Platonic Family Planning

"Have you ever wanted kids?"

Dexter's question startled Roswell out of her daze. She had been watching Kisse cradle the egg she had found below in the Alpha Labs and hadn't even heard him approach.

"I suppose so," she said eventually, still watching her sister. Kisse had taken the decision to remove the egg from the specimen jar and its shell had seemed surprisingly healthy once the fluid had been cleaned up. Roswell had half expected it to collapse in on itself but it remained intact, with Kisse insistent that she could feel a heartbeat within. "Yeah, I'd love a big family," she admitted.

"A whole cavalcade of mini Roswells to go human hunting with," Dexter joked but the spotted raptor shook her head.

"I wouldn't want them to do it just because I told them to," she said softly, "Like, they could take an interest and I'd be so incredibly happy but I'd want them to make that decision for themselves. Does that make sense?"

"It makes perfect sense," Dexter nodded, coming to settle beside her. "I feel the same way, I'd want to teach my children what I know but I want them to be free to do what they want with the knowledge. I don't want copies of myself, I feel like that would make me a failure as a parent."

"A failure?" Roswell asked, "That's a bit dramatic."

"I suppose so," Dexter hummed, "But if I just raise them to be like me, wouldn't that mean that I didn't raise them as individuals? I just pushed what I thought was right without considering how they felt." Something felt personal about that, but Roswell didn't know enough about Dexter's relationship with his parents to push any further. It wasn't a method she would be recreating with her own kids, or with whatever might hatch from her sister's egg.

"We'll be able to practice if Kisse lets us," she pointed out.

"We should help her build a nest for it," the tabby raptor agreed, "that way we could take turns caring for it and she could get some rest." 

"I hope my future partner is as considerate as you," Roswell said lightheartedly but something serious washed over Dexter's face.

"We could have eggs together," he said plainly, like he hadn't suggested something life-altering.

"Oh! I um- look I care about you a lot but not like that-"

"I know, I don't see you that way either," Dexter reassured her quickly, "But we seem to have the same values when it comes to raising children, we know each other so well, and we trust each other, right?" Roswell had to admit that he was right, but she had never seen a mated pair that weren't romantically linked too.

"Is that... allowed?" she asked, unsure of how to phrase it, "To have children but just be friends?"

"I'd hope to be friends with a future mate too," Dexter grinned, "But yes, I believe so. We have the ability to make each other's dreams of a family come true, and I don't think hatchlings would notice if we love each other or not, only that we love them."

"I do love you," Roswell hurried to admit, "Just not in that way."

"And I love you too, same as I love Kisse, you're my closest friends in the world," Dexter said sincerely, looking embarrassed to be so earnest, "Raising hatchlings with you would be so ideal, not only to have children but to know that those hatchlings will grow up with such positive influences around them... I don't think I could ask for anything more." Roswell couldn't find a response to such a heartfelt sentiment so she just nuzzled the back of the tabby raptor's head instead. They both looked back to Kisse, who was now looking at them.

"You both look so flustered, what's going on?" she asked suspiciously, not loosening her hold on her egg.

"You being such a good mom has made us both a little broody, I think," Roswell admitted, "We'd love to help you take care of your egg."

"It's mine though, I have to take care of it," Kisse protested.

"What kind of auntie would I be if I didn't help out?" Roswell huffed, "Besides, it'll be good practice for when I have kids of my own, you need to show me how to take care of an egg." 

"You've never mentioned wanting to settle down before," Kisse scoffed.

"Who said I'm settling down?" Roswell crowed, "Dexter said he'd help out with the uh, logistics. We're going to raise the hatchlings together, as friends." Kisse blinked owlishly at Dexter.

"We both get what we want out of it," he shrugged, "I trust Roswell to be a good mother, we have the same ideas about how we want to raise the hatchlings, and I know if something happened to either of us we'd have you to help us out, Kisse." The patchy raptor looked down at the egg under her, like she was consulting its creamy surface for an answer.

"We could raise our kids together," she suggested, "You, Ros, me, my egg and then however many eggs you guys have?"

"Yeah!" Roswell chirped, "Doesn't that sound cool? No mates, no boring courtship rituals, no being worried about being left alone or our hatchlings not having parents to take care of them; it's perfect!" Ostensibly she was trying to convince Kisse to both share the parental duties of her egg and to help out with a future clutch, but more than anything she was hyping herself up. It felt like a dream still, like she was going to wake up and have a funny story to tell around dinner that night. But she looked to her side and Dexter's solid warmth was still there, his green eyes shining with similar excitement. It was real, she was going to become a mother with her best friend and her sister would be there the whole way, if she agreed to it. She looked pleadingly at Kisse, who sighed and shifted to the side.

"Fine, come over here and I'll show you both how to nest an egg."