A/N: My friend, Angie, standing behind me with whip.: "Type, damnit! TYPE, Karina!!!"

Me: ;; Help...

All right. I know I suck. I've been promising to update this story for over a month now. Sorry this took so long especially considering it's such a short chapter, but you have no idea how hard it was to write this! I had no idea how Membrane would react to any of this. It took a lot of concentration to come up with lines for Membrane in this chapter, and personally I still think it sucks but it's the best I could come up with. Especially considering I have skool that gets in the way, which brings me to my next note. I'm sorry about the last chapter and all the typos, people. I was too frustrated to look over the entire chapter last time because half of it got erased when typing it last time. It was midnight, I was three sentences away from finishing, and then my computer got all fucked up so I had to spend another 2 hours retyping it. Exactly why I always write out my chapters before typing them. I just can't ever trust my computer to not get fucked up when making a story. I've already lost a number of stories due to this fact. Even some of the ones I hope to have published someday as books. I have to rewrite them and hopefully I can remember my storylines. sigh -.-; But enough about that. Just sorry about the typos. Spelling is not my strong point. And I call myself an English major. I will definitely work on that. Anyways, why don't we get started with chapter 2 of Near Misses now? Hopefully I won't lose any readers because of the shortness of this chapter and the next two after it. I promise not all my chapters are this short. They get long again in chapter 5 which I will hopefully get to soon. I'm hoping I'll have more time to work on this story faster now. Anyways, on with chapter 2: Month 1-Father/Son Talk. Enjoy! Disclaimer-Nope! Still don't own anybody. Don't sue me!

Dib sat up in bed watching Zim sleep. The last couple of days had been hard on both of them. They didn't even have sex when Membrane said he was leaving for a couple days to go back to work. Zim was too busy catching up on some much needed sleep. And Dib? Well, he was trying to think of a way to explain to his father how he managed to get a male alien pregnant.

He considered just using the direct approach and telling his father the truth about the matter, but when he proposed the idea to Zim, the Irken freaked out and begged Dib to at least come up with a better way to break the news to Membrane. So far, Dib was coming up blank however. Why couldn't Zim have been a girl he kept asking himself? At least the idea would have made some kind of sense. But like everything else in his life, nothing made sense. No wonder people called him crazy most of his life. In fact, he was pretty sure his father would think he went insane when he told Membrane the news.

He just wanted to get it over with already but Membrane was still out. He had told them he would be back by 5:00 in the morning but it was already well past 6:00. He was beginning to worry the Irken would wake up before he broke the news to his dad. Dib had already come to the conclusion that there was not going to be any easy way to break it to his father. He'd just have to tell him straight up. And he really didn't want to have to suffer through another day of worrying about it.

He heard the front door opening downstairs suddenly. He had to be quick and do it before Zim woke up. He looked down upon the sleeping alien one last time and caressed his cheek gently before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. Then he whispered gently to the Irken. "It will all be over soon." With that said, he pushed himself up off the bed and headed toward the stairs.

He made his way down them, feeling as he did the first day his father arrived at the house. Nervous. He came to stand on the last step of the staircase as his father proceeded to put a few things away in a closet next to the front door. He turned when he noticed Dib's presence behind him. Turning, he smiled at Dib and greeted him. "Ah, Good morning, Dib. Sorry I'm so late getting home. There was a small problem at work I had to take care of."

Dib just nodded, "Morning. It's alright...Ummm...dad, can I-" Dib instantly fell quiet as a small sense of insecurity fell over him.

Membrane just kept smiling. "Well, now. Did you need something?"

Dib stalled a moment, his eyes on the ground until he managed to force something out. "Dad, I need to tell you something important."

Membrane nodded. "Alright, then, why don't we head into the kitchen and you can tell me whatever you need to tell me."

Dib just nodded weakly as his father wrapped a friendly arm around him. He didn't dare make eye contact as he was led into the kitchen. They both took seats across from each other at the kitchen table.

Membrane folded his arms on the table and watched Dib intently. "Alright, Dib. What do you need to tell me? I'm all ears."

Dib just gulped as his face paled. "It's about Zim."

His father raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh? Well, what about Zim? Is there something wrong with him?"

Dib just shook his head slowly. "W...we screwed up...I never even considered it a possibility until he told me...he...we..." Dib sighed harshly. He didn't know why this was so hard.

His father just placed a reassuring hand on Dib's shoulder as he buried his face in his hands and began shaking his head. "Slow down, Dib. Just take your time. Now, just tell me what happened. Maybe I can help."

Dib took in a shaky breath, now knowing how Zim felt about telling him. "We made a mistake. Something neither of us can fix. We're going to take responsibilities for our actions, accept the consequences, but we need some help. I know we can't do this alone. And you need to know. We wouldn't be able to keep it a secret for long. I just hope you don't get upset when I tell you and that you'll still be willing to help us."

Membrane placed his other hand on Dib's shoulder. "Dib, I told you I would support you no matter what. So just go ahead and tell me what happened and I'll see what I can do."

Dib closed his eyes. "You're going to think I'm crazy when I tell you."

Membrane just shook his head and laughed a bit. "Well, I'm pretty used to it by now. Trust me, I've seen some pretty crazy things in my life. Though meeting Zim has got to be one of the craziest. But I believe now and I'm pretty sure whatever you're about to tell me, I will believe no matter what. It's kind of hard to doubt things after you've met a real alien. Can't get any weirder than that."

Dib sighed. "Well, I don't know how you'll be able to believe this one when I barely believe it myself. You know how Zim's been getting sick a lot lately?"

Membrane nodded his head slowly. "Yeeesss..." he held the word out slowly. "I'm not sure I like where this is going but continue."

So Dib continued slowly. "Well, I sort of...kind of...managed to somehow get him...pregnant..." Dib said the last word quickly and quietly, shrinking back as soon as it was out.

There was an awkward silence that followed shortly after that. Membrane released Dib and plopped back down into his chair across from Dib. Bringing a hand up to his forehead, he began to take in steady, slow breaths. A long time passed before he finally said anything. "Well, this certainly is a surprise. I'm no stranger to pregnancies and even some species of animals such as seahorses having male pregnancies, but a male alien pregnancy is just...wow! I guess there's a lot more I still need to learn about Irkens. Perhaps it wouldn't be so surprising if you were an Irken but this is just...hmmm...I can see why you're caught in such a tough spot. I don't know what to tell you at this point. I'm sorry, Dib, but I need some time to think on this so if you'll excuse me..." he got up to leave.

Dib just watched helplessly as his father left the room, feeling as though things hadn't gone as well as he had been hoping them to go. Dib returned to the room, only looking up when Zim addressed him. "Where have you been?" he sounded as though he had just woken up as he rubbed one eye tiredly.

Dib gave him a slightly nervous look as he approached the bed and sat down on the edge of it. "I told my dad."

Zim seemed to snap awake at that. "WHAT?! Well, what happened?! How did he take it?!"

Dib looked away from Zim. "Things...could have went better."

That response had Zim paling somewhat. "Is he going to turn Zim into the authorities?"

Dib's head snapped back up to stare at the Irken in disbelief. "What?! No! Of course not! How many times do I have to tell you he wouldn't do that, Zim! He just said he needed some time...to think on the matter. That's all." Though he wasn't sure why those words worried him.

Over the next few days, Zim did his best to avoid Membrane as much as possible, which wasn't hard considering he spent most of his time just hiding underneath the covers of the bed. It frustrated Dib that Zim still wouldn't take his word on the fact but he didn't push the subject any further. He was too worried by the fact that his father seemed to be avoiding him now too. He had locked himself in his lab for a few days, only coming out for food breaks. He barely spoke when he ran into Dib except for the occasional "hi" when they passed in the kitchen.

It wasn't until late one afternoon that Membrane finally approached Dib. He was just heading into the living room to find Gaz when his father stopped him and addressed him in a serious tone. "Dib, may I please have a word with you?"

Dib just nodded and followed his dad into the kitchen. Dib felt nervous, knowing exactly what his father wanted to talk to him about. He took a seat, as did Membrane. He wasn't sure whether to say something or wait for his father to begin speaking. Before he could decide, however, his father began first. "Dib, I want to apologized for the way I've been acting these past couple of days. I did exactly what I've been trying to avoid doing. I threw myself into my work while you were left to deal with your own problems, something I tend to do when I don't understand something. I kept telling myself there was nothing I could do to help considering I knew so little about Irkens. I figured you'd be able to handle it better than I could but then I realized something. Just because you understand Irkens better didn't mean you weren't as confused about the situation as I was. But I thought of a way I could help. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. I may not understand how a male alien could get pregnant or how two different species are able to reproduce, but I know enough about pregnancies and how to prepare for them to at least help you through this. Trust me, Dib. When your mother was first pregnant with you, I had a response close to yours. I had no idea what to do but I learned and I never regretted going through that experience. It also had me better prepared for when we had Gaz and I see no reason why my knowledge on the facts can't help you as well. Besides, half alien or not, this is my first grandchild we're talking about here, though I was hoping for a few more years before having to take that title. Being called grandpa makes me feel old." he laughed, smiling at Dib.

Dib nearly jumped into his father's arms at that. "Oh, thank you so much, dad. I wouldn't be able to make it through this without your support."

Membrane smiled and wrapped tight arms around his son. "Of course, Dib. So are you excited about it yet?"

Dib pulled away, really having to think about that question a moment. "Actually, I haven't really thought about it all that much. It happened so quickly, I didn't have time to be excited. I was too worried about how you would react to it. And Zim didn't seem too happy about it. I don't think he even want to keep it."

Membrane just chuckled lightly to himself. "Ah, well don't worry about it, Dib. I assure you, you'll both get more excited about it when the time comes. After all the work you have to do preparing for it, the last thing you'll want to do it lose it."

A/N: All right. And so ends chapter 2. It's midnight and I still have homework. Oh well, I'll do it in the morning. And hopefully work on chapter 3 tomorrow during skool. Well see you then.

And now to thank everybody that reviewed on that last chapter.

To Thomas Rose: Heh. Lol. Yeah. The title will hopefully make more sense a little later in the story. Thank you for taking the time to read my first story and what I have up of this one so far. Sorry for all the typos. I really did notice them after re reading it the next day. I was just too lazy to go back and fix them. Too much skool work. But I'll make sure to read through this chapter before posting. Yes, Zim dies at the end...or does he?! Unfortunately, I can't really say anymore without giving away the good parts. You'll just have to keep on reading to find out and don't worry. There's a third story after this one. Can't go into too many details on that one yet but rest assured that it will be ZADR.

To Sora4President: Yes, this is an Mpreg. And I'm probably going to lose readers for that fact. I'm not much of an Mpreg person myself but I feel like I can make it work for Zim and Dib cause Zim's an Irken and we can't be 100 sure of what the Irken anatomy is like. Plus, I just love torturing poor little Zimmy. . Thank you for still agreeing to read and also for reading my first story. It really means a lot to me.

And to anybody else that reviews- Thank you all. Much love to all my reviewers!