It's never easy to wake up after spending an entire night eating take out and catching up on the shows that you missed. Never fun to find yourself thrown into a cycle of enduring morning sickness. 

       It had taken hours to clean that out of the carpet. I had spent time going between cleaning the carpet and going through my closet, setting up clothes that were comfortable for me to wear now. The storm had subsided, and it was nothing more than a wet, calm, fall day. The wind wasn't too much, the slight chill welcomed a bit. 

       I threw the last of the dirty towels into the washer, glad that was over, and changed my outfit once more. I was going to dress more appropriately, no longer spending my days in pajamas. Right now, I wanted to at least pretend I was somewhat normal. 

       Jeans seemed too constricting, and it wasn't good weather for shorts. I decided, after one more glance into the pile of clothes comfortable for me in this situation and this weather, that a dress was acceptable. Comfortable, even. 

       The dress was a thicker material, with longer sleeves. It was a solid baby blue throughout, no special designs apart from the small sequins bordering the collar and trickling gently down the chest of the dress. It cut off below my knees, loosely hugging my middle just enough to barely show my stomach. Again, there wasn't much of a difference, which still mildly frightened me. 

       I threw my hair into a ponytail, wrapping a headband around my head to keep the fly-aways tucked in. There wasn't much of a reason to dress up, I simply wanted to feel comfortable, more so than recently, when I'd worn comfy clothes. The dress was light and freeing, easier to breathe in. 

       I wandered to my garage, opening the large door once more to allow it to air out again. In my drawer, I found the portal gun and note once more, the scrawl of Rick's handwriting nearing foreign-language legibility. Forever yours once again. I chuckled as I read over it once again, setting it once more beside the portal gun and shutting the drawer. A soft breeze blew into the room and filled the area with the sweet, earthy scent that always followed the season. I grabbed Weebo and set the device beneath my arm, grabbing the remote and stepping into the large driveway of mine. I set Weebo on the ground and leaned against the side of my truck, sending the small drone up to the sky. 

       Through the camera, I went over the town, the small houses and shops appearing as dainty as ever. I took Weebo over everywhere, smiling at some things and shrugging at others. I brought Weebo over the water, watching the waves crash on the beach further out of town. Nobody was on the sand, it being too cold anymore to visit the beach. I leaned over momentarily and adjusted the skirt of my dress, my feet cold on the cement as I continued watching through the small camera. I glanced over when I'd heard another garage door open and found Rick chugging from his flask as he sat at his desk and worked on a small device. I sighed and continued watching through the screen. The waves crashed heavily on the beach and I moved Weebo as close as I dared. Through the speakers, I could hear the water lapping almost greedily at the sand. 

       With another sigh, I brought Weebo back to me, having the device hover in front of me momentarily as I pulled a few leaves from the object. I wandered back into my garage, guiding Weebo with me, and set the remote on the desk, deactivating both it and the drone. I wandered through my shelves, looking for something to do. Clearly Summer and Morty were still at school, thought I'd recently learned that Rick frequently pulled the brunet from his classes. Glancing over, I found that he was still sitting at his desk alone, tweaking something.

        At the top of one of my shelves, I had a small 'companion' robot that used to follow me around when I was younger, carrying things for me. It was similar to an actual child, now that I thought about it. 'Babette' had been what nine year old me named it. I grabbed my stool and carefully climbed up, grabbing Babette and looking over the device. It was still small, though weighty. I'd put a lot of thinking into this one, a lot of time and parts. I stepped from the stool carefully, carrying Babette over to my desk. 

       The small blue switch at the base of the baby doll-esque head was slightly rusted, the robot showing a bit of wear and tear from the years. I went around my shelves, grabbing a few things I knew I'd need to have Babette up and running properly again, and sighed when I sat down. "Have you back to normal soon, Babette," I mumbled, working almost immediately.

       I worked on improving Babette's visible features, removing parts I knew were unnecessary now. I fixed her appearance, making her appear more child-like now than ever. The robot was improved in size, as well, nearing the height of a toddler. She was my personal lab assistant, new and improved. 

       Carefully, after nearly two hours of working on the robot, I set Babette on the floor. The small blue switch had been swapped out for a little red button, still at the base of the robot's neck. I pressed it and took a small step backwards, watching as the robot came to life. 

       "Hello, again, (Y/N)," came the robotic greeting. "How can I help you this time?" I grinned, folding my hands behind my back. "I would like you to clear my desk, as a test." I stated, rocking on my feet. Babette rolled over to the desk, organizing everything. She grabbed Weebo and went to move her to the shelf. "Hold on," I mumbled. Babette froze in place, awaiting the next command. 

       "Go into the driveway, carefully, and play with Weebo. The drone needs to be used more or it'll wear down on me." Babette rotated and wheeled out to the driveway. Her actions were stilted as Weebo was placed on the ground. The robot remembered how to use Weebo, being that they were designed almost as companions, and used the drone as I'd had it do several years ago. 

       As I kept an eye on Babette, chewing the inside of my cheek, I realized how similar she was to an actual child. It was odd, how motherly you could feel when something like this came up. 

       "Babette, AI." I mumbled. The robot paused for a moment before moving almost freely. That had been something I'd done when I was younger, gave Babette free movement to act as my friend. I wandered over to the robot and held my hand out, "Could I see that for a moment?" The small robot shyly nodded and I smiled, taking the remote. I guided Weebo back to the garage, putting the drone away with the remote. I found Babette already across the street when I spun back around, running quickly as she made her way back into the driveway from Rick's garage. "AI deactivated," I ordered. She stopped moving after a moment and I flipped the little red button, picking my companion up and carrying her back to my garage. 

       "Uh," I spun around, nearly falling off the stool as I was tucking Babette away, and found Rick staring curiously into my garage, "what urp the hell is that.. thing?" He pointed at Babette and I stepped off the stool, hissing in pain as a small object fell from a higher shelf and hit me in the head. "That," I grumbled, putting the fallen screwdriver away, "was my friend when I was nine. I fixed her and gave a test run. She wasn't supposed to wind up in your driveway," I grumbled, walking over to my desk. I dug in the drawer of blueprints and found hers, opening it and dusting away everything that had accumulated in it over the years. I grabbed a pencil and began writing down notes as Rick watched curiously. "Nine?" He questioned. I nodded, humming in response as I continued writing. 

      "Nobody wanted to be friends with a know-it-all, so I put my own together. The plan was," I pointed at a segment that I'd crossed out, my nine year old scrawl all over, "for her to be a simple lab assistant. However," I pointed to a new area, "I was lonely as hell and made her into my friend. She has artificial intelligence, which I have to update, but she can't act freely unless I give the command. She's both a friend and an assistant."

       "There was a robotic child urp in my garage for eugh thirty seconds before it wandered back out." Rick commented oddly. "I need to urp see the thing, because it's 'artificial intelligence free action urp shit' took something from me." 

       I sighed and moved back, climbing the stool once more as Rick chugged from his flask again. I grabbed Babette and descended the steps on the stool, nearly falling once more as I set her on the ground. I pressed the button and she started up again. "Babette, AI."

       "'Babette'?" Rick questioned. The robot turned to him, "Yes?" Rick looked slightly unnerved by this and I shrugged. "Babette," the robot faced me now, "did you take something from him?" The robot shook her head as best she could, given that her actions were still outrageously stilted, and I looked over at Rick. "What did she take?" 

       "One of my tools," he replied. "Babette, you need to give it back." The robot shook her head, "I didn't take anything, Miss Addams." Rick looked almost adoringly down at the small robot before he quickly pulled a bored look.

       "Is it something you can do without?" I questioned Rick again. "No," he responded. I sighed, "AI deactivate." The robot shuddered slightly, staring ahead. "Return what you stole." I watched as Babette handed a small tool to me. I grabbed it and shut the robot off, huffing as I climbed the stepping stool once more and stepped back down. "Here," I held the tool out to Rick and he grabbed it quickly, shoving it into his lab coat pocket. Being this close to him, I could see that he either hadn't slept or he had been crying again. Sighing, I moved back to my desk and tossed the blue prints away, setting everything back into the drawers and laying the note and portal gun back on top of it all. 

       Rick was already moving back across the street without a word, mumbling something I didn't catch as he left my garage. I sat at my desk and sighed.

       Nearly twenty minutes had passed and it didn't look like Rick had moved from his spot, his head resting in his arms on the desk. Out of curiosity, I grabbed Weebo again, sending her over to his garage.

       While Rick was sitting at his desk, he was mumbling something. I picked up on the words 'fuck up' several times and wondered what he was talking about. As Weebo wandered around, I heard odd sounds. Rick was crying again, mumbling apologetic phrases over and over again. I sighed, guiding Weebo back home and setting it once more on the shelf. Babette hung over the edge precariously and I had a thought.

       "I swear to God, this is the last time I'm bringing you down." I lugged the small robot down once more and sighed, flipping the switch. "Babette, AI."

       The robot glanced up at me, in all her artificial child-like adoration, and I smiled down. "Do you remember the man you took something from?" The robot nodded, her motor whirring as she looked down. I pointed across the street, "Go over there and give him your biggest hug ever. Say 'I'm sorry I took your toy and gave it to (Y/N), Rick'. Can you repeat that for me?" Babette looked across the street and back to me. "Hug him and say 'I'm sorry I took your toy and gave it to (Y/N), Rick'." I nodded, "Be careful. Go tell him, and maybe make him feel better, okay? He's upset." 

       Babette nodded and glided across the cement, hurriedly crossing the street as I'd taught her to do when I was younger. We'd always have to fight to get our supplies and hurriedly cross the street, something her memory had maintained. Her actions, as stilted as they were, were still adorable. The small robot ran all the way up the driveway and pulled Rick into what I knew was one of her famous bear hugs. They used to be my favorite when I was younger. 

        I watched as Rick sat up quickly, wiping his face and glancing down at the robot. I gave a small wave when he looked across the street before he glanced back down at the robot. I went about, rearranging my shelves so she could sit closer to Weebo. 

       I spun around when I felt my dress tugged upon, finding Babette standing behind me. She was really like a child in every way, now that I thought about it. "Mr. Rick said to tell you he's always gonna be alright, and that you should stop worrying about him already. Also, he wants you to stop working for now cebause it's not good for the baby." I laughed lightly when she said 'cebause', remembering she was programmed to talk like a very young child. That had been how I'd spoken, and I enjoyed the companionship of somebody that spoke like me. 

       I laughed and shook my head, going back to rearranging the shelves. Rick was back to slumping over his desk as I glanced over and I sighed. "Babette, go help Rick." Babette raced back across the street and I finished rearranging the shelf, allowing me to place Babette near Weebo.

       I sat in my desk chair now, looking at the portal gun. "Miss Addams," I looked to my side to see Babette, "Mr. Rick wants to tell you something." I furrowed my brow, seeing Rick behind Babette now. He held his flask in his hand, tucking it away quickly as Babette stared at him. 

       "Why do you urp keep sending that thing over?" I jumped, grabbing Babette. "Don't refer to Babette as a thing. She might have the intelligence of a nine year old, but she had paranoia equivalent to my own." Babette stood up on my desk, laughing now. "Only because eugh she's in AI mode or whatever." Babette shifted momentarily before she continued walking on the desk. I sighed, fixing some of the papers she was shifting.

       "I sent her over because you looked like you could use a hug, and I didn't feel like you would accept one from me." I stated, grabbing Babette once more. "Hug!" Her robotic voice sounded out as her cold arms wrapped around one of my own in what she referred to as a hug. Rick stared at Babette, the robot staring back momentarily. The robot hopped from my reach and ran around the garage, eventually sitting in front of the same pile of scraps and building something once more. "I'm urp fine without being a- eugh attacked by a-a-a child or whatever." 

       I sighed and grabbed a new sheet, writing down notes for Babette. I'd either have to improve her greatly or get rid of her. I couldn't keep her in the same mental setting this long, or it would grow tiring. Then there was the issue with her speech, and motor functions..

       "Then I'll stop sending her to help," I replied. "And I don't need you telling me when I can or can't work. I've already asked enough people to know how to take care of myself right now, and I know what's alright for the baby to handle." 

       I lifted Babette from the floor, "AI deactivate." I pressed the button once she reverted to 'assistant' mode, setting her near Weebo. "I don't know what you urp expect from me anymore," Rick mumbled. He spun and began walking from the garage, "Keep it a eugh fucking secret, tell them it's somebody else's, just don't urp expect me to be around much. You obviously want to urp take over, so go right ahead."

       I'd almost believe he was serious if his voice hadn't cracked, if he hadn't sniffed once more. "Why do you keep crying?" Rick paused and looked at the floor. "You never used to be like this. Go out and party more, go get drunk and screw some more of those girls you had. Be happy, be yourself again." I wasn't sure those were the right words to say, but at this point I wasn't sure it really mattered. 

       Rick's shoulders slumped, though they shook once more, and he very quickly fell onto his knees. I gasped, staring wide eyed, as his shoulders shook almost violently now. "Rick?!" I ran over to him, standing to his right side. 

       "Y-You're pregnant wit-with my.. m-my baby, an-an-and you hate m-me. Y-You're.. stuck carr-carrying my ba-b-b-baby, an-and I m-m-made you hate me." Rick inhaled quickly, his breathing shaky. "Y-You don't want t-t-to-o tell anybody, a-an-and I w-wanna tell ev-everybo-body. Y-You don't wa-want anything to do with me," Rick explained. He remained on the floor, sitting on his legs, and continued staring down. Constant droplets ran off his face. "I j-just wa-want to b-b-be there, an-and you d-d-don't want me to. I g-g-ge-get t-to be a d-dad, an-and you ha-hate me f-for it." Rick sobbed, "Do-Don't you? I put y-you here, an-and you hate m-me for it." Rick sniffled, wiping at his eyes with his lab coat. He drew in a few shaky breaths and steadied himself, standing slowly. He wiped at his eyes once more, sniffling repeatedly before he sighed heavily and grabbed his flask. "I'm g-going," he mumbled, taking a long drink. He sniffed once more and began walking from my garage. 

       Unintentionally, I sniffled as well, wandering over to my desk and wiping at my eyes. I stared at Babette, sitting on the shelf, and wondered if this was what my parents had gone through. Maybe this was why they were always at work, because it was the only time they could get along. Because, just like every time Rick and I worked peacefully in the garage, they could lose themselves in missions and cooperate. That's why the love ran out of their relationship. Because it was never there to begin with, or they simply couldn't get along. Maybe that's why they were never around. 

       I don't want to repeat the cycle, I don't want to end up like them. I don't want to wind up like that, forced to put on a show for my child and abandon them for months on end. I worked almost the same job they did, did almost the same things they'd done. I was repeating the cycle.

       I wandered over to Babette and horribly covered up a sob, staring at the shelf holding the toy. I was repeating the cycle, I was going to wind up repeating it with my own child, all because I'm too stubborn to admit that I still cared for their father.