Hey Everyone!

I'm so sorry and honestly mortified that this took so long. I just could not for the life of me figure out how to write this. I think I've literally written this Epilogue like 5 times and it never felt right. This is the first one that I'll say makes me happy. The others were just blah. Anyway, if you hate it, just pretend that I never wrote it and say that the ending of the last chapter is it.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Sorry for some of the out of characterness some of them might be showing.

- Singed

Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt!

Naru

As it turned out, we'd quickly learned that we needed about 10 layers of that particular shield. Even so, all of our neighbors seemed to be in very good moods most of the time. Thus it was a good thing that we didn't have many neighbors since we decided to move into the apartment above the practice after the wedding. It was cheaper since I was already paying the rent anyway. It did make it a bit difficult to not mix business and home life, but since we were both workaholics neither of us minded.

I sat at my desk, reading over some notes on a case that just had me completely baffled. None of it made any sort of sense. It was maddening. What was worse was that Mai had to be removed from the case completely as it would appear that this particular entity murdered young, newly married women. Then again, we probably couldn't be called newlyweds anymore. It'd been five years, but I wasn't taking any chances. I had been surprised that Mai had agreed to the arrangement. Normally she was very stubborn, but this time around she only pushed a little and then gave up. It had me suspicious.

In fact, a lot of her behavior recently had me suspicious. Her shield had been up almost constantly for weeks now and I'd walked in on her ending whispered conversations with Ayako numerous times. Okay, so I didn't care too much about missing out on those. Women's talk could be so unproductive, but still, I didn't like the fact that she was keeping secrets. I placed down the case notes and sat back. Who was I kidding? I was very worried that Mai was keeping secrets from me. I hadn't felt this cut off from her since that time when she'd been manipulated by Professor Kinder. If it were anyone other than Mai and I was any other guy, I'd be suspecting an affair.

I stood in frustration and looked down on the darkened streets below. It was Christmas time. Mai had even convinced me to put up a Christmas tree in the office. I'd fought it for years, but this year I gave in. She'd already been keeping a secret from me, whatever it was and I wanted something that might be interpreted as a peace offering. Her brilliant smile at my consent had made me hope, but she'd been just as secretive afterward. I sighed and picked up the phone to call up to the apartment. We'd agreed to order out tonight, but I was now thinking that taking her out on a date might get the ball rolling. I could have used the bond, but I'd discovered about a year into our marriage that she liked it when I took the added effort to physically speak with her.

As I lifted the receiver to my ear, I heard Mai and Ayako having a conversation. I jolted back and sighed. We'd had this problem since we started renting here. Sometimes the landline allowed you to pick up on other conversations. I was about to hang up and just head up the stairs when Mai's words caught me off guard.

"I know Ayako. I need to tell him, but I'm not sure how to."

"Mai, we've been over this. At this point you have to tell him, it's the right thing to do. He's already suspicious, I can tell. If you don't tell him, he'll find out from someone else and that is just going to cause worst problems."

"I know Ayako. I just never thought that this would happen. I mean, there was obviously always the possibility. I just never thought it'd actually happen to us." Here there was a pause and I heard a smile enter her voice. "I just never thought I'd feel this way either. I've never been so happy."

With a jolt of rage and anger, I stood and having enough of a mind to replace the receiver gently, I stormed upstairs. I burst through the door, to see Mai still on the phone. She nearly dropped it when I entered. My look probably said it all, but she checked the bond anyway and jerked away when she felt my rage.

"Ayako, I have to go. Bye." She hung up and we just stared at each other.

"Mai, we need to talk," I said, trying to rein in my emotions as best I could.

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, I guess we do." I saw tears in her eyes and I steeled myself.

"When were you going to tell me about this?" She looked at the phone and I could see that she'd figured out how I'd figured it out.

"I don't know. I almost told you when it first happened, but then I thought better of it. I was worried you'd be angry."

"Angry doesn't even cover my emotions right now Mai! How could you?"

She looked at me, the tears brimming now and she answered me with rising anger and hurt. "Well, you know what Naru, it would seem that I was justified. I mean, I thought you'd be miffed and annoyed, but this is unbelievable."

"Mi…miffied and annoyed? Mai, that's just plain stupid! I mean, I don't even understand how you hid all this, what with the bond and all."

"It was pretty easy. You've been working all the time and I just shut up my end."

"Oh, so this is my fault."

"Well, no of course not. Not completely anyway. After all, it takes two to tango."

I started pacing to relieve some of the stress and then turned, stopped and tried to pull my emotions back in. "Well, I deserve to know. Who is he?"

She furrowed her brow for a moment and then shook her head. "Well, I don't have a name yet. I mean, it could be a girl."

Now it was my turn to be confused. "So, you've met on the internet."

Now her confusion was turning into anger. "Naru, you're not making any sense?"

"No, you're not Mai. I simply want to know who my wife is having an affair with."

"An affair! Naru, I'm not having an affair."

My world stopped and I was never more relieved or confused. "But I heard you talking to Ayako on the phone."

"Well, obviously not all of it." She was smiling now. "Naru, I'm not having an affair. I'm having a baby."

I watched her face and eyes as all my rage disappeared and my own face went blank with shock. She shook her head and sighed.

"Honestly, how could you think I'd have an affair? I think neither of us could hide that through our bond. Plus, once you've had sex with your bounded mate, having it with anyone else would probably be a disaster." She was right of course. In retrospect, I should have realized the entire time it was a baby and not an affair. There was absolutely no way she could have lied about it, let alone done it. In my shock, my mind thought clearly for the first time in ages and I realized that I was just expecting my life to take a horrible turn. I'd never been this happy for this long before and I was expecting my life to go back to normal. A stupid and irrational belief, one I was going to dismantle right now.

"Baby?" I finally muttered.

"Yes," she answered, opening the bond and allowing the truth of her words to permeate. I was able to put many of her actions together now. Why she always seemed so tired. Why she had been avoiding certain foods all of a sudden. Why her 'food poisoning' had lasted many days but was never so bad that she actually threw up. Why she'd been speaking to Ayako so much. Mai walked over to the Christmas tree and pulled out a present for me. I opened it to see a mug that read 'World's Grumpiest Dad'.

I actually smirked but was still stunned. "When did you find out?"

"At the end of November. The doctor thinks I'm seven weeks along. Obviously, I was planning on telling you in a few days at Christmas."

"So, you purposely hide this from me to make it a surprise?"

"Well, yes and no. Once I found out, I decided to make it a Christmas present. However, that was just so I could prepare myself for your anger."

"My anger?" I was shocked enough at her answer for some actual anger to color my voice.

"Naru, honestly. Whenever I'd bring up children, you'd always brush off the idea and even seemed annoyed. I know that we were both upset when the research and tests showed that it would be harder for two powerful psychics to conceive, but I just thought you were upset for my sake."

"Well, yes that is true but I was also upset for my sake too. I won't lie, Mai, having children scares me but I do want them." I threw the truth down the bond so she'd see it faster.

"So then, you don't mind?" Her question was tentative and hopeful.

"Mind! Mai, the more I think about it the more pleased with the idea I become." I suddenly smiled and strode over, feeling so elated that I had to do something. I took her face in-between my hands and kissed her. Kissing was always a dangerous thing for us since it hardly ever just stayed kissing. Sure enough, she started pulling at my shirt and we found ourselves sometime later curled up under the Christmas tree, wrapped in the decorative skirt.

"I guess we'll have to be more selective with where we do this from now on," I said, kissing Mai's shoulder and then her cheek before pulling her closer.

She laughed, turned and looked up into my eyes. "Yes, but I'm sure we'll still get into some interesting positions even when the baby's born." I smirked and helped her up, a celebratory dinner now at the forefront of my mind.

Mai

The next few months were amazing and difficult at the same time. I was dealing with my body changing and a bipolar Naru who was both doting and far overprotective. However, my excitement over being a mother allowed me to ignore most of it. Other than the normal, there was one cause of alarm. It was concluded early on that we could not do ultrasounds. After my three month check-up, the ultrasound machine stopped working whenever we came in and it was determined that it was due to our baby's budding abilities. Naru couldn't have been happier, so the doctor had to resort to the outdated methods of listening with a stethoscope and feeling my ever-growing stomach. Because of this, the doctor could only make guesses on somethings, like he thought it was twins but wasn't sure and he had no idea if they were boys or girls. I knew both of those answers and kept them from everyone, except Naru.

It was a sweltering day in August when I went into labor. Everyone was miserable but no more miserable than me. Discomfort doesn't even begin to describe it. I felt like I was melting and kept the office and our apartment so cold that Naru and the others dressed like it was January. I was at the point when I had to decide whether it was more important to breathe or eat and I had to go to the bathroom every fifteen minutes.

I'd woken up that day feeling a difference. At around four months, whenever I did my morning checks, I'd felt two distinct wavelengths of awareness. So, I was pregnant with twins. Naru almost burst with happiness when I'd told him. Gender I was able to determine a few weeks later, as their awareness wavelengths grew stronger and more distinct. One boy and one girl. The babies had gotten used to me checking in on them and found it comforting, then they realized that they could send their own messages to me instead of waiting.

There were no words obviously, more like pictures and music. However, I'd learned to interpret them and the one they'd been sending recently was constant hunger. I tried to show that I ate all the time, but they were never satisfied. However, that morning, instead of the constant hunger whine, I received a message of determination and restlessness. After Naru went downstairs, I finished packing and checked the nursery one more time, before I waddled down the stairs with a bag and purse in hand. The office was quiet as there was an important client meeting. I organized my desk and folders so that it would be easier for everyone to file their own papers and make appointments on their own while I was gone. Just before lunch, I felt a pang in my lower abdomen that lasted for a good minute and looked at the clock. The second one came fifteen minutes later and I stood to make tea.

The meeting ended around one o'clock and by then, the time between contractions had lessened to nine minutes. I was starting to break into a sweat as they were increasing in intensity and it was becoming very painful. Lin saw me and misread why I was sweating so much. I saw him sigh and go to the thermostat. Naru walked out with the client and I checked to make sure that my wall was still up so that he couldn't read what I was going through. I reinforced it just before another contraction hit, this one worse than the rest. I put my head on the desk and focused on my breathing, trying hard not to make a sound. As soon as he was done with the client, I'd tell him.

"Hey Mai," Monk said, placing a plate of sandwiches on my desk. "We had a lot leftover. Eat up!" Normally, I would already have one finished and starting on another, but now the smell sickened me and I just wanted to roll over and die.

"Mai," Ayako asked, holding Sakura by the hand, "you okay." The contraction finally passed and I looked up. I smiled, but Ayako took one look at me and knew. She grabbed Monk and pulled him aside, leaving a clear path between me and the returning Naru. I opened my shield and watched him stiffen. He looked at me for a moment, before he went into protection mode. He marched over, gently pulling me up.

"Lin, please cancel all other client meetings today. Monk, I need help with the bags." Monk grabbed them and walked after us as I tried to walk down the stairs. I was calm, though in pain and of course, the next contraction had to hit midway down. Naru didn't even hesitate. He picked me up bridal style and walked with me like that to the car. He settled me in and walked to the driver's side as he peeled away and sped into traffic. His speed and the sweat on his forehead were the only physical tells that he was freaking out. His inner mindscape was in complete chaos, but I didn't mention that.

"Mai, could you put your shield back up? Every time you go into a contraction, I almost double over in pain." This rubbed me the wrong way.

"You're in pain!" I screamed between clenched teeth when another contraction hit. I grabbed onto anything I could and squeezed until it was over. It was only then that I realized I'd just destroyed a water bottle and that we were pulled over as Naru was panting.

"Please Mai. I need to get us to the hospital safely and I can't do that if I'm tempted to crush everything and anything in sight, or take your pain away." Seeing the sense of it, I put the shield back up and he raced on.

"Push!" The doctor commanded as I took a breath and pushed with all my might. This was it, finally the end! I'd just gone through ten hours of labor and now we'd finally get to meet our babies, and we could also stop apologizing for all the equipment we'd destroyed in the process. Once we'd gotten to the hospital, it was quickly determined that I was too far along for an epidural. I took the news better than Naru, whose outward calm was betrayed by the trashcan exploding just as all the lights flared, blew, then went to emergency lighting. After that, he was able to keep his powers under control until we hit the next issue of my labor stalling out. For some reason, it took a few hours for me to move past seven centimeters. After two hours of being stuck there, the stress was too hard for Naru, and he caused another black-out and IV bags to burst on multiple floors.

After that, we were taken into a cleared out lobby in a wing under construction, for everyone's protection. Naru started to throw a fit when I snapped. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him down to me. "You will listen to me, Oliver Davis! If you have any hope of meeting these kids and not an early grave, you will let the doctors do their thing wherever they want! I'm the one in labor! I'm the one who's carried these powerful little bundles of complaints, morning sickness, and heartburn for nine months and I won't let anyone get in the way of the people who are most likely to get this to stop!" He just stared at me, as did the doctor and the hospital staff.

I felt his mindscape and his emotions calmed quickly, as though I'd slapped him and he stood, nodding. "You are right Mai. Sorry. Doctor, proceed."

Once we were newly settled, it seemed that my body decided to finally cooperate and I went from seven to nine centimeters in half an hour. So, when the doctor said push, I pushed with all my might.

"Push!" I pushed again and I knew something must be happening because I heard an exclamation from the doctor and the nurses. "Okay, the heads out Mai, one more push and your first baby is out." I pushed again and a great pressure was relieved. "It's a boy!"

"Ahhh," I said, laying back in relief as the doctors and nurses took my son back to the working wings to make sure he was fine. I felt him begin to panic before I heard his cry. He was confused. It had been warm and cozy inside me. Out here, it was loud, bright, and cold. His little wails caused my motherly instincts to kick in hard and I almost stood to go after him.

"No Mai," Naru said, pushing me back.

"But he wants me! He's calling for me!"

"Yes, but you need to have our little girl first." I looked up at him and nodded. Yes, of course. She came out in two pushes instead of three and her little wails caused me to start crying.

"Naru! Please, where are they taking my babies!" Naru glared at the doctor, as he kissed my head and held me.

"Mrs. Davis," the doctor said, "you did well. We'll take you to your room now and you're twins will be waiting for you there." I could only cry in relief and rested as Naru continued to comfort me as we moved in together, me on the bed and he walking.

Sure enough, two baby beds were sitting in the room, a pink and blue bundle arranged inside. I was rolled into my spot and Naru quickly handed me both. They weren't crying anymore, which helped my own frazzled nerves. No, our daughter had become curious about the world around her and she looked around in wide-eyed amazement. It made me smile and my heart warmed as it never had before. Our son, on the other hand, was simply hungry and was trying to figure out how to remedy that.

Sighing a laugh, I asked Naru to close the curtains and positioned both of them to nurse. As expected, the boy was happy and took to the new activity with great heart, while the girl was a bit timider, but warmed quickly.

Naru watched quietly, his gaze drifting from our children to my face. He hardly ever showed his emotions, even now, but in that one look, I saw such wonder and love that I knew everything was going to be alright.

"You a proud papa?"

He smirked, leaned over and kissed me tenderly. "Very much so." He took a deep breath and whispered. "I love you."

I smiled and peeked him on the cheek. "I love you too."

"And I love you," he whispered to our daughter, kissing her on the head. "And you," he said, doing the same to our son.

"You're in rare form, my husband."

"Well, it's not every day that your children are born."

I shook my head and began to burp our daughter, Naru taking our son. We sat in silence, other than the occasional noise of the babies and the nursing staff.

"We still have to pick names," I reminded him and he sighed. You'd think this would be an easy task, but we'd been arguing about it since Christmas.

"Yes," he finally said. "Perhaps we should ask them."

I tilted my head and looked down at my daughter, who yawned. Well feed now, she'd be asleep in a moment. "We can try it. Have you been able to communicate with them yet?" He shook his head and a flash of annoyance shone in his eyes. He'd been mad as a hornet when he found out I could communicate with them. True, it was very basic communication, but it was more than he could do.

"Don't worry Naru, I'll do it." I concentrated on them and both stilled from their squirming and their yawning. Both were tired but interested. They'd already experienced so many new things that they wanted to see what their mother brought to the table.

"Alright my dears, which do you like better?" I said this out loud for Naru and so they could hear the options in both their minds and ears.

"Haruto or Gene?" I had wanted to name our son after Naru's brother, but he had insisted that we should honor my father. I, who could barely remember the man, fought for the name of someone who meant a lot to both of us. Naru secretly wanted me to win the argument, but he was trying to be gentlemanly. Leave it to him to start now.

My son yawned, honestly not caring, but he could tell which one brought me more joy and so he chose Gene.

"He chose Gene, Naru." He'd been following the exchange through me and so nodded, the fight taken out of him. I then turned to our daughter and asked, "Yuna or Elene?" Her choices were our mother's names. She preferred the first.

"Well, one English and one Japanese. Our family is quite a mix."

"Still, it works. Gene Haruto Davis and Yuna Elene Davis." He opened his mouth in a complaint and then closed it. He hadn't even considered the easy compromise of combining our top two names.

"I guess it's settled then."

I smiled and shook my head. "Settled, never Dr. Davis. With our lives, nothing is ever easy or settled, just less chaotic at times."

He leaned back for a moment and watched our now sleeping newborns. I saw that he was forming a link with them so that he was always monitoring their health and wellbeing. I smirked but kept quiet. "Perhaps you are right Mia, but I don't think I'd want a settled life. If I'd had, I'd never have met you." I smiled and took his hand, both of us squeezing as we watched our babies sleep.