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Wilbur has been Techno's confidant their entire lives.
When they were kids and Techno accidentally smashed a small trinket to bits, Wilbur was the one to help bury it in the backyard without their parents' knowledge. When Techno wanted to throw away his dresses, Wilbur was the one to help fabricate a lie, so that their parents would give them away. Wilbur was the first person Techno came out to and the person to keep that secret until his twin- his twin brother was ready to tell everyone else. Wilbur followed after Techno, when the latter decided to leave their hometown in pursuit of higher education.
Wilbur thinks that he's been doing a good job being his brother's safe space, even if they leave separately now. Which is why he isn't all that shocked to find the man on his doorstep. What worries him, beside the other's shaken appearance, is the fact that Techno came from the other side of town at two in the morning.
After opening the front door and seeing the state of his brother, Wilbur silently sidesteps and allows the man to enter into the apartment. Techno graces him with a wordless thanks in a form of a nod, his eyes still trained on the floor.
With a comfortable familiarity they find themselves in the kitchen. Techno takes a seat at the table, while Wilbur busies himself with putting the kettle on the stove and rummaging in their stash of tea packets. It's a good thing that Sally always buys too many packets of black tea.
After making two cups, Wilbur puts one in front of his twin and sits down on the opposite side of table. Techno takes the cup, letting the heat of the ceramic go to his hands. It was nearing the end of August, so the chill that autumn was known for would start setting in soon.
They sit there in silence, until both cups are empty and then some more. Wilbur takes this time as an opportunity to analyze his brother.
Techno doesn't look great, to put it mildly. The bags under his eyes are way too pronounced, and his hair make it look like he's been through a hurricane. He keeps hunching forward, which Wilbur recognizes as his nervous habit, when he's speaking to new people. His twin would always overthink what others think about him, which makes him come off as more socially anxious than he actually is. But it's just the two of them here, what could he be worrying about?
"Wanna tell me what's bothering you?" Wilbur decides to be direct. If Techno wants to talk, he will, and if he doesn't, then Wilbur knows that it'll take at least some time, until he's ready to start speaking.
His twin hunches even further, his bangs falling to obscure the upper part of his face, holding himself around his middle in what looks like a hug. Wilbur wants to reach out and put a hand on his brother's shoulder, but he also knows that touch could make Techno retreat further into his silent shell. Finally, the man takes a deep breath.
"I'm pregnant."
... well, that wasn't what Wilbur was expecting. He has half a mind to ask his brother if he's joking, but the way Techno curls into himself makes him shut his mouth pretty quickly.
Once again, silence falls over the table, but this time it's way heavier. Wilbur wants to asks questions, wants to understand what even is going on. Like how? Why? What the fuck happened? Whose child is this? How did his brother, who was openly out as aroace and didn't want to ever interact with others in those ways, even manage to sleep with someone?
Wilbur keeps staring at Techno, keeping his mouth in a tight line, so as not to say something that might hurt. He's never been in such a situation, he's completely out of his depth.
"So," Wilbur starts, not sure what he's trying to say. "What is going to happen now?" he asks, confused at his own question. Techno lays his head on the table with a quiet thud.
"I don't know," he says, and gods does he sound exhausted. Wilbur can't take it anymore, so he switches to a chair that's closer to Techno. He puts a hand on his brother's upper back, drawing circles with his thumb, like their mom would always do to help them relax. It seems to work, as the tiniest bit of tension leaves the man's shoulders.
"We'll figure it out. Together," Wilbur promises, sounding more sure about it than he ever did anything else. Techno twists his head, so that it's still laying on the table, but he can look at his brother.
"I don't want to drag you into my problems," Techno says and immediately looks away from the other, deciding to stare at the wooden table instead. Wilbur frowns, but he doesn't stop making circles on his brother's shoulder blade.
"Nonsense! You're my brother, you know that I'll always be there for you." This earns Wilbur a small barely noticeable smile from his twin. Wilbur smiles in return, laying his hand flat against Techno's spine as warm source of comfort. He doesn't want to ruin the moment, but his mind is still nagging him about not knowing anything.
"How long have you known about... this for?" Wilbur almost cringes at his own words, when Techno's face pinches into that deep sadness, that he rarely saw on the other. He has already opened his mouth to apologize, but then he gets interrupted by Techno.
"Just this morning. I panicked, so I came to you."
A warm feeling swells in Wilbur's chest. It always made him feel a bit giddy, when his brother, even indirectly, admitted that he relies on him. If this was any other situation, Wilbur would have immediately enveloped Techno in a hug. But contrary to popular belief, he can read a room, and he knows that what his twin needs right now is stable support.
"We'll figure it out," Wilbur repeats, then glances at the clock. "Maybe in the morning. Come one, let's get you to bed." He helps Techno peel himself off the table and starts leading him towards the quest room.
Settling his brother into the room, which could just be renamed into his own with how he's the only one that stays there, Wilbur bids him goodnight, before going back into his bedroom. Closing the door as quietly as possible, he tip-toes to the bed and tries slinking back in there undetected. Just as Wilbur thinks that he's safe, the blankets on the other side start rustling, until a sleepy face of his girlfriend is looking back at him.
"We have a quest?" Sally mumbles, rubbing at her eyes to get a bit more awake. She probably heard the two talking, when Wilbur was sending Techno off to bed.
"Yeah, Techno came over," Wilbur whispers, still cautious about being quiet, even if the whole house is awake. Well, he actually hopes that Techno is asleep already. The man did look kinda rough, especially with the whole... pregnancy thing.
"Isn't it pretty late? Is he alright?" Sally immediately asks, more alert now. It's times like this that Wilbur is reminded that not only is Techno his brother, but he and Sally have been friends since middle school.
The man opens his mouth to say something, but the words can't leave his throat. He can't bring himself to say the same word that his brother said not even an hour ago. And anyway, it's Techno's right to announce such a thing, if he so wishes.
"He's okay, you can speak to him in the morning." Wilbur reaches out a hand, settling it on his girlfriend’s shoulder and running it up and down in hopes of helping her relax. Sally looks at him uncertainly, before she nods and closes her eyes to go back to sleep.
Wilbur allows himself a small smile, before he too is claimed by the night.
---
The morning brings new conversations. Techno does tell Sally about the new development and she reacts just how Wilbur would have expected anyone to react in a situation like this.
"Oh, uh... wow..."
With that an awkward silence settles over the trio. Techno sits on the couch, fidgeting with the hem of the t-shirt that he has left here before. Wilbur sits on the couch as well, but leaves enough room between the two of them, so that his twin won't feel crowded, while Sally has taken the armchair.
"Yeah," Techno sighs, shifting slightly where he's sitting. Wilbur puts a hand on the man's shoulder to help ground him and then lightly squeezes, when Techno leans into the touch.
"So, what are you planning to do?" comes Sally's question, almost echoing Wilbur's words form some hours ago. And like at that time, Techno immediately curls into himself, hugging his stomach.
"I'm..." he starts, before stopping and putting his lips into a thin line. After a whole minute of silence, Wilbur is nearly tempted to try and steer the conversation in another direction, before Techno finally continues. "I'm still not entirely sure about everything, but... I want to keep the kid."
To say that Wilbur was flabbergasted would be an understatement. His brother, who felt indifferent about kids at best and hated them at worst, wants to keep the child that he's carrying.
But well, it's not his place to decide these things. If Techno wants to have the kid, then all Wilbur can do is be a pillar of support that he promised to be for his twin ever since they were little.
"If that's what you truly want, then we'll be both be there for you," Sally says softly, extending her hand towards Techno. Wilbur nods with a small smile on his face, when the other man glances at him before taking the offered hand.
"Thanks, guys," Techno says as he uncurls from his hunched over position, smiling at the two people who are here with him. At this point the conversation should have ended with a relaxed atmosphere, but some things must be said before. "Don't tell mom and dad, please."
Wilbur can't help but snort at his brother's tone. He says it like he isn't choosing to hide his pregnancy from their parents, but instead like he broke another trinket and needs help burying it in the backyard. Techno glances at his brother with a confused expression, which Wilbur waves off.
"Sorry, sorry, you just said it funny. We won't tell them about it," he promises. With a smile from his twin, Wilbur thinks that maybe everything will be alright.
---
After that day a lot of things change.
It was decided that until the baby arrives, Techno would be staying at their apartment, so that the couple would be able to look after him. The quest bedroom became more personalized as the result. Wilbur starts feeling nostalgic every time he walks past the open door, getting flashbacks to back when their rooms were right next to each other.
The pregnancy thing also became much more prominent than Wilbur expected it to be. The first time he woke up to the sound of someone throwing up in the bathroom, he had to take a few moments to remember that his brother was currently staying with them. The several times per day that Wilbur spent rubbing his brother's back as the latter was losing what little amount of food he managed to get in before started really grating on his hopeful attitude. Over the many years that they spent living in the same household, he couldn't recall Techno ever getting sick enough to be throwing up.
Apart from Wilbur's worrying, the pregnancy seems to be going pretty well. At least, it's what Techno and Sally, who is the one accompanying the former to the doctor visits, tell him. Wilbur would have liked to hear it from the doctor himself, but he realizes that seeing a person, who comes into the office concerning their yet unborn child, and someone, who is perceived as a typical cis male, would raise a few eyebrows. Especially with how alike they look, despite not managing to be born as identical twins.
The most surprising part was Techno's workplace being understanding of his situation. They let him switch to working from home, when he decides that he can't come into work anymore. Which is to say when his clothes start failing to hide his figure. So, now Wilbur returns home from his band gigs to Sally and Techno catching up on watching romcoms together.
Three months since the initial visit everything starts feeling all the more real. One day, after Techno started working remotely, he and Wilbur are the only ones home, while Sally is out.
Techno is in the armchair, typing away on his laptop, and Wilbur is laying on the couch, absentmindedly strumming the guitar. At some point while the notes are still filling the air, the clicks have stopped. Wilbur doesn't notice it at first, but when he does, he immediately glances over at his brother.
He expects to see Techno taking a break from working or something along those lines, so he is kinda surprised to see his twin staring wide-eyed in front of him, while holding his abdomen. Wilbur sits up in an instant, barely managing to catch the guitar before it would have slipped to the floor.
"Techno? Are you okay?"
The man in question just blinks a few times, running a hand over his stomach. Wilbur inches a bit closer to him and puts a hand on Techno's shoulder to ground him. Slowly the latter looks up, staring at his twin still with that shocked expression.
"It moved."
Well, that sure sounds ominous. But the true meaning behind those words scares Wilbur probably more, than the horror movie alternative. Unwillingly his gaze shifts to the other's abdomen, where a whole developing little human resides.
"I swear it was there," Techno mutters under his breath, putting his hand against different points on his stomach. With his other hand he blindly reaches out to Wilbur, managing to grab his wrist. The other twin, still in the state of shock, lets his hand get guided until it's laying on Techno's belly.
And then nothing happens. One of the thoughts in the back of Wilbur's mind is that this is technically the closest he's been to his future niece or nephew. The other, the one closer to the front, is filled with confusion, wondering if his brother started hallucinating. He may not know a lot about pregnancies, but maybe this is an effect of hormones or something.
But then he feels it. A slight, barely there flutter against his palm and fingertips. Wilbur's breath hitches and he almost pulls his hand away, but it's still being held by Techno, so he stays.
"There they are."
His brother's tone makes Wilbur look up. Surprisingly, Techno's expression looks weirdly... blissful. He keeps running a hand over his stomach, where those little flutters are still coming from.
In this moment it hit Wilbur just how much everything is changing. His twin, who never expressed any desire to have children, is about to become a father in less than half a year. While he is still the same dreamer with a guitar on his back. A stray thought comes into Wilbur's mind that maybe it's a good thing. That maybe while everything in Techno's life is changing, Wilbur staying the same in that time is the thing helping him through it.
Deciding to stick to that thought, he manages to wiggle his hand out of his brother's hold to instead grasp onto his hand. A squeeze makes Techno shift his gaze to him. Wilbur just softly smiles at him, which causes the other to turn away with a bashful look on his face.
"Sorry, I must look silly," Techno whispers, suddenly sounding ashamed. This displeases Wilbur, who in turn tugs at his brother's hand, until he turns back to him.
"Nonsense, you deserve to be happy with yourself. And if I'm allowed to be truthful, I want to say that I'm very proud of you."
Those words make Techno even redder in face, the man bringing a hand up to cover it.
"You're just saying that to be nice."
"Well, there is nothing wrong with me complimenting my brother," Wilbur says with a grin, before softening his expression and voice. "But no, really. You're doing really well."
A small smile can be seen peeking out from behind the hand, Techno trying to cover it. But one glance at his twin tells him that he's failing miserably. Eventually, he removes the hand from his face and sighs quietly, looking at the other with a smile.
"Thanks."
Wilbur squeezes Techno's hand again, a firm, but gentle pressure.
"Anytime."
---
A lot of fun changes start happening after that day.
For one, those slight flutters that are akin to butterflies in Techno's stomach gradually turn into actual kicks. It became not an uncommon sight to see Techno sitting somewhere, holding his abdomen and with a grumpy expression on his face.
The cravings that have started a few months prior still remain. A night trip for a glass of water became a game of whether Sally or Wilbur will be met with Techno sitting in a dimly lit kitchen with some variation of the snacks from their fridge and pantry. The last time Wilbur stumbled upon the scene it was a mix of pickles, dried mango and hot chocolate. He ended up pushing Techno to go back to sleep.
Techno's outings became incredibly scarce, mostly limited to visits to the doctor. The only way he was still getting some sunrays was by cozying up on their balcony, which overlooks the nearest park. Sally mentioned to Wilbur that it may be caused by people calling Techno "ma'am", when they're interacting with him. After that point Wilbur made an added effort of calling Techno his brother as many times per day as possible. If the man noticed it, he didn't say anything.
A bit over seven months after the start of the pregnancy, Sally and Wilbur are preparing dinner, when Techno joins them in the kitchen. He sits down at the table with a fully serious expression, which quickly draws the couple's attention to him.
"I think I'm ready to tell mom and dad about this."
Both Sally and Wilbur pause their preparations in favor of sitting on either side of Techno. Sally immediately holds his hand, running a thumb over the knuckles.
"Are you sure?" she whispers to Techno, who in turn straightens up and takes a big breath in. He nods resolutely and pulls out his phone, setting it on the table before the trio.
Wilbur looks between the phone and his brother, planting a firm hand on the man's shoulder. "Want us to stay with you?"
Instantly Techno nods, more nervously than the first time. "Please," he says, and if Wilbur didn't know his brother so well, he would have missed the sliver of fear in his voice.
Wilbur moves his hand, so it's resting against Techno's upper back, absentmindedly beginning to draw circles on it. Techno breathes deeply once again, in and out, before grabbing his phone and scrolling to their dad's contact. Before he can back out, he presses "call" and puts it into a speaker mode. The line rings a few times, but then it connects and there is a voice on the other end.
"Hi, mate," Phil cheerfully greets. "It's not every day you call me out of the blue, what's up?"
"It's nothing, just-" Techno pauses, biting his lip, "-there is something I need to tell you and mom."
"Is everything okay? Are you okay?" Phil instantly switches to worry that can be felt even through the screen. If he was here in person, it would have been even more crushing.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm with Sally and Wilbur right now."
"Oh, can they hear me?" Getting an affirmative hum in response, Phil continues, "hi, guys, how are you two doing?"
After he and Sally say their greetings, Wilbur takes over the conversation. "We're also fine, dad. But can you get mom on the phone too?"
"Oh, yeah, sure."
Some shuffling and sounds of footsteps later, a muffled conversation could be barely heard, before another voice joins the call.
"Hello, everyone," Kristin sing-songs. The young trio greets her in return with various levels of enthusiasm. Namely Techno is very strung up at the moment.
"So now that everyone is here, I can finally say it. Mom, dad, I'm pregnant," Techno gets out all in one breath, barely pausing between the words. As soon as he is done, a gravely silence falls over the call, no sound coming from either side.
"Um-" Kristin begins after a minute, seemingly wanting to say something, but she just gets interrupted by Techno, who starts to ramble.
"I know it's very sudden and I'm sorry I haven't told you earlier. I'm already on the seventh month, so I'm not planning of getting rid of the kid. I've decided on that about six months ago anyway. If you don't support my decision, then it's okay, I won't be bothering you with it. But I wish that you would consider giving your future grandchild a chance. And again, I'm sorry for just dropping all that on you without warning."
By the end of it the only thing that could be heard is Techno's breathing, which comes out in short bursts. At this point Wilbur has switched to hugging his brother around the shoulders, effectively hiding him into his side, while Techno holds onto Sally's hand with both of his.
The heavy silence starts feeling like an actual physical thing, weighting down on their frames. Techno more so than the two people next to him, since his parents' verdict could dictate his child's future.
"Techno, can you breathe for us, mate?" Phil's achingly gentle tone comes through the call. Techno tries to take a breath in, but it catches in his throat, getting a low whine out of the man. Sally brings her free hand up to his face to wipe away the tears that started falling, Techno leaning into the touch without a second thought.
After a few minutes of guided breathing, Techno seems to have calmed down quite a bit, his earlier nervousness and fear being replaced by bone-deep tiredness. He lets go of Sally's hand to rub at his red-rimmed eyes, before settling his hands on his stomach. The look in his eyes is absolutely blank, like he won't be able to muster up any energy to protest to anything his parents say.
"Techno," Kristin starts breathlessly, when no one else makes a sound. "That's great!"
"Huh?" Now that seems to throw Techno in for a loop. He looks between Wilbur and Sally to try and see if they've heard the same. The incredulous look on his brother's face makes Wilbur want to laugh a little, but he has to remind himself that this is a serious conversation.
"Yeah, mate. If that's what you truly want, then we will wholeheartedly support you," Phil adds, sounding just as excited as his wife. Wilbur can't help but grin, and, when he looks over to his girlfriend, she has the same happy smile on her face.
"Oh."
Wilbur's gaze immediately snaps to Techno at the sound just to see the latter's fresh tears streaming down his face. Techno seems to have also realized his predicament, as he raises his hands to cover his face. Quickly Wilbur wraps him up in his arms, tucking him under his chin as the other man's breathing becomes unsteady again.
"Th-thank you," Techno manages to get out between sobs. Sally rubs his arm in comfort, while Wilbur squeezes his brother closer to his chest.
"Anything for you, dear," Kristin says, endlessly fond.
---
The last month and a half go by in a sort of blur.
Kristin and Phil visit plenty of times, checking up on Techno and bringing gifts for their future grandchild. At that point Techno's temporary room had more of the baby's stuff than his own. But other than that, the visits were an amazing part of their new routine, since Sally and Wilbur could catch up with the older couple and Techno could nap on one of his parents' shoulder.
The pain from the kid kicking around seemed to tire Techno out quicker than before. A few times per day he would just stand in the room, holding onto either his stomach or back and trying to take deep breaths. The bags under his eyes started getting darker, but at least napping with a family member was helping... probably.
In one of the past doctor visits the OB-GYN managed to tell an estimated due date. So that what everybody was waiting for. As the days went on and the date came closer, the anticipation in the household began rising.
A week before the estimated day of delivery, Wilbur and Techno find themselves in the living room on their own once again. But this time Wilbur is the one in the armchair, writing down the notes for a new song and testing them out on a guitar, while Techno tries to make himself comfortable on the couch. He ends up half sitting, half laying down across the entirety of the couch, which his brother can't not laugh at.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh at my misery," Techno grumbles, wrinkling his nose in offense. He seems to finally find a good enough position as he just melts into the cushions, throwing his head over an armrest and a pillow near it.
Silently glad that his brother is doing well in the moment, Wilbur focuses back on the music. A few minutes go by in the comfortable silence, until Techno flinches all of the sudden. The man swiftly sits upright, bringing a hand to his abdomen, fingers twisting in the fabric of his sweatshirt.
"Techno?" Wilbur calls, feeling the familiar shadow of panic that he's almost grown accustomed to over the last eight months. Before he's even able to reach out, Techno turns around to put his feet on the ground and curl in on himself.
He makes a sound like a scream got caught in his throat as he hugs his middle, and now Wilbur is panicking. One moment he's still sitting in the armchair, the next he's kneeling in front of his brother, guitar forgotten somewhere.
"I think it's happening," Techno grunts, clenching his teeth. A thin layer of sweat began to form on his forehead, making the bangs stick to it. Absentmindedly Wilbur brushes his twin's hair back, while he tries to remember where the fuck his phone is.
He has to leave Techno's side for a minute to dig up his cellphone, but when he does, he immediately rushes back. Sitting down on the couch next to the other man, Wilbur quickly dials up their mom's number, rubbing his brother's back in the meantime as a way of comforting him.
"Ah, it's better now."
Wilbur looks over at Techno, who slightly uncurls and blinks in confusion. They make eye contact for a long time with Wilbur still holding a ringing phone to his ear. After a few moments the line finally connects.
"Hi, dear," Kristin's voice breaks the silence.
"Hey, ma. Techno is acting weird," Wilbur relays to her, his brother looking at him with furrowed eyebrows at the words.
"What do you mean weird?" the woman questions, sounding both bewildered and deadly serious. "Wait, give him the phone."
Wilbur does as told, passing the phone to his brother, who greets their mother, before she seems to ask him the same question.
"I had some weird pains in my abdomen for a few hours now, which I initially thought was the usual kind. But the last one was more intense and my back started aching. I might be going into labour, but I'm not sure," Techno recounts as easily as if he was talking about the weather. Wilbur just sits, mouth agape, wondering how he managed to miss his twin being in pain for hours. Techno nods a few times as Kristin says something that Wilbur can't hear, before he passes the phone back.
"Mom?" Wilbur asks as soon as he has the device close to his ear again.
"Drive Techno to the hospital, we'll join you two soon. Also inform Sally about the situation and call the hospital before you arrive," Kristin instructs, voice completely calm. Which probably makes sense, since she's been through all that before.
"Yes, ma'am," Wilbur responds, like a soldier accepting an order. After the two of them say their "see you soon"s and hang up, he helps Techno get on his feet.
While Techno takes his time trying to put on shoes with a giant belly in the way, Wilbur speeds through the apartment, grabbing his keys and the hospital bag that their parents assembled for his brother. After they leave home, Techno gets another contraction in the elevator. He barely manages to stay upright and that's with Wilbur holding him, trying not to let him fall to the ground.
Finally, they get into the car and start their drive to the hospital. Wilbur calls Sally to tell her about the situation, and she promises to get there as soon as she can. Next, he calls the hospital, so that they will know that they are on their way. For a few minutes they get stuck in traffic, at which point a third contraction hits Techno, who attempts to play it off like it isn't very painful for him. Unfortunately for him, Wilbur knows him more than anyone else could, so he sees right through it.
Parking at the hospital's car-park, Wilbur helps his brother out of the vehicle and leads him to the front door. At the desk they spend another few minutes checking Techno in, before he's taken away to some room, while Wilbur stays waiting outside the door. With nothing else to do, he starts thinking about how the couch must be stained now and that it'll need to be replaced. And the car seat will probably need to be cleaned.
Eventually, the nurse leads Techno out the door, motioning for Wilbur to follow and leading them into another room. Wilbur passes the hospital bag to his brother and leaves the room for a few minutes to allow the man to change. When he goes back inside, Techno is already laying on the bed under a blanket.
Over the next hour or two, Wilbur stays by his brother's side, doing whatever he can to make the experience a bit more bearable for him. He would correct the nurses, who are interacting with Techno for the first time, about the man's pronouns, when he's either too scared to do so or too out of it, and the type of their relationship. He would try to distract Techno, when the contractions hit, rambling on about a random topic and offering his hand to squeeze. He would willingly leave the room, when a nurse comes over to check how the active labour is going.
Despite everything Techno still seems to be tense around him, which Wilbur understands. It must be very awkward to feel your body preparing to give birth and have your only support be your twin brother. Luckily, Phil and Kristin get to the room before anything major happens. At which point Wilbur and newly-arrived Phil are kicked out, leaving only Kristin with Techno, as per his request, which he made when their parents told him that they would be there for him.
Phil and Wilbur find themselves in the waiting room, where Sally joins them around an hour later. The three of them try to chat to pass the wait, but after some time they run out of topics and the suspense in the air gets too suffocating. Wilbur, who got bored of sitting still, is walking across the room in circles, Sally following his path with her gaze. Phil, on the other hand, sits as still as the stone, only breaking his pose to look at the clock on the wall.
After hours of dreadful waiting with no news, Kristin enters the waiting area. Everything stops, the air stills alongside the people. Everyone looks to Kristin, trying to figure out what happened from her expression. She looks at everyone with a calculating gaze, before a soft smile breaks across her face.
"Everything went well, you can see him."
Immediately they rush back with Kristin following at a slower pace and giggling to herself at their antics. Falling through the doorway in a mess of uncoordinated limbs, Wilbur, Sally and Phil stop in front of Techno's bed, where the man lays resting under the blanket. He cracks one eye open to stare at them with an unimpressed, or more like tired, gaze.
And Wilbur knows that he should be nice to his brother, who just went through something so draining, but he can't help but notice how rough the man looks. Rougher than he did when he first came to Wilbur’s place at two in the morning or at any point after that. The hair that was braided neatly this morning are strewn across the pillow, apart from some sections that stick to Techno's face with sweat. The bags under his eyes are more pronounced than they've ever been, and the eyes themselves just look so tired. He truly resembles a sickly victorian, laying on the hospital bed like that.
"You look like shit," Wilbur blurts out, before he can catch himself. When Techno's one open eye widens in surprise, he gets an urge to hit himself in the head for not thinking about what comes out his mouth. But, as he's about to apologize, Techno lets out a huff that might have been a laugh, if he had the energy for that.
"Wow, thanks," he drawls in his usual monotone. But he's grinning, so that must mean he didn't take it to heart. Hopefully.
"How are you doing?" Phil asks, coming closer to Techno to brush the hair away from his face. He leans into the touch, when the older moves his hand to cup his son's face, closing his eyes.
"Well, the pain meds are nice," Techno murmurs, definitely not fully present. When he slightly opens his eyes, his gaze shifts to the side. Wilbur follows his line of sight and sees the reason for their get together, a little bundle in the hospital crib.
He looks up and makes eye contact with Techno, who nods at him encouragingly. Slowly and hesitantly, Wilbur stalks towards the crib. When he's close enough, he puts his hand on one of its sides for stability and leans over. There lays a tiny baby, wrapped up in a blanket like a burrito, with a small light blue hat and with a pacifier the size of the third of their head. As if he was in a trance, Wilbur can feel the rest of the world slipping away as he marvels at the sight of a new life.
"I made this," Techno declares proudly, snapping Wilbur's attention to him. The man's gaze is trained on the little newborn, and it's so achingly soft. Wilbur didn't know that his twin's eyes could do that.
"What's their name?" Sally asks, joining Wilbur's side and looking at the baby.
"Theseus," Techno says, voice full of fondness, as he melts back into the pillow, still watching his new son. At some point Kristin has also joined them in the room, staying at Techno's side alongside Phil. Her hand is on her son's shoulder, drawing circles with her thumb. "I already love him, but I'm not repeating that ever again," the man adds, closing his eyes and slightly smirking.
The entire family starts laughing quietly, mindful of the sleeping baby. Techno's grin turns softer, his frame relaxes further and he looks ready to fall asleep. His family lets him, keeping all their conversations down to a whisper. Kristin continues rubbing his shoulder, and Phil's hand is still running through his long hair. Wilbur comes over to take Techno's hand in his, the man squeezing once before he's out like a light.
The new father and his son need their rest after all.