Fanfiction title:Triple threat (Working title)

Fanfiction summary:One is exciting, two is nerve-wracking, but THREE might just be their demise. Because there's just something about pregnancies that makes everyone lose their minds.

Chapter title:Change of Pace.

Chapter number:10/?

A/N: I'm really sorry for the long hiatus but last year after my last update, I started working on an original draft; I've finally decided to give it a go to writing something original and I have been focusing all my attention on it. But, recently, I was feeling stuck on a particular part and was stressing out so I went back to read my fics and felt like writing a new chapter for all of them so here I am. And yes I will go back to my draft after posting this but now I've realized my fanfics are a way for me to relax when I feel overwhelmed with my original WIP and as such, if I feel like this again I will come back with a new chapter.

Well, yeah, if I knew how to write Lemon this chapter would have been just three lemons one after the other but, because I can't write them to save my life; I decided to make some more character study. Next chapter will be just a bit before the ball, there are a few things that need to be addressed before the big party with certain people. I can't say for sure when it'll happen but at least I know what I'll be writing about then. Also I will find more time to keep outlining this to finally get a real number of chapters this story will have.

I'd be happy to hear your opinion on my story with your reviews. Also please remember English is not my first language and I don't have a beta reader so please forgive me for each and every spelling and grammatical mistake you find.

Without further ado, please enjoy!

Chapter 10: Change of Pace

(Eighth Week- Preparation Phase)

.

.

.

The last few days had been interesting to say the least.

They had received all responses to their invitations by now including, surprisingly, Yelshi's who had accepted to come to the party with his brother and uncle. Almost everyone had accepted to come, saving for a few human lands that were too far away but the closest allies were confirmed and Yuuri was thrilled with the news.

Lady Cheri had been picking names for her future granddaughters, claiming she already knew every single baby would be a girl and that finding the perfect names would take her the entirety of the pregnancy. Soldiers and servants alike were already making polls on how many babies would be born per pregnancy and their sexes. Craziest rumor Yuuri had heard was that Wolfram would be having twins –a boy and a girl-, Günter would have triplets –two girls and a boy- and Conrad just one –a boy, to make it even- but the Maou prayed for it to not happen; how could they ever handle six babies at the same time? Although, it was better to have them looking forward to the births than being wary of them.

Of course, magic users in the castle had already figured out who was the other father of Conrad's baby and the place was divided between those who wanted the brunet to end up with Shouri and those who preferred to keep betting on Yozak… Otherwise known as servants versus soldiers and this was a bet the soldiers were confident to win. The last bet going on was on who would go into labor first and which baby would be born first, Yuuri did not want to pay much attention to that last bet; it would make him too anxious.

Finally, the last couple of weeks had been all about making sure the bleeding Gisela warned them about didn't have ill effects on the pregnant males and preparing Shouri and Murata to take care of the kingdom for the eighth week. By last night, everything was ready, so they were now finishing off any job they could until the "hormonal flare" took place and they also needed to figure out if Yozak was going to be having any more missions for the next year.

"Very well, so I want you to go to our known rebel territories around the first trimester of the second phase and once again at the start of the third trimester; if anyone were to attack us it would likely be during those times." Gwendal said, sitting at his desk accompanied by Günter, Yuuri and Yozak "I will be sending a couple of people to other lands but I want you to be on the most suspicious ones; I will have the precise dates for you after the ball when I speak to some of our allies."

"Got it, your Excellency." Yozak said with a nod.

"He'll be back by the babies' births, right?" Yuuri asked worriedly.

"If Conrart's pregnancy goes as expected, Yozak should be back with more than enough time to join us that day."

"I would make sure to be here either way, Bocchan; by any means necessary." The redhead assured and Yuuri believed him.

"Ok, so he'd be gone about five weeks?" The Maou questioned.

"It could be up to eight depending on the situation but, tentatively, yes; five to six weeks total." Gwendal answered with a thoughtful expression but it was a good enough answer for the monarch.

"Great, Shouri will be able to arrange things back on Earth without having to worry about time." Yuuri smiled and turned to Günter "Did you have anything else planned for today, Günter?"

However, Günter didn't seem to be listening, he had his head down with his hair covering his face and hadn't said anything for a while but no-one had asked about it. Now that they took a look at him, he seemed to be acting weird and his folded, shaking hands appeared to be holding a little too tightly to one another. Gwendal rose to his feet immediately and walked to his husband, he leaned closer to him and whispered something into his ear, Günter whispered something back that Yuuri couldn't hear but it made the commander's eyes widen like saucers and lean back.

"Now?!" Gwendal asked shocked and the long-haired advisor only nodded.

"What's wrong?" Yuuri asked scared as Gwendal moved to pick up Günter bridal style.

"Go find Wolfram and Conrart! Now!" And with that, the earth-wielder practically flew out of the room with his spouse, leaving behind a rather bewildered pair who just looked at the open door with befuddled expressions.

Yuuri and Yozak looked at each other silently before the meaning of that order came across and their legs started moving as fast as they could in the direction to Conrad's bedroom where the brunet was supposed to be resting with Wolfram and Shouri. Yozak, having the height advantage, was the first one to get there with Yuuri a couple of meters behind him.

The spy entered the room without knocking and Yuuri barely reached the threshold when his older brother was pushed into him and the door was firmly closed behind them. Shouri scrambled to regain his composure but Yuuri could see the way Shouri's vest was bunched up close to his chest as if he had tried to pull it over his head without untying it.

"Well, that-"

"Shouri, where's Wolfram?" Yuuri interrupted quickly.

"Your friend came by and Wolfram started feeling sick so he offered to take him to your room." That was enough to have Yuuri racing through the hallways with Shouri following after him on mere instinct.

Yuuri reached his room and almost slammed into the door in his haste to get in. He found the blond on their bed writhing and groaning while holding onto Murata's jacket as if it were his lifeline, the Sage was holding Wolfram's wrists tightly, trying to free himself.

"Shibuya! Help me!" Murata called sounding desperate.

Yuuri ran up to the pair and managed to loosen Wolfram's fingers enough for the Sage to break free. The blonde's hands immediately latched onto Yuuri's clothes and pulled, this time to try to get them off the Maou. Yuuri panicked for a moment knowing both his fellow terrestrials were still present and openly staring at them with completely opposite expressions.

"Murata! Stop staring and get out of here!" The King practically screamed while trying to stop Wolfram's advances. The after-mentioned boy chuckled but obliged anyway, walking out of the room and taking a horrified Shouri with him.

The moment the door clicked shut, Wolfram's strength finally beat his and Yuuri decided to just give up; it was going to be one busy week.

"I can't feel my hand."

"Now you're starting to sound like your brother."

Shouri glared at his brother's friend but the younger male just kept writing away with a neutral face although there was an edge of mockery in his words. The older student sighed and rubbed his wrist, trying to alleviate the tension he had accumulated after hours of constant signing. Apparently, because Yuuri and Wolfram and Gwendal and Günter were all out of commission, the work that was usually divided into four parts was now only divided into two and it felt like it.

After the disturbing scene he had witnessed in the royal bedchamber –and the heart attack he almost had when Conrad had clung to him before Yozak pushed him away-, they had gone to inform Gisela that the hormonal flare had started so she could give instructions to the maids regarding the food and beverage they were to take to her patients every day. Shouri could see the disappointment of a lot of the maids when they found out he wasn't staying with Conrad throughout the week, but their disappointment soon turned into determination… According to Lady Celli "They liked the challenge". Shouri didn't even want to know why they still considered him a viable romantic partner for the soldier but Murata told him he shouldn't try to clear things up or it would make everything worse.

Speaking of Lady Celli, she had offered to help them by taking up some of Günter's responsibilities like tending the rose garden, saying "good night" to the horses and doing inventory, leaving the two double-blacks with mostly paperwork which was not the ideal job for Shouri seeing as how he had only mastered about 50 percent of Mazoku written language and it took him far too long to read a document, so, Yuuri's friend had offered an alternative: Shouri would take care of listening to the guards' reports, plan the day's meals, pass over orders from Wolfram, Conrad and Gwendal to their respective divisions as well as to the rest of the soldiers (Which they had left written before their break) and question the various workers in the castle if there was anything they needed for their daily activities and either grant permissions for the workers to buy it themselves or send someone specific himself; while Murata read over all the paperwork and selected those that needed signature or reply. By the time Shouri got to Yuuri's office, he was only expected to sign the filtered documents while Murata took care of the rejected material.

"Why is there so much to sign?" Shouri asked, feeling relieved he was not qualified to do any of Conrad's activities; who knows how much more work would have accumulated had they needed to fill-in for him as well, it all fell on Gwendal's second-in-command instead.

"Need I remind you that you are, not only dealing with the capital, but also with requests from all ten territories?" Murata answered without looking up from whatever he was writing.

"Why do we receive stuff from other territories when they have their nobles to take care of them?"

"Building bridges, houses, hospitals, schools and changing taxes, budgets and wages is not something that can just be passed without the Maou's consent." The younger half-breed answered "Just to name a few of the things your brother has to read over every day."

"And what are you doing then?"

"I'm writing a reply to some blacksmith in Radford territory that asked permission to hunt a dragon to get scales for an armor, kindly reminding him that no; he's not allowed to hunt a protected species."

"Wait, really? He asked to hunt a dragon?"

"People are odd, what can I tell you?"

"Well I can certainly tell you one thing: I suddenly have a newfound respect for Yuu-chan." Shouri admitted with a sigh.

"Don't worry, he's still getting used to it himself; he has his lazy days." Murata assured with a smirk.

Shouri turned around on his brother's desk and saw out the window at the castle personnel going about their usual activities. Despite the maids' insistence, he had been treated as nicely as usual by everyone and hadn't heard any snide comments or actions towards him or Conrad and it helped him with his stress. Even if he wasn't sure of what he wanted yet, he was determined to do the best he could and knowing everyone was supporting him as opposed to criticizing him was comforting and even a little encouraging; he had to keep doing his best effort.

"I'm more convinced now it was a good idea to stay; I feel like I will be of some big help around here."

"Sure."

Shouri frowned, not knowing if that reply was honest or sarcastic but asking would end up in getting teased and decided to keep his mouth shut. It had been three days since this new, temporary routine had started and there were still at least four days to go. At least he would be able to go to Earth afterwards for a couple of days to get his things in order and be back in time for the ball, three days should be enough to get things fixed with his college and with Bob… Oh Bob, how will he react when he finds out his successor is going to be a father? He'd be surprised if he didn't know by now thanks to his mother; he just hoped he would understand his situation and not make it harder for him to take his position.

"Shibuya's older brother, may I ask you something?"

"Um, ok." Shouri wanted to say no but he had to be civil with the younger male for now at least.

"Are you really ready to be a parent?" Ok, he should have said no.

"I don't think that's any of your business."

"I'm serious though." Shouri turned back to his fellow Soukoku and, to his surprise, he did look as serious as he sounded, the document he had been writing left alone on the meeting table he was sitting at "I believe that you are happy for your brother and for Lord von Voltaire but what about your own case? Shibuya pretty much has his life all set for him here but you are still studying and have some way to go to get where you want to be back on Earth."

"I am well aware of my situation, thank you very much." The older male said with a buff "I did think about it a lot, Günter gave me some good advice and I had as much of an honest talk with Conrad as I could when he told me he was pregnant and if you really want to know: No, I don't think I'm ready but I also am willing to try and learn and that's all I can say for the moment."

"Do you think you'll have any regrets?"

"… Probably… but, I was more afraid of the ones I thought on if I didn't make my part and, honestly, the more I know about Conrad's case the better I feel about accepting."

"True, Sir Weller certainly knows how to play his perfected everlasting smile to hide things."

"The same could be said about you, my little brother's best friend." Shouri said with a frown and he only received that annoying smile for which the Sage himself was famous.

"Lighten up, Shibuya's big brother!" His companion said, picking up another letter from his pile "Dinner will be served shortly and then we will only have to work a couple more hours before heading to bed for the day!"

"… Great." And so continued Shouri's freeway to carpal tunnel syndrome, only four more days to go!

The last week had been exhausting!

Honestly, Yuuri could say he was done touching Wolfram for the rest of the year. He was just glad he got half a day and an entire night to rest before going back to work; his consort's hormones had gone down by noon of the day prior and they had both spent the rest of the day relaxing in their room after a long bath, not even going to the dining room for lunch or dinner.

Gwendal was also back to work, apparently, Günter had gone back to normal a little before dinner and had had enough rest throughout the night. Yozak, though, was granted an extra day off since he hadn't been able to catch a break until past midnight and Yuuri felt too sorry for him to deny the permission.

That night, Shouri and Murata would been sent back to Earth and Yuuri would pick them up in 18 days' time so they could be present for the ball. Both were also exhausted from their work but Yuuri and Gwendal made sure to thank them profusely and assure them they had done an excellent job and could do whatever they pleased before leaving. Murata went back to the temple after breakfast while Shouri kept inhaling the books he had brought from earth, Yuuri could admit to himself it made him feel great fondness for his older brother to see him so invested but that was just for him to know. Yuuri also thanked Lady Cheri who assured him it was nothing she hadn't done before; he really appreciated the woman's initiative to lessen the burden on the bespectacled males though, just came to show the woman could still surprise him after ten years of knowing her.

Yuuri and Gwendal decided to take it easy on the paperwork that day, they were both a bit dehydrated despite the quantity of water the maids kept coming their way throughout last week and they also were really sore all over so, just for that day, they wouldn't give much thought to the size of the pile they managed to get done.

Günter and Wolfram though were far more dehydrated, sore and spent so, as Gisela had told them, they would be given a week to get back to full-health but they could get back to work sooner if they felt well enough and as long as the healer allowed it. Conrad, for his part, had obligatory bed-rest for the rest of the week so Yuuri would visit him often to check on him.

"Oi! Yuu-chan!" Yuuri jumped in his seat, almost smearing the ink on the document in front of him when his older brother barged into his office with a frown on his face "Do batteries work here?"

"I make a good battery with Conrad, so-"

"Actual batteries, Yuu-chan." Shouri interrupted him with a roll of his eyes "I mean, if I bring a triple "A" battery to this world, will it work as if I were using it on Earth?"

"Oh, that." Yuuri decided to not complain about the attitude and focused on the question "Well, when I got a new phone I noticed the battery would lower a lot faster here than back home, that's why I don't bring it anymore."

"So regular batteries don't work here." Shouri said pensive.

"Why did you ask, Shouri-sama?" Asked Gwendal with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, one of my books mentions a monitor as a must for a baby so I was wondering if I could bring a few from Earth to use in the nurseries."

"Wait, why are you planning that far ahead already?" Yuuri asked shocked; that conversation was supposed to happen closer to the birthdays, not before the "regular" pregnancy even started.

"It is never too early."

"Sure, you say that now."

"It's still necessary; I doubt I'll be going back to Earth much once the second phase starts so I need to have as much here as I can so we don't have to worry about traveling back and forth so often." Said the older terrestrial.

"Ok, I see your point but still; batteries here could end up being useless."

"Hey, Gwendal; I brought this month's lab budget like you asked me to." Anissina entered the office without warning, not even pretending to knock on the open door "Ah, both Maou-Heika in the room. Something wrong?"

"No, we were just discussing how to get a baby monitor for the nurseries." Shouri answered.

"What is that?"

"It's a communication device to hear the babies from far away."

"Wait, Shouri-"

"Really? That sounds interesting." Yuuri saw with terror how the inventor's eyes glinted dangerously; he was too late "Would you mind telling me more about them?"

"You are not going to put one of your hazardous experiments anywhere near the newborns, Anissina." Gwendal spoke firmly, rising from his chair "We will figure something out when we get closer to the date but I am not trusting you with something as delicate as this."

"Come on, Gwendal! I will make them perfect, I promise; I will dedicate every single day to test them until they are infallible!" The female said, standing proud as ever and daring her childhood friend to deny her.

"Who will you be using as test subjects to power these things?" The Voltaire lord asked "Günter is out of question, so is Wolfram. And King Yuuri, Shouri-sama and I have to be healthy throughout the whole year; we cannot risk some invention of yours exploding and hurting us."

"How about this? I will make two prototypes!" Anissina held up two fingers to emphasize her point "The first one will have a mechanical power-up: I will make a crank or something and see how long I can make that work. If that one doesn't work then I will try a Maryoku-based one and have some soldiers be my test subjects."

"It shouldn't be that big of a problem though, these things should fit in your hand to take them with you wherever you go." Shouri said, apparently liking the idea of Anissina making the devices; Yuuri could just attribute his excitement to not being present most of the times the female's experiments left victims or destruction in the Castle… But, then again, how bad could it actually be with such small objects?

"Let's give it a go, Gwendal." Yuuri said, receiving Gwendal's most stern gaze yet "I mean it, we need those monitors and with so much time still left maybe it'll be fine."

"See? Even his Majesty agrees!" Anissina said triumphantly.

Gwendal kept quiet and looked at the three people around him, all giving him expectant stares and Yuuri knew he couldn't deny them anymore.

"Fine but," said Gwendal before anyone could celebrate "if you cause one single injury or destroy any part of the castle then the project is over for you, do you understand it?"

"Don't worry, they'll be flawless as usual." Assured Anissina with a wide smile.

Yuuri had no idea how the woman thought her usual inventions were "flawless" but if she was this confident then it was worth a shot and if she managed to make them work then all the better for them; he just had to trust in her, like he promised himself he always would with everyone he came across.

It had worked so far.

TBC~