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Chapter 37: Feelings of Expectation

Funshine Bear sat bat on her couch. Four months pregnant and her belly had finally started to show, protruding forwards slightly. Funshine had initially taken the news rather well, if a bit annoyed that she barely had any time to experience being a woman before being thrust into what most would consider the greatest challenge of being one. She had even had time to get her balance back to start skateboarding properly and now she was told she had to stop until the baby was born. She still went to the gym but had to reduce her regiment and follow the one Take Care had laid out for her, Swift Heart Rabbit and Cheer Bear. It didn't help that her pregnancy cravings were constantly in effect and she never felt full, though that came more from her usual diet not being designed to eat for two.

There was a knock on the door and Funshine pushed herself up and answered the door, thankful that she didn't have to waddle yet. Swift Heart stood there grinning, with a huge bowl of salad in both hands.

"I'm surprised there's any left," Funshine giggled and stepped aside to let her in, "Not busy today?"

"Nah," Swift Heart set the salad bowl on the kitchen table and slumped down in one of the chairs, "Grumpy's moving most of my clothes and stuff to his house for the foreseeable future."

"Not staying in your rabbit hole?" Funshine eased down in the seat next to her.

Swift Heart huffed, "Yeah, and get stuck down there when I can't fit up the ladder or I'm took heavy to climb it? No thanks."

Funshine chuckled, "I never knew you and Grumpy were that close. You could move in with me."

"Really?" Swift Heart's ears perked up.

"Yeah, I mean this is my responsibility." Funshine got up and grabbed two bowls and salad forks for both of them, then she saw Swift Heart's bemused expression as she sat down. "What?"

"Oh, just something I heard about on Earth," Swift Heart started dishing up salad, "Some women wish their husbands would know what they're going through when they're pregnant. I never thought my baby daddy would get stuck in this situation." She started shoveling salad into her mouth.

Funshine couldn't help but laugh, "I guess that's right, never thought I'd be a 'daddy' either, especially not now," she patted her own baby bump, "Champ was surprised to hear he knocked me and Cheer up the same day. He actually fainted," she dug in to the salad. Swift Heart laughed so hard she had to stop eating and catch her breath.

OoOoO

Crafty Heart hummed happily to herself as she sat down with the other members of her clique, the DD girls, sans Cheer Bear. Funshine had an overloaded tray and was happily devouring away.

Love-a-Lot couldn't help but giggle, "Pregnancy cravings getting to you?"

"Don't be too hard on her, she's eating for two," Gentle Heart put a hand on Love-a-Lot's shoulder to placate her.

Crafty laughed, "She's just teasing, Gentle."

Funshine swallowed, "Yeah, it's fine, and yes they are," she dug back into her food.

As all four of them ate, Cheer stomped over to the table, fuming slightly as she practically slammed her own overloaded tray on the table and sat down in a huff.

Gentle Heart recoiled slightly, "Cheer, are you alright?"

"Just peachy!" Cheer snapped.

"Hey, don't take it out on her!" Love-a-Lot turned to Cheer, "What's wrong?"

"This!" Cheer pointed to her baby bump.

Funshine swallowed, "It can't be that bad. I'm holding up just fine despite the cravings."

"That's just fine for you!" Cheer shot back.

"So why are you mad at us?" Crafty set her fork down and folded her arms.

"I'm not, just mad at the situation, and Life Heart," Cheer grumbled as she dug in, "My figure's going to be ruined feeding this kid for 40 weeks and not doing all my exercises!"

"Why not just do the regimen Take Care gave us?" Funshine asked.

"Because it's a joke compared to what I can do!" Cheer snapped back, "It's going to set me back so far it's not even funny!" She resumed eating with a grumpy look on her face.

Love-a-Lot decided to change the subject and turned to Crafty, "Where's Hidden Heart?"

"Missing your number one fan?" Crafty grinned, "She said Life Heart was giving her extra training to speed her along so she's eating over there." Cheer snorted at the mention of Life Heart's name but they ignored her, "The extra training has been giving her a lot of stress so I had an idea to help her relax, if you're all game."

That got Cheer and Funshine to stop eating and listen as Crafty outlined her idea.

OoOoO

While Hidden Heart was all too willing to learn magic as quickly as she could, her sessions with Life Heart had become increasingly exhausting. She dropped her heavy spellbook on the coffee table in her house and headed for the kitchen. After downing four glasses of water she found a note on the counter.

"Hidden Heart,

"Are you stressed after your long day of training? Why don't you come to the bedroom and see the special surprise I have for you?

Crafty Heart"

Hidden Heart blushed at the thought. When she finally was able to get her own house she invited Crafty to live with her, an offer that she had accepted with enthusiasm. It definitely made her home feel much less lonely, as living in the Hall of Hearts reminded her too much of the orphanage. She pushed that thought out of her mind and after a quick trip to the bathroom she headed for the bedroom.

Crafty lay on her side on their bed, a sultry look on her face. She beckoned with a hand, "Come here, I think you need some time to relax."

Hidden smiled and stepped forwards, "thank you, but this isn't much of a surprise."

"How about this?" Love-a-Lot's voice came from behind Hidden Heart as she stepped up and pressed her breasts against the wolf's back. Hidden gasped as Love-a-Lot's hands came up around her sides, "You really are tense, Hidden. You need help to relax."

"A lot more help." Hidden turned to her right to see Funshine had been standing just out of her vision. The yellow bear strode over to Hidden Heart and pressed her baby belly and breasts up against Hidden's side, at the same time she felt a similar pressure from her left and turned to find that Cheer Bear was doing the same thing.

Despite her previous bad mood, Cheer had a grin on her face, "A little coyote told us you fantasized about this sort of thing," she gave Hidden a quick kiss.

Crafty chuckled from where she lay on the bed, "You shouldn't leave the net browser open when you have to run off for training."

Hidden wanted to say something until she saw Gentle Heart approach from the front. Gentle swayed her hips as she approached. Her wool tickled Hidden Heart as the lamb's breasts lifted up her own. "Love-a-Lot's right, you're tense," Gentle Heart drew her hands around Hidden Heart's neck.

Hidden Heart was much taller than Gentle Heart, which gave Crafty Heart a full view of the wolf's face turning bright red. "Why don't you bring her over here then?" Crafty giggled.

Hidden Heart fell into Crafty's arms, face first on her breasts and her face bright red as the other four fell around her, pressing breasts and bellies into her.

"How do you feel?" Crafty asked.

Hidden managed to give Crafty a kiss, "I'm in paradise."

OoOoO

Take Care was sitting at her desk, forced to lean back more than she liked as her baby belly kept getting in the way of her paperwork. She leaned forwards to check a file on her computer screen then leaned back against her desk chair.

The sound of the front door opening drew Take Care's attention as Love Heart entered through to her office.

"Hey, Take Care, how are you holding up?" Love Heart asked as he walked around her desk.

"As well as I was yesterday." Take Care rolled her eyes, "Love Heart, you don't have to keep cutting your training sessions short every day."

"But this is my responsibility," Love Heart lay a hand on her belly, "And you have to worry about everyone else too."

Take Care took Love Heart's hand and held it up, staring him in the eyes, "Love Heart, you've been obsessing about my well being ever since you found out I was having twins. Believe me, I'm looking after myself and I'm going to be fine. You're losing more sleep over this than I am." Take Care stood up and noted Love Heart wincing slightly but she grabbed his shoulders and turned him around, "Now listen, you still have a job to do so go back out there and get back to training. I want our kids to know their parents will protect them."

"Alright I'm going, I'm going!" Love Heart didn't resist as Take Care pushed him towards the door then shut it behind him.

Take Care sighed and leaned back against the door then stared down at her belly, "You two are already trouble and you're not even born yet." She stood up and leaned back to stretch out, "No more reports today." She headed for the living room and dropped onto the couch and picked up the book she had been reading.

Less than an hour later, Confidence Heart returned home. "Hey Take Care, busy day?"

"Thankfully not," Take Care looked up just in time to see Confidence vanish into the bathroom. A moment later she heard the shower start.

Clean and freshened up from her shower, Confidence Heart plopped down next to Take Care, "Love Heart bothering you again?"

"Yes, but he's being sweet," Take Care smiled and set her book down, "You're done awfully early."

"Nah, I'm good. Burned out a lot of energy creating a new technique," she grinned, "I'm gonna blow them away!"

"Knowing you, you mean that literally," Take Care chuckled. "So how are you feeling?" She turned to see Confidence looking down at her baby belly, "What?"

"Nothing," Confidence turned away.

Take Care looked down at her baby bump then back to Confidence Heart, "Are you jealous?"

"No... yes... maybe..." Confidence Heart sighed and scooted sideways to lean on the arm of the couch, "I just...I want to have a baby, I think, RAAAGH!" she gave a shout then slumped down.

Take Care scooted sideways and placed a sympathetic hand on Confidence Heart's shoulder, "Confidence, why do you want to have a child...because of your endometriosis?"

"Because of that I can't have kids, ever," Confidence Heart didn't look at Take Care, "I mean, I never thought about it until my doctor on Earth told me about it but now seeing you pregnant, and with Love Heart's cubs...it's stuck on my mind and I can't shake it off."

"I see, I think I understand," Take Care said.

"Really?" Confidence finally turned to face Take Care.

"Yes. I've seen and heard how you push yourself so this is a challenge you want to overcome, and seeing me," she patted her belly, "only makes you want it more because it's something you think you can't have."

"It's more than that, it's because something's wrong with me and... it's not because of something I did. If I took bad care of myself then I could be mad at myself but I'm in great shape and even if my parents were still alive it wouldn't be their fault because they weren't my biological parents," Confidence Heart's scrubbed some tears from her eyes, "It's not because a doctor screwed something up, not because of my species because no one up here has the same problem, it's not even because of that stupid curse so it's not No-Heart's fault!" Confidence Heart slammed the side of the couch with her fist, "It's just a problem and there's no one to blame! No one made this happen I'm just broken in a way I can't fix!" Confidence Heart put her hands over her eyes and started to cry. "Even *Sniff* even if I could then I might just miscarry and... why is something wrong with me?!"

Take Care patted her back, "It's alright, just let it out. Have you told Love Heart about this?"

Confidence pulled her hands away from her face and sniffed again, "Yes. He didn't know how to take it, just telling me it was alright but it's not."

Take Care looked down at her belly then back to Confidence Heart, "You can always help with my children, you could be a second mother to them."

Confidence Heart wiped away more tears and took a deep breath to try and calm down, "It's not the same. I will help when I can though, I bet Life Heart's going to be busy with all the other kids being foisted off on her." Confidence Heart stood up, "I'm going to watch some of my anime, see ya." She headed for her room.

Take Care watched her go then sighed and leaned back in the couch. This was something she wasn't sure how to fix. She was distracted from her thoughts when her office phone rang. Confidence Heart (and Love Heart for that matter) had learned not to answer Take Care's office phone as it was only ever used for medical issues. Take Care sighed and pulled herself off the couch and hurried to her desk.

"Hello?"

"Take Care, it's Harmony Bear. Can I come in for a quick check up, like right now?"

"Alright, just hurry over before anything goes wrong." Take Care hung up the phone once she heard Harmony do the same, then set about getting ready for her incoming patient.

OoOoO

Indy watched Love Heart approach from his house and drew his katana, "So she finally told you to stop obsessing?"

Love Heart conjured his swords, "They're my children, I think I have some right to be obsessed." He took up a fighting stance.

Indy stepped forwards and struck out at Love Heart who easily blocked the blow. "I think you're taking this too personally."

"Mom was the one who removed the curse," Love Heart jumped back and shot a blast of yellow lightning at Indy.

"You're not your mom, but it's admirable that you're taking responsibility, especially since it's not Confidence's child." Indy said.

"There's nothing wrong with free love," Love Heart said, "I'd care for any children I have, whether it's with Take Care, Confidence or Harmony Bear." He charged in and clashed his swords with Indy.

"That's fine for you, but I don't want that kind of malleable uncertain relationship," Indy stepped back as he parried and hurled a clod of cloud from the ground at Love Heart, who deflected it. "I don't even know if I want any kind of relationship. Wait, is that Harmony?" Indy held up a hand to call a halt to the sparring to let Love Heart turned to watch as Harmony passed, heading for the hospital.

"Are you going to see what's wrong?" Indy asked.

Love Heart watched her for a moment then turned back to Indy, "I don't think Take Care would appreciate me dropping in again. Now then," he raised his swords, "Back to training!" they clashed again.

OoOoO

Harmony was all smiles as she sat on Take Care's exam bed and waiting for the test results. "Well, what do they say?"

Take Care looked at the tests then turned to Harmony, "What do you think they say?"

Harmony's grin widened, "I thought you told us not to self-diagnose."

Take Care sighed, "I did say that." It had been an issue a couple years ago when the Kingdom of Caring first got internet, a large number of the family had decided to start looking up symptoms online or even come in telling her what they though they had. All it had done was make her life more complicated so she gave each of them the same speech about not self-diagnosing before coming in. "Based on how you look I think you know. Congratulations, you're pregnant."

Harmony laughed, "I knew it! Brave Heart's going to be so happy!"

"So you did this on purpose?" Take Care gave her a skeptical look.

Harmony nodded, "After we found out the curse was gone, I went to Brave Heart. We had been talking about having a child for a while now so we decided why not just jump right in."

"You're the first one I've heard who's not mad about it, and you are about a month behind the rest of us. Is he going to be the only father of your children?" Take Care turned to file the reports away with the rest of Harmony's data.

"Maybe Love Heart some day but Brave Heart was so eager, plus Love Heart has enough to handle right now." Harmony stood up, "Can I give Brave Heart the good news?"

"Yes, otherwise you're healthy. One more thing," her voice made Harmony stop right at the door, "You can't have Life Heart drop everything to babysit us. The five of us were taken by surprise when Life Heart lifted the curse without our knowledge, you chose this knowing the consequences so you have to handle things on your own."

Harmony winced slightly but nodded, "That's fine, I can handle it."

OoOoO

Cheer found it hard not to grumble at any given time, even moreso than Grumpy Bear it seemed. The little fun she'd had with Hidden Heart three months ago was now a distant memory and the only thing on her mind was her pregnancy cravings, represented by a pile of toasted peanut butter and pickle sandwiches next to her on the side table.

She sighed as she stared down at her baby belly and sighed, "I don't know if I love you or hate you."

"You don't blame me, why blame it?" Champ had entered what was now their shared living room.

Cheer sighed, "I just got tired of blaming Life Heart, even if it is all her fault!" She grabbed another sandwich and bit into it rather aggressively. "I can't even wear most of my clothes anymore!" She spoke through a mouthful of food.

"Aww," Champ slid down to the couch and pulled her into a hug.

Cheer smiled and swallowed then leaned into hug him. "Champ, do you want to get married?"

Champ was startled but didn't let go. "Married, really?"

Cheer smiled when she heard the excitement in his voice, "You heard me right. So?"

"Yes!" Champ gave her a huge kiss, "So should I tell Funshine she can't move in?"

Cheer tweaked his nose, "I didn't say that, I never minded sharing you before I just feel closer to you now. So when did you get over one of our best guy friends being a girl now?"

Champ chuckled, "About the same time I found out I was going to be a father twice over. It's gotta be weirder for her being a mom and dad at the same time."

Cheer laughed, "Definitely. I think we'll wait till after the kid's born, so I don't have to wear a maternity wedding dress."

"Sounds prefect." Champ kissed her again.

OoOoO

"Oooh yeah! That's it's! Right there!" Swift Heart felt herself melt backwards into the couch as Grumpy massaged her feet. "That's just the spot, Grumpy, thank you."

Grumpy smiled slightly as he stood up, "You'd think with feet that big they wouldn't get so sore."

"Yeah well, I've never been pregnant before so how was I supposed to know this would be killing me so much?" Swift Heart kept her feet up as Grumpy sat down next to her. "Still jealous of Funshine?" She prodded his cheek with a slight grin on her face.

"Yes," Grumpy folded his arms.

"Aww," Swift Heart snuggled up next to him, "Tell ya what: as soon as I'm ready I'll make sure you're the next baby daddy, ok?"

Grumpy put and arm around her, "Alright. So what do you and Funshine want to name your kid?"

"We already decided: Radical Heart Rabbit," Swift Heart heard Grumpy nearly choke as he tried to suppress his laughter. "What?"

"Radical? Is it the 90s again?" Grumpy was clearly still trying to hold back his laughter.

Swift Heart folded her arms, "We think it's cool."

Grumpy finally laughed, "HAhahaha! I'm sorry just, I know you do. It's fine."

"So what would you name a kid if we had one?" Swift Heart looked at him.

"Well...maybe Tinker Bear," Grumpy said.

Swift Heart giggled, "Like Tinkerbell? Well hopefully we'll find out soon."

"Not too soon. One kid at a time," Grumpy said.

"Who knows, I am a rabbit after all," Swift Heart grinned.

Grumpy groaned as the thought hit him.

OoOoO

As her due date approached, Proud Heart was finding it harder to get around her house. She arched her back then shut her dishwasher and turned it on. "Finally," she sighed and leaned up against the doorframe.

She heard a knock at the door and waddled over just as Loyal Heart and Defiant walked in. Loyal Heart immediately was in front of Proud Heart and rubbing her tummy, "So how are you both doing today."

Proud Heart smiled, "The baby's fine, my back and feet are killing me thought."

"Not surprising," Defiant Heart rolled his eyes, "Here, let me help."

Proud Heart was shocked when Defiant Heart came up beside her and actually lifted her off the floor. "How! What?" Proud Heart wasn't sure how to react as Defiant carried her to her bedroom and lay her on her bed with minimal effort.

Defiant smirked, "Biokinesis lets me enhance parts of my body," he flexed his right arm as Loyal Heart came in.

Proud Heart smiled, "Thank you, both of you. But you really don't need to do all this." Proud Heart tried to push herself up, only for Loyal Heart to gently push her back down.

"No, you just lie down and rest." Loyal Heart smiled, "We'll get some supper ready for all of us."

"I didn't know you could cook," Proud Heart turned to Defiant Heart.

"Loyal Heart inspired me to learn, and he's been teaching me," Defiant Heart turned and headed for the kitchen, followed by Loyal Heart.

It wasn't long before Loyal Heart and Defiant Heart were chopping vegetables, red, green and yellow peppers, onions and even a couple apples while rice was being cooked in the microwave. Defiant Heart found some chicken in Proud Heart's freezer and set about slicing it up then frying it in a pan as Loyal Heart found a wok.

"Good thing she likes Asian food," Loyal Heart chuckled. He poured olive oil into the wok and turned on the stove.

"Let's hope she likes the sauce." Defiant Heart checked to make sure the meat was properly cooked before he transferred it to a clean bowl and started mixing the sauce, reciting the ingredients out loud, "Orange juice, soya sauce, some orange peel, ginger, garlic, corn starch...maybe a little more, crushed chilies, yeesh she liked spicy food," he held up a jar of spice, "no label on this one."

"Leave it then, better not risk it," Loyal Heart said as he stirred the diced up vegetables inside the wok.

"Right, so just some paprika and done," Defiant whisked the sauce together as Loyal Heart added the meat to the wok. "Ready for the sauce?"

"Go ahead," Loyal stepped aside as Defiant dumped the sauce in without interrupting the dog's pace.

Defiant stepped back and sniffed. "Good job, you're a bigger man than me."

"Hardly," Loyal Heart chuckled, "You grew taller than me in the past year."

Defiant chuckled, "Not like that, I mean about Proud Heart. I don't think I would have been this kind to her."

"You are now, despite how you feel, and I won't just abandon her even if I don't feel the same about her." Loyal kept his eyes on the wok, "Thanks for all the help."

"No problem, and thanks for teaching me how to cook." Defiant Heart heard the microwave ding and put on some oven mitts before he pulled the rice cooker out.

Proud Heart smelled when the food was done and managed to waddle to the kitchen as Defiant was filling a bowl for her. She immediately halted their protests by refusing to risk any of the food spilling on her bed and placed herself at her dining room table.

"This is perfect, thank you," Proud Heart managed only one compliment before she dug in.

Loyal Heart couldn't help but chuckle as he and Defiant ate more slowly, each only getting one serving while Proud Heart eagerly devoured four bowls of the stir fry.

Proud Heart sighed happily and moved to gather up the dishes, only for Defiant Heart to gently push her back into her chair. "Just sit down and let us clean up, OK?"

"I'm not a fragile glass statue, I can help," Proud Heart protested.

"I know, but we want to help you with this," Loyal Heart said as he and Defiant gathered up the dishes. A moment later, Proud Heart heard the sink running as they cleaned the wok and rice cooker, then put away the rest of the dishes as the dishwasher finally finished its cycle.

It felt like hours until the Proud Heart finally convinced the boys to let her have alone time, after the dishes were cleaned and put away. Loyal Heart and Defiant Heart stopped just outside Proud Heart's house.

"Thanks for coming with me," Loyal Heart said, "Aren't you tired?"

Defiant smiled, "A little, but after a full day's training this was a nice break. Thanks for letting me come along, I like spending time with you."

"Even if it's at Proud Heart's?" Loyal Heart smirked.

"It's not my place to criticize her if you've forgiven her," Defiant Heart sighed, "I still can't believe you did."

"Mostly, but my feelings have changed too much, more than I expected." He took Defiant Heart's hand.

Defiant Heart felt his heart beating faster as Loyal Heart continued, "And I'm very grateful that you've been here at my side to help me through this, and so willing to learn other things while teaching me a few things too," he stepped closer and took Defiant's other hand, "How do you feel?"

Defiant Heart felt himself blushing, "Nervous, excited, anxious, but happy. You're a very noble person and I admire that."

"And I admire in you your willingness to go against the grain. Though it may be a bit much your actions have pushed me to move on in my life," Loyal Heart leaned in and whispered, "I love you Defiant Heart." Then they kissed.

Proud Heart had been watching through her front window and once she saw them kiss, she felt her heart break. She slumped to the couch cradling her pregnant belly as she started to cry. Part of her wanted to believe that somehow she could win Loyal Heart's love even after everything she did, maybe even their child would bring them together. She felt herself longing for the one thing she knew she could never have now, but was that fair? She loved others as well: Brave Heart, Perfect Panda when he visited and Bright Heart Raccoon as well as the familial love she felt for the rest of the Care Bear Family. Though she would never deny herself having fun with them she knew that there would always be a hole in her heart for Loyal Heart that she could never fill.

The only thing that broke her sorrow was the vibration of kicks from her belly and a sudden urge to use the toilet. "Alright, I'm going," she heaved herself off the couch and headed for the bathroom.

OoOoO

"Alright, Funshine, take slow deep breaths," Despite still being pregnant with twins, Take Care waddled around the delivery room as fast as she could. "Love Heart let me know as a soon as she's fully dilated."

"OK." Love Heart spoke from behind a surgical mask. He stood between Funshine's spread legs wearing medial scrubs.

"IT HURRRRTS!" Funshine's scream caused those in the waiting room to jump: Champ, Cheer, Swift Heart and Confidence Heart.

"So why's Love Heart in there again?" Champ gave Confidence a confused look.

Confidence Heart sighed and glared at Champ, having already explained things to Swift Heart when she arrived, "Take Care gave us both midwife training since one of us will have to help her deliver her kids when the time comes, that and she needs help while she's still pregnant. He was just here before I got here." She turned to the door, "I'm surprised her voice is getting through the soundproofing."

"I can barely hear it," Cheer strained to try and hear what they could.

"That's 'cause you don't have the ears," Swift Heart tapped her ear, "Ugg I just wish our kid would come out already, I'm getting tired of this."

"Careful what you wish for, we don't need more than one every day," Champ glanced down at Cheer's belly.

"Relax, this isn't a soap opera, Champ." Cheer gave her a kiss.

After almost another hour of screams from Funshine, Love Heart finally emerged, having disposed of his medical scrubs. "Alright, Funshine's finished and it's a girl."

"Alright!" Champ was on his feet, "Can I see?"

Love Heart nodded, "Just you for now, Champ. Funshine needs time to recover." Love Heart led Champ back into the delivery room.

"So did you two decide on a name?" Love Heart asked as he opened the door.

Champ nodded, "We were thinking of 'Inspiration Bear', what do you think?"

"Sounds good, here," Love Heart returned to the waiting room as Champ entered.

Inspiration bear was yellow-orange, though Champ winced slightly at her matted and wet fur. Take Care reassured him that she would look much better in a couple days. Once they confirmed Funshine's agreement on a name Champ gave their daughter her chest symbol: a microphone with a heart-shaped top.

OoOoO

Funshine didn't seem to be doing well after the delivery. Medically she was fine but all she did was lie around Champ's house all day except when she needed to breastfeed their daughter or occasionally when she could be convinced to change her. Champ didn't even wait a day to call Take Care, who looked into it then called most of the Family to her hospital to explain everything.

"It sounds like Funshine has post-partem depression," Take Care said.

"What?! Oh no should I keep her away from Inspiration!" Champ was about to run for the door when Take Care's shout stopped him.

"No! Champ, she's not a danger to your daughter, don't take your medical advice from TV shows." Take Care sighed with a hand to her forehead, "It's a relatively common state caused by the sudden shift of hormones following the birth."

"That or it's because he fucked up his body so much. I think he was just unhinged to begin with." Everyone except Playful Heart turned to glare at Share Bear.

Take Care groaned, "Much as I hate to say it, Funshine's sex change might be exacerbating her condition. The sudden change of hormones as part of the change followed by the almost immediate introduction of pregnancy hormones before she could really adjust might have overwhelmed her system."

"Might have? How can you not know this?!" Champ was sounding frantic.

"Because men who have sex changes on earth can't have children, this is something so completely new that there's no real research for it, and believe me I checked." Take Care turned to her computer, "I'm working off logical assumptions and the research I have on both topics separately. Oof!" She rubbed her belly, "If you want my advice, Champ, go home and spend time with Funshine. She's more a danger to herself than anyone and she needs moral support."

"I'm on it!" Champ turned and literally ran out the door.

"OK everyone, gathering's over!" Confidence Heart clapped her hands, "get out before I blow you out!" A small gust of wind from Confidence Heart was enough to get everyone to clear out of the hospital in an instant.

Love Heart grinned, "Masterfully done, Confidence." He gave her a kiss, "How are you holding up, Take Care?"

Take Care winced again, "Actually, my contractions started an hour ago." She managed a weak smile, "Can you get me up before my water breaks on my office chair?"

"Crap!" Love Heart helped Take Care to stand and towards the maternity room.

"I have a feeling this is going to be a new routine," Confidence Heart sighed as she followed them.

OoOoO

Funshine lay on the couch next to Cheer Bear as Champ entered. Seeing the state she was in, Champ immediately went to Funshine's side. "Hey, how are you, sports fan?"

"I'm here," Funshine spoke flatly, "the couch is soft."

"She hasn't moved since you left," Cheer said.

Champ nodded and sat down next to Funshine and carefully pulled her up so he could hug her, "Hey, don't worry. I'm here for you, Funshine, any time."

"OK." Was all Funshine said.

Cheer scooted over and did her best to join in the hug, despite her baby belly getting in the way, "We're always here for you, Funshine."

Funshine managed a weak smile, "Thank you."