Chapter Text
He goes into labor on the miserable cold day of December 31st. It’s frigid with a nasty blizzard outside. The house is warm but the dreariness of the grey outside just makes it all feel dull and gross.
And Yuri’s not here…
Victor sent him to Switzerland a few days ago, right before the storm. Otabek’s not sure why though he guesses it’s business related. The only other option is that Victor is a petty bastard and tries to keep them apart as often as possible.
Which is also very true.
He spends hours pacing and just generally being restless between contractions. The fucking doctor shows up, checking him every so often to see how things are progressing. Otabek eventually gives up and stays in bed when they get too bad. He wants an epidural but they won’t give him one. The doc gives him some morphine though, just enough to take the edge off.
It‘s just after midnight when it’s finally over. Otabek lays there, staring at the ceiling as Victor and Yuuri coo over his baby. Nothing is said to him… no thanks or even the littlest bit of praise.
Not that he’d expected any.
“He looks just like you, Yuu~ri.”
He was a decent-sized pup at just under eight pounds. There was the slightest dusting of peach fuzz on top of his head in dark brown. His eyes were more slanted than not, making him look more Asian, more like his dam than his sire… whoever that was.
They named him Vasily.
“We need to give him skin-to-skin with his dam.”
“Yuuri’s his dam,” Victor replied, not sounding happy.
“The carrier then.”
Demoted even further…
“If possible, the pup needs the contact with the carrie-”
“Yuuri is his dam-!”
“And the pup needs contact with his carrier to help settle him into life outside. If you don’t, he won’t adapt as well and he may not get as strong as he could have otherwise,” Denisovich seemed stuck on the idea, “I know he’s your son, Sir… but you have the carrier here. Giving him a few moments with him and letting him nurse-”
“Now we’re supposed to let him nurse him?”
“Sir,” the doctor’s voice got firm, “Whether you like it or not, the pup needs the carrier even for a brief period. Surely you know about the antibodies he’d get from nursing. I’m not suggesting this to try and mess with your plans. I would never. I’m suggesting it because it’s what’s best for the pup. Could he do without it, yes. But you risk him being more sickly,” he paused, “Surely a couple of weeks with his carrier won’t matter in the lifetime he’ll have to reap the benefits.”
Apparently Victor had nothing to say to that.
Otabek was left alone an hour or so later. The pup was bundled up next to him, sleeping like a… well baby. He doesn’t want to touch him. It hurts to even really look at him. Everything about this is so wrong. He’d never give much thought to having kids and here he was only a few hours after giving birth to a rape baby.
Because that’s what that bundle was.
A product of rape.
He hadn’t wanted the Alpha… or the mark… or the sex… or the pup.
Otabek didn’t know what to do with it. By all rights, this pup was his... maybe Victor’s too or maybe it was Yuri’s and… it just didn’t matter. He didn’t want to get attached more than he already was. It might have been of his blood but it would never be his. This little thing… this innocent little pup… would be raised to be a murderer and Otabek honestly didn’t want to have memories of now when he watches later…
Maybe he should kill it… end its life before it’s destroyed in other ways.
No… No he can’t.
Staring down at the little face gives him the same feelings he had when he’d found out he was pregnant.
He can’t kill him.
He’s wished death on him so many times… It was cruel to think about but no part of him wanted this baby. The worst part? The baby had nothing to do with it. It wasn’t the pup’s fault he was born. He was just as much a victim really, forced into existence by the Alpha who’d ruined Otabek’s life. He couldn’t blame the pup for any of it… but he wasn’t sure he could truly love it either. There’s some attachment but he doubts it’s the same way his mother felt holding him or his sisters for the first time.
Vasily wakes up and cries. Otabek’s not sure what to to, but he’s leaking so he tries that first. It hurts and he has to pull the pup off a few times to get him to attach correctly. Once he’s on right, he sucks away, making little noises here and there until he’s asleep again. Otabek burps him then puts him back down and gets up to stare out the window. There’s nothing to see in the blizzard but he needs the space.
The pattern continues for a few days. Yuuri and Victor both come in every few hours to hold the pup who’s asleep most of the time. He nurses every couple of hours and Otabek can feel Yuuri get pissed whenever he has to take the pup to feed him. He resists the urge to say something snarky to him… mostly because Victor would retaliate.
The snow’s stopped and he has a white wonderland to stare at now. There’s nothing much to look at though. Nothing happens on this side of the house and, aside from the occasional gunshots he’s heard over the last year, it feels like he’s one of the last people on Earth. Sometimes his life before this feels more like a dream or elaborate hallucination.
He goes back to bed once the sun’s down. The lamps stay on so he doesn’t have to do much when the pup inevitably wakes up again. He’s contemplating sleep, but he’s tired of sleeping even if he’s just as tired of being awake.
There’s a knock on the door and a blond head peeks in, “I’ve got your favorite,” a plastic bag appears with some sort of food box.
He’s back..?
Otabek’s brows crease, “Huh?”
Yuri gives him a lope-sided smirk, “Am I allowed in the den?”
He’s back.
“Yea,” he glanced down at the pup, feeling like he was a dirty little secret and then back at Yuri who sat on the side. The bag was dropped and the box opened. A scent Otabek hadn’t smelled in a couple of years hit him in the face, making his mouth water. “Is that…?”
“Chook Chook?” Yuri grins, “It is. Right from a place in Kazakhstan,” he offered a fork which Otabek took and shoved a piece in his mouth, actually moaning a little. “I had the pilot stop in Oral before coming home.”
“This is so good-! I can’t believe you remembered,” he’d mentioned it once, in passing… six months ago.
“Of course I’d remember.”
He almost missed Yuri’s smile, a genuine, warm expression that made Otabek feel things. It makes him pause and just stare for a moment. The green eyes sparkle a little as a hand reaches and tucks some of Otabek’s longer hair behind his ear. His touch is so gentle…
Yuri’s there.
Yuri’s there and Otabek feels some of the stress ease.
The blond’s mouth tugs up a little higher on one side, “Hey.”
“Hey…”
“I’m… sorry I wasn’t here. Wouldn’t have been able to really be here anyway but-” he cuts himself off as he pulls away.
“You’re here now,” Otabek catches his hand, giving it a squeeze.
“Yea,” he gestures at the bundle, “That him?” Otabek nods and Yuri gently peels the blanket back just enough to see half his face. “Not as ugly as I thought he’d be.” Otabek breaths a snort. Yuri looks up at him, cheeks a little pink, “He’ll be kinda cute in a couple of weeks.”
High praise from Yuri Plisetsky.
“What did you name him?”
“They’re calling him Vasily.”
“Is that what you would have named him?”
Otabek gives a sharp shrug, “Doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it matters. You’re his dam.”
“Not after they take him from me, he won’t. I doubt I'm even on the birth certificate.”
Yuri waved a dismissive hand, “Blood tests would solve that.”
“Doesn’t matter. I won’t be leaving here.”
“True… so… What would you name him?”
Otabek stared down at him, “I don’t know.”
“Think about it,” Yuri replied, “My dam gave me a name after my father picked ‘Yuri’. It was…” he tilted his head, “It was special… felt like a secret… technically it was a secret but…” there was a ghost of a smile, “Her calling my name is one of the clearest memories I have of her.”
“What was it… if you don't mind my asking...”
“Nikita. To everyone else I’m Yuri… but… to her, I was Nikita.”
“Nikita… what does that mean?”
“Thereabouts means ‘Victorious’... ” he snorts, “I was… kind of her Victor… said I deserved just as much even though we both knew I wouldn’t get it. I was the spare,” he looked at the pup, “though maybe not anymore.”
“Would he hurt you? Victor?”
“Nah…” Yuri grinned, “I’m too valuable to him now. Networking's a pain in the ass, but apparently I’m good enough at it to be acquaintances with some people Victor couldn’t have gotten in contact with otherwise.”
“How does that work?”
Another smug grin, “Alot of people don’t like the Nikiforov name… too much blood and intimidation... Turns out ‘Plisetsky’ doesn’t share the same stigma.”
“Sneaky.”
Yuri winks at him and Otabek feels his cheeks warm, “Not bad work for six months eh?”
“I honestly don’t know about that,” Otabek takes another bite.
“Well… I’ve done better than most in six months. Not even Victor got where I am when he first got serious about networking. Sure he’s got an empire now, but-” he leaned in close to whisper, “-I’m better than him comparatively,” and stole the next piece off Otabek’s fork, chewing for a second and then his eyes popped, “Oo! That is good!”
Otabek offered him another piece of the sugary fried dough. His phone goes off a moment after and Yuri rolls his eyes. Otbaek feels a surge of panic when the Alpha gets up.
“It’s alright,” Yuri smooths his hair and kisses his forehead, “He won’t kill either of us. I’ll be back.” he walks out, closing the door softly behind him. Otabek sits there with the last two pieces, staring at them yet not really seeing them.
Should he… should he take Yuri’s advice and… give the pup his own name…
He’s not sure what it would change really… except maybe give them a connection they wouldn’t have otherwise. Is that something he wants though….? Victor is going to take him and corrupt him. Otabek will have to watch the pup he carried for nine months be twisted into a proper heir of the Bratva. Does he really want something else to tie him to this.
The pup wakes up and fusses. It’s not his hungry cry though. Otabek knows that one rather well by now. No… this one seems to be just a general fussy. He picks the pup up and holds him, bouncing gently as he starts to pace the room. The pup’s nose is tucked into his neck and it doesn’t take long for him to calm down again. Otabek holds him, rocking on his feet and comes to a realization.
Maybe… maybe his will be the only soft hand this pup will ever know.
Yea Victor and Yuuri will keep him alive and raise him to adulthood but… will they truly love him..? Otabek doesn't know and the thought, mixed with hormones, is enough to make him tear up. The horrifying realization is almost too much. There’s nothing he can even really do either.
Except.. Except make the most of the time he has… give this pup as much love as he can before he can’t.
‘What did you name him?’
Mansur meant ‘Victorious’ like Nikita did… but it was a Uzbek name like his own...
“What do you think?” he looked down at the little thing and swallowed hard, “Should I…?”
The pup’s eyes opened, looking a little unfocused but staring at him all the same. They’re dark… like his own. He sees nothing to tell him which Alpha is his sire. Maybe he’ll just choose to believe it’s Yuri.
Mayby he'll chose to believe Mansur is Yuri’s pup and Otabek will do what he can to protect him.