Strangerville had been having a bit of a population problem. Ever since the incident with the mother plant, people had fled. Even after it was defeated, no one really trusted that it was a safe place to live. Because of this, the government decided to enact a new rule: if you were going to stay, you were going to help boost the population. If you didn't want to help, you could leave.
Citizens were matched up, and they were given a number of children they were required to have. This could range anywhere from five to twenty-five children.
Once such pair was Gus and Corvus. Gus had lived in Strangerville his whole life. The population law was put into place when he was a teenager, and at that point his family already had five children, so they were left alone. Gus chose to stay, along with his younger sister Zena, while his other sisters left. Corvus, however, was new in town, and while he was intrigued he wasn't quite sure of this life, despite wanting a large family of his own.
Thus the two settled into a routine. Corvus went to work, and Gus earned money by selling treasures he found. Mostly, they were just rocks and bones, but occasionally he came across something worth some money. Sometimes, though, he ended up hitting one of the pipes underground and scrambled to repair it. Hopefully duck tape would hold it together, and the city wouldn't charge them.
It wasn't long before the couple was expecting. Though Corvus tried to wave it off. When they had been matched up, he had been under the impression Gus would be having the kids. With his alien anatomy, he would be a more suitable carrier.
"That's not really how it works necessarily," Gus explained, "As an alien, I can either carry the baby or get someone pregnant regardless of gender."
"Well, I just hope next time you're the one that's pregnant. It's hard to hold down a job when I'm so exhausted."
Gus frowned. It wasn't like he was doing nothing all day. Digging was hard work too. He thought that he and Corvus had been working well as a pair, but maybe not. Or maybe it was pregnancy hormones. Who could say?
To try and "make up" for this, Gus did all he could to prepare for the baby's arrival. He studied parenting books, learned how to be a better chef, cleaned the house. All this while still selling the treasure he found.
Being a house husband really wasn't what he dreamed of doing, and he hoped that he could one day become a journalist like he had always dreamed of being.
Corvus continued to work through his pregnancy. Though, Gus was under the impression that Corvus was still working at the school, he had taken a job in the SCIA. Corvus did feel guilty, as the organization was a bit distrustful of aliens and those born in Strangerville on a whole. He told himself that he was keeping Gus, and their future family, safe. Maybe if he worked on the inside, no one would bother them.
It wasn't long until the first member of the family was ready to enter the world.
Gus came running in from outside when he heard Corvus's cries of pain.
"I can't believe it! We really have a baby."
"Yeah," Corvus said smiling, "we do."
Though he had been a bit upset having to be the one to carry their child, all that melted away as he looked at her sweet face.
And so little Lyra joined Corvus and Gus. She was a rather grouchy baby, but the two of them did their best to take care of her. Finally, it felt like the two of them were working as a team again.
Shortly after Lyra's birth, it became clear that yet another child would be joining the family. Gus would be carrying this time, which would hopefully make Corvus happy, though he seemed to be in a good mood ever since Lyra's birth. Gus was a little worried that it was too soon to have another child, but well, there was nothing he could do about it now.
The day of Lyra's toddler birthday, Gus's pregnancy was confirmed. He really hoped Lyra got along with the new baby a lot better than he did with Zena. He had liked his other siblings well enough, so hopefully things wouldn't be too much trouble.
Lyra's birthday was a happy day indeed with the good news. The family was growing, and things seemed to be looking up.
Both Corvus and Gus made sure to spend as much time with Lyra as possible before the new baby arrived. They both wanted to make memories with their daughters that they could look back on and smile about.
He supposed he understood why Corvus didn't want to work while pregnant. Gus was absolutely exhausted and spent most of his time, when he wasn't watching Lyra, in bed. He didn't remember Corvus being this tired, though, but he tried not to worry about it.
He also tried to not worry that the closer the due date got, the less he saw of Corvus. He tried not to worry when he went into labor with only the company of some random lady off the street who had heard him yelling in pain.
Gus soon figured out why he had been so tired after he spent hours in labor only to give birth to quadruplets. The woman who had rushed in, quickly rushed out when she realized there was more than one baby on the way.
He was really glad the two of them had prepared extra baby names. Hercules, Scorpius, Ara, and Gemini, at least wouldn't have to go nameless, if nothing else.
Gus stood there staring down at the four babies. He tried not to be upset. It wasn't their fault he was all alone. He put them to sleep, and then climbed into bed himself. He'd talk to Corvus tomorrow.
Corvus was in shock when he arrived home early the next morning to see four new babies in the nursery. Feeling guilty, he let Gus sleep in and made sure that the quadruplets, as well as Lyra were taken care of before going to talk to him.
Corvus was so busy looking after the children, that he didn't realize Gus had entered the nursery too.
"Nice to see you're finally home. Where were you?"
"Gus I'm so sorry. Things were so busy at work that I didn't get home until a couple of hours ago. Why didn't you call? I would've come home if I knew you were in labor."
Now Gus was the one to feel slightly guilty. Why had he assumed the worse? All that mattered was that Corvus was here now.
"It happened so fast, I didn't even have time to think. I'm sorry for not calling you."
"You don't need to be the one to apologize," Corvus said pulling him close, "I promise I'll be a better partner and parent from now on."
Corvus meant what he said, he really did, and he hoped he could follow through.
Thankfully, the two of them had the weekend to regroup. Corvus and Gus spent time together, while Gus also spent some time digging in order to have extra money. Lyra's birthday was coming up, and he wanted her to be able to have a room of her own to relax in.
Lyra appreciated being able to have her own space more than she could express to her parents. With four noisy, smelly babies in the house, she needed some peace and quiet.
Corvus and Gus decided to hold off on having anymore children until the quadruplets were close to being children. That way things could settle down, and they could properly devote time to all of their children and each other.
Corvus went back to work, not long after the babies were born. He wanted to make sure he and Gus were left alone and allowed to have babies on their own time. The SCIA seemed to be pleased that they were making progress at least.
This, unfortunately, left Gus as the sole person to take care of things around the house. With so many kids everything seemed to be breaking. He even almost got electrocuted! When Gus went to the hospital just to be safe, after calling a babysitter, he was pleased that Corvus was by his side while he was checked out. Though he may not be home as often as Gus would like, Corvus seemed to be making more of an effort.
It was a good thing too, Ara, Hercules, Scorpius, and Gemini soon had their toddler birthday, and things were bound to be more chaotic.
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