My Secret Lover by ARIE78 (Completed)

Chapter 16

Forth curled on the couch, nibbling on a piece of ham, chewing carefully as Michael had instructed him too. In front of him, Ming paced.

 "You can't keep it, P'Forth. It'll kill you."

"Don't call my baby an "it"," Forth answered, putting down the food. "He's a boy."

"It's... He's not even human. Aren't you afraid?"

"Of course I'm afraid," Forth shot back. "But this is my baby, my son. I have to be strong for him. I've wanted a child all my life, Nong. This is a gift."

Ming plopped down next to Forth on the couch.

 "I'm sorry, P'Forth. I'm being awful about this. I have no idea what the fuck is going on," he admitted. "When the hell did we fall into the X-Files and when did my dad become Dr. Scully?"

"It really bothers you, doesn't it, that your dad kept something like that from you?" Forth asked quietly.

"Yeah," Ming replied. "And I dunno. I guess I'm just pissed he won't say more. I know him well and I get the feeling he's hiding something even bigger."

"Bigger than a male pregnancy of mysterious origins?" Forth snorted.

 "Like that's ever gonna happen."

They snickered together and Forth leaned against his friend's shoulder, finding comfort in the touch. For a few seconds, silence fell between them.

 "It's all right," Ming finally said. "We'll get by. You'll have to skip off from classes. The pregnancy is advancing rapidly, so it won't have to be nine months like for human women. Dad already said he can get you a certificate. And he's an amazing doctor. He'll help you through it."

Just like that, Forth's composure cracked. "I wish... I wish P'Pha were here."

Tears filled his eyes as he spoke. "Oh, God, I swore I'd never cry for a guy again, and especially not for Phana, but I guess guys get hormonal too when they're pregnant. I'm trying to get a grip, but I can't... This is so huge, and I just want to share it with him. I miss him, and the baby misses him, and I'm such a mess, Ming."

Ming held Forth, petting his hair, whispering words of comfort in his ear. It seemed like they were doing that a lot lately, and Forth might have been embarrassed about it if he wasn't too busy being overwhelmed by other emotions. And instead of getting better, the whirlpool of emotion just kept getting stronger, making it hard for him to even breathe. His heart seemed too big for his chest, and his baby responded with anxiousness and... excitement? Forth barely had the chance to register that last emotion before the reason for it was revealed. The door burst open—quite an impressive feat given that Forth had locked it upon returning from the clinic—and Phana stalked inside. 

"Get the fuck away from him. Now!" he growled.

Forth just stared at his lover, torn between astonishment, anger and pure happiness. "P'Pha?"

"It's all right, baby," Phana said, fixing Ming with a furious glare.  "I won't let him hurt you."

He moved so fast that Forth didn't even see him cross the room. One moment, he stood by the door, and the next, he was grabbing Ming's arm and pulling him away from Forth. Forth recognized the expression on Phana's face as
similat to the one he'd displayed when he'd attacked that bigot. And yes, his eyes were definitely glowing. It hadn't
been Forth's imagination after all.

Phana seemed in protective mode, and he could easily hurt Ming in a mistaken
attempt to help Forth. There were so many things wrong with this picture
that Forth didn't even know what to address first. In the end, he picked the
imminent confrontation between Ming and Phana.

"Stop!" Forth said. "Mingkwan is my friend. I was upset and he was helping me.He'd never hurt me. "

He didn't even have to elaborate on the explanation, because just the word
"stop" made Phana freeze. He released Ming,  who staggered back, wide-eyed.

"This is your Prince Charming? What in the world were you thinking, Phi?"

Phana growled at Ming.

"Stay out of this, human." When he turned toward Forth, his voice was so
gentle it could have come from a different person.

"Are you sure you're okay baby? Why were you crying? Why were you so frightened?"

Forth wanted nothing more than to throw himself into Phana's arms. He'd
tried his best not to think about the other man, but seeing him now just
made him more aware of how deeply Phana had gotten under his skin. To top it off, he could feel his baby responding
to his father's proximity, and that just made him tear up again.

"Baby? Forthy? What's wrong? Are you sick?"

Forth took a few steps back, trying to catch his breath.

"Sick? Do you have any idea how awful
I felt when you left me? How dare you just burst in here and attack the guy
who's been by my side when you were gone?"

Phana winced.

"I'm so sorry, baby. You have no idea how sorry I am. I never wanted to
leave you. But... To tell you the truth, I had some family problems. The man
you spoke with on the phone was my brother. He and my father wanted me
to... umm... well, to marry someone else. A lot of things happened and I was
delayed."

Forth noticed the vagueness of the explanation and glared at his lover. He
crossed his arms over his chest and said, "If you think I'm going to be happy
with that excuse, you've got another thing coming."

Phana opened his mouth to reply, but then, his gaze went straight to Forth's
stomach. Looking down, Forth realized his new stance stretched his shirt,
exposing the swell of his belly.

"Oh, shit," Phana cursed, sounding dazed. "Are you...
You're... Moon be blessed. You're pregnant."

"Clever guy, your beau," Ming commented sarcastically.

Forth let out a heavy sigh.

"Yes, P'Pha, I'm pregnant. Congrats. You're gonna be a daddy. And i'm still
waiting for answers on why this was possible."

Phana didn't immediately reply. He knelt in front of Forth and kissed the swell of his stomach.

"I'll tell you everything, baby. I promise. Just let me hold you for now."

Emotion clogged Forth's throat. He dropped to his knees too and leaned
against Phana's chest.

"I hate you." He sniffed. "Why did you have to leave me?"

"I just wanted to protect you," Phana replied. "There were a lot of circumstances. But i'm never leaving
again. We'll be together forever, the three of us."

The sound of departing footsteps alerted Forth to the fact that Ming was
discreetly taking his leave. Forth would have liked to thank his friend and
reassure him somehow—especially when Ming cursed as he struggled to bypass the broken door. But it was too
nice to be in Phana's arms, and Forth felt so exhausted, physically,
emotionally and mentally.

Phana picked him up and carried him to his small bedroom. He placed Forth
on the bed and brushed a kiss over his lips.

"I'll be right back, baby. I'll see your friend off. I owe him an apology
anyway."

Forth nodded and shot Phana a thankful look.

"Just... Come back soon, okay P'Pha?"

"I will, baby" Phana promised, and Forth believed him.

ARIE78: There,  the new update. Happy now 😓. . . But can't guarantee the ff will be update soon after this cos my office workload will be add soon. So i don't have time for this. Pls bear with me na. 😊