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"ZIIMMM!!"
Your voice echoed through the long walls of an empty hallway, trailing on and reaching an end. You soon found yourself walking inside a large spacious room, accompanied by one giant monitor that lit up the entire vicinity with its brightly-lit screen.
"ZIIIIIMMMM!!!"
As you made your way further inside the room, your eyes locked on your target as you approached your boyfriend with a weary expression hinted on your face. Your arms lazily swaying with every step you take as your body hunched over slightly. Reaching closer and closer towards Zim, you soon found yourself stationed behind him sitting on his chair while you leaned your head down a little lower towards him.
"ZZIIIIIIIIIIIII-"
"WHAT, HUMAN?!" Zim's voice snapped, though it hardly affected your facial expression as you reached your arms up to him and placed them loosely on his shoulders.
"Ziiimmm... I'm boorredd..." You dragged on, leaning yourself further into the crook of his neck with your hands still draped in front of his shoulders.
"Okay, then go... do something to entertain yourself." Zim suggested, hardly averting his eyes away from the monitor.
"I am, that's why I'm here." You stated with a hint of sass in your voice. Zim detected it and turned his head over to look at you, squinting one eye in confusion.
"Earth flower, I have a very important report to fill out that I can't risk being overdue, so unless you want to sit here in SILENCE and wait for me to finish, I suggest you go find something else to do until then." After his brief and blunt explanation, his eyes focused on you as he waited for your response. Pondering your choices on whether or not you would amuse both yourself and him by choosing to stay, you decided to do so anyway as you figured at least that way you could still be with Zim, albeit in a very boring way.
"Okay!" You exclaimed happily before moving yourself around to the front of him and positioning yourself comfortably on his lap with your legs hanging either side of the chair. Upon seeing your decision, Zim batted his eyes at you and sighed, but had calmly accepted that you chose to be with him as he let you settle into his lap while he got on with his report. Your arms were comfortably wrapped around underneath his with your hands clasped together behind his back. You happily rested your head on his shoulder, feeling a sense of warmth come from within you from this newfound state of comfort and protection you found yourself in.
"What is it exactly you came in here hoping for?" Zim had asked out of nowhere, breaking the silence in the room that had only managed to last a mere minute from when you sat down.
"I thought I wasn't allowed to talk yet?" You responded curiously, pulling yourself away a little so you could look at him while you both engaged in conversation.
"That doesn't apply when I'm asking you a question." He stated.
"Oh, then... I'm not too sure to be honest." You muttered. "I just wanted something we could do together."
"Like what?"
You paused momentarily, trailing off in thought for a second before bringing your attention back to him once an idea popped into your head. "Maybe we could go somewhere fun?"
"Go somewhere fun?" He questioned, looking at you in confusion. "Wasn't it only recently that I took you to a planet that has been transformed into one of Irk's finest resorts."
"Okay that was a little over a month ago, Zim." You declared.
"And don't tell me you forgot all the 'fun' you and I had when we were there..." Zim trailed off, a low and snarky tone emitting through his voice. The mere mention of what happened that night had briefly sent a wave of excitement and tingles to form all over your body; memories of lust and passion flooding back to you. Though, you were quick to compose yourself once you set your train of thought back on the current conversation that you wanted to have.
"C'mon Zim, I'm serious." You stated.
"Alright, we'll talk about it later. For now I need you to let me get on with my very important work." He demanded with an authoritative tone. Seeing as you were now set back to where you were before, the room had soon fallen back into silence. You tossed yourself around on his lap so that you were now facing the same direction as him with your back resting on his chest. Your eyes glanced over with each little modification or detail on screen that he added to the forms he needed to work on, barely being able to make out any of it seeing as he was using his native Irken language to write it out. Soon falling back into boredom, your eyes got tired of trailing the symbols that were deemed unknown to you as Zim continued to work on his report, until you took notice of something to the side of the screen. There, you saw a peculiar looking pop-up ad (guess Irkens are also a victim to public consumer media commercializing) but what had really caught your attention was the picture that was provided with the ad. In it, you could see a clear shot of what looked to be some type of carnival or showground, with rides full of happy creatures on it screaming with a mix of joy and fear, and a couple of smiley faces attached on the bottom alongside another form of alien language that you couldn't quite understand.
"Oooo what's that place? Is it a carnival? It looks kinda fun and-"
"(Y/N)!" Zim yelled. You cowered your shoulders a little as you turned your head around to look at him with a shy, slightly embarrassed grin.
"Heh, sorry..." You mumbled. Upon collecting himself, Zim sighed and brought his attention over to where you originally wanted him to look, taking notice of the ad and all that it depicted.
"Ah, the old Xangshou storage facility planet has caught your attention I see." He evaluated.
"A... storage facility?" You questioned, looking back at the ad.
"Yes. Well, at least that's what it used to be, back before they went to war with the Malnan warriors a few thousand years ago. They lost due to a rapid oncoming invasion on their precious storage planet. What you see is the resulting take-over of said planet." Zim explained, "But yes, your observations are correct, my love. They turned it into a carnival with whatever supplies they had left. One of the most renowned, fun-filled carnivals this side of the universe has to offer, or so it proclaims on this ad." After he read it out to you, an idea crossed your mind as you suddenly felt a sense of anticipation, hoping Zim would be willing to give this place a try with you. That is, if he's never experienced it before.
"Have you tried it out?" You asked.
"I've needn't a reason to go. Those things don't amuse me as much as it would for other thrill-seeking species." He stated bluntly.
"I'm a thrill-seeking species! What if we went together?" You piped up, a giddy smile making its way on your lips as you turned to look at Zim.
"Are you sure, honey?" He paused for a minute to gesture towards the ad, allowing you to look at it as he continued, "I know your kind is into this type of stuff, but I'm not so sure you'd be able to handle the attractions they operate over there. They seem vastly different and very much unlike the ones you're so used to."
"All the more reason to try it out, don't you think?" You responded, your anticipation and excited manner never leaving your system despite his word of caution. He looked at you for a moment, observing your reaction to it all and trying to figure out if it would be a good idea. Despite having the normal attributes and limited abilities of any other human, he also knew you were one to test the limits when it came to new things, and in many, many ways that he could take advantage of. Perhaps you were right, it may actually be a fun time for the two of you? Or even if things don't go so well for you, at least Zim would make sure you'd be okay through it all and keep you as safe as possible.
"If that's what you want, then I suppose we could give that place a try." He announced. Your smile instantly grew wider as your eyes lit up with joy. Zim also couldn't help but notice your sudden happiness just increase as a hinted smile formed on his face, but only for a short while before he composed himself. "But please, just let me finish up with this report."
"Sure!" And with that, you leaned in to plant a small sweet kiss on his lips as a token of appreciation before you got up from his lap and made your way over to the hallway once again, allowing Zim the time and space that he needed to finish his report.
Having travelled across at least 8 dozen planets by now, you two we're nearing the Malnan carnival minute by minute as you made your journey out in the ship. Your anticipation grew bigger the more you got closer to the planet, a rising tension filling up in your stomach while you tried to prepare yourself for whatever exciting attractions they might have. Despite having had to unexpectedly wait for this trip after having to postpone it for two days, you were relieved to finally be on your way. The reason you had to put this trip on hold was due to the fact that when you'd first discussed this whole trip with Zim, his report had taken much longer than he originally anticipated. By the time he sent it off and went to go find you, he discovered you were passed out on the couch with Gir alongside you, the carefree little robot happily watching whatever cartoon was playing when you were awake. The next day, you came down with what you guessed was a typical stomach bug and spent the morning huddled over the toilet, so you both decided it would be best to try again once you were feeling back to normal. With your stomach having recovered and feeling much better than what it was yesterday & without any hint of drowsiness in your system today, you both got ready to set out for the trip and headed off into space. And that's where you found yourself now; in space. Zim had already given you a pre-warning about how full on these rides may appear to be while you two were in the voot cruiser, but your ears barely absorbed any information he was relaying to you since you were too excited to consider anything else. Once you both landed, you took notice of how much smaller in size this planet seemed to be compared to most planets Zim had taken you to in the past, but that didn't ruin your exhilarated amount of energy, not in the slightest.
"Look at this place! Isn't this exciting!" You proclaimed, barely able to contain your excitement with jittery hands.
"Uh... sure." Zim responded, simply just to go along with whatever you were saying despite clearly not feeling the same level of elation that you currently felt. Holding your hand as a means of protection, he guided you towards the entry where he payed for you both and allowed you to enter the showgrounds alongside him. Upon being welcomed inside by friendly staff, you felt your heart race and your adrenaline kick into overdrive as you observed your surroundings. The atmosphere was much more lively and intense than the typical carnival you would experience back on Earth, and the rides... let's just say Zim wasn't kidding about the rides. Even from a distance, you could see the towering aspects of some of the attractions and hear the loud, echoing shrills and screams from those that braved the intimidating appeal of certain, obviously more intense rides. Not only was it the sights and sounds that heightened your excitement, but the lingering smell of some exquisite alien delicacies wafted through the air all around you. This in turn had caused your stomach to go from a feeling of 'I can't wait to go on these rides' into 'I haven't eaten anything all day and I'll be sick if I don't have something first'. It did mess with your plans a little since you so desperately wanted to try out some of the attractions, but your hunger for something to fill your belly was more powerful for you to make it your first priority.
"So, see anything you want to try?" Zim asked, still holding your hand in his.
"Actually, would it be alright if we get something to eat first?" You suggested, feeling your stomach growl as you spoke.
"HAH, foolish human, of course you would say that now that we're here..." Zim suddenly laughed.
"... What?" You questioned, curiosity painted on your face.
"Don't think for a second that I can't see right through you, honey..." Leaning down to your eye level, Zim glanced at you with a smug grin before stating "You're too scared to go on anything now that you've seen this place in person, aren't you? And now you're trying to hide it by saying you want to do something else instead. I knew you wouldn't be able to handle this place! Oh, my silly, innocent human."
"What? That's not it at all!" You exclaimed, looking up at him with a frown as he regained his posture, glaring down at you with a mr-know-it-all smile.
"Mhm, sure. You just keep telling yourself that." He mumbled, tapping his flat hand on your head as though you were an obedient pet. Feeling quite agitated at his actions, you grabbed his hand and lowered it down.
"I'm serious Zim!" Your voice snapped, catching him off guard a little.
"Alright, alright! No need to get so worked up." He responded. "We'll have a look around and see if there's anything you want to-"
"LUNA-GEMS!" You boasted, looking off to the side where a little food shack stood. Above the stall, a colourful billboard stood out from the rest of them, listing off a bunch of food items the stall would offer. One of the items being Luna-gems had made your stomach grow even more desperate as you grabbed his hand and began to pull him along with you up to the stall.
"Luna-gems?" He repeated, confused. "I thought you don't like Luna-gems."
"Yeah I know, it's weird but I just reeaaaally want some right now." You stated as you both stood in line. "Maybe my taste buds have changed since the last time I had them?"
"Hmm, I don't think so." Zim proclaimed, "I think you're just nervous about being here and it's making you go a little crazy."
"Would you stop that! I'm not nervous!" Your voice bellowed in an angry tone. Zim immediately took note of your unusual behaviour and as a result he stepped back a little from you. "Ugh, I'm just hungry, okay? I didn't mean to yell."
"Relax my love, if you want Luna-gems then we'll get you some." Zim reassured you with a more caring approach, wrapping an arm around your shoulder to bring you closer to him. "How about I buy ourselves some decaffeinated Tomirans juice as well? I know how much you love them."
"Actually, that's really sweet of you Zim, but the idea of drinking one right now makes me feel a little queasy." You mentioned, crossing your arms over shamefully, unsure of why you felt the way that you were.
"... Perhaps your taste buds have changed." Zim commented, finding it unusual that you weren't even up for something you'd often order when you were out with him. Regardless, you got your Luna-gems and Zim got himself the previously mentioned drink. You two walked around for a little while and continued to observe all the wondrous sights and attractions that never failed to spark your interest. After you were both done and your hunger felt satisfied, you went off to find a ride that would be suitable for your stomach to handle after just digesting some food. The ride you had found wasn't nearly as fast or as extreme as the majority of the ones here, but it was a little entry to the world of entertainment that this planet had to offer. Plus, it was a way for you two to have some fun and pass the time while you waited until you felt like you could go on a more intense ride without throwing up your food.
About 30 minutes had passed and you two had already been on two rides and had tried your hand at one of the side-show games. The first ride was nothing to brag about, rather boring and tame, while the second one was a little more suited up your alley, more so yours than Zims. To best describe the ride, it was very similar to a standard ferris wheel, only it rotated in a square loop rather than in a circular motion, giving you both more of a chance to overlook the entire planet with all it had to offer. You of course found it romantic as that's how ferris wheels are often portrayed on Earth, while Zim found the experience mediocre compared to what he was expecting. Later having a go at one of the games, Zim had somehow managed to win a round (or should I say cheat) and was given a typical looking plush toy, only it was shaped like a weird alien crossbreed between a deer and a fox, that you'd had your eye on when you first stumbled across the game. Upon receiving it, Zim proudly handed it to you and admired your adoration towards the plush with a satisfied smile bearing his lips.
You carried your deer-fox plush around with you in your hands as you two further continued to walk around the carnival. After some time, you stated to him how you felt ready to try out one of the more intense rides that you'd been drawn to since you first came here. Zim made sure you were fully confident in yourself and how you felt before he guided you to where the ride was. Waiting in line, you watched with anticipation as your eyes trailed one of the carts; observing as it went up, swung around, upside down, side to side, and just about every other direction you could possibly think of. It was fast, and boy did it get your heart racing just looking at it. As the line moved up, you two followed as you soon found yourselves at the gate of the attraction, standing alongside the ride operator. Feeling like your heart was about to beat right out of your chest, you clenched onto Zim's hand tightly as you prepared to step up onto the platform, a mix of anxiety and adrenaline taking over your entire system while your eyes focused on-
"STOP! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"
A sudden, authoritative voice alarmed you both as you turned your attention to where it was coming from; the ride operator. Stepping back down, you looked up at the guy as he held a serious expression on his face. His build was tall and muscular, and his eyes were a deep shade of blue as he locked his gaze on you both, more so you than Zim. It made you a little on edge as he observed you, but you complied with his orders and walked back in line to face him.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you on." He stated, crossing his arms.
"Eh? Why?" Zim asked, completely dumbfounded.
"Look at this sign." The operator ordered, turning your attention to a warning sign he was pointing at for patrons in line wishing to go on the ride. "Do you see anything here that complies with either of you?"
You both studied the sign for a second, reading in your mind each rule as you went down the list; NO FOOD OR DRINK. NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY. NO CHILDREN OR ANYONE UNDER 3FT. NO TOYS OR HAND-HELD OBJECTS ON BOARD. DO NOT RIDE IF PREGNANT OR INJURED.
Upon inspecting the rules, you came to the realization that one of these rules did actually apply to you as you looked down in your hands, feeling rather silly now that it was brought to your attention.
"That's right. You specifically." He gestured an extended finger towards where your hands were in front of your body. "I'm afraid I can't let you on this ride while you're carrying."
"S-sorry, I didn't realize..." You stammered, figuring he was talking about your little deer-fox plush you were holding in your hands.
"Here, give it to me!" Zim demanded with an agitated tone, holding his hand out. You allowed him to take it from you as he effortlessly placed it in his pak for safe keeping with an added grumble in doing so.
"Why are you frustrated?" You questioned, observing his behaviour.
"Because I should have known they'd hire a Khox'iks to work here." He huffed.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Let's just say that they're known to be one of the most observant species to exist, making them highly, HIGHLY annoying, with their x-ray vision and highly-sensitive hearing. They're the equivalent of your police dogs on Earth... only these guys can talk." Zim added, batting an eye at the operator with those last few words. With the plush now safely secured away in Zim's pak, he grabbed you by the hand and proceeded to lead you up the stairs.
"HEY, I SAID YOU CAN'T GO ON!" The operator yelled, making Zim groan in frustration.
"YES WE CAN! WE PUT THE DUMB TOY AWAY, YOU IMBICILE!" Zim snapped back while you both made your way down the platform and back to where the operator was standing, Zim stomping his feet angrily while walking back to the guy.
"NO YOU CAN'T! NOT WHILE YOUR PARTNER HERE IS STILL CARRYING!" The operator responded, once again pointing in the same direction he was pointing at before, only this time you were left confused as you no longer had anything in your hands. As Zim continued shouting back at the operator, your ears drowned out his words while your eyes focused on the warning sign yet again, trying to figure out what it was that the operator was hinting at. You scanned through the list, mentally checking off every requirement and rule as you went along to see what complied with you. For the most part you were still left completely baffled, until you read the last part. Sure, you weren't injured so that was something you didn't have to worry about, but the other word... made your heart sink heavy and deeply into your stomach. Your breath hitched for a moment as your eyes shot open in realization, immediately you brought your hands to your mouth to hide the sudden jaw-drop you couldn't control. Upon seeing you hide your face and your unexplainable panic-stricken behaviour, Zim turned his attention away from the operator and glanced at you with a bewildered expression.
"Honey, are... are you alright?" He asked, unaware of what was going on with you or even the whole situation that you could possibly be in. Feeling a gentle, gloved hand being placed on your shoulder, you snapped out of your trance and turned to look at Zim with wide eyes, your muscles tensing up and your palms starting to break out into a nervous sweat.
"Zim... w-we need to go home..."
After hearing your faint voice in an odd sentence like that, his antennae lowered down as a sign that he felt a sudden impact of empathy towards you and your situation, despite still not having any idea what it was all about.
"Is it because of the ride? Or this idiot? Or-"
"No, I just..." You paused, taking a deep breath as you calmly grabbed Zim's hand. You squeezed it lightly for your own reassurance as you tried to muster up the courage to talk to him. "P-please, we need to go home..."
Finding it difficult to read what was going through your mind, Zim complied with your request seeing it would probably benefit you most to leave this situation and whatever was freaking you out here. Making sure not to let go of your hand, he guided you both out of the line, but not before glancing his head around and sending daggers at the operator with a sharp glare. "Thanks for ruining our day! You've made my human and I so, so happy..." There was a slight pause from him until- "THAT WAS SARCASM IN CASE YOUR PUNY LITTLE MIND COULDN'T TELL!"
Before Zim could continue shouting at the operator, you placed your free hand up towards the side of his face and got him to look at you. His beautiful magenta eyes meeting yours were always a sight you loved to see. Now all you wanted to do was look at them as much as you could before the possibility of maybe never seeing them again in the not-so-distant future. "Zim, please don't get angry with him. It's not his fault I feel this way."
"Then what's the real reason you're acting like this?" He asked, completely oblivious to your predicament.
"I..." You paused, taking in a deep breath before letting it out, noticing how it barely eased any of your stress, "I can't tell you right now, I'm not sure I can even put it into words. But we just... need to go home..."
Grabbing your hand from his face and lowering it down, Zim studied you for a second, noticing your tense behaviour and your unwillingness to comply with answering his question.
"What is it you're not telling me, my love?"
Oh god, hearing him call you his love was always music to your ears, something that never failed to make your heart skip a beat, but now it only felt like it induced more panic to your already overworked stress levels.
"Zim, I promise you will find out soon," You reassured him, your voice shaky and unconfident, "Please, I just need you to be patient with me..."
With your fate currently unknown, you weren't sure how you would approach this with Zim. Of course he would have to find out some time, but you had no idea where to even begin with a conversation like that. Sure, you and Zim had briefly discussed this possibility in the past, but you'd never actually fully explored into it and had a real, serious talk about it. So whether Zim would actually be okay with it, or maybe even happy about this possibility, was something you weren't entirely sure about. And to be honest, you weren't even fully aware of how you felt about it all in general, let alone right now. Hell, neither of you were even sure if this could really happen or not! But with the small possibility of it actually happening right now, it was driving you crazy. There were too many outcomes to this situation that you were so fearful of. What if Zim reacts badly towards it? What if he leaves you? What if he forces you to destroy this possibility, or what if he'll just simply destroy you instead?
What if? What if? What if?
All these outcomes played on your mind like a song on repeat, adding more and more horrible additions the more time went on. Despite your history with Zim, your brain tossed out all the 'positive' outcomes that would seem more plausible and realistic, but instead it chose to focus on all the imaginary negative ones, self sabotaging yourself to believe that's what would happen and to prepare for the worst of the worst.
You could barely recall what happened as you two travelled back home since your brain was too busy focusing on all the negatives of this situation and what impact this could have on both of your futures. Zim had tried to ask yet again what was going on, but your answers were not much more than unhelpful to him. In fact, you were actually quite surprised he hadn't guessed what was going on since you kept your hands placed on your stomach the entire trip home, glancing down at your abdomen every now and then with your imagination running wild in all the wrong ways. You started to piece together every little hint, any possible clue, that could help you determine the outcome of this situation before finding out from an actual test that you were soon about to take. The more you thought about the clues, the more you stressed, and with every realization that made you further believe this could be happening, the more your anxiety increased and your heartrate went up. It would explain so many things; why you felt sick yesterday, why your emotions were more fragile than usual, why you suddenly craved certain foods and felt repulsed by other stuff that you usually liked. It all started adding up. Not to mention the fact that, obviously, you'd skipped your menstrual cycle for this month.
Holy shit... could this really be happening?
Reaching back to Zim's base, you practically lunged out from the ship the moment Zim parked it on the ground as you set off down in the base to enter your bedroom. Rushing over to the bathroom that was attached to the side of your room, you paid little to no attention to anything else as you crouched down to open the cabinet drawers. Frantically, your hands and eyes searched everywhere for the item you so desperately needed. You'd never told anyone you had purchased this before, especially Zim, but you kept it as an emergency just in case for moments like this, though you honestly thought you'd never end up using it. After locating where it was, you grabbed it and carelessly ripped open the box, pulling out the little plastic device without bothering to read any further instructions. You already had a basic knowledge of what to do and how to use it, so you sat yourself down on the toilet and adjusted yourself to where you needed your hands to be. Your hands shook uncontrollably, making this whole process a little more difficult than you intended it to be. Once your side of the task was done, all you had to do now was play the waiting game as you set the device on the bathroom sink and allowed it to process the information it needed. Sitting yourself down on the bathroom floor, you picked up the little instructional pamphlet that came inside the box as you opened it up and scanned through it, allowing your eyes to glimpse over any important details written in bold lettering. The test claimed it would take about 5 minutes for the results to show up, and you felt like it was going to be the most horrible, anxiety-inducing 5 minutes of your life, sitting in the bathroom and having to control yourself to not take a peek waiting for time to pass.
"-Hello? Earth flower?"
Zim's voice caught you off guard, accompanied by a few loud knocks, as you heard him call out to you from the other side of the door. Just before you could respond, your attention was brought to the door as you heard the sound of it being opened. Your body jumped up from where you were sitting as you moved quickly, hoping to catch him in time and block out the view before Zim could see what was going on.
"(Y/N), it's obvious you're hiding something from me! I demand that you tell me what it is this instant or-"
Your hands placed themselves on Zim's chest as you gently guided him backwards before he got the chance to fully enter the bathroom, cutting him off from his sentence. With one hand still lightly pressed on him, you used the other hand to pull the door closed from behind you with the sound of a click locking it in place. Your head nestled comfortably under his chin, arms wrapped around his body, holding onto him as though you were never going to experience this again. Zim, still completely unaware of what was going on, decided to just let you do what you needed to do while he glanced down at you with the most dumbfounded expression.
"What's this for?" Zim asked. In response, you buried your head even deeper into him, dreading the fact that you had to answer to him sooner or later. Your heart rate increased dramatically, feeling as though it were about to jump right out of your chest.
"Zim... I," You paused, taking in another deep breath before letting it out slowly, "I need to ask you something."
"I'm listening." He responded.
"Do you... honestly love me?"
There was a moment of silence between the two of you, the room felt like it was caving in on you while you waited for his response. Without any sound being made, all you could focus on was the newfound feeling of Zim's arms wrapping themselves around you, holding you close with one hand gently placed behind your head and the other wrapped firmly around the back of your waist.
"(Y/N), what in the name of Irk would make you second-guess my devotion to you?"
Your mouth trembled as you felt your hands grip onto the back of his clothing, preparing to speak your words in a somewhat coherent manner.
"I'm just... a little worried about our future together..." You spoke, managing to hold yourself together for the duration of your sentence.
"Why? I'm going to need you to give me more detail on what you're talking about for it to make sense, my love." Zim responded. "What is all this secrecy about?"
"Okay look..." You slowly pulled your head away from him and looked up to meet with his soft, glowing eyes. Oh god, those eyes. "Remember when that guy told us we couldn't go on the ride because I was carrying?"
"Of course I do! Pesky Khox'iks filth!" Zim stated, repulsed by the memory of earlier today. You brought his attention back to you as you breathed in deeply once again.
"Well, he may have been onto something when he said I was carrying, and he wasn't talking about the animal toy I was holding. I think he meant something small and, uh... u-unborn..." With that, you glanced down at your stomach, silently gesturing to him to do the same as his eyes followed to where you wanted him to look. It took him a few short seconds before his eyes shot open and-
"...We have to go! NOW!" Zim demanded, grabbing hold of your wrist and pulling you alongside him in a sudden harsh momentum. You were temporarily caught off balance when he almost yanked your arm out of the socket, forcing you to come along with him while he guided you two out of your room and down the hallway.
"Zim! What are you doing?!" You questioned him, trying to release your arm from his hold on you with what little strength you had compared to his firm grip.
"WE'RE GETTING YOU OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!" He responded, his voice loud as it boomed out along the hallway until you reached the elevator, stepping inside.
"What?! Why?!?"
"BECAUSE YOU'RE IN DANGER, THAT'S WHY! AND I WON'T JUST STAND BY AND WATCH MY LOVE-PIG SLOWLY DIE RIGHT BEFORE MY AMAZING EYES!"
"What are you talking about, Zim?!" You asked, trying to figure out what he meant while also still struggling to free yourself from him. His fingers latched onto you even tighter the more he felt you tug away at him. His effortless posture as he held your hand in the elevator made you seem like your struggle was pointless since he seemed to be more focused on panicking about... whatever it was that he was talking about. "Where are we even going?!"
"We're going to go get whatever is inside of you removed this instant! THAT THING MUST BE TERMINATED!"
And just like that, your heart shattered into a million pieces. The reaction you dreaded to witness was becoming a harsh reality. You had to put in all your effort to not let your tears get the better of you right then and there as the elevator continued to ascend, escorting you both higher and higher until it reached the roof of the house where Zim pulled you from the platform and over to the ship. Your mind was in too much of a shattered blur to pay any attention to his rambling. His hand never let go from your wrist the entire time he dragged you along with him, only up until he managed to guide you carefully into the ship beside him where he then powered it up and opened the hatch for the ceiling of the base to become ajar enough to fly out through.
"-or maybe it was last month when we went to... no, that doesn't seem right. OR it could have been from the time we... BLARGH, IT DOESN'T MATTER! THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT WE GO GET THIS TAKEN CARE OF RIGHT NOW!" Zim continued rambling beside you, though you were in too much emotional pain to respond to any of it. "I'm glad you told me, my love. Otherwise we may have been too late to remove it if we left this any later."
With your eyes focused on your side of the window, watching as the blue sky transcended into a dark and starry atmosphere in the never-ending void of space, you flinched when you felt the gentle touch of Zim's hand grabbing yours, quickly pulling your arm away and tucking it around your other arm. Even if you couldn't see it, Zim raised a brow in suspicion after noticing you having rejected his offer to hold your hand, something that you rarely ever do. His curiosity only grew after hearing your broken little sniffles and noticing you wipe a tear from your cheek.
"Oh don't worry, my earth flower. I know you're probably scared about the procedure, but don't worry. From what I've heard the process is painless! And I'll be right outside the room waiting for you while it happens." He stated, trying to comfort you as best he could.
"I was so afraid you'd react like this..." You silently murmured under your breath. "I was so scared for this exact reason... I just can't believe you..."
"Eh? You... can't believe me??" He asked, completely baffled at your words. "Well then how did you want me to react?"
"Gee, I don't know. A little more sympathy from you wouldn't hurt. And maybe talking about it first before you rush to conclusions would help!" You responded angrily, feeling your tears now uncontrollably stream down your face one by one, letting them fall.
"Honey, I'm not some weak, emotionally-driven Irken, but I'm giving you all the sympathy I'm capable of!"
"Really?! Saying you want this 'Thing' terminated before we even discuss it is NOT showing any sympathy for me!" You explained, your heart racing a million miles an hour while you felt the tension between you and your alien grow stronger in the space that separated you two. "Did you ever even consider that maybe I want to keep it?"
"... WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO KEEP IT???" Zim shouted, completely baffled as he locked his eyes on you with the most confused and bewildered expression you'd ever seen from him. "WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO KEEP ANYTHING LIKE THAT? DON'T YOU KNOW THAT ONCE A PARASITE INFECTS YOUR BODY IT STARTS EATING YOU FROM THE INSIDE OUT?! YOU BEGIN TO FORM INTO A MUTLING SACK OF ROTTEN FLESH AND BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, YOUR DEAD ON THE FLOOR! SORRY IF THAT ISN'T TO YOUR LIKING, HONEY, BUT I WILL NOT JUST SIT HERE AND LET THIS THING CONSUME YOU!"
Your angered expression soon disappeared from your face once you heard what he was talking about. Your tense posture and balled-up fists had turned into a more neutral state, feeling your watery eyes stop momentarily as you looked at him blankly.
"A... p-parasite?" You stammered.
"Yes!"
"You're talking about... a parasite?"
"YES! PAY ATTENTION!" He demanded, answering your question as though it was unnecessary. "Now as I was saying before, it could have come from that time when we went to that disgusting fungi-filled planet Uxorthia, or maybe even from that pizza place we went to with Gir! I never did trust that horrible, greasy-"
Zim was cut off from his nonsensical theories once he heard you sigh and breathe heavily, noticing you placing a shaking hand to your chest as if you were letting out your panic and anger through a single exhale.
"Oh no, AM I TOO LATE? HAS IT ALREADY STARTED FEASTING ON-"
"Z-Zim, I'm not... I'm not infected with a parasite." You stated calmly, focusing your glassy eyes on him.
"You're not?" He asked, his manner much more relaxed than what it was, but you could still tell he wasn't fully certain about what was going on. You shook your head as a non-verbal approach to answering him. "Then... what else could it be?"
"Well... before you say anything, just hear me out, alright?" You requested, turning yourself to sit fully facing him. Zim, noticing your newfound posture, humbly did the same as he flashed you a smile of approval and adjusted himself so that all of his attention was on you. Fidgeting with your hands in your lap, you took another deep breath as you pieced together the words in your mind before you spoke. "When we got back home, I started adding up all the possible reasons why certain things are happening to me, and I had a suspicion about it but I wasn't exactly sure if what I had in my mind was true or not. So I went to the bathroom and I... I took a pregnancy test and-"
"YOU'RE PREGNANT?!?" Zim's voice resonated loudly, his eyes peeling wide open in shock with his antennas flicking themselves upright as that's what usually happens when he reaches this level of surprise.
"ZIM, HOLD ON! JUST..." You quickly spoke, passive-aggressive in your voice in hopes of trying to ease him back into your explanation. You took a sharp inhale as you looked into his eyes, a hint of uncertainty reflecting in yours. "Before you make your own judgment and do anything that might freak me out, I want to ask you something and I need you to be honest with me..."
"And what is that?" He questioned, trying to regain some composure back into him, but you could tell how hard it was for him to keep himself so calm and regal in this moment for your own sake.
"... What would you say if I was pregnant right now?" You asked, noticing your heart beat faster out of anxiety for the fear of whatever he might say resulting in you feeling shattered once again. Still managing to keep control of himself, he reached out to grab your hands and tenderly hold them in his, all while looking into you with those glimmering magenta eyes of his.
"If you were pregnant right now, I would probably stutter in amazement and place my hands on your stomach all while telling you how excited I would be."
"... R-really?!" You muttered, feeling your eyes well up again with tears. Only this time, they were tears of enlightenment, something you didn't think would happen. Your heart melted over his words while you unconsciously clasped his hands even tighter in yours. An uncontrollable smile made its way on your lips while your cheeks painted a rosy hue to your face. Zim nodded, trying to keep himself as calm as possible, but it was evident to you judging from his squirming and his twitching antenna that he was desperate to be relieved of his state of calmness. You gladly allowed him to do whatever he felt he needed to do as he stood up from his seat immediately and-
"Y-YOU'RE PREGNANT? WITH M-MY... YOU... IN YOUR... W-WE... I'M GONNA BE A..."
And just like he said he would, he continued to stutter his words, unable to make any coherent sentences before dropping to one knee in front of you and placing his hands on your stomach, staring directly at where he supposed any fetus would be.
"RIGHT IN THERE? THERE COULD BE A SMEET RIGHT THERE?!" He asked with a huge smile spreading across either side of his face. You nodded and felt a sense of warmth and adrenaline as he continued to talk to you, hyper-fixating on the idea of a baby in you and asking a million questions without being able to slow himself down to catch his breath. You couldn't help but smile wider and giggle at his sweet, adorable reaction in having felt the tension in the ship now lift and be replaced with an excited sensation.
"Hang on Zim, let's not get too excited." You exclaimed, placing a hand on his shoulder. He brought his attention up from your stomach to look at you face to face.
"Huh, why not?" He asked in bewilderment.
"Well because I don't know if I am actually pregnant. You pulled me away from the bathroom before I could find out if the test came back positive or negative." You explained calmly, hoping your explanation wouldn't annoy Zim.
"Very well." He stated before standing back up. "COMPUTER! TAKE US TO TERAMOONZ!"
"RECALCULATING ROUTE TO TERAMOONZ" The computer responded, a few mechanical noises added along with it as you felt the ship automatically turn to a different direction and straight on from there.
"Uh.. what's Teramoonz?" You asked hesitantly.
"Teramoonz is the most professional, accurate, trustworthy and inter-knowledgeable hospital in all of this side of the galaxy. I want to make sure my human gets nothing but the best treatment if you are to be carrying my smeet." He explained grabbing hold of your hands once again as a means of reassurance. You'd be lying if you denied his words of comfort having made you feel a sudden sense of security & submission towards him upon hearing how protective and cautious he wanted to be over you and your possible unborn baby.
"Is that why we're going there? To see if I'm pregnant?" You asked.
"Of course! I wouldn't trust what some pathetic human device would say, especially if it's going to be an Irken hybrid baby!" He proclaimed. To be fair, he had a point. Who knows what the test would have said considering the fact that if you were actually pregnant, it wouldn't be a normal human baby like the test would be programmed to pick up on. "Besides, I want to know for sure that you aren't infected with any parasites."
You sighed, shaking your head lightly while giggling at his comment. "Zim, I'm pretty confident I don't have a parasite in-"
"WE NEED TO MAKE SURE! I NEED TO KNOW MY SMEET IS OKAY!" Zim interrupted, voicing himself loudly before flashing you a content smile. "And you of course, my love." Your giggle came back after receiving that charming smile of his, watching as he leaned his head closer to you to plant a small, sweet kiss on your forehead. You were absolutely adored at how precautious he can be but in such a delightful way that made your heart flutter when you squeezed his hands lightly, bringing your face up close to him and leaning the side of your head on his shoulder in a comforting hug.
Upon arriving at the designated planet, Zim parked the voot cruiser out the front of the alien hospital he was talking about earlier, or 'Teramoonz' as it's labeled on the top of the building. Stepping outside the ship and making your way through the parking lot, you passed by dozens of differently designed ships and entered inside the building with two automatic sliding doors passing by, allowing you both to enter inside. Zim lovingly held your hand while you walked together and let it go once you both reached the front counter. From behind a blue desk, you could see the figure of a typical alien looking creature with noticeable nurse-like attire worn on them. You assumed this was one of the front counter staff when Zim pressed a small red button on the front desk to get their attention. After hearing the buzzer go off, they turned around on their chair and brought themselves closer to the window to talk to you both.
"Why hello there! What can I do for-"
"YEAH YEAH CUT THE SMALL TALK! I AM THE GREAT ZIM, AND THIS IS MY HUMAN (Y/N)! WE'RE HERE TO SEE IF MY LOVE-PARTNER HAS BEEN IMPREGNATED AND IS CARRYING MY SMEET OR NOT!" Zim rudely interrupted the staff, cutting them off from their sentence as he gestured towards you in his statement.
"Well... a-alrighty then... just give me a minute." They responded, slightly taken back by Zim's blunt attitude but still containing their professional composure as they began typing away on some weird extra-terrestrial mechanical monitor from behind the counter. You could hear all types of strange beeps and clicks coming from it as they typed away, though you were unsure of what exactly they were doing as your eyes weren't able to look down past the counter far enough to see the whole screen.
"Have either of you two been here before?" They asked, glancing over to read your reactions.
"Nope." Zim answered on behalf of the both of you.
"Okay. And have you ever been pregnant before, dear?" They questioned, turning their gaze to look at you.
"Uh, n-no." You replied nervously.
"That's alright. Now lastly I just need to know do you have any medical needs or anything we should know about before we get someone to check you?"
"No... not that I'm aware of." You answered. (If you do, that's okay, just pretend you explained what your medical needs are to them if you're comfortable in doing so)
"Fantastic. I've put all the information onto our system and one of our lovely doctors will be with you both momentarily. In the meantime, please make yourselves comfortable in the waiting room." They explained politely, flashing you a kind smile. You were about to say thank you to them in return had it not been for the fact that Zim was already detached from whatever they were saying and went to grab your hand, pulling you along with him over to the nearby waiting room. Walking nearby where two empty seats were stationed together, you both sat down next to each other while you quietly observed your surroundings. You two were seated in a spacious area joined by other visiting aliens who were also patiently waiting, scattered all around the perimeter. While you had your backs against the wall, a simple turn over your shoulders would reveal the wall was actually a glass pane, allowing you easy access to see the nearby hallway as many guests walked up and down it, either entering the hospital or leaving it. You could also see plenty of staff rooms along the other walls. Even if upon first inspection the waiting room seemed to give off a cozy, simplistic vibe to help their waiting patients relax, you couldn't help but still feel a little uneasy while waiting there as you placed a hand over the top of your stomach, contemplating a million thoughts. Zim took notice of your tense posture as he looked over at you with a confused expression.
"Are you alright, my love?"
"Yeah, I'm just..." You paused, unsure of how to describe the emotions you were currently feeling, "Are you sure you'd be okay if we were having a baby?"
"Of course! Why do you question that?" He asked, tilting his head to the side while still looking at you in bewilderment.
"I just needed to hear you say so." You commented, feeling a little more at ease after his words of reassurance.
As time went on for a little while, you both found yourselves engaged in a casual conversation before your attention was pulled away and towards the sound of laughter from behind you. Your heads both turned around to see what the noise was about when your attention was caught on two tall, octopus-like alien creatures with dozens of laughing babies curled up in both their weird tentacle arms. Having assumed they were mother and father, they walked down along the hallway, excitement and proudness written on their faces as the babies continued giggling and cackling away, soon passing by the waiting room and out of the hospital where you assumed they took themselves and their newborns home after they were out of sight. Once the room was filled with chatter again amongst the other patients in the room, your head spun back around to face Zim. Your eyes immediately widened by the sight of his jovial smile spreading across his face, his gleaming pink eyes looking into yours with a sense of excitement in them.
"W-what?" You mumbled.
"Just imagine that could be us! Dozens and dozens of little smeets! We could have our own army of Zim Jr's!" He boasted, his smile never fading.
"Okay, slow down honey. Let's just focus on this one for now." You stated, gesturing down towards your stomach.
"What if there's more than one?" Zim suggested with an excited tone, his smile only growing wider. "It wouldn't surprise me. Irken's have been known to produce multiple sets of offspring waayyy before cloning took over. That could mean my amazing army of-"
"Zim, please, let's just wait and see, okay?" You asked politely, trying to control him a little. Zim took your statement as a subtle hint that you may have felt a little overwhelmed with the idea of having more than one smeet, and his guess wasn't wrong, as his smile turned from an excited grin to a more reassuring glance of affection. After his less chaotic behaviour had helped put you a little more at ease, your eyes caught a glimpse of one of the doctors dressed in fancy white attire, making their way over to you both with a clipboard in hand as they eyed the two of you with a brow raised in curiosity.
"Ah, you must be the human that has come in. Is that correct?" They asked politely. Judging from their appearance, they seemed relatively nice and they had a soft tone to their masculine voice, but what you really took notice of was the fact that from what you had seen of this place so far, you could easily have mistaken it for similar appearances of a typical hospital you'd find on earth had it not been for the fact that there were dozens of different alien creatures scattered around the vicinity. But besides all that, you looked up at the kind nurse alien creature and nodded with a smile. "Perfect. I'm Dr. Qesta and I'll be the one doing the check up for you today. I must say we've never had a human come here before, but it's a pleasure to have you here and I look forward to working with you both! Please, follow me."
As instructed, you both got up from your chairs and walked alongside each other, passing subtle glances to one another while maintaining a close distance behind the doctor. They guided you through a number of corridors and led you up a set of stairs before they stopped in their tracks right outside a closed door that read 'Fertility Room 04' on the front. They proceeded to open it and walked inside, flicking the lights on and revealing a strange, glowing purple aura around the room, giving you a familiar and cozy impression. In fact, if it weren't for the gynecologic-looking equipment in the room and a typical hospital bed stationed right in the middle with a couple of leg stirrups either side, you'd actually be reminded of what it feels like walking into the presence of Zim's base for the very first time. To think you'd eventually end up pregnant with this Irken's baby, huh?
"Alright, now if you'd please just come lie down on this bed and we can get started." Dr. Qesta declared, walking around the other side of the bed as they put a pair of gloves over their strange, 8-fingered hand. You smiled from across the room, happily obliging to do so, before Zim grabbed your arm and harshly pulled you back out into the doorway with him.
"Hold on a minute." Zim uttered, making sure he guided you around so that you were mostly covered up behind him, still holding onto your arm with a firm grip.
"What's wrong?" You asked, trying to get him to face you but failing in doing so, observing the room cautiously and deep in thought.
"How do we know we can trust this... thing." He speculated with a nasty tone.
"What thing?"
"THIS! All of this! The equipment, the doctor, the hospital, the... the stirrups..." He exclaimed, whispering as though he was afraid they would come to life and murder him. Oh great, Zim is having another one of his hysterical, overdramatic delusions, and when that happens he starts making irrational decisions, which is something you hoped to avoid during this particular moment. "I don't trust those stirrups, not when my human, and possible unborn smeet, are going to be close to them. C'mon, let's just forget this and go back to the base where you're safe and-"
"Zim, relax!" You spoke loudly, breaking his sentence and tugging your arm away from his hold. "Look, you told me yourself how professional this hospital is, right? So why are you suddenly getting all these ideas in your head that this place is bad?"
"Because..." He paused for a moment, trying to put together in his mind any logical explanation to back up his panic. "... i-it's Zim's smeet... so we should just go back to the base and use one of my scanners back at home."
You took a short moment to evaluate his suggestion, taking a deep breath before looking up and meeting his frantic-ridden eyes with yours. "Zim, if you want this smeet to be okay, you have to trust that these guys know what they're doing. Besides, what if one of your 'scanners' gives off some type of weird radiation effect, or something that could potentially harm the baby, or even me."
"That wouldn't happen! Zim's technology is the best in the whole solar system!" He stated proudly, trying to further prove his point.
"While I do agree that Irken technology is vastly superior in many ways," Dr. Qesta piped up from inside the room, "You can be rest assured that our equipment has been manufactured and tested to the highest of quality. We pride ourselves in taking the utmost care of all of our patients and you needn't worry about anything. I can even remove the stirrups if that would make you feel better?"
"See?" You chimed with a smile on your face. Walking around him and grabbing hold of his hand, you pulled Zim into the room with you while you made your way over to the bed, all while Zim had a slightly annoyed expression written on his face. Getting ready to hop up on the bed, you were caught off guard when a pair of hands grabbed onto you from under your knees and behind your back as you were suddenly swept off your feet, literally, in Zim's arms, a little yelp escaping your lips in reaction to it. "Honey! What are you doing now?"
"I NEED TO MAKE SURE THIS BED ISN'T SET UP WITH SOME KIND OF TRAP, OR HAS ANY MALFUNCTIONAL WIRING TO IT!" He stated loudly, extending a long claw out from his pak as it grazed over the top of the bed, pressing down on it in various spots before it retracted itself back. Once Zim was satisfied that it was safe, he gently placed you down on the bed with a soft pillow tucked under your head. All you could do was look at him with an unamused expression, though your seriousness was half-hearted as an uncontrollable smile formed on your lips.
"Was that really necessary?" You joked, batting your eyes at him.
"Of course it was!" He boasted. At this point, you didn't even know how to respond to him, and quite frankly you had guessed that by now, after getting a glimpse at what Zim's personality is like, the doctor is most likely questioning your choices in romantic partners and/or co-parenting with such a boisterous, frantic alien.
From there, the doctor ran through some more questions between the two of you and you were more than happy to share your information with them. Zim however, found it rather difficult to open up about certain topics, so the doctor had to rely on you to provide as much information from your side of things to better understand the situation and to hopefully perform the check up more accurately. As mentioned before, the fact that they've never had a human come here before, especially with the hint that they might be pregnant with an Irken's smeet, was totally new to them. Still, the doctor tried to do as much research and gather enough information to appropriately perform a pregnancy scan on you. They figured since this is most likely the first possible human/Irken hybrid that could have ever existed, they weren't going to risk any chances of doing anything extreme or operating any machinery that could put either you or this baby at harm's way. It wasn't uncommon for them to come across mixed-species offspring, but an Irken and a human was unlike anything they'd ever seen or even think of, so you had to give them a basic rundown of how humans usually go through pregnancy, followed by Zim's explanation of how Irken smeets are genetically cloned and created. From there, the doctor prepared you for the scan by doing the same practices as what humans would do; they got you to lift up your shirt a little and prepared an ointment to rub onto the skin of your belly. Alongside the doctor was a monitor that displayed a screen showing a black picture, but Dr Qesta informed you that would soon change. With a steady hand, they brought up a little device that looked like a weirdly-shaped flashlight, placing it on your belly as a cold shiver ran up your spine, followed by a gasp that slipped out from your mouth upon the unexpected feeling.
"Oh no, you're not hurt are you?!" Zim questioned in a sudden panic, looking over at you as he stood by your side.
"No, I'm fine. It just felt a little cold is all." You explained. Just as you were about to bring your attention to the monitor, you stopped once you took notice of how fast your heartrate had increased. Guess you hadn't realized the nervousness in yourself with all of the commotion Zim had caused earlier. Having now discovered you were experiencing a whole new level of anxiety, you glanced back at Zim and cleared your throat a little. "H-honey, would you hold my hand please?"
Without any hesitation, Zim delicately wrapped his hand around yours and clasped onto it for reassurance. Your cheeks tinted with a faint red blush after feeling his thumb gently glide over the back of your palm. Despite your gratitude towards Zim's reaction to the possibility of having a child, you still couldn't help but feel a little on edge as your eyes glanced around the room, almost as though you found it too difficult to look at the monitor in case something was actually there. At some point, you had tuned out the feeling of the device gliding along your abdomen and proceeded to fall into a moment of derealization, getting lost in your own thoughts and barely acknowledging the fact that Zim was now comparing the technology of the hospital to his Irken devices and how inferior this stuff was by a long shot.
"What is that monitor even for anyway?" Zim asked rather rudely.
"Okay so see this device I'm using?" The doctor commented, gesturing at his hands, "This device will project an image of a fetus onto the screen if the human is pregnant."
"So... where's this 'fetus' you talk about?" Zim questioned, adding air quotes to his sentence.
"Well that's the thing... I can't seem to find one." Dr Qesta stated solemnly. At this point, your ears began to tune back to what was going on as you looked over at the doctor with a blank stare. "I'm struggling to find anything. No fetus, no pulse, no embryo. Which, I'm sorry to say this, but it's leading me to believe that you may not actually be- Oh wait here it is!" He announced with an elated tone. Your eyes shot open and you instinctively turned your eyes to look at the screen.
"What!?!" Your voice cracked out of shock.
"Yup, there it is! There's your baby right there! A perfectly stable looking embryo. I didn't expect it to be so small but at least we found it!" Dr Qesta declared happily with a bright smile on his face. "Congratulations you two!" Looking at the screen, your eyes struggled to make out the image of this 'baby', despite squinting and tilting your head in different directions to try and observe it a little better. After deeply observing what was displayed on screen for a few more seconds, your attention was caught by the image of a little grey silhouette that was shaped no bigger than a coin. With your free hand, you extended a finger and tried to point to the little grey dot you were looking at, barely acknowledging that your hands were rather shaky.
"Is... is that...it?" You stammered in confusion.
"Yep, that little grey circle is your baby! It's still the very early stages of pregnancy so you won't be able to see much of it right now, but if you look more closely-" The doctor paused, clicking a button on the device that screenshotted the image on the monitor, locking the image as a still frame so he could zoom into it, "here you can just see where the heartbeat is and which end the head is at. From what I can see here your baby seems to be developing just fine and he, she, or it, looks to be in a healthy condition."
Your eyes widened in surprise as you felt your own heartbeat increase dramatically, looking at a still image of both yours and Zim's baby; your own child. A wave of newfound feelings flooded over you while your eyes continued to look at the image on the screen. You mentally tried to explain to yourself that what you were looking at was your own offspring, and that you were soon about to enter motherhood. It was a crazy thought for sure, but you happily welcomed this feeling without any doubt that this is what you wanted. Despite how unprepared you might be, and having thought you were originally unsure of whether you even wanted this, your decision was immediately and instinctively settled once it was confirmed that you were on your way to being a mother. And not just that, but you were about to have the first ever human Irken hybrid in all of existence! You were about to be the mother of Zim's child! You couldn't help but feel a sense of bliss when the realization hit you that you were pregnant, enjoying this moment as it is and not letting the worrying thoughts of what will happen towards the end of the pregnancy try to freak you out and discourage you from any of this.
Preparing to say something to Zim, you turned your attention to him with a wide smile, only to soon have your arched lips fall upon seeing his eyes still locked on the monitor screen. His attention was focused, unblinking and his mouth was slightly agape while his hand still held onto yours. It was only know you realized the grip on your hand was much more firm than it was before as you figured Zim clasped onto you tighter when the announcement of a baby was made.
"Zim?" You spoke softly, shaking his hand a little to try and grab his attention. When that didn't work, you repeated his name once again, only this time your voice was more distressed as his eyes were still focused on the screen. You weren't sure what was going through his head, but the longer he remained unresponsive to you the more you felt your worry start to kick in again. Why wasn't he answering you? Sure it could just be the fact that he may be left completely speechless for the first time in his life and utterly surprised by this, but... you still had those lingering thoughts in the back of your head that told you this reaction could be the opposite of what he was reassuring you with. You felt it was morally wrong and quite honestly ridiculous to have those distressing thoughts briefly come up to the front of your mind once again, but this momentary, deafening silence only further worried you that he only stated all those positive things to make you feel better. Could it be that deep down this is something he secretly didn't want? Has he suddenly changed his mind now that it's confirmed that you're pregnant?
"I'll... I'll let you two have some time alone..." The doctor commented subtly with a polite smile before they grabbed a clipboard from a nearby desk and proceeded to walk out the room, closing the door behind them. Now that it was just you and Zim left alone in this room, you softly uttered his name one more time to try and get a response from him when-
"ZIM IS GOING TO BE A PARENT!?!" He shouted out of nowhere, having startled you for a quick second. It wasn't long before a wide smile appeared on his face, looking down at you and glancing into your eyes with a sense of uncontrollable excitement. "WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A SMEET TOGETHER! I KNEW IT, I KNEW I COULD PUT A BABY IN YOU!!"
And just as though it never happened, all your worrying thoughts had disappeared from you quicker than you could believe as you soon found yourself immersed in the moment with Zim, sharing his level of excitement with a big smile making its way on your face, although that last part was... questionable. You felt yourself unable to control the wateriness form in your eyes as your emotions peaked to their fullest, completely submerged in a jovial, exhilarated state, and it wasn't hard to see Zim felt a similar way as well.
"HONEY, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?!" He asked, his voice echoing throughout the room with wide eyes that focused on you.
"We're going to be parents?" You answered, thinking that was the obvious response.
"NOT ONLY ARE WE GOING TO BE PARENTS, BUT YOU'RE PREGNANT WITH MY SMEET! THAT MEANS YOU ARE OFFICIALLY THE FIRST OF ANY KIND EVER TO BE IMPREGNATED BY AN IRKEN, AND LUCKY FOR YOU YOU'RE CARRYING ZIM'S BABY! YOU'RE NOT GONNA FIND ANY OTHER IRKEN WHO HAS THE AMAZING ZIM GENETICS THAT I POSSESS, THAT'S FOR SURE!"
As much as you enjoyed seeing him so elated about it all, you briefly glanced over to the monitor and took notice of the one singular, lonely grey dot, causing you to reflect on his statement from earlier in the waiting room.
"I'm sorry that there's only one." You stated softly, almost in a whisper. "I know you said you wanted more, but-"
"YOU'RE SORRY?? WHY IN THE NAME OF IRK WOULD YOU BE SORRY?" Zim piped up, completely baffled at your apology. "LOOK! LOOK AT THE MONITOR!" He ordered, slipping his hand away from yours as he chaotically maneuvered himself around the bed and over beside the huge monitor, pointing at the little grey circle with an extended finger. "ARE YOU NOT SEEING THE SAME THING I'M SEEING? THAT LITTLE, TINY GREY DOT RIGHT THERE, THAT IS OUR BABY! I DON'T CARE IF THERE'S TEN, FIFTY, A THOUSAND, OR JUST ONE IN THERE! WE'RE STARTING A NEW, INCREDIBLE GENERATION! DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND HOW AMAZING THAT IS? YOU ARE LITERALLY CARRYING ZIM'S CHILD!"
With Zim's speech now almost bringing you to tears again, you were about to say something in response to him, until he decided to walk back over to you and grab your hand, holding it gently in his while he looked at you with a warm sense of compassion in his eyes.
"Don't you ever apologize for this, EVER!" Zim enforced, feeling the grip on your hand tighten while his other hand drifted over to your stomach, all while he kept his attention fully focused on you. "I love you so much, my sweet human. You should know this by now."
You paused for a second, savoring this moment as much as possible and wishing you could take mental images of this scenario to keep with you forever and to relive as many times as you desired. Slowly your eyes closed over, taking a deep breath as you felt a single tear roll down the side of your face. Your heart was barely able to comprehend just how touching this moment really was, all while Zim's words repeated themselves in your head on a loop, trying to take in all that was said and be able to fully accept it. It's not like you didn't want this baby or anything, but you just never exactly pictured yourself to be in a situation like this, especially not with Zim. So to really allow this moment to happen was more than overwhelming to say the least. But you knew you'd be okay with a supportive partner like Zim by your side throughout the whole process. After a few emotional seconds, you opened your eyes once again, your vision now blurry from your tears but still managing to make out the appearance of Zim's adoring smile right in front of you.
"I love you too, Zim. It's just... so much to process..." You spoke softly, sniffling a little mid-sentence.
"Don't stress, my love. Just think, in about a week's time we'll be holding our newborn in our arms and playing with it, teaching it things, informing it on how great Irken society is compared to other races, you know, all that fun stuff!" Zim explained with a joyful tone. You cocked your head to the side a little upon hearing what he'd just said, confused about the whole 'week' statement.
"A week?" You questioned out loud.
"Yes, that's what I said." He stated. Still confused, you sat upright a little and readjusted yourself on the bed to better look at him.
"Okay, I don't know how long you think human pregnancies are, but they're certainly not only for a week." You tried to explain to him calmly.
"Oh, I see. So... two weeks?"
"N-no..."
"Three weeks?"
"It's a lot longer than just a couple weeks, honey."
There was a brief pause between you both as Zim tried to figure out the answer, and you swear you could hear his brain ticking away like a clock as the silence filled the room.
"... Five weeks?" He questioned stupidly. It became obvious to you that your alien clearly had no idea of how long the gestation period for human pregnancies actually lasted, and boy were you now suddenly nervous to reveal it to him.
"It's more like... nine months actually..." You answered uncomfortably, completely unsure of how he was going to react. His confused expression dropped and quickly turned into a blank stare as he just blinked a couple of times at you.
"Nine months...?" He repeated, baffled at your answer. Still a little concerned for him, you bashfully nodded. His eyes slowly lingered away from yours and met up with the sight of your stomach where his hand was, letting out a hefty sigh and gently rubbing the top of your belly. "Better make yourself comfortable in there, little one. Though, I guess it wouldn't be a bad thing, having a longer time to develop in there would only further ensure that you grow stronger and- HEY WAITAMINUTE! I HAVEN'T EVEN INTRODUCED MYSELF!" Zim piped up suddenly, standing straight and with a sudden sharp glare towards both you and your stomach.
"Introduce yourself?" You asked in confusion, but finding yourself giggling a little at his proclamation. "Honey, you don't need to introduce yourself."
"Nonsense! It's probably listening out to me right now, I must make a good first impression!" He declared in a professional mannerism. In a state of newfound curiosity, you watched with a baffled grin on your face as Zim kneeled down alongside you by the bed, his hands placing themselves back on your stomach with his eyes level to your belly. He cleared his throat dramatically before allowing a smile to reappear on his face. "Helllloooooo, my little smeet! I don't know if you can hear me but if you can, you should know that I am Zim! Yes yes, you may have heard that I'm the most amazing Irken to have ever lived, and while that is absolutely true, I'm also going to be your daddy! Aren't you lucky?!"
Oh my god... was he really gloating about himself to your unborn child?
Regardless, you couldn't help but be absolutely heart-warmed by the sight of Zim trying to communicate and bond with his smeet, despite it still being in the womb. It was touching, you'd never thought Zim would ever be so compassionate to something that he can't even hold or see, not yet anyway. Beautiful wouldn't even begin to describe what you were witnessing in front of you. Your heart melted at the sound of Zim's excited little conversations with his developing child, while an overwhelming warmth consumed every part of you, tears now uncontrollably streaming down your face from high levels of joy, contentment and exhilaration.
After a few more minutes, the doctor returned back to your room with their clipboard in one hand and a small sheet of film in another, handing the film to the both of you to keep. Pictured on the film was the still image of your baby, the exact same image that was displayed on the monitor screen. Dr Qesta ran through a few more questions from the both of you and decided to let you know more information that they were able to find now that it was confirmed that you are definitely pregnant. With just a few basic tips and words of advice from them, they happily discharged you from the hospital with satisfying results and sent you on your way home.
Leaving the hospital, you felt a humbling sense of excitement fill every part of you as you and Zim both chatted the whole way home about your upcoming journey together. Zim even started suggesting a few baby names, but of course they were what you'd expect from him; Zim Jr, Zim The Second, Baby Zim, Zimette (if it was a girl), Little Invader Zim, etc. You knew he was just messing around with those suggestions, but it made you laugh regardless and it made you feel a sense of emotional stability within yourself knowing that you could depend on Zim when you needed him.
Upon returning back home, you both decided to avoid bringing up this topic with Gir for now as you wouldn't have any clue how to address this with him in a proper way. So, you left that alone to discuss another time with him and pretended everything was normal while you both made your way down to your bedroom, passing Gir along the way and only stopping by him to say a quick hello. With Zim guiding you through the doorway to your room, you were caught off guard when a sudden pair of arms wrapped themselves under you and pulled you up from your feet with one arm tucked under your legs and the other on your back. A slight yelp escaped your lips from surprise as you realized Zim picked you up and lovingly carried you over to the bed in such a gentlemanly fashion, much like how he carried you earlier that day in hospital. Careful not to hurt you, he placed you down with your head on the pillow gently, his arms unwrapping themselves from your body to tend to you however you needed.
"Don't you worry about a thing, my love. Just let Zim take care of whatever you need while you and the baby relax." He declared, leaning his head down to place a sensual, passionate kiss onto your lips, a lingering buzz trailing afterwards that left your heart pounding once he parted his lips from yours. You giggled slightly in response to his protectiveness and you found yourself completely lovestruck as you looked into his eyes, admiring this new nurturing, parental side to him that you'd never seen before. Despite your initial fears from the beginning of the day, you were glad to now be left feeling confident that Zim would be there for you and by your side no matter what, and you were even more thrilled to be starting a new life with him, excited for what the future may hold for you, your alien, and your little offspring.