"Shit!" Mikey cursed quietly as he sat up from where he laid flat on the bed. Although he was glad to welcome another baby to his family, there was always something about the pregnancy that bothered the heck out of him. He found out a month back that like with his first pregnancy, the back pain would be what he would endure.
He thought back pain would beat throwing up all the time, but now experiencing it for a second pregnancy, he wasn't so sure now.
It was all worth it though, Mikey kept reminding himself. He wanted to rid of this back pain, but not enough to rush the pregnancy along. It wouldn't be good for the baby. He always worried whatever he thought would come true, but he blamed that on his emotions and mood swings.
Since he stayed home and just made sure not to stress himself out, he spent his time comparing his two pregnancies. He experienced back pain with both. Grace had made him super sensitive to certain foods, but she wasn't a picky eater whereas he was fine with everything now. He did throw up more this time around than when he was first pregnant.
Regardless of the differences and similarities, he still had his family who would care for him. Ray was the best husband ever doing whatever he could to make Mikey comfortable. Once upon a time, Ray would race back home just to talk to Grace, who kept kicking Mikey. Baby Rowan did not kick as much as Grace did, which Mikey thought was a relief. Grace would sometimes do it randomly, especially when he tried to get some rest.
When Gerard and Frank moved to Los Angeles, so did they. There was no way anyone was going to separate the Way brothers. All of them were doing what they had always wanted. Gerard was a comic book writer - The Umbrella Academy being such a hit. Together, Ray and Frank started up a music company. Mikey had Electric Century with David. They were all happy doing what they loved.
Mikey was delighted that they had all been blessed with little angels. Two years after Grace was born, Gerard announced he was with pregnant. Mikey had been over the moon to meet his niece and knew Grace and Bandit would be great cousins to each other.
He was euphoric about his life. He had everything he wanted and needed right now. He couldn't ask for more.
"Honey, I'm home!" Mikey smiled and rolled his eyes hearing Ray holler at him. Since he was seven months pregnant and his back loved to act like a bitch to him, Ray thought it was best he pick up Grace after school since she was attending kindergarten now. It was no trouble to Ray, saying that even if he couldn't do it they would figure out something.
He is the man with a plan, Mikey thought jokingly.
Mikey missed having Grace at home with him. He had gotten so used to having his little girl at home with him. When she turned four, he felt like time was going by so quick since she would have to start school not long after. He missed seeing those bouncing curls (identical to Ray's) follow him throughout the house.
Before she started kindergarten, they would go out of the house. Sometimes they would head to the parks or shops. He would take her to his favorite comic book store in Los Angeles - The Secret Headquarters. It brought him the utmost joy that he successfully converted his daughter into the cult of comics. Gerard was proud of him too.
Mikey remembered the days they would come back from the comic book store, especially when Ray had gotten home early. The afro-haired man would giggle seeing the newly purchased comics for his husband and daughter. Grace would excitedly show and tell to Ray about the comics they had bought. He knows she would have taken comics to school if they allowed it.
Ray and he worried when they found out they were expecting again on how Grace would react. She had been the only baby in the family until Bandit was born and even after, she was excited to meet her cousin. They thought that it was different since Bandit was her cousin and not her sibling. They found out that their little princess was okay with the idea of having a little brother or sister. She was excited to meet them.
They thought that maybe she would even change her mind about her sibling during the pregnancy. She would figure out that her mom couldn't take her out to visit the comic store or to the park, but Grace was fine. She loved sticking by Mikey's side and even touching the baby bump and talking to her sibling. Mikey thought it was adorable. Whenever she would get back from school, she would always go up to Mikey and touch the baby bump and say hi to her mom and sister.
It melted his heart how sweet Grace was about the whole idea of becoming a big sister. When they first told her, she was thrilled and went on about they would play together and that she would introduce her little sibling to comics and they would love them too. Ray and he were just happy that Grace was excited about the idea.
"I'm in here!" Mikey hollered. He hated how dependent he had gotten with the bed. His back pain hurt so much that sometimes he didn't want to get up from bed. He had to when it came to eating though, but he just wished for the pain to stop. He couldn't call Ray for the amazing backrubs he gave either.
One more month, Mikey thought and was excited for the moment Rowan would be welcomed into the world. Yay to having the baby and no more back pain.
"Hey babe," Ray stood at the doorway with Grace in front of him. He looked worried when he eyed his husband. "Back pain again?"
Mikey nodded and winced. "I think I'd take nausea every day than this." Ray walked towards the bed. Mikey looked at Grace, who was still standing at the doorway. "Hi sweetheart. How was school?"
Grace's hands tightened on her backpack straps. "Good," she muttered without enthusiasm. Mikey noticed how she didn't start rambling about what happened at school today. Usually, she came back home telling him about everything they did in class. She loved kindergarten and there was always something she enjoyed that they did in class.
Mikey thought maybe she would want to come say hi to Rowan. He was a bit surprised that they wasn't near him. "Wanna talk to Ro? She loves to hear you speak to her."
Grace stood there for a moment as if she was debating on it before she shook her head and left. Ray and Mikey were surprised to have gotten that reaction from her.
Mikey turned to Ray. "What's wrong with Grace?"
Ray shrugged. "I'm not sure. When I picked her up, we were talking about her learning the keyboard. She was really interested in it."
"Did she talk about school?" Mikey wondered if that was the source of the problem. When she left this morning she was more happier.
"Actually no. I asked her how school was too, but she said it was fine. I thought she would have more to add to it, but she mentioned the keyboard and we started talking about music." Ray explained.
Huh, that's interesting, Mikey thought. Grace always came back to tell them about her day and most the time it was about stuff that she excited about. She had been happy when she told them they had played with Play-Doh and how she made a little boombox.
"I think something might have happened at school." Mikey said aloud. He had been thinking it in his head, but didn't realize he had said it until after.
Ray pointed out. "She barely came near you."
Mikey gasped. "Oh my gosh, you don't think it's maybe something I did, do you?" He hadn't even considered that possibility.
Ray shook his head. "She was fine earlier before she went to school. She even said goodbye to Rowan like she always does before we head out."
"So it was school." Mikey stated. There was no other reason or so he believed. "We have to talk to her, Ray. I'm worried about what happened."
"If Kristin knew, she would have mentioned something to me when I went to go pick her up." Ray said. It meant if something happened, Grace was keeping it all to herself. "Kids can be mean sometimes."
Both of them could definitely understand that. Mikey remembered being at school with Gerard and getting picked on for being different. When people found out that his brother and he naturally carried their children, they got looks and not so nice comments. Mikey knew Frank and Ray had their fair share in school too of what it was like to being picked on.
Ray placed a kiss on the temple of Mikey's forehead. "I'm gonna go check on her. I'll see if I can talk to her, but I think it would be best if we talked to her together."
"Yeah, we should try to talk to her as soon as possible. I would hate for her to have to keep it to herself any longer." Mikey agreed.
Ray placed a hand over the baby bump. "I'll be back," he said before getting off the bed and exiting the room.
Grace was in her room sitting down on the floor. She was sitting right next to her bookshelf. Ray caught sight of the comic book she was reading. It was The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. It was one of Grace's favorites and the first comic series Mikey introduced to her. It was one of Gerard's works and Ray remembered Mikey being so happy for his brother when he released these comics and same could go for The Umbrella Academy.
The fact that Grace was reading comics right now made him think of Mikey.
"I remember when you asked us for ray gun last Christmas because the Killjoys fought with them." Ray spoke up, watching Grace as she picked up her head to look at him.
Grace giggled, putting the comic down. "Mommy and you said I might get hurt if I were to ever have one."
Ray chuckled and approached her to sit right next to her on the floor. "Remember when we pretended to be the Fab Four and the Girl?"
Grace nodded happily as the memory came back to her. "You were Jet Star and Mommy was Kobra Kid! It was so fun."
Ray wrapped an arm around Grace. "Your mommy wanted to do everything to make it look real. He dyed his hair blond. We didn't have real ray guns, but we made sure to get the same colored water guns the same color Jet and Kobra had."
"It was fun." Grace muttered softly. She looked down at the comic in her hands.
Ray exhaled and decided to just say it. "I noticed you didn't really say hi to Mommy and Rowan today."
Grace continued to stare down at the comic. "I...I didn't mean to hurt Mommy's feelings...or Ro's..."
"We know. You're a sweet girl, Grace, we know you'd never meant to hurt anyone's feelings." People liked to say that Grace got her sweetness from him which always made him happy to know what his daughter inherited from him. "You didn't say much about school today, so...I was wondering if something happened."
Grace finally looked up and Ray knew Mikry was right. He could see the sadness in her eyes that told him that something happened. No kid deserved to be picked on.
"If something did happen, Grace, you need to tell us. Sometimes, kids can be mean, and that's not nice. It shouldn't continue on either." Ray remembered dealing with high school bullying. The teachers always knew what was going on. In the back of his head, he did worry about when that time came for his kids.
Grace whispered. "Why do they have to be so mean?"
"People sometimes don't understand things so they are judgmental about it. It's even worse when they don't feel sorry about the mistake they made. There's all sorts of people like that in the world, but we can't let them bother us."
"Do they ever change their minds?" Grace asked.
"I think some can. They just need time to understand. Some people can change for the best." Ray said with a hopeful smile. He waited for his daughter to to something, but she remained quiet. He could tell she was registering everything he had told her.
"It was about Mommy."
Ray arched an eyebrow. "Huh?"
~~~
"You know, I think a lot about when you're going to be born. There'll be more smiles and laughter in the house. A bigger audience during Disney marathons. Two kids to take to Disneyland. Another cousin for Bands. More happiness being brought to the family." Mikey spoke as he kept one hand on his baby bump.
He has grown accustomed to talking to Rowan during the day. All he had was himself and his baby girl while Ray was at work and Grace at school - no one had the right to blame him. He knows if anyone were to know they would think he was crazy.
Mikey had done the same when he was pregnant with Grace.
"We're so happy that you're gonna be a part of this family, Ro." Mikey whispered. They were all waiting for the moment when they could all meet her. At that moment, Ray and Grace entered the room.
Mikey opened his mouth to say something but was surprised when Grace ran to him and got on the bed to hug him. He hugged her back and looked up to Ray who just gave him a small smile. The afro-haired man decided to sit at the edge of the bed.
"What's wrong, honey?" Mikey asked, stroking the tiny curls when he noticed his daughter hugged him a bit tighter.
Grace pulled away from the embrace and looked at her mom. "At school, we were talking about our daddies and mommies. I told them my mommy was a boy and was going to have baby Rowan soon. They said it was weird that my mommy was a boy and not a girl like theirs. They said it was weird for boys to have babies..."
"Oh Grace." Mikey felt his eyes go watery at the story. He wasn't expecting this at all.
Grace pouted. "They also said that I must be weird because I had two boys for parents."
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," Mikey embraced Grace and she held onto him tightly again. "You're not weird. It isn't weird to have two boys for parents."
Ray added. "It's also not weird for a boy to have babies. Some boys are born like that, but it doesn't make them weird."
"I didn't like that they called you weird, Mommy." Grace sniffled.
Mikey placed a kiss on his daughter's head. "I know you also didn't like that they called you weird either."
"They're mean." Grace said.
"They don't understand, Grace, but that doesn't mean that they have the right to call someone weird." Ray said.
Mikey continued to stroke Grace's curls. "They don't get that it's okay to be different. Besides, people aren't weird, they're just unique. We all are. There's something different about us all, but it doesn't make us weird." Grace moved to sit next to Mikey and lean on him.
"Maybe one day they'll realize that it's okay to be different and that no one is normal. We're all different and that's what makes us all special." Ray interjected. "If mommy couldn't have babies, we wouldn't be lucky because we wouldn't have you or Rowan."
Mikey looked down at Grace. "And we love you both with all our hearts." Grace smiled and placed a hand on the baby bump.
"Hi Rowan." Grace greeted her sister. "I can't wait to meet her."
Ray chuckled. "Soon, love, soon."
"We know she's excited to meet you too." Mikey said, placing a kiss on Grace's forehead.
Ray got on the bed so he could sit next to Grace, who still had her hand on the baby bump. Clearly, Grace was bothered by the words from other kids. Mikey and he knew that this probably would be something she would also deal with later on. It would be something Rowan would deal with too.
No matter what, they would both be there for both their daughters. Ray smiled at Mikey who smiled right back at him. Everything was going to be fine.