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Temari stared at the little silver hoop as it spun on the end of its black cord, the light glinting off of it as it moved through the air. Her mind wandered to Shikamaru’s words when he explained his clan symbol to her. It was back when they were dating and she’d asked him what it represented out of sheer curiosity.
“It’s the circle of life,” he had said as he traced the outer circle with his index finger. They were sitting on the back deck of his parents’ house having just finished lunch. Temari was meeting Yoshino for the first time that day and had been more nervous than she’d liked to admit, but when it was over and done with, she felt far more relaxed. She leaned into Shikamaru’s shoulder as he continued, holding out the clan tapestry so she could see better, “It represents all the lives of those in our clan, the births and deaths in an endless circle.”
Temari hummed in acknowledgement, “And the wavy lines in between?”
Shikamaru snorted lightly, “The wavy lines are shadows. Or rather, they represent our shadow jutsu. The shadows reach out across the circle, connecting us all.”
Temari smiled fondly, “That’s nice.” The day was hot and the sun was beating down on her, sapping her brain of all complex thought. At the moment ‘That’s nice’ was about all she could come up with.
“What is?” Shikamaru retorted as he stood to place the tapestry back on the wall behind him.
Temari shrugged languidly. “Having a clan symbol that ties you all together. Something with a message behind it, and a jutsu that’s passed down through the generations,” she mused, kicking her feet back and forth as they dangled from the deck. “It's just all…nice”
Shikamaru came to sit beside her again, looking a little concerned. He lifted the back of his hand to her forehead, “You alright? Maybe we’ve been sitting in the sun too long.”
She tutted and swatted his hand away, “What, is it so weird?”
He shrugged, “I guess not.”
“I wish my family had something like that.”
Temari snapped back to the present day as the memory vacated. She was sure this would be the right gift to mark the occasion, frankly she had no other ideas anyway. She gingerly placed the necklace back in its box and thanked the merchant, handing him the money he was owed.
Her next stop of the day was to the Yamanaka flower shop for a fresh bouquet. Placing the necklace in her tote back, she started on her trek across town. She pulled her coat closer, bristling in the winter weather as she walked. It wasn’t long until her stomach was grumbling, only having made it about halfway to her destination.
Temari frowned at the inconvenience, realizing this was going to be a frequent occurrence in her life for the foreseeable future. She found herself navigating towards a tteok-bokki stall set up on a side street, the savory smell leading her right to it. She ordered an extra large sweet and spicy bowl with green onion and started chewing on the rice cakes before getting her change back.
The steaming bowl of food was not ideal for on-the-go eating, she quickly realized. Maneuvering her chopsticks while holding on to the bowl kept her too preoccupied to watch where she was going and she nearly ran right into Chouji.
“Woah!” he exclaimed in surprise, grabbing her shoulders to steady her, “Oh hey Temari! You should be more careful. I nearly ran you over.”
Temari grinned sheepishly, “Ah, yeah sorry my bad. I was a little distracted.” She lifted up the bowl as if to offer some sort of explanation.
Chouji’s eyes went wide as he sniffed the air fervently, “Oh man is that tteok-bokki? Where’d you get it? Karui’s been craving it like crazy.”
Karui was Chouji’s Kumogakure-born wife who had recently announced her pregnancy. As of right now, she was among some of the only people privy to this information due to her Nara clan status. “It’s just around the corner there. It's pretty good, so I’d recommend getting the larger size,” she answered with a smile. She liked Chouji quite a bit, but she really enjoyed Karui’s friendship. Being that they were both Konoha transplants so to speak—it was nice to talk with her about living away from the villages they once called home.
Chouji thanked her and dutifully ran off to fetch some for his wife. Temari smiled to herself and kept walking, popping rice cakes in her mouth as she did. The spice left her tongue tingling, warming her from the inside out and keeping her toasty in the blustering wind.
She’d just finished it off when she arrived at the flower shop, tossing the bowl into a nearby trash can so she could venture inside. Ino was busying about the place, fussing with the arrangements on display when Temari walked in. “Morning,” she said, announcing herself casually.
Ino turned, her face lighting up in surprise when she saw her, “Temari! What are you doing walking around in the cold?”
Temari nearly blushed, but held back her embarrassment successfully. It was pretty common knowledge among her friends that she was not a fan of Kohona’s winters, preferring the heat of Suna vastly. So it stood to reason that it would take something pretty important to rouse her from the confines of her home on a day like today. “Well I just thought some flowers would liven up the house,” she lied, “We could use some color when we’re surrounded by all this white snow and gray skies.”
Luckily, Ino seemed to accept this answer and got to work putting together some arrangement options for her. Temari smiled and nodded along as Ino explained the meaning behind each of the stems. “I think I’d like something happy, do you have anything for sharing good news?” she asked, nearly giving herself away.
“Oh, I didn’t realize it was a special occasion!” Ino chirped, “Are congratulations in order?” She was teasing, Temari could tell by the way she eyed her midsection with a sly smile, but it was enough to turn her face cherry red.
“Certainly not! It’s nothing like that!” she exclaimed a little too loudly as she waved her hands around her face nervously, “See it’s just that, Shikamaru is getting a promotion at work! That’s all, just a little salary raise really. I thought it would be nice to get some flowers to celebrate!” She punctuated her thinly veiled excuse with some nervous laughter to really sell it.
Ino raised an eyebrow at her, perplexed. “I see…well then I would recommend these lilies, perhaps paired with some daffodils and carnations,” she stated, handing over a bouquet, “I think they'll get your message across.”
Temari noted the mischievous grin on Ino’s face as she checked out, spending the last of her money for the day on the flowers. “Alright then, thank you for these! I’m sure I’ll see you around,” Temari said awkwardly, choosing to ignore Ino’s odd demeanor as she exited the shop.
The second the door closed behind her, Ino flipped the sign, effectively closing the shop to the public. “Sai!” she called up the stairs, “I’m closing the shop early, we’ve got some catching up to do!”
***
Temari arrived home, bouquet in hand and necklace secured safely in her tote bag. She kicked her shoes off at the genkan and mosied into the comfort of her heated home. She stripped off her coat and hastily got the flowers into a vase so that they wouldn’t wilt before setting off down the hall to her bedroom.
She noted the time as she passed the clock on the wall. He would be home from work in a few hours but that would be plenty of time for her to get the house prepped. What she was really worried about was how she would actually go about telling him. She hadn’t thought this part over quite yet, focusing her efforts on anything but the words she would say.
She hung her coat back up in the closet and smoothed out her kimono in the mirror, running through the possibilities in her head. She could just come out and say it bluntly. That would very much match her personality and would likely be the kind of thing Shikamaru expected from her, though the lack of nuance to that approach set her off it. Even so, she didn’t want to beat around the bush either. She needed to be clear about what she was telling him, it was possibly the most important thing she’d ever told him, next to ‘I love you’ and ‘I do.’
Temari headed back to the kitchen then to start cleaning. She wanted the house to be spotless, sparkling even. She had also planned an elaborate dinner, the kind you’d eat at celebrations, with all of Shikamaru’s favorites.
It wasn’t as if they’d been trying for that long, only eight months, which in the grand scheme of things was hardly anything at all. Though, with Kauri and Chouji’s recent announcement, Temari had been feeling a bit defeated, and she had a feeling Shikamaru felt the same but just didn’t dare to mention it.
She let her mind wander as she scrubbed the kitchen counter tops, her thoughts landing on a memory in the not so distant past.
She had been standing in their bathroom setting a kitchen timer for three minutes when she’d heard the front door close.
“I’m home!” Shikamaru called from the genkan, “Lord sixth let me off early. First time for everything I suppose.”
“Shit!” Temari cursed under her breath as she worked to gather up the discarded instructions and cardboard boxes from the vanity countertop. She slid an arm across its surface, plowing all of the evidence into the trash bin, then frantically snatched tissues and crumpled them up to sit on top, effectively covering up the packaging.
“Tem? You here?” he asked, his heavy footsteps drawing closer.
With a quick inhale of breath, Temari snatched the test off the edge of the sink where it had been balancing, only having enough time to hide it behind her back before he was leaning against the doorframe. “Hi,” she said breathlessly.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her, “Why didn’t you answer? I thought you’d gone out.”
She shrugged, trying to act as inconspicuous as possible, “What I’m supposed to be at your beckon call now?”
Shikamaru’s eyebrows knitted together, “No I just…nevermind.” He eyed her curiously, noting her ridgid stance and the hand behind her back, “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Doesn’t seem like nothing.” Shikamaru took a step forward into the bathroom. Temari reflexively took one back, maintaining the distance between them. He froze, uncertain of how to proceed. It wasn’t like Temari to keep things from him, which was a good dynamic considering his anxious nature and tendency to dream up worst-case scenarios. “What are you hiding behind your back?”
Temari’s expression hardened, as if she were deep in thought. “It's…a tampon,” she said slowly, then to try and further sell the lie, “Y’know, just gross girl stuff.”
Shikamaru snorted, rolling his eyes a bit as he did, “Since when do you care about hiding that kinda stuff? You seem to have no problem putting it on the shopping list for me to pick up.” He took a few more hesitant steps into the bathroom. Temari was already backed into the farthest wall and unfortunately had nowhere else to run to. Shikamaru stopped about a foot away from her, then turned to face the vanity mirror. He seemed to be adjusting his hair tie, like he hadn’t a care in the world, but Temari knew he was just trying to act casual so she’d spill the beans. Her eyes betrayed her, wandering to the trashcan where she’d buried the packaging. Shikamaru, much too keen not to notice her eyes in the reflection of the mirror, followed them to the trashcan then flicked back to her. “Temari?” he sighed, “Seriously, you’re starting to freak me out.”
Temari’s face reddened. “I just…need a few minutes…” she stuttered lamely, “in private!”
Shikamaru looked like he was about to protest, an expression of exhausted indignation sitting lightly on his features. Before he could utter a word, the kitchen timer—that was currently perched on the vanity—erupted with a shrill ring.
They both jolted at the unexpected noise, Shikamaru’s hand shooting out to retrieve the object and silence it. “The hell?” he muttered as he cranked the dial back to zero then looked up at Temari who was quickly blanching.
“Can’t you just wait in the kitchen for a few minutes or something?”
He blinked at her in disbelief, “No, I’m invested now.” He wanted to reach out to her, to assure her that it was alright, but she looked like she might bite his hand off if he tried something like that right now. Instead he decided to voice it. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”
Temari's shoulders slumped visibly and her eyebrows shot upwards to her hairline, like she couldn’t believe he’d said something so stupid. “What do you mean whatever it is? Isn’t it obvious by now?”
Shikamaru was unfamiliar with the feeling of being out of the loop of understanding, since he was pretty much the first person to catch on to everything that went on. He felt heat rise to his cheeks as he stared at her blankly, clearly not picking up what she was putting down.
Temari let out an exasperated groan and turned her face to the ceiling, “Oh for the love of God Shikamaru, I’m taking a test!”
“A test? What kind of test?”
“A math exam,” she replied sarcastically, bringing her eyes back to him just so that she could roll them incredulously. “The only kind of test a girl might take while in a bathroom.” She looked at him with an insistent sort of anger that let him know he’d better catch on now or give up his title of the genius of Konoha.
“Oh…” he answered automatically while the gears in his head turned. Then like a bolt of lightning, he understood. “Oh my God.” Shikamaru felt his heart rate start to increase, his brain suddenly flying at a mile a minute. “But, isn’t it too soon? I mean, holy shit, you only got off your birth control like last month right? Holy shit .”
Temari brought her free hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger, “This is exactly what I wanted to avoid.”
“Huh?”
“You have an…anxious personality,” she said delicately, almost like she didn’t want to hurt his feelings despite that never having stopped her from insulting him before. “I figured it would be best if I just did this on my own and then let you know how it went. Besides, I'm only a few days late so it could be nothing.” She added a shrug at the end to downplay her own anxiety which was currently cresting. She squeezed the little plastic stick in her palm, like she could somehow force the result into her brain that way instead of having to look at it.
“But I want to be involved,” Shikamaru stammered, still reeling from his initial shock. His voice sounded so dejected, it almost made her feel bad for excluding him.
She shook the guilt from her head easily, “What, so you want me to tell you about every pregnancy test I take?”
“Ideally, yeah,” Shikamaru replied, nodding. Suddenly he stilled, fixating on the way she phrased the words, “Wait, this isn’t the first one?”
“It’s…the first one where I’m hoping for a positive result,” she admitted sheepishly.
“But..how could that…?”
Temari blushed and rolled her eyes a little, “You weren’t exactly mr. reliable with the condoms back in the earlier days ok? And I didn’t get on the pill until after we got married so…”
Shikamaru paled, “How could you not mention something like that!” He felt a sort of twisting in his gut as the realization hit him that Temari did in fact keep things from him. Many things. Important things even.
“Because it was never a problem ,” she protested, drawing out the last word as she eyed him. “Obviously I would have told you if there was something to tell.” She watched as shikamaru came undone, starting to pace away from her in thought then turning back again with determination as if he were about to say something. He fidgeted with his hair even though he had just fixed it in the mirror a moment ago. “Sheesh, and it seems like it was the right call. You look like you’re about to pass out,” Temari remarked only half-teasing.
Shikamaru turned his attention back to her, trying and failing to look nonchalant, “Only because I don’t know what the result is.”
“Well if you just gimme a second, I’ll look at it and tell you.”
“Why can’t we look at it together?”
Temari shifted uncomfortably. He was looking at her with such intensity, she couldn’t help but squirm under his gaze. “Because…I don’t want you to…be disappointed. Y’know if it’s not…” she trailed, looking anywhere but his eyes.
“I won’t be,” he answered with a shrug, it even sounded sincere. He meandered back over to her, “I’ll probably be a little relieved.”
Temari’s eyes went wide and her empty hand immediately found its way to his chest, giving him a fierce thwack. “Well don’t tell me that!” she blurted, suddenly panicked, “You told me you were ready!”
Shikamaru reeled back, realizing his mistake, “I am! It’s just…a little soon though isn’t it? I mean I figured it would take a couple tries…”
Her hand closed around the thick fabric of his shirt, twisting it tightly as she pulled him closer, a threat in her eyes. “Ready is supposed to mean ready. As in, ready right now, Shikamaru.”
He held up his hands in mock surrender, shriveling under her death glare,“Ok, ok! Damn.” Shikamaru took a breath then, trying to steady himself, but also to give her a moment to decide whether or not she was going to finally kill him or let him live another day. “Look whatever it is, negative or positive…I’m cool,” he added, trying his best to keep his expression neutral.
“And you’re not gonna freak out?” she asked, her grip tightening on his shirt slightly.
“Nope.”
Her eyes raked over his face, studying him intently as she decided whether or not she wanted to believe him. Temari slowly released his shirt, then smoothed out the wrinkle her hand had left behind. “Fine,” she said quietly.
He thought she might say something else, if only just to stall some more, but she lifted her hand from behind her back just moments later. Temari pressed the face of the test to her chest, suddenly visibly nervous. “On the count of three then?” he offered. She nodded once in agreement.
“One…”
“T-two.”
“Three.” Temari flipped the test over but kept her eyes on him, completely unable to look.
Shikamaru squinted at the test, “What’s one line mean?”
Temari stiffened, “One? You’re sure?” She didn’t wait for him to answer before she flicked her eyes downwards to the thin stick in her hand, willing the second line to appear out of thin air. There was no second line though, he’d read it correctly. “One line…means it’s negative,” she answered hollowly.
Shikamaru gently pulled the test from her hand and tossed it in the trash can wordlessly. He kept his word, keeping his face as neutral as ever, though Temari couldn’t hide her disappointment as well. “Next time then,” Shikamaru said easily, lifting a hand to brush a stray hair behind her ear.
“Next time.”
Of course the next four times, it had been negative as well, and Shikamaru could feel the dread beginning to seep off of her with each month that ticked by. She’d let him in on the test taking as per his request, but after a while it seemed like she had been right after all in keeping it a solo endeavor. The rising disappointment with every negative result only crushed her further into dust, and Shikamaru wasn’t sure how to help her. It was better for both of them if she did it on her own.
He’d acted casual about the whole thing, as if there were no reason to be concerned. It was mildly infuriating, like when she’d roll over on her back and stick her legs up in the air and he’d scoff and bat at them until she lowered them, but she understood it. He had to balance her out—if she was a nervous wreck, he had to be the steady one.
“The chances are better if I lie like this, I’m not doing it for fun,” she’d say with a defeated sigh.
To which he’d reply something along the lines of, “You don’t need better chances, we’re fine as is. Put your legs down, you look like a lunatic.”
She would grumble and oblige him, even though it pained her to know that she wasn’t doing everything she could to help them along. Hell, she would have stood on her head, or walked around on her hands all day if it meant she got a baby out of it. Her very own, tiny, squishy baby who needed her and loved her. Temari hated admitting how much she wanted it, but Shikamaru could tell this process was eating her alive with the waiting.
So she took the rest of her tests alone. It was better that way, so that he didn’t have to see how upset she got. Then one day, when her kitchen timer went off and she looked down at yet another test, there were two lines staring back at her instead of one. She’d almost overlooked it, being so feint and all, she had to do a double take. She’d scrutinized it, making sure she wasn’t hallucinating, but it was there—definitely there.
It was then that she screamed. Not even an excited scream, it was more akin to terror, or shock. She clamped a hand over her mouth, having not expected such a loud sound to escape her, but when she realized Shikamaru wasn’t home yet, she dropped it.
That was the moment she decided to wait to tell him. She couldn’t hold off for long, since she was far too thrilled to keep it a secret, but she wanted to get her bearings and tell him properly, which she couldn’t do in her current state. Thus, she formed the plan that brought her here, to this very moment as she plated up their celebration dinner and placed it on the table.
Temari’s eyes flitted around the room, taking in the spoils of her hard work. She smiled triumphantly at the near sparkling surfaces and the impressive spread of cuisine. Shikamaru would be home any minute and then she could finally tell him.
Except that he didn’t turn up.
After about twenty minutes, she figured he must be running behind so she placed their dinner in the oven to keep it warm. After about forty minutes she started to get skeptical of her original theory. She phoned the Hokage’s office, hoping to yell at someone for keeping him at work too long, but when Naruto picked up and explained that Shikamaru had already left for the day, she deflated.
Temari sat at their kitchen table, fidgeting with her hands for about another fifteen minutes until she finally let her anger get the better of her. She shoved away from the table with a huff and began the lengthy process of pulling everything out of the oven and wrapping it up to store in the fridge.
“Probably off getting a drink with his friends,” she muttered to herself as she fought with the plastic wrap, “Doesn’t even bother to let me know of course, because why would he?” She shoved the contents of the meal haphazardly into the refrigerator and continued grumbling, her rage mounting. “He thinks he can do whatever he wants, whoever else be damned! Even his perfect, beautiful wife who makes him wonderful dinners and cleans the whole house just so he can blow her off!”
“Jeez, that guy sounds like a dick,” Shikamaru droned from the genkan.
Temari whipped around, her eyes honing in on him in an instant. “You’re late,” she seethed through gritted teeth.
Shikamaru seemed unfazed by her animosity, slipping his shoes off and stretching his arms above his head a bit before stepping into the house, “Yeah, I promised Mirai I’d get some training in with her today.”
Temari marched over to him with hands on her hips, “Don’t you think you should have mentioned that? I had dinner set out and everything, just for you to show up an hour late without a care in the world!”
Shikamaru sighed and brought a hand to the back of his head shamefully. “Sorry, my bad.”
“Your bad?” she parroted in disbelief. Shikamaru walked past her towards the deck, clearly trying to brush off the fit she was throwing. “Where are you going? Get back here!”
He didn’t let her words deter him from stepping outside and settling down in his favorite spot next to his shogi board. Temari followed him dutifully, unwilling to drop it. When he pulled out a cigarette and starting flicking at his lighter she jolted and smacked it out of his hand and onto the grass.
“Ok,” he breathed out defeatedly before turning to face her, now realizing there was no way out of this argument.
“You can’t just forget to tell me you’re going to be home late. Not anymore,” Temari started, speaking with authority, “And no more smoking either.”
“What ?”
“You heard me! It’s a disgusting habit and it sets a bad example,” She insisted, narrowing her phthalo eyes at him.
Shikamaru looked bewildered. She’d never particularly liked that he smoked, but after two years of dating and nearly a year of marriage she had never mentioned wanting him to quit. “A bad example for who?” he stammered.
Temari seemed caught off guard,“...That…It doesn't matter who. I just can’t be breathing in secondhand smoke all the time. It’s not good for…me.”
“So go inside!” Shikamaru fired back, annoyed with her a bit more than usual tonight.
Temari bristled, dropping her hands to her sides and balling them into fists. “No! It’s been a long time coming and you know it.” Shikamaru wouldn’t have been surprised if she stamped her foot to punctuate her point. Instead she just glared daggers at him, “No more cigarettes, period. If you come home reeking of smoke I swear-”
“Temari, you’re being ridiculous,” he said, cutting her off. He stood by the sentiment because she was, in fact, acting insane and after a long day all he wanted was to enjoy a peaceful night at home. However, his heart clenched in regret the second he saw her face start to change.
Temari’s anger gave way to a sort of stubborn sadness, her eyebrows drooping and her bottom lip quivering. “Don’t you dare! I’m the reasonable one in this relationship and you’re always trying to make me feel like I’m crazy. I’m just trying to do what’s best…I….I-” she struggled to get out, but her eyes were turning glassy and a tremble was racking her chest. Shikamaru watched in absolute horror as tears spilled over onto her cheeks.
“Oh my God, what’s happening?”
“N-nothing…I’m just a little…emotional.”
Shikamaru sprang to his feet as she crumbled into a sobbing mess, “Fuck.” He had seen Temari cry exactly one time before now and that had been his fault too. Even then though, when she was upset with him for keeping secrets from her, she had only gotten a bit misty. Now however, was an entirely different story, with tears pouring from her as if a dam had been broken inside her chest. He was swiping at them with his thumbs, but they just kept coming, rolling down her face in hot streaks. “Oh fuck, please stop crying,” he begged helplessly, giving up on trying to wipe them all away and favoring instead to just hold her there. She brought her hands to his wrists, like she wanted to pull him away, but then couldn’t find the strength to do so. “We were just having a little argument! I didn’t mean it. I thought you loved arguing with me? C’mon it’s our thing!” he tried, then when she let out a particularly loud wail, “Fuck!”
Temari sucked in a shaky breath, “You have to stop s-swearing so much too.”
Shikamaru nodded fervently, pulling her body into his so that her face pressed into his neck. “Ok yeah sure, I’ll do whatever you want for the rest of time just please stop crying,” he spoke hurriedly, stroking the back of her head with one hand while the other held her around her waist. Temari slowly lifted her arms to wrap around his torso, returning the gesture weakly as she tried to calm herself down. Shikamaru moved on from petting her head to rub small circles on her back instead. This was very new territory for him and every move he made was a guess. “Jeez, Tem,” he mumbled into her hair, “You didn’t even cry at our wedding, or when your dad died…”
She pulled back slightly, her chest still heaving, but her eyes beginning to dry up a bit. “Well, my dad was a jackass so…” she squeaked, mustering up a small smile to try and reassure him. Shikamaru returned it feebly and pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. They stood there for a while while Temari regained control over her breathing, swaying back and forth ever so slightly as if they were being rocked by the breeze.
After a long while, Temari spoke. “Shikamaru?” she mumbled, her voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt. He hummed in acknowledgement. “I’m really fucking hungry.”
A laugh ripped through him, his whole body shaking with it as the garden filled with its sound. “Yeah me too,” he kissed her cheek, “I’ll go heat up dinner.”
***
“Did you get these today?” Shikamaru asked when they had finished with the dishes, lifting his chin to the bouquet of flowers on the table.
Temari wiped her hands on a dish towel and followed his line of sight. “Yeah I stopped by the Yamanaka’s shop. Ino picked them out for me.”
“Fresh flowers and an elaborate dinner?” he said, eying her suspiciously, “It’s not our anniversary or someone's birthday, so what’s up?”
Temari crossed her arms over her chest, “What, I'm not allowed to do something nice for you?” She raised her eyebrows expectantly as she awaited his reply, but kept a smirk on her lips to ensure he knew she was teasing. They’d mostly moved past her complete breakdown in the garden, but she could tell he was walking on eggshells now, worried about what could set her off. To be fair, Temari was also unsure of how she would react to things now that her hormones were all out of whack. She had been just as surprised as Shikamaru when she’d burst into tears earlier, unable to stop the flow of them until he’d calmed her down.
Shikamaru looked thoughtful as he pieced together the exact right way to phrase his next sentence. “Well no…I just figured with how upset you were earlier that I definitely missed something important.”
Temari sighed, “Well there was…is something.” He didn’t say anything further, just stared at her curiously as he waited for her to elaborate. “I just had something I wanted to give you,” she said, a ball of nervous energy suddenly forming in her stomach. She forced herself to walk over to the tote bag that hung on one of the wall hooks by their front door. It was now or never, and frankly never wasn't exactly an option in this particular situation. She plucked the little white box out of the bag and hesitated briefly before handing it to him.
Shikamaru inspected the small box in her outstretched hand, then carefully took it. He paid more attention to her as he slid the lid off, noting how her face reddened and she looked away from him. Finally his eyes flicked down to the contents of the box. He pulled out the necklace wordlessly, marveling at the silver hoop on the end. “A necklace?”
Temari nodded, “I saw it and thought of you and of…” Shikamaru fit the cord over his head as she trailed off, settling the hoop just above his sternum. He smiled and looked back up at her, about to thank her for the thoughtful gift. When he caught her gaze though, she straightened and took a deep breath, a visual representation of her confidence growing. “I thought of the Nara clan symbol and what it represents!” she stated firmly.
“T-the clan symbol?”
“Yes. You said it was the circle of life,” she continued, “Representing all the people in the clan as the elders pass and new children are born.” She said the words as if reciting them from memory. Keeping her mind occupied in this way helped her to pretend that she wasn’t nervous. He’d promised her that he was ready for a baby, but perhaps he’d only said it because he knew how much she wanted one. She shifted her weight from one leg to the other, trying not to shrink under his analyzing gaze.
Shikamaru nodded slowly, “Yeah that’s right. So that’s why…?”
“I thought it would be the perfect thing to get you when I told you,” Temari answered as she tried to find the right words to convey exactly what she was getting at, “That…the circle is…continuing. With us.”
Shikamaru’s eyes followed her hand as it lifted to rest gently over her stomach, the gesture not lost on him. He inhaled sharply, his eyes bulging as he dropped the little box in his hands, “Y-you mean?!”
Temari smiled, slyly at first but then allowed it to break into her usual thousand watt grin that could outshine the sun, “We’re going to be parents!” She couldn’t help the little giggle that graced the end of the sentence, unable to contain her excitement.
In an instant his arms were around her, lifting her up and spinning her around in a small circle around themselves. Shikamaru only put her down so he could plant kisses all over her face while she laughed. “You mean it? For real?” he asked in between pecks.
She swatted him away playfully, “Yes, yes, I’m sure. Two lines and everything.”
“Two lines! Holy shit. I mean crap! God, I do have to stop swearing…and smoking! Oh fuck, of course I’ll stop smoking, there’s a baby now. A baby!” Shikamaru blabbered as if his thoughts were spilling out of his mouth without permission.
“You’re…you’re really happy about it then? You’re not freaking out?” Temari asked tentatively, to which he responded in turn by grabbing ahold of her head and kissing her deeply. When he pulled back, she blinked at him in stunned silence.
“A baby!” he repeated as his eyes went glassy, “How could I not be happy about that?”
Temari felt a jolt go through her, causing her arms to fly forward and pull him in. She held him in a tight hug as tears of her own formed in her eyes. “Just…let’s not tell anyone quite yet, ok? I want to make sure everything’s good before we go making an announcement,” she mumbled into his neck.
“Doesn’t Ino already know?” Shikamaru asked without breaking their embrace.
Temari on the other hand, reeled back, “What?”
He nodded towards their kitchen table adorned with the bright bouquet of flowers. “You said she picked those out for you.” Temari looked at him skeptically, so he continued, “Lilies, carnations, and daffodils…those all represent motherhood.”
Temari gaped at him while he laughed, “That lying…son of a…when I get my hands on her…”
Shikamaru’s chuckles died down and he kissed her again, silencing her insults. She allowed herself to relax into it, letting her mind go blank so she could enjoy this moment in all its glory. Finally…finally, they’d have a family of their own.