Author: Sparkle Itamashii
Title: Inheritance
Warnings: Respect the rating. Please see my profile for details.
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing AC is NOT MINE.
Chapter Ten
Are. You. Sitting. Down.
They were four simple words, absolutely harmless… until someone said them. No one anywhere had ever asked "are you sitting down" when they had good news. Those weren't good news words. It was the phrase you asked when you had to tell someone that a person was dying or already dead or that they were breaking up with you or something else as equally leg-buckling.
"Just tell me, Quatre."
"I got a phone call from Pagan. He found Relena's Will." Quatre said quietly. "Apparently when Mara was born, Relena didn't mention anything about Heero being the father."
Shit. "So we're back to trying to prove it." I watched as our car turned the corner and Heero lifted a hand to make sure I saw it was him. I waved back distractedly.
"I'm afraid that's not going to help." Quatre sighed as Heero pulled to a stop in front of me. "She went so far as to designate godparents and Mara's got to go to them now."
"What?" I squawked, hand hovering over the door handle. Inside the car, Heero gave me a strange 'what's going on?' look. "That's crazy! The godparents can't take her if her blood father comes forward, right? Quatre I'm at the emergency care unit on Third right now, I actually convinced Heero to go and we'll be able to prove it! You can't just let her go to someone else! She's got-" I paused, considering my words and shook my head. "Wait, who did she designate…?"
Oh god did I feel like an idiot when I heard Quatre laughing on the other end of the phone. It was a nice sound, though, so I let him, knowing that I well deserved it for jumping to conclusions. "Who else do you think she would pick, Duo?"
"Very funny." I said wryly, opening the door. "So can we just go get her?"
"Ah, well, it'll be a day or two actually." He sighed and I could almost see him shaking his head. "The paperwork has to go through and they have to prove that this is actually her Will and not a copy we've made. Pagan sent me scans of the document, though, and from what I gathered glancing over it… most everything was left to Mara and Mara was left to the two of you."
I raised an eyebrow and glanced to Heero as I closed the door. "So what does that mean?" I held up a hand to keep Heero from driving anywhere until I was off the phone. He rolled his eyes but the car remained parked.
"Nothing right now; you'll still be able to take her in a day or two. She can't access her inheritance until she's eighteen so basically nothing will change for her until then." He hesitated for a second and there was a moment of awkward silence as I tried to process all of that. "Relena didn't leave you two completely empty-handed. I sent someone over to Relena's house to get Mara's things."
Surprised, I forgot what I was going to say for a second. "O-oh." Blinking, I glanced to Heero, wondering if he could hear anything Quatre was saying. "When do you expect them to arrive?"
"At your house?"
"Yeah." By this time, Heero was giving me a strange look, probably wondering what on earth was so important that he couldn't drive while I spoke.
"Tomorrow morning, maybe nine o'clock?" I heard him shuffling papers and then he made a noise of assent. "Don't worry about it. They'll bring the stuff and they can help you move it to where-ever you'd like."
"That'll be good."
"Duo?"
"Yeah?"
"Not that I don't trust you but… are you sure you can handle this? She's going to need a lot of special things from now on and you can't just leave dangerous items out in the open."
"I know that…"
"I've seen your place, Duo. It's not exactly child friendly."
"A couple of days will be enough to fix that. I've got the rest of this week off anyhow." He sounded like he was busy and I didn't want to keep him any longer than I had to.
"If you need help, promise me you'll give Hilde a call." He shot quickly before I could say goodbye to him. "Please?"
Smiling, I nodded, despite that he couldn't see it. "Yeah, I will." That was actually a really good idea; I wouldn't have thought to call her. "Hey look, we're about to head home so I'm going to let you get back to what you were doing."
"Oh, that's right- you're not at home. I left you a message."
"Yeah there were signs inside the building that asked me to turn my cell phone off so I did. Sorry about that…"
My location seemed to finally dawn on him. "Are you just there because of Heero?"
"No." I winced. "I kind of cut myself in the kitchen."
"Are you all right?" He asked worriedly. Inwardly I sighed because knew I would have to put his attention elsewhere or we'd be on the phone forever.
"I'll live, no big deal." I said flippantly, playing it off as absolutely nothing he should worry about. "Take care!" I heard him starting to say something else but I hoped it was just goodbye because I'd already clicked the off button before he'd finished speaking.
"Quatre?" Heero asked as soon as I'd closed the phone.
"Quatre." I affirmed casually, stashing my phone back in my pocket. I knew he wanted me to continue but I kept my mouth shut. If I only had to answer questions it would be easier to avoid another serious conflict.
"What did he want?" He prompted when he realized I wasn't going to reply. Glancing quickly to me, he began to drive.
"They found Relena's Will." I settled back into the seat, keeping my attention on Heero.
"And…?"
Sighing, I shrugged. "It looks like we get Mara by default." I thought fast when I saw his fingers tighten on the steering wheel. "We're listed as her godparents."
"Can't we tell them no?"
"We're not going to tell them no, Heero. She obviously wanted us to have the kid and are you really going to deny Relena that request?"
He growled and I knew it was on the tip of his tongue to say something ornery or contradictory to that but I also knew that he wouldn't. Whatever else he thought, the past still had a strong hold on him. It had a hold on all of us and none of us could possibly just abandon it. He'd loved Relena. Most of us had but he'd loved her differently. I didn't have to like it but I respected it as the truth and there was no way I would ignore reality because it did matter.
I think that before that point, before that phone call, I'd been considering taking Mara in to be more of a game than anything but it had just become a responsibility between one second and the next. It was almost pretend before and I felt a little ill at the way everything was so quickly becoming reality. Relena had obviously trusted us. We'd been nominated to care for a child – her child – in the event that something happened to her. Not even Heero could find a way to ignore that, to say no. Regardless of what either of us wanted or thought we wanted, we were getting a child.
That is, if Heero would behave and go along with it this time.
"When… how…" He clenched his jaw, eyes locked ahead to the road. "What do we have to do?"
I let out the breath I'd been holding. Although he hadn't agreed to anything but listening, at least that was more than he'd been willing to do the past few days. We weren't out of the fire yet, but maybe I was finally getting somewhere.
"We can go pick her up in a couple of days. I think Quatre is probably going to call the agency but I don't know since he was busy and I didn't want to keep him." I took a deep breath before letting it out and continuing. "There is a lot that needs to get done and some things will… probably have to… change."
"More than I think you realize…" He muttered, eyes on the road.
Counting to five before I returned some smart-ass comment, I nodded. "Probably, but I don't think it'll be as awful as you think."
I could tell he wanted to wring my neck even if I didn't know why. "How do you plan on obtaining everything necessary to care for a child so quickly?"
"Relena had to be taking care of her somehow, right? Quatre's having her stuff sent over tomorrow morning."
"I have work."
Yes I know you have work. You always have work. I can't pry you away from your work with the jaws-of-life, Heero. "I know, don't worry. It's taken care of already." I closed my eyes, hoping that I'd heard the end of the conversation.
Thankfully, luck was on my side and the rest of the car ride was spent in silence. Although he didn't say anything, I could tell he was thinking deeply. It took every last ounce of will power I had to keep from asking him what exactly was on his mind. I didn't want to interrupt him because I knew he needed time. Life had been hard enough for him to adjust to the first time around and now even that was being turned upside down.
So I let it be, knowing that he would tell me when he was ready.
When we got home I got out of the car and walked around to his side. He was just sitting there, staring kind of blankly at the dash with a confused expression. As quietly as I could I popped his door open and leaned on the frame, following his line of sight as if it would give me an idea about what he was thinking. It didn't of course, but it seemed to snap him out of his reverie and he clambered out of the vehicle. I felt like I was in a bit of a trance, unable to break the steady peace. Half a pace behind him, I silently followed him through the front door.
As soon as he was inside, though, he slipped off his shoes and turned on me. Grabbing my shirt front, he pulled me over to him and into a demanding kiss. Caught off guard, I barely retained the presence of mind to kick the door closed behind us before the neighbors noticed. I stumbled half a step forward and broke the kiss when he began to move backward. This was certainly a change of pace I could handle. With a happy grin I shook off my boots and caught him around the waist, drawing him close.
"What was that for?" I murmured, staring him right in the eyes. He was gorgeous when he gave me that look; full of heat and life like he used to be when we were just teens. But I could see the worry and confusion still simmering right below the surface and I knew his mind was not settled or at ease yet. With a sigh, he dropped his gaze and leant forward to rest his forehead against mine. I worriedly ran one hand through his hair and settled it gently on the back of his neck. "Are you okay?"
"Time," he whispered almost too quietly for me to hear. His fingers curled into the fabric of my shirt, clinging as if he wasn't going to let go. "We can't… we won't…" He glanced up for a split second and then shook his head, unable or unwilling to continue.
I chuckled and kissed his forehead, his temple, raised his chin with one hand and sought his lips for a few brief seconds and then smiled against his skin. "Are you worried we won't have 'alone time,' Heero?" How cute. "She's a little kid and little kids go to bed early, right? Sister Helen had us in bed by eight."
Of course I conveniently forgot to mention how often we woke up in the middle of the night to bother our caretakers…
He growled as I made to pull away at last and grabbed me by the collar. Bringing my face to within an inch of his, he grinned almost maliciously. "Did I say you could leave?"
Raising an eyebrow, I made no move to escape. "Me? Leave?" I inquired innocently as I easily slipped from his grasp. "If I did, it would only be to get to the bedroom first."
I grunted when I felt my shoulder blades bang sharply against the wall but it was instantly forgotten when he kissed me. I could feel the question behind the action, the need for reassurance. Our worlds were changing and there needed to be something stable. There needed to be something that didn't change. I'd become Heero's safe haven and he was mine. Somehow I think he needed that more than I ever could.
So I returned the kiss with fervor, hoping that I could distract him from himself; give him an escape from despairing thoughts. Threading my hand through his hair, I curled my fingers, letting the soft strands slip silkily through my grasp. I could feel his fingers curling into the waistline of my jeans.
"Duo," he said softly and I could hear the seriousness behind the tone, "there's something…" He trailed off and looked distant, out of reach.
"Something…?" I echoed, gently touching noses, attention focused solely on Heero.
His eyes flickered over mine, taking me in as if he were trying to memorize everything he could see and more. I loved and hated that look… I felt special, worthy of attention and care when he looked at me like that. At the same time I knew that gesture. I knew what it meant and how it could hurt. There was something important he wasn't telling me because he thought he had to exclude me to protect me.
He didn't know that I thought he was the one who needed protecting.
"It's okay." I whispered, hands resting against the sides of his neck.
His hands covered mine, warm and soft and he pressed forward again, kissing me much more gently. "I don't want to think tonight," he breathed against my lips.
I smiled, leading him down the hall with small steps, never losing contact with him. "I think I can help with that," I purred, absently closing the bedroom door behind us so the dog wouldn't… interrupt.
Maybe if I hadn't been so intent on distracting Heero that night, I might have noticed... If I'd been more observant I would have realized that Artemis was locked in the backyard instead of being inside where we'd left her. Perhaps if I had been paying attention I might have seen the shoe imprint on the carpet before we scuffed it away on our way to the bedroom. If I had looked more closely I might have realized that the door to the front hall closet was not closed quite right- it had popped open like it always does when someone doesn't know to twist the handle so the latch would catch.
Maybe if I hadn't been distracted I might have noticed that someone had been inside our house.
But I was… and I didn't.
And everyone knows that ignorance is bliss.
/End Chapter Ten, Inheritance/
Notes:
