It's been a long time since I last posted here. My apologies.

I am currently more active on Tumblr as I update there more often, and I post snippets of my upcoming fics there as well.

Also, another reason why I post there more is because of the nature of my fics. I do not want to take the risk and post my lemon okikagu fics here, so if ever you want to read a lemon fic of mine, please read them over at AO3 or at Tumblr.

This is my first time to write a GinTsuku fic, so hopefully, I got this right. Think of this as a prequel fic of sorts to Of Detentions and Mixed Signals. This fic was written for Aisai no Hi (Beloved Wife Day) last 1/31. markky-mark from Tumblr threw in the idea, I just wrote this weird and pointless fic.

Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama. It belongs to Sorachi Hideaki.

Of Surprises and Unexpected Outcomes

She had been feeling sick for the past few days, but she dismissed it as a mild case of motion sickness, for a few days' prior to this whole 'run-to-the-bathroom-and-throw-up-my-lunch' business, she had been on a train for over seven hours for the New Year holidays, as she and her family had traveled from their home in Setagaya to Hagi in Yamaguchi Prefecture to visit her husband's adoptive father, Yoshida Shouyou. Whenever there was a long weekend, the Sakata family would take the chance to visit the man who had raised Gintoki single-handedly (a feat in itself, for Gintoki had been quite a demon himself in his youth), and the New Year holidays had been the most perfect time for them to visit.

At that time, she had been feeling quite sick, but knowing that she was so much work to do in preparation for the New Year, Tsukuyo miraculously recovered from that short bout of illness.

This time, however, the motion sickness had come kicking her squarely in the gut, and had been heaving her lunch in the small toilet inside her patisserie shop for the past few hours. Hinowa, concerned for her friend, had asked her a rather delicate question.

"… Maybe you should try checking if you're… you know, pregnant?" suggested the raven-haired beauty.

Tsukuyo blinked. "… Impossible. He and I… we always use protection." It wasn't as if they didn't want more children, but rather, they were content with showering their daughter Kagura with all the love and affection they could muster. After all, she had been the girl's mother figure when Kagura was only seven, and had only officially become her mother two years after, right after she married Sakata Gintoki and became part of the Sakata household.

Hinowa smiled gently. "You'll never know, Tsukuyo. Better check just to make sure you've got everything covered."

After being reassured by her business partner that she would be able to take care of the store while she was gone (Tsukuyo didn't want to leave a partially disabled woman all alone to handle everything), the blonde woman went to the nearest convenience store, paid for a kit, and headed back to the store's mini toilet to check.

Ten minutes later, when two lines appeared on the stick she was holding, she nearly dropped it in shock.

'Oh no.'

That night, after arriving home at nine in the evening, she found her husband lying on the sofa, snoring softly. After checking around to make sure that Kagura was not within hearing range (she was in her room, sound asleep), she shook the silver-haired man gently. A soft grunt came from him, and in retaliation, she shook him harder.

"Gintoki." She said, shaking him harder to wake him up.

He finally relented and sat up immediately. "What?" he asked, irritated at being woken up.

Tsukuyo did not buy it, knowing that he usually took short naps whenever he waited for her to go home. "… We need to talk."

He sighed. "Look, if we're getting a divorce—"

"Idiot, why the hell would I do that? This is a serious matter!" she hissed, amethyst-colored eyes glaring at him for his earlier statement. "I'll only say this once, so you'd better listen!"

Gintoki sighed and sat up straight before slumping against the couch. She, in turn, took this time to breathe in and say her piece before she lost the nerve to do so. "I… I think I'm pregnant."

Dead fish eyes suddenly went wide open. "… W-what?"

She dreaded the look in his eyes. "… W-we can opt for—"

"Hell no." he said firmly. Reluctance was very much obvious in his eyes, but she knew that her husband had always been a step ahead. He may look like a deadbeat at times, but a lot of the people around him usually underestimated him. "… I don't mind another baby to take care of in this house."

She nodded carefully. "Kagura... we have to tell her."

The headstrong vermillion-haired teenager whom she had always been fond of ever since they first met had been her father's daughter through and through. She had not been thoroughly spoiled, but even Gintoki feared that the young girl might throw a fit over this developing situation.

She wasn't called their 'big baby' for nothing.

"Let's get everything confirmed first before we tell her." The man of the household said.

"Hospital tomorrow then."

By afternoon, the husband and wife duo had gone home early from their respective workplaces, and were anxiously waiting for their daughter to come home from school. Even until now, they had no idea how to break it gently to her that in several weeks' time, she would now have to share their attention with her new sibling.

… Or rather, siblings.

It had been a huge surprise on their part in finding out that Tsukuyo was carrying twins, and was already 10 weeks pregnant. They have yet to determine the sex of their babies, but secretly, Gintoki hoped it would both girls. Tsukuyo, on the other hand, wanted boys.

"Why boys?" he asked her.

"So they can carry on with the family name." she pointed out to him. "Kagura will eventually get married and take on her husband's name."

"Or, he takes her name, and she will forever be a Sakata." He pointed out. "Let's hope he's one of the many sons of that family so he can take her surname."

"Many sons of what family?" came a new voice, causing both Gintoki and Tsukuyo to jump in surprise on the couch. Footsteps made its way to their living room, and in came their eldest daughter. "Mom, dad, you're home early." She said, crouching low to pet Sadaharu, their family dog who just recently turned one.

"Y-Yeah… well… I-I was… err… feeling crappy." Gintoki said. The excuse sounded pathetic, even to him, but there was no way around it.

"Oh, did you take your medicine already? Mom, is that why you're also here?" Kagura asked.

"Yeah… well… your father is currently feeling crappy… in a literal sense."

Kagura snorted in response. "Too much information, but okay. I hope you'll feel better soon. I'll be in my room. Let's go, Sadaharu—"

"Wait!" both of them said at the same time, making the high school student stop in her tracks to turn and look at them.

"… What's wrong? A-am I in trouble…?" dread was suddenly etched on her face, and Tsukuyo shook her head before sighing.

"How should I… put this…?" she said, talking to herself rather than to anyone in the room in particular. "Kagura, sit down. Your father and I have something to tell you."

Puzzled, she placed down her school bag on the single sofa next to the one where her parents were sitting on. "… Please don't tell me you're getting a divorce."

"Nope." Gintoki said firmly.

The younger girl sighed in relief, but looked alarmed nonetheless. "… Then you're not gonna divorce, but will live separate lives?!"

"No—" before Gintoki could say anything else, Kagura began screaming.

"I knew it! You two are seriously breaking up! Haven't you learned anything from the last one!?" a rolled up magazine made its way to her head, startling her. "What was that for?!"

"Stop. Talking." Her father hissed, and at the tone of his voice, she quickly knew she had to shut up, or else, there would be hell to pay.

They weren't father and daughter for fifteen long years for nothing, after all.

Letting out a sigh of relief, she nodded her head and settled on to the couch, a frown on her face as she nodded. Gintoki took this as a sign for his turn to talk and he sighed before opening his mouth. "Sorry, Tsukki, there's no way around it. Better tell it straight to her." At his wife's worried look, he shook his head. "Better that way."

The younger girl proceeded to remove the bun on top of her head and let her hair down as she waited for her father to speak up. Just as soon as she started running her hands through her hair, he finally said the words he had been rehearsing since morning.

"Your mother is pregnant."

Her hands stilled. "… W-w-w-what—"

"By June or July, we're still not sure yet, you'll be a big sister to the twins." Gintoki said, giving his eldest daughter a rather tired look.

"T-Twins?!"

"And don't worry, whatever happens, your mother and I will always love you and—" the lines he had carefully rehearsed this morning in his mind had been cut short when he felt an arm on his shoulder. Before he knew it, his left shoulder was pressed against his wife's right shoulder, and a hiccup echoed throughout the living room. "Kagura—"

"F-finally…"

"Huh?"

She looked up at them, teary-eyed and snot-faced. "F-finally, siblings. I thought… I thought I'd never get one of those anymore."

Tsukuyo laughed. "… You could've asked earlier, you know."

She shook her head. "I-it's fine. A-as long as… as long as everything goes well. W-we… dad and me need to take care of you more, now that you're pregnant…" at this, Tsukuyo snorted in reply. "You're in a delicate condition, mom. Those science classes taught me that you're more at risk because of your age, no offense meant."

"None taken." The older woman replied. "I'm stronger than I look, so don't worry too much."

Kagura nodded. "But anyway, I hope… I'm hoping it'll be a boy and a girl. I want a little sister and a little brother… so that you and dad won't need to try anymore the next time." Gintoki's eyes nearly bulged at how casual she had mentioned that… thing, but then again, his daughter had always been clever. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she said, "I'll be in my room if you need anything." With that, she gave them one last hug each before walking to her room, Sadaharu right behind her.

"… At least that went well." The blonde woman sighed, slumping against the couch. The breath she had been holding ever since Kagura had walked in had finally been released, and all of a sudden, she felt very tired. It wasn't even connected to her current condition, but it had been nerve-wracking, this whole 'we-need-to-tell-our-daughter-about-this-pregnancy' business.

Both she and Gintoki had anticipated the worst-case scenario involving their eldest, and thankfully, she did not have any violent reactions whatsoever over this sudden change of status in the household. Surprisingly, she had sounded very much excited over it even.

"All we need to do now is wait." Gintoki said.

"… Honestly, I'm nervous about all this. What if—" before she could even continue her sentence, Gintoki pressed his lips against her and smirked while she blushed at his sudden gesture of affection.

"You'll be fine." Gintoki sounded so sure of himself as he rubbed his right hand against her abdomen that she simply sighed and shook her head in response. "You'll be a great mother. You've had a lot of practice with being a mother to Kagura, so what makes it different this time around?"

"… You're right. Guess we'll have to wait and see until they arrive." It wouldn't be for long now, but Sakata Tsukuyo hoped that everything would be alright.

"Besides, I can't wait for them to get big." Gintoki remarked.

"'Them'? You mean the babies?" Tsukuyo asked, wondering if it was a male thing for them to be proud of showing off their pregnant wife, as if to show everyone what they could do.

"Whoops, I meant bigger." Using both his hands, he pressed them against Tsukuyo's breasts, making her yelp as he squeezed each breast firmly. "My bad. Forgot my grammar."

"… Idiot." That, of course, did not stop her from dealing a stinging slap on his cheek.

"The hell's wrong with you?! I'm appreciating my wife in my own way!" he moaned, placing a hand on his sore cheek.

"Not here." She hissed. "If you want to be appreciative, then bring me to the room."

Smirking, he pulled her close to him and carried her in his arms. "All you had to do was ask."

Needless to say, Kagura had to order pizza for her dinner.

Hopefully, that was tolerable.

Thank you very much in advance for those who will be reviewing this fic. :)