xxx

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Four months later;

Keiko slouched in her chair, studying in the calm pink world of her bedroom. Her old stuffed animals peered at her with big glass eyes, like a fuzzy, silent audience. Keiko sighed. She felt ages too old for her childhood room.

She propped her head up on her desk, hands and feet slightly swollen as she studied the lavender colored crib at the foot of her bed. The neighbors had donated it, after her mother confided Keiko's plight. The nice middle aged couple already had two kids and insisted Keiko take it, as they regarded her with sympathetic eyes.

A headache started behind her temples. Her brain felt too slow for geometry homework tonight. The school had excused her absence, she had a doctor's note, and since Keiko had taken to wearing big pullover sweaters, everyone thought she had a stubborn illness, but the principle knew the truth. That had been fun. Mr. Takenaka had been rather shocked by Keiko's swollen belly, but he had promised he would keep the real reason for her long absence under wraps. She noticed the disappointment in his eyes, which only mirrored the look of her parents in the stuffy office.

"Yusuke tarnished my star student I see." Those words had cut her to the bone. The staff knew of her association with the delinquent, and really he had been the only boy she hung around with, but she didn't know Mr. Takenaka had been that observant.

No, nobody at school knew. Her classmates called but she never answered the phone. She didn't leave the house most days, just studied her lessons like a monk in isolation. She had nothing better to do but to build a life for herself and her baby one good grade at a time.

Her school friends would shun her if they knew the truth. She would be the laughing stock of the whole school. Better to spend her pregnancy aching and alone, instead of the scapegoat of her class. She imagined, if Yusuke was here, he would knock the teeth out of anyone who entertained nasty rumors about Keiko Yukimura. She smiled though the thought pinched her heart.

Her mother held her hair back when she still had bouts of morning sickness. Shizuru visited every other day between her shifts at work. And Atsuko brought bags and bags full of fruit by the house, sometimes stumbling around drunk, sometimes sober. She had given Keiko pre natal vitamins and rubbed Keiko's belly at every opportunity.

Her father still barely said two words to her a week, so she avoided him except when she came down stairs for tense, quiet dinners with her parents. "Sorry daddy" didn't bring him out of his pensive mood. He never talked to Atsuko.

A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. She slid sideways in her seat. "Come in."

Shizuru peeked into her room, still clad in her work uniform, ash brown hair plaited into one long braid over her shoulder. "Hey kid," she smiled. "How you holding up?"

Keiko managed a small smile. "I'm alright. The baby has been sitting on my bladder though."

"I've got a surprise, if you feel up to going out. Somebody wants to see you."

xxx

"Botan!"

Keiko hugged the blue haired girl tightly. The scent of bubblegum body spray teased her nose. She had to hug her friend over the obstacle of her pregnant belly, but Botan didn't notice, too excited over their reunion.

She held Keiko for a long minute, chattering in her bubbly voice. "I missed you! It's been what, months? Koenma never gives me a day off anymore."

Keiko pulled back, still holding her friend's shoulders. "It's ok, I missed you too!" And that was the truth. Almost dying together turns anyone into the best of friends. Botan always brightened her day, like a much needed ray of sunshine.

Shizuru puffed on her cigarette. "Lets get some ice cream and catch up."

After they situated themselves in the corner of the little mom and pop diner, Keiko sat happily in the booth with her Oreo mint ice cream cone; she had never liked that particular odd flavor before, but now it was like heaven on her tongue. "What's been going on with you?" she asked the girl across from her.

Botan shrugged. "Spirit World nonsense, blah blah blah. How are you, Keiko?"

Keiko noticed the tone of concern, and a tinge of worry in her friend's vivid fuchsia eyes. Even her eyelashes were colored blue. Keiko knew what Botan was hinting at. Yusuke. How are you doing without Yusuke?

She sighed, might as well get this revelation over with. Botan was going to lose her mind. She pulled her oversized navy sweater up, exposing her swollen, six months pregnant belly. Shizuru placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Botan gaped, eyes huge. For once the bluette was at a loss for words. "What...I don't understand…"

Keiko smiled sadly. "It is what it looks like."

"How…" Botan gripped Keiko's hand from across the table. Keiko shifted in her seat, wanting to look away from her friend's shocked expression, though she should have been accustomed to stares by now.

Both brunettes patiently gazed at Botan as she fumbled for words; they let her stew in her surprise. "By the way," Shizuru turned to Keiko. "Kazuma keeps asking about you. You want me to tell him to mind his own business?"

"No it's ok. He's probably just concerned cause I haven't been to school in awhile." She frowned. "It won't be a secret much longer, anyway."

Botan leaned over the table, clutching Keiko's hand in both of her own. Her mouth still hung open. "When did this happen? When had you two gotten so serious? Oh my God Keiko? What happened tell me everything!"

Keiko blinked, trying to keep up with her friend's barrage of questions. "Well.."

Botan continued. "When did you start sleeping together? Keiko you naughty girl!" She grinned.

A crimson flush spread under her collar. "I-it only happened once."

"When?!"

Shizuru shook her head. "Geez Botan, calm it down a little."

The blue haired girl smiled sheepishly. She released Keiko's hand and sat back in her seat. "Sorry."

Keiko stated down at her hands. "It was…an impulsive decision…" She felt both girl's gaze heavy on her shoulders. "It only happened once, but it only takes once. It's true." She licked her ice cream cone. The baby liked mint apparently.

Botan's expression turned sympathetic. Her vanilla ice cream sat in a bowl on the table, forgotten. "Poor dear, you've got the world on your shoulders, don't you?"

Keiko sighed. "It does feel that way right now. But it'll get better. I've got a lot of help." She gazed gratefully at Shizuru. The woman rubbed her back in an almost motherly gesture.

Thankfully the topic of conversation switched from Keiko's brief Sex Life to Helping Keiko. Botan steeled her resolve. "I'll help you too. Anything you need!"

The taste of salt rose high in her throat but she pushed the tears away. "Thank you. Thank you both."

Shizuru looked at Botan. "Can you reach Yusuke?"

Botan frowned in concentration. "I don't know. Maybe. I'll talk to Koenma."

Keiko's mood lifted, but a voice at the back of her mind told her not to get her hopes up just yet. Botan picked up her discarded ice cream bowl. "I'll really try," she said in earnest. "I'll stop and visit whenever I can too. Are your parents helping you?"

"Yeah."

"Even if Yusuke, that idiot, isn't here you'll have help no matter what, promise."

"Thanks," Keiko said in a small voice. "I appreciate the company too."

Botan scowled. "What a bad time to venture off to Makai. He will get an earful from me, that's for sure."

Keiko wiped her lips with a napkin. She may eat the cone too, though she normally left it. "He had to go didn't he? Spirit World is after him."

Botan released a huge sigh. "Yes it's all very complicated. He's been labeled dangerous to Ningenkai. Though we know how 'dangerous' that brat is."

Shizuru puffed on her cigarette. "He's a softy."

Keiko smiled to herself. "He is. But the world still doesn't understand him, they only see that front he puts up and they fear him. Even after all this time."

Shizuru nodded. "He used to be the hero of Ningenkai. Shows how shitty Spirit World is."

Botan held the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "Indeed it is a mess." She studied Keiko's face. "Wow Keiko I can't believe you're…"

"Knocked up? Yeah, me either."

Keiko glanced around. The late afternoon sun cast beams of golden light on the floor, every seat in the diner empty on this Tuesday night except for an elderly couple in the corner. Shizuru savored her chocolate ice cream. The company of her friends eased some of the grey loneliness wedged inside Keiko's heart. She almost felt normal.

Keiko looked at Botan. "Wanna feel my belly?"

Botan's eyes lit up. "Yes!" Her look turned mischievous. "And you're gonna dish out the details of your rendezvous with a certain spirit detective!"

Keiko blushed. "Am not!"

Shizuru laughed.

Later that night, after her friends walked her home, (she hugged the two women each for a long moment), Keiko returned to her quiet bedroom and her never ending pile of homework. Her heart felt brighter, even though the weight of her responsibilities threatened to crush her, and she trudged forward alone.

No, she corrected herself. Not alone at all.

xxx

She stood in the kitchen, pressing the phone to her ear as she twirled the cord around her fingers. Her sweater hung down to her thighs, and even with the extra large size her baby bump showed at her belly.

Excitement thrummed through her chest. Her mom had taken her to the doctor's this morning, and they had checked the gender of the baby. She waited as three rings went by. If she didn't have an extra little person's weight inside her, she would have jumped up and down in joy.

A groggy voice finally answered on the other line. "Yeah?"

"Atsuko," Keiko breathed. "It's a girl! I'm having a girl!"

"That's great darling!" Atsuko actually squealed in happiness, which Keiko had never heard her do before. It sounded strange coming from the older woman. "A girl! I get a little girl granddaughter! You know Yusuke never let me dress him up."

Keiko laughed. For the first time she didn't feel sad or ashamed about her pregnancy. "You can put her in any dress you like. I might need help with her hair though."

Atsuko laughed. "Keiko I had a boy. But I'll try."

Keiko's mom walked by, and rubbed Keiko's back as she passed with a gentle pressure. Even her father had cracked a smile over the news, for the first time in months. It would be like raising baby Keiko all over again. "Is she healthy?" Atsuko asked.

"The doctor said everything looks fine. She likes to sit on my bladder though."

As her mom made tea she caught Keiko's eye. "Is she excited?"

The teen nodded, eyes sparkling. "We need to get you a proud grandma shirt, don't we mom?"

Her mom laughed. She set the delicate teapot on the stove. "Yes, but that will look odd won't it, considering Atsuko is only twenty nine."

Well that's what happens when you had two generations of teen pregnancies, Keiko thought. Atsuko had been alone and pregnant at fourteen, a few years younger than Keiko's current age. She couldn't even imagine.

"I can't wait to meet her," Atsuko sighed. "Come by the apartment later too I found some of Yusuke's old baby stuff you can have. She will be here before you know it."

The baby kicked, as if she had heard Atsuko's voice. "Time does go by fast." Yusuke's handsome face entered her mind. She wanted time to fly by, she wanted to be back in his arms, hear his laugh, even deal with his stupid pranks. But as her due date approached, she felt more and more nervous over the next looming chapter in her young life: motherhood.

"By the way I found pictures of you in the brat's room." Keiko could almost see Atsuko's smile; she could feel it in her voice. "He really does love you."

Her words left Keiko's heart soaring, as if she had wings.

xxx

"A girl?"

Keiko nodded. She gratefully plopped down on the couch in the Kuwabara household, happy to get the weight off her aching feet. She pretty much waddled everywhere she went nowadays. The house smelled like cats and cigarette smoke, but it had become her second home after Shizuru had helped her through the chaos of the past few months.

The brunette sat across from her in her yellow workclothes, a tired sheen over her hazel eyes. She had just finished a twelve hour shift, though she perked up at the news. "That's great. Wow."

Botan had came by earlier to wait on the verdict. She was almost vibrating in her seat next to Keiko with excitement. Her jeans and sweater clung to her lithe frame, cotten candy blue hair tossed in a messy bun. "A girl!" She enveloped Keiko in a tight hug, one hand on her belly. She rocked her side to side. "A girl a girl a girl!"

Shizuru smiled. "Are you happy?"

Keiko answered her over Botan's shoulder. "As long as the baby is healthy I'm happy. But I am excited." She broke into a smile.

"We need pink EVERYTHING!" The bluette released Keiko and flung her arms into the air. "This is gonna be so much fun!"

Shizuru's lips tilted upward in a tired smile. "Are you nervous?"

"A little."

"Don't mean to interrupt you guy's girl time but.." Kuwabara then strolled into the living room, his shock of orange hair slicked back in the delinquent style even though he studied more than fought these days. He held something behind his back as he approached Keiko. "'Heya Keiko," he smiled his lopsided smile. "Sis told me about…everything, and I just wanted you to know, well, since Urameshi ain't here 'an all, that I'll beat the crap outta anybody at school who talks bad about you."

Keiko beamed at him. "Don't get in trouble cause of me. But thanks Kuwabara."

Shizuru exhaled her cigarette smoke, waving it in the opposite direction of Keiko. Shizuru could see what he held behind his back and she grinned. "That's real nice of you, Kazuma," she said.

A flush spread across his cheeks. Keiko blinked. "And this is for you and Urameshi's kid."

He presented her with a big pink teddy bear. Keiko covered her mouth in happy surprise. "T-thank you!" He handed it to her and she held the bear against her chest and stomach, arms wrapped around the plush fur. "My first pink toy for the baby," she grinned. "Thanks Kuwabara."

He smiled sheepishly. "It ain't nothin. I'm glad I picked the pink one."

"How nice Kuwabara," Botan added. "You know Keiko's had a rough time."

Keiko happily cuddled the soft bear. "Not anymore, thanks to you guys." Tears pricked the corner of her eyes.

Botan patted her shoulder. "We're your friends Keiko."

"Yes we are." Shizuru's look turned thoughtful. "Have you debated any names?"

Botan bounced in her seat. "Ooo yes names!"

Keiko chewed on the corner of her lip. "I'm thinking…I'm thinking about Kaori."

xxx

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Well this chapter is hot off the press, so to speak. Sorry bout any mistakes, I'm sure I'll have to edit it some more. And also I don't have kids and don't really know first-hand about the experience lol, I'm sure if I did it would be more accurate, but I'm trying. THANK YOU FOR THE FAVS AND REVIEWS. THANKS FOR READING TOO ^ ^ I know the Yu/Kei fandom isn't huge but this was my first otp and I'll write just so people enjoy their awesomeness, but the feedback is nice. Please donate to the cause & write your own Yu/Kei stories I am dying to read them.

Also I started a Yusuke/Keiko community if anyone is interested. I like hoarding good stories of the pair. There needs to be more. Anyways thanks! The birth is next. Stay tuned.

8/8/16

First edit.

xoxoxo DarkMignonette