Chapter 3

Pietro was at his job at the New York Gazette. He had already finished his workload for the day, fast as always. Since he had lots of free time now, Pietro found that he was losing himself in his memories. Right now, he was thinking about the first day he found out he was pregnant…

-H-

He had been feeling sick and tired the past few weeks, throwing up every day in the morning and sometimes later in the day. He was also gaining weight, and admittedly, this worried him, and he was always too tired to run it off.

Somehow, through a lot of searching of the yellow pages, Pietro had managed to find Dr. Nova. He apparently didn't care if his patients were mutant or not, and Pietro had arranged an appointment with him. Still, he was a little wary, having never gone to a doctor before.

Pietro sat on the examining table, his shirt off, feeling a little sick again. The doctor came into the room.

"Mr. Maximoff, the test results are in." Pietro looked up.

"What is it doc? It's not anything… bad, is it?" His head was feeling especially clouded today, and he was ready to fall asleep.

"No, Mr. Maximoff, it's not anything like cancer or any other terminal disease-"

"Oh good! It's treatable then, right?" He let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"Well, in a manner of speaking, yes…

"You have a unique mutation Mr. Maximoff…"

"Yeah, I know, having super-speed does have certain advantages…"

"I'm not talking about that, Mr. Maximoff."

Pietro got a confused look on his face, and Dr. Nova continued.

"You see, in some species of animals, they can be both male and female. Sometimes they can go back and forth. Other times, they have both male and female reproductive organs."

"Where are you going- Oh, gods. No, you can't be serious."

"I'm afraid I am, Mr. Maximoff. You have a fully functional womb, and right now, there's a living fetus inside it. In other words, you're pregnant."

"But-but-but that's impossible! I'm a GUY for Christ's sake! I can't have babies!"

"But that's it. Between your weight gain, fatigue, and morning sickness, if you were a female patient, I would've known what was happening with you before you stepped into my office."

Pietro had a shocked look on his face, but then he slumped down, looking down at his little belly. "I… I really am pregnant, aren't I?"

"Yes. And then there's that other issue."

Pietro wearily looked up. "What?"

"Well, obviously you can't get pregnant on your own. Do you have any idea who the 'other' father might be?"

This raised panic in Pietro. Yes, he knew. And nobody could find out. Somehow, he put up a straight face and lied, "No, I don't."

Dr. Nova raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "Okay. Here are some pamphlets to help answer any questions you might have. Our next appointment will be next month, same day."

Pietro nodded, putting his shirt back on. He took the pamphlets and stuffed them in his pocket as he left the clinic.

On the way back to the Brotherhood House, he went into a small drugstore and stole a pregnancy test. If it showed up negative, maybe he could kid himself that this wasn't really happening.

At the boarding house, he went into the bathroom, and followed the directions on the test. While he waited for the results, he tapped his foot impatiently.

The test finally beeped. Pietro looked at it. Positive. He wanted to snap the thing in half.

He was about to throw the test out into the trash when he realized that, unlikely as it was, someone could spot it, and start asking questions. Todd, Fred… and Lance. They couldn't find out, especially Lance. Especially not Lance. So he stuffed it into his pocket, and went into his room.

He fell down on the bed, and as much as he hated crying, he couldn't do anything to stop the flow of tears now.

-H-

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Hello? Earth to Maximoff!"

A rolled-up newspaper hit Pietro in the back of his head. Pietro turned around, and there was Jack, with that smart-ass smirk on his face as always.

"Hey Jack." Pietro mumbled, not wanting him around right now.

Jack frowned. "You okay, man? You were kinda spacing off back there."

"I've got a lot on my mind. Hey um, do you remember that ex-girlfriend I told you about?"

"The one you knocked up with twins, and then left you as soon as the kids were born?"

"Yeah, that one."

"What about her?"

"Well, she kinda… showed up again yesterday."

Jack let out a low whistle. "What did she say?"

"Asked me what had happened in the years we've been apart, and other junk like that."

"Man, you've got it bad. Seeing her again after what she did… that's rough."

Pietro sighed. "I know."

Jack left, leaving Pietro alone one again.