NASA taken care of, I start looking into other minor projects. I mean,the news comment about the low carbon footprint of my flightless airline got me thinking about other places where folks might appreciate magic… like power generation. Apparently about 20% of US electricity is still generated by coal plants, and another about 40% by natural gas Well… that's easy to fix.

My airline profits are a few hundred million a day - it helps that I have no paid employees - so I put in an offer on the oldest, smokiest, stinkiest coal fired power plant I can find. Just the plant and the associated electrical contracts, not the business itself. This actually works out well: The parent company WANTS to unload "That stinking PR nightmare of a money pit that we're not legally permitted to shut down because the power is required." Yeah, they actually say that during negotiations. Needless to say, I get a good price.

But of course: regulations. It takes a while for the sale to go through. In the meanwhile… yeah, my chest gets bigger. It aches slightly, but clothes are free in my case, so the increased size just means a few more people get magic every day. Jessica also gets slightly moody. I'm of course unaffected by that, but Jessica says I clearly am anyway. Minnie takes her side on that one. THE TRAITOR. Can't she see that my reactions are all perfectly logical? Of course I needed to open a portal right in front of his car and send that stupid driver to Alaska as he sped off. He honked at me very rudely. I hope he enjoys the tidewater glaciers. He'll get a nice close view. I do plan to eventually retrieve him… after giving him some time to cool off, reflect on what he did, and enjoy the scenery. I even set a reminder on my phone to deal with it the next day (which I do).

And of course, Jessica and I have an ultrasound appointment. I have Improved Blindsight and an absurd Perception modifier, so I already know what we're going to see. It'll still be fun to watch on a bigger screen, and Jessica hasn't seen. We head over… and arrive early. We fill out the forms, and spend a good half hour holding hands in the waiting room listening to music. It's nice. We get a bunch of odd looks, but that’s no big deal. I am famous, after all. And Jessica's hand is so comforting.

Eventually it's our turn, and the nurse calls us in. We go in, hand in hand. They take us to a room, and have Jessica go first. This one's an abdominal ultrasound, so we get to keep our "street clothes" - they don't ask us to change, just shuffle things around a bit. Jessica lays back on the bench, pulls her shirt up and her pants down a little, and the nurse puts on the jelly. A little later, the sonographer turns on the machine, and sticks the little plastic wand on my beautiful other half. Some searching and adjustments… and the medical worker frowns when she sees what I already knew.

I interrupt before she can speak, "You’re worried about the baby having six little buds rather than the usual four?"

The technician looks at me in confusion, "Yes. You seem awfully calm about it."

I shrug, "Those extra two little bumps are nothing to worry about. Those will be her wings, her mother has six when she's in her default form. However, shapeshifting could be hazardous to the babies, so we're sticking to our 'social' forms from conception to birth, which is why you don't see them." Mind you, my social form is my default form; I don't do much shapeshifting at all.

The technician pauses and pushes her glasses back up her nose, not worrying about her brown hair that's tightly tied in a bun and under a medical cap, "... I'd ask about that, but I've seen you on the news… you're just going to say 'magic' if I ask how, aren't you?"

Jessica chuckles, as I reply, "Indeed. But I can demonstrate if you like… you have a uPhone in your front-right pocket, currently fully off, with a little sticker of a bear on the back."

"So why are you in here if you already know everything I'm showing you?"

"Mostly for Jessica. She can't see the same way. Also, it's nice to be able to see the screen with my eyes. Knowing everything going on nearby is handy, but it's not the same as seeing, you know?"

The medical woman blinks at me a few times, "No, I don't. How could I?"

"Point."

"But if you really want to prove it to me… does the little one you're carrying have the same?"

I roll my eyes, "Both of them do. Jessica’s the mother, I'm the father." I'm dancing around something, as I want to surprise Jessica, but I am hinting.

"Well… your turn will come."

We ooh and ah, the tech takes some pictures and a few short videos, and then Jessica cleans up while I lay down on the bench. We go through the same routine: I pull my shirt up a bit, my skirt down a little, get all slathered up in goo… the tech puts a fresh plastic cover on the wand, and looks around my belly…

"Six? You have six ovaries, all connected to the same womb? And why can't I find your stomach, or bladder, or…."

"Yes… I noticed all that a while back."

"How are you not a mess of out of control hormones? How are you even alive?"

"I'm a guy. I've had a lot of practice with suppressing emotions. Also, Magic."

"You’re having a baby, but you're a guy?"

"Two," I pause deliberately, "Jessica, my beautiful other half is also carrying, don't forget."

The woman shakes her head, "Right… so who's the donor?"

Jessica's turn, "Oh, there isn't one. We used magic…" and she lets me know she picked up on the hint, smiling at me, ah, those eyes… "... possibly more than we intended."

The sonographer shakes her head, "Well… you defy expectations," and, soon enough, finds a little baby in me. Yes, an extra pair of nubs.

We again ooh and ah, she takes some pictures, a short video, and as she starts to put her equipment away, Jessica interrupts, "You need to find her sister."

The tech furrows her brow, "You want to go again?"

Jessica continues, "No, my boyfriend has been dropping hints. Twins. Or do they count as triplets?"

The sonographer pauses, and puts the wand back on my abdomen, "All right, if you're so…."

Rather than speaking, I grab the wand, and guide it directly to the correct spot… where now the operator can see… yep, another baby. Also with six little nubs growing. The medical tech just kind of stands there, until Jessica deliberately coughs.

"So… pictures?" Jessica inquires.

"Right…" the woman takes some pictures, records a little video, and soon enough we're cleaned up and paying the lady at the front desk. Just to drive the point home, I teleport us back to the house while the tech is still watching.

Back at the house… "Why didn't you tell me, sweetness?" Jessica is all smiles as she hits me with a pillow off the couch, which vanishes in a flash of light. I suppose non-magical improvised weapons are still non-magical weapons.

I idly Fabricate a replacement, "I thought you might enjoy the surprise… did you?"

My beautiful lady laughs, "Oh yeah, I couldn't be happier."

"Well there you go." And yes, I did set up a third Keyhome apartment / nursery when I noticed. It's easy. My time clones may disagree, but they don't get to vote.

And of course, time marches on, and yes, the sale does go through. So I go visit my power plant, and start changing things up. No, I don’t fire anyone. I do, however, cancel the various coal contracts - won’t be needing it anymore, we’re going to be magic-run. I talk to the folks who actually do the day-to-day running of the business, and yes, they can shut down individual generators for maintenance and repairs without issues. Good. So we go through them one at a time, shut them down, remove the burners, boilers, and turbines, and replace them. With what? I use Fabricate, of course, to make long, sturdy steel rods (square along the middle, round at the ends), and Fabricate again for mounts for the rods and very large, very heavy wheels (with square holes in the middle to fit the rod), kept up and off the ground by way of very sturdy steel supports. As I put them together, I also apply Eternal Steel to everything, so I don’t need to worry about them wearing out - ever. Once I have the ridiculously heavy rotor in place, secured, and attached to the associated generator (to which I also apply Eternal Steel - it is mostly of metal), I cast Reverse Gravity… on the area containing the left half of the rod and wheel set. So Gravity pulls down on the right side, and Reverse Gravity pulls up on the left. The truly massive weight of the rod then turns into cranking force, which runs the generator - now without the need for coal.

I’m really going to have to figure out where the energy for all of this is actually coming from at some point. But for now, I can consider it clean energy.

I also make a cage around the unit. It would be bad if someone got caught in the reverse gravity field, couldn’t fly, wandered uncontrollably to the edge, and fell into the spinning weights. It’d be pretty gruesome. I don’t want that to happen. So I cage off the area.

I keep everyone employed - there’s no need to fire anyone yet - and talk to the people managing the place: It really needs a good cleaning. At least for now, anyone who’s job is obliterated by the lack of needing to load coal, unload ash, and so on can be put to cleaning duties. Reassign folks as needed, I let the guys who’ve been running the place continue to run the place, overall. But obviously: No more coal. Ditto for the bags that filter the smoke. And the chemical additives to bind and trap the sulfur from the coal. And so on. I tell the management team, "Really, most of these should be obvious," "do watch what you’re buying," "I won’t tolerate corruption," and similar phrases as I officially take over.

I also leave a fully buffed Conjuration Companion as an “owner representative” - she should have enough Sense Motive and Diplomancy (sorry, Diplomacy) to do the job, and … well, if the union decides to play dirty, a crowbar to her head will just result in one less crowbar in the world.

… and if this one makes the news, I’ll lease this kind of generator to other power plants for cheap, after I figure out what kind of impact it makes on profits.