New Haven

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Meeting the Docs.
Duo woke early the next day after playing with Sakura before she went to sleep. Duo slid out of the bed making sure that he didn’t rustle the bed to wake Wufei. He felt better and had more free movement. He also couldn’t wait for the ground breaking event that was going to happen today. He shuffled to the washroom and frowned when he found the door close. He knocked on the door and waited for a response.
“I’m going pee.” A sweet voice called through the door.
Duo grinned. Someone else was also awake. “It’s just me munchkin. Don’t hurry because of me.” He leaned his good shoulder against the wall and waited for the Sakura to finish. He closed his eyes and waited for the girl to leave the washroom.
Another presence settled against the wall beside him and Duo opened his eyes. He turned his eyes to find Quatre glaring blearily at the door opposite him. “I’m next.” Duo growled to the blond.
“Who’s in there?” Quatre asked in his own growl.
“Duo-Daddy,” Sakura called from the washroom. “Could you help me turn on the water please.”
Duo chuckled softly. He pushed away from the wall and turned the knob on the door. “Munchkin you have to unlock the door for me to do that.” He called dryly.
“Oops,” She called. “I’m coming Duo-Daddy.”
Duo groaned as his mind placed different meaning on it. A dry chuckle from Quatre said he had thought the same thing. Duo rested his forehead against the door and waited for the door to be unlocked. He didn’t expect Sakura to also open the door.
Duo flew forward the only thing saving him from a face plant on the floor was Quatre catching him and surprisingly not hurting him in anyway. Duo stared as he got a closer view of the floor. “Wow. That was close.”
Soft laughter and giggles greeted his words.
“Let’s let Duo go to the washroom and I’ll help you with the tap. It jams occasionally.” Quatre told the girl. “We’ll have to get that fixed.” He told her as he assisted Duo back to an upright position again.
“Okay, Uncle Quat.” Sakura told the man with a grin. “Besides,” She told him in a stage whisper. “I think he really has to go.”
Duo scowled at the girl in question. “Oh ya have to go and say that.” He glared at Quatre at the sound of a choked off laugh. He muttered and made his way with more of a tiny step than the shuffle of the day before to the toilet to relieve himself sending a glare at the blond and sable haired duo at the sinks.
“The architects are going to be coming in an hour. They want to go over the information you have. They plan on adding floors to some of the buildings for extra housing.” Quatre grinned. “They will be for people who have gotten past issues and on with their lives. And are able to pay.” Quatre added with a twinkle as he tweaked Sakura’s nose.
“Well I guess I had better go see what we have in the kitchen.” Duo said with a slight grin. “Ya want to help me make breakfast for us?” He asked his daughter. “It should be fun considering I only have one hand to do it with.” He added in an after thought. As he calmly placed a hand over Sakura’s eyes as she tried to peek at Quatre going to the bathroom.
Heero entered the room and grinned at the sight. Sakura was sitting on the bathroom vanity counter with Duo’s hand covering her eyes as her feet beat a tattoo on the cupboards beneath. Duo was standing beside her deep in thought but aware to the things around him. Quatre was looking over his shoulder with a scowl as he used the toilet. He didn’t appreciate the fact that Sakura was peeking at him.
“I’ll help you as well Duo.” He told the younger man. He made his way over to were Quatre was finishing up and placed a chaste kiss on the man’s cheek as he assumed his own position to relieve his bladder.
Quatre grumbled as he made his way back to the vanity and his attempting watcher. He scooped her up and placed her back on the floor and she took off quicker than a rabbit for the kitchen.
Duo chuckled and followed the little keg of dynamite. He had a breakfast to plan. He sorted through the cupboards of the kitchen and decided on crepes and pancakes, fresh fruit, and maybe some special margarine he liked to make. He turned to see Sakura pulling on of the barstool chairs into the kitchen. He saw Heero coming to join them and grinned as he picked up the chair and the girl and carried them into the kitchen.
“So crepes, pancakes, fresh fruit and my special margarine.” Duo told the man as he pulled the ingredients he wanted from the cupboard. “Could you get out apples, peaches, uhm…” He frowned. “Is there still the fresh berries in there?” He asked as Heero was opening the fridge door. “Margarine, milk and eggs.”
Heero pulled the items from the fridge and raised his eyebrow.
Sakura giggled as she settled onto the chair and watched the two men interact. “What do I do?” She grinned up at Duo expectantly.
“You are going to help me make the batter.” He told the girl. “Heero peel and cut into small pieces about ten apples and peaches. Husk the strawberries and chop them into slivers for me. Put each in separate bowls. Just put the raspberries, black berries, and blueberries into bowls but leave half of them out for me. Oh, wash them first please.” Duo asked as he got his bowls out of the cupboards. “Sakura you see the measuring cups. I want you to measure out nine cups of flour into one bowl and six cups of flour into the other. Six tablespoons of sugar in the one with nine cups of flour and four tablespoons of sugar into the six cups of flour. Nine teaspoons of baking powder into the bowl of nine cups of flour and six teaspoons in the other bowl.” Duo paused to cheek on Heero to find Trowa assisting him. “Tro can you puree the extra raspberries, black berries, and blue berries. Separately. Then mix it with the other same berries. Add one and two thirds of a cup of sugar to them.” He turned back to a waiting Sakura. “Now munchkin we need to add one and a half teaspoons of salt to the nine cups of flour bowl and one teaspoon of salt to the other bowl. Stir it all together and don’t do it fast.” Duo grinned. He watched her carefully as he separated eggs. He waved Quatre over to him and motioned him closer. “Quat I want you to take the beater and whip these egg whites together.” Twelve egg whites. Duo told him as he put the twelve yolks into one bowl with eight cups of milk and twelve tablespoons of margarine into one bowl. In the other he placed eight yolks, twelve cups of milk and fourteen tablespoons of margarine into another bowl. “Okay Quat that’s enough. Beat the other egg whites in the other bowl.” Eight egg whites. He sighed wondering how he was going to mix the liquid for the batter.
Two arms reached around Duo and started to mix the batter startling Duo. Duo blinked and smiled when he recognized the arms. He leaned back happily against the firm chest behind him. “Okay Sakura you can stop mixing that now. You too Quatre. We have to wait for Baba to finish with this before we continue. Quat can you get the nutmeg and cinnamon from the cupboard please.” Duo requested guiding his loves hands. He looked over to see Heero guiding the hands of Katey and Damian as they helped him with the fruit.. “When you have the peaches and apples done add two cups of sugar to both. But add three tablespoons of water to the apples.” He turned back to the job in front of him. “Fei add the liquid slowly to the dry ingredients. The thick liquid to the one with lots of flour and the thin liquid to the other mix. Quatre take the beater and slowly beat the batter in the large bowl. Sakura, after Baba slowly adds the liquid stir it in slowly.”
Duo watched his helpers carefully. “Very good Sakura.”
Wufei chuckled as he watched everyone follow Duo’s orders. They were having a good time and enjoying themselves. “Why don’t we let Heero and Trowa finish the pancakes and crepes with Duo to watch and everyone else get dressed for our guests.” He suggested as he moved to scoop up his daughter. Sakura hooked herself around her father as the other members of the family moved to follow. Wufei saw Angel staring in wide eyed wonder at what was going on in the kitchen. She was already dressed for the day. “Go on in and help. Duo will give you something fun to do.” He added with a wink.
Duo turned and grinned at the new girl to his family. “Hey I’m Duo.” He told her as he seated himself in the barstool chair that his daughter had vacated. “Could you stir the fruit a little bit for me?” He asked her with a wink as he turned back to watch the two men at the stove. “Make sure some drops of water sizzle before you start.” He watched them carefully as they worked.
“I’m Angel.” A sweet husky voice told him. “Is there something else I can do?”
Duo grinned. “Yup. You see the table out there. Can you set it. The cupboards over there have glasses, mugs, tea cups, and plates. Silverware is in the drawers beneath them.” He told her pointing out the cupboards in question.”
Angel nodded and set to work.
“Oh, Heero how many architects are coming?” Duo asked the Preventer agent.
“Six.”
“So myself, Sakura, Katey, Damian, Fei, Quat, You, Tro, and Angel as well.” Duo read off the list of people for breakfast.
“Yes fifteen people for breakfast.” Heero answered calmly.
Duo winked at Angel when she looked at him gratefully. “Tro if the batter seems to thick at a little more milk to the mix.” He told the giant at the stove.
Trowa nodded as he worked. Silently laughing at Heero for not knowing what Duo had done for his sister. He turned to wink at Duo to show he had figured out what he had done. Angel caught the end of his wink and giggled. He turned back to his work and caught Heero looking at him. Trowa blinked when Heero winked at him.
Duo caught the wink and roared with laughter at the expression on Trowa’s face. He whimpered when his side began to ache but couldn’t stop the laughter. He looked up startled as a pillow was placed in his arms. He smiled softly at the concern on his love’s face.
Wufei sighed at the happiness on Duo’s face. He smiled softly. “I think we can leave the rest of this to the guys while I help you change. Don’t you?”
“As long as someone occasionally stirs the fruit it should be alright.”
“I’ll do it.” Angel offered softly.
“Thank you sweetheart.” Duo told her as he allowed Wufei to pull him out of the chair.
“Duo you need to at least look respectable for these people.” Wufei teased. “You don’t want to scare them away before they even start, do you?” Wufei chuckled as Duo picked up his pace.
“Hurry up Wufei.” Duo grumbled as he moved in tiny skipping steps to their bedroom.
Wufei shook his head and followed Duo. “Slow down love. They won’t think to badly of you. They know that you aren’t energetic at the moment.” He tried not to chuckle as Duo turned to glare at him. “Duo love they think you are amazing as it is. They know that you will be in there helping as much as you can as it is. They will not look down on you for catching you in your boxers because you were trying to give them a breakfast that is fit for the gods.” He took a quick step forward as Duo entered the room. He pulled the door closed behind him and grabbed the braid trailing behind him as he leaned back against the door. He reeled his love in and grinned at the frown adorning the face. “I love you so much.” He whispered before claiming his lips in a sweet gentle loving kiss.
Duo smiled against the lips and melted into the embrace for a few moments before breaking away. “They’ll be here soon.” He turned and found clothes already set out for him. He turned back. “Have told you I love you lately?” He asked the other man softly.
“No but I kinda assumed it was a given.” Wufei murmured as he swept his arms around the wraith of a man. “Though I do love to hear it coming from your lips. It sounds like heaven to me.” Wufei murmured.
“I love you.” Duo whispered pressing a kiss to his dragon’s lips. “I love you like I have never loved anyone in my entire life.” He murmured against the lips. He pulled back and grinned. “But I can’t show you right now. We have visitors coming any second.”
Wufei chuckled and assisted his love in his dressing. He helped secure the sling as the door bell announcing his visitors rang. “Don’t rush. Quatre will let them in.” He murmured reassuringly.
Duo smiled and pressed a quick kiss to Wufei’s lips before leading the way out of the room to the living area. Duo entered the room hesitantly as the strangers stood to greet him.
The six men were a wide variety of people. They were also as ugly as sin except for one person. She was glaring at one of the older men.
One was wearing goggle like glasses and a prosthetic arm. He had a face like a wrinkled raison. Another was tall and looked kind of like a bald gorilla. Another had hair that looked like a mushroom on his head and a beak of a nose that could not be missed. Another was of hispanic of decent, plump with a thin handle bar mustache. The last was tall and on the thin side with a prosthetic nose. The woman was of noticeable asian decent and had a figure like an hour glass.
Quatre turned and smiled at Duo. “Duo these are the architects. Dr. Jean Jacobson,” Quatre pointed to the man in goggle glasses. “Dr. Oswald Osris,” The bald gorilla. “Dr. Gerald Green.” The mushroom haired man. Duo looked a little more closely at him. “Dr. Henri Hatoi,” The hispanic man. “Dr. Sigfreid Segland.” The man with the prosthetic nose. “And last but certainly not least…” Quatre hesitated as he turned eyes to Heero. “Dr. Suki Yuy.”
Heero who was placing the plates on the table turned slowly to look at the woman in question.
Duo blinked as Cobalt blue eyes greeted him Kindly. “I’m Duo Maxwell.” He told them as Heero turned to stare at the back of the woman. “This man is Chang Wufei.” Duo motioned to the man beside him. “You know Quatre of course. The tall man with auburn hair is Lieutenant Trowa Barton. The little girl hanging on him is Chang Sakura. The red head is Wufei’s adopted sister Chang Katey. The young man with copper hair is my adopted brother Damian Maxwell. The other young lady with auburn hair is Angel Barton. And last but not least is Agent Heero Yuy.” Duo finished hesitantly as the woman’s eyes widened in shock she slowly turned to look at the person in Question.
Dr. Jacobson swore as he turned to stare as well. “Where the hell have you been boy?” He growled at Heero. “Do you know how long we’ve been looking for you?”
“Dad!” Dr. Yuy hissed. “It is a pleasure to meet you Heero. Maybe we can talk and see if you are or know my son.” She managed to whisper.
Heero was standing stunned as he stared into the eyes so much like his own. The face wasn’t his but the eyes and hair were very similar.
Quatre and Trowa watched them anxiously. They were unsure of what to do.
“No you don’t need to Mother.” Heero whispered softly. “I know who you are. I still see you in my dreams.” He was unsure of what to do now.
Dr. Yuy blinked as tears that she had been fighting to hold began to flow. “My Heero?” She asked with a slight hitch in her nasal voice.

Duo blinked and watched the reunion. He shrugged and thought it best not to interrupt. “Hey G-man.” He called as he shuffle stepped his way to the couch. “You talk to your brother lately?”
“Excuse me?” Dr. Gerald Green said in ruff tones.
“You heard me.” Duo grinned at the short man as he eased himself down onto the couch. “Have you talked to Howie lately?”
“How do you know Howard?” He asked with a scowl peering out from the bush he called hair.
“I’ve known Howie since the beginning of the war dude.” Duo told the man with an unflaggering grin. “He called me kid. I called him old man and we were happy.”
Wufei sat beside Duo watching the interaction going on between the older man and his love. Sakura crawled between them and stared at the men anxiously. “It’s okay little one.” He murmured wrapping an arm around both of them. The words were for both of them.
“You’re Kid.” Gerald said slowly. “You’re…” He stopped himself as Wufei stared at him with hard eyes. “So you’re my nephew.” He stated calmly ignoring the angered asian. “That would make the young man over there my nephew as well.” He turned to look at Damian. “Welcome to the family. I hope that you don’t end up like any of us in any way.”
“Too late.” Duo stated flatly. “He is already too much like me.”
Gerald winced. That wasn’t good. “Well I see that you have a breakfast made for us. Why don’t we enjoy it and discuss what we want to do?” He commented changing the subject.
“Yes.” Quatre murmured as he watched Heero’s reunion with his family. Tears of happiness slid down his face as he leaned against Trowa. “Why don’t we. Oh, Duo Howard said he wasn’t owner of your building and we should ask you what to do about it. I know that it was recently remodel. Heavily so. But we would like it to be opened for business soon.”
“Yeah well Howie is going to lease the store front for a parts store.” Duo told the blond as he was eased up from the couch. “He should be starting it soon. The apartments are well beyond standard and a lot of older people live in them.” Duo informed the group. “There isn’t anything that needs to be done to it anytime soon. You don’t need to worry about the place the owner takes very good care of it. He also makes a good profit from it.”
“Ohh, and how would you know?” Dr. Yuy asked in polite tones that said she didn’t believe him.
“Because I own it.” Duo stated in flat tones. He settled into his chair as stunned silence hit the adults.
Wufei was the first to break it. “Well that certainly explains how well the building is outfitted. Only some one in the emergency field would have the system that that building has.” He placed a kiss on his loves head as he seated Sakura beside him. He took the chair that was on the other side of his daughter. He wanted her sandwiched between them so she wouldn’t get into to much trouble.
Quatre broke from his silence to look at Duo consideringly. “Well yes it does.”
“Oh damn.” Duo suddenly rose from his chair. “I forgot to do the special margarine.”
“It’s okay Duo. I think that we have more than enough for a great meal.” Trowa murmured. He urged the younger man to reseat himself as he poured coffee and tea into respective cups.
Everyone settled into the breakfast and discussed what had to be done to the buildings respectively. They planned on tearing down the four storey building by where they planned on putting Angel Sanctuary. They wanted to put in an old style building but make it a modern emergency hospital. They wanted to keep the front of Angel Sanctuary and add more room to it for more girls to be able to go there. They also wanted to do the same for Dragon’s Lair. The huge apartment-office building they wanted to gut and refurbish. The first two floors going to the places Duo wanted there. Giving each place two floors of space instead of one. It made it possible for more people to be helped and more room to work. The next three floors they wanted to make office space to bring in some firms. The next twenty floors they wanted to make condominiums and apartments to bring people into the area. All the other buildings except the fire, police, ambulance, Preventer, the Lend and Loan, and the Dojo/Gym they wanted to gut and make the spaces more amenable to store and apartment use. The Lend and Loan they wanted to turn into the most amazing place they could. A place to learn, read, and relax. They also wanted to keep as much of the heritage of the area as they could.
“I’ve already bought out all the buildings I could. Most of them are empty. I managed to talk some of the store lease owners to close down so we could make there stores better for them. They want customers brought back to them.” Quatre murmured. “Yes Heero that is why I was on the phone so long yesterday and why I went out last evening with Trowa so he could get out of the hospital. I was making sure that it was done as soon as possible.”
“We have a group arriving at 13:00 for tearing down the building to start the hospital.” Dr. Jacobson muttered as he helped himself to his third helping of breakfast. “This is delicious.” He added as an after thought. He kept shooting glances between Heero and Dr. Yuy who were talking quietly to themselves.
“Thank you it was a group effort.” Duo murmured to him.
“I think this is the best thing that could come along.” Dr. Hatoi mentioned as he sat back to sip his tea. “Once people see that it is going to work they will initiate it around the sphere and colonies. You are an amazing man Mr. Maxwell. Gerald just mentioned that you have a nursing degree, you’re a first class paramedic, and a licensed chef as well.”
Duo nodded as he attempted to settle more comfortably into the chair. A pillow was shock in his face and he looked up to see Damian grinning down at him. He leaned forward and it was slipped behind him easing the pain in his side.
“Would you be more comfortable in the living area Mr. Maxwell?” Dr. Segland asked his voice heavily accented but still smooth.
Duo shook his head. “Nah, it’s okay. I’m just getting back on my feet. If I lie down now I won’t get back up.”
Wufei looked up sharply from where he was helping Sakura. He looked questioningly at his love.
“S’kay Fei. Just a little edgy. I’ll be fine. I’ll take a nap after I promise.” Duo told his dragon soothingly.
Wufei nodded and turned back to Dr. Osris. “Yes Duo was the one to start all of this. He had all the information almost completely done on his own.”
Everyone at the table turned to stare at the man in question.
“What, may I ask, made you think of this?” Dr. Yuy asked breaking away from her conversation with her son.
“Ahh, it was the neighborhood.” Duo answered slowly. “Everyone seemed to be giving up. I didn’t like it. I haven’t given up and I didn’t want such a beautiful place to disappear and be lost to all the people it means something to.” He looked down and blushed. “I didn’t want it to disappear like Maxwell church and Orphanage did. I wanted to see it brought back to living color for all those who need it and to those who don’t know they need it. To do that I needed for it to be able to help as well as be open again.” He shrugged and looked more closely at his hands not wanting to see the looks on people’s faces. “I want a place that can heal as well as be healed.”
Wufei was out of his chair and pulling Duo’s chair around careful of his injuries. “You are the most amazing man I know. You breath life into everything you do. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Nothing.” He told him as he cupped his face and pressed his fore head against his loves. “We are going to heal this place as well as make a place for healing. It is going to happen.”