Wrapped In You [mpreg|sequel]

xxv

Screams of panic fill the room as the machines whir and screech in alarm that something isn't right, something is wrong, very wrong.

...

"What are you doing in here!" Dan shouts, face pale with beads of sweat running down his forehead.

"Save my grandchild," the slithering symbiote orders, voice low and threatening, "save them, now."

...

Tiny.

Weak.

Frail.

It's the only way to describe the neonate cradled in Carnage's arms.  There is no movement from the bundle of blankets, no noise, except the fast fluttering of the little heartbeat within its chest, barely noticeable, barely there.  Carnage never thought he'd be here, holding his child in his arms, feeling as he does in this moment, something akin to heartache and love.

His rough voice cracks when he softly asks, not even looking at the person beside him, "Who was it?"

The person in question, Eddie, doesn't answer for the longest time, trying to figure out what the red symbiote is talking about, "Who was what?"

"Who did I choose, to save?" Carnage whispers, tortured.

Eddie looks at the symbiote sympathetically, "You didn't choose anyone."

Carnage looks up then, shame contorting his face, "What?"

"You didn't choose between them, you didn't have to choose between them.  You said both.  You told Dan to save them both."

There's a weight Carnage hadn't realized he had carried lifted off his shoulders with those words.  And when the doctor appears looking grim and weary, he can't help but stiffen, fearing the worst.

"Abel is stable, in fact he should be waking up soon now," Dan relies, "You can come in and see him."

Carnage nods, determined to go to his host, his human, his mate.  But a hand on his arm stops him.  He looks down at the bundle and then back at Eddie.

"It's okay," Dan adds understandingly, a small friendly smile tugging on his lips, "Abel will be happy to see his baby and uh mate when he wakes up."

That's all he needed to know to hurry toward the private room Abel is in, mindful of the baby stirring in his arms.  The baby who cries and wails at being jostled even when they stop at the foot of the hospital bed surrounding Abel in white.

Carnage watches a black slime that can only be his progenitor slither out from Abel's fingertips in search of their own mate waiting just outside the door.  Carnage is more than grateful for the privacy.  He's also grateful to Venom, something he'd never thought would occur.  But the black symbiote saved his mate, his life and child.

But as he focuses on the person on the bed, his heart aches.

Abel's healthy dark complexion is a gray hue, pale from blood loss with lingering traces of death still permeating his scent.  For a moment he thinks the doctor lied, that Abel is really gone, slipping through his fingers and leaving him behind.

Yet those eyes, those gorgeous hazel brown eyes, flutter open and stare at the ceiling completely dazed and unseeing.  Carnage swallows back the sudden lump in his throat, but the cries of the infant in his arms distracts him from sentiment, if only briefly.

"Baby," a weak voice croaks, wavering with their own unshed tears, "my baby." 

Carnage approaches the side of the bed and their eyes lock then, white pupil-less meeting soft brown, "right here, love, he's right here."

The sob that tears through Abel is one of pure relief as he reaches out, arms aching for a little body to hold.  And Carnage is careful in helping Abel sit up, slow and steady, before offering their offspring.

The love and joy that fills Abel's heart is enough to make him burst with happiness.

"Oh god, oh god, look Carnage," Abel chokes, voice raw, "Look what we made."

The bundle still looks ridiculously tiny in Abel's arms despite him being smaller than the impressive symbiote.  Regardless of his premature size, their baby is alive and here.  In his arms.

"His name," Abel asks, "What's his name?"

Carnage frowns, "he has no name, we... I was waiting for you to wake up."

To be safe, is left unspoken.

"Zeal," Abel says, "his name, can it be-"

"Yes," Carnage agrees, not thinking twice, "perfect."

And Abel goes back to staring at their baby, their little son, who whimpers inconsolably and mouths at his chest with spittle dribbling down his chin.  

The thought makes Abel shy and embarrassed, but it doesn't stop him from sliding his shoulder out of the gown and exposing his swollen chest.  He ignores the twinges of pain and guides the little mouth to his breast, watches enamored as Zeal latches on.

Carnage can't help but feel proud, voicing his praise, Such a good mate.

Abel flushes at the compliment, yet his smile is soft and warm, private and just for them.

After Zeal is done eating, burped, and lulled to sleep, Abel finally takes the chance to look at Carnage, to really look at the red symbiote.

"C?" he calls, letting his guard down as he's enveloped in red.

Hm?

"What... What are we?" Abel asks timidly, "What am I... to you?"

"You," Carnage begins sincerely, "You, both of you, are my everything."

And that's enough for now, for them.

Right now, Abel wants nothing more than to be wrapped up in Carnage's solid hold with their baby boy in between them.

•••

A/N:  Thank you everyone for the votes on baby's gender.  I decided on his name to be Zeal [zealous] after receiving the name suggestion Patience (they don't mean the same but they are adjectives which ultimately gave me the idea), so thank you TifanyBrown!