The Unexpected III

Title: The Unexpected III
Chapter 16 - More Showers
Word Count:6149
Rating: R
Fandom: FAKE
Pairings: Ryo/Dee
Warnings: Yaoi, Male/male, MPREG, AU If you don’t like, don’t read! Cursing, mature themes, graphic insinuations of violent death, torture and violence.
Disclaimer: FAKE is not mine. We have Sanami Matoh for giving us Dee, Ryo and the rest of the 27th precinct characters and for respecting her characters unlike certain TV writers. Any OCs appearing in this fic are mine.
Summary: It's a MacLean style baby shower for Dee.
Beta by my most wonderful partner in crime, Grace_Musica


July 8, 2006

Ryo woke up first, feeling Dee’s back pressed against him. He lifted his head to watch his husband sleep. Dee had to be the only person he knew who could still sprawl across the bed while on his side. He started to smile as he remembered the evening before. A candlelit Japanese dinner in the living room that included feeding each other. Dancing to a couple of their favorite slow songs, and lots of cuddling on the couch, sharing kisses and caresses. For the first time since the attempt to kill Dee, the dishes were left on the coffee table, as they kissed their way into the bedroom. When they had settled down to eat, Dee told Ryo that he arranged for Bikky to spend the night at Carol’s and that he would arrive at the baby shower with Elina and Carol.

Taking Vince’s advice, they took it slow and easy. Ryo had dragged it out until he had Dee writhing on the bed, begging for Ryo to take him.

He ran his hand softly along Dee’s back as he remembered the sight of Dee on his knees, grasping onto the headboard as Ryo entered him from behind. Ryo had then leaned back onto his own knees and pulled Dee back with him, positioning his husband into a more comfortable position while still able to use the headboard for additional support. It also provided deeper penetration. It was tough not to let go completely, and let Dee go, but they managed to keep it easy, while Ryo was able to fill Dee completely. At one point, when Ryo had his arms around Dee, feeling the swell of a very pregnant belly and he almost came right then. He found Dee pregnant very erotic and was thankful to be able to indulge in giving into his urges to make love to his husband while he was still so very pregnant and gorgeous to him. Not that Dee was not an extremely handsome and sexy man before, because he was.

Ryo figured it had to do with the fact that it was obvious how deeply Dee loved him with this pregnancy.

The shower wasn’t until 2 pm, which meant they had a long, lazy morning to themselves. Dee started to move slightly, indicating he was waking up. Ryo dropped his head on the pillow behind Dee’s, his arms going around the waking man and kissed his shoulder.

“Good morning, gorgeous,” Ryo said softly, punctuating it with another kiss to Dee’s shoulder.

“Oh it is. Morning,” Dee replied, stretching slightly, causing him to press up further against Ryo. “Did I say just how much I love sleeping with you spooned up behind me?”

“I think I enjoy holding you like that too.”

“But as much as I’m enjoying this, I gotta pee.”

Ryo chuckled as he released Dee and helped him sit up.

When Dee came out of the bathroom, wearing a pair of boxers, Ryo was waiting outside the door. He captured Dee in his arms, kissing him before breaking it off and heading into the bathroom.

When he got out of the bathroom, he ushered Dee into the living room, making sure the other man was comfortable, and promised a nice sensual breakfast.

Breakfast ended up leading them back into the bedroom where they took it slow again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Once again, a car was waiting for them outside the apartment building. As they left the building, Dee stopped in his tracks. “Holy crap, Ryo!” he exclaimed.

Ryo laughed as he took Dee’s hand. “It’s a MacLean baby shower. Of course the guest of honor will arrive in first rate transportation. Heck, we had a stretch limo for just a night out last week.”

“That wasn’t just a night out,” Dee said as they approached the Burgundy Bentley. The driver was waiting with the door open and smiling at them. “It was a 4th of July dinner cruise.”

Ryo chuckled. “I love you, Dee. That was a MacLean night out for my grandparents, but there just happened to be fireworks that night to outdo the ones for our wedding.”

Dee’s grin grew as he remembered the fireworks by the Brooklyn Bridge in honor of their wedding. “If you insist,” he wisely said.

“Good afternoon, Mr. and Mr. Laytner-MacLean,” the driver greeted cheerfully.

“Good afternoon,” Ryo replied as he got into the car. He watched as Dee got in next to him.”

“Sweet!” Dee exclaimed as the driver walked out to the street to get into the car. Dee’s eyes went wide. “Oh damn! The wheel’s on the left side,” he laughed.

“Yes,” Ryo smiled, taking Dee’s hand. “We’re getting the MacLean royal treatment today. So get used to it.”

“Oh, I think I could,” Dee laughed as he made himself comfortable.

The baby shower was being held at Serendipity’s. Originally Estelle had been looking into hotels and possibly the Russian Tea Room, but remembered the first time she met Dee, and how much her grandson’s at the time fiancé loved the place. After that, it seemed the perfect place to hold a baby shower.

When Dee and Ryo arrived, everyone was already there. The restaurant was closed for a few hours for the party. Estelle, Franklin and Mother greeted the daddies-to-be in the entrance. They escorted the two younger men into the restaurant proper to find the place had been rearranged as much as possible for to occasion. It had purple and pink decorations, with a touch of green and blue by way of the Tiffany lamps picked to be near the main table that was covered with gifts. On the floor next to the table were the larger gifts. Before that table was a smaller one, set up for Dee and Ryo.

Mylar balloon bouquets were set around the area. Tables were set so everyone could face toward the guests of honor. Each setting had glass baby bottles filled with imported Belguim chocolate squares wrapped in pink and purple foil paper with Baby Laytner-MacLean stamped on the paper, along with various party favors.

Ryo looked around as everyone stood, applauding their arrival, as they were escorted to their table. Next to him, clutching his hand was Dee, shaking with excitement. He noticed not only Elena and Rick, Elina and Carol with Bikky, but Eunice and her boyfriend, Wilbert, Caroline and Larry and Jocelyn along with many other of his generation cousins, and some of the older generation MacLeans. Also there were Barry and Julie, Vince and David, Pedro and Adriano, Eddie and Akemi. To Dee’s surprise, Elisa and her husband was also there, having come in from San Diego for the party. It was a large group of people who were there, obviously to wish them well and excited about the baby.

Dee paused before the gift table for a moment and as he sat down, he whispered to Ryo, “I don’t think we’re in want for anything.”

Ryo chuckled, nodding in agreement. “I see the things from Japan found their way here too, which I suspected Obasan would do, since lately she’s been in cahoots with Grandma.”

“I wish she could be here too.”

“Me too, but she’ll be here next Saturday.”

“I can’t wait,” Dee said with a fond smile. He glanced over to Estelle, who stood next to the table, beaming proudly at the two men. “This is absolutely wonderful. Thank you, Grandma.”

Estelle broke into a warm, beautiful smile. “I’m so glad, but I can’t take all the credit here. I had help from Maria, Elena and Julie to pull this together. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Dee smiled at his mother, who stood next to Estelle, dressed in a plain, but classic blue dress. He shook his head fondly, realizing that once again she was dressed as simply Dee’s mother and nothing else. “Thank you, Mom. It’s gorgeous.”

“Anything for my darling son and his husband,” Mother replied.

“What Dee said, Grandma, Mother,” Ryo said. “And Elena. Thank you. For everything from the moment we told you.”

“My pleasure,” Elena replied with a wide smile. “Now are we ready to officially start?”

“Sure,” Dee replied. “I’m smelling food and too much other wonderful things.”

Estelle laughed and went behind Dee. She bent over and kissed his head. “Thank you, Dee, for allowing Franklin and me to see at least our first great-grandchild.”

“It’s my honor,” Dee replied, looking up and blushing slightly.

Estelle held her hands up. Moving toward the side of the table again, she called out, “Attention everyone!” When the chatting settled down and quiet fell upon the room, with the exception of the staff who was preparing to serve the guests, she smiled out at the guests. “On behalf of Dee and Ryo, I want to thank everyone for joining us for this extremely wonderful and blessed moment in their lives. A birth of a baby is always a miracle. For Dee and Ryo, it is definitely the purest symbol of love that these two share. For myself and Franklin, I find this baby a miracle that we will soon see our first great-grandchild. For Maria, it is a blessing to be a grandmother through her son, bringing a beautiful baby into this world. A few months ago, we all gathered for Dee and Ryo’s most gorgeous wedding and now we’re all here to welcome the baby that will soon be in their lives.

“I know everyone is hungry, so as much as I know Dee is anxious to start tearing into all the delightful presents, we’re going to start with lunch. Once we’re done with lunch, we have a few games to play and have wonderful gifts for the winners. After that fun, we’ll let Dee at the gifts.”

She paused for everyone to laugh, including those who knew Dee well. Ryo put his arm around Dee’s shoulders and pulled him close, also laughing and kissed his cheek.

Estelle turned and looked at Ryo before looking out at the guests. “Before we proceed, I feel I need to say this. This is actually Dee’s party, since he’s doing all the hard work of Carrying a baby all these months, but Ryo’s up here since it’s his baby too. Or as I noticed one of his tee-shirts say, his boys can score.”

Ryo’s eyes went wide as he started to blush as everyone started to laugh, including Dee. It was Dee’s turn to kiss Ryo’s cheek, grinning madly at him.

“Is everyone ready to eat?” Elena asked. Everyone shouted yes. “In that case, then you’ll find your selections for your lunch entrée before you on a card that you may take with home to commemorate this event. Once your order is taken, you are welcome to head over to our appetizer and salad bar right over there.” She indicated a table over to the side. “We also have punch over there to drink, but you can also let your server know if there is something else you prefer for a beverage. So,” she watched as a waitress walked across the room toward the head table, “Dee and Ryo’s orders will be taken first. ‘Cause you know we don’t want to keep the pregnant man hungry.” She turned and winked at Dee amid the laughter.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Oh no! No!” Dee protested. “I am not doing that!”

“Aw c’mon, Dee. It’s just a game,” Ryo said, laughing so hard he was wiping tears from his face.

“You’re not helping, you know.” Dee started to pout, which made Ryo laugh more.

Mother came up behind Dee and put her hands on his arms. “Now Dee, Estelle went through a lot of trouble for this lovely shower. The least you can do is play her games.”

“Word scramble and bottle bowling was fine. So is this pinning thing where you can’t say baby,” Dee huffed.

Ryo started to laugh again when Akemi stepped up to Dee and took one of the diaper pins he had on his shirt. “Domo, Dee-san,” she giggled and skipped away, putting the pin on her blouse.

“Oh no, you can’t. I have only one left now,” Dee complained. He could not help laugh when Akemi turned around and stuck her tongue out at him. “Nice. Very Japanese,” Dee teased her.

“I thought you said you lived in Japan?” Ryo laughed.

“Stop laughing!”

“I’m sorry, I can’t. You’re the only one who isn’t.”

“And do you know why?” Dee asked, pouting more.

“’Cause you’re a big spoilsport,” Ryo taunted. “Party pooper.”

“’Cause if I start laughing I might not stop until I end up having this baby this afternoon.” Dee sat down, rubbing his bump.

“Too late, Dee, dearest,” Estelle said with a wicked smile on her face. “The ribbon is already being passed around. It’s a MacLean baby shower tradition. And while that’s happening, you can start opening your presents.”

Dee’s eyes lit up. “Hear that, Koko? It’s present time!” He laughed, looking over to Ryo. “As if we don’t have enough already.”

“Tell me,” Ryo agreed as he sat down next to Dee.

Estelle smacked Ryo on the back of his head. “Why are you sitting down?”

“To help Dee open the presents?”

“Dee has Carried your child for nine months, so you can help by bringing the gifts to him and let him open them. You can show off the heavier items that he shouldn’t be lifting.” Estelle leaned up to kiss her grandson on his cheek, and then kissed Dee’s head. “Now are you ready, dears?”

Ryo took Dee’s hand in his and lifted it to his mouth to kiss it. “Your presents await you, m’lady.”

“You are so screwed when we get home,” Dee muttered.

“I doubt it. Last I heard, we have to wait at least six weeks after Koko is born before I can get any type of screwed.”

Dee studied Ryo, trying not to grin. “In that case, you better screw me well and good tonight, or it’s the couch for you.”

“I’ll see what I can do about that, baby.” He started to stand up, kissing Dee’s mouth softly along the way.

Dee grabbed him by a fistful of his shirt and pulled him back down. He took Ryo’s last diaper pin from him and then kissed Ryo.

Ryo laughed and helped Dee put the pin on his shirt. He watched as the mingling stopped and everyone went back to their seats, including Mother, Estelle and Elena.

No sooner than when Elena sat down, an electronic chirping went off, causing her to jump up again. “Time’s up! The person with the most pins win!”

“I guess I lost,” Ryo said as he turned to the table and tried to figure out what to grab first. He knew that package size did not necessarily mean bigger or better, but for the sake of his own sanity, he choose to start from the smallest and work up to the largest, which were the brightly wrapped boxes on the floor by the table.

He waited for Mother to declare Julie the winner, and Elena to hand her a medium sized-gift bag.

Once Julie was finished gushing over the wine glasses and gift card in the bag, Ryo handed Dee a small shiny pink gift bag stuffed with purple tissue paper. Dee read the small card, saying it was from his mother and proceeded to pull out a small square felt jewelry box. He opened it and started to smile. “It’s a crib medallion,” he announced, holding it up for all. “A very beautiful one at that too.”

“It’s a little fancier than the one we had in your crib,” Mother admitted.

“It’s perfect, Mom. Thank you.” Dee handed it to Ryo, who smiled at Mother.

“Ryo, if I may, you might want to give Dee the box wrapped in paper that matches the bag,” Mother said.

“Of course, Mother,” Ryo agreed and turned to find it not far from where he picked up the bag. He handed it to Dee.

Dee ended up holding up one of the better nursery monitors, the kind that had video as well as audio.

“The medallion is to spiritually protect your daughter, and that is the practical way to protect her. It also senses should she stop breathing and alert you,” Mother explained. “So we can keep her safe.”

Dee’s eyes were misty as Ryo took the box from Dee and held it high for everyone to see.

“I think Ryo needs to get involved a little more,” Joycelyn called out.

“Huh?” Ryo asked.

“What do you suggest?” Elena asked.

“May I?” Ryo’s cousin asked. When Elena, Estelle and Mother all nodded, she rushed up to the front, grabbing a paper plate that had ribbon going through holes so it could be tied. “I took liberty of taking a little extra ribbon from the game.” She reached up to tie the plate on Ryo’s head like a hat.

Grinning Dee grabbed the purple bow with the small pacifier tied to it and indicated for Ryo to bend down. He placed the bow on the plate.

“He’s got it!” Joycelyn laughed.

Ryo glanced down at Dee. “I’ll endure this, including all the photos that will follow me for life, if you finally allow us to wrap a ribbon around that beautiful baby bump of yours so we can pick the winner of the Daddy Baby Girth game.”

Dee sighed and rolled his eyes. “Well, alright. But that’s only because you’re going to look so cute when we’re done with all these gifts. Look at all those bows and ribbons.” He started to laugh.

“Now he starts laughing,” Ryo muttered, going to get the next gift.

They ended up opening gift bags and boxes for almost a half hour, finally pausing for Dee to stand up and allow Ryo to wrap a ribbon around his middle and cut it off.

By that point, Ryo’s head was loaded with ribbons, bows and whatever else someone adorned a gift with after wrapping. Being a good sport about it, he helped his aunt determine the winner of the game.

“Okay, and we have a winner people,” Elena called out.

Ryo held out a long ribbon from near the back of the room, laughing.

“I’m not that large, am I?” Dee gasped.

“No, you’re not large,” Ryo protested. “But this ribbon is the closest to the one we got from you. And that ribbon belongs to… Bikky!”

Dee smacked his forehead and hid his face behind his hand while everyone started to laugh.

By the time Dee finished all the gifts, except for the ones on the floor, they realized they had everything they had picked on all the registries in the U.S., Europe and Japan, plus extra.

“All this for one little baby,” Dee said, but was grinning as he gazed at all the clothes, various diaper bags, crib bedding, lamps, mobiles, and everything anyone could want for their child. He rubbed his bump. “Okay, okay chibi. Yes, you have plenty of gifts from family who love you, but stop kicking so much.”

Estelle stood up and went over to Ryo and Dee, smiling. “I’m sure you know what’s in those boxes over there,” she indicated the ones on the floor.

“Our nursery furniture from Japan,” Dee replied. Among the other gifts, there were also plenty from not only Ryo’s family in Japan, but from Hide, Ken, Yuki, and their families. They had things for the baby they had not thought of. Dee immediately fell in love with the fleece hooded bath wraps with ears on the hoods.

“Indeed.” She clasped her hands together, smiling warmly. “As you know, there are members of your family who wanted to be here, but couldn’t. You’ll be seeing some of them next weekend, but for them, that’s not good enough. So…” She gestured with her hands and the lights dimmed near where there was a screen set up. They had previously used it to play ‘Guess the baby’, but suddenly there was Obasan on the screen, waving excitedly, with the rest of her family behind her.

“Dei, I trust you are enjoying yourself today and you received many gifts for your beautiful baby,” Obasan said.

Dee and Ryo’s mouths dropped as they realized that a video conference had been set up.

“It’s two way,” Estelle said, confirming their thoughts. “Don’t ask me how. I left that to the younger generation to make this possible.”

“Obasan,” Dee greeted, wiping his eyes. “We’re looking forward to you being here next week.”

“And so am I, Dei. Ryo, I see you are into the spirit of the party.” She giggled, obviously looking at her grandson wearing a paper plate so laden down with bows and adornments that it was hanging to one side, mostly in front of his eyes.

Ryo grinned. “I am. There was only one way to make it better, and it just became very close to that. I’m glad you could join us, Obasan.”

“I am honored to be part of this joyful day.”

“Now that we have our additional guests,” Estelle stated, “I guess Ryo should get the honors of opening the last of the gifts.”

Dee smiled up at Ryo and nodded. “Have fun, handsome.” He winked and chuckled at the sight of Ryo in the makeshift hat.

“Just a moment.” Ryo untied the ribbons keeping it on his head and carefully placed it on Dee’s head. “It’s your honor while I open those gifts.” Grinning wickedly, he added, “It’s only fair.”

“Fine,” Dee said, then laughed. He made a face for everyone who started to take more pictures.

As expected, the last of the gifts were the nursery furniture: a crib, a changing table with shelves and organizer baskets, and wardrobe that was taller than normal while being narrow and matched the crib and changing table. There was also a high chair and a baby buggy that looked like a carseat/carrier on a frame. The frame could be set at different heights, and the seat could be adjusted for lying flat as well as other angles. They also had a travel crib and a few other items.

“Now there is one thing on your list that I decided to give you, the same but different,” Obasan explained as Ryo was prompted to pick up a large rectangular box.

It was clumsy but not heavy and he helped Dee unwrap it. When Dee finally was able to pull off the top half of the box and looked down, they saw a Moses basket, which was what they had on their registry. It was a different design, and Ryo immediately knew the significance of it.

“It’s gorgeous, Obasan,” Ryo said, as he lifted it from the box to show off to their guests.

“It is,” Dee agreed. “Much better than the one we picked.”

“Who made it?” Ryo asked, turning to the screen. “Was it you, Obasan?”

“I was one. Everyone here with me contributed to it. It was a labor of combined love from us to you,” Obasan explained.

“I love it,” Dee exclaimed.

Estelle was studying it with an appreciative smile. “That is indeed lovely. And such craftsmanship. I am sure the baby will have many happy naps in it, knowing how loved she is.” She handed it back to Ryo with a smile. “Now, before the Aoki extension of the family has to go, there is one final gift. It is something that I was surprised was not on the gift registry, but Rick had assured us there is room for.” She paused as everyone watched Rick and Barry haul out an expensive, wood glider chair, the wood matching the color of the nursery furniture and the seating cushions in blue, and the matching foot stool.

Smiling at the surprised expressions on both fathers-to-be faces, she said, “I do not see either of you boys are the type to be comfortable in a traditional rocker. So we went for something more modern, but yet coordinated with your very beautiful furniture. That way you can sit in comfort while feeding the little one, or just to sit and marvel at the miracle that is your child. We picked blue for the cushions, because this is a daddies’ chair, however, the cushioning does come off for other covers, should you decide to further coordinate.”

Obasan bowed, along with the other members of her family following her example. “We wish you well, Dei and Ryo, with your beautiful child and may she never be in want for anything.” She glanced out, as if waiting for something.

Apparently she was waiting for Mother to pick up the queue, because the elderly nun stood, grasping a box and went over to Bikky. “May you, Bikky, also never be for want of anything that is good for you. So our combined family give you this, since your baby sister received so many fine gifts today.”

Bikky blushed. “That’s okay. I understand. But thanks.” He smiled up as Mother hugged him.

“What do you have there, sport?” Dee called out, as Ryo finally got to sit down next to his husband. Franklin came over handing them both glasses of punch.

“I have… gift cards!” Bikky exclaimed. “For clothes, games… you know, stuff!” He hugged Mother and then Estelle, before turning to bow as Ryo and Dee had taught him. “Thank you everyone. This is awesome!”

“You better use some of those cards to take this fine young lady out for dinner to someplace nice,” Estelle said, indicating Carol, who blushed.

Bikky nodded his head. “Yes, ma’am.”

The next few minutes were to say goodbye to Akira and family until the next weekend. Rick got everyone’s attention. “Now, who wants cake?”

Everyone cheered. Vince gave Dee the thumbs up, and the pregnant man started to cheer more, making Ryo laugh.

The cake was made to look like several large, colorful baby blocks and little Hello Kitty figures. Among the letters on the blocks was most prominent the letters ‘L’ and next to it ‘M’. As everyone settled down to eat cake, Franklin got up to lead the guests in a game of baby bingo, acting as the caller.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

July 10, 2006

“I am just going to have to tie him down or something,” Ryo ranted to Diana in a coffee shop. When Ryo came in that morning, he looked like he was ready to explode and from the way he desperately tried to hide it, it was no doubt aimed at Dee. Diana decided the unit needed some real coffee and grabbed Ryo to help her make a coffee and pasty run.

“What happened?” Diana asked as they sat in comfortable chairs around a low table. She decided they were going to have coffee there first, before bringing back for the others, except Dee, who was getting a tea. “Should I withhold his scone for being a bad boy?”

“It’s not funny, Diana. And yes, withhold any type of treat for him until he gets the goddamned message.”

“And that would be?” she prompted.

“It’s a good thing by the time we got home from the baby shower on Saturday that Dee was exhausted. He slept until dinner. But then he insisted on going into the nursery. While Dee slept, I got help from Barry and Rick to haul in all the gifts, including the furniture and we got it all set up in place just the way Dee and I planned it. I mean we had a floor plan for where everything went.”

Diana started to laugh. “Oh Ryo. Why am I not surprised you had one of those?”

“I didn’t. That was Dee, but I wasn’t protesting. Anyway, we ended up with a couple of extra pieces of furniture – a nice, comfortable, but manly glider chair and ottoman. No big deal. We designed the room for an open plan and the corner by the window next to the crib seemed like the perfect place for it. It fit, it was still roomy there, not cluttered. Well, okay, there are still piles of baby clothes and stuff that needs to be put away, once I figure out the best places for it. So when Dee wakes up, he decides the chair threw off the entire plan and he wanted to rearrange the furniture. But since both Barry and Rick were long gone home, it was just me. And by that point, I was ready for a good long hot soak and relaxing, preferably with Dee in my arms. He threw a fit. He wanted us to start moving furniture. Once I convinced him that was a bad idea for him, he wanted to start putting everything away. Then he got it in his mind that we need better window treatments than blinds. He wants a shade, and some fancy curtains and started to take measurements.” Ryo leaned back in the chair. “So I did the only thing I could to get his mind off that nonsense.”

“What’s that?”

“I kept my promise to him from during the shower and screwed him so good he slept through the night, only to wake up long enough to stumble to the bathroom to take a leak and back into bed.” Ryo shrugged.

Diana broke out in laughter. “Now that does sound like Dee. If that doesn’t take his mind off things, then something’s wrong.”

“Yeah. So yesterday, I took him home during lunch. I thought I left him tucked in bed for his nap and go back to work. I come home to find what? The nursery looking like a disaster area because Dee is trying to reorganize everything we have for the baby. I had to lure him out of the damn room with bread pudding. He wore himself out, because he dozed on the couch while I made us dinner. Then after dinner, what does he want to do again?”

Diana chuckled. “And what did you do again to stop him?”

“Yeah, well, I did. Only he was acting like a brat. A big one. Thing is it only struck me after the fact that it wasn’t one of his hormonal hissy fits. The son of a bitch was being a damn cock tease to the point that he managed to me to….” Ryo suddenly stopped talking, running out of steam, as he realized what he almost revealed to his friend.

“Oh don’t stop there!” Diana crowed with interest. “What did you do?”

Ryo shrugged.

“Let’s see. He was acting like a brat. Would that be like a brat that deserves to be punished?” She grinned more as she watched Ryo flush deeply. “He did. And you did.”

“Not as much as he hoped, I guess. I lost myself for a bit,” Ryo finally admitted, low and glancing around making sure no one was listening to them. “Then I remembered that we really should be taking it slow and easy. I just made sure that, well, a few good smacks on the rump was slow.”

“And then you nailed him until he slept for the night again,” Diana concluded.

“We made love, Diana.”

“Oh? Meanwhile Saturday you screwed the shit out of him.”

“Fuck you, Diana. I’m going to let Dee teach our daughter to call you Auntie Sea Hag.”

Diana laughed more. “I love you too, Ryo. Now drink your coffee so we could get back to work, armed with real coffee for the troops.”

“Except Dee,” Ryo pointed out.

“Except Dee. Does he get a scone at least?”

“He’ll get a scone, but he’s got to promise not to do anything stupid again this afternoon. We have a week. A little bit each night, together, without being in a frantic pace, and we’ll be ready by next Tuesday. Besides, Dee’s going to be in the hospital for at least a week. That would give me time to finish up anything needing to get done. And we’re going to keep the baby in the bedroom with us for the first few weeks, at least, once they both come home.” Ryo lifted the large mug to his lips and finished the rest of the smooth, dark bold blend he selected, drinking it black with just some sugar.

“It’s getting so close, Ryo,” Diana gushed as she watched Ryo put down the empty mug.

“Eight more days. Oh damn. I can hardly wait anymore. And yet, I know I’m going to miss Dee being pregnant.”

Diana looked scandalized as Ryo picked up their trash to throw away. “After hearing all about Dee’s moods and the angst his hormones give you, you’re going to miss that?”

“Oh hell no. Not that. But the rest. Yeah. Especially seeing Dee so very pregnant… I thought he was as gorgeous as they come before he got pregnant, but now…” Ryo shivered as he repressed passion and love that filled him from the image of Dee pregnant.

“Oh, I get it!” Diana laughed. “You’re one of those types of men. Pervert!” she teased as they walked over to the counter.

“Do you have to be so loud?” Ryo warned. “And no, I’m not. There’s nothing perverted about it. It’s so wholesome, pure and beautiful I don’t know what to do with myself.”

Diana snorted. “Well, you obviously figured out what to do with Dee, since I’m assuming you got the go ahead from your MOP.”

“Yes, Vince cleared Dee for sex. And I’m going to shut my mouth now.”

Diana laughed harder as Ryo started to give the orders for the others. “They say that a baby changes everything, but really Ryo.” She laughed more when Ryo paused in his order to glare at her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the kitchen, Ryo was preparing their dinner. The sauce for the pasta was already done and keeping warm on a back burner. He had just checked the ziti pasta still cooking and determined that it would be ready in a few more minutes. Once he had the pasta in a colander, he would leave it to drain while he pulled Dee and Bikky out of the nursery.

After making Dee promise that once he had items out of the packaging and set up in a designated basket for the closet organizer or a neat folded pile for a drawer, he would have Bikky put the items away. When he dropped Dee off during lunch, the pregnant man finished with his work day, he started to feel guilty on how he had behaved the night before. Dee had assured him he was fine and he really enjoyed their lovemaking making session the night before, and wanted more. However, by the time Dee returned from his outing with JJ to help out one of their victims from the week before to get Carrier clothes, Ryo had his suspicion on why, and the night before had much to do with it. On the plus side, Dee’s blood pressure was down lower than it had been since before the attack. Ryo took another good guess why on that, too, and decided it was a good thing. Now all he had to do was make sure Dee relaxed after dinner, and perhaps not indulge in certain activities for the night. If they could not accomplish that, then Ryo would just have to remember to go extra slow and easy then.

He had the pasta in the colander and was placing the empty pot in the sink when he heard Bikky’s voice approaching the kitchen from the back of the apartment.

“RYO!” Bikky cried out, running into the kitchen. “Pops!”

Ryo was glad he had left the door open or it would have been knocked off the hinges. “Bikky, what did I say about running?” he admonished, turning the water in the sink off.

“Sorry, Pops,” Bikky gasped, out of breath. “It’s just… Dee needs you. He’s hurting really bad.”

Ryo realized that Bikky was terrified and froze for a moment, a knot forming in his stomach.

’Oh God,’ he thought. ’ Something’s wrong with the baby. ’ He fought to keep his panic from his face, not wanting to scare his son anymore than he already was.

They must have been too hard last night, and then with Dee pushing himself with the nursery and earlier in the day taking a vic out on a shopping spree, it was too much. Dee should have been relaxing more.

The only thing Ryo was able to imagine was that the uterine lining had ruptured.

“Oh God,” he uttered. He barely had the presence of mind to turn off the burner the sauce was on, and after squeezing Bikky’s shoulder, ran from the kitchen toward the nursery.