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"Now when in tarnation did that happen?" Clay Bailey stared at the lump in Jack Spicer's coat that stretched the fabric tighter than usual.
"What's it to you?' The self-proclaimed evil genius was sulking, and had already claimed the best rock for his seat. They were stuck waiting, their teammates and cohorts gone ahead across the lake to fight over the latest Shen Gong Wu without them. From the way Jack's helepack was letting out a thin stream of smoke, he looked to be grounded until his cohorts came back or he made his way back to whatever jet he'd brought.
"You sure you're fit to be fighting in your condition and all?" Clay asked, pressing a little. They'd joked before that Jack looked like he'd gained a little weight, but now that Clay was close enough he could see that he was just as scrawny as ever, except for a bump in the middle that Clay recognized.
"What makes you think you know anything about my condition?" Jack sounded defensive and curled up a little, crossing his arms over his belly like he was trying to hide it.
"I seen enough pregnant critters to know it when I see it, so is it some weird Heylin spell or what?" There wasn't much to do other than bug Jack about it, and it was kind of fun. He was still easy to fluster, and it was almost cute how he hadn't thought to have some sort of lie or story to deflect with.
"Fine, if you have to know, it's the Heir's Crown. Anyone suitable for helping rule the world with me is too likely to stab me in the back while I'm young, but someday I'll need an heir to take over for me. And who better than just me? They'll still probably stab me in the back, of course, but it'll be when I'm old and ready to retire and leave the hard work of ruling the world to someone else. It's perfect." And that sounded more like Jack Spicer and his usual schemes.
"I always would have figured you'd have just built a robot to take over for you," Clay said, standing up and shading his eyes. It looked like something was going on.
"Yeah, well, I'm doing it this way," Jack huffed, and Clay chuckled.
"Well either way, if you end up in a spot of trouble with it, and you can behave yourself, you can come to the Earth Temple. I'm not going to turn away anything in the family way, even if it's a low down Heylin snake." Clay couldn't help but offer, even if Jack was the enemy.
"Yeah right, like I'd ever need help from you Xiaolin losers," Jack scoffed. Clay started to mentally tally all the times he'd begged them for help in the past, but before he could start listing them he saw a green ribbon rising out of the trees on the other side of the lake and headed his way.
"Looks like my ride's here, good luck with everything," Clay said, starting to trot down closer to the water's edge where Dojo could see him, before Jack had a chance to answer.
Clay pretty much forgot about the encounter once he was back at his temple. He shared the news with the other Dragons, who reacted about like he expected. Jack Spicer having a kid was weird and confusing, but not that much more than most of the things he did.
Life at the Earth temple was pleasantly routine, he had a number of students and even though none of them yet showed any Dragon potential, Clay had found he enjoyed being a teacher. Learning martial arts, discipline, and Xiaolin values was beneficial for everyone, and not having to do any chores around the temple was a bonus.
Time went by and Clay had almost forgotten about it when he woke up to a pounding at the temple doors. He was cautious, throwing on his robes and going to see who could possibly be at his doors at this hour. It could be someone in trouble, but it could just as easily be a trick and Clay wasn't so naïve as to go in unprepared. He opened the door, stared at the person on his doorstep, and still had no idea which one it possibly was.
"You've gotta help me!" Jack had gotten bigger since he'd last seen him, a lot bigger. No one would be able to miss his obvious pregnancy like this, even in the oversized clothes he was wearing.
"What do you need my help for?" Clay asked cautiously.
"You said if I needed help you'd help, well I need help! I'm not ready to be a father! The nannybot's not anywhere close to done, the nursery is in shambles, I really thought I'd have more time to get this stuff worked out." Jack sounded genuinely freaked out at least, but he sounded that way a lot and it didn't always mean anything.
"That tends to happen, usually people ain't ready, it just sort of happens. What do you expect me to do about it?" Clay glanced him over. "And at this time of night? You couldn't have done this at a decent hour?"
"It's barely ten thirty, and isn't there some Wu that could help? Rewind this, or pause it, or something. Give me a little longer to get ready, a few weeks, months, maybe a few years. There's gotta be something, right?"
"I don't think it quite works like that, partner. You just gotta get through it the old fashioned way." Clay tried to make his voice sound soothing at least, like he was talking to a spooked horse.
"You won't help me?" Jack sounded genuinely hurt.
"I didn't say that, I gave my word and I'm gonna keep it, I just don't know if I can give you the kind of help you want," Clay said.
"And what kind of help is that?" Jack asked.
"You could stay here, as long as you can behave yourself, have someone looking after you besides all your robots," Clay offered.
"It's a deal. I mean, as long as you're sure the Sands of Time won't let me put this off for a while?" Jack made one final attempt, Clay shook his head.
"Welcome to the Earth Temple, Jack Spicer." Clay just hoped he wasn't making a terrible mistake.
A few days later Clay wasn't sure if it counted as a terrible mistake, but it was certainly some kind of mistake. Jack had taken his offer to make himself at home a little too literally. It felt like he'd moved half his own home into the spare room at the temple. There was a bed, a mountain of pillows that Clay wasn't sure how he managed to mostly fit on the bed, a dozen bots that seemed to exist only to cater to Jack's every whim, and the pieces that Clay assumed belonged to the unfinished nannybot Jack had mentioned. The only good thing was if Clay poked his head in to check on him Jack was happy to whine and moan about everything from the weird noises at night to the food to all sorts of topics Clay just tuned out, but he didn't seem inclined to venture out or get in the way otherwise.
It also didn't help the other Xiaolin Dragons found the whole situation hilarious.
"He's probably planning to dump the kid on you and run, like a coocoo or something. Come back once the kid is potty trained and ready for evil indoctrination. He knows a sucker when he sees one." Rai had said, when he stopped laughing.
"Sometimes you're too nice for your own good, Clay. Enjoy the consequences! And don't you dare think I'm going to help change any diapers, you're on your own, cowboy." Kimiko had texted him after Rai snitched on him.
All in all, the biggest mystery was why Clay didn't regret making his offer, even if Jack had taken him up on it. Maybe because when Jack wasn't blustering or complaining he looked weirdly vulnerable like this, and more than once Clay found himself idly wanting to touch the baby bump and reassure the tiny life inside that it was well protected. He'd never really thought much about being a parent before, his own home life had been enough to make the whole family thing seem less appealing. He liked kids, but dating and courting and marrying just to have them seemed to be asking for trouble. Jack had managed to skip that part, so maybe he felt the same way.
No matter what though, Clay firmly squashed down the urge to be affectionate towards Jack's baby bump. He'd probably screech and bite if he tried and best to let sleeping dogs lie.
"Do you have any clean towels? All the ones in the bathrooms are soaked." Jack asked, sounding slightly annoyed but closer to polite than usual, so Clay didn't see any reason to get annoyed about it.
"In the closet, I can show you." Clay started leading him, one of the things about running a school, there was a lot of... well, everything. The students ate more, went through more toilet paper, and used more towels cleaning up in the temple's version of locker rooms than Clay would have ever dreamed possible. "Maybe some of your bots can help pitch in with the laundry."
"I keep them pretty busy, unless you want to take over rubbing my feet instead," Jack said, obviously teasing.
"Tell you what, they go through all the laundry that still needs doing, I'll give you that foot rub," Clay teased back.
"Careful, I might just take you up on that, big strong Xiaolin warrior willingly at my feet? Sounds perfect to me." Jack grabbed two of the clean towels the moment Clay had the closet open, turning to start waddling back to the bathroom.
"Your feet can't smell any worse than some of those towels, I reckon." Clay snorted, closing the closet up and then continuing in to meditate. He'd been on his way to unwind when Jack found him.
Clay was peacefully in meditation, one with the Earth and all of the life it contained when there was a series of soft thuds in front of him. He cracked open an eye to see who would possibly think of disturbing him.
"Eight baskets of laundry. Towels, spare uniforms, and everything else. Clean, dry, folded. Going to pay up, cowboy?" Jack stood triumphantly, the pose only a little spoiled by the hand bracing at the small of his back to help with the weight in front of him.
"Your bots really did all that?" Clay couldn't help but be a little impressed.
"I only really need one to help me in and one of the bath, the rest were free," Jack said, still sounding smug.
"Alright, have them put it all away and I'll keep my word," Clay stood up slowly, he hadn't specified how long so the moment Jack started being an ass about it he could stop.
"That's what I like about you Xiaolin, you actually keep your word." Jack waddled back towards his room, and Clay was a little impressed with how the bots that weren't off dealing with laundry buzzed around him like worker bees taking care of their queen. It seemed like almost no time at all Jack was tucked in and propped up among all the pillows, and his slippers off and beside the bed.
Clay sat down on the edge of the bed gingerly, part of it was he was afraid of sending pillows tumbling, and part of it was he didn't always trust beds to hold his weight. A mat close to the earth was dependable.
"You're not going to chicken out, are you?" Jack watched him.
"No, I just don't want you kicking up a fuss if I sit down too hard and break this fancy bed of yours." Clay got himself settled, pulling Jack's feet into his lap. Like this without Jack's loose pants and slippers in the way he could see how swollen they were, and even if he was sure a good portion of Jack's whining was empty air there had to be some real discomfort at the core.
Well, part of Earth was healing. Nothing super fancy, but he could stroke over his feet and ankles, feeling the energy flows where they had stagnated and pooled and encouraging them to flow again with touch and his own chi. He was so intent on it that he nearly missed the little strangled sound from Jack. He glanced up and Jack looked surprised and a little flushed and flustered.
"Everything all right there, partner?" Clay asked, pressing carefully into the arch of his foot.
"Y-yeah, I didn't think you'd actually be any good at that." Jack scrunched down a little in the pillows.
"I'm not gonna do a terrible job just because it's you," Clay said, keeping up the stroking. The pressure did seem to be helping and Jack was staying quiet so he kept it up.
"So who'd you pick to be the other one when you used the Wu anyway?" Clay asked, thinking out loud. Jack immediately tensed.
"What do you mean? I told you, it's just me," Jack said defensively.
"You and I both know that ain't how it works, the Crown needs a second person, though they don't even have to know they're involved. So who'd you pick?" Clay kept gently pressing the issue.
"It doesn't matter and I'm not telling anyone, as far as everything's concerned the kid's just mine. Why were you looking up stuff about that Wu anyway?" Jack was obviously trying to change the subject and Clay let it drop.
"Curiosity, a lot of the specialized Wu that aren't really useful in battle or transportation kinda get filed away as unimportant, usually don't pay too much attention to them past the basics. Wanted to make sure there weren't any nasty surprises with that one neither." Clay explained.
"Were there? Any nasty surprises I mean." Jack seemed to slowly be relaxing back on the bed after his earlier spooking, and Clay kept up the rubbing, glad to see some of the swelling seemed to be going down at least.
"Naw, one of the nicer ones, as far as Wu go. Nice and simple." Clay finished up, easing Jack's feet back down onto some of the pillows. "How's that?"
"Good enough I guess, you can go." It was an obvious dismissal and Clay was fine showing himself out, but he was still curious about who Jack had picked. Normally he loved bragging about the details of his plans. Well, Clay would either find out or he wouldn't, it wasn't important enough to demand Jack answer.
Things slowly got a little less tense between them. It helped Jack didn't seem to be going to go back on his word about being on good behavior, maybe because he was too pregnant to cause much mischief. He left Clay alone during most of the day but sometimes in the late afternoons when it started to cool down he'd emerge to get some fresh air and waddle around the garden. He claimed it was to keep from going stir-crazy in bed all day, but Clay wondered if part of it wasn't that he got lonely with only the bots for company.
Jack was picking his way down a small set of stone steps when Clay saw him miss the edge of one of them, slipping and starting to stumble. His bots were fast, but Clay was faster. He was up from where he was sitting and across the garden at his side in a heartbeat, catching him carefully and lifting him up.
"Careful, partner. Last thing you need is to take a tumble, maybe twist an ankle and end up on bed rest for real." Clay drawled steadily enough, to make up for the fact his heart was still pounding at being startled. He'd never hear the end of it if anyone thought he'd let Jack Spicer fluster him.
"I... I..." Jack stammered, clinging awkwardly as Clay tried to figure out if he should set him on his feet or take him to one of the benches.
"What is it?" Clay asked.
"I hate this!" And then Jack burst into tears.
"Whoa, easy there." Clay stepped over to the bench and sat down himself, holding Jack in his arms.
"It's not fair. I can't walk right, I can't get anything done, I'm fat, I'm ugly, I'm emotional, and everything about this sucks!" Jack sounded like a dam had burst, clinging to his gi top as he blubbered.
Clay never was sure what to do when someone cried, but staying put and trying to pat his back reassuringly seemed like it couldn't hurt at least.
"Now now, it ain't all that bad. You're not fat or ugly, you're just pregnant. It's all baby weight and it'll go away after the Wu effect ends. You'll be back to your good ol' evil self in no time." Clay wasn't sure if Jack was really listening, but slowly the sobbing eased off.
"You mean it?" It was quieter than Clay expected to hear from him, stuffed up and thick sounding as he looked up at him.
"Of course I do." Clay gently wiped his thumb at some of the smudged eyeliner. "I know this part ain't fun, but you'll get through it."
Jack stared at him like he expected it to be a trap and then he was kissing him, tear damp and awkward. Clay was too startled to react. Jack pulled back slowly, scrubbing at his face with his sleeve. "Sorry, told you I was emotional."
"You don't need to be sorry 'bout that neither. You mean it, or are you just messing with me?" Clay asked.
"I'm not messing with you, but if you want to ignore it you can. Chalk it up to hormones and all." Jack just sounded tired and Clay hesitated, then held his hand over the baby bump.
"Can I?"
"You'd want to? Yeah, sure, go ahead." Jack said, and Clay settled his hand against the fabric over his belly. It was strange how much more real it felt being able to touch like this. If he concentrated he wondered if he could sense the little spark of life inside, would they have an element this early? But for now he needed to take care of Jack.
"I ain't going to promise anything permanent, I don't plan on going evil and I don't think you plan on trying to give good another go, and right now a lot of things are changing for you. But... if you wanna try and figure things out and see what we can manage, I'll give it a go." Clay decided, keeping his hand on Jack's belly.
"That sounds like an awful lot of words to just say yes," Jack said, but he was smiling and Clay found he didn't mind his smart mouth as much like this.
"I ain't sleeping in that thing, I'd feel like I was getting swallowed alive by giant cotton wads," Clay warned, easing Jack down onto the bed.
"That's fine, it's enough of a pain finding a position that doesn't hurt too much, trying to do it with someone else in the bed would be a nightmare." Jack squirmed around, taking some of the bot's help to rearrange pillows.
"What's hurtin' you right now?" Clay asked, sitting down where it looked like he wouldn't be in the way.
"My back, I tensed it badly when I stumbled and it hurts a lot anyway." Jack shifted, trying to get a hand back to press at his lower back.
"Want me to rub it for you?" Clay offered, leaning in to stroke over his back. Jack made a soft surprised sound.
"Yeah, you did a good job on my feet before, just.. be gentle."
"No worries there, partner," Clay said, stroking more purposefully, but going light at first to coax overworked muscles into unclenching rather than trying to force them loose. If he went too fast and hurt him he'd just tense
back up and undo half the effort.
"That feels nice..." Jack sighed, and Clay smiled to himself, starting to tug up his shirt to rub over white skin directly. Jack grabbed at the hem of his shirt with a small protest.
"What's the matter? Too cold?" Clay was surprised, usually Jack wanted it freezing in his room.
"No, just... you know. So you don't have to look..." Jack said, and Clay remembered what he said before.
"I said you ain't ugly, need me to prove it to you?" Clay tugged on his shirt again, and this time Jack let him. Clay reached over his side to cup his hand against the side of his belly, rubbing gently. "You're pregnant and you've got a little baby in there and there ain't nothing prettier than that, understand?"
Jack nodded, and from the way he was trembling he wondered if he had started crying again, but he spoke after a minute.
"It was you."
"Pardon?" Clay paused in rubbing, not sure if he heard him correctly.
"It was you, you're the one I used. And I'm not just saying that so you'll keep being nice to me," Jack said defensively.
"I wouldn't think you would..."
"But, yeah.. I was thinking, what do I lack? Upper body strength, maybe my kid could have a few advantages I never had there. The two humans with the most upper body strength are you and Vlad, and that wasn't a choice at all," Jack rambled, speaking a little faster like he was trying to get the whole story out.
"That... makes a lot of sense, I reckon. Here I was thinking you were embarrassed because it was Wuya or something." Clay tried to tease a little, getting a surprised little laugh out of Jack.
"No, never, could you imagine?" Jack laughed again, sounding like it was as much releasing tension as it was actually finding it funny, but Clay would take it.
"Don't much care to, so... hope you made the right choice." Clay said, touching over the side of Jack's belly again.
Jack put his hand over Clay's. "I think I did."