Yay, update! I get just as excited as you get whenever I update because I get to hear all of your wonderful reviews! One big shout-out to my readers/reviewers! I hope you enjoy! (I apologize if you are confused by the time-skip here. I also apologize if I missed some word somewhere, please let me know.)

Chapter 10- Milly Ashford's Regular Tomfoolery

"Suzaku," Lelouch said, his voice pleading and pitiful, "Can you please help me up?"

Suzaku laughed and extended his hand towards his lover's reaching one, which clasped itself to him and he hoisted his extremely pregnant boy up and onto his feet. "Lelouch, you are seven and a half months pregnant." He said between a laugh.

"Don't remind me." Lelouch shot at him with a glare, but his intimidating demeanor quickly fell as pain was reflected on his face and he reached for his back. He moaned deeply and strengthened his grip on Suzaku's unfortunate hand as he shuffled across his room. "Damn her and her ability to cause me severe pain."

"Let's not swear in front of the baby, now." Suzaku hushed him, and Lelouch rolled his eyes before letting it slide and concentrating on clobbering down the stairs. The pair soon ran into Nunnally, accompanied by Sayoko as always.

Sayoko had forced Lelouch to allow her to stay at the Lamperouge home at all hours while he was in such a delicate phase of the pregnancy. Because of all that extra weight being added on, any average person would require remedial help, not to mention someone with such a lacking physique as Lelouch.

"Onii-sama!" Nunnally chimed, her voice a soothing massage to Lelouch's mind. "Is your back any better today?" She asked quite inno cently.

"Not quite." Lelouch said calmly, despite the extreme fits of anguish he so wished to play out on his floor. His hand was still at his side, and Suzaku had silently put his hand over Lelouch's on his lower back, as if trying to conjointly heal it.

This caused Lelouch to smile and look into Suzaku's face with near-sparkling eyes of gratitude, but another spasm sent him waddling into the living room hastily, asking Nunnally to follow him and Suzaku.

Suzaku had, upon reaching the couch of their living room, picked up Lelouch and put him in his lap as he lay across the couch horizontally, and Lelouch groaned as he sunk into his chest. "I definitely wasn't anticipating this." He said absent-mindedly, and Suzaku laughed at him before stroking his silk raven hair.

"I know." Suzaku whispered into Lelouch's hair, and kissed it roughly before leaning back himself. Nunnally chose then to join them with Sayoko at her side.

"Onii-sama, Suzaku, do you need any more things for the baby?" Nunnally asked softly, and Suzaku felt Lelouch shaking his head on his midsection.

"I think we're okay, Nunnally. You don't have to worry about our preparedness." He said with a dazzling smile that nearly made Suzaku giggle and grab his cheeks, as was his immediate reaction. He settled for holding him tighter in his arms.

"Suzaku?" Lelouch strained his neck upwards, looking up at Suzaku upside down.

"Hmm?" Suzaku responded absent-mindedly, stroking Lelouch's hair just behind the ear.

"Can her last name be Lamperouge?" Lelouch asked, his eyes nearly pleading.

"I thought we already agreed on that." Suzaku said, a bit confused at the random subject being thrown at him.

"I know, but that was before you decided to unconsciously pop the question." Lelouch complained and turned on his side so as to be less uncomfortable staring into Suzaku's eyes with determination.

"My answer's still the same, you know." Suzaku said, and he brushed his fingers across Lelouch's forehead. In doing so, his expression melted into worry as he muttered, "You're warm." Lelouch rolled his eyes.

"I'm always warm right after I wake up, Suzaku." He said strictly, his eyes hardening with displeasure.

"I know, but still…" Suzaku said, not quite all of the worry fading off his features, and Lelouch just sighed.

"Suzaku, I'll be fine, seriously." Lelouch said with the irritation seeping through his voice, and Suzaku took it as a sign to back away slowly.

"Alright." He replied leniently, but when Lelouch made to peel himself from Suzaku's chest, he disapproved and pulled him back down. "Just where do you want to go?" He said in Lelouch's ear, but Lelouch whipped his gaze back around to meet his own with fire burning in his pupils.

"Please let me go." Lelouch said coldly, but when he tried to break free from Suzaku's hold—albeit weakly—he was held even tighter in place. "Suzaku." He raised his voice and the Japanese boy restraining him loosened his hold just slightly before sending him a curt,

"No." No doubt this infuriated the Britannian, and he nearly burst into tears as he tried to wiggle himself out of the stronghold.

"Please, Suzaku!" He pleaded, but all the Japanese responded with was a,

"You can't be walking around all the time, Lelouch." Suzaku frowned, but his frown was fractured open when he saw the near tears in Lelouch's eyes, and he quickly released him.

Lelouch moved himself away as best he could and slowly stood from the couch, his eyes blazing. "You can't keep guarding me like this, Suzaku!" He yelled.

"Lelouch," Suzaku began, but he was quickly cut off.

"No, I don't want to hear it! I'm perfectly capable of moving around my own home without injuring myself." He said before averting his attention to the floor.

"I'm just worried for you, Lelouch. You're hardly capable of carrying around with you the extra weight of a child!" Suzaku said, desperately trying to defend his side.

"I can at least walk to the kitchen for something to drink! Can't you just let me off the hook for five seconds?" Lelouch beseeched, and Suzaku leaned in to Lelouch's face.

"No, I can't! You're being narrow-minded, Lelouch!" Suzaku shouted, and this was where Lelouch turned quickly.

"You're being overprotective, Suzaku." Lelouch whispered quietly with an angered shake in his voice. He took his leave and staggered out of the room toward the kitchen, leaving a terribly tense aura in the room.

Nunnally finally took her chance to speak. "Suzaku, can you please apologize to my Onii-sama?" She asked, her own voice steeling up into an element rarely seen in the banished princess' tone of voice.

Suzaku let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and put his head in his hands. "I'll try." He said softly, and Nunnally nodded in understanding.

Suddenly, a calamity echoed through the house, and Suzaku's senses went into overdrive as he leaped through the halls to find Lelouch on the floor, having seemingly stumbled over nothing and fallen. He must have attempted to catch a table for support, because the small stand had been forced over as well, tipped on its side with all of its china splattered across the carpet in shattered pieces.

It was Lelouch's stagnant stare at the floor that brought Suzaku back to reality after having surveyed the scene. His lover was on the ground with his legs crumpled beneath him, his arms hugging his chest and head hung. Suzaku could see his fingers shaking as they gripped his shoulders.

Suzaku took his first instinct's advice and knelt down to the floor, carefully avoiding the broken glass, and pulled Lelouch close to him in an enveloping hug. Lelouch did not give him any signs of response, so Suzaku started to pull himself away, but when the boy in his arms whimpered quietly at the sensation he quickly embraced him even tighter than before.

"I'm sorry, Suzaku." Lelouch muttered, leaning backwards into Suzaku's shoulder and closing his eyes. Suzaku shushed him and caressed his cheek, which required unclasping his arm out of Lelouch's de ath grip.

They stayed amongst the floor together for a bit longer, and Lelouch quickly succumbed to exhaustion and let go of his arms to simply lean against Suzaku's chest, but their peace was interrupted when Sayoko politely insisted she pick up the broken glass. Suzaku made no second thought against picking Lelouch up in his arms and carrying him to the living room. Lelouch did not complain.

"Lelouch?" Suzaku whispered in Lelouch's ear after he had been properly laid upon the couch.

"Mm?" He heard Lelouch mumble, and he chuckled delicately before saying whole-heartedly,

"I'm sorry." Lelouch seemed to accept his apology, because Suzaku could see the smile that overcame his tiredness. "You shouldn't go back to sleep you know, you just woke up." Suzaku nagged, and the smile vanished from Lelouch's face as he groaned and pulled himself up in a half-curl up.

"You brought me here!" Lelouch responded in a shrill tone, his eyes still closed as he swung his legs over the side of the couch, and Suzaku jumped up before he'd even touched the ground with his toes. He slid his attention over to Suzaku with vexation written on his face. "Show off." He muttered as he shuffled across the room, and didn't fight it when Suzaku chuckled and grabbed one of his hands for support.

"I'm not going anywhere without you." Suzaku said with a smile, and Lelouch averted his gaze to the trimming on his walls.

"I know." He said with fake regret, but a smile managed to make it to his lips unnoticed by his detection.

Lelouch had been enjoying his day just fine on his own. Suzaku had taken his leave on the excuse that he was sorely lacking in the quota of school days he was required to attend, due to his recent constant nursing of Lelouch all day and all night.

Lelouch's eyebrow twitched and he missed a few beats on the piano from the sheer remembrance of the annoyance his lover had been when he'd been barely allowed the luxury of walking. He threw his hands among the keys in defeat, creating a resounding crash of dissonance.

Not long after he'd done so had the doorbell rung erratically. Lelouch could only fear who was at his door before yanking it open, revealing an overenthusiastic Milly to ruin his peace.

"Wow, Lulu, you're huge!" She said, leaning down to get a good look at his stomach. Lelouch just as soon slammed the door in her face.

He remained in place as the crazy doorbell ringing reappeared, and he calmly opened the door with a smile. "Hello, Milly." He said politely, and Milly threw at him what he realized to be a shirt as it collided with his face.

"Put that on and come with me." Milly said, her gaze creepily serious as Lelouch straightened out the shirt before him, only to find that it read '#1 MOMMY' in big white print. Lelouch glared over the top of the shirt he held in front of his gaze, and Milly almost succumbed to the daggers he sent her. "Oh, it's all in good fun, Lulu!" She claimed with a mischievous chuckle that sent shivers down Lelouch's spine.

"Why should I follow you?" He asked, eyebrow arching in questioning.

"Because I have your baby's daddy as my hostage!" She said in a sing-song voice, and Lelouch's eyes could not help but widen in near-fear. Premonition made his extremely paranoid mind go wild with assumptions, and so he regrettably threw on the shirt and a jacket and slipped on a random pair of shoes. Upon stepping outside however, he learned that the sky was pouring rain.

"You came to my house in a huge downpour just to force me into this shirt and take me to an undisclosed location where Suzaku allegedly is?" Lelouch said with one breath, and Milly nodded enthusiastically, her grip on his wrist should he attempt escape tightening as she pulled him into the school. "I'm sorry about before." Lelouch muttered loud enough for her to hear. Milly stopped, and Lelouch really wished she hadn't.

"I'm sorry about before." She repeated back at him—as if he hadn't said anything at all—with her glowing smile. "You needn't blame yourself all the time and put everything on your own shoulders." She sent him a knowing look that threw him off, but it twisted into a smirk. "You can't handle that much weight even without a baby sucking on your energy." Lelouch was going to yell at her back, but he smiled back instead.

Lelouch let down his hood as they reached the safety of the school's ceilings. He was unnaturally aware of the many bewildered eyes upon his stomach as he tried to pull his hands defensively around his stomach. The swift stretching of his shoulder muscles unfortunately sent him spiraling into extreme back pain, and his entire body flinched as he stifled an "Ow."

Lelouch had to blink back the tears that had appeared half because of the lightning speed Milly was lugging him around with and half because of the sudden splitting pain in his lower back. Milly must have noticed his sudden discomfort, because she slowed down a bit and loosened her grip on Lelouch's wrist, but in doing so she felt the scratch of a ring on her palm.

She then stopped abruptly and turned as Lelouch nearly collided with her frozen body, grabbing his wrist once more and taking a good look at the diamond ring on his finger. "Lelouch, you're engaged?"

"Well, yeah…" Lelouch trailed off, a blush creeping on his face, and Milly threw her head back and laughed obnoxiously, leaving him to wonder what was so amusing.

"Sorry, Lulu," She said, seemingly reading his mind, "but your life is so messed up. Generally people get married before they have a baby." She said, and Lelouch wanted to melt into the tiled flooring of Ashford Academy as a growing crowd appeared, encircling them. "Well, come on!" Milly, to Lelouch's relief, said, and pulled him out of the mob and back through the hallways.

Another burst of pain hit his back as they jolted from the group of people, and he whimpered at the terrifying speed at which they were flying through the halls. "Milly, can we please slow down?" He pleaded, and he must have had a bad expression on his face, because Milly immediately nodded and let them slow to a walk.

"We're almost there anyway." She said with her prized toothy smile, and Lelouch couldn't help but laugh internally. They rounded one more corner before Lelouch realized that they were headed for the Student Council room, a place he hadn't been to in the longest time. He smiled as he recalled his earlier shenanigans with his friends, before he'd had to lock himself away in his home.

Milly then stopped, surprising Lelouch once more, before opening the door and waving her hand to him, motioning him in. He'd barely made two steps into the room before being attacked by a hug he instantly recognized as Suzaku's. He must have been restrained for a long time, because the urgency with which he embraced him was rather tight. Lelouch felt as if no one in the world but the two of them existed for a few moments as he leaned into Suzaku's chest and moaned deeply. "My back hurts like hell." He mumbled into his shirt, and Suzaku laughed before pulling his feet up and carrying him to one of the chairs surrounding the large center table.

Lelouch lolled his head back over the edge of the chair, before snapping up when he heard Shirley giggling. "Geez, Lulu." Was all she had to say, and he sent her a terrible glare before putting his arm across his chest, hoping to shield himself at least a little. Unfortunately, the movement caused his ring to glitter across all of their eyes, and Shirley clapped and giggled some more, asking Lelouch to roll his eyes at her gi rlish reactions to everything.

"You guys are getting married?" She said excitedly, and Lelouch's blush returned to him once more as he nodded.

"Keeping our names, of course." Suzaku said, suddenly reappearing in the circle. The sound of Suzaku's voice calmed Lelouch just slightly.

"Why?" Shirley asked, and Lelouch spoke up this time.

"Because Lelouch Kururugi is a ridiculous name." The giggles and strangled laughter hummed over the still activity of the room at the mention of the strange combination.

"So what's the baby's last name going to be?" Milly asked, and both Suzaku and Lelouch answered at the same time with,

"Lamperouge." Lelouch took it upon himself to further the explanation.

"She'll have a French first name too." Lelouch said absent-mindedly and of course the group all took it upon themselves to suggest names all at once, which he realized would happen just after speaking.

"Antoinette?" Milly suggested.

"Aurorette?" Shirley said with her finger pointing at the ceiling, her eyes following.

"No," Lelouch said, still looking into the ceiling, "I have a bunch of them at my disposal. I'm not choosing anything before I even see her, though."

"Aurorette is pretty." Suzaku suggested, and Lelouch sent him a chilling glare that immediately stopped him from trying any sort of manipulation. "Sorry…" He said quietly, and Lelouch sent him a silent reassurance with glittering eyes and a small smile. Suzaku would have been more afraid of the crazy mood swing alert in Lelouch's actions had they not been surrounded by the Student Council.

"So what did you want me for?" Lelouch asked, and Milly threw her arms out in extravagance.

"We're doing a festival in your name!" She said, and Shirley cheered alongside her. Suzaku stepped in.

"Milly, isn't that a bad idea? Knowing what happened last time a crowd of people saw him?" He said, his eyebrow arched and eyes darting toward Lelouch. He could faintly hear his fiancé mutter an apology from his position.

"Everyone knows now! Come on, guys, it'll be fun!" Milly begged them with too much excitement brewing in her mind, and when Lelouch merely sighed in defeat she began her victory celebration before he'd even said anything.

"I'm not dressing up in anything worse than this, though!" Lelouch sputtered, pointing at his chest.

"Wait, what are you wearing?" Shirley asked, and Lelouch felt the color drain from his face. He'd kept his jacket zipped up as he'd sat with his friends, and now he'd have to show them the pink embarrassment stretching over his stomach. It was only Suzaku's pleading eyes that convinced him to stand from his seat and, with a blush, unzip his jacket slowly.

Milly smiled widely in pride as Suzaku fell into severe fits of snorts and laughter, nearly falling to the floor from the extremity. "That's… cute, Lulu." Shirley said with a few giggles interrupting her speech. Lelouch moaned and sat back down.

"Milly, I'm hardly in the condition to walk around a festival all day." Lelouch said, and Milly nodded hastily.

"Then we'll just have to find you some means of transportation!" Lelouch sighed again. There was no getting out of this.

"Fine." He breathed through the sigh, crossing his arms. "When will this festival be, then?" He asked, and Milly took a huge intake of breath before nearly screaming,

"Two weeks!"

Wow, only two breaks in one chapter? That's a serious personal achievement. Hope you enjoyed, and please leave me a nice review! (I may also be a bit longer on the next update. The writing is a bit shaky and I don't want to update until I am completely satisfied with what my readers are, well, reading. I apologize, but I will also promise it will definitely not be longer than maybe three weeks! That would be mean.)

Code Geass and all of its attributes (c) Sunrise/CLAMP/Bandai Entertainment/Goro Taniguchi.