A/N So this is the end. Tear... Maybe there will be a continuation to this story...a trequel? Or whatever you call it. Thanks to my wonderful reveiwers, I shall heart you forever.

These Days

Chapter 12- May 22

"JJ! Get up!"

JJ slapped away the hands bothering him. "Is e'rly."

"It's three o'clock."

"S'rew you. Lemme seep."

"You didn't hear the phone ring!"

JJ was suddenly wide awake. "What happened? What's wrong? Is someone hurt? Did someone die!"

Drake smiled. "No, someone wants to come into this world."

JJ was out the door, fully clothed, before Drake could even blink. He dressed more slowly, his lack of sleep getting to him. JJ bounced back in. "Hurry up!"

"No need to rush. Labor can take a long time."

"But I saw on tv someone had a baby under five minutes of labor!"

Drake chuckled. "Too rare. You need to relax, go slow, because there will be a lot of waiting."

Drake had been right about the wait. Hour after hour after hour. It was noon when JJ became completely restless. Drake, on the other hand, was sleeping awkwardly in a chair. JJ walked over to where the newborns lay on display. There were five sleeping and one crying. They were all so cute. He waved with a large grin at a tiny boy. A man appeared beside him.

"You a father too?" he asked.

"Almost," JJ replied.

"She's my fourth," he informed, pointing at a baby wrapping in a pink blanket. "You're a first timer, aren't cha?"

"How can you tell?"

"You're shaking."

"Oh." JJ looked at his trembling hands. "I'm anxious."

"Your whole life will change."

JJ nodded. "But a good change."

"Certainly." The man chuckled. "But sometimes, you want to chuck things across the room. But for the most part, yes, it's good."

JJ looked way out into the lobby. Drake was still sleeping. The man clapped him on the back. "Congrats and good luck." He walked away.

JJ turned back to the window. Soon, his little girl would be in there. Checking his watch, he decided to check on the progress. He knocked on the door to his friend's room. Slowly, he opened the door and peeked inside. She was sleeping. It took her about an hour of contractions before she screamed for an epidural. At least she wasn't in pain.

JJ walked over to the bed. He gently shook her arm. "Maggie," he whispered.

She opened her eyes. "'ello JJ."

"How are you doing?"

Maggie raised her eyebrows. "Just peachy," she answered sarcastically.

JJ smiled sweetly. "Thank you."

She waved him off. "Please. I owed you one. If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead."

"But with a baby…"

"If there's anyone meant to be a father, it's you."

"Thank you…"

"Quit thanking me."

He patted her on head like a child. "How much longer do they think it'll be?"

"An hour."

"Oh." JJ pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down. "Remember when this all happened?"

Maggie giggled. "When you awkwardly were above me?"

JJ blushed. "I'm no expert."

"Me neither, but I knew that some things weren't supposed to happen."

JJ and Maggie met ten years ago. He wanted to drown his sorrows, so he went to a gay bar. During his fourth drink, he spotted a woman that looked as if she were choking. He ran over to her and gave her the Heimlich when she started turning blue. He ended up saving her life. Weirdly, JJ was biased when it came to lesbians and didn't care for them one bit even though they were somewhat in the same spot as he.

So at first, he didn't want to converse with the woman. But she insisted on taking him to dinner for a thank you. JJ didn't think she looked like the 'typical' lesbian according to his stereotype. She was gorgeous with flowing blond hair and green eyes. If JJ and Maggie were straight, they probably would have ended up together.

Slow. Slow. Slow. How can an hour go so slow? JJ tried passing the time talking, but found himself glancing at the clock every minute. Drake came in after a half hour, trying to crack his neck from the previous uncomfortable position. The three of them had become best of friends with each other. They were, after all, all going to be parents. They had to come to agreements as well.

Maggie was going to sign off all her rights to JJ. Only on the condition that she will be able to see Bailey every so often. Later, Drake would be able to adopt Bailey. It was a three-parenting system. They knew it would create some friction between each other, but they still wanted to do it. Who knows? Maybe it could be the greatest thing to have ever done.

The doctor came in at exactly two o'clock. JJ and Drake both left, feeling uncomfortable during the check. After five minutes, the doctor came back out and nodded at the two men. It was time. JJ hugged Drake securely, his heart thumping wildly. The moment they waited for, for a long time, was finally here.

JJ stood by Maggie's side, holding her hand tightly.

She was doing such a great job.

JJ watched, getting only a little queasy.

More pushing.

There was a cry.

A baby girl came into existence at 2:12 p.m. on May 22, 2005, 7 pounds 8 ounces.

There was more crying.

Maggie held her little girl in her arms for the first time.

JJ smiled and watched mother and daughter, knowing his time would come.

She needed to rest, and he needed to squeal to his lover.

JJ ran out of the room and immediately jumped into Drake's arms. Drake held him tightly, both overwhelmed with joy. "What's she look like?" Drake asked with tears in his eyes.

JJ wiped away the tears with his thumb. "She's a little blondie. So small. Ten toes, ten fingers. Perfect." He grabbed a hold of his hands. "Why don't you come see for yourself?" He led Drake to the same spot JJ had been spying on the other babies. They waited impatiently, but were soon rewarded.

"There she is," JJ muttered, pointing at the baby in a basket being rolled over to the window. "That's Bailey Madison."

Drake's jaw dropped. She was absolutely beautiful. And when she opened her eyes, he could see JJ's blue eyes peeking up at him. He was shaking. He was crying. He was so happy. She was a little JJ.

If they thought it was emotional just looking at her, they were in for a shocker when they first held her. JJ was first. He had never, ever held a baby before and was afraid he was going to drop her. Maggie instructed him the proper way, and he finally got it. His feelings were indescribable.

He passed her off to Drake. Although Drake had done this before, it was entirely different when he knew that he would be taking care of this little angel.

"Little angel my ass."

"It's your turn."

"It's your turn."

"You."

"You."

"Fine! I'll do it!" JJ swung back the covers and his bare feet hit the cold wood floor. He stumbled over discarded clothes and made it downstairs to the kitchen. He made a bottle and ran back up. He passed his and Drake's room and went next door.

Bailey was crying and screaming her lungs out. For being only a week old, she had the lungs on her. Drake had made a joke that she had inherited JJ's mouth. JJ didn't think it was that funny; especially at two in the morning. He picked her up and sat in the rocking chair. He began to rock back and forth as she began to suck hungrily at the bottle.

"You're really hungry," JJ whispered to his daughter as she quickly drained the milk. When she was finished her eyes drooped and sleep overtook her. JJ continued to rock, soon making himself fall asleep.

Drake had noticed his lover's long absence and grudgingly got out of bed. He sauntered to Bailey's room and opened the door quietly. He stopped dead in his tracks. He ran out and ran all the way to the basement and grabbed his pencil and notebook. He sprinted all the way back up and sat himself on the floor of Bailey's room.

He began to draw, as fast as possible. He didn't want to miss one detail. The curves, the light, the balance, it was all perfect. The pencil moved and twisted, creating the scene in front of him. The baby's content face, JJ's exhausted expression, their love for one another was all caught on paper.

When he was satisfied with the sketch, his placed his supplies off to the side. Fearing the girl would slip from JJ's limp hold, he carefully hoisted her up and placed her back in her crib. He grabbed the bottle from JJ's hands and placed it on the table. Drake didn't want to disturb JJ's must needed sleep, but the position he was in was begging for a body ache the next day.

Drake put his arm around JJ's back and the other on the back of his knees. JJ mumbled incoherently when he was picked up, but remained asleep. Delicately, Drake carried his lover back to their bedroom and laid him on the bed. He soon got in and pulled the covers up over them. Sleep didn't last too long. Three hours later, both awoke to the loud squawking of their daughter.

JJ didn't move or say anything. Catching the drift, Drake got out and fed the baby again. For such a little tyke, she sure liked a lot of food. She must've gotten JJ's metabolism: Eat anything. Gain nothing. She fell asleep fairly quickly after her diaper was changed. Drake returned to his own bed and was sleeping before he hit the pillow.

But someone had other plans. The phone rang out loud, making Drake shove it to the floor. JJ shoved his head underneath his pillow. It seemed like only a minute passed and they were awoken once more.

"I…Am…Going…To…Flip…SHIT!" JJ shouted at the top of his lungs. Not a good thing to do. Bailey started to scream. The buzzer on the alarm was still going off. Drake was muttering obscenities. The phone rang. At the same time, they scrambled out of bed, JJ running off to fetch his daughter, and Drake reached for the phone after hitting the alarm.

"'Ello?" Drake answered tiredly.

"Good morning, Sweetheart."

Drake sighed. "Hello, Dee. What do you want?"

"Your mommy called. She was quite upset. Said something about Kyle telling her you had a child."

He deadpanned. "How the hell does Kyle know? And why would she call you?"

"She told me she called you earlier and you didn't answer. Kyle never mentioned who he heard it from." Dee laughed. "You are an idiot for not telling your mom. I know how she is about her precious Dwakey. She wants to know every detail."

"Hold on." Drake held his hand over the receiver. "JJ! What are you doing to her! She's even louder than before!"

JJ appeared holding Bailey who was sleeping peacefully in his arms. JJ, on the other hand, had streams of tears running down his face and was crying hysterically.

Drake told Dee he had to go. He scampered over to JJ and seized the baby. He ran her back into her room and placed her in her crib. He then returned to his bedroom to find JJ on the bed shaking in silent cries. Drake laid next to him and rubbed his back.

"What's wrong, Sunshine?"

"I'm not very sunny now, I am?" JJ sniffled.

"Well…What's got you so upset?"

"I'm so stressed out. I'm sleep deprived. I'm not used to not working. I'm under a lot of pressure. I need help, but you're working all day even though you don't need to. I miss you…" JJ buried his head into the mattress.

Drake caressed his lover. "It'll be okay. There's just been a lot of change and you haven't adjusted yet--

"NO! I need help, Drake! I can't do it alone! I need you here!" JJ pled loudly. "We have money. You don't need to work."

Drake breathed out heavily. "There are other ways…"

"I don't want someone else to raise her!"

"But Maggie--"

"NO NO NO. She has her own life!" Drake placed a hand over his lover's mouth, who got even more enraged. "I need you here!"

Instead of replacing his hand back over JJ's mouth, he pressed his lips to them hard. Amazingly, JJ didn't pull away but enforced it even more. They haven't had any loving since they brought Bailey home. She took up all their time. But now, things were heating up and they weren't going to stop for anything.

"I love you," JJ whispered.

"I love you too. Always."

"Ryo! Where are you?" Dee called out when he got home from work.

"In here."

Dee followed the voice into the kitchen. Ryo was sitting at the table, looking at old photographs. "What cha doing?"

"Just browsing. I felt like re-looking the past."

"Don't be living in the past. These are the days worth living. Let's make the best out of our lives."

Dee pulled out a box from his pocket and opened it in front of his lover. Ryo's eyes went large, then filled with tears.

"Be with me forever," Dee said, his hand shaking. Ryo slid off his chair and embraced Dee tightly.

"Forever."