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“Leon!” With a flourish, Chris reloaded his gun and took aim at a zombie closing in on his partner. “On me! Now!”
Without hesitation, Leon rushed to his knees, slid across the slick concrete floor over towards Chris’ side, and moved his aim behind Chris. “Got your back!”
“Thanks. Stay close. There’s too many of them to separate.”
“Really? I wasn’t counting!” Leon frantically reached into his tactical belt and rummaged for more ammo, only to be dissatisfied. “Fuck, I’m low!”
That wasn’t good. That was far worse than good.
Chris swallowed, but kept his eyes locked onto the undead around them, firing any chance he got. “Lee, do not leave my side, you hear me! Jill and Claire should be here soon for backup. I can’t have you running off and getting killed.”
A grunt came from behind Chris as Leon scurried back to his feet and kicked an infected off his leg, making Chris nervously turn for a quick glance at Leon’s status. “Preferably sooner, hot stuff! I’ve got four bullets left and that won’t do jack shit in here!”
One crawled across the floor towards Chris in his moment of distraction, and grabbed at his ankle. “Shit!”
“I got it!” Without hesitation, Leon cracked a bullet into the zombie's skull. “Three bullets. They better hurry up or we’re deadmen!”
Comms rang for Chris’ attention in his ear. “Claire to Chris, how long can you hold down the fort in there?”
“Not long! Leon is down to three bullets and I’m running low. There’s too many for the two of us to handle!” Chris was nearly drowned out from all the gunshots and gargling of the undead, on Claire’s end. “There’s no way out from our side!”
“I’m losing you on my end. Can you last another two minutes? Jill and I—”
Leon gasped as a zombie leapt over to him and made an attempt to bite down, thankfully, its teeth snagged into his leather jacket instead. The pressure against his muscle burned like hell, but no bite had punctured skin. “Get off.” He attempted to thrash it from his body and slammed it into a nearby zombie, knocking them both down onto the hard, cold concrete.
“Shit! Claire, I gotta go!” Chris hung up and nearly spun around to fire in Leon’s direction at more undead closing in.
“Thanks. What’s the ETA?” Leon ripped a combat knife from its sheath and ran it through a nearby rotting skull as it gargled and screeched from the sudden intrusion.
“Two minutes.”
Shit. They could easily burn through the rest of their ammo in less than thirty seconds.
“Lovely. Guess we should sing kumbaya.”
Chris swallowed, thick and tight. “This is it then, handsome? Almost romantic, don’t you think?”
“What kind of fucked up romance do you read?” Another gunshot burst from Leon’s gun as one ran towards him with outstretched arms. Two bullets left.
“This kind.” Chris frantically reloaded with nervous, shaking hands. “We’ve only got one chance, right?”
“What are you getting at?” Leon shoved another zombie off himself and slashed the knife through its throat, spurting blood onto the floor.
An array of gunshots rang behind Leon from Chris’ gun, dropping bullets on the ground near their blood covered boots. “I’m saying—” More bullets fell before a familiar hand grabbed Leon’s for just a moment. “—Will you marry me, Leon S. Kennedy?”
Only Chris Redfield. Only he could pull this off.
“Now? You get this from a movie or something?” Leon flashed Chris a puckish grin as he took aim with his free hand.
“Is that a yes?”
“Behind you!” One final crack of Leon’s gun shot near Chris, blasting the face off yet another undead. “Of course I will, but now is not the best time for this, big guy! I’m out of ammo!”
“Now may be our only time!” As if practiced, Chris pulled Leon close with one muscular arm to avoid a quick strike from behind. “If we die, I want to die married to you. Not regretting having never asked.”
“Anyone ever tell you you’re cheesy as shit, Redfield?" In one smooth motion, Leon spun himself from Chris’ grip and used his leg to trip one reaching for him onto the ground, then stomped its rotted skull in with ease. “Which infected will officiate?”
“Preferably none of them.” Chris pulled Leon close once more and shot his assault rifle into a row of undead. The gun clicked, no longer shooting bullets.
The moment a familiar sound of an empty gun popped near Leon’s ear, followed by clanking to the ground as Chris tossed it aside, he ripped Chris’ six bullet pistol from its holster and placed it in his fiancé’s calloused hand. “Do you, Chris Redfield…”
One gunshot behind Leon. Five.
“Take me to be your husband. In sickness, in health. Virus or parasites being the most—” Leon paused to give a powerful kick to one along the floor. “—likely end!”
Another bullet. Four.
“To have and to hold after every danger we face.”
Chris stopped firing for just long enough to meet his lover’s ocean blue eyes with a bright, hopeful smile. “I do. And do you, Leon Kennedy.”
Leon slipped from Chris’ hold once more to run his knife into the head of another infected who came near the couple.
“Take me to be your husband. In sickness and in health.” Chris fired another bullet. Three. “To have and to hold, from now until the end of time.”
Two.
Leon grinned as Chris pulled him close once more, hand pressed against just above his belt. “You know I do. This is where one of them says we may kiss…”
With a chuckle, Chris pulled his husband into a tender kiss, ignoring the undead surrounding them with each second spent basking in their love like a lifeline.
A heavy industrial metal door rattled as it raised open nearby, pulling the men out of their brief moment of reprieve.
“What are you two doing? This way!” Jill called out to the surrounded pair, dumbfounded by the state she’d caught them in. “Flare incoming! Run!”
When Jill tossed the flare into the filled room, Chris reached down for his dropped empty gun, grabbed Leon’s hand, and made a break for the opening door. “Close it, now!” Chris demanded as the two of them effortlessly threaded the needle within the gap.
“Already on it!” Claire let out a strained grunt and turned the red wheel in the opposite direction, desperate to close it before they followed her brother and best friend, who were already rushing onto their feet away from the door.
Gunshots fired from Jill, firing at the bodies of any undead who were quick enough to reach under the door. Chris wasted no time no time, grabbing one of Jill’s guns from her holsters to join her pursuit in finishing off anyone who crawled under, until it slammed shut.
“Just in time, lovebirds.” Claire cranked the door shut while the infected inside were temporarily stunned, and smashed a few hands who’s been unfortunate enough to get caught. From the other side, it didn’t take long for the familiar sound of thrashing, slamming, and gargled screams to rattle against it. “Everyone okay, aside from being covered in blood?”
“You weren’t going to hand me a gun too?” Leon teased his now husband, Chris, ignoring Claire’s question.
Chris handed Jill’s gun back to her, intentionally ignoring Leon’s commentary. “Yeah, we’re good, but far too close for comfort. We’ve got one bullet between the two of us.” He grabbed Leon’s hand for a moment to give it a firm squeeze, before rearing up to call him by their new shared title with rose tinted cheeks. “Now, let’s find out where our man is so we can put a stop to him, before he traps my husband and I in another room to kill us both.”
“Husband?” Jill quickly looked to Claire, who seemed mostly unsurprised by her older brother’s sudden relationship status change, then turned her gaze to scan her other close friends holding hands. “What the hell happened in there, Chris?”
Leon chuckled to himself for a brief moment, “we discovered the worst wedding officiants are prison tourists.”
Two weeks later
Calloused hands wrapped a black leather half glove over its wrist. Muscle memory led a coat over broad shoulders and muscular arms.
“First day back since the honeymoon,” Chris spoke up from their bed as he watched his husband get dressed in the mirror.
“And you’re not dressed yet, Chris,” Leon smirked as he fixed his dirty blonde hair, just the way he liked it. “You’re usually up before me and half done cooking breakfast.”
“I’m admiring the view first. You look good getting out of bed with our wedding ring on.”
“Only with the wedding ring? Geez man have some chivalry,” Leon made himself chuckle as one corner of his mouth inched up into a smirk.
Chris stood from the bed and made his way over to his new husband in the mirror, then wrapped his muscular arms around Leon from behind. “You know what I meant; though, I can’t say I didn’t like the view of you with nothing but the wedding ring on yesterday."
“How romantic.” Leon teased as he reached up to rub his husband’s stubble along his cheek, and admired the pair standing in the mirror.
“More than you.” Chris planted a kiss to Leon’s jaw before gently turning his husband to face him. “Last I remember, your version of romance when we were younger was you stumbling around with jokes that hardly landed, in hopes of me taking you home to my place after a hard days work.”
Leon snorted, “Oh fuck off, you liked it. You married me for a reason.”
“That is not why, Leon.”
“It helped.”
“Mm.”
“No rejections from the peanut gallery.” Leon pat Chris’ chest, followed by a pleased sigh as he took in the familiar scent of his husband near him. “Get ready, big guy. We’ve got work to do. They’ll want us back on the field sooner than later. We don’t exactly get breaks.”
Chris lifted Leon’s stubbled chin to meet his gaze. “No, we don’t, and it worries me how you always do solo work with DSO. You need a team to back you up sometimes, even if it’s just me, Jill, Claire, or hell even Ada. What if we didn’t work together in New York last year or in Alcatraz two weeks ago?”
“You seem to have a knack for showing up where I am anyway. And the last few times have ended in celebratory sex. Is that why you always find a way to work with me now?” Leon grazed Chris’ lips with a sultry chuckle.
“Absolutely not, but I certainly won’t say I don’t look forward to being with my husband on an operation, so long as you don’t die on me.”
“Does getting infected together in Alcatraz count as foreplay?”
Chris scoffed, attempting and failing to hide a smile at his stupid comment, “Terrible.”
Leon smooched Chris on the jaw and wrapped his arms around the back of his husband's neck, as Chris’ large hands ventured down to Leon’s hips. “You scared the shit outta me then. Getting infected after our makeshift last minute wedding. That was not in the contract for hazard pay.”
“Infection quite literally was, but speaking of work: are you sure you’re alright to go back? You’ve been off since last night. I don’t want you going on an operation if you're not prepared to.” Worried and protective as ever. Leon’s favorite and least favorite part about him. “Everything okay?”
Leon never missed work. Neither did Chris. It took other people in their life to convince them to take a week off for a brief honeymoon, if you could even call it one. The two men didn’t go anywhere. They were far too paranoid of needing to be all call and jumping into action at a moments notice, so their ‘honeymoon’ consisted of lounging on the couch, working out, and going on one singular date night that finished off with tender coupling in their shared bed. But Chris knew Leon was stubborn, and Leon knew Chris wouldn’t stop asking if he didn’t tell him he was fine.
“I’ll be alright. I’m not missing work over a foggy head and a little bit of cramps. What do you think I did before I took the shots? I don’t get periods anymore, but sometimes they show up in other ways to find a way to kick my ass from the grave. I’m fine. Been doing this on my own a long time. Besides, we’re working together today. I’m sure you’ll swoop in and save me if you have to.”
They’ve been good. Chris always wore condoms. He didn’t have any morning sickness and he’s never had a positive pregnancy test any time they’ve had a scare. He was pretty damn careful about that with their line of work. Would be stupid to do that. Leon was too strong of an asset for nine months off work to grow a baby in his body (Chris would never let him work even if he wasn’t showing yet), and their world was too fucked to risk it.
“Alright.” He moved one hand to brush blonde hair from Leon’s bed head. “Take a pain killer from the bathroom and I’ll get ready. Don’t argue and be stubborn. Go eat breakfast. I’ll meet you down there.” With his opposite hand, Chris pat Leon’s hip and stepped away from his partner in the mirror.
Leon considered detesting, but knew Chris was right. It wouldn’t do them any good if he didn’t at least take meds for his cramps. One wrong move or distraction on the field and he was gone, even with his skills.
Once the pill was down, he headed down to their little kitchen. His booted feet pattered along the wooden flooring of the home until he stood before the fridge to grab he and Chris a bite to eat before work.
Protein was a must. Plenty of hydrants and electrolytes for sweating. Fiber. Iron. An apple a day to keep the doctor away and a carrot for night vision.
Before he could think too hard on what exactly he’d rush to make, his gut painfully churned and cramped. He placed his forehead on the open fridge door and swayed his hips for a moment, in an attempt to ride out what he assumed was a false cramp from whatever remaining period symptoms he occasionally got. He hadn’t been bleeding, and unless he had to take the worst shit of his life, that’s the only outcome that made sense.
“Shit, that hurts…” he hissed through his teeth.
As quickly as it came, it faded away, releasing Leon from his bonds to continue prepping their quick breakfast.
A relieved sigh escaped his lips. It’s been years since he’s felt anything somewhat this bad and he hasn’t exactly missed it.
He turned to the stove to toss whatever ingredients sounded good into two omelets and placed them onto paper plates. Two less dishes to wash when they get back from fighting all day. They’d be lucky if they even had the energy to shower.
Just as promised, Chris’ feet thumped down the stairs and neared Leon in the kitchen to meet him for breakfast.
Chris sniffled the air and peeked around Leon’s shoulder to see what he’d crafted in his absence upstairs. “Mm, omelets again, Lee?”
“I don’t see you cooking.” Leon offered the plate of food over to Chris with one hip rested on the counter. “Besides, it’s got everything we need for the day: Spinach, eggs, leftover bacon that was about to go bad, cheese, splash of milk, vegetables, salt, and seasoning so it doesn’t taste like shit.”
“It’s burnt,” Chris plainly replied as he took the plate from his husband and examined it.
“It’s edible. Eat it, big boy. We don’t have all day and I'm not eating McDonald’s for breakfast before work. Five minutes.” Leon moved to grab his own plate and opened a drawer for a fork. Two dishes to clean tonight, but at least it was just forks. Those could sit in the sink for a day. That's a tomorrow Mr. And Mr. Kennedy-Redfield problem. Maybe.
The ride to their location, an abandoned school, was quiet and slow. Managing whatever the hell was happening in his gut today was beyond annoying. He didn’t mention it to Chris or he’d be worried, but it wasn’t like he didn’t notice it either. Chris wasn’t stupid. Chris always noticed when people he loved were hurting and was quite the stubborn man about it. The longer he was up, the more intense and frequent the cramping felt. If he was lucky, Chris wouldn’t bother him about it again until after their mission. It was nothing. He was sure of it. They’d clear the place of the undead, find the research and information they needed, then go home where he’d sleep it off. Same as always.
Chris placed one large hand along Leon’s thigh. “You’re in pain, Leon.”
“How observant,” Leon muttered while riding out the last few moments of a painful cramp.
“Leon,” There was a pregnant pause. “Is it possible that you’re miscarrying?”
That earned Chris a defiant scoff. “Absolutely not.”
“It’s a fair concern,” Chris quickly chided, frustrated by Leon brushing him off.
“The tests are always negative. Unless your dick worked some magic, no.” Leon began to nervously fidget with the skin around his middle finger. “I’m not bleeding. It’s just cramps. I promise, I’m alright. Okay, Chris?”
Chris removed his hand from his husband’s thigh with a soft huff from his nose, “you stay close to me. At least give me that. I want eyes on you. You may not work under me, but today, I want you by me.”
“A fair compromise, I suppose,” Leon begrudgingly agreed.
“Thank you.”
Once the group arrived at the location, the two men slipped out of Chris’ truck and moved to grab weapons and ammunition from the back, in hopes of making somewhat quick work of today's dues. But today would be a longer day than expected, even with backup to clear out the place.
Chris watched from the opposite side of the truck as Leon hunched over a closed med kit in the back with his eyes closed.
“Leon,” Chris spoke tenderly to his husband.
“I’m fine.” Leon lifted his head from the box and forced a weak smile.
“No, you’re not. I’ve lost too many people on the field. I can’t lose you too. What’s wrong?” He demanded from his husband.
“Chris, babe, I’m fine. We talked in the car already. Let’s get moving, okay? Then you and I can have a nice drink or two later.”
Just as another wave of painful cramps came to an end, they finished pulling things from the car. Chris came around the back and offered a gun to Leon, to which he happily took and began to load it with bullets.
“Stay by me, like we talked about,” Chris spoke softly to him, so only his husband could hear. “But before we go in with everyone, if anything goes wrong, you let me know as soon as possible. Got it? You’re worrying me.”
“It’s cute how much you worry. You’re such a husband,” Leon deflected. Even with a ring on his finger, it still felt odd to have somebody care so much about him. But Chris was like that. They both were. They’d jump in front of every bullet to protect everyone but themselves, even if it was stupid to.
“I’m serious, Leon.” He wasn’t nearly as amused about being brushed off.
Leon finally met his husband’s gaze and slid his gun into his holster. “Okay, okay. I’ll find you if I need help. Don’t miss me too much if we get separated.” He pressed a quick kiss to Chris’ lips. “Tootles.”
That earned Leon a fond scoff from Chris. “You’re something else.”
“You like it.”
“I never said that.”
“You married me. I think that’s more than just saying it.”
“Touché.”
And with that, Leon gave Chris one more parting kiss, this time letting it linger for a moment too long for what was appropriate at work, especially with Chris’ hand working its way down Leon’s waist.
Finally, Chris parted his lips from his husband. “I love you, Lee. Don’t do anything stupid. I want you home alive with me tonight.”
“No promises in this job, hot stuff, but I’ll do my best.” Leon snickered, “see ya inside.”
Gunshots echoed down each hall they passed though, until Chris opened a door to a large room. Its waxy wooden floors and echo couldn’t only mean one thing in this building. A gymnasium. This was a rotten place to find themselves in. It was far too open with too many exits to become easily surrounded from all ends, with a second floor for anything to come down onto them. They couldn’t stay here long. They shouldn’t have gone in at all.
Just as Chris feared, they’d become surrounded, fighting thrashing, screaming, growling, and vicious undead at every corner. Some fell from the second floor bleachers over the railing as Chris emptied his magazine into as many as possible, others flooded in through the side an main doors.
“Leon! On me, now!” Chris ordered, but received no response. “Leon!” When he turned his body to shoot an infected behind him and saw his husband was nowhere to be seen, his heart sank.
Fuck. Where are you Leon?
Barreling down a gym full of undead was no easy task, even for skilled soldiers like himself. The group was forced to make a break for it back the way they came, but not before one of them tossed a grenade into the flammable floored room. A part of Chris was terrified that Leon was still inside, but he hoped his husband had slipped away. He had to…he knew his husband.
They had no choice but to push forward into the school to find the laboratory they came here for. If they could avoid being swarmed a second time, that would be ideal, though luck seemed to never be on their side.
A tiny infant could be heard as its cries filled a nearby classroom. A baby? Were they running experiments for the virus on a fucking baby? What for? What horrific bastard would do such a thing? In all his years eradicating bioweapons and sick scientist freaks who created them, infant experimentation would be a new one.
He quickly chased after the sound, gunning down any undead in his path. With his weapon raised, Chris slammed the door open with his shoulder, and held the gun firmly in front of him, ready to take down whoever was in there with the weeping infant inside.
“Don’t shoot!” A frantic voice cried out.
Chris froze as his eyes met a familiar face. His husband, half naked on the blood and amniotic fluid soaked ground with a newborn in his arms, still attached to him by the cord and covered in protective waxy vernix. “Holy shit, Leon.”
“Chris…I don’t know. I didn’t know. I guess you were kinda right? Fucking shit man,” Leon rasped. “Close the damn door and come help your kid.”
“Yes sir.” Chris closed the door and quickly dragged a chair over to brace the handle, in case prying undead eyes came over to hurt them in their time of vulnerability. He stepped back to glance around the room for anything more that could cover the door, and hauled a rusted locker in front of the door. Not great, but better than just an old chair.
The tiny new life squirmed and whimpered in their father’s arms on the other side of the room, farthest from where Chris stood.
Finally, Chris made his way over to his distressed lover. “I knew you should have stayed home. You should have listened to me, Lee. It’s too dangerous for you and the baby to be here. We’re surrounded by the dead and bio—”
“Shut up. Not now,” Leon weakly scolded. “Don’t. Say something else that's stupid for the next five minutes and help me.”
Within seconds, Chris removed his jacket, revealing his protective gear, and prepared to swaddle the little one with it.
Leon protectively moved the baby away from him with one hand over their head. “Wait. I don’t want anything from this place getting on our daughter. Your jacket is probably filthy. Just…” his voice trailed off as he tried to think of any way his husband could possibly help. “I was infected in Alcatraz while carrying her, and if anything happens to her—Chris, what if she’s—?”
“Rebecca will know what to do.” Chris firmly added, then swallowed. He was absolutely right. They had no idea how dangerous anything here was. Her being born here was dangerous enough as is, let alone everything that had happened to Leon while pregnant.
“I hope you’re right.” Leon placed a kiss to her little forehead to soothe himself then bounced her in his arms to hush her. “If you have a knife, could you tie her cord and cut it? It’ll be harder to get us out of here if she’s stuck to me like this. I think more has to come out, but I don't exactly want to carry it with me, unless you’ll do the honors?”
“I’ll politely decline on that offer.” He carefully pulled a pocket knife from his coat and flipped it open, then sliced the cord, separating the baby from her birth parent for the first time. He stumbled through knotting cord attached to her, so she didn’t lose any blood or nutrients. “Hopefully that will be alright for her…but how are you?”
Leon scoffed with a faint, tired smirk. “I just gave birth to a baby I had no idea I was having. What do you think?”
“I know. That’s why I’m asking, Lee.” Chris reached over to where Leon had tossed his amniotic fluid soaked pants and gear, then carefully folded them up.
Leon swallowed thick saliva before sheepishly forcing out a reply, “I…I don’t know, Chris. I’ve been shot, stabbed, and infected, but that was the most painful experience of my life. We were so careful and I checked each time, but she was determined to be here. As stubborn as her father. I’ll let you decide which one.” Leon held his baby girl close and relaxed her little squishy cheek against his sternum. “I’d have loved to join you in fighting zombies out there, but I was a bit preoccupied. She chose quite the dramatic entrance.”
“Leon…I’m so sorry.” Chris shook his head with a gentle sigh as their newborns' tiny coos filled the room, then assisted him in removing the afterbirth as best as he could when Leon was ready to to.
“That’s real attractive,” Leon barely squeaked out with a grimace at Chris’ now blood covered hands that moved it to the side.
“Circle of—” a loud bang crashed against the door, interrupting the pair, followed by slurring growls and hardly recognizable words.
Leon startled and curled his baby even closer to his chest as she began to cry once more, spooked by the sudden noise and her father’s jolt. “Shit!”
Without needing to ask, Chris shot up from Leon’s side and cocked his gun, ready to blow the brains out of anything that came through that door. “Can you walk or stand? There’s only one way out of this room and we’ll have to rush out to the car. The rest of the crew should be nearby, so I’ll take care of anything outside that door and make a break for it.”
“No, I can't walk, Chris! I’m strong but I’m not magic. My legs feel like jello.” As if to prove a point, Leon braced himself against the wall behind him and winced as he tried to push himself to his feet. The adrenaline from rushing to bring their daughter into the world was already wearing off. There was no telling if he’ll get another wave of it to escape. His legs trembled beneath him, hardly able to hold himself up and pain thrummed through his whole body. “You’ll have to carry me.”
“Yes sir. Do you need help slipping your pants back on?”
“Fuck the pants.”
“Understood. Brace yourself.”
Leon gave Chris a firm nod from behind and held his baby as close as possible as she wailed. “As best as I can.”
Chris took aim at the door with shaking hands and a firm stance, then reached up to his earpiece to call for immediate backup.
“I need backup at room 0027 now! Kennedy and I are trapped with a newborn and I need to carry him out the building.” Just as he could tell there was about to get a confused reply, he continued, “Don’t ask questions. I need you down here as fast as possible!” Without waiting for a response, he hung up and locked eyes onto the shaking door. “Cover her ears, baby.”
The wooden door slammed open, followed by the loud thud of the metal locker hitting the ground. Chris opened fire as quick as his gun would allow.
One shoved past the fallen locker and sloppily flung itself into Leon’s direction. The vulnerable father frantically tried to back himself further into the wall he was already hugging, now unable to grab his own weapon with an infant screaming in terror in his arms, and his gear on the floor. He gave a weak kick to its knee in an attempt to knock it down, only for it to grasp his bare leg. “Chris!”
Chris spun his attention around to his husband’s cry and ripped the undead off his leg with his large, strong hands. With a strained grunt, Chris heaved it over his shoulder and slammed it forward into the others coming through the doorway. “Keep your hands off my family!”
If Leon and his baby weren’t in imminent danger, he’d have considered making a joke about his husband being hot right now. Gunshots littered the hallway as backup rushed to find them and cleared out the remainder of the undead along the current hallway. Maybe he could still tell him later, when the dust settled.
Chris masterfully reloaded his gun and strapped it along his back as soon as his cover arrived. “I need a group to cover me while I carry Agent Kennedy outside where he’s safe. He needs taken to Rebecca. Now.”
Chris’ truck hardly had time to park behind Rebecca’s lab before she came flying out the back door to meet them. Chris slipped out of the driver's side to greet his friend, who was as worried and curious as ever. “Chris! I got your call. I have a cot for Leon and everything should be set up for the baby. I don’t have everything, since it’s last second, but I’ll do what I can to check her.”
“Yeah…do what you can.” Chris sighed from the reality of the situation they were about to face in the lab, as he walked around to the passengers side from the front, then popped the door open. “Ready, baby?”
“As ready as we’ll ever be.” Leon clicked himself out of the seatbelt and attempted to help Chris scoop him up from the car seat, leaned against his husband like he was a lifeline, and cradled his newborn close.
Once inside, Rebecca locked the back door and led the couple down to her main laboratory where she’d conduct her examination.
“Chris, lay him down here.” She gestured to a medical emergency cot already prepared for him with a pillow, clearly moved from her break room couch. “I need to check the baby’s vitals and if the virus is in her system. We don’t know how the vaccine affected her and if she was infected when you and Leon were—“
“Spare me the reminder and just tell me she’s not dying…” Leon grumbled, almost pathetic and far more vulnerable than he intended, moments before pain seared through tender muscles as Chris set him down. “If that bastard in Alcatraz infected my kid, I’ll resurrect the damn thing and kill him again.”
“And you wouldn’t do it alone,” Chris reassured through clenched teeth and a firm, soothing hand along Leon’s side.
“I’ll do everything I can.” Rebecca knelt down beside him, opposite of Chris, in an attempt to meet his pained gaze. “I promise. She’s in good hands. May I?” Her gloved hands slowly reached out towards the new life.
After a moment of hesitation, not wanting to be separated from his child, he begrudgingly handed her over. Everything in him wanted to stand and follow Rebecca to the examination table to watch everything as she worked, but he was far too tired. Even a man like him couldn’t escape the pains of child birth. Nobody could. Instead, he’d have to settle for laying on the makeshift bed with his husband’s hand resting on his calf, and attempt to focus on the soothing circles from his thumb.
The next few minutes of concentrated examination felt like years to the new parents. Chris watched Rebecca like a hawk, paranoid that she’d find something wrong, and couldn’t rip his eyes away from their baby.
“Good news. Her heart sounds healthy. She seems fully responsive as well. I just…have to do the part she won’t like.” Rebecca changed sterile gloves and prepared a tiny needle and vial to take a small blood sample.
A grounding, large hand gripped tighter onto Leon’s leg as soon as their infant wailed. A needle prick was far more frightening when you’re so tiny and new to their scary world. Perhaps this was the first time she’s been truly in pain, and Chris hoped he could keep it that way, as unrealistic as it may be.
“Shh…it’s okay. I know, sweet thing. We have to make sure you’re all healthy for your dads, and that’s really important for you too.” Rebecca placed the little blood sample within a tube into a blood analyzer and prepared a sterile bandage to cover up her tiny wound. “You ready to go back to your dad while I prepare a little clean bin for papa to give you your first bath? You’re still all dirty from all the hard work your dad did, and I need to examine the rest of your samples, but that will take a little longer.”
If Chris wasn’t crying already, he sure as hell was about to.
Leon sat on their shared bed, finally home, with eyes glued down onto their little surprise bundle in his arms, all wrapped up and warm in a soft blanket. Her little cooes melted something within him. Something only Sherry could do when she was little. Something soft and tender he rarely got to feel. The way her nose and lips scrunched as she wiggled around. The way she looked up at him like he was the only person in the universe who mattered to her. She would break him and round out every sharp edge he’d ever fought to create.
Her other father came from their bathroom with a fond smile, and tossed the dirty clothing from today's mission into a nearby hamper. “Hey handsome, how are you holding up?” He slid his arms through one of his several cheesy Hawaiian button ups over a tank top.
“She's so tiny and fragile.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“That’s my answer.”
Chris shook his head and walked over to their bed to stand beside Leon, then ran his calloused hand through his husband's hair. “She doesn’t feel real and all things in our life lead to her being sick, and like we shouldn’t be sitting at home with her?”
“Yeah. I can’t believe we got something good in our miserable lives. And she got blessed with your big ears.”
“My ears aren’t that big.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Leon chuckled. “She has my eyes though. Poor thing. She’ll never be able to step outside without a headache.”
After a moment of quiet between both of them to listen to her tiny coos, Chris moved to sit beside Leon with a pleased hum. “Lee, did you really not know?” He curiously asked.
“You think I’m stubborn enough to go on several operations while pregnant?” Leon held out his finger for her to hold, and glanced over at his husband beside him before he turned his gaze back to her.
Chris hesitated. “I plead the fifth.”
Leon huffed through his nose as he watched his daughter scrunch her own nose and wiggle her little pink body around in his hold. “Shut up, you ass. I’m stubborn, but not…stupid enough to risk an infant's life. We both know we’d never put somebody other than ourselves at risk. I had no clue. I’m not an idiot.”
There was a long pause as Leon considered the level of vulnerability he wanted to pour out to Chris, but decided it best to push forward, even if he never liked it. It would do them no good to close himself off more than he already had, especially now. “I was terrified today. I thought would lose her when Rebecca was poking and prodding at her with each test. She looked more nervous than I’ve seen her in a long time. Having been infected while carrying her so far along without knowing, not knowing any side effects of the vaccine, and the several close calls while fighting those bastards a few weeks ago, then today. I didn’t think there was any way she’d have survived all that…or she’d come out as a fucked up zombie baby we had to kill as soon as she was born, if Rebecca thought she was too far gone to be saved. I don’t even want to imagine that shit.” Leon didn’t dare meet his lover’s big, gentle, brown eyes as he sulked beside him.
“And you don’t have to. She’s here, she’s alive, and she’s healthy.” Chris gently placed a chaste kiss to Leon’s shoulder, then allowed one hand to drop along his lower back . “I don’t want you to think about the burden that decision would carry. She’s happy in your arms, right where she is supposed to be.”
When Leon didn’t know how to respond, a finger lifted his stubbled chin and carefully turned his head to face Chris’ tender gaze.
“Look at me, baby. We can’t blame ourselves for what we didn’t know.”
“Yeah right. You wouldn’t have let me out of the house if you knew I was carrying,” he plainly interjected.
“I wouldn’t do that to you.” When Leon shot him a ‘really?’ look, he promptly corrected himself. “Okay, you’re right.”
“Thank you.” Leon watched as she closed her bright blue eyes, akin to his own, and brought her little delicate head to his lips for a tender kiss against her soft hair. “I was thinking of naming her after your mother. I thought maybe you’d…”
Chris tenderly rubbed Leon’s shoulder, eyes wide. “I love it. It’s perfect for her, thank you…that’s very kind of you.”
“She’s your kid too. I know how much you loved your mom, and I sure hope you’ll love this kid the same,” Leon smiled down at his little baby girl with a fond smile. “I’d have a problem if you didn’t.”
“You know I will. More than anything.” It was no surprise that Chris had taken to loving being a father nearly overnight. He was protective and loving, and Leon was thankful his husband was nearly perfectly suited to take on the father role. Minus their shared alcohol intake when things got rough. “Even when she spits all down our clothing after she’s fed.”
Leon gave a snort to that, “you know, for fighting zombies our whole lives, getting grossed out by her puking down my back when she was burped before her bath was amusing. Oh! Before I forget, thank your sister for helping pick up formula on our way home from Rebecca's.”
“I beat you to it. Sherry said she texted you about picking up newborn clothes for her while she, Claire, and Jill were out, and needed her size from us. I messaged her for you when we were with Rebecca. I didn’t want to stress you with more information than needed.”
“Fuck, I missed that text. I’ve been so glued to the baby,” Leon raised one hand to rub his eyes, then moved it back down to caress his daughter’s brown hair.
“She knows, it’s okay hun.” Chris ran his hand through his husband’s dirty blonde locks and placed a faint kiss just above his ear. “I informed her when we got back from the lab, then told her that you and the baby are clear and healthy with very little complications. She’s excited to meet her baby sister. You might have to pry your daughters apart.”
“I don’t think I ever could. I’m sure she’ll want to come over tomorrow morning and baby her. Pun intended.”
“She’ll want to ask about you as well. Had we known, this would have been a high risk pregnancy with you being nearly forty and our jobs. I’m thankful she survived in there at all, with you being thrown around at work and…everything else,” was all Chris managed to reply to his husband with a soft huff. “We're a mess, aren’t we?”
“We’re two dads with a hodgepodge team of lost girls we look after like Peter Pan’s gay dads, who just had their first baby. Mess doesn’t begin to cover it.”
That earned Leon a fond snort from his husband, then an affectionate chuckle, “You have such a way with words, baby.” He turned his attention from their daughter to plant a chaste kiss to Leon’s lips.
The little newborn cooed in her pink swaddle and reached up for one of the two fathers with her tiny, chubby hands. Without hesitation, Chris leaned forward to press his nose against hers, to which she cooed once more in response and felt the stubble along his upper lip.
“She likes you,” Leon whispered, far more tender and gentle than he was used to.
“I’d hope so. She’s the one good thing I’ve finally done in my life, other than raising Claire and ridding the world of Wesker.”
“And marrying me,” Leon corrected with a puckish smirk, dropping the little gentle side for his usual bravado.
“Obviously.”
“For a moment I thought you regretted it,” he moved one hand to scratch Chris’ back.
“What?” Chris was horrified, as if he’d been insulted to his face. After everything the two of them had gone through, how could Leon possibly…
Leon nearly cackled at Chris for having missed his tone as his ears shifted to an embarrassed shade of strawberry red, “I’m joking, big guy. Sarcasm.”
“Right, obviously. Sorry, it’s been a long day.”
“Says you.”
“Yes, says me. Both of us. You scared the shit out of me today. I won’t pretend your day wasn’t far worse, but it was long for me as well. I was worried sick, then you went missing after my team was swarmed. I thought I’d lost you, just like everyone else I’ve been close to. When I saw you, I just…” Chris cut himself off.
Leon gave his husband a slow nod, wordlessly acknowledging the unspoken words. If there was one thing they both were, it was predictable.
“You couldn’t have known—“
“—I should have!”
Chris felt Leon’s sharp glare burn into his flesh as Heather began to scrunch her face and whimper at the sudden raised voice nearby.
“Now look what you did.” Leon grumbled as he moved to cradle her close to his chest, with one hand carefully patting her butt. “Shh…it’s alright. Papa didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I’m sorry for raising my voice at your dad, kid.” He reached up to delicately rub the back of her soft head as she wailed. “I need to knock that off, don’t I? It’s not good for you.”
Leon fought down a smirk, “Seems like she’s already a daddy’s girl. Serves you right.”
“I don’t doubt she will be.” Chris offered out his arms for her to give Leon a break for a little while. “But who knows, maybe she’ll take a liking to me if I start wearing tutus and drinking tea with her.”
“God, that makes sense for you. You’ll be a natural.” He placed her into his husband’s arms and sighed as she started to whimper once more, as soon as his hands left her. “Eventually.”
The door alarm system alerted Chris’ phone of somebody approaching the porch. Unfortunately, the man was passed out on the couch with his newborn sleeping against his chest.
A few clicks to the code outside and the front door unlocked to let them inside.
“Shh…we don’t want to wake them if they are resting. Especially the baby,” the guest whispered to a woman entering behind them as the front door clicked shut.
Just as they turned the corner from the entryway into the living room, a gun was facing directly at them from the half awake father on the couch.
“Stand down, Chris,” Claire spoke up with a smile as he came over to her protective brother once the gun was lowered. “It’s just Sherry and I. You were asleep when I called to let you know we were on our way, I assume.”
The gun lowered and was placed back onto the arm table beside the couch. “Sorry, we’ve been on edge with the kid. We don’t know who will know she exists soon, and knowing our luck, some asshole will try to find her.” Chris groaned as he sat up with the tiny baby against his chest, one hand placed along her back and neck to keep her in place. “Oh, the golden boys nobody can successfully get rid of had a baby? Sounds like the perfect specimen to make a strong tyrant. Steal her away like a fucked up doctor who episode. You know the one.”
“The whole season?” Claire chuckled and moved to sit on the couch beside her brother.
“Yeah, that one.”
Sherry carefully plopped herself down on the opposite side of Chris and tried to peer her way over his shoulder to get a look at her baby sister. “So, how is dad?”
“He’s sleeping right now. Still recovering from everything. He’s strong, but even his body needs rest after bringing her into the world.” Chris placed a faint kiss to her little head, earning him a sleepy coo as she stirred awake. “Morning, Princess.”
“She smells like new baby,” Sherry whispered as Chris peppered his baby in little affectionate kisses.
“Can’t imagine why,” Claire grinned at the sight of her big brother so happy with his bundle of joy. “May one of us hold her while you go wake up sleeping beauty?”
“Uh, I think you could follow me in the bedroom instead. I don’t want him getting up,” Chris admitted. “He’s wiped. I don’t think he would be walking out of the bed for more than just a bathroom visit.” He slowly stood from the couch, supporting the baby in his arms against his chest, and gave her back a soothing rub. “Ready to go see daddy? It’s nearly time to eat anyway. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to know more formula has arrived with you two.”
Sherry followed closely behind her father’s husband and made sure to bring a pink ‘it’s a girl!’ gift bag in with her. Claire trailed close behind the other two with crossed arms and a pleased grin at the view of her big brother holding such a tiny human.
Chris entered their bedroom and verbally warned Leon before turning on the bedside table lamp beside him with one large hand still cradling their child.
“Mm…two hands, Redfield.”
“You weren’t even looking at me, baby.”
“Spidey senses,” Leon mumbled through a groan and turned his body to face his husband. “Is she hu—oh! Hey kid. Shit, come here” he patted the spot beside him for Sherry to come join him on the bed. “I can’t get up and hug you, so this will have to do.”
“It’s perfect. I’d feel safer holding my little sister on the bed or couch anyway. I’d feel terrible if I dropped her.”
“Well, I’d trust you more than Chris,” Leon winced as he attempted to push himself upright in the bed while Chris’ hands were too full to help him. He ignored Chris’ worried gaze at Leon’s stubbornness to ask for assistance. “He’s a close second.”
Chris leaned down to gingerly place Heather into Leon’s hold, then pecked his lips. “I was about to make you formula to feed her, but since I’m not appreciated by her dad…”
“Oh, shut up.” Leon allowed Chris to place one more brief smooch to his lips, then turned his attention back to his kids as Chris exited the room to grab food for the baby.
Before Leon could think of saying something corny, Sherry spoke up, as soft as could be, “I bet she’ll look a lot like mom but with your eyes. Dontcha think?”
“Your mom? Nah. She'll look like her papa. Look at her nose and ears. That’s Chris right there. Or maybe she’ll look like you.”
“Dad,” Sherry giggled, peered over Leon’s shoulder, and watched her sister move her tiny lips open to yawn. “That’s not how that works.”
“Really? This is news to me. The crane just dropped the kid off this morning and I was really thinking maybe it was the same one that dropped you off at your mom’s place 12 years late. There goes my pinterest board plans for her outfits to match with you.”
Claire chuckled before finally moving to stand beside Leon’s side of the bed. “God, she does really look like a Redfield. Blonde genes lost the fight, ey?”
“It’s never too late to show up blonde and surprise us all. Wouldn’t be the first time she’s pulled a fast one on her ol’ man.”
“She gets that from you.”
“Touché.” When he felt Sherry’s cheek rest firmly against his shoulder, he repositioned how he held Heather to prepare to hand her off. “Sherry? You do the honors. Support her neck with one arm and hook the other under her backside. No pressure.” When he felt satisfied with Sherry’s position, he gently removed his hands from the bundle.
“Oh goodness…dad, she’s so precious.”
“I know. I did pretty good. Especially for an overnight rush order.”
“Quite the humble brag, Leon.” Claire ruffled his locks and cackled when he playfully swatted her hand away. “How as Chris taken to being a father so suddenly, Lee? I mean…with work, I’m sure he’s overthought every possible step, but this is a lot all at once for both of you.”
It took Leon a moment to respond. Chris seemed over the moon about being a father, but fear ate at both of them. The life they lived couldn't be more unsafe for an infant if they’d tried. One wrong move on the field and she’d lose one or both parents. One wrong person finding out about her existence and god only knows what would happen. They were almost thankful they had no clue she was tucked away in his womb for so long. It was far more dangerous for her when he was working, but not a soul knew she was forming within him, for better or worse. Nobody—outside of Chris’ BSAA team—would suspect Leon’s absence until the veil cracked to reveal their precious little secret.
“I didn’t know a man could become so soft overnight. I married a good man. He took her to the living room while I slept, so she wouldn’t wake me while recovering. I don’t know what I’d do if her father was anyone else. I’m glad he dragged me out of that bar in Colorado and roped me back into his life.”
Chris knocked on the doorframe as he walked back into the bedroom with a fresh bottle of formula for Leon. “Talking about me, baby?” He placed the bottle on the bedside table and prepared a washcloth for burping.
“I am, actually. I’m talking about how fatherhood suits you.”
“I believe I also heard something about you being glad I dragged your sorry ass out of the bar in Colorado.”
“Maybe,” Leon sheepishly admitted.
The two men had a major falling out before then. They’d fought about nearly everything. Ada, Jake’s relationship with Sherry, their competing companies, and enough petty bullshit sprinkled on top to make high school kids jealous.
Leon was a disaster when Chris needed him in Colorado. A pathetic drunk who was shielding himself from every sorrow they’d ever endured, with no means to an end. Chris was the same good hearted man he’d always known. It made him melt all over again. How could a man who’d seen so much terror still be optimistic and gentle. And again in Alcatraz, always putting everyone before himself and fighting for anyone’s survival.
Chris remembered what drew him to his favorite skilled loser, and Leon remembered why he loved that golden retriever, perfect man. It felt like they’d never been separated a day in their life, and they never wanted to let go of each other ever again. The moment they knew there would never be a batter match, they put a ring on it. Just in time for their daughter to be welcomed into the world by surprise.