Warning to you younglings out there, this chapter contains some profane language, not a lot, just a 'lil.
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The dog sniffed at Gray's shoes.
"Hey, get lost you stupid animal!"
Alright, it's not like he hated animals or anything, it's just that he was in one of the worst situations ever imaginable right now and he didn't have the patience to be bothered by a mindless pet. He actually quite liked Claire's dog, nonetheless the poor thing dragged itself into a corner, ears drooping and tail between its legs. Well, now he felt bad.
For some reason sitting in Claire's house was making him unusually apprehensive. His arms were crossed and he tapped his foot in an agitated manner, what the hell was taking so long? After what seemed like an eternity the bathroom door opened and Claire stepped out.
"Positive."
"Y-you sound so sure, just how reliable are these?"
"I said it was positive, so it's positive."
"…Why the hell do you even have this freakin' box of pregnancy tests anway, you keep them for whenever you sleep around?"
"I have them because you told me to 'consider the possibility'! So shut your face!" She threw the plastic stick at him angrily. "Take a look for yourself."
His eyes narrowed at the two red lines.
"Well what the fuck."
"Hey it was your idea to do a re-test, not like it was going to change anything." She shrugged as she leaned on her countertop.
"I'm still skeptical about these things," he tossed the pregnancy test into the trash, "Let's go talk to Tim."
"You're planning on telling Tim? How can you do that! He'll tell everyone, I'll be run out of town…you too! We'll be renegades…homeless renegades…homeless pregnant renegades!"
Gray groaned, Claire was so un-fucking-believably idiotic.
"This is Tim the doctor we're talking about Claire, if we wanted to be ostracized from everyone we could tell someone like Manna. C'mon, a pregnancy test is nothing compared to a doctors diagnosis."
The blonde pouted, "But…I don't wanna."
He resisted the urge to smack her, instead he hoisted her over his shoulder and walked out the door.
"Uwahh, Gray you dumb…freak! Let go of me!"
Tim looked at the spectacle in the front lobby with tired eyes, not even noon and there was trouble brewing.
Gray had dumped Claire very unceremoniously onto the linoleum floor and now she was pounding his back with angry clenched fists, cursing all the while. Gray obviously didn't seem bothered because he walked over and greeted the doctor.
"Tim, how's it going?" He removed his baseball hat and nodded at Elli, who sitting at her desk.
"Things are fine, as always…and how are you today…Claire?" The girl in question halted her barrage on the blacksmith and looked at Tim.
"Oh, things could be better." Shrugging she slid off her jacket and scarf. "Actually doctor, there was something Gray and I needed to talk to you about."
Gray folded his arms and a serious look overcame his features, "It's sort of a private matter too, so it'd be great if you could keep quiet about it."
Tim nodded in an understanding manner but thought curiously as they walked into his office, what these two could possibly be hiding? Suddenly Claire shuffled foreword, just inches from his face.
"C-Claire, I must a-ask you to step back. You-you're violating my personal b-bubble." Tim stammered and pinked furiously until she pinched his cheek roughly.
"Tim this is serious, we need you to keep quiet. Like…really keep quiet."
Claire's super pinch held him in place as Gray leaned foreword in a very menacing manner.
"We mean it Tim, keep your mouth shut, or I'll shut it for you."
The fingers released his cheek and Tim backed away, these two were freaking him out. But nonetheless, it was his duty as a doctor to help those in need, and these two really seemed like they were in some serious need.
"Consider my mouth shut. Ahem, well then, what's the problem?"
Claire looked at Gray, "You tell him."
"You're kidding right? You do it."
"It's your fault! You say it!"
"My fault…? You little…" Gray's fists clenched angrily and Claire glared furiously.
"You little…you little what? What're you gonna call me, huh?"
Tim sighed, what happened to these two? From best friends to bitter enemies? He shook his head and was about to try and break up their argument when Claire stamped her foot angrily and hissed out an extremely shocking proclamation.
"You-you're the one who got me…pregnant."
Oh. So that's what the problem was.
Gray looked shocked as he floundered for a come back.
"It takes two to make a baby you know." He was blushing furiously.
"Well that was a waste of time."
"It was your idea."
"Would you please stop saying that, Claire? Goddess, it's my day off today and I'm even more stressed than usual."
Gray slumped into Claire's bed, his head in his hands. The tests Tim had run were, of course, positive for pregnancy. It had been a waste of time and he was more fed up than ever.
"Well grumping about like that isn't going to do you any good, you're the one who was all prepared for this a while back, what happened?" She was eating ice cream straight from the tub, he grunted and joined her.
"I ended up convincing myself that it would never happen after you yelled at me." He scooped up a spoonful of ice cream. "Cookie dough, not exactly my favorite."
When he went in for more she held the tub out of reach. "If it's not your favorite stop eating it, I'm eating for two now." She patted her (for now) flat stomach to emphasize her statement.
"I don't see why you're making this some sort of light-hearted conversation, this is serious shit. We need to think of a plan, ever consider abortion?"
He was promptly attacked with a large ice cream scoop.
"I will never consider abortion! You hear me Gray? Never! Babies, although still in the womb are people too, it's like…murder or something!"
He grabbed her hand firmly, "Calm down, God, I was kidding. Besides, if you were to get an abortion you'd have to go back to the city." He shrugged, "Doesn't seem worth the trouble in my eyes."
She went back to her ice cream and was quiet for a moment.
"So what do you propose?"
"I propose…to propose."
Claire sucked the spoon thoughtfully, "That…doesn't make any sense."
Sighing angrily Gray grabbed the spoon and ice cream tub from her, "Goddess Claire! Don't be so dimwitted, I know you're smarter than that. It's my responsibility right? I'll marry you if I have to." He turned away from her in an angry huff, or perhaps it was embarrassment.
"Huh, never thought you were the type. Here I was believing you'd leave me high and dry with a little bundle of unwanted joy."
"W-what the hell, if that's what you really want I'd be happy to stay a bachelor for a couple more years." He mumbled his mouth full of ice cream.
She smiled softly as she looked at the half eaten ice cream tub in his hands. "No…I'd rather like that first option…stick to your responsibility." She patted his back happily. "Just make sure when you give me that blue feather it'll be romantic."
He scoffed. "Wha-whatever. Idiot." He shoved the ice cream back into her hands. "You're eating for two now, so…don't screw things up."
He left an hour later and Claire thought to herself as she watched him from her window, that maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.
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Finally! Some actual relationship established between these two.
I see Gray as a bit of a jerk, hopefully he came out that way in this chapter. Aww, but he'll be a good papa, you know it ;)
Also, to all my reviewers so far just a word of thanks, your reviews mean so much to me!
