- Sunday, September 10th, 2006, Partly Cloudy, 6:30 pm.
The summer was long for everyone involved. The City was either getting beat down by the sun, or it was getting pummeled by rain. Mid September had finally brought some relief to the citizens with cool cloudy weather. Although Zim and Dib haven't properly spoken in 3 months, it didn't mean that neither one of them had each other and the kids occupy their minds.
While Zim was studying them and preparing for their arrival, Dib was trying to get his finances in order by saving up all the money he got from his dad, selling stuff that he didn't need online, and taking odd jobs. Gaz helped with making trips to buy baby stuff as well. Dib and Gaz heard the door open downstairs.
"Children, I'm home!" Professor Membrane announced. Gaz and Dib stopped moving stuff around and headed downstairs.
"Hey, Dad..." Gaz said, "What are you doing home so early?"
"Oh I decided to take a few hours off from building an advanced robotic chef!" Professor Membrane said proudly, "However, I have to head back out around 9."
He then paused to notice the bags under Dib's eyes.
"Dib, you look more tired than usual. Are you alright, son?"
Dib didn't respond. He hadn't told his dad about everything. He only figured out that Zim was going to keep the kids three weeks ago, and his father hadn't been present for most of that.
"Uh.... I don't know how to tell you this..." Dib said.
"Hmmm... Well try," Professor Membrane said, "I can understand a whole lot you know."
The Professor chuckled. Dib didn't see a point in hiding this any longer.
"Um... let's go to the table first...." Dib said.
The Professor looked at him a bit concerned but gave a single nod.
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The Membranes were all sitting at the kitchen table together. Dib was slouched over on the table, trying to force himself to say the news. Professor Membrane patiently waited for Dib to tell what he needed to say. He tapped his fingers on the table.
"So son, what needs to be told?" Professor Membrane asked.
Dib lifted his head and looked at his father. He was getting ready for the reaction on his face.
"...I'm going to be a dad..." Dib finally said.
Professor Membrane remained silent. Dib thought he could sense the look of disappointment his father must be giving him through his thick goggles. However, Professor Membrane didn't seem fully convinced. The man gave a head tilt of curiosity, then gave a single nod.
"Hmmm... alright. With?..."
"...Zim..." Dib said. Professor Membrane looked at him puzzled.
"But son, I thought you expressed your disdain for him?..."
"That mostly changed over the years... I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner..." Dib said.
Dib slightly suspected that his father didn't believe him.
"Well okay then. When is this child due?" Professor Membrane asked.
Gaz glared at her father, "He's having three..." Gaz added.
The Professor looked at Gaz, frozen. His heart was floored from Gaz confirming the truth of the matter. He rested his head on his hands.
"Ooooh. . . . Dib . . ." he said, shaking his head, "You didn't . . . "
"I know, I know...." Dib said back, "I didn't know this would even happen..."
". . .Dib. . . .Three? " Professor Membrane asked, "You and your sister are joking, correct?..."
Dib shook his head while avoiding his father's eyes. Professor seemed more focused on the fact that Dib was having triplets. The doorbell rang twice loudly. Gaz looked toward the front door and saw Gir sticking his hand through the mail slot. Gaz then remembered today's date.
"Uhhhh Dib?... Isn't it September?..." Gaz said.
Dib gasped and immediately ran to the door. He quickly opened it and paused to observe Zim. Zim was holding the orb in his arms now rather than just one hand like previously. The orb grew to the size of a watermelon. He was also being careful with it since the outside of it was no longer hard as stone anymore. The shell was like thin glass now.
It was at a stage where it could easily crack. His hair was a bit of a mess, and he was also carrying a few blankets under his arms with one of them on top of Gir's head. Zim walked into the living room while Gir placed a basket on the table. Zim gently placed the orb in the basket and slowly went to sink into the couch. His arms were glittery due to the shedding pieces from the orb's surface. It was shedding its hard exterior so that the kids inside could break it.
He looked at Dib in defeat. Dib could tell that there was a mess in Zim's mind. Dib sat next to him and the Membranes looked at the changes to the orb. The orb's contents were now nearing opaque and gelatinous. The three triplets inside were now the size of regular babies and were slightly moving their feet and hands around. There were three boys, all with Dib's black hair.
Their eye colors were mostly unknown since their eyes were closed, but Zim was able to peek one of them having red eyes in Dib's style of iris. It was hard to tell their skin tone due to the colored gelatin, but Zim assumed they were a tint of yellow.
". . . . I . . . . .couldn't do it . . ." Zim said weakly, "I couldn't destroy them . . . I don't know why . . . but I couldn't bring myself to do it . . . The more they grew, the weaker I got . . . "
Dib fully understood why he couldn't. Just looking at them now made him want to take back what he said three months prior even more. Dib's eyes were fixed on his sons' movements. The previous three little mysterious dots in the middle were now soon to be tangible, breathing things that he can hold. Professor Membrane covered his mouth in fastination while Gaz found the orb's new form rather cool looking. Zim looked at Dib.
"The computer said that they should be hatching around 6:45 pm . . . " Zim said, " . . . There's three boys present . . . I had named two of them... just in case you wished to participate and you can name the third one... but if not, I will come up with the third name on my own..."
Zim had an absent stare in his eyes, but all Dib could read was hurt. Zim's breathing was short from breathing through the pain. Dib frowned at the misery.
"...Zim-"
"'I've already set up their nursery in my house," Zim continued, "and-"
Dib placed his hands on Zim's face and faced him toward him, "I'm staying to help you... I promise..."
Rage suddenly zapped through Zim, ".....You will do NO SUCH THING until you stop this HUMANS ARE BETTER THAN IRKENS SHHHHHTICK," Zim said shaking, "Dib I swear, you will not call them genetic abominations. You will NOT call them cursed, or something that should not exist!"
Dib flinched from the sudden outburst. The words he wanted to say were tangled. Dib's words about the kids when they were in their early stages of development had haunted Zim for the last few weeks. Gir looked at the orb, which was now moving around in its basket. The shell had then presented a crack.
The Membranes silently stared, wide-eyed. Gir got the blankets ready while Professor Membrane ran to get his camera. There was a red blanket, a blue one, and a yellow one.
"Zim?" Gir started.
"I mean this with every cell in my being, Dib," Zim said, "I don't want any of your paranoia affecting them in the long run. I WILL leave you FOR GOOD if you allow your father's opinion of you to underperform in this crucial task..."
All of Dib's should-haves started jumbling up in his mind. Despite trying to get his money together, the one thing he didn't do much of was visit. It seemed like he had already left them behind from Zim's point of view throughout the whole summer. Tears formed in his eyes, which replicated in Zim's.
"Zim. . . I'm- . . ." Dib's eyes escaped to Gir since he was waving his arms in need of assistance. He spotted the cracks in the orb. His eyes were glued.
"Ziiiim?" Gir said again. Professor Membrane came back and pressed the record button. The three boys were kicking at the sides of the shell until the orb broke enough for it to break fully apart. The orb ooze out its jelly. Gaz removed some of the pieces that were sitting on top of the three boys. What was left behind were the three children moving their arms around in the open.
Gir took two of them while Gaz hesitantly took the last one. After they were all cleaned up from the gelatin, they wrapped them up each in their own blanket and looked at the boys. Dib stared in wonder. He slowly reached his hands out to hold one of them.
"If there's one thing that will guarantee me destroying this planet, it's you treating me and these smeets terribly because you want to be right!" Zim huffed, "If you thought I was going to destroy the world then, wait until you dare to-"
Zim stopped when something soft was being placed on his lap. He looked down at the smeet in the red blanket. He paused and stared at him. He picked him up and observed him. Zim held his child with a foreign sense of joy from it.
He never thought he would actually hold one of his kind before. He would be the first in centuries. He now knew what it meant when humans said that something living felt fragile. He grew a small smile. Gir gave Dib the other two. Dib's eyes remained wide at how present this moment was.
He looked at their faces, seeing that they mostly looked similar to himself. He looked at the child in the yellow blanket's face. He seemed grumpy. His eyebrows looked like two dots.
"...What did you name this one?..." Dib asked quietly.
"Fil..." Zim responded, "I tried to keep it to three letters... I named the red blanket Dil."
Dib looked at Dil and saw that he seemed relatively happy. He looked down at the one in blue and saw him staring back at him with round eyes. They looked like Dib's eyes, but larger and Zim's color. Dib automatically smiled a little at him, which Gir had to snap a photo of. Dib's stare revealed that his mind wasn't fully convinced that this was real.
These were little beings that depended on him now. The true reality of the matter hasn't hit yet, but regardless, he did know that he liked them.
"...This staring back at me is my son..." Dib said aloud to himself, "They are all related to me... Like... actually related to me..."
If seeing it wasn't enough, he needed to hear it for himself. However, it still didn't sound right. Gaz looked at him.
"Yeah Dib, that's how it works..." Gaz said.
"... Since we're going with three letters, I'll call you.. Wil..." he smiled a little proudly afterward.
He didn't like the three letter thing, but he also didn't feel the right to complain after all Zim did for the matter. The shell of the orb before it hatched didn't even look like Zim attempted to break it. Professor Membrane remained silent during filming. Dib looked at his dad and accidentally into the camera.
When the Professor saw his son look into the camera with such an innocent shock, his eyes swelled. He was worried for Dib, but also didn't think he would have grandchildren either, let alone meet them. He didn't even believe it when he had his own children. He remembered how new everything was when Dib and Gaz were first brought into his life. He smiled under his coat.
"What if I didn't take a break like my colleagues suggested?..." Professor Membrane thought, "I wouldn't have seen this... I wouldn't have even known..."