Normally, it was expected to start breaking the news to others at the third-month mark. But the moment Mei had seen the bright blue on the display, she had to tell MK.

And after she'd sent that text, she realized she had to at least tell Tang and Pigsy as well.

MK could keep a secret, sure, they knew that. Even if it ate him alive inside, he could keep one. But it wouldn't be fair to expect him to keep this one.

Besides, if she knew her bestie, he'd probably be ready to burst and need to say something.

Which was why she and Red Son were back in the shop again, sitting in a corner booth with the older adults across from them. They'd gotten Pigsy to come out from behind the counter by solemnly saying they had something important to tell them - and he seemed to already have an idea, with how quickly he moved them all to a quieter spot.

Pigsy stared at them, expression flat. His elbows rested on the table, hands folded in front of his mouth, so his expression was unreadable. Next to him, Tang blinked silently, the light catching his glasses as he regarded them both.

It was a bit unnerving. Mei could only imagine how Red Son was feeling.

"You're sure?" Pigsy asked.

"Yeah. Pret-ty sure." Mei rubbed her hands together. "The symptoms and timing all add up."

"How far along?"

"Well, based on what I'm feeling and how long, how long it takes for these tests to pick it up, and- ah, a couple other things regarding the timing - we wanna say between six and eight weeks."

"So, about two months," Tang muttered.

"You're not showing," Pigsy pointed out, gaze flicking downward for a moment. "Are you sure that-"

Before they could say anything, Tang shook his head, taking off his glasses to clean them.

Though Mei suspected it was less about them being dirty and more about having something to occupy himself with. The good news was it allowed her to actually see his eyes - they weren't angry or closed-off, but rather they seemed… relieved? "No, it still makes sense… First-time pregnancies usually won't show until about three months. Four at the latest."

Pigsy nodded jerkily. "Okay. Okay, I'll go with that…" He kept his stern gaze fixed on Mei and Red Son, both of whom were starting to sweat. Then he blinked, frowned, and lowered his hands to the table. "Well, calm down, both of you. The way you're looking, it's like you think I'm gonna take a cleaver to Red Boy over there!"

"You're… not angry?" Red Son breathed out, rather than angrily correcting Pigsy.

"Not unless you're gonna give me a reason to be. You both want it?"

"Yes."

"You plannin' on bailing on Mei and the kid?"

"No!" Red Son's hair sparked in outrage at the mere idea.

"Then what've I got to be mad about?!" Pigsy spread his hands out. "You two wanna do this, then you've got us in your corner!"

"You just took us by surprise, that's all!" Tang agreed, replacing his glasses. A wobbly smile quickly spread across his face. "Did you tell anyone else? Do either of your parents know? When-"

"Hey, did either of you guys get- Mei!" MK's voice could be heard before he entered the shop. The young man had been looking anxiously at his phone, but had quickly spotted their group gathered at the table. He shut his mouth, but Mei could see his emotions rising as he slowly took in the way they were all sitting together, Red Son's still-sparking ponytail, and the expressions on his dads' faces. "Uh… Did you…"

Mei smiled at him from her seat on the outside. "MK, you're in the clear. We told them."

"Ohhhh…" MK's nervous expression was replaced by an easy-going smile. "Oh, that's good." And then: "AAAAH!"

He screamed, shot forward to grab Mei under the arms, dragged her out of her seat, and began spinning her around in a tight hug. Mei laughed, holding tight when he started to jump up and down, Red Son's shout of "Be careful with her, Noodle Boy!" barely audible over MK's excited shrieking.

"I'm gonna be an uncle!" he finally cried out once he was capable of coherency. "I'm gonna have a niece! Or a nephew! Or both!"

"Oh, Gods…" Red Son muttered weakly from the booth.

"I'm gonna have a little nibling! Oh my God, you're gonna have the cutest baby ever!" MK didn't seem ready to put Mei down yet, still swinging back and forth in delight. "Oh my god - how far along are you? Do you have names yet? Can I paint a mural for the nursery? We should start looking at preschools right away-"

"Kid, you know, Mei threw up this morning, you might wanna stop movin' her like that," Pigsy chimed in.

With a horrified gasp, MK released Mei and moved her back to her seat. "Ohmigod, sorry," he began, clapping his hands together in front of his face. "I'm just so excited for you two! This is great! Does anyone else know?"

Mei shook her head. "Just us," she said, gesturing around the table. "And I think we should keep it that way a little longer."

"Awww, I can't talk about it with anyone?"

"Not for another month at least, I'd say. Is that about right?" Tang asked. At Mei and Red Son's nodding, he continued; "Usually more people will be told around the third month. That's when the first trimester ends and it starts to be more obvious."

"You know a lot about this…" MK muttered.

Tang just shrugged. "I'm in my forties, I had sex ed, and I've seen plenty of other teachers and students go through this. Actually, Mrs Jiang in Economics just went on maternity leave, I should ask if the staff is throwing a party when she gets back…" he began to mutter, lowering his gaze to the table again. "Point is, I know how this works."

"And we'll do whatever we can for you kids," Pigsy added solemnly, while MK nodded from his own position. "You need anything at all, don't hesitate to ask. Okay?"

Mei smiled warmly. "Thanks, guys."

"...thanks," Red Son muttered, much quieter, into his hand.


That had been in the mid morning. Now it was evening, and the two of them had been home for an hour.

Mei stood in the bathroom, staring at herself in the full-length mirror after her bath. Her gaze focused on her midsection.

Pregnant.

Pregnant.

It was… so weird. Now that the excitement had faded and three of her family members knew about it, now that she'd had time to digest it… Gods, she was pregnant. There was something in there.

"You're not showing," Pigsy had said. And no, she hadn't noticed anything around her abdomen, it wasn't obvious. But knowing what she did now, she couldn't help but look harder. Frowning a little, she turned to one side, lifting the towel up to show her stomach. Hmm… No, no, it wasn't obvious, and if she were to put her shirt on nobody would be able to tell. But if she looked very carefully, and if she thought about how her stomach normally looked…

Yeah. Yeah, she could see it now. There was a very slight bulge to her stomach, like she'd eaten a big meal. It wouldn't show through her clothes, and even if someone did see it right now, they wouldn't assume she was carrying.

Which meant if her parents needed her to house-sit, or if Red Son's parents suddenly dropped by during the next month, they'd be fine.

Red Son's parents.

That was… a difficult thought.

Mei knew her own parents would be delighted to hear the news next month. They'd been quietly pleased when she'd told them she was engaged, and at the wedding. She was pretty sure - no, she was one hundred percent sure - they'd love hearing they were going to be grandparents.

Red Son's parents… she wasn't sure.

DBK and Princess Iron Fan hadn't had much to say to her when they learned of the engagement. Oh, Iron Fan's expression had hardened a bit and DBK had been displeased that Red Son hadn't asked if he could propose to Mei, and had just gone ahead and done it. But they'd approved of her, at the very least.

(Not that it would have stopped either of them, Mei knew. She vividly remembered Red Son grumbling before they were shown inside, he'd be marrying her with or without their approval.)

And they'd both come to the wedding ceremony and to the banquet afterwards. They weren't warm, but they were cordial enough. Iron Fan had even called MK by his name and hadn't said "Little Thief" once. DBK had joined in the mens' drinking near the end of the night.

Ironically, they'd been more upset by the fact that the two weren't going to live in a literal palace.

It was… fine.

But that meant she couldn't really read them. And that combined with the fact that Red Son was seeing them less often ("loved them from a distance," Sandy had described it), meant neither of them had any clue how they were going to take this news.

But that was fine, Mei told herself, nodding sternly at her reflection. They had a whole month to figure that out.

They had months to figure out a lot of things. Like whether they wanted to know the baby's sex or not. Months to get everything ready.

If the internet was right, one more month of dealing with morning sickness and further aches and pains…

…months of hormonal changes and already Mei was wondering what her emotions were going to be like.

…about a month to figure out exactly what they were going to do about future attacks on the city, now that she was expecting.

….months to wonder what, if anything, the effect of carrying the child of a fire demon and the holder of Samadhi Fire was going to do. To either of them.

"Stop it!" she snapped at herself, shaking her head. Sternly, she met her reflection's eyes and pointed at the mirror. "You can do this! You're stronger than this, you know that! Everything's fine, everyone's on your side, and you're thinking about things that haven't even happened yet. Stop worrying. "

She drew in a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Still looking firmly at her reflection, she uttered words that she still couldn't believe she could say:

"Think of the baby."

The Mei in the mirror blinked, took a deep breath, and nodded with a smile.


Red Son was still mentally reeling.

He laid on top of the bed, staring up at the ceiling like it held all the answers.

He was not nervous.

He was not nervous!

For the gods' sake, he'd helped fight the Lady Bone Demon! Helped save the planet! Had taken a suckerpunch from The Monkey King to the stomach and walked it off!

He wasn't nervous about a baby!

He wasn't nervous about… about their baby.

He wasn't.

"It's just a baby," he growled under his breath, moving his arm to cover his eyes. "Just a baby. It's a tiny little thing that weighs less than ten pounds, can't hold its own head up, can't do anything but stare at the ceiling, sleep, or scream…"

…needed its parents for everything.

…was utterly helpless.

He wasn't scared. He was merely anxious.

What did he even have to be nervous about? Mei was the one that was going to be carrying, dealing with everything. She was the one who had to do the hard part!

Honestly, his part had been pretty easy–

Mei entered the room just in time to see his hair flare a bit. "Whoa," she laughed, after regaining her composure, "what was that about?"

"Nothing. Thinking." Thank goodness for fire-resistant bedding. Red Son moved his arm and turned his head to look at Mei. Wearing her pajamas, she certainly didn't look pregnant. Oh, no, wait, he thought to himself, staring at her midsection. The pajamas were thin and cool, the same ones she'd worn in the week that followed their wedding, and yes, he thought he actually could see a little bump there.

Since he knew what to look for, and all.

Mei smiled wryly, climbing up next to him. "Nervous?"

"Anxious."

"Me, too." As Red Son watched, Mei lowered her gaze to the sheets and began to pick at an imagined loose thread. "I think I'm still a bit in shock. I mean… doesn't feel real, yet, does it?"

"No. Not really." Red Son's voice was hoarse, and he coughed to clear it. "Doesn't make it less real, though."

"I know…"

There was silence for a few moments. Neither seemed inclined to speak yet.

Then Red Son took a deep breath and sat up, supporting his weight on his elbows. "Mei." As she looked back at him, he pressed his hand to her stomach.

The bump was very slight, very small. But it already felt a little warm.

Mei's breath caught, Red Son's heart skipped a beat.

"We'll be okay."