Wow, another update in under 24 hours...I must love you guys~! (Actually I'm totally addicted to reviews and I just finished typing the last chapter) On that note, I'm also a remarkably gorey zombie right now, LOL~~
"Ugh I feel huge!" Izaya pouted looking at his rapidly expanding abdomen. It seemed bigger everyday (and Shinra told him it probably was!).
"Yes but you're beautiful too," Shizuo commented and Izaya giggled, hugging his arm.
"Don't lie~ I'm massive and my skin is going to hell," He mumbled. Well...he was getting stretch marks, but his skin was also terribly dry. He was drinking lots of water, but it didn't seem to be helping much. Shizuo kissed the side of his head and Izaya smiled.
"Well, I still think you're beautiful and I'm not lying, so get over it," He smiled and Izaya giggled happily. He was less mood-swingy but they were still there too. He'd had more ultrasounds than normal as he was the first human male to be pregnant. Normally ultrasounds were not every two or three weeks like his were, but Shinra seemed worried about all this. Frankly no one could blame him. Incredibly, despite the media knowing who he and Shizuo were they were unable to attain the name of the one who made this possible. Shinra was very good at not being found.
"Iza-chan! I was just looking for you!" it was Erika again. She never missed an opportunity to talk to them, looking for any and every chance to just look at the pair while they were together.
"You were…?" He asked, plastering a fake smile on. Shizuo was the only one who noticed though.
"Ahh…um, yes! What kind of fur is on your coat? I need to know for my Fem Izaya cosplay~!" She was making it up on the spot and Izaya sighed in exasperation.
"It's faux fur Erika-chan, I don't even have-" He was cut off when his abdomen actually jerked upwards. It did it again and then his eyes widened on the third one.
"What the hell?" He looked at Shizuo who blinked, then laughed. Hard.
"Shizu-chan, what's happening?" He asked his voice slightly panicky.
"Th-they have th-the hiccups," Shizuo managed to laugh out and Izaya blinked, looked at his abdomen –which twitched every five seconds- and laughed too.
"That's hilarious!" He chuckled and Shizuo was still cracking up. Even Erika was laughing now, and it was funny to watch. Of course three people laughing hysterically in the street were bound to catch attention, and Shizuo eventually managed to move them all someplace that wasn't the middle of the busiest sidewalk in Ikebukuro. He half forced Izaya to sit, though the informant was secretly grateful he insisted on the matter as his feet were starting to swell at the end of the day and his back ached constantly.
"When are you due anyways?" Erika asked now that they were sat down and out of the way.
"Ah, well, this is week 18, so next week we're about half-way since twins are born earlier than single babies," Izaya said, more than happy to talk about the real reason Erika had looked for him.
"I bet their gonna be sooo cuuute~!" She squealed happily, and Izaya beamed at her.
"Well of course, they have me for a mother~" He purred and Shizuo frowned.
"Hey! I'm right here Izaya!"
"Oh…and…I guess their father is…pretty good looking too," He said, turning red.
"Thank you," He mumbled and Erika giggled at them. Sure she had always fantasized about these two being together and in love, but even until recently she hadn't really believed they ever would be. Then she heard Shizuo call for Izaya with no honorific…then everyone knew something had changed in their relationship.
"Hey, hey, do they move yet?"
"Hah! All the time, see feel!" He grabbed her hand and placed it on the swell –which had stopped twitching—and she grinned when she felt the rather strong kick. Sometimes Izaya's abdomen actually showed the bulge of movement when one kicked and it was like a scene out of Alien. Shizuo felt his chest swell a little at the look on her face too.
"Wow! That's so cool!" She breathed and Izaya half-smiled.
"Yeah, but if they kick any harder I'm going to start bruising,"
"Ah, Shizu-chan's strength is passed on!" She cheered and Shizuo felt his chest swell a little more at the thought. He just hoped they were better with control over their emotions than he was.
"We should get going Izaya, we need to get to your ultra-sound," Shizuo reminded gently and Izaya started.
"Oh yeah, that. We get the Doppler today too don't we?" He was looking forward to that as it would be their first chance to hear their babies' heart beats.
"Ah, sorry I kept you~! Let me babysit some time!" Erika offered and they were a bit hesitant on Erika corrupting their twins with her strange ideas and notions.
Escaping Erika aside, they made it to Shinra's who pulled out a new instrument. It had a similar wand to the ultrasound, yet it was smaller and handheld.
"More jelly?" Izaya whined and Shinra smiled weakly.
"Sorry, It keeps static from happening," He said and Izaya leaned back. For a moment things were silent then a 'cushcush, cushcush, cushcush' Noise started. It was rapid, and there were two sounds, the same, rapid heartbeats out of sync. Izaya grinned ear to ear at the sound and Shizuo kissed the side of his head.
[I'm glad they worked things out, I don't know how long I could have kept THAT secret] Only Shinra saw her message and chuckled lightly at it. Shizuo and Izaya were too busy being lovey dovey to notice. She'd only told him that they had both confided in her after they had confessed to each other. Shinra removed the Doppler far too soon for the expecting parents liking, but they would have to deal with it.
"I need to start monitoring your blood pressure weekly now, just in case it starts dropping too low or raising too high. Multiples have a lot of medical problems associated with them you know," He said and Izaya winced as the cuff tightened painfully around his arm. The pressure decreased slowly and Shinra nodded, recording the number.
"One thirty over eighty-five, good. Let's hope it stays in that range," He smiled and Izaya nodded in agreement. He'd rather not have high blood pressure now.
"In the meantime, I know that you've been craving sweet things and calorie rich things, but I want you to start lowering your salt and sugar intake a little, just in case. And make sure you're getting lots of fluids and rest, you're at a bit of a disadvantage since your hips are so narrow," He added and Izaya frowned a little. On the upside, at least he wouldn't be stuck with an hour-glass shape or anything. Still, rejecting his cravings seemed…well…impossible.
"Shizu-chan, we need to think about names still!" Izaya said with sudden realization and the blonde started.
"So early? We don't even really know what gender they are yet!"
"Easy, we pick two girl names we like and two boy names we like, then we're set no matter what, duh~"
"He is right Shizuo-san,"
"Yeah, yeah, fine. We can decide when we get home…" He was wondering what names Izaya was thinking though.
"Well…we can't decide on any of these, what about after geographic locations or non-Japanese names?" Izaya said, finally putting down 'The Giant Book of Male Baby names' with a sigh.
"Like what?"
"Delic, it's Turkish, derived from Delij with a Slavic suffix, -ic. Delic." Shizuo blinked.
"Okay…I can live with that," He agreed, "but then the second name would be Hibiya, like the district then," Izaya agreed with a smile.
"I hope female names are easier…" he muttered, and Shizuo sighed picking up yet another baby name book. They'd been trying to figure out names for two boys for three days now!
"I like Kimiko," Shizuo said then and Izaya chuckled.
"Seems girl names are easier after all! I like it too," He said with a small smile. Shizuo was more than relieved to hear that and gently rubbed one of Izaya's feet. They were in his lap for some elevation as they were swelling up by the end of each day, and Shinra had said elavation and foot rubs would help.
"I like Saiyuri too," Izaya said fondly and Shizuo laughed now.
"Good, I think we have our names!" He said happily, turning his full attention to the feet on his lap and Izaya groaned happily his toes wiggling a little.
"I swear to GOD Shizu-chan, if I'd known you were this good at massages, we never would have fought!" He mumbled and Shizuo smiled.
"Well, if I knew how cute you were when you blushed it would have been the same deal I-za-ya-chan~!" Izaya blushed at that. Shizuo had never called him 'Izaya-chan' before now, and it made him feel funny. In a good way that is. He wondered though now if Shizuo was as scared of this as he was. Izaya hadn't mentioned anything since he was well aware that as Izaya Orihara he shouldn't feel fear about anything.
"Shizu-chan…I'm scared," He mumbled now and the massage stopped. He looked up and saw the surprise on Shizuo's face and it made him blush.
"Hey, I'm allowed you know!" He grumbled and Shizuo shook his head quickly to get his thoughts back in order.
"No, I-…I just wasn't expecting that…that's all. I'm scared too Izaya," He said, but Izaya frowned.
"As if, you're obviously going to be good at this. But…I'm the worst person on earth to be a mom…I'm a guy for crying out loud!" He said, his eyes a little wide. Shizuo dropped the feet and picked Izaya up so he could be a body pillow for him instead.
"Yes. You are. You're also still the mom though. And who says I'm going to be a good father? I throw vending machines when I get pissed off for crying out loud," He pointed out and Izaya giggled.
"Yes, maybe but…I know you love them…"
"And you do to," He said. Izaya nodded slowly.
"Well…I told Celty I was scared too you know," Shizuo said and Izaya looked at him.
"And?"
"She said everyone gets scared about this, so she's heard. She said, and I quote, 'I think you'll be better than you give yourself credit for,' and 'Babies do not come with manuals'" He said making Izaya smile.
"Yeah, I guess they don't…it's nice to have someone as level-headed as her around, ne, Shizu-chan?"
"Yeah, really nice, unless it's about aliens. You know I told her how I felt about you too? When I was still too scared to tell you, I mean," He actually blushed a little. Izaya smiled at that.
"She helped me figure out what I was feeling in the first place," He muttered in embarrassment.
"Are you saying you've never been in love before?"
"Please, I love all humans, I've just…never been in love with anyone…so…yes," He mumbled and Shizuo grinned.
"I can't believe I used to hate you," He mumbled happily, nuzzling Izaya's hair.
"Why is that anyways? You never trusted anything I said,"
"Yeah, well look where it usually gets people if you give them free information? Didn't you send me a group of guys covered in glow-in-the-dark paint once?" Izaya laughed at that.
"Ah yes, it really is scary how much people trust me sometimes~!" He laughed. Though he was much more honest now…with Shizuo anyways.
"I think we can do this, Izaya. We may have no idea what we're doing, but we can try right? And we'll do alright in the end I think," He said and Izaya smiled with a soft sigh.
"I hope you're right,"
Seliphra: Tralala~! *throws fake gore everywhere*
Izaya: It's halloween when she's typing this postscript, for those of you reading this in the future...
Shizuo *Hiding from Seliphra*
Seliphra: Bwuahahaha! I finished this story, that's right the last chpter has been writ; and having been writ, not yet posted...
Izaya: Why the hell not?
Seliphra: To keep y'all in suspense. Now, the more reviews I get, the faster I update. If I get 100 reviews BEFORE the last chapter goes up reviewer 100 gets a one-shot~!