Vortex
Chapter 26 A New Beginning

I wasn't there to see it, but from the detailed descriptions I got later from Quatre, Trowa and Heero, I was able to piece together what happened after Wufei arrived. Evidently, the look on the Chinese man's face was priceless as Quatre broke the news to him of my condition. Wufei's dark eyes reportedly narrowed as they moved slowly from Heero to Quatre and then to Trowa, who had arrived only minutes before him. Wufei saw sincerity on Quatre's face, concern and worry in Heero's and humor in Trowa's eyes.

"You're kidding me," he stated, both black eyebrows drawing together as Quatre nodded solemnly that what they'd just told him was true.

The blond could see Wufei was not convinced. "I'm dead serious, Wufei. Duo was taken for being Duwan in Erith and they implanted an artificial uterus in him with two fertilized eggs. He's the biological father to the eggs provided by Erith's version of Hilde Schweibeker. After Duo is out of surgery and we're sure everything is fine, I'll go back to the house and get a copy of the transcript he wrote detailing his time on Erith and everything that happened to him."

Wufei eyes widened when he realized the three were indeed serious. He moved to the pumpkin orange sofa in the waiting room and sat down, a dazed expression on his face. "How is this possible?" he asked.

Quatre continued to answer for the group. "Duwan was part of an elite group in Erith which is a cast society. The women of the upper class govern the population and it's their practice not to bear their own children. Their scientists came up with an A.U., an artificial uterus that sustains life in a male's body. Duo learned that the young men of the rank he found himself in were selected and contracted to carry an inseminated egg in this artificial womb for a woman or couple of a higher rank. That's one of the reasons why I think Duwan was carrying on in such an emotional way. He'd contracted with Hilde's counterpart to bear her children and was about to receive the inseminated A.U. when he and Duo switched universes."

Wufei's back stiffened. "So Duo showed up and they proceeded with the placement of this... A.U.?" All three of his friends nodded. "You're not just trying to pull one of Duo's practical jokes on me, are you?"

Heero answered, somewhat distractedly. "We'll give you all the proof you need shortly, when a baby girl and boy are born." His eyes wandered to the doorway of the room, anxious for some word about how things were going. "I know it's hard to believe, Wufei," he continued. "But we've seen and felt the proof of Duo's claims. Sally's been seeing him every Sunday since his return and is in the process of delivering them now."

Wufei looked absolutely dumbfounded, no doubt from the fact that his wife had withheld such important information regarding his former partner. Trowa sat next to him and spoke in a reassuring manner. "I can assure you that we have no doubt of what Duo claims is true. We've felt the babies moving in his bulging stomach."

The clock on the waiting room wall ticked the seconds off slowly and they spent the next forty minutes speaking in low tones, if they spoke at all, about Duo's present condition and some of his experiences on Erith. Time dragged on, and when no word came from Sally about what was going on in the operating room, the mood in the small room turned pensive.

"Something's wrong," Heero stated after an hour had passed. He stood once again and paced the small area between the two sofas the faced each other.

Trowa stood along with him, also restless. "I'll see what I can find out." Yet as he moved towards the door a young woman in nurse's scrubs came through it. "Mr. Yuy?" she asked, looking at the four young men for the person she sought.

"That's me." Heero said as he stepped forward.

"Dr. Poe asked me to come and tell you that you're now the father of two healthy children, a boy and a girl. Your wife is still in surgery, but the doctor says things are going well and that you're not to worry."

Heero sagged with relief at her words, and Trowa was there to steady him.

"Wife?" Wufei asked, one eyebrow raised in surprise to the reference made supposedly about Duo. He was instantly elbowed by Quatre as a warning.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the nurse said, realizing her mistake. "I just assumed you were married," she said to Heero.

"Engaged," Heero said, having enough presence of mind to respond appropriately.

The woman smiled, dismissing her understandable blunder. "In any case, after the babies have been cleaned and checked by the on-call pediatrician, you'll be able to see them in the mother's room."

"Congratulations, Heero," Trowa said, clapping the Japanese man on the shoulder. "You're a dad. How does it feel?"

Slightly unfocused blue eyes rose to meet his friends. "Scary as hell."

Quatre looked to the nurse. "Would you please let us know when the mother is out of surgery? We've been worried about her."

"Of course," she replied, then turned and left the room.

The four friends glanced at each other with smiles growing on each of their faces. "We're uncles again," Quatre announced happily.

"Wife?" Wufei asked, looking both confused and amused.

"Sally's trying to hide the fact that Duo's male," Quatre answered. "It'll be rather hard to explain his giving birth to a baby much less twins, so we're doing what we can to protect both Duo and the babies."

Though the blond made it all sound reasonable, he and the other two noticed that Wufei still looked a bit unsettled by the recent revelations and the event happening in the other room.

"Have you thought of a name for your son yet?" Trowa asked Heero as the four returned to their previous seats with Heero and Wufei on one sofa and Quatre and Trowa sitting across from them.

"I've thought of a couple but haven't decided on one yet."

"Such as?" Trowa hedged.

"Sam or Ben."

"Sam or Ben?" Quatre parroted, surprised.

"They're rather common names, Heero," Wufei said. "Why those?"

"I like them." There was a defensive tone in Heero's reply.

Quatre looked questioningly to the new father. "Are you sure you don't want something a bit more... distinct?"

Heero frowned. "All of us have distinctive names, whether they're our own or ones we've selected for ourselves. Look at the lives we've led. We trained early, lost our childhoods, fought in two wars before we even had stubble on our chins. I don't want that for our children. I can hope that with an average, traditional name they'll have a chance at a normal life."

"I can't argue with that," Trowa said, looking at Heero with approval.

"And the girl's name?" Wufei asked.

"Duo chose Hillary, but I don't know why."

"Hillary." Trowa tried the name out on his tongue and gave Heero a smile. "I like it."

"Me too," Quatre piped in. "I'll bet Duo chose it because it sounds like their mother's name."

The room then fell silent with only the hum of the muted television, which was bolted to metal brace that was attached to the wall.

After five minutes had passed, Wufei spoke up. "Anyone want to fill me in on how Duo managed to get himself pregnant without throwing a major temper tantrum?"

Quatre looked from Heero to Trowa and saw that they preferred he do the telling. "Well, since you don't want to wait to read about it, let's start at the beginning."

Quatre, I was told, gave a brief account of my time on Erith as Duwan's replacement. Yet the lengthy tale went unfinished when the same nurse as before brought them news that Heero's "fiancé" had come out of surgery and everything appeared to be fine. She then led the four men down the corridor to a room that she said the babies' mother would be placed in after a short period of time in recovery. In the mean time, Dr. Poe had requested the babies be brought to the room to be held by their family members.

Two clear-sided infant beds were wheeled into the room moments after they arrived. In one bed was a small, pink blanket, cocoon-wrapped baby; in the other, a slightly smaller bundle in blue.

Heero walked up to both bassinets and gazed down on the tiny, slightly fussing infants. "Which one was born first?"he asked the nurse.

"The little girl," she replied. "She's also the larger of the two, weighing in at five pounds one ounce. That's actually a decent weight for a twin and considering the doctor reported her as being several weeks early."

"How much does the boy weigh?" Trowa asked, coming to stand next to Heero and peering over his shoulder to look down on the two.

"Four pounds ten ounces."

"So tiny," Quatre whispered in awe, standing across from Heero and Trowa with Wufei moving to position himself next to him.

"So, Daddy," the nurse looked at Heero. "Ready to hold one of them?"

With his body as stiff as a tight spring, Quatre told me it seemed a miracle that Heero managed to nod his head to the affirmative. The nurse promptly reached into one of the little beds and effortlessly picked up the pink blanketed bundle.

"If you'll sit in the chair, I'll hand her to you," she instructed.

Surprisingly, Heero did exactly as he was told, and a moment later the baby was set in his arms. He looked down upon a miracle of science and nature. "How is it possible to be so tiny and functioning?" he asked, a bit dazed.

The nurse gave him a contemplating look before saying, "You haven't been around babies much, have you?"

"No, not at all," Heero answered, in short, crisp words.

"May I hold the other baby?" Quatre asked, his blue eyes looking eager.

"Of course," the young woman smiled at him in return, and in a moment, the blond young man was holding Duo's son in his arms. He gazed down on the little boy whose eyes were open and looking around. "Trowa, look. Doesn't he look so wise?"

The uni-banged man chuckled at that notion then put his arms around Quatre's waist and guided him back towards the other vacant chair. When they reached it, Trowa took the seat and eased his lover to sit down on his lap. Looking over the blond's shoulder, he joined his lover in studying the baby's soft and serene face.

"He's beautiful," Quatre whispered, gazing at the little being in his arms.

"They're probably hungry," the nurse said. "I understand their mother won't be breast feeling, so I'll be back shortly with a bottle for both of them and you can feed them." The comment about not breast feeding came without judgment as the woman made her way towards the door, but she must have wondered at the snickers that followed behind her as she left the room.

As the door closed, Wufei was the first to speak. "It's still incomprehensible that Maxwell actually carried two babies in his body and that these are his children. They're aliens," he said as the idea occurred to him, causing him to frown. He then reached down to touch the soft pink cheek of the little girl, remembering the birth of his own daughter. He reminded himself that this infant was as innocent and pure as any child of Earth and that she deserved love and protection, but he knew there was going to be complications. "Will their organs and blood be human? If they should be detected as different, what will happen to them?"

"We're going to protect them, Wufei," Heero said, holding the little girl in a protective embrace. "They're also a part of Duo who is very much human. Sally will have the necessary tests performed and we'll see what our challenges will be and how best to meet them. We'll trust her to be their doctor and oversee their medical care. Duo and I intend to see that these two live a normal life."

A snort came from the Chinese man, causing the other three to look at him. "Normal? Do any of us know what that is?"

"We're intelligent enough to figure it out," Trowa answered.

Four sets of eyes turned to the door of the room as it opened once again. Sally entered and smiled at the scene before her. She looked first to her husband and gave him a small apologetic smile, then opened her mouth to say something. Yet before she could speak she was interrupted.

"How's Duo?" Heero asked abruptly.

"Still out from the anaesthetic, but everything looks good," she answered, pulling her eyes from her husband to give Heero her attention. "The artificial uterus I pulled out of him is unbelievably ingenious," she declared, her expression and rush of words displayed her excitement. "The material of the A.U. is like a tough, thin-skinned membrane, much like an embryonic sac in a woman. I haven't been able to study it too closely, but it's obvious that it functions the same as the uterus in a woman's body, sustaining the babies with everything they need to grow and develop normally. It's a scientific wonder of a magnitude I can't even begin to fully understand. It was adroitly attached to several of Duo's organs, keeping the blood flowing, but it was fairly easy to remove. Just a stitch or two closed the openings to the organs that were used to keep the blood supply circulating through it. This is a technology far beyond our understanding, and in creating life, it's unmatched. It's revolutionary!"

Quatre wore a worried expression as he asked, "Will we be able to keep this quiet, protecting the babies and Duo?"

Sally sobered a bit and answered, "As you know, I've registered Duo here as a female and let it be known that 'she'd' be in this single room with a private nurse. I know the four of you can change a bandage and check the sutures for signs of infection, right?" All four heads gave a nod in answer. She continued. "He's in recovery and I plan to stay with him until he's able to be brought in here. He should stay in the hospital for three days, but that might increase the risk of discovery. Once he opens his mouth, everyone will know he's no woman, even if we let all his hair out and put him in a dress. So I'm thinking that we should keep him here until tomorrow morning, each of us taking turns caring for him, then I'll take a couple of days off from work to care for him in your home." She was looking at Heero for his approval.

"That sounds like a good plan," he answered.

Sally smiled, and her eyes and heart softened in seeing the former gundam pilot holding Duo's child with such tender regard. "I see you're becoming acquainted. How's it going?"

Heero returned his gaze to the tiny girl in his arms. "We have no training in giving proper care to infants. Will you instruct us?"

"I'd be happy to," she answered then turned her eye to Quatre. "Do you have any experience, Quatre? You have a lot of sisters. Surely you've come in contact with some of your nieces and nephews."

An apologetic smile came to the blond's lips. "Most of my family is older than I am, some even have children my age, so I don't have much, if any, experience with them, certainly not in feeding, changing or bathing. The only way I knew how to keep any of them from fussing and crying was to give them back to their mother."

"Well then we have our work cut out for us," Sally said with a grin. She then looked to her husband. "Will you be able to take care of Fei-Lyn while I'm gone for a few days?" she asked.

"If Winner has enough room, I could bring her over and help. I'm not totally without experience in this area."

"Of course you're not," Sally rushed to reassure him. "You'll be a great help, that is if there's room." She looked at Quatre for his answer.

"Of course. I have two bedrooms to spare."

"Good, then it's settled. Tomorrow morning, after the little guy here is circumcised, we'll all go to the house together." All four men winced at the word Sally uttered.

"Is circumcision absolutely necessary?" Heero asked, looking over to the sleeping infant in Quatre's arms.

"Duo said he wanted to have it done. Do you have any objection to it?"

"Will it hurt him?"

"We do what we can to ease the pain, but yes, there is some pain. It's a common practice and babies heal remarkably quick, much quicker than if he decides to have it done much later in life."

"Well, if Duo wants it done then I guess we should do as he asks," Heero mumbled, watching as Quatre bent over and kissed the sleeping cherub's cheek.

The door opened yet again and the nurse who'd left earlier returned, carrying two bottles containing warm formula. She stopped to exchange a friendly smile with the doctor.

"Ah, lunch," Sally grinned, then reached out her hand for one bottle and carried it to Heero. "Just touch the nipple to her mouth, and then ease it in. It will only take her a moment before her instinct to suck kicks in." Sally demonstrated, and Heero's breath caught as the baby latched onto the latex nipple and began to suck on the bottle's contents.

Turning her attention to Quatre, sitting behind her, she handed him the other bottle and watched as he introduced it to the baby boy he was holding so tenderly. When the slight sucking sounds indicated that success was met again, she saw the happy grin the four men exchanged with each other. "Make sure you keep the bottle tilted so that no air gets into the nipple, just formula. And after about ten minutes, you remove the bottle, bring the infant up to your shoulder and pat it on the back, helping to remove any air that's gotten into his or her tummy."

"I can show them how to do that," Wufei stated, having become quite adept at that particular chore with his own daughter.

"Just remember, gentlemen," Sally said as she backed away to take in the whole scene. "Slow and gentle is the way to handle a new born. Always support the neck and hold them securely. I'm going back now to check on Duo, so Wufei will supervise until I return."

The men gave her a nod, unwilling to take their eyes from the babies, now quite adept at drinking their first nourishment.

Heero dutifully checked his watch, marking off the time until he needed to do this burping thing. During that time, Wufei spoke of his experiences with his daughter: the diaper blowouts and their sometimes horrible smell, spitting up, the long nights of walking the floor until she fell back to sleep, the laundry and the worry about SIDS. Heero had heard of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome before, and knew it was feared by all parents of infants. His worries for our ability to care for the two babies increased by leaps and bounds.

After Wufei help him guide the baby up to his shoulder and showed him how to pat her on the back, Heero looked up at his Chinese friend. "You'll help us, won't you, Wufei? You and Sally will help us raise these two so that they'll grow up to be good people? I'm sure we'll make mistakes at times, not having any fathers of our own, but we don't want to make the kind of mistakes that would make them grow up to be unprincipled people or to hate us."

Wufei smiled indulgently at Heero and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Part of being a parent is trial and error, Heero. But yes, Sally and I will be here to help. I have a few books at home that I'd highly recommend. The first one covers the time between birth and six months. I'd have brought it with me if I'd known the real reason why I was summoned to the hospital this morning."

A rare expression of apology crossed the Japanese man's face. "We were going to tell you tonight when you and Sally came to dinner," he told Wufei.

Wufei huffed in exasperation. "I can't believe my own wife hid such a thing from me."

"She's Duo's doctor," Trowa interjected, looking up from the little boy in Quatre's arms. "She couldn't say anything without his permission."

"That's another thing I don't understand," Wufei stated, perplexed. "Why did he keep this such a secret from us when he first returned? We're his closest friends. I was his partner at work. Did he not have faith in us that we would keep his secret? We could have been there to support him instead of being held at arm's length."

Quatre handed the bottle to Trowa and lifted the grunting baby up to his shoulder. Then following Heero's example, he began to pat the baby's back as he answered their friend's questions. "Duo was trying to protect himself and these two," he began. "He and Heero had problems and he wanted his condition had to be kept secret. Try not to be angry with him, Wufei. He's been through a lot and needed the time and space to come to terms with being back here as well as being pregnant. His first concern has been the babies, that their origins are kept a secret. You can only imagine the uproar if word got out that he'd been to another world and returned to our own pregnant. He and the babies would never know a moment of peace or normalcy."

Hillary chose that moment to burp, eliciting grins from all four men. Her brother followed her example a few moments later.

"I'm not mad," Wufei started up the conversation again. "Just a bit... hurt that he didn't trust me."

"He trusts you, Wufei," Heero said, laying the baby back down and offering her the bottle once again. "It was me he didn't trust. I made some rather poor decisions, leaving him to doubt my feelings for him. He went to Erith believing I was cheating on him. Which I wasn't," he said quickly yet firmly so there would be no doubt.

"It was my fault," Trowa said, trying to take his fair share of the blame.

"No," Quatre jumped in. "I was the one to take my concerns to Duo and had him doubting Heero enough to start checking on him."

"Then we're all at fault," Heero surmised.

Wufei looked from each speaker with growing alarm. "What the hell went on and why doesn't anyone ever tell me anything?" he asked, sounding highly perturbed.

"It's a long, personal story," Trowa said. "But you're right, we've kept too many secrets and it's caused nothing but trouble. We're family and we should turn to each other when things go wrong."

"I've got all afternoon," Wufei said, perching himself on the arm of Heero's chair, showing the other three that he was prepared to listen to the whole story.

"It all started with the accident at the circus last year." Trowa began at the beginning and stopped abruptly at the point where he left Quatre when Sally came back into the room.

Sally smiled at the group. "If someone will help me, Duo's ready to be moved out of recovery." Wufei and Trowa went to assist her while the two men remaining gazed adoringly at the two infants now sleeping in their arms.

"Do all babies look this... funny or is it because their half Erithians?" Heero asked, drinking in the sight of the infant's small face, her eyes, nose and mouth seeming much too close together.

Quatre chuckled softly. "Yes, they look like normal babies. Duo said the people of Erith looked just like we do."

"Sam," Heero said suddenly.

Quatre looked up, then smiled after realizing what Heero meant. He lowered his eyes back to the little boy in his arms and said softly with a smile, "Hello, Sam. I'm you're Uncle Quatre."

I woke up feeling like my eyelids were lined with lead. I struggled to open then as Sally's voice continued to nag, telling me to wake up. My stomach felt as if I still had morning sickness all over again.

"Congratulations, Dad," Sally said after I finally forced my eyes open, only to see her blurred visage above me. She was either wearing a mask or she was smiling, I couldn't tell.

"Okay?" I managed to ask, my mouth feeling like it had been housing a large cotton sock.

"Everyone's all right. Including you," she replied. "I got the A.U. out without too much trouble and noted the exact location of the connectors, or that's what I call them. They conducted the blood flow from your body's organs to the A.U. The whole system is absolutely amazing. It literally took my breath away."

"It's out?"

"Yes, and I've got the A.U. in a cooler where it will stay until I can get it to a lab of a very close friend of mine, a research scientist from the medical school where I earned my degree. He's willing to keep a lid on what I'm bringing. I've only hinted at what it is and he's unbelievably excited about examining it. I'll have to tell him where it came from, Duo, but you will remain anonymous as will the babies.

"Can I see them?"

"As soon as I take your vitals we can wheel you to your room. Heero and Quatre are feeding them their first bottles."

Despite how disoriented I felt, a feeling of warmth began to grow in the center of my chest and spread out until it filled my entire being.

"They're doing very well, even if they came a bit early," Sally continued. "Your daughter weighed five pounds one ounce, and your son four pounds ten ounces. They're small but in great shape. You'll be able to take them home tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" My sudden joy was replaced with fear. I didn't even know how to fix a bottle or change a diaper. Was there something different that you did while changing a girl's diaper than a boy's? My fear must have shown on my face, for Sally put a hand on my shoulder to get my attention.

"Wufei, Fei-Lyn and I are going to move into the house temporarily to help out. Seems the four of you men living in that house haven't a clue as to what to do. I'll teach the other three because you're going to need to take it easy for a week or two to let the internal and external sutures heal."

A wave of relief washed over me. "Thank you, Sally."

"Glad to help. Now, let me check you over quickly and then I'll get a couple of the guys to help me wheel you to your room."

After she poked and prodded, took my temperature and blood pressure, Sally left the room but was gone no more than a couple of minutes before she returned with Trowa and Wufei, both of them grinning like loons. Where's a camera when you need one?

"Congratulations," Trowa said, beaming as he came to my side. "They're wonderful."

"Really?"

"They're almost as beautiful as Fei-Lyn," Wufei said with a grin. "Almost."

I chuckled and it hurt. "Let's go see them," I said through gritted teeth.

The three wheeled me through the corridors that smelled strongly of antiseptic until we came to a room far from the nearest nurses' station. Trowa opened the door to the room of which I couldn't quite make out the numbers posted to the right of the door as I was pushed inside. I strained to lift my head to see the room's occupants and was rewarded by seeing both my best friend and my lover holding my newborn children. Damn, I thought the water works were supposed to stop after I delivered the two, but to my embarrassment the tears began to flow as I realized that in many ways I was possibly the luckiest man on the planet.

Heero stood with a pink bundle in his arms and watched as my bed was set in place with the headboard going up against the wall. Sally eased the head of the bed up slowly so that I could sit up more properly. I couldn't help the wince as my incision complained loudly to my nerves.

"Are you okay?" Heero asked, his concern visible in both his eyes and voice.

"Yeah. Sally says it's going to be tender for a while."

Heero leaned over and kissed my mouth gently, then cautiously set the baby in my arms. Together we gazed at one of the two miracles and I felt like bawling. What I could see of her looked perfect, though kind of pink and wrinkled. Then it struck me that she was mine, a part of me and something that no one could ever take away. I wanted to kiss her, but I couldn't bend over to accomplish the simple task. "Could you lift her up for me, Heero?" I asked my lover, who remained close by. "I want to kiss her."

He picked her up so tenderly that my heart swelled with love for him all over again. It was easy to see that Heero was well on his way to loving my babies as much as I did already.

Hillary's cheek was so soft as I pressed my lips to it. I let them linger there for a moment, hoping to somehow convey my love to her and that I wanted her more than I ever thought possible. When I pulled away, I looked curiously at the stocking cap she wore on her head. "Does she have any hair?"

"I don't know," Heero confessed, and looked to Sally for permission to remove the cap.

"Go ahead and take it off," she told him. "But put it back on when you're done as it helps to retain heat. It's important to keep them warm."

"Let me help," Wufei said, seeing some hesitation from Heero to remove one of his supporting hands in order to take off the cap. All eyes in the room were focused on the baby's head as Wufei slipped the tiny cap off. Surprised gasps filled the air. Hillary's head was covered with short, black downy hair.

"She's got Hildah's hair," I said, feeling a bit remorseful that the babies' mother would never know the progeny she'd looked forward to.

"Want to meet your son?" Quatre asked, now standing on the other side of the bed with the blue-blanket bundle in his arms. Heero pulled up with Hillary back in his arms... and then my son was presented to me. After he lay in my arms, Quatre repeated Wufei's movements and removed the cap, revealing a lesser amount of hair than Hillary's and a completely different color. The blond hair was a definitely bit longer in length.

"I'll bet he takes after you, Duo?" Sally said. "Blond hair often turns brown as the child gets older."

I looked up to Heero, my heart about to burst with happiness. "Has he got a name yet?" I asked.

"Sam."

"Sam?"

Heero nodded.

"Sam," I said again, a bit more thoughtful. "Yeah, that's a cool name."

Quatre then gathered Sam up, just as carefully as Heero had Hillary, and brought him closer to my face. I gave my son a kiss identical to his sister and felt an enormous amount of love for my little boy. I just hoped I wouldn't screw up as a parent and have them come to hate or despise me one day. I didn't think I could bear for that to happen.

Things calmed down after that and as evening approached Wufei and Trowa left to get food for everyone. Quatre and Heero stayed with me and the babies while Sally moved in and out of the room on regular intervals. I learned from Sally that babies as small as my two needed to eat often, and that they have a very effective way of telling you when it's time. During the middle of the night, Sam began crying so hard that it looked like he couldn't get a breath, which scared the hell out of both of us. Heero produced a bottle and quickly showed me how to hold the baby and the bottle and then informed me that after a short while I would need to put him up to my shoulder and pat the air out of his tummy. The moment Sam began sucking the nipple and stopped crying I felt like I'd just won an Olympic medal.

The first diaper change was certainly an adventure. Wufei oversaw Quatre changing Hillary's diaper and told the wealthiest businessman in the colonies that he was lucky that time around, that the diaper was only wet. Quatre looked almost afraid to wipe the little bottom, but Wufei put the wet towellette in his hand and instructed him how to do it properly. After putting the diaper's tape closures in place, the relieved look on Quatre's face had all of us laughing. Then Heero took a chance at changing Sam, and not having a boy baby, Wufei didn't know to tell my lover that you have to be on guard for an unexpected spray. My kid's a dead shot, just like his dad; he got Heero in the spot right over his heart. But my stout-hearted soldier continued with his task, undaunted by the snickers from the other guys or the trail of wetness on his shirt. He also smiled after his task was completed, yet his smile was different from Quatre's relieved one; his was one of accomplishment.

The other guys left at eight o'clock that night; visiting hours were over. Sally had arranged for a cot to be brought in for Heero after he volunteered to stay and be my nurse that night. Neither of us knew at the time that the babies were going to be left in the room with us. Bonding, they called it. The twins woke each other up every couple of hours. We developed a routine with Heero going to the nurses' desk to request the formula, then we'd both feed them without a word, too tired to muster up the energy. Then Heero changed one baby's diaper while I burped the other. By morning, we were both exhausted and didn't even wake up when the nurse came for Sam just after sunrise for his little snip job.

The guys showed up at ten a.m. and found the four of us asleep. Sally came in with the release papers while Trowa and Quatre gathered up all the stuff the hospital was sending home with us. By the time they roused us, it was time to go.

Because I was told to spend the next few days in bed, the care of myself and the babies fell to my four friends and Sally, and I finally got caught up on my sleep.

After two weeks of being tutored in caring for my infant twins, Sally, Wufei and Fei-Lyn returned to their own home, Trowa resumed his work with the Preventers and Heero brought home his lap top to finish up some reports. Quatre continued to work from home and eagerly answered any calls for help. By the way he responded to the babies and how he spoke, I was pretty sure my friend was becoming enamored with the idea of having kids of his own one day. Quatre confided in me, while holding Hillary one evening, that if he and Trowa ever made their relationship legal, he'd like to adopt if not seek out a surrogate mother to carry a child for them.

By the time Heero went back to work, the twins were five weeks old I had pretty much recovered from my surgery. I found out that taking care of twins was a full-time job, but I was pretty sure I was getting the hang of it. The two seemed to grow like weeds. At six weeks, they both weighed around eight pounds, Hillary was closer to nine. Have I mention that they're the most beautiful children in the world?

Even though I was busy as hell, my days were rather routine and monotonous. Thankfully, when the guys came home at night, they took a turn at caring for the babies so that I could go for a walk or jog or drop into the health club Quatre had given me a membership to.

Six months passed quickly. I'd gone over the schematics of the injector with Howard and we discovered it's a sonic technology. Evidently sonic waves open up the pours on the skin surface and the medicine is pushed into them by a strong burst of air. No doubt there was an absorption ingredient put into the drug administered. We've patented it and have begun to replicate parts to construct a working model to present to medical manufacturers. With just this one invention, I've pretty much secured the future for myself and my children. I am, for now, a contented though very busy stay-at-home dad.

Sam and Hilly, as we've come to call her, are getting close to sleeping through the night, but when one wakes up crying, the other almost always wakes up to join the chorus. We've decided that when the momentous event of sleeping the night through occurs, some sort of celebration will be called for. At this age they're getting some personality, reaching for things and grabbing at my hair without mercy. They also smile a lot, which brings incredible joy to the whole household. To our relief, both children seem to be normal, healthy and relatively happy children. There's no question that they're both intelligent. Sam, with his dark blond hair curling slightly as it grows, is the more easygoing of the two. My darling Hillary has a fiery little temper, but she has a smile that can charm even the most disagreeable person. Heero declares it's a toss up whether she gets that trait from me or her mother.

This morning, which happens to be a Saturday, Quatre and Trowa offered to take care of the babies, allowing Heero and I some alone time and to sleep in. Heero had absolutely no intention of sleeping away the precious alone-time that we rarely enjoyed. While we were relishing a lively, early-morning roll between the sheets, arms and legs entwined as we wrestled for top, Quatre was looking at two fussy babies, both freshly diapered, dressed, and obviously hungry. Trowa was occupied in the bathroom, leaving blond to try to figure out how to take care of both of the fussing babies at the same time.

He bent to pick up Hillary, who always screamed the loudest and demanded more attention than her more malleable brother. Yet as soon as he had her in his arm Sam began to wail.

"Hurry up, Trowa!" Quatre called out to the hallway and got absolutely no answer, or at least he didn't think he had. It was hard to tell with Hillary screaming in his ear. He settled the squirming and loudly complaining baby into his left arm and picked up one of the two prepared bottles. He quickly placed it into her mouth, grateful that at least half of the noise in the room had come to a stop.

Sam was not to be soothed by Quatre's cooing sounds. "It's all right. Just a minute, Sam. Uncle Trowa will be here in a minute."

Then suddenly, Sam calmed a bit, his eyes settling on the bottle that was sitting on the top of the dresser on the opposite wall. Quatre was puzzled by his sudden change in mood and wondered what had calmed him. He moved closer to the baby seat to see if everything was all right. He decided that Sam had probably just been sympathetic to his twin in her cry for attention. When she stopped, he most likely forgot what he was crying about.

Hearing a slight noise behind him, Quatre thought that his lover had finally come to help. "It's about time, Trowa. You really shouldn't read while on the toilet, you'll get hemorrhoids." He turned his head, expecting to see the tall man, but was surprised to find he wasn't there at all. Then a movement caught his eye, and those baby blue eyes of his widened, almost to the point of popping out of his head. "DUO!" he screamed, loud enough for his voice to carry to our bedroom. Hillary, surprised at his loud voice, let the bottle slip from her mouth and began to cry again.

That morning I discovered that it's possible to lose a solid erection almost instantly. Hearing Quatre's panicked voice had that amazing effect on me. Heero's mouth released me the instant we heard his cry, and after jumping out of bed and hastily throwing on our robes, we ran to the babies' room, fearing something terrible had happened. We stopped short just inside the doorway and stood next to a transfixed Trowa. I'm sure our stunned expressions matched the one on Quatre's face as the four of us stared incomprehensively at the formula-filled baby bottle... hovering in mid air. It teetered to the left, and then to the right before moving slightly towards the place where Sam lay. The beautiful, curly-haired cherub sat safely strapped in his chair with his two pudgy arms reaching out to the teetering bottle several feet in front of him.

"Duo," Quatre whispered to me as if he was afraid his voice would affect what was happening. "What is this? Is Sam doing that?"

I turned to Heero, instantly noticing that his hands hung limp at his side, his expression was one of shock, and mouth as well as his robe were wide open. I reached out to hole the front of his robe closed. Slowly, his eyes shifted from the sight before us to me, silently looking for my answer. With an apologetic smile I looked up through the fringe of hair over my forehead and chuckled nervously. "I guess I kind of forgot about that Erithian trait. I think our lives have just gotten a bit more complicated." Is there a prize for understatement of the year?

Trowa's voice was a bit shaky when he finally managed to speak, stating the obvious. "I think baby-proofing the house has just taken on a whole new meaning."

The End

Thanks to all who reviewed, commented or emailed, and especially LW, my proofreader. It's been a laot of fun writing GW stories. With a new and demanding job, my life has been sucked up, leaving me little time to do anything, including writing. I've got ahalf dozenstories half finished on my computer but I honestly can't promise they'll be posted. All I can do is tell you that I'll try and get to them when I can.