"Hey, Kassy." Shay said. Kassy looked over from the kitchen counter.

"Oh. Hey. What's up?"

"Well... I just had some questions. About, uh... birth."

Kassy turned. "Okay? Why don't you ask Allura?"

"Well, because, Allura only has one kid, and Faiere is fully Altean. My baby is half human, so..."

Kassy popped some toast from the toaster. "Okay. What do you wanna know?"

"Does it... does it hurt?"

Kassy turned. "Does it hurt? Really?"

"Well, I know it hurts, but how bad?"

"So bad. Not the worst pain I've been through but it's up there." She replied, opening the fridge, getting the butter.

"Is there... is there a lot of blood? I just... kinda have this phobia of blood."

"Uh, yeah, unfortunately. Plus, loads of stuff could go wrong, like you could haemorrhage and bleed out."

Shay stared at her in horror. "Oh, God."

"Mmhmm." Kassy replied. "And even if everything goes completely to plan, you still rip your vagina up, and need stitches, and you bleed for like, 2 weeks after. You can't sit down without wincing, and to top it all off, you get no sleep for... ever."

"Doesn't it get better as they grow up? You sleep more, right?"

"Not us." Kassy smiled wryly. "Ulaz likes to wake us up at 6am on weekends. Interestingly, he can't seem to wake up for school. He also likes to wake us up in the middle of the night. Add that to Miss Selena screaming all night for the titty... speaking of, your boobs will never be the same. And sometimes your breasts bleed too."

"Oh, my..." Shay murmured. "Are there... any good parts?"

"Parenting." Kassy left her buttered toast on the side, and wandered back to the fridge. "Teaches you to be quick, otherwise you're sharing your food forevermore." She saw Ulaz going towards the toast, and turned him around, picking it up, and taking a bite.

"So... birth is horrific, you bleed for 2 weeks, things can go very wrong, your breasts can bleed, you get no sleep... anything else I should know about?"

"You'll never be able to sneeze without peeing yourself a bit again."

The balmeran girl looked horrified. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, every time I sneeze, or cough, or laugh too hard, or get jumped on by my child, a little bit of pee comes out."

"Oh." Shay mumbled. "I didn't realise what all this entailed. I was so excited to be having my baby, now... I'm dreading it."

Kassy looked at her sympathetically. "Oh, dear."

"So, there's no good parts?"

"Not really." Kassy thought for a moment. "No. That's not true. When they're newborn, the doctor takes them, and places them on your chest. The baby screams, and you have this rush of endorphins, because that little thing is half of you, and you carried them for however long, and kept them safe and warm. Now they're in the real world, and they stop crying. They look up at you. They recognise your voice in the crazy ramble you're reciting, all the hormones making you sob harder than you ever have before. And that's when you realise... you have something to live for." Kassy came from her little monologue and glanced awkwardly at Shay. "Or something like that."

Shay nodded. "What's it like after that?"

"Emotional. You don't know what you'll get. You could get the highest high you've ever been on. Or you could get excruciatingly depressed." She shrugged. "Who knows?"

"This seems unfair." Shay said.

"Mmhmm. I say we make the men do it next time." Kassy smiled.

Shay laughed, before it faded. "Kassy... do you hate me?"

"A little bit. I'm sorry. I'm trying to be nice to you."

Shay shook her head. "I understand. It's fine."

"It's not fine, Shay, you didn't even do anything. But I'm fucked up in the head. That's why I avoid you mostly. I don't wanna say something horrible to you."

"I appreciate the effort." Shay said. "Thanks for answering my questions. Even though now I'm terrified."

Kassy nodded. "You should be. It's horrible."

Shay waved and left.

***

"I would love to." Veronica said. "But when Kassy and I got fertility treatment, the doctors said my uterus might not be able to carry a pregnancy. Remember? The plan was for me to have Selena, but Kassy ended up doing it."

"Oh, right, of course." Lance said. "Sorry, I forgot."

"It's okay. Maybe ask Rachel?"

"Alright."

Lance and Keith visited Rachel, bringing her some snacks to try and butter her up.

"So, Rachel, we kinda have a huge favour to ask. It's a lot, and you can say no." Lance said.

"Okay." Rachel said. "What is it?"

He cleared his throat. "Keith and I want a baby. And... we were wondering if you'd like to be our surrogate."

Rachel stared at him. "Surrogate? As in, I'd be pregnant?"

"Yes." Lance said. "You don't have to do it. We get it's a big deal, I mean, pregnancy and birth is no easy feat."

Rachel thought. "That's huge. I mean... to grow a child for nine months, have to birth it, and at the end of it it's not even mine? That's a huge emotional and physical toll."

"We get that. You don't have to do it. It's your choice." Lance said.

"Well, who are your other options?"

"Well... we wanted someone in my family. But if not you, then... I guess we could ask some of our friends."

Rachel frowned. "I'll need to think about this. I mean, I'd be sacrificing so much. My body, my mental state, I mean, mom was so depressed after she had you. My dating life for 9 months. It's just... a big thing. And I'd love to do it, but..."

"You can think about it. It's okay, take all the time you need to think about it."

She nodded. "Alright."

***

"So, you purposely told Shay about all the bad parts?" Hunk asked.

Kassy kept eye contact. "It is all bad. You think I enjoyed myself?"

"She's terrified now! You could have toned it down a little at least."

"She asked! I wish someone had told me all that stuff before I had Ulaz!"

"But you made it seem so scary! And then you told her you hate her?"

"In my defence, she asked."

"You don't answer honestly to a question like that!" Hunk sighed exasperatedly. "Look, I get it sucks for you that Maeve is dead. I get it was traumatic and horrific. But how many times do I need to reiterate that Shay had nothing to do with that?!"

"I've spent I don't know how long avoiding speaking to her! I cant control what comes out of my mouth when she's around!"

"Sounds like you're just trying to avoid responsibility. Kassy, you're nearly 30. You're a grown woman, emotionally stunted or not. You need to start acting like an adult."

"So, I don't speak to Shay because I always say something I regret. Shay asks me about birth, she seeks out a conversation with me. I tell her what it entailed for me. I'm the bad guy?"

"Okay, you're twisting my words now. You know what? I'm just not even gonna have this conversation with you, because you clearly can't be an adult about it. Bye, Kassy."