A New Home and a New Baby

Maka couldn't help her tossing and turning. For all she tried to do, she couldn't get her brain to calm down enough to sleep. She couldn't help it; her nerves were way to wound and even the warmth radiating from the white haired body next to her was unable to lull her to sleep.

This was only a recent event and she knew that it could be from only one thing: the baby. She'd been to the doctor only a couple of days ago, finding out that the gender of her and Soul's baby was a secret only to them. The doctor knew, no surprise from the smile that had covered her lips during every moment of their appointment.

But when asked if they wanted to know, Maka had taken one look at Soul and back to her doctor before politely declining. "I think…we'll find out when he gets here," She'd replied, completely okay with waiting a little longer—only a few more months—before finding out the most important thing about their baby.

But Maka knew she was kidding herself if she thought she'd be able to wait. And she also knew that Soul would go to extreme measures to find out, only if she begged him not to. Which, in this instance, she was fully ready to do so. "Soul, as the mother of this child, your child, I am asking that you don't go asking the doctor about him," she'd asked one morning as she sipped at a chocolate milk and Soul nursing a hot coffee—she'd gotten over the aversion to the smell in the early weeks, thankfully.

"But Maka!~ Don't you want to know if you're calling it by the correct pronoun? I want to call him a him and actually know that it's a boy. Don't you feel the same way?" He had asked her, prompting her to stop and actually think about it for a moment. But her decision hadn't changed one bit, no matter how much she'd actually agreed with him. It didn't matter that she was dying to know on the inside; all she wanted was a little surprise on the day her little baby was born. And she wanted to keep on thinking it was a boy for a little while longer.

Which was why she was now lying awake in bed in the middle of the night, unable to get comfortable. And things didn't look like they'd be changing any time soon.

After a little while longer, she eased herself out of bed—easier said than done, seeing as she wasn't used to moving with this new belly of hers—and headed to the kitchen for some kind of snack. She checked her fiancée, watching his chest rise and fall for a few minutes, before she silently snuck out to eat.

When she got there, she realized exactly why she hadn't eaten much for dinner the night before: there was nothing there. All of her and Soul's friends had been over earlier that afternoon and had cleaned them out, leaving practically crumbs left. Maka had even told Soul that they needed to go shopping for food if they didn't want to eat out for the next few nights. But that didn't help her situation now.

"What are you doing up in the middle of the night?" a voice suddenly sounded from the kitchen doorway, surprising Maka enough to make her jump in fright. But she only turned to find that Soul had actually woken up and was standing right outside the kitchen. "Didn't the doc say that you should be getting a lot of sleep for the baby?"

Maka shrugged, just wanting something to snack on. Or maybe it was just boredom hunger, the occasion becoming increasingly numerous the longer that Maka tried to relax for their baby's sake. "Next time everyone comes over, we are definitely making them bring their own food. They leave absolutely nothing for the pregnant one," Maka replied sourly, looking into the freezer for something and—"Ah ha! I found some! I knew we'd have some left; everyone's on a damn diet and would never think of eating my chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream!"

Soul smiled as he found Maka trying to sit down next to the fridge, against the wooden cabinets. "You seem to be a little bigger lately," He commented, sitting down next to Maka and simply watching as she smiled from the taste of her treasured ice cream. "How far along did the doctor say you were when we went last time?"

Maka, with her spoon still in her mouth, narrowed her eyes at the white haired man beside her. "You were paying more attention to the ultrasound, weren't you?" She accused playfully, pointing her spoon at him. "But, if you really need to know, she said that it looks like I'm at my fifteenth week, which means I'm not that far along but it feels like I'm so big. I feel like I'm waddling around already."

Soul busted out laughing, putting his left arm around her shoulders as she tried to reassure her that she was not, in any way, waddling around the house. If he didn't know any better, she was able to walk around the house quieter than ever. "Maka, you're not big or fat or waddling, for christ's sakes. This is just what happens when you get pregnant," He murmured, snuggling a little bit closer as Maka tried to eat her troubles away.

"So now you're saying I'm fat?" Maka piped up playfully, laughing as Soul gave her an equally playful glare. "What? You're the one that said it!" She replied, moving out of the way just before his fingers moved to find her tickle spot. She barely managed to twist out of his grip, jumping to her feet as he soon followed. But then she found herself trapped on one side of the tiny island, Soul on the opposite.

"Maka, this is only going to end one way," Soul taunted, slowly stepping to his left, at which Maka stepped to her right. It was like a bit of a faceoff, Maka thought idly. There was no way that one could move without the other copying, which left Maka with a big decision: to run or not to run.

Either way, she knew that he would most likely win this battle. For all that she did to keep her body in shape, Soul did the same and then some. And with this belly that she tried to protect, it was going to be hard to outrun him, especially in such a small space. So she just darted away from the table, waiting for the arms to wrap around her waist and pull her back against his chest. As soon as he did, she let out a stream of giggles and felt his body shake as he chuckled.

As they were laughing and playing around, Maka couldn't feel better—at least, she couldn't feel better than this at three in the morning. But then she felt something drip down from her nose and Maka thought that her nose was running even though it was too warm for her to get a cold. She put a hand to her nose, feeling something warm drip onto her fingers. Pulling her fingers away, she noticed that it wasn't anything light or clear; instead, it was dark and contrasted against her fair skin.

"Maka, are you—" Soul started when he noticed her silence and immobility, only to be struck silent as he spied the dark coloring on her hand. He flipped on the nearby lamp and swore as he found out just what it was. "What the hell, Maka, your nose is bleeding," He said, moving to grab a towel from the nearby kitchen. When he returned, towel held in an outstretched hand, Maka gratefully took it and put it to her nose.

"I know this might look bad, but it looks worse than it really is Soul. It's just something that happens sometimes during pregnancy," She explained calmly, putting pressure on her nose to stop the bleeding. "It's nothing to worry about, as long as it doesn't keep on going for a while. So I'm fine for now."

Sighing, Soul looked pretty depressed; Maka could only guess that he felt bad about the fact that her nose had started bleeding shortly after they had started playing around. He usually ended up blaming himself for things he had no control over. "Yeah, fine. But I think that it's time for us to head to bed. You need to get some rest if you're going back to work tomorrow."

This time, it was Maka who sighed. "You'd think that they'd give the pregnant woman a break, but nope. Instead, let's make her come back to work as soon as her vacation is over so we can work her even harder. But, at least they gave me time off for our honeymoon," She murmured, sleep already trying to get her in its grasp. "I think I'd have to quit if they hadn't let me off for a week or two."

At this point, she was beginning to lean on a softly smiling Soul, stubbornly staying awake as she checked the towel for anymore blood. Thankfully, it was down to a drop, enough that she didn't need the towel any longer. "Maka, it's okay if you fall asleep on me. I can carry you to bed if you…" But Maka didn't hear anymore. She was already falling under, sleep embracing her like a long lost friend.

When she woke up Maka was quick to shower and get dressed in a cute leather pencil skirt and fluffy, button up white blouse, preparing a nice breakfast so she could make it until lunch. She'd be meeting Soul at noon at a little café close to her office at that point, since she was so used to enjoying some part of the day with her fiancée.

She left Soul sleeping in their bed, snoring and a little bit of drool leaking from the corner of his mouth as she gave him a gentle peck on the cheek. He barely even stirred, only enough to give her a quick kiss in return. Then she was leaving, locking the door behind her so no one would walk in while Soul was still asleep.

Maka got to the office pretty late for once, having been a bit sluggish when she'd woken up. But she'd managed to get up, barely managing to get in before she was late. Which she would not let happen, even in the worst of situations.

The first to greet her at work was Miss Marie, one of her elder coworkers who had first shown Maka around and helped her with the beginnings of her job. And she was also married to the man Maka practically considered a second father, a doctor Stein, which made her an almost mom. The only thing Maka thought strange about her was that she loved children to death; someone like her should've gone into teaching little kids or opening a daycare. She shouldn't have been working around miserable kids who had been abused. It depressed her so much that it depressed Maka.

"Well, well, well, we finally get to see your face again Maka," Marie started as Maka walked to her desk, following close behind with a huge smile on her face. "So…do you know what gender the baby is yet?" She asked, finally getting to the point as she pouted in Maka's direction.

"Well, if you must know, we haven't found out yet. Plus, I don't think we are. Finding out the gender, I mean. I want to keep it a surprise, just to keep us guessing for a little while longer. Where's the fun if you know everything beforehand," She said happily, sorting through all of the stuff on her desk as she placed them in their appropriate places. "Just know that ahead of time, so you don't ask me again. Because I'm not going to know anytime soon," Maka warned, picking up the top file to skim over it.

"But Maka, don't you want to know if you should be coloring the room blue or pink? I know I was when we had little Frankie a few years ago," Marie replied, referring to her and Stein's three year old little girl, with Marie's golden blonde hair and Stein's eyes, always smiling and laughing. "It was the greatest day of my life, figuring out that I had a daughter on the way. So you need to find out! I know you want to!"

After a while Maka just tuned her out, instead heading off to do her job, but the blonde haired woman wasn't far behind at any point of the day. The only time that she managed to get away from her was when Stein had gotten there and whisked her away for lunch, which Maka was set to do in half an hour.

So, with only half a file left, she signed out and headed out to meet her loved one for lunch.

It was finally the day, Maka mused quietly as she finally woke up from a nice, deep sleep. She felt Soul next to her, his body heat radiating off of him and onto her, enough that she pushed off every single cover to get some air from the fan.

With some difficulty Maka managed to roll onto her back, her stomach now a larger bump and getting in the way more and more; she could barely make it through the office without it knocking something down without a notice. "Soul," She whispered into the dark, barely a hint of light filtering through the curtains. No wonder why Soul was still asleep. "Come on baby; we need to get up so we can move everything to the new house!"

When he finally began to stir, Maka pushed herself out of bed, standing on shaky legs and steadying herself with a hand on the mattress. "Get up before everyone gets here, Soul!" Maka nearly yelled, trying to wake up her unsresponding fiancée.

Within moments Maka was out of the bedroom and in the bathroom, getting ready for a shower when she felt warm hands land on either side of her waist, raising her shirt up little by little until it exposed her entire tummy. "You know what I realized a few minutes ago?" Soul's voice whispered into her ear, his warm breath sending delightful shivers down her spine. "I haven't touched you in weeks—since the night you told me you were pregnant," He said matter of factly. Maka could barely keep herself from turning around and finishing what he started. But she knew they couldn't. Their friends were going to be there in only an hour or two and they still had to gather up all of their boxes that were headed to the house. "I think it's about time to make up for it. Don't you think so?"

His lips went from her ear down to her throat, leaving a trail of fiery kisses behind as he reached her clothed shoulder. Then he was pushing her clothes aside, his lips doing amazing things—and then there was a knock on the front door, a clear warning. "Dammit," Soul muttered, letting his forehead droop and rest on Maka's now bare shoulder. She felt him, breathing hard along with her as they crashed from their high as they realized just who was at the door.

"Okay…I should probably shower…before Liz comes running inside to check on us. You know…she doesn't mind…walking in on us," Maka replied, breathless as she pulled her shirt collar back up to where it was supposed to be. Then she was pushing Soul away, towards the bathroom door. "Go and tell them that I'll be out shortly. But don't antagonize poor Liz; I doubt she wants to hear about our escapades again. Didn't you tell me on our first date that she's like your sister?"

Soul sighed in defeat, one hand on the door knob. "She is. Which is why it's funnier to tell her about this kind of stuff. It ticks her off and she's grossed out by it. What's not to like?" He replied with a smirk, only escaping as Maka went to give him a playful punch on the shoulder.

Finally left alone, Maka stripped down and showered, enjoying the feel of the scalding heat on her cold skin. It soothed her muscles and relaxed her aches, mostly her back and neck. She quickly washed her ashy blonde hair, noticing that it nearly reached her waist. She'd didn't mind it, she noticed idly, as long as it didn't become a problem to tame. "But it hasn't bothered me for a while now, I guess."

"Maka! We're all ready to leave!" Blair's voice rang throughout the house, loud and clear as Maka reached for the faucet, turning off the water before grabbing a towel to dry off with. "You have ten minutes! Then we're leaving," Blair yelled her warning, although Maka was only moments from getting out.

She pulled on jeans and a nice shirt, ankle socks and her favorite pair of shoes. When she walked out, she went straight to the living room to find all of her friends gathered around the room. "Well, I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be. So come on guys and start picking up boxes and bringing them to the truck—no time to waste."

With a couple of laughs, everyone grabbed a box while Maka supervised, unable to help lift anything because of her current condition. They barely stopped when everything was packed, only long enough to get a drink from a cheery Maka.

She'd brought out lemonade, something that had never happened before she'd gotten pregnant. "You already seem like a mom," Blackstar had said carefully, not wanting to inflict the rage of a hormonal woman. "Before you got pregnant…I think none of us thought you'd be serving us lemonade after working."

Everyone agreed with him, watching Maka smile gently as she placed a hand softly on her extended belly. She could feel their eyes on her and could swear she could sense Soul as he began walking in her direction. "Well, I guess I'd have to say that I feel like a mom already. And I feel like I already have a family—especially with the new house that Soul had built and all of you always helping us out. Our family is practically here already."

Soul wrapped his arms around Maka as soon as he reached her, feeling as if they were the only ones in the room. He was barely able to restrain himself, only pulling away when he realized that everyone was watching the two of them. "Well, I agree with her; so, family, time to get to work again. Come on Liz. Lift with your knees!" He said laughingly, getting a glare from the older blonde as she stuck the bird in his direction. But it bounced off of him completely as he chuckled, letting go of his almost wife as he began lifting boxes and moving them into the cars.

Maka watched them for most of the morning, just piling boxes into cars in preparation for their move. They weren't taking the furniture or anything big. Soul had the entire house furnished and made sure that they didn't need to bring anything over from the old apartment, meaning that furniture wasn't even needed. Mostly, they were just bringing pictures and little things that they didn't want to leave behind. Appliances and technology, stuff like that.

It was a couple of hours after their drinks that Maka finally told them that they were okay to leave. Everything had been collected and packaged, meaning that Maka could finally see the house—like she'd been dying to for the past few weeks ever since Soul had told her that the building stage was done. "Soul, can you at least tell me where the house is? Like what neighborhood or something?"

But Soul kept on avoiding her questions, even when they got into the car and he started driving. He just kept on humming and tapping on the steering wheel, ignoring her if she asked a question about the house. Otherwise he talked to her, sometimes commenting on their baby and other times saying that she'd love the place that he'd had built.

When they got to a farther out area from the city, Maka looked to Soul for some explanation as to why they were slowing down suddenly. But when she saw the blindfold, Maka knew exactly why—and responded accordingly. "Soul, really? You're blindfolding me? I think you can at least let me see where we're headed from here," She replied dryly, keeping his hand at bay while pushing herself farther into her seat and away from him. "I swear to god that if you put that blindfold on me you will be sleeping on the couch for a month, Soul!"

But it didn't help her case, seeing as how in the next minute he was able to slip it around her head and tie it securely so it wouldn't slip. She had no choice but to listen to him, waiting—albeit, impatiently—to get to the house and take it off, when she was allowed to actually see.

It took another five bickering filled minutes before they finally turned and stopped did she feel his hands on her shoulders, pushing her a little closer to the door. "You can get out but I want you to keep the blindfold on. I'll lead you to the front so you can see the whole thing," Soul said, voice getting quieter as he got out of the car, which Maka remembered she needed to trade in for a safer ride for a child.

As soon as she was steady on solid ground, she felt his hands land on her shoulders and lead her on soft, grassy ground. Before they could get too far he stopped her, turning her slightly. She felt his fingers on the ends of the blindfold, ready to pull it away—but not without a few words. "Okay, so you remember how I told you that I was going to stick to your outline of the house? Well, I might have made a few changes, such as where a couple of the rooms went or an extra room or two. But nothing big," He replied, warmth radiating from his nearby hands.

"That's perfectly fine Soul, I just want to see the damn house!" She almost yelled in impatience before she heard a chuckle and the gentle feel of fabric against her cheek as light flooded her vision. And the vision of a house appeared before her, greater than she could ever imagine.

Where the truck sat was a large cement driveway with enough room to fit six or seven cars in rows of two. That wasn't even counting the large garage that opened on the side of the house. The house itself was at least three stories, although the top seemed to only be made of one large room, maybe another small room inside. She saw two balconies, one on the second and one on the third, half covering the second floor balcony.

The outside walls were a light tan, and the window trim along with the door were off white and matched perfectly. Maka noticed that there was a garden in the front yard, with roses and lilies, tulips and orchids and everything she could imagine. They had vines crawling up a corner of the front wall, some rose buds growing and waiting to blossom. Maka even thought she saw some tulips in there, although it might have just been her imagination.

"Soul," She breathlessly said, the scene before her leaving her speechless. "When I thought of a new house for us and the baby…I didn't think it would be this big," She told him, eyeing every single inch of the building before her with awe. "If the front yard is this big, I can't even imagine how big the backyard will be. And the driveway? It's big enough to play an NBA game on! I can't help but wonder if you did that on purpose or if you just planned on having a lot of cars in the future," She playfully accused, eyes narrowed to slits until Soul wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Well, I thought I should offer you a little indulgence with the house, at least. And we did say that we wanted a big yard when I started, so I made sure of it. The driveway was just another indulgence, just for me instead of you," He replied, a rather happy tone that Maka knew was because he'd gotten what he'd wanted. "But come on, before they try and ruin the surprise for you—the girls practically designed all of the inside besides the things you specifically asked for."

At that she immediately began feeling as if she were about to explode, her nerves the getting the better of her; thankfully, these were the good kind. "Come on Soul! I just want to see the inside before I die from waiting for so long!" She replied, smiling as she felt his feet shuffling and pushing her closer towards the front door.

"If you won't mind, I'd like to carry my almost wife across the threshold of our new house—if you'd allow it, of course," Soul smugly said before opening the door to reveal a light, open living room. But, before she could even begin to revel at the beauty, she was literally swept off her feet and into the strong of arms of her loving albino. "So—how do you like it? You can thank Liz and Tsubaki for most of the style; I never would've been able to get this place looking like it does now if I'd been the only one working on this."

Maka had to agree with him when she was just looking at it. Just like she would have done, the walls were painted an off white with dark brown trim, the furniture made of dark brown leather and white stitching. On the opposite side of the room from the furniture was a large, flat screen TV mounted on the wall that was all Soul's idea if anyone's. Close to the longest couch was a dark brown wood table with a glass top.

To the left of the front door was a wall and then a breakfast bar with four tall bar chairs. On the other side was a stove with counters on either side. The stove was brand new, along with the fridge and all other appliances, giving off a nice shine. All of the counters were dark brown wood with white marble tops, absolutely stunning to the awestruck Maka. "Soul…this is perfect. Just…perfect. Oh," She suddenly exclaimed, a hand flying to her stomach as a smile graced her lips. "Soul, I think the baby likes this place too."

Tentatively, as if scared that he would move away, Maka grabbed his hand and placed it on her tummy, right where she'd felt it. For moments Soul looked questionable, unable to feel anything. But then he felt the little fist or foot against his palm and through the fabric and a giant smile broke out on his face. "That's…that's our baby?" He asked her quietly, feeling as if he and Maka and their baby were the only ones in the world at that moment—even when their friends walked in on the beautiful scene.

The seven others—Kid, Liz, Patti, Blackstar, Tsubaki, Blair, and Ren—watched without constraint, smiling at each other as they realized just what was happening.

After years of being considered kids, Soul and Maka could no longer be included in that category. They were growing up and getting married, starting a family at twenty-two and twenty-four while Liz and Patti had yet to move out of Kid's house or get steady jobs. Kid still freaked out like a little child when shown anything unsymmetrical while Blackstar always played around with being god, always calmed down by the quiet Tsubaki. Even Blair had her childish moments, but they had started to decline around the time she'd first dated Ren, one of the most mature of their group.

And now the 'adults' of the group would be busy with a new baby, hardly enough time to visit them. Which was why it was a bittersweet moment when Liz gave a gentle smile and cleared her throat, catching the attention of the two lovers. "So…when do we get to see the nursery?"

Maka's eyes brightened at the reminder, clutching Soul's hands with excitement. "Yeah, when do we get to see the nursery? I don't think I can wait any longer Soul!" Maka replied happily, letting go of one of Soul's hands as he began walking in the direction of the hallway.

"Well, this is the downstairs bathroom and that's a guest bedroom next to the stairs. The room on the left is a surprise that I'll show you later; upstairs is our bedroom and the master bathroom," He said, motioning to the door at the end of the second story hall way. "On the right is a study with a ton of books and a couple of desks for working, another bathroom, and another bedroom on the left. And there's one more floor, then we're done. I think you'll like it," Soul said as he began walking up the stairs, two at a time, before they came to a door that was perfectly white. "Welcome to our baby's nursery," He practically whispered, opening the door wide to reveal the off white walls and light colored furniture.

As soon as Maka walked in she was done for, gazing upon the softly colored room with adoration. The off white, almost yellow walls were soft on the eyes and the very light tan furniture wasn't bad either. The crib sat in a corner of the room, opposite the large window that lit the room without the use of lights. The changing table was to the left of it on the adjacent wall, a white lamp with a light yellow shade set next to it. In front of the large windows was a large, soft white seat with a matching footrest and another lamp sitting behind it.

But the thing that caught her attention the most was not the designer furniture or the large windows. What caught her was the ceiling.

With light shades, the ceiling was painted like the sky with blues and whites, perfectly fluffy clouds placed at random, but beautiful nonetheless. "This is far beyond what I imagined, but I think it's perfect, Soul," Maka told him, a hand to her mouth as she gazed upon the amazing art on the ceiling. "Looking at this entire house, I understand why it took so long. But what I don't understand is why it took such little time to finish," She commented, albeit smiling, as she took hold of Soul's outstretched and waiting hand.

"Well, whenever you have as much money as I—we—do, people tend to do things faster if you ask them to. Especially when extra money is involved," Soul replied smugly, giving her smaller hand a bit of a squeeze as she let go to investigate the large seat near the window. It looked perfect with the fading sun in the background. "There's a bathroom connected and the balcony is going to be locked and double locked until we think we can trust him not to jump off the roof. Or sneak out. Either way, we're going to be the only ones with keys," He said, hand opened and outstretched to reveal a small silver key.

After a few minutes of everyone fawning over the room, everyone filed out to go home, leaving the new couple alone—even after Maka insisted that they didn't have to. But they left anyway, telling her that they had things to do anyway, that they should have time to appreciate their new home by themselves.

It was when Maka had finally gotten Soul to lay down on the couch with her that, after only a few minutes of relaxation, he'd immediately sat up as he remembered something. "Soul~ I'm tired! Why can't we just rest for a few minutes? We have the rest of our lives to see the house."

At that Soul chuckled, pulling his wife up—almost gasping with the effort; he hadn't realized just how big she'd gotten. "Yeah, that's true, but I thought you'd want to see this room the most. I know you loved the music room so much in the apartment that I just thought—" He said only to be cut off by her wide smile. "Just what I thought your reaction would be. Now come on before the sun is completely gone."

She got up at that point, following him down the hall and to the door he'd ignored not long before. But now he stopped in front of it and she noticed that on the table between that door and the one next to it was a wooden music note, a nail, and a hammer. Maka watched as he picked up the music note and place the nail against the top, readying the hammer before hammering the nail through the note and right into the door. "I remembered how much you like the room so I tried not to change it too much but I added some things that I thought you might like."

And that was when he opened the door and Maka walked into a dream.

Just like she'd pictured it, a baby grand piano with yellowing ivory and perfect black keys. All of the old instruments were arranged in some kind of organized chaos that Maka couldn't help but appreciate. It reminded herself of the old apartment where everything had a spot where it could find a clear space. But there was one instrument other than Soul's piano that had its own space.

Right next to Soul's piano was 'her' violin, perfectly shined and the bow resting next to it. Maka watched it with awe, knowing that it had never seen a better day than that one. And it was hardly a few steps away that she noticed the seating arrangements, an even larger bay window that was big enough for three or four people to sit. When she checked the inside, it had one big blanket inside and some wires, which piqued Maka's curiosity. "Soul…what are these wires for?" She asked, looking up to find him smiling, jagged teeth and all.

"I was thinking about how good you were the night we met, making up songs of your own…I wanted someplace where we could record. So, if you look inside the cabinets there's a pull out sound board among other things. Top and bottom cabinets contain speakers for listening to the recordings afterwards. And the wires are for any that come up missing or something. Precautions for our future job," He said, completely stunning Maka speechless. "Of course it's not going to just be you. It's going to be a group of me and you. Violin, piano, anything else we want to add in, you name it. But with my position at a record label I can sign you or one of our friends can—god knows how much they love hearing us play. So, what do you think?"

Maka could barely comprehend what he was telling her. Signing with the record label? Was he crazy? She was barely able to play for their friends much less perform knowing that lots and lots of people would be listening to it. "Soul…I'm not that good at playing plus not a lot of people listen to classical. It wouldn't be much of a career," She tried to explain but Soul was too excited to be talked down.

"Maka, that's what your voice and a sound board is for. It gives it an edge that doesn't happen with regular playing. And don't doubt it; your voice is beautiful. I've heard you singing in the shower and around the house. You're good. Don't deny it," He told her, a smile teasing at the corners of her mouth from the compliments, although she didn't know if his opinion was biased or not. He was her almost husband; he kind of had to tell her stuff like that.

"Well…you have to promise me something first…" Maka said, trying to hide a smile as she watches Soul's bloom across his entire face. She even watches as his eyes brighten and he goes to put his arms around her, a space between them from her stomach sticking out so far. "If it's a boy, I want the final say on his name. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Can you agree to that?" She asked him, her knee moving up and up slowly, sensually, until she hears him moan.

That's when his hands went lower and lower until they reached her butt, his nose buried in the crook of her neck. "I haven't touched you in months, you know that right? Do you think we can change that tonight?" He asked, voice getting huskier and rougher, sending chills down Maka's spine.

"I don't know Soul. I'm just so tired; I don't know if I can stay up for too much longer. But if you want to try…"

It wasn't much longer until they were upstairs and in bed, breaking in the new house with vigor.

It was a week later when Maka had been making lunch that three guys entered the house, all sweating and most of them without shirts because of the heat. "How was the game?" She asked happily, putting a plate of sandwiches on the breakfast bar that they immediately grabbed and began scarfing down. "It looks like it was fun."

But Soul didn't utter a word, instead getting himself a cup of lemonade and gulping it down, ignoring what anyone said to him. "Just ignore him Maka; he's just pissed cause Kid beat him in a basketball match," Blackstar said annoyingly, getting the evil eye sent in his direction from Soul who, from what Maka could see, was very upset about it.

"I'm not pissed that Kid beat me. I'm pissed because you don't know how to call a game to save your life dumbass!"

It was at that point that Maka walked through the kitchen and gave both of the guys a look that, if possible, could kill. "If the two of you would just grow up for a few minutes and eat I would be a very happy pregnant woman. Now sit down, shut up, and eat," She ordered tersely, watching with some satisfaction as they listened immediately. "Well, Kid, since you're the only one being an adult right now, anything new happening lately?"

Kid shrugged as he happily ate the food before him. "Liz seems to be ready to move out on her own and Patti is freaking out a little bit. They've never really lived apart before and she doesn't know how to act. But I'm kind of happy; I love Liz but Patti is my girlfriend. Sometimes it needs to just be us, you know?" At which Maka nodded, knowing all too well that she'd needed alone time when she'd lived with Blair. "Anyway, the girls and I have been wondering what names you've picked out for the baby. They kept on pestering me to ask before I left and I totally forgot before the game."

"Yeah, Tsubaki was telling me to ask too," Blackstar intervened loudly, his voice causing Maka to flinch from the volume. "Any names picked out for the little brat?"

It was at that point that Soul cuffed his blue haired friend over the head, getting a well deserved cry of pain. "Don't call our kid a brat. Only we can call him that," He said, smirking as he finds his wife scowling. "Okay, only Maka can call him that. Or whatever other name she chooses. But, anyway, I don't think we've come up with any names yet. Or, at least, none that I've heard about yet. Maka, you thought of any?"

Finally brought down from her anger at her fiance's childish attitude she found herself surprised by the question. "You guys do know that we have months before he or she actually gets here, right? Plus, how am I supposed to choose a name if I've never met the kid? I have some choices but I'm definitely not sure yet," She said, scrubbing down the counter. "Plus, I have time."

She would never know that in a few weeks she would be very, very wrong.

It was a bright, early morning that Maka woke up to the unfamiliar sight of Liz, Patti, Blair, and Tsubaki standing over her with smiles on their faces. Even the room was unfamiliar and it took her a moment before she realized just what that day was. "I'm getting married today."

They all smiled down at the soon to be bride as she sat up and pushed herself out of bed, glowing and all smiles as she kept on coming to the same realization. "You guys…I really can't believe I'm getting married," She said, following her friends to the nearby bathroom that was connected to the second story room. "Liz, Patti, I forgot to tell Kid thank you for letting us have the ceremony and reception here. Could you tell him that later, for me?" She asked, completely disoriented by the awe of the day.

"You don't need to be thanking anyone. It's your day Maka and only you matter. Even Kid with his OCDness doesn't matter. Just relax while we start fixing you up for the ceremony, kay?" Blair said sweetly, brushing through her dear friend's ashy blonde locks with care.

It took a very little part of the day to fix Maka's hair and makeup, pinning back her ashy blonde hair and letting it flow down her back until it nearly reached her waist. Her makeup was soft yet made her emerald eyes pop. They helped her shimmy into her dress, carefully tugging it up and around her tummy before tying it behind her back. It revealed most of her slender back, hugging the curves she wanted to show off.

"Only a few more minutes and you're going to be an Evans. How does it feel?" Blair asked with a smile, putting the veil in place, the comb hidden in the pieces of hair pulled back. "Tell me what I should expect when my wedding day comes."

That's when she smiled, trying to think of words to just describe what she was feeling. "It's…it's just so much. One day we're dating and the next I'm engaged and pregnant. And now…now I'm getting married to a guy that I love so much…I think I'd die if something happened to him. And my hormones are getting the best of me and I feel like I'm about to cry every goddamn minute that I sit here—happy tears, but I really don't want to cry. All of this work would be for nothing if I cried and let my eyeliner and mascara run."

She heard her friends giggle as they finally put the finishing touches on her. A little dab of makeup here, pulling her hair a little tighter there. And before she knew it, Maka was being told to stand and hold onto her little white bouquet as she was ushered out of the little door that led to a hallway. And down that hallway, Maka knew, was a staircase that would go down and there she would start her march to her fiancé.

At the door stood her dad, beaming at her, nothing but smiles for his daughter. "Maka, you look beautiful. I can't believe I have to give you away to that little dumba—" He began, only to be interrupted as one of the girls cleared their throats. It only took a glare from Liz before he replied, "Well, I'm happy to know that you'll be…okay and…stable with him. But that's the only compliment for him that you're gonna get out of me so don't try getting another one."

Only moments later music could be heard coming from downstairs, the soft melody of piano that sounded hauntingly familiar. Maka thought it sounded like Soul's playing but she had never heard him play something so soft and sweet. It wasn't his style yet…it sounded just like him. He must've recorded it, Maka thought idly to herself as she watched first Liz, then Patti, walk down the stairs with grace that scared her for a moment.

"Papa…make sure I don't fall, please?" She burst out suddenly, her nerves getting the best of her as her dad simply chuckled. The sound helped her to relax just the tiniest bit, her hands unclenching around her bouquet and on his arm, a thankful relief.

"I would never let you fall Maka. Now, I think it's your turn to walk. Shall we?" And so they did.

The moment they reached the top of the stairs Maka heard the sweet sound of the bridal march reached her ears. But that wasn't what Maka was worried most about; it was the fact that, as soon as she'd reached the top step, everyone had turned to stare in her direction. From her hair to the very bottom hem of her dress, she was being scrutinized and watched, leaving her a tad self conscious. But then she saw him.

While everyone watched as she moved, silently praying that she didn't fall, Maka didn't see any of that worry in him. Instead all she saw were his crimson red eyes staring steadily into hers. She saw pride more than anything else, overshadowing any fears he might have had. Which was why the bride let all of her own fears just wash away, instead taking some of Soul's pride and courage and using it to her own advantage. She felt her steps get steadier and it was only her father's arm that kept her from running down the aisle to meet him at the end.

When she finally reached him she nearly let her tears—tears of joy—fall as her father kissed her on the cheek and put her hand in Soul's, a universal sign as old as time that meant Spirit was finally giving away his daughter. But not without a few select words. "Evans if you ever, and I mean ever, hurt my baby girl I will personally hunt you down and remove every organ you have, by hand. Do you hear me?" He whispered, harsh in the almost quiet of the mansion.

At this Soul just smiled at looked at Spirit with something that Maka could only describe as coming to an agreement, maybe even understanding. "Sir, if I ever hurt your daughter I'll be sure to find you just so you can go through with it. Intentionally or not, I would never in my wildest dreams try to hurt her."

It astounded her, Maka realized, how much her love for this man could grow with just a few words. Which was why she took his chin and pulled him closer, planting a kiss right on his lips. But it lasted only a moment before they walked up to the front, the priest happy to finally begin. But Maka could barely hear what he was saying, only speaking when it came to her vows or saying 'I do', when her tears started flowing freely down her cheeks. She noticed that Soul was close behind, his eyes shining a brighter red than normal.

It reminded her of one of her parents' friends' weddings that she'd been invited to. She'd asked her mom why they were crying and her mom had promptly replied, tears in her own eyes, that they weren't crying because they were sad. Instead, they were crying because they were happy, tears of joy she'd been told. She remembered how confused she'd been, saying that she'd never cried when she'd been happy. But her momma had only laughed and pulled her into her lap, where she'd fallen asleep before waking up at the reception.

Only now did Maka realize how right her momma was. Her tears were flowing freely but it was from pure joy, so happy that this was happening that she couldn't control her reactions. Add in the pregnancy hormones and she was practically bawling as Soul barely let any tears leak. She felt happy yet embarrassed at the same time, but she couldn't bring herself to care about the embarrassment.

It was only moments later that the priest finally finished with the formalities and pushed them towards the crowd, announcing the newlywed couple with a booming yell. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride!" And for the first time in a day and a half Soul pulled Maka close and kissed her, really kissed her, as if they were in the privacy of their own home and not in front of tons of their closest friends.

"I now present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Evans!" The priest boomed for the last time as Maka and Soul kept on kissing , believing that just for a moment they were in their own little world. The cat calls were what pulled the two out of it, both of them flushed from the effort as they finally turned and smiled at the crowd, an arm placed securely around Maka's waist.

Everyone flooded the middle of the room, trying to give them their regards and congratulations for the occasion. They shook hands and hugged numerous people, some of which one or the other, sometimes neither of them, knew. More often than not they put a hand to her tummy and wished them luck, asking when the baby shower would be. Neither would be able to reply before they were whisked off to the next group of people ready to congratulate them.

It went on like this for several minutes until Liz and Patti finally opened up the back doors that led to the backyard, closed in by a circle of trees. The darkening sky was beautiful in contrast to the lights strung up in the trees. There was a wooden floor in the middle and tables arranged around it with beautiful flowers place in the middle of each. The table on the far end of the floor was for the wedding party and Maka could see just who had decorated it.

Everyone was seated when they newlyweds walked in, instantly standing up and applauding as they passed and stopped in the middle of the dance floor. The first song came on and everyone watched as they began swaying gently from side to side.

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen you cry," Maka whispered as she rested her entire body against him, suddenly exhausted from the day's events. "I don't think I've ever cried as much as I did today. And that was me being happy. I feel sorry for the future you when I get pissed."

He chuckled. "You shouldn't feel sorry. It's usually well deserved anger when you get mad. But as long as you don't ever use a book on me ever again I will be a very happy man," Soul replied, lifting his head to find other people joining them on the floor. "I think our song is over. You wanna go sit or do you want to keep on dancing?

Maka shook her head, pulling herself closer to him. "Nuh-uh. I wanna stay here, dancing with you, until I'm exhausted—which, I'll admit, I am. But I'm staying on the dance floor if it's the last thing I do. So stay here with me, please?" Almost begging, Soul couldn't resist her pleas. So he kept on dancing with her, calmly, slowly moving from side to side. "What would you think of naming our baby after you, Soul?"

That startled Soul enough that he nearly jumped out of his shoes. "Why…why would you want to name him after me?"

"Because," Maka began, giving a yawn that Soul couldn't classify as anything but adorable. "I love you and I love your name and I want him to be just like you when he grows up. Musically talented and such a great guy that he'll marry a girl who never thought she'd meet the perfect guy in a hundred years," She said , giving another yawn that made Soul look at her with a little bit of worry.

Soul gradually guided his new wife towards their seats, worried about how tired she was. "Maka, you need to sit down for a few minutes. You're exhausted and it's not good for you or the baby if you try forcing yourself. Just sit down for a couple of minutes," He instructed, a gentle smile as he found her scowling.

"I'm not fragile god dammit. I just want to dance with my husband before we have to leave. And if you don't let me dance with you I'm with holding sex until the end of the honeymoon. And don't test me," She tersely replied, resting her head in her arms on the table.

So Soul, instead of making her sit down for the rest of the night, promised to dance with her if she would just rest for a few minutes. He watched as she gazed out at the other dancing people out on the floor with longing, wanting to be out there with them. Which was why, after only a couple of minutes, he gave in and offered her his hand. "Come on Maka, before you start crying because I'm not letting you dance."

Smiling wide she took his hand in hers and followed him back out onto the floor, simply swaying from side to side with him.

Soul noticed only a few moments into dancing that something was wrong. Her movements were getting sluggish and she was getting paler than normal. He noticed that a sheen of sweat was appearing all over her visible body and her breathing was becoming more and more frequent, as if she couldn't get enough air. But it was only when he tried asking her about it that the fragile balance broke. "Maka, are you—"

And that was when her nose started bleeding openly and she collapsed, right in Soul's outstretched arms. He watched as the dark liquid spread, unable to hear anything but able to see everything with vivid detail. Everything seemed to slow and he noticed that Liz was rushing to his side, trying to get him to say something. He saw Blair who was checking her pulse and pulling out her phone as she talked, quickly, into the phone.

"—oul! Soul! You need to do something," Someone yelled into his ear, effectively snapping him out of his stupor. Before he knew it he was helping her to sit up while pinching her nose, waiting for the damn ambulance to get there. "We called 911 and they told us they'd be here in a couple of minutes—expecting mothers in states like this are their top priority so they told me they'd hurry up but—" and that was when they heard the sirens, blaring loud enough to hear even from the backyard. "I'm gonna go get them and lead them back here. Keep her like that for a few minutes," Soul looked up and found that it was Liz who had been speaking, now running off to do as she said.

Within minutes the paramedics were in the backyard and were securing her to a gurney with a brace around her neck and an IV in her arm. Her nose had stopped bleeding only a little but she was still unconscious and Soul could spot blood coming out where the IV went in her vein. He noticed that her dress was ruined, completely stained by the liquid that had been running freely not too long ago. Her chest was still rising but it was rapid and shallow, a big difference from the girl he knew to be calm and collected all the time.

When they finally got to the hospital they hurried her into the hospital and into the emergency room. When Soul even tried to follow he found himself barricaded, told that he wasn't allowed inside. She was going straight into surgery and there was no possible way that they would let him in. "You're kidding me! That's my wife and kid in there; you can't expect me to just sit here waiting for some doctor with a stick up his ass to come and tell me whether it was good news or bad!"

"Sir we understand how you must be feeling but we expect you to stay out here and will make sure that you do. Even if it means barricading the emergency room doors you are not allowed inside. Now, if you would just tell me who her normal doctor is we can get right to it," The nurse at the doors said, obviously peeved that she'd been stuck with the job of keeping him busy.

"Stein. Franken Stein or something," Soul replied, distracted.

"Dr. Stein is currently out right now but do you know if she preferred any other—"

"No. That's her doctor. She's been going to him since she was younger. Call him and tell him who the patient is and he'll come. He's been on her case since she found out she's pregnant and told me personally that if we ever needed him he'd be here. So get him on the damn phone and call him already."

The nurse gave him a hard, barely piercing look before nodding and walking off, obviously pissed at his behavior. The thing was, Soul couldn't bring himself to care. His wife, his wife he remembered as he fought the urge to punch the wall, was bleeding and unconscious, a terrible combination in his mind. Only a few things would at least calm his nerves a little bit: if they told him she was stable, along with the baby, or two, if Stein would just get there and start working his magic.

It was only when Soul finally sat down that Soul remembered something peculiar: the blood staining Maka's white dress hadn't been red. It had been black.

Soul remembered everything with vague clarity, barely even remembering when his friends had arrived. He'd simply sat down in one of the waiting room chairs and had hung his head in his hands as he waited for someone to tell him something about his wife.

When he felt a hand on his shoulder Soul looked up and found the concerned eyes of Blackstar and Kid staring down at him. "Soul…go clean up man. You look like hell," Blackstar said, which Soul took to mean he actually cared what happened. At the least, he wasn't spouting nonsense. That was when Soul knew the guy was worried.

But Soul shook his head and leaned back in the seat, finding that it wasn't only the two of them there. The girls were there too, along with Marie—Stein's wife, Soul remembered—and Spirit, which Soul didn't find surprising. The man looked only a little better than Soul felt, although his eyes were bloodshot as if from crying. Soul couldn't blame the man; he'd felt close to that edge many times within the last few hours.

"I can't leave now. She's been in there for hours and no one wants to tell me anything. I'm not moving from this spot until someone does," He said, with a certainty that everyone knew not to fight.

Everyone looked at the young albino before them with pity, almost knowing how terrible the man felt that sat in front of them. But they couldn't possibly know; not one of them would know until they were married and their loved ones went through this. The man was so dedicated to his wife that he'd sat in the waiting room, almost entirely covered with the black blood from his wife, for quite a while.

It was a while longer until Stein, still in his surgery scrubs, came out of the O.R. with his lips set in a grim line. He walked up to the group but only looked at two men in particular. "Soul Evans, Spirit Albarn, I need to speak with the two of you in private. It's hospital protocol," He said, his voice tired and quiet even in the already silent waiting room.

Soul immediately rose from his seat to follow while Spirit, looking sadly curious, did the same. All of the people in the waiting room watched as they walked off, staring at the door that they'd disappeared into.

"There were some difficulties," Were the first words out of Stein's mouth, which struck a coldness through Soul's chest that reminded him of the time he'd gotten the scar that stretched from the top of his chest to his hip. But somehow, this was much, much worse.

"Don't tell me she…" Spirit whispered, dread taking over as he watched the man he practically considered a brother pull out a bottle of alcohol, pouring three glasses of the golden liquid.

"Thankfully I arrived in time to save her and the baby. The doctor that was working before I arrived wasn't experienced enough to know how to save her, not having my knowledge of her…condition. But her baby…your baby," Stein said, handing Soul one of the three glasses with a grim frown. "I had to deliver the baby by C-section to stop the flow of blood. It looked as if Maka was going into early labor at twenty-six weeks and because of her condition it was making her bleed out everywhere."

Soul looked up at the pale haired doctor, his dread easing up only the slightest bit as he pushed the shot glass a little farther away from him. "Is the baby…is the baby okay?"

Stein nodded, reluctantly giving the new dad some relieving news. "Because of how early the baby was delivered we had to put it on a machine, allowing it to breathe. We've hooked up a feeding tube until it's old enough to breathe on its own and then, if Maka is conscious by then, she will be able to nurse on her own. But, Soul, Spirit…Maka's outlook is looking grim at this point. She lost a lot of blood and her type is…special, to say the least. It's rare, a one in five hundred thousand chance, to find someone with blood like hers. And the only reason I know about it is because I was allowed to research it, looking after someone with this condition."

"What's…what's the condition?" Spirit asked swiftly, only wanting to figure out what was going on, find the pieces to the puzzle to fix his little girl. As if it were that easy.

Stein sighed, a heavy and troubled sound. "Black Blood Syndrome. The affected is harder to injure—bones are harder to break, bruises harder, is pretty hard to cut, immune to almost all diseases—and is usually a very healthy individual. It has no unusual symptoms. But when the person is injured on the inside with internal bleeding, it has to find a way out some way or another. With pregnant women they are unusually vulnerable to bleeding out for some reason or another, always when labor starts—whether miscarrying or early labor or on the due date. But I was able to stop the bleeding, in time thankfully. The only problem is…she doesn't have enough blood in her system and won't for a while if we don't find someone with the same condition. This is where the two of you come in.

"One with Black Blood Syndrome can get it in one of three ways. The most common is by intercourse, with certain conditions that we have yet to uncover. Second is by mixing blood, rubbing two cuts together or something of the like. And finally, the rarest is genetically, which happens only to a person with two carriers, not two people with the actual illness. I would like to extract a few drops of both of your blood to test and, if they're a match, take some blood to give to Maka. So, who's first?"

Soul had been the first to step up, wincing as Stein stuck the needle through his skin—he'd always had a hard time with needles, always hurting more than others described. And when his blood had come out black in the clear vial Stein hadn't even said a word, just taking out some clear bottles and started filling them up.

And so it was, an hour or so later, that Soul found himself sitting next to Maka's bed and watching her still, tiny form.

Soul couldn't believe how tiny Maka looked in comparison to all the months that she'd had that belly. She looked even tinier than when he'd first met her, a little hollow without their baby there. Well, he thought idly, at least there wouldn't be any more space between them when they kissed or slept together; that was one thing he would almost happily admit at that point.

But then he would think about the predicament—Maka unconscious, their baby only able to breathe through a machine—and his thoughts would go south.

"Soul, you seriously need to clean up," Soul sat up and turned to find Liz standing in the doorway, leaning against it as she watched Soul with caring eyes. "Stein already said that you've done all you can. Now all you can do is wait—preferably not smelling like BO."

Soul shook his head, turning to look back at his wife. "Liz, if you don't mind I'd like to wait here until she wakes up. Until then, I'll be here."

Liz sighed but ignored him, instead going to stand next to him, a hand wrapped around his upper arm. "Soul…depriving yourself of a bath or food won't help Maka wake up. Trust me when I say that I'm almost as worried as you are; that doesn't stop me from basic hygiene needs and while I…kind of know what you're feeling, it shouldn't stop you either."

It was silent for a few minutes as Soul processed what she said, a little slow with how little sleep he'd gotten. "Liz…I don't know why but…I can't help but feel a little hopeless. I just want her to wake up so we can go see our baby together, how it should've been in a few months." He felt tears gathering, fighting the urge to let them fall in front of the person who had seen him cry more than anyone else. "Why did this have to happen to us?"

Liz didn't have an answer, instead gently patting his shoulder. "Patti and I are fighting over Kid," She blurted suddenly, not knowing how to put it any other way. "I knew Kid first and I just…I've felt something for him for a while now. Which was why, a few weeks ago, I ended up sleeping with him."

It was quiet for quite a few minutes as Soul digested this information. "The day of your wedding, we were barely speaking to each other because I found out that I was…that I'm pregnant. And it has to be Kid's; I haven't told him yet but I told Patti the night before the wedding and she was—and still is—pissed at me and I just don't know what to do. Which is why I'm talking to you about this, because you know us better than anyone else."

Soul sighed as he felt her arms wrapping around him, asking for some kind of guidance from her 'little brother'. "Liz…I think it's safe to say that you screwed up. What are you supposed to do with the baby? You can't survive on your own and I doubt your pride will let you take money from Kid. But you'll need it Liz," He said, mustering all of the seriousness he could just to get him to understand his point. "Hell, you probably wouldn't even take money from me if I gave it to you. You need to understand—"

"I do understand Soul! But when Kid loves Patti as much as he does, what kind of chance do I stand? I'll be left in the dust while they have their happily ever after," She wailed, near tears as Soul wrapped his arms around her. He felt her trembling with almost sobs, ready to break down. But then, there was someone in the open doorway, looking rather curious.

"Soul, Liz, any updates?" Kid asked, looking rather disheveled with his hair sticking up in places and his clothes looking a little dirty. "Everyone else is wondering about her."

Soul pulled himself away from Liz, getting up from his seat before pushing her into it. "Actually, I need to talk to you Kid. Liz, watch Maka for a few minutes while I talk to him," He said, feeling her eyes on him as he walked out of the room, leading Kid to the cafeteria where he got two cups of hot coffee. He set one in front of Kid and kept the other for himself, sitting down at one of the quieter sections.

"Soul, why do you want to talk to me when you could be worry about your wife and child?" Kid asked, completely oblivious to Soul's reasons.

"What do you feel for Liz? Other than being close to her," Soul asked, taking a few sips of his bitter coffee. "Because she told me something happened between the two of you a few weeks ago and I want to know what the hell you're going to do," Soul told him, watching with some kind of satisfaction as Kid tensed up, frowning as he took a sip of coffee.

"You have no idea what's going on Soul so just stay out of it."

"I won't just 'stay out of it' Kid," Soul harshly replied, leaning forward to glare into the black haired man's eyes. "I've known them longer than you think and it's my job to look out for them. Right now Liz…Liz takes top priority for a very big reason. So, I have to know: what is up between the three of you?"

With a sigh Kid leaned forward, resting most of his weight on his arms. "I love Patti, I really do but she's…she still acts like a kid and I don't want that. I don't want my kids to have a mother who acts just like them. And Liz…she understands me. She gets that I'm OCD and tries to help me with it, not beat me out of it like Patti does. But I don't know how to tell Patti how I feel, especially with what happened. She's going to be pissed with anything I tell her."

"She already knows, Kid," Soul replied. He watched as Kid stared, stunned. "She also knows that Liz is…well, Liz is pregnant. And she needs someone. She needs you there for her, not some other guy who is willing to overlook the fact that she has a kid and marry her despite the fact. She needs the actual father—you—there with her along the way.

"I'm not telling you to dump Patti and marry Liz. I'm telling you to make the right decision, despite what Patti or Liz might make of it." Soul explained, taking the last sip of his coffee before standing up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a wife to look after." And so he walked off, leaving Kid to think about what he'd said.

Soul couldn't seem to get any sleep anymore, instead finding himself staying awake while worrying about his wife.

Stein had said she'd regain consciousness in a few days but it had been a week and a half already, without change. He stayed by her side most of the time, keeping himself away from the nursery for the time being. Soul was resolved to not meet his child until Maka woke up, although his resolve was weakening every day that passed and Maka didn't wake.

Which was why, when Soul found himself waking up almost two weeks after their wedding, when Soul heard a voice asking him to wake up and explain what was going on, he barely took any time before he opened his eyes. And there, sitting up in bed, was Maka.

It took him less than a moment to react, jumping out of his seat and wrapping his arm around her in an embrace that he'd waited way too long for. Maka flinched from the slightest bit of pain in her abdomen—and that was when Maka looked down to find her belly gone. "Soul, what happened? All I remember was the wedding and the reception and you, telling me that everything was going to be okay. What happened to our baby?"

Soul put his hand to her cheek, guiding her emerald eyes to his crimson. "The baby is fine Maka. Stein rescued him or her just in time. He's on a breathing machine, but he's safe. Our baby is safe Maka, and so are you," He said, enveloping her in a hug that made up for lost time.

They were alone for a while, until Stein came in with a clipboard and a somewhat smile. "It's nice to see the two of you awake instead of one. I'll need to run some tests before I can clear you but, if you pass, I can get you a wheel chair so you can go to the nursery and meet your baby. Soul has been waiting patiently for the day and you no doubt want to see the little bundle too Maka," Stein said, beginning his tests as Maka tried her best to get out of bed.

After only a few minutes Stein cleared Maka with the condition that she didn't walk on her own yet; her body was still too weak to carry her own body. And if she did try and failed, she could tear her abdomen open where they went in for her C-section. So Soul agreed, pushing her down the cleared hallways with a smile on his face. "When I said he you know that I didn't know what I was talking about, right? I just took a guess."

Maka laughed, a sweet sound that Soul had come to miss since her accident. "You would've known that I'd kick your ass if you saw the baby without me, so I know you're telling the truth. But I'm happy that you didn't go without me, Soul."

"I wouldn't have gone without you babe," Soul replied, watching as a smile lit up her entire face, even her eyes lighting up. "Now come on, before he's eighteen and out of the house."

Soul could feel his eye twitching, could just feel it as confusion washed over him. And dread. "Maka…what color is that card?" He asked as he closed his eyes, voice calm yet ready to explode as his wife gazed at the little bundle with happiness but, at the same time, confusion.

"It…it's not that bad. I'm sure we can get through it," She mumbled, trying to regain her joy from earlier. But stumbling over words didn't help things. "It's just a…minor difference from what we thought."

"But Maka...the card's pink. I don't know how to deal with pink," Soul despaired, his fingers holding tight to the handles of Maka's wheelchair as she began cooing to the little bundle who, now that Soul took time to notice, was hooked up with several wires and tubes. A machine was nearby, giving the baby air while it couldn't breathe on its own. "It thought you said it was a boy!"

A sharp glare from Maka cut off his complaints, instead turning his gaze soft as he watched Maka put her finger in the baby's palm. "Yes, but I told you it was just a guess. Now we have a little girl," She replied, smiling as the little girl move her hand and grasped Maka's outstretched finger. "Plus, you sound like Chrona with the 'I don't know how to deal with this' crap," She reminded her husband, looking up at him from her chair to send him a huge grin. "As much as I wanted a boy, I'm kind of relieved to get a little girl."

"I'm not!" Soul groaned suddenly, slouching low as he thought over all of the preparations. "I bought a ton of boys stuff Maka! I don't even think I know what to buy for a girl!" He complained, sounding to Maka like he was almost in tears. "And the room, I thought it would be for a boy. There's no way I'm letting my little girl stay in there!"

"You can and you will, Soul Evans! Just because she's a girl doesn't mean she can't stay in the loft," She replied, her voice soft and quiet in the room. The only sounds in there were the occasional beeping of machines and their voices, almost silent with how quiet they were trying to be. "But it does mean we have to think of different names, you know. I wasn't thinking of the possibility of a girl."

"Me neither," Soul said, head shaking back and forth. "But I was thinking something along the lines of Blaze."

Maka looked up at him, thoughtful. "Actually…I like the name. But how about…Maria as a middle name? Nothing too flashy but not too boring. God knows we don't need flashy anymore," She whispered, gently running her finger over their baby's arm with a gentle smile on her face. Soul noticed with a burst of joy that this was his family. Not the 'family' he'd grown up with or just the two of them, only Soul and Maka. Now, it was the three of them, little Blaze Maria Evans a sweet bundle added to the family.

"You know what," Soul suddenly said, catching Maka the slightest bit off guard as he crouched down to Maka's eye level to gaze at his baby girl with what most would call pure happiness. "I think that it's the perfect name, Mrs. Evans."

A few months later…

The weather was warm and the sky was clear, rays of sun shining down on the backyard of the Evans family as a barbeque pit was pulled out, a small pool inflated and filled with water a ways away from the huge, in ground pool that reached twelve feet at its deepest. Large, cushioned lounge chairs were pulled out to be used by the expecting women who were trying their best to help set up.

"Really guys, we can help set up!" The brunette tried in vain to dissuade the men from their task—which seemed to be making her into a lazy bones. "Just because I'm having a baby doesn't mean I can't help just a little bit, Blackstar!"

A roll of his eyes showed that the blue haired young man wasn't going to be giving in. "Tsubaki, I don't want something like what happened to Maka to happen to you. I don't know what I'd do if I was in Soul's position," He said, his eyes darting to the white haired red eyed man whose house they were at for most of the day. "The guy's a wreck," He said, as if it was the only explanation Tsubaki needed.

"Hey! I heard that and I'm telling!" The blonde who, Tsubaki noticed with some amusement had already pulled out her own lounger and was laying across it, yelled in reply. But it wasn't taken too seriously; with a belly as big as hers was now, it was hard not to look at her and your eyes turn to mush as you imagined anything and everything that had to do with babies. At least, that's how Tsubaki looked at it. "Tsubaki, just ignore your man and come sit next to me where the sun feels good. Trust me when I say that you'll forget all about your problems."

It only took a few moments before her fiancé, the black haired Kid, came waltzing over to sit next to her. His arms around her, Tsubaki couldn't imagine the two not being together—although the consequences weren't exactly good. "Hey so…how's Patti taking you two getting engaged?" Tsubaki quietly asked, as if raising her voice would break the peace they had.

Kid shrugged, tightening his hold around Liz as he moved to let her lay on him, his back resting on the lounger. "She reacted just like we thought she would; she's not talking to us. As bad as it felt when she was moving out, she at least answered our calls back then. Now she won't answer calls, emails, when we actually go to her place and knock. Right now, Soul's playing peacemaker since he's the only one of us that she still talks to. No doubt she'd talk to you two or Maka, as long as we weren't with you."

"Yeah," Soul said, jumping into the conversation and pulling up one of the loungers for himself as he sat down, practically falling into the seat. "She's pretty pissed about the whole thing, but I kind of think she has no idea what to feel at this point. She avoids talking about you two and the twins like the plague but, at the same time, she looks interested too. Like she wants to know," He said, sighing as he ran a hand through his white locks. "I think if you just give her some time—"

"Who's ready to go in the pool?" A high pitched, playful voice reached their ears before they heard the childish giggle that could only belong to one little girl.

Everyone turned to find the once again tiny Maka walking out in a tiny, white and black—and sexy, Soul thought as he smiled wide—string bikini that showed off her curvier, yet still petite, figure. Soul couldn't help but notice that since she'd been pregnant, her chest had gotten bigger and she'd gotten a little rounder at the hips, giving her curves that he knew weren't there before. But that wasn't the only thing that caught his attention. While the ashy blonde, emerald eyed beauty that was his wife interested him, he was a little more worried about the little fair haired beauty in her arms.

Without a word Soul swooped in and scooped up the white haired bundle, throwing her up in the air—successfully getting a few more giggles out of her. As he watched her, he couldn't help but admire how much she'd gotten from him. Her hair, like his, was perfectly white but was styled more like Maka's, straight until it curled at the ends. Her eyes were shaped like Maka's, large and round, but definitely colored like his, maybe a few shades darker. He had to admit; he liked the fact that she looked like him. But there was one thing he didn't like… "Why is she wearing a bikini?"

The little girl giggled and clapped her hands together, an adorable gesture that she'd picked up from her mother, as he looked at the little outfit Maka had put her in. The swimsuit was a two piece but revealed little. It was perfectly modest for a baby girl. "Because Blair picked it up and told me I better put it on her before summer was over. And she made me promise to send her pictures while she was on her honeymoon."

Sighing, Soul couldn't fight his wife's decision to listen to Blaze's godmother. Nothing would change her mind. "Fine. But after this it's onesies. I don't want my daughter walking around in bikinis!" He said, watching his wife give him a glare as she looked at the pool.

"Good luck with that hun. We don't own any one pieces," She replied, matter-a-factly, a smug smile glued on her lips. "Now, if you're not gonna grill yet bring her in the pool while I start. People are getting hungry!"

Smiling, Soul put the little girl on his shoulders, making sure that she was secure, before going get the hose and putting it in the small inflatable pool. "You wanna go swimming baby girl?" He asked, his voice raising just like every other time he spoke to her. And the reaction was instant: a fit of giggles and clapping, not stopping until he started talking again. But this time, she didn't have time to stop when he pulled her off his shoulders and sat her in the small kiddie pool.

Maka watched the two, remembering how reluctant Soul had been too raise a little girl. But it hadn't been long before he'd become wrapped around her littlest finger. "So how is life with the baby going so far?" Tsubaki asked, snapping Maka out of her stupor as she realized that she'd already turned on the grill. Seriously, why was she left with this?

"Well, she's a bit of a night owl, kind of like us—so it's not that bad. But when we want to go to sleep and she's still wide awake, it's like a battle of wills. And Soul usually loses; I think there hasn't been a night since she got home that she's slept in her own crib. She usually sleeps between us in bed, just because it stops her crying. But it needs to change," She said, awkwardly trying to flip the burgers with the huge spatula. But when someone's hand take it from her, Maka smiled gratefully up to Kid as he nodded, easily taking the job.

"Well, I guess it's understandable. She loves you two to death," Liz replied, sipping at her lemonade. "What about when the two of you play?"

Maka smiled, remembering the last time she had gone in to record with Soul. She'd sat in her little swing and watched, entranced. "I think she likes when we play music. Like last time she was crying Soul had gotten annoyed and gone played the piano to calm his nerves. The instant the music reached her ears, she stopped and stared in the direction it was coming from. And it wasn't long before she was out."

"I could only wish it was that easy," Tsubaki muttered, watching Soul with appreciation. "I just hope that he's not too much like Blackstar. I don't think I could put up with two whining boys."

Maka, remembering the younger years of Blackstar, could wholly agree. "I'd feel bad for you. But the one I'm already feeling bad for is Liz and Kid; twins. I can barely keep up with Blaze, I don't know if I could take care of two of her. Plus Soul and I'd be elbow deep in work. I have to cook dinner, get her food, clean the house, all three floors, and I have to get the CD done for the label. I'm just so happy that I don't have to worry about law anymore; while I loved it, the work was too much for a new mom to work with.

Tsubaki nodded in understanding, flinching as she watched her fiancée cannonball into the large pool. "Well, I doubt this will make you feel any better but I think you just lost about half your pool water," She replied, an amused smile on her lips as she watched Maka sigh and put her hand on her hip, looking ready to tell off the blue haired idiot. Tsubaki only laughed as she found Blackstar returning with a medium sized bump on his head.

It was nearing afternoon when everyone began to clear away the food and drinks, getting ready to start a fire when the little girl started to protest. Whoever held her fought to keep her in their arms, fining the little girl trying to wiggle out of their hands. Before long everyone had given up and she had calmed down a little when she reached her father's arms. She looked like she was about to fall asleep, her head resting comfortably on Soul's shoulder. Before long, though, she was fighting it; Maka could just tell that something was wrong with the little girl. And then, the inevitable when it came to a tired baby—the crying and the screaming.

"Soul! What did you do?" She asked tersely, turning to find him trying in vain to get her to calm down.

"I have no idea! Maybe she's hungry?" He offered, holding out the baby to his wife who took the baby as she looked over the white haired infant with a critical eye. "What's wrong?"

"It's not an 'I'm hungry' cry. Or a dirty diaper cry. Not even a 'something hurt me' cry. I don't know what she wants," She muttered, the look on her face indicating that her mind was running a mile a minute trying to figure it out. "Soul, put her swing in the music room and play for her. Maybe it'll help calm her down," She suggested, giving the baby to her husband who sighed and nodded.

Before long all of the adults were sitting outside enjoying the heat from the fire while enjoying s'mores. But it didn't last; the pregnant women were quick to tire out with their extra loads. They helped clean up the little that Maka allowed and said their goodbye, leaving through the gate that led to the driveway. Maka could hear their cars turning on before she went inside, spying their headlights through the curtained windows of the kitchen.

Maka spent a little bit of time cleaning. She washed a few platters that they'd used for the burgers and hotdogs and other food, laying them on a towel so they could dry. Then she went through the laundry room, grabbing a pair of loose, thin sweats and a tiny camisole as she headed upstairs—remembering absently that Soul had never come back from calming down Blaze. A little curious, Maka hurried up the stairs a little faster than before.

Then, minutes later, she slowly opened the bedroom door to find a lump halfway under the blankets of Maka and Soul's bed. Maka saw a splash of spiky white hair on the pillows, Soul's brooding crimson eyes closed in peaceful slumber. He was on his back, one arm hanging over the side of the bed, a halfway empty bottle looking as if it were only moments from falling. The other hand was keeping Blaze from sliding off of his chest. Her hair, startling white, stood out against the tanned skin of his chest. Her eyes, so similar to his, were closed and were more than relaxed. Happy. Content.

Smiling peacefully, Maka only took enough time to change before she pulled back the cover and climbed into bed. She didn't settle until her head rested on Soul's chest and she put her arm across his abdomen.

Soul woke when he felt her hand running over his abs and picked up his head to look down at her. "Hmmm…" He groaned. "What time is it?" He asked as he picked up his hand—putting the half empty bottle on the side table—and ran a hand through his white locks.

"It's nearly eleven; go back to sleep honey," Maka replied sweetly, pulling the covers up to cover the three of them as she turned off the lamps in the room. "Good night," She said, curling into her husband's side as she listened to the quiet breathing of her daughter.

"Good night, Maka," Soul replied, placing a gentle kiss on Maka's forehead before the couple finally went to bed.

Peace at last.

A/N: So I finally finished part three and I'm kind of unsatisfied with (translation=hate) the ending. But, this means I can get on with the next one shot—which, if things are going as they are, will be another part of this arc. All human, musician Maka, the like. A continuation from this one. Most likely, it'll be of Soul and Maka later on in their marriage when Blaze is four or five and they're successful musicians with a big fanbase and social standing. And they get into a fight. Their first serious fight. Ever.

Anyway, I've been in a good mood lately. With Legend of Korra coming out in only a couple of days, I am so excited and just in a good mood. My drawing and writing has been getting better and happening more often. Like the fact that I was finally able to finish this damn one shot; I just needed a little push in the right direction.

Well, that's all I really had to say. Oh, and R&R please. I reply to all reviews (or I'll at least try). And please, if you're not logged in while reviewing put your username in the review. I'll actually take the time to look you up so I can reply.