a/n: Another drabble! This one is also an AU setting; think after college type of thing.
Disclaimer: I don't own RK
Surprise
Kaoru stared at the little stick in utter disbelief. It simply wasn't possible. She didn't care how "error proof" it was. She sat down on the bed and looked at the ceiling.
"Kaoru?"
"...I'm pregnant."
There was a pause. "Is it mine?"
She threw the pillow at her friend sitting across from her in the chair. "That's not even remotely funny, Misao!"
"Hey, I'm just trying to prepare you for Kenshin's reaction." Misao shrugged. "I hope you don't throw a pillow at him when he asks the same thing."
"Why do you think he'll ask? It's not like I've been sleeping around!!" she defended.
"Yeah, but you guys aren't really dating," she reminded her.
"I know. But we agreed to tell each other if we were seeing other people and stop, you know..."
"Fucking?"
"Misao!" she shrieked, reaching for the pillow again. "Did you really have to put it so crudely?!"
"Well it's not like you were going to come out and say it!" she pointed out.
Kaoru sighed. "Misao, what am I going to do?"
"Well you have to tell Kenshin, for starters," she recommended, patting her on the knee. "I'm sure he'll be happy about the baby."
"What about me, though? I'm not ready for a baby!"
"Sure you are. You went to those birthing classes with Megumi last year," she reminded her.
She shook her head while rolling her eyes. "That doesn't mean I'm prepared to have a baby in my life. Besides, I only went because she didn't want to go alone and Sano was pulling double shifts at the bar to help their finance issues."
Misao sighed. "You should be talking about this with Kenshin, not me. He'll probably have better advice. Especially since he's the father."
Kaoru dropped her head and moaned. "I don't know how I'm going to tell him!"
"Just do it like you told me!"
"Because that'll work," she muttered, flopping backwards and pulled the earlier abused pillow to her face.
"Smothering yourself won't help your situation!"
Sometimes, she just wished that Misao would disappear.
------------------------
Kenshin pulled the door to Kaoru's apartment open and called out her name. He was worried. She had left a message on his phone saying that she needed to talk to him. It was out of character. Normally she would just wait till they saw each other.
"Hey! Himura!"
"Ah, Misao-dono," he greeted. "Where's Kaoru?"
"Bedroom," she answered, following him as he started in that direction.
"Thank you," he replied.
He reached the closed door of Kaoru's bedroom and gently knocked before opening it. Kaoru was laying on the bed facing away from the door.
"Kaoru?"
'Oh dear,' Kaoru thought, rolling over. 'I guess sooner is better than later.'
Misao darted in front of Kenshin and jumped on the bed. She hugged Kaoru and bounced up and down a few times before saying, "C'mon, Kaoru! Don't leave the man hanging in suspense!"
"You know, you have this horrible habit of wrecking any kind of atmosphere in a room," Kaoru told her.
"I know! It's a gift." She shrugged and smiled widely, pulling Kaoru into a sitting position by the arm. "Himura, you might want to sit down."
"What?"
"Sit," Kaoru said, gesturing to the chair Misao had been occupying earlier.
"You're gonna be happy you did!"
"Tell me again why you felt it necessary to inflict your presence on us at this particular moment in time?" she demanded, tugging her arm out of Misao's hand.
"You need moral support!"
"Then how about giving me some instead of giving the commentary!" she hissed.
"Kaoru?" Kenshin prompted, from his seat.
She took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. "This is hard. I don't really know where to start..."
Misao had both hands on her mouth, trying to hold the secret in, but when it took Kaoru more than five seconds to spill, she was ready to explode.
"I guess, maybe-"
"She's pregnant!!" Misao burst out, jumping onto the floor.
"MISAO!!"
"I couldn't help it! You were dancing around the issue! Besides, this way was much faster and he got the same information!" she tried to convince her.
She let out a noise of frustration before looking at Kenshin. His eyes were wide and his mouth was open. Her heart fluttered in terror. She'd already gone over all the possibilities in her head and the one that scared her the most was, "What if Kenshin doesn't want the baby?"
"Kenshin?" she asked in a small voice.
"I-I don't know what to say..."
"I know we aren't really in a "relationship," but-"
"What?"
"Us," she repeated. "Our situation. I know that what we were doing was-"
"Kaoru, we what did you think was going on between us?"
She looked taken aback. "We had a friends-with-benefits kind of deal going on. Remember? Your idea?"
"Oh boy..." Misao said. "I think that's my cue to leave..."
"Kaoru, that may be how it started, but I've had a serious interest in you for the last six months," he tried to clarify. "That's why I've been taking you out on dates and-"
"Wait! Those were dates?" she said. "It would have been nice if you told me!"
"I tried, but you never hinted that you wanted anything more than sex and I didn't want to push you before you were ready."
"Well, apparently I've been pushed into a little more than I expected to be pushed into!"
"You're not in it alone," he told her, standing up and crossing the short distance to sit down next to her.
"So you're not mad?"
"Why would I be mad?"
"I don't know," she admitted, tearing up a bit. "I didn't think you wanted a baby."
"It may be happening a little faster than I had anticipated, but I always wanted to have a family with you," he told her, brushing her hair out of her eyes and placing a tender kiss on her cheek. "I'm happy."
"Really?"
"Really," he affirmed, his lips drifting lower.
"Mou," she murmured, pushing him away. "That's what got us into this mess."
"'This,'" he started, "is not a mess. It's beautiful. Just like you."
"Flatterer," she accused, but didn't push him away when he leaned in to kiss her this time.
Maybe things wouldn't be so horrible after all.
a/n: Please drop a review!
