On the Street of Dreams

Chapter summary: “Do you know a boy named Shuichi Shindou?”

***

Epilogue: On the Street of Dreams

(Three Months Later…New York City, Smithsonian)

Sara was starting to get scared. She clutched tighter to Eric who was really beginning to lose what little patience he had. “Doctor! If you don’t tell me, what the fuck is wrong-“

The doctor shook her head vigorously, waving her hands to ward off his threats. “No! You don’t understand! Nothing’s wrong with her! I mean, for a guy, he shouldn’t have been born with this, but-“

Eric growled.

“Tell me, have you been bleeding the last few months? Since the symptoms started, say?”

Sara thought about it and realized she had not. She shook her head.

Knowing that would be the answer, the doctor glanced from one to the other. “Like I said, I’m not sure how or why, but...it seems as if you’re...as if Sara is well...”

Sara and Eric held their breath in anticipation. If she was not sick, then what was wrong with her? What was she born extra with?

“...pregnant.”

Shuichi straightened and sighed happily, clasping his hands under his chin. He stared dreamily into space, his violet eyes glistening with tears. “That was so cool,” he cooed. The singer sighed contently.

Eiri snorted and rolled his eyes. The one-hundred and fifty year old manuscript was nothing more than a sappy romance novel bursting at the seams with gushy drivel. Even he would not have written such nonsense.

“I understand the pain of rejection by your own father,” Shuichi was saying with an intense look on his face. “Sara must’ve been so scared and lonely when her father kicked her out! Then have to become a prostitute in order to make a living?”

“Hn.” Oddly, enough, Sara’s story was similar to Shuichi’s. If you switched “Sara” with “Shuichi” and relocated it in modern Japan, it would be as if you were reading about Shuichi’s life. “It all turned out okay in the end, though,” he reminded the kid.

Shuichi’s dreamy expression returned. His eyes sparkled. “I love the part where Eric fell in love with Sara and did not care that she turned out to be a guy.” He sighed dreamily. “That was so sweet!” Shuichi turned towards Eiri with hearts in his eyes. “Don’t you think so, Eiri?”

Eiri rolled his eyes and walked away to check out the others objects on exhibit. “Sure.”

They were in the Smithsonian National Museum in New York City on a two week vacation before their baby was due. It was hard to go sight seeing and do all the other things the once energetic singer wanted to do because Shuichi was nearly nine months pregnant and as big as a house. Though if you told him that, he would burst into tears and claim you- meaning Eiri- did not love him and that he was nothing more than a burden. Frankly, Eiri could not wait until Shuichi had the baby. Getting up every two hours to feed the baby was a lot better than putting up with the roller coaster ride of Shuichi’s emotions.

Shuichi was slower than a snail and hobbled around like a knocked up penguin. The get-up-and-go, act now and think later kid who acted like someone with ADHD on a sugar high was gone. Well, not gone. That overly energetic demeanor of his was still there in all its fine glory. Shuichi just could no longer act on it. He could no longer bounce off the walls, jump around or fling himself at him. Hell, Shuichi could not even pick himself up off the couch.

Under ordinary circumstances, he would force the boy to do some walking in order to take in the sights of the city, seeing as Shuichi had never been to NYC before, but with him being as pregnant as he was, Shuichi could not take one step without becoming winded and whining that he needed a break.

Why they decided to come on vacation now, when Shu could go into labor any moment was beyond him. It had been a stupid bone headed move.

The room they were in at the museum was dedicated to Eric and Sara, the couple from the manuscript that was found at the turn of the century in some old farm house attic. Sara was a very important person to history. She was the first documented neutral, though she was by far the very first neutral ever born. But she was the reason why instead of hiding and pretending they were something they were not, neutrals have become what they are now, an accepted and established third sex within society.

In the center of the room was the actual manuscript from which Shuichi had just been reading an excerpt. The hand writing was nothing more than chicken scratch and was faded in spots. There were long segments crossed out, lines or words scribbled out and things squeezed in wherever there was room and in the margins. The brittle, yellowed pages were also filled with proofreader marks. It all made for an almost illegible read, but despite the obvious first draft version of the story, it told of the daily life and struggle of a couple who fell in love despite all the obstacles in their path. Edited and cleaned up versions of the manuscript were sold at the souvenir shop. Shuichi had already told him that he wanted one.

Behind glass-fronted cases along the walls, were artifacts said to have been used by or belonged to the couple. Among them were plain wooden handled hairbrushes and toothbrushes with their bristles sticking out at odd angels. There was a hand mirror of gold with a matching comb and brush that seemed to be in perfect condition, though the glass in the mirror seemed to be a bit wavy and distorted.

Hanging in one case was a patched work quilt Sara had worked on for her first child, a daughter she named Twila. The quilt was just patches of old clothes and bits of other blankets sewed together with intricate designs stitched into it, but it looked as if it had taken some time to complete.

In another case, opposite the door, were clothes circa the mid-1800’s that a plaque said were the same outfits the couple had been wearing when they first met. There was a white lace garter belt with a pink ribbon woven through the middle, a black choker that appeared to be made of velvet, black fishnet stockings and heeled ankle boots. The dress was an off the shoulder purple and black lace dress so small Eiri had a hard time imagining anyone wearing it. The waist alone was no bigger than his hand. Then he remembered just how small Shuichi was- well, had been before he got pregnant- then he could very well imagine Sara in it.

When Shuichi first started to complain about how his clothes were becoming too tight, Eiri gawped at him.

“So, what,” he asked his pouting lover who was holding his shirt up and twirling in front of the mirror. Eiri was lounging on the bed, his hands folded behind his head. “Jeeze, if you were a girl, you’d be a size what? Negative two instead of a negative four now?”

Shuichi stuck out his lower lip, which began to tremble and tears glistened his eyes.

Eiri rolled his eyes with a deep sigh. “Shuichi Shindou, if you turn sideways you fucking disappear. You’re not fat.”

Eiri smiled at the memory. He shook his head in amusement. A lot of pregnant women he knew tried to hide the fact they were pregnant, or at least tried to make it less obvious. They always tried to down play it, but not Shuichi. He gained at least fifty pounds during this pregnancy and was proud of it and his child. He flaunted his pregnancy like it was a medal. It was amazing.

Still smiling, Eiri checked out the outfit next to the velvet and lace dress. It was a white four button pullover shirt with a high, rounded collar under a black suede vest and matching floor length trail duster. There was a pair of straight legged black pants and spurred boots. A black hat and a double tooled black holster with twin peacemakers in a black finish finished the outfit.

The guns were what captured his attention. From what he knew of this Eric guy, he had been a notorious outlaw. The price on his head had been bigger than all the other bounties combined, but one day he virtually disappeared. Now, he knew why.

Pictures of the couple showed them in said outfits. Eric was definitely a rough looking guy. He had the look of the clichéd bad-ass. Sara was so small and delicate looking in comparison. She seemed to disappear standing next to Eric who was so big he looked like he had once played football.

“Holy crap,” came Shuichi’s stunned gasp in his ear.

Eiri jumped, startled. He had been so engrossed in the artifacts he had not heard Shuichi waddle up behind him, which was saying something because trying to ignore the kid was like trying to ignore a dinosaur.

Shuichi hooked his arm through Eiri’s and gaped at the pictures as Eiri tried to slow his racing heart. “He looks like you, Eiri!” He looked from the picture to his lover and back. He blinked in surprise. “Wow! It’s like looking at one of those pictures that you get at amusement parks where you dress up in old fashioned clothes!”

Eiri nodded. He had seen the similarities. It was like looking in a mirror. It was said there was Caucasian blood somewhere in his mother’s bloodline. Could Eric and Sara be…? Eiri shook his head. Ridiculous.

There were a dozen pictures in all. They showed the progression and changes that the couple underwent. Apparently, they had at least six children, five girls and one boy. All the girls looked like their mother and the son, who was the youngest, looked like a miniature version of his father. Eiri wondered if any of the children were neutrals. Whether any of the six children were neutrals or not, they seemed like a very happy family. Eiri envied them. He hoped that he and Shuichi had just as long and happy a life together.

As Eiri studied the pictures for a bit longer, Shuichi unhooked himself from his fiancé and went to look at something across the room that caught his attention. It looked like handcuffs, a couple of guns, a riffle and some old pieces of parchment.

He was halfway across the exhibit room when a sharp pain jolted through his body. With a gasp, he doubled over and grabbed his belly. His free hand slapped onto the nearest flat surface, which happened to be the case holding the brittle manuscript. He hissed and squeezed his eyes shut tight against the intense pain coursing through him. It felt like someone was scooping his insides out with a sharp edged shovel.

“Dammit,” he hissed.

He and Eiri arrived at La Guardia airport about a week and a half ago. They were scheduled to leave for Japan the day after tomorrow. Everyone had been against this trip because it had been scheduled so close to his due date, but he had this over whelming urge to come here to NYC to see this exhibit. He could not explain it. It was something he just had to do. And all he had to do was look at Eiri with those puppy dog eyes, pout a little and do that thing with his lip…and Eiri caved in. Just like he always did.

But of course, if Eiri knew that before their plane even left Japan, he started having contractions; Eiri would have pulled the plug on their vacation, which was one of the reasons why Shuichi had said nothing. Another reason came from what he had been told by his doctor; that it was natural to have contractions for weeks before you went into labor. So, if this was natural, why worry about it then?

He should have.

He has been having contractions all morning and they seemed different somehow from the ones he has been having for the past couple of weeks. He had a feeling little Takanori did not want to wait another week to make his appearance into the world. He was impatient, stubborn and wanted things done his way…He was just like his mama. But Shuichi was determined to see this exhibit before he said anything to Eiri.

Shuichi sighed in relief as the pain faded away.

He glanced over his shoulder at Eiri. The writer had moved on to look at something else. It looked like gadgets and weird contraptions. The only thing that looked remotely familiar was a tea kettle.

Taking a deep breath, Shuichi walked over to the case that caught his attention earlier and saw yellowed sheets of paper. At the top of the paper, above a rough sketch of who sort of looked like Eric, was written the word, “WANTED” in giant black letters.

“Wow,” Shuichi said as he read what the man was wanted for. “Guess he really was an outlaw.” He grinned. “Everyone loves a bad...” His comment was cut short as sharp burst of pain exploded through his abdomen. He cried out in a combination of surprise and pain. His hands flew to his belly. The intensity of the pain was greater this time than it had been all day. “Ah!”

A man and his wife standing several feet away heard the teen’s cries and looked around, a look of concern on their face. They spotted a very pregnant boy with a look of utter pain on his face.

“He looks awfully young to be having baby,” the wife commented. Having several children of her own, she knew instantly this kid was most likely going into labor.

Her husband nodded in agreement. He walked over to the boy and placed a hand on Shuichi’s lower back and the other on his belly, his wife right behind him. “Are you alright?” he asked in English.

Shuichi pursed his lips together and squeezed his eyes shut against the pain. He shook his head. “Iie,” he gasped in Japanese. “Itai desu! Watashi no kareshi,” he managed to gasp, pointing at Eiri across the room who had his back to him. (No. It hurts! My boyfriend.)

The stranger had taken a semester of Japanese in college year’s back in order to impress his then girlfriend, and recognized it immediately, but he was not able to understand much more than “no”. He followed his finger towards a blond haired guy wearing a pair of jeans, black boots, and a long black leather coat. “O…otoko,” he asked pointing to him. (Man)

As the pain subsided, Shuichi nodded. “Hai. He is my fiancé,” he told the man in heavily accented English. Shuichi breathed deeply.

The man’s brows shot up in surprise. This kid not only was about to pop, but had a fiancé? Jeeze, could kids not just be kids these days? He looked at Shuichi’s slender fingers and saw a silver ring on his left ring finger. Shaking away his astonishment, he motioned to his wife. “Here. Go with my wife. She’ll take you somewhere where you can sit down.”

Shuichi inclined his head in appreciation, which was all he could muster the energy to do. “Hai, domo arigato gozaimasu.” (Thank you very much)

“Doitashimashite.” (You’re welcome)

Shuichi was greatly surprised by the man’s ability to speak a foreign tongue without totally hacking it into something unrecognizable. “Watashi no namae wa Shindou Shuichi desu.” (My name is Shuichi Shindou)

The man nodded. “And what’s your fiancé’s name?”

Shuichi opened his mouth to say, when the third wave appeared over the horizon. He could feel another contraction building up. He cradled his stomach and pursed his lips together. “Mmm! Eiri.”

“John,” the man’s wife cried out.

The man, John, nodded and told his wife to take Shuichi to the nearest bench.

The woman walked Shuichi out of the exhibition room as other patrons whispered and pointed at the boy. They gathered around in curiosity, wondering what was going on. Meanwhile, John raced across the exhibition hall towards the tall blond haired man that Shuichi had pointed out.

“Hey, Mister! Eiri!”

Eiri turned at the sound of his name but did not recognize the voice. He spotted a man with salt and pepper hair and wearing a striped sweater that every teacher he had ever known had racing towards him. “Do I know you?” he asked the stranger without any hint of an accent.

John slowed to a halt. “Are you Eiri?”

Eiri glanced down at the man curiously. “I am,” he finally said.

“Do you know a boy named Shuichi Shindou?”

Eiri’s eyes widened. His head snapped around. He glanced around the exhibition gallery frantically and could not see him anywhere. “Shuichi? Where-?”

“Don’t worry, he’s fine,” John tried to reassure the now frantic man. “He’s with my wife, but I think he’s going into labor.”

His golden hazel eyes wide in shock, Eiri stared back at the man in disbelief. In…labor? As in…he is going to have a baby? But…but that was…impossible! Shuichi was not due for another week! How…Oh, God. What…was he supposed to? He was nowhere near ready for this!

Eiri felt faint and suddenly uncertain.

John saw the confusion and indecision on the man’s face and realized instantly that this was the man’s first child. He snapped immediately into action. “Okay,” he said. “This way.” He placed a hand on Eiri’s shoulder and ushered him out into the main area of the museum. “I’ll take you to St. Margaret’s. It’s five minutes from here.”

Eiri nodded. He had heard of St. Margaret of Antioch Hospital. It was one of the first hospitals that specialized in the care of neutrals. It was said to be the best.

He saw Shuichi instantly. He was sitting on a bench, breathing heavily with a look of intense pain on his face. Eiri’s breath hitched and his heart beat rapidly. He rushed over to his fiancé. “Shuichi!”

Both Shuichi and the woman looked up at the sound of Eiri’s voice.

“Eiri.” Shuichi breathed a sigh of relief as his contractions once again faded and at the sight of his fiancé.

“Shu.” Eiri hugged the boy tightly. “Are you okay?”

Shuichi nodded. “Fine,” he whispered.

The boy was lying. Eiri could feel him shaking like a leaf. He could not blame him for being scared though. He was only seventeen and this was his first child. The kid had never been through this before and he was not sure what was going on or what was going to happen. All the birthing classes, books and videos in the world could not really prepare you for this moment. If he were in Shuichi’s shoes, he would be shitting his pants.

“Okay,” came a female voice, interrupting his thoughts. “My husband went to bring the car around. Are you set?”

Shuichi nodded then shook his head. He was not sure what he was, but he dared not loosen his tight grip on Eiri. Right now, the writer was the only solid thing.

The woman nodded in understanding. “I understand,” she told him. “I’ve been there several times.”

Shuichi glanced at her.

The woman patted the boy’s hand in reassurance. “Everything will be fine. Don’t worry.”

Shuichi nodded, but he still felt a little uncertain.

Eiri helped the boy to his feet and rewrapped his arms around him possessively. “She’s right,” he whispered. “Everything will be okay.”

Shuichi dropped his head back and stared up at his boyfriend. A stray tear rolled down his cheek. He was scared shitless.

Eiri brushed away the droplet with his knuckle and smiled at him. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Shuichi nodded and let the writer walk him out of the museum to John’s car.

*

Eiri glanced at his watch. It was an hour before midnight here in New York. After a quick calculation in his head, he realized it would be ten after one in the afternoon the next day back home. Taking one last drag on his cigarette, he tossed it to the ground and crushed it out with the heel of his boot. Pulling out his cellphone, he speed dialed his brother-in-law’s work number.

“Eir-”

“Shuichi went into labor,” Eiri said without any preamble, cutting off the man.

In his office on the other side of the planet, Tohma did not so much as a blink. “I had a feeling he would,” he blurted. “I noticed he was starting to have contractions before you left.”

Eiri’s eyebrows shot up into his hair. “And…you didn’t bother to say anything.”

“On the contrary, I believe I mentioned what a bad idea this trip was. If I’m not mistaken, everyone said as much.”

Eiri sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He squeezed his eyes shut against the threat of a looming headache. He was too tired to argue with the man. It had been a very long day and he was exhausted, not as much as Shuichi was, but he still felt as if he stayed on his feet for another second he would just collapse.

“So,” Tohma prodded, “are you going to tell me what happened or are you going to make me wait to find out in the morning paper?”

Eiri snorted. That was not such a bad idea. He was tempted to do just that. Eiri did not even bother to ask his brother-in-law how the media in Japan could possibly find out about his fiancé having a baby here in New York. There were spies everywhere. Not even the great General Seguchi- as everyone at NG had started to call him- could suppress every leak.

“Takanori Uesugi. Born at 3:48 pm. Six pounds, two ounces.”

“How long was he in labor for?”

Eiri sighed. “Who knows? Shu claims he’s been having contraction all damn day,” Eiri growled. “He nearly gave birth right there in the damn museum. Damn brat. I don’t know what the hell he was thinking. He told me that he was determined to see that stupid ass exhibit before he went to the hospital.”

Tohma chuckled. That boy was truly something else.

“When I told him he could’ve gone after he was released from the hospital, he told me he hadn’t even thought of that.”

Tohma burst out laughing. That sounded like Shuichi.

“Some guy and his wife from the museum drove us to St. Margaret’s.”

“That’s supposed to be a very good hospital.”

“Hmm. Shu’s water broke in the guy’s car on the way there. We got to St. Margaret’s at about two-thirty and about an hour later, Takanori was born.”

“An hour?” Tohma stared wide eyed at his office door. “Are you serious?”

“What can I say? Baby Brat is just as impatient as his mother.”

Tohma chuckled.

“Anyway,” Eiri said, “are the papers ready?”

“Of course,” Tohma said, leaning back in his chair, his laughter subsiding. “I have them right here.” He picked up several sheets of paper. “All we need is for you to sign them and you’ll officially be Takanori’s father.”

“Thanks, Seguchi.”

Tohma blinked in surprise. “You’re welcome. Give my love to Shuichi and the baby.”

“Sure. Oh, and could you-“

“I’ll pass the word on.”

“Thanks.” Eiri was just about to hang up when he heard his brother-in-laws voice. “What,” he sighed heavily, bringing his cell phone back up to his ear.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for some time now.”

Eiri squinted his eyes, the wheels in his mind spinning. “Oh?”

“You see, Eiri,” the president began, his voice smooth, “I, myself, have never been involved with a neutral, but I did go to health class.”

“Yeah,” he drawled. Where was he going with this? “And your point would be…?”

“My point is, Eiri, how could you not know that Shuichi was a neutral?”

Eiri’s mind went blank. He started to say something several times, but he did not know what to say. All he could do was stare stupidly across the parking lot, but then his mind started to process the question and to his horror, he felt himself blushing.

“I mean, Eiri, there is a clear difference, is there not? Between a male and a neutral?”

His embarrassment vanished in the sudden flare of anger that burst through him. Eiri growled.

“Eiri-”

“When I met Shuichi, I thought he was a guy!” Eiri snapped heatedly. “And I don’t know about you, Tohma, but when two guys want to have sex, one guy puts his-!”

In his office on the other side of the world, Tohma waved his hand frantically. “I get-” he started, interrupting the writer.

“And when you think you’re partner is a guy you don’t think to look or ask him if he’s got an extra hole!”

“I-”

“And I was too busy trying to fuck him to worry about something as stupid as, ‘Oh, by the way, Shuichi, tell me, do you happen to have something a little extra?’ And if you’ll excuse me, I have a son and soon-to-be husband to get to!”

Eiri flipped his phone closed, ending the call. He placed his phone back in his coat pocket. Leaning his head back, he stared up at the night sky, trying to calm his raging emotions. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, letting his chest rise and fall. His anger quickly faded and a smile graced his face. He felt happier and more alive than he had in a very long time. He had to admit, he felt as giddy as a school girl. Opening his eyes, he shook his head in amusement. Turning on his heel, he marched back into the hospital and up to the maternity ward, a smile still on his face.

Eiri went to check on Shuichi. The boy was sound asleep. He looked exhausted, even in his sleep. Eiri decided to let him sleep and made his way to the nursery.

Shuichi would be made to go on a diet and start exercising so he could lose all the weight he gained during his pregnancy by the powers that be at NG before Bad Luck’s debut album was released this summer (the release had been postponed after Shuichi’s pregnancy was announced). There was talk of a tour in the fall if the album did well enough (though, he was thinking of telling Shuichi to screw the tour this time around because of the baby). Knowing his brat, the kid was probably one of those few people who could shed the pounds just like that. He heard somewhere that happened to Celine Dion after she had her son. If not, Eiri knew exactly how he could lose those unnecessary pounds. He chuckled slyly.

Eiri turned the corner and found himself at the nursery. He stood in front of the glass window and became all choked up. His eyes filled with tears as he stared down at all the sleeping tiny bundles of joy. Somewhere in there was his son.

Some of the babies were pudgy little things. Others were so small they seemed dwarfed in their cradles. At least half were wrapped in pink blankets, indicating girls, while the other half were split evenly between males, wrapped in blue ones, and neutrals, in yellows (it had changed only recently from green).

He found his son sound asleep right under the window in a blue blanket. The blanket and binki he was insistently sucking on like there was no tomorrow partially hide his face, but despite that, Eiri could tell that he looked exactly like Shuichi. It was like looking at a mini-Shu.

Takanori had a dark complexion, just like Shu. He had a head full of jet-black hair hidden under a cute little cap with baby Looney Tunes on it. His eyes were so blue they did not even seem real. It was not a husky blue and it was not a nondescript blue. They only way to describe them was a supernatural blue-blue. Shuichi said his eyes had been like that before they changed to what they were now. Takanori had Shuichi’s round face, his big round eyes, tiny nose and big mouth, not to mention, his huge lung capacity. Damn was the kid had been loud. Eiri could see nothing of Aizawa on his son’s face. Thank God for that.

His eyes roamed to the name tag on the side of the crib, “Uesugi, Takanori”, and a stray tear rolled down his face.

“Hey,” Shuichi said late one night as he and his fiancé lay in bed. “Eiri?”

“Hm,” Eiri asked distracted. He was in the middle of reading a new release from one of his favorite authors.

“Is it alright?”

Eiri’s brow scrunched in confusion. Marking his place, he closed his book and set it on his chest. Sliding off his glasses off, he set them on top of his book. He turned to look at Shuichi. The kid was propped up by a mound of pillows, looking at the newest sonogram of the baby. Or so the doctor said. He could see nothing but a bunch of black and white swirls. “What?”

“Seeing you’re going to be adopting the baby, I was thinking I could, ya know, uhm…”

Eiri sighed. “You want to name the baby after Aizawa.”

Shuichi bit his lip and nodded, turning to look at Eiri with those large purple puppy dog eyes of his.

Eiri groaned inwardly. Dammit, he thought. He hated it when Shuichi did that! It was totally impossible to resist.

Though, as he thought about it, it did not seem like a bad idea. From what he had been able to learn about the guy, Aizawa had actually been trying to stop Shuichi from having that abortion when he drove past that day. So, it was totally possible that the guy would have made a major transformation knowing that he was going to be a father.

Eiri set his book and glasses on the bedside table and turned over on his side facing Shuichi. He laid a hand on the kids swelling stomach, rubbing small circles on his belly. “Okay,” Eiri sighed.

Shuichi smiled wildly, showing brilliantly white teeth. “Really? Thank you, Eiri! I love you!”

“Ya, well, just make sure he looks like you,” he said turning his back on the kid.

Shuichi snorted and rolled his eyes. “Yes, sir. I’ll get right on that.”

Eiri jumped out of his thoughts and back into reality when he felt an arm snake it way through his. He looked down and saw Shuichi standing besides him. “Jesus fucking Christ, Shuichi,” he exclaimed, his heart in his throat. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

Shuichi laid his head on Eiri’s arm. “Sorry, Eiri,” he giggled softly. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you heard me.”

“What are you doing up anyway? You should be resting.” He covered Shuichi’s small hands with his free hand and rested his head on top of his.

“Don’t know.” Shuichi stared down at his son and smiled. Guess Eiri’s wish came true. Takanori looked exactly like him and nothing like Taki. He was not sure if that was a good thing, or a bad thing. “He’s so puny,” he noticed

Eiri snorted. “He’s not even eight hours old, Shu. Of course he’s small.”

“Hmm.” Shuichi sighed happily, feeling tears in his eyes. That was his son, a human being that had been inside of him for the past nine months, a tiny, helpless baby that he was now responsible for, someone he had brought into this world. He covered his mouth as he sobbed quietly, his vision blurring behind a veil of tears.

“Hey,” Shuichi said, his voice thick with tears. He sniffed, wiping his face on the back of his pajama top. “Eiri?”

“Hm.”

“When we get home?”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s get married.”

“What?” Eiri blinked.

Shuichi pulled back enough so he could look up at his fiancé. “I want us to be a family.”

Eiri snorted. “We are a family, idiot. We don’t need to be married for us to be one.”

Shuichi nodded. Tears still rolling silently down his face, he wrapped his arms around Eiri and laid his head on the man’s chest, hearing his heart beating. “I know. I just…I don’t know,” he sighed. He had no idea what he was trying to say.

Eiri tightened his hold on his fiancé. “I thought we agreed to slow things down and get to know one another,” he teased the boy.

“We did.”

Eiri raised an eyebrow at that. “Really?”

Shuichi nodded. “Yeah. It’s been seven months.”

Eiri chuckled.

“So, is that a yes or a no?” Shuichi asked, breaking the silence.

“Idiot,” Eiri whispered. He placed a kiss on his fiancé’s head. “I love you, Shuichi.”

“I know,” Shuichi smiled.

***OWARI***

A/N: DONE!!! Whatcha think? St. Margaret’s is a place I made up, obviously. St. Margaret of Antioch is the patron saint of childbirth, expectant mothers, safe childbirth…etc. Her profile is at: http://www.catholic-forum.com/SAINTS/saintm19.htm