This large chapter upload begins at fifteen. Read fifteen and sixteen before proceeding, unless you have already done so.

With Christmas coming up at the end of this week, I couldn't help but get overly excited. Well, okay, maybe I could help it somewhat, but still; the pregnancy hormones were making me hit manic highs nowadays and the changes in mood probably shook my wife a little too much every now and again, since whenever I switched from happy to sad or back again she'd look at me funny, depending on how crazy I was acting. Not my fault, technically! I put the blame on her.

I sat on the couch, playing videos on my laptop on the table, while pouring some Tabasco sauce onto my Doritos. It was a special dish of mine that I loved almost as much as my baby and Droite, which was saying something. Droite, who was busy in our room, putting on an outfit for today since we had spent the morning rolling all over each other, said something to Galaxy—something rather mean considering his reaction. I rolled my eyes; the two hadn't been getting along the last couple of days.
Wondering why, I popped a chip into my mouth and clicked on the next video in the playlist—this guy had some rather valid opinions, even if he was harsh in his way he said them. And he was literally the only guy I had an attraction to. Which was odd.

Droite came down a few minutes later, wearing a sweater and jeans. I smiled warmly as she came over, kissing me and taking half of the chip I had placed between my lips into her mouth. I glared at her—never mess with a pregnant woman's food unless you want a foot up the ass. Which was beginning to be my motto.

"I have a meeting with my father today," she said, straightening and munching on her piece of the chip. "He found out about the missing DNA sample he was testing."

"You mean the one to get my knocked up, right," I stated with an eye roll. She laughed in embarrassment and nodded. "Hey, if he ever wants to know that I'm really a chick, he can get all my mama bear rants. Kinda like my father, you know."

"I wouldn't mind seeing that. I hate my dad." Traveling to the kitchen, I heard her salvage something from the low supply in the fridge. I continued to watch videos, the bowl of chips in my lap as I munched myself into a Dorito-dust coma. My wife came back into the living room, laughing at my current lazy-pregnant-woman state. I just stuck my tongue out at her as she came by me again, pressing her lips to my forehead.

"I'll be back, whether it be alone or with my dad in tow," she said, and I could tell she hated the idea of bringing along the guy who had adopted her into his family. I didn't blame her; Heartland was the CEO of a company, probably owned a country or something, I didn't know. All I knew was that he was a powerful man, even more powerful than my father.

"I'm gonna look for jobs online," I replied, watching as she walked to the door. "I'm running out of my dad's money so, I guess I should look for something while I have the time to." She nodded, taking her keys and calling out a love you to me before leaving.

I sighed, falling back against the back of the couch and feeling the weight of my new adult life beginning to drag on my shoulders. I knew I had a large amount of homework to do, I knew I had to find a job, but now that my life was starting to get better, my determination was draining slowly. I had to stop the fall before I became a lazy asshole. I didn't want to be like that, especially with a baby on the way. So without further ado, I exited out of YouTube and pulled up a Google search; hopefully not too many places would be biased against pregnant teenagers.

After many minutes of web surfing, I came to the site for the store that I had been visiting for my groceries. Apparently there was a spot to be a cashier there—like Mizael was. I smiled and rolled my eyes, thinking that I'd be like him when I started there, popping gum and twirling hair around my fingers. The image alone made me laugh and feel kind of disgusted in myself at the same time. I'd changed a lot since I first got here back in October—and in my opinion, it was for the better.

I clicked on the application and filled it out (some steps had forced me to go into the basement and search out the records my father had brought along with us). With a few missteps and corrections, I managed to somehow submit it after about an hour. Sitting there, feeling achy as hell and wanting to walk in the crisp December air, I set the documents aside, putting my laptop into hibernate mode before running to my room. Now that I was practically a balloon, I had chosen to wear simple large hoodies and jeans. It worked, for now, and I knew that yoga pants were on the way for me, as well as maternity things that I honestly did not want to wear (unless I could somehow get my hands on the few I'd found on Google!). Galaxy gave me a weird stare as I brushed out my hair—which was now getting passed my shoulder blades—and got into some comfy clothing. I smiled and gave him a goodbye before going back downstairs.

I plucked my keys from the bowl on the table, going outside quickly and into the cool air. It was rare for California to dive so low, about thirty degrees according to the American weatherman. I wasn't sure how to deal with the temperature, or how to convert that measurement to Celsius, but it felt cool and fresh.

Breathing in deeply, I trekked down the sidewalk, taking in the view of the houses nearby. Most were already decked out fully in Christmas decorations. I smiled to myself; I'd always loved Christmas, even if it was not an official holiday back in Japan. The gifts, especially, had been a favorite of the holiday; Haruto had been so happy last Christmas, since I had been able to find him that Playstation he'd been wanting since it came out. A pang of sadness hit my heart at the thought of not being with my little brother this time around, but maybe I could set up a Skype or something in order to communicate with them.

I ended up in the small, downtown area before I realized it. Tucking my hands into my front pocket, I blew a puff of air from my lips, watching the small vapor cloud that formed. A car passed by, flinging up slushy snow that I barely avoided. My toes were tingling because my shoes weren't made for this weather. I frowned, glaring at the traffic that went around the streets at two in the afternoon.

Taking a seat on a bench, I sighed and stretched out my legs. My back ached and my legs cramped every so often and my stomach felt like it was bubbling with gas. God, being pregnant is so complicated. Chewing on my lower lip, I just sat there for a few minutes, feeling the weird bubbling sensation in my stomach while watching the gray clouds above the city pass by.

"This is no place for a pregnant girl to be," somebody said, and I tilted my head to the side, seeing one of the girls from the cheerleader squad standing beside the bench, her black hair falling out of her thick hood in waves. She smirked at me, brown eyes glittering in the dull light.

"And?" I prompted, sitting up and instinctively curling one of my arms around my midsection. The girl laughed, a very high-pitched sound that made me wince, and sat down on the other side of the bench.

"I'm Carla," she said. "I'm in eleventh grade, so it's no shock that you don't know who I am." Crossing her arms, she looked over at me. "You're Kai Tenjo, right?"

"Yeah, but why does it matter?" I had my guard up; I didn't trust anyone outside of my small group of friends. Carla apparently knew this, but she made no move to make my uncomfortable state worse. She simply sat there, a gentle smile on her lips. As if she gave a damn about me in actuality.

"I've been in your situation," she stated, patting her stomach. I was about to give her a sharp answer when I realized what she was actually talking about. "My daughter is the best gift that I've ever gotten for Christmas. Her name's Starla, by the way."

I sat there, narrowing my eyes at her. "Why are you telling me this?" I inquired, suddenly feeling weird.

Carla turned her head away, gazing across the street at the small jewelry store. "There's a young mothers group I used to go to when I was pregnant with Starla. I figured I'd tell you about it since you look like your about five months along. Trust me, it's not easy being pregnant during high school. At all." Her phone began to ring, and she took it out of one of the many pockets on her fluffy winter coat. "My mom's calling, probably because my baby's been sick all day." Standing, she took out a business card and handed it to me. "Here, Kai, my phone number and the group's phone number are both on there. If you ever need me or the group, we're on call all day, everyday. I'll see you later!" Bounding away, she answered her phone, leaving me to my thoughts all alone on the bench.

I stood as well, popping my spine as I did so. I held the business card tightly in my hands, considering the idea of joining the group, but at the same time, not wanting to. Droite was more than enough support for me, but then again, I hardly knew anything. Hell, I hadn't gone to my second prenatal visit, but I was going to this one, the one for the ultrasound. And I only had Google, Wikipedia, and the various pregnancy sites around in order to learn my information (which wasn't that helpful to begin with!). That, and there would be others like me in the group. God, being a pregnant teenager just sucks, any way you look at it.

I hobbled back to the house, taking off my shoes and socks, going to the heat control panel on the wall and turning the heater up. Shivering, I went up to my room, taking off my hoodie so I could get into a sweater that Droite had lent me (read: that I'd stolen from her collection). Galaxy chirped upon seeing my arrival, and I let him out of his cage so he could fly around. As soon as I had pulled the blue sweater on, Galaxy fluttered over to me and landed on my stomach, clinging to the fabric of the shirt. I sighed, patting his head, and going to my bed, curling up in the sheets.

Galaxy snuggled into my chest, which, by the way, is close to a C-cup now. Crazy, am I right? I was not used to the increase in chest size, but Droite certainly wasn't complaining. She enjoyed it much more than I expected she would. Pushing my face into my pillow, I fell asleep quite fast, and unexpectedly.

When I woke up, somebody was poking my cheek. Seeing that Galaxy was on the covers beside me, I deducted that it must be my wife or somebody else that was poking me. I turned onto my back, and indeed, Droite was sitting next to me, about to topple off since I had shifted positions. She smiled sadly at me, and I knew exactly why she was hating it; her dad must be here.

"He wants to see you," she murmured, allowing me to sit up and rub my eyes. I nodded, yawning and popping my jaw. Galaxy drowsily got onto his tiny feet and clawed his way to me, climbing up my side and resting on my shoulder. Droite took him off of me as I got out of bed, and she put him back into his cage. He gave an unhappy chirp at that, but I ignored him and sifted out my hoodie from the clothing beside the closet. I found the hoodie I had discarded and slipped it on over my sweater, hoping to at least cover my baby bump, but to no avail. Droite pecked my cheek, going back downstairs, while I gripped the business card in the front pocket and took it out, placing it on the dresser. I stood in front of the mirror, grumbling to myself before taking both the sweater and hoodie off, taking out a tank top from the closet and slipping it on. I was done hiding and if Heartland wanted to yell at Droite for marrying a girl, he'd have to face my pregnant woman wrath.

I didn't do anything with my hair. I just went downstairs, one hand on my stomach while the other was clenched at my side. Droite and her father were having some kind of glaring contest, sitting across from each other on the couches. I cleared my throat as I came into the living room, acting like I didn't give a damn about Heartland's presence here.

The old man looked up at me and was thoroughly surprised to see that yes, I had boobs, and yes, I was sporting a pregnant belly, even though the rest of my frame was pretty thin. Droite directed her attention to me, giving me a loving look as I came over and sat beside her.

Heartland cleared his throat. "Kaito, you're not... a guy, are you?"

"No shit," I grumbled, crossing my arms. Droite nudged my side but I ignored her. "Do you have a problem with that, sir?"

The guy frowned at me, obviously furious but not showing it. "You betrayed our family by hiding your identity, Kaito. And you have disgraced our name by marrying my daughter despite the fact that the both of you are the same gender—"

"Sex," I interrupted, but he continued on.

"And on top of that, you're pregnant with what I assume is that experimental offspring my daughter took from my lab." He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "I want to sue you for all of your money, but that wouldn't be right considering your condition. And that my daughter is seemingly happy with you."

"Dad," Droite started, but he shushed her with a swipe of his hand.

"I want you two to live at the Yamamoto residence," he stated. I gasped, but he ignored me. "I'm moving away for the next six months, and I want Cecilia to monitor your condition, Kaito."

Droite spoke before I could reply. "Dad, you're insane. Kai here loves her home. Plus it wouldn't be right—"

"Droite, she's pregnant." Heartland sat back, sighing hard and dragging a hand through his hair. "She's not going to be able to pay for herself eventually, and you're not earning much with your part-time job at the grocer. I want you both to be safe. That's my gift and the requirements for you two." He then stood, going over to the front door and pulling his fancy-ass coat back on. "I'll have our staff come help you move out tomorrow, Kaito. I'll see you later." He exited the house, leaving me and Droite quite confused on what just happened.

I sighed, bringing my hands to my face and falling back against the couch. "Dammit, Droite, why is your family so uptight?"

"I don't know," she murmured. "But he's right. You're not in the best condition to provide for yourself, especially now that your family support is gone. I think it's in our best interest to move into the mansion—plus you can spoil yourself instead of living off of ramen and other shit."

I shrugged, seeing her point but still not wanting to leave the house that was beginning to grow on me. "I guess, but still."

She leaned against me, pressing her lips to mine gently. "It's going to be fine, Kai. I love you."

"I love you too." Sighing, I tucked my head underneath her chin, shutting my eyes and just relaxing.

I'm doing my best here, people. Let's see how well I can get this! Review!