Name your son.
That's when he'd known it was over. That was when he'd known the fragile friendship they'd built had been smashed and was never going to be the same. His hand was shaking and he could barely see the screen of his phone. His jaw was clenched so hard that his teeth were starting to hurt. Part of his brain was still trying to process that he was a father now. All because of some idiots performing some stupid spell. He'd known for months that the child was his, but it hadn't sunk in until just now.
The other part of his brain was searching for a name and it kept going back to the roman emperors. He sighed and typed out the name, his fingers icy cold. Severus.
He hit send and stumbled to his couch. Flopping down, he cradled his head in his hands. He, Lovino Vargas, was officially a father. The thought almost made him laugh. Almost. Too bad this wasn't some messed up dream. No, this was real. A spell had gotten a person he thought of as a friend and nothing more pregnant and he still didn't know why the spell had chosen him as the father, but it had.
Suddenly, something occurred to him and he sat up, frantically dialing her number. The phone rang. And rang and rang... On the fourth or fifth ring, she picked up. "Hello?" Her voice was groggy and he felt bad for waking her up, but this was important.
"Are you in the hospital?"
"Vha- non. Lovino, I'm not in a hospital. Why?"
He realized what that meant and he barely kept himself from cursing her. "Why not?"
"When you live alone and you go into labor at three in the morning, it's a little late for the hospital."
"So you- you- labor in-" He couldn't finish his sentence. He'd meant to call her and chew her out for not letting him know she was in the hospital, but now that he knew she wasn't even in one. His brain was still attempting to process that.
"Yeah, it hurt like hell." Not only did she now sound more awake, she also sounded way too calm about this. Like she gave birth everyday. "Lovi, Severus and I are fine. Please stop being so melodramatic."
He slumped back down with his eyes closed, knowing he'd already lost this argument. How could she be so calm about this? Finally, he sighed and opened his eyes. "Alright."
"You okay?"
"Fine." he snapped, his eyes focused on a single spot on the wall across from him. "I'm fine."
"You don't sound fine."
Damn it. She knew him too well, despite the fact that they hadn't been friends very long. "I'm fine." he repeated, hoping that this time he sounded a little more believable.
Maddy sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get him to admit he wasn't fine. Fine, if he wanted to bottle up his emotions and not talk to her honestly, fine. "Can his middle name be Xavier?"
"What?"
She rolled her eyes, gently wrapping a blanket around Severus. Already the maternal instinct was kicking in and she'd already spent a good half an hour simply staring at him, smiling like an idiot. "Can Sev's middle name be Xavier?"
"Why xavier?"
"You got to pick his first name." she replied, her voice coming out more bitter and angry than she'd meant for it to.
Lovino sighed in exasperation. "Fine."
"Lovi... I think he should live with you."
"What? Why?"
She yawned, her jaw cracking. "I just think it'd be better if he lived with you."
"But why?" He didn't mind the idea of his son living with him, he just wanted to know why she disliked the idea of Sev living with her.
"Lovi, please. It would just be better if he lived with you." her voice cracked and she brushed a few stray tears away, her heart already aching at the idea of losing her son. It wouldn't really be losing him, just giving him the best chance. Even with the "pep talk," it still hurt. "If he lives with you, he might not get caught in the middle of all this drama. He wouldn't be as messed up. Just.. please."
He sighed. "Fine, but he's coming to visit you on the weekends. I'm not going to let him grow up without his mother."
She blinked rapidly to keep the tears away. Stupid hormones. "Fine."
"Are you okay?"
"Vhat?"
Lovino flinched at the german accent. He'd learned to accept that she got that accent when she was confused or tired. "Are you okay?" he repeated. Even though they didn't talk as much anymore, he still worried. Isn't that what friends do?
"I'm.." she stopped, watching Severus again. A small smile had spread across his chubby little cheeks and her own idiotic smile returned, bigger and more genuine than before. "He's so cute!"
"What?"
She blushed, her face turning tomato red. Her only consolation was that Lovino wasn't there in person, meaning he couldn't see. "He smiled in his sleep. It was cute."
Lovino felt himself caught between wanting to smile and wanting to roll his eyes. "Do you want me to come and get him?"
"Won't that take a few days?"
He nodded, before remembering that she couldn't see him. "Obviously. That will give me time to get a room ready."
She yawned again, but her attention was still drawn to the squirming child she was currently keeping away from the edge of her bed. "Sounds good." Severus opened his eyes, briefly squinting against the bright light. "Good morning little one. You caused your mama quite a bit of pain, y'know."
He started wailing and she got up, cradling him against her chest and slightly bouncing him up and down. "Lovi, I've got to go."
"Wait!"
She stopped, the expression that he couldn't see telling him to hurry up and say whatever it was that he wanted to say. "What?"
"What does he look like?"
She blinked, not expecting the tremor in his voice. She stayed silent for a moment, chewing her bottom lip. "He looks like you."
Lovino was still processing that when the line went dead. After a few minutes, he stood up and went upstairs. There was already a crib and a dresser in the guest bedroom. He'd have to get more furniture than he'd originally planned, but that was okay. He started planning his trip and formed a mental list of the stuff he'd need to get at the store. He was pretty sure he could handle this. Raising a kid couldn't be that bad, right? It'd be fine.
He sure as hell hoped it would be.
pinkittwice54: yeah... hopefully no one dies.