Disclaimer: I do not own "Lilo & Stitch" or any of the characters therein, excluding Vay, Leera, Gidgel and Kirk, who belong to me.

CHAPTER SEVEN:
A TENSE SENSE

Leera flung herself down on the bed and buried her face in her pillow, which muffled the sound of her sobs. Disturbed by its mother's violent movements, the baby gave a sharp kick that made Leera gasp and sob so hard that she nearly inhaled her pillow. The pain in her womb made her realize that she was lying on her stomach. She rolled over on her side facing the window just in time as Pleakley opened the door and walked in. Quickly, before he could notice, she dried her eye off on the bedspread and took a deep breath to calm herself. The last thing she wanted was for him to worry about her.

Leera waited a long moment for the inevitable "Honey, are you okay?" but it never came. The silence in the room suggested that Pleakley was standing still. After what seemed like a whole minute he approached the bed. Leera felt the mattress dip under her husband's weight as he sat down on it behind her. She lay perfectly still with her eye closed, waiting for him to say something. Seconds ticked by. Still silence. Leera's senses strained hard for some kind of sign, but all they were aware of were the light breeze coming in through the window, the festive floral scent of fabric softener used on the bedding, and the faint sound of heated debate in the living room.

With a soft sigh, Pleakley laid down on the bed. It was a whole other minute before he did anything else. Cautiously he moved closer to his wife until his body was pressed up against hers. Then he slowly snaked a hand around her middle until it came to rest on her belly. She felt his warm breath on the back of her neck shortly before he began to nuzzle at it. Leera smiled, settling into his embrace. It seemed he understood what she was feeling, right down to the "Yes, I'm fine! Now please leave me the hell alone!" part, which she didn't even have to communicate out loud. He was always so good about that.

But there was something off in his comfort, something slightly alien in his gentle attempt at necking her. Sure, Leera knew how deeply he cared for her; how he shared in her pain because of his love for her, but this was different. She thought she could feel some of Pleakley's own pain at that moment. His pain, not just her own shared pain. But she wasn't sure, and she wanted to know, so she rolled over onto her other side until she was facing her husband.

"You okay, hon?" she whispered.

Pleakley stared at her a moment before answering. "Uh, yeah. I just came in here to check on you. I should be asking you that question, not the other way around."

"Yeah, I'm okay," Leera lied. Her eye dropped to her belly. "Baby was upset, so I came in here to have a little rest before it kicked the crap outta me, literally." It was almost a half-truth. A quarter-truth at best, but Pleakley did not argue. Leera knew he didn't believe it, but was grateful that he didn't want to hurt her by pressing the matter further.

"So what's bugging you?" she asked him. "I know I'm not the only reason you came in here, Wendy."

At this, Pleakley sighed and hugged her closer. "You really are ruthless, you know that?" he said to her. "I came in here with the sole purpose of comforting my wife and you won't even allow it. Instead you insist on trying to comfort me! That's like adding insult to injury, you know."

Leera caught the jest in his words and smiled, snuggling up to him and pecking him on the cheek. "Yep. And I just love the way you squirm under torture," she purred, nuzzling his neck.

Pleakley blushed. "Well, it's not exactly torture, but when you put it that way…" he trailed off, trembling slightly as she pressed herself against him. She looked longingly into his eye before brushing her lips teasingly over his. Pleakley rose to the bait and his hungry lips sought hers, but she drew back before he could get a hold of them.

"Now it's torture," he moaned, leaning over to claim a kiss.

"Hey, is everything okay in here?"

Startled, Pleakley pulled his head up and stared in horror at his mother, who was standing at the threshold. He sat up quickly and said "Yes! Yes! Everything's fine! No problems here!" a little too loudly.

"Good," Vay replied, looking doubtful. She stepped into the room. Kirk and Gidgel followed close behind. Pleakley's hearts darkened with fury when he saw Kirk. He let out a chilling growl.

"Get that bastard out of my room." Though he said this very calmly and quietly, the words were packed with a deadly venom. Kirk paled.

"Wendy— " Vay started. But now Pleakley was climbing out of bed.

"You tell him to stay away from Leera if he knows what's good for him! Or so help me God I'll… I'll…" Pleakley growled in frustration as his threat fell unfinished from his lips.

"Wendy." Pleakley turned at the sound of his wife's voice. Leera was sitting up at the edge of the bed, one hand resting on her belly. The look in her eye was strange, unreadable, but one look at it and all of Pleakley's pretenses were melted. He glanced back at Kirk. The man looked at him so pitifully he practically had GUILTY written across his face. Pleakley sighed.

Vay nudged Kirk, and he stepped forward. "I am extremely sorry for what I said out there. It was downright thoughtless of me. I should have realized… Well, I should have known better than to open my mouth at all. If I'm not welcome here, then of course anything I say wouldn't be welcome either. Again I apologize." He looked at Leera and blushed. Leera offered a small smile as a token of forgiveness and Kirk seemed to relax a little. He looked at Wendy and was tense again.

"I can only hope that you'll allow us to put this incident behind us and give me the chance to try again on a clean slate. What do you say, son?"

Pleakley frowned. "I am not your son," he growled.

Kirk paled again, but quickly recovered. A twisted smile played on his lips. "You know, I spent the last thirty years telling myself the same thing," he said, taking everyone by surprise. "I didn't want a son, so I denied it, even to myself. But deep down I knew the truth, and I knew I couldn't change facts. No matter how much I tried to convince myself that I couldn't be your father, the truth was always there and it hurt to deny it. I was afraid, and I didn't even know what I was running from. But you can't outrun the truth, and you can't hide from it. Nothing can change it or make it go away, either. The only weapon against it is strength. And acceptance. It took me thirty years to find those weapons, and they helped me see the truth for what it really was: not a monster to live in fear of, but a wonderful treasure. At least, that's the way I'm starting to see it now. I don't expect you to forgive me, Wendy, but damnit, don't deny me. In the end you're only hurting yourself."

A long silence followed Kirk's speech, during which Pleakley appeared to be fighting a small battle inside. He stared at the floor for a while, then looked up at Kirk. His father's eye seemed to be pleading with him. He then glanced sideways at his mother, whose own eye was pleading with him too.

"Alright, fine. I won't deny you're my - uh - other parent, but only because Mom asked me to do so earlier. She never did me any wrong, so I trust her." These last few words struck a nerve in Kirk. It was obvious by the look on his face. And Pleakley hadn't exactly kept the dark emphasis from seeping into his voice when he uttered them. There was a very tense pause, then Pleakley glanced at the clock and said, "Well, look at the time! Nani and Lilo will be home in a few hours. I'd better go start dinner now. With all these unexpected guests, it'll be a miracle if my spinach-and-pineapple soufflé doesn't collapse before it reaches the table!"