Alright, I would like to just state this for the record now:

This story is really only about the pregnancy stages of them having kids - I am planning another story full of one-shots (about Hotel T in general but mainly focusing on Johnny/Mavis and maybe Dracula) that will deal with many topics, including the actual raising of the kids.

And yes, I changed the name of the fic: I just feel like this one is somewhat more appropriate for what kind of content the chapters provide.

The Age-Old Question

Such a simple, closed question: the answer was one or the other - it shouldn't have been a reason to bother, really.

Boy or Girl?

First of all, for Johnny and Mavis this was somewhat of a tricky question anyway: vampires didn't show up on photos and so therefore didn't appear on sonograms either - so, really, they had no way of telling until the baby came out. Second of all, the question, 'Boy or Girl?' could also mean 'which do you prefer?', and, really, neither of them really minded.

But apparently, everyone else seemed to.

"I bet it's going to be a girl," An old gremlin lady cooed, patting Mavis' bump affectionately one night.

Her husband snorted. "With a kick like that? No, it's a boy, you wait and see!"

A passing yeti monster winked at Johnny. "Just what a man needs, right? A son to pass all of that knowledge onto; to play sports with! To go exploring with!"

"Clearly it's a girl," A fly argued, looking quite exhausted and annoyed. "If it was a boy then she'd be carrying lower down: that bump is too high for it to be a male baby. Still," He leaned his head closer to Johnny. "Always another go, I suppose."

"Well I actually-"

Eunice happened to pass down the corridor at that moment and immediately joined the conversation. "It's a girl!" She proclaimed loudly, pulling Mavis into a protective embrace away from the other monsters. "And a girl is not a bad thing! I mean, with any luck she'll look just like her mother! No offence, Johnny!"

"None taken," He shrugged.

Mavis pulled herself out of the flesh-golem's embrace and rolled her eyes at everyone. "We don't know what it is yet," She stressed for what felt like the millionth time in the past few months. "And we won't know until the end of October - a whole four and a half months away! Besides, we don't really mind if it's a boy or girl," Here looked at her husband, who grinned and nodded in agreement. "As long as they're healthy and all that...does it matter?"

At first Dracula had seemed to share this attitude - he even took to glaring at any guests he caught asking the couple about the gender...oh, and don't even get him started on the whole incident of when monster reporters had come to ask! Geesh, and he'd thought he and Martha had it bad before Mavis arrived!

But it appeared that, deep down, even the infamous Count Dracula couldn't help but wonder.

"Imagine if it's a girl!" He sighed blissfully, smiling to himself as he relaxed one evening. "Just like my little Mavy."

"Uhh...Dude?" Johnny said suddenly, waving his arms at his father-in-law. "I'm kinda sitting right here."

The Count just gave a small laugh. "Of course, of course..." But he still continued to smile to himself stupidly. "But surely you understand, Johnny; a baby girl! There really is nothing greater!"

Johnny stopped drinking his blood beater and blinked. "Wait...really?"

Dracula gave a nod and smiled knowingly at the former human. "Don't get me wrong, Johnny: a son would have been just as amazing! Someone to teach everything to, to play real bat-tag with...but from the moment I knew my little blood orange was a girl, I knew that I wouldn't have had it any other way."

"Huh." Johnny seemed to be reflecting in thought, and moved his chair closer to Dracula's. "Sorry, it's just that in my family we only ever got boys...it's kinda like a curse," He joked. "All seven of us were boys; my brother Matt has a son - and probably another on the way - so a baby girl is kinda like...not something we've had in the family for a while. Actually..." He paused and counted in his head. "All babies in my family have been boys for five generations now - the only girls are, like, married into it."

The older vampire sent him a slightly funny look. "I see...so are you saying that the baby will be a boy for certain?"

"What? No!" Johnny quickly backtracked. "I mean, like, a girl would kinda be like a miracle!...I mean, not because it's impossible...a girl would be a miracle anyway!...A boy would be a miracle...A baby at all is a miracle!"

Dracula suddenly gave a chuckle and clapped his son-in-law on the shoulder. "I'm only kidding, Johnny! Don't worry; either is fine by me!"

"Oh...right. Heh..."

But, truthfully, it was starting to get to the parents-to-be as well; around the five month mark they had taken a trip to visit Johnny's side of the family (a last time before being tied down by parenthood, that was) - and it was clear that Johnny's family were just as eager to hear as the monsters in the hotel.

Of course, the moment Johnny and Mavis stepped foot in Johnny's parents' house Jean was hugging them tightly.

"Oh, it's so good to see you!" She breathed, hugging her son close to her and pressing a kiss to his cheek. "It's been too long...And Mavis! My, you look wonderful!"

Mavis laughed and hugged her mother-in-law tightly. "Thanks, I guess."

Jean eyed the growing baby bump with great interest. "May I...you know?" The vampire nodded, and Jean placed her hands on the bump as she grinned. "They're getting big," She commented, rubbing at the bulge affectionately. "How many more months?"

"About four."

"Mom, they're not even born yet - you don't need to spoil them just yet!" Johnny joked, although he too put a hand on his wife's stomach and rubbed with a smile on his face. "They've been kicking a ton, right Mavy? You should feel them during the day when we try sleeping - they go totally crazy!"

"And I suppose there's no chance of finding out the gender?" Jean questioned in a somewhat hesitant way, training her eyes on the two. "Because that would make buying the gifts a lot easier."

Mavis sighed and shook her head. "No, unfortunately. Trust me, it's driving us crazy too."

"Hmm...well, a surprise is always nice too." The woman took her hand away from the daughter-in-law's stomach and eyed her son with a beady eye. "Now, Johnny - I expect that you're looking after Mavis, correct? Because the last thing a pregnant woman needs, human or vampire, is to stress."

"Oh, trust me," Johnny snorted. "I've tried helping but she just gets moody and yells."

That particular comment had put him in 'the doghouse' for a few days.

"So?" Mavis asked one night, flopping next to her husband by the pool. Her bathing suit was stretched to its' limit to accommodate her growing baby bump, and it wouldn't be much longer until she wouldn't be able to wear it anymore. "Boy or girl?"

Johnny shrugged. "Are we making a bet here or talking about what we'd like?"

"What we'd like."

Johnny tilted his head back and watched the sky thoughtfully. "Dunno. I guess I've never really thought about it...I mean, as long as he or she is healthy," He added quickly at the look on his wife's face.

Mavis put her hand on her baby bump and started to stroke it in thought. "I guess. I'm not too picky."

"It'd be cool if it was a girl though," Johnny mused, chuckling slightly to himself. "It'd be the first girl born in my family for years...I mean, Matt and his wife told me they're expecting another boy, and then there's me and all my brothers..."

"Not because you want a girl then?" Mavis teased.

"It's not that," The red-head muttered quickly. "I was just saying. Look, either is awesome with me – as long as they're not deformed or anything."

"I highly doubt they will be," The female vampire said, amused. Johnny just shrugged again – after all, they weren't going to scans or anything to check. "Anyway, you never told me which one you'd actually like better."

Her husband looked down at the pool, kicking his feet in the water. "I did tell you. I don't care...Hold on!" He looked up and smirked at her. "You didn't say which one you'd prefer...Which one would you like?"

Mavis smiled slightly to herself. "Honestly? I kind of agree with you...but if I could choose," She continued quickly when her husband opened his mouth to protest. "I'd probably choose a girl."

Johnny stared at her for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. "Why?"

Mavis shrugged. "I don't know. I just...I think it'd be nice to have a daughter to play with and see grow up. I mean, you can talk to them properly, gossip a little when they get older...Boys are great, don't get me wrong, but I'd just prefer having a baby girl."

There was a short silence between them; a couple of the younger wolf pups jumped in the pool, splashing the two vampires with drops of water but neither of them said anything. "I think I agree with you," Johnny finally said, flashing her a smile and showing off his fangs. "A girl sounds adorable."

"Come on," Mavis decided, pushing herself forwards and into the pool. "Auntie Wanda told me that swimming is good for when you're pregnant – maybe it'll relax the baby so that they kick some more for us."

Johnny slipped into the pool after his wife eagerly, grinning and chasing after her in the warm water.

Dracula had been standing with Frank, Wayne, Murray and Griffin outside of his daughter's room for hours now - he desperately wanted to be inside there with his baby girl, to try and stop her from screaming; he would have done just that if his friends hadn't stopped him immediately.

"Of course she's in pain," Griffin commented, probably rolling his eyes slightly at his friend. "It's a baby."

"I'm sure Martha was like this when she had Mavis," Wayne commented, scratching his ear a little; he'd left his eldest children in charge of the younger ones by the pool. Whether the pups stayed behaved was an entirely different matter, but right now he had to be there for his friend. "I mean, Wanda wasn't too different - the screaming and pain goes away once the baby comes."

"She's a Dracula," Frank continued assuringly. "She'll be able to get control over it soon."

"Besides," Murray finished, putting a sandy arm around the Count. "She's got Johnny, right?"

Dracula pushed the mummy's arm off of him with an unpleasant look on his face. "I know - that is what I'm worried about."

There was no more time for assurances, because Mavis could be heard letting out one last cry - this cry was then replaced immediately by the sound of a newborn crying loudly as it entered the world. Dracula shot upwards, eyes widening as he listened. "It's...It's over..."

"Congrats, Drac!" Frank bellowed cheerfully, slapping him on the back hard and nearly sending him flying. "Hard to believe you're a Grandpa, huh?"

"Geez...that makes me feel old," Griffin muttered in distaste. "Still, Congratulations buddy! What do guys you think it is?"

Murray rubbed his hands together and grinned. "I bet on it being a boy; if I win this, I'll be able to get the upgrade on my pyramid!"

"Who cares about your pyramid?" Wayne asked eagerly. "If it's a girl then I can go on an extended vacation! No kids, no work..."

Griffin gave a snort. "If it's a boy, I'm using the money to go abroad; I've gotten so pale recently..."

Dracula blinked: strangely, he hadn't actually asked himself the question on the gender at that moment, more focused on making sure that everything had gone smoothly. "Well I-"

"C'mon, guys," Frank started, rolling his eyes. "Let's be serious here...it's got to be a girl! Women don't get that big if they're having boys!"

"You can't tell just from the size of a stomach!" Murray argued.

Wayne sent him a sharp look. "You probably could, especially since it's only one baby."

"It's a boy."

"Girl."

"Boy!"

"Girl!"

"Alright!" Dracula snapped irritably, silencing his friends immediately. "Enough already! Someone from inside that room will come out and tell us soon, okay? So stop all of this..." He paused and then narrowed his eyes. "Hold on: you were betting on the gender of my grandchild?"

As if right on cue, the door to Room 174 opened; Johnny stepped out, still dressed in pyjamas and looking exhausted - but there was suddenly something different about him, at least to Dracula. He was holding himself taller, much taller, instead of slouching, and the happy-go-lucky grin on his face seemed to have been multiplied by a hundred as he looked around at the group of monsters.

Good Grief, Dracula thought to himself: this young man - someone whom he had tried to get rid of at first, a somewhat immature and way-too laid-back young man who had married his daughter - was a father.

Johnny's eyes lit up and he grinned even wider at his friends; even without the question being asked, he knew what to say.

"It's a girl."