baby, I'll show you the world [muke af]

(Thursday, October 31st, 2019)

(Thursday, October 31st, 2019)

At fifteen weeks, Michael felt one the babies kick. It was five in the morning, he just got to bed. He was quite used to having his hands wrapped around Luke's belly, then the belly kicked back.

Luke wasn't as excited. They only thing he cared about at 5:36 in the morning was sleep. But, five hours later after and one of his special pregnancy decaf coffees later, he was very excited.

He sat on their kitchen bar stools, his shirt raised to his chest. Luke poked at the left side of his stomach, wanting one of them to move. "So, like, they're real?"

Michael wiped the sleep from his eyes as he looked at himself in the downstairs mirror. He was dripped water from his shower, shirtless, and jean-less. "Luke, what did you think was in there? We've been to, like, four ultrasounds." Mike turned to face Luke as he brought a crewneck over his upper body.

"I don't know, I thought it was just, like, fat. Shit happens, dude." Luke took his shoes from the bar stool next to him, bending down slightly to try to slide them on.

Michael kneeled down, helping him put them on. He didn't want his lover to hurt himself or the babies. "Soon, they'll all be kicking, isn't that amazing?"

Luke groaned, "Fuck." He stayed on the stool, watching Mike move around their foyer. "Are you sure you want to find out the genders?"

Michael nodded quickly. "Of course! I need to know how many more princesses I need to spoil. Or princes."

"Or non-binary royalty," Luke pointed out.

"Yes, that, too." He grabbed his keys, patting around his pockets for his phone. He made sure Taco was inside before helping Luke make his way to their car.

Michael was fairly protective of his princess (plus the four growing every day). He couldn't imagine any harm happening to Luke. Mike would much rather hurt himself than see hurt happen to Luke.

Luke looked so peaceful in the passenger seat, his lost eyes watching the California highway slip past them. His two hands were pressed to his belly, waiting to feel them kick for himself. He was a little bit jealous that Michael felt them kick first.
Even after they went through a half hour drive, fifteen minute waiting room, and fifteen minute nurse check up, Luke didn't feel them kick. "They like you better," Luke told his husband.

Michael looked up from his phone, letting out a quick laugh. "Who? The babies?"

The blonde nodded, "Why don't they like me?"

"Please, don't start crying."

"I'm not crying!" Luke cried.

Mike rolled his eyes before scooting closer. His chair scraped across the clean tile floors as he got closer to his lover. He reached out his hand, taking Luke's fingers off of his belly and entwining their hands.

Michael wiped the tear from Luke's eyes. "Please, stop crying."

"Why don't they love me?"

"Babe, a kick doesn't mean anything. You're overthinking this."

"I'm not overreacting!"

Michael tried to hide his smile. "I didn't say you were overreacting, Princess."

Dr. Silver walked in, a smile etched upon her lips. She had a dark blue lipstick on, matching the ends of her hair. She paused as the door closed behind him, "Am I supposed to pretend he isn't crying?"

Michael nodded.

She smiled then continued making her way into the room. She flipped through the clipboard, seeing all the positive and healthy tests. She sanitized her hands as she finished reading. "You're two doing well, I assume?"

"Amazing," Mike answered through gritted teeth. He squeezed Luke's hand.

"How're you feeling, Luke?"

"Okay," he responded. "One of them kicked this morning, but I was asleep."

She looked at Michael, pointing at Luke as if asking is that why he was in tears? Michael nodded, his lips forming a straight line. "Feel lucky, you're gonna be begging for them to stop bothering you in only a couple weeks."

"What's it like with four of them? Is it four times the pain?"

Casey Silver shrugged. "Sometimes, if you're unlucky. It looks like when you were ovulating, four different eggs were dropped. This means, your babies will have four different bundles of genetics. Most likely, one will be extremely active in there," she poked at his stomach, eliciting a giggle from him, "Two will be pretty chill, then one will be extremely calm."

Her hands were cold as she lifted up his shirt to his chest. She pressed the palms of her hands to his stretched belly, feeling around for certain things.

"What if they're all really active?" Luke asked. HIs blue eyes looked up at her with curiosity. Ashton's booklet didn't cover what to do when one has quadruplets.

"Then you're going to pee, a lot." She began placing the ultrasound gel over Luke's pale skin, smearing it slowly. "I don't know from personal experience, but I've been around a lot of pregnant people. The worst pregnancies are the active kickers."

Michael smiled, thinking of his four little kids messing with Luke. "My mom always said I was so still that they weren't sure I was alive."

Dr. Silver laughed, "That is extremely common, too." She pulled out the ultrasound wand, spreading the gel some more. "So, genders today. Do you want to know or keep it a surprise?"

"Definitely know," Michael responded.

When the lights turned off, their eyes went straight to the screen, watching the black-and-white picture begin to show up. Luke squeezed Michael's hand extra hard, his nails digging into the back of his lover's hand.

"Okay," she moved around a bit, pausing the screen. "That is one girl."

Luke smiled, quickly looking over at his husband to see a matching expression.

She moved around some more, trying to find another blob of human. "That is another girl, too."

Michael brought their entwined hands to his lips, kissing Luke's knuckles again, and again, and again.

Their doctor asked for Luke to turn to the side again, first closest to Michael. He rolled to his left, his body facing Mike. He couldn't comfortably turn his head to watch the screen, so he just watched it from the glow of Michael's glassy, grassy green eyes. He was crying. Michael was definitely crying. Too much crying today.

"Wow, girl number three over here."

"How much do you want to bet the fourth is a girl as well?" Michael asked as Luke rolled to the other side.

Luke left his left hand behind his back, continuing to stop Michael's blood circulation with his tight grip. "Not a lot, dude. I'm on your side."

"Amazing. Girl number four right here."

The screen lit up with four perfect barely-humans—their little girls.

With the lights back on, the three looked at each other. Dr. Silver wiped her eyes, her make up smearing the slightest bit. "I'm not crying—you are."

Michael and Luke laughed, hearts in their eyes as they looked at each other.

"I just ship you two so much. I know it's unprofessional but I'm so fucking happy for you," she whispered. Casey Silver was quite positive the place was hooked up with mics. She wasn't sure how she kept getting in trouble by what she said.

Mike kissed Luke's knuckles again. "Four girls," he said, "Amazing." So, yeah, Michael will soon have five princesses in his life. Luke being number one, always.