Fie was pregnant. That was the conclusion that Linde had come to. It all seemed impossible to the two of them, but the facts did line up with it...

Still, first and foremost they needed a definitive answer. That meant a trip to a clinic to get tested. While the closest ones were in Heimdallr, they were worried that some doctors might not be able to resist the urge to gossip if a pair of celebrities showed up to get a pregnancy test, medical practices be damned. Not wanting a repeat of the chaos that followed after his ill-planned proposal, Rean instead elected for the two of them to visit Linde all the way in Roer, as she was someone that they could trust.

This time they would be taking an airship for the trip, as he was worried about Fie. He wasn't quite sure what was going through her head in that moment, but her immediate actions after the call ended appeared to be designed to keep her mind distracted from the possibility so recently revealed to her. She was the one to insist upon driving the bike to Heimdallr and she was the one who called Sara to inform her senior that something had come up and they probably wouldn't be in today. It was remarkable how calm Fie pretended to be as she reassured their former instructor that nothing was wrong, but there was no way she could hide the shaking of her hand or the overall tenseness of her body from his eyes.

Something which continued onto the airship flight. It was clear that his partner was trying to focus on everything except for the news as she busied herself reading the assorted magazines and newspaper articles on board. Still, the fact that she was barely able to look him in the eyes and muttered maybe three lines the entire flight made it quite obvious that she wasn't able to distract herself as much as she clearly wanted.

As for Rean himself, well his thoughts weren't much less confusing. He didn't want to jump to any conclusions before they knew for certain, but that wasn't stopping him from considering how he should react if the news ended up the way he thought it would. While they had often discussed having a family together this was all so sudden and he didn't know how he should think.

If there was one thing he knew for certain, it was the fact that come what may he needed to remain calm, for Fie's sake if nothing else. Whatever feelings he had on the matter almost certainly paled in comparison to whatever she was going through right now. For once he was grateful for the inner demons he was plagued with while growing up as with it was thanks to them that he had such a strong handle on his emotions in that moment.

While far quicker than a train, the airship flight all the way to Roer was still a long one, so they were forced to eat a meal during the trip. Neither of them had much an appetite, so it was a somewhat painful experience as they did their best to force down the tasteless food provided to them, but at least it helped pass the time. By the time they finished their brunch they were already deep into the Nortia Province and the tell-tale pylons and towers that made up Roer were starting to come into view.

They had already informed Linde that they were coming and their friend had promised to take care of them even if they hadn't followed normal procedure with scheduling appointments. Gaius had to leave early that morning, but given that he had been part of the earlier conversation Rean had promised to let him know the end result one way or the other. Despite his placid attitude it was clear that their Nord friend was quite curious as to the outcome of it all.

The clinic where Linde worked at wasn't far from the airport, so the two were able to make the trip on foot after landing. It was such an unnatural feeling watching other people go about their daily lives without a care in the world while the two bracers were preparing themselves for what might end up being the most important announcement in their lives. Such idle thoughts only lasted until they reached their destination and stepped into the clinic.

Their friend was waiting for them and quickly ushered the two away into a different room before the handful of patients in the waiting room had a chance to recognize them, for which they were grateful. Not wasting any time Linde was quick to subject Fie to a series of tests and scans that the younger woman stoically accepted and Rean was forced to awkwardly witness. The entire process only took a few minutes to complete.

"Alright, that's all you need to do. Since these tests are designed for accuracy it will take a couple of hours for me to get the results." The pink-haired nurse stated. "You two can return to the waiting room if you want, but I don't mind if you choose to remain in here." There really wasn't anything of note in the small room they were in, but it afforded them privacy which made it far superior to the few amenities available in the main lobby. "I need to go see other patients now, but I will be back as soon as I have an answer for you."

With Linde gone the two were left alone in that room for an indeterminate amount of time. Rean thought about striking up a conversation to kill the time, but while he didn't think he was handling this as poorly as his love, he still found it hard to open his mouth while plagued by myriad thoughts. Of course if he was struggling than Fie was too, and the nervous girl was forced to fidget awkwardly in her seat as the minutes slowly passed.

Even if neither of them felt like talking, Rean felt he should do something to help his partner out, and so he did the first thing that came to mind. Reaching over he took her hand in his and laced their fingers together. Fie didn't verbally respond to the action, but she appeared to latch on to the gesture like it was a lifetime. Painfully, actually, given just how powerful her grip was, but it was a pain that he would stoically endure for her sake.

Time passed at an extremely slow rate as the two sat in that barren office room. Still, both were experienced with such painful waits and so they endured it. A few minutes became a handful, which eventually became an hour, and then two.

Midway through the third hour the door opened and Linde made her return. The girl, despite the professional nature she had built up in the last few years as a medical student and as a nurse appeared quite nervous as she greeted the two bracers. Rean supposed it must have been an entirely different sensation giving news like this to friends instead of random strangers.

"Sorry for the wait. After looking over the results all the tests have given the same answer." Their fellow Thor's graduate took a deep breath before making her next statement.

"All tests were positive. I can confirm that you are pregnant."

Fie didn't say anything, but let out a long shuddering breath as the news was given. Her grip on his hand, which had endured the entire time, grew even harder as she struggled to process the news.

Rean, struggling through his own emotions and the death grip that was threatening to break his hand, had to respond in her stead. "I-I see. Thank you for your help."

It must have been plainly obvious how conflicted they were as Linde gave the two a reassuring smile. "I know it's a lot to take in, but I have faith you two will be great parents." She paused as an idea came to mind. "We have plenty of resources available for first time parents. If you would like I can gather them up for you and drop them off the next time I'm in the capital. Vivi always complains if I don't stop by at least once a month, after all."

"R-Right. We appreciate it, thanks." Not for the first time in his life, Rean found himself mentally cursing the power he grew up with, but this time it was for a different reason. Because of his own fears and confusion he threw himself entirely into his sword training and never really paid much attention to the seemingly less important lessons his parents tried to teach him. Such as parenting. Something that would be very very handy right about now.

And if he thought he had it bad, just what kind of knowledge could Fie possibly have? While he knew that Zephyr did have a few women in their ranks, he strongly doubted that they were the kinds of people to explain such things to a little girl, especially as he doubted that they themselves had much experience in the matter. And Aidios forbid that her closest family members tried saying anything. As much as he respected Rutger, Xeno, and Leo for their combat prowess, he had a strong suspicion that any advice they gave on matters outside of that would be of dubious quality at best.

After some final advice from Linde the two were allowed to depart. As they had that morning, they took the airship back to the capital. It was a silent ride as it became abundantly clear that the silver-haired woman was bottling up her feelings. Not healthy, but as long as it only lasted until they returned to the privacy of their home it was probably alright. At least it beat making a big scene on the packed afternoon airship...

It was late in the afternoon by the time they landed in Heimdallr. Unsurprisingly, Fie kept up her stoic facade even after they left the public eye and began the bike ride home. That lasted right up until they walked through the doors of their home.

Almost immediately he found himself assaulted as she slammed into him with almost enough force to cause him to lose his balance. "Rean... I'm scared." Although he couldn't see her face, buried into his shoulder as it was, between the hitch in her voice and the feeling of dampness where she was, he could tell that she was crying.

"I know, my love. I'm worried too..."

She snorted in derision. "What do you have to be worried about? You're gonna make a great father. Not like me. As much as I kept saying I wanted a family, I wasn't expecting it to come this soon like this. I-I don't know what I'm doing..."

"I'm going to be the worst mom ever." There it was. All of her fears and insecurities summed up in one simple sentence.

As someone who spent most of his life plagued by his own self-doubts Rean understood the feeling well. Hearing it from the mouth of someone else made him understand why others always got so upset when he fell into that feeling. "That's not true at all!" He protested loudly and quickly.

"Isn't it? I have no memories of my real parents. The closest thing I had to a real family while growing up was a group of killers for hire. I know how messed up it all was and none if it is something any sane person would do for their own child. How can I be anything but the worst parent ever when I am so lost and clueless?"

While the facts she stated were indeed true, deep down Rean knew that she was wrong. He truly believed that she was going to be a great mother. But how could he possibly convince her of that, especially in her distressed state?

Wracking his brain he realized that searching for a logical answer was impossible. Instead, he opted to go with the strategy that had worked so well for him in the past. Others might tease him for it, but thus far the results had spoken for themselves.

He found the answer in his heart.

"I had two families while growing up. The first was Teo and Lucia Schwarzer. They weren't my parents by blood, but they took me in and treated me like their own son without hesitation. For so long I didn't feel like I deserved their love, but they gave it regardless. I was proud to be their son...

...And yet, they kept a secret from me for most of my life that ended up hurting me deeply. I could barely stand to be in their presence for so long after the Infernal Castle. Despite that I never stopped loving them because I knew without a doubt that they still loved me.

And of course, you have my birth parents. I have no memories of Kasia Osborne, but I know that her dying wish was for my survival. And as for my biological father..." He paused as he considered all the hardships he endured thanks to his father, but none of it changed his answer.

"...Well, we all know about what Giliath Osborne did. He killed so many people and brought pain and war to the continent. History will remember him as one of the world's greatest villains. And yet... All of it came about because he gave his own heart to his dying son and took the curse into himself. He was a terrible man, but I will never regret being his son, as I know all he did he did out of love."

He gave Fie a reassuring squeeze. "And it was the same with Zephyr, wasn't it? Like you said, they did some horrible things and I am sure most people would be aghast at the idea of professional killers as a family, and yet despite all that you turned out amazingly well. For all of the faults your old family had, there was no denying that under those gruff exteriors that Rutger, Xeno, Leo, and all the rest truly loved that little girl that ended up in their care."

He hoped he had gotten his point across by that point, but a few more examples came to mind. "And look at all our friends. Elliot's dad, the General. Laura's dad, the Viscount. Ash's mom was a hostess. Machias's dad was a close ally of the chancellor. All completely different families, but all share one thing in common:

It's love. Those families all worked out because despite everything they endured, they loved their children without hesitation. They all made mistakes along the way, no doubt about that, but their love was a bond resilient enough to endure those missteps.

And that's why I know you are going to be a great mom. I see your love as you nurture your flowers and help them bloom. More importantly, I feel your love in my heart each and every day, and it's that love that makes me stronger than any sword technique could ever provide. That love is all you need."

She looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes. "You make it all sound so easy..."

"Haha, sorry. I know it'll be anything but. There will be hardships and trials. Things we could never possibly plan for. Situations that we will have no idea how to deal with...

And yet... Your life has already been filled with those moments, hasn't it? As painful as all those experiences have been, you never gave up. You're unbreakable, and that's why I know that no matter what happens you will never not be there for our children."

She finally pulled away from him. She still bore the lingering effects of her crying, but she looked at him with a beautiful smile. "That has got to have been the cheesiest speech you have ever given, which is saying a lot... I love you so much."

He snorted in amusement. "You just had to add the first part, didn't you." A cheeky grin was his only reply. "I love you too."

"I'm still nervous." Fie admitted easily enough. "But I suppose that's natural, isn't it?"

"Hopefully, because I am too." If nothing else his speech had managed to even calm his own nerves somewhat, which was an unexpected bonus.

She perked up as a thought came to mind. "And we have one big advantage that most people don't. We've always said that Class VII was our one big family right? Well I think it's about time for our friends to find out exactly what that means."

That was true. Their children were going to be blessed with over a dozen uncles and aunts. That being said... "Not sure I would trust half of them around our children." The other half he might consider in an emergency. Maybe.

"...Oh crap. You're totally gonna be the most overprotective dad in the world, aren't you? Although I guess in this case it's alright. I might end up being the same, to be honest..."

She paused as a thought came to mind. "You are wrong about one thing, though."

"Huh?"

"When you said that I was unbreakable. I'm not." She frowned as recent memories came to mind. "I nearly broke I found out that you were taken. And now it would be even worse if that happened again, as there's no way I would be able to raise a child without you around. So please don't do anything stupid in the future, alright?"

That was an easy enough promise to make, even if he still occasionally struggled with carrying through on it. "I promise. But in return I want the same thing. I need you just as much as you need me, if not more so. So whatever happens we both need to do our best, for their sake if nothing else."

"Mmm." She agreed with a nod. "No matter what crap awaits us in the future with Ouroboros or any of the other idiots out to get us, we will survive. Our children will have both parents."

A simple promise, but one that would drive them in the future. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Huh?" His question was as vague as vague could be, so she wasn't sure how to respond.

He closed his eyes in thought. "Well... You're pregnant." Just saying that out loud was such a weird feeling to him, but one he knew he was going to need to get used to. "Are you still going to keep doing bracer work?"

"Damnit, I didn't even think of that..." One more annoying complication for Fie to deal with. That being said, she already knew the answer she wanted to give. "...I want to keep fighting. For as long as possible."

He frowned, not sure he liked that answer. "Fie..."

"I know, I know!" She didn't need that reproachful look from him! "I'm not ready to put it all on pause. Not yet." She raised a hand to forestall any arguments. "...But I know I can be pretty stubborn. So keep an eye on me, alright? As soon as you notice my performance starting to slip, I'll hang it all up until after the baby is born. Is that alright with you?"

Perhaps it wasn't the ideal answer for him, but... "Alright, I can accept that. I suppose if I were in your shoes I would want the same thing." She was wrong if she thought he was only going to be keeping one eye on her, however. Two eyes, at all times. And he would do that while making sure to seek out the most dangerous opponents for himself.

Fie groaned as she looked down at her belly as the scope of the situation slowly began to fully dawn on her. "This is gonna suck, isn't it?"

"...It's going to be a new experience, that's for sure."

"You could just agree with me and say that it's gonna suck instead of trying to be all nice about it." He could, but it was a lot funner to mess with her like that. "...The others cannot know about this."

The others. Rean hadn't even thought about them. While he certainly liked the idea of avoiding the chaos and insanity that inevitably occurred when Class VII got involved, there were a few problems with that. "But Gaius already knows."

She waved her hand dismissively. "He's not gonna tell anyone."

"True..." Their friend might poke and prod and subtly push them towards revealing it to the others, but he would never betray them by outright telling the others. "Still, it's not something you can hide forever, you know?"

"I know that!" She contested hotly. "I just need some time. I'm just barely starting to accept it and am not ready for Sara or the other girls to start pestering me about it. And I definitely do not want it to end up in the Imperial Chronicle again."

"Ugh..." Rean had actually forgotten about that fiasco and was unappreciative of the reminder. "Right. We'll tell the others when you're ready, but let's make sure to tell Vivi last. That being said, at some point we do need to tell my family..."

Fie nodded, easily conceding that point. "Sure, I doubt they'll blab anyways. Just make sure Elise doesn't tell the princess or all of Erebonia will know by the end of the week."

"Haha..." He laughed sheepishly, knowing that she was right on the mark with that statement. "The others are gonna be pretty mad when they find out and we didn't tell them."

She shrugged off his warning as irrelevant. "They'll get over it. And plus, I doubt it will be that long. They're sharp..." Fie paused briefly as she thought about the people they associated with most often. "...and nosy..." She began to frown. "...and they love to gossip." The girl let out a miserable sigh. "Our friends really suck, don't they?"

Rean was conflicted. "A part of me feels like I should say something in their defense, but..."

"...You can't defend the indefensible, I know. Wanna make a game about it? Who do you think will figure it out first?"

"I'm not sure we should be making a game out of this." Rationally he knew he was right, but rationality couldn't hold up under Fie's hopeful stare. "I mean its gotta be Sara, right? We see her every day."

She adopted a pensive look. "I guess so, but don't you think her seeing us practically every day means she's less likely to notice as any changes will be more subtle on a day to day basis?"

"That's a fair point..." He was a bit surprised that she was giving her opinions on this little contest she just came up with. "In that case, how about Laura? You see her often enough, but not every day. And she's certainly sharp enough to notice any changes."

"True. Anyways, my pick is Sara."

He blinked. "Huh? But didn't you just say..."

By this point her grin was positively devilish. "Yup. But I said that cause I wanted you to pick someone else. As much of a pain in the ass as she is, she's no dummy. She's gonna suspect something."

Damnit, he couldn't believe he fell into her trap. Still, a part of him was glad as he had a hunch that she was off the mark and he knew why. "Sure, she probably will, but you forgot one key point. She's lazy." A part of him felt bad that he was saying things like this behind their former teacher's back, but his competitive spirit had been raised and he refused to back down! "Even if she suspects something is she really going to figure things out on her own?"

He knew he scored a blow when she grimaced. "I could just start dropping some clues, you know?" It was a false threat and they both knew it, as that would defeat the entire purpose of keeping it quiet.

With that was a weird little tangent it did much to improve their spirits and now they could start looking to the future. Or in this case the more immediate future. "What do you want to do now?" The evening was still fairly early, but despite having done very little actual work Rean was completely and utterly exhausted and he knew that his partner was in the same boat, if not worse off. It had been an emotional roller coaster for both of them.

"Hmm..." He was positive that she was about to suggest they take the rest of the day off an relax, something which he was more than ready to agree to. "Why don't we sit down and figure out that guest list you mentioned last night?"

"Huh?" Apparently he was well off the mark with his assumption. "Who are you and what have you done with Fie? You always get lazy and stubborn whenever I suggest something like that!"

Said girl looked away with a tinge of red on her face knowing that he was right in his accusation. "Well... I guess I just have a little more incentive to make sure everything turns out alright, you know?" If he wasn't already well aware of what she was referring to the hand she placed on her belly made it obvious.

The swordsman laughed. "And you were worried that you aren't going to be a good mother." She tried to glare at him for that comment, but it didn't hit home as she appeared quite flustered by it as well. "In that case, I think it's a great idea. Let's do it!" Might as well hurry it along before her newfound motivation ran out.


Said motivation ran out pretty quickly, but considering Rean looked about as miserable as she felt she didn't think he would complain too much.

"...I knew there were a lot of people we needed to invite, but this is just stupid." The list that Rean wrote ended up far far larger than what they had anticipated. It was many pages long and even had some names that they had originally forgotten that he had hastily scribbled in the margins once they remembered.

He couldn't help but nod his head sadly in response to her statement. "I suppose in hindsight it makes sense. We had a lot of help during the Twilight." Come to find out when you were fighting to save the world you made strong bonds with those who helped out. And a lot of those bonds would suffer if they didn't at least send an invitation.

Fie scanned the massive list. "Your family, Class VII both old and new, our other friends from Thors, your students from the other classes, the royal family, our friends in the guild, the SSS, and all of our other allies..." And there were others that were left unsaid. Like his continued insistence that Xeno and Leo would somehow be there. She still wasn't sure if it could happen and was conflicted on it personally, but if Rean actually pulled it off...

"You know, the list would look a lot better if you didn't insist I add Ouroboros to it." He hadn't been impressed by her suggestion, but they both knew that if she insisted that he would relent. He was a big softy like that.

"We both know that some of them are gonna show up whether we invite them or not. Bleublanc pretty much guaranteed that."

Rean sighed miserably, knowing she was right. "That still doesn't mean you need to legitimize their actions!"

"I don't like it either, but do you really want to risk not having enough food or chairs or whatever because you were too stubborn to accept reality?"

"I... Fine." He hated conceding this to her, but she wasn't wrong. "We'll invite the crazy society hell-bent on destroying the world."

"Great!" Fie was more pleased by the fact that she scored the win over him than she was that he actually agreed to her idea. "I'm sure Emma will pass on the invitations to Vita for us."

Ouroboros, Zephyr, Class VII, Bracers, the SSS. "...This is going to end in disaster, isn't it?"

"Definitely." Her grin made it clear that such a prospect did not displease her. "They weren't common, but jaeger weddings did happen. And the best jaeger weddings always ended in a crazy brawl." She shrugged her shoulders. "I might not be a jaeger anymore, but I still have those instincts, I guess..."

"You're insane, that's what it is." He earned himself an annoyed look for his comment. "At least we now know to plan for an outdoor wedding. Wouldn't want to deal with our guests destroying the Heimdallr Cathedral or something..."

"That would be pretty awesome..." She was just saying that to get a rise out of him, but he did his best to ignore the comment, much to her chagrin. " Think that's enough for today?"

He nodded his head. "Honestly, this is more than I was expecting. Good work." He glanced down at his ARCUS, checking the time. "It's a bit early, but should we start getting ready for bed? I'm exhausted."

"Sure. I had actually been thinking about that..." He was understandably confused. "Well, you knocked me up, right? That means if we wanted to have a little bit of fun before we went to sleep we could afford to be slightly more... adventurous."

"Oh..." He muttered after hearing her words. "Oh!" A second later his eyes widened as he comprehended their meaning. "You know what? I'm not quite as exhausted as I thought I was..."

"That's what I thought." Being pregnant was going to be a total pain in the ass, but she might as well enjoy the perks of it while she could.


Late the next morning a pair of somewhat tired, but inordinately pleased bracers made their way to the guild. Given their unannounced absence the previous day they were prepared to work a long day to make up for it. The presence of Sara at the guild was entirely expected, given how well they knew their former teacher.

"So... Is everything good with the two of you?" It wasn't surprising that Sara knew something was wrong as she knew them well enough to know that them calling out of work at the last minute was entirely unlike them.

But at the same time, they knew that she knew that, and had prepared a countermeasure to stop her from asking questions. "Yup, it was nothing major. We brought that sepith we promised you." Providing a distraction was always an effective tool against Sara Valestein.

Rean was the one holding a rather sizable bag filled with the precious materials, which he handed over to the A-Rank bracer. "Take what you need, but I promised Toval some too so don't take it all."

"I know how you like to setup your orbment, Sara, so I know what you should be taking." Fie warned as the older woman started digging in.

The two left their mentor to instead search for job requests to do for the day. As was often the case whenever they went through some emotional ordeal, Fie immediately honed in on the most dangerous available monster extermination missions. Maybe that should have concerned Rean, but at the same time even he could appreciate the fun that simple violence occasionally provided.

Sara watched as her two students left for the day. Those kids were sharp, but not sharp enough. She knew that they knew that she knew something was off, and the sepith, while appreciated, was clearly just a distraction. Unfortunately, they would be too guarded around her to make any investigation possible, so she would need to seek out other options. And one such option was to get someone involved. Someone that would care enough to investigate, while still being someone subtle enough to not arouse suspicion.

And she knew just the person. The oldest member of the Class VII family took out her ARCUS and contacted the youngest. "Hey, it's Sara... Yeah, so anyways. Rean and Fie have been acting strangely the last two days... They didn't show up for work yesterday, but refused to explain why... I thought you might have a better chance at figuring this out..."

She smirked devilishly when she received an affirmative. There was no way this plan could possibly fail. "Great. Thanks, Altina."