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Gaming never wanted to give birth ever again. Especially not to twins.He'd lost consciousness only a few minutes after the second twin was born. After he came to several hours later, he found out he'd torn severely, and nearly bled to death. In his in-laws' house, no less.Thank the gods for the midwife, and Lyney's quick thinking.After giving him several stitches in between his legs, and explaining to him how the recovery process was going to go, the midwife left, leaving Gaming with two whole babies he now had to take care of.He'd given birth to two healthy little girls exactly one week ago. The older one had been named Shuyi Peruere. The younger one was named Cezanne Lynette.Shuyi was the name of Gaming's late mother, and Cezanne was the name of Freminet's late mother. Peruere was the name of the Freminet's adoptive father, who had also passed. Lynette was alive and well, but she was still a highly valued member of their family nonetheless.Gaming's in-laws would pop into the room once in a while to check if he needed anything. He'd long given up on his independence and privacy, so he would ask for food, water, help getting to the bathroom, extra blankets... Which they would happily give to him. As much as his fiancé wanted to do everything, he could not, so he was also grateful for the extra help.Speaking of Freminet—as anxious as he was about becoming a father at just nineteen years old, he was doing quite well. He hadn't dropped the babies once, which was more than Gaming could say. His arms had been too weak to hold anything after he woke up, but he'd still insisted on holding the babies. With supervision, one of them was handed to him. Shuyi had slipped from his arms the second he'd gotten a grip on her, and while she only fell a couple of inches onto his lap, he still felt so awful when she started crying.Lynette had reassured him that babies, while fragile, would not break from a fall as small as that. Shuyi was not hurt, she was just scared, so he did feel a little better.Luckily it did not seem like newborns held grudges.Lynette's fiancée, Victoire, had shown him how to breastfeed. Gaming was sure he was getting the hang of it by now, as they were a whole week old. His little girls were securely latched to his breasts, nursing contently as they dozed off. Thank the gods that even in his weakened state, he finally had the strength to hold them both. (Freminet was supporting most of their weight with his hands, but Gaming was doing some of the work!)The twins' little blue eyes were squeezed shut while they suckled. Lynette had commented that they looked like little kittens. Cezanne was grabbing at his chest, squeezing the soft flesh with tiny newborn fingers."Easy," Freminet mumbled to her, but Gaming laughed and reassured him that he could barely feel anything. Cezanne squeezed harder, and Freminet used his nose to nudge her hand off, as he couldn't let go of the babies. She grabbed his nose instead, and Gaming laughed at him.The girls fell asleep while nursing, like they did every time, and Gaming snuggled them close, kissing their tiny heads. While they slept, Gaming stared at them, in hopes of memorizing their individual faces. They were both bald, small, skinny, and wrinkled, so there wasn't much of anything to tell them apart. Lyney had taken the time to paint their microscopic toenails, just in case. Shuyi's were dark purple, and Cezanne's were light blue.He was sure they weren't identical, though. Cezanne's face looked more like Freminet every day. While Shuyi's looked more like Gaming. Plus, if he turned them over, he would see that Shuyi had a small birthmark on her lower back. Her little sister did not.He wondered every day. What color hair would they have? Would they be brunettes or blondes? One of each? Would they get his eyes or Freminet's eyes? Would they develop freckles? Moles?He didn't care how they looked, but he hoped they liked dim sum. He'd probably die of heartbreak if they didn't like it."You need to sleep," Freminet whispered, taking Shuyi from his arms, trying his best not to wake her. He failed, and Shuyi let out a tiny whimper as she stirred.Gaming pouted, holding Cezanne tighter. "I'll be fine."Freminet shooed Man Chai out of the crib, and placed Shuyi on the mattress, soothing the newborn back to sleep with his gentle hand."Not if you don't sleep." Freminet also took Cezanne, who, like her twin, began to wake at the movement. He placed her in the crib beside her sister, and the two babies moved closer. Man Chai floated back into the crib, his firey body keeping the infants warm as they cuddled against him.Gaming began to protest, "But—""I'll be here the whole time," Freminet reassured, turning the bedside lamp off and climbing into bed. "If they need anything, I can take care of it." He patted Pers' head, leaving it on the nightstand next to the lamp.Gaming huffed, pulling his warm shirt back on. "I hate being all... All exhausted.""You... you went through a lot... I... I'm sure anyone would be exhausted..." Freminet lay down, waiting for Gaming to lie down next to him."Hmph." But Gaming knew Freminet was right. He'd almost died, for Archons' sake. He slowly lowered himself down onto the mattress, wincing when his stitches tugged, and he snuggled close to his partner."Come here, Ming..." Freminet wrapped his arms around the brunet, kissing his forehead. "Sleep, please... If something is wrong, I promise I'll wake you."Gaming sighed. "You sure?""When have I ever gone back on my promises?"Gaming smiled, his lips parting slightly to reveal his teeth. "I... I can't think of a time."Freminet ran his lithe fingers through Gaming's hair. "Exactly. Now, go to sleep, please...""Mhm..." Gaming was very exhausted. It did not take long for him to fall asleep.
Freminet had fallen asleep, too, but he couldn't recall when. He woke up to one of his girls beginning to cry, so he slid out of bed to see what was wrong. It was little Cezanne, flailing her tiny arms around as she wailed. Her tiny face was scrunched up, her eyes closed and her mouth open. Shuyi's face had scrunched up, too, her bottom lip trembling. Man Chai was nosing their little foreheads, trying to soothe them.Freminet sighed, reaching into the crib to pick up Cezanne. Shuyi wasn't crying yet, so she could wait just a minute."Hey, Cezanne," Freminet murmured, holding the baby to his chest. She continued to cry, each noise making his heart hurt just a bit more. "What's wrong?""H-huh? Wha—" Gaming stirred. "The babies..."Freminet walked over to the bed, placing Cezanne on his unoccupied spot. "See if she's hungry..." Gaming began to pull off his shirt, and Freminet turned to check on his other daughter. Shuyi was whimpering softly and Man Chai was cuddled close to her. Freminet picked her up, holding her against his chest as he carried her over to the bed.Gaming was feeding Cezanne, so Freminet held Shuyi out to him. Gaming took her, placing her at his other breast, and Freminet sat beside him to support the babies with his hands. They nursed with eyes shut tight, just like little kittens. Man Chai curled up on Gaming's other side. Freminet would have picked Pers up, but his hands were full."I love you," Gaming murmured. "Archons, the girls look so much like you."Freminet leaned over to kiss Gaming on the cheek. "I love you, too."Gaming, Man Chai, Pers, Shuyi, and Cezanne. They were Freminet's little family, and although he was not prepared for parenthood at all, he would not trade his children for anything.