//------------------------------// // Chapter 20 // Story: Player Number Three // by Candy-Sweets_12 //------------------------------// As the third and final trimester began, Sweetie Belle was definitely excited. From what her doctor said, she was now healthy and definitely experiencing the symptoms. She first realized this when she had Braxton Hicks for the first time. Sweetie Belle was reading in bed and listening to music when she felt her stomach tighten. Startled she did as her doctor said to make sure they weren't real contractions. Shifting her weight, the pain never intensified like as she said. With a sigh of relief she continued reading and waited for it to pass. The next day, Button and Pipsqueak painted their foals room with a light green paint. As the scent of paint drifted across the house, it became too strong and Sweetie Belle had to stay out of the house for the smell made her fell sick. It took a long time before Button could convince her to get back into their house Whenever she was asleep, which was more often than ever, Button would find her in awkward positions in a gigantic clump of pillows on her side. When they were in bed, he would either get hit with Sweetie Belle's hooves, or be kicked rather harshly when ever they were asleep. Not to mention she would sometimes wake up screaming from a terrifying nightmare ever once in a while When she woke up in the morning, the first thing she'd do after visiting the bathroom several times, Sweetie Belle would take a picture of her stomach, she had dozens of them stored away, and with each one, her stomach would be slightly larger. She had so much that she had to make a separate scrap book just them. Now she was Rarity's house, offering to watch her niece and nephew. Platinum wouldn't leave her side. She was so excited to cousin. Sweetie Belle was glad to see her niece was as excited as she was. "Do you want to feel the kick?" Sweetie Belle asked. Platinum gasped in excitement and frantically nodded her head. Placing her hooves on the side of the sofa Sweetie Belle was lying on, she put her ear next to her stomach, listening to the fluttering movements of the foal. "Wow." She whispered. Jasper stood from afar, not bothering to talk with his sister and instead continued with eating he lunch his mother made before she left, having experienced his aunt's cooking before. He shuddered at the memory. His sister was so eager to talk and ask questions about her first cousin, that she rushed through her lunch as primly as she could, getting hiccups as she sped over to their aunt; who was in a deep slumber, quickly. "When's it due?" "2 and a half months." "Do you know if it's a colt or filly?" "No, we're keeping that a secret." "How come you sleep a lot?" "I just get tired like this, kind of like you get tired when you're belly is full." The filly giggled until a question came to mind. "How'd it get in there? Did you eat it?" "I like to believe an angel sent my foal to my stomach, where it can grow in peace." "But how is it a peace if you eat food with your stomach?" "I guess I'd have to ask it when it comes out." Sweetie Belle said casually, remembering asking the same questions before. "Do you think Uncle Button Mash will freak out like mommy said daddy did when Jasper came?" "No, but we're quite stressed from this weeks earlier visit." "You are?" The filly said in a burst of muffled giggles. "What happened?" "Get comfortable, it actually happened just a couple of days ago." She tapped the space next to her, and the little filly climbed on next to her, snuggling up to her aunt. "It was the day your Uncle's brother came for a visit with his sons." She began. There was a knock on he door. Groaning, Sweetie Belle turned and laid on her back, staring at the ceiling. She tapped the sleeping Button right next to her. "Button," the stallion didn't budge. Groaning again, Sweetie Belle went down stairs, fixing her ponytail and wiping her eyes as she made her way to the door. Another round of knocks on the door causing her to move slightly faster. A bit of aggravation in her voice, she yelled out. "I'm coming! Hold on." She made it to the door, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She quickly again before opening the door. "Hey Button- whoa." His brother stood at the door, getting a glimpse at the bed ridden mare. "Sorry about my appearance," Sweetie Belle said. "I was asleep." "Couldn't Button had gotten the door?" "He's exhausted from painting the foal's room yesterday, and convincing me to come back into the house before the smell was gone." She said, this time lazily stroking her hoof through her hair. "Maybe I should come back later." He said, starting to back away. He was stopped by his older son hitting his foreleg. Sweetie Belle didn't notice them before. "No way dad, you promised." He said with a small scowl on his face. "Yeah," the younger one agreed, coping his older sibling, he hit the other leg with a squeakier voice. "you promised we'd get to see aunt Sweetie Belle." "It's ok." Sweetie Belle said. Yawning and fling at trying to wipe away the noticeable bags on her eyes. She put a brighter tone in her hoarse voice. "Come in. I'm just going to go wake Button up." Yawning again, the foals ran inside, their father following them to make sure they didn't break anything. Sweetie Belle went into the room and found Button in a different position than before, snoring a bit. She stood right next to him. She tried shaking him awake, but instead he turned to his side. Sweetie Belle called his name several times, with no results. She shook him roughly and did the same, but the stallion was still snoozing away. She then grinned as an idea came to her head. Putting her muzzle next to his ear, she whispered. "Button, the foal's coming." Instantly Button woke up in a frenzy, jumping nearly three feet in the air before shouting out. "What?!" He asked. When he saw Sweetie Belle was out of bed, he quickly turned his head until his eyes met a pair of green ones, his nose touching Sweetie Belle's. "Gah!!" He said, jumping back in surprise. It took him a second to realize what had happened, especially after seeing the giggle mare trying to stifle a laugh with her hoof. Blushing, he shouted back. "That wasn't funny!" He said, his whole face and the tips of his ears turning a light red. Causing the mare to giggle while apologizing. "I'm sorry, but you wouldn't wake up." She said in between a clump of laughter. Button's blush faded. "I'm sorry. Why did you want to wake me up anyway?" "Your nephews are here." Sweetie Belle said. Followed by a shatter from downstairs, followed by some shouting. The two rushed down to see what had happened, before seeing a broken flower vase on the floor. The younger colt was pointing at his brother, insisting that he had pushed him into the table it was on. Sweetie Belle saw a cuts on his forehead and rushed over, taking notice at how a part of his fur was damp from the vase water. "You boys shouldn't have bee running around in the first place." Their father scolded. "We were only playing tag, I tried being very careful until he stopped and I bumped into him. The older sibling implied. "It doesn't matter who did it." Sweetie Belle said, holding her breath at the sight of blood on her nephews hoof. She took a deep breath before answering again. "Just please don't do it again." Button was silent as he looked down at the two boys, running around in a completely non safe environment for colts of their age. As the other two adults talked with the colts, his thoughts drifted what it would be like for a one month foal running around like they were. He looked at Sweetie Belle, who wore the same face he did. "We're sorry about this." Button's brother said. "I never meant for this to happen." "Actually," Sweetie Belle began, unable to finish, she was mesmerized as the colt took no notice of the dripping blood. She held her breath while Button continued. "We're sorry about this. We didn't think to foal proof the house a few months ago, we're sorry about this." Before the other stallion could answer, his sons took the rest of the conversation. "It's ok, it doesn't even hurt that much anyway." The young colt said in a bragging tone. His dad playfully grabbed him and ruffed his mane. "You little rascal." He said. Eventually the young colt ended up with a bandage on his cuts after complaining about how much it hurt to clean them. The two brothers talked with each other while the colts sat on the ground next to their aunt, who was sprawled across the couch by herself. "What will it look like?" "It's a colt right?" "Can we feel it kick?" "How much longer until we can play with him?" "Will we have to look after him?" "Will he be stuck in your stomach forever?" "Will he be in that club you were talking about?" "Can we play tag with it once it can walk?" More and more questions came her way unable to answer them, Sweetie Belle stuck her hooves in their mouths as they spoke at the same time. "One at a time. Now who's first?" "What will he look like?" The younger one asked. "We won't know whether or not it's a filly or colt until it's born let alone what it will look like." "How long will it take before we can play with hi- I mean it." The older one asked. "Honestly, I'm not sure, it may be a while." "Do we have to look after him? We can play tag and hide and seek and other stuff." The younger colt offered. "Maybe when they're older." "Why does it have to be in your stomach for so long?" "They'll com out when they are ready. That may be in a few months or so." "Can we play tag with it once it's old enough?" "Depends on how roughly you two play, you'll have to be vey gentle with them. If you two are good enough, I'll let you hold them." "Can we touch it?" The younger one asked. Sweetie Belle nodded. The two colts grinned as they set their hooves on her stomach. She grew worried when she saw the scared look on their faces. "What's wrong boys?" "Your stomach is moving. *gasp* did you eat an alien?" Sweetie Belle giggled as the foal tickled her inside, seeming to do flips and summer saults. "No, my doctor said that's a normal thing. It's just playing." "Oh." The two said in unison. They watched for a while before they got bored and started playing again. "Really? It did that?" "Yes really." Sweetie Belle said with a laugh in her voice, smiling at how her niece's eyes brightened up. Carefully touching her aunts stomach, she pulled it off after feeling some kicks. "Wow." She whispered. "Can it do it again?" "I don't know." Sweetie Belle shrugged. "Maybe." "So you were worried because one of Uncle Button's nephews got hurt?" "Yeah but there's a bit more to it." She noticed how Jasper was sitting alone at the table seeming to do nothing, "You can come over here if you'd like too." She suggested. The colt's ears perked up. "No thank you." He said. "But you're not even doing anything Jazzy." Platinum said. "I thought I asked you not to call me that." The colt said. "I'll stop for a whole month if you come over here." The colt thought about leaving his precious moment of peace, but this was a deal he couldn't refuse, ever since Platinum could talk, that would be her nickname for him, and it stuck with her for years. "Fine." He said before walking primly next to them and sitting down on the chair next to the sofa. "Yay!" The filly cheered. She then remembered how the foal didn't like too much noise. "I mean, yay." She whispered. Sweetie Belle giggled before going on. "Where was I, oh yes..." As they colts continued playing their little games Sweetie Belle nodded off until she was awakened by another round of kicks. She sighed as she waited for them to stop but they continued as the house grew louder from the two stallions talking and the colts making a loud ruckus. Her foal stirred from the noise. And it made her feel uncomfortable. Button looked over and saw how Sweetie Belle was agitated with the noise they were making. Especially with the pillow over her head. "Maybe we should take this outside." Button suggested. "K' then, c'mon kids." The colts galloped behind their father to the back yard outside while Button went to Sweetie Belle. "When they broke that vase earlier, where you thinking..." "How our foal could hurt themselves when they're a month old?" She said, lifting her head from the sofa. "Yeah. We should really fix the house soon." Button said. "Yeah, but for now, I'm eating breakfast." Sweetie Belle said. Button had forgotten that she hadn't eaten anything all morning, and offered to make her something. "It's fine," She said to his surprise. "I'm only eating this." She held up a box of cereal and a container of strawberries from the refrigerator. "Maybe we can talk about it now-." Button suggested. "Later." Sweetie Belle assured before stuffing her mouth with a spoonful of strawberries. She giggled as Button left the room to tend to their guests. Later that day, Sweetie Belle and Button Mash shut the door after their guests. Button turned to Sweetie Belle with a worried expression on his face. He sat next to Sweetie Belle at the dinning table. "So about what happened earlier," Button began. "Yeah. We need to redecorate a bit. Besides, we've had the same theme ever since we got married." Sweetie Belle said. "Maybe we should move the vases to higher shelves." Button said. "And get more carpet." Sweetie Belle agreed. "And maybe rearrange the furniture a bit?" Button said. "We could do that one tomorrow. Our chairs have been to close together for foals to run and play through anyway." Sweetie Belle said. "But it's only seven, and it's still daylight." Button said. "I'd help, but there's a hot bath calling my name, and I'm really tired." Sweetie Belle yawned. Button sighed as she headed for the upstairs bathroom. "Then we rearranged the furniture the next day. A right now Button's with Apple Bloom and Pipsqueak adding shelves to the walls and carpet to the floors." "Is that why you came here?" "Partially, they insisted that I get out the house for a while. Then I heard that your mother needed someone to watch you two." "But I'm eleven, I'm perfectly capable of watching myself." Jasper pouted. "I think that it's great aunt Sweetie Belle came." Platinum said. "You think everything's great." Jasper huffed. "Do you feel like your being babied Jasper?" Sweetie Belle asked. Jasper looked at his seemingly perfect aunt in shock. "How do you know?" "Ever since I figured out I was having my foal, my husband's been extra careful around me. Whenever we discuss something, he always agrees with everything I say." "But isn't that a good thing?" Jasper and Platinum Jewel asked in unison. "No, it's not. You see, you're to young to be in a relationship, but it actually helps a couple by discussing things." "It does?" Jasper asked, more interested. " Yeah, with every fight anypony has with anypony, two friends, brothers and sisters, or a couple in my case, talking about something together helps them to grow and make an agreement on something." "I thought that it was better not to fight all of the time." Platinum said. "Pay close attention," Sweetie Belle said. "Here's a secret that goes for any relationship, the ones without fights or disagreements are usually the ones that are destroyed?" "Really?" The two asked. Jasper came closer and sat on the floor. "Sure. We all have our differences, if we didn't, we'd all be the same pony. Although you should always try to find a solution to a problem before arguing about it, like say the last cookie in the cookie jar, or another situation." "How come you never told Uncle Button Mash this?" Jewel said. Sweetie Belle wasn't sure how to answer. "He always thinks it's better to agree with me than make me angry. I usually wouldn't be, but if it's something important, he knows it's better not to make me mad because of my emotions." "I still think you should tell him." Jewel said. "I guess you're right. Look at me, dumping my love life on foals." She playfully shook her head at herself. "How come he wouldn't want to get you mad anyway?" Jasper said curiously "It actually happened before you two were born." Sweetie Belle said. "What happened?" Sweetie Belle blushed. She was at Button's house playing videogames. Button's brother was the only one home next to the two since they weren't old enough to be trusted at home alone. Button's brother was outside, watching the two play on their laptops in the grass, bored because he had to watch them while his parents were out. He grinned mischievously as an idea came to mind. He was hesitant about it at first, but went with it eventually. He snickered. "What's so funny" The two asked. "Oh I was just wondering why you two aren't dating yet." The stallion shrugged. "What?!" The two said, blush filling their faces and the tips of their ears. "I mean, you two hang out together all of the time, and you're always talking about the same things over and over again." "We're just friends." Button assured. "Then I bet you two have crushes on each other," he said, stifling a laugh as the two blushed harder. "maybe even have dreams of kissing each other one day, or sneaking out." He laughed even harder as the two stared at each other and squirmed. Sweetie Belle started to get angry. She whispered to Button Mash. "First Diamond Tiara, now your brother. Why can't a girl and a boy be friends with each other without having other ponies think they're in love or something?" Button rolled his eyes and shrugged in agreement. To make matters worse, the pony watching them saw this and teased them again. "Aw, my little brother is in love, he's even sharing secrets with my future sister-in-law." "Can you please stop now?" Button asked. "Why? Would you prefer for me to call her your future wife then?" "That's enough." Button said with agitation in his voice. Sweetie Belle was looking down, her eyes hidden in the shadows on her face. "Maybe you'll even have kids of your own one day." The teenager said teasingly. "We're not in love or dating, we're just friends." Button said with clenched teeth. "All we do is play video games and hang out, nothing more." Button said, his eyes shrinking in anger. "Ok bro, you win, I'll stop teasing you with your future somepony. I know when to stop." The stallion said with his hooves up defensively. That's when Sweetie Belle looked up, so quickly it made the other colt's blood run cold. Her eyes were colder, in anger, she rushed to him in a blur pinning him down with seemingly impossible strength. "Apparently you don't." She said with her hoof clenching a hoofful of fur in his shirt. "Now if you let it go, I'll let you go." Button stood off to the side with just as angry eyes and keeping a good distance from Sweetie Belle. "What's a little filly going to do?" The poor stallion said. Sweetie Belle looked down as Button whistled, backing away and behind the tree. The wind began to blow, making a lot more dramatic effect. To the young stallion's horror, she chuckled. "Poor choice of words." She looked up with her green eyes shinning brighter than the sun, nearly glowing. Button watched from afar as her horn lit up and had to shut his eyes at the powerful explosion, followed by a scream of terror, which was followed by a series of pleas. He there was light green light spreading everywhere, the next thing he knew, the stallion was hanging in the tree, his eyes shrunken in fear as his body was completely covered in black marks. Sweetie Belle said nothing as she picked up her laptop. Still angry as her eyes kept her glow. She passed Button without a word until she picked up her laptop and stopped just within hearing distance of her clenched words. "See you tomorrow Button, thanks for playing with me." She said before trotting away. It wasn't until she was out of sight that Button helped his brother. The poor guy's hooves were still shaking. He then fell down several feet, landing on his back o the ground. He didn't seem to notice. On her way home, Sweetie Belle was still enraged. When Diamond Tiara came by to start teasing her, Sweetie Belle looked up with a scowl and her eyes were in anger and cold aggravation. "Maybe tomorrow." The filly said. She, at least, knew when to stop in this case. "Ever since then, both ponies were more cautious around Sweetie Belle. Especially Button's older brother. In fact, he still doesn't feel comfortable in the same room alone with me." "Did you ever apologize?" Platinum said. "Of course, the next day I tried to, but he screamed and tried to move away from me, eventually Button's mother said I had to leave until he was better." "I guess he forgave you eventually." "Yeah, even he agreed he went a bit too far." Sweetie Belle said. There was a convenient knock on the door as Rarity and Fancy ants entered. "So sorry we're late Sweetie Belle, I hope that they weren't too much trouble." "Oh not at all, in fact, I can tell they'd do just as fine without me." Sweetie Belle said. "Thank you Sweetie Belle, and I guess that you're right, maybe Jasper is old enough to take charge on his own." Jasper gasped in excitement. "Really?" He said before catching himself. "Oh, um, yes, thank you mother." He turned to his aunt. "Thank you for watching us." He said. Platinum did the same. "It was no trouble, I should be heading home anyway." She left the room and headed out the door, turning her head to wink at Jasper just before the door closed. Sweetie Belle opened the door to her house and found that it looked very different. "Wow." She said. There were new dark brown shelves that were nailed into the wall. Photo frames and scrapbooks stood on them, along with the seashell from her honeymoon, and vases. There was a sand white carpet over the floor, soft to the touch. The couch and sofa were in the exact place they were after they moved their furniture around, the sofa and couch moved farther away from each other to make more room, making the living room seem bigger than you'd think. The bedroom and bathrooms had little changes, but had more shelves and the decorations the couple bought online. Button came from upstairs. "You like it?" He said when he saw the mare at the bottom of the stairs. "This is perfect." She said. "The foal things are supposed to come in tomorrow." He said. "Ok, but did you really did all of this in one afternoon?" "With our friends' help." He reminded her. "Thank you Button." She said. She kissed him o the cheek, causing him to gush. "It was nothing, I'm glad that you like it." "Do you like it?" She asked. "Of course, I made sure that it was pretty close to what we discussed." "What do you mean by 'pretty close'? Sweetie Belle asked with her eyebrow raised and a smile. "I took the liberty to take my old game systems and put them in here." He pointed to the piece of furniture the television. Inside the newly painted cabinets, were the gaming systems that weren't plugged in to the television, along with two bean bag chairs. "How'd you get those in there?" Sweetie Belle asked with a smirk. "Since we can't play from the sofa anymore, I got these out of storage, dusted them off a bit, and since they were a bit flat from being flattened by heavy boxes for the past few years I was able to fit them in here." Sweetie Belle giggled. "Do you want me to take them out?" "Nope, I was actually hoping you'd do something like this." "You were?" "Yeah, lately you've been agreeing with me on everything, and this was the first time all year that you added your own opinions." "I'm just trying to be a bit more considerate of your feelings." He said. "That doesn't mean I want you to agree with me on everything I suggest." She said. " and you've been supportive of me for so long, I think your doing a great job keeping up with your promise." She said before kissing him on the cheek again. "Why do you feel that way now anyway?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Remember when we were in our cave for Hearts and Hooves day? And we promised each other two things?" "How could I forget?" "I felt that what happened on.... when we went to visit the cemetery, that I didn't show any sympathy for how much of a loss losing our foal was to you. I tried to get you to forget about the miscarriage, but when you sang your song, I realized that we can't and will never forget. I was being inconsiderate and I didn't live up to my promise. That's why I apologized. I tried making it up to you by doing everything you wanted." "I appreciate the effort Button, but next time don't let it go too far." She said. "I'm just glad that we're one step further to being ready with our foal now." She said. They sat on the couch, taking a few scrapbooks from the shelves and looking through them. They continued late into the night, flipping through the pages and laughing at the memories. After going through them, they took the camera and took pictures of the new look and added them to the scrap books.