Author's Note: Wahoo! Weekends are beautiful! (Please review if you think so too!)

            P.S. Arigato Sailoraekanataku!

            Hilde wrung her hands and paced. This was going to be tough. She hadn't seen her sister in years, and Misaki had always been the perky older sister everyone loved. Not that Hilde resented her, but the fact that they would live together once again was going to be odd. Then add Funaho's death and little Washu…poor girl…

            There was a banging noise on the door and she jumped. She ran to the door and turned on the monitor to see who it was. Duo's deep blue eyes blinked at her. With a nervous smile, she brushed her hair back and opened the door. Duo barged in, loaded down with baggage. "Hey Hilde, where should I dump this stuff off?"

            She pointed to the stairs and he sighed. Hilde suppressed a giggle as Duo began to awkwardly climb the stairs. Then she turned to the door and her smile froze in place. Misaki stood there, looking around with genuine curiosity. Their eyes met and Hilde opened her mouth to speak, but at that moment a bright red head walked in past Misaki and grinned at Hilde. As Hilde looked down at the child, the girl raised her arms and said, "Up!"

            Hilde felt a tender smile appear on her lips and bent down to oblige. As she rested Washu on her hip, the toddler reached up and placed a finger under Hilde's left eye. She stared intently at Hilde's face and smiled. "I'm going to have a sister!" Hilde's mouth dropped open in shock. A hand rested itself on her shoulder and she looked up into her sister's concerned eyes. Washu started playing with Hilde's hair, oblivious to the stir she'd just caused.

            "Hilde?" Misaki said. "Does he know?" It was obvious she meant Duo.

            Hilde shook her head and Washu squealed as her plaything twitched. "No, I only learned about it yesterday when I went to the doctor about an upset stomach." She lowered her voice, "I've been on the pill, but I guess there's always that chance."

            A creaking noise signaled Duo's descent of the stairs and Hilde turned around and marched up to Duo. Washu lost interest in Hilde's hair long enough to get transferred to "Daddy." Hilde watched Duo take her niece out back and sighed. "I'll have to tell him soon."

            Misaki shrugged and they both went upstairs to unpack.

~5 months later~

            "Hi! You ever been to one of these before?" Hilde looked up at grinning young woman with silver hair. She looks so…so…majestic! Hilde thought. Hilde smiled and shook her head.

            "No, this is the first for me and Duo." She cast a look over to the side and watched Duo talk with a group of other guys who'd come to the parenting class. Hilde had been forced to practically drag him in the last five steps. Then he'd spotted the other trapped young men and leapt into their company. The idea of being a father had scared Duo at first, she'd read it in his eyes, but then he'd picked her up and swung her around as he laughed. Yes, Duo was going to make a great father. Besides, this class was more of a formality. They both knew how to care for kids, Washu had settled down into her new school with ease. Her mother's death didn't seem to bother her overly much.

            Hilde's companion rested a hand on her extended stomach. "Mine's due in three months, how about you?"

            Hilde patted her tummy and said, "Barely two more for me, if this little imp possesses any sort of punctuality unlike her father." They sat down in a couple of chairs and started exchanging small talk. The teacher came in and the people milling about settled down next to their partners. Hilde saw several women by themselves, and felt a moment of pity for them before fixing her attention to the front.

            After the class, Hilde and Duo said farewell to their new friends and went home. Hilde sighed happily in the car and said, "I can't wait to get this basket of grapes off my hips." Duo chuckled.

            "Missing your womanly curves? Don't worry, I still love ya." Hilde punched him lightly on the arm and sat back to watch the buildings of the colony zip by the window. In a few minutes, they were home. Hilde came in first and was prepared for the little cannonball that slammed into her legs. She patted the red hair and peeled the arms off her.

            "How was your class?" Washu asked.

            Duo came in and closed the door. "Amazingly instructive." Hilde went off to listen to whatever Washu was bantering on about, and Duo waited until they were out of earshot before going to the phone. "May I speak to Mr. Winner? It's Duo Maxwell."

            Only a moment later, the voice of good ol' Quatre was on the line. "Hi, Duo, why'd you call?"

            Duo took a deep breath and said, "You know how I feel about Hilde and all, but a junkyard isn't a place for raising kids. We've already got Washu living with us and are expecting another, so…Do you think you could find me a job down on Earth? With my skills there's only so much I'm good for."

            Quatre was silent for a little while and then he said, "You've sure grown up a lot, Duo, I never expected to hear such sense coming from you." Duo opened his mouth to give some wise-ass reply, but Quatre continued. "I do believe I could get you a spot down on Earth. That is, if you can wait several months, these things take time to set up with people selling Earth in big chunks and turning it into resorts."

            Yeah, Duo understood perfectly. "I hear ya, maybe I'll be able to stop by sometime and see you and Trowa."

            "That would be great! Hey, Heero and Relena are coming up for Thanksgiving, what do you say?"

            Duo grinned. Pass up an opportunity to poke fun at Heero? Never! "We'll be there."

            Hilde tossed the paper back on the desk, sat back and sighed. It was bad, it was really bad. Usually she managed to keep track of accounts so no "awkward" parts got out to the same person. Yet here was an almost complete Leo's worth of parts to the same address. She rubbed her eyes and got to her feet. Well, nothing she could do about it now. "Mommie?" said a voice. She looked down and saw Washu looking up at her with her hands held behind her back. There was an eager look in her eyes.

            "Yes?" Washu brought she was holding behind herself forward and Hilde blinked. It was the core system of a hyper jammer! It was something she'd learned from Duo when repairing his Gundam, Deathscythe. The device hid an object in space so it could carry out sneak attacks or go by unnoticed. How had Washu gotten such a rough copy? "Washu, where'd you find that?"

            Washu pouted. "I made it. Daddy told me all about his Gundam and the wars, so I thought it was a cool idea and…" Now she looked like she was going to be sad.

            Hilde sighed for the trillionth time that day and held out her arms. "Come here, Dear, and lets have a look at this beautiful invention of yours." Washu perked up immediately and had had to resort to sitting on the desk because Hilde had no available lap space. Washu then gave Hilde an amazingly clear and rational explanation of how the hyper jammer worked and what each part was responsible of doing, etc. It was then that Hilde really saw how special Washu was.

            This little girl was going to one of the most prestigious schools in the colonies with children a couple years older than herself. She'd been able to tell on sight that Hilde was pregnant, and recreated an advanced and secret mobile suit device. Hilde began to wonder what Washu could do if her genius was aimed in a direction away from the remains of war. Not for the first time, Hilde wished she and Duo had some other livelihood to depend on than the scrap heap in back that the Sweeper Group was constantly replenishing.

            After dinner, Hilde sent Washu upstairs to bed and said, "Duo, with Misaki gone to live on her own, Wash's had full run of the place. Do you know what she brought me today?" Duo shook his head. "A hyper jammer made completely out of the spare parts from out back." Duo had been busily shoving the remaining food on the table into his mouth. He choked and Hilde gave him a thump on the back as he coughed.

            When he was able to breathe again, he said, "A hyper jammer? She made a hyper jammer all by herself?" Hilde nodded. Duo's eyes were wide. "I never thought it possible. Maybe…" he trailed off.

            Hilde picked up the empty plates, (leftovers don't exist in a household with a Duo in it) and said, "I was thinking about it, and decided we've got to move. We can't only supply her with the pieces from the war, she needs a more productive outlet." Duo was leaning his elbows against the table and seemed to be thinking hard about something. Finally, he got up and used is hands to guide Hilde in a 360.

            Looking into her eyes, he said, "I've already asked around. There's still four months to go, but then we're going to have a home on Earth."

            Hilde stared up at Duo. "Y-you mean we're going to Earth? But everyone's leaving!"

            Duo put a finger on her lips and said with a smile, "Everyone? No, Quatre told me he's invested in developing some land as a personal thing on the side. Why that guy is doing even more work, I don't know, but he's offered us one of the homes and hopes that we'll join him for Thanksgiving so he and I can talk about employment opportunities—"

            Hilde flung her arms around Duo's neck and gave him a firm kiss. Pulling back, her eyes sparkled as she said, "I knew there was hope for you yet!"

            Duo lowered his head to kiss her neck and said, "Nah, I'm very much a fallen little angel."

~2 weeks to due date~

            "Gah! This-is-torture!" Hilde shouted. She collapsed back on the pillow as another contraction left her. Sweat plastered her hair to her forehead as yet another contraction seized her and she squeezed her eyes shut. "Eeeeeee!"

            Duo paced outside, more because the doctors had no room in the delivery room than out of choice. He wasn't alone, about five other men of varying ages were milling about wearing paths into the carpet. A tall young man with black hair and deep blue eyes paced near the door. Duo paused, surprised he hadn't seen his friend come in. Walking over, Duo said, "I never expected to meet you here."

            Endymion smiled. "Nor I you, but life happens." He looked at the doorway as a doctor came in. The man in scrubs motioned to a pale, middle-aged man with brown hair who leapt to his feet and darted out the door. The remaining occupants sighed and returned to whatever they'd been doing. Duo turned back to Endymion as the man said, "Serenity wasn't expecting to have to go through this for another two weeks, I wonder what brought it on?"

            Duo nodded. "I know what you mean. Hilde technically had that much longer, too."

            Endymion frowned and took out a personal planner. He pushed a few buttons and his eyebrows went up. Duo waited. "Well?"

            The man sighed and closed the planner. "Today is the full moon on Earth, women who are expecting sometimes go into labor a little early. It's never been really proven, but you hear thins."

            Duo shrugged. "I believe. Jeez, how much longer will this take?" Just as he said it, a couple of doctors came into the waiting room and called for Mr. Maxwell and Mr. Luna. They dashed down the hall to their wives. Duo entered on a scene of pure beauty. Hilde leaned back comfortably on the pillows as a nurse wiped her forehead with a cloth. A bundle lay in her arms.

            Hilde looked up and saw Duo frozen in the doorway. "You can come in now, they won't kick you out," she said in a voice somewhat breathy from screams. Duo came in slowly and the nurse smiled at him as she left. He looked down at the pink face in the blanket and stared.

            A fine, purple fuzz covered the baby's scalp and it blinked baby blue eyes at him. He blinked. "I never expected them to be such a light blue," he said.

            Hilde chuckled. "Lots of babies are born with blue eyes and they change later. There's plenty of time for them to turn as dark as yours, you vain male." Duo grinned and gave Hilde a deep kiss.

            "I'm so proud of you," he said to her. She held up the baby and Duo slowly took it. "Uh, I don't know why I didn't ask before, but is it a boy or a—"

            "It's a girl," Hilde said with a satisfied smile. She closed her eyes with a sigh and said, "How about we name her…Ayeka."