Chapter five, and chapter six is in the process of being tweaked.
Kaei kon: Hormonal Tala is NOT a good thing, but even so you get to meet him in this chapter. Again. Oh well.
Darkangelintheshadows: People say it's quick, but I'm an impatient kind of person so I try and update as fast as I can.
Renanimeangel: Kai in an apron? That's a scary, scary thought...but at the minute none of them are doing housework, they're all too busy worrying about their other halves!
Lullaby Lilly: Well, there's nothing wrong with the name Irina, but when I told Peachmelba (a friend from school) that Tala and Bryan were having a baby in my fic, she said it should be something like Helga or Irina and they should grow up to be a weighlifter and have a moustache...Peachmelba tainted the name, sort of. Now every time I look at the word Irina I laugh!
Platinum Rei: Hehe, thanks. Glad you like the name!
Ellen: I agree, girls rock, but then I AM a girl so I'm biased.
LaDyFiCtIoN: Your review made my head swell so badly I had to make my friends pop it by reminding me that I'm on the verge of failing Physics and Chemistry- it really means a lot coming from an author I admire (which is you, by the way).
GabZ: I'm glad you like it!
Fallenangelofwater: Like I said to Darkangelintheshadows, I'm impatient, so I don't like to take a long time about posting things.
Chaos of Hearts: Thanks, and good luck with that drabble!
Bryankuznetsov: It is kind of crazy, isn't it? I like your name by the way- he's one of my favourite characters!
Lemmingsrule: I kept going, and I'll keep going until I can think of a good ending...my endings are usually really, really (really x 500) lame. Oh well. I'm planning on having about seven or eight chapters in all. It'll probably end up being my second fic that's over 10,000 words (but Leaving You Behind is still my baby)!
NekoYaoi: I'm glad you think it's a good mpreg, thanks!
Tala smiled when Rei appeared with Tala and Bryan. He patted the sofa beside himself and Rei flumped down, exhausted. Bryan put the ice cream down in front of them and went into the kitchen, only to reappear with two spoons. In the space of secconds, Rei and Tala had attacked the defenceless ice-cream, decimating it. It was half gone before they even paused. "So you're on unlucky thirteen, huh?" Rei nodded.
"Unlucky thirteen with twins. I swear, I'll be the size of a whale by the time they've finished in there." Tala giggled and took a scoop more of ice-cream.
"How's Kai holding up?"
"Worried. He doesn't know if he can handle twins..."
"Well he'll have to learn!" They laughed together as Kai and Bryan sat in the kitchen, sharing their various fears about the prospect of fatherhood.
"I just don't know if I'll be able to...well...to handle it."
"Yeah, I feel that way too. I just don't think Tala'll -let- me not be able to handle it..."
"And I might have to meet his family...I mean...what am I supposed to say? 'Yeah, I'm the one who made your son both gay and pregnant at the same time'?" Kai pulled a face. "I think not."
"Ah now I don't have that problem- neither of us has any family to worry about." Kai sighed and rested his face in his hands.
"I still sometimes don't quite believe it...I mean, he's still a man, he still has a penis and a distinct lack of cleavage, but he's pregnant...it's kind of strange..."
"Well, Tala's Tala, however you look at it. I'm really glad he's pregnant...I would've liked children, even when I knew I was gay. I thought maybe later on we could have adopted or something, but now we don't have to."
"...I don't really like children..."
"Other people's children though. From what I see, you always think differently about your own." Kai nodded.
"It's reassuring knowing you're in the same boat as me. I don't think I'd be able to deal with all this if it wasn't happening to someone else as well..."
"BRYAN!" Tala appeared at the top of the stairs, red in the face and fuming. Bryan walked out of the living room, puzzled.
"What's the matter?"
"You've moved all my stuff!"
"What stuff?"
"I was reading the pregnancy guide!"
"Oh."
"So you admit it!" Tala raged.
"Well...you fell asleep...you were drooling on it. I just put it under the bed..." The angry expression dropped from Tala's face.
"I was drooling on it?" Bryan nodded. Tala laughed and hopped down the stairs, into his arms, and Bryan shook his head, smiling. Tala's mood swings were getting stranger and stranger. But then, he was twenty four weeks pregnant- past the time of abortion (not that he'd ever wanted one) and at the point where if he went into labour prematurely, the baby could survive. He was growing steadily more round, and the baby inside him spent large amounts of time beating him out of sleep.
He was sleeping even more now, and from what Bryan could gather from Kai, Rei was too. He nuzzled into Tala's neck, making him giggle and writhe. "Bryan, stop that, it tickles!" Bryan obliged, feeling the movement of the baby through Tala's skin.
"She'll be wonderful, won't she?"
"Of course she will, she's my daughter!"
"And mine..." Tala wagged his finger.
"You know she's yours! Do I have to tell you again?"
"No, I meant she's yours and mine. Both of ours." Tala smiled and kissed Bryan gently.
"I hope she'll be as nice as you. I'd hate her to have my temper..."
"I hate -you- to have your temper...you were about to kill me for moving your book a minute ago..." Tala laughed.
"I wouldn't really. Have you thought of any more nice names?"
"Sayuki?"
"Yuck." Bryan sighed, they still hadn't found the right name yet...
"Rei?"
"Mm?" Rei looked up from his book as Kai came in, smiling.
"I brought you a present."
"What?" From behind his back, Kai produced an enormous slab of chocolate. Rei took it from him then burst out crying.
"What's wrong? Don't you like that kind?" Kai asked, panicking. Rei shook his head.
"I love you Kai!" He flung his arms around Kai's neck and hugged him so tightly he had to gasp for breath. Kai hugged him back, conscious of Rei's ever growing bump. He sat down next to Rei on the bed, still in the grip of that vicelike hug. Rei nestled himself close to Kai and sighed, wiping tears from his eyes. "I love you so much..."
"I love you too, Rei." Kai kissed Rei's forehead and smiled. "Are you okay?"
"Mm-hm." Rei broke off a piece of the chocolate and started eating it, then kissed Kai full on the lips. He tasted of chocolate...
Kai deepened the kiss, leaning over Rei with one hand on the pillow beside the neko-jin's head and one on the bump. Over the past few weeks Rei had gotten bigger, definitely, and he was actually bigger than Tala, despite being eight weeks behind him. To Rei of course, that wasn't such a good thing. Still, at twenty two weeks, he figured he was past halfway...
Tala rolled over and grumbled as Bryan sat up. "Gvsnmrf."
"I agree completely." Said Bryan, before getting up and going to the toilet. When he came back, Tala was sprawled across the whole of the bed, arms and legs flung out haphazardly. Bryan smiled and curled up next to him, listening to his gentle breathing. His hand strayed down to caress the bump. Thirty two weeks pregnant... It seemed like forever. Bryan almost couldn't remember what it was like before Tala was pregnant... He felt the baby kick and laughed softly. "Are you going to be a riverdancer, little one?" He sighed happily. "I hope you're okay when you come out. I want you to grow up healthy and happy and have all the friends in the world." He rubbed the bump, thinking hard. "I suppose that's what every father wants for his little girl..." He whispered, before closing his eyes and falling asleep as well.
About a fortnight after that, Rei and Tala had a chocolate and pie fest between them and spent the night giggling and swapping pregnancy tales. "I feel like a hippo." Rei moaned. "And they're kicking like hell! But there's two of them so I get double the kicks and half the sleep!"
"We still haven't thought of a good name for her. What about you? Anything inspiring?"
"No, not really." Rei sighed and leaned against Tala tiredly. "Tala, would you mind if I used you as a pillow?"
"Nope, means I get to finish the pie." Rei felt suddenly invigorated and grabbed the spoon out of Tala's hand, laughing.
"Okay, I'm not tired any more!"
"I thought that'd wake you up!" After a bit more playful banter Rei really did fall asleep. Tala looked down at him worriedly. Rei had huge dark circles under his eyes, and he was pale. Maybe the strain of having twins was getting to be too much for him...? "Twenty-six weeks, huh?" He cuddled Rei closer. "I guess it's not so long till you'll be in labour..." He smiled. "Guess it's not long till -I'll- be in labour...I suppose it's a good job we have to get caesareans..."
Tala stood in the shower, examining his bump as the water streamed over it. It was perfectly smooth all over, except for when the baby kicked and moved the surface for a second. He ran his hands over the bump with a smile on his face. "The doctor said you'd be able to hear me by now. I'm your mum...and your dad at the same time. You're inside me, and you keep kicking me, you nasty little thing!" He laughed. "I don't mean that...I love you already and I haven't even met you...God, I love you."
"I love you too." Tala freaked for a second, then realised it was only Bryan, leaning around the shower curtain and smiling at him. He saw Tala's expression- unimpressed to the max- and held up his hands. "I know you're talking to her. I do sometimes, when you're asleep."
"You do?" Bryan nodded, and Tala beckoned. Bryan obligingly got into the shower, still fully clothed. Tala snuggled himself up against Bryan's wet but warm jacket and started to cry.
"Tala? Are you okay?"
"Oh Bryan, I'm so happy..." He sobbed. "I'm so...happy..." Bryan hugged him tightly and sighed.
"I know. I just can't wait...to see her." Tala sniffed and laughed.
"Well it won't be long now, Bry...any time after thirty six weeks, and we're already at thirty five..." Hearing it said made it all seem so much realer. "Hey, who knows, she could be really premature and be born tomorrow..."
"Tala...that's...almost scary...I...I don't think I'm ready for all this..."
"Don't be stupid, Bry, you'll be a wonderful Dad. You -are- ready for this, I know you are."
"Do you think so?" Bryan looked down at Tala's bedraggled mop of hair and sighed. "It's just so...big. Do you know what I mean, or do I just sound like an idiot to you?"
"I know what you mean..." Tala straightened up and kissed Bryan deeply, pushing him back against the tiled wall. "And I know that you're going to be a great Dad."
On that exact same night, a few streets away, Rei and Kai were sitting together on the sofa. "Rei?" Rei looked up at Kai enquiringly. "Why did you decide...on a caesarean? Didn't you say neko-jin men can have natural births?"
"Well...I could...if I wanted to writhe in agony for hours. You have no idea how painful it is...even worse than when woman are pregnant, because your insides have to...well...knot themselves to make everything work the way it should."
"Oh." Kai laid his hand over the bump and smiled. "Have you thought of a name for either of them?"
"Nope. Whenever I think of one it just sounds stupid."
"I can't think of any either. Maybe we'll be able to when they're born." Rei stretched and snuggled up to Kai, purring.
"I love you Kai."
"I love you too. I love you, and I have loved you, and I will love you...always." Rei sniffled and wiped his eyes.
"Oh Kai..." He sniffed again as Kai shifted, resting another hand on his stomach. "Even though I'm kind of scared...I know you're with me and then I'm not scared any more..."
"I'm scared too...but when I see you being so strong...I realise that I don't actually have anything to be scared of."
He looked down and saw that Rei had drifted off to sleep. He held Rei closer, knowing that he was holding his lover, his friend, and his two unborn children. It was a strange, yet pleasant feeling.
Next Chapter: Nasty things happen to Rei, and Kai gets hysterical.