#moving forward: main plot

“There you both are! I knew you were somewhere around here.” Her eyes lit up as she saw the bundle in Stella’s arms, and she gasped eagerly, immediately making a beeline for the bed with her arms out.

Jayce’s lip curled back, and he moved to intercept, but was immediately thrown off by Stella thrusting Galaxy into his arms, climbing out of the bed and moving to corral Talia back towards the door. “Get out.”

“Wh--?” Talia reeled back, startled, before defaulting to her wheedling tone. “Sweetie, you need to rest! You just get back into bed and let me meet my grandbaby--”

“Get out.” Unsteady on her feet as she was, Stella didn’t back down, arms out to prevent her from dodging around her and continuing to force her back towards the door. Her short answers left no room for argument, and yet she knew this vile woman was still going to make as many as she could.

“S-Stella, don’t be so difficult! Don’t you know every baby needs their grandma?” Sure enough… “Come on, just let me meet her! She needs me! Let me--”

“I. Said. Get. Out.” Reaching around her, Stella pushed the door open and promptly forced her out of the room back into the hall. Immediately she shut the door and leaned back against it, blocking her from getting back in.

Just as she expected, Talia was looking at her with that look - that hurt, wounded, poor-me look. “Are you seriously going to prevent me from meeting my grandbaby? You can’t hold these silly grudges forever, sweetie, you have to--”

“Don’t you fucking ‘sweetie’ me!” It came out so viciously that Talia actually took a step back. “You could have killed me! You could have killed my daughter! Do you seriously think I’m going to let you anywhere near her after what you did?!”

She had the audacity to laugh. “Oh, come on, Stella, that was an accident! And it was just a little nick!”

“Does this look like a ‘little nick’ to you?!” Stella tilted her head up, pointing at the stitching along her throat. “If you hit my vital vessels, both of us would probably be dead! I could have you put away for aggravated assault, if not attempted murder!”

“And who’s going to believe you?” Yep - there it was. Talia was stood straight now, sneering down her nose at Stella to try and make her feel inferior and unimportant. “You’re just a silly little girl, after all - no one’s going to listen to you. And I could have your brat brother put away for assault - he attacked me, after all.”

“He defended me.” And the cameras would prove that. That Talia had attacked Stella, a pregnant woman, and Jayce had attacked Talia to defend Stella and Galaxy. They had all the evidence they needed to put her away if they wanted to. The less she knew about that, though, the better. “But I’m willing to let this slide if you get the fuck out of our lives and never bother us again.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Listen now, Stella, tomorrow I’m going to contact the necessary people and make arrangements, and you’re going to sign your parental rights over to me.” Ugh, she had that ‘you silly ignorant little child’ pitying look on her face that the twins hated so much. “You know that my grandbaby’s only going to suffer if she stays with you. Besides, you’ve never even raised a baby before - you have no idea what you’re doing. I’ve raised four of you, so I have much more experience.”

“OK, clearly you need your hearing checked. I told you not even a minute ago that you’re not allowed around her.” Stella’s fur was bristling furiously, tail completely rigid behind her. “She’s not ‘your’ anything, so stop with the ‘my grandbaby’ crap. You’re only her grandmother by blood - you gave up your right to actually be a grandmother by being a shitty mother. Look at how all your kids turned out - Cody’s a violent sociopath, Max is almost completely socially inept, and Jayce and I still have nightmares about everything you’ve done to us. Yeah, well done, you raised a bunch of fuckups. Real bang-up job you did there.”

Talia had that stern disappointed mother look on her face now, crossing her arms in a self-entitled manner. Normally that expression had both twins wilting and stammering out apologies, but Stella stood firm. Well, as firm as she could with how wrecked she was from the birth - she was still a little unsteady on her feet - but she had to stand tall. She had her own child to protect now.

“You’re such a disrespectful child.” Talia was still sneering down her nose. “Your father will be hearing about this.”

“Not my problem.” Lane wasn’t going to care as long as they were safe and healthy.

The older canine snorted. “My friends won’t be happy.”

“Irrelevant.” Because they were. It wasn’t their business.

“Well, the community at home w--”

“I don’t care if you have the cops, the entirety of G.U.N, and the motherfucking President of the United Federation on your side--” Stella’s voice was rising a little in her anger. “--you are not coming anywhere near my daughter!!”

It was at this point a nurse finally took notice of the confrontation, and she approached, looking concerned. “Miss Hope, what are you doing out of bed? Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, this bitch is on my visitor blacklist.” Stella didn’t break eye contact with Talia as she spoke. “Get her out of here.”

“What?! Of course I’m not!” Talia laughed at the absurdity. “I’m her mother, there’s no way she’d--”

“Except she has. I’ve seen it myself.” Ah, there was Max, coming up behind Talia and forcefully taking her arm. “C’mon, the doctor’s given you the all-clear. We need to go.”

“No! I’m not leaving until I’ve met my gr--”

“Too bad. You need to go home. They don’t want you here, and for good reason.” Without giving Talia room to argue, Max began directing her towards the ward’s exit. “C’mon, you don’t wanna make a scene, do you?”

Talia began protesting indignantly, prompting the nurse to follow behind to ensure nothing happened, while simultaneously radioing for security. Stella didn’t move from the door until Talia was out of the ward and out of earshot. Once she was certain it was safe, she turned around and opened the door again, slipping back into her room. Jayce was sitting in the visitor chair, Galaxy resting on his knees as he played with her. He looked up as Stella reappeared, brow creased in worry. “Everything alright?”

“Yep. It’s been sorted.” Stella climbed back into bed, flopping against her pillows. “Can you text Max and remind him to get that key off her? I don’t wanna have to change our locks...”

“Yeah, no problem.” Jayce lifted Galaxy and stood up, returning her to her mother’s arms. “Here. She was really good while you were out there.”

“Oh, yeah?” Stella grinned, tickling Galaxy’s tummy. “Were you a good girl for Uncle Jayce?”

Galaxy burst into a giggle fit at the contact, wiggling and kicking playfully. Once more, Stella felt her heart swell with love. Fuck what Talia said, she knew she was doing something right if she could make her daughter laugh and smile. And it didn’t matter how much she preached about Stella’s experience in rearing children - she didn’t need ‘experience’ in order to properly love and cherish her child. Something that Talia had never done for them.

“No, I understand. There’s a reason you have her on your hospital blacklist, after all - you don’t have to explain anything that you don’t want to.” Taking some notes, the feline doctor returned his attention to Stella. “I’m going to prescribe some anti-emetics - these should work better than the over-the-counter medications. If these aren’t enough to combat the vomiting, contact me again and I’ll administer some IV fluids.”

“Alright.” Stella took a sip of the water she had on hand. “Is this gonna have any kind of negative effect on Galaxy?”

“Well, there is an increased risk of your daughter being born prematurely, and underweight. Luckily, you’ve passed twenty-five weeks, so at least she’ll be viable if she is premature. My main concern is making sure that you maintain a healthy weight, and that we get the vomiting under control.” Standing up, Dr North picked up his briefcase, preparing to leave. “I’ll have one of the nurses come by later with the prescription. Until then, make sure that you just eat whatever you can keep down, and make sure to avoid too much physical exertion. Shower sitting down, attend your classes via video call, things like that. And of course, make sure to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated.”

Stella tilted her head quizzically, with an amused smile. “Is this you basically putting me on bed rest now?”

“More or less. At least until we have your sickness properly managed.” The feline shook the younger twin’s hand. “I know you’re not happy about it, Stella, but--”

“Hey, look, we’re looking out for Galaxy’s best interests, right?” Stella shrugged. “At the end of the day, she comes first. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure she’s born healthy, even if it means I’m not allowed to move for the rest of the pregnancy.” She looked up at her brother. “Jayce, you’ll help, won't you?”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll call Max and see if he can help out on the days I can’t be there, too.” Jayce squeezed her shoulder, nodding gratefully at the feline. “Thanks again, Dr North.”

“It’s no problem at all.” He nodded back with a smile. “You two deserve some happiness and comfort in your life. Helping you with your medical troubles is the least I can do. Contact me if anything else comes up, alright?”

The twins had been worrying about all this, and a little more, as they made their way to their first class of the year. Already they were watching as the crowds passed them, quick to identify who had left and who was beginning freshers week. The colder autumn air was already beginning to set in, so both of them had broken out their hoodies. And Galaxy was still small enough that Stella’s hoodie was doing a good job of hiding her for now...

She had just enough time to wonder when she’d have to go on the hunt for maternity clothes - and then it happened.

“So you’re still here, huh?”

Both twins immediately froze in their tracks as Axel, Kyler and Eli appeared in front of them. Just like that, the adrenaline was flowing - both of them tense and ready to start running if the situation called for it. Jayce glared between the trio of tormentors, a frustrated sigh escaping. “What do you want? We have just as much of a right to be here as you assholes.”

“No you don’t.” Even wheelchair bound, Axel still seemed to think he was hot shit - he still had a fearsome reputation backing him, after all. “We were expecting you freaks to have fucked off during the summer, but I guess you’re too stubborn for your own good, huh?”

“Look, we don’t exactly feel like dealing with your crap this year. We kind of have other things on our plate.” Taking his sister’s arm, Jayce moved to walk around them. “If you don’t mind, we have classes to be at, so--”

“Grab ‘em.” Before either twin knew what was happening, Kyler had thrown Jayce to the ground, and Eli had Stella’s arms pinned behind her back. Jayce immediately scrambled to get up, but Kyler punched him in the face, knocking him back down. Stella struggled viciously in Eli’s grip, but he held her firm, managing to keep her in place. Already a small crowd was beginning to gather, with the freshmen wondering what on Mobius was going on.

Axel wheeled up to Stella, already flexing his fingers in preparation. “You weirdos just don’t get it, do you? As long as we’re here, we’re gonna do whatever it takes to get you the hell off our campus. And if that means beating you to death again, then that’s what were gonna fucking do.”

“Leave her alone!” Jayce struggled. “She’s pregnant!”

At that, the entire area filled with silence. The entire audience looked a mix of shocked, all eyes immediately flashing over to Stella’s abdomen for confirmation. Without hesitating, Axel yanked her hoodie up, revealing the tiny bump that was Galaxy. Shock became horror, as the onlookers began judging the situation. Even Kyler and Eli seemed uncomfortable, looking reluctant to continue their attack.

Axel, however... his muzzle broke into a dark, toothy grin. And, as he drew his fist back, he uttered a single word, proving that he hadn’t changed a bit.

“Good.”

And he thrust his fist forward--

--only for it to meet the sole of Stella’s sneaker.

“Wh--” He pulled back again, but Stella quickly braced her foot against the space between his legs, pushing the wheelchair away and forcing it to roll back away from her. In the same split second, she threw her head back, hitting Eli square in the face, forcing him to release her. As he reeled backward, clutching his bloody nose, she spun on her toes and threw her own fist into his sternum, knocking the wind out of him. Kyler watched on in shock, giving Jayce the opportunity he needed to sweep his legs and leap back up to his feet, cupping his own nose gingerly.

As soon as the twins were free, some of the freshmen broke away from the crowd, sprinting over to the pair’s side. “Are you two OK?!” “What the hell is their problem?!” “Did they seriously just attack a pregnant girl?!” “Is this what Skyline’s whole student body is like?!” “I got the whole thing on my phone!” Jayce and Stella immediately took note of the last remark, eyes already roving the crowd for the freshman who said that - evidence.

“You twerps don’t get it! They deserve it!” And there was Axel already on the defence, ready to deliver the rumours. “These freaks are--!”

“Axel, dude, stop.” Kyler was grabbing the wheelchair handles, already preparing to book it. “You can’t seriously think it’s OK to beat up a pregnant chick - I mean, they wouldn’t attack you.”

“Yeah, it’s not worth it, man.” Eli was beginning to make his way off too. “Let’s bail before they actually decide to press charges or something.”

“Pfft! They can’t!” Even as he was being wheeled off, Axel was talking big game. “You know my dad’ll have us out of the clink and off scot free! We can do whatever we want!”

“Oh, yeah?” Stella was angrier than she’d ever been in a long time, yelling after him as they vanished down a side street. “Have fun explaining to Daddy dearest why you thought it was OK to attack a pregnant woman! Even he’s not gonna defend that!”

And then the trio was gone, leaving the twins panting heavily and surrounded by concerned freshmen, offering them water bottles, painkillers, and words of comfort. All of them seemed to be particularly worried about Stella - no one touched her, but they made a specific point of asking if she and her baby were alright. She had to think about that answer for a while, as did Jayce.

Neither of them had been anticipating themselves to fight back. They’d never done it before, after all. But before... before, it was just them. Just the two of them, struggling through everyday life, just putting up with every punch, kick, and hateful word sent their way. But it wasn’t just them anymore. No... now, they had to worry about the tiny life growing inside Stella. The tiny life that she could feel squirming away, like she knew something was going on. In that moment... all both twins had felt was just an overwhelming urge to protect.

They didn’t care what happened to them. Axel and his cronies could destroy their reputations, for all they cared. They could do or say whatever they liked - they could deal with it. They’d dealt with it their whole lives, after all.

But one thing was for certain. If Axel - no, not just Axel... if anyone even thought of hurting a single hair on Galaxy’s head...

Stella couldn’t help giggling eagerly, gripping her wrist to keep herself accidentally scraping the icing off the cake. “I’m freaking out, I don’t know why...”

“Hurry up! I wanna see!”

“Alright, alright, alright...” Shakily, she held the cake knife up in preparation. “Oh, Chaos, I can’t believe this is actually happening...”

Before she could give herself time to think about it, she plunged the knife into the cake, releasing a breath she didn’t even realise she was holding. After a few seconds, she withdrew it, inspecting the knife for any hints. “... wow, there’s no crumbs on this thing. They could give us some tips on not getting crumbs everywhere when we make a cake...”

“Alright, moment of truth! Let’s see the result!”

“OK, OK, OK--” Once more without thinking, Stella lined up the knife and made the second cut. One hand moved to clutch her chest. “Chaos, my heart is pounding...”

“Mine is too, don’t even worry!”

“OK, alright, here we go...” Taking another deep breath, Stella pulled the knife back again, this time sliding it under the slice she’d cut, and moving one hand to the top to begin pulling it free. Before she did, she looked back at Jayce. “On three?”

“Yeah, alright let’s do it.” Jayce walked over, holding his phone at the perfect angle. “One...”

“Two...”

“Three!” And Stella promptly lifted the slice, plopping it on the empty plate in one smooth motion.

And then they both screamed.

“No way!! No WAY!! AWESOME!!” It was all Jayce could do to keep the video in focus, unable to hold back his excitement. “This is the best!!”

“I am LOVING LIFE!!” Stella dropped the knife on the counter, bouncing up and down in joy. “Best! Day! EVER!!”

Of course, no matter the outcome, they’d still be reacting like this. But they had their answer now, and they couldn’t contain themselves any more. They flung their arms around each other, squealing and giggling uncontrollably, still bouncing on their toes in their excitement. The angle Jayce was at game him the perfect view of the cake, and he pointed the phone at it, capturing a perfectly clear image of the result.

Max’s ears perked as he heard the door open, sitting upright to find two nurses coming in - Evelyn and Faith. Evelyn was a grumpy old ewe who didn’t seem to tolerate anyone’s crap, and had been nothing but pessimistic about the twins’ situation. Faith was the canary that the older brother had become friendly with - a senior medical student.

“Hi, Max!” Faith chirped, clearly happy as ever to see him. “We’re just here to check on the twins’ vitals again. Afterwards, we’ll take them down for an x-ray to check how their bones are healing, and a CT scan to check on their bad lungs. Sound good?”

“Work away!” Max stood up, stretching. “I hope their lungs will have healed soon, they’d hate to be cooped up in here much longer when they wake up...”

“If they wake up.” Evelyn frowned at him. “I know you want them to wake up as much as we do, but don’t get your hopes up. I’ve seen coma patients in better condition than them who never came out of it. These two could very well be the same.”

“Gee, thanks for the optimism, Evelyn...” Faith rolled her eyes, already stood by Stella’s bed. “Just go check on Jayce and quit being a downer?”

Evelyn went, shaking her head as she checked over the older twin. “Honestly, even if they do wake up, they’re going to have suffered some severe brain damage. They’ll never be able to walk ever again, they’ll likely never be able to talk, you’ll have to be with them every minute of every day--”

“Evelyn, seriously?” Max glared at her, livid. “Your job is to look after the patients in your care, not just write them off before they’ve even had a chance.”

“Yeah, seriously! What crawled up your rear end and died?!” Faith was glaring too. “Dr North said that both Jayce and Stella were progressing wonderfully after last night’s stimuli tests!”

“That bloody Dr North...” Evelyn shook her head again. “I don’t know why he’s keeping up the pretence - I think it’s just cruel. He’s only been in practice for 3 years - I’ve been nursing for over 19, and I can tell you right now it’s obvious that these two are never going to recover.”

Max was furious. He’d already hated Evelyn before, but this? This was unforgivable. She reminded him of their mother, how she would just write them off without even giving them a chance. But before he could retort... he heard something.

A shift from Stella’s bed.

Immediately, amber eyes snapped in that direction to locate his little sister.

And... there she was. Blearily opening her eyes, aiming her own death glare at Evelyn, shakily raising a middle finger, and mumbling behind the tube in her mouth. It sounded like she was trying to say ‘go to hell’.

Not that it mattered. She was awake.

And then, at the same time, her twin stirred. Jayce’s head turned to the side, eyes weakly cracking open and searching the room, with a tired mumble of his own behind his tube.

They were awake. THEY WERE AWAKE.

“J-Jayce... S-Stella...” Max immediately started trembling, tears forming in his eyes. He couldn’t believe it - after two long, stressful weeks, they were finally awake... “O-oh Chaos... y-you’re actually a-awake...”

“Max, don’t get excited,” Evelyn warned. “This is likely just a reflex to what we were saying--”

It was Jayce’s turn to glare and mumble - something like ‘I’m awake, shut up’. It was only then he seemed to realise there was a tube in his mouth, and he weakly raised a hand to try and remove it. Stella followed the motion, whimpering in confusion.

“Whoa-- guys, no no no - keep ’em in...” Max quickly gestured for both twins to stop, and after a few seconds, their hands flopped back at their sides again. Then Max looked over his shoulder at Evelyn. “Well, don’t just stand there! Go get Dr North! He’ll wanna know about this!”

“U-umm-- r-right! Of course!” Taken aback by how lucid the twins seemed to be, Evelyn immediately charged from the room.

“I’d better go as well,” Faith remarked. “I still need to put in the order for those x-rays and CT scans.” And with that, she departed as well, leaving the trio alone in the room once more.

Max looked back at his little brother and sister once more, his tears spilling over from the sheer joy and relief he felt. Jayce noticed first, and, since he couldn’t really talk at the moment, weakly raised both hands to sign, What are you doing here, Max? Where are we?

“Y-you don’t remember?” Max moved to squeeze his brother’s hand. “Axel attacked you guys - beat you half to death. You’ve been in a coma in the hospital for the last two weeks...”

Both twins’ eyes widened, and they exchanged a look. Two weeks!? So they’d missed their birthday?! It was only then they noticed the few gifts around the room - cards, flowers, and the two teddies that Max had bought them. They immediately reached for them, slowly pulling them into reach and hugging them close. They remembered the attack, alright - and they didn’t want to remember...

It was Stella’s turn to sign. Do our friends know? Have they been to visit us?

“Yep.” Max nodded, smiling. “I’m gonna start contacting them in a minute, let them all know that you’re awake, OK? But first, the doctor’s gonna come check on you, then you’re gonna get an x-ray to check on all your broken bones and a CT scan to see how your lungs are healing. Your ribs got broken, and you each suffered a punctured lung as a result, but they’ve been healing really well...”

Both Jayce and Stella blearily nodded, just weakly hugging the plush toys and sighing contentedly at the soft touch. All Max could really do was just stand where he was and quietly sob with relief, only looking up again as Dr North came in.

They were awake. They were responsive, and amazingly lucid. And still possessing some level of snark, if their reactions to Evelyn’s pessimism said anything.

The sun was just beginning to vanish in the horizon, casting the university campus in a soft evening glow. The cold autumn air rustled through the trees, chilling the wolf’s fur, but he paid it no mind. All he could focus on was the memory of watching the news, seeing that report telling of two students found nearly dead in an alley on the north side of campus. Learning that those rats had survived, and were now comatose in hospital. Now all that mattered was making sure that they never woke up from their comas.

However, fate had another plan. As he skated into an alley that would prove an easy shortcut to the hospital, something suddenly tipped up the back of his skateboard. With a startled yelp, he stumbled off the board and fell to the ground, yelling in pain as he hit his elbow and knocked his funny bone.

“Ghhh...” Clinging his arm, he struggled to sit up, looking to see what had caused his tumble. What met him was the sight of a Mobian maybe a few inches shorter than himself, clothed entirely in black, face obscured with a mask and goggles. Even their tail was covered up, completely masking the colour of their fur. Clutched in their gloved hands was a hefty sledgehammer.

“What the fuck, man? What’s your damage?” Axel shifted backwards, moving to stand. “You don’t just knock someone off their skateboard and--!”

But that was as far as he got. Without any warning, the figure suddenly swung the sledgehammer, the side connecting with the wolf’s shoulder. Another pained yell escaped from his throat as he was knocked onto his side, clinging to his shoulder in pain. Something had to have broken... “W-what the hell, dude?! W-what are you--?!”

Again, with no word, the figure lifted their foot and brought it down hard on Axel’s injured shoulder, forcing him onto his stomach. The foot then moved to between his shoulder blades, keeping him pinned to the floor. They then shifted, moving to haul the sledgehammer up above their head. Axel craned his neck to try and peer over his shoulder, panic finally beginning to rise in his system as he realised what the attacker had planned. “D-dude, no no no no no--!”

His words were promptly cut off by a loud, agonised, guttural scream tearing from his throat as the sledgehammer came down hard on his back, right in the centre. Pain like he’d never experienced before ripped through his system like a wildfire, until tears spilled from his eyes. He tried desperately to bear through it, only to let out another scream as the weapon came down a second time. Oh Chaos that hurt that hurt what the hell was this fucker doing to him?!

Seemingly satisfied, the figure removed their foot, stepping over the incapacitated wolf and turning to make their way out of the alley. Axel tried to turn over, tried to move to clamber to his feet, but the pain was too much. Even the slightest twitch got him to scream again. Gritting his teeth, he craned his neck as much as he could, glaring after the disappearing figure. “Y-you bastard!! Just you wait until my dad finds out about this! He’ll have you arrested so fast you won’t even hear the sirens, and then you’ll rot in prison where you belong, you utter fucking PSYCHOPATH!!”

Silence was all that met him. Grunting in agony, Axel shifted his hand under his torso, trying to remove his phone from his pocket.

He needed an ambulance...

========== 30 MINUTES LATER ==========

Max walked into Room H-5 with shaking legs. He plunged his hands into his pockets to try to hide the fact that his hands were trembling. A yellow-feathered canary nurse was checking over Stella’s vitals, doing the usual tests, etc. Hearing the older Hope brother’s entrance, she looked up, smiling reassuringly at the canine.

“Hi, Max!” she called cheerfully. “Where did you get off to?”

“Had to stretch my legs,” Max replied casually. “Get some fresh air. Gets a bit stressful being in here for too long, y’know?”

“I understand.” The nurse smiled and nodded. “Well, luckily, your siblings seem to be on the mend in terms of their physical injuries. All their broken bones seem to be healing normally, and their punctured lungs are also beginning to heal. It’ll probably take about six to eight weeks for the lungs to heal completely, but if you’d like, we could attempt surgery to speed up the process.”

“Leave that decision to them when they wake up.” Max looked between them. “Because they will wake up. I know it.”

The nurse nodded again, already moving to leave the room. Sighing in relief, Max removed his hands from his pockets, raking trembling fingers through his hair. A few seconds later, he sat down on the sofa, once more looking between both Jayce and Stella.

“... hey... I’m back, guys. Guess what...” The older canine’s chilled, casual façade finally broke, leaving him trembling and crying as it fully sank in just what he’d done. “... t-that bastard’s never gonna be able to hurt you again...”