Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Will You Always Be My Baby? (Part One of the Family Sagas) ❯ Part Two ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: Don't own it! Wish I did!

Will You Always Be My Baby? Part 2

August A.C 199

Hilde walked slowly along the street towards her home. She insisted on no special treatment from Eric. He was taking excellent care of her. She patted her rounded stomach. She was six months pregnant and from what the doctor said, she was doing beautifully for her first pregnancy. It was a little hard though, attending NYU and working for Eric at his company, a subsidiary of the Winner Corporation. She walked into the marble foyer of the high rise that she lived in with Eric hauling her books from her classes earlier that day. She rode the elevator up to the penthouse and dropped her keys in the crystal dish on the mahogany table by the door. She propped her feet up on the couch. She knew that Eric wouldn't be home for several hours yet, and just about she was to close her eyes to take a nap, the phone jangled. "All right I'm coming," she yelled as she went to the kitchen and picked up the phone. An image flashed up on the screen. "Relena! I wasn't expecting a call from you today," she said with shock.

"I just wanted to see how you are. We really miss you over here," said Relena as she looked at the image of Hilde in front of her.

"I'm doing as well as can be expected I guess. I'm doing well in school and I feel like a blimp with the baby on the way," Hilde laughed.

"That's good to hear. How many more months until you deliver?" Relena asked as she studied Hilde's face.

"About three more months at least. I'm due in the second or third week of November. I just can't wait for the baby to be born. It is such a pain some days. Well how are you doing? How many more weeks until the wedding?"

"Four more weeks. Poor Heero is wishing that we could hurry up and get down with it already. I'm driving him nuts," Relena chuckled.

"That's understandable. But it must be so lovely to be getting married to the man of your dreams," Hilde said wistfully.

Relena noticed Hilde's somber expression. "I'm sorry Hilde. I know that you wish…"

"No, don't worry about it. I am so very happy for you," Hilde replied with a wave of her hand. "And how is he?" she asked hesitantly.

"Duo is fine as can be. One never knows with him. He covers it up just as well as the others do. But I can see it in his eyes. Hilde, he really does miss you," Relena said softly.

Hilde chewed her lip for a minute. "He still misses me?"

"Hilde, I have never seen a guy more smitten then Duo was with you and vice versa. You guys were so good together. You two are meant to be with each other. A god has to have his goddess."

"Does he still love me?"

"He loves you very much. He hasn't given up looking for you and I don't think that he will. Do you still love him?"

"I have tried to stop, but I can't. I can't stop loving him. But I can't wait around and wait for him to be ready for marriage and for responsibility."

"Hilde he loves you so much. He throws himself into work, exhausting himself so he won't think about you 24/7. Heero practically made him rest at the point of his gun because he just doesn't quit. And I think if he keeps this up, he will have a nervous breakdown. I'm worried about him. We all are worried about him."

"I knew that was what he would do. But I can't go back now. We can't go back to the way that we once were. I will only have him by marriage or not at all. I'm sorry that he has to go through this. I may love him, but it won't change my mind."

Relena sighed. "Well in any case, take care of yourself. I'll back in a few weeks to see how you are. Keep that godson or goddaughter of mine healthy."

Hilde smiled. "I will Relena. Send everyone my love. And Eric's and my gift are in the mail. You'll absolutely love what we got you."

"Thanks Hilde. Take care of yourself," Relena said with a soft smile.

"You too, Relena. Bye," she said as she hung up the phone. She leaned back against the counter and tapped her nail against her lips. That information did make her feel a little guilty. She knew that Duo would take it hard, but not as hard as Relena made it sound. She smoothed her hand over her rounded belly. "I told myself I wouldn't regret what I did. But I can't go back to that arrangement again. I may love your dad, but that doesn't change anything. I will have to do this on my own." She looked up as the door opened. "Eric, you're home early."

"Work was a bitch today babe," said Eric as he came over to Hilde and gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead. Eric Anderson Winner was almost a copy of his cousin, Quatre, except for his leaf green eyes. "And how are you doing? You look a little upset."

"Relena just called to see how I was doing," Hilde said as Eric led her into the living room and sat down on the plush black leather couch.

"Well how is our lovely Vice Foreign Minister doing?" asked Eric.

"She's doing well. She's getting ready for her wedding in a few weeks," said Hilde as she leaned back against the cushions.

"What a lucky man Heero Yuy is. She is an incredible woman as well as being exceptionally beautiful. How I wish that was me," said Eric.

Hilde laughed. "That would be doubtful. Heero probably wouldn't let you near her. He is more overprotective of her then anything else."

"I know babe. But I can dream can't I," Eric chuckled. His grin faded a little. "But there is something else bothering you. Care to tell me what it is?"

"It was something that Relena said," Hilde said as she glanced away from him.

"Come on. You can tell me. What is it?" Eric asked as he turned her head towards him.

"It was about Duo," Hilde replied softly. "She says he's not dealing too well."

Eric stroked her cheek. "So that is what has you so upset. You feel guilty for leaving him."

"Yes…No…I don't know. I made the decision to leave him. It does make me feel bad, but I can't wait around forever for him to marry me. I want marriage. I know it might seem selfish, but that is what I want," Hilde said as she closed her eyes.

"There is nothing wrong with wanting to be married. But I don't know how you were able to walk away from him without a second thought. You sure know how to pick them. Handsome, fun, wealthy, and a former Gundam pilot. If I had been you, I wouldn't been able to do it."

"I know. Many of his friends thought I was foolish for doing it. Especially when they found out I was pregnant as well. Wufei told me to stay put like a good onna and learn my place. I think he wanted to force Duo to marry me. But I had made it clear to all of them that I wouldn't have him forced into it and I wouldn't want him unless he asked. But he didn't. So now I will have this baby without his knowledge and without his help," Hilde said a little defiantly.

"I must say you are determined to do this. But don't you think he will find out about this sooner or later. I mean you think if he loved you enough he would look for you," Eric stated.

"He is. Relena said he wasn't giving up. And she also says that he is throwing himself into his work. She's afraid that he'll have a nervous breakdown," said Hilde as she wrung her hands.

Eric looked into Hilde's cornflower blue eyes. "You still love him."

Hilde glanced away again. "Yes. I still love him. God help me, that I still do."

"Listen to me babe. I won't interfere with the decision you have made. But don't keep it up to spite yourself. If this is what you want, that's all right with me," said Eric as he brushed back some ebony curls that had strayed from her ponytail.

Hilde leaned her head against Eric's shoulder. "Thank you Eric. You're the best."

"I know. Now, are you hungry?"

"Yes, baby and I are starving," Hilde said with a grin.

"Ok, why don't you go take a nap and I will order out. How does that sound."

"Pretty good. I feel like I'm in the mood for Chinese tonight. You know what I like," said Hilde as she stood up.

"Chinese it is. Now be a good girl and take a nap. I'll order your favorites," said Eric as he pressed a kiss on her forehead and pushed her towards the bedrooms.

"All right, all right, I'm going," she laughed as she walked to her room. Hilde closed the door behind her and lay down on the huge sleigh bed. She pulled up the pale blue cashmere coverlet and closed her eyes. But before she closed them, her eyes fell on the picture that sat on her vanity in a gilt silver frame. It was of her and Duo at Relena's New Year's Eve party last year. She was wearing a magenta colored slip dress with a low back. She had bought the dress with Duo in mind. He had liked it very much. They were kissing in the picture. They had been the only ones still kissing several minutes after midnight and Relena had taken the opportunity to snap the picture. She remembered how eager Duo was to get the dress off of her. They both had a lot of fun stripping off each other's clothes as they walked across their bedroom at Relena's home. She closed her eyes. "Stop thinking about that. It won't help you."

Eric watched her close the door. He sighed. He adored Hilde. She was beautiful and headstrong, and such a good friend. And she needed someone so much. It hadn't taken a lot of prompting from his younger cousin to let her stay. He liked the companionship she provided him and it kept New York debutantes away from him. But he liked her as a friend and understood that she still loved the man she had left. He was surprised to find out she was pregnant. It had been something that Quatre had failed to mention over the phone, but he didn't mind. He liked kids and was helping her out as much as she could. "Don't worry babe, I'll take good care of you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Relena sighed and sat back in her leather desk chair. She was in her study at home. She tapped her manicured nails on the desk's shiny surface. She had helped Hilde by flying her to New York in her private jet that night she had left Duo. It was to make sure that Duo wouldn't be able to trace her. It had worked. But she felt guilty for helping and felt even worse because she knew that Hilde was pregnant with Duo's kid. She was knocked out of her thoughts when the object of her thoughts poked his head in.

"Hey good looking," said Duo as he walked into Relena's study.

"Duo! I wasn't expecting you," Relena said with surprised smile. "How come you're here."

"The object of your affection kicked me out of my office on the threat of death and to keep you company, princess," Duo said as he leaned against her desk.

"Heero should stop using his death threats. I told him not to do that anymore," Relena said as she flushed at Duo's comment.

"Habits are hard to break. Besides his death glares no longer faze me. But I came anyway. He also threatened to bring Wufei with the katana. I tend to like my braid the way it is," said Duo as he smoothed his hand over his meter long braid that he had tossed over his shoulder.

Relena laughed softly. "Yes, it would be a crime to cut off such extraordinary hair," she said as she leaned forward and tugged playfully on the end of the braid. "You know how much me and every other woman that you know envy that hair."

"Aww, come on good looking. You are still one of the most beautiful women that I have ever seen," Duo teased good-naturedly. "So why did you look so pensive when I walked in?"

"Oh, it was nothing. I was just finished a phone call. I was thinking," said Relena a little uncomfortably.

"Who were you talking to? If I may ask," Duo asked he smiled at her.

"Uh, it was just a friend," said Relena. She was a politician. She was good at keeping a passive face, but she felt a tell tale flush creeping up her cheeks. He had never asked her where Hilde was.

Duo noticed that she was looking uncomfortable. He looked down at her desk and noticed her address book lying open. His eyes fell on the initials H.S. several lines down next to a long distance number. He looked back up at her. She looked miserable now and was slinking down in her chair. "Is this who I think it is?" he asked softly as he looked into Relena's sapphire eyes.

Relena wanted to smack herself for leaving her address book open. And the way that he was looking at her made her want to slide to the floor. She nodded slowly and slid further down in her chair.

Duo looked at her with disbelief. Everyone knew except him. Relena looked as guilty as hell. "You were talking to Hilde before I came in, weren't you?"

Relena couldn't lie. Not to him anyway. "Yes, I was talking to her. I wanted to ask her how she was."

"And?" Duo asked as he raised a brow at her.

"She's fine," Relena said softly.

"Do you want to tell me where she is?" Duo asked, trying to keep his temper in check.

"Duo, I can't tell you that. I promised her that I wouldn't tell," Relena said as she pushed back her chair and went to stand by the window. She could tell that he was trying to keep himself under control. And she wanted to be far enough away from him before he snapped. She knew he wouldn't do anything, but seeing him lose his temper was just as bad as Heero pointing a gun at her. "I can only tell you that she is all right. That's all I can tell you."

Duo closed his eyes and counted to ten. He opened his eyes and looked over at Relena. She was leaning against the window. She was regarding him with wary eyes. He raked his hands through his hair and sighed. "I'm all right princess. I'm calm. Or as calm as I can be."

"Oh Duo. I know you want to know where she is. And I don't like to keep this from you, but I did promise her. And I know you're worried about her," said Relena as she came back over and put her hands on his arms. "But I'm also worried about you. You're working yourself like a racehorse. You're going to exhaust yourself."

"Don't worry about me princess. I'm all right, Honestly. You don't have to worry about me," said Duo as he put his arms around her and gave her a hug. "Besides you have better things to worry about besides me."

"Stop that Duo. I care about you very much. If it wasn't for you, Heero and I wouldn't be getting married," said Relena as she looked up at him.

"Good thing I locked you and him in the wine cellar. But I can't take complete credit. It was Hilde's idea as well as mine," Duo chuckled lightly.

"Yes and I am completely grateful. But I can still worry about you braid boy," Relena said with a smile.

"Heero is a lucky man. Good thing I saved your life that time. It's my job to save beautiful damsels in distress. Too bad he saw you first," Duo teased and pressed a kiss on her forehead.

"Duo stop flirting with my fiancée," said Heero as he walked through the door.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself," Duo replied as he draped his arm around Relena's shoulders. "And besides you have some explaining to do. Like how long have you've been keeping in touch with Hilde?"

Heero froze and glanced at Relena. "What do you mean?"

"Heero, I just talked to Hilde not that long ago. And she's fine," said Relena. "Duo was observant enough to notice me lost in thought when he came in."

"You didn't tell him did you?" asked Heero as he glanced at Duo.

"No don't worry. She didn't tell me a thing like she is supposed to. I just wish that you guys would tell me. Why can't I know? It is beginning to seem like there is a lot more that you aren't telling me, " Duo asked as he frowned a little. He watched as Heero and Relena began sending each other glances.

"There is nothing more then what we're telling you. If Relena said she was all right, then that should be good enough for you," Heero stated.

Duo walked towards Heero and looked at him. His height put him several inches taller then Heero. "And I'm sure that if Relena had done the same thing, you would be doing the same thing I am. You would want to know where she is and I am sure that you would use any method possible to find her. And if one of us knew, you would probably kick our asses until we told you. So don't go telling me that the little information that I do have on her is good enough," he growled.

Heero and Duo glared at each other. Two pairs of blue eyes continued to eye each other frostily that was until Relena broke the silence. "For goodness sakes, stop it you too. You're both making it feel like winter in here," she said as she walked between the two men. And like Hilde, she was tiny compared to them. She was only about five foot six, but she knew how to wield power. She pushed them apart gently. "I do agree with Duo on that. I know if I went off, you would come looking for me and grill everyone you know about my whereabouts. He has every right to be angry with us for not telling him where Hilde is."

The two men went to opposite sides of the room. Duo was the first to speak. "I just know you guys are hiding something from me. There is more then just where she disappeared. I can feel that there is something more you guys are not telling me," Duo snapped."

Relena looked helplessly over at Heero. She knew it as Heero did, that Hilde was pregnant. And it was getting hard not to tell Duo. She would see the pain in his eyes that he would so cleverly mask with his good humor. But she could see through it just like she could see through Heero's impenetrable mask. "Heero?"

Heero looked at her. Her eyes were pleading. He didn't like hiding it any more then she did. But they both had promised. They all had promised. He looked over at Duo, who was standing with his arms crossed and sending him a look that would kill. "No. We can't tell. It isn't our place to tell," he said as he raked his hand through his unruly hair. He sighed. "We shouldn't have gotten involved. This is becoming a total and complete mess," he muttered.

Relena frowned and looked at Duo beseechingly. "Please understand Duo. Our hands are tied in this. We can't tell you anything else. It isn't our place to tell you."

Duo felt like yanking his hair out. He wanted to know where Hilde was and no one was telling. He looked over at Relena, who looked upset by the whole ordeal. His features softened a little. "I'm sorry princess, I don't mean to upset you with all of this." His gaze strayed to Heero. He narrowed his eyes a little. "I suggest you keep away from me for a few days. I wouldn't want to kill you and I know good looking wouldn't want me to do that." He turned and walked out the door. And as he passed he squeezed his hand on Relena's shoulder. "I'll see you later good looking."

Relena looked after him as he left the room. As soon as the door was closed, she went over to Heero and smacked him on the backside of the head. "What the hell are you trying to do? Don't make him more upset then he already is. You, being an ass won't help the situation," she hissed.

Heero pulled her into his arms and held her tight against him. "I know that I shouldn't, but it pulls him out of the depression he starts to sink into. As long as I can keep him riled up, he won't have a chance to slip further then he already has. I feel just as bad as you do, but we can't tell." He kissed the top of Relena's head. "I know this upsets you too. But it is the only way that I know how to keep him sane."

Relena sighed against Heero's chest. "I just wish that this was over."

"I know. So do I." He looked down at her and smiled slightly. "I love you."

Relena smiled back. "I love you too."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Duo drove his black Suburban back to his home in a fit. He drove fast as usual just like the way he piloted the Deathscythe. He screeched into the driveway and slammed the door as he made his way into the modest two-story house that he and Hilde had lived in. He dropped onto the couch and pushed the heel of his hands into his eyes. He wanted this pain to go away and it wasn't. It was eating him alive. "I hate this. I hate feeling so goddamn horrible," he groaned. But her image was engraved into the backs of his eyelids and he could still remember the way her skin felt against his fingertips, lips, and tongue. "I have to get control of myself," he said as he staved off another fantasy. "I can't let this dominate me. I have to be able to get through this. I have to or else this will just drive me insane." He opened his eyes again and even then he could still see her image. It was almost constantly there. It made it hard to concentrate on his work and at night it was the worst. When he closed his eyes, she was there. Tormenting him in his dreams and nightmares. He leaned forward and put his head in his hands. "I have to get over this. I have to control this. I just have to."