24-Jun-2001
Rating: YA/fluff
Pairings: YMC Fam (Yuy-Maxwell-Chang Family: Trinity);
Winner Fam (Quatre + Trowa, Triton&Tristan)
Peacecraft Family (Zechs Marquise/Milliard + Lucrezia/Noin Peacecraft, Kit/Katarynna, Adrian)
Catalonia-Dorian Family (Dorothy Catalonia + Relena Dorian, Regina)
***These fics and the ideas contained within are copyright of the author. No reprinting or posting without permission of said author. ***
August 8th, 208AC
"Prime Minister Relena Darlian became a mother today when life-mate, Dorothy Catalonia gave birth to a baby girl in Capital City's Memorial Hospital this morning. The Minister and Ms. Catalonia have chosen to name the baby Regina Catalonia-Dorian." –Newsfeed
"Well," Zechs said, looking in the bassinette that stood next to the maternity bed. "Welcome to family life."
"Two a.m. feedings, baby bottles, endless diaper changes," Noin embellished.
"Spit rags, vomit, colic," Zechs continued.
From the bed, Dorothy groaned, "Oh, please, shut up!" she whimpered.
Noin just smiled. "It's a whole lot different when it's your own baby, Dorothy. You don't give her back to her parents at the end of the day."
"Nope," Zechs agreed. "It's a 24-hour-a-day job that lasts for the rest of your life."
"I *will* hurt you," the blonde woman groaned. "Don't think that just because I'm in a hospital bed right now and my legs are *blissfully* numb, that I *can't* or *won't* hurt you both."
The door whooshed open and closed shut tight, admitting the Prime Minister looking as composed as always. "Whew! I think that was the last of them," Relena huffed, heading immediately over to the bed and sitting down gingerly on the edge. "How are you feeling? Any better?"
Dorothy nodded, a small, blissful smile softening her face as she turned towards her. "I think the drugs are finally starting to settle in," she replied, burying her face in Relena's thick wool skirt, allowing the familiar smell to wash over her and calm her senses into full relaxation.
"Shh, shh," Relena soothed, pushing away the sweaty bangs from the pale woman's face. "It's all over now. You just rest, Dotty. We'll be here when you wake up."
"Isn't she pretty, 'Lena?" Dorothy whispered, drowsy from the influence of the drugs pumped into her system. "Isn't she just the prettiest little thing…"
"Of course, dear, rest now. Rest." It was another moment before Relena felt it safe to move, and when she did, she walked over to the other side of the bed next to her brother and stared down into the bassinet.
"She looks all red," Relena commented mildly, staring at the baby that possessed half her genes. "And… rather… smushed."
Zechs laughed. "That's right," he managed after a moment. "You've never seen a natural-birthed newborn before, have you?" His sister gave him a *look* but the older blond man just grinned down at her as he wiped the tears from his eyes.
"All newborns look like that, Relena," Noin said, coming up beside her and looking down at the sleeping baby, a look of nostalgia wrapped around her. "Don't worry, she'll fill into herself in no time at all and one day, you'll look at her and wonder what happened to that little baby the doctor put in your arms this morning."
"They *do* grow up fast, don't they?" Zechs asked no one, his hand finding its way into his wife's.
"Too fast," Noin murmured in agreement, moving to his side and leaning against him as the new mother cautiously touched and examined this new piece of herself.
"Hello, Regina," Relena whispered to the sleeping baby.
September 5, 208AC
~4 Weeks Old~
"Which dress do you think Mamma should wear?" Dorothy asked the baby laying on its back in the center of the large master suite bed. "Hmm? The yellow or the lavender?" She stuck her head out of the closet to look at the baby and nodded. "You're right. Neither color." She turned back to her closet. "Well, I could always wear the green, though, I do so *hate* the color. And I wore blue yesterday…"
The long-haired blonde woman sighed and exited the closet. "Well, since I can't wear white, and black is just *too* drab, I supposed I'll just have to wear…" She left for a dramatic pause, and the pulled her suit of choice out. "ORANGE!" She held the suit up to herself and asked," What do you think, Regina? Does this color suit me?"
The baby scrounged up her face and waved her tiny fists.
"No? Hmm…" Dorothy put on a mock pout. "I need to wear *something* though… I *can't* just leave the house in my undergarments!"
The baby replied with a hiccuppy-cry.
"No, that wouldn't do a'tall! You're correct," Dorothy continued, tossing the bright orange suit aside and kneeling down beside the bed near her daughter who had started crying.
"Oh, don't cry, darling!" she cooed. "You're face will get all red and you'll become wrinkled before your time! That *definitely* wouldn't do, now, would it?"
The babe continued to cry and Dorothy crawled up next to her.
"Ah, shh, shh, there now, Regina, shh," she said softly, picking the baby up and hugging her to her shoulder. She patted the babe's bottom and bounced her lightly. "Don't cry, Regina, don't cry. Shh… Mommy will call soon, you don't want her to see you crying, now, do you?"
Dorothy tried rocking the crying babe from side to side, twisting and letting her long blonde hair fly all over the place.
"Please don't cry, Regina. Please." The frazzled woman tried pacing, jiggling the baby. "You just ate. You have a fresh diaper." Dorothy let out a breath and turned around. "Do you want to go back in your cradle?" she asked, a hint of desperation in her voice. "Here, let's go in your cradle," she suggested, moving quickly to the innocent looking white basket.
She practically shoved the crying infant into the bassinet and began rocking it back and forth, trying to rub away the tears that had started to fall down her own cheeks. "Please stop crying, Regina, please," she whispered hoarsely to the baby.
And magically, after a few moments, the baby settled down and Dorothy slide to the floor next to the cradle, one hand consistently rocking it back and forth, the other stuffed into her own mouth to silence her own cries.
October 24, 208AC
~11 Weeks or 2 ¾ Months~
"How're you holding up?" Noin asked, setting the cup of coffee down in front of her.
Dorothy sighed and pushed her bangs out of her face, reaching gratefully for the cup. "I've been better," she admitted, though she was sure the other woman was more than well aware of her failings. The pallor of her skin, the dark circles under her eyes that no make-up seemed able to hide, the looseness of all her clothes… She looked a wreck, and she knew it.
"Relena still touring the colonies?"
"Of course!" she gave a dishearten sob, and sniffled. "I'm so *tired*," she said, hands dropping to the table with a <thud>. She looked up, her eyes pleading with the older woman. "I'm just so *tired*," she whispered.
"It can be rough with two parents there, I know," Noin replied, sipping from her own coffee. "I can't imagine what it would be like with just one… Kit, stars bless her, was an angel as a baby, but Adrian…" The dark-haired woman shook her head. "There were days when I thought…" She shook her head again. "I'm just glad that's all over with. No more babies for me!"
A clamor of tiny feet gave herald minutes before Kit, breathless and flushed, careened into the kitchen. "Can I play with the baby, Aunt Dorothy?" Kit asked eagerly, magically coming to a complete stop before crashing into the table where her mother and aunt were talking.
"I wouldn't," Dorothy immediately jumped, holding up a warning hand. "She just went down for her nap and—"
"You said she hasn't been sleeping through the night?" Noin asked. Wearily, Dorothy nodded. "Go ahead, Kit. But be careful! And if she cries, *you* have to quiet her."
"Okay!" the 8-year-old answered readily, impatient finger reaching in to slip the baby from her carrier. She was met with immediate protest in the form of Regina's cranky, hiccuppy cry. Undaunted, Kit shouldered the wailing baby and bounced her. "Don't cry!" she told the baby.
"Why don't you go up to your room, Kit," Noin suggested, noting Dorothy's pinched expression. "And remember to be careful of her neck!"
"I know!" the child cried before disappearing around the corner and up the stairs, Regina's cries trailing after her.
"I just don't know what to do anymore," Dorothy wheezed, on the verge of more tears. "All she ever does is cry, cry, CRY! I took her to the doctors; they say she's perfectly healthy! She has clean diapers; she has her bottles; she's clean, she's healthy. I just don't know what to do!"
"Let her cry," Noin said simply, as if that was the only logical answer.
"Wha-hat?" Dorothy looked at her sister-in-law, eyes red and puffy already.
Noin shrugged. "If she wants to cry, let her. You've done everything you possibly could for her, just let her cry herself out until she's good and tired of crying." Dorothy continued to look at her like she was crazy and Noin sighed. "You're tired. Why don't you go upstairs for a bit and grab some sleep. You could probably use it. Kit's really good with babies—she's had lots of practice with Adrian and the others, and I'll be here to keep a watch on them both. You just go upstairs and sleep, okay?"
Numb, Dorothy nodded but didn't move until the other woman helped her up and led her into a spare room.
It was the first uninterrupted sleep she'd enjoyed in four months.
January 12, 209AC
~5 Months Old~
"Okay, Regina, it's time to go," Dorothy replied breezily, plucking the babe from her rocker and shifting her into the baby sling. The baby immediately scrunched up her features and made to let out a loud caterwaul when it found something shoved in its mouth and promptly began sucking instead.
"Dorothy! The chancellor's coach is pulling up into the lane!" Relena called from another room.
"And which chancellor could *that* be?" Dorothy murmured to herself, grabbing up a padded blanket and a bag of baby toys before heading out of the nursery. "There are only fifteen who were invited to this night's affair. Now, Let me think…"
She continued mumbling all the way down to the landing where she and Relena would meet and greet their arriving guests for the next half hour to hour. Dorothy could only hope that they would all arrive at a timely manner and not waster *her* time. If so, she would just have to make an excuse to leave. Use the baby for some reason or another. A feeding or diaper change, perhaps? Yes, that would work.
"Dorothy?" Relena asked, watching as the woman laid out the blanket on the floor right behind where they would stand to greet their guests. "What do you think you are doing?"
"I'm placing *our* daughter out on display for *your* guests, dear," the long-blonde woman replied sugar-sour sweet, pulling the baby from the sling carrier and propping her down right smack in the center of the blanket.
"This is no place for a *baby*," Relena frowned at her companion's lack of judgment.
Dorothy finished depositing the array of toys around the baby, hoping to keep her thoroughly distracted for the next hour, before standing erect and turning to face her wif—Relena. "Your guests will want to see your daughter," she replied icily, "and I will *not* have them traipsing up and down *my* stairs, entering the private wings of *my* home, just to do so."
Her expression dared Relena to say something, to disagree with her. Except for a tightening around the lips, Relena didn't react; she just turned to face the entering guest the butler had just admitted. A practiced, pasted smile adorned her face.
"Ah! Relena!" the old man gushed, moving across the tiles quickly to lightly embrace the Minister. "Happy Birthday, my darling girl!" He kissed both cheeks and then turned to Dorothy.
"Ah! Radiant as always, Miss Catalonia!" He leaned forward to kiss the air next to her cheeks, but he didn't touch her. No one dared to touch her. They were afraid of her. "And who's this enchanting little darling?" He cooed, looking utterly ridiculous as he leaned over the baby sitting on the blanket.
"Regina Catalonia-Darlian, Chancellor," Dorothy replied smoothly.
"Ah, that's right, that's right," the man was standing again—the baby having taken one look at him and promptly deciding to ignored him. "I believe I remember hearing the Minister mentioning she'd recently become a mother."
"Yes," Dorothy nodded. "Five months ago."
"Five months?" the man sounded surprised. "But I thought she was in the colonies—"
"For the last four and a half, yes," Dorothy confirmed, nodding and smiling before turning to the next newcomer, dismissing the Chancellor to entertain himself while he waited for the rest of his guest to filter through the reception line.
March 18th, 209AC
~7 Months Old~
"Five years old already!" Dorothy gushed to the dark haired child wearing a tiara and a gauzy pastel green fairy dress. "Wow!"
Trinity Chang giggled at the longhaired woman and nodded. "It's Uncle Quatre's birthday today, too! We get to have cake today and cake tomorrow and Daddy-D says we'll be eating leftover cake for the next week!"
"Ah, and where is your Daddy now?" she asked the child, marveling at how big she'd grown since she'd last seen the girl.
"Out in the back! C'mon!" The girl raced ahead while Dorothy followed at a more leisurely pace—a pace guaranteed not to wake the sleeping baby in the carrier she swung gently. She trailed out towards the back of the constantly-being-renovated Yuy-Maxwell-Chang home—or, YMC as friends and associates would commonly refer to the three men. Outside, on the newly constructed extended deck, was the rest of the gang.
Noin and Zechs were already sitting at the large round glass table, sipping at their drinks and talking to Quatre and Trowa. In the back of the yard, behind the above-ground temporary pool, Katarynna and Adrian Peacecraft raced around with a ball, ignoring the blond twins who chased after them. Trinity stopped only a moment to listen as Heero told her something before racing over to join them. Heero shook his head but continued leading his tottering second daughter back towards the house. Behind her, she could hear Wufei scolding Duo in the kitchen.
"Dorothy!"
She looked over her shoulder to catch sight of the man who still—after all these years—wore his hair in a long rope of a braid down his back. "Why, Duo! You look five times your normal size!" Dorothy teased, eyeing the purple-and-red mumu questioningly. "All that junk food finally catching up with you, is it?"
"Ha ha," the braided man replied, absently rubbing his swelling belly and motioning her out towards the table. "Sorry we couldn't make it to the birth."
"We understand," Dorothy replied, setting the baby carrier down and taking an empty seat next to Quatre. "Things have been taken care of now?"
"Yes, thankfully," Wufei answered, nodding to her as he set down two large relish platters. "How are you, Dorothy?"
She smiled at him sweetly—at least, she hoped it was sweetly. She would have hated for it to have been sour. "I'm well, thank you."
"And Relena?"
"Regrettably detained," the blonde woman answered, smoothing back her perfectly smooth blonde tresses.
Two blonde three-year-olds ran up to the table and climbed into Trowa and Quatre's laps, reaching into the grown-ups' plates to snatch handfuls of food and cramming them into their mouths. As a second thought, they both looked over to Dorothy and grinned at her. Behind them trailed Heero, baby-stepping with one-year-old Mara Jade. He looked up and nodded.
"Come here, baby," Wufei called to the tottering child and Heero led her over to his Chinese mate so Wufei could pull her into his lap. Triton leaned over the table to hold out a carrot stick to the dark-haired girl, which she gleefully accepted, showing the gift to her father—Wufei smiled and nodded, telling her "Very nice"—before shoving it in her mouth. Heero brushed along the back of Duo's neck as he passed his pregnant husband, before sliding into one of the two empty chairs left at the table.
"Sally and Anne will be joining us this evening," Quatre explained as he handed Tristan another piece of cantaloupe.
"Ah, good," she replied. "I wanted the opportunity to speak with her in person."
"Thinking of going back to work already?" Heero intoned, eyes off in the field behind the pool, watching Kit, Adrian, and the birthday-girl, try to hit each other with a ball. The girls were ganging up on Adrian, and Adrian was only aiming for his sister. Heero was satisfied his daughter was safe.
"Yes," Dorothy answered. "I think it's about time. After all, Regina's already 7 months."
"And what would you do with her?" Zechs asked, pulling his ice tea up for a sip.
"Oh, I'll get a nursemaid," Dorothy replied, waving a hand and smiling. "Or a governess. Someone who could watch her full time." She took the tea Trowa offered her. "It will be easier that way." She continued to smile at them—knowing it was pinched, but hoping it looked at least authentic. "Perhaps I'll even be able to travel more with Relena then."
August 8th, 209AC
~1 Year~
"Miss Dorothy?"
"Yes, Isbat?" the blonde woman replied, not bothering to look away from the mirror where she was applying her make-up.
"Ms. Relena just called and said she'd be late, but please to begin without her," the brown-haired woman replied, jiggling the baby on her hip.
"Very well," Dorothy replied, recapping her lipstick and re-adjusting her necklace. "Please tell the others I'll be down in a minute."
"Of course, Miss." With a curtsey, the woman was gone.
Making sure the door was shut tight after the woman, Dorothy then turned to her vidscreen, coding in her mate's private number.
"You have reached the PCS of <Relena Dorian>. Please leave a message after the tone."
"Relena." Dorothy waited a moment. "Relena, pick up this line this instant. You know *exactly* who this is and you *knew* I would be calling so don't try and hide from me now."
"Dorothy, what do you need?" Relena's tired voice came over the speakers, but no visual.
"I need *you* to be at your daughter's birthday party. She's one year's old, Relena, and you haven't even been here for more than *half* her life!" Dorothy snapped.
"What do you expect of me, Dorothy?" the other woman replied in kind. "I have a job to do, Dorothy. One that's very important to the future of our world!"
"Yes! You have a *daughter* to raise! You have an obligation to *her*!" Dorothy shouted at the black screen.
"I am *Prime Minister* to the Earth Sphere Nation!" Relena was yelling now, too.
"YOU ARE *ALSO* A MOTHER! SO START ACTING LIKE IT!" Dorothy cut the connection before waiting for the other woman's reply. Taking a fortifying, deep breath, she took the back stairs to the kitchen where a small cake with one candle was waiting. Nodding to the cook, the candle was lit, and then she took up the cake and led the procession into the sitting room, where her guests and Regina were waiting for her, singing loud and proud, "Happy Birthday to You!"
And if Dorothy was crying, well, they were of happiness for the surprised and delighted look on her daughter's face.
The End
Feedback is ADORED!!! Special thanks to Zan, who's never missed a fam-fic! {Huggles}}
Andrea Readwolf
Please send comments to: andrea_readwolf@hotmail.com