Epilogue

Later that first night after you awoke, you and Dr. Rainbow start exploring one another on your own, for the first time - no audience, no need to put on a show for villains, just for its own sake. It's a bit funny, because as always, the cute asian magical heroine is full of advice about the care that needs to be taken for women in your condition. With both of you having to manage gravid bellies, you can't make much use of your usual acrobatic agility to 'make things interesting'. The two of you end up in bed naked in a laying-on-your-sides sixty nine, giving one another some much needed release with your tongues. Both of you are still novices at eating pussy and it's even more challenging now that so many potential positions are no longer possible, lest you put a potentially harmful amount of pressure on the fragile contents in your respective wombs. But all of that aside, it is still... magical. You half expect it to make things 'weird' the following morning, but Dr. Rainbow doesn't act like anything is wrong, aside from making a quick run to the store to cook you some 'vegan eggs' for breakfast (they taste awful, but you do the polite thing and eat - since, after all, you're eating for two now).

You think back to the relieving yet odd events of that last night. At the restaurant, your mother Molly was surprisingly subdued. Contrary to what Mood Ring had been talking about, she doesn't chastise you at all. Even passive aggressive remarks are kept to a minimum. And partway through the evening she mentions that she is retiring once again as Nightingale, after a brief stint of less than a year, and that if the 'Thunderbird' persona doesn't work out for you, you're free to go back to being Nightingale. No conditions or costume changes necessary.

Trying to get a response out of her - and feeling like you had the privilege to do so - you made a joke about wondering if her retirement was because Eddie, your stepfather, had managed to give you a new sibling despite Molly being on the cusp of menopause. The way you'd seen it, it was really a self-deprecating joke, since unlike you, Dr. Rainbow, and those other weather-themed heroines who'd become collateral damage, at least she'd be married to the father.

However, that had made her react with a shudder of guilt and fear, and made her quiet and pensive for the rest of the evening. You decide it's best not to press the issue. Surely she'll brighten up when she has the chance to take care of her grandkid... even if you'll only be able to answer the question of who the father is with a shrug. You're so grossed out by the possibility that it might've been that middle-aged mob boss that you've decided against DNA testing. It's not like a cop would be able to provide much alimony money and you certainly don't intend to marry one of those 'Alpha squad' pigs.

As you've realized how weird it is that you and Dr. Rainbow despite being best friends turned sometime lovers don't actually know one another's names, you introduce yourselves properly. Her real name is Dr. Kimmy Hoshino. Apparently she's had a very hard time keeping a medical practice open with the demands of being a heroine, especially with her habit of getting captured for extended periods of time.

The next 10 days pass in a sort of honeymoon stage. You're both staying away from League HQ but occasionally you're curious if the news has anything more to say about you or the ill-fated 'Weather Watch'. The commentary on the news is talking about the renewed public scrutiny on the League of Propriety's "outdated" rules and regulations, as the past year saw the worst wave of unintended pregnancies sweep through the membership since the 'Disaster of 2001'; 25 heroines confirmed or rumored to have gotten knocked up in a single year. Mood Ring, speaking with the reporters, protests that now that the porn-producer-turned-supervillain 'Stallion' has been apprehended for good thanks to the efforts of someone called 'Dark Mink' and the Wonderland Warriors have been driven back underground, things should be back to normal next year... but the reporter's retort is that Stallion and the Warriors were only responsible for less than half of those big bellies, and that according to their 'confidential sources', half or more of the heroines who'd fallen pregnant hadn't even been fighting costumed villains at the time.

It sounds selfish to say but you're almost relieved. Yes, it sucks for all those other young women about to be single mothers, but the League takes generous care of those who need it, and at least this way nobody is going to be singling you out specifically as some kind of careless slut. Which is not to say that the commonality of the problem doesn't have downsides for you. As a result of the aforementioned disastrous 2001-2002 period where the League offered probationary positions to a huge number of poorly vetted and underqualified amateur heroines from around the world, there will be several dozen superpowered youths turning 18 and looking to get into hero-ing themselves over the next few years.

Although she's sweet, sometimes 'Kimmy'/Dr. Hoshino/whoever she is is a little aggravating to deal with, as you find out after she moves in with you. She takes a strong disliking to Julia, who stops coming over as often. And 'Dr. Hoshino' has some crazy ideas. A week or so after getting out of your coma you're in an argument already.

"That's ridiculous, Doc - I mean, Kimmy." you say to her. She's sitting on the couch in a set of pajamas covered in rainbows and unicorns that look like they belong on a middle schooler having a sleepover instead of a heavily pregnant 28 year old with a medical license. "I was was willing to put up with your 'essentials' including such a huge pile of stuffed animals and beanie babies that I feel like our bedroom needs an avalanche warning sign. But this is money. I just..."

You pinch the bridge of your nose. "You do realize what 'child support' is, right? That's what a guy pays when he gets a girl pregnant and doesn't stick around. And, unless God forbid you're still that gross shapeshifter guy from the Wonderland Warriors after getting some acting lessons, YOU do not have a penis, sperm, or any of the things you'd need to legitimately owe anyone alimony. But you think you're supposed to pay that dumbass Snowflake, and 'Anal Angel' or whatever her name is, and... two other heroines who I've never even met?"

Kimmy/Rainbow pouts. "But I told you, Rikki, it was my fault. The first two were my initial partners, before the League recommended I take a break from patrols for more combat training. My, um, first month of patrols with other novice heroines didn't go so well, and by this point it's clear that I was the common factor in all those sad, gloomy outcomes. Especially since," she starts pouting and looks on the verge of tearing up, "several of those girls asked for me to try and help them and I couldn't. Even though reproductive health isn't my specialty I really should've known better than to think using my mouth was going to help..."

"Damn it," you fold your arms over your tender, uncomfortable breasts as you stand there in a skimpy undershirt and boyshorts. Since she tried the same thing on you in the course of your disastrous confrontation with the Full House Gang, you have to wonder if Dr. Rainbow doesn't just get kinky enjoyment out of eating freshly-fucked pussy and subconsciously used that as an excuse. "It's all well and good to decide to spend 'your' money like that, but I feel like I'm obliged to support you, so you're really spending mine too."

"Oh no! I'm sorry. I didn't think of it that way." the blue-haired girl sulks. "Maybe I could get another job...? There's laws against discriminating against applicants for pregnancy, right?" she says, rubbing her belly.

Before you can go any further, a knock comes at the door. And to your surprise, you hear your mother's voice there. "What the hell?" you ask in annoyance. "It's 9 o'clock!" You throw on your old 'Bright Owl' t-shirt and don't even bother putting pants on before you answer the door. "You better have had a good reason for not calling, mom! I told you before, I was just joking planning to propose to Kimmy, but even if I wasn't, it's none of your business and I don't give a damn what your bishop thinks about the two of us living together." As your eyes blink and adjust to the dark, you see someone else in the hallway behind her.

Molly is looking quite downcast and pensive as she shuffles into your home and beckons the other woman to follow you. She's quite beautiful - a fellow tall, green-eyed redhead, endowed with a DD-cup rack that easily matches your own. The strange girl is wearing a green-and-purple bottomless leotard with a matching green thong.

It seems that she's in a similar predicament as you. The redhead girl's heroine costume doesn't fit her well at all - the tight spandex-like material is riding up over a massive, spherical belly. She's even further along in her pregnancy than you are - she looks ready to pop at a moment's notice. And her beautiful face is contorted into a contemptuous sneer in your direction, despite the fact that you've never seen her before.

Actually, no... that's not quite true. You're pretty sure you saw her at the League HQ once or twice, you just never talked to her - she seemed like she had a bad attitude.

A light goes off in your head as you look at her frown. It's not just that you've seen her in the League before... this is the girl from that photo that Elliot tried to **** you with, the girl who he mistook for you and photographed after she got turned away from the nearby women's clinic due to being registered as an active heroine. Since she looks close to 9 months pregnant now, it seems she made the same decision as you about not wanting to permanently give up on her hero-ing career. It's unfortunate, but this has been a rough year on the city's heroines, with something like 1 in 5 registered heroines becoming mothers, so your first reaction to her predicament is to mentally shrug and wonder how it involves you.

"Rikki..." your mother says, coming close and giving you an awkward hug. "I'm here to... apologize. And to discuss how I'm going to make amends for my failures as a mother."

You raise your eyebrow as you squeeze her hand. "Mom, you know I love you and always looked up to you. So, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume this isn't a lead-in to some backhanded criticism about letting me get away with too much."

Molly makes a sour face and swallows. "There's very little truth to that speculation of yours, Rikki." she says, and then sighs. "The truth is, I've kept terrible secrets from you and... I know all about what your stepbrother Elliot has been doing. One of the reasons that I'm giving up the title of Nightingale is so I can do what has to be done, regardless of the law, and bring him to justice for this. But that is only because it's my responsibility. You see... I recommended him for the League of Propriety. He blackmailed me, and I panicked. But it was only afterwards, when I learned that you... both of you..." she looks back at the heroine in the green and purple spandex behind her, "had suffered such misfortune as a result of my neglect that I decided I had hidden this for long enough."

Your eyes widen and you look back to the other, so-far silent heroine, then to mom. "Wait a second... do you mean...?"

"Yes." Molly closes her eyes and a tear wells up. "back in the late 1990s, when I was at the peak of my career. I'd been going through a rough patch with your stepfather. I'd always refused to be part of two-person teams with men, but this time was an emergency. And he was... well, he was fearless, confident, a little funny... and... very, very good looking. I wish I could claim that it was **** but that would be a lie. We defeated a despicable villain who'd been terrorizing the whole city and filming the degradation of dozens of heroines to **** them. And in the heat of the moment... I gave in to his advances. Little did I realize at the time, that villain was still recording..."

Suddenly your memory snaps back. Long ago, when you'd been in grade school, a video with 'Nightingale' written on it had arrived in an unmarked package to your house. You'd hidden it, assuming it was unedited footage, but then your VCR had broken before you could, and later forgot about it. That bastard Elliot must have found it somehow.

Then you connect the dots with the irate-looking pregnant heroine standing right behind mom. "Oh shit," you say, looking at her. "You mean...?"

"That's right." The heroine speaks up for the first time, stepping forward to shake your hand. "My real name is Kate. But the papers call me Fairburne, named after my dad's codename. He never told me that my mom was from the League of Propriety. I always assumed she was just a fangirl or something. I wish I could say that it was a pleasure to meet you, Rikki, but I'm not that pleased that your mom..." she catches herself and sighs, "I mean, OUR mom, hid herself from me for my whole fucking life. But, I guess you could say I'm giving her a do-over."

She glares at Molly and smirks mirthlessly. "To be honest, I never really wanted to be a mother, let alone when I'm barely out of high school. And considering the circumstances that got me knocked up involved getting sexually harassed by some gross old fat guy from the police department, I'm not too keen on it now either. So, since she didn't take care of me, I'll settle for Molly raising the kid instead. Better than leaving it to an adoption agency, I guess." She rests a hand on her spherical abdomen and sighs, cringing a little. "Which means that she had better work quickly at busting this blackmailer guy, since according to the doctors, I'm going to be squeezing out this little athlete who keeps practicing her kickboxing skills on my insides in less than a month."

You can't help but smirk. Even after exchanging just a few lines you're starting to feel a certain kinship with this girl. She inherited a lot of the same attitude as you, it would seem. It's quite a shock, but you really want to get to know her better. "Well holy shit, mom," you say. "I think your mistake was in not divorcing Eddie and kicking his bad seed of a son to the curb. I think I'd have much rather grown up with Kate here." You think, and then laugh nervously. "Damn, Kate... I know it might be a sore point but there's something funny about the fact that two sisters who never knew each other both got their start as heroines the same year in the same city, and both ended up getting pregnant when some corrupt cops got pushy. In 20 years we'll look back on this and laugh, right?" you say with a weary smile. "It didn't happen to be a swole shaved-headed guy with a moustache named Jameson, did it?"

Kate snorts. "Hmph! I wish. It was a guy called 'Dan'. I tried to sue him for alimony but the sonofabitch got word of it and ran away to Mexico or something. I'm writing him off. I don't want my dad to find out about this, he was already against me joining the League."

You reach over and give Molly a sweaty hug. "I accept your apology, mom. No, wait, maybe I should hold out as an incentive. Put Elliot in the hospital for at least as long as I was, and THEN I'll accept your apology."

...

Two years later

A fair bit of time has passed even though it seems like yesterday. Wearing your old Nightingale uniform, you note in one of your reflections in a window that your figure is just as fine now as it was before you had a kid. Your daughter Wren is going to be turning two in just a few days and you've got a party to plan, even though the burbling tot probably won't remember it, you still have to do it. It's more stressful than fun, especially since you JUST had to deal with your live-in girlfriend Dr. Hoshino's spoiled little demon imp, Beatrice, turning her own party into a tantrum.

Still, you can't complain too much. After a rocky start you've decided that blood is thicker than water and formed a potent duo with your long-lost sister, Fairburne. It makes it way less awkward to be on a team with someone where there's no possibility for romantic relationships, especially since Dr. Hoshino in her "Dr. Rainbow" persona spends all her time providing care in the headquarters now. The hell of it is that even though you're still fighting crime and she isn't, Dr. Rainbow is on call for a lot more hours than you are. Since you had a falling out with Julia (she never liked Doc and drifted away from you), you end up spending most of your days as a sort of housewife for the doctor. After changing countless thousands of diapers, you often envy your sister Kate, who handed off her daughter - your niece - to be raised as your younger sister and never looked back.

As it turned out, finding and defeating your stepbrother had gotten your mother in a lot of trouble. The League and the cops found out, and Molly was sentenced to five years of house arrest. Fortunately, Molly had officially moved here to Acropolis City, so she's able to watch over all 3 girls when it's time for you and Fairburne to go out and help save the day. Even though you're only a footnote among the city's heroes now, with the brief interest that the Big 7 had taken in you fading away to nothing by the time you returned to costume, you are still proud of your role. And Kate is a good crime-fighting partner, even though she's a bit of a stick in the mud and not the most fun to hang out with off-hours. As of a few months ago she finally got old enough to legally drink, but she never wants to go on a girls night out with you.

Your relationship with Dr. Hoshino (you still think of her as 'Rainbow' even years later, honestly - she's usually in costume anyway) is so-so. Between your impulsiveness and her tendency to fold to the slightest pressure, the two of you have a real inability to stay faithful to one another. Having an 'open relationship' might be trendy in the lifestyle columns in magazines, but the reality is that it's awkward and uncomfortable. She never knows what you've been getting up to out in costume, and you never know what she's been up to in the just-as-sleazy League HQ. She always does her best to be friendly and loving to you... but she does for everyone else too, and people take advantage. While emptying trash cans you've found test strips alerting you to the fact that she's had a few pregnancy scares since then - as have you. You've mused many times that you and she should get your tubes tied, but how do you bring that up? Besides, your mom still tells herself that you'll leave this "phase" and settle into a proper, traditional marriage.

You still sometimes regret that you never again followed up on finding the truth of your father's ****. By the time you got back in costume every lead was ice cold and no one knew anything. Now you're just playing whack-a-mole, dealing with whatever villains show up. At first it looked like you might not have a place in the city with so many new heroes and heroines (more of the latter) stepping up. But it seems that this latest generation of novice heroines are prone to making the same mistakes as every generation; since La Petite Mort has semi-retired now and travels the world with her family on the lecture circuit, the lack of her sophisticated contraceptive robots has been keenly felt by the new girls leaping into action in costume. Indeed, sometimes it almost feels like a conspiracy.

But there's no time to worry about that now. You've got a bunch of construction workers who got doused in experimental concrete and have turned into rampaging half-stone monsters to subdue so you can take them in and let Doc cure them. Perfect for your powers, and Fairburne will provide the muscle to watch your back. Noon through four, fight evil. Five, pick up the kids from mom's house to give your mom a break. Six, cook dinner for Doc before she gets home. Seven, suffer through some awful colorful kid's cartoon (which, of course, Dr. Hoshino gets even more excited to watch than the kids do). Wash the dishes. Eight, maybe cuddle with Rainbow for a couple hours on the couch and watch a movie (sometimes a dirty movie - she objects, but she watches, and you've felt how much she likes it). Then on to tomorrow's battle.

Sometimes you think things didn't turn out so bad. But then you see Red Balloon making a kissy face on a billboard or read about the Wonderland Warriors' latest rampage... and your next visit to the dentist, he tells you you're gritting your teeth too much or you find yourself kicking a hole in drywall.