Milk Vetch–Your presence softens my pain

Only four chapters from the end of this book, enjoy!

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Four and a half months passed them by while they lived in that house. They were in the first few days of Winter now and struggled to find enough blankets for everyone. They huddled together more at night and slept longer, feeling lazier as the days got longer.

Marshal's baby bump was unexpectedly big, so Yukio theorized there were probably triplets on the way. The poor woman couldn't even bend down anymore. She was petite and short in stature, so she was beginning to look a bit like a Kiwi Bird. Shura had taken to helping her so Chelsea could have breaks now and then. Everyone watched the new romance bloom between the two women as discreetly as they could. Rin didn't think that was fair after everyone had teased him, Bon, and Izumo the whole time they'd been getting closer, but didn't point that out.

Any plans to move on from the house had been halted by Yukio. Marshal wouldn't be able to walk much if she was already this big at five months and they were better off in an environment they'd already secured.

Marshal protested this, which was terrifying because she was like a dragon spitting fire and emberswith the pregnancy hormones egging her on and making her more intense than she needed to be. Yukio was the only one who dared to oppose her, holding his ground with cool logic and an equally cool expression as he argued his point. He was the ice against her fire and it was frankly both amazing and terrifying to watch.

"She's like an overgrown baby, it's really not that bad." Yukio told them when they asked him how he stood up to the angry pregnant woman. "Yeah, you guys are just pussies!" Marshal called from the other room. Once everyone realized she could hear the conversation, they all scattered to find something to do and hide away in different parts of the house.

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I already have a kid and I'm being bullied for inexperience!" Rin complained to Sachi, who was braiding his hair just like Izumo taught her.

"It's hore-mones, Daddy. Shura said they make her an-ger-ry for no reason." The little girl told him wisely. Her movements were much more smooth and articulated now that he'd started training her to defend herself. Sachi was good at understanding emotional things and putting difficult things into simple words like kids often did. Rin didn't know how they did it, but he appreciated having someone simplify things. It made some situations feel less stressful and intimidating.

"Do you even know what hormones are?" Rin raised a brow. "Do you? Uncle Yuki days you never finished school." The girl threw back, mirroring the expression she knew he was making. Rin gasped, insulted by his brother's betrayal. "Disappointed, but not surprised." Bon snorted, walking in to retrieve a screwdriver and leaving again.

"Do you know what school is?"Rin wondered after a second. "....No, but Uncle Yuki says it was im-por-tant." Rin cackled at the response.

"Hey Daddy, will you make me a sister or a brother one day?" Sachi wondered after a few minutes of comfortable silence. Rin sputtered as Izumo walked in. "Maybe one day, kiddo." She ruffled Sachi's hair as she left again after retrieving the sweater she'd been looking for.

"That's good, because I think I will be a good big sissy." Sachi declared.

"Well, you should think of Marshal's babies as your training if that's the case. Be good to the new babies and teach them things and then we'll know if you're a good big sissy or not." Rin told her. Sachi tied off the braid and he turned around to pick her up and sit her in his lap facing away so he could braid her hair too.

"I personally think you'll be a great big sissy." He told her, smiling.

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"Okay, okay, here. Is that a shovel in your pocket? Cuz I'm diggin' that ass." Marshal recited the pick-up line that had been the start of a hilarious inside joke in highschool.

Shura cackled. "Ew, his. It's so inelegant!" She complained. "Yeah, but the fact that it's so bad yet I still dared to use it has captured a few people's affections before. It's the nerve of using it that gets them interested." Marshal defended herself.

"Alright, fine, points for that. How about....Are you a parking ticket?" Marshal groaned, knowing exactly what the blonde was about to say. "Please, no...." She pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears as a grin made its way s road Shura's face.

"Because you've got FINE written all over you."

Marshal cringed in disgust, but her pregnant belly prevented her from curling up in the corner if the couch and getting as far away from Shura and her cheesiness ad possible. Shura's evil laughter rang throughout the house and everyone I side wondered just what the two women were up to.

"God, never say that one on the new world. That pick-up line needs to die." Marshal shook her head in dismay. Shura scoffed. "What, like yours was any better? At least mine had class."

"No, it didn't. Yours had more cheese than a fat mouse." Marshal denied. Something in her belly shifted and she made an uncomfortable face as whichever baby had decided to chill on top of her bladder. She already felt one using her find as monkey bars.

"Bathroom?" Shura guessed. "Yeah, but just to pee. One of the brats decided to use my bladder as a bed tonight." Marshal grumbled, not looking forward to the effort of walking to the bathroom down the hallway from the living room they'd been hanging out in.

Shura snickered and stood, putting her hands out for Marshal to hold. Marshal groaned, hit took the hands nonetheless, letting Shura pull her up from the couch with effort. She had to admit, she did love watching Shura's muscles flex when she did this. It was a sad sight to see the sleeves of a sweater covering those tanned muscles.

"Ugh. Carry me." She whined, only half-kidding. "I can't, you're too fat. Now start walkin, woman." Shura tied her eyes and let Marshal hold onto her arm to keep her balance as they ever so slowly made their way to the bathroom.

"If I have an accident two feet from the bathroom like I used to in Sims 4, I will rage." Marshal muttered sourly, eyes narrowing at the bathroom that seemed to get farther away the closer she got to it.

It felt like it took ages, but they finally made it to the bathroom. Shura helped her sit down carefully, pull down her pants and underwear, and then wipe because she could no longer reach. Then she had to pull Marshal's pants and underwear back up and pull her up from the toilet and help her walk back down the hallway.

"Nine months of no period in exchange for screaming, wiggling babies that wake me up every two hours to drink from my tits until I'm sore does not seem like a fair trade." She groaned.

"Stop complaining, it's only gonna get worse." Yukio said as he passed them by easily, going to the kitchen to get a snack before he went back to fixing shingles with Kinzou.

"Says the guy who gets to make out with his boyfriend on the roof where no one can see they're not actually being productive!" Marshal called after him. A snort from the boy. "We're fixing that roof for your screaming brats, remember that." And then he was walking back down the hallway they'd just come from.

Marshal sighed. "If McDonald's was still a thing, I could put my foot on my stomach while I ate my chicken nuggets." She said mournfully. Shura patter her sympathetically on the shoulder. Shura didn't expect the woman to start crying over the loss of the fast food franchise, but she was used to the instant mood swings and just pulled Marshal against her and threw a blanket around them once they'd settled on the couch again.

Everyone else was scared if pregnant Marshal, but Shura admired the woman for sticking it out and carrying these kids and wanting them despite their status as the results of a bad time with a shitty guy. She admired how even though Marshal complained and could be snappy, she never insulted anyone in the group and still true dto help with whatever she could. She entertained Sachi and Tsukumo by reading them stories and telling some rom her own childhood and letting them feel the babies kicking in her belly. She didn't complain about how hungry she was even though it must have been hard feeding three extra mouths inside her. She didn't like people coddling her, but she let them because she knew it made them feel better about the situation.

Shura liked Marshal. And she hoped Marshal might want her as more than just a good friend to help raise the little brats growing inside her. Marshal's next words gave her a small bit of hope.

"Being with you makes things easier to deal with, you know. Being pregnant is hard with just one kid, but with three, it's.... it's tough in the End of the World." New tears gathered.

"But it's really nice being with you and it helps me remember there's still good things in the world. Makes me remember there's people that will care just as much as me if these kiddos end up without me." She smiled bitterly, rubbing the spot a baby had just kicked inside her.

"I mean, all of us would do that for you, I'm sure...." Shura pointed out a little awkwardly. Marshal shook her head. "Not like you would. Something I always looked for in people I chose to spend my time with was their understanding of both em and themselves. Their willingness to give just as much as I did and to call me out on my bullshit and not let me get away with being mean."

Shura's cheeks warmed. To be honest, she probably spent more time trying to get to know Marshal than she'd spent getting to know anyone else in the group. Something just drew her to the woman. Maybe it was their similarities, maybe it was their differences, maybe it was her dry humour and careful optimism in the Apocalypse. Marshal just always seemed so sure things would be okay, so sure this group could stand a chance in the new world even if they lost people along the way. Marshal put her trust in people and her belief in everyone's abilities to get them through anything in their way helped them all move forward, even when they felt disheartened by things.

"Everybody's special. It just takes the right kind of special to care about someone like that." Marshal finished. She laid her head on Shura's shoulder, hands resting on her belly to feel the babies move and kick.

Shura was terrified of losing anyone in the group after losing Torako the way they did, especially Marshal, but the woman was tight about one thing: Shura would take care of Marshal's kids like they were her own. It was painful to think about and she hoped to whatever dirty was up there that Marshal wouldn't have to exchange her own life for her kids to live.

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Finally, this relationship comes in. I figured a time skip was best for this story, but years seemed way too far ahead, so I just went a few months forward. If anyone didn't know or stop to look it up when you read this, a Kiwi Bird's egg takes up most of it's body until it lays.

Having twins is a hard enough ordeal, but having triplets must be a very harrowing task, especially in the Apocalypse with no medical equipment or drugs or IVs to give fluids. I'm probably horrible at developing relationships, maybe I'm not, I can't tell. Please tell me your thoughts in the comments!