"Hold this,"Chemic said as she rather unceremoniously deposited the cooing, few day old trey and pink kit in the cax's arms. "I have to try these on." In a display of strength that belied her now slender frame, the winged vixen... thing... lifted a huge pile of clothing and plopped them outside the door to the changing room. Aurora busied herself pulling at Darren's whiskers as the sad cax whimpered. "Are you sure you aren't thinking of having another...?" "You just want me to have a giant gut again, you weirdo." Chemic said as she came out from the dressing room to model a red dress that emphasized her now flat tummy. "I don't think that will be happening any time soon. I'm enjoying this far too much." Darren's ears wilted. "I think I may only have one. I mean, sure my species' rare and all... but it's not MY freaking responsibility to repopulate the world. One's more than enough. I have to teach her so much... how to kick ass, how to smack people... how to eat entire refrigerators without getting a tummy ache. That's a big job."

"You NEVER want another one?" Darren said, a hint of panic in his voice.

"Yeah, I think maybe I don't," she said, ducking in to try on another tummy flaunting shirt. It was uncertain whether the tears in Darren's eyes were from that news, or from the tiny kit who had begun to gnaw cutely yet painfully on his arm.

"Damn, damn, damn, damn DAMN," Darren was struck by the pair of jeans that shot across the room as if they'd been fired by a cannon. Aurora sat in a floor rocker, gurgling to herself and trying for all her might to suck on one of her toes.

"What's the matter?" Darren asked, alarmed.

"I JUST bought these. Or, well, you just bought them..." she said, recalling how she had stolen Darren's wallet to better fund her postpartum shopping sprees. "And they don't fit! What the heck? I haven't eaten a single fridge recently, I'm working out, and I keep getting bigger since Aurora was born! It's not FAIR!" she wailed, tossing another heaping arm full of clothes out of her room.

"Well... you have a doctor's appointment today," Darren said, trying to be helpful around a mouthful of the clothing that had just landed in a heap upon him. "Why don't you ask him? He could, uh, check your hormones or something. Maybe it's hormones."

"You men blame EVERYTHING on hormones," she said, petulantly. "Go get me an ice cream. With chocolate fudge. And bacon bits. I have to feed Aurora." Luckily, the cax knew better than to argue.

"Miss... uh... Chemic? Dr. Srozky will see you now." the confused nurse called out. Darren stretched. "I'll just wait out here," he said, as Chemic took Aurora and answered the summons. Chemic plopped down on the table and played with her infant as she waited, delighted in her strong grip and her little milk teeth that already threatened to come in. Presently the door opened and Dr. Scorzky walked in, looking over the weight, temperature, and other values the nurse had gathered before she had left Chemic.

"My, my Aurora, we're in the 99th percentile!" he said in a quiet, happy little voice. "Your baby is doing very well, Chemic. You're an excellent mother."

"Damned skippy," she answered, in typical Chemic fashion. "But Doc, I'm not doing so well. I keep putting on weight. I'm wondering if there's something wrong with my, uh, hormones or something." The doctor flipped a page and sat down with the air of someone who has something difficult to impart.

"Funny you should mention that..." he said, taking off his glasses and setting them aside. "Your urinalysis has revealed something rather, um, surprising. I couldn't believe it myself especially because of some of your answers to the health and recent history questionnaire, so I did some research on your species. Are you, um, aware of your rather unique abilities?"

"The way we can eat refrigerators?" she asked.

"No, not that one..."

"Well, then... the way we kick tail?"

"Well, not precisely."

"Look, Doc, just get to the point."

"Um..." he said, nervously. "Well, some marine mammals have a very unique ability to store genetic material from past sexual partners. Yours is the only terrestrial species we know of to have that ability."

"Wait, I can store... what? SEMEN? You're telling me I store man jui..."

"That's what I'm saying," he said, cutting her off.

"And you're saying that's what caused this? But that's ridiculous! I haven't had sex in over... um, a long time," she said, cutting herself off that time.

"Indeed. Apparently, you have an... an instinct built inside of you. When you don't see enough of your species around you, your body releases stored genetic material from past encounters. In short, Chemic, may I be the first to congratulate you. You're pregnant again." There was a long, pregnant (haha!) pause.

"YOU SON OF A ^!$#^^@^^#$" To his credit, Dr. Scorzky took the punch very well, and his glasses were unharmed as he had the foresight to lay them aside.

"Congratulations again!" he called as she caught up her infant daughter and stormed out of the waiting room. Darren was just outside, seemingly eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Good thing I saved your maternity..."

"Shut it," she said, irritably.

"Aw, don't be upset. Let's go home, I'll get you a fridge and we'll have a nice lunch. And look, Aurora's happy!" he said, as the little kit giggled and cooed as if delighted by the news of a younger sibling.

"Well... I suppose there should be more cool things like me around..."

"That's the spirit," he said, opening the car door for her and settling Aurora in her car seat. "Stay on the sunny side of..."

"Don't push it, Mister."

"Yes ma'am."