Houtarou walked into the kitchen, still sleepy. He moved toward Eru, and fell against her back. The young woman looked at her husband's sleepy face.
"Houtarou, why aren't you in bed?" The young man only groaned. "If you're tired, then stay in bed. I'll bring the breakfast to you."
Houtarou's eyes opened a bit to see that Eru had already filled her plate, and that is was way too much for just one person. But he was just too tired to bring up the topic. He slowly walked back to the bedroom to do as his wife had requested.
. . .
"Hey, Houtarou!", called Satoshi, waving at his best friend. "Hey." "What's up with you?", asked Mayaka. "Just thinking." "About?"
Houtarou sighed. "Eru is acting weird again." "Again? What do you mean?" "She's eating. A lot. Way too much."
"Then just confront her about it", said Mayaka. "I already did, but she burst into tears after thinking I was calling her fat." Satoshi and Mayaka were confused. "She's not usually that sensitive. What else has been weird?" "Well, I found a cigarette pack in the trash, but that's probably nothing..."
Satoshi lunged at his friend and grabbed the collar of his shirt. "A cigarette pack! Houtarou, do you know what this means?" "Am I supposed to?"
Mayaka smacked Houtarou across the head. "Idiot! She's smoking!" Houtarou's eyes widened a bit. "Smoking? What makes you say that?"
"One of my cousins smoked", spoke Mayaka. "It got so bad we tried to get him to quit. When he stopped for a bit, he started eating a lot to compensate."
Houtarou thought about this.
"But... I've never seen her smoke. Unless she has been hiding it from me."
Satoshi and Mayaka went silent, as this a moment where Houtarou was about to use his detective skills.
"Just last night, Eru's parents came to visit. She and her dad went into another room to talk, and I could barely hear what they were saying. The only words I was able to make out were 'this again'. It was her father who said that."
"He must have been referring to her smoking habit", suggested Mayaka. "Maybe. That is a good theory, considering that in the room they had their conversation in, was the trash bin where I found the cigarette pack."
Houtarou stood up. "Let's go talk to her parents." "Why?" "Maybe Eru isn't smoking. Whatever she's hiding from me, her father must definitely know."
The three friends left their current locations and set off for the Chitanda residence.
. . .
After the a quick knock, the door opened. A woman appearing in her late fifty's looked at three young people standing before her.
"Houtarou? This is a surprise." "Hi, Mrs Chitanda", greeted Satoshi. "Why, hello Satoshi! And I see you brought your lovely wife here too", said Mrs Chitanda, looking at Mayaka. "Please, come in. It's rude to let guests stand outside all day."
"Hey, mom?", said Houtarou, still feeling uncomfortable at calling his mother-in-law by that title considering he already has a mom. "I wanted to talk about Eru." "What trouble has my daughter caused this time?"
Houtarou looked at his friends, who ushered him to go on. "Has she ever smoked?"
Mrs Chitanda became surprised. "No. At least, not that I've ever seen her do so. But her father does."
Houtarou began to to think.
"Could Eru have inherited her possible smoking habit from her dad?"
"Has your daughter ever acted weird, Mrs Chitanda?", asked Mayaka. "Well, if I do remember correctly, she stopped by a few days ago."
Houtarou became confused. "She never told me."
"She went into the bathroom. She was in there for quite some time."
The three friends looked at each other. They went towards the bathroom and opened the door, where they noticed a bin. "If Eru is smoking, it's possible that there will be a cigarette in that bin."
Mrs Chitanda chuckled. "Seems my son-in-law is doing yet another of his detective work, hm?" "Yep", replied Satoshi. "And right now, we are solving the case of Eru Oreki's possible smoking habit."
Mayaka noticed that Houtarou was standing still, appearing to be frozen in shock.
"Houtarou?"
The young man stood up. "Eru hasn't been smoking." He turned to his friends and mother-in-law to show that what he was holding in his hand wasn't a cigarette. It was white, and appeared to be made of plastic. It's design was similar to a thermometer.
But realization hit Satoshi, Mayaka, and Mrs Chitanda.
In Houtarou's hand, was a pregnancy test.
"What does it say?", asked Mayaka. Houtarou looked at the tiny screen. "Two lines. It's positive."
He looked at the three people that were standing before him, a smile forming on his face and hints of tears forming in his eyes.
"My wife is pregnant."
. . .
Eru sat in the living room, reading a book, until she heard the door open and saw her husband walk in.
"Houtarou! You're home!" The black haired woman ran up to him and hugged him, before noticing how quiet he was. "Houtarou? What's wrong?"
"Eru... I know." "Hm?"
"The reason you've been eating a lot. You have cravings. And no, you're not fat. I know better than to anger someone with mood swings." "M-mood swings? Cravings? Houtarou, what are you..."
"Eru, are you pregnant?"
Eru remained silent, before nodding. "I guess it's best to tell now, before she starts showing." Houtarou's eyes widened. "It's a girl?" "I don't know yet, but I have feeling." Eru took her husband's hand.
"I was going to tell you. I really was. But you've been working so hard lately, I didn't want to add more pressure to you." "Are you kidding!"
Houtarou picked up his wife and spun her around while laughing. "I'm going to be a dad!" Eru laughed with her lover. "Yes. Yes you are."
The couple looked at each other and shared a deep kiss. "What are we going to call her? Where should we put the nursery? Wait, we need to think about baby proofing the house!"
Eru giggled, seeing the enthusiasm in her husband that was always hidden behind his usual apathetic expression.
Nine months later, and the newest addition to the Oreki family arrived. And sure enough, it was a girl. And her name was Satomi.
