APRIL 26—EIGHT MONTHS PREGNANT

Kurama worked extremely hard for the remainder of the week, setting up his plant store, and he reported more and more customers coming by every day. He even set up a mail-order service for people who couldn't come to the store. In other words, his new business was already thriving. That was the good news. The bad news was that it seemed like Kurama had less time for Hiei these days. All of a sudden he was leaving earlier and coming home later, working shifts as long as 15 hours. Back when this started, he'd promised to call twice a day, but in truth, Hiei was lucky to get even one call from him. By Thursday and Friday, the calls had stopped completely.

I guess Kurama is too busy to think about me, Hiei thought sadly, staring at the non-ringing phone all day long.

And when he did finally come home, Kurama was always exhausted. Even if Hiei was in a horny mood, Kurama was always "too tired." Dinner was never as good, because Kurama was too tired to prepare elaborate meals. Worst of all, he even worked on Saturdays now.

Hiei felt deep-down that, okay, maybe he was being a little selfish here, and maybe he should just let Kurama live his dream. But didn't he matter, too? Especially since, if it was even possible, the baby was much bigger now that he'd had his second growth spurt. It was like lugging around a beach ball full of lead inside his body, except right on top of his bladder.

Their house was out of French fries again, and Tater Tots, too. It seemed that as soon as Kurama went grocery shopping, everything was gone again within a couple of days. Kurama was supposed to go shopping after work on Saturday, and Hiei normally would have been eagerly awaiting all the salty foods Kurama was supposed to buy, but today he was just in such a terrible mood. Hiei managed to waddle outside to hit the punching bag hanging from the Tree of Life, but not even that seemed to help.

Serves him right to have to buy it all!

Hiei hit the punching bag as hard as he could.

He's being such a jerk!

Whack!

Who does he think he is, anyway, ignoring me like that?!

Whack!

This is stupid! (Whack.) I hate being pregnant! (Whack.) I want my body back! (Whack.) Why can't I just have this baby already and BE—whack—DONE—whack—WITH—whack—IT?!

If punching bags were supposed to help blow off steam, Hiei should have asked for his money back, because somehow, hitting it only made him angrier. He hated that stupid tree. It only grew because he was pregnant. It was Saturday, and Kurama was gone, and he was alone and pregnant!

"Huuuaaahhh!" Hiei shouted, smacking the bag so hard it fell onto the ground.

Stupid bag. It had failed him, too. Hiei tried to waddle back into the house, but he was too tired, so he just leaned against the tree, letting his rage fester, his eyes hot with angry tears. It just wasn't fair. None of this was fair.

…

Why did I ever think I would be able to do this? Kurama thought to himself. This new line of work was extremely stressful. Some of the customers were normal and nice, but others, he swore they didn't have enough emotional maturity to fill a teaspoon. Products run out quickly, or spilled sometimes, customers made messes of displays he'd just fixed…

It was only made more difficult by the fact that Kurama was doing this entirely by himself. He was used to working for a big company, where they did everything in teams. This was just him. Something was always going on, something screaming for his attention. It was so busy that he didn't even have time for lunch. He just took intermittent bites of a sandwich while trying to keep up with everything. He worked hard because this was his dream and he wanted to provide for his growing family, but it was so much to be heaped on only one person's shoulders. There was always that nagging feeling that the whole store would fall apart without him.

The store was supposed to close at eight, but there were some customers that were really taking their time, and Kurama felt that it would be bad customer service to make them leave. By the time they were finally gone, it was almost nine. Kurama's head was throbbing, as usual, and he was so tired, he felt like he was going to pass out. He felt like there was something he was supposed to do after work, but he couldn't remember what it was. Well, it didn't matter anyway. All that mattered was that he got some sleep. And since it was Saturday, the store would be closed tomorrow, and he could finally get a day off.

Kurama drove home, barely able to keep his eyes open, not exactly looking forward to what he'd face when he got home. Not only would Hiei be angry that he was late, but he had his Second Shift—laundry, picking up around the house, cooking dinner…Hiei never did any of those things. Mostly he just sat around and complained about being pregnant. Kurama tried to be sympathetic to him, but it barely felt like he and Hiei were a team anymore. The household almost felt like the store, as if Kurama was running that on his own, too.

Wasn't one parent supposed to run the house, the other the work? Kurama groaned as the ache in his head climbed to new heights. Maybe not if they both worked, but Hiei didn't work. He didn't do anything! Sure, he was pregnant, but was that really any excuse? At his dad's old company, there had been some women who worked right up until the time their babies were born.

Coming home to the little two-story house surrounded by woods wasn't bringing Kurama all the happiness it normally would. It just meant more work and Hiei yelling at him and bossing him around because there was no other outlet for his pregnancy hormones. Kurama felt so much guilt, knowing that it was his doing, but still…

Kurama was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't even realize where he had his hand until bam, he had slammed the car door shut on his hand. He yelled out in pain, somehow the new agony in his hand making his headache even worse. After standing there, shouting some curse words to the night sky, Kurama managed to get some gauze out of the glove box in the car and wrap it around his hand, then use his healing powers to heal the wound. Unfortunately, it would take a couple of hours, and until then, his hand was in horrible pain.

"I'm home," Kurama mumbled, shutting the front door behind him. Hiei had been sitting in front of the TV, as usual, but he hauled himself up to glare at Kurama over the back of the couch.

"It's 9:30 at night!" he snapped. "You'd better have gotten those groceries, 'cause I'm starving!"

"Oh…the groceries!" Kurama gritted his teeth, then let it go. "I'm sorry, Hiei, it was a long day. I must have forgotten."

"You FORGOT?!" Hiei shouted. "How could you forget?!"

"I told you, Hiei, it was a very long day." Kurama put his messenger bag down and headed for the stairs, but Hiei had other ideas.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hiei demanded. "I don't see any groceries!"

"Are you out of your mind, Hiei?!" said Kurama in exasperation, whirling around. "You said it yourself, it's half-past nine!"

"So? The grocery store doesn't close until midnight!"

"I don't care if they're open 24/7, I'm going to bed!" Kurama told Hiei. "Goodnight!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Hiei finally managed to get himself off the couch, and headed over to meet Kurama at the bottom of the stairs. "We're out of French fries and Tater Tots! You're telling me that you're so lazy you won't go out and buy enough to get me through?!"

Hiei had tried to needle Kurama before, tried to pick a fight with him, and Kurama had never, ever risen to the bait. Part of it was the guilt, and part of it was just refusing to engage in something so childish. But this just wouldn't stand.

"You're calling me lazy?!" said Kurama in disbelief. "I've been working as hard as I could for weeks, doing everything I can to make this easier on you, while you just sit around and eat!"

"Not your stupid business!" Hiei shouted. "I matter too!"

"Do you even know what you're talking about?" Kurama said back. "I am doing this all for you, and still all you do is complain!"

"Just last week you said you didn't mind doing things for me!"

"And I don't, Hiei," said Kurama, trying to calm his voice a little. There it was again, the guilt and pity snarling in his stomach. "I try to help you out with things I know you can't do, because I love you and I want you to be comfortable. But it wouldn't hurt to show me a little appreciation! I'm your husband, not your slave!"

"My slave?!" Hiei's face was steaming red with anger, and his hands were in fists. "You're not slaving! You don't know anything about slaving! You get to do whatever you want while I just sit here and incubate!"

"Sit is right, and you know what? Just because you're pregnant doesn't mean you get to act like an asshole!" Kurama snapped. "I try and I try and all I get is your attitude! You have no idea how good you have it! So why don't you do us all a big fat favor and stop feeling so goddamn sorry for yourself!"

"FAT!" Hiei screeched, pointing at Kurama. "YOU JUST CALLED ME FAT!"

Kurama made a sound sort of like one Hiei might make during labor.

"I can't take it anymore, Hiei, I just can't take it!" he shouted, nearly tearing his hair out in frustration. His bottled-up grievances were finally bubbling to the surface, and he was almost helpless to stop them. "Plenty of pregnant moms work, go shopping, do chores, sometimes even raise older kids! What makes you so special? What makes it so you get to sit around and do nothing all day?"

"YOU SAID YOU WOULD CALL ME!" Hiei hollered at the top of his lungs. Unlike Kurama, he didn't seem to be making any effort at all to keep his voice down. "YOU PROMISED!"

"Is that what this is all about?" Again, there it was, the guilt…the horrible guilt. "Hiei, I really am sorry, it's just that I have so much to—"

"THAT'S NOT AN APOLOGY, ASSHOLE, THAT'S A STUPID EXCUSE!" Hiei shot back. "I'M SICK OF DEALING WITH YOUR SHIT!"

"My shit?!" Kurama repeated, barely able to believe it. In retrospect, what he'd said sounded like an excuse, but it was also the truth. "Who are you to talk?!"

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!"

"It means that you need to lower your voice, stop making a big deal out of everything, and act like an adult for once!" Kurama told him, still frustrated. "Why do I always have to be the adult? Why do I always have to be the one who has his act together? Why can't you just grow the hell up already?!"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Hiei seemed to want to shout again, but his voice sounded hoarse. "I'd rather have a punch in the gut than listen to you talk for one more minute!"

"Hiei, I—"

"Come on, then!" Hiei interrupted, eyes flashing. "If you're so mad, hit me!"

"I'm not going to hit you, Hiei!"

"Why not? Are you afraid?"

"No, I just don't want to hit my husband! Especially not when he's pregnant!" Kurama stared down at fiery Hiei in disbelief, looking so shaken up, almost like he was running a fever. "Again, Hiei, you're just being childish! You might have missed the memo, but violence doesn't solve every—"

And then Kurama felt himself knocked backwards as the first punch flew. Objectively, it didn't hurt his stomach a terrible amount, but emotionally, it stung like hell. Just a few seconds ago, he had been full of anger and pent-up frustration, but all the fight had been drained from him like sand drained from an hourglass. Slowly, he got to his feet, swallowing the lump in his throat as he brought his eyes to stare at Hiei, who, judging by the look on his face, had been expecting Kurama to return the favor. But when he didn't get what he expected, he didn't seem to know what to do.

"Hiei…" Kurama took a deep breath to steady himself and spoke in the calmest voice he could manage, never taking his eyes off the sweaty, angry, pregnant fire demon in front of him. "You can't make me do this. I shouldn't have yelled at you. But if all you're going to do is try to provoke me…" Kurama held his hand up to his temple, his headache still pounding like a jackhammer against his skull. "I don't know how this is going to work out."

"Well, maybe it isn't." Hiei's voice was quiet now, too. "If you hate it here so damn much, you should just leave."

"Don't be silly, Hiei, I'm not going to leave you," Kurama mumbled, finally shutting his eyes. The combined soreness of his hand, his head, and his stomach area made him feel like he was going to pass out right there on the floor.

"You sure think a lot of yourself, don't you?" Hiei said back, his voice shaking. "That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you—"

"I mean to get your ass out of this house!" Hiei commanded. "I can do just fine on my own! I don't need you or anybody else! Just leave me alone!"

It broke Kurama's heart how Hiei seemed to break down as he said it. There were streaks of tears on his face, and his eyes were squeezed tight, his hands over his ears. Every instinct Kurama had was telling him to hug Hiei, comfort him, just make this right…but how could he do that without getting another punch to the gut? Maybe they did need a break. Some time to cool off. After all, if Hiei needed him, he could always come back. His mom's house wasn't too far away.

Without another word, Kurama left the little house and drove back home, tears blurring his eyes.