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Family Ties	By : Deb Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 19194 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing/AC, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Many thanks to all for reading and warm hugs for the kind reviews!

“Family Ties”

January 2007 ShenLong

Chapter 117

Sally led Heero from the recovery room and into the small side room where Nurse Brown was waiting with Keitaro. Immediately the child saw his father he was fighting to get to him.

Seeing the squirming child and how difficult it was for Nurse Brown to try and hold onto him, Heero moved swiftly to take the child from her.

“Thank you, Heero,” the nurse said. Turning to address both Heero and the doctor, Margaret spoke again. “What happened?” she asked. She knew something was up, she’d witnessed it from her place beside the window.

Sally gave a sigh. “I was informing Duo of what happened during his surgery. I was explaining about the bleed and where the knife had ended up in relation to the uterus and the ovary and that I had no choice other than to remove the ovary to save both his and the child’s lives. He didn't take the news very well.”

“You told him about the IVF and harvesting of his eggs?” Margaret asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I didn’t get a chance to, he told us to get out and leave him alone for a bit, I did try to continue on, but he wouldn’t have any of it.”

Heero had turned back to face the window and watch his beloved on the bed. The form before him had his back to the window and Heero could see the shaking of the shoulders as Duo gave into his feelings of grief. Heero’s heart broke for his lover, knowing that Duo’s grief, whilst understandable and expected, didn’t have to be as deep as it was if he’d only give them the chance to explain further. That’s when his ears picked up on the last part of Nurse Brown’s words. Harvesting of his eggs?

Turning, Heero interrupted the pair. “What do you mean, Harvesting of his eggs?” Heero demanded.

Margaret spun around. “The harvesting of Duo’s eggs. You haven’t told Heero either?” the nurse questioned, spinning back to confront the doctor.

“I haven’t had the chance yet.”

“Tell me what?” Heero growled. “Sally, I suggest you start talking now, and fast.” Heero’s tone held a dangerous edge to it.

Sally slumped into a seat. “When I went back in to operate and remove the ovary I let Nurse Brown know about what you had said in relation to IVF later on should Duo decide he wanted more children, providing the uterus is okay to handle another pregnancy. I mentioned we would need to find a donor egg for the conception to be possible and Margaret asked me what was wrong with using Duo’s eggs.”

Heero’s face, which had been dark before, began to look a little hopeful.

“As you can appreciate, Heero. Working in the Preventer medical section, pregnancy, IVF and the harvesting and freezing of eggs and such, rarely, if ever is a part of my work. I’m not completely up to date with it all and as far as I knew, to harvest eggs they needed to be mature eggs. With Duo being currently pregnant, his ovary wouldn’t have any mature eggs, only immature ones. But Margaret insisted they had made medical advances in the field and it is now possible to harvest and freeze immature eggs; when they are needed they can be thawed out and placed in a special, hormonal solution that will bring them to maturity and thus be viable for use in IVF.”

The hope began to shine in Heero’s eyes.

“I had a quick look up in the latest medical journals and publications and what Margaret said is true. I still need to read up more on the procedure itself, but I have Duo’s ovary on ice and I plan to harvest as many eggs as I can from it and freeze them. Should Duo then decide he wants more children, he can at least have his own biological ones.”

It took a few moments for all this information to sink in, but when it did, Heero’s face broke out into a huge grin. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“As I said before, I haven’t exactly had the time,” Sally defended.

“But this is marvelous news, we have to tell Duo.”

“I think we need to give him a few more minutes yet,” Sally replied. “I really don’t feel up to being chewed out. I’m tired from the surgery and I still need to finish reading up on this harvesting and then do the procedure. The ovary and eggs will only remain viable for twelve hours and it’s been two since I removed it. I’d really like to get back to it as soon as possible.”

“Then go, Sally.”

Sally looked up sharply at Heero. “But what about Duo? I still need to check his vitals, explain about the IVF and the eggs, plus I need to see him moved to a private ward.”

“Heero and I can take care of all that,” Nurse Brown stated firmly. “You need to harvest those eggs as soon as possible. No point in explaining all of this to Duo only to find you’ve run out of time and the eggs are no longer able to be harvested and used.”

“You do have a point.”

“Of course I do, that’s why I’m a nurse,” Margaret said sarcastically. “If it weren't for us nurses, you doctors would be chasing your tails and end up in one heck of a mess.”

Heero held the snicker... barely.

“Are you sure-”

“Doctor,” Nurse Brown cut Sally off, her tone held a warning edge. “Leave now and do what you have to do. Heero and I will take good care of Duo. I will contact you once we have him settled and ready to move into a private ward.”

Even Sally wasn’t about to argue with the nurse when she took that tone. “Okay. I’ll be back in the lab. Let me know once he’s settled.”

“I will.”

Sally stood up and went to leave, stopping when she felt a hand on her arm. She turned to look into Heero’s sincere, blue eyes. “Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, not just for saving Duo and our unborn child, but for giving us the option to have more of our own children.”

“Heero, you are both most welcome. It’s the least I can do after all that you two have done for us and the human population.” Sally’s voice was barely a whisper.

Heero nodded and released the woman who continued on her way.

“Shall we go confront the raging beast?” Nurse Brown asked with a quirk in her lips and a tilt of her head.

“Why not,” Heero replied, and with Keitaro on his hip, Heero took a deep breath and prepared himself.

Nurse Brown opened the door and the pair stepped into the recovery room.

* * *

Once the door had snicked shut, Duo’s grief flooded forth. He turned as carefully as he could and put his back to the window. He had no doubt that Heero and Sally would be watching him from the other room. The sob’s came forth, the total feeling of helplessness overwhelming him and there was nothing he could do to stop the rising tide of emotion.

Tears course down his cheeks as his arms wrapped themselves around his wait and torso in an attempt to ease the pain form the ribs and protect the wound site and child within.

He cried for the child he now carried – relieved all was well with the babe. He cried for the loss of a part of him, a part that made him the unique individual he was. He knew he’d groaned, whined and protested when he’d had to suffer through the joys of menstruation, but without his ovary, he wouldn’t menstruate again.

Whilst Duo had complained in regards to his unusual make up, it was a part of who he was, something that made him, well, him! To have that taken away was a big shock. He didn’t hold any grudges against Sally or Heero, he completely understood Sally’s reasons for the removal, but it was still a lot for him to come to terms with and so he did what he’d always done when confronted with a situation he didn't know how to handle.

He ran and hid.

Gradually the tears began to slow and the sobs lessen. He did have a lot to be grateful for; he had Keitaro and now another baby on the way. No other gay couple were able to say they had their own biological child, one that came from both parents’. Many had adopted, or used the option of a surrogate mother, but again, they had been forced to use a woman’s donated egg and have it fertilized by either of the males’ sperm. Only he and Heero were able to use their own eggs and sperm.

But now, he didn’t have that anymore.

How much more was he expected to take? He asked silently. All his life he’d given, freely and without question, only to have those near and dear to him taken away. He’d fought for the Colonies, for peace throughout the United Earth Sphere and now that they had that peace, he was once again called upon to defend it – and lose another part of himself in the process.

When would the giving end? When could he start to begin to take and enjoy this peace?

Wiping the tears away from his eyes, Duo took a deep breath. He had a lot to be thankful for and it was time to suck it up and accept what he couldn’t change.

As long as there was peace, there would always be someone or something that wanted to take it away; it was a continuous cycle, an endless waltz.

And it was up to people such as himself, Heero, Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, the Preventer Organization and its agents to make sure the peace remained for everyone to enjoy.

It was time to stop feeling sorry for himself and get on with life and living. The peace was there once more thanks to his friends and himself, and hopefully, it would remain that way for many years to come. Now was his time to enjoy it, enjoy the peace with his husband, son and their unborn child; for without their sacrifices there wouldn’t be a future.

Using the corner of the sheet, Duo managed to remove the remaining tear tracks and roll back to stare at the ceiling. The door opened and he turned his reddened eyes towards it. Nurse Brown followed by Heero with Keitaro in his arms came into the room. Duo’s face lit up at the sight of his son.

“Gotten over your spate of feeling sorry for yourself?” Nurse Brown asked, her tone brisk. She walked directly to the bed side and stared down at her patient. “Are you now ready to listen to the rest of what Doctor Po was trying to tell you?”

Duo looked a little sheepish, but nodded. “I’m sorry, I just needed a little time to myself.”

“I can quite understand that, it must have been quite the shock to you, however...” Margaret fixed Duo with her eagle eye. “You have not heard the full story.”

“What more can there be?” Duo sighed. “I’m no longer fertile, I have no ovary and therefore I can’t conceive or carry another child after this one is born.”

“Now listen here, young man.” Nurse Brown’s tone was one that demanded instant respect and obedience, even Heero took a small step back and Keitaro, who was about to voice his own desires to be with his other father, blinked and went quiet.

Duo’s eyes widened a touch. He’d never heard the nurse use that tone of voice before. He promptly shut up and watched her warily.

“I’m not denying you’ve been through a very traumatic experience these past few weeks and especially these last few hours. You haven’t heard all the story yet though so give me the courtesy of being quiet and listening to what I have to say. Once I am finished, you may ask any questions you wish and I’ll do my best to answer them. Okay?”

Duo nodded.

“Good. Yes, Doctor Po had no choice but to remove your ovary and she is very upset that she had no alternative. If she didn’t remove it, there was every chance we could have lost you or the baby; even both. To have left it and repaired it didn’t mean it would heal up, in fact, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that it wouldn’t heal at all and would end up having to be removed at a later date which would be even more risky. Had it, by some miracle, healed, then the chances of it producing further eggs and you being able to conceive again were just about zero. You with me so far?”

“Yes,” Duo whispered and clutched the blanket tighter.

“Now, your husband asked about IVF. You are familiar with the term?”

“Yes,” Duo replied. “I have heard a little about it over the years.”

“As you will be aware then, it is possible to conceive a child through IVF using eggs and sperm. This is an option open to you should you decide you would like more children later on.”

Duo’s face began to change, understanding dawning on him.

“There’s more. IVF is normally performed using the person’s own eggs. These eggs are harvested from the ovary when they are matured and then frozen for use later on. Given how you are currently pregnant, no mature eggs will be there.”

Duo looked shattered again and was about to open his mouth to speak when Nurse Brown stopped him.

“I haven’t finished yet,” she growled and added a glare to the words for better effect. Unfortunately, the glare didn’t work as Duo was used to Heero’s glares and they were by far, much more superior. The voice however was a completely different story.

Duo shut his mouth.

“The fields of medicine have advanced a lot since the early days of IVF, egg and sperm freezing. It is now possible to harvest immature eggs and freeze them, thawing them out and putting them in a special hormonal solution to bring them to maturity when they are needed.” Margaret watched Duo’s face carefully. “Whilst Doctor Po has removed your ovary, she is now in the lab doing her very best to harvest as many eggs as she possibly can from that ovary and freeze them. That way, later on, should you desire to have more children, you will be able to, using your own eggs, Heero’s sperm and the IVF treatment.” Nurse Brown folded her arms across her chest and stepped back, waiting for the full impact of her words to sink home.

It took a couple of moments for the words to hit home in Duo’s brain, and when they did, he felt like a total heel. He turned his reddened eyes to the nurse. “I’m sorry I didn’t give Sally the chance to explain everything before.”

“You need to say that to Doctor Po, not me,” Margaret said.

“And I will, once I see her again.” Duo went quiet for a moment, thinking about what the nurse had said. “Sally thinks she can harvest some of my eggs from the ovary?”

“Yes, she does.”

“I know science has come a long way, but has this been done before? What I mean is, has it been trialed and proven successful?” Duo wasn’t trying to be difficult, but when new advances were made, under the laws they had to be trialed extensively before being made available to the general public.

“Yes it has. The trial lasted for roughly five years and during that time the success rate was in the eighty percent range,” replied Nurse Brown.

“Sally would be willing to do this IVF thing for Heero and I should we want more children?”

“I believe that is why she’s doing her best to get those eggs now,” Nurse Brown said, amusement in her tone.

“I – I don’t know what to say, how to thank both her and yourself,” Duo whispered. He felt completely humbled that the nurse and Sally would go to such trouble and lengths for him, it was something he wasn’t used to.

Knowing what she did in regards to her two ‘sons’, the lives they had led, been forced to lead and how they were coping now, Margaret understood what Duo was saying. The poor mite had pretty much brought himself up, learning to survive through sheer will and determination; no one had ever given a second thought to the street rats.

“Duo, you are a very special person, and no, not just because of your unique make up. You are one of the most kind hearted, gentle, generous people I know. You have a fierce loyalty inside you, a desire to protect and help those that cannot help themselves and these are qualities to be proud of. People love and respect you, Duo, but sometimes even the best of us need a little help and there is nothing wrong in accepting that help. It’s hard to accept that someone would want to do something for you and not expect anything in return, but this is what friends do for each other - friends and family.”

The nurse’s words had Duo tearing up again. He never knew just how much she understood. Behind the nurse, Heero was also having a hard time controlling his emotions.

“Thank you,” Duo whispered. “I guess I-”

Margaret patted his arm. “Now don't you go fretting. A mother can sense these things, know what’s going on inside her childrens heads. Trust me, I meant what I said some time ago, you are both the sons to me that I never had and I'm proud to call you that. Duo, you will find the same emotions, feelings and senses in yourself when it comes to your own children. In fact, I know you already do, both of you.”

“Huh?” Duo looked a little lost; Heero wasn’t much better.

“When Keitaro here starts to cry or fuss, you know what it is he needs, that’s all part of being a parent, being a family. You know what that other person needs and are willing to give it to them without expecting anything in return.”

Lowering his eyes, Duo understood exactly what the nurse meant.

“Do you have any further questions?”

“No, not that I can think of right now,” Duo replied.

“In that case then, I’ll check your vitals again and then we will see about moving you into a private room. You, young man are on complete bed rest whilst you heal and then once you are discharged from hospital, you will be confined to bed rest back home.”

Duo pouted. He hated being idle.

Heero took one look at his husband and knew that Duo would be trying to figure out some way he could get Sally and Nurse Brown to allow him to move around a little. Good luck to him, Heero didn’t fancy his chances.

Nurse Brown picked up the chart from the end of Duo’s bed and wrote down the information from the machine that was monitoring Duo’s vitals. “All is looking just fine,” she said, the satisfaction clear in her voice. “I’ll see what I can do about moving you now. I’ll be right back.” Nurse Brown left the room to contact Sally and find out which room the doctor wanted Duo moved to.

Duo looked up from the bed at his husband and son. His eyes softened as he looked upon Keitaro, Heero holding onto the squirming youngster who wanted nothing more than to be in his other father’s arms. “I’m sorry, Heero,” Duo said softly.

“For what?” Heero asked as he moved to stand beside the bed. “No, Keitaro, you can’t go to your daddy just yet,” Heero soothed the child.

“For jumping to conclusions, for not letting you and Sally finish what you were trying to tell me, for being all hormonal again.”

Heero snorted. “Duo, you’re my soul mate, my life partner and I love you with everything I am. I think I know you pretty well enough by now to not be offended or upset over something like this. Consider it forgotten.”

Duo smiled. “God I love you so much,” he whispered. “I don’t mean to put you through all of this, Heero. You went through enough when I was carrying Keitaro, now you’ve got to suffer through it all again with this one.”

“I think I’ll survive. After going through the last pregnancy with you, I have a pretty good idea what to expect. At least you haven’t started the cravings yet, but when you do I already have a stock pile of Crunchie bars for you.”

“Heero?”

“Yes, Duo?”

“I don’t mean to be a pain, but the thought of Crunchie bars is making me feel sick.”

“Oh.”

“I wouldn’t mind an orange or ten though...”

* * *

Sally had finished reading through all the paperwork she could find in relation to the harvesting procedure for Duo’s eggs and now had a much clearer idea of what she was doing. In many ways it was similar to the harvesting of mature follicles, but in this case, she was looking for immature ones. [1]

Retrieving the ovary form the ice, Sally carefully placed it in another, cold kidney dish. Bringing the ultra sound machine over, she scanned the ovary, watching the images carefully for signs of where the immature eggs were. Once she’d located several, she paused to fetch a small needle. With the tiny needle in hand and the ultra sound guiding her, Sally began the tedious process of aspirating the miniscule eggs.

After a good twenty minutes, she scanned the ovary again, determining that she had all the eggs she was going to get. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she turned the machine off and carried the needle and its precious cargo through to the next lab. Setting the needle down on a tray, she moved through the lab to retrieve the ‘straw’ she’d put aside earlier. On it she’d recorded Duo’s information, but in an encrypted manner so no one would accidentally be able to discover his secret.

With the straw in hand, she transferred the contents form the needle into the straw, sealed it and checked all was okay. From there she opened the small unit that housed the liquid nitrogen tank and inserted the straw into a holder for it to be cryogenically preserved. Closing the unit, she gave a sigh of relief. Her pager went off and Sally grabbed for it, noting who was paging her. Moving swiftly back into the other lab, she grabbed the phone on the wall and punched in the number she needed.

“Margaret? You paged me? Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine, Doctor Po. I just need to know which ward and room you want Duo moving to. His vitals are all stable, he’s lucid and talking very well. It would be best to move him now I think.”

“Right. Have him transferred to Ward 2, room 4. I’ll be along shortly to check on him and bring him up to speed with everything.”

“The harvesting?”

“All went well. I will explain it all when I get there to check on Duo. Has he calmed down yet?”

Nurse Brown chuckled. “Yes, he has and he wishes to apologize to you. He now has all the details.”

“Ah, okay then. I’ll just finish up here and I’ll be right there.”

“Can he have visitors? There are another three agents sitting in the waiting room and anxious to see him.”

“Of course, just as long as they don’t stay too long. Once you have Duo safely moved to his room, fetch the others in to see him, I won’t be far behind them.”

“Thank you. I’ll see you shortly then, Doctor Po.”

“Thank you, Margaret.” Sally set the phone back in the cradle and sighed softly. At least she was forgiven.

* * *

Margaret managed to locate an orderly and took him back with her to the recovery room. Asking the orderly to wait outside for a moment, she stepped back inside to warn the pair of the immediate transfer. She paused at the doorway, unwilling to break into the scene that confronted her.

Heero was sitting on the side of the bed, Duo was propped up with his pillows and Keitaro was carefully seated between the pair. Duo had his arm around the child and was talking softly to him, Keitaro’s little face was turned towards his father and his eyes were wide as he listened intently to what his daddy was telling him. Heero had his left arm draped around Duo’s shoulders, his other resting to the side on his thigh and ready should he need to grab Keitaro.

“You’re going to have a little brother or sister, Keitaro,” Duo was explaining softly. “Someone you can play with and share things with.”

“Da... Da...” Keitaro gurgled.

“Did he just say ‘Dada’?” Duo asked, the shock showing on his face.

Heero nodded. “Hai, he did. He’s said it a couple of times now.” Heero’s face was beaming with pride.

“What a clever boy you are, Keitaro,” Duo praised and leaned over to press a kiss to Keitaro’s head. His ribs and abdomen reminded him that wasn’t such a good idea. “Ouch,” Duo winced.

“Duo?”

“I’m okay, Heero,” Duo sighed. “Damn this being injured, damn Barton to hell for what he’s done. Have you any idea just how much I want to hold my son, kiss and cuddle him? This fucking sucks!”

“Yes, I do,” Heero replied softly.

All the anger bled out of Duo as he heard the tone and saw the understanding in Heero’s eyes. Heero knew, he’d been in a similar situation after all. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, “Of course you know.”

“You will be able to hold him, kiss and cuddle him all you want very soon, Duo. Just be patient and let yourself start to heal.”

Duo spotted the nurse out the corner of his eye and turned his head. “Time to move?” he asked.

Margaret didn't want to let the pair know she’d been eavesdropping so she entered the room in her usual, brisk manner. “Yes, it is,” she replied. “I have an orderly waiting outside to help to move you. Heero, could you take the child please?”

“Of course.” Heero slid from the side of the bed and picked Keitaro up. The child protested at first, but soon calmed as his father spoke in a soothing tone to him. Once he realized his other father wasn’t going anywhere without him, he relaxed further.

With the orderly’s help, Duo was soon wheeled out of the recovery room, down several corridors and into the ward. They passed a couple of doors before the bed was turned and Duo was wheeled into a private room. The orderly left and Margaret set about making Duo as comfortable as possible. Once she was happy that her patient was hooked up properly to the machine that was monitoring his vitals, the drip held plenty of fluids and Duo had a full water jug on the table beside him, She relaxed.

Heero took up residence in a chair right next to the bed whilst the nurse organized everything to her satisfaction.

“Duo, Doctor Po will be along shortly to inform you of everything that’s been going on, including the harvesting of your eggs. Now, there are another three agents still in the waiting room that are anxious to see for themselves that you are okay. Do you feel up to visitors at the moment?”

“The others are waiting to see me?” Duo asked. Clearly he was amazed his friends had waited around to see him, he thought they would have been too busy, what with their own injuries and all.

“Yes, Duo. They are your friends and they are concerned about you.” Margaret replied in her ‘patient’ voice.

Duo couldn’t help the smile. “Please, send them in.”

“I’ll go get them.”

Margaret left a smiling Duo, shaking her head in amusement at the young man who found it difficult to comprehend his friends would still be there and waiting to see him.

~ * ~

tbc...

[1] All information on the harvesting and storing of eggs was taken from Wikkipedia and adapted slightly to fit in with the plot line of this fic.
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Family Ties