Title : Felis Draconis

Author : Dùlin

Fandom : Kotobuki Tarako's Love Pistols (Sex Pistols in the original Japanese)

Pairing : David Woodwille (jaguar heavyweight)/Maximilian Seymore (dragon heavyweight)

Rating : PG

Warnings : Canon Mpreg (I swear!), birth fic, angst, might not make much sense if you haven't read the manga at least up to volume 5. I wrote this solely because of the family picnic in volume 5 and the mention of Hidekuni's birth.

Disclaimer : Love Pistols, its cracktastic world and its characters all belong to Kotobuki-sensei. I am just playing with them, and I have no idea why. Please ignore me !

A/N : Okay, so a few words for those unfamiliar with Kotobuki-sensei's world.

In this world normal humans are living alongside zoomen, people who evolved from different animals than monkeys. They can change into the animal they evolved from (their 'true soul') and have a sort of hidden network to find each other around the world.

However, zoomen fertility rates are very low and their genes are not dominant, so if they mate with humans, the babies won't have any zooman genes (except in rare exceptions). To prevent their kind from disappearing, zoomen often have agreements to mate between families (with no necessary bonds of marriage or love attached), and have designed several ways such as womb worms or special medication to allow males to carry babies.

****

"David .... David ! Wake up !"

The jaguar on the other side of the bed yawned, its body slowly changing back to human form as he emerged from his sleep. David was a heavy sleeper, though, and the spots hadn't even faded when he turned around, looking for all the world like his eyelids were too heavy for him to keep them open.

"Wassup ?"

"It's coming !" Maximilian gasped as another contraction hit.

David blinked sleepily.

"Are you sure ? ... Ow !" he yelped as Maximilian swatted him on the head rather forcefully.

"You know, I haven't gone through all of this for you to ask me if I am sure I am going to give birth ! Just trust me on this, okay ?"

"Okay, okay ... how far apart are your contractions ?"

"Two minutes ... maybe one and a half, I'm not sure."

David jumped and the spots on his skin paled and disappeared almost instantly.

"Why didn't you wake me up sooner ?!"

"Because I wasn't sure this wasn't another false alarm and last time was enough, thank you very much ! Can we please just ... skip the part where we fight about this and get to clinic ?"

"Of course, of course ! Uh ... can you get dressed on your own ?"

"Just ... get me my coat," Maximilian said through gritted teeth. "I'll have to take it all off anyway."

"Okay ... okay ..." David said, his voice trailing down.

He was standing next to the bed holding one of his shoes and looking at his partner as if he were seeing him for the first time.

"Now would be good !" Maximilian snapped, which had the expected effect of making David finish tying up his shoes, run to the cupboard where they kept the overnight bag, and bring back the coat in a record time.

"You know, you weren't that agitated when Yonekuni-kun was born," he said as he helped Maximilian into his coat gently. "You were cool as a cucumber."

"Well, I wasn't the one in labor, Makio was. Now unless you really want me to give birth in the car ..."

"We're going, we're going !"

****

David let out a sigh of relief when they reached the clinic. He had called ahead and two nurses were waiting for them with a wheel chair. He had been told that a specially equipped delivery room would be ready as well.

Most of the medical staff knew about their case. It was not that common for two heavyweights to manage to conceive, and it had taken them long enough to finally manage it, but that had only been the beginning. Maximilian had been sick almost from the start, unable to eat anything but a few nibbles a day. Then the bleeding had started, and they had feared they would lose the baby. In the end, Maximilian had had to endure complete bedrest, which had driven him crazy, and countless check-ups. Even now, the baby was smaller than what he should have been, and almost two months early to boot. They had been warned that the birth would probably be premature, but still ...

David shook himself out of his daze and caught up with the nurses, catching Maximilian's hand and squeezing it.

"This is it ... We're here now, and we're going to do this together, okay ?"

Maximilian glared at him through his bangs, but he squeezed David's hand back. The forced inactivity and hormonal changes had been driving him through the roof, and David had been an angel through it, bowing to any of Maximilian's wishes no matter how petty and ridiculous. So Maximilian bit his lips and said nothing, focusing on breathing correctly instead. He knew David would forgive anything he would say in the heat of the moment, but this was too important.

A few minutes later saw Maximilian settled in the delivery room in a hospital gown with David by his side. Their doctor had been beeped as soon as they had arrived and came in flipping through their charts to see the latest bloodwork results.

"Alright, Mr. Seymore, Mr. Woodwille, this is a small one we're having here, so we'll have to make it nice and easy for him," he said as he sat down next to the bed. "This is your first one, Mr. Seymore, so it could take some time. Now you remember what we discussed last time about the C-section ..."

"I don't want a C-section !" Maximilian protested. "I want to see him !"

"And you will, Mr. Seymore," the doctor said in a soothing tone. "But you know that if his heartbeat gets too slow, the C-section won't just be an option, it will be our only choice. This is a worst-case scenario, though, and I think we have everything covered. You're in good hands, Mr. Seymore."

"I know," Maximilian sighed. "Thank you, doctor."

"Let's get ready to welcome the little one, shall we ?"

David hadn't let go of his hand, and he came closer, allowing Maximilian to lean against him.

"We'll be fine," he whispered, pushing some sweat-soaked blond bangs away from Maximilian's face. "Do you want me to tie your hair back for you ?"

"Please."

****

"Mr. Woodwille ? Is everything okay ?"

David blinked as the nurse came into brutal focus. He had gone to get some coffee and somehow lost track of things.

"Oh yes, thanks, it's just ... It's been fifteen hours, and ... why is it taking so long ?"

The nurse smiled, took his coin, inserted it in the machine and pressed the button for a large black coffee for him. She had probably seen hundred of expectant fathers before.

"First ones often take long, and you know Dr. Solomon doesn't want to take any risks with a premie. As long as the baby's heartrate is stable, it's fine. And Mr. Seymore is very brave to go through it without pain relief, too. Most people would have asked for the C-section outright if they knew they couldn't be medicated through it."

"I know," David said with a tired smile. "He's amazing. Say, would you have some ice chips somewhere ? He needs to stay hydrated."

"Of course. I'll be right back."

David started sipping his coffee as the nurse went back to the station, but she was back before the caffeine even kicked in.

"I think you should get back in there, Mr. Woodwille. Your son is about to be born."

The cup of coffee exploded on the floor as David rushed back to the delivery room. The nurse shook her head, sighed, and pressed a button on the nearest intercom.

"Cleanup for the maternity ward, please !"

****

They had prepared a bed in the room for David and rolled the incubator in there as well, so that the first thing Maximilian saw when he next opened his eyes was his partner looking at the way Hidekuni's little chest heaved with every breath.

"Is he okay ?" Maximilian whispered.

David gave a start and looked up.

"You know doctors ... they won't say anything definite, but ... yeah, he's okay. He's got all of his limbs, and he only needed respiratory assistance for a few hours before he started breathing on his own. He's too small, of course, so he needs to stay in there for now, and they've been feeding him through a little tube, but ..."

"David ..."

David sniffed and wiped away the tears that seemed to have spontaneously appeared.

"He's ... He's perfect, Maximilian. Thank you. Thank you so much."

"David, what are you ..."

"Hush," David said, coming to sit on the bed and putting a finger on Maximilian's lips. "Don't. Our son is born, and he is perfect, and he is going to be healthy and strong, and this is all thanks to you. And I love you so much for doing this for us."

Maximilian sighed and put his arms around David, petting his hair gently.

"Look at you, you're a mess ... why are you crying ? You're not even the one who went through fifteen hours of labor and you look worse than I do."

"I'm crying 'cause I'm happy. Shut up."

"Hn."

"You know, they told me that it'd really help him get stronger if we held him a lot, so ... do you want to hold him ?"

Maximilian looked uncertain all of a sudden.

"Can I ? I mean, he's so ..."

"Of course you can ! Here, the doctor showed me how to do it."

David's gestures were careful yet full of assurance as he opened the incubator and wrapped Hidekuni in his comforter, slowly taking him out and settling him in the crook of his arm.

"Let me sit down next to you, and I'll hand him to you. Poor little guy didn't get to spend much time with his mama, it's time for you two to catch up, don't you think ?"

Maximilian nodded, his throat too constricted to say anything. His arms were slightly shaking as he held his son in his arms for the first time.

"He's ... so small. So helpless."

"Well, he got a rocky start in life, that's for sure. But he'll be okay now. He's got us."

David's hand on his shoulder was warm, a solid anchor. The small creature in his arms was snuggling closer, looking for heat and comfort, and now he felt like crying too.

"Yes, he's got us."