"Yuuri", Wolfram said, "do you know what day it is today?"

Yuuri looked up, surprised to hear such tension in Wolfram's voice. He was used to expect the unexpected, and anything could make Wolfram upset.

"No", he said carefully. "I don't…"

Had he forgotten something? Had he done something wrong? Not as far as he knew! But maybe Wolfram had heard, and that meant that it was too late; he should have told Wolfram already…

"It is our two year anniversary." Wolfram stared at him. "We have been engaged for two years."

Yuuri could think of nothing to say but: "Oh… right…"

Had it been that long already? It didn't feel like it. On the other hand, sometimes, it felt like forever…

Wolfram kept staring at him and Yuuri fidgeted uncomfortably. Why did he have the feeling that he didn't like what was coming?

"You'll be what, eighteen on your next birthday?" Wolfram asked rhetorically. "That's a normal age to get married on Earth, isn't it?"

"Wh… what?" Yuuri stuttered. Get married? He so didn't want to go there, but his 'fiancé' clearly expected an answer.

"Eighteen is a bit young", Yuuri said, "but it's not unheard of. Why do you ask?"

"Why?" Wolfram clenched his fists and his green eyes got darker. "Because I think it's about time we get married, that's why! Normally you'd be the one to bring that up, because you were the one who proposed, but…"

"No, wait!" Yuuri cut him off and had to brace himself not to run away. "You're asking me to marry you? But we're too young to get married. We shouldn't even talk about it."

Never mind that 'engagement' usually meant that a marriage was next…

"I think we should", the blond boy said and there was that dangerous glint in his eyes again; that look that clearly told Yuuri sometimes that he was dead serious and was dying to move things forward.

Yuuri looked away, tried to collect his thoughts. The conversation he had been avoiding for so long was coming. He had known that it had to come sooner or later…

"Wolfram", he said, "don't try to tell me that you don't know how I feel about this…"

"Come on", Wolfram interrupted, "don't give me that crap about 'we're both guys' again! You know you don't believe in that anymore…"

"True", Yuuri admitted. "I have changed; I have learned a lot. But one thing has not changed and that is how this 'engagement' started. You know that I didn't know this world's traditions; I didn't know what I was doing when I 'proposed' to you."

Wolfram didn't answer. He tried to compose himself, keep his face empty of emotions, and it made Yuuri realize that Wolfram had changed, too. Wolfram's first reaction was not to lash out and scream anymore; to his credit, he tried to stay calm.

"But… but…" he said. "I guess I had hoped…" He swallowed, and his eyes got shiny as if tears were gathering there and he had to control himself to stop them from flooding. "If that's the way you feel, why haven't you said anything before?"

"I think I made myself pretty clear in the beginning and then we just sort of stopped talking about it, so I hoped… I guess I hoped it would go away if I just ignored it."

Wolfram sighed and almost whispered: "That's not how these things work, Yuuri…"

The sadness in Wolfram's voice was overwhelming, much more so because he was so quiet and calm. Yuuri hadn't wanted to cause him pain. Why did Wolfram insist on feeling this way for him; why could he never see that it wasn't doing any of them any good?

Hesitatingly, Yuuri moved closer to him and tried to put his arms around him. Wolfram brushed him away.

"Don't touch me! You never liked to touch me before, so why start now?"

It was true, Yuuri supposed. He never initiated any touches between them and lately Wolfram had been less touchy-feely as well. When Yuuri thought about it, the only two people he was comfortable touching were Greta and Conrad.

And Saralegui. Which was something entirely different. Now was probably as good a time as any to tell Wolfram, he supposed. Because no matter what, he had to tell Wolfram. If he was already breaking Wolfram's heart, why not go all the way at once…

"I'm sorry", he offered weakly.

Wolfram looked at him and now he wasn't too proud to try to hide the tears in his eyes.

"I'm not a complete idiot, you know", he said. "I guess I knew this had to happen, but… it just had to be said out loud once and for all…"

"Yes", Yuuri agreed.

They looked at each other in silence, until Wolfram made a movement as if to turn around and leave.

"Wait", Yuuri said. "There's more. I have to tell you… I should have told you right away, but then you started talking about marriage, and… and there's no easy way anyway, so…"

"What? What can you possibly tell me that is worse? Unless this is about Conrad…"

A dangerous flame begun to burn in Wolfram's eyes, tears on fire, and Yuuri shook his head fervently.

"No! What makes you say that? It's… it's Sara. King Saralegui."

So now it was said. Now Wolfram knew it: not only did Yuuri not love him, but he loved someone else instead.

Wolfram said nothing, as if he just couldn't open his mouth. No screaming accusations of cheating, no insults, no hard fists boxing his arms…

"There are documents and stuff that need to be taken care of", Wolfram said as he turned around to leave. "Talk to Günter about it; he'll know what to do. I guess this is the end."

Yuuri felt a lump in his throat.

"But we'll still be friends…"

"Yeah… I guess…"

The door closed behind Wolfram and Yuuri was left to examine the feeling that was a strange mix of freedom, sadness, and relief.

He just hoped Wolfram would be okay, but he honestly didn't know that much about what was truly going on inside the other boy's heart. He had been too nervous, and been feeling too guilty as well, to want to think about Wolfram's feelings.

But now, he realized, he was for the first time in two years free to actually consider what he wanted and what to do about it, how to make it work.

And then he remembered that Wolfram was going to have a little sister (or brother, if Chérie's prediction was wrong) and this was supposed to be a happy time!

My timing is pretty bad, huh? he said to himself, and he had no more than thought that thought before Greta flung the door open.

"Yuuri, what are you doing? Everybody else is out in the garden, waiting for the baby to be born! I just met Wolfram and he told me: 'Oh, right; I forgot.' How could you forget? Did you guys have a fight or something?"

"Uh", Yuuri said and didn't know where to look. Greta was going to be so upset… "Or something, yeah", he said. "I'm sorry. It's complicated. We'll talk about it later, okay? Let's go find the others!"

The others, like Greta had said, were all outside in the sunshine, even Murata. Maids were hovering nearby, ready to fill glasses with cold juice or water, and Conrad was throwing a baseball from one hand to another. Gwendal and Günter were there, sitting idly on garden chairs. Gwendal's fingers were tapping restlessly on his thighs, as if he longed for his knitting or at least a pen. Then he straightened up, remembering to look relaxed and composed… until he forgot again.

"Conrad, will you stop that?" Wolfram snapped. "I can't stand the sound of that ball against your hands…"

Wolfram stopped talking. He took a deep breath and pressed his jaws tightly together, looking more tense than Yuuri had ever seen him before. It probably took him a lot of self control not to set that ball on fire.

Conrad caught Yuuri's eyes, and Yuuri shrugged and mouthed a silent 'I'm sorry'. Conrad sighed and threw the ball away onto the lawn.

Wolfram followed it with his eyes while it rolled for a little while, and then stopped. He kept his eyes on it and didn't look at Yuuri when he sat down at the table.

"She has been in there for three hours already", Gwendal said. "If not more. She's had three children before; she should be used to this – what's taking her so long?"

"Yeah, what's taking her so long?"

Greta's legs hung down from the chair and kicked restlessly just above the grass. Her eldest uncle looked like he wanted to do the same.

"Actually," Murata said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, "the number of previous children doesn't matter. She hasn't given birth since Wolfram was born, more than eighty years ago. As far as her body is concerned, this could have been her first! Also, some women have their very first baby real quickly. There's no way of predicting when this is going to be over."

"Murata." Yuuri eyed his friend suspiciously. "You seem to know a lot about these things."

"It's nothing", the other boy said. "Just common knowledge that I've picked up along the way."

The others pondered this statement for a while. Greta's feet kept on kicking.

"Actually", Wolfram suddenly said and got up from his chair, "I'll take care of that stupid ball. Come on, Greta, let's play!"

Greta was more than willing. She suggested, once, that Yuuri should join them, but when Wolfram pretended not to hear her, she said nothing more and followed Wolfram who focused entirely on her and the ball as if nothing else existed.

"Hi there!" said a cheerful voice totally out of the blue and several of them jumped. It was Yozak, taking a shortcut into the garden by climbing over the wall, and he called out to them from on top of it.

"What's up?" he said when he landed beside the table where they were all seated. "Has Lady Chérie had her baby yet?"

"No, not yet", Gwendal replied. "We're waiting."