Chapter 12

Two months later

"Hurry up, shit-heads! Franky asked me to be there a bit earlier to help with the barbecue," Sanji yelled at the door.

"Relax! We're coming." Ace's voice assured, coming from his room. "Just looking for my jacket."

"MEAT! MEAT! MEAT!" Luffy chanted, skipping to meet the blonde at the door with a wide grin.

Keeping to his promise, the fireman finally came and joined the other two. The cook quickly put a basket in his arms.

"What's this?"

"Food. Some things I'll need to make some appetizers," Sanji replied while pushing his mates out of the door, locking it right away. "I can't really trust food to Luffy, so carry it please."

"Any special reason Franky and Robin decided to do a barbecue at their place?" The older brother asked as they stepped into the car. "Don't tell it's the birthday of one of them!" He suddenly seemed to lose all the color in his face.

"No, it's not. I think they just want to spend some quality time with their friends," the blond man answered.

"Who cares? There's no need for an excuse to eat meat and to have party with your friends," the younger boy said smiling and trembling with excitement.

Minutes later they were at the couple's door.

"Good day, dear Robin-chan! How are you feeling today?"

"Hello," the lady greeted the three men with a sweet smile. "I'm feeling quite well, thank you Sanji-san. Please come in and make yourself at home. Franky is in the backyard, making things ready."

"Thanks Robin, are we the first ones?" Ace asked, observing his brother take off, running and yelling for Franky. "Luffy is excited. Put meat in the equation and he's the happiest man alive."

"He sure is," she said, enjoying the joyful of the youngest. "And yes, you are the firsts. I believe Franky asked for Sanji's help."

"Yes, he did. Now my lady, I need to put this," the cook showed the basket in his arms, "in the kitchen, if you don't mind. I'm hoping your kitchen door has a lock and a key, because I need to keep Luffy away from that place, my lovely flower."

"Oh sure, I understand." She guided him with a smile never leaving her face.

Brook, Usopp and Chopper showed up twenty minutes later, right on the scheduled time. Fifteen minutes after their arrival, there was still no sign of the remaining two.

"Nami and Zoro are late," Luffy said not amused. It meant his lunch time was now delayed.

"The marimo probably got lost."

"But Nami is with him. I've never met anyone with a better sense of direction than Nami," Usopp pointed out.

"I completely agree with you. But don't forget the stupid marimo is the one behind the wheel and he's too much of a damn idiot and too proud to listen to Nami-san. He hates doing things her way, even though she's right most of the time." Sanji said.

"You're right," the long-nosed boy agreed. "If they don't come anytime soon, I'll just assume Nami killed Zoro and we can finally eat!"

"NAMI KILLED ZORO?" Chopper yelled shocked.

"OKAY! LET'S EAT MEAT!" Luffy yelled almost at the same time.

Before anyone could explain the poor soul that no assassination had been committed, the doorbell rang. Robin quickly moved to answer it. Soon an annoyed swordsman and an utterly pissed girl were in sight. Immediately they all knew their trip hadn't gone well and one little comment about them being late would lead to an attempt of murder by Nami. Maybe except for one boy who didn't seem to notice the tense atmosphere. Luffy ran to the orange-haired girl, hugging her happily and kissing her on the cheek. He then took her hand and pulled her to join the rest of the group. Her expression softened, her boyfriend's good mood could do wonders to her (in case he was not the root of her annoyance).

Zoro silently approached Sanji and stole him a quick kiss.

"Got lost, marimo?" The cook asked with a mocking grin.

"No, I didn't," the green-haired man denied irritated. "I was just looking for an alternative way."

"Yeah, sure. Because the usual way isn't fast enough," the other man stated sarcastically.

"Shut up, idiot-cook!"

As the couple exchanged insults, Franky moved from Sanji's side to meet his wife. He took her slender hands in his big ones and pulled her to stand on a more favorable place to see all of their friends.

"Okay, guys! Now that everyone's here, Robin and I would like to tell you something."

Everyone stopped whatever they were doing to give them their full attention. The engineer looked into Robin's eyes encouraging her to speak. She faced the crowd with a beautiful smile enlightening her gorgeous face.

"I'm pregnant."

"We're having a baby!" the blue-haired man yelled, not able to hold back his excitement.

There was a brief moment of silent while the rest processed the news. Finally Brook and Sanji were the first ones to react. The older man hugged Franky and congratulated them, followed by his characteristic laughter, while the blonde noted how great this was as he took the lady's hands in his and kiss them. Quickly the rest of the group joined them with exciting shouts of congratulations and it all ended up with a massive group hug.

X x X x X

Zoro was sitting at Robin and Franky's kitchen with a beer in his hand as he observed his boyfriend skillfully arranging the appetizers he had previously prepared on some plates. It had been just some minutes since the host couple dropped the big announcement.

"Can you believe it? Franky and Robin-chan are having a baby!" Sanji said.

"Yep, it's pretty impressive," the swordsman replied, not putting much thought into the words he was saying.

"Oh I hope the baby goes after his mother. She's so beautiful and smart. The world would be better place with a second chibi Robin-chan. Don't get me wrong, I love Franky! But I think one Franky is enough. Imagine: the first thing the kid would say would be," the cook held his arms above his head, joining one wrist with the other and yelled "SUUUPEEEER!"

Zoro smirked. "I bet it won't be as funny as what I saw just now."

"Shut it, shitty-marimo! I'm serious. I would love to hold a baby version of Robin-chan. She would be so cute. Oh and I'm sure the kid will be smart as hell. I'll be like the cool uncle. You will be the scary uncle for sure. And Luffy will be the goofy uncle… actually he'll be more like an older cousin the kid can play with, along with Chopper and Usopp."

Sanji was rambling, but for some reason Zoro was enjoying it. Then he remembered how the cook had been so great when Nami brought her nephew to his house. He had looked happy by just holding the kid. And now he looked stupidly excited because Franky and Robin were having a baby. The swordsman frowned. Maybe Sanji wanted to have his own kids in the future. Well Zoro had never made plans to have kids, but he couldn't have kids with him anyway, it wasn't biologically possible. He mind-slapped himself. What the hell was he thinking about? Well, the truth was that he had recently noticed that every time he would think about his future, he would always end up imagining the cook by his side. And now he was trying to find that idea ridiculous and repulsive, but he couldn't. He could only enjoy the idea. Since when had the swordsman been fine with having someone by his side for the rest of his life?

"Oi marimo! Are you even here?" Sanji was waving a hand in front of his face.

"Yeah… get off my face, eyebrows!"

"Tsh… I got it all ready. Let's go outside."

"Oi cook!" The green-haired man cleared his throat. "You seem to be very keen on the idea of having kids… Do you… I mean… when you think about your future, do you see yourself having kids?"

Sanji raised his peculiar eyebrow at the swordsman's strange behavior.

"I never put too much thought into it, but I can't say that idea doesn't appeal to me."

"I see."

"But I'm too young now. When I start thinking about having kids, I'll probably be married to beautiful woman by then."

Zoro frowned even deeper. The blond man noticed and sat on his lap.

"I'm joking, idiot," he said amused and then kissed him. "Now, let's go." He got up, took the plates with appetizers and left.

Zoro was once again left to his own thoughts. Was the cook really joking, or was it one of those jokes where people say the truth? It would be perfectly understandable that he wanted to have a wife and a family. It suited Sanji. Zoro was most likely just a fling to him and definitely not the one he wanted to spend his life with. He had been the one to admit his feelings, while the blonde never gave away any sign that he was as serious as the swordsman just found out he himself was. Then if it was expected, why was it bothering him?

X x X x X

Everyone had already stuffed themselves with meat and desert and the chef was now sitting at a chair outside while peacefully smoking a cigarette and observing his friends.

"Oi marimo, are you alright?"

The swordsman was sitting one or two meters away from him.

"Hmm… what?"

"Are you alright?" he repeated. "You've been awkwardly silent since a while now. I mean even more than your usual."

"I'm fine," the green-haired man grumbled.

There was a long moment of silence. Sanji decided not to insist.

"You said you were joking. Which part exactly was joke, and what was not? Or was it something like: it's a joke, but it's true."

The blonde slowly turned his head to face him and looked at him confused, arching his eyebrows.

"Never mind," Zoro said getting up. "I'm going inside to…" he shut up realizing he didn't have to give satisfactions to anyone, much less to the idiot-cook.

Sanji stayed in his place for a few moments dumb-folded. Of course he had been joking! He wasn't that insensitive to tell his current lover that he was planning to be married to different person in the future if that was in fact true. He was… he was satisfied about him and Zoro, even if the shitty-swordsman was an asshole most of the time. Sanji was happy and he had no reasons to be making plans to be with someone else. He supposed it was time. He took a deep breath, got up and went inside meeting his boyfriend at the living room.

"Zoro… I was really joking."

"I don't care," though his previous behavior would refute his affirmation, the neutral face he held now made it sound believable. "I said never mind."

The cook got closer.

"Look… I didn't tell all my friends about us, just so I could ditch you in a few months and go marry some girl."

The swordsman looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I don't have plans of getting married to a lady. I have you now, if I had a plan like that, I wouldn't be with you. I like the way things are now and whatever happens, happens. I'm not planning a damn thing. And if the future were to bring me a lifetime by your side, I would accept a challenge. I don't back down. And be aware that putting up with you is quite a challenge."

The blond man was now close enough to reach his hand and caress the other man's cheek. Zoro unconsciously leaned into the touch.

"So you're saying…" he said with a slight smirk.

Once again Sanji took a deep breath. It was more than time. He could finally say it and be sure it was true.

"I'm saying it's not easy to have fallen in love with a dumb idiot like you."

At door, trying to stay hidden, Nami hold her gasp. She knew Zoro had already confessed to Sanji, not that he had admitted it to her. Ace had overheard it, accidently or on purpose she had no idea, and had commented it with her. Taking advantage of her persuasive skills she was able to pull out of her best friend that the confession hadn't been returned until the moment. She was pulled out of her thoughts as Luffy passed by her absently about to step into the living room. Instinctively she put one hand over his mouth and pulled him towards her and kept her other arm strongly around him preventing him to go any further. Sanji had finally said it and she was not going to let her clueless boyfriend ruin the moment. He turned his head, surprised, to face her and she sent him a severe look to demand him to stay quiet.

Meanwhile, Zoro was taking in the words he just heard. He couldn't have known how good it would feel until now that he was actually hearing them. He had this strange, but pleasing feeling of completion. The blonde smirked at the dumb expression on the other man's face.

"I love you, shitty-swordsman," he said slowly with a slight mocking tone showing in his voice.

"I heard you, love-cook," the green-haired man replied smiling and frowning at the same time. He then proceeded to grab the chef's face between his strong hands and crush their lips together in a fierce kiss. "I love you too, curlicue."

"Yeah, I heard you the first and only time you said it!" The other said smirking.

"Oh? Are you complaining?" Zoro asked amused.

"No… Not at all," Sanji answered beaming a splendid smile at the swordsman. It was one of those smiles without any mocking feature in it, just showing pure and sincere happiness. It was the smile Zoro loved most about his cook, the smile that made him melt a bit in the inside, the smile that could turn his worst, most tiring and awful day into a completely worthy day, the smile that he treasured every single time it was aimed at him. It was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen anyone wear. It was the smile that, he now realized, had leaded him to the path of falling in love with this man. He wrapped his arms around the thinner body and hugged him tight brushing his lips on the side of the chef's neck. He was a proud man, but the childish, and however honest, part of him was telling him he never wanted to let go.

The blonde hugged him back, contentedly nuzzling on the other's neck. He was happy. He finally said it out loud and it felt good and freeing. It was such a warming feeling to love and be loved back. And he could say that he wasn't planning, but the idea of a lifetime with the marimo did sound inviting. After what seemed an eternity, but at the same time a brief moment, the green-haired man broke apart.

"There's something I want to give you," Zoro said in his deep voice, searching in his pocket. Sanji eyed him curious and clueless. The swordsman removed his closed fist, surrounding the hidden object, from his pocket and with his other hand he grabbed a pale hand, placing it on the top of his hand with its palm facing upwards. He then placed his fist above the slender hand and slowly let the tiny object fall on Sanji's palm. The chef's eyes widened when he spotted a silver key on his hand. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

"I'm not asking you to move in with me. I know we're not there yet and that Ace and Luffy can't keep the apartment without you. But you already live in my apartment half the time, so I'm just giving you a free pass. No need to knock again."

"Thankfully! Since you were never going fix that door-bell." The blond man, with a smile from ear to ear, closed his hand around the key showing that he was accepting it and he meant to make it useful.

Nami, with her arms still wrapped around her boyfriend, had her cheek resting on his shoulder and she was thinking how those two idiots were so absurdly made for each other. They could insult each all they want, but the moment she had just seen had been pretty loving and tender.

She knew how Zoro enjoyed his privacy. When Nami moved to town she had tried to convince her friend to move out and find an apartment with her, so the rent would be lower. But he refused, no matter what she said, all because he wanted his privacy and house for his own. So if he was giving Sanji his key, allowing him to show up when he wanted, meaning the swordsman's privacy could easily be violated, it meant Zoro was really committed to this relationship.

"Can I go now, Nami? There's still food outside!" Luffy whispered. The girl eyed him surprised. How the hell did she find him inside, if there was still food outside? He seemed to guess her thoughts.

"I had to go the toilet…"

"No, you can't go yet. Everyone is full, so no one is going to eat the food, so wait a bit longer. Those idiots are finally telling their feelings, don't ruin it," she whispered back.

The boy pouted. "What's so special about it? They love each other, so what? I love you, Nami," he said with a slightly annoyed expression. The girl blushed, feeling her face hot all the sudden.

"Silly… They… they a-aren't so care-free and unashamed of their feelings like you, so it's a big deal to them…"

"Where's the shame of loving someone?" he asked innocently.

"That's not what I meant… They are just too proud and stubborn to admit it out loud." She took his hand. "Now let's leave them alone." She then pulled him away, but stopped after two steps, turned around and kissed her boyfriend on the lips.

"I love you too, Luffy," she whispers and resumed to pull the grinning boy away.

Meanwhile, Sanji finished adding his newly acquired key to his keyring.

"You do know that this gives me permission to annoy you any time of day, don't you?" He said with a slightly evil smirk.

"Don't abuse your power, blondie. I'll take that key back, just as easily."

"Come on, you can't live without me, admit it!" The cook said, wrapping his arms around the other man's neck, never losing his smirk.

"Oh I could! Actually my life would be much easier," the green-haired man affirmed, enfolding his arms around the thin waist.

"Easier yes, but it would so much boring…"

Zoro shrugged. "I can't really deny that."

"Not to mention it would be a sad life. You were really upset that you thought I wanted a wife and kids."

"Shut up! I wasn't upset!" he growled.

"Don't worry, I won't dump because you can't carry my babies," the blond stated with a huge grin.

"Tsh… if any of us would carry a baby, that would be you."

"I'm sorry, but you have wider hips, so that would be your job," he said before leaning in for a soft kiss. "But just so you know, biological children aren't the only option, there's adoption for example, unless your problem is that you're allergic to kids."

"Oh?" the swordsman said raising an amused eyebrow. "I thought you weren't making plans."

"I'm not… I'm just telling you I'm not that strict-minded about creating a family. But it doesn't matter, we're too young to think about this matter. A lot of things can happen until then… You can ask for your key back…"

"Why? Are you planning to abuse your power?" he asked kissing the pale neck.

"Maybe… but you seem like the type of man who gets bored quickly and we no longer have the thrill of keeping this a secret," the chef said running his finger through the soft green hair and tilting his head to expose more of his neck.

"Is that a challenge?" the other questioned kissing and biting along the blonde's jaw line.

"Who knows…"

Zoro's dark eyes looked intensely into the blue ones as he rested his forehead on Sanji's forehead.

"Challenge accepted," he said with a smirk, diving to smack their lips together right after, while he tightened his grasp around the lean waist. He would never back down from a challenge. And definitely not from one he enjoyed so much.

~The end~

And it's the end of Secret Affair! I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

If you could leave a brief review saying your opinion about the whole story I would really appreciate it (maybe tell me your favorite parts or what you liked the least about this). =)

Thank you to everyone who review this story at least once, it's so motivating, without you I probably wouldn't be able to finish it! 3

And a special thanks to Mori-chan (Van Vision). You really were my biggest encouragement! Thank you for always be there for me and to hear about my new ideas and to read what I wrote for this story little by little ^_^ You're the best 3

And last, but not least, thank you to all my readers, even those who don't review. Thank you so much for reading this =D