World Tour

Brisbane VI

¨Good morning gorgeous...¨ Brett's soft voice slowly entered his consiousness and his eyes opened part way to reveal a smiling Brett, standing over him with a cup of coffee in his hands. Oh my God, the guy was a saint.
 ¨What time is it?¨ he croaked in his just-woken up voice, half sitting up to take the cup of coffee from Brett.
¨Thank you, what have I ever done to deserve you?¨
Brett grinned. ¨It's almost twelve. I figured I'd wake you up before you're late for lunch.¨
¨Fuck.¨ Eddy groaned without malice. ¨I can't believe I slept that late.¨
¨Well, we've been busy¨, Brett said, shrugging his shoulders.
Yeah. They'd been busy, and he'd not been sleeping because his head was way too full. He couldn't have gotten more than about four hours sleep last night. Again. He groaned again.
¨I need another holiday in the Maldives.¨
Brett sat down on the edge of the bed.
¨You wanna talk about it?¨
Eddy was silent for a moment.
¨Not much to talk about, really. I just wonder how you do it, nothing ever seems to stress you out, no matter how much we have to do.¨
Brett shook his head good-naturedly and shrugged again.
¨Nah. Plus, I have you to support me.¨ He leaned over and kissed Eddy softly. ¨Come on, you'd better get ready for Belle.¨
He'd made the appointment with his sister several weeks ago, thinking he'd have the time by this point, but of course he should know by now it never worked like that. He really did want to see his sister though, so he dragged himself out of bed and pulled some clothes on.
¨At least I won't have to spend time eating breakfast, hey, as I'm about to have lunch?¨ he joked to Brett, who was still sat on the bed, eyeing him appreciatively.
¨Hmm?¨ he said, raising his eyebrows. ¨Sorry, just enjoying the view here.¨
Eddy laughed and moved to kiss him on the head.
¨I'll give you something to look at later, okay?¨

Belle was already sitting at the table when he walked into the restaurant. Crap, was he late again? When he got to the table she was smiling though and got up to hug him. Phew. Not that late then.
¨Hey big brother, how's life?¨ she said, keeping him at an arm's length and looking him up and down with some concern on her face.
¨Sit, take a load off.¨
¨I'm okay, just busy¨, he mumbled. The waitress came to their table to take their order. They knew the place, so he didn't even look at the menu.
¨Can I have the gaifan please?¨ he asked.
¨Me too, please¨, Belle said, and the waitress nodded and moved away.
¨So, talk to me, what's eating you, Eddy?¨
Belle was looking at him earnestly and he shook his head. He knew she could always see right through him. And before he knew it he found himself spilling all the beans he'd wanted to keep hidden.
¨It's just a lot, Belle. It's good, but it's a lot. Between the videos, the editing, the arranging for concerts, the merch, everything. My head gets so full I can't sleep. And...¨He paused and she looked at him meaningfully, waiting for him to go on, giving him the space. He sighed and looked down at the white table cloth in front of him.
¨I don't even know if I should be saying this, no one knows yet. But... but we're thinking about starting a family and that's something very complicated that's got my head swimming.¨
When he looked up he had to smile despite himself. Belle's eyes were wide, her cheeks were flushed and her jaw had dropped open: she looked just like a manga character.
¨Wha... for reals?¨ she asked, her voice husky. He just nodded.
¨But... how? Sorry if this is a stupid question...¨
He smiled wryly.
¨Yeah, that's the complication. We're looking into surrogacy. But it's incredibly complicated: you can't pay anyone to do it so someone has to be willing. We have no idea where to even start but we'd like the child to be biologically ours. So yeah. Head swimming.¨
She shook her head in amazement and seemed to collect herself.
¨Sorry for freaking out on you like that. I mean, wow! It would be awesome if it worked out I guess?¨
He nodded.
¨Wow.¨ she said again. ¨I just... wow. It's so weird, I'm here, I'm straight and able to have them, I guess, and I never, ever, ever want kids... and you guys want them and can't have them.¨
¨Never?¨ he asked, surprised. They'd never talked about this before.
¨Nah.¨ she said earnestly. ¨Never gonna happen. I mean, I like them fine and all, I just like my life as it is and I don't have any need to procreate. And the thought of being pregnant fills me with dread.¨
She visibly shuddered. Wow. All of this was news he really hadn't expected to hear.
¨Eddy, it goes without saying that if you tell mum this she will kill me, right? So not a word, okay?¨
He sniggered softly. ¨Yeah, I get that. And please, also not a word about our plans, because I don't want to get her hopes up when we have no idea if it will ever happen yet.¨
 She nodded and shook her head again.
¨Wow, my big brother the dad. It would be something else.¨
He smiled. ¨Yeah, it definitely would be, hey?¨