A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I want to respond to some of them, but I can't without giving parts of the story away, so you'll have to read on to get your answers.

Just a bit of a warning: there's a flashback in this chapter that takes place before Allen became a neko. While you read it, it'll help to remember that he's human.

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"Lena-lee! Where are you taking me?!"

The question went unanswered, just like the five before it had. It had been about ten minutes since she'd abruptly woken me from my post-breakfast nap and started dragging me through the halls. I didn't have the energy to fight her, hell, I barely had the energy to keep up with her. I was sick and tired of this whole pregnancy thing.

But by far the worst part was that Kanda was gone. We'd said goodbye that morning; though that didn't really count, as it happened while I was up for my morning sickness, and he left after I had gone back to sleep. Normally having him be away on a mission wasn't a big deal, but the discovery of my pregnancy had changed everything. Plus, we usually had sex before one of us left for a lengthy mission, and in the two days we'd known I was pregnant, he had refused to touch me each and every time I went looking for sex. I knew why he was giving me the cold shoulder, but leaving me sexually frustrated was not the way to protect our baby.

After another ten minutes of dragging me around, Lenalee finally came to a stop outside the door to the laundry room. It wasn't particularly weird, I knew Lenalee liked to gossip with the workers down there, but it was strange that she had dragged me with her and that she hadn't told me that's what we were doing. I cocked an ear at her in confusion, the best reaction I could muster with how exhausted I was. "What are we doing down here?"

"Allen. I promise it'll be worth it. Just, shut up for a little bit." She placed her hands on my shoulders and pushed me down into the chair beside the door, my knees practically giving out under the force of her shove. "And do not, under any circumstances, go anywhere. I'll be right back."

I watched her go inside, planning to ignore her order and leave the second the door closed. But my body had other plans. I couldn't find the strength to stand up. She had completely worn me out on the trip down. I knew that if I focused my senses, I'd be able to hear whatever it was that Lenalee was saying or doing in the laundry room, but I didn't have the energy for that either. I was just going to have to settle for waiting for her.

The next thing I knew, there was a hand on my shoulder shaking me awake. I was so exhausted that I had nodded off the second I stopped moving. I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and looked up to find Lenalee laughing at me. "Well, that's one way to stay put."

I glared at her. I was still not in the mood for whatever it was she was up to. "Is there a reason you woke me up?"

She laughed again. But instead of explaining, she pushed a bundle of blankets against my chest. I made no move to take the, hopefully clean, blankets from her or even break my glare to look closer at them. I was definitely not in a cooperative mood.

Lenalee rolled her eyes and made an annoyed sound. Then she grabbed my left wrist with her free hand and moved it so that I was supporting the surprisingly heavy bundle, forcing me to take it from her. She sighed in exasperation and adjusted the position of my arm. "Geez, Allen, can't you cooperate at least a little? You don't want to drop the baby, do you?"

The mention of a baby had me even more confused than I already was. As far as I knew, the only baby around was the one growing inside me. "Huh? What are you talking about, Lenalee? What baby?"

My confusion just made Lenalee's scowl deepen. But it also made someone else laugh, and I belatedly realized that Lenalee hadn't come out of the laundry room alone. Janet, the head laundry lady, was with her, and it was Janet who seemed to be amused by our exchange. The older woman shook her head at Lenalee. "Can't you see the poor boy is half-asleep? He has no clue what's going on. Did you even tell him you were bringing him to see a baby before you brought him down here?"

I perked up at that. "There's a baby here? Where?"

This time both women laughed. "What do you think you're holding, Allen?"

I blinked at them a few times as I slowly realized that the bundle of blankets in my arms contained a baby. I felt stupid, but in all fairness, I had never been close enough to touch a baby before, let alone hold one. I truly couldn't have known that there was an infant in the blankets I was holding.

Of course, once I did realize that, I burst into tears. God I hated being pregnant. I was only a month in and I was already an emotional wreck.

As I held the baby closer and brought my free hand up to stroke its cheek, Janet sat in the chair beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "This is my grandson, Tony. He's the sweetest baby you'll ever meet, though from the look on your face, he's the first baby you've ever seen, so that probably means nothing to you. Just know that he's a very happy baby."

She laughed and briefly scratched my ear. "Of course, you'll probably think he's nothing special compared to your own baby, but that's to be expected. Mothers should love their own babies most."

It took a second for her words to register, and when they did, I couldn't help hissing harshly at Lenalee. She was supposed to be keeping my pregnancy a secret. "Lenalee! How could you?!"

Before Lenalee could react, Janet laughed lightly at my anger and scratched my ear again. "Relax, Allen. She didn't tell me anything. I've got three daughters and seven grandchildren. You've got 'expectant mother' written all over you. How far along are you?"

I frowned, deeply disturbed by her words. "Five weeks. Is it really that obvious that I'm pregnant?"

Janet laughed as she stood up, letting Lenalee have the chair. "Just to me, because I've been around it so much. Don't worry; no one else around here is going to figure it out anytime soon."

That didn't make me feel better. Though that could just have easily been from the fact that Janet didn't seem even the slightest bit put off by me being a pregnant male. She stroked my ear one more time before she left. "Now, I have to get back to work. Feel free to sit with Tony for as long as you need to."

I let my focus drift to the baby in my arms. My thoughts were a jumbled mess, and I couldn't stop the tears from falling as I took in that sleeping little boy.

Lenalee wrapped an arm around my shoulders and leaned against me; her voice was soft and gentle as she broke the silence around us. "I was fairly certain you'd never seen a baby before, and I thought this would help you adjust to what's happening to you. Babies are amazing, and you're going to have your own soon. I'm so jealous."

Before I could be touched by the gesture, she brushed her hand into my hair and kissed my forehead. I knew before she spoke that she was going to say something about wanting to be with me. "Allen, I don't know if you have a plan for your baby yet, but I'm here if you want to pretend things are normal. We could get married, and I could be your baby's mother and you would never have to tell it that you gave birth to it. I-"

I interrupted her with a heavy sigh and moved her hand away from my ear. I didn't want to take my frustration out on her, but being gentle kept backfiring. "Lena, we've been over this. I'm not attracted to you. I'm not going to marry you just to make things look normal. Besides, I already told you, my baby's father wants it. I may not have decided anything yet, but whenever I do make a decision, that will definitely factor into it."

.x.x.

~A Couple Years Earlier~

I collapsed on my bed. I wasn't particularly tired, but it was my first night in my own room after finally being discharged from the infirmary, and after the chaos of the ark and the recovering afterward, I was looking forward to finally sleeping in my own bed.

Just as I was nodding off, I was roused by a sharp tapping at my door. I climbed off the bed with a groan and went to find out who needed me that late at night. Lenalee smiled apologetically at the annoyed look on my face. "Sorry if I woke you. I know it's late, but can we talk?"

"Sure." I shrugged and backed away to let her in.

To my surprise, she closed and locked the door behind her. But before I could question her, she had pushed my back against the wall and pressed her lips against mine. I didn't want to be mean, but it was taking all my willpower not to hit her, so I grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away as gently as I could. "Lenalee. What are you doing?"

She didn't seem at all surprised that I wasn't interested in kissing her. She flopped down on my bed and stared earnestly up at me. And when she started talking, she didn't stop. "What do I have to do to make you notice me, Allen? Do you need me to gain weight? Lose weight? Dress differently? Do I need to dye my hair? Would you like me better if I was blonde? Or a redhead?"

I finally got her to shut up by covering her mouth with my hand. It took me a moment to collect my thoughts once it was finally silent.

What she was saying had come completely out of the blue. I hadn't had even the faintest idea that she was interested in me, and her words made me feel sad. Sad that I hadn't noticed that she liked me. Sad that I didn't like her back. Sad that she was so hung up on me that she wanted to change herself to make me like her.

I sighed and sat carefully beside her. "Lena, you shouldn't change yourself for a guy. He should like you for who you are."

She frowned at my response. "That doesn't answer the question, Allen." She tugged firmly on my sleeve and glared at me through the tears that had started to fall. "What do I have to do to make you like me?"

Pulling her hand off me, I sighed again and moved to the chair by the window to put some distance between us. I leaned back and stared out at the night sky. I couldn't look at Lenalee anymore. She was my dearest friend, and it hurt me to see her hurting like that.

I knew exactly what to say to make her happy, but even though lying to spare my friends' feelings was something I did frequently, it was not the right thing to do in this situation. Telling Lenalee that I would date her just to get her to stop crying would only hurt her in the long run.

The real question was how to respond to her question. Did I make up something impossible to distract her, or did I tell her the truth? Because even if she was my best friend, the truth wasn't something I could say easily; admitting to being gay was a sure fire way to get myself in even more trouble than I already was.

I sighed and settled on a blend of my two best options. "I'm sorry, Lena, but unless you can find a way to make yourself male, you're wasting your time on me."

Because I was staring out the window, I missed Lenalee's initial reaction. But I was expecting her to be either angry or disgusted, so it was quite baffling to me when I suddenly found her arms around my neck in an awkward hug. Even more confusing was that she was sobbing into my shoulder.

Eventually her babbling calmed down enough for me to make sense of it, and I was definitely surprised to find that she was apologizing to me. "What are you sorry for, Lena? I'm the one who should be apologizing. If I had noticed your feelings sooner, you wouldn't have-"

She cut me off with an apology that completely threw me. "And if I had noticed that you're gay, I never would have tried to force myself on you like that. I'm sorry for being so forward."

She babbled on for a bit, thanking me for being honest and sharing the truth with her, and promising repeatedly that my secret was safe with her. "I'll leave you alone now, but know that I'm just down the hall. If you ever decide that you're done being gay, or that you want to pretend to be straight, you know where to find me."