-Sunday, September 9, 10:47 am/Rose & Kanaya's condo-

Katrina: 16 months, 3 days old
Casey: 23 months, 3 weeks old

Rose: 6 weeks along

That's right, Kanaya has to work today, thought Rose as she stared at the empty spot in bed next to herself. She stretched for a bit before finally deciding to get out of bed.

After using the bathroom, Rose started to go to the kitchen and make breakfast. But before she could even exit the bedroom, a nauseating feeling came over her, accompanied by a burning sensation in the back of her throat.

"Oh god…" She had barely made it back to the bathroom before throwing up into the toilet. Suddenly it all seemed real. Before now, being pregnant had just been an idea, something a little plastic stick had told her. But now that she had actually told someone other than her wife, and that she had begun to experience morning sickness…it was actually happening.

"I hate my life." Rose flushed the toilet and rinsed out her mouth before finally going to make her long-awaited breakfast.

She couldn't stop thinking for the entire ten minutes it took for her to make breakfast. Maybe Mom was right, she thought, flipping a blueberry pancake. Kanaya would be angry at me if I did anything to hurt the baby. But, then again...I shouldn't be forced to do something I don't want to do…

Rose had literally just sat down at the table when someone knocked on the door. She actually debated on whether or not to go answer it, but eventually decided she might as well.

"Oh, Vri—"

"Rose." Terezi pushed past Vriska and entered the condominium without any given consent. "Don't do it, please! Just don't!"

"What?" Rose was taken aback and held her arms out, afraid that the teal-blooded troll would attempt to do something. "What are you talking about?"

Terezi made an effort to calm herself down before continuing. "Vriska told me everything," she admitted. "Please, please don't do it."

"Do...what?" Rose was confused. How did Vriska even know what she had been considering?

"Getting a...the...oh, god, I can't even say it." Terezi looked down at the floor, her face beginning to turn teal.

"Let's...sit down if we're going to have a full-out conversation." Vriska dragged the human and the other troll to the couch, where they all sat down. "Rose...I think you're making a mistake, too. Trust me. I tried to do it, and…" The blue-blood couldn't even finish her sentence; it was too much. "I...thought John hated me. For a long time. And it didn't even work."

Rose cocked her head, confused. "What do you mean?" she asked her wife's friend. "I thought...you just lost the baby."

"No, Rose. I lost her because I tried to get rid of her." Vriska sadly glanced at Terezi, who looked choked up from the subject matter. "Before I was in the hospital...I tried to get rid of her. Didn't Kanaya tell you that?"

Rose shook her head, her eyes widening.

"Well, it obviously didn't work. And it hurt."

"But…" The blonde hesitated. "...a medically authorized...it shouldn't hurt…"

"Sure, it wouldn't hurt, but I have an image of a dead baby—my dead baby—permanently burned onto my think—brain!"

Rose tensed up. She hadn't thought of it that way before.

Terezi sighed. "Me too," she quietly added. "Katrina's the only one out of seven who has lived. And even she died at one point."

"Wait—seven?!" exclaimed Rose.

The teal-blood sadly nodded, a bit hesitant to explain. "There were two eggs first—after Karkat and I got married. Then came Katrina nearly a sweep—two years—later, and then...Isaac and the three others." She paused, then quickly added, "Katrina's special."

"I...can tell."

"Rose," concluded Terezi, "you should consider yourself very lucky. I haven't figured out why Katrina's the only one who lived. I'm sure you and Kanaya have better genes than me and Karkat."

Vriska nodded in agreement. "Please don't get an abortion, Rose. Kanaya would be extremely upset if you did. She'd never forgive you. You're both going to be great moms, okay? Please think about this, Rose. Please."

Rose hesitated for a moment before looking back up at the two trolls sitting in the living room.

"...Okay. I will."


-11:41 pm/Elisabetta's Elegant Everyday Wear-

Kanaya irritatedly glanced at the clock. "Thirteen minutes until my lunch break," she mumbled to herself before returning to straightening some shirts on their hangers. "I should probably call Rose and ask her how she's doing then...does she have to work today?"

The boutique door opened and a bell rang, making Kanaya look up from her work. "Hello," she pleasantly said to the customers walking in: a college-aged girl and what appeared to be her boyfriend. "Welcome to Elisabetta's."

Of course, as most humans did, the two said nothing. The girl—her long, straight brown hair with a slightly reddish tint—flew from rack to rack, messing up all the shirts and other articles of clothing Kanaya had worked hard to straighten. Her assumed boyfriend looked bored out of his mind, leaning up against a shelf with purses, jewelry, and other accessories on it, and staring at his phone. He looked up at the jade-blooded troll and made awkward eye contact with her before looking back down.

"Hey, do you have any sweaters?" Wow, this girl was even ruder than Kanaya thought.

Kanaya straightened her back and took a deep breath. Depending on how irritating this customer would be, she might need it.

"...Yes, we do," she calmly told the brunette, leaving her spot to lead the girl to the back of the shop. "They're all on these two racks, except for the ones over here—" She went over to a rack by one of the shelves. "—which are on sale for forty percent off."

"I can read." The rude customer carelessly tugged at least five sweaters from the racks before ruining the very few neatly presented racks left. "Where's the dressing rooms?"

Kanaya sighed and grabbed a ring of keys from behind the check-out counter. "Right this way," she said, leading the customer to an area in the back.

Once the rude girl had gotten settled in a dressing room, Kanaya went back into the shop to fix what the girl had messed up. As soon as she exited the back hallway, however, she bumped into someone.

"Oh, goodness," she exclaimed, jumping back a little. "I didn't see you; you scared me!"

The girl's assumed boyfriend laughed. "I didn't mean to startle you," he told Kanaya in a slightly seductive tone.

"Oh, well…" Kanaya nervously laughed. "...your girlfriend is in a dressing room."

"Oh," laughed the guy, leaning against the wall, "she's not my girlfriend anymore."

Again, the jade-blood let out a nervous laugh. She knew what this guy meant. "Actually," she nervously began, the human term still a bit unfamiliar to her, "I'm a...lesbian."

Her statement initially took the guy by surprise, but he shook it off like he had done to everything else. "You're too pretty to be a lesbian," he remarked, being even more creepy by invading Kanaya's personal space and brushing some dark hair out of her face.

Kanaya swat his hand away and jumped back. "Beauty does not define one's sexual orientation," she scolded, glancing at the dressing rooms to see if the girl was done yet. "And I'll have you know—"

"I knew it!"

The two in the shop turned their heads to face the girl standing in the doorway to the dressing rooms. "I knew you were a cheater!"

"Wh-what?!" The guy stepped even further away from Kanaya, thinking of an excuse to use. "I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh, shut up." Grabbing his arm, the girl dragged him over to the door. "I heard the entire conversation."

Kanaya couldn't help but giggle a bit.

After shoving her now-ex-boyfriend out of the shop, the girl returned to pay for her items. "He's a piece of shit," she whispered to Kanaya as she swiped her credit card. "Sorry you had to see all that."

"Oh, I've...I've witnessed many fights before." She was really surprised at how polite the customer had become since first walking in.

"I was gonna break up with him soon anyway," said the girl. "He yelled at me the entire way over here. I feel sorry for whoever has to deal with him in the future."

Kanaya cracked a smile and handed the girl her receipt. "Well, I'm happy you don't have to deal with him anymore. Have a nice day."

"Oh, I think I'll have a nice rest of my life now!"


-5:13 pm/Rose & Kanaya's condo-

"Welcome back." Rose gave Kanaya a quick kiss and walked into the kitchen. "How was your day?"

Kanaya laughed. "It was...interesting," she told her wife. "I'll have to tell you about it over dinner."

"Oh, I almost forgot." Rose opened the fridge and took out a bowl with some saran wrap over it. "I made some fruit salad for dessert, and a quiche for dinner."

"That sounds delicious." Kanaya smiled and brought the quiche over to the table in the breakfast nook for Rose.

Once the couple had settled down for dinner, Kanaya began to tell of her adventure at work. "...and then she literally shoved him out the door before calling him a piece of shit," she laughed before taking a sip of her iced tea. "At least she had a reasonable explanation for why she was acting so rudely earlier."

"And what was that?" asked Rose, intrigued.

"Apparently, her boy—well, ex-boyfriend now—had been yelling at her. I didn't get any other details besides that, but I assume that's why she was in such a bad mood."

Rose smiled, but something had been bugging her that she just had to say. "Kanaya," she began, "if I...do decide to have this baby...what will we do?"

The jade-blooded troll sighed and set down her drink. "We will love it and take care of it, that's what we'll do. But please, Rose...keep the baby. Please. I know this isn't what we had in mind when discussing having children, but...I feel like this was meant to happen. It's not wise to intervene with fate."

"I...know, Kanaya." Rose sighed and resumed eating.

The two sat in near silence for the rest of dinner before Rose coughed. "I'm going to shower," she told her wife. "It's your turn to do the dishes tonight."

Kanaya nodded and watched Rose leave the table and go down the hallway. She was scared, to be honest. She really wanted this baby. Ever since Vriska had had Casey, she felt like being a mother was something she was born to do. When Katrina came, this feeling was only amplified. She wasn't sure if she could ever forgive Rose if she did decide to terminate the pregnancy.

But this was Rose's decision. If the dreaded situation did happen, she would have to deal with it somehow.


-10:48 pm-

Rose had to get up early for work the next day, so she crashed onto the bed next to her wife.

"Rose, you'll hurt the baby if you throw yourself around so carelessly like that," scolded Kanaya as she turned a page of some gothic romance novel she was reading.

The blonde sighed and wiggled underneath the covers. "I'm going to sleep," she said. "I have to be up early for work tomorrow. Good night."

"Good night."

asdfasdfa

Rose's body felt as if it were on fire.

The area around her was full of commotion. A loud noise beeped into her left ear, and someone was squeezing her hand. She slowly opened her eyes and saw...John?

"I'm so sorry" he whispered to her, stroking her hand with his. "I'm sorry, Vris. Sorry we had to lose our daughter."

"I...what?" Rose attempted to sit up but was forced to lay back down by the doctor.

"Mrs. Egbert, since this is a late-term miscarriage, it's very important you try to keep calm," she told her.

Rose looked back up at John, still confused. Tears were streaming down his cheeks.

"We didn't even get to find out if it was a boy or a girl yet," he choked before Rose slowly faded back into unconsciousness.


"Everything will be okay."

Rose opened her eyes again, expecting to see John, but this time seeing Karkat. She felt tears streaming down her cheeks for an unknown reason, but looked down and saw what they were for.

She was Terezi.

And she was holding a dead grub.

Startled, Rose began shaking and nearly dropped it. "Shh," Karkat coaxed. "It'll all be okay, Terezi."

"...Isaac?" asked Rose, confused. She looked back down at the grub in her hands.

"I...I know, Terezi."

Before Rose could question the situation any further, she found herself drifting back into oblivion.


This time, when she woke up, her eyes were open.

She was in a bland grey room, laying on a cold, hard surface. Metal tools surrounded her and a bright light burned the top of her head. Suddenly, a dark figure entered the room, but as it approached the light Rose could see its features.

He was wearing a white suit—not just the jacket, the pants and shoes, too. Both his shirt and his bowtie were a blinding neon green, and...did he have a cue ball for a head?

"She'll never forgive you for this," he told Rose, grabbing a long metal tool and shoving it inside her, making her cry out in pain. Very slowly, he pulled the tool out, revealing a small, pinkish thing skewered on it.

"She's over there, watching us," the unknown guy said. Wait. He looked like a character from that stupid game she used to play in middle school...SBURB, was it?

Rose was snapped back into focus when she saw Kanaya. The troll had appeared in a window Rose had never noticed before. Her grey cheeks had greenish tears streaming down them, and her arms were crossed in a hateful stance. She turned away to wipe her eyes, then walked away.

"I would expect to be filing for divorce soon." The man turned away from Rose to dispose of the fetus.

"No…" Rose quickly sat up. "No!"


"Rose!" screamed Kanaya, shaking her wife to wake her up. "My god, are you alright?! You were screaming!"

"Kanaya." Rose turned towards her wife and began to cry. "I'm not doing it. I'm not getting an abortion."


yoooooooo im back

School, school, and more school :( Since I don't have a lot of free time in classes I can't really write, plus this chapter was difficult for me to write.

Also, I'd just like to clarify: I don't believe abortion is right, but I do believe others can make their own decisions.

Thanks to Arturo/godlessAdversary for many of the ideas used :)


Also, thanks to katella only, godlessAdversary, XellanxLarxene, RexyKai, JohnEgbert1235, 2outherngemiinii, Vienus, Baby Blue Fairy, and My Mind is a Nomad for reviewing!