One morning, Sarge got up as early as usual to start his usual salute to the flag while the trumpet reveille played. He went outside his military bunker and pulled up the American flag and switched on the reveille and did his usual salute. Then, something odd happen. Normally, as the reveille played, his hippie neighbor would have begun to blast his stupid Hendrix music, but he heard nothing from his geo-dome.
"Maybe he overslept," Sarge suggested to himself. That morning at the café, Sarge noticed that Fillmore sort of rushed to Flo and ordered his coffee to go, which wasn't normal, and to make it more abnormal, Fillmore ordered decaf coffee. He left as soon as he got his coffee. The next day, it happened again! Fillmore didn't play his music, nor did he come out of his house to bicker. "Maybe his stereo broke," Sarge guessed.
This went on for a few more weeks, and weeks turned into months, 5 to be exact. Some of the townsfolk even began to suspect that Sarge had something to do with Fillmore's odd behavior.
One day, Gavin confronted Sarge. "Okay, buddy! I don't know what you did to Fillmore that got him all worked up, but you better apologize so he can go back to normal and be fun again!" "I didn't do anything to him! I swear!" Sarge protested. Gavin nodded, but didn't seem to believe him one bit, and skulked off.
"Well, there was that one thing," he thought to himself, but blushed at the thought of it.
He and Fillmore were in Vegas after Mater pleaded them to go after he won tickets for a flight for all his friends from an essay contest about living in a small compared to living in a big city. One night, Sarge and Fillmore got really drunk and locked themselves in their hotel room, which they were forced to share and a lot of stuff happened. Some of them that made Sarge glad that the room walls were very thick that blocked out all the sounds of pleasure from Fillmore. He had no idea what caused him to do that and why Fillmore enjoyed it.
Finally, after another peaceful morning, Sarge was fed up and pulled up the American flag, but didn't turn on the reveille, because he knew that would wake up the entire town if their alarm clocks didn't and went over to Fillmore's house. But before entry, he took big gulps of fresh air to keep him in the tent long enough so the bad smells of hemp wouldn't get to his head and cause him to faint or run out.
He entered quietly through the beaded door and to his surprise, there was no usual skunky smell; just the scent of vanilla incense filled the room. Sarge's adjusted to the dim light from black bulbs, some candles, and a lava lamp colored purple. He could still make out some flowers painted on the wall. There was a line of bean bag cushions and a yoga mat. To his left was a bookshelf full of books about plants and how to take care of them. He also noticed a stereo in the room. Normally, Sarge would have taken that chance to find the Hendrix CD and destroy it, but he was there to figure what was wrong with Fillmore.
Sarge pushed past another beaded curtain door and entered the next room. He found a mirror and a shelf of several bottles of "organic ailments" for things such as scrape, burns, and, oddly enough, massage oil. There was also a bunch of cushions on the floor near the corners of the dome room and some large cushions lined on the floor like a bed and Fillmore was asleep on that bed, covered with a tie-dye blanket and his hands on his abdomen, where Sarge finally noticed a bump!
"Oh my god, I got him pregnant!" he said under his breath, He was about to make a break for it but he accidently back into a wall, making a loud thud, rousing Fillmore from his slumber. The hippie sat up in his bed of cushions and yawned and rubbed his eyes. "He's probably too tired to officially wake up and he'll go back to sleep if I keep quiet," Sarge thought. But it was too late; Fillmore saw him out of the corner of his eye and yelped when he saw his neighbor in his room.
"I'll go if you want me to," Sarge said, trying to exit. "What are you doing here, man?" Fillmore asked. "Well…you were sort of acting odd, and you were sort of slacking with blasting your…music, and I came to see if you were okay," Sarge explained. "You care about me?" Fillmore said, having a ridiculous grin on his face. "I only did this because Gavin accused me of doing something to you that made you act like this…and you don't have to hide that, I already saw it." Sarge noticed Fillmore was trying to use his blanket to hide his bump. Fillmore's smile vanished as soon as he said that.
Fillmore slowly lied back down and looked up at the ceiling, with his lips quivering. Sarge knew that if he said something wrong, Fillmore would break down crying and get Gavin's attention. Then Sarge would be in trouble. "So, uh…how long have you been carrying the baby?" Sarge asked. "Babies," Fillmore said, "For 5 months, ever since that time in Vegas." "Are you telling me you found out you were pregnant after we all got home from the trip to Las Vegas?" Sarge asked. "Yeah, man. I kept feeling sick, too sick to smoke anything or drink anything. I even threw up my own organic juice! I finally went to see a doctor in Star City because I didn't want to go to Dr. Garwood's because you know how Trenton is. The doctor said I was going to have children soon, and I cried," Fillmore explained. "Why do you keep using plural?" Sarge asked. "I'm expecting triplets," Fillmore stated. "I think I got pregnant after that one night we shared in Vegas, so I think the babies are yours."
"You remember that?" Sarge asked, getting flustered. "Yeah, man. You're going to be a daddy soon," Fillmore said. Sarge didn't say anything; he just looked at Fillmore with his eyes very wide open. Fillmore got a sad look on his face. "And you don't even care, I'm still dirt to you," he sniffed. Upon hearing that, Sarge went over and kneeled by Fillmore's side. "No, no, no. I do care," he said, taking Fillmore's hand into his. "And I don't think of you like that and I never did." He put his free hand on his neighbor's bump. "And I won't think badly of them either," he added.
Then, there was small movement inside the bump. Fillmore's eyes widened telling Sarge that that hasn't happened before. "They're kicking," he gasped. Sarge took his hand away from Fillmore's hand and put both hands on the hippie's bump to feel more. The babies were moving against his hands, telling him that they were there. Clearly, they must have known who he was, and that thought made him smile.
He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against them bump in a light kiss. When he pulled away, Fillmore was smiling again and Sarge did something unexpected; he leaned toward Fillmore and pressed his lips against Fillmore's, making the hippie jump, but he let the war veteran kiss him more, and he began to kiss him back.
When they finally pulled away, Sarge lay down next to Fillmore and held him close. They both changed position to face each other and they eventually fell asleep, cuddling. One of Sarge's hands was on Fillmore's bump to let the babies know he was still there.
Sometime later, everyone in town were wondering where Fillmore and Sarge were until Juan and Gavin decided to look for them. While Juan checked Sarge's bunker, Gavin checked Fillmore's geo-dome. He checked the first room, but found no sign of his teacher, so he checked the next room and nearly screamed when he saw what was going on. He saw Fillmore and Sarge lying in bed, cuddling together. "Juan's going to be ticked," Gavin predicted. He got out his camera phone and started to snap pictures of the pairing in bed together so he had evidence to show Juan, and maybe his friends. The teen ran out before the flashes and noises woke up the veteran and hippie.
At noon, Fillmore and Sarge finally woke up, smiling. Fillmore nuzzled his nose against Sarge's, his eyes closed. Sarge kissed him again, and Fillmore kissed him back, nibbling him gently and playfully on Sarge's bottom lips. Sarge put his arm around Fillmore's waist in a gentle hug. The hippie's heart beat excitedly and his babies gave off small kicks. When they finally parted for air, Sarge stood up and helped Fillmore stand up on his feet. "I love you," Fillmore whispered. "I love you too," Sarge said.
The new couple slowly walked out of the geo-dome and toward the café. "Should I tell everyone about the babies?" Fillmore asked. "It would be the right thing, everyone has to know what's coming or we might surprise them when you go into labor," Sarge said. When they entered the café, everyone else was occupied with paperwork or their cell phones, either about business, racing or chatting with friends.
Kelly was the only one doing neither and went over to the table where Sarge and Fillmore. After she left, Sarge noticed that Fillmore was squirming in his seat, meaning the babies moving around was making him uncomfortable. Sarge rubbed his bump to calm their unborn children.
Then, Gavin entered the café, and stopped in his tracks when he saw Fillmore and Sarge together at one of the tables. Gavin had a seat at the far side of the building where nobody noticed him. He got out his phone and selected Adam, Iralanda, and Kendra to send a photo to, and that photo was of Sarge and Fillmore cuddling in bed.
When his friends got the picture, they gasped and Adam sent it to Kelly, Iralanda sent it to Aneil, and Kendra sent it to Leo. Kelly sent it to Quinton, Aneil sent it to Travis, and Leo sent it to Trenton. Quinton sent it to Jasmine, Travis sent it to Yasin, and Trenton sent it to Amy. Jasmine sent it to Kassie, Yasin sent it to Darren, and Amy sent it to Milly. Kassie sent it to Sara, Darren sent it to Christopher, and Milly sent it to Sela. Sara sent it to Darrian Joenns, Christopher sent it to Anna, and Sela showed it to Cydney, who stole her phone. Cydney ran to Sarge's bunker to find Juan.
Fillmore saw her run in. "Why did Cydney run into your house?" he asked Sarge. "Probably trying to get something for her father," Sarge said. But then Juan ran out of the bunker, with a mortified look on his face. "What was Juan doing in my house?" Sarge wondered. Juan ran next door to Fillmore's geo-dome. "He went into my tent," Fillmore gasped.
After 10 minutes, Juan ran out, looking more panicked than ever and ran into the café. "Has anyone seen Sarge?" Juan pleaded. "He's over there," Sally pointed at the table Sarge and Fillmore were at, not even bothering to look up from her paperwork. Juan huffed and swaggered to the table.
He looked at Fillmore and Sarge coldly. "Step away," he snarled at Fillmore. Fillmore moved to another table very quickly. His babies were kicking again, warning him that something bad was about to happen. Darrian, Anna, Iralanda, Darren, Kelly, Yasin, Aneil and Jasmine looked up from their phones, ready to see what would happen. "I'm going to have to talk to you later, Harv," Lightning said, noticing what was going on. Mater and Guido looked up from what they were doing as well.
"Sarge…you just crossed the line and that is a line you do not want to cross. You know I have two skills: kicking ass and riding a motorcycle and my motorbike is in the shop!" Juan shouted. The teen did the roundhouse and knocked Sarge out of his seat and onto the ground. "How does he know how to do that?" Sarge asked. "Too much Mortal Kombat," Aneil suggested. "I let him borrow it sometimes." "Isn't that game rated M?" Lightning asked. "…No…" Aneil lied.
Juan, ignoring his friend, continued to beat Sarge by punching him in the jaw and face, and whenever Sarge tried to escape, Juan either knocked him back to the ground or dragged him back. The kid was on a roll. "Maybe you taught me too much, Sarge!" he snapped, stomping him on the stomach. "Hey, cut that out, man!" Fillmore shouted. "Stay out of this, hippie!" Juan snarled. "Hey, I take some offense in that!" Gavin protested. "Shut your trap or I'll do the same to you!" Juan threatened.
At that point, everyone else in the room was watching what was going on. "Juan, what's wrong? We could talk about it!" Sarge asked. "He's rubbing off on you! And also that's no longer an option!" Juan continued to hit his own teacher. Even Sheriff was too terrified to get involved!
Finally, Wingo got the wits to grab Juan from behind and lift the kicking teen off the soldier. Sarge was panting and groaning in pain as he got back on his feet. Fillmore helped used napkins to stop the scrapes from bleeding too much. Juan scowled at the hippie and broke free from Wingo and ran at Fillmore in an attempt to beat him next. Darrian and Anna leapt from their seats and held him back. "Juan, you're overreacting!" Anna scolded. "No I'm not!" Juan shouted.
At last, Mrs. Joenns took Juan to their house to have a word. "The picture was 5 hours old, it's not a big deal," Gavin said. "That's what all this hell was about?" Jasmine asked. "What was this picture?" Sally asked. "I'm feeling bad about it and I don't want to cause any more problems, so I'll delete it," Gavin stated. "Uh-huh, let me help you," Sally said, taking the phone out of Gavin's hands and looking at the picture.
She gasped and dropped the cell on the floor and looked at Sarge and Fillmore. "What are you gawking at?" Sarge asked her. Guido picked up the phone and his eyes widened at the image. "(I thought I heard a few loud thumps from your room in Las Vegas,)" he remarked.
Fillmore was close to running out of the café back to his geo-dome. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, and he also had a bad craving for organic gingersnaps. "It's not what you think," Sarge said. "What happened while we were in Vegas?" Lightning asked when Guido passed him the phone. Sarge thought over what happened.
FLASHBACK: Sarge was in the bar area of one of the casinos, and he was very drunk, but not too drunk to forget. Luigi was at a museum, Lightning and Sally ran into a racer and his girlfriend in the casino and were chatting, Guido was ruling Blackjack and Poker, the Tuner Gang were flirting with some girls, Mater was who knows where, and Fillmore was somewhere Sarge didn't know either.
He heard a few giggles and felt someone lean on his shoulder. He turned to his shoulder and saw Fillmore, who was still thin considering this was before he was pregnant, and also wasted. Sarge felt himself smile and peck Fillmore on the hair. Fillmore giggled again and playfully pushed him away. Sarge leaned forward and kissed Fillmore several times on the cheek and hair, making him giggle more and loudly. Some bystanders began to film the incident and laughed, while some got disgusted and muttered "homosexual faggots." Finally, their lips gained contact for a few moments. "Oh my, gosh, they're making out," shrieked a female voice. When they parted for a few moments, Fillmore moved in for more which he got. Sarge moved his hand to the back of Fillmore's neck, deepening the kiss all the more.
When they parted again, Fillmore whispered in Sarge's ear "Meet me in my hotel room," then Sarge felt a little tongue on his ear. "We have the same one, though," Sarge whispered back. Fillmore just giggled and walked off. Sarge watched him leave and followed him to their room. He entered shortly after and found Fillmore in the bedroom, facing away from him.
Sarge snuck behind him and felt his hands touch jean. Fillmore jumped and giggled. Sarge wrapped his arms around Fillmore's waist and held him close and kissed his cheek a few times. Fillmore turned around and kissed Sarge. Sarge thought he felt tongue against his lips. So he did the same to Fillmore. It didn't take long for their tongues to be brushing against each other and to start French-kissing. After that lasted for 3 minutes, Fillmore said "It's starting to get hot in here." Then Sarge felt hands on his chest and felt his shirt being unbuttoned. He saw Fillmore blush at his bare chest. Then Fillmore tackled him onto the bed and make out with him again, Sarge felt his hands touch jean again and within a few seconds, Sarge was over Fillmore and felt his hands fiddle with his pants zipper and he and Fillmore started to…do stuff. Fillmore moaned of pleasure the whole time and mumbled "Oh Sarge, oh Sarge…" When they finished, they both fell asleep, cuddling. END FLASHBACK.
"All I remember is getting really drunk and I suffered a total blackout," Sarge lied. "Well, I think you and Fillmore slept together," Ramone suggested. Sarge felt himself burning a bright red. When he looked at Fillmore, the hippie had his head in his hands. His shoulders were shaking and he was softly sobbing. Sarge patted him on the shoulder and whispered "Calm down Fillmore, it wouldn't be good for the babies."
"Babies, you're pregnant?" Adam gasped. "Y-yeah, they're due next month. I've been seeing the doctor in Star City about it," Fillmore stammered. "I'm offended," Dr. Garwood said. "So who's the father?" Sheriff asked. "I'm insulted," Sarge said. "I'm just kidding," Sheriff laughed. "I'm sorry," Juan said, entering the café. "I overreacted and I hope you accept my forgiveness." "I'm shocked," Gavin said. "Why is everyone going 'I'm etcetera'?" Trenton asked. "I'm Travis," Travis said. "I'm Mater!" Mater stated. "I'm annoyed," Boost said.
"Why did you beat Sarge?" Fillmore asked. "I was upset that someone I knew was something different than what I thought they were," Juan explained. "It's okay, Juan, we all make mistakes," Sarge forgave the teen.
Later that day, Sarge got something for his scrapes. That night, Sarge stayed with Fillmore for the night because he might need help with his pregnancy. Sarge gave his bump several pecks, showing the babies some love. Over the month, Fillmore received gifts from the townsfolk for the babies, such as blankets, clothing, three cradles, and some stuffed animals. Fillmore was happy that there were so many people that cared, mostly Sarge. Juan had gotten used to the fact that his teacher was a homosexual and liked Fillmore. Gavin adjusted more quickly, like always.
One day, Sarge was pacing back and forth in the hospital waiting room; just an hour earlier, Fillmore's water broke and he went into labor. Sarge had to help him into the hospital and found out the babies were in the wrong positions to be born naturally, so Fillmore had to get a C-section. Sarge was forced to wait outside while all the drama was going on in the next room.
Then, he heard a small cry! The first baby was born! A nurse walked out of the room, carrying a small bundle. "The babies will have to stay in the NICU for a few days. They were a few days early," she explained when Sarge gave her a questioning look. "And also this one's a boy." She left. A few minutes later, there was another cry. The second baby came! Another nurse came out of the room with another bundle. "A girl," she said. Another few minutes went by and finally, the final cry! The last nurse came out with the little bundle. "Another boy," the nurse told him. After she left, Sarge thought to himself with a laugh. "Oh, the little girl will get ganged up on by her brothers a lot…that is if I don't have anything to say,"
Then he heard one of the doctors exclaim "There's another baby in there!" Sarge stiffened. Did he just hear that? Then, after a few minutes, there was a small squeaky cry and Mrs. Garwood walked out, carrying the baby. "Another girl," she stated. "Well that evened the odds," Sarge thought. He looked at his youngest daughter and saw that she was the smallest of the bunch. She also had dark green hair, like him.
Half an hour later, Sarge went into the ward to see Fillmore lying in the bed, looking tired. Sarge pulled up a chair and sat near the bed. "Quadruplets," Fillmore sighed. "Quadruplets," Sarge repeated. "We better think of some names." "And I have a few ideas," Fillmore said.
An hour later, the nurses and Mrs. Garwood brought the babies into the ward. "You ready to name your children?" the doctor asked. "Yes," Sarge nodded. One of the nurses handed the Fillmore the firstborn. "This one is the oldest, and the first boy." The boy had pale blue-green hair and ruby eyes that matched his. "Jimi Alex Pruitt-McGreggor," he said, smiling. Mrs. Garwood handed the second-eldest and the second born to Sarge. "This is the second-oldest, she's a girl." The baby had pale blue-green hair and red eyes. Sarge said the girl's. "Janis Ivy Pruitt-McGreggor." Another nurse handed the other boy to Sarge. The child had dark green hair and red eyes. "John Seth Pruitt-McGreggor," he said. The last nurse handed the youngest to Fillmore. She had dark green hair and ruby eyes. "Rosie Bonnie Pruitt-McGreggor," he said, holding the baby closer to him.
After a few weeks, the babies' true colors began to show: Jimi clung to Fillmore, he let Sarge hold him sometimes, but if it was a choice between Sarge and Fillmore, it'd be Fillmore. His favorite stuffed animal was an elephant. Janis was the quietest of the bunch and was happing to be in anyone's arms, unmoving. She loved her pink blanket and her stuffed animal, the giraffe. John was the loudest of them and loved music. It was the only thing to get him to fall asleep, which Fillmore found out after two sleepless nights. He just popped in a Beatles CD and played "Let It Be" and John was out cold within seconds. His favorite animal was a raccoon. And finally, Rosie, she didn't like to be held all day long, she'd rather crawl around or lay on a blanket. She clung to Sarge like Jimi did Fillmore, telling everyone she'd be daddy's little girl. He favorite animal was a kitten.
After a year, Sarge and Fillmore happy together, which was a surprise to the town. Even though they still disagreed, they still cared about each other, and they still loved each other.
The End