DECEMBER 29—FOUR MONTHS PREGNANT

As it turned out, not only was Kurama's twenty-second birthday sandwiched between Christmas and New Year's Eve, but it was also the second-to-last day of Hiei's fourth month of pregnancy. Needless to say, there were no sweets at the party, but Jin and Touya made the trip. Hiei figured it was because Touya liked Ningenkai in winter, and also that he liked having another pregnant demon to talk to.

"Do you ever feel like the baby's just going to fall out of you?" Touya questioned as they watched Kurama opening his presents.

"No," said Hiei. "I don't even feel it moving yet."

"Then it hasn't yet taken a toll on your impressive speed, I'm sure!" Touya said cheerily.

"Look, wouldn't you rather have a deep, philosophical, boring conversation about the meaning of life with Kurama?" Hiei asked him. "Why are you standing here talking to me?"

"The meaning of life!" Touya laughed. "Now I know the meaning of life—my baby and Jin, that's all I need! That's not philosophy, that's just pure love and joy!"

"Utter disgust, you mean," Hiei grumbled. It was hard to get used to this new Touya.

Kurama certainly didn't have a regular birthday party. They had leftover Makaian meat from Christmas, on which Hiei gorged himself, and a variety of salty foods. But there was no cake, and no candles, since smoke irritated Hiei, too, and even if it didn't, it was unsafe for him to be around it when he was pregnant. They did get to have ice cream, though it was the only flavor of ice cream Hiei could eat, which was coffee. Even better, nobody else seemed to like coffee-flavored ice cream, so Hiei basically had it all to himself.

"Happy Birthday, Kurama," said Hiei. "I hope you liked your gift."

"I do," Kurama replied (Hiei had gotten him a new pair of gardening gloves). "But having you and the baby here with me is the best present of all."

…

New Year's Eve was only two days after Kurama's birthday. Normally, they would have thrown a huge party, since (as Kurama knew) humans in Japan viewed New Year's Eve as the most important holiday of the year. But since they had just invited everyone over for Christmas, they decided to keep it fairly quiet on New Year's Eve. The regular gang showed up, but that was it.

There was also a lot of food on New Year's Eve. Luckily for Hiei, sweets weren't as associated with New Year's Eve as they were with Christmas and birthdays. There was a lot of meat, and meat had been one of the things Hiei was craving the most. One of the things they did was watch the New Year's Eve celebration on TV.

"Those humans look cold," Hiei commented. "Why don't they just have the celebration inside?"

"It's more fun to do it out in the open, I think," Yusuke answered, his arm around Keiko. "They can do it indoors at any time of the year."

"And don't forget your resolution," Keiko added.

"What's a resolution?" said Hiei.

"You have to decide to do something," Kurama told him, remembering that there were still some things Hiei didn't know about the human world. "For example, lose weight, save money, find a hobby, get promoted…those are some common ones. Mine is to be a great parent."

"Can I copy yours?" Hiei asked. "Or do I have to think of a new one?"

"No, I'm glad you want to be a great parent as well," said Kurama, pleased, as he gave Hiei a cuddle. "I'm sure you will be."

"By the way," said Botan, from where she was sitting on the floor in front of the TV, "Shizuru and I have decided when we want to have our wedding, and where."

"Oh really?" said Kurama.

"Yep." Shizuru smiled. "We're getting married on Valentine's Day, and we're having our wedding in Hawaii."

"Hawaii!" said Keiko in shock. "Wow!"

"That sounds nice, at this time of year," said Kurama. "I certainly hope we're invited."

"You're not just invited," said Botan. "We were hoping some of you could be in the wedding. I won't be offended if you turn it down, especially you, Hiei. It might be uncomfortable standing on your feet for that long when you're pregnant."

"That shouldn't be an issue so early into my pregnancy, but I am a little worried about what will happen if I need to pee right as you two are exchanging vows," said Hiei. "Have you picked your attendants yet?"

"Our what?" said Shizuru.

"In a traditional Makaian wedding, both of the demons getting married have an attendant, instead of groomsmen and bridesmaids," Kurama explained. "But the attendant isn't really much different than a maid-of-honor or a best man."

"Hmm…" Shizuru appeared to be thinking. "Well, since you made me maid-of-honor in your wedding, Keiko Urameshi, how would you like to be my attendant?"

"Sure!" Keiko beamed. "What about you, Botan?"

"I pick…Yukina!" said Botan, pointing at Hiei's sister. She squealed with joy.

"I've never been an attendant before!" she said happily. "I've never been to a traditional Makaian wedding at all, in fact. I've been to Keiko's wedding, Hiei's wedding, and my own, but none of those were demon weddings."

Yukina and Kuwabara had gone with a "Hollywood" wedding, after Yukina became interested in all the glamorous Western-type weddings she saw on TV. Kurama and Hiei had gone for a traditional Japanese human ceremony, while Keiko and Yusuke had settled on a mix of the two. As a result, Kurama hadn't been to a traditional Makaian wedding since his days as Youko Kurama. However, he was surprised that a human would agree to having one.

"Is that what you two are doing?" he questioned. "Having a traditional Makaian wedding?"

"I don't know," said Shizuru doubtfully. "I kind of like the Western type Kuwabara and Yukina did. Would you be okay with that, Botan?"

"I've been to traditional Makaian weddings, and they're great." Botan looked dissatisfied. "Are you sure we can't do it?"

"Why not do what Keiko and I did?" said Yusuke. "She wanted to go Hollywood like Yukina, I wanted to do traditional, so we did a mix on both. Why don't you two do that, too?"

"Sure," said Botan. "Besides, we're going to a traditional one anyway—aren't Yomi and Mukuro getting married?"

"Yes, and they asked Kurama and me to be attendants," said Hiei. "The baby will be born by the time they get married, so I'm not very worried, but you'll still get to attend a true Makaian wedding."

"I must agree with Botan," Kurama added. "They're great fun."

"What happens at a traditional Makaian wedding?" Keiko asked curiously.

"Well, the biggest difference is that there are no invites," said Kurama. "Anyone who wants to can turn up at the wedding. It's quite the social faux pas for the couple if no one shows up, but usually the couple has at least some old friends willing to come. Each demon picks an attendant, though there's no one else in the wedding party—no ring bearer, no flower girl, nothing like that. The attendants hold the rings, and the couple writes their own vows."

"Demons have rings, too?" said Shizuru.

"You humans copied that tradition from us," Hiei said scornfully. "Long before I was born, before the Kekkai Barrier was erected, demons used to be a frequent sight in Ningenkai. Every so often, one would fall in love with a human—if you can imagine—and since the tradition in Makai has always been to give a special ring to the demon you love, demons would start giving rings to humans, too. The tradition caught on in Ningenkai, and now you all think you invented it."

"That's called cultural appropriation," Keiko informed them all. "If demons used to live among humans, I'm sure we humans picked up a lot of traditions from your culture."

"Oh yeah, I remember my ancestral dad, Raizen, telling me about that," said Yusuke. "He fell in love with a human. I don't remember him saying anything about a ring, but I guess refusing to eat humans for the rest of his life is good, too."

"I'm a demon who fell in love with a human," said Yukina, raising her hand to show her ring to everyone. Kuwabara looked overjoyed.

"Anyway, the first thing to remember about a traditional Makaian wedding is that everyone wears a kimono in the traditional colors of their people," said Kurama. "Ice apparitions will wear ice-blue, for example. If you don't belong to a particular clan, you're free to wear whatever color you like. But if you do belong to a group, wearing the wrong colors is considered disrespectful."

"The first thing you do is eat," said Hiei. "Then the couple exchanges their vows, the attendants hand them their rings, and there's a huge party with more eating and drinking, and a lot of dancing and music. Some weddings get so crazy that Reikai has to step in and shut them down."

"Do they have toasts?" said Kuwabara. "You know, a toast to the bride and groom?"

"Yes, although perhaps a bit rowdier than the average human would expect," said Kurama, nodding. "And each of the attendants does have to make a speech."

"I hope I don't have to make a speech," said Yukina. "I'm not very good at public speaking."

"Don't worry, Yukina, I used to do it all the time for school presentations," Keiko reassured her. "I'll be your coach."

"Hey everyone, look, they're doing the countdown!" Kuwabara bellowed, pointing at the TV. "The big ball is dropping!"

"Remember, everyone, kiss your true love at midnight," Botan said flirtatiously.

Then everyone started counting along with the countdown on the TV: "Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two…one…Happy New Year!"

Kurama kissed Hiei. Yusuke kissed Keiko. Kuwabara kissed Yukina. Botan kissed Shizuru. Then they had some sips of champagne (minus Hiei, needless to say) and blew little horns. They each made their resolution for the New Year, spent some time discussing days-gone-by, and then it was time for everyone to leave.

"I'm feeling a little sleepy," said Kurama, turning off the TV after their last guest streamed out the door. "You want to head to bed?"

"Bed, yes, but I'm not sleepy," Hiei said mischeviously. "Aren't there other loving things a couple can do on New Year's Eve?"

"I like the way you think," said Kurama. "Let's go, Hiei."

…

As usual, sex was much better during pregnancy, and on the first day of the year, too. Hiei was wondering if he should have made a resolution to try more sex positions, because they recently had gotten into trying out new ones, and doing different things, too.

"I still can't believe you're doing this, Hiei," said Kurama, who was laying flat on his back. Hiei was kneeling in between his husband's legs, squirting Japanese mayonnaise all over Kurama's privates. They were both completely naked.

"You know what normal confections do to me," Hiei reminded him.

"But mayonnaise?"

"I don't question my cravings anymore, so neither should you," Hiei replied. "Now, a pinch of salt…"

"That's not a pinch, Hiei, that's half the shaker," Kurama commented.

"Look, will you shut up and just enjoy what I'm going to do next?" said Hiei, throwing the salt shaker aside (he had used a lot of it). "Or do you want to rinse it all off in the shower while I spend some time with that plant of yours?"

"Hiei, you know I can fuck you much better than that plant can," said Kurama, grinning.

Without another word, Hiei bent down and got a mouthful of Kurama's junk, slowly lapping up the mayo off his soft skin. It was spread over everywhere, not just his penis, and Hiei licked the entire area clean. He could feel Kurama's hands in his hair, pulling slightly, and the fox-demon's voice was loud, moaning helplessly. It was enjoyable for Kurama because he got to feel Hiei licking his most intimate areas, but it was also enjoyable for Hiei, because he really had been craving mayo with salt—and he was always craving dick.

"Oh, Hiei, that's fantastic," Kurama gasped, as soon as Hiei finished, sitting up on his heels and wiping leftover mayo off his chin. Kurama grabbed Hiei and knocked him backwards onto the bed as they kissed furiously. Hiei hoped his breath didn't smell like mayo, but who cared if it did?

"Okay," said Hiei, finally breaking away from Kurama. "Now, I want to try a new position."

"Oh, dear," said Kurama. "I hope it's nothing too strenuous."

"I've had enough of your smart mouth," Hiei told him, kissing his lips again. "And it is strenuous, but not for you."

Not much later, Hiei was moaning pleasurably, resting on his upper back, his feet on Kurama's shoulders, his hips elevated up in the air to meet Kurama, who was kneeling, his head in between Hiei's legs as he returned the favor. Kurama was good at blow jobs, too. Hiei got enough of a kick out of them to begin with, but he got off even more because he had to use his muscles to keep his hips in the air. Kurama was holding his legs apart, partially helping to hold him up. Hiei moaned even louder as Kurama's soft, wet, warm tongue moved slowly off his penis and down to his balls, licking them like an ice cream cone. Hiei was so turned on by the small licking sounds.

"Ohhh…Kurama!" Hiei cried as he felt two lubed-up fingers slip into his ass.

"I was hoping you'd call my name," Kurama murmured. "Are you ready?"

Hiei moaned in assent, his ass hungering for something a lot bigger than Kurama's fingers. Keeping his hips in the air, he felt Kurama's fingers leave his ass, then he cried out as they were replaced by a nice, satisfying dose of dick. Kurama started thrusting immediately.

"Harder!" commanded Hiei.

It was wonderful to stare at Kurama's pleasured face as he continued his plowing. Clearly, he was enjoying it, and Hiei himself was drowning in pleasure, even more so when one of Kurama's hands wandered downwards to play with Hiei's newly-developed, decidedly "female" chest. Hiei reached forwards and started to jerk himself off as Kurama squeezed one of his ass cheeks with the hand that wasn't on his newfound breasts (which were very beautiful and big by now).

And then…it happened.

"Kurama, stop!" Hiei shouted. Kurama stopped thrusting and held onto Hiei's ankles.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, I…" Hiei stayed extra-still. "There it is again!"

"What are you talking about?" said Kurama in confusion, but then his green eyes widened. "Hiei, did you just feel a kick?"

"Well, more like…more like a fluttering sensation," said Hiei, putting both hands on his belly. Kurama withdrew from Hiei and gently set him down on the bed. Hiei's hips ached slightly and so did his back, since he had been in a rather taxing position, but now he was just praying for the little one to kick again, or whatever that was. "You couldn't really call it a kick, but I'm almost completely sure it was the baby."

"Oh, Hiei!" Kurama cried joyfully, giving Hiei a huge hug without any warning.

"Ack! Stop!" Hiei tried desperately to squirm away, but Kurama had him locked in a death grip of an embrace. It also sounded like he was crying a little bit, so Hiei said, "Kurama, there's nothing to cry about!"

"You silly Hiei, I love you so much!" Kurama just kept cuddling Hiei and giving him kisses. "It seems like just yesterday we found out you were pregnant, and now the baby's kicking!"

"Well, technically it was moving around for some time, and I only felt it now," said Hiei, since the baby was one of the few things that could make Kurama truly emotional, and it was always a little disturbing when that happened. "I can't believe I had my hand on my dick when it happened, though."

"Shh," said Kurama, putting his finger to his lips. "It has ears by now."

"Really?" said Hiei in shock.

"Yes." Kurama smiled and placed one hand on Hiei's belly. "Can you kick for Daddy?"

Hiei felt a little flutter as soon as Kurama spoke, but Kurama didn't show any reaction to it.

"Didn't you feel?" Hiei asked. "The baby kicked again. Or fluttered or whatever."

"Hmm…it must be too small for me to feel any movement yet," said Kurama, looking slightly disappointed. "Oh well, I'll be feeling it soon enough."

"But the baby definitely heard you," said Hiei. "I guess it was sleeping, and our recent activities awakened it. That'll be an interesting story for when it grows up."

"I can't wait until we get the scan in a few weeks so we can stop calling the baby an 'it,' though," said Kurama. "We'll finally know if it will be a boy or a girl. Then we can do our big gender reveal when we have everyone help us decorate the nursery."

"Sounds good," said Hiei. "Hmm, why don't you ask it to kick again?"

"Why?" said Kurama. "I can't feel it."

"Yeah, but it listened."

Kurama shrugged. "All right, baby, why don't you give Hiei a nice big kick now?"

"There it is!" Hiei smiled. "Well, that's good news. I just hope it listens to you that much when it's a teenager!"

"We can only hope," said Kurama, and he gave Hiei another hug. This time, Hiei hugged back.