& I'm not proud that nothing will seem easy about me

"Finally," Mike said with a faint smile, looking at his boyfriend. "You already look better." He glanced at Nick. He knows whether the babies are avian or not, doesn't he...?

"Gone?" Nick turned to Butcher. "What do you mean, gone?"

"He flew out the window and took Nils with him," Butcher avoided Nick's eyes. "It's probably my fault."

William remained silent, shivering slightly. He kept his eyes shut for fear that he would be dizzy again. He listened to the conversations in the room.

Mike felt bad for Butcher; he knew the man was doing his best to deal with Mikey, but it didn't seem to be enough. He refrained from commenting, simply shaking his head, and tenderly kissed William's cheek.

William's eyes fluttered open slowly. He looked up at Mike, a tint of worry in his eyes. He reached for the guitarist's hand.

Mike took William's hand and smiled. "If you start eating regularly you'll be alright." He didn't add like I told you since he hated the perpetual look of guilt in his boyfriend's eyes.

William nodded and bit his lip. His free hand went to his stomach and he sighed, leaning his head back down on the couch. His dizziness and nausea were gone, but he still felt somewhat weak.

Mike placed his other hand over William's. It felt a bit awkward to be like that in front of Matt, but he didn't mind. "I love you," he whispered, firmly believing that it had to be said as often as possible.

William looked up at Mike with a faint smile. "I love you too," he whispered, his thumb rubbing over his stomach gently as he looked lovingly into the guitarist's eyes.

Mike's smile grew wider. He toyed with the small ring in the hand he held. "If you give birth earlier than expected, do you want to push back the wedding?"

William shook his head. "It's just one and a half days away. Unless you want to push it back, then we don't have to. And I doubt I'd give birth within the next two days." He continued looking into the guitarist's eyes.

Mike grinned. "I doubt it, yeah. Did I tell you that...? I probably didn't." He sat more comfortably on the ground. "I e-mailed Pete, and told him exactly what we wanted. He's taking care of everything since he has...contacts. Yeah. The reservations are made and the invitations are sent. So we just need proper clothes and we're all set."

William grinned. "That's great. But is it odd that the name 'Pete' and the word 'contacts' in the same sentence makes me worry?" he chuckled very quietly.

Mike laughed quietly. "I said no to the strippers, and no to Ashlee as the wedding singer. Don't worry."

William grinned. "Thank goodness," he said under his breath. He squeezed Mike's hadn slightly. His other hand was still on his stomach. "How are we going to explain everything though?" he asked.

Mike smirked. "Tell them I'm not into skinny guys, so you felt the need to gain weight. I don't know. Do you want them to know?"

William made a pouting face at Mike. "If I was just gaining weight, it wouldn't just be on my stomach. And even then, it wouldn't be perfectly round shaped," he stuck his tongue out at the guitarist for a moment. "So I guess we'd kinda have to explain."

Mike snickered. "We could say it's a beer belly." He kissed the corner of William's mouth. "Maybe I can show off my wings too while we're at it."

Matt leant his head on his knees silently.

Mike turned to look at Matt. "William and I are getting married in two days," he explained, "and we'd like you to come. Would you like to be introduced as Bill's son?"

Matt shrugged silently, unsure.

Well at least it's not a categorical 'no'. Mike's smile didn't fade. "As long as you're there," he said.

"It's not your fault." Nick finally said, rubbing his face. "Mikey... he's Mikey."

Matt nodded emphatically, head hitting his knees each time.

» Some days just ain't so easy