Shin knew they'd have a blast. Definitely. There was no doubt in his mind. He grinned at Lee as she said it out loud.

Kealey said it would be fantastic. Shin wanted to go 'yup!' He was kind of excited.

As for souvenirs, Lee wasn't too worried about getting anything. She didn't seem too excited about them, either. That was fine, though. Lee was kind of hard to buy for.

"We'll take tons of pictures," Shin stated, looking to Kealey. "So, we can show off. And I'm looking forward to it, too. There's so much I want to show you. Like Akihabara, and all the train stations, and all the temples, and the pretty scenery. And maybe, Tokyo Disney World. Wow." Shin stopped himself from his bouncy rant. "These all sound a lot like tourist attractions, don't they? I should show you where I grew up, too..." He merely smiled at this, calming down a little. Shin added "And you are not crazy. They'll be crazy about you. I'm certain."

He knew he was.

Lee couldn't help but grin at Kealey. "Getting away from things is always good," she told the other woman sitting in the room with her. "It's great for stress relief, and if nothing else, it's fun."

But then Shin started talking to Kealey more than simply visiting as they had been previously, so Lee sat there sipping at her hot chocolate. Lee knew how easy it was to get wrapped up in just each other, to start having a private conversation even when in a room full of people. At least it was still just a conversation. Lee also knew from personal experience just how easy it was, at least for her and Tarin, to forget that anyone else was around and start making out.

So for the moment, Lee just sat there, focusing on her drink while she let Shin and Kealey chat. And as she sat there, Lee's mind drifted back to the last time that Lee had sat and chatted with Kealey. And how, within minutes of meeting each other, this woman understood how she had felt being around an adapted in a way that Tarin was just incapable of.

If Kealey had popped back into her life unexpectedly like this...Lee didn't think that she could handle being around Jacen again. Not yet.

"So, if I keep running into you like this," Lee said, looking over at Kealey, her voice low because of her previous thoughts. "How long is it going to be before I end up running into Jacen? Cause I'm not sure I'd be able to deal with all that very well right now..."

Shin assured Kealey that she was perfectly sane and the blond smiled at him. It wouldn’t do any good for Shin to be worried about how much she was worrying. It was a big deal to meet someone’s parents, especially when they lived across the world and hadn’t seen their son in quite some time. Shin was certain they would be crazy about her, and Kealey trusted him as much as she’d trusted anyone in her life. If Shin said everything was going to be fine, everything was going to be fine. …At least that’s what Kealey would tell herself, because he was certain, and he was excited. How much more could she really ask for? Shin listed the things they’d do and Kealey nodded her head enthusiastically, there would be many pictures and many stories…tourist traps and more, ”Especially where you grew up. I want to see it all…and pictures. I want to see pictures.” She’d never be able to repay the act of going through pictures or meeting family, but she wanted the experience all the same.


Lee had grown quiet while she and Shin spoke and suddenly Kealey felt rude. It was wrong to leave someone out of a conversation in their own house, and as she mulled over what comment to make next, she paid attention to the other woman’s emotions.


They shifted back and forth between the same nostalgia that had overtaken Lee when she’d spoke of meeting her Mother-in-law, to a sort of anticipatory trepidation.


Then Lee spoke…unfortunately right as Kealey was taking a liberal drink of her hot chocolate.


The blonde’s first instinct was the spit the drink, and she stopped herself at the last moment, instead sending a liberal amount of the sweet substance down her windpipe and up her nose. The coughing that followed was prolific and embarrassed and left a red cheeked Kealey staring across the room at her host with mild incredulity.

”I wouldn’t know.” she said, trying to figure out the best way to explain that whole thing. ”I’d be rather shocked to see him myself.” she settled for, clearing her throat a final time and avoiding eye contact with the general population of the room in favor of staring at the baby again.

”I can feel his emotions you know…” she commented suddenly, surprising nobody more than herself with the confession as she gestured towards Lee's stomach with her cup. ”It’s so very strange…and that’s why I’ve been staring. I’m sorry if it’s rude.” Subject change please.

>>”Especially where you grew up. I want to see it all…and pictures. I want to see pictures.”

"Baby pictures," Shin agreed.

Suddenly, Kealey seemed to realize they'd been excluding Lee from their Happy Time, and Shin became self-conscious. He looked over to her, smiling weakly. Lee addressed Kealey, talking a bit quietly. Shin listened, curious about what the two were talking about. Lee had apparently met Kealey before, Shin recalled, but... he hadn't known how. Apparently, Jacen was involved.

Kealey nearly lost her cocoa. Okay. She sort of did lose it. Shin put a hand on her back, rubbing it to help her through the coughing. "Are you okay?" He asked, brows drawn together to form lines of worry.

He recalled Jacen was important, or had been at one point in time, to Kealey. Her last boyfriend, or something like that... but to cause a reaction like that? Shin decided he didn't really like Jacen, if the mere mention of his name made Kealey react like this.

She changed the subject, but his mind was still focused. He looked at Kealy, brows knitted, not quite in worry anymore, but more concern. Concern over Jacen, and all the things he made Kealey remember.

He glanced over to Lee, trying to shake the feelings, but he couldn't quite. So, he hid his frowny face in his cocoa, and stuffed his face with cookies while the two women talked.

Loud munching came from Shin's corner of the couch.

At her mention of Jacen, Kealey reacted in a way that Lee could not have expected: she choked on her hot chocolate. Choking, but it seemed to be only coughing, nothing really more serious than that. That was good; so far things had gone relatively well in this apartment in terms of no one getting hurt, Lee would have hated that to end because she had simply mentioned a cop's name.

But apparently Kealey would have been surprised to see him, too. She seemed incredibly uncomfortable by this. Well, if she would be that surprised to see Jacen, Lee had to assume that meant it probably wouldn't be overly likely that she'd run into him.

With how uncomfortable the other woman appeared, Lee had already thought that it would be a good idea to change the subject, but before she had the chance to, Lee heard Kealey's voice again.

All that Lee could do was stare at the blonde, unsure what to say at first. Followed by a blink. Eyes darted down to her stomach, then back up to Kealey. "You can..." she said, her words trailing off as her eyes went back to her stomach for a moment.

"What is he feeling?" Lee finally asked, eyes turning up to Kealey again.

Baby pictures. Shin had promised Kealey baby pictures...and she was totally going to collect. It was exciting....everything was exciting...until Lee brought up Jacen.

The coughing only lasted a moment, and Kealey had managed to keep all the hot chocolate in her mouth…and lungs…and nose. Shin rubbed her back and she spared a hand to pat his leg in appreciation. After she’d recovered herself, Kealey nodded to his inquiry as to whether or not she was okay and smiled slightly, "I'm excellent."

Lee was surprised by her reaction, and Shin was…concerned, really concerned and Kealey frowned internally. This hadn’t been what she’d expected at all…not one bit. She wondered if Shin would have questions about the whole thing later. Of course she’d answer truthfully, but the whole thing seemed so awkward to explain. She sighed and moved on. There were other things to talk about….especially now that Lee knew that she could feel the baby’s emotions.

Lee wanted to know what she felt….it was so hard to put into words, like her powers often were. Sometimes feelings didn’t have names…they just combined with others to make things that Kealey knew. She tried anyway.

”It’s very strange…he’s very calm, and comfortable?” she said, eyes a little distant as Kealey concentrated on the emotions, ”And lovey…happy and eager?” Kealey paused and shook her head, ”It’s hard to name…they’re all very basic…but almost…hard to translate.”

Shin couldn't focus on the baby talk. It was a good thing he had his mouth full of cookies, or he'd be asking questions he may or may not have wanted answers to. It was a little strange that Kealey could feel baby emotions, wasn't it? His mind got to wandering on that, rather than what Lee's baby was feeling.

Could she feel all emotions babies elicited? Did that include neighborly babies? And what if she got pregnant? What then?

Shin suddenly thought of Kealey, round and big as a boat. He set down the tray of cookies, and looked her way. The curious worry-ous thoughts of Jacen had been eclipsed for the moment. She had Shin's easily-distracted nature to thank for that. But would she be happy if she knew what he was thinking of? Babies were... kind of amazing.

"Babies are... kind of amazing."

Shin blinked. He'd said that through a mouthful of cookie crumbs... and he hadn't meant to say it out loud.

Kealey seemed to have some problems with coming up with her explanation. Lee did understand that, her powers were very hard for her to attempt to explain to people, and Lee knew that trying to explain her own feelings was not always the easiest thing to do.

But as Kealey finally started to explain what she was feeling from her baby, Lee's eyes dropped down to look at her stomach, a very happy smile spreading across her face. Calm, comfortable. Happy? It was one thing for her to be sure that her powers weren't really doing anything bad to the baby after spending three months with no source of energy, but to hear from Kealey that the baby was happy...

"You have no idea how great that is to hear," Lee told her, the smile still on her face as she looked over at Kealey again. "It is so reassuring."

Before she was able to say anything else, Lee heard Shin speak. The problem with that was that Shin's mouth was full of cookie when he spoke, so Lee wasn't actually able to hear what he said. So she sat there, trying to puzzle it out for a few moments, but with no luck. Too much cookie, not enough actual English.

"What did you say?"

Kealey didn’t like the way Shin was munching on those cookies. She could feel his curiosity…his sinister curiosity. Kealey sighed a bit at herself, there was nothing sinister about it, Shin was merely curious. They’d spoken in some detail about his previous relationship, but really said nothing about hers. Just vagaries and the like. It was probably time to clear the air…momentarily, though, Shin’s emotions shifted. Suddenly he was curious in an entirely different way, and Kealey found herself staring at him, head tilted as she tried to figure out his line of thinking.

Lee was so pleased by Kealey’s revelation about the baby’s feelings, that Kealey couldn’t help but be happy that she’d shared. The other woman was relieved too. Why wouldn’t a baby be happy inside it’s mother? Unless it was ready to be born and things were moving slowly, Kealey couldn’t think of a reason.

”I’m glad you’re happy to hear it…I was worried you’d find it very odd.” Kealey said, raising a hand and idly toying with her hair. She still felt sheepish, it didn’t matter though, Lee was happy.

Then Shin spoke. He still had that look on his face, and those feelings in his head. He was in the middle of eating cookies, and Kealey could tell he was surprised by the fact that he’d spoken. Lee said the words she was thinking before Kealey had a chance, and she simply laughed a little and looked at him, eyebrows raised as she waited for him to repeat.

Gulp.

Shin smiled weakly at them both, suddenly embarrassed for himself.

"Uh." His hand shot out for the cocoa, and took a drink. Another drink. This stuff was good. Finally, Shin looked, not to Kealey, but to Lee, and said a comment that may have been largely intended for Kealey. "Babies are amazing." He said decidedly. "Is what I said."

Shin subconsciously turned and misdirected his innocent smile from Lee, to Kealey. "Aren't they?" He attempted to salvage the misaimed look.

Kealey seemed surprised that she was happy the baby was feeling happy and calm. And, while Lee knew Kealey had an idea about her powers, Lee couldn't remember just how much the other woman knew. Plus, she knew from experience with how Tarin thought about them that simple knowledge didn't really make it easier to understand the sheer terror Lee had felt at the mere thought of being pregnant, pretty much right up until she had gotten pregnant.

"Despite how much we try to have a normal life here, things are so far from it that what you said sounds normal," Lee said with a slight shrug then reached for her hot chocolate again.

Finally, Shin got his mouth empty of the cookies he had been eating and looked over at her as he tried speaking again. Lee couldn't help but grin at what he said, and she nodded to him even as he was turning to look at Kealey.

"The definitely are," Lee agreed with Shin. "He's not even born yet, but simply being pregnant has helped me feel more confident about what my powers can and and don't do. At least this time, it's something good that taught me that."

Shin was embarrassed, enough that Kealey felt her cheeks darkening. It made her want to sigh a little bit, when her powers made her react physically to things, even when it was as simple was embarrassment. Why was he so embarrassed? Yes, he’d spoken through cookies, but people did that on accident sometimes, all that was needed was clarification.

Now he was stalling. Kealey’s mild irritation at her powers was quickly replaced by rampant curiosity as she waited for Shin to explain what he’d been trying to say. When he did finally explain, it was with surety, babies were amazing? For a moment, Kealey wondered why that was such a stunning revelation, Lee was obviously thrilled beyond belief about having a baby, and from the woman’s explanation, the life she’d lead made pretty much everything seem normal.

Oh wait, Shin was asking her what she thought? For whatever reason, that question initially elicited a squeak as an answer. Lee saved her from further oddness by answering the question herself. Kealey had to smile at that answer too, finding things out the easy way with your powers was always excellent. ”I’m really glad I could help…I found out something new about my powers too…I guess you’re the first pregnant woman I’ve ever been this isolated with since I found out what I can do…” Kealey said, looking fondly at Lee’s belly, ”And yeah…” she said, looking back to Shin, ”I’d say babies are probably pretty amazing.”

”I wonder if he’ll be that mellow after he’s born?” she asked with a tilted head. Babies and Kealey were something that generally didn’t mix incredibly well…but the one in Lee’s belly seemed awful nice.

Squeak.

Blush.

"Heh."

It had just slipped out, that heh. He turned to Lee, covering for it with a nod. "Glad to hear it."

Glad to hear it?

He glanced to Kealey as she spoke to Lee again. She really could feel what the baby felt, couldn't she? For the first time this conversation, he was interested in all of that. Could she feel all babies? All the crying and giggling and gassiness and crankiness from not getting afternoon naps?

Kealey finally decided on an answer to him, and Shin smiled, 'mhming.' She wondered if the baby would be as calm as he was now, later on.

"I remember, I was difficult as a baby," Shin volunteered useless trivia. "At least, that's what my mother says."

Lee smiled at Kealey as the Irish woman wondered if the baby would still be as mellow as he apparently was now, after he was born. Followed by Shin's revelation that apparently he had been a difficult baby.

Rather than answer either of those comments right away, Lee finished her drink, then set the now empty mug on the coffee table in front of her. Then she leaned back against the couch, eyes moving between the two other people sitting with her in the room.

"I sure hope he is," Lee finally replied. "Or at the least, I hope that he's not all that difficult of a baby. Though," Lee continued, a small smile on her face as she thought about one thing that her powers might actually be good for in terms of having a baby. "At least I'll be able to deal decently with those late night feedings and all that as long as Tarin's around me."

Awk-ward. Good description for the next few moments, at least from everyone but Lee. Kealey wondered if that had been a loaded question, then wondered why she was wondering about it being a loaded question. Jeez, awk-ward. She tried to shake it off, pushing her attention to Lee and all the things they were all saying about babies. Babies were amazing. Yes, they’d established that.

It was really nice that something as…big…as pregnancy could do so many amazing things. Lee was not only having a baby, but had learned some things about her powers, good things. It had helped with her normalcy.

Kealey wasn’t exactly sure how to respond when Lee agreed that she hoped the baby was calm when it was born. The blond focused again, and nodded her head, ”There’s other things there…it’s almost overwhelming calm when I really focus on it. Makes me want to be sleepy and still.” she added, floundering slightly for the right words to describe what was going on inside Lee’s belly. When she thought about it that way…Kealey wrinkled her nose a bit…that was weird. fShin saved her from more awkwardness by pointing something out that made Kealey giggle.

”Why am I not entirely surprised?” she said, grinning in his general direction. ”I’ll bet you were all over the place. ” Kealey thought about that for a moment, then shook her head, tiny Shin running around was almost too cute to think about.

She paused for a moment, thinking and remembering, her smile softening with memory, ”My mum always called me their golden child, because of my hair.” she said, ”I was quiet. They were relieved after Maire, who was a handful.”