chapter 2
Lion-o and Liosia had moved into an apartment building near the school. They were using birth control to prevent pregnancy. They wanted to have children after they graduated. They had some nice neighbors. They even had part time jobs to help pay the rent. Both of them were very busy.
They started a new class. Family science it was about family life and social structure and many other things.
"Okay class we are starting new project. You will find out what it is like to be married. I know some of you are engaged or married already and taking this class together so if you are you will be with that person. If not you will pick your partner." Professor Caltzer said.
Lion-o and Liosia were enjoying the assignment so far. A few days later.
"Okay I see you're enjoying the honeymoon phase but that doesn't last forever, now you realize and get to know more about the person you're married too," Professor Caltzer said.
"Yes I realized my husband Lion-o sometimes forgets to put the toilet seat down, and sometimes forgets to clean out the lint trap." Liosia said.
"Yes and I realized that Liosia sometimes forgets somethings too," Lion-o said.
"Very good, so are you two working on how to compromise that?" Professor Caltzer asked.
"Yes and we are trying to make some changes." Lion-o said.
"We are learning good and bad things about each other and we know to accept each other for who we are." Liosia said.
"Good," Mrs. Caltzer said.
"Well since we are really married we realized that each of us has our own interests and stuff and it gets in the way of somethings. It may be dramatic but we learn to compromise." Lion-o said.
"Yes but that still doesn't mean we still don't have things we disagree on." Liosia said.
"Good there is a lot more." Professor Caltzer said. "We are going into what marriage can bring next." she said. She got somethings out. It was some of those pregnancy belly packs. "Your female partner will wear this to simulate what it will be like when a family is about to begin, in other words pregnancy." she said.
Liosia put it on there were weights in and it was heavy. Lion-o was shocked to see how uncomfortable she was. He was video chatting with his parents telling them about the new part of the assignment.
Later he went over to her. "I'm going to wear it for awhile to see if I can try to see what's like for you," Lion-o said. So she let him put it on. The boys in class laughed at Lion-o. But the teacher made them stop.
"Lion-o is trying to be empathetic. He's trying to understand how Liosia felt about wearing that. He's trying to be understanding, that is what I call a good husband." Professor Caltzer said.
Claudius told Lion-o it was mighty brave of him to do that.
"Okay class now we are in the next part of the assignment. Babies, and raising them," Professor Caltzer said. The group each got to pick a robot baby to raise for short while. "The baby has computer after a week I will take a look and see how well it was cared for." she said.
Lion-o and Liosia chose a girl. They were a little stressed out at first but they worked as team and started to enjoy it. "It's my turn to change her." Lion-o said. He learned how to change a diaper with out making a mess. "There we go all done," he said.
The turned in the babies. "Okay many of you took good care of the babies." Professor Caltzer said.
"It wasn't easy caring for the baby but when we worked as a team it was easier." Liosia said.
"Very good," Professor Caltzer said.
The assignment ended and Lion-o and Liosia passed.
They were very happy. It was Christmas time again and Liosia had present for Lion-o that was very special.
"Merry Christmas Lion-o," she said.
Lion-o grabbed the box. He was plenty excited. He opened it and saw a kitten of the new genetically splice pet species that just came out.
"Do you like him?" Liosia asked.
"I love him," Lion-O said. "He's so cute," he said.
He named him Snarf.
Snarf slept on the bed at their feet at night.
Snarf woke them up in the morning. They didn't mind.
One day in spring Liosia felt sick to her stomach. She ran to the bathroom and threw up.
Lion-o checked on her.
She took a pregnancy test. It came out positive. She was pregnant. How was she going to tell Lion-o?