This is likely to get a bit mushy...

				MISCONCEPTION III
				by Scott K. Jamison
				(Takeuchi disclaimer)

	Usagi munched slowly on a triple cheeseburger as she stared at 
the pile of literature in front of her.  Zenda-sensei, perhaps sensing 
that the teenager wasn't fully paying attention during her lecture, had 
given her a small stack of pamphlets to read.
	Homework, of sorts.  Yuck.  Several of the pamphlets were 
sponsored by the manufacturers of maternity and baby products.  These 
tended to be brightly-colored and friendly, and just so happened to have 
plugs for the very products the manufacturers put out.  Usagi grinned 
ruefully.  When she got around to reading them, she'd probably fall for 
the advertising. She knew she shouldn't, though.
	A couple were very technical-looking, and put out by the hospital 
itself.  She'd ask Ami to help her with those.  Just from a quick glance, 
it looked like there were all sorts of ways a pregnancy could go wrong 
that they hadn't mentioned in health class.
	Then there were some from various social and religious agencies.  
Apparently, if she wanted to give her baby up for adoption, there were 
several ways to go about it.  Plus there were agencies that would help 
her if she wanted to keep Ichiro.
	I already know his name, she thought.  So I guess I am going to 
keep him.  The nearby clock tolled, reminding her it was getting late.  
She'd stopped by the mall just to back up the story Chibiusa was supposed 
to tell, but she hadn't bought anything but the burger.  No time now!  
Mamoru would be by to pick her up soon!
	As she ran for home, Usagi worried about who to tell and when.  
Chibiusa already knew, sort of.  Her parents, because if she didn't, when 
the bill for the clinic visit arrived, it would get messy.  Mamoru, of 
course, and Luna.  Probably the other Senshi.  And Naru, mustn't forget 
the best friend!  But not Shingo.  Not until she started to show, at 
least.  His teasing was the last thing she needed.
		*			*			*
	"I'm home!"
	"Welcome back, Usagi.  How was the mall?  Buy anything nice?" 
	"Great, Mom!  Just a burger!  Chibiusa, I need to talk to you 
upstairs!"  She caught her daughter's arm and dragged her off.
	"Don't forget, your young man will be by in fifteen minutes." 
	"Thanks, Mom!"
	Usagi looked around to make sure Shingo wasn't in view, then shut 
the door to her room. 
	"Well?"
	"Congratulations, Chibi-chan.  You're gonna be a sister!"
	"YAAY--" as Usagi clamped a hand over her mouth.  "Mrphl?"
	"It's a secret, okay?  You don't tell anyone about Ichiro or my 
being...being pregnant...until they tell you, got it?  You're good at 
keeping secrets, I know you are."
	Chibiusa nodded gravely, then grinned.  "I promise!" 
	"Especially you don't tell Shingo.  The rugrat is too much of a 
pain already."
		*			*			*
	The motorcycle ride over had been quiet, and Usagi could sense 
that Mamoru was becoming concerned over her silence.  She smiled to show 
she wasn't angry at him or anything.  Well, not really angry yet, though  
she'd heard women often got angry at men while giving birth.  A picture 
flashed through her head of her bopping Tuxedo Mask over the head with 
the Moon Scepter while screaming her head off, and she broke into a 
giggle. 
	"Is there something you're not telling me, Usa-ko?" asked Mamoru 
as he stirred the fried rice.  Living on his own had made him a decent 
cook.  Better than Usagi, so far.
	"Yes."
	"And that is...?"
	"Mamo-chan, you like children, right?"
	"Of course I do!  I take good care of Chibi when I can, don't I?" 
	"Yes, and I'm really grateful to you!  You know that she's our 
daughter in the future..."
	"Mm-hmm..." as he began transferring the rice to a serving dish. 
	"Today, Chibiusa told me she had a brother.  A big brother."
	"Really?  We'll have a son too?  That's nice."
	"I'm glad to hear that.  Mamoru...I'm pregnant." 
	The dish crashed on the floor, spilling rice and vegetables 
everywhere.  
	"Pregnant!?  How did *that* happen?"
	"And you call *me* `dumpling-head'.  How do you *think* it 
happened?  We haven't taken any precautions at all!"
	"Oh.  But I thought..."
	"So did I.  Guess we were both pretty stupid, huh?" 
	He grinned sheepishly.  "How far along are you?" 
	"About a week.  I wouldn't have noticed for a long time yet, 
except Chibiusa picked today to tell me about Ichiro."
	"Who?"
	"Her big brother.  Our son.  My baby.  
WhatarewegonnadoMamochan!?" She took a big breath.  The doctor had told 
her that panic attacks weren't good for the baby.  Just stay calm... 
	"Well...this is awfully unexpected.  I thought we'd wait to get 
married until after I finished college and you graduated high school.  
But it looks like...you will marry me, won't you, Usagi?" 
	"Yes!  I mean, of course I will, I love you."
	"And I love you."  He kissed her, then asked, "may I feel?"
	"There's nothing to feel yet, silly.  But go ahead."
	His hand on her abdomen felt warm and comforting, despite the 
layers of cloth between their skins.  For now, everything was all right.  
The rabbit was with her protector, and nothing could harm her.
		*			*			*
	Usagi gave Shingo a wad of money.  "You treat Miki nice at the 
movies now."
	"Aw, c'mon, sis.  You know I'm not into that mushy stuff.  Miki's 
just my buddy."  But he smiled a little.  He might not be ready for 
romance yet, but in a little while...He bolted out the door.
	"Wait for me!" cried Chibiusa, who was acting as "chaperone" or 
"excess baggage", depending on who you asked.
	Usagi breathed a sigh of relief.  With the rugrat out of the way, 
she could talk to her parents relatively uninterrupted.  She hoped.  Good 
thing there hadn't been any monster attacks lately.
	Mama and Papa sat on the couch, watching the early news.  
Just the usual stuff, no weird occurences...
	"Okaasan, Otousan, I have to talk to you."
	The use of formal titles let them know she was serious, and Papa 
shut off the TV.
	"What is it, dear?"
	"Well...you know I've been seeing Mamoru Chiba for a while..." 
	"Yes, dear."  In fact, her parents believed the affair had been 
going on quite a bit longer than it actually had, using it to explain all 
her disappearances and odd behavior.  That she was in fact the Bishoujo 
Senshi Sailor Moon had just never occurred to them. 
	"Well, we've gotten very close, and..." in a tiny voice, "I'm 
going to have a baby."  
	There was a shocked silence.  Then her father exploded.
	"I knew it!  I knew that college boy wouldn't be able to keep his 
hands off you!  I'll kill him!"  Usagi stared at him, amazed.  She'd very 
seldom seen Papa angry.  He was always so easygoing! 
	"Dear, I think you should calm down.  Or have you forgotten?"
	Papa simmered down.
	"Go on, Usagi."
	"I admit it was really dumb of us not to use any protection, but 
I guess we thought nothing would happen.  
I'msorryMamaPapaitwasn'tsupposedtobelikethis!" 
	"Has your young man been told?"
	"Um...yeah, I told Mamoru.  He says we should get married." 
	"Darn straight!" fumed Papa.  "Though how he'll support you on 
that odd jobs salary of his is beyond me."
	"Dear, I think it's time Usagi knew."
	"Knew about what, Mama?"
	For answer, her mother walked over to the bookcase and pulled out 
two photo albums.  Usagi recognized one as her parents' wedding album and 
the other as her baby pictures album. 
	Mama leafed through both, opening each near the front.  Then she 
turned them around.  
	Usagi looked.  Her parents' wedding certificate, and her own 
birth certificate.
	"I don't get it."
	"Keep looking, dear."
	Then Usagi realized.  Her math wasn't the best, but something 
didn't add up.
	"These dates...they're only five months apart.  But that 
means..." 
	"Yes, dear.  It does.  A wedding kimono can hide a lot, can't 
it?"  Papa looked sheepish, just as Mamoru had the previous night. 
	"I suppose I did get a little carried away.  Eheh."
	"I was very fortunate that your father was such a fine man."  
That made him blush.  "Though having you meant changing a lot of my 
plans, and my future was in a different path than I expected, I've never 
regretted it.  I know you are going to have to make a lot of difficult 
decisions, but whatever you choose, I will be with you...my daughter."  
	"I'm here for you too, Usagi.  But this Mamoru had better treat 
you right.  Or else."  Papa tried to look stern, but he just didn't have 
enough practice.
		*			*			*
	There was another shocked silence.  Not terribly surprising, 
actually. Even the Senshi weren't prepared for this particular bombshell. 
	Then Minako began to giggle.  "Boy, Usagi, you really had me 
going for a minute there!  You, pregnant!"
	Usagi and Mamoru just smiled at her.
	"You're serious...aren't you?  Ohmigawdyou'regonnahaveababy!"  
There were times when the Venus Senshi's uncanny resemblance to Usagi got 
out of control.  This was one of them.
	"Well, I suppose it was only natural, given you two were going at 
it like rabbits in heat," said Makoto, managing to get a blush out of the 
young couple.  "Congrats!"
	Rei stared.  "It's true!  I can already sense a difference in 
your aura.  But I thought Chibiusa wasn't born for fifty years yet."
	"She won't be.  But it turns out she has a big brother she never 
mentioned to us.  His name will be Ichiro." 
	"So we were all laboring under a misconception, if you'll forgive 
my pun."  Ami gave a thin smile.  "Because we know a great deal of what 
happens in the future, we assumed we knew everything important about it.  
That is clearly not the case."
	Mamoru was thoughtful looking.  "And it's likely our future 
counterparts deliberately never told us about Ichiro, because his birth 
was so close to our current time.  Buddha knows, if I thought I was going 
to be a father this soon, I would have been a bit more careful." 
	The cats looked at each other and sighed.  Things had just gotten 
complicated again...


TO BE CONTINUED

SKJAM!