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Kaeya placed a hand on his stomach, leaning back against the pillows in his bed.
“I love you, but I wish you would just come out already. You’ve caused me a lot of pain.” He sighed, addressing the baby inside him.
He was already in his 9th month of being pregnant, and he could go into labor any day now.
“I can’t wait to meet you.” He continued, speaking softly.
At the beginning, he hadn’t even realized he was pregnant until he was 2 months along, and he went to the doctor for his yearly physical.
They had told him about it, and he had no idea how to feel.
He loved kids a lot, so he was happy, but he was also scared.
Scared to mess up— scared to ruin his kid’s life.
He swore that he’d never abandon his child, no matter what.
He’d never be like his birth father.
But still, he couldn’t help but wonder if someone as twisted as himself could ever be a good parent.
…
Jean was the first person he told, as he wanted to take extended leave from work. The doctor advised him to avoid mental and physical stress so he wouldn’t risk losing the baby, so he decided to leave his job temporarily.
She had been… shocked, to say the least.
It wasn’t surprising. Kaeya would probably be shocked too.
After all, it had happened in Sumeru. He had been drunk and had a one night stand with a stranger, and wound up pregnant.
Well.
Not exactly a stranger.
But not someone close either.
Jean had immediately connected the dots, considering how many months he was, as well as when he left on his trip.
But still, she wasn’t weirded out by that fact.
She instead got very excited about it all, gushing about being an Aunt.
Still… After the initial high went down, she forced Kaeya to write a letter to said stranger.
“No, you cannot just hide your pregnancy from the Father of your child because you’re scared of confrontation.” She had said.
Honestly though? It was a good thing she made him do that.
He continued musing while looking at the ring on his finger, and then at the door. His husband was currently making him tea at 4 in the morning because he didn’t feel good.
Everything had happened so fast, but Kaeya couldn’t feel regret about it.
In a twisted way it felt really good, to be tied down to a family.
Losing everything once made him desire something like this, and now he had it.
And…
Speaking of family…
Diluc hadn’t reacted much when he found out.
He told Kaeya to come to the Winery and rest there, as well as to take care of his health.
At least, that’s what it seemed like.
But then, when Kaeya actually stayed there for a while. Diluc was quite nice to him. He kept asking him if he ate well, if he felt okay, if his back was hurting—
But he kept leaving the house for long periods of time.
Kaeya couldn’t help but wonder at the moment if it was because he was there and Diluc was avoiding him.
But then, Kaeya went back to his house after a month. And lo and behold, Diluc had gone and secretly built a nursery in his house.
“It’s a gift. For my future niece or nephew.” Diluc said sheepishly. He also gave Kaeya some fancy gifts too. Clothes, an arm chair, some jewelry, and fancy chocolate from some Fontanian chocolatier.
He did, however, punch his, now, husband in the face. Which wasn’t very nice.
But it could be forgiven.
Haha.
…
Klee was super excited to be an older sister, of sorts. Even though Kaeya was more like her older brother than her parent, it didn’t make much sense to call her an aunt, so big sister it was.
“Can the baby hear me?” She asked innocently once, poking at Kaeya’s stomach.
“Who knows? They probably don’t understand what you’re saying though, even if they can.” Kaeya smiled, patting her head.
She and Albedo had made a blanket which they gave at the baby shower. Klee had suggested making it with the baby’s constellation, and Albedo alchemically constructed it.
“Hi baby,” she said. “I made you a really cool blanket. I hope you like it.”
“I think they will like it.” Kaeya smiled.
…
Of course, as always, the elderly people in Mondstadt were overwhelmingly intrusive and curious about the pregnancy.
Kaeya’s neighbors, an elderly couple, kept coming up to him and talking— even dropping off food for him.
(The food was delicious, by the way.)
Other times, earlier on in his pregnancy, when he could walk around freely (ah, he missed those days…) the old grandmas of Mondstadt would keep coming up to him and trying to guess if the baby would be a girl or a boy.
“Your pupils are dilated, so it must be a girl!” One old lady said.
‘Well, actually, they’re dilated because I’m thinking about the chocolate covered strawberries I’m going to buy today.’ Kaeya thought. He simply refrained from speaking though, nodding politely.
“No, no— it must be a boy! Your hair looks curlier than before, and that’s a sign of a boy.”
Kaeya nodded again, eyes focused on the chocolate fruit stand in front of him. There was only one box of chocolate covered strawberries left. He needed it. He had been craving them, and it felt like anything else would make him sick.
But the old ladies kept pestering him with questions…
The strawberries were right in reach, but he couldn’t reach them…
And then…
Someone else bought them. The last chocolate covered strawberries.
Kaeya had cried that day.
On the middle of the road.
In front of everyone.
It was… not the brightest moment of his life.
Kaeya reminisced, a flush of embarrassment creeping over his neck and cheeks.
He didn’t know why he reacted that way… he just really desperately craved those strawberries.
Anyways… Diluc found him sitting on a bench, crying his eyes out, while the old ladies were trying, and failing, to make him less distressed.
“My strawberries… they’re all gone.” Kaeya sniffled, crying while Diluc tried to comfort him.
In the end, he had taken Kaeya back to the winery, where Adelinde made him a heaping pile of chocolate strawberries.
“It’s not me,” Kaeya muttered, embarrassed, as he munched on his 20th strawberry. “It’s the baby. I wouldn’t act like this over some stupid strawberries.”
“I know.” Diluc had said, sitting next to him on the table.
…
Kaeya smiled at the memory, as he shifted to lie down in his bed.
Would he ever try to have a kid again?
Probably not.
But, it hadn’t been as bad as he expected.
The tea his husband was making would probably go to waste… but it was fine.
It was the least he could deal with, putting Kaeya in this situation.
Kaeya closed his eyes.
He finally felt tired enough to sleep.
His breath began to even out, as a sleepy and fuzzy haze took over him.
He hadn’t been sleeping great, but finally, he would.
…
Suddenly he jolted, a sharp pain in his abdomen.
He sat up on shaky hands.
“You know, you could have waited a little longer.” He said, addressing the baby.
Looks like he won't get to sleep tonight after all.