Uraraka was trying to keep herself busy cleaning and cooking as the 'family meeting' approached, her hands covered in batter as she carefully breaded pork filets for tonkatsu. Uraraka had talked with everyone and figured out that tonight was the first day that they all had off together. Iida still had to video chat in, but at least she would only have to have this conversation once. Well… she admitted, maybe twice. Her parents occasionally asked her when she was going to settle down and marry one of those nice boys she's leading along, but most of the time they just simply didn't ask and she didn't tell. This baby would undoubtedly change things a bit. She just hoped that her parents would trust her to make the right choices for her and her family.
She heard the door open and Izuku called out down the hall, "I'm home!"
"Welcome home!" She replied. "I'm in the kitchen."
Izuku kicked off his shoes and came wandering into the kitchen. "Wow, you're really going all out!"
Uraraka giggled. "Well, I wanted to make sure we had enough for everyone." The table was set with all sorts of tasty treats.
"Is everything really okay, Urarako?" Izuku asked quietly as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, nuzzling her neck lightly.
She leaned back into his steadying presence, letting his scent envelop her. "It's not anything bad, my love. It's just important to me, and I want to be able to talk to everyone at once."
"Sorry, I can't help being anxious sometimes…" he trailed off as Uraraka rubbed her cheek against his.
"I know. Thanks for putting up with me being silly about it."
"Pfft .. I think you've put up with me way more than I've had to ever put up with you."
Uraraka giggled as he started trailing kisses up and down her neck and ear. "Deku, I've gotta finish these before everyone gets here. Go take your bath, silly."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be good," he pulled back, sliding his hand across her waist and kissing her head before heading to the back and Uraraka smiled to herself. It had taken a lot of encouragement to get him confident enough to be this casually affectionate, but it was so worth it.
The door opened a second time and Tsuyu's voice rang out. "I'm home, ribbit!"
Uraraka and Izuku both responded, his voice slightly muffled by the door to his room.
"This place is spotless, ribbit," Tsuyu noted as she headed into the kitchen.
"Well, I guess I've been looking forward to tonight all day and had to get the energy out somehow," Uraraka acknowledged as she started frying the cutlets in oil.
"That smells Izuku using the bath?"
"He's getting ready to get in, if you want to join him," Uraraka suggested and Tsuyu blushed. Their relationship had only really started developing in the last year since they all moved in together. Tsuyu had crushed on Izuku for years, but hadn't ever acted on it until Uraraka had suggested that maybe they should explore it.
"Y...yeah. I think I'll do that, ribbit," Tsuyu agreed and wandered towards the bathroom.
Uraraka felt that odd little mixture of happiness and worry wind its way through her again and smiled. 'I wonder if it ever gets easier,' she wondered to herself. On the one hand she was happy for both of them to find happiness and peace together. Everyone had been through so much and they deserved every moment of joy that they could wring from life. But that didn't stop the slight worry that perhaps they wouldn't need her in their lives any more, now that they had found each other. She knew that it was ridiculous; Izuku sharing her with Tenya, Bakugo, or Tsuyu hadn't diminished her feelings for Izuku, or any other combination of partners. Admittedly, it had gotten slightly easier when Tenya and Izuku managed to convince her and Tsuyu to let the lease expire on their apartment and just move all four of them into the larger apartment that the Iida family had provided for their youngest son. They all still contributed to their home, but not having to travel to see each other had its benefits.
She shook her head and finished with her setup. Food on table - check. Laptop set up for video - check. By the time she'd cleaned up the kitchen they were done with their bath and hanging out in the living room, discussing their day.
When the doorbell rang, she nearly jumped out of her skin. Izuku got up and answered the door, and she could hear Kirishima in the hall.
"Hey, man. Thanks for having us over!"
"No problem," Izuku grinned. "Uraraka is the one who's gone out of her way to set everything up."
"Tch." Bakugo's attitude had improved since highschool, but his relationship with Izuku wasn't always what people would call "friendly."
"Come in, before the food gets cold," Uraraka called.
"All right!" Kirishima grinned and headed to the table, coming around to give Uraraka a hug. "Hey, Cheeks."
"Hi, Red," she squeezed him back. "You getting into trouble?"
"Always." He stepped back and held her at arm's length. "Is it just me, or are you looking extra thicc?"
Uraraka squeaked and flushed, barely avoiding making herself float as she covered her face in her hands.
"Cut it out, Shitty Hair!" Bakugo, growled.
"I guess we've been neglecting our training a bit with everything that's been going on, ribbit," Tsuyu interjected.
"Hahaha, yeah, well, we'd better start eating before it gets cold," Uraraka deflected, but Bakugo's gaze held hers for a few moments too long. 'Darn him for always being way more perceptive than he should be.'
However, Izuku started pulling out his chair and everyone followed suit, and soon everyone was seated. "Itadakimasu!"
Uraraka tried to enjoy the meal, and keep up with conversation, but her mind wandered, and she found herself fretting and distracted. They needed to be on the computer at 7 to connect with Tenya; the smell of egg was turning her stomach, but the pickled cucumber was delicious.
"Hey, Cheeks, you there?" Bakugo asked, waving his chopsticks in front of her face and she jumped.
"Uh, yeah! Sorry, I'm just caught up in my thoughts." Everyone gave her worried looks around the table. She tried "Izuku, can you set up the computer while I get things cleaned up?"
"Uh, sure," Izuku said, grabbing the laptop and waking it from sleep mode as he headed over to the couch where it would be easier to try to get everyone gathered.
"Are you sure she's okay, Nerd?" Bakugo growled quietly as he sat beside the green-haired man.
"She keeps saying she is," Deku muttered as he typed in the password.
"Yeah. She just has the video chat ready to start with one click. And a huge dinner that she barely ate. And has been acting weird for the last week. But she's just fine. Right."
Izuku sighed. "Look, I'm sure she has a good reason for this."
"She better."
"I'm calling Iida now," Izuku called loudly enough that Kirishima, Tsuyu, and Uraraka could hear over the noise of clearing the table and washing dishes.
"Kay, we're almost done here," Uraraka called back.
It was still a few minutes early, but Tenya's familiar dark hair, square jaw, and glasses appeared on the screen almost immediately.
"Greetings," Tenya said, raising one hand. "Can you hear me?"
"Yep, you're coming through loud and clear," Izuku replied. It made Uraraka smile because it was how they started pretty much every conversation.
"Hello Bakugo. Where is everyone else?"
"Oh, they're cleaning up from dinner. Uraraka made tonkatsu."
"Ah, and now I'm jealous. Her food is always delicious."
"Oh, you charmer," Uraraka said, dropping onto the couch next to Izuku.
"Hello, Raka," Tenya's smile was genuine.
"Hey Iida, how's America treating you?" Kirishima asked as he sat next to Bakugo.
"I have been very happy with the work and accommodations that have been provided to me, although I do admit that I miss home cooked meals."
"American food just isn't the same, ribbit," Tsuyu agreed. She'd done a half year there for an internship right out of UA.
"Can we get this damn family meeting over with already," growled Bakugo.
Everyone quieted and Uraraka took a deep breath. "Yeah, let's. Okay, thanks for waiting. What I wanted to tell everyone is that I'm pregnant."
The silence stretched out for a moment before Tsuyu squealed and wrapped her partner in a tight hug.
Kirishima's eyes were wide and practically sparkling. "I'm gonna be an uncle!"
"Congratulations should be in order," Iida commented, although Uraraka noted that he seemed a little stunned. "But, I have to ask, who do you think is the father?"
Uraraka glanced at Izuku and Bakugo and realized that both of them were staring at her. Izuku's eyes were wide and she could practically see the mixture of hope and anxiety seeping from him. Bakugo, on the other hand, was looking stunned, his mouth slightly open and his face somewhat blank.
"Well, given the time frame, it could be either Izuku or Katsuki. I'm… not entirely sure."
"Ribbit," Tsuyu croaked into the silence.
"Indeed," Iida muttered. "Then, how do you wish to go about this?"
"It's simple, four-eyes. We split the father duties and go to all the bullshit appointments until we know who the dad is," Katsuki snarled.
"Wait, both of us?" Izuku turned to Katsuki in surprise.
"Yeah, I don't know about you, but I'm not going to miss out on anything if it might be my kid, you understand, nerd?"
"Well, yeah, I don't want to miss out on anything either. But, is that okay with you, Uraraka?"
Uraraka smiled. "Yeah. Honestly, with all of our schedules it'll be nice to know that I won't have to do it alone."
"Chako, you would never be alone, ribbit," Tsuyu told her, entwining their fingers together. "Even if none of us were available, Momo, Mina, Todoroki, or any of the others would totally step up to help. We're family."
"Indeed," said Iida. "I wish I was there right now. I'll put in a request to be sent back to Japan tomorrow."
"But Tenya, you're still supposed to be there for the next three months!" Uraraka frowned. "I don't want to cause any trouble for your career."
"I want to be there for our family's first baby, Uraraka. I can always continue Hero work in Japan," Iida smiled at her and finally all the tears came flooding out.
"Uraraka!" Izuku wrapped his arms around her as she started to bawl.
"Hey, what the hell, Cheeks!" Bakugo snarled, reaching past Izuku to run his fingers through her hair. "You know we're here for you." Tsuyu wrapped her arms around her from the other side as Uraraka leaned on Izuku's shoulder.
"I know, I just… I love you all so much." Uraraka sniffled as another round of tears streamed down her face.
"Oi, don't tell me pregnancy hormones are going to make you like this the entire time?" Bakugo grumped, ruffling her hair.
"No, sometimes they'll make me hungry or horny or angry. At least that's what the stuff I've looked up online says."
"Well, I don't mind the middle one." Bakugo smirked.
She smirked and peeked at him over Izuku's shoulder. "Pervert." He just grinned at her.
"So, when do we want to start telling people about this?" Izuku asked as Uraraka disentangled herself from his lap. "I know my mom's going to want to know."
Uraraka bit her lip. "Well, I'm going to be seeing my folks this weekend, and I want to tell them then. I kind of already told Momo," she looked at the group with a somewhat guilty expression.
Izuku nodded. "You went to her for advice?" Uraraka nodded.
"That makes sense, ribbit," Tsuyu noted. "I mean, she's the only other mom in the group yet."
Uraraka giggled. "Well, according to her, Denki was hoping Jirou would be the second, but I guess we beat her to it."
"Pikachu a dad? Could things get any weirder?" Bakugo rolled his eyes.
"Two words, bakubro: Papa Mineta," Kirishima opined.
Everyone shuddered. There had been a brief scare when Mineta's creepy stalker ex-girlfriend, Sato, had claimed she was pregnant to try and get him back, but eventually everything had been sorted out.
"Dude, that was uncalled for." Bakugo shook his head. "Now I need brain bleach again."
Everyone laughed, but Ururaka brought them back to the discussion at hand.
"Honestly, I think you can tell people at your leisure. I mean, I'm probably going to make a post in the class 1A group chat anyway, so it's really just telling parents."
"Well, my mom doesn't really understand our whole living situation, but I'm sure she'll be thrilled about grandbabies regardless," Izuku admitted.
Uraraka giggled. Inko had been dropping broad hints for almost three years.
"Well, I think most of our parents are going to be excited about a baby," Kirishima noted. "I mean, not that I'm really involved."
"On the contrary," Iida spoke up. "You're still part of our family, and so you can be involved as you wish to be."
"I mean," said Izuku, "I grew up with just me and my mom, and while I love her, I kind of wish that there had been more adults for me to look up to in my life. I adored All Might, but I didn't get to see him as a flawed human until I was older and I think I would have made some better decisions if I'd realized that even Heroes were just people too. I want my kids to see all sorts of Heroes and learn from all of them."
Uraraka reached out and traced her fingers along one of the scars that ran along his arm. It was true that Izuku had internalized that he had to do things on his own and struggled to rely on others even after everything he'd been through. She really didn't blame Inko, but raising him without his father had left some wounds.
"Do you want someone to go with you when you tell your parents?" Bakugo asked, changing the subject.
"Um… no. I think I'm going to talk to them by myself," Uraraka noted.
"One minute she's crying because she's happy we'll be there, and the next she's telling us she doesn't need us," Bakugo noted.
She stuck her tongue out at him. "I am happy about you guys being supportive. I just… have been skirting around the edges of explaining my relationships with everyone, and I just want to lay it all out for them. And I don't want them getting the impression that whoever I bring is "the most special one" or something. I know that they'll support me, but it may take a little work for them to understand."
The evening started to wind down after that. Iida had to log off soon after, Tsuyu had a night shift, and Kirishima and Bakugo headed home.
Izuku sat on the couch, his arm around Uraraka and she leaned against him. "Feel better?"
She smiled sleepily. "Yeah."