1Parents of Circumstance

Chapter 7

Am I Positive

Buttercup was fast asleep, it hadn't been easy, she'd gotten nauseous as soon as she'd lain down. Suddenly she was awakened by something, she heard a rumbling growl. She realized that it was her stomach that was making all those noises that had woken her up. She rolled her eyes, she'd feed it in the morning. Then it growled again, this time louder, as though angry at her for ignoring it. She felt a slight pain in her abdomen as her belly continued to growl and rumble. She let out a frustrated sigh as she threw off her covers then sat up and swung her legs over the side of her bed. She opened her gummy eyelids and looked at her digital clock on the night stand beside her bed. "3:30 in the morning", she grumbled, "I'd better be able to go to sleep after this." She stood up and slipped her feet into her fluffy green slippers and went downstairs to the kitchen.

She turned on the wall light, it was bright enough to illuminate the kitchen but dim enough that someone upstairs wouldn't be able to notice. Her belly continued to growl as she approached the fridge and pantry. She let out a whine of worry as her belly rumbled again, she was hungry but she didn't know what she was hungry for. Suddenly a single word filled her entire consciousness, "cookies", she said hungrily. She walked over to the pantry and opened it, she looked at the top, she licked her lips as she spied a huge multitude of cookie boxes.

At an early age the girls had developed an almost addiction to cookies, they ate through cookie boxes like crazy, and as they had grown, so did their appetites. So the professor had given up trying to figure out how many boxes to buy, so he simply stuffed the pantry as full of them as possible. This new pantry was even bigger so it had even more cookie box holding capacity.

She grabbed about four boxes and began munching, her belly growled at her, as though telling her she wasn't eating fast enough. Out of frustration she threw herself at the boxes and tore them open. She began gobbling up the cookies as fast as she possibly could, it was as though she was in a trance. She began shoving two sometimes three cookies into her mouth at once, her teeth broke apart the cookies like a rock crusher, her soft tongue moved the crushed pieces back into the path of her powerful jaws. Finally she swallowed it all, and felt the soggy and finely crushed pieces travel down her throat and down and fall in her increasingly crowded stomach, which emptied quickly to further digest it. She had never been so thankful for a quick metabolism, as she began to feel her belly fill as she ate more and more. Finally she swallowed the last, one and patted her belly, finally satisfied. She gazed at small pile of ravaged cookie boxes, "did I just eat all those cookies in one sitting" she asked her self in disbelief. She put a hand on her belly, it didn't feel any bigger, but it was strangely warm. She shrugged, probably just working hard to digest all that food. She picked up all the boxes in an awkward hug and hauled them out to the trash bin out the kitchen door, specifically for the cookie boxes and dropped them in. It had plenty in it already, she doubted anybody would notice, even though she'd eaten enough cookies for her and her sisters for the rest of the week.

As she walked upstairs she began to wonder, why had she been so hungry. Probably the small supper at Mandy's she thought. Still, why would it create such and insatiable and demanding hunger, and why had she been so focused on her digestive system while she'd been eating. "Probably puberty" she reasoned, and with that, she went back to bed, but she continued to think about it.

Mandy leaned over the toilet bowl and upchucked for what felt like the umpteenth time into the white porcelain bowl. She'd been in the bathroom for over half an hour, as she dealt with the nausea that was only now starting to leave her. She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt her stomach settle. Then her belly rumbled to signify that it was empty. She gritted her teeth, she'd never get to sleep if her belly kept growling all night. She was about to call Grim to bring her something to eat, but then remembered that he was at Billy's house.

Reluctantly she walked downstairs and entered the kitchen. She paused, trying to decide between the fridge and the pantry, she chose fridge. She opened it and peered at its contents, and chose a steak. She tore off the plastic covering and put it in the microwave, being quiet to not disturb her parents. She really didn't care about anybody's comfort but her own, but it was unwise to ruff up the hand that feeds you. The microwave finally let out a silent tone to signal that the steak was done. "About time", Mandy grumbled, her hunger had become unbearable. She lost control, she pulled the steak out and bit into it like a wolverine, ripping of whole chunks of meat with her teeth. When she was done, she seemingly came out of a trance as she gazed at her greasy hands, realizing that the steak was gone and her belly was now full. "Did I just eat that whole steak, and so quickly?", Mandy was both surprised and scared, she'd never lost control of herself like that. Maybe one of those adolescent stages mom was talking about, she thought. She continued to ponder this as she walked back upstairs to bed.

"Buttercup, come down for breakfast" the professor yelled for the third time.

Bubbles could hear the slight irritation in his voice. She remembered seeing Buttercup practically drag herself to the shower this morning, she had looked awful.

Finally Buttercup started coming down the stairs, worse, even after a shower. Her hair was a mess, as though she hadn't combed it after washing it, probably what happened. She slumped down into her chair at the end of the table. This close up Bubbles made other observations, her skin was pale and her hair was matted and in knots, but she didn't look really bad until she looked up and opened her eyes, Bubbles kinda wished she hadn't. Everyone gasped, her eyes were bloodshot and glazed over as though a sheet of ice covered them. They had a dark ring under them and her lips were also discoloured.

"Buttercup", Blossom cried, "were you drinking at Mandy's last night?"

Bubbles, shocked that her sister would even suggest such a thing, waited to hear Buttercups answer.

"I wish", she replied groggily. She let out a groan and put both hands on her belly as a loud rumble was heard.

"Wow Buttercup", Bubbles exclaimed, "you must really be hungry."

Blossom smirked, "probably dreamt about getting pregnant last night and now she's eating for two."

Bubbles giggled, remembering what Blossom had told her about the conversation she and Buttercup had yesterday morning. She knew she was just trying to get a rise out of Buttercup to lift her from her gloomy state. But she just sat there with glazed eyes staring at her empty plate.

Then the professor came from the kitchen with a platter full of waffles, "who's hungry"

As if on cue, Buttercup's belly let out a loud roar.

The professor stood there for a moment, stunned, "okaaaaay, guess that answers my question", the professor set down the platter and everyone dug in.

Bubbles didn't eat much, she like everyone else was watching Buttercup.

Everyone watched as she stuck her fork in her waffle and rather then cut it up, shoved it all in her mouth and chewed. She was like a robot, simply shoveling more and more food into her mouth, showing now emotion, as though she were in a hypnotic state. They were all relieved when she seemed to snap out of it.

"I'm done", she said fully, "I'm going to go get my bag", and she left the table.

The rest of the family stared at the platter, usually their was a whole stack of waffles left over that they would reheat and have as breakfast the next day. This time however there was only a few left. They looked at each other then at Buttercup as she climbed up the stairs sluggishly, they all had worried looks.

Will picked up his bag and shoved the last of his toaster strudel in his mouth. He closed his apartment door and locked it, he turned around and... "Billy!", he yelled in surprise, "what are you doing here?"

Billy looked at him, his usual delirious smile was replaced with a sad sober look. "I need to talk to you", he said soberly.

Will listened as Billy talked about how he felt when he woke up.

"I felt," he began, "fulfilled, like I accomplished something. Then, it happened: I went downstairs for breakfast and", his lips quivered, "and my dad walked into a wall", he cried, "that's when I realized how stupid my dad is."

Will was surprised, and a whole series of other emotions. His brain was so confused and filled with so many questions that it was giving him a head ache. Finally he put a hand on Billy's shoulder, "don't worry, it'll get sorted out."

Billy nodded half convinced. They both looked ahead and saw the girls there.

"Is that Mandy?" Billy asked uncertainly.

Will looked ahead, it was her alright, but it was hard to tell.

Mandy's usually perfectly shaped horns were deformed and had hair sticking out all over them. Getting closer they found Mandy's eyes were bloodshot with dark circles under them.

They looked at the Powerpuffs: Blossom and Bubbles looked their usual bright sunny selves, but Will noticed that Buttercup looked like she'd fallen asleep in the middle of the Calgary Stampede. Only half her hair was combed, and Bubbles worked frantically to comb the other half. Will had to give her an E for effort, but it seemed as soon as she finished combing, Buttercup's hair stuck up again. Finally though, she managed to finish it, as the bus pulled up, everyone let Mandy and Buttercup get on first.

"Ya' know Billy", Will said as they sat down "Buttercup's eyes remind me of a joke: A police officer pulls over this car, cause he thinks the driver is drunk. So he walks up to the driver and says, "sir, your eyes look bloodshot, have you been drinking?" The driver looks him in the eye and says, "gee officer your eyes look glazed have you been eating donuts?"

Billy banged his head against the window as he howled with laughter.

Will turned to Blossom and Bubbles across the aisle. "What's with Buttercup?"

Bubbles shrugged, and Blossom sighed, "we don't know, and Buttercup says she doesn't know either."

Why is she even coming to school?" Will asked concerned.

Blossom sighed again, "because of her tough-girl-nothin's-gonna-phase-me-attitude."

Will looked at her puzzled, "odd, she seems like the kind of girl who'd jump at a chance to miss school."

Blossom and Bubbles shrugged

Will turned to Billy, "next lesson Billy: girls are impossible to understand."

Buttercup and Mandy looked in disgust at what the school called food, slopped over their trays. They sat down at a table in the corner alone. Billy, Will, Bubbles, and Blossom sat at another table in the middle of the cafeteria, talking lively amongst themselves. Buttercup and Mandy sat silently and chewed.

Their was only about twenty minutes left of lunch by the time they finished. Mandy and Buttercup dragged their feet as they exited the cafeteria.

Buttercup felt awful, she looked at her reflection in a window, and saw her face nearly matched the colour of her clothes. She looked at Mandy, who didn't look much better.

"I'm going to the nurse", Buttercup said.

"I think I'll join you", Mandy said groggily.

The nurses office was not far from the cafeteria, for obvious reasons. They walked inside and the nurse had them lie down on a pair of red leather beds. The nurse had long blonde hair and wore a small nurses uniform, she had puffy red lips and a pretty face. She looked like a super model, "probably the brains of one too",Buttercup thought sourly.

"My first patients", the nurse squealed in delight.

I've just about lost all mine, Mandy thought darkly.

"Here's some buckets in case you need em"

As if on cue Buttercup and Mandy simultaneously hurled into the buckets.

The nurse let out an ear shattering scream, "you threw up an organ!"

Buttercup and Mandy went wide eyed and gazed into the buckets. There was a slimy hunk a something in there, but it didn't look like an organ. Mandy was about to ask the nurse something, but she was busy calling an ambulance. Buttercup and Mandy sighed, it was going to be a long day.

Billy sat in a corner in the hallway, rocking back and forth mumbling. Blossom and Will were on either side of him.

"Maybe he shouldn've had his schedule changed", Will said to Blossom.

She shrugged then smiled, "At least the video the teacher chose softened the blow.

Yeah", Will laughed, "who would've thought they'd make and entire hour long episode of the Magic School Bus on the human reproductive system."

Blossom also started laughing, "did you see Billy's reaction during the actual sex scene, and when the bus transformed into a sperm cell and transferred over to "her"."

Will laughed again, "I wonder if Ms Frizzle will get charged for spiking two of her students orange juices and violating them from the inside."

Blossom shrugged, "at least her students were in high school by then"

Will grinned, "and tomorrow's the continuation."

Blossom arched and eyebrow, "continuation?"

"Yeah, the Magic School Bus and the stages of pregnancy."

Blossom and Will fell backwards, roaring with laughter, Billy shivered. They looked at him and Will sighed.

"It took us all of last class to snap him out of it."

Blossom shook her head, "I never should've let Bubbles show us her drawings of a meadow with birds and bees, then he wouldn't have snapped back into it."

The bell rang, "come on Billy", Will told him as he hauled him off the floor, "it's time for class."

Mandy and Buttercup lay in a pair of hospital beds, with their arms crossed. They were on the bottom floor of the hospital. They'd been brought here on stretchers and been forced to put on a pair of sky blue hospital gowns. Shortly after wards the doctor had come in, and what the nurse thought was an organ was actually just a piece of the cafeteria's mystery meat. At that point they'd asked if they could go home. The doctor however said that something was strange with the way the barf looked, and they wanted a blood and urine test. Later they came back and wanted another blood sample for some reason, that was two minutes ago.

A nurse came in, "Is there anyone you need to send a message to?. It looks like you'll be here for a while."

They both sighed and nodded.

Billy and Will walked down the hall to their lockers, "pretty sweet, gym class being canceled and giving us a free period, today.

Please", Blossom pleaded, "don't say, period."

Will snickered.

Billy stopped in front of the office, "I'm just goin to go get my message in the office." he went inside.

Blossom turned to Will, "I have to go, see ya."

Will waved goodbye.

Suddenly Billy ran out of the office."Mandy's in the hospital!"

Twenty minutes later: they were standing in front of the hospital. They'd stopped only briefly at theirs lockers to pick up their. They stopped at the entrance when they saw Grim come out.

"Grim", Billy exclaimed, "what are you doing here?

Working", Grim replied glumly, "hey, wait a minute, what de heck are you doin here?

Mandy's in the hospital", Billy exclaimed!

Grim's eyes went wide, he opened his hand and a long list appeared, he frantically scrolled down the list, but his expression turned sour and his shoulders sagged when he reached the bottom.

Will chuckled, "better luck next time Grim."

Billy and Will walked into the hospital, reluctantly Grim followed.

Buttercup and Mandy were still sitting in the same position as before, now reluctantly waiting for the results of the second blood and urine tests.

"Maaaannnndyyyyy" a voice called.

"Oh no", Mandy groaned.

Billy, Will and Grim walked into the room and froze, "Buttercup" they exclaimed, "what are you doing here?!?

Same thing she is", Buttercup said.

Billy went over to Mandy's side, "what'd the doctor say?"

Mandy hated when he gave her that look, it made her feel weak, and, well, made her feel ,period. Her hormones had been bothering her for years, but she had stubbornly refused to let her personality change, as a result of something she had no control over, she hated not having control over something, especially her own bodily functions. She had held up, until the last week, she'd cracked and her mother had noticed(first chapter). She sighed, "We're still waiting for the results of the blood test."

Then the doctor came in, but paused when he saw Grim.

"I think you're in the wrong room", the doctor said, "neither of these girls are dying."

Grim grinned evilly at him, "what makes you think I'm here for them?"

The doctor paled, and Grim moved away chuckling evilly.

The doctor regained his composure and turned to the girls, "well girls I have the results of your blood tests right here, and urine tests, a-and", he stammered.

"What?", Mandy demanded.

"Well, I've been over the list of results, and checked it twice."

Buttercup sat up, "what are you Santa Clause, just spit it out", she snarled, then lay back down.

"Um, ok... well...", finally he said, "your both pregnant."


Ooooooh, Bombshel and cliffy, sorry but you'll have to wait for chapter eight.