Four Hearts - 3 will be free

Four hearts

Being told she was pregnant hadn't been her finest moment. The doctor had covered his ears because of all the swearing she'd done, but Shin had finally calmed her down by taking her hand and giving her a well needed hug.

Miw had never wanted to be a mother. She'd never thought she might be a good one. How could she, with her own fucked up experiences? After all those years she still hadn't worked through all the shit, so how could she care for an innocent life?

Neo and Shin were no better. Neither of them had had a perfect or even normal childhood and their shared adventures had brought them together, but didn't make them ready to be parents.

They had been together for four years now, building their own lives quite well. But discarding freedom and raising a child? Not what she'd pictured for them. They hadn't even talked about it!

But then her body had been acting up strange and she'd feared the worst. Miw hadn't even dared to talk to Neo, because she didn't know how he'd react. In the end she'd told Shin about it first. He was the calm and rational one. Neo might throw a tantrum out of fear - as she had done - but Shin wouldn't do that. He'd hold her and calm her down. And once she was calm, she'd be ready to tell Neo. Because he was the father, no one else.

"Don't you think you're too harsh on yourself?"

"What? Thinking I'm gonna be a shitty parent? Or you? We didn't exactly learn from the best, do you remember?"

"But maybe that's why it will be okay. We definitely know what we don't want to happen to a child. No stepfathers molesting it for example. We'd want to give lots of love and we have enough love for someone else, believe me. I won't be a murderous mafia boss and Neo knows how to handle his finances. You'd teach them to be strong and empathetic and resourceful."

That's why she'd taken Shin with her. He always knew what to say to calm her down. And move her to tears as well.

He hugged her even tighter and whispered into her ear how it's going to be alright. How they'd be amazing parents and how they were lucky to be more than one or two people. There'd always be one to babysit the child. He moved on to how the child would proudly present his parents in school and make the teachers lose their minds and how they'd turn the whole island into a polyamorous community for all.

Shin whispered nonsensical stuff into her ear, until Miw was giggling like crazy while leaning into him, drawing energy from his optimism and his love.
It might be a different love than the one she had with Neo, but she'd still give her life for him.

In the end, telling Neo about her pregnancy wasn't as bad as she'd feared.
First he turned white, than he started sweating and suddenly he stood up and a smile as bright as the sun started to take over his face.

"Pregnant? Really?"

"Are you already losing your hearing?"

But she smiled and nodded at the same time and a moment later she had an armful of Neo. Or rather she was engulfed in his big arms, crushed against his chest. Gently crushed.

Once he let go of her, he cupped her face with his large hands and didn't seem to be able to look away.

"You're not angry? Or afraid?"

"Oh! I'm very afraid. It terrifies me to think I might not be the father this child deserves. But at the same time . . . I want this. I would have never tried for it, but since it has happened, I really want to have a child. Someone we can spoil and who we can play with. There's so much I want to teach them!"

"Now I know! You only want to teach them your music style since neither me nor Shin will listen to it."

Neo huffed: "Your music taste is simply bad. And I need someone naive who might still be able to appreciate the treasure. Oh, by the way, where's Shin? We need to tell him!"