Tonie looked up from his novel to start at Eradon, who’s
doing his latest knitting. The completed part of the fabric rested gently on
the younger man’s swollen belly, the product of their union evident on his
body. Eradon realized he was being watched and looked back up at him, giving
him a “What’re you looking at?” raise of a brow. Tonie just smiled awkwardly
and went back to his novel.
Their marriage wasn’t all strawberries and cream, but it
wasn’t all guns and grenades either. When Tonie’s parents found out about his
orientation, they were worried at first that he will not give them any heirs
due to his adamant decision not to marry any woman for the sake of the family.
But being that Tonie has yet to find ‘The One’, his parents resorted to
match-make him with a Neo-man. And that’s where Eradon came in.
Eradon came from a pretty well-to-do family, having good
grades and a non-questionable personality. He, too, had no love affiliations
whatsoever and is a bi, which was ideal for Tonie’s parents. Both his and
Eradon’s parents met up to discuss marriage, and a fortnight later, they
officially met.
Eradon was quite beautiful in his own way, so Tonie was
pretty OK with getting along with him. Unfortunately Eradon didn’t feel the same
way he did. Sure, he did not fight the arranged marriage, but he showed no
indication of reciprocating Tonie’s feelings or gestures. Everything the
younger man did was out of reluctance and obligation, not of free will and
content, as if this relationship was all one-sided.
But it didn’t stop Tonie from falling in love with him
though.
He wasn’t sure when did it started, this budding love of
his. It could’ve been the way Eradon looked when he walked down the aisle in
his wedding clothes, or the way he blushed a little in shyness and defiance
when he unveiled him to kiss him, or the way he tried to act strong despite the
tears falling when Tonie took his virginity on their wedding night. When he saw
those tears, Tonie knew that deep down inside, Eradon was fragile and
sensitive, and he needed to protect that side of him as long as they lived, and
that’s what he did when he whispered sweet nothings into the younger man’s ear
and comforted him with his kisses as they consummate their marriage.
Since that day, as Eradon tolerated their married life
together, Tonie tried his best to please and open up the younger man’s heart.
They had their little fights now and then, but they always made up somehow,
with the occasional sex in between. Tonie would initiate most of the time, but
on special occasions or rare moments, Eradon would be the one initiating it by
way of gently tugging his sleeve with that peach-flushed face as he looked away
in awkwardness. When he did that, Tonie knew better than to miss that opportunity.
When Eradon announced his pregnancy, it was nothing more
subtle. They were enjoying the comfortable silence of dinner one night when
Tonie was brought to attention by Eradon’s gentle clearing of the throat. After
some deliberation, Eradon, not looking at Tonie in the eye, slid the positive
pregnancy stick across the table to him.
It took about 10 seconds and a blushing Eradon for Tonie to get the
picture, but needless to say, he was the happiest man on Earth at that moment.
The pregnancy progressed as normally as it should, with
Tonie doting all over Eradon and Eradon just allowing the attention to be
showered upon him. Granted Eradon was slightly hornier than usual and his
appetite increased threefold (as all pregnant Neo-men do), but there was nothing
Tonie wouldn’t do to satisfy him. And now here they were, in the living room
enjoying each other’s company, with Eradon slightly overdue by 2 days, but then
again, it is pretty common for firstborns to be overdue in Neo-Earth culture.
“Are you hungry or thirsty?” Tonie finally broke the silence
between them. “Do you need me to get you anything?”
“No, it’s OK,” Eradon replied briefly.
Tonie nodded. He knew better than to push the question
further. He glanced up from his novel from time to time to catch Eradon’s face
bunching up a little, but didn’t want to sound like a worried wart until he
finally noticed that it was bunching up more times than it should.
“Eradon?” Tonie got up and went to his wife. “Eradon, are
you OK? Talk to me.”
“I’m OK…” Eradon replied unconvincingly, another bunch on
his face betraying his words.
“It’s time, isn’t it? Tell me the truth. How long have you
gone into labour?”
Eradon bit his lip and shook his head, trying to act strong
as usual, but his water broke just at that very moment, soaking the sofa he sat
on, and a moan escaped his lips before he could hold it back.
“I take that it’s not long,” Tonie said as he helped Eradon
up and walked him towards the garage where their car—all ready and prepped with
their maternity necessities—were. “Come on, let’s go to the hospital.”
Thankfully it was not rush hour, so they made it to the
hospital in good time. They checked in and Eradon was wheeled into an available
ward. Their attending midwife came to check on him.
“He’s dilating very well, just give it a bit more time,” the
midwife said after checking. “In the meantime, try walking him around to get
the baby down.”
“Sure, doc,” Tonie nodded as he helped Eradon up. “C’mon, I
gotcha. Let’s go for a walk.”
After a good half an hour of walking, stopping to take a
breather through the contractions (literally) and sips of water in between,
Eradon was ready to go. All the while, aside from the whimpers and moans he
made whenever a contraction hit, the younger man hadn’t really complained or
lashed out much. His usual strong front was on and he held onto whatever
dignity he had and bore through the pain until the blessed words finally came
to his ears.
“Push along with the contractions whenever you’re ready,
child. Give it all you got.”
At the midwife’s words, Eradon pushed along with the
contractions as it came. Tonie supported his back every time he pushed and held
his hand, never letting go even though he felt like it was going to be crushed
into a pulp, because he knew Eradon was in much more pain than he was. He
whispered encouraging words to his ear, kissed his cheeks, wiped his sweaty
brow, anything to make his little wife feel better and to take away his pain if
only for a moment.
“The baby’s crowning, child! You’re doing really great!” the
midwife announced as she had her hands around the stretched folds of Eradon’s
vagina. “Just breathe through it, don’t push too hard. We don’t want you to
tear.”
At the infamous feeling of the ‘ring of fire’, Eradon
suddenly buried his face onto Tonie’s chest, breathing hard and fast through
his next incoming contractions. Tonie’s other free hand quickly ran through
Eradon’s hair, trying to soothe him.
“It’s OK, it’s OK, I’m right here, I’m…”
Tonie’s words stopped when he saw Eradon’s facial
expression. He was still trying to put up a strong front, but was in the verge
of breaking. His clear blue eyes were looking glassy and were half-clenched, as
if trying to hold back tears as his teeth were clenched hard, ragged breath
going in and out through them. His other hand, which was gripping on the bed
sheets before, was gripping tight on Tonie’s sleeve, and there were tiny,
almost inaudible sounds of choked whimpers escaping the younger man’s throat.
Tonie smiled gently. He was trying so hard to be strong, so
hard that it hurt. He knew then just what to say.
"It's OK, sweetie. It's OK to cry. I'm right here with
you. I'm not going anywhere. Just let it all out, sweetie."
After much hesitation, Eradon finally broke. Guttural choked
whimpers turned to sobs which then turned to crying and wailing as the younger
man clung to the older like his life depended on it.
“It hurts~!! It really hurts~!! I can’t do it anymore~!! It
HURTS~!!!” Eradon practically screamed in agony, his real outburst for the
first time since they were married.
“I know, I know it hurts, sweetie,” Tonie crooned as he
rubbed his back. “You’re halfway there, you’re doing really great.”
“I can’t…I can’t do it anymore…!! Please make it stop…!!
Please…!!!”
“Yes, you can. You can do it. I believe in you, and I’m here
all the way. You can do this.”
Eradon whimpered as he shook his head, ready to give up.
“I love you, Eradon. I love you.”
At those words, Eradon bit his lip and clung even harder
onto Tonie, waiting for another contraction and pushed. With more encouragement
from Tonie and the midwife, he kept pushing until he could feel his opening
stretch to its widest as the shoulders eased out of him.
“The shoulders are out, child. Just one more push will do
it. Give it a big one!”
The younger man didn’t need to be told twice as he pushed
down his hardest, screaming Tonie’s name as the baby slid fully out of his womb
and into the midwife’s arms.
“Congratulations! You have a Neo-boy!”
Eradon and Tonie’s heart almost leapt out of their chest as
they heard their son’s loud cry of his first breath. Babies born by Neo-man
would have their umbilical cord automatically detached from their bellies,
almost like a band-aid, and their little Neo-boy was no different.
“Gimme a gentle push, child, and the afterbirth will be outta
ya.”
Eradon nodded tiredly as he pushed a little for the
afterbirth to slide out of him. The midwife’s assistant took the baby to have
him cleaned while the midwife cleaned and sewed up the tiny tear Eradon had.
“Here ya go, sir,” the assistant came back 10 minutes later
with their freshly cleaned and swaddled baby to Eradon. Eradon shakily took him
in his arms and tears of joy poured at upon seeing the tiny little thing,
dependent on him for the next years to come.
“He’s beautiful. So beautiful,” Tonie said as he kissed
Eradon’s cheeks and forehead. “You did so well. Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“What shall we name him?” Eradon asked weakly, looking up at
him and genuinely smiled at him for the first time. Not the usual smile that
was just a front that he used to put on, but a real smile. A smile full of
bliss and happiness.
“Hmm…I dunno. We wanted our baby’s gender to be a surprise,
so I never really gave it much thought yet.”
“Well, I did most of the work, so you should name him.”
Tonie thought for a while before grinning.
“How about Jayden?”
Eradon thought for a while too before nodding with another
smile.
“Sounds perfect. Jayden it is.”
Without warning, Eradon leaned up and captured Tonie’s lips,
giving him a long and tender kiss—something he rarely does on his own—and
whispered shyly the words Tonie had always longed to hear since they were
married.
“I love you too.”
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