I'll be honest with you, my awesome readers. The reasons I have been absent: laziness, lost interest momentarily, school stuff and absorbed in Black Butler and Hetalia for so long, I forgot about my beloved Soul Eater. But I'm back.

I am happy to present to you my next chapter in Maka and Soul's long, long journey towards parenthood!

Disclaimer is here (yes, you're going to see this every chapter. Deal with it, or just skip it)

On with the show! (er, story)

Soul Eater stared at her stomach, which didn't look any different. That's what bothered him. Shouln't she have at least a little bump by now?

Maka felt his stare as she chopped celery for their dinner. Actually, it seemed as if he never stopped staring. It made her a bit uneasy, the way he was observing her like that - no, scratch that - the way he gawked at her like that. The irritation in her voice could be heard as she spoke. "Are you trying to set a record on how long you can stare at a woman's stomach?"

Soul ignored that and was silent for a moment. He continued to stare, and then murmured, "2 months."

Maka heard those words and turned to him. "Excuse me?"

"2 months," Soul said absently, as if he didn't hear her. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. "The doctor said you were 2 months along." He glanced at her stomach, and shook his head. "A load of bull, if you ask me. You don't look any different."

Maka wasn't sure whether or not that was a compliment. The appropriate reaction to that was probably to just continue cooking, and she did. She chopped the celery at a steady pace, careful she doesn't slice off her finger like Soul almost did a while ago. On the stove, the pasta boiled, and once in a while, she would stir it. While she moved around the kitchen, Soul just sat with his elbows on the kitchen table and face resting on one hand. His crimson eyes were deep in thought. A first for him, according to Maka.

After minutes of cooking and staring, dinner was ready. Soul grabbed his fork, his stomach growling. To say he was hungry was an understatement. After today's events, he was starved.

Maka set down his plate,and he raised his eyebrows. What the hell was this? He poked around his food. It looked like pasta...with some weird brown sauce at the top. There was also some weird green stuff settling in the brown sauce. He peered at Maka, who ate it casually. He glared at the food, and it seemed to glare back, if possible. He twirled the pasta, and held the fork gingerly, hesitant to let that slide down his throat and have his stomach digest it.

"Soul, it won't kill you," Maka said with an air of impatience, sipping her water.

Not in the mood for one of her Maka chops at the moment, Soul shoved the food and felt his cheeks puff out. The pasta was cooked nicely, but she decided to top it with...barbecue sauce? He chewed slowly, his dislike for the 'dinner' growing. He saw Maka eyeing him, her green eyes dark. Hastily, he swallowed it and coughed. His stomach begged him to take back that awful stuff, but Soul painfully ignored it. He chugged the glass of ice water beside the plate, and ended up getting a brain freeze. He clutched his forehead, and the air turned purple with his cussing.

Maka sat there the whole time watching Soul torture himself with the food she made. Her right eyebrow twitched. She would've found Soul's little show funny if it wasn't the fact that he was practically insulting the food she prepared for the two of them. "Something wrong with dinner?"

Soul coughed and pointed at his hardly-touched food. "Hell yeah, there's something wrong with it. What is that thing? That shouldn't even be classified as dinner!"

Maka slammed down her fork, and Soul grew rigid, his subconscious telling him to embrace himself for the impact of her freakishly thick book. But that didn't happen. Instead, Maka stared at him, her eyes shining, as if she was about to cry. "You don't like it? Then, fine! Don't bother thanking me for slaving over the stove just so I can feed your fat mouth!" She wiped her mouth and her threw her napkin at her plate. Muttering under her breath she pushed back her chair and left the table. "I'm gonna go to bed."

Soul raised his eyebrows at that, as it was hardly 7:30. Maka brushed past him, who was still in his seat, and went to, Soul assumed, their bedroom. A door opened and slammed, then another door was opened and slammed shut again. From the sounds of it, she was in their bedroom bathroom.

Soul also wiped his mouth and threw his napkin on top of the inedible thing. He leaned back against the small dining table and thought back to today's events.

"Maka? Soul?

Green eyes and red met the cool blue eyes of the doctor, who had a clipboard in hand. He raised his eyebrows, indicating they had an appointment with him.

Soul felt a little wary towards him. There was something strange about him. Maybe it was his undaunting stare. Maybe it was the way he looked at Maka; Soul could've sworn he saw Strange, wicked fascination flicker upon his face. Maybe it was his eyes, cool, calm...

Emotionless.

Soul felt shivers down his back, and glanced at Maka, wondering if she felt any strange vibes coming off him. She should feel them more than he did, since she has Soul Perception. However, she seemed calm, if not unabashed. She seemed to be a bit tense, from the way she twiddling with her fingers.

The doctor led them down the long hall. Soul isn't claustrophobic or anything of the like, but he felt nervous and grew paranoid as he kept thinking that the walls of the narrow hall were getting closer...and closer.

After the checkup (in which Soul kept quiet for once), the doctor asked Maka a couple casual questions (in which Soul pretended unsuccessfully to be deaf; he was still sensitive after the book incident). What really caught Soul's attention was the doctor saying, "Did you know how long you were?"

"No," Maka answered.

"I took results from the test you took on your last checkup; from the looks of it, you're already 2 months along. Have-"

"2 MONTHS?" Soul screeched. Maka and the doctor whipped their heads to look at him, their expression different; Maka annoyed and the doctor calm with slight amusement. Though Soul should more afraid at Maka's expression at that time (Rule #1: Never piss off Maka), he was more focused - and irritated - at the doctor's. "What the hell do you mean she's 2 months pregnant? We only got married 2 months ago! Are you saying I got her knocked up on our wedding night?"

"Soul!" Maka hissed, her cheeks burning. She usually doesn't mind him cursing at home or around their friends, but this was her doctor! And those last couple sentences...she was on the urge of chopping him just so he would shut up

Had it been another doctor, part of their calm chain would've been snapped. Some of them might've been slightly embarrassed about him mentioning something so personal. However, this one just smiled serenely. "Isn't that wonderful?" (Hells no! Soul screamed mentally) "That means that you're soon going to become a daddy!"

"Yes, Soul is very happy. Right Soul?" Maka growled that last part, and squeezed her husband's hand. Soul winced and drew his hand out of his wife's iron grip. With his luck, he might end up in the hospital before Maka with the baby.

"Right Maka," he gasped before Maka eased her squeeze. Her slender hand lightly covered Soul's giant, rough one as the doctor continued speaking as if Soul didn't spaz out a minute ago. "I see you have been taking good care of yourself. Tell me, in those 2 months, did you drink wine or smoke at all?"

"I don't smoke," she stated matter-of-factly, "but I think I sipped some wine at some point."

"As long as you didn't consume large amounts, then you and the baby will be fine," the doctor said warmly, scribbling something down in his clipboard. Soul muttered darkly under his breath, and Maka pinched him.

"Don't be an ass, Soul," she hissed in his ear. Soul, already on the risk of being Maka-chopped, didn't answer, but continued to look moody.

After more Q&As and more grumpiness and obscenities from Soul (tis' a miracle Maka didn't chop him right there), the couple bid a farewell from their doctor and went home. As Maka grabbed her purse, Soul turned to the doctor to apologize for his behavior today. Scarlet eyes met blue, and Soul felt his insides freeze up. Soul quickly avoided the doctor's unwavering stare, and followed Maka out the door.

I think I made Soul into a drama queen. He's gonna kill me. I actually had more planned out for this chapter, but then I had other ideas... I'm sorry for the couple misspelled words, and for taking so long to update. Luckily, school's out for me so I'll have more time to type. Meanwhile, I will watch Hetalia and organize a couple thing on FF, like the new poll I put up.

Ok, the boy name poll has been going on for a while, and as of June 16, 2011, 7:19 here in Pennsylvania, the poll is closed. Now I will have all of you vote on the best GIRL name for the baby. And it will be a blind poll, so you can't see which name is more dominant with the reviewers. The poll will be on my page indefinitely (translation-it'll be there until my next update on this story). Still, vote ASAP! I should also tell you that the names Hikari and Saint are on there, since I find them to be gender-neutral (although later, I found found out Saint was originally a suggestion for the girls. Oops!)

As for my other story, For The One We Love, I am still working on the next chapter for that, but I still have writer's block about that. Still, it's summer, and I promise an update will come soon!