DISCLAIMER: Don't own GW, or characters or anything affiliated with it.... except for ya know all the dvds and the action figures and the mouse pad. . . .


Dedication: To Lynds (WhiteWolfSearching) and Andie (Utsubame) who slobbered me with guilt as soon as i logged back on. THANKS!


To Ink2: Duo didn't lie, he embellished the truth. He was in pain, he just didn't tell Heero exactly how much. ^___^


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CHAPTER 29


Shafts of sunlight poured in through the blinded window, Duo rolled from his side onto his back, staring lazily up to the ceiling. One of the downsides of being seven months pregnant was the exhaustion, an advantage, of course, was that he was allowed to sleep in without any ridicule. Duo slunk out of bed and shuffled down the stairs. He may have only been living here a couple months, but he had made himself right at home in Heero's mansion. Heero's home had been transformed. The windows were open and sunlight brightened the once dreary hallways. Pictures and art littered the main hallway, and drop clothes were laid out in one end where Duo had laid upon himself the task of painting his walls new and vibrant colors, as opposed the dull, unexciting white they were. But he wasn't just painting the walls for cosmetic purposes. Now that he'd given himself leave of the shop, he was bored stiff by all this inactivity.


He'd left Jerry in charge of the garage, with Sam as the second working mechanic. Duo still checked in, and handled the finances and such, but for now he was taking paternity leave. If he thought about him working right now, just the sight of a pregnant man trying to roll in and out from underneath a car was absurd. Duo chuckled softly to himself as he poured himself a glass of orange juice.


He had intended to do some shopping today, he wasn't allowed to be seen in public really (not that he really wanted to either), but he had found that you could do shopping just as well if you called it in and had them bring it to your car. Unfortunately, he was stuck at home. Heero's car had sputtered and died last night, and Duo had told him to take his bike to work instead. Duo had promised to fix the car himself today, telling Heero it would be therapeutic. But, Duo was feeling very lethargic today and didn't feel like going outside in the crisp cold air, and working under the hood right now. So instead, he would continue painting.


Walking quietly, as if a tiger stalking his prey, Duo walked into the hallway. His "prey"was merely the can of paint, but when you were home alone, in a big house. . . . anything goes. Standing back to artistically survey his work thus far, he took a critiquing pose and held one thumb up. He had missed a small area in the lower left corner. Crouching down, Duo popped open the paint pail and stirred the paint. Then he poured some in a pan and took out his roller.


Remembering, with an overly embellished agonized sigh, Duo reached up and took the face mask off a nearby card table. Heero had insisted on it, Duo understood why, and he appreciated the concern, but he was beginning to feel just a tad bit mothered. That may just be some hormones setting in, making him just a tad bit irritable, in fact he was almost certain they were (he had deliberately skipped 3 doctors appointments because of his vexation at the attention he was getting and the the lectures he was receiving.) Heero didn't know about this of course, but what he didn't know couldn't hurt him. . . . . or Duo for that matter.


Letting his thoughts take over, his brush strokes became stronger and more deliberate, as he set about painting Heero's dull walls. [1]


~*~*~


Heero walked next to Wufei Chang in the hallway, the Vice Foreign Minister walking in front of them, conversing with her advisers and assistants. And though she looked at them, responded to them, and gave her opinion to them, her mind was somewhere else, somewhere completely off-topic.


It was Heero and Duo. Heero had always been very secretive, brooding. But of late, ever since he had been shot by the assassin, he seemed more open, a little more willing to talk. And even with the little that he said, Relena could tell he was deeply devoted to Duo, and from the brief conversations she'd had with Duo, he was just as devoted to Heero.


Ever since the assassin's attack and Heero's brush with death she had been wracking her brain for an appropriate gift of repayment, and she had finally thought of one.


~*~*~


Duo finished the hallway he had been working in. Without realizing it, the day had slipped away. Their was an empty pizza box on the cardtable, a liter of lemon lime soda, and an assortment of small bowls of sample foods that had sounded good to Duo while he painted. Duo knew he should clean up, but all of a sudden, his whole body ached, his feet were screaming for relief and the small of his back seemed to be crumpling under the pressure from the ever-growing child within him. After a short rest, which included mostly lounging on the couch, Duo headed for Heero's master bathroom. Though the tub wasn't exactly a jacuzzi, it did have jets and plenty of room to lay down, with a small shelf to sit upon as well.


Turning the water on, Duo stripped, piling his clothes on the floor next to the hamper. As the water filled the bath, he stepped in gingerly, his long braid trailing behind him, and then resting on top of the water 'til it became too waterlogged to float and sank down to the bottom of the tub. Breathing deeply, Duo got himself as comfortable as he could. As the tub filled, Duo felt his eyes grow heavy, so he turned the water off and leaned back and relaxed. . . .


A loud crash jerked him awake. It had sounded like glass breaking. It was followed by another, and another. Quickly, Duo pulled himself out of the bath. He dried off and began dressing. He wasn't sure what the sound was, but he would find out. Grabbing a heavy out-of-use vase, he opened the door. . . .


~*~*~


Heero drove home, shivering slightly as the dry March air blew past him. This bike was really more suited to a person like Duo. Open, free, crazy. It was intoxicating the feel of power you got from riding in an open vehicle, without any restraints, no protection. Yet, this didn't really feel like the right vehicle for him. He had ridden it several times of late, b/c Duo had wanted to go out while he was at work, but didn't have a car himself, and for obvious reasons, Duo didn't think it would be right for himself to be driving a motorcycle at this time.


Heero soared into his driveway, pulling the tinted riding glasses off as he coasted into view of his house.


His burning house. The glasses dropped onto the pavement.


"DUO!!!"


tsuzuku


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Don't know if anyone got that, but that was supposed to be a metaphor of sorts. . . .


Okay! Sorry it took me so long. . . . ridiculously long. But I don't even feel worthy to give you my excuse rant. If ya've talked to me recently you'll know, or if you want to personally scream at me go ahead. (AIM, yahoo, and MSN @ AnnieMaxwell02, AnnieMaxwell02@yahoo.com, or AnnieMaxwell02@hotmail.com, respectively)


TO pep myself for writing this chapter, i reread reviews, so those really do help, more than you can possibly imagine. Thank you so much!!!


I won't leave you with the cliffie if you ask nicely. I will be sure to update within the week. ^_^


~Annie


P. S. If you dont' receive an email when I update and would like too, just tell me in your review... I'm losing track