Relena was exhausted when she finally got home. She left her shoes at the door and walked up to her room. Her guards waited outside of her room as she began to undress. She looked at herself in the mirror. Slowly she took off her jacket. The black outfits she had become accustomed to wearing did well in hiding the bulge that had begun to grow on her abdomen. She touched it with her hand and felt the expanse of it. She took a deep breath unaware of the pair of eyes that followed her every movement.

Heero had wanted to see for himself the extent of the information he had discovered. He found himself groaning inwardly at his own foolishness. Now he had a decision to make. Should he reveal himself or leave like he always did. He looked at her, tracing his eyes over her form. Her energy and spirit had drawn him to her in the first place. It had taken many months after they had first met and their consecutive meetings to convince himself she was special and different from any other woman in the world. He had come to develop strong feelings for her and had always watched over her. It felt almost like his only mission was to protect her. And now it seemed he had done the opposite.

He knew he didn't deserve her, he didn't deserve the dove of peace. He was a perfect soldier, a killing machine. What right did he have to sully Relena Peacecraft's perfect name with his bloody past? He shifted in the shadows unsure of what to do. He still stared at her figure and thought back to their one night together.

It had been the best night of his life.

"Relena." She jumped in the air and turned to face him. He came out of the shadows. The expression on her face changed drastically, she looked like she had just gotten caught doing something wrong.

"Heero." Her cheeks burned. His stare went straight through her.

"You look good." He mustered. She felt her cheeks redden some more and put her hand to her growing abdomen thoughtfully. His eyes followed her hands and she felt her cheeks burn even more. She noticed he was steadily moving closer to her. She felt her breath become coarse with him so close.

She looked so beautiful in the moonlight. He had to see for himself. He had to see her for himself.

Against his better instincts he stayed with her that night and he felt a sense of relief. When he thought she was asleep he shifted and got up out of the bed. He moved around the room shirtless.

She was so frail looking. He didn't deserve her, yet he wanted her. He looked at her soft form. He went over to her balcony doors and opened them. He turned sharply around. Relena had sat up and was staring at him.

"Don't leave." She whispered desperately. He felt his heart sink if it was at all possible. Suddenly he hardened. He had no heart.

"I can't stay." Her eyes turned from desperation to a cold stare.

"Heero, what do you do when you go?" As he looked at her, he realized she had to know and now he finally had to tell her. He began to put his jacket on and gave her one last look. Perhaps now she would not want him anymore.

"I'm an assassin." He said coldly and left her. She got up and went to the window and looked out. He was gone again. He would always be like this, she just had to accept it.

Oddly, it didn't bother her that he was an assassin. She should have guessed he would be restless after the war. He had been trained since he was a child to be a professional killer. He was the perfect soldier. She couldn't expect him to be anything less.

After the press found out, the press conferences sky rocketed. Everyone wanted to know who the father was and if she was getting married. She refused to answer any of the questions. Many magazines began circulating the idea she didn't even know who the father was. She had felt this tactic before. They were urging her trying to get her to break. She refused.

Those closest to her knew who the father was or had a pretty good guess and that was good enough for her. So she waited. She hired two assistants to help her with her paperwork and since then she had been able to get home at decent hours. She even found Duo's cracks about her weight funny.

She felt bloated and huge all at once and she counted down the days until her expected due date. She hadn't seen Heero in months but she knew he was nearby watching over her. He didn't live out in the open and it would be wrong of her to ask him to do so. It was enough he was nearby. Sometimes he kept her company at night, even thought she didn't see him, she knew he was there. It made her feel safe.

The day of her labor flew by slowly. It was like a daze. She only remembered pain and joy. It was the day her son was born. She had already picked out a boy's name and she named him Andrew.

He was so tiny and wonderful and all her friends were there to visit her in the hospital. Everyone was there except the person that really mattered. It was all fine until the doctor demanded to have the name of the father on the birth certificate. Relena was quiet for a moment. Everyone stood around her in silence waiting for an answer.

"Trowa Barton." Trowa ventured. Relena turned to Trowa in astonishment and the doctor wrote the name.

"Oh but doctor, I want the baby to have my last name." The doctor grunted and walked away. As he walked away everyone turned to Trowa.

"Trowa, you didn't have to do that." Relena whispered quietly. He shrugged.

"It isn't my name to begin with, it doesn't matter anyways." She smiled at him in thanks and waited for everyone to leave. When they were all gone she stayed awake all night thinking of her son.

Going home was the biggest part of it. You left your house one person and came back two. All the way home he cried, but it was easier on Relena to care for him while Peygan drove home. As soon as they got home she walked him around the house. She read the front page news and saw the announcement of her baby. She didn't even bother reading the article. She just cared about her tiny baby. She hugged him close that night and gave him his first bottle. The warm milk put him fast asleep and she tucked him into his crib.

"Relena." She turned around and saw Heero standing right behind her. She moved aside so he could look at the baby in the crib. She felt like she was awaiting his approval but instead he just stared at the baby. He didn't motion to touch him or hold him.

Relena waited patiently as he stared at the baby. There was a smile on his face, one she was rarely graced with.

"Heero, his name is Andrew. The doctor asked me who the father was…" she was silent for a moment as his dark blue eyes fixed on her warningly, "Trowa gave him his name, but he will still bear the Peacecraft name." Heero nodded. He seemed distant. Names meant so little to him. He hardly owned his own, how could he expect his child to as well?

"Do you want to hold him?"

"I can't. I don't deserve him."

"Heero whatever you did in the past means nothing to him. All he will ever want in life is a father and I would like it if he knew his real one." Heero became angry and he gave her the death glare.

"And when other kids ask him what his father does and he will say, he's an assassin. Will you think it so fine then?"

"Heero, you don't have to be an assassin. The war is over, who is there left to kill?" Heero stared into her eyes and she felt a shiver run down her spine.

"Anyone who tries to harm you." Relena's mouth shut and she walked closer to him.

"Heero, please why can't you just stay? Don't you want to be a part of your son's life?" He turned to her and eyed her once more. The baby shifted in his sleep and pouted his lips in earnest.

"Relena, I didn't want this. I thought if I went away you would move on and you didn't. I will do him better good from afar than nearby." He turned away from her and tore herself away from the crib. He moved towards the window and jumped drifting into the shadows. Relena stared after him.

"Heero, all I want is you."

The months passed and Relena became enveloped in her son's life. She still completed most of her duties as a Vice-Foreign minister, but she felt even that life slipping away from her. She had waited patiently for his eyes to change their color when he was born and when they did she felt a slight yearning in her heart. There was no denying his paternity anymore. The others recognized it immediately too, some of them actually becoming uncomfortable at the realization.

Sometimes she would lay awake at night waiting for him to cry for her, but as he got older his yearnings became less and less and she missed the quality time it had often afforded her.

She went to visit Duo and Hilde more so that her son could get some interaction with their daughter. She felt bad keeping him locked away from so many people but at least once a month she got a chance to visit with her friends. Hilde reveled in seeing the boy grow and often gave Relena crucial advice on what to do and not to do.

Finally at midday the two women set their kids down for a nap. Duo had gone out with the boys which gave Relena some precious girl time with Hilde.

"Relena don't mind me asking but has Heero even seen Andrew yet." Relena was startled by the question but nodded her head anyways. She had tried not to think about Heero so much, which is why she focused all of her time on her child, but looking at him always reminded her of Heero.

"Does he come by at all to help you or anything?" Relena jerked out of her thoughts and shook her head. Hilde looked down and away ashamed at Heero's behavior.

"I can't believe he would do something like that. Doesn't he understand Andrew needs both of you?" Hilde's rising irritation made Relena uncomfortable. Relena was quiet for a moment and contemplative. Hilde waited patiently for the words to settle in. Somehow over the past few months Relena had come to accept Heero. She no longer pined over his so much, her son was just too important to her now. Then when her child looked up at her with those same eyes it was almost like a piece of him was with her always.

"He's afraid. He's lived his whole life on the run and now he has obligations. I don't blame him for feeling that way. But I think the hardest part for him is what he has done and how he feels it may affect our son. I guess to him, a bad parent is worse than none at all." Relena rationalized every word, barely a drop of emotion hanging upon her features.

"But I don't think Heero would be a bad parent." Hilde said.

"No, it's his past. He's afraid of what his son will think of him or maybe he's more afraid that his son will become him." They were both silent until Andrew awoke from his nap to be fed and played with once more.

As she left and they said their goodbyes, Hilde couldn't help feeling sorry for Relena. When Duo came home she let it all out in frustration.

"I can't believe he is doing this to her. It's almost as if he doesn't want to acknowledge he made a mistake and it happens to be crawling." Duo hushed her and sat her down.

"I'm sure it's none of our business…" Hilde cut him off.

"Duo, you should talk to him, find him and tell him how wonderful it is to be a dad. He'd listen to you." Duo rolled his eyes.

"About as much as he'd listen to a rock. I don't know, we'll see what happens, Hilde. You know how hard he is to track down." Truth to be told, Duo had seen Heero at least once. Ever since Andrew was born, Heero didn't wander far. It made Duo wonder just how much interaction he did get with his son. But he guessed very little or Relena would have seemed happier. He knew Trowa had come across him on more than one occasion and had actually spoken with him, but about what was lost to him. He decided talking to Trowa was the best course of action.

The next day he tracked Trowa down relentlessly and finally came across his comrade at arms.

"Trowa! Buddy! Got a spare minute to talk?" Without another suggestion Duo wrapped his arm around Trowa's neck and Trowa lifted an eyebrow.

"Look it's about Heero. Hilde's worried about Relena and Andrew. Do you know anything?" Trowa shook his head. It was not his place to butt into Heero's business and he never really wanted to but he did guess it was about time for a talk between them. He waited at his usual post that night and left Relena for a second. He checked all the usual spots for Heero twice before he finally found him. He sought him out in all secrecy and confronted the other man wearily.

"Is there something I can do for you, Trowa?" Heero barely acknowledged his friend as his eyes and ears were perked at the ready, attentive to everything around them.

"The others are concerned about Relena and Andrew." Heero who had been in a crouch stood up expanding into his full height. He met Trowa eye to eye with his famous glare.

"They're worried you don't see him enough and I'm sure Relena misses you." Trowa continued unemotionally. Heero's eyes narrowed.

"He wouldn't want a father like me." Heero replied in the same tone.

"Don't you think that's his choice to make?" Trowa's soft voice broke the silence.

"I'm an assassin…"

"He's your son. Remember what it was like growing up? Not knowing who your family was. Professions change Heero, but he'll only be a kid for a little while." Trowa's voice was soft and low without a hint of expression. But the words stuck on to Heero and they parted company after there was no intended response. He sat there for a while and stared up at Relena's room, the light long off and the window he knew where his son lay behind. Stealthily he crept over to the wall and hiding in the shadows crawled up the length of the wall and unlocked the window effortlessly and silently.

He hopped into the dark room and immediately shut the window silently. He looked around cautiously and turned his gaze towards the ornate crib. He looked over the edge watching his son slumber. The babe before him was so small and he slept so quietly. He reached down and placed a finger in the baby's open grasp. Instantly the child clutched his hand and yet still remained asleep.

He hesitated and took the child into his arms. It was the first time he had ever held his own son before and he marveled at how heavy and strong the baby was. The infant snuggled a bit within his grasp and Heero held him tighter. He was careful not to hold him too tight, afraid he would hurt the child or worse, wake him.

He turned his head as he heard Relena's familiar footsteps coming down the hall. She turned in and her footsteps stopped. He had returned his gaze down to the baby in his arms not wanting to meet her gaze.

"Heero?" She whispered. He looked up then and met her gaze. She swallowed seeming at a loss of words for a while. It was almost as if she wanted this moment to last forever.

"He looks just like you, Heero." Again there was that awkward silence. He was entranced by the child. Meanwhile Relena looked on in admiration. After what seemed like a long time the baby began to turn and Heero set him back down in the crib gently and gazed at him once more. Relena took a step hesitantly in his peripheral vision.

"Are you going to leave again?" She asked in a hushed tone. He looked over to her, his serious gaze regarding her harshly and she felt her body go numb. He came over to her and touched her face lovingly and bent down and kissed her softly. Her spine was creeping with electric shocks and she felt her body tense. Slowly he leaned over to her ear kissing her neck.

"No." His whisper tickled her ear but she felt her entire body stiffen. She couldn't believe he had decided to stay. He took her hands in his and led her outside of the baby's room and back into her bedroom. That night Trowa had made it a point to remain scarce and it had been a good decision too.

Relena awoke feeling calm and at ease. It was still dark out from what she could see and turning she felt the unmistakable presence of another. She sat up in bed quickly and saw Heero awake sitting at his computer peacefully. He looked up as she gazed at him and slowly closed the computer and headed back towards the bed. She stared at him in surprise unsure of what to expect.

He crawled under the covers beside her and sat next to her. She moved her head on to his warm chest and listened slowly to his beating heart. She fell asleep again like this comforted by his warmth and tenderness.

When she awoke again, the spot beside her was cold. She shot up and immediately knew he had left. Her hands gripped the sheets in the heat of the moment and then she relaxed. She should have foreseen this.

She looked at her clock hesitant at the late time and stood up to do her daily routine. She went out to check on her son first before she would start to prepare for work. When she got to his room, she saw the familiar figure of his father holding him gently like he had the night before.

"Oh Heero." She whispered thankful she had been wrong.

A/N: Stay tuned for the epilogue!