"You… want a baby?!" Tiberius questioned, his eyes wide. Ozone could hear the fear in his voice. The cat sighed heavily. He should've known that the hawk would react like this. At least he didn't seem angry by the question. It was more like he was scared by it. Flicking one holey ear, the hairless cat explained, "Um… yeah. I just thought since… well… Mel and Buddy were able to have three…"

"That worked with those two! As far as anyone knows, it was probably a once in a lifetime kind of thing! You're talking about us having a baby! Or at least trying to have one," Tiberius pointed out, panic and fear evident in his shaking voice as he tried to get up. Ozone got off of him so the hawk could roll over to his feet. He remained quiet as the old bird went on, "It probably only worked with them because they're both dogs. You and I are completely different species."

"I know… just…" Ozone mumbled quietly, shuffling his paws nervously. He could already tell that he might've just screwed things up. Sighing, he lowered his head as he murmured in a hushed voice, "I don't know. I just… I just thought it would be cool to have a baby." He glanced over at Tiberius and concluded, "A baby with you." The old hawk seemed upset at those words as he mumbled, "Don't get me wrong Ozone, I would love to have a kid too, believe me. It would be even better if I had one with you. But I don't think it would ever be possible for us. We're both males."

"That didn't stop Mel and Buddy."

"I know that! We all saw their pups!" Tiberius hissed. Lowering his head in shame, the anger in his voice left as he murmured, "Like I said earlier, they are both dogs. You're a cat and I'm a hawk. It'll never work out."

"Sure it will."

"And how do you know that?"

"Love will find a way."

"Really? That's your answer?"

"I know, it's cheesy and something that Mel would say," Ozone admitted, recalling that the pug had said something like that earlier in the day. Nuzzling Tiberius lovingly, he explained, "But he's not completely wrong for once. Love does have a way of overpowering any obstacle." Shaking, the old hawk whimpered, "But we're talking about having a child! You and me! Anything could go wrong at any moment! How about we just adopt or.." While the red tail rambled on, Ozone finally realized what his problem was. Placing his paw over his beak, the cat pointed out, "You're scared about mating, aren't you?"

Tiberius fell silent at the accusation. Gazing up at Ozone with sad eyes, he hung his head as he whispered, "Yes… I'm scared… and I have my reasons…" Resting his chin on the bones littering the floor, the red tailed hawk turned his head away. Watching him silently, Ozone could tell by the shaking shoulders that he was probably in tears by now. The hairless feline sighed softly before curling up around his lover. Gently licking his cheek, he murmured, "Look, I know you're scared. But there's no need to be. You can get over these fears and I'll help you out. I promise."

"Thanks…" Tiberius mumbled quietly, lost in a maze of bad memories.