ZADR Orange Chapter 064

        Sighing at Dib's words, Zim could only shake his head at them, feeling slightly defeated. "Dib, you look NOTHING like your father. Especially now..." he tried to convince the other of that fact.

        "But what if the genes carry over to them?! It's not unheard of for people to look like their grandparents!"

        "But, Dib. Your DNA is different then what it was before..."

        "No...Only half of it. The other half is still human..."

        "And only half of that human DNA has anything from your father in it..."

        Dib sighed. "I just wish I could completely erase him from my genes...But I'd risk losing what little I have left of my mom too if I did that...Not that it matters anymore...It's already too late to do anything about it at this point. The genes they have now are the genes they'll grow up with." he sighed again.

        Taking the boy's head in his hands, Zim stopped rubbing Dib and forced him to look him in the eyes. "Look at me, Dib. There is NOTHING to worry about. Their genes are perfect. Both me and you. What more could we wish for?" he said, not wanting to hear another word about this.

        Blinking up at Zim with wide eyes for a few moments, Dib then looked away to the side. "Y-You're right...I'm sorry...I-I guess it's just the hormones talking again..." he said, closing his eyes and leaning back in the tub again to try and relax. "Or maybe I'm just tired..." he said in a truly worn out voice.

        Returning to petting Dib, Zim smiled. "Just relax and sleep, Dib. I'll take care of you..." he could tell the other was tired.

        But Dib could only whisper something in a quiet voice. "I'm not so sure I can...I'll try, but as tired as I feel, I just don't know if I can get comfortable enough to fall back to sleep..." he said, yawning as his antennae fell back to rest against his head. "It's like my sleep has been messed up since day one...I sleep when I'm supposed to be awake, and I'm awake when I'm supposed to be asleep..." he didn't understand how he could be so out of it but still have such a hard time actually falling asleep.

        Zim stroked Dib's antennae some more. "It's okay, Dib. Just sleep when you're tired...It's not a big deal if you can't sleep at night." he just assumed it was another symptom of the pregnancy.

        Dib tilted his head back to look at Zim again. "But what about you? I know you must be tired. It's really late, and I'm the only reason you're still awake right now." he didn't want Zim to lose sleep over his pregnancy.

        Zim smiled. "I'm fine, Dib. I can wait for you." he didn't want to go to bed without Dib.

        Dib's eyes fell half lidded at that response. "If I'm in bed next to you, will you sleep even if I don't? I could always just watch you sleep until morning." he offered a solution to their current situation, wanting to come to some sort of compromise.

        Zim smiled. "I think I could...As long as you at least try to sleep." he agreed to that arrangement.

        "O-Okay...Then I think I'll get out now..." Dib said quietly as he went to push himself up slowly onto his feet in the tub. "I don't want to keep you up any longer..." he swayed almost unsteadily, using Zim for support.

        Zim smiled. "I don't mind, Dib..." he didn't want to rush the other but helped Dib out anyways, wrapping a large, fluffy towel around him.

        Ducking down a bit as the towel seemed to swallow him up, surrounding him with warmth and softness, Dib blinked his eyes back up at Zim, a blush on his face.

        Zim smiled softly at him. "Would you like me to carry you?" he asked, unsure how stable the other was feeling on his legs right then.

        His blush growing, Dib looked away to the side. "I-I'm not dressed yet..." he reminded the other, thinking he should at least get dressed first before heading to bed with Zim.

        But Zim just smiled back at him. "It's okay. You're just going to sleep. You can keep the towel on if you need something." he didn't think it was such a big deal if Dib slept naked just this once.

        "O-Okay..." Dib agreed, too tired to protest that idea as he closed his eyes and rested all his weight against Zim, his antennae falling back to rest comfortably against his head again.

        Scooping Dib up, Zim nuzzled him before carrying him into the bedroom and laying him down gently on the bed, pulling the covers over him. Then, he crawled up into the bed next to Dib as well, cuddling up to him. "Sweet dreams..." Zim said, assuming the other was going to attempt falling back to sleep.

        Dib smiled back at Zim. "Isn't that what I should be saying to you right now?" he reminded the other, giving Zim a gentle nuzzle back and opening his eyes partway to look at the other.

        Rolling his eyes, Zim then proceeded to close them. "Good night." he said one last time before falling asleep soon after.

        "Night..." Dib said in a quiet whisper before shifting in his spot to get more comfortable. Then, becoming still after a moment or two, he just watched Zim sleep peacefully from his spot, reaching out a hand to gently trace his fingers across one of the Irken's cheeks.

        Zim, meanwhile, remained completely still, sleeping too deeply to be woken by this.

        Dib smiled even more. "Sleep tight, Zim..." he breathed out before leaning in to press a gentle kiss to his forehead, pulling his hand away with a yawn and closing his eyes.

        The next morning, Zim was the first to wake up and smiled at the sight of Dib sleeping soundly next to him. He slid his hand onto Dib's belly, rubbing the baby bump.

        Letting out a small whine in his sleep and shifting a bit, Dib merely continued to sleep however, having only fallen asleep a few hours earlier.

        Kissing his belly, Zim smiled wide before sliding out of bed to take his own bath.

        Burrowing himself underneath the soft covers of the bed, Dib let out a small yawn in his sleep. "Mmm...Zim..." he mumbled, in the midst of a dream.

        Chuckling at this as he closed the bathroom door, Zim then began stripping down before turning on the cleansing gel.

        Starting to show the first signs of waking up about 5 minutes later, Dib wriggled his way out from underneath the covers to sit up slowly in the bed. "Zim...?" he called out the Irken's name, blinking his eyes open slowly and looking around a bit disoriented.

        Not hearing Dib call for him over the sound of the faucet, Zim shut it off and slid into the warm gel, sighing out contently.

        "Zim?" Dib yawned again, bringing up a hand to rub the sleep out of his eyes as he crawled haphazardly towards the edge of the bed just to accidentally crawl right off of it, hitting the floor with a small yelp before sitting up suddenly, wide awake now and looking around.

        Not hearing the thunk in the other room from Dib falling off the bed, Zim continued washing himself off in the tub, sighing at the relaxing feel of the gel.

        Pushing himself up slowly to crawl back up onto the bed, Dib then curled in on himself.

        Finishing up his bath once he had completely scrubbed himself down and rinsed off, Zim then drained the tub and got out, wrapping one of the large fluffy towels around himself. Leaving the bathroom, he then saw Dib curled up on the bed. Thinking that he was still asleep however, he then proceeded to drop the towel, smiling as he went to get dressed.

        Having accidentally knocked the wind out of himself, Dib shivered slightly before perking his antennae up at the sound of Zim dropping the towel. An arm wrapped tightly around his abdomen, he then slowly sat himself up and looked behind himself to see Zim before doubling over and coughing.

        Antennae instantly standing at attention, Zim turned before rushing over to the bed, dropping his clothes on the floor in the process. "Dib?! Dib, are you okay? What's wrong?" he asked when he saw the other doubled over in pain.

        Panting, Dib's eyes snapped wide open at the question as he looked up at Zim and shook his head frantically. "N-Nothing! I-I'm fine!" he tried to cover up his pain before then coughing into his hand again. "I-I just knocked the wind out of myself..." he said before looking up at Zim again just to realize that the other was completely naked still, causing him to blush and quickly turn away so as not to be caught staring at the alien's anatomy.

        Not noticing Dib's embarrassment, Zim stroked his hair gently. "Oh, Dib...Will you be okay? Do you need me to do anything for you?" he asked, ready to jump to it were Dib to say he needed anything in that moment.

        Peeking back at Zim for a split second, Dib quickly returned his gaze back to right in front of himself, his face on fire now. "I-I'm fine! U-Umm...B-But you might want to finish...umm...g-getting dressed." he said, beginning to play with the covers shyly now, twisting them this way and that, especially considering he himself was still naked underneath the blanket wrapped around himself.

        Zim laughed a little at that. "I forget how shy you are." he kissed Dib gently then turned to bend over and grab his clothes, slipping them on.