LOCATION: DECEPTICON BASE…

"Well, it's finally your Creation Day," said Starscream to his son Stars, who, like his twin brother Megs, could hardly be called a sparkling any more. As usual, Stars was hovering in the air and (as he had taken to doing lately) attempting speech. This babbling baby talk was largely incomprehensible, but it had replaced his infant chirps and squeals, and he responded quite well when others tried to speak to him. Stars wasn't walking yet, but that was fairly normal; Seekerlings mastered flight before they mastered any other means of getting around.

Meanwhile, Megs seemed to be taking control of his motor skills. Since Stars seemed to have inherited the bulk of Starscream's Seeker CNA, Megs didn't know how to fly yet, but unlike Stars, who spent almost all of his time in the air, Megs was trying to learn how to walk and to use his hands. Usually, he played with blocks, although he seemed to prefer punching his tiny fist through them and knocking them over, as opposed to actually building anything with them.

Right now, Skywarp was helping Megs with his breakfast. Of course, the twins didn't drink from bottles any more, but they weren't quite coordinated enough to handle energon cubes by themselves yet. Megs sat in Skywarp's lap and held onto the energon cube with both hands; Skywarp set one hand on Megs' bucket head to keep him in place, with the other hand holding the energon cube. Granted, most of the energon ended up on the floor or on Skywarp instead of in Megs' mouth, but Skywarp didn't seem to mind. After all, since he was going to be a father soon, he would need all the practice he could get.

Gemstone was resting on the couch, one pillow underneath her head, the other in her arms. Thundercracker was sitting on a nearby chair, stroking her head. Gemstone spent most of her days resting, since being sparked up sapped her energy. Unlike Starscream, she had carried her offspring to full term, so the sparkling was due to arrive in only a week or two.

Megatron was sitting next to Skywarp, watching Megs have his breakfast. When some of the energon spilled on him, he got a little angry.

"Honestly, Skywarp," he said, scowling. "If you're going to try and feed him, at least try not to do it so messily!"

"Sparklings make messes, Megatron," Skywarp replied. "That's just the way they are. I still have to burp Megs every so often."

"Shouldn't Screamer be doing that?" asked Thundercracker.

"I promised the sparklings I would always be there for them," Skywarp replied. "It's my duty, and I've been fulfilling it for one year now."

"Technically, they're not one year old yet," said Starscream. "It's still morning, and they were born in the afternoon."

Starscream remembered that. Although he was pretty sure he didn't want to have another sparkling, the experience of their birth had somehow made him feel closer to them, like he had a connection with them. That was what the carrier bond was—he was able to feel closer with the little twins than anyone else ever could.

Stars gave a little squeal, sunk down into Starscream's arms, and closed his eyes. It appeared to be his after-breakfast nap time. Since the little twins had to be on a schedule, this meant that it was almost time for Megs' nap too.

TWO HOURS LATER…

When the little twins woke up, they started crying. It was their lunchtime, and then it would be time for the Creation Day party. They usually were considered too young to have sweets, but since it was their special day, Shockwave sent them some little energon goodies from Cybertron that they could consume after they finished opening their presents.

They opened their parents' presents first. Megs got a miniature gun—but instead of shooting real ammo, it shot little plastic bullets that stuck to what they landed on, but didn't hurt. Stars got a little toy jet.

Gemstone gave them bath toys, Skywarp gave them bubbles, Thundercracker gave them board books, and Soundwave gave them some sparkling-friendly musical instruments. The little twins liked the toys, and they seemed to like playing with the ribbons from the wrapping paper too. Stars chewed on the name tag of his gift (he seemed to put everything in his mouth these days), and Megs played with the boxes his toys came in.

After the party was over, Skywarp held Megs, and Starscream held Stars. Stars was chewing on his toy jet.

"Why does he do that?" asked Gemstone, pointing. Of course, she had been at the party too, and now everyone was sitting around talking.

"Sparklings like to chew on things," Skywarp explained. "It's how they explore their world."

"By tasting it?" said Megatron.

Starscream shrugged and smiled. "Apparently so."

"One year from now," Skywarp reminded them, "we'll be celebrating the one-year Creation Day of another sparkling."

"I can't believe it's now but…yes," said Gemstone, looking a little worried.

Of course, Starscream recognized the feeling; he had been scared beyond belief, and nobody knew what to expect. The birth process itself was more painful than anything Megatron could ever hope to inflict on him. When the sparklings were born, they had each been about the size of your average human third-grader—about the size of a full-grown Decepticon's hand—but because they were made of metal, they had weighed a lot more than a human of the same size. Now, though, one year later, each sparkling had turned from 150 pounds of screaming, barfing, drooling metal to a smiling, laughing, playful little Decepticon.

Megatron reached over and patted Megs' helmet. "I remember when this sparkling first threw up all over me."

"Yeah, I remember that too." Starscream started laughing all over again. "It was funny."

"It was NOT funny," said Megatron angrily. "I had just gotten my armor waxed that day, and then I had to go and do it all over again."

"Do you remember when you first held them?" Gemstone asked softly.

"Sure I do," said Starscream, hugging the little sparkling. "Look, Gemstone, don't worry about it so much. You and your sparkling will turn out fine."

"Yes, you're a strong femme," Thundercracker agreed. "Of course you can do it."

"And, you know, I don't get the whole ordeal about 'morning sickness'," said Gemstone. "I mean, I got it a little but…it's not really that big of a deal."

Starscream made a face. "Yes, it is, and it's not just in the morning."

"Not everyone gets it, I don't think," said Thundercracker. "I guess it depends on who you are."

"Or maybe Starscream is just a big drama queen and he likes to make a big deal out of everything," said Megatron.

"NO sparkling, NO opinion, Megatron," Starscream snapped.

"I noticed that Gemstone had a lot of mood swings, though," said Megatron.

"No, she didn't," Thundercracker objected, putting his arm around his girlfriend. "Gemstone is just as perfect as ever."

This statement, though, wasn't 100% true. Gemstone was usually quite mellow, but once she was going to have a sparkling, she sometimes became as mean as Moonbeam, Skywarp's evil ex-girlfriend whose name was not spoken in base. And that could be for as something as small as not getting her the energon she asked for, or someone accidentally forgetting to tape her favorite TV shows.

"The problem is," said Gemstone, "we don't have a medic any more. So who's going to deliver the sparkling?"

"Don't worry about that, hon," said Thundercracker. "I called my mother in advance. She gave birth to triplets, you know. And she's just dying to see her grandchildren, anyway."

"Less than two years ago, I was a prostitute, living alone in a sleazy Decepticlub," said Gemstone, reminiscing. "Now I'm so much better off. I have a loving boyfriend, and soon I'll have a little niece or nephew to help take care of."

"So if you have the sparkling, and you're dating Thundercracker, and Skywarp adopts the sparkling, that makes you its aunt?" Starscream asked.

"Yes, and I'll be the uncle of three," Thundercracker added.

"This is getting confusing," said Skywarp.

"I wonder if it will be a mech or femme," said Gemstone. "Not that I care, of course. I just want it to be healthy and strong."

"You want a femme, don't you?" said Thundercracker.

"No," said Gemstone, looking embarrassed.

With a little grunt, Megs (for no apparent reason) punched Skywarp in the stomach.

"Ow!" Skywarp yelped, taken by surprise.

"On the other hand," said Gemstone thoughtfully, "It would be nice to have a sweet little female to keep me company with all this violent male CNA."

"You don't know if she'll be sweet," Starscream protested. "I've seen you in action. You can fight pretty mean."

"Do you think it'll be a Seekerling?" Skywarp asked. "I'm pretty sure Stars is a Seekerling, but what about my new daughter or son?"

"Well, I don't know," said Starscream. "Isn't it a hybrid of Decepticon, Autobot, and Seeker?"

"That should be interesting," said Megatron. "I've never seen that before."

"Don't you try doing any tests on it or anything, Megabutt," said Gemstone, putting her hand over her sparkling-bump. "Megabutt" looked more than a little irritated, but Starscream just laughed.

"I might have to start calling you that, now," he said, smirking. "Megabutt."

"You do, and I'll rip your arms off," said Megatron.

"Oh, c'mon." Starscream smiled devilishly. "You can't hurt your mate…and you know it."

Megatron closed his eyes and growled but he knew it was true. In the end, his love for Starscream trumped his fury and exasperation, and it had driven the hate away. It was only recently that he realized it, but that was what had kept him from killing Starscream on the spot all those years. No matter what Starscream did, Megatron couldn't help but love his conniving little Seeker.

"I could never stay mad at you, Starscream," said Megatron, and he let Starscream crawl into his lap.

"Hey, get a room, friend," said Thundercracker.

"That's really nothing, actually," Gemstone reminded him. "You guys should have seen yourselves at Skywarp's bachelor party! You two were making out like a couple of irresponsible young 'bots."

"Irresponsibility, indeed." Megatron nodded. "That's how the twins happened."

The "adults" talking seemed to have forgotten about the sparklings for a minute. Stars was floating in the air, but upon hearing their voices he sunk down into Starscream's arms, letting out another little squeal.

"That is where you came from, isn't it?" said Starscream, kissing Stars' black helmet.

"Daddy," said Stars, reaching out both blue arms, his wings twitching a little.

"What did you say?" Starscream looked shocked.

"Daddy!" Stars repeated, an infant smile on his face, red eyes shining.

Starscream looked gobsmacked for a minute, then held the little sparkling close.

"Aww," said Gemstone. "That is so cute."

"I hate cute things," said Megatron, but even he was smiling a little at his son's first word.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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