"Oh my god! Millie, look!" exclaimed Cindy as she grabbed her friend's arm; her voice cracking due to her sheer exuberance. "You gotta see this!"

"What? What is it?" responded Millicent. Her eyes turning quickly towards the open ocean; scanning the vast blue sea in search of the thing that piqued her friend's interest and seeing only undisturbed water as far as the eye could see. "What am I looking at?"

Cindy stated her answer in a very animated tone. "There's a seagull out on the water. Isn't that awesome!?"

Millicent quickly scanned the horizon again. This time, she spotted a lone seagull bobbing about in the water; looking lethargic and obviously bored. Millicent was unimpressed.

"Cindy, are you going to be like this the whole time we're here?" queried Millicent to her feline friend. Her left eyebrow cocked indignantly.

"Like what?" asked Cindy with a genuinely confused look. "I don't..." Cindy quickly paused as she noticed something behind Millicent. Her eyes lit up and immediately grew to the size of saucers. An excited grin exploded onto her face. Whatever she saw, Cindy was obviously happy to see it.

"OH MY GOD!" shrieked Cindy ecstatically. "THEY HAVE SMOOTHIES!!!"

Cindy then took off, giggling girlishly as she ran. "Hey! Wait a minute!" declared Millicent as her friend sprinted past her, towards a small outdoor cafe with the words "Smoothie Pavilion" painted on a sign attached to the roof. Millicent tried to stop her, but her heavily laden belly prevented her from doing so.

"Well," stated Millicent to herself as she watched her friend bound joyfully into the Smoothie Pavilion. "I guess that answers my question."

Millicent was starting to wonder why she had even brought her along in the first place. The Summer Beach Event seemed like it was going to be a pretty fun time for her and Cindy. All future mothers-to-be and their mates, spouses, friends and family were all invited to stay at a beautiful beach resort, absolutely free of charge. What with the entire event being paid for by Ovum Amp, a fertility drug company famous (or rather infamous) for its incredible results.

But with Cindy being the gigantic spaz that she was, it seemed like Millicent was going to be spending most of her time as a babysitter rather than actually doing anything even remotely entertaining. Cindy was easily excited, had an attention span that was practically nonexistent (even when compared to that of a gold fish), and Millicent was pretty sure that if she ever gave Cindy a handful of pixie sticks, she'd explode into a gargantuan mushroom cloud.

Heck, a while back, Millicent was even surprised to learn that Cindy was actually going to be a mother. Granted, Cindy wasn't going to have anywhere near as many children as she was (Millicent was currently carrying eight buns in her oven, as compared to Cindy's measly one). But the very idea that Cindy was even breeding was more than enough to send chills down Millicent's spine. It was bad enough that she had to deal with one hyperactive catgirl virtually every day, now she was going to have to deal with two of them? On a regular basis? Nonstop?

Truly, it was a terrifying idea.

Anyway, after a few moments of quiet introspection, Millicent noticed Cindy coming out of the Smoothie Pavilion from the corner of her eye. And carrying a couple of styrofoam cups that could have easily been mistaken for buckets. She watched as her friend bounded back to her, astonished by the fact that Cindy didn't topple herself over from all that bouncing she was doing while carrying her heavy load. "Hey Millie," stated Cindy with a smile that spanned from ear to ear. "I got you a smoothie. Its banana, strawberry and kiwi. I hope you like it!" Cindy then placed one of the styrofoam buckets into her friend's hands. A very surprised look sprawled itself across Millicent's face as she stared at the largest smoothie she had ever seen.

"Cindy," said Millicent as she began to blush profusely. "There has to be like two gallons here. How am I supposed to drink all this?" "Oh! That's easy!" declared Cindy excitedly, knowing the answer. "You drink it with a straw!" She then quickly produced a straw, seemingly out of thin air, and then stabbed it into the puréed concoction she had given her friend just moments ago.

For a brief moment, Millicent's already red cheeks had become even redder. But after that, she began to laugh. And quite liberally at that.

"Yeah, I suppose I can," giggled Millicent to her friend after spending several moments trying to compose herself. She just remembered why she wanted Cindy to come with her to the event. Even if she was an overactive spaz and a bit much to handle at times, she was still a sweet person and she always made her laugh. Even if it was purely unintentional.

"C'mon," stated Millicent with a smile. "Let's go see what the boys are up to." She then turned and began walking towards the hotel. She thought Cindy's little joke was hilarious and she wanted to share it with her husband, Rudy.

"Okay!" declared Cindy eagerly. "I hope Miles didn't superglue himself to the ceiling again, like he did yesterday."

Millicent rolled her eyes as she smiled and shook her head. Miles was Cindy's husband, and much like Cindy, he was a bit of a spaz too. Needless to say, both Cindy and Miles were quite the handful. But if Millicent and Rudy could deal with them on a daily basis, then raising eight kids was gonna be a snap. For the time being though, it was time to go back to the hotel.

With things starting out on such a good note, this Summer Beach Event was looking to be a lot more promising.

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artwork and characters copyright SatsumaLord
background image copyright its original owner