Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Chimaera ❯ Chapter 54 ( Chapter 54 )

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 54

Hilde followed Heero to the door of the mansion and paused, Duo behind her. The Japanese man stopped, opened the door then put his briefcase down and turned to face the woman whom he had come to look upon as a sister-in-law. He opened his arms and Hilde stepped into the embrace, hugging the man back just as fiercely. "I'm going to miss you, Heero," she said quietly, trying to keep the tears in check and shift the lump in her throat.

"I'm going to miss you too, Hilde. Make sure to keep in touch, won't you?"

"You can count on it. I want to know as soon as my niece or nephew is coming into the world so you had better keep me informed or I'll be right back here to whip your sorry ass!" Hilde tried to make light of the situation.

"You take care of yourself and tell Mark from me that he'd better look after you or he will have both Duo and myself after him," replied Heero. He hated good-byes, even if they were only temporary.

"You had better go, Heero, otherwise you'll have an irate Lady Une, not to mention Wufei on your back."

Heero made a noise that sounded something like a growl but gently released the woman, not before pressing a kiss to her cheek though. "Have a safe trip."

Hilde nodded; the tears in her eyes about to spill and the lump in her throat too big for words to get past.

Duo stepped closer and placed a comforting hand on Hilde's shoulder before leaning forward and accepting the kiss Heero was offering. "I'll see you tonight, Heero."

"Be careful at the shuttle port, little mother."

It was Duo's turn to growl at the nick name his lover seemed adamant on giving him. "Yes, Quatre," he replied with a smirk on his face.

Heero arched an eyebrow. "Quatre?"

"Well, you're damn well carrying on just like Quatre does so I might as well call you that," Duo snickered.

Heero shook his head. "I'm only..."

Duo cut him off. "Yeah, I know already, you're only looking out for my welfare," he sighed. "You had better get going or the fire breathing dragon will descend upon us."

"Who? Chang? I can handle him."

"No, Une and I don't think she would appreciate you handling her," Duo sniggered.

"Acknowledged." Heero picked up his briefcase with a smile on his face. At that moment Wufei's car appeared, coming along the driveway. One last peck to Duo's cheek and Heero was heading out the door and down the steps to meet Chang who was his lift into work.

Wufei waved and honked the horn, Hilde and Duo waved back as Heero climbed into the car. Moments later the vehicle was disappearing down the drive, taking its occupants to Preventer headquarters. Hilde and Duo turned and went back inside once the car had disappeared from view.

~ * ~

"Last boarding call for all passengers on shuttle flight 582 to Colony L2. Please proceed to gate 9 where your craft is waiting... Final boarding call for all passengers...."

"I guess I had better go," Hilde said in a low voice.

"Yeah," replied Duo as he lowered his eyes and took his 'sister' into his arms, hugging her close. He raised a hand and stroked her hair. "You take care of yourself, sis," he said quietly.

"I will. You make sure you look after yourself, little brother." Hilde lowered her hand to Duo's small bump and ran a loving hand across it. "And take care of my future niece or nephew too."

Duo smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not about to let anything happen to junior here," he replied. "With Heero watching me like a hawk and Quatre calling every week I'm lucky to even get the privacy to go the toilet. I'm surprised that Heero hasn't had security cameras installed in the bathroom yet." Duo rolled his eyes for emphasis.

Hilde chuckled. "He's not that bad, Duo," then her voice turned serious. "He really does love you, Duo. He's only concerned for yours and the baby's safety and well being. He might seem a little possessive and over protective at times but he really does have your best interests at heart. If anything were to happen to either you or the child I think it would devastate him. He doesn't mean to smother you, Duo, he's just as lost and confused as you are."

Duo quirked an eyebrow. "Since when did you become the social worker - psychologist, Hilde?"

Hilde gave him a friendly punch to the shoulder. "It's just common sense. From what I've observed whilst staying with you it's obvious he cares deeply for you as you do for him and he's just as lost and in need of reassurance as what you are. Sometimes it's easier to see these things from the outside, Duo." Hilde gave him another hug. "Just remember you're both in the same boat, talk to each other; let him fuss over you from time to time but keep the lines of communication open. You have a problem, talk to him; it's the only way to keep your relationship growing stronger and stronger. You'll make it, both of you."

Duo couldn't reply, his throat had restricted as Hilde had spoken. What she said was true, he knew that and it made him even more determined to try harder at this relationship, to try and let Heero know what he was feeling, what was going through his mind and hopefully they would continue to grow.

"I'd better go," said Hilde. "The shuttle will leave without me and I don't think Mark will be too impressed if I don't return."

Duo chuckled. "I can see it now, man goes on rampage after his fiancée left him to stay planet-side with two gay guy's and their baby."

Hilde thwapped him. "Watch your mouth, little brother."

"Hey, less of the 'little'. I'm taller than you!" Duo retorted with a grin.

"I'm going to miss you, Duo." Hilde hugged him close.

"I'll miss you too, Hilde." Duo returned the embrace then dropped his head to place a kiss to her cheek. "Go, they're going to close the doors any moment."

Hilde gave him a kiss back. Tears began running down her cheeks as she turned, picked up her small bag and headed for the departure gate without looking back. Duo stood and watched her go, biting his lower lip to prevent himself from giving into the emotion that was welling up inside him. The last thing he needed was to be bawling is eyes out in the middle of the crowded shuttle port.

Once Hilde had disappeared from his sight he turned around and headed back out to the car park, the pick up and the lonely drive home.

~ * ~

Heero returned home that night to find a rather subdued Duo sitting in the kitchen, color charts scattered over every available surface. "Hey," he said softly as he moved to stand beside Duo. He bent low and placed a kiss to Duo's crown whilst draping an arm around his shoulders. "What's up?"

Duo sighed and flipped over a color chart. "I called in at the paint shop on the way back from the shuttle port and picked up a load of these. Something to give us an idea of what color to use in the nursery."

Heero looked at the rainbow of color decorating the table. "I had no idea there were so many different shades of the one color," he said as he sifted through the pile. Reds, blues, greens, browns, yellows all looked back at him in varying shades. His brow knitted as his eyes were assaulted.

"That's the problem, Heero. There are so many different shades I have no idea what to choose." Duo slumped forward in his seat, resting his head in his hands.

Sensing there was more to Duo's mood than the inability to decide on a color, Heero dropped his hand to Duo's back and began to rub in circles. "What's wrong, Duo?"

"I told you, there's too many colors to choose from. Fuck! This baby will be born and we still won't have decided what color to paint the nursery!"

Heero sighed softly then pulled Duo up from the chair and wrapped his arms securely around Duo's waist, pulling his lover close. He felt Duo's arms entwine around his shoulders and he leaned in close to whisper in Duo's ear. "Now tell me what's really bothering you, Duo."

"No fooling you is there?" Duo sighed.

"No," Heero replied quietly as he began to nuzzle Duo's ear.

"I miss Hilde."

"Aaa." Heero opted not to say anymore, preferring to hold his lover and place reassuring kisses to Duo's neck. Soon Duo relaxed a little and tilted his head to allow Heero better access. "Let me take you out to dinner."

"Huh?"

"Dinner, Duo. There's a nice Italian restaurant in the town, let's go check it out."

"Umm... You sure?"

"Positive. It will do you good to get out of here for a while and I'm sure there will be something on the menu you can enjoy that will not only be nutritious but taste good as well."

"But the color -…"

"They will still be here when we get back, Duo. We can look at them again after we've eaten."

"Okay." Duo snuggled closer to Heero. "You need a shower, Yuy."

"Want to wash my back?"

"Only if I get to wash your front as well."

"Deal."

~ * ~

The dinner turned out to be a success. Duo's depressed mood was lifted with the cheery atmosphere of the place and no one gave them a second glance, which pacified Heero. Not so much because they were two guys sharing dinner, but because of Duo's pregnancy. Although, as Hilde had said to him, Duo's pregnancy was obvious to him because he knew the baby was there. To anyone else it would simply look like Duo was getting a little bit of a belly on him and nothing more. He was relieved to find the woman's words were ringing true.

Duo enjoyed the chicken and asparagus fettuccini, while Heero tried the seafood marinara. Duo's face crinkled into a grimace as he watched Heero pick up a baby octopus from amongst the seafood and spaghetti and pop it in his mouth. "Yuk!"

Heero grinned. "Tastes better than that green shit you've got in there," Heero retorted.

Duo sucked up a long strand of fettuccini, the creamy sauce pooling around his lips before he licked it off; seductively. He smirked at Heero who gave him a *look* in return. Oh, it was fun to tease his lover.

They walked back to the pick up in companionable silence, shoulders brushing from time to time. When they returned to the mansion, so Heero parked the car while Duo went inside to make coffee. Heero picked up all the color charts from the kitchen and took them through to the lounge room and dumped them on the coffee table. Duo appeared with their drinks and they sat side by side on the couch, sipping at the hot liquid.

"Right," Heero said as he put his cup down and grabbed the pile of charts. "What color don't you want?"

"Nothing dark. Green, brown, gray, that sort of thing," replied Duo.

Heero sifted through the charts and discarded those that fell into that 'reject' category. "Now, what colors did you think you'd like?"

"I dunno. Must be a pastel, you know, soft and easy on the eyes but not depressing. I guess yellows, violet, blues..."

"Pink."

"Not pink!" Duo growled.

Heero chuckled and once more sifted through the charts, tossing more onto the reject pile. By the process of elimination they were soon left with half a dozen charts, much better than the pile Duo had originally been searching through. Heero picked one up and sat back, scanning down the various shades of blue. "What about this one?"

"Not pale enough."

"This one?"

"Too light."

"How about this?"

"Ew! You want to make the baby ill?"

They continued to search through the various colors, narrowing the choice down until three remained. "What do you think, Heero?" Duo passed over the chart and pointed to the pale violet color.

"It's okay but I think I prefer this one." Heero pointed to the soft lemon.

"Now that's nice, Heero," Duo replied as he studied the chart. "Tell you what, stop off at the paint store tomorrow on your way home and pick up a sample pot of each of the three colors. We can paint a little of each onto the walls and see which we like the best."

"Okay." Heero placed the three charts down and went to fetch a pen and paper to write down the names of each of the colors. Once done he folded all the charts back up, tucked the paper into his wallet and sat back down on the couch for some serious snuggle time with his lover.

~ * ~

Heero had left for work and Duo was busy sifting through files on the computer for a new case he was working on for Preventer when Siska knocked on the door of the office. Duo looked up, pencil tucked behind his ear. "What is it, Siska?"

"Excuse me for interrupting, Master Duo but Nurse Brown is here to see you."

/ Shit! / Duo had forgotten that the nurse was due today to do her 'maintenance' on him as Duo called it. "Thanks, Siska. I'll be right there." He tossed the pencil to the desk and scraped his chair back. He stretched and popped his spine, rubbed the back of his neck and went out to greet the nurse. "How are you, Nurse Brown?" he inquired politely as he met the woman inside the foyer area.

"I'm well, Mr. Maxwell. More to the point though, how are you?" replied the nurse as she followed behind the long haired man and up the stairs to the small room they used for Duo's examinations.

"I'm doing pretty good, all things considered," replied Duo as he opened the door to the room.

The nurse set her bag and coat down on the chair then turned to fetch the items she needed. Duo stripped his shirt off and climbed up on the narrow bed, sitting sideways with his feet dangling off the side. The nurse wheeled the blood pressure unit over to him and wrapped the cuff around his arm, pumping it up and then slowly releasing it until she got the readout. Uncuffing his arm she reached for the thermometer and thrust it in his ear, reading the numbers displayed. Satisfied she wrote the results down on the chart in the file, then she picked up his wrist and took his pulse, noting that down as well. Then she took some blood and carefully filled a couple of vials with the red liquid, capping them and writing the necessary details on the label.

With the basic's out of the way, Duo lay back on the small bed and waited to be prodded and poked. Nurse Brown lowered his sweat pants a little and gently manipulated his belly. Duo squirmed a little under the touch. "Tickles," he offered in apology.

With the abdominal exam over, the nurse felt his wrists and ankles, frowning a little. "Have you been eating properly?"

"Yes," Duo replied as he sat up and proceeded to put his shirt back on and step onto the scales. "Why?"

The nurse noted his weight and turned to face him. "Your ankles are swollen. You need to rest a bit more."

"I haven't been doing anything strenuous," Duo replied, rather on the defensive now.

"The swelling in your ankles tells me you've been on your feet more than what you should be for an expectant... parent."

Duo couldn't help the grin at the nurse's choice of words. Expectant mother wasn't really correct as he was obviously male, but expectant father wasn't right either considering he was carrying the child. The nurse's next words though soon wiped the grin from his face.

"I will have to inform Dr. Po of this swelling and also your partner..."

"No way!" Duo burst out, then seeing the frown on the nurse's face he continued in a softer tone. "Umm..… I meant to say, informing Dr. Po is fine, but please, don't let Heero know. You have no idea what he can be like if he knows something's not right, regardless of how small it is." Duo didn't mean to plead but he couldn't help it. If Heero found out he would probably find himself handcuffed to the bed... permanently. Not that he minded being handcuffed to the bed as a rule, especially when it incorporated both of them being naked and sweaty. But to be forced to stay there because of something silly like swollen ankles was something Duo didn't particularly want to endure. "Look, I promise to be a good boy and rest lots. I sit down for most of the Preventer work I'm doing so can't we just keep this between you, me and Sally? Please." Duo used his best puppy dog eyes and pouted a little.

Nurse Brown's eyes softened, she had to give Duo credit. He could certainly turn on the charm when he wanted to. "Okay. I won't tell your partner but only if you promise to rest. When you're sitting working I want you to elevate your feet a little, that should help a bit with the swelling. You must also tell me immediately if it gets any worse or you find any pain or discomfort."

"Thanks!" Duo bounced forward and grabbed the nurse in a hug, then quickly released her when he spotted the frown on her face. "Err... sorry. I promise I'll do exactly as you say," he said quickly and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Make sure that you do or I promise you, I won't hesitate to tell your partner." Nurse Brown gave him a mock scowl. "Now, is there anything else I should know about while I'm here? Any back ache, dizziness, numbness?"

"My back does ache from time to time but I make sure to sit down when it does. Oh, and I find I'm having to go to the toilet quite a lot too."

"That's normal, Duo."

"Yeah, I know. Sally did tell me about that but I didn't expect to be peeing every five minutes and only having a trickle when I go," he protested.

Nurse Brown chuckled. "Welcome to a woman's world," she said slyly.

Duo decided to change the topic before he was well and truly beaten. "Say, while you're here would you mind having a look at the room we have decided to use as a nursery and maybe give me your expert opinion on the color scheme we're thinking about as well as the furniture plan and stuff?" Duo thought he might as well ask, after all, he had nothing to lose and the nurse was bound to know more about these things than either himself or Heero.

"I'd be happy to, Duo," Nurse Brown replied and followed the man out of the small examination room and across the hall to the room that had been selected as a nursery. She listened intently as Duo explained the colors they had narrowed their choice to, the placement of furniture and even showed her some of the things they had already purchased.

While Duo continued chattering away, Nurse Brown couldn't help but smile to herself. This baby she was sure was going to be one of the luckiest children to ever be born. With a *mother* like the man before her there could only be love and happiness for this child.

~ * ~

tbc............