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Monday, June 1st, 2015

Hikari was kind of surprised just how much of a difference being at school twenty minutes earlier than usual made. The parking lot only had a handful of cars in it, mostly in the teacher's parking lot. In fifteen minutes, it would be nearly full. The japanese macaque gripped the clutch and feathered the brake as he coasted into one of the motorcycle spots, then putting it in neutral before hitting the engine cutoff switch.

After locking his bike helmet to it and locking the front wheel sideways, he walked over to the building, glancing around. Three black BMWs and a blue BMW were all parked next to each other in the visitor parking. As he watched, the drivers of two of the black BMWs got out; a badger and a red feathered cardinal, both wearing black suits and carrying briefcases. The driver of the blue BMW, a ferret who was also wearing a black business suit, got out next. He thought he recognized the ferret as Terrence, but it was hard to tell from so far away. He was sure of it when Charlotte got out of the passenger side of the blue BMW, still wearing the protective facial bandages that she'd had on last he saw her, albeit with a different outfit.

The driver of the last black BMW opened the door at that point, and something that looked like an ant eater crossed with a snake stepped out of the third car. He vaguely remembered the species from one of his early biology classes. Pangolin? He shrugged. It didn't matter. He walked over to them, noticing as he came within talking distance that the suits they wore must be custom tailored, given how well they fit. The three men introduced themselves to him as Richard, Stanley, and Erik...names he remembered from the conversation with Terrence over the weekend. Introductions completed, the six of them walked towards the school, Hikari following along behind them.

The few students in the halls stared as the small group made their way towards the main office. Terrence pulled the door open for them as they filed into the small main office. As they walked in, the secretary took the pair of over-sized headphones off her large ears.

"I'll be with y'all in a moment. Would each y'all please sign the visitor list ovah theah?" she asked, pointing to a clipboard on the counter-top. She continued typing as the four men signed the clipboard. The cardinal took out a phone and took a quick photo of the visitor list. The secretary frowned at that, but didn't say anything.

After they'd finished signing, the mouse behind the desk stopped typing. "May I ask the nature of y'alls visit?"

The badger stepped forward, speaking in a proper English accent. "Hello. I'm Stanley Chase, from the Chase, Franklin, and Young law firm. These are my partners, Richard Franklin and Erik Young," he said, pointing to the cardinal and pangolin. "We've been retained by Terrence Stouffer here," he said gesturing to the ferret, "on behalf of Charlotte Schneider and Hikari Arakaki. Our firm, as of this morning, will be filing several claims with the State of Oregon for personal injury, negligence, and civil rights abuses on behalf of the two of them against the Tigard-Tualatin School District."

The mouse behind the counter blinked, closing her mouth with a snap. "Ah see. If y'all hold on a moment, I believe it'd be best fuh y'all to speak with the Principal." Almost before she'd finished speaking, she was out of her chair and quickly walking to an office in the back of the room.

A moment later, a bald eagle wearing a dress shirt and slacks stepped out of the office, followed by the secretary. He walked around the counter, offering a hand.

"Hello. I'm Principal Eaglantine. I understand you have a grievance with the school?"

"In a manner of speaking," the badger said, shaking hands. "As we just informed the young lady at the desk here, I'm Stanley Chase, and these are my partners Richard Franklin and Erik Young, of the Chase, Franklin, and Young law firm. We've been retained by Terrence Stouffer here to represent Charlotte Schneider and Hikari Arakaki," he said, pointing at each member of their party in turn. "They intend to file several claims with the State of Oregon against the Tigard-Tualatin School District for personal injury, negligence, and civil rights violations."

The badger's speech became rather clipped and terse as he quickly explained the details. "Most of those are directly related to the school's failure to take action when notified_multiple_times of the sexual harassment that preceded her being battered by another student, one Diego Ortega-y-Torres, resulting in Ms. Schneider's grievous personal injury."

"The rest are pertaining to civil rights violations regarding the school's policy on both self defense and defense of another. From the videos that we've seen of the incident, Mr. Arakaki's actions were both legal and fully justified cases of self defense of both himself and Charlotte here, and it's no doubt that because of his actions she was saved from further harm. In the eyes of the public, he will no doubt be seen as a hero for his actions when those videos go viral on YouTube."

"Regardless, you seem to have seen fit to give him out-of-school suspension, which will result in his being unable to take the final tests upon which his grades are based. This could result in his inability attend the prestigious universities that he intends to apply to, which potentially may result in a drastic loss of income over the course of his life. A loss of income that I've no doubt the school district would be_forced_ to reimburse, should it come up in court."

The bald eagle frowned, but nodded. "I see," he said. Before the principal could think of what else to say, the cardinal, Richard spoke up.

"We have copies of the claims which we intend to be filing," he said slowly and soothingly, without any trace of an accent. "as well as copies of the lawsuits we_will_file should the school district deny the claims _or_the investigation period has passed without result."

As he spoke, the pangolin stepped forward, setting his briefcase on the counter and popping the locks, opening it and pulling out an very thick stack of papers which he set on the counter.

"Additionally," the cardinal continued, "we have provided a simple half page attachment detailing the estimated total cost of Charlotte's medical bills_after_factoring in her insurance coverage and a few simple changes to the school's policy regarding self defense and harassment that would easily resolve the issues we have outlined in all but one of the claims should the school district find those claims to be valid."

"As for the negligence claim and lawsuit regarding Hikari's potential loss of income, we decided it would be best to inform the school district of the consequences of his out-of-school suspension this morning, before it comes into effect and the results are irreversible. You may wish to deal with that first, as he is required to leave the campus in approximately ten minutes according to the terms of the out-of-school suspension._How_you decide to deal with it, if at all, is up to you."

The room was silent for a moment, the only sound being the tick-tock of the large clock hanging above the office entrance. "I think you're right," the bald eagle said, "it's probably best to take care of that first." With that, he turned around and walked over to another office door, tapping on it and opening it. The barn owl seated inside looked up.

"Greg, can you see what you can do about changing Mr. Arakaki's suspension to in-school?", the Principal asked. "There might be some unanticipated consequences if it were to remain an out-of-school suspension."

The barn owl's eyes narrowed as he focused on the primate behind the four men in suits. He looked back up, his voice carefully neutral. "Of course, Jon. Send him on in and I'll see what I can do."

The bald eagle and pangolin both stepped out of the way, and Hikari cautiously stepped past them over to the vice principal's office. As the door closed behind him, it felt like the temperature in the room dropped twenty degrees as the barn owl glared at him in frosty silence for several seconds before reaching for the computer keyboard.

=^.^=

In the building just north of the high school, the bell rang just as Alex entered her 4th grade classroom, hopping along on her crutches. Elizabeth held the door open for her.

"Hello Alex," a female bald eagle said brightly, standing up from her desk near the front of the classroom before brushing off her pant-suit and walking over to them. "I'm glad you could make it back to school this week. We were all sad to hear that you'd broken your leg. And thank you, Elizabeth, for helping her. Did you get the homework packet all done?"

"Yes, Mrs. Eaglantine, it's in my backpack," Alex said, resting one of her crutches against the wall and tugging the straps of her black and orange backpack off.

"Fantastic. Thank you for giving it to her, Elizabeth. I knew I could count on you," the teacher said with a smile and taking the thin packet of papers from Alex.

"Have a seat after you've gotten your backpacks put away, girls, and we can get started with role call."

The rest of the morning passed uneventfully as the class started with a bit of reading time and some math word puzzles before they got their first recess. Mrs. Eaglantine followed the line of cubs out the door as they went through the classroom's outer door, heading around the building for the playground. She kept pace with the little tigress on crutches and her weasel friend who were trailing behind everyone else.

"I don't think I've ever seen you wearing skirts before, Alex. They look good on you."

"Thanks, Mrs. Eaglantine. They're easier to wear with this stupid cast."

"So, how did you break it? I think your mother mentioned something about a snowboarding accident."

"Yeah, I was up on Mount Hood, and I took a really high jump and biffed the landing."

"I've never been snowboarding, myself. Though I have gone skiing once or twice. I didn't think that there would still be any snow left on Mt. Hood this time of year, though."

"Yeah, it stayed open a bit longer than normal this year. It was more ice than snow though. I can't wait for winter."

The eagle's eyes widened. "So you'll be doing it again, even after breaking your leg? That's brave."

"...and stupid," the tiny stoat muttered, having been silent thus far. "You could have_died_, you dumb cat!"

Alex's ears went flat against her head. "Sorry," she muttered.

"No you're not! If you were sorry, you wouldn't do it again!" Elizabeth said, heatedly.

"Hush, Elizabeth. I'm sure she's considered just how dangerous it is."

"Yeah. Dad and I had a long talk about that on the drive home from Mt. Hood on the way to the hospital. I'm going to have to wear full body-armor from here on out, like the motocross riders wear. I'm going to look ridiculous."

Elizabeth sniffed, loudly. "Better that than_dead_."

Shelly Eaglantine smiled. "I see you paid attention to the word sheet in your homework at least. Can you spell ridiculous for me?"

"Arr, Eye, Dee, Eye, Cee, Yew, Ell, Oh, Yew, Ess."

"Fantastic! Oh, I just had an idea. Would you like the other children to sign your cast when recess is over? It's sort of a tradition."

"Umm...sure, I guess."

"Great! I'll get out the colored markers then."

=^.^=

Hikari sighed as he flipped the scantron sheet over and turned the page in the booklet. Standardized tests were possibly the most boring thing in the world...and this was the first of four. Worse, it wasn't even the tests for his final grade...those would be next week. And he was going to be stuck in this same boring beige room the entire time, with only the damned vice principal for company...and the stuck up old owl had already made it clear that Hikari was_not_to talk while in in-school suspension.

The japanese macaque glanced up. The owl was watching him over the top of the thick book he was reading. Hikari squinted, trying to make out the title. 'Sein Und Zeit'. At the edge of the table was another book, 'The Idiot'. Hikari snorted. Poorly written existential philosophy, and rambling Russian literature. No wonder the vice principal was so stuck up. He sighed and went back to filling in scantron bubbles.

=^.^=

Alex hopped out of the SUV, just outside the clinic she had been going to for years. She glanced longingly across the street at Atfalati Park, then sighed and followed her mom across the parking lot into the clinic.

As they walked up to the counter, the robin perched on the stool behind the counter looked up. "Hello Mrs. Andreyev. How's that leg doing, Alex?"

Alex shrugged. "Broken."

"I'd be surprised if it weren't, considering it's only been a week. You should be able to get that cast removed in a few more weeks and start wearing an air-cast. They're much easier to deal with. Anyway...I thought your blood test wasn't for a few more weeks. So, what brings you two in today?"

"I called last week to have the test moved up a bit...and I called this morning to see if Dr. Nez would be willing to see me as well." Raenne said.

"Oh. Well...Everything the same? Address, phone number, insurance, etc.?"

"Yes."

"In that case, why don't you two have a seat, and we'll have a nurse out in a moment to get your vitals and into the doctor's office."

"Thank you, Sandra."

It wasn't more than a few minutes before a heavyset hippo stepped out into the waiting room and called their names. The nurse had both of them step on a scale and took their blood pressure readings before leading them to an office. Alex promptly pulled out her phone and started playing a snowboarding game she'd found called Alto's Adventure.

It wasn't more than a few seconds before someone knocked on the door and a river otter poked his head in.

"Raenne and Alex! How good to see you two again!" he said with a smile as he walked into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Hi Dr. Nez," Alex said with a small smile, glancing up from her game.

"Hello Jim," Raenne said with a grin.

If anything, the otter's smile got wider. "Ha! You remembered! So, what can I do for you two today? Other than poke you with needles, that is."

"Well, Alex here has apparently decided to become sexually active. So in addition to her usual hormone balance testing, I'd like her tested for STDs just to be on the safe side, and...would it be possible to get her on some kind of contraceptive? For that matter, would it be possible if I could go on one as well?"

The doctor quickly pulled some swabs, disinfectant, rubber bands, and a pair of syringes of the drawers before sitting down on the stool in front of the computer stand and wheeling it over.

"So, you're growing up, huh Alex?" he said as she held her arm out. "Guess it had to happen sometime. Hold still a moment and we'll be all done."

In seconds he had a rubber band around her arm and had it swabbed down, quickly parting her fur in a few places until he found a vein. Before she even knew what he'd done, he'd stuck it in her arm and was slowly filling the tiny vial with dark red blood.

"Alex, have you gone pee in the past few hours?", he asked as he pulled it out and capped it, quickly pulling a pen from his pocket and marking the side of the syringe before setting it on the counter.

"Umm...no? Why?"

Dr. quickly placed a cotton swap over Alex's fur and wrapped it with medical gauze, finished with the procedure. "Because in order to have you tested for STDs like your mom wants, I'll need you to pee in this cup," he said as he pulled a small plastic cup with a lid out of the drawer and handed it to her. "When you're done, put the lid over the top so it doesn't spill and bring it back here so I can take it to the lab. Do you remember where the bathroom is?"

"Yep," Alex said as she put the phone in her pocket and hopped off the chair, pulling the door open and stepping of the room.

"Sexually active? At nine?! I presume you've got sex-ed planned?" he asked, pulling his lab coat away as he turned to face the older tigress.

"Yes. We've been having to cover the basics ourselves since they don't teach sex-ed here until high-school."

"Okay," he said, shaking his head as he picked up the remaining equipment and began swabbing Raenne's arm. "Hold still please."

Raenne raised an eyebrow, but didn't object when he started tying a band around her arm. "And what, pray tell, do you need_my_blood for?"

"Taste test." he quipped. "Sorry, kidding. It's so I can get_your_estrogen levels and tell you exactly what options_you_have with regards to contraceptives," he said as he quickly drew a matching vial of blood from Raenne's arm.

"Now," he said as he capped the vial off and quickly bandaged Raenne's arm as well. "If you will hold on real quick, I'll get these samples off to the lab and start running the hormone tests. Those only take about thirty minutes to run, so I'll get those started and we can discuss the second order of business. The STD tests take a full day, so there's no rush to get that started," he said as he stepped out of the room.

A few moments later, Alex stepped into the room holding a jar of pee. She set it on the counter, and sat back down while pulling out her phone again. While they waited, Raenne asked Alex what she'd like for dinner. Alex was currently in favor of either Thai food or Indian, like she usually was, but far more interested in her video game than what she was having for dinner. A few moments later, the doctor knocked on the door and stepped back inside.

"So, while we wait for the test results, you mentioned contraceptives. Has Alex gone through menarche? I mean...has shi had hir first period?"

"No. Although she_has_had her first wet dream, and she's most definitely sexually active. Luckily both she and Lizzy seem to be amenable to using condoms...though I wanted to see what other options there might be."

"I see. Menarche won't be far off then. Early, but not terribly so. That in and of itself poses no problem, but it_does_pose problems with regards to contraceptives. I assume by contraceptives, you're referring to the pill?"

Raenne nodded.

"While that might work for_you_, I'd be very, very hesitant about putting Alex on it. First, it would screw up hir hormone balance. Second, it might not work with the amount of testosterone floating around in hir body. Third, that only works to prevent Alex from getting pregnant, but does nothing to prevent hir from getting anyone else pregnant."

Raenne frowned, but nodded.

"That's not to say there aren't alternatives. The one that_I_would recommend, so as not to make any changes to hir hormonal balance, is an intrauterine device called ParaGard. It's a small piece of copper-wrapped plastic shaped like a T. Good for at least ten years, and you can have it removed at any time. The only downside is that there's a chance shi'll have heavier menstrual cycles than usual for the first few months, unless shi turns out to have an allergic reaction to copper. There's also a very tiny chance that it can perforate the uterine lining, causing some bleeding. That usually happens when it's inserted, if at all."

"I hadn't thought of that. I could get it as well, right?"

"If you wanted, yes. Though you have more options since I can put_you_on hormone-based contraceptives. The only catch is that, while I can prescribe drugs for you two, I wouldn't want to do an IUD injection. I_can_, but I'd much rather have a gynecologist do it. You can come in to have it done later...or it might even be possible to do it today. I'm pretty sure Charon is around here somewhere."

"Oh. Okay. Alex still has her hymen, so that might be an issue. I'd like to talk it over with her father, I think."

"In that case, I can definitely schedule a meeting for you to come in this weekend..." he trailed off as Raenne pulled her phone out and started dialing. Then raised an eyebrow.

"I'll keep it short. I promise," she said as the sound of ringing came through the tiny speaker, and she held the phone up. "David? It's Raenne......Yes, we're at the clinic. We can safely get Alex put on an IUD, called ParaGard. The only problem is that it has to be physically inserted, and that means they'll have to....... Yes...... Heavier monthly flow and potential injury during insertion. Well? ......Okay, love. Bye."

With that, she hung up. "Okay, that's a definite option for keeping Alex from bearing cubs. Is there anything other than condoms to keep her from giving them to someone else?"

"At the moment, condoms and spermicides are pretty much it, unless you're talking surgery. Though Vasalgel might be coming on the market in a few years."

Raenne sighed. "Alex? Stop playing that a moment and listen to the Doctor and me."

Alex paused her game and putting the phone down looking up at Raenne, then at Dr. Nez and back.

"I know you haven't done anything with anyone other than Lizzy, and I trust you to make sure you use a condom. But if you start experimenting with boys, it's entirely possible someone else might use a condom that's too big or too small, and accidentally get you pregnant. So Dr. Nez here has offered a solution. The doctors here can put something inside you that will keep you from getting pregnant. They'll have to remove your hymen, but once it's in you can leave it there for years without worrying about it. I'm going to get one as well."

"Umm...how much will it hurt?" Alex asked the doctor.

"Well, with a topical analgesic, removing your hymen should be painless other than just feeling weird. Inserting the IUD_is_painful, but only takes about fifteen seconds. You might have a stomach ache and cramps for the next eight hours or so after that, but we'll give you some ibuprofen to help with that."

Alex looked back and forth at her mom and the doctor. She wasn't sure why condoms weren't good enough, but if her mom was getting one too, there was probably a good reason. She shrugged. "Okay."

"Good. Let's get that done. Today, if possible. Please." Raenne said.

"Well, that's settled then. I'll see if Charon is free to do the procedure and get the STD tests started. It might take a little while, since I've got to get some paperwork out of the way so she can see you. You two don't mind waiting here for a bit?" he asked as he picked the jar off the counter.

Alex shook her head, picking up her phone again. Raenne leaned over and kissed Alex on the top of her head before snagging a magazine from the rack by the door. It was nearly fifteen minutes later when a tap sounded at the door.

"Yes?"

A small female whitetail deer in a lab coat hesitantly pushed the door open, peering in.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Charon Brohan, the gynecologist," she said, speaking quietly. "I assume you two are Alex and Raenne Andreyev?"

"Yes," Raenne said with a welcoming smile. The gynecologist smiled back and stepped in, closing the door behind her.

"So, Dr. Nez said you two were looking to get ParaGard implants," she said softly, holding a clipboard to her chest. "Normally I wouldn't recommend it for someone quite so young as Alex, but with hir potential hormone problems, it's probably the only long-term contraceptive that won't cause other problems. I'd still recommend condoms and diaphragms, but I understand that sometimes those aren't good options, especially with cubs. As for you, Mrs. Andreyev, there might be some better options, but ParaGard is still perfectly fine. However, I can't do the procedure in here. We'll have to head back to my office."

Dr. Charon waited until both of them were standing and then led the two of them down through the halls, dodging the occasional nurse and doctor and led them to another room with a gynecology exam table. When the two of them were sitting in the room, the doctor sat down and quickly reviewed all the pros and cons of getting an IUD with both of them, going over the potential side effects as well. When she was satisfied both of them were making the right choice, she stood back up.

"Okay. There's one last thing to check then. I just need to go look at the results for the tests Dr. Nez is running. I'll be back here in a moment. Oh...one last thing...Alex, do you mind having your mother in the room while we perform the procedure?"

Alex shook her head. "I don't mind."

"Okay then. Would you go ahead and take off your pants and underwear and hop up on the table there? I'll be back in a few moments."

Charon stepped out of the office, pausing just outside the door to take a deep breath and center herself. She still couldn't believe she'd let Dr. Nez con her into this. Not only was the kid only nine years old...the child was a hermaphrodite for God's sake. She'd never worked on a hermaphrodite before! Hell, she hadn't seen any male genitals since college...not that she wanted to. She shuddered and shook her head, walking towards the lab.

True to her word, the whitetail deer returned in less than a minute, just as Alex was getting settled on the table. Dr. Charon knocked on the door and stepped in, still holding a clipboard which she was currently flipping through. Alex covered her genitals with both paws as the doctor gently closed the door. The room was silent for a few moments as the doctor read from whatever was on the paper, then glanced up, staring Raenne straight in the eyes.

"Mrs. Andreyev, when was your last menstrual cycle?"

"Uhh...well, the last two days. It should be over tomorrow. My cycles are very mild, usually just a few spots."

"Has that changed at all? Is it heavier or lighter than usual?"

Raenne blinked. "Umm...yes, actually. It hasn't really started. I just figured it was just late... or light."

"Well, Mrs. Andreyev, it looks like your chorionic gonadotropin levels are sitting at 5 mIU per milliliter. That's the threshold for what we colloquially refer to as 'pregnant'. Oh, and Dr. Nez sends his congratulations," she said with a smile.

Raenne's paw rose to cover her mouth as she stared at the doctor in shock, while Alex looked back and forth between them, still covering her crotch with both paws.

=^.^=

David snagged the laptop off the passenger seat and stepped out of his car, slamming the door behind him and tapping the key fob to lock it as he started walking towards the front door. After he was inside, he quickly locked the door and stepped over to glance into the kitchen. Spotting his wife, he stepped over to her and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Sorry I'm late. Did I miss dinner?"

"Nope, you're just in time. Let me call Alex down," Raenne said before stepping out into the hallway. "Alex! Dinner's ready!"

Meanwhile, David headed over to the office where he dropped off his laptop and pulled off his jacket. Then he headed back to the dining room and sat down as Alex came down the stairs.

"My god, Alex, what did you do to your cast?" David asked as Alex walked into the dining room that evening. "Use it as a paint brush?"

"Everyone in class signed it with colored pens," the little tigress replied as she propped her crutches against the side of the dining table, gingerly sitting down at the table. "Mrs. Eaglantine said that it was a tradition to have people sign your cast."

"Well, she's right. I broke my arm when I was a cub, falling off a bicycle, and the kids at school signed my cast. Looks like you got more than just signatures though," he said, leaning over to look at the cast under the table. "I see a horse, some rainbows, a car, a shark..."

Alex rolled her eyes as Raenne came in, carrying two large bowls of thai food. Alex's eyes lit up and she took a deep breath as the bowls of stir-fried chicken with basil and curry slid into position in the middle of the table.

"Yum! Thank you, mom."

"You're welcome kiddo. Thai iced tea?"

"Yes, please."

As Alex and David began scooping the stir fried chicken into their plates, Raenne disappeared back into the kitchen and reappeared a few moments later with three tall glasses of the sweet orange beverage.

"So, how was school?" the older tigress asked as she began filling her own plate like the other two had.

"Well, I didn't get to do much at recess, so me and Lizzy sat and talked," Alex said while filling a small bowl with white rice and red curry. "My hand-paws kind of hurt now too. So does my stomach."

"Well, part of that's from using the crutches too much, kiddo," David piped in. "Either your arm pits will hurt, or your hand-paws will hurt. As for the tummy..." David trailed off, glancing at Raenne.

"The tummy ache is from the IUD you got. It should be fine by tomorrow, but we'll check to see if you're bleeding after dinner. As for your paws, I can write a note to your teacher asking if she can let you stay inside during recess, so you don't have to use them as much," Raenne offered.

"No, thanks. I'll be okay."

"Well, let me know if you change your mind, kiddo."

The rest of the dinner passed in delicious silence; Thai food was Alex's favorite, so she didn't spend any time talking when she could avoid it. David and Raenne spent a bit of time discussing finances, eventually settling on possibly going house-hunting to see if they could something nearer to the Hazelbrook middle school. Then Alex interrupted them.

"Mom, weren't you going to tell Dad?"

Raenne gave Alex a quick smile. "Yes, kiddo," she said, taking a breath. She looked at David.

"So, Alex is going to need to go on testosterone blockers to balance things out, since her levels are high. Also, she got her IUD implanted with no problems. I was planning on getting one myself as well, but when they ran the blood tests, they detected trace amounts of the pregnancy hormone. They recommended getting another test in about two weeks to confirm it. I_told_you that you were too rough with me last week, jerk," she said with a smirk.

David's mouth hung open as he stared at Raenne in utter disbelief, his fork clattering on the plate as it slipped out of his fingers.

"Anyway," Raenne continued, "we'll probably need at least one extra bedroom-"

"You're pregnant!" David yelled as he shot out of his chair. He grabbed Raenne around the chest in a massive hug, literally picking her out of the chair, alternating between yelling the phrase and kissing her over and over. Alex grabbed at her glass of tea when they bumped into the table. Hers was the only glass that didn't wind up spilled all over the table and dripping onto the carpet.

After dinner, Alex played racing games in the living room while her parents sat hugging each other on the couch next to her, watching as she continued to learn how to drive a virtual car. Later, they decided to watch a bit of television together before heading upstairs for the evening.

That night, Alex lay in bed, unable to sleep. Her leg ached and so did her tummy, behind her navel, even with the medicine that was supposed to help. It had taken_hours_before she'd fallen asleep on Sunday night too. She sighed, remembering how good she'd felt after waking up with Lizzy. Rolling over, she smacked her pillow a few times and rest her head on it again. The faint sound of the air going through the vents in the floor seemed loud, and she heard the rustle of a page being turned from her parent's room. No matter how long she waited, it seemed like the sandman simply did_not_want to visit her this evening.

The whisper of pages turning came from her parents room once again, and she sighed, throwing back the covers and swinging her legs over the side. She hopped over to the wall and grabbed her crutches, quickly going over to her closet to grab one of her dad's old tee-shirts and slipped it on.

The shirt rippled around her thighs as she swung herself via the crutches across her room and down the short hall to her parent's room. At least one light was on, and the door was cracked just enough for her to peek in. Both of them were in bed, her mother laying on her side doing something with her phone while her father lay on his back reading a book. Alex gently pushed the door open a few inches. Both of them looked up at her as the door creaked slightly, David raising one eyebrow.

"I can't sleep," Alex explained.

Both David and Raenne glanced at each other. "I think I've got some Benadryl tablets..." David said.

"I think they're max-strength gels. She'd be half asleep at school tomorrow," Raenne said, rolling onto her back.

"Can I sleep with you two?"

David and Raenne glanced at her and then back at each other again.

"I didn't sleep well last night either," Alex added.

David looked back at her. "I...um...I don't mind...but...um...your mom...is er...."

Raenne snorted, interrupting David's stuttering. "What your dad is trying to say is that I'm naked, and that he's nervous."

Alex looked puzzled. "Umm...why?"

"I'm naked because I don't like to wear clothes to bed any more than you do, kiddo. As for his being nervous...that's complicated."

"Oh. I just can't sleep, and I slept really well with Lizzy on Saturday, so I was thinking that maybe sleeping with someone else helps you sleep better."

"I...um..." David started, but stopped, turning to look at Raenne, who rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Well, it might. Sleeping with someone usually makes it harder to sleep though," Raenne explained, "cause you'll wake up every time they move unless you're used to it or totally exhausted. Having sex, however,_will_help you sleep, which is probably why you slept so well with Lizzy. There are other things that work too, such as warm milk, like I used to make for you."

"Uhhh...I knew about the warm milk..."

"Good," Raenne said, throwing back her covers and getting up. "How about I go fix some warm milk for you while you hop into bed here, and you can sleep with us tonight."

"Okay," Alex said as she watched her mother walk out of the room, apparently completely unconcerned about her lack of clothing. Alex hopped over to the bed and lay her crutches down on the floor before crawling onto the bed. David pulled the sheet down in the middle of the bed for her as he folded the corner of a page in his book and set it down on the nightstand.

"You don't have to wear a shirt if you don't want to, kiddo."

"Thanks, dad," Alex said, taking a moment to pull her shirt off and toss it to the foot of the bed before she lay on her back and pulled the covers up. The room was quiet for a few moments.

"Mom's really pretty, isn't she?"

"Yes...she most definitely is."

"Do you think I'll look like she does when I get older?"

David turned his head to glance at Alex. "Of course. In another six years or so, you'll start to look just like her. Though if you want to look as sleek as she does, you'll have to work at it. Maybe start joining us in our nightly workouts after your cast comes off. You should probably start learning some karate too."

A ding came from the downstairs microwave, and shortly afterwards Raenne padded into the room, carrying a lidded cup with a straw. As she sat down on the bed, she handed the cup to Alex. "Be careful, kiddo. It's very warm," she said as she lay down, hands folded on her belly.

Alex sat up and sipped at it, glancing occasionally at her mom's chest.

"Dad says in a few years I'll probably look like you do. I'd really like that. Do you think I'll get boobs like yours?"

Raenne glanced down, then back over at Alex. "I don't know if they'll look_just_ like mine. I mean, you might have a heritage trait and wind up with_eight_of them," she said with a smirk.

"That would just look_weird_!" Alex said, then took a sip, making slurping noises.

"Here, give me that and lay down, kiddo." Raenne said, taking the cup and setting it on her nightstand. After Alex slid back down under the covers, Raenne rolled over and pulled Alex over, spooning her and kissing the top of her head. "G'night kiddo. Sleep tight."

David reached over and turned his light off, rolling onto his side, facing his two girls. He smiled in the darkness. Life was good: one beautiful wife, one beautiful child, and another potentially on the way.