A/N: I agree, Kanda is probably a little too calm right now, but he knows that if he loses his temper, it would be Cross he'd have to deal with, and he definitely doesn't want that. ;)

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Aside from a few muttered curses during his contractions, nothing more was said between Allen and me for a while. We just sat beside each other, lost in our own thoughts. It was a relatively comfortable silence, and it stayed that way until Cross came back.

I moved back to the chair, partially because I knew that Allen needed the bed space and partially because of the disapproving look on Cross' face when he saw us sitting together. Allen repeated his earlier action of laying down and spreading his legs. He glared at Cross when the redhead didn't move from the doorway. "Check me first and then you can say whatever it is that you're thinking."

Cross shifted his scowl from me to Allen, but then he was all business. He rolled up his sleeves as he strode across the room. "How far apart are your contractions?"

"Three and half minutes." Oh, so that's what that meant.

"And when did they start?"

"I noticed the first around ten this morning, so it's been about eight hours."

Cross nodded as he knelt and examined the Moyashi. "Six and a half centimeters. You're making progress, but it's still going to be a few hours before it's time."

Allen nodded and let his legs fall from their spread position. Cross turned his scowl on me, and out of habit, I matched it. "Now then, if you truly didn't know about his condition, then what exactly are you doing here?"

My gaze flicked briefly to the Moyashi before I stared firmly at Cross. It was best to just tell him the truth and get it over with. "I came to confess. Unlike him, I actually remember that night, and I came to tell him that I love him."

It was clear from the look on Cross' face that that wasn't one of the answers he had expected me to give. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that the Moyashi was bright red, but Cross was only speechless for a few seconds, so I couldn't dwell on that. "Normally I'd question you about your intentions towards Allen, but given his current condition and the fact that you haven't left yet, it's fairly obvious what your intentions are. So, that just leaves the baby."

I interrupted him before he could go any further. "It's been an hour and a half. I've only known long enough to have accepted that it's biologically my baby. That's it. If you want me to figure out more than that, you're going to have to give me more time."

"Fair enough." Cross turned from me to smirk at Allen. "Just don't believe him when he says he's giving the baby away."

"Che. He's already admitted that he doesn't want to."

"Hey! I-" The Moyashi's attempt to protest turned into a whimpering groan.

Cross ignored the contraction and raised an eyebrow at me, but he didn't share what was on his mind, and instead left the room. I'd learn later that the general was begrudgingly impressed that I had gotten Allen to say out loud what he had known from the beginning: despite his assertions to the contrary, the Moyashi was never going to be able to give away his child.

A muffled groan turned my attention back to the Moyashi. He had buried his face in his hands. "Did you really have to tell Cross that?!"

Not knowing what he was referring to, I simply shrugged and waited for him to complain more. "Now that he knows you would have accepted my pregnancy, he's going to be on my ass forever for not telling you!"

I chuckled slightly at the Moyashi's misery, but I had to correct him. "I don't know that I would have accepted it, Moyashi. It took you going away for me to get my feelings figured out. There's no telling how I would have reacted if you had told me before then."

He was silent for a moment, and when he finally spoke, it was quiet and uncertain. "So you really are serious then? You really... feel that way... about me?"

I snorted. "Moyashi, I love you so much that I hopped on a train almost as soon as I learned where you were staying. As you already pointed out, that's not the kind of thing that I do."

"And the baby doesn't change that?" The words were soft, like he was scared of what my answer would be.

"Should it?" The question made him turn and look at me. "The way I see it, if you being pregnant had changed my feelings, then it wouldn't have really been love that I felt for you."

Once again I had to wait for the Moyashi's next contraction to pass before I got a response from him. He was slightly out of breath when he spoke. "What exactly is it that you want from me?"

"I don't know."

Allen snorted at me. "That's a helpful answer, Bakanda."

I frowned at his sarcasm. "I guess not. But that's the part that you being pregnant did change."

"Oh. Right." The Moyashi sighed heavily. He worked his way into a sitting position and stared at his lap. "In that case, would you be ok with me responding to your confession in that same way?"

"Of course." I kept a calm expression, but that actually made me ridiculously happy. I knew my Moyashi well enough to know that 'I'll think about it' actually meant that he just wasn't ready to say out loud that he returned my feelings.

We sat in silence until the Moyashi had another contraction. When it passed, he gave his belly a frustrated pout. "Come on, Baby, just come out of me already."

The scene was adorable, but I kept from commenting, knowing that it would only end with the Moyashi angry with me. Instead, I watched in confusion as Allen struggled to stand from the bed. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to walk around. It'll help... speed things up." He clutched his belly for balance when he finally made it to his feet, but he pushed it aside and smiled at me. "Walk with me. I need something to hold on to, so that I don't fall during a contraction."

I smirked at the demanded request. "Are you asking for help, Moyashi?"

"Bakanda." He stuck his tongue out at me, but then his stare grew cold. "I'm in labor with your child. I'm allowed to ask for help, right?"

His tone made me laugh, and I was immediately punched in the shoulder. I rubbed the spot and scowled at Allen. He seemed really freaked out. "Don't do that. It's creepy."

"Huh? What's creepy?"

"You. Laughing. Knock it off."

His flustered tone just made me laugh more. I stood from my seat and kissed him. He blushed and weakly tried to shove me away. "You can knock that off too."

"But I don't want to. You're too beautiful."

The Moyashi turned bright red at my words. "Ba-Bakanda! Don't say things like that!"

"Why not?"

He frowned, that embarrassed blush still vibrant on his face. "I don't want you to lie to me."

I leaned closer and whispered in his ear. "I'm not lying."

He latched onto me as his next contraction made him nearly lose his balance. When it was over, he glared up at me, but didn't remove his hold on my jacket. "Fine, then don't say things like that while I'm in labor. They're too distracting."

I kissed his forehead, noticing for the first time how matted with sweat his white hair already was; despite how well he was handling his labor, it really was hard on him. "I suppose I can do that."

We spent the rest of the hour pacing the hall together. He asked about what he'd missed in the months he was gone, and I told him a couple stories about the things Lenalee and the Usagi had been up to. Despite the fact that I was the one doing all the talking, and that we were constantly interrupted by his contractions, it was a nice time.

But then we were back in the bedroom, and Cross was checking Allen's birth canal again. "Nine centimeters. You're almost there. How far apart are your contractions now?"

"Less than two minutes." He paused to scream through a particularly painful contraction. He was gasping for breath when it was over. "And the baby's in position."

Cross nodded in acknowledgment. "Is your bag still hanging on the coat rack?"

"It should be. I haven't exactly used it lately."

Cross was out of the room the second the words were out of Allen's mouth. Wanting an explanation, I raised an eyebrow at him. "What bag?"

The Moyashi snorted at my confusion. "I'm a midwife, remember? It's that bag; it's got all the tools I need for delivering babies in it."

I frowned at that. I didn't think that he actually would have done that type of work once his apprenticeship was over. "Exactly how many babies have you delivered?"

Allen shrugged. "By myself? At least two dozen." He screamed through another contraction. When he spoke again, I was focused on how high that number seemed, and I didn't expect him to pick up where he left off. "I didn't exactly count them, and with how we've been moving around, it's hard to keep track. That and it's been about six weeks since my last delivery."

"How come?"

The Moyashi sighed. "I had to stop once I got too far into my pregnancy. I couldn't risk going into labor while I was working."

I blinked at him. "Why's that?"

He snorted at me again. "Cross' spell only made me look female. I remained male where it counts." He smirked at the expression on my face. "Of course, given that I currently have both parts, they probably would have just assumed that I'm a hermaphrodite."

I was saved from having to respond to that by another contraction. Like the last couple, this one made him scream in pain, and he gasped for breath when it was over. Cross returned then with towels, a basin of water, and what could only be described as a woman's handbag. He put the things down and checked the Moyashi again. "You're not quite there; it's still going to be a bit."

Allen nodded at Cross, and it was clear that he was keeping his mouth shut to keep himself from swearing.

The next fifteen minutes were silent save for Allen's screaming and the heavy breathing after the contractions passed. The Moyashi kept giving me the same look after each contraction, and it took me far too long to figure out that he was asking if I was going to stay with him through the birth. I didn't know if I wanted to stay, but it was clearly what he wanted, so I reached out and took his right hand in both of mine.

Then Cross announced that it was time.

Allen spent the next hour screaming as he tried to push the baby out of his body. Like with the rest of his labor, he did a spectacular job of maintaining his composure, but it was obvious that he was in more pain than he'd ever experienced before. It was hard seeing him like that, and I wanted to leave, but he kept such a firm grip on my hand that I couldn't move. But just when I thought I couldn't take any more, Cross informed us that the baby's head was crowning.

What came next was even more screaming, Allen's grip on my hand tightening to the point of almost breaking it, and a whole lot of disturbing things that I chose to ignore. I focused on the Moyashi's face, and completely blocked out what was happening between his legs.

When it was all over, the Moyashi collapsed against the pillows, nearly laughing in relief. He kissed the back of my hand and smiled at me as he finally let go. "Thanks for staying."

My sarcastic response was stopped by the sound of the baby crying. I watched Cross hand the cleaned and blanketed baby to the Moyashi, and he immediately started bawling. "Hi Baby."

While Allen babbled nonsense at the baby, Cross turned his focus on me. I merely raised an eyebrow at him. "It hasn't been enough time yet."

The redhead scowled at me, but he remained silent and left the room. My attention returned to the Moyashi when he began tugging on my jacket sleeve. "Come closer."

At his bidding, I joined him on the bed. We sat side by side, and before I knew what was happening, he was putting the baby in my arms. I glared at the Moyashi, but he just grinned as he adjusted my hold on the baby. "See, Baby? Your daddy's here too. He came all this way just to tell me he loves me. We're going to be a family."

'Daddy'? 'A family'? What's he going on about?! "Oi! Moyashi!"

He laughed lightly at my reaction, and then he leaned in and kissed me. "That's my condition, Yuu. If you want me to accept your confession, then you have to accept your child."

I frowned at him, and his use of my first name, but he just kissed me again. "Don't give me that look, Yuu. You know as well as I do that you're only upset because it's biologically your baby. If I had gotten pregnant through a rape, you would have no issues with accepting the baby as your own."

My frown deepened. I hadn't thought of it that way, but it was definitely true. It irked me that he knew me that well. Seeing my reaction, the Moyashi smirked deviously at me. "If it makes you feel better, I was so drunk that night that what you did to me could probably be considered rape."

That did not make me feel better. "Oi! Baka Moyashi! I was just as drunk as you were!"

He snickered and kissed me again. That was three times now that he'd initiated a kiss. It was a little mind blowing given how hesitant he had been just a couple hours earlier. Seizing the opportunity, I deepened the kiss. He fought for dominance, but he didn't have much stamina at the moment, and had to break the kiss before one of us won.

When he pulled away, his gaze was hard. "Yuu. Stop dawdling and look at the baby."

So he had noticed that even though the baby was in my arms I hadn't looked at it yet. I frowned at him, but he had that 'do what I want or there will be consequences' look down pat.

I would fiercely deny it later, especially around Lavi and Teidoll, but I cried the first time I laid eyes on my daughter. It was just a few tears, nothing like the sobbing Allen had done, but it was crying nonetheless. I couldn't help it. It was love at first sight. She was just so tiny and helpless. Everything about her, from her teeny fingers to the scrunched up expression on her face, was precious. She was my beautiful baby girl, and I never wanted to let her go.