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“What do you mean Aresh is pregnant?”
Seiichirou Kondou had thought that he’d learned everything there was to know about the magical world he’d now inhabited for more than two years. When he’d first arrived, he’d been shocked to learn that there existed worlds other than his own. Not only that, but the specific world he’d been accidentally pulled into was one entirely untouched by science, and instead filled with magic. He’d later also learned that the very air of this strange world was full of things called magicules, and that Seiichirou specifically was deathly allergic to them on account of having been born in a different world that did not contain them. And of course, Seiichirou had also learned that this world required a Holy Maiden to fight off a terrible dark power, and for some reason that Holy Maiden had to be summoned from the same world and country as Seiichirou himself.
All of these revelations had forced Seiichirou to reevaluate every strongly held belief he’d previously had about what was possible and impossible. All in a very short amount of time too. Seiichirou liked to think he’d adjusted rather well, all things considered. He’d settled into his new life with a new job, new residence, and new colleagues who seemed to like him well enough. Hell, Seiichirou had even gone and gotten himself a lover, and a male one at that. That was yet another revelation uncovered in this new world; apparently Seiichirou was capable of pursuing a romantic and sexual relationship with another man, though it perhaps didn’t hurt that Aresh Indolark was the most beautiful man that Seiichirou had ever laid eyes on.
Suffice to say, Seiichirou was a man who was quick to adapt to situations that would likely cause other men to have more than one or two mental breakdowns. He considered himself rather open-minded in that sense.
This latest revelation, however, may be more than Seiichirou’s reasonable sensibilities could handle. It was lucky he was already sitting down, otherwise Seiichirou was certain his knees would’ve given out by now.
“…Kondu,” Ciro Quellbus, director of the palace Medical Bureau sighed in response to Seiichirou’s question. He pressed a palm to his forehead, looking like he was in desperate need of a cigarette. “When two people love each other, they take their clothes off and then—”
“I know how babies are made!” Seiichirou squawked indignantly, feeling the back of his neck flush hot with embarrassment. He knew the other man was just teasing him by the amused smirk Ciro gave him in return, but still. Pregnancy was no joking matter, especially when it came to pregnancy in someone whom Seiichirou previously believed could not get pregnant!
“I just—I wasn’t aware men in this world could also bear children, is all,” Seiichirou stammered out in defense of himself. Even saying it aloud sounded absurd to his ears. In Seiichirou’s home world, men were not capable of becoming pregnant. They simply did not have the correct biological parts to carry a child. He had—incorrectly, apparently—assumed that the same would hold true in this world.
Ciro’s eyes widened as he processed Seiichirou’s words, before he tilted his head to one side, looking rather confused.
“So you’re saying only one gender can carry children in your original world?” the doctor asked incredulously. He spoke as though he found the whole idea outlandish, even unreasonable.
“…Yes?”
Seiichirou had never before had to think about why only one gender could produce offspring. With some notable exceptions in certain types of fish, female-gendered animals were exclusively the bearer of children in all species on Earth. Did that mean that male animals in Romany could also bear children? How did that even work? And how had Seiichirou not even gotten a small inkling that such a thing was possible?
“Huh…” Ciro hummed, interrupting Seiichirou’s biological mental crisis. “Your world must have a rather low population then.”
While it was true that Japan’s birth rate had reached a critically low point, the same could not be said for other countries in Seiichirou’s home world. In fact, many Western countries such as America and Germany seemed to have rather high birth rates. Even the neighboring country of China had a healthy birth rate as far as Seiichirou remembered.
“R-regardless,” Seiichirou stammered, trying to regain a hold on his faculties, before turning to face the man sitting next to him. His lover. His pregnant lover. “Why didn’t you tell me this was a possibility, Aresh? I would’ve tried to be more careful.”
Seiichirou had been in this world almost two years now, and only now did it occur to him that he had no idea what the people of Romany used as contraception. When they’d first started having sex, Aresh’s fluids needed to be absorbed into Seiichirou’s body for medical treatment so a condom would have been pointless, and then afterwards it didn’t seem relevant since they were exclusive. It had been yet another thing that Seiichirou had taken for granted in hindsight. But then again, Seiichirou had known that he himself could not get pregnant.
Aresh, however, was apparently a wholly different story. The man himself looked completely unsurprised nor bothered by the fact that the one time the two of them had decided to switch positions, allowing Seiichirou to be the one penetrating, had apparently resulted in their current predicament.
“…I forgot.” Aresh admitted with a shrug. Seiichirou nearly choked on his own breath at the man’s nonchalant answer.
“Forgot?!”
Both Seiichirou and Ciro had shouted their disbelief at the same time.
“Aresh,” Ciro groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Did you really just forget about about the fertility moon?”
The words “fertility moon” jogged a distant memory in Seiichirou’s mind. Seiichirou recalled conversations he’d overheard in the past few weeks about the various fertility festivals taking place throughout more remote parts of the kingdom. They were dedicated to some patron saint of Abran, though Seiichirou couldn’t remember their name. He was now very much regretting not taking discussions of the holiday seriously. Was this a sort of special holiday that somehow gave out magical male pregnancies?
“What is the fertility moon?” Seiichirou asked when Aresh offered no answer to Ciro’s line of questioning.
“It’s a special phase of the moon that guarantees pregnancy,” Ciro replied. “Which he,” the doctor pointed accusingly at Aresh, “absolutely knew about because his own siblings have conceived during the event!”
Aresh blinked, as if remembering some detail he’d long forgotten, then nodded, confirming Ciro’s statement. Seiichirou made a mental note to have an incredibly long conversation with Erene, Aresh’s older sister, at a later date.
“And you didn’t think that might be important for us to keep track of?” Seiichirou asked, trying not to sound accusatory. He knew Aresh wouldn’t be the type of person to use pregnancy as a means of keeping Seiichirou tied to him. He’d used plenty of other underhanded methods to intertwine their lives, of course, but ultimately Aresh had put Seiichirou’s needs first, even when it would not benefit him, including looking for a way to send Seiichirou back to his home world.
“I honestly forgot,” Aresh repeated, and his pouting face convinced Seiichirou that his younger lover was telling the truth. But still, Seiichirou had no idea how the man could be so calm. Aresh was a responsible man, and his genius intellect meant that he rarely miscalculated any situation. It didn’t make sense that he simply forgot to let Seiichirou know that pregnancy was a real concern when it came to their bedroom activities!
“But how?” Seiichirou practically wailed, grabbing the man’s arm in desperation. “How could you possibly have forgotten? And why haven’t I heard about these fertility celebrations before now?”
Aresh stared at Seiichirou, his eyes widening as he seemed to finally process how upset Seiichirou was. He took Seiichirou’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
“The actual fertility moon event only happens once every three years,” Aresh finally offered. “And I’ve never cared to remember it before because well…”
Aresh blushed, as did Seiichirou. While both of them had been in relationships with women in the past, they were each other’s first, and only male partners. It made sense now that Aresh could have forgotten he himself could get pregnant. He’d never had to worry about such a situation beforehand.
“Only every three years?” Seiichirou asked. “So you’re saying men can’t get pregnant all the time?”
“Well it’s not impossible,” Ciro said. “But the fertility moon is basically a guarantee for anyone.”
Wait. Did that mean—? “…Have I been at risk this whole time?!”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Aresh answered immediately. “I already knew you couldn’t carry children when we first had sex. I made sure to check before I treated you.”
Ciro added, “When I first scanned you, I noticed you hadn’t arrived here with a womb as well.”
“And neither of you thought to inform me that was unusual in this world?” Seiichirou groaned, though in truth he was relieved that being summoned to another world didn’t somehow magically grant him a womb. Seiichirou really didn’t know how he’d react to that much of a change in his body.
“It wasn’t relevant to treating you,” Aresh replied.
“Infertility is a sensitive subject,” Ciro added. “I assumed you simply didn’t want to discuss it.”
It all made sense, in a twisted sort of way. Seiichirou had assumed that men weren’t capable of getting pregnant ever because that was the case in his world, and so he never thought to consider it as something possible in this one either. Aresh and Ciro hadn’t disclosed that that wasn’t the norm because Seiichirou hadn’t asked and it was technically irrelevant to managing Seiichirou’s overall health.
“So then…what now?” Seiichirou asked, looking between the two of them. He knew that the situation wasn’t ideal, and while he wasn’t opposed to the idea of starting a family with Aresh, there was no way now was the right time. Were there safe ways to terminate pregnancy in this world? Did abortion carry the same stigma here as it did in Seiichirou’s home world?
“Well, you’ll need to start coming in regularly for checkups to ensure the health of the child Aresh,” Ciro said, his words caught Seiichirou off guard. “Obviously we’ll need to check to make sure they aren’t inheriting Seiichirou’s magicule allergy, it’s hard enough having to deal with one magicule sensitive person.”
Seiichirou blinked, trying to process everything the doctor was saying. Was he just…making assumptions? That wasn’t very professional for someone in the medical profession. Why wasn’t he offering alternative options? Actually, why wasn’t he even chiding Aresh for getting pregnant at so young an age?!
“That won’t be an issue,” Aresh replied, and Seiichirou’s head snapped to Aresh, who looked at him with a confident smile. “The Indolark family all has strong magic ability. I’m certain that will be passed on.”
Ciro let out a sigh of relief. “Well that’s good at least. Are you at least going to tell the Third Royal Order before you dump all your work on them and disappear when you go into labor?”
“Of course,” Aresh answered. “And Orjef can take over when the time comes.”
“Abran help him,” Seiichirou heard the doctor mutter. “He’ll probably be stuck with babysitting duty too.”
Seiichirou felt like he was having an out of body experience. Somehow the conversation had totally gotten away from him. What was with the light-heartedness of this whole situation?!
“Hold on, Aresh,” Seiichirou blurted out, interrupting before Aresh and Ciro started getting too deep into discussing the ideal pregnancy diet. “Have you already decided to keep the baby?”
It felt like all the air in the room was suddenly sucked out with Seiichirou’s words.
“Of course I’m keeping our baby,” Aresh growled, his eyes narrowing practically to slits. Seiichirou gulped nervously, realizing too late how callous his words sounded.
“Why wouldn’t I keep our child?” Aresh continued, his voice rising, before his features contorted. “Unless…you don’t want to have a family with me?”
“I—I never said that!”
“Oh boy,” Ciro sighed, slowly backing away from Aresh, or rather, from the ominous black cloud that was currently masquerading as Aresh. “I’ll uh…I’ll leave you two to discuss that, you definitely don’t need me here!”
Ciro practically fled the examination room. Seiichirou was left with nothing but the giant hole he’d dug for himself for not bothering to think before he spoke.
“Why are you so against having a baby?” Aresh demanded as soon as the door closed, leaving the two of them in total privacy.
“I—I’m not,” Seiichirou stuttered.
“Then why even ask that question?! Or do you think I’m incapable of raising a family properly?”
Seiichirou winced as he parsed the hurt masked beneath the anger in Aresh’s voice. He’d gone about this whole conversation the wrong way, and his insensitivity had struck a nerve he hadn’t meant to press on.
“Aresh…” Seiichirou started, then trailed off. He didn’t want to say the wrong thing again, so he thought carefully about how to phrase what he said next. “I didn’t mean that I didn’t want you to have a child if that’s what you really wanted. It’s just…we didn’t plan for this so we—”
“What’s there to plan?” Aresh interrupted.
What’s there to—
Seiichirou was once again struck by how different their stations were. He regarded the man in front of him. Handsome, rich, a genius at both magic and the sword, Aresh had the status and power of a man Seiichirou would have never crossed paths with in his home world. Before meeting Seiichirou, Aresh had wanted for nothing.
If Seiichirou thought about it, all of the normal concerns about pregnancy and family planning really didn’t apply to their situation. The home they lived in was certainly more than big enough for the two of them, and with plenty of guest bedrooms that could be repurposed into a nursery, and later a child’s bedroom. Aresh was young and healthy as well, so likely carrying a child wouldn’t be such a strain on his body. And if there were any diseases or risks, surely there were advances in magic that could help address that. And if not, Seiichirou had a personal contact in the sorcery department who could create one half-asleep.
Aresh would likely have to stop working to give birth to their child, of course, but the care of their baby wouldn’t fall to either Seiichirou or Aresh alone. They had household staff, for goodness sake! At most, Aresh would probably take a month off to recover and then be back at work. Valtom and the other servants would be able to watch the child while Seiichirou and Aresh were out.
Seiichirou found himself smiling at the idea of Valtom the butler, chasing after a smaller version of Aresh in their manor. A feeling of warmth bloomed in his chest as Seiichirou’s mind realized what his heart already knew.
“What are you laughing about?” Aresh growled, interrupting Seiichirou’s daydreaming. “Is our future child a joke to you Seiichirou?”
“No, that’s not it, I swear!” Seiichirou replied, holding up his hands in surrender. He took a deep breath, considering his words before speaking. “It just occurred to me that maybe I was worrying about nothing, is all. Circumstances aren’t the same here.”
Aresh raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Aresh, in my world, having children is not a decision one makes lightly,” Seiichirou said. Aresh’s handsome brows furrowed at his words.
“People have to decide to start families?” he asked. “Why?”
Seiichirou would’ve laughed, if the question were not something so serious.
“In my world, most people don’t have others to help them with raising children,” Seiichirou replied. “All of the child’s care is left solely to the—ah—child bearer and the father.” He didn’t know yet if Aresh would consider himself a mother, but it was best to address that at a later time. “Many parents in my home world aren’t able to both raise children and work at the same time because of that.”
Aresh gave him a confused look, and Seiichirou sighed. Aresh really was a noble through and through. It was time to approach things from a different angle.
“Aresh, what do the commoners of Romany do when parents are unable to support their children?” Seiichirou asked. “If they don’t have enough money to feed or clothe them, for example, or if a child loses their parents?”
“They’re sent other family members who can care for them, or to the church,” Aresh answered automatically, as if Seiichirou were a teacher that just asked him to recite a passage from a book. “In some cases, craftsmen looking for apprentices will take on the care of an orphan if they’re old enough to work.”
Seiichirou nodded. “Has it ever occurred to you that commoners who send their children away may not want to do so? That they feel as though they may not have a choice because their means are not as great as that of the nobles?”
Surprise crossed Aresh’s face for a moment, but then he nodded. Good. Seiichirou’s words at least made sense to him.
“I don’t understand what this has to do with our child though.”
“I’m getting there,” Seiichirou replied. “But first, I want you to understand that my life experiences, as well as the resources available to me in my home world, are more in line to that of a commoner than that of a noble.”
Aresh furrowed his brow, deep in thought. Then his eyes widened as understanding seemed to dawn on him.
“You were concerned you’d placed a burden on me,” Aresh said, and Seiichirou could see a faint blush of embarrassment crossing the commander’s features. “That’s why you said what you said earlier.”
Seiichirou nodded. “In my home world, or at least, in my country specifically, the timing of when to have children is carefully planned, because the resources required to raise a happy and healthy child are so great,” he explained. “Usually a couple waits until they are well established in society before deciding to have children. And it’s usually a conscious decision made between both parties prior to—ah—conceiving. An accidental pregnancy is not ideal to say the least. It’s not impossible to overcome, of course, but that’s also a conversation between both parents, like the one we’re having now.”
Aresh nodded, then hummed, a small fond smile finally creeping up his features. Seiichirou felt his whole body relax when he realized they were finally on the same page. They weren’t perfect at communicating with one another, of course, no couple was. But both Seiichirou and Aresh had made concerted efforts to try and understand one another, especially in the past year, and Seiichirou could now easily see the fruits of their labor.
“I see now,” Aresh said, a thoughtful look on his face. “You wanted to make a project plan for our future family, then. That makes sense. We can still make one, if that’s what you need. We can even start planning for our next child at the same time, to be more efficient.”
“Ah—!”
Seiichirou clutched at his chest, trying and failing to calm his racing heart. Even after all their time together, Aresh still found new ways to render Seiichirou at a total loss for words. What had he been so worried about anyways? Aresh was already a wonderful partner, Seiichirou had no doubt he’d also make a wonderful parent.
“What’s wrong, Seiichirou?” Aresh exclaimed, worriedly checking over Seiichirou’s body for anything amiss “Are you all right?”
Seiichirou let out a deep breath and then shook his head, then leaned into Aresh’s warm embrace.
“Yes, I’m fine,” he replied. “I think maybe I’m still recovering from the shock that men in this world can also get pregnant.”
“Why shouldn’t they?” Aresh asked, his brow furrowing. Seiichirou couldn’t help but laugh. That was also a conversation for another time.
“I wish I knew the answer to that,” Seiichirou said. “But it’s not important. What’s important is that we start working on our plan now. Together.”
“You’re really okay with this?” Aresh asked. Seiichirou nodded.
“If you are.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Aresh replied. “Milan and the others will be thrilled. Valtom has been asking when we’d have our own young master running around the house for months now.”
Seiichirou really had no idea how he’d missed the memo on men being able to bear children in this world.
Like everything else though, he knew he would adapt, and he could adapt to anything so long as Aresh was by his side.