Hey guys, thank you ever so much for continuing to read and review, puts a smile on my face! Just a quick note though, for those getting annoyed or disappointed at the rate I update, please remember I am having a baby. For any readers who have had children, you'll understand how hard it can be to focus on anything but your child's arrival. There's a lot to sort out and think about, plus my partner and I are moving house at the end of the month too, I've been extremely busy. But I PROMISE you all I won't give up on any of my fics. All will be completed. I will admit I've been finding Poison & Wine easier to write at the moment but I do have the next four chapters of Crossed Paths planned.
Anyway, enjoy Chapter 11.
Blossom
"I just can't believe it. I can't fucking believe my luck. Of all the people, of all the men in Townsville that donate sperm, I had to stroll in there when he decides to give sperm for $50. It's just, stupid bad luck." Buttercup ranted, as I held Sage in my arms. His big green eyes followed his mother as she paced in thin air in front of the sofa I sat on in our family living room.
"It's not, bad luck. Well, I suppose one way or another it is but, remember what the Professor just told us Buttercup. Inhospitable environment, and all that? No Butch, no Sage?"
"I know that, I do, it's just difficult to digest right now. I'm just, mad. Mad that I picked that idiotic fake firefighter out there." She said, glancing furiously out the window.
Butch was out on the front garden, phone to his ear, pacing in thin air, more than likely giving Brick or Boomer an earful about their new nephew.
"He's really not that bad. If I can get over what he did to me and Brick, you can at least learn to live with this. You knew that Sage would have a Dad, by getting pregnant the way you did, you just obviously didn't expect to know the father…you two just have some decisions to make. As do Bubbles and Zac…" I said, my voice becoming sadder.
Buttercup planted her feet on the ground then, her expression softening. "Yeah, I guess they do. She's gunna be crushed."
"When should we tell her?" I asked, just as Sage began to sniffle for his mother. Buttercup took him.
"As soon as possible. If I were her, I'd wanna know ASAP. I think I'm gunna head home and feed this little monster. Do you want me to come with you to tell Bubbles?"
"Aren't you forgetting something?" I said, ignoring her question.
"No?"
"Butch! You cannot ignore it Buttercup! Look at him out there, he's freaking out just as much as you are. The least you can do is talk it out. Make a decision about what you're both gunna do."
"I'm not going to do anything! I don't want to talk to him!" She cried defiantly.
"The least you can do is give him a chance. At least let him properly meet Sage. Talk it over. You might be able to be civil, like you were before Sage was born. Remember Sage in all this. You go talk to Butch. I'll go tell Bubbles. Deal?"
She sighed, glancing out at him. "Fine. Break it to her gently."
"I will."
"Oh, hey Blossom! What a lovely surprise! Zac, Blossom's here!" Bubbles called to her husband, as she gestured for me to come inside.
Zac grunted from the sofa, not looking round at me. Annoying, considering I'm here to give them some life changing news, but understandable, Tim and him were close.
"So, what brings you here. Ooh! Is it about Butch and Buttercup and Sage? Is he the father?" Bubbles cried, guiding me to the sofa and sitting down with me.
"Well, yes, it is to do with that. I'll start from the beginning. We went to see the Professor today. To confirm his, findings."
"His findings?" Bubbles asked curiously.
"Yes, erm, Zac, you might want to turn the TV off. This is important news for both of you." I said politely, then looked down at my lap. Why did I say I'd deliver this news?
Bubbles gave him a stern look, and he reluctantly turned off the TV set, scraping a tired hand through his dirty blonde hair.
"Carry on, Blossom." Bubbles said, detecting the somber tone to my voice.
"Well, as you know he performed a paternity test to see if Butch was Sage's father. He is. Butch donated sperm not long before Buttercup was inseminated. It seems just coincidence that she picked him as her donor."
"Why on earth did Butch donate sperm?" Bubbles cried gob smacked.
I sighed, slightly smiling. "Because he was low on cash, and he's an idiot."
Bubbles shook her head incredulously. "How did they take it?"
"Well, not well. But, they've gone off to sort some things out now. They've obviously got a lot to talk about. But, as it turns out, so do we."
"We? As in, us?" Bubbles blinked, Zac beginning to pay attention now.
"Yes. You see, the Professor's been doing some research, as you may know, into why I have found it so easy to conceive and you and Buttercup have struggled so much. He noticed the only difference was, both my children were created with someone who is charged with chemical X. A Rowdyruff, an equal, if you will."
I noticed Bubbles swallow hard, probably putting two and two together already in her head. I carried on regardless. "When Buttercup fell pregnant with a donor, the Professor began to doubt his ponderings. If Buttercup could manage with a donor, why can't you two, right? But once Sage was born, Brick saw Butch's eyes, and so did I to be honest, so, as you know we found out whether Butch had donated sperm, which he had, then had the paternity test done. The Professor also took a sample of DNA and sperm from Brick, to further his research, and-"
"And we can't have children, because Zac isn't a puff, or, ruff? Because he wasn't made with chemical X?" Bubbles said, her voice slightly hollow.
I tried to gulp down the knot in my throat. "Any normal, human sperm, doesn't make it anywhere near our chemical X eggs. Our environments are too, inhospitable." I said gently.
Bubbles looked on, her eyes glassing over. Zac looked just as shocked, looking at Bubbles tenderly.
There was a small pause, then Bubbles spoke again. "But what about Buttercup, and Dominic?"
"The Professor said, he couldn't explain how or why Dominic's sperm made it successfully to Buttercups egg, but he knew the reason she lost the baby. He said the baby would have had chromosomal abnormalities. The baby would have been weak, and maybe deformed." I answered quietly.
"So, in the unlikely event that Bubbles does become pregnant with my child…" Zac began.
"I will most definitely miscarry." Bubbles completed gravely.
I nodded. "I'm so sorry Bubbles." I stroked her hand gently, and she squeezed it back tightly. "The Professor can tell you more than I can. I just wanted to let you know."
"My only hope for a child is…?" Bubbles squeaked.
"With a rowdyruff." I replied.
There was a tense silence. "I guess Bubbles and I have a lot to think about. There are a lot of things to consider. Thank you for coming round to tell us Blossom." Zac said, nodding his head respectfully.
I smiled a small smile. "I shall leave you to it. Call me if you need to talk Bubbles. I love you." I squeezed her hand as I got up to leave.
"I love you too." She replied quietly.
Buttercup
After thanking the Professor and saying goodbye, I left, slamming the door loudly, making a pacing Butch on the front drive jump.
Looking at his confused, dumbfounded face made me angry all over again, and I just couldn't sit down and talk to him. I couldn't. "I'm going home." I announced, shifting Sage from one arm to the other, and floating into the air.
He took off too, close behind me. "What do you mean you're going home?"
"I'm going home? That's what I mean." I answered, scowling in his direction. "Why are you following me? You found out what you came here to find out, you can go home too now!"
"That's it? I'm the kid's father, and that's it?"
"'The kid', has a name, and yes, that's it, what more do you want?" I'd began to fly a little faster, but Butch sped up too.
"Can we not talk this over?"
I stopped in thin air now, causing him to bump into me. "What is there to talk about? Yes, we have a baby together, but not conventionally? We're not, in a relationship, we're not in love, we are nothing! Nothing but incredibly unlucky to be tied together like we have been! And in your case, amazingly stupid for donating sperm."
He folded his arms across his chest and scowled. "If I didn't donate sperm, Sage wouldn't exist. Without me, there is no him."
This stumped me, because I knew he was right. I couldn't thank him for that though. As much as I loved my little boy, it made me angry to think he was half him, as well as half me.
"If I could have chosen this to be different-" I began but he interrupted.
"But you couldn't have chosen it any other way, and still got Sage at the end of it, don't you understand that? Can't you get that into your thick skull?" He shouted. "Sage is my son. Without me, without picking me, you'd have had either another miscarriage, or no baby. But you have Sage. You need to understand that."
My blood boiled, if I wasn't holding Sage in one arm, I'd have hit him with the other. I gritted my teeth and spoke. "Do not speak, about, about my baby, about, just don't."
His expression kind of softened, and he kind of look a bit frightened, a bit, little boy lost.
Sage began to cry then, a proper loud roar that seemed to be his trademark. We both looked down towards him.
"Look. Take him back to yours. Feed him or whatever it is that makes him stop making that noise and, lets talk."
"No." I said, turning around and continuing to head home regardless.
"Either way, I am following you home and coming in, so you may as well just make me a cup of coffee and shut the hell up." He said, beginning to follow me again.
Luckily, I had a ready made bottle of breast milk ready for Sage, as Butch wasn't lying, he did just follow me in. I fed Sage, then held him closely as he gurgled and looked up at me.
Butch was sat looking at Sage, his eyes like saucers. "His eyes are just like mine aren't they. It's like looking in a mini me mirror." He said, smiling slightly. I'd never seen this smile on Butch. Butch normally smirked, or leered. He didn't smile, or grin.
"He does look like you. But he looks like me, too. So, do you wanna hold him?" I asked with a slight sigh. I suppose he deserved to at least hold his son.
"Sh-sure." He stuttered. I slowly and carefully handed Sage into his arms. Butch imitated how I had been holding him, and looked down at him with wide eyes. "Hey little dude." He cooed, softly stroking his jet hair. "You are a hell of a looker, aren't cha."
I smiled, liking this side of Butch. I'd never seen it before. Sage reached up captured Butch's thumb in his hand, squeezing it so hard that Butch yanked it away. "That is one iron grip you got there too!" He laughed, looking over at me, beaming. "He's a strong little guy huh?"
I nodded. "He sure is."
Sage sighed happily, closing his eyes. Butch continued to watch him breathing slowly, minutes ticking past. "He falling asleep." He said, taking the bottle away.
"Looks like it. He must be pretty comfortable in your arms." I commented, looking at my sleeping son.
"Of course he is, I'm his Daddy." He grinned, looking proud.
"I suppose you are." I said, leaning back against the sofa, sighing. It was so strange to watch. He was his Dad though, it was almost as if Sage knew it too.
"So, what happens now?" Butch asks, slowly rocking Sage.
"What do you mean?" I ask, enjoying the quiet.
"This a one time thing, or do I get to see him on some kind of basis?"
My immediate reaction is no! Of course not. You're Butch Jojo, you're my enemy, you're bad! But, he also was the one who took me to the hospital. He waited while my sisters weren't there. He didn't exactly want to be there, but he was there. He wasn't a huge asshole about it all either.
He is also Sage's father.
"I don't know." I reply quietly. He doesn't take his eyes off Sage, but he nods, an understanding look on his face. "In the eyes of the law, you have no responsibilities to him. I mean, yes, you're his Dad, but, you donated sperm and I took that sperm to make a baby. That doesn't mean you're responsible for him."
He shrugged his shoulders, not looking her in the eye. His expression was serious though.
"Not that the law ever bothered you." I scoffed.
He smiled then. "Well, exactly. He's my son, regardless of how he came to be."
"I suppose, it's up to you if you want any responsibility over him, time to spend with him, and stuff." I said, not looking at him either.
"And it's up to you whether you're going to let me have any." He replied. She nodded.
"It's all according to a long, long list of things." I said, sitting up.
"Like?" He asked, looking at me now.
"Like, your crime, your behavior. He's a child. I can't have some wanted scumbag coming round to visit, or taking my child away for the day. I won't have that."
He didn't reply, and I got an angry feeling spread over me, like a feeling of dread. He wouldn't change, not even for his own child. Why did that disappoint me? I didn't need him around.
"I dunno what to say. I suppose I am what I am."
"But you're also a dad now. You need to decide what is more important to you." I said, looking over at him now as well. We stared at each other for a few seconds, the most civil we had ever been towards each other.
"I guess we have some thinking to do." Butch said, looking down at the sleeping baby in his arms.
"I guess we do."
There was a pause. "I still can't fucking believe you donated sperm!"
"I didn't know my arch enemy would be taking a trip down there!" He replied, grinning. I didn't want to smile at him back, but, his grin was infectious.
"You asshole." I replied, shaking my head.
"Spinster." He said back, smiling.
r&r!