(Palette)

I watched Geno when Goth directed his statement to him, looking for any sign of anger or fury, a clenched fist, a twitch, anything. Nothing happened except Geno stood, walked around Reaper, and hugged Goth, much to his surprise.

"I may not like him, but if you're happy, that's all that matters," he muttered, still sounding gruff and mildly angry.

"You're not angry?" Goth asked apprehensively.

"Of course I'm angry," Geno growled a little, "That boy fucked my baby boy." Marvul and Ink shot glares at him but Reaper raised his hand to quell their protests. "But that's just it: you're my son, so now that you're pregnant I won't hurt you. It'd hurt the baby."

"Again, you have really strange ways of showing your love," Goth looked up at Geno. Geno stood, shrugging.

"Hey, it works," he glared down at me and I gulped, "But if I hear anything fishy about what he's been doing to you..."

"Yeah, yeah, you'll make his life a living hell," Goth waved Geno off, "As if I haven't heard the exact same threats from Dad and Raven already. I swear you'd think I was some weak flower or something. I can hold my own, mom," he looked up at Geno, "Trust me; the first one to punish Palette will be me if he does anything."

I gulped again. Goth's family really scared me sometimes, Goth included.

----

The weeks after that dinner were spent mostly with Goth. I would hang at his house, we would go to one of his haunts, or we would hang at my house. Every weekend we'd go up to the cabin for a few nights, just to escape. While it seemed to me Reaper and Geno were rather passive about the baby, Goth kept stressing out about how excited Reaper was.

Meanwhile, I now understood why Goth said I had ADHD. Ink and Marvul, normally rather absent in my activities, kept asking me over and over about Goth. Ink went nuts about becoming a grandfather, or grandmother, however we put it didn't really matter. Even his smirking-asshole personality found ways to be giddy about a kid.

Whenever I could I found excuses to cuddle Goth's cute baby-belly and kiss it, sometimes just to annoy him. If we were at one of his haunts, on a bench or laying on stones or grass, I'd pin him down, pull up his shirt, and ignore his protests. I just loved when he'd squeak or squeal when I did this, it was adorable. I also loved seeing the warm, crimson glow of his magic as it cradled a new life. While humans may not understand how a perceived male skeleton could get pregnant, it really wasn't that odd. Not for monsters, anyway. Our reproduction was based on love, not necessarily gender.

Two months passed. A small little baby-bones could be seen through the magic. A very, very, very small baby-bones. Goth didn't even have a baby bump yet. He could hide his belly with his clothing as usual. Though, I kept asking him to wear his crop top out in public. He always refused vehemently. It was cute.

(Goth)

I hated mood swings. I hated morning sickness. I hated Palette for never shutting up about the damn crop top. But I loved this baby.

Often, I'd rub my belly, humming little lullabies to the soul inside. Reaper would catch me, start humming along and make me jump. Then I'd shut up, pick up a book, and wait for him to leave. And... repeat.

I found myself napping a lot. Most of the time, it'd be in Palette's arms. Some of the time, I'd wake up to his face nuzzling my bare baby-belly. It didn't matter where or when I'd nap and he'd cuddle the baby inside me.

I kept up with Pastel, though I didn't tell him about the baby. Him and his world were far too innocent for that knowledge. I got the feeling he wasn't much of a fan of Palette, so I didn't want him worrying about Palette being near me in such a new state. He was always so cheerful, it became a nice break from the melancholy of the Felle to call him.

Of course, Palette got jealous every time I talked about him. Hell, Palette got jealous if I talked about Gradient. Though he'd deny it, it was so obvious it was almost painfully funny to watch.

The eternal presence of the baby belly caused me to move about differently, but luckily all my baggy clothing could hide it from my friends. The last thing I needed was Gradient's judgment and Amber's disbelief. Not when I already suffered bad mood swings. Poor Palette often got the brunt of it.

We quickly learned how to deal with them, though. If I was angry, Palette could calm me down with either a kiss or a candy bar, whichever he could manage to get past my angry flailing first. If I was distant or sad or upset, he'd cuddle me close, hold me tight, and be a living teddy bear essentially. If I was incredibly happy, we'd first check the immediate vicinity for Pastel- because he has caused me euphoria when he'd visit- before just enjoying it by watching one of Palette's movies. He had found it the best way to change my taste.

Being pregnant was so weird. I tried to ask Geno about it but he shoved me off and grumbled. Great help, mom. I think he got a little embarrassed when admitting that Reaper had been the dominant one for both of the children.

Sadly for Palette, I no longer felt up for sex. Having heard some of the stories from Raven about how Reaper would pine after Geno while he'd been pregnant with me, I understood why. I just felt so tired all the time. So, I always said no to a very disappointed Palette.

Not that we didn't find other ways to be intimate. I gave in to some of his demands about snuggling the baby-belly and we would lay together, sleep together, just be together.

---

One night we were in the cabin, as we usually were on weekends. Palette had snatched me up and now held me to his chest while he stroked my baby-belly, cooing in his annoying baby voice. I tried fighting him off but he held on tight, so I stopped fighting on the condition we'd go for a walk in half an hour. He agreed readily and I settled into his arms as he enjoyed his new favorite pastime of annoying me and being near our baby.

Checking my watch, the time was up and I pried his arms off of me to stand. Once on my feet, he sprang up and before I could protest had lifted me onto his back piggy-back style.

"Palette!" I protested, gripping his neck for support.

"I said we could go for a walk. I never specified who was doing the walking," Palette proclaimed as he walked out the door into the sunset lit forest.

"But I like walking, and it's not gonna break me! Put me down!" I gently pounded his shoulder as he walked briskly down a path. He ignored me for a good ten minutes. Finally, I put my hands over his eyes and refused to let go until I was put down. Once I slid down his back, I hugged his arm and we kept walking.

The wind picked up and we paused, looking at the sky. Dark clouds had begun to taint the lovely sunset colors. I grew a bit worried and hugged Palette tighter. I hated storms. It was one of the few things I was afraid of.

Palette gripped my hand, "We've got a while. We'll take the loop around and be back before it rains." I nodded, trusting his familiarity with the area.

He led us off down another path, walking briskly but quietly.

A flash of lightning lit up the forest and I shrieked, hiding behind Palette. I heard him counting, then the thunder sounded. He patted my hand.

"It's far away. Don't worry," he said softly, "C'mon, I know a shortcut."

He led us down a new path, overgrown with weeds and narrow. Trees grew over it in some places, causing us to duck. My body shook madly and I hugged my belly with one hand, the other holding tightly onto Palette. Another strike of lightning flashed and the thunder was much sooner. Palette sped up.

We were in a small stone crevasse as the ground rose above us. Trees leaned over precariously above us. A bolt of lightning struck a tree right above us and I screamed at the noise.

I let go of Palette as I backpedaled, the tree falling into the crevasse between us. It filled the small space, cutting me off from Palette completely. Shaking in fear and panic, I started crying.

"Palette! Palette!" I screamed, leaning against the stone.

"Goth, I'm okay!" came Palette's voice from the other side of the smoking tree, "Stay there! I'll get back around! Just don't move!"

"Okay!" I nodded, still shaking. I took deep, shaking breaths, trying to calm down. Another bolt of lightning struck above and I screamed, running in fear from the flash. I tripped and knocked my head on something, rolling into some cold air before stopping. Everything went dark as my head pounded once.