AN: This is my twenty-eighth story and I still don't own Teen Titans!
Chapter 11
She just couldn't do it anymore. She felt absolutely ridiculous and knew that she no longer had a choice. She would have to retire her leotard for the time being. She was six months pregnant and it was definitely obvious that she was. No one had the heart to tell her that she actually looked like she was seven and a half months pregnant, due to the fact that she was carrying twins. So now she was in a maternity store in the mall, looking for something else to wear. Beast Boy was with her, since he never left her side for a moment, and was doing his best to help her.
"This looks nice," said Beast Boy, holding up a large dress.
"Ugh! It's a moomoo!" said Raven in disgust.
"Okay, sorry," he said quickly and hung it back on the rack.
"Why does it all have to look so… matronly?" asked Raven who wasn't impressed by anything in the store.
"That doesn't look half bad," said Beast Boy pointing to an outfit.
"It's bright green!" said Raven.
"Exactly," said Beast Boy, proudly.
"If you're not going to be serious then you can go wait in the car," growled Raven as she continued to look around.
"Sorry, just trying to liven up the mood a little," he sighed.
"Just look for something dark," said Raven. "Something that will hide this," she said, referring to her bulging stomach.
"But I like seeing your belly," said Beast Boy in a pout.
"Well I don't," scowled Raven. She went through about nine racks of clothes looking for something that would suit her. It seemed to be impossible. She finally found some black stretch pants and a dark blue shirt that was cut almost like a dress.
"Hey, what about this?" asked Beast Boy, going over to her. He showed her a pair of dark blue farmer jeans with a long sleeved black shirt under it.
"That's not bad," said Raven and she took it. She picked a few other items and went to try them all on. She had only been in there for about five minutes when she came out of the dressing room with weeping eyes.
"What's wrong?" asked Beast Boy.
"I look huge," she said, trying not to make a scene. "I'm so fat it's sickens me."
"Rae, you're not fat," said Beast Boy. "You've got a pregnant belly, that's all. You're legs are still perfect and your arms are still thin."
"Really?" asked Raven, wiping her eyes.
"Of course," said Beast Boy. "Now, why don't we just buy this stuff and you can try it on at home where you don't have to look in the mirror if you don't want to. Though, I don't know why you wouldn't. You look so beautiful it really is shocking."
Raven gave him a much needed smile and went back into the dressing room to grab the outfits. They quickly purchased them and decided to head to a baby store next. Raven had been putting off getting anything for the babies, mainly because she was still having trouble accepting that not only was she pregnant, she was going to have twins. But, she finally accepted it when she began to feel them move about, so now she was ready.
"You said you got a list, right?" asked Beast Boy.
"Yes, right here," said Raven, pulling a very long list out. She had really been getting into the whole baby thing recently. It was a nice change of pace, but it still freaked Beast Boy out. "Let's see… we should look at carriers first." She started heading off to the baby carrier section with Beast Boy right behind her.
They spent about an hour just trying to find the right one. In that time Raven had sent Beast Boy to the food court to get her a grande grilled burrito supreme from the taco shack. It was the perfect thing since she could walk around with it. The large kiwi lemonade, on the other hand, Beast Boy had to hold and pass to her when she needed a sip. After they finally found the perfect baby carrier they moved onto cribs.
"Rae, you do realize that we don't need to get everything today," said Beast Boy about three hours later.
"I know, but I figure as long as we're here we should get as much as possible," said Raven as she looked through the various little outfits the store offered. "You know how much I hate the mall. And soon I'll be too big to be anywhere for too long. My back already hurts and so do my feet."
"Well we've been out all day!" said Beast Boy. "We should really stop for the day and go home."
"Okay," sighed Raven. "Just let me find one last thing."
Beast Boy groaned as he watched Raven walk off into the bowels of the store. He was left guarding the three carriages they had filled. He wasn't sure how they were going to get all of this stuff to the car. She returned a few minutes later with a set of baby monitors.
Once they had purchased their hundreds of dollars worth of baby items, they headed back to the tower. On the way out Raven grabbed a large banana coconut smoothie and some teriyaki chicken. She felt quite famished.
Poor Cyborg had to help Beast Boy carry in all of the boxes and shopping bags. He couldn't believe all of the stuff they had bought. Raven was in no need of a baby shower now. Which was just what she wanted. She still didn't want anyone to know about what was going on. Unfortunately, that was not going to be the case for much longer.
"I'm going to put on something else," said Raven grabbing her maternity clothes bag and heading out of the common room.
"Wow, she's sure gettin big," said Cyborg.
"Yeah, but don't say anything to her about it," warned Beast Boy. "Whenever anyone reminds her she breaks out into tears."
"She sure has been embracin this whole being free to express her emotions thing, lately," said Cyborg.
"Well, I think she has a right to," said Beast Boy taking a seat on the couch. He needed to rest, if only for a few minutes. "Although, I do wish she was more happy laughing than crying weeping."
Suddenly their television screen turned on and Bumble Bee's face appeared. Beast Boy gave out a startled screech and nearly fell off of the couch.
"Hey guys," she said with a grin.
"Oh, uh, hello," said Beast Boy nervously. The Titans East didn't know anything about Raven or Starfire's current conditions.
"Hey there Sparky," smirked Bumble Bee. "How's it goin in the West?"
"Fine," said Cyborg, simply.
"So where's Robin and the rest?" asked Bumble Bee.
"Why? You don't wanna talk to me?" asked Cyborg with a grin.
"No, not particularly," said Bumble Bee coolly.
"Where's the rest of your team?" asked Beast Boy.
"They're right here," said Bumble Bee and the camera zoomed out showing the other four members of the Titans East, who all waved to Beast Boy and Cyborg. "Now show me the rest of your team."
"¿Dónde está Señorita Starfire?" asked Mas y Manos, pushing Bumble Bee out of the way so they could look around for their beloved Starfire.
"Oh, well, uh, Robin and Starfire aren't here at the moment," said Beast Boy, trying to think as quickly as he could.
"And Raven?" asked Aqualad. Beast Boy felt his blood boil upon hearing Aqualad say her name.
"Uh, she's in her room," said Cyborg before Beast Boy could say something he may regret.
"Well call her out here so we can say hello," said Bumble Bee. "We haven't seen you guys in like months."
"Yeah, well, we've been busy," said Beast Boy.
Suddenly the common room doors opened and Raven appeared in the black stretch pants and dark blue shirt. "You know, I hate to admit it, but this is really comfortable," said Raven as she entered. She was quite shocked to see the Titans East staring at her from the television. She felt frozen beneath their gaze and she couldn't move for the life of her.
"There you are Raven, we were just talk…" started Bumble Bee, but that's when she realized that something was different. "Uh, what are you wearin?"
"Oh, uh, nothing," said Raven with a nervous smile.
"Are you… smiling?" asked Speedy.
Raven realized she had made another mistake. She looked to Beast Boy and Cyborg and pleaded for their help with her eyes. Beast Boy quickly ran over to her and stood partially in front of her.
"So, anyway, everything's fine here, so we'll talk to you guys later," said Beast Boy, waving goodbye to them nervously.
"Okay, what's goin on?" asked Bumble Bee, crossing her arms.
"Nothing," all three said together.
"Like that isn't a dead give away," said Speedy.
"Why are you all so nervous?" asked Aqualad. "And Raven, you look… different."
"No I don't," said Raven, hiding a little more behind Beast Boy.
"Ella parece hinchado," said Mas to his brother.
"Sí, como globo," said Manos.
"And what's with that outfit?" asked Bumble Bee. "Girl, it makes you look pregnant or somethin. Actually, is that maternity clothes?"
"No!" all three said again.
Bumble Bee gasped and said, "Raven are you pregnant!"
Raven wasn't sure what to do. She really didn't want them to know, but on the other hand she was no longer ashamed of the fact. She was actually starting to enjoy the idea, so why should she hide? She slowly moved away from Beast Boy and exposed herself. "Yes," she said, awkwardly.
It grew very silent, other than Manos asking his brother what was going on, not that his twin could tell him. Beast Boy and Cyborg were awaiting the Titans East's response just as Raven was. They were all staring at her in shock, their jaws fully dropped. After a little while Raven couldn't take it anymore.
"Well, say something!" she said.
"Uh… congratulations?" Aqualad spoke up.
"When did this happen?" Bumble Bee practically shouted.
"Um, about six months ago," said Beast Boy, scratching the back of his head.
"And you guys didn't think to let us know?" she fumed. "This is a huge event!"
"We've been tryin to keep it on the down low," said Cyborg.
"Does anyone know?" asked Speedy.
"No, and just for this reason," said Raven. "We knew you'd all freak out."
"So, uh, who's the father?" asked Aqualad. All of the Titans East were wanting to ask this question but Aqualad seemed to be the only one to actually have the guts to ask it.
"Well, uh, I kinda am?" said Beast Boy with a sheepish smile.
It took a good ten minutes to bring the entire team of the Titans East back to consciousness. Which was hard since they were on the other side of the continent.