Joey was at his old haunt, which was on the open field of an abandoned airport, gazing towards the sky, his mind wandering to the wondrous days he had spent with his darling Whisperer Seto. The abandoned airport was supposedly scheduled to be renovated into a theme park next year, and Joey decided to spend its last remaining days on earth sort of keeping it company till the day comes to be demolished and renovated. He let out a sigh and rubbed his protruding belly, smiling as he felt a slight movement within him.
Together with his fellow friends, Joey had finally reached to the middle of the 6th month of his pregnancy. After their morning sickness period left, Joey and the gang was bombarded with the ailment of constant hunger. They would be seen nibbling something in the middle of class, may it be beef jerky, a hotdog, crackers or whatever their cravings were, until the teacher had no choice but to ask them to go to the infirmary and eat whatever they needed to eat there. And speaking of cravings, as their pregnancy progressed to the 3rd month, the entire residents of Domino High had to undergo the horror and disgust of the five’s unusual cravings. While friends looked in horror at Joey’s peanut butter and jelly sandwiches mixed with ketchup and a whole sardine with mayo and Yugi’s triple fudge sundae smothered in whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles, almond nuts and marmalade jam, others would puke at the sight of Tristan eating fried rice mixed with strawberry ice-cream and coke and Ryou gobbling bowls upon bowls of sushi mixed with melted vanilla ice-cream and chocolate-dipped tempura, not to mention Malik eating raw fish heads and fish eye balls while downing glasses of green wheatgrass mixed with orange soda. During that time period of cravings, either the classroom or the cafeteria would always be empty, whichever place they wanted to dine during recess.
Then came the mood swings. Tristan and Malik’s usual temper would go up the roof if things did not go accordingly and many people had to suffer their wrath. Ryou and Yugi would burst into tears at the simplest of poetry during English classes, and Joey would laugh at the most unlikely parts of the scene, i.e. parts where war and killing are involved, during History classes where they have to watch a historical documentary and discuss it in class. Seeing the sudden changes of their demeanour and the effect they were giving to their fellow classmates (and complaints from the students and teachers), the Principal decided to let them be home-schooled earlier than planned, much to the relief of the school board. Experienced teachers that had a history of teaching the most demanding and notorious pregnant teen herms were sent by Mai, and Illust-chan along with her team of midwives were assigned to make regular trips to their homes to check on their condition.
As predicted by Illust-chan, during the 4th month of their pregnancy, they began to experience growth spurts in their belly. The time difference between them was rather far, but it was the same experience nonetheless. Joey woke up with a stomach cramp in the middle of the night of the first day, while Yugi felt it during breakfast on the 5th day. Tristan and Malik felt it halfway through their home-schooling on the 3rd and 7th day respectively and Malik felt it sometime during the evening on the 9th day. It worried their parents to no end (mostly Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler because they’ve never had any experience in pregnancies), thinking that they could be experiencing premature labour, but after Illust-chan’s inspection, their fear was eased with the fact that the babies in them were just growing to accommodate the size of a person who would be 6 months pregnant. It would start unexpectedly and sometimes at the most godforsaken hours and it almost drove the ‘mothers’-to-be up the wall with its discomfort, as they were not allowed to have painkiller and have to ride it out for at least two hours. It pained their parents to see their children in so much suffering, but there was nothing they could do but help them ride it out by being by their side and coax them through the ordeal.
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when the growth spurts finally stopped at their 5th month of pregnancy. By then, the outrageous cravings have slowed down a little and they were eating as normally as possible, with the help of Illust-chan and her team of midwives recommending the proper diet for them. Home-schooling went like usual without a fuss as the mood swings had subsided, although frequenting the bathroom had not. They began to feel another physical change on them during that month though, which was the slight enlargement of their breasts to accommodate the milk they need for breast-feeding. It wasn’t that obvious, as their size were no larger than an average A cup, but Illust-chan urged them to start wearing custom-made maternity bras just to get used to it. So far, there have not been any complications of the babies and all the teen ‘mothers’-to-be of Domino Island were issued a clean bill of health every fortnight’s checkup.
Perhaps the most comforting of all issues was the fact that Joey and the gang were getting visits from their Whisperer mates. Their visits were not very frequent, and sometimes can go for 2 weeks without visiting, but when they did visit, they were a sight for sore eyes. Seto would cradle Joey in its arms and shower him sweet butterfly kisses on him, telling him in his mono-syllabus words that he was doing a very good job being a ‘mother’, and if Joey’s growth spurt happened in the middle of the night, Seto would help him through it. Yami would put its ear on Yugi’s pregnant belly and would never get tired of listening to the heartbeat and the movement its babies Destiny and Hope were making inside Yugi. Duke would compliment Tristan, saying how ‘motherly’ he looked being pregnant, and would satisfy his sexual desires whenever he wanted it. Bakura did a good job giving Ryou emotional reassurance, including easing Ryou’s frantic thoughts about being fat, since he was the only one carrying triplets. Marik, although not in a very gentle manner, rewarded Malik for his efforts of carrying its pup so far and took care that his ‘rewards’ did not leave a negative impact on Malik’s pregnancy. All in all, the five had their fair share of being loved and pampered by their mates, but took care not to tell each other about it. They still go about saying how troublesome it was carrying the babies in them just for show, but somehow stopped going to the temple to pray for their children to be Whisperer-dominant. Though they used the excuse like “praying at home” or “parents not letting me go out in this condition” or “too tired” and all, they were secretly glad because not only they didn’t have to worry about betraying their friendship, but at the same time they didn’t have to feel guilty every time they went praying when all they wished for was the opposite.
Then, almost suddenly, the Whisperer’s visit routine just stopped at the second week of their 5th month pregnancy. Not a sign, not a word, not even a hint indicating that their Whisperer mates were coming anytime soon. They constantly reminded themselves with convincing excuses like “they may be busy with their stuff” or “maybe their own family needs them” or “they’ll be coming soon”, but their hearts were filled with worry as to what if things weren’t as simple as they thought it would. What if they got hurt? What if something went wrong with their world? What if they were caught breaking tradition and were being punished? The Whisperer were, after all, magical beings, and magical beings have their ways of finding out foul-play. But if that were the case, why weren’t they caught too? After all, they were also in the wrong for breaking tradition and falling in love with their Whisperer mates. Would they not be turned in to the authorities by now?
“Seto…” Joey whispered to himself, his hand placed protectively against his belly. “Where are ya?”
“You know, dark green is so not your colour.”
Joey spun round to see Tristan pushing Ryou on his wheelchair, grinning at him from ear to ear. Ryou, due to his heavy condition and his rather small built, had to take to traveling on the wheelchair because of the strain of the weight on his feet and ankles, but other than that, his and the babies’ health were hunky-dory fine.
“Ugh, I know,” Joey groaned as he tugged at the dark green maternity shirt he was wearing. “But Ma made it fer me, and it would break her heart if I eva refused.”
“Being the Mommy’s Boy as usual,” Malik came in, with Yugi following behind his wake.
“Ain’t nothin’ tuh do wif being Momma’s Boy, Malik,” Joey punched lightly at Malik’s shoulder, who in turn punched him back.
“At least you’re not asked to wear women’s clothing,” Ryou replied. “My ‘mom’ got this from an old acquaintance of his. She kept all the maternity clothes her ancestors used to wear back then when women could still give birth and thought I might make good use of them. This one I’m wearing used to date back in the 17th century.”
“Dang!” Joey replied as he admired the handiwork. “That is some old shit!”
“Everyone who saw Ryou thought he had just gone through a sex change or something,” Tristan grinned, earning a bashful scowl from Ryou. “It was rather hilarious watching the girls fussing over him and calling him a ‘cute little princess’, what with the dress and all.”
“I am so ditching this dress after I give birth,” Ryou pouted, tugging grudgingly at the ends of the skirt.
“What are you doing here anyways, Joey?” Yugi asked as he settled down on a random pile of metal as his means of sitting.
“Just thinkin’ bout stuff, is all. Imma gonna miss dis place. We spent most of our high school ditchin’ ‘ere.”
“Yeah,” Malik agreed, looking about the open field. “To think they’re gonna set up a theme park here. Where else can we hang out then?”
“Most likely nowhere,” Tristan replied. “Since we’re gonna be tied up with other things up ahead, like college, work, taking care of little brats…well, that is if we get Human-dominant kids and have human kids of our own, not that I wish it so.”
“Yeah,” Yugi replied halfheartedly. “There’s nothing more troublesome than having to look after kids that belonged to weirdo-s now, isn’t it?”
“Ya said it, Yug,” Joey gave him a thumbs-up, although his heart was screaming protests about it.
Suddenly Ryou burst into tears without warning. He tried to suppress it with his hands but Yugi, who was nearest to him, noticed his change of mood.
“What’s wrong, Ryou? Are you alright? Is it the mood swings?”
“I…I can’t take it anymore…! I can’t continue lying like this…!” Ryou sobbed, burying his face in his hands. The rest of the gang began to gather around him, genuinely worried.
“Hey, Ryou, wassup?” Joey rubbed the frail little teen’s back, trying to make him feel better. “Wat’s botherin’ ya, boy?”
“I…I can’t…I can’t…I…I miss him so much…I…”
“What’re you talking about, Ryou?” Tristan asked.
“I have been…keeping a secret from you guys…for so long…I don’t think I can handle it anymore…not when I’m not seeing him for so long…”
“Let me guess,” Malik sat on another pile of metal ware to face Ryou, “you’ve been meeting your Whisperer mate secretly, haven’t you?”
“H-H-How did you know?” Ryou looked up at him in surprise, his tears still flowing freely out of his sparkling brown eyes.
“Let’s just say…” Malik revealed the silver choker around his neck for his friends to see, “I didn’t exactly get this from my cousin.”
Everyone looked at each other in silence, not sure what to say. The silence between them was so thick you could cut it with a knife or break like glass with the sound of pin dropped. All of them were trying to get their facts straight and comprehend what was actually going on. None of them said a single word, aside from Ryou’s occasional sniffs. The eerie old abandoned airport that used to be so silent without anyone around got even more silent with the five’s awkward quietness between them.
Finally, all of a sudden, Joey chuckled, first quietly, then louder and louder until he burst out laughing like a maniac. He had to hold onto Ryou’s wheelchair and make himself sit down on an old airplane tire lying around nearby to support himself. Soon, the laughter spread its contagious effect as one by one, starting from Yugi all the way to Malik, laughed out loud, joining Joey’s madness. The whole airport echoed with their laughter and the ice was broken as the young ‘mothers’-to-be laughed louder, longer and harder than they had ever laughed before in their entire life. If they weren’t in need of breath and their sides aching, they would’ve laughed even more throughout the day.
“God! Imma so relieved tuh hear ya say dat, Malik!” Joey exclaimed, clapping Malik’s shoulder. “I tot I was gonna go crazy keepin’ in all dis shit!”
“Yeah, I don’t think I could’ve kept the secret any longer either,” Malik replied, wiping off the laughter tears from his eyes. “I guess we owe it all to Ryou.”
“I don’t know whether I’m supposed to be sorry or honoured about this,” Ryou said, feeling both relieved and out-of-sorts at the same time.
“It is a relief to finally get things off my chest,” Yugi sighed in relief. “I just hope you guys are not mad at me for hiding this. I thought I knew how much the pact meant to you guys.”
“Hey, if the pact is more important than our true friendship, I wouldn’t be here laughing along with you guys at all,” Tristan said as he ruffled Yugi’s tri-coloured hair. “I’m just glad we didn’t drag this any longer than we should. And don’t worry, Yug, no matter what happens, my best friends always come first.”
“I bet y’all dinna reli pray fer a Whisperer-dominant kid, did ya?” Joey grinned, earning a hearty chuckle and a few shakes of heads by his friends.
“At this rate of my feelings for Yami, I’d prayed for anything but a Whisperer-dominant child,” Yugi replied, blushing as everyone grinned slyly at him.
“Ah, so that’s your mate’s name, eh?” Tristan asked. “Well then, Yug, do tell us more.”
Soon, the ‘mothers’-to-be were finally discussing freely about their Whisperer mates. They were impressed at each other’s description of their mates and laughed at the cheesy pet names given by them, especially Ryou and Joey, whom they teased ‘Princess’ and ‘Puppy’ in a mock way. They were surprised at Yugi’s boldness to suggest names for his unborn twins and applauded at the beauty of those names. They were even more surprised at Malik’s new-found fetish and found it hard to imagine Tristan, the all out roughin’ and toughin’ jock of the year, being so sappy over a Whisperer when all it had to do was give him the oldest love-sick words that can be found in a romance novel. All in all, they were finally able to talk about another thing they had in common without having to hide or pretend and put up a show being a façade of falsehood.
“So, your mate hasn’t visited you too?” Ryou popped the question everyone else had in mind. Joey shook his head.
“Eva since da middle of last month, he had stopped comin’. Imma kinda worried somethin’ might haf happened tuh him.”
“My sentiments exactly,” Yugi agreed. “I can’t help having the feeling that there is more to it than them being busy.”
“Do you think something may have gone wrong in their world that caused them to be unable to come here?” Tristan asked.
“It’s possible,” Malik said, “but we won’t know what it is about by just sitting here speculating.”
“But wat can we do?” Joey flung his arms around, feeling rather exasperated about their desperate situation. “We’re nothin’ but mere pregger humans! We ain’t got no magic powers dat can take us tuh see our mates, we ain’t got no lead and we sure as hell ain’t achievin’ anythin’ tryin’ tuh do somethin’ we can’t do! Wat do ya expect?”
Everyone fell silent. They knew Joey was right. They were just mere mortals carrying children of their beloved mates and there was nothing they could do to change that, and as Joey said, they sure as hell are not in any way able to perform magic tricks or summon weird creatures or objects to do their bidding, or else they would’ve been side by side with their mates by now.
Just when they thought they were done for, Yugi suddenly lit up and smiled, then cleared his throat to catch their attention.
“We may not be able to do anything, but I know someone who can.”
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