Hallo and welcome back!

Thank you ghost for your review, I see we complement each other, please let me know if this was what you expected!
As always thanks to Rexica for beta-reading this.
Now you get yourself your tissue box and prepare for a few chapters worth of angst.

She dried her tears and washed her face in hopes of disguising her puffy red eyes. Deep breath. She'd have to talk with Law about this. Of course she didn't see Chopper as a child, but even she couldn't ask this of the boy… It was the best for all of them, but she knew she could not make this decision without Zoro, not without letting him know at least. She would need him, and she would go up there and tell him. One last calming breath, one final look in the mirror. She looked terrible, but it wouldn't change no matter how long she continued to stall…

Usually when she came up without clearance from Nami about marines or possible storms, he'd just continue his ridiculous amount of reps while she settled on the couch to read. This time, he stopped the moment she'd sat down, and she cursed how in tune to her emotions he was. She would have liked a few more moments to steel herself. He put his weights away and sat down next to her, concern creasing his brow as his eye took in her face.

"What's wrong?"

What was wrong? Everything! Everything was so very wrong, and she would love nothing more than to throw herself at this rock of a man and cry her eyes out instead of having this actual conversation with him. How on earth could she tell him? He probably wanted children, if his behaviour around Chopper or the kids on Water 7 was an indication. Didn't matter what he'd said after Luffy had married them, she was sure… "Do you want to have children?" she asked, face impassive, not betraying any of the inner turmoil.

His brows creased in confusion before he leaned back eying her warily. It had to seem like such an odd question to him. He sighed. "Well, not particularly," he said carefully. "I mean sure, it would be nice to settle down after all this and have some, but I really don't think it's possible for pirates like us…Damn marines would have executed Ace even if he hadn't become a pirate."

Oh dear lord… Ace… there really was no other way. Pirates' children were doomed from the day they were conceived. Doomed to be hunted like she had been.

"Robin?"

Deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

Confusion, realisation, shock. All those emotions she could see on his face disappearing as quickly as they had appeared, and in the end, he settled for acceptance. Of course he did. Couldn't be helped; what was done was done.

"Well fuck," he grunted. Right, fuck indeed. "How… When?"

"Wano, I think. When Kaido blasted the castle, my injection was burnt along with everything else. We had to improvise," she explained, knowing that he wouldn't hold it against her. Wouldn't tell her that he should have known about that; that she had been irresponsible sleeping with him knowing her birth control might be compromised. He wouldn't hate her for it, she knew that beyond any doubt, which was a good thing. Because even if she'd already been on her usual meds when they'd finally found each other again after the chaos of battle, there was not a moment since she found out that she didn't curse herself for her irrational acting. Victory Celebrations, raging hormones, and a rather long dry spell; none of that excused her behaviour! She should have known, that was her thing, knowing things, and now...

"Well, it can't be helped, we'll manage somehow," he said, ripping her from her downwards spiral and reaching for her, trying to tug her against his chest.

Of course… can't be helped, had he even heard what he had said before? She brushed him off. "Nami said we'll meet Law in about a month or two. I will ask him to terminate the pregnancy. I just thought you should know," she stated matter of factly, nails digging into her palms in an attempt to keep herself from crying all over again. He stared at her, shock prevailed this time.

"You what?" he bellowed, and she really tried to not take it personally. "Wano, that's like what 3 months ago? If we meet him in two months that's… that has to be more than half a kid already!"

She decided not to tell him that wasn't how gestation worked, because in a way, he was very much right. By then, their child would almost be able to survive under intensive care.

"Look, Robin, I'm not going to tell you what to do with your body, but there has to be a less… final way. That can't be healthy for you either?"

Oh this sweet, kind, stupid man. She broke, a sob ripped free from her throat, and her apathetic facade crumbled as she screamed at him, "Oh really, and what would that be? Don't you think I'd rather sit on a porch and watch you teach our children kata? Don't you think I'd rather hold them in my arms and protect them from every evil they could encounter?"

He held her, let her drench him in tears, her sweet comforting man.

"I just can't, Zoro, and neither can you. You said it yourself, they would have killed Ace either way. I can't give birth to a child to have it ripped away from me, I can't… How can I bring a child in a world that wants to kill it just for who its parents are? I know how it is to be alone and on the run, and I'd rather kill it myself before it can start to love and lose."

"All right," he sighed, and she was grateful that he didn't fight her on it. Her resolve was hanging on the thinnest thread imaginable. Saying it out loud had made things oddly real. It was the responsible thing to do. Bringing a child into a world that would detest it for just being alive… would be cruel. Not only would it be executed sooner or later, they themselves probably would and then what? It would love them unconditionally and would have to watch them hang. Would have to lose everyone it ever held dear…. She had never regretted following Luffy, but right now… right now she wanted nothing more than to open her eyes and be in a small bedroom instead of the crow's nest. And when she'd leave her sleeping husband behind, she'd go to the kitchen of their little house to prepare breakfast for him and the child that was right now growing under her heart. If it were a girl, she would have her intimidating father wrapped around her little finger, if it-

"There might be another way," he unknowingly interrupted her daydream.

If only there was…

He continued, "If the kid comes after you… then… we could ask Tashigi, maybe."

She looked up at him, but he just stared at the ceiling. It was impossible. Ace had been-

"She could say it was her child. You could send out clones when your pregnancy starts showing. Nobody would know you're pregnant. Tashigi could take a leave and come back with our child."

He was actually making a valid point. God, she wanted to believe in this, but… she knew he and the marine captain had a certain relationship, but this? This was too much. They couldn't possibly ask such a thing from her.

He was quiet, just stroked her hair with one hand and held her tight with the other, let her think on his idea. The sun set outside as she just lay there on his broad chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.

If Tashigi would agree to something like this… She could teach their child to fight, provide the best education, and probably raise it with a solid set of morals that both of them would agree with.

"Do you really think she would do that for you?" She asked, not quite ready to allow herself to hope, and still, her heart broke a little when he hesitated.

"I honestly don't know," he sighed. "What I know is that both she and Smoker don't agree with the government about their policy concerning pirates' kids, so… maybe she'd do it for the kid."

If Tashigi did that… she could raise it to- "What if she agrees but raises our child to become a marine?" she asked, pushing herself up from his chest to look into his eye. Was it really better to give birth only to later fight it themselves? She wouldn't be able to do it. Would he hate their child if it killed her? Terrify it to the core when he'd ascend on it with murder in his eye like he did with all his enemies? Wouldn't that be even crueler than to have it branded as a criminal from birth but with both of them at its side?

His reaction started as a low rumble in his chest and evolved into an all out laugh. "Are you serious, woman? You want to terminate because it would have a bounty on its head from day one, and now, we find another possible solution where it can be whatever the fuck it wants to be and you're worried about that?"

Her breath hitched, and she hung her head in shame. He was right of course, quite hypocritical of her. He took her face into his big hands, thumbs wiping away new tears she hadn't known she'd shed, amusement still dancing in his eye.

"If she agrees, and if she raises our kid to become a marine, then it can't be helped, but at least we'll know that it'll be the good kind of marine. The kind of marine this world needs more of."

Thank you all for reading, leave a comment and or kudos to share your thoughts with me, just please don't start a discussion about abortion...
Also, please join our discord, you can find the link on my ao3 profile, because ff is being a bitch about posting links.
Now because I'm on vacation and obviously left my brain back home I mixed up my posting schedule. Meaning the next chapter isn't beta read yet and probably won't be by next week. So either I'll upload it unbeta-ed and you have to suffer through all my grammar and punctuation mistakes or it'll be on break next week, let me know what you prefer.