Brian's POV

I came around to shouting and a beeping noise. I recognized the shouting as Justin's voice, but my eyelids wouldn't cooperate to open.

I tried lifting my hand to feel around for him, but something caught my wrist and made me hiss in pain. I hoped it wasn't a needle.

"Brian!" Justin's warm hands grasped mine. "I'm here. Shit. You scared me to death."

My eyelids finally pried open and first thing I saw was his tear-stained face. "What…" My voice was scratchy and my mouth felt like I'd swallowed sand paper.

"You're okay. Both of you. The doctor said you overexerted yourself."

I sighed loudly. "Water?"

"Here. Small sips."

Once I had some water inside me and my mouth and throat felt less scratchy, I squeezed his hand. "Did I hear you screaming earlier?"

He turned red. "Yeah, the nurse wouldn't allow me in here. It's late at night, but I don't give a fuck."

"Late at night? How long I've been out?"

"Too long. Fuck, Brian." He lunged at me, wrapping his arms around my neck. "You're not allowed to scare me like this."

"Sure." I stroked his back. "Is Dr. Hunt around? I'd like to speak to him."

Justin pulled away to stare at me surprised. "You called him Dr. Hunt."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm aware."

"I'll go find him, but he said Munchkin is fine. You on the other hand, weren't so okay. He named all kinds of scary things as being off—like your blood pressure, your glucose levels, your calcium. So guess what? You're on bed rest until next appointment." He beamed.

I could tell he was planning on strapping me to the bed if I didn't cooperate.

After Dr. Hump's visit confirmed everything Justin had told me, I was left to rest. To my surprise, Justin made himself comfortable in the plastic chair by my bed.

"If you plan on staying, get in here. We can fit in this bed. I'm not that fat, yet."

"You need to rest."

"I'm perfectly fine. Get in here."

As he settled next to me, draping one arm over my chest, I thought of the last thing I remembered before waking up in the hospital.

"Shit. Does Leo Brown know about this?"

"I'm afraid so. And so does most of your staff."

"Double shit."

"It's okay. They're supportive. Look, they sent you flowers." He pointed to the table by the window.

"Did you call the others?"

"Uh, I didn't have to. I was with Michael at the store when Ted called me. I freaked and Michael took over the phone. He called Debbie. We all came as soon as possible."

I stroked his cheek, not liking at all to see him distressed. "I'm so sorry I scared you, Sunshine."

"It's okay. As long as you cut back hours at work, and actually listen to me about sitting on the fucking couch every now and then."

"When are we seeing Dr. Hump?"

"Friday. This Friday. So this means, for four days you're going to listen to me. You'll be my personal bitch and love every minute of it."

"It usually turns me on when you get bossy. Now, you're freaking me out. I better get to sleep before you bring a whip."

"Good boy." He pecked my forehead. "I love you."

I hummed, burrowing closer to him. I blamed it on Munchkin. He needed to be close to his daddy.

When I woke up next time, it was morning and Debbie was at the foot of my bed, looking through some magazine. I debated whether it was safe to pretend to be asleep or alert her that I was awake.

I decided the latter was a smarter decision. So I nudged her with my foot and smiled.

"Brian, honey!"

"Don't!" I held my hand out to stop her from hugging me.

"You scared us."

"Yeah, I heard about that."

"So you better listen to Sunshine. Do you hear me? I don't think I've seen him so terrified in my life."

"Yes, mother." I shifted in a sitting position. "Is there any decent food in this shithole of a place?"

"Right on time!" Justin laughed, entering the room when I was complaining. He dangled a paper bag in front of him. "I have donuts and decaf."

"Have I told you lately that I love you?"

He clutched theatrically at his heart. "Are you quoting from my favorite movie?"

"We can watch it later if you bring me a donut. Did you get the ones with colored sprinkles? They're delicious."

"Yes, dear." He gave me the bag, leaning to kiss Debbie's cheek.

For a first, she was stunned into silence. "You're like an old, married couple."

"Why, thank you." I nudged her again with my foot. "Want some?" I offered Justin a piece of donut. He leaned closer, and almost sucked my fingers into his mouth. "Dr. Hump said not to overexert myself. Fucking means overexertion, so cut out the foreplay. Until Friday."

He choked on the donut, thumped on his chest, and shot Debbie an apologetic look. Like she didn't know me.

"Have some coffee." I pushed my cup to Justin.

He gulped from it, gratefully. "Sheesh, Brian. Don't you have a filter? I must buy you a book on manners. If you talk like that once Munchkin arrives, I'll fucking kill you."

"Duly noted."

oOo

"Holy shit! Come here! You've got to see this!" Justin shouted excitedly from somewhere in the living room's direction.

I flipped the pages of Esquire, rolling my eyes. "Sorry, can't do. My evil twink will cut my one real remaining ball if I as much as step a toe out of the bed!"

"Oh, crap. I'll bring the laptop."

Of course.

He'd been driving me crazy. I had seventeen more hours to endure him. Seventeen too many.

He even came with me to the bathroom, making sure I was okay when I took a piss or a shit, and I couldn't say the showers he accompanied me in were pleasurable. Maybe except when he gave me a back rub a few hours ago.

A lot of cursing and noise later, Justin appeared at the foot of the stairs with the laptop in his hands.

"You have so much crap on your desk."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "What did you want to show me?"

He saw my entertainment and shoved the magazine out of my hands. "Why do you have to stare at them when you have me?"

"First, this is about men's fashion, which you're lacking considerably. Secondly, thanks for letting me know. Next time I need entertainment, I might make you strip for me. Thanks for the idea."

"I wasn't the King of Babylon for nothing." He crawled next to me, bringing the laptop on his knees. "Look at this, Brian! Dr. Hunt told you there were some other cases like you in the world. This guy is from Canada. He gave birth to a baby girl last year!" Justin's wide eyes bore into mine.

"How did you even come across this?" I frowned, pulling the laptop closer.

It made me feel a thousand times better, but I didn't let him know. I actually had proof I wasn't the only freak of nature of the planet.

The blog was about this couple of guys. One of them looked like a dork to me and the other seemed to be a business man.

Leo, short from Leopold (yeah, that was the dork with an equally dorky name) and Keith (the business man) spoke at length about how they met, and how it wasn't easy for them to settle into a relationship.

I could relate.

The next entry of their blog was Leo moving in with Keith (no surprise there, really). Keith had written about adjusting to all of Leo's flashy lifestyle invading his pristine condo.

There, I couldn't relate. In that department, Justin was as normal as me. He didn't even require more than a drawer for his clothes, which was unjust for the fashion world.

There were many other stupid entries, like, Leo and Keith cooking, Leo and Keith's day in the park, Leo and Keith shopping for a new TV, Leo and Keith and the first fight.

Some people really didn't have anything better to do than write shit like this. They could go out and fuck, for example.

When I was about to question Justin on the accuracy of this blog, an entry caught my attention.

Leo and Keith have a…surprise. I clicked on it, as Justin snuggled into my side.

"Again, how did you come across this? Why aren't you jacking off to porn like every normal teenager?"

"Shut up! I've been trying to find something on other men being pregnant since I found out about you! Call it my lucky day…though, I found this last night. And read all night. Why do you think I was sleeping at your desk at noon, instead of the bed?"

"Oh, I thought you were giving me space." I cringed, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Read that one. It's very entertaining," he urged me.

"Let me guess. Leo is the one who got knocked up. I really don't want to know how their kid would turn out."

Justin smirked. "Why don't you read and find out?" He pecked my cheek. "I'm going to make us a snack. What do you want?"

"Do we still have peanut butter? God, I'm glad we changed his name into Munchkin." I laughed.

Justin chuckled. "I'll check. You want to remember your childhood? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?"

"I never had those…until I met Mikey…and Debbie sent him to school with one more for me." I smiled wistfully. "Anyway, no. I want peanut butter and jelly and ham sandwiches."

Justin gagged, scurrying out of the bed. "Freak," he mumbled but I heard him. And threw my pillow at his head.

Shit. That was an uncalculated gesture.

"Can you throw it back? I need my pillow. Please?"

"No!"

"Sorry? Come on, Justin," I begged. "I can't get out of bed."

"I'm starting to see all the bad sides of you on bed rest." He stomped back to my side and pressed the pillow to my face. "Here you go, darling."

"Fuck off," I muttered, placing it behind me and shifting into a better position for my bedtime reading.

Finally left alone, I could concentrate on the pathetic Canadian fags' blog.

It was written by Leo, saying they'd gone for their six month check-up. (Why would they need that? Did I miss something about them not being monogamous?) When the results came, they were both called in the doctor's office. I scrolled down his worries about something being wrong and got to what I wanted—the news.

My eyes widened when I saw it was Keith who got knocked up.

Is the world coming to an end? Is there no ultimate top left in the world?

I continued reading, which was extremely difficult because every few words Leo had written in Italics and with many exclamation points: Oh MY God!; A baby!; Can you believe it!

There had been fainting and crying (both from Leo, obviously), and worries about what was happening to him from Keith.

I understood him. Totally.

That was where the actual blog started, in my opinion. They'd updated it every Saturday with news about every day of the past week: pictures of Keith, changes in Keith, and in their relationship.

On week 40, when he actually had their baby, in that picture he looked only a little more round than me. Which made me realize I'd really gained too much for how far along I was. But all the food I'd deprived myself of all these years tasted so good, and I couldn't say no to anyone offering me sweets.

Just last week, I'd gone so far as to steal Gus's chocolate. From his hand. I couldn't even feel bad. He's such a great kid and even asked if I wanted more, because he knew where his mommies kept it hidden.

"Is my sandwich done?" I called to Justin, realizing he was taking too long to make a goddamn sandwich. "Justin?" I was met by silence. "JUSTIN!"

For fuck's sake.

I placed the laptop next to me, and rolled out of the bed. It was too low. Why the fuck did I make my bed so low?

"I'm coming down. You better not shout at me," I warned.

The fuck is he?

The sandwiches were half done and left on the counter.

Now I was getting worried.

I advanced to the living room, trying not to create horrible scenarios in my head.

Maybe he wasn't feeling well.

I sighed in relief when I saw him on the sofa, curled on his side, sleeping. The unrestful previous night and being my maid the whole day had worn him out.

I threw the blanket over him, running my fingers through his hair. He smiled, leaning into my touch. It made my heart melt and tears pool into my eyes.

These hormones were driving me crazy. I hated them to death. I never cried.

Munchkin reminded me he was hungry, so I finished the sandwiches, took them to bed and ate both of them. After eleven at night. Fuck the carbs. It was too late to care about my figure.

While I munched on my snack, I scrolled through their blog. What was important to me was the birth process, and Leo hadn't written much on it. Many entries later, Keith explained it in details. He had a C-section, which barely left a scar.

I want his surgeon, I thought idly.

Then came the baby pictures.

If someone had told me a few months ago I'd be staring at baby pictures and smiling like this, I'd have them committed. Heck, even a few days ago I wasn't that much into all the baby shit.

But seeing Kira-Lee, their daughter, made me think more of the little intruder inside me. He was actually alive, growing, and depending on me. I had to take better care of myself, in order to keep Munchkin alive and well.

That night I fell asleep thinking about the changes I was going to make. Oh, and I wanted to contact these two; maybe even…cringe…swap stories. God, I was turning into a pussy.

Fuck you, Justin.