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Vanessa sat on the sofa and blankly stared at the TV. It was playing some dumb game show. She didn't care. She had too much on her mind right now to care about some dumb show. The music and voices were just background noises that took a backseat to the thoughts in her mind.
'I have to tell him. He'll be home soon...he deserves to know...' she thought, instinctively rubbing the slight curve of her stomach. She was pregnant with what she hoped to be Barry's child. Her boyfriend didn't know this fact. He questioned her change in size, but Vanessa just said she was already getting comfortable in their relationship...but she was tired of lying.
She heard the faint buzzing of small insect wings approach the window followed by a tap on the glass. Barry was home from work. He waited as Vanessa walked over and opened up the window and let him in. "Honey, I'm home! Work was killer today," said the bee, stretching out his back and grunting out his pain and exhaustion. He wasn't as young as he used to bee.
She weakly chuckled as she glanced away. "Heh...I bet." She rubbed her forearm awkwardly and tried to smile at her love, but couldn't hide the puffiness in her eyes.
"Vanessa?" he asked in a concerned tone, flying from the windowsill and hovering in front of her. "Honey, what's wrong?" When he was this close, Vanessa could see that his once dark chocolate hair had turned completely gray, and deep lines and wrinkles had formed under his eyes due to the stress of hard work. The sight broke her heart.
Vanessa turned her back to her lover and covered her mouth to stifle her sobs. She held back her tears and tightened her fists, trying her damnedest to build up the courage to say, "Barry, I'm...I'm pregnant."
Barry's expression changed, his face instantly lighting up with surprise and glee. "Y-you mean...you mean we're having a baby...?" he gasped, slowly approaching her to hug and kiss her nose, "Vanessa...that-that's fantastic! We're having a baby!!!"
"No," Vanessa forced out, her voice shaky and breathless. She stared into his eyes and frowned. "We aren't."
"Wha...huh?" Barry asked, confused and surprised at her stern tone. "Do you...not want a baby?"
"Barry..." she sighed. Her shoulders slumped and tears ran down her cheeks. "Barry...there's a chance that this baby isn't yours."
The cameras turned on, the red light indicating that they were now recording. The show was now live, and the audience, full of humans and bees of many different shapes, sizes, and even some from other hives, clapped and cheered as Jerry Stinger appeared to start the episode. "Around a month ago, this couple made headlines when they saved the world from its flower shortage. Now, they're involved in a nasty scandal involving betrayal, heartbreak, and a baby that could be anyone's at this point. Before we bring anyone else out, we have Vanessa Bloome here to explain the details for us!" he announced into the microphone.
The audience clapped and buzzed as Vanessa walked onto the stage from the right and sat in a chair. She was still barely pregnant, as her baby bump was only noticeable if you were up close. She played with her hands in her lap and looked around, a guilty look on her face.
Jerry Stinger flew up to meet her eye level. "Vanessa, welcome to the show, first of all." He received only a faint nod from his female guest. "So, when did all of this start? Start from the beginning."
"Well," she began with a sigh, "Barry and I have been dating for about a month now. We felt like...we belonged to each other, y'know? So he moved in with me. Living with him was a dream come true. He's such a sweet amazing guy, and I couldn't ask for anyone better."
"If you two loved each other so much, then why did you have sex with his best friend behind his back?" The audience gasped, each member looking at each other in disgust.
Vanessa glanced away in shame. "I-It was a one-time thing. It wasn't even supposed to happen...I don't even have feelings for him..." She breathed in and hugged herself tightly, doing her best to keep herself together on stage. "Barry's always at work. When he isn't working, he's sleeping. I know he doesn't have a choice and that he does it for both of us, but I guess I was just...lonely. I called Adam up and told him to come over, and we got into it, but...I felt awful the whole time and regretted everything right after. I thought I could just forget it ever happened, but now...now I can't." She began to tear up and covered her eyes to hide from the audience.
Jerry Stinger softly patted her back. "Alright, you heard it here, folks. Now, we currently have her boyfriend backstage listening in at this moment. Everyone, give a warm welcome to Barry Benson!"
Vanessa looked away as Barry flew up on stage. His entrance was followed by cheers from the audience. The old bee's face was sad looking. A frown was fixated onto his expression, and wrinkles and white facial hair littered his face. He merely shot his love a glance before sitting next to her, not saying a word.
"Great to have you on the show, Barry," greeted Jerry, "To start you off, why don't you tell me about when you found out about Vanessa's pregnancy?"
Barry shrugged weakly and unenthusiastically. "Well...a few days ago, I came home from work, and...she was crying. I asked what was wrong, and she told me about the baby. I was happy, until...until she told me it could be Adam's."
"How did you feel?"
"...Betrayed. Angry. Upset...I felt like, I dunno, that maybe I did something wrong. That I just didn't make her happy anymore." He sighed and stared a hole into the stage. "I left and went to stay at a motel, and this is the first time we've seen each other since...and now, after hearing her talk, I..." He looked besides him and into his girlfriend's eyes. "Vanessa, I'm sorry I haven't been home as much. I didn't realize you felt that way...and I wish you'd told me. I would've quit and stayed home so we could raise this baby together."
A tear rolled down Vanessa's human face. "B-Barry, please don't be sorry...I'm so, so sorry I cheated on you with Adam. It was an awful mistake that shouldn't have even crossed my mind..." She began to sob uncontrollably, her body shaking with sadness.
"Vanessa, it's okay...I forgive you." He flew up to her and hugged her nose.
Vanessa tried to smile as she cried, happy to have been forgiven so they could put their mistakes behind them and focus on their family. "...I hope the baby is yours, Barry..."
The audience clapped as they embraced one another, cooing and even crying at the sheer emotion of the scene. Even Jerry Stinger showed a bit of emotion. After wiping away a tear, he spoke again. "This is truly a happy ending for a lovely couple, but it isn't the end of the show, for we still have one more guest to bring out. Next up is Barry's ex-best friend...Adam Flayman!"
The audience booed as Adam, who looked as old as Barry, flew onto the stage. He still had the plastic sword prosthetic for a stinger, and he had a hunched back and a cane in his left hand. "So, you're back together with the whore, eh? Well, tough shit, Benson! Her human uterus has been invaded by my commanding seed!" he yelled, getting spittle and denture glue all in his long, white beard.
"You do not get to talk about her that way!" Barry shouted back, pulling up his sweater sleeve and angrily flying towards him.
Adam smirked. "She don't mind it one bit! The bitch loved it when I talked dirty as I fucked her senseless!!!" he taunted. With that, he received a swift punch in the lower jaw, knocking his dentures and jaw bone out of place. Before things got even worse, security came to break them up, and Adam was seated on the opposite end of the stage.
"Adam," Jerry Stinger began as he flew towards him, "what possessed you to have sex with your best friend's partner?"
"Big V called me up one night, about 2 weeks ago. She musta knew I been eyein' her up and ready to pollinate her human vagina. I went over, I gave her the best sex of her life, and now here we are today. And this...this bitch" he said, pointing his cane towards Vanessa, "tryina say she didn't like it?! I'm more of a bee than Barry ever was, an' she knows it! She was screamin' my name the whole time, sayin' 'Adam, oh Adam!'" he shouted in a girly voice to imitate the human.
"That's not true!" Vanessa cried out, leaping out of her seat.
"Don't lie! And don't try to lie 'bout that baby neither! You know it's mine, ya whoooore!!!"
"Well, on that note, why don't we look at the DNA results to find out exactly who the father is!" Jerry Stinger announced, holding out a large envelope. He opened it up and glared at the large piece of paper. "Barry..." he began, pausing between each word to add suspense for the audience.
Barry's heart pounded against his yellow chest. Time felt like it was slowing down for him. He was sitting on the very edge of his seat, anticipating the results of the test. 'Please...please let it be mine...' he thought.
"...you..."
Vanessa gripped the arms of the chair, her knuckles turning white as a result. The suspense left her breathless. The air became caught in her throat as she thought about what would happen if the baby turned out to be Adam's instead. Barry would leave her for sure, and Adam would have to help her raise it. It was a 50/50 chance...god, she hoped it was Barry's.
"...are..."
Adam was asleep in his chair until his squeaky old man poot woke him up. It smelled like asparagus covered in ranch dressing.
Jerry Stinger adjusted his glasses. He opened his mouth to let out the final words: "...NOT the father!!!"
Time came to a standstill, and so did Barry's heart. He felt it break and crumble in his chest. "N-no..." he whispered weakly. Gripping his sweater, his wings fluttered slower and slower until he no longer had the strength to fly. He collapsed to the floor, facing up and staring into the blinding stage lights as his eyes closed shut for the final time.
"Barry!!!" Vanessa shouted and ran towards her lover, dropping to her knees and petting his hair with her finger. "What happened?!"
A bee doctor suddenly flew onstage, checking his vitals. "He's dead," he concluded grimly, "I'm sorry, miss."
"D-dead???" she cried, "Was it of a broken heart?!"
"No, he died of old age. Bees only live for like a month," the doctor explained before he, too, collapsed and died.
Adam flew up to the corpse of Barry B. Benson and cackled, poking his body with his cane. "Hah! Take that, asshole! The baby's mine, and so's your girl! Hahaha-ugh! Uh oh..." He clutched his chest and died as well, joining the pile on the floor. He was followed by Jerry Stinger and many of the older bee members of the audience.
Vanessa's tears rained down upon the bee corpses, sobbing over the loss of her lost love. "Barry...oh my god, Barry...I'm sorry...! I'm so sorry!" She cried into her hands, now alone and left to care for the baby that would forever remind her of her own life-ruining mistakes.