Chapter Text
With a sigh, Radu pushed the shopping cart up to the self checkout register.
The contents of said cart, consisting of, among other things, several pairs of cheap, new, looser jeans and an almost concerning amount of stuffed pepperoni, were inviting questions he felt too exhausted to answer right now. He was dog tired.
Radu was used to getting things done on his own. Since their father's death, their mother's family had done their best stepping up for Vlad and him, but it was a dynamic in which Radu had never really fit in. It didn't help that he had presented as an omega only half a year later.
And while his uncle and cousin certainly weren’t bad people, they had never quite been able to hide their embarrassment of him. A boy presenting as an omega wasn't something that was discussed in polite conversation in this kind of conservative, staunchly orthodox community of second generation Romanian immigrants.
The plan consisted of setting him up with the daughter of a family friend who had “unfortunately” presented as an alpha, and hoping no one asked too many questions. It was a prospect that neither him nor Maria were keen on.
They did pretend to be dating for a couple of years when they were still in school, because Radu's family had made it abundantly clear that their generosity was conditional on his compliance.
But both of them always knew that they were not going to get married straight out of school.
And so Radu had had to make it through his law degree entirely on his own, occasionally relying on couchsurfing and hooking up with strangers for money, mostly during semester break when his finances got strained sometimes.
It hadn't been great, but it hadn't been terrible either. His clients were, by and large, trying to keep it all under wraps, and more often than not a little ashamed of what they wanted. It was fine. Radu had made it, without his limited boundaries having been violated in the meantime. Heats were terribly lonely, but that was alright, he was alright. He had made it out in one piece.
And a few months ago, after five years with a stable, well-paying job and his own flat he had decided on a whim to just splurge, of once in his life, on a vacation. A little resort on the coast, outside the main season, just three weeks of lovely weather, to relax, go swim, have some good food he didn't have to cook himself. Nothing special, just a little something entirely for him. His first holiday since before their father passed away.
His expectations of a quaint, quiet time were disappointed. In the best way possible, mind you.
Just one day into his stay, he met Mehmed.
Now, for Radu, sex had always been a decision governed more by his wallet than any attraction. Considerations of whether or not he had a type extended only as far as balancing the offered payment with the risk of being taken advantage of.
But whatever his type was, Mehmed was definitely it. Radu had never been so violently attracted to someone.
He noticed him by the bar pretty much right away. With reddish hair, nice, a small smattering of freckles on pale skin, even nicer, brought out by noticeably tailored suit trousers and a dark green shirt that suited him fantastically, and an irresistible charming smile that left Radu just a little weak in the knees. Taller than him, which wasn’t much of an achievement but always a plus, broad to boot and very obviously interested.
Radu felt his searing light brown eyes on his skin for half of the evening, and given that he did plenty of looking himself, it didn't surprise him that they ended up next to each other quite quickly.
Mehmed turned out to be an old school romantic. Not only did he pay for the drinks, but they did go out dancing, too, which included him helping Radu up from the bar chair and sneaking in a hand kiss along the way. It really wasn't a surprise that they ended up tangled in the sheets back at his room at the end of the night.
The next three weeks were a whirlwind. Radu had never opened up to anyone that quickly, had never basked in anyone's attention like this.
It felt like they had known each other forever. Mehmed's family owned several zultanite mines in the south of their home country, but his uncle did a much better job managing the family business. Mehmed had meanwhile gotten his degree in Classics, and had just handed in his habilitation, hoping for a professor’s chair in art history at the university of Istanbul.
Radu's career choice had never been about passion and always about money. Art history was something he could never have afforded to waste time with. He very much enjoyed wasting that time now. Radu never thought he could love listening to one person talk quite so much.
The sex was nothing short of mind blowing, the pure physical magnetism between them something Radu never thought could exist.
They never talked about a future, or anything like that, too shy or too caught up in the moment to say anything. They lived entirely separate lives that wouldn't ever have overlapped in any way if it hadn't been for those three weeks. It was a holiday fling, and they both knew it.
It was perfect the way it was, just for this one moment in time. Perfect enough for their shared stack of protection to run out halfway into their stay. It was the one thing Radu had always been adamant about, but right here, right now, he couldn't bring himself to care for once. The chances of getting pregnant outside of heat were so negligibly small after all. Being with Mehmed simply felt way too good to stop for such a statistically tiny risk. They might never see each other again, and Radu intended to make the most of it.
The remaining ten days passed almost in a haze. A searing kiss goodbye, before returning to their separate lives with no intention other than to be each other's good memory. Radu had never had a chance to believe in fairy tales. It was enough. It had to be.
He returned to his daily routine, apparently, with a spring in his steps and entirely new eyes for the world around him. That carried him through a rather stressful time, a perfect storm of chaos that ended, finally, with the acquittal of an innocent person.
When he started feeling nauseous a few weeks later, he chalked it up to a mild case of stomach flu and moved on.
But there were other things. He found himself short of breath sometimes, waking up with a sore back, questioning whether he’d slept at all. Cases got to him more than they had before, and so did his colleagues. Radu had never been that easily frustrated in his life. He escaped to the bathroom sometimes, just for some quiet. Not that he needed to pretend. He found himself needing to go quite often. Did he drink more water than usual?
But it were the cravings that tipped him off. On a grocery run just like the one he was currently on, he had just… realized.
Nausea. Shortness of Breath. Frequent urination. Backaches. Mood swings. Fatigue. Chest tenderness. Bloating. Food Cravings.
Oh no.
The chances had been so negligibly small. But they had never been zero.
He forced himself to take his jacket and shoes off and put the groceries away first before going to the bathroom, reaching for the small box under the sink with slightly shaky hands. Something he’d bought after moving in and never actually thought he would need.
Twenty minutes later, it was official: He brought home a bun in the oven. Radu was indeed pregnant.
His gut reaction was panic. For a moment, he was a law student and on the verge of homelessness again, knocked up by some random man he wouldn't have slept with if he didn't need to to afford rent.
But looking at it rationally, there was no reason to panic. He was doing well enough for himself. His job wasn’t incompatable with being a single father. He could do it.
Radu had always wanted a family at some point. That need was too deeply ingrained in him to deny it. He had always pushed it off until later, because no matter what his body told him, he was in a much too precarious position for it. But now he wasn’t.
It was unexpected, yes, but it wasn't the end of the world. Quite the opposite in fact. Now matter how he looked at the situation, Radu couldn't bring himself to regret how he got here.
As far as holiday flings went, his time with Mehmed had been amazing, simple as. There was no one Radu would rather have carried a living reminder of. A fond memory made flesh. He smiled.
That had been three months ago, and by now, all of Radu's shirts were hugging a small but growing baby bump. His trousers were getting harder to button, hence the replacements. He might not look immediately pregnant yet, but it certainly was obvious that he had put on a few pounds recently.
Radu didn't have the energy to answer the curious questions of a well-intentioned cashier right now.
As he loaded the groceries into his bags, all he wanted was a nap. That shouldn't be too much to ask for, right? A quaint, quiet time, nothing more.
He stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he unlocked the door of his apartment complex. A familiar scent was in the air, something he couldn't quite place, something that tugged at his heartstrings way more than it should.
Radu sighed. Just his luck that one of his neighbors, out of all the cologne in the world, had to buy the scent Mehmed wore. The scent that drove him half crazy, but that he also, deep down, associated with being not alone, not having to be tough and strong and independent in a way that didn't come naturally to him.
He didn't want to be reminded of the gaping emptiness in his life. He didn't want to think about just how much he missed Mehmed. Their relationship wouldn't have stood up to the real world, at least that was what Radu told himself lest it hurt too much, but he still missed him.
But what could he do? Even if he called Mehmed and told him what was going on, namely that Radu was having his child, what was he hoping to achieve? Mehmed wouldn't just throw his life away for someone he had barely known for three weeks. Radu couldn't afford to believe in fairytales.
He carried the bags upstairs and pushed open the fire door to his corridor and… froze. His hands went slack against his will, the bags dropping to the floor, his heart suddenly pounding.
Someone stood in front of his door. Someone tall and broad, with reddish hair and a well-trimmed beard, someone in a dark coat and with flowers in hand, most likely bought at the airport. Waiting for him.
Mehmed.
He looked up as Radu's groceries clattered to the floor, and the warmth in his eyes drew Radu in like a hug.
“Hey.”
Radu couldn't quite remember how to breathe. He couldn't believe Mehmed was here, after four months Radu spent trying to accept that they would never see each other again.
Mehmed nervously scratched his neck.
“My habilitation is through.”, he said. Radu nearly choked on his congratulations, but Mehmed smiled. “So, with the title in a bag I applied to both the University in Istanbul and the one here, more or less on a whim, I should say. They are both willing to take me on next term. So… Surprise!”
It didn't compute. It just didn't add up to Radu. Why would you move to a different, utterly unfamiliar country on a whim, with its only distinguishing feature being a holiday fling that you barely knew?
The look in Mehmed's eyes grew soft. Radu realized way too late that everything he was thinking probably showed on his face.
“It’s probably too early for an ‘I love you’.”, Mehmed said with a heartbreaking openness.
“But I never wanted to be with anyone as much as I want to be with you. I missed you. I wanted to see you.”
To his slight horror, Radu found himself tearing up at that. He had always been a little too emotional for his own taste, but he’d had it trained out of him for a while now. But the pregnancy hormones weren’t exactly helping right now.
Mehmed handed him the flowers. A bouquet of white and red roses was way too close to home. Radu had never been on the receiving end of such an overtly romantic gesture before, and if he hadn't already fallen head over heels for Mehmed, he had a feeling they would have persuaded him to give in.
He picked up the groceries, unlocked the door, invited Mehmed inside, took his own coat off. And all that time, he felt way too aware of his own body.
Radu knew, rationally, that what was happening to him was completely normal and expected. But he couldn't help feeling ever so slightly unsure of himself, of his changing body, of the little bit of extra weight he carried and the baby bump pushing over his waistband.
That was the least of his worries though. What if Mehmed didn’t want children? What if he wouldn't believe Radu at all, when he told him?
What if their relationship had been all about sex and nothing else for him and this was just a social call, flowers and pretty words or no?
Radu tried to steal himself for that possibility. He could do it on his own. He could. But he so wished he didn't have to.
“Surprise.”, he whispered.
Mehmed's eyes went wide and Radu couldn't help it. He crouched down to but away the food he’d bought, and to avoid looking at Mehmed. Just in case his reaction would be harsher than Radu's own had been. He should probably have more trust in Mehmed, but Radu had been disappointed too many times in this regard, and he wanted to be prepared. To steel himself so the rejection wouldn't hurt quite so much.
Even though Mehmed must have instinctively known Radu's designation the same way Radu did his as they naturally gravitated toward each other, a baby was a very different thing entirely.
“I should leave.”
Mehmed looked utterly crestfallen. Radu's heart felt like it was breaking into a million little pieces.
“I’m sorry about the flowers, I just thought… nevermind. I should… I should leave before your boyfriend gets home.”
Radu startled. What?
But then it dawned on him. Mehmed thought he had either gotten into a relationship after returning home, or had been in one all along. Of course he wouldn't think the baby was his. The chances had been so negligibly small, after all.
Laughter bubbled up in Radu's chest. This… this was something that could be fixed.
“Stay.”, he whispered. “There is no one else. The baby… well, the baby has to be yours.”
Mehmed beamed at him, and for a moment, Radu felt like the single most perfect being in the universe.
“May I?” Mehmed whispered, tentatively reaching out a hand. Radu nodded. He couldn't quite help the slight shiver that went up his spine as Mehmed's large hand came to rest on his stomach. It would be too early to feel anything, yet somehow, it triggered a sense of belonging in Radu that he had never felt before. Mehmed and him and this baby that was half of both of them. They belonged together.
“Wait a second.” He reached for his wallet in the shopping back to fish out the little snapshot he carried in there. The first ultrasound picture of the baby growing inside his belly. Their baby.
Mehmed seemed positively mesmerized.
“We made this. I can't believe we made this.”
Radu shrugged, his cheeks heating up.
“It's not surprising really, that we beat the odds”, he murmured. “We’ve been at it like rabbits, after all.”
“Do you think there could be a ‘we’ at some point?”
Mehmed looked very decidedly hopeful at that and Radu felt a sudden rush of warmth and tenderness that was impossible to deny. He could keep on struggling with his feelings or he could just give in, see where this would take them. He would much, much rather be doing this with Mehmed by his side than alone, that much he was sure of.
He covered Mehmed's hand with his, still resting on his stomach.
“Yes.”
When their lips did meet, soft and sweet and almost shy, Radu knew that he would always cherish airport flowers, if they came with a future with Mehmed in tow.
And if they were to continue where they left off, he wouldn't mind that either.
Mehmed put an arm around him and Radu had never felt so safe and so wanted ever before. It felt like coming home.
They should probably be talking about the details, about the paperwork, the legal implications, the flat, a nursery, things like that. But this… this was something they could build on. Radu wasn’t entirely ready to call it love yet. But they were both sure of this. And for right here, right now, that was enough. More than enough.