Hinata sighed, laying her hand over her round stomach. It was getting harder to hide. She needed to keep herself from rubbing the round instinctively, especially when it was awake and moving. The little pest kept her up most of the night turning. She debated canceling some of her meetings, but some of them couldn't be rescheduled. She promised herself she would nap on the office couch after dinner. It was calming to Gaara when he could see her.
Her eating was becoming snacking what she could, trying to keep her calories as high as possible. She tried to hide the snacks after Temari asked her if it was why she was gaining weight. Hinata was sure she didn't mean to be rude, but she also knew Temari was annoyed that she still had not been cleared from her medical hold. The excuse that it was a clan matter made her even more annoyed at being left in the dark.
Matsuri commented on her tired face and rising impatience.
Maybe it was time to talk about what was happening.
"Should we tell a small group about the pregnancy?" Hinata asked from the couch.
"I do not think that I am the best person to ask." Gaara paused and realized that he was the only person to ask other than her medic. He rephrased. "It would be up to you. Do you have a reason to?"
"I'm thinking it's only going to be harder to hide as I am getting bigger. I think the excuses are wearing thin, at least with those who see me regularly. Temari-chan is particularly annoyed, Matsuri-chan is worried about my health, and I'm worried if Kankuro-san found out on his own and told Temari-chan. She suspected it already, and he wouldn't know to keep it to himself." Hinata explained. "And if Temari-chan thought she knew, she may be too excited to think about why we are hiding it."
"I understand." Gaara agreed. Hinata was right. His brother was not the best at discretion, and his sister, though not one to gossip, did talk too much. "So you want to tell Temari, Kankuro, and Matsuri."
"And Baki-san," Hinata added.
Gaara gave her a confused look. "Why."
"Because he can keep an eye on the council on the matter," Hinata explained. "I trust him to know that it is best kept from the council."
"He may feel it is not something that should have been kept from the council." Gaara countered.
"And that is why we tell him before someone finds out accidentally. That way, he knows our reason and can hopefully minimize damage." Hinata explained.
Gaara understood her line of thinking. However, this was still all running together in his head. With his mind half on the threat of war and a half on her ongoing pregnancy, he was learning it was best to trust she knew what she was doing. "Alright. How would you like to tell them?"
The hall warped around her. Hinata slammed her hand into the wall to ground herself against it. "Hinata-sama?" A nin asked from down the hall. Hinata blinked harshly as she was guided to the floor. She took a moment, and some offered water for her world to stop spinning. "Have you eaten?" The faceless nin asked.
Hinata took the help back up. "Yes, thank you for your concern." The dizziness didn't return.
"Do you need a medic?" Hinata shook her head.
"No, thank you." Hinata looked down at the papers she was holding to bring to Gaara. Maybe she should take a nap in his office. "I think I will go have a snack. Thank you."
Temari eyed her skeptically as Hinata nervously set the table. "Okay, something's up."
Gaara set his hand on Hinata's hip, making her sit as she started to wring her hands nervously. "We are waiting for one more."
Hinata gathered the few they decided to tell under the guise that she made dinner.
Baki came in, giving Hinata some relief as she was less the center of Temari's attention, even for a moment. He excused himself for being late.
With the small group of sand siblings, Baki and Matsuri, she found that she wasn't ready, but she was going to do it. "… I'm pregnant."
"I knew it!" "What?" "Oh?" "You're kidding." Was all said at once.
Hinata stared at Temari's excitement and the other three shared confusion. Was that the hard part?
"Since when?" Baki asked with a confused voice.
"About five months ago." Hinata answered.
Temari took a second to count back and then gasped. "You little liar!"
"I didn't know." Hinata defended.
"How come the council wasn't notified?" Baki wondered.
"The council can't know." Gaara broke the chatter. The seriousness of his voice made everyone silent. "And neither can anyone else. It doesn't leave this room."
Hinata felt the coldness fall on the room. "Let me explain." She raised her hands to clarify. "There have been complications since the beginning, and there is a less than fifty percent chance that this pregnancy makes it to term. I didn't even tell Gaara until recently. I was hoping the odds would come up, but I think they are going to stay low." Hinata's heart clench at the now worried and horrified looks she was getting. "I didn't want anyone to get too excited or the council to make plans or the village to celebrate and then to lose the child. We decided you should know as it's going to become obvious soon, but I hope you understand why I kept it secret for so long and want to keep it as quiet as I can."
"This explains… a lot." Matsuri breathed out.
"Sorry." Hinata shrank.
Hinata was most worried about Baki. "… It was wise to keep this from the council," Baki said finally. "I should take my place in the council soon, as they are running out of roadblocks. They would make this far harder on you, trying to force early decisions while you are vulnerable. I'm sure you should be taking on as little stress as you can."
"That's why you have been delegating? And… tired and getting sick?" Matsuri wondered in worry. Hinata nodded. "To be honest… I thought you might have cancer."
Hinata gapped. "What?"
"Well, you've been pale, puking, having trouble eating, going to the medic constantly, and not saying why. The only thing that didn't make sense was the weight gain. I thought you might have a tumor in your admin." Matsuri explained.
"That's one way to look at it," Kankuro received a slap to the back of the head from his sister.
"I'm glad it's not that," Matsuri admitted.
Temari suddenly got giddy with the sudden wave of concern dissipating and the immediate questions answered. "Okay. I know you don't want us to get too excited, but can I touch it?" Temari held back her excitement poorly.
Hinata laughed as the tension dissipated. She nodded, unwrapping her sash around her outer robe to show the baby bump more prominent. Temari reached across the table and placed her hand on the bump. "Does it kick yet?"
"Not that you could feel through my skin yet," Hinata explained.
"Ew," Kankuro mumbled, making a face.
Hinata got up around the table so Matsuri could feel it too. She got a little smile as she felt the bump.
"May I?" Baki asked. She nodded, and he felt the bump. It was honestly cute to see the older man without children be so fascinated.
"I don't have to touch it, do I?" Kankuro looked uncomfortable at her belly as if it was a tumor.
"I won't be offended if you don't want to feel." Hinata returned her wrap.
"Good." Kankuro puffed out his cheeks and took a drink.
Hinata stared at herself in the mirror. How is it that she was showing so much suddenly? It was like all the weight shifted right to the front, making it look clearer. She was glad they told everyone last week because it would be hard to explain the sudden prominent frontal bump. She sighed, looking at her normal sash. The medic warned against tying it snugly once she became bigger. It may be time to get something else to wear.
"Gaara." Hinata peeked her head into the bathroom, where he was washing his face. "Could you send Temari-chan to see me? I can't fit any of my clothes."
Temari was the most excited she had ever seen her. "I can't wait!" She wrote down what Hinata had wanted and guidelines on fabric. They were going to attempt to make her look as little like she was pregnant as possible while they still could.
"Just remember.…" Hinata reminded her.
"I know, I know. You're not pregnant. These are to send home to a family member if anyone asks, and you have been sick, so you haven't been out much." She sketched her ideas for outfits down, putting the ideas together. "And I won't pick out any baby clothes."
"Thank you." Hinata puffed.
Hinata turned in the tunic and baggy pants. The front of the tunic, with the lack of a belt, hung from her chest, which was still larger than her stomach. The pants were so high-waisted they came up over the bump, making it much more comfortable than pressing into her bladder. They added her sand-colored robe from the previous outfit. It hid her silhouette. Overall, it just made her look like she was comfortable wearing long flowy clothes, a common style among Suna civilians. With her rarely leaving the Kage Tower, she was only seen by staff, and that's all she had to fool for now.
"You still look like you have gained weight, just not nearly as much." Temari pressed in the baggy sides, and you could instantly see the bump when she did. "You're also starting to waddle. You are going to need to be careful of that."
Hinata pouted. "Wonderful"