IX
“Welcome to Ball Point. May I take your order?”
Serione rang up the cash machine as the customer before him made his order. He noticed the customer couldn’t help stealing glances at his protruding belly, but he didn’t let it bother him. He was used to stares and glances by now anyways.
Serione was in what you’d call a unique relationship. He had a genetic mutation where his body allowed him to carry the child of two fathers, and while it doesn’t really affect his daily life, it does put a damper in his sex life because due to his condition, he had to take twice as much birth control pills as anyone else due to the fact that the mutation made him super fertile, regardless if he was ovulating or not.
His best friend Carroll was the first to know of his condition since they grew up together, and then Terrence, his colleague/fuck buddy came into the fold when he noticed Serione taking more birth control pills than most of his previous lovers ever did. The three of them got together and would occasionally indulge in a threesome (popping Carroll’s man cherry at the same time), and after a year of that sort of relationship, it was only natural that they decided to take it to the next level and became three-way lovers.
Three-way love was neither uncommon nor illegal nowadays, and people have been doing it even before the discovery of Neo-Earth, but it was not religiously recognized, so a threesome white wedding at the church was out of the question. They had to settle for a civil marriage at the court in front of a judge, but it was no big deal as they have each other. Serione kept the birth control use for about a couple of years until they were ready to have children. One night of heavy petting on their 3rd wedding anniversary later, both Terrence and Carroll hit the jackpot as Serione was pregnant with both their children.
“Two veggie burgers, one meat loaf burger and two isotonic drinks, all super-sized!” Serione hollered towards the kitchen.
“Coming right up!” Terrence replied as he and his other chef colleagues cooked up the order. Serione was glad that Terrence worked with him in the same Ball Point fast food restaurant because at least there was someone helping him out or keep an eye on him while Carroll was at his own job as a bank security guard.
“You sure you don’t wanna take a break?” Angela, who was stationed as the cashier/customer service next to him, asked worriedly. “I heard you’re almost due, aren’t you?”
“Naw, don’t worry about it,” Serione replied. “I’m not due till next week, and I’m pregnant, not invalid. The world won’t grind to a halt whether or not I take an early leave anyway. Besides, you’re still in training. Who else is gonna train you without me?”
“True,” Angela giggled. “The boss is too much of a miser to pay extra for someone else to train me.”
Serione nodded with a grin and went back to work when another line of customers came before him. He hadn’t really told anyone except his two husbands; he had been feeling the tightening of the stomach since last night, and he was feeling it right now every now and then. He dismissed it as the usual Braxton Hicks he had been getting since last week, but now that he was feeling it even more frequently, he was not so sure anymore.
“You gonna be alright, hun?” Terrence approached him from behind while he brought extra cups for the drink station. His touch on his aching back gave Serione some brief relief.
“Yeah, I’m good,” Serione replied. “Though I’m feeling something every now and then, it’s more than how I felt last night.”
“You wanna sit down and rest? Take the day off?”
“Naw, prolly just Braxton Hicks as usual. I wouldn’t worry about that.”
“Well, just gimme a holler if something’s wrong, OK?”
“Yup.”
The rest of the day went by without incident. Serione still felt the occasional tightening now and then but he tried not to let it bother him. It was only until during lunch hour peak time that he realized the tightening was getting more and more uncomfortable to be just Braxton Hicks and seemed to travel down his back and around his pelvis, and he couldn’t ignore it as much as he could when he realized that it was doing it (after glancing at his watch) every 5 minutes, getting closer to every 3, 4 minutes.
“Ah, shit…” Serione swore under his breath when he finally realized that he was going into labour and those were contractions he was feeling. Luckily he was out of the customer’s earshot, but not Angela’s.
“What’s up, you OK?” Angela asked in concern.
“Yeah, I’m good,” Serione lied, not wanting to create a panic. “I just remembered something I forgot to bring, that’s all.”
Thankfully Angela just nodded and carried on with her work. Serione tried to carry on with his work as well, keeping a professional face despite the increasing contractions. Occasionally he had to stop to breathe through the contractions, but other than that he managed to bear through to the end of peak hour.
Just when he was about to leave for his lunch break—and maybe alert Terrence and/or Carroll about his impending babies’ arrival—a group of businessmen walked in to have their late lunch. Angela had gone off to take a bathroom/cigarette break, so he had to serve them himself.
“Welcome to Ball Point. May I take your order?”
“Ah, yes,” the first businessman came forth. “Gimme a chicken salad, large fries, an apple pie and coffee please.”
“Got it,” Serione replied as he rang up the order. “Anythi…”
His words were caught in his throat when he felt his water broke. He was lucky that the counter was above the waist, or they would’ve seen him wet himself, but they still heard the splatter of water on the floor.
“You OK, sir? What was that?”
“Uh, it’s OK. I just…uh…accidentally kicked my drink underneath. It’s just a small spill, don’t worry,” Serione pulled out his professional smile, but inside he was borderline panicking. “Anything else I can get you?”
The first customer declined any additional orders, and the rest of his friends made their orders. Serione tried his best to get all their orders without doubling over from the incoming contractions that hit him harder than before without the cushioning of the amniotic fluid, but it was getting more and more intense in spite of his control. He still managed to keep his professional façade though as he took out the waiting numbers for the customers and their trays of drinks.
“H-Here’s your number and d-drinks,” Serione said as he shakily slid the trays to the businessmen. “P-Please have a s-seat, your food will b-be ready a-and brought t-to you shortly.”
“Hey, dude, you alright?” the first customer who ordered asked in concern. “You look kinda pale, and you’re stuttering.”
“I’m fine. D-Don’t you worry about me. Have a nice day.”
The businessmen whispered amongst themselves for a bit before taking the trays and left to their seats. Not wanting to leave such a mess on the floor, Serione almost stumbling into the janitorial room to get the mop and bucket and quickly mopped up the mess before Angela sees it and starts flipping out. Once he was done, another group of customers came in and he was back in his station as usual, and Angela came in soon after, apologizing for her lateness and returned to her station.
Serione tried his best to serve his next line of customers without letting out any noise from his contraction. He could feel the baby starting to descend down his canal and was pushing against his vagina opening, trying to get out. While he rang up a customer’s order, he dared himself to push down a little bit just to ease the pressure, and sure enough, because of the gravity, the baby’s head descended more to the point where he could feel the fabled ring of fire.
“Th-Thank you for y-y-your patronage…” Serione bit back another urge to groan from that feeling. “H-Have a n-nice d-d-day…”
“Hey, you really don’t look so good, Seri,” Angela said as she sent off her last customer as well. “You sure you’re OK?”
“I…I think we sh-should cl-close up shop now…for a while…” Serione said as he gripped onto the counter hard, giving in to panting through the next contraction during this crowning process.
“A…Are you…Are you giving birth right now??” Angela exclaimed, earning the alerted attention of the kitchen staff, especially Terrence.
“Just c-calm down and close up sh-shop, won’t you…Aaaggghhh!!”
Angela jumped with a horrified squeak as she quickly ran to the entrance and flipped the CLOSED sign, locking up as quick as her shaky hands could muster. Terrence was already throwing away his apron and ran forward to the counter.
“Why didn’t you holler? I told you to holler if anything happens!” Terrence exclaimed as he pulled down Serione’s pants to check the progress. “Holy shit, the head is already out?! Seri~!!”
“I’m sorry…I’m really sorry…I thought I could…Uunngghhh~!!!”
“Stop rubbing it in and making him feel bad and do something~!” Angela whined, shooting glances at the entrance to make sure there was no one watching all this going on, despite the fact that Serione’s lower half was pretty much hidden from the rest of the world outside.
“OK, OK, I’m sorry, Seri,” Terrence apologized as he helped Serione to fully take off the pants. “Can you walk? Are you able to get to the staff lounge?”
Serione shook his head; the baby’s head was already too far down to allow him to walk.
Going underneath the counter, Terrence knelt down between Serione’s leg and had his hands on the emerging baby to try and ease it out. He hollered for someone to help him call Carroll while he paid full attention to Serione and the baby.
“You’re doing great, honey,” Terrence said as he tried to pry Serione’s folds so that it could stretch more to accommodate the emerging head more. “Just keep panting. The baby’s coming out just nicely.”
“Oh god, it burns…!” Serione groaned as he spread his legs a bit wider and bent down a little, his knuckles going white from gripping the counter so hard.
“I know, honey, I know. You’re doing really great. Keep at it.”
At another contraction, Serione panted as hard as he could through it, resisting the urge to push. About 5 minutes later, the blessed relief of the baby’s head popping free came and Serione almost wanted to crumble to his knees if it weren’t for Terrence supporting him.
“That’s very good, honey. Oh, look, our baby’s got so much hair, just like yours.”
Serione smiled through the sweat and tears but his reprieve didn’t last long. The rest of the baby had to be pushed out, and push he did. Little by little, with the aid of gravity and with Terrence’s hands pulling it out gently, the baby was making good progress as the shoulders slowly popped out one after the other.
“You’re doing great, honey!” Terrence said almost excitedly. “You’re almost there! Just one last push!”
Serione waited for the next contraction—taking deep breaths in between—and pushed down that one last time, ending it with a loud groan-like scream as he felt the baby slid out, afterbirth and all, into Terrence’s waiting arms. The rest of Ball Point staff, who had been watching the birth in their own way and had been holding their breaths almost the whole time (as if copying Serione’s breathing pattern), soon broke into cheers and applauds at upon hearing the baby’s cry of its first open air.
“I got it! I got it! It’s…” Terrence paused to check the gender, “it’s an Earth girl! Oh, I’m so proud of you, honey!”
Too bad not all shared their joy as Angela had fainted the moment she saw the afterbirth sliding out along with the baby. But her condition didn’t really matter as Serione could feel the next one coming out.
“Oh fuck…!! The next one’s coming…!!”
“What?” one of the staff exclaimed. “You’re having twins?!”
“Yeah, something like that,” Terrence replied as he grabbed one of the cleaner kitchen towels to wrap their little daughter up, not wanting to risk an infection by using any of the kitchen blades to cut her cord. Everyone knew Serione’s three-way love, but no one really knows about his genetic mutation. They wouldn’t really get it anyway.
“Nnnhh…I don’t want to give birth here anymore…” Serione whimpered. “Someone might see…!”
“You heard him,” Terrence got up, cradling their daughter carefully with the afterbirth and cord still connected to her. “Someone bring him to the staff lounge. And someone help me disinfect a pair of scissors. I need to cut my baby’s cord.”
The rest of the staff soon got to work as two of them went up to Serione, slinging an arm over their shoulders each and guided him to the staff lounge, while one went off to grab a pair of scissors from the first aid med kit and disinfect it with the alcohol. Another heard a frantic knock on the back entrance of the restaurant and answered it to see Carroll, who had got their call, standing there panting breathlessly.
“Where is he? Where’s Seri?” Carroll asked worriedly, trying to catch his breath.
“He and Terry are at the staff lounge,” the staff said as she led him to the said destination.
“What happened to her?” Carroll noticed one of the kitchen staff dragging Angela to a nearby four-seater at the dining area.
“Weak constitution,” the staff grinned, then opened the staff lounge door where Serione was sitting on the couch with his legs spread at the edge of the seat and Terrence kneeling before him coaching his birth. “Here’s Carr!”
“Carr~!” Serione whimpered as he reached for Carroll, in which the latter went by his side in a flash.
“One of the babies is born,” Terrence announced happily. “It’s an Earth girl.”
“Awesome!” Carroll said as he took Serione’s hand and rubbed his back. “Great job, Seri. Any idea which of us she belongs to?”
“Dunno yet,” Terrence shrugged. “She with Tommy right now, having her cord cut. OK, Seri, you’re doing really good. The baby’s head is crowning. You know the drill.”
Serione whimpered as he started panting through the next few contractions. Carroll watched in fascination and awe at the baby’s head slowly emerging out of his wife’s womb bit by bit at every pant Serione made. He helped massage his back to give Serione some relief and some extra help for the baby to come out. At the final stretch of the last contraction, Serione couldn’t help pushing that little bit and the baby’s head finally popped out fully.
“Very good, honey, very good,” Terrence praised Serione as he cradled the baby’s head in his hands. “You’re doing so well, honey. Give it all you got and it’ll be all over soon.”
“I’m right here, sweetie,” Carroll encouraged as he gave a reassuring squeeze on Serione’s hand and a kiss on his sweaty forehead. “We’re both here for you. You can do it.”
Serione nodded and for the next half an hour, he pushed along with each incoming contraction. One of the staff poked his head in and said he had called the ambulance and they would be on their way soon. Serione couldn’t be bothered even if the army got here; his mind was fully focused on getting the baby out.
“Oh god, I hate you guys…!! You did this to me, both of you…!!” Serione whined as he gave in to another push, which finally freed one shoulder.
“We know, honey, we know,” Terrence chuckled humorously, knowing that it was just the pain talking. “We’re really sorry.”
“You’re not knocking me up again! I will castrate the both of you when this shit is over~!!”
“Whatever you say, sweetie,” Carroll replied, playing along with Terrence as he massaged Serione’s back some more.
“I’m being fucking serious!!”
“OK, OK, you’re almost there, honey,” Terrence tried to calm him down as he helped to pry the other shoulder out. “Just one more push.”
“I can’t do it~! I can’t do it anymore~! Make it stop~!”
“Just one more push, sweetie,” Carroll encouraged as he wiped the sweat off Serione’s eye. “We promise. One more push and you’re done.”
Serione whimpered and finally gave in to his body’s urges as he pushed down again for that one last time, letting out another groan-like scream louder than before, and felt the blessed relief of the baby finally sliding out of him along with the afterbirth, just like its sister did.
“What is it?” Carroll asked as he smiled ecstatically at the baby’s first cries. Terrence checked and beamed up at them.
“It’s an Earth boy. Thank you so much, Seri. You did really good.”
“Thank you, thank you so much,” Carroll whispered as he kissed Serione’s forehead and cheeks over and over again. “Great work you did there. Good job.”
“I wanna see…I wanna see our babies…” Serione whined as he held his shaky arms outstretched for them.
“Hang on, lemme go get the sister and cut his cord,” Terrence said as he disappeared for a moment before returning with two bundles in his arms. “Here you go. Our little prince and princess.”
As Carroll carefully lay the exhausted Serione down, Terrence gently placed the two bundles in Serione’s waiting arms. They both had Serione’s ginger hair, but as they fluttered their eyes open a little, they could see that the girl inherited Carroll’s green eyes while the boy inherited Terrence’s silver grey.
“Hah! Mine is the firstborn!” Carroll exclaimed triumphantly. “Pay up, bub!”
“Hey! I did the work catching the baby!” Terrence scowled. “That should count as payment!”
“Nope! We agreed it will be cash and cash only. You owe me $200!”
“What the…” Serione frowned at the bickering two. “Did you two just make a bet at which baby would be born first?”
“Err…Umm, yeah, kinda,” Carroll replied awkwardly, his triumph made him temporarily forget Serione was there, earning a facepalm from Terrence.
“That’s fucking it! You two are NEVER knocking me up again, EVER! No sex for either of you! And I get to name the babies!”
“Wait, what? No!” Terrence protested. “You can’t do that!”
“Yes, I can! I fucking pushed them out, if you guys haven’t friggin’ noticed!”
“Alright, alright, we’re sorry,” Carroll apologized, being the first one to beg as he was not one to give up on sex. “The bet’s off. We won’t do it ever again. Please, don’t be mad at us, please?”
“You’re lucky I’m totally trashed right now,” Serione, after a long pause, sighed in defeat. He hated it when Carroll begged. Compared to Terrence, Carroll could really make him feel bad. “But I still get to name the babies.”
“Anything you say, honey,” Terrence smiled as he kissed Serione’s lips tenderly. “Do we at least get to give them middle names?”
Serione wanted to say no, but then he would never hear the end of it. And he was too tired to argue anyway.
“Ugh…fine…”
Soon the ambulance came and, together with Terrence and Carroll tagging along, Serione was brought to the hospital to get him and the babies Serena Anne and Jaden Emmett a clean bill of health.
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