Day one: Living together (kinda).

My family is you.

"Croix?" Chariot suddenly called. She tried to appear calm but her palms were getting sweaty already and her stomach was filled with thousands of butterflies. It had been like that all day; her apprehension growing little by little every time she thought about telling Croix the truth.

Like every night, her lover had come to her sleep quarters by using a little bit of teleportation magic and a little bit of technology in the shape of a cellphone she'd given to Chariot before going to jail. They'd started talking over the phone, of course, before rekindling their relationship and, finally, deciding they wanted to be together again. Which prompted Croix's nightly visits… as well as Chariot's current predicament.

"What is it?" Croix asked, pausing momentarily in her passionate kissing of the redhead's neck. Truth to be told, she'd noticed something wasn't quite right ever since she arrived, with Chariot being too nervous and uncomfortable to properly respond to her shows of affection. But she had hoped a couple more kisses would distract her from whatever was bothering her.

Apparently not. So, she pulled away just slightly and stared directly at her beloved's eyes… or tried to anyways, since they were pointed directly to the ground.

"Chariot?" She asked once more, getting worried once she noticed her crestfallen expression. "Is something wrong? Is Finnelan giving you trouble again? Because I could totally stage a little accident for her if that's the case." She chuckled, having tried to make a joke to lighten up the atmosphere. But Chariot's face remained impassive, which made Croix frown with worry. "No? Then… were your students rude to you? You are sometimes too good for your own good, you know that?"

"Croix." Chariot finally spoke once again, moistening her dry lips with her tongue. "I… I need to tell you something, but…" She sighed, tensing up noticeably. "I'm afraid of what you may say." Finally, she looked up to meet Croix's eyes, and the Italian woman pretty much melted under her lover's teary gaze.

"You can tell me anything, Chariot." She assured her, taking her hand and intertwining their fingers while she placed a tender kiss on her forehead. "I love you. Nothing's gonna change that."

"I'm pregnant." It was said quickly and shakily. And Croix thought she hadn't understood correctly. No. She hoped she hadn't understood correctly.

"W-what?" She stuttered, subconsciously letting go of Chariot's hand and separating slightly, looking on her face for any sign that this was all some sort of elaborate prank.

"I… I'm pregnant, Croix." Chariot repeated, her voice sounding strangled and her eyes red with unshed tears. But she was again looking at the ground, too afraid to directly see Croix's reaction.

Croix felt a chill run down her spine at the confession, and an unpleasant weight settled on her stomach. She suddenly felt restless, and had to get up and start pacing around in order to maintain her own sanity.

"How?" Was the first thing the lilac-haired woman could ask, stopping in front of Chariot as she waited for an answer.

"Well… remember the few times we used that spell?" Chariot asked, looking up at her timidly. "There's always a risk of getting pregnant. You said so yourself."

"Yes, but… you drank the potion, right? I saw youdrinking it!" She answered, now getting more agitated.

"I did." Chariot agreed, nodding. "But… I didn't know potions had expiration dates."

"… Don't tell me it's the same potion we used when we were younger?" Upon receiving a shy nod in response, Croix couldn't help but face palming herself. "Chariot, that thing must have expired a decade ago!"

"I know that… now." She hesitated before adding the last word. "I'm sorry, I should have realized sooner, but…" She sighed, and in that moment a couple of tears fell from her eyes. "I've never been exactly the brightest mind in town."

Croix sighed too upon seeing her beloved berating herself so harshly, and then went to sit on the couch once more, next to her. Then, she took her hand as a sign of comfort.

"No. It's my fault as well. I should have made sure the potion hadn't expired before even suggesting we used that spell."

"Croix." Chariot exhaled shakily as she rested her head on Croix's shoulder. "We are going to be mothers." Her beloved, however, only stiffened in response. "But… you don't seem happy about it." She frowned. Not that she was surprised, but it still hurt.

"I'm not." Croix answered honestly, purposely avoiding Chariot's gaze. Instantly, she felt Chariot's body tensing up, and saw tears starting to fall from her eyes as well.

"I… it's just not the right time." She tried to explain. "I'm still in jail. How are we even going to explain you being pregnant with my child if I'm supposed to be locked behind bars? Plus… I won't be there for you during pregnancy, or childbirth, or even our baby's first months of life." She continued, using a rather defensive tone. "More so, I haven't even found the cure for Wagandea yet, and who knows how long that'll take me!" She paused, swallowing the knot that had formed on her throat. "Chariot… I just… I don't think we're ready."

"I-I… I understand." Chariot answered, barely able to contain her sobs. Truth to be told, she had expected an answer like that. She had just hoped reality would be less cruel to her than her own imagination.

Seeking comfort, Chariot turned to fully face her lover and pressed her forehead against her shoulder, hiding her tear-filled eyes from her. She didn't want her to see her cry, not with what she was about to say.

"You know? If that… if that's how you really feel… we could always…" She was interrupted by her own sobs, and the feeling of her own heart breaking. She hated herself already for what she was about to suggest, but she didn't see any other solution. She didn't want Croix to leave her. "We could always… get rid… o-of… of…" No. She couldn't say it. It was too much. Even though she hadn't known of her baby's existence for more than a day, she already loved her too much. How could she not? She was a little bit of her and a little bit of Croix. That, on itself, made her special to her.

"Chariot." Croix's hand moved to caress her cheek, before grabbing her chin and forcing her to look up at her eyes. Chariot tensed at this, but didn't resist. She had already said what had to be said, even if she didn't like the answer Croix would most probably give her. "Chariot, my love." She said tenderly, softly caressing her face and wiping her tears at the same time. Her expression was calm and gentle, and her eyes filled with adoration. "One quality I always admired about you was your willingness to sacrifice your own happiness for the sake of the ones you love." She then paused, pursing her lips. "And although that's an incredibly altruistic thing to do, I don't think it's healthy, do you?"

Chariot just blinked, not understanding where Croix was going.

"Cherry, my dear Cherry." She smiled softly, tears appearing on her own eyes. "I would never ask you to do something that is clearly hurting you so much with the mere thought of doing it."

"B-but…" Chariot tried to protest, but was promptly silenced by a kiss on her lips.

"Yes, it's not the right time. And I'm not happy about the way it happened. But I love you, Chariot. I love so much that just thinking about forming a family with you makes my heart swell with happiness."

Chariot finally dared meeting her eyes, and saw in them nothing but sincerity and affection. And finally, she was able to breathe again. Finally, the tears falling from her eyes weren't from sadness and despair, but from happiness and relief instead.

"You are my family, Chariot. Always have, and always will be." She spoke, pressing their foreheads together and bringing them so close their breath started to intermingle. Which finally made Chariot start to relax once more on her lover's arms.

"Thank you, Croix. I've always thought of you as my family as well, and having a child together… it's like a dream come true."

"Have you thought of a name?"

"How about Cigne?" Chariot suggested, moving to hug Croix tightly.

"You mean like the Northern Cross constellation? Croix du nord? It's a little too on the nose, don't you think?"

"Shut up. Like you have a better idea."

"I'll think of something." She laughed.

And the two kept cuddling and kissing until they fell asleep in each other's arms. As, although the circumstances weren't exactly the best, at least they had each other, and they knew that together they could find happiness no matter what life threw at them. More so now that their small family of two would become three.

A/N: If you're familiar with my other fics, you may think this is set in the A Believing Heart Universe. Well, it's not. It's a canon-deviation from that fic though, but won't be featured in the main story. Also, if you're wondering which spell they used... it was a metamorphosis spell. Use your imagination ;) (Or just wait for day 7 lol).

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.