Dearest Readers,

There are two small time lapses here.

Read on, Cherubs.

Over and out.

Preparations Begin

He sighed when he turned in front of the mirror to look at his side, seeing his baby bump becoming larger with every passing week. He placed a hand lightly over his baby bump, smiling as he looked down. Itachi watched him from the door way, leaning against the doorframe, watching his lover carefully. He doesn't like the fact that his figure's getting bigger…but knowing that there's a child there is outweighing that.

"I'm big." Shikamaru said when Itachi wrapped his arms around him, resting his chin on his shoulder.

"You're supposed to be, Love. It tends to happen when you're in the fourth month of pregnancy…at least that's what I've heard."

"Oh very funny." Shikamaru said, laughing quietly as he went to slip his shirt on. He started wearing baggier clothes to accommodate his growing baby bump; form fitting clothes won't be an option until the baby's born. He pecked Itachi on the lips before leaving.

"Have fun at the doctor's." Itachi called after him, receiving a huff of irritation in response.

ItachiXShikamaru

"Alright Shikamaru, let's take a look here." The doctor said, examining the screen closely as he moved the wand around. Shikamaru felt his heart stop when he saw him squint.

"What's wrong?"

"Well…2 things: One…there's more than one child."

"T-twins?" Shikamaru asked in disbelief, receiving a smile and a nod.

"Twin girls."

"Girls?" He asked, smiling as he received another nod.

"Yes, but there's one other thing."

"What is it? Are they alright?" The doctor hesitated.

"One of them is."

"What about the other one?" Shikamaru shot back quickly, his voice becoming higher with panic.

"Well…by the looks of it, one of them has a tiny tumor on her brain, but it's not cancerous." He added quickly seeing Shikamaru about to scream.

"Will it…do anything?"

"Unfortunately, yes. It'll cause her to have something called Balance Disorder. Basically, she won't have a sense of balance."

"Is it treatable?" Shikamaru whispered, his eyes becoming wet. The doctor sighed, looking thoughtful.

"Technically, yes. But…I honestly wouldn't recommend it…its too risky." Shikamaru felt himself lose control of his breathing and he began to feel lightheaded. Tears rolled down his face and he couldn't breath. The doctor placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him.

"Breath deeply, Shikamaru…deep breaths." Slowly, he began to calm down, wiping the tears from his face. He closed his eyes, trying to steady himself.

"Why would it be risky to treat it?" He asked, opening his eyes.

"Well, the tumor is at the place where the spinal cord connects to the brain. If we operated on it, we would most likely end up paralyzing her because it's so near her spinal cord. In order to actually 'treat' the disorder, the cause of the disorder needs to be removed; in this case, it's the tumor. Also," He took a deep breath before continuing, "It looks like she also has a leg defect. She appears to be pigeon-toed…her feet are turning inward instead of straight. So she'll have to wear braces to straighten her legs out, but she can't do that if she can't balance herself long enough to walk. See what I mean?"

Shikamaru covered his face with both of his hands, feeling overwhelmed. He wanted Itachi with him…right now. He began to cry quietly, not wanting to believe that one of the twins had a defect…two by the sounds of it. He felt the doctor place a hand on his leg comfortingly.

"I know that no parent wants to find out that their child has a defect…but this defect isn't going to kill her, I promise. I'll leave you alone so that you can think clearly, okay? Just make sure you make an appointment before you leave." Shikamaru nodded and he heard the door open and close quietly.

So many emotions were coursing through him that they made his head spin. What was he suppose to do? More importantly: How is Itachi going to react?

ItachiXShikamaru

He held his tears back until he made it back to his room. He crawled into bed, wrapped the covers tightly around him, and wailed into a pillow. Shikamaru didn't hear Itachi quietly open and close the door, nor did he see the look of sheer panic and worry on his face. He quickly walked over to Shikamaru and knelt on the side of the bed, stroking Shikamaru's hair.

"Love, what's wrong?" He asked quietly, trying to keep the worry out of his voice but failing miserably. Shikamaru removed his face from the pillow and looked at Itachi with red, glassy eyes…making Itachi's panic rise. Shikamaru moved and wrapped his arms tightly around Itachi's neck, crying into his shoulder. What's going on? He sat on the bed and pulled Shikamaru onto his lap, stroking his hair. Slowly, his sobs began to die down, leaving him breathing deeply.

"Love…what happened?" Shikamaru looked up at him, not sure how he should tell him what he was told earlier. He sniffed and bit his lower lip gently.

"T-there's good news…and bad news." Itachi felt his heart stop at the 'bad news' part.

"Let's…let's start with the good news."

"We're having twin girls." He said, smiling lightly up at him. Itachi returned the smile and lightly kissed him on the forehead.

"That's wonderful news, Love. But…what's…the bad news?" Shikamaru hesitated.

"One…one of the girls…has a defect." Itachi's body became numb…one of his…daughters…had a defect. But what kind?

"What…what kind of defect?"

"B-Balance Disorder…she won't have a sense of balance, so she won't be able to walk for long without someone helping her and she'll need to wear leg braces. But…he said that it's best to not treat it because the disorder is caused by a tumor at the spot where her spinal cord connects to her brain. He said that if they operated on it…they'll most likely paralyze her."

Silence fell between them as Itachi rocked Shikamaru slightly; having great difficulty in processing what Shikamaru just told him. One of…his girls…had a defect. Even with that fact, he knew that his feelings towards…his kids…haven't changed, even though one of them had a defect.

They were his kids and he'll love both of them equally…and he knew Shikamaru would as well.

ItachiXShikamaru

The members of Akatsuki knew to not mention the twins in any way until Itachi and Shikamaru coped with the fact that one of them had a defect. Kisame always thought back to when Itachi told him about it…he's never seen the Uchiha so vulnerable.

"We're not doing pink." Itachi said flatly as they sat at the small table, looking at color cards for ideas of what to paint the babies' room.

"Why? Pink is the color used for girls." Shikamaru shot back, waving the light pink card in front of his eyes.

"Pink is the stereotypical color for girls. Besides, the rooms tend to be a little bit dark…pink would not look good in a dark room."

"We'll install more lights."

"We don't have that many sources for electricity, Love." Kisame, Deidara, and Zetsu grinned as they watched the couple interact, surprised at Itachi's childish side.

"How about this one?" Shikamaru asked, picking up a light red color.

"That's light red…which is the same as pink."

"Damn it, I was hoping you wouldn't catch that." He threw the card on the table, looking at the other color cards in front of them. A color caught Itachi's attention and he looked down at it. That's a nice one. He picked it up and showed it to Shikamaru.

"What about this one?" Shikamaru looked at, surprised that Itachi picked amethyst.

"I like that one…it's not bright, but it's not dark either. I think that one will work." Itachi smiled lightly at him, placing a kiss on his forehead.

"You know what would be ironic?" Itachi asked as they stacked the other color cards.

"What's that?"

"If the twins were born in February."

ItachiXShikamaru

"How's it going?" Shikamaru asked as he folded his hands on top of his baby bump, looking down at Itachi who was attempting to put the crib together. Itachi had a screwdriver tucked into his ponytail and two small metal pieces in his hands as he looked down at the directions.

"I'm being defeated by a piece of baby furniture. What am I suppose to do with these?" Shikamaru bit back a laugh at Itachi's growing frustration.

"You're still not done yet?" Deidara said from the door way, watching Itachi on the floor.

"Shut up, Deidara. This is a lot harder than it looks. These pieces are the same!" The blonde walked into the amethyst-colored room and stood next to Shikamaru, placing an arm around his shoulders.

"My, my, my…Itachi Uchiha is being beaten by a piece of baby furniture…who would've thought that would happen?" He chuckled lightly, receiving a glare from Itachi.

"I give up…they're going to have to sleep on the floor."

"You and I both know that's not going to happen." Shikamaru said as he walked to the door to look at a piece of paper taped next to the light switch with the names they were thinking about naming the girls.

"Have you guys decided on names yet?" Deidara asked, noticing what Shikamaru was looking at.

"No, not yet."

"I wanted to name them Optimus Prime and Megatron [1], but that's not going to happen." Itachi mumbled, making a happy sound when two pieces fitted together.

"We're not naming our children after robots!" Shikamaru said exasperatedly, putting his hands on his hips.

"How many kids do you know that are named Optimus Prime and Megatron?"

"None."

"Exactly." Shikamaru rolled his eyes as Deidara smiled, shaking his head. These two have a strange relationship…a strong and good one…but strange.

"What about Gir and Zim [2]?" Deidara asked, making Shikamaru sigh heavily.

"Don't give Itachi ideas."

"Wonder-Woman and Hawk-Girl [3]?" Itachi added, earning a glare from Shikamaru.

"If you were having triples, you could name them Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup [4]." Deidara said, looking innocently around the room.

"How about Obi-Wan Kenobi…Kenoba and Princess Laya [5]?" Itachi added quickly before Shikamaru walked out of the room, leaving Itachi and Deidara laughing lightly.

Deidara watched Itachi as he started to make process of putting the crib together. The Uchiha's personality has changed drastically since Shikamaru joined Akatsuki 3 years ago and with the fact that the twins were suppose to be born in 5 months. He had a feeling that since he was going to have daughters, he would be much more protective over them then he would be if they were boys…it's just a father thing from what he's heard. Daddy's Little Girls.

"What's that smell?" Itachi's voice broke through his thoughts and he was surprised to see a white crib with light purple swirls and flowers on it standing against the wall.

"I don't smell anything."

"Oh wait, I know that smell…its victory." Deidara rolled his eyes at Itachi for being childish…though he did find Itachi's childish side to be humorous.

"Munchkin will be very proud of you."

"I'm proud of myself."

ItachiXShikamaru

[1] Transformers

[2] Invader Zim

[3] Justice League

[4] Powerpuff Girls

[5] Star Wars

I know Itachi was very OOC, but I think it was adorable that he was like that. ^_^

When-Rabbit-Howls