“I knew you’d take his side.”
“Maybe you should try learning how to not crash then.”
“That was only once.” Neal huffs.
“And the speeding?”
“I . . .”
“Look,” Desmond reaches out towards Neal, “you’re pregnant now so . . .”
“So I take things more carefully now - my driving is not that bad.”
“Seriously, Neal, I am not letting you behind the wheel of a car right now so, if you’re serious about coming then either Alex drives or we have to get two cabs because we won’t all fit in one if we’re taking the kids.”
“Fine.” Neal leans back in his chair. “Alex can drive.”
“I don’t want to drive to the airport. I hate driving to the airport.”
“So you don’t want to say goodbye to Desmond then?”
“He’s going to be back in like three days.” Alex rolls his eyes. “I’m sorry that I’m not getting as emotional about this as you are, Neal, but it really isn’t that different to so many other times.”
“Well, maybe . . .”
“Okay. Enough.” Desmond holds a hand up. “Alex, you stay here with the twins and, Neal, you come with me to the airport in a cab.”
“But . . .”
“Or you can stay here, too.” Desmond stands up. “Either way, you are not driving anywhere.”
“Fine.” Neal sighs. “We’ll go in a stupid cab, but I’m still mad at you so don’t expect me to be clinging to you the whole time.”
***
Neal, of course, is clinging to Desmond until the last second.
“Neal, I really do have to go now.”
“Okay.” Neal sniffles and steps back. “I’m going to miss you.”
Desmond wants to point out that he’s going to be back in a few days and Neal will call probably every hour until then so they won’t have chance to miss each other, but he doesn’t think Neal would appreciate that.
“Yeah, I’ll miss you, too.” Desmond presses a kiss to Neal’s forehead. “I’m sorry for what I said about your driving.”
“I suppose you had reasons.” Neal shrugs. “I’m trying to get better.”
“I know.” Desmond smiles for a second. “I actually will be late if I don’t go now.”
“Okay.” Neal gives Desmond another quick hug. “Say ‘hi’ to Calvin and George for me and give the babies lots of hugs.” He points at Desmond. “That’s the most important thing.”
“And you don’t spoil our babies too much, okay? And don’t fight with Alex, either.”
“Well, I’ll try, but he doesn’t always make it easy.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Riley. Riley. Riley Anne.” George puts his hands on his hips and looks down at his eighteen month old daughter. “What have I told you about pulling things off the table?”
Riley looks up at George and grins before reaching out towards another pile of magazines on the coffee table.
“That’s it.” George rushes over and lifts Riley into his arms. He walks over to the couch and puts Riley down in Desmond’s lap. “Here, sit with Uncle Desmond - he won’t settle for any misbehaving.”
“Oh, yeah. So, how about this, sweetheart?” Desmond shifts Riley around so that he can look down into her eyes. “If you promise me right now that you’ll behave, then I’ll read you another story before naptime.”
Riley stares up at Desmond for several seconds before grinning and nodding.
“You know she doesn’t understand what half of those words mean, right?”
“Shut up.” Desmond smacks George’s arm. “It worked, didn’t it? Now, you go and deal with your fussing baby and I’ll wrangle this monster some more.”
***
“So, things any better with Neal and Alex?”
“Oh, yeah.” Desmond smiles. “I mean, we’ve still got stuff to work on, but we’re getting there.”
“You don’t feel stuck in the middle anymore then?”
“There are three of us, George - if we’re having an argument, someone’s always going to be stuck in the middle.” Desmond shakes his head. “Anyway, we’re talking more and that’s got to help.”
“You persuaded Alex to talk more?” George laughs. “How the hell did you manage that?”
“Not me - that was all down to Neal.”
“You picked some good ones there.”
“Yeah.”
George watches Desmond for a few seconds.
“Is everything okay? You’re allowed to say if things aren’t perfect, you know.”
“I know.” Desmond leans back in his seat. “Of course it’s not perfect. We’ve had a pretty damn difficult time of it recently, but we are getting through that. I’m so fucking glad to be fixing things, but it’s nice to be getting out of there for a while.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah.” Desmond runs a hand down his face. “I love them to death and it’s great to be talking more, being honest about everything, but, Christ, they can be so frustrating sometimes. I know they can’t help it, at least not entirely, but it’s great to be somewhere I don’t always have to worry about what I’m saying, you know.”
“Having two pregnant boyfriends isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, huh?”
“You got it.” Desmond laughs and shakes his head. “At the end of the day, I know those babies are going to be worth it, but getting there is proving to be a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.”
***
When Calvin gets home, he can hear chatter in the living room so he walks straight through. He opens his mouth to greet George and Desmond when he notices Riley stood up in her playpen in the corner of the room. He frowns for a second before looking at George.
“Why did you put her in baby jail?”
“Because she wouldn’t stop misbehaving,” George gives Riley an unimpressed look before turning back towards Calvin, “even after Uncle Desmond bribed her with an extra story.”
“Hey, it worked,” Desmond shrugs, “for about ten minutes.”
Calvin rolls his eyes before walking across to the playpen. He lifts Riley up and kisses her forehead.
“What have we told you about behaving, little girl?” Calvin shakes his head. “Has your little brother been a monster, too?”
“Cam?” George shakes his head. “No, he’s been fine - a little fussy, but nothing out of the ordinary. He’s fast asleep up in the nursery now, if you want to look in on him.”
“Yeah.” Calvin nods. He bounces Riley a couple of times. “You want to help me check on your little brother?”
“Yeah.” Riley grins and claps her hands in front of Calvin’s face.
“All right then.” Calvin balances Riley on his hips and starts walking out of the room. He calls back over his shoulder, while he remembers. “It’s good to see you again, Desmond.”
“Yeah, it’s good to see you, too.” Desmond watches Calvin leave and turns towards George. “Is everything okay with you two?”
“Uh . . . Yeah.” George frowns. “Why do you ask?”
“You didn’t seem to talk very much there.” Desmond raises his eyebrow. “You’re allowed to say if things aren’t perfect, you know.”
“Ugh.” George rolls his eyes and shoves at Desmond. “When I give you advice, you’re not supposed to throw it back at me.”
“It’s perfectly legitimate advice for you, too.”
George mutters to himself for a moment before shaking his head.
“It’s . . . Like you said, it’s a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. We’ve got a baby, a toddler and two older kids from another marriage on top of Mark getting back to work, organizing this weekend and getting the hotel all set up. I know everyone finds it hard, making that adjustment, but I still sometimes miss the days when it was just me and him. Oh, I don’t know.” George sighs and leans his head back. “People have gotten through harder times than this - I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, I mean, Cameron and Riley
are getting older now - they’ll be sleeping through the night soon, which means you’ll get more sleep, too. I’m pretty sure you know from experience that that’s one of the most important things in getting back to normal.”
“Yeah, we’ll get there.” George is quiet for a minute. “Would I be a shitty best friend if I told you that, while you’ll have two newborns screaming the house down in a couple of months, I won’t even feel a little guilty about sleeping through the night right next to Mark?”
“Yeah - it makes you the worst best friend I could hope for.”
George laughs and nudges Desmond with his knee.
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I love you, too.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“I’m sorry you . . .”
“Stop apologizing.” Desmond shoves at George. “We knew this would probably happen, right? Can’t say I blame them.”
“So you’re not going to do anything about it?”
“Nah. What would be the point in starting a fight over this?”
“Right.” George nods. “And the reason you’re still here is?”
“Hey.” Desmond claps a hand on George’s shoulder. “I’m just here to support my best friend.”
“You just want the drama, isn’t it?”
“I really am trying to support you, you know, and if it serves to piss ‘em too, then what the hell.” Desmond laughs for a couple of seconds. “I can’t let them chase me out of this life completely, not least of all for Alex’s sake when he goes back. I should be able to be there to support him, right?”
“Of course. Just try to be less of an asshole about in future.”
“Yes, sir.” Desmond offers George a mock-salute.
George rolls his eyes. He looks around the crowd.
“We’ve got to get going soon, but the kids are with my mom - you’re welcome to hang out with them until we’re done.”
“Sounds good. Anything else you need my help with?”
“How about you just try not to piss people off?”
“I’ll do my best.”
***
Desmond finds it a fraction easier to keep under the radar the day has properly begun, glad that everyone has shifted their focus more away from him. He’s using some more of the spare time to entertain Cameron (which isn’t difficult, given that he’s about thirty seconds away from going back to sleep) when his phone starts ringing. He winces, but Cameron doesn’t start fussing again. He settles Cameron in his pushchair and pulls his phone out of his pocket. He sees Neal’s name on the display and frowns for a moment before answering.
“Hey. Is something wrong?”
“No. Nothing wrong. How are things over there?”
“People still think I’m an asshole and should be as far away from this life as I can be so nothing new. How . . .”
“And the babies? How are the babies?”
“They’re still fine.” Desmond rolls his eyes. “Just like every other of the thousand times you’ve called me since I’ve been here. So why did you really call this time?”
“I miss you.”
“That’s sweet, but you text me that an hour ago, Neal - what’s up?”
“Oh. Okay.” Neal hesitates for several seconds. “The doctors called and it’s nothing bad, I promise, and . . . uh . . .”
“Neal.”
“Okay, the thing is you know that we’re supposed to go to have the scans next week? Well, they had some people cancel and we could go today.”
“Oh.”
“I know you want to be here so we can wait.”
“Then why did you call?”
“Because I know that you would like to be here, but I think waiting when we have the chance to do this now would be very bad for Alex’s mental health.”
“And not because you’re excited about the idea?”
“I . . .”
Desmond laughs and shakes his head.
“I don’t mind, Neal - you can go today.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’d love to be there, but you’ve got the chance to go today and you’re obviously excited so you should do it. If I was there, there’d be no question.”
“But you aren’t here. I don’t want you to miss out on the important things.”
“Neal, I promise that I don’t mind.”
“Well, if you are really sure then we will go. I promise we will call right after and tell you how everything went.”
“I can’t wait.”
***
Desmond leans in towards George.
“I thought this was your event.”
“Uh huh.”
“Then why are you letting Calvin answer all the questions?” Desmond nods to where Calvin is stood in front of a crowd of press, a short distance away.
“He put as much effort into organizing this as I did - that gives him the right to answer all those questions. Plus, he really cares about it and it’s great for them to see someone have so much passion.”
“Right.” Desmond nods. He doesn’t bother trying to hide his smirk. “And it has absolutely nothing to do with you wanting to avoid it, right?”
“That’s just a happy bonus.” George grins and claps a hand on Desmond’s shoulder. “I better go rescue him, though - he doesn’t deserve being left alone like that.”
Desmond laughs and shakes his head. He watches the few interviews Calvin and George do together and the each with which they act around each other makes him smile - how could he ever have worried about them?
***
Desmond walks back into the kitchen and is a little surprised to find Calvin staring at him.
“So, how’d it go?”
“Mark.” George smacks Calvin’s arm. “I told you to leave it.”
“Babies are important, George.” Calvin flicks at George’s thigh and then turns his attention to Desmond. “So?”
“Two perfectly healthy babies.”
“That’s great news.” Calvin grins. He stands up and wanders over to the sink to start on the washing up. “Boys or girls? It would be about time to find out, right?”
“Yeah.” Desmond sits at the kitchen table. “Apparently, it’s important to Neal that they wait until I get home to tell me.”
“He said that?”
“God, no. Alex told me. If Neal got on the phone, he’d have told me right away and he really does seem to want to wait.”
“Hmm.” Calvin nods and focuses on the washing up for a minute.
“What?”
“I kind of don’t get why you weren’t there.”
“Mark.” George gives Calvin a pointed look.
“It’s not as if it was planned for today, you know. We were supposed to go next week, but they had the chance to go today and it’s not fair to keep them waiting just for me. Of course I’d have wanted to be there, but I wasn’t going to say ‘no’ to something they were excited about.” Desmond waits for a few seconds. “So, you see, I’m not a complete asshole.”
“I never thought you were complete asshole - just partly.” Calvin grins. He flicks some water off his hands and turns to face Desmond. “You should come by some time when we haven’t got this massive fuck-off event happening - we can hang out like normal people. I’m sure the kids would love to play together again, too.”
“I’ll talk to Neal and Alex when I get home - I’m sure we can find time to do something.” Desmond leans back in his chair. “You’re partly an asshole, too, by the way.”
“Yep.” Calvin shrugs.
George looks between Calvin and Desmond for a minute before shaking his head.
“You two are idiots.”
“Yeah.” Calvin walks back to the table and drapes his arms over George’s shoulders. “But you still love us, right?”
“Forever.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
George drops onto the couch next to Calvin when he gets back from taking Desmond to the airport.
“He get off okay?”
“Yeah.” George
smiles and nudges Calvin with his knee. “He even said he’d miss you, despite the fact that you spent the entire weekend bitching at each other.”
“Come on, George.” Calvin smiles and rolls his eyes. “We like each other too much to stop bitching.”
George laughs for a few seconds. His face falls and he watches Calvin for a minute.
“What?”
“Cal, can we talk?”
“Your parents still have the kids until tonight - aren’t we going to have sex?”
“I . . . I really want to talk to you first.”
Calvin fully turns towards George.
“Are you trying to break up with me?”
“What?” George tilts his head to the side and frowns at Calvin. “Why the hell would you say that?”
“You turned down sex and said you wanted to talk.” Calvin shrugs.
George stares, open-mouthed, at Calvin for a minute before shaking his head and just about resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
“No, I’m not trying to break up with you.” George sighs. “I just think we really need to talk.”
“Are you dying?”
“Jesus Christ, Cal.” George rubs his forehead.
“What?” Calvin holds his arms out to the sides. “You say we need to talk, but you’re not saying anything. What am I supposed to think?”
“I’m not dying, Cal. I just want to talk to you.”
“About what? You’re going to have to tell me something before I really start freaking out.”
“I . . . Okay, Cal, it’s just that things have been pretty hard for us recently, right?”
“I guess.” Calvin chews on his lower lip. “Are you sure you’re not trying to break up with me?”
“Yes, I’m sure that I’m not trying to break up with you, but that doesn’t mean we’re not having problems.”
“We’ve got four kids, George, and two of them are under the age of two - of course things are really fucking difficult. We’ve just got to find the time to make it work.” Calvin tries to smile at George, but he doesn’t think it works.
“That’s not something you just say - it means that you actually have to do something.”
“What? You think that I won’t?”
The Omega's Finest Baby Page 9
