A Fish Called Duo Part 2
Duo nibbled on his toast and took a sip of cranberry juice. "Thanks! This is great!"
Relena grinned as if she had cooked the food herself. "You're welcome!" She tilted her head and looked at him through her bangs. "You're really pretty. Why do you have such long hair?"
"Thank you Relena, you're very pretty too!" Duo couldn't help but laugh at her bright smile at the compliment. "I have really long hair because my mother had long hair, and I wanted to remember her."
"Why?"
"Because she died when I was about four."
"Why?"
"Because she was very sick."
"Why?"
"Because her body stopped working."
"Why?"
"Why do you want to know?" Duo was inordinately pleased with himself for coming up with a response that Relena couldn't answer with that cursed one syllable word.
She blinked and opened her mouth a few times. "Because I want to know about you."
"Why?" Duo barely kept himself from snickering.
"Because I still want you to be my mommy." Not put off in the least, she gave him her reason. She looked up and Duo saw the tears in her blue eyes. "Because I want to stay with daddy. Because I don't want to go away!" Her lower lip trembled.
Gasping in sympathy, Duo held out his arms and gathered the little girl close to him. She threw her arms around his neck while he gently began to rock her. "It's ok, little one..." What could he do but try to comfort the little girl who faced the very real possibility of being torn from the only family she'd known? "I know, little one, I know..." Before he even knew what he was saying, it slipped out. "I'll do it..."
"You will?" Sniffling loudly, Relena pulled away a bit. She tearfully looked him in the eye. "Promise?"
Duo kept himself from cringing. He could never break a promise. "If your daddy agrees..."
Smiling brightly once again, Relena quickly hugged Duo. "Oh he will, he will!" She kissed him on the cheek before bounding up from the bed and halfway out of the room. "Thank you so much!!!"
Sitting back against the pillows Duo sighed. "What have I gotten myself into?"
~*~
"DADDYdaddydaddydaddydaddy!!!" A blur called Relena bounded into the kitchen and launched herself into Heero's lap.
Grimacing from a badly placed knee, Heero repositioned her so she sat sideways on his lap. "What?! What is it?"
She positively brimmed with excitement. "Duo said yes!!"
~Huh?~ Heero felt like he was missing something. "Yes to what?"
"He said that he would pretend to be my mommy!!" She squirmed off his lap and grabbed Heero's hand. Taking a few steps toward the guest bedroom where Duo was still resting, she pulled on his arm. "Come on! Ya gotta say its ok!"
Heero reluctantly allowed himself to be dragged through the door. Stealing a glance at the beautiful boy on the bed, he wished that the situation were different. Maybe if he wasn't the guardian of an adorable, but mischievous girl... maybe if he weren't currently in a minimum wage job... maybe if he were a bit better around people he could have a chance with Duo.
Of course, that all hinged on the-off chance Duo liked boys.
Turning to Relena, Heero shooed her out into the hall. "Go play outside. Stay in the yard." Scratching his head, Heero sat in the chair by the bed. "Ummm, I'm sorry about that."
Duo cocked his head. "Sorry about what?"
"Relena." Heero sighed. "I'm sorry that she asked you to go along with Trowa's stupid plan... you really don't have to do it." He held his breath for Duo's answer. ~Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it.~
~*~
#He's giving you a way out! Take it!#
Duo opened his mouth.
~You gave your word!~
He closed it.
#That would never hold up in court! Neither would any imaginary marriage.#
~Homosexual marriages are legal in Florida now![1]~
#You're crazy to even consider it!#
~You promised.~
Duo shook his head. "No. I said that I would help you, and I will." He shyly looked over to Heero. "That is, if you don't mind." Duo looked down at his hands. "I suppose you'd probably rather a woman, huh? I mean, getting married to a man... eerr pretending to be married to a man might be weird for you..."
"No, it's not weird. But, we would have to really get married. Legally. They'd do too much research to be fooled by a phony license. We would have to get married as two men, and then later change the M to an F, if you get my meaning."
Duo nodded. "Yes. And I think I know just the priest."
"Duo, not that I'm complaining, but why are you so willing to help us? You barely know anything about us."
He'd been waiting for the question. "Yes... you see, I understand where you're coming from. My mother died when I was about four, and then my father was killed in an accident when I was about Relena's age. Unlike her, I had no one willing to take care of me. None of my relatives on either side would take me in." As the memories washed over him, Duo barely noticed Heero take his hand. "I was sent to an orphanage run by a priest and a nun. Father Maxwell and Sister Helen. Two of the kindest humans I have ever had the privilege to meet. Of course, I was a hellion back then, and all their efforts to get me placed in a home eventually failed. People would take me... and return me just as quickly."
"I'm sorry." Heero squeezed his hand a bit.
"No, it's ok!" Duo squeezed back and smiled. "I stayed at the orphanage until I was eighteen. I had been saving my money from my jobs and so I was able to get myself a small apartment." he blushed. "I've recently been taking a few courses at a community college. Maybe someday I can get a better job than a manager at Denny's. But do you see?" Staring intently at Heero, he tried to convey just how important this was to him. "If I help you, I can keep Relena from going through what I did. Sure, it wasn't that bad... but I would certainly have preferred living with my family. And you two really want to stay together. I want you to have that."
[1] It's probably not. Yet. But I needed to tweak the law a bit for my purposes. Call it a mixture of creative license and wishful thinking ^_~
~*~
Heero sat stunned for a moment. "Duo, I... I don't know what to say. Thank you so much." He smiled widely; his heart light for the first time in a while. "You say you know a priest?"
Duo nodded quickly. "Yes! I just know that Father Maxwell would love to see his little demon settle down... even if it is only for a short while." Winking conspiratorially Duo laughed.
~Limited time? Maybe not... if I have anything to do about it.~ "In that case..." Heero stood up, and kicked the chair away from the bed before lowering himself onto one knee. Still holding Duo's hand, Heero cleared his throat dramatically. "Duo Maxwell, will you do me the honor of becoming my husband?"
"Yes. Yes I will."
Relief flooded through Heero's body. He launched out of his crouch and flung his arms around Duo's shoulders. He felt the man stiffen, then relax and hug him back. "Thank you. Thank you so much." After feeling the fear of having Relena torn away from him, this new feeling of hope was almost too much. Hugging Duo was the catharsis he needed. Even though his eyes were closed tight, Heero could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks.
~*~
In the clothes he borrowed from Heero, Duo looked in the mirror and grinned at his reflection. The faded blue jeans were a bit too long and so he rolled up the ends. And the only shirt Heero had that fit him at all in the chest was an ancient "Frankie Says Relax" T-shirt. Combine this with his abysmally messy hair, and Duo looked like crap.
"Duo?"
"Yes?" He turned to see Heero standing in the doorway.
"Your friend Quatre is here."
"Q!" Rushing out of the room Duo almost sent Heero on his ass, luckily the man was able to catch himself before that happened. "Sorry!" Duo shouted the apology as he raced down the hall.
The blonde man was kneeling on the floor talking to Relena when Duo came running into the room at full speed. "Q!" Duo glomped onto his friend, much to the amusement of Relena, who doubled over laughing.
"Happy to see me? Duo, what happened to you?! Wufei said that you weren't picked up by his actor! And why did you ask me to bring some of my sister's clothes?" Quatre's clear blue eyes shone with concern and curiosity.
"Well... uuhhh..." Duo sat on the carpet and scratched his head. "I picked the wrong fishing line and got caught by Relena here. And then I guess I hit my head on some rocks near shore. Luckily Heero knew Rescue Breathing, and got me breathing again." Seeing Quatre's imminent fit, Duo held his hands up. "I'm fine! Just got a little bump on my head. And as for the dresses... Heero needs a bit of help, and so I agreed to help him."
"Oh I see." With only a slightly glazed look, Quatre nodded slowly. "Wait! Why does you helping Heero involve dresses?"
"Well, to keep custody of Relena, Heero needs to get married. I offered and he accepted! So... we're getting married as soon as I can arrange it with father Maxwell." Duo watched his friend's face for signs of anger, fear, or imminent unconsciousness. To his surprise, Quatre nodded.
"Ok. Can I suggest a great place to have it? My house! We can decorate the lawn. It'll be great! I have the perfect arbor for you two to stand under during your vows! What do you think of lilies, or orchids? Roses are just SO overdone!"
"Quatre..." Not that he was complaining, but Duo hadn't quite expected this sort of response from his friend. "I thought you'd be a little less... excited..."
Eyes sparkling with mirth, Quatre laughed. "Why, I'm thrilled! It's about time you settled down!"
"WHAT?!" Duo knew his eyes were bulging from his head... they had to be.
"Kidding kidding!" Rocking with laughter, Quatre wiped his eyes. "Seriously, Heero seems like a nice guy and I trust your judgment."
"Why thank you Quatre!"
"Not to mention, you've already given your word. It's more likely that the sun will not rise tomorrow than it is for you to break a promise. So any effort to change your mind on my part is just a waste of energy."
"Gee thanks, Quatre."
TBC...
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