"If you have Chi-Rho's baby, then I shouldn't conceive a child with Cheriour," Faye said with a frown, tapping her pencil against the elaborate chart she had drawn out thoughtfully. "Considering our Ecto-biological relationships, and the need for genetic variation in the next generation if we want to maintain a stable, non-inbred race, that is."

"Um..." Chrysi winced, frowning thoughtfully. "Um, maybe I could have Donovan's baby? Or Wess's, or Sparks's! Then..." She stared down at her toes, scuffing them against the floor in a manner that could only be called morose. "Then you coud have Cheriour's baby. And be happy."

"Chrysi," Faye sighed. "Chrysi, happiness isn't the main issue here. The issue at hand is the survival of our race. The survival of our race is what matters most."

"But you should have the baby of the person you love the most!"

"Because you can't?" Faye immediately regretted her words. Chrysi looked as though she had been slapped. "Chrysi, no, I..."

"...you're right." Chrysi blinked back the extra shine to her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I can't have a baby with the person I love the most. Or the one that's most important to me, since Cheriour turned out to be my big brother."

Faye was confused. "Wait, you mean...if not Cheriour, then who...?"

Chrysi slumped onto the couch next to the other girl, tipping over miserably until she was curled up with her head in Faye's lap.

"Why couldn't you have been born a guy?" She mumbled. "Or me? It isn't fair."

Faye, for once, was struck utterly speechless.