[Nanya01]

Well, another installment of... Gee, what name to give this series of one-shots?

Anyway, this is another fic brought to you by the combined session of myself and RadiantBeam.

Set a little bit ahead of "Family" for this one.

Spoiler for Pregnancy:

"Yuuno-papa!" Vivio smiled as she saw her father figure.

"Hello, Vivio... Where are Nanoha and Fate?"

"They said they were hungry."

Yuuno groaned, the last time they had a craving for food they had walked across the city and ate a ramen shop out of business. At least they hadn't bad-mouthed him for getting them pregnant. Still, he knew that they weren't in total control. At times, they broke down crying, stormed off in a rage... Then there were times that they were cuddly, grabby, smiling, and saintly...

And all that in under three minutes.

And that was a normal day.

"I think I'll go find them."

Vivio nodded. "Raising Heart and Bardiche are with them."

Yuuno sighed in relief, at least he could find them quickly enough if he needed to.

Vivio siddled closer to her adopted father. "Do you want me to come with you, Yuuno-papa?"

"No." Absently Yuuno ran a hand through Vivio's hair, an affectionate gesture that always won Fate and Nanoha over no matter what state they were in.

"Want me to call Caro-nee and Erio-nii? They can help."

Yuuno thought about it, then shook his head.

"Better off going alone. I don't want those two to get scared if Fate's in a bad mood."

Vivio pouted and hugged Yuuno. "Ne, Yuuno-papa..."

"Hmm?"

"Do all women get like this when they're pregnant?"

He thought about it for a moment before sighing. "I don't know, Vivio. Nanoha and Fate normally aren't like this... But being pregnant is messing with their minds a bit..."

She blinked, not understanding it.

Yuuno smiled, he didn't get it either. "Don't worry. They don't like the way they act either." He blinked as an idea came to his head. "My clan used to tell me that my mother, when she was going to have me, acted like a little kid on a sugar rush."

Vivio giggled as she thought about that. "A crazy ferret running around and driving everyone insane." She could just see a small yellow ferret running around people's feet and causing them to fall over.

Yuuno groaned, he KNEW that he should never have shown Vivio his animal form.

But then again, said animal form had helped plenty of times in the past; and quite a number of times in the present actually, now with Nanoha and Fate acting the way they were.

Which reminded him of his current dilemma.

"Yuuno-papa?"

Yuuno sighed and looked back down at Vivio with a smile. "If Erio and Caro call and ask, just tell them I'm going out to find Fate and Nanoha."

Vivio frowned. "Are you sure? I could ask Aunt Hayate..."

Yuuno shook his head; Hayate was having way too much fun teasing the trio as it was.

"I'll be fine. I'm a good defensive mage, remember?" Yuuno smiled.

Vivio pouted, seeming unconvinced. "All right..."

(---)

If there was one thing Yuuno was grateful for, it was that Nanoha and Fate never seperated when they were searching for something to eat. The pair always stayed together, which made finding them a much easier task since one was never far from the other.

Not for the first time, Yuuno wondered if quite possibly Nanoha and Fate were pregnant with twins. He didn't know enough about babies and pregnancy to know himself, and the two weren't far enough along yet where any scan could be made. But the way they acted sometimes made him wonder...

Actually, that reminded him. Shiro and Momoko were still putting heat on the three to get married.

After talking about it, the trio had agreed that they wanted to get married if they could; but with the girls pregnant, it would make things harder. They'd decided to wait until after the births, but sometimes Nanoha's family still rumbled.

...

Well, except for Miyuki. Miyuki just seemed amused by the whole situation, and visited Mid-Childa quite often to keep an eye on her little sister.

Yuuno sighed as he caught site of his lovers walking, chatting calmly and eating ice cream, Thank goodness, something normal! he thought to himself, before he noticed the three bags on both of their arms. He had a feeling that he was going to need to call up Hayate to cook tonight.

"Yuuno-kun..." Nanoha smiled and ran up to him, hugging him, and being careful not to spill her icecream. "Fate-chan and I... We were wondering if maybe you could cook some lasagna..." She kissed him on the lips softly. "I haven't had any good pasta dishes like this in so long that I..."

Yuuno chuckled and nodded at her. "Sure thing, Nanoha." Yep, he was going to need to get some help with this.

His face was turned and another kiss was planted on his lips as Fate let him know that she was grateful for the request as well.

Yuuno, for his part was just thankful that they were in a good mood. He loved them to death, he just wished that their hormones wouldn't go so out of control like they did at times.

"Vivio was asking for you." It seemed safe enough to say, since they were in a good mood. "She was worried when you two disappeared."

Nanoha frowned. "I told her we were going out."

Yuuno shrugged. "Yeah, well, she worries. You know how she is. She's excited about becoming a big sister."

The thought of it made Fate smile as she walked on Yuuno's other side. Vivio wasn't the only one; Caro and Erio were both eager to test their older sibling muscles.

Shaking her head, Nanoha smiled softly. "Really?" She rubbed her belly lightly. "I'm actually really nervous. It's one thing to adopt a child who can walk and talk, it's another thing to raise a child from birth."

"Especially one you give birth to..." Fate said softly. She was always looking at baby books, trying to figure out what names to give her children, clothes, and other things to look at. Signum had joked that since she was such a worry-wart that she would probably either smother her children with kindness or spoil them. Truth be told, the blond was worried she would do just that.

Yuuno was a little worried himself, mostly because he wasn't sure if he could handle raising children from being babies. Hell, he hardly saw his clan when he was little and they helped raise him. It didn't help that he had been an archeologist at age nine after all.

Nanoha smiled. "You know, if worse comes to worse I can always go to Mom or Shinobu-san for advice. They both have plenty to say on the subject."

At that, Fate laughed.

"Same here. Mom has been talking my ears off about stories of Chrono as a baby." And since many of those stories had potential blackmail information, Fate made sure to store all of it away. "Amy-san, too, especially since she went and had twins."

Yuuno chuckled and wrapped an arm around both of their waists, hugging them to him. "Well, there is one good thing about this..." The two looked at him, blinking in confusion. "At least we have a chance to raise children that won't need to go through the same hardships that we all did." He didn't need to mention that all of their closest friends had suffered abuse or neglect in one form or another.

Nanoha smiled as she finished off her ice cream and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Yeah..." She sighed happily.

Fate was silent as she ate on her ice cream. It was the reason that she took to adopting strays after all, to help spare them the pain she had felt as a child, or at the very least, lessen the pain that they felt. She never wanted any child, especially her own, to go through something like that, ever.

Betrayal by her first mother was still hard on her when she thought about it.

Fate blinked as Nanoha leaned over and gently flicked her nose. "Hey," she muttered, rubbing at it with her hand. "What was that for?"

"You're thinking again." Nanoha's voice was amused, but her eyes were gentle. "You promised you wouldn't."

"Just like you promise to take it easy?" She shot back, her eyes narrowing playfully.

"Hey, I'll have you know that I haven't done anything more strenuous than lifting heavy bags of groceries." Nanoha giggled at Fate and Yuuno's look. "What? I've cut back on any training I give and Shamal won't let me go near the training field without supervision anyway." She grumbled at that. She wasn't going to endanger her baby that way.

Well, she MIGHT have, if Lindy hadn't sat her down and talked to her at length about how her Linker Core was linked to her baby's now. The resulting talk about pushing herself and the after-effects that would have on her baby. The details, pictures and testimonies that she had read had left her sick to her stomach and both green and pale.

Quite honestly, Nanoha would have rather faced down an army of flesh-eating demons than deal with the knowledge that she could seriously harm her baby by pushing herself too hard.

"So she says," Fate murmured.

"Hey! I've been good!"

Yuuno sighed. "All right, all right, you two," he teased gently. "Leave each other alone. You both made promises and you'll both keep them, okay?"

They pouted but nodded. "Fine..." They sighed out.

"Now, now, don't be like that... How about after supper tonight I give you two..." He loved the look of anticipation on their faces. "A good massage?" The way their faces lit up as they got close to their home was just beautiful.

Plus it gave him an excuse to feel their bodies all over. Well, fondle their bodies would've been a better way to put it, plus they were always so cuddly afterwords.

(---)

Peeking out the window, Vivio saw them first. "They're back!" she called.

Erio and Caro both stuck their heads out from the kitchen. "Does Yuuno-kun look like he's in one piece?" Erio asked.

"Mmn." Vivio nodded. "Actually, they seem pretty happy."

"Happy is good. Happy is very, very good."

Caro punched Erio in the shoulder lightly. "They aren't that bad all the time. Vivio?" She blinked as Vivio ran to the door.

"Nanoha-mama and Fate-mama have grocery bags, I'm going to help put them away."

The Knight and Summoner looked at each other, shrugged and went to help as well. Besides, they had both heard Nanoha and Fate complain about their feet hurting in the past, who knew how long they were on their feet this time?

"Vivio!" Nanoha smiled as her daughter took her bags. "Have you been a good girl?"

"Yeah!" Grinning, Vivio adjusted her grip on the bags as Erio and Caro ran outside. "Erio-nii and Caro-nee came over a little while ago, and we've been hanging out."

"Hey, Fate-san." Erio easily took her groceries as well. Fate frowned; she hadn't known her children would be coming over to visit.

Caro studied the two women for a moment before she nodded, satisfied. "You look good," she said, and smirked. "Plus, Yuuno-san is still in one piece."

"Hey," Yuuno muttered.

Hearing Fate and Nanoha laugh lightly caused Vivio to giggle.

As they stepped inside, Fate looked at Caro, who fidgeted slightly. "Why didn't you tell me that you were going to be visiting?"

"It was just a spur of the moment thing. We were in town and thought it would be nice to spend the night. We didn't think you'd mind..."

Fate smiled softly and hugged her. "Of course I don't mind. If I had known, I would have picked up more groceries for lasagna tonight."

The pink haired girl hugged her surrogate mother back and sighed happily. "I wish we could stay longer, but we have to be going by noon tomorrow."

Fate nodded, she knew how it went. "Don't worry, I'm just glad to see you two again."

"They're even happier to see Yuuno-papa return in one piece," Vivio quipped, giggling.

Yuuno groaned.

"Why is it everyone seems to think I can't protect myself?"

Nanoha giggled as she and Erio put groceries up and away. "It's not your fault, Yuuno, but you were holed up in that library for so long and Fate-chan and I were out on the field."

Yuuno chuckled and shook his head. "I deserved that one..." He muttered as he went about starting up supper. Thanks to Vivio and Caro, he managed to get Fate and Nanoha into the living room to sit down and relax, talk and play games with the two younger girls. So far there hadn't been any yelling, other than cheers of joy and laughter, so it seemed that all was good in there.

"Hey, Yuuno-san?" Erio spoke up.

"Hmm?"

"I've been trying a new spell out, but it's not working right, can you help me with it after supper?" He asked as he finished up some of the vegetables in the sink.

He smiled at the boy. "Sure, but we can't take too long."

"Why?"

"I promised to give those two a massage after supper."

Erio blinked and nodded. "Oh."

"So, how's Lutecia? She's still on the planet that you and Caro are on, isn't she?"

"She's doing fine." Erio continued to focus on the vegetables. "Been in an oddly good mood lately, though. We can't figure out why."

Yuuno smiled lightly. "That's good." He then chuckled lightly. "Maybe she found a special friend?"

Erio chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, maybe..." He went back to cutting up the vegetables. "Hey, Yuuno-san?"

"Hmm?"

"Ah... Um..." Erio stammered slightly as his face flushed in embarrassment. "Did you ever think that you'd... End up in this situation?"

Yuuno blinked. "Situation?"

"Well, you know..." Erio's blush became red enough to rival his hair. "You're with Nanoha-san, but you're also with Fate-san. Did you... did you ever think it would turn out this way?"

Yuuno thought about it for a moment before checking to make sure his two female lovers were nowhere within hearing distance; if they heard what he was about to say, they'd get mad.

Thankfully, they were occupied with Caro and Vivio, so he could say it.

"Honestly?" He shrugged. "I thought I'd die of old age, alone."

Erio blinked in surprised. "What? Really?"

Yuuno sighed and nodded. "Yeah... I didn't have many prospects at the library, most of my female visitors were either familiars or little girls. Plus Nanoha and Fate were practically joined at the hip... I couldn't bring myself to try and get between them."

"But, you seem so happy with Nanoha-san and Fate-san..."

He smiled lightly as he flipped some of the meat in the frying pan over. "I am happy with them, but they were so close to each other and happy that I couldn't bring myself to try anything. I guess I thought that they were lovers without really knowing anything."

"But..."

"No one else in my heart was as close as those two were." He shook his head. "I guess I'm a slightly romantic fool..."

"Yuuno..." Fate's voice interrupted his speaking as two arms slipped around his waist from behind. She was silent as she held her male lover, her head resting against his as she cuddled against him lightly.

"Fate?"

"I come out to get some water and hear you saying you're a romantic fool... I wouldn't like you as much if you weren't." She kissed him on the cheek, causing him to turn his head and get kissed on the lips softly.

Erio smiled and turned his attention back to his task, giving the pair some privacy. After several seconds, he slipped another glance over, curious.

"I see what you're doing, Erio." Amused by him, Fate rested her cheek against Yuuno's chest. "Trying to get some visual aid for when you kiss Caro?"

At that, Erio blushed.

Yuuno shook his head and rubbed Fate's back, getting a soft moan in delight from that. "You shouldn't tease him about that."

"Why not? I'll need the practice when our children get older." She said it casually, but it was another reminder, to all of them, that things were changing, and in a big way.

"Um, Fate-san..."

"Yes, Erio?" She looked at him as he smiled at her.

"I know it's early, but... Have you thought about any names?"

Fate smiled softly at him. "Well, I always thought about naming my first daughter Alicia..."

"After your sister?" Yuuno blinked in remembrance. That moment where Precia had rejected Fate had been one of the few times he had wanted to hurt someone badly.

Fate nodded. "She didn't get a chance to grow up... Even if it's not my sister, I want Alicia to have her place in the world."

"Alicia is a beautiful name," Yuuno said after a moment.

Fate smiled slightly, understanding exactly what he was doing. "Yeah, it is," she murmured, leaning against him for a moment. She tilted her head up slightly to look at him. "So, Yuuno..."

"Yes?"

"How badly did you want to hurt my mother when she rejected me?"

Yuuno blinked. "It's that obvious?"

"Your face says everything, love."

He sighed and kissed her on the forehead. "Fate... Let's just say that I went over every offensive use of barriers, chains, binds and teleportation that I could think of in ten minutes."

Erio and Fate both looked at him in confusion and shock.

"What? I did." He didn't need to mention that he had actually done research into the more offensive uses of his kind of magic. It actually scared him that his style of magic could be used so lethally.

After all, teleporting someone into a sun, or a high-powered magic attack, using binds or chains to choke a person until they passed out, or putting a barrier up in front of someone who was moving at super-sonic speeds was a sure-fire way to make them end their life... Or spend the rest of their life in an infirmary.

"Yuuno..?"

Shaking his head to clear it, he smiled at her. "Don't worry, I haven't thought about doing that in a long time."

Fate gave him a look that said that they would be talking about it later.

"I hear talk of offensive spells and barriers," Nanoha called. "What are you three discussing behind my back?"

Erio blinked and looked at Yuuno and Fate, who glanced quickly at each other.

"Nothing important, Nanoha," Fate called back, making a mental note to speak to Chrono later; she had the sneaking suspicion that her brother knew all about the full extent of Yuuno's abilities.

She needed to know just how he intended to use them.

"You better get back to the games." Yuuno smiled and kissed Fate on the lips. "Supper will be ready soon enough."

She smiled at him and nodded. They both knew Nanoha was pushy when she wanted to be.

Erio watched as Fate got her water and left. "Yuuno-san..."

"Hmm?" He looked at the boy curiously as they started to wrap up the preparation for the food.

Erio smiled at him. "Thank you."

"Huh?"

"For looking after Fate-san. Caro and I worry about her sometimes. She took us in, took care of us, let us be happy, we just want her to be happy too."

Yuuno laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "You're welcome," he said, "but you shouldn't thank me. I almost messed up. If that night hadn't happened, I would have just left."

Erio looked at him curiously. "Really?"

"Yeah, really." Yuuno nodded. "Fate and Nanoha seemed happy together, and there was..." He paused. "You know about the superiors already, right? I imagine Fate told you."

Erio nodded.

"I was one of their top candidates for... what they wanted from either Nanoha or Fate, they didn't care which." Yuuno scowled at the thought. "I didn't want to be used against them like that, so I thought about leaving."

Erio was quiet for awhile after that as the two of them put the food into the oven. "Do... Do you think that Caro and I would be pressured like that?"

"Maybe..." Yuuno sat down at the table and looked at Erio with a serious expression on his face. "It's not so much that our superiors don't care about us, but it's really because of our jobs."

Erio nodded, he could see that. "Pretty easy to see... Considering what happened in that year..."

"We were lucky at that time, Erio. The higher ups are just worried that we won't get lucky again..."

Erio nodded, but frowned softly. "Doesn't mean that I have to like it."

"No one does." Yuuno sighed. "Come on, let's play some games with the girls, then we can eat and help you with your new technique."

"Thanks." He smiled at the older man.

Hope you all enjoyed that one.

Edit: Actually not sure if I should put this one up on FF.Net.