Author's Notes: Wow, this is a relatively quick update... you know... for me. Haha. I've just been getting a lot of cute little ideas lately, so I figured I'd put some of them to good use. I've actually started writing the next chapter as part of this one, but decided that they would be better separated.

I'm also happy to announce that I have solidified (well, mostly solidified) a plot for this story. And for those of you who read my other story, Tag, I'm so sorry for the lack of updates! I know where that one's going too, it's just the getting there that's the problem... *sigh* Anyways enjoy! And please please please review! They make my day, seriously. ^_^

Yako woke up around 12:30 the next afternoon thoroughly disoriented and grumpy. She'd finally fallen into a restless sleep just as the sun was rising over the buildings to the east and beginning to peak through the curtains. Neuro probably hadn't slept at all.

"Who cares…" she mumbled to herself, though she felt guilty as soon as she had. Twisting to face Neuro's side of he bed, she wasn't surprised to see it was empty. She'd learned from the start that Neuro was an early riser. He also had a thoroughly annoying habit of leaving the house without telling her – especially in the early morning - and almost always managed to get himself into trouble that she would have to help him with later, when the situation, whatever it was, had become desperate. Yako knew for a fact he did it on purpose: her husband absolutely delighted in tormenting her, though thankfully he had laid off the physical torture he had put her through as a teenager – for the most part anyway. Sometimes Yako wondered if it would be worth all the aches and pains if she didn't have to worry about him so much.

Rubbing her eyes slowly, still trying to shake off the sleep she'd finally been able to find what seemed not long enough ago, Yako sat up in bed. Her stomach growled loudly, and Yako cursed softly to herself. She'd missed breakfast, and nearly lunch too. No wonder she was in such an ill temper. Sleep deprivation came with the territory of being married to a demon who only needed a few hours of sleep every other week or so, but Neuro was wise enough to never interfere with Yako's monstrous appetite. She was scary when she was truly hungry, even to Neuro.

An hour and a full stomach later, Yako wandered back into the bedroom, still too sleepy to face the world yet. Thank God it's a Sunday… she sighed to herself as she prepared to slide back under the warm blankets. That's when she noticed the shower was running behind the closed door to the bathroom. Neuro must have come home while she was eating, and hadn't wanted to face her after their disagreement earlier that morning. Yako nearly ignored his presence in a sudden surge of annoyance, but thought better of it. Odds are he'd gotten himself hurt again, and if not, she knew deep down that they couldn't ignore their argument forever. Better to face it now.

Yako stood for a while in front of the bathroom with her hand poised to knock on the door. She could always just go in: they were married for Heaven's sake and she knew for a fact Neuro wouldn't mind. But something stopped her. And that something wouldn't even let her knock. She knew Neuro had already sensed her presence and could just call her in, but that same something was stopping him as well.

Finally the human gave up and turned away, leaning her back against the door and allowing herself to slide down it into a sitting position. She could talk just fine from out here, and Neuro would hear her just as well. She felt like an idiot, guilty, and insensitive, even though she knew she'd been right in the end. Still, this was her fault from the beginning. If only she hadn't freaked out, Neuro wouldn't have felt the need to say such stupid, senseless things. Yako knew she was right. But she'd also been the first one to be wrong. This was her fault.

I'm such a masochist!! She hissed to herself, putting her head in her hands and shaking it slowly. That's what you get for marrying a demon…

"Neuro…" she finally blurted. She could still hear the water running, and though there was no other sound from inside, she knew he was listening. "I'm… I…" She took a deep breath, then let it out with her next sentence. "Idon'twantyoutoprotectme." She sighed again, realizing that had probably been the wrong thing to say, but she forged ahead anyway. I'm the right one here, he'll understand…

"I don't want you to protect me…" she said again, more slowly. "I don't think… I know you won't have to protect me. I'll be- we'll be… okay. We'll be okay." That last part made her smile a little, remembering what Neuro had said before they'd fought. No matter what she'd thought or felt before, they were in this together, all three of them, and especially the baby and herself. And in that moment, she genuinely felt love for her child, and she was just beginning to feel that it- he- loved her too. He would never consciously hurt her, and she could never allow any harm to come to him, no matter who was causing the harm.

"I'm sorry… to both of you… for freaking out before. I was being irrational. If I hadn't been afraid for no reason, Neuro, you wouldn't have had to say those things… So I'm sorry. I know we'll be okay now."

Saying it out loud really confirmed it in her heart, and she allowed herself to smile again – right before the door swung inward behind her and left her sprawled on her back on the hard tile floor of the bathroom. Neuro stood over her, dripping wet, wearing nothing but his boxers and blue jeans, his face completely unreadable. Yako blinked at him, waiting for his reaction, hoping it would be one of forgiveness and equal contrition. But knowing Neuro, she couldn't be sure. Contrition wasn't exactly a word in his vocabulary as far as she was aware.

"You don't know that."

Yako blinked at him again. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but that certainly wasn't it.

"Huh?" was all she could manage in response.

"You once told me that you would be okay… And I almost didn't believe you. The circumstances were more or less under your control, but there were thousands of factors to consider, thousands of things that could go wrong that would keep you from being all right. Thankfully you possess some small measure of common sense and managed to keep yourself alive until I came back." Neuro paused, staring at her, or into her, Yako couldn't tell. "This time, it's not up to you at all. There's nothing you can do. If something goes wrong, you'll be helpless to stop it. No blow you can dodge, no right or wrong decision you can make that will keep you out of harm's way, no room for common sense. You don't know if you'll be okay, and saying so is an outright lie. The truth is that you don't know. I don't know…"

Suddenly Yako realized the full extent of the damage she'd caused. Neuro hadn't been merely soothing her fears, he'd been trying to soothe his own as well. Fears she had planted in his mind. He'd been happy until she'd opened her big mouth, and now he was afraid as well. Her eyes suddenly welled up with tears. How could she be so stupid?!

"Neuro… I…" She chocked on her words as the tears started falling. "I'm so sorry…"

Neuro didn't move at first, just watching as his wife suffered on the floor. He didn't like the ache he was feeling in his chest at the sight, but he wasn't ready to forgive his wife – or himself - just yet. When she started hiccupping from the violence of her sobs, however, he sighed to the ceiling and dragged her off the floor. Swinging her into his arms with ease he slipped back onto the bed and held her to him while she cried even harder.

"Shut up louse…" he murmured into her hair, his voice gentle despite the words. "You're making a disgusting scene."

Yako hiccupped loudly. "Y-y-you shu-ut up," she sniffled, and Neuro smirked. "I'm… s-sorry…" she said again, for what felt like the thousandth time.

Neuro kissed her hair and fell back against the bed so that she was lying on his chest. He rubbed his hands against her back in warm circles, calming her slowly but surely. Yako rested her head against her husband, willing herself to stop crying. It would be okay… It would be okay… It had to be okay…

"You'd better stop crying soon louse," Neuro warned. "You're upsetting him," he added.

"I'm sorry…" Yako murmured, promising herself it would be the last time. Wiping away the last of her tears, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, forcing herself to smile a little at Neuro. He smirked back, a genuine happiness that made her smile wider. She planted a kiss on his lips, and was about to pull back when he gripped her neck from behind and pulled her back down for a deeper kiss. His hands gripped her hair, trapping her mouth against his as his legs deftly wrapped around hers. Yako let out a squeal of surprise as he flipped her onto her back so that he was on top of her, never breaking their kiss. The demon's tongue licked her lips, bidding them open for him, and he was just putting a hand on her hips and fingering her tank top when she swatted him away and wriggled out of his grip.

"Not in front of the baby!" She giggled breathlessly. Neuro's emerald eyes lit up with real joy, and Yako felt her heart clinch and melt at the same time. Her husband smirked at her again and swooped in for a last kiss on her neck before flipping off the bed.

Determined to keep up his good mood, Yako sat up and asked suddenly, "So what should we call him?"

"Neuro Jr.," Neuro automatically replied as he rummaged through the dresser drawers for a shirt. The enormous black dresser stretched across half the wall and up half of it as well, all filled with Neuro's clothes. Yako, who was not nearly so obsessed with clothes, and especially not such outlandish or eccentric fashions as Neuro seemed to enjoy, got the closet, which was small compared to that mass of furniture. Neuro had designed it himself in one of his demonic bursts of creativity, and though Yako had forced him to tone down his design before they asked their old time acquaintance Ikeya Tooru to make it, he still had a very real fondness for it, just like his desk, Troy. Some things Yako would never understand, and she didn't mind it in the least.

Yako's mouth twitched with amusement at the name, but it didn't feel right, and she knew Neuro was only joking anyway. "No… it has to be unique, something like… something like…"

"Louse Jr.," Neuro cut in, pulling that blank grin his wife so despised.

"That's a girl's name, Neuro," Yako joked, making a face that clearly showed her disapproval of the suggestion.

They went back and forth for nearly an hour, but couldn't come up with anything. Eventually they gave up and Yako took a shower, realizing she really had to get something accomplished today, even though there weren't that many hours left in the day; it was now almost three.

"Neuro, I have a question…" she spoke up as she dried her hair and pulled a comb through the tangles.

"Hmm?" Neuro hummed from behind her, pulling the collar of her shirt back a little and kissing her neck softly.

Yako turned in his arms and looked him in the eyes. "How do demon babies develop? I didn't even think about it before, but my period started three days ago, same as always." She paused, waiting for him to digest the information and respond. When her husband remained quiet, she said, "So?"

"Don't panic, louse," Neuro ordered. Yako raised an eyebrow at him and pursed her lips.

"Okay, I'm calm. What is it?"

"In hell, it depends on the species of demon you're talking about," Neuro explained. "The… 'symptoms,' number of months the baby needs to develop, and the various traits of the child itself all differ from one species to another."

This time it was Neuro's turn to wait while his wife processed what he'd just said. He watched her eyebrows come together in a thoughtful frown, then shoot up in revelation, then come back down again in another frown.

"Wait, wait, wait a minute…" she said, stepping back from him and pointing almost accusingly. "You… you're a bird demon, right?"

Neuro just nodded.

"And birds… come from… eggs…"

Another nod.

"So that means… so that means…"

Her eyes widened again as the words came out of her mouth, solidifying them into truth. "So that means that in however many month's time… I'm going to lay an egg?!?!" Her voice had almost reached a shriek by the end of the sentence. Neuro reached for her shoulders, but she turned away from him.

"I told you not to panic, louse," he reminded her, almost beginning to panic himself.

"Mammals don't lay eggs Neuro, in case you haven't noticed!" Yako spat, still not facing him, her voice harsher than it normally was when she was angry with him.

Neuro reached out again, then thought better of it. Yako was not happy with him, touching her would only make it worse. His wife's shoulders began to shake, she was holding her face in her hands, and muffled sobbing noises were coming through her fingers. "Are you that upset? Are you really…" He didn't want to have to say this word, even he couldn't deny that if hurt to think it might be true. "…Disappointed?"

Suddenly Yako threw her head back and laughed out loud. She hadn't been angry before, her voice had been strained by the laughter bubbling forward; she hadn't been crying either, she'd been struggling to contain her giggles. Neuro watched in shock as the woman before him laughed hysterically. She laughed until she was crying almost as hard, until her sides were nearly burning. When she finally contained herself she took one glance at Neuro to say something, and then fell into another fit of wild laughter.

Finally, she was able to calm herself enough to speak. She turned back to her husband and smiled brilliantly at him, her cheeks blushing deeply and her eyes shining with tears from her laughter. Wrapping her arms around his neck she leaned against his chest, still smiling into his shirt.

"Neuro… I've known you for eight years, and you've never once disappointed me. That's not even possible for you. From the very first moment I met you, you've been turning my world upside down, inside out, and backwards." She pulled back a little so she could look into his otherworldly, emerald eyes. "And I don't ever want that to stop," she finished, her smile growing even wider.

She stood on her tip toes to kiss him, and he responded by wrapping his arms tightly around her waist and crushing her to him. They didn't come up for air until a few minutes later when Yako felt another wave of giggles coming on.

"What is so funny, woman?!" Neuro demanded, releasing her with a puzzled smile.

"Everything!" Yako cried. "It's all so crazy, but it's all so wonderful, and I'm so happy, and I'm happy you're happy and… and…" Her stomach growled loudly. "And… I'm hungry again…" she sighed sheepishly. Neuro just smirked at her. Some things would never change.