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1.
There are stories where two people meet, fall in love, and live happily ever after. There are also stories where they meet once and never cross paths again.
This isn't one of those stories.
There are millions of stories where boy meets girl and they get married and raise a family.
This isn't one of those stories, either.
Not technically.
2.
It happens like everything else in Raleigh's life: fast, messy, and completely unplanned.
Strangely enough, this time, Raleigh is completely okay with that. As long as it means he gets to come with Chuck buried balls deep in his ass.
He does. And Chuck is.
Somewhere in the Shatterdome, the kaiju alarm starts to sound.
3.
Two months since they closed the Breach and life goes on as normal. Or as normal as it can when you have a handful of Jaeger pilots stuck in a large metal can with no Jaegers to pilot and no kaiju to kill.
Raleigh doesn't think that's such a bad thing.
Chuck, as expected, disagrees.
So they argue constantly. And fight occasionally. Each one sports busted knuckles, bruised jaws, bloody noses, and split lips.
Herc breaks up the fights as best he can, treating them both like five year olds and sending them to their respective rooms. It rarely lasts.
But no one is more shocked than Raleigh the day he walks away from a fight. He's really not feeling up to it. He just wants to curl up in his bunk and sleep for a week. And not throw up like he did this morning.
He thinks he's coming down with the flu.
4.
Raleigh sits on a bed in the medical bay, kicking his feet as he waits for the doctor to return with the test results. Three days of throwing up everything he eats when he's not so exhausted he just collapses face first into his bunk. He's done.
It still took Mako giving him that look before he dragged himself from his room and across the complex.
It's just the flu. A particularly nasty strain of it, but still.
So Raleigh tells himself as the doctor sits across from him and goes over his test results.
Because what the doctor's saying makes no sense. None at all. Not even in his wildest dreams.
It just is not possible.
5.
Raleigh wanders the halls of the Shatterdome, barely aware of the people passing him, the people nodding to him, speaking to him. He's lost in his own thoughts, only his thoughts make no sense.
None of it makes any sense at all.
He finds himself wandering down Scramble Alley, stopping to look up at the empty bay that had housed Gipsy Danger for such a short time.
Five minutes pass before he has to dash off in search of a toilet. Or a trash can. At this point, he's not picky.
And as he heaves up the day's lunch, Raleigh realizes just how much this all sucks. And how much worse it's going to get.
6.
Chuck stares at the paper and doesn't say a word. Raleigh doesn't hover.
He doesn't.
He just stands really close, arms crossed, and swallows the urge to tell Chuck to say something, damn it. But all Chuck does is stare at the paper some more, like he expects it to change if he just looks at it long enough.
Finally, he looks up at Raleigh, eyes wide, face pale, and says that it's not possible.
No shit, Raleigh wants to tell him, but he just sighs and rubs a hand over his face.
7.
They talk.
Of course they talk. It's too important a decision to make solo.
And, of course, the talking devolves into arguing. Which comes close to physical blows until Herc once again separates them and demands to know why they're fighting this time. Chuck grunts and looks away. Raleigh just shrugs and mumbles something that isn't an answer.
Herc gives them a disgusted look, orders them to stop fighting already, and walks away.
Raleigh steals a look at Chuck and finds Chuck peeking at him.
Just like that, they start talking again. Quieter this time, with pauses to listen to the other.
Chuck says this isn't how he imagined his life going, and Raleigh has to laugh. It's not exactly like he planned this.
But they agree that they were given a second chance at life, and that it's a gift. Then they agree that this is a gift, too, and they both want to be part of it.
Chuck's little finger hooks around Raleigh's as they talk, and they both smile slightly.
They still don't really like each other, but Fate is a capricious bitch. And she's laughing her ass off at them.
8.
Chuck walks around the Shatterdome for the next week with the smuggest, cockiest look Raleigh has ever seen on his face. And Raleigh has seen a lot of Chuck's looks.
And every time Chuck smirks at him or finds an opening to actually touch his stomach, Raleigh gives him a dirty look. He's still sick as hell every morning and most afternoons, and just the sight of the kaiju blue Jell-o the mess serves is enough to send him into near hysterics.
Chuck takes great delight in eating everything he can get his hands on in front of Raleigh. It's enough to make Raleigh want to punch him in the face again.
Until the day he finds Chuck in the Kwoon, on his knees in the middle of the floor, curled up into a ball, and clearly having a panic attack.
Raleigh doesn't need to ask. He's been there himself. So he just walks over, kneels beside Chuck, and wraps his arms around Chuck's body.
9.
Once the morning sickness ends, Raleigh feels better than new. He's full of energy, even when Chuck's yelling at him to get his bloody arse back on the ground and stop climbing like a monkey.
And when Raleigh's trousers start to get too tight in the waist, Mako requisitions new ones for him that are a size larger. She refrains from asking why, but her gaze lingers on his torso as a thoughtful look crosses her face.
Raleigh just ignores it and thanks her for her help.
Days later, he doesn't say a word when she comments on the reappearance of the oatmeal colored sweater. He certainly doesn't tell her that it's because this one is bigger than the navy one, which is now packed away in the bottom drawer of his dresser.
Chuck just laughs when Raleigh mentions it.
10.
Herc finds out in the worst possible way. Or the best possible, depending on how you look at it.
He walks in on them sprawled across Chuck's bed. Raleigh's sweater is pushed up, exposing the growing bump to full view. And Chuck's hand is curved possessively, protectively, along the bottom of Raleigh's stomach.
They're both staring at Chuck's hand in intense concentration.
The door opens and they freeze like deer in headlights while Herc stares at them.
Before anyone can say anything, the baby kicks. And the look of wonder and awe on Chuck's face makes up for the shock on Herc's.
When he quietly asks if it's real with a tremor in his voice and a suspicious sheen in his eyes, Raleigh just scoots closer to Chuck and pats the bed beside him.
They've had a couple months to get used to the idea. But Herc has never allowed himself to even think about being a grandfather.
And when he awkwardly reaches out, Raleigh just takes his hand and guides it to the right spot as Chuck tells him to wait a second. The baby kicks again, hard enough to make Raleigh wince.
Without speaking, Raleigh and Chuck wrap Herc in a tight hug as he closes his eyes and starts to cry.
11.
Unsurprisingly, Newt is the first one to put it together. And he does it in such a Newt fashion that not even Chuck can be grumpy about it.
In the middle of LOCCENT, in the middle of a shift, Newt makes the comment that Raleigh must really enjoy not having to work out all the time now that the Breach is closed, because he's really putting on weight, and dude, you look like you're pregnant.
Chuck freezes. Raleigh just looks at Newt without saying a word. (And he blames it on the fact that almost none of his clothes fit right anymore, so he's wearing one of Chuck's shirts that's all stretched out and it's still not quite big enough.)
Newt opens his mouth, closes it, then his jaw drops. Even Hermann, busy hissing at him to shut up while trying to whack his ankle with the cane, isn't enough to keep Newt's mouth shut.
Within an hour, it's all over the Shatterdome.
12.
Mako doesn't talk to either one of them for three days.
When she finally deigns to acknowledge their existence again – after many apologies and much groveling on their parts – she guilt trips them like only the Japanese can, in that oh so quiet and polite way that includes several bows.
Raleigh feels like an ass for not telling her.
But then she squeals loud enough to make Chuck wince, hugs them both, and starts talking about how wonderful it is to be an aunt.
13.
Tendo just gives Raleigh a long look and Chuck a longer one before slapping them both on the shoulder and offering his congratulations.
He asks if they're going to name the baby Yancy if it's a boy.
And looks absolutely destroyed when Raleigh just dissolves into tears. Chuck gives Tendo a filthy look as he wraps his arm around Raleigh's shoulders and leads him from the room.
Tendo calls an apology after them.
14.
It ends just like it began: messy and unplanned and in the middle of the night.
It's not pleasant for anyone involved. But Chuck stays by Raleigh's side through the entire surgery. Their hands are gripped tight the entire time, and Raleigh's awake.
And when the baby is placed in Raleigh's arms, all wiggly and wet and loud, Chuck presses a soft kiss to Raleigh's forehead and a tear slips free when the baby grips his finger tight.
This time, there are no kaiju alarms. But there is an announcement that the Becket-Hansen baby has finally made an appearance.
Raleigh and Chuck can hear the cheers from their hospital room.
15.
Herc is the first to visit. He peeks his head in and the rest of him follows. There's a teddy bear in one hand and a blanket embroidered with Striker Eureka's logo in the other.
Raleigh grins when he sees it. Chuck just rolls his eyes, but he's pleased.
Callused fingers are gentle as they stroke over the bright red fuzz covering the baby's head.
Chuck carefully wraps the baby in the blanket. His expression is soft and full of wonder when the baby stretches and nuzzles deeper into the folds. And when Herc steps up beside Chuck, they watch as strong arms cradle the baby close.
Raleigh's hand finds Chuck's and grips tight when Chuck tells Herc that they've named her Angela.
Neither one of them says a word as Herc sits down with his granddaughter and silent tears slip free.
16.
When they bring Angela home, Max sniffs her and gives Chuck a quizzical look. Chuck laughs, crouches down, pats Max's head, and tells him that she's there to stay.
Max just huffs a low bark and turns his back.
But that night – and every night after – he sleeps beside her crib and not at the foot of the bed Chuck now shares with Raleigh.
17.
There are stories where hate is just hate and not the other side of love.
This isn't one of those stories.
There are stories where one person meets another and a miracle happens.
This is definitely one of those stories.