Chibi-Kari: This may be multi-chaptered based on responses from you reviews. I don't own POT and I don't have money…please don't sue. Sakuno is a little less shy and Ryoma is a bit more talkative…sorry.

Halfway Down the Block

Sakuno stirred the pot for what seemed like the hundredth time. She was waiting for her husband to get home from playing a game with his father. She was making him some udon to help calm him down. Whenever he came home from his father's he would be worked up into a frenzy and muttering things like dirty old man.

She smiled slightly at the thought. Her father-in-law wasn't that bad, sure he did hit on her when he danced with her after the wedding. She could remember the line perfectly, 'If my good for nothing brat doesn't treat you well we could always runaway together. A pretty little thing like you could learn a lot from a man like me.' Sakuno knew it was all in good fun, but Ryoma didn't take it well. He was going to have his father thrown out for that.

He was always worked up when it came to his father. That was one of the few times she could actually get emotions out of him. Her husband wasn't one for public displays of affection, but he could be charming and sweet in his own little way. The way he would brush her hair lightly with his hand while they watched tennis at night, or when he would give her hug and kiss when he came home. Most people would find their lack of affection strange…borderline dysfunctional, but she knew her husband…most of the time. Every once in awhile she would question how much he understood emotionally. He could be really dense sometimes. Like last year, two weeks before the wedding they had gotten into a fight and what did he do when she told him she wanted to be alone? He left, and he didn't just leave. Ryoma went and played tennis with the rest of the old team like nothing was wrong. He was lucky she was so understanding.

And she knew he would be in an awful mood when he came home. He would probably want to go play tennis with Fuji, Momo, and the rest of the team. But she couldn't let him do that tonight. She had some news for him, news that would probably work him into a bigger frenzy than he was when he was with his father.

"Sakuno." His voice rang through the house, she could hear him shuffling to take his shoes off and shut the door.

She closed her eyes and held her breath briefly. It was now or never, well not really never…but she probably would wait until he noticed to say something, if she didn't say it now. "In the kitchen!" Her voice was soft, it probably rivaled from when they first met.

She could feel him come up behind her as he gave her the customary hug and kiss, "What are you doing?"

"I cooked you some udon as a special surpri-"

"I'm not hungry. I'm actually going to go play tennis with Momo and the rest of the old team." She could hear him start to leave the room again, "I'll be back soon!"

She turned around quickly and followed him into the hallway towards the door, "Wait! But I worked so hard and I really-"

"I'll be back later, I'll eat it when I come back. I already called them. I need to get going."

She watched silently as her husband put his shoes back on and went to grab for the bag. It was times like this that she hated mobile phones, her husband, and tennis. "I need to tell-"

Just then there was a knock on the door and the next thing she knew; Eiji, Fuji, and Momo were standing at her door.

Ryoma turned around to face his wife once more, "I'll eat when I come home. Whatever you have to say can wait until after tennis. Bye." He raised one hand in the air while the other picked up his bag.

This was all she could take. How could her husband be so dense? She glared at her husband's back. She could tell she looked fierce when she caught Momo stiffening out of the corner of her eye. She balled her fists. He could go, that was fine, but she was going to get in what she needed to say. "Fine, go. But I hope you don't come back."

That stopped him; she could tell by the way his body went ridged that he wouldn't be able to keep his calm demeanor if he looked at her. His voice rang out harsh and cold, just like she had expected. "What? Don't be ridiculous over soup." His voice sounded like all those times when she was younger and he told her that her hair was too long or she wasn't bending her knees enough.

He had aimed to make her apologize, but that wouldn't work. No, she had him and she wasn't going to back down this time, "I'm not being ridiculous, and this isn't about soup. I don't think I want to come between you and your true love tennis anymore. I mean me and the baby; we are just going to weigh you down. You'll never get to play tennis constantly like you want to." Sakuno was slightly relieved when Fuji opened his eyes and smiled at her, but the true response was going to come from her husband.

He spun around and stared her straight in the eyes; that was a step in the right direction, "You are more important than tennis, I don't know why you decided to pitch a fit about this now. I'll be back later." Ryoma pushed his way forward through the three men who now had a look of disbelief on their faces. Momo's eyes were wide and his mouth hung open as he stared at Sakuno.

She just placed a hand to her forehead. She should have just opted to not tell him. He probably wouldn't have noticed until he had to start paying the University bill. He probably wouldn't even question why there was another person eating with them.

She heard shuffling and opened her eyes in time to see Momo get pushed into the doorway as her husband appeared in her line of sight again, "Baby?"

Sakuno smiled to herself; maybe her husband wasn't really as emotionally dense as she thought he was, "Yes."

Ryoma blinked several times with a blank face on, and then he turned back to his old teammates, "About tennis." Her breath caught in her lungs, if he was going to go out and play tennis at a time like this she was definitely going to kill him, "I don't think I'll be joining in tonight."

"That's alright, Ochibi." Eiji said as he started to bounce up and down, "Sakuno, your going to have a chibi-Ochibi!"

Fuji smiled brightly, "For a minute I thought he was going to miss what you said."

"I did too." Sakuno smiled back at the tall man.

"Congrats, Echizen!" Momo smiled as he hit the young man on the back. "Well now I win that bet Eiji. Cough up."

"Ah man, it's not my fault. Inui didn't even think they kissed before. The data was on my side."

Fuji pushed both men out as he shut the door behind them, "Goodnight."

Sakuno nodded towards the closing door, she then let her vision settle on the back of her husband. "I really thought you missed it there for a minute."

He grumbled slightly as he turned back around and started to walk towards her, "Mada Mada Dane."

She smiled to herself. It took him halfway down the block to realize what she said.

Chibi-Kari: I might go on, a humor section about how Ryoma and different members of the team would deal with the months of pregnancy. But that's only if I get some good feedback. Please review! And thanks for reading!