***
The meeting is going so well that Desmond doesn’t think it can go as wrong as it does. He’s been lulled into such a false sense of security that it takes his brain several seconds to catch up when Neal says the words that he knows will have far more of an impact than anyone could have imagined.
“And now I am going to be a father twice over again …”
“You’re expecting twins again?”
“Oh, no - this time, I have one baby and Alex has the other. So …”
Desmond turns towards Neal and bares his teeth for a second. He draws Neal aside, which earns him a confused look in return. He shoots the most apologetic smile he can towards the others in the room before leaning in to whisper in Neal’s ear.
“Do not say another word.” Desmond doesn’t even bother looking at Neal’s expression let alone acknowledge what it means before standing up. “I’m sorry everyone, but we’ve got to get going - we’ve got a couple of kids at home who’ll be less than impressed if we aren’t back for bed time. Come on, Neal.” He digs his fingers into Neal’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“Are you mad at me now?”
“Damn right I’m mad at you.” Desmond wrestles the keys out of his pocket and unlocks the car. “Get in the fucking car.”
“You don’t need to …”
“Now!” Desmond climbs into the driver’s seat and slams the door shut behind him. He glares when Neal climbs in the passenger seat.
Neal is as slow as he can be while closing the door and fastening his seatbelt, but, at some point, he still has to look over at Desmond. He opens his mouth to speak, but Desmond doesn’t give him the chance to say anything.
“The one thing, Neal.” Desmond bangs his hand on the steering wheel. “The one fucking thing you weren’t supposed to talk about, the one thing that Alex asked from you, is the one thing you go ahead and fucking talk about anyway?”
“I didn’t think.”
“Do you ever?”
“You don’t have to say that.” Neal narrows his gaze. “I messed up, but you don’t have to be so mean.”
Desmond’s gaze softens for a second, before he catches himself.
“Don’t you dare try that.” Desmond points at Neal. “You fucked up, big time, and I don’t think you realize quite how much.
“Stop shouting at me.”
“Why not? Nothing else seems to get you to listen!”
“I’m not listening now.” Neal turns his head away.
“Well, I’m not going to stop shouting!” Desmond takes a deep breath. “Jesus fucking Christ, Neal.”
“Stop it.” Neal kicks the door. “Just stop it.”
Desmond shakes his head. He starts the car and continues to mutter to himself for a minute.
“Do you realize what you’ve done?” Desmond shakes his head again and watches Neal through the corner of his eye. “He’s going to be pissed off at the both of us now. Not just upset or damaged or scared - he’s going to be royally pissed off and you did that. Good fucking job, Neal.”
***
Desmond isn’t surprised that Neal jumps out of the car the seconds he pulls it to a stop on the driveway. He sighs and rubs his forehead for a few seconds before climbing out of the car. He walks into the house just in time to see Elizabeth rush over to Neal.
“Daddy!” Elizabeth jumps up and down until Neal picks her up. “Miss you.” She throws her arms around Neal’s neck. “Play now?”
“Of course.”
Desmond catches up before Neal can carry Elizabeth upstairs to all of her toys.
“Hey, Libby.” Desmond presses a kiss to Elizabeth’s cheek and tries not to let on that he feels how much Neal has tensed up at his close proximity.
“Hi.” Elizabeth kisses Desmond’s cheek before burying her head in Neal’s neck.
“Come on.” Neal bounces Elizabeth a couple of times before heading towards the stairs, without another look at Desmond. “We’ll go play.”
Desmond frowns after Neal for a minute before shaking his head and heading towards the living room. He stops just inside the doorway when he sees Matthew sat in Alex’s lap on the couch. He watches them for a minute before walking over. He sits down on the couch and smiles when Matthew jumps into his lap.
“Hey.” Desmond wraps his arms around Matthew. “Have you been a good boy for Daddy Alex today?”
“Uh huh.” Matthew grins. “Lots of fun.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear it.” Desmond kisses the top of Matthew’s head. “You want to go play with your sister and Daddy Neal upstairs?”
“Nope.” Matthew grins and settles himself down in Desmond’s lap.
“Okay.” Desmond smiles down at Matthew for a few seconds before lifting his head to look at Alex. “Alex …”
“Save it.” Alex stands up and walks into the kitchen without a glance towards Desmond.
“Daddy?” Matthew scrambles around and frowns at Desmond. “Daddy Al mad?”
“No, baby.” Desmond curses himself for a second and then does his best to smile at Matthew. “He’s …” He struggles to find some kind of explanation here and settles on saying the first thing he can think of. “I bet he’s just hungry, you know - it’s nearly dinnertime and everyone gets a bit cranky when they don’t eat - so don’t you worry.” He taps Matthew’s nose. “Don’t you worry at all.”
CHAPTER SIX
Desmond walks back into the bedroom and runs a towel over his hair.
“So, splashing at bath time is still a thing for the twins.” Desmond drops the towel down to his side and shoots a hesitant glance over at Alex. “You might want to be careful in the bathroom until it’s dried out a little.” He takes a step forward and sighs when Alex starts walking towards the door. “Please don’t go.”
Alex stops just inside the doorway.
“You should have stopped him.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Desmond shakes his head and throws his towel on the end of the bed. “If I couldn’t convince you to come with us today, what makes you think I could convince Neal to keep quiet?”
“You should have tried.” Alex turns to face Desmond and narrows his gaze. “You should have said something.”
“You think I did nothing?” Desmond grits his teeth. “I told him, plenty of times before we even got there, not to say a word; I dragged him out of there, the second that it came out of his stupid mouth and I yelled at him for the entire ride home. He’s well aware of the fact that he fucked up.”
“So did you.”
“How?” Desmond throws his arms out to the side. “Because I couldn’t get him to keep his mouth shut? He’s his own fucking person - I don’t control him. You want to be angry at someone for this? Get angry at him.”
“I am, but I am still angry at you, too - you should have tried harder.”
“Weren’t you listening? I did everything I could.”
“Oh. So everything’s okay then.”
“That’s not …” Desmond clenches a fist and sighs. “I haven’t done anything wrong - stop getting angry with me.”
“Stop telling me how to feel.”
“As if you’d fucking listen.” Desmond rolls his eyes. “I might as well try telling you how to feel - you don’t seem capable of expressing anything yourself.” He almost regrets saying that, but Alex getting angry at him has pushed him over the edge of the frustration he was already feeling. He shakes his head. “Look, I really don’t want to fight with you, but I’m so beyond tired of having to work everything around the fact that you’re in denial.”
“I am not in denial.” Alex narrows his gaze even further.
“Bullshit.” Desmond takes a step forward. “At some point soon, it was going to become plainly obvious.”
“And this was what? You just helping that happen sooner?”
“It wasn’t me doing anything.”
“Of course not.” Alex laughs and shakes his head. “You never do anything wrong. You are al
ways completely innocent.”
“Alex.” Desmond grits his teeth - he hopes that Alex stops there, but he senses that this had already gone too far.
“I asked for this one thing and you couldn’t give this to me?”
“I give you plenty - every other fucking thing the past couple of months has been about making sure you can deal with this shit. I’m sorry that I couldn’t live up to your high expectations enough to get Neal to keep his stupid mouth shut.”
“That is what you really think of me, then?”
“For fuck’s sake.” Desmond kicks the floor when he sees Neal walk into the room. He looks up and can’t even begin to think about the disturbed expression on Neal’s face because he’s already got far too much on his mind.
“This has nothing to do with you.” Alex glares at Neal over his shoulder before turning back to face Desmond.
“Of course it does - every other word in this argument is my name.” Neal grips the door handle. “I thought you might like to remember that we have two young children sleeping down the hallway and I don’t think they should wake up to hear this.”
Desmond hangs his head. He takes several deep breaths to try and keep himself together. He lifts his head and looks between Neal and Alex.
“Let’s just not do this now.” Desmond doesn’t get any more than a step towards the door before Alex shouts out.
“You are not leaving in the middle of the argument.”
“I’m not the one you should be arguing with.”
“That is so nice.” Neal bangs the door right back against the wall. “Let him yell just at me instead.”
“You’re the one that fucked up, Neal.”
“Because that’s all I ever do, yes?”
“No, it’s not all you ever do, but it is something you did today.”
“Excuse me for wanting to share all our happy news.”
“It wasn’t yours to share, Neal!” Alex drops his hands to his sides and turns towards Neal. “I was the one who should have decided how people found out that news. My choice, Neal - mine.”
“It is not going to be a choice soon, Alex.” Neal steps forward. “You have weeks, maybe only days, before everyone will be able to tell and then you will have to stop living in denial about the fact that you’re pregnant.”
“I am not in denial.” Alex clenches his fists and takes a step towards Neal. “I have been throwing up every morning - I cannot be in denial after that.”
“No, you’re still managing it. It doesn’t just go away if you don’t deal with it, Alex.”
“I am dealing with it.”
“You are not doing anything!”
“So you decided to do it for me?” Alex shakes his head. “I wasn’t doing things as quickly as you wanted or the way you wanted so you decided to handle things for me? Of course.” He rolls his eyes. “Everything has to be the way you want.” He turns to the side and glares when he hears Desmond’s snort of laughter.
“Do you know how fucking hypocritical you sound right now?” Desmond shakes his head. “Everything is the way you decide - you don’t want to come with us today or you don’t want us to tell them everything or you don’t want to mention it at all. We’ve been trying to deal with half a fucking situation because you’re refusing to talk about anything. Nothing is going to get worked out until you start talking, Alex - you’re the one that’s got all the fucking power here and we’re just left waiting.”
“I knew that you would take his side.” Alex growls. “Precious Neal can’t do anything wrong, can he?”
“Just because I think you’re wrong, doesn’t mean I think he’s right.” Desmond takes a deep breath. He shoots a quick glance towards Neal before returning his attention to Alex. “I’m pretty sure Neal knows he’s fucked up today now. How long is it going to take for you to realize that you’re doing the same?”
“I am suffering and you’re supposed to help me with that.”
“I can’t help you until you admit what the problem is.”
“I … Oh, of course you wouldn’t understand.” Alex huffs and folds his arms across his chest again. He looks at Neal. “I’m sure you explained it perfectly, though, didn’t you? There are no secrets with you, are there? Everybody knows everything. You are perfect, aren’t you?” He shakes his head. “Why are you even here?”
“Alex.” Desmond walks over and puts a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “You need to stop, right now.” He hopes that Alex listens because this argument is getting far too close to the point of no return.
“No.” Alex shoves Desmond’s hand away and steps up to Neal. “You don’t belong with us.”
Desmond’s eyes widen and he stares at Alex.
“Then I’ll leave.” Neal turns towards the door, but looks back over his shoulder. “I am sorry that I am not good enough for you. I am sorry that I ruined your perfect relationship. I am sorry that you don’t love me as much as you love each other.”
The flash of movement as Neal rushes out of the room is what snaps Desmond out of his daze. He takes a step towards the door, but stops when he hears Alex call out.
“I knew that you would follow him.”
“Of course I’m fucking following him.” Desmond turns back to face Alex. “Yeah, he messed up today and, yeah, it was bad, but it is absolutely nothing compared to what you’ve just done. I can’t even look at you right now.” He turns around and walks out of the room. He hurries down the corridor, hoping he can catch up with Neal before it’s too late.
CHAPTER SEVEN
When Neal hears the door opening, he glances over just long enough to register that it’s Desmond who’s walked into the room before turning away.
“Go away.”
“Yeah, that’s not happening anytime soon.” Desmond walks over and sits down on the bed next to Neal. He hesitates for a few seconds before reaching out to put a hand on Neal’s shoulder.
Neal tenses when he feels Desmond’s hand on his shoulder. He could shout more or cry or run away, but he doesn’t feel like he has the energy or the will to push Desmond away.
“Will you talk to me?”
Neal can’t think of a good enough response so he stays quiet. He sniffles a little, but still leans in as he feels Desmond wrap his arms around him.
Desmond doesn’t know what to say either so he just shifts around and pulls Neal as close to him as he can manage.
Neal closes his eyes. He doesn’t know whether he cries or whether he falls asleep, but at some point he’s just too overcome by everything to do anything apart from stare at a point on the duvet cover. He picks at a loose thread on the side of his jeans for a minute before speaking.
“I am sorry, you know. I didn’t …” Neal glances at Desmond through the corner of his eye. “I didn’t mean to say it - it just came out.”
“I know.” Desmond offers a soft smile and kisses the side of Neal’s head. “I know you would never have done anything like that on purpose, but it still must have hurt for you to ignore something that important, even for a second. Neal …” He stays quiet for a few seconds, wondering whether saying what he wants to say would be too much right now. He decides he’ll have to say it because, as painful as it might be, they ought to start being honest with each other now. “Sometimes, Neal, it’s just frustrating that you still don’t think before you speak.”
“I’m trying.” Neal huffs. “I’m doing my best.”
“I know that, I do, but it doesn’t always make it easier to accept. It’s hard not getting what you need, especially because of someone you love, even if it wasn’t intentional.”
“What about what I need?” Neal pulls back to look at Desmond. “I need to not keep secrets. We kept secrets about our life for far too long and I can’t do that anymore.”
“I understand that, too, but Alex is … This is all a lot harder for him than it was for you.”
“So what?” Neal shrugs. “I’m supposed to give him everything that he wants and he doesn’t even think about doing
that for me?”
“No, but if you want him to understand how you feel, then you have to try and understand how he feels, too.”
“I would have tried before. Not now.”
“Yeah,” Desmond mutters. He thinks back to the words that Alex had said during their argument and still can’t believe he would think them, let alone spit them out like that. He shakes his head and looks at Neal. “You know it’s not true, right? You were never extra for me - you were never something I could do without and you never will be now. You’re not something that could just go away and everything would go back to normal. I love you, Neal, and you’re a part of this for good.”
Neal squeezes his eyes shut - he doesn’t want to have to cry again tonight. He shifts over and presses his forehead against Desmond’s shoulder.
“He said … Even if Alex doesn’t mean it either, will you shout at him for saying things when he’s angry the same way you shouted at me for saying things without thinking?”
“I …” Desmond hangs his head. “I’m sorry about that. You messed up and you should know that, but you didn’t deserve so much anger. I’m just kind of stuck in the middle, trying to help both of you deal with this and it’s a lot and I snapped and I will spend however long you think I need to trying to make it up to you.”
Neal can’t stop the brief smile from passing across his face. He stays quiet for a few minutes.
“We are supposed to be happy right now. We are having more babies and all we can do is fight? What is going wrong?”
“I think we just forgot how to communicate without yelling.” Desmond runs his hand up and down Neal’s arm. “We’re going to have to work on fixing that.”
The Omega's Finest Baby: An Mpreg Romance (Unexpected Book 2) Page 6
