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It had been a somewhat normal and typical day for Gerard. Although the kids growing inside of them had given his brothers quite the headaches, he hadn't had any troubles thus far. In fact, all it meant for him was more time to relax and eat good food. While he did miss some of the things that his sisters insisted that he refrain from, it was a minor sacrifice for the sudden abundance of comforts offered to him, and he could even still lift weights or even spar a bit as long as he was careful not to overexert himself.
But it was on his way to the training grounds to meet with Benedict that Gerard first realized the potential for disaster.
A sharp kick struck him from the inside, and he doubled over in pain. He gasped and took a moment to recover before continuing on his way, more carefully than before.
Making it to the training room, he saw that Benedict wasn't there, so he sat and rubbed where the internal kick had landed. “At least this little one will have my brawn,” he muttered. “But how did Mother put up with me doing this?”
He grunted as another hit landed. He leaned back in his seat, eyes closed as he gasped. “How would any woman deal with this?” he said through clenched teeth. Once he'd recovered, he pulled up his shirt and saw the start of a bruise blossoming across his abs.
“Alright then,” he muttered. “Two can play at this game.”
He stood, and with his feet shoulder width apart, started to contract his muscles. The child within him fought against him, but his steely muscles absorbed the blows. Gerard smiled, satisfied.
“What are you doing?”
Gerard turned to see Benedict standing in the doorway, sword at his hip and his pregnancy very obvious.
“It's kicking,” Gerard said. “I'm just trying to get it to stop.”
Benedict grimaced. “You too, then?” he said. He raised his shirt to expose a black and blue belly.
Gerard stifled a laugh. “Well, to be fair, both of these are the other's fault,” he said. “I'm sure I won't enjoy it much once this little brat starts to get ideas in its head and outsmarts me.”
“That won't be until after it's born,” Benedict stated. “I have to live with this now. And whatever you were doing, make sure it doesn't harm my child.”
“Right, of course,” Gerard said. “Should we call off the training for now, then?”
“For the rest of the pregnancy for me, I think,” Benedict said. “I was hoping to have one more day to train, but the child has been surprisingly active recently, and it seems yours is as well.”
“I guess all we have left is rest,” Gerard said with a sigh. “Well, rest and food. I better not lose too much of my bulk from this break.”
From that day on, Gerard found that pregnancy wasn't quite the enjoyable experience that it had been.