Schwanger Teil 2
The second part to Schwanger. Buckle up, it's a roller coaster of emotion! And I'm a dork. I go home tomorrow!!! *does happy dance*
Second Trimester, Between 17 and 20 Weeks, Early August
“You, eat,” Timo ordered, shoving the plate of sweet potatoes, ham, and broccoli in front of Linke.
Linke stuck his tongue out at the rapper, making David giggle. Juri straight up glared at Timo when Timo turned to him with another plate. Linke was duly impressed that Timo did not back down from the much, much taller man.
“I can feed myself,” Juri muttered and grabbed the plate from Timo.
Juri sat down at the table with a hrumph, his scowl only softening when Jan smiled at him.
Linke was used to Timo’s over protective attitude by now. The last three months had given him plenty of time to get used to it. Linke had been shocked when he had first realized that that over protectiveness extended beyond David and Jan. Linke had noticed that Timo had been snarky and oddly cold to Frank for almost a week after Linke admitted he was pregnant. Linke had been about to soundly chew the rapper out until David had taken him aside and asked quietly if Frank was supportive of Linke’s decision to keep the baby. That question and its implications had shattered Linke’s world. Timo had been worried about him on top of his own problems, so worried in fact that Timo would have had no problem ostracizing Frank from the rest of the band if he was not going to be behind Linke the whole way.
It made a part of Linke’s hardened heart absolutely melt when he thought about it. It helped him to deal with the more annoying aspects of Timo’s smothering, for example: his attempts to feed David, Linke, and Juri food that he himself had barely helped prepare. Frank had been more than amused to have Timo’s ‘help’ in the kitchen.
ØØØ
“J-Jan, Jan,” Juri gasped, his hands gripping the sheets beneath him hard enough to tear the threads apart. “Jan, something’s wrong. Jan, wake up.”
Jan grunted and turned over, his eyes opening to look at Juri. In a flash, he was up and leaning over Juri as his boyfriend gasped in terror. Juri’s eyes were wide, his face pained, and his breathing shallow. Jan sprang off the bed and ran to the bathroom to get a towel. He soaked it in the sink and scampered back to wipe Juri’s burning hot brow. Juri cried out in pain and bit the pillow underneath him as his body twisted in agony.
“Do you think it could be contractions?” Jan asked, biting his bottom lip as he mopped Juri’s brow.
Juri gasped what might have been an answer but Jan couldn’t understand it as panic began to flood through him. Juri cried out and writhed against the bed in obvious pain. His skin was flushed and hot to the touch, sweat beading up all over his skin. Jan whipped his phone out and dialed the doctor’s number. He glanced at the digital clock by their bed. Three thirty a.m. Jan prayed the doctor was awake.
ØØØ
Jan tapped his foot frantically against the floor. Timo glanced at him but Jan couldn’t calm down. They had driven Juri to the hospital where he had been taken away immediately. All the doctors and nurses would tell him was that Juri had entered shock and needed immediate attention. Jan was a shaking mess as he sat waiting.
He was not allowed to see Juri until the doctors had him stabilized, whatever that meant. Juri and Jan had no legal connection and Juri’s dead grandmother would have had a better chance of entering the operating room than Jan right then.
The nurses running past with instruments and bags of medical fluids did nothing to reassure Jan. He watched them go in and out of the operating wing, the automatic doors opening when they slapped the buttons but no obvious clue as to which operating room they were entering or leaving.
Thirty minutes passed, then an hour with no information. Timo stood up and began to pace back and forth down the hallway as Jan beat a rapid staccato against the floor. Then, after almost two hours of waiting, a doctor emerged from the operating area. She glanced at the men and women waiting, stopping and speaking to each group of anxiety-ridden relatives and friends, and eventually made her way to Jan and Timo.
“Are you here for a Mr. Juri Schewe?” she asked.
Jan’s head whipped up at Juri’s name. The doctor looked at Jan and Timo sadly.
“Mr. Schewe is in critical but stable condition,” she said slowly but with a crisp clarity. “We could not save the baby. The fetus’ blood type was incompatible with the- father’s- and the body rejected it, causing a fever and internal damage. It appears that Mr. Schewe received an Rh positive blood transfusion several years ago and developed antibodies that attacked the fetus, inevitably causing fetal death in utero. Mr. Schewe’s body did not have the proper facilities to expel the fetus and an excess of waste materials led to a septic infection. It was all we could do to save Mr. Schewe’s life.”
Jan swallowed and nodded, looking down at the hospital floor.
“Can we see him?” Timo asked when Jan did not speak.
The doctor glanced at Jan, then Timo before answering.
“Mr. Schewe’s under sedation at the moment but you can certainly go into his room now. It’s room 327,” she said. “It’s down this hallway on the right, if you need me to take you there.”
“We’ll be able to find it,” Timo said. “Thanks, though.”
The doctor gave him a small smile and walked through the doors down the hall.
Timo turned to Jan, who looked about to vomit, and nudged his shoulder. Jan looked at him and closed his eyes, choking out a low sob as he laid his head against Timo’s shoulder. Timo inhaled unsteadily and wrapped an arm around his friend. He rocked them back and forth slowly as tears flowed down Jan’s cheeks.
“This is all my fault,” Jan cried, his voice distorted with pain. “I knew he was A negative; I fucking knew, Timo, and it’s my fault the baby was AB positive. Juri almost d-died because of me, cause I’m so stupid and selfish a-a-and I didn’t think about what would happen if we-”
“Jan, you couldn’t have known,” Timo whispered. “None of us could’ve known.”
“I should’ve asked for more tests. I should’ve asked the doctors’ if this would happen but I didn’t and Juri’s almost-”
“Stop,” Timo said firmly, running a hand over Jan’s cheek and looking him in the eyes. “There’s nothing you can do about it now so stop blaming yourself. Juri’s going to be in a lot of pain when he wakes up and he’s going to need you to be there for him so pull yourself together.”
Jan shuddered but he nodded. Timo stood up and Jan copied him. They walked down the hallway to Juri’s room together, Jan wiping his eyes on his sleeves and breathing shakily the whole way.
Juri was not awake when they got there. They waited, Timo pulling Jan to him, hugging the small DJ as he shook in place, tears coursing down his cheeks as he watched Juri.
When Juri woke up, Jan was sitting on the side of his bed. Jan took one of Juri’s big, square hands in both of his own, covering it as he looked in Juri’s bewildered eyes. Jan took a deep breath.
“The baby’s gone,” Jan said softly, squeezing Juri’s hand.
Juri frowned and sat up a bit, wincing as his stomach muscles pulled at the stitches between his hips.
“What do you mean, the baby’s gone?” Juri asked.
Jan looked down at the bed sheets covering Juri’s waist, then back up into Juri’s eyes. Juri sucked in a breath and shook his head slowly.
“No, that can’t be true. You’re lying!” he screamed, pulling his hand away from Jan. “The baby’s here. The doctors have him. They have to have him. This can’t be happening!”
“Juri, I’m sorry,” Jan whispered, his eyes filling with fresh tears. “The baby was already dead inside you before we got here. You were so sick and the doctors had to save you-”
“You’re lying!” Juri screamed again, his shoulders slumping as hot tears rolled down his cheeks. “You’re lying, Jan,” he cried as his body began to shake under his sobbing. “You have to be lying.”
“I’m not. I’m sorry, Juri, I’m so sorry-”
Timo could not move from his place against the wall. Neither man noticed him there in their grief. Timo began to shake himself as he watched Juri pull Jan up onto the hospital bed into a tight embrace, their tears mingling upon their clothing as they cried together for what felt like hours. Timo did not know what to do. He stared silently as two of his best friends grieved for a child that would never be born, a child they had already named and created a place in their hearts for, a child they would never, ever see alive.
ØØØ
Two Days Later
“Timo.”
Timo grimaced and turned from where he was spooned up to a still sleeping David. He blinked up at Jan leaning against the doorway uncertainly.
“What’s up?” Timo asked, sitting up as he yawned hugely and scratched at his chest.
“I was thinking-” Jan said quietly, his eyes not meeting Timo’s. “That it would be better if Juri and I…went away for awhile. Just because Juri can’t- he can’t be around here.”
“You mean around David and Linke,” Timo said, feeling a lump form in his throat when Jan flinched.
“I-” Jan’s throat closed up around his words. “It’s not like that- I- Juri-”
“We understand,” David said, laying a hand on Timo’s arm. Timo looked at him, his surprise sinking underneath his pain and understanding. He didn’t want Jan to leave. Timo didn’t know if his friend would ever come back and if he should, whether Juri would come with him. “Do what you need to do, Jan. If Juri needs to get away from us to heal, then so be it. Do you know where you’ll go?”
Jan nodded. He lifted his chin to look at David, something he hadn’t managed to do when talking to Timo.
“Juri’s brother’s house. He has room for him and he knows what’s going on…”
“What about you?”
Jan shuddered.
“I’ll take Juri there and then, we’ll see,” he said, his voice painfully tight and his red-rimmed eyes more than a bit wet. “Juri’s more important; he’s in so much pain right now…I have to take him away from here. I have to make sure he gets the help he needs. I have to make him better.”
David nodded.
“Take care, Jan. Come back if you ever need a place to stay.” Timo bit his lip at the finality of David’s words but he could think of nothing better to say. “We’ll always be here for you.”
“Thank you,” Jan said.
He left, pulling the door closed behind him. Timo took David in his arms and pressed his nose into David’s soft hair, breathing in David’s perfect scent. Timo held David there on their bed, stroking his long hair as he rocked them back and forth.
“Why did this have to happen?” David whispered, his fingers playing with Timo’s necklace as he looked up into his lover’s face.
“I don’t know, Davii. Sometimes these things happen. That’s life.”
“They didn’t deserve this,” David said, pulling Timo’s arms more firmly against him as though Timo could shelter him from Jan and Juri’s misery with just his body.
Timo wished he could.
ØØØ
Late August
Juri hummed softly in his sleep. The bed was so warm and nice. Juri didn’t want to move ever again; he just wanted to stay in this warm spot and sleep forever. He yawned and reached an arm out for Jan, wanting to feel his warm little body against his, his sweet little lips and his familiar bony ankles- Juri smiled to himself- Jan’s cold little nose even.
Juri frowned when he felt nothing. He reached out again, searching- but the bed was empty. The spot where Jan should be was as warm as the rest of the bed. Jan wasn’t there. There was only him. Juri sat up and opened his eyes slowly.
“Jan?” he called out, hoping Jan had gotten up to get a glass of sparkling water.
He looked around the room. Barely familiar bed sheets, barely familiar furniture, and no Jan.
Then Juri remembered. Jan was gone, just like Benjamin. Jan had left him because Juri had been too tired and too sad to be around him. But Jan wouldn’t leave him, Juri told himself, Jan had to be somewhere close by.
Juri got up, pushing the bed sheets aside. He looked down at his clothes. They were the same ones he had been wearing every day for the last few days. How many days? How much time had passed while he lay in that bed in this room?
Juri didn’t know.
He opened the door and walked out, bright light shining painfully into his eyes. He stumbled to the bathroom, remembering its place down the hall. This was his brother’s house in Jever, the one Uwe had bought after he and Diane had broken up. Juri had been here last October when he and Jan had wanted to get away for a while. They had gone down to the Wattenmeer and walked along the mud beaches together. The water of the Nordsee had been icy, the Schlamm slick and cool around their calves as they squelched through it. It was one of Juri’s favorite memories.
Where was Jan?
Juri searched through the drawers under the bathroom sink for a comb. He found one and tugged it through his tangled hair. When had he last brushed it? Juri didn’t know.
He put the comb down and peered at his face in the mirror. His eyes were a sore red, his nose and cheekbones hardly better. His hair looked like he hadn’t touched it in weeks. His left cheek, the side he had slept on, was lined with the marks left by strands of his blonde hair.
Juri turned the faucet on and splashed cold water over his face. It did little to help: he still looked a terrific mess. Juri turned the faucet off and started up the water for a shower. He pulled his clothes off, first his shirt, then his sweatpants. He touched the water coming from the shower spray and decided it wasn’t hot enough. Juri looked back in the mirror and caught his breath.
There, right between his hips, above his groin, was a long cut held together with tiny stitches. Juri pressed his fingers to it and bit his lip. So their baby was really gone.
Juri slid his fingers up, gingerly touching the soft swell of flesh across his stomach. Slight pain and a bit of bruising but those would certainly fade with time. No damage besides the obvious. He and Jan would just have to be careful when they…if they… if Jan hadn’t given up on him…if Jan didn’t hate him for their son…if Jan wanted anything to do with him…
Juri’s stomach clenched. No, he couldn’t think about that. Jan wouldn’t leave him. Jan needed him, he did.
Didn’t he?
Juri shook his head and stepped into the shower, letting the hot spray wash his hot tears and his doubts away.
ØØØ
Juri sat on Uwe’s couch, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Caleb, Uwe’s old basset hound woofed and wagged his tail, his long tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted happily. Juri grinned and scratched the dog’s head.
Uwe had gone to work after Juri took his shower. He had been surprised to see Juri out of bed and had told him so. Juri had told him that he had felt it was time he did. Uwe had nodded and said that Jan would return around noon. Juri had been waiting for Jan ever since, pretending to watch TV until Jan got back.
Juri checked the clock. Twelve noon exactly. Juri straightened up in his seat. He pulled his long shirt and jacket down over the stitches on his stomach and pulled his pants up around his hips from where they had slid down while lazing around. Juri ran a hand over his hair to smooth it. He waited.
The front door finally opened at a quarter to one. Juri heard the clink of Jan’s keys and Jan’s shoes as he toed them off. Jan walked past the room and went on to the stairs.
“Jan.”
Jan stopped. He turned around, a puzzled look on his face. He scanned the room until his eyes alit on Juri. His eyes widened.
“You’re awake,” Jan said, looking Juri up and down with the most longing-filled gaze. “That’s good.”
“Yeah,” Juri answered back stupidly, his heart racing and his mouth suddenly dry. He had had a whole speech prepared, a long, perfectly worded speech that would tell Jan how much he loved him and how Jan could never leave him. Juri realized he had forgotten every word of it, like a blundering, love-struck teenager.
Jan dragged his lip between his teeth and sighed sadly.
“I’m sorry, Juri,” he said. “I understand if you never want to see me again. I- I’ll leave you alone, I promise. I’ll go away. I’ll quit Panik if you need me to. I’ll move as far away as I can, I’ll leave Germany so you never have to see me again.”
Juri gaped at him. Jan thought he blamed him? That he thought Jan had somehow caused this? Juri almost laughed at the preposterousness of Jan’s words. Then he looked in Jan’s eyes and realized he meant every word of it. Juri got up off the couch, tossing the blanket over Caleb who woofed and snuggled down, and walked over to Jan. He stopped less than a foot before Jan and looked down at him. Jan looked up miserably, his blue eyes filled with despair and his bottom lip trembling.
Juri snorted softly and pulled Jan into his chest, kissing his cheek tenderly.
“Don’t be foolish, Jan,” Juri said, laying a kiss on Jan’s nose. “I still love you. I never stopped loving you.”
“Really?” Jan asked, his eyes filled with a wretchedness that threatened to break Juri’s heart.
Juri smiled.
“Really. I could never hate you.”
“But it’s my fault. I should have been more careful,” Jan said, a single tear falling down his exhausted cheek. “I should have made the doctors take more blood samples and do more tests. They could’ve caught it in time and put you on medication. This is all my fault.”
“Hush,” Juri said, bringing Jan’s shaking wrist to his lips and kissing it gently before winding Jan’s arms around his neck. “We’ve cried enough. It’s time to move on and start living again.
"I loved that child, Jan, because he was a part of you but I’d never have chosen him over you. You’re so much more important to me. Now, no more tears,” Juri murmured, wiping Jan’s eyes with the pads of his broad thumbs. “I don’t want you blaming yourself for this ever again.”
Juri laid his chin on top of Jan’s head, wrapping his small lover tightly in his arms. Juri carried Jan back to the couch. Caleb climbed off, his tail thumping against Juri’s leg as he settled onto the floor. Juri kissed Jan again and pulled the blanket over them both. Jan sniffed and wiped his cheeks on his sleeves as Juri began to hum softly, reassuringly, in the way he would sometimes hum Jan to sleep when Jan was stressed or unhappy. As it always did, Juri’s humming relaxed Jan and soon he dozed off in Juri’s strong arms. It was the first time Jan had slept in three days.
Juri continued humming quietly for a long time as he held onto Jan. Yes, Juri had lost something dear to him, Jan’s child, their Benjamin, but he knew he had been unbelievably lucky to have conceived at all, and that it was Jan who had given him that gift and not some other man, that their child had been conceived in love and not an emotionless instance between Juri and some man he would never see again, was the thought Juri clung to to lift himself out of the depression that tried to overwhelm him. What Juri had lost could never compare to what he would lose if he let Jan blame himself for Benjamin’s death.
Even if it took everything in him, Juri would fight to keep Jan by his side. He would not let himself have the time to think about what might have been, what could have been, what would never be again, because Jan needed him as badly as Juri needed Jan. They would see this through; they had to, because Juri was never going to let Jan go.
ØØØ
Time passed in the band house as time does, that is to say it kept going without regard to mere human events. Jan and Juri’s lives had not stopped with Benjamin’s death and their friends moved forward as well.
It was after their Cesarean section dates were set that Timo realized Linke had been pregnant before either David or Juri, and he did not pause in laughing hysterically and collapsing against the practice room wall once he found out. Linke had scowled at him for his howling laughter which had only made Timo laugh harder.
“You’re gonna get your ass handed to you on a plate when Jan hears about this,” Timo howled, wiping at his eyes. “I can see it now: ‘Chris’s two and a half weeks before David? That fucking liar!’”
“Oh, shut up,” Linke snapped.
He folded his arms over his huge belly- garnering even more laughter from Timo at the ridiculous-looking pose- and plopped back on the couch next to Franky, who smiled and put an arm around his shoulder. Frank was pretty oblivious to his band mates’ conversation most of the time and today was per usual as the singer happily played with Linke’s wispy hair. Frank was far more focused at the moment on Linke and improving his sulky mood with affectionate petting than on what Timo was ribbing him for.
“’No, Jan, I’m not pregnant; I’m just thuper emotional’;” Timo continued, doing a terrible impression of Linke’s voice. “‘Dude, your bun’s in the fucking oven’; ‘Oh, no! You’re, like, totally right! Thanksth tho much, Jan!’”
“Shut the hell up, Timo,” Linke snarled. “Unlike you, Jan’s not a complete dickface. I doubt that’s going to be the first thing he says to me when he and Juri get back.”
“If they ever come back,” Frank said.
The room went deathly quiet.
“Has anyone talked to either of them?” Linke asked quietly. “I thought you would have, Timo. To Jan, at least.”
“He’s not answering his phone,” Timo said, his eyes clouding in guarded pain and worry. “You hear anything from Juri?”
Linke shook his head.
“No, nothing.”
ØØØ
December
Jan watched, completely fascinated, as the anesthesiologist administered Linke’s epidural. He had agreed to hold Linke’s hand while the doctors performed the C-section (Linke had banned Frank from the operating room, certain that the fretful man would have an aneurysm if he saw their son being removed surgically) and he was overjoyed at the most basic level.
“This is going to be so sweet,” he breathed to his friend.
Linke pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering when Jan had gone from intelligent DJ to ecstatic scientist. Surgery was not sweet, thank you very much. It was bloody and messy, with cold metal instruments and huge overhanging lights.
“If you don’t shut up, man, I will make you take the bleeding placenta out yourself,” Linke threatened as Jan started blathering on about horizontal incisions and suturing techniques.
“Really?!” Jan asked excitedly. “Ahh, that would be so cool, you have no idea! Do you really think they’d let me do that?”
Linke suppressed the urge to throttle Jan.
“Yes,” he muttered sarcastically. “The doctor would love for some random hyperventilating bystander to cut into his patient. He’s not at all worried about malpractice. Nope, not one bit, Jan.”
In truth, Linke was not all that bothered by Jan’s over excitability. It was classic Jan and Linke was more thankful than he cared to admit that Jan was acting like himself again. Juri was quiet and reserved but the drummer had been like that to one degree or another for as long as Linke had known him.
Jan and Juri had returned to the band house after being gone for a month and a half. Linke had been relieved to have his friends back again. Juri and Jan were still a couple and their grief was almost gone. Linke doubted that they would ever truly forget what had happened but they had each other and Linke could think of nothing better to save them from their pain.
On a much more selfish level, Linke was fucking glad that it was Jan at his side and not Frank or Timo. Frank would probably pass out from sheer anxiety and Linke was not in the mood to have the nuisance that was Timo and his fucking video camera in his operating room. Good God, Timo could annoy David all he wanted when their time came. Linke was not going to have anyone watching ‘Miracle of Life’ videos with him as the lead actor. Fuck that shit.
“He paid me five Euro to ask you if you’d let him film anyway,” Jan said, grinning. “He wants to give a copy to Frank as a gift.”
Linke narrowed his eyes and threw his head back against the hospital pillows. The pillows crunched and Linke scowled.
“Would they just get on with it?” he grumbled. “This is taking way too damn long.”
ØØØ
Frank entered the hospital room uneasily. The bright white walls were too sterile looking for his liking and the air was filled with chemicals. He looked at the empty cot in confusion.
“Christian?” he called out, wondering where his lover could be.
“He’s over here,” Jan called back, his blonde head popping out from behind the blue curtain dividing the room.
Frank breathed a sigh of relief and walked over there, trying not to seem too excited. Chris might snark at him if he was too wound up. Frank pushed the curtain aside, holding onto its plastic for a moment to steady his breathing.
He rounded the corner- and met Linke’s stormy slate blue eyes. Frank’s heart tightened as he walked over to Chris’ side and looked down at the tiny red creature in Chris’ arms.
“Can I…?” Frank asked.
Linke smiled and handed the infant over to Frank, adjusting Frank’s hold to support the baby’s tiny neck. Frank smiled and poked a finger into the infant’s mouth, his smile turning brilliant when the baby began sucking it with surprising strength.
“It’s a boy?” Frank asked, his voice hushed.
“Our boy,” Chris smirked, amused by Frank’s reverence over their child. Frank, his eyes on the baby, didn’t notice. “Just like the doctors told us. Our Wolf.”
“Our Wolf,” Frank whispered. “Wolfgang Edmond Ziegler-Linke.”
Frank glanced at Linke, then at the baby. Jan laughed and took the tiny boy from him. Frank put his arms around Chris’ neck and hugged him tightly, kissing Chris’ cheek hard. He pulled back, keeping one hand on Linke’s shoulder and simply looked at him.
“I love you,” Frank said.
Linke looked at Frank for a long moment, his smirk disappearing as they stared at each other. Then a small smile crept over his lips.
“I love you, too.”
ØØØ
Emelyn’s delivery was much more of an event than Wolf’s had been. Jan was asked to take part in David’s ‘miraculous C-section delivery’ and cheerfully declined after deliberately horrifying Timo with graphic descriptions of the surgery, after which he had been forced to come along, grinning the whole way. David’s parents were overjoyed to be grandparents and had insisted on being there for David’s delivery. There was still no explanation from the medical community as to how David, Linke, and Juri had become pregnant and Jan was beginning to doubt there ever would be. He for one knew that Juri’s operation had included an emergency hysterectomy and that Linke had elected to do the same, though Franky had taken a hell of a lot longer than Juri to figure out why that might be necessary. Frank was never terribly quick on the uptake.
So Jan kicked back in the waiting room with Juri’s arm around his shoulders and waited like the rest of David’s family. Mrs. Bonk and Timo could figure it out between the two of them. It could even be considered bonding time, in Jan’s opinion.
Emelyn Veronica Sonnenschein was born at nine fifteen in the morning on a Thursday to the happy couple of David Bonk and Timo Sonnenschein. She weighed in at nine pounds, four ounces and measured twenty inches at birth. Though Mrs. Bonk, David, and Timo all cooed over how beautiful she was (and by God, Jan would never let Timo live down the sound of him cooing to his newborn daughter), Jan noted that she looked like a wrinkly little hobgoblin. At least she had Timo’s eyes.
ØØØ
Timo watched David’s ass sway intoxicatingly as he carried their daughter over to her crib. David bent over and Timo found his mouth watering at the sight of David in his sweatpants. Four months of cuddling up to that ass and not being able to do a thing about it- Timo was definitely in the mood for something more than spooning with his best friend and bedmate.
When David turned back, tucking a strand of black hair behind his ear and smiling shyly back at him, his fat little belly poking out under his too small t-shirt, Timo couldn’t help himself. He grabbed David by the waist- David let out a soft oomph at the sudden gesture- and hauled him back to their bedroom where he wasted no time in kissing him soundly. David chuckled in amusement and parted his lips, gasping when Timo ground against him.
“Don’t you think we should-?” David asked.
His words turned into hot whimpers as Timo pressed closer against him, his hardness plain against David’s thigh. Timo’s eyes were heavily-lidded and his voice husky with sex when he answered.
“Mmm, baby, I will make it worth your while if you stick around.”
David giggled as Timo tackled him onto the bed and started tugging David’s t-shirt up, his only goal being to get David naked as soon as he possibly could.
“You always do,” David laughed.
ØØØ
Timo and David were somehow managing to have more sex than ever before, Linke noted as he helped Frank feed Wolf. The two of them openly abused Jan’s volunteering to babysit to have a ‘night in’ as Timo seemed completely fascinated with the changes David’s pregnancy had wrought on the guitarist’s body. They had known for years that Timo had been bothered by David’s poor diet and rail thin figure and it seemed now that Timo had his Davii at a healthy enough weight, he was intent on using every minute he could to get used to it. David had protested at first but had given in for rather obvious reasons.
Linke wasn’t jealous. Frank was more than busy with Wolf and Linke had never been that keen on hard-core fucking in the first place, at least not with the rabbit-like intensity of David and Timo. Frank was much, much more satisfying with his ways. Linke smiled to himself as he thought about that.
No, he wasn’t jealous of them at all, screwing like heathens while other people were in the house. Loud as anything, those two were. Frank certainly had never gotten them caught by screaming his name like a dying person across the whole upstairs.
“I made Kirschtorte for dessert,” Frank said.
Linke grinned and tilted his chin up to collect a quick kiss from Frank. Frank’s excellent baking was another plus.
“I even mashed some up so Wolf and Emelyn could have some.”
“That’s not healthy,” Linke said, though his eyes danced with easy mirth.
“I don’t care,” Frank said, smiling one of the broad smiles that had made Linke fall in love with him. “They deserve to celebrate, too.”
Jan had proposed to Juri six weeks before and tomorrow they would be going to the Standesamt, the registrar’s office, for their civil ceremony after which they were catching the train to Frankfurt and flying out to Toulon for a week alone together. All six members of Panik were planning to attend the ceremony with Timo and Juri’s brother standing as the official witnesses. Linke had been expecting the engagement ever since Juri’s scare in August. He knew if he had been in Jan’s place, he would’ve wanted a much more secure hold on Juri. Standard hospital procedures had a tendency to force people to think about things they never wanted to consider.
Linke laughed and bounced Wolf on his knees, the baby squealing happily up at his father. He was still cheerfully bald, chubby as anything with big blue eyes framed by the longest eyelashes, and Linke couldn’t have loved him more. Wolf wasn’t the sweetest child- he could scream pretty damn loud when he wanted to- but he was a happy little blob content to sit on anyone’s lap and simply burble up at them.
Linke was happy, he had to admit, happier than he had been in a long time. He had his work and he had his friends, and he had Wolf to love and care for. But, more importantly, he had Frank, who had stood by him through one of the toughest hurdles Linke could have imagined. Frank hadn’t wavered, he hadn’t backed down. In fact, the minute Linke let him know he was in trouble, Frank had been right there, loving him for no reason at all. Frank had proved a thousand times over that he would never leave Linke, not for anything. Chris was happy.
