Morning.
Shin did not go to the Hokage's office today. He sat on the sofa at home, reading a magazine and drinking the tea Ayano had brewed.
"Is Kushina unwell? She still hasn't gotten up." Ayari looked at Kushina's tightly shut bedroom door.
No matter how lazy Kushina usually was, she had never slept this late. Ayari even suspected that Shin had worn her out last night.
Shin merely set down his teacup calmly. "She's pregnant."
The moment he said this, the women in the room froze.
Shin added, "Mine."
Ayari was the first to react. Rolling her eyes, she said, "Obviously. If it weren't yours, that'd be a disaster."
She sat across from Shin and picked up the tea he had drunk from, taking a sip herself. Though she had long been prepared for this, now that the moment had arrived, she still felt unsettled.
Seeing Shin leisurely read his magazine without the slightest panic, she inexplicably got angry. She stood up again and walked over to kick him.
"Kushina's pregnant, and that's all the reaction you have?!"
"If she's pregnant, then she'll give birth," Shin said.
Just then, Mikoto arrived. Aside from not staying overnight, she now spent most of each day at the Hokage's residence.
Seeing the fuming Ayari, she asked, "What's wrong?"
Ayari snorted. "Ask him!"
Shin said, "Nothing. Kushina's pregnant."
Mikoto: "..."
Shin added, "It'll be much more convenient for you two pregnant women to be together from now on."
Mikoto: "..."
Ayano glanced at Shin, said nothing, and continued with her work.
All the women in the household understood what their Hokage was like. None of them were particularly surprised that Kushina was pregnant; they all felt it was only natural.
Except Ayano. She looked at her own stomach and silently sighed.
After hesitating