That next morning, at breakfast…
Fireblast and Microdigit were both feeling unusually flirtatious. It reminded Fireblast so of how Skydive and Swordslash always acted. Fireblast never thought she would act like that, ever, and yet here she was (and after a night of 'facing, too).
Microdigit was taking a sip of motor oil when Fireblast jokingly grabbed it from him. Microdigit kissed her on the cheek, and Fireblast kissed him on the lips. This induced an impromptu makeout session—really, they couldn't help it. They both were so glad they were finally in an "official" relationship with each other.
"Would you two glitch-heads PLEASE get a room?" they heard Sentinel Prime holler (which he did every time they showed any affection for each other, but they paid no heed).
"You're just jealous, Sentinel," said Microdigit, after reluctantly breaking the kiss.
"Yeah, all you have to frag is your oversized chin," Fireblast added, giggling.
"Now, now, enough with the smartmouthery, Fireblast," Ultra Magnus told her casually, after taking a sip of some more energon.
"It doesn't matter, as long as my boyfriend and I can keep making out," Fireblast replied. Microdigit nodded happily, and they continued, even more enthusiastically than before.
"You made a mistake accepting her onto the Elite Guard, Ultra Magnus!" Sentinel told his boss angrily. "As if that nerd-bot wasn't annoying enough!"
Microdigit pulled away from the kiss again. "I have a name, you know!"
"Nobody cares!" yelled Sentinel.
"I care," Fireblast told him. "His name is Microdigit."
Microdigit, without another word, resumed his makeout session with Fireblast, who happily obliged. Microdigit had been feeling much more confident since last night, which only made everything better.
Several solar cycles later, back at the Decepticon base…
"Skydive, darling…" Spaceflower gently placed one servo on her daughter's shoulder. "I thought that perhaps you should go and get a checkup soon. When in your condition, it's very important to be in perfect health."
"Oh…I never thought of that," said Skydive. "Yes, I suppose it wouldn't hurt."
"As you know, dear, we Decepticons have no medical care here on Earth," Spaceflower continued. "So are you okay with going to the Autobots' base again? They have a wonderful medic-bot."
"Um…okay, Mom, whatever you want," Skydive replied, shrugging—and maybe even looking a little nervous.
Spaceflower and Skydive typically got along fine, but ever since Skydive found out she was pregnant, both Skydive and Swordslash had been very tentative around Skydive's parents (who would soon be, of course, Swordslash's parents-in-law).
"Well, that's good," Swordslash said, putting an arm around Skydive's shoulders. "Of course, I want my Sweetie to be in perfect health."
…
So, the next solar cycle, Megatron, Blitzwing, Starscream, Spaceflower, Skydive and Swordslash all headed to the Autobots' base. The Decepticons hadn't warned the Autobots about their arrival, so Optimus and his team were surprised when they heard their doorbell ringing.
"I'll get it," said Optimus, walking to the door, and once he opened it, he cried, "Decepticons? What are you doing here?"
"We need to see your medic-bot," said Skydive, looking uncharacteristically scared.
"What for?" called Ratchet, from the couch.
"Now, now, let them in first," said Optimus, opening the door wider, and the large group of Decepticons walked inside.
"Again, why did you want to see me?" asked Ratchet again.
"My daughter, Skydive, is pregnant, and we just wanted to make sure she was healthy," Spaceflower replied.
"I wasn't trying to get pregnant," added Skydive, "but I decided to keep the sparkling anyway."
"Like mother, like daughter, I suppose," Ratchet grumbled, getting off the couch.
"What do you mean?" asked Skydive.
"Well, you were an accident, too, you know, Miss Skydive," Ratchet told her.
"Mom? Dad?" Skydive turned toward her parents, feeling shocked. Both of them looked extremely embarrassed.
After a long silence, Starscream finally shrugged nervously and said, "Well, um, it just kind of…happened, you know?"
"Your parents never quite understood the meaning of contraception," Ratchet told Skydive matter-of-factly.
"Indeed," Megatron added. "If it weren't for chance, Starscream and Spaceflower would surely be well past their sixteenth sparkling by now."
"Starscream used up my wedding gift during his honeymoon alone!" cackled Blitzwing (in "Random" mode, of course).
"Oh, yeah, he got you condoms, didn't he?" asked Megatron, smirking. "I almost forgot about that."
"Don't remind me," said Starscream, scowling. "I'm still mad at you for that, Blitzwing."
Blitzwing was still laughing, and Skydive was looking grossed out. Finally, she said, "If what they say is true, Mom and Dad, I don't think you should have yelled at me so much for getting accidentally pregnant."
"Yeah, I don't think that's very fair," agreed Swordslash.
"Well, life isn't fair, mister," said Ratchet, crossing his arms. "Get used to it."
"You don't know anything about unfair, Autobot!" Swordslash hollered suddenly. "Do I have to tell you all about my time in the orphanage?"
"No, please don't start talking about the orphanage again, my love," said Skydive.
"Either way, dear, didn't you want that checkup?" asked Spaceflower (even though she probably just wanted to get off the current topic of conversation).
"Oh…um…yeah," said Skydive embarrassedly, and she followed Ratchet into the metal lab. Meanwhile, the rest of the Decepticon visitors sat down on the floor and attempted to make small talk with the other Autobots in the room.
"It's certainly nice to see you all again," Spaceflower said, leaning into Starscream's shoulder.
"Indeed it is," Optimus replied, leaning back on the couch.
"So anyway…do you all know who the father is?" asked Bumblebee.
"I'm the father," Swordslash answered grimly.
"Who are you?" said Bumblebee.
"The name's Swordslash, certified Decepticon trooper," Swordslash told him fiercely. "You got a problem with that, Autobot?"
"Um…no, of—of course not!" replied Bumblebee nervously.
"Good," was all Swordslash said, but he was still glaring at everyone in the room.
"Anyway, how much sparkling support does Swordslash have to pay?" asked Optimus. "I mean—I'm just curious."
"Well, I don't know about you Autobots, but I feel that if a mech and femme have a sparkling together—accidental or on purpose—it's their business," Megatron replied, looking irritated. "I have better things to do than force my subordinates to pay me for stupid things like this."
"So…I guess you could say that he's paying nothing?" Optimus clarified.
"I don't care or want to know about whatever nonsense my subordinates are getting into in the bedroom," said Megatron. "Or couch, or floor, or wherever else they choose to do the deed."
"Well, either way, it's the Elite Guard's rule, not ours," Optimus reminded him, shrugging. "We don't make the rules, we just follow 'em."
"Speaking of, I personally found it terrible that the Elite Guard takes away an Autobot's sparkling if the other parent was a Decepticon," added Spaceflower. "You can only imagine the horrible pain a new mother feels when her sparkling is taken away from her."
"I agree," said Starscream. He knew Spaceflower was thinking of the time when the infant Skydive had been taken away by the Elite Guard. Only by disguising themselves as Autobots were the two of them able to get their sparkling back. Neither of them had forgotten that solar cycle, and they never would.
"Well, um, they take it away because a Decepticon-Autobot sparkling is considered to be illegitimate," Optimus explained, looking uncomfortable.
"Who cares if it's illegitimate?" said Spaceflower passionately. "It's still a sparkling, and the parents are still parents. Megatron's right—if a couple has a sparkling, it's their business, and no one else's."
"Hey!" said Bumblebee, pointing towards the doorway. "Looks like Skydive's checkup is over with."
"Are you okay, Sweetie?" asked Swordslash, rushing to her side.
"Um, yes, yes I am, but—" Skydive was about to say something, but Ratchet cut her off.
"Skydive is perfectly healthy," said Ratchet, waving his servo to make Swordslash and Skydive go back with the other Decepticons. "And she was never pregnant at all."
"But she took the test," said Swordslash. "How could she not be pregnant if the test was positive?"
"Those cheap tests can be very unreliable," Ratchet replied. "Why didn't you just go get professionally tested in the first place?"
"Swordslash and I wanted to buy an OTC test rather than go to a medic-bot because we didn't want you to know what we were doing," Skydive said humbly. "We just didn't want you to get angry…even though you did anyway."
"Well, I shouldn't have gotten so angry with you, Sweetie," Spaceflower told her daughter, hugging her close. "I'm sorry."
"How many times do I have to tell you, Mom?" said Skydive. "My name is Skydive now. Nobody calls me Sweetie any more except Swordslash."
"I know, Sweetie, but…" Spaceflower was tearing up again. "It's just that…you know, you're—you're getting married, and you had a pregnancy scare, and—and it feels like just last solar cycle I fed you motor oil for the first time! I love you, Sweetie!"
"Don't cry, my love," said Starscream, quickly prying Spaceflower off Skydive.
"They grow up so fast!" Spaceflower sobbed into Starscream's shoulder, as Starscream wrapped his arms around her. "Oh, I promised myself I wouldn't do this!"
"It's fine, Mom," said Skydive, joining into the hug with her parents. "Don't worry."
"Group hug!" screamed Random, throwing his arms around Megatron, who shoved him off.
"I don't do hugs," said Megatron, which finally got a laugh out of Spaceflower.
"And someday, Mom, when I really am ready," Skydive added, looking like she was going to cry, too, "Swordslash and I will have a sparkling, one that you can take care of as if it was your very own."
"Thank you, Sweetie—um, I mean, Skydive," said Spaceflower, wiping tears off her faceplates.
"Oh, you can call me Sweetie if you really want to," Skydive replied, grinning, which just made Spaceflower start crying all over again.
"You know, Starscream, I think I am going to cancel Seeker Daily Drama," said Megatron pensively. "Because after all, I get quite enough of it in real life."