"The Meaning of
Life"
Written By: SkyLark
Pairings: 1x2x1
Warnings: AU, Neko, male pregnancy, sap, angst
Betaed by ShenLong Deb *hugs*
Archives: http://www.gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com/gw/SkyLark/gwSkyLark.htm
and http://www.mizunoamy.bravepages.com/skylark/skylarkfics.html
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing, or its characters.
I just love playing with them.
Third fic in the Neko series
"The Meaning of Life"
"There are my boys," Danielle greeted with a wide smile
as she descended the stairs just in time to find Heero and Duo stepping
into her estate upon their return home.
Opening her arms to each young man, the red-haired woman embraced
them tightly and kissed their cheeks before ushering them to relax
in the living room where Zechs, Noin and Trent were gathered to be
reunited in kind with the couple.
After everyone had their chance to hug and welcome back the two students,
the lot took their seats on the couches beside their significant other.
Duo's brown cat ears were peaked in the excitement of being back with
his family as he asked, "Are any of the other nekos back for
the summer yet?"
Noin answered, "Danny should be returning from school any moment.
Solo called earlier this morning to say that he should be back tomorrow.
He wanted to take an extra day to spend some time with the new friends
he made at his computer tech school this semester. They should be
trickling back in after that."
Relief spread on the braided teenager's face at that. Solo, Cassie,
Andrew, Jena, Carson and little Danny had all been finding their own
ways in life after living as Doctor J's 'lab rats' from the time they
were created.
Now with over a year to explore and learn more about
the world, they were making steps to doing what it was they wanted
when it came to their careers.
Home schooled for over a year, they each went to catch up with their
own levels of scholar level thanks to their innate ability to pick
up on a great deal at a rapid pace. The older four of the bunch found
themselves finishing up their freshman years of college in their late
teens while Danny made his way up through the fifth grade at the age
of nine.
Solo found his niche in the computer world. Cassie was a freshman
at Sally's alma mater studying to be a nurse. Jena was studying to
become a biologist while her boyfriend, Andrew, was taking up education
as his future career path. Meanwhile, Carson was captivated by the
world of political science.
They all had come a long way following their terrible ordeals under
J's control. And the future was looking more than bright for them
thanks to the opportunities they now had.
Until her new 'extended family members' were able to get on their
own feet, Danielle made yet another large extension to her estate
where they could live. Along with the extension that Zechs and Noin
resided in, the finished product was quite the sight to behold.
Heero stretched while commenting, "Trowa and the others should
all be getting back later this week, too. It'll be nice to have one
of our last summers off with everyone together again."
Even saying those words struck a chord with the young
artist. The coming school year would be the last for Heero and his
friends. Now that they were all reaching the pivotal age of twenty-one,
they were embarking adulthood. After this year, they would be moving
into their careers and channeling out in the world on their own.
Duo still had two years to go before earning his bachelor when he
would be at the same landmark age. Currently, at the age of nineteen,
he was at the top of his class and well on the way to becoming a notable
lawyer in his field of defending a grant of citizenship.
For the whole of the last semester, a plan had been set in motion
by Heero and Duo to move into their own home once the art major had
graduated as just another step into their lives as adults. They would
have their own responsibilities and roles to society, but they would
face everything together with the same solidity in their relationship
they'd always had.
Once the goal was set to mind, they were bound to not have anything
get in their way of that. Too many times they had been dealt a nasty
hand that threatened to tear them apart, but they always overcame.
When it came to their plans, it would be no different.
The conversation in the living room continued between the families
as the college students shared some of the things that had happened
over the last semester. At no surprise to the parents, their children
were progressing very well and were drawing a lot of attention from
influential people of interest in their fields.
Nothing made a parent more proud to know that their kids were taking
the opportunities given them and making the most of the situation.
When they were finished recanting everything there was to tell, their
fatigue from the trip back home had caught up with them. Duo yawned
widely and stretched. Behind him, his tail mimicked the gesture by
extending out to its full length. Smiling at the scene his lover made,
Heero rubbed his back.
"You both look like you can use a nap," Noin chuckled quietly.
"Why don't you head upstairs and relax for a while before dinner
is ready?"
Duo let out another yawn while nodding, "Okay, Mom." Reaching
over, he took his partner's hand and pulled him up from the couch
along with him without a single protest. Sluggish in their walk, the
pair headed from the room and up the stairs to their shared bedroom.
Finding the space ready and waiting with a freshly made bed with a
new pile of pillows, the youths closed the door behind them. Slowly
shedding their clothes down to their boxers, they slipped under the
thin blanket. Curling up close, they both let out a deep sigh of relief.
Lightly nuzzling his head against the firm shoulder it was pillowed
on, the neko purred while his tail slipped around Heero's waist. "'Night,
'Ro," he mumbled before drifting off.
Pressing a soft kiss on his lover's forehead, the artist whispered,
"Sleep well, Duo." His cobalt eyes closing on him, he was
soon lost the world.
* * * *
Dinner as a whole family once again was as pleasant
as they all remembered it to be in the past. Absence certainly made
the heart grow fonder to make the experience that much more enjoyable.
All around, the group was smiling as they conversed over many different
topics.
Having prepared the entire course, Danielle had proven to be a master
in the kitchen after several months of trial and error on her part.
Thanks to Noin's help, she was completely able to hold her own. For
one who had spent years of not needing to lift a finger in her house,
she had come a long way.
Little Danny was a bundle of energy, his tan ears perked and his tail
swishing excitedly as he went over his last day at the fifth grade.
Snickering when his brother had run out of things to say so he could
turn his attention to the food in front of him, Duo reached beside
him and patted the boy's head of red hair.
Zechs and Noin could not help the wide smiles of pride as they looked
on their adopted children from across the table. Back when the question
of guardianship over the child came up, the couple never hesitated
to bring him home as their own.
Solo and the remainder of the neko clan were all over the age of eighteen,
but not legally capable of adopting. They had all been overwhelmed
that a human couple would be so willing to take in one of their own.
Never once was there a question amongst them that the little one was
in good hands.
"So how are things with the family firm?" Heero asked his
mother and step-father.
Trent finished his mouthful of food before answering, "Quite
well. There is never a lack of clients that turn to us. For a while,
I was spending more time in the office than here. We ended up bringing
in a few more people to the team so that I only take a few cases here-and-there
to relax. It's nice that we have a large team to keep things moving
along when I am not around without worrying."
Smirking at the other end of the table, Danielle commented, "It's
nice to finally have my husband back. I was actually becoming jealous
of that office of yours." Trent flashed her a loving smile and
a wink.
Heero grinned to himself at seeing the exchange. Since he had lost
his father, he really never thought that he would be able to welcome
another man to try and fill that void. But Trent had proved himself
a caring second dad to him. Most importantly, he truly loved his mother
and made her happy.
No one would ever replace his father, or take away his memory. But
if anyone could fill that void, Trent certainly had.
As the dishes were cleared, Duo volunteered to rinse and set them
in the washer. Danny helped by spot wiping, drying with a towel in
hand and tail to double his efforts. "So you made a lot of friends
at school this year?" the braided neko asked the young one as
he was handed another plate.
Grinning from ear-to-ear, the redheaded boy nodded, "Uh-huh.
And I don't get a lot of weird looks like I did when I first started.
You were right when you told me that they would start to get used
to me in time."
More than happy to hear that his sibling was faring well, Duo smiled
sincerely, "That's great, Danny." The last of the dishes
was set in the washer and the door was closed. Turning back to the
other cat-eared boy, he rubbed the top of his head. "I'm proud
of you."
Danny's eyes closed with a wide grin as he purred deeply and nuzzled
into the touch. When the hand fell away, he frowned and his ears drooped
along with his tail. Peering up to his big brother, he asked "Are
you really going to be moving away after this next year, Duo? We just
got to be brothers not long ago and you'll be leaving."
His heart breaking at the sad look on the child's face, the braided
neko knelt before him. "We won't be moving far away, so we'll
still see each other a lot," he reassured. "And I know I'll
be able to talk my parents into having you stay with us for weekends
once in a while."
Brightening at that, the little one cheered, "Really?!"
"Really," Duo smirked with a nod. "Besides, it doesn't
matter how far away we are. It won't change that I'm your big brother
and that I'll keep looking out for you."
At that, the boy fought the sting of tears as he threw his arms tightly
around the braided teenager. Purring, Duo returned the embrace tightly
with his brown tail twining with the tan one swaying in the air.
A hand reaching up to dry his eyes, Danny grinned, "So can I
see the house designs Heero helped make that he was talking about
at dinner?"
Snickering, Duo nodded, "Sure can." Lightly
patting his brother's back, he led the way from the kitchen for the
living room. Truth be told, he was just as anxious to look on his
future home again.
* * * *
With everyone gathered around him at the living room
table, Heero proudly unrolled the tall sheets of blueprints for the
house that he'd drawn up alongside an architect friend from school.
Small gasps filled the air at the image on top.
A simple, yet breathtaking front of the house revealed
large windows, a high roof point and a wrap-around porch. [1]
No matter how many times Duo had looked on those plans, he still felt
butterflies in his stomach every time his violet eyes fell on them.
Shifting closer to his lover, he wrapped his tail and an arm around
his waist while resting his braided head on his shoulder. His smile
growing, Heero held his partner close and kissed the top of his head
as they looked at their future home.
"It's going to look like a log home outside, but it'll be furnished
to appear like a standard home inside," the young artist explained.
"Since the land that we bought overlooks a lake, we wanted the
front to have almost a wall of windows so we can enjoy the view."
He paged through the other sheets of paper revealing
the layout inside of the grand loft and rooms throughout the design.
Between the large studio where Heero could work on his art, to the
office where Duo could focus on his cases, there was not a detail
missed when it came to what they needed.
From the roof to the floor, the home was a perfect marriage
of their personalities and needs.
Leaning just over his son's shoulder, Zechs blinked his wide eyes.
"Remarkable work on this, Heero," he complimented. "It's
impressive and yet quaint at the same time."
A wide grin spread on Yuy's face as he nodded, "That's exactly
what we wanted. Neither of us wanted anything too big, but we still
wanted to have enough space to be able to have guests stay over and
that's what got it to really feel like a home to us."
Danielle shook her head in wonder. This house, and all of the work
going into it, was a gift that she and Odin had planned for their
son from the time he was a child. When the time came, how and where
his home was built would be up to Heero.
To actually see the plans that he had in mind was a remarkable thing.
"It's beautiful," she said quietly. "I cannot wait
to actually see it when it's finished."
Raising his awe-filled eyes from the blueprints on the table, Danny
asked the couple across from him, "When will the house be built?"
"Well, the construction team will be breaking ground next spring
and finish up by early summer," Duo answered. "By then,
Heero will be finished school and my last year I would pretty much
be able to complete from home."
Seated beside her husband behind their son, Noin smiled proudly, "You
boys really worked on having all of this come together just right.
I'm so glad everything is working out the way that it has for you."
Just behind Heero along with his wife, Trent added, "No one deserves
this more than the both of you, after everything that you've gone
through. As troublesome as some of those more difficult times had
been, I think it's finally proving to have been with it."
Heero turned to face his partner watching him and grinned, "It's
all bee more than worth it. I don't have any regrets over anything.
If anything, the bad times just made us stronger." The neko nodded
his head in agreement with a smile.
For the chance to finally live their lives as they had wanted, they
gladly would have gone through all of those trials all over again.
* * * *
As the hour grew late, the lot headed to their respected
halves of the estate to retire for the evening. Seated at the edge
of the bed of their own room, Duo smiled when his lover entered and
closed the door behind him.
Chuckling in amusement, Heero pulled his T-shirt over his head and
commented, "That smile hasn't left your face since we got here,
so I know you're happy to be back."
"Of course," the neko grinned with a shrug.
"It's always nice to be back with our families. And I know that
you're happy to be back with your mom and Trent again."
His partner smirked, "Of course." Pulling off his jeans
and kicking off his socks, the artist flipped the bedroom light switch
off. Quietly shifting so that they could curl up under the covers,
Duo purred deeply in content as they simply lay like that for a time.
Through the closed window shades, the street lamps outside cast an
ethereal glow in the room through which the lovers could make out
each other's faces.
After a long silence, Heero reached for the end of his
best friend's braid and removed the tie. "So, do you think you'll
be able to part ways from all of this when our home is finished?"
he asked quietly. Carefully, he unwove the braided weave of hair until
he could run his fingers through the strands freely.
Shivering at the light touches, the neko's visible right cat ear twitched
to pick up the soft words over his growing purr. With a sigh, he admitted,
"It's kind of scary to know that we'll really be on our own."
Lightly shifting in his lover's arms, he pillowed his
head on a shoulder and thought aloud, "But it's not like we won't
ever see our families or friends again. It'll just be different."
In hearing his own thoughts spoken through those sentiments, the Japanese
young man nodded. Placing a kiss on the top of the cat-eared boy's
head, he stated, "This house is just one of the many things I
want to provide you with. All that I want in this world is to make
you happy... give you everything that you could ever want or need."
With a loving smile, Duo turned his head up to peer into his lover's
cobalt eyes. "I don't want or need anything beside being with
you, Heero," he replied softly. "I'm happy with just that.
Everything beyond is just kinda the icing on the cake."
At the sincerity behind those words, Heero swallowed past a lump in
his throat before leaning in for a deep kiss. Returning the gesture
with as much need as he could get across, the neko slid a finger beneath
the waist line of his partner's boxers.
Taken aback, the artist pulled back while panting for air. "D-Duo,"
he breathed with wide eyes. "Are you sure? I mean, after last
night's celebrating, I didn't think you'd be up for-" He was
silenced with another kiss.
Smirking when they separated, the cat-eared boy answered, "Just
can't seem to get enough of you lately." Quickly closing the
distance between them, he resumed his exploration of his moaning lover's
mouth.
Heero lowered his restraints on his desire and followed suit without
hesitating and they made passionate love to one another one until
the early morning hours... content at being just where they wanted
to be…
…for the rest of their lives.
TBC
[1] A picture of what I envisioned of the dream house:http://www.servicemagic.com/resources.dg.project.Home-Building.22.33.49938.html
chapter 2
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