But It Was Just a Dream, Right?

"I'm pregnant!" Marcy announced as she bolted upright in bed, making Sasha and Anne wake with a start. She was staring straight ahead and touched her abdomen.

"What?" Sasha asked, putting a hand to her chest as she tried to calm down from the sudden awakening.

"Huh?" Anne mumbled as she propped herself up and started rubbing her eyes.

"I have to pee!" Marcy said, clambering out of bed and hurrying to the bathroom.

"Fucking shit that scared me." Sasha said, closing her eyes and focusing on her breathing. Anne glanced over at her.

"What's going on?" Anne asked, confused. "I think I heard pregnant and having to pee."

"I have no idea. I think she just had a dream or something." She said, lying back down in bed. Anne scooted across the space Marcy had vacated to snuggle Sasha.

"Wake me up when she gets back." She said sleepily as Sasha kissed her nose. A few minutes later the bathroom door slammed open making them jump.

"I knew it!" Marcy said excitedly as she ran over with a handful of pregnancy test sticks. She climbed back onto the bed and started handing the sticks to them. They looked at the double red lines on the various tests and their eyes widened in excitement. They flung their arms around Marcy and pulled her into a tight hug. She started to cry happily and they broke apart. Sasha smiled as she wiped away Marcy's tears. Anne pulled Marcy forward and buried her in an avalanche of kisses. Marcy started to blush as each kiss became more amorous then the last. Sasha cleared her throat as Anne looked about ready to pin her down.

"She's already pregnant, Anne." She teased as she raised an eyebrow. Feeling embarrassed she let go of Marcy.

"Sorry, I just got excited." Anne said, staring at Marcy as her heart raced with elation.

"It's okay. I just-" Marcy said flustered as she took back the tests.

"Is this every brand?" Anne asked, reading the different names and logos on each as she handed them back.

"I had to be sure." Marcy nodded seriously. "I also bought more test strips to ensure the validity of the results. I'll probably keep checking every week just to have confirmation."

"So did you just find out now? Or did you test before this morning?" Sasha asked with interest. "You just sort of woke up and shouted it randomly."

"I had a dream." Marcy started as her eyes sparkled.

"You had a dream that you were pregnant?" Anne asked curiously.

"Yes and no." Marcy said, choosing her words carefully. "Basically, I was talking to a friend back in Newtopia and they may have mentioned or implied I was pregnant."

"Oh." Sasha said, surprised as she recalled the memory of Grime she had shortly after giving birth. She hadn't told the others about it. "What was it like?" Marcy made several faces as she thought about how much she wanted to share. Anne tried to read the various emotions Marcy seemed to be going through. She had a sneaking suspicion it involved King Andrias but chose not to say anything.

"Okay, so it started out as a memory but then it was different. One moment I was in the past and then-" She made a hand gesture imitating an explosion, "-Boom! I'm in, what I'm pretty sure, was present day Newtopia."

"How did the conversation with your friend go?" Sasha asked. She wanted to know if it was anything like hers. Marcy fought to keep her face neutral as her lip quivered.

"It was good." Marcy said as she ended up wiping her eyes. "And I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think I actually saw into Amphibia." Sasha bit her lip.

"What makes you say that?" Anne said with a slight frown. It wasn't that she doubted Marcy but that she didn't want to get her hopes up.

"Things were how we left them but different. Like time and nature were starting to reclaim things. It was so vivid and Andr-" She caught herself, "-And my friend was older. Things had changed so much." Anne crossed her arms as she tried to process this. So Andrias was still alive. She furrowed her brow. It wasn't too surprising, he was a cyborg afterall. Was he intentionally trying to contact Marcy? Was he still a threat? How could he have known that Marcy, in an entirely separate world or universe for that matter, was pregnant? Or maybe it was just a dream and not something to get worried about. Anne shook her head and smiled.

"Well, did they give you any other details? Any spoilers about our baby?" Anne asked with a laugh. Marcy grinned.

"No spoilers." She shrugged. "I did have a dream about a cat afterward but I think that was unrelated."

"I mean, hey, if your dream told you that you were pregnant, maybe this other dream was telling us to get a cat." Sasha said, glancing over at Anne with a smirk. "What do you think Anne? Should we make Marcy's second dream come true?" Anne's eyes sparkled.

"Absolutely yes." She said full of nervous excitement. "Can we go today?"

"Sure, but let's at least have breakfast first." Sasha said, giving her a quick kiss. Anne hurried out of bed.

"I'll start on breakfast!" She said as she left the room in a sprint. Marcy looked at Sasha and reached out to hold her hands.

"I'm excited. I really am. I'm just-" Marcy looked worried.

"Anxious? Nervous? Scared out of your mind?" Sasha said with a knowing look. Marcy smiled and nodded. Anne rushed back as she realized she hadn't asked what they wanted. She froze just outside of the door as she heard them talking. She made to go in but hesitated.

"Can you help me through this? Since, you know, you've been through this before?" Marcy asked desperately.

"Of course." Sasha said, pressing her forehead to Marcy's. "We'll get through this together. I can tell you about all the changes to watch for, how to manage the out of control emotions, how to deal with the swollen ankles, and to just give in to the weird food cravings." Anne didn't know why but her heart sank. She crept silently back to the kitchen. For the first time in a long time she was starting to feel dysphoric. She covered her mouth as silent tears rolled down her face. Sasha and Marcy were able to share one thing she couldn't, actually carrying their child. Why was she feeling this now? She hadn't felt this way when Sasha was pregnant but then again Marcy hadn't been pregnant yet. Now they both got to experience something she couldn't. Hearing them talk about it just made it too real.

"Mæ̀?" A little voice called as she heard the pitter pattering of small feet. Their boy had woken up. Anne quickly wiped her eyes, hoping he wouldn't notice.

"Hey hon. You're up early." Anne said, forcing a smile.

"Why is Mæ̀ crying?" He asked. She felt terrible. They had gotten wonderful news and she was feeling bad about herself. She closed her eyes and tried to reframe her thoughts.

"Mæ̀ is crying because you are going to have a new baby brother or sister." She said tusseling his hair. He hugged her and she let out a choked sob. She crouched down to pull him into her arms. Sasha and Marcy hurried into the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" Sasha asked, quickly glancing between them.

"Mæ̀ is crying because-" He started and tried to recall what she had said.

"Sorry, I told him about his new sibling. I was too excited." Anne said, partially telling the truth. Sasha let out a sigh of relief and Marcy came over to hold him. Anne handed him over and she struggled to adjust to the weight he had put on. He had grown so much.

"Sometimes parents cry when they hear good news." Marcy said, kissing his forehead. "And this is very good news."

"It sure is." Sasha said as she tried to read Anne's eyes. She pulled her into a quick hug and Anne squeezed her back.

"Speaking of good news!" Marcy said, putting him back down and clapping her hands together. "We're going to the animal shelter today." His pupils dilated.

"Are we getting a puppy?" He shouted excitedly. Sasha quickly turned to the two of them.

"Can we get a puppy?" She asked, unable to repress her eagerness at the idea. Anne and Marcy looked less than enthusiastic about the idea. "Please?"

"Uh, not quite buddy. We were thinking more of a cat." Anne said apologetically. "But cats are sort of like puppies." She tried to reason as Sasha huffed. "They're cute and fluffy."

"And best of all they stay small." Marcy added dryly. "Unlike puppies."