Ever After
Part 12 - Baby Shower
by Akuma
20th of August, AC 212
Duo was working in his office when his secretary announced there was a
request for video conference from the Winner Enterprises' president
and the Peacecraft Royal family's head. Duo snorted when he detected
the awed tone his secretary spoke in. Midori had been working for him
for three years but still found it hard to believe that the
multi-billionaire, Quatre Winner, and famous politician, Relena
Peacecraft, would call him personally to talk about business.
"You better not make them wait, sir," his secretary spoke again.
Duo rolled his eyes and dismissed his secretary. Honestly, while he
was not quite as rich as Quatre, Duo was still a billionaire himself.
Midori didn't need to sound as if he should be grateful for the
conference request. And moreover, whatever Quatre and Relena wanted to
talk about, Duo was sure it was definitely not about business.
"Connect to video conference," Duo commanded the computer system. A
big panel screen flickered to life in front of him and displayed
Relena and Quatre in two separated windows. "Hello Quatre, Relena."
"Hi Duo," they both chorused back.
Duo felt a flicker of apprehension at the eager and simultaneous
greetings. The last time he'd heard them use that tone, he'd ended up
as a speaker for their Triple S event. Thankfully they had known each
other for so long now that he didn't worry about pleasantries. "What
are you two planning now? I'm not going to participate in your Triple
S event."
"Hey, it's Same-Sex Society, not Triple S," Relena protested. "And we
are not going to ask you to be a speaker again anyway. Your speech
five years ago was boring."
Duo grinned unrepentantly. "I'm glad to hear that."
Relena rolled her eyes. "Men! We are not here to talk about that, you
know. It's about a private matter."
"Private?" Duo raised his eyebrows. "So, why are you calling me at the
office? I appreciate the entertainment of seeing my secretary
flustered at your calls though."
Quatre chuckled. "We want to talk to you without Heero knowing."
"About what?"
"You haven't done any shopping for baby items yet, have you?" Quatre
asked.
"No, I'd planned to take Heero with me next month to do that," Duo
replied.
"That's good, we're definitely going to have it then," Relena beamed.
"Have what?" Duo asked warily.
"Why, a baby shower party of course," Relena smiled innocently.
"Baby... shower..?" Duo looked horrified.
"Don't worry, Relena and I will arrange everything," Quatre quickly
reassured the father to be. "You don't have to do anything. Just clear
yours and Heero's schedule for Sunday next week."
"But.."
"Quatre and I will arrange everything," Relena spoke up, cutting off
Duo's protest. "This will be a wonderful event for Heero. This is his
first ever baby-shower, isn't it?"
Good old Relena, Duo smiled ruefully. It was no wonder she was such a
successful politician. The woman knew he wouldn't protest when it came
to Heero. His husband's first pregnancy hadn't been a completely happy
one. Now that there was a chance to show Heero another aspect of happy
pregnancy, Duo wasn't about to deny him, no matter how embarrassing it
could be for him. "Yeah, it will be his first. Smart excuse,
princess."
Relena tilted her head slightly to the side and just smiled
innocently.
"Any requests before we head off to plan the party?" Quatre asked.
"Yeah, no 'sniffing the soiled diaper' game." Duo shuddered as he
remembered the last baby shower party he'd attended. It had been
Sally's fourth pregnancy, two years ago. He'd gotten dragged into the
game which had resulted in him avoiding chocolate for a few months
after.
Quatre and Relena laughed. They obviously remembered Duo's experience
two years ago.
"Okay, no 'soiled diaper' game, check." Relena grinned. "Quatre and I
will discuss and plan the party then. See you next week, Duo."
"I'll give you the details of time and place on Monday," Quatre spoke.
"Until then."
Duo said his good-byes to his two friends, disconnected, and then
continued with his work. He had been working for only a few minutes
when his secretary entered his office and deposited a stack of papers
on his desk.
"Here are the reports on our latest branch, sir," Midori said.
"Thank you, Midori." Duo barely glanced at the stack as he
concentrated on his computer.
"Did the business talk go smoothly, sir?"
"Huh?" Duo lifted his head and looked questioningly at his secretary.
"The conference with Winner and Peacecraft?" Midori elaborated.
"Oh, the conference, yeah everything went fine."
"I'm glad to hear that." Midori looked relieved then excused herself.
Duo watched his secretary leave his office and shook his head in
amusement. If only she knew what Quatre and Relena had talked him
into.
A thought nudged his mind and Duo shuddered at the possibility of it
happening. He hurriedly dialed Relena. He should have thought about
requesting a no pink color theme for the decorations.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Guys, help!!" Solo pleaded once he sat down at the table occupied by
other M-five. They were in the coffee shop where they often hung out.
"No greeting at all?" Marimeia raised one eyebrow. "It must be a big
problem then."
"I'm guessing that it has something to do with a certain baby shower
party which Dad is having fun arranging." Midii smiled.
"And aunt Relena as well," Milliard added ruefully. "She called our
house this morning, informing us about the party. She and mother spent
an hour discussing decorations and gifts."
"Uncle Quatre told my parents about it last night. Mom is beside
herself with the party," Meiran grinned. "She's driving father up the
wall discussing the baby gifts. Thankfully she's refused to have her
own baby shower party this time."
"Well, I think that after having had your baby shower party, your
mother has had enough," Marimeia snickered. "I can still remember how
embarrassing it was for your father."
"There's no way you remember it! You were only eight years old at that
time," Meiran snorted.
"Hey, it was a memorable party," Marimeia grinned. "I remembered your
father swearing off baby shower parties after that. What's his
reaction to this party by the way?"
"He refused the invitation at first." Meiran rolled her eyes. "But
then Mom told him that the least he could do for Heero is to attend
his party."
"Ah, guilt trip," Midii smiled. "I'm sure uncle Wufei accepted the
invitation then?"
"Yeah, though when I left home this morning, he was still trying to
find excuses to avoid the party."
"Guys, can we focus here?" Solo piped up while his friends snickered.
"Of course, of course." Milliard made a show of giving Solo his full
attention, which got him a slap on shoulder from his friend. "Ow, so
what's your problem?"
"What else? The baby gift, of course!"
"What's wrong with the gift?" Marimeia asked.
"I don't know what to get! This is a first time for me. What's
considered a nice suitable gift? What if my gift is similar to
someone else's gift?"
"Calm down, Solo. Dad has compiled a list of all suitable gifts here."
Midii produced a piece of paper from her bag. "You can see which gifts
have already been claimed by certain families and which gifts are
still up for grabs."
Solo grabbed the paper and poured over it. Curious, Milliard leaned
closer to the violet eyed boy and read the paper as well.
"Leave it to uncle Quatre to arrange such a thing," Meiran spoke up as
Solo read the list. "Well I know what present my parents will give.
They discussed it so loudly that I couldn't help but hear."
"I know what Dad's and Father's gift is as well." Midii smiled.
"Lucky kids to have their parents taking care of the gifts for them,"
Marimeia muttered. "I will have to prepare the gift by myself. Lady
Une has refused to collaborate, saying it's time for me to do
something on my own."
"Sis, come on. It's not that hard to find a gift." Midii looked
pleased. "I also plan to give Heero a gift from me personally."
"You what?" Meiran looked at the blonde girl in surprise then
curiosity. "What is the gift?"
"A set of baby clothes that I'll knit by myself."
Meiran groaned, "Oh great, you will make us all look bad if we don't
prepare our own gifts as well."
"Well, you'll just have to find your own gift then," Midii smirked.
Milliard looked at away from the paper and gave Midii an amused smile.
"Now I know for sure that you inherited from uncle Quatre not only his
nice traits, but his deviousness as well."
Midii gave Milliard her most beaming smile. "I knew you would notice
my plan. But I think it's a good thing to do to show our support to
Heero. You have to admit that we treated him badly when we first met
him."
Milliard rolled his eyes. "Another guilt trip. What is it with women
and guilt trips? Fine, I don't mind giving a gift, as a matter of
fact, I have already got something in mind for it." The blonde boy
then proceeded to snatch the list from Solo's hands.
"Hey!" Solo protested.
"Just a minute." Milliard took out his pen from his shirt pocket and
wrote his name on the right side of an item. "There, I have chosen my
gift."
Solo glanced at the item Milliard just chosen then looked at his
friend in annoyance. "I was going to choose that!"
The blonde boy smirked, "Too bad, I got in first. Choose another one."
He then ducked to avoid Solo's punch.
"Omae o korosu." Solo growled.
Milliard blinked. "What did you say?"
Solo smirked as he answered, "That's what Mom often says when Dad
annoys him."
"What does it mean?"
"Dunno," Solo shrugged and returned his attention to the list to look
for another item to give his mother.
Milliard made a note to look in the Japanese dictionary for the
meaning of the words.
"Knitted clothes, " Meiran looked thoughtful. "That's a good idea and
isn't expensive either."
"Oh Meiran," Marimeia said exasperatedly to the black haired girl.
"You spent your allowance to buy books again? "
"Hey, they are useful books," Meiran protested weakly. "Anyway, it's
the thought that counts for the gift." She then turned to Midii,
"Teach me how to knit, would you?"
"Well, I don't mind," Midii looked amused, "If you want to, we can
start now. I have spare wool at my house that you can use. I doubt we
will do anything else today, what with Solo busy searching for his
perfect gift and all."
Meiran glanced at the said boy and snickered at the worried look she
saw on his face. "Yeah, we better start now. I only have one week to
finish the gift."
"Well, I have my doubts in you learning to knit," Midii giggled as she
stood up. "But I'll do my best to teach you. I'll see you later guys,
Sis. You can have the list, Solo. I have another copy with me."
"Bye Midii, Meiran; meet here again tomorrow, okay?" Milliard answered
"Sure. I want to know all about Solo's progress in his quest searching
for the perfect gift," Meiran grinned. "See ya!"
"I think I will go as well, I need to start hunting for a gift."
Marimeia stood up and winked at the boys. "See you tomorrow."
The girls said their good-byes and left the two boys in the coffee
shop. Milliard sipped his coffee and watched Solo who was oblivious to
the world. Solo had his shoulder length hair bound but a few strands
had escaped the strap and fell on either side of his face. He was
chewing his lip as his violet eyes focused on the paper. Milliard
wondered why he hadn't noticed how soft Solo's lips looked before.
Come to think of it, Milliard remembered how soft those lips felt when
they....
"Mill!!"
Milliard jerked in surprise. He realized that Solo was looking at him
intently. Surely Solo couldn't know what he was thinking, right? And
why the hell he was thinking about Solo's lips anyway?
"Uh, yeah?" Milliard stuttered, hoping he wasn't blushing.
"I have decided on my gift," Solo pointed to a line on the list which
read 'baby toys'. "Help me choose them, will you?"
Having got over his surprise, Milliard leaned back and questioned Solo
in his usual calm way. "Why should I help you? It's your gift not
mine."
Solo glared. "Because you should know what's best for a younger
sister. You have one after all."
Milliard grimaced. "Gillian is not your usual sister. Her favorite
toys are you and Heero."
"In that case then, I can enlist you as a toy for my sister." Solo's
smirk widened then. "Now that I think of it, when she is looking for a
groom to marry, I'll sic her on to you."
"Don't you dare!" Milliard looked horrified at the prospect of having
his own stalker.
Solo smiled innocently. "Help me choose the toys then."
Realizing he had been tricked, Milliard sighed and consented to
helping his friend. Later, when Solo dragged him into various baby
shops, he wondered where his verbal skills had gone. He was supposed
to be the sly one who could get people to do what he wanted with just
a few words!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Day Before The Party
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Don't pull to hard on that thread, Meiran. Run the needle slowly..."
There was a ripping sound before Midii could complete her sentence.
"Arghhh!!" Meiran threw her knitting needles and wool down. "I give
up!! I'm not cut out for this kind of work!"
"What will you give Heero then?" Midii asked as she knitted the last
piece of her own gift.
Meiran frowned but then she cheered up. "I know what to do!"
"What?" Midii asked curiously.
"It's so obvious and such a practical gift!" Meiran grinned and
gathered her bag. "I need to purchase a few things. See you at the
party!!!"
"What's so obvious and practical?" Midii shouted but her friend had
already left the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So, Wufei, what excuse do you have for me this time?" a very pregnant
Sally asked her husband, hands on her hips.
"None, Sally." Wufei grimaced then stated morosely. "I'll attend the
party."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Party
23rd of August, AC212
"Duo, where are we going?"
"You'll see soon," Duo answered as he stopped the car at one of
Quatre's guest houses.
Heero eyed him suspiciously as he ushered the pregnant boy up the
steps to the door. "This has nothing to do with the baby shower
surprise party, does it?"
Duo missed the final step and stumbled forward. Fortunately he managed
to balance himself so his face didn't collide with the door. He then
turned toward his Japanese husband. "How did you know?!"
Heero smirked. "Solo needs a lesson in subtlety. He was acting
different, as if he was trying to hide something the past few days so
I did some investigating. It wasn't hard to find out what he was up
to."
Duo cursed inwardly. Trust his son to ruin the surprise. "Can you at
least pretend to be surprised?"
Heero nodded.
Sighing at the loss of the surprise, Duo gestured toward the door.
"Open it then."
Heero opened the door and stepped inside. A chorus of 'surprise'
greeted the Japanese boy as Duo stepped in and stood beside his
spouse. The older man was watching Heero's reaction and groaned when
Heero only blinked his eyes to show his surprise.
"Heero! You're not surprised!" Relena exclaimed.
Duo berated himself. He should have guessed where Solo got his
horrible acting skills from. Heero might be a genius when it came to
technology and fighting but he had zero talent in acting. Even when
they were laying low during the war as students, Heero hardly managed
to blend in. And it appeared that the poor acting skills had been
inherited by Solo. It was his fault that the surprise was ruined after
all. Like father like son. Or in Heero's case; like mother like son.
"You know." Quatre accused the pregnant boy. His aqua blue eyes
flashed dangerously
Heero nodded. No one dared lie to Quatre. It was no use after all. The
blonde billionaire could detect lies easily.
"Who told you?!" Relena screeched.
Both Quatre and Relena trained their eyes on Duo who realized that he
was the prime suspect because he lived with Heero and could have
accidentally spilled the secret.
Being the focus of an angry politician and billionaire, Duo had no
compulsion in pointing out the culprit. He indicated his son who stood
amongst his friends with his finger. "Solo did," he said. That
transported Quatre's and Relena's focus to his son.
While Solo tried to defend his innocence to Quatre and Relena, Duo
took stock of the living room. The place was decorated in soft pastel
colors. Baby theme banners hung from the ceiling and baby related
pictures decorated the walls here and there. The color theme was a
mixture of pastel red, green, blue, and yellow, giving the room a warm
feeling despite the many decorations.
Satisfied with the room, Duo scanned the people. They were scattered
around the room. Some were sitting and some were standing. Winner,
Chang, Peacecraft, and Marquise families were all present in complete
number, including Wufei's five daughters. Lady Une and Marimeia were
also present. Duo was a bit surprised to see that android J and Howard
were also present. He would have to thank Quatre and Relena for
including them because he had forgotten about them. Finished with
scanning the people, Duo then turned to his spouse and realized that
Heero wasn't beside him anymore. He looked around and saw him walking
towards Solo. His intention to defend Solo was obvious.
Duo rolled his eyes and went to join his spouse. It took a few minutes
to clear the surprise issue before Quatre and Relena calmed down.
Heero was then ushered to the most comfy couch. Once he'd sat down,
Relena announced that it was present time. Quatre produced a pastel
blue bag and offered it to Heero.
"Since everyone wants to be the first to give you their present, we
will decide the turn randomly. I have papers with our names on them in
this bag," The blonde man explained to Heero. "Pull one out, Heero."
Heero did and read the name on the piece of paper. "Peacecraft."
Relena squealed in delight and went to the bedroom where the big gifts
were stored. She came out with a baby stroller. She pushed the
stroller in front of Heero and beamed happily. "This is from Dorothy
and I. It's the latest in baby strollers. It has a UV protection cover
and heat feature so your baby won't get cold."
Duo winced when he noticed its soft pink canopy and the frilly drapery
around the legs. He was thinking of a way to get that stroller out of
existence when Dorothy leaned towards him.
"Don't worry, you can change the canopy and remove the drapery easily.
I made sure of that," the blonde woman whispered.
Duo sighed in relief, "Thanks, Dorothy. Your spouse is frightening
with her pink obsession."
Dorothy snorted. "You haven't seen all of it. In the bedroom..."
"I don't want to know," Duo said hurriedly.
Dorothy laughed. She then turned to her spouse who was talking about
the stroller's features while Heero studied the gift.
"Time's up, Lena. It's someone else's turn to give their gift now,"
Dorothy said to her spouse then addressed the pregnant boy. "Hope you
like the gift, Heero."
Heero nodded slightly. "Thank you, Dorothy, Relena."
Relena beamed as she was dragged away by Dorothy.
"Next turn!" Quatre announced as he dangled the pastel blue bag in
front of Heero. Duo took the chance to nudge the stroller aside while
Heero drew another piece of paper.
"Marimeia," Heero read the name on the paper.
The young woman stepped forward and smiled as she offered a small,
wrapped box with a bow on top of it to Duo who proceeded to tear the
wrapping off straight away. It revealed five 4x4cm data disks.
"They are songs for both mother and baby," Marimeia explained. "I
compiled the songs into five categories as you can see on each cover."
Duo picked out one disk and saw 'Mother's Relaxation' written on it.
He looked at his spouse who had taken the 'Sleeping Baby' disk then at
Marimeia who'd started to look nervous. Duo smiled at the redheaded
young woman. "This is great, Meia. Thank you."
"Yes, thank you, Marimeia," Heero seconded.
Marimeia smiled proudly. "You're welcome."
After setting the song disks on the table next to his couch, Heero
drew another paper from the bag. "Chang."
Wufei grimaced while Sally whooped in delight. Since she had her
youngest daughter in her arms, Wufei was the one with the present. She
turned and ordered her husband. "Give them the present, Wufei"
The Chinese man stepped forward and set a rather large, wrapped box on
Heero's lap. Following Duo's example, Heero tore the wrapping instead
of opening it cautiously. The gift turned out to be a complete set of
soft baby clothes.
"I picked out the clothes myself," Sally announced proudly. "I've put
in some pajamas, a hat, socks, and gloves with matching colors and
styles as well."
Duo looked at the pile of clothes. They were of a simple design,
mainly soft yellows and greens in color. Duo spotted one pink dress
and grimaced at Sally. "You couldn't resist buying this one, could
you?"
"Duo, pink is a girl's color. Every girl will have at least one pink
item," Sally scolded the violet eyed man while Meiran and Marimeia
muttered something that sounded like 'not me'.
Duo rolled his eyes but let the matter go. It was only one dress after
all. He would see whether he could 'misplace' the dress somehow. He
then heard his spouse let out a slight noise which could only fall
into the happy category.
Turning to see what had captured Heero's attention, Duo saw his spouse
holding up a baby version of a yukata with red and gold color
variation.
"Wow, this is beautiful." Duo stared at the garment.
"Wufei suggested this one," Sally said as she looked at her husband
proudly.
Wufei looked uncomfortable as everyone focused on him.
"Thanks Sally, Wuffie," Duo grinned, "I can't wait to see our baby in
this yukata. She would surely look lovely in it."
"It's Wufei!" Wufei corrected disgustedly.
"Yukata? But that's for Japanese....," Solo trailed off then exclaimed
loudly. "Hey, I just realized that I'm half Japanese, half American!"
Milliard rolled his eyes heavenward. "God, why do you give me a friend
as dumb as him?"
"Ditto," said Meiran, Midii, and Marimeia.
"Hey!" Solo glared at the other M-five while the adults chuckled. He
then decided to ignore them and turned to his parents, "Anyway, since
I'm half Japanese, I can wear a kimono without attracting attention
then!"
"Isn't a kimono for a female?" Milliard asked.
"There's one for a male as well, baka," Solo answered his friend and
then turned to Heero. "Can I have one?"
"If you want to spend half an hour putting it on," Heero spoke up.
"It's not a practical outfit."
"So, you have worn a kimono before?" Duo looked at his spouse
curiously.
"Just once," Heero answered. "Mainly to know how to put it on in case
I needed to wear it as a disguise..."
"Hmm..." Duo contemplated the image of Heero in a kimono. Maybe he
could persuade Heero to wear a kimono later. Duo looked at his spouse
and amended the time frame. Much later when Heero wasn't pregnant
anymore.
"So, where can I buy a kimono then?" Solo asked excitedly.
Duo turned to his son. "I'll buy one for you later. I think we're
going to stock more kimonos for Helen as well." That got him a big
smile from his son. Duo's eyes caught the sight of Milliard then. The
blonde boy was looking at Solo in a strange way that made Duo snicker.
The violet eyed man bent to his spouse and whispered in a conspiring
tone. "It looks like Milliard has a crush on Solo. He's imagining how
Solo would look in a kimono."
Heero snorted. "As if you didn't have the same look as Milliard just
now. I'm not going to wear a kimono, Duo. It's impractical."
"I agree," Dorothy spoke up. "I tried one on once. Once is enough for
a lifetime in my opinion. It's very restricting."
Duo pouted. He opened his mouth to do some persuading but Quatre
interrupted. The blond billionaire was dangling the blue bag in front
of Duo this time. "Draw the next person, Duo."
Vowing that he would find a way to get Heero into a kimono later, Duo
took out a piece of paper. His violet eyes lit up as he read the name
on it. "Howard."
"Finally, it's my turn. " Howard stepped forward. "I just finished
them this morning so I didn't have time to wrap them up." He held up
four bracelets and gave them to Heero.
Duo took one bracelet from his spouse and studied it. It was one long
plate connected with series of chains on both sides. There was a small
touch screen on the middle of the plate. "Howard, this is..."
"It's a baby monitor in a bracelet form," Howard grinned smugly. "It
can detect when the baby is awake, has a breathing problem, and some
other features. You can set the bracelet as either the baby monitor or
the feedback receiver. I made four for you because I figured out both
of you and Solo will want to monitor the baby."
"Neat." Duo turned the bracelet and saw the chains could be removed
for adjustment. "This is great, Howard. Thank you."
"Yes, this is a first-rate piece." Android J joined the conversation.
He took one bracelet from Heero and studied it. "The work is very
accurate and detailed. I think I can add a feature to monitor Heero's
pregnancy into this."
Duo thought it was a fine idea and was about to ask J to add the
feature when his spouse refused.
"No," Heero glared at his android mentor. "The monitor will only make
Duo fret more. I have enough of his babble for now."
"Hey!" Duo protested but quickly shut up when Heero turned his glare
to him. In the background, he could hear Sally saying something that
sounded like 'Don't even think about asking J to do it for me' and
Wufei's 'I'm not that suicidal, woman' reply.
"Okay, the subject is closed." Quatre, always the peacemaker, offered
the blue bag to Heero who drew Meiran's name.
Grinning, Meiran stepped forward and gave Heero ten pieces of paper.
"These are coupons for ten baby-sitting sessions."
"So this is your obvious and practical gift?" Midii commented.
"Yup!" Meiran said to her blond friend then addressed Heero. "I have
had a lot of experience baby-sitting my sisters for years so you don't
have to worry about my skills."
"I don't," Heero replied. "Thanks, Meiran."
"You're welcome," the Chinese girl beamed. "You can use the coupons
whenever you and uncle Duo want a night of uninterrupted sleep."
Her wink and the way she said the last word indicated that what Meiran
meant was an entirely different meaning to the word sleep. Duo was
torn between being amused or embarrassed. But the promise of ten
nights of uninterrupted sex kicked the embarrassment away. He grinned
widely and snatched the coupons from his spouse's hand. "Thanks girl!
I will make a good use of these." In fact, if he ran out of the
coupons, he was sure Meiran would appreciate an additional allowance
in exchange for her baby-sitting services.
Looking at his grinning father's face, Solo groaned. "Great, there
goes my sleep. They will surely go at it all night long."
"Get your room soundproofed then," Milliard remarked.
Solo brightened up. "That's a good idea! Why didn't I think of it
before?"
"Because you're too much of a genius to think of a simple answer?"
Meiran answered sweetly.
"Omae o korosu."
Milliard rolled his eyes and was about to comment on Solo's choice of
words when he heard Duo call his name.
"It's your turn now," Solo said, unnecessarily because Milliard had
already approached Heero and Duo, gift in hands.
Once given the gift, Duo quickly tore the wrapping paper and looked
down at two books. One was a three-centimetre-thick book. Duo read the
title aloud. "'All You Need to Know About A Baby Girl' book?"
"Basically, it's a baby girl encyclopedia," Milliard explained. "And
the other book is a compilation of the best bedtime stories from
around the world. It also has attractive pictures describing the
stories."
Heero took the other book, which was half the thickness of the first
book, and browsed it briefly. He then looked at Milliard and thanked
the fair haired boy.
"You're welcome, Heero," Milliard smiled slightly. "I'm sure Solo's
sister will enjoy the stories. I know mine does."
"I helped him choose that book!" Gillian boasted proudly as she
wiggled down from her father's arms and strutted toward Heero. "You
know, there's a Sleeping Beauty story in it."
"It's a wonderful book. Thank you, Gillian." Heero set the book aside
and looked at the five year old girl who'd stopped in front of him.
Gillian beamed. "I'll pick a book for Solo when he's pregnant later!"
There were various reactions in the room at the dark haired girl's
comment. Noin looked horrified at her daughter's comment as did
Milliard. Since Zechs had been drinking when his daughter made the
comment, he was coughing now as his drink went down the wrong way.
Solo stood where he was, not blinking at all while the female of
M-five all looked at him worriedly.
Heero blinked once and stared at his son while Duo looked like he'd
just swallowed something foul.
Other adults either looked surprised or amused.
It was Heero who finally broke the silence. "Solo is a male, Gillian."
"So?"
"Male's can't have babies."
"You can," the young girl pointed out.
"I'm an exception," Heero said.
"Solo is too then, " Gillian said fully convinced. "He looks like you.
If you can have a baby, he can too."
"Can not!" Solo, who had finally gotten over his shock, denied
vehemently
"Solo is still too young! He isn't even married yet!" Duo exclaimed.
"Well theoretically all males can if they drink the mixture I made, "
Android J commented. "And your reasons aren't valid, Duo. Heero was
only slightly older when he had Solo and wasn't married either."
"Granpa J!" Solo shouted. "You're not helping."
The old man android chuckled but refrained from thankfully saying
anything further.
Milliard was surprisingly silent. He was staring at his friend in odd
way. Usually the blond boy could come up with a valid argument which
would appease Gillian, but the words 'Solo' and 'pregnant' had done
something to his brain.
"Now, Gillian," Midii knelt down in front of the young girl. "In order
to have a baby, Solo would have to marry another male."
"Midii!" Solo hissed loudly but the girl waved her hand, indicating
for him to keep silent.
Gillian was frowning at Midii's words. "Marry another male? But I want
to marry Solo!"
"That's why Solo can't be pregnant," Midii smiled, "You'll have Solo's
baby instead."
Gillian looked thoughtful for a few seconds before nodding hesitantly.
"Okay."
Midii nodded back. "Good girl. Let's move to the side so Heero can
continue with the other presents."
Everyone was amused by now as Gillian trotted after Midii. Quatre was
smiling as he offered the bag to Heero.
"Solo is still to young to have a baby," Duo continued to mutter.
Quatre looked at Duo innocently. "Don't you mean you're still too
young to be a grandparent?"
Duo grimaced. "Yeah."
Heero looked slightly pale.
"If it's any consolation, I felt the same when I saw Midii kni...
oopss...."
"What?" Heero asked curiously.
"I almost gave Midii's present away," Quatre smiled sheepishly,
"You'll see what I mean later. Now, draw a paper, Heero."
Heero drew and showed the paper to Quatre. "It's yours."
"Finally!" Quatre smiled happily and turned to his husband. "Trowa,
will you bring it here?"
Trowa nodded and disappeared. He returned a few seconds later,
carrying a small round plastic tub filled with colorful items.
"This is a baby bathtub set and water proof toys," Quatre explained.
"The set also includes soap, lotion, and shampoo for the baby."
Duo took the tub because it was too big for Heero's lap. He studied
the items in it and smiled. Quatre really had outdone himself. There
was the traditional yellow rubber ducky, colorful balls, and various
other toys. "Thanks, Quat."
Heero picked up a rather big clown head which had colorful ball as its
body and raised an eyebrow to Trowa.
The green eyed man smirked. "I couldn't resist. It doubles as a sort
of life belt as well."
Heero snorted and dropped the toy back into the bucket. "Thanks,
Trowa."
Duo put down the tub and drew out another name out of the bag. "J."
"My gift is a baby crib," J said straight away. "I didn't bring it
here because it's to difficult to be moved. It's been delivered to
your house. I have put some advanced features on it. It can swing like
a rocker and has temperature adjustment panel. There's also a box to
insert disk data which can play music or your voice, whatever you
like. I've also installed a safety protection guard. It will raise a
capsule cover over the baby. The cover is fire, water, and bullet
proof. I doubt you will need this feature though."
"That's quite advanced feature you've installed there," Howard
commented, "Why didn't you make it portable as well?"
"The time wasn't sufficient," J answered.
"I can help you with it," Howard grinned and soon the two of them were
involved in a rather hectic discussion.
Duo shook his head as the two old men moved to one corner, still
talking. He had a feeling that their kids would get a lot of strange
gadgets from grandpa Howard and grandpa J in the future. "We even
haven't thanked him yet."
"We can thank him later at home," Heero said as he drew another paper
from the bag and read the name. "Marquise."
"Ah, Zechs," Noin called her husband. "Our turn!"
Zechs picked up something from behind him and followed his wife as she
approached Heero and Duo.
"I'm really sorry about Gillian," Noin said.
"It's okay, Noin," Duo smiled. "Now what do we have here?"
Zechs smirked and dropped the bag into Duo's arms, "Diapers."
Duo groaned as took the bag.
"We got you a complete set. In the diaper bag, there are terry
toweling diapers, disposable diapers, ointment, powder, and disposable
wipes."
"There's also a portable changing table in it."
"Portable?" Heero asked.
"Here." Duo rummaged in the bag and pulled out a square white box with
a blue button on top of it. "You put this on the floor and press the
button. It will transform into a small table which we can put the baby
on."
"It's the current trend, " Quatre spoke up, "People often complain
about how difficult it is to change a diaper on their babies when they
are going for a walk. So the company, which focuses on baby related
products, came up with this portable feature."
"I bet that company is a subsidiary of Winner Enterprises, " Wufei
snorted.
Quatre just smiled innocently.
The next paper drawn turned to be Midii. As the girl presented her
knitted clothes to Heero, Duo leaned close to Quatre and whispered to
the blond man. "I see what you mean."
Quatre smiled ruefully. "I went to her room and saw her happily
knitting baby clothes. I almost had a heart attack at the thought that
my baby girl was pregnant. I was about to demand who was the father
when I remembered the baby shower party I have been planning for a
week."
Duo chuckled then murmured to his friend so the others couldn't hear
him. "How many papers left in that bag?"
"One," Quatre replied in the same low tone.
"Only one?" Duo raised his eyebrow. "There's still Une and Solo."
"Solo isn't included. He will get the last turn. Serves him right for
ruining my surprise."
Duo shook his head amusedly. "You're evil, Quat."
After thanking Midii, Heero pulled out the last paper in the bag.
"Lady Une."
"How come I get to be the last?" Solo whined, missing his uncle
Quatre's satisfied smile.
Une strode toward them, a box in her hand. "This is for you."
"Thank you," Heero said and accepted the box. He tore into it,
revealing a set of baby feeding utensils. There were bottles, teats, a
pacifier, sterilizing solution, baby formula, fork, spoon and a
matching cup and dish.
"Thank you, Lady Une," Duo smiled.
The older woman smiled back. "I hope you don't end up with the food
all over you when you feed your baby this time, Duo."
"That was years ago," Duo protested and elaborated when Heero looked
at him curiously. "It was my first time feeding Solo. He had colic and
it was hard to feed him."
"I was visiting his house at that time and managed to snap a picture
of him covered in cereal," Lady Une tittered.
"Where's the picture now?"
"Gone!" Duo said quickly.
"I still have it," Lady Une grinned and produced a picture from her
purse, "I know you'll want to see it."
Duo exclaimed in mock anger but Heero had already seen it. A slight
smile on his spouse's face stopped Duo from snatching the picture.
Duo couldn't help but grin. He always treasured those shy smiles Heero
gave. He didn't care if the others laughed at his expense. A little
humiliation was worth it to see Heero's smile.
After the laughs subsided, Quatre called Solo to present his gift.
The violet eye boy disappeared into the other room and came back with
his hands behind his back. Solo stood before his parents and shifted
slightly. "Uhm.. I thought long and hard about what to give my baby
sister.... Milliard said that little girls like to cuddle."
Duo glanced at Gillian who was hugging Midii. Yup, little girls liked
to cuddle. He caught sight of Relena who was standing slightly behind
Solo. Why was Relena giggling? Was Solo planning giving a joke gift?
"So you see.... I bought her a cuddle toy." Solo showed the gift to
his parents.
Duo stared at the gift in Solo's hands then laughed; a lot. "I should
have known, like father like son."
Heero glared at his husband. "Quit laughing, baka."
Relena giggled loudly while Solo looked at his father in confusion. He
looked at his gift, a cream and brown teddy bear with a blue tie and
eyes. "What's wrong with the bear?"
"Oh there's nothing wrong with it, " Duo snickered. "It's just that
when it comes to women, you and your mother are alike. Teddy bear
indeed."
"I sense a story here," Quatre tapped his foot impatiently.
"It's a story that I never share with anyone. Only Relena and I know
about it." Duo chuckled.
"What story?" Solo asked.
"Oh, okay then; remember how I told you that after the first war,
Heero went to meet Relena at the spaceport?"
Solo nodded. "Yeah, Mom said goodbye to aunt Relena then went to live
with you. What does that have to do with a teddy bear?"
"I didn't tell how he said his good-byes, " Duo grinned. "He put a
teddy bear in Relena's seat."
"It's not goodbye. It's a gift," Heero muttered.
Duo snorted. "Yeah, a goodbye gift."
"I'd like to think it as my first love's gift," Relena sighed.
"So the teddy bear that has been sitting on our nightstand since our
marriage is from Heero, huh?" Dorothy spoke in a slow, dangerous tone.
Relena rolled her eyes. "Don't go getting jealous of Heero. He loves
Duo, I love you. It's a gift from one of Gundam pilots during the war.
How many people can claim that they have something like I do?"
Dorothy looked thoughtful. "If we ever get short on cash, we can
auction that teddy bear. I'm sure many people would pay a fortune to
have a Gundam pilot's genuine memorabilia. The cash it would generate
could support us for at least a year."
"Not my teddy bear!" Relena shrieked at the same time Duo said. "I'll
pay the fortune!"
Heero sighed and waved to Solo to get closer. "Ignore them. Let me see
your gift."
Solo held the teddy bear up. "Uhm... is it okay?"
Heero looked at the teddy bear then smiled slightly at Solo. "I'm sure
your sister will love it. It's from her brother after all."
Solo smiled back. "Yeah!"
Heero glanced back at the teddy bear. "Why do you choose the light
brown one?"
"I like how it looks. Why? Is something wrong with the color?"
"No, it's just..." Heero trailed off as his eyes fell on Solo's
friend, the blond haired boy with blue eyes. Blond hair, almost
white, just like the bear....
Milliard noticed Heero's look and smiled at him. His blue eyes shone.
Heero looked back at Solo who looked worried. He smiled at his son.
"You have chosen well."
"Huh?" Solo looked confused slightly then brightened. "You mean the
bear? I'm glad then. Hope my sister will like it as well."
"I'm sure she will," Heero said, not correcting his son's
misunderstanding.
"Done with the gift?" Quatre appeared suddenly. "Good! It's game time!
They will be held in the family room in five minutes."
Heero addressed his son. "Go stop your baka Dad from his ridiculous
debate with your aunts. Quatre and I will meet you two in the family
room."
"Ryokai," Solo grinned.
Quatre watched Solo bounced up to his father. "You have been a good
parent, Heero."
"Not parent," Heero corrected and stood up slowly. "Friend. I'm only
two years older than him."
"No matter how much older you are, Solo is looking to you as a parent.
He seeks your approval as much as Duo's. He asked you about the bear.
If he thought of you as a friend, he wouldn't seek your approval."
Quatre walked slowly beside Heero.
Heero looked at his son who was trying to drag Duo toward the intended
room then at his blond friend. "You have gotten wiser."
"I'm always wise, " Quatre grinned then he smiled softly at his now
younger friend. "You will be a wonderful parent for your baby girl,
Heero. I know for sure."
Heero placed a hand on Quatre's shoulder and squeezed lightly,
"Thanks, Quatre. For everything."
Quatre smiled wider. "You're welcome, Heero."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
There were games which the younger children participated in eagerly
but the older ones tried to avoid. The husbands reluctantly joined in
a few games such as a diaper changing contest. However, since most of
them were fathers, they didn't have any difficulty, though Wufei
protested every step, at least until Sally glared at him.
Android J and Howard couldn't be found anywhere. It seemed they had
taken off to work on making the baby crib portable. Heero and Sally
didn't join the game for obvious reasons, namely their being pregnant.
After the games, Quatre ushered them into the dining room where the
food had been prepared for them. The rigorous games had made most of
them hungry. The food didn't stand a chance. The first batch got
demolished in less than ten minutes. Quatre had to tell his cooks to
prepare the food quicker.
It was almost at the end that Gillian dropped her second bombshell.
All the party guests were seated around the table waiting for the food
to settle in their stomachs before they returned home. Gillian
wriggled from her mother's lap and walked to Solo who was seated
between Meiran and Midii. She tugged on Solo's hand. The violet eye
boy pulled her onto his lap, "What is it, Gillian?"
"I like you having a baby. Like Heero."
The conversation around the table died suddenly so Gillian's next
words were clearly heard by everyone.
"So you see, I'll marry Ramsey. You go marry another boy."
It was a chaos after that statement and also a memorable ending to the
baby shower party.
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