She couldn't suck it in anymore.

Ghost pushed her tummy flat and let it go again. There was definitely a difference. People probably thought she'd just had one too many doughnuts lately... and been moody... and tired... and also picky about her food.

There really was no denying it anymore, was there?

She was pregnant and it was starting to show. Even worse, she was having trouble zipping up her favorite skirt.

Well, no. It was a good thing that the baby was growing, but she hadn't imagined these in between stages. She had imagined herself normal and then really, really pregnant with a huge belly. This chubby, uncomfortable stage was not her favorite.

Eventually, Ghost came to a sort of compromise. No maternity clothes. Not yet. Instead she pulled on a pair of jeans, looped one of Sebastian's hair ties through the button hole and used the rubber band to extend her waist-line.

Ghost smoothed her shirt down over her belly to cover her waistband trick. Week 11. She'd almost made it through the first trimester.

At 8 weeks, the doctor used the in-house equipment to hear a good, strong heartbeat. The tech played it through a speaker for both Maya and Sebastian to hear. It was fast like the ghostly gummy bear shaped splotch on the screen was running a race. Or maybe growing up really was that hard.

Insurance would only pay for one good quality ultrasound, so they would wait on that until she was about 20 weeks along if they wanted to know the gender. For now, It was enough to know that something was actually in there. Turns out the tiredness, nausea and chubby was all happening for a reason.

Despite her porking out, the doctors worried over her weight. Since it was mutation related, Maya tried not to worry about it either. Her tummy proved that she was eating enough, right?

Ingram continued to urge Maya not to use her power to become incorporeal. She hadn't as soon as she had found out about the baby, but there was a good chance she had before they had known for sure. It was hard to guess how a fragile fetus would react to being disassembled and reassembled.

Going places bodily made everything seem slow. The weeks dragged by: she fell asleep at her desk, Sebastian fussed over her at home, her dad and Sam fussed over her if she ever visited the Mansion. Really, it wasn't that bad.

Onions and tomatoes made her sick. Anything with tomatoes, especially spaghetti sauce, smelled spoiled. Onions might have only been guilty by association only, but she didn't dare risk it. Chocolate milk made her stomach calm down.

Sometimes, she even craved meat.