I do not own Invader Zim okay? Sorry for the long wait on the update on this one here. I cannot apologize enough for the late update. Anyway, here it is: the long awaited update to Cat’s in the Cradle. I am so ashamed I waited so long for this update. Okay, enough with this A/N, on with the fic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do not fear dear readers wherever you are, come hell or high water, I am finishing this fic and all of my fics, so do not fret, you will know the ending I have had planned since I first started them! Okay, enough of this PS A/N, on with the fic!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (For real this time!)

T.J. was looking at the picture he had from his date with Penelope at Coney Island during Spring Break. Ever since their first date a year ago, they grew closer and closer ever since. There were few girls like her in the world that would mean more to him than science could ever could. If I ever lose this girl, I swear, I will not want to work anymore. Why would I want to make the world a better place if I lose my world? He often made trips to Penelope’s dorm for some private time together that was often called ‘tutoring by Hawstein’s assistant’. Many of the students at NYU were getting ready for the finals before they had to go home for the summer. This was the time where he was going to need to help Penelope with her Biology 101 class work, but he would also have to help her with the studying for finals for all her other classes as well. T.J. looked at the picture of him and Penelope at Coney Island eating a hot dog and drinking Poop colas as well. He smiled at the picture and put it back in his wallet and walked down to the women’s dormitory in hopes he would find Penelope there.

He packed a few last textbooks into his backpack and headed to the dorm awaiting Penelope. As Hawstein’s assistant, many people were asking him what was on the finals, but he stood firm in the idea, that no one would get to see the test before Hawstein issued it. The only one who was going to was going to be Penelope. I want her to succeed. I want her to stand by my side as one of the world’s most renowned pediatricians. I love her and I do not want to see her sad nor does she deserve to miss out because of how she was brought up and where she is from. Penny, Suddenly an image of a really really pissed off Penelope came into mind, ready to smack him upside the head and he shuddered. I mean Penelope, I should make note of that unless I want to be whopmed like Danni did to me at graduation… With this horrible memory of his sister 12 years younger than him beating the living daylights out of him, he found Penelope’s dorm room number. The past was past and he was heading on with his future. He knocked on the door to Penelope’s dorm room and sighed.

“Hello?” A girl said as she looked at the peephole of the door.

“Hi!” T.J. said as he wiped his sweat off his face gulping. Penelope had told him that her roommate Karin hated Hawstein’s class. She was an Anthropology major and she hated Hawstein with a passion. T.J was just as bad as Hawstein in her eyes. What made her want to shoot T.J with her father’s Police revolver was that he was going after her best friend Penelope. “Is Penn-I mean Penelope there?”

“Who are you? State your purpose for visit!” The girl said with a rather spiteful eye to the peephole that T.J. was feeling the piercing stare of Penelope’s roommate. Shit, it just had to be her! T.J thought.

“I am…” Quick, think of a false name! She can’t know who I am and why I am really here! T.J gulped as he stared at the door knowing Karin was staring right back.

“You are…?” Karin prompted. She then reached to a baseball bat she kept in her room to ward off intruders. “You had better tell me or else I am calling campus security!”

Be generally specific! Don’t say your name, just why you are here! T.J. thought as he gulped and cleared his windpipe and said, “I am one of the student helpers Hawstein arranged for to help those who asked for it in his class the other day.” Karin is in Penelope’s class dumbass! Hawstein never really said anything about student helpers! He said he recommended that if you having trouble you should ask a student who is not! T.J’s mind reminded him ever so readily, getting ready to be beaten up by another girl younger than him.

“Huh.” Karin said as she wrapped her hand around the baseball bat. “I didn’t hear about any student helpers assigned by Hawstein.”

“Well pardon me if you spend all your time telling Penelope about coagulated cow’s blood delicacies of the Nuer tribe in Africa instead of paying attention to the much more important mitosis and meiosis and the differences! I mean everyone got the vocabulary quiz right on those except for you!” T.J. yelled to the door.

There is only one person besides Hawstein that would ask for Penelope AND know the results to last week’s vocabulary quiz-That damn Membrane! Karin thought as she wrapped her hand firmly on the bat and opened the door. No one insulted her Anthropology studies and lived to tell about it. “That’s it!” Karin yelled as she opened the door, in full Celtic battle style, with a baseball bat she had to use on New York University’s intramural spring baseball team. “You are going to pay, you narrow-minded, beaker –huffing, perfectly-super-glued haired, sucking Hawstein’s dickhead, asswipe , demon child of Sin City’s only pastor, Mustang driving, perverted city slicker tainting an innocent and pure hearted girl, baby boomer ABBA blaring pathetic man!” Karin yelled swinging the bat at T.J’s head as he ducked and hid behind the plant in the hall.

“Let me explain, Simmons is the one that blares ABBA not me! I’m more of a Led Zeppelin man!” T.J. yelled as he saw a few other girls peer their heads out the window to see Karin beat up a Professor’s assistant.

“Ha ha ha. You are more of a Led Zeppelin man. I would think you would like that Cat’s in the Cradle song. The silver spoon one. Seems more like you.” Karin said.

T.J. got up from the plant and looked around. He pulled off his gloves and got ready to smack Karin upside the head and get his point across. He had had just about enough from her and he was ready to fight her once and for all. He was trying to help Penelope study for the hardest test Professor Hawstein was about to give out and she was not going to fail if he could help it. In fact, the reason Hawstein had T.J. take through notes of each class was so he could write the finals for him while Hawstein worked on some of his latest projects. He wasn’t going to tell it to Karin, but how he really planned to help her study is have her take the final from the original copy he had written then T.J. would correct it and have her fix her own errors, when she was correcting, Penelope was going to be able to do it open book. However, she was to tell no one that she saw the final before anyone else. He looked back at Karin and knew what Penelope was going to have to deny her if she kept up the act she was doing now. As the next swing from a girl who thought she was a Celtic warrior princess with a baseball bat as a sword came crashing down on him, he rolled out of the way and got up.

“Why don’t you take your beatings like a man?” Karin said.

“Because I already have you jealous angry closeted dyke bitch!” T.J. yelled at Karin holding up his scarred hands. “I was forced to be beaten by angry nuns because I didn’t think like someone else wanted me to! I just have a goose-egg bump on my forehead from your shitty baseball bat attempt on my life because you don’t like the fact Penelope is going out with me instead of you huh?”

With this insult to her sexuality, Karin threw down the baseball bat and got ready to try her green-belt level of kung fu on T.J. Membrane. Unfortunately for her, T.J. knew basic level street fighting from having lived in Las Vegas and having a bad habit of heading into the dark underbelly that was brightly lit from the Vegas Strip and from having met more than his share of unsavory characters in New York City. Karin came running at him head on and as soon as she did, he grabbed her and threw her on the ground flat on her back. He leaned down and looked at her shocked face and smiled. “You know I do not look like I would be one to whoop your ass like I just did, but I am. I lived in Las Vegas when I was little and knew plenty of people in the seedy underbelly who wanted to kick my ass for who my father was, so I had to learn quickly on my feet how to defend myself. Also you are a girl, so the basic self defense move I would have done was null and void. However, your misguided rage at me caused you to make a foolish fighting move. Pity. I was going to let Penny let you see the final but now,” T.J. took a dramatic and ironic sigh. “You do not. Shame. You could have passed.” He then looked out at the window and smiled. “I guess talking about how tasty cow blood is isn’t as important as paying attention to ummm…. Pass your class and get your Bachelor’s when you are supposed to. Now, can you please tell me where Penny is?”

“Fuck you!” Karin said.

“No thanks. Anyway, where is Penelope?” T.J. asked calmly. He cracked his knuckles to show he meant business.

“She is out talking to the counselor for her classes next year. She was going to see if she could take the next part of Hawstein’s class. I think it is because of YOU, you pointy haired freak! Did you make that “M” shape as homage to your Membrane name?” Karin sassed.

“Thanks for the information, now sot off!” T.J. said walking to the student union. His hatred for Penelope’s roommate deepened, he took his backpack and headed over to hopefully find Penelope and get right away to help her “study” how some would call “cheating”.

As he turned into the student union, there was a bunch of students that were standing at the jukebox playing ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”. He knew of only a few people in New York University that still liked bad disco from nearly a decade past and looked over to see Simmons. Keep cool T.J. maybe he doesn’t notice you or he still hasn’t forgiven you for being absorbed into REAL science. And besides, he’s working at the Natural History Museum as a tour guide…what is he doing here? As he thought this, Simmons looked over and waved. “Hey! Hawstein Jr! It’s me! Your old dorm mate!”

“Damn!” T.J. whispered as he walked over carrying a blatant faux-sweet smile. “How is my old college roommate today?”

“Fine.” T.J. said as he gritted his teeth in annoyance. I am trying to find Penelope here! Can’t he leave me alone for ONE minute? “What are you doing here? I thought you were working at the Natural History Museum?”

“Yeah. But Hawstein asked me to be a tutor for some of the freshmen. I was the 2nd best in his class.” Simmons smiled.

“You were only that because you cheated off of me.” T.J. said annoyed. “Besides, I have an appointment with someone here soon.”

“That purple haired chick? You are going to go all the way?” Simmons asked.

“WHAT?” T.J. yelled in shock. “No, Penelope is going to wait until we are going steady. Hell, I want to spend the rest of my life with her and help her improve the lives of children everywhere!”

“Oh T.J., I am glad you feel the same way as me!” Penelope said as she walked right behind him and hugged him.

“OOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFF!” T.J. yelled as he was held hostage in a bear hug by Penelope.

“I see you have your own problems to deal with here. I’ll let you two be.” Simmons said as Penelope took T.J.’s hand and drug him over to a new coffee shop that had opened down by Central Park.

“Come on dear, I don’t want to be overheard by other students.” Penelope said. “I have a feeling you are going to give me the actual final as a practice.”

“How did you know?” T.J. asked confused.

“I know you too well. You swore so many times to help me succeed in my dream. Also Hawstein said you were writing it and you told me you were so glad you were asked to write the final. So I put all those factors together and figured that you would give me the actual final you wrote.” Penelope said. “Anyway, come on, Central Perk has some of the best coffee in the city.” She then dragged him into the coffee shop and sat down at a table in the corner and placed her backpack down. “Stay here and set up for the faux final and I’ll get us two mocha cappuccinos.”

“Groovy!” T.J. said as Penelope put her palm to her face as she smiled and walked up to get the cappuccinos.

“Cut out the retro talk and just get ready to quiz me for the final.” Penelope said as she got in line to get a cappuccino.

T.J. walked over to the table and got out his copy of the final and set out a few pens on the table as he pulled out his mail he got from earlier that day he never opened. There were a few bills, a cable bill and a phone bill and a few letters. The first one was from Danni and the other was from Hawstein himself. Professor Hawstein sent me a letter? He opened it and looked at it carefully. As he started to read it, Penelope came over with the mocha cappuccinos.

“Here it is.” Penelope said looking at T.J. as he was handed the cappuccino. “What is it?” She asked.

“I am reading a letter Professor Hawstein sent me. Why couldn’t he tell me? I live in his guest house.” T.J said.

“Well, read on and tell me. The read me Danni’s. I want to see what she has to say.” Penelope said. “When you are done I am taking this final okay?”

“Okay. Here goes.” T.J. said as she started to read the letter with great interest. “’Dear Membrane, I am writing to tell you of a personal matter, but I guess I can trust you to tell Miss Keadver as well. You told me so much how you want to be with her. Anyway, I have just been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and I was told I do not have much longer after this semester. My wife will be in charge of my estate after I die but she assured me both you and Penny could live where you are now-‘“

“Hawstein does know I HATE being called Penny, right?” Penelope asked.

“Yes he does, but he will call you that or Miss Keadver.” T.J. said as he started to read on. “’You are set to inherit my lab and my associates are to inform you as tutors until you get your PhD and become the Professor Membrane that you always wanted to be. I leave you a sum of my money so you can buy your own place. There is a place in Lower Manhattan that has a nice basement for a lab and so you can raise children with Penny someday. Goodness knows, I can see it now, you two making a pointy haired big headed boy and a purple haired girl. Somehow I can see her looking like your baby sister. Anyway, you need to know this before I pass. I will be there for finals and until my replacement is hired.

Sincerely,

Professor Steven E. Hawstein.’” T.J. looked on and sighed. “That is sad.”

“I know. You were one of his favorite students. I think you were the favorite.” Penelope said. “Now read Danni’s”

“Okay, ‘Dear T.J., I still have not forgiven you for being Hawstein’s bitch. However, I want to let you know about what is going on. Franklin is getting married to a girl named Dorcus. I call her Dorky all the time and she gets mad. Martha is pregnant and it is a boy from the ultrasound. Dad was killing her when he found out. She said she wanted to get an abortion but Dad wouldn’t let her. She made a big Roe V. Wade stink but she was made keep the baby. Josh is now in High School, the exact same one you went to. The nuns seem to not like him as much as they did Franklin. Although Josh says he wasn’t treated as bad as you were. I’m fine and still hunting down ghosts of Vegas and Nevada past. Of course I see a lot of UFOs and read a lot of reports near the airport. I wonder why.

Love,

Danni.’” T.J. read.

“I love your sister.” Penelope said. “And I am sorry for what Karin says and does to you.”

“I forgive you and her.” T.J. said begrudgingly when it came to Karin. “Begin your practice final!”

“Good!” Penelope said as she started to write the answers down. As she worked on it, T.J. wondered how he was going to make it up to Danni and how he was going to deal with being an uncle to be. Also Hawstein was dying and he was going to start on his own. All these thoughts were pounding on him as he sipped his cappuccino and watched Penelope’s practice final.