“I think you mean forty,” Alex mutters. He looks back over his shoulder to see how Matthew is (he’s still perfectly fine, like he has been in the three seconds or so since Desmond put him down) and then turns back towards Neal.
“Are you gonna be the one cleaning the shotgun at the kitchen table when they bring boyfriends or girlfriends home to meet us then?” Desmond raises an eyebrow.
“They’re not bringing anyone home- no one is ever going to be good enough for them.” Alex leans in towards Elizabeth and gently strokes her cheek. “Isn’t that right, princess? You’re the most special little girl in the whole world, aren’t you?”
“You shouldn’t say stuff like that.” Desmond sits down in the chair next to Alex. “We don’t want her growing up spoiled, do we?”
“She’ll get everything she wants already. She already looks like Alex and when do say ‘no’ to him.”
Alex just grins for a moment and then leans in towards Neal.
“Does that mean Matthew will inherit Desmond’s big mouth then?”
“Hey.” Desmond points at Alex. “As far as I’m concerned, that’s something he gets from Neal.”
“Hey.” Neal sighs heavily and pouts.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll both get that pout.”
“They would be lucky to look like me. And, anyway, you love my pout.”
“It is kinda what got us into this mess in the first place.” Desmond shrugs lightly.
“I seem to remember it was that you got me drunk.”
“You did get drunk.” Alex nods. “Then you pouted.”
“I did?” Neal frowns slightly. “I don’t remember.”
“The night our babies were conceived and you don’t remember?” Alex shakes his head.
“Well, I remember the good parts.” Neal grins.
“Oh, this is getting inappropriate. Let me take Elizabeth,” Alex stands up and then lifts Elizabeth into his arms, “and get her away from the bad words.”
Neal watches as Alex walks over and places Elizabeth down in her crib, right next to Matthew’s crib. He smiles softly and then turns to look at Desmond.
“Libby shouldn’t hear that story, but I wouldn’t mind listening to it again.”
“Really?” Desmond looks mildly surprised. “The babies are right here.”
“Yes, they are, finally, so maybe we should just remember how they got here.”
“As long as you don’t want a visual reminder- I’m pretty sure we’d get arrested for that.”
***
“I don’t want to go.”
“I know.” Desmond takes hold of Alex’s hand. “But we’ll be back in the morning. It’s not forever.”
“It’s still too long. What if something happens to them?”
“Neal will look after them. Won’t you, Neal?”
“Of course I will.” Neal smiles and nods.
“But what if something happens to you too, Neal?”
“I’m in a hospital- the doctors will be right here and they can take care of me.”
“But…”
“And you’re going to be calling every five minutes, aren’t you, Neal?”
“Maybe just every ten minutes.” Neal reaches out to take hold of Alex’s free hand. “You’re still going to be the first people to know if anything happens and I will see you both in the morning, okay?”
“I don’t know if you’ll have time to see us tomorrow.”
Neal frowns slightly.
“Everyone’s visiting tomorrow, remember?”
“Oh, yes.” Neal smiles brightly. “When will everyone be here?”
“Parents in the morning, kids in the afternoon and brothers and sisters at night.”
Neal studies Desmond carefully for a moment.
“You have this very well organized.”
“It’s gotta be.” Desmond shrugs lightly. “They’ve got more family than the average kids so things are gonna need a bit more thought.”
“That’s nice.” Neal smiles softly, but frowns after a minute when a thought occurs to him. “What about Giselle?”
“I guess Franc will bring her at night.”
“But she’ll be sleeping then.”
“Uh…”
“Why don’t you have Melissa bring her in the afternoon? That way she can have time with the other children and Franc doesn’t turn up early and throw off Desmond’s whole schedule.”
“Excuse me- whose schedule?” Desmond gives Alex a pointed look.
“Well, okay,” Alex mutters, “I might have helped plan it a little bit.”
“A little?”
“I… Shut up. I’m going to say ‘goodbye’ to the babies before we leave.” Alex turns around and practically runs from the room.
Neal can’t stop himself from laughing.
“You shouldn’t tease him so much, you know.”
“I know. I promise to stop.”
“Good boy.”
Desmond smiles softly. He touches a hand to Neal’s cheek.
“Are you going to be okay?”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll miss you, but I’ll be fine. You let me take care of our little babies- you go home and take care of our big one.”
“I thought we weren’t supposed to tease him anymore.”
“I said you shouldn’t- I didn’t say I couldn’t.”
***
“This isn’t right.”
Desmond raises an eyebrow.
“It’s just us. It shouldn’t be just us. It’s never just us. It’s…” Alex stands up and takes a few steps forward. He looks around the room. “It’s empty.”
“It’s only for a few days.”
Alex stops and turns to face Desmond.
“You said we were going to be a family today.”
“We are.”
“Well, it doesn’t feel like it.” Alex turns around and walks over to the window. He stares outside for a minute. “They’re missing and I hate it.”
“I know.” Desmond walks over and stands next to Alex. He takes hold of Alex’s hand. “I hate it, too, but just because they’re not here doesn’t make them any less a part of this family- it just means we have to miss them more for a couple of days. They’re coming home, Alex- we just have to wait.”
“I hate waiting.”
“I’ve noticed. I hate it, too, but there’s nothing more we can do about that tonight, so why don’t you come to bed now? The sooner we sleep, the sooner we wake and the sooner we wake up, the sooner we get to see them again.”
“I don’t know if I can sleep.”
“You should try. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow and you’re probably going to need all the rest you can get.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
When Desmond wakes up in the morning and opens his eyes to find Alex sat up on the opposite side of the bed, completely dressed and just staring at him, he’s not remotely surprised. He blinks a few times to clear the sleep from his eyes and sits up.
“How long have you been awake?”
“About an hour.” Alex shrugs.
“An hour?” Desmond glances over to the clock on the bedside table. “It’s barely seven o’clock, Alex.”
“I’m excited.”
“You sound like Neal.” Desmond smiles fondly. “I can’t believe he actually called us three times during the night.”
“We’re supposed to be awake when the babies are.”
“Even though we’re not there?”
“Especially because we’re not there.” Alex nods seriously. “We have to stay involved.”
“Be involved all you want, but next time I’m sleeping through that phone call.”
“And make Neal sad?”
Desmond sighs heavily and runs a hand down his face- as much as he likes his sleep, he would never risk making Neal sad.
“You know we’re not allowed to visit yet, right?”
“I’m still excited- I can’t sleep anymore.”
“Which means I’m no
t getting to either.” Desmond rubs his eyes. “So we’ll get breakfast and find something else to fill the time before we’re allowed to go?”
“Do you think Neal will be awake yet? We could call him.”
“He might be, but I’m sure as hell not gonna risk waking him up.” Desmond smiles softly and wraps an arm around Alex’s shoulders. “We could look at the pictures; maybe sit in the nursery, if you want.”
“I’d like that.”
***
“Alex, you need to calm down.”
“But I miss them.”
“I miss them too, but you can’t just go around…”
“If we run, we’ll get there faster.”
“Alex.” Desmond stops and takes hold of both of Alex’s hands. “You seriously need to calm down. If you keep rushing about like this, you’re going to end up hurting yourself and that’s not gonna do anyone any good.”
“I just…” Alex sighs lightly. “I miss them. I want to get there as quickly as possible.”
“I know.” Desmond smiles softly. “We’ll walk quickly, okay? Just not too quickly.”
“Okay.” Alex nods furiously.
Desmond can’t stop himself from laughing when he realizes he’s going to have to practically jog to keep up with Alex- he can’t fault Alex’s enthusiasm, he wants to see Neal and the babies too, but he really thinks they shouldn’t rush through everything.
Alex stops outside of Neal’s room and turns back to look at Desmond.
“Do you think they’ll be awake now or should I go to the nursery?”
“I think you should see Neal first.” Desmond reaches out and pushes open the door. He steps into the room and then just frowns heavily. “Mom? How the hell did you beat us here?”
“Watch your language in front of the babies.” Neal glares at Desmond and huddles Elizabeth against his chest so she can’t hear any of the bad words.
Desmond rolls his eyes. He walks over and presses a kiss to his mother’s cheek. He stops by the crib next to the window and touches a finger to Matthew’s cheek (and has to resist the urge to roll his eyes again when Alex snaps at him to be careful and not wake Matthew up) before walking over and sitting in the chair next to Neal’s bed.
Neal gives Desmond a pointed look.
Desmond smiles fondly before leaning in and placing a brief kiss to Neal’s lips. He sits back in the chair and then looks down at Elizabeth.
“Hi, princess. Have you been a good girl for your daddy?”
“She’s been loud, is what she’s been. Isn’t that right, Libby?” Neal gently bounces Elizabeth a couple of times. “I think that’s allowed today, though- it’s a big day for her.”
“Yeah.” Desmond leans in towards Elizabeth slightly. “You get to meet your whole family today.” He smiles softly at Elizabeth for a moment before turning back to look at his mother. “What you think then, Mom?”
“I think… I think you boys did very well. Now, which one of those beautiful babies wants to come to Grandma?”
***
Desmond steps outside Neal’s room. He lets the door bang shut behind him and then just stops to take a deep breath. He walks over to the row of hospital chairs at the opposite side of the corridor and sits down in the seat next to Alex. He gently nudges Alex with his knee.
“Escaping, huh?”
“I just…” Alex leans back in his chair and turns his head to the side to look at Desmond. “It’s so full in there and I needed some space. I didn’t think anyone would notice I was gone.”
“I noticed.”
Alex smiles softly and leans against Desmond.
“They’re getting so much attention. They’re going to be so spoiled, aren’t they?”
Desmond laughs lightly and wraps an arm around Alex’s shoulders.
“You said you were going to spoil them yourself.”
“Well, I’m their dad- I’m allowed to spoil them.”
“They’re your parents’ first grandkids- I think they’re allowed to spoil them too. All our parents are, in fact, and we shouldn’t complain about getting so much help.”
“I miss them. I want to be the one holding them and feeding them and… I don’t want to share them. I want to keep them all for us.”
“Yeah.” Desmond smiles fondly and presses a kiss to the top of Alex’s head. “We’ll get to keep them all to ourselves when we bring them home in a couple of days. For now, let’s just try to enjoy showing them off.”
“They’ve got a lot of people to meet- you said that yourself. Can’t we have even five minutes alone with them?”
“We might be able to manage that later.”
“What about now?”
“Let’s just go back and see them. Maybe we can be the ones to change them into those matching outfits your parents bought them.”
***
“Alex!” As soon as Desmond has opened the door, Max runs right across the room and climbs up into Alex’s lap. “We got babies?”
“Hi, Max.” Alex kisses Max’s forehead. “Did you come to meet your new brother and sister?”
“Babies!” Max nods enthusiastically.
“Okay then, but you have to be really quiet because they’re sleeping, okay?” Alex puts a finger to his lips. “Shh.”
Max clamps a hand over his mouth.
“Come on then.” Alex stands up and carries Max over to the cribs at the other side of the room. He points to the crib on the right. “This is your little brother, Matthew,” he points to the crib on the left, “and this is your little sister, Elizabeth.”
Max looks between Matthew and Elizabeth for a minute.
“Tiny babies.”
“Yes, they are very tiny right now, but they’re going to grow up very big, just like you.” Alex taps Max’s nose, earning him a giggle. “Now, why don’t we go and say ‘hi’ to Neal?” He carries Max back across the room and places him on the bed next to Neal.
“And here’s Max. Hi, Max.”
“Hi, Neal.” Max stands up on the bed and wraps his arms around Neal’s neck. He sits back down on the bed next to Neal. He reaches out to pat Ollison’s (who’s sat on the other side of Neal) head.
Ollison blinks at Max a couple of times before back to look up at Neal and continuing to babble on excitedly to him.
Max scrambles over to the other side of the bed and looks at Desmond.
“Daddy?”
“Hey.” Desmond lifts Max into his lap. “What is it?”
“Lukas? Bella?”
“They’ll be here soon.”
Max grins and claps his hands.
“We’re getting another special visitor, too.” Desmond leans forward slightly. “Giselle is coming to see the babies, too.”
“Giselle!” Ollison stops babbling at Neal and furiously claps her hands. “Giselle!”
“Yeah- Giselle.” Neal looks down at Ollison. “You love your cousin, don’t you?”
“Giselle!”
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.”
***
Neal hears the door opening and swears that in the time it takes him to blink, Andrea and Bella are right by his bed, begging to hold the babies.
“You’re in luck- they’re both still awake, but you have to be very careful.”
“We know, Neal.”
“Okay then- they’re right over there with Alex.” Neal smiles fondly as he watches Andrea and Bella rush over to Alex. He turns to the other side. “Hi, Lukas.”
“Hi, Neal.” Lukas sits in a chair next to Neal’s bed. “So, now I’ve got another brother and sister to look after?”
“What do you think about that?”
“I think you and Dad and Alex probably need a lot of luck.”
***
Neal’s face lights up when Melissa walks into his room with Giselle. He’s so excited that, without realizing it, he starts speaking in French.
Melissa speaks with Neal for a while, passes on messages of congratulations from Franc and gently tries to encourage
Neal to start speaking English again so that no one is left out. She takes a few seconds to realize that someone is tugging on the bottom of her skirt. She looks down and smiles brightly when she sees Ollison sat on the floor by her feet.
“Hello there, Ollison.”
Ollison blinks a couple of times and then points across the room.
“Giselle?”
Melissa smiles and nods. She glances across the room to where Giselle is running around in front of Alex. She looks back down at Ollison.
“Yes, that’s Giselle.”
Ollison grins and claps her hands.
“Play?”
“Of course you can play.”
Ollison grins again. She gets up and toddles across the room. She drops to the floor in front of Giselle.
“Giselle!”
Giselle stops. She tilts her head to the side and stares at Ollison for a few seconds.
“Ollison?” Giselle giggles and grabs Ollison’s hand. “Play!”
Neal has to blink back his tears. He takes a few deep breaths and then turns to look at Melissa again.
“I like that they get along.”
“Yes- that’s an important thing for family.”
“Yes.” Neal sighs heavily. “It’s a shame they’re so far apart, that we’re all so far apart.” He takes another deep breath. “We’ll come home as much as we can and you can visit whenever you want- I want Giselle to know her new cousins too.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Desmond has the phone wedged between his shoulder and the side of his head so he has both hands free to finish eating breakfast. He’s trying to listen to what Neal is saying to him, but Neal has been rambling on for nearly ten minutes now and he’s starting to just tune it out.
“Okay, seriously, Neal?”
“What? I’m just excited. We get to come home today.”
“And I love that. I can’t wait to bring you and the babies home, but you are wide awake and probably completely dressed at barely eight in the morning.”
“I want to come home.”
“I know that. I want it, too, but we’re not even allowed to visit yet. We can’t bring you home right now and, anyway, the doctors are gonna have to check you all out to make sure everything’s fine. They have to clear you and that might take a while.”
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