Perks
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The diner, for once, was packed completely wall-to-wall with customers, only some of which were there to actually eat. Most simply wanted a place to duck away from the sudden and violent cold front blowing outside. As sunny as the sky was, the biting air and wind chill was too much to enjoy the sunlight, so most pedestrians began to migrate toward the closest place where they could get a warm drink or a hot meal. For some of them, it was Antonio's diner.

Georgia and Darwin sat in the same seat near the window they had occupied when they first learned of Daph's successful conception. With their first impressions of an empty, quiet, old-style dive, the two of them hadn't expected anything close to the crowd that piled inside by the minute. Darwin had his glasses dangling from his fingers as he read through the menu to occupy himself, tapping his foot on the ground. He sat stiffly, as if trying to disappear into the laminated menu in front of him, his paw lightly tapping against the floor. It wasn't the kind of place he was used to, especially when it was so packed full.

Georgia sat in the chair opposite, spending much of her time looking out the window and occasionally glancing around the room for the one squirrel they were there to see. She wasn't a stranger to street-side diners. Some of her favorite hidden-gems around the city looked like a crime scene, at best. But she was becoming steadily more anxious as the crowds continued to chatter and bustle uncomfortably close together. She kept her eyes gazing out the window, a facade of calmness over her face, but her tail twitching wildly and uncomfortably behind her chair.

With a sigh, Darwin abandoned the menu to the middle of the table, not having found anything that piqued his appetite. Glancing up, he noticed his wife still gazing dreamily out the window. Her left hand drummed lightly in front of him, but her right gripped the outside edge of the table like a vice as she tried to expend her anxiety in any way she could. Darwin looked quietly at her, Georgia not yet noticing his attention. Without a word, he slid his hand across the table and beneath hers, taking it in his palm and rubbing a small, comforting circle on the back of her hand with his thumb. Georgia glanced down at his hand entwined with hers, relaxing at the sight of his light-brown fur, a shade of which she could spot from a mile away. Looking up at her husband's face, she smiled, releasing her grip from the table, but still keeping it wrapped into a fist.

“Sorry,” she said, slightly ashamed. “I'm okay.”
“You don't have to apologize,” Darwin said.
“Okay...” she shook her head and took a deep, controlled breath. “This was my idea, anyway. I just didn't expect it to be so crowded in here.” She released her fist the thumb back her hair from her face, smiling sheepishly and looking away while she shrugged. “I'm just a little anxious, that's all.”
“We can go...” Darwin offered.
“Not yet, we still haven't seen Daph,” Georgia shook her head, emphatically.
“I thought I saw her tail sticking up out of the crowd a few times,” Darwin said, smirking.
“I'm surprised we haven't a least heard her by now,” Georgia said, continuing the joke with a laugh of her own. Their smiles eventually faded into silence.

“I can't believe she still works here,” Darwin said, looking around the ceiling of the diner.
“Daph has never quit anything in her life,” Georgia said. “...Even when she probably should have.”
“I don't think it's safe,” Darwin shook his head. “The stress on her could affect the baby.”
“She never seemed stressed about this job, even before the baby,” Georgia said, entwining a finger into her hair idly. “In some weird way, I think she likes it. The girl loves a challenge, if nothing else.”
“It's not about the 'challenge',” Darwin sniffed. “Not when she's carrying my daughter.”
“C'mon, lay off of her,” Georgia said, dropping her hand to the table. “We've got a checkup next week with Tara. If there's a problem, she'll tell us.”

“There shouldn't even be a problem if she just did what the doctor told her.”
“She is, Darwin! She's exercising, she's sticking to the diet, she's going to checkups on time, even the ones we can't make it to.”
Darwin said nothing, frowning and flicking his ears and turned to stare out the window like Georgia was doing a moment ago. Georgia grumbled, knowing she'd have to once again fight against her husband's thick head when it came to what he actually wanted to say versus what came out of his mouth.
“You're scared...” Georgia said, gently.
“I'm not scared. I'm just...let me think of the right word.”
“No, you're scared.”
Darwin blinked, shifting in his chair, unwilling to admit weakness, but not denying it, either. Georgia sighed, sliding her hand across the table and wrapping her pinky around his.
“I'm in the same boat as you are, sweetie. I know. But the difference is that you can't bring yourself to just trust Daph to take care of the baby, like I do.”

“...How can I do that?” Darwin said, shaking his head. “It's like...I'm leaving my daughter with a babysitter before I've even met her.”
“I know...I know, I know, I know,” Georgia nodded, gripping his hand with each syllable. “But what gets me through it is knowing that Daph isn't just some babysitter. I trust her, she's reliable and generous, I've known her my entire life. I believe in her and I'm trying so, so hard to get you to feel the same.”
“I can only take your word on it for so long,” Darwin said, turning back to Georgia.
“Then why don't you spend time with her?” Georgia suggested. “I don't think you've ever hung out without me around. Get to know her.”

“I...I just don't have the time,” Darwin said, using his nails to comb through his straight hair as a nervous tic. “It's taking all the free time at I have just to spend time with you at home without coding.”
“I can miss a day or two,” Georgia said, smiling. “Think of it as spending time with your daughter, not with Daph. I mean, technically,” Georgia chuckled, “you will be.”
“I'll...we'll see,” Darwin said, unconvincingly. Georgia rolled her eyes and sat back.
“Do I need to trick the both of you into spending time together?” She leaned farther back, glancing up the nearest row between the tables. “Where is she, anyway? She's not exactly hard to miss anymore.”
“I haven't seen her since the last time we had her over for dinner,” Darwin shrugged, picking up the menu again.
“You'll be surprised,” Georgia said, craning her neck around people to try and locate Daph. She blinked, then turned back to Darwin. “Was that when you gave her those cooking lessons?”

“I think so.”
“That was months ago.”
“Was it?” Darwin blinked, then took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Sorry...Time's been lost on me for a while.”
“What ever happened to working less?”
“It's a big government contract. All the devs need to work full shifts to get it done on time.” He put his glasses back on and glanced up to meet a frowning Georgia. “It'll be done by the time the baby is due!” He defended. “And even if it isn't, I applied for time off months ago.”

Georgia sighed and shook her head. Suddenly, her left ear twitched, swiveling to the side at the sound of some very familiar laughter breaking over the sound of customers. Her head turned with it, her eyes lighting up.
“There she is!” Georgia said, brightening. Down the line of tables, next to a booth at the very end, stood Daph, chatting animatedly with a table of old deer ladies who were more than likely tourists. While dressed in her normal work clothes from the last time they'd seen her, she also wore an apron around her neck that was draped over her belly, tenting it out far in front of her. As she waited for the old ladies to decide, she idly rested her hands on it, rubbing her stomach affectionately with a free hand.

“Oooohhhhhhhh…,” Georgia cooed, flipping her tail around in excitement. “She's getting so big now!”
As if on cue, one of the old does gestured to Daph's belly, to which she nodded happily and laughed. The table took turns reaching over to give Daph's stomach a pat or a rub, smiling and nodding to one another. As they busied themselves, Daph glanced around and caught eyes with Georgia. Her eyes widening, she took one of her hands off her lower back and waved. Pointing to her and Darwin, Daph explained something to the women, prompting them to glance at one another in concern and confusion. Taking the last of their order, Daph wrote it down on her notepad and chittered happily as she shuffled off down the aisle, leaving the old does to gossip amongst each other.

Daph skipped by three tables of customers that had sat down before Georgia and Darwin just to make it to their table. She stood over it and pulled out her notepad, but that was the only professional thing she did.
“What'th up, fuckerth?” Daph said, quietly. Darwin glanced up from the menu at the sound of her voice and found himself face-to-face with her protruding, healthy six-month baby bump nearly prodding him in the face. His mouth dropped open slightly as he saw her, his vision traveling up her round body until they met eyes. Daph chuckled to herself and put her hands on her hips.

“Admiring your handiwork?” Daph teased, holding her belly from beneath with one hand. Darwin's ears twitched, his face flushing under his fur. He crossed his legs under the table in a move he hoped wouldn't too obviously draw attention to what he was trying to hide.
“You're getting so bigDaph!” Georgia squealed, reaching over and prodding her friend in the stomach. She slapped her paws against the floor excitedly as she pulled Daph closer to get a better feel of her baby-filled middle. “Look at your tummy!”
“I am, dude,” Daph said, rolling her eyes. “I have to every day. It ain't like I forgot it wath there.”
“But you look so good!” Georgia said, her voice rising in pitch with every word, high enough that a pair of canine customers in the doorway glanced in her direction with concern. “You look...You look like a...a...a...I don't know! Pregnant!” She pulled in Daph for a hug, pressing her face against her belly like a furry pillow.
“Fuck, dude, calm your tits,” Daph said, patting Georgia's head awkwardly as she tried to pull away. “I thought I wath gonna be the one with the crazy hormoneth.”

“Every time I see you, you're bigger than last time,” Georgia sighed, nuzzling her face against Daph's stomach. “It's how I know my baby is growing safe and healthy.”
“Or, yknow,” Daph said, sarcastically. “You could athk the doctor about it.”
“Not the same,” Georgia said. She put her ear against Daph's belly and began to mutter and whisper encouragements to her daughter inside.
“You thee what I gotta put up with?” Daph said to Darwin, pointing to his wife still latched around her waist. “It'th hard enough to put up with the baby on the inthide without having to keep away the mom on the outthide.”
“You called me 'mom,'” Georgia breathed, her eyes closed as she continued to listen into Daph's stomach.
“The only thing you're gonna hear ith my fat, hungry ass,” Daph said. She pried off Georgia's arms and attempted to physically push her back into her seat. “C'mon, goddammit, visitation hourth are over.”

“Noooooooo…” Georgia pleaded, clawing at the air in front of Daph's belly. “I want my baby!”
“Give it eighteen yearth and you'll be wishin' I could take her back,” Daph sighed. She glanced over to the other end of the table, where Darwin was still gazing into her belly like a crystal ball. “How ya doin, Big Papa?” Daph nodded to him. “Thee anything you like?”
“Huh-Wha-?” He mouthed, snapping out of his trance. “Wha-Uh...Do I…?”
“On the menu, bro,” Daph said, pointing to the laminated paper abandoned on the table. Darwin blinked, then scrambled to pick it up, only to continue staring at a single spot on the page.
“...I don't know yet,” he admitted after a moment of silence, dropping the menu.
“It'th cool,” Daph shrugged, taking out her notepad and hovering her pen above it. “S'long as I have thith out, it thtill lookth like I'm working.”
“I can't get over it,” Georgia said, resting her head in her hands and gazing at Daph's stomach. “She's just getting so big, so fast.”

“It'th not like she'th ever hungry in there,” Daph said. “I'm chowin' down on all that health food every half hour and I'm thtill goin' to bed hungry. All that energy'th goin straight to her.”
“But you're sticking to your diet, right?” Darwin said, finally starting to shake away his surprise.
“Oh hell yeah,” Daph nodded. “I'm even goin a little over with snakth and stuff. I don't think I've ever eaten thith much in my whole life.”
“How do you feel?” Georgia asked from the other side of the table.

“Hungry,” Daph said. “Like, all the goddamn time, fuckin' hungry. Baby keepth thtealing all my food.” She paused, scratching the side of her belly with the tip of her pen. “But yknow, other than that...not too bad. Kinda good, actually. All the websiteth online talk about being pregnant like it'th the fuckin wortht thing in the goddamn world, that it'th like fuckin misery all the time, but I'm kinda enjoyin' it. It'th weird, but it'th like a good weird.” Daph ran her fingers through her hair and slicked it back, then rubbed the fur on her arms down. “All my fur and hair feelth really nice and I feel thoft everywhere. I'm not alwayth comfortable, I guess, but that'th kinda part of it, yknow? It'th like a little bit of a workout all the time, and I love working out. And...ok, yknow, I'm gonna thay it.”

Daph turned to the side and pulled the apron tighter to better show the roundness of her belly in profile. “I like the belly! I think it lookth cute! I look good with it and I like havin' it!”

“You really do, though,” Georgia nodded. She reached over to try and put another hand on her stomach, but Daph calmly slid out of her reach. She pouted and dropped her hand on the table, then her eyes lit up. “Next time I'm off, we're getting you maternity outfits!”
“Uh...” Daph blinked, then frowned and shook her head. “Nah. No way. I ain't wearin' that shit.”
“What's wrong with it?” Georgia protested. “There's all kinds of clothes, don't just write all of it off!”
“I like my clotheth. They suit me.”
“Well, they don't suit you anymore, do they?” Georgia said, She quickly reached over and lifted up the apron, revealing Daph's tight work shirt just barely covering the top her bump and leaving her white belly fur exposed. Daph gasped and slapped Georgia's hand out of the way, letting the apron fall back into place and cover her.

“...Antonio didn't have any bigger sizeth...” Daph mumbled, embarrassed. She reached under the apron to pull down her shirt in a vain attempt to cover herself. “That'th why I gotta wear the apron...”
“You're too adorable, waddling around like that,” Georgia teased, setting her head in her hands again. “But we need to get you some clothes that actually fit that big tummy of yours.”
“Then I can jutht buy thome bigger thizes for a while,” Daph said, defensively. “I don't want to wear all that frilly bullshit with all the pink and...ugh.” Daph stuck her tongue out in disgust. “It'th jutht not my thtyle.” She paused, blinking for a second, then swallowed, lowering her tail down like she would on the rare times she was actually embarrassed. “...I'm...I'm not actually waddling, am I?”

“Just a little bit,” Georgia grinned. “Like I said. Too cute for your own good.”
“God damn it...” Daph swore. She shook her head and glanced at Darwin to escape from Georgia's teasing. “You figure out what you want? How 'bout a drink? Everybody wants our shitty coffee today.”
“Oh...um...” Darwin reached for the menu again, but decided against it. “Yeah, coffee.”
“Cream? Thugar?” Daph said, raising an eyebrow.
“None, thanks.”
“Gross,” Daph said, sticking out her tongue making a fake gagging sound as she wrote down his order.
“Why are you even still working here?” Darwin asked. “Part of the reason we're paying you is so you don't have to work through the pregnancy and can just relax.”

“Trutht me, I'd be in worse shape sitting around my apartment all the time than I am right now,” Daph said. “Every book and webthite tellth you to thaty active, tho that'th what I'm doin'. Thtaying active.”
“But it can't be worth the stress,” Darwin argued. “I'd rather you be bored and relaxed than working and stressed. It's not good for the baby.”

“Dude, who says I'm stressed?” Daph smiled. “Thith ith the easiest few monthth I've ever had at thith fuckin job!”
Georgia and Darwin glanced at one another, then at the crowded diner around them, catching glimpses of two other waitresses slipping through the crowd to take orders as fast as they could.
“...Really,” Darwin said, unconvinced.

“No man, listen,” Daph said. She set the notepad down on the table and leaned forward as far as she could with her rounding middle in the way. “So Antonio didn't believe me at firtht when I told him I wath pregnant...which, yknow, ith kinda fair.” She pointed to herself with a thumb and shrugged. “But anyway, ath thoon ath I got bigger and thtarted showing, he and I realized the thame thing: he can't yell at a pregnant girl! Do you know how many people would thrtaight-up boycott this fuckin place if he got caught bossin' me around when I look like thith!?” She leaned back again and gestured to her gravid body. “Uh-uh, not gonna happen. Tho he'th been real fuckin' nice to me lately, lettin' me take long lunch breakth and go to the bathroom whenever I need to...Which, yknow...ith a lot.” Daph flicked her tail and glanced away, rubbing the side of her belly with her pen tip again.

“Maybe he's only trying to be accommodating,” Georgia suggested. “Maybe he just wants to be nice while you're...delicate.”
“It'th only 'cause I love ya that I didn't jutht punch you for callin' me 'delicate,'” Daph said, pointing at Georgia while rubbing her belly with her other hand. “But he let'th me get away with shit all the time, giveth me time off for appointments when I need em, and jutht kinda keeping his voice down around me.”

“It...really just sounds like he's being nice, Daph,” Darwin said.
“Nahhhhh, he jutht knowth that if he isn't, he'th gonna get shit for it and lose customerth. I know where his head is.” Daph nodded, grinning slyly and tapping her head with a finger.
“If you say so...” Darwin said, rolling his eyes quietly.
“I thaw that,” Daph snapped, pointing to his face. She groaned and leaned over her belly to reach the table and pick up her notepad. “Oh! Yeah, I'm altho makin' fuckin' bank, too!”
“More than normal?” Georgia asked.
“Fuck yeah, dude! On a day like thith, I go home with like a hundred and thirty buckth in my pocket jutht from tipth alone!”
“Wow, good haul,” Georgia breathed, her eyes widening. “How?”
“Everybody tipth good becauthe they feel bad about makin' the pregnant girl work!” Daph said excitedly, eyes twinkling. “It'th great! I got your baby workin' for me, for once.”
“You don't tell lie to customers, do you?” Georgia asked, suspiciously.

“...I mean...no, I don't lie to em...but like...I play it up, yknow?” Daph admitted, scratching the back of her neck. She cleared her throat and composed herself. Spreading her paws apart, she leaned her posture back and settled slightly into her hips, pushing out her belly in front of her. She put on a weary expression and rested her arm across the top of her bump. “'Hey...hey guyth...what can I get you thtarted on?'” she said, her breathing labored and heavy, like she'd just come back from a long run. She pretended to scribble on her notepad, her tail drooping behind her, then mimed lumbering away with stiff legs and a sore back.

“Jesus, Daph, don't make people feel bad,” Georgia protested. Daph hopped back into her regular posture, her belly bouncing slightly with the motion.
“Oh c'mon, it'th not like I'm tellin' them to tip me! They do that on their own. And besideth, half the cuthtomerth in here wanna talk to me about it, anyway. Yknow what'th funny? Women are alwayth like 'Oh, when's the baby due, are you having more than one, you're glowing,' and shit like that, but men never bring it up. They jutht sit there.” She mimed holding a menu in front of her face and staring stone-faced down at it. “Like they can't thee my big ass gut 'bout to poke em in the face. Still, they all tip the thame, so I'm not gonna complain.”

“But do you really need that much more money from what we're giving you for the surrogacy?” Darwin asked, awkwardly setting the menu down as he realized he was holding it exactly the way Daph demonstrated. Daph paused for a moment, frowned, then nodded.
“...Yeah, I do. Like, the surrogacy paymenth are saving my ass, don't get me wrong. But after rent, electricity, internet, water bill, and all the food I gotta buy to keep up with my diet, it just don't always cover it all. I mean, it suckth having to work while I'm feelin' bigger than a house, but I gotta do it. Thank God Antonio's been takin' it eathy on me.” Daph glanced over her shoulder toward the kitchen, rubbing the left side of her belly again with her knuckles. “Speakin of which, thith might be the longetht I've ever thpent at one table. You guys better order thtuff real quick.”

“I'll just keep it to coffee,” Darwin shrugged, glancing to Georgia who was frantically scanning the menu.
“Hang on a sec...Uh...I don't know...Is it too late for breakfast food?”
“Yeah, thorry. It is.” Daph frowned, still rubbing the spot just on the side of her stomach. “Fuckin' hell...” She discreetly pulled her apron aside and lifted her shirt to scratch the itch directly through her fur. Daph paused, fingers pressed into the soft layer above her belly. She blinked, staring into the distance as she tenderly explored the spot with her fingers. Suddenly, her face fell open into shock.

“Ooooooohhhhhhh, ooooohhhhh ohhhh oohhh oooohhhhh!” Daph yelled in the middle of the crowded restaurant, turning nearby heads in her direction. She beamed through her oversized teeth, her tail flicking wildly behind her and nearly hitting seated customers with it. She pointed to her belly and hopped in place on her paws, beckoning Georgia and Darwin closer. “It'th her! It'th the baby! It'th her!”

“What!?” Georgia cried. She nearly leapt out of her chair to crouch next to Daph, hands around her stomach and probing with both her fingers and her eyes for any noticeable movement. Daph guided her hands to the spot just below the hem of her work shirt, on the left side of her belly and just barely on level with her navel. She felt the spot for a few seconds, then a squeal of excited laughter burst from her throat, her own tail fanning over the ground. “Oh my God! There she is! She's moving!”

“I thought it wath jutht an itch, but it wath comin from inside!” Daph said. She took her hands off her stomach and shuddered, clenching her firsts and waving them helplessly. “Ooohhhohohohoh, it'th so weird! That feelth tho fuckin weird, dude! She'th fuckin' moving in there!”

“Darwin!” Georgia said, turning around and motioning to her husband. “Right here! She's kicking!”
“I...No, I'm…I'm okay just watching...” Darwin tried to protest, but Georgia rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the wrist. Yanking him out of the chair, she guided his hand over Daph's furry, swollen belly until he could feel the weak, tiny fluttering of movement from his soon-to-be daughter poking against the palm of his hand.

“He lookth fuckin terrified,” Daph laughed, motioning to Darwin's shocked expression. Daph tucked her hands underneath her belly and bounced it slightly, trying to entice more motion out of the baby squirrel inside. “That'th your daddy, you little squirt, thay hi!”
“I can't believe we were here for this...” Georgia said, tears quivering in her eyes. She reached over and entwined her fingers around her husband's so they could feel their baby moving together. Daph felt the tiny prodding against the inside of her belly with pride, thinking about how it had been her body to grow the baby inside that was now strong enough to make herself known. If it hadn't seemed real before, the moment she realized it was the baby poking her from the inside was the moment it all became something real, something tangible. She was going to have a baby, and it was more certain than ever.

Daph glanced from her stomach over to Georgia, who was nearly ready to burst into elated tears as she felt her daughter greeting her for the first time. Daph sighed, happily staring at the joy on her best friend's face.
Do it for her, she thought.

The three of them were jerked abruptly away by the sound of a camera shutter snapping closed. In unison, Darwin, Georgia, and Daph all turned to find a chubby, shaggy dog with a fanny pack, holding a camera in front of his face. He lowered it, staring dumbly at the three of them.
“Are you fuckin' kidding me, man?” Daph groaned. “We're kinda having a moment here.”

“...Sorry,” the tourist said sheepishly, lowering the camera and sitting back in his booth. With that, the watching people turned back to their meals and drinks, leaving Daph and her friends to themselves.

“God dammit,” Daph sniffed as Darwin and Georgia withdrew from her belly and back into their seats. “What a fucking buzzkill, man.” She sighed, then shook her head and tugged her apron back into place, rubbing the spot where the baby had kicked in case she was going to move again. “Ok, I really gotta get back to work, but I'll let you know ath soon ath she decideth to move again. Lemme grab your coffee, I'll be right back.” Daph spun in place and strode off to the kitchen, her awkward pregnancy walk gaining a noticeable spring to her step.

At the next table over, the shaggy tourist was busy fishing out onions from the bowl of soup he had ordered when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning, he came face-to-face with Georgia, her head cresting over the shared booth divider between them, smiling awkwardly.
“Hi...do you think there's any chance we could get that picture sent to us?”
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Index