you got a message from the stars: chapter 2“Hi there, Big Bro”

Three days later, Kamille was awoken by Rosamia barging into his room.

Rosamia was ¼ Regulian just like Kamille, and had the ears, tail and night vision just like her brother, but her longer ears and large, fluffy tail made her seem more foxlike than catlike.

“Ugh… Give me some time to get sorted first,” Kamille said, pushing a sleepy Kazimir off his body and getting a good stretch in. “I’m assuming you heard that you were going to be an aunt, huh”

Rosamia nodded her head. “Ah, I can’t wait to meet your baby Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl yet”

“I just found out a few days ago,” Kamille said. “Do you really think I’d know by now” He blinked some sleep out of his eyes.

“Hope it’s a… ugh…” Kazimir, who was still cuddling Kamille, said in a half-awake daze before falling back asleep.

“Nope, still sleepy,” Kamille said, lying back down. “I wish I could sleep all day.”

Rosamia tugged Kamille’s ear. “Wake up, sleepyhead The Medbay needs you”

Kamille sat up, trying to keep his eyes open. “I know, Rosammy. Just gotta make sure I’m 100% awake and ready before I go.”

“Well, see ya, big bro” Rosamia said as she left. As Kamille got up, he regarded the schedule posted on the wall that he made to help with his forgetfulness. [Okay, so I gotta get changed into my outfit, get myself some breakfast, then brush my teeth and head on over to Medbay.]

As he was getting changed, another thought crept into his mind as Kamille stared at his changing body. [Geez, I just can’t wait for at least a few people on this ship to notice my huge tits and baby bump and immediately think I’m a girl, and not listen at all when I try to explain to them that I’m a guy. And just as I was starting to look more like a guy than ever I’ll have a lot of correcting people to do these next few months.] He pinched his forehead and continued changing. [Come on, Kamille. Too much stress is bad for the baby, you know.]

Once Kamille was done changing, Kamille headed off to the ship’s cafeteria to get breakfast. While he was perusing the choices, a crew member came up to him. It was the ship’s mechanic, twenty-nine-year-old Amuro Ray. Amuro was a Lycaon, a species of alien that looked like anthropomorphic wolves with two pairs of ears, a pair of horns and a thick mane around their neck. Kamille’s mentor, Quattro, was also a Lycaon, but Quattro had golden-colored fur and a more impressive set of horns than Amuro. Mere days before the UEMS Argama Mk. I’s destruction, Quattro defended the crew from a Purity Front attack and was able to get them to retreat, only for him to mysteriously disappear the next morning. The most common speculation among UEMS members was that Quattro was kidnapped by the Purity Front, although the real reason remained a mystery.

“Hi, Kamille,” Amuro said. The two of them were on good terms, as Amuro was Quattro’s mate, and the two of them even had a litter of pups together. After Quattro’s mysterious disappearance, however, Amuro got together with Quattro’s littermate, Casval. Casval wasn’t seen on the Argama Mk. II that much, however, as he was a pilot for one of the UEMS’s other ships, the UEMS Red Comet.

Behind Amuro were two of his pups, Tache and Garu. They were chatting to each other in Lycaon language. By the looks of it, they seemed to be playing some sort of game. Suddenly, Tache ran straight into Kamille’s leg and started whining, baying and crying.

Kamille picked up Tache and got a good look at him. “Oh dear, you’ve hit your head pretty bad,” he said. “Let me kiss it all better.” He gave Tache’s forehead a quick smooch and handed him off to Amuro, but not before Tache pointed at Kamille’s stomach and yelled “Fat”

Kamille was stunned. [Wait, isn’t Tache supposed to be the nicer one compared to Garu Oh well, kids are cruel anyways. Wait. Scratch that. I can’t say that, I’m supposed to be having one] Thinking quickly, Kamille said to Tache “That’s not a nice thing to say. Also, I’m not fat. I just have a baby in my tummy.” Kamille paused once he saw Tache and Garu’s horrified expressions. “No, no, I didn’t eat a baby. What I mean is, there’s a baby growing in my tummy. You two also grew in your papa’s tummy before you were born, along with your brother and sister. It takes a while, but eventually the baby’s gonna be all done growing and come out into the world.”

“Yeah, but how does the baby come out” Tache asked.

Kamille wasn’t prepared for that. “Ask your papa,” he said.

“Aren’t you a doctor” Garu asked.

“Yes, I am,” Kamille said, “but there are some things that you really should get your parents to explain to you.” Amuro stared at Kamille, knowing that because of him, he’d have to explain childbirth to his pups.

After the awkwardness had died down, Amuro said to Kamille, “I have been feeling very sick lately. I’m always feeling nauseous, and I vomited multiple times over the past few days. In addition, I have also been experiencing mood swings. Could I get an appointment to find out what the root cause is”

“I’ll see,” Kamille said, before turning his head and noticing Kazimir coming to sit down with them.

“Hi, Kam,” Kazimir said, nuzzling Kamille’s cheek.

“Hi there, Kazzy,” Kamille responded.

“I was hoping you’d sleep in a little more,” Kazimir said. “I always love waking up to your precious sleeping face.”

Kamille blushed, but tried to focus on his breakfast. He was oddly hungry lately for some reason, which went really badly with his tendency to eat really fast. In fact, twice in a row in the last few days, Kamille had almost choked on his food, felt like he was going to throw it up, and had to spit up his food. He was trying to work on eating a little slower, but he kept forgetting to actually put the idea into practice. In no time at all, Kamille had finished breakfast, and was going to return his tray when Amuro’s two other pups, Fang and Cygnia, entered the scene. The two had just been engaged in a very riveting game of hide-and-seek, without Amuro’s permission of course.

“Cygnia Fang” Amuro shouted. “Where have you been I was looking for you everywhere and only now did I give up”

Fang and Cygnia looked somewhat scared of their father’s unusually angry outburst. “W-we’re sorry,” they said, their little voices trembling. “We just wanted to play hide-and-seek.”

“I can’t let you off the hook that easily,” Amuro said. “You are both grounded for a week for running off on me. You’ve got to realize Daddy can’t come around that often to play with you, so I’m saddled with more expectations than you may realize.”

[That’s weird,] Kamille thought. [Amuro’s usually really patient with his kids… Hang on. He did mention he was feeling nauseous a lot lately, and he’s also been moody. That sounds an awful lot like what was up with me… Amuro’s probably pregnant]

“I don’t want to alarm you,” Kamille said, “but I’m seriously thinking you might be pregnant. I mean, it seems like you’ve been experiencing morning sickness, and moodiness is a common sign of pregnancy.”

Amuro stared down at himself. [Am I really ready for another litter…] “Well, if you are a doctor, then I guess I can’t really doubt you. I’ll have to get a pregnancy test to see.” He collected Tache, Garu, Fang and Cygnia and got up to leave.

As Kamille watched Amuro depart, he recalled a faint memory. The morning after Quattro’s disappearance, Kamille had gone to Amuro to ask for his whereabouts, since he knew Amuro and Quattro were close. Amuro’s words to Kamille that day never left his memories, even though he couldn’t remember much of his time on the Argama Mk. I before the crash.

“I don’t know either, Kamille. I wanted to tell him some news that I had received today, but I could not locate him. But I’m sure he has adventures of his own. I can feel his presence out there, you know. It may be far, but someday, we might find him.”

Kamille had done a lot of reflecting on what Amuro had said ever since he woke up from his coma. Amuro never specified what the news he was going to tell Quattro was, but once Kamille met Amuro and his litter for the first time after the coma, it became evident: Amuro wanted to tell Quattro he was pregnant with Tache, Garu, Fang and Cygnia. Kamille always teared up whenever he remembered how Quattro, who had always told Kamille how he wanted to have pups someday, never got to meet his own children.

But there was one thing Kamille hadn’t realized until now. [Don’t Lycaons have a sort of telepathic link with their mates Maybe that’s what Amuro meant when he said he could still feel Quattro’s presence. That’s it Maybe Amuro can hold the clues as to where Quattro’s presence is.] Kamille paused for a second. [Wait, Casval is Amuro’s mate now… what if he can’t feel Quattro anymore Anyways, I’m overthinking this. Amuro could have very well been wrong, and Quattro might never return. I gotta get ready to go to Medbay.] He got up and left the cafeteria, Kazimir following close behind him.

~☆~

“All ready to go, baby”

“Yeah, Kazzy,” Kamille said as he prepared to go to Medbay.

“I was thinking,” Kazimir said, “a few months down the road, when you’re as big as an elephant, doing anything is uncomfortable and you can only count down the days to when the baby’s gonna come, who’s gonna care for you and make sure you’re okay That’s right, me. Love you.”

“Well, I gotta go,” Kamille said. “Nice to know you still love me as much as ever, even if I have been a bit grouchier lately.”

“See you” Kazimir said. He put a hand on Kamille’s belly and said to his unborn child: “You too. I just can’t wait to meet you, you know”

As Kamille walked out the door, Kazimir flopped onto the bed for a quick nap like always. He found it helped him take his mind off the idea of being alone. After he woke up, he tore a page out of Kamille’s notepad and started writing down some name ideas. [Eris seems like a nice name… but what if we have a boy I can’t think of anything… Oh, I wish I could discuss this with Kamille. He’d have so many great ideas.] Kazimir got up. [I guess I can’t be by myself for this long, ‘cause remember last time I tried staying here and waiting for Kamille to come back by myself I can’t have another full-on breakdown like that] He thought back to an incident that happened almost a year ago, where Kamille came back from Medbay after his shift only to find Kazimir hugging a pillow tightly, ugly crying into it. It took quite a while for Kazimir to calm down, too. It was a well-known fact that Kazimir had a very hard time being alone, and would often cling to people he liked, such as Kamille. He figured it was because of issues from his past, but it usually wouldn’t take that much time by himself before he started to crave the company of other people, and if he was left alone for too long, bad memories would start to flood back and it wouldn’t be long before Kazimir would turn into a sobbing, wailing mess.

Kazimir left his and Kamille’s sleeping quarters. [I wonder where Rosamia is I guess she’s probably in her quarters, doing whatever she does.] The Argama Mk. II’s sleeping quarters were almost like hotel rooms, complete with bathrooms and mini-kitchens. Higher-ranked personnel’s quarters were more spacious, with separate rooms and full kitchens.

Luckily, Rosamia’s quarters were very close to Kamille’s, just across and a few doors down. When Kazimir knocked on the door, however, he could hear Fa’s voice saying “Come in” instead of Rosamia’s. When Kazimir opened the door, Rosamia was sitting on the ground, playing with a dog plushie like a child would, while Fa watched over her.

“Hihi, Kaz” Rosamia said, enthusiastically waving. Pretty much nobody apart from Rosamia used “Kaz” as a nickname for Kazimir instead of “Kazzy”.

“Hi there, Kazimir,” Fa said. “Rosammy had kind of a tough start to her day and got a bit stressed, so she’s calming herself down by regressing.”

Due to some issues from her past stemming from her being separated from Kamille at an early age, Rosamia had a tendency to regress to a younger state of mind (usually around 2-6) to deal with strong emotions like stress. Usually, either Kamille or Fa takes care of Rosamia while she’s in this younger state of mind. Kazimir already knew about this from Kamille mentioning it a few times, and has seen it in action before.

“Think too much,” Rosamia babbled. “Big brudda gon have baby soon… life move too fast.”

“Well, can we do something together” Kazimir asked.

“Yeah We could have a walk around the Leisure District and have lunch,” Fa said. The Leisure District was the Argama Mk. II’s north court. It was almost like a shopping mall aboard the ship, complete with a food court, pool and stage for live entertainment.

Rosamia nodded her head as Fa turned to her. “You all ready to go, sweetie”

“Mhm” Rosamia said as she packed several plushies into her arms.

“Then let’s go” Kazimir said as all three of them headed to the nearest teleporter station to go to the Leisure District.

~☆~

“I have arrived,” Kamille said as he stepped into the medbay’s staffroom. “I assume you’ve all heard the news by now, but for those of you who are out of the loop, I’ll fill you in: I’m having a baby.” He put a hand on his belly.

“Oh, congratulations,” thirty-one-year-old Sayla Mass, the Lycaon head of Medbay and Quattro and Casval’s younger sister, said. “I remember when Fraw was pregnant with our daughter Mallory. Safe to say she wasn’t the easiest to manage…” Fraw Mass was twenty-nine years old, a human and Sayla’s wife. She could usually be found in the daycare section of the Argama Mk. II, helping take care of all the ship personnel’s kids.

“Yeah, I remember,” Kamille said. He had first met Fraw when she was still pregnant with Mallory. “There was this one time where she thought Medbay was in the Leisure District of the old Argama, and like, weren’t they on opposite sides of the ship”

“I’m surprised you still remember that,” Sayla said. “I really do feel sorry for the poor worker she got mad at for daring to suggest that Medbay wasn’t in the Leisure District.”

“Oh yeah, she went nuclear on them,” Kamille said. “Hope I wont do anything like that-” He quickly remembered the time three days ago when he yelled at Kazimir for taking his money card, all because he was craving chocolate. “I guess I already did the other day. But I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Suddenly, a blue, vaguely catlike alien creature brushed past Kamille’s legs and trotted towards Sayla.

“Oh, hi there, Luci” Sayla said, picking up her pet. “You’re as cute as ever today. Say, you wanna sing our special song” She began to sing to the catlike alien, moving their paws around to mimic dancing.
"Oh, I once had a little friend
With the cutest little whiskers
And two big ol’ ears
And you wanna know their name
It’s my dear Luci Yay"

Luci was a common staple of working at Medbay. They were especially infamous for getting lonely and following Sayla’s pheromone trail to work, even figuring out how to work the teleporter system aboard the ship. As for Luci’s species, it was a Felisel, which lived on the same planet as and was often domesticated by Lycaons. Felisel fur glowed in the dark, and they would usually live in packs of up to 120 members in the wild.

“Glad to see Luci’s doing as well as ever,” Kamille said.

“Yeah, it’s always nice to see them,” Sayla said, “especially since they’ve begun to show some signs of old age.”

“Let’s see, you’ve had Luci ever since you were back on your home planet, right” Kamille asked.

“Since I was eight, yup.”

“Anyways, I gotta go, I’ve got a patient. I have a sneaking suspicion I know who it is,” Kamille said.

“Yeah, you should get going, especially if you’re getting that ultrasound today,” Sayla replied.

“Oh, right,” Kamille said. In the span of three days, he totally forgot he was supposed to get an ultrasound so he could see his baby. “Well, bye for now.”

~☆~

“Look, Rosie, it’s a plushie sto-wait, where’s Rosammy, Fa”

Kazimir and Fa were wandering around the shops in the Leisure District, only now just realizing Rosamia wasn’t with them.

“You mean we lost her” Fa asked, worried. She checked around her, and, just as she had thought, Rosamia was gone. “We really did lose her. Oh my God. I bet she’s probably wondering where we are right now and is just scared out of her mind…”

“Well, first things first, we should try to retrace our steps,” Kazimir said. “She probably got distracted by something.”

“Good idea,” Fa said. She was trying her best to keep herself collected, but inside, she was desperately trying to stop herself from having a full-blown panic attack. She’d always been such a responsible caregiver for Rosamia while the latter was regressed, and this was probably the first time ever that she’d screwed that up. And what if they didn’t find Rosamia [Oh, she’s probably already started crying, she’s so scared, I bet…] Still, she took Kazimir’s advice and the two turned around and began to retrace their steps through the Leisure District in order to find Rosamia.

After several minutes, Rosamia was still nowhere to be found, and Fa’s stress levels were spiking. “I can’t believe I let this happen,” she said. “I’m the most careless person in the world.”

“Are you OK” Kazimir said out of concern. “You never say stuff like that, Fa.”

“No” Fa suddenly shouted, taking Kazimir by surprise. “I’m not okay Rosamia’s lost and very likely scared out of her mind, and it’s all my fault for not keeping a close eye on her I’m majorly stressed now and I’m probably gonna spiral into a panic attack any minute Can’t you see”

“I didn’t know it was that bad,” said Kazimir. Suddenly, something caught his eye. “Hey, I think I see her” He pointed out what seemed to be Fraw comforting a purple-haired girl with pointy cat ears and a fluffy tail.

“You do” Fa said, getting a closer look. “Oh, it is” The two approached the scene, and Rosamia’s tail twitched.

“Thank goodness she’s okay,” Kazimir said.

“You’ll be okay, Rosie,” Fraw said, patting a sniffling Rosamia’s head. “Oh, I think I see Fa and Kazimir now. Say hi”

Rosamia turned around, revealing a face with eyes puffy from crying, and shyly waved. “Hi…”

“There you are, Rosammy” Fa said, snatching Rosamia up for a hug. “Thank you for making sure she’s okay,” she said to Fraw.

“No problem,” Fraw responded.

“Do you wanna tell us what happened” Fa asked Rosamia. “No pressure.”

“Saw my show on TV,” Rosamia said, referring to her favorite cartoon My Friend Hamtaro, one of the numerous adaptations of the classic tales from the 21st century of Hamtaro and his friends. “Show done, you not there… Got vewy scared and cry, but Fraw cuddle me and tell me ‘m fine…” Rosamia collapsed into a sobbing mess in Fa’s arms.

“Let it all out,” Fa said, hugging Rosamia tight. “Well, the important thing is, we’re here now, and you’re such a brave girl. In fact, it’s about lunchtime, how about we get a snack You look like you need one.”

Rosamia nodded, her eyes still glistening with tears, and the three made their way towards the food court.

~☆~

“I took a pregnancy test like you asked, and it came back positive.” Amuro shuffled in his seat. “I did the math, and I think I’m about three weeks pregnant.”

“Well, at least you caught it early,” Kamille said. “I only found out I was having a baby three days ago, when I was four and a half months along.”

“That’s pretty far along,” Amuro said. “Well, I don’t know if it’s that far along in your terms, since us Lycaons are only pregnant for six months. Humans take longer to gestate their young.”

“Well, yeah, it’s basically the halfway mark, since we’re pregnant for 9 months,” Kamille said.

“I should tell Casval. He would love to hear that he’ll have some kids of his own, but I’m not sure if he wanted to be the one carrying them,” Amuro said, “since we’re both omegas as you know.”

“Now, on the topic of your work,” Kamille said, “I don’t think it would be ideal for you to continue your work as a mechanic, since it’s so dangerous, but what do you think”

“I think I should stop working until after I give birth,” Amuro said. “As you said, it’s a dangerous job, and I want to conserve my energy.”

“You do you,” Kamille said. “Sayla says she remembers when you were pregnant with your first litter, and you were just so stubborn in wanting to keep working she had to tell the other mechanics not to allow you in.”

“Yes, that was foolish,” replied Amuro. “I’m much better now. I don’t want to strain myself and risk losing my litter. I should’ve realized she was right from the start. In addition, I should’ve known back then that Quattro wouldn’t be around to help me.”

“Yeah… Quattro…” Kamille sighed. “Speaking of him, do you want to clarify what you told me about him all those years ago About being able to feel his presence and all that stuff”

Amuro lowered his head. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

“Well, is there anything else you want to talk about” Kamille asked, trying to change the subject.

“You know how I was especially emotional during my first pregnancy” Amuro said. “I would cry and wail about something completely inconsequential one moment, then snap at anyone who tried to console me the next. At least I wasn’t as bad as Bright both times he was pregnant…”

Captain Bright Noa belonged to an alien species called the Avidonts. They looked a little like a cross between chickens and avian dinosaurs, and were especially notable for one quirk of their biology: almost like seahorses, the males were the ones who carried and gave birth to the babies.

“Yeah. I wasn’t with the UEMS for that,” said Kamille, “but according to Sayla, he was really bad with his hormonal grouchiness. He’d even take his crankiness out on his subordinates multiple times, and that’s really, REALLY bad. I think he even struck somebody once.”

“I feel sorry for Mirai, having to bear witness to all that,” Amuro said. Mirai Noa was Bright’s wife, and also an Avidont. She also happened to be the pilot of the Argama Mk. II, and the two were often regarded as a “power couple” due to the high positions they held.

“Well, I think I’m done here,” Kamille said. “It’s almost lunchtime, there’s nothing else to be said here except keep yourself safe and healthy and come back to see me in a couple weeks, and I bet we’re both hungry. Bye, Amuro. Nice seeing you.”

“Goodbye, Dr. Bidan,” Amuro said as he exited Kamille’s room. However, so many worries still swirled around in his head. [Should I tell Casval now or wait How many babies am I going to have How are my pups going to take the news Am I even ready for another litter]

Kamille stepped into the Medbay breakroom, where he was instantly greeted with a wave of telepathy.

[Hi there, Kamille.]

It was Kamille’s coworker Yagrom, who was a sort of bioluminescent alien slug, only 1 inch long. While he may not have looked suitable enough to be a doctor, his telepathy and telekinesis more than made up for it.

“Hi, Yagrom,” replied Kamille. “Where’s everyone”

[They went off to the food court in the Leisure District,] Yagrom said telepathically. [You can take me to the teleporter station.]

“Sounds like a plan,” Kamille said, letting Yagrom climb on his finger. “Let’s go.” The two exited Medbay and headed towards the teleporter station.

~☆~

“You feeling all better now, Rosie” asked Fa.

“Mhm, mhm” Rosamia nodded her head, then hugged one of her plushies (a puppy) tight.

Fa, Kazimir and Rosamia had reached the food court and were waiting in line to get their food. Rosamia had significantly calmed down from when Fa and Kazimir found her, no longer sniffling and crying.

Nearby, Fraw was patiently waiting while her five-and-a-half-year-old daughter Mallory navigated around the food court, trying to find the place where used lunch trays were supposed to go. Suddenly, Mallory walked right into Fa’s leg.

“Sorry” Mallory said.

“No problem,” Fa said. “Are you helping out your mom What a good girl” Fa couldn’t even finish that last sentence before Rosamia began looking at her with big, pleading eyes. “Fine, Rosammy, you’re a good girl too.”

“Yippee” Rosamia said happily.

“Anyways, it’s our turn,” said Kazimir. The three placed their orders (except for Rosamia, who got Fa to order for her) and when they got their food, they sat down.

~☆~

“We’re here” said Kamille. “We took the teleporter, mostly because I didn't want anyone saying weird things about my current state. Also Yagrom wanted to take the teleporter.”

“Yeah, I can see why it’d be annoying being pregnant,” said Sayla. “I remember when Fraw was expecting, everyone was always asking her weird questions, giving her unsolicited advice and in some cases, even trying to touch her baby bump.”

“Yeah. Ever since the news started spreading, people have been a lot more invasive with me,” said Kamille. “Sorry, random ensign, but as a doctor myself, I don’t think eating greasy food will give my kid anal cancer once they’re born.”

A few Medbay members chuckled. Yagrom said telepathically, [Please tell me you’re not gonna make everybody bend to the whims of your cravings.]

“Oh, no, no, no,” Kamille said. “I can get my own food. In fact, I’m gonna go order right now.”

~☆~

“Now that was a good meal,” Fa said. “How are you doing, Rosie”

“Mmph.” Rosamia was in the middle of scarfing down some chocolate chip cookies- her favorite dessert.

“Well, I bet you’re stuffed,” Fa said to Kazimir. “You easily had the biggest lunch out of any of us.”

“Huh Sorry, I almost dozed off, I’m just so full from that,” said Kazimir. “Yeah, I know I eat a lot. Might just be the Fazanus in me.”

~☆~

“Hey, isn’t that Kazimir and Rosamia over there You should pay them a visit,” Sayla asked Kamille, who was just starting on a chicken drumstick (he was particularly craving chicken today).

“Not yet, I haven’t finished my lunch just yet,” Kamille replied, scarfing down his chicken drumstick so he could finish it as fast as possible. “There. I’m done.” He got up from his seat and made his way to Kazimir, Fa and Rosamia’s table.

“Hihi, big brudda” Rosamia excitedly said as Kamille approached their table.

“Yeah, it’s me” Kamille said, grabbing an empty seat from another table to sit down.

“Ah, that was good. I don’t feel that stressed about how fast life is moving for me anymore,” Rosamia said. “It felt good to just be little for a while, even if I did lose you guys for a bit and get scared.”

“Perfectly fine,” Kamille said. “I’m glad you feel a little less stressed now.”

“Oh, is it you, Kam” Kazimir said, waking up from a short nap. “Oh Hi How’s work so far”

“Been pretty good,” Kamille said. “In other news, Amuro’s having another litter.”

“Oh, he is” Fa said. “I wonder how his pups’ll react to the news… Would they be happy to have little siblings, or would they get jealous”

The four of them continued to chat for the rest of Kamille’s lunch break.

~☆~

At the end of the day, Kamille was settled into bed as Kazimir cuddled him. Just as Kamille was dozing off to sleep, he could feel a mysterious presence before him. The presence wasn’t exactly human, more like a… ghost Kamille, however, was too sleepy to do anything, and ignored the presence for the next few minutes. [Ugh… Too sleepy to do anything right now… Just leave…]

Later on, while he was fast asleep, Kamille’s mind began to wander, and he started dreaming. In this dream, Kamille found himself in what seemed to be a temple inside a cave, half-submerged in a large body of water. He carefully approached the massive altar, only to feel enveloped in the same ghostly presence from before.

Suddenly, he could feel himself being lifted off the floor. [What’s this Am I floating] The landscape suddenly changed to the middle of space, dotted by billions of glittering stars and nebulae. The presence seemed to be holding Kamille’s hand as the two of them zipped through space. Out of nowhere, a brilliant light enveloped Kamille, and the presence finally revealed its form. It was of a ghostly human, a very familiar human to Kamille. [Four Is that you]

As the two of them floated in space, Four held Kamille’s face. [Geez, someone needs to learn how to let go… I have a husband now, Four…] Kamille thought, trying to distract himself from the strange nature of his dream.

Finally, Four’s voice spoke up. [Kamille… It’s been so long…] Kamille started to tear up, hearing his old girlfriend’s voice, even if it was just a dream.

[There is something I have to say to you…] Four said.

[What is it] Kamille said, just as Four’s ghostly presence started to fade away. [Wait Don’t go yet]

[Beware…] Four said, as she faded away. [Sorrow will come…] Four had completely disappeared, and Kamille could no longer feel her presence. However, a small bluebird flitted in place where she once stood.

Kamille snapped awake and sat bolt upright in bed. “What do you mean, ‘sorrow will come’” Kamille said, angrily. “That could mean anything Give me some answers, Four I need answers I need closure Don’t just fade away” Kamille could then feel a couple of kicks from his unborn baby. “Okay, I’m sorry I woke you up” Kamille said to his baby. “Four just disappeared without a trace and didn’t elaborate on what she meant by ‘beware, sorrow will come’.” *kick* “Okay, I’ll go back to sleep.”

~☆To Be Continued☆~