New chapter is up and we are getting a bit dramatic up in here! Let's get started!

It was only about a few weeks in and already Diane was showing a tiny bump. She was sitting on the sofa, watching some soap opera on the tv. She had been doing this all morning since she decided to take a day off and it would help prepare her for the inevitable maternity leave. She also noticed that Wolf was gone all morning and she really needed her husband to be by her side right about now. When Wolf finally came back home, he arrived with several bags hanging from his arms and Tarantula on his left shoulder.

"Hey Diane." Wolf said as he entered the living room and kissed her on the cheek.

"Where were you? You were gone all day!" Diane said before she gave a cute little pout complete with puppy eyes. "And I weawwy needed you…" Diane added in a cutesy-wootsy tone, her hormonal mood swings started showing up every now and again.

"Sorry about that. I was out getting some things." Wolf said as he dropped the bags down.

"I had Webs look up some things we need for you and went out to get everything we're gonna need; prenatal vitamins, a journal organizer, stomach drops and..." He started listing the items as he was taking them out one by one before he took out a pile of books as tall as Piranha. "…several highly recommended baby books! I even got Webs to look up every piece of baby medical advice we could find."

"It wasn't easy…" Tarantula added before going off into a thousand yard stare. "So much diagrams… So much things I wanted to unsee…"

Wolf then rambled on about every book he got for her, much to Diane's mild annoyance.

"Wolf…" she told him.

"Yeah?" He answered back.

"Don't you think that this might be a bit much right now? I mean, it's gonna be a while before anything major happens…"

"Yeah, but you know how it is…" Wolf nervously said before Diane got closer to him and kissed him on the lips.

"We'll get through this, trust me." Diane assured Wolf.

Wolf nodded as he wanted to believe Diane's words but deep down, there was still a maximum amount of concern.

Eventually, the first trimester ended and Diane was already getting a bit bigger than last time, she was also in extreme discomfort almost constantly, she felt like there was a heater strapped to her stomach. What didn't help aside from Wolf's constant overprotection, was the constant teasing she'd get from Snake.

"So… there really is a thing inside you?" Snake asked as he pointed to her belly, making Diane feel a little disgruntled.

"I'm having bizarre cravings right now, I could eat you, ya know…" Diane thought.

"Snake!" Wolf scolded.

"Come on, I'm only kidding!" Snake said.

Diane then clutched her stomach as she grunted in pain without warning.

"Hey! I didn't do nottin'! I didn't do nottin'! Like I said, I didn't do nottin'!" Snake pleaded his innocence as he raised his tail up.

"Oh god, You're not having the pup right now, are you?" Wolf frantically asked.

"No, I just have some serious aches, that's all." Diane said.

"What do we do?" Asked Tarantula.

Wolf panicked for a moment before he remembered something.

"Piranha! You came from a large family! Surely you know what to do!" Wolf said as he turned to face his friend, only for Piranha to give a sheepish look.

"My family doesn't really do comfort, we pretty much come into this world with a switchblade in one hand and a balled up fist in the other." Piranha said. He doesn't like talking about his family, especially since he had to deal with about 900,543 brothers and cousins who didn't like him too much.

"Great! We are so screwed!" Snake said.

The four were in a panic, not knowing what to do. That is until Shark walked over and adjusted the pregnant vulpine to laying down across on the sofa and placed a pillow underneath her head and a wet hand towel on her forehead as Diane sighed in relief, getting their attention.

"There, better? Now just lay there, stay comfy and I'll get you those stomach drops and something healthy to eat." Shark said in a nurturing tone.

"Thank you Shark." Diane sighed in relief.

"My pleasure, Diane." Shark replied.

Wolf, Snake, Piranha and Webs all gave each other baffled looks as to what had just happened. The four anthropomorphic animals then walked over to the kitchen to see the selachimorpha and wanted to know what that was all about back there.

"Shark?" Asked Piranha.

"Yeah?" Shark answers back.

"How did you know what to do back there?" Wolf asked pointing to his pregnant wife in the other room, who looked so blissfully comfy.

"Oh, that. You guys forget, I grew up with seven little brothers and sisters! I know a thing or two about expecting women from watching my parents." Shark said as he grabbed several vegetables from the fridge.

"You mean the same parents who met in a 'con-cation?'" asked Webs.

"Just cause they met at a con-cation, doesn't mean they didn't love their kids!" Shark replied.

"Well, this is great! Cause now I have someone to look after Diane whenever I'm not available!" Wolf said.

"Now, hold on! Just cause I'm willing to help out with your wife's pregnancy, doesn't mean you can have me at your beck and call! I got a job! My theater troop is doing a performance of 'La La Land' and I'm casted in the role of Mia!" Shark said.

Everyone glared at Shark as if they were saying 'really?'

"Okay, I'm the understudy, but still!" Shark admitted.

Wolf then did his rare puppy eye trick. He knew that if this could work on Snake to some extent, the others will fall without a hitch.

"But I'll make time I if can…" Shark said.

"Thanks Shark." Wolf said.

"But I'm only doing this because Diane is my homegirl!" Shark said.

"Of course!" Wolf sarcastically added. He knew it was the puppy eyes.

Shark then made his way back to Diane to give her the green snacks.

Despite the pregnancy, Diane still continued to do her job. Wolf feared for her going to work, even if it's technically a desk job, he still couldn't help but to imagine dangerous situations, albeit preposterous. Because of this, Wolf basically treated Diane like she was glass and she hated it.

"What if there's a wet floor?" Wolf asked.

"Wolf." Tarantula said.

"What if a safe or a piano falls on you?" Wolf panicked.

"Wolf!" Piranha said.

"What if some criminal thug recognizes you as The Crimson Paw and tells his dangerous crime boss that you messed with once and then that crime boss comes over to personally hunt you down for revenge?!" Wolf practically hyperventilated.

"WOLF!" Diane shouted.

He stopped. Diane placed her hands on the sides of his muzzle.

"It's fine. I have Piranha protecting me and he's been doing a great job so far!" Diane said.

"You can leave it to me, hermano! Like I would let anything bad happen to your little cachorro!"

Wolf smiled for a moment, before he switched back to worried.

"What if there's another asteroid?" Wolf frantically asked.

Diane sighed annoyingly at her husband's overprotective nature before she kissed him in the nose.

"I'll see you tonight." Diane told him before she, Piranha and Webs walked off into the car waiting to pick them up.

"See you." Wolf said.

It would be a few hours until Wolf decided to work on his book. He was trying to write about his life story but was too distracted about the possible dangers his pregnant wife could face and how he can't be there to protect her.

"You've gotten soft."

Wolf quickly turned his head, he thought he heard a voice but saw nobody was there.

"You used to be the Big Bad Wolf, now look at you! Doing all this dumb baby stuff! I thought you were cool!"

He heard it again, the voice sounded familiar.

"Who said that?" Wolf asked.

"You know who this is! This is your bad side!"

Wolf sighed in annoyance. He might have gone good, but he'd be lying if he said that there wasn't the smallest part of him that missed how things used to be.

"Come on, this isn't you!"

"This is me. I don't have to listen to you anymore."

"You haven't done any good thieving in forever!"

"What about the Maraschino Ruby?"

"It wasn't the same! I'm talking about the thrills we got from doing heists like the job in Amsterdam!"

"We mentally scarred that trapeze artist, how was that thrilling?"

"Point is, you're not the wolf you were and I hate it!"

"Who asked you anyway?"

"What makes you think you'd be a good father anyway?"

"Because I've actually bettered myself and my kid is actually going to have his father to steer him down the right path!"

"You don't know that for sure. Face it, that kid of your's is screwed. After all, you have a habit of falling back on your word… you ARE a wolf after all."

Wolf was starting to get angry that this little voice for getting to him, until he felt something on his shoulder.

"Everything okay, Wolf?" Said a familiar gruff voice.

Wolf snapped back to reality as he saw his best friend Snake comforting him.

"Snake, what are you doing here? Don't you have that locksmith place to run?" Wolf asked.

"It's Monday. That's the one time of week we're closed." Snake answered.

He noticed that Wolf was sweating bullets.

"Man, I haven't seen you this anxious since your wedding day!" Snake said.

"What? I'm totally fine! Why wouldn't I be?" Wolf answered nervously.

Snake stared down at him, he could always see right through him.

"I'm just a little… okay, beyond nervous…" Wolf admitted.

"Is it because your having a kid?" Snake asked.

"What was your first clue?" Wolf snarked.

"Well, didn't you tell me that you and Diane discussed having kids?" Asked Snake. "Which I don't know why, those things are just little parasites…" he went on a brief tangent.

"Once or twice." Wolf answered. "But…I didn't think it would be this soon! I mean, who successfully makes a baby after the first try? That's almost unrealistic! It's almost like this was all written by some hackneyed writer who wanted to throw in some pseudo-drama to an otherwise completely fluff story."

Wolf and Snake then looked forward and outwards at a non-existent screen before looking back at one another. Snake then placed his tail on Wolf's shoulder.

"Why's this getting you so worked up? Is it because you're a wolf and you'll think you'd be a terrible father because of it?" Snake asked.

"What? No, of course not!" Wolf said. "It's just…" he sighed before he could continue.

"I… I never really had a dad growing up…" Wolf said.

Wolf was about two or three when he lost his father, his mother was barely home after losing her husband. Wolf pretty much had to raise himself for awhile and because of what he was, no one would seem to help him out. He resorted to being a little street thief as a result.

"Yeah, I remember you telling me about your childhood…" Snake answered.

"It wasn't until I met you that I basically had the closest thing to a male parental figure!" Wolf gestured to Snake.

They met when Wolf was about 8 and Snake was in his 30's, Wolf had been a street thief for a few years at that point and one day, he tried to pickpocket Snake, only for Snake to outwit the inexperienced pup. The young lupine was so impressed with the serpentes, he practically followed him up until Wolf asked Snake to teach him his ways and Snake only agreed at first because it gave him a patsy but overtime, their friendship would grow. Everything Wolf, and by extension, Shark, Piranha and Tarantula, knew about being a bad guy, he got from Snake. Snake looked at his scared and confused friend as he pondered what to do and got an idea.

"Get the car." Snake said.

"What?" Wolf asked.

"You obviously need some time with her…" Snake answered.

"Oh… okay." Wolf said. To be honest, he really could see Diane right about now.

The duo made their way to the garage and entered the car.

"But we gotta make a stop first!" Snake said.

"To where?" Wolf asked.

"You'll see." Snake said.

Diane made it to her office without a problem. Webs and Piranha stayed outside the door as she would just be sorting through and signing papers all day so she didn't need much looking after.

Her suit was starting to feel a little snug due to the baby. She knew for a fact that people were thinking she gained weight, it's not completely inaccurate though. She'd been eating like crazy lately, she once ate a whole pint of sea-salt caramel ice cream. She seemed to have the biggest craving for caramel lately.

She had been filling out paperwork for the last hour or so and it was starting to get a little tedious.

"You've let yourself go."

Diane quickly lifted her head. She thought she heard someone, but there was nobody there. She went back to her desk work.

"You were the greatest thief of all time! You took what you wanted and never once got caught! But you threw it all away and for what? A desk job where you're just getting fatter and fatter!"

Much like Wolf, there was at least one iota of her that missed being the Crimson Paw but unlike Wolf however, she has much more control over those thoughts.

"I'm carrying a baby!"

"Are you kidding me? You know nothing about children!"

"I got resources…" motioning to the baby book on her desk.

"Yeah, but do you think a shifty fox can handle such a responsibility?"

Diane sighed annoyingly.

"Come on! Just one more real good theft! Then I'll go away!"

"Even if I wanted to, I can't let myself do anything in my current condition."

"What about—?"

"Nuh-uh."

"What if we—?"

"Nope."

"Why don't we just—?"

"Absolutely not."

"Can't you just—?"

"I said no!"

"You've changed."

"I know I have."

She then heard her intercom buzz, it broke her from her thoughts, which was a good thing in this case.

"Diane, someone important wants to see you." Tarantula said.

"Who is it?" Diane asked.

"Your husband and he brought Snake." Tarantula answered, trying to be professional like.

"Let them in." Diane replied.

The door was opened by Piranha as he fist bumped Wolf, who had one paw behind his back.

"Sorry to drop by unannounced, I was in the middle of watching that Aliens movie, just got to the part where the slimy little parasite monster violently bursts out of the lady's stomach." Snake said, failing to notice the disgusted looks on his friends' faces as he made his way to the coffeemaker, he had been in the office several times before to know where it was.

"He said that on purpose…" Diane whispered to Wolf.

"But I guess from here on out, it's nothing but Sesame Street and Disney Movies for us." Snake said before he took a sip of the coffee.

"What are you guys even doing here?" Diane asked.

"Can't a husband just visit his expecting wife because he loves her and misses her dearly?" Wolf innocently asked giving her a smolder.

Diane gave him a look that said 'Not buying it, Cowboy.'

"He wanted to make sure the building wasn't on fire." Snake interjected.

"That makes more sense." She replied.

"It was worth a shot." Wolf sighed. "I did get you these though." He added before he pulled out a beautiful bouquet of white, blue and pink flowers from behind him.

"Awww, Wolfy…" she cooed.

"Since it's almost around the usual time you take your lunch break, I thought we could go to that sandwich place that's not too far from here."

"Wolf, I'd love to…" Diane cheerfully replied.

"I just have all this paperwork to go through…" Diane exhaustingly sighed.

"Hold on. Let me see that." Snake asked as he took one of the sheets and looked it over, pondering as he did so. "Mm-hm. Mm-hm… yeah, I can help you fill a few of these sheets out with you."

"You can?" Diane asked.

"Yeah, These are basically just 'yes/no' questions." Snake answered. "Piece of cake."

"You have a point there…" Diane answered. "I could also go for some cake right about now though…" she went on a small tangent.

"You two go on ahead, I can help you when you get back." Snake said.

"Thanks." Asked Diane.

"Thanks man…" Wolf said before he extended his fist out and Snake placed the top of his head in return.

Later that evening, Wolf and Diane were in their bedroom, sitting in the bed and enjoying one another's company. Wolf had his arms wrapped around Diane's stomach as his fingers locked into one another, almost as if he was a seatbelt for her. He knew that once she gets bigger, his fingers won't reach far enough. They were silent up until Diane spoke.

"I can't wait to start maternity leave next week..." Diane muttered.

Wolf looked over at Diane.

"How do you do it?" The wolf asked his wife.

"Huh?" The fox asked in reply.

"I mean, how are you not as terrified as I am? You're the one having the baby but I'm the one falling apart!" Wolf asked.

"Not terrified? Not terrified?" Diane asked. "I am ABSOLUTELY scared out of my mind! I don't know the first thing about looking after a baby!"

"Then how are you taking this so calmly?" He asked.

"Because I have you…" Diane said with a warm look in her eyes as she took out her hand and placed it on his interlocked ones, this genuinely surprised Wolf.

"That and I've been reading some of the books you gave me." Diane added as she pulled out a book with the title 'Baby Raising for Dummies.'

Wolf chuckled.

"Still, I just can't believe that The Big Bad Wolf is about to be a father…" Wolf said.

"And The ACTUAL Crimson Paw is the one carrying his pup." Diane quietly added.

"That's right…" Wolf added in whisper.

"So, what do you think? Do you think our baby will look more like me or you?" Diane asked him.

"God, I hope it's not like me! I don't think I could handle myself as a kid!" Wolf said.

"I'm no different either!" Diane added.

"I really love the way you said 'our baby' by the way." Wolf smirked as he secured his interlocked fingers even tighter around her stomach and as a response, Diane cuddled up to him underneath his chin. Wolf's smile faltered a little as he knew that sooner or later, he's gonna have to talk to her about his daddy issues.

Another chapter down. See you guys in a bit but before I go, I want to give an answer to CandyCar9245, I know EXACTLY the drawing you're talking about and I was going to put that in anyway, even if you never told me to do it. Alright then, see you guys next time.