A/N: Sorry for the delayed update :P While I did write a little over the weekend, I just wasn't in the mood to finish a , at least not on Sunday -Saturday I was busy with hanging with my friend and a few other people for her birthday. I probably won't be updating a lot this week at all -as well as homework, I have my own novels I want to crack down at, and read... I haven't had the chance to read a good book in a long time...but I'm always buying books that I want to read. I'm an avid reader :P So I definitely want to put a dent into that shelf of unread books.

I really wish there were more hours in a day :P

Oh! And if you don't already know, I've started a collection of -are you ready for this - BROOKE-SHOTS! XD Oh, how exciting! I was really happy with how the first shot turned out. Brooke really is a character that gets pushed off to the side in fanfiction :P

Yeah, so I guess... a week break? With response to reviews and maybe a chapter in the mix? Not like you have any choice but to agree -(cue evil laugh).

I feel bad though, since I'm in the middle of two stories... well, I think you guys can wait :P I'm usually good for updating. And that chapter in the mix will more than likely come... if not to this story, then another :P

Well, enjoy~!

Chapter 4

I opened my eyes, not surprised to see Zoro's sleeping face. I propped myself up on one arm, looking down at his face. His arm lay over my waist, his face turning slightly into the pillow. His eyebrows were furrowed together, but then they'd relax and he'd mutter something inaudible under his breath.

I kissed his cheek as I slipped out from underneath his arm and covers, grabbing clean clothes as I went to the bathroom. While I still felt nauseous at times, it wasn't so bad that I felt like throwing up –though, admittedly, the waves rocking the ship back and forth were a little much sometimes. Two weeks had passed since Franky had built the room. It had felt like longer –it had been so easy to get into the habit of waking up with Zoro beside me, not on the bench up in the crow's nest, but in a comfortable bed.

As I came back into the bedroom, I saw Zoro stretch before sitting up. He looked at me, gave a tired grin, and swung his legs over the side of the bed. I smiled as he approached me, looking in the mirror and lifting my shirt over my stomach. There was still no sign of the baby in my outwardly appearance. That was fine, though. It meant that it was less likely for pirates and Marines to single me out because I was pregnant.

Perhaps any other female pirate would find a nice secluded or safe island and give birth there –maybe give up whatever dreams they had for the sake of raising their precious child. But I didn't want to put my dreams on hold to wait for a child to grow up enough so that I felt alright leaving them on their own. And if I just left him or her to some village, what would I do if they ended up feeling the same way I did?

I tugged my shirt down as Zoro placed a kiss on the side of my head, wrapping his arms around me from behind. "Morning."

"Good morning," I told him, placing my hands over his.

"Feeling okay?" he asked –the way he did every time he woke up, or when he came back from leaving just a moment, or before we went to sleep, or if I woke up to go to the washroom in the middle of the night… He asked a lot.

"I'm fine," I leaned the back of my head on his shoulder, looking up at the ceiling before rolling my head so I could kiss his jawbone. "Let's go get some breakfast."

"Starving?"

"Hungry like a wolf," I said, and then I paused, and said jokingly, "Maybe even… like Luffy."

"You're not going to gain weight from the baby –you're going to gain it from eating so much," he teased, nuzzling my ear with his nose.

I laughed.

"Morning, Robin!" Chopper waved up at me from the deck below. "How are you feeling today?" Chopper, too, constantly asked me if I was okay. But he was the doctor, so it was only natural.

"I'm feeling great," I told him as I walked down the stairs. "We have the check up later today, right?"

"Mm," he grinned. "You're not tired today?"

"No more than other days," I reassured him as we headed up to the kitchen.

"That's good," he said, nodding. "Consistency is good."

"Robin," Harumi ran up the stairs after me as I reached the deck, throwing her arms around me and rotating around me on the opposite side of Zoro. "You look lovely today."

"Thank you," I told her. She opened her mouth, "And I'm feeling good today, too."

"Good," she said, nodding her head firmly.

"Robin-chwan~!" Sanji greeted me as I pushed open the door to the dining hall. "We have some great dishes for your fatigue~!"

"Thank you, Sanji," I said. He, Nami, Luffy, and Brooke hardly asked me if I was okay at all. It's not that they didn't care about how I was doing with the baby, but they knew that I'd speak up if something didn't feel right, or perhaps they'd even be the first to notice.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, setting the plate down in front of me as I sat down. "And if you didn't, I'm not surprised, with that idiot lying beside you."

"Oi!" Zoro said, standing up just as he began to sit. "You –"

"Calm down, both of you," Nami said, entering the room with Luffy –who rushed to the table and began eating. She smiled at me as she took a seat, "You're glowing, Robin."

"Thank you… sleep in general has been better since Zoro and I got our own room and bed to share," I smiled as Franky walked in. "Thank you, Franky."

"You say that every day," Franky said, turning his head away in his embarrassment.

I chuckled.

"So you're –"

"Yes," I said, a slight annoyance slipping through my voice, "I'm feeling fine."

Zoro rubbed my shoulder gently, picking up his fork.

"Ah, pregnant mood swings," Nami teased slightly, nudging me.

"Sorry," I said, leaning onto the table and rubbing the bridge of my nose.

"It's fine," she assured me. "Right guys?"

"Well, we're already used to it with Nami," Usopp and Brooke walked in. Brooke stopped for a moment and looked back outside. No one else was left on deck, so I found this action a little odd.

Nami took her shoe off and whipped it at Usopp –who ducked –and it hit Brooke instead.

"Yohoho! I didn't see that coming! Because I have no eyes to see with! Skull joke! Yohoho!" Brooke laughed.

"Sorry, Brooke," Nami said –though she didn't look all that sorry. "I was aiming for Usopp."

"You know how you can make it up to me, Nami?" Brooke began.

"How?"

"If you show me your –"

Her other shoe hit Usopp.

"Sorry, Usopp, I was aiming for Brooke."

"Shishishi," Luffy laughed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, and his hand on his shirt. "I had a weird dream last night."

We all looked at him expectantly.

"Well, what was it about?" Usopp asked, nursing his head as he came to the table.

"I don't remember," Luffy grinned, and everybody face-palmed, except for Nami, Harumi, Zoro and myself. Nami rolled her eyes –probably having had heard this already at least once before entering the kitchen. Harumi, Zoro and I all chuckled.

"Oh! You were all in it!" he began again.

"And –?" They all waited.

"Eh? And what?"

"What were we doing?" Franky asked.

"Shishishi. I don't remember," he laughed again.

"Ugh!" They all fell onto the table, arms outstretched and strategically missing their plates.

I poked around at my food before stabbing a vegetable and stuffing it in my mouth. I still avoided the carrots, but Zoro happily ate them.

"So when are we going to start getting baby stuff?" Usopp asked, Harumi nodding as if she wanted to ask that herself.

"Well, the first couple of months are the most dangerous in terms of miscarriages," Nami said for me. "So there's not point until later in the pregnancy. If Franky were to build a crib this early, it'd only serve as an ugly reminder, if –well you know."

She knocked on the wooden table lightly as she reached for her drink.

"I think the baby will be fine," Luffy said, watching as Sanji took his plate away and replaced it with a new one. He grabbed his fork and immediately dug in.

"See?" Nami said, placing her hand lightly on his shoulder, "You heard it from the man of instinct himself."

"It is reassuring," I grinned. I placed the rest of the food on my fork and ate it. There was a part of me that was still hungry, but I didn't want to blow up like a whale.

"If you're hungry, eat," Zoro murmured in my ear.

"I'm fine," I told him. "I'll eat a snack before lunch."

"If you're done, Robin, we can have that check up now," Chopper said, getting up.

"Mm," I said, placing my napkin on my plate. Zoro grunted, not approving of me dismissing the idea of eating until full –especially after having joked this morning about eating as much as Luffy.

Nami also came along, closing the door behind the three of us as I sat down on the medical bed. Chopper had everything he needed laid out already. While he checked my blood pressure, I listened to Nami as she spoke.

"That book you lent me was great," she said, looking at the medicines on the shelves before taking a seat beside me. "You said that's the one you read to Zoro, when the ship got stolen with you still in it, right?"

"You're not going to let us live it down, are you?" I chuckled, shivering as Chopper placed a stethoscope to my lower abdomen, moving it in slow circular motions on my stomach.

"Of course not," she kicked her feet back and forth. "I mean, you're usually so even headed, and you can hold your liquor… for the ship to get stolen while you and Zoro were up in the crow's nest sleeping is just too good of a blemish in your history to let it slide by. I'm going to tell your children that one day."

I laughed, "Well, I'm sure I can tell your future children all the mistakes you've made. I should start making a list. Maybe then –"

"Oh!" Chopper exclaimed, looking up happily.

"What is it?" Nami and I asked simultaneously.

"A heartbeat," Chopper said, taking the ear piece from his ear and handing it to Nami, keeping the stethoscope to my stomach.

"Heartbeats," Nami murmured happily as she listened. She took the ears off, handing it back to Chopper before opening the door to the kitchen –"The baby has a heartbeat!"

They all rushed to the door before I even had a chance to listen. Zoro squeezed past everyone, taking a seat beside me and waiting for the noise to die down:

"Everyone quiet! Whoa~! It really is beating."

"So cute! It's super!"

"Yohoho! My ears have never heard a sweeter sound –but I have no ears to hear with! Yohoho! Skull joke!"

"Shishishi."

"Robin-chwan! It's heartbeat is nearly as cute as yours!"

"Awe~"

Zoro managed to take the stethoscope and put it to his ears. He listened intently as the others continued to stand near the door.

"It's such a weak heartbeat," Zoro muttered.

"Its heart is weak right now," Nami said.

"It should have a strong heart. Like me," Zoro said.

"A strong heart like you?" Sanji scoffed, but Nami nudged him before he could say anything more.

"It will, after it grows," Chopper assured Zoro and ignoring Sanji. Finally he handed me the stethoscope.

I put it to my ears and closed my eyes as I listened. It was so faint, but you could still hear it. A smile grew over my lips, and I placed one of my hands on my stomach. It felt like a miracle at that moment.

No, it didn't feel like a miracle. It was a miracle –or at least a miracle in the making. And as Zoro embraced me, I couldn't help but be happy that this was our miracle.