Surprise

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/32011597.

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/M
Fandom: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Relationship: Levi Ackerman/Hange Zoë
Characters: Levi Ackerman, Hange Zoë
Additional Tags: Modern AU, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy, Fluff, Established
Relationship, She/Her Pronouns for Hange Zoë, Caring Levi
Language: English
Collections: Tumblr Prompts, AOT Love<3
Stats: Published: 2021-06-17 Words: 3,777 Chapters: 1/1
 Surprise
by someonestolemyshoes

Summary

Hange had been feeling unwell for days.

Notes

😭
Prompt: Hi! Have u done any pregnant Hanji and overprotective daddy Levi already?? Yep i
think im craving for more domestic levihan family, im sorry

💖💖💖
Im a bit new here in the community, and when i read ur works, i fell in love with it already,
thank you for existing!!!

This is pure self indulgent fluff I hope u enjoy!!

See the end of the work for more notes

Hange had been feeling unwell for days.

It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence—Hange tended to wake up feeling nauseous some days,

most often when she’d neglected to eat a decent meal the evening before—but this was the
fourth morning in a row now, that Hange found herself bent over the toilet bowl in the early
hours of the morning, heaving up nothing but acid and empty air.

She retched until her stomach ached. There was nothing left to bring up, but her gut still
rolled unpleasantly and there was a telling tremor under her tongue that warned her it might
be best to stay in the bathroom a little while longer. She settled heavily against the wall to
catch her breath.

It didn’t make any sense. For most of the day, Hange felt fine. A little tired, maybe, but that
was only to be expected after spending half the night every night on the bathroom floor.
Tonight, no doubt, would follow the uncomfortably familiar routine: Hange would dry-heave
a little longer, until the queasiness abated enough for Levi to convince her to come back to
bed, and then she would toss and turn, too warm beneath the bed clothes, until she could fall
into a restless sleep. She’d wake up feeling a little groggy, a little bleary, unreasonably
hungry, but after a coffee and some breakfast she would feel well again. Perfectly normal.

Like clockwork, Levi appeared in the doorway just as Hange had flopped herself back over
the toilet. She felt his palm, cool and soft, press against the back of her neck. Hange gathered
her hair back from her face with both hands, braced her elbows on the toilet bowl, letting out
a groan of discomfort as her stomach twisted, threatened to revolt again. Levi’s thumb rubbed
soothingly against her neck.

Sure enough, she brought up nothing more, but she gagged plenty, and found herself gasping
for breath by the time she leaned back against Levi, aching and exhausted. His lips pressed
into her damp hair.

Levi was as silent as always. His touch was pleasant, his presence welcome. Hange needed
the hand he offered to pull her to her feet, needed his reassuring grip at her hips as she
brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth out. Her quaking knees felt unstable beneath her.

He lay facing her after they got into bed. Hange was sprawled out atop the covers, shifting
restlessly to find the coolest patches on the bed. Levi watched her for a moment, then said,
“This isn’t normal.”

Hange only grumbled.

“You said you’d book an appointment with the doctor.”

Hange grumbled again. Levi ticked his tongue and rolled to lie on his back, staring at the
ceiling.

“Call tomorrow.”

“If I didn’t know better,” Hange said sluggishly, “I’d say you were worried about me.”
He scowled and rolled onto his other side, his back to her now.

“No, just sick of waking up at half four every morning to drag you back to bed.”

Hange managed a small, wicked snicker, but shuffled across the space between them and
pressed an apologetic kiss to the back of his neck.

“Must be dreadful,” she said. Her voice sounded raw, hoarse. She buried her nose into his
hair and took a long, deep breath. Levi grunted, but reached back and pulled her arm loosely
over his hip. He knotted their fingers together loosely.

“Call them, Hange.”

Hange gave his fingers a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

“I will.”

Hange prided herself on being a reasonably intelligent person. She had two degrees, was
working towards her doctorate, and already had her name on a small handful of peer-
reviewed research papers. She spoke multiple languages, read dissertations for fun, kept a (in
Levi’s words) disgustingly realistic human skeleton in a box under the bed for study
purposes, and had spent the better part of the last 26 years of her life studying human biology
and physiology.

How she had not predicted that she might be pregnant was almost unfathomable.

She left the doctors office in a daze with an appointment card and several pamphlets in hand.
She had been referred hastily to a midwife and the hospital would soon be sending out a date
for an ultrasound—“As soon as possible,” the doctor had said, “since you’re not sure how far
along you are.”

The thing is, Hange had been on the same birth control pill for years now. Forgetful as she
may be about many, many things (like eating, and bathing, and washing the dishes and taking
out the garbage and and and), Hange was religious in taking that damn pill at the same time
every single day. She had never missed it, not even once. Without a regular cycle, Hange had
no way of predicting when they had conceived, and the doctor was eager to make sure no
essential landmarks in her antenatal care were missed, if they could possibly help it.

The thought had never even crossed her mind. It seemed ridiculous now, in hindsight. The
sickness was one thing, but now that she thought about it, there were a whole host of small
oddities that Hange could easily attribute to pregnancy. Lethargy, and bloating, heartburn, and
she had been peeing more than usual—Hange groaned, and scrubbed her hands over her face.
She should have suspected, at least. Should have put the pieces together sooner.

But, stupid and naive as it may be, she hadn’t thought it possible. Why worry about it, when
Hange had taken consistent precautions to avoid it?

She felt queasy the entire bus ride home.

It wasn’t that she was against the idea of having children. One day, maybe. When she had
finished her doctorate, got herself a steady, well-paid job. When she and Levi had moved out
of their tiny, cramped apartment into somewhere bigger, somewhere more suited for a
family.

And god. Levi.

This was something they’d never really talked about. For his part, Levi never seemed all that
interested. He was good with Hange’s nieces and nephews, and Erwin’s son adored him, and
he hadn’t showed any express dislike for children, but—well, tolerating other peoples little
brats and raising your own are two very different things.

What if Levi didn’t want the baby? What if he did? Hange wasn’t even sure herself what she
wanted to do about the whole situation—what if she didn’t want it? What if, after some
reflection, Hange decided now wasn’t a good time? Could they even afford a baby right now?
Hange’s money was tied up in her education, while Levi was just making ends meet at the
office. They got by well enough with just the two of them, but add in a baby? A whole other
person, entirely dependant on them for support? Hange could barely feed and bathe herself,
some days, never mind responsibly care for a child.

By the time the bus pulled up near the house, Hange felt more distressed than ever. Levi, at
least, was at work until the evening, so she had a few more hours to herself to mull
everything over, but the entire situation made her stomach clench and churn unpleasantly
with every new thought.

The prospect of having a child was terrifying. The prospect of not having this child was
nauseating.

Levi had left the flat in pristine condition when he had left for work, but Hange barely had
the energy to feel even a little guilty as she shrugged off her coat and kicked off her shoes,
leaving both strewn about the floor. She dumped her bag and made her way sluggishly
through to the bedroom.

Levi had made the bed. The sheet was stretched flat over the mattress, the pillows perfectly
fluffed and set against the headboard. Hange’s nightshirt, one of Levi’s old, baggy shirts, too
stretched and threadbare for him to wear, had been folded neatly and left on her side of the
bed, her slippers lined up smartly with the bed frame. For some reason—hormones, she told
herself—her eyes watered, and a lump swelled in her throat. She sniffled pitifully as she
stripped off her clothes and pulled on the shirt, clambering into the bed and tugging the sheets
until the cocooned around her.

Hange passed the rest of the day tossing and turning in bed. She tried to nap, but her mind
was too restless, occupied with thoughts of the baby, with the concept of having to tell Levi
when he came home. She could try to lie, say the doctors had done some blood work, that she
was waiting on the results of some test or other, but Levi knew her too well. She could never
lie to him, and her despondent state would give her away before she had the chance to say
anything.
The sun was beginning to set by the time she heard Levi’s keys in the door. She felt
exhausted, head aching with all the thinking, considering, weighing up her options; with
running over every possible outcome she could imagine. Keeping the baby, getting rid of the
baby, Levi not wanting the baby, Levi leaving over the baby—every scenario she could
imagine was worse than the last. There was only one idea that she had hardly dared entertain,
in fear of disappointment if things didn’t work out.

She heard Levi call out for her, but gave no answer. She listened, curled up in a ball on her
side, as he shuffled around, no doubt picking up her coat and shoes from where she had
abandoned them. And then he made his way towards the bedroom, steps soft on the plush
carpet. The bedroom door creaked open.

“Hange?”

She made a small, warbled noise under the bedclothes. Levi came to sit on the bed, the
mattress dipping beneath his weight. His hand found the curve of Hange’s hip.

“How was it?”

Hange made another noncommittal sound. She wiped her nose and eyes on the sheets, but
didn’t dare show her face just yet. She wasn’t ready. She had never prepared for this
conversation, never even imagined it before today. It was too soon. Not enough time to
rehearse.

Levi’s hand moved to her back, rubbing lightly up and down her spine, before dropping to the
mattress behind her. He leaned over her, and she felt his lips press warm and gentle to the
point of her shoulder. A fresh wave of tears poured over the bridge of her nose and down the
side of her face.

She tried to be quiet, but something—the shake of her shoulder, perhaps, or the shudder of air
as she tried to take a steadying breath in—gave way to her crying. Levi moved off the bed,
but Hange felt his fingers prying lightly at the sheets, pulling them down until he could get a
good look at her face. He was kneeling by the bed now, face level with her, and he looked at
her with worry pinching deep creases between his brows.

“Oi, what’d they say?”

Hange bit the inside of her lip and rubbed her damp cheek on the pillow. If Levi was bothered
by her using their bedding as a tissue, he didn’t show it. He simply looked at her, eyes darting
over her face, searching. It occurred to Hange then how this must look to him. She had gone
to the doctors due to unexplained, violent sickness, and now she is in bed, hours later, still
crying about whatever news she had received.

“I’m fine,” she said. Levi’s tense shoulders relaxed a fraction, but his face remained pinched,
frowning and concerned. Hange wanted to tell him quickly, simply, like ripping off a plaster,
but the words would not come. She opened her mouth, but her throat constricted painfully.

Eventually, she said, “my bag. There’s some stuff in my bag. Have a look.”
Levi gave her a somewhat quizzical look, but stood, dropping a quick kiss to her temple
before going to fetch the bag, and dipping his hand in to fish out the contents inside.

Hange watched with her breath held and her stomach clenched as Levi pulled out the handful
of leaflets and turned them over, looking at each one in turn. His eyes widened fractionally as
comprehension dawned on him. His lips pressed into a thin line. Leaden weight settled in
Hange’s gut. She curled into a tighter ball, pressing the bedsheets over her mouth and nose,
waiting for him to gather himself enough to say something.

After a moment, he spoke.

“That’s all?”

Huh? “Huh?!”

Hange disentangled her arms from the sheets and sat up, staring at him. Levi moved to sit on
the edge of the bed again, a scowl back on his face, though there was an intriguing flush high
on his cheeks as he whacked her lightly on the top of the head with the leaflets.

“Stupid four-eyes,” he said, exasperated. “Crying like that. I thought you were dying.”

“I’m pregnant.” Hange said the word slowly, carefully, in case Levi had somehow
misunderstood. He had the audacity to look at her like she was stupid.

“I can see that.”

“And you have nothing more to say about it? That’s all?”

Levi shrugged a little at her. Aside from the small patches of colour in his cheeks, Levi
seemed wholly unfazed by the revelation.

“It’s just a baby. We can handle a baby.”

“That doesn’t terrify you?”

Levi scrutinised her for a moment, before he said, “are you scared?”

“Yes? Yes! How are you so calm? We can’t afford a baby—we don’t have the time for a
baby? Where will they going to sleep? We don’t have a spare room. Can we get time off work
to take care of a baby? How will we pay for childcare when we can’t be around?”

“Hange,” Levi said, putting a stop to her rambling. He watched her with a pinched stare. “Do
you not want it?”

Hange had spent the majority of the day mulling over this same question. Staring a family
was a huge, life-changing commitment, something that required careful forethought and
planning. They had not had that luxury. Hange was pregnant now. She had doubts and fears,
more than she could ever express, but the idea of simply having a baby—of having this baby
—wasn’t upsetting. In the small, brief moments she had allowed herself to imagine a future
where she and Levi were parents, where they weren’t wanting for money or time, where
things were well, she felt happy. Giddy. The prospect was almost exciting.

“It’s not that,” Hange said earnestly. “I do—I’ve been thinking about it all day, and I—I do
want it. But I just—we had no time to prepare. We have no savings, we have no space, I’m a
mess. How are we supposed to take care of a tiny person? Babies are hard work, Levi.”

“You’re already hard work.”

Hange laughed weakly, and wiped at her face again. Levi pressed a kiss to her raw cheek.

“We’ll figure it out,” he said.

Hange leaned into him, sighing quietly.

“Is this the kind of thing we can just figure out?”

Levi hummed, shrugging his shoulder. His fingers skimmed up beneath Hange’s shirt,
splaying over the small of her back and pulling her closer.

“Why not? We’ve done a good job bullshitting our way through everything else.”

Hange laughed lightly and bumped the side of her head against Levi’s.

“This is different, Levi. This is a person. A tiny little person who is going to need me and you
to do everything for them. What if we can’t do it? What if we mess up?”

“Hange.” Levi pulled back a little and his hands came up to grip either side of her face,
forcing her to look at him. “Stop. I know all that. But if you want the brat, and I want the
brat, we’ve got no choice but to get on with it.”

“I know, I know, but—wait, you want the baby?”

Levi maintained eye contact with her, but it seemed to take a concentrated effort to do so. The
flush of his cheeks deepened a little and his lips quirked at the corners. No doubt to
compensate for the show of emotion, he pulled his face into his customary frown.

“It’s fine,” he said. Hange fought the urge to roll her eyes and caught his hands as he lowered
them from her face, pulling them into her lap.

“Are you saying that because it’s already too late, or do you want to keep it?”

Levi’s face took on a look of constipated strain. He curled his lip as though in distaste, then
hooked a hand around the back of Hange’s neck and pulled her face to his abruptly, smacking
a kiss to her lips. He let his forehead settle against hers and stroked his thumb over the hinge
of her jaw.

He fought to keep his tone neutral, but Hange could hear the happy tremor in his voice as he
said again, “It’s fine.”
For the first time since hearing the news that day, Hange allowed herself to feel excited. To
accept the idea that she and Levi were about to start their own bizarre little family. That Levi
was still with her felt incredible enough, but to know that he was pleased—it was more than
she could ever have hoped for. Hange gave a wet laugh and kissed him again.

“Are you allergic to looking happy?” Hange asked as they broke apart. Levi clicked his
tongue and pulled back to flick her square between the eyebrows. She laughed a little louder
and leaned to wipe her runny nose on his shoulder. Levi muttered under his breath, but didn’t
push her away.

“Okay,” Hange said, after a moment. She sat back and pushed her hair back from her
face. “Okay. We’re having a baby, then.”

Levi rubbed the smile from his lips with the back of his hand, nodding. “We’re having a
baby.”

Hange sunk down to flop back over the pillows. Levi looked down at her, head tilted,
chewing the inside of his lip. Hange reached up to brush his fringe off his forehead, warmth
spilling in her chest when he held her hand close and turned to kiss her palm.

She smiled a little playfully, and freed a leg from the sheets to dig her toes into his ribs.

“If I’d known you wanted kids I would have been significantly less stressed, you know.”

Levi quirked a brow at her.

“I’ve told you that before.”

“No, you haven’t.”

“I have. At your sisters wedding.”

Hange racked her brain, searching for the conversation. She remembered the occasion, and
she remembered that she and Levi had somehow ended up babysitting Hange’s family brood.
She remembered Levi, wrestling to keep her youngest nephew on his lap while the eldest,
still only five or six at the time, was clambering up the back of his chair, sticky hands tugging
at Levi’s collar. Hange fought hard to recall more of what was said, but could remember
nothing at all of Levi announcing that he had wanted one of his own.

“You said these brats aren’t so bad,” Hange said slowly.

Levi nodded at her. Hange waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t, only looked at her like
there was nothing more he needed to say.

“That’s it? That’s your idea of telling me you want kids?”

“The hell else could I have meant?”

Hange dug her toe at him again but Levi caught her foot this time, pushing it firmly down
onto the mattress. Hange reached for him with both arms instead, curling them around the
back of his neck and tugging him down quickly. He toppled over her with a quiet oof, and
Hange rolled them quickly, straddling his waist and dropping her weight down onto him.

“That is the kind of thing you say clearly, Levi! These brats aren’t so bad—you’re
ridiculous!”

Levi wrestled with her arms a little longer before giving up and bringing his hands instead to
rest low on her hips. He watched her with a curious expression on his face, something open
and soft, and then his eyes roved down to her abdomen and his thumbs brushed inwards,
beneath the hem of her shirt, stroking over her lower belly.

This time, he didn’t fight his smile.

He reached up and pulled her down by the neck, and kissed her soundly. Hange melted
against him, welcomed the press of his tongue between her lips, shuddered pleasantly when
he nipped at her bottom lip. She went with him willingly as he rolled them both over,
nudging a knee between her legs and settling his weight against her.

She was spreading her legs to make space for him, when he paused suddenly, and pulled
back, leaning over the bed and scooping through the discarded back of leaflets. Hange,
winded and dishevelled, watched him incredulously as he flicked through the contents of one,
then tossed it aside and opened another.

“What are you doing?”

Without looking up, Levi replied, “Checking.”

“Checking what?”

“I wanna know if we can still—” he waved a hand between them, and went back to
searching.

“We’ve been—” Hange mimicked his gesture, “—up until now anyway.”

Levi looked up at her, looking mildly horrified. He held up one his open leaflet and
said, “You’ve been drinking alcohol, too. You’re not supposed to do that. And look, here—
you’re not supposed to overwork. You’ll have to take on less hours at the university. And
you’ll eat. Proper damn meals. Every day.”

Hange flopped back against the pillows, eyes rolling, watching as Levi picked up each new
leaflet in turn, pointing out every little adjustment that Hange would have to make.

“This one says you should get eight to ten hours sleep per night. Every night. And not so
much coffee, the caffeine’s bad for the baby.”

The baby. It sounded surreal. It sounded ridiculous. Levi shifted to sit against the headboard
beside her after opening the chunky little What to Expect While Expecting volume Hange had
been handed while leaving the doctors. He seemed thoroughly engrossed, and seemingly
unaware when one of his hands reached out to pull Hange’s hair free of its ponytail and sink
into her hair. She hummed happily as his nails scraped over her scalp.
Things were still scary, and Hange was still uncertain about how this whole adventure might
turn out. But Levi was still with her, and Levi was happy, and that—

—Well, that was good enough.

End Notes

Thank you so much for reading!! The wonderful Faerielleart created this absolutely stunning
artwork for this fic, which you can find here. And if you want to read more fics or talk about
existing fics or levihan in general or anything, really, you can find me on Tumblr @
someonestolemyshoes :)

Please drop by the Archive and comment to let the creator know if you enjoyed their work!