-Saturday, December 2, 4:37 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house/7 1/2 months old-

Terezi slowly walked down the stairs with a sigh, as she had just put Katrina down for a nap. Karkat was downstairs eating lunch, which Terezi was about to resume doing.

She was honestly surprised Mrs. Wilson-Lee let her off work that day. Later in the evening, she, Karkat, and Katrina were meeting up with the Egberts and Rose and Kanaya to go to the local Christmas festival in the park and around downtown. There would be craft booths, food trucks, music, and, of course, Christmas trees. Terezi just hoped Katrina would cooperate.

The teal-blood sat back down at the table across from her husband and picked up the half-rayed sandwich on her plate. "Hey, quick question," Karkat said as he looked up from his laptop, "if you had to choose between yellow and blue, which one would you pick?"

"Blue?" Terezi checked her phone with a shrug. "Why?"

"Holiday shopping." Karkat sighed and looked back at the screen. "We can look for stuff tonight, too."

Terezi was about to say something, but both her mobile app and Karkat's laptop beeped with a "new memo" popup on Pesterchum/Trollian.

-twinArmageddons [TA] opened memo on board why ii2 thii2 happeniing
TA: okay kk
TA: ii know you and tz probably don't want two be bothered
TA: but thii2 ii2 really iimportant

Karkat and Terezi glanced at each other. What could be so important that Sollux, who hadn't spoken to either of them in almost a year, would suddenly talk about?

-carcinoGeneticist [CG] responded to memo-
CG: WHAT?
-gallowsCalibrator [GC] responded to memo-
GC: Y34H
GC: WH4T
CG: JUST HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO RESPOND TO THIS MEMO?
TA: everyone
TA: well not everyone
TA: you know what ii mean
-arachnidsGrip [AG] responded to memo-
AG: Why are we on a memo?
AG: Holy shit, I thought we had stopped talking to everyone!
-adiosToreador responded to memo-
AT: uHH,,,
AT: yOUVE TALKED TO ME,
AG: I know that, idiot! ::::(
-cuttlefishCuller [CC] responded to memo-
CC: Hi Vriska! 38D
TA: can we get two the poiint here guy2?
-caligulasAquarium [CA] responded to memo-
CA: can wwe though
TA: anywho
TA: the poiint ii2, none of u2 are 2afe, kk.
CG: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
TA: there'2 a thiing goiing around.
GC: WH4T TH1NG ?:
TA: noveriia.
AG: Noveria?!
AG: H8ly shit!

Karkat and Terezi stopped. Noveria?! That was one of the worst diseases known to troll, and there was an outbreak of it?!

It was kind of similar to the flu—the first symptoms seemed normal and nothing serious. But then the symptoms quickly—sometimes within a day—progressed to things much worse, eventually leading to the poor troll's death. There were no known cures.

The initial symptoms were coughing and sneezing—not necessarily in that order, but both were necessary for it to be Noveria. After those, the coughing soon progresses to dry hacking, and then coughing up blood. Once that happens, there's no turning back. The infected troll is certain to die.

After they begin to cough up blood, they become even weaker than they already have. They can no longer eat or drink, and if they manage to do so, they will vomit it back up. Their throat closes up and their breathing slows until they eventually cease to live. The disease progression can be as short as a day or as long as a week.

-centaursTesticle [CT] responded to memo-
CT: - I would appreciate it if there were no foul language used in this memo.
TA: thii2 i2 my memo not your2!
TA: anyway we were wonderiing iif iit would be po22iible for u2 two 2tay on earth wiith you guy2.
TA: ju2t untiil further notiice.

"Terezi?" Karkat asked, looking up from his laptop. "Are you sure about this?"

"I…don't know," she replied. "We have plans for tonight! I was looking forward to it being just us! And…I don't want anyone hurting Katrina. Especially Gamzee."

Karkat sighed, thinking of his ex-moirail and his wife's kismesis. "Terezi, I don't even think he's on this memo. I haven't seen him type anything at all. And we can always ask."

GC: F1N3
GC: 4S LONG 4S G4MZ33 DO3SNT COM3 TOO
GC: W3 C4N WORK OUT L1V1NG 4RR4NG3M3NTS L4T3R
AG: Are you sure, Terezi?
-apocalypseArisen [AA] responded to memo-
AA: i am already dead
AA: s0 it d0esnt matter t0 me as much
AA: but i w0uld still like t0 c0me al0ng
CG: VRISKA, YOU DO REALIZE YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE SOME TOO.
AG: 8oo ::::(
AG: Fine.
AG: I guess well work out the living arr8ngements l8r.
-arsenicCatnip [AC] responded to memo-
AC: :33 i'm okay with it! :3
TA: thank god
TA: okay, ii gue22 we wiill be over 2oon then
-TA closed memo.-

Karkat looked up at Terezi. "What the fuck did we get ourselves into," he said with an unenthusiastic glint to his eyes.

"Shit!" Terezi shouted, her mouth falling open in realization. "They don't know about Katrina!"

"You're right," Karkat groaned. "Just…be prepared for lots of questions."

The two trolls just kind of sat at the table, anxiously awaiting their friends to arrive. After a few minutes, Karkat's phone buzzed with a text—

I just got the memo. Kanaya. I'm not sure if Rose and I will be able to take anyone, since her mother is still living with us.

It's fine, Karkat texted back. We're still going out tonight though.

Right when he pressed "send", the doorbell rang. He braced himself for Katrina to start screaming—which, surprisingly, didn't happen—and then braced himself to see everyone else.

"You go answer it," he whispered to Terezi.

"No, you go answer it."

"You!"

"No, you!"

"Fine, we'll both answer it!"

Karkat grabbed Terezi's arm and dragged her over to the front door. After some hesitation, he unlocked the door and opened it.

Everyone just kind of awkwardly stared at each other before anyone made a move. "Hi!" Nepeta exclaimed, shivering a bit from the cold air.

"Okay, if we're going to do this, let's do it inside where it's warm." Karkat rolled his eyes and stepped out of the way so everyone could come inside.

"Good God…" Sollux squinted and looked down at the floor. "Why ith it tho bright in here?!"

"So we can see, dumbass!" Karkat plopped down on the couch, followed by a still silent Terezi.

"Where's Katrina?" Nepeta asked enthusiastically before remembering she was one of the only ones who knew about her. "Sorry—!"

"What's a Katrina?" Eridan asked with a disgusted look on his face.

Karkat and Terezi groaned simultaneously before glancing at each other. "Well, it's best we go ahead and get it over with," Terezi said to her husband.

Before he could say anything, a loud cry emerged from upstairs. "That's a Katrina," Karkat told everyone with a hint of sarcasm before starting upstairs.

"Since he's upstairs, I might as well tell you guys what's going on," Terezi sighed. "Okay, tonight we were planning on going out with Vriska and John and Kanaya and Rose, and we're still doing that. I guess whoever wants to come along can, but otherwise, stay here. Got it?"

The others just awkwardly nodded, waiting for something to happen.

"Where will we sleep?" Feferi asked with a little raise of her hand.

Terezi checked her phone to see if she had gotten a response from Vriska. "I told Vriska to come over here so we could get that worked out," she said. "She hasn't responded yet, though."

Right after Terezi finished saying that, she noticed Karkat coming downstairs with Katrina in his arms. She held her breath, waiting for everyone else to notice.

"This," Karkat nervously began as he stepped off the stairs, "is Katrina."

The tiny troll slowly looked up from her father's shoulder at the large group standing in the living room. "Da!" she exclaimed before burying her face in Karkat's chest.

"What the fuck?!" Sollux, as well as everyone else save Nepeta and Feferi, had a disgusted look on their faces. "You two…pailed?"

"May we remind you, on Earth it's normal." Terezi stuck up her nose. "Vriska and John have one too."

"She, uh…does," Tavros mumbled with an embarrassed smile on his face.

"Speaking of Vriska…when will she get here?" exclaimed Feferi.

"Right…now!" Terezi nodded towards a window, where she saw Vriska, John, and Casey walking up to their house. Sure enough, the doorbell rang and she answered it.

"What's up, motherfuckers!" Vriska laughed before being elbowed by her husband. "What, John? We all talk like this back on Alternia!"

Equius coughed. "I do believe you are mistaken," he replied in a deep voice that scared John quite a bit.

"Is that…Casey?" Tavros slowly stepped away from the group to get a look at the thing he had only remembered being in Vriska's stomach. "How did she…come…out?"

"Oh god." John face palmed before taking Casey from his wife. "Okay, Rose and Kanaya will be here when?"

-6:24 pm/Maple Valley Public Park-

The only other trolls who wanted to come along were Feferi, Nepeta (who dragged Equius with her), and surprisingly, Sollux and Eridan. Nepeta and Feferi cooed all over the babies while everyone else pretty much talked.

"How bad is the outbreak, exactly…?" Kanaya asked Sollux, as he was one of the first to find out about it.

"I don't think ecthremely bad, but bad enough. It thtarted in the thity, tho I gueth that'th how it thpread tho badly."

"Karkat!" Terezi stopped the stroller and grabbed her matesprit's arm. "Look at all this stuff! We can buy some for Katrina!"

"Oh!" Karkat turned to Sollux and Eridan. "I'll be right back."

Vriska dug around in Casey's diaper bag for her wallet. "I'm gonna go buy some things too," she told John before handing him the bag and walking to the booth of children's clothes and toys.

After Karkat and Terezi had bought a couple of board books and a doll, they went back over to the group, who was still waiting on Vriska.

"I still can't believe you had a kid," Eridan told Karkat with a disgusted scowl. "It's disgusting!"

"My child is not disgusting." Terezi, who had overheard, turned up her nose.

Karkat rolled his eyes and turned back to his friends. "Anyway," he replied, "we actually…wanted to have her. Just for…personal reasons."

"'Perthonal reathonth'? That thoundth groth," Sollux told the mutant-blood. "I gueth she ith kind of cute, though…"

"Good." Both of the grown Vantases smiled and continued down the long street of craft booths.

-7:53 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house-

"Mama!" Katrina cried, wiggling her arms and legs before getting picked up out of the stroller.

"I don't think you're tired," Terezi laughed, kissing her daughter on the cheek while everyone else uncomfortably watched.

"Okay!" Vriska exclaimed, trying to change the subject. "Feferi, Tavros, you come with me. I guess I will see you all tomorrow." She grabbed the hands of her two "friends" and left the Vantases' house for her own.

Terezi sat Katrina down on the floor, who immediately crawled over to the couch and pulled herself up.

Seeing his daughter do this, Karkat immediately knelt down on the floor and held out his arms. "Are you trying to walk, Princess?" he sweetly asked her, nodding in encouragement.

Terezi and Karkat eagerly watched as their daughter slowly let go of the couch and put one chubby foot in front of the other.

"Is she trying to walk?!" Nepeta exclaimed.

"Go away, we're having a moment!" Karkat turned back around to look at Katrina as the other trolls scurried into the kitchen.

"I'm recording, I'm recording!" Terezi told her husband as Katrina took her first of many baby steps. Putting one foot in front of the other soon became very easy, and soon Karkat scooped her up in his arms and tossed her into the air, kissing her cheek once he caught her.

"You did it, Princess!" he exclaimed, kissing her cheek again. Terezi made sure the video was saved before running over to her daughter and giving her a hug.

The teal-blood nuzzled her cheek against her daughter's and picked the tiny troll up. "I'm so proud of you!"

Katrina smiled and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. "It's about time she started walking," Karkat laughed as he stood up.

"We got it on video, too," Terezi smiled. "I'll post it to Facebook first thing—"

A tiny sneeze interrupted the conversation between the two.

Karkat and Terezi looked at each other.

"Oh no."

First off, I should probably mention I only have 1 week of summer vacation left. :( I can hopefully write a chapter before I go back.

Second, I am aware that Noveria is the name of a planet or something in Mass Effect. I decided I liked the name before I found that out, but oh well.

Unicorngirl1101 - i plan on the sequel containing much more Rosemary.

XellanxLarxene - I was originally planning for it to be in English.

Animeinsain99 - I'll see what I can do.

godlessAdversary - don't worry, John is definitely Casey's father.

My Mind is a Nomad - thank you!

Arc of Carona - yeah.

Abethia - thanks dude. B-)

homestuckTroll - Yeah.

SgCaboose - i do believe I did :)

Guest - Thank you!

2outherngemiinii - thank you!

Eridan x Feferi - thanks!

guest - Thank you!

DeathTheKid - I would too.