A/N: As if my life weren't hectic enough right now, I fell at work and might have broken my foot. -_- The next few weeks are going to be even crazier than usual, and I have no clue if I'm going to be able to find time to write/post more. Anyway, on with the story!
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After that night, life began to settle into a comfortable rhythm for the two exorcists. Their relationship wasn't perfect, but it was the best it had ever been, even if Allen was still too meek towards physical contact for Kanda's tastes. They finally moved into their new suite, and when they weren't on missions, they spent as much time as they could preparing the nursery and getting ready for the arrival of their child.
However, missions still took up a big portion of their time, and though they didn't like the distraction from their new domestic life, they both knew that they had no choice but to go. While Allen was nowhere near as insistent as he was back when they first discovered his pregnancy, he did still feel the need to go on missions. His love for the unborn child he was carrying made him want to stay home, but his curse and his Innocence said otherwise, and until he became too pregnant to fight, that would probably be the case.
But that wasn't his biggest concern today.
Allen's birthday was in just a few days, and with the way the people at the Order liked to fawn over him, he was worried about the party they were undoubtedly planning. Being the center of attention like that, everyone was bound to notice the bulge of his stomach, which was now large enough that it was getting hard to properly hide it under his clothing. With any luck, they'd assume that he was just getting fat and not press the issue, but that wasn't the kind of luck that Allen had. Plus there was the way his diet and appetite had changed lately. No one had noticed the change in his eating habits yet (aside from Jerry, but the chef had already been let in on the secret), but a party where everyone was focused on him was definitely the place where people would notice that he could no longer tolerate eating meat, and if that became common knowledge, it would be much harder to convince everyone that the weight he was gaining was simply fat. It was looking like he wasn't going to be able to keep his pregnancy a secret for much longer.
Then again, at his exam that morning, Komui had told him that he was halfway through his pregnancy; the books said that he still had another week to go before he would be halfway, but apparently the previous men in his condition had all given birth early, so "full term" was different for men than it was for women. And with the second half of his pregnancy still to come, the half where he was going to do nothing but get bigger as the baby grew, hiding the fact that he was pregnant was going to get harder every day, so maybe telling everyone wasn't the worst thing in the world.
Allen didn't want everyone to know about his pregnancy, partially because he didn't want them to worry about him, but mostly because he wanted them to stay out of his business. The pregnant women that he'd seen around Cross had all complained about the lack of boundaries people had towards their pregnancies, and while Allen was confused at the time, he definitely got it now. Only a small handful of people knew that he was pregnant, and aside from Kanda, who had legitimate reasons to be doing so, all of them were treating him differently. The prying, incredibly personal questions were annoying, as were being treated like he was fragile and the unsolicited advice, but the way they just walked up and touched him was the worst. His privacy and personal space were completely gone when it came to those who knew he was pregnant, and the last thing he wanted was to have more people treating him that way.
And what made it all even worse was that none of that took into consideration how everyone would react when they learned that it was Kanda, his longtime rival, who had gotten him pregnant. Explaining that they were now married and in a relationship was going to be even more awkward than explaining that he was pregnant.
It was while Allen was sitting there, alone in his secret lounge, stewing over the fact that he was going to have to tell everyone that he was pregnant soon, that he first felt the movements of the child in his womb.
He initially brushed off the feeling as lingering nausea from lunch, but the second he processed what it really was, his sour mood vanished in an instant. As the excitement bubbled over, he leapt from his seat and bolted for the door. He needed to find his husband and share this moment of joy with him.
Kanda looked up sharply as the door to the training room was thrown open with a bang, but he relaxed when he saw that it was only the Moyashi. The boy's face was flushed, and he seemed to be having trouble catching his breath, but there was a bright smile on his face that instantly put Kanda at ease, despite his worry over his husband's health. Allen practically skipped as he closed the distance between them. "I felt the baby move!"
Still not knowing much of anything about pregnancy, Kanda had no clue what Allen was trying to tell him. The Moyashi's smile seemed to say that that was a good thing, but Kanda was worried about the redness of his face and the way he was struggling to breathe. He brushed his hand into the boy's white hair, trying to subtly check for signs of a fever. "Does it hurt?"
The flush on Allen's face faded slightly as confusion took over. That was not the reaction that he was expecting to get. "What makes you say that?"
The Moyashi may have looked adorable when he was confused, but it was not an expression that Kanda wanted to be seeing right now. "You appear to be having trouble breathing. It seemed like-"
"Oh. That." Allen clasped the hand that was still in his hair, gently sliding it down so that it was cupping his scarred cheek. He hoped that the gesture would ease Kanda's worries and convince him of his sincerity. "No, I'm not hurt. I just spent the last several minutes rushing around headquarters looking for you. I pushed myself a little too far, that's all. It's getting harder to do physical stuff now that the baby's started to get bigger. I was just so excited over feeling the baby moving for the first time that I had to come share it with you as soon as possible."
Reassured that nothing was wrong, Kanda pulled the Moyashi into a backwards hug, keeping the boy's back pressed firmly against his chest as he wrapped his arms around his husband. He rested his right hand against the baby bump, enjoying the feeling of the growing bulge under his palm yet disappointed that he couldn't feel anything moving.
Allen laid his head back against Kanda's shoulder, appreciating the closeness of the embrace, even if all it did was remind him of the difference in their heights. He knew exactly what Kanda was after and chose to answer the unasked question. "It stopped moving, but even if it hadn't, I don't know that you'd be able to feel anything. I think it's still too early for the baby's movements to be felt through my skin. But don't worry, that's going to change soon, and then you'll be able to feel our child moving as much as you want."
The thought that their baby had already grown enough to be able to start moving made Kanda happy, even if he might not be able to feel it yet. But that didn't make him feel nearly as happy as the words that Allen had just spoken had. That was the first time that the Moyashi had ever referred to their baby using the word "our", and it felt amazing to hear Allen verbally acknowledge that the baby was not only his own, but that it belonged to Kanda too.
Wary of his husband's silence, Allen glanced at Kanda's face, hoping to get some indication of his mood. Anticipating that he had somehow upset the man, Allen was completely taken aback to find Kanda smiling brightly down at him. Kanda was already a beautiful man, but he looked so much more beautiful when his happiness actually reached his face. In fact, the samurai looked so gorgeous in that moment that Allen couldn't resist the urge to lean in and kiss him.
When Allen broke the kiss, he was disappointed to see that the smile had vanished. Kanda's face was now completely devoid of emotion and that made Allen worry once again that he'd done something wrong. Kanda spoke before Allen could find his voice, but while his tone indicated that he wasn't angry and had simply been caught by surprise, that did little to put Allen at ease. "You kissed me."
Allen blinked at the comment, unable to figure out what it was that the samurai was trying to say. "So? We kiss all the time."
Snapping out of his shock, Kanda laughed at Allen's cluelessness. "No, I kiss you. That was the first time that you kissed me."
The confusion faded to embarrassment, and Allen had to beat down the urge to blush; he should have known that that was something that Kanda would be keeping track of. He shrugged uncomfortably and tried to blow off the fact that he had just taken a major step forward with their relationship. "I've never seen you smile before."
Like Allen expected, the words made any trace of happiness left in Kanda's expression vanish. Kanda was clearly embarrassed at being caught showing his feelings, and the petulant scowl he put on to cover it up made Allen smile in amusement. "You're gorgeous. You really should smile more." Kanda's scowl only deepened with the suggestion, which made Allen smirk. "But not in public. I don't want to risk anyone taking you away from me."
The scowl faded as Kanda went back to looking stunned. The words that Allen just spoke could only have one meaning, and that was mind-blowing. "Is that jealousy, Moyashi?"
Allen snorted at the question. "Look who's talking, Bakanda."
The bickering that followed the comment ended rather abruptly when Allen froze mid-insult. The way the Moyashi suddenly stopped talking worried Kanda, but he understood what was going on when he felt something inside Allen's belly move beneath his hand. It was very delicate, and not at all what he expected it to feel like, almost making Kanda think that he had imagined it, but the look on Allen's face said that he hadn't. Their baby was moving again.
Kanda was almost afraid to breathe. The motions under his hand were so faint that he was worried that if he moved even just a little bit, he wasn't going to be able find the spot again. This was the first sign of life from their child that the samurai had been able to feel for himself, instead of experiencing it secondhand through Allen's pregnancy symptoms, and he was completely awestruck by such tangible proof that their baby was alive.
Allen was also feeling awestruck, but for a different reason. That bright smile had returned to Kanda's face - which answered his question about whether or not the baby's movements were strong enough for someone else to feel - and Allen was amazed to see such a rare expression come to the samurai's face so easily. He wasn't going to ruin it this time around. He was going to keep his silence and just enjoy watching his husband smile, but the words slipped out on their own. "I love you, Yuu."
Following the very genuine declaration, Kanda couldn't get his voice to work, so he pulled Allen into a kiss. He knew that he should probably say the words back, but he was so blown away that his Moyashi was finally truly in love with him that that part of his brain wasn't working properly. Instead, he ravaged the Moyashi's mouth, pulling the boy as close to him as their clothing would allow.
They ended up on the floor from the intensity of the kiss, but that was perfectly fine with Kanda. After all, Allen was, for the very first time, kissing him back with the same intensity as he was putting into the kiss. This was, for all intents and purposes, their first real make out session. It was worth being caught smiling to finally get this reaction out of the Moyashi.
The happiness that flowed off Kanda was obvious, and Allen knew exactly what it was that had made the samurai feel that way. He also knew that if they were somewhere private, they would probably be having sex. Allen wasn't sure how he felt about that, especially given how he himself had never wanted sex this badly before, but he loved the kiss, loved the way Kanda was embracing him, loved the fact that his husband was holding him like he was the most important person in the world. Kanda may not have said, "I love you too," out loud, but his actions were definitely speaking for him.
The intensity of the kissing grew until it became clear to both young men that they were going to have sex right then and there on the training room floor. They each needed the other so badly that they no longer cared that they were in a public location.
However, right as Kanda reached for the hem of Allen's shirt, intending to pull the garment over the boy's head, they were stopped short by the sound of someone gagging. "That is so gross!"
The moment ruined in the worst way possible, Allen and Kanda looked up to find out who had walked in on them, even though they both recognized his voice.
Timothy Hurst looked incredibly green around the gills, but that look disappeared quickly as amazement took over his initial disgust. What had started as a young teenager's reaction to walking in on two people kissing morphed into something else entirely now that he knew who those two people were. He almost couldn't believe his eyes.
Before Allen or Kanda could say anything, Timothy suddenly turned on his heel and ran from the room. It was painfully obvious that he was on his way to tell everyone he possibly could that he had just caught the two of them together, so they scrambled to their feet and hurried to catch him before he got too far.