Hello gorgeous readers!
Sorry for the long wait. As always, blame it on life.
Thanks again to all those who left reviews and of course to all of you for coming back to read!
So...I'm at home isolating this week because of potential corona (am fine, just coughing really), so fingers crossed can use the time to get some writing done!
On that note, hope you're all staying safe. Wash your damn hands.
Big thank you to Luxah, who played the wonderful Max this time around!
This is honestly kind of a silly chapter that started and just sort of rolled. I hope you enjoy it!
Sympathy Pains
The night of their family reunion with Kai, Ray took the others aside for a family meeting.
The soon to be father finally had the veil lifted from his eyes and had sunken in to the reality that that baby was coming. And coming soon.
Kai's panics and flaps were limitless, but they weren't without reason...in some cases at least.
They really weren't ready.
And as he had promised him, he would take care of it.
The only issue was, with Kai in the hospital and time ticking down until his water broke, Ray needed some help.
There was a lot to do, and little time to do it.
He knew it was a risk...
But he had to send his non biological children in to the outside world in order to get supplies.
Alone...
Without either him or Kai to watch them.
Oh god...this was a taste of parenthood...
He made sure both their phones were fully charged, armed them with a list of anything he could think of off the top of his head and handed over momma's credit card.
With a wave and a flush of anxiety, his hand came up to wave back as the two of them flung their arms around to wave bon voyage to him as they left on the little boat down the river.
This was fine...
"This is great!" Tyson yelled as he jumped on the rickety boat, getting a glare from the startled drive that went unnoticed as he draped an arm round Max, "Just two guys out in the big city!" he added as he pretended to smoke a cigar.
Max chuckled and shook his head.
"It is great, but don't forget, we've got serious business to attend to! Ray is counting on us." he said as he pulled the list from his pocket.
Tyson suddenly stood straight.
That was right...little buddy was counting on them.
"And we won't let him down! Let me get a look at that list!" he spat in a heroic tone as he snatched it out of Max's hands.
….Only to have the thin, primitive paper tear in half.
He stared at his side of the paper a moment before sending a sheepish smile to his friend.
Max slapped his palm to his face.
Not even 5 minutes in...
"I...just let me hold on to that." he ordered as he took it back.
Thank god it was all still legible. And worse came to worse they could call Ray, but he didn't want to stress out the slowly frazzling papa.
Tyson's high tension simmered down to normal after that.
Max was right. They were here on a job.
He had to focus...
They went quiet. His eyes travelled over the tranquil rolling hills and mountains, with their distinctive plants and trees as they slowly passed by.
As they did, his mind wandered.
What a truly insane few months...
And how insane was it that Kai...Kai, was pregnant...
That still hit him every now and then.
And then all of a sudden it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Which...wasn't really. Not in his world. But here he guessed it was.
His head suddenly presented him with every movie or soap opera scene he'd ever watched where a woman went in to labor.
The rushing, the hustle and bustle of doctors and nurses...
The screaming...
"...You reckon it hurts?" he asked suddenly, peering over in to the river as he had been with Max for a little while..
Max did a double take from the scenery to Tyson.
"Reckon what hurts?"
Tyson paled.
"Pushing a baby out..."
"Well... I'm sure it's not pleasant." He supplied, how would he know?
"But like... I have been thinking..." Max started after a few moments of quiet with a small blush. Was it wrong he thought about this too many times, especially when it concerned his captain? Probably, but he was genuinely curious. "Where's it gonna come out of?"
Tyson's eyes spasmed as he shuddered.
"Didn't Ray mention he grows...like...his own lady parts?"
Max's eyes widened in response, "Nooooo. Are you sure you heard him right?!"
Tyson shrugged. "I'm sure that's what he said. And how else is it gonna come out?" he asked with another shudder.
"I don't know! That's why I asked!" Max exclaimed, pressing his legs closer together. "Then... Yes... I'm sure it's going to hurt." He nodded as he came to his brilliant deduction. Was it also really bad he kind of wanted to see how that happened?
Tyson nodded back, still shuddering as he took a moment to go to his quiet place. "Is it...is it wrong I kinda wanna see it? When the time comes..." he asked, ashamed.
Max stalled. Oh no... Did he support his buddy or shove him under the bus? Was kind of cruel to shove him under it, but the driver of the boat had already been giving them weird looks...
"Tyson! That's gross!"
Tyson panicked. "Wha!? I just mean, for science!" he shrieked.
Max just shook his head at him, he'd feel bad for this later. "Shame on you! I ought to tell Ray that you want to take a peek in Kai's pants..."
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" he squealed back, red in the face. "Aren't you just a little bit curious to know how the hell our Sourpuss is going to push a human out of him was all I meant!"
"No. I am not." Max lied hard as he inched his butt closer to the side of the boat along the bench. "I'm sure he'll be fine though, once it's done it's done."
Tyson's face paled. "What if it bursts out of him like in Alien!? You know, just PLEEEHHHH! ARRGGHHH!" he re-enacted dramatically with spread legs and a mangled face.
Max stifled a laugh, "I think that'd be more painful. If that was the case I wouldn't mind seeing that, you know, for science."
Tyson gasped and put on an evil smirk. "Maxie...you cold son of a bitch..."
"I didn't say I wanted him to die like the guy in the movie did, but just think about! Everything is calm, they're playing soothing music to help calm him down and then his stomach just rips open and it's all BLAHHHH EHHHHH!" Max mimicked Tyson as he shoved a hand up his shirt, pushing on the fabric and moving his hand around like something was coming out of his stomach.
Tyson sprayed as he cackled laughing. "Oh nooooo! Poor Sourpuss! Aint enough deep breathing in the world to help with that!"
Max couldn't hold in his laughter any more, slapping his knee. "Know who I feel really sorry for though?" He managed through his laughter.
"Who?!"
"Ray. Kai's going to kill him for doing this to him." Max continued to laugh, wiping the tears from his eyes. "My mom said she punched my dad in the nuts when she went into labor with me, probably why I'm an only child."
"Ppfffffff! Not surprised, look at the size of the noggin on you!" Tyson laughed harder before he squirmed again. "Oh nooooooo both Ray and Kai have pretty big heads..."
Max sucked in a breathe through his teeth, crossing his legs.
"Ohhhh no, ouch. Rest in peace Kai's temporary lady bits."
Tyson shook his head, the images horrific...
"So that means, at least temporarily, our captain is actually going to be Cat Woman?!" he exclaimed as his eyes expanded to dish plates.
"D-don't say that out loud around him!" Max wheezed, "But it-it makes sense with all the purring, and-and the head nuzzles." He howled.
Tyson stopped laughing. "Ah yes. The head nuzzles I didn't get."
Max pushed him on the arm, "Oh don't be like that, get your chance at the party. Just give him a bottle of mustard or something."
Tyson beamed. "Hey YEH! Let's bring back all the mustard we can!"
Tyson smacked him on the back, going back to look at the mountains.
All right! It was up to them...
A few hours of boat followed by a long bus ride later, he was staring in despair at the aisles and aisles of baby crap. None which he knew, and nor could he read the box due to lack of knowing Chinese.
"Maaaaaaaaaaaxxxxx what is all this crap?!" he whined.
Max scowled. Once more, how the hell was he supposed to know?! "Um... Maybe be best to try and figure it out by the pictures on the boxes?" He suggested, looking around and back down at the torn up list Ray had given them. His chicken scratch was almost unreadable as the rest of what was around them.
Tyson sighed. "Okay, well these bottle things look like something they'd need. Didn't Aoba have one like it? Doesn't look like the sizes change..." he said more to himself as he scanned the shelves, picking up a random box and looking at the picture. His lip wobbled trying not to smile. "I think this is nipple lotion...you think he might need that?"
"I..." Max stuttered, HOW THE HELL WAS HE SUPPOSED TO KNOW?! "Do... Do you think he'll you know...?" He motioned around his chest to mimic the size of boobs.
Unfortunately as a Chinese woman walked by, shooting a scowl and a deathly tut as she hurried herself to another aisle.
Tyson blinked, getting more traumatised by the thought of Kai with a D cup.
"Nooo..." he droned before a long pause, "Nooooo surely if he was gonna, they'd have appeared by now..."
"Well... If the other, you know." Max said as he motioned at his crotch, "Doesn't show up until later, then maybe the others don't as well... But then Aoba would have had them too, right?"
Tyson shuddered hard. "No! Aoba doesn't!" he comforted himself.
He'd seen enough of Kai's cleavage in their first year as a team...
Max let out a sigh of relief, "Okay... So I don't think he needs that, but the baby will need diapers."
"Right! Diapers! OHHH! And bibs!" He remembered proudly. Kai always said he needed one when he ate.
"Right, and wipes! Oh, clothes, and blankets and socks!" Max listed off, those would be easy to find since they didn't come in a box. "But... We don't know what they're having, do we just get a mix of colors?"
"BLUE FOR BOY!" Tyson cried out confidently, charging off leaving a trail of dust in search of the infant clothes.
Max sighed, getting ready to turn the cart around. With it already starting to fill, he wheeled it around in search of Tyson. Where were the baby clothes?
Eventually he caught sight of a baseball cap. And little clothes. With a big push, he wheeled the cart over to him.
Tyson turned, his large, watering eyes to him as he held up the iddy biddy onesie.
"Maxxxxiiiie..."
"Ohhhhhhhhh!" Max eyed the baby clothes, "Look how small" His voice cracked in a way it hadn't since he hit puberty.
Tyson held up the doll shoes that had been stabbing him in the feels for the past 5 minutes. "And look at these!" his own cracked, "For the tiny little feet!"
"Eeeeee! We have to get them!" Max squealed as his body went into overdrive instantly and vibrated.
Tyson threw them in. "And looooooooooooooooooooooooook! These ones have little tigers on them!" he gushed as he held up another little onesie set.
"In the basket!" Max declared as he pointed down at it.
Tyson let out a little squeal, doing as he was told. "And these...and I found these...and THESE! And loooook this one has a sweepy widdle moon on it!" he gushed hard as he shoved them in Max's face before tossing them in.
"Are you checking sizes? If you get the wrong size they won't fit in them." Max said with worried eyes as the tiny articles of clothing were just tossed in.
"This is the newborn section!" He replied like a madman, still tossing little socks and onesies in.
"Okay, just making sure." Max huffed as the pile just kept growing. "Maybe you should wait a minute, I'm sure they're not going to need this much. Get a few outfits and put the rest back."
As hard as he wanted to gush at all the cute little outfits, they also had to be sensible. The baby could grow out of those before they even had a chance to take the tags off.
"But Maaaaaax!" He pouted, holding up the bear onesie that had little ears on the hood.
Max recoiled.
Oh, that wasn't fair.
"Change it out with something else."
"NO!"
It got thrown in...
Max palmed his face, Kai was going to kill them after getting the bill...
"Alright, last one!" Max scolded as he pulled the cart out from under Tyson as he went to slam dunk another armful of clothes. "They need other things too, c'mon."
As soon as Max's back was turned, Tyson pivoted, snatching one or two more.
He went after him, finding his walk turning in to more of a waddle.
Oof. His belly bloated for some reason. What had he eaten?
And why was his back aching?
"Ohhhh, feel how soft this is." Max said as he grabbed the fleece blanket from the rack and held it out to Tyson after rubbing his cheek on it.
Tyson reached out and rubbed the blanket between his fingers. Ooooohhh little buddy was going to be so comfy and cosy wrapped up in that.
Aww...just the image alone made him feel a little...
His lip wobbled. " S'very so-ft." his voice cracked.
"Should get two, in case they spit up on it or something." Max said as he tossed in the one and grabbed another that was white with silver stars on it.
"Oh!" A light bulb went off, "They need baby towels, and shampoo and a tub!"
Tyson nodded and followed behind, reaching behind himself to hold his aching back. "Heeeeyyyy! Not so fast!" he scolded.
Max shot him a dirty look over his shoulder. Says the guy who kicked up dust in his wake earlier! "Then keep up!"
He snapped back and moved faster, dragging the cart behind him.
"But my feet huuuuurt...think my ankles are swelling!" he whined back at him.
"What?" Max shook his head at him, "Then go sit down or something."
Tyson huffed.
"Oh fine...shove me in the corner...I see how it is..."
Max stopped pulling the cart with a huff, turning back to face him. "Do you want me to carry you or something?"
"I just want you to walk with me!" he cried back at him.
Oh what?! Was he too ugly to be seen with in public?!
Max refrained from rolling his eyes. He was starting to remind him of Kai...
Welp, then he guessed he'd better be like Ray.
He held his hand out for him.
"Okay, c'mon sweetie." He called with a stupid grin on his face.
Tyson lit up, reaching it out and taking it. "See. Now was that so hard? I swear sometimes I think you're ashamed of me."
"What? What would ever give you that idea?" Max asked with a hurt tone. "You know I love ya!" He grinned harder, fighting the bubble of giggles in his stomach. The hell was going on?! "C'mon, we need to get little Petunia some bath towels." He directed them as he swung Tyson's hand in his, dragging the cart with the other.
"Urgh! No niece of mine is being named Petunia, thank you very much...and love you too Maxiiiie..." he gushed back.
Max gave a weird look at Tyson, maybe his joke went over his head. "No, Petunia is our baby."
Tyson snapped his head at him and frowned. "The hell have you been doing to me in the night!?"
Max blinked. Were they not just playing up the whole 'happy couple expecting a baby?' "Aside from plugging your mouth with Chief's dirty socks to stop you from snoring so loud, nothing."
Tyson tilted his head, deep in thought.
"...Our babies would be beautiful..."
Max arched a brow.
...Was, was he going through mood swings too?! If this was how it was going to be during the entire pregnancy he wanted a divorce now.
"Yes, yes they would." He nodded as they reached the bath section.
Tyson let go of his hand, making a bee line for the cute, hooded towels. "Oh my gooooddddddd!"
"Just get a few, they don't need twenty baby towels." Max said as he caught up to him. This was slowly becoming a ball ache and a half, and they weren't even halfway down the list yet.
Tyson waved his comment off, throwing in various bathing supplies for little buddy.
Ohhhhhh the box had a little baby butt on it.
LOOK AT THE LITTLE CHUNKY BUTT!
He threw it in, was probably important...
He carried on down the aisle, looking down at himself.
"Hey Max...?" he asked as he pulled his shirt down harder against his belly, "Is it me or did I get a little puffy?"
Max smacked himself in the face. "No dear, you're glowing." He sarcastically quipped back.
But sadly, it went over the other's head.
Tyson blushed and giggled, rubbing his belly.
"Oh...you!"
Max held his hand back out for him, "C'mon we need to get what's actually on the list now."
Tyson came willingly, drying the budding tears in the corner of his eyes.
Max was such a good buddy!
And gonna be such a good uncle!
Meanwhile, back in White Tiger Hills, Ray wiped his brow, smearing paint on himself in the process as he sat on the floor for a break.
Who knew painting a room would be so much work!
Well...he had taken all the furniture out the room by himself.
Which was now cluttering up his and Kai's room...
God, his back ached...
"Raaaaaaay?" A familiar voice called from downstairs, making him leap out his skin a moment.
He didn't even hear her open the door!
"Upstairs, ma!" he shouted down.
They needed to come to him...
He stretched his neck while the footsteps made their way upstairs, his mother poking her head round the door.
"Hey sweetie!" she greeted warmly as she stepped in and looked around, "I thought you were going to be starting before we got here?"
Ray choked.
"I have started!" he retaliated defensively, "Do you know how much stuff was in here!?"
His mother gave him a stern look.
"Don't you go complaining! It was ever so generous of Lee's family to let you live here!"
Ray groaned.
"I never said it wasn't..."
Urgh. There was no point. She'd just twist his words...
"Don't go twisting his words, hun. He cleared it all out by himself and got started, just like he said." another voice reasoned as he too stepped in.
Rei smirked at his dad, happy for the backup.
Yui huffed.
The boys were always ganging up on her...
She was just saying.
"Well, then there's no excuse to be laying around! Chop chop! You and your father have work to do! The sooner you paint it, the better! Takes a while to air out the fumes and whatnot...don't want your newborn breathing all that in!"
Ray paled.
He...he hadn't thought of that...
"Yes, mom..." he sighed.
Yui softened a little.
Maybe she was being too hard...
"Well...you boys get moving. I'll go down and give you a hand with the housework. I've brought everything to make your favorite for lunch. I'll make some extra so we can take it to Kai later on. Bet he's sick of the hospital food..."
Rei perked up.
"Thanks, mom!"
His stomach was already growling, and he was already laughing on the inside.
Sounded like Kai was getting a visit from the inlaws today...surprissssse!
As his wife left them to it, Ken picked up the paintbrush along with Ray and got to work.
Their chit-chat gradually faded, and all that was left was the sound of the wet bristles brushing against the wall.
Which let it all hit Ken like a tonne of bricks.
He glanced to the side, taking in Ray hard at work. Tall, broad shouldered and muscular.
But in his mind, he was still only up to his knee and light enough to ride on his shoulders.
He could still remember scrambling to get the house ready when Yui's belly was big and ripe.
And now he was helping his son get ready to bring his own home...
His vision blurred until he blinked it away.
"Hey, Ray?"
"Hm?"
"I'm real proud of you..."
Ray's pointed ears flickered as his hand dropped from the wall, hanging loose by his side.
Where had that come from?
That came out of nowhere, but didn't mean it didn't have a heavy impact on his chest.
"Oh...uh...thanks..."
Ken cleared his throat.
"I know things got out of hand between you and Kai there...in fact, it's all been pretty out of hand since you got here. Took a while for the news to sink in, that whole business with those monsters kidnapping him, the huge strain on your relationship and now him laid up in hospital...becoming a parent is heavy enough as it is, let alone with all the rest that's gone on for kids as young as you two."
Ray shrank a little.
Proud or not, he knew his mother and father didn't approve of how young they both were.
Hell, it wasn't like he or Kai had planned it either...ten years in the future would have been better.
"But, despite it all and all the arguments, you're standing by him and stepping up. Righting your wrongs and forgiving his so you can be the parents you need to be. It's only going to get harder once the baby is born. Sleepless nights and worries...and that's just before they learn to walk." he smirked, mind rolling over every time Ray made his hair greyer over the years, which was yet to stop, "But I know that baby is awful lucky to have you as its father."
Ray nibbled on the inside of his bottom lip as he tried to nod casually.
"Tha-nks..."
He didn't realise just how much he needed to hear that kind of reassurance or acknowledgement.
His dad gave him a small chuckle and pat on the back.
"Anyway...Your mother is right. The sooner we finish this, the better..." he distracted, before the room smelled more like tears than paint fumes.
A few hours, a quick shower and his mother's life altering cooking later, the three of them wandered their way down the dirt track with Kai's share wrapped up and ready for him.
Ray lead them down the familiar halls down to Kai's room, giving the door a tap before opening it and peering round.
As it had been since Kai was admitted, the sight Ray would never tire of happened.
Kai visibly lit, happy to see him and seemed to glow as he eased himself up in his bed.
"Hey..." he greeted as the fang slipped out from behind his smiling lips.
"Hey." Kai smiled back, only for it to drop a little when Ray's mom and dad came in with him.
It wasn't that he disliked them. Not at all.
Just...
"KAI! Sweetie! How are you feeling?!" Yui's high pitched voice erupted through the room as she overtook Ray and zoomed to the bed.
Kai sank in to his pillows, bracing himself.
"I-"
"How's your head? Still bandaged up I see. Is it still hurting?" she asked as she gently brushed back his bangs to get a look.
"N-"
"And how about my grandbaby?! Any changes? Is she awake?!" she fired as her free hand went to rub over the mound that sat under Kai's shirt.
"Mom..." Ray warned, going around the other side of the bed so he could actually access his fiance and placed a kiss on the top of his head.
"But yeh...how are you?" he chuckled as he set himself down.
Kai shifted.
"Yeh...all right..."
Ray frowned at the tone.
He was lying.
"What's wrong?"
Kai shifted and adjusted his position more, face looking worried.
"Tao's coming by in a little while. The nurse said he's dealing with another patient right now and then he's coming to me."
Ray's stomach dropped, not liking the way he'd said it.
"Why? Just a normal check over or...?"
Kai shook his head, turning a little pink.
"Uh, no...last night I started getting these aches and since then it's been getting worse."
All Ray's organs dropped as he felt panic.
"Aches?! Where?! Did the nurse check you over?!" he fired out, trying to keep calm for Kai's sake and not doing a great job.
Surely if it was that serious, Tao would be there in a heartbeat.
The pink in Kai's face deepened as as he glanced at his soon to be mother and father in law and wished they hadn't come at this particular time.
But...of course...now they looked as concerned as Ray did.
"Yeh, he did. He thinks he knows what it is so...Tao will be coming by to verify..." he dodged.
Ray's face turned stern.
"Kai. Don't dance around it. Tell me!"
The pink turned red as he let out a whine of discomfort.
"It's aching down there, okay!?" he spat out, getting ready "He's pretty sure it's just my body starting to get ready for...you know!"
All three of their faces relaxed and started to glow themselves.
"Awww...honey...not long to go now." Yui reminded softly as she gently rubbed his belly again.
Kai let her have it, laying back against his pillows and sighing.
"Yeh...don't remind me."
"Oh, it's going to be okay sweetie..." she comforted sympathetically, only lying a little.
If that kid's head was as big as Ray's, she for one could testify that was gonna hurt...
But, was all right in the end.
With that, the door opened.
"Ah, grandma and grandpa as well! Sorry to keep you waiting, Kai." the small, wrinkly man apologised as he shuffled his way in around the visitors.
He took himself around beside Ray, hopping up.
"Was told your having some discomfort..."
Kai nodded, color flushing again.
"Mhmm..."
Tao nodded.
"All right. Let's have a look. Drop 'em and spread 'em."
Kai choked, entire head burning red.
Oh sweet mother of God...the moment he'd been fearing...
Or one of them at least.
Tao smiled at the two extra visitors.
"If you wouldn't mind waiting outside a minute..."
Yui stroked Kai's hair.
"Yeh, Ken...you wait outside..." she hinted stubbornly.
"Mom..." Ray warned.
Trust her to want to stay.
Yui took in Kai's cooking face, smelling his desperation for her to leave and rolled her eyes.
"Fine. We'll be right outside."
Kai willed her to walk slowly...
But sadly, she was out and the door was closed in seconds.
He turned his head, Tao looking at him expectantly.
It was fine...Tao'd seen more kinds of balls than a the All Starz team put together.
"Come on. Off." Tao coaxed as he hopped off to wash his hands in the small sink.
He whimpered silently, giving in and inching his pants off, putting them to the side and laying back.
Suddenly he got hit with nerves again.
Wasn't exactly your every day situation...growing stuff down there...
Ray took up his hand, feeling a little paler himself.
He was grateful it wasn't him, but felt bad he'd put Kai in this position.
Shit, if this was how bad he felt about this, how was it going to be when he went in to labor?
Tao came back, hopping his way to the end of the bed.
"Okay, scooch!"
Ray felt his hand get squeezed tighter as he shuffled down, daring to take in his uncomfortable expression.
He figured he should keep his eyes up on his face...Kai wouldn't like him looking.
Kai had similar feelings, only because he didn't dare look down at the little old walnut with his hand poking around...there.
Violet and amber locked on each other, refusing to budge.
The suspense grew...
And then.
"HHNNN!"
The pitch and sound was one Ray had never heard.
The face he made was one he'd never seen.
The horrible sensation in his own crotch was one he'd never felt as he pressed his own thighs together. Hard.
Fuck...
He owed him more than an offering of his mom's cooking...
End of Chapter!
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd ever be writing about Tyson having like a sympathetic pregnancy XD.
I hope you enjoyed it! Will do my best to get another update ready for you sooner!
Until then, any comments would be appreciated, and please take care of yourselves!
