There's Only Room in This Family for One Princess

Takes place four or five years after the end of the series. No actual spoilers, though. Written for Aiko-chan for her birthday. Enjoy! This story is finished.

It was a girl.

Maeter didn't know how she could possibly be so sure of something like that, but somehow she just knew. Mama didn't know. Renton didn't know. But Maeter had never been so convinced of anything.

Mama was going to have a girl.

Maeter had always been the special one. She could keep up with her brothers just fine, playing in the mud and crashing their toy KLFs together as well as brushing her dolls' hair and playing dress-up. She liked pastel colors and doodling and kittens but she also loved reffing and wrestling with Linck and working in the garage with Renton and Grandpa.

But she was the only girl and that had made her special. Renton especially treated her like she was something particularly precious to him. He always let her get away with more than her brothers did, always put aside his work to color with her in her room or to show her how to fix a particular valve. He rarely stopped what he was doing to play with Maurice and Linck. He brought her special just-because gifts. He had never denied her a piggy-back ride.

She was nine whole years old now and knew perfectly well that he did not in fact love her more than he loved her brothers, but he loved her differently. He was always her papa to kiss skinned knees, her horsie to take a ride on, her boyfriend to steal away from Mama. And he always let her, turning his affection away from Eureka long enough to give Maeter the attention she craved from him specifically.

It was because she was the girl. Her relationship with him was different than that of Maurice and Linck. And now this new little girl was going to come and steal him away. She didn't mind sharing him with Mama, but the prospect of having to split his time with a sister left a sour taste in her mouth.

Eureka and Renton both noticed that Maeter had been rather quiet and pouty as of late. This left Eureka confused. "She's been like this ever since we told her the news. Was that it? She was so excited then, but a few days later she started acting like this."

Renton chuckled at Eureka's lingering naevity. "She's jealous already, and you're only three months along."

"Jealous? What, of this?" she asked, her hand instinctively finding its way to her abdomen. "She has two siblings. What's different about this? What's so funny? Renton!"

"Sorry," was the reply as her lover's laughter subsided. "How about this? I'll talk with her."

"You?"

"Yeah. Me." He stood, brushing grass from his pants. "I'll get to the root of her bad mood and tell you how it goes. How does that sound?"

Eureka was quiet for a moment. "Is she really that upset?" Her fingers unconsciously fidgeted with the band on her left hand. "Did I do something wrong?"

He leaned over and laid a soft kiss on her forehead. "Not a thing. Don't worry. Papa will make it all better."

It wasn't hard to find Maeter when she was sulking; she always sat in the treehouse that Axel had made the kids two years ago. Maurice had outgrown it and Linck preferred spending his time at the park, but Maeter loved that treehouse.

She didn't seem to hear him climbing up because she jumped at the sound of his footsteps on the wooden floor. "Renton! You scared me!"

"Whoops, sorry." He leaned over, his hands on his knees. "Next time I'll make sure to be really noisy when I come up, okay?" She stared at him a moment before turning back to stare out the square-shaped hole that served as a window. Sighing, Renton knelt so he was at her level. "You're getting taller. You're gonna be as tall as Mama pretty soon here."

"Hopefully I won't be as fat as Mama."

"Maeter!" he scolded, startled by her manner. "Mama is not fat."

"She will be," the girl replied before turning her head to look at him again. "She's gonna hava a baby and get fat like Talho did."

Renton had to swallow a laugh, settling for a smile. "You know that's not nice, right? Pregnant ladies are very mean when you call them fat. They get so angry that they cry sometimes."

Maeter's eyes widened. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah. When they're pregnant, they lose all sense of reason and act like crazy people. Remember how Talho used to yell at Holland when she was pregnant about how he needed to shave more often?"

She nodded, seemingly still fascinated with this new bit of information. "She was scary! She'd throw things and call him hairy."

"Well, hopefully Mama won't be quite as crazy," Renton replied, making it a prayer at the same time. "Talho was already a little bit crazy, don't you think?" Finally her frown broke and she giggled, not willing to verbally agree with him but still knowing just what he was talking about. "There's my favorite smile. That's better."

She stopped laughing, her smile beginning to fade. "Will it always be your favorite?" she asked suddenly.

"Huh? Why wouldn't it be?"

Silence was her reply as she stood, leaning on the windowsill and pushing her head out the window. Sighing, Renton rose and stood next to her, leaning on the frame and looking down at her. "What's the matter, Pumpkin?"

"Mama's having a girl, isn't she?" She refused to look at him, preferring to continue to stare at another tree a few yards away.

"We don't know if it's a boy or a girl," Renton replied. "Mama and I want it to be a surprise."

"I won't be surprised," was the flat reply. "I know it's a girl."

"How could you know that?"

"I just know. Woman's intuition."

Renton couldn't help it. He burst out laughing, cupping his hand over his mouth in a futile attempt to muffle his laughter. "Maeter, it could just as easily be a boy," he said as he recovered from his amusement. "Why does it matter if the baby is a girl or a boy?"

"Because I'm the girl!" she exclaimed suddenly, leaning back from the windowsill. "I'm your princess and I don't want to share!"

The laughter faded from Renton's eyes but he still smiled. "Maeter, no one can ever take your place."

"But I'm different than Maurice and Linck!" she protested, one hand still clutching the sill, the other clenched at her side. "They're boys. I'm the girl. I'm the only other girl except for Mama. I don't want there to be another girl. You're mine!" she cried, throwing her arms around his middle and clutching at the back of his shirt desperately. "No stupid baby is taking you away from me!"

Renton was speechless. All he could think to do was hug her back. He sank to his knees and let her continue rambling into his chest. "Hey. Hey, Maeter. Quiet for a sec." She leaned back, rewarding him with the most adorable pout he'd ever seen on those freckled cheeks. "Hey, listen to me good, okay?" She nodded. "I love Maurice because he's Maurice. I love Linck because he's Linck. Not because they're the boys. And I love them each differently, too. And I love you because you're you. You're Maeter. Mama and I love you all equally. And not even another girl will ever change that, 'kay?"

She stared at him a moment, her lower lip protruding, before she nodded once, slowly. "'Kay." She sniffed for effect and was pleased when he smiled, pecking her on the nose and called her a good girl. "Renton?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we get ice cream?"

She yelped, startled, when he suddenly picked her up and swung her to his chest, laughing. "Anything you want, princess."

THE END

THIS STORY IS FINISHED. Do not ask me to write more; there is nothing else to add.