Blood, Sweat and Tears Part 26
"Would you please stop pacing? You're starting to make me nervous," Quatre commented with a small smirk. Propping a hand on one of the pieces of luggage beside him, he added, "Considering how expensive the carpet in here looks, I don't think that Heero would be very thrilled about having to replace it."
Duo sighed deeply and paused in mid-stride. All but collapsing onto the couch beside his friend, he sagged heavily and frowned, "I'm nervous as hell right now, man. There are too many people involved to have this go wrong. I just wish that I knew I was doing the right thing here by having Heero go along with me to meet the kids."
Gently cupping either side of his client's face, Quatre turned his head so their eyes met. "You're doing the right thing," he reassured quietly, "...for all parties involved." He smiled warmly and released his friend's face while shrugging, "If I really thought otherwise, I would have said something against this." The running back did seem to ease a little with that bit of logic.
Relaxing deeper into the plush couch, the agent inquired, "When you really look at every angle, what's the worst that can happen? Heero doesn't strike me as the type that would betray the trust you're showing him by telling anyone about your family."
"No, but he could have second thoughts about wanting more than a friendship with me," Duo answered, his frown deepening at the possibility. "This dating another guy thing is still a new concept for him. But dating another guy who's a single parent maybe too much for him to swallow."
Quatre tilted his head a bit and grinned, "You really are falling for him, aren't you?" He chuckled deeply when the running back fixed him with a glare that screamed 'Duh!' His smile saddening a bit, the Arab admitted, "There is always that chance. Still, better for him to find this out now than to surprise him with it later."
Nervously fidgeting with the end of his braid, Duo replied with a quiet, "Yea."
Footsteps approached the living room and the two friends looked up just as Heero entered with a suitcase in each hand and a duffle bag strapped around his shoulder. Lady Une followed close behind, her hands folded neatly at her waist. Nodding to his teammate, the quarterback asked, "Ready?"
With a forced, wide smile, the American threw his own duffle over his shoulder. "Ready," he answered while taking up the two suitcases by the couch.
After bidding Lady Une and Quatre their farewells, Heero and Duo headed out to the garage.
Little was spoken during the drive to the airport. For his part, Heero didn't wish to stir up his friend's building tension. The smiles that the running back was giving him never reached his eyes as a sure sign that he was putting on an air. Over the time that they had lived with each other, it was becoming easier and easier to read one another.
In all honesty, the quarterback had to admit that he was nervous, himself. Getting the chance to meet Duo's adoptive family was both exciting and a bit nerve-wracking at the same time.
Before long, the lack of communication was starting to get to Heero. Deciding to 'fill the air' with one of their classic debates, he peered out of the corner of his eye and smirked, "So, which do you prefer: 'Star Wars' or 'Star Trek'?"
His violet eyes blinking in surprise for a moment at the sudden question, Duo turned away from his view outside his window. Smiling warmly at his housemate's attempt to take his mind off the impending meeting, he answered, "The originals, of course! You can't mess with the Force! That series is a classic! Though I think that more of the books should have been incorporated in the actual films, because you kinda loose some of the..."
As Duo continued on with his rant, Heero chuckled deeply. 'Yea,' he thought to himself, 'I like that sound better than the quiet.'
* * * * * *
Coming up with topics to debate and discuss worked all the way through the wait at the airport and the flight to Chicago. On the plane, the stewards would snicker and shake their heads in amusement whenever they passed the two young men that never seemed to stop talking except to take a sip from their drinks.
Hidden under the protection of baseball caps, no one recognized the pair as two professional football players. Duo, of course, added his sunglasses to the mix so his infamous violet eyes wouldn't tip anyone off.
When the pilot announced that the craft would be landing shortly, the running back quickly turned quiet again. A worried frown on his lips, he looked out the window beside him to watch the city lights of Chicago grow larger and larger in their decent. He nearly jumped when a hand wrapped around his own with a squeeze.
Slowly looking over to his friend, Duo's breath hitched in his throat when Heero gently lifted the sunglasses from the bridge of his nose. "It'll be all right," the quarterback reassured with a small grin. With another squeeze, he released his teammate's hand before it became too uncomfortable for either of them. After all, they hadn't fully committed to anything more than a friendship yet.
Biting his lip, Duo smiled back and nodded with a whispered, "Yea."
He lowered his sunglasses back down onto his nose and peered out the window once more. 'God, I hope it'll be all right,' he sighed inwardly. His hand still tingled from the calming touch.
* * * * * *
As Heero stepped out through the doors to the waiting room of the airport, Duo paused beside him to scan the crowd. A voice called the running back's name over the happy reunions taking place all around. Looking to his right, the quarterback watched as the same short-haired young woman that he now knew as Hilde came running up.
Just before she reached Duo, she froze with wide eyes that stayed on Heero. Smiling, the braided athlete stepped forward to hug the stunned woman. "Good to see you, Hil," he greeted. When she did not respond, he stepped back to wrap an arm around his housemate's shoulder and said, "I'd like you to meet Heero. He's going to be spending the week with us."
He turned his braided head and grinned to the team captain, "Heero, this is Hilde. We'll work out background details later." Duo lifted his shades a bit to fix a stern warning on his 'sister' when she turned to face him. "But I'm sure that the two of you will get along just fine," he stated in a matter-of-fact tone that seemed to serve its purpose when the young woman stiffened.
Swallowing roughly at the awkwardness of the situation, the Japanese youth adjusted his baseball cap and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Hilde," he offered kindly.
A nervous laugh escaped Hilde as she took the offered hand, her wide eyes fixating back onto the quarterback's face. With a firm handshake, she replied quietly, "Nice to meet you, too, Heero. I hope that you both had a good flight." He nodded his head in appreciation.
With a wide smile, the short-haired young woman gazed on her 'brother' and shrugged, "Well, you and I will certainly need to have a talk later and... catch up." It was Duo's turn to swallow roughly, but he held his ground. Heero peered from one face to the other, wondering why there was a tension over his presence-announced or unannounced.
* * * * * *
After a visit to baggage claim and a quiet ride back through the streets of Chicago, Hilde pulled up to the large apartment complex.
Heero eyed the surroundings almost uncomfortably. Having never spent time in a town that could be considered a slum, it was a bit unsettling to be staying in such an unkempt place for a week.
It was a shock to him that this was where Duo and his family stayed. Surely, he could have found and afforded better living arrangements.
Slowly climbing up the stairs behind his hosts, Heero felt the hairs on the back of his neck rising at the feeling that there were eyes on him. A quick glance over his shoulder proved his instinct right. Several people that had been talking in the streets had stopped to watch him. Quickly turning away, he tried to get his heart to stop pounding.
"Just don't make eye contact with anyone," Duo muttered with a glance back to his teammate. "They'll make it an excuse to start trouble." Heeding the advice given, the quarterback kept his cobalt eyes on the swinging braid before him.
Hilde pressed her hand to the scanner beside the door. When it opened, Heero breathed a deep sigh of relief and all but ran inside after the others. Lowering his bags, he removed the duffle bag with a shudder. As the door closed behind them, Duo bit his lip before calling, "Hey, gang! I'm home!"
A voice from inside the living room cried, "Daddy's home!" Several more voices chorused things like 'Daddy! He's back!' Lowering his bags, the quarterback frowned deeply in confusion. Just then, a little face of a boy no more than six with Asian features and a head of blonde hair peered out from around a doorframe and beamed, "Daddy!"
Frozen, Heero's eyes widened when seven more faces seemed to appear from all around. Springing forward, the youngsters cheered and all but tackled the running back to the ground with tight hugs. Just managing to keep on his feet, Duo laughed and returned every embrace that he could.
The happy gathering stopped when the young ones all looked with wide eyes to the "Stranger!", the little Asian boy gasped, pointing to the quarterback. Clinging onto his father's leg, he cried, "Daddy, there's a stranger here!"
Lightly picking up the child in his arms, Duo grinned, "He's not a stranger, Sun. This is one of my teammates, Heero Yuy." Blinking at the introduction, the team captain managed to feel his limbs and reached up to remove the grey baseball cap from his head.
At the sight of those haunting cobalt eyes and that unruly head of hear, Flora gasped and gripped the towel wrapped around her head. "Oh my god!" she cried. "Heero Yuy's here and I look like a mess!" She darted off upstairs to dry her hair before anyone could blink. Marcus and Tai's jaws dropped as they openly gawked at one of their idols.
For the younger ones that did not quite get the whole celebrity part that came with football, they just gave friendly smiles to the man. If their Daddy knew him, then he was a good person.
Solo entered the room, his eyes wide on the quarterback as he wrapped an arm around his worried wife's waist. "Is that who I think it is?" he breathed. Hilde just nodded, watching the scene anxiously.
Feeling something pulling at his right leg, Heero looked down into the wide, green eyes of a little curly-haired brunette girl with freckles that ran a trail across her tiny nose. She smiled widely in a high, little voice, "I like you."
Duo fought the urge to snicker when his panicked teammate snapped his head back up at him. "That's Jamie," he grinned. "She has a tendency to get attached pretty quickly." Wrapping her arms tightly around the quarterback's leg, the little one giggled.
Heero ran a hand through his hair as the room almost began to spin on him. Shaking his head, he announced quietly, "I think I need to sit down for a minute."
* * * * * *
After a brief introduction of all of his charges, and following a couple glasses of water that his guest quickly finished off, Duo took up one of Heero's suitcases and led him upstairs to the second level. The spare rooms are the ones with the cracked open doors. You can have your pick of any one of them," the running back offered in an attempt to start some kind of conversation.
Coming across the first open room, Heero shrugged, "This will work." His mind still spinning from the day's events, he was surprised that he was managing more than grunts. Duo seemed to be relieved that he finally had said something and nodded firmly. Nudging the door open with his side, the American led the way into the room while flipping the light switch.
Inside, there was a twin sized bed with all the fixings. A simple dresser and a small table beside the bed with the lamp were the only other furnishings. The walls were a faded blue that matched the drapes covering the plain window on the opposite side of the room.
Duo cleared his throat and said, "Well, make yourself at home, 'Ro. I'm going to see if Hilde and Solo need any help getting dinner ready."
Just as he was about to leave, he froze when Heero asked softly, "So you're really going to be adopting all of those children?"
Turning, the running back replied, "Yea. Every single one of 'em. Personally, my birthday isn't coming up quick enough for it to be official."
With a deep breath, Heero shook his head. "I'm sorry I've been so quiet," he stated. "It's just... a lot to process right now. I mean I never would have thought..."
"I know, man," Duo reassured with a small grin. "You don't have to explain yourself. But you understand now why I needed to bring you here. And I'm sure you also know the amount of trust I'm investing in you with this." The quarterback nodded that he did beyond the shadow of a doubt, a lump forming in his throat.
Lightly tapping on the doorframe with his knuckles, the braided athlete smiled, "Good. Marcus and Tai are in this section of the building. Just holler if you need anything."
The moment that he stepped into the kitchen, Duo could feel the tension from Hilde. Her back to him, she stood at the counter slicing up some meat. Solo was at the stove cooking what shavings she passed on to him. Taking up one of the spare knives, the running back stood beside his 'sister' at the cutting board and took up some of the vegetables to dice.
Hilde glared out of the corner of her eye and growled deeply, "Would you mind explaining to me why you thought it was a good idea to bring him here? And why didn't you at least have the decency to call and warn us?"
Pausing in his work, Solo turned to his wife and warned, "Hil. This isn't-" He stopped when his braided friend raised his hand and shook his head. Taking a deep breath, the tall blonde returned to his work and just sat back for whatever was about to unfold.
Slowly lowering the blade in his hand, Duo faced the young woman and gritted, "This is exactly why, Hil. I knew that it was going to start an argument with you. Somehow, you have this idea that I don't think ahead when my family's involved."
When Hilde raised her head and opened her mouth to protest, the football player raised his hand once more. "Now, granted," he continued with his violet eyes narrowing, "you and Solo spend more time with my kids than I do during the week. I can't tell either of you how much I appreciate everything that you've done to look after them when I'm away."
Leaning forward until his nose almost touched hers, Duo's voice slowly rose as he stated, "But I'm the one spending every waking second worrying and doing everything that I can to provide for them.
"There is not a goddamned thing that I do without them in mind! So I would appreciate it if you would stop patronizing me when it comes to raising my kids!" After nearly screaming his last comment, he quickly turned away and went back to slicing the carrots that he started.
Her mouth opening and closing, Hilde stood shock-still. Swallowing roughly, she took a deep breath and considered the words that she knew to be true. Very slowly turning back to her own work, she wiped a stray tear from her cheek.
At the stove, Solo smirked in pride for his 'brother'. As much as he loved his wife, the blonde knew that she was quite opinionated. And her opinion in the case of the running back's parenting skills was terribly wrong.
There was a long silence before the young woman made the first attempt to speak. "You're right, Duo. I don't have the right to second guess you the way I do after everything that you've done for those kids." she said quietly without looking over to her 'brother'. "I'm sorry."
Satisfied with that, Duo slowly leaned into her with a soft nudge and he muttered, "'s all right... Even though you really can be a pain in the ass sometimes." He laughed when Hilde swatted him in the shoulder with a smirk. Solo just snickered and shook his head in clear relief that a sense of normalcy had returned.
Resuming her chopping, Hilde commented, "So I take it things must be progressing pretty well for you to trust Heero enough to invite him here."
A deep frown marred Duo's face. "Things are... complicated between us right now. I'm not really sure how it's all going to work out," he answered while pausing in his task. Slowly looking over to his 'sister', he nodded, "But I do trust him."
She met his violet gave and returned the nod. Taking a deep breath, she replied with a small grin, "Then, in that case, he's right by me." Gently resting her hand atop of his on, she squeezed it. "And for both your sakes, I hope that the complicated details sort themselves out," she said softly.
"Me too," the running back sighed deeply as he turned back to the vegetables. The three friends continued the remainder of their preparation in a companionable silence.
All anyone could hope was that it wasn't the calm before the storm when it came to Heero.
TBC...
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