Prologue.

Robin was usually the first one up in the morning, so it surprised Raven when she walked into the living room at nine AM and it was empty. She shrugged it off and started a pot of water for her morning tea.

Ten minutes later, Raven was sipping her drink while admiring the ocean view from their large window.

Suddenly, the window started flashing a message in front of her. It was an incoming intergalactic video feed.

"That's strange." She commented.

"Yaaaahhhhhh," Beastboy yawned and stretched as he walked into the living room, "Who's calling this early in the morning?"

Raven was already at the console, shaking her head at Beastboy's Robin trademark pajama pants.

She turned to the screen and pressed the 'answer' button. The face of their alien princess friend appeared on the screen

"Starfire?" The two teens said in unison.

"I am so glad Robin is not there! Friends it is very important for Robin's safety that you do not tell him what I am about to tell you!"

"What is it, Starfire? Why are you talking like that and where are you?" Raven asked.

"I have been ordered to Tamaran. I am with child."

"What?!" Beastboy was suddenly wide awake.

"Yeah, What do you mean?" Raven asked, unusually wide-eyed.

"Robin and I conceived a child last night and-"

"Woah woah woah! TMI Starfire! That's gross!" Beastboy mimicked a gag reflex.

"Would you be mature for a few minutes?" Raven asked him impatiently.

"Okay." Beastboy agreed dejectedly.

"Go on Starfire, how did this happen, how do you know, and how are you there already?"

"Well, on Earth as I understand women do not know right away if conception was successful. On Tamaran we know right away and our immediate families also know as well. My relatives immediately knew I must have conceived with an Earthling and commanded me to return so that no one would know of my baby—so that I would not disgrace the family by having an impure child." Starfire's face suddenly contorted into a shape rarely seen, true sadness, "They want to send the child far away and for good once it is born, and if I do not comply they will not let me return to Earth! The only way they will let me come back is if I promise that I will only have pure Tamaranian children and never tell Robin about the child."

"Why can't Robin know? If he's the father then he has a say."

"They don't want Robin to know for that reason. He does have a say. He could take custody of it and they want it somewhere where they and I both will never see it again." Starfire started sobbing.

"That's awful!" said Beastboy, "Star, I'd do anything to help you keep it."

Starfire sniffed back more tears, "I am… quite glad you have said this. I have discovered a way that I may, in some ways, keep my baby."

"And how is that?" Raven asked suspiciously.

Starfire bit her lower lip, "The child will have no powers as only pure Tamaranians have them, but the child will still share features with me. Suppose it has green eyes. Now our eyes are different greens but in the eyes of the public, the baby has green eyes, Beastboy has green eyes…"

Beastboy's confused face was now replaced with a look of understanding, "You want me to pretend it's mine? Who would the mother be?"

"Me." Raven said quietly. Beastboy stared at her with eyes the size of pizzas, "But only to help Starfire," she added on quickly.

"Friends! You are truly the most wonderful two people I could ever wish to meet!"

Beastboy blushed, "S'no problem."

"What about Robin?" Raven asked in a serious tone, "Will he know the baby is his?"

Starfire looked down sadly, "My people have the technology to find out through him if he knows about the child. Until my baby is completely safe he must not know."

"Okay, so we know how to convince the public that the baby is mine and Raven's, but how do we convince Robin? He'll be suspicious if we suddenly have a baby and Raven was never pregnant."

"You can say you had a secret relationship that you've kept well hidden for many months. Then you can do the make-believe that Raven is with child?"

Raven shook her head, "No, he would know I wasn't really pregnant. What we need is an excuse to leave for a long time."

Beastboy jumped up and down, "Ooh! Ooooh! Let's go to Mexico!"

Raven rolled her eyes, "As much as I love fiestas and piñatas I'm going to have to say no. We only need a place to say we are going to. It has to be someplace where they can't visit us, someplace where it is hard to reach us, and someplace where we have a reason to go."

The three of them sat in deep concentration for a few moments. Then Starfire's face lit up.

"Azarath!" she squealed, "It is perfect!"

Raven crossed her arms, "What makes you think Azarath is perfect? How do you even know about it?"

Starfire shrugged, "I sometimes come across books from your personal library and sometimes happen to read them? Oh, Raven I am sorry I went into your room! I read that time is different there, so can use that to explain the short notice of the baby."

Raven started to consider what Starfire was saying, and it started to make sense in her head, "Yes," she said, "And I can say I want to visit my home. Beastboy can say he is coming to… to learn more about his powers."

Starfire grinned, "Oh this is splendid! I do not know how to thank you!"

"Don't mention it," Beastboy said.

"Okay, I shall not mention it." Starfire said, "Now, I will let it be known that I will be having guests."

"Beastboy and I will come up with a story for Robin. We can be there in a week."

"Marvelous! One more thing! Do not tell Cyborg as well. Only you two can know the truth. That is the best way to make this believable."

"What should we tell them about you?" Beastboy asked, "They're gonna realize you're missing and wonder why we don't seem to care!"

"I have thought of this also. Tell them I have been called away and am not at liberty to tell them why. Say I will be gone indefinitely and there is no way any one can contact me."

"Okay Star."

The doors to the living room opened and Cyborg walked in. Starfire gasped, "I must go!" The screen went black.

Beastboy and raven glanced at each other nervously.

"Was that Starfire?"

"Uh CYBORG!" Beastboy shouted, "I just realized I messed with your power cables and I forgot to put them back the right way!"

"You WHAT? How many times do I have to tell you to not mess in my room!" Cyborg stormed out to check how much damage Beastboy had done.

Once he was gone, Beastboy let out a breath and slumped onto the couch, "That was close."

Raven sat down next to him, "Beastboy, can you handle this? I mean, you realize we just agreed to be parents and pretend that we like each other, right?"

Beastboy nodded.

Raven lowered her voice and got closer to him, "We have to make it believable that we would have a child, we probably will have to share a room, and do couples things." Raven blushed.

The doors to the living room slid open and Robin popped his head in. He glanced at Raven and Beastboy then left.

"That was weird."

Raven rolled her eyes, "He was looking for Starfire."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"Okay, now we need to make some new rules."

"What kind of rules?"

"Rules regarding how we act around each other."

"Okay, first rule is that you have to laugh at my jokes. I would never date a girl who didn't think I was funny."

Raven was thankful that her hood was up because she could feel her face heating up at Beastboy's comment. The truth was that she did think he was funny, but she would never give him the satisfaction of knowing so she said, "No. The rule is: no jokes."

"Fine," Beastboy crossed his arms, "I'll do it for you."

Raven blushed harder than before, "Don't you mean for Starfire?"

Beastboy tensed up, "Yeah, that's what I meant – for Star. Yeah."

"Okay, I made a rule, now you make one."

"Hmm," Beastboy thought, "Okay, my rule is that, when we are pretending to be a couple, I can call you whatever pet names I want."

Raven raised an eyebrow. She knew she wouldn't like it, but she had to give it to him as he had accepted her rule, "Fine."

Beastboy's ears perked up, "Really? I thought I would have to fight for that one."

"It's only fair."

Just then Cyborg came storming back into the living room.

"Beastboy!"

"Yeah Cy?"

"You sent me on a wild goose chase! There was nothing wrong with any of my equipment!"

"Yeah, umm—"

Raven stood up, "We need to talk to you. It's about Starfire."