The Unexpected: An Mpreg Romance Read online

  After a long minute of silence from Alex, Desmond leans in towards Neal.

  “Well, I’m happy.”

  Neal grins at Desmond again, but then frowns at Alex.

  “Alex?”

  Alex knows now is exactly the right moment for him to tell Neal that the only thing he’s feeling right now is utter fear. He should say that, he really should, so they can have a serious conversation about all of this and figure everything out. He can’t quite bring himself to say that, though, for fear of destroying that amazing smile that Neal is wearing and making Neal and Desmond mad at him. Instead, he leans over and kisses Neal’s cheek.

  “I’m happy.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Alex is stood in the kitchen, clutching a cup of coffee and staring out of the window. He doesn’t realize that Desmond has even walked into the room until Desmond is stood right behind him.

  “Hey.” Desmond puts a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “You okay?”

  Alex jumps a little, but manages to refrain from spilling any of his coffee. He puts the cup down on the counter and turns around to face Desmond.

  “I’m just thinking.”

  Desmond smiles softly and brushes a hand over Alex’s cheek.

  “You do that too much sometimes.”

  “Well, this is the kind of thing that requires a lot of thought.”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty…”

  “Good?” Alex raises an eyebrow. “That’s what you think, isn’t it?”

  “And you don’t?”

  Alex shrugs.

  Desmond frowns a little.

  “So, before, when you told Neal that you were happy, it was a lie?”

  “I just… I don’t know what I am.”

  “Then why didn’t you say that?”

  “I couldn’t just… It wasn’t the right time.”

  “Oh, come on.” Desmond rolls his eyes. “It was the perfect time.”

  “He was so happy about it and so were you; I didn’t want to ruin that.”

  “So when were you gonna bring it up? In a few months’ time when we’re getting ready to bring the baby home from the hospital.”

  “No, just... Just later.”

  “Alex.” Desmond shakes his head. “First Neal isn’t talking and now you? You need to talk to me, please, and be honest because we need to be able to sort everything out and be okay before the baby actually gets here.”

  “A baby?” Alex shakes his head- he still can’t quite believe that this is happening. “I don’t…”

  Desmond steps in and takes hold of Alex’s hands.

  “Just talk to me.”

  Alex nods, but it’s a minute or so before he actually speaks.

  “This isn’t something I thought would happen.”

  “It’s not like I saw it coming either.”

  “But you’re okay with it because you’ve got a mountain of kids already.”

  “Five is not a mountain,” Desmond rolls his eyes, “and you love them.”

  “Yes, but I never thought of having any of my own. At least not now.”

  “But it is happening now.”

  “I know.” Alex turns his head away. “I just… This wasn’t part of the plan.”

  “You and your plans.” Desmond shakes his head. “Babies kinda fuck with the plans, Alex, even when you want them.”

  “But I don’t… I don’t know what to do.” Alex sighs heavily and shakes his head. “It’s a tiny little person. What am I supposed to do with that?”

  “What you’re supposed to do is take care of the baby.”

  “But I… It’s a baby- a tiny baby. I can’t take care of a baby.” Alex nods furiously as if that makes perfect sense.

  Desmond laughs softly.

  “So that’s what you’re worried about? That, for once, there’s something you might not actually be perfect at?”

  Alex narrows his gaze at Desmond.

  “I don’t have to be perfect at everything.”

  “Of course you do.” Desmond rolls his eyes, but then squeezes Alex’s hands tightly. “It’s one of those things that makes you who you are and we happen to love who you are, even if you can be entirely crazy and frustrating sometimes.”

  “That’s not… A baby! How the fuck am I supposed to look after a baby?”

  “You’re doing okay with the kids, aren’t you?”

  “That’s different. They were already children- actual children and not babies- when we started this.”

  “Ollison’s not even one. You were in the hospital the day she was born.”

  “That’s not the point.” Alex waves away Desmond’s words as if they mean nothing at all. “The point is… Damn it. This is a tiny little baby of my very own that…”

  “Our very own, Alex.”

  “Fine.” Alex rolls his eyes. “It’s a tiny little baby of our very own that we have to take care of all the time, a tiny little baby of our very own that we are completely responsible for. See, it’s totally different. Don’t tell me that it’s not different because it really is.”

  “Alex.” Desmond moves his hands up to either side of Alex’s face. “Just breathe.”

  Alex nods and takes several shaky breaths.

  “I know that it’s scary and no matter how many times it happens, it doesn’t get any less scary. I’m scared now and you can see that Neal is too, but I know we’re gonna be okay.”

  “That doesn’t work with me. Neal might be fine after you tell him that, but I need more than that.”

  “Alex…”

  “I know. I know.” Alex rolls his eyes. “Breathe.” He takes a few deep breaths.

  “You’ve got plenty of time to get used to this idea and it isn’t as if you have to do this on your own- Neal and I are gonna be there, too.”

  “But…”

  “Alex, seriously, you need to calm down.” Desmond places a gentle kiss on Alex’s lips. “You can do this.”

  “But what if I can’t? This is serious. I have to be able to take care of this baby, now that it’s actually going to be born and all.”

  Desmond can’t stop himself from laughing.

  “You are going to be okay, but not if you keep freaking out like this. You might not know everything right now, but there’s time for you to figure it out. Anyway, there are some things that you won’t know how to handle until the baby is actually here.”

  Alex frowns heavily because that all sounds fine, but what if it doesn’t work like that?

  “If you’re worried, about anything, then you need to talk about it to us, okay?”

  “Yes.” Alex frowns a little (because this is still terrifying) but nods. “I… I’m still scared.”

  “I know.” Desmond smiles fondly. “That tiny little baby might be terrifying, but it’ll be adorable too. Seriously, when you hold that baby in your arms for the first time, all these worries will seem like nothing.”

  “I hope so.”

  Desmond hugs Alex tightly and kisses Alex’s cheek. He’s about to say something else comforting, but then Neal wanders into the room.

  “I want cookies.” Neal puts his hands on his hips.

  Desmond laughs a little and kisses Alex again before pulling away and wandering around the kitchen in search of cookies.

  Neal studies Alex carefully for a minute.

  “You freaked out, didn’t you?” Neal rolls his eyes. “Of course you did.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Desmond walks over and hands Neal a bag of cookies. “We talked and everything’s fine.”

  “This is wrong.” Neal stares at the cookies. “I want my mom’s cookies.”

  “There aren’t any.”

  “There are.” Neal nods seriously. “I had some before.”

  “Then you must have eaten them all because I can’t find any.”

  “But I want them. I want my mom’s cookies.” Neal’s bottom lip starts to quiver.

  “Hey,” Desmond hugs Neal tightly. “It’s too late now, but we could go over tomorrow an
d see if your mom has any cookies. Will that be okay?”

  Neal nods.

  “I think that will do.”

  “All right then.” Desmond kisses Neal’s forehead. “And while we’re there, we can tell her that you’re pregnant.”

  Neal whines softly and almost stamps his foot on the ground.

  “I don’t want to.”

  “Neal.” Desmond gives Neal a pointed look. “You’re going to have to tell her sometime and you might as well do it as soon as possible. She’s probably been worried about you the past week, too; I’m sure she doesn’t like to see you cry.”

  “I suppose so. I just…” Neal sighs lightly. “I’m just worried about how she’s going to react.”

  “Just lead with the ‘You’re going to have another grandchild’ line and everything will be fine.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The following morning, Desmond is awoken at a much earlier hour of the morning than he would like and he’s completely confused for a second, but then he hears the bathroom door being opened closely followed by the sound of the unmistakable sound of someone throwing up. He groans softly and blinks a few times to clear the sleep from his eyes. He yawns and stretches out before getting up and walking through to the bathroom. He kneels down on the floor next to Neal and gently smoothes some hair back from Neal’s forehead.

  “Hey.”

  “Fuck off.” Neal swats Desmond’s hand away and then throws up again. “Ugh. I hate this.”

  “It’s not going to last forever.”

  “It’s still far too long.” Neal whines lightly. He takes a few deep breaths, hoping to soothe his nausea, but he just ends up throwing up again. He turns to the side and glares at Desmond. “You could at least try and do something helpful you know.”

  “Well, I was gonna offer to hold your hair back, but that’s really not an issue, is it?”

  “Also, I’m not a girl you idiot.” Neal punches Desmond’s shoulder.

  “Ow.” Desmond gently rubs his shoulder.

  Neal mutters angrily for a moment and then throws up again. He sighs heavily.

  Desmond opens his mouth to say something, but Neal doesn’t give him the chance.

  “You should just not be here; I would hate to have to punch you again.”

  “Okay. I’ll go, but if you need me then just shout and I’ll come back, okay?” Desmond kisses Neal’s cheek before standing up and walking out of the bathroom. He smiles when he steps into the bedroom and sees Alex sat up in bed, staring. “Hey. He’s...” He glances back towards the bathroom. “Well, this isn’t the most fun part of this whole process so we’ll let him off.” He walks over and presses a kiss to Alex’s forehead. “I’m gonna start on breakfast. You want anything?”

  “I’ll do breakfast.” Alex stands up a little bit too quickly and almost bangs into Desmond.

  “Hey.” Desmond puts his hands on Alex’s arms, stopping him from leaving. “He already punched me- I think you’ll have better luck with him than I will.”

  “But I…” Alex frowns heavily. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “It’s Neal; you know how to talk to Neal. Just make him feel better.”

  “I… I think it might be best if I go…”

  “You can’t hide away from this forever, Alex. You can handle this.”

  Alex looks worried for another minute before nodding.

  “I can do this.” Alex takes a deep breath before marching through to the bathroom.

  Desmond laughs a little and shakes his head. He walks downstairs and only briefly wonders whether Neal is going to end up punching Alex, too.

  ***

  Desmond is stood in the kitchen, making another cup of coffee (he’s already had one and some food, too, but he’s been down here on his own for long enough for him to finish breakfast and now get another coffee because he’s still tired). He hears some sound from behind him, but doesn’t turn around when he calls out.

  “Hey. Anyone want coffee?”

  Neal walks over and rests his chin on Desmond’s shoulder.

  “I’m sorry I punched you."

  Desmond smiles softly.

  “It’s okay.” Desmond turns around and gently kisses Neal’s lips. “You feel better now?”

  Neal pulls back slightly and shrugs.

  “I have to do this every morning?”

  It occurs to Desmond, then, that he could tell Neal that the nausea could, in fact, last throughout the day, but he knows that would probably earn him another punch.

  “It probably won’t last for much longer, though.”

  Neal sighs heavily, but quickly moves on.

  “Can I have…”

  “No, Neal, you can’t have cookies for breakfast; that’s not healthy and, also, you ate the last of the cookies yesterday.”

  “Oh.” Neal thinks carefully for a minute. “Then I want pancakes.”

  “I can do that.” Desmond turns around and starts gathering things to make pancakes with.

  “When are we going over to Mom’s?”

  “After lunch.”

  “Okay. And there will definitely be cookies there, yes?”

  “Why don’t you call your mom now and find out?”

  “Hmm.” Neal looks at his watch. “It’s still early. I will call later. Where are my pancakes?”

  Desmond raises an eyebrow and turns to look at Neal.

  “You’re gonna have to wait a little longer than that.”

  Neal huffs a little. He stands up and wanders over to the fridge to get some juice.

  “So did Alex freak out again?”

  Neal opens his mouth to reply, but he doesn’t get the chance.

  “No, I did not, thank you very much,” Alex shouts from the living room.

  Neal looks at Desmond and nods.

  “He did. You did,” Neal shouts back towards the living room, “but it’s okay because we still love you anyway.” He grabs a glass from the cupboard and fills it full of juice. He takes a few sips of juice before turning to Desmond. “So, my pancakes?”

  “They’ll take even longer if you keep interrupting me.”

  Neal narrows his gaze a little.

  “I think I’m mad with you. I’m going to sit with Alex so I will have my pancakes in the living room.” Neal turns around and walks back into the living room.

  Desmond rolls his eyes and turns back to the task at hand. Unsurprisingly, the pancake-making does go a lot more quickly without Neal interrupting him. He takes a chance and makes some extra pancakes in case Neal wants more than usual. He walks into the living room and hands Neal a plate of pancakes.

  “There you go. There’s some left if you want more later.”

  “That’s nice. I would like more juice now, please.”

  “All right.” Desmond goes back into the kitchen and returns a few minutes later. He hands the juice to Neal and a cup of coffee to Alex. “There. Now is everyone happy?”

  “Yes, Desmond.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “We don’t have to go. We could always just not go, right?” Neal glances between Desmond and Alex. “We could do that. Stay here, I mean.”

  “Neal.” Desmond gives Neal a pointed look.

  Neal sighs heavily and looks to Alex for support, but Alex just shakes his head.

  “I don’t want to.”

  “I thought you wanted cookies.”

  “But you could go and get the cookies and bring them here so I could have the cookies and not…”

  “Neal.” Desmond gently pushes Neal towards the door. “You have to do this. I don’t know what you’re so worried about- you’ll be fine.”

  “But what if she gets mad?”

  “If your mom’s gonna get mad, Neal, she’ll get mad at me and Alex, not you.”

  Neal doesn’t look convinced by that.

  “And you want those cookies, don’t you?”

  “I…” Neal frowns a little, but nods. “I want the cookies.”

  “Then we’re gonna have to go.�
�

  “I can do this.” Neal takes a deep breath and takes hold of Desmond and Alex’s hands. “I can definitely do this.”

  ***

  “I’m pregnant.” Neal hadn’t really meant to blurt that out as soon as he sat down in his parent’s house, but of course that’s exactly what he’s ended up doing. He whimpers a little and looks down at the ground because he’s actually too scared to look up at his parents. He knows that Desmond and Alex are sat on either side of him, but he can’t really look at them either.

  “Neal.”

  Neal takes a long moment to look up.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Oh, Neal; you have nothing to apologise for.”

  Neal has a long conversation with his mother then. It’s nice and comforting and very much a relief (he keeps asking whether she’s mad at him or not and gets plenty of reassurance that that is definitely not the case). He’s not that worried that his dad hasn’t really said anything (this is such a big thing that it makes sense his dad would need longer to get used to it). He knows it’s probably a bit too early, but he does get excited when his mother starts talking about buying tiny little baby clothes. When she starts talking about decorating the nursery, though, he gets a little sad because the nursery the baby will be sleeping in for a lot of the time is going to be in a whole other country. He almost cries when his dad hugs him on the way out and says that he’s very happy. He lets out a brief sigh of relief when they step out of the house. He glances back at Desmond and Alex.

  “You did remember the cookies, didn’t you?”

  ***

  “That went well.” Neal nods and hangs his jacket on the hook by the door.

  “I told you that you didn’t have to worry.” Desmond pushes the door shut after Alex has walked into the house.

  “Well, I suppose you had to be right about something sooner or later.” Alex grins.

  Desmond narrows his gaze and shakes his head.

  Alex laughs a little and walks over to wrap an arm around Neal’s shoulders.

  “Why don’t we get you some milk to go with those cookies?”

  Neal grins and nods.