a/n: Alexa, play "Let it Happen" by Tame Impala.
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"Remi, is that you, dear?" Mrs. Callum called out from her office. Remi walked through the back hall of the library with Paxton in his arms and walked to Mrs. Callum's office, nodding.
"Hi."
Mrs. Callum saw his expression that he always seems to be wearing nowadays. She walked up to him up wrapped her arms around him. Remi sighed and leaned into the comfort of her arms.
"How've you been?"
"I've been t-trying."
"Hmm," Mrs. Callum said as she separated from Remi. "Let me rephrase that. How've you been treating yourself?"
Remi ran his hand through his curls before putting it on his eye. "Well, I still h-have puffy eyes, so I'm sure that speaks for itself."
"If that's what you need to do to cope then that's what you need to do. Don't keep it all inside."
"I know. I just d-don't want to stress myself out because... the baby. I don't wanna lose him, Ma."
"Him? You're having a boy?"
"Yeah, he's a boy."
"That's amazing, dear." Mrs. Callum said before getting back serious. "But keeping everything in will just make you even more stressed. I know that you don't want to lose him, but you still need to take care of yourself. When you do that, then you'll be able to take care of him too."
Remi took a deep, shaky breath and nodded. The two walked out of Mrs. Callum's office to go to the back room to get the boxes that Remi had to unpack today.
"Have you been getting everything that you need for him?"
"Yeah, I bought a c-crib and a bassinet and other things last week. I'm d-doing good on money. I'm actually doing... really good to be by m-myself. It's just that... I miss him a-a lot. Like a lot, a lot."
"Marcelo?"
"Yeah," Remi said with a sad smile. "I didn't think that he would l-leave me like my parents did. He was the one that I trusted the m-most, the one that I loved the most. I thought that if he didn't stay f-for me that he would at least stay for the baby, but I guess that isn't the c-case. It just hurts, y-you know?"
"I know. It's gonna hurt for a while. I'm gonna be honest, it might not ever stop hurting since you two were so close, but you can't worry about him right now. You have a baby now, so you have to focus on the baby. Take life one day at a time, and it will get better, but you have to focus on what's most important right now."
"Yes, ma'am."
Mrs. Callum hummed and opened the back door to the back room. She put a door holder down and let Remi go in first. Remi went over to the boxes and pointed to them. "Are these i-it?"
"Uh... yes. Those are thriller and horror books but don't try to pick them up. Hold on.... Hey, Jax, can you come here for a second?"
Fast footsteps were heard as they hit against the floor of the library. As quick as the steps were heard, a face was seen as it peaked around the corner. It was a guy who had to be at least 20. He was brunette with fair skin that looked like Mrs. Callum's. He had warm greenish-brownish eyes, and he was pretty tall. He was handsome.
"Ma'am?"
"Can you help us get these boxes to the bac—Oh! Remi, this is my grandson, Jaxon. He might start working here part-time since he's in school."
"Hey, it's nice to meet you...?"
"Remi," Remi nodded.
"Nice to meet you, Remi," Jaxon said as he held his hand out. Remi looked at his hand before holding his own hand out and shaking out.
"N-Nice to meet you too."
Remi looked at Jaxon for a while longer before letting his hand go and looking away. Jaxon did the same and looked at Mrs. Callum.
"Are these the boxes that you guys need, Mama?"
"Yes, take them to the back for us."
Jaxon nodded and went over to the corner of the room to grab the push cart. He brought it over to the boxes and lifted them one by one, putting each one on the cart. Once he'd got all three on, he turned around and pushed them through the door and to the back of the library.
Mrs. Callum grabbed a small box that had her name on it from the mail shelf and turned to face Remi. She looked down at his belly and smiled. "You've been getting bigger, huh?"
"Yeah, Doc said that h-he's a big boy."
"Ain't that cute. He's gonna be nice and tall."
"Yeah, like his dad."
Mrs. Callum nodded and headed towards the door. "Well, I've got files to work on, so if you need anything, you know where I am. And if you need to take a break, tell Jaxon to cover for you, alright?"
Remi nodded and followed Mrs. Callum out. He took a right and began towards the back of the library. It was coincidental for the horror and thriller books to be in the back, the place where the library is the most dark and empty.
When Remi got around the corner, he saw Jaxon unloading the boxes. Jaxon looked up and when he saw that it was Remi, he smiled politely. Remi smiled back and went over to the first box so that he could go ahead and open it. He pulled a bean bag up to it, sitting down to rest his feet.
"I didn't even notice that you're pregnant."
Remi looked up when he heard Jaxon's voice. "Uh... yeah."
"How far are you?"
"I just turned 24 weeks yesterday so 6 m-months."
"You're halfway. What're you gonna name the baby?"
"I'm not s-sure. I haven't really been thinking a-about a name for him."
"Ah, a boy. Nice. You could always name him after me since I'm like so, so popular." Jaxon exaggerated with an eye roll. Remi giggled.
"Jaxon is a nice name, but I d-don't think that'll fit him."
"Okay, start there. What do you think will fit him?"
"I dunno. Maybe s-something that ends with an... o."
"Okay.... There's Mateo," Remi smiled upon hearing his middle name. "Cleo, Bo, Romeo, Arlo, Niko, Enzo, Alexandro, Kylo, Elio..."
"Elio," Remi murmured to himself.
"What was that?"
"Elio... Elio is a n-nice name." Remi looked down at his belly and smiled to himself. "Elio... Elio... Elio."
"You like Elio?"
Remi didn't answer. He just kept repeating the name to himself. He imagined having to call the baby that. He imagined himself calling him down for dinner as he got older.
"Dinner's ready, Elio!"
"Wake up, Elio."
"Are you ready, Elio?"
"I'll pick you up later, Elio."
"I love you, Elio."
Elio.
Remi's smile got bigger, and he looked up at Jaxon. "I think... I think you just helped m-me pick a name."
Jaxon smiled back and curtsied fancily. "It was a pleasure to contribute my help."
The two went back to the boxes. Remi organized the books into categories and eventually pulled himself up and began putting them away with Jaxon's help. Every now and then, he had to sit back down and take a break because of the dull pain in his back, but Jaxon didn't complain. He had no right to complain anyway.
"So, Mrs. C-Callum said earlier that you're in school?"
"Yep, I'm a sophomore at Jameson University. I'd taken a gap year after high school, but I eventually enrolled. Best decision yet."
"Oh. I'm happy f-for you. A lot of people s-say that college isn't easy," Remi said, remembering when a few of Marcelo's siblings would talk about their experiences in college.
"Yeah, it isn't but I mean... a lot of things aren't easy. You just have to push through them and remember that there's another side of it when you finish, a good side."
Remi looked down at his belly for a few seconds before he looked back up at Jaxon and nodded.
"True that," Remi agreed and went back to stuffing books into the shelves. Maybe Jaxon was right. Maybe bad things do happen, but you just have to focus on the good and know that once the bad thing is over, someone/something beautiful will be waiting for you on the other side.
Remi didn't know how true this was, but he knew that it was at least a little bit true, so could it hurt to go by it?
Finally finishing with his share of the boxes, Remi lowered himself down to the beanbag and huffed. You're getting heavy in there, little one. As he relaxed on the beanbag, Remi felt eyes on him. He looked up and saw that the eyes belonged to Jaxon.
Remi raised his eyebrows and tilted his head slightly. Jaxon flinched and put a hand to his forehead, chuckling.
"Sorry, I don't mean to stare. You're just really adorable... and hot."
Remi's eyes went wide. He flushed and looked away, not knowing how to react. Jaxon was blunt. Blunt is a bit of an understatement actually.
"Wait, wait, wait. Please don't get uncomfortable. I know that I'm like... really tall, and my voice is really deep, but I'm the most bottom bitch that you will ever meet."
"O-Oh."
"Yeah, I like dick, so I promise that I won't hit on you or anything. I just think that you're sexy as hell if I'm being honest, but I swear that's not me hitting on you. It's more of a... compliment." Jaxon smiled.
Remi stared up at Jaxon. He was speechless. Where did this come from? Jaxon was just being nice and innocent a few seconds ago and now, he's talking about the fact that he likes dick.
"W-Well, thank you. I guess you could say that's why I'm pregn-nant."
Jaxon chuckled and put his last book away before going over to sit next to Remi.
"Yeah, I don't blame the baby's father. I would so do you if I weren't a botto—wait. I need to get a filter. You seem like you would be a great friend, so I shouldn't scare you away already."
It was Remi's turn to chuckle.
"You seem like you w-would be a great friend too."