Karla Comes Clean To The Fantastic Four

Franklin and Valeria were in bed. The adults were in the living room. Johnny Storm, dressed in a white suit for a night out on the town. Ben Grimm in his big blue shorts, Alicia Masters seated on his lap. Reed Richards was still in his Fantastic Four costume, with a lab coat over top, already itching to get back to the lab. Sue Storm, wearing a Fantastic Four t-shirt the size of a hockey jersey, bare legs tucked up underneath her on the couch.

Karla stood there, in pajama pants and a white t-shirt that exposed her stomach. Eight weeks pregnant, she was barely showing.

"Thank you all for coming," the pregnant woman said. "And thank you for taking me into your home. Treating me like family. Dealing with all my mood swings, cravings, and morning sickness...but I...have to confess something. To all of you. There are things I haven't told you about myself. Things you should know."

The villain's tongue from to the roof of her mouth. She knew what she had to say. She'd practiced this. Braced herself for the hatred, the recrimination. She'd already packed a bag, thought about where she might go.

"Karla, it's okay," Sue Storm said, standing up and moving beside her, laying one hand to rest on the lower curve of that barely-there-belly.

That's when the tears started. Karla had never experienced pregnancy hormones before. She knew, intellectually, that she should experience mood swings. But it was something else to be there, that warm hand resting on her stomach where Sue Storm's baby was growing and those blue eyes resting on her so tenderly.

"It's not okay!" Karla said, as the hot wet tears leaked down her cheeks. "I lied to you! I lied to all of you! I'm a criminal!"

The last syllable stretched out into a sob. Ben Grimm sat silent as a mountain. Johnny Storm looked confused. Reed Richards held his fingers steepled together in front of him.

"Criminal? Being a lesbian isn't a crime in the state of New York," he said.

Alicia reached toward the sound of his voice and smacked him.

"She's not a lesbian," the blind woman said. "She's a supervillain. This whole pregnancy is a plot hatched by Doctor Doom, and now you've opened your home and heart to her, and she's experiencing the love of a family for the first time and can't process it. She's expecting us to reject her."

Karla's jaw dropped. "H-how?"

"I'm blind, not an idiot," Alicia said. "And you talk in your sleep."

"It's true," Sue said.

"Her true identity is Karla Sofen, also known as Moonstone," Reed Richards said. "I detected the alien gemstone during the initial medical screenings. When I confronted Victor about it, he admitted the plot."

"But...but he wants to destroy you!" Karla gasped.

"Oh, sweetie," Sue said, not taking her hand from Karla's stomach. "Doom has been trying to destroy us for a long time. But you offered him something he didn't know he wanted. An heir. And he agrees that being here, surrounded by family, is a better environment for you than Doomstadt."

"Blended families," Ben grumbled. "Always complicated. But whatcha gonna do?"

"So she's not a lesbian," Johnny Storm said. "Does that mean I've got a shot?"

Alicia hit him again. Harder this time. Sue Storm smiled. She slid behind Karla, and both arms circled the tall blonde; both hands rested on her stomach, the fingers forming a little heart around her navel.

"You don't have to worry, Kay," Sue Storm said. "You don't have to pretend. You're one of us now. Here for the long haul. Especially if, as I suspect, Doom and I want to use your services again..."

Karla was not prepared when the Invisible Woman nuzzled her neck. Johnny covered his eyes.

"Okay, well, that was fun. I'm off to the new Wakandan nightclub."

Reed Richards nodded.

"I need to get some things done in the lab. Hank Pym is experimenting with antimatter vibranium isotopes again."

Ben Grimm lifted Alicia in his arms.

"We're goin' ta bed. Night folks!"

Which left a pregnant woman alone, while Sue Storm's hands went north and south.

"Is that...is that it?" Karla said, as Sue's fingers slid down past the waistband of her pants and panties, and her other hand pushed up into the shirt, looking for a tit to squeeze.

"Hmm-hmm," Sue Storm said. "You're all mine. Just as I planned..."

A cold shiver went through Karla at that moment. Because while it was Sue Storm's voice, the intonation did not sound like the Invisible Woman she knew.