It's funny. Wakka has known Lulu for many years and she has always acted the same. Ever since they were children Lulu has been calm, cool, and collected. No matter what trials she has faced in life her manner was always the same. It seemed as though nothing ever shook her up. But Lulu never was one to wear her heart on her sleeve.
However, things were different. Lulu was pregnant now.
A few of the elder gentlemen in the village warned Wakka about moodswings. Of course, Wakka kindly shrugged them off. After all, this was Lulu they were talking about. He was sure that she would be the same as ever. Right?
Eh...wrong.
The first time Wakka noticed a small display of emotion he didn't think anything of it. After all, Lulu was just excited about being pregnant. That was a good thing. Happy is good. So no big deal, right?
Wakka pushed the empty plate away from him. He and Lulu had just finished dinner. He looked across the table and smiled. Lulu looked so beautiful, so happy. She truly had the glow of a mother to be. She was only three months along but Wakka was so excited. He could not wait to be a daddy.
"Lu, that was delicious.." Wakka said, rubbing his belly.
Lulu's eyes lit up from across the table.
"I'm glad you liked it.." Lulu beamed, "I really want to get good at this cooking thing if we're going to have one more person to feed."
She looked at Wakka thoughtfully for a moment and stood up.
"Can you believe it, Wakka? We are actually having a baby. I don't think I've ever been this excited before."
She had a huge smile on her face. Wakka had never seen her smile like that. It was breathtaking. He couldn't help but smile too before taking her hand into his. Lulu gently squeezed his hand.
"Hey, this pregnancy thing is going to be so much fun, ya." Wakka sang.
Fun was an interesting choice of words. Although, there were many fun times, there were also...shall we say...interesting times. Over the course of the next few weeks Wakka really started to notice a change in Lulu.
CRASH!
Wakka nearly fell out of his bed when he was awaken by a loud noise. It sounded like it was coming from the guest bedroom. Wakka shook his head. What in Spira could that be? Then it hit him. A burglar! Yes, that's it. He just knew a burglar had broken into their hut.
As quietly as he could, he reached for his emergency blitzball that was hidden under their bed. Hey, gotta have protection right? With blitzball in hand he climbed out of bed.
But wait! Lulu! He had to warn Lulu of their unwanted guest.
"Lu.." He whispered, "Shh...don't make a-"
But to Wakka's surprise, he was talking to himself. Lulu was not in their bed at all! But if she wasn't there..that meant...the burglar! Could the burglar have grabbed Lulu while he was sleeping! But how!
Well, she has been making quite a few extra trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night and...
Oh never mind! It didn't matter how it happened. All Wakka knew was that he had to save her! He immediately charged out of their bedroom and to the guest room. He raised his blitzball with one hand and grabbed the curtain with another.
And with one swift jerk of the curtain he cried:
"I'll save you Lulu! Prepare to be blitzed you son of a-HUH!"
But all he saw on the other side was Lulu standing there and staring at her husband as if he were crazy. She had a baby blanket draped over her arm and pictures of baby chocobos were now hanging on the wall. Wakka lowered his blitzball as Lulu continued to shake her head in disapproval.
"What are ya doing in here in the middle of the night?" Wakka asked. "I heard a loud noise and thought someone broke in.."
Lulu shrugged. "Overreacting as usual. I'm just getting the baby's room ready. We don't have much time left to do it, you know.." She picked up a baby chocobo picture and hung it up. "Now this goes here and-"
Wakka watched as his wife frantically started hanging the baby chocobos on the wall. He sighed. It had to be close to two in the morning. Lulu was never one to rush things. Why start now? After all, they still had sever months before the baby was born.
"Take it easy, ya. You can start again in the morning." Wakka insisted. "It's late. You need your sleep."
Of course, Lulu didn't slow down a bit. She continued hanging up the decorative baby chocobos...that is, until she ran out.
She stood there staring at the nursery, with a blank expression for a moment. Then, it happened.
"Oh great Yevon! I'm out of BABY CHOCOBOS!" Lulu shrieked, her hands grasping the side of her face.
Wakka jumped back about five feet. He didn't understand what the big deal was.
"How can I decorate the baby's room without BABY CHOCOBOS!"
Wakka gulped before bravely approaching his wife. He gently took her by the shoulders and waited until she finished yelling about the dreaded baby chocobos. When she did finally finish, she was heaving large, stressed out puffs of air.
"Calm down, Lu." Wakka begged, "There's no point in stressing yourself out. Look, tommorow morning I will go to the shop and buy more. As many as you want."
"But what if they're SOLD OUT!" Lulu cried.
"Then we'll get something else. How about baby tonberries?"
By the way Lulu's eyes widened, Wakka knew that he had just royally screwed up.
"Baby TONBERRIES! Our poor baby is going to have to look at tonberries!"
Lulu's hands returned to the side of her face. Wakka quickly raised his hands in the air and waved them in front of him.
"Okay, I'm sorry. Baby chocobos all the way. Even if I have to go all the way to Luca to find them." Wakka insisted. "Now what do you say? Can we go back to bed?"
Lulu's hands lowered from her head. Wakka was smiling at her. It was a reassuring smile. She smiled back.
"Yes. Thank you Wakka." She breathed, "I suppose I may have overreacted."
Yes, overreaction was becoming quite common lately among Lulu. Wakka thought he was getting pretty used to it by now. But nothing could have prepared him for this..
Wakka sat in the livingroom shining his favorite blitzball. Two years without playing a single game...he couldn't help but reminisce every once in a while. Of course, he still talked to The Aurochs when he saw them. Even met their jerk of a new coach.
He shook his head. Perhaps one day he would play again...
Wakka's thoughts were interuppted when Lulu walked into the kitchen. She was six months pregnant now. Lulu opened the pantry and began digging around inside. Lately, her appetite had doubled. It was understandable. After all, she was eating for two.
"What are you looking for?" Wakka asked.
He set his blitzball down carefully and walked into the kitchen. Lulu was frantically digging through the pantry. He could hear hear grunting in disgust with each thing she found. That only meant one thing. Another craving...
Wakka lay his hand on her shoulder, "Lu, do you need help?"
Lulu removed herself from the pantry and turned to look at him. Wakka could easily tell that she was frustrated.
"Where in Spira is the Chimera Jerky!"
Oh no...not the chimera jerky. Wakka has watched Lulu consume bags upon bags of chimera jerky. She never even liked the stuff before she was pregnant. But now she has to have it all the time.
Wakka wondered how he could have been so careless. He normally keeps the pantry stocked with it for her.
"I guess we're out.." Wakka admitted, "But we do have some fruit that I picked yesterday by the-"
"FRUIT! I don't want any fruit!" Lulu fumed, "I just want my Chimera Jerky!"
Wakka has faced many fiends in his time but none looked half as scary as his wife did right now. She really wanted some jerky! And if Wakka knew what was good for him...he would deliver.
Yes, Wakka knew he should have just gotten her jerky right then...but for some odd reason he must have been feeling suicidal. So he decided to press his luck.
"Come on, Lulu. You've been eating a lot of that stuff lately, you know. It's unhealthy and you really need to cut back." Wakka picked an apple up from their nearby fruit bowl. "Here, have this apple instead.."
Lulu snatched the apple out of his hand and tossed it across the room. At that moment, Wakka could swear he saw flames in his wife's eyes. He put his palm on his face and shook his head. Ugh...me and my big mouth..., he thought.
"Are you calling me FAT!" Lulu demanded, catching Wakka off guard.
"N-no! Of course not. I only meant-GAH!"
Wakka could see tiny sparks starting to emerge from his wife's fingers. Good grief! He angered her so much she was about to cast a thunder spell on him.
He quickly started fleeing to the front door. His foot caught on the leg of on of their chairs and he tripped. Bzzzzt! Not a split second later, the thunder spell hit where Wakka would have been standing had he not tripped. Wakka heaved a sigh of relief, thanked gravity, and stood back up.
Then, he slowly made his way to the front door.
"Where are you going!" Lulu demanded.
"I'm going to buy all of the Chimera Jerky in Besaid! I'll be back, ya!"
Of course, as scary as she was Wakka could handle Lulu being angry. But Lulu's most recent moodswing was something completely different.
Wakka shook his head as he pulled in his fishing line. He had decided to go fishing with his good buddies, The Aurochs, and their luck was not too good today. No one was catching a thing. Well, except for Datto. And all he caught was a smelly old boot...
"I'm gonna call it quits." Wakka sighed, "I've to to get home anyway.."
It was a rather pleasant walk home. Villagers were saying their hellos, the weather was perfect, and their wasn't a fiend in sight. Wakka even saw some beautiful flowers to pick for Lulu. Why, this was shaping up to be a promising day after all.
Wakka finally made it back to the village. He waved hello to a few of the villagers as he cheerfully whistled and walked towards his hut. After wiping his feet outside, he opened the curtain and stepped inside.
"I'm home!" He shouted.
As he was setting his fishing pole down, Lulu came running out of their bedroom. Before he could say a word, her arms were wrapped around him in a tight embrace.
Wakka blinked. This was unusual. Normally, Lulu isn't so...well, affectionate. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her and decided he may as well enjoy the moment. After all, moments like this were rare. But Wakka didn't mind. He cherished every moment he and Lulu shared.
"I'm so glad you're here. I was so worried about you..." She said.
Wakka heard Lulu sniffle. She was squeezing him so tightly now. As if he were going to run away. Wakka put his hand under her chin and gently lifted her face to his. There were tears in Lulu's eyes. Wakka couldn't believe it. He had never seen her cry before.
Not even when his brother Chappu died. Of course, no one saw much of her when it did happen. She kept to herself for quite sometime. Wakka knew that she had been suffering in silence. She didn't want anyone to see her tears.
"Are you alright Lulu?" He asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's just...I've been really worried about you lately..." Lulu sobbed. "There are so many fiends on the island...what if something happened to you? I don't know what I would do without you..."
She lay her head on his shoulder and continued sobbing. Wakka began lightly stroking her hair. He could feel tears begin to form in his eyes. Seeing his wife worry about him so much...it really meant a lot to him. He knew Lulu loved him. But to actually hear her say the words. It was special.
"I'm not going anywhere, Lulu. Fiends or no fiends..." Wakka insisted, "You and I...and our baby are going to live long, happy, worry-free lives. Right?"
Wakka had never had the chance to comfort his wife before. It felt really nice. He truly felt like a great husband right now.
Lulu nodded and Wakka lay his head on hers.
"I love you" He said.
"I love you, too.."
Moodswings or not, Wakka knew that he and Lulu were going to have a happy life together. The best part was...there was going to be one more person to share their lives with. So in the end, are the moodswings worth it?
AN: Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. :D
