The newlyweds ended up taking the bus to Jean's old apartment. Armin sat on the seat closest to the door, while Jean was standing up and holding onto the pull cord.
"After we visit my mom," Jean murmured to Armin, staying quiet so he didn't bother the other passengers, "you want to go out to dinner?"
Armin blinked. "Aren't you supposed to suggest dating before marriage?"
Jean snorted at that. "Yeah, but I can't help but feel like you need some time to unwind. Never know if you'll get another chance after the baby's born."
"That is true." The rest of the way there was in silence, until Jean pulled the cord once their destination was in sight.
...
Once Jean and Armin got the apartment number, they made their way to the second floor of the complex. As they went up, Armin tried to ignore Jean's hand on his shoulder.
It'd been a few weeks since Jean last spoke to his mother. She seemed amiable enough over the phone, but seeing and hearing could be two different things. Jean wished they'd at least brought flowers or something nice like that.
"Let me know if anything she says bothers you too much," Jean told Armin in a low voice once they'd arrived and knocked on the door. "That way we can get the hell out of there as quickly as need be."
Armin just nodded. He and Jean turned to look back to see Jean's mother opening the door. Her face showed barely any real emotion. She and Jean stared at each other for what felt like forever.
"...Hi Mom," Jean said finally.
...
All three of them were sitting quietly in the main room of the apartment. Miss Kirstein was busy pouring tea for herself and the boys. Jean and Armin just sat across from her, keeping their gazes down at their feet.
"So..." Miss Kirstein began. "The two of you are living on your own now."
"Yes ma'am," Armin replied, forcing himself to make eye contact. "We got Marco to help us with all that, so it's all been done in his name. We pay rent to the owner of the house, though."
Miss Kirstein sipped at her tea, then stared at his swollen belly. "I have to say, it is a bit...surreal to know that's my grandbaby in there."
"Yeah..." Armin put a hand on his stomach, leaving it there for a moment, before grabbing a cup of tea for himself. He wasn't really thirsty, and the tea smelled bad, but it was better than nothing. He didn't tell his mother-in-law any of that, though.
...
After they were done visiting Jean's mother, Jean made good on his promise. Now that Miss Kirstein would be willing to try and help them, they didn't have to worry about money as much. It was still a serious problem, but hopefully they could have a bit more spending money now and then.
"Sorry it's nothing fancy," Jean told Armin while the both of them were sitting outside a McDonald's. "I wanted to try and save some cash in case we needed groceries." Armin just waved it off like it didn't matter to him.
"I was beginning to crave something salty, anyway," he replied before shoving a few fries into his mouth. He did look over at Jean's side and noticed something a bit off. "Where's yours?"
Even with a somewhat muffled speech, Jean was able to understand him.
"Wasn't really hungry." He peered into the almost empty paper bag in between them. "I think I'm good with just the bag fries."
Armin made a pouty look. "No way, those are the best ones." It was clear he wasn't upset, though, and was just trying to be playful.
Jean made a look right back at him. He maintained it while reaching into the bag and pulled out a couple fries, eating them right in front of Armin.
By the time he'd finished eating them, and stared at Armin for a little longer, neither of them could keep a straight face anymore. They both pulled back and started laughing; for what reason exactly, neither of them were sure.
They were still in a good mood once they were finished and the bag was thrown away (after being emptied of its loose fries, of course). On the way back to the house, Armin rested his head on Jean's shoulder.
...
When the two of them were in bed that night, Jean was having a hard time getting to sleep. He kept tossing and turning, which resulted in him inadvertently pulling the blankets off of Armin.
"Jean?!" Armin certainly sounded irritated enough. It wasn't like Jean could see him very well; there was nothing but pure pitch black surrounding them both.
"Hm? Oh, sorry Armin," Jean said as he threw the blanket back over him. "Didn't meant to bother you, go back to sleep."
But Armin didn't go back to sleep. "Why are you even up at this hour in the first place?"
Jean groaned as he sat up and rubbed the side of his head. "Just got a lot on my mind, is all."
"Like what?" Armin's tone of voice had noticeably softened. "Is it something you can tell me?"
To Armin's question came an 'I dunno' before an actual answer. "I guess for one, whether or not I made the right choice in turning down the football team's invitation."
"I mean, I was really wanting to join the team again. Well, at first anyway. Then later on, I figured..." He threw up his hands before letting them collapse in his lap. By this time, Armin was rubbing his back and shoulders.
"I figured, is that really so important? Come on, I'm a senior, it won't be long before that really stops being very important to me. I'm not going to be a star quarterback at this point, and I'm...weirdly okay with it."
His pensiveness melted into solemn resignation. "I'm...okay with not being in football anymore. Huh."
Jean didn't say any more after that. He simply bowed his head down and let Armin try to relieve the tension in his upper back area.
The two of them slept well that night.
...
The amount of motor oil on Jean's hands was astounding (and a little terrifying). By now, he didn't even bother wiping it off unless absolutely necessary. He really only had to work on Thursdays (after making a sort of deal with the principal and teachers) and the weekends. Hence the black hand prints on a lot of things. Erwin and the other workers didn't mind; they did it too.
Jean was in the middle of an oil change when one of his co-workers (he thinks it's Gunther, or Mike) kicked the sole of his boot.
"You got a lunch date, Kirstein," he said. Jean tried not to hit his forehead on anything as he pushed himself back out.
"A what?" When he was completely out from under the car, Jean saw Armin standing a few feet away. In his hands was a large metal lunchbox, of which he was gripping the handle of rather tightly.
...
"I hope I didn't interrupt anything important," Armin said as he and Jean sat down in the break room.
Jean shook his head. "It was close to lunch time anyway." He took this quiet moment to unwrap an egg salad sandwich, then had a bite.
"Your co-workers seem nice enough."
"I think it's out of pity," Jean said when his mouth was clear again. "None of them have any idea what it's like to be a teen dad, so they just feel bad for me.
"I also got weird looks any time I said I was married. Well, I'd like to see them in my situation."
Armin raised an eyebrow as Jean kept talking. "Seventeen, married, and gonna be a dad. To all of them, I'm a loser who won't get anywhere in life. Kinda sucks."
Right before Armin could say anything about how that wasn't true in any way, he was stopped by a now familiar fluttering movement in his stomach.
"I think someone is telling you otherwise, Jean," he told him while holding a hand over the spot where most of the kicking had been.
No need to reiterate something said by an unborn child.
...
Back at school after lunch, Armin was sitting with Eren and Mikasa during their Home Ec class. Neither of them were really listening to the teacher, and instead were trying to finish up their remaining math problems before next period.
"Now class," Mister Freudenberg told everyone when he saw them. "You gotta pay attention to all this, if any of you plan on getting married anytime soon.
"Of course," he added with a smirk, "at least one of you already made that choice, so..."
Armin's face flushed a bright red. If Jean were here instead of at work, he'd probably risk detention (or even suspension) and punch Mister Freudenberg in the face for that.
But for now, he had to make do with Eren and Mikasa glaring at the teacher.
...
When Jean got home later that afternoon, Armin was curled up on the mattress under all the blankets.
"Armin...?" He could hear little moans and gasps of desperation. A closer look revealed that there was suspicious movement going on under all the layers of fabric. By then, it dawned on him what precisely Armin was doing. Because of this, he decided he was going to tease him a bit.
"Need a little help?" Armin was jolted out of his task at hand to see Jean bending down and smirking a bit deviously. Instead of telling him to buzz off, he nodded and moved to make room for him on the mattress.
According to what he said next, the baby was making him extremely horny for some inconceivable reason. He certainly would appreciate a little help with it.
Before long, Armin was seated in Jean's lap on the mattress, breathing deeply as he felt Jean carefully drag his long fingers across his uncovered, distended belly.
"You got some impressive stretch marks here," Jean murmured into Armin's ear, before his tongue began tracing along the cartilage.
"Yeah, sorry." Armin didn't understand why he felt the need to apologize; he did just in case, though. Jean, at least, was willing to try and make him feel better about them.
"I actually think they're really sexy." Hearing this made Armin blush; precisely why Jean found his stretch marks arousing, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. And he wouldn't be able to ask right now anyway; the way Jean nipped at his earlobe was rather distracting.
In time, the two of them managed to reach a sort of mutual orgasm. Armin reached his thanks to Jean's hands, while Jean got off from going the intercrural route.
It was while Jean was wiping his cum off of Armin's thighs that a certain phrase he wanted to say came to mind. By the time he wanted to say it, however, Armin was already in the process of drifting off to sleep (his thighs cleaned up thoroughly, of course).
"Armin?"
"Hm?"
Just as he was about to tell him, something inside Jean told him now wasn't really the time:
"...Never mind, it's nothing. Just go to sleep."
It went mostly unsaid when Jean turned the light off and plunged the house into near complete darkness. As a result, he ended up murmuring it into Armin's hair, as he held him closer while falling asleep himself:
"I love you."