Disclaimer: Not mine. Blah, blah, blah.
Author's Notes: The people spoke and with only one disenting voice
to date, this fic was thought up and written down. A sequel to
"Going to the Chapel", which was a sequel to "Two
Can Play". I hope it is enjoyable;)
Dedication: To Melissa and Chris. For being the little shag bunnies
that they are and for inspiring me to write more 2xH hentai goodness!;)
****
And Baby Makes Three
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
January 13, AC 202
In the dream, he ruled over a kingdom of tiny people. They bowed
to him, made daily sacrifices in his honor. He had a queen in
this particular dream. With her ebony hair and cornflower blue
eyes, she was truly the fairest in the land. It was she who was
draped over his body, her unnaturally long locks spilling over
her shoulders, entwining itself with his own. He idly caressed
his queen's smooth back.
"Duo," she whispered.
"Hmm?" He was content to stay in the arms of his queen
forever.
"Duo...do you know what time it is?"
There was a warm glow on his face. He smiled lazily. "Time?"
"Yes...it's time."
"Time for what?"
Something smacked his arm incredibly hard. His eyes flew open
and immediately closed when they were blinded by the all too bright
light of the bedside lamp.
Hilde Maxwell hit her husband again. "What do you mean 'time
for what'??" She made an obvious gesture to her extremely
pronounced belly.
A second passed. Then, suddenly, Duo Maxwell jumped out of bed.
"Oh Jesus!!" he cried. "It's time?!?"
His wife nodded. There was pain in the centers of her eyes with
just the barest touch of fear. "I think so."
"But...but..." Duo ran a hand through his bangs as he
paced back and forth, clad only in a pair of boxer shorts. "It's
too early!!"
"Just about..." Hilde breathed deeply and squeezed her
eyes shut. "...two weeks early," she managed to finish
through the contraction.
"That's too early!!" Duo climbed onto the bed and grabbed
her hand. "Are you all right? Does it hurt a lot?"
She gripped his hand. "Don't ask stupid questions, love.
Just get dressed."
Her husband touched her cheek before scrambling off in search
of clothing. Hilde eased herself off the bed. Once she was standing,
she gripped the nightstand for support. Her clothes were so far
away. And the task of actually putting them on seemed as difficult
as climbing a mountain.
Duo stepped into the first pair of jeans he found and pulled a
black shirt over his head. Without even bothering to pull his
braid out of the shirt, he grabbed a pair of sneakers. "Babe...hang
in there. I'm right here."
Hilde nodded and cupped the underside of her belly. The motion
under her hand was soothing as were her husband's words. She found
a pair of slippers and stepped into them just as Duo finished
pulling his shoes on. He grabbed his wallet and car keys from
the dresser. "Can you walk, Hilde?"
She took a step forward. "It appears so." She pointed
to the corner of the room where a small overnight bag had been
packed for days. "Don't forget..."
Duo grabbed the bag and took his wife gently by the arm. "Come
on...I've got you." They started out the door.
****
He drove like Heero all the way to the hospital. Once they were
there and settled into a room, he found a communicator and made
the proper calls. Relena and Heero Yuy, who would pass the news
on to Millardo and Lucrezia Peacecraft. Quatre Winner and Trowa
Barton. Chang Wufei and Sally Po. As soon as he hung up on the
last call, Duo let himself relax for a moment. His heart thumped
wildly. In only a few hours, he would be a father. The thought
amazed him.
And scared the shit out of him.
There was a low moaning as he entered the maternity room again.
"Hilde?" He ran to her and took her hand.
Her eyes were wet. "It really, really hurts, Duo."
All he could do was kiss her hand. He pressed her palm to his
cheek. "I'm so sorry, Hilde-baby," he whispered. "I
wish I could take some of it for you."
A nurse entered just then to check the baby monitor. "How
are you doing, Mrs. Maxwell?" She glanced at her chart. "Hilde?"
Her smile was tight with pain. "I'm fine. Very much looking
forward to the epidural."
"We'll see about getting the anethesiologist in here as soon
as possible." She adjusted the bag of fluid hooked above
Hilde's head. "Now, I'm going to check to see how dilated
you are."
Duo winced as the nurse snapped a plastic glove on and reached
to examine his wife. His stomach churned. How was he going to
survive God only knew how many hours of this?
The nurse nodded to herself. "Five centimeters. You're doing
very well, Hilde. It should be ten centimeters within the next
few hours."
He did some calculations in his head. Ten centimeters. He thought
back to when he saw Millardo and Noin's baby, Lucas, just after
he was born. His head had been huge....far bigger than ten centimeters.
Inwardly, he winced again.
Duo cleared his throat and addressed the nurse. "Get the
epidural guy in here soon."
****
His braid had always been his prized posession. Before he had
his Deathscythe, he had his hair. It had served him well over
the years. Been his constant companion. Gotten him girls before
he had met Hilde and perhaps had even attracted Hilde herself.
It hid hairpins that got him out of more jams than he cared to
count. It was a familiar, well loved piece of Duo Maxwell.
But now, it was being used against him. In the final stages of
a very long and very exhausting labor, Hilde had her hand firmly
planted within the thick braid of hair and was pulling with all
of her might. "This...is all....your fault," she hissed.
Duo tried but couldn't hold back a small "ow" as she
tugged even harder.
"Ow?" she repeated. "Ow??? Let me tell you about
'ow', Duo dear!"
"Breathe, Hilde." The doctor smiled at his patient.
"I can see the head. Just keep breathing and get ready to
push again."
She fell back against the damp pillow, loosening her grip on her
husband's hair just a bit. Mustering every bit of her strength,
she drew in huge breath. Duo felt for her hand, not caring if
she wanted him to touch her or not, as she pushed with everything
she had. She screamed, her throat cording with effort.
"Very, very good," the doctor commented. "Look....almost
the whole top of the head is out."
Every instinct told Duo not to look, but the little boy inside
still liked to see messy things. He glanced between his wife's
legs and instantly regretted it. His knees buckled. "Oh god..."
It was only Hilde's hand in his braid that kept him from fainting.
"Don't you dare, buster. I am not doing this by myself!"
Duo nodded and breathed deeply.
"All right, Hilde. Again...push."
She shook her head. "I don't think I can."
"Come on, Hilde. It's almost over."
Nausea gone, Duo leaned towards his wife. His forehead pressed
against her temple. "You can do it, Hilde-baby. I'm right
here and I'm not going anywhere. Just push and we can have our
baby."
His words had their desired effect. With renewed energy fueled
by an overwhelming desire to meet the tiny person she and Duo
had created, Hilde prepared to push once more. Long seconds of
effort passed with Duo's forehead against her cheek being the
only bit of comfort in her entire body. Finally, the doctor held
up his hand. "The shoulders are clear. Push again, Hilde
and it's over."
She was utterly exhausted as she pushed the final time. The pain
was intense, but tempered by the fact that it was just about over.
Finally, after so many months, they would have their baby. A scream
escaped her lips. It was drowned out by the incredible sound of
an infant's first cries. Hilde's eyes popped open. Duo raised
his head.
The doctor lifted a small, wriggling thing into the air. "It's
a girl!"
"It's a girl," Duo breathed. He swallowed heavily as
he watched his daughter squirm in the doctor's hands. "Hilde....we
have a girl."
She closed her eyes; warm tears slipped down her flushed cheeks.
"A girl," she repeated.
Smiling, the doctor took a pair of surgical scissors from a nurse.
"Mr. Maxwell, do you want to...?"
He tore his attention away from Hilde for a brief second, just
long enough to cut the cord that still attached her to the child.
The baby was then passed to another nurse for a quick examination
and even quicker cleaning. Duo pressed a kiss onto his wife's
forehead. "You did it, Hilde-baby. I love you so much."
"I love you," Hilde whispered. She laughed suddenly.
"We have a girl."
The nurse approached them. "She's seven pounds, eight ounces
and absolutely healthy. Who does she go to, mommy or daddy?"
Duo's arms automatically lifted; the nurse placed the tiny, pink
flannel wrapped bundle into them. After a moment of staring at
the perfect little face peeking out of the cloth, he gently touched
his daughter's cheek. "This is the most important moment
of my life," he said out loud. Bending down, he ever so carefully
gave the baby to Hilde. In the process of transferring the little
girl, the blanket around her face slipped down, revealing a soft,
bald head. "Hilde..." There was an edge of panic in
Duo's voice. "Hilde...she doesn't have any hair."
"It's all right..." Hilde ignored the tears streaming
down her cheeks as she held her child for the first time. "She's
so beautiful."
"Yeah, but...she doesn't have any hair! It'll grow, right?"
Duo looked at the nurses, worriedly. "In a couple of days,
she'll have hair, won't she?"
Hilde placed a soft kiss on her daughter's bare scalp. "I
don't care if she never has any hair. I'm going to love her until
the day I die."
Duo's face relaxed. After all, he reasoned, Millardo's kid had
been born with no hair and now he had a full head of flaxen locks.
"Me too. She's the best thing I've ever made." He knelt
next to the bed to kiss his wife. "Thank you for making...."
He stopped, realizing that the baby still had no name.
"Lilliane," Hilde said, softly. "Lilliane Helena."
"Lilli," Duo immediately shortened the name. "Thank
you for making Lilli with me." He glanced up at the wall
clock. 8:45 AM. "It's January 14th." Lilliane opened
her little mouth and closed it. "Happy birthday, baby girl."
****
April 5, AC 202
Heero Yuy always woke up before his wife. After years of militaristic
discipline, it was not possible for him to sleep in. Thus, his
morning began with a stretch, a yawn and a quick peek at his sleeping
wife. Her chest rose and fell lightly, still bare from the night
before. It was a rare night that she made it until morning with
a nightgown on. One of the things he craved was the feeling of
her warm skin against his own. He reached for her.
She opened the crystal blue eyes that mesmerized him. "Heero..."
she murmured.
"Morning," he replied, burying his face in her tousled
hair. His hand ran up her body suggestively.
Relena smiled and stretched her arms over her head like a cheshire
cat. "After last night, you're still not satisfied?"
He cupped her breast, coaxing her nipple to hardness with skilled
fingers. "You know what that doctor said. If at first you
don't succeed, try again."
His lips covered hers. Relena massaged the back of his neck as
they kissed. "I have the craziest feeling that it happened
last night. Don't ask me to explain it; something just feels different."
"Really?" Heero fit his hand over her lower abdomen.
"Can we still try again?"
She laughed. Then, her smile mysteriously started to fade. "Hold
that thought." She pushed the covers off and clad only in
a pair of panties, ran for the bathroom. Heero sat up in bed,
uncomfortably aroused. After a long minute there was a loud, "Damn
it!!" Relena appeared after another few minutes, on the verge
of tears.
"No?" Heero asked quietly. She shook her head. A dull
stab of pain shot through his chest. Another month, another disappointment.
He lifted his arm. "Come here."
Relena began crying as soon as she got back into bed and felt
his arms around her. He lay back against the pillows, taking her
with him. As she vented her frustration and sadness, he gently
stroked her hair. They had spent too many moments like this, he
decided. Month after month, getting their hopes up, only to find
out that once again, they had failed to become pregnant.
"I don't understand," she said after a long time. Her
nose was squashed against the hard plane of her husband's chest.
"What's wrong with me?"
"Relena..." His tone was one of warning. "Stop."
She ignored him. "All that time when we first started sleeping
together, I was so paranoid that I'd become pregnant. I'd hold
my breath every month thinking of the possible scandal."
Her laughter was bitter. "If I'd known that it would be nearly
impossible to get pregnant, I'd have saved you a lot of money
on condoms."
Heero took a breath. "Are you giving up, then?"
"I just..." Relena pressed herself closer to him. "I
want to have a baby."
"We will," he said quietly, but firmly. "If we
have to make love every minute of every day on our heads while
drinking orange juice, we will have a baby."
Despite herself, Relena laughed. "Give me three to five days
and I'll take you up on that. Except for the orange juice part."
She shifted suddenly and felt his familiar hardness against her
thigh. He looked apologetic, as though he should not be aroused
at that particular time. Lifting an eyebrow, Relena brushed her
lips across his mouth, beginning a trail of kisses down his toned
chest and stomach.
He bit his lip in anticipation. "Relena...you don't have
to...." He was silenced when she took him into her mouth.
His head fell back as the pleasure clouded out all other thought.
She worked him over with the skill that only comes with practice.
When his release came, she extracted her head from his grip and
delicately wiped the corner of her mouth. His eyes were still
closed as she rested her cheek against his chest once more. "I
love you," she said. "And you owe me one."
Heero nodded. His body relaxed; he wrapped his wife up in his
arms. "I owe you several."
****
June 10, 202
"I can't believe how big she's gotten." Relena shook
her head, marveling at the five month old baby seated on Hilde's
lap. "She can hold her head up now!"
Hilde smiled and bounced her knee. Little Lilliane gurgled happily,
looking up at her mother. "Pretty soon she'll be rolling
over. That's when the real headaches will start. She's already
independent as it is. Duo's afraid she's just going to roll away."
Relena swallowed back a lump in her throat. "You're so lucky,
Hilde. She's beautiful." Her friend looked down at her baby,
unsure of what to say. Relena forced a smile to the surface, to
lighten the mood. "Her hair is growing."
"And it's about time." Hilde gently brushed back the
patch of chestnut locks on the top of Lilliane's head. "Duo
can stop ranting about his bald daughter." The other woman
laughed. There was a moment's pause as both women watched the
baby flail her little fists in the air. Finally, Hilde spoke.
"What did the specialist say?"
"The same thing the last specialist said." Relena never
took her eyes from the baby on the communicator screen as she
took on a faked masculine voice. "'Keep on trying, Mr. and
Mrs. Yuy....there isn't a real good reason why you shouldn't be
pregnant by now'." She sighed. "I'm almost getting tired
of having sex, Hilde."
If the situation had been so upsetting, Hilde might have laughed.
"Bite your tongue," she said instead. "At least
you know it's not a physical thing. There's nothing wrong with
either of you, so if you do keep on trying...."
"How much more can we do, Hilde?? We've tried everything!
We've timed ovulation practically down to the second! We've made
love in every single position possible! We've done it under a
full moon, in front of a fertility statue." Hilde put a hand
to her mouth to smother a giggle. "Yeah...you heard me right,"
Relena continued. "It was Heero's idea, too, if you can imagine
that. Still..." She lifted her shoulders. "It didn't
work any better than anything else."
"Relena..." Hilde chose her words carefully. "Maybe
you're trying a little too much. You just need to get away for
a few days, relax and maybe *not* try so hard. Just....let nature
do its thing and you just concentrate on having a good time with
Heero."
Relena shook her head. "We've tried that, Hilde. We spent
a week at a Japanese hot spring, three days in Tahiti and two
nights in a mountain lodge." Hot tears sprung up behind her
eyes. "Maybe we just weren't meant to have a baby."
Hilde had no more words of advice. The baby on her lap cooed and
reached for a fistful of her mother's hair. "I'm sorry, Relena."
The other woman waved her hand, dismissing the subject. "Please...tell
me about you. How are you doing?"
"Honestly?" Hilde took a breath. "I'm exhausted,
Relena." The Vice Foriegn Minister's brow crinkled with concern.
"I don't want to sound all pitiful and selfish, but I have
never been this tired in my life. Having this baby...." She
stroked Lilliane's head. "It was life-changing. But...not
all for the good."
"What do you mean?"
Hilde reached for a pacifier and gave it to her gurgling daughter.
"What they say about babies...everything is true. Every second
of every day is spent on Lilli. But Duo...he has the Preventers.
Moving back to L2 was hard on him and he's still adjusting to
that. So...I try to understand that my daily life is entirely
about the baby and he has to divide his time between work and
the baby....not leaving either of us with much alone time. We're
like...strangers passing in the night. But..." She lowered
her voice as though the baby could understand. "We haven't
made love since Lilli was born."
Relena blinked. "Hilde....that was five months ago!!"
"I know!" She sighed. "It's hard, Relena. I still
don't feel quite ready to resume things in the bedroom. I'm still
nursing her and all that....I don't feel like the sexy girl he
married anymore."
"Hilde, he didn't marry you for your Barbie doll figure."
Relena smiled. "Although you've done a fabulous job getting
it back. Almost as good as my sister in law."
Hilde thought for a moment. "Did Lucy tell you how long it
was until she and your brother started having sex again after
Lucas was born?"
"I think it was as soon as Sally told her it was okay."
Relena laughed. "Neither of them has much patience when it
comes to that sort of thing."
"Great." Hilde readjusted Lilliane. "So, it's just
me."
"I don't think it's just you," Relena assured her. "Has
Duo been complaining?"
"Not out right. But I know he feels like something's missing
between us." She paused. "Maybe I'm just scared that
I'll get pregnant again. Silly fear, I know, but I couldn't handle
another child right now. Much as I love Lilliane, if I got pregnant
again, which wouldn't be impossible, it would just be..."
She stopped upon seeing the look on Relena's face. "Oh sweetie....I'm
so sorry. Me and my big mouth. I just..."
Relena held up her hand. "It's all right. I'm okay."
She smiled in what she hoped was a comforting way. "I've
been reading a lot of books about babies and pregnancies lately
and from everything I've seen, what you're feeling is quite common."
"What do your books say I should do?"
"Go for it," Relena said simply. "Pretty soon,
you're going to be running after a baby who can crawl and what
little energy you have will be zapped just by keeping up with
her. Even if you don't feel you're ready yet, set the mood and
just try. You might surprise yourself...by how much you've missed
it."
Hilde was thoughtful. "I do miss being with Duo...like that.
I suppose I could try it. Tonight."
Relena nodded. "Very good." She glanced at her watch.
"Oh! I have to go. Listen, call me soon and tell me how it
went."
"I will." Hilde lifted Lilliane's little arm, waving
it at the communicator. "Say 'bye-bye' to Relena, Lilli."
The baby smiled sleepily around her pacifier. Relena blew a little
kiss at the baby before shutting down transmission. Hilde lowered
the baby's arm and took a deep breath. "Duo!" she called
out.
He poked his head into the living room, a piece of cheese in his
hand. "What's up, babe?"
Hilde stood up, holding Lilliane protectively in her arms. "How
would you feel about maybe fooling around tonight?"
Duo's jaw fell open. He dropped his snack. "Really? Really,
really?"
"I'm going to take that as a yes."
"It's a *hell* yes!" Duo declared. He approached his
wife and daughter. "You're sure about this, Hilde-baby? I
don't want you to think you have to...."
Hilde looked down. Lilliane was falling asleep on her shoulder.
"I think it's time things started to get back to normal around
here, don't you?" He nodded, too surprised and delighted
to say much else. "Let me just put Lilli down and then..."
"I'll do it," Duo volunteered, holding out his arms
for their baby. Hilde gave him a grateful smile as he took Lilliane.
"It'll just take a minute." He started down the hallway
of their new house. "Can you put on that little red thing?
You know the one I mean..." Laughing, Hilde headed for their
bedroom.
Duo wasted little time in changing his daughter and dressing her
in a little pink pajama set. She was half-awake; she didn't reach
for his braid as she usually did now that she had discovered her
hands could hold things. Or pull on things...sharply. He picked
her up from the changing table and held her close for a long minute.
"Do Daddy a favor, baby." Lilliane yawned. "Sleep
and sleep well. For at least an hour or two. It's been quite awhile
since Daddy and Mommy...." He stopped. "Well, let's
just say that Daddy would really appreciate it. Okay?"
Lilliane, by this time, was fast asleep. Smiling, he kissed her
head and gently laid her on her stomach in the crib. He pulled
a soft, flannel blanket over her legs. A minute passed as he watched
her little back rise and fall. Finally, he tore himself away,
closed the nursery door gently behind him and ran for the bedroom.
There was a trail of clothes down the hallway. Hilde's shirt,
jeans, socks....bra. As he saw each discarded piece of clothing,
his pulse raced a little faster. The bedroom door was ajar; he
could see faint candlelight flicking out into the hall. Taking
a breath, Duo stripped off his shirt. "Hilde..." he
called out in a low voice. There was no reply. He smiled. Her
silence was a familiar invitation to come and investigate.
He entered the room silently. Stealthly. She was lying on the
bed in a tiny pair of red lace panties. His heart jumped into
his throat. "Hilde," he said again. "Are you ready
for..." He stopped. Puzzled, he walked closer to the bed.
"Hilde-baby?"
Her only response was to roll over. Fast asleep.
Duo sighed. His not quite all the way erection faded. Looking
around, he had to smile at the situation. The candles, the suggestive
trail of clothing. She had tried. The best intentions...
After stepping out of his jeans, Duo blew out the thoughtfully
lit candles and crawled into bed beside his sleeping wife. Slipping
under the covers, he pulled her back against his chest. She barely
stirred as his arms wound around her body. He kissed her bare
shoulder and closed his eyes.
"Babe....we need a vacation."
****
TBC