You Should Know
"Well, first of all," she said, "I'm pregnant." Valerie's got a confession to make—and maybe Danny does, too. – Future!fic, reveal!fic, Gray Ghost, oneshot.

—

A Gray Ghost Future!Fic taking place well after they've been married; Val and Danny are both twenty-somethings about to get the shock of their lives. Re-posting this here from Tumblr, mostly because I want there to be more Valerie fics and Gray Ghost fics on this site. Originally inspired by this exchange:

Melancholicmarionette: "Headcanon: anyone pregnant with a half-ghost has glow in the dark morning sickness."

Swaqdanny: "If you think Sam will be pissed, imagine Valerie. Especially if she still didn't know Danny was half ghost."

Melancholicmarionette: "Danny: …SURPRISE"

Links to the original posted on my profile. Please read, review, and enjoy.

You Should Know

When Valerie walked in to the kitchen that morning, she was trembling. Danny took one look at her, set his coffee down, and helped her into a chair.

"Val, are you—is something wrong?" stammered her husband. He settled into the chair next to her, and reached for her hand. She pulled it away, clutching her arms to her body as her eyes clouded with guilt.

"Danny, I – I need to tell you something."

Danny paused, processing the comment uncertainly, before he nodded. Valerie took a deep breath.

"Well, first of all," she said, "I'm pregnant."

He nearly knocked his coffee cup over as he flailed in surprise. A bit of coffee sloshed out before he fumbled and steadied the mug with his remarkably quick reflexes. With trembling fingers, he moved the cup to a safer part of the table, then looked up at her. "Oh, Val, that's…" he paused for a moment, blinked, then unexpectedly started to laugh. "Oh! Val, that's—that's fantastic!" he laughed, a grin spreading across his face.

Valerie couldn't help but laugh a little, too. Of course she'd been worried how he'd take it – he wasn't fond of children, but he was good with them. He seemed genuinely glad they were going to be parents, at least, and that was a relief. Her smile faltered a little, though, when she realized he definitely wouldn't like the rest.

Danny shook his head as his laughter died, the grin still teasing his face. "Man, you startled me," he said, a small chuckle escaped his lips, and he closed his eyes. "With how serious you were acting, I thought you were gonna tell me someone died, or a ghost apocalypse was coming, or –"

Abruptly, he paused, his eyes zoning out. Then he looked at her, and the uncertainty was back in his eyes. She was clearly nervous and upset, and he picked up on that immediately. His smile instantly faltered.

"You said 'first of all'," He said, frowning in concern. "—There's something else?"

Valerie wrung her hands and bit her lip, nodding. "Do you remember when we started dating again, and we agreed that it was okay to keep a few secrets?"

Danny went absolutely still. He nodded numbly.

She took a deep breath. "I think that was a mistake. I should have told you this a long time ago. From the start." Valerie felt a panic in her stomach begin to rise up, but she pushed it down and forced herself to meet his eyes. She gripped the table, gathered her courage, and uttered her deepest, darkest secret.

"I'm a ghost hunter."

Silence. Danny just blinked at her, his face unreadable. There was no flailing, no gaping, no sign of shock. Like the comment hadn't even registered.

"…I'm the Red Huntress," Valerie elaborated, in case he didn't understand.

They both sat there for a long minute, staring at each other. Finally, Danny broke the silence, easing back into his chair and reaching for his coffee mug. "Oh," he said, as though she'd just told him the sky was blue. "…I was wondering if you were ever going to tell me that."

It was like her heart skipped a beat. "You knew?!" she demanded.

"Yeah," Danny took a sip of his coffee.

"How long?!"

"Uh, I think the first day you got your suit," he admitted, and Valerie lapsed into shock. He just blinked, eyes wandering, trying to recall a long lost memory. "You burst in on Sam and me kissing, and you… commented. On us. Rather vocally. Your suit didn't have a voice modifier back then."

Valerie fumed a little bit, her cheeks on fire with a blush. She didn't remember that incident – it was so very long ago – but the mere fact that he'd known all this time made her feel right stupid.

Danny shrugged and said, "What you do with your life is your business. It would be hypocritical for me to judge," he paused, then went on, "so I won't. I'd like to talk about this later of course. But if you're worried how I'd take it, I'm fine with you doing whatever you want." He raised the coffee cup to his lips. "Now, if that's all you're worried about, then—"

Before she lost her courage, Val blurted, "I think ghost radiation is affecting the baby."

Danny choked on his coffee.

He sputtered and coughed, setting the cup down hard. At last, he blinked at her through watery eyes, and whispered, "What?"

"I've known I was pregnant for a while," Valerie admitted. "I was thinking about how to tell you. But when I came home from patrol at 3 am I got… morning sickness."

"…Should you even be doing ghost patrols when you know you're pregnant—?"

"That's not the point," Valerie snapped, despite knowing the answer was 'no'. "The point is, I've had morning sickness before, but this time it was dark, and I noticed it was… glowing."

Danny blinked. "Glowing."

"Glowing green." Valerie said, laying a hand across her stomach. Her lips trembled. "I know ghosts give off ecto radiation, and I spend so much time hunting them…" she hid her head in her hands. "I know being exposed to things while pregnant can harm the baby, and I'm worried. I just…"

"…Valerie," Danny said, putting a hand on hers.

"And, my suit! That might be the problem, too!" she exclaimed. "It's part of me, like, built into me. I've never been entirely sure how I summon it. My suit might have nanotech in it. What if it's in my bloodstream? What if I can't ever have children because of it? What if—god! This is all my fault."

"Valerie." Danny's voice was firmer this time, and she looked up, startled. His ice blue eyes pierced hers. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "…There may be another explanation."

Val blinked at him through her tears, and sat back. "Huh?" she asked.

He sighed, looking away. "When we agreed it was okay to keep secrets – well. I have a few of my own," he explained. "And I was scared how you'd react. But, I think I have to come clean now. …Do you remember your old rival, Phantom?"

Remember? Of course she remembered. They started a new truce only a year ago, and she was keenly waiting him to break it like he always did. "What's he got to do with anything?" she asked. Was Phantom involved? Did Danny somehow know her old enemy? Was this all Phantom's fault? She didn't understand, but any explanation was better than none.

He sighed, cringing a little, and stood. "I'll explain everything. Just… don't shoot me, okay?"

"Shoot you? Why would I do that?" Valerie asked.

Danny looked positively petrified, but he offered her a smile anyway. Taking one last deep breath, he nodded, met her eyes, and said –

"Going ghost."

—

After a rather violent argument, things settled down. A lot had come out during their shouting match, and for Valerie, the fight had been rather cathartic (Danny had asked Val not to shoot him, but failed to bar other projectiles, such as coffee mugs and chairs) and as she was calming down, she realized that everything, in retrospect, made sense.

Over the years, Valerie rarely let her archenemy explain his actions. Now, she was able to sit down and rattle off every grievance Phantom ever caused her, and Danny countered with mostly bulletproof explanations.

And since Danny had known about her Ghost Huntress status all along, it was only natural that he was reluctant in telling Valerie of his half-ghost genetics.

"So let me get this straight," Valerie said, sitting and leaning against a wall to catch her breath. "You knew your genetics had changed, but you didn't tell me? Did you think I'd never get pregnant?"

"…Actually, yeah." Danny sat down too, not too close and not too far away. He still seemed apprehensive. "I never thought it was something that could be – passed on."

"Maybe it can't." Valerie said. Danny opened his mouth to argue, but she stopped him. "Look, either way, we can agree it's not normal, right? What if the baby doesn't develop correctly?"

Danny looked away for a moment. "Well," he said at last. "We can't go to a normal doctor, but…"

Val sat up, eyes flashing with an idea. "Oh! Your parents!"

He looked at her sheepishly. "Just one problem. They, uh, they don't know either."

Valerie stared. How Danny could keep such a huge secret from her was baffling, but from his own, ghost-hunting parents? How? "Does anyone else know?" she demanded.

"Sam and Tuck," Danny replied. "My sister. Vlad Masters—"

"Why does Vlad Masters know?"

"…I'll tell you later, that's a whole new can of worms," Danny muttered, then looked up. "All the ghosts know, too. And maybe Will Lancer? I'm not sure. He always gave me that vibe. Oh, and my manager at work. That was accidental."

Valerie felt the anger stewing in her mind. It seemed like everyone had known but her. After a moment, she brushed it off. Well. At least she wasn't the last one to know. "Well, if your parents don't know, you're gonna have to tell them," she said flatly, resting a hand against her belly. "Because I am not having glowing morning sickness if I can help it."

Danny looked at her, then at the mess they'd made in the kitchen. The toppled chairs, the plates shattered across the ground, the collapsed kitchen table, the knives stuck in the wall. "…I certainly hope they take it better than you did," he laughed nervously, wringing his hands a bit. "…Are you mad?"

"Maybe." Val glared at him. He looked down, ashamed, and she added, "But… I am glad you told me. If this isn't ghost radiation—Maybe the baby will be okay after all."

He smiled and scooted over beside her. Carefully, he reached an arm around her waist, and gave her a one-armed hug when she didn't smack his hand away. "Gosh," he said, voice soft. "We're going to be parents."

"What if… what if the baby has powers?" she asked.

Danny smirked. "My god. Can you imagine a baby with ghost powers?" he asked, a little chuckle escaping his throat. "Invisible diapers. Going intangible through the crib. A ghostly wail."

"…Don't even joke."

He hugged her instead. "We'll make sure you're okay first. Take things one step at a time," he assured his wife. "I'll help you with everything, I promise," he said, kissing her forehead. "I won't ever leave your side."

"I know you won't," she answered, and laid her head on his shoulder. They sat there together, enjoying the calm after the storm. They were both still so nervous and worried, but the moment felt comforting and… right. No matter what, they'd face this problem head on. And now, Valerie knew, they'd do it together.

"…You're still sleeping on the couch tonight." Val said flatly as they looked at the mess in their kitchen-turned-battlefield.

Danny gave her a squeeze and a kiss. "…I kinda figured."