A couple things I want to address; 1.) That warning from last week. I didn't put much stock in it and I guess it went okay? I just know people shouldn't make false proclamations. People had to be freaked out by that. I know I was uneasy thinking I was about to be without music for 72 hours. But I'm glad it wasn't true cuz I was busy all weekend so…
2.) This universe is a compliation of comic/television/film canon and my own. Just because something is canon in comic book verse doesn't mean it'll be in my story. I want Selina to be Damien's mother so in my story, she is. If you feel you can't read any longer, I won't hold it against you.
3.) This particular oneshot is set in late July. Just so you can have a timeline for this.
4.) Enjoy and review!
NJPNJPNJP
"I think you should come."
"Nope." Cyborg shook his head and frowned down at the engine of the T-car.
Raven narrowed her eyes. "Karen would like you there."
"She won't even notice I'm not."
"You came to mine."
"I was forced."
"Victor!"
"I'm not going, Rave. It's entirely too girly and I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing."
"Playing games, paying attention to her, opening gifts, all things Gar did for me last year."
"No way." A flower dropped onto the engine. "Are you about to go all big scary demon on me?"
"She is carrying your child! The least you could do is show up to her baby shower!"
He sighed and shifted his weight. "Will it get you off my back if I show up for fifteen minutes?"
"No! You have to stay the whole time!"
"How long is this thing?!"
"Four hours."
"Oh my-! Why?!"
"I've planned every detail and it'll take four hours."
Cyborg looked at her aghast. "You've planned four hours of things?"
"Yes. I want her to have fun."
Cyborg twisted his lips. "And she definitely wants me there?"
"Of course." Raven saw he was weakening.
He sighed heavily. "Fine! When is it?"
"In two days. And you have to get Nana."
He looked back at her but she was melting into the floor. "Rave!"
B-A-B-Y
"I was coerced!" Cyborg waved his arms wildly.
Nightwing, Changeling and Kid Flash laughed.
"Your wife twisted my arm!"
Changeling sighed happily. "She'll do that."
"It was mean and hurtful." Cyborg sniffed. "I don't want to go to this thing!"
"Why not?" Kid Flash didn't get it. "You went to Rae's and Kole's."
"Star threatened us with Rae's and Kole's was a mini vacation."
"How is Steel City a vacation?" Nightwing raised a brow.
"Point is; I don't wanna go."
"Why are you so dead set against going?" Changeling asked.
"It's boring." Cyborg whined. "It only had a few high points for both parties. It was only the games where you were up against somebody. Everything else was too cute and girly. Plus, I was hungry the whole time! Baby shower food is for babies!"
"Maybe you can have a joined baby shower? That way you can have fun, too."
"That's a great idea!" Nightwing and Kid Flash agreed.
"A joint baby shower?" Cyborg stroked his chin. "That might be good."
"We'll invite the rest of the guys and they can buy presents for you." Changeling added.
"This is going to be good."
B-A-B-Y
Jinx led a blindfolded Bumble Bee into the garden. "Just take a couple more steps."
Bumble Bee walked forward. "I hate being blindfolded. I appreciate my sight."
"You'll appreciate this more." Jinx promised.
Bumble Bee sighed. "Alright."
Jinx grinned. "You can stop now."
Bumble Bee stopped moving. "Can I take this thing off?"
"Yes."
Bumble Bee ripped off the white cloth and gasped. Her bottom lip trembled and her eyes moistened.
"You hate it." Terra was sad.
"We thought you'd love it because you love agriculture." Raven explained.
"We did not do satisfactory?" Starfire pouted.
"I love it." Bumble Bee tried to hold back tears but she was truly touched.
"You do?!" They all were happily surprised.
"It's beautiful." And it was. They had tables and chairs set up in the middle of the garden with brightly colored streamers thrown with childlike abandon over various plants. Even the food reflected Mother Nature and the Earth with brightly colored food in springtime shades.
Jinx gave her a one armed hug. "Well you're welcome!"
"Thanks, guys. Seriously." Bumble Bee wiped away tears.
"Come sit down." Terra patted a chair. "East will be here soon and I think Nana is close."
Bumble Bee and Jinx sat down and Raven poured them iced tea with frozen fruit to act as ice. Starfire offered tiny cucumber triangle sandwiches.
"These are so good!" Bumble Bee enjoyed hers. "Light and refreshing. What other kinds do you have?"
"Almond butter and blackberry jam, lox and cream cheese, grilled cheese with tomato and chicken salad." Raven listed.
Bumble Bee smiled. "You know my favorite sandwiches?"
"We have lived together for two years."
"What else do we have?"
"Dates with the cashew butter and chips that are chocolate." Starfire pointed to them. "Cucumbers with creamy cheese and turkey. Pretzel twists that are miniature with soynut butter and chips that are chocolate with a pretzel on top. A variety of popped corns."
"That sounds so good."
"There are more."
"Thank you guys for doing this." Bumble Bee sniffled.
"You're welcome, Bee." Terra hugged her.
Starfire added her arms. "You are most welcome, friend!"
"Mommy!" Calvin ran over. "I picked this for you."
The girls backed off so Bumble Bee could see what he held in his tiny fist. It was a daisy. The girls cooed.
Bumble Bee picked him up and kissed his cheek repeatedly. "Thank you, baby!"
Calvin smiled wide and giggled.
Christopher walked over and held out his little fist. Starfire gasped. He held exactly seven yellow roses. "Here you go, Mommy."
Starfire hugged him hard. "Many thanks, my precious bumgorf!"
His arms waved as his breath left his body. "Mommy, I can't breathe!"
She loosened her grip but hugged him still.
"Here you go, Mommy." Charlotte gave Raven a lily. "Bas got you one, too."
Raven frowned in confusion. "Where is he?"
Charlotte moved. Sebastian was behind her, crawling over the slightly uneven grass towards them with a lily in his mouth.
Raven picked him up and pried the flower from his jaw. "Thank you, Charlotte. Thank you, Sebastian. I love them."
Charlotte beamed and hugged her mom's legs. Raven sat down and pulled the little girl onto her lap.
Terra sniffled before whispering to Jinx, "Aren't they so cute?"
Jinx smiled softly, her mind buzzing with thoughts. "Yeah. They're cute."
"I can't wait to have kids with Aqualad. I want to be married first but if we had a baby out of wedlock, I wouldn't mind too much. But I think he'd propose anyway so we wouldn't be apart."
Jinx smirked. "You really want this, don't you?"
"Yeah! I can see our babies! I want a boy first and he'll look like Garth like Bas looks like C. He'll be his mini me."
Jinx side-eyed her literally. Hmm.
"Then I'll have a little girl that'll look like me. Garth will spoil her like C does Charlie."
"What about your son?"
"Garth isn't the best at telling stories so I'll tell him stories like Nightwing does Chris. And I'll hug and kiss him like Bee does Cal."
"Changling tells Charlie stories."
"Yeah but his doesn't have morals like Nightwing's do. I want to teach him how to be good. How important it is to be good."
"You want to impart lessons."
"Bee said parents want to teach their children things they want them to know. To be better than them. I want my kids to be better than I was. I don't want them to go through what I went through. I know I'm good now but I went through a rough patch and I wouldn't wish that on anybody."
Jinx completely understood that. "You still have a way to go. Don't you want to give birth at twenty five?"
"I think I'm changing it to twenty three. I think I'm going to start dropping hints to Garth about marriage in the next two years."
Jinx laughed. "You have to drop hints?"
"I can't just ask him to ask me!" Terra was scandalized.
"Oh, if I decided I wanted to get married, I'd totally tell Wally we're getting married." Jinx crossed her arms.
"He's scared of you. Of course he wouldn't say no."
"All the best relationships are based on fear." Jinx grinned. "We all have it. Nightwing will never make Star angry. Green Stud is terrified of Rae. And Tin Man knows better than to contradict Bee."
"You guys are scary though. Star has a dark side, Rae is the dark side and Bee has that look that says she's scary. I'm not like you guys."
"We can always help you be more scary. Make sure Aqualad knows not to take you for granted."
"I don't think he does but thanks."
Jinx was about to say something when she heard a noise behind them. She turned halfway. "It's the guys."
Terra turned and saw Nightwing and Kid Flash walk around the bend. "Hey, guys! Where's C and Cy?"
"On their way from getting Nana." Nightwing checked his watch.
"Good! I can't wait to see Nana!"
"Titans East are on their way." Jinx told them.
"Good. That way we won't have to wait on them for too long." Nightwing nodded.
"What's the grub like?" Kid Flash asked.
"Small bites." Jinx told him. "It's like tea."
His eyes widened as he grimaced.
"That's all the food we have so…"
He nodded and looked at Nightwing, who smirked. "Okay."
Jinx was totally suspicious. "What are you thinking about?"
"You know I don't think."
"Not well." She folded her arms.
He sulked. "Come on, babe."
"Don't ruin this baby shower."
"We won't."
"We?"
"Relax, Jinx." Nightwing waved a hand. "This is going to be a very good baby shower. Maybe not as exciting as the last one but fun nonetheless."
Jinx and Terra eyed each other before looking at the guys. "Uh huh."
Both guys grinned before Nightwing opened his arms. "Chris! How you doing, Buddy?!"
Christopher ran to his father and leapt into his arms. "Hi, Daddy! I picked Mommy seven roses!"
Nightwing adjusted him in his arms. "You did?"
"Yeah! She loved them and hugged me really tight!"
"Alright!" Nightwing held up his hand for a high-five.
Christopher slapped his hand with a giggle.
"We're here!" Kole's voice sounded so everyone turned to view Titans East.
"Happy baby shower!" Argent yelled, just as loud.
"Thank you!" Bumble Bee smiled.
"Come sit." Raven waved them over. "We're just waiting for Nana. I hope she's close."
"Closer than you think." Shirley "Nana" McCain held out a pan of food.
"Nana!" Everyone shouted.
"My children!" She yelled back. The little kids ran to hug her.
"I like the way we're just not standing here." Cyborg said.
"I think they love her more than us." Changeling whispered.
"Oh, I know they do."
"How's my new great grandson doing?" Shirley waded through the kids to get to Bumble Bee.
"I'm still throwing up so he must still be forming." Bumble Bee accepted her hug.
"You'll be so glad when you have him. You won't throw up another second."
"I pray that's true. I cannot keep doing this."
"It'll be worth it when you hold your baby."
"Oh, it better be." Bumble Bee sighed.
"Guess what, guys!" Kole yelled.
"What?" The girls asked.
"Junior's sitting up!"
"Yay!"
"He's trying to hold his own bottle but he keeps dropping it."
"Sebastian can hold his own bottle." Raven reported.
"Well he's almost a year old so…"
"He's still special." Changeling argued. At that moment, Sebastian crawled forward towards Kole.
"Aww! What's he doing?" Kole stayed still.
"We don't know. He can't talk."
Kole knelt down and put Junior on her hip. She cupped Sebastian's chin. "Hi, baby. Whatcha want?"
Sebastian pulled himself up to his knees on her knee and lifted his hand.
She touched his hand and shook it. "Hi. How are you?"
He let her hand go and reached for Junior.
"You wanna see Junior?" Kole moved her son so he'd be sitting on her knee.
Sebastian grabbed Junior's hand and waved it. He shrieked loudly.
Starfire took multiple pictures. "Most adorable!"
"Aww! He's so cute!" Kole gushed.
"That's my son!" Changeling cheered.
"Say hi to Junior, Bas." Kole tapped his nose.
Sebastian waved his hand, making Junior's move. He shrieked again.
"Is he going to be the old baby like Cal's the old baby?" Charlotte asked Shirley.
Shirley laughed. "What do you mean, sweetie?"
"Mommy and Daddy said that Bas was the new baby and Cal was the old baby but then Junior was the new baby so Bas is the old baby like Cal. Will Junior be the next old baby when Marco gets here?"
"Well they're all new babies but Marco will be the newest baby. Junior will still be a baby. Bas is still a baby. Heck, Cal is still a baby."
"But I'm not a baby. Right?"
Shirley cupped her chin. "No, you're a big girl."
Charlotte beamed.
Bumble Bee's communicator rang so she answered it as Starfire went around taking pictures of the kids. "Hello?"
"Karen." It was Shayera Hol (Hawkgirl). "We're here but we're not sure where you are."
"We're in the garden. Around back. Who's with you?"
"Diana, Kara and Alan."
"I'm so glad Alan's here. The guys are here, too."
"We'll see you momentarily."
"Okay. Bye."
"Bye." Both hung up.
Bumble Bee turned to Raven. "Your mom's here."
Raven smiled. "She told me she was coming but I didn't want to spoil it for you."
Bumble Bee smirked. "I'm just glad everyone's here. It makes me feel really good."
Raven felt great at hearing that. "Good. Since they're on their way, we can get started on a game."
Shayera, Diana "Prince" (Wonder Woman), Kara Kent (Supergirl) and Alan Wellington (Green Lantern) walked into the garden. "Hello!"
"Hi!" The partygoers waved.
Shayera hugged Bumble Bee. "How are you feeling?"
"A little like a pin cushion." Bumble Bee rubbed her stomach.
"I heard that's normal."
"Well I can leave it. I have to pee all the time."
"Poor girl."
"Thank you." Bumble Bee sniffled playfully. "At least someone understands!"
Raven's mouth fell open. "Well!"
B-A-B-Y
"I have a game!" Speedy jumped up. The girls looked at him. "What? I do! It's fun!"
"What is it?" Cyborg asked.
"Flag football."
"How is that a baby game?" Cheshire snapped.
"It's not really." He rubbed his head. "But it'll be fun."
"We're playing baby games." Argent rolled her eyes.
"Okay. I have a game." Hot Spot pointed.
"No sports." Jinx sneered.
"It's not a sport. Not really."
"What is it?" Argent demanded.
He stood up and picked up a baby doll from a previous game. "Well it's kind of like Hot Potato. You have to pass the baby around without dropping it. Whoever drops it, loses."
"What?!" The girls looked at him like he was crazy.
"It's called Don't Drop the Baby."
"Oh yeah!" Cyborg pulled his arm back into his body then pointed at Hot Spot. "Booyah! Let's play!"
"This is a bad game!" Starfire waved her arms.
"Come on, Star." Nightwing pleaded. "It's just a game."
"What do you think?" Raven asked Bumble Bee. "It's your party."
"Do you really want to do this?" Bumble Bee asked Cyborg, who nodded with a wide grin.
"Come on! It'll be fun!" He looked like an excited little kid.
She smirked. "Okay, fine. Just don't lose."
He scoffed. "Please!"
"You've dropped Cal." Nightwing told.
Cyborg's eye widened. "Dude!"
"Excuse me?!" Bumble Bee sat up.
"No! See don't get mad!"
"You've dropped my son?!"
"It wasn't a lot!"
"One is two too many!"
"That's mathematically impossible. Calm down. He won't remember it."
"Because you've given him brain damage!"
"C's dropped Charlie and Bas! Both are completely-"
"He did what?!" Raven came to attention.
"Why?!" Changeling demanded. "Why would you tell on me?!"
"Changeling!"
Changeling hid behind Cyborg. "It wasn't a lot!"
"How many times have you dropped my children?!"
He cleared his throat. "I can't really remember."
"I can't believe you!"
"Have you dropped our bumgorf, Fiancé Nightwing?" Starfire asked Nightwing.
Nightwing went still. "Huh?"
"You have! You have dropped our son!" She accused.
Nightwing's mouth opened but no sounds came out for a while. "How did we get on this?! Weren't we playing a game?!"
"You're not going to blow past this like you didn't just say what you just said!" Bumble Bee snapped.
"Have you dropped Junior?" Kole asked Jericho.
Jericho waved his hands and shook his head.
"Tell me the truth. I won't be mad."
He looked down before raising a finger.
"What?!"
He jumped and signed quickly. "You said you wouldn't get mad!"
"You-! You-!"
"You will not be allowed near my baby!" Cheshire turned on Speedy.
He snorted. "I think I can hold a baby. How hard is that?"
"He is wiggly!" Cyborg stabbed a finger at his son.
"Look, it wasn't my fault!" Changeling tacked on. "And she fell on a bed the first time!"
"The first time?!" Raven yelled.
"It wasn't so much me dropping him as not catching him." Nightwing minced words.
"Where is the difference?!" Starfire demanded.
"I really can't believe you!" Kole leaned away from her boyfriend.
"I think you're overreacting." He signed.
"How about we drop you?!" Bumble Bee snapped.
"Okay, everyone calm down!" Shirley waved her hands. "I know this is a very serious matter but the children are getting upset and there are enough flowers in the garden without Raven's powers adding more."
"How are we supposed to forget this, Nana?"
"Oh? so you've never dropped him?!" Cyborg argued.
"No!"
"Oh."
"Bugs, don't help yourself." Shirley said flatly. "Let's just play the game and you can talk over your issues with the dropping your children thing later in private."
"Thanks, Nana." The guys said.
The girls weren't easily swayed but knew Shirley wasn't taking the boys' side so they gave in but resolved to fight this to the death later. "Okay, Nana."
"Good. Let's play Isaiah's game."
B-A-B-Y
"Like I said; you're not allowed around my child." Cheshire said.
"This game is a lot harder than I thought." Speedy was in shock.
"Just wait until the one you're holding moves on its own." Cyborg smirked.
"I guess you guys aren't as bad of fathers as I thought."
"Hey!" Cyborg, Nightwing, Changeling and Jericho yelled (although Jericho's was silent as he forgot to sign).
"Just saying."
"Whatever." Raven didn't care about all that. "It's present time."
"Thank you guys. You didn't have to do that." Bumble Bee smiled warmly.
"Of course we did." Kole chirped.
"You're going to love our presents. They're amazing." Argent added.
"Then let's do this!" Cyborg rubbed his hands together.
Argent brought over her present. "I know Junior uses his all the time so I thought Marco would, too."
Bumble Bee unwrapped the gift and squealed. She lifted out two items. "Rattles!"
Cyborg frowned. "Rattles?"
"Babies like the sound. Thank you, Argent."
He rolled his eye. "Who's next?"
"I am!" Starfire flew to get her gift. She came back with a large box and deposited it on Bumble Bee's lap.
Bumble Bee flung off the top and squealed happily. "A blanket! And it's in his color!"
Cyborg pouted. They'd agreed on green being Marco's color after much arguing. Bumble Bee had said that it was a mix of their favorite colors so he should be happy but in his heart of hearts, Cyborg wanted blue for at least one of his sons.
Shayera went next. "Here you go."
Bumble Bee opened the envelope and smiled. "A gift certificate?"
"Yes. It's for a discount on a mural for the boys' room."
"That's an amazing idea!"
Shayera smiled. "Thank you."
"We're going to use this as soon as possible."
Cheshire deposited her present on Bumble Bee's lap. "Remember this when you plan my shower."
The box was small so it took no time at all for Bumble Bee to open it. "It's a container."
"Yes. You put the baby's DNA, preferably hair, in there and send it here." Cheshire handed over an envelope. "They'll make it into a gemstone for a necklace or ring."
Bumble Bee opened the envelope and gasped at the sample pictures. "These are beautiful! And they do this with DNA?"
"Yep."
"That is amazing!"
"I heard they did it with Michael Jackson's ashes."
"That's creepy but I still wanna do it."
"That sounds interesting." Raven admitted.
"I want to do this." Starfire looked over Bumble Bee's shoulder at the brochure.
The guys grimaced.
"Who's next?" Cyborg wanted off this subject.
Terra grabbed her present. "I got this idea after Chris's birthday."
Bumble Bee opened the box. "Oh! Cute cars! They're too big to eat and aren't too hard. Thanks, T!"
Cyborg liked that present better than the rest. "He'll love these. Thanks, T."
Terra smiled. "You're welcome."
Raven handed over her gift. "I know Charlotte likes these so I think Marco might."
Bumble Bee opened it and lifted out a thick fairy tale book. It was an old (yet in pristine condition) copy of the original Grimm Brothers fairy tales. "Oh my goodness! Thank you! I had a copy like this when I was little. I think that's why I haven't told Cal any stories. I remember my daddy reading to me when I was little and it makes me sad. But I'm totally going to read these. I'll start tonight with Cal."
"That's why you don't tell Cal any stories?" Cyborg frowned.
"My father used to tell these rambling stories that didn't make any sense and when my mother made him start reading from a book, I realized he was just mixing them all together."
"Rambling stories?" Raven smirked and nodded to her husband. "If you ever miss that, have Changeling tell you a story."
Changeling's jaw dropped. "Harsh, Mama!"
"Ask Charlotte if she understands any of what you tell her."
"She probably does. She's a genius!"
"You don't even understand what comes out of your mouth and you're the one making it up."
He sniffed. "Well!"
Cyborg chuckled. "Thanks, Rae. Let's open another present."
"Open mine!" Kid Flash zipped around to grab his.
Cyborg opened it. "Hotel Trappers V?! Thanks, bro!"
Bumble Bee raised a brow. "How can the baby use that?"
Cyborg shrugged. "It's still a good present."
She stared at him before turning to their friends. "So who's next?"
Hot Spot gave his present.
She opened it and lifted out a new controller. "Really? What is Marco supposed to do with this?"
"He'll like that his dad has a better controller?" Hot Spot grinned.
She blinked slowly as her face didn't change.
"Here." Nightwing saved him. "Open mine."
Bumble Bee opened it. "Okay, seriously! These presents are not for the baby!"
"Well of course not." Speedy said. "They're for Cyborg."
"Why?" Shirley demanded.
"Because they're having a joint baby shower. Half the presents are for her and half are for him."
The women looked at him like he'd suddenly started speaking in tongue. "What?!"
"Is that bad?" Jericho signed.
"The only way it could be a joint baby shower would be if she shared her baby shower with another pregnant woman." Diana ticked off.
"Otherwise it's just a unisex baby shower." Kara went on.
"This is their baby together." Shirley stared at him. "She isn't getting things for her. Everything is for the baby. No half anything."
"Where would you get such an idiotic idea to do this?" Jinx wanted to know.
Hot Spot pointed to Changeling, who jumped. "Wait! Wait! Before you get mad-!"
"How could you?!" Raven stood up.
"Don't get mad!" Changeling waved his arms.
Flowers rained from the sky. "Why would you suggest something like that?!"
"He was saying how boring and girly baby showers were! I was just trying to help!"
Bumble Bee turned to Cyborg, hurt. "A baby shower for our son is boring and girly?"
"I just-" Cyborg tried again. "It's just that they don't interest me. When Rae begged me to come-"
"Rae had to beg you to come?" Her eyes widened.
"I didn't want to come."
She nodded and licked her lips before getting up. He went to try to help her but she swatted his hands. "Don't touch me!"
"Babe!" She waddled a bit away. "Move in with me!"
She turned around. "What?"
"Move into my room."
She stared at him in horror before moving as fast as she could into the tower.
Shayera and the girls (after glaring at the boys) ran after her. Kara and Diana went, too.
"Yeesh!" Alan winced. "You are in trouble!"
Cyborg glared at him. "Thank you!"
"You can't understand why she's upset?" Shirley put her hands on her hips.
"I thought this would make it fun." Cyborg shrugged.
"She's carrying your child. Baby showers are usually for the woman to get ready for the baby but she wanted you there to share in it with her as a family and you couldn't even do it?"
Cyborg felt bad. "I-"
"You should be ashamed of yourself. All of you. For taking part in such foolishness. This was supposed to bring the both of you closer but you just had to ruin it."
"I get it, Nana."
"Do you?"
"I think so."
B-A-B-Y
Cyborg shuffled in with the guys behind him for moral support. "Bee?"
"I don't want to see you." Bumble Bee stayed wrapped around Shayera.
"I know. But I want to show you something. I'll leave you alone after that."
She looked at him and he was ashamed at her red, puffy eyes. Her pregnancy hormones gave her the "pretty" cry, where she looked good while crying. This was real. Her feelings were actually hurt. "What is it?"
"I never gave you my present for Marco."
She blinked and frowned. "Your present?"
"Come on. I'll take you to it." He held out his hand and held his breath, praying she took his hand.
She got to her feet and waddled over to take his hand. "Okay."
His heart lifted and he nodded. "Okay. Come with me."
The others followed them. The boys knew where he was going so they took their spouses and led them to the stairs or if they could fly, out the window while Shirley and the other adults took the kids on the elevator with Cyborg and Bumble Bee.
They went down to the ground floor before going to the spacious basement. All manner of things were down there but they were ignored in favor of going to where all the vehicles that couldn't fit in the garage sat.
"Why are we down here?" Bumble Bee asked.
Cyborg turned her to face a wall. "I realized we needed something big but quick. Spacious but not bulky. So I've spent every spare moment since you told me you were pregnant building it."
"What is it?"
He pressed a button on his arm and the wall slid to the right. There sat a spaceship with five separate compartments. It looked like a replica of the T-ship except way bigger and with a sleeker design. And not orange.
"You made another T-ship?" She looked back at him with a little frown.
"It's the T-S2. Family style. Now there's room for the kids and luggage. That way we won't have to drive to see each other but it's perfectly safe. It can survive a volcano and the North Pole. It can also survive outer space and 40 miles below sea-level."
"Wow!" Kole whispered to Argent.
"Each has two front seats and four back seats with roomy trunk space and even comes with cup holders."
"And you did this for Marco?" Bumble Bee ran her fingers across the chrome finish.
"I realized that we weren't kids anymore and we are a real family. I mean I know we were before but getting pregnant is a whole other ballgame. It really hit home for me and I started drafting ideas for it."
She walked around the monstrosity slowly. Her footfalls echoed in the large underground room as she silently went in a circle.
He held his breath.
She finally looked at him and sniffled. "I knew you weren't dead inside."
"I owe you ten bucks." Cheshire sighed.
Cyborg pursed his lips but let it go in favor of tentatively asking his girlfriend, "So you like it?"
Bumble Bee wiped away tears. "I love it."
He wanted to celebrate but he wanted to clear the air more. "I'm sorry I didn't want to come to your baby shower. I guess it just made all of this real even more and I was sick of it. It was getting too real and I wanted to step back. I'm sorry I highjacked your shower and made it about me when it's really about you and Marco."
"It's a celebration of you, too." She told him. "We did this together."
"I think I'm finally seeing that."
She came over and hugged him. "I forgive you for being an idiot."
"Thanks." He hugged her back. He continued to hug her when she tried to pull back. "Why did you run away when I asked you to move in like I told you we were eating Brussels sprouts for dinner?"
She put her hands between them and pushed until he let go enough for her to not feel trapped. "Your room is a vampiric cave."
Cyborg's mouth fell open as others snickered. "It is not!"
"Yes, it is! It's cold, it smells and I get the willies every time I go in there. Plus you sleep on a table!"
Cyborg blushed as the guys out and out laughed. "You like the cold! It smells like what? Okay, I can build something that'll be a cross between a table and a bed but why do you get the willies?"
"I don't want to be cold 24/7. I don't want to be anything but alive 24/7." His bottom lip poked out but she kept going. "It smells like bleach and antiseptic spray. That stuff is a sinus shredder. As long as what you build isn't doctor room cold, okay but all of that stuff just makes me uncomfortable when I go in your room. It's too sterile."
"Maybe I can add a heater to my room? And maybe some incense? I guess I'm used to the smell. I'm used to sterile hospitals and stuff." He shrugged lightly. "I'll get started on blueprints right now for the bed if you agree to move in."
"I guess heaters and incense can work." Bumble Bee's lips twisted. Everyone held their breath. "Okay, I'll move in with you." Everyone cheered. "But I want Cal and Marco to still share a room."
"You've yet to open JoJo's and my present." Kole reminded her.
"What is it?"
Kole handed over an envelope. "It might be more for Cal than Marco. It's just easier on you."
Bumble Bee opened it and pulled out a gift certificate for a kids store. "What's it for?"
"A big boy bed for Cal. So Marco can get his old crib."
"That's so smart!"
Kole smiled. "Thank you."
"We should open more presents." Cyborg said. "J still hasn't gone."
"Ooh!" Jinx shook her fists excitedly. "And you'll love it!"
B-A-B-Y
"The end." Bumble Bee shut the book and kissed Calvin's cheek.
He yawned.
"Okay, time for bed. We're going to pick out your big boy bed tomorrow."
"Bed?" Calvin murmured.
"Yeah, bed, Little Man." Cyborg ran a hand over his head. His hair was growing back.
Bumble Bee set Calvin in his crib and kissed his cheek repeatedly. "Goodnight, baby."
Cyborg kissed the top of his head. "Night, Little Man."
"Sweet dreams." Bumble Bee laid him down and covered him with a thin sheet.
Calvin put his thumb in his mouth and closed his eyes. "Sing, Mommy."
Bumble Bee started singing an Ella Fitzgerald song. "There's a saying old
Says that love is blind
Still we're often told
Seek and ye shall find
So I'm going to seek
A certain lad I had
In mind
Looking everywhere
Haven't found him yet
He's the big affair
I cannot forget
Only man I think of
With regret"
Someone to Watch Over Me by Ella Fitzgerald