Mega: Hello, everyone! I have not died, nor have I been kidnapped by aliens. I merely been really busy with Christmas (it is Christmas today!) and the other holidays that have happened or that will happen. The Burning Mist is the first thing on my list to update after I finish my Takuten one-shot as a side story to Heat Stroke. I felt festive, so here is a Christmas one-shot with the IE and IE Go cast. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the IE or the IE Go cast, I'm just "borrowing" them for the moment.

Warning

This story contains yaoi and mpreg because, well, I like them, and it's Christmas!

Christmas Time

Ranmaru Shindou shook his head gently as flakes of pure white snow landed on his bright carnation colored hair. A warm hand quickly brushed off the remaining snow. Ranmaru blushed slightly as the said hand slid down to rest on his cheek. A sudden puff off warm breath on his bare neck startled him, and he jumped slightly in surprise.

A soft, loving laugh came from the owner of the hand and the one who had startled Ranmaru. Ranmaru turned towards the source of the laugh. His eyes landed on a man with curly brown hair and sparkling brown eyes. He huffed in irritation at the man. The man only laughed in return.

"Don't be upset, Ranmaru. It was only a joke," the brown haired man smiled.

"Can you at least try to be mature, Takuto? You're, what, twenty-five years old, now?" Ranmaru glared, annoyed at his lover.

"Why would I do that?" Takuto murmured as he pulled Ranmaru into his arms, "besides, you know you love it."

Ranmaru blushed profusely at his statement, "I do not!"

Takuto only pulled him closer and let his hand drift down towards his lover's chest. "Is that so? Then why were you so defensive about it?"

"I-I wasn't being defensive! You were just saying untrue things about me!"

Takuto chuckled slightly and lowered his hands farther to Ranmaru's swollen abdomen. "You really should relax. After all, stress isn't good for you or the little one."

Ranmaru froze at the mention of their unborn child. He knew stress was bad for the child, but he couldn't help being frustrated with his husband's childish antics. His arms lifted from his sides and rose to rest on his rounded stomach.

Takuto's arms moved to mimic his own. His strong arms wrapped around his abdomen comfortingly, "Come on, then. We have a party to get to!"

Together, they resumed walking towards the mansion that belonged to Takuto's parents. It was to be the location for the reunion and Christmas party for the players on Raimon's soccer team eleven years ago. So far, all of the members made plans to attend, and, to Takuto and Ranmaru's knowledge, no one had canceled.

The party was not only to exchange Christmas pleasantries, but to share important news with close friends. The Takuto and Ranmaru Shindou had shared the news of their engagement and wedding plans at the very same party three years ago, but now, they had even more important news to share. Some of their friends, such as Tenma and Kyousuke, had known for months, but the others still had no idea that Ranmaru had conceived and was eight months pregnant with their first child. They were not the only ones with news of an expanding family, though, because Tenma and Kyousuke were also expecting a new child soon, and, of course, Ranmaru and Takuto had been some of the first people Tenma and Kyousuke had given the news to.

The realization of becoming parents had been daunting at first, but now, with only one more month until the child's birth, the responsibilities of parenthood had been fully accepted by the couple. At first, the idea of raising and nurturing a child had been terrifying to Ranmaru, seeing as he would be expected to fill the role of the mother, but now he was anxiously awaiting the birth of their child and raising the infant that was currently growing inside him.

Takuto grasped his hand firmly as he gently pulled Ranmaru along. The mansion was close, yet at their current speed, they could have easily spent another twenty or so minutes out in the snow.

Ranmaru smiled briefly as his lover hastily tugged him towards the mansion. He quickly matched Takuto's pace and was soon walking beside him. Then, Takuto stopped suddenly and pulled his husband into his arms, carrying him bridal style.

Ranmaru floundered around in panic until Takuto had secured him in his arms. Then, he leaned gratefully into Takuto's warmth and relaxed.

The musical genius smiled at him before he began to run, carefully, of course, towards the location of the party. He had them there in five minutes.

He gently set his lover on his feet before the pair walked up the steps, and Takuto ran the doorbell. Ranmaru blinked in surprise when the door was suddenly thrown open. A cheerful brunette and a calm blue haired man greeted them.

While Takuto and Kyousuke exchanged greetings, Ranmaru was tackled by Tenma and pulled into a strong hug. The brunette curiously poked at his stomach, infatuated with the sight.

"Ranmaru-san, how are you?" He smiled brightly as he had done so many times before.

"I'm fine, Tenma, and you?" He replied curtly, eyes traveling up and down the other until they came to rest on his abdomen.

"I'm great! I'm a little nervous, but I'm so excited!" He said happily, catching on to the elder's subtle hints.

"That's good to hear. You're in, what, your fifth month now?" He asked as he continued to eye the brunette's growing stomach.

"Yup! Tsuru-I mean Kyousuke," He stumbled over his husband's name, unused to calling him by his given name, "has been exited, too, but he can't wait for this to be over."

"Yeah, Takuto's been like that too," Ranmaru nodded. "Come to think of it, I can't wait until this is over either."

"Really? I'm still nervous about it. How can you be so calm about it?" Tenma sighed, completely different from what he usually acted like.

"I'm still nervous, but I just can't wait for the baby to be born. You get a little tired of carrying a baby after nine months, wouldn't you say?" Ranmaru paused and looked over to where their lovers had been standing only to find that they had gone inside to join the party. "Come on, Tenma. Let's get inside. It's getting cold out here anyway."

Tenma followed the older male inside the large house and into the living room area. Once there, they were pulled into the embraces of their lovers and taken towards the sofas and chair that were pulled into a circle around the fireplace. Tenma was pulled onto a warm leather couch next to Kyousuke while Ranmaru was led to a black velvet sofa and was seated between Takuto's legs with his lover's arms wrapped around his middle.

The chatter quieted as people began to take notice of the new arrivals. Their former coach, Mamoru Endou, who was sitting with his lover, Ichirouta Endou, and their two children, was the first to offer a greeting.

"How are you, Kyousuke, Tenma, Takuto, and Ranmaru?" His tone was very cheerful, perfectly reflecting his personality.

Takuto nodded politely, "We're fine, coach. How are you?"

"I'm great! Christmas is such a great time to play soccer! Say, do you want to play some soccer? Christmas soccer is the best soccer-" He was cut short when Ichirouta, fed up with his soccer rant, smacked his head forcefully.

"Can you go five minutes without talking about soccer?" Ichirouta growled irritably.

"But why can't I talk about soccer? Soccer is great!" Mamoru whined while Ichirouta looked like he was ready to punch him through a wall.

"Captain, you really should try to calm down. It's Christmas, after all." A calm voice said smoothly.

All eyes in the room turned towards the source. Shirou Gouenji smiled softly in response. His husband, Shuuya Gouenji, who was holding their young daughter, also looked towards the calm gray haired man.

"Fine," Mamoru sighed in defeat before returning his gaze to the couple. His eyes, though, seemed to linger on Ranmaru's swollen stomach. "Are you two…"

Takuto, understanding what his former coach was asking, nodded. "We are."

Others in the room still were confused. "Are you what?" Masaki asked, annoyed with the understanding he did not share.

Takuto paused and glanced down at Ranmaru, who nodded. Then he took a breath and said, "Ranmaru's pregnant."

The effect was instantaneous. Their friends had gathered around them, offering their congratulations and best wishes to the couple. Kyousuke had waited for the commotion to die before he said something similar, "Tenma's pregnant as well."

The storm of congratulations had picked up again, but this time, Kyousuke and Tenma were the targets of the mob of people. Ranmaru laughed before he turned to look at the only couple not in the mass of people, Hiroto and Ryuuji Kira.

The greenette looked exhausted, the bags under his eyes showing the evident tiredness. Hiroto was whispering soothing words to his exhausted lover as he hugged the greenette. Ryuuji was holding their four-year old son in his lap and had a hand resting on his rounded stomach.

Ranmaru winced in sympathy, understanding that Ryuuji must have been terribly uncomfortable with the child being due so soon.

"I'm afraid that we'll have to bid you farewell, everyone," Hiroto said as he helped Ryuuji onto his feet and took the hand of their son. "Merry Christmas!"

Takuto quickly jumped up from his seat and maneuvered towards the small family. "Why don't you stay the night? It's late, and you wouldn't want to have to drive back in all this snow." The third reason, Ryuuji's near due date, was left unsaid, but understood.

"Thank you," Ryuuji smiled tiredly as his husband nodded in relief and gratitude.

Takuto quickly gave them directions to the nearest guest room because he was quite accustom to the house's layout and knew that his parents wouldn't mind, seeing as they weren't there at the moment.

Hiroto swiftly guided Ryuuji towards the room and tugged their son towards it as well. The Kira family quickly disappeared up the stairs and down the hallway.

Ranmaru sighed in relief as the family left for the room Takuto had given them to stay in. Then, an idea struck him. Takuto's childhood home certainly had enough room, after all, so he walked over to his husband and whispered his idea in Takuto's ear. Takuto grinned with delight at the idea before he turned to face their friends.

"It has come to my attention that it is quite late, and that the snow has picked up. I do not wish to see anyone having to drive home in this weather, so I would like everyone to stay the night. That is, if you want to stay."

The room was filled with the cheers of his friends. He smiled at Ranmaru, happy that things had worked out so well. Ranmaru grinned back before he let out a small yawn. Takuto laughed quietly before he walked over and took his lover's hand and pulled him up onto his feet.

"Let's get to bed."

Ranmaru nodded, "Let's."

Takuto addressed their friends yet again, "It is late so Ranmaru and I will retire to our room. Feel free to sleep where ever you would like, though I'll ask you to use common sense when choosing where you will sleep."

This earned a laugh from the guests. Takuto glanced around the room once more before he lifted a hand to wave to everyone. "Merry Christmas, everyone!"

Together, they walked up the stairs to the room they had shared together on occasion when they were in Raimon Junior High. Fishing through his old closet, Takuto pulled out two sets of pajamas, one being slightly larger than the other to compensate for Ranmaru's larger stomach.

They silently slid into Takuto's old bed, Takuto's arms wrapping around his lover's waist. Ranmaru sighed in contentment and slid farther into the prodigy's embrace.

Ranmaru yawned, his body heavy with exhaustion. "Good night, Takuto."

His lover smiled and tightened his grip on the smaller male's waist before he pressed a gentle kiss to Ranmaru's lips. "Good night, Ranmaru. I love you."

The pink haired male nodded, "I love you to, Takuto."

With that, the couple fell into a deep sleep. As they slept, they dreamed of everything that the future had instore for them, of their child, their friends, their relationship, and everything in-between.

The other occupants of the house soon found themselves in similar states. Families were happily together, siblings had stopped quarreling, and for once in many years, true peace had settled over and throughout the Shindou residence.

One might call it a Christmas miracle, but truly, it was just the love and hope that many people held in their hearts and gave to others during Christmas. Silence filled the night, but the night was not empty, for the silence held the hopes, dreams, and love that many would share during Christmas. It was truly a silent night.

~Fin.~

Mega: That's it, folks. Merry Christmas! I'm sorry for the lack of updates, but I have been busy with Christmas, Advent, and everything in-between. I hope you liked it. I do plan on doing short one-shots about the Shindou family (Takuto and Ranmaru) and the Kira family (Hiroto, Ryuuji, and their son), and those will probably involve the birth of the new family member or right after. Would you be interested? If so, PM me or leave a review. I hope you enjoyed my little Christmas story! Don't forget to favorite, follow, and review. Goodbye, everyone. Merry Christmas!