**********

Elijah sat up straight in bed, his eyes wide and his pulse racing as he struggled to catch his breath. He gasped when a hand covered his shoulder.

"You okay, love?" A sleepy voice questioned. Dom sat up next to him, eyes still sleepy, but filled with concern.

Elijah turned and kissed the top of Dom's hand. "Just a bad dream. Go back to sleep."

" 'kay. Love you." Dom mumbled as he curled up again under the covers.

"Love you, too." Elijah waited until Dom was asleep before he slipped out of the bed and walked to the bathroom. He felt feverish and his shirt was damp with sweat. He closed the door before turning on the light so he wouldn't wake Dom again.

He turned the cold water on and let it run for a few minutes as he look at himself in the mirror. There were dark lines under his eyes, making him appear even more exhausted than he felt. He splashed some water on his face then dried himself off with a hand towel and shut off the water.

Elijah held his breath then pulled up the hem of his shirt. He shut his eyes for a few seconds before opening them to look down at his stomach. He let out a little sigh of relief and placed his palm flat on his stomach.

"Just a bad dream. Fucking bad dream." He chuckled to himself, feeling extremely foolish at mistaking his dream for reality. He left the bathroom and quickly padded to the bed, slipping back under the covers to curl his body around Dom's. He nestled his head in the crook of Dom's neck and shoulder, quickly falling back asleep.

**********

"Good morning!" Dom greeted Elijah cheerfully as he sauntered into the kitchen.

Dom was one of those exceptionally perky people first thing in the morning, something Elijah always found very annoying. He loved Dom, but the bright smile and chipper banter were not something Elijah had been able to adjust to even after six years of friendship, and six months of living together. Elijah ran his hand through his messy hair and mumbled something that resembled a greeting.

"That's one reason I love you, all that sunshine and cheer." Dom teased him. He slid up behind Elijah, who had taken a seat at the table, ruffled his hair then slipped his arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. "Did you get back to sleep after your bad dream?"

Elijah nodded and turned to look up at Dom. "Yeah. No problem once I went back to bed. Whacked out dream, fucking insane."

"I want to hear all about it, but I'm running late. You'll be here when I get back, yeah?" Dom kissed him quickly, then stepped away.

Elijah watched as his boyfriend gathered his keys and wallet. When Dom looked at him, he blushed slightly, having been caught staring at the other like a schoolboy watching his first crush.

"Look at that," Dom teased him. "I know how far that blush goes. Don't taunt me before I head off for the day, Lij."

Elijah stood and grabbed hold of Dom's arm and tugged, pulling him close. He gave Dom a very innocent look, his eyelashes fluttering bashfully against his cheeks. "Don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Monaghan. I'm very virginal, you know."

Dom's laughter filled the kitchen, and Elijah joined him, grinning from ear to ear as he laughed. "Yeah, yeah. You and the virgin Mary have a lot in common these days, don't you?" Dom kissed Elijah quick then forced himself away from his lover. "I really do have to go. Don't forget your appointment this afternoon, okay?"

Elijah smiled, slightly confused by Dom's remark, but let it slide since Dom was in a rush to leave. "Oh, yeah, right. The interview for 'The Yank.' Almost forgot about it." Elijah stood at the counter and poured himself some coffee. He was really hungry this morning and had an incredible craving for chocolate chip pancakes with butterscotch syrup.

Dom opened the door and blew Elijah a kiss. "Good luck, babe. I'll see you tonight, all right? Gotta run. Oh, and don't forget your appointment with the OB this afternoon!"

The sound of the jar of syrup shattering as it crashed onto the hardwood floor blended with the sound of the door as Dom slammed it shut. Elijah stared blankly toward where Dom had been standing, and without thinking pinched his arm and winced.

"Fuck. Fucking, shitty hell. I am so fucked."

**********

There was a very good explanation for why Elijah had needed to pee as often as he did this morning, of that he was certain. There was also a very good explanation for why he hadn't been able to keep down his breakfast of champions that included chocolate chip pancakes and blueberry syrup (since he had dropped the butterscotch syrup), six strips of bacon, and three chocolate chip-macadamia nut cookies.

Elijah had every intention of finding out why when he finally was called in to see the doctor. The obstetrician, he corrected himself. If this was some sick joke Dom and the others were playing on him, Elijah was going to make them pay. He nervously looked up from behind the magazine he was reading, scanning the faces of the other women in the waiting room. Women, not men, filled the seats of the large waiting room. Maybe the men had been given morning appointments and that's why he was here alone.

Cursing under his breath, Elijah chastised himself for even giving credence to the thought that he was here because he was pregnant. Men don't get pregnant, he reminded himself. It's just not possible! This was inconceivable, literally!

"Elijah?"

The sound of his name being called made Elijah jerk to attention, and he dropped the magazine on the floor. He knelt to pick it up off the floor, but stopped when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up into the eyes of an elderly woman and sat back in his chair.

"Now, now. Don't want to hurt the wee one, do you?" The elderly woman tsked and picked the magazine up herself.

"The wee one, right." Elijah said, stupefied. When the nurse called his name again, Elijah remembered what he was supposed to be doing and apologized as he followed her a triage area.

After being weighed, given a cup to pee in, his blood pressure checked and recorded, Elijah was finally escorted to an exam room and told to wait for the doctor. He picked up another magazine and began to flip through it, trying not to let all of this insanity get to him. There was a perfectly reasonable explanation, remember?

The door opened and Dom slipped into the room. Elijah had never been happier to see the other man in his life. In seconds he was off his chair and had his arms wrapped so tightly around Dom's neck that Dom had to beg him to loosen them so he could breathe.

"Hey, you. What's wrong?" Dom asked, his face full of concern as he looked over Elijah. "Where'd all of this come from?"

"They - I -- !! Dom, they all think that I'm pregnant!" Elijah burst into tears and threw his arms around his boyfriend tightly again.

Dom had always been the one person in the world out of anyone else, even his mother, that could calm him when he was upset. He was the only person in the world that Elijah let see him in a vulnerable state. Sure, he'd cried before - lots of times, even, when he'd been with his mates. But never had he let them see him like this, so incredibly hysterical he was sobbing uncontrollably. Which is why he knew that only Dom would be able to fix this. Dom always knew what to do, always knew the right thing to say to help him focus and relax.

Elijah melted against Dom's body when Dom began to rub his back gently, his fingers immediately soothing Elijah. Soon he was no longer sobbing, but his grip on Dom's shirt hadn't loosened. He had no intention of letting the other man move away from him.

"There, that's better now, hmm?" Dom smiled when he felt Elijah nod against his chest. "Good. See, everything's going to be all right. I told you, didn't I? I promised that everything would be all right. I know we weren't expecting this, but we'll get through it."

"So I'm not crazy?" Elijah sat up and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands.

"Like a fox," Dom teased gently. He kissed Elijah's forehead and hugged him tightly.

Elijah sighed and tried to relax as Dom held him. "So that means we can leave, then, yeah? That I don't have to sit here any longer and be treated like a freak?"

"You're not a freak, Elijah. You're amazing, unique, and so bloody beautiful." Dom stroked Elijah's hair as he held him and tried to calm him some more. "We have to stay, though, just to make sure everything is okay."

"Everything ...?" Elijah asked uneasily. He sat up again and looked at Dom, his eyes wide with fear, and a hit of annoyance. "What do you mean we have to make sure everything is okay?"

"I'm talking about the baby, of course! You're acting like you only just found out about this, Lij." Dom's smile normally would have made Elijah smile in return, but this time it only proved to piss him off.

Elijah spluttered as he pushed Dom away and crossed the small room. He needed air, lots and lots of air. "Ya think?"

Dom let out a sigh of frustration and sat down in one of the chairs in the room. "Lij, we've been through this repeatedly. You told me you were okay with all of this. What happened?"

Elijah stared out the window, barely noticing the cars as they moved along the freeway across from the office complex. "I guess I woke up to reality."

"Reality is that you are pregnant. You need to stop acting like this and get with the program, Elijah, because like it or not, in a little over six months we're going to be parents."

"How am I supposed to get with the program when I can't even figure out how this happened in the first place?" Elijah asked as he turned from the window. "This isn't possible, Dom! Guys do not get pregnant. It's like ... against nature or something. It just doesn't happen."

"Well it did happen, and it happened to you. And me. And right now I wish to God that it was me in your place and not you."

"That's easy for you to say - you're not the freak!" Elijah said, his voice laced with bitterness.

"You're wrong, Elijah. You're so bloody wrong about all of this. I've got to get back to the set. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Dom walked to Elijah and hugged him. "I love you, Elijah. And yeah, I love that this has happened to us. I don't understand it, but I've accepted it, and I wish you could do the same. I'm going to be with you all the way, okay? You and me and our child."

Elijah stood still as Dom kissed him. He wanted to be angry and vent. He wanted to be angry with Dom so that he didn't have to think about all of this as something he had to accept. He wanted to go home and take a very long nap.

"I'm sorry, Dom. I'll try ... I promise." Elijah finally said after a few moments of silence between them.

"That's all I can ask for, Lij. Thank you. I'll see you in a few hours at home. I love you."

"Love you, too," Elijah said softly.

He walked Dom to the door then kissed him once more before seeing him off. Elijah sat down in the chair and thought about their conversation. If he wasn't dreaming, then Dom was right and by some miracle, or freak accident, he had become pregnant. Dom seemed to have accepted their situation and truly appeared happy at the thought of having a child, so for whatever reason this had happened, Elijah knew he needed to do what he promised and try to accept things as they were.

**********

Elijah decided to make up for his momentary act of insanity this afternoon by fixing a romantic dinner for Dom. For dinner they dined on steaks and baked potatoes, the only thing Elijah could make, and some chocolate mousse pie for dessert, compliments of his mom. Once dessert was finished and the dishes put in to wash, Elijah drew a bath and they soaked in the sudsy warmth, reminiscing about their life together the past few years.

By the time they dried off and climbed into bed for the night, Elijah was exhausted. He'd sacrificed taking his afternoon nap so that he could plan and prepare their dinner. He covered his mouth and tried to stifle his yawns while Dom turned off the lights.

"You should sleep well tonight, doodle." Dom said lovingly as he climbed into the bed next to Elijah. He pulled the bed covers over them then slipped his arm around Elijah's' waist, his palm flat against Elijah's belly as he spooned behind him.

"Hope so." Elijah yawned, grinning when Dom's fingers brushed his belly. "That tickles, you know."

Dom's face pressed against his shoulder as he snuggled close. "Sorry." They remained quiet for a few minutes, Elijah stirring when Dom spoke softly against his ear. "You sure you're okay with all of this? I know you said you were okay with it when we talked at dinner, but ... ."

Elijah turned in Dom's arms and kissed his lips to quiet him. "I've never been more sure about anything."

"This is going to be good, Lij. We're going to make it good for all of us."

Elijah was so tired he could barely nod in response.

"Sleep, love." Dom kissed his brow again and snuggled close. He drifted to sleep not long after Elijah, a peaceful and contented look on both their faces.

**********

Dom gasped sharply as he came awake, his heart beating quickly as he looked around the dark room.

"You okay?" Beside him Elijah stirred and reached for him.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just had a bad dream is all."

[end]

Slashababy 2004 Stories