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HaProTGirl Bonus: A Full Lunar Cycle Later
🕑 Added 2022-09-03 17:22:44 +0000 UTCBeing Queen was more work than Svetlana liked. Sure, Canada was a constitutional monarchy and all she had to do (or, more accurately, was allowed to do) was give royal assent to laws she was handed, but… they also wanted her to make public appearances for things.
Lots of public appearances for things.
She’d only been monarch for, like, a week and a half, and she was feeling like a zoo exhibit or something. Sure, the various assistants she had now insisted her agenda would clear up a bit after the initial charm campaign, but, apart from managing to giggle about mildly forced ‘queer agenda’ jokes, she only got limited satisfaction from those promises.
And today she had a stomach cramp as she took the train from Edmonton to Calgary. She wasn’t sure what she’d eaten, but whatever it was was giving her severe indigestion.
“Country music stars? Really?” she grumbled, while getting her makeup worked on.
“If you want to win over Western Canada you need to do some outreach,” the one personal assistant said.
They seemed to rotate in a new one just as she’d learned the old one’s name.
She didn’t really have a counter to what the man had said, though. So she simply made a face, and was chastised by the makeup artist.
“You’re a trans lesbian from Hammer City. You have to do something to appease the rural Prairies,” the man explained.
“I’m pansexual,” Svetlana protested.
“They don’t know what that means,” the man replied.
Svetlana let out a tired sigh as the door opened. She really hoped it wasn’t another PA.
“I think they’ve added enough foundation that you look like you’ve actually spent more than two days in the sun in the last three years,” Vivian’s voice said behind her.
“Sunlight is overrated,” Svetlana said, looking at her tall girlfriend in the mirror.
“You can say that again,” Thisbe added.
“I’m glad someone is on my side about it,” Svetlana replied.
“As long as you’re one of the living you need vitamin D, you know,” Vivian countered.
Svetlana grumbled something indistinct as the makeup artist switched places with a hair stylist. At least she looked good with all this done to her.
“Does something smell tasty to you?” Thisbe said, sounding like she’d turned to Vivian (not that Svetlana could see, having only a mirror for reference and Thisbe being a vampire).
“N-no?” Vivian replied.
“Weird, my mouth is watering right now,” Thisbe muttered.
“I don’t even want to think about food with whatever my intestines are doing right now,” Svetlana said.
She jumped slightly when Thisbe leaned into her frame of view, the other woman sniffing the air around her slightly.
“It’s you,” Thisbe said. “Why do you—how long ago were you zapped, again?”
“Uh… I think I wrote it down somewhere,” Svetlana muttered.
[It has been twenty nine days,] O’tmyil chimed into her brain, the android woman busy talking with security in another room.
“Right. Almost a month,” Svetlana said aloud.
“A month…” Thisbe replied. “Yep. It’s you… welcome to your first period. From what I remember they… well, the modern word to use is ‘sucked’, but that feels like something a vampire shouldn’t say as much.”
Svetlana blinked. Her first… right. Those were every 28 days. Roughly. Which meant she didn’t have to be as worried about finding the nearest washroom during the upcoming meeting… maybe?
She didn’t actually know how that all worked, and found herself in the embarrassing situation of being a woman in her mid-20s having to ask for what was probably rather basic information from those around her. Luckily Vivian was happy to help. As were the makeup artist and hairstylist, who both seemed very accepting of her confusion.
She wasn’t sure she liked all the answers she got, but she appreciated getting them at least.
-b-
The meetup with several of Canada’s biggest country music stars went about as boringly as Svetlana had expected. She did her best to fake smiles through the performances.
She was also glad that most questions she got, either from the people she met or the press, focused more on the ‘aliens’ connection than the trans and pan angle, even if a few people were clearly barely avoiding questions about queer issues.
It was all relatively awkward, though. So she was glad when she was directed over to her hotel for the night, Vivian, Thisbe, and O’tmyil joining her on the elevator up to the suite. Walking into the hotel room, she was ready to flop onto the bed (hoping that wasn’t a bad idea with what her lower abdomen was up to), when Vivian spoke up.
“If it’s been 29 days, then… I’m a good two weeks late.”
“Hm?” Svetlana asked, turning to the taller woman.
“With the whole you turning into a woman thing, and then the alien spaceship thing, followed by you being named queen… it slipped my mind, but… yeah. I should have had my period a couple weeks ago,” Vivian replied.
“You’re… but that would mean… how in the world did you get pregnant?” Svetlana asked, staring up at her with confusion.
Svetlana found herself faux-karate-chopped by Vivian, letting out a small (and comedically unwarranted) ‘ow’ as reply.
“You, you dork,” Vivian replied.
Svetlana blinked. “But I’m a… wait…”
She paused a moment to do some mental math, before blushing.
“Riiight. It could have been before,” Svetlana said, getting looks from all three of her girlfriends. “What? Being a woman feels so natural I keep forgetting how recent the change was.”
“I suppose that’s fair,” Thisbe replied, before turning to O’tmyil. “Can you, like, use space science to check if Vivian is really pregnant?”
“My medical monitoring abilities are limited to whomever I am bonded with, unfortunately,” the blue holographic woman said.
“I’ll just buy some pregnancy tests,” Vivian offered.
“If you are, though… then… I’m going to… I’ll be… gosh, I’m going to be a dad,” Svetlana mumbled to herself.
“You mean a ‘mom’?” Vivian asked.
“Oh. Right,” Svetlana replied.
-b-
As Svetlana and Thisbe were both getting excited about the possibility, Vivian decided to head to a nearby drugstore to buy a pregnancy test.
Of course, that wasn’t as easy as it had once been. O’tmyil, switching to the human presentation form she’d been working on, and a member of the new security detail that followed Svetlana everywhere being told to follow along. Especially when the various officials found out why Vivian wanted to head out, and were now very concerned about a possible royal baby on the way.
“You could do this at a clinic, you know,” the bodyguard said as she followed the other two. “That would probably be more official.”
“Svetlana and I are working class folks in our hearts. I don’t want to get too wrapped up in this whole royalty thing and lose touch with normality,” Vivian replied, waiting at a crosswalk for the light to change.
O’tmyil gave a nod. “The Second Dynasty were well loved for doing their best to connect to the common people. The revival would be well served to do the same.”
“Still going to be a security nightmare,” the bodyguard muttered.
“Once my siblings are assembled, possibly with a few new family members added, it will be much easier for you, do not worry,” O’tmyil explained.
Vivian turned to her. “Wait, I’ll be having a power-suit AI too?”
“Yes, all of—of—oh,” O’tmyil said, cheeks flushing as a sensation washed over her. [Svetlana, what are you doing?]
[I—uh… w-well, Thisbe just said she wanted to… to make sure the blood down… down there looked hea—healthy,] came a slightly stammered reply from an even more flushed Svetlana. [She’s, um… being very thorough….oooh.]
O’tmyil gave a quick nod, before dialing down her emotional connection to Svetlana.
“—thing ok?” the bodyguard asked, looking at O’tmyil with concern.
“Fine. Fine… just… Svetlana and Thisbe—well, they are in a relationship and in a bedroom alone together,” O’tmyil explained.
“Even though Sveta’s on her first—right. Vampire,” Vivian mumbled, as they walked into the drugstore.
The bodyguard blushed. “Maybe I should try to get a vampire boyfriend…”
-b-
Vivian and Svetlana stared at the test results. Vivian was pregnant. She didn’t really know how to process that.
Sure, she’d always liked kids, but had never thought about herself being the one to give birth. It just hadn’t been probable from any of Vivian’s romantic interests other than Svetlana before the other woman got zapped and, well, Svetlana had always felt like such a girl it had never really crossed Vivian’s mind that it had been possible then. So, she’d never prepared for the option.
“Are you… um… are you going to keep it?” Svetlana asked softly.
“Pardon?” Vivian replied.
“Well, you look really overwhelmed, so I wasn’t sure if you weren’t ready, or…though, maybe Plynx’s or Bokarza’s people could do a transfer… not that I’m really ready to carry a kid either, but… I would be ready to try,” Svetlana mumbled.
Vivian leaned in, kissing Svetlana on the cheek.
“You’re adorable and I appreciate it, but… I think I can handle this. Also, it’s probably better for me to do it than you right now. They’re going to have you running around a lot the next few months. That won’t be easy,” she explained.
“Ah. Yeah… yeah… I—gosh. We’re having a kid,” Svetlana said, a smile spreading across her face. “We should probably get a proper doctor to confirm it before there’s any sort of official announcement, but… I want to tell everyone!”
“I’m sure we can tell the polycule and family members, at least?” Vivian replied.
Svetlana nodded enthusiastically. “Right! Right!”
-b-
The responses from the others had amused Vivian. Thisbe was thrilled by the idea of having a baby around, even if it had been decades since she’d spent much time with kids. O’tmyil was glad for a successor on the way. Augusta seemed morose about the fact she wasn’t going to be providing a little prince or princess first. Then there was Plynx and Bokarza, who began looking up what human babies looked like, and seemed to find the results quite odd.
“It really won’t have any fur?” Bokarza asked.
“N-no?” Vivian replied, as the solidly built alien woman bent down to stare at Vivian’s midsection.
“Adult humans at least have hair on their heads, though,” Plynx said. “Why do baby humans have barely any there?”
“I… don’t really know? They just don’t have much hair at first. It has to grow in?” Vivian explained.
“It is very peculiar,” Plynx replied.
“Most… how do they stay warm when they are small?” Bokarza asked.
“You hold them? And, well, bundle them in blankets?” Vivian offered.
“That feels so… vulnerable. Then again, human babies seem vulnerable in general. They truly cannot walk at first?” Bokarza asked.
“Kobaroic babies are weird for how physically capable they are at first. Issiod’rian babies do not open their eyes for nearly a month after being born, yet yours can run around as soon as they’re born,” Plynx muttered.
“That is because you Issiod’rians pop them out so soon. Six months! That’s less than half of a proper pregnancy… it must be because your females are too small,” Bokarza grumbled.
“Less than half… human pregnancies are nine months, and that’s quite long enough,” Vivian replied.
“So long,” Plynx replied, concern in her eyes.
“I suppose nine months is short, but not concerningly so,” Bokarza said.
Vivian felt worried about what else she might learn regarding alien pregnancies, and was about to swear off asking anything more until after the pregnancy. Then something occurred to her, and she slipped off to find O’tmyil while the other two discussed parenting styles of their home cultures.
The alien AI was discussing the agenda for their two days in Vancouver when Vivian found her. After waiting a few moments for O’tmyil to dismiss the various aides, she finally turned to Vivian.
“Yes?”
“Quick question… with Svetlana’s alien heritage… that won’t mean anything weird for the pregnancy, right?” Vivian asked.
“Hmm? No. No. Most of her alien genes are dormant, and the few that are active are reasonably similar to human ones. You may find yourself having odd cravings, possibly for foods you can not identify, but otherwise you should be fine,” O’tmyil explained.
“Ok. Thank goodness… Plynx and Bokarza had me worried.”
-b-
And then came the official announcement, made at the end of Svetlana’s tour just before boarding the plane from Whitehorse to Ottawa.
Vivian found herself swamped with well wishers as soon as she landed. Cards and flowers being sent in.
It really didn’t make any sense to her. Especially after she’d been getting looks and raised eyebrows from people the whole tour (especially in the more rural locations), no doubt judging her for being butch and gay. It was a whiplash of acceptance she hadn’t prepared for.
“People love babies,” her freshly assigned aide explained.
“It still feels like a lot,” Vivian muttered, looking over the list of morning talk shows she was being invited to.
She was beginning to worry she wasn’t going to get any more rest than she’d gotten on the previous tour.
