A/N: Heheheh...Bet you all thought I was lying when I said I was going to try and get these chapters out faster. But here I am, updating again. X3 And I may even think about updating another chapter sometime tomorrow too. =3 We'll see. But for now, let's focus on this here chapter. For those of you who were waiting oh so patiently for Chapter 44 of ZADR Orange, here it be. =3 Much love to those of you who faved or added the story to your story alert lists. And as always, feedback be much appreciated. =3 So we hope you all enjoy. ^^

Warnings: Extreme OOCness

Rating: M

Disclaimer: We do not own Invader Zim, nor any of the characters from it. We do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Zim/Tak: Notgonnadie

Dib/Gaz/Teenage Girl/Computer: Me

Beta: Notgonnadie

Shaking his head violently, Zim brought up his hands to tug at his antennas harshly underneath his wig. "But I didn't change his gender! He's still male! I didn't do anything but change his species!" he exclaimed, not having been wanting to go into detail about the Irken anatomy with her.

Standing up now, Tak walked over to where Gaz was standing and placed a hand on her shoulder. "He's right, you know...There are no REAL male Irkens. There are too few females. There always have been. Because of that, the males had to adapt." she then shifted her gaze over to Zim and snickered at him, making him blush uncomfortably.

Turning her head to look at Tak, Gaz then addressed her about the matter. "So what? Are you saying that Irken males basically carry on the role of both males and females? I think that would have been something you might have wanted to warn my brother about BEFORE he decided to go through with this procedure." she turned her glare back on Zim again. "Exactly how well do you think he's going to hold up in childbirth? Especially considering he's only SIXTEEN in case you've forgotten!" she reminded him that her brother wasn't an adult yet.

"I-I thought him being half human would keep him from being like normal...And it's not like we really have to find out." Zim laughed uneasily. "Irkens lay eggs. It's not like he'll have to squeeze out three live children." he tried to make light of the situation, letting slip a little more information than he had meant to give out.

"Ahhh, so three of them? Hmm...Figures you'd end up with a small litter." Tak commented on his last few words.

"Zim...You better hope they're only eggs, cause if something happens that makes it so he has to give birth to three live babies, I will kick your ass and make you wish YOU had never been born. Despite what you may think, he's still half human, and humans give birth to LIVE CHILDREN." Gaz emphasized her last two words sharply.

Swallowing uncomfortably, Zim took a few steps back away from her. "S-So...I should tell him then...shouldn't I...?" he looked away, sighing. "He's going to hate me..." his antennae then drooped.

Sighing herself, Tak went ahead and took a step forward, helpful now seeing as how smeets were involved. "You know...There is a book store nearby." she said, having walked by it when checking out the neighborhood she had set her base up in.

"So?" Zim looked back up at her confused now.

Shaking her head, Tak forced herself not to face palm at that. "SO, you should go and buy some books about pregnant humans before you tell him, that way you two can be prepared." she said as though it were obvious.

Eyes wide, Zim seemed to give that idea some thought. "Th-That's actually a good idea...But wait...Why are you helping me?" he stared back at her suspiciously.

Returning to Gaz's side, Tak wrapped an arm around her. "Well, other then the fact that your boyfriend is my girlfriend's brother, naturally born smeets are rare nowadays...You've probably never noticed." she said, glaring at him. "So rare, in fact, it's now illegal to harm or separate expecting parents. So, it looks like you're safe for now..." she grumbled, knowing there was nothing she could do about it at this point.

"Consider yourself lucky...But remember, you're only safe until after my brother gives birth. Any time after that I'm free to beat the crap out of you if those babies come out live. And who knows what Dib will do to you after he finds out. And trust me, he'll find out. One way or another. I'll come by your base to check up on him in a few days. If you haven't told him by then, I'LL tell him myself." she warned him, narrowing her eyes on him.

Swallowing thickly, Zim nodded his head sheepishly. "I-I'll tell him..." he said, taking several steps backwards, away from Gaz.

"Now get to the book store and then get back to Dib. He's going to need his mate with him full time now." Tak instructed him, pointing in the direction of the book store.

Waiting for Zim to leave, not closing the door until he was all the way down the street, Gaz then turned to wrap her arms around Tak, needing that bit of comfort.

Meanwhile, back at the cafe, Dib had grown tired of waiting for Zim to return, so standing up and throwing away the wrappers that had come with their food, he then turned to leave the cafe and head on back to the base, fairly upset that Zim had just left him there and hadn't come back.

A load of pregnancy books in his arms, Zim stood in line impatiently at the register, knowing he had to get back to Dib soon. "Come ooon. Dib's probably given up waiting for me by now." he bounced up and down on his feet a bit.

Calling Zim up to her open register once the costumer in front of Zim left with their books, a teenage girl behind the counter began the task of ringing up his items. Blinking wide eyes at the pile of books he dropped in front of her, she then began looking over some of the titles of them before looking back at Zim. "Hey, kid. How old are you?" she asked, never stopping her work.

"Sixteen. Why?" Zim asked, in too much of a hurry to put up with this.

"Oh, no reason...Just not too often we get a kid your age in here buying these kinds of books. You get your girlfriend knocked up on your first try? You might want to use a condom in the future to prevent things like this." the teenage girl said, able to tell by the look on Zim's face that that's what had happened.

Looking away from her, Zim blushed deeply at her words. "I don't think that's any of your business. Besides, I don't HAVE a girlfriend." he stated, hoping that would end this conversation right then and there.

"Hmmm?" the teenage girl blinked at him confused. "You don't? Then what are all these books for?" she asked, pointing at them. "Are they for your ex maybe?" she considered why he could possibly be buying these if he didn't have a girlfriend currently.

Balling his hands into fists at his sides, Zim growled out lowly. "Listen here. I am not WITH nor have I ever BEEN with any girls! I like my boyfriend just FINE. So if you would be so kind as to keep your nose out of my business, I'd appreciate it and allow you to live another day." he said threateningly through grit teeth.

Merely rolling her eyes at his threat, thinking he was just joking about that, the teenage girl went ahead and began packing the books into a bag for him. "Hey, don't take it personally. I was just curious as to why you were buying so many books on pregnancy. By the way, in case you don't know, your boyfriend can't get pregnant. That's physically impossible. Anyways, that will be $60." she said, reading the price on the register.

Scoffing at that remark, Zim quickly handed her the money for the books before snatching the bag out of her hands and making his way towards the exit, speaking under his breath. "Shows what you know." he mumbled before making a break for the base.

Back at Zim's base, however, Dib walked through the front door and to the elevator, just wanting to lock himself in the bedroom to be left alone. "I can't believe he just left me there and didn't even bother to tell me where he was going..." he sighed, making his way over to the bed and flopping down onto his stomach, hugging a pillow to himself tightly. "And we didn't even get to go to the drug store..." he mumbled before closing his eyes and hiding his face away in the pillow.

Remembering at the last second to stop by the drug store but not knowing what to get, Zim grabbed every kind of over the counter painkiller he could afford and purchased them hurriedly before rushing home as fast as he could, arms full of pills and pregnancy books. So loaded down by them, however, he couldn't quite get the door open and so therefore resorted to kicking at it in an attempt to catch Dib's attention. "Diiib? Are you home? Let me in! My arms are full!" he called from his side of the door.

But being all the way down in the bedroom, Dib didn't hear Zim's cries from the front door as he had nearly drifted off to sleep by now, his breathing shaky from trying hard to hold back his sobs at being left behind by Zim.

Looking worried when he got no answer from Dib, Zim looked back the way he had come. Maybe Dib hadn't come home. But where could he have gone? "DIIIB!" he tried again, shouting louder and kicking harder. "DIIIB!" he was desperate now, not knowing where to put down his load of items so he could get the door.

"He can't hear you. He's down in the lab crying right now because you 'left him all alone' or something like that." the computer then spoke up, catching Zim's attention.

Flinching at his computer's words, Zim then looked away. "I-I said I'd be right back...COMPUTER! LET ME IN!" he demanded, needing to put down what he had in his arms to go and comfort Dib.

"Whatever..." the computer opened the door for Zim, letting him inside so he could put down what he was carrying in his arms before heading for the elevator. "I don't think he's going to let you see him. He's locked the door to the bedroom" it then informed him.

Shaking his head, Zim closed his eyes. "I don't care if I have to bang on the door until morning. I have to see him." he said, continuing his journey down into the lab where his bedroom was.

"Good luck with THAT method of getting him out of there." the computer scoffed, thinking it wouldn't be that easy to get Dib out.

Meanwhile, back in the bedroom, Dib whimpered into the pillow he was hugging to himself, sniffling wetly before stiffening upon hearing a loud knock from outside the bedroom door.

"Dib? Dib, please let me in! I'm sorry I was gone so long! I-I just had to do something first...I had to figure some things out..." Zim tried to coax Dib out of the room.

But Dib wouldn't listen, obviously upset with the other. "What couldn't you have figured out while sitting there with me? Were you really that afraid to tell me what's been bothering you? Even after I promised you that I couldn't ever hate you for anything you've ever done!" he exclaimed, in no mood to be discussing this with Zim right now.

A/N: And there you have it. Your weekly update of ZADR Orange. =3 I think you all know what's coming next chapter. XD But until then, let us just quickly respond to those who reviewed last chapter. =3

To kikidon11 (Response courtesy NGD): "Glad you're enjoying the story XD And you'll have to wait and see."

To lillybean queen of the i ocean: Glad to hear itt~

To Heather Valentine-Highwind: Well, hello there, new reviewer. =3 Allow me to be the first to welcome you. Do not worry. We shall most certainly continue to post. ^^ Can't say poor Zimmeh is gonna be in any better a situation with Dib as he is with Gaz. But you can rest assured, Gaz has no intentions of doing anything to cause him bodily harm...yet. XD Thanks again for reading and reviewing, and we hope to hear back from you again really soon. =3

To Noop237 (Response courtesy NGD): "Thanks. ^^ It means a lot that people are so supportive. We still can't believe what that brat did and continued to do, and attacking me in particular(They're terrified of Pat), with her friends when confronted about it. But that aside, it's nice to know you're enjoying the story."