Renny: Green's been through a shit-ton of crap, so maybe I'll leave him alone for a bit.
Green: Oh thank fuck.
Renny: But if you keep reacting like that, I'll fit in something else.
Green: . . . Thank you for being so considerate?
Renny: Better. Disclaimer please!
Green: Renny doesn't own pokemon.
Renny: On with the show!
OOOOOO
Red wasn't sure what would happen to the two alphas- all he knew was that they'd been taken away, without even a trial (because they'd been found with his kids, and Green's terrified reaction to them had proven everything).
One of them- the one who'd cut open Green's stomach- had shouted something about just wanting children of their own. His mate had kept silent, staring at the kidnapped children with wide, sorrowful eyes.
Red hated both of them, but he understood them on some level.
He didn't want to, but he did.
The doctors had taken his kids away for a checkup, because they needed it, and when they'd done they were both handed back to Red. He immediately went back to Green's room.
Green didn't say anything, he hadn't said a word since their babies had been taken, but he made a hoarse sound that was vaguely like a sob but happier.
Red handed both of their children to him, and took a small step back. He smiled, feeling only the way a father could when watching his mate interact with their children, as Green drew both kids to his chest.
He sat down on the chair which had become his bed during the past week or so, and laid a hand on his mate's shoulder.
"They're back." Red whispered gently, when Green's head jerked up in surprise. "We're all together again, love."
His mate squeaked quietly, but he didn't need to say anything- the pure relief and love in his expression said everything for him.
"Hey . . ." Red said, before Green could look away. "Since they're back, how about we give them names? I, personally, don't want to refer to my own kids as Kid 1 and Kid 2."
That got him a smile, no matter how tiny and weak it was.
"You wanna write them down?" Red suggested.
Green blinked.
"I won't name them on my own, you're their mother after all." Red explained, smiling gently. "I'm not going to exclude you from something as important as this just because you think you've failed."
He got a flinch in return, which alerted the two babies- and they squirmed restlessly, trying to comfort their mother. Green was momentarily distracted and Red went closer.
"I'm sorry." he whispered. "It had to be said, you understand? You can't go on blaming yourself. I love you, I love our kids . . . but you can't blame yourself for something that you had no control over."
Green looked up at him, tears in his eyes.
Red pulled Green into his arms, mindful of their kids, and pressed his lips to his mate's head.
"I love you, no matter what." Red murmured. "Nothing you do- or think you've done- will change that."
He heard a quiet whimper and tightened his grip.
"I love you." he repeated.
" . . . Leaf."
Red froze briefly and pulled back, blinking slowly. A grin started to spread on his face, but he didn't comment on Green finally finding his voice again.
"For which one?" he asked instead, running a hand gently over their children's heads.
Green didn't speak again, but he shifted his hand over the little girl.
She had brown, almost grey-ish hair, and when she shifted- so she was facing Red- he could see her bright green eyes.
"Sounds perfect." he whispered. "Fits her eyes- do you mind if I . . .?"
Green nodded and held out his arm, allowing Red to take the boy.
He was a little smaller than his twin sister, and had pure black hair and glowing red eyes.
"How about Fire, for this little one?" he suggested. "Leaf and Fire."
Green squeaked quietly, smiling gently and looking at their children. Leaf and Fire.
They were both beautiful. But so was Green.
oooo
"Rainbows at midnight, sparkling night skies."
Red watched from the door, smiling. Green's voice was faint, yes, but even that didn't matter. The lullaby might not have been a proper one (it was from a movie, actually) but it worked, and Green was the best singer Red had ever heard.
Nevermind Green not being able to speak properly yet.
Green gently pulled the blanket over Leaf and Fire, who snuggled up with each other.
"Don't go away . . . stay another day." his mate finished softly.
Green looked up when he was sure the twins were sleeping, and gave Red a tiny smile. It was better than before, when he could hardly even bring himself to look into Red's eyes.
The two of them went out, leaving the door open slightly so that, if one or both of the twins woke up, they'd be able to hear them from downstairs easily.
It had actually been Ruby's idea to use song therapy.
Almost two weeks after their children had been returned to them, Green still hadn't said a word beyond Leaf's new name. Professor Oak thought maybe they could try speech therapy, but Green was too scared of the doctor who was sent for, an alpha, and he only wailed in terror when it was suggested again, even if the next doctor offered was an omega.
Some moronic doctor thought maybe they could try surgery, but Crystal shot that down with a look. It was a stupid idea anyway, since it was a psychological thing.
Sabrina offered her help, but even if Green did agree, she said the problem- after a five minute session in his mind- was too deep-rooted for her to fix easily. It would have taken weeks and Green would have had to be in a coma for the entire time, and since he and Red had kids . . .
At least she offered, though.
Finally, Ruby came up with a brilliant idea. He remembered in the past that Green did enjoy singing, but not in front of too many people. So he cleared everyone out and told Red to get Green to sing, which he did.
And he sang beautifully, even if his voice failed on him occasionally.
So it was decided that Green would sing to help get his voice back, and while he was still reluctant to actually say proper words, he was actually getting to the point where his voice wouldn't fail as often as it used to.
It also helped him gain more confidence.
"You're good with them." Red murmured, when they were snuggling on the sofa downstairs.
Green glanced up at him, disbelief clearly in his eyes.
"No, really." Red insisted. "I'm a horrible singer, everyone knows that."
His mate made a face and nodded frantically. Last time Red had tried singing, he'd managed to scare away several Pidgeys and Green had started shouting something about going deaf. Blue had just screamed at him until he promised to never try again.
"Yes, thank you." Red muttered grumpily. He heard a small huff that was probably a laugh and grinned. "But seriously, I'd never be able to get them to sleep like that. Maybe if I walked around the room carrying them for half an hour, but when you start singing . . . they're out like lights."
Green squeaked quietly and cuddled closer, and Red laid his head on top of Green's.
"How's the sign language going?" Red whispered, when the silence- comfortable as it was- got a little too much for him. "The pokemon one." he clarified.
Green tapped Red's chest, where his heart was, which meant it was going fine. Or it meant he loved him, but right now it meant it was 'okay'.
"That's great!" Red exclaimed quietly. "Why don't you try showing me a few tricks, maybe I could figure something out for whenever someone has a bad throat or whatever."
Green gave him a look.
"You already thought of it, of course." Red nodded. "You're always one step ahead, huh?"
Green nodded slightly and put his head on Red's chest, curling up contently.
Eventually they went into their bedroom to sleep. Red checked in on the twins just before he climbed in with Green, and they went straight to sleep- of course, with the baby monitor on the bedside table, they'd be able to know if their kids needed them at some point.
The next morning, Red woke up. He was a little surprised to see that Green wasn't by his side, and panicked slightly, because he always got up first and waited for Green.
Then he heard something that sounded like a sob, and his face fell.
Red got up and went to the bathroom, where he found Green curled in a tiny, shaking ball. The smaller male was trying to hide his crying, but Red could hear it anyway.
This was one of Green's bad days, then.
"Hey." Red whispered, kneeling down. Green barely reacted. "Green, c'mon, it's alright . . ."
He pulled his mate gently into his arms, cradling him. Leaf and Fire wouldn't wake up for another hour or two, depending on whether or not one of them peed or something, so he could try and comfort Green.
It didn't do much, he knew it wouldn't, but Green shouldn't be alone whenever this happened.
"You want me to call the Gym?" Red murmured into Green's hair.
His response was a barely audible whimper, and a tiny nod. Yes, then.
"I'll tell Bonita to put the hologram on." Red told him.
Half an hour later, after Red had called the Gym (he kept a phone on him at all times in case this ever happened, after how Green had reacted the first time and he'd tried to leave to call them), his mate had cried himself back to sleep.
Red waited for several more minutes, carefully rocking Green, and then carried him to their bedroom.
He set Green down and checked he was definitely asleep before going off to the twin's room. They were both asleep, but Red picked them up as gently as possible and took them back to his and Green's room.
When he sat down on the bed, Green's eyes opened and he made a small sound. Red hummed quietly, because he wasn't gonna start singing after that reminder of how horrible he was at it, and handed Leaf and Fire to their mother.
He watched Green bring them both close to him, and the twins pretty much latched onto him.
Red carefully climbed into the bed and wrapped his arms around his family protectively. He wouldn't let anything hurt Green, or his kids, but this was a problem Green would have to face on his own.
But that didn't mean he'd be alone. Red would always be there if Green needed him, which . . . at the moment, he did.
He heard a voice and for half a second he thought Green was actually talking, but then he realised it was the last two lines from the Don't Go Away lullaby.
The words had far more impact on Red now, even if he couldn't hear half of them.
"Don't go away . . . stay another day . . ."
"I'll never go away." Red promised. "I love you."
He felt a small tap on his chest, and this time it meant 'I love you'.
oooo
Gold, Silver and Crystal were visiting. They'd come over on, thankfully, one of Green's good days and they'd introduced their kid- little Ethan, who was a year old now- to Leaf and Fire.
The three of them got along perfectly well, and Gold and Crystal revealed that Silver was pregnant with their second child.
"How long?" Red asked for Green, after interpreting his hand signs.
"A month." Gold answered proudly. "Silver keeps complaining, but he's just as excited."
"No, I'm just wondering why Crystal couldn't have had this kid." Silver snapped. "I had Ethan, why should I have the next one?"
"Kid's aren't toys you can just choose, Silver." Crystal scolded him. "And besides, I think Mom might actually kill Gold if he gets me pregnant."
"Hence why you're doing this." Gold agreed.
"I hate you both."
Green squeaked something that could have been a laugh, and the Johto Dexholders glanced at him. Gold was grinning.
"And how've you two been doing?" he asked, with a wink to Red. "Any plans for more kids?"
Everything seemed to freeze.
Even the three kids in the room looked up and were silent- and Leaf and Fire immediately saw the distress their mother was in. They cried out and Green stood up quickly, taking both from the room without even looking at Gold or even Red.
Red glared at Gold, growling quietly.
" . . . You absolute idiot." Silver snapped. Crystal hit Gold on the back of the head.
"Why would you say something like that? It's barely been a month!" she barked.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking!" Gold cried.
"Obviously." Red hissed. They all looked at him, worried. "I'm gonna go and get Green, and if I can get him to come back in, you will apologise. Got it?"
"Y-yessir." Gold stammered.
He might have been an alpha as well, but that didn't mean he was gonna disobey Red. He'd often heard people say he was really scary when he was angry, which wasn't often, so maybe that was why.
But he was pretty pissed right now.
Red followed his mate, carefully not listening to Crystal and Silver scolding Gold for his horrific timing. He knew where Green was.
The only place he felt truly safe. Leaf and Fire's room.
And true to Red's knowledge, he found Green sitting on the floor, gently rocking the cradle.
He crouched down beside Green, but his mate hardly reacted beyond tensing up a little. It hurt Red so much when that happened, but he knew it wasn't because Green was scared of him. It was just his instinct.
"Green-" Red began quietly, wanting to comfort him.
"I can't." Green whispered.
Red kept quiet to let him speak.
"I-I can't, I just can't- no more kids." Green said shrilly. "I can't."
"It's okay, Green, I know you don't want to have anymore after this-" Red tried, but Green snapped his head up and glared at him.
It was so shocking that Red shut up instantly.
"No." Green told him forcefully, but his voice was still weak- and it was getting weaker as he carried on. "I-It's not that I won't, it's . . . t-the doctor s-said . . . I can't."
Red finally found his voice and opened his mouth to say something, to ask Green to clarify- because he didn't understand, he didn't want to hear this- but another voice stopped him.
"He means he can't have another child, even if he wanted to." Silver said, walking into the room. "Even if you two tried for the rest of your lives, he'd never get pregnant again. This whole . . . kidnapping thing, it messed him up."
Green whimpered and curled into himself, and Red reached out to comfort him. Silver stopped him with a shake of his head.
"I'll take it from here." the younger omega said. "No offence, but you're an alpha- you wouldn't understand any of this. Go back downstairs."
Red didn't want to leave, not when his mate was like this and certainly not after hearing news like this, but Silver glared at him until he moved.
He closed the door behind him, hearing the murmuring of Silver's voice becoming just a quiet, muffled sound when the wood came between them. Red leaned against the door, hand over his face, and sighed.
Green couldn't have kids anymore.
Silver was right, he didn't understand. Oh, he understood that Green couldn't have kids, but he didn't understand how to make it better for Green.
This had probably been tearing him up for the past month, and he hadn't said a word to Red . . . why?
Was he scared Red would hate him for this?
He went downstairs and back to the sofa he'd originally been sitting on, fully aware of Gold and Crystal watching him like Fearows. He put his head in hands again.
" . . . Is he okay?" Gold eventually asked, hesitantly. It was quite a stark contrast to his normal tone.
"No." Red muttered, wanting to scream. If Gold hadn't said anything, none of this would have happened- though Red supposed he would have found out sooner or later and the circumstances would have never been good.
How could they, if Red was being told that the love of his life couldn't have children because of two psychotic alphas who didn't want to adopt?
"What is it?" Crystal asked gently, putting a hand on his knee. "What happened, Red?"
Red looked up at the two of them, and winced.
"Green . . . he can't have kids." he said, voice breaking halfway through.
Gold choked and Crystal went silent in shock.
"So, I guess . . . there aren't any future plans." Red sighed. He glanced at Gold.
"I . . ." Gold trailed off, and then tried again. "I'm so, so sorry . . . I'll apologise as soon as I can, I swear, I didn't mean to upset him- or you- like this, I promise I didn't!"
"I know." Red said quietly. "This would have happened at some point anyway, there's . . . no way this kind of thing could stay secret. When Silver comes down, could you . . .?"
"We'll leave." Crystal nodded. "I think we should wait a few days for everything to calm down as much as it can, and then I'll bring Gold back to apologise. Is . . . that going to be alright, for you and Green?"
"I can't speak for Green, but . . . yeah." Red agreed.
Silver came back down some minutes later, and refused to say a word about how Green was to anyone- even Red. It was probably for the best, but it did mean that Red didn't know how to act when he went back upstairs after the Johto trio and their child left.
He opened the door cautiously and found Green in pretty much the exact same position as before, except he wasn't touching the cradle at all.
He was just staring blankly at the floor.
Red sat down next to him and took his hand gently. Even that didn't get a reaction.
" . . . Green?" he whispered. "Are you-"
He broke off. That kind of question was stupid in this situation.
Of course Green wasn't okay.
Instead, Red decided to tell his mate exactly what he thought.
"I don't mind." he said.
Green trembled slightly, but there was no other reaction.
"I love you for you, Green." Red went on. "And . . . I've loved you for a long time. Even before I knew you were an omega, even when we all thought you were a beta."
His mate glanced up.
"Never an alpha, no." Red chuckled, glad to see the weak, but offended look in Green's eyes. "But I don't mind if we can't have any more kids, Leaf and Fire are perfect- and . . . you are too. But, Green . . . why didn't you tell me?"
He waited patiently for Green to answer, and when he did, Red was surprised to hear his voice again. Was he finally starting to come out of the mute shell he'd retreated into?
"I'm sorry. I-I'm sorry . . ." Green whispered. "I . . . I thought you . . . you'd hate me. You'd- you'd g-get mad at me . . . A-alphas are . . . they have p-packs, but . . . but I can't give you a pack any bigger t-than what w-we already have . . . And no alpha or beta wants a-an omega who c-can't have kids."
"Well, guess what?" Red murmured, leaning in to look at Green properly. "I do. I don't hate you for this, Green. I'm a little confused, maybe, because I don't know what to do about it-"
"Because I can't-"
"No." Red said firmly. "Not because you can't have kids. I don't know what to do to make you feel better. I'm confused because I want to help you, I want to get through this, but I don't know how. Heh . . . isn't it weird? We can fight global threats like Team Rocket or whatever, and when it comes to domestic life, none of us have a clue. Did you know Gold once dropped Ethan on his head?"
Green blinked, slowly. He looked stunned.
"I know, that was my reaction too." Red chuckled. "Crystal and Silver literally put him in the doghouse for three weeks."
"But . . . I didn't protect Leaf and Fire." Green murmured, though he was less certain of his 'guilt'. "I'm an omega, we're . . . we're supposed to protect our kids above a-all else . . . and I-I didn't. I panicked."
"You're only human." Red soothed, reached out to caress Green's cheek. "These things happen."
"It h-happened to me." Green squeaked.
"And it's over." Red told him. "Those alphas are behind bars, and Leaf and Fire are home- safe and sound. No one's perfect, Green. You won't be the first omega to experience this, I know you're not. Maybe it's not the exact same situation, but I'm sure if you looked, there's bound to be others who were afraid."
"I-I'm supposed to protect them-"
"And you did." Red said. "For nine months, you did. Remember when that Raticate got into the house? I would have been the hero then, but I think maybe you watched Tangled far too much."
Green squeaked a small laugh. "I . . . I guess . . ."
"And that one time Saur missed with Vine Whip? I'd never seen someone move so fast." Red smiled. "In fact, I'm pretty sure you broke the laws of physics. Green . . . you made one mistake. No one blames you for it. I certainly don't. So, please . . . just listen to me. This isn't your fault. And I don't care that you can't have kids anymore, I still love you, and I always will."
Fire woke up and started crying, and Green stood up quickly to comfort him. It was almost a mindless action, and Red, standing up too, thanked his child for the most amazing timing on the planet.
"See?" he whispered, as Green gently took Fire out of the cradle and held him close. "This is why I love you so much. You react quickly, and sometimes it might not be the best course of action, and yeah, sometimes fear might paralyse you . . ."
Green looked up at him, eyes shining with a weak sort of hope that Red hadn't seen for weeks.
"But most of the time, it's the best course of action." Red finished. "I love you because you're you, and the fact that we can't have kids doesn't matter. You, Leaf and Fire are my pack. You're my family. And I love all of you."
Leaf woke up and stretched out her arms, and Red picked her up.
" . . . Thank you." Green said quietly. "I . . . I l-love you too."
Red grinned and wrapped an arm around Green, the other holding up Leaf so she was closer to her twin, Fire.
Maybe now things would start to get better.
OOOOOO
Green: YOU FUCKING LIED.
Renny: Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. The idea that you can't have kids anymore came to be halfway through the fic, so I guess it doesn't count-
Green: YOU. STILL. LIED. How much more can you do to me? The first chapter, you almost had me raped and I broke down in front of everyone. The second, I'm scared about getting the baby checked out early because I don't wanna lose it. The third, I'm suddenly having twins and then, oh my god, two alphas have literally ripped out my kids from my stomach!
Renny: Don't forget the depression.
Green: THAT TOO. And now in this chapter I'm basically half-insane, pretty much mute, and I can't have kids anymore! When will you say you're gonna give me a break and actually mean it?
Renny: . . . Next chapter?
Green: YOU-
Renny: No, really! The only bad thing that might happen is basically just you thinking about how useless you are or something, and obviously you'll still have thoughts like that even after all these speeches from Red.
Green: *still pissed*
Renny: Okay maybe this was a bad idea . . . anyway, read and review! And save me from this crazy boy.
Green: I'm going to end you.
Renny: Help.