"Marceline, what the lump are you doing?!"

"Oh, hey Bonnibelle."

Marceline simultaneously held an umbrella over her head with one hand and swung her axe bass at the nearby snarling wolf with the other. It growled and lunged at her. She dodged it easily, smacking it over the head with her guitar. It fell to the ground and lied motionless.

They were currently standing in the strawberry patch near the Candy Kingdom, sometime in the afternoon. Princess Bubblegum marched up to Marceline, taking care to step over the unconscious wolf.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Princess Bubblegum questioned as she grabbed Marceline by the ear.

"Ow, hey, what gives?" Marceline tried to pull away from the Princess, but her grip only became more firm. She began dragging her back towards the Candy Kingdom.

"You can't be fighting wolves when you're pregnant!" Princess Bubblegum scolded.

Marceline whined. "I just wanted to get a snack, but he was looking at me funny!"

The Princess didn't answer, and she managed to get her all the way back to the kingdom. She led Marceline up to her royal chamber and sat her on the bed. "What you need is rest. Unnecessary stress is detrimental to the baby's health."

Marceline pouted and crossed her arms. "How am I supposed to relax with someone like you around, Bonnie?"

Princess Bubblegum rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Ha ha, just don't do anything crazy for a little while, all right? Why don't you, oh, I don't know, read for a bit or something?"

Marceline blew a raspberry. "Yeah, right, then I might catch your boring."

The Princess walked over to her bookshelf and got a book from the bottom shelf. "Suit yourself." She sat down on a nearby chair and flipped the book to a page marked by a bookmark.

Marceline hesitantly lied down. She drifted in and out of sleep for a time, but she was honestly very uncomfortable. She had to lay flat on her back, and she was more used to sleeping flat on her stomach. She raised her head and studied Princess Bubblegum. She wondered what Bonnie was reading that could be so interesting. She pried herself off the bed and hovered silently over the Princess' head.

Princess Bubblegum didn't say anything, but Marceline noticed her stiffen. She turned her head to read the book title. It read Obstetrics for Dummies. Marceline's eyes widened. She tapped the Princess on the head. She looked up. "Yes, do you need anything?"

Marceline stared at the book. "Are you serious, Bonnie?"

She blushed and looked back down at her book. "Marcy, the candy people, including the candy doctors, are quite nervous around you. I can't risk having a doctor's hand slip and damage the child. So, yes, I'll be delivering your baby, unless you'd rather have it naturally without any painkillers."

Marceline rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "Uh, thanks buddy."

Princess Bubblegum lowered her head so she couldn't see her expression. "No problem, it's my royal duty to alleviate any stress from my subjects."

There was a very uncomfortable silence. Finally, Marceline blurted out, "Finn asked me to turn him into a vampire."

The Princess still refused to react. "I'm assuming that you said no?"

"Sort of, I told him that I would think about it when he turned 18."

"I see."

"Are you mad?"

Princess Bubblegum sighed and put her book to the side. "No, I'm not mad. I'm always going to be too old for Finn. It would never work. I hope that you two will be happy together."

Marceline smiled and draped her arms around her. "Thanks buddy."

The Princess returned the embrace. "So, did you and Finn discuss anything else?"

"Yeah, we agreed that you should be the godmother."

The Princess tightened her grip. Marceline felt her smile against the crook of her neck.

"Awww…"

The two girls whipped their heads around to face the source of the noise. Marceline swore that she saw a blue object pass by outside. She released Princess Bubblegum and shot to the window.

"Ice King, I can see you!"

The Ice King laughed maniacally and continued flying away. Marceline growled and shook her fist. "Man, if it wasn't still light outside, I would so rumble with the old man."

The Princess came up behind her. "I'm sure you would, tough guy, but not until after the baby is born, right?"

Marceline rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Anyway, what the glob was he doing out there?"

Princess Bubblegum shrugged. "Oh, he spies on me a lot, actually. I should really keep my window shut."

Marceline stared at her. "Dude, what are you paying all those guards for?"

The Princess just shrugged again. "It's going to be dark soon. Do you want me to walk you home?"

Marceline grunted. "I can take care of myself, Bonnie."

She smiled. "I know. Maybe I just like walking with you."

Marceline smirked back. "But then, who would walk you home?"

Princess Bubblegum handed her the umbrella and her axe bass. "Good point. I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

Marceline hovered just outside the window. "Sure, as long as I don't get kidnapped in my vulnerable state." She winked and started on her way.

She floated low to the ground, as she had been doing a lot lately. Just when she could see the entrance of her cave, someone, or something, came crashing down on top of her. She fell to the ground on her side. Whatever was on top of her was excruciatingly heavy, and she couldn't get it off of her. Suddenly, she felt cold, garlic breath raking across her face. "Let's see how Finn likes it when I steal his older lady." The world went black.