Pulling up to Marcelo's job, Remi parked next to the sidewalk that was in front of the path to the door. Today, he and Marcelo were going to the bowling alley which is random, but it was a Friday. Plus, the Reids have been trying to include Remi in a lot of family activities lately, so Remi doesn't complain.
But before the two could go to the bowling alley, Remi had to pick up Marcelo from work. Marcelo debated with Remi for nearly an hour about how he could just drive himself to work and drive back home to pick Remi up and then, they could go to the bowling alley. But Remi debated right back, figuring that it would just be easier to drop Marcelo off, come back when he gets off and then, they could just go straight to the bowling alley without any stops.
Therefore, that's what they did.
Remi quickly shot Marcelo a message that he'd arrived. Marcelo replied seconds later that he'd be out in a few seconds.
Leaning back against the seat, Remi sighed. He hadn't been throwing up as much lately. He'd only been throwing up at night time now which is weird, but it's better than constant nausea all day long.
But, despite having the advantage of not being nauseous 24/7, Remi still has the feeling inside of him that everything isn't okay which is normal since he's pregnant and in his first trimester. But good thing, he's in the middle of his third month of pregnancy, so his sickness should be calming down.
Looking down, Remi pulled his shirt up and glanced at his belly. He'd worn a pair of gray tennis shoes, black leggings, and a gray shirt that had a knot at the bottom that hung underneath his belly, hiding it. He still didn't want to tell anyone about the baby. He didn't know what it was, but he had this gut feeling telling him not to.
Remi rubbed his belly for a few seconds, soothing himself. Then, he heard the passenger door open. He looked up and saw Marcelo. He had on a gray shirt, black jeans, and gray tennis shoes on. Their outfits may or may not have been coordinated. Marcelo threw his briefcase into the backseat as well as his second bag that had his suit outfit in it. He'd changed his clothes before coming out.
Marcelo then hopped in and looked at Remi. "Hey, baby," he said before leaning in and kissing Remi softly. He then leaned back and smiled. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you," Remi smiled back before looking down at his belly. "You didn't say h-hi to this baby."
Marcelo threw his hands up to his head in an anxious way, joking. Then, he moved them down to Remi's belly, chuckling. "Sorry, little one. Dada forgot about you for a second."
Remi giggled again.
Sitting back, Marcelo buckled his seatbelt, giving Remi the cue that they needed to leave. Remi put the car's shift control in drive before he took off. But before he did so, he saw a woman with brown, curly hair and slightly dark skin standing behind the glass door looking at him. It was the same woman that he'd saw when he'd visited Marcelo at his job a few months ago.
Weird. He wondered who she was.
Brushing the woman off, Remi looked back forward, driving down the road. The two chatted softly.
"How was your day?" Marcelo questioned.
"Eh... the s-same as alw-ways. I'm just h-happy that the sickness is starting t-to subside."
"I am too. I hated seeing you sick all the time."
Remi smiled. The car ran smoothly over the roads of the city, soft music playing on the radio. Marcelo ended up moving his left hand back to Remi's belly, rubbing it in a way that soothed Remi.
"You're still so little."
"Yeah, b-beats your theory about twins."
"I know right. I love kids but thank God. My parents would actually die if we were having twins."
"I would d-die. There's n-no way I would e-ever be able to carry two b-babies at once. I'd p-probably explode."
Marcelo chuckled. He loved seeing Remi's sense of humor level rise as the time went on.
"What do you think the baby will be like?" Marcelo asked.
"I d-dunno. I've never really thought about th-that."
"Hm. Well, I think it'll be a boy."
Remi looked over at Marcelo for a split second and saw a confident look pasted on his face. He turned back around to face the road and smiled. "Why?"
"I just have this feeling. A boy would fit us. I have this image in my mind that's so weird but amazing. An image of what he might look like. Your curly hair but with my hair color, a mix of brown and green eyes, and a mix of our skin color. He'll be a scarily similar version of me but adorable like you."
Remi took a minute to digest the specific description of what Marcelo thought that their baby would look like. He didn't think that Marcelo thought so deeply into that aspect because he himself sure hadn't. Maybe Marcelo'd seen their baby in a dream or something. He didn't know, but when he pictured what Marcelo described, their 'son' was perfect.
"And you'll teach him that amazing Spanish that you know. He'll be fluent in both languages which will make me totally jealous, but it'll be okay because I'll learn too."
"Y-You are being so specific r-right now. I'm k-kind of scared that y-you might be a psychic."
"Ohhh, I wish I was. Then I could prove to you that he'll really be a boy," Remi grinned and rolled his eyes. "But no, really, I've just been thinking about the baby a lot, and that's what I believe."
"O-Okay, then what'll be his name?"
"Can't help you there." Marcelo chuckled, shaking his head. Remi chuckled along with him.
After a few minutes, the flashing words of the bowling alley's sign appeared, and Remi slowed down a bit. He turned into the entrance of the bowling alley and drove around where he then found a parking space near the door. He was grateful since his feet had been aching, and he didn't want to have to walk far.
Turning the car off, Remi removed his seatbelt and went to open his door before Marcelo opposed and quickly hopped out of the car and ran over to Remi's side, helping him out. He shut the door behind Remi and grabbed Remi's hand, kissing it. Then, the two traveled hand in hand into the bowling alley, happy to be out of the hot air of the outside.
Inside of the bowling alley, arcade games were heard since there was an arcade in the front part of the bowling alley. Kids and teens ran around laughing and jabbing at the games, happy to be out of school. Remi became a bit sad seeing that he'd never gotten to experience childhood fun like that. He brushed the feeling off as best as he could.
The two soon made it to the bowling alley part of the building where bowling balls were heard as they aggressively slapped against the bowling pins. Whoops were heard as well as people got strikes and spares. And taunts were heard as others got gutter balls. It w—
"Marce and Remi! Hi!" Remi looked in front of him, realizing that they'd walked up to one of the bowling aisles that held Marcelo's family. He smiled at Blaire who was standing in front of them with a smile of her own.
"Hey, B."
"Hi."
"We were just getting our bowling balls and bowling shoes so you guys can go do that first."
"I'm gonna go pay for us really quick."
"I already paid with the money that Mama and Dad gave us."
"You didn't have to. I was gonna p—"
"Marcelo," Blaire warned against Marcelo's stubbornness. Marcelo rolled his eyes. The two greeted the rest of the siblings before going over to the side of the bowling alley to pick the balls that they were gonna use. Marcelo picked up one of the light ones and tested it out in his hands.
"Have you ever went bowling before, Teo?"
"I h-have once w-with my dads when I was like... n-nine."
"Did you get a strike at least once?"
Remi blushed out of embarrassment before saying, "No. My dads were the ones getting all of the strikes."
"Ah, so you sucked."
"I w-was nine!" Remi giggled.
"Aht, aht. You absolutely sucked." Marcelo smiled down at Remi. "I'm just joking. But trust me, we will leave here with a bunch of strikes. I'll teach you everything that I know."
Putting down the previous bowling ball that was in his hands, Marcelo picked up one that was way lighter and held it out towards Remi. "Here, see if this is light enough for you. I don't want you to hurt yourself."
Grabbing the bowling ball, Remi held it carefully. He was surprised at how light it was. Being only nine when he last went bowling, all of the bowling balls felt like 20 pounds worth of bricks to him. He looked back up at Marcelo and nodded.
"This one i-is okay."
"Are you sure?"
"Mhm."
The couple went to put their bowling ball onto the machine that was in their aisle. Then, they went back up to the front and picked up their bowling shoes. Afterwards, they walked back over to the aisle. Remi sat down and did his best to put his own shoes on, not wanting anyone to get suspicious if they saw Marcelo putting them on for him. Marcelo put his shoes on as well.
"Alright, we have an hour of bowling and then food." Blaire announced.
"Sounds good to me," Grey nodded.
"Same here," Aiko agreed.
"Alright. Marcela, you're up first."
Remi looked up at Marcela and watched as she walked up to the machine and grabbed her bowling ball. She then walked up to the line and stood in front of it. She focused hard and swung her right arm back and forward. The ball jumped out of her hand and onto the runway. It didn't go far when it swerved into the gutters. The siblings couldn't help but snicker at how quickly it did so.
"Gutter ball!" Jace yelped with two hands around his mouth, increasing the volume of his words. Marcela turned and glared at him before she grabbed her ball out of the machine and tried again. This time, she hit a few balls but not enough to get a spare. She groaned as she walked back to her place in the seats. "This is so rigged."
"Nah, you just suck ass, Cela." Ace laughed.
"Fine, let's see if you can do better. You're next, Ace."
Ace stood up with a confident smirk on his face. He pranced up to the machine and grabbed his ball, repeating everything that Marcela did. He was so ready. He carefully and skillfully tossed his bowling ball down. It slid far, almost reaching the end of the middle of the lane when it curved slightly, only knocking down the left side of the pins and a few in the back. He pursed his lips and turned around. "Uh, that was just my warm up."
"Nah, you just suck ass." Marcela retaliated.
Despite the initial disappointment, Ace tried again and ended up getting a spare. He boasted about it to Marcela, shoving it in her face. She scoffed and slapped him on the shoulder. Marcelo informed Remi that the two have always had a sibling rivalry when it came to games. They would battle on their Wii when they were younger.
"Marce and Remi, you guys are up."
Remi glanced at Marcelo before they both stood up and walked over to the machine. Marcelo picked up their ball and smirked at Remi, nodding his head towards the lane before walking up to it. He pulled Remi in front of him and hummed in satisfaction.
"Open up a bit," he said while widening Remi's stance. Remi moved his legs open more and watched as Marcelo's hands came around him. He grabbed Remi's right hand and placed the bowling ball inside of it, putting his own right hand on top of Remi's. He then discreetly put his left hand on Remi's belly to keep him sturdy. "Be careful, okay? We're gonna throw it down in
"3...
"2...
"1."
As the two let go of the ball with a bit of force, the ball went flying down to the floor. It glided smoothly across the wood flooring of the lane like a thief in the night. It remained in the middle as it glided before it smacked angrily into the middle pin, knocking it down and the others afterward like a domino effect. Remi gasped.
"OH YEAH, BABY. STRIKE!" Marcelo yelped and clapped his hands together. Remi turned around and giggled, bouncing on his toes.
"No fucking way did they do that with a 3 pound bowling ball," Axle said out of surprise.
"WE DID IT, BABY." Marcelo exclaimed, excited.
"I k-know!" Remi smile, just as excited as Marcelo was. Marcelo dipped down and pecked Remi victoriously.
"Not fair. They're a group of two."
"That has absolutely nothing to do with anything. We just rule at this. Don't be jealous because we got a strike before all of you did."
"Oh, piss off. I could do better." Blaise replied.
"Try us," Marcelo smirked.
As expected, Blaise didn't get a strike. He did however knock down nearly all of the pins. He only had two left, and he got a spare and knocked those down as well. Marcelo wasn't fazed though. It wasn't a strike.
That's how the rest of the first hour of bowling went: all of the siblings trying to beat Marcelo and Remi but not being able to. The couple was in the hundreds while everyone else was still in the double digits. Remi and Marcelo were indeed the dream team.
--------
Marcelo threw his arm around Remi and pulled him closer to his side. Remi giggled quietly and sipped his blueberry icee. It was delicious. He'd been craving one for forever, so you can imagine his happiness when he learned that the bowling alley served icees.
"Is it good, baby?"
"Mmm," Remi hummed and continued sipping. Marcelo smiled at how adorable Remi was and sneaked a picture of him. Marcelo chuckled at the picture and placed a soft kiss on Remi's cheek.
"Ewwww, PDA." Axle dragged.
"Gross," Amelie added.
"Oh, hush. I'm not ashamed to show my baby love. Are you guys jealous?"
"Hellllll no," Blaise grinned. "I wouldn't want your diseased lips on me."
Marcelo smirked and stood up, making kissy noises as he walked towards Blaise. Blaise leaned back and put his hands out.
"Go back over there, will you?"
"Just a little kissy kiss, Blaise."
"Get the hell back." Blaise chuckled and pushed Marcelo back. Everyone laughed at the malarkey.
Marcelo sat back down next to a giggling Remi. Everyone eventually settled down and got back to their light chatter. Remi leaned against Marcelo and put one of his hands on his thigh near his belly. He wanted to rub it, but he didn't want to expose the baby.
"So, what's been up with you two?" Marcela questioned, looking at Marcelo and Remi.
"Well, we uh... we just foun—" Marcelo stopped himself abruptly, remembering that Remi didn't want to tell anyone about the baby. He shook his head rapidly with closed eyes to reevaluate. Remi let out a breath of relief. "Uh, sorry. I don't know what I was about to say. We've been really good. I don't think that you guys want to know what we've been doing."
"Yeah, we don't. I shouldn't have asked that."
"No," Marcelo chuckled. "I'm teasing. We've been chilling around the house everyday. We've been a tad bit lazy."
"Same. I'm either at the cafe working or I'm at home sleeping my life away," Ainsley agreed.
"Definitely." Grey sighed.
"What? You guys don't like working at the cafe anymore?"
"No, it's not... it's not that we don't like it. It's just that it's so repetitive." said Aiko.
"Yeah, the same thing every day."
"You guys know that you don't have to work there, right?"
"But we want to. We just wish that it was a way to spruce it up a bit, you know?"
"Yeah, yeah. I definitely understand. I'll be thinking of a way to help you guys, alright?" Marcelo offered. Hums were heard as the others nodded.
What to do... Marcelo thought.