Quatre laughed, as he ducked a playful grab by a slightly drunk Howard. The commander of Peacemillion was happily swilling spiked eggnog and telling outrageous lies about his heroics during the wars that were thankfully now past.

"Quatre!" A voice shouted from the general direction of the Christmas tree. An arm waved, and Quatre dipped, swirled, zigged, zagged and got caught once in the process, untill he managed to make his way to Trowa's side.

"What, love?" He panted, as he straightened his red jacket. A smirking Sally Po had grabbed him and gave him a loud smack on the lips. She had caught him under the mistletoe.

"Will you look at that!" Trowa pointed out the window, trying hard to not laugh. `That' was Abdul, and Paul. Abdul was one of Quatre's Maganac's, and Paul was from the Peacemillion crew, they were on the shoulders of two teammates, and were trying to knock each other off their helper's shoulders. The rest of the crews were gathered around the four players, and cheering them on.

Quat snickered, as he watched the horseplay on the backyard, for a moment. Turning from the lunacy outside, he smiled at his husband. "It's a good thing, Duo is pregnant and close to his time, otherwise he'd be out there!" He giggled. Trowa put an arm around his lover and smiled in agreement. He opened his mouth....

"Trowa! Quatre! There you are! Why are you hiding behind the Christmas tree?" Catherine smirked at them. She was dressed in a pair of forest green pants and a red top. "Come on, you two! Wufei had persuaded Duo to do some numbers for us!" Her eyes sparkled at the unexpected treat. It wasn't often one got to attend a private concert by one of the Solar System's top rock stars.

"We're coming, sis." Trowa made shooing motions with his hands. Hand-in-hand the pair joined the rest of their friends, as they drifted down to the far end of the large ballroom, where servants had hastily arranged chairs for everyone. Once everyone had claimed a seat, the lights were dimmed, and a servant silent drifted out and placed a small candelabrum on the piano. He quickly lit the white tapers and faded into the background.

Duo waddled over and took his seat at the piano, he allowed his eyes to drift over the faces he knew so well. There was Heero and Relena, Sally Po, Howard, Zechs and Lucrezia, Quatre and Trowa, Wufei, Lady Une, and smiling happily at him, Hilde. Rashid was there, but the Maganac leader would never sit down with this company, unless ordered to.

Duo let his fingers idly drift over the keys of the baby grand. His eyebrows went up appreciation of the silky mellow tone that emerged. Smiling at his friends, Duo began to play and throwing his head back, the braided young man sang

Wufei watched glowing with silent pride, as his mate deftly wove his spell of music and song. No sounds could be heard as the music spilled forth. He glanced over and allowed a slight smile to curve his lips, as Relena laid her head on Heero's shoulder and he put his arm around her. Zechs and Lucrezia were holding hands. He couldn't see Quatre and Trowa, so he had no idea what they were doing.

Lost in the music, Duo was able to ignore the discomfort in his middle. If it kept up, he was going to have Wu take him to the hospital in the morning. Smiling softly, he began to play a new number, one of them-his own

Wufei sighed and closed his eyes, as the music waft over him. Duo had practiced this number until his fingers had become numb. His braided baka wasn't sure that it would be well received, so he had decided to debut it here. If their friends like it, then he'd include it in next year's Christmas album. A sour note called Wu from his musing, Duo didn't often miss a note. A concerned call from Hilde snapped his eyes open. Duo was slumped over the keyboard, his arms wrapped around his middle.

Heero was on his feet, as Wufei rushed to his husband. "Duo!" Wufei took the shivering young man in his arms. "I'm ok! Junior just kicked me, that's all." Duo said, as he released the breath he had been holding.

"And has `Junior' been kicking very much, or often?" Wufei said, a little too calmly. Duo pushed away from his husband looking very much like a little boy who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Ah, since late last night." Wufei sighed; he looked over his shoulder at Trowa, who nodded.

The silent one whispered something to Quatre, who immediately rose and left the room. Relena, who was watching the silent exchange between the pair of young men, got up and came over. "He's in labor, isn't he?" She said, calmly.

"I am...(gasp!) Maybe I am." Duo gritted between clenched teeth, as he sat up and wrapped both arms around himself, again. Relena put her hand on Duo's shoulder, she squeezed once in sympathy. Duo hissed; a pain was rippling his stomach muscles.

Quatre came back. "The car is ready." He told Trowa. Trowa walked over to Wufei's side and Wu picked his husband up and gently carried him to the car.

"We need to accompany Wufei and Duo to the hospital." Relena said, looking at Heero, as she made to follow the pair. "In case, Wufei needs us." she continued, as Heero nodded. Immediately, the party broke up, as the small crowd hurried to join their friends.

Outside, Wufei handed Duo to Zechs, who had caught up with them. He climbed into the car, and Zechs gently laid Duo down, his head in Wu's lap. Zechs had no sooner closed the door, than the man hot-footed it.

"Slow down!" Wufei commanded, as he tried to hang on, not only to the back of the seat, but to Duo as well. The man obeyed, but he was still going fast enough to make his wheels squeal, as he went around a corner.

"Wu...Wufei," Duo moaned, "Damn, this hurts! Duo tossed his head restlessly, Wufei had tried to explain; what it felt like, before the doctor had put him under, but Duo was finding that the explanation was pale in comparison to the actuality.

Wufei tightened his grip on his suffering love, and observed, wryly, "I did try to warn you." Duo made a face and went rigid, as another pain ripped through him. Worried ebony eyes studied the pale sweating face, as he brushed wet bangs away from closed eyes.

At the hospital, the Chinese watched helplessly as the staff of the hospital rush Duo into an examining room. Dr. Strong hurried out and shook his head. "Wufei, do you guys do this on purpose? I know you pilots are Alpha types, but there is such a thing as going too far, you know." He commented drolly. Wufei just shook his head, as his doctor's sense of humor.

"How is Duo?"

"We're taking him to Delivery right now."

"Wufei! We got here as fast as we could! How's Duo!" Catherine was spear heading the human wave, that came flooding down the hall. The Chinese turned to answer his friend's questions, as Dr. Strong headed off to delivery the baby.

Outside the Delivery room, Wufei sat composed on a chair, as he watched Catherine and Hilde pretend to read some magazines laid out for family members waiting for news. Quatre was hovering behind him, despite Trowa's efforts to keep him seated. Zechs and Lucrezia were whispering with Relena. Howard was dozing. Sally Po and Heero both were sitting across from Wu, Sally kept trying to engage him in conversation, whenever his eyes would stray to the doors.

At long last, the door sprang open, and Dr. Strong came out beaming, he was pushing a cart-like contraption in front of him, his gray eyes gleamed. "Congratulations, Wufei! It's a boy! Duo came through with flying colors!"

Wufei closed his eyes and breathed a brief prayer of thanks to the Ancestors, before joining the circle of excited companions, who thronged the cart. Wufei looked in at his new son, the baby was red and wrinkled. His eyes were closed; being born is hard work! Fine wisps of dark hair were plastered to the top of his little head.

"Duo is all right?" Wu heard Heero ask. "Yes, your highness, he's going to be fine. He needs sleep and rest, but other than that, he's fine."

Duo woke groggily. He weakly waved a hand in the air, and it was gripped by a strong force. Forcing his eyes to focus, Duo found himself looking into a pair of relieved ebony eyes. "Hello, love." His rapidly clearing senses registered the missing bulge.

Unwisely, Duo tried to sit up and groaned, when his abused muscles protested. "Wufei! Where is my baby!?!" He cried, fear shining from his violet orbs. "Shh, Duo! The baby's fine! Your son is fine!" The Chinese squeezed his hand, and stroked a cheek.

"Son? I have a son?" Duo sank back onto his pillow. "Yes, a son. We have a new son." Wu smiled, and pointed a finger at the young man, who regarded the finger like a snake. "You are NOT going to the nursery, until Dr. Strong says, you are able to do so."

Duo pouted. Crossing his arms on his chest, Wufei was unmoved.

Two weeks later,

Firelight cast flickering shadows around the cozy living room. A Christmas tree festooned with ribbons, bows, blinking lights and a lopsided angel contested the fire for their share of the room. A sleepy young man lay back against a jumble of pillows with a sigh, and smiled at the Oriental, who ghosted into the room.

"Teador and the others asleep?"

Wufei nodded, as he pulled an afghan of blue and green stripes over Duo's legs, then he went and sat down in a big wing-backed chair. Nataku's former pilot felt his heart swell with love and joy, as he watched the truest love of his life idly twist a strand of hair around his finger.

Contentedly, he reflected on the blessings he had been given. He had a growing family, two sons and a daughter, and he had Duo. What more could he possibly want? Nothing, he decided with a shake of his head, and rose to take his yawning lover to bed.