Author's Note: I recently had a request to continue Baby Of Mine. I have been told by so many that they love that story and as my first piece it holds a very special place in my heart. Our 1xR discord server had a challenge for Father's Day and I decided to take advantage of it and add one last addition. I hope you enjoy it! I also posted it separately first thinking it would be better. either way, I hope you all enjoy it! Thank you so much for reading this and for loving my story so much!

~Serene

The stale smell of bleach and antiseptic assaulted his senses as he paced the floor of the pale hospital hallway. It had been hours since he'd heard anything regarding her condition. He was her husband! Shouldn't he be in there with her?! He had been told by her brother that this happened before; that near complications had caused her to need emergency assistance in the process but he never dreamed it would happen again. For the first time in his life, Heero Yuy felt truly helpless.

The feeling of a tiny hand grabbing his reminded him of the presence of their first born. His eyes looked up at her from her mother's face as she smiled at him. Two years ago he hadn't known of her existence and It had taken Relena being abducted to bring him out of hiding. In the confusion, he had been tasked with protecting Amethyst while the search for her mother had continued. He still kicked himself for never realizing that she had been his child: Relena wasn't the sort of woman to take lovers and he knew he had been her first. If the age of the child hadn't tipped him off, then he should have figured it out based on what he knew of Relena. In all the time since, she had yet to yell at him for his lack of common sense and somehow seemed to know that it was more out of distraction that he hadn't noticed rather than accusation. He could still see the scene in his mind the moment when he found out the truth...

At Seeing Dartman standing behind Relena, Heero had tensed and struggled to make a move at her from behind the guards, only to receive a rifle in his gut and another to the back of his head. He would have kept going, such blows hardly fazed him, but he saw a few riflemen fix their sights on Relena and he froze, relaxing.

"Ah yes. You're just now finding out, aren't you Mr. Yuy? You see Lieutenant Dartman has been working for me this whole time, slowly implementing my plan. She is a credit to my units indeed. The best soldier I have ever had... until now."

"What?" Heero's voice was all but a growl.

"Why, you my boy. You are to be my new soldier, the head of all my regiments leading the way on my path to glory."

"And I thought Dekim was crazy." At that, another soldier hit him in the stomach.

"So you do have a sense of humor. Good. Let's see if you find this next part as entertaining as I do, hm? If you fail to agree to my terms..." Dartman pulled out her gun and pointed it at the back of Relena's head. "Then I will have no other choice than to end her life. I realize that would be a bit of a setback but it will far from ruin things. No indeed. I'll simply have to utilize your daughter to my best advantage and-"

Reinhold stopped as he watched Heero's face pale and his body stiffen. Heero looked at Relena, realization dawning on him as hard as a punch in the face.

"Heero..." Relena's voice came out as a strangled whisper. She hadn't wanted him to find out this way.

"You... don't tell me you didn't tell him. He really didn't know? Oh this is too rich! You really didn't? Well! Surprise! You're the proud father of her adorable little girl!"

By that time, Relena had lowered her eyes, unable to look at him, shame written all over her face. Heero's heart twisted to see such a sad, defeated expression clouding her features…

The look of defeat and shame he had seen on her face killed him at the time. He hadn't known at that moment if it had been shame that he was her father, or shame that Relena never told him. It hadn't taken him long to realize that it was the latter. Still, taking care of Amethyst had been an unexpectedly welcome adventure. It never ceased to amaze him how quickly and thoroughly this little girl had him wrapped around her little finger; further proof that she was truly her mother's daughter.

"Daddy," she began, smiling at him. When they first met, she had called him 'Mr. Heero'. He had taken care of her and in doing so, had gotten to see a side of himself he didn't know he hadn't known he'd possessed: a gentle, paternal side. It became all the more apparent the first time she called him "daddy".

Heero had been getting her ready for bed. Bathtime had been a chore since Relena was normally home by then but had had to work late leaving Heero the supervising parent. The night started with her refusing to eat her brussel sprouts.

"Ammy, You have to eat your brussel sprouts. It is necessary for a balanced diet."

"Then you can eat mine!" The grin she gave him with those words both irked and amused him. He stared the child down for a small eternity, before finally giving in. Heero had, inevitably, met his match. His daughter was just as stubborn as her mother.

"Alright, time for your bath."

"Not until momma comes home!" She crossed her arms over her chest, a slight pout, identical to Relena's marred her features.

"Amethyst, your mother has to work late tonight. You know that."

"Yeah." Her deep blue eyes looked down at the table, in what seemed to be resignation.

"She expects me to have you fed, bathed and in bed before she gets back." Heero reminded her gently. "So, get to the bathroom and get in the tub." She raised a brow and the corner of her lip quirked up as if she were deep in thought. It was something her mother did on occasion.

"Only if you catch me!" Before Heero knew it, Amethyst ran off and away, dashing through the halls with an almost unnatural speed. Heero followed her closely, barely missing her as she ducked under tables and slid around furniture. In spite of the frustration he felt, he found himself enjoying their chase. Finally, he had to upper hand as she ran around the corner, he hid around one of the houseplants and waited. When she made her appearance, Heero reached out with his own unnatural speed, snapped her up and clutched her close.

"Let me go! I'm not done playing yet!" as she giggled and squirmed, he managed to carry her to the bathroom and to the tub. He set her down gently and turned away, unsure what exactly to do.

"Get out of your clothes and into the tub. I'll be right outside the door if you need me, ok?" The splash she made as she made contact with the suds-filled water would have, no doubt, irked the housekeeping staff if he hadn't taken the time to mop it up himself. Unsure if she had still needed assistance, he stayed nearby, giving the occasional reminder to wash her hair and behind her ears. Finally, after he was certain she would prune up from saturation, he told her to get out of the tub.

This, too, was a struggle resulting in him hoisting her up and into a nice fluffy towel. Again, she squirmed and laughed as he plopped her onto her bed. She shrugged into her nightgown her mother had laid out and put on what she had proudly declared as her princess underwear.

"Mommy always braids my hair before bed." she had informed him.

Heero, despite being a soldier, had actually had to braid in the past as part of his training required the ability to construct strong, reliable, ropes. Taking the child's flaxen hair in hand, he skillfully twisted and wove the strands into a braid and bound it at the end with a small blue ribbon. Amethyst shared her mother's affinity for ribbons. She really was a miniature copy of his wife.

"How's that?" Heero asked and his daughter jumped out of his lap and ran to the mirror. After a moment of tossing her head from side to side to check it before turning to him with the largest smile he had ever seen.

"It looks great! Almost better than mommy's!" She jumped up and hugged him, and he wrapped his arms around her. This was his child. His daughter that he had made with Relena. It seemed nearly impossible. He held her a little closer and stroked the top of her head before carrying her over to her bed and gently pulling back the covers to slide her in. as she settled in, he tucked her in and leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. The first time he had done so had surprised him; now it seemed so natural.

"Get some sleep, Ammy."

"Okay." she snuggled in further to her bed and he turned to leave. "Good night, daddy." Heero paused. Daddy? She had called him daddy. He smiled and walked back to his daughter, leaned down and kissed her forehead again.

"Goodnight."

That seemed so long ago, as if she's always been part of his life. In fact, he found he didn't care to try to recall a time where she and Relena were not in his life. He hadn't seemed to truly exist until they had become a family. Now, their family was growing. Relena was in labor with their second child… and he was a nervous wreck.

"Mommy will be fine. It's just a baby." In spite of his nerves, he smiled back down at his daughter. He knew Relena would be fine. It was partly guilt that had him uneasy. He felt guilty that he hadn't been there the first time; that she had had to go through this alone once. He needed to be in there.

Even though it had been two years he still had a hard time believing that it was real. Relena had not only given him a daughter but had married him. He had never pictured himself as a father. He had expected to die back in the wars but something had changed all of that. Relena had given him a purpose: something to live and fight for. This time he wanted to be present for every moment. When they decided to have a second child, it had been quite out of the blue.

It was one of Relena's rare days off and they had taken Amethyst to the park to play with Duo and Hilde's children. It was the sort of warm day that was made pleasant enough by a cool breeze coming from the North. The smell of fresh-cut grass and damp earth from the sprinkler system gave a hazy sort of feeling to the afternoon. Heero didn't like the way the braided man's oldest son seemed to smitten with her, but Relena assured him there was nothing to worry about. He didn't envy the job of scrubbing out the stains of their horseplay.

As they watched the children play, Heero saw something change in his wife. There was a wistfulness in her eyes; warm and gentle with a sense of longing. She sighed and he could almost swear he saw her hand gently rub over her abdomen. He realized, in that moment, that she might want another child.

He thought about it for a while. Hilde seemed to like the large family she and Duo had. Even Zechs and Noin had twins of their own. Would it be so bad to have another? What if it was another girl? Or what if it was a boy? He hadn't been there for Amethyst in her smaller stages. Would he be any good with a child that young? He barely knew what to do with their six year old. How would he handle an infant?

Still… that wistful look in her eyes made him want to try. Relena had a way of bringing out the best in him and giving him the courage to face anything. This would be just one more assignment; one he could choose for himself. He knew he could do it with her by his side. He took her hand in his.

"Relena?" She turned to face him, blue eyes still swirling.

"Yes?" she looked so beautiful; skin warmed by the sun had a pinkish tint and an ethereal glow. Her hair shone in the afternoon sun as the breeze made her bangs repetitively kiss her forehead. She was a vision.

"You want another." He meant it as a statement, but it came out more of a question. She stared at him for a moment before her lips curved up into a small.

"Are you asking me if I want another, or are you telling me you do?" She was teasing him, but he could see the need for an honest answer shining back at him.

"Both." Heero smiled back and watched as her eyes filled with tears.

"Are you sure?" He felt her studying him and reached up, brushing a stray tear off of her cheek.

"Yes."

"Oh, Heero!" She laughed and threw herself forward, hugging him tight as tears slid down her cheeks. He pulled her up and kissed her, much to the dislike of the grossed out children who made noises of protest and disgust.

When she told him she was pregnant, it had been one of the happiest moments of his life. It was also one of the scariest. The first time he heard the baby's heartbeat had stunned him and when she put his hand on her tummy to feel it kick, it made the situation all the more real. The closer they got to the due date, however, the more he discovered how complex the stages of pregnancy were for his wife. The morning sickness and cravings had been hard and confusing and the moodswings were worse than those of her usual monthly trials. When she asked him for deep fried pickles in mint chocolate chip ice-cream, it had nearly made him retch. However, his love for her overpowered his gag reflex and he helped her with everything he could.

Upon finding out about the new baby, Amethyst immediately took charge; a miniature dictator in pigtails. She told her mother where the nursery would be and how many toys the baby would need. She insisted she be in charge of him because as she put it:

"I'm the big sister. I have to make sure my baby knows everything it needs to."

Relena had wasted little time correcting as many of their six-year-old's misconceptions as she could but the child would not be detoured. It was, however, the cause of much amusement amongst their small family.

Meanwhile, Heero had taken to ensuring his wife's comfort. Back massages, foot rubs, and bubble baths were but a few things he did to ease her tension. She was bearing his child and he was determined to make it as easy for her as he could. He had enrolled them in lamas classes but she had refused.

"I have already been through this once, Heero. And besides, my time is better spent at the office."

He had tried a few more times to convince her, but she always refused. An unexpected, albeit welcome outcome of the pregnancy was the amount of physical intimacy she craved. Of course there were also times where she didn't want him to even look at her, let alone touch her, but he took it all in stride.

"Daddy?" Amethyst prompted him again. He knelt down next to his daughter and took hold of her as though she were the most precious thing in the world. He brushed a few strands of her flaxen hair out of her face and smiled. She really did look so much like her mother. Would their next child look like her too? Would it have her hair or his? Her eyes or his? Would he or she like the same foods? The same music? Would it be a boy or a girl?! Relena had opted to keep the gender of their next child a surprise until the delivery. It would have been so easy for him to find out on his own but there was very little he wouldn't do for her.

"Ammy, come with me. We're going to check on your mother."

"Okay daddy, but are you sure they'll let you back in? The doctors don't seem to like you very much." Heero's scoffed and his brows knitted together in a grimace as he remembered the reason he had been pacing the halls instead of waiting by her side. The doctors apparently did not like the way he talked to them when the complications began in her labor. Still, he had to be in there with her; if not for her sake, then for his. He stood and offered his hand, which she took, and they made their way to the doors of the maternity O.R.

Zechs pushed off the wall upon seeing them. Amethyst made her way to her uncle and he lifted her into his arms as her arms wrapped around his neck in a hug.

"Heero, I thought the doctors had you escorted from the premises." The tone of his voice was less than welcoming, but their relationship had improved over the years.

"Just out to the hall." Heero deepened his voice to show his displeasure at the older man's jab.

His brother-in-law had been less than thrilled with how he initially handled his relationship with Relena. Their mutual respect as soldiers only went so far to garner good will and knocking up the other man's younger sister before running off hadn't exactly helped. Even after the wedding, things remained rocky. None of that mattered now; Heero was done wasting time.

"How is she?"

"The doctors are saying she's fine. Things are going smoothly. It shouldn't be long now." Zechs smirked before his next remark. "If you're a good boy then maybe they'll let you back in." As much as the former Lightning Count deserved to have the smirk knocked off of his face, Heero didn't have the time.

"Watch my daughter." Heero didn't wait for the answer. He made his way to the room and opened the door. At first, the nurses tried to stop him, but a glare from him and Relena's desperate plea for him to be at her side gave them pause and caused them to allow him to pass. He went to her and took her hand in his. As she looked at him, he saw all of her pain, but also, her relief at seeing him. The love overtook the pain for a moment and the smile that formed on her perfect lips warmed him.

"Heero." she breathed his name in a labored, shaky breath, but again, her relief came through.

"Relena." He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it; the clammy feel of her skin did not escape his notice. Upon further inspection, she was pale and covered in sweat. A few veins were making themselves evident from her effort. Even in the fluorescent, pale light she still looked like an angel… an angel giving birth to his child. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I'm here."

The rest of the process seemed like a blur. She squeezed his hand with strength he hadn't known she was capable of. The doctors spoke a lot of medical jargon; some he understood, most he didn't. Through it all, he reminded her to breathe and told her to look at him. It was amazing. All this pain. She was going through all of this so that their second child could be born. He had told her once how scared the thought of it all made him.

"You're joking?" She smiled and the sparkle in her eyes made his heart skip. "The man who single-handed saved the world twice is afraid of a baby?" she shifted her weight on the bed, her golden hair falling over one, naked shoulder.

"No." He began, and looked away, slightly embarrassed at his own fear. "I'm afraid of what will happen after the baby comes." Her pink lips tilted into a frown and she sighed.

"Heero." She began. "Look at me." After a moment, he did so, Prussian blue eyes meeting with aqua. "You will be an amazing father."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do." He still couldn't look at her. How could she have so much confidence in him? He was a soldier. A killer. He was a man whose first instinct was to kill or be killed. He didn't deserve her love, or her faith. How could she possibly trust him with this?

"I know what you're thinking. You're wrong. You may have been the perfect soldier once, but That isn't who you are now." Her smile widened. "You are my husband; father of our little girl. You are my heart and I know that the only person you love more than me, is our daughter. YOu are so good with her, Heero. She adores you." She paused and caressed his face. "That is how I know you'll be an amazing father… you already are."

"Relena."

He had kissed her then and they made love once more. It had been the night that reaffirmed his earlier thoughts about being able to do anything with her to help him through.

"Alright, Relena, we're almost there!" The doctor's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "A few more good pushes." He watched and waited and held her hand until finally he heard it: the piercing, precious wails of their newborn child. Years of training and personal research helped him see past the blood and the placenta to the miracle he had witnessed.

"Congratulations, you two. It's a boy." Heero looked down at the squirming bundle in amazement. He had made this. After years of destruction and death, he had finally created something so pure and innocent and beautiful.

"Would you like to cut the cord, dad?" Heero took the offered scissors and stared at the small, pink, fleshy baby... His son.

He cut the umbilical cord.

The doctor took the baby away to be cleaned and to patch up the remainder of the cord and wrapped the child securely in a receiving blanket. When the doctor came back over, he held out the bundle to Relena who held out her arms.

"Here we are." The doctor proclaimed, smiling.

"Mommy, daddy, meet your new baby boy." Relena gazed down at their son with a love and tenderness the likes of which he had never known… until now. His hand reached out as if of its own accord; fingers touched his hairy head; thick, chocolate brown locks.

"Heero… Heero... Look at him… he's... He's so beautiful." Heero could only agree as he stared down at them. HIs wife. His son. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, and then her lips before placing a soft kiss on his son's head.

"Beautiful." They both were. She looked up at him, eyes heavy but full of joy and relief.

"Heero… would you like to hold your son?" Heero looked at her for a moment. Should he? What if he dropped him? What if he held him too tight? The look in her eyes, however, gave him the courage he needed. He reached out and took hold of his son as if he were made of paper thin crystal.

"Mind his head." The nurse advised. Heero nodded and looked down as he cuddled the bundle close. This tiny, fragile thing was so small, and warm. He knew, in that moment, that he would always protect his child with everything he had. His son, his daughter and his wife were his whole world. He didn't know how he could ever deserve it, or if he ever would, but he was going to do all in his power to try.

"What is his name?" The nurse asked. Relena looked at him, eyes wide. They hadn't decided on any names, but one came to his mind.

"Johnathan. Johnathan Odin Yuy." Tears of pure joy came to his wife's eyes. He had named their son after the only fathers they had ever known. It was more than appropriate. The nurse nodded and walked away, leaving them alone. Heero sat on the edge of the bed, leaned in and hugged them both, letting the moment overtake him.

After a while, they wheeled mother and child into a room in the maternity ward where Relena could rest and feed their baby. Once she had been given the 'all clear' by the doctor to have visitors, her brother walked in with a very eager six year old running past him. Amethyst bounded through the door with more excitement and enthusiasm than Christmas morning. She jumped up on the bed.

"Mommy! Where's my baby?" Relena gave a tired laugh as their daughter perched on the bed.

"Ammy, be careful. Your mother is tired." Heero admonished. If he hadn't known any better, he would have thought she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, Daddy!" She bounced off the bed and over to him. "Can I see my baby now?" He shook his head and cast his wife a look for help but received merely a shrug in response.

"Go sit up with your mother. I'll hand you your brother when you're ready." Amethyst did as she was told with a large pout on her tiny face. Heero picked up his son, cradled him close and brought him over to the bed where his daughter's open and eager arms waited. With careful precision, he placed the baby in his daughter's arms and watched as the smile lit her face.

"Hi, baby brother." She kissed his head. "I'm your big sissy, Amethyst, and I love you."

Heero stared at the three of them on that hospital bed: wife, daughter, son. The three pieces of his heart. In all his life, Heero never thought he'd know true happiness. He thought he'd found it when he'd married Relena but now, he knew: his true happiness was right here, with the three of them.