Hi everyone! It's been a year since I updated! To those who've been waiting for an update, I'm so terribly sorry for taking so long, and I want to let you know I haven't forgotten about this story.

Chapter 13

"Misaki?" Akihiko called out in his deep voice, tapping gently on the bathroom door.

No response.

"Misaki? Are you alright, Misaki?" The silver-haired writer's voice grew louder as he knocked on the door with greater urgency.

A soft groan emerged from the bathroom. "Go away, Baka..."

"You're taking longer this morning than usual. You should at least keep the door unlocked so that I can go in and rescue you, in case something happens."

"I said stop disturbing me!" Misaki snapped as he sat on the toilet mopping his brow tiredly. The thirty-four weeks pregnant teen was not in the best of moods, with his constipation getting worse as the twins grew and took up more space. The total weight of the boys was now more than ten pounds. To add to the pain and discomfort, the twins seemed to love abusing his bladder and bowels, their kicks and punches becoming harsher with each passing day. Whereas he had previously enjoyed the feeling of movements inside his body, he was now looking forward to having the babies out. He missed being able to get out of bed easily, and being able to walk briskly, among other things.

However, although he longed to see the little ones, Misaki was far away from being mentally prepared for the birth itself. Thinking about it made him nervous. Although he was still three weeks away from his scheduled C-section, he knew he could go into labour any day, and each twinge or cramp made him wonder if this was it. Braxton Hicks contractions were becoming more frequent and stronger, and he had had a few scares in the past few weeks. Once, he was certain he was in labour and had the doctor rushed in, only to find out that he was actually having bad constipation pains.

After he had finished his business, Misaki tediously pushed himself up and slowly waddled, hand supporting his back, out of the bathroom. There was nobody outside. Akihiko had disappeared into his writing cave and he would be there for the next several hours.

"Do you need anything, sir?" Yukie the maid hurried towards him. She had been had hired by Akihiko specially to serve Misaki, now that he was a lot less mobile. She looked to be in her early twenties and had jet black hair just like Kaoruko, a sweet face and a soft-spoken manner.

"Uh, no, I'm fine! Thanks!" Misaki quickly smiled and nodded awkwardly. He simply couldn't get used to having a maid around to wait on him. All his life, he had done all the housework and cooking for himself and others. Maids were only for rich people and he felt he didn't deserve one. Also, he knew about Yukie's sad past, that she was an orphan just like him. This made him feel even more uncomfortable about the thought of bossing her around.

"Are you sure?" Yukie asked as she scrutinized Misaki's tired face and eyebags.

"Yes, yes, I'll call for you if I need you." Misaki quickly turned away, impatient for her to go away as he was extremely embarrassed about his appearance. She must be thinking, what a weird household this is - an eccentric writer living with a pregnant guy, he thought. Please go away, stop looking at me, stop staring at my belly, please...

Misaki looked around for some entertainment. Another reason why he couldn't wait to have the twins out: he was getting rather tired of being a prisoner in this penthouse. He missed running outside in the fresh air, doing the things that a normal guy would be doing at his age, instead of being bogged down by this heavy, squirmy watermelon inside him. There was nothing to watch on the television at this time, and he really didn't feel like reading his notes. Months of not going to school had made him feel so out of touch and unmotivated.

The phone rang and he picked it up.

"Good afternoon, Misaki-kun! How are you today?" It was the bright cheery voice of his sister-in-law. That voice somehow made Misaki happy, yet confused and torn at the same time. On one hand, he felt incredibly proud and privileged to be the surrogate 'mother' of Manami's children. On the other, he could not help but feel somewhat jealous. After all, she was the twins' biological mother, the one they would be calling 'Mom', whereas he was nothing more than an uncle to them. He would, of course, never reveal that he had carried them inside him for nine months and birthed them. They might just freak out at that idea and avoid him forever.

"Good afternoon, Manami-san!" Misaki put on his most energetic voice. "I'm doing great! We're all doing great."

"Ahh, that's good to hear! We will drop by later in the afternoon. Be prepared for a surprise!"

"Oh, okay, sure!" Misaki replied. A surprise? He was puzzled, but kept quiet. It was already unusual that his sister-in-law had called to let him know she was coming, when she had the keys to the house. Misaki noticed she had started doing that after he had come out to her and Takahiro about his relationship with Akihiko. Since then, the couple never barged in without first informing them. Perhaps they were afraid of walking in on them doing something embarrassing, like what had happened the other time.

After he had hung up, Misaki waddled into the study and eased his heavy body into the chair in front of the computer. He surfed the internet for stories and pictures about twin births for a while, then he sighed and switched off the computer. The boys were moving around vigorously again, and he sat there with his hands on his belly, playing some kind of game with them, his fingers pressing the parts on his belly where he felt a hand or leg bulge out. He loved playing with the twins like this, trying to figure out their position from the way they moved, and talking to them about his day. He did this for what seemed like an eternity, until the movements subsided as the twins took a rest. Then he simply sat there staring pensively at the blank screen while random thoughts floated into his mind.

If you and Usagi truly love each other, Manami and I will give you our blessings.

That was what his brother had said to him a few weeks a go, and he still couldn't believe the fact that he had accepted the relationship. The whole thing was surreal to him, just like it was surreal being pregnant.

Are you ready to spend the rest of your life with him? How well do you know him?

He remembered his brother asking him that too. Honestly, he had never thought about those questions. As for the second question, Misaki had once tried probing Akihiko about his past, but the latter refused to open up. Out of respect, Misaki never ventured to ask him about it again. But did it matter? Was it really that important to know everything about his past?

If you and Usagi truly love each other...

Love. Did he truly love Akihiko, and did they share the same idea of love, since they were so different in almost every aspect? Misaki thought deeply about the time spent with Akihiko, and realized that he had changed some, that he had become somewhat more mature. The thirty-year-old man still kept some of his old habits, such as obsessively collecting stuffed bears, not cleaning up after himself and missing his deadlines. But the past nine months had also brought out the more caring and thoughtful side of the formerly arrogant, incorrigibly spoilt and self-absorbed novelist, a side that he had never knew existed. He recalled how Akihiko had tried to cook banana omelettes for him when he craved them in the first trimester. Usagi-san's cooking is still terrible, but at least his omelettes were now edible, he mused as he bit back a smile. Akihiko had even tried doing a little housework before they had a maid. Even then he had been doing little things for Misaki, like massaging his belly with stretch marks cream every night. But the most amazing change was that Akihiko was now better able to control himself instead of constantly going after Misaki like a ravenous, sex-starved wolf.

I never thought that Usagi-san's form of 'love' could be more than just forcing himself on me, molesting me and being possessive. I was so wrong...I should be ashamed of myself. It was only after a few minutes that he noticed that his face was wet with tears. Damn these hormones, Misaki cursed as he rubbed his cheeks.

He heard a knock on the door. "Lunch is ready, Sir," announced the maid. "Would you like to have it here or outside?"

"I'll have it here, thanks!"

In less than a minute, Yukie was back again knocking on his door with a tray.

"Come in," said Misaki.

"Sir, your lunch is here." Yukie smiled at Misaki and looked around with uncertainty. She had been told by Akihiko that some of the rooms in the penthouse were out-of-bounds and this was one of them.

"Please stop calling me 'Sir'. Just call me Misaki." The brown-haired teenager didn't change his position facing the computer, hoping that Yukie would go away quickly.

"Er, yes Sir, I mean, Mi-Misaki," said the girl obediently. "Where shall I place the food?"

"Just put it on the table, thanks!"

"Which table?"

Misaki blew out a breath, feeling himself get irritated, and turned towards Yukie. "There," he said, pointing to his right. At that moment, he felt Yukie's gaze lock on him and a blush crept into his cheeks. "You can go away now, thank you!" he flashed a brilliant smile at her, mentally shooing her away. To his chagrin, the girl's gaze had travelled down to his chest, and she, too started blushing a little.

"Y-yes? What's the problem?" Misaki had started panicking a little as he wondered what had caught her attention.

"Your shirt," she replied shyly. "It's wet."

"It is?" Misaki instinctively looked down and saw the wet patches on his shirt. "Oh, I have been sweating like a pig, ha ha!" He laughed nervously, finding a new reason to curse his pregnancy hormones.

"I'll get you a new shirt!" cried Yukie, jumping up and rushing out of the room.

"No it's okay!" Misaki called out but she was already gone. He gulped down his lunch, then made his way to the bathroom and got ready for a shower. As he lifted his shirt, he discovered, to his dismay, that the moisture on his shirt was not sweat. It had emanated from the two mounds on his chest - which he had refused to call 'breasts' up till this point. They had grown considerably since the past few weeks. In the beginning of his pregnancy, Doctor Endo had told him they would stay small, but apparently she was wrong. His nipples had also grown much bigger, and they must have been poking out through his shirt all this while. Perhaps they were what was causing the maid to stare at him with such fascination. There was no denying now that he had breasts; not only that, that they were leaking in preparation for the twins' arrival.

Misaki grimaced as he stared into the mirror at his new anatomy. He cupped his hands under his breasts, realizing that they were weighing him down too, in addition to the weight of the babies. Dread started to seep into his mind. Oh no, I look like a freak. How much heavier are these going to get? I really, really hope they will shrink back to their original size after I give birth - I can't live with boobs all my life! Misaki couldn't understand exactly why he was so afraid of having breasts. He liked being pregnant, but he had never intended to become a woman. Deep inside him, he was very much a guy. But there was something else that made him feel insecure about his changing body.

The doorbell rang. It must be Nii-chan, he thought, and quickly showered and got dressed. Feeling extremely self-conscious about his chest now, he tried crossing his arms in front of himself as he emerged from the bathroom, but found that his sensitive nipples made it too uncomfortable to do so. So he rummaged through Akihiko's wardrobe and threw on the thickest jacket he could find. Sounds of laughter and Akihiko's voice floated across to him from the living room. Making sure his jacket covered his chest, and holding his aching back, he slowly waddled to the living room.

"Hi Nii-chan, Ne-chan!" he greeted.

"Misaki! Wow, you're big!" Manami exclaimed, her wide eyes on his bulging midsection.

"Hmm, yeah. Getting bigger with each passing day," Misaki grinned as he supported his belly with one hand, his face a strange mix of pride and embarrassment.

Akihiko was seated on the couch, and sipping tea. As usual, he said nothing. Misaki purposely sat some distance away from him. Although their relationship was no longer a secret, he still felt uncomfortable behaving intimately with Akihiko in front of the others. His eyes then fell on a huge box on the floor. "What's that?" he asked.

"It's a cot," said Manami.

"A... cot?" Misaki frowned, confused.

"Yes, it's for the babies. It's huge and takes some time to assemble," Takahiro chimed in.

"But... why... why is it here?" Misaki was getting more bewildered than ever.

"Oh, " Manami chuckled. "We've discussed this with Akihiko and we've decided to let the babies stay here after they're born."

"What?" Misaki's green eyes grew wide as saucers. "But don't you want to be with them?"

Manami drew a deep breath and explained everything slowly. "Ah, we're so sorry we didn't ask you beforehand, Misaki. We did ask Akihiko and he's fine with it. We're hoping that the boys could stay here with you, just for a little while. Of course, we won't force you if you are against it, but we really would like them to stay here, maybe for the first few months. The reason is we hope you could breastfeed the boys."

"Um... me?" Misaki was at a loss for words as he self-consciously touched his jacket, wondering if he was leaking again.

"Who else?" Akihiko let out a smirk.

"Yes. " Manami nodded with a serious look on her face. "Breast milk is the best nutrition for the babies. I had exclusively breastfed Mahiro for six months after he was born, but I am so sad that I can't do the same for Mitsuo and Minori. I really hope you could do us this favour."

"Exclusive?" Misaki frowned in confusion again.

"That means giving them only breast milk and nothing else, no milk powder. However, it is very tiring, as you would need to feed them every two to three hours, so it is perfectly okay if you don't want to do that."

Misaki could feel his face turning warm, and continued in a softer voice. "That's not the - um - the problem is, I'm not sure whether I have enough - um - milk. " He couldn't believe these words just came out of his mouth.

"Of course you will," Manami said confidently. "If not, you can always give them whatever you have and then we'll top up the rest with formula. After all, some breast milk is better than nothing!"

"But... I'm a guy." Misaki was now in a dilemma. On the one hand, he really loved the twins and he thought breastfeeding would be an excellent way to bond with them, but on the other hand... he looked at the other two men, Akihiko and Takahiro. His brother was silently nodding in agreement with what his wife was saying, while Akihiko was just sitting there with an unreadable expression. Misaki wondered what he was thinking about.

Manami laughed. "Don't you remember the doctor saying that males can lactate too? You definitely will produce enough milk, Misaki. I'm sure you've noticed your breasts are bigger and heavier. Aren't they?"

"Haha," Misaki laughed nervously as he held on to his jacket. "Well... not really," he lied.

"Oh, they will, soon. You will probably need a good bra."

"Okay, I know that. Thanks!" Misaki quickly said, impatient for this conversation to end.

"Oh and by the way, I need to tell you this - if you don't let out the milk after giving birth, your breasts might become painfully engorged," Manami continued with her same serious expression.

"Really?" Misaki mentally cringed. That certainly didn't sound like fun to him. He stole a glance at Akihiko, noticed the smirk playing on his lips and was reminded of how the man had pounced on him the other time. He decided he would rather let the babies suckle rather than have that pervert. "Um, I'm - I'm not sure. I guess I could give it a try," he said.

"Ahhh that would be fantastic!" cried Manami, her face lighting up with joy.

After dinner that night, Misaki walked into the bedroom and got the shock of his life. Scattered all over the bed were at least thirty bras of various shapes, sizes and colors. There were plain ones, lacy ones, wired and non-wired ones, normal bras and nursing bras. Looking at them made Misaki dizzy. The teen stood there speechless, not daring to touch the bras. He knew he needed to wear one to relieve his aching back, but he was definitely not going to let Akihiko see him in one.

"Take your pick," the voice the writer sounded behind him, startling him.

"You... bought all these?"

"I don't know your size or preference, so I bought all of them. Why don't you try them on now? I'll help you." Akihiko patted his brown-haired lover on the head.

"You hentai! No way!" Misaki snapped, pushing the bigger man away.

"Hentai? You think that these arouse me?" Akihiko sounded genuinely surprised. These words somehow gave Misaki a strange and unsettled feeling.

"You mean... they don't?" Misaki asked quietly, frowning a bit. It suddenly dawned on him why he was so insecure about his changing body, especially his fear of having breasts for life. Because that would make him look like a woman, and he knew Akihiko didn't like women. Akihiko had fallen in love with a skinny, flat-chested Misaki, and now that he was curvy, was all this going to change?

Akihiko looked him in the eye. "Does it matter to you?"

"Of course not," Misaki huffed as he averted his gaze. "I thought you were a pervert, that's all."

"Oh, if you don't want me to be aroused by you wearing a bra, then I won't." Akihiko said enigmatically.

"What?" Misaki was starting to get annoyed now. "What is your problem, Baka?"

"Tell me. Do you want me to be aroused or not?"

"Well... "

Akihiko had his arrogant look again, which made Misaki feel like punching him.

Well readers, that's all for now! Hopefully I can get some new readers for this, and it would be awesome if you could leave a review!