"Congratulations, you're pregnant!"

Nodame tilted her head to the side, her eyes glazing over in shock.

"Uhm…Ms. Noda?"

Nodame's brain rewound to morning. She'd been vomiting and complaining about headaches all week. Before sending her to the doctor, Shinichi accused her of not taking good care of herself. He assumed her terrible cooking had finally gotten to her. "I can't leave you alone for a second. Just let me do all the cooking as usual before you kill yourself, IDIOT!"

"It wasn't the food! Nodame curry has always supported Nodame through thick and thin!"

Before she could list off the many examples of Nodame curry's magical powers, a wave of nausea struck her once again, causing her to keel over.

"Just go to the doctor, already. Obviously your antacids aren't strong enough. Do you remember the Nodame curry incident? Do you remember what happened to Tanya?!"

"But Nodame has to practice! I have the concert with Maestro Landon in a month, and-"

"All the more reason for you to take care of this quickly!"

"Shinichi-kun," she said, suddenly turning on her weirdo, Nodame charm. "Will you come with me?"

He sighed. "Sorry, but not today. You know I have to meet with Elise to discuss the terms for my next contract."

Nodame grimaced. That sounded way more unpleasant than going to the doctor's office. She patted him on the head. "I am sorry that I cannot support you in your time of need, Senpai."

He slumped over. Now she was the one pitying him.

"It shouldn't be a big deal. Their management methods are…mercurial. But they are good at promoting their artists and they have amazing connections. And I guess if I ever get into a legal bind, they have enough practice with Stressemann that they could get me out of it. I just want a little more control over my schedule. The least they could do is ask for my approval before agreeing to jobs. I've been with them for more than 5 years now, so it shouldn't be that hard to negotia-" A horrible chill ran up his spine. He had a brief flashback to the time they had forced him to sign his first contract.

"It's not as if this is the first time I've renewed my contract before. I'm sure this time-"

He remembered the time they forced him to sign his second contract. Elise had a head contraption that time.

"I don't want to go to this meeting. Maybe I should go with you to the doctor afterall…"

Nodame switched to her "Good housewife" voice. "Senpai, it's ok, it's ok. I am sure you will not die this time. Nodame can go to the doctor by herself and take care of this weird stomach bug that is definitely not because of Nodame curry."

"Ms. Noda?"

Nodame snapped back into the present reality. She still had enough sense to high-five herself mentally – Nodame curry hadn't been the culprit after all, and Shinichi had been 100%, completely wrong. But she couldn't have guessed this outcome.

"Ms. Noda, could it be that this was a very…unexpected pregnancy? Are you married or in a relationship?"

"I guess we're basically married. Though we don't live together because we're both too noisy," she said hazily, her mind in a fog. They weren't actually married yet. They had postponed their August wedding plans in favor of next year because of her issues with the Rachmaninoff concerto.

"What type of birth control do you use?"

"Gyabo…." Right. Birth control. They had just switched to the pill last year. She had been battling with Rachmaninoff for quite some time. Had she skipped a pill? Usually Shinichi reminded her, but there was that weekend he conducted in Beijing. They both hit isolation mode quite hard that weekend. When he came back Nodame was pretty sure she had attacked him. When was that? A month ago? A bit longer? She knew her period was late, but she had assumed it was stress.

The door opened. A nurse peaked her head in, "Dr. Dubois, Dr. Martin needs your opinion on something. It'll be very quick."

Dr. Dubois nodded. "I'm sorry, Ms. Noda. If you will please excuse me, I'll be back in a few minutes. If you'd like, I suggest you take the time to make whatever necessary phone calls, and then we can discuss what your next steps are."

Nodame nodded. The doctor left.

Now she was alone.

She needed to call Shinichi, but he was in a meeting with Elise. She doubted Elise would let him pick up the phone in the middle of a meeting, or rather, a torture session. Who else should she call? Her mother? It was 8 at night in Japan. They were probably watching Grandma's favorite drama right now. No need to interrupt them. Did she know anyone with babies?

A baby. Hers and Shinichi's baby…

She had been so surprised by the news, that she hadn't had the time to process what it meant. She'd always dreamt of being a proper housewife, and she always liked kids, but somehow she had never thought of having children of her own. Did she want a daughter or a son? A daughter would be fun too, but a son…would be like a little Shinichi!

Suddenly her entire body welled up with joy.

The doctor returned. "So Ms. Noda, what are your thoughts? Did you get a chance to talk with the fa-" He stopped midsentence, sensing a strange aura surging out of his patient. It was somehow joyous and menacing at the same time.

"Nodame has never been pregnant before…what do I need to know? How do I take care of the baby? Is there a way to make sure it's more like it's father? What do babies eat? What do I eat? Is there a ceremony we need to do to ensure the baby's safety?"

The questions poured out like a barrage of missiles. The doctor was used to new mothers asking many questions, but not quite in such a fashion. It seemed like she was ready for battle.

"Ok, ok!" He shouted, in spite of himself. She stopped, breathless and anxious for his answers. "Let's take this one step at a time…"

"How did this happen again?"

Shinichi was curled up in a ball on the bed at Nodame's apartment. He had been naïve enough to believe he could at least get Elise to change his contract so that the company would have to get his verbal or written agreement first before committing him to jobs. No such luck. Her methods had become more terrible. More effective. More efficient. He cracked in minutes. He was now obligated to the same management company with the same contract for another three years.

He was so exhausted, he should have gone directly to his apartment instead, but somehow he gravitated to Nodame's place. He checked himself – most likely he wanted a little bit of comfort. He could at least listen to her practice a bit while he cooked lunch. He could also make sure she had really gone to the doctor's office instead of sneaking off to the local piano studio like the time she was supposed to go to the dentist. Once she was submerged in a piece, it was almost impossible to pull her out. All responsibility to herself, to him, and to others completely fell away.

In a perverse way, he loved that about her. She had grown a lot and had come to love music as much as he did, if not more. Sometimes it scared him how she could immerse herself in the music once she finally "shook hands" (as she put it) with the notes. Music had become their lives. Maybe it had always been that way. After all, it's what brought them together in the first place.

The sound of the door slamming wide open shook him from his reverie. Stomping, thrashing, stomping. Things clattering to the ground. It sounded like a home invasion. But of course Shinichi knew better.

"NODAME!"

"I'M BUSY!"

Busy?! Busy with what? He pulled himself up and though his better judgment told him to stay in bed, he dragged himself to the living room. There he found Nodame scrambling all over the apartment, throwing objects this way and that.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! I JUST CLEANED LAST NIGHT!"

"IT'S NOT SAFE HERE!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOT SAFE, YOU WEIRDO?!"

The more objects she picked up and threw, the more desperate she became. Wait - was it desperation? Or was it…preparing for war? She had a blazing fire in her eyes that was usually only reserved for her rage at Shinichi. Did he forget something important? Was she really that mad he couldn't go with her to the doctor's? The weirdo forest he thought he had clearly mapped out grew in size.

"Ok, ok, ok. Calm down!" He was able to grab her by the shoulders and pin her on to the couch. "What is going on?"

She looked at him, stunned that he had stopped her. But she quickly regained her drive and wriggled out from his grasp.

"I need to baby-proof our apartment!"

"What?"

"I NEED TO KEEP THE BABY SAFE!"

"Are we having a guest over? Is someone coming with a baby?"

She ignored him once again and proceeded to open and rummage through all of the drawers of the apartment in search of something.

"Hey, hey, HEY! What are you looking for?" He grabbed her by the shirt collar this time and pulled her face to his so that he could properly confront her.

"ELECTRIC SOCKET PROTECTORS!"

"WHAT. IS. YOUR. PROBLEM?!"

"WE ONLY HAVE NINE MONTHS!"

…What...?

"Speak clearly! What's going on?!"

"ANOTHER SHINICHI IS COMING!"

And then it clicked. The nausea. The vomiting. Baby-proofing. Nine months. Another Shinichi.

As soon as the lightbulb went off, Shinichi collapsed.

"Ah…Senpai. Foam is coming out of your mouth…"

Shinichi woke up, tighly tucked into the covers of Nodame's bed. He felt like a sushi roll with a horrific hangover. The memories of what had happened before he passed out came back to him. Maybe it was all a dream? He walked towards the living room to find all of the objects Nodame had thrown about arranged in a kind of neat pile behind the couch. Nope. Not a dream.

He walked into the study and found Nodame at the desk. Her strange, energetic rage had morphed into smooth concentration. She was looking over the Rachmaninoff score, her lips pursed as she quietly hummed the orchestra themes that would accompany her piano playing. He admired her fondly for a bit, then remembered that he was looking at the mother of his baby.

A baby? They didn't even have time to get married. How were they going find the time to raise a kid? What about their careers? How was this going to work?

He walked wordlessly towards the balcony and slid the door open. The balcony looked out into the courtyard of the apartment building. It was calm. Quiet. He took a deep breath and sighed.

Poor thing. It wasn't even born yet, and the father already pitied it. A pang of guilt hit him as he realized that the normal reaction to a pregnancy announcement was supposed to be resounding happiness. Maybe tears of joy.

He didn't want to be a half-hearted parent like his dad. Even though they were in each other's lives now, the sarcastic ribbing and occasional late night talks about music didn't quite make up for his absence during his childhood. But would they be able to do any better? At least his mother had the flexibility to take care of Shinichi and work around her schedule. He and Nodame would both have rehearsals scattered throughout the year, forcing them to work irregular hours. They'd be flying from city to city, there would be late night engagements, not to mention Nodame's total abandonment of all society when she was in practice mode.

We're both too obsessed with music. There's no room for a child in our lives.

He heard a rustling behind him. He peered over his shoulder and saw Nodame moving from the desk to the piano. It was time to practice again. She still had a lot of work to do on the third movement.

She pursed her lips and raised her hands, poised to go full speed on the finale, but then she halted herself. She also peered over at Shinichi, alone on the balcony. Their eyes met. Hers glowed a bit - or was it Shinichi's imagination?

And then she gently placed her fingers on the piano keys.

The sounds that rang out were not the dazzling triplets that opened the third movement of Rachmaninoff's concerto, but Mozart's playful Twinkle Twinkle Little Star variations.

It's been a while since she's played this...

The notes were round and clear - playful, but gentle. Just like at her first recital. He could just picture her in her Mozart getup, her hands waltzing on the keys, as if she were Mozart himself. But this was a bit unusal of her. When she was this deep in a concert piece, she usually ignored all other music. Was she trying to show him something? That she could look beyond the music in front of her?

Megumi...this isn't the same as music.

But still...he couldn't help but get swept up. He saw what she was doing. She played each variation more and more quietly, as if it was a lullaby. He saw her pretending to play carefully, as if there was an actual child slowly falling asleep next to her on the piano bench. Even though this wasn't the way Mozart intended it to be played at all, Nodame made it feel right. Somehow it felt like maybe it was always supposed to be played this way.

She had a tendency to do that still. He still remembered the reviews of her last performance with the Berlin Philharmonic - most were positive, but one of the critics wasn't so keen. "Ms. Noda's concert went beyond 'interpretation' - this is someone else's music! Does she think she's better than Beethoven?"

Even Shinichi didn't always agree with her interpreative choices when she was practicing. But on concert night, she always ended up convincing him. When she stood up for the appluase, she'd bow quickly and raise her head up again higher than before, her eyes shimmering, as if to say, "I am Nodame, and this is what classical music always has been and should be now!"

And here she was again. Convincing him.

Our own interpretation...

He wasn't his father. Shinichi was Shinichi. Nodame was Nodame. They were the golden couple. If Shinichi could manage the weirdo forest for all this time, surely he could manage a mini version. He laughed a little. When she got home, she already wanted to baby proof the apartment. Wasn't it a little early for that? Then again, with the way their lives were, they probably did need a head start.

The first thing we should start on is her diet...

Nodame exhaled, pleased. Her heart felt like it was squeezing itself - or maybe the baby was hugging it already? Was that possible? She looked out at the balcony again. Shinichi was looking at his phone. Had she gotten through to him?

She waited intently, panting like a dog waiting for its master to play with it. Shinichi looked up and rolled his eyes.

"All right, already. I get it."

He walked back in and closed the balcony door behind him.

"Look. This doesn't sound romantic, but let's just do the paperwork and get married."

Nodame looked up at him, her eyes blank.

"We don't need to make a big fuss about it. We've been together for years already. Let's just do it casually like we've always done it. It'll be easier if we're married when the baby comes, right? I already found an appointment at the town hall."

Again, silence from Nodame. Shinichi took that as permission to present his own battle plan.

"After the concert with Landon, we have to talk with Elise to make sure you don't have any engagements around your time of delivery. Let's say at least 3 months before? And then maybe a year after. I'll also try to take some time off, but one of us has to be working. I'm not saying you should take a total break from your career, but when the baby is very young, it's better if you're with it. We can try a nanny when it's old enough. Or maybe we can talk with my mother – she is retiring soon, and she'd probably love to help out. We should also move in together, maybe move out of the city. I know we like the convenience, but with a kid it's a bit too tight budget-wise. We have some money, but I don't think we can afford an apartment in the city large enough for the two of us if we both want to study music and practice at the same time, unless we get a place with multiple sound proof rooms. But maybe we can move to the countryside, or maybe a suburb. We should also get another car, in that case, so both of us can get around independently. It's a good thing I forced you to get your license last year. We should also think about-"

"SENPAI!"

Before he realized it, she attacked him with a hug. She was shaking.

"I'm…scared."

He hugged her tightly. "Me too."

"But…" she looked up at him smiling, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm also excited. I want to meet this child, even if it's not a little Shinichi. A little Nodame would also be fun, right?"

"I don't know if I can handle two of you. But I'll do my best not to die in the process."

"Oh Shinichi-kun, you're going to be such a funny father," she giggled.

"I'm dead serious. With you I'm already at my limit!"

She hugged him even more tightly.

"Ugh, Megumi. You're suffocating me..."

"Nope. I need to make sure you feel the baby's hug too."

He stopped himself from telling her that the baby probably didn't have arms long enough to hug yet.