217

In the past few days, my stomach had grown significantly bigger. I had gotten over the most of my nausea, but the restlessness in my stomach remained.

Things also hadn't been so easy with Elita staying. Everyone tried making her feel welcome, but it was hard. She kept brooding over how Optimus basically moved on.

Tessa, Cade, and pretty much everyone had become very helpful with taking care of Saoirse and Eden, which I appreciated greatly.

"You feeling better?" Shane had come by to visit, occasionally visiting Tessa when he found the time. With Tessa in college, she had a little more freedom when it came to her relationship with the Irishman. I had seen a slight increase in trust between Cade and Shane, though I still saw that fatherly protectiveness when those two were together.

It made me smile, seeing Cade still hold that fatherly protectiveness.

"I'm getting better," I said with a smile.

Shane nodded. "That's good," he exclaimed. I chuckled. "I still can't believe you got pregnant."

"I honestly thought we were finished having children," I said with a slight humorless chuckle. "But things don't always turn out the way we think!"

"You two are wonderful parents, I can say that much." Shane gave a warm smile, a friendly glint in his eyes.

I smiled. "Thanks," I said softly. "After this pregnancy, though, I am definitely done having babies." The last part ended with a laugh, Shane giving an airy chuckle.

"That's good, I suppose," he responded.

"Trust me, I have had three little alien babies," I said with a slight smirk. "Being pregnant is hard enough, being pregnant with alien babies is tiring."

After Shane left, I had some time to myself to think. While everyone was being very generous and kind, my mind was filled with worries and fears. One of those fears had to do with the family reunion at Sam's. Seeing everyone there...they had aged a lot in the past five years.

Sam wasn't an awkward teen anymore, not even the boy I grew up with. Lennox looked older than I remember; Epps, as well.

Simmons, Ron, and Judy seemed to have aged the most.

All of my friends and family...they were getting older and living long, wholesome lives. And I wasn't aging at all. Being Sparkbound with Optimus had its perks, but the downside would be seeing everyone I care for grow old and die. I didn't want to see that happen.

Outliving my family, seeing the people I care about just go away in the blink of an eye - it was a touchy subject.

Optimus and I never really spoke of the consequences of being Sparkbound, we just silently took it a day at a time. I guess Optimus just assumed I was OK with being Sparkbound to him (and I, 100%, love the idea of giving him forever) and didn't really think that I'd want to see everyone else who's important to me die.

Optimus gave me forever. That's more than I could have ever offered him. I frowned.

Gently placing one of my hands on my stomach, I gently tapped the stretching skin with my index finger.

If I'm going to live forever, I'll have to enjoy the time I have now, I thought sadly. Keep in contact with the Witwickys, Lennox, Epps, Simmons and Leo...

Closing my eyes, I tried to calm myself down.

"How's the baby doing?" I asked. Ratchet was running another scan, his eyes darted to me for a second before he finished his evaluation.

"Whatever stress you're putting on your body is adding a lot of pressure," Ratchet informed me. "You need to keep yourself calm, Desirée. All this unnecessary stress will cause a lot of problems for your health."

"I'm really trying, Ratchet," I said, sighing in frustration. "But nothing's been going very smoothly."

The Holoform of the medic looked at me carefully. He pursed his lips, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"With Elita joining the group, I can see why you're getting stressed out." Ratchet looked at me with a stoic expression. "It was a surprise for all of us - findng out she's alive."

"It's not just that, I've got so much on my mind and it's driving me crazy." I frowned, feeling slightly embarrassed, admitting it to Ratchet. While Ratchet and I were very good friends, we never really discussed personal problems with each other. Didn't make much sense, since Ratchet helped Optimus and I with a lot of personal situations.

I briefly saw Ratchet shift almost uncomfortably on his feet.

"I'm sorry," I sighed. "I shouldn't be piling all of this on you."

"Don't apologize." Ratchet tried for a smile. "It's only natural to have worries and fears. Just be careful. This pregnancy is far more dangerous than the previous two. I just want you to be safe."

Grimlock POV

The leader of the Dinobots had been having a bit of a difficulty adjusting to earth. It was...strange, to say the least for Grimlock. The other Dinobots and himself had, since departing from the Autobots during that fight with the prototypes, been living in heavily jungled areas.

Grimlock made sure to keep them as far from the humans as possible. He didn't trust the little creatures just yet. He barely trusted the Autobots, except for Optimus. Though Grimlock relied mostly on power and strength in combat, he respected Optimus's leadership, his strength.

Optimus Prime was someone he'd gladly help if he were in trouble.

Optimus POV

The Prime was exhausted. He had used the Holoform so frequently, and having Elita back, causing so much stress on Desirée and himself, it wore him out quicker than he would admit.

He tried to be as involved as he could in his family's lives, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to hold up the Holoform as frequently he would want, and not being able to transform as often as he'd want was another problem.

There weren't any possible threats the Autobots could get involved in. Galvatron hadn't been heard from since the China attack; any surviving prototypes hadn't made themselves known either. Optimus kind of hoped he'd have some sort action to happen, but his processors were filled with other worries. And his Spark had picked up on the emotions Desirée had been feeling.

Optimus noticed she was filled with so much sadness.

He didn't bring it up. She would just deny it or get angry at him for worrying so much.

Primus have mercy, that woman is so stubborn. Optimus would've chuckled if he hadn't been so exhausted. Desirée's stubbornness and her occasional emotional outbursts were frustrating at times, but Optimus knew Desirée relied on her emotions. She was a very emotional human. That was one thing Optimus admired about her - how she wasn't afraid to express herself.

QUICKY A/N:

I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED THE GRIMLOCK POV. I HAD SOME KIND REVIEWERS ASK FOR A PART WHERE IT WAS SHOWN THROUGH GRIMLOCK'S PERSPECTIVE. HONESTLY, I DON'T THINK I DID THAT WELL CAUSE I'M NOT SURE HOW TO WRITE IN GRIMLOCK'S POV. BUT LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS THINK ANYWAY!

I'VE GOTTEN SO MANY GOOD NAMES FOR THE SPARKLING! THE POPULAR ONES SEEM TO BE 'LUNA' FOR A GIRL AND 'ORION' FOR A BOY. I THINK ALL THE NAMES ARE WONDERFUL AND I'D LIKE TO THANK ALL OF YOU WHO GAVE NAME SUGGESTIONS!

ANYWHO, I HOPE YOU GUYS HAVE HAD A WONDERFUL WEEK. YOU ALL DESERVE UNLIMITED HAPPINESS AND GOOD HEALTH! YOU'RE ALL FANTASTIC PEOPLE AND I'M SO HAPPY TO HAVE HAD YOU GUYS READ MY STORY.

THE ONE THING I'M SO HAPPY FOR IS THAT I'VE HAD ALMOST 1,000 PEOPLE READ THIS STORY - WHICH, COMPARED TO THE OTHER STORIES I'VE WRITTEN, IS VERY INSPIRING!

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH.

STAY SNAPPY.

THANK YOU, ONE AND ALL.

READ, REVIEW, AND ENJOY!

YOURS TRULY,

~SMITHY