ZADR Orange Chapter 179

Lifting his antennae slightly when Dib mentioned wearing a wedding dress to match the location, Zim's eyes widened at the thought before he turned his gaze over to stare back at Dib for a few silent moments. "They can do that?" he asked, already trying to imagine it in his own head.

"I-I think so...R-Rose said we might be able to find one that matched the flowers in the picture...I-If I'm not too large to wear it, that is..." Dib looked back down at his swollen belly, trying to imagine how they were going to do this. They couldn't get the dress too early because he would probably grow out of it by the time the wedding rolled around. And yet, at the same time, they couldn't just wait until absolutely the last second to choose a dress, especially if they decided they did want one that matched.

Zim nodded. "That would be nice..." he murmured before trailing his eyes down to Dib's belly, obviously thinking along the same lines as Dib currently was.

Blushing a bit when he noticed Zim staring at his round stomach, Dib placed a hand to it delicately. He was fairly big now, so imagining how big he'd be by the time they got the marriage set up, if they managed to do it before he gave birth, was a little disheartening. Did they even make dresses for such situations? And if so, would it even look all that good on him being so big?

Seeming to know exactly what Dib was thinking in that moment, Zim smiled and leaned over to nuzzle him.

Dib couldn't help but flush up a bright red at the small nuzzle before leaning in to it nonetheless. For this occasion, he just wanted to look perfect for Zim.

Wrapping an arm around Dib, Zim pulled him in close.

"Do you...think I'll get much bigger before the ceremony?" he asked, lifting his eyes up to look at Zim.

"Uhh..." Zim knew he would but didn't want to insult Dib.

Staring up at him with large, curious eyes, Dib waited patiently for Zim's answer. "Do you think...it will be all that noticeable...?" he then asked, looking away from the other when Zim didn't answer him right away.

"No, of course not! You'll be beautiful." Zim smiled and nuzzled him a little.

Getting comfortable pressed up against Zim, Dib sighed a little at the small nuzzle. "...How big do you think they'll be when they're first born...?" he asked, taking one of Zim's hands to play with the Irken's fingers.

"Hmmm..." Zim thought it over. "Let's hope they're small." he said, his fingers twitching slightly as he allowed the hybrid to continue fiddling with them.

Dib pressed the hand he was playing with flush against his belly, which remained surprisingly still at the moment. "I...had another false contraction last night..." he said quietly, still fiddling with the alien's fingers. "I-I hope that doesn't mean they'll be coming sooner than we think..." he then said, a part of him scared they might not develop fully if he didn't carry them to term.

"Uh..." Zim looked quickly to Rose for the right words to say, a part of him wanting to comfort and reassure Dib but another part of him not wanting to misinform him seeing as how there was no possible way to know the specifics of when and how such a birthing would go down, given the differences in their species. Despite being half-Irken now, there had been a lot of things Zim hadn't been able to predict about Dib's changed anatomy. The fact that he was able to carry, the fact that the smeets had hatched while inside him, even the amount of time Dib had been carrying for was foreign to him. Had he been completely Irken, he was certain the other would have already gone through the egg-laying process. But nothing about this pregnancy had gone according to plan thus far.

"Try not to worry about it too much. Lots of babies are born prematurely and go on to live perfectly happy, healthy lives. I don't think you have anything to worry about though unless he goes into labor before he's at least 7 months into it. 9 months is the norm for most humans, but even at 7 months a successful birth can still take place." Rose finally chimed in to put their minds at ease, certain by now that the rest of Dib's pregnancy would progress much like that of a regular human pregnancy, given the circumstances and similarities between Dib's developing symptoms and her own.

Zim swallowed nervously and nodded, glancing back at Dib worriedly for a brief moment.

Bringing the hand he was holding against his belly up to his face, Dib nuzzled it softly with one cheek. "Not even out of the womb yet and they're already causing me trouble..." he closed his eyes. "I think they want out soon..." he said, a small strained look coming to his face momentarily as he shifted himself to a more comfortable position in his chair.

Rose laughed a bit at that remark. "Well, it certainly can seem that way sometimes." she said, her own baby having become rather active in recent months also.

Zim smiled at the lax conversation before leaning forward to nuzzle Dib's belly, running his fingers over it all the while.

"Or...Maybe they're just fighting with each other already..." Dib ran his own fingers over the hand he had pressed to his cheek, his free hand finding Zim's own on his belly.

Zim merely smiled and nuzzled him more. "Nahhh, they'll get along fine." he reassured, having had no doubts about at least that much.

"As fine as WE get along?" Dib asked in a teasing voice, poking Zim playfully.

"Hey! That's not very nice." Zim pouted despite knowing their own relationship had always been a very rocky one from the start, riddled with countless past obstacles and stumbling blocks.

Dib giggled a bit to himself at Zim's reaction. "And what are YOU going to do about it? Tell on me?" he brought up a hand to poke at one of Zim's antennas this time.

Zim smirked at that reaction. "Don't have to." he glanced up at Rose before responding in a funny voice. "Right, human worm mother?" he joked light-heartedly, not even noticing at first when Dib's smile fell away to a frown suddenly.

Covering her mouth with one hand, Rose laughed a bit at the small play fight.

"She's not my mom!" Dib shoved Zim away from him abruptly, antennae falling back.

Yelping at the sudden shove, Zim fell to the floor with wide eyes, his laughter having stopped by now as he stared back up at Dib from his spot on the ground. "I-I wasn't saying she was..." he said weakly, a look of confusion coming to his face when he saw how angry the other had so suddenly become.

"Then stop referring to her like that!" Dib pulled his knees to his chest and yanked down on his antennas, shaking his head. "Sh-She's not my mom...She's not my mom...She's not my mom..." he repeated over and over again to himself, wanting to block out all the pain.

Antennas drooping, Zim sighed before sitting up again and looking away. "I didn't say she was your mom. I said she was 'A' mom!" he argued back despite the sinking feeling he felt settling within his gut for having unintentionally upset Dib...AGAIN.

"I don't care what you said!" Dib pulled away from them all, stumbling back on his feet unsteadily before then turning to leave the room, arms wrapped about himself. He didn't want any more contact. Didn't want to hear any more talk about mothers or smeets or anything really.

Zim groaned and grabbed at his antennas, tugging on them harshly. Things were getting ridiculous now and he hardly had any clue whatsoever how to deal with all Dib's most recent outbursts.

Watching Dib leave the kitchen sadly, Rose then turned her attention back to Zim. "Zim...Would you be opposed to Dib seeing a psychiatrist?" she asked, having been concerned for a while now about Dib's fixation on his deceased mother. "Dib's not acting like himself anymore. He had problems when we first met, but I think he's snapped. I think at some point between then and now, something pushed him over the edge. And now...Now he's just...It's not the Dib I met, Zim." she said, having steadily noticed the decline in Dib's mental state since the first time they'd gone shopping together for clothes and items for the smeets.

Zim sighed to himself heavily. "It's further from the Dib I met... I don't know what to do any longer..." he shook his head as though thoroughly defeated, knowing he couldn't give up on the other but not knowing how to approach the matter any longer.

"Well, can you think of anything that may have happened to him to make him this way? I want to say this all happened after what happened to you back on your leaders' ship, but I think whatever it is that happened was already beginning to affect him even before then. He didn't seem like himself back when we had you over for the 4th of July." Rose said, having only truly gotten a glimpse of the change in his behavior back the morning following said holiday.