Heero sat on the hard wood floor of his small one bedroom apartment typing vigorously away on his laptop. He was finishing up some work that Une had given him to do. She was kind enough to give him his old job back, and helped him find a place to stay. But he was paying her back for her help by decoding a few files that she had given him, and it has kept him pretty much busy for the past week and kept his mind off of things.

He smirked when he deciphered the code to the last file. Heero quickly saved the files to disk and pulled it out of his laptop and got up off of the floor stretching. Looking around his apartment he frowned. He needed to get the place furnished one day soon knowing that this place was probably going to be his home for quite some time to come, or permanent.

Pushing a decision on Relena wasn't something that he wanted to do. Yes he did want to talk, to tell her how he felt for her and the baby. And to let Relena know that he was truly sorry for his actions and his distrust in her and their relationship. But after much thought he decided that it would be for the best to take things slowly with her, and to let her know that he would be sincere in anything that he would have to say to her.

Heero walked toward the door and pulled his coat off of the door handle and put it on, then slid the disk into the inside pocket. He was going to get the disk to Une so he could spend some getting some supplies for his apartment. Zipping it up he stepped out into the cold and checked his coat pocket for his keys before he closed the door. He then walked toward one of the many company cars that was loaned to him until he got one of his own.

Once he got into the car he saw a file on the passenger seat. He needed Duo to sign a couple of papers from a report that Duo had done a few days ago. It wasn't that big of a problem, he decided to drive over to Duo and Hilde's since he knew that Duo had the day off anyway, and he had no intentions of going back to the office the rest of the week so he needed it done.

The car ride wasn't that long and once he pulled up and parked he could see Hilde getting something out of the back of her car. He looked for Duo and didn't see him. Hilde was trying to close the car door and was struggled with two bags in her hands. Heero quickly got out of his car and grabbed one of the bags before it slipped out of her hands.

"Th..thanks." Hilde reached out for the bag but Heero took the other one from her as well.

"Let me help carry these to your door." Hilde nodded and closed the car door. They both started to walk toward the house. "Where's Duo?"

Hilde pulled out her keys and opened the door then took the bags from Heero and placed them just inside the house. She felt a small amount of pain hit her stomach she took a deep breath before she faced Heero again. "Duo's out with the other guys. They're at some sports pub to watch a football game." She hadn't been feeling well all day and she desperately wanted to be alone. She hoped that Heero would just leave.

Heero watched her intently.  He knew there was something wrong with her. "Are you ok?"

Hilde offered him a small smile. "I'm fine." She said in a flat tone. She didn't feel up to friendly chat with this man. "What did you want Duo for?"

"It's nothing, I just needed a few papers signed. I'll just catch him another time then." He was about to walk away when he seen Hilde hunch over. Heero quickly wrapped his arms around her before she collapsed. Her face was shriveled in pain and she was gasping for air. Heero closed her door and pulled the keys out of the lock. He then picked her up and held her against his chest.

"What are you doing?" Hilde gasped out.

"I'm taking you to the hospital."

"I just need to lay down Heero." She tried to get out of his grasp but he tightened his grip on her.

Heero opened the passenger door with the tip of his fingers then kicked it open the rest of the way. He gently placed Hilde down in the seat and buckled her up.

"Heero, I'm fine really. I've been on my feet for too long. I just need to lay down and...." Hilde bent over wrapping her arms around her stomach and clenched her teeth with the small wave a pain that hit her.

Heero closed the door and ran to his side and got in and started the car. "How long have you been like this?" He asked once he started to drive.

"For a few hours. But I'm sure that its just those Braxton-Hicks contractions that the Dr. talked about." She looked at Heero as she rubbed her stomach. "You think I'm in labor." Heero didn't reply and kept driving. "I'm not in labor Heero...I would know. Besides I have a month and a half to go yet so I can't possibly be in labor."

"I'm still taking you to the hospital. If they prove me wrong, then  I'll take you home."

"Why in the hell do you even care? You don't know a damn thing about going through a pregnancy. You weren't there for Relena when she needed you the most."

Hilde's words about Relena hurt. "You're right. I don't know anything about childbirth. But I always trust my instinct, I know there's something wrong."

"Wrong? What do you mean? You think that there is something wrong with the baby?"

Heero glanced at her and shook his head. The last thing that he needed now was for her to panic.

After arriving at the hospital Hilde was taken to an exam room and Heero set off to phoning a few people to find out exactly where Duo was. Hilde didn't know the name to the place, but Duo had written the information down. Heero didn't have the time to drive back to their house to get it. He didn't want to leave Hilde just incase something more serious was going on. He left a message at their house and at Duo's office incase he happened to stop there. Heero turned around when her heard someone clear his throat behind him.

"Sir, are you the one that brought Ms. Schbeiker in?" Heero nodded. "I'm the doctor that examined her. Are you the father of the child?î

Heero stared at him for a few seconds then shook his head. "I'm just a friend." He felt like he was lying, but he still considered Duo a friend and he had nothing against Hilde. 

"I have some news to discuss with her and I would rather she not be alone when I tell her."

"I understand." Heero followed the doctor to exam room that Hilde was in. Her eyes looked hopeful when she looked at them but it quickly vanished. Heero knew that she could tell that something was up. Heero walked over to the window and leaned against the windowsill as the doctor talked to Hilde. 

Looking out the window he wonder how much longer it would be until Duo got there. Hilde was uncomfortable around him. And he had his day planed and this isn't where he wanted to be. It was the sound of Hilde crying that pulled him away from the window. The doctor was explaining that they needed to do the surgery immediately

"Surgery?"  Heero cursed himself for not paying attention to what the doctor had said earlier. 

"Yes." The Dr. looked at him "The umbilical cord is wrapped around the baby's neck. The heart rate is what has me worried. If the surgery isn't done then the child won't make it, and things may become difficult for Ms Schbeiker."

"Then do it." Heero snapped at the man.

Hilde looked at Heero shocked. She didn't expect him to do anything but to look out the window. After what had happened between them she hadn't given him much of a chance to try to apologize since he came back a week ago. She knew that Duo had spent sometime with him hoping to talk some since into his head. 

"I'll get the OR ready then. I'll have a nurse come in and get you ready." The doctor left the room.

"Heero, have you gotten a hold of Duo?"

Heero walked over to the bed and took her hand in his. It was something that felt right for him to do. "No, but I left a message on your answering machine. And left a message at his office. I'm sure that he'll be here soon." She started to cry again and he had no idea what to do. He had never been in a situation like this before. 'She feels alone. What do I say to her? What would you say to Relena if this was her?' "Hilde, everything is going to be ok. If not then I'll kill the doctor."

Hilde managed to laugh at his remark despite the whole situation. "I may take you up on that Heero." She was thankful that he showed up at the house when he did. "Will you stay with my during the surgery,  if Duo doesn't get here?"

"I'll stay with you."

And somehow she felt better knowing that he was going to be there. 

´´´´´´ªªªªªª

It was just after dark when Duo arrived at the hospital. Heero was walking back to Hilde's room from the nursery. He had managed to get the nurses to take a picture of the baby so Hilde could see him. She was too exhausted to move and refused to get any rest until she at least seen what her son looked like. Heero smiled at the picture of the tiny baby and jumped slightly when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. Looking behind him he saw the worried look on Duo's face.

"What happed Heero? Where's Hilde? Is she ok?" 

Heero explained the surgery to Duo and that there were no complications. Both Hilde and the baby were fine. The look that was on his friends face made him feel bad for Duo. He knew what type of personal hell he probably felt at the moment for not being there for Hilde, and not knowing that there was something wrong. And to top things off he was having a fun leisurely day with some friends and didn't bother to check up on her. 

"She's fine for now, but needs sleep. I'm heading back to her room." Heero started to walk down the hall and Duo fell into step beside him. Heero looked down at the picture in his hand and handed it to Duo. "He looks a lot like his dad."

Duo took the picture. A warm smiled crossed his face. "Yes he does." They both stopped just outside her room. "Heero, thank you for what you did today. I'm glad that you were there for her when she needed someone."

Heero looked at the door. It was probably for the best if he let Hilde and Duo be alone. They had a lot to talk about. "Tell Hilde goodnight for me."

"You're leaving?"

Heero nodded. "She needs you now. Although you may want to talk to her about taking back that hit contract that she has on you."

"Hit contract. You're kidding right?"

Heero smirked. "She offered to pay me well."

Duo laughed nervously and patted Heero on the back. "Thanks for the advice." He knew that Heero was hinting that Hilde was way beyond pissed at him.

Heero walked quietly down the hallway. He was glad that Duo finally showed up so he could get out of there. Having that disk in his coat pocket all day drove him nuts, and he was more than ready to dump it off on Une. He could always stop by the hospital tomorrow to have Duo sign the papers. He didn't feel like heading back up there knowing that Duo was probably flaunting about how much his child looked like himself, or Hilde was giving him hell.

He was glad that he and Hilde got a chance to talk things out. They both came to a new understanding for each other and Heero respected her now. He could clearly see what it was about that woman that Duo was willing to forgive her, and to hold on. They talked about how extremely lucky they were to have a friend like Duo. And it was because of that reason that Heero was thankful that the baby wasn't his. Thanks to the quick blood test that Hilde demanded the Doctors to run for her.

Now he could only hope that he could come to some sort of closure with Relena. To find a relationship, or friendship where there currently wasn't one. He didn't want to just show up at her house unannounced. He wanted to wait until she was ready to talk to him. And if that time never came he would have to live with it.