Eight chapters. Who would've thought! Kou, you should be happy now... Oh, and Kou? 'The pain! My body! My soul!'

* * * * *

The Other Maxwell

by Grace Musica

Chapter Eight

She's Having A Baby...

* * * * *

"But, Lizzy! You're four month pregnant and you're JUST NOW telling us this?"

"Thomas Calvin Winner, lower your voice this instant!" Lizzy ruffled her little brother's hair affectionately. "Okay, look buster: I was afraid I might lose the baby. I didn't want to get your hopes up, just to lose the baby. Happy?"

"No, you should have told us."

Lizzy sighed and threw up her hands. "I give up. You're driving me crazy."

Natalie, however, was looking thoughtful. "Hey, Liz... Question. If you and Uncle Quatre have only been married three-and-a-half months, how can you be four months pregnant?"

Lizzy looked at her husband. /In the movies, women always faint at this point. That being said: Can I faint now?/

/Hey, she's your sister./

/Bad boy. Go to our room./

/Really, really? Can I, can I?/

/No./

/Damn! So close!/

Lizzy looked down at Natalie. "Ask me when you're my age."

Natalie sighed. "I've been getting that answer alot lately."

"Okay, then. You do the math."

Scilence. Then, "Oh, Lizzy!"

"Hey, you wanted to know."

"Not that much!"

During this excange, little Audrey, a scarce six years old, had climbed up into her eldest sister's lap. "Lizzy? Where do babies come from?"

"Um... Ask your Uncle Quatre," Lizzy replied smoothly, depositing her little sister into Quatre's lap.

"What the hell--"

"Oh, I just feel so tired! I think I'll go lie down for a while..."

Quatre stared after his wife's retreating figure. He looked down at his niece and sighed. "Um, well..."

* * * * *

Quatre walked into his bedroom to find his wife lying on the bed, reading a book. She shut it when he walked in and took a glance at the clock on the bedside table. "Hm... thirty minutes. I'm impressed."

Quatre raised an eyebrow and sat on the bed next to her. "I can't believe you. Bailing out on me like that."

"I'm sorry, love. I'm just uncomfortable about talking about sex in front of other people. Especially if they're my little siblings."

"You don't seem to have a problem talking to me about it."

"Quatre! I'm sleeping with you. We're married. It's different."

Quatre snickered softly. "You should have seen the look on your face when Natalie asked her question. It was REALLY funny."

Lizzy sighed angrily. "Little upstart."

"Hm. She reminds me of you."

"So, are you going to leave me for my sister?"

"Funny." He rolled over and took Lizzy in his arms. "But Thomas... I can't decide who he's more like: you or Duo."

"Actually, I'm strongly reminded of Solo, every time I look at him. It's in the way he carries himself, his attitude, his overprotectiveness... I never knew anyone could be so overprotective."

"Well, he does have our blood." He put a hand to his wife's stomach. "As does this child."

Lizzy put her hand over Quatre's and kissed him. "Scared?"

"Yes."

"We'll be okay." She kissed him again. "We've had good practice, we have good examples to draw from."

They kissed again, and ended the conversation.

* * * * *

Four months later, Quatre was packing for a trip to one of his natural resounce satalites. A now very pregnant Lizzy was standing in the doorway, watching him, her arms around her stomach protectively.

"I wish you didn't have to go."

Quatre snapped his suitcase shut, straitened and turned to her. She was looking even more beautiful today, and it tore at his heart. He gave her a sad grin. "I wish I didn't have to go either, but I've got to, you know that."

"I know, but still.... I wish I could at least go with you."

The sadness in her voice tore at his heart. He took her in his arms, her stomach slightly getting in the way. "Now, you know you can't, the doctor said no travel, especially space travel." He put his hand to her cheek. "I'll call you as much as I can, I promise."

"It still won't be the same. I'll miss you."

"Ah, you'll have the kids. And I won't be gone for very long, you won't even know I'm gone." He kissed her gently. "And the kids are going to run you into the ground. I've told them not to go easy on you."

"Great. I'm dead."

Quatre chuckled and caputred her lips again. Lizzy wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him even closer and kissing him back. His hands ran up and down her back, and it might have gone even further, if not for the timely intervention of Abdul, who cleared his throat and knocked on the door.

The two Winners looked at Abdul, who feared his life just might be in danger if he said what they knew he was going to say. He gulped. "Master Quatre, your ride to the airport is here, sir."

Quatre nodded. "Very well, I'll be along shortly."

Abdul nodded, took Quatre's suitcase, and left.

Quatre looked at his wife sadly and kissed her. "Behave, okay?"

"Ah, I'll try."

Quatre chucked to himself, bent and kissed her stomach, and then kissed her again. "Will you be alright?"

"I'll manage. You're right, I do have the kids."

"I'll only be gone three weeks. I'll be back in time, I promise."

Lizzy nodded, and Quatre kissed her for a third time. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

He kissed her again, and this time Lizzy gave him a shove. "Oh, for crying out loud, go before I change my mind!"

"Okay." Quatre kissed her--again--and this time left the room.

Lizzy, on the other hand, broke down.

* * * * *

Three weeks can seem like an eternity when you're in love and waiting for someone, though, as Lizzy soon found out. It had to be worse, due to the fact that they had a mind link between them. One week was hell, the second week was becoming pure torture. And it was only Monday. Quatre kept his promise and called her every day, but the calls just made her miss him even more.

Her siblings, however, more than made up for his abstence. They did keep her busy as hell, and every night she slept dreamlessly, completely tired out from taking care of them and having to carry a good thirty extra pounds around.

* * * * *

She was sound asleep when Quatre came home. With good reason--he was home a week early. He shook her shoulders gently. "Liz, Liz, baby, wake up."

Lizzy woke up a bit, looked at her husband, then shook her head, laying back down. "Too soon, it's a dream."

"Lizzy, wake up."

"Hm..."

/ELIZABETH MAXWELL WINNER!/

Lizzy sat straight up, blinking rapidly. "I'm up, I'm up!" She peered at her husband. "Quatre? You're home early..."

"Yeah, I've been trying to tell you that..." Quatre rolled his eyes. "Heavy sleeper."

"Shut up and kiss me."

* * * * *

A few days later, Lizzy awoke early in the morning with a start. Quatre, a light sleeper, was up instantly. "Wassamatter?" he asked, yawning.

"No-nothing, just go back to sleep, love," she told him, swinging her legs around and throwing the covers off of her.

A large wet spot was on Lizzy's side of the bed. Both Winners looked at each other, their eyes wide.

"Okay, okay, calm down, now, it'll be all right," Quatre told his wife as he promptly panicked. "You go and change into some dry clothes, and I'll go tell Rasid what's happening, okay?"

Lizzy nodded silently and Quatre gave her a quick kiss.

"Okay. Okay..." He got out of bed and ran to the doorway, where he stopped and turned to look at Lizzy.

"DEAR, RASID?"

"O-o-okay."

He dissapeared from the doorway, and Lizzy rolled her eyes. "Me, freak out? Riiiiight. There goes my husband, the hero."

* * * * *

An hour and a half later, Quatre was walking alongside a squat, red-headed nurse towards the delivery room. His wife had been weeled in not too much earlier. He had the paper clothes the nurse had given him over his street clothes, and he was trying to put his mask on the right way so he could go in when he noticed way too many orderlies running in and out of the room for it to be routine. One of them stopped and muttered something inaudible to the nurse, and she stopped him. "Mr. Winner, I'm sorry, you can't go in right now."

"Why? What's wrong."

"I don't know at this moment, if you'll wait here, please, I'll go and see."

Not waiting for his answer, the woman walked briskly into the delivery room, holding her mask up to her face, and went up to one of the doctors in the room. As the door swung open, Quatre was hit mentally by a wave of pain and he could hear Lizzy's cries of pain. He started for the door and was almost inside the room when the nurse walked out. "Sir, I'm sorry, but you can't go in--"

"Why not?"

"You can't. You need to go to the waiting room and wait--"

"TO HELL WITH WAITING, WHY CAN'T I SEE MY WIFE!?"

The nurse sighed. "Sir, the baby is comming out feet first. The doctors have to preform an emergency c-section, and they don't want any panicking in the room. If you would please--"

"I want to be with Lizzy. That way she won't panic."

"Mr. Winner. We're going to have to give her a sedative and preform the c-section. Please, don't make a scene and make security escort you out of the hospital."

Quatre hung his head in defeat and followed the fourty-something year old into the maternity waiting room, where his nieces, nephews, Duo, Hilde, Trowa and Rasid were waiting. Duo stood as he entered the room. "What's wrong?"

"There's a complication," Quatre said, his voice distant. "She's having emergency surgery..." He managed to make it to a chair before he collapsed next to Trowa. He took off the paper cap that covered his blonde hair and twisted it in his hands as his brunette friend patted his back sympathetically.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," he said, smiling a bit. "If she can take three bullets and be up and about in less than a month, childbirth'll be a breeze."

[M/N: GASP! TROWA MADE A FUNNY! AND HE SMILED TO BOOT! I think I like this Trowa...]

"Of course she'll be fine!" Thomas called out, standing up.

"Yeah!" Natalie and Audrey piped up.

Quatre smiled at the three. "Thanks, guys. I don't know why I was worried, anyway. After all, this IS Liz we're talking about."

He didn't want to break their hearts and tell them that their mind link was broken.

* * * * *

The kids had fallen asleep long before the same red-headed, squat nurse who had accompanied Quatre down the hall entered the waiting room. Both Quatre and Duo jumped to their feet--Duo a little more carefully than Quatre, because Hilde had fallen asleep on his shoulder--and impatiently demanded a status on Lizzy.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" The nurse looked at Quatre. "Mr. Winner, your wife is fine. She is also wide awake and demanding to know where you are."

"And the baby?"

The nurse wet her lips with her togune, pondering how to put her message into words that wouldn't send both men into phycopathic frenzy. "Mrs. Winner has requested that she herself tell you about your child, Mr. Winner. Now, if you will follow me, I shall take you to her room--"

"What the hell?" Duo demanded, none to softly, and Hilde awoke with a start. "You mean I have to stay here?"

"Well, sir, are you family?"

"Well, no not technically--"

"Of course he is." Quatre looked at the nurse. "He's is my brother-in-law. That woman over there is his wife, the kids are my nieces and nephews. And the other two--"

"--Are just friends, come to give moral support," Trowa interrupted up from behind. "We'll stay with the kids, until they wake up."

Rasid nodded. "You three go on."

* * * * *

Quatre, Duo, Hilde were standing outside of Lizzy's room, the nurse next to them. "We're going to have only one person go in first. After that, then the rest of you are allowed to go in. That's her request," she added, looking at Duo, who had his mouth open.

The braided American sighed. "Well, Quatre, after you."

"Thank you, Duo." He opened the door and walked in, hearing it shut behind him. Lizzy was sitting up in the bed. She smiled at him, and held out her hand. He walked over to her, pulled a chair up to her bed, and took her hand. "I'm sorry, Liz."

"For what?"

"For not being there with you."

Lizzy gave him a small grin. "You're too hard on yourself, Quatre. I was passed out, I wouldn't've even known if you were there or not, honest."

"But still... Lizzy, what about the baby?"

Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and Quatre knew what had happened. The baby had been still-born. Why else would she want to tell him herself? He put his arms around her, and stroked her hair, sorrow flowing through his veins. Then, he felt her breath at his ear.

"If I have to go though that 29 more times for a boy, you're out of luck. You'll have to settle for an heiress."

Quatre pulled away to look at Lizzy's face, which was split into a huge grin. "We have a little girl. And she is so beautiful, Quatre. So beautiful."

Quatre kissed her, sorrow replaced with giddiness. "Well? When can I see her?"

"Surprise, surprise!"

He turned around to see Duo and Hilde walking in, pushing an incubator containing a pink bundle into the room. "Oh, Quatre... She's gorgeous."

* * * * *

"She's pretty, Lizzy," Audrey told her sister for the umpteenth time. The six Winners were picknicking out in the sun, out in the solitude garden where Lizzy and Quatre had first kissed a scarce nine months earlier. Lizzy, Quatre, and Audrey were sitting on a blanket under the weeping willow, Audrey holding her niece, Marianna Maria, gently. The twins were wading in the pond, trying to catch the goldfish with their bare hands. "But why did you call her Marianna?"

Lizzy smiled and ran a hand though her little sister's hair. "Marianna for my mother, Maria for yours."

"Oh, that's right."

"Hey, Audrey! Come on, we need your help!"

Audrey surrendered her niece over to Lizzy, and ran off to join her brother and sister. Quatre moved over and put an arm around Lizzy's waist. She looked up at him.

"Well, Mrs. Winner? You've got everything you ever really wanted now: A home, friends, family. What else could you possibly want?"

Lizzy looked out at her three siblings playing in the pond, then down at her daughter. She smiled to herself as she met her husband's eyes again.

"A little boy?"

"It's yours."

* * * * *

Okay, okay, okay. I know, I know, I know. I changed alot. I'm sorry, I couldn't help it! It just came to me as I was writting it, and I couldn't just ignore it! Ah, well, it WAS fun.

And I know I also changed alot of the names. I have a good reason for that: the computer's in the living room, and Mom's been watching a "Law and Order" marathon. When I was typing Lizzy's past, it was a story about a girl who had been killed by the name of Beth Donovan, and her father was John, so I stuck that in, and Marianna was the name of a baby who died in a newer season, and I thought it was pretty, so I stuck it in.

Well, Kou, I hope your happy. And you too, Faith, if you're reading this. I really hope you guys liked this. Tell me if you did! And on second thought, tell me if you didn't!