A/N: Well, after sitting half-finished on my computer for six months, I finally got the inspiration to write the rest of this chapter. I'm working on the next one, but who knows how long it'll take me to finish it; after all, I've got seven other ongoing fanfiction stories, two novels in the editing process, a one-act play that I've been commissioned to write, and I'm working two part-time jobs. Life is chaos right now. Basically, if I'm not at work, I'm asleep. I love this story, but it's not very high on my priority list. Sorry. Anyway, on to the chapter!

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

I don't know why I had agreed to do this. Yuu was the one who wanted everyone else to know that I was pregnant, so why on earth was I telling Miranda the news all by myself? He should at least have to be here with me while I attempted to do this. All I could gather from asking him was that it was some form of payback for last time, because he was apparently still upset that I had announced my last pregnancy when he wasn't around. I had no clue why he was upset, as that "announcement" was definitely a mood swing induced accident, but at the time, this seemed easier than continuing to argue with him. Of course, now that I was actually sitting with Miranda, I felt like going back and fighting with my husband some more rather than having this conversation with her.

Miranda was due in a little over a month, and between her anxiety and her mood swings, there was no telling how she was going to take what I was about to tell her, which was exactly why she had to hear this in private and directly from me before anyone else knew. She was either going to be happy for me or upset that I was stealing her spotlight, but if she heard about this through gossip, she would only be upset and angry. However, knowing that telling her was the right thing to do didn't make it any easier to do.

Unsure of how to start, but knowing that I had to, I decided to start a conversation first. Maybe it would be easier to tell her once we started chatting about other things. "How are you doing, Miranda?"

Rather predictably, Miranda immediately started complaining about her pregnancy symptoms, and while I was slightly annoyed at being constantly complained to, I had been around her enough to know that what she wanted was sympathy and understanding from the one person she was close to who had had a baby. For some reason, I was the standard by which she measured herself as a mother, and she often sought my approval when her anxiety got the better of her. I had no clue why, as my own insecurities said that I was only a mediocre mother at best, yet I couldn't help being flattered by her faith in me.

I nodded along and made occasional sympathetic noises, but I was too worried about what I needed to tell her to really be listening to what she was saying. But sympathy was what she needed from me, so she probably didn't even notice that I was only half-listening to her vent about how hard it was to move around while being so far along in her pregnancy. But I immediately snapped to attention when she asked me a question. Miranda's questions needed to be treated seriously, no matter how ridiculous they ended up being. "Can I ask you a question, Allen?"

I laughed but resisted pointing out that she had already asked a question; Miranda was not the right person to joke around with like that. "What is it?"

She frowned and rubbed nervously at the side of her belly. From my past experiences with her, I expected whatever was causing her anxiety to be ridiculous, but this turned out to be a real question. "Would you ever do it again?"

I blinked, not quite understanding what she was getting at, but she immediately clarified. "Would you put your body through all the morning sickness and aches and pains again to have another baby?"

I couldn't believe how incredibly lucky I had just gotten. Miranda had just given me the perfect opening for delivering my news. She actually wanted to know if I was ever going to have another child, which made this the perfect moment to tell her that I was pregnant, but I was almost too scared to take advantage of that. I smiled nervously and took her hand - the one that was anxiously rubbing her belly - and placed it gently on my still flat abdomen; though I regretted that choice the moment her fingers made contact and I had to resist the rather violent urge to push her away; I had forgotten about that rather obnoxious instinct. "I already am."

She nodded, but I could tell that she didn't really understand what I meant. Right as I opened my mouth to say more, Miranda's face lit up with understanding. "You're pregnant?!"

I couldn't read the emotion behind the question, so I was incredibly nervous about answering it. "I'm only a couple weeks in. I can't hear its heartbeat yet, but the infirmary confirmed it yesterday, so it's definitely happening."

Her arms were suddenly thrown around my neck and she was practically in my lap from the force she put into the hug. She was saying something, but in typical Miranda fashion, I couldn't understand a word because she was crying so hard. It took a moment, but I eventually deciphered her babbling, and I was surprised to find that her tears were tears of relief. She was so self-conscious of herself as a mother that she was worried that she had scared the rest of us out of ever having children. As strange as it sounded, my pregnancy was actually reassuring to her.

When I got her calmed down enough to finally get a word in, I was reaching my limit of having someone's hand on my stomach and feeling like I was going to lash out any second, so I moved her fingers to my ear and let her soothe her anxiety that way. "To actually answer your question, I loved being pregnant and feeling my child growing inside me. Yes, there were lots of bad things about it too, but Erika was worth every single one of them, and this new baby will be too. And so will your son. You didn't scare me off; it's actually the exact opposite. If I have been acting cold or distant towards you at all, it's because I've been dying of jealousy. It has been incredibly hard trying to help you when all your pregnancy did was remind me of how badly I wanted to get pregnant again."

Miranda laughed at that, and now that she was completely relaxed and back to her usual self, we were able to talk like adults. "We're not going to tell anyone until after we've figured out how to tell Eri, but we also want to respect your feelings. You're due soon, and we don't want to steal your thunder or anything, so we're perfectly fine waiting until after you've had the baby to announce my pregnancy. But I also know you're under a lot of stress right now, so maybe you do want us to announce it and take some of that pressure off you. And-"

My nerves made me ramble, something I had in common with Miranda, but she knew that and was quick to cut me off. "Please don't worry about me, Allen. I will be fine with whichever you choose to do."

"But-"

She cut me off with a laugh. "Allen. Just knowing that you're pregnant has made me feel so much better. You need to do what's best for you. Especially now that you've got another little baby depending on you. Worry about yourself a little more."

I couldn't help rolling my eyes at her. "Yes, mother."

The sarcastic comment was clearly the wrong choice, as Miranda immediately became more flustered than she'd been in a long time. She turned beet red and tried to speak, but she was stammering so hard that she didn't get more than a couple syllables out. I sighed and spoke over her babbling, hoping that what I was about to say would calm her down and not just freak her out more. "For the record, I really do mean it when I say that you're going to be a great mother. In fact, a lot of the exorcists view you as their mother figure. Most of us never knew our parents, or lost them a young age, and you've always given us the kind of unconditional love and support that we imagined a mother would give. Even now that I've found my mother, I still see you that way sometimes. You've just got to believe in yourself."

.x.x.

It was about a week after I told Miranda I was pregnant that I first heard the baby's heartbeat. I still hadn't told Eri, and if Yuu asked, I would tell him that I was waiting for him to tell Marie - who had yet to come home from his current mission - but the truth was that I was scared to tell my precious daughter that she wasn't going to be an only child anymore. Like her father, Erika was incredibly possessive of me, and I was worried that the news that she was going to have to share me with a sibling would upset her. But even that wasn't my biggest concern at the moment.

I knew without a doubt that the baby's heartbeat was the sound I was hearing, but it didn't sound right, and that put me on edge. It didn't sound like I remembered Erika's sounding, which meant that something was wrong. I 'twas on the verge of a panic attack, but that was when I realized that that logic was wrong. Just because its heartbeat didn't sound like Eri's had didn't mean that something was wrong with my baby; it just meant that my two children had different heartbeats. It had also been almost five years since I had last heard Eri's heart beating inside of my womb, so it was entirely possible that I was just remembering the sound incorrectly. My unborn baby was perfectly fine.

Distracted by my thoughts, I only vaguely processed the news that Marie had returned to headquarters and would be staying until after Miranda had her baby. His return merely meant that I would no longer have an excuse for not talking to Erika, so I didn't give it much thought.

Until we bumped into each other in the hall.

It was painfully clear that he had been waiting to catch me alone, and that was strange when I knew that Kanda wasn't home and they hadn't talked yet. But the knowing smile Marie gave me contradicted all that. "It appears that congratulations are in order."

I blushed fiercely at the comment. In creating the plan to tell him about my pregnancy, I had completely forgotten that Marie was also able to hear heartbeats and would be able to tell that I was pregnant on his own. "Thanks."

Marie laughed as he wrapped me in a hug. "I'm not going to spring her on you this time, but please tell Miranda soon. I don't want to keep secrets from her, and she needs to hear this from you."

I couldn't help echoing his laughter. "Don't worry, she already knows."

My laughter cut off as a thought occurred to me. "Hey, Marie? Can I ask you a serious question? Does my baby's heartbeat sound ... weird to you?"

"A little." He shrugged before smiling reassuringly at me. "It's definitely different from my son's, but that's probably just because your baby is a neko, and your heartbeats are different from ours. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

.x.x.

Having Marie assure me that my baby was fine helped a lot, but I couldn't push away the nagging feeling that something was wrong with my unborn child. Though that feeling went away really quickly when Kanda pointed out that the only way to know for sure if something was wrong was to have an exam; I was in no hurry to have a bunch of doctors poke and prod at me, especially over something that was probably just me irrationally worrying. Besides, talking over my worries with my husband of five years as we laid together in our bed was infinitely more soothing.

Our alone time was interrupted after only a few minutes by a squirmy little girl climbing onto the bed with us. Eri was supposed to be asleep, but our little kitten loved to cuddle and didn't like sleeping in her own bed, so it was more irritating than worrying that she had suddenly joined us; it was why we always made certain that she was actually asleep before we had sex.

Normally, we'd argue with her for a few minutes before giving in and letting her lay with us until she fell asleep, but tonight, she did something different. Instead of worming her way between us, so that we were embracing her instead of each other, Erika stopped in the middle of the bed, settled down against my legs, and just laid there with her head against my stomach. She didn't whine or complain about having to be in bed alone, she just lay there, purring contentedly. It was very odd behavior for her. Especially with the way her ear was pressed against my body. It was almost like she was listening intently to something.

I glanced at Yuu and he looked just as confused as I felt. It was somewhat reassuring that our daughter's behavior had him baffled too, but that didn't make it any less weird. "Whatcha doing, Eri?"

Erika paused her purring before looking up at me with an expression on her face that was eerily similar to the one her father always wore when he called me an idiot. "Listening to my sister."

I very nearly panicked when she said that, but in the end, I could only laugh. I was so stressed over trying to figure out how to tell Erika about my pregnancy that I had completely forgotten that she was smarter than a normal four-year-old. She could hear the baby's heartbeat, and she had put together for herself what she was hearing. I really was the idiot her expression was accusing me of being.

My laughter made Eri start pouting, and it was clear that she thought I was laughing at her. I tousled her hair and started rubbing the soft fur that covered her ear. Beside me, Kanda clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes at me as his free hand found my ear and scratched it the same way I was scratching Eri's. "Baka Moyashi."

Ignoring him, I smiled at our daughter and tried to get my laughter under control and figure out just what to say to her. But I took too long and her pout turned into a frown as tears pricked at the corner of her beautiful silver eyes. "Mommy? Did I do something bad?"

I pulled her into my arms and brushed away her tears. "Of course not, sweetheart. You just surprised me, that's all. I wasn't expecting you to figure out that I was pregnant all on your own like that."

She just continued to frown at me. "Your heart sounds like Auntie Manda's does, and Jerry says you've got a bun in the oven."

The comment made me freeze. I had been letting Jerry say whatever he wanted around Erika because I thought she didn't understand the euphemisms he used, but that apparently wasn't the case. "And you know what that means?"

Eri shrugged. "I found it in a book."

My baby was so adorable it hurt. I held her tighter and kissed her forehead. The action made her squirm but I didn't let go. "Mommy! You're squishing me!"

She wormed her way out of my hug and hid behind her father, but she was only there for a moment before Yuu moved her back in between us. She shrieked and giggled, but like me, she sobered quickly when she saw the serious look on her father's face. "How do you feel about mommy being pregnant?"

I was so scared of her answer that it felt like hours before she responded, but it was probably only a few seconds at most. Erika grinned and threw her little arms around me, snuggling into my side and unintentionally flicking my chin with her ear. "I'm happy. Everyone says mommy was gorgeous pregnant and now I get to see it too."

While I blushed and tried not to look too embarrassed, Kanda looked mortified, making it painfully obvious that he was the one who had told her that. "That's not what I meant, Eri."

I couldn't resist snorting at that. "She's your daughter, Bakanda. Are you really surprised that that's her top priority?"

He glowered at my comment but didn't respond, so I turned my focus back to Erika. "Eri, sweetheart, what about the baby? When I'm done being pregnant, you're going to have a younger brother or sister, and-"

Eri practically screeched with excitement as she cut me off. "Sister! I want a sister!"

Yuu laughed at her reaction. "You don't get to choose, Eri."

She pouted at that, and her disappointment was so adorable that I couldn't resist prodding her. "Oh, come on, Eri. You'd like a brother too, wouldn't you? You could boss him around like Auntie Lenalee does with Komui."

Eri just continued to pout at me. "Boys are mean. Timothy won't stop messing with my hair, and Thatcher's always yelling at me for being too loud."

I was torn between the offense I felt and liking the fact that my precious kitten didn't like the boys at the Order. "You know, Eri, mommy and daddy are boys too."

She once again gave me that look that said she thought I was stupid. "No. You're mommy and daddy."

Yuu snickered at that. "Can't argue with that logic, Moyashi."

I glared at him, but before I could say anything, Eri let out a big yawn and was instantly asleep. I gave up the argument in favor of watching my daughter sleep, but Yuu wasn't ready to let the conversation drop. He brushed a hand into my hair and started stroking my ear. "She's happy. Just like I told you she'd be. You can stop worrying now. "

"That's not gonna happen."

He just rolled his eyes at me. "Of course not."