I was thankful that my nausea had disappeared by the second trimester because watching Blake stuff waffles into his mouth in the same fashion as others would breathe oxygen was both fascinating and disgusting all rolled into one. Thankfully, Kid had some dignity while eating, though this was his third round of pancakes. I don't know what I expected when the two of them invited me to an endless brunch, but honestly at this point, I couldn't keep up with the pace since Jack wasn't exactly leaving me with any room. "Slow down, or we're going to end up at the hospital," I chided in Blake's direction regardless of the uselessness.

He shook it off like another crumb from his lips before wiggling his eyebrows. "How's things with Mr. Cool?"

"Fine." That was purposefully as banal as possible because while I knew these were my dearest friends, I wasn't necessarily sure I wanted the knucklehead commentary just yet. "I love you" still sounded too sweet in my ears, and I didn't want it tarnished by teasing until some of the glow was gone– if it would disappear at all.

How he could whistle with food stuffing his cheeks seemed physically impossible, but the mocking tweet broke his lips. "Fine."

A wry smile split Kid's face as he joined in: "I have to admit Soul seems a little better than fine."

"You don't say?" Blake piggy-backed. "I heard he's sorta been on cloud nine lately."

"Heard from who?" I snapped as I suddenly became very intent on the food I was pushing around my plate, hoping it would abate the rush of blood to my cheeks.

Blake shot an accusatory thumb in Kid's direction.

Traitor! I tried to spell that out clearly with a look, one that simply added humor to both of their smiles.

"Perhaps it's just his anticipation for the baby," Kid tried to add dryly, but his amusement was all too clear. "He's been humming around the office."

Another idiotic whistle blared from Blake.

Alright, I couldn't keep the dreamy—probably goofy—grin from my face at the idea. I wondered what he hummed, how deep that baritone could go, and what ran through his head with each note. It was moments like these that I surprised myself with how much I could miss him. It wasn't as if he was all that far away—spending the day with Reggie—but I could feel that yearning to just get a glimpse of his face. I tucked it away for later, trying to strip my face of anything else that could earn me more mockery.

"It's not a surprise," Kid continued, always doomed to speaking his mind once he got started. "He's a doting uncle and will be the same as a father." He nodded calmly– as if that wasn't sending a tremor through all my nerve endings.

"Kid, he's–" He's not. That tasted so bitter but I couldn't spit it out. It wasn't fair. Maybe it was technically reality, but it wasn't the world I wanted to live in– the world we'd agreed on. Still, it felt like that the world itself required it as if I were guilty of something so heinous I wasn't allowed to just change it. But what was it? What was it that I had done?

It was Blake's stern, waffle-free voice that snapped me back to our reality: "You're not backing out, are you?"

"Maka?" Kid urged in quick succession.

I could blame it on the hormones, but I knew better: I would do anything to turn the tables and erase Brian from the equation. In my heart– my soul, Jack was Soul's. My palm quickly caught the tears on my cheeks, smearing them with a sniffle. "Of course not. Don't be stupid."

Blake leaned on his elbow, propping his chin in his palm. "Good. You'd be an idiot otherwise."

"Thanks," I muttered, throwing him a tearful glare. "And since when are you on his side?"

"I owe him for all the beer." Blake cackled as a grin stole across his face. "Plus, he's the first guy I've liked– not that I have many to compare to."

"I like him too," Kid added– which I'm sure was done simply to soften my grumpy gaze. "Which reminds me, I want you to convince him to take all the time I offered."

My eyebrows climbed up my forehead. "What time?"

He tented his fingers, suddenly all business. "I did some research, and it seems the best employers offer paternity leave as well as maternity leave– or as it should be called parental leave. Twenty weeks seems to be a standard, but I settled on forty."

Eights, I would have sighed if I wasn't so shocked. "Kid that's– that's too generous."

"I will admit my biased position on this stems from you," Kid acquiesced with a smile. "I assumed your stubbornness would have kept you from asking, but Soul is ready, willing, and able so I want to give him the opportunity. You deserve it– your son deserves it."

Forget blaming the spill on hormones; I was doomed to let more tears dribble down my cheeks. "I'm not stubborn," I warbled, making both of them break into laughter. I should have known it was hopeless, but under the warm comfort of both of their smiles, I accepted a little more of the truth.

I tried to tell myself losing sleep was fine– I was just anticipating the baby who'd steal those hours from both of us for the rest of our lives. Except that was it: not the baby, not Maka's health, but the whole after. The rest of our lives. I huffed, taking tight fistfuls of the crib that was awkwardly placed in the living room. Leaning against the wood, I tried to catch my breath.

Viv had interrogated me post Reggie playdate, scaring the shit out of me with the way she could read each question that had been echoing in my brain for the past few months. Then, Maka came home from her little bro-session and… how the hell do I describe her? Tearful, but giddy? Not really sorrowful and somehow starting to generate more courage– if that was even possible? At the same time, there was a new little bit of hesitancy, like she was sitting on something. Whatever it was, I needed the egg to fucking hatch because that bit of coyness was keeping me awake and walking the floor.

On my third trek around the apartment, I heard her groan from the bedroom. Obviously my wandering was over, feet clamoring until I was at the bedside, hand on her forehead to clear her bangs from her face. "You okay? Is it time?"

She giggled softly, grabbing me by the wrist. "Just regular aches. Plus, you weren't in bed."

I huffed. "If I didn't know better…"

"I'm about to give birth so forgive just a little manipulation?" She murmured innocently, followed by a lengthy yawn. "You can't sleep?"

"Mhm." I let my fingers work through her hair, smoothing it back on the pillow.

"A lot to think about?"

I leaned down, leaving a kiss on her forehead and letting myself linger there. I tried out another hum before nuzzling against her hair.

"Is that what your humming sounds like?"

Huh? I pulled away, ready to see her drifting into nonsensical sleep but those beautiful jade eyes were just blinking at me, amusement curling her lip. "I guess…" The rise of my eyebrows just made her smile continue to climb.

"A little birdie told me you've been humming."

My own smile soured slightly. There were obviously only two options—Viv or my boss—and both seemed a 50/50 chance.

"At brunch yesterday…" Her gentle touch glided from the lobe of my ear down my neck, leaving me with goosebumps. "Kid mentioned you were anticipating Jack."

"Well, yeah…" I caught her hand just as it started towards my chest, settling it and pressing it over my heart.

Her grin was saturated in coyness. "So, what have you been humming?"

Can't say I was doing it all that consciously but sure, I had been lost in tunes that ran the spectrum. "No particular song just…" My smirk started to match hers though the playfulness was definitely eclipsed by a bit of bliss as I let the scenarios come back to the forefront of my mind. "It's more about a feelin' than the tune."

"Nerves?" She offered as a sweet hint of concern started to wrinkle her brow.

It was easy to shake my head, adding the soft stroke of my fingers along her hairline. "Guess again," I murmured warmly, letting it rumble in my chest.

Her hand flexed slightly under mine, the worry starting to melt. "Happiness?"

Instead of a game show ding, I have another content hum as the reward for her answer.

While I had expected that to encourage an explosion of her smile, she continued to keep it in check, eyes wandering over my features. "Kid told me something else, too."

"Yeah?" I stole a tendril of her hair, toying at it with my finger.

"He was worried you weren't going to take all the time he offered."

The guilt that sprang up in my gut made my lips flatline. "It's not that I don't want to take the deal…" My words started to get away from me along with all those stupid flutterings that had been in my head for the past–well, for practically the whole damn time we'd been together.

"Then?" She prompted, leaving me even more speechless since it'd come without any judgment. Maka was giving me the simple offer of explaining myself– though how fucking easy that would be was an entirely other issue.

Normally, I wanted to stare at her all day because that face– those eyes– those lips were just perfect but now? I was sorta just calculating how much I was about to fuck up and I wanted to memorize the last little bit of joy I could before she might be kicking my ass. "You said you're only getting twenty weeks."

She nodded.

I huffed a breath over my lips. "So… I mean, that would leave just me with Jack for twenty more."

"Oh." There it was– the warble in her voice and the wrinkle of her brow I was afraid of.

Maybe it was the fear, maybe it was just instinct, but my hands shot to clasp her cheeks, snagging all of her attention back from wherever her mind was going. "You said you'd try, right? Try to let me be more and I– I just didn't want to push you or make you feel like you had to. I thought– well, I thought it'd be better to let you see how the first weeks went and then if you could stomach it, then I'd take the rest."

She blinked, eyes now a little more glossy as her voice let me know how badly she had to hold back tears. "Don't think about me for a second– do you want to?"

Easier said than fucking done, Maka. I sighed. "I feel like I gotta give you a resume, references, everything. I swear I can do it—I took care of Reggie a lot—and Viv'll tell you–"

"Soul," she corrected my course almost instantly. "I know you can do it. I want to know if you want to."

I want to be his dad. Why was that so hard to say? What was it about wanting– needing something that made me just clam it up and throw it away? All of that was drenched in fear with a healthy side of self-loathing, but the way she was staring up at me made me know I had to push through that mire. "I told you: it's both of you that I want. I–" Fuck, fuck, fuck! "I don't want Jack just seein' me as your boyfriend– some guy– I want to be"—the swallow burned down my throat, making me realize my own tears were attempting to escape—"a dad to him, if I can." I tried to hold my breath while I waited for her answer but I lost it, choking away on the start of a sob.

Her hands were soft and steady over mine, lingering over my wrists before sliding up my arms. "Come here." I collapsed awkwardly into the bed, trying not to crush her but at the same time needing to be as close as I possibly could. Next it was my hair, smoothing down to my back to stroke out the tension of each muscle. "Thank you," she murmured.

It sounded so much like an echo of the past that I clutched to her, reliving a little fear from that moment passed. "I love you– remember, it's not just–"

"It's not that," she whispered sweetly before planting a kiss on my neck. "Thank you for being exactly who you are."

I could manage a breath that only tore the corner off of the fear. Being exactly who I am? That blared in my head, an incomprehensible siren. "Does that mean…?"

Her beautiful, breathy giggle lit up my skin. "That I'm the luckiest woman in the world?" she purred. "Soul"—her fingers dug into my hair to pull me back so I could witness all the love shining in her eyes—"everyone already sees you as Jack's papa. Blake and Kid were already insisting over brunch. You know Viv, Wes, and even Reggie think the same. Not to mention I seem to remember someone saying that there's no chance in hell Jack's not going to be yours."

My skin couldn't decide whether to blanche or blush. Yeah, I had said that. I said that after I stuck it to that guy who didn't deserve to have touched her let alone be a father to a little boy who was going to be just as wonderful. In other words, I'd already gotten my permission, but… "But what about you?"

Maka's smile blossomed, palms continuing to smooth over my cheeks. "If you can promise you'll make Jack just as happy as you've made me…"

She barely needed to trail off before I was kissing her like I'd been without it for months. I couldn't decide what was sweeter: her, the moment, or the future ahead of us. My hand drifted over the swell, fingers flexing gently into her nightshirt. Don't worry, Jack. This is just the start. I promise. I promise. I promise.