"I don't know how to say this..." Glimmer began, nervously figiting on the couch, "I'm late."

"Oh, don't you worry about it. It was only a few minutes," Double Trouble reassured Glimmer, checking their timepiece, "We still have plenty of time to have a productive session today."

"No, I mean..." Glimmer corrected, gesturing below her waist, "I'm late."

"Oh... I see," Double Trouble said, "Does that mean you're..?"

"I don't know yet," Glimmer said, "I'm told it could just be stress throwing my body out of wack, and things have been really stressful lately. But there is the strong possibility that I am... pregnant."

"Well, there's one obvious way to rule out that possibility," Double Trouble explained, writing down on their notepad, "When is the last time you were intimate with someone capable of impregnating you?"

"Recent enough that I'm worried," Glimmer answered.

"Interesting..." Double Trouble commented, scribbling another note down, "You haven't mentioned a suitor before. Who is the lucky guy?"

"Aaagh..." Glimmer exhaled sharply, "It's Bow. He snuck into the castle one night and we... reconnected."

"Oh, don't hold back, please," Double Trouble encouraged, continuously scratching on their notepad, "Tell me everything."

"There was a whole lot we couldn't talk about that I wanted to tell him," Glimmer recollected, "But asked what it was like working with my Dad, what he was like. I told him how much I missed him. How hard it was keeping everything together without him. He just wanted to check up to make sure I was okay, but before he could leave, I kissed him... and teleported his clothes off. And then I woke up with a horse right up in my face, staring at my naked body in the middle of the night. Apparently, in my rush to get things back on track with Bow, Swiftwind got left outside with no idea what was going on. So that was a whole thing."

"Ooo," Double Trouble cooed, focused on their notepad with rapt interest, "So what did you all do next?"

"I kicked them both out and told them not to come back," Glimmer quickly reported with some confusion, "What? Did you expect something else to happen?"

"Riiight," Double Trouble responded, writing down another note with a twinge of disappointment, "Have you thought about what you want to do now?"

"I... don't know," Glimmer answered, "I mean, if I was going to have a kid, I couldn't think of someone else I rather have one with. But with everything going on right now, I just don't think I'm ready."

"So don't," suggested Double Trouble, continuing to write on their notepad, "You do have options here. Whatever you decide is your choice, no one else's. And just because you don't want to have a child right now, doesn't mean you'll never have one."

"I know all this," Glimmer grumbled, "But I'm worried that if I put this off, I'll never feel ready enough. I've been fighting a war against the Horde my entire life. This is the first time in generations Etheria has lived in relative peace and I'm not sure if anything will ever get better. If I can't be ready now, I don't know if I ever will be."

"Well, having children isn't something anyone *has* to do," Double Trouble replied, quickly writing something down, "A person can have a perfectly fulfilling life without ever having children of their own. But for what it's worth, I can think of far worse candidates for parenting material."

"I mean, yeah, so can I," Glimmer said, "But just because I'm not the worst doesn't mean I'm not going to screw this up royally."

"Of course you are," Double Trouble answered, scribbling another note, "No one really knows what they're doing the first time around. You're going to make a ton of mistakes before you figure it out, if you ever do. It's not like being a parent comes with a guidebook or something."

"Aren't there, like, a ton of books written on child rearing?" asked Glimmer.

"Well... yes," admitted Double Trouble, writing something else down, "But what I mean to say is that raising a child isn't some skill you can practice over and over again like shooting a bow or casting a spell. Every person is different and they're constantly changing and you're not always going to keep up with them. But if you always come at them from a place of love and learn to accept the fact that they're not always going to do what you want or expect, the kid's gonna turn out fine."

"So you're saying I *should* have the baby," Glimmer translated.

"I'm saying that it's not my decision to make," Double Trouble argued, completely focused on their notepad, "Stop trying to get a yes or no answer out of me, like I'm one of your royal viziers telling you what country to invade. I told you that this is *your* choice, no one else's. I just want you to have all the facts."

Glimmer closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath and exhaled.

"Thank you," Glimmer said to Double Trouble, "I'm going to need some time to make a decision, but you've been very helpful."

"I'm happy to be of service, your Majesty," said Double Trouble, "But I would recommend getting tested to make sure this *isn't* just stress messing with your body clock."

"Yeah, good point," Glimmer said, "Maybe I do just need to relax. Did you want to get some lunch? I've got this strange craving for steak and ice cream."

"I'm sorry, I have an intervention scheduled after you," Double Trouble apologized, writing down one final note, "But feel free to indulge on my behalf."

~*~

DT's notes

Glimmer, Session 5
-Glimmer seems worried about something, situation normal
-It looks like there's a chance Glimmer is pregnant, how did that happen?
-Okay, let's get to the good stuff...
-*This explicit quickly scribbled together story embellishing Bow and Glimmer's night together has been censored to maintain a T rating*
-Alright, so maybe I was hoping for too much in thinking this would go full Empress Glimmer the Great. Back to work.
-So yeah, I have no idea what advice to give. I don't know anything about having kids... or a parent come to think of it.
-Yeah, I would not be a good parent. Not that I ever plan on having kids.
-Actually, I wonder if Scorpia would ever want children, she seems like she would be a good mother.
-I'm getting too far ahead of myself, we haven't even had our first date yet.
-Okay, I blanked out again, what are we even talking about now?
-Oh, that's right, Glimmer worried because she missed a period, I'm pretty sure it's just the natural stress of being put in charge of an entire planet at a very young age. Will probably recommend a vacation or something.
-Nevermind, she's definitely pregnant.