"I-I cant wait to hold her...But what am i gonna do..? Shes not gonna have a dad.."
"The first thing you need to do is relax and just breathe. Stressing out is going to hurt her. Just breathe. It'll be okay. Pack up some bags, you're gonna stay with Franks best friend for a while. He's a paediatrician, he's great around babies. He'll take care of you and Rowan. Thats such a cute name Mikey!"
-
Pete was passed out with a total stranger on the sofa, when Frank arrived. Mikey had packed a suitcase with his own clothes. He tried to take it down the stairs, but he couldn't.
"Mikey, nonono put that down. You're going to hurt yourself." Frank whispered, taking the suitcase from his brother in law. "Pack the babys stuff."
"Pete never even built the crib.."
"Ray will do it for you. You can trust Ray with absolutely anything, he's so amazing and caring. He'll take good care of Rowan. Cute name, Gerard told me her name is Rowan. Okay, i'll put the cribs box into the car, you go wait for me."
-
The car ride to Rays home was mostly silent. Frank kept glancing at Mikey, who was humming a tune to his unborn baby, hands moving around on the dome of his belly.
It was originally Frank who brought up the idea of babies to Gerard, too. Frank loved babies, and he was sad he never got a baby brother like Gerard did, and so he wanted a baby of his own. And he was very excited to meet his niece, he promised Mikey that he would be the clingy uncle who would spoil her rotten.
"How're you feeling? Nervous?" Frank asked, making Mikey lose his focus and stop humming. The baby started kicking when he stopped.
"About what?"
"Labor, actually having a baby...I couldn't imagine being pregnant." Mikey shook his head, giggling at Frank.
"No, not really...I'm just scared shes not going to have a dad.."
Frank was very aware that Pete was not very on board with Mikeys pregnancy, and even worse, he knew Pete was laughing about Mikeys body. Pete joked that Mikey was like a tiger with his stretch marks, an obese tiger. He often made cruel jokes about his own boyfriend with his friends.
Frank frowned. He removed one hand from the steering wheel and placed it against Mikeys belly. Mikey smiled at his brother in law.
"Don't worry Mikey, Ray is the most trustworthy person you can ever meet."
-
Mikey was relaxing in his bed when Pete called him. A month had past, he was two days over his due date, and Ray was supporting him in the preparation for the new baby.
He reached for his phone that was buzzing on his bedside table, feeling his heart drop seeing Petes name as the caller ID. He thought about answering, but what did Pete want? Pete would send threatening messages to Mikey, that if he didn't come back then he'd track him down and hurt him. Ray told Mikey that he was perfectly safe with him, that the door would always be locked and he had CCTV in case Pete wanted to make an appearance.
"You need anything, Mikey? I'm heading to the store." Ray said, gently pushing Mikeys bedroom door open. He found him sitting upright in bed, a blue blanket over his baby bump and his legs, reading a Stephen King novel.
"No, i'm okay."
"You sure? You think you'll need more diapers or bottles or anything? I can-"
"Just some peanut butter cups. Maybe some ice cream, hmm...Hersheys kisses and...popcorn."
Hazy Shade of Winter (Rikey)
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