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"Elijah Michael Larsin-Gold what are you doing to your brother?!" Walking over to where he believed his son to be, he stopped still as the boy turned his head. "Who in hell are you?!"
"I could ask the same as you look nearly the same as my mum." What was this kid talking about? The boy could practically be his son's clone, the only thing different being the clothes that nearly swamped the kid. Watching as Alexander was let go of, he sighed in relief.
"I have a bad feeling about all of this. Come on, I'll help you find your mum, or well the proper version of him I guess. What's your name kid?" He really needed to find his other kids, and if what this kid said was true he was about to run into another version of himself. He had a strong feeling of deja vu, but ignored it upon his hand being taken.
"You can call me Junior as my name and origins may not bode well with you. Thank you." Nodding to show he heard, he held both hands in his as the three of them walked. It didn't look like there were any walls, the area more like a white void than anything he's seen before. It was a while before the three of them could see anything other than the blank white, a group of five before them. He was a bit suspicious, until he was practically knocked over with hugs. So that made three of his kids accounted for out of the five.
"Have either of you seen Arv or Eli? I'm so glad you're okay." Glancing up after checking both kids for any injuries, he noticed the weary looks on the two other adults in the vicinity. Well he was right, he was going to be seeing alternate versions of himself.
"This is so weird."
"I'll agree with you on that. So which one are you?" Blinking a few times, he noticed how the two stood, the uniform on both making him weary.
"You're both… Red Leaders?" Watching the both of them blink, he got the feeling that he's been there before, this time stronger. He got two nods, able to see the one fidget in place from where he stood.
"How could you tell? Are you one too?" Shaking his head, he felt as Delilah pulled down on his shoulder.
"Used to be, I didn't get rescued by Paul and Patryck. Wouldn't have these three and their two brothers if I did." Giving a smile, he tapped each of his kids' heads lightly.
"Don't you mean four?" Watching the gesture to the little boy who now sat next to him, he ruffled Junior's hair a bit.
"This one isn't mine, I'm keeping an eye on him until we run into his mum." Snorting softly as he felt his hair thump against his back in a thick braid, he glanced back to his ginger daughter. "Thank you, 'Lilalynn."
"Interesting. I wonder how many versions of us there are here and how many have kids." Nodding along with the question, he saw one gesture to his left hand, the three rings sitting on the proper digit. "You're married?"
"Yes, to three idiots that have a hard time keeping hands to themselves. Why do you think there's a age gap between these two and Alex." Laughing softly, he heard a soft groan from one of his three.
"You did it twice?! I love my girls but I sure as hell will not go through that experience again." Nodding in understanding, he watched as both sat on the ground.
"What happened to you? Were the both of them little surprises?"
"Only one was, little Mirian. Her sister Gabrielle and her decided to come out while I was in this big important meeting away from the base. I don't recommend it at all, especially since pastel the… butthead kept yelling at me because I couldn't pay attention. Had a fever and actually passed out once Mirian was out of me." Watching the guy getting worked up while going back over the point in time, he bit his lip. "What about you both? I don't want to be the only one who tells his story. You should have two actually."
"Why don't we wait a few more moments, I see people coming." Glancing around, he nearly missed as Junior got up and ran towards two boys. He guessed those were his brothers, and the figure behind them was probably their mum. Well that's good. Watching as all of the newcomers got settled down, he could see the one keep looking around.
"What's wrong?" Speaking softly, he moved to sit by the war leader, leaving his four kids where they slept. Harvey had returned with one of the groups and was now asleep in a larger group of kids a bit away.
"Neither of my kids have shown up. I'm not even sure if my daughter is going to be here since I didn't have her. I'm more than a little worried about them." Nodding, he watched as the other pulled a photo out of his uniform pocket.
"I'm sure they're alright, I'm sure there's a bunch of kids that haven't shown up yet. What do they look like?" Being shown the picture, he had to hold back from laughing outright. "I'm sorry, but your son looks like my oldest almost exactly. It's a little uncanny." Smiling, he put his hand against the leader's back, going back to listening to the different tales. There were at least five of them that are or were Red Leader so far, himself included. Three didn't even know what the Red Army was.
"Okay, your turn ex leader. You're the only one with two sets of multiples." Sighing softly, he stayed in his spot, glancing around the group.
"Alright, well first go around I was overdue with what we thought was twins. Tom jump started my labor by shoving snow down my shirt while I was making cocoa, my doctor walked through a snowstorm to help. Second go I was on bedrest because of some pretty bad things and all, had the twins after a surprise baby shower in the bathroom because it's faster the second time. That's pretty much it." Shrugging a little, he looked out to the group.
"Nice, I wasn't the only one who had his baby in a snowstorm." Snorting, he watched and listened as more stories were told.
"Damn, sorry we're late to the party. Becca stop squirming around, can't hold you if you keep moving." So by uniform alone that made six army leaders. Watching silently as the two sat nearby, he could see the blonde little girl settle down a little, swinging around to look at everyone.
"Where's papa, mummy?" Hearing the little girl, he blankly wondered who she was referring to. That's a bit of wonderment, who each baby daddy was. He must not have been alone on this thought, because the conversation was taken by the reins by the one guy who didn't have kids yet, as in he's in labor. How the poor guy ended up here he didn't know, he just hoped the guy was safe.
"I'm just gonna ask this right off, sorry if it's tied to bad memories and all but who screwed all of you?" Watching a few as they thought over the question, he saw as someone else spoke up. He really needs to think of some way to differ between all of them.
"How the hell did you even manage to get here while in labor?"
"The pain meds knocked me out because apparently even after a day and a half I'm not fully dilated. Only reason I'm even in the hospital is because a stage light nearly killed me, so nothing too bad. I'll start, Paul is either still on his way or is sitting bedside waiting for me to wake up and push the little troublemaker out." Hearing a few laughs, he was nearly positive that he'd be the only one both married and with all of his three. It looked like everyone was going to move where they sat based on all that, he'll be sitting alone he guessed.
"What if the person who claims the kid isn't the biological father?" The question came from beside him, two others nodding. Well that's a good point.
"Say both I guess, sit with whichever is easier." Seeing the affirmative, he watched as a few moved to sit elsewhere.
"Edd doesn't pay his damn child support, Paul claims Aksel and became his step-dad when Mariëtte was born." Hearing more laughter, he watched as more movement happened. There were a few who had Paul as the other parent, the one alternate being with both Paul and Patryck. It was a little funny how Edd had the most kids tied to him, even more so the relationships.
"Wow, this is really awkward. I was abducted by aliens which I had no clue about until I went into labor. Was found after the fact unconscious by Mason who pretty much became Becca's dad by this point." Well there's someone new.
"Hey, there's people coming!" Not what he meant but alright. Turning to see who exactly was coming, he nearly stood all too quickly. A short distance away he could see a group of four, and he could recognise two right off the bat.
"Vader! I see him, I see him Aksel!" Snorting, he could hear more laughter from the rest of the group.
"I will never get over how he just managed to teach you to call me that." Watching as the small group got closer, he smiled as he watched Elijah hand off the little girl who was clinging to his back before walking closer, leading a shorter version of himself closer.
"I'm glad you're alright Eli. Thank you for keeping an eye on my son." Smiling at the much shorter, he offered his arm to help the other onto the ground.
"Welcome, but helped get here more than way round." Oh that's cute, this one was still learning English. Sitting on the ground again, he got settled for barely a moment before feeling his sleeve being pulled on. Glancing to the other version of himself, he gave a smile before hearing the shorter speak.
"What all this? Where?" Grinning, he found the words coming out before he understood what he was saying.
"It's most likely the world between universes, we all just managed to migrate to the same area. You've missed most of the introductions, but the basic run down is that all of us are the same construct of a person and we all have or will have kids eventually. Do you happen to know anything at all about the Red Army?" Watching the look of confusion being masked by understanding before going back to confusion, he tried to be understanding when he was given a shake of the head.
"Russian? Can't think other." Laughing a little, he shook his head.
"No, this one is much more recent, I'm actually a little glad you don't know about it. It should be much better there." Sighing a little, he went back to watching the rest of the group chat, telling stories from both before and after having their individual kids.
"So Paul was dragged down to my office by Aksel who was [age] who upon getting into my office told me that Paul was in pain. Mariëtte was already half out by the time I could help. Patryck and I keep teasing him because she thankfully didn't get his eyebrows, he can stay mad about it. Those bricks don't belong on the little princess." Hearing laughter, he watched as someone else sat up.
"Oh that's hilarious. So I was completely alone, but it was by my own choice. I managed to clear the entire week around when I was due, and practically ordered to be left alone until after I gave birth. I was on a live cam the entire duration of my labor and delivery, it was amazing. Paul couldn't tell the boys apart worth his soul until I managed to style their hair, didn't help that him and Patryck were sleeping in the rookies quarters for a while because of what they did to my office." Hearing a sharp cry followed by a low groan in pain from across the group, he felt a hand grab at his arm. He could watch as someone checked on the laboring man, feeling a second trembling hand grab at his left shoulder tightly. Being quick to look around, he practically pulled the smaller into his lap and ran fingers through the soft dark blonde hair.
"Shh, you're alright, just breathe and calm down." Feeling two hands clutch at the front of his shirt, he let it happen, not minding in the slightest when his shirt started collecting tears. Watching another raise an eyebrow at him and what he was doing, he couldn't stop himself from mouthing 'panic attack'. He doubted it was anything new for most of them, especially with war being a common theme. Barely noticing as people moved closer, he saw as the vocalist of the group of them was helped back down onto the floor.
"Hey, look at me for a moment. I didn't mean to startle you, but I couldn't help it either." Smiling lightly as the shorter looked to the other, he watched as the taller of the two grabbed one of the hands that had been clutching his shirt. "You didn't do anything wrong, you're going to be fine. If it makes you feel any better, I've been in labor for thirty-six hours and the only reason I reacted that way was because the pain medication probably wore off. So, why don't we both calm down, maybe share about yourself." Waiting a long moment for a response, everyone seemed to relax at a soft nod.
"'Kay. Am week thirty, is twin girls. All three possible dad, am also possible dad for each them. Was big experiment first, now bigger success. Edd, Matt three each. Tom, I two each. Not easy but we work out." Watching the smile grow on the other's face, he was glad he wasn't the only one who was with all of the three.
"Wow, all four of you? And with multiples? Are you all the same term age or is there a big gap?" Hearing the questions, he glanced around.
"Yes to both and am two weeks before other three. Was trial subject, not want other three hurt with my mistake." There was a light silence over the group, comfortable at first before someone spoke up.
"Sorry for bearing bad thoughts but what are you going to do if you're not the first to go into labor? I mean it is common with multiples, and I have doubts that the other three couldn't prepare themselves for anything unless they understood what was going on. At least, that's how I remember my three." He didn't want to say it, knowing that he was late the first time and a little early with the last time. The poor guy was just panicking, he didn't need to panic yet again. Rubbing the shorter's back, he sighed internally as the younger kept his calm.
"Didn't think that. Hopefully will remember tell and teach all what do. Luck for late not early." He nodded in agreement, hoping that everything turned out well for the guy.
"How many of us who actually knew didn't give birth on the due date? I was late by two weeks due to stress." Raising his hand, he watched a few others follow suit.
"I think more of us went late if I'm not mistaken. A few days for me but who knows if that was just missed days."
"Early from stress, mind you I was lost in a snowstorm and alone so not too hard to understand."
"I'm not due till next week, but Paul and I aren't very financially stable which makes the reason visible." Opening his mouth as the last to speak, he realized that it was equal with him.
"Was overdue with the triplets, would've been induced if the snowstorm didn't happen and Tom didn't act like an idiot. Was almost a week early with the twins due to trauma induced stress." Taking a breath, he barely heard the question asked of him.
"Don't answer if it still hurts but what exactly happened the second time?" Blinking, he watched as everyone else gathered around, even someof the kids. His oldest knew about two thirds of what happened, wether they remembered any of it he didn't know.
"It's fine, it's been a few years and it was just all at once for me. Firstly, I'm an ex-leader, and as far as they were concerned I was dead. That's not exactly great when you're in a very committed relationship with not one, but two very famous men. The world thought I was dead, so being recognized was bad. More on that in a second. Practically anything from my time in the army was a bad topic choice, guns and all would send me into a panic it was so bad. Secondly, someone did manage to get my picture and it wound up being seen by the co-leaders. They found me, and were set on killing me because I 'deserted'. Mind you, they didn't even try to pick me up after the crash. I'm lucky as everything that Patryck is a pisspoor shot, I was shot in the shoulder instead of the head. Lastly I was in a hit and run a few weeks after being shot, and had both of my older sons in the backseat. Blacked out, woke up to check on the boys, blacked out again and finally came back to consciousness while I was being put on a stretcher. I wasn't there fully, so when asked for my name I gave it and was handcuffed to the stretcher. Started panicking, and each time I hit a point both of my shoulders were slammed down, which reopened the bullet wound. I was already bleeding from a head injury, so I was a heavily bleeding eight month pregnant man in a serious panic. That's all, I think the cop got arrested and I wasn't able to go to the trial because of everything so that was fun." Letting out a breath, he smiled softly. He nearly laughed at the horrified looks he gained. The group of them continued for a while longer, sharing stories and telling jokes. At some point people started waking up, the musician one of the first.
Feeling as his hand went numb, he looked to where it should have been. It'd been happening to each of them as they woke up, and he was one of the last few that should be waking up. Saying his goodbyes, he closed his eyes.
Sitting up in bed, he took a deep breath, hearing a commotion in the next room. Hearing running feet down the hall, he couldn't help his laugh at being jumped on by his twin boys. Can't be such a bad thing to keep secret, would just another thing that would come out later.