"Oh?"
"Yeah. Seems someone in our entourage is preggers."
"Anyone I know?"
"Yep."
"You're having another sib?"
"No, not Mom."
"Not one of your sisters?"
"Nope."
"You're a girl after all?"
"Ha ha."
"Hey!" Zac objected. "Me and Ike are the only ones who are allowed to make the girl jokes!"
"It's Twinkles, Trinity," Isaac cut in.
"Oh!"
"Any advice?"
Trinity chewed her lip.
"I only know so much... actually, I was there during the birth of some before, so that's the only reason why I know as much as I do. Ok, first of all, there's one major problem with is all too common in mutant pregnancies. The child can be... dare I say it, deformed, mainly where there are animal powers involved. It's sad, but a lot of babies just don't make it. Umm, what insects are Twinkles and... Ripples again?"
"Butterfly and dragonfly."
"What do they have?"
"Eggs and larvae."
"Ok, you'll probably find that, best case scenario only some of the eggs and larvae will die. Worst case scenario, they'll all die. The kids born from larvae will probably be full grown in... a year I think. I don't know about the eggs - they'll do the whole cocoon thing to do. I think your problem will be if Twinkles bears any kids herself."
"Why's that?" asked Taylor.
"Ok, sometimes, if the baby is badly deformed, it can kill the mother as well. Is Twinkles empathic?"
"No."
"Good. I'm told that insect people get particularly devastated if any child they bear dies when it is born. Even moreso if they're empathic. So, if she does bear a child, and it does die - which I'm sorry to say it probably will - keep an eye on Twinkles. There's one other thing you have to be careful of. It rarely happens, in fact, although I know it has happened before, I've only ever known of the one occasion - and only because I was there. The child that was born was a freak - or at least according to the insect people."
"A freak? Aren't we all freaks?" Zac grinned.
"Well, these freaks have no insect power. They're just tiny humans, most likely with other powers, but not an insect one. Sadly the insect people will have nothing to do with any children like this and they abandon them, and naturally most of them die. The one who's birth I was at - I named him Daryl and I gave him to Oscar. See, because they are so small, our hands are too big to look after them properly, but Oscar has that small, complicated Telekinesis, so he was able to take care of Daryl."
"So, Daryl's alive?" Isaac asked.
"Yes he is. He's grown up slower than your insect people, but faster than the average human. And he's a very smart young man too. Maybe one day you'll get to meet him," then Trinity sighed. "Just, make sure you're around when Twinkles gives birth - assuming she bears a child herself. She'll carry for about a month or two."
Isaac nodded.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
"One more question," Zac asked suddenly. "How often do they mate?"
"Too often!" Trinity replied with a grin. "How often they conceive, however, depends on the insect people in question, and that's all I know. Oh, and unless there's a freak, you don't need to worry about actually taking care of them. Insect people are actually really good with children. They don't always know who the parents are or if there's any other siblings to the ones they're looking after, but they're very good at looking after them!"