(Please see all previous disclaimers. M preg here)
Optimus sat on the couch and waited, his sparked systems feeling totally out of whack. He would feel hot, then cold. Then his mood would shift from anger to happy to sad to impatient to worried. This sparking was throwing his systems for a total loop. He usually was in such good control of his systems as well as his emotions, but this shattered that. His systems felt completely and utterly whacked out and he knew it would only continue as he carried the precious little ones in his sparkling development chambers.
And as he sat waiting, he thought back to when Aquaformer carried the six they currently had. She had her moody moments and her needy moments. She had her hard times and her easy times. She struggled at times, but the combination of her strength and his strength had helped her through. He only now understood just how out of whack she felt. He held greater respect for her, as she had carried all those sparklings and still managed to keep a somewhat normal life. Only now did he see how hard she must have worked just to maintain some sense of normalcy.
And as Optimus mused, Aquaformer returned to their shared quarters. She quickly spotted him sitting on the bot sized couch, his processor obviously focused elsewhere. She gently and carefully approached him, as she knew just how powerful the mood swings could be. She knew that though she was about the same size as him, his strength far exceeded hers and she didn't want that strength aimed at her in a fitful rage. "Beloved, I'm back" she spoke gently, hoping to gently rouse Optimus out of his deep thoughts. She sat next to him on the couch, rubbing his back and hoping he would be happy to see she was back from dropping the little ones off.
Optimus heard the soft, gentle yet deep voice and soon turned to his mate. He smiled when he saw her. "I'm glad you're back" he started before snuggling into her. "I…I…I need…"
Aquaformer smiled softly. "I know what you need, my sweet love. You need some energon and then some adult fun" Aquaformer replied, knowing Optimus didn't want to admit he needed her. She already knew what he needed. She carefully helped feed him the energon he needed and then led him to their berthroom. She took care of his other need and soon, both were sound asleep, with Optimus snuggled tightly into Aquaformer. Aquaformer smiled and dozed off, systems set in case she or Optimus were needed. She hoped that he would safely make it through this time, as she knew from her training that first sparklings were dangerous, especially for mechs. Only time would tell. Until then, she planned to do everything in her power to make sure her mate and all the little ones survived and thrived.