Joel's sixteenth week came about normally, well as normally as one would expect a male's pregnancy to progress. He was quickly growing annoyed with his expanding stomach and needing to constantly loosen his jumpsuit around the middle. The week before he stopped wearing the black belt entirely since it reached its limit in length.

Feeling heavy and tired Joel walked onto the bridge of the Satellite of Love only to be greeted by three of his four robots standing at attention.

"Uh, guys? What's going on?" Joel knew his precocious robots were up to something.

Crow leaned against Joel's leg. "We have a surprise for you!"

"You didn't fill the engine room with marshmallow fluff, again, did you?"

"No! We only had enough fluff to do that once anyway."

"Okay, what's the surprise then?"

Servo hovered up in front of Joel. "You have to cover your eyes. I'll lead the way."

"Uh..." Joel was worried about tripping or running into something.

"Put your hand on my shoulder and I'll guide you."

Joel did as he was asked. He put one hand over his eyes and his other hand Servo's shoulder. The hovering bot led him off the bridge, down the long corridor and into what Joel deduced to be the ship's medical bay.

Crow and Cambot had run ahead of the escorting duo to ensure nothing was in the way and so he could let Gypsy know that Joel was on his way.

"Okay, turn right... and stop!" Servo instructed.

Joel stopped in the doorway and let go of Servo's shoulder. "Can I open my eyes now?"

"Yup."

Joel dropped his hand and looked into the room. The medical bay had been updated and upgraded with the most advanced medical equipment available. "Wow, this is great! How'd you do this?"

"Frank sent this stuff up." Servo answered. "He felt bad for you and wanted to help. But you can't let Dr. F know about this or else Frank will get in trouble."

Crow spoke up again. "And that's not all! Gypsy?"

Gypsy rolled a large display monitor with a special sensor attached out into the middle of the room. "Ta-da!"

"Wow... what is it?" Joel didn't recognize the device.

Servo hovered back into Joel's line of sight. "It's an ultrasound machine!"

"Oh... Oh." Joel realized what the bots wanted. "Thanks, but... I... uh..."

"C'mon!" Crow coaxed. "We're going to find out eventually, so why wait? Boy or girl?"

"Because... it's just... I..." Joel was feeling embarrassed and vulnerable. That last thing he wanted was for the robots to get an unobstructed view of his condition.

"Lay down!" Crow encouraged. "We've never seen another human before, let alone a super tiny one!"

"Right... human." Joel hadn't really thought about his growing life form as a human until that moment. In his mind it was a monstrous, parasitic freak of nature that gave him frequent nightmares. "Okay, let's do this." He forced a smile to his face as he laid down on the prepared exam table.

"Yay!" Crow cheered as he and Servo gathered around the display monitor.

Gypsy turned it on and hovered over Joel. "You ready?"

"Uh..." Joel was blushing uncontrollably. "In a minute." He started to unzip his jumpsuit.

"Slower..." Crow teased while Servo giggled.

"Knock it off!" Joel laughed sincerely. He unzipped his jumpsuit as far as he needed then pulled up his black t-shirt as far is needed, just barely exposing his distended belly beneath. "Okay, Gypsy."

"Okay. Don't worry Joel, I downloaded all the information from the biology books in the ship's library and databanks. I know what I'm doing."

"I never had any doubts about you, Gypsy."

Crow looked up at Joel. "What about me?"

"You're hit and miss."

"And me?" Servo asked.

"You have your moments."

Cambot squeaked.

"You're good to Cambot, but then again, you're more like Gypsy and less like these two knuckleheads."

"Hey..." Crow and Servo replied in unison.

Gypsy took a small bottle of gel and squirted a small amount on Joel's stomach.

"Hey! Cold!" Joel complained. "And slimy, ugh..."

"Sorry." Gypsy responded as she dropped the bottle of gel and picked up the ultrasound wand. "Here we go." She muffled through the device in her mouth.

Gently Gypsy ran the wand over Joel's stomach. Joel, Crow, Servo and Cambot were transfixed on the grainy monitor display. After a few seconds a small image came into focus on the monitor.

Crow pointed at the screen excitedly. "I see it!"

"Me too!" Servo was just as excited.

Joel stared at the small image on the screen in stunned silence. It looked like a very small, but very normal, human. Not a parasite, not a monster, not a freak.

"Hey, it's moving!" Crow noticed.

Servo saw the little movements too. "He's right, what's it feel like Joel?" He turned to look at the human. "Joel?"

Joel was still in a little shock. "Wow..."

"Joel?" Servo asked again. "JOEL!"

"Huh? What?"

"I asked what's it feel like, you know, it's moving and stuff."

"Oh, I uh, can't feel it."

"How can you not feel it? It's there and moving!"

"I guess it's not... strong enough, yet." Joel commented quietly.

Crow was easily bored and looked away from the display and at the various buttons and controls on the ultrasound machine. "Hey, what's this button do?" He pressed it before anyone could answer.

The room was suddenly filled with the sound of rapid heart beat emanating from the display.

"Wow..." Joel repeated. 'I can hear your heartbeat.' He thought to himself.

"Oops." Crow realized what he had done. "I'll turn that off, it's a little... too real."

Servo just shook his head in annoyance at Crow's latest shenanigan. "You're hopeless."

"Hmm..." Gypsy kept moving the wand around. "I can't tell what its gender is."

"That's okay..." Joel answered softly, still thinking about the little heartbeat he had just heard. "I don't think I want to know anyway."

"Oh. Why not?" She asked as she pulled the wand away and gave Joel a tissue.

"I guess I want it to be a surprise." Joel wiped the gel off his stomach and pulled his shirt back down.

Crow laughed a little. "What? Getting knocked up isn't surprising enough!?"

-next chapter-