Bun bun's bun

Practically the entire harem had gathered in the medbay, with only Trea’k who was watching the children not being present. Yril’k had taken command and ordered Meli off the bridge as soon as they heard the news, the Velca arriving at the same time as Jaisyl who despite not being a haremette had tagged along with Aricia and Yaerwen and was somehow managing to look disinterested and on tenterhooks at the same time.

Behind the privacy glass of the booth that Bleu had marched Rye into, Dustin sat on a chair by the bed holding the Rabyth woman’s hand. Meanwhile, the Queri medic was stood behind her desk, tapping the controls of the scanner as it slowly moved across the golden curve of Rye’s abdomen. “Well?” Dustin asked, unable to take the suspense any longer.

Bleu looked up and shrugged. “Give me a moment. Defia certainly spotted something, but with everything that’s going on with Rabyth reproduction and human physiology I want to make sure that what I think I’m seeing is actually what is there…”

The seconds ticked by, and then the long scanner arm retracted, Bleu nodding thoughtfully to herself. “Congratulations, both of you. Everything appears to be progressing about as quickly as I’d expected from that serum that you took, Rye.”

The bunny girl locked eyes with Dustin for a moment, before the expecting parents turned to their lover. “We’re pregnant?” Dustin asked, adding “and what does that stuff about the serum mean?”

Bleu rolled her eyes. “No, Dustin, Rye is pregnant. If you were pregnant I would be severely concerned. As far as the serum is concerned, Rye is expecting a single offspring rather than a large Rabyth litter, which matches usual human gestation group sizes. The duration does appear to be moving at a reasonably fast pace - based on the markers I’m seeing you’re around a week or two Rye, and should have about seven months remaining.”

Dustin blinked. “S…seven months?”

The slime woman nodded, moving to open the door to the waiting women. “The combination of human and Rabyth reproductive rates and the serum appears to have settled on a growth rate that should lead to you coming to term in a little over half a year, Rye.”

As the doors slid back, Emely and Sammie stepped inside. “Bun-bun? What’s the news?” Sammie spoke first, the pilot moving ahead of the redhead to join her husband in holding the engineer’s hand.

Rye rolled her eyes at the nickname. “Bun-bun has a bun in the oven” she said sarcastically, dragging the dark-skinned woman in for a hug. “Which means ya gonna be drinking on your own for a few months. I might be able to drink you under the table, I’ve got no idea if mine and Dusty’s kid has Rabyth tolerance to alcohol or not and I don’t intend to risk it.”

“How long is a few months, Rye?” Emely asked, moving closer as Dustin let go for Rye and went to inform the rest of their lovers about the good news.

Bleu answered before the bunny girl could. “About seven months, according to my scans. Which reminds me, Emely, do you want to hop on the bed and we’ll give you a check-up while you’re here? I should be able to confirm what you’re having at this point, hopefully.”

Emely looked like she wanted to bolt - but Rye was faster. One golden arm caught the redhead by the wrist before she could move, the Feliax woman groaning as she reluctantly hopped onto the bed. “Fiiiine. Just as long as you promise this won’t mean you get sir to tell me to do even less around the ship, okay Bleu?”

The slime woman nodded, returning to her console and running the medbay scanner across the fox woman’s stomach. “I won’t require you to do any less, Emely. Feliax do better with gentle movement anyway, and your natural nesting instincts should kick in during the last week or two regardless of my involvement I would hope. In any case, do you and Dustin want to know what you are expecting?”

Dustin, having returned from giving the others the good news about Rye paused and looked at his submissive love. “What do you want to do, kitten?”

Emely frowned. “Sir, I want you to decide. I’m happy either way, it’s your choice!”

Rye rolled her eyes at that, letting go of Emely’s hand and heading to the door with Sammie. “You two figure it out, I’m gonna go bask in everyone else’s congratulations outside. Make sure ya let us know once they’ve made a decision, Bleu.”

With the others shutting the door behind them, Dustin took a deep breath. “Are you sure kitten?” at her nod, he turned to the medic. “Bleu, medically speaking is there any difference if we do or don’t know?”

The Queri shook her azure head. “None what so ever. It only matters if you want the information, if not I’ll lock it in the system and keep the rest of us from finding out, as I suspect at least Naera and possibly a few of the others will try and get the info either way. If you want to know, then I’ll show you the scanner imaging of your offspring.”

Dustin shrugged. “That sounds like a lot of effort for you, and honestly? With C’harl’ette and the twins, I’m excited to know. Tell us,” he said, moving to hug Emely as he did so.

Bleu waited a moment to allow Dustin to reach the redhead, then tapped her console and turned the screen to face them. On it, a small form was visible in the scanner data - the embryo curled with it’s tail-bones neatly coiled behind it. “Meet your daughter, Dustin, Emely. Feliax genetics appear to be holding true, although we won’t know entirely for sure until she’s born.”

The celebration that occurred that evening was massive. It started in engineering - Rye was highly respected by her team, and as soon as the news had broken they’d gone to town on her office. Glittering decorations covered the walls, taken from the ship’s supplies, while the piece that truly brought a tear to both her and Dustin’s eye was the large sheet of metal propped against a wall. Every single engineer in the team had taken a plasma cutter to it, turning a plain piece of metal into a congratulations card covered in signatures before they welded it to a pair of shorter bars to hold it upright.

From engineering, Rye had made her way back to the ready room in something of a daze. Arriving inside, further decorations filled the space - Aricia and Sammie having been busy, while Naera turned up a few minutes after the engineer pushing a trolley laden with food.

The Rabyth woman was the focus of attention, her news being the biggest of the day - although Emely discovering what she was having took enough of the discussion off of her to let Rye breathe and think. Sometime after they had all reached the suite the two women sat together with Meli, sipping juice and smiling at their lovers and friends as the party moved around them.

“So, ya got any ideas for names yet, Emmz?” Rye asked, grinning at the redhead.

Emely’s tails twitched. “About a hundred and sixty-three? I’m gonna spend my entire next date night with sir going over the lists and figuring out one he likes. What about you, excited that it’s finally happened?”

Rye leaned in, her arm brushing against the other woman’s shoulder. “Ya know it. I think I finally get why you two were so happy right after.” Then she paused, glancing across the assembled group of lovers to where Dustin was stood chatting with Bleu and Yaerwen. “Did you ever think we’d get to this point? Like, us three were together first, the first crew, Dusty’s first ladies… and now we’ve got, well, everything.”

Meli moved, shifting to sit between them before gently wrapping both of the other women in her arms. “We were the first, yes. And I can’t think of better women to share that experience with. I’m so glad you’re having siblings for my sons, both of you. Congratulations again, Rye. You’ll be a wonderful mother.” That it turned out was the final straw for Rye’s emotions after the whirlwind of the day; Dustin looked up rapidly from where he as stood as the bunny girl leaned in to Meli’s shoulder and began to sob joyful tears.