Sam tried her best not to panic. With the settings she had chosen, Trish would never give birth to the quadruplets. Why hadn't the acceptance setting made it so that Trish expected to be carrying them for the rest of her life? Or would Trish just be in a perpetual state of expectation?
Seeing her friend-turned-sister glowering at her, Sam forced a smile. "Trish...sis...I'm sorry. I was just trying to rattle your cage."
"Consider it rattled." Tricia's face was still cold as stone. "Breakfast."
Sam obediently turned and entered the kitchen to fix Tricia's order. As she poured milk into the cereal, she felt a heavy feeling in her gut. It was a feeling of serious regret. What had she been thinking? Trish was now instilled with the maternal instincts of a mother of four. There'd be hell to pay if she found out Sam used the remote to make her this way. It would be better for Sam--though granted, not a whole lot better--if she was up front and told Trish about it before Trish noticed the settings on the remote.
She put pickle slices on the cereal, sticking her tongue out in mild revulsion as she did so, and brought it out to Trish.
Despite the addition of an enormous belly--or rather, because of it--she looked fantastic. She seemed happier than she usually was. Trish just sat there, rubbing her full belly with one pawed hand while flipping through channels on the tv remote with the other. Sam handed her the bowl and sat on the couch next to her.
Her gut felt even worse now. She had to tell her. Trish would never forgive her either way, but at least she would value the honesty. She knew that much about her now pregnant "sister."
Trish finished the cereal and grunted as she leaned forward and set the bowl on the coffee table. Then she relaxed back against the couch, sinking deep into the cushions.
"Trish. There's something you need to know."
"Hmm?" she responded lazily.
Sam took the tv remote and turned it off. "I think I did a bad thing last night."
"What are you talking about?"
"You're not supposed to be my sister...and you're not supposed to be pregnant."
Trish was staring right at her now. "What?"
"Do you remember making me gain weight yesterday?"
"Yeah. I guess you found out about that." Tricia's eyes scanned Sam's clearly thin form.
"I thought I'd have a little revenge," Sam explained. She told Trish about making her pregnant and setting it so Trish would think it was normal. "You're never going to have the babies, Trish. They can't be born."
Tricia's face was a mess of confusion, shock, and disgust. "So all the memories I have, all the crap I think I went through this past year...it's all FAKE?"
Sam could only nod, ashamed.
"What the fuck did you think would happen?!" Trish yelled, more furious than Sam had ever seen her. "You didn't think the remote would have to invent some awful story to get me believing its lies?!"
"You made me start gaining weight, and you didn't tell me," Sam said, starting to get worked up herself. "Ruining my self-esteem, making me into a joke. When were you gonna tell ME about it? When I was bigger than a beached whale?"
"Oh, get over yourself. That was nothing compared to this!" Trish clutched her belly defensively. "This is life! This is a mess of painful memories followed by nine months of suffering! You may not have the memories, but I do, and I guarantee you I wouldn't wish it on anyone!"
Sam had nothing else to respond with.
Trish grabbed the remote and threw it at Sam. "Give me my real memories back."
Sam's clawed fingers trembled as she pressed the buttons. She zapped Trish to add her to the list of exceptions on the global acceptance setting. Trish's eyes glazed over momentarily, then she returned.
"You bitch," she said. "How could you?"
Tears fell from Sam's eyes now. They soaked the black fur on her face. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea it would go this far."
"I wouldn't have expected it, either. But it's too late now. It may not have been real, but I'll never forget those memories."
"Please, can we just go back to normal? Totally normal?"
Trish scowled. "I can't. These are four little lives in here. I'm responsible for them. You want to press a button and kill them off?"
"We don't know what's really in there," Sam said. "They might not be babies. They might not even have souls. They were created by magic or something."
Trish bowed her head to her distended, furry womb. "They're real to me. That's all that matters."
"Do you really want to live the rest of your life taking care of four children by yourself?"
"I don't have a choice, do I?" Trish was talking calmly now, but the look on her face showed Sam a glimpse of the boiling rage still contained within. "But I don't have to raise them alone."
Sam frowned, trying to follow Tricia's thought. "What do you mean by that?" she asked cautiously.
Trish finally smiled. But this wasn't a smile of happiness...it was a smile more sinister than Sam had ever seen.