Not Quite According to Plan

Umi was happy to be back in Cephiro. Her parents had just returned Tokyo after a year abroad, and she had gone to stay with them for a week while they settled back in. As familiar as her old room was, it wasn't home anymore. She missed the fresh scent of Cephiran laundry soap on her sheets for one thing, and curling up to sleep with Clef for another. She'd moved into his rooms over two years ago, just about the time she finished school. He would have come with her to visit her parents if he hadn't had a mountain of reports to sort out and deal with.

Opening the door to their rooms, Umi kicked off her shoes and called, "I'm home."

She glanced about the room. Everything looked more or less how she'd left it. The kitchenette was a mess, but it usually was overrun with their cups and a few more from the main kitchens when Clef had a deadline. Slightly more out of the ordinary were the two bags of washing sat by the door. Between them, they usually managed to fill one by wash day each week. How did he get through two?

"Hey, Clef?" Umi called, setting down her suitcase and stepping further in. Maybe he was down the way in his office?

"In here." Clef's voice came from the bedroom.

Umi swept past the kitchenette and bounded into the bedroom, ready to throw her arms around him for a much-needed hug and perhaps a very nice welcome home kiss, but she skidded to a halt just inside the door.

Their bedroom had very definitely changed. She most definitely did not remember there being anything remotely resembling the cradle that now stood at the foot of the bed. Much less the existence of the tiny person that Clef was carefully dressing. He fastened a final clasp and picked up the infant before turning to Umi with a smile.

"I missed you," he said, same way as he always did when she'd been away.

"Yeah, me too," Umi said, distracted by the baby. "Clef?"

He crossed the floor and simply handed it to her. "I just need to finish getting a bottle ready," he said. No details, no explanations. Umi stood there stunned, and very definitely holding a baby, whose face was pinching up as it gave a tiny frustrated cry.

"Clef, where did you get a baby?" Umi asked, rocking her arms gently.

"About five days ago," he answered, standing in front of the kitchenette in confusion. He ran a hand through his hair and opened one cupboard and then another before taking a step back and blinking.

"You were doing a bottle," Umi prompted, realising he'd forgotten.

"Right." He opened the cold cupboard and pulled out a small jug of something that looked an awful lot more like milk than anything Umi had seen in Cephiro so far. It had the faintest of blue tints, rather than the slight pink of uinka juice. He poured about half into a small saucepan and turned on the flame beneath it, before putting the jug back and sifting through the pile of crockery beside the sink.

"I said where, not when," Umi said. "Where did you get a baby?"

"The baby was left outside the nursery five days ago." Clef poured the now warmed milk into a clean bottle and clicked it together before testing the temperature on the inside of his wrist. Satisfied, he picked up a cloth and made his way back toward Umi, arms out to take the baby back.

Eyeing the tremor of his hands and the dark circles under his eyes, plus the fact he'd left the flames on under the empty saucepan, Umi shook her head. "Maybe you should turn that off." Balancing the baby in one arm she took the bottle from him and walked over to the settee.

"Oh, yes."

For once, she was thankful that Hikaru had been dragging her down to the nurseries, otherwise she might have felt far more out of her depth. Since the beginning of the reformation, Cephiro had been a little extra fertile in more ways than just the land trying to recover what she had lost. Not only were the plants and animals reproducing at an exponential rate to refill the land, but the human population of Cephiro had increased by nearly a third in the last few years. Mostly due to contraceptive potions failing to work as they should when they were up against the will of the land herself.

Many of the children were happily welcomed, but some were too startling a surprise. For those unable to cope with a new family member, there was a system in place; Umi didn't know the full details, but she did know that a number of new babies shuffled through the castle creche and on to more permanent foster families. She guessed this was merely another one.

Clef had gone back to clattering about at the kitchenette. He'd managed to turn the flames off but now he had the kettle on. He had a teapot, two saucers, and one cup out. The second cup seemed to be eluding him, despite being just on the other side of the drying rack.

"Please tell me you were more coherent when Efini let you take the baby," Umi said. The baby in question had finished most of the bottle and was now resting on Umi shoulder as she patted their back.

"I'm perfectly coherent!" Clef argued, fighting with the lid to the tea tin. "Just a little tired."

"And I'm just a little confused."

He managed to only spill a few tea leaves on the counter while putting a few spoonfuls in the pot. "About?"

"Clef, we've spent the past three years avoiding sex so we wouldn't have a baby!"

"As I have demonstrated several hundred times, intercourse is not the only way of having sex." He traded her the bottle for a cup of tea. Hers the first out of the pot while he let the tea leaves steep longer before pouring his own. "And if you're not enjoying what we've been doing, I could find other things to do with my time. Like work."

"You know what I mean! You're good with your hands and your mouth, but sometimes I'd like to do more." Umi look from him to the cup and then down to the baby in her arms. A baby was definitely not what he was supposed to be taking care of while she was gone. "You've done a brilliant job of working so far this week, I can see."

He ignored the last comment and continued. "I'm not willing to compromise on that until you have your magic better controlled. We've discussed this, Umi."

"What's wrong with my magic control? I'm almost an Iru."

"But you aren't yet." He sat down beside her, clutching his teacup in shaking hands. "I have nothing against having a child, Umi. I won't put you in any danger when I don't have to."

They had discussed it, multiple times, but she still was annoyed by a rule that she had no actual input on. The only control she had over it was by finishing her studies. When she passed her final exams he would consent, but not before; it was that simple. She occasionally wondered if it wasn't just an incentive to keep her focused on her training, but he was so insistent they not chance her falling pregnant until then, because of possible complications, that she didn't often press too hard.

"I still think you're being overdramatic," she said, setting down the cup of tea and carrying the now drowsy baby back into the bedroom and settling it in the cot.

On the way back into the sitting room, Umi paused in the doorway. Clef's hands weren't the only bit of him shaking. His entire body had started to tremble. She sighed. "When was the last time you slept?"

"Yesterday?" He looked into his cup, possibly for answers. "For a little while, I think."

She narrowed her eyes at him when he looked up at her. "I mean proper sleep, in a bed."

He looked sheepish. "How long have you been gone?"

"Clef!"

"It's just—" He waved his hands.

"You've slept alone for over 700 years, Clef." She stormed over to him. Why was he so terrible about taking care of himself? "One week isn't going to kill you."

"Just because I should doesn't mean I want to!" He paused. "Or that I can!"

Umi took his teacup out of his hand, hauled him up by the arm, and pushed him into the bedroom. When they got close to the bed, she grabbed the hem of his shirt and started to pull it up and off.

"Hey!"

Slapping his hands away, she yanked his top off over his head before reaching down for his trousers. "You are going to bed, and you are sleeping."

"It's the middle of the afternoon," he protested, trying to shrug her off.

He managed to shoo her away enough to take his own trousers off without help, which gave Umi time to go rifling through the bed covers to find his current pyjamas. Finding his trousers first, she threw them at him and crawled onto the the mattress to start looking under the pillows for a shirt.

"Clef, you haven't slept in days." Umi found the edge of a sleeve under one of the pillows and gave it a yank. It was unfortunately her nightgown, not his. While she was comfortable wearing his nightshirts, his chest was a bit too broad for hers. Otherwise she'd probably have just put it on him and thrown him in bed like that.

"I must have slept some," he said, quietly. "I just don't know when."

Flailing off the bed, Umi went to his wardrobe, pulled out the bottom drawer, and shoved the first nightshirt she found into his hands. "Which is why you are going to bed now."

"But—"

"I didn't say I was going to leave you." Umi climbed back onto the bed and shuffled over to her side. She rearranged the pillows so she could lean back into a comfortable sitting position and patted the mattress beside her. "Come on. You need to sleep."

By the time she thought to pick up a book, Umi found herself practically pinned to the bed by Clef curled up around her. She pulled the top pillow out from under her head and settled down lower, so he could comfortably rest his head on her chest. His feet were tangled with hers, and his arm was wrapped around her middle.

"I really missed you," he whispered.

"We're talking about this whole baby thing when you wake up, you know."

"Uh huh."

He snuggled closer, hugging her more tightly. Umi absently stroked his head and blinked up at the ceiling, her own eyelids getting heavier now she was home - even with a surprise addition.

.*.

The baby woke up a few hours later. Umi rubbed her eyes, drowsily. She'd managed to drift off herself, even though she'd only intended to stay until Clef was asleep. It was ridiculous; he was 750 years old, but he no longer even tried to sleep unless she was in bed with him. Not that he'd slept that much before they were together…

The baby continued to fuss, a small quiet sound. One that promised to get louder over the next few weeks as those tiny lungs grew stronger. Untangling herself from blankets and a sleeping mage, Umi slipped out of bed and walked around to the cot. The little pinched up face glared at her with an expression that reminded Umi a bit too much of Clef when he was sleepy and annoyed and she had to stifle a laugh.

The baby settled slightly when held to her chest. She crouched down to sift through the pile of things shoved under the cot. There were a few different bags and it took her a moment to find the one with the squares of thick absorbent cloth. Pulling one out, she took the baby out of the room and through the sitting room to the bathroom, so she could have access to clean warm water while she changed them.

Once that was done, Umi set the small still-grumbling baby into a little nest on the settee while she mimicked Clef's method of preparing a bottle. There were multiple jugs of the milk in the cold cupboard, but she finished off the one he'd started.

The baby fed hungrily when offered the bottle. She held them close, watching the tiny mouth suckle. It was so small. A tiny little thing. Clef said he'd had them for five days, Umi wasn't sure the baby was much older than week, at most. Sure, the cord seemed to have fallen off, but there was still a sore where it had been. Not a painful looking sore, but still a bit scabbed and raw looking. Maybe the healers didn't do anything about that here, either. Perhaps it wasn't the sort of wound magic could heal. Umi chewed on her lip and wondered about it. She would have to ask Clef when he woke up.

Somewhere, a bell chimed the opening of the dining hall for dinner.

"We should probably go down soon," Umi said to the baby, as she set them up on her shoulder.

The baby merely responded with a tiny belch, and Umi laughed. "Yeah, I know. You've already eaten. But I need to have something soon." She glanced at the open bedroom door. "I should probably bring something up for Clef too. He probably hasn't eaten much since you arrived, has he?"

Their head rested quietly on her shoulder, uninterested in the conversation.

"A lot of help you are." She put them back down on the settee and searched for some paper and a pen to leave Clef some sort of note.

Completely blanking on how to write 'dinner' in Cephiran, Umi scribbled the kanji for 'food' and drew a plate with a spoon and fork under it and pinned the paper to the tea cupboard, so he'd know where she'd gone. As an after thought, she scribbled a rough doodle of herself and a baby too. Hopefully he'd sleep and the note would be unnecessary, otherwise she was bound to get another comment on her artistic abilities.

Umi gathered up the baby, slipped on her shoes, and walked out of the room.

.*.

When Umi made it down the dining hall, she found her friends easily. They had claimed one of the tables in the far corner pretty consistently over the past few years. It was a small group that day; Fuu was attending university on earth, Lantis and Hikaru were nowhere to be seen. Umi vaguely remembered mention of the NSX being around that week, which explained why they hadn't been watching Clef. There was no LaFarga, either. Caldina absently waved at her before going back to an intense debate she was having with Presea about what small weapons were most convenient to carry.

"Hey, Umi, is Clef actually resting like Miura t—told—" Ferio's eyes widened as he turned around to face her, his eyes drifting down to her arms.

Oh, Miura had told him to rest. That made sense. No one had noticed the Guru's absence, because he had been sent to bed. He really must not have slept much, if the head of the healers was sending him to his room to rest. It wouldn't be the first time. At the very least, it usually got him to slow down for a little while. She'd had to do the same thing a few months ago when Umi had flown out to spend time with her parents for two weeks.

Ferio opened and closed his mouth. He looked at the baby, then back at Umi, then back at the baby. "That's a baby."

"Yes it is." Umi dropped into the chair beside him and reached over the table to grab one of the flatbreads. "It is very much a baby."

Caldina snapped to attention. "When did you have a baby?"

"Do I look like I just had a baby?" Umi growled around her mouthful.

"Well you have a baby," Caldina said, waving a hand. "I don't think I'm imaginin' things if everyone else sees it too."

"I came home, and Clef had a baby."

Presea leaned forward to peer over the table. "Why didn't you tell us the two of you were expecting?"

"We weren't!" Umi declared, waving them off with half her bread. "He didn't have a baby. He just had a baby. Clef's been taking care of this one for five days, and none of you noticed?"

"Well, with those curtains he's always wearing, I mean… it is possible that he was just hidin' it, you know." Caldina shrugged.

Umi swallowed and narrowed her eyes. "Clef did not give birth while I was gone!"

"What makes you so sure?" Presea asked, joining in on the wind-up-Umi game. "It's not like it's not possible."

Umi dropped the end of her bread on her plate and counted off on the fingers of the hand not holding the baby. "One, we haven't done that, because if I don't get to, neither does he. Two, he did not have the right parts for that when I left him last week. Trust me. I would know. Three, he wouldn't keep something like that a secret from me."

"Ok, ok. But where'd the kid come from, then?"

"Left outside the nursery." Umi placed the baby in Caldina's arms. "Since you find it all so fascinating, you can hold them."

With that, Umi reached across the table for the dishes of food she was most interested in and began to fill her plate. It felt like she hadn't eaten for days, even though it had only been a few hours since she'd had lunch with her parents. The jump between worlds always took a lot out of her when she was on her own. She looked around the table, trying to work out who else was missing. Clef was upstairs, asleep, obviously. That left—

"Where's Ascot, anyway?"

Caldina cradled the baby closer to her chest, and tapped it's little tiny nose. "Oh, you know, Zazu's been showing him around the NSX."

Umi raised an eyebrow. "He's already seen the NSX."

"Not from that angle," Ferio said, reaching for his drink.

Umi nearly choked on the piece of fruit she had just bitten into. Caldina and Presea sniggered. Ferio leaned back in his seat looking quite pleased with his own joke. His smug look only fell from his face when Umi thwapped him upside the head.

"That's a visual I did not need!"

"I shouldn't mention height adjustable workbenches should I?" he cackled, holding her back with one hand while leaning his head out of her reach. "You know, good to bend someone over, if you've got a bit of a height difference."

Umi rolled her eyes at him. "I wouldn't know about height differences." If he wanted to play this game, she'd play. And win it. "But Clef's desk is just about the right height without anything being adjusted."

"We have meetings there!" Ferio grimaced and pulled away from her. "I drink tea at his desk. I eat there!"

"So does he." A wicked smile played across her lips.

"No!" He waved his hands, as if trying to fend off the idea. "I don't want to know!"

"You don't want to know what?" Umi asked, feigning innocence. "You're the one who brought up workbenches. I was just explaining that Clef has plenty of surfaces in his study where he can do his work without adjustments. I mean, his desk is one, but there's also the settee, the chairs… hell, even the ladder will do in a pinch."

Ferio's face had gone multiple shades of red, and Caldina was laughing so hard she could hardly breathe when Umi leaned back in her chair and speared a bit of meat with her fork. It was his own fault.

.*.

After dinner, Umi wandered back up to the rooms. The baby was starting to fuss again by the time she'd made it through the door; she kicked her shoes off and set to work preparing another bottle of milk before sitting down with them.

Umi stared at the baby in her arms as they drank, only just realising why their friends were so quick to believe that the baby belonged to them. Blue eyes were normal enough, many babies in Cephiro had them at first. But then there was the hair. The light fluff covering the crown of the baby's head wasn't too far off the shade Clef's was. She traced a finger along the tiny eyebrows, trying to work out exactly what it was about the shape of the eyes that wasn't quite Cephiran. It wasn't Japanese, but definitely not Cephiran. The combination was enough like both to be confusing to strangers, especially when the delicate skin on the little limbs was toned near enough halfway between hers and Clef's.

Was she just imagining it? But if she was, why did Caldina immediately assume the child was theirs, even when no one had said anything about anyone expecting a child?

Had Clef even noticed the resemblance?

Once the baby was settled, Umi carried them back into the bedroom. She looked over at the bed and smiled. Clef had stayed curled up mostly on her side, but was now clutching a pillow. His hair tangled about his face, obscuring his expression, but he seemed to be sleeping well, so she left them both and quietly shut the door behind her.

Umi opened her bag and dug out one of the new novels her mother had loaned her. She curled back up on the settee, and started reading.

.*.

Umi woke to Clef's fingers brushing the hair back from her face.

"Umi," he whispered. "You should probably go to bed."

Sitting up from where she'd sprawled across the cushions, Umi rubbed her eyes and blinked at him. He was cradling the baby in one arm, and for a brief moment she was confused about how he'd come to have a baby. "What time is it?"

He smiled. "Late."

"As long as it's not very late, then." She scooted closer so she could lean against him, resting her head on his shoulder while watching the baby sleep peacefully in his arms. He wasn't making any move to take them back to bed. "Clef, how long are you planning to keep the baby?"

"I said I would talk to you about it when you were home."

"I'm home now."

He freed one of his arms to wrap it around her and pull her close. "I promise I haven't made any permanent decisions without you." He kissed he temple. "I just—There wasn't—Someone needed to take the baby for a while." Clef absently twirled her hair about his fingers as he continued. "The nursery is full again. We're trying to find more homes, but it's been difficult, and I thought—maybe—if you didn't mind—we could…"

"How long?" Umi asked.

"If someone in Cephiro gives up a child, they have a year to change their mind," Clef explained quietly.

"And if they don't?"

"The child can be adopted permanently. Either by the family fostering them, or by another family."

"Ok." Umi swallowed and sat up. They'd talked about starting a family soon. It was only a few more months until she should achieve rank and get past the worst of Clef's worrying. This was maybe a year sooner than planned, but not that far out. "It's just a year to start with, yeah?"

"Umi?" He looked down at the baby and then back up at her.

She laughed and pushed her hair back. "Don't tell me you aren't already attached."

"We don't have to keep them. I know you wanted—" Clef protested.

Pressing a finger to his lips, Umi leaned in. "You get to explain it to my parents when they visit next week."

He blinked at her.

"I mean, seriously, you bring home the one baby in the whole of Cephiro who looks like they could be ours, and you expect my family not to think I forgot to tell them something?"

"The baby doesn't—" Clef looked down at the child and then back up at Umi. "Oh." His eyes went wide. "Oh!"

"They've been gone for a year, Clef. I've been to visit them once, but not recently. If you don't think they will assume I just didn't tell them, then tell me why Caldina thought as much tonight."

"But you wouldn't lie about that!"

"Clef, I didn't tell them about Cephiro until I moved."

"…Ah."

They both looked down at the baby and back at each other. Umi couldn't help but giggle at the bewildered look on Clef's face. She could practically see the thoughts whizzing through his head as he tried to come up with something to convince them that Umi hadn't kept such a big secret from them.

"Does the baby have a name?" she asked, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

"No." Clef shook his head. "I wasn't sure we would keep them, so…"

"I'm not spending the next year calling them 'the baby', Clef." Umi took the baby from him, stood up, and started for the bedroom door. "Especially not for the rest of their life."

"We don't have to decide tonight." Clef said, getting up from the settee to follow. "We have at least another week before Efini will be hunting me down to complete the paperwork."

Inside the bedroom, Umi laid the baby back down and turned back to where Clef now stood, a silhouette in the doorway. "I'm sure we can agree on something in a week." Taking his hand, she tugged him with her toward the bed.

"I've already slept the whole afternoon," Clef complained.

"Who said anything about sleep." With a sly grin, Umi gave him a shove, knocking him back onto the mattress. She climbed onto the bed after him, her knees on either side of Clef's hips as she bent down to kiss him. Her hands sliding up under his nightshirt. "I think I deserve an apology."

He moved quickly, lifting her up, and turning them both over so Umi was now farther across the bed and he was the one kneeling beside her. "Do you?"

"Oh yes." Umi tugged him down to her by the front of his nightshirt. "A very nice one."

And apologise he did. Quite thoroughly, but perhaps not as thoroughly as she might have liked. Oh, well, the next few months would go quickly with a child distracting both of them, and then she was sure she could find something else he would have to apologise for.

.*.

Their second child would come into their lives much more slowly, and with plenty more warning.

A/N: Thank you for reading! All feedback is loved!