A/N: Have some fluff. OC Lily's Hotapplestrider's, OC Baby boy mine. Quick thanks to Eisschirmchen for giving me pregnant!Maka feels, and Hotapplestrider for Soul's little habit.
Reviews make me write more? Edit better? Update faster? Whatever you want, just let me know what you thought!
Soul fingered the crumpled pack of cigarettes in his pocket. He was itching to light one up. Maka would kill him for smoking in the house, around Lily, but he needed something to keep him from grinding his teeth.
His meister, his wife, his love was at Stein's. She had her 18 week appointment for her second pregnancy. She had insisted on going alone, right after she was finished teaching at Shibusen. So Soul was stuck at home, by himself, on the ratty red couch they've had since they first moved in as preteens.
Well, there was Lily. But the three year old had fallen asleep on the couch, so Soul moved her into her pink bedroom. Without his daughter's spunky presence, he was alone with his circling thoughts about giant needles inserted into his wife's baby belly-
Soul took the pack out of his pocket. He stared at the red and white cardboard box lying in the flat of his palm.
He had every right to be nervous, he believed. After Lily was born several weeks premature and spent the first three months of her life in an incubator, he and Maka were scared shit-less of a repeat. Although their ball of spunk and sass was fine, not including bouts of repertory infections and asthma, they were anxious for an easy pregnancy. So far, so good.
But the 18th week meant an amniocentesis. Meaning, finding out about genetic disorders, black blood, and—
Shit.
Soul tapped the pack against the heel of his palm, plucking out the first cigarette that came loose. He stuck it in his mouth but left it unlit. He tongued the filter, tasting the paper and the sweet nicotine.
It was wholly unsatisfying.
Soul leaned back on the couch and sank into the cushions. He folded his hands onto his stomach, trying to keep his fingers from drumming nervously. Instead, he tapped his feet in time with his pounding heart.
His stubborn meister honestly thought he'd be less anxious at home with Lily. She thought that he'd be ok sitting on his ass in their tiny apartment, and not with her at wack-ass Dr. Stein's stitched up office/home.
He reached between the couch cushions. For a nerd, he thought, digging around for his cheap Zippo. She sure is stupid.
Soul's fingertips made contact with cool metal. He pulled the lighter out and gave it a little shake.
Might be the hormones, he mused. He flipped the top and lit it, leaning forward. The tip of the cigarette barely touched the flickering flame when the apartment door was flung open.
"Soul!"
Maka!
Soul spat out the cigarette, crushing it under the heel of his sneaker. He crammed the lighter back in between the couch cushions, praying the flame went out, as Maka rounded the corner.
"Hey, how's—What's up with you?" Soul was flushed and panting, his body awkwardly perched sideways on their couch.
"I'm fine," he huffed, sitting properly.
Maka narrowed her eyes at him. Soul took a second to take in his wife's glowing face. Despite her glare, he could see the undercurrents of giddy anticipation in her green eyes, partially hidden by long bangs. Soul noticed her hands were still behind her back, making her blue dress stretch over her rounded belly; the pregnancy softened the sharp angles of her face and limbs. Soul was forcibly reminded of the last time she looked like that, close to when Lily had been born. The difference was that back then her skin had worn a ghostly pallor, her lips dry, her eyes sunken with fear and anxiety from contractions that had begun too soon.
The difference blew Soul away.
Whatever her suspicions were, Maka seemed to have let it go, her skittish energy getting the best of her.
"I just saw Stein," she said shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
Soul wanted to roll his eyes. "No shit."
Maka smacked him over the head with whatever she was hiding behind her back, quickly stashing it away before he could get a good look at it.
"Urk," he grunted, rubbing his head peevishly. "What was that?" He reached for it but she moved away, smiling.
"Nuh uh, not yet," she said. She paused, remembering. "Where's Lily? She should be here for this."
"Be here for what? She's taking a nap." Soul was starting to lose his patience. She was withholding information about their baby, he knew it.
Maka bit her bottom lip. "I wanted her to see it too…."
"She's sleeping, for the love of fuck. Just show it to me!"
He immediately regretted it.
Normally, she would have dented his skull with one of the thick hardback books she usually kept hidden under her clothes. But because her body was in the midst of creating a life, she was more emotion that violence.
Soul almost missed the Maka-chops.
She visibly wilted, tears pouring down her face.
"Hey," Soul said gently. "I'm sorry." He reached out, placing his hand on her waist. Maka let herself be pulled forward. Soul wrapped his arms around her midsection, burying his face into her belly.
"I just wanted her to see," she sniffed. "I want her to be excited about the baby. She's been so resistant to the whole thing…"
Lily's whole stance on her new sibling was simple: She asked for a puppy but she got a sibling instead. She felt cheated, and Soul and Maka's daughter was very, very vocal about her disappointment.
"She's stubborn, like her mama," Soul muttered. He lifted his head and before Maka could ask what he had said, Soul asked "What were you going to show us?"
Maka let out a giggle. "Oh yeah!" She took whatever she had behind her back out with a flourish.
"Surprise!"
Maka dangled a black and white picture in front of his eyes. Soul tried to focus on the swinging image.
"Er… what is it?"
Maka clicked her tongue. "It's your son, idiot."
Soul's eyes snapped to his wife's face. She smiled above him, her cheeks flushed red.
"….Son?" He croaked, taking the sonogram out of her hand. "It's a boy?"
Maka choked out a laugh, trying to cover her happy tears. "Yup." She plopped down on the couch next to him, and rested her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes while Soul continued to study the blurry picture of their unborn son.
He could distinguish a round head, the curve of a nose, and a knee. He touched the image carefully, as if he could touch his little son for real.
"What's that?"
Maka opened one eye. "An arm."
"And that?" Soul asked, pointing.
"Not an arm."
"That's my boy," Soul whispered.
"Wuzzdat?"
Soul and Maka looked up to find their daughter in the doorway of her bedroom. Her long white hair was mussed, the red ribbon threaded through loose, the bow hanging limply on the side of her head. Her green eyes were still heavy with sleep; Maka thought she looked most like Soul at times like these, only half aware of her surroundings and slow on her feet.
Soul tried to stash the sonogram between the couch cushions, but Maka held his wrist.
"She needs to get used to the idea of a baby brother," Maka hissed. In a friendlier tone, she beckoned Lily forward. "Come see, Lily."
Lily trudged to the couch and jumped on her parents' laps. Maka winced, quickly scooting over to make room for her rounded belly and her daughter. Soul noticed, and pulled Lily closer to him. He raised an eyebrow at Maka, and she shook her head rapidly, waving his concern off.
It's fine, Maka mouthed.
Still, Soul lifted Lily to his lap and handed her the sonogram. Lily held it in her hands, holding it arms length away from her eyes.
"What is it?"
"It's your little brother!" Maka said cheerily. Soul winced at her artificial tone, knowing Lily would see right through it.
She squinted at the picture, tilting her head left and right. Maka waited, holding her breath. Then quickly let it out because holding her breath probably wouldn't help her son any.
He would need a lot of help if Lily didn't warm up to the idea of having a brother.
Soul gave Maka a little nudge with his soul. She reciprocated quickly, grateful for the comforting contact. He could feel her soul thrumming with life, with an additional little blip.
That was new. He was about to pursue it further, his soul prepping to reach out to the little blip when Lily said "It looks like a jelly bean."
Soul's soul stopped short, and he chortled loudly. "You got that right, kid."
Maka looked defensive. "Your brother does not look like a jelly bean…"
"Yeah, he does," Lily nodded insistently. "Like a fuzzy jelly bean."
Maka gave her daughter hair ribbon a little tug. "Be nice to your brother."
"Not gunna be nice to a fuzzy jelly bean," Lily grumbled, her fists curling. Soul pulled the sonogram out of his daughter's hands before she could crumble it completely.
"Ok, kid," he said, shifting Lily out of his lap and onto the cushions next to Maka. He slid off the couch and kneeled in front of their little girl.
"I know this isn't something you wanted," he began, eyeing Lily's grumpy face. Her pale eyebrows were furrowed, and the stiff set of her mouth reminded him of her mother when she thought she was right and refused to change her mind. "But this is happening, kid. Your baby brother is going to be here in a few months and you have to start getting ready to be the best big sister you can possibly be." Soul took her pudgy hand and placed it on Maka's protruding stomach. Lily's eyes widened as she touched her mama.
"It's weird," she whispered.
Maka laughed. "Imagine it from this side."
Soul grimaced. "How about no…"
Maka rolled her eyes. "Lily, your brother is going to love you, just like your daddy loves his big brother."
Lily perked up. "Uncle Wes?"
"Yeah," Maka said happily, glad for the mood change in her daughter.
"Maka…." Soul said warningly.
She ignored him, and continued eagerly. "We'll give him a call today. Maybe he can tell you some cool big sister secrets you can use!"
Soul knew Maka was rambling, but Lily didn't notice. She bounced up and down on the couch excitedly.
"Can I go call him now?"
"Yeah, go ahead," Maka said over Soul's indignant sounds. Lily leaped off the couch with a grace familiar to Soul, and raced towards the kitchen. It would take her a while to realize she couldn't reach the phone, let alone the fact that she didn't recognize her numbers yet.
Soul raised himself from the floor and flopped back down on the couch.
"Uncool, Maka."
"Oh, suck it up. I'm trying to prevent infanticide, here. Besides," Maka sighed. "We haven't seen Wes since our wedding. It'll be good for Lily to see her uncle in person again and talk to him why being an older sibling is a good thing."
Soul frowned. "I'm not so sure Wes'll have anything positive to say."
Soul and Wes, while on speaking terms, still had trouble having a normal conversation without it turning into a you-should-call-mom-and-dad-and-tell-them-about-Ma ka-and-Lily-and-now-your-unborn-son lecture. Wes didn't understand why Soul was hiding his family away from their parents. Soul's argument was that he wasn't hiding anyone, he was just sure that they wouldn't be interested, like they failed to show interest in anything Soul-related since he left the Evans family all of those years ago. Maka, who couldn't comment on parent-child relationships considering her own absent mother and philandering father, still felt like Soul should put forth more effort with regard to contacting his parents.
She was sure they had no idea they had a daughter-in-law, let alone a grandchild and a half.
Maka's smile was small as she took Soul's hand and pressed it to her lips. "I need you to do this for me," she said, her mouth grazing Soul's skin with every word. "I need someone to tell me Lily will be ok."
Soul stifled a groan. "I've already told you..."
"I need to hear it from someone who did not father her."
"Shit, Maka, ask Stein then. Anyone but my brother."
Maka let Soul's hand drop. "Speaking of Stein, he said the baby is perfectly healthy. No traces of black blood, or anything else."
Soul sat bolt upright, sufficiently distracted. "Really? He said that?"
She nodded, smiling widely, and patted her belly. "We've got ourselves a healthy baby boy in here."
Soul grinned at his wife, cupping her face in his hands. "Cool," he leaned forward to press his lips against Maka's.
Maka happily reciprocated the affection, wrapping her arms around her husband's neck. Soul thought vaguely to his daughter in the next room, but all thoughts vanished when Maka broke their kiss to climb onto his lap, the skirt of her dress riding up as she placed her knees on either side of his hips. There more of Maka to fit onto his lap, Soul noted, but he kept that to himself. Maka's hormones mostly resulted in his skull getting bashed by the nearest hardback, but sometimes they benefited him. Like now, as her lips and teeth worried the skin of his neck, Maka biting and sucking the heated flesh, he felt very benefited indeed. He could feel it in his soul, the love and warmth (and, frankly, lust) curling around the edges of her soul. The little blip Soul felt earlier bubbled, almost as if it was pleased.
My son, Soul thought. Our son.
The baby was happy that his parents were happy.
A crash interrupted them. They jumped apart quickly, Maka sliding back onto the couch. Soul slumped back.
"Our daughter," he growled.
As if on cue, they heard Lily shout "DADDY! I CAN'T REACH!" Another crash shook the apartment.
Maka clapped her hand to her face. "She's got the broom again. Go get her!" She gave her husband a hard shove off of the couch.
Soul stumbled to his feet. He walked to the kitchen, pausing once to look back at his wife. She smiled, and tilted her head towards the kitchen. The gesture seemed to solidify something in Soul, giving him confidence, because he grinned back at her, his shark teeth glinting in the light of the living room. He continued walking towards the kitchen, his steps more brisk than before.
I hope you look like him, baby, Maka thought, stroking her belly. We've got to give you a name now, I guess. Can't keep calling you "baby," anyway.
She glanced up at her husband and daughter. Soul had given Lily a rag, and lifted her to his shoulders so she could clean the high shelf the cereal had been knocked over. The little girl giggled as her father prodded her little tummy, pretending to direct her cleaning.
Your daddy wants to give you a cool name. I got to name your big sister, so he thinks it's only fair that he gets to name you. He made a list and everything.
Maka watched as Soul flipped Lily off of his shoulders, helping her tumble in midair. Lily's high-pitched giggle and Soul's deep chuckle filled their tiny apartment.
He's a good daddy. I think I'll give this one to him.
She gave her stomach one last pat.
I think he deserves it, right?
Maka pushed herself off of the couch, moving to join her husband and daughter in the kitchen.
Isn't that right, Jax?