Author's Notes: Well, ta-da. Here is the first chapter of my first PPG fic, and my first big original project since "The Shadow-Men". This whole thing was inspired after a) reading crack pairing fics and b) trying to think of my own. And suddenly, two images popped into my head- Blossom playing chess with Mojo Jojo (Not really crack but…), and Bubbles window-shopping with Him. I found the second one to be infinitely more interesting (Because I'm a hopeless Him fan and there are simply not enough HimXBubbles fics. MojoXBlossom writers are holding their own out there.) So needed a plot. And Lo, the book "Rosemary's Baby" came to mind. No, this isn't a re-write using Him and Bubbles. Think of it as, "inspiration."
Being a Powerpuff Girl was exactly like being a celebrity. Every time a new baddie was defeated, or an old one re-incarcerated, the story was splashed across every newspaper and almost every tabloid. Of course, the stories were often a little fuzzy on the real facts. And as they grew older, more than mere heart pounding, blood pumping, smack-down dragged-out fights were being published. Romance, of course, had to be thrown into the mix. Therefore, Bubbles' first date vaguely resembled meat before starving jackals.
Bubbles had been the first to garner herself a boyfriend. He had been a muscular, tan, lifeguard of a boy that all the other high school girls had swooned over. Doubtless he would be the one to date a Powerpuff, who, on the dating scene, were trophies not unlike the Nobel Prize.
The date itself was far from romantic. The paparazzi were everywhere. Some were blatant, like the guy from Shocker! Magazine who actually sat at the table next to theirs with his camera. He didn't last long, but he undoubtedly had the most interesting story.
So they got subtler. They loitered outside the windows. They disguised themselves as various forms of shrubbery (Which, being in the city of Townsville, was the least effective of disguises.). They did anything and everything humanly possible to get a picture, a story. Their waiter had been wearing a wire and sold their conversation for an undisclosed amount of money.
After about a week of this, they had decided to call it quits.
Bubbles' next boyfriend was less chiseled and gorgeous. But he was still cute, and intelligent. They went out periodically until Blossom came home with a copy of Oh My God Weekly. "Powerpuff Boyfriend Spills All!" Needless to say, their relationship didn't last much longer.
And so it went on. For all the Powerpuffs, but more so for Bubbles, as she seemed to zip through boyfriends quickly and ceaselessly. All of them either couldn't handle the stress, or were in it only for the glory of it all. Finally, at age eighteen, Bubbles stopped. She just ceased to date anyone. Blossom had been going steady for sometime now, but she was intelligent enough to avoid the paparazzi. Buttercup had sworn off men, and had moved on to women. (Bubbles had to admit; being bisexual had its advantages.) Bubbles had no such luck, and there were several bets running that she had no such conviction.
But by age twenty-two, Bubbles had effectively avoided the dating scene. While the three of them still fought crime, much of it was now out of town. It had long been decided that the Powerpuff Girls (Now, more appropriately the "Powerpuff Women") shouldn't restrict their abilities to a single city.
Blossom was engaged.
Buttercup, never the romantic, had nonetheless found someone who might be "The one."
Bubbles was beginning to feel lonely.
"Girls." The sun was going down when Bubbles decided to bring her decision to her sisters.
"What is it, Bubbles?" Blossom asked.
"Girls, I think… I think I want to adopt a kid."
There was a brief pause. The three of them floated in the air, and Blossom gave her sister an appraising look.
She looked exhausted. They had had to fly all the way over to Japan to stop some giant lizard that had decided to take a stroll through Tokyo, and none of them were exactly at their peak. Bubbles looked the worst of the lot. Her clothing was torn, dirt and soot smudged almost every inch of her visible skin- Blossom would be willing to bet that if it weren't for the smudging, she would be able to see some half healed bruises as well. Her hair was a mess and she didn't look at all capable of raising her head let alone a kid.
"Bubbles…" Blossom began, and the "joy and the laughter" could tell by her tone that Blossom would discourage her in the kindest way possible.
"Blossom! Please, I think a kid would be really good for me! I mean, you have Henry, and Blossom has Alison, but I don't have anybody! I'm all alone!"
"Bubbles, a kid might be good for you, but would you really be good for the kid? Look at yourself! You're beaten, and bruised, and what sort of attention could you possibly give to a child when you have to be on call to save the day?"
"But what about Henry and Alison?" Bubbles pleaded.
"Bubbles, Henry and Alison aren't kids. They can take care of themselves and, more importantly, they understand that we can't always be there for them. You can't do that with a kid."
"But-"
"Bubbles, maybe you should call the whole thing off. Go back to dating."
"But I don't want to go back to dating! It's done nothing good for me at all!"
Blossom sighed. "Bubbles, why don't you sleep on it? We'll discuss it in the morning."
With that, the head Powerpuff blasted away toward her home- and, Bubbles thought a little sadly, to her fiancée. Buttercup floated there next to her sister.
"Bubbles, as much as I hate to say it, Blossom is right. We just aren't ready for kids yet."
"So… you agree with her?"
"Well… I dunno. Maybe a little. But really, I just don't see why you'd want a screaming bag of poo and vomit."
Bubbles was quiet. Buttercup waited briefly for a response, then finally said "Look, I'll see you tomorrow."
And she was gone.
Bubbles floated wearily to her own home. Without bothering to get undressed or change clothes, she dropped herself onto her bed, face down in the pillows and blankets, and didn't move.
Blink.
11: 59.
Blink.
11:59.
Blink.
11:59.
Blink.
12:00.
As the little digital alarm clock struck 12:00, something red (Or maybe more pink) began to fill the room. It hovered around Bubbles like a thick fog, before it immediately condensed itself into a physical form.
Him struck a daring, sly, yet terrifying pose before realizing his host was still asleep. He frowned. He had completely forgotten that most people sleep at this time- it had been awhile.
He stood by her bed, tapping His goatee with His claw.
Blink.
12:06
He bent over the bed. Bubbles had not bothered to climb under the sheets in the night, and so she lay in the exact position she had fall en into before. Him wondered briefly how she could breathe like that.
Blink.
12: 17
Him ran his claw across the bookshelf. He still hadn't left Bubbles' room, and she hadn't stirred. He decided, then, to explore a bit before he woke her.
Few of the books seemed to have been opened, much less read. The few and the proud that bore creases down their spines seemed to consist almost entirely of self-help books. How To Deal With Your Loneliness, Empower Yourself and It's Your Life; Live It seemed to have the most wear on them. Him guessed that many of the others were given to her as presents-Likely from Blossom. A Layman's Guide to Understanding The Interpersonal Relationships Between Modern Day Science and Religion, War and Peace; Unabridged Director's Cut, and The Endochronic Properties of Resublimented Thiomoline were contenders in the proud but largely ignored section.
On the bottom shelf in the far right corner was a King James' Bible. Frowning, Him gingerly picked it up with his claws and leafed through it.
Blink.
1:37
Having finally grown bored of Bubbles' sparse reading material, Him had once again postponed awakening his host and began wandering around her apartment. Of all the Puffs, Bubbles lived closer to the center of the city. The view was fantastic, if concrete and moody Italian men were your thing. But it was tastefully decorated, to a point. Bubbles had never really gotten over the "Cute Animals" phase, and so framed images of vomit inducing adorableness were hung on almost ever free space- Kittens and puppies and fawns and bear cubs and hedgehogs and cats who adopted puppies and dogs who adopted leopard cubs and leopards who adopted monkey babies and every form of animal behavior that could possibly induce an ear-jarring "Awwww…" immediately assaulted Him's retinas. He quickly retired to the kitchen.
Blink. 5: 12
The sun was dawdling on the edge of the horizon when Bubbles awoke to the smell of pancakes. Her first thought was that Blossom had reconsidered her stance on the whole "No-baby" thing and had come to apologize. She blasted out of her bed and streaked toward the kitchen, where she skidded to a stunned halt.
Well, the person there was red.
Him looked away from the stove and over his shoulder, briefly appearing just as stunned as Bubbles. He then smiled and flopped a pancake over onto a plate. "Well good morning Bubbles." He said, his voice characteristically echoing about the kitchen. "You're up earlier than I expected."
"What are you doing here, Him?" Bubbles asked darkly. Her fist trembled slightly, but that was all that betrayed her fear of Him.
"Oh, don't be like that." Him pouted. "Pancake?" Bubbles shook her head. "Then do you mind?"
Bubbles shook her head again. Him carried the plate and a bottle of syrup over to the table and sat down. He immediately began pouring the sugary sap, and continued doing so until nearly half the bottle was gone. He then began to eat, blissfully ignoring the girl He had come to see.
"Him."
"Mmm-hmmm?" Him hummed his acknowledgement as he chewed, and glanced over at the blonde superhero.
"What are you doing here?"
Him swallowed. "Why my dear, what makes you assume that I want anything but your own sweet comp-"
"Him."
He quickly changed his subject. "I have a proposition for you."
"Why me?"
"Don't you want to know what it is first?!"
Bubbles flinched at his darker, more impatient voice, but still stood strong. If she had learned nothing else in a lifetime of crime fighting, it was that you had to at least act strong, even if your insides were turning into jell-O. "What is it?"
"Well, I, uh, ha ha ha…" Him started to stammer and flushed a bit, before finally spitting out. "I want you to have my child."
There was a pause as this sank in.
"Him, get out of my apartment!" Bubbles pointed to the door.
"No, wait!" Him scrambled to his feet nearly upsetting the table and the plate of syrup. "I need you to do this for me! You and your sisters are the only ones strong enough to even bring my child to term, and I know your sisters wouldn't even consider it!"
"Why do you want a child?"
"Because I'm LONELY!" Him wailed. "I haven't attacked Townsville since… well, you know."
Bubbles did know. It had been something of an accident, but Buttercup had made a bet with Him, which she had then won. Her sisters had known nothing of this, not up until the last moment. In a strangely out of character moment, Him had honored the wager, and hadn't attacked Townsville in the last eight years. At least, not directly.
Still, Bubbles softened. "You really want a kid?"
"Yes!" Him insisted, falling to his knees to emphasize his desperation.
"I… well… okay."
Him leapt to his feet. "Thank you! Oh his will be just wonderful!"
"I won't… I won't have to sleep with you will I?" Bubbles asked uncomfortably.
"What? No, of course not. Actually, I know a wonderful doctor…"