AU where Eren and Mikasa are married and nothing hurts too much.

Pairings: Eren/Mikasa, Armin/Annie, Sasha/Connie (and Jean/Marco if your goggles are on)

Rating: T (for some swearing)

Thanks to foamiee for helping me edit this and I hope you enjoy! (And please let me know if there are any grammatical errors, I suck at catching them!)

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Eren grumbled quietly to himself as he looked at the next step on the instruction manual.

Step 4, he read, To attach the spring frame, carefully place spring frame in the crib so it rests on the stabilizer bars.

As he reached for the said item, he gritted his teeth and tried to keep from losing his temper again. Even though he had already told her four times that he could manage building the crib by himself, he could feel Mikasa's anxious gaze on him.

His mind flashed back to an hour earlier. He had finally gotten to setting up their baby's new bed and had only been working for ten minutes when Mikasa walked in the room.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Why aren't you resting?" he asked back, ignoring her question.

"I got hungry…I can help," she offered, walking over to him.

Immediately, Eren yelled, "STOP!" and furiously pointed a screwdriver at her, "You're in no condition to put a crib together! Now go back to bed."

Mikasa's eye twitched involuntarily. These days Eren was always telling her to lie down and not do anything. At first his concern pleased her, but it soon grew frustrating.

"I wonder if this is why he's always complaining about me…" Mikasa thought.

But she soon decided she didn't care. Annoyed, she made her way over to their rocking chair, sat down and gave him a noticeable stare. For the next hour, Eren went about working while Mikasa kept trying to stare him down into guilt.

He sighed, and continued piecing the bed together when she again asked, "Are you sure you don't need my help Eren?"

"No, Mikasa," he groaned.

"…Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm. Sure," he griped, enunciating each word.

A few seconds passed, "…I cou-"

"GODDAMMIT MIKASA, YOU'RE EIGHT MONTHS PREGNANT! I'M NOT FUCKING LETTING YOU PUT THIS CRIB TOGETHER!" he screamed, finally cracking.

He turned to her, eyes blazing, and pointed his finger at her swollen belly. "You're due in a few weeks and you can't be messing around with stuff like this! Now stop freaking bothering me about it!"

Mikasa bit her lip and looked to the floor. She was long used to Eren's dislike of her overprotectiveness, but that was a part of her she could never change. For the many years that they had known each other, looking after him had become second nature to her; even after they had found out she was pregnant seven months ago.

"Sorry," she replied curtly, glaring silently at nothing in particular.

Eren bit down a groan at her sudden change of attitude. Mikasa, who had been stoic and caring for as long as he knew her, had developed a surprising and new range of emotions alongside her pregnancy. One moment they would both be fine, and the next Eren would somehow upset her and she would treat him to a cold shoulder and snarky comments.

He had been surprised at first by her newfound crankiness, even to the point where he was sometimes left standing speechless and blinking at her sudden irritation. Eren was, embarrassingly so, used to being the one who got annoyed and snappish over little things.

He sighed and soundlessly shuffled over to the rocking chair she was sitting in. He brushed his fingers through her bangs and pushed them back off her forehead. They stayed like that for a few minutes, with him idly playing with her hair as she gave in and slowly leaned into his touch. Mikasa enjoyed quiet moments like these best, and this was Eren's way of getting her to calm down, or say sorry.

"Can I get you something to drink?" she asked quietly.

"Sure," Eren whispered, pressing a finger to her nose, "but go to bed right after."

"You too," she said, "You have work in the morning."

"Yeah yeah yeah," he grumbled, helping her onto her feet.

She took his hand and pressed a fast kiss into his palm before slowly trudging out of the room. Eren turned to the unfinished crib and bit his tongue. Not that he'd ever admit, but putting the dammned thing together proved to be more challenging than he expected. But he figured Mikasa didn't need to know that.

Three hours later, an exhausted Eren crawled into bed and silently thanked God that his wife was deeply asleep.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

It was a lazy December evening a few weeks later, and as usual, they both were watching some mindless action movie that Eren had picked out. Advancing Giants was what he called it. Mikasa had read the summary and it was apparently about a dystopian Earth where humanity fought against giant monsters called 'titans'.

A typical Eren movie.

She sighed sleepily at all the tedious explosions and gore as she pressed her back further against Eren's chest.

"I'm bored," she mentioned.

"Again? What the hell Mikasa?" he groaned, "How on earth are you bored? There's a huge fight scene on right now!"

"There's always a fight scene."

"Well those are better than those goddamn confusing movies you always want to watch."

"It's not my fault you can't understand them."

Eren glared down at her, "Are you trying to pick a fight?"

Mikasa turned her head towards him and actually looked like she considered it, before smiling softly. "Nope, I'm good," she said and she leaned up and pressed a soft kiss into the side of his nose.

Instantly his cheeks warmed and looked away, feeling guilty for snapping at her once again. "…We can watch what you want next time," he mumbled.

She poked at his cheek, chuckling, and settled back against his chest. But after a few moments she started shifting around a bit

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I think I need to use the bathroom," she said, sitting up.

Slowly Eren helped her onto her feet, and she waddled off to their bathroom. He grinned as he watched her taking gradual and awkward steps. There was something charming about the ever poised Mikasa, moving about like a penguin.

"I told you to stop staring at me like that!" she called out, from the hallway.

"But it's so cute!" he yelled back.

He snickered to himself as he sat back down on the couch, and thought he heard a groan come from her direction. Within a few seconds, he was already engrossed back into the movie, so he didn't notice when five, ten, and then fifteen minutes passed with him still alone. It was nearing twenty, when Mikasa's voice called out his name, calm and loud.

"Yeah?" he asked back.

"We need to go to the hospital."

"What?!" he screamed, falling face first onto the floor.

"Yeah," she replied, ever so unruffled, "I think my water just broke."

In the bathroom, Mikasa sat peacefully, as she waited for Eren. She grinned as she heard sounds of him rushing, cursing, and bumping into something which ultimately led to more cursing. By the time he made his way to her, he was limping and had wide, panicked eyes.

"Are you sure you can handle this?" she teased, her face showing no emotion.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

As usual, Mikasa was the calm one in the situation while Eren, more or less, freaked out. Their entire car ride and the first two hours in the hospital, she had been fine. Passive and relaxed, she lay in her bed as she told Eren to quit pacing around and calm down.

Armin had walked into the all too familiar scene of Eren yelling, "Don't treat me like a goddamn kid!" and sweat-dropped.

"E-Eren. Mikasa," he greeted, as they both looked towards him.

"Armin," Mikasa smiled at her childhood friend, as her husband made his way over and slapped said friend on the back. "Left Annie and the boys at home, I see," he said.

Armin grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah…she had my phone when Mikasa texted that the baby was coming and told me to go to the hospital as fast as possible. She said she'll be here tomorrow."

"I'm glad you could come," Mikasa said.

"Of course I'd be here. You both were with Annie and I when we had our triplets."

"Man was I surprised," Eren added, "Not only did you guys keep the genders a secret, but the number too! I was speechless when they pulled Gregor out after Kurt, and even Mikasa gasped when Axel came out last." To this day, he remembers watching her dark hooded eyes widen in complete shock.

Mikasa clicked her tongue, "From what I remember Armin took having three kids better than you just having one."

"Oi…" Eren warned.

"Let's not fight during a time like this," Armin said nervously, "Mikasa doesn't need any extra stress and I think Eren's doing fine."

"Before you came, he kept walking around and rambling and his hands wouldn't stop shaking," she said. Eren scowled at her and she gave him an indifferent look back. But to her surprise, he backed down without saying anything, and simply sat down in a chair to brood.

Armin sighed at the glooming Eren as he walked over to go sit by him. The three spent a few minutes idly chatting with themselves, when the door burst open and voice cried out, "Mikasaaaaaa!"

The soon to be mother watched, mildly surprised, as her long time, food obsessed friend from college ran up to her and wrapped her in a large bear hug.

"Sasha…" she whispered, dazedly.

"Annie texted me that you were having the baby! But Connie and I were in the middle of dinner, so we had to finish that of course. But never fear," she paused to take a breath, "we stopped for doughnuts!"

On cue, a rather tired looking Connie walked in with six boxes of dessert in his arms. Sasha made her way over to him, eyes shining and mouth watering, as she took three of the boxes out of his hands. "Share the rest with everyone" she whispered, placing a peck on his temple.

"Yo Eren, Armin, Mikasa," he said, greeting all three at once, "Sorry for springing up on you guys out of nowhere, but that one," he pointed over to the corner where his girlfriend sat, already tearing into her second box of doughnuts, "wouldn't stop yelling about seeing Mikasa give birth and getting something to eat."

"It's obvious she only came just so she could have an excuse to buy food," Eren said, rolling his eyes. Sasha froze at the accusation, while Mikasa and Armin grinned, but when Connie wholeheartedly agreed, she gasped.

"Why are you always like this when we're with other people, Connie?" she cried, running up to him and grabbing his shoulders. Tears sprung in her eyes and she began shaking his shoulders.

"At home, you're so sweet! You feed me and you cook and you buy me yummy food, but when we go out all you even do is complain like I'm some brat you're forced to take care of!"

"Oi, Sasha! You need to c-"

"IS THAT HOW YOU SEE ME? AS SOME BRAT?"

"N-No! Obviously not! If I didn't like you why w-"

"SO YOU'RE SAYING YOU DON'T LIKE ME?" she cried, a few tears actually pouring down her face.

Armin cautiously made his way over to defuse the situation, but stopped in his tracks when a loud and sharp gasp came from Mikasa. Four wide pairs of eyes turned over to her, as she began shifting and groaning.

Armin looked over to her, "M-Mikasa?"

"Is she alright?" Connie whispered over to Sasha.

Sasha ignored her boyfriend and looked at her pregnant friend, "…Do you want a doughnut?"

"Can someone get a goddamn doctor?" Eren yelled, throwing his hands up in the air.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

"Bull-fucking-shit," Jean growled angrily into his phone.

"I'm serious Jean!" Sasha whispered, trying not to freak out, "I saw it with my own two eyes. Eren and Armin did too!"

"Tch…Tell me what happened one more time then."

Sasha took a deep breath and reiterated her tale. "So me, Connie, and Armin are here with Mikasa and Eren just waiting and then Mikasa starts having some pains or whatever, so Armin gets a doctor. He checks her down there," Jean choked on his coffee, "and is all like 'The baby's ready to come out!' So then all the nurses start running around and Connie freaks out and leaves the room and he tries to make me go, but I ask Mikasa and she says that I-"

"Get to the point," Jean interrupted.

Sasha smiled as she continued, "So anyway, Mikasa's there having her baby like a trooper. Like she wasn't even yelling or moaning; just holding Eren's hand. That guy, on the other hand, was a mess. He kept shaking and I was wondering if he was gonna cry or piss his pants first. Anyway the baby's head is out and the doctor's getting Mikasa to push the shoulders out. And, oh my God Jean, she was amazing. When the shoulders are out, she lets go of Eren's hand, reaches over and pulls the freaking thing out herself!"

"She pulled out her own baby? That's what you want me to believe?" Jean asked.

"It's true!" Sasha complained, "Ask Eren when you visit…If he can talk about it. Poor guy looked mortified as she yanked the thing out. They had to shake him and say his name like five times before he snapped out of it. After he cut the cord, I hightailed out of there to tell Connie. You should have seen his face Jean! It was hilarious!"

"I bet it was," he replied, though the thought of a horrorstruck Eren and Connie both made him smile.

Sasha heard Jean shuffle around a bit before a voice in the background asked him, "Who're you on the phone with?"

"Nothing, just potato girl. I was just hanging up on her n-"

"HEY!" Sasha cut in.

Jean hung up anyways.

Sasha pouted at the phone in her hands, "He should have let me tell Marco too…" she grumbled.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Eren glanced back at Mikasa secretly, before turning his gaze back to the sink. He was washing their dishes while she nursed their daughter on the couch. Silently he glimpsed back at her and now he was sure, that something was off.

She had been fine, overjoyed, even moved to tears after the delivery. That night had been full of cheers, crying, and relief over their seven and half pound daughter, Karlee. But after the two had left the hospital and had more time to look at and admire their baby, Mikasa had grown a bit somber.

It was not too different from her usual expressionless face, but Eren could make out the tiny furrow in her brows and slight pull of a frown. It wasn't like Mikasa to stay upset over things, but when he tried asking her what was the matter, she simply shook her head and said, "It's nothing. I'm fine."

"Fine my ass," Eren thought, as he watched her look somewhat sadly at their daughter. He made his way over to them and pulled at his wife's cheek.

"What the heck's wrong with you now, Mikasa?" he asked. She frowned at him, and if the mood weren't so heavy, he would have laughed at how ridiculous she looked, scowling up at him with one of her cheeks stretched out.

"Nothing, I'm-"

"Cut the bullshit and tell me what's wrong!"

"…You shouldn't curse in front of your baby."

"It's not like she can understand me!"

"That's what an irresponsible parent would say, Eren."

He groaned in defeat and slumped into the cushion next to her. Surprisingly though, she began to chuckle and he felt more confident about the whole situation. He lifted the tiny baby out of her arms, and cradled the now snoozing bundle into his chest.

"She's gonna be toughest kid ever," he said, "I can feel it."

Mikasa sighed, already used to hearing Eren going on about how "strong and cool" their daughter would be, and how she would play all the sports she could and beat up anyone who picked on her. Mikasa made a mental note to make sure she stopped Eren if he ever actually encouraged their daughter to fight.

But whenever he looked at their daughter, his eyes shined and he went on and on about her future and Mikasa would wonder if he knew. She secretly hoped that he wouldn't notice, but as their daughter grew and became more of a woman, the resemblance would soon become more blatant.

Mikasa looked at Eren's face, and back to her daughter's. The similarity was spot on.

"She looks like you…" she whispered.

"Yup!" Eren said proudly, "Just like her good old daddy."

From dark brown hair, thick eyebrows and slanted eyes, the baby looked like Eren to a tee. The only difference was the dark gray eyes that she had inherited from her mother. Normally, that should have made Mikasa happy, but it pulled at her heart since it made the baby look more like that person… Again, she was frowning and so lost in thought, that she didn't notice Eren's finger when he flicked her forehead.

"What wrong, Mikasa?" he asked again, sounding unusually firm.

Deciding to give in, she looked him in the eyes as she said, "She looks just like you."

"…And?"

Mikasa dropped her gaze to the floor, "And you…you look…"

She heard Eren scoff, and she quickly snapped her head towards him.

"Is that what's been bothering you?" he asked.

"…You noticed?"

"Obviously! Just what do you take me for, an idiot? And before you give me some smartass answer, yes, I did notice. I could tell the moment they cleaned her up and put her in your arms."

Mikasa's eyes widened. Even she hadn't realized at that point, "You didn't say anything though…"

A sad, wistful smile appeared on Eren's face as he turned his gaze up at the roof, "What's there to say? That she looks-"

Mikasa bit her lip.

"-exactly like Mom?"

Ah, so he really did notice after all.

Silently, she shifted closer to him, so that their hips and knees were touching, and rested her head on his shoulder. His fingers found their way into her hair and he murmured, "We should visit her one of these days with Karlee."

"It's still cold outside. We'll need to buy her a thicker jacket."

"I'll find her one after work tomorrow."

"Send me a picture before you buy it."

"Why? You don't trust my taste in baby's clothing?"

"Eren, you tried buying her a leopard print stroller."

"Tch…" Eren glared to the side, "You'll never give me a break, will you?"

Mikasa smiled and flicked his forehead back, "Nope."

She took Karlee out of his arms and walked off to put her to sleep and Eren smiled.

"You wouldn't be my Mikasa if you ever did," he thought.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~