Another one of my friends is pregnant omfg I must be like a psychic wizard or something. Perpahs I should write a story about winning the lottery or something? I've spent most of my night at work knitting a baby blanket between talking to patients, and planning yet more baby stuff I can make. Babies, babies everywhere. It's raining babies. Hallelujah.
aaAAAAHH reviews! You guys! You make me blush when you give me compliments on my writing, it's so wonderful of you! I love you with all of my tender squishy heart. Keep it up if you feel like letting me know what you think of my story. My deepest apologies to the citizens of Malmö, I've actually never been but I have heard that it kinda sucks. Sorry. But Pressbyrån hotdogs are legit amazing.
Content Warning: Alcohol but at least they're drinking responsibly. Mostly. Except Jake, I headcannon that he's still a total party animal. Bad language, confrontation, general sickness.
"Strawberry beeeeeeeer forever!" Finn sang, sliding a reddish pint down the table to Marceline and grinning at her. She grimaced and pushed it away regretfully, stomach churning at the sight of it.
"Sorry, man. Still on those antibiotics, no alcohol for me. But I appreciate the thought." she muttered with a sour frown. Finn just stared at her.
"But it's been, like, weeks." he whined. "One little drink isn't gonna make any difference, is it? I got that stupidly expensive fruit beer, it's your favourite! And you don't look so ill."
She just shrugged uncomfortably, wishing Bonnie would hurry up and come back from the bathroom, rescue her from having to make up lame excuses to Finn. The redhead was taking her time; she was probably gossiping with Lady. Their usual bar was too damn loud, it was one of the rare occasions when Marcy wasn't so horribly nauseated and she wanted more than anything to be home on the sofa stuffing her face with literally any and every foodstuff she could get her hands on. Really she'd rather be doing anything but having to lie to her friends and watch them enjoy beer she wasn't going to be allowed for a very long time.
"Actually you do look kinda tired still." Jake countered, staring intently at her face. "Bon Bon keeping you up all night? That filthy dog."
"Huh, I wish. Nah man, I'm not sleeping too well. Up and down a lot, being sick, you know how it is. Stomach infection's still kicking my butt." she lied, not meeting his eyes and instead rubbing the side of her neck self-consciously.
"Yeah, Lady does that a lot too. Pretty much constantly for the last seven years. Up and down all night for the full nine months then up and down for the next two or three years feeding and changing and mothering. Bonnibel hasn't made you pregnant with a lesbo tongue baby, has she? Maybe we should give her face a vasectomy too." Jake replied with a grin. He and Finn laughed and Marceline smiled weakly, wishing harder than ever that Bonnie would hurry the fuck up and come back from the bathroom already. It was worryingly close to the truth that Jake had brought up pregnancy.
"Hey Marcy?" Jake asked thoughtfully with a small frown creasing his kind face, "Um, y'know, I don't wanna be rude? But your, um, shirt is kinda popping open... are your boobs getting bigger?"
"Dude!" Finn exclaimed, "You can't ask a woman if her breasts are bigger! We agreed when we made friends with the hot lesbians we wouldn't stare at their chests!"
Marcy's hands flew to where her shirt was indeed popping open and she hastily fixed the buttons that had come loose. She rested her head on the table, defeated. She was too tired, she hadn't wanted to come for their regular meetup with Finn, Jake and Lady anyway and she was pretty certain she'd just been rumbled. Bonnie had warned her that her shirt was getting too tight across the chest but it was one of her favourites and she hadn't wanted to give up wearing it just yet. But Jake was the veteran of four pregnancies in seven years; any second now he'd put everything together and-
"No way!" Jake yelped, "When were you gonna tell us?"
"Tell us what?" Finn asked, confused. His gaze flickered between his brother and his friend like he was watching them play a tennis match.
"In about another five weeks." Marceline told Jake quietly, closing her eyes wearily for a second so she didn't have to see the fuss the big man was making. "Didn't wanna say anything yet, you know, just in case. You know I worry about stuff and I didn't wanna have to explain if something goes wrong. I wanted to wait until after the scan."
"In case what goes wrong?" Finn whined. "What's going on? What are you worried about? What scan? Jake? I don't understand." he turned a pleading look to his older brother.
"Oh man, seriously, bro? She's not drinking, she's literally bursting outta that shirt, she's tired all the time and throwing up a lot especially in the mornings. Finn, we're gonna be uncles!" Jake told him with a massive grin.
"No way! But- how? What...? But- are you saying... Bonnie's pregnant?" Finn gasped, covering his mouth with his hands in shock. It would probably have been hilarious if she wasn't so exhausted, Marcy thought.
"Err, no, she's not. But sorta, um, I am."
"You? What do you mean? But you're... you know." Finn mumbled, blushing furiously and staring at her.
"Are you trying to say I'm 'the man' and therefore not able to carry a child? Because I swear to God I will fucking cut you." Marceline growled. She was only half joking.
"God no! I mean, no, of course not! But you're, you know, y'know? Right?" he gesticulated wildly, looking around to Jake for support. His brother just shrugged.
"You're on your own with this one, bro. I think she really would actually cut you, too."
"The term you're looking for, Finn, is queer presenting. I don't always dress in a typically feminine way unless I'm performing, I don't routinely wear makeup or do other really girly things, and Bonnie usually does. If you had to pick one of us as more classically feminine I'm well aware that it wouldn't be me. But none of that affects my ability to establish or maintain a pregnancy. Obviously." Marceline explained wearily. She got the feeling she'd be explaining the same thing again and again for a lot of people.
"But, but how did it happen?" Finn pleaded, looking completely lost. "Bonnie doesn't have any, y'know, little... swimmy tadpole dudes."
Finn wiggled his fingers when words failed him, staring around at them both with big pleading eyes.
"Finn, is that supposed to be sign language for 'sperm'?" Marceline asked him with a laugh. He grinned at her, clearly beginning to get over his shock.
"I guess? But yeah, how though? You're both girls so- Oh! Did you trick some guy into coming home with you?"
"No! Stop! Stop right there, Finn! No guys were tricked in the making of this baby, it was a completely legit sperm donation from a donor in a private clinic! Don't even begin to think anything else." Marceline replied in a tone full of horror. "As if I'd even do that! What's that word Bonnie always calls you?"
"Distasteful?"
"Yeah. That's too distasteful, Finn!"
Finn didn't reply immediately, he was staring at her stomach contemplatively.
"Can I touch it?" he asked quietly after a moment. "Does it move yet?"
"I'm not even eight weeks gone. It probably does move a little but it's the size of a kidney bean and way too small to feel. But sure, go ahead and grope my stomach. I suppose I should get used to it since according to Lady pregnant women just have to put up with being prodded and touched by pretty much everyone."
He took a deep drink from his own beer then slid onto the bench next to her and put his hand reverently against her abdomen, beaming wondrously around at them both and sliding his other arm around her shoulder in a close hug. The hug was nice, Marcy was close to both her boys and it was really good to finally have her secret off her chest around them.
"Dude, you should feel it! I can feel it moving!" he told Jake excitedly.
"Actually I'm probably just gassy, but knock yourself out." Marcy told him with a tired smile.
Finn was bent forward, talking nonsense to her stomach and massaging it like he was somehow communicating with the tiny life growing there. It was cute, Bonnie did the same thing sometimes before they went to bed.
"I'm gonna teach you to fish and swim and ride a pony." Finn told her stomach in a conspiratorial voice. "You don't know it yet kid, but I'm the cool uncle. Jake's the lame one, but Uncle Finn is awesome. I'm gonna spoil you rotten, you're our little kidney bean. Oh! And I'll teach you to drive and I'll buy your first beer on your eighteenth birthday! We're gonna have so many adventures together! And I'll babysit you and teach you about why boys are awful and you should only ever date girls and why DC is actually way better than Marvel and-"
"Finn, it's not even gonna have working ears for at least another ten weeks." Marceline told him with a sigh. Jake just smiled adoringly at them both; Finn was doing everything Lady had forbidden him from in every one of her pregnancies. He was just making the most of being allowed to touch a pregnant belly.
"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?" Finn asked with shining eyes. Marceline shook her head.
"I think it's a boy because I'm so bloody sick all the time but Her Doctoriness says that doesn't mean anything and there's no way to be sure yet. And you know I'm not stupid enough to argue with Bonnie about medical stuff. We won't be completely certain until he's old enough to talk anyway. But I'm convinced it's a boy. Mothers know this stuff."
"Mothers. Woah, that's a weird thought." Finn breathed distractedly.
"Switching teams for Finn? Or did his beautiful womanly hair just confuse you?" Lady's teasing voice drifted over to them. All three of them looked around, surprised.
Of course Lady and Bonnie had chosen that moment to return from their bathroom adventure. Of course. Bonnie was standing just behind her friend's shoulder, eyes narrowed towards where a grinning Finn was still rubbing Marceline's stomach.
"What the hell, Marcy? What happened to not saying anything until twelve weeks?" Bonnie asked, frowning around at them all. Finn removed his hands and shrank back into his seat a little; he'd always been a bit freaked out when usually sweet and gentle Bonnie showed suddenly showed a flash of the temper she normally kept under tight control.
"Come on, Bon, they guessed! Jake's too good at noticing stuff, he's seen it before plenty of times. And I'm sick of lying to people! Can we please just not fight about this? Because I'm way too tired and nauseous right now and if you're gonna yell at me I'd rather we did it in the comfort of our own home. I know it was my idea not to say anything yet but it doesn't matter, they guessed. What should I have done, lied about it?"
"I thought you guys might be pregnant, you were buying a suspicious amount of kiwis that day I met you at the supermarket." Lady nodded, smiling. "Congratulations, you two! I'm so happy for you both. Don't be mad at her, Bonnibel. Jake's very good at guessing, he knew I was having Junior before I did."
She swept her old friend up into a hug before turning to Marceline to give her the same treatment. Bonnie just sighed and accepted the congratulations with only a slight sulk.
"You lot weren't supposed to know yet." she mumbled. "Haven't told anyone, not even our parents."
"Wait!" Finn yelled, excited. "You said you're nearly eight weeks gone? That's like, two months ago. You were on holiday two months ago! Did you do the donation stuff on holiday?"
Marcy met her girlfriend's eyes and shrugged at her querying expression. She was glad Bonnie was leaving it up to her what other information she chose to tell them, Bonnie had been quite clear right from the start that it was Marceline's pregnancy so she got final say on the fine details. But if they didn't tell Finn everything now he'd just keep bugging them and trying to guess until they cracked and told him. He was annoyingly persistent like that.
"Yeah, we did it on holiday. Didn't you think it was weird we went to Denmark instead of somewhere warm?" Marcy asked him.
"I dunno, you go all kinds of weird places for holidays. Like that time you went to Iceland." Finn replied with a shrug.
"Iceland is beautiful! It's an excellent holiday destination!" Marcy started indignantly. "We had a spa break at a hot spring and went whale watching under the northern lights, it was magical. Just because you can't think of anything more imaginative than going to the same grotty hotel in Spain every year with your weirdo friend-"
"Marcy." Bonnie said in a warning tone. "Let him alone. If you had a friend who owned a hotel and offered you free holidays you'd never leave."
Her girlfriend just frowned and muttered under her breath, something that sounded suspiciously like 'Tiffany's hotel sucks'.
"Anyway, we went to Denmark, they have a special clinic there." Bonnie continued, ignoring the muttering and mutinous glances Marcy and Finn were throwing each other, "And we got lucky, it worked the first time. We didn't know it had worked at all until a week after we got home."
"Yeah, that was lucky. Don't think I could stand another trip to bloody Malmö, that place is nowhere near as awesome as the guidebook says. But their hotdogs are good." Marceline added.
"Isn't Malmö in Sweden?" Lady frowned.
"Yep, a quick ferry ride away from our clinic in Denmark and a lot easier to fly to. And Bon likes to think she can speak Swedish, but it turns out everyone speaks English there and, spoiler, German is not the same language as Swedish. They just looked at her like she was crazy and explained in perfectly good English that they didn't speak German."
"Why Denmark?" Jake asked curiously.
"It's, um, the sperm capital of Europe? They have this clinic there that has one of the largest collections of potential donors in the world and really rigorous quality checks and everything. Bonnie wanted the absolute best, not that she's trying to build a master race or anything. Kidding!" Marceline added hurriedly when her girlfriend sucked in an angry breath to defend herself with.
"Master race jokes aren't appropriate when your partner's half German." Bonnie informed her curtly. Marceline smiled back at her with apologetic puppy dog eyes and after a second Bonnie sighed and allowed her girlfriend to press an apologetic kiss against her lips.
"Anyway, we kinda liked the idea of having a little Viking. And I wanted to get a donor that looked similar to Bonnie, red hair, blue eyes, we even found one who was a student doctor too." Marceline continued with a smile. Bonnie nodded her agreement and swatted Finn's hand away, resting her own against Marceline's stomach possessively.
"She started craving kiwi fruit." Bonnie added. "Like, almost straight away. From about three weeks, nothing but kiwi fruit. You've no idea how hard I tried to get her to eat anything else."
"That's what gave it away at first, that and when you stopped drinking. Almost everyone I know had a fruit craving or an ice craving, except for me. I craved bourbon." Lady added, nodding her agreement. She blinked in confusion at their staring faces. "What? Bourbon flavoured barbeque sauce! Not actual bourbon! I didn't drink while pregnant!"
"Right! But you can drink now, honey, so we should go get a round of drinks to wet the baby's head!" Jake announced excitedly. "And an apple and kiwi juice for Mum-to-be."
A few hours later Marcy was helping a somewhat tipsy and giggly Bonnibel into a taxi, trying not to be too jealous that everyone else had had such an awesome night drinking and celebrating.
"I think you're supposed to be the one looking after me." she grouched as they pulled away from the curb.
"I am gonna look after you, thoroughly, the minute I get you home." Bonnie replied in what she probably thought was a seductive voice.
"Sure, Bon. I totally bet that's what's gonna happen." Marcy replied with a sigh. Bonnie rested her head on her girlfriend's shoulder and grinned happily.
Long before the taxi pulled up in front of their door she was snoring gently.
...
If Monday morning were a person it would be Dr Julian King. Bonnie really just wanted to tell him to fuck off and yell at someone else but she was far too professional for that, obviously much more professional than her loudmouthed colleague. She waited patiently for him to finish screaming, watching with distant interest as his face slowly turned purple and blotchy with the force of his outrage. Eventually he had to stop for breath and when he did Bonnie cut in smoothly.
"I'm hearing a lot of hostility from you, Julian. But the fact of the matter remains that Timothy Llewelyn is my patient and his parents' choice is final. Whatever personal insult you may or may not choose to infer from their decision to take my advice and allow the surgery to proceed I can guarantee you that Timothy's wellbeing is my first and only priority in this matter. With all due respect, Julian, your feelings about his treatment didn't even make my top ten when I was talking through the options with his family."
"You snide, underhanded little shit! You're a power hungry bitch! I can't believe that you'd use a sick boy as a pawn to make a power play over your colleagues! What's the point in even employing anyone else in this hospital, magnificent Dr Sugar knows everything! Well I'm not having you overrule my every decision, Sugar. You can guarantee senior management will be hearing about this!"
Well she'd been looking for a reason to terminate his contract. Bonnie took a moment to memorize the exact words he'd used, 'snide, underhanded little shit' and 'power hungry bitch'. She'd need to copy it down exactly as he'd said it.
"Oh yes, they most certainly will be hearing about this matter. I'll be reporting you for insubordination and professional misconduct, Julian. Please be aware that you're welcome to bring a colleague or a union representative to your disciplinary hearing and that the hospital's board of directors will have the final say in any contract termination. Until we've set a date for the hearing you're suspended without pay. With immediate effect. Get out of my office and get your things; you'll be receiving a letter from the administration department soon to confirm the date and time we'll decide on a course of action."
King gaped at her like she'd just punched him and that alone made getting screamed at worth it. The seconds ticked by silently and stretched into half a minute of him staring with his mouth open and her looking back calmly. Finally, without a word, King spun on his heel and marched out of the office. He slammed the door closed hard enough that the pictures on the wall shook. Bonnie let out a long, weary sigh and rested her head on her desk. Despite her personal dislike of the man she took no pleasure in having to suspend Dr King. It would leave the department even more short-handed than it already was until they could either rein him in a little or fire him and find a replacement. She glanced at the time; if she was quick she'd be able to catch Marceline before she was stuck in rehearsals. Bonnie picked up her mobile and dialled her girlfriend.
"Hey, what's up?" Marcy answered after a few rings. She sounded tired; Bonnie had woken at six to find her girlfriend already up and hunched weakly over the toilet bowl. Her morning sickness had been getting worryingly bad over the last few days and she was coming down with a cold. Of course she stubbornly refused to take a sick day from work though.
"You know how you always wanted me to fire King? Well, be careful what you wish for. I'll be late home tonight, I've just had to suspend him. Apparently he thinks that screaming insults in my face for overruling his crappy medical decisions is a professional way to speak to his direct superior. So now I'll have to pick up his rotation, he was on a split shift so it'll be a late one. I'm sorry, love."
Marcy sighed down the phone; there was a long pause before she spoke next.
"Yeah, ok then. Are you alright, babe? If I'd been there you know you'd have had to restrain me so I didn't punch the bastard."
That hadn't been what Bonnie had expected; she'd been braced for Marcy to be angry or hurt that she'd be spending most of the evening alone. Bonnie felt a little wrong footed by how calmly her girlfriend had taken it.
"I'm fine, sweetie. Just a bit shaken, I was getting on with my paperwork just minding my own business when he burst into my office screaming accusations. Are you gonna be ok tonight? Do you want me to call someone to come keep you company? Finn or Jake or someone?" Bonnie asked, concerned.
"Nah, I'll be fine. I don't much like the idea of hurling my guts up in front of them. Jake'll fuss and worry, Finn will think it's funny or something equally inappropriate. I'll just curl up on the sofa with the cats and watch TV until you get home." Marcy replied with a tired sigh edging her words.
"Are you sure? You don't wanna go to Simon's place for the evening or something? You could tell him you've got stomach flu and you need looking after."
"He'd feed me chicken soup until I vommed and then be even more worried. I'd rather not have to scare the poor old guy like that."
"Ok, well just look after yourself, love. If you need me I'll either be on my mobile or if you leave a message with the evening receptionist I'll pick it up when I'm back from wherever I can't use my mobile. Promise you'll take care of yourself?" Bonnie added in concern.
"Promise. I'll be fine, babe. Go doctor people, I've gotta run through the Guildhall recital with my postgrad group now anyway."
"Ok. Love you, see you when I see you."
"Love you too. Try to have a good day."
Bonnie hung up the line with a sigh. Her stomach was churning now too, fluttering with anxious nerves because she hated having to attend disciplinary meetings. Hated the idea of her animosity with Dr King getting dragged out in front of the senior management and board members, hated that he was probably already running through every possible angle to make her look bad now that he had a chance to speak his peace on the record. Nothing to be done about it though, she'd just have to try to maintain her professional detachment. If things got personal in the hearing it would only go against him. Bonnie took a steadying breath before heading through to the reception desk to ask Lydia to send a memo to administration.
...
The house was dark except for the glow of the TV. Marceline wasn't sure how long she'd been curled up on the sofa, if she'd been sleeping or what time it was. She must have slept, she figured. She just didn't remember it at all and didn't feel like she'd been asleep. She was curled on her side with Cinnamon sprawled across her hip like a tiny stupid lion. A noise in the hall made her jump; that must have been what had woken her.
"Bonnie?" she called a little thickly, still confused and wrong footed from being woken so suddenly.
"Hey. Did you wait up for me?" Bonnie asked, ducking into the lounge. One look at her face had Marceline dragging herself off the sofa and hurrying across to her girlfriend.
"Babe, what's wrong? Are you ok? You look terrible, what happened?" Marcy breathed, pulling her in close for a hug.
"Yeah, I feel pretty terrible. It's almost eleven at night; I've been at work for fourteen hours covering King's shift because the admin team couldn't find an emergency locum. Honestly love, if I don't sit down soon I'm going to fall over." Bonnie murmured tiredly in reply.
"Did you eat? Are you hungry? I didn't have the stomach for anything but nibbling on rice cakes and they didn't stay down. But I can cook you something if you want." Marcy told her, voice full of equally weary concern. That bastard King, if he could just do his job like a normal fucking person her sweet Bonnie wouldn't be constantly exhausted and on the verge of a collapse most of the time. It made Marceline's blood boil but she kept hold of her temper, just. It would do absolutely no good to be anything except completely gentle and loving with her partner tonight.
"I grabbed a sandwich out of the canteen about six, I'm not hungry. Can we just go to bed?" Bonnie asked, swaying a little.
"Alright. Come on then, babe. I'm gonna put you to bed and cuddle you until you feel better."
They made their way just a little unsteadily upstairs, supporting each other because Marcy was still feeling pretty weak too.
"Told you I'd look after you when I felt better." Marcy told her quietly as they slid under the sheets together.
"You don't feel better. You look really sick, love." Bonnie replied worriedly.
"I'm fine. Just tired, I feel like I could sleep for days. Hopefully I'll get a full night tonight but I don't need to be in work till like, eleven tomorrow morning. So I can stay up a bit if I need. Honestly babe, I'm perfectly fine."
That was lie but a very well intentioned one. Bonnie was very stressed and obviously exhausted, she'd had a much longer day than she'd been expecting and Marceline just couldn't bring herself to add to her partner's worries. So instead she simply pulled the redhead closer and ran a sleepy hand through her hair lovingly.
"Sleep, babe. I'll fix you a nice breakfast tomorrow, don't want you going into work without something fortifying to see you through the day."
"You're the best." Bonnie mumbled, eyes already closed.
No, she really wasn't, Marceline thought to herself as she reached over and flicked off the bedside lamp on Bonnie's night stand. But she could pretend for as long as it took to make sure Bonnie looked after herself. The morning sickness would ease off soon, she was certain of it. The she could do a better job of looking after her girlfriend.
