Little Paws

chapter 9

Once Deaton had printed out the ultrasound pictures, two for each of them, he left Theo and Liam alone. Theo cleaned off his stomach and got dressed. He was trying to process what Deaton had told him. Normally expecting parents would be thrilled to hear the news of twins. All Theo could think of was that twins meant he had the chance of losing two lives instead of one. Twice the hurt, twice the mourning.

"Theo?" Liam's voice was quiet. Like he was afraid of setting Theo off. "Theo are you ok?" Theo didn't know how to answer. He didn't know if he was ok. He had come to terms with the idea of having a child, or losing a child. Now he learns he is carrying twins. How was he supposed to react to that.

"Theo?" Liam walked up to the chimera and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look at me." Liam tugged lightly on Theo's shoulder, forcing Theo to turn to him. "We can handle this." Liam wasn't sure how they would do this, but he needed Theo to know he was still here. He needed Theo to understand that whether they were having one baby of twelve, he was gonna stand by Theo and help him no matter what.

"How Liam? How are we gonna handle this? How am I supposed to go on everyday knowing that I can loose two lives instead of one." Theo's hand moved to cover his stomach. The bump there was getting bigger everyday. At this point it looked like Theo had a deflated basketball under his shirt. If he wore a big enough shirt no one would be able to tell his stomach was growing.

"Don't think of it that way Theo! Why? Why is that the only thing you focus on?" Liam understood that they could loose their babies. He just wished Theo would focus on the fact that he's having kids. Focus on the good things. "What else should I focus on? Tell me Liam, what could be more important than whether or not my children live?"

"How about their names? Their gender?" Theo blinked in surprise. Liam took Theo's silence as a chance to continue. "What about their first word? Or who they'll go to when they have a bad dream? Will they be like me or you? My last name, your last name, or both?" Theo still didn't talk. Liam seemed to have stunned him into complete silence. "How about focusing on the idea that you are gonna have two beautiful babies to take care of. Two tiny humans who will depend on you for everything. How about focusing on the fact that they exist because of you." Theo had tears in his eyes.

With everything going on he's never even given a thought to what the gender was. "I don't know." Theo's voice broke as his tears began to fall. "Don't know what?" Liam questioned, stepping closer to Theo and taking his hand in his own. "I don't know any names to give them." Theo looked at their joined hands. Feeling warmth radiate from Liam's to his own.

"We can get one of those baby name books and look through it. We can ask the pack." Liam pulled Theo into a hug, letting the chimera use him to muffle his cries. "I know it's scary and way too easy to focus on the bad, but it can't be all we focus on." Theo nodded to show he was listening.

After Theo calmed down Liam thanked the vet and walked Theo out to his truck. "Scott talked his mom into letting me join you all for dinner, so I'll meet you there." Theo nodded and hugged Liam again. "Thank you for today, for coming with me, for what you said. For all of it." Liam smiled and leaned into press a kiss to the corner of Theo's lips. "It's what I'm here for." Theo chuckled while rolling his eyes.

Liam left the clinic first. Deaton had asked Theo to come back in for a refill prescription. The vet was gonna take it himself but seeing as Theo lived with Melissa he figured it would get filled faster if Theo gave it to her. By the time Theo left the clinic he figured Melissa was home and starting dinner.

Pulling into the driveway, Theo was surprised to see Liam was already there along with Scott and Lydia. He wasn't aware of Lydia joining them. He really hoped they weren't going to force him to do more shopping with the red head. He'd run away for sure this time.