What A Lovly Way

Part One:  She Has News

Draft 7
June 16, 1997

insert standard 'the characters belong to someone else' here.

After much thought (a flash of inspiration on the bus) I have decided 
that instead of writing a sequel to this, that it is really part one of
a larger story.  So that it why there is a different title in the 
subject.  
This is almost finalised, just a minor change at the beginning to fix
a contradiction later on.

	"I'm pregnant."
	Ranma Saotome stopped in mid strike, his fist a hair's breadth 
from the rope-wrapped practice pole.  He kept perfectly still, 
maintaining his perfect form, moving nothing but his eyes.  He looked
to the right then returned his gaze to the pole in front of him, 
pulling his arm back to resume practicing.
	<Yep, Akane's standing there.  Sure looks good in that yellow
dress. . . Did she say what I think I heard?>
	"Ranma! Didn't you hear me?  I said, I'm pregnant!"
	<That's twice.  I did hear her say... Well. it's about time.
Now, how would she expect me to act?  Ah, ha!  Of course... > "What!!" 
Ranma spun around to face Akane.  "You're what?"
	"I'm pre...."
	Ranma silenced Akane by holding his hand over her mouth. "Ssh!
I hear someone comin'.  Let's talk about this somewhere else."
	As Akane nodded her agreement, Ranma swept her into his arms 
and leapt to the dojo roof.  Cradling her against his chest, from there
he took the roof top express to a near-bye park.
	Coming to a stop in the middle of a bridge, he put Akane down 
on her feet and stepped back to take a good, long look at her.  She was
busy adjusting her dress and flicking her hair into place.
	"So, why here, Ranma?"
	"Privacy."
	Akane looked around.  The bridge they were standing on spanned
a small lake at its narrowest part.  Under some trees there was a 
family picnicking.  Young lovers were walking hand in hand along the 
lake shore and there was a spirited game of soccer in an adjoining 
field.
	"All these people and you come here for privacy?" she asked. 
"This has got to be the most public place you could find."
	Ranma leaned back, resting his elbows on the railing. With his
legs crossed at the ankles, he was the picture of relaxed nonchalance. 
Akane, knowing him better, saw through the pose. He was alert and a 
little tense.
	"If someone is gonna spy on us, we oughta be able to see them
comin'." He nervously rubbed the side of his nose, looked down at his 
feet, then up at the clouds. <Big fluffy white clouds in a blue sky. 
Good, no chance of rain.> "Un, doncha have somethin' you wanna tell 
me?" Akane moved to stand beside him, leaning forward on the railing.
He glanced at her profile, then over her head at the surrounding park.
"Guarding my back or tryin' not to look at me?"
	"A bit of both, I suppose."  She looked down at her hands, then
up across the lake.  Taking a deep breath, she then released it in 
a torrent of words. "I'm pregnant we're going to have a baby you're 
going to be a father I'm..." 
	She had run out of air.
	There was a brief moment of silence, broken only by the distant
sound of laughter and shouts of excitement from the soccer game.  Ranma
slowly blinked twice then turned to face her, one arm resting on the 
railing.  "Are you sure?"
	Akane's face scrunched up in anger and looking carefully he
could see the faint flickers of her anger aura shimmering around her.
	"Am I sure?  And just what do you _mean_ by that?  Do you 
think I would joke about something like this!?"  Her fingers were
twitching, ready to grab one of her mallets out of hammerspace (TM).
	"Woah!"  Ranma raised his hands in a gesture of peace as he 
took a step backwards.  "All I mean is, is it 'I'm pregnant because my
period is a day late and I was sick this morning' or is it 'I'm 
pregnant, I've been to the doctor and the lab test confirmed it.'"
	Akane could feel the anger drain out of her.  Put that way, it 
was a reasonable question.  In a calmer tone of voice, she answered. 
"Neither, really.  It's more along the lines of 'I'm pregnant. I've 
missed my last three periods, the two home tests I took were positive
and Dr. Tofu says I am."
	"So, um, how'd it happen?"
	She shook her head in disbelief. <What a stupid question, even
by his standards.> "The usual way of course, baka.  I know that was one
class you didn't sleep through."
	"Well, duh, I know that. I thought we were taking precautions.
Why didn't that work?"
	"You have to use that every time."
	"Huh?"
	"Remember almost four months ago? That evening when our 
sparring ended with some, shall we say, unorthodox moves?"
	"Oh, yeah!"  Ranma's eyes half closed and a hint of a smile
tugged at the corner of his mouth as the memory of that night shoved
its way to the front of his conscious mind.



	Ranma jumped over Akane's leg sweep and spun around to block 
her next blow.  Two rights to his face where swiftly followed by a 
left to his waist.
	<Woah! She's getting good! Barely blocked that one> He jumped 
up to avoid a kick.
	"Haiya!" Akane launched a jump kick, her left leg extended, 
hoping to plant her foot in his face. He sidestepped the attack, 
turning to see her sail past him.
	As she headed for her landing point, Akane looked back at him,
sticking out her tongue. 
	His highly trained mind quickly analyzed her form and came to
an alarming conclusion. <Oh, no! She's not watching what she's doing.
She's headed for the concrete blocks!> Lightning fast reflexes spurred
him into action before thought was finished. Jumping forward, he
grasped Akane, his arms folding around her waist. Twisting as they 
fell, he landed first, using his body to cushion Akane; avoiding the
blocks by inches.
	For a long moment silence reigned in the dojo until...
	"Why did you do that?!" Akane raised her head from Ranma's
chest and glared at his face.  More angry words died on her lips at
the sight of the concern in his eyes.  Shakily, she started to rise,
kneeling to the right of him, her hands on his shoulders.
	She froze as his expression changed and she realised he was
looking lower down her body.  At the same time she felt a breeze 
where there shouldn't have been one.  A quick peek confirmed her
worse fears. Her belt had come undone when Ranma grabbed her and the
top of her gi was wide open.
	Akane jerked in surprise.  Ranma's right hand was caressing
her breast while his left was cupping the back of her head, pulling
her down to him.
	"Naughty Akane," he whispered, "alone with a pervert like me
and not wearing a bra!" He raised his head, bringing their lips 
together in a deep, passionate kiss.  Slowly his right hand slid from
her breast to her back, bringing them chest to chest. As his grip
tightened and he rolled them onto their side, Akane moved her hands
from his shoulders, to bury then in her love's hair.
	"Ranma...."


	"Hey, Ranma! Snap out of it!"
	He forced the memory to the back of his mind. He would be 
looking at it again later, but for now...
	Akane looked up at him, with a wry smile on her lips, "I
guess you do remember, eh Ranma?"  He nodded. Akane sighed and looked
over the lake again. "So what do we do now?" she asked.
	"Become parents," was Ranma's flippant reply. Akane snorted.
Ranma stood beside her, looking down at the top of her head with a 
tender smile. "Jeeze, Akane, it won't be that bad. We graduate in
what, three months? And the kid's not due until two months later."
	"What's that got to do with anything?"  Akane gripped the
railing so hard it creaked. <I won't hit him. I won't hit him.>
	"I mean," Ranma tried to explain, "that we don't have to 
worry about going to school and taking care of a new baby at the
same time."
	"That's easy for you to say," snarled Akane, missing the 'we'.
"You're not the one who will be seven months pregnant and looking like
a whale as we graduate."
	"That's true. I'll just be the guy with a helping hand, 
beside you all the way."
	Ranma looked all blurry and out of focus as she looked at him
through a veil of tears.  "Do you mean that?" Her voice quavered a 
little.
	He gently wiped away the tears, then caressed her cheek. 
"Haven't I always been there for ya?" 
	She nodded, then pressed a kiss in the palm of his hand.
Throwing herself at him, she wrapped her arms around him in a big
hug. "For ever, Ranma?"
	"For as long as I live, Akane, and beyond." He hugged her
back. "The kami willing, and beyond."
	The young couple stood there, content just to hold each
other.
	"Hey, Ranma." There was a hint of mischief in Akane's voice
as she loosened her grip just enough to look up him.  "What do you
think the others will say when we tell them?"
	"Well, let's see." They turned and slowly started walking 
home. Akane slide her arm around his waist, snuggling up against him,
while his arm went around her shoulder.
	Akane giggled. "I know what Kasumi will say."
	"Oh yeah? What?"
	"Oh, my, how nice. Here's some milk, Akane."
	Ranma laughed. "And Nabiki'll start a baby pool."
	"Your father will go on about the new heir to the Anything
Goes School of Martial Arts."
	"And yours will be torn between joining mine in celebrating
and crying about how his youngest baby is having a baby."
	"Happousai will probably speculate on how big my breasts 
will become."
	Ranma got all stern. "He better not mess with you."
	Akane for some reason felt pleased with Ranma's show of
protectiveness. "I guess," she hesitantly said, "you should take care
of him for me while I'm pregnant. I don't want to hurt our child 
fighting that old reprobate."
	Ranma nodded his agreement. He had already decided to do 
that, but it felt good to be asked.
	Akane glanced up at Ranma. "Your mother will be pleased.
After all, here's more proof of how manly you are."
	Ranma could hear the underlying sadness in her voice.  He
stopped and gave her a quick hug then placed his hand under her chin,
lifting her face into view.
	"And if your mother was still with us, she'd be happy too."
He brushed her lower lip with his thumb. "Come on, how's about a smile.
This is supposed to be a happy time for us."
	Her face brightened and a smile slowly blossomed.
	"Let's go home."
	Ranma took her hand in his and they resumed walking towards
the dojo.
	Akane smiled to herself. <That went well. I thought it would
be harder telling him, he really took it well...> A small frown peeked
over the horizon. <Maybe a little too well. I was expecting more of 
a reaction, he didn't look even a little faint. It was almost ...)
She suddenly stopped walking, jerking Ranma to a standstill. Reaching 
up, she grabbed a chunk of shirt and pulled his face down to her 
level.
	"You knew!"
	"Huh?" 
	She could feel her angry growing, it's aura flickering on the
boundaries of her vision. "You knew before I told you. How did you 
find out? Who told you?" Releasing her hold on him, Akane stepped 
back and stared at him, her hands clenched tightly.
	"Jeeze, Akane. I figured it out over a month ago. I've been 
wondering why _you_ waited so long before telling me."
	Her mouth fell open in shock. <He figured it out. _On_ his 
_own_ he figured it out!?) "W-what! H-h-how?" 
	Ranma rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I know some 
people think that only thing I pay attention to is fighting, but I
do see things. And I _do_ know a thing or two about the female body.
Missed periods, morning sickness, tender breasts, oh, and you're 
starting to show; it was easy to put one and one together and get 
three."
	She blinked. He wasn't noted for his academic prowess but she
had thought his math skills were better than that. "Uh, Ranma, one
and one is two." <Great, now I'm correcting his arithmetic. This 
conversation is getting way out of hand.>
	Ranma laughed softly and gently placed his arm around her
shoulders, his other hand resting on her waist. "Ah, but you and
me and our baby make three." He assumed a more somber expression. 
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
	Akane looked away in embarrassment and started twiddling her
index fingers. "At first I wasn't sure, so I waited and when I did 
know for real, I was," she peeked up at Ranma through her bangs, 
"well, I was afraid of how you would take it and I didn't know how
to tell you and the longer I waited the harder it got and mruphff..."
	Long minutes later, he pulled his lips off hers just far 
enough to breathe. <I sure do like that way of making her shut up.>
	"Ah, Ranma?"
	His back tingled. The feeling was similar to the warnings he'd
get just before he was attacked. <I'm not gonna like hearing this.>
	"Dr. Tofu is sure I'm pregnant and he thinks that maybe..."
	Ranma's mind raced with thoughts of complications, and 
everything that could go wrong. <What if my baby is cursed, like I 
am?  Can Juusenkyo curses be passed on like that?  What if it's not 
my child?  What if it is my child, but it's not Akane's?  What if she
switched our regular coffee with new Folgers Crystals?>  "What is it?
I can handle it, Akane. Complications, curses, Folgers Crystals, I'm 
strong enough to handle it."
	Akane Saotome looked up at her husband, seeing the worry 
flash across his face, and couldn't help but laugh.  "Baka, Dr. Tofu 
thinks I'm having twins."
	"Twins?  Twins are good." Ranma declared, before he felt the 
joy of unconsciousness take him.
	Akane sighed, then started dragging him home. <Guess I'll have
to wait before telling him he's going to be in the delivery room with
me.>  


Authors notes and ramblings:

I'd like to thank TimeRunner, Terry Marks, Switch, and J.D. Farber for
their C&C.  And Gary Kleppe and . . .

You can blame JD for the Folgers Crystals (thanks JD, as you can see I
liked it enough to use it.)

Ok, I give up.  Henry J. Cobb and others, wait for the sequel, I'll 
answer your questions there. No, not the sequel, part 2, and maybe 
even thurther parst, who knows? I sure don't.  8-).  

(Jeeeesse, one sentence pops into my head and next, I'm writing the 
short fic that won't stop.)

Oh, and I'm Canadian so I tend to use British Commonwealth spelling 
(except when my American spell checker get the upper hand).

Peggy