Chapter Text
The first blood test was positive. And then the second one a week after that. So were the three at-home pregnancy tests you took. You’d be remiss to deny the fact that your breasts had been so unbelievably sore, so painful in fact that the days you spent home from work had you completely rejecting the very idea of wearing a bra. Still trying not to get your hopes up, you kept your symptoms to yourself and to Law (who was very disappointed at the fact that hugging you in the front had become painful).
And now, two full weeks after your first blood test, you were sitting with Penguin at a table outside a cafe. A large umbrella was open above you, shielding you from the sun as you anxiously tapped your fingers on the metal table, waiting for the call from your doctor.
Your anxiety was practically oozing out of you like sludge, and it was definitely affecting Penguin. He took off his hat and rubbed the back of his palm over his forehead, crinkling his nose. “Please don’t pass out on me, I don’t know how to do CPR.”
You rested your head in your palm, placing your phone screen-down on the table. “I promise I won’t. I’m sorry for being such a bummer, I know you were looking forward to lunch today.”
Your friend waved his hand in the air reassuringly after putting his hat back on his head. His black hair had begun receding recently, and he’d been covering his hairline more than he usually had. “Nah, don’t sweat it. I just want to make sure you’re alright, that’s all.” When he finished his sentence, he pushed your glass of melting ice water closer to you. You chuckled, grabbing the glass and taking a long sip out of the straw.
“So what’s your schedule like, anyway?” he asked, poking through the small cafe menu. “Like, if this next test comes back positive, then what?”
You resisted the urge to check your phone once more. “If this one comes back positive, I’ll have another blood test in a week. And then if that one shows normal signs of progression, I’ll continue to have them done weekly. I’m not sure how long that will last, but I’m getting kinda tired of seeing my blood in tiny plastic tubes.”
Penguin snorted. “They probably have enough of your blood to keep someone alive at this point.”
“They should give it back to me,” you joked, taking another generous sip of your water.
The man across from you closed his small paper menu, having decided what he was going to order when the waitress came back. “So how’s Law been doing? I feel like I haven’t talked to him in a while.”
You grinned at the question. “He’s been alright, he’s been pretty stressed too over this, but I think he’s been able to distract himself with his shifts at the hospital. He’s been working more since he got home from his trip, I think he’s trying to make up for being gone for a week.”
Penguin laughed. “Sounds like him, alright.” He rested his own head in his hand. “If you really are pregnant, and everything is going normally, do you think he’ll take more time off?”
A sigh left your lips. “It’s wishful thinking, but I honestly doubt it. And it’s not his fault, he just works a really time-consuming and taxing job. It’s hard for both of us, but when he is home he makes all the time in the world for me. And because he has such long working days, sometimes he gets multiple days off in a row, which is nice.”
“That’ll be nice for the baby, too,” Penguin added.
Your heart swelled at the thought. Ever since having your eggs implanted, your mind had been melting with thoughts of Law’s paternal side coming out. You couldn’t wait to see the way he’d hold his child, kissing their forehead, cleaning them in a tiny baby bathtub, singing to them as they fell asleep even though he hated being heard singing by anyone. The mere thoughts made your thighs clench. Some hormonal instinct in you to see your man become a father, you guessed.
“It would be nice,” you added, your voice airy. It was like you were floating on a blissful cloud.
Penguin laughed at the sight. “God, you’re smitten. It’s fucking adorable.”
You hid your face in your hands to mask your embarrassment, making your friend bark out a laugh at your sorry state. The waitress returned in due time, taking your small orders before leaving again with your menus. You were starting to have deja vu from your brunch with Ikkaku before your second miscarriage.
The thought of your own best friend gave you a thought.
“Hey, so I have a question for you,” you blurted, attracting his attention.
He took a sip of his own water and gazed at you through his narrow brown eyes.
“Have you told Shachi that you like him yet, or are you two ‘still just roommates’?” you asked, holding up your fingers in air quotes to punctuate your words.
The statement made Penguin groan as he pulled his hat further down onto his head, hiding his eyes with a thick shadow. “No. I don’t know what he’ll say.”
You smiled sympathetically at the man. You, Law, and Ikkaku had been rooting for Penguin ever since he broke up with your best friend after your college graduation with your bachelor’s degrees, realizing he was gay the entire time. The terms were mutual, as Ikkaku began dating a woman soon after, but Penguin moved in with Shachi and was convinced he’d never find love after finding himself so late in life. But then he fell for Shachi… and fell hard.
“I guess I’m just worried that things will be too awkward if I tell him now that we’ve been living together as roommates for, like, five years,” he explained. “I’m already paying half of the rent.”
“If it makes you feel any better,” you began. “Shachi’s been talking about you a lot more. Like, a lot.”
Penguin picked his head up, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “Really?”
You nodded. “I wouldn’t lie to you about love, Pen, you know me.”
The man across from you leaned back in his chair. “What if I tell him and he doesn’t feel the same way?”
“Then you talk it out like adults and continue being roommates,” you stated. “Simple. Easy-peasy.”
“You make it sound easier than it looks,” he grumbled, but a small smile lay on his lips. “You and Law had it easy.”
“Bullshit. Law hated me when we first met.”
The memory made the two of you chuckle. Law’s unwillingness to open up, how it took him almost an entire year to admit that he could possibly be in love, and be in love with you , the snarky graphic design student who infiltrated his gen ed study group.
And now here you were, a wedding ring on your left hand and hoping so desperately for a child with him.
Penguin was grinning widely at you, making you falter. “What’s got you smiling so wide?”
Your friend dropped his hand. “Just thinking about how proud I am of you two.”
Before you had the chance to reply, or even register your heart doing somersaults in your chest, your phone began vibrating on the table. You snatched it up with the speed of a falcon diving for a mouse, your eyes growing wide at the number on the screen. The lab. Penguin knew without you even having to speak.
“Hello?” you asked wearily into the receiver.
[Hello, is this Mrs. Trafalgar? This is Nurse Nojiko from the outpatient laboratory.]
You nodded to no one in particular. “Yes, this is her.”
[Perfect, I wanted to inform you that the results of your test have come back positive! I have updated your patient portal with the information, and you should be receiving a call from your doctor within the next day or so.]
Your heart swelled. “Th-Thank you so much!”
[Of course, hun, have a great rest of your day, alright?]
You promptly shared your goodbyes before you tapped the end call button, placing your device back down on the table. Your wide eyes darted up to meet Penguin’s. He was already smiling.
“Positive?” he asked, his voice hopeful.
“Positive,” you confirmed.
He had absolutely no care in the world if he caused a scene. He bolted upright from his chair and dragged you out of your’s, pulling you into a bone crushing hug that made you stifle a yelp due to the pressure on your chest.
You frantically whispered into his ear. “Penguin, my boobs hurt like shit.”
“Crap,” he pulled away from you, holding your shoulders. “I’m sorry!”
You were giggling as you had to resist the urge to fondle your breasts in public, trying to get the pain to die down based on willpower alone. “It’s okay, they’ve been really sore lately.”
“Is that a symptom of pregnancy?” he asked, sitting back in his chair.
You pursed your lips for a moment. “I think so, but I’m still trying not to get my hopes up. The last two times, they never got as sore as they are now.”
Penguin flashed a toothy grin. “I’m considering that a win.”
You smiled to yourself, still fighting the anxious pang in your heart. You grabbed your phone once more to send Law a text message. He was scheduled for a very large and very taxing surgery for the day, so you were sure he wouldn’t respond until much later, but you eagerly sent the text anyway.
Hi baby, im out for lunch with Peng. The fifth test came back positive, i just got the call!!! Im still going to lay low for a bit because my tits hurt for shit. I love you, i’ll call you if anything urgent comes up but dont feel pressured to respond if youre busy! I love you again!!! Love you!!!!
—
Law’s circulating nurse had his passcode memorized at this point. When his phone buzzed in her pocket, he simply gave her permission to check it with a curt nod, barely tearing his eyes away from the open chest cavity in front of him.
The anesthesiologist beside the patient saw the way the nurse’s eyes lit up while reading whatever message had come through. “What does it say?”
“Doctor,” she began, her smile reaching her ears. “Your wife’s fifth test came back positive.”
The entire operating room buzzed with muted excitement at the news, keeping their attention focused on the patient, but clearly radiating with optimism. Law had been keeping his team up-to-date with his progress on what his nurses called ‘The Kid Conundrum,’ and seeing his entire crew quietly celebrate over the news of your latest positive test made a smile crawl to his lips below his surgical mask.
“Attention on the patient,” he stated.
The entire team could hear the broad smile in his voice.
—
Seven positive pregnancy tests, and almost eight weeks since your implantation day. You and Law were in a different ultrasound room in a different clinic, due to Robin being out of office for the week with her husband (a thought that made Law cower). You were laying on the cold, unfamiliar table as Law sat across the room from you, the usual set up. He had the entire week off of work, which he had been spending glued to your side. Your symptoms had been fairly taxing lately, your breasts being more tender than they had ever been. You had even started swelling somewhat in your lower belly, but partnered with general morning discomfort, you chalked it up to regular pregnancy bloating.
Not that you were complaining about any of the symptoms. If anything, they were relieving. Signs that you were actually pregnant… with a living fetus.
You stared at the ceiling as the gel was smeared on your belly and as the sound of the ultrasound machine whirred to life. The technician doing your scan was sitting on a swiveling stool as she worked, another nurse behind her to help assess your condition.
“So how many weeks along does your doctor think you are?” she asked, keeping her eyes glued to the screen as she pressed the transducer to your skin, locating your uterus.
“About eight weeks or so, I think,” you replied.
She nodded, going silent as she rubbed the wand over your belly. She adjusted it slightly, then moved it again. The nurse behind her appeared to lean in toward the screen, her eyes growing wide.
Their silence made your heart rate begin to pick up.
“You said you had IVF, right?” she asked.
Growing even more anxious, you nodded against the pillow behind your head. “Yes… that’s correct.”
Law leaned over in his chair to try to get a glimpse of the monitor screen.
The wand was moved over your skin a few extra times before the nurse reached up and turned the monitor toward you. Her finger hovered over your uterus. “Do you see that?”
You gazed at the screen, slowly picking apart what you were viewing.
The outline of your uterus was there, clear as day, or as clear as it could be through an ultrasound image. Inside of your uterine bubble, however, sat two black splotches, each with a tiny white speck inside.
Law stood from his chair, his eyes blown wide.
“Mrs. Trafalgar, there’s two babies in there.”