GW is owned by Bandai, and I make no money from these fics. No warnings for this chapter. Pairings are DXH, of course! <G>

Quiet Desperation - Chapter 9
By Caliko

Hilde:

A secretive murmuring reached my ears through the walls, causing my mother's instinct to go haywire. The Maxwell Demons were up to no good! It still confused me, how I just knew these things... but I did.

I sat up, dislodging Duo's frizzy morning head off of my belly. His arms tightened momentarily, then let go as I slid out of bed. Carefully, I tiptoed to the door, and eavesdropped on the girls.

"Yeah, Aunty Sid.. We saw them! They were in the same bed!" Becca ratted to the picture of Sid on the screen,. Mercy was nodding her head, unsure what the big deal was, but knowing that it was important.

"YES!" Sid yelped out loud, laughter oozing out of her voice. "You two keep me informed, ok?"

"Oh, I don't think that will be necessary, Sid. You could just ask me." I let it be known that they were caught, smirking at my sister's bright red blush. The Twins had no clue that they did wrong, though. I will have to have a little chat with them about this later.

"Hey, Hilde! You can't blame me with checking up on your happiness! After all.. you are my baby sister!"

:::She was shameless.. totally, and unrepentantly shameless!:::

Without answering, I grinned, then clicked the disconnect button. Let her wonder if I was mad or not. She didn't need to know that I was feeling VERY lenient.. VERY content right now.

The living room couch was empty, and there was a note on the fridge. Reading it, I chuckled, then put it back. Howard had left soon after Duo and I went to bed. We didn't need to sleep together after all!

:::It was for the best.::: I thought, opening the door and pulling out the eggs. :::Duo and I needed that little icebreaker.:::

Grabbing the frying pan and a few more things from the fridge, I scrambled eggs, milk, and cinnamon together while the oiled pan heated. A few minutes later, the smell of french toast filled the air.

"Hilde?" Duo shouted from his bedroom. "Babe? Where are you?"

"In the kitchen, Duo. What's wrong?" He nearly tripped into the room in his haste. His tight face relaxed as he saw me, and I watched as his hands unclenched.

"I.. I thought you left." He confessed, wincing as he realized how stupid that sounded.

I looked at the girls, and silently shooed them from the kitchen. Walking over to their father, I took his face in my palms and kissed him, not letting up until he relaxed and kissed me back.

The smell of burnt egg rose to our noses just as his arm snaked around me. I sighed, then pushed him down into his chair just in time to throw that batch out.

Dipping a few more piece's of bread into the egg, I refreshed the oil in the pan and put them in to fry. Duo stared at me the entire time, a secretive smile curling up the corners of his mouth. He was thinking about last night.. I just knew it.

Blushing, I took the french toast out of the pan and put it on a plate in front of him. I was just about to walk away, when he pulled me down into his lap.

"You left me this morning." He reminded me, giving me the hurt puppy look. "I really thought that you ran away again."

"Dummy. I would never have come back here if I planned to run away the first time we made love."

He nuzzled my ear with his mouth, gently running his tounge over the thin curve of it's shell. "Was it love?" He breathed, sending tingles down my back.

"Hmmm... You know it was."

I leaned my head back on his shoulder and melted into his chest.

"Greedy wench." He chuckled.

His chest rumbled underneath my ear, and I blushed before straightening.

He grabbed my hand as I got up, tugging on it until I looked into his face.

"Babe? Just one promise, and I'll make it too. For now on, when either of us get our foot stuck in our mouths? Neither of us leaves the room until it's settled, ok? I really don't think I can take another six years living without my Hilde."

"Hmmmm." I bent down and kissed him again. "I promise, Duo. I don't think **I** can go that long without you, either."

The girls chose that time to run in, taking up all of our attention. By the looks of them... they had been playing in the garage. Grease was all over their clothes, laying in clumps embedded into their hair.

:::Well, I told them to go play...::: I grimaced to myself, steering them into the bathroom. "Like father, like daughters." I said out loud, secretly pleased that they WERE like Duo.

Their father, of course, thought that this was the funniest thing he had ever seen.. the warped mad man. Oh well.. we where a pair, weren't we?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epilouge: 2 Years Later

Duo:

I chewed my nails, agonising over each wail that floated through the door. I fluttered around, worried so much, that Dr. Smith actaully kicked me out of the labor room.

Wufei, of course, thougth that was only right. He believed that men had no business in that hallowed sanctuary.

I got up and paced over to the double doors, trying to see anything. Of course, I couldn't. They had the window's frosted.

"What's taking them so long?" I demanded, looking over at the guys.

"She's only been in there for two hours, Maxwell! Labor takes time." Wufei snorted, pointing to his watchface. "I don't know what the two of you were doing, there on the dance floor with her that far along!"

"Hilde wanted to tango." I really tried to defend us, but, out loud, my excuse was just pathetic. The guys thought so too, by the look of it.

Heero was pinching the bridge of his nose, while Quatre was just staring at me with a dumbfounded look. Trowa just gave me that blank look he has, and Wufei.. oh!

For the first time in my life, I was glad that I didn't understand chinese. Sally kept putting her hand over his mouth, but Wu just pushed her hand away and got louder. I tried to cringe into a corner, hoping that no one would realize I was with him.

"Um.. I think I'll just call Howard to see how the girls are behaiving...." I edged toward the door, partly to make the call, but mostly to get away from Wufei.

"Use my cell." Heero handed me the thin black phone, smirking as I growled.

Just then, Dr. Smith came out of the delivery room, earning instant quiet with his smile.

"Mr. Maxwell? It's a squalling eight pound four ouce baby boy..." He laughed a bit, then added.. "Mother and child are just fine, but I don't think you want to hear Mama's opinion of you right now."

I only heard part of his speech. Seconds later, I was sprinting down the hall to the recovery room, and getting my first glance at Hilde.

Knocking on the window, I got the nurses attention, smiling my most charming smile until she let me in.

"She's sleeping, and the baby's under the heat lamps right now. But I don't see why you couldn't hold her hand and wait for her to wake up."

She finished hanging Hilde's IV, then sat down at her desk to write her notes. I sat on the stool next to the gurney, hanging on to my wife's hand.

Her eyes fluttered up, coming into focus to rest on my face. I brought her hand to my lips, returning her tired smile.

"Love you..." She whispered, falling back to sleep.

"I love you, too, Hilde. I'm glad you decided to stay."

I leaned down and kissed her forehead as she slept on.

:::Let her rest." I thought, :::raising a houseful of Maxwells is bound to be tireing.:::

:::The End:::