“What was that about?”
“It was… I don’t even know.”
“Right. So…” Neal frowns slightly as he wonders the best way to ask about this. “Did something happen? Was it about…”
“He wouldn’t say.”
“Of course not,” Neal mutters. “That means it went bad, doesn’t it? It means it all changed.”
Desmond leans in and kisses Neal’s forehead.
“Go back to sleep.”
Neal shakes his head- he couldn’t sleep now, even if he wanted to. He stays in bed for a while and kicks Desmond every time it looks like Desmond is going to go back to sleep (Desmond needs to stay awake so he can rant to him or be supportive or listen or something like that- he’s not entirely sure what he needs right now). He gets up eventually and mostly ends up pacing up and down the entire house.
Desmond has to drink at least three cups of coffee to properly wake himself up. He tries to talk to Neal, but Neal mostly just ignores him in favor of ranting.
“Why won’t he talk to me?” Neal throws his phone down when his latest call to Alex goes unanswered (he’s already lost count of how many times he’s tried to call). “Maybe it’s okay for him to have his phone off, but this is me. We were supposed to talk more now.” He sits down on the couch. He rests one hand on top of his stomach and brings his other hand up to his mouth so he can chew his nails.
Desmond shifts over so he’s sat right next to Neal. He wraps an arm around Neal’s shoulders and kisses the side of Neal’s head.
“Maybe he’s busy on the phone with someone. There’s probably a lot of people he needs to talk to right now.”
“Like Boris?” Neal sighs lightly and shakes his head.
“You might have to apologise to him now, you know.”
“I’ll only say sorry if he says it first.”
Desmond rolls his eyes- of course he wasn’t going to be able to get Neal to agree to that and he’ll leave it there because he doesn’t really want to get in the middle of that either.
“We were making it better finally. Now this? What if it’s not okay, Desmond? What if things are worse than ever?”
***
Alex has no idea how long it’s actually been when he finally has a few minutes of peace. He takes several deep breaths and then checks his phone. He’s not at all surprised to find so many texts and missed calls from so many people, but mostly from Neal. He flicks through some of the messages and then eventually works up the courage to listen to the voicemail messages. He gets to the last message (he doesn’t think it wasn’t the last call he got, but probably more likely that his phone just ran out of space to store any more messages) and though it’s only short, he finds himself with tears in his eyes as he listens to it.
“Please don’t hate me.”
***
Desmond has been on edge all day. Every time the phone rings, he sighs heavily because he’s tired of answering all of these questions- he doesn’t have all the answers and, anyway, this isn’t even about him; all he’s doing is trying to keep Neal calm, which is so important right now. He politely tells the people just looking for a story to ‘fuck off’ without actually using those words even though he’d really love to and says ‘thank you’ to the people who are actually offering support (friends and family and people like that). He knows he can’t ignore this, but it doesn’t stop him from wishing it would all go away. He worries a lot more than he would have done even a month ago because Neal was right before- things have only just started to get better again and then this comes along; the year that almost ruined their whole relationship is now back in full force. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen now and he can’t even begin to work that out, not with Alex being so far away. He can barely concentrate enough to think right now so he knows there’s no way he’d be able to make dinner and Neal clearly can’t so he thinks about ordering a takeaway (going out for dinner, even to his mother’s house, would require being around people and people would have questions or stare at them and that’s just too much). He asks Neal what he thinks about this and isn’t at all surprised when Neal agrees (take-out isn’t something they have often especially with everyone being insistent Neal eats healthy food during his pregnancy).
Neal frowns heavily when he hears the door opening and then looks over at Desmond.
“We didn’t even order yet. How can they have delivered food already?”
Desmond laughs softly and shakes his head before going to check who’s arrived at the house. He stops and frowns heavily when he sees who’s there. He blinks a few times just to check whether he’s imagining this- he’s not and Alex is actually stood in front of him.
“You came home?”
Alex shrugs lightly and drops his bags by the door. He takes a few steps forward and nods towards the living room.
“Is Neal in there?”
Desmond reaches out to put a hand on Alex’s shoulder.
“Alex.”
Alex stops and looks up at Desmond.
“There isn’t anywhere else I want to be.”
Desmond nods briefly and steps back. He waits for a few seconds before following Alex back into the living room. He hangs back a little in the living room as he watches Neal and Alex- Neal is clinging to Alex and crying a little and Alex is holding Neal closely and gently rubbing Neal’s stomach.
Alex presses a soft kiss to Neal’s cheek.
“I will never hate you, I promise.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“So, Alex, how is your unexpected vacation going?”
“Quite well, actually. Not being at work is obviously disappointing, but I’m still training as much as before, maybe even more sometimes. Of course the best thing to come out of all of this is getting to spend more time at home. With the babies due soon, it’s good for us all to be together and to get all the last little bits sorted out.”
“Do you have much left to do?”
“I don’t think so, but it seems like every day there’s another thing left that we haven’t done. I’m sure with all of us and everyone we have to help us that we’ll get everything done in time. Then… Well, then our children will be born.”
“And how are you feeling about that?”
“Excited. Nervous too, of course. I suppose that’s quite an obvious answer, isn’t it? At least now I’m leaning more towards excited than nervous.”
“And how is everyone else feeling about this?”
“Mostly, Neal is pissed off.”
Alex’s head snaps up when he hears that and he looks towards Neal, who’s stood in the doorway with his arms folded across his chest and a scowl on his face. He opens his mouth to ask what Neal’s doing here (he didn’t even realize that Neal was in the room and he’s sure Neal promised to stay out of it while he was talking to his boss), but he doesn’t get the chance before Neal is speaking again.
“Do you know how annoying you are?”
“Uh…”
“And now you’re here all the time? Ugh.” Neal throws his arms out to the sides in frustration. “You don’t even go away for work so I can forget how annoying you are. Sometimes I just…” He growls lightly before walking out of the room, only to return a few seconds later. “Sometimes I hate you- that’s what it is.”
Alex can only stare, wide-eyed, as Neal leaves again. He’s distracted when he realizes that Desmond is also stood in the doorway, seemingly as confused about this as he is.
Desmond stares in the direction Neal left in for a moment before shaking his head and looking at Alex.
“Uh… Sorry about that. I turned to get a drink and when I looked back he was gone.”
“It’s… Never mind. You should probably find out what’s going on.”
“Yeah,” Desmond mutters. He hesitates for several seconds before following Neal.
Alex frowns slightly and then shakes himself out of his daze and returns his attention to the conversation.
“I’m sorry about that- Neal’s just…” Alex isn�
��t exactly sure what to say there. “I think he’s just a bit stressed out. I don’t really want to make excuses for him, but it can’t be easy for him. I know for a fact that he’s having a hard time getting these babies here- he’s tired all the time and he can’t do anything nearly as easily as he could even a few months ago- and I suppose he just needs to take out his frustrations. There are better ways to do this, of course, but I’m trying to be understanding and to help him as much as I can. Desmond is here to help with that too and I’m grateful for that right now- I’m not sure I could have handled any of this without him. In fact, I don’t think any of us could have handled any of it without each other.”
He stands in the middle of the room for a while, staring at the door and wondering if he should go upstairs and talk to Neal. He eventually decides that it’s probably best to give Neal a bit more time and space.
***
Alex is sat at the kitchen table, flicking through a magazine in order to try and distract himself from obsessing over what happened with Neal. He looks up when he hears footsteps approaching and sees Desmond just inside the kitchen and a sheepish looking Neal not far behind him.
“Neal.” Desmond turns around and gives Neal a pointed look.
Neal nervously shuffles his feet for a moment before looking up at Alex.
“I’m sorry I said I hated you and you’re not annoying. Well, you are, but I don’t think I’m very nice right now so I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it isn’t.” Neal walks over and sits down in the seat next to Alex. “I don’t want to shout at you- I love you. I just…”
“It’s really okay.” Alex reaches out and takes hold of Neal’s hands. “I don’t understand what it’s like for you, I never will, but I know that you’re suffering right now. I want you to do whatever you need to make yourself feel better, but maybe next time think of a nicer way.”
“Promise.” Neal leans his head on Alex’s shoulder. “I really am sorry.”
“I know.”
“I’ll make it up to you.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I do.”
“No, you…”
“I’ll make dinner.”
Alex’s eyes widen in fear. He looks over at Desmond (who’s biting on his lower lip to stop himself from laughing) and silently pleads for him to fix this (as much as he and Desmond both appreciate the effort Neal goes to in helping out, Neal’s efforts at making dinner- or any other meal, for that matter- have never exactly gone well).
Desmond takes several deep breaths to combat his urge to laugh and then walks over to Neal and Alex. He leans in and kisses Neal’s cheek.
“I already promised I’d make dinner. I’m sure you can think of something else to make it up to Alex.”
“Well…” Neal sits up and looks at Desmond. “How long before dinner is ready?”
“Uh… A little while.” Desmond frowns slightly. “Why?”
Neal just grins. He stands up and grabs hold of Alex’s hand.
“Come on- we’ve got plenty of time.”
***
When Alex comes wandering back into the kitchen just in time for dinner, Desmond raises an eyebrow.
“Hey.”
Alex stops suddenly and frowns slightly. He tilts his head to one side and studies Desmond carefully for a minute.
“Uh… what?”
Desmond can’t stop himself from laughing. He turns back towards the cupboards and gets out some plates.
“I think it’s worth missing out on what was apparently some pretty great sex in order to see that dopey look on your face right now.”
Alex is about to protest (he’s already half way there with his pout), but he doesn’t get the chance because Neal, who’s just followed him into the kitchen, is speaking.
“It’s okay- you can just watch the video later.”
“Video?” Alex spins around to face Neal. “You filmed it?”
“What? Like you wouldn’t want a record of that.” Neal rolls his eyes. “Besides, you said it would be fun, too.”
“I did?” Alex frowns slightly.
“I see what you mean about him being dopey now.”
“Hey.” Alex huffs. “You’re ganging up on me.”
Desmond walks over to Alex. He wraps an arm around Alex’s shoulders and kisses Alex’s cheek.
“We’re sorry. It’s just nice for us to see you being different sometimes.”
“Plus, it’s really funny.” Neal grins and then looks at Desmond. “Is dinner ready? The babies want food.”
“The babies? Not their daddy?”
“Well, of course, but… Oh, just give me some damn food.”
Desmond points towards the counter.
“Go ahead. There’s even ice-cream for dessert.”
Neal stops mid-way through his dash across the kitchen to look at Desmond.
“I love you.”
“I know.” Desmond rolls his eyes, but smiles fondly. “I love you too. Now eat- you don’t want to keep the babies waiting, do you?”
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
“Do you have to go?” Alex turns on his side so that he’s facing Desmond. “I know it’s important, but it’s not really the best time, is it?”
“It’s only a week.”
“It’s more than that. I could tell you exactly how long if you want.”
Desmond smiles softly and reaches out to touch a hand to Alex’s cheek.
“I love that you’re gonna miss me this much, you know.”
“If you stayed, I wouldn’t have to miss you at all. Wouldn’t that be better?”
“I have to go.”
“Why now? Couldn’t you have gone to one of the other thousand things they asked? It’s…” Alex sighs lightly and lowers his gaze. “What if something happens with Neal? What if the babies are early?”
“They won’t be. They’re gonna be here exactly when they’re supposed to- I wouldn’t risk missing that for anything. I’ll be here for that, I promise, but I have to leave for a few days now and…”
“Twelve days, six…”
“Okay.” Desmond holds his hands up. “I get it, but I want to go and it is important. Calvin keeps telling me that it’ll be nice for me to be there when George finally wins. I haven’t the heart to tell him that that probably won’t happen. Neal wants me to be in France for Franc and Giselle’s birthday.”
“Well, I could go.”
“And leave Neal on his own?”
“Maybe instead of you.”
“Oh. So it’s not okay for me to go, but it’s fine for you?”
“Uh…” Alex is troubled for a moment, but then he catches himself. “Hey. You’re always leaving.”
“Excuse me, but who’s the one flitting off on business trips half the time?” Desmond gives Alex a pointed look. “It’s not long and I’m going to be back in plenty of time for the babies getting here. It’s something I need to do and it’s something that I want to do.”
Alex studies Desmond carefully for a minute before sighing lightly and nodding as best as he can.
“Okay then. If it means this much, then you should go.”
“Thank you.” Desmond places a brief kiss to Alex’s lips. “At least I don’t have to tell Neal I won’t be seeing Franc and Giselle for their birthday then.”
“I can’t believe you’re leaving me alone with him for nearly two weeks.”
“You are so lucky he’s not here to hear that.”
“It’s not my fault he’s crazy.”
“It could be,” Desmond mutters with the hint of a smile. “We never did find out who… But that’s not the point. He’s going through a lot right now, more than either of us, so we should be understanding and help him out as much as possible and not call him crazy and… You can do this, I know you can. It’s just Neal. I’m sure you’d like some time alone with him before we have a couple of screaming babies in a few weeks and time alone is a luxury we completely forget even
exists.”
“When you put it like that…” Alex looks down. “I’m just worried that something will go wrong and I won’t be able to handle it on my own.”
“Everything’s gonna be fine.” Desmond takes hold of Alex’s hand. “There are plenty of people around to help you and you know you can call me any second of the day. You’ve handled harder things than this.”
“They’re our children- it doesn’t get harder than them maybe not being okay.”
“They’re going to be fine.”
“You can’t promise me that.”
“But I bet Neal can.” Desmond smiles softly. “It’s his job to look after them- you should trust him to do that- and it’s your job to look after him. I know you know how to do that- you’ve had so much practice over the years. You’re going to be fine.”
“I suppose I have to believe you, don’t I?”
“Always.”
***
Neal, though he’ll later deny it, cries the entire way to the airport.
In fact, Neal is still crying now, when they’re in the airport, waiting for Desmond’s flight.
Desmond reaches out to wipe the tears away from Neal’s face.
“If you want me to stay, I will.”
“Oh, you’ll stay if he asks you, but not when I did?”
Neal turns around and glares at Alex.
“I’m sorry, but are you pregnant?”
“Well, no.”
“Then you don’t get to make crazy irrational demands.” Neal glares at Alex for another second before turning back to face Desmond. “You should go- I know you want to go- and you have to visit Franc and Giselle. I’m just going to miss you.” He sniffles a little and puts a hand on top of his stomach. “I think the babies will miss you too.”
“Yeah?” Desmond rests his hand on top of Neal’s stomach and smiles softly when he feels the soft thump of a baby kick. “I’ll miss them too and I’ll miss you and Alex, but I’m sure you can handle a few days without me.”
The Unexpected: An Mpreg Romance Page 10
