Celandine–Joys to come

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Three days in the house and Marshal was having a bad time with more morning sickness. Rin figured it would be good to know for sure and he remembered seeing a familiar box in the Master Bathroom cabinet. He gave it to Marshal and she took it wordlessly, looking very nervous, but determined.

She did three pregnancy tests just in case and all of them said she was pregnant. Marshal spent a day and a half wandering around and helping clean up the house in a daze, processing the information even though she'd already figured she might be pregnant. She kind of just went on autopilot for about a day before accepting the news with a sigh by sunset on the second day.

She and Rin sat together on the porch swing, swinging lightly and peering up at the treehouse where the girls played pretend superheroes. The breeze felt nice as the heat and humidity slowly dropped to a bearable level. The sky got darker and darker. The burnt oranges and fading yellows reminded Rin of Ryuji and he never got tired of seeing those colors. At dawn, when the sky was a pale purple and the clouds were pink, it reminded him of Izumo, so he never minded waking up before the sun was fully up either. He knew Marshal liked the night sky better, because it reminded her of memories as a silly little kid looking forward to the future.

"What am I s'posed to say? How do I react to this? That guy came in me so many times that it would be a miracle if I wasn't pregnant...." Marshal sighed, voice subdued and quiet with grudging acceptance. Rin winced at the crude phrasing but nodded. He'd been there. He'd been expecting this since they'd been rescued.

"You figured you'd end up pregnant. You could've probably found Morning After Pills in town somewhere and taken care of the issue of a baby." Rin said. "But you didn't. Because the baby's not an issue. Am I right in assuming it's something you've always wanted, at least?" Rin guessed.

"I always wanted a couple brats of my own to be proud of. I'd've been one of those moms who thought everyone else's kids were from Hell and mine were perfect little ankle-biters. With the exception of my sister's kids, of course. And yours, now." Marshal sighed softly.

She looked down at her stomach. There was a tiny bump already forming and she patted her belly fondly. "You're gonna be a couple of badass little babies in the Apocalypse, okay kiddos?" She murmured. Rin smiled and let her lean against him on the porch swing, humming a tune to a song he didn't know.

§~•~§~•~§

"Don't y'all start treating me like I'm glass, now. It's only been maybe a month and a half at most!" Marshal told Kinzou when he tried to stop her from helping him move the couch. "Are we sure it hasn't been longer?" The man wondered. Marshal frowned at him, placing her hands on her hips. "Why?" She demanded.

He stepped forward and placed a hand over the small baby bump protruding from the woman's stomach. "That does not look like a one month old baby bump, Marshal." He told her. She sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"And it doesn't look like twins either." Yukio added as he walked into the room to help Kinzou move the couch. "God damnit you really gotta burst my bubble that fast, huh?" The woman grumbled. "You know not to lie to yourself. This is important, Marshal. We don't have the equipment to help you birth three kids." Yukio said bluntly. Kinzou gave him an incredulous look.

"But," The teen continued. "If women could do it without medicine before and heal enough to raise their kids, you can do it too. Actually, if anyone could birth three babies naturally with no medical help, I think it would be you. You're irritatingly persistent and optimistic about the smallest things and you're good at pushing through. The same goes for raising the kids too. I think if anyone had to handle three kids at once, it would also be you. You're a certified hot mess until you need to get your shit together." He finished. Marshal smiled. "Thank you. My dad never believed I could get my act together. We left home as soon as we graduated 'cause of that." Marshal threw an arm around the boy, squeezing him in a friendly side-hug, eyes softening in a rare moment of affection for the boy.

"Parents who care never want their kids to leave, no matter how bad their parenting may have been. Rin wanted to leave as soon as possible and Dad resorted to guilt tripping him. Rin got sick of always being miserable at home, so he kept working towards saving his money to move out. Dad freaked out, saying Rin wasn't ready for the world. I finally got sick of it and told him he was a terrible parent and if anything, Rin was the best suited to survive in the world alone." Yukio recalled with a wistful sigh.

"Rin could make it anywhere, I think. He's built to survive. He may not think so, but he could've survived in the old world too, though this one is actually easier for him. No bookwork to do. He can just fight his way through everything and protect everyone he loves and live his life." Yukio smiled fondly. He admired Rin and his resilience. Rin and Yukio were everything the other was not. They made one compete person if they combined their skills.

Rin had heart and strength. Yukio had brains and logic. Rin was better suited to being with people like Bon and Izumo, who were analytical and very smart, less tuned to their emotions than Rin was to his. Yukio was better with someone like Kinzou, a man in tune with his emotions and very laid back.

Yukio looked back up at Marshal. "You'll be a great mother–with or without someone by your side to help you raise the kids as a parent." He told her seriously. Marshal beamed at him. "Aw. Fine, since you're being so sweet, I guess I'll go find something a little less dangerous to do." She decided, leaving the room.

Kinzou smiled at Yukio, putting his side of the couch back down and waiting for Yukio to follow suit before wrapping the teen up in his arms and delivering a kiss to his lips. "You didn't need to say that." He murmured to his boyfriend. "Yes I did. And I meant it too. Being complimented by your parents feels like they're obligated to compliment you, so it doesn't matter. Coming from someone like me, the outlier and resident introvert, it means more." He explained, stealing another kiss and burying his red face in the crook of Kinzou's neck. He was only ever cuddly with the blonde and Kinzou was perfectly fine with that because he was surprisingly possessive for such a chill dude.

They got back to work moving the couch into a better position that made sure they could see the front door at all times.

§~•~§~•~§

Marshal found Rin in the Nursery once again, reading the thin picture books from the bookshelf.

"Aw, no way!" Marshal cried excitedly. She pulled a book of the little shelf and smiled down at it. "What?" Rin asked curiously, getting up and leaning over her shoulder to look at try cover of the book. He'd gotten taller and the extra height was nice.

The book cover read Before You Were Born. It had a woman's pregnant belly showing a baby inside as she measured how big around she was with a measuring tape. Marshal blinked tears away.

"I....when I was little, we had this really cool family doctor who always treated us like we were a part of his family too. He was good with adults, teen, and kids. He was a kind man who deserved every good thing he got. While I used to wait for my appointments to begin, I would look through the picture books on the shelf under the examining cot I sat on. This book was always my favorite. I read it every single time I had a checkup and even when I was there because I was sick." The woman reminisced, swallowing the lump forming in he r throat.

"It's like having a piece of my childhood I never thought I'd get back." She croaked as she flipped to the first page of the story. Rin sat down in the comfy rocking chair and Marshal followed, settling in his lap and making sure he could see the pictures as she read the book aloud to her friend and the fragile baby bones in the crib.

"Before You Were Born" is a story that's true. It tells the tale of how you became you." She began, smiling down at the picture. "For about 9 months, we became chummy, while you developed inside my tummy."

Kinzou and Yukio stood outside the doorway, listening to her read. Marshal was good at telling stories and reading to people. She knew when to put emphasis, when to lower her voice, when to make it lilt and when to make it goofy. Her voice had the same melodic quality as Rin's when she told stories.

They waited until she was done, then went back to their work.

§~•~§~•~§

"There's gonna be more babies?!?!" Sachi gasped dramatically when Rin told her about Marshal's pregnancy, gold eyes twinkling in excitement. He and Ryuji laughed at the reaction before nodding. "Uh huh. It's gonna be more than one. When they get a little bigger, you can play with them, so you and Tsukumo will have more friends to spend time with." Ryuji told her. The toddler squeaked and jumped into his lap, hugging him as best she could with her little arms.

"I can't wait for new babies! I can teach them what I know so I won't be the less smarter one anymore!" The little girl declared determinately. "That's true, you'll be able to help teach them. It'll be nice not being the youngest, won't it?" Yukio said as he passed by. His thing seemed to be popping into people's conversations to say one line and popping right back out. It made Rin snicker, because Yukio was currently the youngest among the older members of the group. He knew from experience how irritating it was being the youngest.

"Yes!" Sachi agreed vehemently. "Tsukumo say I always not know more than her, but I do know more, b'cuz Daddy teach me lots of tings!" Sachi went off on a tryrad of bad Grammer and Rin did his best to keep from laughing at the pained look on Ryuji's face at the butchered sentence. "We really gotta teach you some proper grammar." Ryuji decided.

"Daddy tinks it funny, tho!" Sachi defended, crossing her chubby little toddler arms and Rin just couldn't take her seriously. Ryuji turned an accusatory glare on him and Rin burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, it reminds me of me." He explained when he was able to catch his breath.

"That's terrible, Rin." Ryuji deadpanned. Rin shrugged. "I told you I wasn't raised right." Ryuji hooked an arm around the shorter man's waist and pulled him into his lap with Sachi, planting a kiss on his lips. While Sachi fake-gagged, he murmured to his boyfriend. "You still came out perfect."

"Gross!" Sachi complained. "One day you'll be doing exactly what we are now and you'll learn, kid!" Rin threatened, grabbing the toddler by the sides and tickling her mercilessly. The hysterical giggles were music to his ears and Rin decided he wouldn't mind hearing more when Marshal had her kids.