Ch 42: You Really Did That (Bruce)

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"I honestly can't believe Gene had a baby and didn't tell us. Like Nick was born and he didn't even tell us," Eric grumbled, stepping off the plane. "I mean, are you surprised? He got married and didn't tell us and then his wife got pregnant and he didn't tell us, why would he start telling us things now?" I asked with a grin, nudging him.

"Fair point, fair point," Eric said with a yawn. I stretched with a wince, slinging my duffel bag over my shoulder. "So what, are we just showing up to his house?" "Nah, Paul's gonna pick us up and take us to the hotel we're staying at. Then if we can we'll see Gene and new small Simmons," Ace said cheerfully, holding Peter's hand as we walked through the airport.

"Damn it is hot," I muttered, running a hand through my hair. "Yeah, it's California in July, what do you expect?" Eric retorted. Any sharp response I could've come up with was cut off by Paul's arrival, who gave us a sheepish grin as he stepped out of his car. "I'm sorry, I meant to tell you guys where we went but I got distracted I'm sorry!" he said. "What the hell, man?! You and Gene come out here because Gene's kid is being born and you don't tell us?! Come on!" Peter cried, throwing his suitcase in the trunk.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry! But hey, we told you now and you're all out here so it's fine!" Shaking my head, I slid into the passenger seat. "What's Nick like? Is he cute?" "I mean, he's a baby and he does baby things, which right now is basically nothing, but yeah, he's cute! Gene absolutely adores him, it's so cute. I'll let you guys drop your stuff off and then we can head over to his house, he said he wants to see y'all!" Paul said happily.

"Well yeah he'd better want to see us. Didn't just fly out here after he had a baby to not be able to see the baby," Eric grumbled. We dropped our stuff off in the hotel rooms we had reserved and rejoined Paul in his car, finally heading to Gene's house. "Okay so I mean Nick is like a few weeks old which means he sleeps and eats and does pretty much nothing else." "Yeah, yeah, we're here to see Gene too!" Peter said with a wave of his hand, snuggling closer against his husband.

Paul pulled into the driveway and we all tumbled out of the car, heading up to the front door. I was about to ring the doorbell before Gene yanked open the door, shaking his head. "Please for the love of all that is good and holy don't you dare ring the fucking doorbell," he growled, stifling a yawn. "Oh yeah I forgot to mention Gene's tired as shit because Nick wakes up a lot in the night, as newborns do," Paul said with a grin, nudging Gene in the ribs.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up. But also please don't ring the doorbell. We literally just got Nick down for a nap and that would for sure wake him up," Gene said, shaking his head before giving us a smile. "Anyway! Welcome back to California, once Nick wakes up, which will be any minute now I'm sure, I'll show him to you guys!"

"Aw, I'm looking forward to it," I said, following him into the house. "Where's Shannon?" Gene smiled fondly, leading us into the kitchen. "Also asleep. We take naps in shifts because we almost never get to sleep at night. Thanks to Nick. But I love him, oh man I absolutely adore him, he's the sweetest thing. You guys want anything to eat?"

The rest of us shook our heads before turning to look at Eric, who went red. "What? I'm fine, I'm not hungry," he said defensively. "You're never not hungry," Gene said with a grin. "That is true, as his roommate I can attest to the fact that he eats a ridiculous amount," I chimed in, giving him a smile.

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "I don't want to take any of your food! I'm okay, seriously!" "Alright whatever you say. But when you inevitably change your mind, let me know," Gene said with a wink, before leaning against the counter. "So anything happen while we were gone?" Peter heaved a sigh, looking sadly at the ground. "Hooligan died the day you guys left," he mumbled. Gene's face fell. "I'm sorry man, that sucks." "Yeah, it does," he said quietly, leaning against Ace, who kissed him on the forehead.

Before anyone could think of a way to liven the mood that had just been brutally murdered in front of all of us, the shrill sound of a baby crying echoed from upstairs. Gene closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh. "Shit."

"Go get your son!" Paul said with a grin, pushing Gene toward the stairs. "I swear he can't give me five minutes of peace," Gene muttered under his breath. Within three minutes he was back downstairs, holding a baby in the crook of his arm and absolutely beaming with pride. "So this is my son Nick!" he said happily. "Awwww he's so cute," I said, looking at the baby who stared back at me, squinting slightly.

"Yeah. As much as he keeps me up at night, I love him. Like oh man this is my son, it's wild." "Wild?! What's wild is that you, you of all people, settled down and got married and had a kid," Peter said, raising an eyebrow but still smiling. Gene's ears turned bright red and he shrugged, rocking Nick gently in his arms. "Okay well look, things change, alright? Who ever thought you'd get married to Ace, huh? We didn't even know you were gay for sure until senior year." Ace burst into laughter as Peter held up his hands defensively. "Alright fine whatever. But still."

"No that's fair," Gene said quietly, smiling fondly at Nick. "That's fair."

Paul was right, Gene absolutely adored Nick and it was absolutely adorable.

Paul was right, Gene absolutely adored Nick and it was absolutely adorable

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