Author's Note: Thank you to NotMarge, NicoleR85, partygirl98, Jinxofthe2ndLaw, ZabuzasGirl, Bamboooozled, kmj1989, Pyromagmapath, musicjunkie1996, Shelllee24, Bex, Cloudcity'sBookworm, and Rasha007 for the reviews! If you guys liked that chapter, I think you're going to love this one! But I must warn you, some of this is so sweet you might need to visit the dentist after reading it, haha.

I'm not going to lie, it's mainly a bridge/ filler chapter- but it's fluffy filler. I wanted to have something that focused on the months passing during Zoey's pregnancy up to a certain point, highlighting the joys and the annoyances that come along with pregnancy. Hank is an awesome husband. But we already knew that, right? And then there's also some development in the mutant rights department, with a familiar (unwelcome) character's appearance. Let's enjoy the domestic tranquility while it lasts ;-)

Devoted Husband Extraordinaire

The next few months were hectic and trying, but ultimately fulfilling in the best sense of the word.

Zoey's body seemed to change by the day, but to me she was always, always the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. Nothing would ever change that for me.

Her tummy got rounder, of course, as did her breasts (something I enjoyed quite a bit). The curves of her face became softer, less angular. It was like someone had taken a photograph of her and smudged the edges, leaving Zoey with this incandescent, glowing aura around her in my eyes.

She was radiant, mostly in thanks to her hormones changing. Her skin was luminous, and her hair- it became even thicker, more lustrous and resplendent than ever before.

Zoey, my Pyralis, never resembled a fire fairy to me more than when she was pregnant. Her inner glow was like the sun, which was quite fitting in a way. Sometimes I compared myself to a planet happily caught in orbit, revolving around my own personal star.

The irony of her increased estrogen levels was the way Zoey's nails got stronger at the exact same time she could no longer reach her toenails to paint them, as was her custom. This frustrated her to no end until I gave up and started painting them for her on a regular basis. But only after I made her promise to never, ever speak of this secret shame to anyone.

Her pregnancy wasn't all sunshine and roses, of course. Though for the most part Zoey was happy to be carrying our children, she definitely had her moments of discontent.

She'd always been petite and slender, despite her obsession with basically anything containing refined sugar. Zoey managed to stay slim because of her powers- whenever she generated fire without an external fuel source (like wood or gasoline), she actually burned calories from her own metabolism. She could sit on the sofa holding a fireball she created for two minutes and expend more calories than if she got up and ran around the block a few times. So it didn't really matter how much or what she ate.

This was the first time in her life she'd ever weighed over a hundred pounds, and she hated it.

"What's wrong, darling?" I asked one day when I happened upon Zoey standing in front of the full-length mirror in our bedroom with an upset look on her face.

I came up behind her and kissed her cheek. My hands reached around to rest on her belly as my eyes met hers in the mirror, gold into emerald green.

Sometimes I still wondered at what an odd pair we made- we were like a real life version of Beauty and the Beast. But I didn't worry about it as much as I used to. We loved each other, and that was all that mattered.

Zoey sighed disconsolately. "I'm getting fat, aren't I? I'm going to start developing my own gravitational pull."

Technically speaking, we all have our own gravitational pull... but I'm definitely not falling into that trap.

"You're growing two babies inside of you, Zoey," I replied diplomatically. "Two. Of course you're going to gain some weight. It's only natural."

I pushed her curls out of the way and kissed along her neck, trying to distract her. She melted almost immediately, tilting her head to give me better access.

"You're beautiful," I murmured, trailing my hands down her arms. "Want me to prove it to you?"

"Mmm. Yes, please."

There were many restless nights, as Zoey tossed and turned because she couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep. Her legs cramped, and her feet and back ached so much that sometimes the pain brought her to the verge of tears.

I did my best to comfort her as much as I could- giving her massages, rubbing her tummy with lotion when her skin itched (and then not complaining when my fur smelled like ointment for hours afterwards), sitting up talking with her when she got irritated with laying in bed and not being able to fall asleep.

Everyone wanted to touch Zoey's stomach once the babies started to quicken and kick more, to feel them say "hello." It seemed like all of our friends and family wanted to speak to the twins so much that they practically forgot about Zoey.

I could see the hurt in her eyes once when Olivia spent over half an hour cooing at Zoey's stomach and pressing back against the twins' movements without even a "how are you, Auntie?"

When we were at home it was different.

Sure, I spent a fair amount of time engrossed in talking to our children- but I never forgot to show Zoey how much I loved and appreciated her, doing all I could to make her smile.

Some of the things I did were truly embarrassing- like the time I tried to sing her the new song "You Are So Beautiful" that had recently been released by Joe Crocker. Zoey laughed so hard she almost peed herself and practically fell off the couch.

Her face was flushed scarlet though, so I think she was flattered.

Once she was home for the day the only time I let her get up from the sofa (unless she wanted to, obviously) was to use the bathroom. Otherwise, I fetched anything Zoey needed, brought her flowers, and basically treated her like a queen. Part of that came from my feral instincts, to take care of my pregnant mate. The rest was just... me being me, I guess.

Still, watching the twins kick and move inside of her was absolutely incredible, like a miracle happening right in front of my eyes. I smiled so wide that I thought my face would crack the first time I ever saw the imprint of one of their little hands pushing against Zoey's skin.

Hello. I see you there, Baby, I thought giddily, placing my hand over my child's.

By now it was clear from those in utero movements that at least one- possibly both- of the babies had inherited my hand-feet.

I felt a surge of pure fear when I saw that outline of a foot with monkey toes for the first time, followed quickly by a burst of urgency to make things safer for my children before they finally arrived.

I'm running out of time.

Our plan had worked better than we'd hoped for in regards to the mutant situation, but I still felt the fluttery panic of impatience. I had to keep reminding myself that changing a prejudice and mistrust so deeply entrenched in society would take more than a few successful debates.

After that interview on The Today Show I was asked by several other programs to provide representation for mutant kind. I even appeared on shows for the CBS network, but only after coaxing Zoey into allowing it.

"Darling, we need to focus on getting as much positive exposure as we can," I pleaded. "Please, be reasonable."

"Fine," she agreed sullenly. "Do it for the children, right?"

I let out a sigh of relief. "Yes, exactly."

Maybe I was being optimistic, but I honestly felt I was making a difference by putting myself out there like that. It seemed like at least some people were open to learning more about our kind.

Within a few weeks, stories that previously would've never gotten national media attention simply for the fact that they didn't fit the unfavorable narrative for mutants suddenly became headline news.

Stories like the teenage boy in Oregon who saved his neighbor's house from burning down by turning the flames to ice, or the twenty-eight year old woman in Chicago who used her limb-stretching ability to pull a man away from an oncoming train after he'd fallen onto the tracks. A little girl who could control the weather managed to single-handedly end a drought in the Texas panhandle. She was already well on her way to becoming something of a folk hero in her home town.

"Mommy and Daddy always used to tell me not to show my powers," the nine year old explained to a reporter. "But then the rain stopped, and they hoped people would like me helping them enough not to be scared of me."

The stories weren't all positive- someone, though it was obviously impossible to tell who, had used their ability to turn invisible to propagate a string of convenience store robberies. Police were left scrambling to figure out how to catch the criminal.

A rash of anti-mutant protests broke out after that incident, but, to our pleasant surprise, it sparked pro-mutant demonstrations in return. The picketers were comprised of humans and mutants alike, and though the groups were smaller than those of the anti-mutant protests, the fact that they existed at all felt like a great leap forward.

The past decade had been one of great social change- Civil Rights, anti-war, anti-poverty, feminism, the environment- and activism abounded. I suppose this really was the best possible time for mutants to try to find their own voice, because people were now more open to listening to it.

Unfortunately, some of the loudest dissonant voices came from within the government.

Despite the current climate of disillusionment the American people felt towards their government (President Nixon resigned over the summer following the Watergate scandal, which then invited accusations of widespread government corruption), we knew it didn't bode well for our kind when the people with the power to make laws started to spew prejudice.

The biggest offender was Senator Robert Kelly, from our own state of New York. He soon began to make inflammatory remarks about mutants at every opportunity he could, using the argument that we were too dangerous to mix with the general population. Though crimes committed by identifiable mutants were rare, Kelly still used them as justification for his claims.

"Are we really willing to risk our safety- our children's safety- on the hopes that mutants won't use their powers against us?" he reasoned. "They have power, my friends, and we all know how power corrupts."

Says the senator. Who was the biggest contributor to your election campaign again? Oh, that's right. The Friends of Humanity.

Birds of a feather...

I couldn't tell what was worse- the fact that people were starting to heed his hateful message, or the way he seemed to be hinting that he was drafting some sort of anti-mutant legislation.

A storm was coming.

The only thing we could do was keep fighting and weather it out.