Of Mothers, Of Fathers
By: Lord Archive
Part of the Hard Life timeline.
This series deals with some serious, adult topics. There are no sex
scenes in this series, but some sexual references do occur.
Characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Video, etc..., and are
used without permission. I'm only borrowing them. I'll return them.
(I wonder if they'll notice if I kept Yuka.)
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Chapter 3 - Surprise Party
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Ranma and Akane sat in the dining room, watching television. They were
surprised when Hiroshi, Daisuke, Yuka and Sayuri had decided to drop by,
greeting cheerfully with, "Happy birthday!"
"Huh?" the young Saotomes replied.
"You know, happy birthday. The day that celebrates your birthday,"
Hiroshi said.
"But our birthdays were days ago."
"Well, we couldn't wish both of you a happy birthday since you were away
on your honeymoon on those days. So we came today to celebrate it,"
Sayuri said.
"How nice," Kasumi said cheerfully, entering the room with some punch
for everyone like she expected this.
The four guests sat down at the table.
"So how's it feel to get married while still in High School?" Yuka
asked.
"Like we did the stupidest thing possible," Ranma said darkly.
Akane scowled at her. "Ranma, what happened on our honeymoon had nothing
to do with us getting married."
"It wouldn't have happened if you didn't get THAT wedding present,"
Ranma retorted bitterly.
"If we didn't get married, we would've gone a training trip alone,
right?"
"Probably."
"And I still would've gotten THAT present, because I was curious. It
still would have happened."
Ranma stared into her punch.
"What happened?" Sayuri asked.
"Well..." Akane before being interrupted.
"Nihao! Where's mother to be?" Shampoo shouted gleefully from the front
door. This surprised everyone, she actually used the front door.
Yuka and Sayuri were immediate next to Akane. "You're pregnant?!"
"Way to go Saotome!" Daisuke and Hiroshi cheered in unison.
"Having a family in High School? Isn't that kind of..." Sayuri started.
"I think it's great she's going to be a mother!" Yuka interrupted.
Shampoo entered the room in time to see an angry chi aura flair around
Ranma. "She's not the going to be a mother!" Ranma shouted.
Akane eyes widen in shock when Ranma grabbed hold of her, finding
herself judo thrown into the koi pond. Otoko-Akane stood up, his clothes
were no longer baggy as his body filled out the soaked clothes.
"She's going to be the father!" Ranma finished, before running off.
Hiroshi, Daisuke, Yuka and Sayuri did a massive face-fault.
"Akane much better looking as guy!" Shampoo giggled.
Akane stared at where Ranma had stood. He could not believe Ranma had
done that. Only when she was being trained to fight Shampoo had Ranma
ever truly done anything that could be considered physical violent
against her. This time Ranma had thrown her for no other reason than
being angry. Ranma had NEVER done that before
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Ranma sat in her room, crying. She couldn't handle anything right now.
She hated the fact that she was pregnant. She was born a guy and raised
to be a man amongst men, and she was going to be a mother. All the other
strange events had tested her sanity before, she didn't know how much
longer she could hold out.
Otoko-Akane entered the room. "Ranma?"
She looked up at Akane's soaked features, remembering what she did. She
cursed herself for losing control against Akane. Ranma looked away and
said, "Sorry about throwin' you... I just..."
"Ranma, it's all right. I suppose our roles are reversed now. It's your
turn to release your anger against me."
"I can't do that! I never want to hurt you."
"I never wanted to hurt you either... but I did." Akane sighed. "I do
deserve being tossed around like that."
"No you don't."
"Yes, I do. Because I've done that to you kami only knows how many
times... and because... I got you pregnant. No matter how many times I
say I'm sorry, it'll never be enough."
Ranma looked out the window. She didn't know exactly what to say. She
shouldn't have lost control, despite being angry at Akane for getting
her pregnant, but... "It's not... completely your fault that I'm
pregnant. I was... curious myself. I could've refused. I shouldn't have
stayed a girl as long as I had. And... it's not like I didn't like it
when we... made love that way." Ranma blushed.
Akane also blushed. "Are you okay?"
"I don't ever know if I'll be 'okay,'" Ranma said sadly.
Akane hugged Ranma. "Of course you will. I'll always be here to help
you. Let's go back and see our friends."
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Most of the Ranma cast shows up for a `surprise' birthday
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Ranma watched to the side as everyone celebrated. She didn't feel like
being a part of it despite part of the party was for her. Ranma realized
this was suppose to be a surprise party for her and Akane's birthday,
and it hadn't been canceled it despite what happened. It was probably
decided it was more important to have it because of what happened... but
Ranma didn't want any part of it.
Ranma's thoughts were interrupted when she heard her wife ask, "Ranma,
why aren't you trying to enjoy the party?"
"I don't feel I have anything to celebrate. I want to forget my birthday
happened," Ranma said sadly.
Akane blinked. "Why would you say that?"
"`Cause... well... tell me, are you happy to be reminder of your
birthday despite that's the day you found out that you're cursed and
that you're going to be a father?"
Akane was confused about the question. She was uncertain how to answer
it. "Um... well... not really, but I'm trying not to think about that."
"I can't help but think about that. If I could turn into a guy, maybe I
could put it out of my mind but I can't. Also... I... I got pregnant on
my birthday."
"Are y-you sure?" Akane stammered.
Ranma nodded. "Dr. Tofu just told me I got pregnant on April first, my
birthday. Whatever powers that be decided to play some cosmic April
Fool's joke on me. Sometimes I feel my entire life has been a joke. A
play thing for others to play with. This is the cruelest joke of all!"
Akane wanted to say something to help reassure Ranma. To help Ranma be
that annoying jerk she loved. "Ranma... it might be a cruel joke of some
kami or something, but are you going to let that stop you? Let the fact
you are carrying our first child defeat you? This is another challenge
for you to overcome."
"Akane?" Ranma looked at her with a slight smirk.
"Yes?"
"Shut up. I know your trying to help me... and I appreciate it. But I
really don't want to talk about it... I want to be left alone."
"But Ranma, you need..."
Ranma interrupted. "When I want to talk about it, I'll come to you. I
really just want to be left alone right now, okay?"
"All right. If you want anything, don't hesitate to call me."
"I won't."
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More party scenes.
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