AN: Hey! I managed to do a lot of editing, so here's another chapter! All I have left to do is write the last chapter and I'm good. With this chapter, however, I anticipate a lot of fangirl shrieks coming from around the world. So for the sake of my hearing, I have protection in the form of earplugs. Everyone else might want to have a pair on hand as well. So yeah, that's all I really have to say.

Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters. Bye!

~2 months= 13 weeks, Mid-late October

The first trimester of Jill's pregnancy had passed without a hitch, except for the fact her own clothes weren't fitting so well anymore. Her stomach had grown quickly, bulging out slightly in front of her. It soon came to the point where she could no longer borrow things from Rebecca and Claire and had to wear some of Chris' shirts to go out in public.

Eventually, Jill Valentine caved and consented to go shopping for maternity clothes. Thankfully she had enough money in her savings account to live without a job for a while, so she was able to temporarily move in with Chris and buy the things she needed without borrowing money from her own relatives.

Chris was engulfed in his research surrounding the Umbrella Corporation, so Jill enlisted the assistance of Claire to help her pick out maternity clothes. Of course, this meant verifying her pregnancy to the younger Redfield. To say Claire was thrilled at the announcement was a complete understatement.

"You're keeping it? That's wonderful!" Claire gushed excitedly as the two women walked to the maternity wear section of the grocery store, "I can't wait to be an auntie! Has the baby started moving yet? Do you know the gender? When are you due?"

When Jill found the maternity section, she shushed Claire's constant questions. "I'm supposed to be due in late April, according to Rebecca." Jill stated, turning her attention to the racks of clothes, " Chris and I don't know the gender. Aside from that, nothing interesting is happening. " Jill began browsing the items on sale and pulled a garment off the rack. "Do you think this is too big?" she asked.

Claire chuckled, "Everything in the section is meant to be oversize, except for us of course." Claire did some research and learned that pregnant women had serious mood swings, so she was careful with her words. "I suggest something that you'll grow into."

Jill put the dress she was holding back on the rack. "Do we HAVE to be out here?" she complained, "I feel bloated and gross. Can't we ask Barry and Kathy if they have any leftover pregnancy stuff I can use?"

Claire laughed at Jill's newfound complaints. "Barry's kids are all grown up by now, so it's not likely they'll have kept anything," Claire explained, causing Jill to pout in irritation. "Besides, they're in Canada. They'll have to mail it to you, anyway." Claire picked a light blue maternity dress with a basic design off the racks and held it out for Jill. "How about this? It's your color."

Jill examined the dress closely. She wasn't much of a 'dress person', but the skirt was long enough for her taste, the bagginess at the waist would allow her stomach to grow, the material was soft enough to not cause any discomfort, and it was on sale!

"Perfect." Jill said, tossing the dress in the cart and moving to the next rack, "One item down, a million more to go."

"Have I mentioned how much I love your new sense of sarcasm, Jill?" Claire commented as she followed the pregnant woman to the next aisle, "After this, we look for new underwear."

"Good. Because my boobs feel like they're going to explode." Jill replied, glaring at some young woman's husband for letting his eyes linger on Jill's rack too long.

"Those poor newlyweds," Jill thought as she watched the man's wife drag him around the store, "They have no idea what they're getting into." This thought sparked an epiphany in Jill's head: She and Chris weren't married yet.

Jill looked down at her growing abdomen. She wanted her baby to have as much of a normal life as possible, and it wouldn't work unless she and Chris had something they could call a real relationship. But marriage was a big step, and Jill didn't know if she was ready to be married yet. She was only twenty-three for crying out loud! Nevertheless, Jill made a mental note to bring this subject up with Chris after doing some research.

"You all right, Jill?" Claire asked, holding up more items for her friend to judge, "You're spacing out."

Jill replied after some pause, "Yeah. Just thinking that I should probably talk to Chris about something important when I get home." Jill pulled another gargantuan pair of pants off the rack and threw them in her cart. "Now let's see what else we have here. Maybe I can dress up as a beached whale for Halloween at the rate I'm growing," Jill said, changing the subject to a much lighter topic. Claire was too busy laughing to be coherent.

Jill came back to Chris' apartment late that night, carrying bags of maternity wear for herself, as well as a few things she didn't necessarily need but wanted to buy for herself anyway. She found her lover setting the small dining table for dinner, and the scent of Spaghetti Bolognese, one of Jill's favorite meals, rolled into her nostrils. Yummy. Hopefully Jill wouldn't puke this one up afterwards like many of the other meals she ate. Damn hormones.

"Hey, where've you been all this time?" Chris attempted to begin a light-hearted conversation, but ended up not doing so well at it. Apparently his thoughts were preoccupied with something important, and it showed in his awkward behavior.

Jill closed the door to the apartment and set some of her bags down. "Shopping for maternity clothes with your sister," Jill explained, "We got a little carried away."

"Right," Chris said nodding to himself nervously. "I'm going to serve dinner. Why don't you have a seat?"

Jill Valentine looked at him with one eyebrow raised. The Chris she knew was never this much of a gentleman, but accepted the seat anyway. He even took the bags containing all the things she purchased aside and set them down on the couch. "What's with the boy scout act, Redfield?" the not-so-petite woman teased as Chris placed a plate of the mouthwatering Bolognese in front of her.

Chris sat down in the chair opposite Jill. "No reason. Just wanted to do something special for my best friend, that's all," Chris replied. Jill withheld a laugh and smiled.

"Rebecca tells me that the baby's supposed to be moving around a lot at this stage," Jill said, making polite conversation in an effort to ease Chris' nerves as she twirled a forkful of pasta, "Unfortunately, I cannot feel anything yet."

"It'll come. Don't worry," Chris reassured. The couple ate in relative quiet, interrupting the silence with short conversations.

"Do you think we should move before the baby comes?" Jill started, looking around Chris' humble abode, "This place is barely big enough for both of us, not to mention a young couple with a growing baby."

Chris nodded in agreement. "It'll be a bit of a stretch, but I think we can find something suitable," he said. Despite the conversation, Chris' nervousness still showed. In the end, he couldn't take the suspense anymore as he stood up, walked around the table and reached into his back pocket and placed a small, black, jeweler's box in front of Jill.

Jill blinked in surprise. "What's this?" she said as she pulled the box towards her, "Can I open it?" Chris nodded, and Jill opened the box. The contents of the case made her eyes widen in wonder.

The box revealed a silver ring band which Jill knew very well: Chris had given this to her as a gift when they first started dating in S.T.A.R.S. She had returned it when they had broken up. Jill had no idea that he kept it the entire time. The ring had been polished, resized, and shined to a gleam.

"Jill Valentine," Chris asked, looking into his love's blue eyes as she held the box with the silver ring in front of her, "I could never ask for a better partner than you, and I want to keep it that way for the rest of our lives. Will you marry me?"

"Chris, I…" Jill stuttered, looking at the ring with a stunned expression, "I love you very much, but don't know what to say; I'm more than happy living with you in this moment, and I'll always love you. There's a lot of legal processes to consider, but yes, I will marry you." Tears streamed down Jill's cheeks in happiness as she stared up into Chris' deep brown eyes, anticipating his reaction. "I'm so happy. We can have a real partnership."

Chris smiled, "We've always had a partnership, Jill; now we can be a family." He said, glancing down at his fiancé's growing stomach, "And soon there will be one more." Jill leaned into Chris' arms and kissed him sweetly as his arms wrapped protectively around her delicate frame. Chris Redfield's Valentine would belong to him, until death did they part.