Chapter Text
“You are a liar, Armando.” Grace crossed his arms, his palms sweating as he received the news from Armando about his symptoms over the past few weeks.
The robot nanny did not seem to care or react as it simply ran another scan. “Dr. Ryland Grace, current diagnosis: high blood sugar, high anxiety levels, fatigue, and 4 weeks pregnant.”
Grace flinched at the last one. That was exactly what Armando had said before, now just repeating it again.
“No, no. You are wrong. Something's wrong with those scanners you have.” Grace started pacing around, looking for any buggy wire or something that must have caused the misdiagnosis.
Armando turned and followed where he went. “I suggest resting. Pregnancy is rough during the first trimester. Do you want me to suggest diets to follow?”
Grace stopped. “No! Because you're wrong!”
“Scan shows stress levels are high. High stress levels can be bad for the baby. I suggest resting. Pregnancy is rough.”
Grace scoffed and groaned as he left the room, letting Armando repeat itself and not bothering to argue with a robot anymore. Grace went back to the bedroom and paced around like a nervous wreck.
How.
How did this happen?
How did he let this happen?
He and Simon had been careful most of the time. Sure, there were some heated moments. Being the only two touch starved men on this planet tends to do that to them.
But...
Good God.
What was Grace gonna do? Kids were never even part of his life plan. Sure, he loved kids. He loved his students back on Earth like they were his own. But this was different. This was his.
He was carrying this.
God, he was so caught up in what he thought about this that he almost forgot about Simon. What was Simon gonna think of this?!
Simon rarely talked about children. The topic never really came up between him and Grace. And Grace distinctly remembered Simon not being a fan of children through some of the movies he showed him. Did he even want kids?
It was all too much. He could feel himself getting emotional way too quickly. He needed to talk to someone.
Not Simon, not right now.
He needed his best friend.
Grace's heart fell when he remembered Rocky had not been responding to anything for two whole months now. No visits, calls, texts, not even updates from the other Eridian scientists.
Grace knew Rocky was a busy guy, had an amazing partner and job and all. But surely ignoring Grace for that long was not a good sign.
Rocky always visited. He never missed a day greeting Grace. He came by even if it was only for a minute.
Grace sighed harshly. If Rocky left, he would've told him, right? If hypothetically another space mission were to happen and Rocky was needed again, they would tell Grace, right?
Grace had to stop himself from thinking about that before he burst into tears. He decided to just grab his laptop and boot it up.
He opened his messages with Rocky.
Grace had no energy left to type, so he moved the cursor to the voicemail option.
He breathed in to calm himself down before speaking.
“Hey, Rock. I know it's been a while. You're probably busy, but... I miss you. I don't know about you Eridians, but... two months is a lot. I'm honestly worried. Please come visit anytime, okay? Other than me worrying, things have been well. Simon's been good. He's been busy with the garden a lot now, thanks for that by the way, but... I need you. I need to talk to you. Please...” Grace stopped and sighed, not knowing if he should tell him now or not.
“Just... I need you, bud. Come by anytime, okay? No pressure.” He stopped it there and sent it. God, he felt like a mess. He had not cried yet, thank God. He did not want to look more like a mess than he already was.
But he did not know how long he could hold it together.
Speaking of the devil, he heard a door open.
“Grace?” Simon called out.
Grace flinched, not knowing what to do. “I I'm here!” he called out and put away the laptop.
He heard footsteps approaching, revealing Simon in a plain black shirt and boots. His one and only arm was covered by a bright yellow gardening glove still covered in dirt.
“Hey...” Simon greeted.
Grace smiled softly, trying to keep it together. “Hey... How's the garden?”
Simon took off his boots and set them aside while biting at the glove to help pull it off.
“Fine. We'll be able to grow crops from it soon, I hope.”
Grace smiled. “Oh, that's amazing. Honestly, it's like you're a natural. Born with a green thumb.”
Simon raised a brow. “Green thumb?”
“It's Earth slang, which means you're great at gardening.”
Simon simply nodded. “I see...”
Then silence.
Grace gulped. Usually these moments were normal. Simon, despite being here for two years now, was still very socially awkward, just like the day he arrived. And he handled silence well. Usually it meant Grace got to take over and ramble about his class, science, or other stuff.
But Grace was on edge right now, as the thought of him being pregnant while the father of his child stood right here, oblivious to it all, was not doing wonders for his head.
Grace kept his cool though and played it off. “Well... you've been out there a while. Why don't we fix ourselves some dinner? What do you want?”
Simon hummed. “I liked... the eggs you made.”
Grace never corrected Simon on the concept of what food should be for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Food was food. If Simon wanted bacon and eggs for dinner, then they got bacon and eggs for dinner. Grace was never picky after all, and he was happy to let Simon choose as he explored foods he had never tried before.
But right now, Grace's stomach recoiled at the thought of it. For some reason, eggs sounded disgusting right now.
“Right, well, I can make you some eggs.”
Simon raised a brow. “What about you?”
Grace shook his head. “Not... really feelin' it.”
“You should eat,” Simon said.
“I'm still full from earlier.”
“You puked earlier.”
Right.
His symptoms. Of course. Simon saw him puke. He's been seeing Grace puke and become weak for the past few weeks.
“Grace, what's wrong?” Simon's eyebrows furrowed.
“Nothing! Really, just a stomach thing. Armando already scanned me earlier. Just some minor stuff.” Grace tried to wave it off.
Simon still did not look convinced. He looked at Grace with doubt. “Really?”
Grace smiled and nodded. “Yeah, of course. Sorry I'm not built to survive everything like you.” Grace chuckled, trying to joke.
Simon did not crack a smile. He just stared at Grace with confusion and seriousness in his eyes. “You'll tell me if something is wrong, okay?”
Grace's smile faltered, his heart beating fast.
“Of course."
________________________
Only Simon ate dinner that night. Grace unfortunately could not stomach anything. He tried to eat with Simon, he really did. But any food he tried, his body rejected.
He could tell Simon was worried, confused, and doubtful of Grace right now. But Grace did not know what to do.
He should know what to do.
It broke his heart seeing Simon become slightly distant after eating, insisting on sleeping early.
It's all so messed up now.
Grace was currently wide awake, lying right next to Simon, who slept facing away from him.
He rarely did that.
Simon, as much as he denied it, was mostly the clingy one between them. He never missed the opportunity to cuddle up next to Grace while sleeping. Now...
He was hugging himself and a thin blanket.
Not him.
Grace felt bad. He's been pushing Simon away. Hiding something huge from him. But how do you tell someone something like this?
Where does one even start when telling someone they're gonna have a child?
Grace just sighed and closed his eyes. The sound of the distant ocean waves outside mixed with Simon's soft snoring beside him was deafening.
Suddenly..
A knocking sound came from the front door.
It was soft, very soft.
Not a hard knock to alert them if they were asleep, but a very soft knock, as if it could only be heard by someone already awake.
And lo and behold, Grace was the only one awake.
Grace sighed again and sat up, confused. Who could be knocking at this hour?
Grace weighed his choices. He could easily ignore it. But curiosity was getting to him because the knocking seemed persistent.
“Oh my gosh...” Grace rubbed his face, quietly groaning as he slid out of bed. He looked back at Simon, who was still completely out cold.
Grace carefully started walking out of the room. It did not help that he still felt weak and tired.
“I'm comin'...” Grace rubbed his eyes as he eventually reached the door and opened it.
Grace's eyes widened and his body froze.
A familiar rock alien in his xenonite suit waved happily.
“Hi, Grace!”
Grace almost dropped to his knees and pulled Rocky into a hug. Despite the rock being 300 pounds, he tried his absolute damndest to hug him.
“Rocky! Holy crap... Oh my God, you're here...” Grace almost burst into tears. Rocky accepted the hug just as eagerly and chirped happily.
“Rocky is sorry. Been incredibly busy. Did not notice how long had passed.”
Grace chuckled and nuzzled into the smooth texture of his suit. “It's okay, bud... I'm pretty sure you're contributing plenty around here. I'm just glad you're here now. I missed you...”
Rocky and Grace pulled away, but Rocky seemed even more jumpy and excited.
“Is not only thing Rocky has been busy with. Rocky have surprise for Grace.”
Grace smiled and placed his hands on his hips, whistling as he tried to guess. “Oh yeah? Let me guess. A new weather system for the dome? No, could be new sets of clothes? Oh! How about...” Grace stopped when he saw Rocky turn to the side, chirping and waving his arm as if urging something to come closer.
Soft pitter pattering came from the porch as he saw something come into view.
Two small xenonite balls.
Two small Eridian pebbles inside them.
Grace's eyes widened, his heart skipping a beat as he turned to Rocky.
“Holy shit.”
Rocky flinched. “Bad word!”
Grace blinked and his breath hitched. “S-Sorry! Just... holy! Rocky! Why didn't you tell me?!” Grace kneeled down and reached out a finger, smiling widely. The two pebbles seemed shy at first, but Rocky gently pushed them closer to Grace, letting them inspect his hand, which they did.
They were so cute! Them being inside tiny balls made them look like little hamsters. Grace felt like he was really gonna cry now.
“Wanted to surprise Grace,” Rocky said.
“And also heard Grace's message.”
Grace's smile faltered. He almost forgot about that. He looked back toward the bedroom. Still quiet, which was a good sign because it meant Simon was still asleep.
Grace sighed and stood back up, hearing the pebbles chirp when the hand they were inspecting disappeared.
“How about we take a walk on the shore?”
_______________________
“Wait! Before me, how have you been? I still can't believe it! You're a father now! Er... mother?... Parent! You're a parent now!” Grace softly laughed as he walked alongside Rocky, watching the pebbles stumble and play while trying to catch up with them.
Rocky chirped happily. “Yes yes! Eggs take one year to hatch. Been watching them. Last months been busy. Needed to get things ready for them. Mate has been very tired. Let them rest for now.”
Grace smiled. “Yeah? How's Adrian?”
“Did a lot more work than Rocky. Is much better. Made sure everything is ready. Best mate, perfect parent.”
Grace smiled. He could not believe it. All this time he had been worrying about Rocky, thinking something might have happened to him, when all this time he had just been adjusting to parenthood.
Grace remembered Rocky was not the only one.
“Grace is not smiling. Heart is sad. What is wrong? Question.” Rocky asked.
Grace stopped walking. He sighed and looked longingly at the distant waves. The night sky and cold air breezed around him.
Grace did not say anything at first as he simply sat down on the sand. The pebbles seemed more curious now, as one of them jumped onto Grace's lap.
“Hey, little guy...” Grace chuckled softly, watching it curl up into a ball in his lap.
Rocky moved next to Grace and sat down as well, feeling another one of the pebbles get comfortable between them.
Rocky looked at Grace and pointed at the one in his lap. “That one name is 🎶”
Grace could not understand it. Eridian names tended to be much more personal to their language, something that could not simply be translated into English easily. But he smiled regardless. The harmony sounded beautiful.
Rocky then pointed to the one between them. “And this one 🎶”
Grace nodded. “It's very beautiful.” He gently petted the xenonite ball in his lap, who was now resting peacefully.
“They sleep a lot in this stage. Upbringing is tiring. Need sleep constantly for a year,” Rocky said.
Grace chuckled and sighed. “I guess... they're not too different from human babies.”
On cue, his stomach recoiled at the thought. He wished he could be as happy as Rocky right now.
There was silence for a minute.
Rocky turned to Grace. “What is wrong. Question.” Rocky asked again.
Grace bit his lip and looked up. He could feel the tears building. He should just say it.
“I'm pregnant, Rock.” He looked down. Tears were now streaming down his face.
Rocky's body tilted. “Mate reproduction?”
Grace simply nodded.
“Why is Grace face leaking. Question. Is it not good news. Question.”
“No?... Yes? I don't know... I never thought about children.”
Rocky hummed. “Simon know? Question.”
Grace shook his head. “No.”
“Tell him. Statement.”
Grace turned to him. “It's not that easy.”
Rocky's body tilted again. “Why not? Question. Good for Grace and Simon. Have children to take care of. More reason to not be alone.”
Grace gulped. “We've never talked about it. Nothing was agreed on. How could I know Simon wants kids?”
Rocky chirped. “Do you want child. Question.”
Grace did not know how to answer. But he knew he loved kids. Children were his only family and friends back on Earth, his students throughout his years as a science teacher. He had seen and helped all kinds of kids. They were always so sweet and playful with him, and he was always willing to help and listen to them.
He could almost imagine it. Taking care of a tiny human, teaching them things, things Grace liked and learned, dressing them in colorful clothes, playing with them.
That all sounded so good.
Not that he'd been craving a kid. But now that it was here... maybe it would not be such a bad idea.
“What if Simon doesn't want kids?” Grace asked, his voice hollow and full of worry.
Rocky made a noise. “Simon is stupid. Statement. Why would not want to reproduce. Question. Been mates for 2 years.”
Grace scoffed. “Be serious.”
“Rocky is serious. Grace is worrying too much too. Just talk. Will not know if you don't talk.”
Just talk.
Grace sighed and looked back down at the sleeping pebble on his lap.
“You're making it sound easy.”
Rocky chirped. “But I am right.”
Grace sighed again. “That you are... I'm almost 40, for Christ's sake. I shouldn't be here acting like I'm still in college and got knocked up.”
“So Grace will talk to Simon?”
Grace nodded and turned to Rocky. “I will talk to Simon.”
“Good good good...”
Grace chuckled softly. “Thanks for talking to me... and still coming even though you're busy. Congrats on the little guys, they are very sweet and beautiful.”
Rocky chirped and leaned against him. “Thank thank thank. And anything for best friend.”