When Tohru opened her eyes the next morning, she could feel the now-familiar sense of oppressive fatigue and she sighed. In spite of the fact she'd fallen asleep right after getting home and slept solidly through the night, she still felt like she'd just pulled an all-nighter.

With a mighty effort, she reached over and turned off her alarm, then grabbed her phone.

"Hi, Ms. Ito? This is Tohru Sohma calling, I'm sorry but I'm not going to be able to make it in to work today. Yes, I know. I hope so. Yes, I'm going to be seeing the doctor this afternoon. Yes, I do too. Have a good weekend."

She sighed and let her hand flop back down to the bed, still clutching her phone. "Happy?"

"Very. I just wish you'd done that two days ago."

Tohru had heard Kyo's footsteps on the stairs when she'd been dialing, and felt, rather than saw, him standing in the door watching her. And she could also feel his relief, in the pronounced exhale when she said she wasn't going to be going to the clinic that day. The mildly competitive part of her hated to be 'wrong,' but she had to acknowledge at this point that Kyo was right; it would be stupid to even try and go into work today.

Kyo climbed into bed beside her. "You've got your appointment today at one, right? I hope you're planning to basically stay in bed until then."

"Kyo, I just woke up! I can always try to do...something," Tohru said with a sigh as she realized just how limited she currently was. She didn't feel like cooking; there was no way she could manage the laundry. Shopping was out. Maybe she could mop a little bit? Or dust? Surely there was something productive she could do that wouldn't completely drain her...

He was shaking his head at her, and she huffed at him. "Well, I want to try to do something, is that so wrong? I hate feeling so useless." She sighed and flopped the back of one hand over her face, well aware that she probably sounded petulant and childish. But those pretty much summed up her feelings right now; lack of energy was awful!

If Kyo found her either of those things, he was keeping them to himself. "Yeah? Well, then why don't you pour all of that energy into feeling better? Probably a better use of time right now anyway, and maybe you'll have some energy when it's time for us to go to the doctor. But now," as he got up from the bed, "are you hungry? What can I bring you up to eat?"

Tohru wasn't exactly hungry, but the idea of food was appealing. Slightly. She hadn't had supper yesterday, or lunch either, so it was probably a good idea to eat. "Whatever is probably-" She paused, then frowned, narrowing her eyes at him, "Wait a minute, us? Kyo, you don't need to come to with me today, you're supposed to be at work this afternoon!"

Kyo was already walking out the door of the bedroom, calling back over his shoulder "I also took today off, it's a done deal. Don't worry about it!"

Tohru wanted to argue with him; he only had so much flexibility with his job, and she hated to think he was sacrificing actual vacation to hang around while she was sick. But she was in no position to chase after him, and they both knew it, so she had to accept it.

It was sweet, she reminded herself. He just wanted to take care of her. Even if it meant dipping out of work and missing out on some real vacation later when he was maybe burnt out and actually needed it...

Tohru sighed and slowly sat up in bed. She'd been asleep for so long that she desperately needed to use the bathroom, and...and...

And.

Suddenly Tohru found herself feeling more alert than she had in days. She could feel a nervous fluttering in her stomach, and it was like she'd momentarily forgotten how to breathe.

That's right. This morning, she needed to take a pregnancy test.

She didn't know why she was so wound up, really. It was extremely unlikely. It just happened to be that extreme fatigue was a pregnancy symptom, and Dr. Watanabe happened to have taken out her implant last month. A pair of mild, barely connected circumstances. She was just being careful. Just ruling out possibilities. There was no reason to get excited, or nervous, because the odds were so extremely low. Incredibly low. Unbelievably low.

That's what Tohru told herself as she sat in the bathroom, nervously clutching the test and trying not to look. Instead, she watched the second hand on the bathroom clock as it slowly made its way around the clock. So slowly. Impossibly slowly. Was it broken, that it was moving so slowly? There was no way three minutes actually lasted this long.

But finally, the seconds were over, and Tohru took a deep breath. There, that wasn't so hard, waiting. And now she'd just look.

In that moment, Tohru felt like she was standing on the edge of a precipice. There was no way it would be positive. But at the same time...just maybe...

Biting her lip, Tohru flipped the test up and looked at the viewing window. Looking back at her was a little pink line...right next to a second pink line.

Positive.

Tohru's heart stopped beating and for a moment, everything else in the world stopped existing. It was just her and the pregnancy test, her and the two pink lines. Positive. Positive. Positive.

No, there was no way that could be right. False positives were a thing, right?

With wildly trembling hands, Tohru set the test down on the bathmat and dove back into the drawer. She'd bought two other brands, and one of them would display a little word instead of the lines. There was no ambiguity with words; a line might look like it was there and really not be. She might be misreading it. Symbols weren't really her forte.

Another test, another agonizing wait. The seconds were moving by even more slowly now, the clock barely seeming to move. Three minutes was a literal lifetime; she was going to die of old age before she could look at this test. Or that's how it felt, anyway.

Three minutes, at last. Ok, Tohru. Deep, calm breath, you wanted to know. You're just being sure. It's good to be sure. Opening her eyes, Tohru looked down at the test.

'Pregnant.'

Tohru stared at the stick, then covered her mouth with her hand as a sound somewhere between a laugh and a cry and a gasp came bubbling out of her. Then another, then another. She didn't know what she was doing, she barely knew what she was feeling. She was dizzy and her face felt hot and she could barely breathe; she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

She was pregnant. They were going to have a baby. She was going to have Kyo's baby. They were going to be parents!

Kyo was coming upstairs with a cup of hot tea and a bowl of plain rice when he started hearing the strangest noises. "Tohru? Are you ok?" Concerned, he hurried the rest of the way up the stairs and into the hallway to their room. But then he paused at the bedroom door, realizing that the sounds were actually coming from the bathroom, not the bedroom. He winced; had the sickness finally progressed to showing some other symptoms? It didn't sound like vomiting, but he was also trying hard not to listen too closely.

Setting the dishes down on the bedside table, he hurried out to the bathroom door and knocked. "Tohru, are you ok?" The noises had transitioned now, and he could now hear that Tohru was crying. Instantly his stomach twisted up again; how badly did she have to be hurting, that she was crying in the bathroom? He pressed his forehead against the door for a moment, then asked "Can I come in?" at the exact moment that Tohru's emotional voice called out "Come in, Kyo!"

Kyo wasn't sure what he thought he'd see when he opened the door. Probably Tohru hunched over the toilet, or maybe even stretched out on the floor. They'd been together for almost five years now, he'd definitely seen her deal with stomach issues before. The only thing that had thrown him was the sound.

He wasn't sure what to make of what he saw instead, not at first. Tohru was sitting cross-legged on the mat, crying, but also smiling. Smiling the biggest, most radiant smile he'd seen on her face in he didn't know how long. And she was hiccupping from the tears, but she didn't seem to care. And in her hand, she was holding...what looked like...

Suddenly Kyo didn't know what to do or say, and he dropped down onto his knees beside Tohru. She was making that sound again, and he finally worked out it was like a sob and laughter, both fighting for dominance and both failing. Like she was feeling so many feelings she couldn't pick just one. The tiniest seed of suspicion from last night's internet search sprouting, all Kyo manage to squeak out was "Tohru?"

And at first she couldn't talk, either. So she simply turned the test towards him, and Kyo read the word in small bold font: 'Pregnant.'

Pregnant!

Kyo sank all the way back on his heels and ran both hands up and into his hair, his mind racing as he tried to make sense of it all. Neither one of them had expected anything so soon, or at least he hadn't; they hadn't even started looking up symptoms, or literally anything about pregnancy. She'd just gotten her implant out last month, they'd figured they'd have months before anything happened. That's what he'd thought, anyway.

Pregnant!

His hands came down his face, his fingertips pressing into his forehead before squeezing against his nose and trailing down his face. He was only vaguely aware that his hands were shaking, and that Tohru's wide smile had faded into an anxious expression of concern. It was all so much to take in, like his whole world was being shaken on its axis.

Pregnant. Tohru was pregnant. With his baby. He was gonna be a dad!

Kyo let out a deep exhale, then turned and looked at Tohru. She was still teary, but she'd gone quiet, and was watching him with that anxiously intent look. He didn't blame her; he'd probably be freaked out by him now, too. He was freaked out by him, just a little bit. But he then he was smiling at her, and his eyes filled with tears, too.

"You're pregnant," he finally managed to say, his voice soft and slightly choked up.

Encouraged by his smile, Tohru's anxious look was fading, her own radiant smile rapidly returning. "I'm pregnant," she whispered back, her voice shaking slightly.

"We're gonna be parents."

"Kyo, we're going to have a baby!" It was too much, and Tohru threw herself into Kyo's open arms. He hugged her close, the two of them both laughing and crying together. They laughed and cried until they couldn't any longer, and then they still sat together on the bathroom floor, Tohru cradled in Kyo's arms.

For a long time, they just sat in wondering silence, each of them trying to process the monumental change. They had planned for this, of course; it was technically intentional. But there was a big difference between talking about a hypothetical child and having one growing right that moment.

The first thing Kyo had done was try to work out the math. He knew babies took about nine months, give or take, and that Tohru had only had her implant out for a month. So that meant...Next March? Or April? Or would it actually be February? When did the counting start from, anyway? But ok, tentatively next spring. Was spring a good time to have a baby? What things would they need to prepare? When?

Tohru was thinking about who all to tell, and when. Should she keep her doctor's appointment this afternoon, just to be safe? When would they be able to figure out how far along she was today? Did this mean she was going to be feeling this miserable fatigue for months? Did it even matter anymore? Was the baby going to be a boy or a girl? Would they look like Kyo?

Finally, Kyo let out a deep sigh and hugged Tohru close. "I can't believe you're gonna have a baby, Tohru."

"We're going to have a baby," she corrected him with a happy smile.

"Right, we're gonna have a baby," Kyo repeated, shaking his head in wonder. "I almost can't believe it. I didn't think it would be so soon, did you think it would be so soon, Tohru?"

"No! It hadn't even crossed my mind, not even once. If Dr. Watanabe hadn't suggested I take a pregnancy test yesterday, I never would have thought about it."

Kyo thought about that for a moment, then a knowing look crossed his face. "That's what was in the bag yesterday, wasn't it? A pregnancy test?"

"Well...six pregnancy tests, but yes."

"Six pregnancy tests?" Kyo gave her a confused look, and Tohru shrugged defensively. "I only bought three boxes, but they each had a couple in them! And I figured we'd started trying, so it was probably a good idea to have some extras on hand since there were sure to be negative tests. And I wanted to get different brands, just to be sure." She reached around behind her and grabbed the other test she'd taken, holding him it up to show him. "See? I ended up taking two this morning anyway, just to be sure."

Kyo wasn't sure what exactly he was looking at with the line test. "So this one says you're pregnant, too?"

"Yes. You can tell because there's two pink lines, see?"

Kyo did not see, exactly, but he was willing to take her word for it. "I like the other test better. Easier to be sure that way."

Tohru nodded. "Yes, that's why I thought I'd take that one this morning, too; I wanted to be absolutely sure."

"Yeah, that makes sense. But getting back to the point, you thought you might be pregnant, bought tests and you didn't tell me?" In all honesty, Kyo quite wasn't sure what he felt about that. He knew he wouldn't have been able to do much with that knowledge, but he could have waited with her; wondered with her; been part of the whole process with her. Instead, she'd hidden it from him.

He looked so dejected that it almost broke Tohru's heart. Had it been selfish of her, keeping that from him? She'd wanted to spare him any anxiety, but maybe she'd cheated him out of some of the joy of anticipation. "I'm sorry, Kyo, I didn't think it would bother you. It just seemed so very...unlikely, I didn't want to say anything and make you worried. Or excited, and then probably let down. I just...I wasn't sure what I felt, and I guess I thought if I told you then it would be more...I don't know." She didn't know how to explain herself, and that only made her feel worse.

Kyo sighed and hugged her. "No, it's ok, Tohru. I guess I understand, I just wish I'd known. Maybe." Actually, he wasn't sure. Would it have been better, to spend the night wondering? Or was it better this way, just to find out. "Either way, it doesn't matter now. Thank you to Dr. Watanabe, I guess."

Tohru wasn't sure if she believed him or not, but there wasn't anything to be gained from pushing it anymore. Instead, she rested her head against Kyo's shoulder and sighed. "I guess we have a lot to start thinking about, don't we?"

"Yeah, that's for sure." Then Tohru squealed as Kyo stood up, carrying her with him. "Just not on the bathroom floor anymore, ok? Because if you think this made me change my mind about you resting, you're crazy."

Tohru laughed as he carried her back to bed and set her down against her pillows. "I'm not an invalid, Kyo. I still know how to walk!"

"I dunno, I've seen you walk the last few days and I'm not real impressed." Kyo was chuckling, too, feeling for the time being like every possible weight in the world had been taken off of his shoulders. "And I've told you before, I like carrying you."

Tohru didn't have a comeback for that, only a smile. Then she noticed the bowl and cup on the side table and brightened even more. "Oh, did you bring me some food? That's so sweet!"

"Yeah...it's probably cold by now, though. I can go warm it up for you, or even make some more, if you want."

"No, I'd rather just have something to eat right now. But maybe if I'm still hungry after this, you can grab me something warmer." Tohru settled the bowl in her lap and took a sip of the tea. Even cold, it tasted just perfect. "You really do make the best tea, Kyo!"

He'd flopped down on the bed next to her and was lying on his side, his cheek propped up on his fist. "Yeah? Guess it's because I've had a lot of practice making it."

Somehow, in the time since they'd moved in together, Kyo had become the primary tea maker. Tohru had always handled all tea making back when they lived at Shigure's house, but what originally started as Kyo wanting to do something nice for Tohru had become a ritual. Though he didn't drink tea himself, Kyo was the one who made it for Tohru, every morning with her breakfast and every evening with supper. And even if it had tasted like mud, she'd have loved him for the effort.

Fortunately, it did not taste like mud.

As Tohru picked up the bowl of rice, she looked at Kyo curiously. "Why just the plain rice?"

"Because you didn't eat supper, and I wasn't sure if it would bother your stomach to eat too much after going so long without food."

Oh, that made sense. "Well, it was a good idea," Tohru said, smiling, as she ate.

Kyo watched her for a minute, then frowned as something new occurred to him. "Hey, Tohru?"

"Hmm?"

"How does your stomach feel? Don't pregnant women tend to have major issues with food and smells and upset stomachs? I feel like that's a thing."

Now it was Tohru's turn to frown. "I'm pretty sure you're right, but I feel fine right now. Hungry," she added with a laugh, "But otherwise fine. Yesterday I felt queasy, but I was pretty sure that was because of how rough the morning was."

"Rough?" Kyo was puzzled, until Tohru blushed and looked away. Then he sighed, realizing she was referring to their disagreement. "I'm sorry about that, Tohru, really. You know I'd never upset you, not on purpose."

"I know. And I can see now that maybe I was being a bit...stubborn."

Kyo personally felt that was a massive understatement, but he wasn't about to start arguing semantics with her right now. "Well, at any rate, your stomach feels ok now, so that's good. Hopefully it stays that way." He frowned again, then looked at her curiously "Is that something that changes, do you know? I'm guessing yes, but like...how often?" He looked a little embarrassed as he admitted, "I don't actually know much about how this works, other than the way they usually show it in movies or tv." And Kyo barely watched either of those things anyway, so to say his information was lacking was another massive understatement.

Tohru lowered her chopsticks, her eyes twinkling. She knew what he meant, of course, but she just couldn't resist teasing him. "Well, when a man and a woman love each other very much-"

"I know about that part, you goof," Kyo said with a laugh, reaching out to aggressively ruffle her hair. "As you damn well know." The smile he gave her was the sort that made her very toes curl, wild and knowing, with a dangerous darkening in his eyes. She knew very well indeed; that was part of the reason she had genuinely no idea just how pregnant she might be.

Usually when Kyo smiled like that it was an invitation; either that, or a warning. But today, she was just too tired, and both of them knew it. So instead, Tohru simply smiled back down into her rice.

"I know, I know. And I don't know a lot..." she began hesitantly, "But I've certainly picked up a lot from work." It would be very hard to work at an OB/GYN clinic and not know at least something about the process, even from the front desk! "I know it can change throughout the pregnancy. Some things start early and then go away, some things don't start until later. Some things can stay the whole time. I know that things are...riskier during the first twelve weeks."

Kyo frowned again, not liking the sound of that. "What's riskier, exactly?"

Tohru swallowed. "The whole pregnancy. The chances of something going wrong, or being wrong, are a lot higher in the beginning." That was something she hadn't even considered, not until right now. But really, there was no way to know if everything was ok yet, and there wouldn't be for some time.

Kyo could tell from the widening of her eyes that Tohru was worried now, and he could have kicked himself for his bad timing. "Well, we'll just make sure we get you into the doctor, then, and see that you get taken care of. And it'll all be fine." If he said it decisively enough, then it had to be true, right? But that also reminded him about the doctor's appointment that afternoon, and he gave Tohru a curious look. "Hey, is the doctor's appointment today still...ok?"

Tohru wasn't sure what he meant by that, but she nodded anyway. "Yes, it's still fine. According to Dr. Watanabe, extreme fatigue is a common early pregnancy symptom, so I feel...pretty confident that it's just because I'm pregnant?" And how exciting that was to say, that she was pregnant! Even though that tiny mote of worry had taken up residence in her brain. "But since I already have the appointment, it'll be good to rule out anything else. And Dr. Mori will be able to do a test to confirm the pregnancy, and that'll be good, too!"

"Gotcha. I wasn't sure if you needed to do everything about the pregnancy-"

"With my girl-parts doctor?" Tohru cut in, giving Kyo a wicked grin, and he groaned at her.

"Oh come on, that was four years ago, Tohru! Aren't you ever going to let that go?"

Tohru pretended to consider, then shook her head. "Probably not, no"

Kyo snorted. "Like pretty much any teenage guy is gonna be able to pull the word right out of thin air, or even half of the girls. I still don't believe you even knew the right word until then, no matter how much you like to tease me."

Her eyes were twinkling mischievously and she leaned over and poked his nose with her chopsticks. "I guess you'll never know, will you?"

He laughed and snatched the chopsticks away. "Those are for eating, not playing with."

"Can't I use them for both?"

"Not at the same time! It's not hygienic. Now, are you going to behave, or do I need to keep these?"

"You'd really let me eat rice without chopsticks? In my condition?" Tohru gave him her most innocent look, and he snorted again, albeit with a smile on his face.

"If your condition needs chopsticks, then your condition needs to keep them to itself."

She sighed dramatically. "Fiiiiiiiine."

Kyo handed her back the chopsticks, and she settled back against the headboard to finish eating her rice. He watched her for a few minutes, quietly smiling, then said, "Hey Tohru?"

"Yes?"

"We're gonna have a baby."

Author's note: I know there are differences between the way pregnancies are handled in Japan and in the US, but I'll be basing most of of this on what I know (which is how it's done in the US). So please forgive any liberties with the Japanese medical system!