The next morning, after what little they had was packed up and ready to go, Jean and Armin were now in front of their new home. As they predicted, it was rather low in the size department.
"I knew it was little," Armin said, following Jean carrying one of their boxes inside, "but I didn't realize just how little."
Jean shrugged, carefully making sure he didn't drop anything. "Yeah, but everything else about it, I think is pretty good. It's close to the schools, it's right next to work, you name it.
"Heck, it's even got a nice yard for the kid to play in when it's old enough. You know, depending on how long we're going to live here."
Armin let the subject drop, and picked up the other box of their belongings (that was all they really had: two big boxes). He followed in after Jean to help him move in properly.
When all was said and done, Armin was still a bit dumbfounded at the size of the place. Having the kitchen be barely large enough to have the necessities would take some getting used to. To his relief, there was a bathroom they could use (although it too was little).
Armin came in with the box he was holding, to see Jean kneeling in front of a bare mattress that took up half of the already small living room (it was connected directly to the kitchen). Next to him, the box he carried in was open, revealing some mismatched bedding they'd gotten from their classmates and friends.
"I guess it isn't a bad little place," Armin said to Jean as he sat down next to him. "It's got the essentials, which is good. And there's room for a crib if we can save up to get one."
Jean simply nodded in agreement. He then pulled out a brand new coverlet and threw it onto the mattress.
...
Later that night, as the couple slept, Armin had a terrible nightmare.
It entailed him being held down by unknown faceless creatures. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn't get free. One of them flashed a sharp-toothed, terrifying grin as it pulled out a rusty box cutter. Surrounding him were numerous others, each one saying or calling him horrible things.
As the monster approaching him placed the box cutter to his distended belly, he began to scream and struggle harder. As he did, he could hear another voice rising above the rest. It sounded an awful lot like Jean.
"Armin! Armin!" It called out to him. He still heard it right as that box cutter pierced his flesh.
Then, the nightmare ended. Armin was still hearing Jean's voice, however. He woke up in a cold sweat, to the feeling of Jean shaking him awake.
"Armin, it's me! Come on, wake up!" It took some more shaking and calling out for Armin to be completely roused awake. Then Armin lay there, trembling and panting. His big blue eyes drifted over to Jean, who helped him sit up.
"Jean...?" Was really all he could say. Jean pulled him over and held him to his chest. He tried to say more, but was shushed.
"You looked like you were having a bad dream."
Armin swallowed. "I was." He then just let Jean rock him side to side, in the hopes of calming him down a little more. It had gotten to him so badly, he actually burst into tears.
"Shhh..." Jean tried wiping away Armin's face as best he could. "It's okay. It's over now. Whatever that nightmare involved, it's not real. You'll be okay." Then Jean reached down to rub Armin's baby bump, like he wanted to reassure their unborn child as well.
Once things seemed to have calmed down, Jean and Armin lay back down onto the mattress and settled into a much more comfortable sleep. Jean held his arms around Armin, hoping that would be good enough for him.
Armin doesn't have any more bad dreams that night.
...
It was the smell of pancakes, maple syrup, hot chocolate, and a lot of other things that Armin had woken up to the next morning. He was distracted by it enough that he almost didn't notice that Jean wasn't in bed with him.
Looking through the doorway to the kitchen, he could see Jean at the counter, putting something together. He scooted over to the other side of the mattress as best he could to get a better look.
Jean looked behind his shoulder and grinned, telling him a surprisingly cheery-sounding "Mornin'", before grabbing a tray off the counter that held the things Armin could smell. "Figured we needed something to eat before we head off to school today. The school's breakfast options tend to be shit."
Though Armin was a little dumbfounded, he just figured that Jean was trying to be a decent and caring spouse. Beyond that, he figured he'd leave it alone. He wasn't even going to ask where precisely Jean got all the fixings for any of that (Marco probably came by earlier and dropped it off or something).
...
"I must say, Mister Kirstein," Principal Pyxis said to Jean one afternoon during school. "Your grades are improving surprisingly well."
Jean was a little confused. When he had been called to the office, he had to listen to all of the other students jeer at him. He wasn't expecting to be praised for actually doing his schoolwork for once.
"Uh...thanks, Mister Pyxis." He tried to ignore the principal pulling a flask out from under his desk. "Is...is that why I was called here, though?"
Principal Pyxis stopped mid-swig. "Oh yes, of course. It seems you and Mister Arlert are due for an unannounced doctor's appointment. I don't quite understand how that works, but Doctor Zoe asks that the two of you arrive sometime after four today."
"Okay."
"Good!" The principal took another swig. "You may return to class. Ah, and by any chance could you send in Mister Wagner and Miss Carolina as you leave? I need to discuss their recent 'liaison' in the auditorium."
...
"So...what did Doctor Hanji say this appointment was about again?"
After school was let out for the day, Jean and Armin were on their way to see Doctor Hanji. Somehow both of them forgot to make plans for a 20 week ultrasound. Given that it was a milestone for Armin's pregnancy, a plan for after school was made.
"Apparently, it's to see if we want to know the gender."
"Do we want to know the gender?"
Armin shrugged. "I guess we can decide when we get there."
While the two continued on, Jean hadn't realized that as both of them were talking, they started holding hands. When he did, it got him to blush a little. It looked to be the same for Armin.
...
Seeing just how big their child had gotten in the last few months astounded the couple. Even Doctor Hanji seemed impressed by the progress.
"Well, look at that," she told them while she used her doppler wand. "Seems you two have a lively one here." To prove her right, the fetus was moving about quite a bit.
Even so, she was able to point out its heartbeat. Just like the last ultrasound, Jean and Armin stared in awe.
Later at home, right after suppertime, Jean and Armin were watching cartoons when there was a knocking on the front door. Armin stood up off their mattress to answer it, but was stopped by Jean taking hold of one of his swollen ankles.
"Huh...?"
Jean held surprisingly firm. "I looked out the window. It's the football team. Don't bother. I'll go talk to them."
"But Jean-"
"Just wait here until they leave." Figuring he was just looking out for him, Armin nodded and sat back down. His gaze followed Jean as he got up instead to deal with his former teammates.
Trying to keep his attention diverted, Armin stared at the old-timey television that had come with the house (thank goodness it had a digital converter box and basic cable. Erwin clearly cared very much about his tenants). Even so, he could hear Jean speaking with the others.
"What do you guys want?" Jean asked of them all in a cold voice. There then came one of the others trying to explain their shitty behavior of late. Along with that, there were offers to give him parental help, and asking if he would come back on the team (Coach Shadis himself had asked this, one of them added on).
Jean stood at the door, silent for what seemed like too long. Then he made a split second decision to slam the door in all their faces.
Armin didn't bother asking; he knew that didn't go all too well. If he didn't hear it from all of them, he could sense it when Jean came back to their room, seething with anger.
In an attempt to calm him down, Armin leaned over and held one of his hands. Sure enough, Jean's growing rage was starting to simmer down. To try and make it lessen further, Armin kissed the top of his shoulder, and held his arm up a little.
"If it makes you feel any better, even just a little bit," Armin whispered, "I've been needing some help with my chest; it's been kind of leaky today."
Now Jean's anger dissolved, and turned into some kind of arousal. He reached up and gently played with one of Armin's nipples through his shirt (actually one of Jean's shirts; they didn't really have the means to get maternity wear for later on). As if on cue, a wet spot began to form beneath it.
"...Yeah, I think I can help with that."
...
Before long, Armin was keening with bliss as Jean sucked on one nipple, while pinching and rubbing the other.
He could just feel the milk flowing out, into Jean's eager mouth. Jean was quite determined to get it out by any means necessary. Armin was quite enamoured with the way his mouth and fingers worked.
"Jean! Ah...Ah...Oh yes!" He bit one of his knuckles to try and calm himself down; he wanted to feel the relief and pleasure Jean could give him.
He'd be lying if he said it didn't turn him on (it did, very much); there wasn't much reason to let Jean know that bit, though. Instead, Armin reached down as discreetly as possible, and gently pleasured himself.
...
Later, once Armin felt better (or at the least had a not as leaky chest) and went to sleep, Jean remained awake. He sat at the tiny dinner table, in a chair that he could barely fit on.
He knew Armin would never say anything, but he was certain that he really didn't want to live here. Despite the convenient location, the size wasn't right for a growing family. It looked like he was going to have to swallow his pride after all, as much as he didn't want to.
Shaking, Jean reached over and pulled the kitchen phone they'd gotten as a gift (from their pal Christa and her girlfriend Ymir, interestingly enough). It was hard enough trying to calm himself down enough to punch in the numbers.
He managed to do it, though. It was just too hard to keep himself from trembling so much. When the call connected, he resisted the urge to hang up immediately.
"Hello?" Hearing the voice on the other end of the line nearly obliterated him. Taking a deep breath, Jean spoke as calmly and as evenly as he could:
"Hey...Mom."