*Author's Note: Since DC exists in a floating timeline and I am not aware of a solid date of marriage for Kogoro and Eri's here is the timeline for this story:

Ran is 16-17 years old (same age as Shinichi) and Kogoro is 38, meaning she was born when he was 20-21. Students usually finish college around 21-22 and we know that Kogoro graduated from Beika. Law school takes 4 years pre-law and 3 years of law school as far as I know. This assumes Kogoro and Eri married right after high school. I am not up to date on the timeline so this may be inaccurate. Thanks! Enjoy!

Kogoro sat in a hard metal chair wearing only his ribbed undershirt and boxer shorts. He ruffled through the morning paper while a rattling rusted fan blew hot air around the one room apartment. Eri slept fitfully on a futon a few feet away from him. They hadn't been married for very long and, between Kogoro in his last semester as Beika and Eri still in pre-law classes with three years more of school ahead of her, they were struggling to pay rent for the ramshackle room they were staying in. Dinner usually consisted of meatless broth and weak tea while breakfast was black coffee and cigarettes, like Kogoro had in front of him now.

He stuck the butt of his cigarette into the ashtray, smoke escaping in curls as the ember was extinguished. God, it was so hot. Sweat made his clothes stick to him, made his skin stick to the chair. The heat had been why he'd woken up so early. He had decided to leave Eri as she was. The last few days she'd been complaining of feeling tired. She needed the rest.

The sun was barely coming over the horizon. It would only get hotter as the day wore on. Kogoro wiped the sweat from his brow. He lit another cigarette.

"How can you smoke in this heat?" Eri's voice condemned from the futon. Kogoro looked and saw that she was propped up on one elbow, looking at him. Her dark hair was soaked with sweat and hanging limply around her face. Without her glasses, her blue eyes couldn't quite focus on his face. A few small spots of new acne had appeared across her nose in the last few weeks. She was gorgeous.

"Years of practice, dear." He said grinning. She had been nagging him to stop since he'd started. She rose, wearing only an oversized t-shirt. Kogoro's eyes devoured the curves of her legs and hips as they disappeared under the fabric. She blushed and tugged the hem of her shirt.

"Pervert." She scolded but smiled.

"Not perverted if we're married." He countered, turning back to his paper. "I made coffee, if you want some."

Both of them were barely more than children. They had married young, as soon as they were able. All of their parents had advised against it, with good reason. The two bickered endlessly, they were poor, they were rash but the two stubborn lovers had insisted. Eventually, they got their way. They were living together, playacting adulthood while struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. They were ridiculously happy.

"Yuck, no thank you." She said, making a face.

"Yuck? I thought you liked coffee?" He asked.

"I thought I did too, but lately the smallest sip makes my stomach turn." She answered. Kogoro looked at his young bride. She was pale, dark rings under her eyes. She hadn't been sleeping well. She'd been refusing food, too. He wondered if she were sick.

"You don't look so good," He told her. She scowled at him, flattening her hair.

"Well, you're no prize in the morning either!" She snapped.

"That's not what I meant. I meant you don't look healthy." He stammered, his temper rising. Eri crossed her arms.

"Well, if I look that bad, I suggest you turn your eyes elsewhere." She stormed off towards the bathroom. Kogoro growled. That woman was absolutely infuriating.

The bad mood from their tiff carried through the morning as Kogoro began to get dressed for work. He threw himself out the front door and slammed it behind him.

His mind lingered on the fight all day. They'd been fighting a lot lately, more than their usual bickering and needling. Eri had been restless at night, tossing and turning. He worried that maybe their parents were right, maybe they had rushed into this. Maybe they'd made a mistake. He was ashamed, feeling like he wasn't a good husband. Of course, being hungry and hot all the time didn't do much to improve either of their tempers.

When he returned home, Eri hotly informed him that he could cook his own dinner and turned her back to him. She refused to look at him or speak to him.

"Witch!" He grumbled, rifling through the cabinets. He boiled water and made himself a bowl of broth, barely sprinkled with vegetables. They slept in the futon together, their backs turned to each other.

The next day, Kogoro woke first, his arms having found Eri in the night. He had one arm cast across her waist, his face nuzzled into the back of her neck. He sighed, realizing that no matter what happened, this is how he always ended up. He closed his eyes, ignoring the growing heat between them. This is where he wanted to be more than anything.

Suddenly, Eri sat bolt upright, one hand clutching her stomach and the other over her mouth. Kogoro sat up beside her.

"I feel so nauseous." She said, not looking at him.

"Maybe you should go to the doctor?" Kogoro said, instantly forgetting all the bad feelings that he'd been so sure of the night before. He put one hand to her forehead but didn't feel a fever. He brushed her hair away from her face.

"I think I'll be okay." She said "I'm just so tired."

"Stay home today." He advised. "Get some rest, okay?"

"Okay." Eri said, unusually complacent. She curled back into the bed. Reluctantly, Kogoro rose and got ready for work again. He dressed swiftly and, before he left, kissed her once on the forehead. It wasn't like her to be taken down by an illness. She usually worked through anything. That woman seemed to be made of stone, sometimes. Nothing could break her down.

Eri followed Kogoro's advice that day, walking several miles to the nearest free clinic. She sat politely in the waiting room, her head spinning. Why did she feel so terrible? She didn't have a cough or fever, only this persistent upset stomach and dizzy spells. When it was her turn, they doctor poked and prodded and gave her news she didn't expect.

"Are you sure?" She breathed. The doctor nodded.

"Are you married?" He asked accusingly.

"Of course I am." She replied.

"Then go home. Celebate." He said offhandedly, passing her brochues and literature. She numbly nodded as he gave her additional warnings, instructions and a date for a follow-up exam. She walked home more slowly. She'd heard terrible stories about such accidents. Husbands walking out, demanding the baby be given away or worse. Demanding their wives quit school or work. She laid her hands on her belly. A foreign land to her now. Not her Kogoro, surely. He was many things but not that. He was never cruel to her. Why should he be now?

Still the fear persisted.

Walking home from work, Kogoro dug deep into his pockets and produced a few pennies to buy ginger root. When he was little, his mother used to give him ginger root for an upset stomach. Maybe it would help Eri feel better. Maybe she would take the small gift as his apology. They could have a pleasant dinner together tonght. He carried it home in his pocket. It was dark by the time he unlocked the door to their home.

Eri was sitting in the metal chair, eye closed, letting the fan blow over her face. She was dressed and groomed neatly, as always. Her nose and cheeks were red. He realized that she'd been crying. She held a small book in her hands, resting gently on her lap. She opened her eyes when he walked in, looking at him over the rim of her glasses.

"Eri?" He said "I bought you some ginger maybe that will help your—"

"I'm pregnant." She said evenly, without letting him finish. The floor fell out from beneath Kogoro. He felt as if his heart had stopped beating. She stood and faced his squarely.

"You're…?" He breathed.

"Pregnant." She said again, almost defiantly. In one swift movement, Kogoro approached Eri. She looked up at him, hiding her fear. What would he say now? How would he react?

A smile bloomed over his face.

"Pregnant?" He repeated. Nervously, she returned his grin.

"The doctor says about six weeks." She said. Kogoro grabbed her hand in his.

"Pregnant!" He said loudly, laughing, babbling "You? You've got a little baby inside you? You and me? Eri!" He suddenly crouched in front of her and lifted the bottom of her shirt and addressed her belly button "Hello in there! My name is Kogoro. Nice to meet you!" He plastered her belly with kisses "I love you, in there. I can't wait to meet you."

"Kogoro, stop it." Eri blushed red and pulled him back to his feet. He laid both his hands over her belly. His face was flushed. Tears crept into the corner of his eyes.

"Pregnant." He said again.

"We're going to have a baby, Kogoro." She said, tears falling again down her cheeks. He wrapped her in his long arms, pulling her tight against his chest. They stood together for a long moment, doing nothing more than melting into each other. That night they had dinner together, looking through the information that Eri had been given, and slept wrapped in each others arms.

"This is so embarrassing." Kogoro groaned, hiding behind a newspaper. The two sat together in the waiting room of the free women's clinic.

"You said you wanted to hear the baby's heartbeat." Eri reminded him irritably "Where else did you think that was going to happen?"

Kogoro grumbled to himself and sunk deeper into his chair. Kogoro had the day off from work and had indeed told Eri he'd like to come along and hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. Now, however, being the only surrounded by women in various states of pregnancy he felt very conspicuous. He blushed when he saw the posters that illustrated the fetus' growth within the womb. He wished he'd never asked to come.

Eri was called back and Kogoro followed, shoulders hunched. When the nurse saw him she paused but smiled.

"How nice of you to come with your wife." She said sincerely "Is this your first."

"Uh…Yeah." Kogoro answered. The woman showed them to a small exam room where an ultrasound was waiting for them.

"It's really very neat." She told him. "You'll be able to see and hear the baby on this screen." She took some information from Eri and asked her to pull up her shirt. Spreading thick gooey petruloiuem jelly across her tummy, the screen came to life with blurry picture.

"Is that the baby?" Kogoro asked, pointing.

"No, not that," The nurses said "The little one seems shy today. We'll—oh! There's the baby." The nurse pointed at a section of the screen.

"I don't see a baby." Kogoro said grumpily. The nurse traced a gray image across the screen for him. He nodded as if he understood but didn't see it. She fiddled with the equipment and they heard a rapid thump-thump in the unmistakable pattern of life.

"There's the heartbeat." She said.

"How beautiful." Eri felt herself start to tear up again. The pregnancy had made her terribly emotional. She quickly wiped her eyes. "Do you hear that, Kogoro?"

"That's the baby's heartbeat?" He said.

"A good strong heartbeat is a good sign." The woman added.

"Well, of course it's a strong heartbeat. Any son of mine is destined to be blessed with physical prowess." Kogoro laughed.

"Or daughter." Eri pointed out stubbornly.

"It's a boy, I can tell. Just listen to that!" Kogoro said, indicating the steady thump-thump of the ultrasound. Eri scowled.

"I think it's a girl." She said stubbornly. Kogoro crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at her.

"What do you know?" He chided. "A man can tell when he's going to bring a son into the world to carry on the family name and traditions. It's a boy. Spitting image of his father. "

The bickering continued all the way home and over the next several days, Eri convinced one and Kogoro convinced of the other. Of course, neither of them would be able to find out for several more weeks so the argument was useless but old habits are hard to break.

"Back again, eh Mouri-Kun?" said the clerk at the convenience store. It was nearly midnight and Eri had demanded Kogoro go out to buy her salty potato chips. Kogoro, dead tired from work and school, had only argued a little before agreeing. It had been a few weeks since he'd heard the baby's heartbeat and Eri had suddenly found herself in the hurricane of pregnancy cravings. Kogoro had been working extra shifts to help pay for her prenatal vitamins and extra food but found most of it being spent here in the middle of the night.

"That old woman won't give me a moment's peace!" He complained. His near nightly visits to the closest corner store had led to him becoming very familiar with the old man who worked the counter. He was short and balding and well into his fifties. He was kind to Kogoro.

"Ah, it only gets worse from here." He said sagely.

"Worse? It can't get worse!" Kogoro said, snatching the desire food from the counter.

"Soon, her belly will start to swell, and her ankles and her temper!" The old man said jovially "Then you can come tell me about the beast your pretty young wife has become."

"If she gets any worse, I may stop coming home!" He threatened emptily. The old man laughed, knowing from many years of life how untrue that statement was. Kogoro dropped the chips on the counter and asked for a pack of cigarettes for himself. The man rung up the order but Kogoro found himself short of cash.

"Oh—Uh, just the chips then, I guess." He said, pushing the cigarettes back toward the clerk. He'd be able to bum smokes off the other men at work. The clerk smiled kindly, feeling the gesture in his heart. Kogoro could have just as easily taken the cigarettes and returned Eri's snacks but it hadn't even occurred to him.

"You're a good man, Mouri-san." He said and pushed the cigarettes back towards him. "A small gift. From an old father to a new one."