Just a little note before we begin: This chapter is marked as Female!MC, but that doesn't mean MC can't be he or they either, it just means they are genetically female, regardless of gender or pronouns. That's all, please enjoy! :)

The shop was calm. The calming scent of lavender incense wafted through the building and a few jasmine candles flickered here and there.

The window was open and a gentle breeze rustled the curtains and the windchimes hung there.

Asra was upstairs cleaning. MC was on the lower level, re-stocking the shelves of candles and incense. 

Usually, MC would have been bright and cheery, a smile on their face as they hummed to themselves. Today, however, was a little bit different.

MC had woken up unusually irritable. They rolled out of bed tired and grouchy, not at all happy to be awake. Their actions were tense and harsher than normal. They were not their usual gentle selves.

The bell rang, signalling the entrance of a customer. MC turned around to be met with one tall and lanky doctor.

"I'm home," Julian said with a grin, his arms outstretched in a dramatic fashion. Malak flew in and perched himself on the counter, giving a single caw to announce himself.

"Hey," MC said turning back to their work.

Julian was taken aback. His brow furrowed in confusion and the smile fell from his lips.

"Just 'Hey'?" He said in a playful manner, trying to joke around.

"Just hey," MC confirmed, not bothering to look back at their significant other.

"I know I had to leave suddenly, and I know I was gone for a few days, but a patient is a patient. I couldn't just refuse to help them, not when they were so close by," Julian said, his voice softer and lower in tone.

"It's not that," MC replied.

"Then what's wrong, dear? You're usually so happy and chipper. Are you feeling alright, MC?" Julian questioned, stepping to the side to get a better look at MC's face.

"I'm fine, Julian," MC said with a cold sharpness in their voice. 

A moment passed and MC sighed.

"I'm sorry, Julian. I didn't mean to snap at you. I've been a little stressed lately, that's all," MC began as they turned to face the red-head. "I'm glad you're home, though; I miss you when you're not home,"

Julian's gaze was still worried; he didn't think MC was solely stressed. It then dawned on him that it was getting close to MC's usual time of the month. Thinking that their stress was coming from their cycle, Julian's mind was put to rest.

Julian opened his arms and moved to embrace MC in a hug, however, when he approached, Malak began cawing loudly and seemingly out of nowhere, Faust emerged, slithering around his chest and torso, squeezing his body.

"Hey! What's that for?!" Julian exclaimed, jumping back from MC. When he was an appropriate distance from the apprentice, Faust loosened her grip and Malak fell silent.

Every time Julian moved closer to MC, the two animals would begin to cause a ruckus, clearly opposing the embrace.

Julian began to wonder why the familiars were being so protective of MC. Being as dramatic as he is, his mind jumped to the worst-case scenarios: MC was dreadfully ill.

His brows knitted together in worry, Julian looked MC over, checking for any physical indication that they were ill.

"MC, are you sick? Is that why you're not feeling so well? You've been throwing up lately, maybe you're coming down with something, love" He asked.

"I'm fine, Julian," MC said with a wave of their hand, clearly avoiding the conversation. "And even if I was sick, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of  myself, thank you very much,"

And that was that. MC continued on with their shop-keeping duties and Julian said hello and goodbye to both Asra and MC before going home.

When they were alone, MC would constantly avoid talking about themselves or how they were feeling. They would wave off any and all of Julian's attempts to diagnose their "illness".

Julian was worried. With MC's vomiting, sour moods and attempts at isolating themselves from him, he was scared that they were suffering from a potentially serious illness. Not only that, but they were his significant other! He loved them with all of his heart and it broke him to see MC trying to struggle through whatever plagued them alone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Over the next week, Pasha and Mazelinka were stopping by the house to deliver home-made goods and meals for MC, and Julian couldn't figure out why (although he was always grateful for their cooking).

And every time he asked the girls if they knew what was up with MC, the two would circle around the question and change the topic to avoid MC's behaviour altogether. Even Asra wouldn't talk about how MC was feeling, which was strange considering he also worries for them when they're ill.

Every day it was some new diagnosis as Julian attempted to figure out what was wrong. 

"Is it a cold? A stomach bug? Influenza? Please tell me you don't have a fever... Are you hot and then cold? How well are you sleeping? Sore throat, cough, sneezing or sniffles?" He badgered poor MC while they were working in the shop one day.

"No, no, no. No, I don't have a fever, no, I'm sleeping fine thank you, no, no, no and no," MC replied as they continued on with their work.

A moment passed and then the doctor inhaled sharply.

"OH MY GOD...."

MC whirled around, thinking something was seriously wrong. "What? What is it, what's wrong?!"

Julian placed his hands on their shoulders and looked straight into their eyes.

"You don't have the plague do you???"

MC just rolled their eyes and shook Julian's arms off.

"No Julian, I don't have the plague. Now would you be a dear and stop pestering me while I'm trying to work? I told you, I'm alright,"

Julian sighed and nodded, giving in.

"Yeah, I'll, uh, I'll let you get back to work," He turned to the door. "I'll see you at home. I love you,"

MC paused and looked to their feet, feeling a little guilty for pushing him away so often. "I love you too," they said quietly before the door clicked shut.

Asra, who had watched the whole thing unfold, stepped out from the doorframe of the next room, hands in his pockets, chuckling slightly.

"What's so funny?" MC asked, looking to the white-haired magician who wore a smirk on his face.

"Just how oblivious Ilya is to your 'current condition', " Asra said. "All the symptoms right in his face and yet, nothing,"

MC let out a small laugh. "You're not wrong. You'd think as a doctor, he would've figured it out by now,"

"Speaking of figuring it out," Asra began, "Why haven't you said anything to him, MC? I see you keep avoiding the conversation, insisting that you're fine and that there is absolutely nothing going on. He's going to find out sooner or later, it might be best if you tell him before he finds out through someone else,"

MC sighed and turned to face their former mentor. "I know, but, I don't know how he would react. He ran from Vesuvia after a crime he didn't even commit! He became a trouble-making fugitive because of problems that weren't even his. God only knows what he'd do when he finds out I'm carrying his child! He could just up and disappear. Or hate me forever and abandon us," they confessed.

"MC," Asra said gently, placing his hands on their shoulders and looking them in the eyes, just as Julian had moments before. "Ilya might be a trouble-maker, a drama queen, and one to overreact, but even I can see how much he's changed since the two of you met. Trust me, Ilya would never abandon you and your baby. And if he did, he'd have to answer to me and he'd get his ass beat,"

"I suppose you're right, as usual," MC admitted, giving Asra a weak smile. "He does deserve to know. But, we also have to appreciate how hilarious it is trying to come up with a new diagnosis every thirty seconds, each one farther from reality than the last,"

Asra laughed, a full smile on his face and he let MC go. "That is true, Ilya is pretty oblivious,"

A moment passed and Asra looked at the clock on the wall.

"It's getting pretty late. You should go home to Ilya and just spend some quality time with him. He's clearly worried about you. So much so that he'll probably make himself sick just thinking about what 'illnesses' you have," Asra said. 

"Yeah, he is pretty worked up about it all, isn't he," MC said as they moved to open the door. "Thanks for the advice and the reassurance, Asra. You're the best,"

"Don't mention it," He replied as MC walked out the door.

After a night spent with good food and some quality, wholesome couple time, MC and Julian climbed into bed and snuggled up. MC planned on telling Ilya about the baby first thing in the morning; no more waiting and avoiding.

~*~*~*~*~*

The sun was just rising over Vesuvia when MC woke in a sweat, their stomach churning. They slipped out of bed as quickly and as quietly as possible and went to the washroom to vomit the contents of their mostly empty stomach.

Unbeknownst to them, Julian had woken up when MC left the bed and he had quietly followed them to the bathroom to hold their hair and rub their back to comfort them when he overheard them mumbling to themselves.

"This baby is gonna be the death of me..."

"A baby...?" Julian repeated quietly as he stood in the doorway.

"Julian!!" MC exclaimed, looking over their shoulder to see a shocked Julian in his nightclothes, hair a mess and sleep still thick in his voice.

Within seconds Julian was kneeling next to MC, hands on their shoulders looking into their eyes with great intensity.

"Why didn't you tell me you were with child, MC?" He asked, a tone of sadness and worry in his voice as he looked at his beloved who had kept a secret this big from him.

MC's eyes began to water and they sighed, not meeting Julian's gaze.

" I... I don't know! I was scared. I thought you might run off on us, or get angry. I know we weren't planning on a child, I know we never talked about it, I was - I AM nervous. I don't know if I'm ready for this. I didn't know if you'd think you were ready for this. I'm sorry I was just - "

MC's teary rambling was cut short by their lover wiping their tears with his hand and moving his head to look them in the eyes.

-"MC, darling. I love you. I love you more than all the stars in the sky. And I will love this baby just as much. I know you will be an incredible parent. And I am more than ready to be a father to this baby. Our baby, MC. I won't ever leave you. You were the one who taught me love, who taught me that it was okay to trust in other people. Why would I leave the most precious thing, no, things, in my life?"

Now full-on crying, MC found themselves relieved, yet overwhelmed with the sensation of coming clean and having Julian's positive reaction. 

Julian's arms wrapped MC in an all-consuming hug and he stroked their hair gently, just holding them until their tears subsided.

Julian pulled back from the hug, hands still on MC's shoulders and he gave them the biggest grin.

"We're gonna be parents, MC!! I'm gonna be a dad!" He exclaimed, completly overjoyed at the thought of becoming a father.

MC laughed and wiped the rest of their tears with their sleeve as they laughed at Julian's eagerness.

The pair then stood and walked back to their room to get ready for the day.

"I can't believe I couldn't figure it out," Julian said, shaking his head. "I was so worried you were ill or that there was something wrong that I completly missed the best thing of all,"

"I know. I can't believe you thought I had the plague," MC said with a laugh.

The happy couple continued talking as they got ready, Julian already taking extra care with MC to make sure that they were always comfortable and were doing as little work as they could so as to not stress out MC and the baby.

"You really shouldn't be working," Julian said as he walked MC to the shop.

"I'm pregnant, Julian, not dying. I can handle working at the shop," MC said with a light eye-roll at their boyfriend's overprotective nature.

"I'm the doctor, you really should be listening to me," Julian insisted.

"You can't keep me from working, especially when I don't even have a baby bump. It's far too early to think about this maternity/paternity/parental leave,"

The two continued to bicker about MC working right up until they reached the shop.

Not two seconds later, Asra appeared from the backroom to great MC and Julian.

Faust also made an appearance at the door and had made her way up Julian's torso trying to squeeze him for being so close to MC, but the doctor paid her no mind as he was far too excited about the baby to even register Faust.

"Asra!" Julian exclaimed. "I'm gonna be a dad, can you believe it?"

Asra just shakes his head with a smirk on his face. "I know, Ilya. We all know. You were the last one to catch on," He states.

Julian's smile fell as he looked at MC, hoping for a different response. "Is that true, MC? Was I really the last person to know?"

MC laughed a little and looked at Julian sweetly, taking his hands.

"Yes, Ilya, but you were out of town, and you were so worried about me being seriously ill that you didn't stop to consider something less horrific," they said. "Plus, I was all worried about telling you myself. Besides, I found it rather endearing that you were so worried about me that you didn't realize what was going on. It was really rather cute,"

MC pressed their lips gently to Julian's cheek, who in turn blushed as red as his hair.

"Now, MC," Asra began. "Because of the baby, it's probably best if you take it easy, okay? No heavy lifting, no super magic-expending spells, nothing strenuous. You need to rest. I'll take care of all of the heavy tasks, you just relax, alright?"

"See, MC?" Julian said, gesturing to Asra. "He agrees exactly with what I was saying. You need to rest with that baby."

MC sighed and put their hands on their hips looking between the pair. "What is it with you two? It's a baby, not a disability or injury. And I'm not even that far along. It won't hurt me or the baby if I'm using magic or working in here. I'll be just fine,"

~*~*~*~*~* 

And from then on, MC was constantly surrounded by their loved ones.

Asra stopped going on long trips to make sure that he was there should MC ever need any help in the shop or magical attention.

Nadia had all sorts of gifts for the baby made long before MC was ever due. She was the honourary aunt who would spoil that baby rotten.

Portia and Mazelinka were always checking in on MC and the baby, delivering food, offering their help and being a fantastic support team when MC just wasn't having it.

Muriel was even involved, making a crib and small wooden toys for the child to have.

And Julian, of course, was right there the entire time, doting on his significant other at all hours of the day, providing them with everything they wanted or needed throughout the entire pregnancy.

Despite their crazy antics and overly-helpful doting, MC couldn't have asked for a better family to take care of them and then later, the baby when it was delivered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Okay wow, this took me wayyyy too long to finish. Sorry it's been so long since I've updated, things have been crazy for me, not to mention that for a while, I wasn't sure where I wanted this story to go, and I still feel like the ending was a touch rushed.

Anyway, this lovely idea of Pregnant!MC with oblivious Julian was a request from SammyToon. Thank you so much for your wonderful ideas, I have so much fun writing them!

See you soon,

- Fandoms <3