Broadcast: Chapter 26 - Breaking News from Hawaii

Hayley waddled over the bed closest to the bathroom and plopped down, the whole mattress shaking when her heavy frame landed on it. "What?" Hayley said, narrowing her green eyes at Thomas' nervous look. "It's not like we're going to switch to a different room. I think we can handle sharing a space for a few days, yeah? We can be adults?"

"Yeah, we can be adults," Thomas said, a bitter note in his voice as he slung his bag onto the other bed and stretched out his back. He was still attracted to Hayley but he did not like that nasty tone she was so fond of. "But I don't think I'm crazy to have assumed we'd get separate rooms."

"I never underestimate how stingy PGNT can be at times," Hayley sighed, fanning out her skin with the hem of her shirt. Being jumbo-sized pregnant meant sweat could form in lots of new, fun crevices now. "My first year, they actually made me pay to laminate my own ID and press pass, if you can believe that." She turned to Thomas, seeing him try to focus on unpacking his stuff. "Come on, you can't ignore me the whole time."

"If you're going to be shitty and ask if I can be an adult and stuff like that, I can," Thomas replied, feeling his limbs start to tremble. Talking back to Hayley like that – was he crazy?

Hayley clenched her jaw and let out a small breath. "You're right, I'm sorry. I agree this is an awkward situation but I think we can both, y'know, get through it. Besides, we should get used to seeing one another. If you're dating Jaimee, I assume you'll be over plenty."

"Jaimee and I aren't...we broke it off," Thomas said, his voice getting a little more sullen. Hayley's green eyes opened wide. He broke up with her?, she thought. "Jaimee...decided we should see other people." Ah, that makes a lot more sense.

"That makes a lot more-" Hayley started to say, stopping herself before she could let her inner thoughts come out. "I'm sorry dude. You two seemed like a good fit in a weird way."

"A good fit? How?" Thomas said, turning his head fast to look at Hayley, clearly looking annoyed. But as soon as he looked back at Hayley, laying there on the hotel bed, he could not keep from blushing. One hand cradling her truly preposterous pregnant belly, the other rested very near her low cut top and her bountiful valley of cleavage. Her face was gentle as she tried to be nice to him, her green eyes glistening and her red lips just barely open, a few locks of her fiery red hair falling against her forehead.

That pristine expression vanished quickly as Hayley's face contorted, trying to think of something to say to justify her "good fit" comment. Obviously I was just saying that bullshit to try and make you feel better and be nice! Of course you two don't fit well together! Hayley screamed internally. "I dunno, she is always a little too nice and you always need that encouragement. Plus pairing such a bruiser like Jaimee with a little guy like you balances out."

"Little guy, huh?" Thomas murmured to himself as he looked back at his bag. "Guess this is why you don't give out compliments too much."

"Hey, c'mon, you know what I meant," Hayley said, hopping up to sit straight, stirring the fetuses inside her belly to start kicking and swimming. She winced and rubbed her smooth, tanned stomach as she leaned forward. "Look at me. I'm not putting any hours in at the gym either. And when I say little, I wasn't insinuating-"

"I get it. Leave it alone," Thomas snapped again, clearly flustered. Hayley wished she could. Thinking about Thomas'...equipment made her endlessly curious, drifting back to those weird fantasies and images of her and Thomas wrapped up in bed together his hand on her pregnant belly and hers on his chest. "I appreciate you trying not to make this awkward but it...it is, so let's just be honest."

"Fine, you want to be honest, let's be honest," Hayley said, crossing her arms against her bouncy breasts. "You sabotaged my career because you have the hots for your pregnant boss and you only feel guilty because I'm pregnant now too and you think that's sexy."

"Okay, first of all, my 'sabotage' was just showing that you were totally unprofessional on your last assignment to Hawaii," Thomas started to say, anger rising in his voice, something Hayley had never heard coming from Thomas. "And second...you know what, never mind. You're right." He slumped down on the bed and held his head in his hands. "I was shitty because I got nervous around attractive women. I'm such a loser."

Don't feel sorry for him. He tried to fuck your shit up just to appease a married woman! A married woman who is a total bitch to you, by the way Hayley thought to herself. But her anger toward Lucy subsided quickly as she remembered their time in bed together. Belly rubbing against belly, sucking on each other's breasts, watching her workplace rival writhe as Hayley sunk one finger inside her birth canal. "Look...what's done is done. You took your mea culpa and moved to another station. And Jaimee broke up with you and that has got to suck so that almost makes us even." Hayley bit her lip as Thomas looked away. "Jaimee is a...great girl."

"Yeah," Thomas replied, not adding the detail that Jaimee only broke up with him because she knew he still harbored feelings for Hayley. "So...you and I are going to be able to work together this trip?"

"Sure," Hayley said, a little smile forming. "We'll apologize to that preggo island witch doctor or whatever and then spend the rest of the trip maxin' and relaxin' in Hawaii. Hey, I'll bet I can even get you laid!"

"Right," Thomas scoffed.

"Ah, I see a smile forming," Hayley grinned, pointing one finger at Thomas. "You know I can do it."

"Yeah, yeah," Thomas said, trying to hide his goofy grin. 

"Let's see it. Let's see that big smile," Hayley said, getting off of her bed and bringing her finger closer to Thomas' mouth. "Let's see a big smile that says 'Hayley, please get me laid.'"

Just before she touched the corner of his lips, Thomas whipped his hand out and caught her wrist. "Hayley, please-" he began to say, freezing up when he saw how close they were together now, especially the proximity of her pregnant belly to his lap. "-g...get me laid."

"I'll do my best," Hayley squeaked out, slithering out of Thomas' grip and waddling backwards. "I'm going to...use the bathroom quick and then we can go. All these babies on my bladder plus a long plane ride did not pair well together."

---

Rose strutted through the PGNT offices, a big smile across her pink lips, a rosy glow on her chipmunk cheeks, and the usual bounce in her big blond hair. As she waddled, one hand playfully rubbed the top of her large pregnant swell while the other swung back and forth, clutching a blank folder thick with documents. Everyone she passed by got an extra grin and even a wink to some of the top talents. "Hiya Kirstie."

"Hi," Kirstie said, unable to resist smiling back at Rose. She was just so...so pretty. How could you not smile like a dope knowing there was someone so pretty in the world? Plus, Kirstie was in a much better mood since Jasmine's little ceremony managed to undo the "pregnancy curse" she supposedly had and was back to being her normal, unbumpy figure. "Having a good day, Rose?"

"Oh, just peachy," Rose said, adding in a little laugh. "You?"

"Fine. I'm heading out to cover that concussion story," Kirstie said, putting her bag over her shoulder.

"Yeah, about that hon...we're getting some advertising interest from the league and this kinda story...they won't think we're doing them any favors, is all I'm sayin'," Rose said, pouting her bottom lip a bit. The sight of it made Kirstie shiver.

"I-I get that," Kirstie gulped.

"Here, this is another lead on a story you might find interestin'," Rose chirped, pulling a print-out from her folder and handing it to Kirstie. "It's still about football, I know how much you love football, but it's a little more fun. And the station can make some money while we're at it. Sound nice?"

Kirstie did not want to take on what amounted to a fluff piece – the concussion story definitely had legs and could get the station some real attention – but one look into Rose's eyes and everything just became simple. "Sure, I can look it over," Kirstie said, a giggle of her own escaping her lips as she took the paper. "Thank you."

"Oh anytime dear," Rose said, gently touching Kirstie on the forearm as she waddled down the hall into a big office. Inside, Vivian was hard at work, typing away and sifting through various documents. "Look at you!"

"Yeah, thanks for giving me a break yesterday. Getting some sleep really gave me new energy," Vivian said, looking up at Rose and giving a shy smile.

"Not that. Look at you," Rose said with a coo, taking Vivian's hand and helping her stand up. Vivian blushed, the size of her pregnant belly accentuated by how tiny she was. She also had on a new blouse Rose lent her, which showed off her new pregnant figure in a flattering way. "You look so cute."

"Thank you," Vivian said, running one nervous hand through her mop of black hair. "I saw myself in the mirror this morning and I couldn't believe it was me. I mean, there's this huge tummy for one thing but I also..." She leaned in to whisper. "I have boobs now. That's very new."

Rose laughed loudly, her own J cups shaking in her maternity bra. "You'll get used to them and learn the ups and downs, mostly ups. Now, what have you been learning?"

"Oh, right!" Vivian said, stumbling to sit back down into her chair, rubbing her twitching belly quickly. "The pattern of pregnancies around the city is very...random is the wrong word. They follow clear lines, like someone deliberately picked little spots. But where those spots are is kind of random."

"Interesting," Rose cooed. "Are different women along in the same, y'know, size and whatnot in their pregnancies?"

"Everyone looks like they're...full term, although that doesn't seem like fitting language anymore. It's less about how far along the fetuses are but how many of them each woman has," Vivian said, pointing to a second map she drew out. "I think from there, we can figure out what's been impacted by these pregnancies the longest."

"And it looks from this map like our little office is one of the earliest sites," Rose chuckled.

"Just about. Also, I have been mapping out the time line based on my own pregnancy and it seems like we're doubling every week. I topped out with four babies last week so in two days, we'll be pregnant with octuplets. Though with Lucy...that's a bit harder to measure," Vivian said. "After she was already pregnant and had those weird jumps."

"Jumps?" Rose said. "The growth spurts?"

"Yeah, you're in HR so you would have only heard about it. We were all in the meeting room together and suddenly, boom, super pregnant!" Vivian said, stopping to touch her own belly. "Although I'm bigger now than she was then, so..."

Rose ran one finger against her pink lip, thinking. "Was everyone there? Even Hayley? I thought she was on assignment."

"Ah...yeah, Hayley was back by then." Rose's eyes flashed for an instant, her smile getting sharper. "Back and...bossing me around," Vivian said, her voice getting a little sullen. "Why?"

"Shh, no reason," Rose said, cupping Vivian's cheeks. "I'm sorry she was mean to you. No one here appreciates what you can do."

Vivian trembled as Rose gazed into her eyes. "N-no, they don't."

"Well, keep being promising and that can all change," Rose said, planting a kiss on Vivian's cheek and patting her on the belly. "Keep up the good work. We can talk details over dinner tonight?"

"S-sure!" Vivian squealed, her face burning up with a blush. Rose giggled and left the private office, delicately waddling through PGNT with more of her "stories" to hand out. From across the newsroom, she spotted Wadsworth and flashed him a wink.

"Hmph," Wadsworth said, crossing his arms and murmuring to himself. "Missy, that is not going to work on me." He narrowed his eyes as she bounced along into Derek's office. "But just what are you up to?"

---

Jaimee waddled quietly around the apartment. It seemed so empty now. Hayley was not running around, complaining about work or some guy or some girl with her usual red-headed passion. And no Thomas...Jaimee had started to settle into the idea of a steady boyfriend and was planning all the things they would do together. That part of her schedule was now gone and Jaimee was not quite sure how to fill it.

The door to Rachel's room opened abruptly and out walked the third roommate, her raven black hair fluttering around her as she went to the fridge. Jaimee sighed. Was she that desperate for something to do? "Hi Rachel. Good to have you back."

"Back? Oh, right," Rachel nodded. "I was away, wasn't I?"

Jaimee let out a long, silent sigh. "For like a month, yeah."

"Thought so. Sometimes I forget what day it is," Rachel nodded, pulling out some eggs from the fridge and getting them into a frying pan, then grabbing a packet of bacon.

"Did she forget what time of day it is too?" Jaimee wondered under her breath. "Making a snack there, Rach?"

"I guess so. I have had this strange hunger lately for extra food lately," Rachel shrugged, turning to look at Jaimee. The fit pregnant woman tried not to make too much a scene but she knew her eyes had to be bugging out. Rachel had a prominent bulge forming out of her stomach, one that closely resembled a pregnant swell. She was not yet at the kind of size that might suggest a woman at full term but...she was not far away. Jaimee remembered the gradual progression of Hayley's pregnant belly and tried to mentally clock that rate of development. By those estimates, Rachel was about a day away from looking ready to pop with one baby. But given how Hayley (and who was she kidding, Jaimee and half the women in the city too) had continued to grow, she was not sure "full term" was a classification that fit this situation.

"Um, Rachel, did you think you might be...pregnant?" Jaimee asked, gesturing one finger at Rachel's middle.

"Oh this? Yes, of course I'm pregnant," Rachel said, patting her sandy-skinned stomach. "I've caught the pregnancy curse."

"The...curse?" Jaimee repeated back.

"It's a long story. I won't bore you," Rachel said, returning to her late night breakfast.

"The one time you want to keep it brief," Jaimee grumbled, shaking her head. She reached one hand into her pockets, made extremely tight thanks to the added volume in her ass and thighs, and called up Gigi. "Hey, G, I figured since we're trying to bury the hatchet, would you want to go out tonight? I know we're both pregnant but we could figure out something fun to do. Okay, awesome, bye!"

"You're going out tonight?" Rachel asked, finishing up with her meal.

"Yes, a friend of mine from work. Well, more of a frenemy but we'll see," Jaimee chuckled. "I'll try not to wake you up when I get b-"

Rachel scooped the food off of the sizzling pan and swallowed it whole, taking a big gulp. "Cool, give me time to change."

"You're...coming too?" Jaimee asked, her brown eyes getting wide with concern. "And wasn't that hot?"

"Yes and yes," Rachel nodded, strutting into her bedroom and returning a few minutes later with a black crop top that clung tight to her breasts and showed off all of her burgeoning belly, plus a pair of bright white pants that were like a second skin, giving off the full impression of her bubbly ass. "There, ready to go."

"Guess so," Jaimee sighed. "This will be...something."