I gu322 monday i2 going to b3 my thing now. thi2 i2 a long chapt3r and a lot of 2hit i2 going to go down. mayb3 i 2hould typ3 lik3 thi2 in th3 di2claim3r incas3 i accid3ntly give away 2poil3rs or 2om3thing. Or mayb3 b3cau23 im bor3d and f33l lik3 b3ing a w33aboo. m3h. 3njoy th3 chapt3er.

~Gl'bgolyb

Nepeta looked at Equius. He had been upset ever since the visit with Aradia. He ran out of the house and dashed to the car looking kind of shocked and upset. It had been two days now. He poked at his breakfast. Nepeta decided she was about done with this.

"Okay, I know you're still upset about Aradia. Can you please tell me what happened?" she asked. He sighed. "Come on! Talking about it will make you feel better!" He then straightened his back.
"Well, Aradia and I were…um…" he tried to think of a way to explain it but then remembered that Nepeta was almost as old as he was, "We were sexually intimate. And I made sure I did everything I could but…"
"She's pregnant?" Equius nodded.

"My reaction wasn't very pleasant. I tried to apologize, but she wouldn't let me after what i said. I want to support her but I have no time with school. I'm so close to getting my PHD. And my family won't be able to tolerate it. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm really–" Equius was stopped by a hug. He could feel the warmth from Nepeta's hug and affection traveling throughout his body. He felt a lot less stressed now.

"One thing I remember was my father telling me something that stuck with me forever," she began, "I'm not positive, but i think the boy I liked was moving. I forget his name. It began with a J. But I was very upset. I didn't want him to leave. My papa sat me down and he talked to me. And I learned the most meaningful lesson."
"What was that?" Equius asked.

"Sometimes when you really care about someone, you have to think of them before yourself."

Dave was working at Walmart like he normally does on Thursdays. He just finished checking out a 79 year old lady. That took forever. If she couldn't even find her glasses how the hell did she get here?! He sighed. He was off cashier duty now. He was now restocking the toy shelf. Man the new toys they come out with are lame. Who the hell wants to play with a doll that eats and then throws it up. Baby bulimia! Great message for kids! Why can't they ever make a jail Barbie. No one is perfect. Perfect message for little girls. Kids would eat that shit up. Hmm…I should work in this business. It'd be awesome. He then saw a young toddler stumble into the aisle. She couldn't have been more than two years old. Why the hell was she running through this huge store by herself like this? She looked at the shelf in the back full of flower pots and gardening stuff. It was next to a bunch of empty shelves. She teetered towards it. Something poked at Dave's memory a bit.

I'm done with restocking the toy shelves. What was I supposed to do next again? I can't remember! He then saw the toddler trying to climb the near empty shelves of the soon to be gardening section.Oh yeah! I was supposed to screw in the bolts on the new a shelves for the gardening–

"Shit!" Dave cried. Just as he started running towards the shelves the shelves began to wriggle and come loose. Adrenaline pumped through him. The metal shelves began to fall as well as the child. Dave swooped into the chaos and made a sweet catch of the toddler and then tucked and acted as an umbrella to shield the young one from the falling shelves. The clamour rang throughout the store as shelves clanged and banged to the ground. Dave felt a shelf just barely miss him and crash loudly next to him. He felt something heavy slam into him. Then everything went dark.

Meanwhile…

"Jane! Jane!" Jade cried, "Janelle Egbert! Where are you?!" Jade was in hysteria. She was just picking up some groceries and she knew Jane was in the cart. She swore she turned her back for no more than ten seconds and she was gone. How the hell did she get out of the cart withy her noticing? How the hell did she even get out of the cart? She was in tears at the moment, panicking.

"Oh no! Oh no! OH no! John is going to kill me! Oh God please help–" She was cut off by the large clatter. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Her entire body froze. "Oh God! Please don't have that be what I think it is..."

She ran towards the commotion. There were people surrounding an area. Jade butted her way into the circle. She gasped. There were metal five metal sheets and dozens of metal rods on the ground and a person in the middle of the mess. Two large shelves were flat on the floor, they had missed the employee. One was propped up against the man's hand. Another lay on his back. And the final shelf was right next to the passed out person, part of his shirt pinched underneath. The metal rods were strewn everywhere, but none were in the proximity of the man, except one large metal beam had fallen on the man's leg. That leg must have been broken. Beneath the slumped over Walmart employee, something moved.
"Haley?" said a small voice. A tiny girl crawled out from under the large pelt that was the cool guy. The dark haired toddler looked around. Jade gasped and swooped her up, still crying. The employee's body collapsed from his draped over position and gave into the weight of the rubble after the toddler was out from underneath.

"Oh my God don't scare me like that! I was so worried! Don't run off again, okay Janey? Just stick with Auntie Jade. I'm so glad you're not hurt!" she gasped. The bystanders just stood there and examined the crying woman and the unconscious guy. Jade blinked open her eyes and looked at the rubble. She recognized the blonde hair and the aviator shades. Her heart stopped.

"Oh-Oh my God…" she held the child in one arm and cleared away rubble with the other. Everything she held against Dave now vanished. He saved her. He saved her life. Other people began to help. A man told her to stand back and calm down. She nodded along and remembered the wriggling 2-year-old child in her arms.

She stepped back and watched the process of unearthing Dave, being questioned by the police, and carrying him out to the ambulance. The process took about twenty minutes. By the time the police said she was free to go, she saw them pushing Dave towards the ambulance. She ran to his side quickly.

"Dave…Im sorry. this was all my fault…" she whispered.
"Don't worry ma'am," said a worker, "He's going to live."
"May I come with?" she asked.
"Are you related or do you know him?" he asked.
"He's…a close friend. He knows me. Please." The two shrugged. Jade smiled.

Aradia heard the door open. Weird, Terezi's home early…or is she? Aradia grabbed the closest thing to a weapon, which was a ouija board in this case. She ditched the dial thingy that looks like a Star Trek logo and tip toed down the stairs ouija board in hand. She saw the shadow in the kitchen. She tip toed to the living room and his behind the wall. She then swiveled around and held up the ouija board ready to strike. She froze when she found Equius standing there.

"Equius…hi," she put the ouija board down.
"I came here to apologize. I was selfish and I need to take responsibility for what I've done," he kneeled before her, "I hope you can forgive me. I promise I will be always there when you need me and constantly there every minute. I want to be there for my future son or daughter." Aradia's guilt began to appear again.
"You really don't have to," she said.
"I do," said Equius, "And I am going have you move in with me so I can get you to doctors appointments easily, and then I will never have to–"

"Equius!" Aradia stopped him before he went any further, "You live far away from my job. And my job is very important to me." He sighed. "And Terezi and I don't have room for you here. Especially with Dave here."
"Okay. Understandable," he said, "I will come every day then."

"Equius aren't you forgetting something?"
"What?"
"Medical school?"
"Oh yes," he remembered, "We will meet on Weekends then." Aradia nodded.

"Have you had a doctor's appointment yet?" Equius asked.
"…No," she admitted.
"What?! Aradia that is unacceptable! I will schedule an appointment at once. Both my brother and my father work at the local hospital. I'm sure we can get right in now if we wanted to," he added.

"Like...now now?" Aradia asked.
"I don't see why not," he replied.
"Shouldn't we call?"
"Horrus will let us in," assured Equius. He then scooped her up in his arms.

"Equius put me down!" Aradia laughed.
"To the clinic, away!" Equius then carried her to the car. Aradia smiled and laughed, forgetting the huge lie she told him.

"How is he?" John asked.

"Let's see," said Karkat. He then lead John over to the couch where a snoozing Sollux lay. It was 12:25 and he appeared to be still asleep. He was wearing the same shirt and boxers he had showed up in. His pants were littered on the floor. He had the blanket given to him over his head and upper body, trying to block out the sun. He was slightly snoring and probably drooling.

"He's just going through a rough time in his life…" said Karkat. John nodded. Karkat sighed. "Alright Sollux, time to get up." Sollux didn't respond. He kept snoring. He sighed. "Come on you shitbagging fuckbrain! I let you sleep long enough!" He then tore off the blanket. Cans and cans of beer clattered to the ground. All empty. Karkat gasped. He had a look of shock and disbelief on his face. Sollux groaned and cringed.

"KK turn the light off…" he moaned.
"That's the sun, shit for brains. I can't turn it off!" Karkat then began to rage at him, "Sollux what the fuck are all those fucking cans there for?"
"What cans?" Sollux yawned.
"The cans all around you!" Karkat yelled, "Are you fucking blind?"
"KK can you keep it down…"
"Answer me you horseshit booze-chugging fuckballoon!" Sollux looked around. He then realized he was in trouble

"Those aren't mine," he quickly stated.
"They're not yours," scoffed Karkat, "Really? This looks like you!"
"I have no idea how they got there," he denied, "These aren't mine."
"Then whose are they?"
"Um…John's!"
"What?! Fuck you man!" John replied.

"Sollux, you're lying," he stated, "I'm just...fuck you man! I can't believe you would stoop this low again! What the wet bag of horse shit are you thinking?! You KNOW you have a problem!"
"KK can you please tone it down?" Sollux groaned, "My head is killing me!"
"You deserve it you assbitching idiot!" Karkat scowled, "I'm never trusting you alone again! John, watch him! I'm going to clean this up." He then left for cleaning supplies. Sollux then grabbed John's arm. John yelped.

"John, while he's gone, could get me a beer?" Sollux whispered.
"I don't think–"
"Please! I don't have my meds with me! My head is throbbing and I swear it's going to explode!" he complained. Karkat picked up Sollux's loud whispering.

"Sollux it's like 12:30!" Karkat pointed out, "And you've already had enough!"
"KK you fail to realize that I don't care," Sollux said, "Get me the booze."
"No!"
"My head is killing me! Please!" Sollux begged.
"Booze is not going to help you!" Karkat scolded. Sollux then reached for a nearby can. He took a sip from it since it still had a reasonable amount of alcohol in it. Karkat quickly snatched the can away.

"No booze!" Karkat scolded, "For the last time, I've already let you have way too much. That's it! No more!"
"Fine…" sighed Sollux.
"That's better," Karkat then left the room to dispose of the can. When Karkat was gone, Sollux unscrewed a flask he had hidden in his pants on the floor. John gave him a look. Sollux glared at him.

"It's medicine!" Sollux excused.
"Uh huh…you must be very sick," he remarked.
"It's medicine for my…headaches," he replied, "Looks like I found it."
"That stuff looks like it causes more headaches than relieves them," added John. Sollux quickly hid flask before Karkat came in.

"You need to get help," said John. Sollux frowned. "Seriously bro, you're going to end up like my wife."
"John, can we not bring that up?" Karkat asked.
"I guess if it makes you uncomfortable," he replied.

"Hello! Brother, you called at the right time," cheered Horrus, "I had an empty spot at this time."
"I told you we'd get in," stated Equius. Aradia was sitting in the chair. She was extremely nervous. What if they find out how far along I am doesn't match up with the date? I'm so nervous! This is a real doctor, he's bound to know something's fishy.

"So you must be Aradia, no?" Horrus asked.
"I am," she replied.
"My irresponsible brother did this to you?" he asked.
"I tend to be accident prone," she explained, "Don't blame him."

"Megido…Where have I heard that name before?" Horrus wondered aloud, "Oh! You wouldn't happen to know Damara Megido, would you?"
"Nope," replied Aradia quickly.
"Are you sure? You two look a lot–"
"I don't know her," lied Aradia, "Let's move on with the appointment."

"Very well. Let me get set up here," he said getting equipment ready. Aradia squeezed Equius's hand tightly.
"It's okay. It'll be completely painless and fast," assured Equius, "It's just an ultrasound. No reason to be nervous." She faked a smile. That's not why I'm nervous.

"Okay Aradia, I will need you to lift up your shirt a little," directed Horrus. Aradia slowly did so revealing a not so small bump. "Oh my…how long ago did this happen again?"
"A few months ago," she recalled.
"Okay then. Now I'm just going to put this on your stomach so we can see the child," he said. He then put the cold blue gel on her stomach. She flinched at the coldness. Horrus smiled a bit. Eventually an image appeared on the screen. Aradia looked confused. Aradia couldn't analyze what it was. It just looked like a bunch of shapes. Horrus, however was in shock.

"O-Oh my…"
"What? I-Is something wrong?" Aradia panicked, "What's going on?!"
"Miss Megido, calm down. It's nothing to be upset about," promised Horrus, "Just as I thought."
"What?" Aradia asked nervously. Equius tried rubbing her shoulders to calm her down. "Wh-What's going on? Is it bad?" Horrus shook his head.

"No! Not at all! You see that line there?" Horrus pointed on the screen with a laser pointer. The two nodded. "You see the circle here and…here?" They nodded. "Those are your children." Aradia and Equius both had a similar look of shock on their faces.

"Children?" Equius asked.
"As-As in more than one?" Aradia jittered.
"Yes!"

"Wait wait! Oh my God, how many are in there?" Aradia freaked out a bit.
"Just two," replied Horrus, "Two fraternal twins. Congratulations you two."
"Oh dear…" gasped Equius.
"Oh God…" sniffled Aradia. She then felt a rush of overwhelming emotions come over her. She felt herself about to cry. That's inside me. That is inside me. This is just…so amazing. Another life form…no, two life forms are inside of me. But how? I only know of two instances of twins in my family. What are the odds?

"You two can look it over. I'll go make the photocopies," he said. He then left the room.

Aradia then began crying as soon as the door was shut. Equius hugged her from behind and tried to comfort her.
"I know. Beautiful are they not?" Equius remarked. Aradia nodded. He then knelt beside her and held her hand as she let it all out.

Jade was sitting in the waiting room with John, Jane, Rose, and Kanaya. It was quiet. Between the five at least. The hums, rings, and chatter of the hospital ran about its usual course. Jane then started to get fussy and John had to take care of her.

"It's all my fault…" Jade whispered.
"No it's not dear!" Kanaya comforted, "John told you that he doesn't blame you. We still don't really know what happened either."
"Would you have forgiven me if you were John?" Jade asked. Kanaya fell silent. Then John came back to them with a still fussy Jane. John looked frustrated.

"It doesn't look like the problem was solved," Rose pointed out. John sighed.
"What kind of hospital doesn't have changing stations in the men's room?" John stated.
"A very sexist one in my opinion," added Rose.
"I'll take care of her," offered Kanaya. She then took Jane and went to the women's room. Jade still had an aura of gloom.

"Hey, i don't blame you. I've lost her so many times," admitted John, "What matters is she's okay." Jade didn't respond. "Jade?"
"What?"
"You okay?"
"It's just…Dave…" she began, "I can't believe that he did that."

"Yeah, I'm going to owe him one big time," said John.
"Maybe he won't remember the situation. Then we can manipulate him and you'll be free," joked Rose. Kanaya came back with Jane and handed her to John. Then, everyone heard a familiar voice.

"Jade?" Everyone looked up to the source of the voice.
"Aradia! What are you doing here?" Jade asked.
"Oh I just had my first doctor's appointment," she replied.
"You didn't before?" Jade scoffed.
"That's what I said," Equius voiced from behind Aradia.

"Wait, what is going on?" Kanaya asked. Aradia then noticed everyone else that was there. She then realized she didn't have to keep it a secret anymore.
"Oh yeah I'm having a baby," she said. Everyone who didn't know was shocked. Kanaya felt a twinge of jealousy.

"Wow!"
"Congratulations!"
"Really?"
"Well, that's technically a lie. After what i just found out, I'm having a couple of them," she explained.
"Really?"
"How many?"
"Just two thank God," she replied.
"Well congratulations," smiled Kanaya hugging her.

"So what are you guys doing here?" asked Aradia.a
"It's a long story…" began Rose.
"I got time," she replied.
"I don't. I need to get home and study. My apologies," added Equius.
"That's cool. I'll hitch a ride home with one of these people," she replied, "See ya later."
"Good bye." They then explained everything to Aradia.

"Wow…well, he's finally the hero," she remarked, "And you think Terezi would be here."
"Where is Terezi?" Rose wondered.
"I have tried texting and calling her several times. She's not responding," reported Kanaya.
"That's weird," said Aradia, "I forget what she said she was doing today. I think it was work or something."
"I wonder if–"

"Jade Harley?" Jade looked up to see the doctor. She and the others went up to him.
"Well?"
"He is awake," he reported, "He is very very lucky he only has a concussion and not a fractured skull."
"Well, he does have a thick skull," replied Rose.
"He has broken his left fibula, right tibia and fibula, and his right scaphoid. He also has an Axillary nerve palsy," added the doctor, "As well as a few bruises. He is getting surgery on his leg tomorrow."

"A what-y nerve what-y and a broken what-oid and what-ia?" John questioned, "My brain hurts."
"Apparently he did have 5 metal shelves and a bunch of beams fall on him so I'm not really surprised at all the damage," commented Rose.
"He is really lucky that's all he broke," replied the doctor, "If those units fell on anything vital, it'd be over."
"Can we see him?" Jade asked.
"This way," invited the doctor.

When they got to the hall, they could hear Dave arguing with the nurse.

"The sunglasses aren't necessary Mr. Strider."
"Just give me my damn shades woman!"
"Okay. Okay." They all walked in just as the nurse went out. Dave looked at everyone. He had a bandage around his head, a cast around his left leg and right hand, and he had a sling for his right arm. He smiled a bit. He looked really tired.

"Sup…" he said drowsily.
"Oh my God…" gasped Kanaya.
"Great to see you too…um…Kangana?"
"Kanaya."
"I know I'm just messing with ya." He smirked. John then began to speak.

"Dave, I-I could not thank you enough for what you did. If it—"
"Yeah yeah I know…"
"You're a hero Dave. A hero." Dave looked a bit uncomfortable.

"So how are you feeling?" Rose asked.
"Well…the quack told me that the first shelf that fell on me hit my head and shoulder so that blocked out all the pain. But I can't remember anything. I just have this feeling I forgot to do something at work…" he slurred, "Other than that i see these...weird blotches and I hear a…buzzing noise. Oh yeah and I have a HUGE fucking headache…"

"We should let you rest then," said Rose.
"Awh don't be like that. I'm bored as shit!" Dave complained.

"Yeah I should take Jane home," said John, "See ya Dave. Again, thank you." Dave waved slowly with his good arm.

"Is Terezi here?" he asked.
"No. We don't know where she is," said Aradia. He then noticed Jade.

"Sup Harls…didn't think I'd see you here…"
"Dave I'm so sorry I–"
"Jade, the doc told me everything in the ambulance," he interrupted.
"That's how long you've been awake?" Rose asked.
"They put me under the drugs after that. Which are starting to wear off. Now I'm starting to feel everything," he grimaced, "Tomorrow they're doing something with my shoulder so I'm getting more drugs. Different drugs…apparently I'm going to be high as fuck…" He winced as he rubbed his head.

"Want us to go?" Rose asked.
"I could use a bit of quiet, yeah…or maybe just sleep..."

"Okay. Bye Dave."
"Good bye!"
"Bye!"
"Bye!"
"Later…" answered Dave.