The green hero watched in awe as his fiancé breast fed his son. His eyes were glazed over and he was still recalling the last few months they had spent together. He reluctantly tore his eyes away from the pale beauty and the small green skinned child that was comfortably nestled in her arms. He silently strode over to the window and slowly drew back the curtains. He shivered at the sight of the snow covered bay and suburban area that was visible from their room.
Changeling suddenly felt very cold standing there in nothing but his pyjama pants as he wrestled with the thought of crawling back into bed to find warmth with the mother of his child. Without realising his gaze had returned to her subtle smile as she looked upon her son, that boy was so special to them and had brought them together like nothing else could and he marvelled at the way that a child who had not even gained the ability to speak yet was able to bring her out of her shell more than he ever could. He acknowledged that she had proven in the past that her maternal instincts were not something to be trifled with, all the evidence for that could be found in the time she risked her life to save Melvin, Timmy and Teether who weren't even her real children.
"Rae I'm going to go make some breakfast, feel like anything in particular?" The green man asked in attempt to break his own revelry.
"Pancakes would be pretty nice." Raven replied sweetly. Most people could never imagine Raven without her monotone but these days that was merely an act, when left alone with just her fiancé and/or her son the emotionless way in which she usually spoke was all but forgotten.
"Anything for you." Hunter responded as he leant down and kissed her lovingly. Before he left he leant over and kissed his son on his forehead and stroked his hand over the thick purple locks that had started to grow from his scalp.
Raven watched as the man she loved and the father of her child walked from the room still clad in nothing but his pyjama bottoms. She shivered in recognition of how cold it truly was. Raven liked the cold, she enjoyed being able to dress in her more comfortable clothing and had done for as long as she could but now she liked the cold for a much different reason.
Her fiancé had the strange ability to regulate his own body temperature. He could never cool it down below what was average for most humans but was able to make himself warmer so that he was almost like her own personal portable heater.
Raven attempted to stifle a laugh at the thought.
Whenever it was cold she found herself even more drawn to his embrace than she usually was, and she spent most of her time wrapped in his green arms anyway.
Raven broke from her thoughts as she felt her son detach himself from her left nipple and begin giggling once again.
"Always smiling." She affectionately said to the small green skinned child. "You really are your father's son."
Raven placed Jax safely on his back in the centre of the bed as she rose to get herself dressed. As she moved towards her bathroom she caught sight of herself in her full length mirror by the bathroom door, she smiled as she remembered something her green man had said a few days ago. 'Holy shit Rae, you can't even tell you were pregnant!'
The comment meant more to her than she thought he realised, she couldn't deny that he was right. Five months ago her stomach had been large enough to hold an entire small African village within it but now, after rigorous exercise and plenty of vigorous sex, her body had pretty much returned to exactly how it was before, the only slight difference were her still swollen breasts but her fiancé wasn't complaining.
After she had given birth to Jax her body had entered a healing trance that healed almost all the damage that her pregnancy had left; her stretch marks were completely gone and even the damage to her nether regions had been repaired, much to her own delight.
Raven silently entered the bathroom to relieve herself. Once done she emerged from the on suite bathroom dressed in her comfortable grey tracksuit pants and black tank top. Raven was on maternity leave from the Titans but still lived in the Titans tower with them. She collected her still smiling son and carried him in her arms as she made her own way to the kitchen/common room.
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After Hunter had left his bedroom he made his way up to the common room that was a few floors above where his and Ravens room was. He sauntered into the room where he was assaulted by smell of Cyborgs breakfast.
"Yo H-man you want in on my breakfast?" The tin man called to his best friend. The shape shifter had given up on being vegetarian shortly after he started dating Raven, his motives were that he wanted to learn to cook for her and he couldn't do that if he refused to taste test what he made for her. That being the case he still attempted to avoid meat if he could.
"Nah thanks Cy." The green man replied cheerfully. "I'm just gonna make me and Rae some pancakes."
Cyborg shrugged his shoulders in response.
Hunter made his way to the kitchen but cast a glance over to his disgruntled and dishevelled leader who looked like he had spent yet another night on the couch.
"Still in the dog house?" Hunter asked as he began pulling ingredients from the cabinets in the kitchen.
Robin grunted from his seat at the kitchen table before responding. "I think it's getting worse." The traffic light looking leader responded before burying his face in his hands.
Hunter had to try very hard not to laugh at his leader's misfortune.
It had taken almost three months for Robin to apologise to Raven. It that time everything had seemingly begun to spiral out of the spikey haired man's control. Two weeks after the fight Cyborg had joined Hunter and Raven in their 'leave of absence' after Robin had tried pinning the blame on the metal man. Cyborg spent almost three weeks living in the Titans East Tower before returning but still refusing to talk to Robin until he too got an apology, he still went on missions though. Truth be told, the only reason he did return was because the happy couple had told him in confidence about their new relationship and their incoming child together.
Despite all this Hunter had still not completely forgiven the masked man and doubted that he ever would. He still held his promise to his heart; if he ever made her cry again Robin may not live long enough to regret it.
"She's always been obsessed with children but now that you two have one it's gotten even worse." Robin stated. "I keep telling her we're too young and should be married first but then she brings up the fact that you two are actually younger than us and that you're not married yet."
"That's a tough one dude." Cyborg interjected between mouthfuls.
"I don't know how you two make everything look so easy." Robin added, looking towards Hunter for the first time since he entered the room.
The green man continued to mix the pancake batter in the mixing bowl he was using before he begun to think. What could he say to Robin? He knew why he and Raven did so well but how could he say it without setting the little runt on one of his war paths?
The reason he and Raven were doing so well was because they were both ridiculously in love with each other to a point he doubted anyone else could even fathom it.
"Well I guess you could tell her that we're different to everybody else." The shape shifter began. Robin was now listening intently and even Cyborg had become interested in the conversation as well. "You've gotta keep in mind that neither Raven nor I are actually fully human. I'm more than half animal and because of that most of my emotions mix with my instincts to persuade what I do. My love for Raven combined with my mating instincts and my inherit need to protect my family, through in the fact that she returns my love for her, just makes everything easier. Also she has the strongest maternal instincts of anyone I know, even the strongest female predators of the animal kingdom would run for cover before they went anywhere near our son."
"That was sweet of you Gar."
Hunter turned around to see the very woman he was talking about enter the common room with Jax in her arms.
"I meant every word." The shape shifter replied before kissing her lovingly. Hunter returned to his job at hand and began pouring the mixture into the frying pan and continuing to make their breakfast. The changeling kept mulling over what he had said about Raven. It was all true, if her maternal instincts had a manifestation like all of his did, the Beast, then together they could stop the world from spinning if they so wished.
How no one noticed she was pregnant until they told them was beyond him. After their first night together Raven had begun gliding around the tower seemingly in an unending state of happiness, although she did avoid Robin and Starfire like they had the plague. At first the green man thought it was all because of him but he soon noticed that she would almost constantly subconsciously rub her flat stomach with her left hand whenever she was doing something that didn't require her full attention.
How did she know before he did? He had all of the instincts of the animal kingdom and had senses that were rivalled by almost nothing else. He should have picked up the pheromone change with his nose long before she could have known. He should have been able to hear the developing foetus as well. He could only chock it up to her unrivalled maternal instincts that seemed to be leaps and bounds ahead of his own paternal instincts but to be fair he had spent most of his life listening to his predator based instincts. Still it confused him, there was no way her empathy abilities could have been able to detect anything until she was at least a few months pregnant. Right?
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(A little under 14 months earlier)
Cyborg had left the tower two days earlier after a tremendous argument with Robin about who was to blame for Raven and Beast Boy being on leave. The two offending heroes were out on patrol somewhere in the city but Beast Boy couldn't have given a shit where they were.
Robin and Starfire had been avoiding the tower as much as they could; spending all day on patrol and then slinking back into their bedroom as it got dark.
Essentially Raven and Beast Boy had the tower all to themselves which allowed them to get as… 'naughty' as they pleased pretty much whenever they pleased. The two were lying on the couch in the common room snuggling comfortably after what was one of their most exciting and tiring private moments. Beast Boy pulled the mysterious girl closer to him as he held her tight in his arms. He nuzzled his nose deep within her hair and inhaled deeply to catch a whiff of her scent which he loved so much.
"Huh?" Something was different.
"What is it?" Raven asked as she pushed herself closer to her green lover.
"Just hold still a second babe." Beast Boy said quietly. Raven rolled her eyes at the word 'babe' but found herself being brought back to the moment as she felt the green man push his nose back into her hair and breathe deeply.
Raven turned her head to look at her green beau. His face was one of deep concentration that confused the empath for a moment. Slowly his face began to grow a very sincere but awestruck smile across it. "Holy shit…" He breathed.
Raven could feel the joy and happiness rolling off of him using her empathic abilities but really she didn't need to, the look in his eyes could have told her that. "What is it?" She asked curiously.
"You're pheromones have changed." Beast Boy said as he looked her in the eyes, the face he pulled almost seemed to say that that explanation explained everything.
"Is that a good thing?" Raven asked with a blush, suddenly feeling rather self-conscious.
"Oh yeah…" The shape shifter responded before lunging forward and kissing the demoness fiercely. Reluctantly Raven finally pulled away.
"As much as I enjoy making out with you, I wouldn't mind knowing why that's a good thing?" She intoned playfully.
The smile on the green man's face grew wider as his eyes seemed to dance as they sparkled. "Rae…" The green man whispered before trying to pull himself together. "You're pregnant."
Raven laughed a bit. "I already knew that."
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Almost three weeks later Beast Boy and Raven stood in front of a computer monitor in the common room frantically trying to figure out what was going on. They still had yet to even see Robin or Starfire since the fight and as such Cyborg still hadn't returned.
On the computer screen before them Bumble Bee was dancing around and screaming like she had just won the lottery and been made queen of the universe. Aqualad and Speedy were staring dumbstruck towards the camera completely motionless whilst Mas y Menos were desperately trying to reboot Cyborg.
"Pregnant…" Cyborg breathed as he slowly began to operate again. "Pregnant." He repeated. "PREGNANT!" He bellowed angrily at the screen, his face now full of fury. "Grass stain when I get back there I'm going to wring your fucking neck you horny little shit!"
Beast Boy gulped audibly and blanched at the sight of his enraged friend.
"Cyborg calm down." Raven stated, a small smile gracing her lips. "We planned this."
Cyborg almost shut down again. Aqualad had paled to an exceedingly unnatural colour. Speedy was trying desperately to come to terms with what was going on and you could almost see the gears in his head struggling to turn. Mas Y Menos were smiling widely at the news whilst Bumble Bee was now crying with happiness.
"You actually planned this?" Speedy asked, still obviously confused by the whole thing.
"Correct." Raven answered, almost happily.
Silence.
"Well alright then!" Cyborg bellowed yet again, but this time his voice dripped with pride as he struck a victory pose. "I knew my little buddy had it in him!" He yelled, obviously referring to Beast Boy. "And if it makes my little sister happy then… then… BOOYAH!"
Beast Boy laughed merrily as he placed his arm around Raven who moved into the embrace. Beast Boy turned to the screen again. "Hey Cy I know you have a reason for not being here at the moment… and it's a damn good one but…" Beast Boy trailed off.
"Cyborg we really need your help. We don't know if we can face Robin and Starfire without you, yet alone make the Tower ready for a baby." Raven added on her boyfriend's behalf.
"Why the hell are you guys asking?" Cyborg squealed. "Slade himself couldn't keep me a way a second longer! I'll be there in a few hours!"
"We could be there in an hour if we took our T-ship." Bumble Bee interjected. "Plus I want to go congratulate the two and be there when they tell bird brain!"
"Mas Y Menos prepare the T-ship for launch." Cyborg said to the young tornado twins.
"Mas Y Menos si podemos!" The twins shouted before speeding off towards the hanger.
"I still don't get it…" Speedy said as he continued to rub the back of his head.
"Man all that hair gel is seeping into ya brain!" Bumble Bee chided before grabbing the confused red headed Titan and buzzing off towards the hanger whilst Cyborg grabbed the Atlantean who was still standing stock still and was white as a sheet and ran after the other Titans towards the hanger.
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(Present Day)
Hunter placed the steaming pile of pancakes onto the kitchen table between himself and Raven, Jax was bouncing around happily on Cyborgs lap who had since finished his breakfast and was now playing happily with his godson.
Hunter noticed Raven lick her lips before she began eating, she did it in anticipation of her food and she couldn't have known how much that simple motion could turn on the green man… on second thoughts considering how she seemed to know everything about the green hero it was a safe bet that she did it on purpose.
The shape shifter looked away from her quickly in attempt to rein his thoughts in. He looked over to his metallic best friend. There was a reason the couple had chosen Cyborg as Jax's godfather and why they used his real name as the babies middle name. The metal man had done so much for them over the years and they could think of no better protector for their child if anything ever happened to them. He had proven time and time again that he would do anything for the couple and their son, even before Jax was born.
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(Past: Just as Cyborg and Titans East had arrived)
"Come here girl!" Bumble Bee squealed as she dashed into the common room and flew directly towards the blushing empath and then enveloping her in a huge hug.
Beast Boy didn't stand a chance. Cyborg was squeezing the life out of him as he cried about how wonderful it was and repeatedly reminding them that he'd be there for them.
"Thanks Cy…" Beast Boy groaned as he tried pulling himself from the metal man's constricting embrace.
"I still don't get it." Speedy interjected as he stood before them, still scratching the back of his head. "You're pregnant?" The archer asked whilst gesturing towards Raven. "And you're the father?" He added pointing towards Beast Boy.
"Es un genio!" Mas Y Menos shouted in unison. (Spanish: He's a genius!)
The common room doors were suddenly thrown wide open as Robin and Starfire dashed inside.
"We saw the T-ship, what's the emergency?" The traffic light clad man barked his orders.
"This is going to be good." Bumble Bee intoned quietly to herself.
"Nothing to worry about, everything is great!" Cyborg responded, but still refused to look in the direction of the two offending heroes.
"So why are we gathering?" Starfire asked.
"We're celebrating!" Bumble Bee shouted, she nudged the still confused archer beside her who had begun mumbling incoherently to himself.
"Yeah… celebrating… woo." The archer added.
"Speedy can't you be happy?" Bumble Bee asked getting frustrated with the red headed man.
"Still trying to figure it out."
"What is there to be celebrated?" Starfire asked, bubbling in anticipation.
The room stopped. No one said anything but all heroes looked over expectantly at Raven and Beast Boy. Raven smirked.
"I'm pregnant." She admitted, Beast Boys sensitive hearing could hear the mocking tone that was lacing her voice.
Robin was just about ready to go super nova when he felt a large metallic hand on his shoulder. "If you say or do anything… I won't stop BB from doing whatever comes into that head of his…"
Robin remained silent but left the common room sulking.
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(Present)
Hunter finished his breakfast quickly and then took his son from Cyborg, he rose from the table and made his way over to the couch so that he could play with the little green skinned child. Raven joined them shortly after and snuggled into her lover whilst she watched her two boys play happily together.
So much had changed for the odd coloured couple but everything for the better, and things were continuing to get better as now it was time to sort out their wedding… Raven smiled at the thought… the smile her fiancé loved so much… she smiled 'That Smile'.
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I just learnt that what Mas Y Menos' catch phrase translates to is: 'More or Less, We Can!"… Bizarre?
D-403
