This story came about because i saw a barista rub her stomach then dance

it caused me to immediately visualize a synthetic person following along behind a human, the synth's belly fat with the child the human was unwilling to carry for whatever reason

~•~

The surrogate

The door opened. The latest model synth, wearing a gold and purple kimono, bowed and stepped aside, allowing the two women in the hallway to enter penthouse. "Welcome," it said, its accent that of a high class asian woman to match its clothing.

Inside the home another four synths moved through the rooms, preparing for the party to celebrate the upcoming birth of the heir.

The two women were led into a sitting room. A waiting synth prepares their tea exactly as they like it. "The mistress will be with you shortly."

"I love what she's done with this room," one says.

They look around the lavishly appointed room filled with gold, purple, and cream colored furniture and accoutrements.

~•~

The mistress sat in her room, watching the display overlay on her mirror as it applied her makeup. "—done with this room."

A display underneath showed she was being truthful.

"It's a little too much for me," the other woman said. "But it is beautiful."

This was flagged as a lie. The mistress was a little disappointed but at least one of her friends liked her decorating.

~•~

"Duchess Katheryn, mistress of Dalmoro, lady of Bath, lady greyskull, handmaiden to the once and future queen," said Jeef, lord Greyskull's valet, introducing her to the assembled women. The majority were of the same rank of nobility or greater so only two curtsied as she passed them on the walk to the waiting gold sheet draped over something.

Gasps filled the room as the sheet was whipped away, revealing a lithely designed gold plated synth, sculpted to look like a dancer save for the extended stomach, clear and showing the heir. Duchess Katheryn, better known as Kit-Kat to her friends, indulgently stroked the belly of the synth bearing her second-born, a boy, and her husband's first official heir.