Episode 3

Hinata sorted through his and her laundry, something he never asked her to do. She just did, and he noticed a little set of baby clothes he assumed she had been gifted.

"It's pretty soon for those, isn't it? You're not even showing." He raised an eyebrow at the small onesie.

"People aren't sure what to get but want to help out. Infant clothes of all sizes will be useful as the baby will grow quickly." She mumbled.

Sasuke was a little frustrated with her lack of any real opinion on these things. "What do you need, anyway?"

Hinata stared at him. He had never really taken an interest before. He hadn't acted like she wasn't pregnant. He just didn't bring it up.

She got up, setting her folding aside, and went to her room, returning with a notebook with her clean writing a list of things she would need to find before the baby was born. Things like a car seat carrier, baby blankets, a crib, bottles, pacifiers, a breast pump… he didn't want to know what that was. But it was a short list. Shorter than he thought it would be, there wasn't a single toy on it.

"Don't you need baby toys and high chairs?" Sasuke wondered.

"A high chair won't be needed until it can hold its head up and eat solid food, and there isn't much more than a rattle or chew toys that are needed to entrain a child of that age." Hinata looked at the minimal list.

"I guess the minimalist approach works." When most parents split, he thought the parent who ended up with the kid tried to give them everything to make up for it, but I guess the kid wouldn't have known, and Hinata didn't seem the one to give in to emotional impulse. It dawned on him that she may be trying to keep it small, so she didn't invade his home more than she had to.

"I'll get you a crib." He pointed to the list. "That way, I don't have to pick out clothes or bears." She frowned at him.

"You don't need to get anything you have already given us so much by letting us stay." She tried.

"And I'll be a dick to everyone else if I don't get a gift. Just tell me the one you want, and I'll get it." She sighed. His nose twitched. "You don't have to make a big deal about it."

"You don't have to make up for what he did. I appreciate all you have done for us, but please don't feel obligated to take on my child and me because Naruto failed to be the husband I married." Hinata said. For the first time, addressing the situation. He wondered how long she held her tongue because she looked like she was going blue.

Sasuke assumed that she thought once she had said that, he would throw her out and wash his hands of her. "Nah, he's a bastard, and I'm done cleaning up his messes, but I sat there and was told how wonderful you were for years, and I don't know." He took a breath. "I guess I want to see what was so wonderful that he could just leave like that."

She looked down and closed her eyes.

"I know I took you in because I'm used to cleaning up his messes, but you can stay as long as you want. I always wonder what kids were like." She wiped her eyes. He didn't mean to make her cry.

"Thank you." Hinata started weeping, and he didn't know what to do. He wasn't going to hug her but…. What did he do?

"You okay?" He asked and turned to make tea as that is what she did when he came back stressed from work.

She sniffled a while and accepted the cup when he finished. "I'm sorry, it's just your the only person not pressuring me for answers about Naruto and not asking me what I'm going to do on my own and…."

"That's all anyone wants to talk about." He finished. She nodded.

Sasuke had gotten that too. Constant questions. Was the real father? Why did he take her in if he wasn't? What did he think had gone wrong? What would he do when he got sick of her? When was he going to kick her out for freeloading? No amount of actual truthful answers worked, so he stopped answering.

"The girls at work are half and half. Some of them are so giddy, they only want to talk about the baby. The other ones think I used him or tried to tie him down with a baby and failed, or I cheated with you, and that's why you took me in." He rolled his eyes and nodded, knowing that one. "My friends want to know what happened and what my plans are…." She hiccuped a sob. "And right now, having the baby is all I have planned. I don't have any further because all I had... had Naruto in it." That explained why she stopped going out altogether. Her friends were nothing but reminders that she was drowning in her uncertainty. "Thank you for not adding to it."

"You'll figure it out. Even if I hadn't offered the room, I think you would have found a place you could afford and worked it out. You're not that fragile. If anything, I would say you have handled this better than any other time I've seen a girl get pregnant and someone runoff. The last I saw had a breakdown and blamed everyone else then...drank" Hinata flinched, putting her hand over the slight bump.

"Thank you, it means a lot that you think so." She sighed, looking at her list.

"If you want to talk about planning, I'm here. Just don't make me shop for baby bullshit."

Hinata smiled for the first time since she ended up in his place. "I won't."