Disclaimer: nope. not mine. that's the end of that.

A/N: Ah minna, so sorry for the delay. Been quite busy with work. Chapter 4up and edited. Thanks for the reviews: sawyer fan, moopad charly, anonymous. :)

Chapter 4: Labors and Discoveries.

The cold arms of winter embraced the land with a dead lover's stiff caress. The once lush forest now lay barren of life as the trees stood naked on frozen ground, devoid of their magnificent green raiment and bright, colored trimmings.

Even as the sun faintly displayed its dazzling smile, no creature in the woods rejoiced to meet its warm greeting. Instead, these animated wonders decided to sleep the day away, burrowing deep into the warm blankets of their seasonal abode whether in stone, wood or under the earth. They will not wake until the icy kiss of winter melts away with the arrival of spring.

But one fine day, when the white petals of frost opted to fall lightly in the midst of a slumbering forest where the remains of a once magnificent edifice lay, a striking sight awaited any observer who might have dared to trespass into these parts. Kneeling on the ground at the left side of the ruins, an elegant creature carefully extracted a tablet of white marble from underneath two large stones with deft, elegant, ivory fingers. His silver-blue hair waving softly as the cold, gentle breeze touched his serious, yet handsome face. A few paces away, on a log shaped marble that used to be a proud pillar, sat beautiful young man with soft smile on his face, his eyes closed to the world and his golden locks peeking under a thick fur-lined hood. Together, the two of them looked like winter's lost children.

The older of the two, Shardan von Christ patiently pulled at the thin slab that might contain vital clues to his nephew's condition. As autumn gave way to winter, the thick grass, clingy vines and thorny bushes that enveloped the ruins gradually wilted; baring the secrets they had hidden under their foliage with little effort. The blue-eyed noble decided that it will be a good time to do some exploration of the ancient sacred grounds. Day by day, his work steadily progressed as little clues began to emerge and a few more marble tablets with ancient scripts surfaced beneath the rubble. He will take some time to translate them as soon as spring arrives. Sometimes he would take a certain feisty ex-soldier here with him to help him move some of the larger stones that he couldn't lift physically or magically. It gave him more time to bond (-molest-) with the red-haired mazoku.

Since the season changed, Wolfram wasn't able to go the temple ruins. Or more appropriately, he was stubbornly banned from going, despite the screaming tantrums and maryoku flares, by two overly concerned and now overly protective companions. They finally convinced him that it would be best to stay home after Shardan brought home a certain book that he had his brother delivered to the village post all the way from Shin Makoku via a carrier bird. It was all about male mazoku pregnancy.

Male pregnancy isn't all that common in the demon tribe. Many of the same sex couples are often not too inclined to create an offspring for some reason. But for those who wanted to start a family, several options have been made available aside from the usual adoption.

The most common way for a male to conceive was through a unique fertility potion invented by demon alchemists many generations back. A potion is taken every month by the carrier until the body gradually adapts to accommodate and support an embryo. Another potion is then taken to release the necessary hormones that are needed to actually create the baby. A second option was through a powerful spell and ritual. However, this was deemed too dangerous, as the recipient body is usually traumatized by the abrupt change it undergoes, magically and internally. Very few survive this ordeal.

And then there are the rare cases of the natural male begetters. Not many mazoku clans were blessed with this trait. How this came to be, not even the experts can say. This condition has always been looked upon as an anomaly of sorts.

The Bielefeld line had produced several male mazoku who seemingly possessed the natural ability to procreate. But Shardan had reasoned that perhaps the curse had something to do with this. To ensure the continuation of the line that had been restricted to one heir per generation. Wolfram agreed. What really puzzled Shardan was the fact that the young prince had two slightly different maryoku growing inside of him. This indicated that it is highly possible that the blonde was pregnant with twins. If this was the case, how was this possible?

Lord von Christ decided to take this in a positive light and thus told his nephew that perhaps it is a sign that the curse might be ending soon. Wolfram was quite skeptical though. And yet Shardan thought that there was spark of hope that lingered in those emerald orbs, even for a moment.

The sapphire-eyed noble refused to consider a second alternative theory: that the cowardly king's potency, magical or sexual, was powerful enough to create two heirs inside his nephew. No, that can never be it.

Anyway, the book that he acquired pointed out that pregnant male demons are more sensitive to many things, including climate changes, than female demons because their bodies are not used to the erratic hormonal fluctuations that occur during pregnancy. A male's body also becomes easily stressed as the internal functions are temporarily disrupted with the formation of an artificial womb as in the case of the medically induced pregnancy, the abnormally large amount of maryouku drained in the case of magically induced ones, and the complex inner workings of a natural conception.

The book had been most helpful to them and Wolfram was especially thankful to the author who had the foresight of writing the text some fifty two years ago. It contained practically everything one needs to know about male mazoku pregnancy.

The proper diet program enabled Rowan to cook the right foods and serve these in the right amount for Wolfram so that the prince and his babies will stay healthy. The recommended exercises allowed Wolfram to maintain an ideal weight and not whine too much about looking like a fat, bloated cow. The guide to dealing with the psychological changes and unstable maryoku helped Shardan and Rowan to understand their younger companion's unpredictable mood swings, how to handle the sudden bursts of magic, how to protect themselves and dodge flaming balls of fire when the brat prince's fiery temper is roused.

The list of possible bodily changes enabled Wolfram to find ways on how to hide or accentuate his condition when the occasion calls for it and made him understand several important fact such as: a) napping is essential in aiding the body's adjustment to changes and it is good for the development of the babies. Thus, it is perfectly acceptable to spend three quarters of the day in bed; b) it is normal to have unusual cravings at any given time of day, so he should not feel guilty when he asks Rowan to grill him a steak at midnight, in the middle of a snowstorm and charmingly requests (violently demands) his uncle to go out and buy him sweet strawberries to eat with his steak and; c) he cannot be blamed for his verbal or magical outbursts seeing as pregnancy brings about a hyperawareness that makes him realize that everything is everyone else's fault.

However, the most important information that the book had offered was how to bring the little ones into the world. As the male mazoku body had no natural orifice where the babies could be delivered from, it was a given that an artificial pathway must be provided or else the worst case scenario could occur. During the formation of the baby mazoku in the womb, the parent's maryouku supports and sustain the younger ones developing magic. When the time comes for the baby to be born, the child's maryoku becomes unique and self sufficient . Thus, the babe stops feeding on the carrier's energy. If it stays in the womb too long when it is past due, the constant friction created from the meeting of two very distinct maryoku explodes. When this happens, the ordeal could very well kill both the begetter and the infant. To prevent this from happening the newborn must be surgically removed from his/her parent's body after eight months when the apex of the baby's size inside the womb is reached. The stomach is stretched to the point where the skin and muscle between the pelvic area and the distended flesh becomes abnormally thin. This is where a three to four inch of incision is usually made to pull the infant out. Scars on mazoku flesh heal quite nicely and most operations leave only a thin line that fades significantly over time.

Fortunately for Wolfram, a certain ex-soldier used to be a junior field healer during the war, a short-lived career though it was. Rowan assured the blonde that though he was a bit out of practice, he can properly learn the procedure in a few months. The blonde mazoku sighed in relief as he realized that they wouldn't have to bother any healer or doctor back in Shin Makoku and risk the exposure of his whereabouts to the family he had left behind.

Throughout the cold winter, Rowan had been adamant about keeping him indoors. His uncle, who usually finds it his role to oppose the redhead, surprisingly agreed.

This day however, the sole Bielefeld heir was resolute about going to the ancient site, arguing that, winter is coming to an end and that the day isn't too cold. Also, he compromised that if Shardan and Rowan would permit him to leave the house today, he promised to stay put and stop whining for the remainder of the season. The blonde also muttered something about the place calling to him. Rowan was quite skeptical seeing as the prince was now only five weeks away from giving birth, but Shardan finally acquiesced after seeing the longing in his nephew's eyes. The fact that the weather wasn't too chilly and the snowfall was light helped Wolfram's case as well.

After reassuring their apprehensive housekeeper that he will keep a close watch on their prince and making the green-eyed mazoku vow not to over exert himself, the two of them set out slowly with the blonde widely grinning as he slightly waddled on his way.

True to his word, the young lord von Bielefeld did not tire himself. He mostly sat quietly and watched his uncle work. That in itself was quite uncharacteristic of the younger mazoku but then again with the constant mood swings over the past few months his uncle just shrugged it off as one of those days, and dutifully went about his task.

Wolfram deposited his now slightly heavier self onto the marbled surface as comfortably as he can in his current state. He was glad that he was finally allowed to visit this place even once this winter. On this ground, he always seemed to find a sense of uncanny tranquillity and his weary being more than appreciated the feeling of serenity. As of late, he was feeling restless due to the stress of the pregnancy, the useless attempt to forget old heartaches, mingled with the excitement and scares of impending parenthood.

Sighing softly as he tried to clear his head of clutter, a soft melody reached his ears. The sound was so foreign, he knew he had never heard it before and yet it was utterly familiar somehow as if he had memorized it all his life. Someone was singing. And what a voice it was. That much can be deduced. It wasn't his uncle, that's for sure as the older nobleman couldn't sing if his life depended on it. And the voice was definitely female. The words were of a language he could not understand but he knew what it was about. It spoke of a love born in winter. A love that died before spring. It spoke of the deepest devotions and it sang of a broken heart. It speaks of the highest peaks of ecstasy and the deepest pits of despair. It was a song sung by his very own soul.

As the tune slowly faded Wolfram opened his eyes trying to look for the source. He was about to ask his companion if he had heard it when he caught something from the corner of his eyes. Standing a few feet away to his left was a woman. It was a woman dressed in white. Wolfram could swear that she was carrying a basket of fresh flowers. But as he turned his head towards the figure she was gone.

On the spot where she was standing, a golden yellow flower laid. Suddenly, a gust of wind passed and carried the golden blossom straight to the puzzled pregnant male and landed almost purposely on the swell of blonde's stomach.

It was a flower that he knew so well. Beautiful Wolfram. It was in full bloom in the middle of winter.

All of a sudden, a gasp broke the silence in the air and the young prince turned to his uncle and found that the latter had successfully unearthed the marble stone tablet that he had been pulling at for quite a while. The look of surprise on the older noble's face made Wolfram mighty curious.

"Uncle?"

"This is the strangest thing Wolfram."

"What is?"

"See for yourself."

As the blue-eyed lord turned the table towards Wolfram's direction, the young one mirrored his uncle's reaction. Etched into the marble were two very familiar symbols.

The symbol of the ancient house of Bielefeld and… the old symbol of the ancient house of …

Wincott.

Suddenly, green eyes widened as Wolfram cried out in agony, his hand falling to his swollen abdomen. Forgetting all about the ancient artefact in his hands, Shardan rushed to his side, alarmed.

"It hurts! I think they want… out… now!" He tried to stand up but lost his balance because of the pain.

"Now? What! It's too early!" Shardan caught his nephew and tried to maintain his composure but failing somewhat.

"I know! Uncle I need… Rowan…" Suddenly, the body in his arms limped as the green-eyed heir lost consciousness. The maryoku from the distended stomach started to glow.

It was really starting. Gathering all the energy he can from within, Shardan von Christ scooped up the blonde and summoned his family's primary element, Air, to aid his speedy travel back home holding three precious lives in his strong arms…

End Chapter 4

A/N: So who do we know that's related to the Wincotts? Take a guess.

Thanks!