A/N: errr... just uploaded the chapter and saw that I've forgotten to write an A/N... So you get off the hook today! Just read! ;)
Kitty Litter of a Different Kind
Part 9: It's Gonna Take Patience And Time
"My pants are too tight!" Robin complained.
"Well, use your maternity-pants," Slade suggested from the other room.
"I am!" the teen, now at the beginning of his fifth month, answered.
The man looked in through the door and grinned. They had been back in Jump for some time, and Slade, at least, enjoyed the lack of bats here.
"Don't laugh at me!" Robin hissed, tail thrashing.
"I'm not, I'm smiling at you. You look so beautiful with that little round stomach."
"Little? I'm fat as a house!" Robin snorted, but then smiled and ran his hands over the small bump, soon joined by Slade.
"Your mum is slightly insane," Slade told the babies, "but don't mind him. You have me."
Robin laughed and punched Slade on the shoulder.
"Idiot."
"Oh, sorry, your mom is an idiot," the man clarified.
"Shut up, feed me and take me shopping," Robin smirked.
"Yes, my lord and master," Slade said humbly and gestured at the doorway. "After you."
The remodeling had begun, but they had decided to start in the other apartments and open up a wall to their current one last, so they could live without the building-dust for as long as possible. They still got a fair amount of it, since Red dragged it in. The young man had, surprisingly enough, joined the builders and proven quite good at the trade, claiming to have some previous experience.
Robin was very proud of him for helping to build their home, and Slade had let the thief have this to himself, even though he would have liked to help as well. Instead he had spent much of his days with Robin, keeping work to an absolute minimum, since the teen easily felt abandoned with both of his mates gone. No one wanted to come home to a sad kitten. Again.
"Hey guys, the laundry room is coming along great!" Red told them from the door.
"Wipe your feet!" Slade and Robin called out at the same time before glancing at each other and grinning.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" the thief laughed. "Anyway, there's room for four washers and dryers, as well as loads of storage, and they are putting up extra insulation against the sound and fire alarms in case anything overheats, and-"
"Calm down, you are practically jumping around," Slade chuckled.
"Yes, but they have just thought of everything! I promise I won't complain when it's my turn to do the laundry!"
"Of course you will," Robin laughed, "We all will… but if it gets too much we can always send it out to be washed."
The three males, had, somehow, managed the house duties pretty well, although that wasn't too hard when two of them were neat-freaks and the third one could be threatened into submission, but they all knew that with three poop-and-puke-machines, laundry would pile up. Fast. Robin was still not happy with bringing strangers into his home, though; something his instincts told him was dangerous, so even Red had accepted that he did have to vacuum every now and then.
"So what are you up to today?" Red asked.
"Robin can't fit in his pants, so we are going shopping," Slade shrugged.
"But use the maternity-pants!" Red suggested.
"I AM!" the cat-boy groaned.
"I think it's time for real maternity pants, just not a bigger size," Slade smirked.
"The ones with the elastic at the front? Sexy," the thief smirked.
"Shut up, or I'm going to lock you out of the bedroom!" Robin growled.
"Shutting up," Red nodded, remembering Slade getting that punishment the other week.
"Good," the hero snorted. "Hey, you wanna come with? To the mall?"
"Love to, but we are just about to start plastering, and I really wanna learn how to do that from the pros."
"I love that you are all Mr. Handy Man nowadays…" Robin purred. "Wanna do a role-play tonight?"
"You mean like 'the handy man and the housewife'?" Red grinned. "Hell yes, I do!"
"Yeah, with the jealous husband finding out and punishing both of them..." Robin grinned at Slade. "Oh, I don't wanna go shopping now!"
"Sorry, little no-attention-span, but we are," Slade said. "Besides, I need time to think up good punishments…"
Robin purred at the thought.
Robin stood crying in the changing room because the maternity-pants were the wrong shade of black. He couldn't explain to Slade what that meant, exactly, and cried because of that too. A trip to the pet store to buy a big fluffy mouse, and then the ice-cream parlor, for an extra large Banana Split, chased the mood swing away, and then Robin happily bought the exact same pair of pants he had been so upset about before. He couldn't help it; his hormones were wrecking havoc inside his body, and seemed to do so at intervals. He could be absolutely fine for two weeks and then cry for two days straight. It was very weird, but Leslie had told them all that it was within the normal range.
As Robin was trying on another pair of pants, Slade waited patiently outside. He never expected to be a shopping aid, but at least he wasn't holding his wife's purse, like the other men around him.
"Slade?" the teen called uncertainly from the changing booth.
"Yes?"
"Are my nipples darker?"
Slade blinked and then carefully opened the curtain a little bit. Robin was standing, stark naked, looking at himself in the mirrors from all angles.
"You were supposed to try on some trousers," Slade reminded him.
"I'm just looking. Are they? Darker?"
Slade slipped into the changing room himself and smiled down at his gorgeous little mate.
"Yes. I believe that it's normal though… you look absolutely amazing," he added and kissed Robin until the teen's face turned red.
"Um, so you… like them?"
"Love them," the man promised and caressed the little hard nubs which were becoming more and more sensitive. Even Robin's row of 'fake' nipples, the small round 'coins' of pinkish skin down along his chest and stomach, had darkened, although not swelled up. It took a bit of restraint on Slade's part not to ravish the boy at the spot.
As they were leaving the mall, Robin happened to look across the street, and stopped dead. The Titans were there, having pizza.
"Do you want to go over to them?" Slade asked carefully.
Robin hesitated before nodding.
"Then go," the man told him. "I'll be here if you need me."
Robin made his way over, feeling very insecure. He pulled on the large t-shirt he was wearing, which still managed to hide his stomach, and wondered if he should really do this. Harsh things had been said, especially between him and the guys, and even though things had evened out a bit before he got pregnant, he still didn't know how his former team would react to seeing him.
"Robin!"
Too late, he was spotted. Starfire flew up and hugged him, drawing back in surprise as she felt his protruding tummy.
"Robin? Have you acquired a belly of beer?"
"No," the teen smiled and drew a deep breath. "It's a belly of babies… I'm pregnant. With triplets."
The silence was tangible, and then it exploded with a happy hoot from Starfire. The alien would never mistrust her former leader, and childbearing was always something to be celebrated, after all.
"Congratulations," Raven blurted out after a moment.
"You're knocked up?" Beast Boy gaped. "Really?"
"Is this why you have been away?" Cyborg said. "We haven't seen you around."
"Yeah, we went to Gotham for a while and the guys don't want me to work now, so-"
"Of course you shouldn't work!" Cyborg exclaimed, getting nods from the rest of the group. "What if something happened?"
Robin smiled, feeling slightly optimistic. He didn't think he could ever be close friends with them again, at least not the males, because they had hurt him too much, but if they could be at least civil and talk, that would be great… for work too, really.
"Sit down!" Raven said and levitated a free chair to him from another table.
"Would you like a slice of the pizza?" Starfire asked and pushed her plate toward him.
Robin looked down on it.
"What's on it?" he asked, his nose sniffing.
"Tomato, cheese, pepperoni, anchovies, banana, curry, chocolate sauce and mustard," the alien said.
"Needs cream," Robin said, and in a rush the redhead had fetched a container of whipped cream from the kitchen. Robin smeared it on and started munching happily.
"Damn, you really are pregnant, aren't you?" Beast Boy said, looking a little greener than usual.
"Yup!" Robin grinned.
"Who... err... who is the father?" Raven asked.
"Don't know," Robin shrugged. "Well, it's either Red or Slade, obviously, but…"
"But you are still… together?" the empath wondered, trying to be sensitive.
"Yes, and we are going to raise them together," Robin nodded. "Who the biological father is won't matter."
"Three… well, that's kinda expected of a cat, right?" Cyborg smirked.
Robin's eyes narrowed, but it seemed the older teen was just making a joke. The cat-boy wasn't quite ready for the almost cruel jokes they had enjoyed when they were friends though, his skin was nowhere thick enough.
"How much longer?" Starfire asked curiously.
"About four months, we think. It's all pretty much guess-work," her former leader grinned with a carelessness he didn't quite feel.
"Do you know if it will be boys or girls?" Beast Boy asked.
"No… I don't think we will find out either… I kinda want it to be a surprise," Robin answered. "Anyway, I won't be working for quite some time… just so you'll know…"
"We'll cover for you until you come back," Raven smiled. "And, don't take this the wrong way, Robin, but you seem… slightly less cat-like."
"Yeah, my doctor thinks it's the hormones… like I was like a kitten before, but now it's easier to focus… she thinks it's the body's way to prepare for the kids… I mean, you can't take off to chase light-reflections when you have to change diapers…" he added, trying to forget that he had found a reflection from Slade's watch completely irresistible the other day. He had matured, however, and rarely submitted to his cat-urges unless he felt completely safe and at ease. In public he only had the mood-swings to worry about now.
"Well, I have to go. Slade is waiting for me," Robin said and stood up. He wanted to leave while everything was still going nicely and no too embarrassing questions had been asked. At the mention of Slade's name, the males at the table tensed a little.
"Call us. All the time," Raven told him seriously.
"Oh, yes! And now we have to have the baby-bath, yes?" Starfire smiled.
"Err… don't go to any trouble, guys… but I guess we can have you over sometime? We are in the middle of renovations now, but…" Robin blushed. "I'll call, okay?"
"Do," Raven said again, and they waved him off as he left.
"It seemed to go well?" Slade asked carefully as Robin came up to him.
"It went great!" the teen smiled and kissed him.
"Good…" the man said and then spluttered. "What the hell have you been eating?"
T.B.C…
A/N: yeah... as above, forgot about the A/N... About the mellow Titans (well the boys) I just... well, if you meet a high school rival who is pregnant or you know just lost a family-member or something, things might get into perspective a little... at least I couldn't have BB and Cy be mean (they wouldn't dare with Raven and Star there either)... because I don't think they ARE totally bad, it's just an fall-out which has gotten out of hand... peace people! ;)
