"Alright, you two, what's the final verdict? Are we waiting, or are we finding out?"

Tohru was holding Kyo's hand as she lay on the exam table in the OB/GYN clinic, the ultrasound tech standing on the opposite side of the table from Kyo and giving the two of them an expectant look. Tohru and Kyo exchanged an excited smile at the question, then Kyo gave Tohru a nod. Tohru beamed back before she turned to give the tech her brightest smile. "We'd like to find out, if we can!"

The tech smiled back, nodding as she touched the ultrasound wand to Tohru's stomach. "Alright, then we'll just see what we see!"

It was the end of January, and Tohru was halfway through her pregnancy. Today, they were having the anatomy ultrasound done, the in-depth scan where the tech would thoroughly check out the baby to determine whether everything appeared to be developing correctly. And as important as all of that was, today was also the day where they'd be learning whether Baby Sohma #2 was a boy or a girl.

Hopefully.

They were familiar with the routine from last time, and they both smiled and glanced at each other repeatedly over the course of the ultrasound, watching on the large wall screen as the tech pointed out the developing organs and body parts. They both laughed, watching as the baby wriggled, or stretched out an arm. Even Kyo had been able to feel the baby move for weeks now, but feeling it from the outside and watching it happen from the inside were two completely different things.

It was a relief to see and hear that everything was developing as it should, that everything looked normal. And they both couldn't help but marvel, seeing just how whole and perfect and baby-like their child looked up there on the screen. Both of them had been nervous, walking into today's appointment, and it was wonderful to know that that feeling had been for nothing.

But there was still one small problem.

"I'm sorry, but this baby just doesn't seem to want to cooperate," the tech said finally, looking at Tohru and Kyo in defeat. They had been there for almost an hour, and for nearly twenty minutes now they had been hoping to catch a glimpse of the baby's sex. But in spite of Tohru drinking cold water, changing position, being poked at, and wiggling, nothing could entice the baby to uncurl its body. And while they had made a good attempt, it was time for the next patient to be seen, and for them to go on their way.

The tech was very apologetic as she put away the ultrasound wand. "I'm so sorry," she repeated. "Sometimes, for whatever reason, they just don't want to show off."

Tohru tried to smile. "No, it's ok! This just means that we'll get to be surprised, and surprises are a good thing! I'd actually wanted a surprise with our first baby, so this will just mean I get that surprise a little delayed!"

The tech withdrew from the room with a smile after that, but as soon as she was gone Tohru allowed her disappointment to truly shine through, looking at Kyo dejectedly. "I know with Hajime I really fought you on finding out at first, but I really wanted to know this time!"

Kyo sighed, leaning over and giving her a hug as the tears started to flow. "I know, Tohru; I did, too. But hey, at least we know everything else looks good, right? That's something we can be grateful for, even if we didn't end up learning the kid's name."

Considering that Kyo had been even more eager than Tohru to learn the sex she appreciated how hard he was trying to cheer her up, and after a few minutes she managed to stem her tears enough to slide off of the exam table. As disappointed as she was by that turn of events, she couldn't afford to wallow in it; they needed to clear the room.

And they had somewhere else to be.

As Tohru got her clothes back on, Kyo was watched her anxiously. "Are you still good to meet with Mr. Abe, Tohru?" Though she'd managed to slow her crying, she was still very obviously teary and very obviously struggling. Tohru had always been an emotional person, always tearing up at the drop of a hat; pregnancy had only amplified those pre-existing tendencies.

But Tohru was nodding. "Yes, I am. I'll be fine, Kyo, I swear, I just have to calm down a little bit. The baby was healthy looking and developing normally, so that's really all that matters. And now we get to go talk about our house!" She was trying her hardest to sound enthusiastic; if she tried hard enough, she might even convince herself that she'd actually wanted to be surprised.

Kyo still wasn't totally sure he believed her, but he also knew it wouldn't change much if she was lying. Nothing that either of them felt could change anything either way; sometimes babies cooperated...and sometimes they didn't.

"Well, I think I actually have news you'll like to hear today," Mr. Abe said with a smile as Tohru and Kyo settled into the chairs in his office at the building company. "Things are actually proceeding along at pace right now, so according to our best estimates, we're actually on target to be finished by the first week in March!"

That was not what either of them had expected to hear. So far, every time they'd had a check-in with the building company, they had gotten an apology and a revised completion estimate. Both of them were so prepared to hear that again that their expressions had already started to shift into resigned disappointment before they actually processed what Mr. Abe was saying and froze, staring at him with wide eyes.

And he smiled, amused by their reaction. "I trust that's still acceptable?"

"Yeah, that's acceptable," Kyo said quickly, recovering and breaking out into a big grin. "Really acceptable, great, even!"

Tohru was beaming now as well, and she nodded. "That sounds wonderful! Is there anything you need from us, between then and now?"

Mr. Abe shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly? Not much. We'll obviously be having a few more walkthroughs with you both as everything gets installed inside, just to make sure it's all going as you wanted. And if there are any complications, we'll certainly be in touch. But since you've sent everything over and nothing has changed otherwise... pretty much all that's left for you two to do is wait!"

If nothing else, they were at least getting very good at waiting.

But right now, neither of them cared all that much about the wait, and they were both beaming as Mr. Abe explained what they could expect from the last month of the build and the finalization of all the paperwork. But it didn't take long, and soon they were on their way to lunch.

As they walked along, Tohru and Kyo were still smiling at each other, the excitement of the house meeting almost enough to make them both forget the disappointment of the ultrasound appointment for the time being. It was hard not to be excited; assuming that the building company was able to keep to the March target, it would have been five and a half months since construction began, a full year and a half since they started seriously looking for a new place.

That was literally half of Hajime's life!

But now, finally...it was coming together. Soon, they'd be in their new home.

Squeezing Tohru's hand, Kyo grinned at her. "So...five weeks? Give or take?"

Tohru beamed back. "Five weeks! It seems so surreal, to actually believe that!"

He related completely. "I know. I still kinda can't trust it, even though the last time we got this estimate was over a month ago. And I know it can still change even now, so I'm not sure I wanna trust it, either."

Tohru could understand that; Kyo had always been the more cynical of the two of them. But she could tell he was excited, even if he wasn't allowing himself to be too caught up in hope just now, and that was enough.

"We should probably start looking at furniture more seriously," she said, looking over at him with a smile, and Kyo chuckled. While neither of them planned to go too crazy with furnishing their new house, the larger space and some of the changes between the old and the new would necessitate making some new purchases, sooner rather than later. Purchases for the common areas of the house...

And, of course, to accommodate their new family member.

"Looking only, though. Remember, until the house is done and we get the final bill, we're not gonna buy anything else that we don't need, not yet."

Tohru gave him an amused look. "I know that, Kyo. Besides, where would we even put anything else in our current house?"

Kyo blushed slightly, realizing his comment had been a bit unnecessary. "Well, still. I just don't want either of us to get too attached to anything yet, not when we've still gotta pay for everything."

She nodded; even though they had been kept informed of costs throughout the whole project and even now were still within the range they'd wanted...it was still an almost terrifying figure they were about to spend.

But it was worth it. It would be worth it, to have a house that was theirs.

Theirs, and their children's.

The next month felt like it passed with almost agonizing slowness. It did help, having Hajime's third birthday fall in that timeframe, and on a Saturday to boot; the party they had for him at the dojo that afternoon was well attended by friends of theirs from both the dojo and Hibe proper. As they watched their newly minted three-year-old race around with their friend's children, happily announcing to any and all he met that "I Hajime, it's my birthday, I THREE!" Tohru and Kyo both smiled.

And the party was a lot of fun, for all of them, right up until Kyo realized he'd lost Tohru. It took a little bit to find her, but when he did he could understand why she'd withdrawn: she was crying. Not teary-eyed, not staring wistfully, but full-on, actual crying.

How had he missed that?

Quickly asking a friend to keep an eye on Hajime for them, he took Tohru's hand and led her outside, the two of them sitting down together on a bench by the edge of the courtyard.

"Hey, what is it, Tohru, what's wrong," he asked, holding her hands. "Talk to me."

Tohru was still crying, and it took a little bit of time for her to calm down enough to talk. But Kyo was patient, and he waited as she gathered herself.

Her window of calm was small, she knew, and she was quick to seize it as soon as she could, bursting out rather suddenly. "Hajime...he's three, Kyo!"

Kyo had kind of wondered if it was going to be something like this, and he was honestly relived it was. He could never be too sure with Tohru these days; she could be crying because she was in pain, or she could be crying because she saw something cute.

But this...made sense.

"Yeah, he is," Kyo said softly, squeezing her hands. "He's growing up."

Tohru was crying again, the tears coming hot and fast. "He's...not...a baby anymore, Kyo. He's not...even a toddler! He can say...his name...and...his Rs. He doesn't...lisp...much. And he can do...so much..." She hiccupped through her tears, continuing, "and on Monday...he'll be...in the preschool room! The preschool room, Kyo!"

Kyo let go of Tohru's hands and wrapped her up in a hug, pulling her close. And she was grateful, immediately burying her face in his shoulder as her emotions once again stripped away her ability to talk. But she didn't need to, just then; she'd said what she needed to say.

All she needed to do now was cry.

And he understood. He didn't relate, because in Kyo's own mind, all of what she said was a good thing. He loved watching their son learn and grow, seeing and hearing the changes as Hajime had gone from a sleepy newborn potato to a wide-eyed and alert baby, a mobile infant, an active toddler. Seeing him developing into his own person, but a person who looked like Kyo himself.

A person who loved Kyo, who loved Tohru, and who they loved so very deeply in return.

But he understood why this was hard for Tohru. He knew that logically she felt the same as him; he doubted there was any mother prouder of her child's achievements than Tohru with Hajime. As much as they could despise Hajime's tenacity sometimes (like when he was using it to figure out how to break through locked doors), it still gave them both a thrill when he showed them something he'd solved, or something new that he'd done. Tohru and Kyo had lovingly argued over which of them was more stubborn numerous times in their relationship; that stubbornness was on full display in their son.

But if he kept this up...if he kept this drive, and this determination to figure things out, to learn how things worked, to get things done...then his future could only be bright. And that's all that either of them could ever want for him...

Eventually.

"Hey, it's ok, Tohru," Kyo murmured, hugging her close and stroking her hair. "Yeah, that's true. All of it. But you know that none of that stuff changes anything, right? Not anything important, anyway. He's still gonna be your baby, even if he is in the preschool room. He's always gonna be your baby."

Tohru's muffled voice came from Kyo's shirt. "But he's not a baby anymore, Kyo!"

"No, he's not," Kyo agreed, "And that's a good thing. I mean, yeah, they're cute, but babies are kinda rough, too. Pretty sure we'd get tired of having one around forever."

Tohru lifted her head and looked at him reproachfully, tears still dripping down her face. "It's not funny, Kyo!"

"I'm not laughing," he said gently, wiping her face with his hand. "I know it's hard, right now. But it's gonna be fine, all of it. He's growing up, yeah, but he's always gonna be your baby," he repeated. "He's always gonna be our baby, no matter how old he gets. And we're always gonna love him, just the same."

Tohru was sniffling again. "But he's not going to need us the same way, Kyo! Right now it's the preschool room, and soon he'll be starting elementary school, and then he'll be commuting to middle school, and who knows how far he'll be going for high school, and then-"

"-And then he'll need us a different way. And he won't be the only one," Kyo said softly, resting a hand gently on Tohru's bump. "And we'll take care of both of them, always, however they need us to."

Tohru took a shaky breath, looking down at Kyo's hand. Then she looked back up at him with a small, trembling smile before softly admitting, "I don't think I'm ready for this, Kyo. I'm not ready...for him to grow up."

Kyo leaned forward and pressed his forehead and nose against hers. "That's ok, too. We've got time to get used to this, all of it. Just 'cause it's different doesn't mean it's bad."

She let out another shaky breath, looking down for a moment and trying to collect herself. He was right...she knew he was right. About all of it. She knew, logically, that he was right. Hajime would keep growing; from the toddler she could pick up with one arm to the child who'd need two, from an elementary student letting her pack his lunch to a middle schooler who'd probably roll his eyes at her for trying. Would he still let her hug him, when he was in middle school? Still let her kiss him? When he was taller than her, when he could carry her, would he still let her mother him?

Would he still really need her?

It was enough to make the tears come rushing back yet again, and she felt Kyo's hand slip into hers once again. And she took comfort, as she always did, from him.

Hajime would grow, and change. He would keep growing, growing up into a man who she knew she'd be proud of. A man who would, hopefully, be able to look back on his childhood, and his home, with love and affection. Who knew that his parents had loved him, and always would.

And would always love each other.

Children grew up. Babies turned into adults. Raising them, setting them up for success and happiness...that was her job. That was their job, hers and Kyo's. To take care of their children, to raise them, to teach them. To love them.

Together.

Finally, Tohru sat up, taking a deep breath and smiling tremulously at Kyo. He was still watching her anxiously, but smiled in response to her smile, her real smile. "You ready to head back inside, Tohru? People are probably wondering where we are."

She nodded her head, and he grinned.

"Good. February is too damn cold to sit outside any longer than we have to," Kyo said, helping her to her feet. "That's a good thing about this next kid; June's a much better month to have birthday parties."

Tohru smiled, slipping her hand into his as they headed back up the stairs into the building. "June's a pretty nice month for a lot of things," she said, turning her head giving him a fond look, one that Kyo returned. Then they were both silent for a moment, each of them thinking about another June day.

"Six years this year," Kyo said softly, and Tohru nodded. "Six years, and we get to celebrate with a new baby."

"A new baby, in a new house," Tohru said, squeezing his hand.

He grinned at her. "Two kids, a house...not bad for six years of marriage, huh?"

"No," she agreed, leaning up to kiss him.

"Not bad at all."