Author's note: Hey dudes and dudettes, I'm so sorry that this has taken me so long. I started a new job and it's been a bit hectic but since bugs seem to love me, I've gotten sick so I figured I'd work on this, slowly but surely. Thanks heaps for all the follows and favourites and the couple of reviews, I hope you guys like what I've come up with, enjoy. P.S. I don't think I have to say that I'm not a dinosaur expert but just in case…I am not a dinosaur expert.

The New Baby – Chapter 6

Working at the dig site is a lot weirder than it used to be, since I've seen these animals alive but I can't deny the passion that Alan has for his work…reminds me a bit of Owen and Barry.

We're working on a raptor skull at the moment and comparing it to another skull that we already have. We found them in the same spot and Alan thinks they're the same age but…this skull is different. I get an intern to help me to put the skull on a stand while they work on the lower jaw and I examine it closely.

Yep, sure enough, there're differences, "Hey Alan! You gotta see this!" I call out, not looking away.

I hear the groan as he stands up and his footsteps, "What is it, the skull damaged?" he asks, finally reaching me.

I shake my head, "Look here" I tell him, running my finger along the bone, "There're deviations, as though this raptor had a different look. And before you start, I'm well away that raptors did have feathers and that the park deliberately made the girls not have feathers but this is different." I emphasise it by putting some up close scans on my laptop and he looks at it all.

He hums, rubbing his face, "It looks similar to something I've seen before in juveniles. They had marks like these as they matured but this is a full grown raptor" he muses and I let out a breath, not knowing either. He clears his throat, "I'm going to call someone, see if they'd be willing to help" he says before he walks off.

I roll my eyes and call out as he leaves, "Tell Ellie I said hi!"

O~O~O

An hour later I have to stop the snigger when Alan asks me, "Want to tag along? Going to see Ellie."

I raise an eyebrow and smirk in silent smugness but I get my gear together, including the skull – putting it in a very padded bag.

Alan drives and I ride shotgun, playing with my hair, "I think I'm going to cut my hair" I muse out loud.

He huffs out a laugh, "I'm the last person to talk to about fashion or hair" he comments.

I have to give him that, letting the car ride fall into silence. I think I will cut my hair though, maybe I'll crop it so it's around my ears, that'd be cute, short wavy hair.

O~O~O

Alan taps my shoulder when we get to Ellie's house, breaking me from my thoughts and he helps me take all the stuff up to the house. We don't even have to knock, she just opens the door and chats with Alan as she leads us into her little office area. I hear that her husband has taken the kids out for the day, boys day out so that's really why she let us bring a skull into her house.

We're introduced and I show her what I found. It's really cool, watching her mind work, you can see the gears turning, "It's like…I don't know, a gradual thing. These didn't happen overnight" she thinks out loud.

I go a step further, "And they're not scars from an attack, they look like a more advanced version of the feathering, which would suggest a gender difference but we're pretty sure that these are both female…were female" I correct myself.

She smiles kindly at me, "Yeah they were both female, we learned how to tell male and female skulls apart years ago" she agrees, and then she chews on her lip, "But what you said interests me, 'a more advanced version'."

Alan rubs his brow, "They died at the same time so how would one be that advanced from the other?" he proposes and we all think.

I walk around the office, letting the two of them bounce ideas and theories off of each other. I pick up a book and flick through it, it's about reptiles and I check out one type of snake, not really reading the information but one particular thing jumps out and I go back to the two doctors and slam the book down.

I point to the page, "Maturity, what if it's a sign of maturity" I say and they stand on either side of me as I look to the page and point out the different pictures. "As snakes mature, they shed their skin, everyone knows that but look here, at six months of age, the skin pattern changes one this particular type of snake when it sheds and it signals sexual maturity."

Ellie nods, "So what if the feathering was a sign that this female was ready to mate?" she finishes for me and gesture to her in agreement.

Alan hums in thought, "It would make sense, all animals show physical signs when they're ready to reproduce, even humans, it's not too far off really."

My mind goes back to the girls: Blue, Delta, Echo and Charlie, in the short time that I was there, Charlie – the youngest sister – changed as she finished growing and she fully matured.

I raise my head and look at the roof, "Yeah, it's a sign of maturity" I say with conviction before I let out a breath and look at the skull again.

Ellie leans against the desk and bites her lip, "Something jog your memory?" she encourages.

I sigh and look at her, "One of the raptors that I was working with, her body did something similar, as she grew and developed, even though she hasn't grown too much in the time I've known her, the pigment of her skin became more vibrant. She would probably be ready to mate if there were male raptors around" I say and she nods with my words.

"Well" she says with a slightly strained smile, "You would know a little more than me when it comes to live raptors" she manages to get out and I shuffle under her gaze, suddenly feeling unwelcome.

I'm saved by my phone and I mutter, "Excuse me" as I head out to the front yard and answer my phone, "Hello?"

"Miss Tigwell" is the response and I recognise the voice, one of the big bosses.

"Hello Sir, what can I do for you?" I ask him, briefly glancing at Allan and Ellie.

He sounds pretty happy, "Just checking up, and wondering when you'll be returning to the park. Or rather if you'll be returning to the park" he tells me.

I let out a breath and go with my gut, "Yes Sir, I will be returning to the park" I say, my eyes closed as I listen to the words that just came out of my mouth, "Most likely at the end of this week, so I can get the ferry" I decide then and there.

I can hear the smile in his voice, "Fantastic, I'll make sure they have a seat for you" and then he hangs up…nice.

O~O~O

The day before I go back, I head down to the hairdresser and I tell her what I want. Three hours and a decent amount of money later, my hair is cut to my ears and accented with dark blue, green a bit of black and a few speckles of sandy yellow.

I love it, and to be fair, I chose the colours that match the girls, if I'm going back, I want to show them that I'm not a baby anymore.

Allan doesn't seem to get it but I do, that's all that matters, and he gives me a ride to the ferry despite my crazy new hair.

O~O~O

The ferry ride is…kinda boring and I end up sleeping for most of the way, and taking ocean pictures for the rest of the way. When it docks, I see that there is a jeep waiting for me and a crewman helps me load up all my stuff and waves me off as I drive to the enclosure, noting how a few things have been re-built and some trees have been cleared, a construction crew is working in a far paddock, maybe that's the open run area for the girls.

Just as I remember, I hear the girls before I see them but Owen and Barry aren't here. I check my room and it's exactly the same, evidence of the boys' breakfast so they might be at the control centre.

I sigh deeply, gently touching my necklace, "Well, guess I better see if the girls still like me."

I head out to the gate and use my whistle to call to them. They freeze, turn and see me in my denim shorts, crop top and newly cut hair. I look a bit different and I hope they think I'm mature, otherwise this won't work, my gamble won't work.

They run my way, looking happy enough so I bite the bullet and put my hand through the bars. They don't bite it off like I thought they might, they nuzzle it like they used to so I go in, securing the gate as always and I start playing with them, touching them as they rub their heads against me – to get the pack scent back on me. I head butt them as best I can, being a little rougher than I used to but they seem to love it and I have to roll out of the way of a friendly pounce, jumping in the air as high as I can before sprinting around and getting them to chase me before I turn and chase them.

They chirp and purr happily as we play in the sun, my own laughter joining them as the realisation hits me like a ton of bricks…I'm home, with these gorgeous animals, and I missed them so much more than I ever thought I would.

O~O~O

We curl up together in the shade and they don't stop with their gentle talking, as though they're telling me everything that I missed. Charlie is in the middle of the pile and I'm on the edge, leaning on Delta and I smile, not only from their chittering and chirps and purrs but because I'm not in the middle. I'm not in the middle.

They all watch me and when I can get a word in, I talk to them and tell them where I went and what I did, laughing at a few of their expressions as I do. But we look up at the sound of a jeep, heading to the gate when we hear Owen and Barry.

I push through them playfully and exit the enclosure before I round the corner, "Hey boys, nice to see this place still standing" I tease.

Barry laughs and swings me into a hug, "You actually came back!"

I giggle and nod, hugging him back, "Yeah" I reply, all I can really manage to say, feeling overcome all of a sudden.

He puts me down and looks at me, "You cut your hair…and the colours, how long have you had your hair this way?" he asks me.

"Not that long, I thought it might be a nice change" I tell him before I hug him again, realising that I've missed him.

When we pull apart, Barry sneaks away and leaves me alone with Owen. I let out a nervous breath, he looks good, "Hey Alpha" I greet softly.

He gives me a half-smile, looking…I don't know, unsure, "Hey Sirenna."

I duck my head a bit, not having expected that, "How's things been? I thought I saw some construction crews" I offer as a topic of conversation.

He motions to the buggy so I walk to it as he does, I get into shotgun and he drives, "I'll show you, it's the new open run area for the girls, try and give them a bit of freedom within reason."

We drive slowly, "How have you been Owen?" I ask him, my voice gentle.

He sighs heavily, "Been thinking a bit, girls have been sulking, Claire's definitely not coming back – she's taken a job closer to her sister – and Barry has framed all those portraits that you drew" he tells me, glancing my way.

I smile at that, "I was wondering if you two had looked at them, always forgot to show you." He swallows and I can see the tension on him and I chew on my lip, "Owen, we have to talk" I end up saying, not baring it anymore.

He pulls off to the side of the road, "Yeah, that would probably be a good idea." I wring my hands in front of me and he starts, turning his body to face me, "Look, I have no idea what I'm feeling, things have really been hectic and I get that you want to have an answer but I just don't have one."

I nod slowly, "I don't think I have one either. I've acknowledged that there is something there but…" I shrug, "Will it become something, I don't know. I just know that I missed you and Barry and the girls and this crazy island…" I pause, take a deep breath and ask, "Do you think we could try and just…do our jobs? To look after the girls, train them, keep them happy?"

He gives me a soft smile, "Yeah, sounds like a good plan…you need a new nickname though" he tells me, totally left field. "You don't look like a hatchling anymore."

I chuckle lightly, "How about Siren?" I offer before falling into giggles at his expression but just like that, the ice melts and he laughs with me.

"Smart ass Army brat" he says to me, no heat whatsoever in his words before he starts the buggy again and drives at a more normal pace towards the new construction.

O~O~O

This new area looks really cool, I mean it's huge! What they've decided to do, is have a big electronic fence cut across a portion of paddock. Which paddock, I honestly don't know, I'm not sure which sector this is in but the idea seems to be a good one. The thing with the fence, is that it'll allow the herbivores to travel through the area as they always have, but the idea is that it'll emit a frequency that will irritate the girls. Irritate, not hurt and therefore deter them from going any further.

Owen seems happy with how things are going and he feels like the girls won't go too far anyway when we bring them out here but I'll admit that it feels really nice to be back in a groove and surrounded by people who don't think I'm crazy. I'm excited to get back to work with the girls.

Author's note: This is so short and I'm really sorry but this sickness is really knocking the energy out of me and all I want to do is sleep right now. But I hope that you enjoyed the update nonetheless and like how I've directed it. I don't think there will be too many more chapters, I feel like this is coming to an end and I need to stop. Fingers crossed that I can get out two, maybe three more chapters and that I can come up with an ending that is good enough. Anyway, I need to go, take the medication that my doctor gave me for this virus, bug thing and get some sleep. Until next time, Bye.