A/N: Here we go! It's the prologue to the third section of the neko story! It's a little short, but it's a prologue. ;) I plan to post new chapters of this story once a month, on the third Thursday of the month. Anyway, as you've all probably guessed, it's been about a year since the epilogue of "A Second Neko"...

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~Prologue~

Just like the last few mornings, I was woken by the feeling of nausea building inside me, and I had to hurriedly stumble to the bathroom before I lost what was left of my dinner somewhere where I'd have to clean it up.

It was the fifth morning in a row of vomiting like that, and that could only mean one thing. Two or three days was easily explainable as the flu or a stomach bug, but five days meant that there were far fewer other explanations for the vomiting. Which meant that it had worked. I was pregnant.

I was thrilled by that discovery; after all, we had been intentionally trying to get me pregnant. However, now that it had happened, I couldn't help but wonder if this was a good idea. Experiencing morning sickness again was far from pleasant, and it made me feel like I might have been romanticizing my previous pregnancy. It had been nearly five years since then - it was entirely possible that I had only been remembering the good bits when we decided to do this.

But as I threw up again, I knew that that wasn't true. Yes, my first pregnancy had been bad at the time, but it wasn't me romanticizing my memories that made it seem pleasant in the present day. I may have had a hard time with it, but my first pregnancy was a walk in the park compared to Miranda's. And second pregnancies were supposed to be easier than first pregnancies. So even if this pregnancy did end up as difficult as my first, it was nothing I couldn't handle.

"Mommy?"

The softly spoken word pulled me out of my thoughts, and I turned to see Erika standing hesitantly in the doorway. She had just woken up, if her bedhead and pinned back ears were any indication, and she had come looking for me when she couldn't find me in my usual spot. She looked absolutely adorable like that, her oversized sleep shirt slipping off her thin shoulders and her tail still drooping with sleep and trailing almost lifelessly behind her. She was my beautiful little baby, and I wanted to hold her tight and never let go.

I smiled at her, but before I could truly acknowledge her presence, the nausea overwhelmed me and I had to turn back to the toilet. There was no time to be concerned with the ramifications of throwing up in front of my baby.

Erika almost screamed when she saw me vomit. Her voice was shrill and full of panic as she ran to my side. "Mommy? Mommy?! What's wrong?"

I gave her the most reassuring smile I could muster as I ruffled the soft fur of her ear. "I'm just a little sick, sweetheart. I'll feel better in a little bit, and then we'll get you some breakfast, ok?"

While I felt bad about lying to her and not telling her what was really wrong, this was not the appropriate time to be telling her that I was pregnant. She was too freaked out to understand, and I was in no condition to be having a long, drawn out discussion right now. Besides, Yuu would be pissed if I told her while he wasn't around, and that alone was more than enough reason for me to keep my mouth shut.

Erika accepted my lie though, which was especially good given that she had recently figured out that she could tell when people were lying, and she had a tendency to get very upset when she knew that I was lying to her. She knelt down beside me, rubbing circles on my back with her tiny, little hands. The gesture was very sweet, and it was made even sweeter by the knowledge that it was her father's comforting technique that she was mimicking.

And as I vomited yet again, her gentle touch reminded me of why I had intentionally gotten myself pregnant. This wasn't about putting my body through pregnancy again, it was about the end result: another child. I was doing this because I wanted another baby. I had only recently conceived it, and I already desperately loved the baby inside me.

But that thought did little to make me feel better, not when Erika was being so sweet and trying so hard to comfort me. It wasn't fair to her that I already loved this new baby. It wasn't fair that I could love this one within moments of learning that it was inside me, while it had taken months and drastic measures from my friends to get me to care about Eri. Logically, I knew that it wasn't that I didn't love Erika, it was that my pregnancy was so completely unexpected that I just couldn't process that I was having a baby, but thinking logically about it wasn't making me feel any less guilty.

But the guilt was only temporary. As the morning sickness waned and I got myself cleaned up, I began to feel a whole lot better. And as I brushed the tangles out of Eri's long navy hair, I was once again happy and joyful. I loved my little kitten and I loved her younger sibling, and that was all that mattered.