Calvin closes his eyes and lets out a long breath. He opens his eyes again.
“What are we supposed to do?” Calvin leans back against the couch. “It’s not like we can avoid all our other responsibilities so we can find each other again.”
“I’m not saying we do that, but we do need more time together.” George stares at Calvin for a few seconds. “We can’t just exist in the same house out of some kind of duty towards the kids.”
“God.” Calvin lets his head drop against the back of the couch. “It really fucking sucks that we’re talking about maybe ending up hating each other when nothing was really wrong.”
“I know, but we need to do something - it’s like we’re not …” George frowns for a minute, while he thinks about the right words to use. “It’s not like I ever expected that honeymoon phase to last forever - it never does - but I think we’re better than ending up in some routine life that bores the hell out of both of us.”
“You’re bored?”
“Aren’t you?”
Calvin opens his mouth to reply, but doesn’t like the answer he wants to give so he sighs instead. He shifts across the couch and presses his forehead against George’s shoulder.
“Does everyone get like this?”
“I hardly think we’re the first people to have these issues and I don’t think we’ll be the last either.” George wraps an arm around Calvin’s back and kisses the top of Calvin’s head. “Maybe we could ask my parents to watch the babies for a while, just for a couple of hours one day during the week. It’ll give us time to talk more, to do our own things …”
“To sleep.”
“Yeah.” George laughs for a few seconds.
“Okay. It’s worth trying, at least.” Calvin turns around and settles with his back against George. He stays quiet for a minute or so. “You know, the kids are still with your parents now so we already have some time together.”
“I suppose we do.” George stands up and holds a hand out towards Calvin.
Calvin frowns as he takes hold of George’s hand.
George shrugs while helping Calvin to his feet.
“Well, you were either talking having sex or going to sleep.” George pulls Calvin to his feet. “Either way, we’re going back to bed.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Desmond doesn’t realize how impatient he is to get home until he catches himself checking his watch for the thousandth time on the ride back from the airport. He’s amazed that he manages to get through the entire journey without snapping, even after having to stop at what feels like every light along the way. He can’t get out of the taxi fast enough and only just remembers to grab his bags, too. He nudges the front door open and throws his bags down in the hallway.
In the time it takes Desmond to hang his jacket on the hooks by the door, Alex has rushed downstairs and skidded to a halt next to him.
“Hey.”
“Hi.” Alex throws his arms around Desmond’s neck. “I can’t stay here for long - Neal’s chasing me - but I missed you and I’m glad you’re home.”
“Why is Neal chasing you?”
“Because I ate his last cookie.”
“You don’t like cookies.”
“No, I don’t, but she does.” Alex points to his stomach. “Neal is pissed because they …”
“She?”
“Oh.” Alex’s eyes widen and he stares at Desmond for several seconds. “Don’t tell Neal I said that. He has this whole plan and …”
“Alex!”
“Gotta go.” Alex presses a kiss to Desmond’s lips before running through to the living room.
Desmond frowns as he watches Alex run away. He opens and closes his mouth several times, but can’t form a coherent thought about what’s happening, let alone articulate it so he decides to leave it alone for now. He shakes his head and turns towards the stairs, just in time to see Neal arriving at the bottom step.
“Hi.” Neal grins at Desmond for a second and then points towards the living room. “Did he go that way?”
“Uh … Yeah.”
“Great.” Neal nods once before running off in the same direction Alex left. “It’s good to have you home,” he shouts back over his shoulder.
“Yeah.” Desmond frowns again as Neal disappears from sight. “I’m glad to be home, too.”
***
“So, no more arguments about cookies?” Desmond looks between Neal and Alex.
“Fine.” Neal glares at Alex and huffs, but doesn’t offer any further argument.
Alex shrugs and leans back in his chair.
“I can’t believe this is what I came home to.” Desmond shakes his head. “You didn’t spend the entire weekend arguing about food, did you?”
“Not the entire weekend.”
“Well, that’s progress I suppose.” Desmond is quiet for a few seconds and then he smiles. “So how has it been apart from the cookies?”
“Oh, it’s been so good.” Neal’s face lights up. “I have to get the pictures for you. The babies are so … Oh, they’re perfect. I’ll be back in a minute.” He stands up and hurries out of the room.
Alex watches Neal leave before turning his attention to Desmond.
“I don’t think he’s shut up all weekend.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Desmond can’t stop the fond smile from making its way onto his face. He focuses on Alex for a minute. “You seem,” he thinks for a few seconds, “happy.”
Alex shrugs and ducks his head to hide the faint blush creeping up his cheeks.
“It’s …” Alex looks up again, but stays doesn’t say anything for a minute or so. “I don’t know, it’s just good now. I mean, I still don’t like being pregnant, I think that I never will, but it’s just a process, isn’t it? It’s just about getting her here and I cannot wait for that.” He glances down to see that he’s put a hand on top of his stomach without realizing. “I cannot wait to meet her.”
“You told him already?”
Alex’s head snaps up when he hears Neal’s voice. He tries to smile as he turns towards Neal.
“In my defense, I actually told him almost as soon as he got back.”
“Now, who can’t think before he speaks?”
“Seriously, Neal,” Desmond glances at Alex before shifting his gaze to Neal, “you know I don’t care how I find out, right?”
“But it was going to be so special.”
“Neal, it already is.”
“Fine.” Neal sighs, but manages a smile. He walks back across the room and hands the pictures that he’s holding to Desmond. He only stays quiet for a few seconds before speaking again. “I’m having a girl, too, by the way.” He stares at Desmond, but he can already tell that most of Desmond’s attention is on the ultrasound pictures that he’s looking at. He decides that that is no reason to stop talking. “I think Matty is disappointed not to get a little brother, but Andrea and Bella are already excited. I hope you don’t mind we told them first, but they were here and we only told them today and …”
“It’s okay.” Desmond takes another quick look at the pictures before reaching out to squeeze Neal’s hand. “I really don’t mind that they knew first.” He leans back in his chair. “So more little girls, huh? It’s going to be fun when they all grow up.”
“Oh, yes - Alex is scared of this already.”
“Shut up.” Alex kicks Neal under the table. “You’re the one that cried about them leaving home and they’re not even born yet.”
“I did not.” Neal folds his arms across his chest and glares at Alex.
“Hey.” Desmond shifts his chair a little closer to Neal. “You’ve still got me curious about this plan you had about how to tell me all of this.”
“Oh, it doesn’t matter.”
“I might already know everything, but why don’t you tell me what your plan was anyway?”
Neal chews on his lower lip for a second before nodding and leaning forward.
“Okay, it was going to go lik
e this.”
***
Desmond drops onto the couch next to Neal and nudges Neal with his knee.
“Where’d Alex get to?”
“Oh, he’s sleeping.”
“Right, so when you said ‘nap time’ you didn’t just mean the babies?”
“Hey.” Neal elbows Desmond in the ribs. “They wouldn’t need this extra nap time if you hadn’t worn them out playing so much.”
“I was just making up for everything I missed while I was away.”
“You were gone for a weekend, Desmond.”
“That’s vital play time when you’re nearly three years old.”
Neal rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
Desmond laughs and wraps an arm around Neal’s shoulders.
Neal settles against Desmond. He stays quiet for a minute.
“So tell me how your weekend was.”
“Neal, you called me at least once an hour the entire time I was gone.”
“Well, yes, but the things you didn’t tell me or the things you forgot or the things that sound better in person or just everything all over again.”
Desmond smiles and kisses the top of Neal’s head.
“All right - it went like this.”
***
“And Cam is pretty much the most laid-back baby ever, but Riley’s got that wonderful attitude of an almost two year old.”
“That sounds like a lot of fun.”
“Yeah, remember when the twins were that age? Libby was such a terror - I think even Matty was scared of her.”
“I think Matty is still scared of her. I think even Lukas is scared of her sometimes and she is a quarter the size of him.”
“That’s our girl.”
Neal settles against Desmond and closes his eyes.
“You enjoyed yourself then?”
“Yeah, it was good to get …” Desmond stops himself before he says something he’s already worrying that he might regret.
Neal pulls back and stares at Desmond.
“It was good to get away?”
Desmond thinks he might as well have finished his sentence because Neal knows what he was going to say and he already feels like a coward for not saying it. He hesitates for a minute before speaking.
“It’s not like that.”
“Right.” Neal nods. He frowns at Desmond for several seconds. “What is it like then? Do you not want to be here?”
“No. No! It would never be that, but I’ve got to be honest - it was nice to get out of here for a while. Don’t get me wrong,” Desmond reaches out for Neal’s hand, “I missed you like crazy while I was gone, but, fuck, I needed the break.” He takes a few seconds to think about the best way to explain himself. “Everything here has been so crazy recently and it was too much. I mean, I know things were getting better.”
“Alex and I were fighting less you mean?”
“Yeah.” Desmond nods. “That. I still kind of felt like I was stuck in the middle. I suppose with three of us, there’s always a risk of that, but it got too much. You two were fighting, I was kind of pissed at both of you, you were still mad at me for yelling at you so much that day and Alex was still angry at the entire world. I know things were starting to get better, but we weren’t back to a really happy place and I just didn’t want to deal with the pressure anymore. I wanted to escape for a little bit so I didn’t end up snapping and making the situation even worse.” He squeezes Neal’s hand. “I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but sometimes it gets too hard.” He expects an immediate onslaught of angry words and screaming and maybe a touch of violence so his head snaps up when he hears Neal’s response.
“Oh. Okay.”
Desmond stares at Neal for a minute.
“You’re taking this remarkably well.”
“You think sometimes you don’t drive me crazy, too?” Neal leans back in the couch. “I understand wanting your own space and you know sometimes that I like going back home and being with just my own family. All of this is hard work sometimes, I understand that - I know what you’re feeling. I think that it’s okay to take a break sometimes from these problems, to make sure you get yourself in good place to deal with everything. I think that it’s even okay to be apart from each other sometimes. The only problem would be if you didn’t want to come back. I think you would be nice enough for the babies’ sakes, if not for mine, to ever say if that was true so it’s okay if you enjoyed some time away - I know you enjoyed your time back here more.”
Desmond opens and closes his mouth several times before speaking.
“You’re amazing, do you know that?”
“Yep.” Neal grins. “Keep telling me that anyway.” He leans towards Desmond, but jumps back when he hears Alex’s voice coming from somewhere back by the doorway.
“I drive you crazy?”
Desmond laughs - he should have expected Alex to have wandered into this conversation at some point. He turns around to face Alex.
“Alex, you have been driving me crazy from the second I met you and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Desmond reaches a hand out towards Alex. “Now, come here and give me a hug - you’re way too far away.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Did you mean it?”
Alex’s head snaps up when Neal drops down into the seat next to him on the couch. He wipes the sleep from his eyes and frowns at Neal.
“What are you talking about?”
“This.” Neal waves his phone in front of Alex’s face. “You said I was your biggest rival in the industry.”
“I … uh … Yes?”
“So you said it?”
“Yes.”
“Did you mean it?”
“Why would I say it if I didn’t mean it?” Alex smiles for a second before turning away and attempting to get some kind of nap.
“But am I really?”
Alex groans - he should have known that wouldn’t be the end of it. He turns back towards Neal.
“For a while, it was like I was on my own. I was doing my own thing and no one pushed me enough. Then you were there and I wasn’t certain of being the best anymore. No one else has challenged me like that.”
“I can hear you, you know,” Desmond calls out from the kitchen.
“I came out on top you every single time, after you came back - shut up.”
Neal leans in towards Alex.
“Does that mean I’m better than him too?” Neal doesn’t give Alex the chance to respond. “I could definitely gloat about that.”
“There will be no gloating.” Desmond walks into the living room. He stands in front of the couch with his arms folded across his chest. He looks at Neal. “You are just going to be happy that Alex really did say something that nice about your career and you?” He turns towards Alex, but decides not to say anything when he sees that Alex has drifted off to sleep. “Come on.” He holds a hand out towards Neal.
“But …”
“Let him sleep, Neal - he’s still having a hard time with all of this.”
“All right.” Neal takes hold of Desmond’s hand and climbs to his feet. “I’m still going to gloat about being better than you though.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Brandon stands with his hands on his hips for a minute before calling out.
“Hey, Dave, do you think we’ve got enough beer?”
David closes his eyes and counts to five before replying.
“We’ve got a room full of beer, Brandon. Granted, we always do, with you living here, but you’ve never managed to drink through it all yet.” David returns his attention to his magazine. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
“Hmm.” Brandon frowns at the various bottles of alcohol scattered throughout the dining room. “I’m not convinced it’s enough.”
“You’re worrying too much, don’t you think?”
“You know what our friends are like.”
“Fine - if it will make you feel better, I can go out and get some more.” David s
tands up and turns towards the door, but stops when Brandon grabs his arm. “What?”
“You can’t leave - it’s your party.”
“No one’s here yet.”
“Well, what if they turn up while you’re out?”
“Uh … entertain them?” David rolls his eyes and then frowns at Brandon. “You know they’re your friends too, right?”
Brandon just stares at David.
“Fine.” David sighs and shakes his head. “I’ll stay and you go out to buy an unnecessary amount of extra alcohol.”
“Good plan.”
***
“Oh, shit,” Brandon mutters as soon as he steps back into the house. “What about the ice?”
David takes a few seconds to marvel at the amount of bags Brandon has come back with (it’s only four, but they’re packed full and combined with everything they’ve got stored in the dining room, it doesn’t look like they’ll need to buy any more until next Christmas) before replying.
“Which of our friends do you think would actually give a shit about ice?”
“Good point.” Brandon thrusts the bags at David. “Take these. Is anyone here?”
“Of course not - it’s only five o’clock.” David rolls his eyes. He takes a step towards the living room, but then turns back towards Brandon. “Why are you taking this so seriously?”
“It’s a big deal.”
“No, the official company party the other week was a big deal - this is, essentially, a piss-up with our best friends.”
“Yes, but it’s for your retirement, which makes it a big deal so, shut up and pretend to enjoy yourself tonight, yeah?”
David steps in and kisses Brandon’s forehead.
“You’re an idiot and this is way overboard, but thank you so much for doing it.”
“Yeah, well,” Brandon shrugs, “you’re worth it.”
***
“Hey.” David waves his hand in front of Brandon’s face. “I haven’t heard anything from you in about five minutes and, honestly, I’m starting to worry that you’re dead.” He smiles and nudges Brandon with his knee. “You’re not still worrying about the booze, are you?”
The Omega's Finest Baby: An Mpreg Romance (Unexpected Book 2) Page 10
