[Sam260]

Gio came out of the bedroom, wearing a pair of sweat pants and a black tank top that had little skulls with bows all over them - that was pushed up over his baby bump, exposing the movements of Baby C & D as well as the faint stretch marks on his abdomen. "Not a word. He wouldn't even confirm or deny that Sidney had called him." Gio said as he rubbed the stretch-mark cream across his stomach.

"Carlo can't keep a secret to save his life and he's been tight lipped since about two weeks ago. He won't even text me back!" Gio stated, tossing the cream across the room and landing it on the couch next to Sirius' hip. "I don't see what the big deal is anyway... It's just a baby shower, Si. We were going to have to buy all the stuff they're buying for us anyway, so why waste our money when we can be spoiled and pampered by our friends and family?"

[hockeypreg2]

"I don't like being the center of attention," Sirius said, pouting a little. He picked up the stretch mark cream and tugged his t-shirt up over the swell of his belly. He had a few stretch marks snaking across the surface, following the same path as the ones he had from his first pregnancy that had long faded. "What if we just had a baby shower for you?"

Baby A and B pushed against Sirius's hand as he rubbed in the cream, making his belly ripple. "Plus I'm tired. I don't mind actually watching the kids but I don't want to be social. I don't think I can fake liking everyone Sidney may have invited thinking I would want them there."

[Sam260]

"Because, Sirius, we're both having kids - four of them, I might add. We need *things* for these kids that we may not think of. A lot of *your* friends have kids, as do Silas and Sidney, where as my friends just have money and the option to buy adorable outfits." Gio said as he kept rubbing his stomach, watching little feet and hands moving across the expanse of his belly.

They had worried that Gio wouldn't have been able to carry the weight of the twins past six months, but he was doing exceptionally well for his short height. His hip bothered him a lot but there seemed to be no outward signs of problem to his walking. He waddled slowly over to the couch, pulling his shirt out from underneath Sirius' head.

"It'll be good to see all our friends and family before these four arrive, Si... We will be *so* busy after they arrive, we may not even remember what our friends look like..."

[hockeypreg2]

Sirius looked up at him, still pouting. "Call Sidney and make him tell you. Tell him I don't want to be surprised because I'm tired. If I know it's coming, maybe I can get myself in the mood for it."

He put a hand on Gio's sore hip, rubbing gently. "Please?"

[Sam260]

Gio sighed and slowly sat down, grimacing and whimpering slightly as he shifted around to get the pressure off his hip "You clearly already know it's coming, Sirius... So, why not just work on getting prepared for it now?" Gio asked as he leaned against Sirius slightly; their bellies making it *extremely* difficult to find a comfortable cuddling position.

"I'll call him if you really want me too, but if Carlo - the man who cannot keep a secret - won't tell me, what makes you think Sidney will spill the beans? You'd probably have a better time twisting it out of Silas."

[hockeypreg2]

"He won't talk to me about anything other than his children or the weather. The last time I called him he hung up on me so he is definitely hiding something from me," Sirius put his arm around Gio, resting their heads together. "And Sidney is a soft touch. He will give in if you tell him I'm not feeling well."

Sirius was really tired, having woken up multiple times last night to go to the bathroom and change positions. And he didn't nap yet either. "We have to go over soon. Please call him."

[Sam260]

Gio sighed noisily but shimmied his phone out of his pocket and started dialing Sidney's number. He put the phone to his ear and as soon as it was picked up, Sidney was talking "Yes, we're coming over still... We're just taking our time - You know, we don't move as fast as we used too now that we're fat with babies." Sidney rambled for a few more seconds, speaking mostly nonsense "Listen... Sid... I called because I just wanted to tell you that Sirius isn't feeling so hot today.. He's tired and aching more than usual - we were up half the night, shifting around and using the restroom..."

[hockeypreg2]

"Oh that's tough. I remember how that was," Sidney said with a sigh. "Well, I suppose we could bring Alex with us to the game. That's one less baby for you to look after. Megan has a cough so I'd rather not have her sit outside and Maia hates being away from her sister."

Sirius nudged Gio lightly, mouthing at him. 'Ask if it's a baby shower.'

[Sam260]

Gio rolled his eyes and tapped Sirius' thigh lightly "Sid... As much as we love some of the surprises that you plan for me and Sirius; we really need to know - Are you trying to host a baby shower for him? or perhaps both of us?" Gio asked, scowling slightly as Sirius kept prodding at his shoulder. Gio wrapped quick fingers around Sirius' index finger and nibbled at it 'Stop that!' Gio mouthed back at him, forehead wrinkled up in irritation at his fiancé's annoying antics.

[hockeypreg2]

Sidney sighed. "He's as bad as his brother. Just act surprised and don't tell Carlo I told you. He's really proud of himself for keeping it a secret. Yes, we're throwing you both a baby shower today. There's no football game and no babysitting. We wrangled Marc and Kris's oldest two kids into watching everyone."

[Sam260]

Gio frowned "He's not as bad as Silas. Sirius just doesn't like surprises when he's feeling off kilter." Gio said as he laid his head against Sirius' shoulder and reached around to grab the blanket, pulling it over both of their bodies "We're going to take a nap, hopefully feel a little bit more energized, and then we'll be there... Since we actually aren't babysitting and don't have a real deadline."

Gio had no idea though, that Carlo and Sidney had both managed to get into contact with his parents in Greece, and that at this very moment, Gio's mother - the only one who was capable of arriving on such short notice - was sitting right next to Sidney and listening to their conversation "Is that going to be a problem?" Gio asked.

[hockeypreg2]

"Be here by 2," Sidney said firmly. "I can hold things off for a little bit but not too long. I do have people showing up at my house expecting you at a certain time."

"Thank you," Sirius said in the general direction of Gio's phone. He covered them both a little better and used his leg to help Misha up on the couch to curl up between them.

[Sam260]

Gio hung up after that, tossing his phone to the other side of the long leather couch. He stretched his legs out and rested his head against the swell of Sirius's stomach, yawning widely and snuggling close - The blanket was *huge* so it could accommodate Gio laying down on his side and Sirius sitting upright. "Sid want's us there by two... It's only twelve now... So that's two hours of shut-eye for us..." Gio said, already falling asleep as he spoke, a dribble of drool leaving his mouth and staining Sirius' shirt - good thing he was wearing black or it would have been obvious... Even so, Sirius would have felt the drool as it seeped through the thin fabric.

[hockeypreg2]

Sirius leaned his head back on the couch, resting one hand on Gio's head and the other on his belly. Misha scrambled up his belly to rest on his shoulder and the back of couch, happy to take a nap as well. She was enjoying all the spontaneous napping that they were doing these days since she always got to be a part of it.

His babies didn't want to settle and that made it tough to really nap, but he did doze, drifting in and out of sleep based on how hard the babies kicked and rolled. Gio and Misha were both snoring, a comforting white noise that helped him drift along.

[Sam260]

At 2:00 exactly, both Gio and Sirius' phones started ringing - the annoying ringtones that Theo and Titan had picked out for their dad's blaring through the silence of the living room. Gio snorted awake and cried out in pain when he jerked upright, his hip popping out of place once again "Fuck... Fuck... Si... Help..." Gio cried, tears instantly rolling down his cheeks as he clutched for his fiancé's thigh or hand - anything he could grab onto.

Misha yelped right into Sirius' ear the second that Gio cried out, quickly scampering over the back of the couch and onto the other side of Gio, pushing her small little wet nose against Gio to see if he was okay.

[hockeypreg2]

Sirius jerked out of sleep, having finally fallen asleep. He saw Gio crying and immediately reached for him. "Hip?" When Gio nodded, Sirius got to his feet and carefully pulled Gio to his feet. "We have to walk a few steps. I know it hurts but it'll pop back in."

Gio leaned on him heavily, crying as Sirius practically dragged him until his hip popped back into place. "Okay, I got you, baby. There we go."

[Sam260]

Gio inhaled sharply when he felt the joint go back in the way it was supposed to, a small sob of relief escaping him as his fingers dug into Sirius' shoulders "Fuck I hate that..." Gio growled, reached to his face to wipe away the tears and then looked up at Sirius "Your brother and brother-in-law were calling us at the same time... We've over slept."

Gio slowly released Sirius, standing up a little straighter and moving his hips from side to side, making sure he wouldn't have another pop-out incident - it's happened a few times, and those were the worst; they would completely debilitate Gio and make it impossible to go anywhere but straight back to laying flat.

"I'm good... I think it'll hold for now." Gio said when Sirius gave him a questioning look "Bathrooms and then we'll pack our stuff and head over to your brother's."

[hockeypreg2]

"I'll call them back while I change my shirt," Sirius said, following Gio to the bedroom. "I have drool on my shirt." He winked at Gio before tugging his shirt off and tossing it in the laundry basket. He grabbed a slightly nicer shirt, one that was looser and didn't cling quite as tightly to his bump. He tended to dress in tighter clothing when it was just Gio than if other people were going to see him.

Sirius ran his hand over his belly, looking at himself in the mirror. He looked tired and old in his eyes. He wasn't sure how Gio saw anything attractive in him these days.

[Sam260]

Gio came out of the bathroom at that exact moment and saw the doubt lingering in Sirius' eyes. He sighed and waddled his way over to his fiancé, wrapping small arms around Sirius' middle and rubbing up and down his extended stomach, thumbs lightly playing with the popped out belly button that Sirius now had "I love you, just the way you are. For better, for worse... and all that jazz." Gio whispered.

He pressed a tender kiss against Sirius' clothed back, pressing his cheek against his shoulder blade - it looked hilarious, seeing as Gio was nearly a foot shorter than Sirius and his stomach was so much wider - to the point where he could hardly wrap around Sirius anymore.

"You're beautiful, handsome, strong. You've still got a *great* body." Gio smiled and rubbed Sirius' pregnant stomach lovingly "You can handle your pregnancy far better than I'm handling mine... Body wise... You're perfect to me, Sirius, even with all of your imperfections, your self-doubts... I love you exactly like this... I love you period."

[hockeypreg2]

"I love you too," Sirius said softly, rubbing his hands over Gio's arms. "I just wish I looked as good as you while pregnant. It just makes me look tired. You are glowing. I swear you look so amazing right now." He turned to look at Gio, tilting his chin up. "I'm so lucky to have you."

Sirius leaned down to kiss him, awkwardly brushing their lips together, both of their bellies getting in the way. They basically had to be lying down to really kiss comfortably these days. He rubbed Gio's back gently. "I'm going to go to the bathroom. I'll just be a second. You change and then we can go."