The pan sizzled when Raine poured the oil in it. It began to pop as they picked it up and twisted their wrist to spread the oil around.

It had been about a week and a half since Raine had moved in with Eda. A week and a half since they'd found out Eda was pregnant. At the same time,Raine had felt a shift in their relationship that they hoped would be for the better.

For Raine it was weird living in the same house as Eda. To put it lightly, she had a number of habits Raine had gotten to discover that made them feel… concerned.

Hooty was charming to live with, albeit sometimes obnoxious. Eda explained to them that it only would get worse for their sanity, but that they would eventually just get used to him.

Speaking of the witch, she was still sound asleep. It was later in the morning. Eda had been sleeping in later in the past week, and Raine would make breakfast closer to noon to finally get her to awaken from her slumbers. The smell always brought her downstairs.

They knew it was simply because of the pregnancy, though. It felt weird to Raine. The fact that they'd be having a baby with Eda. They were thrilled about the idea, but still shocked that Eda agreed to it in the first place.

Something about that did feel surprisingly off.

But if it was out of character for Eda, it could be a sign of wanting to change. Maybe she was willing to try something new, let something, someone, else into her life. Something Eda rarely did nowadays. Raine themself desperately still wanted to be with and near her, and this would mean they'd kind of have to be.

Wow.

A baby.

Raine could picture them in their mind, a little witch with wild hair like Eda's maybe in Raine's own hair color. Tanned skin and bright beautiful golden eyes…

They were fantasizing again. It'd seemingly become a new habit of theirs in the past week. Raine couldn't even blame themself, they were excited!

Raine's ears flicked when they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Moments later Raine turned around and spotted Eda in the entryway to the kitchen. She was still in her pajamas and looked exhausted, but less nauseated.

The relief of Raine moving in was them being able to coax Eda into once again see a healer. They'd managed to get contact with Althea and were able to have it arranged for them to come to the house instead of Eda having to go to the Healing Coven directly. Althea had come over and properly gotten an examination of Eda, found everything to be healthy, and gave Eda some remedies and vitamins to take for her nausea and the baby.

"Mmm… what are you making?" The redhead asked. She approached Raine from behind and wrapped her hands around their waist, pulling herself closer to them.

"Baloney. Just how you like it in the skillet," Raine said, "And how are you?"

"Tired… want a lazy day," Eda mumbled.

"Alright then, we can have a lazy day but I still need to go to the market," Raine said, "Do you want to come with me or just stay here?"

"I'll go, as long as we do absolutely nothing else when we get back," She said.

"Good, I think getting out of the house would be good for you," They placed a slice of baloney in the pan, "You've been cooped up since last week."

"True that," Eda said. Raine continued to fry the slim slices of baloney. It was both convenient and inconvenient that Eda's first craving was food from the human realm. For one, it meant getting it was easier, but it also meant that Raine had to steal it from a 'store' in the human realm.

Luckily magic was their scapegoat, and their illusion spells they'd just kept up as a hobby now had a purpose. Part of them felt bad, but they didn't just carry the human realm's currency on them, what were they supposed to do?!

After the couple had eaten breakfast, Raine and Eda were now riding on Eda's staff into Bonesborough. Luckily for the two of them, their combined funds were just enough to get by for now. But now that Raine wouldn't have to pay rent, they'd have some extra snails. Perfect for right now.

Landing on the ground, Raine swung the bag they'd brought with them over their shoulder. It'd been sitting in their lap while they'd been the one handling Owlbert. Eda had been too tired to consider herself willing to fly her palisman.

"So what do you want to get? It can be anything," Raine asked Eda. She shrugged in response. Closedoff… as per usual.

"Just the normal groceries, maybeeeee an eye mask, for my eyes. I keep getting woken up by the sun in the morning," She said.

"Why not just get blackout curtains? Or do a spell to cloak it in darkness?" Raine suggested. Eda deadpanned.

"No, Raine. That would look stupid and I'd be too tired to open the curtains therefore it's just make the room darker constantly," The redhead stated, "With a little blanket over my eyes, I can sleep and wake up when I please."

"A-Alright then," Raine was a bit taken aback but Eda's mood, but she did say she was tired. Guess it was their fault for dragging her to the market.

They stared down and summoned a quick list and scribbled eye mask down at the bottom. Raine quickly glanced at the top of the list and took Eda by the arm. The two headed into the food section of the daily market. Raine was looking for mostly produce, as Eda's was currently going bad.

After picking up a bag full of fruits and vegetables, along with bread for sandwiches, they began to wander around. Raine purchased a few small snacks of their own liking, most of which were spicy. Eda had wrinkled her nose at them whenever they handed the seller the snails. Eda was practically the opposite, even before all the recent changes she'd never had much of a taste for heated delicacies.

Raine after a while realized that now wouldn't be a bad time to buy some new strings for their violin. The current ones on it were getting worn out, and before things in their life got more chaotic, they figured they'd might as well go ahead and purchase the replacement strings.

They stood with Eda in front of a bard coven stand as they carefully looked through the strings.

"You sure like taking a while to pick strings," Eda snorted.

"They need to work right for me and the violin, Eda," Raine said, "It's where most of my magic even goes, I wouldn't want it to be faulty."

"Guess you speak some truth," The witch shrugged. A few moments passed before Eda shook Raine's shoulder.

"What is it?" Raine asked, looking up at Eda who was staring dead into the crowd. Following her eyes they looked into the crowd.

Then Raine saw them.

Right in the middle of the crowd.

Their Moms.

"Oh shit," Raine muttered.

"If I recall you haven't spoken to them since you told them you weren't joining a coven, right?" Eda said. Raine hesitantly nodded, looking away.

"I don't want to see them," They said, trying to go back to fiddling with the strings before them. When they had last seen them, Raine made it very clear that they never wanted to speak to them again. It'd hurt, and part of Raine regretted that, but they couldn't take it back.

"Well that isn't going to happen, because they spotted us," Raine internally panicked as they tried to speed up string picking. They finally grabbed a pack and put them on top of the counter, hoping the bard selling them would be quick with their sale.

But just as Raine began to pull out their snails to pay, there was a voice behind them.

"Raine?" They froze, the snails still in hand.

The bard turned around and came face to face with their parents. The familiar faces of them made Raine want to run.

Their Ma had gray-ish blue hair and had the same colored eyes as Raine did. Raine's Mom on the other hand shared the same hair color as them but had red eyes. The two were beside each other, facing Raine and Eda.

"M-Ma, Mom! W-What are you guys doing here..?" Raine asked, trying their best to seem as casual as possible.

"We were just out shopping, it's Wednesday," Raine's Mom said.

"Right." Raine said. That was true. They always went to the market on Wednesdays. They had for years. There was an awkward beat of silence until Eda butted in.

"Well, it's definitely been a while since I've seen either of you," She said nonchalantly. How Eda could remain this calm in front of two people who Raine wasn't even quite sure liked her was beyond them.

"It has. You two are still together, I see," Raine's Ma said this time. They gulped.

"Yeah, I… I actually moved in with Eda recently," They said. Raine was mostly just glad that their parents weren't making a huge scene, they weren't sure how they would've been able to handle that.

"You have?" Their moms exchanged a glance. Raine nodded.

"It's been about a week," Raine said. They worried about what would come out next, after all, they'd never approved of Eda that much. Sure, they appreciated her for getting Raine to break out of their shell but to them she was still a lot.

But to their surprise their Mom smiled.

"Well it's good to know you're both doing well," She said, "Look, Raine…"

"We're sorry," Their Ma began, "We… We really have thought about a lot of things since you stopped calling."

"And it's your life, and sure to us we may not understand it, but we want to try because we love you," The fellow mint haired witch said.

Raine stood in a stunned silence. They were… apologizing? They guessed it made sense. They were always at least kind of open minded, but this was a huge step for them.

"Are you going to pay or not?" Raine jumped at the sound of the merchant behind them. They'd completely forgotten they were buying violin strings. They handed the money to the bard and looked back to their Moms.

"I… Thank you," Raine said, "Would you like to maybe get lunch? I'd rather not… talk about things like this out in such a public area."

"That would be alright," Their Ma said. Raine quickly turned to see Eda already giving them a thumbs up.

Wasn't she tired?

Raine thought for a moment before they pulled their girlfriend to the side.

"Do you want me to take you home? You don't have to go with us, I know you're still tired," Raine asked.

"It's fine," Raine bit their tongue. The look in Eda's eyes spoke words different than she was saying.

But they knew if they tried arguing it, she wouldn't budge.

As long as she didn't fall asleep, maybe she'd be okay.

"Alright, we can find a restaurant with outdoor seating," Raine turned back around to their Moms.

"And here are your screamer peepers," The waiter said as he placed a plate full of stuffed peppers in front of them. They'd managed to find a small but relatively spaced out restaurant at the edge of Bonesborough. Now the four were seated at a table outside the restaurant and were catching up.

Before they'd stopped talking to their Moms, Raine had slowly been growing more and more distant with them. But now here they were, catching up and just about any and everything.

"So while your Ma was out trying to find a plumber to fix the sink, I tried seeing if the pipes would hold off if I used a few vines…"

"To which it caused the leak to be even worse," Raine's Ma said, "It made the entire pipe explode."

"That sounds horrifically expensive," Raine chuckled, "Did it get fixed?"

"Yes, they installed the new piping just a few days ago, actually," The blue haired witch said.

"I made plenty of flowers for your Ma, don't you worry," The woman said, grabbing her wife's hand.

"Well enough about us, how have you and Eda been? Any stories of your own from recently to tell us?" Raine's Ma asked.

"Oh! Well we went to the human realm recently for our anniversary to see a concert," Raine said. It'd become a tradition of theirs to steal some tickets from a random couple in the human realm and go to whatever concert they'd been planning on attending.

Raine remembered the recent one as they picked up and bit into a pepper, Eda managed to get her hands on more tickets from the same person they'd seen on the very first concert they'd gone to together in the human realm.

It was a magical night. Even if Raine was emotionally a bit scattered due to Eda being… Eda.

"That's lovely, I've meant to ask you two, how different is the human realm from this world?" Raine's eyes met their Ma's familiar green.

"Well, for starters the music is super different," Raine said.

"Oh you nerd, there's so many more different things than just the music!" Eda laughed, "Well, for starters they have their shiny things called cars which people drive around. Think like a staff, except big and bulky and unable to fly," Eda said, "Oh and the food is different! Their food is super super simple. My personal favorite has to be baloney."

"Yeah, she's been eating a lot of that lately…" Raine shook their head with a smile, "It's not my type of food though, too… I don't know, the texture is really weird to me."

"Interesting," Their Mom said, "Well, Eda, what have you been doing for a living considering you… kind of support anarchy."

"Oh I sell potions, brew em' in my basement and I've got a few customers who commission them for me when they need a specific one," Eda said. How the red headed witch was not unsettled by how awkward their Moms were around her would never cease to surprise them.

"I see," The older mint haired witch said, "Does it pay you well?"

"It pays enough for me to live comfortably, so I'd say well enough," The wild witch shrugged.

"That's good to know," Their Ma said, "I hope you've been treating Raine well." Eda swiftly nodded.

"You know if you ever hurt them, we aren't going to be so forgiving," Raine turned to their Mom who's eyes had a special glint. The threat was serious.

Eda had gulped, finally slightly unnerved.

"W-Well, the food is definitely delicious, nice and light," Eda looked down at Raine's plate, "Except for that, I don't know how you're able to stomach that, Rainestorm."

"Because it's good. I still can't believe you, a spitfire, can barely handle spice," Raine chuckled, placing a hand on their girlfriend's shoulder.

"Blegh," Eda playfully stuck her tongue out in sarcastic disgust.

"Alright lovebirds. Raine Whispers, your Mothers are sitting right here," The bard heard their Ma say.

"Oh! Y-Yeah! That's right!" They said. They picked up their glass of water and took a quick sip. Out of the corner of their eye they could see a commotion start up as the doors from the indoor area opened up. Smoke poured out from the doors followed by a heavy stench.

It was disgusting. Burnt and marshy.

"What happened?" Raine heard their Mom say. They realized that the other three had turned their heads to the doors.

"Must've burnt something, but what in Titan's name smells like that?" Their Ma spoke now. Raine turned to Eda who was oddly silent despite the chaos.

Her eyes were wide. Her face slightly askew.

"Uh… Eda, are you alright?" They asked.

"Y-Yeah that's just… wow that's strong," Eda said. She began shaking her head, "I'll just- I'll just be right back." She quickly stood up and rushed off, catching the attention of both Raine's Moms.

"Is she alright?" Their Mom asked.

"O-Oh yeah! She's… probably just put off by the smell, she'll be fine!" Raine said, quickly standing up from the table to follow the redhead. Without another word they entered the inside and saw Eda enter the restroom.

They paused just before reaching the door.

Their Moms didn't know.

Titan… hopefully they didn't just think they brushed off Eda being sick that easily. That wouldn't be good.

Raine approached the door after quickly looking over their shoulder and knocked on the door.

"Eda?" Raine said.

"W-What?" A response came. It was slightly shaky.

"Can I come in?" They asked. The door knob jiggled to unlock, indicating Raine could enter. They twisted the knob and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind them. Eda was sitting on the toilet seat, her head hung low.

"What do you want?"

"I just wanted to check on you. Did they not like the smell?"

"No… I haven't thrown up or anything though, I just… I don't know, I panicked," She held her hands together in her lap, "I didn't want to freak your Moms out. I mean… I don't want them thinking I'm sick, and I don't know if dropping that on them the first time they see you after half a year is a good idea."

"Well covering it up isn't a good idea either," Raine sighed, leaning up against the wall.

"You're right, it's just weird," Eda said, "I mean we haven't told anyone that I'm…" She drifted into silence, continuing to stare down onto the tile floor.

"That you're pregnant," Raine said.

"Mhm." Eda said. She lifted her head, looking at Raine with rounded golden eyes, "I'm just very very uncertain about a lot of thingsright now."

"Is it because of the curse?" Raine asked her.

"I… not entirely," The redhead said. The bard wasn't totally sure if that was true, Eda's distress most often nowadays came from the curse.

But it was possible that this now was adding into the uncertainty she'd always seemed to carry ever since that fateful day all those years ago.

"Would you like me to go back out there, or stay with you?" Raine said, "I don't mind, it's up to you."

"I'll just be a few minutes, you can stay," Eda said, "But I did want to ask. Do you want to tell them?"

"What?"

"When you were talking about recent events you seemed like you… wanted to mention it," She held her shoulders up, "Because I don't mind, it's your Moms."

"And you're the one carrying the baby, so I don't… I don't have to tell them now if you don't want me to," Raine said. Eda looked back down, face full of blankness.

"You really don't care about waiting?" She asked them.

"I don't, we have a while, I'd still say tell them soon but since we just saw them," Raine said, "I can understand not wanting to say anything quite yet." Eda continued to stare off. Eventually she stood up and rubbed her face with her hands.

"Alright, let's just wait," She said, grabbing Raine's hand.

"Yeah, I just hope the baby doesn't decide to make you feel any worse today," Raine said, "After all, I did promise you a lazy day and kind of… haven't done that." They opened the door.

"It's fine, Roomie isn't too upset about it I don't think," Eda chuckled. Raine joined in the chuckle, turning back to face the restaurant.

Only to see that Raine's Moms were both standing in front of them.

"Uh… Mom? Ma? What is it..?" Raine tried their best to act dumb.

"What are you guys… talking about?" Their Ma first asked. Raine looked to Eda who glared back at them.

"N-Nothing, Eda just didn't like that smell," Raine tried to divert. There was no way… they heard any of that. Right?

"No, Raine, we overheard," Raine's Mom said as if she'd read their very thoughts. They squeaked in embarrassment, "You two aren't very quiet."

"Shit…" Raine muttered. Eda was paralyzed in their hand.

"Do you… want to act like we didn't hear that and just… wait? Like you two wanted?" The blue haired witch said. Raine quickly turned to Eda who barely shook her head.

"T-They know, alright," Eda whispered, "You can say it."

"Well, uh… I guess we'll just say it," Raine said, "We… might be having a baby."

"Really?" Their Mom said, "Uh… wow, that was fast."

"Mom! We're 24, it's not… we're not young." Raine said, "It just was sudden. We found out last week."

"Last week? Wow, so you're both getting used to that idea," Raine's Ma said.

"Y-Yeah! It was a rather big surprise," They said, holding their shoulders up high again as they gripped their elbows with the opposite hands. There was an awkward silence before Raine felt their hand be taken by their Mom. They looked down and saw that both their Moms had grabbed a hand of theirs and Eda's.

"Well, we're happy for you," Their Mom said, "Both of you." Raine in that moment could feel tears well up in their eyes. Dangit, they didn't mean to be so emotional. That was when they turned to Eda, who had surprisingly welled up her own tears. That's right. She was going to be slightly more emotional.

"T-Thank you," She said, smiling to the two older women, "Thank you so much…"

Well, if one thing was clear, a more emotional Eda would be something Raine would have to get used to.

At least Raine now had their Moms again… even if this was a rocky first day of letting them back in.

June 16th, 1999

Hello again,

It's been a really long day. Me and Eda finally went to the market today. I bought some new strings for my violin, I meant to do that forever ago.

We ran into my Moms. That was really weird. We went and got lunch but then some frog got burnt and it triggered Eda's morning sickness. And… well, my Moms now know about the baby. That's so weird, is it not?

I feel bad that Eda was kind of forced to tell them. I also felt bad about keeping her out for half the day, especially since this morning she specifically requested to have a lazy day.

I promised her when we got home that tomorrow we're only doing what she wants and she was more than happy to agree. I'm a little scared to be honest with you.

Either way it's still weird, getting used to the idea that me and Eda are having a kid. Like. Woah. That's new. I honestly never expected it, but here we are, and I'm really happy about it.

I'm still worried about Eda, though.

I'm tired myself now. I'm just happy that everyone is getting along, even if my Moms are going to have to accept that I don't want to join a Coven. They're open minded enough to try and understand.

Anyways I'll be heading to bed now.

Goodnight Diary,

Raine.