Chapter Text
Eren wakes up to the loud chirping of birds. They always appear right outside of his window in the morning but never have they been so loud. There was an old letter shoot connected to the side of his window, vestigial it was until a bird made a nest in it. Maybe it's eggs had hatched.
He scoots to the edge of his bed squinting towards the sun of old spring and his mother enters his room.
There's an extra bounce to her step than there usually is. It leaves the impression that she came in here for something more than waking her son. "Give me a hug!" She says walking quickly towards him, her hands outstretched.
He takes a moment to think, what had he done to deserve a show of affection this early in the morning. Her hands wrap around him tightly and she presses her fingers into his back. A firm kiss is planted in the center of his forehead as she pulls away from him.
Then it hits him, tomorrow is his birthday. Not just any birthday, he's turning sixteen. Of course his mother hadn't forgotten but how did he? He's the type to sleep so heavily that he forgets what year it is.
"Tomorrow you're going to be sixteen!" She shouts in a complete overflow of elation. She's too exhilarated about this, more excited than she had ever been about anything really.
"I know." He says with a fake smile. He knows what turning sixteen means to the males of his family - breeding. Long, torturous breeding. His particular side of the family happened to be the most infertile. It took almost five months just to conceive Eren, and not only that but his father was so infertile that he had to rely on a woman to conceive Eren.
Pregnancy was a burden that up until recent evolution, only women had to see through. But now since the human population has went down so much, males and females are expected to reproduce.
"I'm going to be a grandma!" She yells. "We'll start by the end of the week."
"Mom, you know us Jaeger's have the weakest sperm in the world. How am I going to get a someone pregnant?" Eren groans. Tired fingers scratch at his scalp.
"Well Eren, your father-"
"Father tried for so long to get knocked up, he failed, he even had to depend on his wife to have his child." Eren complains. And yes, he knows this is his responsibility but no way is he going to miss this opportunity to complain a bit.
"Well Eren, I met your father early. Too bad for you, you're not married yet and you didn't pay the girls from your school any attention so you have to depend on a man. I know us Jaeger's have weak sperm and basically infertile eggs but as I was saying your father is working things out right now." Carla says. Her eyes drop to a squint as Eren rolls his eyes.
"How is he working things out?" Eren asks standing to his feet and stretching. His father working things out to him, meant doing the total opposite. Eren would end up just like his father.
"Well as a family with horrible reproductive organs, your dad is basically renting a man for you from across the world..." She says with a smile of optimism. This is their only plan for Eren. If this man refused them, what will Eren do?
Eren frowns as he tries to sort things out. Someone from across the world? She doesn't mean...
"I mean he's an Ackerman." She says nodding and rolling her eyes. She knows Eren won't like that, receiving help from the best and most arrogant. The Ackerman's are a family that contains the strongest sperm in the entire world. Kenny Ackerman has helped so many families with fertility problems in the last year but he's so old. He's too old.
"No, I'm not going to try to impregnate Ackerman." Eren barks.
"Ha, hahahaha! Eren calm down. I doubt you even have fertile sperm at all. Ackerman will be impregnating you." She says.
"UUGHH! Why them? Any family but them." Eren pleads. "Kirschtein's? Springer's?" He offers desperately. Who else lives close to them? His ears must have totally missed the fact that he was being impregnated.
"The Springer's are about as infertile as we are." Carla says. She sits down on Eren's bed, her head in a fog. Being pregnant takes so much willpower and energy, she knows that better than anyone. She knows Eren can handle it though. She wanted to tell him to be excited for this, but she would be going against what she knew in her heart. Being pregnant is not fun, but the reward at the end... The reward at the end, the baby, the next generation is worth it.
"How about the Kirschtein's?" Eren asks. "I used to see Jean walking around at school."
"Jean's already pregnant." His mother says. Carla's heart breaks. She knows Kenny is inconveniently old, even for her. She doesn't want to force Eren into it, but it's the only option. The strongest sperm in the world... Guaranteed pregnancy.
"Please mom, he's so old." Eren begs. He's so disgusted. He won't lay with someone who has had so many partners already. Breeding is very emotional and intimate and he does not want to go through that with a man like Kenny.
"They accepted!" Eren's dad says rushing into Eren's room. Eren and Carla both jump with fright at the sudden intrusion. He struggles to catch his breath for a moment. "The Ackerman's accepted." He elaborates. Carla leaps in excitement and Grisha joins her. Eren simply watches the two.
"Really?" Carla asks. She knows he wouldn't lie about something this huge, but she had to ask.
"Yes! They only accept like two a year. They chose us! With the strength of their sperm, Eren will be pregnant in a week!" Eren's father says. His son can have what he couldn't, the opportunity to carry the next generation to delivery. It's all Grisha ever wanted. He doesn't want to think of how somberly he stared at his wife as she rubbed her swollen stomach. He doesn't want to think of the times he'd sit in envy as Carla talked to Eren through her stomach. It's all he ever wanted.
"Wait, I don't want to be pregnant." Eren objects. Grisha's heart turns to immediate shambles.
"It's not that bad Eren." His father says turning to look at him without affection.
"How would you know? You couldn't even get pregnant." Eren says. "No offense." He adds at the end although he intended for that to be as offensive as possible. Grisha swallows his hurt and pain and gives Eren a smile of pity.
"Well I didn't want to have sex with half of the guys my father set me up with, so we used artificial insemination. The odds of that sort of thing working is less than maybe twenty percent. Luckily for me I had a wife who was willing." He says looking at his wife with loving affection. She returns the look.
"But dad you were like twenty when mother got pregnant." Eren says. He desperately did not want to have sex with someone older than his father.
"That's because I was trying for four years. We didn't have the technology to contact families like the Ackerman's that we do nowadays." Grisha says matter-of-factly.
"Kenny is quite old for Eren." Eren's mother finally cuts in. She sympathizes with him, but there is no getting around the fact that this is the only option.
"Yeah and he's sickly. Oh! I forgot. He said his son would take care of us and everyone else for the next half-decade while he recovers. He had hip surgery and something else. His body's falling apart, it must be the old age." Grisha explains. He feels winded. How could he forget to say such an important detail. Maybe he is a heavy sleeper like his son and is not fully awake or perhaps he is becoming an old man too.
"A son?" Eren asks in confusion. He didn't know there was more than one male Ackerman, nonetheless one capable of breeding.
"Yeah, or a nephew or something. Levi's his name. He's flying over tomorrow. He'll be at your big birthday party tomorrow." He says. "Don't screw this up." His father says.
"Yes Eren, don't be rude. Thank god it isn't Kenny." Eren's mother says.
"Well if it isn't Kenny, then I probably won't have a problem with him." Eren says. "Probably..." He adds. If it's an Ackerman, chances are he'll have that Ackerman attitude.
"You'll be his first I think." Grisha says. "Anyways, I have to hurry and check on all the orders for your party." His father says rushing out.
"I should go help." Carla says. "Eren don't worry. Pregnancy is a beautiful thing. You'll probably get frustrated the first few times after you take the test and realize you're not pregnant but eventually you'll get there. This is an Ackerman after all. Oh I should also tell you, you'll be at a hotel with this Levi man for a few weeks until you become pregnant. Remember to keep an open mind. You might feel disgusting after the sex, but if you shower and you aren't careful... You know, the sex will be for nothing." She says fighting through the awkwardness. She was fearing the day she'd have to give her son the homopregnancy talk.
"Y-yeah, I know mom." He says nodding his head.
"So you know what to do right? You have to take a bath now and again at night. Put the herbs in the water and the olive oil and remember to relax. Eat healthy no more junk food." She says on her way out. She smiles lovingly at her son, looking back from the doorway. "And remember, stress is like poison for a growing fetus."
"Mom, what's it like? Being pregnant I mean." He says before she has the chance to leave completely.
"Well, at first, you won't like it. Then, once you feel the kick for the first time you realize that you're carrying another human. You'll grow an attachment to it even though the discomfort is constant, you'll endure it with a smile on your face." She says walking out of the room. That was her personal experience carrying Eren. She put a hand against her stomach and could almost feel Eren's kicks again. Ah, she was so young back then. A small smile spreads across her cheeks as she joins Grisha in the kitchen.
Back in the bedroom, Eren sits back down on his bed completely exhausted. In about 26 hours he'll have to meet the man who will impregnate him. He always wondered why he had to be born with weak sperm. It's so unfair. There are more people like him like the Kirschtein's and the Springer's. They're a group of families that will always have to look for an impregnator instead of going out and being the impregnator. They will always be the pregnant ones.
All day the people in town and on the Jaeger estate pamper Eren. They're so proud that his family are going to have a Jaeger-Ackerman child. In other words the child should actually be fertile, probably the most fertile in the whole Jaeger family.
When it's time for him to take his final bath he soaks in the oily, herbal water. He feels so at peace and comfortable... Of course he falls asleep in there. After an hour, the warm glow of the candles that surround the bathtub fade as they burn out. That ultimately wakes Eren.
He snuggles into his bed. He accepts the fact that he'll become pregnant sometime soon, so he might as well sleep easy while he can.
Some three thousand people are everywhere at the estate in the morning. Eren finishes his morning bath in a hurry. He woke up late of course.
"Eren?! What are you doing? Levi's been waiting for you for ten minutes." His mom shrieks on the other side of the bathroom door. She's always jumpy about punctuality. "All the guests are too. Come on aren't you trying to make a good first impression?" She barks.
"Okay, sorry." Eren says making haste to get out of the tub. He dries himself off so quickly that the towel steals a layer of skin from him.
"Come on Eren, just hurry. Your outfit is on your bed. Hurry hurry. Can't believe you're all grown up." She says as a tear of joy leaks from her eyes. She rushes back down the stairs to greet more incoming guests.
She's very tired, but she can't let anyone know that. She did most of the cooking and cleaning and setting up and she is so proud of the result. Eren's party looks so good, and that is what matters the most. Today is Eren's day. The party almost resembles a wedding. The theme is white and Levi, the man to be Eren's partner, he recieved the memo. He looks stunning in his white tuxedo. Black would probably suit him best, but he still looks great.
"Is Eren ready yet?" Levi asks in irritation as Carla makes her way down the long staircase. He was intimidated by how tall she is, but most people are taller than him. Eren will surely tower over him if his mother is this tall.
"He's throwing on his clothes now. Wow, you're so good looking." She says. Eren is so blessed to receive a man as good looking as Levi.
"Unlike my uncle." He says bringing his wine glass to his lips.
"Hahahahaha!" Carla laughs. It's not genuine. "How is he?" She asks.
"He's taking it a day at a time." Levi says nodding. He doesn't want to get into details here. He's just waiting to see the first teenager he'll have to impregnate.
"Mm. I hope he gets better soon." Carla says. The Ackerman attitude that she and Eren had both been expecting has arrived.
"You know how the Ackerman business works. I'll have to stay here for at least ten months. I can't leave until I see that the baby comes out of your son alive and well." Levi says. That's what Kenny told him.
"Oh, so you mean you only accept one a year?" Carla asks.
"Yes." Levi answers.
"This is your first, correct?" Carla asks.
"Yes but don't question my capability. You'll know that he's pregnant by the end of the week." He says confidently. He believes he actually can. The wine is slowly brought to his lips again by a white gloved hand and he swallows a sip. It's different from the wines he drinks back at home.
"I should warn you, we are the most infertile family probably in the whole world." She says with a charming smile.
"Don't worry. I'm sure I can do it." He says reassuringly. He turns away from the woman, no longer interested in the conversation.
Eren finally comes down the stairs in a rush. Carla and guests all cheer as he slows down. Levi doesn't cheer but he stares in awe. So this is the guy, he thinks.
Eren is definitely taller than him, the skin tone, the hair, the eyes, the strong facial features, he is so exotic. He's beautiful. Levi would have the honor of mating with someone as attractive as Eren. Levi looks away because he's been staring far too long.
"He's so late." Levi mutters to himself. Eren looks and feels good in his black button-down shirt, grey pants, and black dress shoes.
"Ah, he's stunning." The guests say.
"Thank you." Carla says with tears in her eyes. She carried the person walking down the stairs in her womb for almost nine months. She tended to every cut bruise and runny nose and now he's a man. Every parent waits for this. Eren's coming of age party begins now.
Grisha rushes over to the stairs with a camera. Old man fights back his tears.
Eren feels special as most people take out their cameras and film him walking down the stairs. He smiles and waves and his mother is so proud. Levi looks back up at Eren. The atmosphere is that of the typical wedding. The groom, Levi waiting down the aisle for his bride, Eren, as he confidently walks towards him. The crowd gawks at the bride as he makes his way down-
Levi dismisses the thoughts, but the nostalgic atmosphere is still there, the unwavering nostalgia cannot be silenced.
The band starts playing their music and people finally start to get food as the boy joins his mother and Levi.
"Eren, this is Levi." His mother says over the "happy birthdays" and "thank yous" of Eren and the guests.
"The one I'm breeding with?" Eren asks. He finds himself too nervous to look the man in the eye.
Levi stands staring at Eren's face, waiting for him to meet his gaze. The longer he waits the more pissed he gets.
"Don't be rude Eren." His mother whispers. "I'm off to tend to the guests." She says nudging Eren's shoulder. She pushes past them and her absence makes Eren all the more nervous. He let's little things catch his attention, the chandelier, the food tables, the overwhelming overflow of white. White is literally everything, Eren notices as he takes the time to look around; the floor, the table sheets, the walls, everyone's outfits. Everyone is dressed so purely except Eren, but that is the point isn't it?
"Hello Eren." Levi says sticking his gloved hand out. Eren lowers his head, not stopping at Levi, but he lowers it all the way down so his eyes stare uncomfortably at the man's white dress shoes.
"U-um hello Levi." Eren says shaking the gloved hand. He tries to calm himself down. The man in front of him is no doubt older than him, Eren is slightly taller but he finds no comfort in that at all. He briefly looks up into the cold, grey eyes, lowering them with haste as the intimidation burns like acid.
"Are you insecure?" Levi asks staring at the averted eyes of the birthday boy.
"N-no. No. Not at all." Eren says seriously. He harbors plenty of confidence.
"Then are you scared?" Levi asks. He decides it would be best to hide his annoyance. Besides, he has to sleep with this boy soon and he would rather not have there be awkwardness or the need to force Eren down. The more comfortable he can make Eren with him, the better these ten months will be.
"No, sir." Eren lies. Is he really scared? He's deeply intimidated which could probably mean he's scared. He doesn't want to disrespect this man in anyway but he feels like he's walking on eggshells.
Levi nods but he doesn't actually believe Eren. There is no way this kid isn't scared. Levi wonders if Kenny has to go through this every time he has to donate sperm. Kenny was more of the artificial insemination type, he hardly ever touched anyone. That's what Levi wanted to do. He shouldn't have had to fly all the way out here to sleep with this person. He should've sent the sperm then came once there was confirmation of a pregnancy. That's how Kenny did it.
"That's good then. Happy birthday." He says spinning the liquid inside his glass in spirals.
"Thank you." Eren says. He looks up into Levi's eyes finally... Levi lifts his eyebrows questioningly and Eren lowers his eyes once again.
Damn it. "So Eren," Levi says clearing his throat. He needs Eren to get comfortable. Why is this so difficult? "Looks like you're a man now, huh?" He says. He's completely aware of how odd that sounded.
"Ha, yeah I guess. I don't feel any different." Eren says scratching his scalp.
"Oh well technically you aren't really sixteen." Levi says sipping his wine again.
Eren looks into his eyes with a frown. "What do you mean?" He asks.
It's working, Levi thinks to himself. The conversation is starting to work. "Well you know how you're born and it takes twelve months for you to turn one?" He asks. Eren nods as Levi's eyes burn holes into his. "Well the same thing happens when you supposedly turn ten. You're not really ten years old, you're actually nine on your tenth birthday. Then it takes twelve months for you to turn ten years old. So when you 'turned sixteen today' you're not actually sixteen. You're entering your sixteenth year of life." Levi says. He feels honored to see how interested Eren seems to be in what he's saying. He actually doesn't know what the hell he's talking about himself.
"Wow, I never actually thought about that. I'm not sixteen I'm just barely entering my sixteenth year of life. So technically I've only lived for fifteen years and a day?" He asks.
"Yep." Levi answers.
"That's really interesting. Thank you for telling me." Eren says with a small smile.
"Yeah." Levi answers. He takes a second to scan the room. People are watching them, waiting to talk to him or the birthday boy.
There's a cold five minutes of silence. They just stand by each other and look around.
Levi wonders if he should tell Eren to greet some of his other guests or not and Eren is thinking of something else to say to Levi. They just had a conversation and it was so nice.
Eren thought about asking some things about the Ackerman's but the only questions he can think of are sperm related. That's not completely appropriate for a party.
"Sir." Eren calls. Levi turns to face him and the eye contact burns but Eren decides to withstand it. "We are conceived and we grow... We are fetuses for nine months. Technically wouldn't that mean we are whatever age we are now, minus one year, plus nine months?" Eren asks.
Levi thinks for a moment. "Well what I was saying was more like a clock. Age is like a clock. As soon as the clock hits 3:47, has it really been 47 mins since 3 o'clock? No it hasn't. The clock is telling you that you are beginning the 47th minute. When it hits 48 then it's been 47 minutes and you're beginning your 48th." Levi says sipping the rest of his wine. "So technically if we were to consider what you said to the clock thing, that would be like adding 45 seconds to 3:47. Either way it technically has not been 47 minutes since 3..... I forgot what we were even talking about. I don't know if anything I'm saying actually makes sense." Levi says with a smile as he shakes his head.
"No, no. I get it. You're really smart. Wow..." Eren says with a closed-mouthed chuckle. He really is fascinated. His lips stretch into a smile and his eyes twinkle. Now what else could he say to Levi to keep the conversation going?
Levi frowns. Eren's eyes remind him of emeralds. Eren's eyes are the fresh leaves of plants in the spring. Eren's eyes are the basin of youth, a young growing flower...
"Hello Levi. Welcome to our estate." Grisha says shaking Levi's hand quickly. If it weren't for Levi's fast reflexes he would've broken the glass in his other hand.
"Thank you Mr. Jaeger."
"No, thank you. It's time for the new generation." He replies with a hopeful smile.
"Well, this is the first Jaeger-Ackerman so you two must be excited. You and your wife I mean." Levi says.
"Oh yes, very, Mr. Arrogant." Grisha says with a laugh.
Levi snorts. "I don't deny it." He says. He doesn't really mean that.
"I hope you're ready to spend some time with my son." Grisha says.
"Ahh..." Levi says with lack of better to say.
Eren feels slightly embarrassed.
"Dad..."
"It's going to be about ten months. I think we're going to be okay." Levi says.
Eren and Grisha both frown. "Ten months?" Grisha asks.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry we couldn't talk about this over the phone. It's my courtesy to stay until the baby is born... So I can help Eren around while he's pregnant. I don't want him to accidentally fall and hurt our- ehem, hurt the child." Levi says clearing his throat.
"Oh of course. That's wonderful." Grisha says. "Then Carla and I will leave all responsibility that pertains to Eren, to you." Grisha says. He and Levi nod at each other.
"Having a baby is pretty stressful so I apologize in advance for the nagging I'm probably going to put you through." Levi says turning his attention back to Eren.
Eren blushes. "I apologize in advance for any trouble I may cause you." He says. "People who know me think I have a quick temper, that I'm hot headed and I don't think before acting." Eren adds. Why had he just said all of that? He's trying to be friends with Levi. Stupidity and shame spreads through him. Those are things you let people figure out about you, those aren't good qualities to have. You don't tell that to someone you're trying to impress.
"You sound like a troublemaker." Levi says with a hint of amusement in his voice. He is amused. He could handle a little trouble. Everyone thought so highly of the Ackermans, even now the party guests are gossiping about how lucky Eren is to get an Ackerman. The most infertile family matched together with the most fertile. How long will it take for Eren to become pregnant? If it takes too long Levi will lose all of his self confidence. But come on, his sperm is so strong it would probably be a one or two on the pH scale of acids and bases. There is no way this was going to take more than a week. Levi is going to make sure of that.
"Oh I promise I'm not. Really, I don't know why I said all of that." Eren says desperately. "I'm actually a pretty good kid. I have good grades and-"
"Can I talk to you later?" Levi asks interrupting the adolescent.
"Oh... W-well sure." Eren answers as Levi's already walking away from him. He stands in the middle of the dance floor under the expensive 72 inch chandelier. Ladies and men instantly flood around him once they notice he's free. The same happens with the birthday boy.
Eren is so disappointed. That probably ruined any chances of a friendship. Now Levi probably thinks so much less of him. If Eren could just take those comments back he would. The conversations were so nice.
He jumps a little as Levi looks back at him. Eren looks over the people talking to him and watches in awe as the small smile forms on Levi's lips. He returns the smile and he's so relieved that his nerves are settled.