When Daisuke had finally calmed down Dark gathered him up and helped him dress, disguising his ears with a hat and his tail under a long jacket.
They walked in around ten and Argentine met them at the door, ushering them into one of the private rooms. "This is cozy." Dark muttered and snatched up one of the awkward women's magazines, waiting as Argentine ran through a standard checkup with Daisuke before going right to the main problem. "Reflexes look good…"
The brunette checked in his ears and then listened to his heartbeat with a stethoscope before saying, "Alright, the regular exam is over. I'm just going to overlook the odder parts of our anatomy- the ears and tail and so forth-so let me take a look at that." Argentine indicated the swell in the redhead's form and laid Daisuke down, pulling his shirt up gently and running his palms across the bulge. "You two are very lucky that I'm a CPM, otherwise- Dark, stop it." The thief was making faces at the magazines surprisingly graphic illustrations of birth and he set it down, folding his arms. "Argentine, don't you have any guy-friendly magazines in here?"
He thought for a moment and set his cool stethoscope on Daisuke's abdomen, listening intently. "No, truthfully." Putting his stethoscope back, he pulled Daisuke's shirt back down and said, "Wait here. I think Yuki is using the ultrasound right now with another couple- meanwhile, you should get back into that disguise." Daisuke put his hat back on and slipped on his coat, sitting down next to Dark as Argentine left. He slipped his hand into Dark's large palm and he squeezed gently, and the thief squeezed back. "You ok?" Daisuke looked down. "Am I supposed to be? We're gonna find out soon if…" He went silent, and then apologized,
"I'm sorry. I wish- I could be the one consoling you for something, but you're always the one supporting me." He smiled.
"Well, maybe I'll be the one who needs comforting if it turns out that I'm gonna be a daddy a little earlier than expected." As he kissed Daisuke's palm Daisuke whispered in shock, "…Dark…" and Argentine came back in, ushering them outside and into a mercifully empty room. "I figured you wouldn't want company, and some people really only trust one doctor or nurse so I've been pretending your one of those couples…" He settled the redhead into a large chair and snapped on a pair of gloves, pausing as he realized Dark was monopolizing his chair.
"I need to use that chair." Dark jerked a thumb over his shoulder and scooted his chair over slightly so he wasn't blocking any of the equipment.
"There's one over there." Argentine pursed his lips, but dragged one over, shoving Dark just a little farther out of the way. Dark glared at him and slipped his hand back into Daisuke's, watching as Argentine smeared a cool bluish gel onto his swollen belly. "Now let's see what we can find- it's obviously not a tumor or buildup of gases because of its shape and firmness, so…"He searched around for a moment, the small whitish probe moving slowly over Daisuke's skin.
"Could you just move over a little bit-?" He indicated the left and the redhead did, asking, "What's that called?" as it was placed back against him.
"It's called a transducer-ah, here!" He indicated the monitor and Dark and Daisuke both tried to see something in the grayish-black mishmash on the screen.
"I don't see sh-" Daisuke exclaimed "Oh, there!" and traced the outline of a tiny body, hardly the right shape of a human yet. "That's right." Argentine said softly, and Dark squinted and finally saw it. "Oh…"It was so small and as he watched it moved, twitching inside of Daisuke and he felt something tug at his heart.
He was fascinated, but couldn't help feeling just a little disgusted as well. After all, it was Krad's… "But how…?" Argentine shrugged.
"All I can say is that it resembles a womb- but it isn't one. More like-I think the closest thing to compare it to is a cocoon. It is connected to the outside as well-but again, not nearly substantial enough to be…female reproductive organs." He put his hands in the air and moved on.
"Aside from that, the fetus is too small. The crown-to-rump measurement is less than what I would like." He snapped his gloves off and turned to both of them.
"Less exercise and more food would be the best idea for you and the baby, Daisuke." The phantom raised his hand and blurted, "Does sex count as-"
"Yes." He answered haggardly, and Dark hung his head dejectedly. Argentine patted his shoulder in sympathy,
"I didn't say none, Dark, just less. So tone it down for a month or so, ok?" then he cleared the gel off of Daisuke and asked, "So…the wings, if you please, Dark."
He groaned but took off his shirt and let Argentine examine them, ignoring his mutters of interest and approval. Luckily for Dark he only had fifteen minutes to examine them-he had another patient at ten thirty- so soon enough they were back out on the streets, neither of them knowing quite what to say. A gathering of food, people and dogs suddenly caught Dark's attention. "Hey look- the farmer's market is here!" He grabbed Daisuke's hand and pulled him into the crowd, winding his way around until he found the produce. As they waited in line, he also spotted a taiyaki stand (bean paste in between two fish-shaped waffles)and forked out a few yen to Daisuke, who stared at the money curiously. "What's this?" Dark paused.
"Um, money. Look, there's a taiyaki stand over there, so go and buy yourself one ok? And buy one for me too. If we gotta fatten you up we might as well start now." Daisuke flushed and said indignantly, "Stop making it sound like you're going to eat me or something!" and stalked off, his ears making his hat twitch on top of his head. Dark snorted and ordered a container of fresh blueberries, raspberries and strawberries.
As much as he wanted to deny it what he had been feeding Daisuke wasn't exactly the healthiest sorts of foods, so he needed to change that. Of course taiyaki was junk food, but…When he was finished Daisuke handed him a taiyaki and popped the rest of his own in his mouth. "They're actually really good!"
Dark smiled and took it, handing Daisuke a strawberry in return. "Here, try this. Don't eat the green part."
Daisuke did, and smiled widely back at him, "It's so sweet!" and Dark ruffled his hair. "Kinda like you."
The redhead blushed, and for a moment it was just the two of them, the weight of Dark's arm on his shoulders and the warmth of his body, so close. "Let's go home." The thief said, and they did, holding each other's hands gently. When they arrived Dark set the bags on the counter and began putting them away, unaware that he had left Daisuke alone with the strawberries until it was too late. "Hey Daisuke, could you hand me the-" The container of strawberries was completely empty and the redhead stifled a belch. "Dai…!" He wiped his mouth on his sleeve one hiccupped, "Um, I think I'm just gonna take a nap…" curling into a little ball with his hands around the bump in his form. "Dammit, Daisuke…" He said softly and removed the other containers in case he woke up and came for seconds. "Sorry, I just…"
He yawned and the phantom petted his head, "S' ok, just go ahead and go to sleep." And soon enough he was, and the thief crouched down next to the couch.
It was just so…surreal, impossible. That inside of his beloved redhead, right now, it grew. A baby. He sat down and propped his chin up on his hand.
To be honest, he wasn't exactly sure that he…wanted this, but it didn't matter because he'd made a promise and he damn well wouldn't go back on it. It didn't matter that it was Krad's….~Well, ok. It does matter. But what really matters is that it's Daisuke's too.~ Damn. What was he gonna do? Maybe he could get another job- a night job, to make some extra money for the kid, and he could sell that acre of land that the freeway guys had been haggling him about.
It sure would rake in a good chunk of change. If their was one thing he knew about babies, it was that they were expensive. ~Daisuke…this is all happening so fast…~ Lord. Just how the hell was it even supposed to come out anyway? He sighed- he didn't even want to think about that yet.
He scooted over a little and let his head rest against Daisuke's back. He'd deal with his-insecurities later. Right now, he just needed to be there for Daisuke, who was the one actually carrying it. It worried him that Argentine had said it was too small, but he hadn't been surprised-he doubted Daisuke had gotten three full meals a day at Krad's house and he'd spent nearly two months there.
Closing his eyes, he rested one arm across Daisuke's form and waited for him to finish his nap, trying to push these thoughts away from his mind.
~I dunno if I'd be able to take it… if it came out looking just like him.~
Aw, Dark is feeling insecure- and for those of you who feel like this is kinda dragging along, I'll speed it up in the next few chapters ok?Bear with me!