To Guest: Pretty much!
To Anon2018: She definitely needs some therapy, and not just to work through what she picks up from her own clients. Only Nooroo and Duusu can sense a baby in the womb – they sense the emotions, which (in this universe) begin to develop around 4 weeks. The other Kwamis would be excited about it, though! Despite Plagg's protestations to the contrary…
Standing on the sidewalk outside of her apartment building and staring up at the all-too-familiar façade, Sabrina swallowed back her anxiety, clutching Max's hand in an iron grip. Max squeezed her hand back in reassurance, though the nervousness she could feel pouring off of him did little to assuage her fear. And yet, his grip on her hand grounded her to this spot – she couldn't run away, couldn't pretend it wasn't happening, couldn't avoid it. She was here, and he was here, and her parents were inside waiting for them. What would they say? Tonight would change… everything, possibly – more than today already had changed everything for her. Chloe and Emilie stood on either side of them, both with a hand on one of Sabrina's shoulders; she could feel Emilie once again wicking away some of her nervousness and fear, and nodded in gratitude.
The four of them had spent almost the entire day together; over Sabrina's objections, Max had set his game aside to focus on her. After their heart-to-heart at the apartment, Chloe had insisted on taking Sabrina shopping to look at cribs and highchairs and strollers and changing tables and… The whole experience had entirely overwhelmed Sabrina. Chloe, however, would have bought all of them, had Emilie not restrained her and insisted that they wait. Based on Emilie's experience, a baby's emotions only became detectable between four and six weeks, though Nooroo and Duusu could sense them a little earlier. But even so, they still had at least seven months before they would have to worry about those things. In the end Chloe had agreed – but only if Sabrina promised to let her plan the baby shower. Sabrina had agreed, if only so Chloe would let her have some peace!
Following a simple lunch – now that Sabrina had a name for her unusual appetite every morning – they had returned to the apartment for a couple minutes before taking the portal to the Heroes of Paris Headquarters. While Sabrina and Emilie had met in the grotto, Max and Chloe had worked on a project in the lab. When they had stepped out of the lab two hours later, Max had looked profoundly shaken, his emotions a mixture of confusion, anger, and fear. But when Sabrina had asked the reason, he had only said, "It can wait until tomorrow."
For their part, Sabrina and Emilie had spent those two hours meditating in the grotto and talking about her counseling sessions that week – about the girl who had lost her brother when a building collapsed, about the couple that had been separated and made their way into separate refugee camps outside of Paris, about Abdi and her guilt over teaming up with the monster who had tormented him and Aisha so much. Thirty minutes of that time had just been dedicated to Sabrina's own guilt and shame about having acted on her emotions when she discovered Max alive – was it her fault that she had gotten pregnant? Emilie's response had been simple: "You both made the choice. You both were emotionally vulnerable at that moment. There isn't any blame; there is only the question of what you do now."
And now, she had to own up to it.
Sabrina swallowed back the butterflies in her stomach, drawing comfort from those around her, from the weight of the Kwamis in her purse. Max squeezed her hand, and she clenched her jaw.
"Are you sure you don't want us to come in with you?" asked Chloe, squeezing Sabrina's shoulder.
Sabrina nodded firmly. "This is something I have to do on my own." Max coughed. Sabrina flushed. "Or rather it's something we have to do for ourselves," she amended quickly.
"Because that worked out so well for you last time," Chloe muttered, raising an eyebrow dubiously.
Emilie elbowed Chloe gently in the ribs. "The two of you will do fine," she assured Sabrina, pulling her into a quick one-armed hug. "And if you need anything, we'll be there right away."
Sabrina let out a breath and nodded, looking into Max's eyes. Although she could still sense his nervousness, he smiled confidently, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She returned the smile gratefully. "Thanks."
Chloe's mouth set in a thin line and she gave Max a severe look. "And if anything happens, let us know immediately."
"I will; I promise," Max assured her, holding Sabrina tightly to his side.
Emilie glanced over at Chloe. "Shall we get some dinner for ourselves?" she asked. "We haven't really had a chance to catch up since the memorials."
Chloe nodded, her emotions transforming into excitement and eagerness. "There's a little café down the street," she answered. "It looks kind of greasy, but I'm morbidly curious to try it."
Emilie smiled. "Sounds like a plan!"
As the two of them left, walking half a block down the street toward the café in question, Sabrina took a deep breath, steeling herself for the evening. She squeezed Max's hand tightly, allowing his presence to ground her. These were her parents; they weren't strangers. They loved her. They would want what's best for her. And they liked Max – they'd always liked Max. This would be okay.
Right?
Max placed his hand on Sabrina's back and raised an eyebrow. "Shall we?"
She nodded, swallowing back her nerves, and opened the door, leading him inside and up to the apartment. The door was already unlocked, and they entered to the smell of beef cooking in a slow cooker. Her father sat in his accustomed armchair, nursing a drink. He glanced up as they entered, waving them toward the couch. Kaalki and Nooroo both emerged from Sabrina's purse, descending on the tray of grapes sitting on the coffee table and attacking them with a vengeance.
"Have a seat," her father called, giving Max a smile. "You know, you don't actually have to wait for an invitation to come over for dinner," he reminded Max. "We always have more than enough food. Come over any time. At this point, you're basically family, after all – and that's not just because…" He nodded to Sabrina. "After you and your heroes helped me keep things going for that month…"
Sitting down together on the couch, Max returned the smile, though Sabrina could feel the anxiety beneath the surface. "Thank you, Roger," he agreed. "But I was just doing what I could – it was as much my failed plan that left us in that position as anything else."
Sabrina's father shook his head. "Don't dwell on the mistakes or on what's past," he advised him. "In my experience it only leads to more mistakes."
Looking between them, Sabrina could sense Max's nervousness beginning to take hold. "Neither of you has really talked about what happened during that month we were in Angola…" she began before falling silent, placing a hand on Max's knee.
Max let out a breath. "When I realized I was not, well, dead, the first thing I did was make my way back to headquarters to try and take stock of everything. I could contact Markov, but very few of the drones were still operational. Turing was entirely out of commission, long enough that I had almost given up on finding him. Once I returned to Headquarters, I contacted your father, and we began working to bring order to the chaos."
Her father grimaced. "It was no easy task," he interjected. "Just coordinating the emergency response – no, just inventorying the surviving emergency vehicles – was a chore unto itself. Then we had to organize the people – with how many had been injured or fled or been killed…" He shook his head ruefully. "Had it not been for Max – Max and his robots – I don't think we could have done it."
Sabrina cocked her head in surprise.
Max smiled fondly. "Markov had already taken over coordination for all the emergency workers in the city by the time I got there," he explained. "Once Turing's self-repair systems brought him back online, they pooled their processing power to complete tasks in 35% of the time.
"That's pretty much it." Her father shrugged. "We had some incidents with criminals trying to take advantage of the chaos – looting and vandalism were a huge problem – but with a little help from Max, we managed to keep things mostly under control. Max and a few other heroes, that is."
"I think le Tirreur prefers the term 'vigilante'," Max pointed out. "Certainly that applies better to Albailier than 'hero' does!"
"True," her father agreed, chuckling.
"Dinner is ready!" called Sabrina's mother from the kitchen.
Sabrina swallowed nervously as they all sat down around the table and her mother served out the pot roast, roasted potatoes, and vegetables. Mindlessly she started forking it into her mouth, hardly paying attention as her father and Max talked about the Superhero Liaison Department. Despite her confident words to Emilie and Chloe – despite her earlier confidence – as the moment of truth neared, she found herself beginning to feel that same trepidation return. The pot roast tasted flavorless and tough, so focused was she on her own anxiety. A distant spark of hope lit up in her empathic sense, and she suppressed a surprised gasp. Focusing in on it and tracing it back to its source, she could feel Chloe and Emilie down the street. Slowly she let out a breath, forcing herself to relax.
She could do this.
"So how is your game going?" asked her mother, turning to Max. "Sabrina had mentioned that you might be able to start selling it in America soon?"
Max started in surprise but grinned eagerly. "The development for the next iteration is progressing very nicely," he replied. "I have a meeting in two weeks to discuss the logistics of distributing the game in America, designing a tie-in game with the United Heroez and their villains, as well as developing a crossover between the two. There may be some challenges, but it all looks very promising. I already have some concepts for how the crossover could happen."
"Incredible!"
"That's my kid!" Kaalki interjected, popping a whole apple slice into her mouth.
Sabrina smiled brightly, squeezing Max's hand. "That's just one of the amazing things to come out of us working with the United Heroez so much recently!"
"So are you just planning to focus on the game?" her father asked Max. "Or are you also going to go to University?"
Max shrugged. "My plan has been to do both, though I may need to take a slower route at University so I will have the time to continue building the game – and devote time to my work with the Heroes of Paris. And… other things."
Her father raised an eyebrow. "'Other things'?" he repeated.
"What else could you have going on?" her mother wondered. "I would have thought everything else was more than enough!"
Sabrina shared a look with Max, swallowing hard. Could she really do this? Nooroo put his blueberry down on the plate and looked up at her encouragingly. "Um…" she began, her voice trailing off hesitantly. "We… actually have an announcement to make…" Her mother's brows furrowed, her emotions shifting between surprise and growing excitement. Her father eyed them suspiciously; she noticed his eyes drifting down to her hand. Sabrina nudged Max, who squeezed her hand. She took a deep breath, steeling herself. "We're – or I mean I'm… um… uh… pregnant."
Her mother gasped, her fork clattering to the floor as she jumped to her feet. Her chair tipped over as she rushed around the table to Sabrina, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Oh, that's such wonderful news!" she enthused, kissing Sabrina's cheeks over and over. "You're going to be a mother!" Shocked, Sabrina melted into the hug, allowing her mother's excitement to wash over her. Her mother looked up at her father. "You know what this means? We're going to be grandparents! Are you sure? How far along are you?"
"I–I can actually feel his emotions," Sabrina stuttered, melting into her mother's hug. "It's… only about… six weeks?"
"I have only been able to feel them for three weeks," Nooroo piped up.
"A winter baby, then?" her mother wondered. "How exciting! Right around Valentine's Day, maybe?"
Sabrina could sense her father's emotions shifting back and forth, cycling through several different emotions before finally settling on resignation and acceptance. He turned to Max and raised an eyebrow. "You know," he told him. "Do you remember before that battle, when I told you to 'take care of my daughter'? This wasn't exactly what I had in mind."
Max nodded, his emotions drifting into nervousness. "I know, sir. I–this was not part of my plan, either," he admitted.
Her father hummed, giving Max an evaluating look. "So, what are you going to do?"
Max's mouth set in a firm line. "What I have to," he promised. "We created this child together; we will raise him together."
"I'm glad to hear it, son." Her father chuckled wryly, holding a hand out to Max. "And now you're even more part of the family!"
AN: Tomorrow look for the next "Life and Times" chapter, with "Honor and Dishonor" starting on Wednesday.