257

Desirée POV

Soon, the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months. About four months, if I'm correct. Which would land me at being just a little over seven months pregnant. Ratchet had done plenty of checkups on my condition and said that I was steadily getting better from the infection. He even said that the baby was developing nicely. It took a couple of weeks after I started to truly recover from the infection to start feeling the baby move again. It started as little movements, then started to develop into more pronounced movements as time went on.

Optimus had stayed with me the entire time. He kept the Holoform on as frequently as he could, making sure to divide his time equally between the girls, his soldiers, and me. The other Autobots made sure to keep their schedules as flexible as possible. With Galvatron still out there, there'd be no telling what could happen.

The one thing that really started to stick out to me was that I was getting closer and closer to my due date. Ratchet said that I'd have another C-section, which was good. Each time Ratchet delivered my babies, he hadn't left a single scar on the area he did the C-section. I trusted him to deliver baby-number-three safely.

"The baby's getting stronger each day," Ratchet said. He'd finished one of his exams and looked at me with a slight gleam in his vivid blue eyes.

I smiled at him.

"This little guy's got some kickass parents after all," I said, chuckling.

Ratchet didn't respond. Standing up, Ratchet's Holoform made sure everything was in its proper place.

"Hey, Ratchet?" The Holoform looked at me and I chewed on my bottom lip anxiously. "Do you think this baby will be a boy or a girl?"

It seemed like, with each pregnancy, I'd only had girls. I knew that Optimus loved his daughters regardless, he'd mentioned on more than one occasion that he didn't care if he had a son or a daughter. I had already given him two daughters. It only seemed fair that I could hopefully give him a son.

"I don't know."

"But if you could guess, what would it be?"

Ratchet shrugged his shoulders.

"Whether Prime has another femme or he gets a mech isn't up to me," he said simply. "I'd imagine Optimus would love this Sparkling either way."

One thing I absolutely loved about not being as sick anymore was that I could get actual visitors - not just the Holoforms. I loved that the Autobots would take the time to keep me company on occasion, but I desperately wanted to know what was going on with the others.

Cade had brought the girls in.

Saoirse and Eden were thrilled to be able to spend time with me. I felt my heart clench when I saw them run in - they looked bigger than I remembered. Taller. It could've been me just overreacting, but that was how I saw it. Cade had taken good care of them. Tessa, too. I knew that Shane would drop by and spend time with them as often as he could, but his visits were becoming a little less frequent.

"Were you being nice to Cade?" I asked, looking between Saoirse and Eden carefully.

"Uncle Cade's been helping me with my homework!" Saoirse exclaimed.

"I've been helping Tessie with cooking!" Eden exclaimed.

I chuckled at that. Eden had taken up calling Tessa 'Tessie', saying that it was the older girl's 'special nickname'. Tessa didn't mind being called that, and it was nice knowing she had such patience with my girls.

"When's Uncle Sam coming back to visit?" Saoirse asked, pouting slightly.

"Yeah!" Eden said. "What about Aunt Carly?"

Sam had brought Carly and Daniel to Texas to check on me when he caught word that I wasn't doing too well. The way I saw it, he didn't really need to do that. Sure, he was worried, but he didn't need to drag his entire family down to Texas just to make sure I was doing OK.

O.O.O.O

"You're not doing fine, Desirée," Sam hissed. "You look horrible."

I snorted. "Thanks for the support." I winced, gripping my stomach. I made sure to be careful not to put too much pressure on my swollen stomach. Even though Ratchet confirmed that the baby was still alive, I had a little doubt. The baby was as still as death and it made me think that Ratchet only said the baby was alive so I didn't have to worry.

But Ratchet never lied about anything if it involved medicine.

"This isn't something to joke about," Sam snapped. I winced at that. I had gotten another migraine and Sam's harsh tone wasn't helping. "You're my sister and this is my niece or nephew! You're both important to me."

I sighed. "Sam, I understand your concerns. But Ratchet's been giving me plenty of medicine and I've been getting lots of rest."

"Can you just please promise me you'll call me when you're feeling better?" He looked tired, almost defeated. I knew that Sam would always worry about me - he'd always be my big brother.

"The moment Ratchet gives me a clean bill of health, I'll let you know, OK?"

It didn't seem like the kind of answer he was looking for, but he nodded anyway.

O.O.O.O

"They'll come back soon," I said. "Once the baby's born, I'm sure they'll come back to Texas as quickly as they can!"

That seemed to cheer them up. Carly had been very kind when she had come into the room to see me. It had taken a lot of convincing for Ratchet to allow them into the bedroom, and he was very unhappy when they went in.

O.O.O.O

Carly had given Daniel to Sam as he left the room. The British woman sat at the foot of my bed, giving a small smile. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun.

"You know we'll always worry about you, right?" she asked softly.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"I know you and Sam mean well," I started, "but it really wasn't necessary for you guys to just pack up and come down here."

"You're family, Desirée." Carly arched a brow at my statement. "You're Daniel's aunt. He hasn't seen you in a long time. It was a miracle Ratchet let us come into this room, but he made it very clear that Daniel couldn't come in."

"I'll be able to see him once the baby's born."

Carly reached over and grabbed one of my hands, holding it firmly in hers.

"You need to understand that whatever happens to you, it affects us." She gave a small smile. "If you're hurt, we'll be hurt. If you're sick, we'll worry. That's how family works."

"I know."

"Then let us worry," she chuckled. "Sometimes you're so stubborn! I almost feel sorry for Optimus."

I let out an airy chuckle at that. "Let's hope none of the kids get that."

"I know you'll get better, Desirée." Carly gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "You're a fighter. I know you are. Give us a call when the baby's born; we could drop by and see it."

I gave a single nod.

"Be careful, OK?" Carly asked softly.

"Of course."

O.O.O.O

Saoirse and Eden were able to stay for a little longer before Tessa came in and told them it was time for bed. The girls carefully climbed off the bed and followed Tessa out of the room.

"Tessie, could you read us a story?!" Eden exclaimed excitedly.

Tessa shot a look my way for a moment, giving a small sheepish smile, before murmuring something to the girls. I knew that Tessa was just a naturally mature person in some aspects, and I suppose, helping her father take care of my girls was something that helped her mature even more.

"Good night," Tessa said before carefully closing the door.

"Good night, Mama!" the girls cried before I heard their footsteps fade off.

I smiled at that. I promised myself that the moment I was well enough, after the baby was delivered, that I'd spend time with Saoirse and Eden. I wouldn't be able to make up for the time I lost, but I would try my hardest to spend more time with them.

The pregnancy took away valuable time.

And when the pregnancy finally would come to an end, I'd repay everyone who looked after the girls and I. For throwing aside their valuable time to make sure my family could feel as normal as possible while I was out and while Optimus was away dealing with Galvatron.

Smiling at the closed door, I placed my hands on my swollen stomach.

"Good night."

QUICKY A/N:

I AM SORRY IF THE ENDING OF THIS UPDATE WAS WEAK! AND I'M SO, SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR A WHILE. I'VE BEEN BUSY. I DON'T KNOW IF I'LL BE ABLE TO UPDATE TOMORROW - I HAVE A PLACEMENT TEST FOR THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE I'M GOING TO TOMORROW, THEN I HAVE A GRAD PARTY I'M THROWING ON FRIDAY, A DENTIST APPOINTMENT ON WEDNESDAY, A FRIEND'S GRAD PARTY TO GO TO ON SATURDAY, THEN I HAVE A JOB INTERVIEW TO GO TO SOMETIME THIS WEEK, SO...

I'M SORRY! I SHOULDN'T BE RAMBLING ON YOU GUYS. I HOPE THIS UPDATE WAS DECENT ENOUGH! AS FOR DESIRÉE BEING SEVEN MONTHS ALONG IN HER PREGNANCY, PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF I'M RIGHT OR NOT. HONESTLY, I SOMETIMES FORGET STUFF LIKE THIS, AND IT'S FRUSTRATING BECAUSE I TRY TO MAKE IT AS ACCURATE AS POSSIBLE, EVEN IF IT IS JUST A FILLER UPDATE.

ANYWHO, THE THIRD BABY WILL BE BORN SOON; YOU GUYS WILL KNOW THE GENDER AND THE NAME SOON; THE STORY WILL BE COMING TO AN END SOON - THINGS YOU GUYS ALL KNOW, I GUESS. AND I'LL BE REALLY SAD ONCE THIS STORY'S FINISHED! YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WONDERFUL. I HOPE YOU GUYS STAY WITH ME IN FUTURE STORIES I WRITE.

BEFORE I FINISH MY RAMBLINGS, JUST A LITTLE HEAD'S UP, THE NEXT UPDATE WILL FOCUS A LITTLE MORE ON WHAT HAPPENED IN THE TIME SKIP OF THIS UPDATE - IN OTHER WORDS, IT'LL PROBABLY BE MOSTLY FLASHBACKS NEXT UPDATE.

OK, NOW MY RAMBLINGS ARE DONE.

I DON'T OWN TRANSFORMERS; I DON'T OWN THE FOUR OC'S. I ONLY OWN WHAT BELONGS TO ME.

STAY SNAPPY.

THANK YOU, ONE AND ALL.

READ, REVIEW, ENJOY!

YOURS TRULY,

~SMITHY