After putting the now sleeping boy on the bed and pulling the covers over his sleeping form, she heard a knock that was followed by the opening of the bedroom door.
"Is everything okay in here?" Sheena heard a voice say, recognizing it as Zelos's. "There's wet spots and footprints all around the house.
"Yeah, everything's fine," she answered, turning towards the man.
"Wow! That's quite the outfit you're wearing, hunny!' he smirked as he came to halt in front of her.
"Shut up," she blushed and pulled the robe around her more tightly.
They stood in awkward silence as Zelos stared at the napping boy.
"What were you doing sleeping on the couch?" Sheena asked, breaking the silence.
Zelos turned his gaze to the ninja. "Oh, you know. I decided to switch things up a bit, and I was too comfortable to move." He shrugged, and then moved even closer to her. "But more importantly what were you doing at my doorstep at 1:30 in the morning? And who's the kid?" He motioned towards Sen with a tilt of his head.
"Uh, his name's Sen."
"Sen, huh?" He said almost absent-mindedly. He looked down at her belly.
"And how far did you travel yesterday? It had to be a long ways if you collapsed into my arms!"
Sheena's blush returned, and she turned her head away from his. "I traveled pretty much the whole day." Her eyes went to him, before quickly averting them again.
"Huh, you don't say?" His eyebrows rose. "You, a pregnant woman, traveled the whole day to get to me." A big grin formed on his face. "You know, that's not very healthy."
"I took some breaks," she argued. "And not to get to you!" She yelled, but hushed her voice after remembering the sleeping child. "Well, I did, but….urgh." She scowled at his annoying laughter that now reached her ears, and she hugged herself tightly.
When his laughing subsided, Zelos bent over and gently poked her stomach.
"What are you doing?" she asked annoyed, while swatting away his hand.
"Just making sure this is real," he dorkily smiled at her.
"I assure you, it is very real." As though to prove her point, the baby inside harshly kicked, causing Sheena to grimace and clutch her stomach.
Concern flitted across his face, but he knew she was fine. "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant? And who's the lucky guy?" He grinned, although disappointment and jealousy lay in his gut, something he would not admit.
"Because I just found out…and…I-I'm not sure who the guy is," She stuttered. She had turned her face downward and away from him, red dusting her warm cheeks.
"O…kay," Zelos said confusedly. "Usually I would ask how you'd not know the guy, I know you're not the type to just go sleeping around with people, but I'm even more confused about how you just found out. You look like you are very far along."
"We should probably just sit down somewhere else to talk," she nervously suggested.
Zelos quietly nodded and turned around towards the door
Right before she followed the red-haired man out the door, she remembered that she was only wearing a bath robe. Anger flared inside her.
"You stupid idiot!" she yelled at him, which caused him to pause and turn to look at her. "You were just going to let me walk out like this!"
"Hey," he put his hands out defensively, "You didn't say anything, so I thought you were fine with it. I wasn't going to complain."
Sheena quickly grabbed an extra pillow on the bed and chucked it at the man.
"Hey, hey, don't get angry at me, hunny," he said in a whiny voice, after deflecting the pillow. "It's not my fault you're getting old and forgetting things." He put his hands in the air and turned his nose upward.
The angry ninja took this chance to throw another pillow, which, this time, hit him right in the face. "Shut u-" she stopped. She turned to look at Sen, and for some reason he was still sleeping, despite all the noise Zelos and she were making. Relieved, she looked back at Zelos and angrily motioned to him to leave the room. "Shut the door behind you," she mouthed. Sheena gave a sigh of relief when the door closed all the way.
A couple minutes later, she opened the door to find Zelos waiting outside in the hall, and she followed him to a sitting room close by. Inside, Sheena gratefully took a seat on one of the red cushioned armchairs, while the red-haired man sat across from her in a similar chair. They sat for a while in silence, one looking at the ground nervously and holding her stomach, the other brimming with questions to ask but not knowing where to exactly start.
After many moments, Zelos finally broke the silence. "So…how don't ya know like anything, hun?"
Sheena sighed and tilted her head backwards. Bringing it back forward, she said, "Well, I kinda just woke up in the middle of the forest two nights ago, and Sen was right next to me and, well, I was pregnant."
Zelos leaned further back in his seat and raised one of his fine eyebrows. "So, what you're saying is, just two nights ago you woke up in the middle of the forest, and bam, you had a kid with you and you were pregnant?"
"Yeah," she said, some annoyance leaking out.
"So you don't know anything?"
"No, not really. I don't even know what I was doing in that forest. From what I remember, I was just working on paper work in Mizuho. No kid, and definitely not pregnant."
"O…kay…Why, didn't you just leave the kid?" he asked, crossing his arms and throwing a leg over the other. "You don't know if he's your responsibility."
"Zelos!" she suddenly said in a raised, agitated voice, "I couldn't just leave a three-year-old in the forest alone. That is just plain cruel." She leaned back further in her chair and crossed her arms as well. "Anyway, just look at him. His resemblance to me is uncanny. And he keeps calling me mother."
"Okay, okay. Settle down, hunny," he said, taken back by her sudden angry outburst, but he regained his composure. "So you really believe that you are his mother?" he inquired, again raising an eyebrow.
At her silence, he continued, "Sheena, be reasonable. I can understand that you are pregnant, and that child is yours. First of all, that baby is inside of you and it shows. Secondly, I haven't seen you for almost half a year. So you could have very well slept with a man and so on. But that kid, you couldn't have had him. You obviously couldn't have given birth and then raised a three-year-old in that time span." Zelos paused in talking as he saw a vein beginning to show on the ninja's forehead.
"Just listen, you idiot," came her strained voice, "I did not sleep with any man! I have no idea where these kids came from, and because I have no idea what the deal is with Sen, I will take care of him until I find out. That's the least I can do!"
"Okay, jeesh!" he exclaimed, while putting his hands up defensively. "You women get so worked up over children, and so protective too. You just got to help them out when they're in need, don't ya? Just can't leave them, alone."
Sheena's vein only grew more prominent, as she struggled to keep a fist from making contact with his face.
Zelos laughed nervously, and sweat began to form on his forehead.
When he could tell her anger lowered, he continued with his questioning.
"So why'd you come to me hunny? I certainly am not the father. Believe me, I would remember having sex with you." He smiled.
Her eyes moved down to the floor, her anger gone for now, paying no heed to his last statement. "Zelos…I don't want to drag you into this, but I do believe you're at least Sen's dad."
"Hahaha!" he laughed while slapping his knee. "You can't be serious, hunny! Why do you think that? Do you want me to be the dad?" His eyebrows wiggled at her.
"Shut up, idiot," she said sharply, her eyes returning to him. Her emotions and feelings were in a jumble. "Why would I want you to be the dad?"
He leaned towards her, his arms crossed on top of his knees, with a smile plastered to his face. "Because you're in love with me!"
At this a red dusted Sheena's cheeks, and she quickly brought a fist to his face. "You stupid Chosen!" she yelled, "Quit joking!"
"It's ex-Chosen to you," replied the hurt red-haired man in a muffled voice, as he held his face.
Sheena went back to crossed arms and leaning back in the chair, turning her face away from him yet again. "When Sen wakes up, just look at his eyes and you'll understand why I think you're the father."
Hearing this and seeing that she was serious, most of the color drained from Zelos's disbelieving face when he comprehended what she just said. He could not find any words to say, but still his mouth opened and closed. Sheena looked back at him, tiredness etched on her face. She waited for him to say something. Finally after a minute of awkward silence, she heard his hushed question. "You can't be serious?!" His eyes were wide. "You have to be mistaken."
"I'm not," she responded, "I know what your eyes look like."
Zelos forwent saying what he would have usually said to those words and continued in his disbelief. "No, I can't be a father!" He took a few moments to think silently. Then his eyes narrowed, and he stood up and went to the other side of the room, his back facing the young woman. "I'm not saying anything more, until I see the boy's eyes" And with that he left the room, leaving an exhausted and frustrated mother alone.