A/N: Evil cliffhanger, but it was too perfect to resist. Hope you weren't too traumatized by it. ;)

As I mentioned last chapter: from this point on, new chapters of this story will now be posted every other week.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

I stared in horror at the men in the doorway. This was my wedding day, the happiest day of my life; I shouldn't have to see the man who tormented me throughout my childhood.

But even worse was that I didn't know why Central was here. Did they come to stop the wedding? The Fourteenth had been gone for a long time, but they still didn't like Allen; had they come to stop me from marrying him? Or had they found out about the baby? Were they here to make a scene before I could make my unborn child legitimate?

My brother moved so that he was standing between me and the men from Central. "Secretary Leverrier. We weren't expecting you. What brings you here today?"

Leverrier laughed in a way that made my skin crawl. "The marriage of two of the Order's exorcists is an auspicious occasion. We are merely here to observe the festivities and then we'll be on our way. Congratulations, Miss Lenalee."

He smiled creepily at me and then turned and left the room, the others following after him.

The second the door closed behind them, my knees gave out and I collapsed. Miranda was paying attention and caught me before I hit the ground, but that was a small comfort.

.x.x.

I was immensely thankful that Lenalee had put her foot down and refused to get married while we were switched. It was hard enough having to rush into this to cover up her pregnancy, doing it while I was the pregnant one would have been a nightmare.

Getting ready that morning was an adventure, as Lavi, who was supposed to be my best man, was still drunk from the night before. Seriously, the redhead should have known better than to challenge me to a drinking game when I had no intention of drinking anything. But despite his drunken attempts to mess things up, and Kanda's multiple threats to skewer the rabbit, all three of us managed to be dressed and ready in time.

I could barely contain my excitement. In less than an hour, the prettiest girl I'd ever met was going to be my wife. Holding still through the ceremony was going to be one of the hardest things I ever had to do.

That excitement died when a knock at the door revealed Howard Link. The blond man was offering me a homemade pie, just like he had the day we first met. Seeing him sent a lump to my throat and a feeling of dread washed over me. I didn't doubt that he knew all along that Lenalee and I were together, and it would not have surprised me to learn that he already knew she was pregnant. "What are you doing here, Link?"

His smile faltered at my tone. He set the pie box on a nearby table with a small sigh. "I just wanted to say congratulations. I know you've been after this for a long time, Walker, and I'm glad to see you finally get it."

.x.x.

The chapel was beautifully decorated. Or maybe that's how it always looked. I'd never been in there before. Marie and Miranda had held their ceremony outside, so I had no idea what it usually looked like. I was only guessing that it was decorated, knowing that it was Lenalee's wedding that was about to happen. Over the past few days, that girl had been more psychotic than her brother usually was, and I doubted that she would have let the chapel go undecorated in that state.

Seriously, what was the Moyashi thinking, proposing to her? I was better off believing that they were only getting married because she was pregnant, not because they wanted to. It was just way too disturbing this way. Getting the rabbit drunk as a skunk last night was just the start of my revenge on him for ruining that for me.

On the other hand, maybe if I had let Lavi get Allen plastered like he wanted, the Moyashi wouldn't have been so damn annoying all morning. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought that brat had had pure sugar for breakfast; he was acting like he was high as a kite. That was probably the only time in my life that I would be thankful to see Central; the Moyashi crashed down to his usual level of annoying once he knew they were here.

The ceremony passed uneventfully. I was forced to endure walking down the aisle with Emilia; Lenalee probably thought I was clueless and didn't know that the Frenchwoman had a crush on me. But beyond that, there wasn't anything of note. The priest's speech was boring, their vows were the traditional promises, and I spent the whole time wishing that I was somewhere else.

And Central did nothing but sit in their pew and watch. We all expected them to intervene, or make some kind of scene, but they didn't. Not even when the priest reached the "speak now or forever hold your peace" bit.

No one was particularly surprised that Komui remained silent at those words, as those who didn't know that Lenalee was pregnant thought he was forcing the marriage on them. It was some nonsense the idiots concocted in regards to the body swap and the supervisor's concerns about his sister's purity, and it would have made me laugh if I was the laughing type.

They kissed and exchanged rings. The bright smile on the Moyashi's face made me want to hurt him, but that would only turn Lenalee's wrath on me, so I repressed the urge to slap the brat.

And with that, it was finally over. We filed out of the chapel, but instead of disappearing like I had planned, the idiot rabbit dragged me to the dining hall for the reception.

I was not one for parties like that, but it was amusing watching everyone fawn over Allen and Lenalee like they were royalty or something. People could be so stupid sometimes.

.x.x.

It was in the middle of the reception when the men from Central finally left. They had been keeping to themselves, watching the festivities from the sidelines, and the whole thing was putting me on edge. Yet even though they were gone, I couldn't relax. It bothered me that they had kept their word and merely observed. It wasn't like them to have come and gone so quietly.

I was still stewing about it when it came time for my first dance with my husband. Allen looked perfect in his tuxedo and top hat, and even though it was traditional to wear gloves at a wedding, he had listened to me and gone barehanded, leaving his black Innocence hand out for everyone to see. He had protested at first, but I won that argument when I pointed out that the baby would also have a parasitic Innocence and I didn't want him passing that embarrassment on to our child.

The dance probably wasn't much to look at, we stayed in one spot and swayed from side to side, but it was heaven to me. I was finally Mrs. Allen Walker.

Allen spoke softly as we moved. "I know what you're thinking about. Central's gone now, you can forget about them."

I sighed. "No I can't. Until I find out why they were here, it's going to bother me."

He laughed lightly and squeezed my hand, his wedding band pressing into my skin. "You're confused because you thought they were here to make a scene. You thought they were going to try to stop the wedding."

I wanted to be suspicious of how well he was reading me, but he disliked Central as much as I did, and was probably thinking the same things I was.

His next words made me freeze, and if he weren't holding me tight enough to keep us moving, I might have ruined the dance. "They know about the baby."

The smile he gave me was reassuring, but it still felt like I couldn't breathe. "Relax, Lena. It's not like that. They figured out that we were getting married because you're pregnant, and they came to make sure nothing stopped it. They didn't want our child to be illegitimate any more than we did."

I frowned at him. What he was saying seemed too good to be true. "Don't make stuff up for me. I am your wife now; I won't tolerate you lying to me."

Allen's smile never faltered, though I swore that it got brighter when I called myself his wife. "I'm not lying, Lena. I spoke to Link before the wedding, and he told me everything. Apparently they figured it out because your brother wasn't acting crazy enough about you getting married."

I snorted in exasperation. "Figures. I was so thankful that he wasn't up to anything psychotic that I didn't anticipate the consequences of him actually behaving."

I relaxed into my husband's arms, and we finished the dance in silence. It was relieving to have Central's approval, even if it was only for today.

After my dance with Allen was what traditionally would have been the father-daughter dance. But I didn't have a father and Allen didn't have a mother, so it was just my dance with Komui. I had suggested several people for Allen to dance with, but he didn't like any of my ideas; they weren't "special" enough for a dance that was supposed to be with his mother. Half-expecting him to sit the dance out, it was a surprise to me when he led a very embarrassed Miranda out onto the floor.

.x.x.

As the reception progressed, one group of finders began getting particularly rowdy. They decided they needed to make the wedding celebrations more interesting, and started a betting pool. They went around asking those they came across to place money on how long it would take for the newlyweds to conceive their first child.

It caught everyone's attention, and soon all the guests were chatting about it. While most agreed that it wasn't a smart idea for two exorcists to have a baby, the thought of how adorable any child of Allen and Lenalee's would be trumped that, and they all began plotting ways to make sure the couple got pregnant in the timeframe that would make them win the pool.

General Cross was the first to hear the chatter, and he tried to shut the betting down before it reached the newlyweds. The redhead knew from experience exactly what Allen's black side would do if the kid learned people were betting on him, and he did not want to see that happen again. Ok, maybe he did. But not at a wedding. That would just be tasteless.

Cross' friendly request that the finders stop the pool and return the money they'd collected was met with resistance. They didn't want to end their fun just because the General said so. But the redhead's attempts to make them listen to him just made things worse. The commotion attracted the hungover Lavi's attention, and he tried to intervene.

No one was really sure which of the two redheads let it slip, but the argument came to a standstill when it was revealed that Lenalee was already pregnant.

Those nearest the argument overheard the news, and it spread through the room in a matter of seconds. Everyone fell silent as they watched the newlyweds dance, looking for signs that the rumor was true.

The signs were subtle, but they were there. The cut of Lenalee's dress was obviously designed to mask a baby bump. Allen's hand was placed on her waist rather than her hip or lower back, more concerned with feeling their baby than with feeling up his wife. Even the conservative nature of their dancing was proof. When the pair had danced at Miranda and Marie's wedding, there had been lots of spinning and dipping involved.

It wasn't until the couple finished their dance that they realized everyone was watching them, and not in the same way they were at the beginning of the reception. And they knew without having to ask that the news about the baby had gotten out. Forcing a smile, Lenalee faked cluelessness. "What's going on, everybody?"

The slight chatter stopped at her words. Then several things happened at once. The argument that started it all started back up, with Cross, Lavi, and the finders all blaming each other for the news getting out. Komui and the others who already knew about the baby all shared confused looks and began arguing over which of them should tell Lenalee that everyone knew. And General Teidoll, who had been out on a mission and had returned just in time to hear the rumor, spoke out over the hubbub. "Is it true? Are you truly with child?"

Lenalee let out a small sigh, and Allen wrapped his arms around her waist in a gesture of support. The Chinese woman smiled brightly at the frizzy haired artist, who was making his way towards the dance floor. "It's true. I'm about eighteen weeks along. The youngest member of our exorcist family should be joining us in June."

Teidoll reached them then and wrapped them both in a big bear hug. A call for a toast went out, and everyone began congratulating the newlyweds on their pregnancy. The atmosphere returned to light and festive, and the party picked up speed again.

Until about an hour later, when someone recalled that Allen and Lenalee had spent the last two months in the other's body. But instead of stopping the celebrations like the news of her pregnancy had, this rumor kicked the party up a notch.

Allen and Lenalee shared a look and a sigh. Neither understood why the others were laughing so hard at the idea of Allen being pregnant. "Why does everyone think that's funny?"