Disclaimer :: I don't own anything but the story! ^^

Zero's black trench coat billowed in the wind as he walked up the path to the house he grew up for part of his life. Without knocking, he stepped inside, looking up at the sound of small footsteps.

"Daddy!" Ren said happy but calm as Zero easily picked him up. The hunter was still surprised every time he recalled how much Ren resembled his late brother. The pale lavender eyes and silver hair were a dead-giveaway of who his father was. But Ren's carefree but calm personality resembled that of Ichiru greatly.

"Did you eat something?" Zero asked after pressing a kiss to his son's cheek while taking off his shoes.

"No, you told me not to unless it was hot cocoa" Ren said and Zero smiled grimly.

"Good boy" he said and pretended to ignore the crying Kaien on the ground, peeking into the hallway.

"You're so cruel, my son" Kaien cried and Zero clicked with his tongue.

"Don't be so dramatic, Cross. Yuuki told me to come pick something up" he said and Cross got himself back together.

"Yes! I'll go get it right now!" he said, still dramatic, but at least he was not crying anymore.

"No, honestly Ren, did you eat something?" Zero asked and Ren nodded.

"It wasn't too bad. I had mashed potatoes with fish yesterday" he said and Zero smiled.

"Good, as long as you didn't get any stomach ache" he said and Ren shook his head.

"I missed you" he said and Zero caressed the three-year old's cheek with his thumb.

"I know. I missed you too" he said and gently pecked the boy on his forehead.

"How was your mission?" Kaien asked as he returned to the living-room.

"Long, very long. Kaito couldn't stop complaining and went on and on about his new girlfriend. I thought I was going to shoot him if I heard one more word about her, and that was on day three" Zero said and Kaien smiled, knowing that that was a little over a week ago.

"But the night-class is settling in perfectly in Maria Institute and the guardians are two young hunters who are taking this on as training" Zero said and held out his hand for the bag that Kaien handed him.

"That's good! That's really, really good! Aaaah! My hard work finally paid off! The fact that the president himself went personally, must have encouraged them! Give me a hug, my son!" Kaien cried and Zero all but kicked him in the face as the blonde went to tackle him.

"And still, you haven't grown up yet" he muttered as Ren chuckled.

"So, did anything happen?" Zero asked as Kaien straightened up.

"Hmm, there were three attacks, but I didn't even have to go out. Ren took care of them all" the blonde said and Zero looked at his son for an explanation.

"The first attack was a single E, the second one a group of five and the third attack was an aristocrat, but I managed to restrain him until grandpa came" Ren said and Zero gave a hum, fondly ruffling up the silver hair that was only slightly darker than his own.

"Good boy" he praised and felt a little double. Part of him was proud to hear how capable his son was, while the other part was irked at the fact that because of his lineage, he was targeted enough to gain that much skill on his young age.

"Now, you should probably hurry up to Yuuki. When she sent me that message, she sounded a bit off" Kaien said, changing the subject and Zero hummed.

"Thanks for watching him" he said and Kaien smiled.

"Anytime for that little cutie grandson of mine!" he said and Ren blushed at being called cute.

"Don't react, you'll encourage him" Zero said goodheartedly and turned away from the fake-crying chairman as Ren giggled again.

"Is there something wrong with auntie?" Ren asked as Zero pulled on his shoes again putting the toddler down to pull on his black peacoat over his grey pants, light orange T-shirt and black cardigan.

"I don't know. That's what we're going to check out now" Zero said and buttoned up the coat before standing back up. It had been after graduation that Yuuki and Takuma had moved into the Kuran estate, while Kaname was still trying to convince Zero to move to a bigger house, without success.

What a normal house was to Kaname, was a castle to Zero. But both knew it was only a matter of time before Zero would give in. Though Zero was going to keep his foot stiff and demand that he is present for the house hunt to keep Kaname in control from buying something akin to a mediaeval town.

God knew Kaname would be perfectly capable of something like that without batting an eye. As soon as Zero and Ren were within sight of the Kuran front door, it opened to show an inpatient Yuuki.

"What took you so long?!" she asked as she let both silverettes inside.

"Well I'm sorry for not having bat-travel or big butterfly wings to transport me to wherever I want" Zero said sarcastic but Yuuki was not amused as she led them to the sitting room.

"I'm not kidding, Zero. I have a problem" Yuuki said and Zero sat down on the fancy sofa, Ren snuggling up to his side after being parted from his parent for so long. Zero easily took him on his lap and kept an arm around him as Yuuki took the thermos can out of the bag Zero had brought.

"So, what's the problem?" Zero asked and Yuuki came back with three mugs of steaming chocolate milk. Zero was about to refuse when she scoffed at him.

"Who says it's for you?" she asked and placed all three cups in front of her on the table. Zero raised an eyebrow at it as she sighed.

"Yuuki, are you pregnant?" he asked and the brunette's head shot up at him.

"How can you tell?!" she asked and Zero leaned back in the seat.

"If you aren't having cravings, there is no way you can drink three cups of those. And also, I can sense three vampires in the room, excluding myself. One very tiny and still developing, but there" he said as he looked at Yuuki's stomach, which was then covered by her hand.

"Was it the same for you?" she asked and Zero gave a shrug.

"I found out in the dorms when my senses kept tingling and I meditated only to find a heartbeat besides my own. I don't know if it's the same for you" he admitted and Ren turned to look up at his dad.

"You could hear me?" he asked curiously and Zero gave a nod.

"Oh god, what do I do?" Yuuki moaned, bringing the attention back to her as she had already downed half of one of the mugs. Of course, she knew about Zero's sensory skills and was not going to doubt his words. But deciding on what to do after having confirmed the news, was something else.

"Tell Takuma" Zero said and Yuuki looked up at him.

"But he's busy with the council" she said and Zero scoffed.

"So is Kaname, but he makes time to go look for castles that shouldn't even be considered houses. I doubt Takuma won't be able to make time free to listen to three words" he said and Yuuki leaned back.

"What am I going to do?" she groaned and Zero shrugged.

"What do you want to do? Do you want to get rid of it or do you want to keep it?" he asked and Ren flinched as Yuuki's aura lashed out. Zero however, was undisturbed as he rubbed his thumb on Ren's side to settle him down.

"Of course I'm going to keep it, no matter what he says. And if he tells me he doesn't want to, he can kiss my ass and I'll serve him his balls on a platter" she said determined and pulled her aura back.

"Sorry, little Ren" she said as she realized it must have stressed the toddler, who shook his head and leaned back into the comfort of his dad's chest.

"But if I'm going to tell him, I won't just say it. I want the best reaction ever" Yuuki said and turned her now amused and plotting eyes towards her adoptive brother, who was already feeling slightly sorry for Takuma.

"You're going to stay for dinner tonight" Yuuki said and Zero closed his eyes, fearing what was going to come next.

"And then I'll announce it with a cake you're going to help me bake" she said and Zero sighed. Now he really felt sorry for Takuma.

"Yuuki" he said and she hummed.

"Don't cook. You're just as bad as Cross" he said and Ren giggled at Yuuki's scandalized expression that then turned guilty.

"At least let me help then" she said and Zero sighed.

"Fine. If you tell Kaname that we're having dinner here" he said and Yuuki grinned as she immediately sent a butterfly out to tell the news to the two vampires at the council building. The three vampires then retreated into the kitchen.

Under Zero's strict instructions, Yuuki and even Ren were allowed to help prepared a three course dinner. They were completely finished by the time Takuma and Kaname arrived.

"Come here, little Ren" Yuuki said, knowing exactly what was going to happen. Ren walked over to the other room with his aunt right before Kaname walked into the living-room and practically tackled Zero down onto the couch. Zero protested for a few seconds before giving up and wrapping his arms around the pureblood.

"Bloody savage" he grumbled against the brunet's lips, who just growled, dissatisfied the hunter was still able to talk. It took a while before their lips separated, leaving both of them panting as Zero tilted his head back with closed eyes.

"You took too long" Kaname said and Zero snorted.

"Barely. You're just too impatient" he said and they got up again, straightening their clothes and hair.

"It was a week" Kaname said and pulled the hunter against his chest.

"Don't make me wait that long" he said and Zero smiled as he wrapped his arms around the pureblood in return.

"You're more needy than Ren is" he said and the door opened.

"Not true!" Ren disagreed as he pushed himself between his parents, latching onto Zero's leg.

"I missed daddy more that father did" he said and Zero picked him up.

"Is that so?" he said amused and Kaname scoffed.

"Of course not" he said at the same time Ren nodded. Zero turned his head away and bit on his lip to contain his laugh, while in the hallway Yuuki didn't even bother trying. Honestly, a pureblood fighting with his own son to proof who had missed their parent/lover more.

"Whatever. I get daddy alone for tonight" Kaname said as he kissed Ren's forehead before Zero's.

"Nu-uh! I'm sleeping with daddy tonight. Father can take the couch" Ren said as he hugged himself to Zero's neck, who now really was getting in trouble to contain his laugh. Not only did Kaname act like a spoiled little child, Ren turned out to have a daddy-complex, which sounded weird when Zero thought about it like that.

"Alright, alright, that's enough" Zero broke the two up and smiled at Kaname.

"Don't act like a little brat, Kaname" he said and Ren sneered at the pureblood.

"Ren, if you sleep in your own bed tonight, I'll make you waffles tomorrow for breakfast" Zero said as he turned to his son, who immediately put on an innocent face with a soft smile.

"Okay, daddy!" he said and Kaname smiled.

"Yuuki, you're laughing too much" Zero said as he stepped into the hallways, over the brunette's legs as she was half laying on the ground and smacking the wall while she laughed, Takuma next to her trying to contain his own laugh while simultaneously trying to get Yuuki to stop.

"But! It's just too funny!" Yuuki said as she finally stood back up and wiped her tears.

"Yes, yes, so funny. Now, shall we eat, I'm quite hungry" Kaname said as he stepped up behind Zero, wrapping his arm around the hunter's waist. Yuuki got an exited twinkle in her eyes as she practically dragged everyone to the dining room. She served the vegetable soup, which Takuma looked at with a slightly sceptic smile.

"Yuuki, love, did you cook this?" he asked and Zero looked at him.

"No, I did. She and Ren helped" he said and the two in questioned beamed with pride while Takuma and Kaname relaxed. It wasn't that Yuuki was a bad cook, she just had complicated flavor buds. Or at least that was how Takuma put it.

After the soup followed the main of chicken with applesauce and roasted potato. It was something Kaname frowned at, combined with Yuuki's grin and Zero's resigned expression. Of course he knew that Ren, as a baby had loved applesauce as much as he had loved Zero's blood, he still did.

Kaname knew something was up, but didn't utter a single word while Takuma maintained blissfully unaware of the very subtle hints that were being dropped throughout dinner.

"I'll go get the cake" Zero said as he stood up, not trusting Yuuki not to drop it. For a pureblood, she could still be rather clumsy, especially when she was exited or nervous. Now, she was both, which meant it was a disaster waiting to happen, that Zero didn't want to see.

The hunter took the cake out, looking at it before picking up the piping bag and added another line as decoration, careful not to smudge anything. He walked back to the dining room where he put the cake down in front of Takuma.

"You do the honors" Zero said as Yuuki almost bounced off her chair. Takuma drew away from his conversation with Kaname to looked at the white chocolate raspberry layer cake in front of him. He frowned at the decoration.

Not the raspberry frosting stars topped by a fresh raspberry but the red icing that said 1+1=3. Under it, Zero had added the line 'Shit just got real', which Yuuki didn't even know.

"One plus one is three? I thought it was two" Takuma said confused and Kaname froze as he looked at Yuuki, who was gnawing on her lip. Back when Kaname had introduced the newborn Ren to his inner circle, Takuma had been the only one to react normally. But that was different from the current situation.

Besides, Zero wondered how the inner circle would take the news. Kain would probably take it in his own way like with Ren, when he had merely send the newborn a dry look before skillfully catching his fainting cousin, who was still not fully used to Ren to this day but was protective none the less.

Of course, Aidou was worst of them all as he had gotten in Shiki's face like the mother-hen he was because Shiki had poked Ren's cheeks. Afterwards, Shiki and Rima had merely blankly stared at the newborn, which had unnerved Zero.

But at the same time, Zero couldn't deny that those reactions had been completely within his realm of expectations. He jest wondered how Yuki would react to their reactions.

"Shi- just got real? What does that mea-" the blonde started but stopped as he fixed the brunette next to him with a blank stare while Yuuki looked at Zero.

"Did you have to add that?" she asked and Zero bit on the inside of his lip not to laugh at Takuma's blank stare.

"Seriously?" Takuma asked and Yuuki looked back at him before nodding. A smile, half-disbelieve and half-shock, spread on the nobles face while Kaname looked at Yuuki for any signs of pregnancy he had missed before. Apparently, he was really bad at picking up on those things.

"Takuma, do you want me to rub your balls and congratulate you or are you going to cut the cake" Zero said dry and Takuma looked at him.

"No! I'll cut the cake" Takuma said and turned back to Yuuki.

"You're serious?" he asked again and Yuuki once again nodded.

"We're expecting a child?" he asked and Zero's lip twitched.

"Nah, it might be an alien or a velociraptor. But we are expecting cake on our plate" Zero said dry but with amusement twinkling in his eyes as Kaname looked away with a smile.

"Zero!" Yuuki said scolding and Zero chuckled.

"Sorry, I just couldn't pass it up. Take your time, I'll cut the cake, since Takuma's hands are shaking too hard" he said and stood back up. Soon, everyone had a piece of cake, but Takuma had barely any eye for it as he stared lovingly at Yuuki.

"Zero, I've got a question" Yuuki said as she turned to Zero before the Kiryuu-Kuran family left.

"What is it?" Zero asked as Kaname dressed a sleepy Ren.

"Does childbirth hurt?" Yuuki asked and Zero looked at her.

"Do you want an honest answer or a cryptic one?" he asked serious and Yuuki frowned.

"I don't know… just give it to me straight and then sooth it" she said and Kaname and Takuma raised an eyebrow at this.

"It's almost literally the worst pain anyone can endure in his whole life. I had no pain-killers or anything, but it was manageable thought I thought I was going to scream at times" Zero said bluntly and Yuuki paled slightly so Zero smiled a very mysterious, cryptic smile.

"But in the end, it's all worth it" he soothed and Yuuki looked slightly relieved.

"Can I come to you if I need you?" she asked and Zero scoffed as he ruffled her hair.

"I'm not an expert since every person carries differently, but that is something you don't even have to ask, idiot. You can come to me whenever for whatever" he said and she smiled as she wrapped her arms around his waist, his arms automatically wrapping around her shoulders.

"Thank you, Zero" she said and Zero hummed.

"Just make sure to eat" he said and she smiled as she stepped away.

"You sure you don't want me to rub your balls and congratulate you?" Zero asked Takuma as he stepped outside the door.

"No, thank you" Takuma said resolutely and Kaname looked at Zero.

"You seem pretty eager to rub balls tonight. Why don't you rub mine?" he asked and Yuuki and Takuma were slightly shocked by the bluntness of the pureblood that was no-doubt influenced by his crude lover.

"I won't be rubbing your balls, Kaname, I'll be draining them" Zero said, glad that Ren was deep asleep with his head on Kaname's shoulder. Enough of the lewd display and words, Yuuki quickly closed the door with an exclamation of 'Noo!' before anything more could be seen or said.

Zero and Kaname smirked at each other as Kaname grasped Zero's hand before bats surrounded them, taking them back to their apartment. Kaname went to put Ren in bed as Zero went to take a shower, wanting to wash away the grime of his mission. As he undressed, he noticed a shimmer at his hand and frowned. On his ring finger was a gold classic yet subtle signet ring with the Kuran family crest on it.

"When did he?" Zero breathed and felt arms sneak around his waist.

"When we were on our way here" Kaname said and Zero turned his head to look at the pureblood.

"You didn't notice anything the whole time during dinner, did you?" the pureblood asked as he rested his hand on top of Zero's meaningfully. The hunter looked down to find the same ring, but bearing another crest.

"I hope you don't mind I used it" Kaname said as Zero stared at his own family crest on Kaname's ring. He had even forgotten his family had had a crest like that until he recognized it.

"No, I don't mind" Zero said soft as he leaned back into Kaname's chest. It was the next morning that Zero, exhausted as he was, noticed the light shimmer at Ren's neck. He stopped singing, confusing Ren who had been happily singing along.

"Did Kaname give you something?" Zero asked as he put the plate full of freshly baked waffles drenched in maple syrup in front of the toddler.

"Hmm? I only woke up with this around my neck? Did father give it to me?" Ren asked as he pulled up a necklace. From a golden chain dangled a clear crystal drop pendant with both family crests marked into it, overlapping when looking at it directly.

"Do you like it?" Zero asked fondly and Ren nodded eagerly.

"I like it a lot, but knives would have been more useful" he said and Zero smiled as he leaned down to kiss the top of his son's head.

"Then take really good care of it, okay? I'll buy you a new set of knives for your birthday if aunt Seiran doesn't already" he said and Ren nodded as he clutched the drop in his hand. Zero walked into the main-bedroom and hovered over his lover.

"Kaname, wake up, love" Zero said soft before connecting their lips. In his slowly awakening state, Kaname frowned yet pressed back as he blinked his eyes open.

"Good morning" Zero said as he pulled back to smile at the pureblood, who covered his eyes as if the hunter was too blinding.

"I smell waffles" Kaname said as he sat up, pulling a pliant Zero with him.

"Hmm, I promised Ren after all" the hunter said and pocked Kaname's bare side.

"Now get up before I'm eating your share" he said and Kaname hummed, kissing Zero's temple. Kaname stood up to go to the bathroom and Zero stopped him in the door-opening by calling his name, making him look back.

"I love you" Zero said and this time Kaname was the one to blush.

"I love you too" he said none the less before closing the door behind him. Zero chuckled in mirth at the color on Kaname's face as he went back to the living room. It was so much more fun being on the other side of a blush.

Arigatou gozaimasu, for everything up until now!

Your reviews never failed to bring a smile to my face!