Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or its sequels, spin-off and related characters. All is the property of Man of Action and Cartoon Network. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.
Switch of Fate:
"So, what are you going to do?" Max asked a very quiet Devin.
He stood, holding his newborn son in his arms. Occasionally giving polite nods to those who came close enough to offer their condolences for his loss. The Osmosian had acclimated to terrestrial society as best as one from not only another world but a whole other species could acclimate. But even after living on Earth for a little short of a decade, he still had an air of aloof, unapproachability to him -made all the more glaringly apparent by the loss of his wife and bond-mate.
Osmosians took only one mate for their whole lives. Something about absorbing a piece of each other's energies during coitus. Max never really asked for to much detail -he didn't actually want to know. Bottom line was, Osmosians only ever got one and Leah had been Devin's one.
The problem with that was, Leah was a normal human and Devin was an alien from another planet -a race called 'Osmosian'- and Osmosians were meant to hatch from eggs. And so, when she became pregnant, there were problems. The conflicting physiologies between mother and fetus was just a little to much for Nature and the 'miracle of life' to reconcile and -after going into crisis seven months into her pregnancy, they eventually had to cut baby Kevin from his mother's dying body.
Earlier today was the funeral.
Now it was the reception.
After a few moments of silence, Max decided his friend and comrade wasn't going to answer. Everyone dealt with grief differently and alien grief was particularly difficult to predict or even understand. If Devin needed his space and some quiet, then that would be what Max would give him. He hoped to see Devin back at Mount Rushmore and suited up ready for another adventure soon. But not before the man was ready.
Max was about to give the younger man his space and walk away when Devin finally replied, a bit delayed.
"I'll stay on Earth long enough to observe the seven days of shivah I'm told was Leah's custom." He said. "Then I'll take Kevin home -uh, my home, Osmos V. I can't raise an Osmosian child here on Earth. Your cultures is to… pandering. Between his natural abilities and your people's tendency to encourage over-indulgence, I foresee nothing but problems."
Max wanted to ask if that was really an honest assessment or if he was just seeing only the negative because he was in such a bad place emotionally right now. After all, it wasn't like Kevin would be growing up alone in the world with no one to understand him or his powers. Devin would be there, obviously. But also the rest of their team. Max had already raised two boys of his own, had one grandchild already and two more on the way. Wes, likewise had experience with his own children. And Phil… well, Phil would probably be best left out of the equation. But the point was, Devin had people willing to help him who knew who and what both he and his son were. Knew how to raise children and had experience tangling with Osmosian powers.
He didn't voice any of this, however. Instead, Max asked, "What was your plan before Leah passed?"
Devin gave a snort of derision that startled Kevin out of his nap and the baby began to cry. The Osmosian rocked his son gently in his arms in an effort to sooth him back to sleep. When the baby's cries subsided into quieter grunts and groans of displeasure, Devin answered. "I wanted to bundle Leah up and move back home the moment she told me we were gonna have a child. But she wouldn't let me."
That didn't actually answer Max's question, but he didn't press. He just nodded his understanding. A couple's first baby was always the most terrifying and each parent would want to have it in an environment that was familiar to them. Comfortable and safe. For Devin, that would be Osmos V. For Leah, that would be here on Earth. Since Leah was the one who would actually have to carry said child to term, she won the argument. But now that Leah was gone… Devin was running home to where he felt safe and taking his child with him.
Max placed what he hoped was a supportive hand on the younger man's shoulder. Osmosians -as a general rule- were very particular about physical contact. It took Max several conversations over the years to finally figure out why. It all came back to the natural Osmosian abilities of absorption. Everything about Osmosian culture revolved around absorption. It was something that came as naturally to them as breathing did to humans. So much so, that sometimes they would do it unconsciously -and that was where the aversion to being touched came in.
It was considered not just rude to touch another Osmosian without their permission, but a violation comparable to walking up to a stranger on the street and sticking your tongue in their ear. There was no such thing as a 'casual hand-shake' on Osmos V. But the rules were more relaxed for members of the same Hearth -that is, members of the same family or clan. Since Devin was assigned to Earth, he sort of latched onto the rest of the team as a kind of surrogate Hearth. Max, Wes, and yeah, even Phil were surrogate brothers for him. So, Max hoped the hand on his shoulder wouldn't be misinterpreted as anything besides what it was. One brother offering comfort and support to another brother.
"I'm gonna be honest, I want you to stay." Max admitted. "None of the rest of us have powers. I know its self-serving, but we need you, Devin. If you're worried about Kevin feeling isolated because he's half alien, Carl told me recently that Sandra's expecting a boy. He'll be human, of course, but still the grandson of a Plumber and almost the same age as Kevin. The boy's could be friends."
"I was under the impression your sons didn't know what we did?" Devin reminded him. "The offer is nice, Max, and I appreciate it. But my mind's made up. Kevin will be much better off on Osmos V."
If his mind was made up, then his mind was made up. There was no point in pestering him. Besides, being pressured into doing something he didn't want to do was the last thing Devin needed right now. Not right after his mate died. For an Osmosian, that was like a part of yourself dying. Like losing a leg or an arm. You go on living, but you're not quite whole anymore.
"Then I wish you the best." Max sighed. "Just one question though: You've thought a lot about Kevin growing up half-Osmosian on Earth. But what about his growing up half-Earthling on Osmos V?"
...
(A/N: As it stands now, this fic is Complete and I have no immediate plans to continue it. This was just an idea I had kicking around my head that was distracting me from other stories. Now that its out, I can continue with my on-going stories. It's possible I might expand on this idea in the future, but for the moment this is it.)