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“Shikamaru?”
“Hm?”
When he opened his brown eyes to look up at her, Maeko continued to trace her fingertips through his hair. She couldn’t remember the last time that they’d both had a day off together. It hadn’t been much of a surprise to the man when she’d coaxed him out of the house with a picnic, it was her usual method to getting him out of the house. She had made them a lunch of mackerel and kelp, not giving him trouble regarding his smoking like she normally would. He had suspected, at first, that something had happened. She had been acting funny for weeks, but when he’d ask her about it, she’d wave him off with a smile. It hadn’t been a surprise, really, when he’d find his girlfriend and her best friend sitting in his kitchen, whispering only for the light haired brunette to stonewall the second he walked in. Kaiya often left shortly after that, and whenever he’d ask Naruto about it, the blond would be clueless.
“Have you given much thought to the future?”
The question had him once again thinking something was up.
She was so troublesome, sometimes.
Why couldn’t she just come out with it?
His mind drifted to answer her question. Yes, he had thought about the future. How could he not? They were getting older. Their friends were getting married, often something that he thought they were all stupid for. Ino had gotten married first, to Tomoe. Sasuke and Karin, although they had left the village shortly after. Something about a penance that neither Shikamaru nor Maeko particularly cared for. Unlike the woman that was massaging his scalp, Shikamaru hadn’t vocalized his opinion. Kiba and Sakura were dating. Naruto had been looking at rings - something that he had advised against. “She has a troublesome temper and you want to be stuck with her for life?” He hadn’t gotten an answer, the blond simply rolling his eyes and muttering something under his breath.
That had been two weeks ago.
“It’s not something we can avoid, Maeko. Why are you worried about the future? We’re alright.”
Shikamaru missed the way she rolled her eyes before she sighed. He sat up, looking at her as he watched as she bit her lip. When she reached over to the basket she’d packed, she handed him a white box and stood up. She started walking away. She didn’t miss the “troublesome” mutter under his breath while she put her arms behind her head and began walking towards the river. Shikamaru watched as she leaned against a tree, his brown eyes dropping to the white box in his hands. He watched the way she held herself, her arms crossed in front of her stomach with a frown playing across her lips. He could hear her beginning to sing quietly, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,” while he opened the box with a skeptical look on his face.
It was almost as if she had slapped him.
His senses went away in a moment, his breath leaving with them as he looked at the contents without quite seeing them.
She was pregnant.
Shikamaru hadn’t thought about the possibility.
And, for a man so intelligent, he could only slap himself.
His brown eyes dropped back down to the cupcakes. They were carefully drawn on, spelling out, “I’m pregnant” with a bottle and a pair of booties on two other ones. They were cute, even if they weren’t particularly his style. Looking towards her, he could see that Maeko hadn’t looked back at him. Every ounce of her body screamed unsure, reluctant. He imagined she could only think that he would run for it, then again, he knew that their friends were likely in on the entire thing. Shikamaru didn’t commit to much. He knew it, they knew it. He had never understood how Maeko could tolerate his flightiness and as he looked took in the carefully created designs, he tried to wonder what step to take next.
When the woman began to walk towards the entrance of the grounds… he got to his feet and headed after her. “Maeko.” He called out to her, watching as she continued to walk. She hadn’t gotten the reaction she had wanted and she was angry. He could see it in the way her shoulders were tense, the way her jaw twitched. She had just made it past the gate when she found herself unable to move, as if an invisible force had suddenly locked every muscle in her body. “Shikamaru Nara.” He could hear her anger in her voice as he said, “You’re pregnant.” He had never given much thought to being a parent. He had wanted to work his way through the ranks, to make his father proud before anything.
A baby threw a wrench in that, but it wouldn’t damage everything.
“We’re having a baby.”
There was a nervous flutter in his stomach as she spoke. He could hear her nerves as he let go of her using his shadow. His hand moved to grasp her hip before he turned her in her direction. When she was facing him, Shikamaru could see the tears in her eyes. Leaning in, he tucked his fingertips against the back of her neck and pressed their lips together. Her hand moved to her stomach and slowly, he dropped his to where they were. They hadn’t had been intimate for a while, but…
“We’ll take it a day at a time, Shikamaru.” Maeko said, and he nodded.