Emil stirred. He felt a very familiar presence, one that was at times cantankerous and more often snarky. One that he hadn't sensed in a year or so, and did miss. He still found it a bit odd. His body, as he understood it, was human now, but he still held some very minor abilities he had as Ratatosk, mainly being able to sense the presence of the Centurions and monsters. He then opened his eyes.

"Lord Emil?" Tenebrae's voice inquired in his mind, as he didn't want to wake the woman sleeping next to the person in question. Another power Emil had, discovered only last year, was the ability for the Centurions to send their thoughts to his mind. The telepathy only worked one way, though, and they had to be close by. The feline-esque Centurion was floating a few feet above the ground, just barely above Emil and Marta's heads, his legs and tail dangling, as they often did.

The young married couple was sleeping against a large tree, Marta's head resting on Emil's shoulder. It was their favorite spot to picnic, situated near a pond on the outside of Palmacosta, the tree providing shade against the hot sun. It felt like it had been a while since they had time to themselves, and this outing was just what they needed after an increase of work at the Palmacosta branch of the Aselia Union.

The Aselia Union was a nonprofit organization created by the Tethe'allan monarchy, some of the larger governments in Sylvarant, Regal Bryant, and Marta. Aselia was the alleged name of the world before it was split, although currently there was no consensus on whether or not to call the united world that. Marta and Emil held important advisory roles at the Palmacosta branch. Its purpose was to bring Sylvaranti and Tethe'allans together and prevent future tragedies like the Blood Purge. After a year, the Aselia Union found its footing and work was picking up. The couple would have to slow down in the coming months, though, Marta especially.

"Shouldn't you be getting up?" the Centurion asked, pointing his head towards Marta.

The blonde young man shook his head, and spoke in a deep voice Emil still couldn't help but notice sounded like his other self, "Moving her would more likely wake her up than me talking quietly like this."

Tenebrae hummed thoughtfully, "I imagine you know her better than I do by now." With a smirk upon his panther-like face he added, "And have been quite busy doing so, judging by your handiwork there." His used the hand-like appendage at the end of his tail to point at Marta's abdomen.

"Tenebrae!" Emil said in voice that sounded part way between a growl and a hiss, flushing a deep red. Twenty-two years old, and he still was prone to blushing. Well, his body was that of a twenty-two year old. As a spirit, he had been alive for over 20,000 years, and he had been living as a human for about six. It was easier, and far less confusing, to think of himself as being twenty-two.

The Centurion of Darkness chuckled in his mind, "Oh, don't get so riled up. That's why I'm here, to congratulate you two."

The young man calmed down, then looked over at Marta. At four months pregnant, she was starting to show. He could not help but smile fondly at her.

"I would have visited you two earlier, but I only learned about it recently via monster word-of-mouth," Tenebrae continued, "While it won't be quick, if you told the few monsters still remaining with to you to send messages to other monsters, then they would reach my ears more quickly."

Emil couldn't summon the Centurions and like the others, Tenebrae was busy directing monsters to draw the mana from all living things. Shortly after Emil returned from the Ginnungagap, Tenebrae would pop in on the young couple fairly frequently. The visits began to taper off after about a year, and once the two settled into their new lives. He did make the effort to see them following their move to Palmacosta and attended their wedding. As for the monsters, Emil had lost his pacts when he got his own body. The four that remained with them, Ziemia the Orion, Monsoon the Sigmurgh, Galena the Fafnir, and Petro the Gunna, were the monsters that fought with them the most. They likely stayed out of loyalty and affection rather than some lingering power Emil had. The four of them had accompanied the couple on their picnic; both Petro and Ziemia were napping while the two fliers were off getting some exercise.

"Were you surprised when you found out?" Emil asked.

"A young couple expecting a child after their first two years of marriage? Pleasant yes, but hardly surprising," he responded.

Emil shrugged, "You said there was a chance I wouldn't be able to have kids."

"I believe I said that I thought it was a slim chance. As I said before, that body of yours is, for all intents and purposes, human," Tenebrae stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh, right," Emil said, recalling the conversation they had after he and Marta were married. He had wondered if any children they would have would be partially summon spirit through Emil. Not that it would have been a problem either way; he was just curious. Tenebrae explained how summon spirits cannot reproduce in the biological sense. They lacked an inheritable factor –Tenebrae called it "genetics," though Emil didn't really understand it—that all other living things had. They were called "spirits" for a reason, after all. When Ratatosk created the replica Aster body, it was meant to be an exact duplicate, which hypothetically included this inheritable code thing and reproductive system. The same went for Emil's current body, save for it being even more human. Tenebrae could not be certain, though, since he did not ask Ratatosk. Emil didn't think his other half should be bothered, and figured Marta and he would eventually find out for themselves.

"If I may ask, Lord Emil, how do you feel about your approaching parenthood?"

"To be honest, I'm still nervous," he replied. He turned his head away from Tenebrae to look at his wife. He smiled lovingly, "But at the same time, I'm much happier, and even excited about the baby."

The Centurion smiled as well, "As I understand it, that's completely normal."

Emil felt similarly when he and Marta first discovered that she was pregnant. He was more nervous then, but Marta's repeated assurances that he would be a good father helped. The thought of a new life, a new person, coming into being because of them was … well, it was so many things at once, several of them hard to describe. What was most important, though, was that he wanted to meet this baby, to raise it, teach it, and love it. That it was his and his beloved Marta's child made him feel especially euphoric.

He would be lying, though, if he said that was all. A part of him still felt guilty over his newfound happiness. Why should he be able to experience the world, live the life of an ordinary human, love Marta, and start a family? This part of him felt he was just as responsible for Aster's death as Ratatosk was. After all, Ratatosk loved Marta, too.

Really, should he even be thinking about him and Ratatosk as being separate people like that? From his brief time he spent rejoined with his other self, and what few memories from ages past he had (he supposed Ratatosk kept most of those), the two were never meant to be separate. Neither of his personalities was gone, nor did it feel like they were two combined individuals. He was just … himself. Wasn't that more of a reason to not just punish one half of himself?

That guilt would probably never go away, but he also knew not to let it get to him too much. While it still felt like a selfish decision, it was one his heart made. His and Ratatosk's, for they are, of course, the same person. Years ago, Marta told him that she was sure Ratatosk could experience the emotions Emil felt because they had the same heart. While he couldn't be sure, the notion helped to ease his troubled mind.

In some ways, he felt like the "live the life Aster wasn't able to" reason felt weak, but not in others. After all, according to Richter, Aster would likely have wanted it that way. He didn't want to bog Marta down with his guilt, nor their coming child. Not wanting to bother Tenebrae, either, he spoke his next thoughts aloud.

"It's kind of strange, and unexpected."

"What is?" Tenebrae inquired, "You becoming a father?"

"Well, yes. I mean, first of all, I am, or am part of, a summon spirit. While I don't have all of my memories as Ratatosk, I'm pretty sure starting a family was something I never thought I would do."

"True, I don't believe any of the other summon spirits ever lived a full human life, let alone had children that way," Tenebrae said, "You do have progeny as a spirit, however."

"You mean Derris Kharlan's tree spirit?" Emil asked.

"Yes, and Martel as well; the current tree did grow from your tree's seed, after all."

"It's not the same, though. I didn't raise them and they don't carry my blood. Do summon spirits even have families?"

The Centurion paused in thought before continuing, "I confess not to know everything about summon spirits. I may serve one, but I never really went around interviewing the others. I'm mostly going by what I learned from Ratatosk. I believe the three Sylphs are sisters, but while they came from Derris Kharlan along with Lord Ratatosk, I do not know how they came into being. But anyway, while the other two share your nature as a tree spirit, I do not believe that they are related to you in the way that living things are related to each other. You never really got to know them, anyway. Summon spirits, I believe, come into being fully formed, not starting out as infants or children."

With a smile Emil said, "It's incredible, too. Summon spirits don't really have families, and as a human, I never had much of one." For three years after reuniting with Marta, he lived with his "adopted" aunt and uncle. They may have come to respect one another, but no real familial love grew from it. Not that Emil minded; he completely understood why. "Then Marta became my family when I married her and now we're expecting. It's almost hard to believe I could be so lucky." He sighed internally. There was that guilt again.

"I have to admit, this was perhaps the last thing I thought would happen to you after you hatched from your core in Aster's copied form.," Tenebrae started to say, " Still, I am glad that you and Lady Marta are happy together."

The green-eyed man sat in thought for a few moments. He then said, "Now that I think about it, in a way, this baby is Aster's as well as ours."

Tenebrae twitched his ears, "Come again?"

"This body is a replica of Aster's," Emil explained, using his free arm to point to his chest, "His blood, or blood like his flows through my veins. You see? In a way, it's as if Aster were the father."

"In a way, perhaps," Tenebrae replied after a pause, "However, as I said before, even I'm not certain as to how exact a copy your body is, and besides—"

"Don't worry about it. It doesn't bother me or anything," Emil said with a slight smirk. A flustered Tenebrae, even mildly so, was a rare sight, "I was just thinking that it's another way I'm living the life Aster couldn't. I'm going to be the father Aster couldn't be." Odd as it was, the thought was very comforting to him.

"Ah." After a brief pause, the Centurion continued, "You're going to name the child 'Aster,' aren't you?"

It was Emil's turn to be flustered, though he tried to do so quietly "T-the baby could be a girl, you know!"

"But you were thinking about it, weren't you?" Tenebrae said with a mental chuckle.

"Am I that predictable?" The young man asked. The Centurion nodded.

Marta then began to stir. Emil wondered briefly if he spoke too loudly, but then thought it was about time for her to wake up and talk to Tenebrae.

"Marta, wake up," Emil said in a louder tone, rubbing his hand over her slightly protruding belly, "Look who's here."

The expectant mother's eyes fluttered open. She quietly said Emil's name before looking up. She excitedly called out "Tenebrae!" before standing up and embracing the floating Centurion. As Tenebrae congratulated her, Emil thought momentarily about his fortune before joining in on the conversation. Even if he still felt a little guilty about it, he wanted to live this life, and not just for Aster. He wanted to live it for Marta and for the new life that would not be there if he were not.

AN (old): Yep, I finally got my second Emil/Marta out! I suppose you could consider it a follow-up to "Taking Their Time," but reading that story is not necessary before reading this. Admittedly, I think this fic is rather sappy (especially the story it's sorta/kinda a follow-up to) and ends abruptly (I really couldn't think of a better way to finish it), but I did enjoy writing it. I've wanted to write more fluff anyway, even if the amount here is kind of small. Well, I hope you all enjoyed it, and if you did, I would love for you to leave a review!

AN (August 2019): Revised to fixed errors and to better fit it with my current headcanon. While I could have put this in the "Coming of Wisdom" fic, I think it's best to keep it separate, as I wrote this many years before that story.

May 2020 Update: I decided to this same piece I commissioned from Candice Kang, otherwise known as DoodledStars, as a cover for this fic. She did a wonderful job on the pic and I absolutely love it! You can check out her work on her Tumblr doodledstars-dot-tumblr-dot-com and follow her on Twitter atDoodledStars!