Just a heads up, Roxas will be smoking during the majority of his pregnancy. Although he does cut down A LOT in how much smokes, I know firsthand how hard it is to quit. And quitting cold turkey can be very sickening, and dangerous while pregnant.

I was a little over 10 weeks now and the weather was getting colder each day. Thanksgiving went by hectically. Of course I had to tell my entire family as they were stuffing their faces and gossiping around the cornucopia. That went so well. My uncle Zach cheered me on, saying he was glad I finally got some action, while grandma Leonhart sobbed over her turkey. My little cousin, Tidus, poked fun at the fact I was going to blow up like a blimp. Sora then tried distracting the little devil with his old baseball cards but for some reason he wouldn't leave the topic alone. All in all, I was completely and utterly miserable.

At my nine-week ultrasound, I went alone. Sora had to stay at school as well as Axel, and mom said he had to stay home and do something but wouldn't specify what. Honestly, I was kind of glad to have the alone time with dad. We hadn't gotten much since I found out about the pregnancy. I was always off either doing school work or hanging out with Axel. So it was nice. There weren't a whole lot of questions to be asked since we did live in the same house. He practically knew everything already. The entire appointment, I didn't feel a hint of nervousness. I knew what I was going to see, what I was going to feel. The unknown had now become the expected. Or so I had thought.

The moment I lifted up my shirt was when I got my first surprise. I hadn't noticed before but my stomach was slightly bulging out, just enough to still be hidden by my t-shirt. The next shock came when I looked at the ultrasound. My breath caught in my throat. The little dot from four weeks ago had grown so much. Dad said it was about the size of an olive by now. I could make out each limb and body part; legs, arms, torso, head. It was all there. For a split second I compared it to a snow man I mad in grade school. And then the final surprise. At my first ultrasound, the heartbeat was nothing more than a simple, rapid knocking noise. This time, I could hear it completely. Each thumb resonated louder into my brain as if telling me yes, I'm really here. I didn't say much more that day, but that night I read through all the chapters in my books on the first trimester. A couple days after that, I pasted in my ultrasound picture on the first page in my baby book. I smoked my tri-weekly cigarette before bed.

Now, almost two weeks later, I could no longer hide my belly in my regular shirts. I was growing so much faster than I had ever expected. Mom had gone out and bought me some of those stretchy maternity jeans and I had pretty good supply of Axel's shirts at my house. They were bigger, some almost hanging off my shoulders, so they hid my swollen abdomen better than any of my clothes could. But wearing Axel's stuff at school did not go unnoticed.

The first day I walked into class while wearing the redhead's Junior year track shirt, my classmates noticed immediately. Whispers surrounded me as I made my way through the hallways and, while I didn't catch a lot of what people saying, what I did hear was most unpleasant. Snickers from freshman, snide remarks from Axel's school-wide fan base, and disgusted noises from other athletes who thought I wasn't good enough. It took two days for the entire school to come to the conclusion that Axel and I were an item. Which we most certainly weren't.

Right now, classes had just released for lunch. Riku sat across from me with his boxed lunch while we waited for Sora and Axel to come back with both theirs and mine from the cafeteria line. I had been feeling sick all day so, of course, Axel wouldn't even let me move to get my own food.

As soon as Riku opened his lunch box, the most disgusting smell hit my nostrils. It was like a mix between week old garbage and a dirty fishing port. "Jesus Christ, man, what are you eating?" I asked, pulling Axel's shirt to cover my nose.

The other male looked at me funny. "Leftover fried chicken from my dinner last night."

I laughed a bit into the fabric. "Dude, that stuff is spoiled. Can't you smell it?" at that moment, Axel and Sora sat down next to me and Riku respectively.

"You okay, Roxy?" Axel asked when he saw half my face covered in clothing. He set my food down in front of me gently so as not to spill the wobbling Jello in one of the corners of the tray.

I glared at him for the nickname but brushed it off quickly. "Don't you smell that?" I asked, my voice muffled. Looking over at Sora, I watched as he stole a piece of chicken from Riku.

"Roxas has pregnancy nose," Riku spoke up, his mouth full of his rancid food.

Axel and Riku's mouth formed an "o" in understanding. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Riku swallowed before speaking again. "It happened to my mom too when she was pregnant with Yazoo. I remember when I was little, we had to completely cut anything fried out of our diet, all of us, because he couldn't stand the smell. He nearly puked every time he smelled it."

"My mom once told me that the same thing happened to him only with Chinese food," Axel added.

I let go of the shirt, letting it fall back into place. "So basically, when I smell anything fried or Chinese food, I'll get sick? That sucks! I love both of those!" I slammed my head down on the table. Axel moved my tray out of the way just in time so I didn't go face first into a slice of pizza. "I hate this."

A large warm hand rubbed up and down my back in an attempt to comfort me. Although I'd never admit it, it did kind of work. The hand changed from gentle rubbing to a deliciously amazing massage. I pushed my shoulder blades into it with a soft sigh.

Axel chuckled and added his other hand, moving us both around to straddle the table's bench. I scooted back, almost touching my spine to his chest, his thumbs digging into all the knots.

"You really do look like a couple," Riku mentioned, having put away his food for my sake.

I grumbled, not looking up. "He's the father of my child," I whispered, not wanting any wandering ears to listen in. "He's obligated to service me."

The rest of the day was exhausting. Carrying around the weight of another human, no matter how small, but so much pressure on every one of my joints. By the time I got home, all I could do was flop onto the couch and attempt to remove my shoes from my overly swollen feet. Axel had come home with me today. He'd been doing that a lot lately.

Sitting down next to me, he pulled my legs up and set them in his lap.

"What are you doing, Ax?" I sighed in frustration.

He pulled out a small bottle of lotion from his bag and started rubbing it into his hands. "Your feet are so swollen I can't even see your ankle," he started rubbing his thumbs into the bottom of my feet as he spoke.

Groaning happily, I leaned my head back. "How are so good at that?"

I could hear the smirk in his voice when he responded. "My brother, Reno, is professional masseuse. He went to school for it and everything. When I told him our situation, he gave me a couple tips, said it was necessary I know."

"God bless Reno," I waved my pointer finger in a circle like a little flag, rousing a chuckle from my baby daddy.

"Roxas is that you?" I heard mom yell from the top of the stairs. I looked up to see him running down the steps, one hand behind his back. "Oh, hey, Axel!"

Axel gave a small nod to him in return seeing as how his hands were currently occupied. "Hi, there, Mrs. Leonhart."

"Where's Sora?" mom asked, standing before us. I tried to look around him to see what he was hiding behind himself but he kept moving out of the way.

I sighed, giving up. "He went shopping with Riku and Wakka," I narrowed my eyes, meeting my mom's equally blue orbs. "What do you have there, mom?"

"Oh right!" from behind his back he pulled out a small silver gift bag topped with shimmering gold tissue paper. He held it out in front of him, prompting me to take it.

I looked at it oddly. "Mom, what is this?"

"Well, you'll find out if you open it!"

I rolled my eyes and sat up a little more. Carefully I pulled away the tissue paper and tossed it on the floor. Pulling out what was inside, I let out a soft gasp. "Mom…"

In the bag was a small, baby sized quilt. It was made off of my old newborn clothes cut up and sewn together. The edged were lined with felt tassels and in the upper right hand corner the word 'Peanut' was embroidered in cursive.

"Oh, my god…" I could barely speak above a whisper.

Mom sat down in the arm chair next to the couch. "It's for the baby, your little peanut," he mentioned.

I held the tiny quilt to my chest lovingly. "I love it. Thank you so much."