Shannon stared at her son's pediatrician with wide, terrified eyes, thankful that her husband wasn't here to listen to what the doctor was saying about their son. "He'll live a perfectly normal and healthy life, Mrs. Gibbs. Your son is just very unique and special, it must run in either you or your husband's family for Anthony to have received this genetic miracle." The doctor explained calmly to the upset mother.
Shannon gaped a few times, then looked down at her three month old son – He was so small, and yet so normal looking, despite his internal dilemma of having a uterus and ovaries – "And, unless he has… sex with another man… He'll never know about the female parts of his body?" Shannon asked cautiously, worrying her thumb between her teeth.
The doctor nodded in affirmation "That is correct, but often times – although not always, sexuality is not genetically imprinted, it's more to do with the brains hormonal release – many males with the pregnancy gene are more predisposed to having male relations." The doctor informed her, crossing his leg over the other.
Shannon nodded as she lifted her son off the exam table and cradled him to her chest "So, there could be a chance he won't be gay… But, the chances are very slim?" Shannon asked, looking for confirmation from the doctor as she tried wrapping her mind around the differences in her son's life.
The doctor nodded again, "Correct. Anthony will still lead a normal life, and this will not cause any changes to his outer physical appearance. He won't suddenly begin growing breasts, or anything like that. His outer anatomy will stay the same. He also won't have periods like a normal woman would have, since the uterus is attached to the anal cavity. Hemorrhoid like bleeding may occur during times of ovulation, and if that is how you wish to explain it to him when he's old enough, then you may, a lot of parents worry about explaining this to their children." The doctor explained, a small and understanding smile on his face as he looked at the young mother.
Shannon nodded as she pressed a tender kiss to her son's head gently "Thank you so much doctor. We will see you next month." Shannon said as she settled Tony into his baby carrier, then left the pediatricians office, her mind swimming with the newly obtained information about her son and his condition. She feared telling Jethro about this, because he – although relatively open to the ideas of men having children, since his own brother was capable of conceiving a child, but thus far hadn't done so – was still apprehensive about the topic of his children becoming parents, especially with teenage birth rates having been on the rise ever since their daughter Kelly was born five years ago.
Fifteen years later, Tony was still living the normal life that the doctor had promised, but he was most certainly gay, and while his father had troubles – sometimes – coping with the fact that his son was highly effeminate, wearing tight jeans and tight shirts, often times having some streak of hair on his head dyed a ridiculous color, and would occasionally wear eyeliner and mascara, he did love his son immensely and would do anything to protect the young teenager.
Especially after losing his wife and daughter to a drunk driving accident, he only thanks god every day that Tony was far too young, at only six months, the day that Shannon and Kelly went to the beach. The only problem with that was, Shannon had kept Tony's internal anatomy a secret from her husband, and Gibbs was clueless as to the questions that arrived when Tony started going through puberty. He of course did tell Tony that it was probably just hemorrhoids, and although Tony was grossed out about that fact, he accepted his father's words.
Tony sat nervously on the couch in the living room, twisting the end of his black Bullet for My Valentine T-shirt in his hands. He'd just spent the last twelve hours of his life out walking the park with the most amazing guy – save for his father – just walking around and getting to know one another, and then… In the heat of the moment, he'd lost his virginity to the older teenager, who was seventeen, almost eighteen. He had to tell his father, but he was seriously worried that his father would end his short lived life on the spot once he told him.
Gibbs walked into the house angrily, slamming the front door shut as he stared at his son, his eyes were set narrowly and hard as he glared at his son "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?! DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?! I'VE BEEN WORRIED SICK ABOUT YOU!" Gibbs screamed at the top of his lungs, his eyes were reminiscent of flames, rather than the normal icy blue that they were, since the older man's eyes were sorely reddened from his anger and possibly exhaustion, it was after all nearly four in the morning when Tony finally did come home.
Gibbs had been at work for most of the night, and when he came home, expecting to see his son asleep in his room, he found the entire house empty and lifeless, worried about his son, he set out to look for the teenager, and hadn't found him in his usual spots. Gibbs had just returned home to see his child sitting on the couch "I… I was… out… with a friend… we were… talking… and… I just… I lost track… of time…" Tony stammered out, his bottom lip trembling and his hands shaking.
Gibbs shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose to stem off the migraine that had been creeping its way into his brain for the past six hours "IT'S FOUR IN THE GODDAMN MORNING ANTHONY! I HAVE TOLD YOU TIME AND TIME AGAIN THAT YOU NEED TO BE HOME BY NINE O'CLOCK, AT NIGHT, NOT IN THE MONRING! JUST WHAT THE HELL WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU COULDN'T HAVE TALKED TO THIS FRIEND ON THE PHONE ABOUT?!" Gibbs continued his angry screaming, his nostrils flaring as he looked at his son.
Tony frowned as he stood up, his arms wrapping protectively around his chest as he looked at the hardwood floors beneath his sock covered feet "I… I uh… we just… we just met… and… we… we were… getting to know… each other…" Tony continued stuttering, his voice barely above a whisper as he chanced a look up at his father.
Gibbs fisted his hair in his hands, pulling hard enough to relieve the tension building in his head, growling as he looked down at his teenage son, "You just met this person and were out until FOUR in the morning with them?! What the hell were you thinking?!" Gibbs questioned, his voice still angry and shouting at his fifteen year old.
Tony shrugged, shifting on his feet uncomfortably "I… I was… I… I like him! Okay?! I like him, and I wanted to get to know him better! AND I DID!" Tony screamed back, finally having enough of his father yelling at him, and him just taking the verbal lashing "And we had the best night, I have EVER had before!" Tony continued, a small smile crossing his face as he thought back to having made love with Harmon Rabb Junior under the stars.
Gibbs stared at his son, his eyebrow arching upward at the implications that his son was not saying "What the hell did you do Anthony?!" Gibbs questioned furiously – If Tony thought Gibbs was pissed before, he'd never seen him quite this pissed off before. Gibbs' chest was heaving rapidly, and Tony was worried his father might actually have a heart attack, he could see the muscles in his father's neck convulsing viciously, and his jaw was set harshly.
Tony looked down at the floor, rubbing his lanky arm slowly "I uh… We… I lost… He… we…" Tony stammered incoherently, unable to tell his father the absolute truth as the tears that were previously dancing in his eyes began slipping down his cheeks and splashing onto the hardwood floors beneath him.
Gibbs shook his head, he'd never once thought of hitting his children before, but Tony was close to pushing past that limit with what he wasn't saying "YOU WHAT?! NO! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE, YOU'RE NOT TO SEE HIM EVER AGAIN, DO YOU HEAR ME?! YOU'RE GROUNDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! UPSTAIRS! NOW!" Gibbs screamed, the vein in his forehead pulsing erratically and his arm ramrod straight as he pointed to the stairs that led to the second floor of their home.
Tony shook his head in disbelief "YOU CAN'T DO THAT! I… I… love him…" Tony had started shouting, but by the time he'd confessed his attraction to Harm, his voice was barely above a whisper, the tears still heavily streaming down his cheeks.
Gibbs gaped wordlessly at his son for all of a few seconds before he regained his composure "GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE NOW!" Gibbs screamed, his arm that was pointing to the stairs lowering and switching his arm to point at the front door instead.
Tony stared at his father, his bottom lip trembling as he stared at the beyond angered expression on Gibbs' face. Tony thought of protesting his father's words, but by the slight tremble he noticed in Gibbs' hand, he thought better of it, and with tear filled eyes, he quickly ran out of the house, and there was only one place he knew to go, at least for the night, and that was his uncles house, at least until he could figure out what he was going to do now that he had no home, clothes or any of his stuff.
Two months had gone by since Gibbs had kicked Tony out of the house, and the young teenager was finally able to get into the house over the first two weeks – every day that Gibbs was at work – and began moving his stuff out little by little, he had left the heavy furniture and things that he knew he'd never need again. And after spending the day with his uncle Tobias, Tony had finally got up enough courage to go and see Harm at the older teenager's house.
Harm was an emancipated minor, and had been since he was sixteen. Tony didn't know how Harm was able to afford the three bedroom home he lived in, but when he arrived at the two-story Craftsman styled home that was slightly reminiscent of his father's home, but with a completely different color scheme of white and light blue, Tony was slightly in awe as he looked at the beautifully manicured lawn and pristine white of the house.
Now he'd been living with Harm for the past few weeks, and Harm enjoyed having the younger man around more than he would have thought, the two story home was filled with a warmth that came from the two teenagers love and happiness that soaked into the walls and livened up the home completely.
Except happiness seemed implausible today, Tony had been closed up in the bathroom for what seemed like the past few days, throwing up anything he would eat and then sometimes throwing up when he hadn't eaten at all. His moods were even more erratic than usual, Harm was worried about the younger teen, but was reluctant to voice his concern for the simple fact that Tony had angrily snapped at Harm and told the older teen to just leave me the hell alone, I'm fine. And that was the end of their conversation, which was three hours ago.
Tony staggered out of the bathroom, holding his stomach tightly, his face was drenched in sweat and he was a sickly pale color. "Call my uncle…" Tony mumbled as he walked past Harm on his way to the bed, promptly lying down, careful not to jostle his highly upset stomach, he thought perhaps it was just a stomach bug, but something felt odd about the way he'd been vomiting endlessly, and although his uncle wasn't an expert, he might have some useful insight about what may be going on with him.
Tobias came into the bedroom twenty minutes later and frowned at the pale complexion of his nephews typically tanned skin "Tony, hey… What's going on?" Tobias asked, sitting on the edge of the bed and pressing the back of his hand against Tony's forehead, satisfied that the teenager didn't seem to be running a fever, he withdrew his hand, twisting the brown paper bag in his other hand.
Tony shrugged pathetically, tear filled eyes turned to look up at his uncle "Don't know… Stomach feels like its being twisted into a thousand knots… What's… what is wrong with me?" Tony asked miserably, a deep frown on his face.
Tobias sighed as he set his hand against Tony's hip, "I have an idea of what is going on… I just… We have to take a test to confirm my suspicions…" Tobias said, holding up the brown paper bag in front of Tony's view.
Tony shakily grabbed for the bag, turning it over to dump the contents out onto the mattress, his brow furrowing as he stared at the blue and white box, "Pregnancy test kit? Why on earth… How… What?" Tony asked, stammering out the questions as he turned on the bed and sat up, holding the long square box that read 'Male Home Pregnancy Test Kit' a look of confusion on his face as he shook the box, listening to the five stick tests rattle in the box.
Tony nodded wordlessly as he stood up and headed into the master bathroom, shutting the door behind him and leaning against the bathroom door as he stared at the box in trembling hands. Tony took in a deep cleansing breath and pushed away from the door, reading the instructions on the back of the box, Tony thought he could do this simply. He pulled the sample cup out of the box, and proceeded to urinate into the cup, nervously biting on his bottom lip as he dipped the felt tip into the urine, then setting the test down on the counter, he also dipped two more tests into the cup and watched with rising anxiety as the seconds ticked by slowly.
Hours, that's exactly how it felt to Tony, it had felt more like hours than just the three minutes that it took for the home pregnancy test to come back with either one blue line or two pink lines. Tony glanced at his watch, and pushed away from the far wall. He stared down at the three test strips blankly for another five minutes, just staring at the six double pink lines staring back at him. He was pregnant, he had just recently turned sixteen and pregnant… and a GUY, what the hell!? Tony collapsed to his knees, cradling his stomach as he rocked back and forth, tears and silent sobs shaking his entire body, he felt like his throat was closing up on him and his stomach was churning unhappily, but he knew that he couldn't vomit anymore, even if he tried, he'd expended all that was inside of his stomach already and nothing more would be able to force its way up his throat.
Tony had been so distraught that when he finally left the bathroom ten minutes later, he had left everything out in the open and shuffled back into the bedroom, burying himself underneath the heavy bedding of his and Harm's shared bed, hiding himself away from the world and the curious looks he was receiving from both his boyfriend and his uncle. "I think perhaps Tony just needs to rest some." Tobias suggested quietly as he headed out of the bedroom, then the house entirely, giving the two teenagers their space. Tobias knew from the forlorn expression on Tony's face, that he was more than likely pregnant and now needed time to cope with the idea, he wouldn't tell his older brother about the pregnancy, but he did plan on calling a friend of his to set up a future doctor's appointment for Tony, whenever the younger teen was ready to accept his future of being a child bearing teenager.
Harm didn't know what to do, honestly. He was at an utter loss for words, curiosity was eating at him as to why Tony had spent so much time in the bathroom, without the sound of lurching echoing out from the room. Harm casually strolled into the bathroom, keeping his footfalls silent as his bare feet padded onto the hardwoods and tiled floors, if there were something seriously wrong with Tony, he did have a right to know about it, didn't he? And that's when he spotted the three tests, the urination cup and the male pregnancy kit sitting on the counter top.
Now it was time for Harm to feel bile rising up in his throat, panic clutching at his insides. He'd heard about the male pregnancy gene, but of all the guys he'd dated in the past, before meeting Tony, none of them ever disclosed having the gene, and either way he'd always used protection when having sex with them… Until he met Tony of course, all of that changed with the younger man. They had unprotected sex the first time they met two months ago, and hadn't used protection since either. Harm braced his hands against the counter top as he stared at the three pregnancy tests, he did love Tony and knew he certainly couldn't leave Tony alone in this, his inheritance and trust fund would cover all expenses that his unborn child and boyfriend would ever need, and they wouldn't go without or want for anything.
Harm walked back into the bedroom a few minutes later, he crawled up the bed slowly and laid beside Tony. Tony poked his head out from underneath the covers, tears glittering in his eyes as he looked at Harm with a miserable look on his face. Harm smiled as he leaned forward, kissing Tony softly on the lips, nuzzling his nose against Tony's. "It's going to be alright, Tony. I love you, I really do – and I won't leave you or our child alone in the world." Harm said softly, setting his hand against Tony's currently flat abdomen, a genuine and caring smile on his face as he looked at his boyfriend.
Tony nodded as he scooted closer to Harm, burying his head in the older teen's chest and wrapping his arms around the muscular waist of Harm's body, "Thank you… for saying that… I was worried… I don't want to lose you, Harm." Tony whispered as he tilted his head slightly to kiss Harm on his chest. Harm wrapped his arms and legs protectively around his young lover and kissed his head affectionately, nuzzling his head in the soft strands of dirty blonde with the streak of emerald green on a section of his bangs that often covered his eyes.
This is just the prologue, as you can tell by the chapter title - The actual story is to come in the first chapter... Stay tuned for end notes and questions.