Ria felt miserable. She was nauseous beyond belief, about ready to pass out, and had already emptied her stomach. Her back was hurting from slumping over the toilet, and as she finally felt the headache lifting, she wondered how exactly she was supposed to tell Victor.

It had been a good month since her heat ended, and things had been...boring. They took walks through the forest, skinny dipping in the river on especially hot days, and Victor still refused to let her out of his sight. She helped him when he did work on the cabin or when he hunted, and he had allowed her to plant a small garden using seeds she bought the last time he drove her into town.

During that same trip, she had, unbeknownst to him, gotten two pregnancy tests that she was about to take. She really didn't know why she wanted to hide them from him; after all, he had been the entire reason she was in this toilet predicament and he was clearly aware of the possibility of children, but for some reason she was...shy? Embarrassed? She wasn't sure, but she wanted to do this in private, and that was that.

Buying the tests had been a small struggle. It was hard enough to sneak away from Victor, and when she had, she was forced to deal with the middle aged cashier.

"I've seen you before, miss." The woman had said, somewhat condescendingly. "With that...man."

"Yes," Ria said, trying not to let her irritation show already. "We're...engaged."

"Out of wedlock, I see." She tutted as she scanned the little boxes. "With a shady character."

"Don't you have something better to do than berate me?" Ria growled.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "You even sure it's his? I've seen the way the men in this town look at you, girlie. And I know you're one of...them."

"Why do you care?" Ria snapped.

"I don't." She sniffed. "I only care about this town, and what you're bringing in ain't something to be proud of."

With that, rather than start a fight, Ria threw the money at her, snatched up the bag, and marched out to find a very flustered Victor.

Now, as she peeled herself up off the toilet, she grabbed one of the tests from the corner of the cupboard she had stashed it in and opened it. Now or never. She sucked in a breath, made sure that there was no puke left in the toilet, and did what she had to do.

Then all she had to do was wait nervously and hope that Victor was still asleep and wouldn't be barging in. She tapped her foot, unable to stay still as the seconds ticked by and and entire eons passed. How long was this supposed to take, exactly?

When the time was up, she dared to peek at the stick, and what she saw made her breath catch in her throat.

Positive.

"Fuck," she squeaked to herself. Should she even bother using the second one? Wasn't this supposed to be super accurate anyways? Oh, God, what was she going to do?

Panic was setting in. She had known this would happen, but now that it was actually happening, she was terrified. There was something inside her. Something that was supposed to be there. Something alive.

She was a parent.

Her hands were shaky. Her breath was coming in short gasps. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she felt like she was going to be sick again. It was okay, though, right? She was fine, totally fine. This was what she wanted. Right? This was the point of heat, of being a female feral, of being a rare mutant...she was supposed to do this. She was an animal. Animals set out to reproduce. It was going to be okay. She was one of the rarest things on earth, and she had to create more ferals so that they couldn't go exist. It was her job, her duty to the mutant world.

She had to tell Victor. She had to...somehow. What was he going to do? He would be happy, right? Right. This is what he had wanted. This had been the plan from the beginning. They were mates.

They were parents.

Or were they?

She took the second test to be sure. As she waited, she paced across the small bathroom, her limbs tingly and shaky. Everything was going to be different now. Her life had changed so many times over the decades, but now...this was probably the biggest one. The biggest difference. The scariest adventure.

She dared to look at the second pregnancy test, and it read the same as the first. With a sigh, she grabbed both of them and pushed the bathroom door open, quietly and slowly shuffling toward the bed.

Victor was waking up already after realizing that Ria wasn't next to him, and as he caught sight of her standing there in one of his shirts, he furrowed his brow.

"Somethin' wrong?" He asked.

She shook her head quickly and looked down, but otherwise didn't answer.

"Frail?"

She was still trying to figure out what to say. "I…"

He sat up. "Ria?"

She swallowed hard. "I-I'm…" She finally looked up at him. "I'm pregnant."

Victor's face dropped in shock, and Ria immediately assumed the worst. He was mad. He was angry. He had decided he didn't want a family, and now he was going to kick her out, or try to kill it, or kill her, or-

"Are you sure?" He asked quietly, his voice barely more than a rumble.

She nodded and held the tests out to him as proof. "I just took these…"

"...why didn't you tell me you bought those?"

"I...I dunno…" She shrugged meekly.

He stood and she shrank back, suddenly afraid of his huge form for the first time since they met. She was trembling as he crossed the small space between them and reached out to put a clawed hand on her arm, pulling her toward him. He could kill her so quickly. He could choke her or punch her hard enough to break her skull or slice her to ribbons. He had so much power, and she was starting to feel like she had none.

"Ria," he said gently, a tiny smile tugging at the edges of his mouth. "We did it."

Tears pricked her eyes as he pulled her into a tight hug, making her drop the pregnancy tests. They clattered against the floor as Victor picked her up, spinning her in a small circle before setting her down on the bed, a smile plastered across his face as he leaned over her.

"How many?"

She sniffed and wiped the tears away. "I don't know."

"Boy or girl?"

"I don't know!"

"You mean you can't tell?"

She laughed a tiny bit. "You're just being dumb now."

He pressed a kiss against her forehead and then looked down at her belly. "I hope...I hope there's a couple."

Ria paled slightly. "I don't know if I can handle more than one...I don't know if I can even handle one."

Victor beamed at her. "You'll be perfect, spots."

Then he got her some food, insisted that she eat before he did, and spent the rest of the day stuck to her side, asking her questions, nuzzling her, and sniffing her stomach to see if he could tell what it was. She didn't bother telling him that's not how fetuses worked and that he wouldn't be able to smell anything for a while.

Over the next month, her appetite grew, her morning sickness seemed to be fading away, and a small, but still present, baby bump was forming. She had more pleasant dreams than nightmares, and Victor busied himself with, as always, constantly checking on her. He didn't allow her to do very many things on her own, and as the days passed, he only got more and more clingy. It was to be expected, though; now he had more than one thing to protect.

She had never felt so loved before. Victor constantly greeted her with nuzzles, gently rubbing his cheek against hers in affection. She swore she even heard him chuff once, not that he would ever admit it. He was waiting on her hand and foot, and standing guard over her and the same time. He was bother servant and protector, father and soldier.

It was a hot, sticky night when Ria shot awake at the sound of something outside. Victor woke with a small growl after feeling her sudden movement, and as the sounds grew closer, he wrapped an arm around Ria. A scent drifted towards them and she hissed quietly, hoping that she was dreaming as she recognized it.

"It's them."

Victor didn't even have to ask to know who she was talking about. He rose as quietly as he could, grabbing a shirt and jeans and throwing a hoodie to Ria. She could hear the definite sounds of footsteps, several pairs of them, rushing towards the cabin from the woods. She couldn't tell how far they were, but based on their scent, they would be there in only a couple minutes.

"They're coming for me," she whimpered as Victor snatched his wallet and keys and grabbed her arm, pulling her to the door with him. She picked a satchel up on their way out, having packed it with necessities for trips into town, and slung it over her shoulder. She tried to keep calm, and reminded herself over and over in her mind that she had done this sort of thing dozens of times before.

But she had never been pregnant while on the run.

Victor opened the door as quietly as he could, hoping to slip away to the truck, but as they neared the vehicle he saw that the tires were slashed. How could he have let this happen? He was supposed to keep watch, and they had managed to slip right past him and-

Ria suddenly pulled him toward her, a bullet whizzing past a second later. The dark forms of soldiers were appearing out of the trees on the other side of the clearing, and with a loud snarl, Victor turned to challenge them.

"Victor, no." Ria commanded. "We have to leave."

"No. I'm gettin' rid of these shit stains."

"We have to run." Her voice was shaky.

"ON THE GROUND!" One of the soldiers shouted, gun raised.

Victor pushed Ria behind him and roared, claws fully extended.

"We're not doing this." Ria said. "We have to go."

Victor ignored her as a bullet sank into his chest. He couldn't leave her, but he couldn't drag her towards the conflict. As more and more soldiers crept out of the trees, he began calculating where he would go, and he was coming up with nothing.

"Run." He finally decided, turning and giving Ria a shove.

She happily obeyed, sprinting towards the road, Victor hot on her heels. The soldiers were shooting, some of them were yelling, and as Ria ran, she desperately hoped she wouldn't trip. She refused to let them catch her.

"STOP!" A voice above them shouted. There was the telltale sound of helicopter blades, and when Ria dared to look up, she saw a chopper hovering above them. "213, WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED."

Victor snarled and pulled her into the trees, dropping to all fours and nudging her along. She did the same, not even feeling stupid as she ran with him, leaves and dirt caking under her hands. This was her worst nightmare. This was everything she had hoped would never happen. Just as life was getting okay again, they had to ruin it.

"THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD."

No, no it wasn't.

"What do we do?" She panted.

They were running fast enough to get away from the foot soldiers, but if they couldn't shake them, the chopper would get them. They had no choice but to run until they couldn't anymore.

Ria felt her wrist twist as she ran over a tiny burrow, and had a thought. "Victor, f-find a fox hole you can fit in."

"What?" He snapped back at her.

"Trust me!"

He snarled and ran toward a hill, skidding to a stop in front of something that wasn't quite a fox hole.

All Ria could smell was bear.

"Knew this asshole would come in handy." Victor said as he righted himself and pulled Ria into what was undoubtedly a bear den. The bear in question was inside, and as the two mutants entered, gave a confused bellow that was quickly silenced with a snarl from Victor.

Ria had never been so close to a grizzly, and as she crouched down in the corner and forced herself to be quiet, she wondered if she was going to survive this detour. The bear was clearly upset and confused, grunting as it backed away from them in fear. Victor sat next to Ria, growling at their companion, but when the soldiers and helicopter sounded outside, he fell silent. The bear did, too, huddling itself in a corner as the sound of pounding footsteps came closer and closer.

When they stopped before the den entrance, Ria swore they would be able to hear her heart pounding, even with their hopefully human ears. They were lingering there, standing for far too long in one spot. They were going to find them, she knew it.

Her nightmare was going to come true.

Victor shot over to the bar and gave it a good whack across the snout, eliciting an angry roar that made the soldiers pause.

"Sounds like a grizzly, sir." One of them said.

"Of course we have to be in bear country." Another grumbled.

"There's no way a male feral would allow a bear to live in his territory. We've crossed the boundaries." One decided. "Circle back."

They withdrew and Ria breathed a sigh of relief, still not daring to move.

"Too close," Victor mumbled.

The bear grunted.

"Oh, shut up." He growled. "I did you a favor lettin' you stay here, bear."

"Can we just stay here for the night?" Ria asked hopefully.

"No. We have to get moving."

She sighed. "How? To where? They're going to be watching the roads. There isn't a safe spot around here."

"So we have to run." He said gruffly, moving outside and pulling her along.

"Again, to where?"

He hesitated for a moment. "I've got an idea."