But Seriously... - Sequel to Truly, Madly, Deeply - Part 8a
And here is the next part. In which we catch up with everyone the next day, Paul awakens, and there is bonding.
Title: But Seriously….
Author: Shinigami518
Rating: PG-13, but with some bits of R in it for mpreg, swearing, some violence, and insanity
Main Character(s) and/or pairings: Ryan/Colin, Tony/Paul, Josie/Richard, Jeff/OFC, Stephen/Hugh (growing), OFC/OMC
Summary: few weeks after their wedding, Paul and Tony take the next step in their relationship: Parenthood. Paul undergoes the "Mpreg Operation" as Alicia and the trio calls it and now he and Tony are to be parents. Keeping this a secret from the news is going to be a bit hard, but with the help of their friends, they are ready.
View Affirmation here:
Epilogue, but with all parts linked
View Against All Odds here:
Epilogue, but with all parts linked
View Truly, Madly, Deeply here:
Epilogue, but with all parts linked
View last chapters here:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5a
Part 5b
Part 6
Part 7a
Part 7b
Part 8 - A Groovy Kind of Love
June 7th
St. Mathews
Recovery Room 21
White ceiling.
That was the first thing he saw when he finally came to.
“Hm?” He blinked tiredly. He then winced from the pain in his stomach, softly cursing under his breath.
The sound of a low snore alerted him to the second person in the room. Looking to his side, he saw the other occupant.
He was asleep in a plastic chair right next to the bed, a blanket over his shoulders, and his head hung low as he snored softly.
“Oh Tony…” the first man whispered. Wincing from the pain in his gut, he reached over and gives Tony a nudge on the shoulder. “Tony.” He called. Slowly, Tony stirred. He blinked a few times, then arched his back with a groan as he awoke. He then looked over at the man in the bed and a look of relief crossed his face.
“Paul, thank god!” Tony exclaimed, getting up off the chair. He then leaned over the bed and embraced Paul gingerly. “I thought you were a goner for sure.” Tony whispered, trying not to cry.
“I’m fine, Tony, I’m fine.” Paul assured. He then groaned and pulled back, rubbing his side. “Even though my stomach feels like it’s been carved on like a chicken.” Paul grimaced, trying to sit up, but with much discomfort.
“I’ll help you. Lean on me for a few seconds.” Tony told Paul, keeping a good hold on his lover.
“Wha- why?” Paul asked.
“I wanna fix the pillows. At least then you’ll be a bit more comfortable, especially when you see our babies.” Tony explained, gently pulling Paul close to him as he reached over around him to fix the pillows.
Paul blinked, then began to remember why he was there in the hospital. “Our babies… How- how are they?” Paul asked softly, resting his head against Tony’s shoulder.
“Dr. Addy and his people are giving them a full check-up, making sure they’re healthy.” Tony answered, using his right hand to finally fix the pillows. He then pulled the hand away, a look of accomplishment on his face. “There you go.” Tony announced, then helped Paul lean back. Now Paul was now in a slightly slouching sitting up position while Tony stood up and stretched his body to get the kinks out of his neck and back.
“C-can I see them yet?” Paul asked, voice still soft.
“We just got to wait for one of Dr. Addy’s nurses to stop by. Speaking of stopping by, the others are probably on their way back here to see if you’re alright.” Tony replied, leaning over and gently stroking the side of Paul’s face. Paul reached up and touched Tony’s hand, pulling it away from his face.
“Tony… what happened last night? After I gave birth to the second baby? I remember feeling very tired, but then…” Paul asked, frowning. Tony sat down, clasping Paul’s hand in his.
“You began to lose blood during the surgery. Not too serious, but enough to make you pass out. Not to mention the stress you’ve been under these past two days were a contributing factor.” Tony explained. Paul looked down at himself.
“Did I… nearly die?” Paul asked, his voice soft. Tony sighed, knowing it was best to tell the truth.
“Almost, and… there’s more.” Tony went on.
“What?” Paul looked back up at Tony.
“They removed the artificial womb. That’s what caused most of the bleeding - the labour caused the womb to detach and nearly damaged several organs, making you haemorrhage, according to what Dr. Addy told me.” Tony sighed, explaining what happened.
“So what does that mean?” Paul asked, worried and confused.
“It means that if we decide to have another baby, you can’t be the one having it. Next time, it…,” Tony took a deep breath, “It might kill you.” Tony went on, very serious.
“Jesus…” Paul whispered, running his hands over his face. He then lowered his hands and looked around the room. “Where are my glasses?” he asked Tony. Tony reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the object in question.
“Had them with me when you went into surgery.” Tony said, handing the glasses over to Paul. Instead of putting his glasses on, Paul just held the frames in his slowly trembling hands. “Paul?” Tony started to get worried.
“No… I won’t let you do it.” Paul whispered, looking down at his hands.
“Do what?” Now Tony was confused.
“If… if we decide on having another child, we’ll either adopt or have a surrogate do it because I don’t want you to have this operation.” Paul said, his voice starting to waver as he spoke. Tony stared at Paul in shock, mostly over how Paul sounded. He sounded so… afraid.
“Paul, why?” Tony asked, softly and surprised.
“I don’t want to risk losing you. Now that I know how risky it is, since I’ve went through with this!” Paul exclaimed, raising his head up, tears forming in his blue eyes.
“Paul, maybe you should think this-.” Tony began to say, but Paul cut him off, grabbing his hands with his own.
“I mean it, Tony!” Paul shouted. He then looked down, releasing his grip. “I nearly lost you twice already; I’m not going to risk losing you for a third, and possibly final, time!” Paul stated, still crying but very serious. Tony just stared at Paul in stunned silence, watching him hunch over, crying. In response, and knowing it was one of the few things he could really do at the moment, he reached over and re-embraced Paul, pulling him close and gently began to stoke the back of Paul’s neck, calming and comforting his love.
“You will never lose me, Paul. That’s a promise.” Tony whispered. Paul nodded, putting his arms around Tony’s waste, still shedding tears.
“I want to see them. Our babies, I want to see them.” Paul said softly.
“I know. We’ll tell the next nurse that comes in.” Tony nodded, still holding Paul.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Waiting Room
The group of American travellers re-entered the hospital, rested and anxious to see how their friends and their new additions were. The four young women were very anxious, wanting to see Paul and the babies. To their surprise, Richard, Josie, Julian, Alicia, and Stephen were already in the waiting room, and they were not alone. Ian and Libbi were there, too, along with, much to the four girls surprise, Emma and Hugh.
“Hugh, when did you get here?” Melissa exclaimed, running over to the tall man, Christine right behind her. Hugh smiled, looking a bit ragged.
“Early this morning. Stephen rang me up before I conked out for the night and told me what happened. I got on the quickest flight over and-,” Hugh paused to let out a long yawn. He rubbed the back of his neck with a slight wince. “I’ve been sleeping at Stephens until just about an hour ago.” Hugh went on. Melissa, Julie, and Samantha shot each other knowing looks. They had a feeling Hugh would crash at Stephen’s.
“Have you heard anything about Paul yet?” Janet asked, brushing a few stands of blonde hair out of her eyes.
“We got here a little while ago, but we did talk to Dr. Addy a few minutes before you got here. He said Paul was stabilized and was going to see if he wanted to see anyone yet.” Julian answered. Julie, Melissa, Stephanie, and Will sighed in relief.
“I’m just happy Paul’s going to be alright. If anything happened to my brother…” Libbi trailed off, not wanting to think about the “what might’ve been…”
“We know, Libbi, we all feel the same.” Richard placed a comforting hand on the woman.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Recovery Room 21
Several minutes later…
Paul was getting quite impatient. He had been waiting for a while already, waiting for Dr. Addy to arrive with the twins so he can finally see them for the first time since he was in the delivery room. His nurse, Alana, had come in when Tony was comforting Paul and both men told her they wanted to see the babies. She had left shortly afterwards to get them and Dr. Addy. Paul held his glasses in his hands, finger tracing the lenses as he stared at the door.
Tony entered the room with some water for both him and Paul. He walked up to Paul and stared at him after handing him the water, a grin on his face.
“What?” Paul asked with a slight laugh.
“You’re glowing.” Tony smiled.
“Well I gave birth, so yeah, that would explain it… even though I feel like crap.” Paul remarked, then let out a groan while leaning into the pillows. “What’s taking so damn long? How long does it take for-?” Paul asked, annoyed.
His complaint was cut short when the door to his room cracked open and Dr. Addy peered in. “Ah, so Alana was right. You are up. Thank heavens.” Dr. Addy remarked, sighing in relief.
“Hello, Zach, what is it?” Paul asked, relieved to see his friend, but a bit annoyed that it took this long for him to get there.
“I’ve got two little visitors that want to meet their parents.” Dr. Addy smiled broadly. Paul’s mood immediately changed as he put his glasses on.
“You mean… the babies?” Paul asked, this time with more interest and hope. Dr. Addy nodded in response and pushed the door all the way open. Alana entered the room, pushing a cart with two small beds. In them were two babies, both sleeping soundly.
“These two have a clean bill of health and wanted to see you two badly.” Dr. Addy announced, still smiling. Tony sat back down on Paul’s bed as Alana stopped the cart by Paul’s bedside. “Gentlemen, meet your son…,” Dr. Addy began as Alana lifted up one of the babies and gently handed him to Tony, who accepted the baby, carefully cradling him in his arms, “And your daughter.” Dr. Addy went on, Alana repeating the same process, but handing the girl to Paul. Dr. Addy kept on smiling as he gave a slight nod to the door at Alana. “I’ll leave you alone for the moment, and I’ll tell your friends that you’re alright.” Dr. Addy announced as he led Alana out of the room, closing the door behind them.
“Zach, why should we leave them alone? Someone should be in there to make sure nothing goes wrong, especially to make sure Paul is….” Alana asked, confused by the doctors actions.
“Alana, I’ve known Paul for a long time. I helped him when he lost Sarah and with this pregnancy. Right now, he and Tony deserve some time alone with their newborns. They deserve it.” Dr. Addy replied, placing a hand on Alana’s shoulder, speaking to her not as a doctor, but as a regular person, as a friend.
Inside the room, both men began to bond with their children, who had started to wake up. The girl had dark brown strands of hair while her brother had very dark brown-almost black hair fuzz. Both of them had blue eyes, but the boy’s eyes were a darker shade of blue.
“I can’t believe it. Are they… is this real?” Paul whispered in amazement over the small life he held in his arms.
“They’re real, Paul, and they’re ours. Really ours.” Tony remarked, cradling his son in his arms. Paul let out a soft, bewildered laugh as he looked back down at his newborn daughter. The little baby was stirring, blinking her dark blue eyes tiredly as she looked up at Paul.
“Hello, little one,” Paul said, giving the little girl his index finger for her to grasp, “I’m your papa.”
“Papa?” Tony repeated, staring at Paul. Paul looked up at Tony, amused by his confusion.
“Well, you’re the ‘daddy’ here, but I refuse to be called ‘mama’, so I’m gonna be ‘papa’.” Paul explained.
“Why, I think it’s cute.” Tony smiled impishly. Paul shot Tony an icy glare before allowing himself to chuckle, grinning.
“Alright, only in private, between the four of us, I’ll be ‘mama’, but if we’re in public or around friends, I’m still gonna be ‘Papa’.” Paul compromised.
“Got it…, Mama.” Tony smiled, laughing softly. Paul just shook his head, knowing it was a losing battle to argue with Tony. He looked down at the baby in Tony’s arms.
“He looks a lot like you, you know.” Paul remarked.
“You think so.” Tony asked. Paul nodded yes.
“He’s got your nose and ears.” Paul observed. Tony nodded, then looked over at their daughter
“And she looks like a tiny, female version of you.” Tony noted.
“Now that’s cruel, Tony.” Paul shook his head, grinning while trying not to laugh.
“I mean it. She’s got your eyes and your face.” Tony stated. The girl then let out a soft coo, breaking their train of thought. “And your timing.” Tony grinned before laughing gently. Paul finally started to laugh, but gently since he was still in some pain. “I love you, you know that, right?” Tony asked innocently.
“I know, and if we weren’t suck idiots, we would’ve known it a lot earlier than we did.” Paul nodded, letting out a sigh.
“Well, we did have some problems figuring it out.” Tony remembered, frowning slightly as he recalled their past.
“But…,” Paul noted, taking a second to plant a small kiss on his daughter’s head, “It was worth it in the end.” He smiled.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Waiting Room
A little later…
“You know one day, you’re going to have to tell them.” Stephen told Alicia. He had taken the young woman aside, wanting to discuss something important between them.
“Stephen, I know it seems like the right thing to do, but I don’t want to-.” Alicia sighed, massaging her brow.
“But what you did for Tony and Paul, it wasn’t ‘nothing’. You gave them a hand in starting a family.” Stephen cut her off.
“I know…,” Alicia nodded, turning away with a hand on her stomach.
“So why are you keeping this a secret?” Stephen asked. Alicia lowered her head, refusing to look at Stephen.
“Because they deserve happiness…. Besides, they don’t want to know who the egg donor was. I want to keep it this way.” Alicia replied seriously and sadly. Stephen’s features softened.
“Alicia…” Stephen began, reaching out to place a hand on the young woman’s shoulder.
“Please, Stephen, keep this a secret, for my sake…,” Alicia pleaded, turning to face the older man. She then started to smirk. “Or I’ll tell everyone what Sam saw you and Hugh doing at Tony and Paul’s reception.” She threatened playfully. Stephen started to blush.
Meanwhile, Hugh and Emma were given the lowdown of what had been going on the past 48 hours by Ian, Julian, and Melissa. At that moment, the three were telling them about Jeremy Clarkson’s actions. Emma and Hugh were growing furious over the man’s words and actions.
“I can’t believe that bastard did that to him! I know he was stuck up at times, but that!? That son of a bitch.” Emma vented angrily after hearing what Jeremy said and did to Paul the day before.
“I know I’m not as close to Paul as you and Julian are, Ian, but he’s Tony’s partner and out friend. If I could get my hands on him… he shouldn’t have said and done those things.” Hugh growled, hands balled in fists.
“Believe me, you two aren’t the only ones out for Clarkson’s blood. Tony and Julian here called dibs on kicking his ass first.” Melissa nodded sympathetically.
“True.” Julian nodded, frowning.
“At least that Christine girl is realizing what she said was wrong, but still, she didn’t attack Paul like that bastard did.” Emma noted, still mentally thinking of ways of getting back at the Top Gear host.
“But to be fair, he had no idea Paul was… well,” Ian blushed, “…in the family way.” The four stared at Ian. “What? It’s still hard for me sometimes to say that Paul was actually pregnant, even after seeing him in labour and hearing that he actually did.” Ian protested.
“Well you can the end results yourself, Mr. Hislop.” Dr. Addy remarked from behind the group of five. Melissa let out a loud yelp, getting everyone’s attention as she jumped on Ian in surprise.
“How about giving us a warning next time, doc?” Emma snapped, annoyed and trying to calm her racing heart after that shock.
“Dr. Addy, how-… how are they?” Julian asked. Julie rushed over to the doctor with Libbi, Richard, Josie, and Stephen following shortly behind her.
“Paul is awake and doing fine so far. He and Tony are already bonding with their babies as we speak.” Dr. Addy replied, smiling warmly. There were mass murmurs and sighs of relief from the group.
“So can we see them?” Libbi questioned, eager to see her brother.
“You may, I just need to see if they’re ready for visitors. They’re bonding with the twins, but I bet they want to see their friends.” Dr. Addy allowed.
“They better let us see them, after all the shit Paul put us through.” Melissa muttered in annoyance.
“I’m sure they will, but for the time being, can you let go of Ian before someone does something to you for doing that.” Samantha glared at her friend. Melissa blinked, then realized she was still clinging to Ian like a stripper would cling to a metal pole and, while blushing in embarrassment, released her grip on him.
“Thank you.” Ian shot the young woman a heated look.
Next part will most likely be posted either this weekend or next week.
Title: But Seriously….
Author: Shinigami518
Rating: PG-13, but with some bits of R in it for mpreg, swearing, some violence, and insanity
Main Character(s) and/or pairings: Ryan/Colin, Tony/Paul, Josie/Richard, Jeff/OFC, Stephen/Hugh (growing), OFC/OMC
Summary: few weeks after their wedding, Paul and Tony take the next step in their relationship: Parenthood. Paul undergoes the "Mpreg Operation" as Alicia and the trio calls it and now he and Tony are to be parents. Keeping this a secret from the news is going to be a bit hard, but with the help of their friends, they are ready.
View Affirmation here:
Epilogue, but with all parts linked
View Against All Odds here:
Epilogue, but with all parts linked
View Truly, Madly, Deeply here:
Epilogue, but with all parts linked
View last chapters here:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5a
Part 5b
Part 6
Part 7a
Part 7b
Part 8 - A Groovy Kind of Love
June 7th
St. Mathews
Recovery Room 21
White ceiling.
That was the first thing he saw when he finally came to.
“Hm?” He blinked tiredly. He then winced from the pain in his stomach, softly cursing under his breath.
The sound of a low snore alerted him to the second person in the room. Looking to his side, he saw the other occupant.
He was asleep in a plastic chair right next to the bed, a blanket over his shoulders, and his head hung low as he snored softly.
“Oh Tony…” the first man whispered. Wincing from the pain in his gut, he reached over and gives Tony a nudge on the shoulder. “Tony.” He called. Slowly, Tony stirred. He blinked a few times, then arched his back with a groan as he awoke. He then looked over at the man in the bed and a look of relief crossed his face.
“Paul, thank god!” Tony exclaimed, getting up off the chair. He then leaned over the bed and embraced Paul gingerly. “I thought you were a goner for sure.” Tony whispered, trying not to cry.
“I’m fine, Tony, I’m fine.” Paul assured. He then groaned and pulled back, rubbing his side. “Even though my stomach feels like it’s been carved on like a chicken.” Paul grimaced, trying to sit up, but with much discomfort.
“I’ll help you. Lean on me for a few seconds.” Tony told Paul, keeping a good hold on his lover.
“Wha- why?” Paul asked.
“I wanna fix the pillows. At least then you’ll be a bit more comfortable, especially when you see our babies.” Tony explained, gently pulling Paul close to him as he reached over around him to fix the pillows.
Paul blinked, then began to remember why he was there in the hospital. “Our babies… How- how are they?” Paul asked softly, resting his head against Tony’s shoulder.
“Dr. Addy and his people are giving them a full check-up, making sure they’re healthy.” Tony answered, using his right hand to finally fix the pillows. He then pulled the hand away, a look of accomplishment on his face. “There you go.” Tony announced, then helped Paul lean back. Now Paul was now in a slightly slouching sitting up position while Tony stood up and stretched his body to get the kinks out of his neck and back.
“C-can I see them yet?” Paul asked, voice still soft.
“We just got to wait for one of Dr. Addy’s nurses to stop by. Speaking of stopping by, the others are probably on their way back here to see if you’re alright.” Tony replied, leaning over and gently stroking the side of Paul’s face. Paul reached up and touched Tony’s hand, pulling it away from his face.
“Tony… what happened last night? After I gave birth to the second baby? I remember feeling very tired, but then…” Paul asked, frowning. Tony sat down, clasping Paul’s hand in his.
“You began to lose blood during the surgery. Not too serious, but enough to make you pass out. Not to mention the stress you’ve been under these past two days were a contributing factor.” Tony explained. Paul looked down at himself.
“Did I… nearly die?” Paul asked, his voice soft. Tony sighed, knowing it was best to tell the truth.
“Almost, and… there’s more.” Tony went on.
“What?” Paul looked back up at Tony.
“They removed the artificial womb. That’s what caused most of the bleeding - the labour caused the womb to detach and nearly damaged several organs, making you haemorrhage, according to what Dr. Addy told me.” Tony sighed, explaining what happened.
“So what does that mean?” Paul asked, worried and confused.
“It means that if we decide to have another baby, you can’t be the one having it. Next time, it…,” Tony took a deep breath, “It might kill you.” Tony went on, very serious.
“Jesus…” Paul whispered, running his hands over his face. He then lowered his hands and looked around the room. “Where are my glasses?” he asked Tony. Tony reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the object in question.
“Had them with me when you went into surgery.” Tony said, handing the glasses over to Paul. Instead of putting his glasses on, Paul just held the frames in his slowly trembling hands. “Paul?” Tony started to get worried.
“No… I won’t let you do it.” Paul whispered, looking down at his hands.
“Do what?” Now Tony was confused.
“If… if we decide on having another child, we’ll either adopt or have a surrogate do it because I don’t want you to have this operation.” Paul said, his voice starting to waver as he spoke. Tony stared at Paul in shock, mostly over how Paul sounded. He sounded so… afraid.
“Paul, why?” Tony asked, softly and surprised.
“I don’t want to risk losing you. Now that I know how risky it is, since I’ve went through with this!” Paul exclaimed, raising his head up, tears forming in his blue eyes.
“Paul, maybe you should think this-.” Tony began to say, but Paul cut him off, grabbing his hands with his own.
“I mean it, Tony!” Paul shouted. He then looked down, releasing his grip. “I nearly lost you twice already; I’m not going to risk losing you for a third, and possibly final, time!” Paul stated, still crying but very serious. Tony just stared at Paul in stunned silence, watching him hunch over, crying. In response, and knowing it was one of the few things he could really do at the moment, he reached over and re-embraced Paul, pulling him close and gently began to stoke the back of Paul’s neck, calming and comforting his love.
“You will never lose me, Paul. That’s a promise.” Tony whispered. Paul nodded, putting his arms around Tony’s waste, still shedding tears.
“I want to see them. Our babies, I want to see them.” Paul said softly.
“I know. We’ll tell the next nurse that comes in.” Tony nodded, still holding Paul.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Waiting Room
The group of American travellers re-entered the hospital, rested and anxious to see how their friends and their new additions were. The four young women were very anxious, wanting to see Paul and the babies. To their surprise, Richard, Josie, Julian, Alicia, and Stephen were already in the waiting room, and they were not alone. Ian and Libbi were there, too, along with, much to the four girls surprise, Emma and Hugh.
“Hugh, when did you get here?” Melissa exclaimed, running over to the tall man, Christine right behind her. Hugh smiled, looking a bit ragged.
“Early this morning. Stephen rang me up before I conked out for the night and told me what happened. I got on the quickest flight over and-,” Hugh paused to let out a long yawn. He rubbed the back of his neck with a slight wince. “I’ve been sleeping at Stephens until just about an hour ago.” Hugh went on. Melissa, Julie, and Samantha shot each other knowing looks. They had a feeling Hugh would crash at Stephen’s.
“Have you heard anything about Paul yet?” Janet asked, brushing a few stands of blonde hair out of her eyes.
“We got here a little while ago, but we did talk to Dr. Addy a few minutes before you got here. He said Paul was stabilized and was going to see if he wanted to see anyone yet.” Julian answered. Julie, Melissa, Stephanie, and Will sighed in relief.
“I’m just happy Paul’s going to be alright. If anything happened to my brother…” Libbi trailed off, not wanting to think about the “what might’ve been…”
“We know, Libbi, we all feel the same.” Richard placed a comforting hand on the woman.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Recovery Room 21
Several minutes later…
Paul was getting quite impatient. He had been waiting for a while already, waiting for Dr. Addy to arrive with the twins so he can finally see them for the first time since he was in the delivery room. His nurse, Alana, had come in when Tony was comforting Paul and both men told her they wanted to see the babies. She had left shortly afterwards to get them and Dr. Addy. Paul held his glasses in his hands, finger tracing the lenses as he stared at the door.
Tony entered the room with some water for both him and Paul. He walked up to Paul and stared at him after handing him the water, a grin on his face.
“What?” Paul asked with a slight laugh.
“You’re glowing.” Tony smiled.
“Well I gave birth, so yeah, that would explain it… even though I feel like crap.” Paul remarked, then let out a groan while leaning into the pillows. “What’s taking so damn long? How long does it take for-?” Paul asked, annoyed.
His complaint was cut short when the door to his room cracked open and Dr. Addy peered in. “Ah, so Alana was right. You are up. Thank heavens.” Dr. Addy remarked, sighing in relief.
“Hello, Zach, what is it?” Paul asked, relieved to see his friend, but a bit annoyed that it took this long for him to get there.
“I’ve got two little visitors that want to meet their parents.” Dr. Addy smiled broadly. Paul’s mood immediately changed as he put his glasses on.
“You mean… the babies?” Paul asked, this time with more interest and hope. Dr. Addy nodded in response and pushed the door all the way open. Alana entered the room, pushing a cart with two small beds. In them were two babies, both sleeping soundly.
“These two have a clean bill of health and wanted to see you two badly.” Dr. Addy announced, still smiling. Tony sat back down on Paul’s bed as Alana stopped the cart by Paul’s bedside. “Gentlemen, meet your son…,” Dr. Addy began as Alana lifted up one of the babies and gently handed him to Tony, who accepted the baby, carefully cradling him in his arms, “And your daughter.” Dr. Addy went on, Alana repeating the same process, but handing the girl to Paul. Dr. Addy kept on smiling as he gave a slight nod to the door at Alana. “I’ll leave you alone for the moment, and I’ll tell your friends that you’re alright.” Dr. Addy announced as he led Alana out of the room, closing the door behind them.
“Zach, why should we leave them alone? Someone should be in there to make sure nothing goes wrong, especially to make sure Paul is….” Alana asked, confused by the doctors actions.
“Alana, I’ve known Paul for a long time. I helped him when he lost Sarah and with this pregnancy. Right now, he and Tony deserve some time alone with their newborns. They deserve it.” Dr. Addy replied, placing a hand on Alana’s shoulder, speaking to her not as a doctor, but as a regular person, as a friend.
Inside the room, both men began to bond with their children, who had started to wake up. The girl had dark brown strands of hair while her brother had very dark brown-almost black hair fuzz. Both of them had blue eyes, but the boy’s eyes were a darker shade of blue.
“I can’t believe it. Are they… is this real?” Paul whispered in amazement over the small life he held in his arms.
“They’re real, Paul, and they’re ours. Really ours.” Tony remarked, cradling his son in his arms. Paul let out a soft, bewildered laugh as he looked back down at his newborn daughter. The little baby was stirring, blinking her dark blue eyes tiredly as she looked up at Paul.
“Hello, little one,” Paul said, giving the little girl his index finger for her to grasp, “I’m your papa.”
“Papa?” Tony repeated, staring at Paul. Paul looked up at Tony, amused by his confusion.
“Well, you’re the ‘daddy’ here, but I refuse to be called ‘mama’, so I’m gonna be ‘papa’.” Paul explained.
“Why, I think it’s cute.” Tony smiled impishly. Paul shot Tony an icy glare before allowing himself to chuckle, grinning.
“Alright, only in private, between the four of us, I’ll be ‘mama’, but if we’re in public or around friends, I’m still gonna be ‘Papa’.” Paul compromised.
“Got it…, Mama.” Tony smiled, laughing softly. Paul just shook his head, knowing it was a losing battle to argue with Tony. He looked down at the baby in Tony’s arms.
“He looks a lot like you, you know.” Paul remarked.
“You think so.” Tony asked. Paul nodded yes.
“He’s got your nose and ears.” Paul observed. Tony nodded, then looked over at their daughter
“And she looks like a tiny, female version of you.” Tony noted.
“Now that’s cruel, Tony.” Paul shook his head, grinning while trying not to laugh.
“I mean it. She’s got your eyes and your face.” Tony stated. The girl then let out a soft coo, breaking their train of thought. “And your timing.” Tony grinned before laughing gently. Paul finally started to laugh, but gently since he was still in some pain. “I love you, you know that, right?” Tony asked innocently.
“I know, and if we weren’t suck idiots, we would’ve known it a lot earlier than we did.” Paul nodded, letting out a sigh.
“Well, we did have some problems figuring it out.” Tony remembered, frowning slightly as he recalled their past.
“But…,” Paul noted, taking a second to plant a small kiss on his daughter’s head, “It was worth it in the end.” He smiled.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Waiting Room
A little later…
“You know one day, you’re going to have to tell them.” Stephen told Alicia. He had taken the young woman aside, wanting to discuss something important between them.
“Stephen, I know it seems like the right thing to do, but I don’t want to-.” Alicia sighed, massaging her brow.
“But what you did for Tony and Paul, it wasn’t ‘nothing’. You gave them a hand in starting a family.” Stephen cut her off.
“I know…,” Alicia nodded, turning away with a hand on her stomach.
“So why are you keeping this a secret?” Stephen asked. Alicia lowered her head, refusing to look at Stephen.
“Because they deserve happiness…. Besides, they don’t want to know who the egg donor was. I want to keep it this way.” Alicia replied seriously and sadly. Stephen’s features softened.
“Alicia…” Stephen began, reaching out to place a hand on the young woman’s shoulder.
“Please, Stephen, keep this a secret, for my sake…,” Alicia pleaded, turning to face the older man. She then started to smirk. “Or I’ll tell everyone what Sam saw you and Hugh doing at Tony and Paul’s reception.” She threatened playfully. Stephen started to blush.
Meanwhile, Hugh and Emma were given the lowdown of what had been going on the past 48 hours by Ian, Julian, and Melissa. At that moment, the three were telling them about Jeremy Clarkson’s actions. Emma and Hugh were growing furious over the man’s words and actions.
“I can’t believe that bastard did that to him! I know he was stuck up at times, but that!? That son of a bitch.” Emma vented angrily after hearing what Jeremy said and did to Paul the day before.
“I know I’m not as close to Paul as you and Julian are, Ian, but he’s Tony’s partner and out friend. If I could get my hands on him… he shouldn’t have said and done those things.” Hugh growled, hands balled in fists.
“Believe me, you two aren’t the only ones out for Clarkson’s blood. Tony and Julian here called dibs on kicking his ass first.” Melissa nodded sympathetically.
“True.” Julian nodded, frowning.
“At least that Christine girl is realizing what she said was wrong, but still, she didn’t attack Paul like that bastard did.” Emma noted, still mentally thinking of ways of getting back at the Top Gear host.
“But to be fair, he had no idea Paul was… well,” Ian blushed, “…in the family way.” The four stared at Ian. “What? It’s still hard for me sometimes to say that Paul was actually pregnant, even after seeing him in labour and hearing that he actually did.” Ian protested.
“Well you can the end results yourself, Mr. Hislop.” Dr. Addy remarked from behind the group of five. Melissa let out a loud yelp, getting everyone’s attention as she jumped on Ian in surprise.
“How about giving us a warning next time, doc?” Emma snapped, annoyed and trying to calm her racing heart after that shock.
“Dr. Addy, how-… how are they?” Julian asked. Julie rushed over to the doctor with Libbi, Richard, Josie, and Stephen following shortly behind her.
“Paul is awake and doing fine so far. He and Tony are already bonding with their babies as we speak.” Dr. Addy replied, smiling warmly. There were mass murmurs and sighs of relief from the group.
“So can we see them?” Libbi questioned, eager to see her brother.
“You may, I just need to see if they’re ready for visitors. They’re bonding with the twins, but I bet they want to see their friends.” Dr. Addy allowed.
“They better let us see them, after all the shit Paul put us through.” Melissa muttered in annoyance.
“I’m sure they will, but for the time being, can you let go of Ian before someone does something to you for doing that.” Samantha glared at her friend. Melissa blinked, then realized she was still clinging to Ian like a stripper would cling to a metal pole and, while blushing in embarrassment, released her grip on him.
“Thank you.” Ian shot the young woman a heated look.
Next part will most likely be posted either this weekend or next week.