Author's Note: This story got away from me. It was supposed to be a one-shot for Secret Souls, just something short, around 4000 words… The final word count is closer to 14,000. So instead of a one-shot you all get a four chapter short story.

In case you missed it in the description: there's mpreg in this story, so if that's something you don't like, why are you still here?

Also: there is character death in this story. Sort of. There's reincarnation involved, so the deaths take place in the past not the present. Everyone is alive and well in the story, the deaths are mostly described as "this is how so-and-so died back during the war". I did make myself cry writing it though, so if you can't handle that sort of thing you may want to stay away.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Allen sat in front of the computer in the office of our apartment. He was determined to finish school early, so he spent most of his time there. Taking all of his classes online so he could finish them quicker. It probably stemmed from being younger than all of his friends, he felt the need to catch up. But mostly he wanted to graduate high school before the baby was born.

The way he sat there now, with his white hair pulled back yet still spilling into his face and that determined glint in his silver eyes, it was hard for me not to jump him. The reminder that the doctor had said we couldn't have sex again until after the baby came was fresh in my mind. Keeping my hands off that boy was beyond difficult. But it was for the baby, so I forced myself to stick to it.

Allen shifted in his seat, pulling the blanket tighter around his shoulders. The way that fabric wrapped around him effectively hid his pregnant belly from view. It was something he always did when video conferencing with one of his teachers. He didn't want anyone at the school to know of his "condition".

I leaned against the doorframe and daydreamed while I waited for his call to finish.

.x.x.

I met Allen Walker when I was a senior in high school. He transferred in in the middle of the year, as a sophomore even though he was barely fifteen. The British teen attracted everyone's attention immediately, and I was no exception. For the first few weeks the girls all swooned over his accent, and the boys all tried to be his new best friend; probably with the hopes of getting one of the girls that swarmed around him. I thought the whole thing was stupid.

Then came the day when everyone saw his scar for the first time. He had been covering it up with makeup. To this day I still don't know if something happened or if he simply decided not to cover it up that day. Either way it was the beginning of the end of his popularity. And that was something I never understood. The kid was literally the nicest guy on the planet, why did having a scar make him someone people didn't want to be around?

I had no interaction with the boy, we had no classes and no extracurriculars in common. But I was thankful for that. I had crushed on him the first time I laid eyes on him, and being at a distance allowed me to watch him without ruining my reputation. I just wanted to get over my crush quickly and move on. But then I saw his scar, and that just made him more attractive in my eyes.

It wasn't long after the scar incident before the bullying started. I saw it happening, and it disgusted me, but I didn't get involved. At least, not intentionally.

I ate lunch with Lavi, a fellow senior, and Lenalee, a sophomore; both of whom I'd known since I first moved here in elementary school. One day Lenalee showed up with Allen in tow. The boy looked scared to death. The bullies had found out that his brown hair was a wig and had forcibly taken it from him. Like with the scar, the boy's white hair only made my crush worse. I did the only thing I could and ignored him.

After that day he ate lunch with us. The bullying died down a little: he had Lavi's protection before and after school, and Lenalee's during the couple classes they had together. But the rest of the day he was fair game. I continued to ignore him.

Then one day we bumped into each other, quite literally, in the hall. "Watch where you're going, Moyashi."

"Moyashi? What- I am not a bean sprout! My name's Allen! Bakanda!"

The entire hallway froze, I wasn't someone to be messed with, and there was a scrawny, bullied kid talking back to me. I was more focused on the fact that he knew Japanese, than on the fact that he had called me an idiot. But I chased him down the hall anyway.

He sat with us at lunch despite what had happened. We exchanged insults throughout the meal, but neither of us caved.

No one bullied Allen after that. I guess they figured if he was crazy enough to challenge me and not back down then he wasn't someone they wanted to mess with.

Of course after that is when I started seeing him all the time. Lavi and Lenalee started bringing him along when we hung out together. I learned later that they knew all along that we liked each other, which was why they continued to drag us both along even though we fought like cats and dogs.

Allen started showing up at the restaurant where I worked too. I blamed Lavi for that, but it turned out that Allen didn't know I worked there. The owner was a family friend, and he'd been frequenting the place since he first came to town.

But once Allen did know that I worked there things between us changed. He didn't fight with me at work, he didn't want me to get fired because of him. And because we weren't fighting we discovered a common interest. We both loved food. Not in the same way, but I loved to cook and he loved to eat. We bonded over it. There was something wonderful about cooking for someone who appreciated the flavor of every crumb.

The school year ended, and Lavi and I graduated. I started working full time, and moved out of Teidoll's house. Lavi and Lenalee spent the summer goofing off before he went off to college. And Allen just disappeared. He claimed he had a job that took up all his time, but none of us saw or talked to him between graduation and the start of school in the fall.

Within a month of his return we were dating. Apparently a summer apart was all it took for us to realize that fighting was stupid.

.x.x.

"Hey Kanda. ... Kanda... Bakanda!" Shouting finally snapped him out of his daze. Shaking his shoulder worked better, but I wasn't getting up unless I had to. The weight of the child in my belly made it far too difficult. "Do you need something, or did you just come here to stare at me?"

He laughed and came into the room, his long navy blue hair falling out of its loose ponytail. "You know I can't pass up an opportunity to stare. You're so beautiful."

"I'm not beautiful, I'm fat." I grumbled, half because I believed it, half because I knew he'd say it again.

Kanda kissed the top of my head and placed his hands on my swollen belly. The baby started kicking the spot, like she always did when he touched my stomach. "You are absolutely gorgeous. And amazing. I don't know how you find the strength to carry our child and go to school."

I snorted. "I haven't left the apartment for anything other than doctor's appointments in weeks. You're the one who's amazing, working so long and hard to support me while I freeload."

"I'm the one who insisted you move in. You're not freeloading, you're pregnant." Then he leaned closer and whispered in my ear. "You'd stop feeling like you're freeloading if you'd just agree to marry me."

I shoved him away. "We've talked about that. I don't want to get married while I'm pregnant."

Kanda gave me a weird look and sat in the chair beside me. "Actually, you've never said why, just that you didn't. If the pregnancy is your only objection, then we can wait until the baby's born."

"It's more complicated than that-"

"Allen." Kanda leaned in and placed his hands back on my belly. "I'm not trying to convince you to go out and marry me right now. The only thing I want to happen is an engagement, just an acknowledgment from you that you do, eventually, want to marry me."

"Oh." Somewhere in the midst of all our arguments on the subject I had missed that key detail. I placed my hands on his and looked down at my baby bump. "Our daughter is growing inside me. Of course I want to marry you someday. I-"

He cut me off with a kiss. "I was going to order pizza, I came up to see what you wanted on it, but seeing as we just got engaged I should make something that's a little more special."

"Then you shouldn't have said 'pizza'." We both laughed, ever since I had gotten pregnant I was always hungry for pizza. "Besides, you cook all the time, isn't ordering in special in its own way?"

He laughed again and kissed my forehead as he stood up. "What do you want on it?"

"Meat. Veggies. Extra cheese." I was already practically drooling. "...Everything except pineapple."

I couldn't stand the smell of pineapple, it made me sick. Unfortunately, Hawaiian was Kanda's favorite kind of pizza. I felt bad that he couldn't eat what he wanted, but he insisted that he didn't mind giving it up. He said it was a small price to pay to keep the baby happy.

"Of course. One extra large pizza with everything on it, coming right up." He kissed my forehead again and left the room, leaving me to my school work.

.x.x.

Kanda and I got together at the start of my junior year. He had driven me crazy the year before, but after that summer apart I discovered that the reason I hated him was because I loved him.

After he learned that Cross had me gambling all summer, my uncle Jerry had made me take a job busing tables at his restaurant. The same restaurant where Kanda worked as a sous chef. It surprisingly wasn't awkward at all. There was no pressure for us to act like a couple and we fell into it naturally.

We began just hanging out together. We'd go back to his place after work, he'd throw on a movie, and I'd do my homework. There was cuddling and kissing, but nothing beyond a PG rating. We were both aware that I was only fifteen, neither of us was in a hurry for me to grow up.

Christmas break came, and with it: Lavi back from college. He flipped out when he realized Lenalee wasn't messing with him; that Kanda and I were actually dating. The teasing that followed became relentless once he learned we hadn't slept together yet.

Cross was actually the one to make Lavi stop. A simple reminder that I wasn't old enough to legally consent to sex was all it took to shut the redhead up. My gratitude toward my guardian died when break was over though. Because once I turned sixteen Cross picked up where Lavi left off. Apparently it was important to him that I lose my virginity as soon as possible.

Kanda waited until Valentine's Day. (I learned later that he knew I'd remember the date, so he intentionally picked something he could remember too.) And by then I wanted it as badly as he did. He cooked dinner for us, and it was absolutely amazing. Afterwards we had sex on the couch while some romantic comedy played in the background.

.x.x.

I forced myself out of my chair and down to the kitchen when the pizza arrived. It took some effort, but I was determined to do it. Being almost eight months pregnant was not an excuse to be lazy.

Kanda laughed at me when I plopped onto a stool at the counter. "I was going to bring it to you, you didn't have to come down."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "You know as well as I do that the doctor said I can't just sit around all day."

"Somehow I don't think he meant dragging your butt up and down those stairs." He placed a plate in front of me. "But since you're here, let's turn on a movie. You've been studying all day. You need a break."

I shook my head, my mouth was too full to answer. "Moyashi. That wasn't a question. You need to relax a little. Too much stress is bad for the baby."

He picked up the pizza boxes and took them into the living room, giving me no choice but to follow him if I wanted more than the slice I'd already taken.

I sat down on the couch, almost completely at his mercy, I would need his help to get up. Once Kanda was satisfied that I was doing what he wanted, he started the movie and sat beside me.

When I had eaten my fill I leaned back against Kanda. He wrapped his arm around me and moved his hand to my belly. I fell asleep while he rubbed soothing circles into my sore body. Even with the pregnancy this was a hell of a lot better than the dates we had during the war.

.x.x.

It was the middle of March when the dreams started. They were fuzzy and broken, I could only recall bits and pieces in the morning. To make things more confusing, Kanda, Lenalee, and Lavi were having them too. They grew clearer, and therefore more confusing, as time passed. Dreams of a war, of fighting for our lives, began haunting everything we did.

In the midst of all that, Kanda and I had our first major fight. I was tired of being on the bottom and wanted a chance to be on top. He was being stubborn and wouldn't let me. So I was stubborn right back. I told him if he wanted sex again then he'd have to let me top. By the time summer break rolled around we hadn't had sex in almost a month.

Then one day we learned they weren't dreams, they were memories. Memories of our past lives as exorcists, fighting against the Earl.

We were at the mall when it happened. I was in the food court with Lavi and Lenalee, waiting for Kanda to join us for a movie. It felt like I blacked out. And when I woke up I remembered everything. (Or almost everything, there were things we wouldn't remember until after I got pregnant.) We all stared at each other in silence as we tried to make sense of what had just happened.

Lavi broke the silence first. "Well, Allen buddy, it was nice knowing ya."

I blinked at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Kanda's going to kill you."

"Why?" Lenalee looked as confused as I felt.

"He hated you back then. And now in this life he's sleeping with you. You're dead once he gets his hands on you."

"What, you think his love for me is so shallow that he'll have forgotten all about it now that he remembers the past?" I was angry. And so was Kanda, he had arrived while Lavi was talking.

Lavi was quick to try to calm me down. "Not at all. But I remember how much he hated you back then, and-"

Kanda hit him in the head. "We were sleeping together back then too, Baka Usagi."

Lenalee was in my face immediately. "What?! How could you not tell me?!"

I laughed lightly as I moved away from her. "We worked for the Catholic Church in the 1800's. They would have executed us for it if they had found out. I couldn't tell you, I couldn't risk it."

Despite my efforts to escape, she caught me and wrapped me in a tight hug. "Oh Allen!"

"Come on Lenalee, don't do that. It was a long time ago. There's no need to cry over it now." I tried to move but her hug was too tight.

"But-"

Kanda pulled me away from her. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm no longer in the mood for a movie. The Moyashi and I have things we need to discuss."

I barely had a chance to say goodbye before he was dragging me away. He was silent the entire drive to his apartment. I had an idea what he wanted, so I didn't fight it.

My suspicions were proven right when he dragged me into his bedroom and threw me down on the bed. "The you from back then would have never let us go this long without sex. He would have topped me whether or not it was what I wanted."

I got up and kissed his neck, finding the spot my memories told me would make him melt. "The you from back then would be mortified by how often you kiss me in public. Let's not quibble over the past. Are you going to let me do this or not? Because unlike back then I don't have the physical strength to make you do anything."

I kissed his neck again and he moaned. I whispered in his ear. "I do, however, remember all the little things that make you unable to think. So will you cooperate or do I have to play dirty?"

.x.x.

I had to wake Allen to get him to the bedroom. In the past I would have been able to carry him, but with the shape I was in that wasn't happening while the boy was pregnant.

He was asleep again before he was properly on the bed. I watched him sleep for a while. He didn't realize it, but his face gave away exactly how stressed he was. As much as I loved how gorgeous he was pregnant, I wanted the next six weeks to pass quickly so Allen's body wouldn't be under so much strain.

Careful not to wake him, I removed his pants and covered him with the blankets. Then I went and cleaned up dinner. I placed the leftovers in the fridge, making sure to label what was mine so the Moyashi would leave it alone. When that was taken care of I trekked up the stairs to the office.

I don't know how Allen used those stairs in his condition, I was in much better shape than he was and I could barely stand how steep and narrow they were. One of these days he was going to hurt himself on them. I filed away a reminder to ask the doctor to tell Allen to stop taking the stairs.

The office was pretty clean, but then Allen didn't have much energy anymore, he didn't move from in front of the computer unless he was hungry or he had to pee (fortunately there was a bathroom upstairs, so I didn't have to worry about that). I looked over his school work before I shut off the computer; I'm not entirely sure why, my grades in those classes were crap. That probably had something to do with me already knowing what I wanted to do with my life and knowing I didn't need good grades for it.

I had a good job, I could support Allen and a child on it. We were in a comfortable position. Especially with the settlement from his medical case (Allen wasn't nearly as much of a freeloader as he claimed to be). I had what I wanted out of life, even more so now that the boy had finally agreed to marry me. But Allen... Allen still didn't know. The memories of the past didn't help, and neither did getting pregnant at sixteen. He would be a wonderful stay at home mom, but he would never agree to that.

My cellphone rang as I was headed back downstairs. I sat down on the steps and answered it. I much preferred texting, but it was Marie, I really had no choice but to take his call.

We talked about menial things until he got to the reason he called. "Teidoll's been complaining that he hasn't heard from you lately. You haven't told him about Allen yet, have you?"

"Like I want to explain to that man that I knocked up my boyfriend, sounds like a real party." I could practically see the disappointed look on Marie's face at my sarcasm.

He sighed. "You should change your mind before he decides to just pop in on you. With his timing and your luck he'd show up when Allen was in labor."

The line was silent for a moment, but then I was struck with a sudden idea. "Hey Marie, you wouldn't happen to have a spare keyboard laying around, would you?"