A/N: Hello again! Here's another chapter. This one was super fun to write, so we hope you guys will enjoy it, hehe~

Once again, thank you so much for your kind words!

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Alguien22792: yes, finally, right? Hehe. There's more of that this chapter, so we hope you'll enjoy it! ;)


Chapter 04: Make Way for Ducklings

January 6, 2018

Arthur spent the New Year's Eve alone.

After waking up on Alfred's bed in the Christmas morning, warm and comfortable with at least four blankets over him, and after going to Alfred's living room to find him sleeping there on the couch, his glasses on the floor and the TV on, Arthur was too embarrassed to accept his invitation to spend the New Year's Eve with them.

That is, to sleep in an alpha's bed...! Even if Alfred was his friend...! He should have left Arthur sleeping on the couch!

Despite having spent the New Year's Eve on his own, Arthur almost didn't cry at all: he exchanged a few messages with Alfred, allowed himself the luxury of ordering food and went to bed early.

With January starting, Arthur knew he needed to start his prenatal care tests. The problem was that these tests were performed in a hospital, and after Gilbert's passing... Arthur hated to get close to one. The smell made him sick and anxious, his heart pounded and his breathing quickened. It was as if everything that existed in that white-walled building was death and pain and that it would devour him if he got in there and...

...he could not do it alone.

Arthur thought about asking Francis to accompany him. But…

"What am I up to? Oh, the usual... the wedding preparations are destroying me. Jean laughs at me because apparently I'm exaggerating, but I'm not! I have to keep an eye on everything, I can't let anything go wrong, it must be perfect! The wedding is almost here and there's so much to do... I just want all this stress to be over soon!" Francis said excitedly when Arthur called him.

His life was so busy, in a happy way. Arthur refused to ask any favor from him, not after all the other favors he had asked for in the past.

Unfortunately, Francis was his closest friend and if Francis was out of the equation, the next person he could think of was...

... Alfred.

Arthur was not sure about that.

It seemed… wrong, weird to ask something of the sort to Alfred, but… he would understand, wouldn't he?

So Arthur decided to call him on that cold Saturday afternoon, wrapped up in a lot of warm blankets.


Alfred had spent the New Year's Eve with his children and his relatives at his brother's house. Despite being generally the calmer and more patient of the two brothers, Matt liked to have super-hectic parties that lasted all night – a trait he had inherited from his parents. This wasn't convenient at Christmas because if Alfred's kids didn't sleep early it would be difficult to convince them of Santa's existence but in the New Year's Eve so much excitement surely would guarantee that everyone would stay awake until midnight, which was pretty good.

The party was fun as always. It also had, as any family party, its little inconveniences. Some extra guests arrived without previous notice, so they had to sleep in the same room as Alfred. The room was not that big, and someone ended up breaking one of Emily's toys. Not to mention, it was a pain to listen to his drunken relatives after midnight, complaining every time that Alfred should get a boyfriend and saying that he had become too demanding after Antonio. They meant well, of course, but these advices didn't help Alfred AT ALL. If he didn't want to date anyone, what was the point of forcing it? He had even considered start looking for romance again earlier that year, but he was no longer in the mood for it. Going after someone just because of the peer pressure of his family would only hurt both parties in the end.

Family parties. It had its ups and downs.

Now a new year had begun, and Alfred's expectations for it were very simple. All he wanted was to make this year a good one, to make sure it would be good for his kids, to continue to do well at work and to support Arthur as much as he could.

Romance was not one of his goals. Not at all.

Especially not with Arthur.

Despite this, he could acknowledge that the emotional moment they had at Christmas had been kind of... odd at the end. He also felt strange carrying Arthur to his bed in his arms and felt even stranger trying to sleep in it the next night and not being able to do so because Arthur's scent was leaving his brain wide awake.

Alfred decided to interpret this as a natural biological reaction. He was an alpha, Arthur was an omega. They both were straight and single. Also, it had been a long time since he had come so close to an omega, and Arthur had really beautiful eyes and adorable cheeks… That didn't mean anything.

He had no expectations, or so he thought.

And then, he picked up Arthur's call that Saturday afternoon.

"Oh, hello, Alfred..." Arthur said as soon as Alfred picked up, "... how are you?"

"Hey, Arthur! It's all right here! How are you? Are you keeping up with your New Year resolutions? Haha!"

"Yes, I'm fine, uh…" Arthur hesitated, "How are the kids?"

Alfred smiled. Arthur was the only person outside his family who was legitimately interested in his children lives and that pleased Alfred immensely.
"They're fine! Just a bit upset because school is back. You should come here to see them later! I think they would love a surprise visit in the middle of the week!"

"If things are quiet at work, I can make it." Arthur agreed, "I like to spend time with them. And Emily said she'd let me help with her homework next time."

"I would be very… I mean! Emily would be very happy to see you!" Alfred answered excitedly, moving his knees up and down without even realizing it.

"Alright." Arthur said, and hesitated again, "I… actually, I called… I wanted to… It's not much, really, but I wanted to tell you something. Ask. I'd like to ask you something…"

Oh? Arthur hardly ever asked him for anything. In fact, he even had trouble accepting what Alfred offered on his own. What did he need so badly to the point of calling to ask for it?
"Aww, Arthur. Of course you can ask me whatever you want! I can't guarantee 1000% that I will do whatever you ask me but if it's something I can do, consider it done!"

"Thank you... Alfred, you... to be completely honest... you're a very important friend to me. You've helped me a lot with learning more about being a good father, and... and you are... you're a great person." Arthur said. He was stuttering, nervous "... we have not known each other for a long time, but... but I'm so grateful to have met you."

... Why was Arthur talking like he was about to dump him?
"Er ... Thank you? Are you okay, though?" Alfred asked, letting a nervous laugh escape "You aren't about to say that you're going to move countries or something, are you?"

"Oh, no. It's not that..." Arthur said quickly, "I want to... ask you something, but, uh, I'm... precisely because we don't know each other for a long time, I'm kind of nervous to ask this... I... I know you must be busy with work, with the children, and you have no obligation at all with me, but... I ... you are my friend... and I trust you... and then... That's probably going to be strange for you, but... uh..."

Alfred's heart began to beat faster. Hearing Arthur embarrassed and talking about how much he meant to him was already enough to make Alfred agitated inside. Now, knowing that Arthur was saying all this to justify something he wanted to ask… That made him utterly nervous. What could it be? What did he want?

"Hm, er, thanks, Arthur! I... Uh... I'm glad you cherish me! As a friend! Of course you can always ask for my help! I-I value you too! As a friend!" Alfred's face felt super-hot now. He could bet he was blushing.

"Thanks, Alfred… what I'm about to ask you, it's not… it's not something to ask from a friend, but… I hope this doesn't make things too weird between us…" Arthur mumbled.

It wasn't something to ask of a friend? God, what was he going to ask? They were both single and they were getting pretty close lately, so maybe Arthur was feeling kind of needy? And wanted something physical from him? A kiss? Casual sex? Dozens of possibilities flew through Alfred's mind like bullets going around in a cowboy movie, but fortunately, before he began to think too deep about any of them, Arthur added,

"... that's why… I'll totally understand if you don't want to, but… I'd like to know if you could… if you could go with me to the hospital for my ultrasound…"

Wait a second.

What.

"Ultrasound?" Alfred felt a little like he had just woken from a dream within a dream and still wasn't entirely sure of what was real or not.

"Yes..." Arthur muttered, hugging his knees, "I need to do my prenatal tests... I haven't done any ultrasounds yet." He sighed, "And it's something I need to do. But I don't like hospitals, so... at least I didn't want to go alone... I was going to invite another friend, but... he's busy preparing his wedding, so..." Arthur swallowed, feeling his face warmer, "...but I'll understand if it's a problem for you! I can ask someone else!" Arthur lied.

Oh, that was more normal for them. Arthur needed help for things related to the baby. That was always it. Yet, Alfred's mind had gone to absurd places and he was feeling pretty dumb at the moment.

"Of course I can go with you, Arthur." Alfred said confidently, trying to make Arthur not feel so nervous about a favor that wouldn't be any bother for him. Alfred leaned his back against the wall, trying to relax. His body was still recovering from his previous tension. "When are you going to do these exams? A weekend would be better for me."

"A weekend is better for me, too. I've scheduled it for next Saturday morning. At nine. Is that alright? I can reschedule if you have any other appointment..." Arthur replied. He was feeling lighter to know he would have company, and he smiled to himself, "Thank you, Alfred. Really. You're such a great friend."

"Hey, no problem, man. I just hope I can help." Alfred smiled, munching on his guilty for thinking something so stupid before.

Okay. Clearly, he had to leave that Christmas moment behind. It was only making him behave like a fool. He had to forget about that whole thing and let things go on like they used to. He had to ignore how cute Arthur was and try not feeling so nervous and embarrassed around him. This time they were on the phone but what if Arthur caught on his smell what Alfred was feeling? He would think that Alfred had a crush on him or something.


The following Saturday, Arthur met Alfred at the hospital entrance. He was wearing the coat Alfred had given him for Christmas, a scarf and warm pants. It was not snowing that day, but it was still very cold. He had arrived a little earlier and decided to wait for Alfred outside, where the hospital smell would not make him sick or unnecessarily nervous.

"Alfred!" Arthur smiled when he saw his friend approaching from the parking lot, "Thanks again for coming. Really. Thank you."

Alfred had two children, so he was used to visiting hospitals. However, it had been some time since he had been there to accompany someone to make an ultrasound. That was a little nostalgic. He could remember how Antonio was worried and excited when they took that test for the first time, and how emotional he got both times he listened to their babies' heartbeat for the first time.

"No problem! I told you to ask me for help with these things!" He smiled back, feeling his face practically light up with the realization that Arthur was wearing the coat he had given him for Christmas.

Arthur agreed and they entered the hospital while Arthur inquired about Alfred's children. The disinfectant smell invaded Arthur's nostrils and he grimaced, feeling his stomach wrapping up in itself with aching memories. So to get distracted from that, he kept asking Alfred questions about his kids until they arrived at the front desk of that floor.

There, Arthur handed over his papers and documents to the clerk and filled out a form while Alfred sat in the waiting chairs. With everything ready, and with the news that the doctor was a few minutes late with the exams, Arthur collected his documents and sat next to Alfred with a sigh, staring at the ceiling while wiggling his nose uncomfortably. He really hated that smell.

"I hate hospitals," he mumbled casually.

From what Alfred got from Arthur's story on Christmas, Arthur's husband had spent some time in a hospital before dying. Possibly, it was his memories from that period of his life that made Arthur dislike that place.

Despite noticing this connection very quickly, Alfred decided to stay silent about it because he didn't want to bring up sad subjects to their conversation.

"Emily also gets super-scared in hospitals, but if you ask, she'll never admit it." Alfred smiled. "She gets super embarrassed about it because Bill is not afraid of hospitals and she is."

"Really?" Arthur chuckled a bit, "Bill is so brave. He's not scared of spiders or clowns either, right? Is he scared of anything? Besides strangers."

"Well, he's afraid of crowded places and being alone. He doesn't even like to go alone in amusement park attractions." Alfred remembered, scratching his chin. "I guess you could say that his fears are a little more easy to happen than Emily's."

"I see… So Bill has more rational fears… And what else is Emily scared of?" Arthur asked.

"She's afraid of ghosts, stains that look like faces, aliens..." Alfred enumerated, counting on his fingers. "Oh! She's afraid of needles too."

"I'm not a fan of needles myself. I almost didn't manage to get my tattoo." Arthur nodded, "And how about you, what are you afraid of?"

Alfred barely listened to Arthur's question because he got caught in a detail of what Arthur had said.
"Wait. You have a tattoo?" Alfred asked in amazement, almost jumping from his chair as he leaned over to Arthur's side. "What kind of tattoo? Where? Why?"

Arthur laughed.

"Yes. I forged my mother's signature when I was sixteen. I was kind of a rebel. It's on my back... it's the silhouette of a raven, all black, with intervals in the form of dry branches..."

"Wow! How angry did they get when they finally noticed? They must have been PISSED." Alfred asked, his eyes slightly wide. It was really curious to hear Arthur's teenage stories.

"Really pissed." Arthur replied with a nostalgic smile. "They only found out a year later, actually. My mother saw it during one of my heats... They didn't let me leave the house for a month. But! You still haven't told me what your fears are!"

Fears, huh? Alfred was afraid of so many things. He was afraid of ghosts, conspiracy theories, urban legends, the deeps of the ocean... However, having so many fears were kind of embarrassing for an alpha.

"My only fear is fear itself." Alfred replied, making an exaggerated snobbish demeanour that made it obvious he was joking.

"Oh, c'mon! You must fear something! I, for instance, am afraid of hospitals, needles and… also blood…" Arthur offered an awkward smile, "Now tell me some of yours."

Hospitals, blood and needles. How in the world was Arthur going to have a baby with those fears? Alfred wondered if he should say something about it but, hm, no. It wouldn't be good to do it in the middle of a place Arthur was already scared of. Talking about it would only add to his current concerns.

"Ah... Hm... I'm a little afraid of horror stuff." Alfred admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Like most people!" he tried to soften the blow in his pride.

"Oh, so you won't like my games too much." Arthur laughed a little. He stopped laughing and ended up grimacing. "Uh... weird." He muttered to himself, and noticing that Alfred had heard it, he hastened to explain, "Oh, it's nothing! I just... felt like eating something I don't even like." he tried to laugh it off.

"I like horror games. I'm afraid of them but I still like them a lot!" Alfred countered, before processing what Arthur had just said and asking. "Wait a second, are you having cravings?"

"Craving? I don't know. I just felt this urge to eat bacon… I don't even like bacon." he grimaced, "But right now it doesn't seem so bad… is that how cravings work? Huh."

"Do you think you it can wait until you finish the ultrasound or do you really want to eat it now?"

"Well, I really feel like eating it, but… it's just a craving, right? I'm not hungry."

Obviously, the most rational and convenient solution in that kind of situation would be to tell Arthur "Okay, after your ultrasound, we can go somewhere and eat bacon". Too bad the rational route wasn't always the best route in Alfred's eyes.

"Let me handle it! I'm going to get you some bacon now!" he was determined in his decision, rising from his chair at that very moment. "Didn't you heard that if you don't eat one of your cravings, your baby will be born with a birthmark shaped like the thing you didn't eat? What if your baby gets one on its face? Bullying rates in the United States are brutal, man. Everyone is gonna call it Bacon Face unless I go get you some bacon right now." Alfred joked but he wasn't joking at all about going to get Arthur what he wanted.

"W-what? Alfred, where are you going to find bacon in a hospital?" Arthur asked in a slight squeaky voice, followed by a nervous laughter.

"There must be some at the hospital cafeteria or at one of the convenience machines. I don't know. Doesn't matter. What matters is that if you want bacon, you will have bacon!" Alfred assured him heroically.

"But… But what if they call me in?" Arthur continued, trying not to sound too nervous.

"It won't take long! I swear! If I don't find it quickly, I'll come back and we'll eat it after the ultrasound!"

"Oh… alright." Arthur said even if it wasn't alright and he'd rather not be left alone, "Thank you, Alfred."

Now, bacon was not an easy meal to find in a hospital. The people working on the hospital cafeteria said they didn't have any (even when Alfred said it was for an omega with pregnancy cravings, hoping that that would lead them to reveal some sort of secret deposit of bacon they only showed to the worthy). The convenience machines had nothing like that either.

It was not as if Alfred could get in his car and go out on the streets randomly searching for bacon, so the only thing left for him was to walk around the hospital and ask the staff where was the nearest place that sold bacon or if someone knew the number of some place that delivered it.

He was a man with a mission.


Arthur got really nervous after Alfred left, more aware of the hospital smell and of the people passing by. He almost jumped out of his chair when one door next to him was opened and a smiling couple walked out of it.

Behind them came a smiling doctor. She looked at the clipboard in her hand.

"Arthur Kirkland?" she called, looking around. Arthur shrank back into his seat, but eventually raised his hand.

"Please, come with me, Mr. Kirkland."

"Uh... I'm actually waiting for someone, so..." Arthur muttered.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kirkland, but I'm already behind schedule so unfortunately we can't wait..." The doctor said with a small smile, "But we can record the ultrasound and you can show it to your mate later, yes?" She insisted.

Glancing sideways one last time, Arthur ended up sighing and followed her.


Alfred managed to find bacon in a somewhat unexpected and inconvenient place. In one of the nurses' lunchbox. He almost thought he was having olfactory hallucinations when he suddenly smelled bacon out of nowhere, but no! He had been lucky and bumped into a nurse who was about to have some delicious bacon on his break.

Alfred had to be really freaking annoying to get what he wanted. He repeatedly asked the nurse to give him the lunch box, offered to pay for it, and explained the situation in the most dramatic way possible, saying that he needed that bacon for a solitary omega who was having a very difficult time. It was all true, of course, but he felt a little dirty saying that for a few slices of bacon.

Anyway, the nurse eventually gave in and gave him the lunchbox, muttering something about alphas being dumb when it came to omegas.

Alfred, then, happily rushed to bring the food to Arthur at the waiting room, however…


"Have you drank enough water?" the doctor asked as soon as she closed the door behind her. The room was small, too small for Arthur's liking.

"Oh, yes," Arthur murmured. His bladder was really full, actually.

"Great. You can take off your coat and lay down, please." She instructed, sitting on a stool in front of the hospital bed and putting on a pair of gloves.

Arthur looked at the door one last time and nodded, taking off his coat and putting it on a chair before sitting on the bed.

"Do I need to, uh... take off my...?"

"Oh, no, no, that's fine. Just lay down and lift your sweater, please." the doctor smiled. "How many weeks are you?"

"Uh… five months?" Arthur answered, unsure, "That is… twenty weeks?"

"Alright," the doctor laughed, "Let's see how this baby is doing."

Arthur swallowed dry and laid down, lifting his clothes as the doctor had requested. He felt exposed, uncomfortable, anxious. There was a monitor next to some tools he did not understand. His hands began to shake. The smell was uncomfortable.

"There's no need to be nervous." the doctor smiled. "I'm going to apply the gel now. Just a heads up, it's a bit cold, ok?"


Where the hell was Arthur?
He was nowhere to be seen at the waiting room.

Weird. Where could have he went when it was almost time for his…?

OH.

"Excuse me, ma'am!" He ran to the front desk, clapping his hands hard on the counter to hold his momentum. "Can you tell me if Arthur Kirkland already been called? A pregnant male omega? He was wearing this wool coat and he has very eye-catching eyebrows and ...!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't disclose information about patients." the woman said without even lifting her eyes from the papers she was checking.

"We came here together!" Alfred tried to argue. "I'm accompanying him!"

"Are you related to him? Can you show me some documentation to prove it?"

Urghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Alfred didn't have time for this!
He would check every room on that floor until he found Arthur. He didn't care if he looked suspicious, he didn't care if he would end up embarrassing himself. Arthur had asked him to stay by his side during his appointment and, goddamnit, Alfred would be by his side.

So Alfred ran by the hospital corridors, checking signs, knocking on doors and trying to see through the windows if he could locate Arthur. When he finally heard Arthur's voice coming from a door nearby, he was so full of adrenaline that he simply pushed open the door, running into the room and exclaiming "Arthur!", almost out of breath.

Arthur gasped in surprise and the doctor gave a small squeak with Alfred's abrupt entrance.

"Sir! You can't come in like this! Please leave!" she said, sounding a bit annoyed.

"N-no, he was the one I was waiting for, so..." Arthur said anxiously. The gel the doctor had put on his belly was cold, sticky, uncomfortable. He was shaking. He didn't want to be there. He wanted Alfred to stay, at least.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kirkland, but I'm really going to have to ask him to leave..."

"He's the father!" Arthur exclaimed, taken by surprise by his own words, "Then please let him stay!"

Oh, well, that had gone in a strange direction.
"The father, you say?" The doctor was surprised. "I wouldn't have guessed that, since your smells are so different from each other."
Oh, yeah! Of course they were! Damn! Arthur still had some of the smell of his former mate and he had no drop of Alfred's scent because, duh, they had never done anything! That was going downhill so fast.

What should Alfred say now?

"Well, yes, but that's not the point, is it? I don't want to talk about my personal life. I'm saying he's the father, so he can stay. Right?" Arthur replied, serious. He was so embarrassed. He just wanted it to end soon so he could apologize to Alfred and pretend that none of it had ever happened.

"Well, if he is the father I don't see any problem... but sir, please refrain from invading a doctor's office like that in the future." the doctor scolded.

Flushed and still a little out of breath, Alfred mumbled a few apologies before approaching Arthur, standing beside him for his ultrasound.
"I brought your bacon." He said to Arthur quickly and discreetly, as if sharing confidential information.

"Oh, thanks." Arthur smiled awkwardly. "I can eat it later," he murmured as he watched the doctor shift in her stool.

"Shall we begin then?" she said.

Arthur nodded and she placed the device on his belly.

Alfred laughed a little at the face Arthur made because of the device moving the cold gel in his belly.
That was a very quick funny moment, though. Soon they completely changed their attention when images began to appear on the screen. In the beginning, it was always a bit difficult to identify what the heck was in the midst of the black and white picture of a womb, but Arthur was well into his pregnancy and his baby soon became quite visible to both of them.
There it was. It already had the outlines of a normal baby. It no longer was just a little thing inside Arthur. You could see its head, its little arms moving and...
"Congratulations, Mr. Kirkland." The doctor said with a smile. "It's a boy."

Arthur only realized he was crying when he felt his cheeks wet. And yet he kept staring at the screen, looking at the images of the little human being he was carrying inside him.

He felt Alfred's hand close to him and took it because he just... he didn't know what else to do... he was looking at his baby and it was... a boy...

"He seems healthy, and here we can see..." the doctor said, but Arthur stopped listening.

In his head he remembered Gilbert, sitting on his hospital bed, caressing Arthur's belly, who was sitting next to him.

"Hey, it'd be cool if we had a boy," he had said, "I could teach him to play football and it would be awesome."

"You can also teach it if it's a girl." Arthur had rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but I want a boy, duh. It'd be awesome. Picture this: an alpha boy. I'd be so happy!"

And they would have a boy.

No.

Arthur would have a boy.

Gilbert wouldn't because he was no longer alive. Arthur was alone with that little thing inside of him and it was a boy and the two of them were alone, completely alone with each other.

When Arthur started to cry, it seemed completely normal to Alfred. All first-time parents were like that, seeing their child for the first time. It was a really touching and important moment and some tears could escape when you were overwhelmed by the realization that you had given life and would become a parent.

However, Arthur's crying began to extend far more than usual and became heavier and more violent than one would expect from a cry of happiness. Within a minute or so, it became impossible to ignore the fact that Arthur wasn't crying because he was happy. He was crying with despair.

The doctor, used to all kinds of reactions from her patients, began to save the pictures she had captured during the ultrasound while her patient cried, ignoring him to give him privacy.

But Arthur didn't even notice that. He had stopped noticing his surroundings a few minutes earlier, and all he could notice was his fear and his anxiety and how much less air was reaching his lungs.

He was going to have a boy... the boy Gilbert had wanted… Only he was alone and it was so scary, it was so frightening, and he didn't want to be alone, he didn't know what to do, he didn't know what he could do, and he just… he just...

Alfred had no idea how to deal with an adult having a crying crisis. The most he could do for Arthur was to keep holding his hand and keep silent to not screw up saying something wrong.

What could he say to his friend? "There, there, eat your bacon"? There was no comfort to the kind of feeling Arthur was experiencing.

Since her patient continued to cry even after she finished her work, the doctor took some tissues from a drawer.

"Here, excuse me, Mr. Kirkland." she said as she removed the gel from Arthur's belly. As much as she wasn't bothered by that kind of event, as a doctor she still had to provide the best possible treatment for her patients, and she knew how much being comfortable and warm were important for an omega to feel safe and calm. So she removed the gel from her patient even if her touch had made him shrink himself and cry even more. She covered his belly with his sweater, then stepped back to discard the tissues and remove her gloves.

Alfred, on the other hand, couldn't remain so indifferent. It was devastating to see Arthur in that state and even more so to try guessing what he was thinking to cry like that.

Didn't he want to have that baby? Or was he crushed about the fact that it wasn't his mate holding his hand at that important moment?
As someone who had also lost his mate, Alfred could partly understand his feelings. Partly. He had a family more than willing to help him and he had children for whom he needed to be strong.

Arthur... Well... Although there was a baby inside him, Arthur seemed immensely lonely.

Alfred felt that his heart was uncomfortably tied to his chest. His sense of powerlessness at that scene was terrible. He wanted to do something, anything, to ease what Arthur was feeling.
Although he had no words to say, there was still one option.

He wrapped his arms around Arthur's shoulders and pulled him into a hug, letting him sink his face into his chest.

Taken by surprise, Arthur stopped crying for a moment, the tears still streaming down his cheeks. Once he understood what was happening, he clung to Alfred and allowed himself to cry more, putting out all those horrible feelings, all his fears and his doubts.

Eventually, he felt how much... Alfred's scent was good. It was surrounding him completely, flooding his nostrils and conveying a pleasant sensation of comfort, tranquility and protection.

Arthur had missed that pleasant sensation provided by the presence and protection of an alpha. It was good. He felt himself soothed by that scent.

Arthur's breathing slowed, and his scent gradually grew softer. This gave Alfred a little of tranquility as well, since he had been completely lost and distressed since Arthur had begun crying.

Then, relieved that the hug had helped, Alfred began to tug at Arthur's hair and draw circles on his back to make him more at peace.

Feeling much calmer and mildly intoxicated by Alfred's pheromones, who filled his senses at the moment, Arthur murmured, "...your scent... it's so good..." He sank his face into Alfred a little more, distractedly, "I really like it..."

This comment made an intense shiver run through Alfred's body. Ugh. Arthur really shouldn't say such things that casually. Did he not know what it meant for an alpha to hear this from an omega?

"Uh... Hm... Thank you. It's, I mean... " Alfred looked away, even though Arthur couldn't even see his face in that position. "I mean… It's good to know."

Arthur smiled a little against Alfred's chest. His smile fell when he thought of Gilbert, but in general, he felt much calmer and relaxed. He took a few deep breaths, and finally gathered his strength to get away from Alfred.

He looked down, then at Alfred and offered a small, embarrassed smile to him.

"… thank you." He whispered, touching Alfred's shoulder, "I feel better. I... I'm sorry for making you go through all this..."

"It's all right." Alfred answered immediately, giving a small smile to Arthur, grabbing his hand and holding it over his shoulder. "Sorry for not being able to... I don't know..."

"For what?" Arthur asked, rubbing his eyes and sighing. He felt really, really tired and a bit hungry.

"Mr Kirkland?" the doctor said, holding an envelope where she had placed the images and general observations, "Here. As I said earlier, your baby is a healthy boy. Follow your obstetrician's guidelines and you'll be fine."

"Thank you." Arthur said, taking the envelope and avoiding the doctor's embarrassed eyes.

He sighed in relief as he and Alfred left the room.


Despite knowing he was doing his very best to comfort his friend, Alfred still felt bad for not having anything good to say to comfort Arthur, taking out clichéd lines like "you'll be fine" and "your mate wouldn't want to see you sad". Arthur needed help but Alfred wasn't sure if he was the right person to say what he should do or how should he feel. The best advice he could give under those circumstances was that Arthur should put his ultrasound on social medias so he could share it with more people who would be happy with the news.
Perhaps one of those people could say the right words for the situation that Alfred himself could not.

Arthur hesitated a little, but agreed. Gilbert's family deserved to see the results too, didn't they? They would be so happy.

So, sitting at the hospital cafeteria while he pinched his bacon and Alfred had a cup of coffee, he took a picture of the ultrasound images with his phone and posted it to his profile with a simple line: "It's a boy!"

Arthur seemed distracted by his cell phone, and Alfred continued to drink his coffee in silence, looking at the little changes in his expression. Watching Arthur was definitely worth it because, suddenly, a smile sprang to his face, as unexpectedly as a flower blooming in the desert.

"My brother-in-law commented on the post..." Arthur commented, showing his phone to Alfred, "He is super reserved, so... what he wrote, even if it's short, It..." Arthur smiled and didn't finish his sentence. On the screen, the commentary just said, "Gilbert would have been very happy with this. You can always count on us, Arthur. Have you thought of a name yet?"

As soon as he read the message, Alfred smiled back at Arthur, feeling immensely happy to see that there were others besides him who valued Arthur and wanted his well being.
"He's right! Have you thought of a name yet?"

"Yes," Arthur nodded, "He's gonna be called Gilbert."

Arthur smiled, rather sadly, and stroked his belly for a moment. Before the mood got heavy and sad again, though, his phone vibrated with yet another comment on his post and he ended up smiling more happily.

They finished eating, and as it was still early, Arthur took a bus to return home, thanking Alfred several times before that. Upon arriving, he came across an even greater amount of comments and nice messages. All the messages were of congratulations and of strength, wishing him happiness and reinforcing that he could count on them for anything.

Arthur ended up crying a little more at home as he read them, feeling a little... lighter.

Despite everything... maybe everything would be just fine.


All the way home, Alfred thought really hard about what had happened at the hospital. He wondered, in particular, what had made Arthur cry like that. At first, he thought he was just missing his mate, yet there seemed to be more to it. Arthur seemed legitimately distressed with something and thinking about all he knew about Artie, he had a clue about what it could be. More likely, he was frightened by the thought of having a child and raising him alone. Especially considering he was not even the most interested in the idea of having children in the first place.

Still, not having a mate didn't mean that Arthur had to go through that alone. Alfred was just a friend but he truly wanted to be at Arthur's side in every step of this new phase of his life. At first, it was only out of solidarity. He just wanted to support Arthur because it was the right thing to do. However, over time, he got to know Arthur better, sharing moments with him and knowing more of his sides than his sad story and now… Now, he didn't want to do just the minimum necessary to later say to himself "look at that good thing you did in the past!" No. He wanted to continue being friends with Arthur and he wanted to help Arthur through his pregnancy and, perhaps, even in the process of raising his son.

Alfred needed to take it seriously and invest a little more in Arthur than before, since he really needed a little extra attention.
When Alfred got home that night, he talked to his brother (the nanny of the day) and his children, told them to keep playing together and went to his room. There, he picked up his laptop and spent the next few hours researching good quality and good-priced products for newborn babies. Something that he honestly never, ever thought he would be doing again.
Life was such a wonder, sometimes.