Drawing A Line
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Daph sat in the tiny employee bathroom in the back of the diner, holding a small box in one hand while she sat on the toilet. She didn't carry a purse, so she instead had to hide the rectangle inside her ball of clothing when she changed into her work clothes. The minute she felt pressure building up in her bladder, she sprinted off to the bathroom with barely a word to her boss Antonio. At least all the almond milk she'd been drinking was starting to pay off.

But as she sat in the only bathroom with a lock on the door, she couldn't help but hesitate. Daph tapped the box against her other hand, stalling while she dug to the root of her anxiety. Her period was nearly two weeks late, which was the impetus for buying the test in the first place. She hadn't told Darwin or Georgia, and simply went about her days as normally as she could. But last weekend, when she'd had to suddenly lurch out of the shower to throw up in the toilet, her willful ignorance began to slip. She'd wake up tired, get sick at the smell of breakfast food, and almost choked up at a schmaltzy commercial for allergy medication.

Daph slowly opened the tab on the box, pulling out the long white-and-pink stick, cringing at it. Was that how it was going to be? Almost a year of soft pastel colors and patronizingly handwritten fonts, treating her like delicate china? Spending half her time over the toilet and the other half in doctor's offices? Trying to keep up with all her gym buddies while waddling around in sweat pants and a mumu? The thought made her want to vomit even more than the morning sickness.

Do it for her, Daph thought. She sighed.

She jumped as a meaty hand knocked hard against the bathroom door, as if it was trying to bash its way through.
“Daphydill,” came Antonio's thick accented voice. “Customers.”
“I'm on the john!” She shouted. “Gimme a minute!” Glancing down at the test in her hand, she looked at the box and added, “Okay, more like two minuteth!”
“You have thirty seconds!” Antonio rumbled as he plodded off down the hallway. Daph rolled her eyes. She wondered if she could catch secondhand bullshit from all the smoke he blew. Uncapping the paper end of the test, she took a deep breath, held it in, then slowly let it out through her nose. It was now or never.

Two minutes after awkwardly peeing on a piece of plastic for as long as she thought she needed, Daph paced around the tiny bathroom with the test on the counter, chewing on one of her claws. She stepped on top of the toilet, then braced her legs between the tiny walls and held herself above the ground in a split. She dropped to the ground, then flipped up into a handstand, not even thinking to worry about the dirty floor of the bathroom. If she stretched, she could almost reach her paws to the ceiling. She held the position, blood rushing down into her head, until the two-minute alarm on her phone began to beep on the sink. Daph paused a moment, then lowered herself to the ground and anxiously walked over to the sink.

She picked up her phone first and dropped it into her pocket. She washed her hands next, for the first time following the forty-five second rule that her boss always harped on them about. Next, she dried her hands off with a handful of paper towels, her heart pounding in her chest harder than it did after a half-mile sprint. Then, she looked at her reflection in the mirror, staring into her green eyes, trying to take a mental snapshot of her life exactly at that moment. For better or worse, it was probably about to change forever. People always had a tough time at guessing her age, but for the first time, she agreed with them. She looked so young.

Taking a deep breath, Daph picked up the pregnancy test, spun it around her fingers for a few seconds, then finally held it up to her face.
Two lines.
Pregnant.

“Holy fuck,” she said out loud, her heart skipping a beat. She staggered back, taking a series of deep breaths that only helped make her more dizzy. She held both her hands to her lower stomach, where she imagined her uterus to be. It was a fact. Daph was no longer alone in her own body. She laughed nervously, imagining hanging a 'No Vacancy' sign over her vagina.

“Daphydill,” Antonio shouted from the kitchen. “Cus-to-mers.”
“I'm comin’, god damn it!” Daph screamed, wanting to punch the old fuck in the mouth for ruining her moment. The thought of putting on a face to deal with customers seemed impossible. Would they be able to tell? Did she already have a little paunch to her stomach she hadn't noticed? Did she have 'the glow' everybody always talked about it. She didn't know whether to laugh, cry, scream, vomit, or escape out the back door. Ultimately, she did none of those things, instead straightening her uniform, practicing a placid, friendly expression in the mirror, and slipping out the door with the test still in hand.

At the end of the hallway, she spied Antonio around the corner, slicing meat. The middle-aged armadillo glanced at her, then huffed impatiently.
“You take so long in there, I think you died,” he grumbled.
“Yeah, well, I'm here,” Daph sniffed, quickly stuffing the pregnancy test into her pocket. “How many?”
“Just two,” Antonio said. “But I brought them drinks myself because you take too long.”
“Oh boo-fucking-hoo,” Daph rolled her eyes, picking up a couple of menus from a table next to the kitchen door.
“I think I am putting a camera in there,” Antonio nodded, gesturing to the bathroom with his knife. “Just to know what you are all doing that take so long.”
“That'th illegal, dude,” Daph said, glancing over her shoulder.

“But that is how much time you waste in there,” Antonio said, gesturing emphatically. He might have had more to say, but Daph rolled her eyes and left the kitchen while he continued to babble to himself.
Combing her fingers through her hair to look a little more presentable, she backed into the dining room, tail-first. In the left hand corner was the quiet badger that usually came in after lunch and spent a couple hours with his laptop and coffee. She had just filled him up before going to the bathroom, so she knew he was fine. Scanning over the room, her eyes fell on the couple sitting at the window-side table, one of which was kneeling in her chair and waving her entire arm excitedly at Daph. She sighed, smiling quietly to herself as she strode across the room toward them, heart still beating against her chest like it wanted to escape. The pregnancy test in her pocket felt as heavy as a brick.

“Hey assholeth,” she said to Darwin and Georgia, setting menus down in front of them. “We ran outta food. All we got left is thauerkraut.”
“Then I'll take a plate full of it,” Georgia giggled. She took Daph's hand in her own and kissed it, entwining their fingers together and grinning, flapping her tail excitedly behind her chair.
“Thorry Darwin,” Daph teased. “That meanth we ran outta caviar, too.”
“What makes you think I actually like caviar?” He said, glancing up from the menu. Daph shrugged.
“I dunno. It'th jutht fancy food. You like a lot of fancy food.” Daph winked at him, then pulled out her order pad and pen from her apron pocket. “Nah, for real, what do you guyth want?”
“We didn't really need to order anything,” Darwin said. “We've already eaten.”
“We just wanted to see you!” Georgia said. “We haven't heard from you in almost a month!”

“Yeah...thorry, I've been busy with work and shit,” Daph said, scratching the back of her head. “I've been tryin to get my free-runnin group back together. Or at least for thome kind of gym meetup. A lot of the founderth are all spread out thethe dayth. And I've been tryin to get into thith acrobaticth gym in Brooklyn. It'th expensive, but it lookth fuckin’ dope.” Daph glanced over her shoulder toward the kitchen, then brought up her order pad again. “But I gotta get you thomethin or Antonio'th gonna give me shit for it. You want a drink?”

“I'll just have some water,” Darwin said, pulling on his shirt collar. “It's hot out there today.”
“Fuck yeah it ith,” Daph nodded, scribbling down his order. “Bout the only reathon I'm glad I'm in here right now.” She turned to Georgia and winked. “How 'bout you, thugar tits?”
“Do you have cherry coke?” Georgia said, hopping in her seat. “I don't know why, but I've been wanting cherry coke for so long.”
“I'll thee what we got,” Daph scribbled down. “Gimme a thecond.” She slipped the pad into her back pocket and rounded the tables, taking a second to check on the badger in the booth along the far wall. He was fine. She went behind the main counter and poured the couple's drinks, dropping a handful of cherries in a glass of Coke to make up for what they didn't have. Checking over her shoulder to make sure Darwin and Georgia were engaged in conversation with each other, Daph pulled out a stack of napkins and discreetly began to specially arrange them.

“Alright alright alright,” Daph said, bringing to drinks back to their table. “Here'th your water,” she handed the clear glass to Darwin, who nodded as he took it. “And here'th your...uhh...'cherry coke.'” Daph set down the soda full of cherries on the table. Georgia happily scooped up one of them with a spoon and popped it into her mouth.
“Purfecht,” she mumbled around it, giving a thumbs-up sign.
“Cool,” Daph nodded. Fishing in her pocket, she pulled out a bundle of napkins, tied together with twine into a makeshift bow. “And here'th your other order.”
Darwin and Georgia both stared at the bundle, then glanced up at her.

“We didn't order anything else,” Darwin protested. Daph clasped her hands behind her back and clicked her tongue against her teeth, beaming.
“Yeah, you did.”

On the other side of the table Georgia made a sound like a high-pitched sob, then a cough-like squeal of excitement. She had torn open the package, revealing the positive pregnancy test. Kicking her chair out of the way and gripping the test in her hand, she leapt out of her seat and into Daph's arms in a powerful hug. Georgia gripped Daph’s shoulders hard enough that Georgia lifted her legs in the air and kicked them while Daph held her entire weight in the air. Darwin glanced between them, alarmed and confused. Daph reached down and managed to wrench the pregnancy test out of Georgia's hand and pass it to him. While Georgia screamed excitedly into Daph's chest, bursting into happy tears, Darwin simply stared at the positive result with his hand on his head, looking like the wind had been knocked out of him.

“Oh my God...Oh my God...Daphodille...” Georgia cried, her tail whipping behind her as she hopped up in place. “I can't...I can't believe it...Oh my God, Daph,” She hugged her friend with a surprising amount of strength to come from the tiny squirrel. “Thank you...thank you so...this is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me...I'm so...I'm just...I...”
“Don't thank me yet,” Daph said, leaning back to speak. “At least wait til he'th out of me to do that.”
“Right...you're right...hehehehe,” Georgia giggled. She pulled away and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands, beaming at Daph with her bright smile. Walking over to her husband, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and squeezed, the two of them staring at the pregnancy test.

“You're going to be a daddy,” Georgia whispered into Darwin's ear, kissing him on the cheek. He breathed like he was trying to say something, but no words came out. Instead, he set the plastic stick on the table and pushed it away, drinking huge gulps from his water to keep from passing out.
Georgia reached over and dragged a chair to the side of the table and motioned Daph to sit in it. Ever trying to be the coolest person in the room, Daph spun the chair around and sat backwards in it, leaning her arms against the back of the chair.

“How...How long have you known?” Georgia said, sniffing and still wiping her eyes.
“I jutht took that tetht today,” Daph said. “Though...I kinda guessed it before now.”
“And you didn't tell us?” Georgia said.
“Oh, I...I just wanted to be thure,” Daph said, shrugging. “I didn't wanna get your hopeth up if it didn't take, yknow?” She picked up what was left of Darwin's water and took a sip, then set it back down and winked at him. “Though after that night...I don't think there wath any doubt about it.” She leaned over and punched him playfully on the shoulder. “I wath probably already pregnant the minute I left your apartment, hot thtuff.”

Darwin nodded wordlessly, taking a deep and shaky breath.
“Are you excited?” Georgia asked him, taking his hands into hers from across the table.
“I'm...” Darwin said, then swallowed, staring at Georgia. “...I'm a father...”
“You are, honey...” Georgia's nodded, another set of tears in her eyes.
“Fuck yeah you are,” Daph nodded, gripping his shoulder happily. “Well,” she added, “almost. Give it a few months.” She grinned behind her buck teeth and shook him, excitedly.

“I can't believe it's happening...” Georgia sighed, sniffing and trying to regain her composure.
“I got a toilet fulla puke and a thore back to tell you that it is,” Daph nodded, pointing down at her stomach.
“Are you okay? Oh no, I didn't think about that,” Georgia said, grabbing Daph's arm.
“Pfft, it'th nothin,” Daph shrugged. “I only threw up like…twice. Three timeth. No big deal.”
“Are you sure?” Georgia pleaded.

“If I don't work out til I puke at leatht once a month, I don't feel like I'm workin hard enough,” Daph laughed, flexing her muscles. She glanced over her shoulder once to check that Antonio was still busy doing prep in the back. Turning to Darwin, she raised an eyebrow, noting that he was still staring into his hands in shock.
“Yo,” Daph said, poking him in the shoulder. “You okay?”

Darwin looked up, his mouth hanging half-open, his long ears twitching. He glanced between the two women, from Daph's confused expression to Georgia's warm smile at his shock. Without a word, he reached over with his long arms and dragged Daphodille's chair next to his own with unexpected strength, while Daph herself simply went along for the ride. Once she was close enough, Darwin threw his arms over the confused squirrel, pulling her into a tight, enveloping hug and burying his face into her neck.
“Uhh...oh,” Daph mumbled. She patted him on the shoulders awkwardly, looking to Georgia for help, who only giggled quietly. Daph had never felt that kind of affection from Darwin and was more surprised he was doing it in public than anything else.
“Thank you, Daphodille,” he said, face muffled into her shoulder. He squeezed her harder. “I'm going to be a dad…”
“I know, big guy,” Daph said, still patting his back while being crushed by his overwhelming hug. “I know...But uh...let'th wait a couple months before tryin to thqueeze the baby out, okay?” She wiggled her fingers under his arms and was able to pry him off with a little effort. Darwin sniffed, blinking rapidly as he pulled away.

“I'm...I'm sorry,” he said, clearing his throat and regaining his composure. “I'm alright, I'm finished.”
“Darwin doesn't know what to do with big life changes,” Georgia explained. “You just have to give him a few minutes to process it. Remember when he almost flubbed our vows?” She laughed and reached across the table, taking his hands. “I had to mouth them out to him just so we could get on with the ceremony.”
“I mothtly remember bein' pissed off you made me wear a dress,” Daph grumbled.
“Are you still complaining about that? You looked cute, Daph!”
“I woulda looked cuter in a tux...” Daph mumbled, even softer. She reached down to her stomach and lifted her apron to scratch herself, nonchalantly.

“Oh! Oh!” Georgia squealed, pointing down. “Are you showing? Are you showing yet!?”
“Huh,” Daph said, looking down. “I don't really know.” Pushing back her chair, Daph stood up and glanced over her shoulder to check if Antonio was watching, then began to untie her apron. Once it was off, she untucked her shirt and pulled it up to her sternum, revealing her white tank top underneath that clung snugly to her figure. “Am I?” She asked, turning to the side.
Darwin and Georgia both leaned to the middle of the table, cocking their heads simultaneously.
“I can't tell,” Darwin frowned, shaking his head. Georgia reached over and pulled up Daph's undershirt, exposing the tan fur of her belly.
“H-hey!” Daph shouted, tail flicking in protest.

“I just wanna see!” Georgia said, running her palm over her stomach. “It's my baby, after all.”
“Daphydill,” shouted Antonio from behind the counter, making the three of them jump in surprise. He slammed his hand-towel onto the counter and pointed at her. “You are no to be stripping for the customers! You are to be doing that in other job!” He huffed and marched back into the kitchen.
“I wathn't thtripping for the...Hey!” Daph turned and shouted, shirt still pulled up. “What the fuck do you mean other job?” She balled up her fists indignantly, ready for a fight, but the armadillo was already gone.
“Tch...leatht now I can blame it on hormoneth when I yell at that mother fucker.”
“Maybe it isn't such a good idea to work in such a stressful environment anymore,” Darwin said. “Especially not while you're carrying.”

“That'th jutht Antonio, though,” Daph said, waving her arm dismissively. “Yelling at him ith more stress relief than anything.” She turned to the side and looked down at her stomach again. “So, you thee anything?”
“Hold your breath,” Georgia said, putting another hand against her. Daph obliged, taking a deep breath and holding as still as possible. Georgia frowned, gliding her finger in a circle around Daph's belly button. “Are you pushing out?” She asked. Daph shook her head. Georgia's expression lit up like the sun as she looked down at Daph's stomach again and spread her fingers over a small, barely discernible paunch to her lower stomach. “Here! I think that's it!”

Daph leg go of her held breath, the air pushing out her stomach a little farther. Darwin leaned forward and peered at her profile with one eye. He poked a finger right into the spot his wife had marked.
“Right there,” he nodded. “That wasn't there a month ago.”
“Yeah, you'd remember, right?” Daph winked at Darwin, who blushed and glanced away. She brought her hands to her stomach and felt the little bulge Darwin and Georgia had discovered. She nodded as well, making a clicking noise with her tongue. “Yep. That'th it alright.” She frowned, pressing a finger into the soft bump. “...Thith suckth. I thought it'd be more...I dunno. That I'd look pregnant. I just look kinda fat.”
“If that's your idea of fat, Daphodille, then your standards are way too high,” Georgia said, helping to tug down Daph's shirt.
“Well, it ain't what I'm uthed to,” she said. She crammed the tail of her shirt back into her pants, but refrained from putting on her apron before sitting down.

“This'll be new for all three of us,” Georgia nodded, glancing around the table. “But we'll be with you every step of the way, Daph. You can count on that.”
“Whatever. I got thith,” Daph said, with mock bravado. “Girls less badass than me have babieth every day. What do I got to be afraid of?” She grinned, then clapped Georgia on the shoulder. “But for real...thank you. Thith ith...uh...” Daph sighed, then rubbed her developing belly. “...Thith ith gonna be weird. I'm gonna need thomebody to lean on.”
“Of course, Daph,” Georgia beamed. “It's the least we can do to thank you for what you're doing.”

“Don't worry about that,” Daph shrugged. “Anything for you guyth.”
“On that note,” Darwin said, pulling out his work phone from his pocket, “we've got a plan set up, assuming that conception went as planned.”
“And it did,” Georgia added, happily.
“Yes, it did,” Darwin agreed, in a much more matter-of-fact tone. “So, now that Daphodille is officially pregnant, we can move on to setting up a real agreement.” He pulled up a document on his smartphone, then slid it across the table for Daph to look at. “This is our official agreement for your surrogacy. I've checked with a few lawyers and all we to do is have a written agreement that you'll carry the baby to term and give over rights to us on birth.”
“Fancy, fancy,” Daph responded, sarcastically. She picked up the phone and scanned the document carefully.
“Take your time to read it,” Darwin nodded.

“Yeah, of courthe,” Daph snorted. “I been fucked over by too many landordth to not read a contract when I...” She trailed off, peering at the tiny screen, using both fingers to enlarge the document. After a moment of silence, she looked up with shock written over her face. “Thirty thouthand dollarth?!”
“Oh, right, that,” Darwin nodded. “Most surrogates charge 24,000 a year, paid out in about two thousand a month. But in the interest of you being a personal friend and your pregnancy being a bit...eh...'off the record,' we decided to add in an extra five hundred a month.”

“You mean you're gonna pay me?!” Daph exclaimed, pointing at the phone and glancing between Darwin and Georgia, who looked at one another in confusion.
“Um...yes?” Darwin said.
“Did...did you not know that?” Georgia asked.
“Fuck, I thought it wath like...a favor or thomethin...” Daph said sliding the phone across the table and bringing a hand to her head.
“I mean...” Darwin said, tapping his fingers together. “...If you'd rather do it for free...”
“Hell no, motherfucker!” Daph shouted. “You're the one that brought it up! I want my damn money!”
“You'll get your damn money, Daph,” Georgia laughed. “We were planning on paying you from the beginning.”
“Um...yes,” Darwin nodded. Even after five years, he never got used to Daph's more 'excited' moments.
“God damn...” Daph breathed, leaning back. “Havin your baby for thirty thouthand...I'd cut my fuckin tail off for thirty thouthand butt-fucking dollarth!”

“It's not just that easy, Daph,” Georgia explained. “You'll really have to take care of yourself. Don't do anything that could hurt the baby. A lot of this money might go toward just taking care of yourself in the later months when you can't work.”
“I wath gonna do that anyway, Georgia. You know the kinda shape I keep mythelf in.” Daph flexed her arms, displaying a pair of shockingly cut biceps beneath the soft covering of her fur.

“Keep reading,” Darwin said, pushing the phone toward her. Daph blew a raspberry and pushed it back toward him.
“Georgia can tell you I never did any of the class readings back in high thchool. Jutht gimme the 'Cliff'th Noteth'.”
“Well...um...” Darwin cleared his throat, then picked up the phone himself and adjusted his glasses. “Alright...Well, in addition to signing over parental rights to the baby, you'll need to follow a diet and exercise regimen set up by us and your doctor.”

“I don't know if I have inthurance, though...” Daph mumbled.
“I'll take care of that!” Georgia interjected. “The hospital has a world-class gynecology program, and my friend Tara is one of the top-rated OBs in the city. She owes me a couple favors, so we can put you under our insurance. We need to.”
“Well god damn,” Daph chuckled. “I'm thtartin to feel like royalty.”
“It won't be easy, Daphodille,” Darwin said. “That's our baby you're carrying. We really need you to take it seriously.”
“Who thayth I'm not!?” Daph said, throwing her arms in the air.
“Well...” Darwin said, putting away his phone and sighing. “If you say so, Daph...”
“And I do fuckin thay tho!” Daph said, patting her stomach. “Thith little nut-muncher hath himthelf the best apartment in the fuckin city right now.”

“I'll go ahead and get Tara to take you on as a patient and get you a first appointment,” Georgia continued, ignoring Daph and Darwin's exchange. “Would some time next week be okay?”
“Maybe. I gotta talk to him,” Daph gestured over her shoulder toward the kitchen. “Old bathtard wouldn't let me thkip a day of work even if my goddamn apartment was on fire.”
“Just let us know a date when you can. We really should get you looked at as soon as possible.” Georgia gripped Daph's hand again and bounced excitedly. “You'll really like Tara, though. She's got this really dry sense of humor and she's so smart and really discreet. She'll be perfect.”
“Can't wait to meet her,” Daph nodded. She paused, then frowned. She and Darwin glanced confusedly at each other, then at Georgia.
“Baby, what do you mean 'discreet?'” Darwin asked. Georgia paused, her mouth half open, glancing between the two of them. Her tail twitched behind her.

“Oh…I mean...” she took Darwin's hand and answered to him. “We don't know who we're going to tell yet, right? I mean, it's just so early. Even Daph just found out.”
“Oh, right, right,” Darwin nodded, glancing at Daph, who only shrugged in response. She quickly sat up straight, her ears twitching to the sound of heavy footfalls coming to the kitchen. “Aw, fuck.”
“Daphydill,” Antonio shouted, once again. “You sit down and have chit-chat with customers and not even take their order!?”
“They didn't want anything!” Daph called over her shoulder. “They just wanted drinkth!”
“Strike two, Daphydill!” Antonio shouted, waving a finger. “Strike two!” He stomped his foot one more time, huffed, then marched back into the kitchen. Daph grumbled and rolled her eyes.

“I gotta go,” she sighed. “Once he startth pulling out the 'striketh,' then he might actually write me up.” She hopped up from her chair and picked up her apron to tie it back on. As she did, she paused with hands over her stomach, the tiny bump impossible to miss now that she knew it was there. She looked up at the parents-to-be with a soft, encouraging smile. “Trust me, guyth. I'll take good care of your baby. You'll have him before you know it.” Daph winked, flipped her tail excitedly, then bounded off to the kitchen.
Darwin couldn't help but smile. He still wasn't entirely sure about Daphodille, but she seemed to be taking the surrogacy seriously, if only for their sake. He glanced at his wife, who still had the ghost of a smile on her face, but was idly stirring a spoon in her drink, her eyes downcast.

“Georgia?” Darwin said.
She didn't look up right away, her smile completely falling away as she spooned one of the cherries into her mouth. She pointedly avoided his gaze and stared out the window at the passing New Yorkers on the street. Georgia finally, after a long silence, looked Darwin in the eye and talked softly around her cherry.

“I wish it was me,” she mumbled. She took a sip of her drink, swallowing another cherry. “It should be me...” Georgia sighed dejectedly and looked out the window again. She put a hand to her head and shook it, as if physically casting off the thoughts. “I'm sorry...I know, this is supposed to be a good thing and I'm supposed to be happy...and I am...but at the same time...” She took a sip of her drink, swallowing tears along with her soda.
Darwin blinked, waiting quietly to see if she was finished. After a few seconds of silence, he reached across the table and pulled her hands into his, waiting for Georgia to look over before giving her a warm, confident smile.
“I know,” he nodded, rubbing her finger with his thumb. “I wish it was you, too.”

“I mean...ugh,” she flipped her hair out of her face and gripped Darwin's hands, tapping them on the table for emphasis. “I've known for a long time I can't have kids. I've accepted it. I'm okay with it. This isn't something I should...I should still be dealing with...” Georgia grumbled and put her hands in her lap, looking down at the table. “I don't know. It's stupid.”
“It's not stupid,” Darwin said, reaching over to put a finger under her chin, just so he could keep looking into those beautiful, crystal blue eyes. “And...you don't have to be okay with it...”
Georgia smiled at Darwin, but her brow was still furrowed in worry.

“Here's what you can think about instead,” Darwin continued. “Isn't that what you tell your patients? To think about the good things in the future instead of the hard work right now?”
Georgia chuckled softly at Darwin using her own words against her, then nodded.
“I know that she...hasn't exactly won me over all the way. But Daph is a good friend. That's the thing I like most about her, that she's a good friend to you. And that baby she's got in her? That little squirrel that's going to love you so much for the rest of their life? Daph and I both know that it's your baby more then either of ours.”

Georgia sat quietly, taking in what Darwin said. She nodded to herself, then looked up at him. She had to sit up in her chair to reach across the table with her shorter arms, but once she grabbed hold of Darwin's shirt collar, she leaned over the table and kissed him.
“It's speeches like those that made me want to marry you,” she smiled.

Meanwhile, after checking on the badger customer and taking the orders of a few others that came in, Daph walked back into the kitchen to pass off the orders to Antonio. But as she set the tickets down on the table and walked away, she stopped. Glancing down at her stomach, at the tiny hint of a bump just below her navel, she ran a hand over it. It was just enough to fit in her palm, that tiny little bundle of cells that hadn't even had enough time to turn into a baby yet, but it was there.
“Hey, Antonio,” Daph said, without looking up. “I'm gonna need thome time off in a few monthth.”
“Why?” He asked, suspiciously, scraping debris off the grill to prepare for the next set of orders.
“I'm pregnant,” she said, the word seeming to hang in the air longer than normal.

Antonio stopped his prep work and looked up. She glanced at him over his shoulder, grinning happily with her hand still over her stomach. He peered at Daph, scanning her up and down with his eyes as if he could tell if she was lying just by the way she was standing. Once satisfied, Antonio huffed, then went back to his work.

“Alright,” he grumbled.
“Thankth, man,” Daph nodded, then turned to walk back into the dining room.
“Feh,” the armadillo grumbled, far too loudly. “As if this city is to be needing even more squirrels...”
Daph stopped in the doorway, one hand gripping the edge of the molding, then turned around.
“And what the fuck ith that thuppothed to mean!?”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Index