Hokay, so now we ARE earning that M-rating. THERE WILL BE SEX. We're warning you right now. You don't have to read it, and if you do and become traumatized... well, that's your headache.

Chapter Four

Maternity

4. Stay away from vines, and never eat apples. There's some serious evil greenery going on in fairyland.

"I want yamberries!" Wendell cried out dismally.

"I want sushi!" Virginia yelled from the other end of the room.

Tony and Wolf looked at each other.

"Sushi?" Wolf asked.

"Raw fish and rice. Sort of. I have a feeling you should not try to make it. Yamberries?"

"Usually imported from the 6th kingdom during summers. It'll be impossible to get at this time of year."

They both groaned silently.

"Oh great," Tony muttered, pacing over to try to mollify his pouting fiancé.

"Huff-puff," Wolf said under his breath, and hurried over to Virginia's side, his tail drooping.

"Anthony! Now!"

"There aren't any. There won't be any until summer. You know that," Tony said pleadingly, which earned him a rather fierce look.

"I want them anyway."

"Why are you acting like this?" Tony hissed, sitting down next to Wendell. "You're not pregnant!" The king shied away and huddled as far as he could from Tony without falling of the divan, glowering.

"You're being insensitive! We're having a baby!"

"I'm having a grandson. You are just being silly!"

"So the fact that my husband to be is going to be a grandfather is not allowed to affect me?" Wendell grumbled.

"Of course it is," Tony said patiently. "But I can't see why you should act like you're pregnant, and you can't have any damn yamberries. Okay?"

Wendell rose from the divan, looking quite a lot more enraged than the argument really justified. "What can I have then?" he snapped, before doing his thing. Stalking off.

"Now what was that all about?" Tony wondered, spreading his arms wide in a gesture of deepest dismay.
"You didn't get that? Huff-puff, you're worse than me." Wolf shook his head, but refused to say anything more.

"Just go after him, dad. And you! Where's that sushi?"

"Wendell? Why are you angry with me?" Tony was standing in the doorway, ready to do a hasty retreat.

Wendell was sitting on the bed that he shared with Tony these days, the bed in which a spectacular amount of… not much really, was happening. His eyes were big and shiny by badly restrained tears.

"Do you really want me?" he asked, his voice pathetically full of desperation.

"What? I'm getting married to you."

"Well, a lot of marriages are based on other things than wanting each other. I'm not questioning the fact that you like me, but do you want me?"

"This is a really odd place, sorry, for a moment I forgot. But pf course I do. Otherwise I wouldn't… I mean, you don't really think I'd be that cruel?"

"You've been rejecting me for two weeks running now! That's pretty damn cruel! I mean, if you're having second thoughts just bloody say so!"

"Oh, you mean… oh…" Tony went rather red and looked away. "No, I'm not having second thoughts," he said, shaking his head but still not managing to look at Wendell. "It's just… It's catching up with me… I mean, I didn't actually think about what I was doing in the beginning, and now…" He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "You… if you'd grown up in New York during the 60's, you'd know what I was talking about."

"But now I didn't, so I have no idea what you are going through, and since you insist on being all manly on me and keeping quiet about your emotions, you haven't exactly given me much of a chance, now have you?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's just… I… Until the moment you… well, it never crossed my mind… I mean, I've never even considered being with…" Apparently, this was hard to say, and he fidgeted nervously. "…well, with another man."

"Moron! So this is basically you angsting?"

"I… I'm really sorry, but the moment I actually started thinking about what I was doing… I was… uh… terrified, to tell the truth. Which is not to say that I don't… like… it…" He turned a darker shade of red.

He is awfully cute when he's blushing… No. Focus. We're being serious, remember?

"You could have just told me, and I would have backed down without feeling rejected and frustrated and scared to death!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't think… Well, I didn't think, period. I wasn't trying to… well, of course I wasn't trying to hurt you." Moving slowly and carefully, as if approaching a wild animal, he walked over to Wendell and sat down next to him. Tentatively, he put a hand on Wendell's neck, the thumb moving to stroke the soft skin and the wispy, curled golden hairs there. "I should've told you."

There was no way Wendell could reply, the only sensation his mind and body allowed him to have was the tingling trace left by Anthony's touch. There were so many things he wanted to do, and at the same time he was completely content with savouring that simple little display of affection. But in the end of course, it wasn't enough, and he needed Anthony.

He placed a hand on his lover's thigh, his fingertips oh so close to where they really wanted to go, and while he kissed Anthony with all the lust of a thwarted twenty-one-year-old, his fingers bored into the flesh in unmasked yearning.

Tony's first impulse was to back away, but he fought it down, knowing that it would be absolutely unforgivable to give in to it now. And once he kissed back, receiving the reckless abandon of his lover and being gratefully overwhelmed by it, it wasn't very difficult stop thinking about what was happening.

Actually, it was more thinking that was becoming a bit hard. Among other things.

He was rapidly becoming rather discontent with the position of Wendell's hand, since it was obviously a bit off the mark. Giving himself no time to consider and be daunted, he pulled Wendell closer with his right arm, so that their bodies were pressed together, and with his left he carefully moved his lover's hand upward, shuddering as he did so.

Wendell experienced a moment where all the lust turned into relief and joy, but then his hand got relocated and it was all lust again. He pressed Tony down on the bed, still kissing him fervently. There was so much cloth in the way!

He pulled down the zipper of Tony's jeans and wiggled a few teasing fingers in, knowing that without undoing the button as well, the only thing his touch could accomplish would be agony. Which was absolutely delicious, from his point of view.

From Tony's point of view, it was… well, agony. But when he tried to protest, all he accomplished was a choked sound that seemed to come from his chest rather than his throat. He moved against that tantalising hand, his back arching, in a sort of wordless plea for… for anything, just more of it. Trying to get Wendell to get the hint – and just maybe giving back… a little – he slid his hand down his lover's back and then over to the front, where he started to caress him through his clothes, rather enjoying the effect this seemed to have on the king.

Oh well, Wendell supposed he'd asked for it, and not very politely at that. But if this was punishment, it sure was enjoyable as hell.

He moved both hands away from Tony's groin area and attacked the buttons of his shirt instead, craving skin. He devoted his entire attention to the bared chest, caressing it with both hands, lips and tongue.

Tony was vaguely aware that random noises – perhaps they were words – were escaping him, but if they indeed were words he was absolutely incapable of understanding what he was saying. Both his hands snaking around Wendell's waist, pushing fabric aside to get to some skin, he pulled Wendell upward until they were lying nose-tip to nose-tip, groin to groin.

"I'm an idiot," he mumbled, attacking Wendell's neck.

"Yes, you most certainly are," Wendell groaned, twining his fingers in Tony's hair and grinding his crotch against his lovers ditto. Then he slid back down Anthony's body, taking a very short moment to wonder at how much he'd missed it. Before, two weeks had been nothing, but now it felt as if he was touching Tony for the very first time all over again.

He wanted to hear more of that incoherent rambling, and he wanted to hear Tony screaming his name.

He knew that there was a really good way to make that happen, and he planned on exceeding himself this time to eradicate all doubts in Anthony's mind that this was right.

So finally Tony's cock got released from its woven prison, only to be caught in another one made of flesh.

"I mean, I have this wonderful lo-oh!" Tony's answer was somewhat interrupted by Wendell's manful attempt to sweep the last of his doubt from his mind. Which he did, at least for the moment.

And now Tony was actually aware of a long, ceaseless string of words coming from his lips, but the only one he recognised was, "Wendell," and he said it more and more often the closer he came to-

"Father, I…" There was a strangled cry of shock from the door, and then a terrible silence. Tony, his heart sinking with dread – and disappointment – grabbed a blanket to cover himself, and thus also pulled it over Wendell's head.

"Virginia," he said, or tried to say, for his voice wasn't really co-operating. "You… Why didn't you knock?!"

"I did!" Virginia squeaked angrily.

"Why didn't you wait for an answer?!"

"I did. Someone said, 'yes'!" She was shaking with shock and looking nauseous.

From underneath the blanket came a muffled voice saying, "Wasn't me, my mouth was quite occupied, thank you!", just for the sheer heck of it.

Anthony is going to kill me…

"Wendell! You're not making it better!"

"No, you're not;" Virginia fervently agreed, her face hidden in her hands.

Well, I know!

"Look, I'm sorry that…"

Wendell threw off the blanket with a wild look on his face. Teeth bared and eyes flaring, he directed his furious yell partly at Tony and partly at Virginia. "Like hell he's sorry! Now leave us alone!"

Virginia paled, stumbling backwards through the door and slamming it shut behind her with a bit more force than was actually needed.

There was an awkward silence.

"You know, I was just trying to…"

"Shut up, I don't want to know. Now would you mind terribly if I got back to what I was doing?"

"No."

"So… Still want those yamberries?"

"Mmnoo… But Anthony…What are the 60's?"

"Er… Never mind."

"How is she?" Tony asked Wolf, who was happily eating some random piece of what had once probably been something small and defenceless.

Wolf shrugged. "Making a fuss. As if it wasn't completely natural. I mean, it's hardly like she's the blushing virgi-"

"Yes, thank you, no more details. But I actually think it's worse if it's your parent."
Wolf gave him an odd look and threw away the bone he'd been gnawing. "The definition of being a parent is that you've mated," he pointed out rather matter-of-factly. He had a terrible way of doing that. Then he suddenly flashed Tony a wide grin. "Oh, I should thank you, though."

"Why?"

"She needed a lot of comforting," Wolf replied, sounding rather pleased with himself, and with a stray, "Succulent," muttered under his breath, he wandered off.

Wendell looked rather admiring. "How did he manage to turn that to his advantage?"

"No idea, and I don't think I want to know."

"Possibly just him being him, then," Wendell murmured, his eyes lingering on Wolf's disappearing shape.

"Oh, for god's sake, Wendell!"

"What?!"

"You're actually drooling."

"Well, the only reason you're not is because you're terrible at being gay."

"I- oh, forget it. We're not going to argue again. Agreed?"

"Oh, I don't know about that. I kind of liked the result of our last argument…" Wendell let his gaze slide all over Tony's body.

"Okay, so we're going to argue a million times probably, but right now, I'm far too tired. Dinner?"

"Do I get desert?" Another meaningful glance.

"If you earn it, perhaps. Or possibly a bone. But now I'm hungry."

And then, about a month later, Virginia was rather suddenly in an awful lot of pain. This seems to be the standard for people giving birth and was completely natural, but Virginia did not appreciate being told. Actually, the way Wolf put it was somewhere along the lines of, "But you're supposed to feel like this! Isn't it wonderful!" And at any other time, he might have been excused on the account of sheer enthusiasm, but Virginia was not feeling very forgiving.

He was sent out of the room with a yelled promise of castration.

Outside, Tony was almost scaling the wallsin sheer worry. The original plan had been for Virginia to go back to New York when the time grew near, but unfortunately the baby had decided that it couldn't wait, and she was left at the mercy of the dubious medical knowledge possessed by some 4th Kingdom midwives. This did not make Tony feel at ease. He was quite sure that they hadn't even heard the word "epidural".

Wendell was of course also worried, especially since the fate of his whole kingdom was on the line. He knew how badly premature births could end up if you were unlucky. However, it wasn't his only daughter that was screaming her head off in the other room, so while Tony anxiously paced back an forth, Wendell remained seated, nervously drumming his fingers against the table.

Wolf was bouncing up and down in his chair, munching bacon, and seemed unaware of the filthy looks that the two other men were sending him. Had they actually bothered to ask, Wolf would of course have told them that he knew that it was just fine. Wolfies knew stuff like that. But none of them asked, and so, were not spared in their suffering.

Finally, and after many long hours, it was over. Virginia had given birth to a son. Strangely enough, even though he was born several weeks earlier than expected, he was fully developed and of a healthy size, bellowing out his displeasure so loudly that the windows rattled. His mother was by then asleep from exhaustion, and didn't even stir.

By birth the boy was more or less covered in black hair, but that fell off after a while, and even though he was thoroughly examined for one, no tail was to be found. However, from what you could see on a baby that small, he seemed to show every promise of taking after his father.

Virginia wanted him to be named Christian after her mother, and Wolf had wits enough not to argue. It didn't make Tony very happy, and Wendell was for a while rather horrified, but they kept pretty quiet about it. After all, they owed Virginia too much to cause her pain by open disapproval. An healthy child had been born, at least, and as soon as Wendell had named him his heir, they were free to start worrying about the wedding instead.

A/N: If you are now at least as traumatized as Virginia, rest asure that there will be no sex involved in the next chapter. Instead, that's the arbitrary angst-chapter. Oh, don't worry. You're going to love it. And if you don't seriously fangirl Viscount Lansky after having read it, you are utterly hearless.