The Greatest of These

All previous disclaimers apply.

“Relena, sweetheart,” Hilde, Duo’s “date” for the day had leaned over the table and set a hand to Relena’s, seeing the look of discomfort on her face as they had all sat down outside to eat, “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” Relena had attempted a smile, the hand on her nicely rounded stomach, rubbing in slow circles, “Yes, we’re fine.”

“How far apart?”

“Oh, still about ten minutes and not very hard yet. We have a little while yet. Enough time to finish dinner, I’ll bet. It’s a wonderful day for it, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Sure is.” Hilde had sat back, satisfied, and continued to eat.

“It’s nice that we’ll all be together,” Sally, who had come with Wu Fei, had said, just as calmly as the other two women, “That way we won’t be all worn out from travel when we get to see them.” Quatre had nodded in agreement while he was feeding the two-year-old sitting in his new husband’s lap.

“Not too much pain?” he questioned.

“A little,” Relena answered, “Mostly just discomfort.”

“Good.”

The other men had been listening, confused, the whole time. They dismissed the conversation and kept eating until Relena gave a sharp little cry almost five minutes later. They all watched her with rapt attention as her face displayed her discomfort.

“Now that was hard!” she cried breathlessly relaxing, “And too soon.”

“Okay,” Hilde had stood, “Let’s go.”

“What’s going on?” Heero had demanded, his arm around his wife’s shoulders.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Quatre questioned. The other men just looked at him. He sighed and rolled his eyes, “Relena’s in labor. Has been since a little before three.” His eyes widened when Heero, Duo, Wu Fei, and Trowa stood suddenly, knocking over their chairs in the process, “What? You guys seriously didn’t know? I thought it was kind of obvious.”

“Obvious or not,” Relena gasped, “This is really starting to hurt and I’d rather not give birth in the backyard.” Heero was no help at all as he continued to stare stupidly at his wife, gripping the edge of the table until her knuckles were white and trying to practice the breathing exercises she had been taught, small noises of pain coming from her mouth as she exhaled. Sally rolled her eyes at the shocked men and stood, moving to Relena and gently taking her elbows to help her up. Relena cried out harshly and doubled over as she stood.

“Too fast,” she said tensely, “It’s all happening too fast. What’s going on, Sally? Are my babies okay?”

“I’m sure they’re fine, Relena,” the former military doctor assured the young woman, her voice low and comforting, “They’re probably just eager to be born, that’s all. You know, you really should have told us you were in labor sooner, sweetheart. Quatre noticed when it began, but I only noticed about an hour ago. The different stages of labor take different amounts of time, you know. And often the time of one of the stages can be completely separate from the others. You can never depend on one stage to tell you how long the other stages are going to take.”

“Sally,” Relena panted, “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m trying to say, Relena, that judging by how quickly your contractions are coming, you’re going to be giving birth right here.”

“What?” the statement finally shocked the men out of their stupor. Heero automatically swooped his wife into his arms, she put her arms around his neck and buried her face in his neck, “Sally, she can’t have the babies here. Tell her she can’t have the babies here.”

“I’ll have the babies where ever I damn well please!” Relena roared with new pain, pushing away from his chest, “Bastard! You did this to me and you think you can tell me where I can have my babies? Put me down! Put me down right now! I don’t want to have anything to do with you.” Despite her pain and girth, she began to struggle in his arms. The added strain on his bad leg caused him to wince and he was forced to place her on her feet before the meager strength from his healing muscles gave out. She began to walk awkwardly toward the house, leaving them all gaping after her, until another strong contraction hit her and she doubled over again. Heero moved to help her, but she pushed his away, shouting at him in what they thought was at least six different languages.

“Good insult,” Wu Fei smirked in admiration when she screamed something in Chinese, “Very creative.” Duo snorted his laughter. Hilde just looked at him and shook her head. Trowa handed Briseis over to his husband and moved to Heero and Relena, taking the distressed pregnant woman in his arms.

“It’s all right, lamb,” he murmured, placing a kiss to her temple and surprising them all. He began to move toward the house, “It’s all going to be okay. I know it hurts, lamb, but there’s really no reason to call your husband a bastard is there?”

“I suppose not,” Relena sniffled, laying her head on his shoulder. She reached out and took her husband’s hand as they moved toward the house. A second later, she squeezed it with the pain of her contraction and he winced, grateful, however, that there were no more strings of curses in other languages.

“Wait . . .” Duo stared after them, blinking, “I’m confused. Since when did Trowa get so good with pregnant women?”

“Since he was there when his sister had her baby,” Quatre smiled, “That was in a hospital, but still, his calming influence can’t be changed despite the situation.”

“Which could be better,” Sally interrupted, “I’m glad you were all Gundam pilots and trained to be calm under the worst situations and all. But, unless I’m mistaken Relena is going to be giving birth at any time. We’re too far out, there isn’t enough time to get her to a hospital. So, we’ll have to do it.”

“Do it?” Duo gulped, “You mean as in, deliver the babies?”

“Yes, Duo, I mean delivering the babies. What did you think I meant?” They had all been moving briskly toward the house, but Duo suddenly stopped short, his face white. He began to sway dangerously.

“Duo, you pass out now and I’m going to have to kill you,” Sally rolled her eyes as Wu Fei caught him, wrapping an arm around his waist to steady him.

“I can’t help with babies,” he mumbled to Wu Fei as they walked behind the others, Duo still a little shaky, “Battlefield dressings, sure. Setting broken bones, no problem. But babies? What if I do something wrong?”

“You won’t,” Wu Fei surprised himself by nuzzling Duo’s neck, “Sally will tell us all what to do.” As if on an unspoken agreement, Duo did not mention the fact that Wu Fei had just nuzzled him and Wu Fei ignored the way the Duo seemed bolstered by the small touch. By the time they got to the house and up to Heero and Relena’s room, Sally had organized them into a small army, everyone with a task. Heero was sitting behind Relena on the bed, supporting her and allowing her to squeeze his hands. Trowa had disappeared to gather towels. Hilde had been ordered to the kitchen to boil water, Quatre followed soon after to get Relena ice to suck on. As soon as Sally looked up at them and raised an eyebrow in question they pulled away, aware that they hadn’t taken their arms from each other’s waists. Sally just smiled.

“Okay, Wu Fei, I need you to build a fire in the fireplace. I know its a warm evening, but it’s going to need to be warmer in here. Duo, I need you to find me a good pair of scissors, sterilize them. And find me some yarn, too.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Duo had obeyed, quickly leaving the room, feeling queasy seeing Sally kneeling between Relena’s legs, “Keep it together, man,” he ordered himself.

Twenty minutes later, they had gathered in the room, all offering their support. Quatre sat on the side of the bed, dabbing Relena’s head with a towel. Briseis had surprised them all. She was incredibly astute for a two year-old and seemed to sense that what was happening was important. She sat on Hilde’s lap quietly, watching. Trowa and Sally were at the foot of the bed. Duo had busied himself taking over the care of the fire so that Wu Fei could move to the opposite side of the bed from Quatre. Heero gladly accepted when he offered to let Relena use one of his hands instead of both of her husbands. Now Heero had his freed hand wrapped around Relena’s shoulder and she squeezed Wu Fei’s. Duo snickered a little at the white, pained look on Wu Fei’s face.

“Okay, sweetheart,” Sally looked up at Relena, “The first baby is crowning. Can you push for me now?”

Relena had screamed with the pain and effort, but bared down with all her might. Heero had held her close, whispering things he didn’t feel comfortable quite yet saying aloud with their friends in the room. How much he loved her, how beautiful he thought she was, how strong, how proud he was of her. As the contraction had ended she had fallen against his chest, panting and he had continued to whisper. Sally was at the end of the bed, concentrating on turning the baby over when the next contraction hit. Relena had pushed again and Sally had been surprised when the baby had shot out into her waiting hands. She had nodded to Trowa and they had traded places.

“It’s a boy,” Sally had announced as she cleaned the crying infant, “He’s a bit on the small side, but that’s to be expected with twins. Other than that he looks absolutely beautiful and strong, my dears. And has he got a set of lungs!”

“Name him,” Relena had panted at her husband.

“Cole,” Heero announced, knowing that it was the name she had been most fond of when looking over names for boys. She nodded in agreement and pushed once more when Trowa told her the second baby was crowning. He was surprised when the baby came out into his hands with no problems at all. The birth of the two children seemed to be amazingly easy on both mother and infants, as of the Fates were making up for the fact that the conditions were so primitive.

“It’s a girl,” Trowa announced.

“Aurora,” Relena whispered, just before going slack in Heero’s arms.

Heero had looked at Sally, Panic in his eyes. She had laughed.

“She’s fine, Heero. She’s exhausted. Giving birth is hard enough work without delivering two children without pain medication. I imagine she’ll wake soon.”

“And the babies?”

“They both look perfectly fine. Would you like to hold them?”

Heero’s face had become indescribable at the idea. He hadn’t known what to say and couldn’t have found his voice even if he did. He simply nodded, and slipped out of the bed, trading places with Hilde, who sat behind Relena to support her. Briseis had gone to her father when the excitement had ended and was sleeping peacefully on Quatre’s shoulder by that point. He still couldn’t describe what it had felt like to hold his children in his arms for the first time. It had been the most amazing, incredible, unbelievable sensation, to know that he had created the life he now held in his arms. His eyes had filled with unfamiliar tears as he looked down on his little boy and his little girl, wrapped in soft blankets and looking at him expectantly. He sat next to his wife on the bed as she awoke and placed Cole in her arms gently. Relena had allowed Hilde to help her support him.

“Beautiful,” Relena had whispered, looking at both of them, “Beautiful babies. Hello. I’m your mama. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Heero pulled himself out of the memories and gazed once more down at his wife. She had been amazing. She was amazing still. Heero had been everlastingly grateful to Sally for that day. There was no doubt in his mind that things could have gone horribly wrong had she not been there. He had always felt that it was due to her he still had a reason to live. Three. His wife, and his babies. He mourned her death greatly.

“Umm,” Relena sighed, coming out of sleep. She opened her eyes, let them focus, “Hi.”

“Hi,” he whispered, leaning down and pressing his mouth to hers for a chaste kiss, “What do you want to do today?”

“The twins are at Mother’s,” she smiled, remembering.

“Until tomorrow,” he reminded her, smiling.

“Hmm,” she thought, then looked up at him with a mischievous smile on her angelic face, “Come shower with me.”

“Yes,” he responded with a kiss to her temple.

“Wash my back,” she murmured seductively, sitting up.

“Yes,” his breath caught in his throat.

“Marry me.” Her eyes were warm with remembrance.

“Already did that.” He pushed her against the headboard and kissed her deeply, making her sigh.

“Make a baby with me,” she whispered against his mouth.

“Did that, too. Three times.” He rubbed a hand over her bare abdomen where their third child continued to grow. They had been having such a hard time conceiving again for so long, that just the thought of their child within her filled him with joy that he couldn’t describe.

“Oh yeah,” she sighed again, this time in resignation, “Well, then. I guess we’ll just have to settle for hot sex all the boring day long.”

Her laugh rang out like silver bells when he growled and pinned her to the bed, “Guess so.”