing home next month would be family, and they would be small for a while, and well, those babies would fit the description easily!

"Do you think Dr. Teeth has seen this?" Lips asked his friends.

Kermit froze, remember that Dr. Teeth, Floyd and Clifford were out in the city at the moment. They were probably being swarmed by paparazzi by now! Dr. Teeth obviously didn't know about this, otherwise he would've definitely mentioned it to someone. Kermit could only imagine his reaction once he found out about this.

Then, as if one cue, Dr. Teeth, Floyd and Clifford rushed into the house and locked the door.

"Dang! What's their deal with you?!" Clifford asked the keyboardist.

"Haven't the slightest idea! I couldn't tell what they were asking me because they were all talking at once," Dr. Teeth answered.

"You won't believe what just happened!" Floyd exclaimed at the others. "One minute, all three of us were just chilling in a coffeehouse, talking, when out of nowhere, those creeps flooded into the building and started harassing us! We had to slip out through the back and had to use the alleys in the city to navigate back here!"

"There's perks to being friends with a rat; they know where all the easy getaways from paparazzi in the city are," Clifford stated. "Man, I got to thank Rizzo later, and apologize to him for taking his advice for granted."

"Well, they were swarmed by reporters," Kermit thought to himself. "But it doesn't seem like they've heard about Zoot."

Lips stepped up to Dr. Teeth and said, "Doc."

"What is it, Lips?" the keyboardist asked the trumpeter.

Lips pointed at the newspaper laid out on the table, "You might want to see this. It'll explain why those reporters were after you today."

Dr. Teeth walked over and looked at the newspaper article, where his eyes widened and his jaw dropped, "No way...this can't be real...is this some sort of messed up joke?"

Scooter shook his head, "No, those photos are real. I know when images have been edited and these have not been tampered with in any way."

Dr. Teeth sat down in a nearby chair and muttered, "So that's why he's been avoiding me." After a few minutes of stunned silence, he got up and made his way upstairs. "I...need to think about this for a while."

"Take all the time you need," Rowlf replied as his friend entered the band's bedroom.

Floyd and Clifford looked over the article, just as astonished about the news as everyone else was.

"So, that's what the big secret was," Clifford said. "How did it happen?"

"Stranger things have happened with us, but now that leaves me wondering one thing," Floyd said.

"What's that, Floyd?" Fozzie asked.

Floyd looked serious for a few moments before smirking, "Do you think they'll let me be the godparent?"

"Floyd!" everyone else groaned.

Chapter Text

"How could you?!" Zoot cried. He was glaring angrily at Zach, who was standing two feet away from him with his arms crossed.

"How could you tell that reporter about that doctor's appointment! Are you trying to ruin my life?!" Zoot snapped.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Zach said innocently.

"Stop lying Zach! I know it was you!" Zoot shouted.

At that moment, Lisa went up to Zoot and grabbed his arm. "Zoot, calm down. I don't think you getting upset like this is good for the babies," she told him.

Zoot sat down on the sofa and began to rub his swollen belly, where his little bundles of joy were starting to squirm and kick. "John's going to know now. He's probably freaking out as I speak," he sobbed.

"Or he could be really excited that he's going to be a father," Lisa suggested, wanting her brother to look at the positive, but Zoot shook his head. "No, he's going to be mad."

"Good to know that you're now looking at the reality of your situation," Zach said, remembering how Zoot denied the fact that Dr. Teeth would be upset about the pregnancy before when Zach was trying to warn him of the possible outcome.

"Zach, will you get out of here!" Lisa snapped.

Once the older brother was gone, Lisa sat next to Zoot and said, "Listen, I'm sure John still loves you. I'm sure he'll love you and the babies. If he is freaking out about this, it's probably because his boyfriend is pregnant and alone somewhere and he wants to know if he's okay." Zoot remained silent. "Maybe you should call him. I'm sure he'd want to know what's going on," Lisa suggested.

Zoot remained quiet for a few moments before nodding, "Okay, I'll call him, but not right now. I think he might need a little time to calm down after getting shocked by that article."

"Good," Lisa said, getting up from her seat. "Well, I'd better go get Hannah and Danny from school. You just relax here until I get back."

"Alright," Zoot said as his sister left the house. He leaned back and rubbed his belly as his unborn children moved around some more. "John," he muttered.

At the same time, Dr. Teeth was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

Zoot was pregnant? He almost couldn't believe it. Why didn't Zoot tell him sooner? Was he ashamed? Freaked out? Or was he worried that Dr. Teeth would get mad once he found out? Dr. Teeth wasn't the type to get angry over these kinds of situations, then again, this is the first time he's ever gone through this sort of scenario. He probably would've just been stunned about it, like he is right now.

Dr. Teeth shut his eyes and started to think. When exactly did this happen? Zoot said he'd be home in two months and now as month has gone by, and based on the photo of him and the ultrasound, he may be almost

The next month might be when the babies are due and Zoot was probably planning on bring the twins home a week or so afterward. Prior to the call a month ago, Zoot had already been gone for 5 months, and prior to him taking off, it had been two months. So the conception must've happened...8 months ago. What happened 8 months ago?

Dr. Teeth grabbed his calendar and flipped back 8 months and looked over all the dates that were written on to signify important events. Then, one caught his eye: Muppet Show 40th Anniversary Party. NOW Dr. Teeth remembered how it may have happened.

The Muppets were in England celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first season of the Muppet Show at the Happiness Hotel, and as Dr. Teeth remembered, Pepe and Rizzo had brought a lot of alcohol with him, and well, a good handful of the Muppets got really drunk, Dr. Teeth and Zoot included.

The couple had gone up to their hotel room to go to bed, still a little tipsy, but before crashing for the night, they decided to have a little...fun.

Dr. Teeth sighed. He remembered the warm and gentle touches, the sweet, passionate kisses, the heat rising as the moment became more intense, and finally, the two of them snuggling in bed after it was all over. That was a really groovy night.

Then, he recalled how a week or so after the party, back at the boarding house, Dr. Teeth woke up to find Zoot throwing up in the bathroom! Zoot kept insisting that he was fine but Kermit made him that home that day rather than go to rehearsal.

This went on for a few weeks, which eventually became accompanied by Zoot being a lot more tired than usual and becoming extremely moody. However, nobody thought much of it, not even Zoot it seemed. Finally, at least a month had gone by and Zoot went to see a doctor about his condition and Dr. Teeth remembered when he came home, he seemed very bothered by something, but he didn't say what when he asked.

Then, another month had gone by, and during that time, Dr. Teeth had noticed that Zoot was starting to gain weight in his middle, but he pretended to not notice. He also noticed that Zoot was on his phone a lot, talking to someone in a soft voice so that nobody could hear what they were talking about. Looking back on it, Dr. Teeth figured it may have been Lisa he was talking to.

Then, one day, Zoot asked Kermit if he could leave for a while to go on a bit of a vacation and when Kermit allowed it, the saxophonist had packed his bags and hightailed it to wherever he is now, leaving no info about where he was going and how long.

Dr. Teeth hoped that Zoot was doing okay. He was pretty sure that he was freaking out about the article about him being published. He'd hate it if Zoot was in any sort of distress, especially since he's pregnant with twins at the moment.

Man, Dr. Teeth wished he could see him, hold him, do anything to assure him that everything would be alright.

Chapter Text

Back downstairs in the living room, the other Muppets were still talking about the news article about Zoot.

"How do we know it's even real?" Miss Piggy asked. "Someone could've easily photoshopped these pictures."

"That is something to consider, but Zoot said a few weeks ago that he'd be bringing two people that were family to him here," Rowlf reminded. "Those babies fit the bill."

"Yeah, and besides; remember how some months ago Zoot was sick and began acting very moody? I bet it was morning sickness and mood swings, two common symptoms of pregnancy," Scooter stated.

"Okay, so maybe Zoot is going to have kids soon, but that doesn't explain why he practically ran out without saying anything about it," Piggy said.

"Maybe he was worried that we would freak out about it," Fozzie suggested.

"Well, he wouldn't be wrong," Gonzo said. "But we would've freaked out in a good way! It's not often that a new baby Muppet is born, let alone two!"

"Yeah, we all would've been very happy for him," Lips agreed.

"I know I'm happy for him. If he calls sometime soon, I want to ask him if me and Janice can be the kids' godparents," Floyd said.

Lips looked over at the bass player and frowned, "Hold on, what makes you think he'll choose you to be one of the godparents?"

"Because I'm his best friend," Floyd stated proudly.

"While that may be true, i think I'd make a better choice to be a godparent," Lips said smugly.

"And why's that?" Floyd asked.

"You're not that good with kids. You let them run riot and give them stuff they're not supposed to eat and it usually ends up becoming a huge mess," Lips stated.

"Who told you that?!" Floyd questioned.

"Dr. Teeth told me how Kermit asked you to babysit Robin once and when he got back from his errands, the kitchen was a mess from you two attempting to make brownies and you gave Robin his first soda, which caused him to LITERALLY start bouncing off the walls!" Lips explained.

"Sheesh, I forgot all about that day," Kermit groaned.

"That was just one time! I've changed!" Floyd insisted.

"Oh really?" Lips replied.

"Yeah really!"

At that moment, Janice entered the boarding house, having been at a yoga class earlier that day, asking, "Hey guys, like, what's with all the reporters out front?"

But nobody had heard her because Lips and Floyd were still arguing, and the other Muppets were too busy watching them.

Janice went up to the small group, tapped Clifford on the shoulder and asked, "What's this all about?" pointing at Lips and Floyd.

"Floyd insists that he's good at taking care of kids but Lips doesn't believe him because of something that happened when he babysat Robin once," the purple Muppet explained.

"Why are they arguing about taking care of kids?" Janice asked, confused.

Floyd and Lips paused their argument, where the former asked, "You didn't hear?"

"Hear what?" Janice asked, now more confused than ever.

Lips pointed at the newspaper article sitting on the table, prompting Janice to walk over and look at it, where her mouth dropped open. "Oh wow! Dr. Teeth and Zoot are going to be dads! That's awesome!"

"You're not freaked out about this? Not even one thought about how this was even possible?" Miss Piggy asked the blonde.

"Who cares how it happened! It's happened!" Janice exclaimed. "Oh, I should head out shopping tomorrow to buy gifts for the babies. Should I get stuff in pink, blue or yellow?"

"Get it in yellow, the article doesn't say anything about what Zoot's carrying," Lips said, skimming the paper.

Floyd wrapped his arm around Janice's shoulder and said, "Janice, I'm good with little kids, aren't I? Wouldn't I make a great godparent?"

"Good grief," Lips muttered.

"I'm sure you'd do a great job as a godparent," Janice said, smiling.

"What about me?" Lips asked, prompting Floyd to glare at him.

"I'm sure you'd be great, too," Janice said.

"Yeah, but who would be better at it?" Lips asked.

Clifford groaned, "Will you two just knock it off about the godparent thing?"

"No," Floyd and Lips answered simultaneously.

At that moment, the phone rang in the kitchen, prompting Kermit to go and answer it.

"Muppet Boarding House, Kermit the Frog speaking," he said into the receiver.

The caller was silent for a few seconds before saying in a shaky voice, "Kermit." It was Zoot!

"Oh Zoot, we were wondering when you were going to call. We were just talking about you," Kermit stated.

"Y-you were?" Zoot asked.

"Yeah, hey listen, congratulations on the-," Kermit started saying when Zoot cut him off, "I'm not coming back."

Kermit froze and his smile fell away from his face, "What? Why?"

"I...I quit!" Zoot said, raising his voice a little.

"What! But Zoot! You're a part of our family! Listen, if this is about the babies, it's okay! We'll take them in!" Kermit insisted.

"It's not about all of you, Kermit, it's about...John," Zoot said. He sounded like he was about to burst into tears.

"John? Who's John?" Kermit asked.

Zoot, ignoring Kermit's question, said, "Listen, Kermit. You're a good guy but I don't think I can work with you all anymore. It was an awesome gig but...I'm done. Goodbye."

"Zoot, wait!" Kermit shouted but his friend had already hung up.

Kermit stood there motionless, before slowly hanging up the phone, taking a seat at the kitchen table, and holding his head in his hands.

Zoot just quit the Muppets. He left the family. He left Dr. Teeth! How was he going to tell the others?

Chapter Text

Zoot hung up the phone, went up to the guest room where he was staying, collapsed onto the bed, curled up into a ball and started crying.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he kept mumbling to himself in between sobs.

He screwed up; instead of calling the boarding house to talk to Dr. Teeth, he told Kermit he quit! Even after Kermit assured him that it would be alright to bring the babies home with him. Zoot had just ruined his own life.

When Lisa finds out, she'll be very disappointed in him. When Zach finds out, he'll be so smug about it because he won!

Zoot had left the Muppet family that had loved and accepted him the way he was. He would never find another group like them.

Worst of all, he in a way dumped Dr. Teeth by saying that he'd never come back. He has to be devastated now! Then again, maybe he never wanted to see Zoot again anyway, since now he knows about the pregnancy and all. But still, Zoot left the one man that had truly loved him, the one that was partly responsible for the babies' existence.

When Zoot said he was sorry, he was apologizing to everyone he let down or is going to let down; the Muppets, the Electric Mayhem, his sister, his babies...his lover. He let down everyone he ever cared about. He was sure they all hated him now.

At the Muppet Boarding House, Kermit was still sitting in the kitchen, trying to figure out how he was going to break the bad news about Zoot quitting to the others. He could still hear them talking about the babies.

"It'll be so nice to have those little babies hanging around here," Janice said. "Like, I know for a while they won't be able to do much, but when they learn to crawl, they'll be rully fun!"

"Yeah, but I'd be worried that somebody might accidently step on them," Scooter said. "Specifically the Muppet monsters."

"Oh, come on, Scooter. Sweetums and Robin have been friends for years and Sweetums has never hurt the little guy," Lips assured the orange Muppet.

"Yeah, Scooter. If Sweetums can be careful, I'm sure the others can try to be too," Clifford said. "Though we'll probably have to make sure that Big Mean Carl doesn't try to eat them."

"If that guy even as much as licks on of the hairs on those kids' heads, I'm sicking Animal on him," Floyd stated. "No way is he going to have those kids as an appetizer."

"Protect babies!" Animal shouted, standing proudly.

"Yeah, I bet Zoot and Dr. Teeth wouldn't let that happen either," Janice said. "Speaking of Doc, where is he? Does he know about this?"

"Yeah, he knows," Rowlf answered.

"Oh, I bet he's really excited about being a dad!" Janice exclaimed, smiling.

The other Muppets went silent, until Floyd said, "Doc was pretty...stunned about the news. I think he went up to his bedroom to meditate on it."

"Yeah. I bet he's going to brag about it later," Clifford said.

At that moment, Dr. Teeth exited his room and headed downstairs.

"How's it going, dad-to-be?" Floyd asked him.

"Yeah, are you excited about the babies coming or what?" Janice asked giddily.

"I…" Dr. Teeth started before going silent. Then he said, "I thought I heard the phone ring a few minutes ago."

"Way to change the subject," Lips muttered.

"Oh, it did ring a few minutes ago. Kermit went to answer it but he hasn't come back," Fozzie stated.

Miss Piggy entered the kitchen to find Kermit sitting at the counter and staring silently at the tabletop. "Kermie, who was on the phone?" she asked.

Kermit looked up at his girlfriend and said, "Zoot called."

"Really! Did you tell him how excited we all are about the twins?" Miss Piggy asked.

"Zoot called? How's he doing?" Janice asked, running into the room.

"Is he okay?" Scooter asked.

"Did you ask him about who he'd prefer to be the godparents?" Floyd asked.

"Will you shut up about the godparent thing, Floyd," Clifford said.

"Did he ask about me?" Dr. Teeth asked.

Kermit sighed and started explaining, "He didn't ask me anything, and I didn't have a chance to ask him anything. He…" Kermit's voice went soft. "He quit."

"What?" Floyd asked, leaning closer to the frog. "Kermit, you need to speak up that last part. For a second there, I thought you said he quit."

"I did," Kermit said. "Zoot quit the Muppets."

The room went silent, everyone in shock over what they just heard, until Floyd kicked a chair down, "I don't believe this! He said he'd be home next month, but instead he just...quits!"

"Floyd, calm down," Janice said.

"How can I calm down when one of our friends just left us!" Floyd shouted.

Janice jumped back, terrified by this new tone Floyd was using. Floyd, seeing how frightened his girlfriend was, picked up the chair and sat in it, holding his head in his hands. "Sorry, Jan, I didn't mean to snap at you."

"I know you're all upset about this, but I don't think there's anything we can do. Zoot quit, we don't know where he is, and if he wants to take a break, well, that's his choice," Kermit said.

Clifford raised up his sunglasses, showing his widened eyes, and exclaimed "Kerm, how can you say that?! Zoot's one our good friends. We can't let him go without a fight!"

"I'm with Clifford on that," Lips agreed. "I don't think any of us can picture our lives without the dude. Besides, maybe Zach has a hand in this. Maybe he's forcing Zoot to quit when he really doesn't want to."

"Makes sense, I wouldn't put it past him to do that," Floyd nodded.

"But what if Zoot really did quit on his own terms?" Fozzie asked.

Rowlf scratched his ear, "It might be possible. He probably cut ties to us so he wouldn't have to face up about his pregnancy situation."

"Or he didn't want to face Dr. Teeth," Gonzo suggested.

"Gonzo, not the right time to suggest that!" Miss Piggy hissed at the whatever, motioning that Dr. Teeth was standing in the room with them.

"Oh, sorry," Gonzo said.

"I told him it was okay to bring the babies home, but he didn't seem to listen," Kermit said. "Besides, it's not because of all of us that he quit. He says it's because of someone named John."

Upon saying that, the remainder of the Electric Mayhem froze. Nobody else in the Muppets knew that Dr. Teeth's first name was John, so of course the other Muppets would be a little confused about it.

"John? Who's John?" Scooter asked.

Dr. Teeth then stormed out the backdoor with a loud slam, causing the others to jump.

"I think he just headed outside," Rowlf said, putting two and two together.

"Oh boy," Kermit said, wondering what was going through Dr. Teeth's head right now.

Chapter Text

Meanwhile, Zoot had just heard Lisa, his niece and nephew enter the house. He sat up in his bed and rubbed the tears off his face, not wanting to show that he had been crying. How was he going to tell his sister that he had just quit his job?

"Zoot, where are you?" he heard her holler.

Zoot took a few deeps breaths before responding, "Upstairs. I'll be down in a sec."

He went downstairs into the kitchen area to see Lisa flipping through a magazine she had bought earlier, Hannah working on her homework, and Danny going through his little backpack, pulling out all the drawings he made in kindergarten class that day.

When Danny spotted Zoot, he smiled and greeted, "Hi Uncle Zoot!" Then he raced over to him and placed his hand on Zoot's swollen abdomen and whispered, "Hi cousins."

Zoot couldn't help but smile at this. Even since Hannah and Danny found out that they were going to have cousins, they became very excited, Danny especially. However, for a while, they've started to become a little impatient about when the babies were going to come.

"How much longer until the babies are coming?" Hannah asked for the 5th time that week.

"Two more weeks," Zoot reminded her.

"I can't wait!" Hannah exclaimed.

"I know Hannah, I know."

"So," Lisa said, changing the subject. "Did you call the boarding house and talk to Dr. Teeth? What did he have to say about this?"

"Yeah, what'd Uncle Teeth say when he found out about the babies?" Danny asked. No matter how many times Zoot reminded him, Danny kept referring to Dr. Teeth as Uncle Teeth rather than Uncle John. At this point, he pretty much gave up.

Zoot bit his lip and stood there silently before saying to Lisa, "Can I talk to you in the hall?"

"Sure, Zoot," Lisa said, getting up from her seat and following him into the hallway which was a little far away from the kitchen. Zoot hoped Hannah and Danny wouldn't hear them.

"What's going on? What did the other Muppets say?" Lisa asked.

"It's not really what they said, it's what i said," Zoot explained.

"Well, what'd you say to them?" Lisa asked.

"I...I said," Zoot started saying before bursting into tears. "I said I quit!"

Lisa gasped, "You told Dr. Teeth you quit?!"

"Actually, I didn't talk to John. I talked to Kermit," Zoot explained, wiping his eyes. "But I guess in a way I quit the band too. I even said I was quitting because of John. I don't know why I said any of that, but I did. I quit the Muppets and dumped John."

"Oh Zoot," Lisa said, hugging her brother to comfort him.

"I don't think I'll be able to face any of them," Zoot mumbled. "They're all probably mad that I quit."

"Well, maybe some of them are, but I bet more of them are sad that you left," Lisa said. "John most of all."

"Oh man, I must've destroyed him!" Zoot sobbed. "I ruined his life. First I'm pregnant then I just leave him. I wonder what he thinks about me right now."

Back at the boarding house, Dr. Teeth was pacing back and forth on the back porch, "He quit because of me? What did Zoot mean by that?" he thought to himself. "Does he not love me anymore? Or does he think I don't love him anymore? Zoot's so confusing, it's hard to tell what he's thinking, even when he's not here!"

Dr. Teeth sat down on the steps and stared off into the backyard, "Man, I hope Zach isn't abusing him wherever he is. If he is, I'm not going to stand for it!...I wonder how he and the babies are doing right now?"

Dr. Teeth froze, realizing what he just thought, "The babies...never thought I'd ever think of something like that when I thought of Zoot. Maybe they're the reason why he's not going to come back. Maybe he thinks he won't be able to balance family and work life, so he decided to get rid of the latter, since getting rid of the first is kind of impossible at this point. I mean, there is adoption, but I doubt Zoot would trust an orphanage with the twins, considering some places have a bad reputation involving child abuse and neglect. But many celebrities have had kids and have managed to be able to work while raising them.

Maybe they're not mine! That makes some sense, but...is Zoot the type to cheat? No, he'd never do anything like that. Unless he cheated unintentionally, like he was intoxicated and ended up with a random guy. Oh who am I kidding, of course they're mine! We slept together at the Muppet Show Anniversary party at the hotel 8 months ago, so there's no denying the fact that those babies can't be mine.

What if...what if Zoot thinks I'll be a bad parent? Maybe that's why he ran out. I know there have been stories of celebrities who don't give a single damn about their kids, leaving their partners to be the only one to raise them, but I'm not the kind of jerk that would do that! Then again, there are also stories of people who do a bad job of parenting and the kids grow up being a little messed up mentally and emotionally, but I've seen Jim raise his kids. I know what it takes to be a good dad.

Or maybe he thought I might cheat on him, like I won't find him attractive anymore after the kids are born. There have been stories of people who get cheated on sometime after they have children, mostly because the other parent doesn't enjoy being with their lover anymore because it's not as fun as before. He probably ran away to save himself from the possible heartbreak, but I'm not the kind of square to go out and do that! I love him too much to do that!

Man, I wish I could call him and let him know that everything will be okay. That I still love him and will always love him, and I'll love the twins too. I don't want him to raise them all alone. Maybe I could convince him to come back, but then again...I have no idea where he is...maybe getting him back will be hopeless after all. I'm never going to see him again."

At that moment, Clifford came out the backdoor, seeing where Dr. Teeth was sitting and sat down next to him. He put his hand on Dr. Teeth's shoulder, snapping the green Muppet out of his thoughts.

"What's going on, Clifford?" he asked the purple Muppet.

"I believe that's what I should be asking you," Clifford said. "What's on your mind right now? You looked a little depressed for a few moments."

"I was just trying to figure out why Zoot didn't want to come back. I came up with a few depressing theories," Dr. Teeth admitted.

Clifford nodded, "Yeah, I don't blame you for thinking that. I know what it's like to get dumped. Remember that girlfriend I had in the 90s and early 2000s?"

"Oh yeah, Chantel wasn't it? You seemed pretty happy with her...what happened to her anyway? I admit, I was very surprised when I found out you had feelings for Lips and started going out with him, so I know something went wrong with her that caused you two to break up," Dr. Teeth said.

"Well...it's kind of ridiculous. You know how the last Muppet movie I was in was The Muppets Wizard of Oz," Clifford asked.

"Yep, there were some groovy songs in the movie, especially 'Naptime' and 'The Witch is in the House'," Dr. Teeth stated.

"Yeah, well, as you know, I had a pretty small role in that movie, and well...Chantel didn't like that. She was already a little peeved about how Muppets Tonight got cancelled, I was in most of Muppets from Space but that film apparently didn't do so well, and I wasn't even in It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. She wanted me to be a big star on the same level as you guys and she started pressuring me to get better roles in films and specials. I told her that I didn't mind what roles I have in movies, just as long as I was with my friends. Chantel said i was an idiot for thinking that...and dumped me," Clifford explained.

Dr. Teeth's eyes widened, "Does Lips know about this?"

"Yeah, he asked me about her, and I'm not the type to lie, so I just told him," Clifford said. "Unlike you, I knew why she dumped me, but I was still pretty down about it."

"Hence why you were gone for so long," Dr. Teeth stated.

"Yeah, pretty much," Clifford said. "I had to get away to get over my romantic loss."

"Where'd you go?" Dr. Teeth asked.

"A place where I could unwind and sort out what was going on in my head," Clifford explained. "In my case, it was to Barbados. I felt better about myself after a week or so. However, I didn't want to rejoin you guys just yet so I went out on my own to perfect my talents. Then, some odd years later, I came back, but you already knew that."

"Interesting story," Dr. Teeth said, nodding. "So, do you think maybe I should take a vacation somewhere, to get my mind off Zoot?"

"If it'll make you feel better, yeah," Clifford said. "I'm sure Kermit will allow it with what's happened in the last few hours."

"Yeah, I know you're right about that...but where should I go?" Dr. Teeth asked.

Clifford thought for a few seconds before his eyes lit up, "How about New Orleans, the City of Jazz Music? A lot of famous jazz musicians got their start there, so I think you'll enjoy it."

"Yeah, that sounds groovy, but...part of me still wants to find Zoot and talk to him or something," Dr. Teeth said.

"Well, maybe Zoot will change his mind about quitting while you're gone. Maybe he'll come back to the boarding house when you do, only he might have two babies with him," Clifford said optimistically. "He probably has a lot going on with his life that he also needs to think about. That's probably why he said he quit. Maybe he wants to give himself time to figure things out before he comes back."

"That does make some sense, but as for him coming back, well...that's pretty much up for debate," Dr. Teeth said. "Well, if I'm going to New Orleans, I better tell the others and get ready. I'll call as often as I can."

"Sounds good, we'll let you know if Zoot calls us or anything," Clifford said.

"Thanks Clifford."

"No problem, Doc."

Chapter Text

Two days later, Dr. Teeth was exiting a New Orleans Airport and taking in his surroundings. As he had heard, New Orleans was a pretty nice city. There were a lot of people around, the buildings were very fancily built and there was quite a handful of street musicians showing off their talents in parks or on the sidewalk. He was going to have a nice time hanging around here for a few weeks.

Before Dr. Teeth left, the rest of the Electric Mayhem promised to keep a close eye on the house phone in case Zoot called, changing his mind about quitting. If this should ever happen, the band should call Dr. Teeth to tell him so he'd be home by the time Zoot got back. It was nice of his friends to make that offer, but Dr. Teeth just wasn't very confident about Zoot changing his mind about leaving the Muppets and making a return. As a matter of fact, he wasn't very confident that he'd ever hear from Zoot ever again. He wished he didn't feel this negative right now, but he couldn't help it. Hopefully this vacation would bring him out of his malaise.

Once he arrived the hotel he booked a room in, he called the Muppet Boarding House to tell the others that he arrived safely.

"It's good to hear that you arrived to New Orleans alright. How's your vacation so far?" Kermit asked the musician.

"New Orleans is beautiful! Just like how they said it was online! I can tell I'm going to like it here," Dr. Teeth said.

"That's good to hear. Have you checked out any jazz clubs? I hear the Fritzel's European Jazz Pub has the best jazz performances and drinks there are in New Orleans so you should probably check that out," Kermit suggested.

"I'll take a look at it tomorrow night. So...any calls from...Zoot?" Dr. Teeth asked.

"Not yet, but we're all waiting at the ready. Whenever we leave for rehearsal at the theater, we leave anyone who's not involved in the rehearsals behind to keep an eye on the phone. So far, we've only got calls from telemarketers and some friends of ours from Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock," Kermit explained. "Speaking of Fraggles, did you know that some of them have managed to get their own phone? Travelling Matt found one in a city junkyard and it was in pretty good shape so he sent it back to Gobo who had Doc fix it. At first, they found the concept confusing but they managed to adjust to how it worked quickly."

"Wow, that's very impressive. I guess we'll be hearing a lot from them now. Hopefully they won't accidentally dial 9-1-1. That'd be disastrous!" Dr. Teeth said.

"Yeah, Doc already explained how phone numbers worked and told them not to dial any random numbers they want to call someone since there's a chance they could accidentally call a complete stranger," Kermit stated.

"Yeah, that's good," Dr. Teeth said, then he sighed. "Man, it feels so weird being here without the rest of your guys. I always thought that if I ever took a trip to New Orleans, I'd be with the whole band, or all the Muppets, not just me."

"Well, some of us actually wanted to go with you, but we thought you might've wanted a little space with what had happened a few days ago," Kermit said. "Besides, if you get lonely over there, you can always call us, or make a few friends with some of the locals."

"Yeah, I'll give the second suggestion a shot, but I'm pretty sure some people here will freak out once they realize who I am," Dr. Teeth said. "And if that does happen, hopefully nobody will pester me about Zoot. I don't want to respond to questions that I don't have answers to."

"Yeah, maybe you should try to keep out of the reporter's eyes for a while in case that happens," Kermit said. "Well, we all hope you'll enjoy yourself in New Orleans. I guess we'll talk again tomorrow."

"Good plan, but remember; LA is three hours behind New Orleans, so if you decide to contact me, make sure that it's not in the middle of the night or something," Dr. Teeth warned.

"Got it, bye," Kermit said.

"Later," Dr. Teeth said before hanging up his cell phone.

He sighed and set his phone on his nightstand before staring out the window of his hotel room. At night, all the neon signs of New Orleans' businesses were lit up, making the streets very bright and colorful. Such a spectacular sight to see. It would make a nice album cover.

He then looked up at the night sky where the stars and the moon shone, wondering if Zoot was looking at them right now, thinking about Dr. Teeth.

He wasn't wrong. At the same time, somewhere else, Zoot was looking out a window from his sister's house, thinking about Dr. Teeth. He wondered how he was getting along without him. Did he miss him? Had he moved on yet? Did he take the bus and start a who-knows-how-long roadtrip to try to find him? Zoot didn't know.

If Dr. Teeth did miss him, that would make sense, since Zoot had been gone for so long and suddenly decided to never come back when Dr. Teeth was expecting him too.

If Dr. Teeth did move on, Zoot was pretty sure he would've heard from the papers by now. Also, Dr. Teeth wasn't really the type to move on that quickly. He was probably going to be depressed for a while.

As for the roadtrip idea, that seemed a little ridiculous now since Zoot thought about it more. Dr. Teeth would be crazy if he thought he could find Zoot by using the bus as his only mode of transportation. He would easily run out of gas money within a few weeks and then give up and go home, unless he decided to proceed by hitchhiking or going on foot!

Zoot sighed and sat down on his bed, rubbing his swollen belly. In a little more than a week, he'd have the twins. Part of him was excited, but he was also very scared about the delivery. Apparently he was going to need a c-section, which involved cutting him open! And Zoot was going to be conscious the whole time! The doctor said that he'd be on anesthetic the whole time, so he wouldn't be in any pain, but the concept of it still scared him.

Zoot wished he could call Dr. Teeth and ask him to come down to where he was and be there to support him, but he was sure Dr. Teeth probably wouldn't show up, either because of Zoot breaking his heart just a few days ago or not wanting to meet the babies. Zoot honestly wouldn't blame him if he did that.

At that moment, Lisa entered the room. "Hey Zoot, how're you feeling," she asked her brother.

"Nervous. That c-section thing kind of has me on edge right now," Zoot said.

Lisa smiled, "I know it's a pretty freaky way to deliver the babies, but it may be the only way. The doctor doesn't know for sure if there's any way you could give birth naturally, but that'll be more painful than the c-section."

Zoot just nodded, but he was still shaking a little. Lisa sat next to him and patted him on the shoulder, "Listen, if you want, I could be in the room with you when it's going on. That way it won't be that scary. How does that sound?"

"Yeah, maybe that'll make me feel a little better...but it feels wrong to give birth to the babies when John isn't around to see it. He's their other dad and I don't want the kids to grow up thinking their other dad didn't want to witness their arrival," Zoot stated.

Lisa nodded, "I figured you'd feel that way. That's how I was when Andrew left me before I had Danny. I was scared to do it alone, but luckily, Ma was in town so she was there for me. She gave all the support she could before she had to go back to her home, and now I'm going to help you out with your situation."

Zoot smiled, "Thanks Lisa. Wouldn't know what I'd do without you."

"You're welcome, Zoot," Lisa said before exiting the room. She immediately went downstairs to the kitchen and dialed the phone.

Meanwhile, at the Muppet Boarding House, the kitchen phone rang. Lips went to answer it. "Muppet Boarding House, Lips speaking," he said.

"Of the Electric Mayhem band?" a woman's voice asked.

"Yep, that's me, who's this?" Lips asked.

"Are any of the other members there?" the stranger asked.

"No, Floyd took Animal out for a walk not that long ago, Janice is out shopping with the girls, and Dr. Teeth just left for New Orleans earlier today," Lips stated.

"Dr. Teeth is in New Orleans?!" the woman exclaimed, causing Lips' ear to hurt.

"Um...yeah," Lips said, not sure why this lady was getting so excited. He heard her mutter, "This plan might actually work," before saying louder, "Okay, you probably don't know about me, but I'm Zoot's sister, Lisa."

"Really?! You're Lisa! Where are you? How's Zoot? Did he have the babies yet?" Lips asked.

"He's fine and he didn't have the babies yet. They're not due until a little more than a week from now," Lisa explained. "As for where we are, we're also in New Orleans."

"What! Oh man, that's some crazy coincidence since Doc is there right now," Lips said.

"A lucky coincidence," Lisa said. "Listen, Zoot's been a little depressed since he quit the Muppets and his pregnancy got outed. I was hoping on getting Dr. Teeth to come over here and, I don't know, talk to him to make him feel better. He could really use his support right now."

"If that's the case then tell me where you guys live so I can tell Doc," Lips said.

"I would but I can't help but shake the feeling that Dr. Teeth is kind of heartbroken about the whole situation of Zoot leaving him and all," Lisa said. "I'm worried that if you told him he wouldn't show up."

"Well, you're not wrong about the heartbroken thing. That's kind of why he went on vacation in the first place. But how will we get the two of them to reunite?" Lips asked.

"I was planning on taking Zoot and my kids to the City Park this Saturday. Maybe you can suggest the idea of going to the park on the same day to Dr. Teeth," Lisa explained.

"That's as good a plan as any," Lips said. "I'll call him the night before and suggest the idea. What time should he be there?"

"Around noon. When I see him, I'll do something to get Zoot to look in his direction. Hopefully he'll notice Zoot too," Lisa said. "I hope this plan works."

"I hope it works too. Dr. Teeth and Zoot need each other to be happy," Lips said.

"I know. Now, remember, tell Dr. Teeth to head to the park around noon on Saturday, but try not to spoil the fact that Zoot is there. Like I said before, I don't want to take the chance of him not showing up," Lisa said.

"Got it, I'll keep my fingers crossed for it to work," Lips said. "We'll call him the day after to see if it all worked out. See ya."

Lips hung up the phone, put his hands together and looked up at the ceiling, praying, "Dear god, please let this plan work out."

At that moment, Clifford walked into the room, seeing his boyfriend in this state. "What are you praying for? Did something happen?" he asked.

"The fate of Dr. Teeth and Zoot's relationship is in my hands," Lips stated.

"What?" Clifford said, confused.

"Nothing," Lips said, kissing his lover on the cheek before walking out of the room.

Clifford watched him go, thinking, "That's something I'm going to ask him about later. I wonder what the big deal is."

Chapter Text

That Saturday, Dr. Teeth was strolling through the city park of New Orleans. The night before, Lips had called him urging him to go check out the park that day around noon, though Dr. Teeth had no idea why. It wasn't that much different than any other park he's seen.

Well, except for the fact that there were a lot of street performers around, which kept things interesting.

There were a lot more musicians than any other kind of performer, and a majority of the musicians played brass instruments like trumpets and saxophones.

Saxophones. The thought of where Zoot could possibly be crawled into his mind again. Dr. Teeth wondered if Zoot would still work as a musician after the babies were born. Then again, Zoot might be too busy with the babies to probably even focus on music again. What if Zoot was unable to find work and he ended up homeless, along with the kids! The mere thought of that really stressed Dr. Teeth out.

Dr. Teeth wanted to head back to the hotel, but for some reason...he had a feeling that he should keep walking around and checking out the sights and sounds some more. He didn't know why but he just proceeded.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the park, Zoot, Lisa, Hannah and Danny were having some quality time. Danny was playing around on the playground, Hannah had brought her saxophone and some sheet music, getting ready to try a hand at street performing nearby, and Lisa and Zoot were talking.

"What am I going to do?" Zoot asked his sister, rubbing his pregnant belly. "I'm jobless and the twins are due a little more than a week from now."

"Well, maybe a month or so after the babies are born you could start looking for a new job. There's several jazz clubs in New Orleans. I'm sure you'd get hired in at least one of them," Lisa suggested. "Then, after you've made some money, you could get your own house here. But there might still be time to change your mind about quitting. I'm sure Kermit would understand that you weren't emotionally well when you made that call and rehire you."

"Yeah, but what about John? Will he take me back as a member of the band...and as his boyfriend?" Zoot said. "He might be mad about me quitting...and being pregnant."

Lisa sighed and looked around the park, hoping to spot Dr. Teeth. She hoped Lips remembered to make the call and tell Dr. Teeth to come to the park today. If he forgot, then that may have been their only chance of getting Dr. Teeth and Zoot back together.

Hannah then grabbed a page of sheet music and handed it to Zoot, "Look at this song I'm learning at my saxophone lessons, Uncle Zoot," she said proudly.

Zoot read over the music and smiled, "Hey, it's 'Perdido'. I remember how I played that song in the episode of the Muppet Show Kenny Rogers was on. Kermit had hurt his leg and Kenny sent me onstage to distract the audience and I played that."

"Cool," Hannah said, before bringing out her saxophone and began to play the tune.

Zoot smiled as his niece played the jazz number with ease. "I wonder if either of the twins will take up saxophone when they're older. I hope so."

At that moment, Dr. Teeth heard the saxophone music as well. "Hey, I know that song. I wonder where it's coming from."

He walked around the park, following the sound, until he spotted a little girl playing the brass instrument. "Wow! That kid knows how to play 'Perdido'! She's very good for her age. If Zoot saw her, he'd be very proud of her," Dr. Teeth thought. "If wonder if the babies will be that talented when they're older. That'd be nice. One with my keyboard skills and the other with sax as their axe. Maybe they'll have their own band when they're teenagers or adult...Man, I wonder how Zoot is doing. He probably had the babies by now."

Then, Dr. Teeth froze in his steps. "Or not." There, sitting in a park bench not far off from where the little girl was, was Zoot, still very pregnant, rubbing his abdomen as he watch the kid play.

When the girl stopped, she asked, "How was that, Uncle Zoot?"

"That was great, Hannah. You're really starting to get become an expert with that saxophone," Zoot said.

Hannah grinned, "I hope so. One day, I hope to be famous just like you!"

Zoot's smile vanished and he said, "Yeah, I guess you could." He still hasn't told his niece and nephew that he just quit his job with the Muppets. He knew they'd be upset once they found out so he's been trying to figure out how to break the news gently to them.

"Is Uncle John going to come down here to see the babies come?" Hannah asked, as Danny walked over from the playground.

"I don't-," Zoot started saying when Danny suddenly bolted away from them!

"Danny! Come back here! Where are you going?" Lisa hollered at her son until she noticed WHO he was running to.

Dr. Teeth had been watching Zoot for the last couple minutes, trying to think of an idea on how to approach without causing a big scene.

He honestly never expected to run into him here. What would his explanation for why he was in New Orleans be? He just decided to take a vacation to get over their breakup? No, that would make Zoot feel guilty and upset. He was looking for him so he could talk to him? No, Zoot would know that he was lying.

Unfortunately, Dr. Teeth didn't have much time to think because at that moment, he heard a voice shout, "Hi Uncle Teeth!"

Dr. Teeth looked down to see Danny looking up at him with a big smile on his face. "Hey, Danny," he greeted the little kid. He looked back up at Zoot to see that the saxophonist was staring at him, a hand over his mouth, frozen in place.

"John," Zoot muttered, trying to hold back tears.

Dr. Teeth slowly walked over to where his former lover was, not take his eyes off of him. "Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," Zoot replied in the same tone.

Lisa watched them for a few moments before grabbing Hannah and Danny's hands. "Let's leave Uncle Zoot and Uncle John alone for a little while

"But I want to hang out with them for a while," Danny complained, but his mother still dragged him off, "Saying, I know but they need some privacy for a bit."

Dr. Teeth looked at Zoot, then at his abdomen where his children were possibly moving around, wondering what was going on outside. He sighed, "I believe we both have something to say about this?"

Zoot looked down at the ground and mumbled, "I guess so."

Dr. Teeth sat down next to his pregnant boyfriend and said, "Well, then i guess we better get on with it.

Chapter Text

Dr. Teeth and Zoot sat next to each other on the park bench in silence, staring at each other. Zoot rubbed his abdomen nervously, knowing that that was probably where most of Dr. Teeth's attention was.

Dr. Teeth observed his expecting boyfriend's belly. He really wanted to reach over and feel the babies move in there, but he didn't want to startle Zoot. Also, Zoot might try to move away from him if he attempted to do that.

Finally, Dr. Teeth spoke, "Why didn't you tell me when you found out?"

Zoot bit his lip, "I wanted to...but I thought you wouldn't believe me. And if you did believe me, I thought you would've been mad at me...and leave me." At that moment, tears started to stream from behind his sunglasses.

Dr. Teeth began to slide closer to Zoot to comfort him, but the blue Muppet held his hand up, signalling him to stay where he was.

"I was just going to come back with the twins and explain about them then, but as time went on...I began to have second thoughts." Zoot went on. "Zach kept going off about how you might dump me once you found out about the babies. At first, I was sure that you wouldn't be the type to do that, but after a while, I began to worry that Zach would be right. When that article about my pregnancy got released, I called and quit because i was sure that you had seen it, and I was sure that you wouldn't want anything to do with my anymore." Zoot then broke down sobbing, tears practically pouring from behind his lenses.

Dr. Teeth sighed and watched his lover silently before saying, "Zoot, you know I love you, and I would always love you no matter what happened between us. When I saw that article, I admit I was stunned, but I was a little upset."

"Really?" Zoot asked, thinking Dr. Teeth was actually mad at him.

"Not in the angry sense, more so in the depressed sense. I was a little hurt that you felt like you couldn't tell about the babies. I thought you left because you thought I wouldn't make a good father," Dr. Teeth explained.

Zoot looked at Dr. Teeth wide-eyed, "You mean...you actually wanted kids?" he asked

"Yeah, I always wondered what it was like to be a parent. I mean, I've seen Jim raise his kids and he always talked about how great they were, so I started to wonder what my own children would be like," Dr. Teeth said, smiling at the memory of his old friend. "I figured I'd be a great dad, but after you kind of...ditched me recently, I began to rethink that plan."

Zoot looked down at the ground, "Oh," he mumbled. "I'm sorry I made you feel like that."

"And I'm sorry that you felt like you couldn't speak to me about the babies and you had to go through this alone," Dr. Teeth apologized.

Dr. Teeth grabbed Zoot's hand and looked his lover in the eye, "I love you, Zoot."

Zoot's mouth quivered for a few seconds before he uttered out, "I love you too, John."

The two Muppets then leaned toward each other and pressed their lips together into a passionate kiss. Zoot moaned as Dr. Teeth pressed into him more and slowly wrapped his arms around Zoot, pulling him into a gentle hug.

When they pulled away, Dr. Teeth sighed, "That was the grooviest kiss we've ever shared."

Zoot nodded, his cheeks turning red a little, when he felt tiny kicks arise in his abdomen. "Oh," he groaned, leaning back in the bench.

"What's wrong?" Dr. Teeth asked.

"They're kicking," Zoot explained, rubbing his aching belly as his unborn children squirmed around some more.

Dr. Teeth gently placed his hand on Zoot's belly to feel. Almost immediately, he felt the twins kick exactly where his hand was! "Heh, they must know I'm here," he said, grinning.

"They know you're their other dad," Zoot said, smiling.

"So," Dr. Teeth started, rubbing Zoot's swollen abdomen some more. "I know you're carrying twins, but what are they?"

"One's a girl and the others a boy. I forget who's where though," Zoot said, caressing his belly. "I actually came up with a name for the girl."

"Well, let's hear it," Dr. Teeth said.

"Zara," Zoot stated.

"I like that name. We'll keep it. And the boy?" Dr. Teeth asked.

"Couldn't think of anything," Zoot admitted. "You can name him if you want to, but I think I may already know what you want to name him."

"Really, what?" Dr. Teeth asked, curious.

Zoot bit his lip before saying, "Jim."

Dr. Teeth froze. He had never thought about naming one of his kids after his dearly departed friend. Was it a good idea? It'd be nice to honor Jim in some way, but what if one of the other Muppets, like Kermit or Rowlf wanted to name their future son that? Then again, what if he DIDN'T name his son Jim? Would Jim Henson be offended or would he understand?

After a few moments of thinking, Dr. Teeth finally said, "Nah, I don't think I'll name him that."

"Are you sure? I won't mind if that's what you want to name him," Zoot said.

"Yeah, besides, who knows? Frog-in-Chief may want to name his future son that, or Rowlf, or someone else that was really close to Jim," Dr. Teeth said.

"I guess you do have a point," Zoot said. "So what will you name him?"

Dr. Teeth thought hard for a while before smiling, "How about Charlie?"

"Charlie?" Zoot asked.

"You know, after Charlie Parker, your favorite saxophonist, and a bit after Ray Charles, one of my favorite pianists," Dr. Teeth explained.

"Charlie...you know, I think I like that," Zoot said, smiling.

"Good to hear," Dr. Teeth said. He took Zoot's hand. "I love you."

"I love you too," Zoot replied. The two Muppets kissed again.

Once they separated, Dr. Teeth looked down at Zoot's swollen abdomen and said, "And I love the twins." He gently kissed Zoot's belly, prompting the blue Muppet to blush and the unborn babies to start kicking around again.

"You're going to be a great dad, John," Zoot said.

"So are you, Zoot," Dr. Teeth said, before embracing his lover again.

From a distance, Lisa watched the couple interact and make up. "Looks like everything is going to be okay after all," she thought.

Chapter Text

The next day at the Muppet Boarding house, all of the Muppets were going about their business when Scooter ran through the door, gripping a new newspaper.

"Have you guys seen this?" the orange Muppets asked.

He laid the paper on the table as Kermit, Fozzie, Miss Piggy, Rowlf, Gonzo and Clifford came over to look at the article Scooter was talking about: It showed pictures of Zoot and Dr. Teeth sitting on a bench in a park. In one photo, it looked like they were having a sort of emotional conversation, because it looked like Zoot was crying or had been crying a little, the second one was of them sharing a kiss, and the third one was them walking through the park holding hands, looking really happy.

Kermit smiled, "Well, what do you know. Looks like they found each other and worked things out."

"Aw, they look so happy now," Miss Piggy sighed.

"Wow! That's some crazy coincidence! Who would've thought that Dr. Teeth had gone on vacation in the exact same city that Zoot was hiding out in, and end up in the park at the same time," Gonzo exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's almost like someone knew they were both there and pulled the strings to get them to meet up," Fozzie added.

Clifford thought for a few seconds until he remember how oddly Lips had been acting a few days ago, where he said, "Actually, I think someone DID have a hand in this."

"Really? Who do you think it is?" Scooter asked out of curiosity.

"Here's a few hints: they're blonde, play trumpet and in my opinion, is very good-looking," the purple Muppet stated as Lips walked into the room.

"That had better be me you're describing and not Delores, Clifford," the trumpeter stated.

"Of course I mean you, Lips," Clifford said, kissing his boyfriend's cheek.

Lips smirked, then asked, "So what are you talking about me before."

Clifford pointed at the news article and said, "This was your doing, wasn't it?"

Lips looked at the newspaper where he smiled, "Well, not completely, but I did have a hand in it."

"Really?! How?" Gonzo asked.

"Well, Lisa called a few nights ago and asked me where Dr. Teeth was. I told her he was in New Orleans and she started getting excited. As you can guess, Zoot was there too, so we set up to have them both meet up in the park. I would call Dr. Teeth to tell him to go to the park for a walk and Lisa would take Zoot to the park and stay with him until Dr. Teeth showed up. Then she'd leave them alone for a while to talk things out. Guess the plan worked," Lips explained.

"We got to tell the rest of the band," Rowlf stated. "Let's go find Janice, Floyd and Animal and tell them the good news."

After a few minutes, Lips, Clifford and Rowlf had located the other three members of the Electric Mayhem and brought them to the kitchen table to show them the article. As expected, they were all very happy to see the photographs.

"Oh wow, that's so awesome!" Janice exclaimed. "They're gotten back together. Oh, look how far Zoot looks. I wonder if he's like, due soon."

"Well, what do you know. Guess fate brought them back together," Floyd said, smiling.

"Doc and Zoot happy!" Animal cheered.

"Man we gotta call him and ask how everything is," Lips said, grabbing the phone and dialing Dr. Teeth's phone.

In a New Orleans hotel, Dr. Teeth and Zoot were lying in the bed in Dr. Teeth's hotel room giving each other morning kisses. They had just had the most romantic night of their lives last night and they were still pretty much in love when they woke up this morning.

When Dr. Teeth's cell phone started to ring, he gave Zoot one last passionate kiss before answering. "Dr. Teeth here. Who's calling?"

"Hey Doc," he heard Lips' voice on the other end. "Just called to check in today."

"I'm glad you did. Listen, your idea for me to take a walk in the City park yesterday was a groovy idea. It made my vacation here tons better," Dr. Teeth said, glancing over at where Zoot was, grinning at him.

"Good to hear my idea worked. So how are you?" Lips asked.

"Great as ever," Dr. Teeth said.

"How's New Orleans been so far?" Lips asked.

"Really nice."

"How's Zoot?"

"He's fantastic as-wait, how'd you know?"

Lips snickered, "I kind of already knew he was there when I called you a few days ago. Thanks to an inside source."

"Oh really, and may I ask who this source was?" Dr. Teeth asked.

"Zoot's sister," Lips answered.

Zoot groaned, "Knew it."

"Also, there's a news article about you two getting back together," Lips added.

"I should've known that," Dr. Teeth said. "So, Zoot's here with me. Do you want to talk to him?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright," Dr. Teeth said handing Zoot his cell phone.

Zoot grabbed it and said, "Zoot speaking."

"Hey, Zoot! How're the babies?"

"They're fine, but they're kind of getting a little heavy. I can't wait for them to get out," Zoot said as Dr. Teeth gently stroked his swollen abdomen.

"Yeah, I kind of figured it'd be like that," Lips said. "So I have a question for you and Doc?"

"Really? What is it?" Zoot asked, curious.

"Well, since I'm partially responsible for your romantic reunion, do you think you can make me the kids' godfa-," Lips started saying until Floyd's voice cut him off, shouting, "OH NO YOU DON'T!"

Then, there was a loud crash. Then Floyd spoke into the phone, "Ignore Lips, he's acting crazy. How about me instead?"

"Oh, I'M the crazy one here?" Lips asked in an annoyed voice.

Within moments, Zoot and Dr. Teeth could hear their two bandmates arguing on the phone line until someone took the phone away from Floyd and spoke, "Um, so like...when are the babies due?" It was Janice.

"Almost a week from now," Zoot stated.

"Oh wow! That soon! When will you be back at the boarding house?" Janice asked.

"Probably a week or so later," Zoot guessed, not entirely sure. He'd have to ask a doctor about that after he had the babies.

"So, any name ideas?" Janice asked.

"Yeah, we're naming the girl Zara and the boy Charlie," Zoot stated.

"Aww! You're having one of each! That's awesome!" Janice squealed. "When you bring the babies here, I'm going to have a present ready for them!"

"I figured you would. Just don't get any baby clothes. I think I got plenty of them from Lisa," Zoot said. "So everyone's really excited about the babies, aren't they?"

"Yep, especially Animal! He swears to protect them with all his heart," Janice stated.

"Yeah! Protect babies!" Animal shouted.

"Is that so?" Dr. Teeth asked. "Well, since he's so enthusiastic, maybe we'll make Animal the godparent of the babies."

At that moment, Floyd and Lips' arguing silenced, followed by them both saying, "What?"

"You know that might not be such a bad idea!" Clifford said, laughing.

Floyd grabbed the phone from Janice and said, "Doc, are you sure you don't want anyone else to be the-" but before the bassist could finish, Dr. Teeth said, "Talk to you later guys! Zoot and I have plans today." and hung up.

Floyd hung up and Lips asked, "He...wasn't being serious was he?"

"I have no idea. I can never tell when Doc jokes around," Floyd admitted.

"Well, even if he was kidding, I think Animal would still make a better godparent than you two," Clifford said, prompting Animal to laugh.

"Oh shut up!"

Later that afternoon, Dr. Teeth and Zoot were walking down the streets of New Orleans, looking around the town.

"New Orleans is a groovy town but I can't wait to get back to LA," Zoot said. "I think I'm starting to get homesick."

"Don't worry babe; once those babies pop out, we'll wait a week and then head home," Dr. Teeth told his lover. "And once we're home…" He suddenly stopped and looked Zoot in the eyes, wrapping his arms around his waist, "I'm going to give you a pretty ring to wear on your hand."

Zoot's eyes widened, "What are you saying, John?"

"Marry me, Zoot. Once we get home, I want to tie the knot," Dr. Teeth said, smiling.

Zoot stood there stunned for a few moments before he smiled and said, "Oh John, of course I'll marry you!"

The couple embraced and shared a loving kiss. When they parted, Zoot then slapped at hand to his forehead, "Something just dawned on me."

"What?" Dr. Teeth asked.

"It's bad enough that Floyd and Lips are trying to kill each other to be the godfather, but when they find out we're engaged, they'll fight for who gets to be best man," Zoot explained.

"Oh, that will be an issue. I guess we'll have to think on that," Dr. Teeth said. Then he stated, "I was mostly kidding about having Animal be the godparent, but I don't think there's a rule for how many godparents a kid can have."

"So...everyone in the band and maybe Clifford," Zoot said.

"I was thinking more of everyone in the Muppets," Dr. Teeth admitted.

"Makes sense. I mean, we're all basically family, aren't we?"

"Indeed we are, Zoot, indeed we are."

Chapter Text

A week later, in the middle of the night, Zoot suddenly woke up in bed. He wasn't sure why he awakened; it wasn't even close to morning and he was sure there wasn't any loud noise to wake him, otherwise, Dr. Teeth, who was sleeping next to him, would've woken up too.

A few days ago, Dr. Teeth had checked out of the hotel and is staying at Lisa's house until the babies are born and Zoot is well enough to travel back to LA. Lisa didn't mind and Danny and Hannah loved having him around, since he technically was going to be their other uncle once he and Zoot married.

Zoot laid back down in bed, ready to go back to sleep, when he shot up again, realizing the bed was wet!

Zoot threw off his half of the covers and clicked on a light. Yep, the sheets were soaked, along with his pajama bottoms!

Zoot frantically shook Dr. Teeth awake, "John! John, wake up!"

Dr. Teeth slowly roused from his sleep and asked drowsily, "What is it, babe?" He then felt the bed near where Zoot was, where his eyes went wide. "Why is the bed wet?"

"My water broke! The babies are coming!" Zoot explained, having a panicked look on his face.

Dr. Teeth's jaw dropped, "Oh maaaan."

Within seconds, Dr. Teeth was out of the bedroom and down the hall, where he began to bang on Lisa's bedroom door.

When Lisa answered, she had a bit of an annoyed expression on her face. "What is going on? It's almost 2 am," she asked.

"Zoot's water broke," Dr. Teeth stated.

This time, it was Lisa's turn to go wide-eyed. "Oh god," she said, before darting back into her room to pull on her shoes and grab a suitcase that had been packed for a while. "You and Zoot get changed, I'll go outside and get the car pulled out front." Then, Lisa was on her way out the door.

Dr. Teeth went back to his and Zoot's room, where he saw Zoot sitting on the edge of the bed, cradling his swollen abdomen and taking deep breaths. Dr. Teeth quickly changed himself into some clean clothes and then asked Zoot, "Do you think you'll need help getting changed?"

Zoot groaned, "Yeah, but I think it's just my pants we need to worry about...god my stomach hurts like hell!"

"Got it," Dr. Teeth said, grabbing a dry pair of pants for Zoot.

After helping Zoot get changed, Dr. Teeth lifted him into his arms bridal style and carried him out of the house. Lisa, who was standing near the car with the engine running, asked "All set to go?"

"Pretty sure," Dr. Teeth said. Within moments, Lisa was driving down the road to the hospital, with Dr. Teeth and Zoot sitting in the backseat.

Zoot was sweating like crazy, rubbing his aching belly as his unborn children squirmed around a bit, eager to get out. Dr. Teeth watched him anxiously, having several thoughts running through his head.

Would Zoot be able to handle labor?

What if there were complications?

What if something happened and they had to choose one of the twins?

Or what if Dr. Teeth had to choose between Zoot and the babies!

What if the pain and stress killed Zoot?

What if the babies were stillborn?

The more Dr. Teeth thought, the more his body shook with fear and he began to fidget his hands. Zoot took notice and asked, "John, are you okay? You look like Animal when he's about to have a major freak-out."

Dr. Teeth jolted back to reality and quickly answered, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just...a little excited." He didn't want to express his concerns to Zoot, due to the risk of causing Zoot be get more stressed out than he already was, which would definitely cause problems.

Zoot smiled at him, "I'm excited too." The two shared a soft and sweet kiss, with Dr. Teeth gently caressing Zoot's abdomen and silently prayed, "Please let everything turn out okay."

Once they got to the hospital, Zoot was put in a maternity ward and wore a hospital gown. He was laid down in a bed and was still feeling contractions from labor. Dr. Teeth held his hand as they waited for a doctor to come.

Finally, she showed up and explained the situation, "Okay, Zoot, as you know, due to the fact that you're male, you'll need a C-section to deliver your children. Do you need me to explain the process of a C-section with you again?"

"It's the thing where you cut me open to get the babies, right? And I'll be awake the whole time?" Zoot asked.

"Basically, it'll take between 10 and 15 minutes to deliver the babies and 40 and 45 minutes to remove the placenta and sew up the incisions, so you'll only be in surgery for an hour. You'll also be on anesthetic so you won't feel any pain from it," the doctor explained.

"Can I be in the room with him?" Dr. Teeth asked, not wanting Zoot to go through this alone.

"Of course," the doctor said, before leaving the room.

Dr. Teeth looked over at Zoot and said, "Okay, I'll be in the room with you when it's happening, just in case you're scared."

Zoot smiled, "Thanks John."

Within 30 minutes, Zoot was lying on a bed in the operation room, Dr. Teeth sitting in a chair nearby, holding his hand. There was a tarp hung up in front of half of Zoot's upper body so he couldn't see the c-section occur, which was good because Zoot wasn't too fond of the sight of blood, especially if it's his own.

"Can you feel this?" the doctor asked, sticking a pin into Zoot's side.

Zoot winced, "Yeah."

"Apply more anesthetic," the doctor ordered another person. The second time the doctor stuck the pin into Zoot, he didn't feel anything, so it was time to begin.

Zoot gripped Dr. Teeth's hand and muttered, "John...I'm scared."

"Don't worry, it'll all be over before you know. That's why I'm here to hold your hand," Dr. Teeth assured his lover, kissing his cheek.

Zoot felt something slide along his abdomen, accompanied by the sound of velcro being ripped apart. For a few moments, Zoot had a weird feeling in his abdomen, like a sort of pressure inside of it. Then, a few moments later, the pressure got bigger, then quickly went away, accompanied by the sound of a newborn infant crying.

"It's a girl," the doctor announced.

"Zara…" Zoot muttered, tears dripping from his face.

"Our little girl," Dr. Teeth said, grinning proudly.

A few moments later, Zoot felt the pressure again, which away just as quickly as it did the first time, also followed by a baby crying. "It's a boy," the doctor stated.

"Charlie," Zoot sighed, more tears pouring from his eyes.

"Our little twins are here," Dr. Teeth said, smiling again and giving his lover a kiss on the lips.

When he pulled away, he went wide-eyed, realizing something. "Zoot," he said.

"Yeah, John?" Zoot asked, wondering what the problem was.

"I just realized you aren't wearing your sunglasses," Dr. Teeth pointed out.

Zoot's face turned red and he immediately turned away.

"What're you looking away for, you have beautiful eyes," Dr. Teeth said, turning Zoot's head back to face him.

It was true; Zoot's eyes were a calm forest green color, the kind of eyes a person could get lost in.

"I hope at least one of our babies have eyes just like them," Dr. Teeth said, smiling.

Zoot smiled back, "I hope so."

An hour later, after Zoot was sewn up and the babies were cleaned up, the twins were brought to his ward.

Zara pretty much resembled Zoot, having a similar face to his and blue hair, only her skin was blue-green, possibly a result of Zoot and Dr. Teeth's skin colors mixing.

Charlie looked like a baby version of Dr Teeth, complete with green skin and orange nose, except for the fact that his hair was blue like Zoot's.

The new parents admired their newborn children, smiling. "They're perfect," Zoot said. "And check it out; Zara got my eyes."

That's great," Dr. Teeth said. "There's just one thing I'm disappointed about."

"What's that, John?" Zoot asked.

"Neither of them got my orange hair," Dr. Teeth pointed out.

Zoot smiled at his fiancé and said, "Maybe next time."

Dr. Teeth smiled at Zoot, "Hopefully next time."

The two shared another loving kiss, celebrating their entrance into parenthood. An hour later, the new family had fallen asleep.

Chapter Text

A few hours later, Dr. Teeth woke up in the sofa that was in the room Zoot and the babies were staying in. He was confused as to why he was there for a second until he spotted Zoot bottle-feeding Zara and Lisa sitting in a chair nearby.

"Look who's finally awake," Zoot said, smirking at Dr. Teeth.

"How long was I out?" Dr. Teeth asked, getting up from his seat and walk over to Zoot's bed to get a look at Zara.

"We conked out around 5 and when I came to, it was 9, but you were still sleeping. It's 10 now," Zoot stated.

"Oh good, I regained the 5 hours that I lost," Dr. Teeth said. He looked over into the hospital cradle where Charlie was, who was catching some Zs. "Heh, he's peaceful."

"Sleeps like a log," Zoot said. "Gets it from me no doubt. Zara actually started crying a little and that's how I ended up waking up. Turns out, she just wanted to be held and be fed."

"Give Charlie a few minutes, he'll wake up demanding his turn," Lisa told her brother.

"So, have Danny and Hannah figured out what happened yet?" Dr. Teeth asked Lisa.

Lisa nodded, "Yep, they were both really happy, but Danny got a little mad when I told him he couldn't visit his new cousins until AFTER school."

"Oh boy, what'd he do?" Zoot asked, getting a worried look on his face. Danny had the tendency to do a lot of crazy things when he was upset about something.

"He threatened to pour his cup of orange juice on the couch if I didn't let him come with me to visit the hospital. When I said no, he looked at me with his angry face and pour the cup on the cushion. The glass was only half-full so it wasn't going to be that difficult to clean," Lisa explained.

Zoot looked down at Zara in his arms and said, "Please don't do anything wacky like that when you're older."

Zara just blinked twice and then yawned before falling asleep.

Zoot sighed and gently put her in her cradle just when Charlie woke up and started fussing a little.

"See, I told you he'd wake up and want to be fed next," Lisa said.

Zoot picked up his son and grabbed the other baby bottle where he began to feed him. "These two are going to keep us busy for the rest of our lives," he said.

"Busy's good. That way we won't get bored," Dr. Teeth said.

"Hopefully you're not too busy at this moment," a familiar voice said.

The three looked towards the door to see Zach standing in the doorway.

Lisa immediately stood up and asked, "What are you doing here, Zach?"

"To meet my niece and nephew. Why else?" Zach said.

"To take pictures of them them and sell them to the magazine or newspaper that'll pay the highest price," Zoot said sharply, remembering how Zach outed his pregnancy.

Zach rolled his eyes and then glared at Dr. Teeth. "I see you decided to show up."

"Why wouldn't I? They're my twins after all," Dr. Teeth said, frowning at the man. "Also, it's good that you decided to show your face. I've been meaning to talk to you."

"Alright then, let's go outside so my siblings don't hear us," Zach said.

The two men walked outside to the front of the hospital, where Dr. Teeth asked Zach, "Why do you always do or say things to Zoot that hurt him or make him miserable?"

"Because he needs to toughen up and stop being an idiot," Zach sneered.

"I don't think he's an idiot," Dr. Teeth said.

"That's because you're also an idiot," Zach said.

Dr. Teeth frowned at his adversary and asked, "Why do you hate me, Zach, and all the other Muppets as long as we're on that subject?"

"You're all weirdos. Zoot could've gotten a decent job at a well-paying jazz club, but instead he got roped in with you and your band of freaks," Zack said, with a hateful glare in his eyes.

"Well, we were the only 'freaks' that would take him in. Those jazz clubs you mentioned wouldn't hire him because of his differences. We Muppets took him in and accepted him the way he was, me most of all," Dr. Teeth explained. "Listen Zach, I don't want to believe you're a bad person. But if you learned to be more accepting and tolerant of other people and their choices, you might like us a little more. But if you can't do that, or if what I'm saying doesn't process in your brain, then go ahead and be bitter towards the Muppets. It won't make much of a difference to us since we still have a great deal people who admire us and respect."

Zach snorted, "Where'd you learn to talk like that?"

"My friend Jim Henson, one of the wisest people I ever knew," Dr. Teeth stated proudly.

Zach laughed and shook his head, "Trying to keep a dead man's beliefs alive. That's sad." And with that, Zach walked down the sidewalk.

Had he not walked off that quickly, Dr. Teeth would've definitely punched him for his comment about JIm. Part of him wanted to go after him but he decided against it and re-entered the hospital.

He returned to Zoot's ward to find the twins asleep in their little cradles, and Zoot and Lisa sitting nearby. Zoot asked, "What happened?"

"I tried to get through to him, but I don't think it worked," Dr. Teeth said. "Then again, redeeming bad guys isn't exactly an easy task."

"I wouldn't necessarily say Zach is a bad guy; it's mostly his attitude that's bad," Lisa said. "But you do have a point in saying how difficult it is to change him."

Dr. Teeth looked over at the twins, when he suddenly remembered something. He quickly whipped out his phone, saying, "I almost forgot. I think some friends of ours deserve to know that the twins have arrived."

"Keep the flash effect off when you take pictures of them. I don't want them to wake up crying," Zoot said.

Dr. Teeth turned the flash effect on his phone off and carefully took pictures of the twins and sent them to a particular blonde guitarist.

It was 7 am at the Muppet Boarding House, and Janice's cell phone was going off. Janice sat up in her and Floyd's bed, rubbing her eyes and grabbed her phone.

"Who's texting you this early in the morning?" Floyd asked sleepily.

"Good timing, we'd being waking up in like, a couple of minutes anyway," Janice said, checking her messages. "It's from Dr. Teeth."

She clicked the message and within seconds, her jaw dropped open. Floyd, seeing his girlfriend's expression, asked, "What's up?"

Janice's response to to squeal very excitedly, "OH MY GOOOOSH!" causing Floyd to fall out of the bed.

"What? What?" Floyd asked again, scrambling to his feet.

Janice showed the picture of Charlie and Zara to Floyd. "Zoot had the babies earlier this morning!" she exclaimed.

Floyd's jaw dropped, but then grinned, "Well, looks like Dr. Teeth and Zoot are officially parents now."

"Oh wow! We gotta show this to everyone!" Janice shouted, jumping out of bed and putting on her slippers.

She ran to the door and threw it open, to seeing Lips standing there in his pajamas, his hair slightly more messed up than usual and a bit of an annoyed expression on his face. "Okay, what's all the noise for?"

Janice showed Lips the picture, prompting Lips to get an excited smile on his face. "Oh man! That's awesome! I gotta tell Clifford," he said, running back to his and Clifford's room.

Clifford was sitting up in the bed, waiting for Lips to get back and explain what was going on. When Lips entered the room, Clifford asked, "So, what's going on out there?"

Lips then suddenly tackled Clifford back down into the bed. "Zoot had the babies!" he exclaimed.

Clifford got a stunned look on his face, then he laughed, "Well it's about time. I was starting to wonder if we'd ever hear from him and Doc."

Lips laughed too, and then...he got a weird dizzy feeling in his head. He got off Clifford and laid down on the bed, rubbing his head.

"What's wrong?" Clifford asked, sitting up and looking down at his lover.

"I think I moved too fast. I'm starting to feel a little dizzy," Lips explained.

"Well, you lay down a little more until is passes. I'll just go see what's going on in the rest of the house," Clifford said, getting up from bed and started getting dressed.

Meanwhile, Janice was darting all over the Muppet Boarding House, waking up all the other Muppets and showing them the picture of Charlie and Zara. She barged into Gonzo and Rizzo's room, causing Rizzo to fall from his hammock; she stomped down to the basement to Bunsen and Beaker, causing the latter to jump in surprise; ran outside to show the farm animals; and banged on Miss Piggy's door (she knew better than to storm into Piggy's room) until the pig answered, at first a little annoyed to be woken up so soon but then became happy when she learned the reason why.

When Kermit caught word on what was going on, he was very happy and he couldn't blame everyone for being so excited. "It's not often someone has a baby in this house. I'm sure Dr. Teeth and Zoot are proud of their little twins," he thought to himself.

Back in the News Orleans hospital, Dr. Teeth's was starting to receive texts from almost all the Muppets, either messages of congratulations or comments on how the cute the twins were or both.

"Check it out," Dr. Teeth said, showing Zoot his phone. "Everyone at home is going nuts over the babies."

Zoot smiled and looked at the sleeping twins, "You two are going to get one heck of a family welcome."

Chapter Text

A week later, Dr. Teeth and Zoot were in the back of a taxi driving through LA, on their way to the Muppet Boarding House.

"Man, it's been so long," Zoot said, looking out the window at the city. "How much has changed in the last few months."

"Not much. Everything is still pretty much the same," Dr. Teeth answered. "LA is still the same, the theater is still the same, the boarding house is still the same...well, at least until we get these two there."

Dr. Teeth reached into one of the baby carriers and let Zara grab his finger. "I bet everyone is excited about their arrival."

"Yeah, I know Janice is. She said she'd have a present ready for them," Zoot said. "And something about all the other Muppets having the place ready for the twins when they move in."

"Wow, they're really going all out for them," Dr. Teeth said.

"Well yeah, I mean, this is the first baby to move into the boarding house in a while," Zoot said.

At the Muppet Boarding House, the Muppets were scrambling around, anxious for Dr. Teeth and Zoot to come home with the babies.

Robin walked up to Kermit and said, "Gee Uncle Kermit, I've never seen the house this lively before."

"Well, two new babies are going to be moving in soon, so everyone is a little excited," Kermit said.

"Hey, how long until they're old enough to crawl?" Robin asked.

"About 6 months, I think," Kermit said.

"Oh, I can't wait! When they learn to move around on their own, they'll be a lot more fun!" Robin stated.

"I'm sure they will," Kermit said, smiling as Robin hurried over to the window to keep watch for Dr. Teeth and Zoot.

The frog leader looked down at his notes, "Ok, so Dr. Teeth and Zoot pretty much have clothes and baby supplies covered, and we've got stuff like cribs, blankets and other necessities for the twins. Everything is all set."

Janice, pretty much shaking giddily the whole day, squealed, "Oh wow! I can't wait for the twins to get here! I've been looking forward to this all week!"

"We know Janice, you've said that at least a hundred times," Floyd said, laughing. Then the bassist noticed that a certain Muppet with a blonde afro was missing. "Hey, where's Lips?"

"He was feeling tired earlier so he went up to take a nap before the babies came," Clifford explained, walking by. "He should be up before they get here."

"I hope so, he's been pretty excited the entire last week too," Janice said. "I'm sure he'd hate to miss them."

"Babies! Babies!" Animal hollered.

"Keep cool, Animal. They'll be here soon," Floyd told the Muppet drummer.

Half an hour later, the taxi pulled up in front of the Muppet Boarding House.

"Okay, I'll get the suitcases, you get the twins inside," Dr. Teeth told Zoot.

"Alright," Zoot said grabbing the baby carriers, exiting the car and making his way towards the house.

Before he had a chance to set one of the carriers down to open the door, it was yanked open to reveal Janice standing there.

"You're home!" she exclaimed.

"And not alone," Zoot said, holding up one of the carriers.

Janice gasped, "They're so cute!"

"Quiet voice, Janice. Don't want to wake them up," Floyd said as Zoot entered the house. "Is Doc still outside?"

"Yeah, he's getting the luggage," Zoot answered.

"Well, better go out there and help them. I'll get a better look at the little dude and dudette later," Floyd said as he and Clifford went outside.

At that moment, Lips was just leaving his and Clifford's room, where he looked downstairs into the living room area to see what all the fuss was about. When he saw Zoot and the baby carriers, he grinned and hurried down the stairs.

"Hey, look who's here," he said, looking into the carriers. "Well, would you look at that. They look like their parents...but neither of them have ginger hair."

"Yeah, John was a little disappointed about that," Zoot said. "But if we decide to have another kid, maybe that one will get his hair color."

Lips gave Zoot a look and shook his head, saying, "Man Zoot, these two have only existed for at least a week and you and Doc are already planning on having another? You two are going to be like rabbits."

"Bunnies?" Animal said before jumping up and down hollering, "Bunnies! Bunnies!"

Unfortunately, Animal's loud voice woke up little Charlie and the poor baby started crying.

"Animal," all the other Muppets groaned.

"Sorry," Animal apologized as Zoot set both the carriers down and took Charlie into his arms to calm him.

"Don't worry about it, Animal. He was bound to wake up anyway," Zoot said.

"Would it be okay if I held Zara?" Janice asked.

"Sure," Zoot said before fishing into his pocket and whipping out a small bottle of hand sanitizer. "Just use some of this first. The doctor said that the babies immune systems won't be strong enough to deal with most germs until they're 6 weeks old."

Janice nodded as she rubbed the slimy clear gel into her hands before retrieving Zara.

"Hello," she whispered to Zara softly. "I'm like, Janice. I'm a friend of your daddies."

At that moment, Dr. Teeth, Floyd and Clifford re-entered the house, holding the suitcases. When Dr. Teeth saw Janice with Zara, he smiled and said, "Well, I see you two are getting acquainted."

"Yep, but the end of the day, we'll be inseparable," Janie claimed.

Floyd smirked, "Sooo...now since you and Zoot are home, I believe now is as good a time as any to finally make a decision."

Lips looked over at Dr. Teeth and said, "Oh yeah, it nearly slipped my mind."

Clifford slapped a hand to his forehead and groaned, "Will you two give the godparent thing a rest for a while. I mean, come on, man, they just got home!"

"Relax Clifford. Zoot and I have actually figured something out while we were in New Orleans," Dr. Teeth said.

"And what's that?" Lips asked.

"Well, after much consideration, we realized that there isn't really a rule for how many godparents a kid can have, so we decided to have you both be godparents, along with Janice and Animal, and maybe Clifford if he wants to take the title," Dr. Teeth stated.

Clifford's eyes lit up and he smiled, "Doc, I'd be honored to be a godparent."

Miss Piggy then looked over at Floyd and Lips and said, "Well, what do you know? Turns out you two wasted a few months fighting each other over who would be the kids' godparent only for you both to get the role!"

"Yeah, that was kind of stupid to be at each other's throats over something like that," Floyd said. "Sorry for making a big deal out of it, Lips."

"It's alright, man. I'm sorry for being a jerk too," Lips apologized.

"Good to know you two finally called off your war," Zoot said, smirking.

Animal went up to Zoot, staring at Charlie and said softly, "Baby."

"Yeah, his name's Charlie," Zoot told him.

"Charlie," Animal repeated before putting his arms out.

"You want to hold him?" Zoot asked the drummer.

"Please," Animal said.

"Okay, just use hand sanitizer first. You might have germs on your hand that might make Charlie sick," Zoot said as Animal grabbed the little bottle.

"Hold on a second!" Sam the Eagle shouted. "Is it safe for Animal to handle a newborn infant?"

"Animal is capable of being careful, Sam," Zoot said, glaring at the eagle as he gently put the baby in the red Muppet's arms.

Animal looked down at Charlie and Charlie looked up at him, not at all fazed by Animal's appearance, and shortly after went to sleep.

"Nice baby, good baby," Animal said softly.

"Aw, that's so cute. Floyd, get a picture of this," Janice said.

Zoot then glanced at Sam, giving him the "I told you so" face, which made the eagle Muppet annoyed and look away.

It wasn't long until every Muppet got a chance to hold one or both of the twins, some of them saying how cute they are or making offers on how they'll help with the twins as they grew up in the future.

Needless to say, everyone in the Muppet Boarding House was happy with the two new additions to the Muppet family.

Dr. Teeth pulled Zoot aside at some point and said, "What'd I say? We're all one big family."

Zoot nodded, "One big happy family."

Chapter Text

A few weeks later, Dr. Teeth and Zoot had gotten married. It was a very lovely wedding, but some Muppets, like Miss Piggy, were a bit baffled by some of the Jewish traditions, but they all thought it was great either way.

As the months went by, Zara and Charlie became more aware of their surroundings and showed a little more of their personalities. Zara was mostly quiet and napped a lot, much like Zoot, and Charlie was very excitable and always had a cute smile on his face, like Dr. Teeth.

Also as the months went by, Lips became more off in his usual rhythms. He got tired more easily, sometimes threw up early in the morning, and got extremely moody, like one moment he was calm and happy, then he’d suddenly get a little over-irritated at something, and then burst into tears over something that probably didn’t need crying over. By the time the twins were six months old, he seemed to go back to his usual self.

One night, he and Clifford were out on a date, walking through the city.

“Lovely night,” Clifford stated.

“Yep, sure is,” Lips agreed.

“You’re lovelier though,” Clifford stated, smirking.

Lips blushed, “Thanks.”

Clifford smiled and went on, “Lips, you and I have been together for a while now.”

“Yeah, three years,” Lips stated. “What of it?”

“Well, an idea hit me during Dr. Teeth and Zoot’s wedding,” Clifford said.

“What idea was it?” Lips asked. Then, he stopped in his steps; he felt a weird pain in his abdomen.

Clifford didn’t seem to notice and continued his statement, looking forward, “Well, since we’ve been together for so long, I was thinking we make our relationship final.”

“Final? How so?” Lips asked. Then, he felt another cramp in his stomach. God, what was wrong with him?

“Well, I’m going to tell it to you straight,” Clifford stated. “Lips, don’t you think it’s about time that we got married?”

When he didn’t hear a response, the purple Muppet turned around to face his boyfriend, “Lips?”

At the Muppet Boarding House, Zoot and Dr. Teeth had just put the twins to bed and were chilling in the living room, watching TV as the other Muppets did their own thing.

“Man, these last six months have been great,” Dr. Teeth said. “I can’t believe they’re learning to coo now.”

“Yeah, and Lisa said they’re going to learn how to crawl soon,” Zoot added.

“And when they figure it out, they’re going to be all over the place and we’re going to have to try really hard not to step on them,” Dr. Teeth stated.

Then, the boarding house phone rang, where Pepe went to answer it.

“Hola. Muppet Board-Clifford? Is that you, okay?” the prawn said. “Why are you freaking out? What happened to Lips?”

As soon as he said Lips, Dr. Teeth and Zoot ran into the kitchen, where the keyboardist took the phone from the prawn.

“Clifford, it’s Dr. Teeth. What’s going on over there?” Dr. Teeth asked.

When Clifford spoke, his voice shook, “We were just walking down the sidewalk-Lips and me-and I was talking to him, and when he didn’t respond to something I said, I looked over and he was lying on the ground, clutching his stomach, in pain!”

“Did you get him to a hospital? What’s wrong with him?” Dr. Teeth asked.

“I don’t know!” Clifford shouted. “He’s in a ward here and I’m stuck in the waiting room. I have no idea what they’re doing to him in there and nobody’s telling me anything!”

“Calm down, Clifford! Breathe easy. I’m about to head down right now,” Dr. Teeth said before hanging up the phone.

Zoot looked at his husband and asked, “What’s going on? Clifford sounded like he was freaking out.”

“Something is wrong with Lips. He was feeling a lot of pain in his abdomen and Clifford rushed him to a hospital, but nobody is telling him what’s wrong,” Dr. Teeth explained.

“Oh god, I hope he’s okay,” Zoot replied.

“I’m about to head down to the hospital,” Dr. Teeth stated. “Do you want to come with me?”

“No, I should stay here,” Zoot answered. “The twins might need me.”

“Hold on, Clifford is having a breakdown, okay?” Pepe asked the musician.

“I guess that’s one way to describe how he is right now,” Dr. Teeth said.

“Oh, this is no good. I better tag along with you, okay,” Pepe said before running off to grab his jacket.

“I better tell Green Stuff what’s going on,” Dr. Teeth said, before kissing Zoot on the cheek. “I’ll see you later.”

“Call us when you get news on what happened to Lips,” Zoot said.

After Dr. Teeth found Kermit and explained to him what happened, he grabbed the keys to the Mayhem bus and went out the front door. He found Pepe, Rizzo, Gonzo and Floyd waiting for him on the porch.

“Pepe told us what happened,” Gonzo explained. “So we’re coming too, to help Clifford stay calm.”

“And Lips is our friend, so we have a right to know what’s going on with him,” Rizzo added.

“Janice is keeping an eye on Animal while I’m out,” Floyd stated. “We’re trying to avoid telling him what’s wrong with Lips or he might demand to come too. I want to be one of the first people to hear about his condition.”

“Okay, let’s go,” Dr. Teeth said.

About ten minutes later, the group arrived at the hospital, where they both ran inside. Dr. Teeth went up to the receptionist’s desk and asked, “Is there someone named Lips checked in?”

“Yes, but he’s with the doctors now,” the receptionist stated. “You’re going to have to wait in the waiting area like his partner is.”

The group looked over at the waiting room to see the only person present was Clifford. He was shaking uncontrollably and his sunglasses were gone, showing his very wide and distressed eyes.

Rizzo ran up to him and said, “We’re here for you, man.”

“Thanks Riz,” Clifford replied. “God, I’m so worried about Lips. I don’t think I’ve ever been this stressed about anything in my entire life.”

“It’s because you love him that you’re so worried about him,” Dr. Teeth stated, sitting next to the purple Muppet.

“Man, what if something is seriously wrong with him? Like he might die or something?” Clifford asked.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Gonzo said. “For now, let’s just try to relax and wait for results.”

Two hours went by and during that time, the six Muppets tried to stay calm and be patient:

Rizzo and Gonzo did their best to keep Clifford calm, though every now and then, Gonzo struck up a conversation with a nurse or doctor he’s encountered in the past due to his stunts many mishaps; Pepe flirted with the female nurses, who mostly ignored him; Floyd paced around the room, staring at his phone every now and then to either check the time or respond to a text from Janice; and Dr. Teeth sat silently in a chair, staring at the clock hanging on the wall.

Finally, a doctor approached the small group and asked, “Which one of you is Clifford?”

Clifford immediately stood up and stated, “That’d be me.”

“Come with me,” the doctor said, leading the purple Muppet through a pair of doors.

They walked down the hall, where Clifford said, “Give it to me straight, doc. Is Lips going to be okay?”

“He’ll be fine,” the doctor answered, prompting Clifford to sigh in relief. “He just needed a special kind of surgery to help with what was wrong with him, and he’ll have to stay here for a few days.”

As soon as he said surgery, Clifford’s anxiety got the better of him again, prompting him to ask, “Surgery?! For what?”

“You’ll see,” the doctor replied.

He eventually led Clifford too a door, where he cracked it open a little and said, “He’s outside.”

Clifford heard Lips’ voice say, “Send him in.”

Clifford practically ran into the ward, ready to bombard Lips with questions regarding what had happened to him, when he froze mid-step.

Lying in the hospital bed was Lips, wearing the hospital clothing patients usually wore, which Clifford expected. What he didn’t expect was to see was Lips holding a small blue bundle that squirmed in his arms a little.

Clifford slowly walked over to Lips, where he peered into the bundle to see what Lips was holding.

Inside the blue blanket was a newborn Muppet baby! It had a similar face to Lips, only smaller, more round and lacking a goatee, and instead of blonde hair, it had purple-magenta hair like Clifford did!

“You...you had a baby,” Clifford said, staring at the infant wide-eyed.

Lips smiled at his boyfriend and said, “We had a baby. It’s a boy.”

“Whoa…” Clifford said, not taking his eyes off his new son.

“I didn’t even know I was pregnant, which makes sense since I’m not exactly the thin type,” Lips stated. “It could kind of explain why I’ve been off for a while, like the dizziness, the sickness, the mood swings, you know.”

“So...have you thought up any names for this little guy,” Clifford said, reaching his hand out and using his finger to brush against his son’s cheek.

“Do you have any ideas?” Lips asked.

Clifford was silent for a few moments before saying, “Lio.”

“Lio?” Lips replied, a little surprised. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice name, but I thought you would’ve wanted to name him Kevin or Steve after one of our human friends.”

“Lips! You’re suggesting that like they’re dead!” Clifford exclaimed. “They’re not dead, they’re just retired so there’s no real point in honoring them.”

“True,” Lips agreed. “But still, a little nod to one of them would be nice.”

“Maybe Lio’s middle name could be one of their names,” Clifford suggested. “Which sounds better? Lio Kevin or Lio Steven?”

Lips thought for a moment before answering, “Lio Kevin honestly. It sounds better. Maybe cause L and K are right next to each other in the alphabet.”

“Yeah, Kevin would be a good middle name,” Clifford agreed. “So, should we introduce him to some of the guys now or when you’re out of here?”

“Who’s here?” Lips asked.

“Dr. Teeth, Floyd, Gonzo, Rizzo and Pepe,” Clifford stated.

“Yeah, that’s a good audience for Lio’s first public appearance,” Lips said, handing the baby to Clifford.

Clifford looked down at his son and said, “Well little guy. Get ready to meet your Muppet uncles.”

He carried Lio out of the room and took him down to the waiting room, where the others were waiting. Gonzo was the first to notice him and was about to ask how Lips was when he noticed the baby in Clifford’s arms, where he exclaimed, “Whoa!”

The other four looked over at Clifford, where all their jaws dropped open. Floyd ran over to Clifford and got a look at the baby, where he said, “Well, that explains why Lips had been acting weird for the past few months. Congrats Clifford!”

“Dios mio! Everyone is having babies, okay!” Pepe exclaimed.

“I’ll say, me and Camilla need to catch up,” Gonzo added. “Ever since she saw Zara and Charlie, she’s been talking about having chicks.”

“Well, welcome to fatherhood, Clifford,” Dr. Teeth said, patting his friend on the back. “So, what’s the little dude’s name?”

“First name Lio, middle name Kevin,” Clifford answered. “God, I can’t believe this actually happened! I’m still in a little shock about it, but it’s a happy sort of shock.”

“Looks like Zara and Charlie are going to have a friend,” Rizzo said.

“And maybe when they’re way older, Zara and Lio will date,” Pepe added, laughing.

“No, I don’t think so,” Dr. Teeth replied.

“What? You don’t want to become in-laws, Doc?” Clifford asked the keyboardist, mocking hurt.

“Sorry Cliff, I didn’t mean to cause offense,” Dr. Teeth said. “I think it’s a father thing to become over-protective of my daughter.”

“So, guess this means you and Lips will get married, right?” Floyd asked Clifford.

“Well, I was planning to propose, but then Lips went into labor I guess,” Clifford said. “Man, the others are going to freak when they see us bring this little guy home.”

“While I’m glad you have a son now, Clifford, and that new life is coming into the world, I think we need a new boarding house rule, okay,” Pepe stated.

“What rule is that going to be?” Clifford asked.

“If you have intercourse, get tested for pregnancy two weeks later,” Pepe said. “That way we won’t have to deal with anymore little surprises, okay.”

“So Floyd, when are you going to acquire the cool parent title?” Dr. Teeth asked Floyd.

“Probably after me and Janice get married,” Floyd stated. “I’d rather go with the usual ‘marriage first, having kids second’ plan than ‘having surprise kids first, marriage second’ plan.”

“Hey man, it’s not like we knew our guys would have babies!” Clifford argued.

“Are we even going to talk about how this even happened?” Rizzo asked Gonzo.

“Don’t worry, it’s a Muppet story,” Gonzo stated. “We’re not very big on logic.”