Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Chimaera ❯ Chapter 71 ( Chapter 71 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Please see previous chapters for disclaimer, notes etc. :)

Chapter 71

"Trowa, I'm worried," said Quatre softly to his husband as he placed the used dishes in the dishwasher.

"Heero's only been gone a day," replied the taller man as he finished scraping off the plate and handed it to the blonde.

"No, I'm not worried about Heero," Quatre snorted. "It's Duo I'm concerned about."

"Oh? You mean to say you don't care about Heero being away on a potentially life threatening assignment?" Trowa teased.

Quatre gave him a punch to the arm. "That's not what I mean and you know it. Of course I'm worried about Heero as well, but Heero is with Wufei and the pair of them can more than look after each other's backs. No, it's Duo I'm concerned for. He hardly touched his dinner tonight, or his lunch for that matter. I'm not sure about breakfast as he said he'd already eaten when I got up. He's just so... lifeless. All he wants to do is sit around and stare at the walls." Quatre began to rub his nose and bite at his bottom lip as he was apt to do when something was troubling him.

"He is supposed to be resting and taking it easy, Quat. Sally did order him not to do much of anything at all. What do you expect him to be doing? Running around, bouncing off the walls? Playing basketball?"

Quatre gave his partner a withering look, at least he hoped it came out that way, with his boyish looks quite often the faces he attempted to pull turned out completely the opposite. This time was no exception.

"Duo will be fine, Quatre. He's just missing Heero, that's all. It's natural to miss your lover when they're away and with Duo pregnant as well and his hormones being so out of balance, he's bound to feel it more. Remember what Heero said; don't go smothering him," Trowa warned.

Quatre turned his baby blues to his husband and fluttered them innocently. "I know that, I wasn't planning on mothering him."

Trowa looked wary. "I know that look, Quatre. You're up to something."

"Who me?"

"I warn you, if you go mothering Duo I won't be responsible for the blood shed, I just hope your health plan with cover the cost of repairs to you when I finish picking up your pieces." Trowa turned one steady green eye on his husband. "He doesn't need mothering, he needs a friend."

"He needs a distraction."

"Pardon?"

"A distraction; you know, something to occupy his time and take his mind off Heero's absence."

"What do you suggest?" Trowa asked becoming interested despite his skepticism.

"I'm not sure," Quatre replied and stroked his chin as he thought. "Look, do you mind if I leave you to finish off the dishes and I'll go have a chat with Duo and see if I can't find something to occupy him?"

Before Trowa could answer the blonde had given him a quick peck to the cheek, muttered thanks and disappeared. Trowa sighed and finished putting the last of the dishes in the dishwasher. He closed the door and pushed the button, leaning against the machine as it started its cycle. "I hope you know what you're doing, Quat," he said aloud, but there was only the kitchen appliances to hear him and they weren't replying.

***

Duo rolled over in the large, empty bed. He reached for Heero's pillow and hugged it close, inhaling the scent of his lover that was trapped in the fibers. A solitary tear tracked down the side of his face and fell off to be consumed by the cotton pillow case. He couldn't help feeling miserable, he missed Heero, more than he thought possible, more than he had when he'd been in the hospital. He gave a small smile though as he recalled Quatre's attempts to cheer him up that day. He knew the blonde meant well, but Duo had just wanted to be left alone.He sighed and rolled carefully onto his back and tried to get comfortable. Although he was only eighteen and a half weeks along, he could already begin to feel the effects the growing baby was having on his body.

As his belly swelled to accommodate the little being so the skin had started to itch, Sally had told him that this was normal, it was simply a natural reaction to the skin stretching. Heero had teased him about having 'stretch marks' once the child was born. Duo hadn't thought it funny, he didn't want to be left with a lot of marks across his stomach, he had his fair share of scars patterning his skin without the addition of 'lines', not to mention he knew he was going to have a lot of 'excess baggage' in the abdominal area once the baby was here and he didn't really fancy rolls of loose skin. He hadn't mentioned that to Heero, knowing full well his lover would have found some way to tease him about that too.

His hand drifted to his stomach and began to stroke the bump. He found himself doing that a lot lately. He would sit and rub his belly, talking to the baby as if it could hear and understand him. When Heero had caught him out once he'd gone bright red, expecting Heero to think he was sappy or lost his mind for talking to and caressing the child; but to his amazement, Heero hadn't. In fact his lover had joined him. Another tear escaped and ran down the side of his face, across his ear and dripped off on to the pillow.

He found that the bathroom visits hadn't changed much, he couldn't stray too far from the toilet, but then given the state of his insides he hadn't expected it to. He found himself becoming slightly short of breath on occasion and Sally had said it was due to the expanding baby forcing his internal organs to move around and make space for it, sometimes the baby would 'play' and stretch itself out; these were the times that Duo was most uncomfortable. It wasn't easy to breathe or function when you had a foot or a hand shoved against your ribs.

But Duo wouldn't have changed any of it. He willingly suffered the discomforts, the changes to his physical shape as well as his emotional state and the consequences. It hadn't been easy on him and even harder on Heero. "Oh, Heero..." Duo said softly to the empty room as he continued to run his hand over his abdomen.

***

Inside its watery world the little fetus stretched its limbs. It couldn't feel the touch against the outer walls of its 'home', but it could hear the deep rumble of its mother's voice. The sound penetrated through the tissues that surrounded it, distorting the words; not that the baby would have understood them anyway. But the familiar, deep resonation warmed it and the fetus showed its delight in the only way it could; by moving around.

Small feet reached out on the end of stubby legs and pushed, enjoying the sensation of its muscles flexing. Arms waved around wildly, the fetus having yet to learn to control them properly and wouldn't do so for some time after it was born even, but it didn't care. The baby just enjoyed the actions, regardless of what its tiny body connected with, safe in the knowledge that its mother's voice and body were there to protect it.

***

The familiar pummeling of his insides managed to bring a smile to Duo's face and he suffered the abuse of his internal organs with as much dignity as he could, still rubbing his hand over his belly but now talking to the child instead of the empty room. "You're an active little thing tonight, sunshine," he chuckled quietly. "I think you're going to be a sports person, it sure feels like I have a football team in there." Duo smiled to himself. "Or maybe you're gonna be a ballerina; or even a martial arts expert; some of those kicks feel pretty hard to me." Duo sighed. "I wish your daddy was here to feel you move."

Relaxing back, Duo finally managed to drift off to sleep, one hand still resting on his belly which danced with the baby's movement.

***

The next morning, Duo rose early and showered before heading down to the kitchen. He popped a couple of slices of bread into the toaster and pressed the lever down. While the toast browned he set the kettle to boil and fetched a tea bag from the canister. Adding a spoon of sugar to the cup the toast popped up and he removed it, dropping it to a plate and getting the butter and milk from the 'fridge. The kettle boiled and while the tea steeped, Duo buttered his toast then finished off his cup of tea. Placing the used utensils in the sink he picked up his tea and toast and sat at the small table.

He'd opened the kitchen window and the sounds of the morning came inside on the breeze, the gentle bird song lifted his spirits a little and he found a smile gracing his face as he listened to the melodious noises. Another noise caught his attention and he looked up as Quatre entered the kitchen. "Morning, Quat," he said politely.

Quatre shuffled into the kitchen, yawning widely and not attempting to cover his mouth. He scratched at his side under the silky pajama top before turning his tousled head in Duo's direction. "Morning, Duo. How are you feeling today?"

"Okay, I guess. I mean, I feel fine physically, the baby was active last night and kept me awake for a while," he added quickly, knowing that if he didn't Quatre would misinterpret his words and most likely he would find himself with a mother hen over his shoulder, right now he didn't want any fussing, he just wanted to be left alone to wallow in his misery and loneliness.

"Have anything in particular that you'd like to do today?" Quatre asked as he topped up the kettle and set it on to boil again.

"No, nothing in mind. I thought I'd just stay around the house, maybe do a little in the nursery, watch a bit of television."

Quatre's ears pricked up. "Would you mind showing me what you've done with the nursery, Duo? I know Heero has explained some of it to me but if it's okay with you I'd love to see it."

"Sure. I'll be in the lounge so when you're dressed come find me and I'll show it to you."

"Thanks." Quatre returned to making his tea whilst Duo finished his toast.

Duo wasn't really hungry but he knew he had to eat for the baby's sake but the toast tasted like cardboard. Even the delicious meals that Trowa had cooked up yesterday to try and entice him to eat had done nothing for his appetite. It didn't matter. With his missing Heero so much anything that passed by his lips was like chewing sawdust to the long haired man. He hadn't even snuck his late night Crunchie bar in.

Quatre watched from the corner of his eye as Duo mechanically ate. He could tell it was forced but at least Duo was eating something. He wondered what he could possibly do to encourage his friend to surface from his misery. He didn't like seeing Duo unhappy. He wanted the smiling, cheerful Duo back; the one they all knew and loved so much. Seeing Duo take a sip of liquid from the mug, his eyebrows knitted together and he frowned.

Duo saw the frown and immediately went on the defensive. "Before you ask or start accusing, it's tea, not coffee," he snapped.

"Duo... I wasn't..."

"Maybe you weren't going to say it, but you were thinking it." Duo stood up and dumped his plate in the sink. Picking up his mug he walked past the blonde. "I've changed my mind, I'll be sitting outside on the patio when you're ready to see the nursery," he said and walked off to go outside.

Watching the retreating form, Quatre sighed to himself. He really would have to start watching his expressions from now on. Picking up the two mugs of tea he went back upstairs to his husband.

***

True to his word, Duo was sitting out in the small patio area, empty mug on the small table. He was watching the wildlife in the garden, obviously enchanted by the scene playing out before him. Birds flitted around, traveling from shrub to shrub in their hunt for insects. Bees were busy in the abundant flowers and the chirp of the occasional cicada was heard only to fall silent as a bird hovered near by. A small lizard lay sunning itself on a rock, eyes ever moving, searching for danger. A squirrel darted down from a tree and scampered across the lawn, pausing to pick up something of interest before giving a shake of its bushy tail and disappearing up the trunk of another tree.

Quatre found the ex pilot sitting with a small smile on his face and was reluctant to break the spell. He stood leaning against the door frame for a while, enjoying the scene himself and then Duo spoke. He should have known better, he couldn't surprise the American who was a master of stealth himself.

"You can come out you know, Quat. I'm not gonna bite."

Quatre shoved off the doorframe and moved to sit in a chair beside Duo. "It's lovely, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Never thought I'd ever get the chance to just sit and admire Mother Nature like this. There were always missions or being stuck in space or on a colony..."

The dark thoughts also hit Quatre and quickly he did his best to dispel them. "At least we can enjoy the peace now, Duo. And we should be able too,: after all, it was we five that helped it become a reality. Why shouldn't we get to enjoy the fruits of our labors?"

Duo chuckled. "Never thought I would live long enough to enjoy it either."

"None of us did, but we have and we are here now so let us make the most of it. We have a lot to be grateful for, despite our varied pasts."

Duo knew that what the blonde said was true, not just for him but for all of them. But now wasn't the time to reflect on the war, the blood shed and what might have been. "You ready to take a look at the nursery?"

"Anytime that you are, Duo."

"What about Trowa?"

"He's still in the shower; he can take a look later as he wants to plan something different for dinner."

"Okay, this way." Duo stood and led the way to the nursery.

***

"It's perfect, Duo," said Quatre as he gazed around. "You and Heero have certainly done a wonderful job." Quatre gazed around in awe. The soft lemon walls were easy on the eyes, the border of fluffy animals added to the charm. A change table stood in one corner, nappy stacker close by and the chest to the other side. On top of the chest sat a range of different baby products, from powder to nappy wipes, bottles and formula. Quatre noted the rubbish bin strategically placed as well as the nappy bucket. There were a couple of shelves on the wall and these were filled with soft toys, fluffy animals and in the center a yellow rubber duck. A baby bath was to the side but Quatre noted one vital missing item. "Where's the cot?" he asked.

"Ummm... We haven't bought one yet," Duo replied and looked away so he didn't have to meet the blonde's eyes.

Immediately Quatre knew there was a reason for that and he also knew his friend didn't want to discuss it. With the number of sisters he had, not to mention mounting numbers of nieces and nephews, Quatre was familiar with the baby scene and all the trappings that went with it. He could only assume that it had something to do with the cost. He knew cots weren't cheap; he also knew Duo would never ask him to purchase one either. He pushed it to the back of his mind though for the moment when he spotted the baby seat. "Have you tried that in the car yet?"

"No, we haven't."

"Then let's go try it now," Quatre enthused. He thought that by getting Duo involved in doing some little things in regards to the coming baby it might take his mind off Heero. Quatre carried the baby seat while Duo fetched the keys to the pick up. They met outside at the garage and Duo led them inside.

"A pick up?" Quatre questioned.

"Yeah, Heero and I did her up ourselves. She goes like a streak of lightning and purrs like a kitten."

Quatre could detect the fondness in Duo's voice as he spoke about the car. "But, Duo. It's a pick up. Are you even allowed to put a baby seat in one of those?"

Duo shrugged his shoulders. "We will have too. We can't afford another car, Quat, and neither Heero nor myself really want to part with Matilda."

"Matilda? You called your car, Matilda?"

"Yeah," Duo chuckled. "Silly, hey? I dunno though, she just seemed like a Matilda to me." Duo ran a loving hand over the fender.

Quatre sighed. "I think we might leave trying the baby seat until Trowa is able to help," he said and made out that he was studying the series of straps and bolts. "Did this thing come with instructions?"

"I dunno. I think so," replied Duo as he investigated the straps himself.

The pair of them stood together, lifting first one strap and then another. Eventually they gave up, scratched their heads and looked at each other. "Well, it's got me flummoxed." said Quatre.

"It's got me beat too," admitted Duo and then looked at the blonde and snickered.

"What?"

"Just stop and think for a moment, Quat. Here we are, two of the most dangerous men in the universe, skilled pilots, trained assassins, able to fix Gundams, mobile suits and study blue prints, make sense out of the most complicated electrical and mechanical plans and we're out foxed by a baby seat."

Quatre stared at his companion, then to the baby seat and back to Duo. He began to laugh.

"Could you imagine the ruckus this would cause if it ever got out? I can see it now, the headlines... 'Infamous Gundam pilot out smarted by a baby seat'..." Duo had to hold his sides he was laughing so much.

Quatre was no better off, his laughter was shaking his slim form until tears rolled down his face. Through his laughter though he was pleased to note the spark back in Duo's eyes.

~ * ~

tbc.....