April 4, 2001
"Daddy! Daddy! Pick me up!" the 7 year old cried, raising her arms high and bounding in her little black dress shoes.
Thirty-one year old Heero Yuy bent over and lifted little Trinity high up in the air like a kitten, her blue and white pastel frilly dress floating up around her as her chubby white stocking-legs kicked back with glee. The girl squealed. "I'm flying! I'm flying! Look, Daddy! I'm flying!"
Wufei Chang walking in from the bathroom, buttoning his starched dress shirt, one eye down at his fingers, one up taking in the sight of his husband and their oldest daughter in mid-flight. "Heero," the Chinese man said in his calm, knowing voice, finishing with the last button and taking the 7-year old away from him. "Finish getting dressed." He eased the order with a small kiss for his lover, swinging Trinity to his hip and walking around to the other side of the bed.
"Where's Duo?" he asked, standing the girl up on her own two feet and pulling her between his knees. "Here, Trini, let me fix your hair," he told the child, reaching for the brush on the nightstand.
"Getting Mara and Dylan ready," Heero answered, fastening his cuff links and cummerbund into place. "Remind me again why we're going today?" he asked, studying his image in the mirror.
"Because she's the former Queen of the World and short of killing her, there's no way out of it," Wufei replied, pulling the soft-hair brush through the thick silky-fine ebony waves. "Pig tails or bun?" he asked the child.
"Bun!" she answered, excitement of the coming party making her voice near breathless.
"Okay, stay still," Wufei allowed, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder to quit her excited bouncing.
"Hn." Heero turned away, contemplating how hard it would be to kill Relena Peacecraft this day and age—and received an armful of squealing 3-year old.
"Daddy! Daddy! Look at my new dress!" little Mara Jade cried as she came careening around the door and into the room, tiny black dress shoes skidding on the smooth wood paneled floor all the way into Heero's open arms. Two-year old Dylan was only 4 feet behind her, burying himself right beside his sister. Heero stood, arms full of chibis, and looked up to see his longhaired husband leaning against the doorframe, grinning at him.
"You make that suit look good, Hee-chan," Duo Maxwell said, indigo eyes racking up and down the lean man's body with undisguised appreciation.
"You'd look good in yours too," Heero replied flippantly, turning towards the bed where Wufei was putting the finishing touches on an impatient Trinity Chang's head. "Let Daddy fix your hair up, baby," he told Mara Jade, dropping her to the bed beside Wufei.
"Daddy too!" Dylan shouted, grinning, his little baby white teeth gleaming.
Heero ruffled the russet brown curls onto the 2-year-old's head, grinning down at him. "Hai, Daddy, too."
"I'm going! I'm going! I'm going!" Duo cried, finally moving into the room, picking up his brush from the bureau and pulling it through his long, lose chestnut masses.
Heero dropped Dylan on the bed, where he was promptly entertained by the design on the coverlet, and moved up behind Duo, burying his face in the man's shoulder, inhaling the crisp, clean soapy scent of his skin and the sweet vanilla-scented conditioner. His hands came up around Dou's waist and he pulled his longhaired husband back against him, murmuring his appreciation. "You look good just the way you are," he whispered, his hand reaching forward to settle over the small potbelly—remnants of his pregnancy two years gone.
Duo laughed, pleased, leaning back, resting his head on Heero's shoulder and smiling up at the Japanese man, his hands moving to covering Heero's. "Glad you think so, koi, but I think Relena would object to me showing up to her fancy shindig half-naked," Duo quipped, leaning up to tease Heero's lips with his own.
"We don't have to go," Heero suggested languidly, enjoying the taste of Duo's lips more than any champagne or wine they would be served. He wiggled his hips against Duo's backside suggestively…
"But Daddy! We *have* ta go!" Trinity cried out in protest, tearing away from Wufei's fingers. Wufei sighed and motioned for Mara Jade's turn. Trinity ran up to her fathers' sides and grabbed hold of each of their hands in one of hers. "We just *have* to go!" she repeated. "I promised Adrian and Kit I'd be there! And Auntie Dotty said they were going to have lots of games! And an Easter egg hunt! And the Easter Bunny is going to come and take pictures! And we just *have* to go!"
Duo laughed, pulling away from Heero. "You're right, Trini! We promised to go and we wouldn't want to fall back on our promise now, would we?"
"No! That's like lying!" the child agreed, beaming up at him.
"And we never lie, do we?" Duo prompted, eyes twinkling with pride for the little girl who was part of him.
Trinity shook her head forcefully from side to side, tiny whips of ink-black hair escaping the intricate braided bun Wufei had accomplished. Duo winked at her, taking her hand and leading her off towards the closet. "Then I suppose I should get dressed so we can go, huh?"
"Yeah!" the 7-year old agreed, skipping ahead of him.
Heero sighed, turning back to the bed and falling back on it.
"Don't pout," Wufei said, not looking away from the dark mahogany locks working through his hands.
"Who's pouting?" Heero asked, plucking Dylan up and lifting him high above him. Dylan squirmed for a moment. "Oooh! Super Baby!"
"You," Wufei answered, twisting Mara Jade's baby-silk hair expertly. "You always start pouting whenever there's a function or ball or some banquet to attend. You work with the woman, you should be used to this by now."
Heero lowered the boy down to his chest before raising him high again. Dylan giggled. "I'm not pouting," he said. "Besides, it's not the same."
"Hn."
"It's not. Running Relena's security team is child's play compared to having to *attend* one of these things," Heero insisted.
"Hn."
"It would be different if I had to work—"
"Purple or maroon?" Duo asked, appearing from the closet doorway, holding up two cummerbunds against his white frilly shirt and dark trousers.
"Purple."
"Maroon."
Duo threw his hands up, both cummerbunds flapping in the air. "No help at all. I tell ya… Trini? Mara J? What do you think?"
"Maroon!" the older girl cried.
Mara Jade pointed to the purple.
"Well, fine!" Duo exclaimed, walking over to the bed. "This is it, Dyl. You're the deciding factor. What do you think? Should Daddy wear the purple or the maroon?"
Two bright blue eyes blinked at him.
"Duo, just get dressed," Wufei said, inserting the last the last touch of baby's breath to Mara Jade's hairdo.
"Geesh! Practicing tough love, love?" duo replied cheekily. Wufei smirked.
"Maroon," the Chinese man repeated, slapping Mara Jade's rear and sending her on her way. "Brings out your hair.
"Purple," Heero said, lifting Mara Jade up on his legs. "Accents your eyes."
Trinity hung off the bedpost, swinging from side to side. Duo sighed and returned to the closet. "No help," he mumbled.
"I wanna go!" Trinity whined.
"We will, we will," Wufei told her, standing up, running the brush through his own ebony hair—no where as near long as either of his daughters', or think, but long enough to graze his shoulders when he left it loose. He began to gather it in a ponytail.
"Leave it," Heero said, not even looking at him.
"It'll only get in the way," Wufei objected.
"Mmm, yeah," Duo agreed, coming up behind him and wrapping his arms around Wufei's waist. "But you look sexy as hell with it down, and you know it," he growled in his ear.
"Can we *go* now?" Trinity asked.
"Alright, alright. Let's go," Wufei conceded, stepping away from Duo to usher the girl out. She needed no incentive and was out the door in a flash. Wufei shot an amused look towards his husbands. "Think she's excited about getting to meet the Easter Bunny or see Kit and Adrian again?"
"Hn." Heero lowered his legs, Mara Jade jumping off and taking off after her sister, hesitating in the doorway, looking back at them only a second for confirmation before careening out into the hallway. He sat up and tucked the squirming two year old against his side, standing up. "We'll be in the car," he said, letting Dylan down and following him out.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Duo grumbled, heading for his hair tie as he began braiding his long hair.
Wufei paused at the door and smirked back at his husband. "Oh, are you now?"
Duo looked up, frowning puzzledly. One look at Wufei's teasing smile melted his frown, replacing it with a playful grin. He shashayed over to where the Chinese man leaned against the doorframe. "Not yet, but I'm sure I could be," he purred, wrapping his arms around Wufei's neck and leaning against him with all the sensuousness of a cat. Wufei growled, his arms, moving around Duo's waist, pulling them closer as he deepened the kiss Duo initiated.
"Daddies! We have to *go*!" Trinity cried, grabbing their hands and pulling as hard as she could. "You can kiss *later*!"
Duo and Wufei laughed, pulling back and resting their heads on one another's shoulders. "Okay, okay, okay," Duo said, pulling away after a lingering moment. "We're going, we're going."
He shot a look to Wufei, ushering the girl out ahead of him. 'Later,' the look promised.
End of Part 9: Easter Banquet
Andrea Readwolf
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