April 2001
It was a dark and stormy night. Didn't a lot of stories begin that way?
Later, years later, even when he was an old man, and the names and faces of old friends were hard to recall, Duo would always remember the dark and stormy night his life changed. And smile.
He liked storms. Always had. Well, not as much when he had to be out in them, although there was something to be said for dancing in the lightning. He liked them best when he was inside, safe and warm, listening to them batter the building around him. Nothing made him feel as safe.
Well, almost nothing, he amended. The warm body next to him did a pretty damn decent job of providing a sense of security. He reached out a hand and stroked Heero's check, and felt his lover smile against his fingers, pressing his lips to them slightly. The lightning flashed, reflected off Heero's eyes for a second, making them glow in the darkness.
"Duo?"
"Humm?"
Heero was quiet for a minute. "I went for a walk earlier..." he began.
"Yeah? Did something happen?" Duo propped himself up on one elbow, flipping hair out of his eyes to give Heero his undivided attention.
"I went by the park. There were families there, with kids. Running around, playing... there was one little boy... his hair was the same color as yours... for a moment I stood there and pretended that he was ours."
"Oh, Heero." Duo said gently. "I wish I could give you that. I think I'm lacking a few basic essentials, though." His heart hammered in fear, imaging the next words. Heero wanted normal family, children of his own. He was leaving, he was going to find that...
"Have you ever heard of Tryad Labs?"
"I know they do some genetics, but not much else." Where was this leading?
"One of the things they do is something called DNA combining. They can create a child with three biological parents instead of two. A sperm donor and two biological mothers... or a surrogate mother and two biological fathers." The lightning lit up Heero's eyes again. "You don't have to decide right away. Or at all. I mean, we're only 20, it's not like we're short on time. And if say no, nothing changes, but I can't stop thinking about what it would be like to raise a child of my own. In peace, and security. And how much I'd love that child to have your eyes."
"A baby..." Duo shook his head in wonder. "A little one... part of both of us?"
"Our child."
"What do you think of the name Emily?"
"Is that a yes?"
In response Duo kissed him so hard his head became lost in the pillow. "Yes. This is going to be perfect. Man, there's so much I want to teach him. Or her. Do you think it'll look more like you or me? Or maybe like the surrogate mother? What do babies eat, anyway? How old are they when they start to talk?"
Heero snorted. "YOUR child will probably start talking the minute it's born."
"Being that it's YOUR child too the first thing out of it's mouth will be "'omae o korosu.'" Duo returned.
"Depends on how hard they slap it." Heero shrugged and pulled Duo tightly against him. "I'll call Tryad tomorrow and set up an appointment. Since we don't seem to be having much luck conceiving the normal way."
"Not for lack of effort." Duo twisted his body against Heero. "Or practice."
"Practice makes perfect."
"One should always strive for perfection.." Duo moved his mouth down lower. "How about... this?"
"Perfect... "
"It looks like a fish tank." Duo looked at the machine in interest. About the size of an aquarium, the front end was covered in thick glass. The inside was filled with a foamy-looking padding, and two empty containers were attached to the sides. Various other gears were attached to the back.
"It recycles it's own fluid and regulates the temperature. The nutrient packs attach to the sides there. It's concentrated; one pack will last about a month. All you basically have to do is plug it in." She motioned to the thick piece of cloth attached to the top. "They like it dark; we try and duplicate the real thing as much as possible, but we've also found that our babies learn much faster than the homemade brand. They smile long before birth, for example. They love looking out and seeing their parents. A few have even learned to wave at seven months along."
"And this would be in our house?" Heero touched the tank.
"We used to keep them here the entire time but we found it wasn't necessary. We sent a home nurse once a week to make sure everything is going okay, and of course someone to assist in the removal. Our babies have far fewer health problems because we can see what's going on and step in to correct it if needed. The only babies with problems are the ones who's parents decided to remove them from the tanks too early. They couldn't understand that just because it LOOKED like a healthy baby didn't mean it was ready to be born yet. " She shook her head, graying brown hair falling over her ears. "I know I won't have that problem with either of you. We'll give you an exact date when your baby is ready to face the world. "
"We'd never do anything to put the child in danger." Heero assured her. "We both very committed to this. "
"I can tell that." She smiled. "So, let's talk basics here. You've chosen a tank over a natural host. You're sure about this?"
"I've seen on the news about surrogate mothers changing their minds, wanting their kids back." Duo answered. "I don't think the tank is going to turn around and sue us for custody." He shrugged. "And I like the idea of watching it grow... being there the whole time. It sounds amazing."
"It is. The most amazing thing you'll ever witness." The doctor assured him with a smile. "You've also chosen no genetic engineering beyond combining both of your DNA codes with the donor's. Are you sure about that? We can pretty much guarantee hair and eye color, and gender."
"We want to be surprised. As long as it's ours, we'll take what we get." Heero replied. Still, the thought of a violet eyed infant made him smile to himself.
"Well, we'll get started right away them. All the paperwork is done. You're both very healthy. All we need is a little free sample from both of you." She smiled and handed them each a small plastic container with a lid. "There's a room right over there you can use. We have videos and magazines if you'd like to use them."
Duo smirked. "I think we can manage on our own." Heero blushed bright red and his partner swallowed a giggle. "Or we can give each other a hand... "
"Duo, stop that!" Heero glared at him, looking like he was about to melt into the floor. The fact that the doctor was laughing didn't help much.
"Come on, times a wasting." Duo held his cup in one hand and dragged Heero behind him toward the room with the other. "Be right with you in a minute, doc"
Week six
"Heero, Heero look, I can see it." Duo's face was against the glass of the artificial womb, called the Awie by the doctors. "Look there, near the back. It's... moving."
Heero gazed in wonder. "You're right. It is. It's still too small to see very much, though." Not much bigger than a pencil tip, but still visible, the child floated in the Awie, oblivious to the commotion it was causing.
"Hey there." Duo put his hand on the glass. "It's us. Daddy and Papa. You don't worry about anything on this end. We're working on your room right now. You like Mickey Mouse? Uncle Quatre and Uncle Trowa sent you this great big Mickey Mouse doll. You're going to love it."
Week 10
"Yeah, that's right. It has fingers, Quatre. You'll see tomorrow night when you come for dinner. It's moving around like crazy in there."
Week 14
"Are you sure?" Duo asked the nurse, so excited he could barely stand still.
"Positive. If it was a boy we'd see signs by now. You definitely have a little daughter growing in there. And a healthy one, too." The nurse smiled. "Look, she's sucking her thumb."
Heero shook his head, laughing. "This is all so unbelievable. You hear that, Emily? You're unbelievable." He put his arm around Duo's waist and they stared at the tank long after the nurse had left. "Emily." Duo whispered. Are you watching, Mama? Do you see your granddaughter? She's got your name."
Week 20
"Merry Christmas, Emily." Duo waved to the tank. "You won't believe all the stuff you got. I think everyone we ever met sent you a present."
Emily yawned and turned her head toward him, smiling around her thumb lazily. She couldn't see all that well yet, but she knew the sound of his voice and responded every time.
"Did you see her during the carols?" Heero asked. "I swear she was bouncing along to them."
"Of course. She's going to be a dancer, after all." Duo shrugged.
"Dancer? No, she's going to be a computer programmer." Heero protested.
"No way is she going to want to spend her life in front of a computer screen!"
"Maybe she'll be a doctor."
"As long as she's not a soldier." Duo's voice was suddenly serious. "Don't care what else she does. But not that."
"Not that. Never that." Heero agreed. "You hear that, Little One? No fighting."
Week 40
"Well, tomorrow is it." Heero glanced at the tank. "Big day. I probably should let you get some sleep." He fingered the curtain. Inside the tank, the baby flipped over and smiled up at him. His daughter. Her features were like his, her hair dark, but there was definitely something of Duo around her eyes, and something that was neither of them around her mouth. Her mother's influence?
"I know you might think it's weird, not having a mother around." Heero said suddenly. "But... I've learned it's not important who loves you, just that someone does. And you are very loved, Little One. You may not have a mother, but you're going to have two incredibly devoted fathers watching out for you. Maybe a little brother one of these days? Humm? Or a sister? Would you like that?"
"Can't sleep?" Duo asked, coming up behind his koi and wrapping his earns around his back.
"Too excited. I keep thinking about tomorrow... what if something goes wrong?"
"Nothing will. We're living a fairy-tale, and fairy tales get happy endings." Duo promised him.
Both Duo and Heero held their breath as the nurse lifted the top off the tank. "And here we go." She reached in gloved hands and lifted Emily out of the liquid and into the warm air of the room. Her hands moved efficiently to cut the cord and she slapped the baby's feet once.
"WAAHHHHHH" Emily protested angrily, waving tiny fists in the air. This was clearly not how she had intended to spend her morning.
Putting a towel around her charge, the nurse turned and laid her in Heero's arms. "Say hi to Papa, Emily."
They had flipped to see which one got to hold her first and Heero had won. He held the baby against her chest, staring down at her in amazement. "Emily... oh my god, she's beautiful!" He handed her to Duo. "Look, look at her. She's so perfect."
Emily still sniffled to herself but settled back against Duo's chest, staring up at him from huge, milky-blue eyes. "Happy birthday, small fry." Duo whispered, tears running down his cheeks. "I've wanted to hold you for so long. Yes, I have. You're going to like it on this end of the world." He handed her back to the nurse to be cleaned.
"I love you." Heero said, not caring that the nurse was there. "I love you so much." He kissed Duo fiercely.
"I love you too." Duo tried, and failed, not to sob. "This is real, isn't it? This is really happening?"
"It's real. We have a daughter."
"8lbs, 5 ounces." Duo said proudly. "And the way she eats she's going to double that before too long."
They passed the baby around the room. Even stoic Trowa had brushed tears from his eyes the first time they put the child in his arms.
"Hey guys, are you um... planning on using that tank any time soon?" Quatre asked.
"Not for a few years." Heero watched his daughter drool on Wufei's shoulder. The Chinese man was holding her like she was priceless porcelain. For his sake, he'd better be.
"Because... we're thinking of making a little wonder of our own." Quatre blushed. "Since yours turned out so well."
"That's great news!" Duo slapped Trowa on the back. "You're going to be a great dad." Trowa smiled back, a little embarrassed but pleased at his friend's faith in him. "I'm looking forward to it. Otherwise you know that Quatre is always going to be over here hogging your kid."
"Oh, I plan to do that anyway." Quatre giggled, and took Emily back from a relieved looking Wufei. "I intend to spoil this chick rotten." Emily smiled up at him and stuck out her tongue. Quatre stuck his out back at her.
"Duo, come look at this." Heero stood in the sunlight a month later, holding Emily up against the light.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." Heero's voice was quivering. "Look at her eyes. They're changing. They're turning violet."
"Really? Lemme see." He took his daughter and gazed into her face. "You're right! Well, hey, I had to have something. She looks so darn much like you in every other way."
"She has your mouth, though." Heero yawned sleepily. "She never shuts up."
"Did you hear that, Emily? Did you hear what Papa just said?" Duo said in mock affront. "Say just because we believe in making our needs known rather than suffering in silence like certain people..."
"I'm very good at making my needs known." Heero replied, narrowing his eyes. He took Emily from Duo and placed her down in her crib. "Right now I have a few needs I'd like to make very known."
"Oh?" Duo swallowed, looking up and down Heero's body, and smiling. "Are you going to show me, or are you just going to stand there talking?
The End
(:./lasha/com)
