"Men," she sneered, sighing heavily when the baby kicked again. With a groan, Phoenix pulled herself into a sitting position and sat, panting a bit from the effort as she placed her hands on the nightstand. She pushed off the bed with another groan and then she heard something from the other room. At first she thought it was Magnus coming in to check on her, but then the sound came again, like soft footsteps padding around in the living room. When she heard the sounds of someone ruffling through a desk drawer, she knew it wasn't her partner. Slowly, not making a sound, Phoenix reached over to the nightstand and quietly opened the top drawer, taking out an ion disrupter and checking the power supply. Satisfied, she slowly made her way to the door, her audios on full as she tracked the movement in the next room. She positioned herself outside of the doors as she reached over and pressed the 'open' button. When the doors slid open, she twisted around and leveled the disrupter at the intruder, who was a few inches away from her as the disrupter was aimed right in between his optics.

"Don't move or you're scrap," she growled, her finger a hair away from the trigger as she slowly reached for the light switch. When she flicked on the lights, her mouth dropped to the floor as she saw just who she was pointing the disrupter at. Standing in front of her with a large box in his hands was her best friend Springer, a wry smile on his face and his optics twinkling with amusement. She immediately lowered the disrupter and promptly smacked him on the shoulder with her other hand. "You idiot, I almost shot you!" she yelled, her optics glowing with horror and anger. The triple changer shrugged as he set the box down. "Hey, I'm not the one who aims fully charged disrupters at their best friends. Really, Nix, you need to start drinking some of that low-grade stuff if that's how you're gonna treat your guests." Phoenix shook her head and muttered something uncomplimentary under her breath, a smile slowly spreading across her face. She looked down at the box and said, "What's that, Spring? A gift for Arcee, or something?" Springer placed his hands on his hips and said, "Now what do you think I am, stupid or something? If I tell you, the entire region would know in an hour what was in this box. Besides, it's a surprise and it has nothing to do with Arcee."

Phoenix arched an optic ridge at him and said, "Oh, secret lover, eh? Hmm, this could be juicy..." Springer narrowed his optics at her and said, "No, not a secret lover. And it's not a blackmail payment to Lord Bitney on Draconia 8, either. Gee, I wonder who started that rumor, anyway? It wouldn't happen to be a crimson red femme who has a penchant for starting rumors about a certain green and silver triple changer, now would it?" Phoenix gave him her best innocent look while saying, "Who, me? Now, what would give you such an idea?" They both laughed at the memory of a nervous Springer standing in front of Optimus trying to explain why he would have a debt on the most forbidden planet in the entire sector. Sobering, Springer leaned down and picked up the box, which looked heavy, and started for the door. Phoenix frowned and said, "Now where are you off to in such a hurry? I didn't scare you off, did I?" Springer turned and faced her, a huge grin on his face as he said, "Nope. I just have to go somewhere. Uh, by the way, are you going anywhere tonight?" Phoenix looked at him suspiciously and said, "No, why do you ask?" The triple changer shrugged. "No reason in particular. Hey, a bunch of us were going to drop by tonight so we could play our usual game of cyberpoker. Magnus said it was all right to play here. You don't mind, do you?"

Phoenix shook her head and sighed. "Spring, I'm not sure, Mags and I have been pretty beat lately..."

"Oh, come on, Nix! Don't be a stuffed armor plate, let us come over! Mags said it was okay...." Phoenix looked at his puppy-dog optics and she smiled to herself. How could she deny that? "Okay, but no playing until the wee hours of the night! Mags is going to be a father soon, so he needs to lay off this stuff for a while. Got it?" Springer nodded and walked out the open doors, whistling an old Cybertronian tune as he hefted the box with him. Phoenix frowned at her friend's strange behavior, then groaned as the baby kicked again. She shrugged and tottered towards the bedroom again. Whatever it was he was up to, she would have to wait until tonight...

"My what?!"

"Baby shower. It's an Earth tradition. See, all the friends of the mother-to-be all gather and give her presents and stuff, things the baby is going to need plus some extra goodies for the mom. Spike and Carly told us about it, and we thought it was a great idea! You caught me while I was hiding one of your gifts!" Phoenix laughed out loud as various Autobots came up to her and congratulated her, some handing her gifts while others hugged her and started asking about the baby. Magnus took Phoenix by the hand and guided her to the couch, where everyone was gathering so that she could open her gifts. The crimson femme carefully lowered herself onto the soft couch and started sifting through her presents, smiling from audio to audio. "You guys...." she said, picking up one that was addressed to her from Cybertron. She looked up at Springer and asked, "Who sent this?" Springer smiled and said, "That's from your sister, Ro. She couldn't catch a shuttle down here in time, so she sent it to me so I could give it to you. She told me to tell you that she was sorry she couldn't come, and she'll try and make it for the birth."

Phoenix smiled and tore open the present, sending the paper flying everywhere around the room. She gasped when she saw what it was, and then she laughed and held it up. Rodania had sent her a human breast pump with a note attached, saying, "Be thankful *you* don't need one of these." Everyone laughed out loud as she set the breast pump aside, grabbing another present from someone and glanced at the card taped onto it. "This is from Alita and Optimus," she said aloud, the above mentioned couple smiling as the pregnant femme tore into the gift. "Aww, 'Lita, this is so cute!" In her hands was a box wrapped in pink foil. Inside the box was a small container filled with blue powder, which had a scent of fresh Prandesian lake-roses, Phoenix's favorite flower. The femme looked up at Alita, whose smile grew as she said, "That's supposed to help with insomnia, something every pregnant femme goes through." Alita leaned over and whispered, "It's also supposed to boost the libido in a guy if he gets a whiff of it." The pink femme glanced over at her mate and said, "Believe me, it works."

Phoenix laughed and hugged her friend before going on to the next gift. She lifted a large box that seemed very familiar. She glanced up at Springer and he nodded. Phoenix eagerly tore into the green wrapping, her smile growing by the second as her friend's present was revealed. Her optics went wide and a choking sound came out of her mouth. She was holding a small blanket; stitched onto the soft fabric in Cybertronian was an old saying: "Children born from the love of two parents shall have nothing but love in their hearts." It wasn't a saying from Cybertron, but from another planet. Phoenix looked up at her friend with tears in her optics. "You still remember that?" she asked. Springer smiled and stood up, taking Phoenix's hands into his own. "I'll never forget that day as long as I function." Phoenix smiled and Springer leaned over, hugging her fiercely while everyone watched. Magnus frowned at the blanket, unable to remember anything about whatever they were talking about. The two parted, with Phoenix wiping a tear from her face as Arcee handed her another gift. The shower went on without a hitch, Magnus occasionally glancing towards his partner with a question in his optics.

At the end of the night, Phoenix said her good-byes as everyone left, hugging Springer again as he and Arcee filed out of the room. After the doors shut, Phoenix tottered back over to the couch and sat down with a thud, sighing with relief as she propped up her aching feet. Magnus walked over to her and sat down, the blanket Springer gave her in his hands. "Nix," he began, "where did this saying come from? And what were you two talking about earlier?" Phoenix took a deep breath and grabbed hold of Magnus's hand, a sad smile on her face. "Mags, that saying is from a planet called Alenia Nine, in the Tacaus belt. You see.....it's where Starcruiser proposed to me, and it soon became my favorite place." Phoenix looked down, her optics brimming with tears as she continued. "He always wanted children, and I wanted to have his children. Springer was there when 'Ru asked me to bond with him, so we wanted to do it right then. But....I asked him to wait until we could get back to Cybertron, so that Optimus could perform the ceremony. And then.....'Ru was killed, and Springer nearly died trying to save him."

Magnus sighed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, kissing the femme on the cheek as she gave him a small smile. "We never told anyone about that, we never told Prime that 'Ru asked me to bond with him. So no one except Springer and I knew that saying." She looked up at Magnus and kissed the tip of his nose. "And then I met you." Magnus smiled and hugged her, holding the blanket between them as they hugged each other. "Then if it's a boy, we'll name it Starcruiser." Phoenix switched off her optics and leaned closer to him. "I'd like that," she whispered, stroking her belly with one hand as Magnus placed his hand gently on hers, and they simply sat, both thanking Primus for the gift he had given them.