Out of all the things Ami expected to see that morning at her doorstep, Usagi in an orange polo shirt and jeans with Chibiusa in a blue stroller was definitely not one of them. Not even in the realm of possibility, really. Yet there she was, standing there with a determined expression on her face.
"Can I help you?" Ami asked, blinking.
"Come on, I signed us up for Mommy and Me Music! We don't want to be late! They allow pregnant women too!" She grabbed her arms and pulled her down the street, ignoring her protests.
"W-Wait! Aren't you still upset about me being pregnant? Why are you suddenly being nice?"
"Why would I be mad? I'm excited for you! You're going to have a baby!" She offered her a huge smile.
Ami understood it then. Usagi was herself again, not Neo-Queen Serenity. How long would that last though? She blushed a bit.
The place Usagi signed them up for was fairly close to her old house, Usagi's old home she meant. It was a small red building with colorful hiragana written on the sign in a cluttered yet cutesy way. Usagi walked right in, pushing the stroller like she had been there her whole life, saying her name and striding into the room.
It was roomy with brown walls and a wooden floor and huge windows letting in tons of sunlight. Many other people were already there, primarily women with babies Chibiusa's age, but she spotted a smattering of men there as well as some pregnant women, stomachs large and swollen and making her awkwardly hold her own.
"Welcome everyone, to Mom and Me Music!" A sunny woman dressed in a green sweater and yellow leggings grinned. "There's very little structure. We just want to see your babies express themselves with your guidance! It'll be a fun day!"
In front of the parents were plastic yellow bags filled with baby instruments, plastic and colorful. Ami opened hers curiously and stared at them, pushing each one over to Chibiusa. "Which one looks fun?"
Chibiusa sat there in Usagi's lap, staring at the instruments. She looked out-of-place in her fluffy blue checkered dress and bow, like a giant couch cushion. She finally reached for a pink rattle, shaking it fast and giggling at the sound.
"How about this?" Ami hit a chord on the rainbow xylophone and harmonized with it, humming. She hit another and did the same thing. "Do rei me fa so la di da!" She hummed the scales in their entirety. Chibiusa stared at her in interest, squirming when she was done.
"Wow, you're such a good singer!" A woman praised, walking over with a baby boy in her arms the same age as Chibiusa. She had long brown hair tied into a tight braid, a heavy green sweater-dress, big glasses, and a green silk ribbon in her hair.
"O-Oh, thank you…not really…" Ami blushed.
"Mind if I sit next to you two?" The woman did so without getting an answer. "Where's your child?"
"I'm expecting. It's only been a few weeks at this point."
"I'm sure your husband is very happy!" She then turned to look at Usagi. "And your daughter is so cute! What's her name? This is my son, Hikaru-bo! Can you say hi for me?"
Her son just sat there, blinking, staring at Chibiusa with his big brown eyes. She laughed.
"Sorry! He has some stranger anxiety. I'm Megumi!"
"Usagi, and…Usagi." Usagi smiled awkwardly.
"You named your daughter after yourself? Well, I named my son after my husband, so I guess I can't complain!" Megumi smiled.
"And I'm Ami." They weren't offering last names and so she didn't give hers. She was still unused to hers, even after a year and a half of having it.
The next instrument in the bag was a plastic drum, and Chibiusa got excited and squirmed around, holding out her arms. Usagi gently took her hands and placed them on the drumsticks, letting her daughter slap and hit the drum super loudly with bangs, giggling. Ami pulled out a small triangle and handed it to Hikaru, who blinked and started sucking on it. Megumi gasped.
"No! That's not for eating!" She gently pulled it out. "Like this!" She rang the triangle with a dainty sound, letting it ring throughout the room. Hikaru squirmed and rubbed at his eyes.
Ami pulled out the last instrument, which was a plastic accordion. She squeezed and squeezed and eventually pouted when it wouldn't budge or make noise, realizing it was broken.
"You guys are having so much fun!" The sunny woman clasped her hands together. "We're going to take a short break for lunch and changing, then we'll all be back here at the top of the hour!"
Ami had a sudden urge to vomit and raced to the bathroom, covering her mouth and managing to lock the stall before she began, coughing a few times after she finished, wiping her mouth.
"I'm already tired of morning sickness.." She sighed and left the stall after flushing the toilet, washing her hands. As she dried them off, Megumi walked into the bathroom too, carrying a fussy Hikaru.
"Oh! I'm sorry, could you help me with this?" She opened up the changing station and gently laid him down on it, shushing him. "Just give him a shake from this rattle," She handed Ami a blue rattle painted with stars and she nodded, gently shaking it.
"Rattle, rattle," She tried to coo, shaking it above his head. He relaxed and gurgled before a yellow stream trickled onto the plastic, making Megumi gasp.
"I'm so sorry, naughty boy! Control yourself in front of a lady!"
Ami giggled. "I'm training to be a doctor. Believe me, I've seen way worse,"
She finished changing Hikaru and cooed at him, smiling. "You feel all better now after your change, don't you Hikaru-bo? Don't you?"
The sunny woman from earlier walked in too, bumping into Ami and glaring at her as she tried to walk past. Ami still felt sick, so she just sat in the eating area and watched Usagi feed a can of peaches to Chibiusa. The parents around them talked happily, playing with their babies or feeding them. The pregnant women all sat together, eating salads.
"Wouldn't it be nice if this peace could go on?" Ami asked dreamily.
"Yes, I don't get it! Nothing was supposed to happen until Crystal Tokyo!" Usagi lamented. "This isn't fair!"
Ami could've done more research, but without a proper name, she kept coming up short. All her attempts just brought her information on actual Greek gods, and something told her that's not who these girls actually were. But then, who, or what, were they?
After the break, everyone hurried back into the room and started excitedly playing with the instruments again, except for Megumi, who just sat there listlessly. Hikaru clapped his hands but she didn't respond. Her skin was pale and sweaty.
"Are you okay?" Usagi asked, poking her. "Hey!"
"She looks like…Minako-chan and Makoto-chan when their emotions got sucked…" Ami trailed off, and the two looked at each other in horror.
"Sorry for the delay!" The sunny woman smiled. "Had to take a big pee, you know how it is when you're pregnant!" Some of the pregnant women laughed softly. "But now that you're all here, I can finally have my own lunch!" She ripped off her disguise to reveal she was actually Zeus.
"I knew it!" Ami stood up. "Take her somewhere safe, I can handle this!"
"Go collect their emotions, my Téras!" Zeus pulled out a marble slab and painted delicate strokes onto it before throwing it out into the crowd. Everyone screamed and dispersed when the monster popped up, grinning.
"I'm Mitéra! I'm here to take care of you!" She was dressed in the pastel apron and dress of a daycare worker with rosy cheeks and her hair in a bun. She formed a giant bottle. "Make sure to check the temperature of the milk!" She squirted out boiling milk at the crowd, forcing them to flee in terror. Usagi pulled Megumi to her feet the best she could and ran off, while Ami pinned herself to the wall.
"I got plenty of emotion anyway. Goodbye!" Zeus bounced her breasts as a taunt before she vanished into thin air, leaving just the monster behind. Ami quickly ducked into another room to transform.
"Stop right there! How dare you ruin the days of innocent parents just trying to provide for their children! I'm Sailor Mercury, and I'll destroy you!" She posed.
Mitéra just laughed. "You're such a naughty child! Calm down with this toy!" She formed a giant pink rattle in her hands and swung it down, but Mercury jumped out of the way. "You're just fussy!" She pulled out a big bottle of baby powder and started sprinkling it around, making Mercury cough and her eyes water.
"Where'd she go…" She tried to tap on her earrings to pull up her visor before Mitéra grabbed her leg and forced her to the ground, laughing.
"Let's get you out of those tight clothes!" She pinned her down and ripped at her skirt, ignoring her squirms.
"Shine Aqua Illusion!" Mercury yelled, freezing Mitéra and quickly rolled away, getting back on her feet. She swayed a bit from being woozy and covered her mouth.
No…not my morning sickness…I can do this…
She frowned. "Mercury! Aqua Mirage!" She spun around and summoned several jets of water to spray around her, jumping over to the monster and completely soaking her before exploding, revealing she was no more.
Sailor Mercury took a deep breath and steadied herself on the wall, holding her stomach.
"See? You can hold your own! You don't need me!" Usagi tried to praise her as she returned. Mercury turned to look and threw up on the floor.
/+/
After everyone came to, including Megumi, most decided it wasn't worth it and left, especially with the host somehow going missing. Megumi frowned but tried to cheer up for the girls.
"I still had fun today, despite randomly passing out like that. Your daughter is so cute! And you'll be a great mother one day!" She bowed to each girl respectively.
"We liked meeting you too!" Usagi smiled back at her.
Ami kept her hands on her stomach, feeling embarrassed.
"It's morning sickness, it could happen to anyone!" Usagi tried to reassure her with a pat. Ami sighed. "Did you at least have fun?"
"Yes." Even though she didn't do much, she still enjoyed getting to meet someone new. She said goodbye to Usagi and headed back to her apartment on the bus, finding Ryo there typing something on the computer.
"How was the event?" He asked politely. Ami excused herself to throw up again and only properly answered after dinner.
"Nice, but since I don't have a child I didn't get to do much."
"You don't have a child yet." He reminded her gently.
She stared at the window after that comment, not looking out it directly but at something far off in the distance.
"Ryo-kun…promise me…you'll remain by my side and help me with this child. No matter what."
"What brought this up?! Of course I will!" He gave her a determined expression.
"My father…one day he just decided to never come home. Mother was furious about it. Kids at school treated me like I had some kind of disease. They whispered about how I came from a broken home." Even now she could still sometimes hear them, gossiping in the corner as she read a book, thinking that meant she was deaf to the world. "It wasn't until middle school I had proper friends."
"Oh, Ami-chan…" He pulled her closer, hugging her, understanding what she meant. "I could never do that to you, or our child. We've been through so much."
She nodded and hugged him back. "Being around so many parents today made me remember…"
What role would her parents have in Crystal Tokyo, when the time came, if any? Did they even still exist at that point?
Maybe she shouldn't keep questioning it. Sooner or later, all of her questions would be answered anyway, somehow she was sure of that.
They always were.
/+/
-Greek for mother
'-bo' is an honorific used to refer exclusively to baby boys as a cutesy term of endearment, kinda like 'sweetheart' or baby-talk in English such as 'widdle'.