"You're me!" said Sean. "Or you have my mind..."
They couldn't talk that well, because their baby throats really weren't made for it, but they could talk well enough to be understood. "It's like I've been turned into a baby," said Sam. "I can't believe that I was giving birth, and now I'm my own son."
"One day we're a guy," said Joan. "The next day we're babies and we're our own children...
"Er...." said Jim. "You're also my children."
"But we don't even know you!" said Sam.
"The doctor explained it. The plant took genetic material from me to make your dad pregnant."
"That happened to me!" said the baby Sam. "It made me pregnant!"
"No," said the doctor. "You just remember that."
"I feel funny," said Joan. "Not just because I'm turned into a baby... but because I want Sean to protect me. But I'm Sean... It's so confusing."
"That's easy to explain," said the doctor. "You've got adult minds, but certain hormonal reactions of babies. So you want to be loved by your parents."
"What does that mean?" asked Sean.
"Not as much as it sounds like," said the doctor. "They'll just be about as emotionally attached to you and Jim as anyone is to their parents. Doesn't mean you can order them around. They have adult minds, it's like any adult and their parents. It's just that you'll feel like family to them, because you are. Now, we'd better start the feeding."
"What is this?" said Joan.
"I explained it right after you were born," said the doctor.
"It's fast-grow food!" said Sean.
"It's not fast-grow food," said the doctor. "Here's the deal. In the real world, mass is conserved. You can't grow unless you eat. This isn't a sci-fi movie. If you're going to grow by 50 pounds, you have to eat at least 50 pounds of food. More than 50, in fact, since not all of the food gets used for growing. The fast grow effect will wear off in a few days, so how much you grow will depend on how much food we can shove into your system, and how much of it your bodies will use to grow. Now, we'd better start."
He gave a nurse some orders and the babies were wheeled into another room. Once they were hooked up, Sean and Jim watched. They seemed to be growing, but very slowly--of course, even the pregnancy had taken hours to finish. If they continued to grow at the same rate, a pregnancy which is nine months in 2-3 hours means that in two days they'd be from 12-18 years old.
"They're finished," said the doctor, and removed the feeding tubes. "The growing has stopped."
Sam gulped. "That tasted awful... but I'm a guy again, Dad... Dads... Ohh, this is so weird. I feel like you're just like Mom and Dad used to be, but I remember that you're a guy I met a few days ago, and *me*..."
"And it's like I just got turned into a girl," said Joan. "God, I wish I was an adult again."
"You were never an adult," said Sean. "You just remember being me... but you aren't really me."
"I am you, Dad! I remember everything that makes me Sean, even if I have to use the name Joan now. Down to the last time I had sex with my girlfriend."
"Looks like Dad isn't going to be doing that any more," said Sam. "Vagina, remember?"
"Don't make fun of me!" said Sean.
"Would you do it if you were in my place?" replied Sam.
"Yeah, I guess I would," said Sean. "But I'm still your Dad, as well as being you..."
"Would you make fun of your Dad?" asked Joan.
"Hmm... if he got a pussy, I guess I would... Ah, never mind. Sam, Joan, we can't stay here. Look, we have plenty of money, it's a hush fund. They pay us off not to tell people about the plants. And it means I won't go broke having to support you teenagers."
"We're not teenagers, Dad" said Sam. "We're you."
"But you look like teenagers. Everyone else will say you're teenagers."
"What about me?" asked Jim.
"You're our Dad too," said Sam. "We never knew you before becoming pregnant, but we'd like you to at least visit us every so often."
"You didn't become pregnant," said Jim. "Sean did, you just remember it."
Sean brought out a bag of clothes he had. He had to quickly find clothes suitable for teens. They'd last until Sam and Joan could get regular clothes, anyway. They eventually did leave the hospital (after a quick sloppy haircut and nail trim). And later...
Wed Jun 06 16:15:15 2007