Soul watched her get dressed, looking for subtle changes but finding none. "You're sure you feel OK?"
Maka hated to laugh at him but the mother-henning was getting to the point of ridiculousness. "Yes, as I've told you about eight times since we woke up this morning."
He huffed as he rolled on his back on the bed, trying to focus on the ceiling instead of her, trying to get the panic out of his mind. "Tell me three or four more times and it'll get through my thick skull."
"It's sweet," Maka murmured, leaning over him on the bed. "Me going to lunch with the girls should be low-impact and I think I kind of need it before seeing Mom again."
Soul reached up his hand, gently caressing her cheek. "Are you going to tell them?"
"I don't think so," she pressed her cheek against his touch. "Stein said it wasn't really safe until after two months, right? So, just in case, I think I'll wait." Maka folded closer, giggling softly as she tried to kiss him, his inverted lips a trial to match. "As far as they know, Stein's still trying to figure it out and I'm just not feeling well."
He sighed, half want and half worry. "Don't feel bad if they torture it out of you. Liz can be brutal."
Maka pulled away, a vibrant smile parting her lips. "I'll tell her you said so. Do you think you're going to be OK?"
"No," he groaned. "But go. Get out before I get too ridiculous and make you drag me along with your legs. I'm probably just going to call Black Star and get some training in. Maybe that'll clear my head."
"Good idea." She ran her fingers through his hair before doing as he requested and starting for the door. "You should get going, too, before you drive yourself crazy."
"Yeah, yeah." He waved her off but still let his eyes trail her as she left the room, even getting up from the bed to move to the doorway to watch her down the hallway and to the front door. "Be careful."
"Yes, sir," she waved her hand over her shoulder, not even humoring him with another look before making her way out the door.
Soul sighed, knocking his head against the doorframe. A million and ten things could happen to her on the way to lunch, at lunch, on the way back, and every moment in between. He loathed being away from her but rationally he didn't enjoy this new possessiveness he felt, that protectiveness in overdrive. Keeping this in check would be imperative as they moved forward or he would end up driving both of them insane. He moved down the hallway and picked up the phone, dialing one of the few numbers he knew by heart.
After three lazy rings, the line clicked. "You have the almighty God Black Star's attention. Don't waste it."
Soul rolled his eyes, before sucking in a breath. "Yo, you busy?"
"It depends," Black Star cooed. "Looking to take a beating?"
"Or dole one out," Soul grinned.
"I'm in. I'll be over in 20." Black Star didn't wait for a reply, just hung up the receiver leaving Soul to do the same.
Soul ambled back down the hallway to the bedroom, rummaging through his drawers for his workout clothes. He could take a beating in just about anything but basketball shorts and a t-shirt would probably be the best to soak up the blood and dirt. Soul didn't carry any illusions that he was a great hand-to-hand fighter, especially against someone like Black Star, but he had been striving towards honing those abilities which meant getting kicked in the ribs way too often by Mr. God Almighty. He had just finished changing, throwing his keys in his pocket when the doorbell clanged.
Today would be a day to put on the calendar if it was Black Star actually making it over before his twenty-minute window so the tone had Soul's interest piqued, quickening his steps down the hallway. He swung the door open without much ceremony, ready with a quick quip on his lips about Black Star's usual tardiness when it all withered at the sight of her. "Rin?" Soul choked.
"Hello, Soul," she took a cool, pleasant tone with him but it somehow set his teeth on edge, his jaw already tightening.
Her tone didn't make an ounce of difference, Soul's hackles still up from all of Maka's old hurt, the guard dog that never backed down. "Maka's not here." A part of him was ready to slam the door right there, but he forced some social niceties.
"Then maybe I could just talk to you." Rin took a step forward, committing Soul to her request regardless of his willingness.
Soul made way for her, pulling the door open rather than crashing it in her face. "For a few minutes. I'm supposed to meet a friend."
"Does Maka know you're meeting someone?" Her voice was still easy, almost playful as she sauntered past him, making her way to the living room with Soul trailing behind.
Soul swallowed the bitter implication and answered flatly, "Yeah, but she doesn't exactly have to keep tabs on me."
Rin repeated yesterday, sitting on the couch and looking up at him expectantly as Soul chose to stay standing, leaning against the entryway as if ready to bolt at any moment. "Why don't you sit?"
"I'm fine," Soul didn't miss a beat, crossing his arms at his chest. "Just wondering why you're here. We're supposed to see you later."
"In a way, I was hoping to talk to you," Rin leaned back with an easy smile. "I know you love my daughter very much."
There was a pause and Soul felt the urge to fill it, "And I have since we became partners."
Rin nodded before continuing, "I know that must seem like a long time-"
"Look," Soul's words sliced through hers, "Get straight to the point. I don't have the time or the patience."
She finally let the pert smile fall from her features, her lips pressing firmly in a line before editing out her preamble. "I still don't think having this baby is a good idea."
Soul's grip on himself tightened, trying to hold onto the anger that was bubbling away inside of him. "I think we were pretty clear yesterday," he wanted to hiss through clenched teeth but managed a flatness close to apathy.
"Maka was clear," Rin blinked at him. "But I'm trying to appeal to the rationality that Spirit claims you have, since no rational person would settle on this plan. You want the responsibility? The exhaustion? The incessant neediness of another thing? You're what, eighteen, and only ever been with my daughter?"
Soul ground his teeth as his jaw set. He could be rational, sure, but at this moment he felt anything but, the rage starting to bubble up like bile from his throat. He had to check the words at his teeth, finding only scathing screams that while they would make him feel better wouldn't exactly charm what could be his future mother in law. "I don't see how that's any of your business."
Rin splayed out her hands as if showing him options. "What if-"
"There's no what if," Soul was surprised by the coolness in his voice, the way everything was slowly draining away with the next thought on his lips. "I love her. That isn't going to change. Maybe what we have might but the way I feel about her won't." He smoothed a hand through his hair, discharging the rest of his anger with a sigh. "See, this is still about you, you and Spirit, and I honestly think that's all you can think about. You. Why else would you ditch her for four years?"
Rin started to wither at his resolve, no longer seeing a hot-headed eighteen-year-old before her. "You don't know the first thing about-"
"Yeah, I do," his volume rose but not the spirit behind it, still oddly even. "Or at least I know what I need to know. You left her. The most beautiful, caring being in the whole fucking world and you left her because of Spirit, or because of you, that's what I guess I'm not sure of but it doesn't matter. So if that's all you want to talk about, you, then get out." His eyes caught the motion at the end of the hall, the door swinging wildly on its hinges. "Oh, fuck."
"Your God is here!" Black Star practically swung with the door, launching himself into the hallway.
Instead of the usual chagrin, Soul melted into soft laughter. "And looks like you're getting out no matter what, Rin. Black Star, just give me one more minute."
"You can't make me wait!" Black Star took a few more steps but the bravado faltered as soon as he hit the threshold of the door, eyes falling on Rin with a raise of his eyebrows.
The disregard, the utter calm that Soul had started to exude grated through Rin's mind like nails on a chalkboard. "We're not done!"
The laughter stopped up in his mouth, his head swiveling to her. "We are. I have someplace to be and you should go and think about your daughter for once."
"She can't have this baby!" It was one last desperate cry and it sent a crack through Soul's calm, sending his fist grinding into his thigh.
"If that's how you feel then go back to what you do best, being gone." He wanted to grab the words from the air as he released them, the cruelty of it jarring to his own ears, but it was done, an irreparable split to a seam. He stumbled through the rest, "Get out, Rin. Go."
As Rin pushed past him he could feel the tear, a new panic rising in him as all the repercussions to that mistake started to hit him one by one. Maka still loves her. She won't forgive you and neither will Maka if you send off the mother that she's only ever begged to come back. You've ruined it. Ruined it.
It wasn't the slam of the door behind Rin that cracked him back to reality but Black Star's violent yell. "What baby was she talking about?"
"Shit," Soul hissed. "Black Star, just… forget it, please. Let's just go practice and-"
"What baby?" The clarity in his demand was strange and Soul found himself blinking at his best friend.
Black Star keeping a secret was like trying to expect a man covered in butter to catch a pig with his bare hands, but what other choice did he have? "Look, you can't say anything but… Maka's pregnant."
"With your kid?" Black Star spat.
Soul shot out his hand, jostling Black Star's shoulder. "Yeah, my kid. Who else would it be?"
That was the end of the humor as Black Star's face fell flat. Soul was afraid his brain might have burst from possessing the information but it was a slow hardness that came to his face, a bitter line to his lips. "You mean you and Maka are going to have a kid."
Soul shrugged, trying to press his shoulder again but finding it immovable. "Yeah."
"That…" Black Star clasped a hand over his mouth, trapping the flood of words until he could edit. "You have to train," he finally leaked through his fingers.
"Yeah," Soul raised an eyebrow, "That's what we're doing, right? You, me, training, now."
"No," Black Star slapped Soul's comment out of the air with his hand. "You have to get stronger. Maka, too. You're both completely useless on your own and you're just barely good enough together."
"What?" Soul's brown furrowed as he tried to process this as another superiority joke.
"You can't," his voice cracked and Soul suddenly realized Black Star's face had turned red. "You both have to get better, OK? Just, we'll start with you but Maka... Fuck."
"What are you talking about?"
"You know what happened to me, right?" The words exploded from Black Star's mouth, the crimson growing deeper even around his throat. "I get it, my parents were bad guys, but guess what? There's people in this world that think you're the bad guy, Maka's the bad guy, and if you're not strong enough that baby…"
"Yeah, I get it," Soul murmured before planting his hand against Black Star's shoulder, this time not to nudge but to hold, to keep him steady instead of that strange rage. "Don't think I'm not worried about that, too. Especially Maka."
Black Star cleared his throat, shrugging the hand off his shoulder as he turned back towards the door. "All we can do is focus on you first, anyway. You're not letting her fight pregnant, are you?"
"Letting her?" Soul let out a sharp laugh. "You've met Maka, right? Try to stop her from doing something." He didn't let Black Star get away, his hand grasping at the back of the shirt to stop his forward motion towards the door. "But we've got you watching our backs, right?"
"You'd be hopeless without me." Black Star threw a piece of a grin over his shoulder before pulling Soul another step forward. "Plus, you've obviously already chosen me to be legal guardian in case of your ultimate demise, so I have to protect the kid."
Soul shook his head through a rough laugh. "Yeah, right. Run that by Maka. I'm thinking her pregnancy chop is going to be something else." He let the momentum take them, walking out the door and then into the hallway. "But, hey, try to keep it a secret, OK? We weren't really planning on telling anyone yet."
Black Star let out a huff of air, "Do you really think I can't keep a secret?"
Soul let out a slow sigh, hoping that Maka was having better luck at lunch.
Technically, Maka was enjoying herself. She'd missed a lot of gossip, a lot of going-ons on campus with her infrequent attendance and each of the girls had something to share. Liz and Pattie had more than enough news about Kid's various conniptions, while Tsubaki had more than one embarrassing Black Star story to tell, and even Kim could share the latest happenings with her love triangle, but all of it paled in comparison to the words that couldn't leave Maka's throat. While it all seemed fun, it struck her as insignificant, a drop of drama while hers was more of a sea.
She couldn't tell that Spirit had finally been on her side for something, a Soul-related something.
She couldn't tell that her mother was back in town and she was starting to feel like she hated that fact.
She couldn't tell that in eight more months there'd be a whole new honorary member of the EATs team.
Honestly, telling them didn't even seem like it would be some kind of relief, either. Wouldn't most of them just react like her mother, throwing any hope of this working to the wind? Soul was the only one who understood and that was just because he had to, it was happening to him, too, he was forced into this because she'd made a decision. Her mind clamped onto that thought like a vice and sent a wave of tears to choke her. Maka quickly stood up, brushing a hand over Tsubaki before innocently trying to call, "Be right back."
The bathroom was a million miles away and by the time Maka had reached it she was too late to really hide the tears. She managed to catch the first sound of the sob by the sink, thankful that it was a single door that locked and could keep the entirety of the world out. This sob she was able to squelch, forcing it out as a trembling sigh. The fear took her that there was no way she'd be able to hide the crying, her eyes ringed red already just from what managed to get past her defenses, and with those girls at the table she would have to tell. There was no hope of keeping it all at bay and she had told Soul, promised-
"Maka," the knock was almost as demanding as the voice, more surprising since it was one that rarely insisted on anything.
"Tsubaki, I'll be right out," her voice warbled at the end and that knock came again almost instantly.
"I know you're crying," Tsubaki added with another knock. "Just let me in."
Maka let out a shaky sigh as she turned to the door and watched the knob jiggle uselessly. She waited for the movement to stop before turning the lock. The door instantly popped open, Tsubaki slipping in and pressing it shut just as quickly and Maka could hear the click of it relock. "Tsubaki…"
She moved forward, wrapping her arms around Maka's shoulders and pulling her in tightly. "Why are you by yourself?"
Maka forced the sob that wanted to come as another shaky sigh. "I just got in my head, that's all. I needed a break."
"From what?" Tsubaki loosened her hold enough to see Maka's face as she planted her hands on Maka's shoulders. "I'm starting to get afraid this sickness isn't as small as you've made it out to be."
"It's not that," Maka groaned back as her eyes darted to the ceiling in an attempt to keep the tears at bay.
Tsubaki's fingers clenched tighter. "Is it something with Soul? Are you two OK?"
Maka choked out a laugh, pressing her fingers to her eyes to cease the flow. "Tsubaki, I can't…"
"Maybe I understand not announcing it at the table, Maka, but me?" Tsubaki moved her hands to clear the tears that Maka's press didn't get. "I'm just so worried. You haven't been able to be with us on missions, you're not coming to class, and even Soul's all out of whack when he does show up. The last time I saw him I don't think he knew which way was up and asking about you seemed to put him on the verge of tears."
Maka let out a weak laugh, "I think that's a good description of both of us."
"Did you…" Tsubaki's voice halted for a second before letting the words carefully leave her lips, "You didn't break up, did you?"
"No," Maka could manage a smile at that, the surety of his feelings one of the only sources of warmth for her. "That part I think is OK."
"But you… there really is something wrong with you, isn't there?" Tsubaki eyes searched her face, her teeth biting into her bottom lip.
"I'm…" Maka stared at her helplessly, feeling Tsubaki's eyes slowly tearing away her will and her ability to hide. "I'm pregnant."
"Pregnant?" Tsubaki's hands fell to her side as the word tumbled through her mind. "You mean, with a baby? You?"
It was just comical enough to elicit a breathy laugh from Maka's mouth. "I'm, we're having a baby, yes."
Tsubaki was still blinking through the information. "You and Soul?"
"Hence the space-casing," Maka murmured. "He's still working through it. I guess we both are."
"A baby," she repeated as if the word still hadn't settled. Tsubaki took a few extra breaths as her eyes searching over Maka to maybe see the difference. It was the way her eyes suddenly lit up, a tentative smile touching her lips. "Are you happy?"
The question left Maka breathless, mostly because she didn't know the answer but also because that had never been part of the equation before. No one had bothered to think about happiness, the idea that while unexpected, the kid was going to be an extension of their love, another piece to their puzzle. This had real potential to be wonderful, to be fulfilling, that all the fear would eventually melt away with their hard work. She found her pressing her fingers to her stomach, still nothing tangible but another being that she could feel with her soul perception. "I want to be," she murmured.
"Then you should be," Tsubaki's voice and words melted right through Maka's heart. "I'm going to guess that it wasn't exactly planned but that doesn't mean it has to be bad. You're allowed to feel however you want to, Maka."
A strange relief was washing over Maka, not exactly a complete snuffing out of fear but a sudden tempering of it, a tiny wave of something close to elation lapping at the back of her mind. It was short-lived as another rattle to the door came. "I think our time's up." Maka turned back towards the mirror for a second, examining a face that couldn't hide an ounce of her emotions.
Tsubaki's face appeared over her shoulder in the mirror. "I'm going to walk you home."
Maka smiled softly, "No way I can convince you to just let me slip out the back?" Tsubaki only offered a firm headshake in reply, leaving Maka to sigh and accept her fate. The first steps out of the bathroom were difficult, only spurred forward by Tsubaki's arm linked in hers. By the time they reached the table the issue had clearly been discussed, all the girls easily giving in to Tsubaki's story that Maka wasn't feeling well and would now be walked home. The worry on the other girls' faces was barely masked in the short goodbyes.
Soul was playing with the split in his lip, a gift from the over emotional Black Star who didn't take it an ounce of easy on him during their sparring. He'd finally settled into the couch, trying to find comfort where there couldn't possibly be any. He needed to tell her he'd ruined everything with her mother and that thought left him completely uneven. The door was like a starter's pistol and his heart leaped to pounding as soon as he heard it close again behind her.
Maka walked to the doorway, stopping as those beautiful crimson eyes pleaded with her before a word even came out of his mouth. "What happened?"
"Sit with me," his tone was cool but he couldn't stop his eyes from begging. Maka didn't exactly listen, coming to the couch and pushing him down on it, nowhere close to sitting together but her climbing on top of him, her head on his chest. He didn't argue, just wrapped tight arms around her as the fear tried to tell him she'd flee. "I made a mistake today."
"What kind of mistake?" she whispered back.
"Your mom came by while you were gone." He paused to feel her dig deeper against him, her fingers tangling in his shirt, and a wave of that choking sadness from her hit him like a punch to the gut. "Most of the time you can't get me to open my mouth but, damn it, Maka, did I ever when she was here. I should have just told her to go but I let it loose."
Maka sighed against the fabric of his t-shirt, breathing in again to let his scent calm her into avoiding a fresh batch of tears. "How mad was she? Is that what happened to your lip?"
"No, the lip was Black Star, but if she didn't hate me before, she does now," Soul muttered.
"OK," Maka punctuated it with a withering sigh.
Soul's hands searched for purchase, moving her so that her head tilted up and looked into his confused, blinking eyes. "OK? Maka, she's your mother and I-"
"Made a mistake. We make mistakes, don't we?" Her hand moved to his cheek, fingers detailing the line of his jaw. "And if you're not sorry, if you think what you said was right, don't apologize. You probably said something to protect me, didn't you? My guard dog."
He huffed, "Don't call me that." He could even hear Spirit when she said it and he was keenly aware that while it felt mocking it was nothing but the truth and that he had about as much chance of losing that title as Maka did of ditching her signature pigtails. "I'm just… I'm getting tired of the same reaction. The sadness, the shock, like we're supposed to just be terrified. Don't get me wrong, I am, but… it's like they're all saying it's impossible for us to be happy."
"Tsubaki asked me if I was happy," Maka whispered.
"You told her, huh?" Soul couldn't help but smile at this inch of reprieve. "Just her or all the girls?"
"She cornered me in the bathroom, so just her," Maka laughed before rubbing her thumb against his jaw again. "You're right, though. She was the first person to even mention any joy and I… Soul, I want to be happy. I want us to be happy."
"Then let's do it." Soul pulled her closer, no longer able to resist the softness of her lips. He lingered there a moment to seal the deal, something to start the bliss they were talking about. "You, me, and the kid, we're going to be fine. We're going to be happy."
"Better than fine." She pressed into another kiss, adding truth to those words as the same steady elation overwhelmed her with each one of his touches as he softly brushed back her hair.
Soul wanted to get lost in it all, drift back into one of the things they did best, but he parted from her, his hand finally resting at the nape of her neck. "I, uh, told someone, too."
"Oh, no," she murmured. "You didn't, not-"
"Black Star," he chuckled. "Technically, your mom told him."
Maka groaned in reply, her fingers clenching into his shirt to shake him a little.
"Hey, hey," Soul complained through a laugh. "He actually took it pretty well. Mature. He…" Het let his smile falter and felt the worry tighten his throat. "We all know what happened to his parents and he doesn't want another situation like that. In other words, he's going to work me to death so that I can protect you." Happy, his brain urged, get back to that. "So it's kind of lucky you told Tsubaki since he'll hopefully only blab that far."
"If he tells everyone-" Maka started to hiss but Soul swiftly caught it with his lips, making the spite disappear from her mouth.
"Then everyone can be happy for us."
