Chapter 11: Summer Break Begins

Aaron and Smolder returned home from school on the last day of school for their Freshman Year of High School. Aaron and Smolder saw Marissa sitting on the couch, her hands on her belly.

"Hey, Aunt Marissa," Aaron said. "How you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm doing fine, Aaron," Marissa said. "Two months pregnant and already, I'm starting to show a bump." She then sighed.

"Wait a minute," Smolder said. "One o'clock. Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I'm on maternity leave," Marissa said. "I make the rules of my fashion company. So, I made a specific rule for pregnant people in my company. After a woman is pregnant for at least two months, then it's time for that woman to be on maternity leave until they have their child. I've been pregnant for two months out of nine."

"Nine months?" Smolder asked. "Huh. That's longer than how long dragons have babies."

"How long does that take?" Aaron asked.

"Five months inside the womb, and another month for the egg to hatch," Smolder responded. "At least it'll be easier than you human women do it."

"It might be different for you now," Marissa said. "You're part human, now."

"Right," Smolder said. "My physiology altered might make some changes to my chances of having a baby."

"And with Aunt Marissa having a baby, we're gonna have to do some babysitting when she and Liam are both working," Aaron said. "Good thing we got a good grade on that baby assignment when Sparky came here."

"Speaking of grades, how were your final grades?" Marissa asked. Aaron and Smolder pulled something out of their bags. They showed their final grades of the school year.

Aaron's grades were pretty great. Health: A. Science: A-. PE: B+. Woodshop: A+. Spanish: A-. English: A. Math: A+. History: A. Computer Typing: A+. Art: A-. Smolder actually did better than she did before she had in the first semester. Health: A-. Science: B. PE: A+. Home Economics: A+. Spanish: A. English: B+. Math: B+. History: A-. Computer Typing: A. And Art: A-.

"Not bad, you two," Marissa said. "I'm so proud of both of you. So, did you two eat yet?"

"Nah, we were waiting to get home to eat," Smolder said.

"Well, we should go out to eat," Marissa said. "Let's go over to Mel's in Universal Studios. While we're there, we can get your work uniforms."

"Oh, right," Smolder said. "Summer jobs."

A week later, at the Mel's Drive-In at Universal Studios, Smolder, in human form, was taking orders from the customers there. She was typing the orders of the current customers.

"Anything else?" Smolder asked. The customer shook his head. "Okay. We got a Crispy Chicken Sandwich Combo with Curly Fries, a side of Ranch, a Mel's Famous Burger Combo with no tomatoes, and two chocolate milkshakes, one with no toppings." The customer nodded. "That'll be fifty-four dollars and forty-one cents." The customer handed her his credit card and she inserted it into the chip reader. The machine beeped and said, "Here's your card, and here's your number. Number 458." Then the customer took the receipt and headed for an open table. Smolder then sighed.

"You're doing well for your first week, Miss Drake," the manager of the diner said, walking up to her. "You're lucky your boyfriend's aunt got the two of you jobs here in my diner."

"Meh, normally, I would've been relaxing at home," Smolder said. "But, I guess it's not so bad. Working here for sixteen fifty-two an hour."

"You and Aaron work here from 8 to 3:30, with a half hour unpaid lunch," the manager said. "You two get a good pay for the summer." Smolder then saw Aaron cleaning out a table. He was working as a busboy. One family left that table and he was currently wiping the table.

"You doing alright, Aaron?" Smolder asked.

Aaron walked towards the counter and said, "At least this place is air conditioned. Better being in here than outside."

"Yeah," the manager said. "Well, time to get back to work. You got a customer."

Smolder then sighed. She then faced the customer and said, "Welcome to Mel's. How can I..." She then went surprised of who was standing on the other side of the country. "Maddie?!"

"Hey, Smolder," Maddie said. "How have you been?"

"Good," Smolder said. "I thought you were on a cruise."

"We're docked in Miami for a week," Maddie said. "And I wanted to see how you were doing here. Although, I was not expecting you to be here."

"Yeah, working for the summer here," Smolder said. "So far, it's been alright." She then typed on the computer. "So, what can I get you?"

"I'll just have the Crispy Chicken Fingers Combo," Maddie said. "With Sweet and Sour sauce."

"Okay," Smolder said. "So is it just you?"

"Nope," came the voice of a man. It was Maddie's dad. "I'll have a Big Bopper Burger Combo, extra bacon."

"Okay," Smolder said, typing on the computer. "What else?"

A woman walked up to the counter. She was Maddie's mom, who said, "And I'll have the California Cobb Crispy Chicken Salad Combo."

"Okay, one Crispy Chicken Fingers Combo, one Big Bopper Burger Combo with extra bacon and one California Cobb Crispy Chicken Salad Combo," Smolder said, reading back the order. She then brought out three cups. "Here are your cups... and that will be sixty dollars and forty-seven cents." Maddie's dad handed Smolder a card for her to put into the chip reader. "Okay. Here you go." She handed him back his card and the number. "Enjoy your meals." Then Maddie and her parents walked away.

It was their lunch break. Aaron and Smolder were sitting at a booth, eating lunches they brought from home. Both of them were having BLTs and chips that they packed from home.

"At least we get to eat our food here," Aaron said. "It's just for the summer."

"Yeah, that's true," Smolder said. "But working here isn't so bad. Five days of seven hours of work here. And getting paid for it. It's not so bad. What are we gonna do with all the money we save?"

The manager walked up to the two and said, "Well, you could use that money to help around the house. Buy groceries, help with paying bills, or even save up for a car. That is if you want to keep working here on weekends and after school time."

"After school jobs?" Smolder asked. "Is that a thing?"

"Yeah, lots of kids your age have jobs," the manager said. "That way, you can help around the house, or, if you have your own car, pay for the insurance and gas."

"Yeah, that's true," Aaron said. "Remember our road trip to New York on Christmas?"

"Oh, yeah," Smolder said. "That was a long drive."

"Well, at least you know what you will be able to do in the future," the manager said. "We'll talk about your employment during the school time that fits into your schedule."

"Thank you," Aaron said. "Perhaps if we do work here on a school day, we might have to work on a day that neither of us have a game to attend."

"Good call," the manager said, walking off. Aaron and Smolder then continued to eat their lunches during their break.

Aaron and Smolder had returned home to the house after their day at work. Both of them were exhausted.

"Oh, my Dragon Lord, that last customer took forever!" Smolder said. She then went over to the couch and laid on it. "I can't believe that he held me up on trying to figure out what he wanted."

"At least we don't have work tomorrow, Smolder," Aaron said. "We only work Mondays through Fridays."

"Yeah, that's true," Smolder said. "We've been only working there for like three weeks."

"At least we got paid," Aaron said.

"Yeah, that's true," Smolder said. "Good thing we stopped at the bank to get them cashed out on the way home."

"You're welcome for that," Liam said. "Let's go see how well Marissa's feeling." Then they all went upstairs. In the Master Bedroom, Marissa was laying on the bed, her hands caressing her enlarged stomach. Aaron, Smolder and Liam walked into the room. "Hey, honey. How are you doing?"

"I've been better," Marissa said. "Being pregnant for 12 weeks has been a lot to handle." She then brought out an envelope. "And, I went to the ultrasound today. And, I've gotten a picture of what's inside here." She then showed the picture of what was inside her womb. In the picture, there were not one, but two babies forming within her womb.

"Am... Am I seeing this right?" Liam asked.

"That's right, honey," Marissa said. "We're having twins."

"Tw-twins?" Liam asked. He almost fainted and fell off the bed, but Aaron and Smolder, both in dragon form, caught him and pulled him back onto the bed.

"Whoa, take it easy, Liam," Aaron said.

"Hey, Aaron, how come you don't have a twin sibling?" Smolder asked.

"Sometimes it skips a generation," Aaron said. "My Aunt Zoe isn't a twin."

"Yeah, that's true," Marissa said. "And neither is Sparky." She then thought about it. "Probably. We don't know for sure."

"Who knows?" Smolder asked. "Sparky just might be our first and he somehow ended up in that time of Equestria somehow. Who knows how that will happen?"

"Well, I guess we're gonna need to prepare a room for the babies," Liam said. "This is a big house."

"Yeah, that's true," Smolder said. "I'm gonna go take a shower downstairs. I've had a long day." Smolder then went out of the room to go downstairs.

Smolder was in the shower in her part of the house. She was in human form because that was what form she was in when she was working at Mel's. Just then, someone knocked on the door.

"I'm in the shower!" Smolder called out.

"It's me, Ocellus!" came Ocellus's voice. Smolder then turned off the shower, grabbed a bathrobe, put on bath slippers and headed for the door. Smolder then opened the door and saw Ocellus on the other side.

"Hey, Ocellus," Smolder said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine," Ocellus said. "Why... are you in human form?"

"Because I had work today," Smolder said. "Marissa wanted me and Aaron to get summer jobs this year."

"Oh, good call," Ocellus said. "That way, both of you will experience the life of being an adult."

"Plus, it'll help pay the bills around here when Marissa is pregnant."

"Oh, so that's what I was smelling," Ocellus said. "Motherly love." She then sniffed the air and sighed. "That feels so good." She then saw Smolder going into the bedroom. "Why are you going into the bedroom?"

"To change into some clothes so I wouldn't have to go out in only a bathrobe and slippers when I'm human," Smolder responded before closing the door. She then said on the other side of the door, "I'll be out there soon."

Ocellus just looked towards the door, waiting for Smolder to come out. After a few moments, Smolder finally came out, in dragon form.

"Alright," Smolder said. "So, how's the school doing?"

"Pretty good," Ocellus said. "We got a lot of new students. And not just ponies, but also dragons, Griffons, changelings, hippogriffs, yaks, even buffalo and Kirin."

"Whoa, cool," Smolder said. "Although, after seeing that one episode involving that species, the school better get update their fireproof spell."

"That was the first thing Starlight did this year," Ocellus said. "Now, we're on summer break, and I came here to see how you and Aaron are doing. Although, I wasn't expecting you to be working for the summer."

"Meh, not what I was going for either," Smolder said. "But, it'll keep me occupied. And Marissa's not up for trips because of her pregnancy."

"That makes sense," Ocellus said. "Pregnant females might not be as mobile as they were when they weren't. Imagine how Twilight must've felt when she was pregnant with Nyx. Must've been hard for her to do her duties when she had Nyx growing in her belly.

"Yeah, I guess that's why Marissa went on maternity leave," Smolder said. "Well, I'm gonna help Liam prepare dinner. Care to join us?"

"Alright," Ocellus said. "As long as you have something vegetarian." Then the two headed into the main part of the house so Smolder could help Liam with cooking dinner.

Author's Note

Well, Summer began, and Aaron and Smolder are spending it working at a Mel's Drive-In at Universal Studios. They might have to be working through the rest of the years of High School. But, it would be for the greater good. Especially with Marissa having twins. See you all next time.