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Wilbur and Sally's decision to leave the nest along with their pup was an expected one, but still a difficult one to come to terms with. The presence of six people in the house becoming only three was an honestly abrupt change, but not a sudden one, considering that the couple had already tried to live in the alpha's house in the past. Now a family of their own, with a desire for independence and more need for privacy, the goodbyes felt somewhat bitter, but no matter what, Phil was happy to see his offspring blossom and expand beyond the family home.

At least he still had his firstborn and the youngest with him, and the presence of his middle son and the rest of his family was hardly ever missed with the amount of visits that were exchanged between the two households regularly.

The eldest of his brood, for being as close to him as he was, also found himself wanting some independence. Techno did not see himself leaving home like Wilbur, and never to look for a mate (that was not and had never been one of his priorities. It was not even on his life list) but he did find himself looking at the horizon and wondering what was beyond that. Out in the world. Every couple of years, a backpack would be packed, goodbyes would be exchanged, and the promise of a safe return would be fulfilled, along with gifts and curiosities brought back from the experience.

Tommy loved being around his older brother. From the moment he was born, his attachment to him had been more than evident. The family speculated that it would be because of his quality as the only alpha in the house, and the only one that Tommy had known until the arrival of that couple in need of help and their two pups. And then Sally, a couple of years after that. Or maybe little Tommy just liked his brother so much for reasons beyond the nature of his biology. Be that as it may, when a fifteen-year-old Tommy begged his father to go with his brother on one of his outings, the answer was almost immediately a resounding no.

After many, many begs, and the insistence that only a stubborn teenager determined to be annoying with a lot of intention could possess, Phil gave in and approved the departure of his pup, forcing both brothers to promise to protect each other (although the adults knew that it was only explicitly mutual so that Tommy wouldn't feel treated like a puppy, despite being one), with special emphasis to Techno on never. Never to leave him out of his sight. At fifteen years old, Tommy had not yet given definitive proof of his gender identity. The mixture of qualities typical of both alphas and omegas in his behavior had kept the family in a practically constant confusion throughout the course of his life. Despite leaning more towards the idea of him ​​being an alpha, due to his change in personality after turning eight and his physique, nothing was certain yet. That family seemed to have a knack for generating surprises.

Perhaps they all just happened to forget that, no matter what his gender may be, a first heat or rut would be just around the corner, and perhaps the best thing for the boy would have been to stay home until that had happened. Even Tommy himself seemed to forget about his daily ritual of examining his body over, struggling to find a scent in any of his items that would betray any minimal change, trying to look for the signs that a not very sure Phil, a very, very embarrassed Techno and an always sunny Sally told him to look for had his nature decided alpha would be his gender. Those never appeared.

When Phil said goodbye to his children at the door, all he could think about was how they had all grown up in the blink of an eye. Just yesterday he was welcoming a couple of wonderful boys in the barn of that old farm, and today he was saying goodbye to the oldest and youngest (by eighteen years) at the door. Yes, it would only be a couple of weeks at most, but to the omega it almost felt unreal.

The echo of his lonely footsteps in that big empty house made his heart clench slightly, and Philza found himself missing the days of tiny pups in his temporarily vacated nest.

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"Tommy, are you okay? What happened, pup?"

The boy did not even bother to reply, avoiding his father's eyes, of which his own were identical mirrors, feeling him hold his face in his hands. The exhaustion must have been evident, but he felt guilt shining on his face, almost as if anyone who saw him would immediately know what he was holding on his tongue.

"He got a bit sick a couple of weeks ago, but it didn't seem to be anything serious so I don't think we need to worry about it." The alpha replied in his place, dragging both of their backpacks along with a sack that he left next to the door before starting to head towards the rooms.

"Let's take you to bed, and then you can tell me about everything you saw out there, okay Tommy?" The boy just nodded, following his father as he led him by the arm towards the stairs. "Was it exciting?"

The boy couldn't help but smile as he remembered all the interesting and new things he had seen on his first outing into the world, trying to ignore the anxiety and guilt that gnawed at him. "Yes, it was great, dad. Can't wait to do it again."

Three weeks later, Tommy would wake up running to the bathroom, nasty retching and an intense churning in his stomach trying to force him to throw up last night's dinner, hopefully no one would hear him whimpering and regurgitating his food. That would become such a regular occurrence that the boy decided one day to take a bucket to his room, to save himself from having to make the hasty trip to the bathroom, and risk someone seeing him too.

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Dad had made sure to explain to everyone what it meant to stop being a pup to become... a slightly older pup. Because according to standards, the first heat or rut determined maturity and adulthood. Philza considered this stupidity and a terrible irresponsibility on society's part.

"To think that means a thirteen-year-old is ready to mate and give birth. Horrible. Hell, anything before twenty-five, or at the very least twenty is still too young. Just because your body can do it, doesn't mean that you are ready. Physically or mentally." All three had received some version of that speech once their ages had begun to approach the standard age for presentation, around the ages of ten or eleven. It was unusual for it to happen so soon, but the mere possibility of it gave Philza enough incentive to talk to them about it.

The omega did not bother to spare details about what they could expect from the "big event", whether they were alphas or omegas, in the most educational way possible, which did not mean that his children didn't make horrified and uncomfortable faces and exclamations. The man couldn't help but laugh and tell them that it was important for them to know, even if they didn't want to hear about it. His admittedly limited knowledge on alphas worried him a little, but seeing as how the family had only produced one so far, and a very responsible one at that, made him worry less about having to deal with random pregnant omegas and pups out there, for not being able to educate him more eloquently.

He also made sure to give everyone a little course on birth. Because if one was an expert on any topic it would be on that one, and the details and descriptions would be even more explicit with that, in order to discourage them from looking for a pregnancy before they were ready for it. And, to his credit, the little ones really hated that lesson, perhaps even more than the talk about the reproductive period. Out of the three, Tommy was the one who threatened to vomit or declared that he was traumatized for life by hearing that the most. He was ten, almost eleven when his father spoke to him about it, while Wilbur, sitting on the sofa, cradled a four-year-old Flora in his arms, asleep after playing with her uncle for a good part of the afternoon, imagining when his pup reached the same age and received "the talk" from her grandfather.

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Tommy lived his life. No changes, no worries, relieved of the nausea that for a couple of weeks had tortured him at unthinkable hours in the morning, those blurry memories beginning to fade in his mind, buried by months of regularity. He had even forgotten why he felt so guilty. Life with his family was good. He had even begun to regain weight after his strange period of illness.

"Hey, dad, can I go visit Tubbo and Ranboo?"

His father, busy reading a book on his bed (the same one on which Tommy had been born, apparently) took his eyes off the pages to look at the youngest in the house. The passing of the years already showed its mark on the man's face, the grooves of an arsenal of emotions used countless times marked on his skin and his hair considerably riddled with pale gray hair that twinkled silver between the golden locks, collected with a piece of cloth to keep it out of his face. Phil stared at him, as if deciding exactly what would be the best way to say no. Of his three children, and as the youngest of the batch (not to mention the one who had proven to need supervision the most), Tommy was the one who had to use persuasion and excessive pleading the most to achieve his goals.

"Tommy, I don't think they will be too keen on getting visits for the moment. They have a newborn to look after now, they won't have time to play anymore."

"Yes, dad. I know. I don't even want to go to play, I'm too old for that!" An exclamation from his father made it clear that he wanted to say something about it, but in the end he remained silent. "I just wanna go see them and the pup. I haven't seen him since he was like, like three hours old and looked like a weird... potato or something."

Tommy snorted softly at the memory of that day, always being somewhat amused by the strangeness of the situation. When a surprise visit to Ranboo's parents' house led to the news of a sore Tubbo, lying on the alpha's bed with a fresh pup in his arms. Apparently it had been quite sudden, catching everyone in the family off guard, and certainly not what Tommy was expecting when deciding to visit that day. He knew the pup would be coming soon, but he still couldn't say that it hadn't taken him by surprise. He wasn't expecting it to be that soon. Before returning home, Tubbo called him through Ranboo, who had acted as a messenger between the living room and the bedroom during the visit and had allowed the youngest to come in to see the newborn. Certainly their parental instincts had to work wonderfully in the kid's favour because the adoration evident in both new parents' eyes (especially Ranboo's) for the wrinkled, shrimp-like little thing was almost comical.

Phil couldn't help but laugh softly at the comment, closing the book and putting it aside. "Okay, pup, you can go. Just remember they are parents now. Try to make yourself useful, and don't be-"

"Annoying?"

"-Inconsiderate." He finished, rolling his eyes before looking back at him with a raised eyebrow. "Taking care of a newborn is hard work. Really hard work. They are very lucky to have their parents to help them. They're still so young though..."

Tommy decided that with permission secured, it was time to flee, before the sermon was unleashed upon him once more. They weren't even that young. The alpha was seventeen and the omega was eighteen.

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The creature in Ranboo's arms looked...

"So tiny." Tommy exhaled with amazement.

"Doesn't help that Ranboo's a giant." The brunet omega replied from a chair, exhaustion evident on his face. "Everything looks tiny compared to Ranboo."

"'m not a giant." Mumbled the alpha, as they gently rocked the sleeping one month old. They looked equally as exhausted as their mate.

"So he's got a name already, right?"

"Michael." Both parents replied at the same time.

Tommy nodded, looking at Ranboo.

"And how's Purpled dealing with being an uncle now?"

"He's... he doesn't really care I think." The alpha answered simply, returning their sight to their offspring. "I guess he's just got far more important stuff to be worrying about."

The unpresented boy hummed softly at the sarcastic declaration, knowing that Purpled was even younger than him, and he would really rather spend his time doing anything other than looking at a pup, even if that pup was his nephew.

Ranboo bounced the little male in their arms, noticing that he was starting to wake up. The alpha cooed at him for a minute. "Wanna hold him?"

It took Tommy a moment to realize the question was for him. "Uhh... I- I don't think I should..."

"C'mon, it's not that hard. You've held your niece before, right?"

Tommy was not about to admit that Wilbur would've probably preferred to eat his own fingers rather than letting Tommy handle his precious daughter for even a second. Not to mention that when Flora was at "holding" age, Tommy was between six and seven years of age. He wasn't really allowed to even play with her until she was old enough to run around and not trip over her own feet. Those sure were three boring years.

"Yeah, yeah, of course I have!" He replied, with feigned offence, feeling his nerves awaken when he saw Ranboo approaching him with the intimidating four and a half kilo bundle in their arms. With great care, and the gaze of his bearer fixed on both of them (in addition to the firm threat of tearing off parts of his body that he definitely wanted to keep if he ever dropped him), the little one was transferred to the unofficial uncle's arms. Tommy was too busy seeing the creature's open eyes for the first time to notice the change in Ranboo's expression as they approached him and apparently noticed something unusual.

"Oh, his eyes are like yours and your mum's, Ranboo." Tommy then noted, seeing the combination of a light blue similar to Tubbo's on his left, a grayish almost white on the right looking at him with half-open eyelids. "Hey, Mikey, what's up?"

"No, not really." Tubbo answered still from his chair, his face resting on his right palm, with his elbow on the arm of the furniture. "Dream said that he was almost certainly born blind on the right."

"Yeah, dad said it looks like he might be deaf too, but we'll have to wait until he's a bit older to know."

"Oh." The blond boy exclaimed, turning his gaze to the pup in his arms. "I'm sorry."

"Why would you be?" Tubbo questioned, his expression impassive and serene. "He's healthy, he's eating, he's growing. To me, he's already perfect."

"Same for me." The alpha intervened, turning their gaze to the pup that was beginning to stir and whimper softly in Tommy's arms, beginning to approach him again. "Speaking of... I think he might be hungry again."

Tommy returned the pup to his sire's arms, who immediately carried him to Tubbo. Next, the tall alpha took Tommy by the arm and pulled him towards the door of the room, making him get up from his place in the corner of the bed. Tubbo still felt uncomfortable and somewhat self-conscious about having to feed his pup in front of other people, sometimes even his mate. Tommy followed them without saying a word.

Ranboo closed the door behind them gently but did not let go of him yet, instead still holding his arm and leading him to the living room, and before Tommy could ask them where they were going, the older teen turned around and looked at him seriously.

"Tommy, are you pregnant?"

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When, no more than four days before the start of what Tommy hoped would only be the first trip of many away from home, the teenager began to complain of discomfort, Techno tried not to worry too much, telling him to drink enough water and snatching his backpack from his shoulder to carry it himself (to the great offense of the younger boy). A makeshift camp was set up as the afternoon began to draw to a close and the sky began to darken. They both settled under their corresponding tents and slept.

The arrival of the first rays of morning brought with it whimpers and a discomfort that was one of the clearest things Tommy could remember from that uncertain period, which could have been hours, could have been days.

The haze of memories was confusing. Techno's face, featureless in the fog of oblivion but his worried voice insisting that he tell him what was happening to him. His older brother, much to his displeasure, forced him to eat and drink, and promised that he would return soon. Some "whatever it takes" (more than likely urging him to protect himself) uttered in his direction and then Techno would disappear, and his presence would eventually be replaced by... a stranger. Tommy wasn't even sure if it was a male or a female, the voice too distorted to identify it in his blurred memories.

In the middle of the fog there were... things that Tommy really didn't want to put in his mind. Hands touching awkward places and purrs next to his ear of things that made him blush and twist his face into an even more uncomfortable grimace every time the phantom voice echoed… honestly unpleasant words in the distance of his thoughts, apart from unknown and not at all welcome sensations that Tommy would never admit to anyone.

After that very strange bad dream, the mental fog faded greatly, and Tommy could remember his brother arriving back at camp, a confused and somewhat terrified expression after finding him sitting in his own tent, and not the one Techno had pitched specifically for the boy, sniffing the air without any attempt at dissimulation and asking if anyone else had been there.

The ghost of his fever dreams had been nothing more than that, a hallucination, so Tommy was quick to shake his head, a lopsided smile making its way onto his face as he then addressed his older brother.

"What, were you really gone for that long that you don't recognize your own stink anymore?"

The tension immediately dissipated from the alpha's face then, giving way to a very unimpressed expression upon hearing the joke.

"Glad to see you're back to your regular, non-delirious self." That was said with obvious sarcasm, but now Tommy would never forget the tone of deep concern that Techno had used when addressing him before. Like he had never heard before, much less directed at himself. "If I wasn't so smart I'd think you just faked it all so I would bring you pastries."

Tommy's interest in his brother's return increased exponentially upon hearing that word.

"... Pastries, you say?"

"And medicine." The older man then continued, lifting the small bag that presumably carried both things. "For the fever, but I guess-"

With this he approached the minor, placing the back of his hand against his forehead to assess his temperature.

"-That you don't need it anymore. I'll still keep it, just in case."

The strange sensations and dull pain in unusual parts of his body would be attributed to whatever illness had taken over his body on that occasion. But still, something inside couldn't stop beating with a shameful guilt that was present from time to time. Especially in the presence of his father and remembering his words of warning, which brought him back to the most unspeakable parts of that hallucination.

That afternoon, Tommy resolved to try to smother the guilt and the truth of his strange imaginings in sweet crumbs and powdered sugar.

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"I'm so stupid. Oh god, I'm so- so-"

"Tommy, stop." Ranboo's voice interrupted his anguished monologue. The blond boy pointedly ignored them, pressing the bottom of his palms against his eyes and trying to drown out his own ideas with even louder ideas. Feeling a cold terror grow in his belly, making its way next to the thing that Ranboo had just made him aware of. A pup.

Fuck.

"This cannot be happening, Ranboo. This can't be fucking true." The boy gasped, still without uncovering his gaze and trying to wake up from that bad, bad dream, leaning his back against the wall and sliding until he ended up sitting on the floor. "I'm not even a fucking omega!"

"Well...uh." The young alpha seemed to debate how to refute that, but seeing the terror that the revelation had unleashed in the boy, denial would probably be expected. The brunet teen tried to figure out how to deal with the situation without triggering a panic attack in the vulnerable figure in front of them, kneeling next to the blond and rubbing their temple, unsure of what to even say. "Okay, Tommy, I understand this is confusing and... probably just a terrifying way to find out, but that "sickness" you felt while on the road was a heat, and then the nausea... and the-"

"Shut up! Just shut the fuck up already!"

A heavy silence was established then, barely interrupted by the agitated breathing of the younger of the two. Ranboo decided to let him put his ideas in order, without wanting to overwhelm him with words that would surely be unnecessary now.

"Dad is gonna hate me."

"Tommy, c'mon. Your dad loves you way too much for you to even think that." Ranboo replied, in a soft tone, moving to place a hand on the boy's shoulder but stopping almost immediately. Better to avoid physical contact for the moment. "Your whole family does."

"How could I even let this happen? Why did I let them-"

"Tommy. No." The firm and reprimanding tone of the older of the two startled him, and for the first time since they both sat in that room Tommy looked him in the eyes. His gaze was deep and somewhat hard, yet without losing the shine that his mismatched eyes had carried since he was a pup. "This was absolutely not your fault Tommy, and don't even think about blaming yourself."

The boy looked away again, somewhat intimidated by his tone, and firm alpha voice although still lost in his own anguish. Trying not to think about the effect his friend's voice now seemed to have on him, Tommy decided to focus on the big problem ahead.

"Ranboo, I'm fucking fifteen! I'm everything but ready for a pup. All those times dad said..." That was exclaimed barely louder than a murmur. "Fuck, fuck! I'm not even fucking ready to be an omega! I have to be an alpha…"

"Tommy..."

"Please, don't tell my family." He exclaimed, running his hands through his hair and tugging lightly. "Fuck, just- just don't tell anyone."

The alpha looked at him seeming contradicted, seeming to find the request difficult to accept.

"Promise you won't tell anyone, you son of a bitch." Tommy then insisted upon noticing Ranboo's uncertainty, returning their gaze with a frown and a teary-eyed expression that surely did not convey much intimidation.

"Tommy, I-" Ranboo then sighed in defeat, running a hand over their face. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Okay." With this, Tommy seemed to breathe a little easier, or at least try to.

"What are you going to do, though?"

"I'll... I'll just figure something out, okay? After all, I'm not the smartest person alive for nothing."

Perhaps the joke would have made them both feel better at another time, but now he felt as if he had just put a noose around his neck before jumping into a bottomless pit, and even the idea of ​​laughing sounded like something inconceivable.

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Tommy's screams of pain echoed throughout the house, it seemed, as he clutched the blankets in his hands and prayed that this torture would end soon.

"Tommy, breathe."

The house was, by normal standards, empty. Wilbur and his little family hadn't visited in a while, and Techno was out doing who knows what. Which left Tommy and their father as the only occupants in the place. In addition to the slippery pup that had just been born.

Tommy panted heavily, struggling to catch his breath as he raised himself on his elbows to look at the kid in his father's hands, which he had just given birth to. Philza, for his part, took care of wrapping it in a blanket, the only proof that it existed now being its cries and choked complaints.

"Dad-" He called breathlessly, extending one of his arms towards the man and the bundle in his hands.

Philza did not move, staring at the crying pup with a slight frown. Tommy felt his stomach drop at the possibility that the newborn hadn't been born healthy, as he had so hoped it would be.

"... Dad? Is anything wrong?" His voice trembled slightly with uncertainty and worry, struggling to sit up properly to get closer.

"I'm sorry, Tommy." Phil replied, sounding disappointed and somewhat annoyed. The words and the sight of him starting to move towards the door made Tommy feel his stomach drop. "But you are too young for a pup."

"No... What do you mean?" The boy began to feel himself panic, struggling even more against his weakened body to get out of bed. "Dad-dad, please, let me hold them."

"Dad!" He cried in despair, as he watched his father cross the doorframe and exit the room, closing the door behind and leaving him alone, with only the pain in his body and the desperation in his voice, as he begged Philza to let him see his pup. The soft cries decreased in volume behind the closed door, and even more so with Phil's footsteps moving away from the room. Until it stopped completely suddenly before Tommy heard himself begging even more insistently.

"My pup! Please, my pup! Dad!"

The echo of footsteps in the distance being the only thing that came back to him.

"Dad!"

"Tommy!"

The boy felt that someone was restricting the movement of his arms, which, feeling immobilized, struggled even more to free themselves.

"Tommy, Tommy! You are okay, Tommy. It was just a nightmare, listen, Tommy!"

It took him a few seconds to recognize his brother's voice, opening his eyes suddenly and finding the silhouette of Techno leaning over him, barely illuminated by the light coming from the hallway and holding his arms against the bed, looking at him with obvious confusion and concern.

"Tommy, you are okay." He repeated in a softer tone when he saw that he had finally opened his eyes, releasing him from his grip, although looking ready to act again if he needed to do so.

The boy noticed how his breath was agitated, feeling tears slide down his face. Without saying anything he threw his now free arms around his older brother's body, clinging to him as he tried to calm his agitated mind and racing heart. Techno settled down, sitting next to him on the bed and returning the gesture.

He wasn't going to ask why his little brother had woken up in the middle of the night, screaming for his father and crying out for a pup.

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Tommy had never been a particular fan of the cold. Annoying, uncomfortable, and almost inescapable, the arrival of the autumn preceding his sixteenth birthday was greeted with a euphoria that the boy would've never imagined to feel when it came to the colder months. At the sight of the first leaf falling to the ground, orange and crisp, Tommy ran to look for the baggiest sweater he found in the house, which belonged to the eldest of his brothers, ready to wear it until he just couldn't anymore. The counts, carelessly documented, showed that he would now be in month number... approximately five of carrying that... problem on his body. And what a problem.

Tommy was evidently not someone with much experience in whelping. He hadn't seen much of Tubbo, the duo of his friends spending the last few weeks in seclusion before Michael's arrival, and yet, he remembered that Tubbo was small, his belly had been small just like his pup had been when he saw him, a few hours after being born, and despite Ranboo's considerable height, even taller than both of his brothers, despite being younger. Tubbo's pregnancy had barely been distinguishable, unless the boy made a deliberate effort to make it noticeable, and from the unmistakable aroma of milk, guessing the fact that he was carrying a pup would not be easy. Tommy secretly prayed to have the same luck as him.

On the other hand, of his older brother's two pregnancies, Tommy remembered more clearly the one that produced Flora, when he was six or seven years old. Unlike Tubbo, Wilbur had looked quite round, for lack of better terms. Wilbur was tall, and despite Sally being considerably smaller than their family was, their pup had been quite big. His friend and his brother sharing the fact that their offspring had inherited their size, instead of that of their sires at birth. Tommy felt like he was now following Wilbur's steps, to his silent horror. A little more than halfway through his journey, Tommy would dare to say that he looked pretty close to how Wilbur had when approaching Flora's birth. The boy sometimes found himself convincing himself that he was doing his math wrong. That at some point during the hurricane of ideas and the terror of being discovered Tommy had gotten confused. He would probably be in his seventh month now, approximately.

With the passing of two more months and well into winter, Tommy spent most of the time lying in his bed, wrapped in a pile of blankets and always covered by the wide sweater that was beginning to feel tight around his waist, under which now he had to wear another coat, to help him hide. Buried in his bed and avoiding his family as much as possible, Tommy waited, absolutely terrified.

As the days continued to pass, with no signs that anything was going to happen, Tommy found himself celebrating internally, convincing himself without much problem that nothing was going to happen.

He spent his birthday sweating despite the winter cold that managed to sneak into the house, nervous and terrified that being the center of attention among his family was going to be his downfall. To his great relief and even greater surprise, the celebration occurred without any major incident, practically identical to any other year prior to this one.

Sitting in a chair, enjoying the chocolate cake that Techno had prepared without even needing to consult, Tommy had to stifle a startled squeak when he felt, from inside his abdomen, the strange movement straight out of a horror story, of undeniable life stretching and squirming inside him, followed by a couple of what he could only describe as little taps. It was not by far the first time he had felt either of those two things, but it was true that it was not something he could get used to, and besides it usually did not happen when he was the focus of entire family's attention, leaving him the option of fleeing and taking refuge in his room to be fascinated and equally disgusted by the alien sensation.

It took all of his willpower to stop his hand from letting go of the plate and laying down on his covered abdomen.

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"Tommy! Tommy!"

The patriarch's anguished voice woke up everyone in the house (Wilbur's family visiting to spend the coldest days of winter with the rest of the family). Techno was the first to leave his room, crossing his father in the hallway and with barely any time to ask what was happening, seeing Phil already dressed in winter clothes slightly covered in snow, the omega took him by the arm, his expression betraying the intense anguish and obvious panic that denoted his voice.

"Tommy's gone."

"What?"

"He's not in his room! I already searched all over the house, and the stable. He- he's nowhere to be found!"

The imminent arrival of a snowstorm spread an anxious and extremely worried air in the house. Before panic could spread among the family, both alphas announced that they were going to take it upon themselves to go find him, much better equipped to deal with the harsh climate due to their superior ability to regulate their body temperature and naturally warmer blood. Leaving two very worried omegas and a very confused and terrified pup at home, Techno and Sally covered themselves against the cold, saddling and mounting Carl and Blue respectively, knowing that the animals could cope well with the cold, already equipped with their winter coats, the alphas plunged into the white morning away from home, to look for Tommy.

The intensified rain of snowflakes deepened both their frowns even more, and made their progress through the forest landscape difficult, at least not yet heavy enough for visibility to be lost. Sensing that the weather would only get worse, Techno made the decision to split up to try to cover ground more effectively. He instructed Sally to go to Dream's house, and look for the pup on the way there, while he announced that he would walk the perimeter of the forest around the house, on his way to the nearest town.

It was unlikely that Tommy could have made it that far on his own through such dense layers of snow and in the darkness of the forest, but it was his best bet without even having any idea why he had fled, and once the next step was decided, both alphas wished each other the best of luck and set out on their opposite paths, calling Tommy every couple of minutes.

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Tommy was absolutely terrified, beginning to regret letting his stupid instincts guide him into doing something so stupid, the pain that came in waves and made him whine almost managed to distract him from the overwhelming loneliness and the fear that he'd inflicted upon himself after acting as impulsively as he'd done that morning.

In the middle of the night something had awakened Tommy. He wasn't sure what it was, there was only a sense of urgency that pushed him to do something. Half asleep, and struggling to move considering the weight of his belly (how many months had passed already? Tommy had stopped thinking about it after his birthday), the boy took a fabric bag and packed all the blankets that he could fit in it. Once again putting on the duo of coats that were barely taken off in the regular, Tommy opened the door of his room and walked with the greatest possible stealth to the main door, leaving his home and walking, without knowing very well why, towards the winter night.

His first idea was to get to the stable and curl up next to Carl or Blue, but he soon abandoned the idea. Too close, said something in his head.

Walking aimlessly in the grove, Tommy had to spend at least over an hour waddling through the forest over the carpet of snow, finally and by practically pure luck getting to a kind of cave behind the trees, some vegetation hanging from the branches outside and barely any presence of snow inside and Tommy got in without thinking, extending the blankets he had brought with him and covering himself with another, the boy used his bag as a pillow and just fell asleep.

Some time later, unable to know how much, Tommy woke up suddenly, shaken out of his unconsciousness by a sharp and unknown pain that extended through his abdomen and back, almost making him cry out. It was then that the boy seemed to leave the trance in which he had woken up that night, taking a moment to observe in deep confusion the place he was currently in.

Looking at the white particles falling outside, between the almost non-existent light Tommy tried to remember what had happened, and how and why he had reached that place.

Incapable and unwilling to go back to darkness and snow of what would be the beginning of a snowfall, the boy sat up to observe the tiny flakes that fell incessant outside his hiding place, rubbing his eyes before feeling the pain again spread in his abdomen and back, forcing his hands to lay on his belly and finally realizing what was happening, feeling as if the cold that now surrounded him took over his body and made him open his eyes suddenly.

"Fuck-!" He cried, feeling himself shaking, but not because of the cold this time. Looking at the landscape outside and aware that he had no idea where he was or how the fuck he had gotten there, practically sleepwalking to that place, he felt terror fill his mind.

While another pain (contraction) made him squirm in his place, Tommy found himself begging, begging with all his might for salvation before the inevitable happened. (Whether it meant giving birth to his offspring or freezing in the snowstorm, Tommy did not want to think about either of those.)

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"Tommy!"

The whistle of the wind around him came back as the only answer.

"Tommy!"

"Techno!"

The voice, drowned by the snowstorm starting to blow around him, barely managed to get to his ears and made Techno immediately turn toward the place where he had vaguely heard it come from, guiding Carl in that direction. Feeling his heart starting to beat faster and trusting that it wouldn't be just another noise caused by the climate or an auditory hallucination caused by, whether be cold, despair or terror of the situation.

The alpha repeated the call of his brother's name while still making his way on the snow, and the undeniable voice of Tommy responded, calling him back more clearly in a sob, and Technoblade managed to determine a direction where the voice was coming from.

"Tommy!" The alpha called again with a slightly trembling voice, riding the best he could over that thick snow layer that seemed to try to swallow the horse's hooves, towards the source of those calls. In a kind of ditch inside the mountain he managed to see the figure of his younger brother, curved in a ball under the blankets he had dragged from his room.

"Tommy-" The man jumped from his horse's back, leaving him under a tree at the entrance of that place and shook the best he could the snow almost completely covering him, kneeling next to Tommy, with his first instinct being trying to lift him from the freezing floor and carry him to get him out of there before the storm became worse, taking him in his arms and trying to make him stand up. "Why the fuck are you out here?!"

"Techno-" The boy cut himself off with a grunt, suddenly curving into himself and clinging to his brother with an intense strength that only denoted pain. With this, the alpha froze, trying to avoid moving him in case he was injured and he could make it worse by accident.

"Tommy? Are you hurt? What happened?!"

The boy did not respond, completely silent for a couple of seconds before exhaling heavily and moaning in his throat, refusing to lift his face to find Techno's gaze.

"Hurts. It hurts. I don't want this, please." It was all he babbled, pressing himself more firmly against the alpha's chest and whining with obvious terror and pain.

"Tommy, I need you to tell me what's wrong!"

The boy just pressed his face against his brother's chest, shaking his head and panting softly, before the same thing as before happened again. A cry muffled against Techno's coat, and the boy clung to his brother with all his might. The alpha's dark eyes just staring at the boy with the concern of someone who wants to help, but has no idea what the problem is.

"Tommy, did someone do this to you?"

The teenager seemed to freeze at the question, at which Techno took his reaction as a confirmation. Trying not to think about how someone could have taken him out of his house, it was with some type of intimidation or brute force (which the alpha saw impossible, considering that the whole family was home when Tommy disappeared) Techno, using all of his willpower after hearing the protesting and pitiful whine that came out of his mouth, to push him away from himself, he took his face in his hands and looked at him gravely.

"If you don't tell me what's wrong I'll have to find out for myself." Tommy was silently looking at him, his expression suddenly twisting with pain once more and throwing out his hand to hold on to whatever he could grab first, this being one of the blankets that he had brought with him.

The man waited, frowning unconsciously and waiting until his baby brother stopped squirming in pain, to begin to evaluate the situation. Firstly, there was no obvious blood anywhere, and Tommy did not present wounds or marks of violence (something that, just having to consider, made his stomach turn), which was good. There were no marks in visible places, in any case. The boy was almost completely covered with garments for the cold. Techno could only expect those to be hiding something along with Tommy's silence.

Techno began his evaluation by raising both sleeves of his coats to confirm that there were no marks under these, and to no one's surprise, his examination ended quickly after taking the edge of the garments that covered his torso, raising them just enough to find what would be the last thing he expected to see in his sixteen-year-old, "unpresented" brother's body.

"Tommy-" Came the uncertain voice, carrying an almost horrified tone when his sight zeroed on what was undeniably the evidence of a pregnancy. A very advanced one, so the experiences of his life had taught him. The incredulous eyes rose to find a light blue gaze, huge, terrified and full of shame that shone with the threat of tears about to fall. The trembling lip and the expression of having been caught doing something that he shouldn't reminding him of a tiny Tommy, caught after doing some mischief and fighting the tears of having been discovered. "Are you pregnant?!"

And that was the metaphorical straw that broke the metaphorical camel's back. The boy's eyes exploded in tears as soon as he heard those words, covering his face with both hands and trying to shrink as best he could, trying to disappear from his older brother's sight.

"How- When did this happen?!" The man's voice sounded shaken, obviously trying to evoke some moment in the past months that could answer his own question. Just a few seconds after uttering it, his expression revealed the moment when he obviously guessed when that had happened, slowly putting both hands on his head and inhaling deeply.

"I'm sorry- I'm sorry, Techno-"

"Fuck!"

The echo of the older's voice rumbled in the small shelter, and Tommy, now not only freezing, sore and completely terrified, felt dominated by an oppressive and suffocating panic at his older brother's reaction.

He managed to squeak out a little "sorry" while the man passed his hands over his face, exhaling heavily.

"Tommy... you are a pup. A fucking pup and I let this happen to you." The tone of guilt and anguish in the alpha's voice, along with his expression once he discovered his hands from his face made Tommy want to cry again, never before having seen his brother like this. A new wave of pain made him pant, struggling to stifle his voice and not make the face of discomfort very evident. "I promised dad I'd take care of you and this fucking happened..."

"Techno- It wasn't your fault. I should've-"

"No, Tommy. No." The firm voice along with the tone of it reminded Tommy of the scene when he himself learned of the news, with Ranboo in his brother’s place and almost finding enough amusement in the resemblance between the young alpha and Techno as to let out a giggle. His older brother’s presence obvious enough in Ranboo's life to reflect in some of their ways, despite not being related. "You're not-"

After that, the alpha exhaled deeply again, covering his face for a moment before continuing.

"Okay. Tommy. Let's not think about any of that for the moment, okay? We have a bit of a more pressing matter on our hands." And that seemed to bring both to the present and reality of the situation. "But why the hell did you get here for it? And how?"

"I... I don't know." The boy really didn't have a real answer to that question. Even he wanted to know why, so he just answered with the next truth. "I didn't want anyone to know."

"Were you planning on... leaving it?" The alpha's tone was baffled, not to say silently very worried as he tried not to make it too noticable and it took Tommy a few seconds to decipher what he meant with that. He could feel a cold horror invading him with that idea.

"No! I could never do that!" A contraction made him squirm and sob gently.

The man looked at him silently, a deep frown betraying his discomfort. The alpha turned to see the rain of snow behind his back outside the shelter and sighed heavily, picking up his hair and rolling his coat sleeves.

"I really never thought I'd be in this position again."

Chapter Text

Technoblade knew that seeing Tommy shake was as good as a bad sign. Giving birth in a cave, with hardly just the isolation of a couple of padded blankets and the frightening climate outside would be one of the worst scenarios that Techno could imagine. Seeing the violent chills shaking his little brother’s body reassured him at the same time it broke his heart. Seeing him stop shaking would mean that his body was losing against the cold.

Techno also tried not to think much about the situation. How and when this had happened. That his baby brother had been attacked literally under his nose. He tried not to think about Tommy hiding this throughout all those months, wearing his own ugly sweater he had relegated to the farthest spot in his closet. He tried not to think about rushing to Tommy's bedroom in the middle of the night, hearing him cry and beg for a pup in his sleep.

Techno felt so stupid now. All the signs had been there, but the impossibility of the situation in his mind had hidden them.

The boy cried, his breathing agitated regardless of how much Technoblade tried to insist on reminding him how to breathe, as he vaguely remembered that he should. Soon it’d be ten years since Flora’s birth, the last pup that the family believed they’d welcome and, fortunately, Techno hadn’t had to be present that time. Unfortunately that also meant that the memory of how to assist was even further, going back to the birth of Wilbur and Sally’s firstborn, and when Techno had been much more inexperienced, without his father's words to instruct him, vaguely remembering the lesson that came later.

The purple lips that exhaled way too serene breaths for the situation was the first thing that Techno noticed, minutes later. The relative silence and the increasingly evident cold and paleness on Tommy’s skin firing alarms in the adult’s mind. The little creature entering the world in his hands distracting him just a few seconds from the worrying image his younger brother presented.

"You have a girl, Tommy." The alpha reported, more to interact with his brother than anything. Ignoring the clumsy movements and soft cries of the pup that he almost instinctively curled up against his chest to keep her away from the cold, in favor of focusing on the fluttering eyelids and slowing breaths stirring his anxiety and fear. "Do you think we can get out of here and go back home?"

The boy mumbled something, his eyes closed as his breathing stayed just as slow. The obvious absence of tremors in his body giving Techno the sign that he had to act immediately if he didn’t want to lose his little brother right there in that cave.

Without waiting for more input on the boy’s part, Techno patted around his pockets in search of the small knife he tended to carry everywhere (just in case), thankfully finding it quickly and doing his best attempt at severing the whitish cord coming out of the newborn's belly, away from her to not risk accidentally harming her and trying not to wince too much as he did so, then proceeding to somewhat swaddle her among his own coats, doing his best to ensure she wouldn’t fall and then he carefully lifted his brother from the ground, wrapping him with the least affected blankets before leaving the cold shelter, the rain of snow having ceased to leave behind a much thicker and more difficult white layer to cross. Techno mounted himself and his brother on his horse’s back, trusting that the animal would know how to return home.

Hugging Tommy against him, and hearing him whine weakly from time to time, Techno hoped to get to the safety of the home and the expertise of their father in time.

Chapter Text

"Techno!" Philza's voice, distant standing at the door of their home, was the first thing that greeted them as soon as they appeared in the perimeter of their home. Techno approached as much as he could to the main door while on his horse, seeing his father struggle to advance across the thick layer of snow.

"Tommy!" He called out when he saw his own pup in Technoblade's arms. Without a word, the man helped the eldest of his offspring to lower the youngest from his horse's back, unable to stifle a pained gasp as he saw his unconscious face and felt the cold of his skin.

"He's alive." The alpha clarified quickly, before his father's concern gave way to horror when he saw the state of the youngest, while carefully getting down from the saddle himself and helping Philza to take Tommy inside. "Not for long if we don't do something now."

The voices of Wilbur and Sally, also calling the boy as soon as they saw him and jumping up from the couch, received them when they entered the house. The snow-covered hair and clothes of the redheaded alpha making it clear that she had also returned home recently.

"Wilbur, warm water." The father requested without even looking at him, at what the brunet omega moved to act immediately, before his mate stopped him, muttering something while looking into his eyes, nodding her head towards Philza. Wilbur nodded, hurrying to take Techno’s place and also whimpering painfully when he saw his little brother’s state, before helping his father carry Tommy to the only room on the first floor with a bed, the studio repurposed as a guest room. Sally, meanwhile, headed to the kitchen to fulfill Philza's order, knowing to get water just warm enough to prepare compresses to help the boy regain warmth.

Techno, for his part, sat on the couch, quite aware of the newborn cradled in his coat, whining and squirming gently. Technoblade carefully removed the creature from the folds of his clothing, thankful that being covered hadn't suffocated her. He reached over and grabbed a blanket from the piece of furniture beside him, wrapping the pup in it, and pulled back his coat to reveal a bit of his torso, bringing the creature closer to his body's warmth.

Hearing Sally frantically rummaging through the kitchen utensils for something to heat the water on, Technoblade spent a few minutes gently rubbing and patting the blanket against the tiny female in his arms, trying to restore any warmth that the awful weather that had welcomed her into the world might have taken away.

Sally’s steps returned to the room, freezing in her tracks as she saw what the other alpha had in his hands. Techno could almost feel her shock, palpable in the air next to him.

"Techno?... What is..."

"Tommy's." He answered the incomplete question, shifting the little pup on his arms and staring at her face, trying to determine whether the cold had gotten to her too badly or not. She seemed pretty alright for having been just born in a cave in the middle of a snowstorm.

"... Huh?!"

Techno couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction, trying to imagine what could be going through her head at the news. Those were some big news to come back to.

Wilbur’s figure, appearing again in the room, took both alphas away from their conversation. The whining bundle wrapped in blankets in his arms and his dumbfounded expression adding even more confusion to the scene.

"Tommy just had a pup."

Silence fell in the room for a few seconds, before Technoblade snorted something resembling a laugh.

"You mean another one." The alpha corrected, taking the little girl away from his chest to show her to Wilbur. The omega then seemed ready to collapse at the avalanche of emotions of that day, prompting his mate to rush to his side and hold onto him, helping him to get to the sofa and sit down next to his twin.

The brothers then looked at the pup in each other’s arms, an air of unreality almost ridiculous enough to become funny settling in the room.

"Girl?"

"Boy. Girl?"

"Girl."

A heavy sigh from Sally drew both of their attention to her, watching her run her hand through her hair and ruffle it nervously.

"Well, apparently twins really do run in your family, huh?" She laughed softly, seeing the aforementioned two generations of twins in front of her, thirty-four years between them and unable to help but finding the scene terribly adorable.

Chapter Text

Once Tommy had stabilized enough, thanks to his father's vigorous efforts and Sally's assistance; once the (older) twins were off duty caring for the younger ones, the new uncles decided to go to their father to break the news, who until now only knew that he had unexpectedly become a grandfather again, not for the third time.

"You really just had to make him your exact clone, even on this?"

Philza's confused expression, sitting next to Tommy on the bed, gave way to a surprise visual enough to be comical, prompting Wilbur to laugh as he watched his father frantically alternate his gaze between the pups in both of their arms, as if trying to convince himself he wasn't seeing double, with Technoblade still holding the older one and Wilbur holding the younger one, in the same order they themselves had come to life.

His surprise soon turned to sympathy and what seemed like deep sorrow as he turned his gaze to Tommy, who lay still unconscious under a thick pile of blankets, imagining what his pup had gone through at such a young age and in complete silence. A spiral that had taken over in everyone's minds as soon as they learned of the situation. A sad frown crossed the man's face as he reached his hand to use his fingers to comb the wild, golden curls on the teenager's head. Surrounded by his family, but ultimately alone on a journey that couldn't have been easy. Who better than Philza to speak from experience?

"Oh, my little one," the patriarch lamented, his gaze fixed on the boy's face for a couple more seconds before returning his gaze to his older children and the new additions to his family. "Let me see them."

With that, the twins approached their father, presenting him the pair of sleeping newborns, oblivious to the confusion and bewilderment their existence had caused for their entire family, including their bearer. Fully taking his gaze off the fragile figure on the bed for the first time since seeing him after his rescue, the man turned to his older children, one hand placed protectively on his own pup at all times, and leaned over to meet his grandchildren: a brunette girl, curiously somewhat smaller than her raven-haired younger brother. With at least twenty minutes between the litter, the firstborn's bragging rights would be highly in her favor if she decided to take advantage of them over her brother. At least more than her uncle had done with his own three minutes as an only child.

"They don't even look like him," Philza commented with an incredulous laugh, turning once more to look at the peaceful and thankfully now much more alive-looking face of his youngest. "My little mirror."

The tears in the patriarch's eyes were not pointed out by anyone.