//------------------------------// // Chapter 1, Hormones // Story: Spinning Gears, Painted Letters and Onyx Gems // by Ebony Runwick //------------------------------// It had been eleven months, eleven months of Circuit being wracked with hormones, body changes and, overall moodiness. Adhesive was doing his best… “Babe, you look great alright? You’re not gaining weight the baby is!” A lamp flew across the room and shattered against the wall. Well, it didn’t always work… “Now you’re calling me and the baby fat!?” The ‘pegasus’ let out a huff as he looked around, trying to find something else to throw at him. “I carried your child twelve months, and this is how you thank me? By insulting the both of us!?” “Faust, that’s not what I meant!” He ran his hooves through his green mane in frustration. “The baby is normal weight, neither of you are fat! Ebony said you’re healthy weight, both of you!” “You’re lying!” Circuit screeched as he snatched a book from the shelf, flinging it at the other stallion. “You think I’m fat! A-and ugly, a-and-” His words were cut off as he burst into tears, sinking to the ground so he could cover his face with his forehooves. Said book hit Adhesive square in the face with a loud thwack but he surged forward anyway, immediately wrapping his hooves around Circuit. “No, no, no no no. I think you’re beautiful, I love you, and in my eyes you’re perfect. To me you are gorgeous.” The gray stallion sniffled softly, rubbing at his eyes as he wrapped his hooves around the other. “Y-you really think so…?” “Of course I do, remember our wedding day? When I saw you there, waiting at the altar, I could’ve sworn you were an angel of Faust herself.” Circuit nodded slowly, swiping at his eyes one last time. “Well….Let’s see if you feel the same way when you’re sleeping on the couch you insensitive jerk! You should’ve said that before you called me fat!” He let out a screech again, snatching another book from the shelf so he could hit Adhesive with it. The book once again hit home, this time catching the mail stallion in the eye. “Sh*t! Oh ow.. Ow ow…” He crumpled to the floor, one hoof pressed over the wounded eye. “Oh Luna I’m so sorry!” Circuit quickly dropped the book his eyes wide. “I-I didn’t mean to hit you in the eye! I must be the worst husband ever, a-attacking my own partner!” He then proceeded to burst into tears again. Adhesive put his other hoof on Circuit’s shoulder softly. “No, it’s okay, it’s hormones, you’re not doing it to be mean. You’re definitely not the worst husband ever, it’s okay, it’s okay.” The stallion just continued to wail, covering his face with his hooves. “I hate this so much! Why won’t this stupid foal just get out of me already!?” As if on cue, the white stallion next to him blinked. “Wait… is the house leaking again or… oh Faust…” “W-what I...Oh crap….” The pregnant stallion let out a grunt as he clutched his stomach, a wave of pain shooting up his spine. “I-I didn’t mean right now dammit!” “O-o-okay, don’t panic, nopony panic!!!” Adhesive jumped up, his blue eyes wide before he practically lifted Circuit to his hooves and carried him to the truck. “Okay okay, just breath, breath ok? Just like the class taught us, in out in out.” The stallion gently put his husband in the passenger seat, buckling him up before all but making a mad dash for the drivers seat. “Alright, come on, come on, keys keys. Got the keys!” “W-wait, what about our bag!?” He turned to Adhesive, his eyes wide. “That has all our stuff in it for while we’ll be staying at Ebony’s, you have to go get it!” “Faust damn it!!!” Adhesive bolted from the car and dashed back into the house looking frantically about the room before his eyes fell upon the bag. An old leather satchel that had been turned into a makeshift baby item and clothing suitcase. The stallion grabbed it between his teeth before galloping back to the car and all but chucking it into the backseat. “Got the bag, seatbelts!” The mail stallion quickly buckled himself up and checked once again to make sure his husband had his on before flooring the gas peddle and shooting off down the dirt road towards Ebony’s mansion. Circuit let out a yelp as they sped off, one hoof clutching at the door while the other was on his swollen stomach. “S-slow down! I am not going to have us get pulled over by the police before I can finally get this baby!” He lifted his hoof off his stomach for a sec so he could smack the other stallion, trying to further prove his point. “This is an abandoned road! And Ebony has paid off all kinds of officials to keep them out of a thirty mile radius around the manor. I got this alright, just breath!” The dirt road turned to familiar cobblestone as the mansion began to come into view. The truck screeched to a halt in front of the gate and Adhesive all but slammed the button on the callbox. “BUGGY!!! Circuit’s in labor! Get this gate open now or I’ll drive over it!!” No reply was given, only the gate flying open. The mail stallion pulled up in front of the house as Buggy and Ebony ran from it followed by three nurses and a gurney. “Hurry up girls, come on, let’s go let’s go, move move move!” The ‘pegasus’ panted heavily as the skidded to a stop, trying to get his breath back to the way the ponies at the class had taught him. It was kind of hard though, considering Adhesive had been driving like a lunatic. “Maybe I could breath if you’d stop fking screaming at me!” Circuit huffed as he shakily got out of the car, his hooves unsteady. “Oh Luna…” He groaned as another wave of pain swept over him, his legs nearly giving out from under him. Ebony helped him onto the gurney and quickly began rushing them down the halls and into the clinic. Now the stallions could see why the doors swung both ways with no handles, the gurney did the work of opening them. “Okay, Circuit, it’s going to be fine, you’re going to be fine.” The hybrid’s voice was calm and soothing, not an edge of panic in her voice. The gurney was wheeled into a nearby delivery room where Circuit was helped onto the bed by two of the three nurses that accompanied them. “Relax as best you can, that will help, lay back and listen to my instruction.” She turned to Adhesive. “Get him out of here!” One nurse pulled the mail stallion out of the room and shut the doors behind them. “Don’t worry Mr. Stamp, your husband is going to be fine.” “W-wait, you can’t just make me sit out here! That’s my husband in there, I-I have to be with him!” “Trust me, I’ve been a delivery nurse for years, you don’t wanna be in there.” This was the first time Adhesive had seen this mare, a changeling like the rest of the staff. But her mane was dark blue and shimmered a paler blue. Her eyes were red though, and as bright as rubies, the nametag on her dress read in plain black letters ‘Nulio’. “B-but….Shouldn’t I at least be there for….I don’t know, moral support?” Adhesive shot a nervous smile at the mare, his hooves twitching a bit. He could still hear Circuit screeching something, even from behind the mostly soundproof doors. “He doesn’t sound very happy…” “Do you want to have to stay here with your hoof in a cast?” Nulio asked, raising a brow. “Well….” The green maned stallion peered behind the mare, attempting to get a peek into the delivery room. “I suppose that wouldn’t be good...Circuit would probably kill me for leaving him alone with a foal….How long is this whole process supposed to take?” “It depends on the pony, labor can be anywhere from a few minutes to twelve hours.” Another cry of pain emanated from the room past the ‘soundproof’ doors. “I see..” The stallion muttered, flinching slightly as he heard Circuit crying out. “And um...What am I supposed to do till then? Just...Stand here…?” “I don’t know, do you have immediate family either of you want here? Now would be an excellent time to call them.” “Oh yeah!” His face brightened at the thought, his blue eyes lighting up a bit. “Mom and madre will be dying to meet their new grandfoal. I should probably call Circuit’s grandma while I’m at it...Oh uh..” Adhesive paused in his search for his phone, shooting a sheepish look at the nurse. “I ah...Left my phone at home, do you have one I can borrow?” “Sure, there’s one at the reception desk, I’m sure my cousin won’t mind it if you used it.” She pointed to the front desk where a phone was plugged into the receiver. “Thanks!” The white coated stallion chirped cheerfully, shooting a warm smile at the changeling before making his way over to the desk. He quickly dialed the number for his parents, figuring he’d call them first before talking with Willow Wisp. “Hello?” Heavenly’s voice came over the other line, soft and cheerful. “Mom, guess what!? Circuit’s having the baby!” Adhesive blurted the words out, not even giving Heavenly a chance to try and guess. There was a screech of joy and a crashing sound before his mom replied. “We’ll be there in ten minutes, the clinic right?” The pegasus didn’t even wait for an answer before hanging up after a quick ‘I love you son’. Adhesive stared at the phone a few moments, waiting for his hearing to go back to normal before letting out a snort of amusement. He really hadn’t expected anything less, this was his mother he was talking about after all. Next he rang up Willow, tapping his hoof on the desk as he impatiently waited for her to pick up. “Hello?” The older mare questioned, and Adhesive could hear the cocking of a shotgun in the background. “If this is another prank I swear to Faust…” “No no no! It’s not a prank, it’s me, Adhesive!” The earth pony quickly blurted out before the mare could do anything drastic. “I have great news! Circuit’s having the baby!” “Holy Faust! That’s great news! I’ll be there in twenty, don’t ask, I’ve been staying in Ponyville ever since Circuit hit his eleventh month. No way am I going to miss this, don’t tell him though…” He chuckled softly, practically grinning from ear to ear. “Yeah alright...See you soon Willow.” The line went dead and Nulio came back from checking on another patient. “Done with the phone?” “Yep! Family should be here shortly. Do you know how Circuit is doing?” The mailstallion tilted his head to the head, his ears twitching a bit as he tried to listen in for any noises coming from Circuit’s room. No sound emanated from the room for a few seconds. Then a high pitched wail began to sound, the sound of a baby crying. Adhesive’s eyes went wide as he slowly turned to look at the mare next to him. “I-is that…?” Nulio beckoned him forward as the doors opened to reveal Ebony with a big smile on her face. “Congratulations Adhesive, you’re a father, you can come in now.” He let out a happy shriek, one that sounded a lot like the one his mother had let out when he’d called her earlier, before darting past Ebony and into the room. Inside the room Circuit was curled up on the bed, a tired, but happy look on his face as he cradled a small brown foal in his arms. The white stallion smiled brightly, a tear coming to his eye as he looked at his foal for the first time. “Beautiful...Both of you are…” The mail stallion murmured, Ebony put a hoof on his shoulder. “It’s a boy.” “A boy…” The green maned stallion echoed, letting out a small laugh. “We have a son.” “Yeah….And only a son because there is no way in Faust’s name you’ll ever get me to do that again.” Circuit let out a soft huff as he shifted slightly, attempting to make himself more comfortable without disrupting the now quiet foal in his arms too much. “Here, take him for a sec Adhesive, I need to fluff the pillows more.” The white earth pony nodded, bringing the foal close to his chest and cradling him lovingly. “He’s beautiful… What’ll we name him?” “Heck if I know...I’m no good with names, you think of something.” The gray stallion grumbled as he fluffed up his pillows. Despite his grouchy tone, there was an unmistakable hint of fondness to it. “Hmm, well my Madre Electric has a sister named Rainbow Canvas and he kinda looks like her a bit… so something to do with Rainbows? Rainbow… Brushstroke! Yeah, do you like that buddy, Rainbow Brushstroke?” The small foal let out a soft gurgle, reaching up one of his hooves to lightly smack Adhesive on the nose. Circuit let out a soft chuckle, unable to fight down the grin that spread across his face. “He’s already taking after me...Let’s just assume that means yes he likes the name.” “Good enough for me, I can’t believe we’re parents…” Adhesive smiled even brighter and snuggled the small foal before there was a soft knock on the door. A white pegasus with a beautiful soft yellow mane poked her head inside. “Hey, oh Faust, is that our grandfoal?” The ‘pegasus’ on the bed smiled as he looked over, for once not trying to force it down. Yes yes, for once he was actually going to show his happiness instead of pretending to be a grumpy potato all the time. He had a right to after all, considering he’d just had a foal for Luna’s sake. “Mhm….Do you want to hold him?” She nodded vigorously, entering the room with her wife Electric Saw behind her. The two mares entered, smiles on their face, one white with golden mane and pegasus wings, the other a light gray mare with silver cropped mane and tail and an Earth pony. “He’s beautiful!” Heavenly cried softly, cradling the foal in her hooves after Adhesive handed her his son. Rainbow fussed slightly as he was handed over, settling down again once he was securely placed in the mare’s hooves. Circuit smiled as he watched them, blindly reaching out one of his hooves to grasp at Adhesive. “You called my grandmother, right love?” “Yeah, she should be here any second.” As if on cue, the doors opened one more time to reveal an older mare with long, white, wispy hair. “Am I interrupting anything dearie?” “Of course not.” The gray stallion beamed at his grandmother, yawning as he rubbed at his eyes. “Come in, come in. Come meet your great grandson.” The old mare cautiously walked in, shoving her shotgun into Ebony’s hooves as she blinked with confusion at it. “Ohhh, he’s so adorable, he’s got your blue eyes Circuit. Such a handsome young colt!” “Thanks gram...Now ah...I don’t mean to rush you all or anything…” He paused for a moment so he could yawn, covering his mouth with one of his hooves. “But ah...I’m exhausted so…” He made shooing motions at them, indicating that he wanted them to leave the room so he could sleep. They all nodded and Heavenly passed Adhesive back Rainbow Brushstroke before they herded themselves out of the room so Circuit could sleep. Adhesive smiled down at his little boy and walked back over to Circuit. Ebony smiled at the two before walking out of the room to give them privacy. The white stallion snuggled the small brown colt lovingly before looking at Circuit again. “You sleep, I’ll take care of our son.” Circuit smiled at the two of them, pulling Adhesive down so he could place a kiss on his cheek and another on his new foal’s forehead. “Thanks hun….I don’t know what I’d do without you.”