Neal whines a little and sits up.
“But I…”
“Neal.” Alex takes hold of Neal’s hands. “You’ve just fallen asleep again and you’ve been up all day. Please, go to bed.”
“But I should help.”
“No. We can finish up here. You go to bed.”
Neal chews on his lower lip and frowns slightly. He looks over at Desmond.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” Desmond smiles and nods. “Go and sleep. We’ll be up soon.”
Neal nods. He stifles a yawn and stands up. He starts walking out of the living room, but stops and turns back around when he’s stood in the doorway.
“I’m sorry for shouting before. I just…”
“Don’t worry about it. Just go to bed.”
“‘Kay.” Neal nods and wanders off upstairs.
Alex walks over and rests his chin on Desmond’s shoulder.
“Do you think we should be worried about him?”
“No. Like you said, it’s been a long day for him.” Desmond gently kisses Alex’s cheek. “Now, come on- let’s get this finished so we can get to bed too.”
“You know, I think that offer might be a lot more enticing if it was going to end with sex and not just sleeping.”
***
Desmond wakes up in the middle of the night. He looks at the clock and groans softly when he sees how early it is. He turns on his side and reaches out to pull Neal towards him, except that he can’t feel Neal at all. He opens his eyes and sees that Neal is, in fact, not in bed, but he’s relieved to see that at least Alex is still there. He leans over and presses a kiss to Alex’s forehead.
Alex turns over and mutters softly, but he doesn’t wake up.
Desmond climbs out of bed and wipes the sleep from his eyes. He looks in the bathroom, but Neal isn’t there so he walks out into the hallway. He stands there for a few seconds, wondering whether there’s any point in checking any more of the rooms upstairs. He decides to check the nursery (not that it’s actually the nursery yet, but rather still the room that is officially going to become the nursery whenever they get around to decorating it), but Neal isn’t there either so he goes downstairs (there probably isn’t another room upstairs that Neal would be in). He looks in the living room, but Neal’s not there- nor is he in the dining room or the kitchen. That’s when he starts to get worried. He turns around and he’s about to leave, but then he notices the light on the back porch is turned on. He leans forward and looks outside. He frowns a little when he sees Neal sat huddled up on the bench by the back door. He watches Neal for a few minutes before walking outside. He sits down on the bench next to Neal and puts a hand on Neal’s shoulder.
Neal jumps a little- he hadn’t realized Desmond was here.
“Are you okay?”
Neal just stares at Desmond for a moment.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“Well, you have been napping for most of the day. That probably…” Desmond’s sentence trails off and he frowns at Neal. He hesitates for a few seconds before speaking. “Please, tell me what’s wrong.”
Neal sighs lightly and lets his legs drop down to the floor. He leans his head on Desmond’s shoulder and smiles lightly when he feels Desmond wrap an arm around his waist.
Desmond kisses the top of Neal’s head.
“Talk to me.”
“Today was a good day, yes?” Neal glances back at Desmond. “We were all happy?”
“Yeah.” Desmond frowns slightly but nods. “Why do you ask?”
Neal sighs lightly and pushes himself back so he can look at Desmond.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about this, but today I think about it more.” Neal looks down and folds his hands in his lap. “I liked today- celebrating and everything- but we still had to hide. We still have to hide everything. I have to pretend I’m not here with you and Alex, celebrating and being happy like we were today.”
“Right.” Desmond nods slowly. “That’s what’s bothering you? You don’t like pretending.”
“No, I don’t.” Neal shakes his head. “It was easier, safer, before, but now…”
“We’re not gonna be able to pretend much longer.” Desmond runs a hand down his face- this thought has crossed his mind, too. “You’re right. We’re not gonna be able to keep this a secret anymore.” He touches a hand to Neal’s cheek. “You’re not worried about that, are you?”
Neal shakes his head.
“It will be a relief to not hide anymore. I’m scared about what happens after. People might say bad things about us. Maybe we don’t get any more rest from them. Maybe it will be too hard for the babies.” Neal shrugs lightly. “Things like that.”
Desmond pulls Neal into a tight hug.
“I wish I could promise that it would all be okay, but you know I can’t promise that. I don’t know that it’ll be easy for us, but, no matter what people think about us, I’m always going to love you and them, too.” Desmond moves one hand to Neal’s stomach. “And you know what Alex’s like- he’s not going to let any negative words get in the way of this. We’ll be okay, Neal, as long as we stick together.”
Neal nods as best he can.
“I just… I don’t like it when people say bad things about me- it’s hard enough anyway, but it will be even harder now.” Neal puts his hand on top of Desmond’s hand that is resting on his stomach. “I have to keep them safe.”
“You will, Neal; we all will.”
Neal can’t really argue anymore so he just settles against Desmond. He relaxes after a while, but he jumps back when he hears the back door bang open. He looks up with wide-eyes to see Alex stood just outside.
Alex glances between Desmond and Neal for a few seconds. He wants to say something, but he can’t quite manage it (he’s just run all the way down from the bedroom). He puts his hands on his hips and takes a moment to catch his breath.
“Hey.” Desmond smiles softly and holds a hand out towards Alex. “Come sit down.”
Alex frowns a little, but nods. He sits down on the bench next to Desmond.
“So… Okay, well, what the hell is going on? I mean, I wake up in bed and you’re both not there.”
“Well,” Desmond shifts round so that he can look at Alex, “you’re not the only one who’s freaking out, anymore.”
Alex shifts forwards slightly so he can look at Neal.
“What are you worried about?”
Neal shrugs lightly.
Desmond rolls his eyes and turns to look at Alex.
“We’re gonna have to tell people soon. We’re gonna have to tell everyone everything about us and he’s worried about what happens after.”
Alex’s eyes widen slightly.
“Oh, God,” Desmond mutters. He grips one of Alex’s hands tightly. “Please don’t you freak out too.”
Alex takes a few deep breaths because Desmond is right- if Neal’s already scared, then it won’t help for him to get scared too. He nods slowly and then smiles softly at Neal.
“We’ll make it okay, Neal- whatever we have to do, we’ll make it okay for us and for the babies.”
***
A short while later, they’re all back inside.
Neal is curled up in bed, fast asleep.
Alex is sat on the bed next to Neal and he’s running a hand through Neal’s hair.
Desmond is sat at the end of the bed, watching over Neal and Alex.
“I think we should do this soon.” Alex tears his eyes away from Neal to look over at Desmond. “We need to tell people soon and get this out of the way so we can forget about it and move on.”
“Yeah.” Desmond nods slowly. He rubs the back of his neck. “We need time to figure it all out, though. I mean, what we’re going to say and… It’s probably only fair that we give some people a bit of warning, too.”
“But not too long. He doesn’t need that.” Alex looks back down at Neal and smiles softly. “And we don’t need to drag this out any longer than necessary.”
>
“You’re right. We’ll start making calls in the morning.”
CHAPTER NINE
Desmond has been trying to ignore the incessant chatter going on in both his ears for what feels like forever and now he’s just snapped.
“Stop it. Stop it right now.” Desmond stands up and takes a few steps forward- it’s quite a relief to get even slightly out of the situation where he was just literally stuck between Neal and Alex with Rehan and Boris on either side of them. He might be relieved now, but he’s not any less angry. He turns around and puts his hands on his hips. He tries to take a deep breath, but somehow ends up growling. He looks between Rehan and Boris. “Frankly, I could do without either of you here, but, apparently, they need you here for support. This sniping you’ve been doing towards each other is not helping so either you both shut up or you both get the hell out.” He points towards the door.
Neal’s eyes widen and he just stares at Desmond. It takes him a minute to recover. He opens his mouth to reply, but Desmond doesn’t give him the chance.
“And you can shut up, too.” Desmond points at Neal. “You don’t get to pout and bat your eyelashes and always get your own way. You don’t get to say whatever you want and expect us not to call you on your shit. You don’t get to sit around and do nothing for the next six months because you have to take care of yourself and the babies, but that doesn’t mean you get to be a lazy son of a bitch. And you.” He turns towards Alex. “It’s not you against the world, all right? You don’t always get to play the fucking victim. You can’t expect us to let you get away with some of the shit you do just because we’re still going to love you at the end of the day. The world does not revolve around you- this is about all of us, especially now, and I think you really need to remember that.” He can’t quite believe he’s just said all of that. He takes a deep breath. Well, that didn’t help- he’s still angry and not quite over the fact that he’s just said everything he’s been keeping locked inside for such a long time now. He shakes his head and then just walks out of the room- he needs to be somewhere else, somewhere on his own, right now. He ends up sitting in a chair at the far end of the hallway. He just about registers that a few people walk past and he’s pretty sure they’re all wary of the crazy ranting he’s doing. He’s staring at the ground, busy trying to work through it all, when he hears someone approaching him. He’s expecting it to be one of the staff telling him it’s time to go out there and start this thing, but when he looks up he sees Neal stood in front of him. He opens and closes his mouth a couple of times because he’s really not sure what to say.
Neal folds his arms across his chest.
“You were mean before and I did not care for it.”
Desmond opens his mouth to apologise, but stops when Neal holds a hand up.
“You might also have been a tiny little bit right about some of the things you said. And I… You’ve been thinking about that for a while, haven’t you? You wanted to say this before?”
“I guess,” Desmond mutters and shrugs lightly.
Neal frowns slightly and looks at Desmond.
“I didn’t like what you said or even that you were thinking it, but I don’t like that you didn’t say it before, that you kept it secret from us. Don’t do that anymore.”
“I promise.”
Neal softens slightly. He takes another step forward and holds a hand out towards Desmond.
“We don’t have long left now and I think we should all be together before.”
Desmond nods. He hesitates for a second before taking hold of Neal’s hand and standing up.
“I’m sorry about what I said. I didn’t mean it like it came. I’m not… It’s just so stressful and…”
“It’s okay. We’ll talk about it later.” Neal squeezes Desmond’s hand tightly and then starts leading him back down the hallway.
Desmond is intending to stay quiet and basically ignore everyone else in the room when he steps back through the door, but the first thing he sees (and hears) is Rehan and Boris about to start arguing again.
“I swear to God, if you don’t stop this right now you’re both fired.”
“Um…” Neal leans in towards Desmond slightly. “It doesn’t work like that.”
“Yes, it does.” Desmond fixes Rehan and Boris with a serious look. “I mean it- one more word and neither of you will work again. Got it?” He doesn’t wait for any kind of reply before walking across the room and standing by the window. He looks back and smiles lightly when Neal walks over and stands behind him. Apart from that, he spends most of the next several minutes just staring outside. He hears some noise behind him after a while and turns around. He frowns a little when he sees that Alex is stood just in front of him and everyone else apart from Neal has left the room.
“They say it’s time for us to go out there now.” Alex hesitates for a second before turning around, ready to leave the room.
Desmond reaches out and puts a hand on Alex’s shoulder.
Alex stops and sighs lightly before turning back around to face Desmond.
Desmond leans in and presses a soft kiss to Alex’s cheek.
“I love you.”
“You better,” Alex reaches out and squeezes Desmond’s hand tightly, “but we have other things to deal with before we talk about that.”
“I know.” Desmond sighs heavily and then takes a deep breath. “You ready to go?”
***
“You have to switch with me.”
Desmond frowns a little and looks up at Neal.
“Uh… what?”
“You have to switch with me. I don’t want to sit in the middle- everyone will be looking at me.”
“But everyone…”
“No. Switch.”
“All right. All right.” Desmond holds his hands up and shifts across to the next seat. He watches as Neal lowers himself into the next seat and lets out a relieved sigh. “That better?”
“Yep.” Neal smiles lightly and nods. He avoids looking at the assembled crowd of press and turns to the other side to talk with Rehan instead.
Desmond just about manages to resist the urge to roll his eyes and then turns to Alex who’s sat on his other side.
“You okay?”
“I guess,” Alex mutters. “After all the shit we’ve had to come out here and answer for, this should be easy for us, right? So why does it feel like the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do?”
“Because it’s not about us, this time, is it? It’s about the babies now.”
“They better be some really fucking great babies then.”
Desmond can’t stop himself from laughing.
Neal leans forward slightly so he can see both Desmond and Alex.
“What? What is it? What?”
“The babies are gonna be great, right?”
“Of course they’ll be great.” Neal rolls his eyes. “They’re a part of me.”
“Don’t you mean because they’re a part of all of us?”
“Nope.” Neal grins and shakes his head.
Desmond opens his mouth to respond, but then there’s a voice behind them all.
“It’s time to start.”
Neal’s eyes widen and he stares at Desmond.
“Will you do speaking? I am not good with the words.”
“Sure.” Desmond frowns slightly because he’s just a little worried about Neal. “They might have questions for you later, though.”
“Later is okay. I am not ready now.”
“All right.” Desmond smiles at Neal for a second before turning to look at Alex. “Is that okay with you?”
“You should start.” Alex nods briefly. “I mean, we have a lot of the story to tell before Neal, anyway.”
“Then let’s do this.”
***
Desmond feels like they were all stuck in that room, telling the story and answering all the questions ever for almost a lifetime (it was just a couple of hours, though), but it’s over now and they’re in the car on the way
home.
“I still don’t understand some of the questions, though.” Neal leans his head back against the seat. “I mean, why would we have names for them? I’m not even getting fat, yet- it’s far too soon for them to have names.”
“Well, actually…”
“What?” Neal turns to look at Desmond and narrows his gaze slightly. “Are you saying I am fat?”
“No, of course not. I was going to say that some people decide on names this early on and sometimes people have nicknames so they don’t have to call the baby ‘it’.”
“That makes sense.” Neal nods slowly. “Did you do that before?”
“Yeah. You know we did.”
Neal nods again.
“I think it’s better now that we don’t have to keep a secret.” Neal turns to look out of the window. “Definitely easier now.” He’s quiet for a minute before speaking again. “Do we see the babies again before we leave? Not these babies.” He puts a hand on his stomach. “I mean Max and Ollison and Andrea and Bella and Lukas. Those babies- do we see them?”
“Yeah, they’re with us at the weekend.”
“That’ll be nice.”
Desmond frowns slightly at Neal for a second before turning his attention back to the road.
“Are you okay, Neal? You seem…”
“It’s just been a long day- so much has happened and I’m just tired.”
“You wanna take a nap when we get home then?”
“I thought you wanted me to help out more.”
Desmond feels himself blushing slightly.
“I want you to take care of yourself so if you’re tired then you should rest.”
“Okay.” Neal almost falls asleep then, in fact, but he’s jolted back to full awareness by the sound of a mobile phone going off. He whines softly.
“Sorry,” Desmond mutters. He goes to reach out for his phone, but then thinks the better of it because he can’t really use his phone while driving. “Can someone get that? It’s probably not the only message any of us will be getting today and it’s probably shit- just delete it or whatever.”
“I’ll get it.” Alex leans forward and reaches into the front of the car to grab Desmond’s phone. He leans back and presses a couple of buttons on the phone. “It’s from George- he says Calvin is pouting because we’re stealing his thunder.”
The Omega's Unexpected Baby: An MPREG Romance Page 5
