Lullaby Child - Chapter 1

The day started out like any other in the World that Never Was, Marluxia was in his garden with his three month old daughter and Vexen was busy in the lab going over what they had talked about a month prior, that and making sure Demyx was doing well for the first twelve weeks of his pregnancy. He was mostly concerned that he was taking the morning sickness harder than Marluxia had. But Demyx was also younger and smaller in build, but his body type should have had nothing to do with it. He wasn’t too sure about age though.1

“I hope you have something for morning sickness lying in all that mess, Vexen. I can’t stand to see Demyx curled up on the bathroom floor for the morning.” Xigbar spoke, faint memories coming back to him. But he tried to push them aside for now, wanting to focus on Demyx and not his past. The younger nocturne was more important right now.2

“Xigbar, do you think I’d actually let Demyx suffer? He is a neophyte, yes. So is Marluxia. I’m doing things differently so I can make Demyx as comfortable as possible during this, and given that he’s 12 weeks now the morning sickness should be ending soon.” Vexen replied simply, putting aside a few of his notes before digging out a vial of a dark blue liquid that he mixed up especially for curbing the symptoms of morning sickness. He was planning on using it for Marluxia later on as well.3

“Are you sure you aren’t just making that up for Marluxia? I don’t want Demyx to suffer, and Marluxia isn’t pregnant. Xiuying is not even four months old yet so I doubt that he could be. Can I just have that vial please?” Xigbar asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He narrowed his eyes slightly, moving to turn away from his fellow senior member.4

“He is not pregnant, no. At least I don’t think he is. This is specifically for Demyx; I calculated it for his exact weight so no one else can take it. He’s smaller than most of us and the pregnancy will be a bigger strain than it was with Marluxia. Just tell him to take this, Xigbar.” Vexen spoke, handing the vial to the other. He honestly had no idea what was going on with his lover since Marluxia had been spending a lot of time in the gardens as of late.5

“Alright then. Thank you, Vexen. I’ll make sure to give it to him.” Xigbar spoke before he took the vial, soon portaling off in search of his smaller lover. But a few things kept flashing back in his mind, the majority were hard for him to shake. All going back to his past as Braig, and not when he first became Xigbar.6

Flashback7

“Braig, are you sure that this will help? I mean it’s only been tested by Even once. And that was on a monkey. A female monkey! In case you forgot, I’m not female.” A young voice protested, clinging to the older man. This was all confusing, and right now a solution was more than warranted. It was demanded in full to make the illness go away.8

“Of course it will. He reassured me that it is fool proof. Now just relax. You can’t get worked up.” Braig spoke, putting a hand on the other’s shoulder. He tried to calm himself down, but it wasn’t working. Pregnancy was a big deal to anyone, and it was just more so because of who was pregnant. What was worse though was that the person in question was so young.9

“Braig… I can get worked up if I want to. This isn’t normal, you know that. How will I look in a few months? I’m already showing.” Myde protested, turning his back to the other for a moment. He wasn’t really showing that much, just a slight change in his waistline.10

Braig just shook his head, giving the mixture to his smaller lover. It was strange, yes. But he wanted everything to go right. Granted he had no idea how pregnancy would go with males, but the premise was the same. Go through morning sickness, take care of yourself and eventually have the baby. And of course get bigger as the months went by.11

“Not that much. You’ll be fine. I’ll have Even explain everything to us and then we’ll take it step by step. How does that sound?” Braig smiled as he led his younger lover down the hall. Things looked good for them, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.12

End Flashback13

--14

“Marly? Oh there you are.” Demyx smiled as he sat next to his older friend on the bench, watching Xiuying lie on the grass and reach for the butterflies that were fluttering by her. He was just happy that he’d be able to share the same thing his friend was, and watch his own child play with Xiuying and go after butterflies among other things.15

“Hey. How are you holding up Demyx? You look a lot better than I did at three months.” Marluxia chuckled softly, putting an arm around Demyx in a friendly manner. He knew that his younger friend was always in a good mood, so he figured even morning sickness wouldn’t get him down. And he even showed up to the usual meetings as well.16

“You were fine, Marly. I feel a little better, but sometimes I still feel like getting sick you know? Of course you do… you were there. Sorry. It’s still weird though, I mean that I’m not feeling that sick right now.” Demyx smiled, almost laughing as he gently moved Marluxia’s arm back.17

“Morning sickness isn’t fun, I can vouch for that. Granted you’ll get something good out of it in a few months.” Marluxia smiled softly toward his friend, putting a hand on Demyx’s stomach. At least he wasn’t the only one that showed early, so that made the rose haired assassin feel a little better about when he was pregnant with Xiuying. He just wondered what would happen the second time around.18

“You feel it? I mean my stomach. Xiggy didn’t notice it yet, he told me that I won’t start showing until a month from now. But I can tell.” Demyx spoke, watching Marluxia for a moment. He wondered what was going through his friends mind, but he knew it couldn’t have been jealousy. Maybe it was just concern.19

“Oh he’ll notice it Demmy. He’s just still in the shock of being a father phase right now. But I can feel it, definitely. You’ll start showing sooner than I did because your body is different. But I’m glad you’re not as sick as I was. I don’t want Xemnas getting upset with you also.” Marluxia spoke softly, moving his hand back from Demyx’s stomach. It was true though, Demyx was smaller than himself so it was plausible that he’d start showing sooner.20

“Different? You’re taller than me, but you’re not fat. I could tell when you were going to have Xiuying.” Demyx frowned, tilting his head slightly in confusion. He didn’t really understand what Marluxia meant by he was different. He knew the taller wasn’t fat by any means, just more muscular than himself.21

Marluxia just smiled, putting his hand on the other’s shoulder before removing it so he could pick up Xiuying who had managed to fall asleep on the grass. Luckily he had the good foresight to put her in front of the bench instead of leaving her out in the open. He knew there were dangers out here, but they weren’t always seen.22

“I know Demyx. I just have a different build than you do. Why don’t we worry about this later? I’m sure…” Marluxia started, but then his attention was caught by tiny black antenna behind the bush. His face went from calm to pretty much freaked out in two seconds flat. He knew exactly what was happening, and he knew that a small Heartless almost always led a much larger group. The smaller were always the scouts, looking for hearts to steal. And there were five right here.23

“Marly? Oh… oh no. What can we do?” Demyx asked before he got up from the bench. He wasn’t normally a fighter, but if Marluxia wanted him to help he’d try to. Then again would it be more of a danger to him and the unborn baby if he fought? And since the heartless would go right for any heart, it might be bad for him.24

“You go inside, tell Xigbar and Vexen we have a situation. Take Xiuying with you. I’ll take care of as many heartless as I can by myself.” Marluxia spoke; keeping his back toward Demyx as he finally summoned his scythe. He knew the odds were in his favor right now, but if he destroyed a few then they’d probably come back ten fold with larger and more dangerous heartless in their place.25

Demyx nodded and carefully picked up Xiuying before he headed inside, looking for Xigbar or anyone that could help. He heard the sounds of Marluxia’s attacks hitting a few of them, and a couple waves hitting the walls of the garden. But right now his top priority was to take care of himself, his unborn baby and Xiuying.26

Xigbar was still looking for Demyx when he came down the hall, seeing his smaller lover with Xiuying in his arms. He looked genuinely freaked out, and he was sure Vexen saw the same expression since the other male was right behind him. Part of him was worried that it had something to do with the baby, and not Xiuying. But his unborn child that Demyx was carrying.27

“Demyx, care to tell us what’s going on? And why are you carrying my daughter? You should be careful considering your condition.” Vexen spoke, walking up to the blonde nocturne. And then he saw that Marluxia was nowhere to be seen, his own levels of worry started to creep up slightly. He sighed and headed toward the door, only to have his expression change drastically.28

“He’s out there. And I know I’m pregnant, Vexy. But Xiuying isn’t that heavy, I can take care of her and myself.” Demyx protested, suddenly hating the fact that everyone thought he couldn’t handle a 3 month old child who couldn’t have been that heavy to start out with. And judging from the expression on the academics face, he knew there were heartless outside.29

“That’s not the point Demyx. You’re carrying twins, thus making it more risky and warranting you to take it slow. Now tell me how long Heartless have been out there and how long Marluxia has been fighting them. Please?” Vexen spoke, looking at Demyx as he prepared to head outside to help Marluxia fight the heartless. He knew the other was a good fighter, but if he got worn out he couldn’t fight as hard.30

“A few minutes. He’ll be fine, Marly is a good fighter. He already got rid of a few.” Demyx spoke, moving to sit down with Xiuying. He saw the look on Xigbar’s face and frowned slightly. Couldn’t anyone let him do what he wanted now? Or did he have to be held back by the pregnancy? “And… how do you know I’m having twins?”31

“It showed on the tests I conducted earlier. And I could sense more than one extra being inside you. So go, rest. I’ll take care of things here. Make sure you take Xiuying with you.” Vexen replied before he finally went outside with his partner, willing to take down the heartless so their child would be safe along with Demyx’s unborn twins.32

“I don’t want to lose Marly or you. Stay safe.” Demyx spoke softly, looking up at Vexen as he headed down the hall to his room. He made sure he had Xiuying safely in his arms, making sure he was supporting her little bottom and her head as he carried her cautiously down the hall.33

“Damned creatures… be gone! You don’t belong here!” Marluxia spoke, trying to get out from under five heartless that had caught him off guard. He managed to take out five more by just one swing of his scythe, but the ones on him didn’t want to get off. That was until he phased quickly to the right, the black creatures falling to the ground before they ran off.34

“Good job… did you save any for me?” Vexen spoke as he walked up to Marluxia, putting his back against the others. He saw quite a few more heartless appearing, but the smaller ones had run off after they saw what Marluxia had done to the majority of their companions.35

Marluxia managed a smile before he held his scythe out, narrowing his eyes toward the heartless that seemed to be advancing on him and Vexen. They didn’t seem interested in the blond though, only him. He was already tired, bloody and quite sore from the claws of the small creatures.36

“You’ll be alright, Mar. Just concentrate on the heartless, and if I freeze any of your flowers… I apologize ahead of time.” Vexen spoke, moving away from Marluxia for a brief second. He knew the other was getting worn out, but they had to get rid of the heartless before they got to Xiuying.37

“I know… we have more important things to worry about right now.” Marluxia spoke, panting lightly before he ran forward again and took out three heartless rather easily. He just hoped they would get the point and leave. But he also knew they’d be back ten fold another time.38

Vexen just nodded, making sure that the other was still close to him before he got rid of the last of the heartless. He frowned when he noticed Marluxia leaning against a tree, deciding to go up to the other. He knew he needed to rest; he could always spend time with their daughter while he checked up on Demyx.39

“I’m alright… don’t worry about me. They’re gone for now… we just have to keep our eyes peeled and try to get rid of as many as we can next time.” Marluxia spoke softly, looking up at Vexen. His eyes growing half lidded this time.40

“Right… and have you pass out? Not a chance. Let’s go inside, Marluxia. Don’t make me pull rank on you.” Vexen started, walking at a somewhat moderate pace so he and Marluxia could get inside without much difficulty.41

“Think they’re alright?” Demyx asked, carefully holding Xiuying on his lap while he and Xigbar looked for Marluxia and Vexen to return. He knew they’d be alright; they were strong fighters and could hold off heartless. He wondered what had happened though; they had been gone for a long time.42

“Of course they are. And Xiuying will see her parents soon enough, Demmy. But how are you feeling?” Xigbar asked, genuinely concerned for his smaller lover. But he didn’t seem to be feeling as ill, considering that Vexen’s potion seemed to have been working.43

“I’m good. Not as sick now, so that stuff worked. I’ll have to tell Marly about it if he gets pregnant again. Wait… what happened?” Demyx spoke, turning to see Vexen and Marluxia heading down the hall with the rose haired man leaning against the older male. He had never seen Marluxia look that bad, only when he was pregnant with Xiuying.44

“He’s fine, Demyx. Just a little run in with the heartless, that’s all. But we do need to create a barrier of some sort. I’ll have Zexion help me since this is an urgent matter, and I want you to stay with Xigbar. I’ll have Marluxia stay with you two as well as Xiuying. He got lucky this time.” Vexen spoke, keeping the other standing upright.45

“We’ll keep an eye on them. Shouldn’t we let Xemnas know about this? If it’s that serious, he has to know.” Xigbar spoke, looking at Vexen with a concerned look on his face. He wasn’t about to frown, lest he worry Demyx. But he was truly worried about the other. Was there something Vexen wasn’t telling them?46

“I won’t do this today, but sometime over the next few weeks it will happen. Right now I have to get Marluxia to bed. I think there is something going on and I’m worried for him. I’ll inform you all about his condition later.” Vexen spoke before he and Marluxia went through a dark portal to their shared room with Xiuying in tow as well.47

“What do you think is going on? He can’t be pregnant again. Are you worried Xiggy?” Demyx asked softly, looking up at Xigbar. But right now they had their own problems and future things to look forward to. Although being worried for a friend was allowed, or so the younger blonde hoped.48

“I am, but I’m more worried about you. Rest actually sounds good to me, so let’s head off to bed alright? Vexen will tell us more in the morning.” Xigbar smiled as he picked up Demyx carefully, before he portaled off to their own shared bedroom as well. He just made sure that Demyx had the bed on the floor.49

Demyx smiled before closing his eyes. He knew Xigbar would take good care of him and their unborn child, or children in this case. Twins… he never would have thought it. So it would be twice the love, but also twice the pain when delivery came. He had six months to worry about that day, so for now he was going to be focused on taking care of himself and the unborn babies.