Chapter 2
"Soul!" His mother stood surprised as she walked closer.
Soul just looked at the two lazily, the mask Spirit knew Soul used to cover his thoughts and feelings. "I only promised to listen." He said before anything else could be said. "What do you want to say?"
"Soul, Father is sick. He's been diagnosed with cancer." Wes said.
"I know." Soul said. "The old man told Maka and asked her to talk me into this. Maka told me what he told her. What do you want me to do? I'm not returning to that life. I have a life here that is something I'll never have anywhere else. A life I'm actually happy with."
"We want you to be part of the family." His mother said. "I know you can't leave." She smiled. "I know about your wife and daughter." Soul looked at Spirit who tried to avoid his sight. "I'm glad he showed us." She said making Soul look back at her. "I've never seen you so happy. You looked so in love and that little girl is so beautiful." She tried to push away her tears as she spoke. "I would never ask you to walk away from that, and I know you have a life here, and I can't ask you to leave that either. All I want is to be a family as we should have been for all these years."
Soul looked at her before glancing at Wes as he stood hopeful that his brother would open back up to him, to become part of the Evans Family again. "Soul." Spirit said softly making him turn his red eyes on the older weapon. "I'm with Maka on this." He said making Soul paused only a second before he nodded and looked back at his mother and brother.
He heaved a heavy sigh as he pushed his hands into his pockets. He stood a moment longer before he gave a small nod. "My wife is the smartest woman I've ever known. She also has the biggest heart of anyone. Me being her weapon and she being my meister over the years, I've learned to listen to her, whether I think she's wrong or not. Even if she is wrong, she usually always has good advice." He sighed again shaking his head. "She gave her father another chance to be in her life, in our lives because we discussed it and I trusted that at the time she would do what was best for her. It turned out I had trusted her to do what was best for us and our daughter." He glanced at Spirit before looking at his mother. "She asked me to think about this, to really think and I promised I would." He paused again. "She gave me some advice before she left me to make the choice that would be best for me, for us and our daughter."
"She sounds like a very good woman. I'm glad you have her." His mother said.
Soul nodded. "She's the best." He shook his head. "I'll only say this once. I will only give one chance for you two and him to be in our lives. I will not let Maka have to deal with the family drama, and I refuse to put my daughter in any sort of situation. If it starts, we are done and that is it. Got it?" He looked between the two with dark intense and intimidating eyes. They both nodded. "Good." He looked at the clock on the wall. "I need to go meet up with Maka." He turned leaving the three in the silent room.
"He's so different." His mother said.
Wes shook his head. "He's always been there even when he was a child, that intensity was lying just below the surface. He's only let his real self surface." She looked at him as he gave a small smile.
"Well he's made his choice." Spirit said. "My daughter can only push and talk so much before he digs his heels in, so I suggest you heed his words." They nodded. "Now that he's fine with you being here I can take you around a little."
As Spirit took them on a mini tour they stopped on a balcony as students sat around eating lunch and teachers wandered. They spotted Maka walking beside Soul, both small smiles on their faces as she bumped into him making him chuckle as she took off running, making him follow as she laughed. Spirit watched as Soul's mother smiled brightly, watching her son chuckle as he chased after his wife as if they were children playing tag.
"He seemed to take your words to heart. I assume you telling him you were with his wife, you were telling him you trusted him." She said looking at Spirit.
He gave a small nod. "In a way. Soul and I have never really seen eye to eye on anything. The only thing we've ever agreed on was Maka and Maya when she came along. He was one of the worst kids I've ever come across, lazy and a real pain in the ass." He paused and smirked looking out as Soul wrapped his arms around Maka's waist and spun her around in the air making her screech with laughter. "But I've watched him grow up, I've watched him learn and grow. I've seen him protect my daughter, risking his own life time and time again, nearly losing it more than a few times. I've seen him fight for what's right, not what's easy. I've watched him fight for friends. I've watched him change into a man." He looked at her with a small smile. "He's turned into one of the best young men I've ever met. He's kind and caring, he's thoughtful and protective. He's the perfect weapon for Maka. He's been the best husband to her and an amazing father even though he had no idea what to do." He laughed remembering how afraid Soul had been looking at the newborn in the little hospital bassinet while Maka slept. It was one of the handful of times Soul had broken down and opened up to him.
"Thank you for being there for my son." She smiled.
Spirit shrugged. "My daughter never really gave me a choice." He laughed. "Besides, he became my son too when they married, and even back when they became partners in the beginning." She smiled and nodded at him as they looked back out as Soul and Maka kissed. They pulled apart before she looped her arm through his talking to each other before they headed for the stairs of the academy. "Wonder where they're off to." He mused.
Spirit found a hotel for Wes and his mother to stay in the city then he went back to talk with Maka, Soul and Maya before they left for the day. Maka wasn't in her class so he went out to the front to check, where he found Marie and Stein talking, watching Micah and Maya run around. "Spirit." Stein greeted.
"Have you seen Maka and Soul?" He asked.
"Maka asked if I could watch Maya a little later today." Marie smiled. "She said her and Soul had an appointment to get to and they didn't know how long they would be occupied." She explained.
"An appointment?" Spirit asked looking confused.
Stein chuckled. "Maybe you'll be a grandfather again. Feeling old now, Spirit?" He teased.
Before Spirit could say anything back or think about it Maya ran over giggling and reaching to be picked up. "Hey there." He smiled as he lifted her into his arms. "You having fun?" He asked knowing he wouldn't get an answer but her little grin made him smile brightly as he felt his heart swell.
"Thanks, for watching her a little late today." Maka said as she and Soul came closer.
"No problem." Marie smiled. "Is everything okay?" Maka nodded.
"Is Spirit going to be even older with two grandkids?" Stein asked making Maka and Soul look at each other before Soul grinned and Maka smiled at the others. "Seriously? I was just joking."
"We were getting the first ultrasound." Maka smiled, looking at Spirit as his jaw dropped.
"Da-Da!" Maya called reaching for Soul who pulled her into his arms. "Da-Da!" She giggled making Soul grin at her.
"I wish she would learn more words." Maka sighed looking at her.
"Maybe the new one will say Ma-Ma first." Soul grinned making her roll her eyes and look back at the others.
"We were going to tell everyone in a couple weeks. We just wanted to make sure everything was okay before we announced it." Maka explained looking at her father with a small smile. "I'm sorry, Papa."
Spirit shook himself from his stupor. He shook his head and pulled Maka into a tight hug before she could say more. "Don't apologize." He said softly before he pulled back looking at her as she smiled at him. "I'm so happy." He said as he fought back the tears. He had sworn he would be more adult when Maka officially told him she would give him one more chance, and he had sworn to himself when Maya was born that he would be the grown up they all needed. He still sent a glare at Soul who just told Maya that her grandfather was a crazy man, be he would eventually tell the man how happy he was that the two were going to have another child.
"Guess we should tell everyone." Maka smiled before she and Marie hugged while Stein smirked, saying his congratulations. "Papa, where are Soul's mother and brother? I thought it would be nice for all of us to have dinner together tonight. You're invited to." She added making him smile.
"I got them a place at death hotel. I'll let them know if you want." He offered.
"Make sure you're at our place by five." She said before they said their goodbyes and they headed off to their home to prepare for their guests.
Soul was carrying several bags of groceries to the apartment when he saw his mother, Brother and father in law walking along the street. "Need some help?" Wes asked taking a bag from him.
"Thanks." He said as he walked with them.
"Where's Maka?" Spirit wondered.
"She stayed home with Maya and sent me out." Soul sighed as they came to the apartment. Soul let them in. "Yo, Maka, look who I found out on the streets." He smirked as Maka smiled at their guests, turning from her work in the kitchen.
"Make yourselves at home." Maka smiled as she took the bag from Wes and put it on the counter as Soul began putting items she didn't need, away and leaving the other things on the counter for her. "Thanks for going for me." She said softly as she continued to work.
"Of course." He said kissing her cheek as he passed to go check on Maya in her play pen where Spirit had gone.
"Congratulations." Spirit finally said softly. Soul gave a smirk. "You're going to be a father again."
"Yeah." Soul gave a chuckle. "It's crazy. I never thought I'd be a dad at all and here I am with Maya and another on the way. Hell, I never even thought I'd get to be with Maka." Spirit smirked.
"You're going to have a lot of extra work now, a toddler and a newborn, that's not going to be easy." Spirit said.
"I made it through this far with Maya, I can do it again." Soul said looking at his daughter as she cheered holding her toys up and throwing them down. "I never did thank you. For your advice and help when Maya was born. I would have screwed up so bad."
Spirit shook his head. "You would have been fine. You have Maka with you and honestly you're a natural father." He smirked before they glanced at Maka talking with her in laws. "You've been doing an amazing job with both girls."
"I hope I keep it up and don't somehow screw everything up." Soul ran a hand through his hair.
"Don't worry so much. You're not that same pain in the ass kid you were when you and Maka became partners. Just keep that promise you made when we talked about you asking Maka to marry you."
Soul grinned. "Never going to lose her." Spirit smirked before Soul walked back over to where Maka and his family were leaving Spirit to play with Maya. "Aren't you supposed to be cooking?" He smirked as she rolled her eyes and turned back to cooking.
"I'm glad you could make it for dinner." Maka smiled happily.
"Who want's something to drink?" Spirit asked as he walked in, taking a beer bottle from the fridge.
"There's wine in there too." Soul said as he pulled glasses out and the bottle openers, opening Spirit's beer while he pulled the wine out.
Wes and his mother agreed to some wine before she looked at Maka moving around the kitchen. "Maka, would you like a glass?"
"No, thank you. I can't have any." She smiled as she continued.
Soul smirked as his mother looked at her. "Are you not old enough?"
Soul laughed as he took a drink of his beer. "Keep laughing and drinking your beer." Maka put her hands on her hips. "You know what's coming." She pointed at him making him settled and smirk at her. "No, I'm only twenty, but that's not why I can't have any right now."
"Oh?" She asked curiously.
"I'm pregnant." She smiled as Wes and his mother looked at her shocked before they looked over at Soul who grinned and continued drinking his beer.
"Pregnant?" Wes asked.
Maka nodded. "It's still early but we're ten weeks along right now." She smiled, placing her hand on her stomach.
"oh, that's wonderful." Her mother in law smiled and pulled her into a hug. "It's absolutely wonderful news." She smiled as she wiped away a few tears. Garbled yelling came from the other room.
"I've got her." Spirit said as he put his beer down and went to get his granddaughter who was obviously feeling left out. Maka turned back to the stove, to avoid the food being burnt before a little girl giggled running into the room and to Soul who bent and pulled her into his arms as she sat looking around. "She apparently just wanted to be included."
"Uncle Black Star is teaching her some bad habits." Maka mused making Soul chuckle.
"As long as she doesn't going jumping into everything yelling she's a big star, I think we're safe." Soul grinned as Maya looked at him, blinking her red eyes that nearly matched his own. "You hear that, no trying to be a god or something, it's not cool." He told his daughter as she just looked at him.
"Let's hope she doesn't go the other way like her father." Spirit joked making Soul grin at him. Maya watched her father and started to giggle.
"You find that funny, huh?" Maka asked as she handed Maya a piece of food. "You're both wrong." She smiled at her daughter. "She's going to be the smartest and strongest." Soul smirked at her before she went back to finishing dinner. After a few more minutes of talking Maka announced that Dinner was ready. "Soul, can you get her set up?"
He gave her a nod. "Alright, let's go." He told his daughter as he led everyone from the kitchen to the table they had set up before they all arrived. Soul setting Maya in the highchair making her fuss. "No, you have to sit here. Mama will be bringing your food out in a minute, so chill." He told her as she pouted. "Your mama learned a while ago pouting doesn't work on me." He told her as he strapped her in before walking back towards the kitchen. "Your daughter's having a hissy fit out there." He told her as he went to the fridge and poured a sippy cup of juice.
"Can you take this out too?" She asked handing him a big bowl. He took it as she smiled at him. "Thank you." He walked out, handing Spirit the cup before he set the bowl down.
"Maya, look." Spirit said. "Your Papa got you some juice." He said happily making the girl calm a bit and look at the cup before she reached out snatching it into her hands. "Does Maka need help?"
"I'll help her if you keep this one from having a meltdown." Soul smirked as he ruffled his daughter's hair as she looked up at him, drinking her juice. Spirit nodded as Soul went back into the kitchen. Maka was standing at the counter putting things together when he wrapped his arms around her waist making her smile. "Need some help?"
Maka gave a small nod. "Just taking things out to the table." She paused as he rested his chin on her shoulder, watching her place everything on the appropriate plate. "Thank you."
"For what?" He asked lifting his head to look at her.
"For making the choice that's best." She turned in his arms, resting her hands on his chest. "I know it wasn't easy, still isn't and I know it won't be easy but I think you made the right choice to at least try." She smiled at him. "Your mother will know her grandchildren and your brother will know his niece and niece or nephew."
"I made sure they know this was a one time offer." He said. "I wont ever put you or our kids in any situation that's not good for you. If my father tries anything, I won't hesitate to take you all away."
"Your rules." She nodded. "Just let him have a chance to connect and realize exactly what he's losing. You know it will be rough in the very start. Look at my father and me. I almost gave up a couple times, but you told me he's trying to change and needed a little time to adjust."
Soul smirked and nodded. "I know." She leaned forward into him as he tightened his grip around her. "I couldn't have gotten a cooler wife." He said softly and kissed the top of her head.
"I love you, Soul." She sighed, hugging him.
"I love you too, Maka." He said with a small smile. Every time they said those words he remembered how he had never thought in a million years he would be able to have her at his side as his wife, let alone the mother of his children.
"We better start taking the food out or else my father will be joining our little drama queen." She smiled and pulled back from him as he chuckled. She handed him several plates as he kissed her cheek and she carried two herself. "Here we go. I hope you enjoy it." She smiled as she took a seat on the other side of Soul, who sat next to Maya. The family began taking their food as Soul sat cutting up chunks of the meat and making a little plate for Maya who tried to reach for the food that was passed in front of her.
"Stop being so dramatic." He said as he put the plate in front of her. "Here you go." She started to shove the food into her mouth as Maka slid a plate of food over to him with a small smile as if this wasn't the first time they've done this.
"So Maka, you're a teacher?" Wes asked making her nod.
"I've been teaching since I was seventeen. So, for the last three years." She said. "We really only had another year of classes to learn things after we came back from the moon."
"The moon?" Wes raised a brow.
Maka nodded glancing at Soul as he helped Maya eat. "We were part of the group fighting the Kishin."
"Although you and your group were supposed to be carrying out orders from the last Lord Death." Spirit said.
"Like Maka ever listens to what she's told to do." Soul smirked. "You really expected the Spartoi to follow through with a mission that everyone was torn in half over?"
"We were right not to in the end." Maka gave a sad smile. "If it wasn't for Crona Soul and I wouldn't be here with Maya right now."
Spirit gave a nod as Soul gave her a soft smirk. "Why not? Who's Crona?" Wes wondered.
"Don't you pay attention to the news?" Soul asked looking at his brother. "I know it was put in the papers and the news stations all over the world, especially after the treaty was made official."
"We heard that there was something going on that could have ended life as we knew it but it had been stopped before anything happened, and before anything could have been really reported about it." Wes explained. "They said that it was the reason the Moon would now be covered in darkness."
"here was a full blown Kishin running around, spreading madness like an infection. He ran off and took refuge on the Moon." Maka started. "The teachers and the death scythes from around the world were sent to the Moon with Kid, the current Lord Death, while a group of us from the same class were sent after an old friend. He was raised and abused by a witch mother. She managed to merge him with the demons sword using black blood and had begun hurting people. Soul and I ran into him in Italy when we were kids." She paused looking at him sadly.
"We fought him and got caught in a situation we couldn't get out of. I tried to save her and took an attack that almost killed me. He went to swing again when death scythe and Stein showed up saving both our asses." Soul said glancing at Spirit who was now helping Maya with her dinner.
"After that we had a bumpy road." Maka gave him a smile, "But we always managed to fix everything." Maka continued telling them the story of them and Crona. "He was changed." She said as she started talking about the moments before Crona ran to the moon and eating the Kishin as well as what followed. "the witches managed to get most of the people to safety." She smirked. "We were able to use a similar power that we used when we first fought Crona."
"I thought you had died." Spirit said remembering the moment the Kishin's hand went through her chest.
Maka gave a sympathetic smile. "It was definitely a close call." She said. "But we managed to do it and with our abilities we broke through into the Kishin and found Crona." She smiled. "He saved us all." She said as she told them what he did and how they had been trying to figure out a way to free him and still imprison the Kishin, but to this day nothing worked well.
"You've had quite the experiences here at this school." Wes said looking at his brother.
"You have no idea." Soul said before Blair walked in wearing her bikini top and short shorts, hat and little leather jacket.
"Oh!" She said looking at everyone as Soul's family looked shocked. "I didn't know we had company."
"It was a little last minute." Maka smiled. "Would you like some dinner? I have some fish set aside for you." Blair smiled brightly and nodded as Maka got up. "Have a seat, I'll go get it. Blair pranced over and sat in the chair beside Maka, waiting anxiously for her fish.
"Blair, this is my mother, Marianne and my brother, Wes." Soul said. "This is Blair."
"It's nice to meet you." Wes said trying his hardest to not stare at her. "How is you know my brother?"
"He ate my soul." She said happily as the two looked at Soul confused.
"Maka almost made me into a death scythe when I was fourteen. We were sent after a witch, the final soul needed to create a death scythe. Turns out we didn't defeat a witch."
"You defeated a cat." Blair laughed as she turned into a cat and meowed as Soul shook his head.
"Which made use have to start over with all the souls we collected, and I didn't become a death scythe until I was fifteen." Soul continued as Maka placed the plate in front of the cat Blair and sat back down.
"Thank you, Maka." She smiled. "Pump um pumpkin." She chanted making the fish float to her mouth.
"Told you-you had no idea." Soul smirked as he sat back in his chair. The rest of the night was spent sharing stories about Soul and Maka's time as students and growing up in the academy.