Zac was strumming a little tune on his guitar when he head a knock on the door and Julie's face peered through the crack.
"Hey Julie," he greeted.
Hey," Julie replied, quietly walking in. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure," Zac replied, still playing on the guitar.
"Umm..."
Zac looked up, noted her expression and stifling a sigh, put the guitar down.
"Yeah?"
"Well, y'know how I'm pregnant?"
"It is a little hard to miss."
"Ha ha yeah. Umm... It's not twins."
"Really? Congratulations."
"No, it's worse."
"Oh... so not congratulations then?"
"There's too many limbs."
"Are you sure it's not just two boys with really big -"
"Zac. Not helping."
"Right. I really have to work on the jokes at inappropriate moments thing."
"Yes you do," Julie shook her head. "They thinks it's triplets. Maybe quadruplets."
"Esh."
"I don't know what to do, Zac. I just... I don't know what to do. I can barely handle six kids, but ten? Ten?"
"I have eighteen..."
"You only have custody of four of them. Not helping."
"True."
Julie stood and started pacing around the room.
"Y'know what? When I first found out, I seriously considered for the first time in my life having an abortion. I mean, you know how pro-life I am, but I... I..."
"So... why didn't you?"
Julie sighed.
"It's what she would have done."
"She?"
"Y'know... that other Julie. The one who had the beauty spell put on her."
"Ahh. That Julie."
"She would have. If she had found out about it before Shannon took the spell of, she would have aborted without a second thought. Hell, Zac, if this were a story, the author would have conveiniently made it so I didn't remember what happened during that time. But I do. I remember the whole thing and I hate it. I hate the things I said and did and thought. I owe so many people apologies I don't know where to begin. I don't want to be her again. But I... I... ten kids, Zac. And I can't... I can't even give the ones I have onto their fathers' or anything. I mean, you have four, and Bobby's busy with school, Octavian doesn't want anything to do with Tinga, and well, Lance's outright told me he's not prepared to be a father yet, but he has joined the X-men and when Josh is old enough to go to school there he'd be happy to take him in."
Julie sat down again, wiping her face.
"Well, there's always adoption," Zac said.
"Yeah, I know. I may end up doing that."
"Plus you have the benefit of being able to go through a human adoption agency," Zac nodded.
Julie smiled, then chewed her lip.
"I'm... I'm thinking I might end up getting my tubes tied when this is over. I don't really want to have surgery but..."
"Ahh."
"Have... have you ever thought of having a vasectomy?"
"Uhh, no."
"Why not? It would solve your having kids problem."
"Well, for one thing, it wouldn't address the core issue... which is that I've been a bit of a man-whore -"
Julie giggled.
"- and I've been turning to that kind of thing when I get depressed. I think that fear of getting someone else pregnant is a pretty good deterant. Then too, one day I'm going to get married -"
"Again?"
"- to someone who loves me as much as I love her, and I want the option of having children with her."
"Even though you already have eighteen kids?"
"She might not have any. And as you said, I only have custody of four. Besides, I know for a fact that Friday wants Elektra when she and Eron decide to start their own family, so that'll make it three."
"She might be a single mother already."
"Well, as I'm not actually dating anyone at the moment..."
"I can't believe you want to get married again. I'm just going to swear off marriage."
"I'm sure that fares well for you and Bobby."
Julie shook her head.
"We legally separated January last year," she told him. "I... I'm going to file for divorce."
"Ahh."
"He's not... he's not going to take me back, Zac," Julie went on sadly. "I love him like crazy but I have to face facts. He's not going to take me back."
Zac nodded slowly.