Work Text:
As the pregnancy test turned out to indeed be very positive, Lio now wondered how far along he was. The only kind of pregnancy test they had were the cheap ones where you can only see if you’re pregnant, not the week number. They had decided to use the cheap ones since they knew it would be better for their financial situation. But to be fair, they had a lot of those, having hoarded them over the past two years.
But now they had an appointment with the doctor the following day, and Galo was so excited he could hardly contain himself, bouncing his legs literally every time he sat still. It was fine in the beginning, Lio could understand it; he was excited as well, but at 3 AM he simply couldn’t take it anymore.
“Galo…”
“Lio? I thought you were asleep. What’s going on?” Then he gasped in fear, looking beside himself. “Are you in pain? Is it the baby?!”
Lio sighed, trying to not get too upset as he knew what Galo was feeling; he felt it himself all the time. That his body would reject the baby and they would lose it. Instead of being angry now, he felt compassion, and he reached out for Galo’s shoulder in the dark to calm him. “I’m fine, I just… Can you stop doing that thing with your leg?”
“What thing?” Galo immediately replied, but when he felt Lio’s hand on his shoulder, he realised how tense he was. “Oh… That thing.”
Lio smiled tiredly, not that Galo could see it, but he felt much better now that Galo’s leg was calm. “Thank you.”
“Hey, I’m your baby daddy, you can ask anything of me!” Galo’s grin was easy to hear.
“Oh yeah?” Then I want a-” Before Lio could finish the sentence, he felt saliva gather on his tongue, and then an intruding feeling coming up his throat. He knew exactly what it was. Rushing out to the bathroom, Lio managed to get the toilet lid up in the last second before vomiting violently into the porcelain bowl.
He stood there for a couple of minutes after he had thrown up, breathing hard and laboured. It stung and the taste was horrible, as if his body just didn’t agree with him eating those spicy noodles the evening before.
“Ughhh…” Lio moaned sickly, but he at least managed to get up from his seat and dry his mouth. That’s when he heard Galo enter, turning on the light and looking very concerned.
“You okay?”
Lio sniffled a bit, it seemed like the vomiting had also gotten to his nose. He nodded slightly, but the nausea didn’t go away. “Y-Yeah, I just… I feel bad all of a sudden.”
Galo exited the bathroom. Lio could hear him rummaging in the kitchen, looking for something. Then he came back with a glass of water, which he gave to Lio. “Here, you can get rid of that awful taste now.”
Lio took the offered glass and rinsed his mouth, feeling much better after the acid taste had been washed off his tongue. The nausea still lingered, but Galo helped him back to the bed, found a bucket to place beside the bed, and held him tight whenever Lio let him.
“You’re doing amazing, you know that?” Galo said, as he watched Lio sit on the edge of the bed, breathing through his nose to calm the nausea.
“Huh? What…” There was a pause as Lio tried to breathe evenly. “What do you mean?”
“All I’m saying is that you’re great. You’re carrying our baby and you do it so well.”
Lio let out a snort, but then he grew quiet.
Galo could tell he was thinking, could practically hear the gears turning inside his head, it was that quiet. “Babe…?”
“It’s really in there, isn’t it?”
Galo sat up in bed and inched closer to Lio, grabbing the smaller male’s hand. “Well yeah, the pregnancy tests confirmed it.”
“You know what I mean,” Lio scoffed. “It’s just… Everything we’ve worked so hard for, it’s just beneath my fingertips. And tomorrow… We finally get to see her.”
Galo smiled and lead Lio’s hand up to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on it. “We will. We’ll see her, and-” Galo abruptly cut himself off and then looked at Lio with eyes as wide as saucers. “You know the gender?!”
Lio snorted again, but this time it lead to full-blown laughter. “No, of course not. But I like to think of her as a girl.”
The smile Lio wore on his face was so soft, it completely blew Galo away, leaving him speechless as he just stared at his boyfriend. The silence lasted for a couple of minutes, and it was enough to worry Lio. “Galo? You alright there?”
“I love you.” Galo said suddenly. Then he embraced Lio, holding him tight despite the smell of sick coming from the bucket by the side. “I love you, I love you, I love you!”
Lio just laughed again, nuzzling into the side of Galo’s neck. “Where did that come from?”
Galo laughed as well. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I love you.”
-
Neither of them got that much sleep that night. Because of the nausea and the excitement of going to the doctor, they were both awake until the early morning hours, and just as Lio felt like he had fallen asleep, he heard the alarm go off.
Groaning tiredly, Lio got up and went to the bathroom to shower. He wanted to look his best for this appointment, mostly considering he didn’t know who his doctor was. Galo was the one who had booked the appointment, and he had giggled when he was one the phone. That made Lio all the more curious as to what was happening, but Galo had kept quiet for once in his life, teasingly kissing Lio on the head and said it was a surprise.
But now they were here, at the clinic, and of course Galo’s leg was bouncing like crazy.
“Why are you even nervous when you already know who the doctor is?” Lio asked, kind of fed up with Galo’s behaviour. He knew he wasn’t being fair, but he barely slept, and it showed by how cranky he was.
Galo didn’t let himself be touched by Lio’s comment, in fact he seemed proud of his leg bouncing. “It’s not because I’m nervous! It’s because I’m very excited to meet our baby!”
Even if Lio had been cranky before, he couldn’t help the soft smile on his lips. He was truly lucky to be in love with such an idiot.
“Mr Fotia? Doctor Ardebit will see you now.” Came the call from the nurse.
“Ardebit? Isn’t that…” Lio began as he got up, but Galo finished the sentence for him.
“Aina’s sister. Yup, that’s her!” He grinned, going over to the open door, where a familiar face awaited them.
“Lio, Galo, I’m glad to see you guys.” She said, smiling shyly at the couple.
Lio was astounded. He was also kind of apprehensive, because this was the woman who had turned countless Burnish into ashes. Still she looked kind, friendly even, and she shook Galo’s hand as Galo enthusiastically greeted her.
“Heris! Good to see you again!” It had been a little over 3 years since they had met for the first time, but that certainly hadn’t been the last. Since they had sent the Promare home, Heris had been working hard on redeeming herself to the Burnish, but Lio still felt suspicious of her.
“Right, Lio, if you would just sit on the examination table, we’ll get some tests done.” She said, the same shy smile on her face. It seemed she hadn’t gotten over her treatment of the Burnish either: She was also nervous around Lio, the same way he felt uneasy around her.
“What, are you an obstetrician now?” Lio couldn’t help the sharp tone of his voice, but he still got up on the table, looking at Heris with guarded eyes.
“Yes. I’ve been working very hard to become one over the past years, so please have faith in me.” She said as she fetched a few things. “First we’ll check your blood pressure.”
Lio let Heris check his blood pressure. He also let her take a few blood samples, weigh him, and then for the grand finale: The ultrasound.
Galo had been sitting patiently on a chair in the room, commenting every now and then on the answers Lio gave (“Pizza’s not a part of a healthy diet?”), but when Heris pulled out the ultrasound equipment, he couldn’t sit still anymore and was standing by Lio’s side, tapping his foot excitedly.
“Let me see here…” Heris said as she put gel on his stomach and moved the ultrasound wand over Lio’s abdomen. It wasn’t big yet, but where it had been very firm before, it was now a bit more soft.
“Ah, there we have it.”
Both Lio’s and Galo’s eyes were glued to the screen, and at first they couldn’t see anything. But then Heris pointed it out, and it was like time froze.
At the screen, a tiny, tiny, bean-like thing had appeared. It wasn’t bigger than a raspberry, yet Lio swore he could feel it. He was so enthralled that he didn’t hear Heris’ words, but he heard one thing: A tiny lub-dub, too quick to be a heartbeat, but it was so regular and-
“Lio, that’s the heartbeat!” Galo exclaimed joyfully, squeezing Lio’s hand with one hand and pointing at the screen with the other.
Lio didn’t need Galo to point it out; his eyes hadn’t strayed from the tiny life form at all. He simply couldn’t take his eyes off of it, because if he did, it might disappear and he would lose it forever.
“The fetus looks fine, I’d say you’re about... 8 weeks along. Size is normal, heartbeat is normal, and… Lio? Is something wrong?” A concerned Heris asked, and suddenly two pairs of eyes were on him, both equally concerned.
That’s when Lio realised he was crying. He hadn’t noticed before, but now that he had noticed the tears, he couldn’t stop them. “S-Sorry, I don’t, I don’t know what’s gotten into me…”
“A baby?” Galo said, completely serious. That made Lio snort, then laugh out loud, and finally the tears stopped. He was grateful for Galo’s comment, because he knew that he would keep crying if it hadn’t been for Galo.
Heris just smiled. “I’ll see you again in 3 weeks. Please keep in mind that you’ll most likely tire more easily in the next couple of weeks. It’ll stop soon after you hit the second trimester.”
“Oh, and before I forget.” Heris clicked a mouse on the machinery and typed for a bit, before she gave Lio a tissue he could use to wipe the gel off his stomach. After a little while, another machine hummed and produced a couple of pieces of paper. “Here are your pictures of your baby.” She said as she handed Lio the pictures.
Lio took the offered pictures and looked at them, fondly tracing his fingers against the tiny bean on the picture.
They said their goodbyes and got into the car, Lio holding the pictures close all the time. This was their baby, and he would do everything to protect it.
That night, when Lio and Galo lay in bed, Lio would stay up a little longer, faintly tracing his fingers against the picture while gentle rubbing his still flat stomach. “I love you, little bean…” He whispered. Galo was fast asleep, the excitement of the day having gotten to him. “I truly love you…” And with a content sigh, he put the picture on his nightstand, falling asleep, the other hand never leaving his abdomen.