Rain poured down from darkened sky as Scott waited for the train to arrive. Anxiety, and a hit of trepidation laced his thoughts as he considered what she told him only a few hours prior. A lot happened in recent days. He nearly died. Their family finally came to terms with each other through their mutual grief over the loss of a child that never existed. Herbert even reached whatever passed for adulthood among his kind and discovered the joys of polygamy. It was quite the dynamic set of changes.

Scott looked down at the message Rhea sent to him earlier. Her words were cryptic, and filled him with a sense of dread.

[Message]

Scott.... I love you....

We need to talk.

Meet me at the train station in Valkovia.

[--]

It was a simple message. Yet, it could mean anything. What did Rhea need to talk about? Had she changed her mind about coming to terms with the situation? Was this her way of preparing him for the end of their relationship? Was it even about that? Maybe something was wrong with Ero? Either way, she refused to speak more on the matter until she arrived to discuss it in person.

He looked down to Herbert, some of his trepidation passing in that moment. The furry little grass rat munched on popcorn with all of the care and concern of a bored move-goer.

"You look like shit," said Scott in an attempt to lighten his mood.

Herbert yawned expansively then quietly nodded. There was no reason to deny it. His recent lifestyle included far too many late night parties with young single rodent girls of various species and ethnicities. That sort of party animal lifestyle took its toll on a fella, after all.

Concerned by her lack of communication, Scott could not help but stare at the message Rhea sent to him earlier. He continued to do so off and on until the train finally pulled into the station.

"That's us, bro," said Scott to Herbert. The Grassrat dancing machine finished off his popcorn then took the bag over to the trash can nearby. He hopped up onto the side of it then threw his trash away.

Scott opened his umbrella and Herbert crawled up onto his shoulder. They moved forward as the passengers began to disembark, and soon stood out in the rain.

Passengers continued to flood out of the train for a moment, several of them rushing off as though the rain would cause them to melt if they were to receive too many watery hits to the body. Surprisingly, the last person to exit the train was Rhea.

Scott walked toward her quickly and offered her the shelter of his umbrella. She smiled at him gratefully for a brief moment then slipped in close to give him a warm, if slightly wet, hug.

The sweet embrace quickly became a gateway into an even sweeter kiss shared between them. Scott's misgivings slipped away as her soft pink lips pressed gently against his own, the rain pouring down all the while.

Herbert sighed loudly and scratched his cheek. His seat on Scott's shoulder at the moment was not exactly a comfortable place to be.

Time passed. Soon they shared a booth in a nearby restaurant. The rain decided to pour down with greater ferocity, and they had opted to discuss matters over lunch.

Scott nibbled on a piece of fried chicken briefly then smiled at Rhea. "Alright, since it's obvious you don't intend to dump me, what was with the message?"

"Dump you?" she asked him incredulously. "What gave you that idea?"

"When a woman tells me that she loves me, but 'we need to talk' it is rarely a good thing," said Scott with a wry smile.

"I am no mere woman," remarked Rhea candidly. She sipped her orange juice slightly then offered him a smile of her own.

"True, and I have the summoning spell to prove it," said Scott with a grin.

"No! You didn't remove it from your list?" she asked him, her eyes wide. "Come on..."

Scott laughed a little but waved her off. "So, what was it that you couldn't tell me until we were together in person?"

Herbert dunked a cracker into his chicken noodle soup then gnawed on the tasty bit. He was here mostly for moral support, and a free meal. He did not seem to be needed for the former, but the latter was always appreciated.

Rhea's cheeks reddened significantly for a moment and she looked down at the table. "I— Scott... I don't know how to say this..."

His expression slowly became more serious as the sincerity of her words reached him. Something important weighed on her mind. Scott reached out and took her hands in his. "Hey, whatever it is we'll get through it together."

Her smile returned and then she laughed a little. "Well, the truth is... I've just learned that I'm going to be a mother..."

Scott stared at her for a moment, his expression frozen between sincerity and incredulity. Once his brain managed to reboot, he blurted out, "You're pregnant?"

Rhea bit her lower lip even as the redness of her cheeks intensified. "Actually, no."

"What?" asked Scott, "I'm missing something, unless..." he began only for his eyes to widen as his words trailed off.

Rhea looked down at their hands, her nostrils flaring slightly. A slight squeaking noise escaped her lips.

"Ero?" asked Scott. "Is she having the baby— the symbol of our love, soon?"

"Ah, yeah... Yes, to both that is," said Rhea in a surprisingly meek tone.

"That's goo— Wait, both?" he asked her, a hint of confusion in his tone.

Rhea shrugged her shoulders cutely and offered him a meek little smile. "I got your best friend pregnant."

"Wha—?" asked Scott, his hair rising up slightly as though the revelation caused it to want to stand on end.

"Well, technically both of us got her pregnant... So, yay for team effort?" she asked him hopefully.

"Wha—?" he asked again, his eyes widening once more. His brain was trying to process that tidbit of information, but certain things simply did not compute.

Her face turned bright red. "That's pretty much how I reacted when I found out, too,"

Rhea looked down, wrapped her lips around her straw, and took a deep drink of orange juice. All Scott said in response was, "Wha—?"

Herbert nibbled on his cracker while he looked back and forth between them. A moment later he squeaked out something that sounded fairly similar to the words, "Better than cable."

Scott looked toward him, his eyes still wide. There was a vacant expression on his face, as though his mind had decided to check out of the hotel that it used as a vacation spot. "Wha--?"

Rhea chuckled and nervously said, "Congratulations..."

Suddenly, Scott's brain seemed to reboot and an incredibly goofy smile crossed his lips. Rhea immediately became suspicious.

"Just what is that smile about, mister?" she asked him curiously.

He giggled inanely and nodded his head. Herbert was the one who supplied the answer. Having watched television on Earth, and born witness to the Internet, he knew the exact right thing to say in this moment.

Herbert stood up on his hind legs thrust his little paws forward then rotated them like he was stirring a pot. He squeaked out a noise that sounded similar to, "Bow chika wow, chika-chika, wow-wow."

Rhea rolled her eyes and snorted, just before she turned a look toward him that was partly amused and partly annoyed. She flipped her hands around and squeezed his with a good bit of force. "Scott, you pervert."

Scott laughed then pulled her lightly toward him. He kissed her softly on the lips then whispered, "Rhea. Don't worry. I still love you, even though you got my best friend pregnant."

"It was a team effort!" exclaimed Rhea heatedly, her face becoming flush once more. Even the tips of her delicately tapered ears began to turn red this time.

Several patrons turned toward the loudly outspoken couple. She threw her hands up and apologized quietly for her outburst. Scott could not help but laugh. This was a much better series of events than he expected and Rhea's embarrassment over it all was almost too precious.