Leni had finally settled down, as did the Loud family and the in-laws. Although still excited about a new baby soon to arrive and expand the family even more, they eventually moved on to other conversations, some more fluidly than others. His wife had stopped pestering Lori about motherhood and how to achieve it—he had never been so happy to let a topic die like that. He noticed that she was also drinking plenty of water…probably to water the bean.

Sooner or later he would have to have another talk with Leni about not being an aunt. She had been too excited. She had dreamed of becoming an aunt and for years had convinced herself that she would be one. He could easily imagine her forgetting what Lori had very specifically told her—she would never be an aunt to her children. And despite Lori mentioning that she was repeatedly having complications, deeply implying that she would never be able to have kids of her own right after actually saying it, it clearly flew over Leni's head.

And him? It certainly didn't fly over his head. He had been the one on Bobby's case about Lori disconnecting from everyone because it bothered his wife so much. But now that he knew why she'd done that, a sense of regret and guilt crashed down on him. He found himself imagining what it must be like for those two. He and Leni were so ready, so excited to start a family when they were still trying. Lori and Bobby had been the same way—ready, excited…impatient. He only hoped those "complications" Lori mentioned weren't multiple failed pregnancies, but he wasn't willing to bring that up to her or Bobby, just in case. He hoped Leni wouldn't bring it up either, although seeing as how she seemed completely unaware of that very important word, she probably never knew it was said.

Besides, right now even Lori, who had clearly been depressed upon arrival, was perky and enjoying this uplifting night. Bobby was right alongside her, happy as could be. Chaz paid close attention to Leni's food, wanting her to eat every last bite—the woman was eating for two now, even if the second one was just a bean.

Luan was engaged in a different conversation and he noticed Benny giving him glances every few minutes, perhaps to take mental notes on how to act around one's pregnant wife? It was an amazing feeling to have the woman you love carry your child. It would be really nice if Benny could experience that too, but they were making a smarter choice by thinking about being ready emotionally and financially rather than just jumping on the baby train.

He kept focusing on Leni as she went to the kitchen to grab more food and water.

"You know," Lori said as she put a hand on his shoulder. "I know Leni's a little slow and clumsy, but she's the most maternal person anyone will ever meet. You don't have to worry about her and the baby, she won't let anything happen to it."

Bobby looked past Lori and nodded, giving him a quick thumbs-up.

"Yeah," Chaz said. "I know I probably shouldn't worry as much as I do, just, it's our first child and Leni's…Leni. What if something happens she can't control? Like, she falls?"

"Trust me, Chaz, she's learned how to fall safely by now," Lori replied. "Kind of like a cat. She's very, um…experienced at it."

"Are you guys okay?" he asked the couple. "I know you've been trying and…then Leni made that whole scene."

"It was my fault she got that excited. If I'd just talked to her and explained things maybe she would've understood." Lori sighed. "Instead I stopped talking to anyone. Not my best move."

"No, I get it, that must've been really tough on you. That's why I'm a little concerned now, I mean, are you both okay with Leni being…"

"As much as she wanted to be an aunt, she wanted to be a mom even more. She's my little sister. I love seeing her like this," she answered. "Plus, who says I don't want to be an aunt?"

"And it'll be really cool to be an uncle," Bobby agreed. "We can babysit for you and Leni."

"And we can spoil your kids, give them tons of sugar, and send them home to let you two deal with the rest," Lori added.

"Kids? We're not having twins."

She laughed. "It's Leni, you're going to have two. At least."

He had to force himself to keep the thoughts of how many daughters he could end up having with her out of his head.

"Oh, our parents didn't believe in birth control until Lisa. Lily was a…surprise. But Leni does, you'll be fine." Sometimes it was creepy when people could read his mind, but Lori just blessed him with that news.

"Probably," she added. "Fertility runs high in this family."

He bit his lip. For now Leni was pregnant, he didn't have to worry about any "surprises" with her for seven more months. And she would be tired after giving birth to their son or daughter—most likely daughter at this point—so that could be up to another month. And then even he wouldn't be up for anything with a baby crying all night. Having to get up early for work the next morning… There probably wouldn't be any surprises for a while. He could worry about that later.

He sighed in relief.

"Well, listen, I'm really glad you two are okay with Leni being pregnant and as for you guys, you know, you could try to adopt. Sorry if I'm overstepping my bounds. Just thought it might help," he said.

Lori laughed.

"Bounds? I have nine sisters and one brother with two parents in a house that barely held all of us growing up, this is a huge family. There haven't been any boundaries here for a loooong time, and you've been part of our family for years. We have no problem talking about adoption or someone else's pregnancies or anything like that. In fact, we've talked about adoption ourselves but, it's not really the same and just knowing we can't have children of our own is still a rough patch we need to get through together. We might try to adopt later on. We appreciate the suggestion though. Thank you for thinking about us."

Even though he wasn't family by blood they treated him as just another member, as though he had lived with them his whole life but lacked the memories, just as they did all the other in-laws.

It could've remained a peaceful moment but Leni ran back to break it up, setting three bowls of white, fluffy cream in front of Lori, Bobby, and himself.

"Oh…thanks, Leni," Bobby said. "What is it?"

"Lucy and I made banana pudding earlier. Don't worry about the white stuff, it's whipped cream. It goes great with banana pudding! Kind of like a matching outfit but for food. Just don't wear it and you'll be fine," she answered.

"Where's yours?" Chaz asked.

"Oh, I don't want the baby to have too much sugar yet. It might get too hyper."

"That's not how it works, babe…"

She glared at him. "You told me that whatever goes into me goes into the baby!"

"Well, yeah, but not directly—"

"Were you lying?"

"No, of course not! I just meant that food have some things that are good and bad and some of those things can go into the baby. I don't mean it eats exactly what you eat."

She looked down at his pudding.

"So you don't like my cooking?"

"I love your cooking, your cooking is the best in the whole worl—"

He was cut off by a sharp wail as his wife began to cry, ignoring any compliments or backpedaling.

He heard Rita snort a few seats down and shake her head.

"Oh, I remember that one…" she said.

Her husband rubbed his ear and smirked.

"Your turn, Chaz." The man gave him a look that quickly shifted to Leni.

Chaz rubbed her back but she wouldn't calm down at his touch.

The entire table slowly went back to conversation but he couldn't even risk talking or joining in at all, verbally or not. He just had to wait until his wife stopped crying over a misunderstanding—another one of her misunderstandings…

A/N

Yup this was short. I hit a pretty bad block, sorry. Next one should come much better quality and length. Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!