Daphne giggled so hard her sides ached in protest. "You are such a nerd!" She shrieked, swatting at the blonde head in her lap.
Cupping his hands around his best friend's swollen belly, Justin bellowed deeply, his voice muffled. "Luuuuuke, I am your father."
"If there is a girl in there, you are going to give her serious gender issues." Daphne laughed wildly before she thought of something else; her face breaking in to a wide grin. "What if Brian is the father? Shit! If you had told me when we were 17 that Brian Kinney could one day be my baby daddy, I would have punched you...or kissed you!"
Justin practically giggled before he turned back to Daphne's belly. "Leia, I could possibly be your father."
He was barely able to get the sentence out before the pair busted up laughing once again, gripping their sides that were aching in protest.
"We better be quiet or we're going to wake up the princess." Daphne exclaimed, trying to compose herself as she motioned towards the sleeping child that was spread out on her favorite fairy sleeping bag in front of the television. Suvi had finally passed out half an hour before after a rather boisterous round of Twister and hide-and-go-seek with Justin in which Daphne played referee.
"Seriously though, I can't believe we could find out the sex of the baby tomorrow." Justin's eyes lit up as he flattened his palm, covering almost the entire expanse of Daphne's swollen abdomen. She had started showing much earlier this time around, a rather pronounced bump resided in place of her usually flat stomach.
"Are we going to find out? You never told me." Daphne asked as she pulled herself up on to her elbows. The pair was lying on the floor, exhausted from entertaining Suvi all afternoon after she had managed to sneak in to the pantry and devour an entire bar of chocolate while Justin and Daphne had been discussing themes for the nursery after lunch.
"I want to know, but I'm not sure about Brian. I guess I'll have to ask him tonight, seeing as how I am running out of time. Your appointment is at 4pm, right?"
"Yep. Last appointment of the day since we have to make the drive to Allentown." Daphne confirmed. "You know, though, Brian will do whatever you want. He'd find out tomorrow or keep it a surprise if that is what you wanted."
Justin blushed. She was right. Brian would argue to get his way for many different reasons, but Justin knew this was largely his call. Finding out the sex of the baby tomorrow would make it all that much more real. On one hand he couldn't wait, it felt like the minutes effectively crawled by at a torturous pace; but on the other hand, he almost wished he could hide behind the uncertainty. He'd wanted to have a baby for as long as he could remember, but wanting and having were two totally different things. They were past the point of no return and if he was being completely honest with himself, it scared the hell out of him, the idea of taking on such an amazing task as having a child. Any fears that crossed his mind, however, never fully came to fruition because with each doubt he had, all he had to do was think of Brian and he would instantly start to feel better; calmer. Justin was confident that they would excel at fatherhood, even if Brian doubted his abilities. Justin believed in him enough for the both of them and that knowledge calmed both their fears.
As if on cue, the brunette called out from the kitchen as he shut the door to the garage. "Come congratulate me!" Brian made his way in to the living room where he found the duo still on the floor.
Neither attempted to move, only offering matching apologetic grins when he came in to view.
From where he lay, Justin managed to tilt his head enough to see the brunette, albeit upside down, he stated excitedly. "Congratulations!"
"You little shit." Brian tossed a throw pillow at the blonde's head. "You don't even know why you're congratulating me."
Justin shrugged, a wicked grin forming across his lips. "Just following orders, as I have been told I do so well."
"What are you two doing? And why are you so happy?" Brian questioned in feigned annoyance as he looked around the room. Various games were strewn across the floor and a half-finished puzzle lay atop the coffee table. Nothing about the scene before him reasoned their unusually cheerful mood.
"Nothing." Came their conjoined reply, causing them to fall in to another round of unrelenting giggles.
Brian narrowed his eyes. "Did you two get in to my stash?"
Justin's eyes grew wide. "Of course not. First of all, Daph is pregnant so she can't smoke pot and secondly, Suvi is right over there, sleeping."
"And?"
"Asshole." Daphne managed between her own laughter as Justin threw the pillow back at Brian, who caught it effortlessly. The blonde stuck his tongue out in frustration.
"Well, when you two are finished and have come back to the land of perceived adulthood, you can come see what I got. In the kitchen." Brian held back a grin as he sauntered out of the room.
Justin laboriously pulled himself up on to his knees with a loud groan. "The most expensive carpet he could find and my back still hurts like a bitch." He grumbled as he tried to stretch before standing up and extending his hands to Daphne as he helped pull her up to her feet. "Let's go see what he got. Hopefully this time it's something that can be used outside of the bedroom."
"Don't act like you don't love it when he goes shopping!" Daphne elbowed him lightly as she wiggled her eye brows suggestively. "Unpredictable doesn't even begin to cover it."
"Oh no, I love it, it's fucking hot. But I swear if he buys anymore of his toys, we'll need to add more storage space to the bedroom."
Daphne and Justin rounded the corner in to the kitchen, only to be greeted with a very large box with Brian standing in front of it, his arms spread to his sides; a triumphant smile gracing his face.
"What in the world?" Daphne asked as she approached the box timidly.
"Someone isn't, like, going to jump out of there, are they?" Justin asked. With all the unorthodox surprises Brian had sprung on him during the time they had been together, Justin wouldn't put anything past him at this point.
Brian rolled his eyes as he stepped behind the box and pushed it around to face the pair. "It's a play set for the kids, asshole."
The front of the box displayed what looked to be an extremely large structure with kids climbing, hanging, and swinging from various parts of it. It was big enough, even Gus would love it, but there was only one problem. "I hope there's a good-looking guy in that box that can put this monstrosity together because these hands are for drawing…and other various activities…not manual labor."
"Listen here, twat! I am perfectly capable of putting this together myself before Gus comes down at the end of the week." Brian grumbled leaning against the box.
"Really? Remember what happened when you and Lindsey tried to put together Gus's swing set before his first birthday?" Justin challenged with a smirk. "Linds almost broke her ass when she tried to test it out. Mel had to end up putting it together herself."
Brian couldn't help but laugh as he remembered the metal frame of the swing set collapsing in around Lindsey as she fell on her ass with a loud thud. At first she had tried to remain indignant when Brian laughed at her, but she was unable to maintain her sour mood when Gus had joined in with his father and the two laughed hysterically at his mother's expense.
"Be that as it may. I will have this finished before Gus gets here. You'll see." Brian demanded with a firm nod of his head as he glanced once more at the box in question.
"So, do you think maybe I should call and have an ambulance on standby or something?" Justin whispered to his best friend as they stared in awe out in to the backyard. It had been nearly two hours since Brian had come home and he was no closer to his goal than he was when he bought the set at the store. Standing in the middle of the yard, the entire contents of the box spread out meticulously around him, he rotated between grabbing random pieces off the ground and looking over the instructions. At one point, he had tried to put together the over-head beam for the swing set to a near disastrous outcome. "I could at least call Drew and see if he could come over and help."
"Are you kidding? If you send for reinforcements, the only need for the ambulance will be for you after he kicks your ass." Daphne whispered back, wincing when the long board that Brian had been holding slipped out of his grasp and landed on his foot. "You know he is determined to put it together himself and would just as soon dye his hair blonde rather than accept help."
"True." Justin relented. "Why are we whispering? The door is shut, he can't hear us."
"I know, it's just more fun this way."
"Well, at least I finally found it." Justin sighed heavily.
Daphne scrunched up her nose in confusion. "Found what?"
"The one thing Brian sucks at. One man can't possibly excel at everything. It's unnatural." The two burst out laughing until they heard shuffling behind them. Spinning around, the pair was greeted with a very sleepy toddler padding across the kitchen floor to where they stood; her favorite blanket dragging the ground behind her.
Suvi walked over to stand between them, her arm circling her mother's leg as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight. She watched Brian intently. "Mommy, what's Uncle Bri doing?"
"He's trying to preserve his dominance by proving his masculinity in the face of his own self-imposed doubts." Daphne replied automatically. Looking down to her daughter, Daphne smiled at the confused expression that clouded her young face. "He's building something so he can feel like a big boy."
"I help!" The girl exclaimed excitedly as she grabbed for the door knob.
Justin and Daphne lunged for the girl at the same time.
"No, we need to let Uncle Bri do this on his own. We'll be lucky if he comes out of this unscathed, we don't want you getting hurt on accident." Justin cautioned.
Suvi focused on the brunette who was obviously floundering in his quest. "I could help him make it all better."
Justin marveled at the girl's certainty. "I know you could."
Another 15 minutes passed as the trio watched from the confines of the house as Brian shifted pieces around but made little other headway. Eventually, Brian turned and stalked back towards the kitchen as the Justin and Daphne scrambled from behind the door. Daphne sat down at the kitchen table, grabbing a nearby magazine as Justin hurriedly pulled random food out of the fridge.
Suvi climbed up on a barstool and observed the grownups.
Brian made his way in through the French doors, stopping suddenly when he saw the two who looked vaguely suspicious. Daphne had her face buried in a magazine while Justin tossed food in to a skillet. If the blonde started whispering it would almost be comical. "Suvi, cover your ears for a second." Brian practically sang out as Suvi complied.
Brian looked back and forth between the two. "Fuckers!" He shook his head as he motioned for Suvi to uncover her ears.
"What did we do?" Justin asked incredulously.
"You were spying on me, weren't you? You've been watching me this whole time."
"We were not!"
"Really? Well, Daph, that magazine you are reading is upside down, and Justin, since when do you cook grapes in a skillet?" Brian pointed as the blonde looked down to see the green grapes he had tossed in the pan with the carrots and other vegetables.
Brian looked to the child. "Suvi, were they watching me?"
Suvi shook her head, happy to confirm her uncle's suspicions. She hoped down from the barstool and tugged on Brian's jeans. "Uncle Bri, I wanted to help but they wouldn't let me. We can make the biggest, most bestest swing set ever. Really we could."
Brian picked up the excited girl, not even attempting to hold back his own smile at her words of confidence. To her, he could do anything, and he wasn't about to prove her wrong. "I'll tell you what. When Gus gets here, the three of us will put it together." Brian said, his voice rising as he held the giggling girl above his head. "And you are right. It will be the biggest and bestest ever."
"Good evening, darling." Chrissy, the nurse they had been dealing with almost exclusively, greeted Daphne brightly when she had called them back from the waiting room.
Daphne surprised the older woman when she threw her arms around her in a quick hug. Chrissy reacted in tune, hugging the younger girl back with as much enthusiasm.
When the two pulled apart, Daphne's cheeks were a deeper shade of red. "Sorry, I'm just really excited and I was hoping you would be the one with us today." Daphne had instantly taken to the woman when they had first met at the clinic a couple months ago.
"Don't you apologize, dear. While I don't make a habit of hugging my patients, I will gladly make an exception for you." Chrissy exclaimed as she led the trio down the now-familiar hallway and in to one of the exam rooms. "How are you and the little one doing?"
Daphne's hands immediately went to her stomach, her face breaking in to an even bigger grin. "We're both great, thanks."
Chrissy turned her attention to the two men standing behind her as she motioned for Daphne to sit atop the exam table. "And how about you, boys? You look as though life's treating you kindly." She said with a wink.
Brian grinned as he took his usual seat beside the wall. "Can't complain. Though between work and this one," Brian pointed towards Justin, "I've little time to get in to any real trouble."
Justin rolled his eyes when the brunette leaned his head back against the wall, a large grin encompassing his face.
"We've been doing wonderful, Chrissy. Thanks for asking." Justin said, not missing how the nurse's breath caught slightly when he said her name. He figured that most patients that came through these doors hadn't bothered to learn, let alone remember, her name. That thought was rather upsetting. She clearly loved her job with a passion most people simply never found and whether her patients realized it or not, Chrissy treated every one of her patients with the utmost care and consideration. Justin made a mental note to try to find some way of letting the nurse know how much her presence and guidance has helped them during this rather stressful experience.
Chrissy flitted around the room, pulling the ultrasound machine towards the table as Daphne laid down. "Let's get started. Boys, you can go stand on the other side of the table if you'd like so you can see this beautiful baby of yours." Justin pulled Brian up from his seat as the two made their way to Daphne's side. Brian let Justin take the lead as the blonde reached for Daphne's hand. He remained content to simply stand behind his husband.
Chrissy sat down on a rolling stool as she waited for the equipment to come to life. "Still pulling double duty as you can see. Our regular ultrasound tech is still on maternity leave. Poor thing had a rough go in the beginning so she's taking a bit longer than planned. I don't mind it one bit, though. This is the part I missed the most once I became a full-time nurse." Turning the machine so everyone could see it, Chrissy waited for Daphne to pull her shirt up so she could apply the gel. "I hope you don't mind me saying, but you are just the cutest thing ever. All belly. My sister was the same way with all of her boys, bless her heart. Me, I think I would have taken after our mother and blew up all over. When my mom was pregnant with my sister she was damn hear as wide as she was tall."
Daphne blushed. "Thanks, but I feel like a whale. When I was pregnant with Suvi, I didn't get this big this soon."
"I see it all the time in women who are pregnant for the second time. Always seems to hit them quicker." Chrissy moved the wand around on Daphne's belly. The black and white blobs on the screen morphed in and out of each other.
The whooshing sound that they now knew to be the baby's heartbeat flooded the room. Justin tightened his grip on Daphne's hand as the two friends looked to each other, their smiles nearly equal in intensity. Brian placed his hand on the blonde's hip, leaning over his shoulder to get a better look at the monitor.
Brian had never gone with Lindsey to any of her appointments when she was pregnant with Gus. Besides the fact that she had Mel, the human bulldog, stationed right at her side at all times, if Brian was being honest, he simply hadn't cared to go. He had contributed all that had been asked of him so that was where he had left it. Getting the phone call when she had gone in to labor and subsequently seeing his son for the first time had jarred a part of him that had long since remained dormant.
Now, he was right in the thick of it. He really hadn't planned on becoming this involved in the pregnancy when they decided to go through with it. His job, as he saw it, was to deliver the goods in the beginning and then leave the rest to Daphne and his husband. Yet, as time progressed, he found himself attending appointments under the guise of simply being there for support for the two. Somewhere along the line, however, that sense of duty quickly transformed into genuine curiosity. He worked his schedule to allow him to attend the appointments and neither Justin nor Daphne ever questioned his presence, for which he was grateful.
Justin's hand on his thigh brought him out of his thoughts. When his focus returned, Brian realized that he was practically leaning his entire body on the smaller blonde, trying to get closer to the monitor. Any further and Justin would be lying across Daphne.
The kid wasn't even born yet and he or she was already causing problems.
Daphne and Justin giggled softly. Chrissy smiled knowingly when Brian quickly straightened up, shooting a hard look at the two.
Though Brian would never admit to it, Chrissy could feel the shift under the brunette's embarrassment. Trying to steal the attention away from his faux pas, Chrissy spoke up. "Everything is looking wonderful, the baby's weight and height are right on track; actually towards the higher end of the spectrum which just means you've got yourself a very happy and healthy baby cooking away in there."
"The way these two eat, that doesn't surprise me." Brian replied under his breath. Justin reached around, smacking him lightly on his arm. "What? I have to keep landing multi-million dollar accounts just to keep you two fed."
Brian willed himself not to grin at the offended expression that came across his husband's face.
Brian kissed his nose lightly, pacifying the blonde.
"As of right now, this little one weighs approximately 2.8 ounces and is 4.6 inches long. Circumference of the head looks great as well." Chrissy announced, a proud grin breaking through. She continued, "You know what is really amazing? Right now, your baby can blink and already has fingerprints on those tiny little fingers and toes already."
"That is amazing!" Justin breathed out heavily, his voice catching. He turned around so he could see Brian. "Did you hear what she said? Our baby. I mean, I know it's our baby, I'm not a moron, but this is like really happening. We're going to have a baby and in a couple months we'll get to…" Justin was rambling, nearly out of breath; so Brian did the first logical thing he could think of.
He silenced him…with his lips.
He felt the blonde relax against him, nearly melting in to him; sighing when he broke away with a wide grin. "Sorry."
Brian smirked. "Anytime."
Justin's cheeks flamed as he turned back towards the two women who tried in vain to look away from the moment the two men were having. Chrissy cleared her throat as Daphne tightened her grip on Justin's hand. He brought their joined hands up to his mouth and kissed her knuckles lightly.
Moving the wand around on Daphne's belly, the swooshing noise and heartbeat grew loud and then quiet with each movement. "Have you decided if you want to find out the sex or not? The baby is in the perfect position to find out if that is what you wish to do."
Daphne looked to Justin as Justin turned partially back towards Brian, the silent question hanging heavy in the air. Brian knew that Justin wanted to know, not only so he could tackle the nursery for whatever whimsical designs were floating around in his blonde little head, but Brian also knew that this was one surprise Justin wouldn't be able to hold out on. Justin had a funny way when it came to surprises. He loved the initial thought of a surprise and what it took to pull them off, but he also hated not knowing. He was an impatient romantic, really.
Brian nodded his head as the blonde's features relaxed noticeably. Squeezing Daphne's hand in his own, once again, he turned back to the nurse. "Yes, we'd like to find out."
Chrissy moved the wand around as Brian found himself, once again, leaning against Justin to get a better view of the screen. His mind drifted back to Gus as he was just starting to realize exactly how much he really had missed out on in those first few years. He had worried that this baby would somehow make him feel differently towards his son, possibly more distant given the circumstances, but he was starting to believe that this baby might, in fact, change him more than he was prepared for.
Chrissy stilled her hand as the image focused. The heartbeat that filled the room seemed to grow even louder; though, Brian cautioned it was entirely likely that what he was hearing was in fact his own heartbeat hammering in his ears. Everyone in the room held their breath and leaned forward when Chrissy smiled brightly, pointing to the screen.
A/N – Sorry for the wait, again, but my dad had to have surgery on Friday because one of his two main arteries in his neck was blocked 85% and the surgery was trying to prevent the possibility of him having a stroke and/or having to have a stint put in as a last resort. All is well and he is home resting, but that took precedence over the chapter unfortunately.
I hope you all aren't too mad with me about the cliffhanger, but I just couldn't resist. There is a method to my madness and if I revealed the sex of the baby in this chapter than it wouldn't work with what I have in mind for the next. Speaking of the next chapter, I already have a section of it done and hopefully what I am bringing in to the fold will make up for the lack of updates recently.
I must warn everyone, though, I start classes tomorrow for the quarter so I will be a bit busier, but I am hoping that working on this fic will be my escape and I will still get chapters out fairly quickly. Thanks again and please let me know what you think!
Evelyn