A/N: Sorry for the lateness of this chapter! I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things, but real life has been busy, and I had to completely rewrite this chapter, so… Well, anyway, I'm still not completely happy with it, but here you go. In any case, thank you all very much for your reviews and support! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover (though I did edit it).

Days

The day with important conversations

Iris

Saturday, December 7th

"Are you ready to go?" Iris forced herself to sound cheerful, and Cilan smiled weakly, getting up from the couch. He had arrived at Iris's house about half an hour ago, half-frozen from flying through this weather, and both had decided it would be best that Cilan would warm up at her house before continuing on to their actual destination of today.

After all, it would not do to visit her father and announce that this human icicle was her fiancé.

"Certainly." Cilan straightened out his clothes with slightly too quick movements, betraying his calm and collected appearance.

It would be the first time that Cilan would meet her father.

"Well, then, let's go!" Iris smiled brightly, before grabbing her coat and other winter wear. It was far below zero, and that made Iris even less inclined to want to go out. But Cilan had already done so much, and besides, this was her father, she would have to deal with it.

Still, she felt about as lost as Cilan looked.

After Cilan had put on his outside clothes with meticulous care, they set out into the Village of Dragons. The houses were spread far apart in the village, and with this weather, the walk to her childhood home became a hike through the snow.

Her foot slipped on some piece of ice and Iris stumbled, but Cilan saved her from a fall by quickly grabbing her hand. She shot him a quick smile.

Come to think of it, he had done that a lot, lately. Not just grabbing her hand, but he was the one who was taking care of things, who was thinking about the finances, who was asking questions about the wedding, who was planning doctor visits for the baby-

Iris squeezed his gloved hand, before letting go and taking the lead. She was grateful for his help, of course, especially because she herself hadn't known where to start, but she could do things, too. He had the Gym, the restaurant, and his recent promotion-

"Iris?"

"Oh, sorry, I was… I was just thinking." She fell back into step with him. After some short consideration, she explained, "You know, you're doing a lot of things, and I can do stuff, too."

Maybe that sounded a bit accusatory, and Iris corrected herself, "I mean, you're very busy, after all, and I could... also do something."

"That's very thoughtful of you, Iris." Cilan smiled, and then shook his head slightly. "But I'm fine. You're setting up your new Gym, and that's quite a feat, and with your current condition…"

"I might be pregnant, but that doesn't make me handicapped," Iris quickly said. She wanted to do something, even though she knew that Cilan was probably better at all those planning and management tasks than she was.

Hearing her tone, Cilan stopped, and Iris halted as well.

"I only want to help, Iris, and I'm sorry if it made you feel like I thought you were incapable," he said, and with that he dismantled the anger Iris hadn't even known was building. She took a calming breath and then took hold of his hand again a smile.

"Thank you, Cilan. I… I'm sorry if I sounded angry, I just…" She wasn't as good with words as he was, so she settled for squeezing his hand and then pulling him further on their way.

"I understand." He paused for a moment. "So would you like to do something?"

"Yes, I…" She hadn't actually considered what she had wanted to do, or what she was most suited for. Cilan made it seem like he did all those things effortlessly, but Iris couldn't imagine that handling their finances and planning their futures would be easy. "Maybe I can plan the wedding?"

She could do that. That couldn't be too difficult, and at least it wouldn't have far-reaching consequences if she made a mistake.

"Certainly." Cilan nodded, smiling. "I'll send you the information I've gathered so far when I get back."

She smiled gratefully and nodded, determined. She would already have somewhere to start, then, and she was confident she could manage the rest.

Her determination faded a bit when she noticed that they were nearing her father's house. She felt a little bit of her hope that perhaps he wouldn't be at home, but she squashed it; it would be good to get this over with.

Cilan's pace had slowed with hers. "So that's where you grew up?" he asked quietly.

"Yup, that's the place," Iris said louder than necessary. "So, we're just going to say that we've been in a relationship for some months but that I forgot to mention that to him before and that now we're going to marry, yeah?"

Cilan stopped walking, and something heavy dropped in Iris's stomach. He was doubting the plan.

"I do not feel comfortable lying to your father," he said plainly. Iris breathed in through her nose and let it out in a hiss.

"I know," she said, doing her best to sound understanding even when they had had this conversation before. "But we agreed not to tell him about the baby yet, and I don't…" Iris trailed off, unsure how to continue.

Cilan held her gaze, waiting. She tried to gather her thoughts, but they slipped through her fingers and she burst out, "Look, my father is old-fashioned, he won't like it that we're going to marry after a relationship of less than three weeks!"

Her cheeks were warm and Iris took some calming breaths while Cilan remained silent. Why couldn't he just agree?!

"Do you think he would like us lying to him more?" he asked quietly, and Iris let out a growl.

"I don't want anyone to think we're marrying for the baby!"

Cilan blinked, momentarily stunned. "Iris…"

"You know that's what people are going to think, and I know we shouldn't care about them, but my father-!" Iris cut herself off in an attempt to get a reign over her emotions again.

Cilan was silent for a few more moments, but when she looked up at him again he spoke. "Iris, you're right. People will think that. But your father, and all other people we care about, will know that we haven't, and they'll believe us when we say so." Cilan took both of her hands in his and leaned a bit closer. "I… I always wanted to marry you, Iris. The baby just sped up my decision."

She felt at a loss of words, and so she simply leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Me, too," she said, smiling, even though the words weren't quite an answer.

Cilan beamed, and after a last squeeze, he let go of one of her hands, and tugged her gently along to her father's house.

Hesitation settled over them when they stood in front of the door, and Cilan glanced at Iris questioningly.

"You mentioned that your father is old-fashioned?"

"Ah, yes…" she answered, unsure where he was going with this.

"Alright." He nodded, and then repeated, "Alright."

"Uh, Cilan?"

"I have an idea," he said.

"Okay?"

Cilan nodded again, then seemed to steel himself and before Iris could intervene, he pressed the doorbell.

Iris gaped.

"Cilan, what are you doing?" she hissed. "What are we going to tell him?"

He calmly took off his gloves and stuffed them in his pockets, before smiling at her in such a way that Iris almost believed he wasn't nervous at all. "I have a plan."

Oh dear Arceus, he had a plan-

Before she had a chance to respond, the door opened and revealed a short, pale man with hair a few shades lighter than her own.

"Hello- Iris?" He sounded pleasantly surprised, and Iris found herself smiling back at him. Her father made a jerky movement as if he wanted to hug her, but then seemed to think better of it.

"Hi, Dad."

Silence fell after that, and Iris found herself faltering, simply looking at her father. Cilan stepped in when no one spoke.

"I'm Cilan Griffith, one of Iris's friends. It's an honor to meet you, sir," he spoke swiftly, extending a hand.

"Ah, yes, I'm Nicholas Stevens, it's nice to meet you," her father greeted, a bit distractedly.

Iris mentally shook herself and took the lead again. "Could we come in, Dad? We have something important to talk about."

Her father looked a bit confused, before stepping aside and allowing them in. "Of course. Would you like something to drink?"

"That would be very welcome, thank you," Cilan said, allowing Iris to enter first with a flourish.

"Tea, please," she said, nodding at her father while taking off her coat.

"Ah, Iris," Cilan said, looking the slightest bit uncomfortable to her trained eye, though she didn't doubt that her father had no clue. "Why don't you get the drinks? I'd- I would like to talk to your father in private, if I may, sir." He looked at her father, whose eyes narrowed a bit but who nodded anyway.

Cilan smiled reassuringly at her, his eyes imploring her to go along with it, and after giving him a look that told him that he would hear from her later, she nodded slowly.

"Do you want coffee, Cilan?" she asked, and he nodded gratefully. "Dad?"

"Eh, coffee, too, please," he said, taking his watchful stare off Cilan. Her father straightened and then gestured for Cilan to follow him to the living room.

Cilan graciously allowed her to go first, and she walked into the oh so familiar room. She quickly continued to the kitchen and closed the door behind her. It seemed as if her father hadn't changed a single thing since she had been gone.

As she slowly prepared the drinks, she did her best not to think too much about what Cilan was telling her father, but she failed rather miserably at that. She could hear the hum of their voices through the door, though she couldn't make out any actual words. At least there weren't any raised voices yet.

It was tempting to eavesdrop, but she forced herself to stand as far from the door as possible while she waited for the water to boil.

The door opened just when she was placing the drinks on an old, familiar tray.

"Would you please join us, Iris?" her father asked, an unreadable expression on his face. She gripped the tray forcefully and followed her father into the living room.

Cilan gave her a small smile when she caught his eye and Iris felt herself relaxing. She had barely put the tray on the table when her father spoke again.

"It seems that this young man wants to marry you, Iris," he started, shifting his weight uncomfortably. "Is that true?"

Iris straightened and moved to stand next to Cilan. "Yes, yes, that's true. And I want to marry him, too."

"Do you love him?"

"Yes," she said without any hesitation.

Her father blinked once, and then nodded. "Well, then I think everything has been said." He smiled wearily. "I'm happy for you, Iris, and you have my blessing." He looked at Cilan at that last part, and Cilan beamed in response.

"Thank you, sir, that means very much to us," he said, as always unfailingly polite.

Iris forced herself not to gape at the easiness of which Cilan had managed to get through to her father, and instead quickly smiled at her father.

He smiled back at her, wrinkles appearing around his mouth, and it hit Iris how much older he looked.

"Alright, then," he said, clasping his hands together and then sitting down. "Now let's sit and enjoy our drinks, and then I want to get know my future son-in-law."

She and Cilan sat down on the small couch opposite her father, and as soon as they sat Iris grasped Cilan's hand and gave it a happy squeeze. She'd get the full story later, she would make sure of it, but for now she was simply grateful that this big hurdle had been passed so easily.

Cilan squeezed her hand in response, and Iris smiled.

A/N: So, yeah, there were some important conversations in this chapter indeed XD I hope you enjoyed it, and please let me know what you thought about it!

Thank you!

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