"Calm down, Gumball." That provoked a glare, Marshall floating again crossing his legs like he was sitting in a chair and his scarlet irises met Gumball's angry violets and then met Flame Prince's shocked golden ones. "You too, FP."
"How the hell are you so calm!?" Gumball demanded in a shout standing up out of his chair, his eyes flaming when Marshall sighed. Flame Prince didn't jump in but he knew the other wanted to shout and demand the same of the vampire king who shrugged lightly and crossed his arms. "That is Fionna in there, screaming her head off, you know! You're so claimed 'best friend' you know!"
"I know." Marshall nodded then moved his crossed arms off his chest and locked his fingers behind his head. "And it's because it's Fionna that I know that she'll be perfectly fine when she comes 's as tough as they come."
"How the hell do you know that?" Flame Prince demanded it this time as he stood up glaring just as fiercely as Gumball. "How do you? Even Doctor Prince was worried she might not react well!"
Marshall stared at the two angry men and sighed then rocking one of his feet lightly. "She'll be flipping fine. She'll be cracking you both over the head when she's finished getting that baby out of her." He replied only to have Fionna's loud, bone crunching shriek of pain to echo him and he then stared at the doors the three of them were ordered not to enter. Flame Prince wanted to be in there but everyone was worried he wouldn't be able to...control himself.
"I can't do this," Flame Prince muttered walking off down the hall scrubbing his hands over his face as he disappeared around a corner. Marshall watched him go evenly and Gumball just glared at his boyfriend before turning to walk off.
"Oh come on! You too? Really? What do I say when I tell her you ran off after?" Marshall exclaimed when Gumball sped-walked down the hall to the corner, disappearing much as Flame Prince did. Marshall sighed then locked his fingers behind his head again staring at the doors evenly. He had confidence this girl would walk away without a scratch on her.
Gumball, who was chasing after Flame Prince, was not confident at all. The pink prince followed after Flame Prince quickly with his breath tight in his chest with the feeling of panic still. He rushed to the front doors and shoved them open only to find Flame Prince was standing to the right of the doors, squatting close to the ground taking a few deep breathes. The man looked close to having a panic attack, it seemed, his flaming hair seemed darker than usual with his fear and his panic, when he looked up at Gumball. The two had never gotten along right before but it was...welcoming have the pink prince there.
"I'm sorry about...him." Gumball started off leaning against he wall next to the Flame Prince who smiled weakly up at him. "I don't understand how he's not more worried about her like we are. I'm scared like crazy, I don't know what to do with myself honestly."
Flame Prince chuckled just as weakly as his smile. "Same here. I hate hearing her scream like that and because she is I just want the baby out. Even if it has to be a C section, like Doctor Prince once said it might have too be." At Gumball's surprised look Flame Prince smiled weakly again. "Yeah. He was worried about Fionna's body tiring out, unable to push the baby through the natural birth canal, and that she might have to have a C section if the child can't be delivered the natural way."
"So, there's a good chance it might be a C section?" Gumball asked looking down at Flame Prince who nodded softly. "Has it only been three hours? I heard that labor for first moms can be eight to twelve hours, that being the longest or longer, and sometimes it can just be an hour or two to push the baby out."
"Dammit." Flame Prince got out from gritted teeth and rubbed his hands over his face. "You know, the way this started we were so overjoyed. Happy. But here we are now, six months in, and I just can't wait for this to be over. Three hours is too long now, I just want the baby out of her already and for her to be okay."
Gumball stared at the Prince and then pursed his lips lightly. He couldn't add anything that would make the prince feel better and he closed his eyes for a minute, as if to search for the right thing. "I think maybe we should try to keep what Marshall said in mind. She's as tough as they come. It makes it a little bearable knowing that she's tough enough to hang on at least and to keep some hope she'll make it through okay."
Flame Prince didn't get a chance to say anything when the doors flew open and out floated Marshall. Wow, he seemed to be doing a lot of floating lately. He looked around before looking to the right and smiled. "Hey! Get the flip inside! Fionna's all done in there. They had to do a C section but it's all good! She's looped out on pain meds." He grinned now, instead of smiling. "I told you she'd be fine, either way, didn't I? She kept insisting on doing it the natural way but her body just couldn't do it. So cut and pop comes out a rather intriguing surprise."
"Huh? Surprise?" Gumball got the words out before Flame Prince could, both standing side by side and looking just as perplexed nearly making Marshall laugh. He then gestured with his head and they followed the floating vampire into the hospital, going back down the hall and turning down the hall but floating right past the delivery room.
"She's in recovery right now." Marshall replied to the confusion of the males behind him, a grin on his lips as he lead the two confused ones behind him down the hall, turned left and went to the stair well. He floated up the first flight of stairs then the second easily enough letting Gumball and Flame Prince follow after. He grinned at them when they made it up the top step and he opened the door leading to the second floor recovery rooms and held it open with his foot for the other two to come through first.
"So...she's really okay?" Gumball asked hesitantly, like he couldn't bear it if he was told Fionna wasn't, but he figured with a C section she'd be okay. She had to be. Marshall, who'd been floating forward and the two of them following instinctively, spun around quickly startling Gumball just ab it and he reached out ruffling his pink hair happily.
"She's perfectly fine. Tough as nails, that one. She was so firm on delivering naturally, not wanting the C section until absolutely necessary, but it turned out to be necessary so she went with it." He replied then ruffled Gumball's hair a few more times before pulling his hand out and floating up to a turn, going left and down the hall. "I'm serious though, you'll never begin to guess what the surprise is. It even surprised me."
"And I know how hard it is to surprise you." Gumball stated the very words Marshall said a thousand times making the vampire flash him a grin over his shoulder making Gumball's cheeks dust with a light blush. "Is it a good surprise?"
Flame Prince, at this point, thawed out a bit but was still silent with his anxiety as he looked at Marshall. "It's fantastic. Don't look so anxious, FP. She's perfectly okay and has been asking for you for the past ten minutes since you've been outside. She wants to see you more than anything."
"Really?" Flame Prince forced the words out staring at the vampire who then smiled now, instead of grinning, and nodded softly. "And...she's really okay?"
Marshall stopped in front of the room marked with a bold black eleven. "I've said it at least, what? Close to six times? She's fine. Perfectly fine in fact. Go in and see for yourself." He let Flame Prince go in first and smiled at Gumball.
They filed in, one at a time, with Fionna's lightly fogged blue eyes lifting before they seemed to clear and she grinned widely. "Heya! See? I'm all good!" She giggled but smiled sitting up just a bit wincing at her stomach movements to do so but smiled. "You're never gonna guess, Phillip. Never. Gonna. Guess."
"What? Was the baby born malformed or something? No. No, you and Marshall are too giddy on this little secret you got going on right now." Flame Prince replied squinting at his wife suspiciously. "What's going on? Tell me."
Fionna smiled at the mildly distressed joking tone in his voice and looked at the door. "The nurse will bring the answer in just a few moments. You'll be surprised, I promise. Marshall is beside himself." She giggled looking at the male who smiled widely at her.
"Oh! Oh! The nurse is comin'!" Marshall sang pushing the door open for the nurse who smiled carrying a pink bundle in her arms. Fionna smiled at the bright look Flame Prince adopted then, his joy actually shining through his earlier anxiety.
"I told you it'd be a girl!" Flame Prince got out with an almost smug, cocky voice as the nurse settled the baby in Fionna's arms. He'd take a look in a moment, staring at Fionna grinning now. Marshall shut the door quietly and cleared his throat.
"Dude, turn around." Marshall instructed when Flame Prince did and his eyes immediately fell to the light blue bundle in his arms and gasped much like Gumball did. The twin grins Fionna and Marshall had had before spread into one that would put the Cheshire cat's grin to shame. Marshall floated over to Fionna and they shifted, a little awkward on both sides, until the blue bundle was placed in her arms and she smiled.
"Twins?" Flame Prince got out in a wavering voice of awe, his eyes so wide the gold shone brilliantly with his shock. Fionna smiled up at him happily as she lightly squeezed the babies, barely doing so, but smiling none the less with excitement.
"Twins. And they're perfectly healthy, despite being born at six months. I guess they said the longest recorded pregnancy was seven months or something? They were always ahead of the curb, developmentally in the womb anyhow so Doctor Prince isn't that worried about the babies but is going to run some tests." Fionna replied then smiled at the wide eyes staring up at her now, one of the twins managing to get their eyes open only to wince it seemed with a tiny noise.
"Can we see them?" Gumball asked when Fionna beamed at him shifting to spread her legs wide as possible on the bed, wincing just a bit while dong it, and placed both babies down carefully on their backs and during this the other twin managed to get their eyes open and wince lightly.
The pink bundle had a a very light cap of golden red hair, her eyes weren't the typical blue of new born infants either but a bright, startling gold that was an exact copy of Flame Prince's in her face. She wriggled a tiny bit in response to the stares on her and yawned rather cutely, her face scrunching up. Her brother, in contrast, blinked slowly like he'd just woken up and it was just...so cute! Like his sister he had a light cap of hair only it was red rather than the golden red of his sister and he stared upwards at nothing it seemed, squinting like the light was too much already, his eyes were an exact copy of blue, shade wise, as his mother's.
"They are so cute!" Gumball got the words out almost like a squeal, a quiet one, as not ot scare the two infants too badly. His eyes were wide staring at the twins like they were precious jewels-hell they all were!
"I know! Though they look like potatoes with colored hair and eyes I think, when the boy gets bigger he'll look like Phillip more. Same with the girl!" Fionna declared reaching down to stroke a pudgy cheek of her daughter, the cheek already a soft red. They had the same pale peach color as their mother but there was a soft, almost subtle orange to their skin, nothing major but enough that it could be seen. Another gift from their father and it was to speculation whether the soft orange hue would stay or become paler as the children grew.
"Is that all you're going to call'em? Why not name them now, in the beautiful grace of Gumball and I? Unless you're planning on calling them 'the boy' and 'the girl'." He paused to grin softly. "That actually sounds like two good names for horror movies."
Fionna rolled her eyes then reached down stroking the boy's cheek now. "I was actually thinking of a boy name. I didn't run it by Phillip, to be honest, but the name seems fitting almost."
"And we did agree on a girls name." Flame Prince replied sitting in a chair he'd yanked over to sit next to the bed. He smiled at the girl, reaching out to lightly touch her cheek and despite just being minutes old she seemed to turn her little head towards the heat of her father's fingers.
"Well? Gonna keep on being cryptic or are you gonna spit out the names?" Marshall asked planting his hand on his hip as his other arm had circled around Gumball's waist, the other smiling softly. Fionna blinked then laughed lightly then poked the baby girl's nose making it crinkle just a tiny bit, promising to have the same habit of her father.
"The girl's name is Kaitlynn. So say hello to Kaitlynn." Fionna started off grinning at the soft coos of 'Hello Kaitlynn' and then turned her attention to the boy, her cheeks flushing lightly."And I know twin names mostly match, a female to male version of the name. And I know something like Matthew or Kyle might make sense for the name Kaitlynn in a twin set. But I got to thinking and I honestly like the name Asher."
Flame Prince blinked at this. "Asher?" He asked with an almost incredulous tone making the light flush in Fionna's cheeks quickly turn to a deep crimson in a matter of seconds. "Asher. Asher." He paused thinking then spoke again. "My son, Asher, and my daughter, Kaitlynn."
"It sounds weird! Forget it!" Fionna got out quickly with her cheeks flaming hotly, staring down at her children. "Let's just do Matthew or Kyle something that makes sen-"
"No. It sounds nice. Asher and Kaitlynn." Flame Prince leaned forward reaching out and picked up the closest baby to him, which just so happened to be Kaitlynn, and held her in the crook of his arm rather naturally. Of course he'd watched how Fionna held the babies previously and picked her up keeping in mind the careful hold of her.
"We'll come by later," Marshall finally spoke up inching to the door with Gumball and smiled at Fionna's shocked face, her mouth opening like she was going to ask them to stay. "We'll see you later. Or you can come by for once. Have some family time."
Fionna blinked then smiled softly. "I'll see you guys later."
Marshall gave a light wave at the blonde, turning the door knob pushing it open gently and pulling Gumball with him. "See ya." Marshall shut the door behind them and looked at Gumball's hand and stopped hovering, placing his feet on the floor and curled his arm over his shoulder. "Let's rock and roll, baby."
Gumball finally breathed out and it sounded, honestly, like he'd been holding his breath. He looked up at Marshall with a soft little smile. "Okay." He replied leaning up kissing Marshall's cheek, wondering why there was a light dull ache in his chest.
Was it because his friend was a mother? Or was it because he himself would probably never be a parent himself? He didn't know but what he knew was how nice it felt to have Marshall's arm curled around his shoulders and how he loved being so close to the vampire king that he moved his arm around Marshall's waist. How he felt that ache fade ever so slightly to a barely there ache, like a bruise that had once been there but was going away questionably, and knew that it was thanks to Marshall's carefully placed distraction. But either way with him being tucked into Marshall's side, holding his shirt tightly by his hip like he could force the man to be with him, he'd felt a sense of comfort.