Positive.

It was positive.

Hinata sat on the bathroom floor, leaning on the glass of their shower cubicle. Her hands trembled. She took deep breaths until the sob threatening to escape her died out.

She had known it would be positive. Even though a part of her pushed her to go back to the convenience store around the corner and buy at least two more tests, she knew they would all give the same result.

This was not supposed to happen. Yet it did.

And it was her fault. She knew it.

She knew it three weeks ago when she realised her periods hadn't come for almost fifty days, and she forgot about it because her periods have been really irregular since she got that IUS five and a half years ago, back in her third year of college, when she and Naruto had decided to stop using condoms.

She knew it last week when she saw, totally by accident, her missed reminders of going to her doctor for getting new contraception four months ago. A whole month of reminders missed, because her phone had failed, and she procrastinated getting a new one since calls were still going and everything else she could get done on her PC. She successfully tortured that phone for three whole months before it kicked the bucket just five weeks ago.

She knew it when she realized she had had no contraceptives in her for a few weeks, at best, or five months, at worst. And she and Naruto still have plenty of sex. Not regularly (not a chance), but still plenty.

She had known it this whole week while she continuously chickened out on buying a freaking pregnancy test. And when she finally did get one today, it only confirmed what she had known for weeks.

What was she going to say to Naruto?

When was she going to even tell him? He had not come home for two days; his company was in the middle of a major partnership. The biggest proposal he had gotten since he started it four years ago. She couldn't distract him from that!

He was so ecstatic when he last came home to tell her about it. He had been waiting for an opportunity like this for years. And now they are going to have to raise a baby with them when they couldn't even spend six hours with each other uninterrupted. Or regularly. They don't have time for a kid. They don't have time for themselves these days.

God, sometimes she really missed the good, old high school days, when all they had to worry about were their grades and college applications and when will they meet again.

But she had to tell him. If her calculations are correct, and considering she is nowhere near showing yet, she should be in her second month of pregnancy by now, at most. Starting with third, if she is really unlucky.

Not that they didn't want a kid. They did, of course they did. They had been together for eight years, married for three, with big family dreams. But any kid they ever wanted came after the company that Naruto had built from the scratch became successful. Or at least profitable. That, sadly, was still a couple of years away. Sure, the company started making sizable profits in less than a year, but even after four years it was still taking a bit more than it was giving. Money andtime both.

When her body was somewhat relaxed, she got up, wincing at the cricks in her knees. Turns out she had been sitting there for over an hour. She broke the useless test in two and threw it in the bin. The pettiness she still harbours in herself even at the age of twenty-five is ridiculous.

She washed her face with cold water and then went into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Six months after they had married, Naruto had bought an apartment for them that was in a better neighbourhood than the one they had been renting before that for years. It wasn't a luxurious place by any means, but it was their home.

The apartment was modest, with three bedrooms, two en suite and one common bathroom, a large living room, a kitchen, and four balconies, one of which looked upon the jolly view of Central Park. She loved it to death. Plus, this was where they had enjoyed their late honeymoon. Naruto had planned a ten-day vacation to Hawaii for their honeymoon one month after he bought the house, but Hinata caught a nasty fever two days before their flight and they ended up cancelling everything. Still, Naruto had spent ten days with her (taking care of her the first few days and loving her the rest of the days) without any interruptions and they were the best ten days of her life.

She didn't know how to tell him, when to tell him, how he would react. She didn't even know when he was coming home, for goodness' sake.

Still, she prepared the dinner, as she always did. Whenever he came home, be it before midnight or in wee hours of early morning, he heated it and ate it. Always. When the dinner was cooked – ramen, because she was trying to ease him into the big news – she cleaned the kitchen counters and washed the dishes. And then she went to finish one of the projects she acquired while freelancing.

By the time she was finished, it was almost ten. That was usually when she ate her dinner. She used to think she would be – wanted to be – one of those women who waited for their husbands to have dinner together. But she recognised pretty early it would be pointless to wait for her then-boyfriend-now-husband to have dinner when she didn't even know if he was even going to come home. So, she waits till ten, and if he isn't there, she eats it alone. Maybe one day, when he can afford more employees and the workload is eased from his shoulders.

She ate her dinner, packed his in a container and put it in the fridge, did the dishes and went to sleep – all the while missing her husband and yet dreading his return.

…

He didn't come home.

Or at least, he wasn't there when she woke up. But she knew he did come home to sleep. The bedsheets behind her were slept in. And they smelt more like him than they had in days.

Most of the times when he got home that late, either Hinata would wake up to feel him getting into bed behind her and bringing her closer, or he would wake her up a little to give her a sweet kiss or to just let her know that he was home. They must have been very tired for them to both miss each other.

She was relieved she got more time to tell him, and then she was sad because she wasn't supposed to be relieved that her husband hadn't talked to her for three days. Not that she could've talked about anything as it was.

When she freshened up and went to the kitchen to make breakfast, his dinner wasn't in the fridge, and the container was already washed. There was a note on the fridge, stuck by a custom-made magnet which had a candid picture of them on it. It was taken by their friend, Sakura, at one of the college parties. They were both grinning at each other like idiots in the dark, crowded background.

Hinata picked up the note and read it: Sorry I couldn't wait for you to wake up. We are going to draw the final contract with the Dunes Corp today and I had to go in early. Hopefully it will be done today either way. The ramen was super awesome, by the way. Thanks. Love you so much ;)

Hinata smiled and started preparing breakfast for herself.

…

She came home from work an hour later than usual, tired to her bones. The marketing firm where she worked as a designer worked them hard, but the perks were accordingly. She wondered if she would have to resign later into her pregnancy. It's not like her job is needed – anymore, that is. She can just laze around in the house and freelance if she gets bored.

But before that she would have to tell her other half that they were going to have a baby.

She sighed and then went into the bathroom to take a nice, warm bath. And have deep, scary thoughts about how to break the inevitable news.

She had barely been in the tub for ten minutes when she heard, from the living room, "I'm home!"

An embarrassingly big smile broke on her face before she had even registered the voice.

"Hinata?" he asked from their bedroom.

"In here."

Within seconds he was coming through the bathroom door and kneeling beside the bathtub, grinning widely. One of her arms instinctively covered her floating breasts to submerge them under the bubbles, but Naruto didn't notice. All he looked at was her eyes.

"We got the deal." He cupped her jaw with one hand and kissed her slow and sweet for a whole minute. Then he pulled back with a soft, loving smile, and she followed a bit before breaking apart.

"I missed you," she whispered.

"I missed you too," he whispered back, punctuating his response with a peck. "Can I join?"

"Always, Naruto."

He got up to strip, and she eyed his actions. He had already taken off his suit jacket – and thrown it on the sofa or their bed, she was sure. He quickly took off his tie, followed by his watch and shirt, then pants and then boxers, all the while she reacquainted her starving eyes with her husband's heavenly body.

She slipped forward to make space for him and he got into the water behind her. His hands came around her just under her breasts and he pulled her back flush against him. His deep sigh of contentment echoed her sentiments as she relaxed into the embrace of the only man she had ever known.

He kissed her temple and all she wanted was to fall asleep in his arms.

He sighed again, and his arms tightened around her, "How are you, Hinata?"

She loved it when he asked her that. Like he wanted to know everything and anything that happened to her while he was absent. Like it had been months, not days or just hours, that they were apart.

"Marvellous," she whispered as she snuggled even more into his hard chest like it was the most comfortable place in the world. For her, it was.

"How was your day?" She felt his throat rumble under her temple more than she heard the words.

"Long. Uneventful," she whispered groggily, drunk on his earthy scent.

He chuckled and she felt the vibrations go through her, "Why are you whispering?"

"I don't know," she whispered again, smiling. She didn't want to break their bubble. She wanted to stay right there for eternity. "What happened with the Dunes?"

"Well, it wasn't what I'd have expected but still, better than nothing, I guess. They wanted seventy percent of the profit, and I wanted at least fifty. Then we compromised for sixty-forty but just for eighteen months instead of four years like it was supposed to be."

The words washed over her like wind. Any other time she would have listened to him with full attention, but not now. Reality can wait a few minutes – or a few years. She hummed, "Is that a good thing?"

Naruto chuckled and kissed her head again, "It's not a bad thing."

One of his hands unwrapped from her waist and came up to play with her hair. He had always loved her hair. "I'm taking a day off tomorrow."

Hinata frowned. He doesn't take days off if he can help it. It just piles up his already piled up workload. "Why?"

He shrugged, "I worked hard this week. I deserve a day off."

He deserved a month off for all the hard work he has done in just last two months.

Then his lips pressed down on her crown and he mumbled, "Plus, I missed you too much."

She grinned, but said, "I have work tomorrow."

She could just feel him making a pout behind her, "Can you take a day off too tomorrow?"

She can totally take next three days off easily. "I don't know. I have six designs that I have to submit by Monday."

"Please?"

She can finish them in two days, one if she brings them home. "I'll have to see. maybe I can get one or two of them done and come home early?"

"It's fine. I should have told you before." He kissed her head again, "Come home whenever you want, I'll be waiting."

He'll be working from home. If there's one thing Naruto Uzumaki can never do, it's wait. Hinata twisted back to give him a kiss, "I can take a sick leave tomorrow."

Naruto looked down at her mischievous smile and snorted, "You're so mean."

She turned around fully to face him and put her arms on his shoulders and his hands fell to her bare hips. There was absolutely nothing she could have done to tame the large smile that hasn't left her since he came home.

"So, what are we doing tomorrow, husband?"

"Whatever you want to do, wife," he squeezed her and added, "But right now we should probably get out of here. I brought take-out and it's getting colder by the minute."

…

She woke up to Naruto's legs tangled among hers – after so long that it felt deceptively foreign – and feather light kisses peppering on her shoulder. She smiled in the bliss she had been in for the last fifteen hours, until she felt his hand tracing small, light circles on her stomach.

Reality came crashing back. She had still not told him.

But before her thoughts could go on a tangent she didn't want them to, Naruto leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, "Good morning, 'Nata."

She loved how he called her 'Nata in the mornings in his raspy, sleepy voice. His hand slipped from her stomach to the bed and he turned her onto her back with the other hand.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he went back to kissing her neck and collar bone. "Good morning, Naruto."

Apparently, last night wasn't enough to make it up for the long week for him. It wasn't enough for her either.

At least now she didn't have to worry about getting knocked up because her IUS had run its course.

Hinata relaxed and slipped into the bliss that had held her last night and let Naruto do all the work this morning.

…

By the late evening all that was left of Hinata was a jumbled mess of guilt and anxiety.

Naruto was cooking – something he was good at but rarely did it. He always says it requires too much work with not enough rewards. It would take hours to make it and minutes to finish it. Hinata told him that it was only him who takes hours to make anything. Others can cook those same dishes in less than an hour.

Hinata sat on a stool around the kitchen island, sipping on the lemonade Naruto gave her to pass the time. They had gone shopping for curtains during the day – Naruto was confused but went with her without asking questions – and Hinata chose a wide selection of curtains for both of the forgotten bedrooms of the apartment. One of them was converted into a home office for Naruto, and it was as bare of personality as it was bare of his presence.

She would love to stay at home and give their apartment some much-needed attention, but that would come after the daddy knows he's going to become a daddy.

"I can help, you know?" she said as she watched him carefully cut the salad. He was adorable.

"Let me feed you for once, Hinata. A man needs to feel useful," he said without taking off his concentration from his work.

"You fed me last night, and this morning."

"It was takeout and omelettes, Hinata. That doesn't count."

Hinata sighed, praying her stomach won't growl. He is always so stubborn.

After fifteen more minutes, he presented her with two plates spaghetti, one plate of spinach and cheese stuffed chicken, one plate of fruit salad and two glasses of white wine, with a wide, proud smile on his face. Hinata knew without a doubt it would be one of the best dinners ever, except the wine, of course.

He sat beside her and then gave her a fork, nudging her to taste it and tell him how it is. He absolutely loved compliments, lived for them.

She ate a bite, and she wanted to moan and gobble it all in ten seconds. But she tried her hardest to chew slowly and swallowed, "It's… fine."

Naruto grinned and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, "You think you are so slick. I know you loved it." Then he turned to his plate, said "thanks for the food!" and started eating.

Hinata grinned and turned back to her plate, subtly picking up her wine glass and placing it on the stool on her other side.

When she finished, she picked up her plate, her empty lemonade glass and her full wine glass. She washed the dishes and then moved to take out the wine from the fridge. Her back tuned to Naruto to hide her hands, she poured her untouched wine back into the bottle.

She moved to put it back in the fridge, but stopped halfway to ask Naruto, "Do you want more wine?"

He extended his empty glass, "Please."

While he finished his food, she cleaned the kitchen. And then his arms came around her, his lips tracing the shell of her ear, "What do you want to do now, Hinata?" His hips pushed her into the counter, making it clear what he wanted to do.

"L-let's watch a movie," she stuttered, and told herself it was because of nervousness of telling him.

He kissed her sweet spot between her neck and shoulder, making her shiver, "Alright."

Then, before she could escape, he turned her around and grabbed her cheeks. She looked up, expecting to see a lustful look, but he was more serious than he had been the entire day, "Hinata. You know I love you, right?"

Hinata nodded, surprised and confused, "I know, Naruto."

He didn't smile, just kissed her softly, "Just making sure."

He knew.

He knew there was something she wasn't telling him. Hinata had been looking all day for a sign that he knew. He never asks her to tell him anything, he just tells her that he is there to listen.

Hinata could feel the back of her eyes burning, so she sent him away to pick a movie while she finished up.

He was on his phone, having set everything for movie – the lights, the couch, the blanket and even some apple juice. The movie was paused at the very beginning. All day, he was getting messages and mails that he only attended to when she was busy with other things. She told him that it didn't bother her, that she understands, but he never touches his phone when with her. (Unless it rings, because that means it's really important.)

She snuggled comfortably under the blanket beside him, and his arm came around her to bring her closer, like always. He started the movie, and she smiled. The Suicide Squad, of course.

He loves action comedies. He is always laughing and yelling and telling her random funny things all the while. But now he was quietly playing with her hair. Waiting to see if she will say something. If she didn't, she knew from experience, he would let it go and be normal tomorrow, assuming it wasn't important for him to know.

But this was important.

She sighed and looked up, Will Smith was selecting his choice of weapons from the feast laid bare to him. "Naruto."

"Yeah?" he hummed absently, but she knew she had his absolute attention.

"I need to talk to you," she mumbled, certain that he wouldn't understand the words.

Still, he said, "What is it?"

"I- We…" she turned to face him, knowing she couldn't say it without looking at him. "Remember a few months ago, when my phone broke down?"

"Yeah?"

"I- I missed a few appointments because it didn't give any reminders." She looked at his mouth, too guilty to look into his eyes.

"Okay… were any of them important?"

Her eyes burned and she nodded.

"What was it? Should I talk to them?" Naruto's hands slipped from her hair to her hands, gripping them in his larger ones.

Hinata shook her head, breathing slowly so her voice won't crack, "It was my gynaecologist."

Hinata saw the exact moment he understood, when his lips parted. It took him a few heartbeats to speak, "How long ago?"

"Five months," Hinata whispered.

His lips tightened like they do when he's thinking. One of hands came up to palm her cheek and tilt her head up. She knew he wanted to look into her eyes, her eyes that were now filled with tears.

"Are you pregnant?"

She looked down and nodded, a tear slipping from her eyes and immediately wiped off by his hand.

"Hey, hey, don't cry. Please don't cry, Hinata. Why are you crying?"

Hinata shook her head, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Naruto. It's all my fault. I'm so sorry."

"What? Hinata, hey look at me." Both his hands grabbed her face and she slowly opened her eyes. "Why are you crying?"

"Because it's all my fault. I –" she swallowed, "I knew we are not ready for a child. It's too soon. And this is all because of me. I should've paid attention. I should've been careful because I knew it was the fifth year. I should've gotten a new phone earlier. I wasn't responsible and now we are going to have a child we are not ready for. You don't have time for a kid. How will we even raise him or her? I can't do it alone, and I can't ask you to leave everything important to you just to babysit a kid. How will you focus on your company? You just told me the Dunes contract didn't work out as it should have, and now you have to care for a child on top of it too! I can't do that to you."

She was full on sobbing on his shoulder by the end. He rubbed her back, alternately kissing her head and whispering, "Shh, it's fine, it's alright, don't worry."

When her sobs subsided, he pulled her back to look at her, and she avoided meeting his eyes.

"I had no idea my work schedule was bothering you this much, Hinata," he said quietly.

Hinata immediately shook her head, but he put a finger on her lips.

"No, Hinata. It's bothering you, don't deny it. I knew you were sad because I have been absent most of the time lately. I was trying to finish up as much as I could so I can take a few days off and take you somewhere to relax, but if I knew you were this muchupset – I would have left everything and come back to you, Hinata. I'm sorry I didn't know."

Hinata shook her vigorously, "No, Naruto. You have a company to run. I don't expect you to leave everything just so I miss you a bit less. I understand. You have responsibilities, too."

Naruto smiled softly and closed his eyes, bringing his forehead to her. "That's where you are wrong, Hinata," he whispered softly and pulled back just enough so he could look at her.

"Yes, I have a company to run. And yes, it's still not as dependable as I would've liked. But I also have a wife to take care of. I guess I haven't stressed it enough in the last eight years. So, I'll tell you again – I love you, Hinata. You are my everything, not that company. Yes, I have always wanted to start my own business but since I met you, you have been the most important thing in my life. I must have gone wrong somewhere to make you forget that but I am going to use the rest of this week, and the rest of my life to show you just how important you are."

He kissed her once, then again, "I know I have told you this before, but I'll tell you again. The day you first talked to me and asked me to junior prom?"

Hinata smiled at the memory, and the memory of the second-best night of her high school. (The best was, of course, the night of senior prom.)

"By the end of the prom, when I was taking you home, I knew you were the girl I wanted to lose my virginity to, the girl I wanted to take home to meet my parents, the girl for who I wanted to become a better man, the girl who I wanted to marry, the girl who wanted to have kids with, the girl who I wanted to grow old with, the girl who I wanted to give my everything to. The girl with whom I wanted to share all that was mine. You were that girl, Hinata. Without you, I would be nothing. Absolutely nothing. I would still be working multiple jobs to save enough money to start my own business. I would still be working all day long and have nothing to look forward to. My parents would still be worried I wouldn't eat enough, wouldn't sleep enough, wouldn't call them enough. I would have no future to look forward to.

"I have all that now, and it's all thanks to you. Never, for a moment, forget that I am nothing without you, Hinata. You are the reason I am not just a breathing machine. I love you more than anything. Fuck the company. It wouldn't even be there if it weren't for you. If you hadn't made me quit all my jobs and supported us financially, it would have taken me a decade to even start the company. You are more important than the company. You are more important than everything else."

Hearing his intense, genuine words sent a fresh wave of tears cascading down her cheeks and she buried her face into his shirt.

"I love you, too, Naruto," she sniffled.

"And about the baby, Hinata?" His hand slipped to her flat stomach, "Sure, I would have waited a year or two more if I could. But it happened now. Fine. We'll manage. I have always wanted to have kids with you, Hinata. It just happened earlier than we planned. Doesn't make it bad. I'm happy we're going to have a baby. I mean, can you imagine? Me, a father and you, a mother. Though, honestly, I always pictured you as a great mother – sweet, gentle, patient, loving and not demon witch like Mom."

Hinata laughed. His mother was totally awesome. She can only hope to be half the mother that woman is.

Naruto looked into her eyes and said seriously, "Hinata, I promise you. You don't have to worry. Even a bit. I will be here as long as you want, whenever you want. I promise I will come home on time, take at least a day off every week, take you to doctor whenever you need to and help you in any way I can. And I promise I will never make you cry again. And I am going to be the best fucking dad to our kid."

He always kept his promises, that Hinata knew. Eight years, and he haven't broken a single promise he made to her.

"But you have to promise me too, Hinata. If you ever feel upset or angry at anything I did or did not do, do not bottle it up. Tell me. Please. Promise me Hinata you will tell me if I ever hurt you again."

Hinata nodded, "I promise, Naruto."

"Good." He kissed her, this time long and hard, though his hand on her stomach was gentle as ever. "Now do you want to finish the movie or go to bed?"

Hinata blinked at the screen which she hadn't even noticed was paused.

"Definitely bed."