The Curse of Motherhood
This takes place around the first couple episodes of season 2.
One beautiful Friday night at the McGee residence, Pete and Sharon had just finished packing for a vacation as Molly, Darryl, Scratch, and Grandma Nin came out of the house.
"I still feel bad leaving you during all of spring break." Pete said.
"Me too." Sharon agreed. "Are you sure you can handle this, Mom?"
"I'm more than capable of watching someone for nine days especially after raising you and your brother." Nin assured. "Now go have a good time. You deserve it after the failed camping trip you had a while back."
Pete and Sharon then hugged the kids.
"Remember to be on your best behavior while we're gone." Sharon said.
"We will." Molly and Darryl promised.
"That means you too, Scratch." Pete said.
"Anything for Nin's cooking." Scratch replied.
After a few more goodbyes, Pete and Sharon got in the car and drove out of sight.
"So, who wants to see baby photos?" Nin offered.
For half an hour, Molly, Darryl, and Scratch were enjoying (not to mention laughing at) the pictures of Sharon from infancy to her teens from the photo album Nin brought over.
"Wow. Mom was a lot of trouble back then." Darryl said.
"You're no angel yourself." Molly pointed out.
"Said the one with the toddler tantrum." Scratch commented.
"Every child is a handful for their parents." Nin said.
"Well at least there's one easy part." Molly said.
"What part is that?"
"Pregnancy."
Nin paused for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Molly asked.
"That's not as easy as you think." Nin kept laughing.
"Uh, I'm with Molly on this one." Scratch said. "You just goof around in bed, spend nine months getting fat, and poop out a baby. How hard can that be?"
Boy was Nin offended by that.
"You know nothing about pregnancy." she said.
"Iiii'm gonna keep looking at funny photos." Darryl said.
"The boys may not know much, but I know plenty and other than the birthing part, I don't see what's so hard about it." Molly said.
"Oh really?" Nin had a suspicious look. "Then how about a bet?"
"What kind of bet?" Molly asked.
Scratch and Darryl were just as interested.
"I've heard about Scratch's curses and I think now is the perfect chance to witness one."
"Uh, I know where this is going and knowing Scratch's occasional mistakes, that's probably a bad idea." Darryl advised.
"Well then I'll write down what he should say." Nin grabbed a paper and pencil and wrote down the best sentence she could think of.
She then showed it to Molly and Scratch.
"That looks like it'll work." Molly said.
"If you can last that long, I'll buy you twenty new plushies."
*GAAAAAASP!*"More plushies!" the look on Molly's happy face was priceless.
"But if you ring this gong..." Nin pulled out a little gong-stand and stick. "You have to be a magician for my friends back home."
"Ma-ma-ma-ma-magician?" Molly looked like she saw a kaiju-sized spider.
"What do you say?" Nin waited for an answer.
Molly thought about the pros and cons of the bet while Scratch and Darryl watched her, curious as to what she'll say. Then she made up her mind.
"Deal." Molly shook Nin's hand.
"Good luck, Molly." Scratch said before rereading the paper.
Then he and the living room became warped and nightmarish.
"FOR THE NEXT NINE DAYS, MOLLY MCGEE, YOUR BODY WILL IMITATE THE SYMPTOMS OF PREGNANCY! EACH DAY WILL BE A MONTH AND ONCE ALL NINE HAVE ENDED, YOU WILL BE AS YOU WERE BEFORE! IF YOU WISH TO END THIS SOONER, THEN ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS RING THIS GONG!"
The gong and stick glowed for a moment. Then everything went back to normal. Molly was clearly looking forward to her fake pregnancy.
"This'll be too easy." she said. "Women have been doing this since forever."
"Not within only nine days." Nin pointed out.
"I'm still gonna win. Well I better get ready for bed. Goodnight."
As Molly later lied in her bed, she couldn't stop being excited for both the curse and all those plushies.
Day 1
Molly got out of bed, dressed herself, and looked at herself in the mirror.
"I can't wait to see how I look a few days from now." she said while placing a hand on her belly.
She and Scratch went down to the kitchen and were both happy to see pancakes on the table. As everyone sat down and and dug in, Darryl used the syrup and placed it next to Molly when he was done. The moment Molly saw the bottle of syrup, her mind did the unexpected.
"Hey, syrup looks good." she thought. "Wait. What am I thinking!? That stuff tastes like a tree's tears."
She pushed the syrup away, but for some reason was tempted to have some.
"Stop it! I don't want syrup on my pancakes!" her mind was suddenly fighting itself. "Yes I do! No I don't! Yes I do! No I don't! Yes! No! Yes! No!
Yes! No!"
Then just as Darryl was about to pour some more, Molly just snapped.
"GIMME THAT SYRUP!"
She snatched the bottle and violently smothered her pancakes while looking insane. Darryl and Scratch were surprised by Molly's odd behavior, but Nin smirked with a knowing face.
"Who are you and what have you done with Molly?" Darryl asked.
"It's me, but something's wrong." Molly said after finishing her breakfast. "It's like something changed my taste in food."
"You mean like cravings?" Nin smugly asked.
"Oh, I forgot about that."
"You can ring the gong if you want."
"And be one of those magic frauds even for a day? Never. I'm going to win this bet and it'll be easy. Come on, Scratch. We have something important to do."
Molly and Scratch left the house and a short while later met up with Libby in front of Book Marks the Spot.
"Hi, Molly. Hi, Scratch." Libby said. "Thanks again for helping me get groceries while Mom's picking up her car."
"What are besties for, Libby?" Molly replied with a one-armed hug.
So off they went to the grocery store. As they searched each aisle for what was on Libby's list, Molly started to not feel good.
"Moll, are you doing alright?" Scratch asked.
Libby overheard and saw what Scratch meant.
"Honestly I feel like I'm gonna-" Molly couldn't say anymore, for what she felt was about to happen.
She ran to the restroom as fast as she could with her friends following her out of concern. She went in, reached the nearest toilet, and barfed into it. Scratch and Libby came in just in time to hear it and stopped. After the gagging sounds stopped, Molly flushed the toilet and came out of the stall.
"Are you sick, Molly?" Libby asked.
"No, it's something else." Molly said before checking the other stalls which were empty. "Scratch, you better show her."
Scratch pulled the official curse contract out and showed it to Libby who started reading.
"Hmmm, mumblemumblemumblemumblemumblemumblemumble-PREGNANCY!?" Libby triple checked the whole paper in case she misread it. "Oh, an imitation. But why?"
"I made a bet with Grandma Nin that I could go through the whole thing in nine days." Molly explained. "This is only day one, but I'm doing fine."
"Now that you've eaten pancakes with syrup." Scratch teased, embarrassing Molly.
"Let's just get back to shopping."
After that, collecting groceries and bringing them home was a breeze, but Libby was concerned.
"Are you sure that curse is a good idea?" she asked.
"Sure I am." Molly said. "It's just food."
Day 2
Molly and Scratch came downstairs for breakfast and settled for cereal as did Nin and Darryl. Molly had a little more than usual.
"Ah, that hit the spot." she said as she patted her stomach.
Then she paused as she felt something odd. She lifted her shirt and looked at her belly.
"You're already starting to fatten up." Scratch said.
"I didn't think this would happen yet." Molly said.
"If you were fully adult sized, it would've taken longer." Nin explained.
"Am I the only one who thinks this curse is weird?" Darryl asked.
"It could be worse." Molly said as she put her shirt back down.
A couple hours later, she and Scratch headed out again, only this time to visit the elderly. As usual, they had a great time with Patty and Bobby.
"Wooh! Shuffleboard was tons of fun!" Molly said.
"If you like boring old people games." Scratch commented.
"Hahaha! Glad you liked it, Molly." Patty said.
"Why don't we go grab a bite to eat?" Bobby suggested.
They all agreed and went to get some hotdogs from a nearby stand. Patty and Bobby each had one, Scratch stole a few, and Molly decided to have five with all the condiments available, surprising everyone who saw her.
"I didn't know you had such a healthy appetite." Bobby said.
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Molly snapped before covering her mouth in shock. "I am so sorry. I don't know why I did that."
"Maybe you're just worried about gaining weight." Patty said.
"I... I think you're right." Molly then burst into tears.
"Uh, Molly. You're acting stranger than usual." Scratch said with concern.
Molly stopped crying and said "I should probably go home and exercise. Okay byeee." with a face that mixed happy with scared.
As she and Scratch left, Patty and Bobby were baffled.
"What do you suppose that was about?" Bobby asked.
"Must've been puberty." Patty guessed.
On the way home, Molly felt embarrassed by her unusual behavior.
"I guess all those movies I've seen about this didn't tell me everything." she said.
"Gee, ya think." Scratch commented. "Also, you got anymore hotdogs?"
"Just one left."
"Good. Now gimme!"
"Not this time!"
Scratch tried to chomp the last hotdog, but Molly pulled it away. He then went through her and snatched it only for her to grab him and yank him down. They both grasped each other's arms as well as the hotdog, trying to eat it. Scratch then made like a vacuum cleaner and sucked the hotdog to his mouth. Molly however managed to block him and catch it in her mouth. She happily ate the whole wiener while Scratch started complaining.
"Hey! Eating all the food is my thing!"
"Not during this curse." Molly explained. "You see, one of the things I do know about pregnancy is that it causes cravings, which means I need food more than you do."
As she started walking again, Scratch stayed put and his jaw dropped upon realizing that he'd have less food for a while. He then screamed to the
heavens "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Day 3
After getting up and having breakfast, Molly decided to look at herself again and saw that now her slight curve was visible without lifting her shirt.
"Ooh, now it's starting to show." she said as she patted her belly.
"Big deal, you're putting on a few pounds." Scratch whined with crossed arms.
"Oh relax, Scratch. A week from now, you'll be eating all you want again."
Scratch still grumbled over the unexpected predicament. Then there was a knock at the front door. Scratch turned invisible and went out to see who it was. He came back in with a worried look.
"It's one of the Chens!" he said.
Molly then rushed to the door saying "Please be Ollie. Please be Ollie. Please be Ollie."
She opened the door and it was Oliver Chen.
"Ollie!" Molly stepped outside and closed the door. "What brings you over today?"
"I was about to go clean one of the more littered parts of Brighton and wondered if you'd like to join me." Ollie said with a blush.
*Gasp!*"Yes! Uh...I mean...sure." Molly said, also blushing.
So the two of them headed to the park which still had room for improvement and started cleaning. After filling the first couple bags, Molly started feeling uncomfortable.
"I'll be right back. I gotta go." she said.
"Okay." Ollie said.
Molly rushed to the nearest restroom and did her business. At least she tried to, but nothing would come out of her.
"Oh come on. Why can't I go? Wait a minute." she pulled out her phone and asked it "Can pregnancy make a woman not be able to use the bathroom?"
After a second, the phone answered "Yes, pregnancy can cause constipation, especially in the third and seventh months."
"I was afraid of that."
A few minutes later, Molly gave up and left the restroom. Ollie was standing just outside, waiting for her.
"Are you alright?" he asked. "You've been in there for a while."
"Oh, sorry. I had a lot to get rid of." Molly lied.
"Maybe we should get you home." Ollie suggested as he placed a hand on her forehead to check her temperature.
"Okay." Molly said with a goofy crush smile.
As they returned to where they live, Molly started feeling hungry and fatigued, but had to hide both of those to avoid suspicion.
"Molly, I know it hasn't been that long since we met, but you seem a bit off." Ollie said. "Is something wrong?"
"Of course not." Molly lied. "Why would anything be wrong?"
It was then that the rest of the Chens came over from across the street.
"There you are, Ollie." Mr. Chen said. "It's time for family practice."
"I knew I forgot something. Sorry." Ollie said. "I hope you feel better, Molly."
"Thanks." Molly replied with a blush.
"Feel better?" June asked. "Did you overeat? Because that's what you're starting to look like."
"June! We talked about that." Mrs. Chen said.
"Oops. Sorry, Molly."
"No problem." Molly said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go again. Bye."
She got back in the house and rushed to the bathroom. The good news is it was empty. The bad news is Molly was still constipated.
"Note to self: Ask Grandma Nin to buy some laxatives."
Day 4
Scratch, Darryl, and Nin were a little surprised to see Molly acting more energetic than usual that morning even if they knew why. It was like she had too much coffee.
"Woo! I feel great today. Even with this." she said as she patted her belly.
Yesterday her bump was only a little visible. Today anyone could see it. At least her shirt still covered all of it. She headed to the front door and was about to open it when something occurred to her.
"Wait a minute." Molly looked at her belly and realized a big problem. "Oh no. I can't go out like this. Everybody will ask questions."
"You could fix that by ringing the gong." Nin offered while holding out said gong.
"Nice try, but it'll take more than this to make me surrender."
Suddenly the doorbell rang and Molly ran to her room to hide her shape. Nin opened the door and just outside was Andrea.
"Hello. I don't believe we've met." Nin said.
"Andrea Davenport. Best friend to Molly McGee." Andrea introduced.
"Ah yes. I'm Nin, her Grandmother. Molly mentioned what you did for my family."
"Good to know. Anyway, I heard that Molly collects plushies and thought she would totes love this plush kitty I don't want anymore." Andrea held out a yellow toy kitten.
"Did you say plush kitty!?" Molly foolishly zoomed back down and soon after facepalmed at her own blunder.
"Molly? What happened to you?" Andrea asked.
"I uh... I've been practicing for an eating contest out of town." Molly lied. "But I'm taking today off for exercise."
"Exercise? That's perfect! I'm doing that with a personal trainer for the first time today. Why don't you join me?"
Molly would've said no, but she did want to get out and do something.
"As long as nobody else sees me like this."
"Done! Let's go!" Molly grabbed Molly's wrist and took her to her parent's vehicle.
"You should've quit while you were ahead." Scratch laughed from next to Molly. "This I gotta see."
Later in a big room in the Davenport residence, a lady trainer waited for the girls. Andrea came in wearing an all pink gymnastic outfit and Molly followed wearing shorts and a sports bra.
"Are those stretch marks?" Andrea asked.
"I...ate a lot of food." Molly said.
Scratch just laughed at Molly's embarrassment.
"Alright, ladies. Let's begin." the trainer said. "We will start with sit-ups."
Molly was not happy for obvious reasons. They all got down on their backs with their knees up and their hands behind their heads.
"And go!" the trainer started bending up and down with the girls following suit.
Molly had a little trouble, but slowly did it. It took the trainer less than a minute to demonstrate twenty sit-ups, almost five minutes for Molly, and Andrea didn't even finish. The next few exercises weren't much better for either of them. They did push-ups, but Molly's gut slowed her down and Andrea's arms were too weak. They did jumping jacks, but Molly got embarrassed by her bouncing belly and Andrea tired out halfway. The only easy part for Molly was yoga and yet Andrea still sucked. Scratch was enjoying the show more than he expected. Eventually the exercises were over, so Molly and Andrea switched back to their usual clothing.
"Thanks for the help." Molly said. "But I think I'll exercise at home instead."
"That's okay." Andrea said. "I've decided not to do any of that again anyway."
They got in the same vehicle and returned to Molly's home. After Molly bidded Andrea farewell, she and Scratch went inside and to the kitchen.
"So, need a bottle of water?" Scratch joked.
"Heck no! Gimme some ice-cream with pickles!" Molly said. "I can't believe I just asked for that."
Grandma Nin came in and offered the gong again.
"Not gonna happen, Grandma."
Day 5
Molly had reached the middle of the bet and was looking at herself in the mirror. Thanks to her new belly size, her shirt had begun to ride up, showing a little skin.
"Well I guess I'm spending the last five days inside." Molly said.
As she climbed down the ladder and the stairs, her balance felt off, almost making her fall a couple times.
"Woah-oh-ah!" she would've fallen if Scratch hadn't caught her.
"Thanks, Scratch."
"No problem." Scratch said.
"Congratulations, Molly." Nin said. "You've reached the harder part of pregnancy."
Molly had a bad feeling about that.
After breakfast, Molly walked to the living room, but not comfortably. She held her back as well as her belly and her legs were starting to hurt. She reached the couch and had to catch her breath.
"Molly, are you alright?" Darryl asked.
"Yeah, Darryl. I'm fine." Molly said while grabbing the remote.
"Alright." Darryl left the house most likely to cause trouble.
Molly searched the channels for anything good on, but luck was not on her side this time. She looked outside and saw some of the kids having fun. She really wanted to go out there and do... anything, but she knew she temporarily couldn't. Then she looked at the little gong standing on the fireplace and began to consider ringing it.
"Are you thinking what I hope you're thinking?" Scratch caught her staring at the gong.
"What? No!" Molly could tell Scratch wasn't buying it. "Okay, maybe a little. It's just that I don't really like being cooped up. If it was one day, I'd be fine. But five? I'm gonna go crazy!"
"Again?"
"The point is I can't go anywhere and I really don't wanna lose this bet."
As much as Scratch wanted to eat more again, he didn't like seeing his best friend upset. So he made a reluctant decision.
*Sigh*"Maybe Libby can help."
"Great idea!" Molly perked up. "Why didn't I think of that?"
She pulled out her phone and called Libby.
"Hi, Libby. I have to spend the rest of the bet indoors, but I'm usually an outdoor person. Could you help me?"
Later, Libby came over and was a little surprised by Molly's current appearance.
"Wow, Molly." she said. "You're getting big."
"I know." Molly said. "So any ideas?"
Libby revealed a bag of stuff and said "Let's make you an honorary introvert."
They started with some books from Libby's collection. While reading, Molly would snack on chips and other treats even when turning a page. Scratch tried to steal some food, but Molly would either move the bowl or bite at him each time. She even growled like a dog.
"Molly, you're starting to scare me." Libby said.
"Sorry. It's these stupid cravings." Molly replied.
Later, Molly and Libby got the same idea to have a sleepover. So Molly asked Nin while Libby called her mom. They both got a yes, which meant Libby could help Molly get more used to staying inside. After Libby's mom stopped by, gave her a big hug, and dropped off what she needed, the girls and Scratch went to Molly's room with more snacks. That night while they were having a good time together, Libby got curious and asked Molly a question.
"Molly, what's it like so far?"
"Well it's a little weird to gain weight this quickly." Molly tried to explain. "But the side effects are more annoying. Mood swings, cravings, extra trips to the bathroom. And now my legs and back hurt. At least I'm not carrying a real baby."
Shortly after those words, Molly's face looked like she saw something she shouldn't, which confused her friends.
"Molly, what's with your face?" Scratch asked.
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Libby chimed in.
"I just felt something move in me." Molly stared at her belly. "Scratch! I thought you read the paper and made sure this was an imitation!"
"What!? I know I read that paper right!" Scratch said. "I'm gonna see for myself!"
He shrunk down to the size of a marble and flew inside of Molly. The girls were a little weirded out by that action, but they trusted him. It didn't take long for Scratch to come back out and return to normal size.
"False alarm." he said. "It's just my spectral magic in the shape of a baby. Nothing physical."
"Phew." Molly lied down with relief. "As much as I love babies, I'm nowhere near ready for that."
After that moment of panic, they all agreed to go to bed.
Day 6
Libby woke up and was surprised to see Molly also awake and with a bigger belly than yesterday. Once they were dressed and Scratch was awake too, they saw that Molly's shirt was now a third of the way up. They had breakfast and Libby got her stuff to leave except the bag she first brought over.
"Thanks for everything, Libby." Molly said.
"Glad I could help." Libby replied. "See you later."
And so she went home.
"So, Scratch, what do you wanna do today?" Molly asked.
"I'm so glad you asked." Scratch said. "Let's start with..."
Suddenly a ghost portal opened.
"Aw nuts. The ghost council must wanna talk about my new job again." Scratch was then sucked into the portal which disappeared shortly after.
"I guess I'll just see what Darryl and Grandma Nin are up to." Molly said.
"About that." Darryl said as he came into the room. "Grandma just left to get groceries."
Then somebody knocked on the front door.
"Quick. Get upstairs." Darryl whispered.
Molly hurried up the stairs as fast as she could, which was on the slow side today for obvious reasons.
"Who is it?" Darryl asked once Molly reached her room.
"It's Ollie."
Molly almost came back down, but she learned from her mistake and closed the door. Darryl opened the door and gave a convincing smile.
"Let me guess. You wanna see Molly?" he said.
"Actually, I think I dropped my phone last time I was here." Ollie said. "Do you mind if I look for it?"
"Go ahead. I'll help you."
And so they started searching for the phone. However, Ollie secretly pulled out a ghost detector to do what he really came for. Making sure the house didn't have any "evil" ghosts. He would've told Darryl the truth, but most people saw his family as crazy for that. Fortunately, Darryl was too smart to fall for such a trick. While Ollie checked the basement, Darryl rushed upstairs to check on Molly and warn her.
"Molly, we got a problem." he said. "Ollie says he lost his phone here, but he's obviously looking for ghosts."
"At least Scratch isn't here, but I still need to hide this just in case." Molly said as she shook her tummy. "And quickly. I'm heating up and... getting a little dizzy."
"Maybe it's time you rang that gong." Darryl suggested.
Molly was actually tempted to ring it, but she shook her head.
"No. I got an idea."
Ollie was already out of the basement and checking the rest of the first floor and the backyard. After finding nothing, he went up to the second floor and searched the remaining rooms. One by one, he found nothing in each room. There was now only one place he hasn't checked yet. Molly's room. He climbed up the ladder and knocked on the door, hoping the room above would be empty too. Darryl opened the door to his surprise.
"I forgot to tell you that Molly's sick." Darryl said. "But she said you could come in if you want as long as you don't get too close."
Ollie took the offer and came up. He almost forgot why he came here in the first place because he was quite impressed by his surroundings. Luckily, his ghost detector didn't go off, so the entire house was "clear".
"Wow, Molly. Your room is better than I thought." he said. "But why are you covered with plushies?"
Stuffed toys were piled up on Molly's bed and only her head could be seen.
"Toys always make me feel better." Molly said.
"Oh. Well I'll let you rest. Bye."
"Bye, Ollie."
As soon as Molly and Darryl were both sure that Ollie had left the house, the former got out of bed, causing her plushies to fall everywhere.
"That was close." she said.
"Yeah. Good thing you already have so many plushies." Darryl said.
Shortly after, Scratch returned and threw off his chairman robe.
"Glad that's over." he said. "So, what'd I miss?"
Day 7
This time, Molly had trouble getting her shirt down. The best she could do was halfway down her big belly.
"I'm gonna call this a win." she said.
Three seconds later, her shirt rode back up, revealing her entire belly.
"And I'll call that a lose." Scratch teased.
Molly gave up and went downstairs with Scratch. The curse was already making it tricky to go up and down, but now it was getting hard to go anywhere, especially with all the pain in her back and hips. She sat down in the kitchen with the others and enjoyed a big breakfast.
"Wow, you've really grown a lot, Molly." Darryl said.
"Yeah, if you weren't alive, I'd think you ate like me." Scratch teased again.
His laugh was however cut short, because it was clear that Molly's condition was getting to her.
"If it's bothering you that much, maybe you should ring the gong." Nin said while placing said gong on the table.
Molly looked at it and felt more tempted than yesterday. She raised her hand, then put it down. She lifted it closer to the gong, then retracted.
"Eegh." Molly moved her hand back and forth repeatedly.
Then she made up her mind.
"No! I will win the bet! I Molly McGee guarantee it!"
"Drat!" Scratch crossed his arms. "I was really hoping you'd give up so I can eat what I want again."
Molly left the kitchen and sat on the couch in the living room to watch a movie or two. Unfortunately she repeatedly had to pause so she could use the bathroom. After the fifth pee break, she gave up on the movies. And yet that was when her bladder ran out. Scratch and Darryl came over with something behind the latter's back.
"Hey, Molly. I know you're not much of a gamer, but..." Darryl revealed a game console and controller. "Maybe playing a video game might help too."
"I guess I could try that." Molly said. "What have you got?"
"Well the best I could find that you might like is this." Darryl put the console down and showed Molly the ideal game. "reBELLIOUS. It's about a super-powered guy who either makes the city a better or worse place depending on what the player chooses."
"You can guess what Darryl chose." Scratch commented.
"No way. A game where I can enhappify a whole city!?" Molly really liked what she heard. "Sure I've been doing it for real for a while now, but I'll gladly take the next best thing!"
So Darryl set up the game and Molly started playing. The controls took a little getting used to, but Molly was starting to have fun. From saving the innocent to traversing the city in super ways, she really enjoyed the experience.
"Aha! Got the last bomb." Molly cheered. "And as for you... STOP SHOOTING ME!"
She had the guy she was playing as blast her attacker repeatedly.
"When you're done, I'm playing next so I can be as bad as possible." Scratch said with a mischievous chuckle.
"I think I already am." Molly said. "I'm starting to overheat now. Thanks a lot, Darryl."
"Anytime, Molly." Darryl replied.
Molly slowly moved to the kitchen while dealing with a lot of pain and opened the fridge. She got herself the coldest ice cold water possible and drank a gallon's worth, hoping it would make her stop feeling so hot. It helped a little, but not enough. The temptation to ring that gong was getting stronger as Molly gained more symptoms. Nin even offered it again when she came in and saw her pondering.
"Should I?" Molly said. "No! Yes. No... Yes! No. Yes. No. Yes... NO!"
She finally made up her mind and left the kitchen as slowly as she entered. She went back to the living room, turned on the air conditioner, and sat on the couch to watch how well Scratch was doing.
He was doing bad.
"How many of you are there!? Oh no, I gotta run. Come on, come on, come on. Phew. Safe at last. What the-Oh no!" *BOOM!* "Darn it! Why is anybody even stupid enough to blow themselves up!?"
Despite the good question, Molly giggled at Scratch's expense.
Day 8
Molly lied on her bed looking tired and not only was her belly bigger yet again, but her navel was practically a flat surface. Scratch came out of his dollhouse and was surprised to see Molly in the state she was in.
"You doing okay, Moll?" he asked.
"I couldn't sleep at all last night." Molly said without looking at her bestie. "Usually I go a whole night without sleep on purpose, but this time it just happened. And do you know why I couldn't sleep?"
"Force of habit?" Scratch guessed.
"NO! It's because of this stupid curse!" Molly snapped as she sat up and shook her big round belly. "For a whole week, I've been barfing, peeing, hurting, heating up, pigging out, and not being me! Pregnancy is supposed to be a happy experience, not a frustrating pain in the butt and I... just... can't... Wahhhhh-eh-eh-eh!"
This was one of the worst states Scratch had seen Molly in yet, so naturally he had to do something.
"Uh... why don't I bring your breakfast to you this time?" he offered.
"Thank you, Scratch." Molly said as she calmed down.
After having breakfast and getting dressed with the obvious exception, Molly came downstairs with the same pains along with leg cramps and now the need to catch her breath. Then she had to use the bathroom again. When she came out, Scratch, Darryl, and Grandma Nin all looked at her with concern.
"Is something wrong?" Molly asked.
"Yeah, you." Scratch answered.
"Maybe you should just forfeit, Molly." Darryl said.
"Whaaat? Oh come on. It's not that hard." Molly tried to claim.
"You've been liking it less each day." Nin stated. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice?"
"And you had a complete meltdown this morning." Scratch added.
"Maybe a nine day version is too much."
"No it's not and I can handle it!" Molly shouted before covering her mouth with guilt. "I'm so sorry."
"Mood swings are quite normal." Nin assured. "You should've seen how your mother behaved when she carried each of you."
Molly still looked ashamed of herself.
"I never thought I'd say this, but I want to be alone right now." she said, ending the conversation and going to the basement where it was the coldest with hope to cool off in more ways than one.
Throughout the day, Molly continued to struggle with the downsides of pregnancy. Everytime she walked to any part of the house, she had to sit down to rest her legs and catch her breath, then struggle to get back up. She also had as many snacks as she did bathroom breaks which were a lot. She eventually just went to her room and tried to play with the stuff Libby lent her, but even simply seeing her belly constantly frustrated her.
"Alright, that does it!" Molly had it. "Scratch! Could you come up here please!?"
Due to the door being open, Scratch was able to hear Molly and he rushed upstairs.
"What's up, Molly?" he asked.
"Could you go get the gong please?" Molly requested. "I'm ready to ring it."
*GASP!*"Yes! Finally! I can hog all the food again instead of you!" Scratch shouted as if it were a miracle. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back."
He then poofed away and Molly waited. After a few seconds, Scratch returned with the gong and stick just as quickly.
"Here you go. Ring away."
Molly took the stick and raised her arm. Scratch held the gong and almost shook with anticipation. Molly swung her arm, ready to end the eight days she had to go through. But then she stopped just a couple inches away and thought about it.
"Uhh, Molly. You're supposed to hit the gong." Scratch impatiently said.
"Actually, I changed my mind." Molly said.
"What!?"
"I'm on the eighth of nine days. I shouldn't give up when I'm almost there. Besides, I never liked abortion, even if this is just an imitation."
Molly dropped the stick and sat on her bed, proud of her own choice.
"AHHHHH! I was so close!" Scratch screamed before leaving the room.
Day 9
Molly stood infront of her mirror after getting dressed for the day and unlike yesterday, she was admiring her still exposed belly which was now bigger than her head and with an outie.
"You know, Scratch? Now that I got all my whining out of the way, I actually look good at full term." she said.
"Whatever you say, Fatso." Scratch commented.
As usual, they went downstairs and had breakfast. However, Scratch was unaware of what Molly had planned for today. Soon enough, the doorbell rang. Nin answered the door and there stood Libby.
"Hello, Libby. Please come in." Nin said.
"Thanks. How's Molly doing on her final day?" Libby asked.
"You called?" Molly responded while patting her tummy.
"Oh my gosh! It's bigger than I thought it would be."
"Yes it is. And now that you're here, you can join me as I make the best of this on my last day."
"And how do you plan to do that?" Scratch asked.
Molly gave him her typical happy smile while holding her belly and said "I'm gonna play with it."
And so began several fun activities. First Molly lied down on the couch as Darryl, Libby, and Scratch all pretended some little figure they were holding were climbing a mountain. Nin sat back and watched out of amusement.
"We have reached the top of Mount Evergut!" Libby said with a deep accent.
Then the spectral magic in Molly's belly moved around and even kicked.
"Did you feel that?" Scratch said with a faux shock. "I think the mountain is alive!"
"No. It's worse." Darryl said, pretending to be afraid. "It's an..."
"EARTHQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!" Molly and Darryl screamed as the former shook her belly, causing everyone in the room to laugh.
Later, Molly gave all of them including Nin markers and offered her belly as a canvas. All four of them put their heads together quietly in order to surprise Molly. Once they finished whispering, they each started drawing on different areas. When they all finished, Scratch flew upstairs and came back down with Molly's mirror to let her see their masterpiece. It was a monster face with five eyes, rows of sharp teeth, goblin ears, an animalistic nose where her bellybutton was, and pincer-like horns.
"Sweet baby corn. I'm a belly monster." Molly said before she looked at them all evilly. "And I'm gonna eat you!"
They all ran around the room as Molly randomly chased them, making amateur growls occasionally getting one of them. She needed to rest for a while afterwards, but it was worth it.
When lunchtime came, Nin called for take-out and ordered whatever Molly wanted. Later, what was practically a Chinese buffet was delivered. Everyone else had some too, but Molly was given the lion's share, which made Scratch jealous. Molly managed to eat enough food meant for five people, which surprised herself, but she was satisfied.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you really were pregnant." Nin said.
"At least I don't feel sick from eating so much this time." Molly replied while happily rubbing her full belly.
The rest of the day had become smooth sailing thanks to Molly's optimism. Eventually, Libby went home, dinner was had, and Molly stayed up to enjoy the remainder of the curse. At that point, she stayed in the living room and mostly stuck to books and television with Scratch by her side and Darryl had gone to sleep. It was almost midnight when Nin sat next to them on the couch.
"So, Molly, what do you think of pregnancy now?" Nin asked.
"Well, I didn't want to say this, but... you were right." Molly admitted. "Pregnancy is a lot harder than it looks. Sometimes I was actually scared of the idea of doing it for real."
She looked at her huge belly and caressed it with both hands.
"But then I grew to love it and..." she looked back up at Nin. "Now I'm looking forward to really be pregnant more than ever."
"Good for you." Nin said.
Molly then looked at her phone and said "Oh, one more thing."
"What?"
Molly showed her the phone and the clock on it went from 11:59 to midnight.
"I still win the bet." Molly answered.
Her belly then slowly shrunk back to normal, her outie returned to being an innie, and her shirt slid back down afterwards.
"So you do." Nin said.
"Glad that's over. And now to make up for lost time." Scratch said before flying over to the kitchen for a literal midnight snack.
Molly got up and danced victoriously, not only because she won, but also because her body could move like it did before again.
"Woooooh! Soon my plushie family will be bigger than ever!"
It was then that head lights flashed through the window.
"Mom and Dad are back!"
"Let's keep what happened between us." Nin suggested.
"Sure." Molly agreed.
And so they greeted Pete and Sharon as soon as they came in. The two parents were so tired that they couldn't possibly learn what had happened while they were gone. At least until Scratch blabber-mouthed the whole thing the next morning.
Author's Note: Yes I know I chose another strange curse. I thought I'd try something that seemed risky to me. I may not know everything about pregnancy, but I did do some research to get the symptoms right, even if I didn't use all of them. Though I wouldn't be surprised if I messed something up. Originally I planned to have Pete and Sharon witness this curse, but then I realized it was better if they were on vacation since it's impossible for a parent to approve of such a thing. Also, I was going to wait until at least chapter eleven to bring in any of the Chens, but I had trouble coming up with how Molly would spend each of the nine days and needed something. So from now on until further notice, my curse stories will actually take place in season 2. Some more specific than others.
Oh, and on a side note: Is anybody besides me surprised by the random similarities between Season 2 and my fanfic? Turtle-sitting, Molly over-working herself, even one of my curse ideas sort of came true. I know that could happen to anyone, but still.
Next time, Scratch will NOT curse anybody.