Unconventional Love

Amy kept a watchful eye on her son-in-law for the next few days, doing everything she could help his nausea subside. Andy was keeping himself busy helping his father set up the riding school they’d both dreamt of for years since he was too ill to do anything such as work on his piano skill, or a reading lesson. It was better than staying in the house and bored, or worrying out of his mind when there was little he could do.

Since she wasn’t entirely sure if he was carrying his husband’s child or not, she never gave him anything that could harm an unborn child, just in case. Everything she gave him to help with the nausea did exactly as she’d intended, but wouldn’t cause harm to a fetus, if there was one.

It took several more weeks afterward before the daily, gut-wrenching attacks began to wane, and in that time, she noticed the young boy’s belly growing slightly. He appeared to have more of a pooch than he had before, even though he was barely able to keep anything down, but wasn’t really gaining weight elsewhere. Even his chest seemed to be filling out a bit, much like a woman’s would as her body prepared to nourish the child it carried after birth. Not only that, but his tenderness wasn’t going away, but rather worsening.

“I feel horrible, Mother,” Ash groaned after emptying his stomach of its contents once again. He hadn’t been doing so quite as frequently, so she supposed that was good.

“I know, I know, dear,” she sympathized, wiping his brow with a cool rag. “I need to do another physical examination, though.”

He nodded his assent, silently telling her to go ahead.

“Can you help me sit you up so we can get your night gown off?” the older woman asked softly.

“Lock the door first,” he requested. “If Andy is angered, he will understand when we explain.”

“That he will. He is just as uncomfortable with me seeing you nude as you are,” Amy agreed, walking over to lock the door. “However, he trusts me since he knows I shall do naught to harm you. The maids, on the other hand…well, he has never been very close to and does not trust them, especially with a matter this delicate.”

The young boy nodded his agreement as he sat up, waiting for her to help him before attempting to take his night gown off. He still blushed rather furiously at her seeing him in his under drawers, which she told him he could leave on. Once he was stripped down, she helped him lie back in bed, breathing as deeply and evenly as he could to quell his growing anxiety.

Amy gently ran her hands over his body, once again pressing down in various spots as she worked her way down to his feet from his head. He winced something awful when she pressed on his chest, especially right around his nipples, which she noticed were a bit swollen, and she apologized profusely. As she pressed on his lower abdomen, she noticed that the hardened area just behind his navel had grown, both in size and how hard it was. She was really beginning to think that he was carrying her grandchild due to a previously unheard of medical miracle.

She grabbed a stethoscope out of her medical bag, deciding to listen to his heart, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract, just to be on the safe side. Everything she heard sounded perfectly normal…until she pressed the bell of her stethoscope to the hardened area in his belly. She heard fluid swishing around as he breathed, and especially if he moved when she asked, that shouldn’t have been there. After moving the bell again, she listened intently before giving a soft gasp of shock.

“What is amiss, Mother?” Ash asked, scared.

“You…y-you a-are with ch-child,” she answered, her eyes wide.

“What?” he asked, just as shocked as she was.

“The hardened area in your belly…that is your womb,” Amy told him, finally regaining enough composure to explain. “Inside your womb, there is a tiny child growing as we speak.”

“You are sure?” the young boy asked.

“Yes. I heard fluid swishing around that I normally would not in a male,” the older woman answered. “On top of that, I heard a softer, racing heartbeat that was not yours. It was too fast to be that of a boy your age, or even a small child. It was the speed of an infant, maybe a bit faster.”

His eyes widened and he clapped his hands over his mouth as it fell open in shock.

“The illness you have had since early-September…that was what doctors call ‘morning sickness’. It is associated with carrying a child,” she continued. “Not all women get it when they are expecting, but a lot do. Not only that, but some women get it worse than others. I believe yours would have been categorized as moderate, but it seemed a bit too harsh for that.”

“You are absolutely certain now that I am with child?” Ash asked, barely able to breathe.

“Yes. All of your symptoms and my findings point only to being with child,” Amy answered, nodding. “I will be keeping a close eye on you as I try to figure out how you are going to give birth.”

Nodding, the young boy thanked her as she helped him back into his night gown, knowing that he still didn’t feel well enough to be up and about. He hadn’t really felt like getting up and doing much of anything for nearly two months now, but he still tried to get up and at least work on his piano skill, if nothing else. Of course, Andy would help him to the water closet to bathe so that he wouldn’t smell like a donkey’s carcass, but he really hadn’t left their bed much for quite a while.

Understanding the gravity of his situation was taking a toll on him, and he moaned softly as he laid back, his head now throbbing. He gently massaged his temples, trying to breathe deeply and relax in the hopes that, even if he couldn’t make the headache go away, he could at least get some uninterrupted sleep.

It wasn’t long before his husband came into the room, tired, sweaty, and smelling like a stable. The scent set off his sensitive stomach, and he ran him out of the room, telling him not to come back until he’d bathed, as he grappled for his chamber pot. Ash knew that his husband hadn’t meant to upset his stomach, but he’d have thought he’d know better than to come in with a strong odor on his person while he was so ill.

“I am sorry, my love,” he said softly, gently embracing him when he returned a short time later. “How do you feel?”

“Like horse manure,” Ash answered, giving a slightly distressed burp.

“Awww. I am sorry, though,” his husband told him. “I did not know that the scent of the stable would offend your stomach.”

“Neither did I,” he agreed, sighing.

“So did Mother find out anything else?” he asked curiously.

“She is certain that I am with child,” the young boy answered nervously.

“Oh?” The young man cocked a brow at him in curiosity.

“My tenderness has gotten worse, I have been ill and bedridden for nigh on two months, and she said she heard a heartbeat that was not mine when she pressed the bell of her stethoscope to my lower belly,” he explained. “She said that it was too fast to be even a small child’s. Apparently it was as fast as an infant’s, maybe faster.”

“Wow,” Andy breathed, his eyes wide. “I…I do not know…what to say.”

Fearing the worst, he looked at him.

“I meant what I said when you first took ill: I love you, and I will always love you, regardless of whether you can carry children or not,” he swore. “Finding out for certain that you are a medical miracle…it is a shock, to be certain.”

Ash sighed as he cuddled up to him again, one hand resting on his belly. “Mother still has to figure out how I am going to give birth, though.”

“I am not sure if a natural delivery would be possible for you, my love,” the young man said thoughtfully. “After all, you do not have the same…genitalia as a woman.”

“I am fully aware of that,” the young boy said haughtily.

“You may have to have the child surgically removed,” his husband told him. “If that is the only way for you to deliver without losing your life, it may mean telling the doctor the truth about you.”

“Again, I am fully aware of that,” Ash said. “I may not want to, but I am not fond of the idea of losing my life, nor of losing my baby.”

Trying to avoid a mental breakdown that could land him in an asylum, Andy merely cuddled him close and kissed his temple. Neither of them wanted to think of the repercussions they could face because of this pregnancy, knowing that Death for either the young boy or their child was an all-too-real possibility. Even a woman was her closest to Death at childbirth, so for him, the risk was even higher.

All either of them wanted to think about was that, after the child had grown within him long enough to survive outside his body, he’d have a healthy delivery and baby. Whether the delivery was natural or surgical didn’t matter to them; they just wanted him to survive the ordeal.

Before either of them knew it, the young boy had fallen asleep in his husband’s arms, one arm wrapped around his waist while the other lay so that his hand was splayed over his belly. Andy realized that he was sleeping peacefully for the first time in weeks and, despite being somewhat uncomfortable, decided not to move. Ash had been so ill of late that he didn’t want to move and risk making him uncomfortable, or worse, setting off his stomach again when he didn’t have to.

Notes