The Greatest of These

All previous disclaimers apply. Also, I do not own the song “Brothers Under the Sun.” Bryan Adams wrote it and deserves all the credit for such a sweetly lyrical, beautiful song.


Duo was singing again. Wu Fei smiled slightly before he even attempted to open his eyes. It was not such a bad way to wake up, with Duo’s sweet baritone permeating every room of the small residence. Every day for the past three when he had woken up from his just after lunch nap Duo had been singing. Sometimes the selections were depressing and sweet and made Wu Fei question what could make Duo’s voice so heartbreakingly sad. Sometimes they were lively and he could imagine Duo prancing around the kitchen singing to Sheira when he heard her slam a plastic spoon against the tray of the high chair Duo had said he’d bought for her.

He’d done too much for them, Wu Fei winced. They’d utterly disrupted his life and he had just taken it in stride. Wu Fei looked at the advanced bedside clock that displayed the time, the date, and the weather. Almost three weeks. They had been with Duo for almost three weeks. Duo had taken care of him when he was severely ill and taken care of his baby without any help for nearly three weeks. Maybe a little help, Wu Fei mused. Relena had been over a couple more times since she had first visited and Duo’s boss, he thought her name was Tammy or Cammi or something like that, had been over as well. She had made it abundantly clear that she did not like the situation at all and that she did not like him, though he wasn’t sure why. He assumed it had something to do with the fact that he had taken one of her best employees for the better part of a month. But, when Duo had been in the room she’d been nothing but sweet smiles and happy words, assuring Duo that he had at least another month, maybe month and a half before she would really need him back. She even made jokes that she was finally getting him to take all the vacation time that he had earned over the years that he never had taken. So, perhaps a little bit of help, but for the most part Duo had been on his own.

And he hadn’t made it any easier for the cheerful American, either, by refusing a hospital, but he hadn’t been himself. He could recognize now that his fever clouded mind had made the hospital out to be the ones who couldn’t help Sally. Sally had died instantly in an explosion, he knew. But, he had never liked hospitals, so he supposed that when he couldn’t think straight he just put the source of his grief and his biggest fear, though he would never admit it, into one large refusal. Because of that refusal Duo had been forced to give up his bed and take care of him the old fashioned way. He told Wu Fei not to worry, that times like these were what friends were for, and that his couch was more comfortable anyway, but still, Wu Fei could not help but feel guilty. He took the thermometer from the bedside table and took his temperature. Ninety-eight point six. Normal. And two days ago he had let Duo talk into a clinic where they gave him pills to break up the cough in his chest. It only came anymore if he started to laugh, anyway. The doctor had said to wait a couple of days before he saw the baby just to be on the safe side, but he shouldn’t be contagious at all any more.

Sheira. Wu Fei had never really thought of himself as a fathering type. It had been no surprise when Quatre and Trowa had been the first of them all to become parents. They had always had a nurturing sense about both of them, even if it was in completely different ways. It had even seemed natural for Heero to step into the role of father when his children had been born. He loved his wife a great deal, even if he had had a hard time expressing it for such a long time, so when the children came along it had just added to the love. He had learned to be soft, to be gentle, to really laugh, after he became a father. He ahd become the person he would have been naturally without the Perfect Soldier training. Duo, Wu Fei thought, had always been meant to be a father. The American was so loving and so good with children to begin with. It was poetic injustice that he was the only one of the five of them without any children of his own.

But, for himself, Wu Fei had never really seen children in his future. Had never really allowed himself to admit that he wanted them. He had not told Sally that he would have a baby with her just for her, he knew. When she had told him how badly she wanted a child and that she wanted the child to have a father who would love it, but not her, Wu Fei had told her he would do it because he wanted to see her happy and he wanted a baby, too. And if he let this chance escape him, he might never have another chance to be a father. He had been planning on never falling in love again. It hurt too much when the one you loved was taken from you, whether by death or circumstance. So, no chance of marriage and children that way. Sally’s need had given him the excuse to become a father and he would be eternally grateful to her for that.

The moment Sheira had slipped into the world had been the most incredible of his life. The doctor had laid her on Sally’s stomach and asked him if he wanted to cut the cord, which he had, but after he couldn’t take his eyes off of the life they had created. When she was cleaned up and sleeping quietly in Sally’s arms he had taken a good half-hour to just study her. A little part of him to hold and protect for the rest of his life. He now knew that it was true when people said that having a child meant having your heart walking around outside of your body for the rest of time. It had undone him. Less than an hour old and he was willing to die for her, to kill for her. He finally understood why Trowa had been begging for his little girl’s life that night when he never had before. He would beg too, without a second thought, when it came to Sheira. He loved his baby girl. And he wanted to see her, needed to see her.

He threw back the covers and set his feet on the floor. He waited a moment for the dizziness to pass. He was still a little weak. He needed to take it slow. He did take it slow and twenty minutes later he was dressed in some of Duo’s things that surrounded his with the distractingly fresh scent that was uniquely Duo, though he didn’t linger on that, his hair was brushed, even if he hadn’t pulled it into a ponytail again, and his teeth were brushed. He made his way slowly to the kitchen and paused just inside the doorway to watch as Duo danced around on the tile gracefully with Sheira in his arms as he sang and dinner cooked on the stove.

“Follow your heart, little child of the west wind. Follow the voice that’s calling you home. Follow your dreams, but always remember me. I am your brother, yeah, under the sun. We are like birds of a feather. We are two hearts joined together. We will be forever as one. My brother under the sun.”

He was barefooted without a shirt and the top button of his jeans was left carelessly undone. Wu Fei caught his gaze wandering down the light line of hair that disappeared under the jeans and tore his eyes back up when he began to think about what was under them. Duo had been best lover he had ever had, even though they had only been kids when their only encounter had taken place. There had been no one like the beautiful American who had trembled in his arms like the young man he was even as his eyes looked much older. But, that had been in the war. They all did what they had to do to make sure that they were in top fighting form. You could not be in top form if you were sexually frustrated and sometimes your hand just wasn’t enough. It hadn’t meant anything. He knew it was a lie even as he thought it. If it hadn’t meant anything he wouldn’t have shared desperate kisses with Duo every time they got together with the others. He wouldn’t call Duo’s name when he climaxed. He had even done it with Sally once, but she hadn’t given him any indication that she had heard. He just didn’t want to think what the implications of all that meant. Not now. Not ever.

“Beautiful song,” he called out, “What is it called?”

“Oh,” Duo spun around quickly to face him, “Brothers Under the Sun. It’s pretty ancient. Twenty-first century A.D.”

“Ancient is right. Where did you learn it?”

“Sister Helen used to sing it. Said her mother had sang it to her, and her mother’s mother before that, and so forth and so on. Look, Sweetheart, look who’s up and about.”

Duo smiled as Sheira reached for Wu Fei, leaning far over in his arms. Wu Fei’s eyes were suspiciously bright as he took his little girl from Duo and held her close. Duo turned his back to give them a few moments of privacy, but he could hear every word Wu Fei murmured even as he moved to the stove to check on the stew he had put together for their dinner.

“Hello, sweet girl. I missed you so much. Did you miss, Papa? I’m never going to let that happen again, I promise. I can’t be selfish like that, can I? I have my angel girl to look after, don’t I? I love you so much, pretty girl. I promise, never again.”

“Hun . . .” Duo choked around the emotion that had formed a lump in his throat and tried again, “Hungry?”

“Starving,” Wu Fei answered, “Smells good. What is it?”

“Beef stew.”

“Sounds even better. Is there anything you want me to do?”

“Nah. I already fed Sheira, so if we put some cereal on her tray she’ll probably sit quietly while we eat. Just a couple of minutes more. Why don’t you sit down? Can I get you something to drink?” He had to resist the urge to play with his hair. God, he was acting like a love struck teenager. He just wished Wu Fei hadn’t noticed. A quick look at his friend confirmed that he was too wrapped up in being with his girl again to notice.

“What do you have?” Wu Fei asked, settling Sheira into her high chair.

“I’ve got milk and three different juices, and some beer. Maybe some wine.”

“A beer would be nice. I’ve had nothing but water for weeks, remember?”

“Beer, yeah, okay. Beer would be nice.” Duo moved to the fridge and grabbed two of the long neck bottles out. He set one on the table in front of Wu Fei and twisted the cap open on his own before taking a long swig. He raised an eyebrow in question when Wu Fei just let his sit.

“I want to eat something first,” Wu Fei explained, “I’m still a little weak and I haven’t had an ounce of alcohol in weeks. I’d rather not get drunk off of one beer and shame myself.”

“You’ve really changed over the past couple of years, you know that?” Duo smiled, shaking his head.

“What do you mean?”

“I remember a man who would never admit he was weak, physically or spiritually, ever. A man who saw injustice and weakness in everything.”

“Don’t remind me, Maxwell,” Wu Fei groaned, “I’ve grown up a little since those days, I’d like to think. Extremism was one of my war faults.”

“Yeah,” Duo agreed, “It was. But, it helped you survive. We all had things like that in the war. It’s kind of refreshing to see how you’ve changed, how we’ve all changed.”

“We’ve grown up,” Wu Fei nodded, “Gotten grown-up agendas. Learned to care about things other than battle and war and what to do to survive. We’ve learned to live. There was a time I never thought past the next battle. Couldn’t. Just in case. There was always the chance that I wouldn’t make it out alive. But now, I’m thinking long term finally. As far as Sheira going off to a university.”

“Grown up . . .” Duo trailed off, “Scary thought. But, speaking of . . . could you do a just a little bit more growing for me?”

“In what way?”

Duo turned back to the stove and began dishing stew into bowls, “It wouldn’t hurt you to call me by my first name at times other than when you’re feverish or apologetic, would it?”

“Of course not . . . Duo.” Duo’s breath caught and he recited the peace proclamation in his head as he added bread to the bowls of stew. The man’s voice was just too damn sexy for anyone’s good.

When he had calmed himself sufficiently, he turned, walked to the table, and set a bowl in front of Wu Fei, another across the table from him. Then, he turned brought out box of baby cereal snacks and poured a few on Sheira’s tray. Wu Fei felt his pulse jump when Duo leaned over without thought and placed a kiss to Sheira’s forehead when he came back to the table for the third time just before he sat down. The man kissing his daughter’s forehead should not have been that sexy. Duo smiled at Wu Fei once and then tucked into his dinner. Wu Fei couldn’t help but laugh just a little.

“What?”

“Some things never change. Nothing comes between you and food, does it?”

Duo paused to consider for a moment, then shrugged, “Nope.”

Wu Fei smiled and Duo smiled back. For just a moment and electricity passed between them that left them both blinking in surprise. They both turned back to their bowls at the same time.

“I’ll do the dishes when we’re finished,” Wu Fei murmured after a few minutes.

“You don’t have . . .”

“I’ll do the dishes.” he repeated, adding more force to his voice.

Duo just nodded, “Okay.”