TWO WEEKS LATER…

"Okay, this is so not cool," said Gemstone, putting her hands over her spark chamber and wincing in pain. "Starscream, why didn't you tell me it would—OW!"

"Well…it's nothing to look forward to," said Starscream rather sheepishly.

"Don't worry," said Thundercracker, wrapping his arms around Gemstone and covering her with kisses. "My mother is on her way right now, and she'll help you deliver the sparkling."

Thundercracker was usually a fighter who held his emotions back and thought with logic. When he was with Gemstone, though, he changed; he was all gentleness in dealing with her, and she was the only one who was able to melt his spark. Yes, he certainly used to have a thing for Skywarp's cruel ex-girlfriend, Moonbeam, but once he'd experienced true love for real, he realized he had never really been in love with Moonbeam after all.

Of course, seeing as how this idea, in Thundercracker's opinion, was corny as scrap, he would never admit it. Skywarp might wear his spark on his sleeve, and Starscream was never one to keep his opinions to himself (even when maybe he should have), but Thundercracker liked to think he was a bit more complicated than that.

"Please don't let the bond snap, please don't let the bond snap…" Gemstone was whispering.

"Why don't you want the carrier bond to snap?" asked Skywarp. "You can't have the sparkling until it does, you know."

"I know that," she said through gritted teeth.

Thundercracker tried to stroke her cheek for comfort, but she swatted his hand away.

"Don't touch me!" she told him. "How long has it been now?"

"About an hour, maybe," said Starscream. "Why?"

"Oh, c'mon!" Gemstone gave a little moan and leaned back on the repair table. "Your little sparklings took eleven hours!"

"Well, it can take longer or shorter than that," said Starscream. "Don't you remember what Moonbeam—"

Starscream cut himself off and put his hands up over his mouth. It was an unspoken rule around base that, for Skywarp's sake, nobody was to mention Moonbeam or anything remotely having to do with her. Skywarp was still licking his wounds from their nasty break-up.

Gemstone and Thundercracker looked like they didn't know what to do; Starscream's faceplates were red and he looked awkward; Skywarp was looking down at the floor, his black-and-purple wings drooping.

"Oh, he's sorry, 'Warp," said Gemstone sadly.

"I know," said Skywarp, his voice cracking. "I know he didn't mean it."

Nobody said anything for a moment; they all kind of just stood there staring at each other, until they heard a knocking on the door.

"May I come in?" said a female voice.

"Oh! Mother!" Starscream bolted towards the door and swung it open. As soon as he did, his mother wrapped him up in a hug and kissed his cheek.

"Aww, how's my baby?" she cooed, not letting go of him.

"Um, I'm fine," said Starscream. "Come on, everyone's in here."

"Skywarp! Cracker!" their mother cried; Skywarp and Thundercracker both got a loving greeting, too.

"Did you just call him 'Cracker', ma'am?" Gemstone asked, giggling.

"Didn't he tell you?" Starscream smirked. "TC's childhood nickname was 'Cracker'."

"Oh, it's nothing to be ashamed of," said his mother. "My little Seekerling just couldn't pronounce the 'Thunder', that's all. You know, his speech was still developing."

"Mother, please, I'm not a Seekerling any more." This time it was Thundercracker's turn to blush.

"It's just so nice to see you all again!" she cried, giving her sons one more hug and kiss each.

Gemstone gasped, clutched at her chest, and squeaked.

"You're the carrier, aren't you?" said the Command Trine's mother gently, sitting down on the edge of the repair table and taking Gemstone's hand in hers.

"Yes ma'am," said Gemstone nervously, her voice rising in pitch with every word. "I just don't think I can have this sparkling. I mean, I've never ever done it before, and I don't know how, and I-I don't think I'm strong enough to—"

"Just relax, dear," Starscream's mother soothed. "Your body knows how. Has the carrier bond broken yet?"

Gemstone shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. "Not yet."

Thundercracker had never seen Gemstone so scared—usually she had a lot of courage. So he was worried about her, especially when she let out a loud scream.

"I think the bond just broke," said Starscream.

THAT NIGHT…

The light was fading, and most of the Decepticons were having their dinner—sweet, high-grade energon to fill them up for the night. They watched TV, and got ready to go to bed. This was when, after almost thirteen hours, the sparkling was born.

Starscream noticed that his mother was being awfully gentler with Gemstone than Moonbeam had been with him; she was speaking to Gemstone in a soft, comforting voice, never losing her patience, and she was always encouraging. Whereas all Starscream could remember about the twins' birth (besides eleven hours of torture) was Moonbeam barking at him to push and appearing very unhappy when he didn't feel like forcing something alive out of his body.

"Oh, this is so horrible!" Gemstone cried, her eyes shut, throwing her arms up and inadvertently smacking Thundercracker in the face.

"What the—OW!" yelled Thundercracker, holding his face, remembering how he'd gotten his arm ripped off by Starscream when the twins were being born. That had also hurt. Next time someone had a sparkling, he decided, he would stay VERY far away from the carrier until the birth process was over.

"Please, please make this stop!" Gemstone begged.

"There's not much more I can do, dear." Starscream's mother calmly shook her head. "Your body delivers your sparkling naturally, at its own pace."

"Thundercracker, help me," Gemstone said desperately, turning to her boyfriend. "Your mother doesn't understand what I'm going through."

This wasn't logical, seeing as the Command Trine's mother had brought three Seekerlings into the world, one right after the other, so she would probably understand better than anyone. Thundercracker was pretty sure childbirth didn't make you very logical, though, so he just kissed the top of Gemstone's head and told her that he loved her.

"You're a strong femme," he whispered soothingly. "Starscream is right. Everything is going to be fine."

"But how do you know?" she cried.

"There you go, sweetheart, you're doing wonderful," said the jets' mother. "Now, stay calm, and keep pushing."

"Just don't picture the sparkling coming out of you at this moment," said Starscream.

Gemstone cried out in pain again, grabbing onto the bedsheets.

"I think she pictured it," said Thundercracker, taking a small step back.

"Don't strain yourself, Gemstone," Skywarp told her, looking especially worried for both his sparkling and its carrier.

"How could I not strain myself?" Gemstone snapped back as she continued forcing her sparkling out, eyes squeezed tight, but then she opened them wide, exhaled freely, and there was silence. Thundercracker wrapped his strong arms around her pearly white body, looking like he thought he knew what had happened, but not for sure.

That was when they heard the sparkling crying.

Gemstone let out an exhausted laugh as she fell backwards into her boyfriend's arms.

"Congratulations," said the Command Trine's mother softly, handing Gemstone the sparkling. "You have a daughter."

Thundercracker covered Gemstone with kisses, truly overjoyed that his girlfriend and new daughter had made it through the birth process intact. Starscream and Skywarp dashed over to see the sparkling, who fit right in the palm of her mother's hand.

Certainly, she was unique, a mix of both of her parents. Most of her body was the same pearly white as Gemstone's, although she had a black Seeker helmet just like Thundercracker's, and a set of tiny dark-blue wings sticking out of her back. Her hands and forearms were black too, instead of white, as were her feet.

Gemstone's sparkling sure looked like a Seekerling, with Thundercracker's wings as the main indication. It was true that, being a hybrid, she looked a little different, but hybrids, depending on how much and what type of CNA they inherited, certainly had a possibility of becoming Seekers when they were fully grown. It was really just the luck of the draw, although everyone agreed that they were lucky to have this little femme, whether she was a Seekerling or not.

"Did I hear a sparkling crying?" Megatron demanded, as he swung open the door and entered the room.

"As if on cue," said Starscream.

Megatron was holding Megs' hand as Megs continued to practice walking, his other little hand gripping Megatron's shin. Stars was hovering in the air beside them, talking in his baby language. Starscream's mother rushed over and snatched him out of the air, showering him with kisses and hugs, although he was squirming to get away.

"Oh, Starscream," she said, tears leaking out of her eyes. "He looks just like you."

"Yes, and he said 'Daddy' on his Creation Day," Starscream told her. "I mean, the one we had a couple weeks ago. Not on his first day of life."

"Oh, no, he didn't!" she cried, then picked up Megs, squeezing him and his brother both. "What wonderful grandchildren I am blessed with! When did he start flying?"

"One week after he was born," Starscream replied. "You wouldn't believe how overjoyed we were. I went to get him for his feeding one morning, and there he was, just floating in the air. I called everyone in to see."

"That's when you three started flying, too," said his mother, kissing both grandsons again. "It was millions of years ago, but I remember everything like it was only yesterday. Watching you three fly for the first time was magical for me."

"I hate to break things up, but there's something we need to discuss," said Megatron. "It needs a designation. Is it male or female?"

"Female," said Gemstone. "If you guys don't mind, though, I already thought of a name I'd like her to have."

"What is it?" asked Skywarp, watching his screaming new daughter. It was only right that the carrier chose the name, he supposed—although it was true that Gemstone had named both Stars and Megs, since Megatron and Starscream both wanted to name the sparklings after themselves and had started to argue over it.

"Stardust," Gemstone replied. "I kind of like it, but if you don't, we can always think of something a little more—"

Skywarp cut her off and kissed the sparkling on her helmet. "I think it sounds perfect."

"Do you want to hold her?" Gemstone asked, smiling knowingly. Of course Skywarp wanted to hold her; he loved sparklings and was very good with them too, as he had proven when babysitting the twins countless times.

"Yes, yes I do," said Skywarp, tears in his eyes as Gemstone handed him his new daughter. Skywarp cradled her in his arms and gave her another kiss. She fit in one of his hands, and slowly her crying subsided, giving way to a peaceful, innocent smile. Stardust twitched her wings and curled up into a little ball, her wings twitching as she drifted into a deep stasis.

Skywarp couldn't help it—he started to cry all over again. Stardust was just so beautiful and perfect, and she was his little femme to love and protect forever. Crying, apparently, was contagious; Skywarp's mother started crying too, and rushed over to see her granddaughter.

"Now I can give Stardust the gift I made for her," she sobbed, and took out Stardust's gift.

"You hand-knitted a pink bib that says 'I Love Grandma' on it?" said Starscream.

"Yes!" said his mother. "Isn't it precious?"

"I guess so," said Gemstone. "Thank you. I'm sure she'll look adorable."

"Don't forget, I have gifts for the twins, too!" Grandma squealed, and pulled out two hand-knitted scarves, one blue, and one black.

"You must really like knitting," said Gemstone.

"Of course, dear," said Starscream's mother. "It's one of my favorite hobbies, plus it makes for great gifts. I thought Megs would like the black one and Stars would like the blue one, but they can choose whichever ones they want."

"I think you were right about the colors." Starscream wrapped the blue scarf around Stars' neck; he immediately started chewing on it. Megs grabbed at his black scarf, like he wasn't quite sure what it was.

"Fertility is the most wonderful thing a parent could have," said the Seekers' mother. "It's best to give birth to as many sparklings as you possibly can."

"Considering the fact that Seekers have the best fertility out of any other Cybertronian species, plus the fact that our instinct is to spend a lot of time in the sack, you can expect a new crop of Seekerlings every year," said Thundercracker. "No wonder there are so many of us."

"I honestly can't understand why there would be a species with such intimate cravings all the time, and why they would be given increased fertility in addition," said Megatron.

"Well, there's actually a good reason for that, at least partially," said Starscream. "You see, many years ago, before our time, Seekers used to be hunted. Like, for 'sport'. Hunters with one-hit-kill firearms shot us out of the sky, putting our disembodied wings up on the walls of their dwellings as trophies. The rest of our bodies were dumped in the scrap heap, our sparks extinguished and our wings torn off."

"That's horrible!" Gemstone gasped, putting her hand to her mouth.

"What does that have to do with new Seekerlings, though?" asked Megatron.

"After millennia of this heinous practice, Seekers became an endangered species," Starscream explained. "So I guess we evolved this way to make sure our species didn't die out. If our fertility rates shot up insanely, which they eventually did, we had a better chance of survival. Anyway, Seeker-hunting was outlawed, but the primitive instinct didn't go away. It's like flying or transforming—it's in our coding. The only difference is, the reproductive instinct doesn't kick in until you've reached maturity."

"That's how you know," said Thundercracker. "Then you get initiation, at a meeting of the sacred Seekers-only lodge."

"What happens at initiation?" Gemstone asked curiously.

"Sorry, classified," said Starscream.

"Well, I think we got a little off-track here, though," said Starscream's mother, holding out her arms. "May I—may I please hold my granddaughter?"

"Not a problem," said Skywarp, gently handing her the sparkling. "The bib is right. She does love her grandma."