A pin could have dropped in that small hospital room and sounded more like an earthquake than anything else. All eyes had turned to the brunette who was sitting on the edge of the small cot, she looked as though she'd stopped breathing. No one knew what to say.

Finally the redheaded woman standing in the corner of the room spoke first, voice tight with concern, voice barely a whisper, "Murrue...?"

No answer.

Erica didn't want the brunette out of her sight for even a spare second, but she looked over at the amethyst-eyed boy who had been called earlier due to the emergency of the meeting. He looked as shocked as the first brunette did, his normally forced stone eyes wide with surprise. Almost magnetically her gaze was drawn back to Murrue.

If the others were shocked, it was nothing compared to how the marigold eyed woman was feeling. She was silent, something strange to the others, they expected a loud denial, a crazed emotional outburst, but there was nothing but an odd silence. Finally, she spoke, voice low, barely a whisper, "Please... I need to be alone for a few minutes."

There was another long tense silence, no one moved. The doctor had already left, it was just the woman and the younger boy, neither seemed certain. The boy left first, not speaking to the brunette woman, though his worried gaze never left her as he walked out.

Erica was another matter, she didn't seem to want to leave, her eyes focussed hard on the brunette who was avoiding her gaze. She said firmly, glancing at the door for a moment, "I'll be right outside. Don't you dare hesitate to yell if you need me."

"I know." The reply was tired, as though she'd aged twenty years in the past two minutes. Erica slowly left, the door closed behind her with a muffled thud that echoed in the deathly silence.

The silence was deafening, and what was the most strange thing was the lack of serious emotion. She felt shock, yes, but at the same time, she really had no idea how to react properly to the news. She was confused at her own lack of reaction, it puzzled her to no end how she could just sit there motionless. 'Part of me wants to cry, cry so hard my throat will hurt. Part of me is so happy I could just burst into song or something. And shock... I'm so so shocked...'

Her hands found her soft flat stomach, wondering how long it would take before it would harden and swell. 'I wonder if the baby will look like him...' She felt the sting of tears burning in her throat, coupled with the odd want to smile. 'Funny I only found out because I haven't been eating and passed out at work, Erica was furious... I might have never known until it was so blatantly obvious only an idiot wouldn't have seen... How could I not have noticed?'

She looked down at her stomach, mind buzzing with thoughts. 'Mu... What have you left me to deal with you bastard?' The odd smile was back, more slightly amused than really hurt. 'A permanent reminder of you, I can so picture you laughing wherever you are... You're so lucky you're already dead or I'd have killed you myself. And Erica... Oh Erica would have shot you...'

She wondered how it was possible to smile and cry at the same time, but it was happening. The cold tears had begun to trickle down her face, but the smile still remained, almost frozen in place. 'Erica's ticked... Though she never said anything... She'll never forgive you... She doesn't need to say anything else for me to know this either, but she'll be there for me through everything...'

Her shoulders shook slightly and she bent over a bit, and the sobs began to come. With a shaky breath she called out for her friend, who was inside and hugging her in less then ten seconds. Whimpering as the sobs shook her entire body she whispered, "I'm so scared Erica."

"You don't need to be scared." Erica told her soothingly, stroking her back in soft soothing motions, voice low and gentle as she held her tight. "We're all here for you. You're not alone, you'll never be alone." Smiling very weakly she told her sweetly, "That little one is going to be so spoiled you're not going to know what to do with them."

Despite the tears, despite the worry, she laughed at the comment, knowing Erica was right. "There's going to quite a few people wanting to kidnap them, huh?"

"Of course, you're gonna need bodyguards." Erica told her with a warm smile, straightening her a bit, bracing her by wrapping her arm firmly around the woman's shoulders. "I heard Athrun was available." The comment did the trick, Murrue tearfully smiled. Erica got a little maternal herself, gently brushing her friend's tears away, commenting quietly, "Everything's going to be alright sweetie. We're all here for you."

"I'm going to get very annoyed at the never-ending company, aren't I?" Murrue asked sarcastically, though she didn't have the heart to keep the real facade up, she knew her friends were going to try their best for her.

"Sweetie," Erica told her cheerfully, playfully ruffling her hair in a very sisterly gesture, "we are not going to leave you alone." She was happy to see that her weak jokes and smiles were working, the tears were gone and she was smiling, however weakly. "Are you okay?"

"Better... Still very surprised though..." Murrue replied quietly, running her hand wearily through her hair, she still couldn't muster the strength to speak strongly. "I'm suddenly very exhausted."

"Well you need to start eating right, missy." Erica told her in a very matter-of-fact tone that made Murrue realize she was a full-time mother and a boss, she meant business. "And you're not living alone for a decent while, you do understand that right? You can move in with me if you have to."

"Wait, wait, wait! You have a family of your own, I'm not going to intrude on that!" Murrue argued immediately, not wanting to put any stress at all on her redheaded friend. "If I have to move out," Making sure to put a very strong emphasis on the words before continuing, "I'll move in with Kira and Lacus, at least there I could help take care of the orphans and such, so I wouldn't be causing too much of an interruption."

"You wouldn't be an interruption." Erica told her in a gently scolding voice, ruffling her hair once more as they sat together. "Besides... You can't be living alone in your condition, what happens if you start to go into labour and can't get to the phone? Or god forbid, something worse happens to you? You'll be moving in with somebody. If not now, before you reach five months, I want to know that somebody's keeping a vigilant eye on you if I can't do it myself."

"You sound like my mother." Murrue murmured under her breath, agreeing mentally, if incredibly grudgingly, with what Erica was saying. She was a bit taken off guard by the fierce surge of maternal protection for the unborn child growing inside of her when she thought of what could happen. 'So sudden, so fierce... Amazing...'

"You best get used to it, you'll be talking like me soon enough." Erica teased gently, once again ruffling her hair, her arm never leaving Murrue's shoulders, still giving her that support. "Just you wait," She had turned her voice to her friends stomach, addressing the unborn boy or girl, "you're going to have one hell of a mom. And you'll be able to walk all over her."

"We'll see about that." Murrue replied with feigned offence, but her smile and the new tender light in her eyes gave her away in a heartbeat. 'Erica's probably right little one...' She thought with a growing smile, hands still settled gently on her stomach, warm with love for her unborn child, 'You will be able to walk all over me, just like your father before you... And I hope with all my heart you'll be just like him... Though I can already just tell that you will be.'


Time passed remarkably fast, before she knew it she had moved in with both Kira and Lacus, the two seemed so incredibly happy to have her there. Despite her protests the entire way to pay for room, the two wouldn't hear of it. Lacus had cheerfully told her that the only payment they wanted to receive was a bit of help with the orphans, something Murrue was glad to do.

She was still quite embarrassed by the happy show they had made for her, the kids had just suddenly fallen in love with her, which was both flattering and quite alarming. And Kira seemed to think that was all very amusing. Despite not being all to pay rent, she spent her time teaching Lacus how to bake and cook, in her own way to help pay back what she felt was owed.

She was rather enjoying spending so much time with the young ones, they really did grow on her quickly. Her things were moved into a far room in the mansion, closed off but still in the centre of chaos anyway, and somehow she felt more and more at home with each passing day.

She had no idea how time had flown so quickly, seven months had passed already. It was one of those beautiful days in the middle of the year, the sun was burning down on the beach, making the warm atmosphere seem even more homey to her.

Stretching out as best she could she arranged herself idly on the stairs, watching the orphans play on the coast. She peeked over her shoulder, spotting Erica standing in the doorway, serene smile on her face. She had shown up a few hours earlier, saying pleasantly all she wanted was to hang out.

Wincing a little at the pain in her back, she reached behind her to place her hand there. 'Ow... I'm really sore today...'

"Hey, you feeling okay? You look stiff." Erica commented, leaning in a little to examine her friend's pained expression. "Back hurt or something?"

"Yeah actually..." Murrue replied stiffly, wincing when a sharp ringing pain from her stomach suddenly made her gasp. "Oh!"

"Murrue?" Erica quickly was kneeling at her side, seeing the shock of the sudden pain race across her friend's face. Her own eyes narrowed a little in suspicion and she said quietly, "Murrue, did you just have a contraction?"

Murrue looked up in complete shock, eyes widening as the gravity of her friend's words hit her like a ton of bricks. "Con-contractions? No, I can't, I'm only seven months!"

"Murrue, it can happen." Erica told her soothingly, watching as another spasm rocked her friend's slim form mightily. She waited until it happened again a few minutes later and said firmly, "It's contractions. You need to get to the hospital."

"Erica, I can't!" Murrue protested, eyes wide with fear, hands gripping her stomach as if she could stop the labour herself. "I'm two months early! I can't be in labour yet!"

"Sweetie, it happens. You and your baby will be fine, but you need to get to the hospital." Erica told her firmly, gently taking the frightened brunette's hand in her own. "I swear to you, you'll be okay. C'mon."

The drive seemed to take forever, Erica was cursing the traffic with every breath she had that wasn't being used to comfort and calm the nervous woman in the front seat beside her. They bounded into the hospital and it only took a few more minutes before they were all ready for the delivery, and by then the contractions had grown worse.

Erica didn't leave Murrue's side for a moment, letting her clutch her hand as tightly as she needed, not minding the pain her vice-like grip caused. She murmured soft words of encouragement as she watched Murrue grit her teeth, hissing curses. "You can do it Murrue... Keep pushing, you'll be fine..."

"Ah god dammit!" Murrue cried out, closing her eyes and straining as another contraction hit, the pain bringing tears to her eyes. She swore she could hear his voice there too, whispering soft words of encouragement. Mentally she sobbed, the pain was overwhelming. 'I don't think I can do this!'

"You can do it." His voice whispered into her ear, and she could feel his hand caressing her hair away from her face. "You know you can. You're the strongest woman I know, you can definitely do this. Now just a bit harder!"

"Fuck it all Mu!" Murrue cried out again, closing her eyes and straining with all her might, swearing to the gods she wouldn't give up. "God damn!"

"One more!"

"Ahh!"

The shrill wail of the boy's cut through the sudden silence, and Murrue groaned massively, sinking into the cot almost as if she had fainted. Erica laughed weakly, watching the doctor whisk the newborn away to clean, and she gently began to wipe the perspiration from Murrue's forehead. "You did it sweetheart... He's a beautiful baby boy."

"Is he... Okay...?" Murrue asked weakly, opening her eyes a little to search for her child. His soft crying assured her he was most definitely okay, and she nearly sighed in relief. "Thank the gods..."

Erica got to her feet to sake the child for the terribly weakened brunette, gently peeling back the blue blanket he was swaddled in to reveal his face. Already he had a cap of blond wispy hair, and when he opened his eyes they were a brilliant emerald she hadn't expected to see. Holding the baby close she said softly to Murrue, "Oh... He's beautiful..."

"Here." Murrue forced herself up into a sitting position, reaching to take her son. Erica quickly relinquished him to her, stepping back to watch Murrue's face light up with a new maternal joy. She smiled, and snuck a glance at the ceiling. She said softly, quietly enough so no one would hear, "You have a son La Flaga... I'll watch out for them both for you."

Murrue cradled the newborn close to her heart, humming a soft lullaby she had learned from her mother when she was just young. Pressing a soft kiss to her son's forehead she whispered gently, "I love you little one... And I was right, you do look just like your father..."

"I don't remember La Flaga having green eyes, that was a bit of a shocker." Erica couldn't help but comment, and Murrue shot her a wry smile. Sitting down next to the new mother she added gently, "Not from your side of the family, huh?"

"No one I knew had green eyes." Murrue remarked, gazing down at her son, who was watching the surroundings with those wide emerald eyes of his. He was waving his chubby arms around, as if he wanted to escape and explore. She held him closer and said softly, "It must be from his side... But regardless, he's a handsome boy... You'll be quite the catch when you're older, just like your father."

"Just what the world needs, another La Flaga running around and causing heartsickness among the innocent young ladies." Erica teased, leaning over to see the boy staring intently at her, not with fear but confusion, he was still looking around. Laughing she couldn't help herself and cooed to him, "Are you going to be the next heartbreak kid? Huh? We best get the future parents to lock up their girls."

Murrue giggled, holding her son close, and he opened his mouth as if agreeing with Erica which only caused both women to start laughing. Nuzzling him gently she murmured, "You'll have your father's charm, that's for sure, I can see it already. I best keep you on a leash."

"What's his name?" Erica asked quizzically, tilting her head to the side as she watched Murrue make a quiet fuss over her little boy. "Did you pick one out yet?"

"Bryan." Murrue answered almost immediately and definitely, her marigold eyes never leaving her newborn son's face. "Bryan Alexander La Flaga."

"La Flaga?" Erica looked slightly caught off guard by that, and it took a few moments before her expression softened into gentle and fond exasperation. She once again couldn't help herself and said teasingly, "When time comes for you to pick out your alias you better not pick 'La Flaga' as your surname, that'll definitely raise some eyebrows."

"Oh quiet." Murrue hushed her friend, noticing her son yawning and cuddling closer to her for warmth and she clutched him tightly, never wanting to let him go. She heard her lover's laughter in her ears and thought with a tender smile, 'Look at your son Mu. Your son.'

"Our son Murrue." He corrected her with a gentle chuckle, his loving tone ringing pleasantly in her ears. "Our son."

AN

Lol, the first chapter (prologue I suppose) of my new AU(ish)-type fic, lol. How was it? Good, bad, horrible? Lol, plz give me your thoughts n I'll think about continuing it, lmao. Thanks for reading anyway, cya next update!

Sky