World Tour

Brisbane XX

Eddy was sat staring out of the window. He was all alone in the apartment; Brett had gone to do some shopping and he'd stayed behind to practice. He knew he really should go and practice, he knew very soon he'd have little time for such 'trivialities' as his violin, which had been front and centre stage in his life up until now, but he just didn't seem to have it in him today.
It was the dead of winter in Brisbane. Not that Brisbane got much of a winter, really. But it was raining today and he sat on the black sofa in their studio, the lamella open for once, watching the drops streaming down the window. 
An overwhelming sense of whistfulness spread in his chest. Only about five weeks now, and he would be a father. Everything he'd known up to now would be different forever. Belle would give birth and they would be by her side, and they would go home with two brand new babies that would be theirs to keep, to protect and to raise. 
His thoughts went to that awesome day in the austere white building. 

¨Have you decided whether you'd like to know the genders?¨ the doctor asked.
They had decided, and in fact they'd been nervous all day about it. Not that it mattered, really. The most important thing was that the babies were okay, and clearly from the doctor's reactions so far they were. But still. Still. Would they have sons? Daughters? Both? It was such an exciting day. 
¨Yes, we'd love to know.¨ he said, in a tone that betrayed straight away how much it meant to them.
Belle was lying on some sort of weird table, her swollen belly exposed to the chilly air. 
The doctor moved the wand over her belly time and time again and paused, Eddy guessed because he wanted to be sure or something.
¨Right, have a look over here.¨ He pointed towards a point on the screen. Eddy didn't see much, to be honest, just the blurry shape of the most beautiful baby on earth.
¨Baby one is a boy!¨
His head whipped around to Brett. It was a boy! Would it be a miniature Brett? 
Eddy really hoped for a miniature Brett. 
Brett grabbed his hand even tighter, his face the picture of pure joy as the doctor moved the wand again.
¨Right! Baby two...¨ The doctor seemed to pause for dramatic effect, ¨Baby two is a girl!¨

Eddy smiled with the recollection as he resumed his staring at the rain drops. They'd worked hard, these last few months; they'd built a good back-log of videos and they'd got a head start on all the merch. They'd be able to take a good six weeks off after the babies arrived, to get settled in as a new family, and to support Belle in her recovery.
He sniggered lightly to himself. She still had not told him who this mystery 'friend' was she was seeing all the time, she'd flat out refused to even discuss it.... but he was pretty sure it was a boy, and a special one at that. He smiled fondly. He really hoped it would work out for her this time. 
Eddy got up and walked to their nursery. Oh, but how he loved the sweet little space they'd made, with the enthusiastic help of their friends. Seriously, these kids were going to have some great aunts and uncles in their lives, if you looked at how excited everyone was for their arrival! 
They'd decorated the nursery quite neutrally, but they'd put little accents in for both kids. The walls were a very pale cream, with cute wall stickers applied to them; blue and green flowers and cute insects on one side of the room, pink and purple on the other side. Light yellow curtains hung in front of the window, so that the light that filtered through them was soft and warm. 
The two white cribs were standing on either side of the room, next to the two dressers with the changing pads, nappy wipes and the first stacks of nappies and babygrows on top of them. 

¨Jeez, how many steps are there to fix these things?¨ Ibo said in disbelief as he peered at the leaflet with the instructions to assemble the dressers. Brett and Eddy were busy putting together the first of the cribs. 
¨Was it strictly necessary to have two of these, guys?¨ he said then, in fake indignation.
Brett laughed, pointing down in the vague direction of his belly.
¨Sorry mate. Super seed, you know.¨
Ibo roared with laughter.

Eddy ran his hand over one of the dressers. Very soon he'd be getting a very real baby dressed here.
Wow.
¨Hey! Are you alright?¨ Brett's voice came suddenly from the doorway, causing Eddy to jump. 
¨Oh, God! Brett, I hadn't heard you!¨
Brett sniggered. ¨I can see that. Guilty conscience?¨
¨Nah mate.¨ Eddy grinned. ¨Just.. just pensive, I guess.¨
Brett nodded and came close to pull him into a hug.
¨I know. It's all getting very real, hey?¨
¨Yeah. Super, super real. Just a few weeks, now.¨
¨It'll be good, Eddy.¨
¨I know, I guess.... I don't know, I guess it's all just hitting me suddenly. It really is almost time and nothing will ever be the same again. I can't wait... and I'm scared at the same time. I guess... I'm just feeling a bit melancholy today.¨
Brett looked at him with his soft, earnest eyes.
¨I know, my love. I know it's scary. But I'll be right by your side.¨
Something relaxed in Eddy at Brett's words, and as he looked over at his calm husband in front of him he knew that, as long as they were doing it together, they could handle anything.
¨You're right. I can't tell you how glad I am that you are.¨
He leaned his forehead in, nuzzling into Brett's hair.
¨Eddy?¨ Brett asked.
¨Mhm?¨
¨Do you know what's really effective against melancholy?¨

A/N. So, guys, I hope you're all keeping well, wherever you are in the world. Here is a quick heads up from me: I'm going to be rounding this story off soon. There will be something like six or seven more chapters and then it will be done. 
Now, I am feeling about as melancholy about this as Eddy was in this chapter, because it's my first ever ¨novel¨, if you want to call it that. It unexpectedly grew to be more than 100.000 words! So I'm loathe to let it go, but I do think that I've told all the stories I wanted to tell in this one, and I want to start writing an original novel (that I definitely would NOT have had the courage to start, had it not been for this one; the writing, you guys reading and starring, all the comments and input and thoughts; I've loved it all <3).
The new book is going to be on a different author page, that you all will be very welcome to visit, but I'll give more details on that in a later chapter.
So for now: I hope you enjoy the last few chapters and I'm sending you all lots of love! 

P.S. I'll definitely be carrying on with Andante for a while still, lots more to tell there, so do check it out via my profile if you haven't already :)