Three newborn humans, two very exhausted parentals, and a ship full of friends ready and willing to help. -- Anon Guest
"Triplets?" asked Companion Drask. She had heard of the concept, but it still boggled the mind.
"No, one had twins and the other had one." Companion Morq repeated himself. "Both our Humans were pregnant." He belatedly remembered that Drask was oviparous. "Hatching."
"I thought they were mates. Humans are dimorphic, aren't they?"
Some aspects of Humanity's strangeness couldn't be described in simple terms. "You didn't watch all of the educational documentaries, did you?" sighed Morq.
"I keep falling asleep."
"Okay. In brief. Both our ships' humans have the biological equipment to create young, in body. Their identities and pronouns and are different, and that's their choice. Got it?"
"Uuuuhhhh... I think?"
Close enough. Morq lead Drask into the Medik Centre where two exhausted Humans lay in proper beds next to three amazingly small cribs. In each, a bundle that had a face. All five were either sleeping or dozing.
"Those aren't eggs," said Drask.
"Well observed," managed Human Stu. They remained lax in their bed. "Eggs would have been a lot more difficult."
"Mmh?" Human Xun blinked awake. "Oh hey. Meet the kids. They won't be much for conversation for a couple of years. Mine's the big one with the butterfly on their crib. The one with the dragonfly and the duckie are Stu's.
Xun's progeny was significantly larger than Stu's two. "Wow," said Drask. "That is a breaker."
"Bruiser," corrected Stu. "We're still fighting over who had it worse."
"We agree to disagree," added Xun. "So. To summarise. We're off duty for a minimum of four Standard months[1], on light duties for the rest of two years, and these little new people are gonna need all the help we can afford. Today? They're getting used to the concept of gravity, and having to eat. Soon, they're going to realise that messing themselves is uncomfortable."
"All of these," announced Stu, "are going to be the worst things that have happened to them in their entire lives."
Drask said, "I am going to learn everything about Humans so I can help with your needs." Hand over heart, she added, "My honour as a Companion."
Sufficient motivation could be super effective.
[1] The Galactic Standard Calendar has a ten-day week, a four-week month, and an astonishing lack of imagination for the names therein.
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