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This was a hellish mistake that False can't take back.
Every symptom that comes with pregnancy, every possible minor complication, she ran into it. Every last one.
Maybe she was a bit dramatic, but sometimes that happens when you fall into a pit of dysmorphia you never even realized you had.
Today was no different honestly. Sore back, achy head and feet, braxton hicks hitting right as the babe kicked her. Just generally feeling out of it.
She opted to stay home, wrapped in nothing but one of Cleo's tops that barely fit and sweatpants as she lay on her couch with a groan as the baby inside her stirs again.
Cleo doesn't sit far away, having not left her side since she was put on bed rest for early contractions a month before.
"This must be awful for you." They sigh, moving to sit next to her.
"At least he's more settled today than he has been in the past few months." False grunts as she sets a hand on her belly, rubbing the bottom of it as she winces. "Still sitting very low though."
Cleo reaches over to take False's other hand, their fingers easily interlocking like puzzle pieces. "Just a few more days, False."
False doesn't want to look down at herself, doesn't want to see the bump. Sure she wasn't really showing at all, still looked like she was at the end of her first term when she was nearly thirty-eight weeks along, yet still it felt off.
She shifts how she sits, trying to get more comfortable, but it doesn't help much.
"Why couldn't we just plan the c-section for today?" False groans.
"Sounds like it's time to hold your bump again." Cleo sighs with a smile, easily leaning over her.
They pull her up onto her feet before standing behind her, tucking their hands under False's belly as she sighs and leans back against the shorter player.
If there is one upside to being pregnant, it's the devotion and gentleness she has gotten from Cleo. Endlessly caring, endlessly there for her. Didn't matter what issue False had at the moment, didn't matter what it involved, Cleo would still be nearby.
It was nice, especially in moments when False felt so close to crumbling—
Without warning, she feels something inside her pop. Her face lights up a vibrant pink as she turns to look at Cleo, the zombie sharing a similar expression of shocks.
"Did—"
"I think so?" False says quietly.
"That explains your crampiness from yesterday…" Cleo mutters
False can hear her heart in her ears, pounding as a realization finally truly dawns on her. Was she in labor? How early or late? Were those really contractions earlier or were they just cramps?
"Why don't you sit down for a moment?" Cleo says calmly as she directs False back onto the couch. "I'll call Ren and Doc, we'll figure out what to do from there, alright?"
"O-okay." False murmurs, still too stunned to say anything.
Cleo brings her comm out in one swift motion, surprisingly fast for the usually pained zombie as she dials and calls someone.
"Ren, I need you and Doc to come to False's place as quickly as you can." Cleo says steadily, though False can tell they're keeping their emotions at bay for her sake.
"False's water broke, we're at—" They gasp in annoyance, rolling their eyes as they groan. "She's fine, but we need you— no she hasn't had contractions! Just come here!"
Her partner pinches their nose, sighing as they do. "For fuck's sake, calm down or I'm taking her to the hospital without you."
They hangup then, looking to False with an exasperated expression.
"I care about him, I do, but sometimes he's so—" Cleo motions with her hands. "Himself…"
It gets a small smile out of False, but her body starts to tremor as the anxiety sets back in. Oh gods, what if they weren't anxiety tremors? What if it was something bad? What if—
The door bursts open then, Ren charging in and sitting by her side like the loyal dog that he is.
"False?" He asks quickly. "Are you okay? Is— you're having a panic attack, it's okay. I'm right here."
"No it's not, Ren." False says coldly. "I might be in labor! My water just broke!"
"Which is why we're taking you to the hospital, we just have the wait—"
"Ren, I can't keep waiting around." False chokes. "I can't keep waiting until this baby falls out of me. I need help now."
The werewolf looks from False to Cleo and back again, his ears pinning down at the cold eyes on him.
"But— but Doc wanted to be there for the birth… He's not that far away! He told me when I messaged him! It'll only take a moment." Ren says desperately, holding tightly to False's hands.
"And at any moment her contractions could pick up and she could end up giving birth instead of having a c-section like she wanted." Cleo adds on. "What False needs is kinda more important than what you and Doc want right now."
He looks between them again before sighing and nodding his head. "Okay, I'll go without him."
"Thank you. Now could you help us get to the hospital without the server panicking and quietly tell X or Hypno the situation?" Cleo asks bluntly. "That'd be very nice."
"Yes, sir." Ren blurts.
Cleo turns to False then, taking her hands again as Ren lets go of them. "I'll get the go-bag. Are you fine with sitting here on your own for a moment?"
"Y-yeah, I can handle a moment." False nods.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
They kiss her cheek before leaving the room, only disappearing for a minute and returning just as Ren ends his call.
"X said the nearest portal should send us to the hospital and is warning the server right now." Ren tells them as he walks to Cleo. "I'll take the go-bag, you two focus on each other."
"Thank you, Ren." Cleo nods as she goes back to False's side, putting out her hand as she does.
False takes Cleo's outstretched hand and lets the short zombie pull her up, but winces once she's on her feet as—
"I think my contractions just started…"
"Shit."
— ❁ – ❁ – ❁ —
Everything passes all too quickly but at the same time at a snail's pace as they pass through the portal and into a nearly empty waiting room.
False honestly isn't surprised by the emptiness, the sun was still out after all and, according to Doc, most births happened under the safety of night.
Ren talks to the receptionist as her head swims, leaning into Cleo more than she intends to as her partner tries to squeeze her hand to ground her.
Before she knows it, she's being sat in a chair and wheeled down the hall and up an elevator then finally into a room where she's given a gown.
She's barely given a moment to breathe, everything around her is spinning and—
"Mrs. Falsesymmetry, correct?" Mrs?
She looks up only to see Ren at the doorway as he talks to Cleo with a somber expression. Had he pulled the Lavender Marriage card again without telling her?
"Yes?" She asked, her voice easily laced with confusion.
"Your partner, RenDog—" yep, Lavender Marriage it is. "Said you wanted a c-section? I needed a confirmation from you before I gave you the paperwork."
"I— I actually had one planned to happen in a few days, my water just broke early and I started having—" She winces as she holds her back, worse than the last one that had hit her.
Cleo is by her side in an instant, directing her to sit on the bed as they squeeze her hand. It's a small thing, but it helps her ground as she breathes through her nose slowly.
Once it passes, the nurse gives her a clipboard with a few pages clipped on and a few pages attached.
"After these are signed, I'll go get the anesthesiologist so we can get your epidural." The nurse says before she leaves the room, but not before giving the three of them an odd sort of look.
Only False, Cleo, and Ren are left in the room, two glaring up at one as the first sighs.
"Did you seriously have to say we were married?" False says in annoyance. "You could've just called me your surrogate."
"I panicked, False! I didn't know what to do." Ren yelps.
"Which is why I was supposed to do things, remember?" Cleo sighs.
Ren pouts quietly from where he stands, looking at the ground as he gets scolded.
False looks at the gown now tucked in her lap, fiddling with it for a moment as she sighs. "I should probably change into this…"
They look to Ren again, staring him down until he looks up and blushes. "Oh, I'll leave!"
The door slams behind him, leaving just Cleo and False.
"Which of us is going to join you?" Cleo asks once they're alone.
"What do you mean?" False asks as she pulls her shirt off.
"What I mean is they usually only allow one other person in the operating room."
False pauses as she goes to slip off her pants, turning her head up to Cleo slowly as she does. "I have to choose…"
"Yes, you have to choose." Cleo says with a nod. "But knowing the situation, I think I know who you will pick."
Her brain finally catches up, making her sigh as she pulls her pants off and kicks them away.
"You know I have to pick Ren." False sighs. "It's his son after all."
"But is that what you want?" Cleo asks softly.
She finally pulls the gown over her, shifting it until she feels at least half-way comfortable with it. The action gives her a moment, even if just a moment, to think it over.
There's a part of her that wants Cleo's cold sort of comfort, just wanting to exist with them there. There's another part that wants to see Ren's smile, see his tail wag, see his unbridled joy at getting to see his baby.
"False?" Cleo presses.
"I can't see a world where he isn't there, Cleo." False finally says as she pulls on the gown. "I just— I want to see him be happy about this and get to experience it… at least one of us will be happy about it."
Cleo holds out their hands for False to take, letting her slide her hands into theirs gently.
"If that's what you want, then I'll stay outside and wait for you to wake up from surgery." They says softly.
They pull towards each other so easily, kissing gently as Cleo cups her cheek.
"The nurses must think we're cheating." Cleo laughs.
"That or someone was lying." False adds.
"Yeah…" They hum.
— ❁ – ❁ – ❁ —
It feels like forever before she's being wheeled into the operating room, anesthetics working themselves through her blood and making her lower body numb as Ren follows closely behind her.
She tries not to let her anxieties show, but she's sure they're shining brightly as a curtain is putting over her chest.
Ren has changed into new clothes by now, wearing a surgeon's outfit over his usual clothes as he leans to look behind the curtain.
"Ren?" She asks tiredly. "What are you doing?"
"Being curious." He answers simply.
The nurse on False's other side gives Ren a dismissive sort of expression before sighing. "It's natural to be curious, but please don't get in the way."
"Yes, ma'am." Ren says with a nod, but still his eyes gaze away.
"What you're going to feel is a tiny bit of pressure in your tummy when they make the first fee incisions, this is completely normal." The nurse says calmly.
"Okay…" False murmurs.
If she had been falling asleep before, she's definitely awake now as the she's sliced open. It feels weird being wide awake while on the operating table as layer after layer is either cut or pushed out of the way.
Doc had shown a sort of diagram to her when she decided on a c-section, the things they'd cut or push away. It'd weird seeing it, but actually experiencing it definitely felt surreal.
Soon enough, she hears the district sounds of a baby's wail. It echoes off the anxious silence of her head, bouncing from one side to the other.
"Do you want to see your baby?" The nurse asks.
He's not mine bites at her lip, but she shrugs it off. "Yes?"
The baby is brought close enough to her for her tired brain to register the shape of a saddled infant and a few words come to mind.
Damp, that's the first word that pops up when she sees the baby. Gross is another, but not in a harsh way, more in the 'this thing is covered in something gross' way.
The last word she can think of, more a feeling than anything, is pure and total relief. Relief that this is all done, only being left to heal. Relief that she can go back to normal. Relief that, hopefully, Ren would no longer be hovering over her every movement like a worried puppy.
And speaking of Ren being nothing more than a puppy, his tail is wagging faster than she's ever seen it! His eyes light up behind his mask and False doesn't even need to see his giddy smile to know it's there.
"False! Look at him!" He cheers. "Look at my son."
"Ren, your tail." She croaks sleepily as she laughs. "You'll hit someone."
"Oh, sorry." He says as he grabs his own tail.
It doesn't do much, even as the babe is whisked away once more to be cleaned up.
There's that pressure again, of her insides being played with as she's cleaned then sewed back up. False almost wants to wriggle away and hide from it,
"You can rest now, sweetheart. We'll wake you up again when it's time to feed your baby." They say gently.
Oh gods, she has to feed it doesn't she? Not freed from this truly as her body remembers the toll of it on her.
She's panicking, truly panicking, as sleep steadily takes her…
— ❁ – ❁ – ❁ —
False feels like she's swimming through murky water as she comes into consciousness.
Her head feels full of cotton and there's a organs deep pang in her belly.
A groans leaves her so easily, something involuntary as her mind starts to process what all has happened and—
"It's okay, False. You're safe." Someone says soothingly, their voice is quiet but steady.
It calms her a bit, whatever hind panic she had been in washing away as she lets herself wake up slowly instead of fighting against the current.
What happened again? She'd gone to the hospital—
Cold water splashes into her thoughts, jolting her awake as she opens her eyes.
Yep, she was still in the hospital. Cleo sat beside her bed, but there was whispering from another part of the room.
False can't help but groan again, not yet awake enough for words as Cleo combs a hand through her hair.
"Take your time, False." They say gently.
"Where's…" She mumbles.
"Ren's outside with Doc." Cleo says quietly.
"Doc?"
"I forced them to tell the whole story." Cleo sighs. "I was tired of getting weird looks from the staff, but they're still doing it.
"At least telling them everything means I get to be here with you as you wake up." Cleo says as they cup her cheek.
False hums affectionately, weakly leaning into the touch before lazily cupping her hand over theirs.
There's a gentle sort of stillness as scarred fingers rub over her soft skin. Gods, her blush has probably a bit smudged by now.
"The baby is in here by the way. He's healthy." Cleo says quietly. "If you wanted to see him on your own."
She sighs, wincing quietly as the movement causes her surgery site to move and cause more pain.
"Be careful." Cleo laughs.
"Hard to be when my belly was just cut wide open." False says as she rolls her eyes.
The zombie sighs as they shake their head, but soon turn to something on False's other side.
Before she can turn to look at the baby, there's a small knock on the door quickly followed by Cleo's sigh. "I think our boys want in."
"Let them in." False says softly. "They deserve to see their son."
Cleo kisses the top of False's head before leaving to open the door.
The duo come into the room tentatively, Ren holding his own hands with his fluffy tail tucked between his legs. This being said, it's still wags as he looks to False's other side.
It makes False smile as his eyes light up, but he comes to her bedside instead of his son's. "False? You look half-dead."
"I just woke up from a nap after having major surgery, Ren." She laughs.
"Can't a man still be concerned for his best friend?" He asks softly.
"Of course you can." She says softly.
Again her bangs are being pulled out of her eyes, this time by delicate claws as Ren smiles down at her.
"I'm sorry I made you go through this all for one small thing." Ren apologizes softly.
"It isn't one small thing, Ren." False sighs. "And I knew the costs from the beginning, you don't need to worry so much about me."
There's a green furred hand on Ren's shoulder, another on his chin that makes him look from False to the other man beside him. His body softens before her eyes, his tail untucking as it sways slowly behind him.
Wordlessly, the two men go around her bed to the other side, False watching them as they do. Soon enough, Doc is scooping a little blur of—
Is… is the baby blonde?
Blurry memories come back to her, a damp figured covered head to toe in fur, the only thing that wasn't fluffy was their little face. All of that fur, though colored in different patchy shades, was blonde like her.
"How— I— I only carried him, how—"
"Recessive genes." Doc says plainly before turning to Ren. "He takes after Ren's family, I'm sure?"
"Yeah, my grandmother!" The werewolf says as he nods.
Doc hums, turning back to the baby in his arms. They sleep peacefully, likely as exhausted as False had been after the entire ordeal.
Ren reaches towards the baby, brushing his fingers through the tangle of fur. "Coarse, just like yours."
"He is a creeper chimera like I am." Doc huffs, sounding stern despite his smile. "He still has your blue eyes."
False lets herself get comfortable in the bed, simply watching as they compare their little one to each other. It almost makes everything worth it in the end…
"What are you two naming him again?" Cleo asks on False's other side.
They look to each other, smiling as they do.
"Oberon, after one of Uranus' moons." Doc announces calmly. "We're naming him Oberon."