Heather sat quietly in modest room that was across the hall from where her and Jeremy's room was. October had arrived, and reports on things in Dino City regarding Covid remained decent and the city government in Glen Rose had been surprisingly cooperative in working local mask-mandates and other related actions, which in the area was helping curb some of the spread, even if much of the rest of the state was still staggering through increasing numbers. That was all good for Halloween that was coming up, as people from Glen Rose often did come into Dino City to go trick or treating or have fun with whatever "scare" the city wanted to give as a "show," and it would be a shame if things went bad around the two towns.
That in theory was enough to let Heather resume her work designing the advertisements Horizon would use for conversions and the sale of the Animalia serum. It was commissioned work and wasn't much, but Jeremy was doing well running the Horizon Office in Dino City and covering a lot of the research and was financially secure that way, which was good. And in theory when she worked in the studio that Horizon had incorporated into the Dino City Horizon Labs office, she could enjoy lunch with Jeremy and see on what they were working on, but things like the pandemic had changed that. Her employment wasn't ended and Horizon even commissioned her to put out some ad material that would try to help people get the new vaccines, both those for Humans and Animalians, and a lot of that let her work from home, which was nice as the room across from her and Jeremy's room was open. It also gave her time to work on some other pet projects to see if they would sell. Some had worked out okay, though others ended up as gifts sent to friends that had helped her and Jeremy. Thus now, with the pandemic easing in Dino City and Glen Rose, she could return to the office.
A series of chirping calls from across the hallway, sounding a like a cross between a bird and a baby alligator soon got her up to check on the source of the noise, which was why she was still working from home. She quietly padded her way over to a crib that was along the wall and underneath the window that would look over to the house where her grandmother Tyra lived with her husband Rex. The chirps seemed to come faster.
"So... what do you two darlings want?" Heather asked in a friendly tone as she looked in to see two baby Syntixisaurus Dinotopians laying on their backs and looking up to her with open eyes and with their tails wiggling a bit as the two squirmed while making those chirps.
More chirps followed, and Heather lowered her muzzle to get a better sense of things. As like all infants they needed feeding and diaper changes, and had a sleep schedule that was very different from her and Jeremy's, and as a first time parents, the two of them were still learning. Thankfully she couldn't smell anything that would indicate they needed a diaper change, though she also did do an investigative lift and both were clean and dry. She then offered them one finger, as she'd found that while they'd hatched without any teeth, which Jeremy figured some of the unique and puzzling results from the Dinotopian strains of the Animalia Virus had resulted in that while other reptile and fish Animalians that hatched from eggs KEPT their teeth as hatchlings, Jeremy and Heather's would have no teeth as infants and they would grow in baby teeth as they got older, like Humans and mammal based Animalians. Heather didn't understand the theory, but so long as they were thought to be healthy, that was all that mattered, not to mention that it made nursing them easier.
However, neither infant opened their mouth to gum the offered finder and their eyes looked more up to her. And the chirps continued. It left Heather unable to not smile, as they both looked adorable as little Syntixisaurus hatchlings. At the moment, they largely had the same coloration as her and Jeremy, and as infants lacked the secondary sexual characteristics that she and Jeremy had. Blood tests determined that one, always kept in a blue diaper, was male whom they named Mason and the other, always kept in a pink diaper, was female that they named Anna-Poly. The other thing that was of note was that certain other features that Heather and Jeremy had weren't fully formed...
Thanks to Heather's previous actions that related to her essentially playing to a hoax with various random fossils, Syntixisaurus was a hybrid of Tyrannosaurus Rex, Carnotaurus, and one unknown Sauropod, that wasn't from a species that Dino City had. Though, comparative testing indicated that despite technically being a hybrid, so much of the Syntixisaurus genome was carrying Tyrannosaurus DNA in it, mostly by comparing samples from Tyra, Jeremy, and Heather to Rex, that Syntixisaurus could be considered a subspecies of Tyrannosaurus. Heather knew that this was what allowed her grandmother and Rex to start a family of their own, and they were happy. Though their two hatchlings, both males, had fewer Syntixisaurus features and more Tyrannosaurus features, showing the "dominance" between the two. Heather and Jeremy's hatchlings were pure Syntixisaurus Dinotopians. But for the moment, some of the features that Heather and Jeremy had weren't prominent. Both of them had Carnotaurus style horns that rose up from above the eye, but on the two hatchlings, this feature was little more than tiny nubs in the same spot. Heather also thought their eyes were bigger, and they focused on her as she looked down on them and continued to chirp.
"You're just wanting attention, aren't you?" Heather asked as they continued to chirp.
She carefully lifted each out of the crib and nestled them in her arms so that their heads were supported and there was no risk of falling. Both continued to chirp while nuzzling their heads into Heather's bicep, and she looked down on them as she thought back on a month before... when they hatched.
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"It's probably quite normal that Jonah and Manuel would have some feathers to them," Jeremy commented as Tyra presented the newly hatched and named infants for Tyra and Rex Ramos, "Syntixisaurus is a sub-species of Tyrannosaur based on the genetic build that Horizon was able to check. From there things would simply go on how your genes and Rex's genes combined.
Tyra was a bit nervous in that, while her hatchlings had large scales over the eyes, they didn't rise into the nubs that could one day grow into the horns that Tyra, Heather, and Jeremy had. They also had some differences in their hands. Jonah, whom Rex was showing to Heather had four fingers, counting the thumb, like a Syntixisaurus. Manuel, who was in Tyra's arms, only had three fingers, like Rex as a Tyrannosaurus Dinotopian. The biggest thing was that both hatchlings had a very thin layer of downy feathers, actually much thinner than Rex's coat and covered even less of their bodies than Rex's feathers did by comparison showing some of the results of their parentage.
"And their lack of teeth?" Tyra wondered, "all the baby fish and reptile Animalians that have teeth and hatch from eggs kept their teeth!"
"I think that's more an odd thing with the nature of the Animalia Virus," Jeremy answered, "For Humans largely keep their hair when they become Animalians... Dinotopians, however, LOSE their Human hair in the transformation... and is something where pretty much every Dinotopian has some direct Human DNA in them, as with the exception of those birds that Doctor Ramos helped uplift in Lyre to help Sophie with regard to her pet Dinotopians started as Humans. So... maybe, like Humans, they'll be toothless for a while and then grow baby teeth."
"That sounds logical," Rex commented as he approached with Heather following, "and is probably the best to go on."
"Hopefully you're right," Tyra answered, "I wouldn't want these two cute little hatchlings to not be heathy..."
"They'll be fine, Tyra," Heather said to her grandmother, "but you are right... they are cute. Hopefully Jeremy's and mine will hatch soon."
"You'll hear a chirping sort of sound when they're ready," Tyra answered, "deeper than a bird's but still a sort of chirp."
"Probably a cross between what we'd know from birds and baby crocodilians," Jeremy commented, just in time for a soft "chirp" to be heard coming from the master bedroom. Which brought a smile to Tyra's face.
"And there they go..." Tyra smiled.
The group slowly made their way to the master bedroom, and there, near the wall by the bed was a large sized incubator that was running with a steady hum and kept Heather's eggs warm. For the moment they lay still, but there was what sounded like a series of chirps coming from within the eggs. Heather watched with eager attention that she barely felt Jeremy's hand resting on her shoulder as she watched one egg begin to roll slightly in the spot where it lay, soon to be joined by the other. It was only then that she heard Jeremy say softly.
"I think we can remove the lid," Jeremy spoke and moved around her to turn off the incubator and then removed the largely clear plastic lid from its spot over the two eggs.
They started to rock a little bit more and more chirps were heard coming from within the eggs. Then it wasn't long before a series of small cracks began to form in the egg shell, and they opened with a very audible cracking sound. The cracks were small and came out from one point before one egg pushed outward and one scaled head pushed the egg forward and could be visible for a moment. Heather watched the hatchling's eyes blink before the head fell back down into the egg, though chirping with exertion as it did so. It wasn't long after that two feet finished breaking open the egg shell and the new hatchling could let its tail uncurl and it chirped for attention and in an almost frantic manner, with its cries sounding almost a cross between the chirp of a baby alligator and a Human infant's wail. It wasn't long before the other infant managed to crawl out from its egg, kicking the broken shell from the incubator and joining its sibling.
"Towels we need towels!" Jeremy stated and rushed around the bed and went into the master bathroom. He returned with one of the bath towels that he and Heather used after a shower and carefully wrapped the firs infant in it. It continued to cry, but at a lower rate as it was held. Jeremy repeated this process with the other one as well.
"What gender do you think they are?" Heather asked to Jeremy, missing just which towels Jeremy had used.
"I don't know," Jeremy spoke, "all our equipment is internal... much like the bird and reptile Animalians. And these two are obviously too young to have the secondary sexual characteristics that all Animalians have."
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"Yes, you're dad is funny," Heather said to her two hatchlings, her son and daughter, "using our bathroom towels after you hatched... but know that he loves you. He may not always sound confident... but he loves you. And so do I."
Anna-Poly and Mason only chirped in response and snuggled into Heather's biceps, loving the attention and being close to her. They had some degree of mobility, similar to how various ground nesting birds could walk fairly quickly after hatching, but they liked being with their parents, regardless of whether it was Heather or Jeremy. And while Jeremy still had his moments of being nervous about being a good parent, seeing them nuzzle him and feeling them nuzzle her at present... was something that made her happy, and largely pleased with staying home. She could be with them and work on her art at the same time... and she loved it.