A Day At The Zoo With The Gundam Brats
Disclaimer time! I do not own the gundam pilots or anything else about them. They belong to people with a heck of a lot more money than me. I do own however; Destiny, Hunter, Olwen, Wyatt, Carter and Tavi. Please do not use them without my permission.
Also, this has a wee bit of yaoi in it but nothing drastic. Basically, if you couldn't stand your friend's parents being gay, then don't read this. And if you do read this and are offended by the yaoi, don't flame me. I warned you. On with the story!
A familiar screech echoed through the Winner mansion followed by the sound of running feet. Duo Maxwell looked up groggily from his pillow, cursing whatever gods had invented children.
“I’m going to kill her.” He muttered as he staggered to the enormous bay window in the room Quatre had assigned him. He opened the screen and peered down at the courtyard.
“DESTINY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” he yelled. Two small figures standing below him in the garden looked up surprised.
“Yes Daddy?” the female asked cocking her head to the side, confused at why she was being yelled at.
“Keep it down or I’m going to tie you and Hunter to your beds.” Duo replied and left the window to return to the cozy niche of his bed. Not even five minutes later the shrieks increased again and all Duo could do was buried his head deeper into the pillow and try to block out the noise.
* * *
“Quatre, why did you insist on those demons from hell coming on the mission?” Duo asked sleepily at breakfast. The other pilots seated at the table looked at him surprised.
“Your kid maybe a demon from hell but do not call my son that.” Wufei replied giving a death glare that only Heero could normal muster.
“True, then why did I have to bring MY demon from hell?”
“Well, I thought it would be nice to have some company for Carter and Tavi. There’s no other kids their age on the whole colony.”
“Yes, I know but Destiny was perfectly fine back at the scrap yard with her mother and I was fine with that. Now I have to put up with her hyper active being.” Duo moaned and rubbed his eyes. This caused Heero to laugh hysterically, an extremely rare occurrence. The other’s all looked at him completely shocked. It took him a few minutes to regain his breath and come up with an explanation.
“You have gotten exactly what you deserve Maxwell. A mini, female version of you!” he explained in his normal deadly monotone before he started laughing again. Trowa, Quatre and Wufei looked at each other and just went back to their breakfasts as Duo sighed and pushed his breakfast around its plate. The kitchen suddenly became much fuller with the presence of a four year old, four five year olds and a six year old. The tiny black haired female led the group with an obvious charisma that could have only inherited from one person, her father.
“Daddy!! We’re bored!!!!!” she announced plopping herself down in Duo’s lap and helping herself to some breakfast.
“Then go play with the lions.” Duo replied looking down into huge violet eyes that obviously came form the same source as her dynamic personality.
“We already did but they got boring. Take us out in your suits.” Destiny demanded as the four other men looked at her horrified at her mention of the lions.
“Don’t think so.” Duo replied pushing her off his lap and back to her friends.
“Daddddddddddyyyyyy.” She whined. Quatre watched the scene with some amusement and then got an idea.
“If they’re all as bored as Destiny is suggesting, we could always take them out for the day. Hanging around the mansion can get boring.” He said.
“Like what?” Heero asked cautiously, not yet sure if he trusted himself with these two children that Relena had sprung on him, insisting they were his.
“Umm, how about the carnival? L4 has a great one here.” Quatre suggested. Duo boggled at him, Destiny was bad enough without a ton of sugar and thrill rides surging through her.
“Umm, no.” he replied bluntly. A few more suggestions floated around the table before Trowa proposed the perfect destination.
“The zoo. They all like the animals here but we don’t have much of an array.” He suggested and the four other fathers thought about it.
“Sounds good.” Heero decided and got out of his seat. “Hunter, Olwen we’re going…” he started but found all six children snoozing in a pile on the floor.
“We’re going to have to wake them if we want to go out.” Quatre sighed standing over the pile. Duo jumped to his feet and made himself a barrier between Quatre and the sleeping children.
”Nah, lets leave ‘em for awhile. They all need sleep and goodness knows I need a rest too.” He grinned. The other four looked at each other, then pushed Duo aside, waking their respective children.
“Come on weaklings, we’re going to the zoo.” Wufei sighed and hauled Wyatt to his feet. The still sleepy black haired boy gazed up at his father through his surprisingly blue eyes.
“What’s a zoo?” he asked. The other pilots boggled as Wufei sweat-dropped.
“Umm, you’ll see when we get there.” He replied and led his son out of the room.
* * *
“Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is so cool Daddy!!” Destiny shrieked as she ran towards the duck pond with Duo hot on her heals. The other four fathers watched in horror as Duo caught his little girl in his arms just before she dived into the water after the ducks. Little Carter, the perfect clone of Quatre, looked up at his father and tugged on his hand. Quatre looked down at his son’s huge turquoise eyes.
“Yes Carter?” he asked, trying to focus on his son and not the shrieks of protest coming from the little black haired girl who wanted in the water after the ducks.
“Can I go swimming with the ducks too?” the little boy asked with a bright smile. Quatre face faulted and Trowa looked over shocked. The couple looked at each other in horror and then back down at the tiny blonde.
“No!” they replied simultaneously and Trowa picked Carter off the ground and into his arms leaving Tavi without a hand to hold on to. The little mustard haired girl took this as a sign that she could play in the water even though her brother wasn’t allowed. Hunter, Olwen and Wyatt got the same idea and all four were off and running to the water. Duo’s violet eyes grew huge when he saw the barrage of children coming at him and some how, with the skills he’s attained being a solider and a pilot for several years, he managed to stop all of them at once.
“A little help please?” he begged with two kids under each arm and holding Tavi back with his leg. The other ex-pilots watched in amusement before springing to life and gathering their own children up.
“Harnesses are needed.” Duo sighed miserably as Destiny took off on him again. The other four pilots chuckled as the poor God of Death was off and running again.
“He really does deserve her doesn’t he?” Wufei asked the others as he lifted Wyatt onto his shoulders.
“Absolutely.” The normally silent and reserved Trowa said with a grin as Quatre slipped his hand into his. Heero was trailing behind a little, both hands in the tight grips of excited five year olds. He smiled a little as he watched Quatre and Trowa together.
“Cute.” He whispered to himself. He then felt a light tug on his left hand and looked down into the serious green-blue eyes of Hunter.
“Daddy, can we go look at the elephants?” the little boy asked and Heero stiffened at the childish term. ‘Daddy?’ he thought to himself, ‘I am not their father…’ he was about to tell Hunter this but looking back down into those eyes softened him, an act only Duo could usually manage.
“Alright. Do you want to see them too Olwen?”
“Yes please.” The bright eyed girl replied with a smile. She looked just like mother, apart from the dark bangs that hung a bit over her eyes. Heero found himself grinning as he walked the twins over to the elephant pen where the others already were and Destiny was running her mouth off at something.
“Daddy, these things stink. Can’t we go see the cats? I like them better. Mommy calls me her little tiger some times. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Cause tigers are really big and they can be really mean if they want but they also like to play. Back home mommy took me to see the tigers and one was playing with a big red ball and……Daddy? Why are you rubbing your head? Didja hurt it? Is it bleeding? Can I see?” Destiny was chattering a million miles a minute with Duo’s long braid in her hand twirling it around and around her fingers. Duo was rubbing his temple with one hand while keeping Destiny balanced on his hip with the other. The other four pilots looked at each other and decided to be sympathetic.
“You know Destiny, you’re dad is allergic to cats but I’m not and Tavi really wants to see them too so do you want to run over with us while your dad gets us all ice cream?” Quatre asked. Duo’s eyes lit up happily while Destiny looked a little put out.
“But won’t you miss me daddy?” the little violet eyed girl asked looking up at her father, who could barley conceal his delight.
“Of course baby, but you don’t want daddy to be sick the rest of the day do ya? Cause then we’d have to go back to Quatre and Trowa’s house. Don’t worry, I’ll get a big ice cream cone for ya okay?” Duo grinned as he handed the little bundle of energy to the blonde Arabian. Quatre rolled his eyes and walked off towards the tiger pen with the three girls in the troupe since Olwen deiced to go as well. Duo turned to Trowa with the biggest grin on his face.
“Trowa, I love your husband.” He announced. Trowa lifted a slim eyebrow and glanced over his son’s head.
“Ya but he’s still mine.” He replied. Wufei and Heero snickered at the joke Trowa had pulled off as Duo grabbed Carter.
“In pay back, I will buy everyone ice cream and I’ll take Carter for you. Is that alright lil dude?” Duo asked the little blonde now in his arms. Carter nodded shyly and giggled softly as Duo hoisted him above his shoulders.
“Well since it’s just the guys now, how do warthogs sound? Real man animals.” Wufei suggested with a slightly teasing tone. Wyatt looked down at his father curiously.
“What’s a warthog?” Wufei sighed and lead the way towards the ugly pig-like animals
“Wow!!!!!! Look how big it is! Quatre, why don’t you and Trowa have one of these at your house? I’m sure the lions would love ‘em!” Destiny squealed as she clung to the outer fence of the tiger enclosure. Quatre ran a hand down his face in frustration as he began to explain to the young girl, for what felt like the millionth time, why there were only lions at his estate.
“Well Destiny, the lions that are there…”
“Boring!! Let’s go see the panthers!” Destiny interrupted and she and Olwen were off and running towards another compound. Quatre took a deep breath and stocked after the two hyper girls, dragging the surprisingly well-behaved Tavi behind him.
“Don’t worry dad, maybe they’ll calm down once they get the ice cream Duo promised.” The young girl smiled up at her blonde father. Quatre had to smile back. Tavi’s smile wasn’t as rare as the man who DNA she shared, but Quatre couldn’t resist it anyway. It was bright and priceless.
“Thanks for saying that Tavi but some how I don’t think that will happen.” Quatre replied. Tavi giggled and swung her father’s arm back and forth playfully now that they stood in front of the panther pen.
“Then give them back to Duo and Heero.”
“I plan to little one, I plan to.” Quatre sighed with a little secret smile. He liked the idea of being able to call someone else ‘little one’ instead of always hearing it directed at him. The smile quickly died as he dived to get Destiny off the fence she had nearly climbed over.
Duo starred up into the artificial blue sky of the L4 colony as he leaned back on the grass at the zoo. Quatre and the girls still weren’t back from the cats’ enclosures so the other pilots and sons decided to rest on the grass while the waited for them. Duo sighed happily for the silence he hadn’t heard in five years since his and Hilde’s little terror had shown up. A few feet away from him Trowa, Heero and Wufei sat watching the three young boys playing on the nearby jungle gym. Carter was digging in the sand just off to the side, making what looked like a tiny fort. Wyatt had convinced several other children that going up the slide would be more fun than going down and they were climbing up it much to the dismay of the children wanting to use the slide properly. Hunter was hanging off the monkey bars upside down by his legs contently watching the other children at an alternate view while gently swinging back and forth, his blonde and brown hair waving with the flow.
“Kami-sama, where on earth did they get that hair?” Wufei mussed as he watched Hunter pull himself up to look around the park from the proper angle before dropping back down again.
“I dunno.” Heero mumbled as he drew circles in the grass.
“Oh please, it’s obvious. The dark bangs they both have are from Heero-chan here and the rest of that golden blonde hair is from Relena. They just inherited an odd coloring pattern.” Duo said as he sat up and crawled his way over to the other pilots.
“For the last time, they are not mine. Relena is just… insane or something.” Heero stated glancing up from the grass and giving Duo his patent ‘death glare’.
“Whatever man, you just keep on denying it. I’d like to see you say it to their faces though. Or to Relena’s for that matter.”
“Duo…”
“Yes?” Duo grinned at Heero angelically and the Prussian blue eyes of pilot 01 narrowed into tiny slits.
“Shut up.” Was all he said and looked back at the grass. A familiar shriek was heard across the park and the pilots looked up although they didn’t need to to place the voice. Destiny was running top speed across the park towards Hunter and Tavi, who had some how appeared on the monkey bars without their notice. Tavi fell back into the same position that Hunter was in and grabbed Destiny’s out stretched hands as she ran under them. The older girl pulled on Destiny’s hands as the black haired girl snapped back and within a spilt second both girls were hauled up to a sitting position on top of the monkey bars giggling. All five pilots stared open mouthed in shock at the performance which had just taken place. Even Trowa was shocked at his daughter’s performance.
“I don’t think I could even do that.” He said in awe as the two girls giggled at the top of the monkey bars. Quatre joined the group with a whimpering Olwen in his arms. He deposited the dual-color haired girl into Heero’s lap and sat next to Trowa.
“How did she do that?” Quatre asked his husband.
“I really don’t know.” Trowa replied shaking his head to remove himself from the semi-trance he was in.
“Quatre? What’s wrong with her?” Heero asked as he looked down at the little girl who had curled herself into a whimpering ball in his lap. Quatre looked over at the Japanese pilot in confusion, then remembered Olwen’s distress.
“One of the lions roared and it scared her pretty badly. Then she fell into a bush when she tried clearing that fence over there. I think she was trying to copy Tavi.” Quatre replied, pointing to a long row of bushes that lined the play ground.
“What did Tavi do with the bushes?” Wufei asked.
“She jumped them.” Quatre replied as if it was natural for a six and a half year old to be able to clear a three foot hedge.
“Jeez, she really is your clone Trowa.” Duo whistled he twirled the end of his braid around his fingers.
“Guess so.” Trowa shrugged, returning to his normal silent state. Heero looked over at the other pilots for a second, he still wasn’t quite sure what to do with this child in his lap. He sighed and decided to try his best.
“Olwen, stop crying. The lion wasn’t roaring at you.” He whispered as he held the little girl’s arms and she uncurled to look into dark green-blue eyes.
“But it was scary and now I have sticks in my hair. Look!” she whimpered and thrust a chunk of her golden and chestnut hair towards Heero. He bit on his lip a little and gently pulled one of the twigs out.
“Do you want me to get them out for you?” he asked and the blue-green eyed five year old nodded. Heero managed a small smile as Olwen turned around in his lap so he could get all the broken pieces of wood out of her silky hair. The young girl’s hair amazed the Japanese man, with the colors and silky texture. The dark hair that sprouted from her crown and forwards was the same dark brown as Heero’s and the golden strands that fell past her shoulders was the same blonde as Relena’s. After several minutes and several check overs Olwen was happy that her hair was stickless and ran off to play with the other kids.
“I think someone is starting to attached to a certain set of twins.” Duo teased and Heero shot him another death glare, probably the fiftieth of the day.
“Why don’t we go look around the rest of the zoo.” Quatre suggested before another argument started up again.
“But daddy said we could have ice cream!!!!!!!” Destiny shrieked as the kids all ran back when their fathers called. Duo rolled his eyes and led the way to the ice cream stand with Destiny rattling off the flavors she wanted.
“Okay, everyone can have their choice. Go for.” The kids all scrambled to the counter and screamed their orders while the poor girl behind the counter sweat dropped.
* * *
“Well I think we have seen every animal in this zoo at least twice. Do you think it’s time to go home yet?” Quatre asked the group who were still all walking around the zoo. Most of the children were on the verge of sleeping, each of the pilots with a child on their backs, except Destiny who was still skipping along side Duo.
“Yea Dessi, let’s go home.” Hunter yawned from Duo’s back. The little black haired girl stopped with her hands on her hips and turned up her nose.
“I wanna see the tigers one more time and I want Daddy to come with me.” She announced. Fortunately for her and the others, unfortunately for Duo, they were right beside the big cats enclosure.
“Once more and that’s it alright? And it’s going to be your fault I’ll be sick the rest of the day.” Duo gave in, anything to get back to the Winner mansion.
“Alright. Hunter, you gonna come with us?” Destiny smiled at her friend. The two-toned boy nodded sleepily and rested his head against Duo’s neck again.
“Okay. Les’ go.” He yawned and Destiny grabbed her father’s hand and pulled him to where the tigers would be. The other four children and four pilots found a bench to sit on and waited there for Duo, Destiny and Hunter.
“Look, tigers. Let’s go.” Duo snapped as Destiny peered into the tiger pen for the millionth time. Of course, right then was when the keepers feed the tigers and Destiny had to see that.
“Daddaddaddaddaddaddaddaddad!!! Look, the tigers are getting’ lunch!” she shrieked as a keeper tossed a bucket of raw meat over the fence to the two tigers in the pen. Duo turned up his nose at the fresh meat but it didn’t bother him too much, he’d seen worse. Destiny on the other hand, didn’t stomach it so well.
“Daddy, that’s gross.” She whispered weakly. Duo looked down at her just in time for her to throw up all her ice-cream and junk food all over the grass in front of her. Duo rubbed his face in torment and put his hand to his little girls back.
“Good job Des, what do you say we leave now?” he asked and lead her out of the big cat area.
“Okay Daddy.” She mumbled, and tried to bury her face into Duo’s black pant leg. He cringed at the thought of what was going to be all over his pants now, but held her to him anyway. He met the other fathers outside and Quatre looked down at Destiny concerned.
“What’s wrong with her?” he asked touching the little black haired girls forehead.
“Seeing the tigers get their lunch made her lose hers.” Duo replied, hoisting his daughter up on to his hip when Trowa took Hunter off him. Tavi walked beside her father and the walk back to the van they’d come in was a quiet one. Once in the van, Destiny curled into her father’s lap and slept for the entire ride home while the other five children chirped merrily in the very back seats. Duo watched his daughter sleep with a gentle smile on his face. Heero reached across the bench and moved some of the black hair out of the little girls face.
“She isn’t all bad is she now Duo?” he asked, studying the girl while she slept. Duo shook his head a smiled at his old partner.
“Nah, she can be a good kid when she tries.” He replied. Destiny’s violet eyes suddenly popped open and she sat up shakily.
“Uh-oh Daddy, I don’t feel so good.” She whispered as she turned an interesting shade of green.
“Oh no….Trowa!!!! Pull over!!”
* * *
“Well, that was an interesting day.” Trowa sighed after the group all tried to get through the door at once. Destiny had thrown up three more times on the ride home, luckily giving enough warning to get most of it outside the van.
“Interesting isn’t the word for it.” Duo replied as he climbed the stairs to where Destiny and Olwen were sharing a room with his sleeping daughter in his arms. After he was out of earshot and all the other children were watching TV in the den, the other pilots started laughing.
“I know we shouldn’t be laughing at his expense but karma really has it in for Duo.” Quatre gasped as he sat on the stairs and wiped away the laughter tears that were streaking down his face.
“What you give is what you get.” Trowa agreed and walked away to go make some coffee leaving the other pilots giggling at the bottom of the stairs. Suddenly Wufei stopped as a thought passed thought his mind.
“Is Duo really allergic to cats?”
