Title: A Favor for a Friend (The Rehabilitation and Reintegration Arc)
Pairings/Warnings: Approximately eight years post EW, the usual suspects – 1x2, 5xS – plus some fluff, some sap, some frustration, some of everything I don't usually write. =P
Notes: This is dedicated to one specific, lovely preggo I know. ;-P This whole thing is actually based on true events and though thankfully I didn't experience what Sally does, a friend of mine did. The rest of it is, for the most part, personal experience (but man the stuff you forget about having a newborn...!)
While writing this I realized it was kinda nice to just be able to write them as "normal" people for once. (Not typically my style.) Hence the Rehabilitation and Reintegration Arc was born. It will be a series of loosely tied together one shots between 5,000 and 10,000 words each featuring some moment in a relatively normal post-war world. Hey, everyone needs a break from angst at some point, even me! ;-) But I have no schedule or ideas for this, they'll come as they hit me.
Oh and just in case anyone wants to get all mumblr on me, I really didn't intend to make any kind of parenting statement with this fic at all. I tried to be as realistic as possible. (Trust me, if you have c. diff you aren't spending your time pumping breast milk.) And they're two young, gay men taking care of a baby for a day. They don't own a copy of "The Happiest Baby on the Block."
Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing or the boys, just love writing about them.
"No, no, no it's no problem! 'Fei is my brother so you are my sister and therefore you don't even have to ask – I get to insist."
Heero glared at the back of Duo's head, ignoring the braid swinging back and forth as his partner stood on the other side of the office, gesturing and shaking his head as he was apt to do on the phone, unable not to use a ridiculous amount of body language even when there was no one to watch. He thought maybe, if he stared hard enough, he would be able to divine straight from Duo's brain what sort of mess he was getting them into now. He knew beyond a doubt that it couldn't be good. Sally and Wufei just had a baby only two weeks ago, after all.
"Look, we both have some time off, I don't think Une would care about a couple of days until Cathy gets there."
Heero's scowl deepened and Duo turned back to flash him a wicked smile complete with a gratuitous thumbs up sign. Heero hadn't planned on taking any vacation. Especially not any vacation involving Duo, Sally, and a baby.
"No, you can't, you can't risk exposing her to that. What if she got sick? A hospital is no place for a newborn."
Or maybe not...? Despite his reservations about Duo's end of the conversation, he certainly wouldn't wish a hospital stay on anyone, let alone Sally or the baby. Unless it was Wufei but he was so deep under cover he missed the birth of his first-born daughter. Even Heero felt a pang of sympathy for him. Staring at his handsome lover he was thankful for a moment that he was gay and that Duo wouldn't be popping out offspring any time in the next millennia.
"Hey now, I am great with kids, you know that! And Heero, well, you know, not a single damned hair on her tiny baby head will be displaced and he'll guarantee you that."
A wash of apprehension flooded Heero then. If he didn't know better he would've thought Duo was offering them up as babysitters.
"Let me close out a few things here, stop by Une's office, and I'll be there to pick you girls up!"
Or maybe he really didn't know better.
Heero schooled his face into the best imitation of passive curiosity that he could manage as Duo hung up the phone and turned to him, excitement fairly crackling off Duo like electricity.
"We got ourselves a baby!" he whooped with an enthusiastic clap of his hands and a laugh. So despite the sinking feeling in Heero's chest, he couldn't be angry with Duo or destroy his good mood.
"Can I ask under what circumstances this situation transpired?" Heero stated with as much neutrality as possible.
"Sally's real sick," Duo confided, the smile slipping from his face. "You know they had to do that emergency cesarean on her, right? Well she thinks the antibiotics they gave her combined with the other complications might have caused her to get c. diff. She was crying on the phone, man. You know she doesn't cry."
The scowl reappeared on Heero's face but now it was more out of sympathy than anger. Sally was by far the toughest woman he knew. After all, she had the strength to marry Wufei. And despite all the complications of her pregnancy and not having her husband around, she carried their daughter as if it was the highest privilege known to man and never complained once.
"You know she doesn't have any family and fuck if 'Fei ever did they're dead now so what's she supposed to do? If she can't turn to us, who can she turn to?" Duo's tone was pleading but it was completely unnecessary. Heero was already closing his reports and setting up his out-of-office email notification.
"Do you want me to go talk to Une while you finish up here?" he asked as he stood. "I'm ready to go if you'll grab my laptop."
The mix of relief and unbridled joy on Duo's face was worth whatever aggravation this baby would cause them over the next few days. He practically leapt across their shared office in a single bound, throwing himself over Heero's desk, wrapping his arms around Heero's neck, and dragging him into a kiss so deep Heero had to fight to keep his arousal to a minimum.
"You're the best!" he gushed as he rushed back to his desk to shut down his computer. "I'll meet you at the car, eh?"
Heero nodded and stalked down to Une's office with single-minded purpose. The kind of purpose that had agents scurrying out of his way as discreetly as possible. Despite his opinion on Wufei's untimely undercover, he kept his mouth shut. The assignment held the promise of promotion for Wufei – a promotion that would land him a desk job and the ability to be with his growing family. When Wufei told him about it six months ago Heero had expressed his concern, but when Wufei rebuked him he felt obliged to take his friend's side in the matter. After all, he didn't really understand what that promotion meant to him and Sally. Heero had Duo, sure, but they worked alongside each other and the idea of being stuck behind a desk was stifling to both of them. Neither would ask it of the other. So counseling Wufei on the decision was definitely out of his jurisdiction.
But that didn't change his opinion that Une should never have asked it of him in the first place.
Une's secretary, seeing the look on his face, didn't even ask what he wanted. She just silently slipped into Une's office to get her permission for him to enter. When he'd waited over thirty seconds, Heero considered just storming in, but luckily he was relieved the decision by the door swinging open and the secretary announcing he could enter now.
"Can I help you?" Une asked from her desk, gazing up at Heero with something like amusement on her face.
"Duo and I will be taking off as long as we are needed to care for Wufei's daughter while Sally is hospitalized." The blunt words drained any mirth she had at his glower and Heero felt a selfish sense of satisfaction.
"Excuse me? Sally is being hospitalized?"
Heero supposed that since she was on maternity leave anyway, her pending hospitalization wasn't exactly Preventer business. "Duo just got off the phone with her. From my understanding she is having post-partum complications. I believe Catherine is coming into town to help but in the mean time we will be caring for the baby as Wufei isn't here to do so himself."
The silence between them stretched out until it became uncomfortable while Heero waited for her to say something by way of apology. When he realized she wasn't going to back down no matter what level of intimidating glare he used, Heero spoke again.
"I know nothing about babies or internal office politics because I care very little about either, but I do know Wufei. And I know Wufei would be horrified and dishonored to know his family was falling apart without him there to save it." Heero pinned her with a particularly scathing glare. "The right thing to do would be to pull him out now and not penalize him regarding the promotion."
After that, Une apparently gathered her thoughts enough to speak, although it wasn't exactly what Heero wanted to hear.
"Your time off request will be approved and I will take your concern under advisement." She paused and returned his cold stare. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Heero decided there was nothing else he could say to make his point so he shook his head curtly and left to meet Duo in the parking deck. Duo was just jumping over the door into their remarkably un-baby-friendly roadster when Heero got there and it was the first time he had ever thought of their vehicle in those terms before. Frankly, he hoped it would be the only time.
Duo flashed him a nervous smile as Heero took the driver's side in a more conventional manner. "Une approved our time off," he announced as he shifted the car into drive.
"She better!" Duo snapped tersely. If Heero thought his opinion regarding Wufei's assignment was unfavorable, he didn't really know how to categorize Duo's. He'd spent more than one night railing on the deliberate cruelty of Une's request. Once they learned the actual birth was taking place, Heero thought Duo might up and quit so great was his anger. Heero ran forced laps with him for ten miles to get him to calm down before letting him go visit Sally and the baby at the hospital.
"When is Catherine coming in?" Heero asked to get Duo focused on something else as he ran down a mental checklist of everything he thought they might need for a baby.
"The earliest shuttle she could get was Saturday." Heero grimaced at Duo's response. Four days. Not that he doubted his partner's parenting skills – but a woman's touch seemed necessary when dealing with small, helpless humans. "You know how flights from L3 have been recently with that Ashkar splinter cell out there."
Unfortunately that topic of conversation wasn't really the change of subject Heero had been hoping for as Wufei was on L3 right now to deal with that specific splinter cell.
"If I could trade places with him now, I would," Heero offered quietly and Duo nodded his head despondently.
"I know you would." Without turning his head from the scenery speeding by them out the window he rested a hand on Heero's thigh. "So would I. I wish we had known it would take so long. 'Fei is gonna be fucking pissed when he gets back dirt side."
Heero grunted an affirmative on that.
Luckily Sally and Wufei's apartment wasn't far from HQ and in no time at all they were knocking on her front door. She called to them that it was open and Heero walked unwittingly into a chaos that was only just less than what he experienced on a battlefield.
Quickly he assessed Sally's condition and their eyes met briefly. If it were an on-duty situation, he would've told her she was unfit for combat. The woman he previously thought completely unflappable was a disheveled wreck with tears and abject humiliation still clinging to her eyes while that tiny baby screamed bloody murder in her arms. Heero quickly looked away to save her any further embarrassment as Duo swooped in to rescue her from her unhappy charge.
"Aw, she screams just like her daddy!" Duo teased as he gathered the tiny person into his arms and took over the task of burping it – or so Heero assumed based on an educated guess after watching Relena with her offspring.
"I just fed her," Sally explained wearily as Heero took stock of the baby items littering the small apartment. He quickly began assessing what seemed to be a necessity for baby care and what was just a causality of the situation while the baby's alarming screams continued unabated.
And then suddenly the baby burped and the noise quieted. Heero turned wide eyed to stare in amazement at his partner who slid the baby down into his crooked arms and rocked it gently, tightening the blankets swaddling it. He had prepared himself to deal with the screaming from moment one until Catherine arrived to relieve them of that misery and to see Duo calm the baby so quickly and efficiently... He was astounded. But it also gave him a new perspective and level of respect for his partner.
"I just got lucky," he joked, but Heero noted the pleased flush that nicely overtook his features. "Even little girl Fei-Fei knows not to argue with Papa Duo because I'll always win." The sing-song words teased a tired smile from Sally but the affectionate expression with which Duo gazed down was what tugged at the corners of Heero's lips.
Then all amusement was gone as Duo's eyes rose to meet Heero's with a certain level of expectation that made Heero immediately uncomfortable.
"Why don't you hold the baby while Sally and I pack up what we need for the next few days, huh?"
Heero knew there was no way out of it but it felt suspiciously like a test. A test he had to pass to give Sally some tiny measure of comfort in her totally shitty situation. Duo walked up to him slowly and Heero held out his arms in an unfamiliar but hopefully confident manner to accept the tiny bundle. Very gently Duo placed the baby in Heero's arms and he stared at it with wonder and confusion. How were they possibly going to care for this little person for four whole days? Sally was a doctor, at least, but he was a solider. Duo was too. They'd killed thousands upon thousands of men between the two of them. Heero had been through hundreds of hours worth of therapy just to learn not to terrify his coworkers with his overbearing presence or whip out his gun when a car engine backfired. He felt in that moment his hands were too stained with blood to be allowed to hold such an innocent thing, squirming gently in his arms, as if his mere existence in such close proximity would ultimately destroy her virtue and purity.
He was so overwhelmed with the thoughts in his own head as he stared down at the little girl, all Chinese features and dark black hair, he didn't even realize Duo and Sally had left him there and were coming back with a few packed bags.
"I'm going to run this stuff down to the car, eh 'Ro?" Duo announced as he placed a hand on his shoulder, stealing a quick peek at the baby while he was at it. "She seems to like you okay, yeah!" Duo's smile and enthusiasm encouraged Heero a little and he nodded slightly, unable to break eye contact with the baby, as if her life depended on him watching her every tiny movement.
"I don't know if her and I are going to get along," Heero heard Duo joke with Sally as he walked towards the door. "She's gonna steal all Heero's attention from me!" But the door shutting seemed to snap Heero out of his trance and he stared up at Sally who was walking a bit weakly towards him.
"Here," he offered Sally back her child, anticipating she might want to hold the baby before they were separated for an indefinite hospital stay. She gratefully accepted the baby back, crying as she kissed its forehead and cheeks. Heero shifted uneasily, unsure if he should try to comfort her or not.
"You have no idea what this means to me," Sally finally offered, her voice cracking over the words. She took a deep breath to try to get control of her emotions. "I have no one, and when Duo offered –"
"It's fine," Heero interrupted, resting what he hoped was a sympathetic hand on her arm. "Duo is excited to be able to help. And if something happened to him, I would equally count on you and Wufei if I couldn't be there."
She nodded mutely, her eyes returning to the baby as Duo reentered the apartment, assessing the situation.
"I figure you can take our car back to the apartment and start setting up the baby stuff, yeah? And I'll take Sally to the hospital. We'll have to keep her car, you know, on account of the car seat and all." Sally and Heero both nodded their consent to the plan.
Heero found himself mentally preparing for a different kind of challenge as he drove back to their place alone, a veritable treasure trove of baby things packed into the seat next to him. Duo looked so at ease with the baby. And he thought back to what he said when he hung up the phone with Sally back at their office. "We got ourselves a baby!" He seemed positively thrilled.
They never really talked about children but Heero had thought they were on the same page. What would two young men, rehabilitated Gundam pilots no less, do with a baby? But then Duo seemed so excited about it... What if a baby was what he wanted? Maybe not now – he was fairly certain Duo appreciated their carefree home life, a home life Heero tried to make fun despite his abstract understanding of the concept to make up for all the youth his partner had missed – but a few years down the road...? Would Duo resent him if he thought Heero wouldn't agree to having a baby?
He cursed Une over this situation for what had to be the hundredth time and probably not the last. His relationship with Duo took a lot of work, far more work than he'd ever anticipated when they tentatively started it after the war. Anything which fell into the category of a threat to that relationship Heero made a point of expunging. He wasn't a particularly brilliant man when it came to matters of the heart, but he knew after so many years together that he simply couldn't function without the other man by his side. And if that meant they had to have a baby, well...
Heero couldn't actually say he was okay with that, and that scared him.
But he hauled the pink baby things into their sleek, masculine apartment with faked self-confidence. He began unpacking the bags, stacking everything up on their coffee table. Little, tiny clothing was in one stack, bottles and formula another, diapers and wipes were followed by a pink, whale-shaped tub and various baby shampoos and lotions. There were also enough blankets Heero felt sure he could've bandaged all of OZ's injured troops during the war with them and he puzzled at their necessity.
And then he put together the pack-n-play – the one task amongst all of that pink nonsense that was undeniably suited to him, though it was over much too quick. He sat on the couch and appraised the stacks with wary eyes as he waited for Duo to get home and rescue him from the swirling mass of negativity that had descended upon him.
It was almost another hour before Duo arrived, carrying the baby up in its car seat carrier. He immediately pressed a finger to his lips in the universal "shhh" gesture to indicate the baby was sleeping. Duo smiled at the stacks Heero had created and the already unpacked pack-n-play and Heero once again felt a bit more confident with Duo's approval.
Duo set the seat in the corner and grabbed a bottle and some formula, indicating Heero was to follow him to the kitchen. Quietly Duo instructed him on how to make a bottle and Heero watched with no uncertain amount of curiosity as to where Duo picked up this skill set.
"The baby will probably wake up soon," he whispered as he set the bottle to the side before wrapping his arms around Heero's waist and pressing his body up against him. "You looked so good holding her." His words were light and teasing but Heero tensed up none-the-less, his dark thoughts rapidly returning. Duo misinterpreted his anxiety and backed off, whacking him lightly on the head. "You can still be a sexy badass even if you look good holding a baby."
Heero scowled but didn't correct him. Instead his eyes edged over the bar to where he could see the baby move her little arms in her sleep. Duo turned to look too, giving Heero a sideways smile that Heero knew betrayed an inner upset.
"You know, she doesn't have a name yet." Heero figured as much, but he just nodded his head, knowing Duo had more to say on that subject. "'Fei didn't even know he was having a girl when he left. Sally doesn't want to name her without his input, you know? For fucks sake this is just like the war. Preventer should be better than that. I mean, Christ, we don't even know if 'Fei is still –"
Heero cut him off quickly with a cruel glare, unwilling to hear Duo utter words he had forced himself not to think ever since they got word of the impending cesarean. Duo glared back but it was only half-hearted.
"Just don't need any more orphans," he muttered dejectedly as he left the kitchen and walked back over to the baby, plopping down in front of her to watch her sleep. Heero made himself useful by taking stock of the kitchen and considering what he could make for the next few meals so that Duo wouldn't have to worry about it.
And then as Duo had predicted, Heero began to hear little squawks from the baby that he could guess were ramping up to a scream. He stared over at his partner, carefully removing the baby from the straps.
"Lay me down a blanket near the coffee table, wouldja?" Duo instructed and Heero obliged, taking one of the many blankets and laying it out. Heero watched with fascination as Duo unbuttoned the baby's clothing and changed the diaper in a few expert movements, wrapping the diaper up on itself in a neat little bundle.
"How many times have you done this?" Heero asked with genuine curiosity as Duo clasped the snaps back together.
Duo shrugged and blushed a little as he laid out another, lighter blanket, folding it into a triangle. "Pretty uncool, but when I was a kid I used to like to help Sister Helen with the nursery. The other boys harassed me about it, but I don't know, there was something kinda nice about helping those little babies. Sometimes I liked to think someone took care of me that way, once, and that made me feel good."
To Heero's surprise he had wrapped the baby into a tight bundle and despite her little whines, she wasn't full out screaming yet. He moved them both onto the couch and took the bottle Heero offered as he sat down next to him, completely enraptured by Duo's hidden skill set.
"You want some food, lil' girl 'Fei?" Duo cooed, rubbing the nipple of the bottle against the baby's bottom lip enticingly. Heero watched with fascination as the baby's mouth opened wide to accept the bottle and Duo grinned as she started to suck. At Duo's request, Heero retrieved a small towel-like cloth and rested it over his shoulder for after the baby was done eating. Duo was surprised she ate almost an entire four ounces of formula, although Heero didn't know the difference, and he burped her with expert skill.
"She's not much of a spitter," Duo observed happily and although Heero didn't know what that meant either, he was sure it was a positive thing. "Do you want to hold her while she's in a good mood with a full tummy?"
The nervousness that overcame Heero was embarrassing to him. Holding this baby wasn't any sort of consent to having one of their own but he couldn't help but fear that Duo was getting his hopes up. And now wasn't the time to have that conversation, so instead he just sucked it up and held out his arms.
But once the baby was resting comfortably, enfolded in his embrace, staring peacefully up at him and moving it's mouth ever so slightly, he felt a sort of peace he rarely experienced. Duo threw an arm across his neck and rested his head against his shoulder, brushing a finger gently across the baby's cheek.
"She looks a lot like him, doesn't she?" Duo observed but Heero couldn't really tell so he didn't say anything. He just stared at those brown eyes, wondering what the baby was thinking. Did she miss Sally? Did she know her father wasn't there? Did she think Heero and Duo were part of her family?
He was overcome with the feeling of guilt that he was holding Wufei's baby before he even knew it had been born. He knew his friend wouldn't be mad given the circumstances, but it didn't seem right. Wufei should be there. She should have a name. Heero wondered how long Sally would wait before giving up and naming her. Heero wondered if Duo was right about Wufei.
"I'll make dinner," Heero offered and Duo nodded but didn't move, not inclined to release Heero from his baby holding obligation.
"I think she's going to fall back asleep," Duo murmured. "I'm going to go put her bed in the office." He stood then and Heero watched as her eyes opened and closed and she yawned. He couldn't help but smile a little as he watched, finding himself hoping that he was comforting to her somehow.
And then Duo was back, taking her and rocking her gently as he walked back and forth across the apartment, talking to her so softly Heero couldn't even hear what he said. After about fifteen minutes he flashed Heero a triumphant smile and walked into their office to lay her down.
When he came back Duo flopped back on the couch next to Heero and grabbed his hand, squeezing it tight. Duo was always physical, but not usually the type to hold hands. Heero glanced up at his partner and studied him, trying to assess his emotional state – although admittedly he wasn't always very good at that.
"I'm worried," he finally breathed out then, saving Heero from having to guess at what was wrong. "Sally is really worried too. If... you know... well... We might really have to step it up, you know? We have to be there for her, for Wufei."
Heero nodded, apprehensive but knowing that Duo was right. Wufei would want to know his brothers in arms would watch over and protect his only child. But despite being a practical person who considered all angles, he found he didn't really want to think that way.
Duo went in to check on her about every fifteen minutes – which Heero found a tad excessive – as he made dinner and they ate in quiet despite the anxious thoughts in their own heads. Heero cleaned the kitchen and was just contemplating how much easier this baby-sitting thing was than he'd expected when seven o'clock hit and the baby woke with a startling scream.
They both bolted for the office instinctively, fearing something was wrong, but she was still wrapped up tight, safe and sound, just screaming bloody murder. Duo quickly gathered her in his arms and took her out to be changed while Heero decided to make himself useful and fix her a bottle.
The screaming didn't let up until she was eating greedily and then didn't stop even after she was burped. Duo rocked her and cuddled her and did everything Heero could possibly imagine there was to do to pacify a screaming baby but Duo just shrugged and told him "her tummy probably hurts." Heero was sure he'd never heard his partner use such a ridiculous word as tummy to describe the human anatomy but he let it slide because he couldn't exactly chastise him over the screaming.
Sure enough about thirty minutes after the screaming began, it stopped and was followed quickly by the sound of Duo's laughter. Heero, perplexed, wandered back out to the living room from his office escape.
"You're going to have to prepare us a bath," he explained when he saw Heero enter the room. He cocked an eyebrow but gathered up the whale tub anyway and brought it into the kitchen while Duo went to work disrobing the baby. He was chuckling while the baby made several complaints about the treatment.
"I don't know if this outfit can be saved," Duo announced from the other room as Heero filled the tub with lukewarm water. "But we can get her another one." And then, in an amused mutter that instantly clued Heero in to the problem as well as made him glad Duo was the one holding her when the incident occurred, "holy shit but I forgot how babies can shit."
But when Duo entered the kitchen with the baby and a small bottle of baby wash she had been cleaned up fairly well already. He requested a washcloth, which Heero gladly returned, and Duo showed him how to bathe a baby with the utmost care. Heero reflected that he'd never really seen Duo handle anything with that level of care. He was a rough and abrasive person by nature and treated most things as if they were unbreakable – it was part of what attracted Heero to him. But now, seeing this side of him... It was strangely but undeniably attractive and he wondered if that's what Duo meant when he said he looked good holding the baby. Because Duo did look good bathing that baby. And feeding it. And even just holding it, too.
Once the bath was over Duo took her to diaper and dress her and Heero cleaned up the bathing supplies. He felt pretty good about their level of teamwork so far. And when she was bundled up and yawning again, he thought maybe this whole baby thing wasn't really so bad. Duo clearly knew what he was doing, and Heero could learn. And they were only small like this for a short while, or so Relena would say when it seemed her patience was wearing thin. Maybe it wasn't impossible for two former terrorists to raise a child.
Eventually she fell back asleep and Duo laid her down in her bed. They settled in on the couch together as their typical weeknight routine dictated while Heero read and Duo played silly flight simulators on his tablet. But Heero was distracted by thoughts of what it might be like to be a parent full time and ended up re-reading the same chapter three times.
Duo checked on the baby around ten, who he reported was still sleeping soundly, before suggesting they make an early night of it because the baby could wake up at any moment and be awake indefinitely. Heero didn't really understand since she'd seemed to be such a good sleeper, and he wasn't really tired, but he followed Duo's lead to the bedroom anyway.
"You're doing really good with her," Duo told him softly once they made it under the covers. He lay on his side, one of his hands idly stroking Heero's chest. Heero felt he wasn't doing anywhere near as much as Duo, but he accepted the compliment anyway, turning over onto his side to meet his partner's gaze.
"You are remarkable," Heero finally struggled out. He always had a difficult time truly expressing his awe and appreciation for his partner because it was so personal to him. Duo seemed to understand and never asked it of him. But he really did find Duo remarkable. His ability to handle the baby, to know just what to do, how calm he was even when she was screaming, how loving and gentle he became when she was in his arms... it was a whole side of Duo he'd never really seen. His appreciation for Duo's intriguing complexity grew instantly.
Duo, forced into modesty over Heero's unusual praise, shrugged off the compliment. "Naw, I'm just doing what anyone else would do." But Heero would have none of that and he gripped the back of Duo's head and pulled him in to a searing kiss that turned into a full blown, hands on make-out session. Heero's fingers were just teasing the waistband of Duo's shorts when the baby reminded them of her presence with a poorly timed wail.
For his part, Duo chuckled, although Heero was not impressed. "Just like her daddy, always the worst timing," he joked and Heero fought back the memory Duo was alluding to. Wufei's sense of propriety lead him into unfortunate circumstances more often than not as he assumed everyone else shared his sensibilities. But that couldn't be further from the truth in Duo's case and Heero frequently found himself helplessly giving in to Duo's whims. And so Wufei thought nothing of their untimely disappearance at Catherine's wedding other than that they were trying to get out of yet another social obligation. Yet when Wufei went to drag them unwillingly back to the party, Heero had no words to defend his honor at being caught with his pants down – literally.
But then Duo was climbing out of bed and Heero forced himself out of bed as well to make a bottle while Duo changed her. When he went to hand Duo the bottle, however, strange determination gripped him and he found himself saying "here, let me" before he even knew what hit him. Duo blinked in surprise but offered a little smile as he instructed Heero to sit. Carefully he placed the baby in Heero's arms and showed him how to hold the bottle.
Once the she was happily eating, a certain sense of fulfillment overtook Heero in a way that astounded him. He never would've expected to feel that way. But she stared up at him as she ate, refusing to break eye contact, and Heero stared back and he felt like that baby trusted him in such a pure, honest way. Not because he was a Gundam pilot, some kind of savior, not because he was a lover or a friend, but because she actually, definitively needed him to survive, so helpless she couldn't even feed herself without him. The weight of that responsibility seemed overwhelming. He was only there to watch her for four days and he had Duo to help him. How was Sally supposed to do this alone for the rest of her life? She had to have Wufei to share that obligation.
"Do you want to try to burp her?" Duo asked carefully, clearly not wanting to infringe on Heero's experience, but Heero shook his head and handed her back and Duo accepted the task without objection. And then Duo held her and they watched her in the dim light as she chirped strange baby sounds and waved her little arms and an inner peace fell on Heero. At least for this moment, she was their responsibility, and they were doing right by her as best as they could.
Eventually she fell back asleep and Duo went to lay her down. But as soon as they got back into their own bed she was screaming again and Heero looked at Duo, the question clear in his face. Duo rubbed his eyes and shrugged as he dragged himself into a sitting position. "Sometimes babies just want to scream."
"What are you going to do?" Heero asked, sitting up as well, knowing Duo pulled a late night yesterday and had to be tired despite his relatively good-natured disposition.
"Hold her so she doesn't feel lonely."
"I can do that," Heero offered and stood as well. His offer wasn't without ulterior motive, however. He hoped that maybe he would impress Duo, show him that if he did want a baby, he would be able to share that responsibility.
"Are you sure...?" Duo asked nervously as Heero walked into the office, staring down at the screaming mass of limbs and reaching down to pick it up.
Heero pinned a bit of a glare on him for his doubt and pulled out a card he hated to use. "I piloted Wing Zero at fifteen and saved Earth from nuclear winter. I think I can handle one little baby for a few hours."
Duo chuckled and headed back to their room. "Well, you know where to find me if you need me!" Once the door shut, however, Heero stared down at the wailing creature and immediately regretted his decision to go it alone.
He ran through a mental checklist of possible baby ailments. She had just been fed and she wasn't wet. Her stomach might be upset but Heero couldn't help that. He found her pacifier but it wasn't doing much pacifying. So he thought back to everything Duo did that day and he found himself walking back and forth across the apartment, glaring at the baby. But then his expression softened as he remembered what Duo said about her feeling lonely. Heero certainly knew what it felt like to be alone. He was sure that if it weren't for Duo he would still be alone. He knew he wasn't a very good substitute for the warm, caring man he loved, but he figured if he was ever going to be a decent father, he had to try.
"I bet you miss Sally," he started awkwardly, bouncing the baby slightly in his arms as he walked. He felt extremely silly talking to a creature that couldn't understand him, but he forced himself on anyways, remembering how Duo talked softly to her as he walked her around. "I guess you would call her mom, though. I'm sure she misses you too."
Heero paused. He wasn't that good at starting conversations to begin with, let alone keeping up one-sided ones. That was definitely Duo's area of expertise.
"I think Wufei – your dad – will be home soon. He will be better at this than me." Heero scowled. It was somewhat difficult to imagine Wufei comforting a baby, but easier still to imagine that than it was to realize what he himself was actually doing at that moment.
"But if he's not, Duo will always be there for you. And so will I. And maybe you will have a cousin, if Duo wants. Maybe. It's hard for me to think that's a good idea," he confessed, feeling strangely better for finally saying it out loud, although the baby clearly didn't care as she kept up her wail. "I didn't have a very good father. And Duo didn't have one at all. I don't know how we could make good parents."
Heero realized suddenly what he was saying wasn't very comforting. "But don't worry, Wufei, your father, he will make a very good parent. When he found out Sally was pregnant, he held a big party and treated her like a queen. Nothing would make him happier than to see you right now, even if you were screaming just like this."
Totally beside himself, he found himself smiling. Duo was right, she did look a bit like Wufei when she was pitching a fit like this. "Duo calls you little girl 'Fei. I think he might be right. Maybe your name should be Faye. But then Duo wouldn't be able to call your father that any more. I think Wufei might like that."
Then Heero got the idea to hold her like he'd seen Relena hold her babies sometimes and he lifted her so that her stomach was lying against his bare abs, her ear resting against his heart.
"What do you think?" he asked her, looking down and attempting to put her pacifier back in again. "Do you like the name Faye?" She finally latched on and began to calm down. Heero carefully walked her around until she had completely quieted and then sat down with her in his arms, feeling accomplished.
And the next thing Heero knew, he was waking up with a start as she began squirming on his chest. He glanced blearily at the clock across the room and noted that it was nearly four in the morning. He was surprised he managed to fall asleep at all but something about holding the baby like that, it was... comforting.
Miraculously she didn't start crying. But she did start making a variety of baby noises the meaning of which Heero couldn't determine. He knew that Duo usually changed her once she woke up and he was just about to give it a try when Duo rescued him, flipping on a light and yawning as he walked out to assess the situation.
"Have you been out here with her for four hours?"
"She fell asleep on me," Heero confessed, suddenly worried he did the wrong thing. "I guess I must've fallen asleep too." But Duo's beaming smile put him at ease as he took her from him.
"So you can handle a little baby duty, huh?" Duo teased as he changed her.
"Yes," Heero shot back defensively and Duo stared at him, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"You never cared about babies before," Duo observed.
"You never wanted a baby before," Heero replied tersely and they stared at each other in various levels of shock and disbelief until she kicked her legs and then peed all over the clean diaper Duo had halfway on her. He laughed and that broke the spell, Heero getting up to make a bottle as Duo got yet another diaper to exchange the dirty one.
"You think I want a baby?" Duo asked incredulously as Heero returned, handing over the bottle with sudden embarrassment at his assumption.
"Don't you?" Heero questioned back, watching as Duo started to feed her. "You've been so excited about this one. More excited than any of the other babies, even Quatre and Relena's."
"Hell yeah, I'm excited! This is Wufei's baby. She's like my little niece. He lives fifteen minutes from us and I'll get to see her all the time. She's different than other babies. I can't really explain it." He looked up from under his bangs ruefully. "Plus, Wufei never had a crush on you."
"So you don't want a baby?" Heero unexpectedly couldn't tell if that was a relief or not.
"Fuck, I don't know 'Ro," Duo replied uneasily. "Do I have to decide that tonight? I sure don't want one in the next five years I'll tell you that. I love my job and our life and I love you. And yeah, maybe one day it would be cool to be a dad, but only if you're into it. I mean, Wufei has Sally, but you and I... we're both products of war. I'm not sure we'll ever be rehabilitated enough to have kids."
Heero felt guilty, selfish comfort that his own concerns were mimicked in his partner's sad words. He wasn't sure what to say when Duo pinned him with a meaningful look. "Do you want a baby?"
"No!" Heero replied quickly, then immediately backpedaled. "Maybe." He paused, realizing that didn't feel right either. "I don't think so. Not now."
"Same page?" Duo asked with a smile. It was a question that got a lot of use in their relationship.
"Same page," Heero confirmed, leaning down to press a firm kiss to Duo's lips.
"Why don't you go lay down and I'll be on baby duty for the next few hours, huh?"
Heero nodded and obeyed, wandering back and collapsing easily on the bed. But then in a strange way he kind of missed her. It was nice to know he could comfort her, that she didn't prejudice him at all. Even Duo had his own conceptions about him, who he was, what he was meant to be. She didn't. Faye just wanted someone to hold her and that was enough. Heero was just as good as anyone else.
When Heero awoke next it was to sunlight streaming through the blinds and the tiny baby sounds he'd not expected but became somewhat familiar with over the past sixteen hours nonetheless. He turned his head and noted the baby laying between his head and Duo's, Duo's nose nuzzled up against her cheek. Normally it might be pressed up against his own cheek but Heero felt no jealousy – just a soft moment of adoration for his partner and their tiny charge.
"Shhhh Faye," he murmured, slipping the pacifier back into her mouth, watching as her tiny mouth sucked it and went slack for another few minutes which Heero took advantage of in the best way possible – letting all his fears for the future go and just basking in the gentle moment. In a way he wanted to laugh. Once upon a time he thought he had no future. To think he'd spend so much time worrying about it now...
Duo's eyelashes fluttered and Heero desperately wanted to kiss him, thank him in some paltry way for the future he'd offered him from the moment they met. He knew he could never truly express the full extent of his gratitude.
A wide, unfettered smile spread across Duo's face when his eyes opened and he saw both the baby and Heero in bed with him.
"This is nice," he mumbled with a yawn.
"Yeah," Heero agreed, earning him his own special smile. He picked the baby up then and held her close, admiring her.
"I see how it is," Duo teased. "You can hold her while I get ready and make her bottle and then we'll switch."
Heero watched his partner for a moment as he got up and headed for the bathroom but then his attention turned to the baby and he rocked her gently back and forth as she stared up at him, fixated. It was only a few minutes before Duo was back with a bottle and diaper in hand but Heero could tell she was just about to ramp up to a cry.
"Don't worry, Duo's back with food little Faye," he murmured and Duo took the baby and set her on the bed to change her, eliciting out right screams in her impatience.
Duo just chuckled. "I've never heard you call Wufei 'Fei before until just – oh my god." He looked up with a serious expression on his face, a frown planted there, totally ignoring the screams. "You didn't."
Heero quickly tried to cover his slip by staring at the baby and away from Duo's penetrating gaze. "You don't want her to urinate on our bed."
Duo's scowl deepened as he turned back and finished changing her. "You can't name other people's babies, Heero."
Heero tried not to blush and so he stood instead, hoping to create some distance and put a few doors between himself in Duo in a matter of moments.
"I didn't name her," Heero explained shortly. "You called her little girl 'Fei and I just requisitioned that title and altered if for my own purposes."
He heard Duo snort as he shut the door to the bathroom, knowing he would hear about it when he got out. But by the time he was finished, Duo and the baby known only to Heero as Faye were dozing in bed together, his partner sitting up against a stack of pillows with her cradled safely against his chest.
Heero decided to be proactive and went to the kitchen to make some pancakes before waking Duo and he noted on the calendar how the date was circled in pink highlighter with the words "BABY" written in all caps, overflowing the little box. Heero remembered the first thing Duo did when they got the silly Preventer issued calendar at the end of the year last year was flip way ahead and mark Sally's due date.
But the day was here and Faye was already two weeks old. He wondered what Wufei was thinking, what he was doing. It was his wife's due date, he must've been scared, anxious, worried, upset. Heero wished there was some way he could contact him and he began thinking of the most efficient way to hack into Preventer's systems to find his method of contact on his undercover as he poured diligent, perfectly round pancakes.
When they were completed Heero reentered the bedroom and brushed his hand over Duo's forehead, startling him slightly but Heero placed a finger over his lips and Duo looked down at the bundle in his arms and smiled.
He managed to get the baby back in her temporary crib in the office without her waking up and he followed Heero back into the kitchen, grinning at the spread before him.
"Pancakes aren't an appropriate apology for naming Wufei's baby," he warned him but the teasing glint in his eye let Heero know he wasn't really angry.
"I wasn't going to tell him," Heero muttered as he poured himself a cup of coffee, joining Duo at the bar.
"Good idea," Duo offered as he chewed through a huge mouthful. Heero just cut through his with a few precise movements and didn't answer.
Just before they had finished they heard her fuss in the other room and Duo shoved the last few pieces in his mouth all at once, flashed Heero a huge grin with his cheeks stuffed, and threw his hands up in a helpless shrug, indicating there was nothing he could about the fact that he wasn't going to be helping clean up the dishes. Heero just rolled his eyes and shooed him into the other room with his hands – but Duo didn't need to be told as he bounded into the office.
But no sooner had he set the plates in the sink to be rinsed then he heard an urgent knock at the door. He glanced at the clock and noted that it wasn't even ten yet, and on a weekday? It seemed unlikely. The knocking continued and Duo yelled at him from the office asking if he was going to get it and Heero growled under his breath, irritated with Duo's civilian lack of caution. He grabbed his 35 from the end table, flipped off the safety, and shoved it down the back of his pants for easy retrieval if he needed it.
Right as the knocking started again he swung the door open and was met with Wufei's haggard, terse, and incredibly pained face. Immediately he reached out and gripped Heero's shirt in his fingers, dragging them together, and their eyes locked, Wufei's dark brown orbs anxious and pleading.
"Where is my daughter?" he asked, his voice nothing more than a frantic whisper.
Just as he uttered the words, Duo walked in on the scene, his voice lilting a calm "who is it?" before stopping abruptly as he saw Wufei standing in the doorway. Both Wufei and Heero's eyes turned to Duo, holding the quiet but squirming baby carefully in his arms and everything was absolutely still for a moment.
Then a strangled cry escaped Wufei's lips as he lurched forward, releasing Heero and moving with leaded desperation and he stared at the baby in Duo's arms for the briefest of moments before he wrapped his own arms around both of them, buried his head in Duo's chest, and sobbed.
Duo shot a 'what the fuck am I supposed to do about this?!' look at Heero and Heero stared back with the same wide-eyed 'don't fucking ask me!' look back. Wufei was always a passionate person, but neither one of them had ever seen him cry let alone have a complete break down – no matter how warranted.
"'Fei," Duo spoke softly as Heero walked over and rested a hand on his friend's back.
"'Fei," Duo repeated, a bit more firmly so that he could be heard over his crying. "You're here now, it's okay, everything's going to be okay."
Wufei began to quiet and sniffle and Heero gripped his shoulder and pulled him upright, leading him to the couch where he sat him down. Duo followed and sat down next to him, giving him a warm smile.
"She is a gorgeous little girl, 'Fei. Here," Duo offered the baby, placing her into her father's waiting arms.
Tears began falling quickly down Wufei's face again as he gazed lovingly at the life form he helped create and he sucked in deep breaths to try to calm himself. Duo had wrapped an arm around his shoulders in a supportive hug and Heero had never seen Wufei so absolutely enraptured as he was when he stared at that little girl.
"She's my baby." His voice trembled and tears dripped down his chin. "She's my baby."
"That's right," Duo agreed softly, squeezing Wufei tightly for a moment. "She's your baby. You're a daddy now."
Wufei bit down another sob at hearing the word daddy and he shook his head, quivering fingers tracing down her cheek, across her chin, through the faint black hair on her head.
"They told me Sally was at the hospital and I thought she was in labor," Wufei said at last, fighting to keep his voice smooth and gain control over his wayward emotions. "I thought I could be here in time, I made an agreement with my contact to be home this week, but when I went to the hospital, she wasn't at L&D."
"Did you see her?" Duo asked carefully.
Wufei nodded. "I did. I found out she was admitted to emergency and I... I panicked. I thought – I though she had –" Duo cut him off by wrapping him into a full hug and Wufei buried his head into the crook of Duo's neck, a fresh wave of tears overtaking him.
"Everything is going to be fine. You're here now, that's all that matters," Duo murmured softly in his ear and withdrew cautiously as Wufei lifted the back of his hand to his face and rubbed his eyes with it.
He looked at Duo for a moment and smiled weakly. And then his eyes met Heero's and his brows furrowed like he might start crying again but he didn't. Instead, he just whispered a fierce "thank you" before his eyes fell downwards to his daughter once more. Heero clasped a supportive hand on his shoulder, watching as the child smiled up at Wufei, nestled in his arms, almost as if she knew her daddy was finally home.
He might never be convinced that he and Duo would make good parents, but he knew without a doubt that Wufei would be an exceptional father.