Sollux returned to the nursery to check on Eridan and found the sea troll in the exact same position he had left him in.

"Are you jutht going to lay here with them for the next four month'th?" the yellow blood joked lightly as he sat down beside the shallow pool. Eridan had no response as he continued staring off blankly. Sollux reached out a hand to stroke the shells of the eggs. He was still in awe that he and Eridan were actually able to make them.

"I just miss 'em bein' inside me," Eridan whispered. Sollux's eyes flicked over to his matesprit's face just as the violet tears began to form.

"They'd never hatch if they thtayed in your belly," the Gemini told him as he brushed his fingers over cold wet cheeks to wipe away the tears.

"At least when they were inside me they were safe from my inadequacy," the sea troll lamented.

"Eridan," Sollux pleaded. "The egg breaking wath beyond anyoneth control. You can't blame yourthelf for it." Sollux was simply repeating back what Kanaya had told him to make him feel better because in truth he still felt as though he was to blame for not being able to do something to help get the egg out of Eridan. Silent tears continued to slide down the sea troll's face as he lay hugging the three eggs against his body.

"Thith whole thing hath jutht been thomething that neither of uth wath prepared for and we've been trying our betht to figure it out as we go. It'th been- it'th been very difficult for both of uth," Sollux's brows furrowed as he was forced to think about the decision to sacrifice the low blooded grubs in order to save Eridan. "The only thing we can really do now ith wait and thee what happenth four month'th from now."

Eridan turned his head in the water so that he could get a better look at the troll next to him. He studied the creases in the Gemini's forehead that were caused by the way his brows were pinched together in concern. The lower blood's large double fangs rested over lips that were pulled down into a frown.

"You know somethin' don't you?" Eridan accused.

"What?"

"Usually when shit happens you're always tellin' me it's goin' to be alright but you haven't said that to me this time," Eridan said. Sollux looked like he wanted to say something but he couldn't figure out what exactly to say. "It's because you don't want to lie to me isn't it?" the violet blood continued.

"Eridan-"

"Just tell me what it is," the sea troll said weakly. Sollux remained silent as he worried his bottom lip between his large fangs. He didn't want to say it. He didn't want to relive that terrible moment but he knew he had to tell Eridan.

"The egg that broke," he began slowly. His hands tensed as though he could still feel the stickiness of the blue blood between his fingers. "That egg was a high blood."

Eridan's blood pusher may as well have stopped beating. No words could form in his think pan. All he could do was curl tighter around the three eggs pressed closely against him.

"Kanaya kept telling me that there thtill could be two grubth that will hatch but you know how my think pan workth," Sollux added. He decided not to mention anything about the drones or Feferi yet. Eridan had already been through enough for one night. That day Sollux slept in the shallow pool holding Eridan close against his chest as the sea troll kept as close as possible to their eggs. Sollux could feel Eridan shaking with sobs until his breathing finally evened out and he had cried himself to sleep.

It took a couple weeks for the two to get used to life with the eggs and establish a more normal routine. For the first few days Eridan didn't want to be away from them in any sense of the word. If he wasn't touching them then he was too far. Sollux felt the need to stay by Eridan's side which, of course, was right where the eggs were. The Gemini also took comfort in being able to keep the eggs in sight as well. Gradually, Eridan was able to leave the room in order to take care of his basic needs such as showering and getting food for himself. As soon as he finished whatever he had set out to do he would hurry right back to the nursery to be with the eggs. Sollux had the ability to not be in the same room as them at all times but he had developed the habit of opening the door and peeking in on them exactly every four minutes.

One night Sollux sat on the couch messaging Aradia when Eridan surprised him by entering the room fully dressed and quietly taking a seat beside him. It was the first time Eridan had worn a full outfit since he began nesting. It meant he wasn't planning on getting in any water. Sollux excused himself from his conversation and set his husktop down in shock.

"You've got your thcarf on," the yellow blood said in amazement. Eridan touched the scarf absently and played with one end of it.

"Yeah, well I've decided I'm goin' to try gettin' back to my normal activities," he explained. He was clearly still a bit uncomfortable with the idea but knew it was for the best.

"That'th good. You don't want your pothition as biggetht ath hole to be filled by thomeone elthe," Sollux joked.

"I don't know, Sol, you sure seem to enjoy fillin' in for it," the sea troll quipped back. The two grinned at each other and realized that they were back on track to resuming their normal lives.

After awhile, Eridan was able to completely get back to his regular schedule and made it a habit to check in on the eggs three times a day. Sollux was more than happy to see his matesprit back to his normal self and found himself checking the nursery in between the times that Eridan did. Of course, as usual with Sollux's life, all happy times had to eventually come to a screeching halt to usher in a new state of turmoil. As Sollux sat on the couch watching Eridan play one of the shooter games that he was abnormally good at, he decided that the high blood was probably mentally stable enough to handle the next heap of bad news that had been withheld from him.

"ED?" the Gemini asked as Eridan took out a group of enemy players from an impressive distance.

"What Sol?" the Aquarius responded distractedly while maneuvering to his next targets.

"There'th thomething I've been meaning to talk to you about." Eridan turned his attention away form the screen at the sound of the other troll's nervous tone. He still managed to press a few buttons on the controller to deliver a fatal shot to the player he had targeted even without looking at the screen.

"What is it?" he asked setting the controller down to rest in his lap. The yellow blood took a deep breath before releasing it slowly.

"The day the eggth were laid," he looked Eridan over carefully as he spoke, "FF mesthaged everybody in a group chat. GA and I didn't anthwer it becauthe there wath obviouthly thomething pretty prething that we were tending to. Of courthe you didn't even know becauthe I doubt you really cared what wath happening with your phone at that particular time."

"What exactly are you gettin' at here?" the violet blood asked impatiently.

"I'm jutht trying to let you know that there wath no fucking way any of uth could have gotten to our phoneth at that time," Sollux retorted. "What I'm getting at ith that FF wath trying to let all of uth know that she hath been called to duel with the empreth."

"She what?" Eridan asked in shock. "That was weeks ago! Has anyone heard anythin' from her?" he began scrambling for his phone. "I need to message her or somethin'!" Sollux reached out a hand and placed it on top of one of the sea troll's to ground him.

"It'th no uthe to try to contact her now ED. Believe me I've conthidered the thame thing," Sollux reasoned. "If she winth it will take thome time before she can even contact anyone becauthe she will immediately have to take the throne and have shit to do." Eridan placed his phone down in defeat.

"I suppose you're right."

"Altho, the droneth are going to be collecting thoon," Sollux added quietly. Eridan's face snapped back into a look of horror within seconds.

"Is there any fuckin' thing else you want to add to this shit storm while you're at it?" the Aquarius asked angrily.

"Nope that'th pretty much it," Sollux said feeling guilty.

"What the fuck is goin' to happen when drones come to the hive and we're hidin' eggs in here? And how exactly are we supposed to fill both buckets together like that?" Eridan questioned in frustration. "I know we flip on each other but I don't think we're capable a' flippin' that fuckin' fast, cod damn!" He growled in irritation and picked up the controller in his lap quickly resuming his game to take out his anger. Sollux almost felt sorry for the poor unsuspecting online wrigglers who happened to also be playing the game at the time.