Okay, so I got a little bored and decided to give this story a thorough read through again. I couldn't help but notice all the grammatical and punctuation errors, about which I can't believe no one gave me a hard time (you must have been feeling generous, thanx). But what was even more unbelievable were some minor points throughout that were a bit too, as I like to call, "on the nose," or tacky. So I am doing a major proofread and also rewriting some parts, but the overall plot should basically stay the same.

I'm really mostly doing this because it was bothering me how some areas were written. But I welcome new and old readers.

P.S. Please don't get me started on the whole "how can cybernetic monkeys have babies?" debate, because I can site references from the show and you will LOSE. [Insert Evil Laugh Here].

Anyhoo… on with the story!

~ KH

Nova couldn't believe this was happening. They weren't protected. They never were. She knew this was always a possibility, but never did she foresee it actually happening. Tears welled in her eyes and her mind was filled with some conflicting emotions as she stared at the positive pregnancy test in her hand. She was joyful and fearful at the same time, as most people in her newfound position would be. There was also a small yet noticeable sense of shame she felt over allowing this to happen. They had been so careful not to get caught, and yet—perhaps because they eventually wanted to be found out—this happened.

Suddenly, a knock came to the bathroom door that pulled Nova out of her thoughts and back into reality. "Nova My Dear, what's going on? Are you alright? You've been in there for a while, and everyone is downstairs for breakfast," came the commanding voice of her lover and mate through the door.

"Just a minute Mandi, I'll be right out," Nova responded as she quickly went to work. She threw the pregnancy test into the garbage along with its box, tore out a large wad of tissue to throw in the garbage over top of them, and flushed the toilet to cover herself. She looked in the mirror then grabbed a tissue from the garbage to wipe away her tears. She straightened out her fur and made herself look as kempt as possible. Taking a deep breath, she opened the bathroom door and was greeted by Mandarin's concerned face. She smiled as best she could to offset what she knew he was feeling.

"Are you alright?" Mandarin asked again, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You've been in the bathroom a lot recently. Are you feeling okay? Perhaps you should let Gibson check…"

"…Mandi, I don't need Gibson to go poking and prodding me," Nova interrupted. "You're worrying too much. Besides, I'm sure I'll be feeling better in no time; I probably just need some rest," she put a reassuring hand on his cheek.

Not fully convinced, but not wanting to get into an argument, which he knew would result if he pushed his fiery, stubborn mate into doing something she didn't want to do, Mandarin decided to drop the subject. "Alright, if you are sure. You know I just want what is best for you, I don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to you."

Mandarin grabbed the hand Nova had put on his cheek and caressed his face lovingly against it. Nova just smiled, drew him into a tight hug and told him, "I'm sure." She grabbed his hand, "now come on, let's go get some breakfast, I'm starving!" and led him down to the team's dining room.

As always, I write for myself and not necessarily for reviews. But I do enjoy receiving them, no matter how scathing…