A Strawberry and Vanilla Swirl
Chapter 1
All over the world there were festivals, robberies, oil being struck, people dieing. And Relena Darlian was sitting at her dinner table eating her fourth bowl of peas.
Peas. She had no idea why she had a craving for the small green things. They practically had no taste at all. She didn't even like peas that much. But she was supposed to eat whatever she craved.
Pagan poked his head into the large room. Once he got Relena's attention, he announced, "There's a young man here to see you, Miss."
Relena looked surprised. 'A young man'? She wondered if that young man was Heero.
"Who is it?" she asked.
Pagan gave the hint of a smile. "He told me to keep it a secret."
Relena jumped out of her chair as fast as she could. It had to be him. Although she'd never known Heero to keep that sort of thing a secret – or even come in the front door. It just had to be him.
When she got into the living room and found a blond sitting in a chair, she was slightly disappointed. Then, when she realized who the blond was, she felt a bit happier.
"Quatre," she greeted.
Quatre turned his head to her. He smiled and jumped up.
"Hello, Miss Relena," he said warmly as he walked over.
They hugged each other for a moment. As they pulled away she said, "Quatre, I've told you a million times you may call me 'Relena'. We are friends after all."
Quatre nodded. "I get it, no formalities." Then he got a bit more serious. "Relena, you don't mind if I stay here for awhile, do you?"
Relena was surprised by Quatre's question. Of course she didn't mind; she was so lonely all by herself, in a big castle. She was just sort of curious why he asked this so soon. "I would lover for you to stay. Why?"
Quatre didn't answer. Instead, he looked down. She followed his look to her stomach.
"I suppose you didn't know what it'll be," Quatre said.
Quatre dropped down to his knees. He poked her stomach and said in a quiet voice, "Hey, you better not cause your mother too much grief."
She sighed. "Don't worry about it Quatre, it's not your problem."
Quatre quickly stood up and looked in her eyes. "Problem? Relena, you are going to bring another life into the world. How can you call it a problem? Aren't you happy?"
"Quatre, I've always thought about this. The thing is, I was expecting the daddy to be with me for it."
Quatre gave her another smile. "That's why I'm here, Relena. I don't want a friend of mine to go through this alone. You don't mind, do you?"
Relena smiled slightly. "Of course not. It's awful lonesome around here."
Quatre saw tears beginning to well up in her eyes. He took her in another hug. "It's okay, Relena," he whispered in her ear. He leaned his head against hers. "Heero will come back. Don't worry. Alright?" He felt her nod and pulled away.
Personally, Quatre doubted Heero would come back. But he sure hoped, that if he did come back, he would hurry. Then Relena would be as happy as she was before.
"My bags are outside," Quatre informed her. "I probably owe that cab driver a lot now." He headed toward the door. "I'll be right back."
Quatre got a nice room. It was like any room, but didn't have much personal items in it. There were windows with curtains, and soft beds, and a mirror, and even its own bathroom. It was down the hall from Relena. He wasn't positive, but he guessed about six doors away.
It was about two in the morning, and Quatre was fast asleep. Suddenly, he shot up in bed.
"Uh oh," he whispered.
He rolled off the bed and landed on his feet. Since he was already in the bottom half of his pajamas, he tossed the top half on over his head. He exited the room and padded down the hall -- so as not to wake anyone up.
When he got to Relena's door, he knocked on it. Pushing it open slowly, in called to her. Seeing that she wasn't lying in her bed, or in her room at all, he went into the room and made a beeline for the bathroom.
That's where he found Relena. Her head hanging over the toilet, making disgusting sounds. He slowly walked over to her.
Relena came up from her second round of vomiting. She breathed in and out carefully, wiped her mouth with some toilet paper, and made a face at the taste in her mouth. When she leaned over to do it again, she was surprised when her hair didn't fall on her face. It felt like it was tied back. Then she felt something slide up and down her back. So, this time, when Relena sat back up and wiped her mouth with the toilet paper in her right hand, she looked over to her left to see Quatre standing there. He was holding her hair back and rubbing her back.
"Are you okay?" he asked her calmly.
She nodded and leaned against him. "How'd you know I was in here?"
He sighed. "Let's just say I could feel your pain."
"Hm."
She closed her eyes and Quatre wondered if she was falling asleep. She wasn't. This proved true when she opened her eyes to look up at him.
"You men sure are lucky you don't have to put up with this."
Quatre gave her a reassuring smile. "If all women are as strong as you are, Relena, there probably is a reason girls got the part."
Relena closed her eyes again and shook her head. Quatre leaned over and flushed the toilet, and when he felt her fall asleep, he picked her up and carried her out to her room.
He laid her down on her bed and covered her up with a blanket. He watched her for a minute before he let out a long sigh. "Good-night, Miss Relena." His eyes trailed down to her stomach. He reached over and put his hand on it. "Good-night to you, too."
Then he turned and headed back to his own room.
***
"Yeah. I was at a colonies meeting, and everyone was suspicious that you hadn't come," Quatre explained to the girl lying on the couch across from him.
She nodded. "Yes, I didn't want to go to any meeting. It wouldn't look right to have to make a trip to the bathroom in the middle of a conference. I guess I thought they would assume I was sick if I didn't come."
"That's what I thought," Quatre admitted. He shook his head as he took a sip of his teacup. He tried to think of something to say. He looked over at Relena.
"Do you want a boy or a girl, Relena?"
Relena smiled lightly. "I want a little girl. I want to fix her hair and get her cute clothes…"
"What'll you name her?"
Relena shrugged. "I haven't thought about her. I think I'd have to see her first."
Quatre looked down at his cup. "I'd want a boy. When I was young, I always wanted to do things my father said I was above." He shook his head. "I'd take him to see the lovely Earth. Buy him things. I might even let him have a pet. He could play baseball is he wanted to--" he glanced over at Relena. "It's like Cricket."
Relena nodded. Then, curiously, she asked, "What would you name your boy, Quatre?"
Quatre blushed. "I'm not very good with choosing names. I always thought that should be left to the mother. I mean, with everything they go through, they should be able to choose their child's name." He glanced over at Relena. "Right."
Relena gave him a big smile. "Sure. 'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet'."
"And if my boy were named 'Sue', I'd love him just the same."
"You know what Quatre? You've only been here a couple days, and it's not lonely around here anymore. How long will you be staying with us?"
"Until the baby comes or you kick me out – whichever comes first."
Relena laughed. "Oh, I doubt I'll be kicking you out anytime soon."
Well, she didn't kick him out. The two friends became closer those next couple months. No longer feeling alone, they would both share pass experiences. Quatre usually trying to avoid stories with Heero in them, although he just had to mention the time him and Duo took Heero's clothes to the wash.
Quatre was really protective of Relena. He wanted to take care of her; she noticed this. Sometimes, she felt like she couldn't stand on her feet without Quatre telling her to sit down and relax, ask her if she wanted anything to eat, wondering how she felt every five seconds. And she took the warmness kindly, too.
Quatre had been going to meetings every once in awhile, representing both of them. He tried avoiding meetings in space because he always made sure he wasn't gone long so he could get back and take care of Relena. Relena made a joke that the maids were probably starting to feel overpaid by their lack of work lately. But, Quatre's antics only became more frequent as seven months passed by and Relena was at that time.
Quatre came into the dining room with a luggage in one hand and a black jacket in the other. He smiled at Relena who was drinking a large cup of milk.
"How are you feeling?" Quatre asked as he sat his things on the floor by his chair.
"Usual," Relena replied. She couldn't say she felt good, but she couldn't say it was worse than she's ever felt.
Quatre sat down and took an apple from the basket in the center of the table. "So the big day's getting closer, are you excited?"
Relena looked up. She had been pregnant for nine months. It was now May, so she got pregnant back in September. Her birthday was last month, so that made her twenty-one. This was soon going to be all over and Quatre was asking if she was excited? She sure was!
"I can't wait to see my baby," Relena replied.
Quatre chuckled. He couldn't either. He wanted it to be a girl because that's what Relena wanted. And he wanted her to be happy – as always.
He got up from his chair and walked over to her. He kneeled down and put his hand on her stomach. He got his big smile on his face. "I like it when it kicks," he mumbled.
She laughed. "Yeah, well…"
Quatre headed back to his chair until he stopped halfway. He winced and turned back to Relena. Her head was hanging over the table and she was hissing in pain.
"Relena," Quatre said, shocked. "What's wrong?"
Relena lifted her head. "Quatre… I think… I think this is it."
Quatre's eyes bugged out. "Okay, Relena, hold on!"
He ran out of the dining room yelling for Pagan to get the car out in front – quickly. He came back a minute later and ran over to Relena.
"Oh God," she whispered. "My water broke."
Quatre bit his lip and half helped, half picked her up. "Come on Relena, the car's waiting outside." She nodded and tried to get out as fast as she could.
During the car ride, Quatre called Duo and Hilde. After they said they'd get there as soon as they could, he called Trowa. Trowa said he'd be there fast. It would be easy for him, since he was on Earth already. Next, Quatre called Wufei and Sally. They wouldn't answer so Quatre left a quick message as the car pulled up to the hospital. He put the phone in his pocket and looked over to Relena. Relena reached over and clasped her hand in his.
"Don't worry Relena," Quatre whispered. He quickly got out of the back of her pink car, ran to the other side, and helped her out. "I'll be right out in the waiting room, okay?"
On the way in, Relena replied, "But who's going to hold my hand?"
Quatre looked down when they got to the front desk. The lady in the front desk looked up at them.
"Yes, may I help you?"
"Yes," Relena said. "I need a doctor, I-"
She didn't have to finish her sentence. The lady at the desk looked her up and down. She quickly turned to the person behind her.
"Quick, get a wheelchair! Vice Foreign Minister Darlian is here and needs to get to the Maternity Room."
"How's that for service?" Quatre said to Relena.
Some nurse put Relena in a chair and pushed her off. Quatre watched her go until the lady behind the desk broke him off.
"Oh my God. You're Quatre Winner," she said. "I've seen you on the news."
Quatre nodded. Who hadn't?
The girl went on. "I heard the vice foreign minister was pregnant." She glanced to where Relena used to be and back to where Quatre was. "But I didn't know it was you."
Quatre was surprised by what she said. "What?! No, you don't understand…"
It was barely ten minutes later when Quatre ended up in the same room with Relena in it.
"Quatre," she said to the boy next to him.
"Shhh," Quatre whispered. "Just breathe, okay?"
"Quatre," she continued, ignoring what he said. "Why don't you wait for the others in the waiting room? Labor can take hours. But, promise that you'll come back in?"
Quatre smiled. "I promise." He got up and went out to the waiting room. To his surprise, Trowa was already there.
"Trowa!" Quatre said happily.
Trowa nodded back. "Hi, Quatre."
Quatre sat down next to him. "She's been doing so well, I'm so proud of her."
Trowa smiled slightly. "Did they drug her yet?"
"I doubt it."
"Oh yeah… Cathy said, 'Hi'."
Quatre smiled. "That's good. I don't see her much."
"No, you don't," Trowa agreed. He glanced around. "Where is everyone?"
"Well, Duo and Hilde should be here in a few hours. I think Wufei and Sally are on a mission. They wouldn't pick up."
Trowa gave him a look. "I think you missed someone."
Quatre looked back at him. "I don't know how to contact him, Trowa."
"Too bad we don't have a way of telling him he's going to be a father within the next couple of hours."
Quatre nodded in agreement.
The two friends held conversation for a while. This was rare, since there weren't many people Trowa would have a conversation with. Mostly, it was just his four 'friends' and his sister, Catherine.
About two hours later, Duo and Hilde got there. Quatre informed them about Relena, and how he tried to call Wufei and Sally.
"Man," Duo said. "They are always on missions, I bet they get good money."
"I heard the Preventers were going to be a nonprofit organization," Trowa said.
"Really?" Duo asked, surprised.
Then, Duo looked at the floor for a moment. Hilde noticed his sudden silence and got worried. "What's wrong, Duo?"
Duo looked over at her. "Aw, just thinkin'. Heero thought his life sucked – look at what he did. He just screwed two lives. I told him not to go."
Hilde's worried look turned to anger. "Duo Maxwell, you know where he is, don't you?"
"Wha? No. I don't know where he is, he didn't tell me."
"You talked to him?"
"The day he left!"
"What'd he say?"
"Jeez babe, calm down. He just said that he didn't want to rain Relena's life and that he was goin' out to try to be a better person.
"And you let him go?"
"No," Duo defended. "Trowa did!" As soon as he said it, he shut his mouth. Three heads turned to the tall boy.
Trowa shrugged. "He left with the best of intentions. He said he's come back – that means he will."
Now it was Quatre's turn to look at the floor.
After a few seconds of silence, the other people in the waiting room that had been staring at them looked away.
"I was just thinkin'," Duo continued as if Hilde had never interrupted him. "If Hilde got pregnant I'd be right in there with her."
"Yeah right," Hilde mumbled.
Quatre looked toward the hall that eventually led to the room Relena was in. "I would, too."
"Guys," Trowa said after he heard Quatre. "Heero doesn't know."
"Then shouldn't someone tell him?" asked Hilde.
"Yeah sure," Duo said sarcastically. "Why don't you look him up in the phonebook and call him?"
Hilde stuck her tongue out at Duo's sarcasm.
Suddenly, a beeping sound startled everyone. But they were soon relieved to find it was Quatre's.
Quatre pulled the portable videophone he'd put in his pocket earlier out and looked at it. "Wow. What a time to get mail." He pushed a button and sally came up on he screen. It was obvious she was in a car, although it wasn't moving. There were a bit of trees behind her, but not much of anything Quatre could pick out.
"Hi Quatre," Sally said, cheerfully. "It's me and Wufei. Got your message, sorry we couldn't be there. We're on a mission, very hush, hush."
"Woman," Wufei grumbled from off screen.
"Okay, sorry. We'll come visit as soon as we can. Don't tell me anything about it – I want it to be a surprise. Well, that's all I wanted to say." She glanced to her right. "You want to say anything, Wufei?"
"No."
"Okay. She looked back to the screen. "Well, see ya Quatre. Bye!"
Then the screen went black. Quatre smiled. He put the device back into his pocket as he shook his head.
Duo laughed. "Wufei hates cameras of any type."
"Yeah?" asked Hilde.
Duo nodded. "Yeah."
A nurse came into the room as quick as she could. She saw a family over to the far left, and the gundam gang in front of her.
"Um… Quatre --" she began to ask, but Quatre immediately jumped up.
"Is it Relena?" he asked.
The nurse nodded. "Hurry," she said and hustled down the hall, Quatre hot on her heels.
The nurse led Quatre back to the room he left just a few hours ago. He went in and ran right over to Relena, who was lying on the medical bed, a doctor and nurses surrounding her.
Quatre reached over and clasped her hand. She looked over at him.
"Quat-RE!" She turned her head back to the doctor in front of her."
Quatre smiled lightly. "It's going to be okay, Relena. Squeeze my hand. Right then she immediately did as was told.
Her palm was sweaty – of course, so was the rest of her body. Every so often a nurse would come over and pat a washcloth on Relena's forehead. Relena was breathing in and out and the doctor telling her to push and all it seemed quite tiring. But Quatre knew she could do it.
"I see a head," the doctor announced.
This made Quatre look down. He saw a head, too -- and a chest. The baby was almost out. Quatre rubbed Relena's hand and urged her to keep going.
The baby came out and the doctor handed it to the nurses to clean up. Quatre ran his hand through Relena's wet hair. "Good job," he said in a low voice.
The doctor came back over with the baby wrapped in a blanket. "Congratulations," he said. "You've just given birth to a beautiful baby girl."
Relena's eyes lit up with joy, as the little girl was laid down into her arms. She could only study her all for a moment.
"What are you going to name her?" Quatre asked excitedly.
Relena looked at the baby a little longer before she replied. "I'm going to name her… Destiny. Because she's a big part of my life now… my future."
Quatre smiled down at them, until Relena's voice broke into him. "Do you want to hold her Quatre?"
"May I?"
Relena held Destiny up and Quatre carefully took her into his arms. He held her to him like he would never let go.
"Hey," he whispered. "I'm going to make sure you and your mother are happy. Even if it kills me."
***
"Duo," Quatre said rather irritated as the braided boy pushed pass him to look through the window.
"Look at all those babies," Duo said. "Where's she at?"
"Right there," Quatre pointed to a baby with a pink blanket over her. "There's Destiny."
"Awww," Hilde said.
Trowa almost cracked a smile at the infant. Duo pushed his face up against the window to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He wasn't.
"Huh."
"What?" Hilde asked.
"She looks like Heero."
Trowa squinted. "How can you tell?"
Duo shrugged.
Hilde nudged him. "I don't want to hear you say that around Relena, okay?"
"I won't."
Trowa shook his head. "I can't tell --" Then he saw the girl move and saw Prussian blue eyes shine from the light. His mouth gaped open a bit.
Quatre sighed. "Still, she's going to grow up very well. She's going to experience peace; I'm going to make sure that happens. I don't want her to live through what we did."
Duo nodded. "That's what I want for the next generation, too." The other two were quick to agree.
The End of Chapter 1
Chapter 1
All over the world there were festivals, robberies, oil being struck, people dieing. And Relena Darlian was sitting at her dinner table eating her fourth bowl of peas.
Peas. She had no idea why she had a craving for the small green things. They practically had no taste at all. She didn't even like peas that much. But she was supposed to eat whatever she craved.
Pagan poked his head into the large room. Once he got Relena's attention, he announced, "There's a young man here to see you, Miss."
Relena looked surprised. 'A young man'? She wondered if that young man was Heero.
"Who is it?" she asked.
Pagan gave the hint of a smile. "He told me to keep it a secret."
Relena jumped out of her chair as fast as she could. It had to be him. Although she'd never known Heero to keep that sort of thing a secret – or even come in the front door. It just had to be him.
When she got into the living room and found a blond sitting in a chair, she was slightly disappointed. Then, when she realized who the blond was, she felt a bit happier.
"Quatre," she greeted.
Quatre turned his head to her. He smiled and jumped up.
"Hello, Miss Relena," he said warmly as he walked over.
They hugged each other for a moment. As they pulled away she said, "Quatre, I've told you a million times you may call me 'Relena'. We are friends after all."
Quatre nodded. "I get it, no formalities." Then he got a bit more serious. "Relena, you don't mind if I stay here for awhile, do you?"
Relena was surprised by Quatre's question. Of course she didn't mind; she was so lonely all by herself, in a big castle. She was just sort of curious why he asked this so soon. "I would lover for you to stay. Why?"
Quatre didn't answer. Instead, he looked down. She followed his look to her stomach.
"I suppose you didn't know what it'll be," Quatre said.
Quatre dropped down to his knees. He poked her stomach and said in a quiet voice, "Hey, you better not cause your mother too much grief."
She sighed. "Don't worry about it Quatre, it's not your problem."
Quatre quickly stood up and looked in her eyes. "Problem? Relena, you are going to bring another life into the world. How can you call it a problem? Aren't you happy?"
"Quatre, I've always thought about this. The thing is, I was expecting the daddy to be with me for it."
Quatre gave her another smile. "That's why I'm here, Relena. I don't want a friend of mine to go through this alone. You don't mind, do you?"
Relena smiled slightly. "Of course not. It's awful lonesome around here."
Quatre saw tears beginning to well up in her eyes. He took her in another hug. "It's okay, Relena," he whispered in her ear. He leaned his head against hers. "Heero will come back. Don't worry. Alright?" He felt her nod and pulled away.
Personally, Quatre doubted Heero would come back. But he sure hoped, that if he did come back, he would hurry. Then Relena would be as happy as she was before.
"My bags are outside," Quatre informed her. "I probably owe that cab driver a lot now." He headed toward the door. "I'll be right back."
Quatre got a nice room. It was like any room, but didn't have much personal items in it. There were windows with curtains, and soft beds, and a mirror, and even its own bathroom. It was down the hall from Relena. He wasn't positive, but he guessed about six doors away.
It was about two in the morning, and Quatre was fast asleep. Suddenly, he shot up in bed.
"Uh oh," he whispered.
He rolled off the bed and landed on his feet. Since he was already in the bottom half of his pajamas, he tossed the top half on over his head. He exited the room and padded down the hall -- so as not to wake anyone up.
When he got to Relena's door, he knocked on it. Pushing it open slowly, in called to her. Seeing that she wasn't lying in her bed, or in her room at all, he went into the room and made a beeline for the bathroom.
That's where he found Relena. Her head hanging over the toilet, making disgusting sounds. He slowly walked over to her.
Relena came up from her second round of vomiting. She breathed in and out carefully, wiped her mouth with some toilet paper, and made a face at the taste in her mouth. When she leaned over to do it again, she was surprised when her hair didn't fall on her face. It felt like it was tied back. Then she felt something slide up and down her back. So, this time, when Relena sat back up and wiped her mouth with the toilet paper in her right hand, she looked over to her left to see Quatre standing there. He was holding her hair back and rubbing her back.
"Are you okay?" he asked her calmly.
She nodded and leaned against him. "How'd you know I was in here?"
He sighed. "Let's just say I could feel your pain."
"Hm."
She closed her eyes and Quatre wondered if she was falling asleep. She wasn't. This proved true when she opened her eyes to look up at him.
"You men sure are lucky you don't have to put up with this."
Quatre gave her a reassuring smile. "If all women are as strong as you are, Relena, there probably is a reason girls got the part."
Relena closed her eyes again and shook her head. Quatre leaned over and flushed the toilet, and when he felt her fall asleep, he picked her up and carried her out to her room.
He laid her down on her bed and covered her up with a blanket. He watched her for a minute before he let out a long sigh. "Good-night, Miss Relena." His eyes trailed down to her stomach. He reached over and put his hand on it. "Good-night to you, too."
Then he turned and headed back to his own room.
***
"Yeah. I was at a colonies meeting, and everyone was suspicious that you hadn't come," Quatre explained to the girl lying on the couch across from him.
She nodded. "Yes, I didn't want to go to any meeting. It wouldn't look right to have to make a trip to the bathroom in the middle of a conference. I guess I thought they would assume I was sick if I didn't come."
"That's what I thought," Quatre admitted. He shook his head as he took a sip of his teacup. He tried to think of something to say. He looked over at Relena.
"Do you want a boy or a girl, Relena?"
Relena smiled lightly. "I want a little girl. I want to fix her hair and get her cute clothes…"
"What'll you name her?"
Relena shrugged. "I haven't thought about her. I think I'd have to see her first."
Quatre looked down at his cup. "I'd want a boy. When I was young, I always wanted to do things my father said I was above." He shook his head. "I'd take him to see the lovely Earth. Buy him things. I might even let him have a pet. He could play baseball is he wanted to--" he glanced over at Relena. "It's like Cricket."
Relena nodded. Then, curiously, she asked, "What would you name your boy, Quatre?"
Quatre blushed. "I'm not very good with choosing names. I always thought that should be left to the mother. I mean, with everything they go through, they should be able to choose their child's name." He glanced over at Relena. "Right."
Relena gave him a big smile. "Sure. 'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet'."
"And if my boy were named 'Sue', I'd love him just the same."
"You know what Quatre? You've only been here a couple days, and it's not lonely around here anymore. How long will you be staying with us?"
"Until the baby comes or you kick me out – whichever comes first."
Relena laughed. "Oh, I doubt I'll be kicking you out anytime soon."
Well, she didn't kick him out. The two friends became closer those next couple months. No longer feeling alone, they would both share pass experiences. Quatre usually trying to avoid stories with Heero in them, although he just had to mention the time him and Duo took Heero's clothes to the wash.
Quatre was really protective of Relena. He wanted to take care of her; she noticed this. Sometimes, she felt like she couldn't stand on her feet without Quatre telling her to sit down and relax, ask her if she wanted anything to eat, wondering how she felt every five seconds. And she took the warmness kindly, too.
Quatre had been going to meetings every once in awhile, representing both of them. He tried avoiding meetings in space because he always made sure he wasn't gone long so he could get back and take care of Relena. Relena made a joke that the maids were probably starting to feel overpaid by their lack of work lately. But, Quatre's antics only became more frequent as seven months passed by and Relena was at that time.
Quatre came into the dining room with a luggage in one hand and a black jacket in the other. He smiled at Relena who was drinking a large cup of milk.
"How are you feeling?" Quatre asked as he sat his things on the floor by his chair.
"Usual," Relena replied. She couldn't say she felt good, but she couldn't say it was worse than she's ever felt.
Quatre sat down and took an apple from the basket in the center of the table. "So the big day's getting closer, are you excited?"
Relena looked up. She had been pregnant for nine months. It was now May, so she got pregnant back in September. Her birthday was last month, so that made her twenty-one. This was soon going to be all over and Quatre was asking if she was excited? She sure was!
"I can't wait to see my baby," Relena replied.
Quatre chuckled. He couldn't either. He wanted it to be a girl because that's what Relena wanted. And he wanted her to be happy – as always.
He got up from his chair and walked over to her. He kneeled down and put his hand on her stomach. He got his big smile on his face. "I like it when it kicks," he mumbled.
She laughed. "Yeah, well…"
Quatre headed back to his chair until he stopped halfway. He winced and turned back to Relena. Her head was hanging over the table and she was hissing in pain.
"Relena," Quatre said, shocked. "What's wrong?"
Relena lifted her head. "Quatre… I think… I think this is it."
Quatre's eyes bugged out. "Okay, Relena, hold on!"
He ran out of the dining room yelling for Pagan to get the car out in front – quickly. He came back a minute later and ran over to Relena.
"Oh God," she whispered. "My water broke."
Quatre bit his lip and half helped, half picked her up. "Come on Relena, the car's waiting outside." She nodded and tried to get out as fast as she could.
During the car ride, Quatre called Duo and Hilde. After they said they'd get there as soon as they could, he called Trowa. Trowa said he'd be there fast. It would be easy for him, since he was on Earth already. Next, Quatre called Wufei and Sally. They wouldn't answer so Quatre left a quick message as the car pulled up to the hospital. He put the phone in his pocket and looked over to Relena. Relena reached over and clasped her hand in his.
"Don't worry Relena," Quatre whispered. He quickly got out of the back of her pink car, ran to the other side, and helped her out. "I'll be right out in the waiting room, okay?"
On the way in, Relena replied, "But who's going to hold my hand?"
Quatre looked down when they got to the front desk. The lady in the front desk looked up at them.
"Yes, may I help you?"
"Yes," Relena said. "I need a doctor, I-"
She didn't have to finish her sentence. The lady at the desk looked her up and down. She quickly turned to the person behind her.
"Quick, get a wheelchair! Vice Foreign Minister Darlian is here and needs to get to the Maternity Room."
"How's that for service?" Quatre said to Relena.
Some nurse put Relena in a chair and pushed her off. Quatre watched her go until the lady behind the desk broke him off.
"Oh my God. You're Quatre Winner," she said. "I've seen you on the news."
Quatre nodded. Who hadn't?
The girl went on. "I heard the vice foreign minister was pregnant." She glanced to where Relena used to be and back to where Quatre was. "But I didn't know it was you."
Quatre was surprised by what she said. "What?! No, you don't understand…"
It was barely ten minutes later when Quatre ended up in the same room with Relena in it.
"Quatre," she said to the boy next to him.
"Shhh," Quatre whispered. "Just breathe, okay?"
"Quatre," she continued, ignoring what he said. "Why don't you wait for the others in the waiting room? Labor can take hours. But, promise that you'll come back in?"
Quatre smiled. "I promise." He got up and went out to the waiting room. To his surprise, Trowa was already there.
"Trowa!" Quatre said happily.
Trowa nodded back. "Hi, Quatre."
Quatre sat down next to him. "She's been doing so well, I'm so proud of her."
Trowa smiled slightly. "Did they drug her yet?"
"I doubt it."
"Oh yeah… Cathy said, 'Hi'."
Quatre smiled. "That's good. I don't see her much."
"No, you don't," Trowa agreed. He glanced around. "Where is everyone?"
"Well, Duo and Hilde should be here in a few hours. I think Wufei and Sally are on a mission. They wouldn't pick up."
Trowa gave him a look. "I think you missed someone."
Quatre looked back at him. "I don't know how to contact him, Trowa."
"Too bad we don't have a way of telling him he's going to be a father within the next couple of hours."
Quatre nodded in agreement.
The two friends held conversation for a while. This was rare, since there weren't many people Trowa would have a conversation with. Mostly, it was just his four 'friends' and his sister, Catherine.
About two hours later, Duo and Hilde got there. Quatre informed them about Relena, and how he tried to call Wufei and Sally.
"Man," Duo said. "They are always on missions, I bet they get good money."
"I heard the Preventers were going to be a nonprofit organization," Trowa said.
"Really?" Duo asked, surprised.
Then, Duo looked at the floor for a moment. Hilde noticed his sudden silence and got worried. "What's wrong, Duo?"
Duo looked over at her. "Aw, just thinkin'. Heero thought his life sucked – look at what he did. He just screwed two lives. I told him not to go."
Hilde's worried look turned to anger. "Duo Maxwell, you know where he is, don't you?"
"Wha? No. I don't know where he is, he didn't tell me."
"You talked to him?"
"The day he left!"
"What'd he say?"
"Jeez babe, calm down. He just said that he didn't want to rain Relena's life and that he was goin' out to try to be a better person.
"And you let him go?"
"No," Duo defended. "Trowa did!" As soon as he said it, he shut his mouth. Three heads turned to the tall boy.
Trowa shrugged. "He left with the best of intentions. He said he's come back – that means he will."
Now it was Quatre's turn to look at the floor.
After a few seconds of silence, the other people in the waiting room that had been staring at them looked away.
"I was just thinkin'," Duo continued as if Hilde had never interrupted him. "If Hilde got pregnant I'd be right in there with her."
"Yeah right," Hilde mumbled.
Quatre looked toward the hall that eventually led to the room Relena was in. "I would, too."
"Guys," Trowa said after he heard Quatre. "Heero doesn't know."
"Then shouldn't someone tell him?" asked Hilde.
"Yeah sure," Duo said sarcastically. "Why don't you look him up in the phonebook and call him?"
Hilde stuck her tongue out at Duo's sarcasm.
Suddenly, a beeping sound startled everyone. But they were soon relieved to find it was Quatre's.
Quatre pulled the portable videophone he'd put in his pocket earlier out and looked at it. "Wow. What a time to get mail." He pushed a button and sally came up on he screen. It was obvious she was in a car, although it wasn't moving. There were a bit of trees behind her, but not much of anything Quatre could pick out.
"Hi Quatre," Sally said, cheerfully. "It's me and Wufei. Got your message, sorry we couldn't be there. We're on a mission, very hush, hush."
"Woman," Wufei grumbled from off screen.
"Okay, sorry. We'll come visit as soon as we can. Don't tell me anything about it – I want it to be a surprise. Well, that's all I wanted to say." She glanced to her right. "You want to say anything, Wufei?"
"No."
"Okay. She looked back to the screen. "Well, see ya Quatre. Bye!"
Then the screen went black. Quatre smiled. He put the device back into his pocket as he shook his head.
Duo laughed. "Wufei hates cameras of any type."
"Yeah?" asked Hilde.
Duo nodded. "Yeah."
A nurse came into the room as quick as she could. She saw a family over to the far left, and the gundam gang in front of her.
"Um… Quatre --" she began to ask, but Quatre immediately jumped up.
"Is it Relena?" he asked.
The nurse nodded. "Hurry," she said and hustled down the hall, Quatre hot on her heels.
The nurse led Quatre back to the room he left just a few hours ago. He went in and ran right over to Relena, who was lying on the medical bed, a doctor and nurses surrounding her.
Quatre reached over and clasped her hand. She looked over at him.
"Quat-RE!" She turned her head back to the doctor in front of her."
Quatre smiled lightly. "It's going to be okay, Relena. Squeeze my hand. Right then she immediately did as was told.
Her palm was sweaty – of course, so was the rest of her body. Every so often a nurse would come over and pat a washcloth on Relena's forehead. Relena was breathing in and out and the doctor telling her to push and all it seemed quite tiring. But Quatre knew she could do it.
"I see a head," the doctor announced.
This made Quatre look down. He saw a head, too -- and a chest. The baby was almost out. Quatre rubbed Relena's hand and urged her to keep going.
The baby came out and the doctor handed it to the nurses to clean up. Quatre ran his hand through Relena's wet hair. "Good job," he said in a low voice.
The doctor came back over with the baby wrapped in a blanket. "Congratulations," he said. "You've just given birth to a beautiful baby girl."
Relena's eyes lit up with joy, as the little girl was laid down into her arms. She could only study her all for a moment.
"What are you going to name her?" Quatre asked excitedly.
Relena looked at the baby a little longer before she replied. "I'm going to name her… Destiny. Because she's a big part of my life now… my future."
Quatre smiled down at them, until Relena's voice broke into him. "Do you want to hold her Quatre?"
"May I?"
Relena held Destiny up and Quatre carefully took her into his arms. He held her to him like he would never let go.
"Hey," he whispered. "I'm going to make sure you and your mother are happy. Even if it kills me."
***
"Duo," Quatre said rather irritated as the braided boy pushed pass him to look through the window.
"Look at all those babies," Duo said. "Where's she at?"
"Right there," Quatre pointed to a baby with a pink blanket over her. "There's Destiny."
"Awww," Hilde said.
Trowa almost cracked a smile at the infant. Duo pushed his face up against the window to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He wasn't.
"Huh."
"What?" Hilde asked.
"She looks like Heero."
Trowa squinted. "How can you tell?"
Duo shrugged.
Hilde nudged him. "I don't want to hear you say that around Relena, okay?"
"I won't."
Trowa shook his head. "I can't tell --" Then he saw the girl move and saw Prussian blue eyes shine from the light. His mouth gaped open a bit.
Quatre sighed. "Still, she's going to grow up very well. She's going to experience peace; I'm going to make sure that happens. I don't want her to live through what we did."
Duo nodded. "That's what I want for the next generation, too." The other two were quick to agree.
The End of Chapter 1