So…My poor cat's sick (been puking for over a week now) and I'm flat broke. No one cares that the one really great thing Aaron gave me is sick (almost as sick as my brother's now-dead tuxedo cat was when he had kidney stones, just not all out of it—happy and cuddly as always (less on the happy because she's in a cage to protect my already-needing shampooed carpet from anymore cat-related mess). I've also got an extra cat and her five kittens because I care too much to let them be eaten (by the baby-creature-eating father) or dying from the heat (funny story there…).
I got over-excited yesterday, because I was re-accepted to college, and over-indulged on Mountain Dew with ginseng, which made me almost manic. Now I'm so worried about my sick cat, I started to cry. Since when is compassion+fear+worry the day after excitement+too-much-caffeine a sign of being bipolar?
Also…we're out of the pre-judged by Bookbuilders chapters now, so I'm sorry if it's not up to par… I've been unable to go for most of the last year because of recently diagnosed PTSD.
"Normal Talk"
"Bee's Talk"
"Bee's Talk Holoform"
"Other Side Over the Phone (Comms)"
'Thoughts'
~Bond communication~
~Telepathic communication~
Christmas Eve
Base, Ratchet's POV
I pull into the base and transform, watching Mariposa and her things in my hand for a moment.
"Ratchet?"
I glance up to find Optimus staring at me.
"What are you doing back?"
"Agent Fowler wanted me to get her away from the two of them before one of the parents, and I use the term very loosely, harmed her." I groan softly as my nausea from earlier this morning returns with a vengeance. "Take the sparkling."
Optimus turns to me, confused.
"Take Mariposa, quickly." I swallow hard against the rising nausea. "I'm going to purge, take her!"
He reaches over for her quickly.
Optimus' POV
Mariposa and I watch as Ratchet rushes from the room. A door slams, followed by the sound of purging.
She looks up to me curiously, babbling softly.
"He will be all right, Little One."
She makes a sound that almost sounds like a scoff before glaring up at me.
Ratchet's POV
I groan and lean against the wall. The last time I felt this bad, I was carrying my first sparkling back on Cybertron. 'Wait… Carrying.' I close my eyes. 'But is there even a chance?' I sigh as I flash back to the traumatizing event from a week ago, when Starscream had caught me by surprise, and forced me. 'Forced merges are almost always too traumatizing to the spark to form a sparkling.' I sigh. 'But it has been known to happen before…'
Main Room, Ratchet's POV
I walk into the main room and turn toward my medical bay.
Optimus holds Mariposa out to me. "Ratchet?"
"Dada!"
"Just a minute, Optimus. I have to do something. Just… Put her in the playpen!"
"Dada?"
"Are you all right, Old Friend? You look pale."
I look at the screen when it beeps. 'By the All Spark.' "I'm fine." I reach over and take Mariposa. "It's time for her to recharge."
Ratchet's Berth Room
I lay Mariposa into her crib before settling on my berth. 'At least I have a valid reason for my reactions today. My emotions were wild last time too—even I can attest to that.' I sigh. 'But how will I take care of two sparklings?'
Two Hours Later, Ratchet's POV
"Dada. Dada? Dada!"
I start awake at the sound of a knock on the door. "Ratchet? The soldiers are here."
I sigh before turning to Mariposa, who is standing in her crib, holding onto the bars. "Dada!"
"We'll be out soon." I activate my holoform and cross the room to my daughter. After I change her, I dress her in something more suitable for playing around the base at Christmas time: a red long sleeved playsuit with white and red star-print sleeves and "Daddy's Little Star" printed on with a white star graphic and white socks with red snowflake grippers on the bottoms.
Main Room—Ratchet's POV
I walk into the main room with Mariposa trying to stand up in my hand. "Sit still, little one."
"How are you feeling?"
I turn to Optimus with a scowl. "I told you I was fine!" Mariposa starts to whimper at my almost-shouted comment. "Hush, Sweetspark. It's all right."
The rest of the team turns to me. I hand Mariposa to Arcee.
"What's going on?"
"I almost lost her." I admit. Hopefully the least of my problems will suffice for now.
"What?"
"Agent Fowler found her real parents. Hopefully they will be in jail by nightfall."
"And why were you recharging?"
I sigh before turning back to Optimus. "I was just laying down for a few minutes while Mari recharged."
"Um…" Bumblebee motions to something. "Aren't we supposed to be doing something?"
I then look up. There's a twenty-five foot tree in the main room. "What in the All Spark? Where are we going to find enough decorations for that!"
Optimus lays a hand on my shoulder. "Agent Fowler brought what we will need while you were recharging."
Cliffjumper smirks. "The humans are working around the base while we tend to this monster of a tree."
One of the soldiers walks over to me. "Ratchet?"
I glance down before kneeling to her, keeping one eye on where Mariposa is playing with one of the ornaments on the second level. "Yes?"
She sighs. "You probably don't know me well… I work with Agent Fowler… Izzy Walters?" I shake my head, prompting her to continue. "Anyway, I'm getting married in eight months, and neither of us have anyone in our families young enough to be our flower girl."
"Your what?"
She smiles up at me. "It's a child who scatters flower petals along the aisle right before the bride comes out." She sighs. "It's a symbol of the bride leaving her childhood innocence behind and becoming a wife and mother."
"Go on."
"And it's important to my mother, but I'm the first to get married in my family, and my cousins are older than me." She looks back up to me. "So, could Mari be my flower girl?"
I glance back over to the baby. "She'll only be sixteen months then, but if you're sure about this, then yes, she can."
"We can work around her age. Three year olds don't usually listen either." She smiles when I raise an eyebrow ridge. "I'm studying to be a social worker. Once I'm through this last official tour, I'm stepping behind the scenes to help children like Mari find homes where they'll be loved."
Four Hours Later
Arcee all but squeals when Bulkhead lifts her. "Put me down! I've got Mariposa!"
I smile. "I know."
I step over and hand her a large golden star. "The two of you can put it on this year."
"This year?"
I shake my head. "Just put the star on the slaggin' tree, femme."
Arcee rolls her eyes, but helps Mariposa put the star on top of the tree anyway. Bulkhead sets her down, and she walks over to hand Mariposa back to me.
Agent Fowler then pulls out two packages, causing me to raise an eyebrow.
"It's just something small for tonight, Ratchet. Maya and I have a tradition where we give Steph new pajamas the night before Christmas. I didn't see why we couldn't include Mari in our tradition."
"Well then, thank you, Agent Fowler."
"You're welcome, Ratchet." He sighs. "Come on, Steph. You need to get to bed soon."
The soldiers soon leave as well, leaving the six of us alone.
I sigh softly as I set Mariposa in her playpen. She gives me a sour look as she crosses her arms.
I sigh heavily before turning back to the rest of the team. 'It's now or never.' "A week ago, Starscream caught me by surprise while I was on patrol. I just found out that I am carrying."
The five of them stare at me, too surprised to speak. Arcee is the first one to comment, as I had expected, but not in the way I had.
"I was hoping my sparkling would have someone other than Mariposa to play with."
"WHAT? Slag it, Arcee! Why didn't you tell me!"
She sighs. "At first it was Mariposa's arival and how busy and tired you were with her not recharging through the night for one reason or another, then it was this—" She motions toward the tree. "I'm two months now."
I stumble back in shock and chose to lean against the platform beside me. "I need to exam you before your recharge tonight."
Arcee nods.
"I'm sorry if I hurt you, Cee." Bulkhead turns to me suddenly. "And good luck with the sparkling, Ratch."
I blink in shock before smiling weakly.
"You lifted me up, Bulk. That's all. I'm fine."
I open the package Agent Fowler had given us, then quickly dress Mariposa in the white velour sleeper with a holly print and red bows on the chest and ankles and a peter pan collar with a red heart that says "Baby's First Christmas". "Arcee, medical bay, now. Optimus, keep an eye on Mari."
Arcee turns to me. "What?"
I sigh. "I need to make sure you and the sparkling are all right."
Optimus turns to me as I start preparing to examine my newest sparkling. "Who is going to tend to your exams?"
"I hadn't thought that far ahead, Optimus. I'm not even sure I'll be able to carry to term."
Half an Hour Later
Optimus and I look up at the proximity alarm. 'What is Agent Fowler doing back?'
Agent Fowler climbs out of a car before helping Maya take a sleeping Stephanie out of her car seat. "Maya figured it'd be better for us to come tonight and sleep on the platform rather than get Stephanie up so early in the morning." He climbs the stairs and lays a little girl in red spotted pajamas on the couch.
He then joins his wife in unloading Christmas presents and placing them under the tree. This causes a quick move from the others to get their presents for Mari under the tree.
I sigh and get the crate from my berth room before following their actions. "I need to get Mariposa to bed."
So… Cat story…
My mother had a sleep-number bed before she died, and my Dad replaced it with a normal mattress, but the person taking it hasn't retrieved it yet. The four plastic platforms that make up the base of the thing fell over, scaring Winky (the pukey cat). She then proceeds to flip out on Misty (the guest cat), who slaps her and starts hissing and squalling, because she'd a momma and doesn't want her babies hurt. Que chase scene into my room, where I'm reading something on-line. Misty chases Winky under the bed, then Winky unceremoniously runs me over (I was on the bed…didn't sleep last night) to get to the window, while Misty stays under the bed. My birthmother's pomwa gives me this "What the hell?" look, so I go down to make sure she wasn't hurt (she wasn't, thank God. This is the abuser's dog, after all…) Then Misty slinks out from under the bed, and gets snagged by the scruff. I screamed at her about causing a fuss, THEN found out about the falling-bed-base. So I wound up cracking up and apologizing to non-sentient cats for randomly yelling at them (I'll blame the Mountain Dew, but I do that a lot…). Long story short, I wish I'd recorded it, but my phone took a dump two days ago, and I'm still waiting for my replacement battery.
Then Winky puked in my windowsill barely half an hour after I let her out of the cage. Welcome to the Cat-Owner's Life with the Cat from Hades. Might be more to come. She's quite the devil cat sometimes…
