FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

There may have been a time when space was the final frontier, but nowadays, it was just another place to work, and there was a whole lot of it. And not all of that work was glamorous.

But that unglamorous work was in high demand, and that meant it paid super well.

Jemma was one such worker. Or rather, she was about to be. Starting tomorrow. Today, the young wolf-morph was going to party. And there was no place to party quite like Andromeda Station.

As a massive hub for trade and transport, Andromeda Station saw traffic from hundreds of worlds, and sophonts of every shape, size and color you could imagine made their way through. And since most of them were there on business, they wanted easy access to pleasure. That meant that Andromeda station was home to the best restaurants, clubs, holo-arcades and houses of negotiable affection in the galaxy. Occasionally in the same building, even.

But right now, Jemma had something very specific in mind.

The Tilted Axis was one of her favorite bars on the station. It was a bit off the beaten path, so the tourists tended to stay away from it, the music wasn't too loud to hear yourself think, and the crowds were just the best.

She made her way in and almost immediately made a beeline for the bar, shuffling through the rows of peoples from every walk of life, ranging from blue-skinned humanoids to shapeless masses of tendrils. One such mass waved at her with a tentacle that was clutching a drink in a fake coconut shell, with a curly straw paper umbrella stuck into it.

"Evening, Jemma," its translator box buzzed. "You've got some bounce in your feet tonight."

"The term you're looking for is 'spring in your step, Bz'ib," she said. "Thanks for noticing, I'm about to get paid very well!"

Bz'ib burbled happily at her as she went by and plopped her butt into a bar stool. A rose gold-hued gynoid was tending, and she greeting Jemma warmly.

"Evening, miss," she said. "What can I make for you?"

"Cosmic drift, no ice," she said. "And don't skimp on the fizz, I'm celebrating."

"Comin' right up," she said, two of her appendages beginning a pour while two others continued to polish the counter. Moments later, something fizzy and purple was slid up to her, and she took a sip with a delighted sigh. It was always nice when they didn't skimp on the fizz.

"I'll have one too," said a new voice, as someone sat down next to her. "I'll take mine iced, though."

"Heathen," she said, grinning as she turned to look at the newcomer. With his long ears and agile build, he looked superficially similar to a typical Terran rabbit-morph, but his jade-green fur with red streaks and shining golden eyes signified him as something else entirely, though she had no idea what. Still, he was cute.

"Hey, I'm Kiyo," he said. "And I couldn't help but overhear that you were celebrating. If you don't mind the bother, mind if I ask what the occasion is?"

She gave him a smile. "I'm Jemma, and I don't mind at all," she said. "I just got a cushy gig on an asteroid mining station."

"I thought mining stations these days were mostly either automated or run by AIs?" said Kiyo, as he took a sip of his own drink.

"Mostly they are," said Jemma. "But there still needs to be an actual body on board in order to keep a few things running smoothly, as well as to take certain emergency measures. It's pretty boring, actually, especially considering that you have to take long shifts. I'll be up there for three solar months at a time with nobody but the station's AI for company. But the pay and benefits are great if you're willing to do it."

"And I'm guessing you're shipping off to the station tomorrow?" said Kiyo, leaning into his hand and smiling at her.

"Yup, this is my last stopover before the big one," she said. "So I'm coming out to have some fun."

"As it happens, I work on a long-haul vessel and I'm passing through as well," he said. "I was hoping to get a little fun in myself. Know anywhere to have a good time around here?"

Jemma considered this for a moment. This was likely to be her last contact with a warm body for the next three sol-months. And he was cute. So, heck with it. She downed the rest of her drink in one gulp.

"How about my place?"

~*~

Jemma's place was, strictly speaking, a hotel room, but it suited her purposes just fine. Especially the purpose she was about to put it toward, as she stumbled through the door, lips locked with Kiyo. By the time it was shut, she was already peeling clothes off, as was he.

"You're so warm," she said, running her hands over his bare chest.

"I bet you say that to all the cute aliens who walk through your door," he said, shooting her a sly wink. She laughed.

"Smooth, real smooth," she said, shoving him back off the bed as she began to wriggle his pants and underwear off. The first thing she noticed was that he appeared to have a sheath, not unlike a male of her own kind. That was familiar enough territory. As she brought up a hand and began to fondle it, coaxing his cock out of hiding, what came next was a bit less familiar.

It was green as well, longer and thinner than a human's or a canine-morph's, and tapered at the tip, more like a tendril than a penis, and it moved around in a slow, almost hypnotic way.

"Wow," said Jemma, as she took a moment to admire it. No two species junk was exactly the same, and when you went trawling for dates in a place like Andromeda Station, finding out what was in your bedmate's pants could be like unwrapping a gift. This one was certainly not unlike any she'd seen before.

"Good wow, I hope," said Kiyo, a bit sheepishly, his cheeks flushed a bright lime shade.

"Great wow," said Jemma, and she meant it. She ran a hand across it, and felt the tip entwine around a finger. She let out a little gasp.

"Is it... prehensile?" she asked. Kiyo nodded.

"Oh, this is gonna be good," she said, leaning in to let that long, strong tongue that wolf-morphs were quite well known for in some circles go to work. Anyone who thought that you couldn't get good oral sex from a species that lacked lips was sorely mistaken. And Kiyo certainly appreciated it, his member swelling and inflating as she lavished attention on it.

"Do you want me to... mm... return the favor?" said Kiyo, his breath quickening.

"How sweet of you to offer," said Jemma, climbing up onto the bed proper and flopping down beside him. "But I can't wait a minute longer to have this big boy inside of me."

"Well, it's rude to keep a lady waiting," said Kiyo, flippover over onto her and pressing his hips against hers. He didn't move at first, which puzzled Jemma for a moment. Then she felt something begin to enter her, and she realized that his cock was going to do most of the moving for her. It started to snake into her, undulating all the way, touching her most sensitive places all at once in ways that no other lover had before. Then she felt it begin to pulsate lightly, and she started to writhe beneath him.

"Nnngh, Kiyo!" she moaned. "That feels amazing! Can you... go harder?"

"Since you asked so nicely," he said, leaning in and kissing her neck as his member began to swell up inside of her, stretching her out just enough to feel good. Jemma felt shockwaves of pleasure radiating out from her snatch, and pulled him even closer, wanting to draw it out for as long as she could. But it didn't stop there; throughout the evening, Kiyo's unique cock pleased her in ways she hadn't even considered before, seeming to do all manner of tricks inside of her, managing to get her off several times in a very short span. It felt so good that, when he started to pull out, she wrapped her legs around him and locked him in place.

"Are you... sure?" he said, panting. "When I come... it's going to be... pretty intense!"

"I'm sure," said Jemma, who was right on the cusp of another orgasm. "Do it! Come inside of me! Pump me full of it!"

"If you're... sure!" said Kiyo, and with that, he let out a grunt, his face flushing green as he pressed her body against her, and she felt his cock pulsate harder than ever before, and she felt herself being filled with a veritable blast of sensual heat. It felt like he was letting out gallons of his seed into her, so much so that her body couldn't contain it all, and she had a brief mental picture of her body blowing up like a balloon at from the sheer volume of it all. When she felt his cock finally deflate and he pulled out, she could see it running out of her. And it was, of course, tinted green.

"That was amazing," she said, wiping her brow. "You were amazing."

"Thanks," said Kiyo, giving her a smile as he collapsed beside her. "I try."

Jemma laughed, rolling over onto him and kissing him again. "Well," she said. "I don't know about you, but I don't have anywhere to be until 0900 tomorrow. And I'm going to need somebody to help me clean up this mess that some inconsiderate jerk made all over me."

"The nerve of that jerk."

~*~

Jemma and Kiyo parted ways in the morning, exchanging contact information and resolving to meet up again for a cup of caf and/or a booty call once Jemma's long shift was up. Not long afterwards, she was being fitted into a stasis capsule and blasted off.

After what felt like a few minutes to her, but what was, in actuality, about a sol-week, she disembarked onto the station. It was mostly made up of boring gray corridors, as she expected. Mining stations like this one didn't go for aesthetics.

"Good morning, Miss Jemma! Welcome to Mining Station ZJ4!"

The voice was bright and cheerful, and seemed to be coming from all around her.

"Guessing you'll be the station's AI, then?" said Jemma.

"That's correct!" replied the voice. "My name is a thirty-four character string of alphanumeric code, but you can call me Sam."

"Uh, nice to meet you, Sam," said Jemma, looking around her. "Do you have a face or something I can talk to? Disembodied voices creep me out a bit."

A panel on a corridor wall revealed itself to be a screen and flashed to life, displaying an image of what looked like a blue-tinted canine face, rendered in pixels. It was smiling.

"No problem at all!" said Sam. "We'll be spending a good bit of time together, so I hope we can get along."

"You're a fully sapient model?" said Jemma, considering the screen. The image nodded enthusiastically.

"Well, that;'s a relief," she added. "I'd go absolutely crazy up here with nobody to talk to for three months."

"Happy to oblige!" said Sam. "There's a screen like this in every room, so just call for me if you need something. Want me to show you around?"

"Please do," said Jemma. The tour was fairly short. Her quarters - about as big as the hotel room she'd recently stayed in - a kitchen, a medical bay, a small rec room, a bathroom, and, of course, her workstation.

"Well, that's that, I guess," she said, settling in at the workstation. There was a screen with a view of the mining rig in action. It was interesting for about five minutes.

"Hey, Sam," she said. "Do we get Spaceflix up here?"

"Of course," said Sam, as another, smaller screen popped up with a menu on it. Jemma grinned.

It was going to be a long three months. This was as good a time as any to catch up on Dynasties of Europa.

"Here's to nothing interesting happening for three months," she said, leaning back in her chair.

~*~

It was, in fact, two whole days before something interesting happened. That was when Jemma woke up, rushed to the bathroom, and began puking her guts out.

"Considering that you had just gotten a full health screening just before embarking, it's unlikely that they would have missed something." said Sam, as Jemma stood in the medical bay's holoscanner, naked and uncomfortable as the cool light swept up and down her.

"And it being something you ate is even less likely," the AI continued. "The station was outfitted with a top-of-the-line food printer. The odds of a foreign contaminant making it through and getting you sick are astronomically low."

"The more you say what it can't possibly be," said Jemma, staring at the viewscreen across from her, "the more I worry about what it is, Sam."

"Be patient, Miss Jemma," said Sam, shaking their head slightly. "A full diagnostic takes time! I'm sure that it's almost-"

Something went ding. "Aha, I have your results," said Sam. They looked concerned for a moment, then their features shifted to a big smile. "Oh my! Congratulations!"

Jemme felt her blood run cold. "Please tell me you're congratulating me on my discovery of a new and exotic intestinal parasite."

"Well, the unkind might call it a parasite," said Sam, beaming. "You're pregnant!"

Jemma's head began to spin. She wanted to say things like 'how could this happen', but she knew exactlyhow it had happened. No, she hadn't used protection, but she hadn't seen a need! Everyone passing through Andromeda Station got an immunization implant, or else they weren't allowed past the airlocks, so there was no chance of a sexually-transmitted illness occurring. And most species were not biologically-compatible with each-other.

Jemma sighed, throwing her shirt back on and plopping down into her chair, putting a hand on her belly. "Well, this is just great," she said.

"Your tone indicates that you do not find this great at all," said Sam.

She glared up at them, eyes narrowed. "I know you understand the concept of sarcasm, you digital dipshit."

"Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood," said Sam, a sheepish expression crossing their face. "Do you wish me to contact the company and ask for a termination of your contract?"

"Oh, hell no," said Jemma, shaking her head. "I'm not losing out on the biggest paycheck of my life just because I got knocked up!"

She let out a sigh. Was she ready for this? She didn't know. She wanted kids someday, but was she ready for them now? Was anyone ready for them ever?

Well, she was going to have to be.

"It's just three months, right?" she said, nodding. "I can handle three months of this. I'll be off the station long before anything serious comes up."

"That's the spirit," said Sam, nodding enthusiastically. "And I have access to extensive medical databases. Adding in some prenatal care would be no bother at all!"

"Thanks, Sam," she said, making her way out of the med-bay.

So... this was going to be interesting. It was a shame that she was too far out of range to make any sort of personal calls. It would have been nice to get in touch with Kiyo.

"Right," she said to herself, as she got back to her workstation. "Three months. What's three months? I'll barely be showing by the time I'm back. And I can worry about the big picture stuff after I get back."

Yeah. This would be fine.

~*~

And things were fine.

For about a week, at least.

One morning, Jenna woke up, yawned and stretched, and put a hand on her belly, just as she had every morning.

Only this morning was different, since she felt something there. Something small and round.

Jemma bolted up out of bed, looking over to the mirror. She slept nude, as the station was perfectly climate controlled and there didn't seem to be any point in modesty when the only other person on the ship didn't have a body. As she looked herself over, she saw that, yes, she had definitely developed a bit of a bump. It was small, but it was unmistakably there.

"SAM!" she called. The screen on her wall flickered to life immediately.

"What seems to be the-" began the AI, as she turned to look at the screen, hands on her hips. "Oh! Well, that seems to be an interesting development."

"Interesting my tail!" she said. "What's happening here?"

And so, Jemma found herself once again in the holo-scanner, though this time, the scan was focused particularly on and around her midsection. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for some indication of what was going on.

"This is very fascinating," said Sam. "According to the scans, the baby's size and development is equivalent to about twelve weeks along. And you say that you had your little fling the night before you deployed?"

"That's what I said," said Jemma, rubbing her belly nervously. "So how can I be three months along already?"

"Well, you said you were not familiar with the species of the person you mated with," said Sam. "Perhaps his species' biology and yours are having some sort of reaction? That sort of thing is not unheard of. Unfortunately, 'kind of a green rabbit dude' is an insufficient search query for my databases, so I have no way to know for sure."

"Well that's just peachy," said Jemma, giving it a poke. "Do you have any way of telling how long it's going to take, total?"

"Again, it's hard to say," said Sam. "Perhaps the baby is growing at an accelerated rate, or perhaps this Kiyo's species grow larger in the womb than a typical anthropoid's. If I had to guess? I wouldn't be surprised if you were ready to deliver within four or five sol-months. Are you sure you don't want to terminate your contract?"

"For the last time, no," said Jemma, shaking her head. "I need this job, especially if I'm going to have a baby to take care of at the end of this. We'll just... take it as it comes and see what happens."

"I will, of course, do my best to take care of both you and the baby," said Sam, brightly. "Speaking of which, you should go eat. It's not wise to skip meals in your state! You're eating for two, after all!"

Now that Jemma thought of it, she was rather peckish.

"Right," she said. "Worrying can wait until after breakfast."

~*~

Jemma had stopped having morning sickness after the first week, thankfully. After that, things were proceeding as normally as such a thing could proceed. It was toward the end of the first month when things started to get a little more complicated.

"That was the third time in an hour," groaned Jemma as she stomped out of the bathroom, having not even bothered to put her pants back on this time.

"Nothing for it, miss," said Sam. "But you'll be happy to know that the food printer has just about finished your lunch, and I've got your supplements ready as well."

"Thanks, Sam," said Jemma, as she made her way over to the kitchenette. That had been a nice surprise. The long-haul vessel she'd worked on had a food printer that could just about manage to make a variety of differently-flavored protein cubes. The mining station had a top-of-the-line one, capable of synthesizing just about anything she'd care to name. And boy, was she ever putting it through its paces.

It went ding just as she came into the kitchen, and she pulled the door open, inhaling the fragrant steam.

"One eggplant burger on a pretzel bun with grilled pineapple and cream cheese aioli," said Sam, as the meal was dispensed. "If I had a stomach, I suspect that would make it do a flip."

"Lucky for you that you don't, then," said Jemma, as she took a big bite. Once she had consumed it, she went ahead and swallowed the supplements that Sam had prepared for her, washing it down with a big gulp of hibiscus lemonade.

"Very lucky," said Sam. "You'll be happy to know that, reviewing your scan from yesterday, things seem to be proceeding normally."

"Normally for a super-fast alien pregnancy, you mean?" said Jemma, rolling her eyes.

Sam heaved a sigh. "You know what I mean," they said. "I mean that everything seems to be going along according to my projections."

"Well, that's a relief," said Sam, giving her belly a pat. "Maybe I'll be the lucky one and this little one won't have any more surprised in store for me."

~*~

This soon turned out to be not the case some weeks later.

Jenna had woken up from a dream of floating down a river, only to blearily realize that she was still damp. Pulling off her sheets, she realized that she had undergone a bit of a growth spurt, her belly pushing out noticeably further than it had the night before. Normally, she had to measure herself to track her day-to-day growth, but today, it was as plain as day that she was bigger than she had been when she'd gone to sleep. And that wasn't the only new thing, she realized, as she put a hand on her chest.

Her breasts had gone up a cup size. What's more, the nightshirt she had on had a pair of telltale wet spots at the tip. And that wasn't all. Patting herself down, she could feel some additional moisture. Groaning, she pulled herself upright and tossed the shirt aside, looking herself over in the full-length mirror that she had gotten Sam to fabricate for her. She liked being able to check her progress.

And, indeed, not only were her breasts swollen up and producing milk, but her two additional sets of vestigial nipples had puffed up as well, sticking out of her fur and each bearing some white droplets at their tip.

"Sam?" she called. The screen in her bedroom flashed on, and before Sam could ask what the problem was, she heard the noise of one of Sam's cameras zooming in.

"Well," they said, "this is an unexpected development."

"Six of them, I'd say!" she snapped, groaning. "I'm sorry, I'm not mad at you, my emotions have just been all over the place."

"I take no offense," said Sam. "But I mean it, this is most peculiar. Normally, lactation only begins towards the end of a pregnancy. Judging by your last scan, you still have quite some way to go! Relatively speaking, that is."

Jemma sighed. "Great, just what I needed," she said. "It was annoying enough needing to use the bathroom twice as much. Now I have to deal with this. And, speaking of..."

"I'll get the fabricator to work making up some pumps for you," said Sam. Jemma let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Sam," she said, sitting back down and rubbing her belly. "What are you gonna throw at me next, little one?"

~*~

As the days went by, Sam only seemed to grow faster and faster. Sam gave her a fresh scan every morning when she woke up, and the baby was growing more and more. Not long after the end of the second month, Jemma looked and felt like she was full term, and she only kept growing. This was becoming a cause of some concern, but she was so close to the end of her stint aboard the station that she refused to call it off.

It was mid-afternoon, one week before she was set to catch a transport back to Andromeda station, when things got very complicated indeed.

Jemma had just finished her work for the day, and was waddling about the station, feeling like an overinflated balloon.

"Just one more week," she murmured, rubbing her belly. "You can hang on for one more week, right?" Her baby gave a mighty kick in response. She sighed.

"Hey, Sam?" she said. "Boot up the showers and throw on some chill music, would you?"

"One step ahead of you, miss," replied Sam. "Go ahead and unwind."

"You're the best, Sam," she said, as she speed-waddled her way to the bathroom, which, indeed, was already full of steam from the shower that Sam had prepared for her.

With a languid sigh, she stepped into the booth and leaned against the wall as the hot water over her body. She tapped a couple of buttons on a wall panel, and the room filled with lavender scent. As she let the water and steam relax her, she felt the baby stir once again.

"Yeah, I know," she said, giving her bump a rub in order to soothe it. "Just try and take it easy, alright?"

There was another kick in reply, and this one was a bit sharper than the other, causing her a bit of a cramp.

"Ow," she said. "Go easy on your mom, little buddy. Don't make me ground you before you're even born."

Another sharp kick, harder than before, and Jemma groaned, leaning against the wall. She felt a tight sensation run through her, like her whole body was tensing up, and she let out a groan, until suddenly, it released. And as it did, she felt something else release as well. Wincing, she spread her legs just as a veritable torrent of slick, green-tinged fluid poured out of her nethers, splashing onto the tile below.

"Sam!" she called out, as she hit the button to turn off the shower and begin the drying sequence. "I think my water just broke!"

The view screen in the bathroom - very seldomly used, as Sam respected Jemma's privacy - blinked on, and there was Sam's concerned face. "Are you sure?" said Sam. "I know I promised not to mention it, but are you certain that you did not-"

"Yes, I'm sure!" she snapped, rubbing her belly. "I don't usually pee green!"

Sam nodded emphatically. "Are you in pain?" they said.

"Yes!" she groaned, as she made her way out of the bathroom. Every few seconds, she felt another tightening pain, and she could feel a new pressure building up, low in her hips. "I thought this was supposed to all happen gradually! It feels like it's happening all at once!"

"Need I remind you that this has been a very unusual pregnancy?" said Sam, as Jemma made her way back to the bedroom, trailing green all the way.

"You need not," said Jemma, as she panted and huffed and puffed her way back to the bed. "Adjust the bed like we talked about?"

There was a click and a whirr, and her bed began to shift, so that she'd be able to settle into a comfortable upright position. As she sat back down, she felt that pressure get even stronger, and she knew that it wouldn't be long.

"It appears that things are happening too fast for a painkiller to start working in time," said Sam, as their face appeared on the wall next to her bed.

"I never was one for doing things the easy way," said Jemma, grimacing.

"Miss Jemma?" said Sam, their features showing clear concern. "You are going to be fine, I am certain. I only wish I could be of more direct help. I do not have a hand for you to hold."

"You're just fine, Sam," she said, managing a smile despite. "I couldn't have asked for a better companion. Even if you are completely wrong about Dynasties of Europa."

"We will talk about your terrible taste in entertainment after you have successfully delivered this baby."

Jemma started to laugh, but it was soon cut off as the pressure gave way to an intense pain. "NNGH!" she cried. "I can feel it! It's coming!"

"Push, Miss Jemma!" said Sam. "I'm monitoring your vitals as we speak, you're doing fine!"

And push Jemma did, feeling the baby begin to descend into her birth canal. This baby was coming hard and fast, as impatient as ever, and she could feel it stretching her apart. Pulling her legs apart, she let out a snarl as she bore down again. "Sam!" she called. "Mirror! Now!"

At her command, the viewscreen on the wall across from her turned into a reflective service, and she had a perfect view between her legs. Her puffy nethers were wet and swollen, and she was still trickling green fluids. Taking several deep breaths, she gripped the sides of the bed and pushed again, and now she could see something happening; she could see the head of the baby descending, stretching her out but not yet emerging. She paused as the contraction subsided, and took a moment to breathe, knowing it was all too fleeting.

"When I get back," she said, "I am never making any assumptions about biological compatibility again. Not even if I'm shacking up with an intelligent shade of blue."

"That seems wise," said Sam, "if physically improbable."

Before she could back-sass at Sam, she felt the pain again, and push she did. This time, she could see her nethers open up and stretch out, and she saw the top of a little head covered with soft green fur, the same color as Kiyo's. Once she saw it, she felt a surge of energy. She scooted back on the bed, pulling herself up into a squat, and grit her teeth as she bore down again. She burned as the baby began to make its way out, more and more, and she watched as her pussy stretched and distended as the baby descended to it. After a few minutes of this, the head had fully emerged, and she could just about make up the shape of it. It was a little wolf cup, its fur tinged the same shade as Kiyo's.

"Hey there, little one," she said. "You ready to come out?" She groaned as she felt another pain. "That was rhetorical!" she groaned, as she began to bear down again, feeling the little one's shoulders begin to slide out of her.

"You're almost there, Miss Jemma!" chimed in Sam. "Come on, you can do it! Push!"

And indeed, Jemma pushed and pushed, growling and grunting as she worked on the baby's stubborn shoulders... until finally, she felt something give way. The shoulders slipped free, and from there, it took only the slightest of efforts for her to work the rest of the baby out of her. Carefully, she sat back down onto the bed and picked it up.

"Hey there, little lady," she said, after a quick glance between her baby's legs. "You're a strange one, aren't you? But don't worry, I'll take care of you all the same."

The baby let out a little gurgle, which she took to mean that she appreciated it. Or maybe that she was hungry.

"Thank you, Sam," she said, as she let her daughter feed. "For all your support and anything."

"It was my pleasure, Miss Jemma," said the AI, a bright smile on their digital face.

~*~

It had been a little over a month since Jemma had gotten back from the mining station, and her daughter, thankfully, was growing at a rate that was perfectly ordinary for a wolf-morph baby. She wasn't sure how she'd deal with it, otherwise.

She was currently waiting at a cafe, not far from the Tilted Axis, and it wasn't long before her person she was waiting for came up to meet her.

"Nice to see you again, Kiyo," she said. "I'm glad you came."

"When you called me, how could I not?" said the cunicular alien, who was completely focused on the bundle in her arms. "I mean... it was a bit of a surprise. I didn't even think we were-"

"I know, neither did I," she said, sighing. "Look, this is my fault as much as it is yours. I'm not here to shake you down or anything, I just... you deserved to know, okay? And if you never want to see either of us again, then no hard feelings, I mean it."

Kiyo blushed at her. "I know, I appreciate that," he said. "But... I know it was just a fling, but I've been thinking about you a lot these past few cycles. I don't know if you and I... have something here. Maybe we don't, maybe we're better off being friends. But I think we owe it to this little darling to at least give it a try, yeah? I want to get to know you."

"I think I'm okay with that," she said, presenting the bundle to him. "Kira, this is your daddy. Say hi!"

Kira let out a little coo that may have meant 'Hi, daddy!', or possibly 'I am about to soil myself.' Jemma hadn't quite worked that out yet.

"Hey there, little bun," he said, accepting her into his arms. "It's nice to meet you."

And Jemma smiled. Her life had taken a turn for the interesting, and it didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon.

She could work with that.