Chapter Text
1. PROLOGUE.
Fairy tales about princesses have a very particular way of beginning. No, not the 'once upon a time' bit. That merely sets the tone. Whether the princess in question is wanted or not, stories about them always begin with their teenagehood as it is spent on some gravely unhappy toil: under the claws of some wicked stepsisters, in the dominion of an evil dragon, attracting the envy of a monstrous witch, or fast asleep in a tall, tall tower.
Never do they begin with a sudden bout of unexplained nausea, two jags of sobbing over a toilet awaiting the foreboding appearance of twin lines on a paper strip, and a harried phone call after a wife has gone to work.
This one does have such a beginning, however, because it is not a story about a princess, merely a very, very unhappy little girl.
2. THE PHONE CALL.
JADE: rose!! hiiiiii! its good to hear from you
JADE: whats up?? :D
ROSE: Yes. Jade... Ah, I'm calling because there's something that you deserve to know.
ROSE: Things are... about to change. Not just between us, I fear.
JADE: haha rose i really dont get what youre talking about!
A moment passes.
ROSE: (Christ.)
ROSE: (I can't do this over the phone.)
JADE: :?
ROSE: We need to talk.
ROSE: In person.
JADE: oh hoho i see ;)
JADE: well you know how to get over to my place! daves in his room today so i dont think well see much of him, if we wanted to cook something
ROSE: Jade, that's rather not what I--
JADE: i assume kanayas busy today? and vriskas at daycare?
ROSE: Jade, I'm...
Rose sniffles, voice hitched in her throat. Jade has heard her lose composure like this only once before, when ambushed with news of the death of her mother. Rose sounds, Jade thinks, just like that scared little girl from all those years ago.
ROSE: Yes, I'll be over shortly. Put some tea on, if you would.
3. THE KITCHEN TABLE.
The late morning sun pours through the high cabin windows of Jade Harley's home, dancing a thin glimmer off of each mote of dust overhead like dewdrops hanging in air. Since Karkat left, Jade has taken to drawing back the thick curtains every morning to let her plants get some sunlight, despite Dave's more-than-sporadic insistence that it disrupts his night owl aesthetic.
Jade hears the screen door's complaintive squeak just as she pours the fresh-boiling water into her teapot, a moulded brown clay dog, its dopey eyes and tongue frozen in a stare. Dave had given it to her, his only gift in all their time dating. She bounds down the single riser from the open kitchen into the living room, but freezes just short of her usual pouncing hug. She watches Rose's gaze drag across the recessed lights in the ceiling, averted at all costs from meeting Jade's eyes.
Surely nothing a hug can't fix, Jade thinks, and cranes herself down to embrace her paramour. But Rose recoils, tensing up.
JADE: its been a little while!
JADE: im really glad you called today :D
ROSE: Yes. Just under three weeks, in fact.
ROSE: Hence my visit.
JADE: been really busy with baby vriska, huh??
Rose doesn't respond, lips pursed, as she heads toward her usual stool at the high table.
JADE: well you wanted some tea, so i made you some tea!
ROSE: I don't suppose it's been decaffeinated, or...?
JADE: no? its the same kind you usually like, does it matter?
Rose chuckles to herself, joylessly.
ROSE: Well, I believe they say people in my position should try to limit their intake of caffeine. If I recall correctly.
JADE: i mean ive only ever heard that being a thing for pregnant people
JADE: ...
JADE: rose what is this big news youre here to give me exactly
Rose merely folds her hands together at this, staring down into her empty teacup.
JADE: are you pregnant
ROSE: I suppose that depends. What's the likelihood of a pregnancy test producing a false positive in a twenty-four year old woman who's never been pregnant before?
Jade's face falls.
JADE: not high
JADE: even with complicating factors its not statistically likely
ROSE: Well then, you and I have a problem.
JADE: ohh
JADE: so thats what you...
ROSE: Yes.
Jade hears her sigh rattle in the still air before she realizes how it must sound, how her face must read. She blinks, and reaches for the teapot, pouring a long stream of oolong into a glass, as if having her paws full will somehow make the silence less pervasive. As if the steam billowing above the table will replace the oxygen displaced by Rose's words. But all it succeeds in doing is obscuring her view of the blonde girl with her head in her hands.
Finally, Jade speaks.
JADE: how long have you known?
ROSE: I've suspected for a few days. But I only received confirmation moments before I called.
JADE: and... you think its mine
ROSE:
JADE: right
JADE: sorry silly question
JADE: so... how are you feeling right now?
ROSE: How would one be expected to feel were one made suddenly aware of such a curse?
ROSE: How did Crataiis feel upon birthing the bane of mortals?
JADE: :\ cmon rose
JADE: i know this isnt what we agreed would happen but
JADE: is it really that bad?
JADE: couldnt it... work out like we talked about?
ROSE: I said no, Jade. I meant it then, and I mean it now.
JADE: but does kanaya know?
ROSE: No. Not yet.
JADE: so if youre in this position anyway...
JADE: i promise you wouldnt ever have to see it
JADE: i can just make something up to tell kanaya! nobody ever has to know
ROSE: No. I'm going to tell her; she deserves that much.
ROSE: I only did you the courtesy of coming over here so that, in case I can never bear to speak to you again, you'll know what happened.
JADE: rose dont talk like that! D:
JADE: im sure well be able to work something out, between the three of us!!
Rose rises from the table for a moment, procuring a glass of cool, clear water, and produces a pair of tablets from a pocket on her dress. She downs them dry, chasing them with a quick gulp of water before reseating herself and fixing her gaze on the doggirl facing her.
ROSE: Jade, there is no 'three of us'.
ROSE: This isn't your decision.
JADE: thats just not fair!!!
ROSE: Fair?
ROSE: And what on Earth do you mean by that?
ROSE: Was it 'fair' when Skaia decided that I needed reconfiguration upon my emergence from the Green Sun, and had this forced upon me?
ROSE: Or was it completely arbitrary for the powers that be to decide my capacity for reproduction?
JADE: i dont know!
JADE: no of course that wasnt fair
JADE: but you know what wasnt fair either??
JADE: because if were blaming skaia for the consequences of the game then
JADE: youre not the only one who gets to pity herself over losing out on having control over her own body!!!
ROSE: I don't say this out of self-pity, you know. But I don't believe that either of our outcomes were necessary preconditions to some grander plan that Paradox Space demands fulfilled. This isn't the alpha timeline, and I'd rather move on and try to live my life without miring myself in regret.
JADE: then why do we have to rehash this conversation
JADE: you know how i feel about how things ended up!!
ROSE: I'm sorry. Yes, I know. I know that it's hard.
JADE: HARD??
JADE: rose i constantly feel like a MONSTER! how bad do you think i have it if i already know im just too much for most people to bear even BEFORE we get into the fact that ive literally got werewolf parts!! a tail! the ears! and--
JADE: ive had to look down every single day since i was thirteen and acknowledge that yep, not only is it still there, but ive got to live with the fact that my BEST FRIEND got everything *I* wanted from going god tier while at the same time the universe decided to mock me with--
ROSE: Dammit, Jade! I'm sorry that you feel this way, I really am! But that doesn't entitle you to an exclusive claim on misery.
ROSE: Case in point.
JADE: oh god
JADE: oh god rose youre pregnant
Jade slumps. Rose exhales through clenched teeth, putting a stiff hand against Jade's elbow across the table. Pap, pap.
Thankfully, footsteps at the living room stairs cause Rose to pull back her appendage, and Jade perks up again.
JADE: heyyy dave didnt expect to see you today :D
DAVE: oh shit i thought youd be out of the house by now
DAVE: guess with my best dude not around its pretty easy for me to lose track of what day it is
DAVE: not like thats possible because guess what im still the god of time and all
DAVE: oh hey rose what brings you to chateau dave n pupsters
DAVE: formerly davekat manor i guess but
A low, almost imperceptible growl rumbles in Jade's throat. If either of the Strilonde siblings notice it, however, neither betrays that fact.
ROSE: Well. My last few weeks have been so entirely captivated with the care of my toddler since Kanaya returned to work that I simply haven't had a chance to catch up with my dear friend Jade.
DAVE: yeah ever since the funeral its just been one long party up in this place
DAVE: whatever it takes to keep our minds on all the great positive stuff weve got going for us
DAVE: like the political situation or the fact that all of our friends are pairing off and having babies by the dozens
JADE: can we not
JADE: right now
JADE: dave
JADE: please
Dave's friends have known him long enough to discern between sincere apathy and the desire to probe restrained only by his cool Strider exterior. Rose sees it in his eyebrow's quirk, and Jade in the momentary tightening of his lip. He shrugs, scratching his shirtless abdomen.
DAVE: cool
DAVE: well ill let you get back to reminiscing then
Bowl of cereal procured, he makes his exit from the kitchen once more.
DAVE: got my own irons in the fire today anyway
JADE: see ya later hon :D
Jade's boyfriend doesn't respond, but her grinning mask doesn't crack until he's upstairs and she hears the door shut behind him. Her shoulders melt a little, and her smile gives way to expressionlessness once again.
Rose lets her own shoulders relax, and puts out a hand. Jade takes it reflexively.
ROSE: I am.
ROSE: Sorry, I mean. I'm glad that, at the very least, the ways that Skaia fucked us both over brought us closer together.
JADE: its nice
JADE: being able to talk to another trans woman my age
JADE: knowing that weve had these wildly different experiences
JADE: but that even if they make no sense we have each other
ROSE: It was certainly more than a silver lining.
ROSE: Not that it wasn't already a perk to have somebody so absolutely enamored with me to share time with.
JADE: heh
JADE: see, its not so bad!
JADE: heck
JADE: ive been thinking about it, the only time we even had sex recently was three weeks ago, right?
JADE: so if you got pregnant then and its already progressed this fast, maybe itll be a nice quick gestational period and you wont even have to be pregnant for very long
ROSE: Oh, either way I don't think it's liable to last long.
JADE: i meant that maybe you just wont hate this as much as youre afraid you might
JADE: maybe it ends up being good for you!
JADE: plus isnt it so cute to imagine what theyre gonna look like??
JADE: rose, our own litter of puppies! :D :D
Rose wrinkles her nose with a frown.
ROSE: Just stop.
ROSE: Stop trying to turn this situation to your advantage. I don't find it amusing to be used like that.
JADE: i just mean
ROSE: No. It doesn't matter what you meant. I said no to being your surrogate because I didn't want this.
JADE: but its the perfect solution to your problem, right here!
JADE: its not like dave knows about us but i know hell be thrilled once he hears about this!
JADE: and well tell kanaya and im sure shell understand! between the three of--
ROSE: Jade!
JADE: !
ROSE: There is still!
ROSE: No!
ROSE: 'Three of us'!
ROSE: This is a decision I need to make with my wife.
ROSE: The two of us, alone.
ROSE: Despite your ongoing efforts to insinuate yourself into my marital bed.
JADE: god of course i am! no shit!!
JADE: rose i love you!!
ROSE: No.
ROSE: No, you don't.
Jade's ears flatten against the top of her head, eyes burning with betrayal. Rose soldiers forth regardless.
ROSE: Do you know what your problem is, Jade? For as long as I've known you, you've been so willing to let others reshape you as they saw fit that you lost sight of who you needed to be at the end of it. You let yourself be shoved aside for the good of the timeline, and eventually decided that no matter what happened you could cope, and grow stronger from everything it inflicted on you.
ROSE: Even worse, once you accepted that your pain was necessary for the propagation of Paradox Space, you told yourself it was an active good. That you’d receive the reward due to you as soon as the game ended.
ROSE: So you attached yourself to my brother, but he didn't reciprocate your affections. And I'm sorry for that! But just because you’re lonely doesn't mean you're entitled to a space in my marriage.
JADE: wow rose
JADE: glad youve got me all figured out!
JADE: otherwise all this psychobabble would just sound like a way to justify to yourself that its okay to leave
ROSE: ...
ROSE: The time I’ve spent with you has been...
ROSE: An enjoyable excursion from my everyday life.
JADE: thats all it was huh
ROSE: Yes! What were you hoping for? I've enjoyed myself! But it remains, foremost, a diversion. It isn't something I would like to jeopardize my family for. My wife and daughter have to come first.
ROSE: Jade, you don't love me. And, frankly?
ROSE: I don't love you, either.
JADE: well i guess youd know better than i would
JADE: im sorry for whatever i did that makes you so sure
Jade recoils like a wounded labrador, legs drawn up to her chest as if trying to make herself as small as possible. Rose tosses her bangs out of her eyes with a hand, and sighs, pushing herself up from the rustic planks of Jade's breakfast table in preparation for a wordless departure. But she can't hold herself back, throwing one final pitying glance in Jade's direction.
ROSE: Before I go, I just want to make one thing very clear.
ROSE: ...Has your light fixture always been that bright?
JADE: rose?
ROSE: Ugh... I feel a little--
JADE: rose!!