ON A SHORTAGE OF MOTHERS by Ross Gilbertson

"So explain this then!" Ranma held out the photo he'd found in the
principal's office accusingly. Nodoka gasped at the image of herself
and Mr Kunou at the hospital, a baby in her arms. "I know I don't look 
much like Pops but I never thought... Is Principal Kunou my real 
father?"

"No! I mean... I should have known this day would come. Sit down and 
I'll explain it all.

You are partly right. Long before I met your father I was married to 
Kunou-san. Oh he was different then, but after the birth of our son, 
Tachi, he rapidly began to deteriorate. Pregnant again and unable to 
handle his madness I fled.

I found shelter with a travelling street vendor. Though it ended badly 
I will always be grateful to my passionate Okonomiyaki chef. Unable to 
have children himself and eager for an heir he agreed to look after my 
children, even when it turned out to be twins. Unfortunately Kunou-san 
found us. He had divorced me and with the courts help took my children 
away from me. Luckily he did not know I had had twins and I was able 
to hide one of my girls from him.

We broke up very soon after however. A young man at the hotel we were 
staying at entered the wrong room and in the dark I didn't realise... 
When my husband-to-be found us togeather he would not listen to my 
explanations. He took my little U'chan and left. I was never able to 
find either of them again (I suspect he changed his name).

Abandoned once more I gave into despair and tried to drink away my 
sorrows. When I came to I was with your father. As a young man Genma 
was not highly popular with the ladies and I'm afraid I took advantage 
of his desperation in order to have a place to live.
We soon discovered I was pregnant again. Genma was ecstatic and 
immediately proposed. However I didn't feel I could say yes not 
knowing for sure who the father was.

I wrote a letter to the lost young man from the hotel (He lived with 
his sister in Tokyo) however he didn't arrive until the day I was 
going into labour. Genma was nowhere to be found so I begged him to 
take me to the hospital. Instead he carried me into the forest. I was 
never so scared in my life. He delivered my twin boys himself all the 
time mumbling about some family curse and begging the gods to skip 
this generation. He took one of the babies and walked into the forest 
saying he would find a stream to wash it in. I never saw them again. 
The police checked his sister's house but it seemed long abandoned. 
Grief-stricken, I clung to Genma and we were married soon after. I 
never told him about the other child though. Being somewhat clueless 
about such matters he had never realised I was having twins.

So you see, Genma is your father in all the ways that matter. My 
constant prayer however is that one day you will find your lost 
siblings... Why Ranma! Why are you choking!"

"I... I... I can't believe I'm engaged to my sister!"

"Don't be silly, Ranma. Akane's only your cousin."

        ***

Just a short tribute spamfic to the hardworking mothers of Ranma 1/2
All 5 of them. (Its scary to think that Gosukuji is the only one
whos shown to have a normal family ie. 2 parents)

        ***

Elsewhere in Nerima...

"Mousse stop that! I hoped you'd grow out of this infatuation but its
time you found out the real reason you can never marry Shampoo (or 
Rin-Rin, Lan-Lan, Plum or Rouge for that matter). You remember 
Pantyhose Tarou. Well his mother..."