Eventually, the adrenaline wore off from the pregnancy test, and Tohru's exhaustion came roaring back. Kyo tucked her in and left her to sleep, but not before swearing up, down, and sideways to wake her in plenty of time to get ready for her doctor's appointment. She had been grateful, and the smile she sent his way as he stepped out of the room was sweet.

But once he was out of the room, Kyo's mind was racing in a thousand different directions. He'd been doing his best to hold himself together in front of Tohru, but now that he was alone, he was ready for at least a mild kind of freak out. They were going to be having a baby!

Kyo walked downstairs and collapsed at the living room table, his head in his hands. It was all just so incredible, it was still hard to process. He understood that people had accidental pregnancies all the time, but somehow, it had seemed like planned pregnancies always took time. Kyo had certainly been expecting there would be time involved, and not measured in weeks. Or was it days? If Tohru was pregnant now, and pregnant enough to know, then how long ago was it that they'd actually made the baby?

He was starting to suspect that he was wildly, woefully uninformed about pregnancy. And babies in general.

They'd been talking about this for so long. The 'do you want to have kids' conversations had started way back in the first year of their relationship, even before they'd graduated high school. And they'd both agreed they wanted kids. Tohru had always loved children, and she dreamed of being the kind of mom her own Mom had been. And Kyo was determined to be the kind of father Kazuma had been; to raise his kids with love, and affection. To build them up, not tear them down.

They'd also agreed they wanted to wait until they were married to start growing their family, and beyond that to be financially stable. And they wanted to have some time together as a married couple before they started thinking about kids.

This past spring, they'd started talking in earnest about children. That summer they'd be celebrating their second wedding anniversary, and both of them had good jobs. They had insurance. They had savings. On paper, everything looked perfect.

The only part Kyo had struggled with was the 'time' part. He loved the life he had with Tohru; over time, they'd built up the perfect routine together. He had always gotten up early to run and work out, so he usually made breakfast for both of them on workdays. Tohru's alarm would go off and she'd shower, occasionally with him joining her. They'd eat together, and he'd walk her to bus stop, then head on to the dojo for his personal training time and then work. Tohru always got home first, and she'd usually shop on her way. Dinner would be ready by the time Kyo got home from work in the evening. If he had a late class, they'd eat quickly and he'd leave; otherwise, they usually lingered over their meal, talking about their days or whatever else was going on in either of their lives. Nights he didn't have classes were time for them, either to go out and do something or just stay in. And then they'd always fall asleep together.

Weekends were typically lazier; Tohru usually slept in when she could. Kyo had his Saturday morning classes and one class early Saturday afternoon, so Tohru typically used that time to work in her garden, do chores, or see her friends. They'd both hang out with friends or fulfill other social commitments the rest of Saturdays, and Sundays were usually a day they just spent together at home.

It was a nice system, and it worked for them. Weekdays could sometimes be hectic, especially if Kyo was also picking up private lessons, but they always made sure they had time for each other. He had no complaints, not in terms of time to talk, not in terms of time to...do other things. But how much of that would change, once they had kids? He might be uninformed, but he wasn't stupid, and he knew that adding a baby was going to be turning their happy little life on its end. The new life could be happy, too, but it would still be different.

And that thought about things being 'different' had been Kyo's only hesitation when it came time to talk about children. He would have been fine pushing that idea out another few years; he knew he wanted children, but he could have waited longer with no issues.

Tohru, on the other hand...she was so ready for kids that it was almost painful. She couldn't see a baby without cooing, or a small child without her wanting to squat down and talk to it. She was always pointing out cute little baby clothes, or toys, and she absolutely adored their friends Riko and Yamato's one and a half year old daughter, Keiko. She also managed to always have new pictures of Hatori and Mayu's two-year-old daughter Kinu, in spite of the fact he never heard her talk on the phone with either of them. Also Ayame and Mine's baby daughter Hibika, and even Hiro's two year old brother Hikaru.

Kyo knew when he was beaten. Tohru was utterly head over heels in love with children, and her desire to mother something was reaching fever pitch. Either they started talking kids, or he'd come home one day to find she'd adopted a kitten and moved it into their bedroom. Of the two, he'd infinitely prefer a baby.

Then there'd been a weird back and forth where Tohru had worried Kyo wasn't ready and was just trying to make her happy, while Kyo had pushed back that he was ready, he was just also fine waiting. It had taken a few months of going around each other and talking, talking, talking before they'd finally agreed that yes, this was what they wanted, and they were ready for it to happen any time.

But neither of them had actually expected it right away. Tohru had actually warned Kyo, or maybe consoled him, that it could take months before conceiving. With how weird and delicate bodies were, there were a lot of variables that all had to line up to make things work, assuming everything worked to start with.

Clearly, in their case everything worked. Kyo supposed they could be grateful on that score, at least.

But still, she'd only taken out her implant the end of May. And it was the end of June now, so that meant that sometime between then and now, they'd actually made a baby. All that practice had paid off, he thought with an ironic chuckle.

He sighed, leaning back on his arms. How much was that going to change now? Was he still going to be able to creep up behind Tohru, wrap his arms around her, and start murmuring suggestive comments in her ear? Would they still be able to shower together? Would she still want him the same way, once there was a kid in the picture? Kyo closed his eyes and thought of the day just three weeks ago when he'd come home on a Tuesday to find Tohru waiting with dinner and wearing nothing but an apron, telling him in that falsely innocent way of hers that everything was ready, he just needed to be fast.

He'd been fast.

But was that really his problem? Was he worried about a baby because he was actually worried about sex? Because he was jealous of a baby cutting in on his time with Tohru?

Because he was jealous of anything that would take her attention away from him?

Kyo leaned back to rest his elbows on the table again and ran his hands across his face. Even thinking the words made him feel indescribably disgusted with himself. Since when had he been so damned insecure? Tohru had never given him any reason to worry, on any score. She loved him. She trusted him. She wanted him so much that she'd jumped him with less than fifteen minutes to work with. He knew her, better than anyone. He loved her. And he had to believe that she wasn't going to forget him, just because there was someone else who'd need her attention, too.

Tohru had said that the GP would be able to give her a pregnancy test today, and the test should have an estimate of how far along she was and what her due date was. Knowing when to expect the baby would certainly be a good start, but there was so much else to figure out. Like, how was the pregnancy going to affect Tohru? Was she going to be this whole tired the whole time? Was she even going to be able to function? What other symptoms was she going to have?

Thinking about it, Kyo was starting to frown. There was so much that he didn't know; didn't even have a clue about, even. He knew there were people he could talk to, but he wanted to make sure he was doing this right. Things might have moved faster than he'd thought, but that didn't mean he couldn't still try to be prepared.

Kyo pulled up the browser on his phone and started doing some reading, getting up at one point to grab a pen and paper. By the time he was done he'd made up a well-recommended little list of books; two on pregnancy, two about babies, and one about healthy eating during pregnancy. Satisfied with his research, he went to an online bookseller and ordered them.

It would have been nice if he could have just run down to the Hibe bookshop; they had to have at least one book on the subject, if not more. But they'd lived for too long in a small town to fall into that trap; all it would take was one person to see him even look at a book about pregnancy for the rumor mill to take off. And for now, this news was just for them.

"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Sohma! You are correct, you two are going to be having a baby!"

Kyo and Tohru squeezed each other's hands excitedly in the exam room at the doctor's office, Tohru perched on an exam table and Kyo standing beside her. In front of them, short and stocky little Dr. Mori was beaming as he looked back from the two of them to Tohru's lab results.

"It looks like you are sitting at about five, maybe six weeks pregnant right now, based on these results. And I know you'll be happy to hear that everything else looks like it's pretty normal, so based on this I feel confident saying that your fatigue is, as you guessed, due to being in the first trimester of pregnancy."

Dr. Mori lowered the chart and looked back at the young couple, smiling. This was one of the best parts about being a doctor; being able to be there when young couples found out they were growing their family. He'd known the Sohmas for four years, now, ever since they first moved into the area and before they were even married, so being able to play a little role in their happy news was a joy for him, too.

And they definitely looked happy about it, too, which sadly wasn't always the case. Sometimes it was necessarily to hide his own joy about pregnancies in order to be most helpful for his patients. But right now, there was no need to be cautious; the smile on Mrs. Sohma's face could light up the night sky! And Mr. Sohma...well, he mostly looked nervous. And a little bit confused. But happy, too.

And this wasn't the first time Dr. Mori had seen that mixture of emotions, especially from a father-to-be. Chuckling, he set down the chart and sat down on a wheeled office chair. "So now that we've sorted that part out, do either of you have any questions you'd like to ask? I'm sure you've got quite a lot going through your minds right now!"

Tohru didn't even know where to begin; her head was still spinning, even though it had been hours since the first initial positive test. But Kyo had a question, right out of the gate.

"Dr. Mori, you said...five or six weeks pregnant? But Tohru had her birth control implant in until just five weeks ago, so how is that...how does that work?"

Ah, yes. "Excellent question, Mr. Sohma! It's certainly not the most intuitive, but it has to do with the way the pregnancy is counted. For medical purposes, the first 'week' starts at the date of a woman's last period. Conception typically happens around 'week two' of a pregnancy. So if Mrs. Sohma is five weeks along, then you would have conceived roughly three weeks ago, or four, if she's actually six weeks along. We can make a good guess from the blood test, but you'll probably need to wait for your dating ultrasound to know for sure."

It still didn't make much sense to Kyo. Why start counting before anything actually happened? It made just as much sense, if not more, to start counting from the actual conception and go from there...but he could see how that might be hard, narrowing things down.

Dr. Mori could tell from Kyo's from that it still didn't make sense, and he chuckled. "As long as the terminology is being used correctly, Mr. Sohma, everyone will know exactly what it means. Every doctor, anyway. And for you two, it might be more helpful to know the tentative due date." He glanced down at the chart again. "Our best guess is March 6th, unless you're actually six weeks, which would make it February 27th. But that's another thing they'll be able to better determine after you've had your dating ultrasound."

March 6th or February 27th...somewhere around there, they were going to have a baby!

"Now then, you have a few options open to you for how you'd like to handle your care, Mrs. Sohma. I can certainly keep seeing you here for the early stages of your pregnancy, but you'll need to transfer care to either a midwife or an obstetrician before you get too advanced. We also don't have the necessary equipment here to do ultrasounds, so you'd need to either have those handled at the hospital or at an imagine center. You can also set up your care right away with a midwife or obstetrician, which could be simpler if you're comfortable with it. Basically, you have a lot of choices!"

Tohru smiled at Dr. Mori. "Well, I actually already have an OB, so I think I'll probably go ahead and just set up everything with her right away."

"Of course, that's no problem at all! In that case, I'd recommend calling and booking an exam for in about three weeks; that way you should be far enough along that they can get some good measures, and still early enough that the ultrasound will give specific dating details. When you call, just let them know how far along you are and that you're looking to have a dating exam."

Tohru couldn't help but giggle at the friendly advice; as a receptionist at that very clinic, she knew exactly what she needed to do! "I'll make sure to get it set up right away, Dr. Mori, thank you."

"So that's the scheduling...and the dates. So I guess we should hit some of the important high notes now." Dr. Mori picked up some print-outs from his desk and handed them to Tohru and Kyo, who started to shuffle through them. "The top one is medications, divided into 'safe,' 'not safe' and 'unknown.' If you ever plan to take any over the counter medications or supplements, please check them against this list and see if they're approved or not. If you're not already taking a prenatal vitamin, I strongly recommend you start; you'll want to make sure you're getting sufficient amounts of the necessary nutrients, especially folic acid. In terms of activity, you can pretty much do anything you want right now, but you need to..."

Dr. Mori kept talking, but Kyo had stopped listening, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information being given to them. Medicines. Supplements. Exercise. Foods to avoid. Foods to encourage. Good behaviors. Bad behaviors. Weeks of pregnancy. What to expect from appointments. Normal symptoms. Abnormal symptoms. Kyo's head felt like it was literally spinning.

He felt Tohru's hand squeezing his tightly, and he looked sideways to give her a tiny smile. She was still looking at Dr. Mori, and he knew she had to be listening to the seemingly endless amount of information. He didn't know how she could keep track of it all, even with the print-outs, and in that moment he felt almost pathetically grateful that she was the pregnant one, not him.

But he would sort this out, he would. As soon as his books arrived he was going to read them from cover to cover until he was versed in the entire process, weird counting systems and all. She was carrying his baby, and he was going to take care of her.

After they finished at the doctor and Tohru was getting dressed again, she gave him an exuberant smile. "March 6th, Kyo! We're going have a baby around March 6th!" Somehow, knowing the due date made everything feel that much more real to Tohru; like there was officially something to work towards, and something to plan for. "We're going to have a late winter baby."

"Sometime around then, yeah! I feel like the due date part was the one thing out of everything Dr. Mori said that actually made sense to me," commented Kyo with a bewildered look at the sheaf of print-outs. "I don't know how anyone is supposed to understand all of this in one go, I really don't."

"I don't think they actually are, Kyo, that's why we get to take the papers. So we can read them at home and learn from them!" Tohru smoothed down her dress and picked up her purse. "But we have a lot of time figure things out; if everything goes normally, then it'll be about 34 weeks before the baby comes!"

Saying it that way made it sound a lot further away than late winter, Kyo had to give her credit for that. "I guess, but it's probably good to know what you can and can't eat sooner than 34 weeks from now."

"Well, that part is a lot easier to keep track of. And don't worry, I'll be taking care of myself. Of both of us," Tohru said with a fond look down at her stomach.

In that moment, Kyo saw for the first time what he would come to call her 'motherly' look. A tender look of such sweet love and caring that it almost seemed wrong for it not to be directed at him. A look that said she loved unconditionally, and that she would be taking care.

'Both of us.'

She wasn't just his wife any more, Kyo realized. She was still that, but she wasn't just that. She was a mother, even now. The mother of his child. Even if it was too early for the world to tell, they knew, and that knowledge was already enough to change her.

"Kyo?" Tohru's voice sounded concerned, and he snapped back to attention to realize he'd missed her saying something else.

"Yeah, sorry Tohru, what were you saying?"

"I was saying that I don't take medicines often anyway, so it'll be easy to remember to check the list. But Kyo, are you feeling ok? Honestly? I feel like you've been zoning out a lot today," she said anxiously.

That was ironic, coming from her. But Kyo could understand her concern, and he took her hands in his. "I'm fine, Tohru. Really. I guess I'm just still trying to process...all of this," he said, indicating the room and the print outs and everything. He could see her look of concern deepening, and he did his best to try to get ahead of it all. "I'm happy, Tohru, really. I swear, I'm happy. I'm just still...stunned, that's all. When I woke up this morning I was worried that you were really sick with something and now we're standing here in the doctor's office being told that we'll have a baby before Hiro graduates, it's just...a lot to take in."

He gave her a nervous smile, and she smiled nervously back. "I promise, I'm ok, Tohru. I'm ok and I'm happy and I'm gonna do my best to learn all this stuff so I can actually be helpful. I even ordered some books this morning," he added. "So you know I'm serious."

Kyo's words were a huge weight off of Tohru's mind. Ever since she'd noticed him starting to stare blankly at the print outs, she'd been worried. In fact, she'd been vaguely worried before that, too; he'd been unusually quiet during their bus ride and in the clinic waiting area. She'd tried to chalk it up to nerves, but it had made her nervous; what did Kyo really think of all of this? And she kept thinking back to his face when he'd asked about the hidden pregnancy tests, and worrying even more.

Hearing him admit to being shell-shocked was a relief. And hearing that he'd bought some books was a surprise and delight! Kyo had never been much of a reader, but he was unflinchingly honest. If he said he was going to read some books, then she knew he was going to read those books.

She could understand him being scared; she was scared, too.

Before they went back to Hibe, there was one more stop Tohru wanted to make.

"So...we aren't telling anyone for a while, then? Is that the way you want to handle this?"

"I think so, Kyo. I'd rather wait until further along in the pregnancy, after we've made sure there aren't any...complications," Tohru looked down nervously, and Kyo squeezed her hand. "Unless we absolutely have to, I'd prefer to hold off on telling people for another six weeks or so, until I've reached the second trimester."

"Feels like a long time to wait, but if that's what you want to do, it's ok by me. Though it seems kinda unfair you get to tell them at your job and I can't at mine," Kyo said with a teasing grin as they walked up to the Nigeyashi OB/GYN Clinic.

"Well, the circumstances are just a tiny bit different, you have to admit," Tohru said with a laugh. "Your job isn't exactly going to be a lot of help, unlike mine."

"Mine is going to keep paying the bills, so I think it definitely counts for something."

"Oh, it always counts. Just not when it comes to telling them about our baby." Tohru leaned up and kissed him, then the two of them walked into the clinic.

They'd been with Dr. Mori for a long time, so there was only about an hour until the end of the day when Tohru and Kyo walked in. The waiting room was currently empty, which felt like a relief as Tohru made her way over to the reception desk. "Hi, Sakoto!"

"Oh, Sohma! What are you doing here, aren't you supposed to be at home resting?" Ami was surprised to see Tohru; considering how badly she'd been dragging all week, it had been a relief to know that she was staying home and resting today. So why was she here? "Oh, did you just have your doctor's appointment? I hope everything is ok."

"That's right, I was! And everything is ok. Great. Wonderful even," Tohru said, glancing back over her shoulder at Kyo.

"Oh, hi again Mr. Sohma! And, that's all good to hear, Sohma, hopefully that means you feel better on Monday. Is that what you wanted to stop in to tell me?"

Tohru smiled, the excited butterflies back in her stomach. "No, I actually stopped in because I need to make an appointment."

"An appointment."

"That's right."

A slow grin was spreading across Ami's face, and a matching grin across Tohru's.

"For?"

Tohru took a deep breath. "A dating ultrasound and pregnancy intake exam!"

Ami squealed and darted around from the reception desk. "Oh my gosh, so you are pregnant! I've been wondering ever since you had that talk yesterday with Dr. Watanabe, that's so amazing!" She gave Tohru a big hug, and Tohru returned the hug, beaming. "Congratulations! And to you too, Mr. Sohma," She added, giving Kyo a big smile.

This was the second time today he'd been congratulated, and for the second time Kyo wasn't sure how to respond. But he was happy; happy to see how excited Tohru was to share, happy how excited her friend was at the news. It honestly made him feel a little left out, knowing it would be weeks before he'd be able to feel that same joy from sharing the good news.

Still, he was happy to bask a little bit in Tohru's.

"Alright, so, a dating ultrasound and intake exam." Scuttling back around to the computer, Ami sat down in a flurry of excited motion. "Do you know when?"

"In three weeks, any day. Does Dr. Watanabe have anything open first thing in the morning still?"

"Hmm...I can put you down on Wednesday right at eight, if that works?"

"Yes, that'll be perfect." Tohru looked back over her shoulder at Kyo and smiled; an early appointment meant he could easily come with her, if he wanted.

Ami was still grinning when she handed Tohru the appointment card, and Tohru giggled back. She tucked the card into her purse and started to turn to leave, then paused. "Is Dr. Watanabe with a patient right now, Sakoto?"

"Nope, I think she's just charting. Let me see if she's free." Ami disappeared, then returned shortly with the doctor.

"Hello, Sohma; Sakoto said you'd stopped in on your way home from the doctor. I hope everything went well," Dr. Watanabe said, smiling as she took in the grinning faces of both receptionists.

"It did, Dr. Watanabe. I just wanted to tell you that...you were right, yesterday. It turns out that I'm five or six weeks pregnant!"

Dr. Watanabe laughed and shook Tohru's hand. "I'm so glad to hear it, Sohma; I had some very strong suspicions. Congratulations to you, and is this your husband?" She glanced over at Kyo, and he came over, feeling a little sheepish.

"Yes, this is my husband, Kyo. Kyo, this is Dr. Watanabe, one of the partners here. And my OB/GYN, for that matter, so you'll probably be seeing more of her before this is all over."

Kyo shook the doctor's hand, giving her his best smile. "It's nice to meet you, Doctor. Tohru told me we have you to thank for us even knowing about all of this, so...thanks for that. We had no idea, which probably sounds pretty dumb."

She laughed at that, shaking her head. "You'd be surprised, Mr. Sohma. So many people think the only notable symptoms are vomiting and nausea, but pregnancy is a very dynamic thing that can vary a lot from woman to woman. Extreme fatigue is pretty common, especially in the first trimester, but hopefully it will start to fade in a few more weeks."

Both Tohru and Kyo's faces dropped at that. "Weeks?"

"Hopefully. Like I said, it can vary from woman to woman." The look that the doctor gave Tohru then was one of pure sympathy, and Kyo could feel himself groaning inside.

They had to deal with this for weeks?

That was not what Tohru wanted to hear, but she probably ought to start getting used to it. "Well, then for now I'll just do my best to get plenty of rest and just do a little priority shuffling to get through everything that needs doing. I'm sure I'll be fine. And I'll be here bright and early on Monday," she said with a smile at Ami and Dr. Watanabe.

"Have a good weekend, Sohma. Congratulations again!"

"Yes, congratulations."

Tohru and Kyo made their way back to the bus stop, hand in hand. For the moment, Tohru was riding high on adrenaline, but both of them were bracing for the crash. And after a few minutes of silence, Tohru looked ruefully up at Kyo.

"Weeks, hmm?"

He let out a sigh that he'd been waiting on since the clinic. "Weeks...if we're lucky, from the sound of it."

"I'm so sorry, Kyo, I know this week has been hard on you."

"Hard on me?" Kyo raised an eyebrow at her, and she smiled sheepishly and looked down.

"Well, I haven't been very useful this week, or very affectionate, or very anything else, Kyo. Just sleepy."

"And? It's not like you planned it." Kyo lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. "This week has been rough, I admit it. But I've been worried about you, Tohru, and not knowing why just made me worry more. Now that we know, though..." he trailed off thoughtfully, trying to think of just how things would be going for a while. "Now we can figure out a plan. It's like you said back at the clinic, we just need to do some priority shuffling. It'll all work out."

He sounded so confident that Tohru couldn't help but believe him; that was always how he managed to sway her to his side, in the end. She hated leaving him so much work, but if he thought they could handle it, then who was she to argue?

"I love you, Kyo." Her voice was soft, but inside it, Kyo could hear trust. Care. Devotion. And unconditional love.

"Always and forever, Tohru."