A/N: I'm not particularly happy with this chapter - it got a whole lot longer than I meant for it to be, so I didn't get to all the things I wanted to get to. But I got sick, and I barely finished it in time to post it tonight, so at this point, I'm just glad it's done. Besides, it's got a lot about Eri in it, so I don't think you all mind. ;)

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Aside from my promotion to general, not much had happened with the war since I had killed the Earl. In some ways, it felt like time had barely passed at all. We were almost at peace.

It was on a more personal level that things had changed. Just not for me and my family. Kanda and I were still very happily married, and our four year old daughter was every bit as beautiful and energetic as she was when she was a toddler. It was everyone else whose lives were different.

My parents got married, which is old news by this point, but it's still uncomfortable for me to think about. They're both around headquarters a lot more often than they used to be, which isn't surprising since they adore their granddaughter. Natasha still occasionally complains about the curse that caused me to become a neko, but she's finally letting go of her guilt; Erika is just too adorable for her to feel anything but love towards the little neko. While I'm sometimes still a little jealous of the way Cross treats Eri, he's actually been treating me a whole lot better lately, and I think I might finally be starting to accept that he's my father.

Teidoll and Klaud both laughed hysterically through Cross' wedding, and ever since then, they've been a lot friendlier to each other. They've even been going on missions together in order to see each other more often. But while it may look like friendship from the outside, it's definitely more than that. Teasing Yuu about Klaud becoming his stepmother gets too violent a reaction out of him for the relationship to be strictly platonic. Those of us in the know are expecting them to announce their engagement any day now.

Bookman died of old age, allowing Lavi to succeed him and take over the job of recording history. Lavi still spends some time around the Order, but he's gone much more frequently than he was before the Earl's death; the war is not as high of a priority for him as it used to be, and I can't really blame him for that when he's got so many other things to do. A couple years back, he picked up his first apprentice, and though Lavi claims that he only keeps his status as an exorcist so that Thatcher can study in the Order's library, we all know that he stays because he likes us.

Lenalee and Camilla dated briefly. It was really weird when they came out as a couple, as I knew from previous dealings with them that they were both very straight, but I figured that as long as they were happy together, it didn't matter; I certainly wasn't in a position to tell them they couldn't be gay. But they were only together for a few days before I noticed that they were lying about their relationship, and once I called them on it, I was let in on the truth. The whole thing was a ploy to get Komui to let up on Lenalee. They figured that he'd hate seeing her in homosexual relationship so much that he'd change his mind and let her date men; my marriage may have been officially sanctioned, but the Order was still very much against homosexuality. Their plan worked a little too well. The first time they kissed in front of him, Komui had a heart attack and spent a month in the infirmary almost completely catatonic. When he recovered, he immediately overreacted, and the girls had to fake a public yet amicable break up to stop him from transferring Camilla to a different branch. Lenalee got what she wanted out of it though, and while she had yet to actually go on a date, we were all relieved that Lenalee bringing a man around wasn't going to bring about the apocalypse.

Life was great and comfortable, until about three months ago. When Miranda and Marie announced that they were expecting their first child.

.x.x.

My days were fairly routine. I'd get Erika ready in the morning, we'd have breakfast, and then she'd go study with Emilia for an hour or two while I did some training. After that, we'd travel to some random town somewhere, and I'd try to teach her how to be an exorcist; it was something that was still more than a little over her head, but with my cursed eye, I needed to be out fighting akuma on a regular basis. Then we'd head home for dinner, she'd do some self-defense training with her father, and after a bedtime story, we'd go to bed and start the whole thing all over again the next day.

Erika had been my apprentice for about a year now, and while she still couldn't use her Innocence, she had gained full control of her claws, so I wasn't quite so neurotically worried about her while we were out fighting. Eri was a curious little kitten, always wandering off whenever something caught her attention - which, thankfully, wasn't very often, as she was also incredibly shy - and if I let her, she'd spend all day exploring the town inside the ark. But even though I knew that she was perfectly capable of handling herself, despite her young age, I was not about to let her out of my sight. Especially inside the ark.

So when she started wandering off in the wrong direction when we were on our way home, I was quick to follow after her. And not just because I was worried about her safety. That four year old neko had a much better sense of direction than I did, and for all I knew, I was the one who had been headed the wrong way. But that was not the case today. Erika was definitely leading us away from the door to headquarters. Of course, when we came across other people, and she took off towards them yelling, "Manda!" I knew exactly why she had changed our direction; having been born a neko, Eri was more in tune with her inner cat than I was, and she had noticed the others much sooner than I had.

Miranda was one of Erika's favorite people, and the feeling was definitely mutual. While I greeted Marie, Miranda scooped Erika up and held the kitten close to her, both of them laughing happily as she spun them around. "Hi, Eri. It's so good to see you!"

It surprised me when Eri suddenly started frowning. But before I could ask her what was wrong, she crinkled up her face and blurted out, "You've gotten fat, Auntie Manda, and your heart sounds really funny."

I sighed heavily at Eri's comment and took her from Miranda. She was usually a well-behaved child, but every once in a while, she said rude things like that just to remind me that she really was her father's daughter. "That's not a nice thing to say, Eri."

But while I chided her choice of words, I couldn't help focusing on Miranda's heartbeat, wondering what it was that Erika had found weird. The slight echo was not what I was expecting to hear, but I knew exactly what it was. "She's not fat, she's pregnant. She's going to have a baby."

I smiled brightly at Miranda, who was frowning uncomfortably; she clearly didn't like that Eri had called her fat, but she also wasn't happy that the little neko had gotten in trouble for it. "Congratulations."

The sentiment was genuine. Mostly. I really was happy for Miranda; she was going to be a great mother. But at the same time, there was something else there. Something not so nice. It felt a little like jealousy, but I had no clue why I would feel like that about Miranda being pregnant. The only potential reason for jealousy that I could think of was that my baby wasn't going to be the only baby at headquarters anymore, but Eri wasn't really a baby, so that didn't make any sense. And it left me quite confused.

Miranda blushed fiercely. "Th-thank you."

I smiled at the way she barely managed to stammer out a response. Marie wrapped his wife in an encouraging hug, but that embarrassed blush on her face never faded. Taking the initiative, I started leading the way towards the door to headquarters so that we weren't just standing around staring awkwardly at each other. "I take it that's why you decided to come home?"

Miranda nodded, and I could tell from the way her heart rate slowed slightly that she was thankful that I wasn't asking questions about her pregnancy. "We were going to continue to accompany General Teidoll, but as of three days ago, I can no longer activate my Innocence, so we decided that it was time to come back to headquarters."

Eri squirmed in my arms, so I put her down and let her run around on her own two feet; I had no clue how she still had so much energy after walking around all day. "That sucks. But it'll be good to have you around more. Are you staying too, Marie?"

He shook his head. "Just for a few days, until she gets settled in. Then I'll have to go back to General Teidoll."

The bitterness in his voice almost made me laugh. It was the exact same tone Yuu had used when talking about missions back when I was pregnant. I was about to say as much when Eri suddenly ran off screaming for the second time that evening. "Daddy!"

Speak of the devil. Yuu grunted when he was tackled by the little neko, pretending that she had actually knocked him off balance. Erika laughed as they fell to the ground, a sound that was so adorably precious that even Kanda would do anything to hear it. Like always, the glimpse at his soft side was briefer than I would have liked. While she giggled, he scowled fiercely at her, barely remembering to keep his promise to not swear in front of her. "Get the- ... Get off me, Sprout."

When she didn't move, he pulled her scarf from her head and attacked her cat ears, tickling that sensitive spot where they met her head. She immediately squealed and tried to struggle out of his hold. Erika didn't hate that nearly as much as I did - probably because she'd actually been born with her cat ears - but she was very particular about her hair, so she was quite upset that he had messed it up. "Don't do that, Daddy!"

He simply tickled her more in response. But the moment came to an abrupt end when Miranda giggled and Yuu finally noticed that they weren't alone. He got to his feet in one smooth motion, holding Eri firmly in his arms and scowling to hide his embarrassment over getting caught being soft, even though it was just Marie and Miranda and they frequently saw him like that.

He made his way towards us, clearly intending to hand our daughter over to me, but when she flung her arms towards Miranda, he changed course, letting Eri go to the person she wanted to go to. She giggled happily as she nestled herself against Miranda's body, and then she immediately fell asleep. It always amazed me how she could go from overly energetic to out like a light in the blink of an eye like that; it was both adorable and exhausting.

I expected Miranda to get flustered and try to hand Erika back to me, but instead, she seemed to have finally relaxed. She smiled at me with tears in her eyes as she adjusted her hold on the sleeping neko. "This was just what I needed. Thank you, Allen, Kanda."

I couldn't help blushing, despite not knowing what she was thankful for. Even Yuu looked embarrassed, if the way he was suddenly frowning at the wall was anything to go by. "What are you talking about? We didn't do anything."

She shook her head and gently stroked Eri's hair. "Knowing that you two were able to raise such a beautiful little angel while living in this place gives me the courage I need to face my own pregnancy. This baby might not turn out half as perfect as Erika, but it will turn out ok. I'm not going to horribly screw it up."

The compliment was embarrassing, but what was more frustrating was the self-disparaging way Miranda spoke about herself; I thought she'd gotten over most of that when she'd gotten married, but apparently, her pregnancy had brought it back. "You are going to be a fantastic mother, Miranda. And you're not alone. You've got your husband, even if his job takes him away from you too much, and you have everyone else here to support you too. I've been where you are; they may be overbearing, but they're a great help. And you can always come to me if you need anything."

I meant the offer wholeheartedly - I wanted to help Miranda as much as I could - but I would come to regret it. That little flash of jealousy I'd felt earlier wasn't a one time thing, and with Miranda coming to me for advice almost daily, that feeling would continue to resurface and grow stronger until I was living in a near constant state of jealousy towards her. Unfortunately, it would be a few months before I figured out why I was feeling that way, and in the meantime, I could only pretend that I didn't have a problem.