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"Can't Have It All "Written By: Dragonmistress_7 Disclaimer: I don't own the Gundam Wing Boys. Summary: A single night of comfort turns into
Relena's lifetime commitment to the children who came of it, but when
their father's identity comes out, it's hard to see where other important
people in their lives will fit into this strange picture, and if,
somehow, they can all become a family.
Can't Have It All Chapter 2
Heero and Duo stood by her bed, holding her hands while she gave birth. They had somehow found out she didn’t have a Lamaze coach and shown up at her classes. Now they were beginning to think they had bitten off more than they could chew. Despite the pain, she laughed. The only people who cared enough about the most famous political figure alive to show up her babies’ birth were a man she had tormented with her puppy love and his lover. To top it all off, they had both faced death and destruction hundreds of times as gundam pilots, but were a bit green around the gills at something as simple and natural as birth. Something about the whole thing was just utterly ridiculous. She even said as much when asked. Duo privately thought Relena had become quite cynical in a very short time. It wasn’t her pregnancy, though. She seemed almost abnormally cheerful about the twins. He was sure it went farther back than that…possibly to the time when she finally gave up on Heero. His thoughts were abruptly cut short when Relena squeezed his hand, pain on her face as another powerful contraction spread through her body. Relena was sure the pain would never end, that she would spend the rest of her life trying to give birth to these children, but soon the doctor held up her first daughter and grinned. “One down, one to go.” He passed the baby to the wildly uncertain Duo. “Give us a good, hard push.” Encouraged and determined, Relena pushed with everything she had. Her second child added her outraged screams to those of her sister as she was placed into the arms of a wide-eyed Heero. When Relena had been examined, the two men placed the babies in her arms, and she knew only love. Soon, two tiny girls, carbon copies of each other and, to Duo’s and Heero’s slight disappointment, their mother, lay sleeping in a heated crib. Both men tried to look like they weren’t looking when Relena filled out the birth certificates, but she skipped the blank labeled “Father’s name” without batting an eyelash. Aiko and Kyoko Peacecraft were very aptly named. They were loved, and they were her mirrors. Each time she looked at them, she did see herself, but more than that, she saw the standard by which every action she took would be measured. Nothing if not for their good. It was them, her little reflections, that she had to face in the morning if she screwed up. “Hello, my girls,” Relena whispered as she looked down on their sleeping forms. “I love you, and I’m going to do my best to take care of you. You won’t have a daddy, but you won’t need one, because you are going to have the best of everything. And I think Heero and Duo will be around for a while. They are good friends to your mom. I’m lucky to have them, especially considering how bad I was to them, especially Heero. That’s the very first lesson, girls. Be forgiving. There will never be peace in your life or your home unless you can forgive those who wrong you, like Heero forgave me.” “Hey, Mom, we’re back,” Duo called. He and Heero had raided the gift shop and he was carrying balloons, cards, flowers, books, stuffed animals and various other items for Relena and her girls. “Is there anything left down there?” Relena asked, wide-eyed. “Some ‘get well soon’ cards and one of those ‘It’s a Boy’ balloons were all. I had to talk him out of the balloon. Duo loves to shop, and he’s crazy about kids,” Heero said. “A lot of this stuff you bought, too, gorgeous,” Duo told him. “Besides, some of these things are Relena’s. Here you go, babe. Some books to read, some new house slippers, and do you know what this is?” “The most beautiful thing that is not my child in the universe,” Relena said reverently. She quickly took the large frozen mocha blast from him and took a large gulp. “My god, it’s caffeine, back with a vengeance and more wonderful than I remember.” “Glad to do it,” Duo said. “Now, you get some rest. Quatre and Trowa were going to come by and see you and the girls later, and to tell you the truth, you look like death warmed over. You think I’m bad, wait until Quatre gets a hold of those babies. He’ll promise them a pony each, and damned if he won’t give them the horses, stable, staff, and food, too. Oh, and Dorothy will be by to visit first thing in the morning, and you should be able to go home tomorrow afternoon. Also, you have to get pictures made soon, because I’m afraid of what Hilde will do to me if I don’t send her some by the end of week.” “Thanks for everything, guys,” Relena said, getting back into her hospital bed to rest. “I was scared to do this by myself. It wouldn’t have been the same without you,” “Quieter, for one,” Heero remarked, seeing that Duo was already gearing up for another monologue. She searched their faces for signs of pity, but found only the same two faces she had always seen, one guileless, the other cheerfully, annoyingly unfathomable. Heero’s reasons for being so kind to her were the same they had always been: under the hard soldier was a sweet little boy who loved everyone, and wanted only to be loved in return and to make the world better. Duo was always harder for her to understand, but she did know enough about him to know he wouldn’t give her the pity she didn’t want, or need. He would respect her desire not have anyone feel sorry for her. That was enough for her. “Oh, much quieter.” she agreed, giving them both a small smile. “But the chatter distracted me from the fact that my body felt like it was being ripped apart.” “Then why did you hit me and tell me to shut up?” Duo demanded. “Distraction is just another word for annoyance,” Heero told him. “She didn’t say it was a good distraction.” Relena gave a real smile then. “That’s right. I would much rather have felt like I was being ripped apart than listened to you for another hour.” Duo started to protest, but Heero grabbed him by the braid and yanked gently. “Come on. You said yourself that she needs to rest. You know how grouchy she is when she’s tired. Imagine what Trowa will do if she decks Quatre because you didn’t let her get any sleep. We’re going to dinner, and then we’ll be out in the waiting room if you need anything, Relena.” “Thank you again, guys. I don’t know what
I would have done without you,” she said sleepily. Relena scooted
down in the bed, pulled up the covers, and was asleep before her head
hit the pillow. ~ * ~ |
