Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Chimaera ❯ Chapter 51 ( Chapter 51 )

Disclaimer: I don't own the G'boys, I just borrow them from time to time to play with and return them a whole lot happier, ne?

Rating: NC 17

Warnings: Yaoi, Lemon, sap, angst, Male Pregnancy, medical themes, WAFF, humor.

Pairings: 1x2x1

Archive: http://gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com

http://sweetlysour.net.

http://adultfanfiction.net

http://www.theforsakenwk.com

Many thanks to DBZVelena, Ryouga and Yami_Tai for the beta. Also thanks to Yami_Tai for the title of this fic.

Notes: Set partially during the series but main bulk after the war. EW didn't take place. The Eve wars are finished and the peace retained. The pilots have all gone their own ways, Heero and Duo have made a life together both working for Preventer when Duo's world is turned upside down as his unknown past comes back to haunt him.

Dedication: To Velena who gave me the plot bunny for this little gem.

Status: In progress.

~ Indicates flashbacks ~

/ thoughts /

"Chimaera"

October. 2003 ShenLong

Chapter 51

Hilde turned to see where her two companions were, having gotten a short way into the store and realizing that they were no longer with her. She soon spied them both, standing just inside the door with nothing short of awe on their faces. Actually after studying the looks for a few moments she decided it wasn't so much awe, as shock in Duo's case; and horror in Heero's case.

She smiled to herself as she watched the changing expressions and had no doubt in her mind that they were both looking a little green to say the least. Shaking her head she wandered back over to the pair. "Anything wrong, guys?" she asked, an amused smile on her lips.

"Shit! Do babies really need all this sort of stuff?" Duo said, his head spinning given the sheer amount of things he could see and they weren't even inside the store yet!

"Well, in a manner of speaking, yes, although you will find there are several different brands of the same item," replied Hilde.

"Fuck!" was all that Heero could manage at that point in time, his mind was too busy trying to calculate how much credit he still had on the card and whether it would be enough to fund the purchases.

"I think you already did that, Heero. If you had remained celibate we wouldn't be here," quipped Hilde, a grin on her face.

Both men turned their heads slowly to face the woman, looks of incredulity on their faces. "I think I will pretend you didn't say that, Hilde," responded Duo.

Hilde punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Come on, guys, time is a wasting and we have a shit load of things to buy. If we get started now, we might be finished by dinner time." Hilde began to walk away again, heading for the line up of shopping carts and pulling one out.

"Heero?" Duo turned to face his lover.

"Hai, Duo?"

"You remember how Sally said that one of the things I might suffer during the second trimester is depression?"

"Hai." Heero gave him a quizzical look.

"Well, I think I'm starting to suffer with it now."

~ * ~

"Okay, first thing on the list," began Hilde as they began to walk down the first aisle. "Diapers. You would be surprised at the amount of diapers a baby will use." Hilde paused and looked along the stacked shelves. "Have you thought about which kind you want to use?"

"You mean there's more than one kind?" said Duo as his eyes glanced warily at the shelf.

Hilde laughed. "Yes, Duo, there are many kinds. Brands really aren't that important as they're all pretty much the same but are you going to use disposable or cloth ones, or a bit of both?"

"Shit! I hadn't thought about that." Duo turned to Heero. "What do you think?"

"Hn." Heero looked just as bewildered as Duo.

"I'd suggest both. Use the disposable ones for when you're going out places and the cloth ones at home. The cloth variety are better for the environment, the disposable's can cause problems with the trash situation," said Hilde in a knowing voice. "A lot of people use a diaper service these days, you know, they come to the door, pick up your used diapers and replace them with fresh ones. Similar to a laundry service but in your case, guys, it might look a little suspicious with just two men and a baby in the house."

"You have a point there," replied Duo. "I guess we go for a mixture of both then. That okay with you, Heero?"

"Hai. One question though."

"Yes?"

"What do you do with the dirty ones that aren't disposable?"

Hilde rolled her eyes and shook her head. "My dear, Heero. You wash them, of course. You take them off the baby and pop them into a bucket of solution to soak, then wash them in the machine like you would do with your clothes," she stated, her voice taking on the slow tone of someone explaining a simple task to a toddler. "That reminds me, we will also need to get a bucket and soaking solution if you're using cloth diapers."

Heero poked Duo in the side. "That's your job. I refuse to wash diapers."

Duo turned to face his lover and growled. "You created half this child, Heero. You share in half the caring for it and that includes changing and washing diapers." He folded his arms across his chest and glared.

Heero decided not to argue. He'd work on that one later. "So which ones do you recommend, Hilde?"

"I'd use these ones." Hilde fetched a packet off the shelf. "My friend uses these and they're soft, yet strong and last well. I'd say you should be okay with about three dozen."

Heero bit his tongue.

"Then I'd get a couple of packs of these disposable ones."

"What about these ones?" Heero said as he lifted a pack off the shelf.

"They're too big, Heero."

"They come in different sizes?"

"Of course they do! Here, read the size chart on the side. It tells you what size for what age. These ones are for a baby six months to nine months, you go putting those on a newborn and they will just drop off." Hilde was doing her best not to laugh at the look on Heero's face.

Duo snickered from the side and Heero turned to look at him. "I don't know what you're finding so funny, you didn't know either." Duo stopped snickering.

"Now, what's next? Ahh... bottles and formula."

Heero and Duo followed Hilde along the aisle to the section where the bottles were kept. Duo whipped a bottle from the shelf and held it under Heero's nose. "On the bottle again, Heero?" he grinned.

"Baka!" Heero swatted the bottle away.

They selected a few different bottles and then Hilde suggested they also purchase some extra teats. "The teats don't last forever and after they've been sterilized quite a few times the rubber disintegrates and they need replacing."

"Maybe you should reconsider breast feeding, Duo," Heero teased. "At least your teats shouldn't wear out and we can save a fortune on formula, teats, bottles and sterilizing solution."

"Any more out of you and the bottles won't be the only thing getting sterilized." Duo returned with a huff.

Heero snuck close and quickly pressed a kiss to Duo's neck. "I'll help to make sure your teats stay clean and healthy," he whispered as his thumbs flicked across Duo's nipples.

Duo's knees went weak. "Aaaa..."

"Typical male."

"Huh?" said both Heero and Duo as they turned to find Hilde grinning at them.

"I said, typical male. Men, they always go for the boobs and it doesn't seem to make any difference if they're gay or straight, they're still drawn to the boobs," she sighed.

Both men visibly blushed and Heero dropped his hands back to his sides. "So, what's next then?" he said, attempting to change the subject.

"Okay, we have diapers, bucket, solutions, bottles... ah, pacifiers." Hilde stopped along the aisle and gazed at the various different pacifiers on display.

"Pacifiers?" Heero asked, a puzzled look on his face.

"Yup, pacifiers, or if you prefer some people call them dummies," replied Hilde as she took one off the shelf for closer inspection.

"Why do we need a dummy? I already have Heero," Duo quipped and copped a smack upside the head for his trouble.

"Baka!"

"No, Heero. Hilde said a dummy, not an idiot. Aren't you listening?" Duo snickered.

Heero simply rolled his eyes and took over the pushing of the cart. At least that kept his hands from straying to his lover's neck. They wandered down several aisles, stopping from time to time to select different items that Hilde said they would need. Heero looked at the rapidly filling cart with a touch of alarm. He'd better ask Une for some overtime in the next few weeks, this stuff was going to cost a fortune and he had a feeling that the credit card was going to suffer a major blow out. Besides he had a nagging feeling in his gut that this was only the start of it all, that there would be a never ending cycle of needs and wants once the little one finally made it into the world. Hell, it was already depleting their meager savings and the child wasn't even born yet!

"Drop side would be better, don't you think, Heero?"

"Huh?" Heero dragged his mind back to see that they had stopped in the baby furniture section and his lover and Hilde were currently inspecting what appeared to be some sort of baby jail... all those bars... Heero shuddered.

"I said, I think that a drop side would be better, don't you?" Duo gave his lover that patented patient look.

"Why would you want to put the baby behind bars? The child hasn't done anything wrong," Heero stated as he looked at the 'jail'.

"Heero, it's a cot, not a jail. The bars are there to stop the baby from falling out. A baby is too small to sleep in an ordinary bed, it's not safe, that's why you put them in a cot." Hilde's voice again took on the tone of a long suffering parent having to explain the simplest task to a child. Duo sniggered.

"Oh." Heero looked at his lover. "Why do the sides drop then if you want to keep the child locked in?"

"Shit, Heero. Look, the sides drop down a bit so as to make it easier to lift the baby in and out." Duo did a quick demonstration with an imaginary 'baby'. "See?"

"Aaaa."

"I think we will have the drop side one," Duo said as he turned back to Hilde who was trying to hold her laughter.

"Okay, I'd go for that one over there though," Hilde said and pointed at a rather nice looking cot in polished wood.

"Why that one?"

"Probably because it's the most expensive..." Heero muttered under his breath as they moved towards the cot Hilde had indicated.

"The bars on this one are closer together,' said Hilde. "There's less chance of the baby getting its head caught between the bars."

"Or Duo."

"I heard that, ex-lover"

"So, where to now?" Heero began to steer the cart away, an innocent expression on his face.

Hilde stood there and laughed, shook her head and followed. The cot would have to be ordered and delivered anyway.

~ * ~

"I prefer this one," Heero said as he studied the contraption.

"What's wrong with this one?" Duo asked as he turned the baby seat around. "It looks pretty sturdy to me."

"Both are good, it just depends on whether you want the child facing forwards or backwards in the car," replied Hilde.

"I'd rather see where I'm going than where I've been," responded Heero as he took another look at the intricate straps of the baby safety seat. "Does this thing come with fitting instructions?"

"I hope so," replied Duo as he looked over his lover's shoulder at the seat. "That's going to be your job, Heero. Figuring out how the hell the damn thing goes into the car."

"It won't fit in your car."

"Pardon?" Both men turned to face Hilde.

"You guy's have a pick up. This seat is for a sedan. In fact, baby seats are supposed to be fitted to sedans or the like only, not pick ups, unless they're a dual cab, which yours isn't. They don't have the restraining bolts or gear needed to fit the seat and ensure the safety of the baby," said Hilde. [1]

"Fuck!" Duo sighed.

Heero rubbed his back. "Don't worry, Duo. We'll figure something out; I know how much that pick up means to you." Heero made another mental note to speak with Une. There was no way the bank account would stretch to the purchase of another car but he didn't want Duo to have to give up his pride and joy, he'd already sacrificed enough.

From the furniture section they made their way to where the pushers were and checked out what the store had to offer. "Wheeee.... You gotta try this one, Heero! It's mint!" Duo came whizzing around the corner with the pusher.

"Hn. We need something that's going to be stable and easy to steer," he said to no one in particular. He looked over the offerings and picked out a sturdy looking job. He rocked it back and forth a few times, tried out the turning circle and deemed it okay so far. As Duo came around for a second lap so Heero sprinted after him.

Hilde looked up as both men suddenly swept past her, both jockeying for the lead position, pushers screaming in protest as they spun around the end of the aisle. Up to that point in time Hilde hadn't known that pushers were capable of squealing their wheels. Obviously, they could. She smiled as she heard the chuckles and calls of encouragement the guys were giving each other as they obviously raced along another aisle. Then there was a crash and a muffled 'oh crap' followed by the loudspeaker.

"Clean up in aisle ten. Repeat, clean up in aisle ten."

Hilde turned as the store manager approached with a sheepish looking Heero and Duo in tow. "Do these," a pause as the manager looked at the pair. "...men belong to you?"

Hilde was doing her best to keep a straight face. "Umm... I don't suppose I could get away with saying I've never seen them before in my life?" She took one look at the stern expression on the manager's face. "I guess not."

"Would you kindly keep them under control while they are in the store, madam? We do have several other customers to think about and some of them are, shall we say, also in a delicate condition and do not need these sorts of upsets or scares." He turned to the two men. "Please refrain from further 'testing' of the merchandise, gentlemen. The products here are for expectant and new mothers to purchase for their new arrivals, not for common horseplay by over excited husbands or expectant fathers." The manager gave Hilde a nod. "Good luck with your pregnancy, madam..." he looked at the pair. "...and with the father, whichever one he is. " Then he turned on his heel and left the three standing there.

Duo was turning several interesting shades of red while Heero was doing his best to control his anger. "I am not an over excited expectant father," he growled.

"And I'm not the one who's pregnant," snickered Hilde. "What did you guys do?"

"Ummm... I thought Heero was gonna go to the left of the stack in the aisle but at the last minute he went right and we kinda collided with the display." Duo scratched his head. "We didn't do any harm though; it was only a pile of stuffed toys. Shouldn't take 'em long to put them all back onto the display stand." Duo turned around to face Heero. "I told you to stay left."

Heero just humphed and produced a large stuffed lion from behind his back. He tickled Duo's nose with it. "I want this."

Duo shook his head and sneezed. "Fine, you can have the lion but don't you think it will scare the shit out of the kid?"

"No. This child won't be intimidated by something like this. Our child will grow up not fearing anything," replied Heero as he put the stuffed toy in the cart with all the other items.

Duo had a mental vision of the baby dressed in spandex shorts and green tank top; he shuddered and quickly changed the subject. "Which pusher do you think we should get then, Hilde?"

"I'd say that one there. It has stability and is easily moved around; it also folds up quickly for easy storage in the trunk when you're traveling." Hilde pulled the pusher out of the line up and proceeded to demonstrate how the thing folded up. Heero watched carefully and decided to give it a try.

"Does it come with instructions?" Duo asked Hilde as he watched Heero struggling to fold the thing, an amused smile on his face. "Or do you need a physics degree to work it out?"

"Baka!"

The clothing aisle was next and Hilde had a great time oohing and ahhing over the many items for sale. Heero picked a jump suit off the rack and stared at it. He turned to Duo who was looking at baby singlets. "Do they really come this small?"

Duo squinted at the tiny garment in Heero's hands. "I guess so."

"Well, shit. How big did you think a baby is when it's first born, Heero?" Hilde appeared beside them.

"I knew they were small but I didn't think they were this tiny," Heero responded, looking at the size 000 jump suit he held.

"Take a moment to think about how they're born, Heero. I know there is a fair amount of stretching to be done but let's face it, there is only so far a body can expand." Hilde gave him a *look*.

"Thank Christ, I'm not delivering normally then," said Duo as he eyed off the size of the garment. To him that looked rather large to be coming out of somewhere so small even if it was tiny.

"Hn."

"Nearly finished, guys."

"Thank god for that," replied Duo. "I really need to pee and my back is starting to ache."

Heero was in agreement. For a while now he was having serious doubts as to the cart's stability. The legs on the damn thing were beginning to make some pretty weird noises, and given the weight and number of items they had crammed into it, Heero was surprised that it hadn't lost its wheels completely.

"Ah," said Hilde as she stopped and grabbed an item from the shelf. "You need a baby bag."

Heero's ears pricked up and a wicked grin stole over his face. "Why do we need a baby bag? I have Duo."

*Whack*

"That's not funny, Heero." Duo pouted.

"Why not? It was funny when you said we didn't need a dummy."

"That's different."

"How?"

"Boys, oh boys... Can we please stop the fighting and get back to the last bits of shopping?" Hilde watched the pair and tapped her foot.

"I need the bathroom," stated Duo.

"It's over that way," said Hilde as she pointed to the back corner of the store. "You go, Heero and I can get the last couple of items."

Duo threaded his way through the aisles and to the toilets. Once he'd relieved himself he wandered back out, scanning around for his lover and 'sister'. He spotted a shock of unruly chocolate hair and snuck towards it intending to surprise Heero but when he got closer he paused and took a moment to just appreciate what his eyes were seeing.

Heero was standing by a cot, staring at a small mobile that was attached to the side, little animals suspended on strings and turning slowly to the music that played softly from the main box that sat at the side.

Violet eyes softened as he noted the look on Heero's face. The usually stoic features were calm, serene even, with a gentle curve to the lips. Heero looked to be miles away, locked in a memory or thought that only he could witness but Duo could hazard a pretty good guess at what was going through Heero's mind. He walked up behind his lover and not caring who was around he wrapped his arms around Heero's waist and rested his chin on Heero's shoulder.

Heero sighed. "I wonder if my mother had something like this for me."

Duo's eyes began to tear. "I don't know, Heero. I often wonder if my mother ever rocked me in her arms, or had a cradle for me to sleep in."

"Hn." Heero reached out and ran a finger over one of the floating animals. "Our child will never want for anything."

"No, Heero. Our child will have all it needs because both it and I have you to love and look after us."

~ * ~

tbc........

[1] I'm basing this on the road regulations here in West Aussie where a baby seat cannot be fixed in a ute or pick up unless it is a dual cab.