I do not own One Piece.
"Pops…can I talk to you?" I ask, knocking on the door to Pops' room. I hear him tell me to come in, before slowly pushing the door open. I hesitantly walk in, shutting the door behind me. I walk over to his bed, where he was currently lounging, drinking his ever present bottle of sake, and take a seat next to his feet.
"I…I kinda have a problem and I'm not sure what to do." I told him softly, looking down at my hands.
"What kind of problem, son?" he asks gently, sitting up a little straighter. I fidget for a few seconds, suddenly thinking that I shouldn't have come to and not really sure how I am going to tell him. Sighing slightly, I take a deep breath, deciding just to get it over with.
"The past few weeks, I haven't really been feeling well. So, at the last island we docked at I decided to go see a doctor…I didn't want to see the doctors on board because Marco would have found out and would have worried…but what they told me…I just…I can't believe it. How could something like this be possible?…how could this happen?" I question, beginning to grow distraught. Pops sits up fully, placing a huge hand on my back.
"Calm down, son. Just tell me what happened and what is wrong." he says gently, concern obvious in his voice. I take a few deep breaths before lifting my head slightly.
"The doctor…the doctor says that…that I'm pregnant." I whisper, squeezing my eyes shut. The silence stretches on for a few minutes, each second that passes makes me more and more nervous. I look up through my bangs to see him staring ahead. "…Pops?" I question quietly, biting my lip. I watch him shake his head and look down at me for a few seconds.
"I've lived a long time, Ace. You're not the first pregnant male I have seen. There is nothing to be ashamed of," he assures, pulling me into a tight hug. "You're going to give me my first grandchild," he loudly exclaims with a loud laugh. I smile brightly at him, feeling tears begin to fall.
"I…I'm not sure how to tell Marco, Pops. What if he thinks it's weird? What if he doesn't want it?….or me?" I ask anxiously.
"That won't happen, Marco loves you, family is very important to Marco…he will be ecstatic….and if he isn't, I'll knock some sense into him," Pops says, laughing loudly again. I nod my head and take a deep breath. I sit with Pops for a few more minutes, before getting up the nerve to finally go talk to Marco.
It took me a few minutes to find Marco, considering he wasn't in our room or his office. I found him standing outside having a conversation with one of his division members. I stand back far enough to give them some privacy, but close enough so that Marco would understand that I was waiting for him. He finished his conversation quickly and made his way over, wrapping a strong arm around my waist.
"Hey, Ace," he greets, kissing me softly on the top of the head. I wrap my arm around him as well and laying my head against his chest. I bite my lip quickly before taking a deep breath.
"I need to talk to you, Marco." I say quietly. I feel him tense up for a second, before relaxing slightly and pulling away, grabbing my hand and lacing our fingers together.
"Alright, Ace. Let's go back to the room so we can have a little privacy." he suggests. I nod my head and we walk off. As we reach our shared room, I begin to feel suddenly nervous again. Entering the room, Marco takes a seat on the bed as I remain standing near the door. I fidget slightly, feeling Marco's eyes on me. I take another deep breath and walk over, joining him on the bed. He grabs my hand, lacing our fingers together and gives my hand a small squeeze.
"I have something kinda important I need to tell you…I..I don't understand how it happened, but Pops says that it isn't as weird as I think it is…" I trail off not really sure how to continue.
"What is it, Ace?" he asks concerned, squeezing my hand a little tighter. I squeeze back, before releasing his hand and scooting away slightly. He stares at me slightly hurt but mostly worried. Taking a deep breath, I decide to just get it over with me.
"I…before I tell you, I just want you to know that I won't force you to do anything you don't want. Whatever you decide…I won't be upset with you…okay?" I tell him, he opens his mouth, but seems to think better of it and instead just nods his head and waits for me to continue. "I…I'm pregnant," I say quickly, looking down at my hands.
"…Are…are you serious?…Like this isn't some joke you and Thatch thought up or anything?" he asks…I look up to see him staring at me with wide eyes.
"I would never joke about something like this…Of course I'm serious," I answer, slightly offended. He continues staring at me for a few seconds, before his eyes roll back and he falls back unconscious.
It took me a few minutes to snap out of my shock, but once I had, I ran out of the room and grabbed the first nurse I came across. She checked him over, assuring me that he would be okay and should wake up in less than an hour. I thank her and sit heavily in the chair next to the desk in the room. I put my head in my hands as I feel myself begin to cry. I knew it wouldn't end up well. The nurse had told me that he probably fainted because of stress. He does already have a lot of stress, being second in command of a fleet of 1,600 has to be really demanding, he doesn't have time to worry about or take care of a baby…he defiantly shouldn't have to worry about me anymore than he does. Taking a shuddering breath, I walk out onto deck to get some fresh air.
"Hey Ace, I heard Marco fainted." I turn to see Thatch leaning against the rail beside me. I nod my head, turning back to stare at the sea. "What's wrong, Ace?" he asks after a couple minutes silence.
"Nothing's wrong," I answer quickly, feeling slightly uncomfortable with him staring so intently at me.
"Don't lie to me, Ace. I can see something is bothering you…I also saw you come out of Pops' cabin looking pretty distressed…You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I am always here if you need me."
"I…don't really want to talk about it right now, but you will probably find out sometime soon," I answer with a sigh before turning around and going back into mine and Marco's room. Seating back down, I lay my head on the desk and drift off to sleep.
I was woken up a few minutes later by someone running their fingers through my hair, whispering softly to me. Opening my eyes, I come face to face to Marco. I smile sleepily at him, until the events from earlier flashed through my mind. Biting my lip, I pull away and look down, a little afraid of what his reaction was going to be.
"Hey Ace," he says quietly, crouching down beside me. He reaches out laying his hand gently on my arm. I bite my lip harder, hoping to keep the tears at bay.
"I'm sorry, Marco…I'm so sorry," I choke out after a few minutes of us sitting in an uncomfortable silence. The tears begin falling freely, I was no longer able to hold them off, when Marco removed his hand and let out a sigh.
"Don't be, Ace. I'm not angry…I was just shocked. I'm actually really excited and happy. You are making our family grow, love, I could never be angry about something like that." Marco assured, pulling me into a tight hug. I look at him in shock, tears still streaming down my face. Seeing the happy and loving look Marco was giving me, I smiled brightly before leaning forward and giving him a deep kiss.
Pulling back, I smile brightly at him as he wipes away the tear tracks. "I bet Pops was pretty excited at the news…Who else knows?" he asks standing back up and pulling me over to sit on the bed with him.
"Pops is the only one that knows…he was pretty excited about getting his first grandchild….I didn't want to tell anyone else until after we got to talk about it." I answer, snuggling into his side. He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me tightly against him.
"What about the doctor?" he asks, looking down at me lovingly.
"I…uh…haven't told any of the doctors on board, I went to the doctor at the last island we docked at….I actually went to a few doctors, just to be sure. It probably would be a good idea to let them know soon…hopefully they already know at least a little about male pregnancies."
"Alright, let's go do that now and we can worry about telling everyone afterwards, is that alright?" he asks gently. I smile up at him and nod my head before standing up. We make our way out on to the deck and head towards the infirmary.
Though none of the doctors or nurse have any experience with male pregnancies, one of the doctors had at least read about it. He informed us on everything to watch for, what I should eat and how active I should be. He also warned me that I might not be able to use my Devil's Fruit ability within the next few months, most women lost their ability while they were pregnant, but there was a chance that I wouldn't. He made me some medicine to take and told me that I would need to come back in a month, and if anything happened or felt weird, to come straight to him, no matter the time. We thanked him and walked back out on deck.
Pops had decided to help us pick a time to tell the rest of the crew. That evening, we threw a huge party, though I wasn't able to drink, and thankfully Marco choose not to as well, even though I insisted it was alright. At the beginning of the party, before everyone got too drunk, Marco stood up, pulling me up with him, and called for everyone's attention. It took a few minutes to get everyone quiet, but when we finally had everyone's attention, Marco looks at me, silently telling me that I should tell me. I clear my throat and grip Marco's arm tightly.
"We…we have news for everyone." I say barely loud enough for everyone to hear me. Marco nudges me, giving me a look I interpret to mean that I need to talk louder. Clearing my throat again, I continue, "I…Marco and I are…having a baby," I rush out, feeling my cheeks begin to heat up. Everyone stares at me for a few moments, before turning to look at Marco, as if waiting for him to say that I was lying. Seeing him smile brightly and lay his hand onto my stomach, they all begin to cheer and yell as they start crowding around, congratulating us.