KISS: In The Band

Ch 35: You're What? (Eric C)

"Hey Care Bare, dinner's ready!" I shouted. She walked into the kitchen, giving me a smile and taking the plate I handed her. "I truly do not deserve a husband as wonderful as you." "Nah, I'm the one who doesn't deserve a wife as wonderful as you!" I said, taking her hand and sitting with her at the table.

"Oh hey Eric I've got something for you!" she said eagerly, reaching into her pocket and handing me a small box. I grinned, giving her a kiss as I untied the ribbon. "Aw, you're the best wife, I love you!" I said, opening the lid and immediately getting really, really, confused. I lifted up the pacifier, looking at it in bewilderment before looking at her as she tried really hard to bite back a smile. "Wait what?"

"Oh my gosh Eric," Carrie said, burying her face in her hands. My own face burning, I looked at the pacifier again, hoping it would fall into place. "I'm so confused! I don't get it, am I dumb?!" Carrie laughed, shaking her head. "Yes Eric, you are dumb." "Shut up! What does it mean?" I asked, pleading silently with her to just give me the answer.

She rolled her eyes, giving me a kiss before smacking me on the back of the head. "Think, dumbass! What uses pacifiers?" "Uh...babies?" I said hesitantly. "Right! Now why would I give you something for a baby?" Carrie said, absolutely beaming.

"Because..." I trailed off, everything finally falling into place as my mouth dropped open. "Oh! Oh my gosh! Holy shit Carrie are you pregnant?!" I shouted. She nodded, beaming, and I gave her a tight hug, so happy I burst into tears. "Aw Carrie!" She hugged me back, burying her face in my shoulder. "Eric we're going to be parents! You're going to be a dad!" she cried.

"And you're going to be a mom!" I said back, still unable to stop crying. "Oh Carrie I'm so excited!" She nodded, still hugging me. "Me too, me too! Oh shit Eric we're going to be parents!" "We're going to be the greatest parents. Gene's not gonna have shit on me as a father." She burst into laughter, sitting back and giving me a kiss. "Hell yeah! We're gonna be the best parents."

I laid next to her in bed later that night, giving her a kiss and slipping an arm around her waist. "I can't believe you're pregnant! I'm so excited!" I murmured, way too excited to even think of sleeping. She giggled, snuggling up against me. "Aw Eric me too! I really can't wait, I'm so excited to have a baby!" I nodded, grinning like an idiot, and held her tighter. "Do you know how pregnant you are? Like how far along are you, you know?"

"Oh, just like a month. So just like a little bit less than three quarters of a year before we have our baby." "Damn that's such a long time," I grumbled. She kissed me lightly. "Oh shut up you know you're happy to wait eight months for your child." I smiled in spite of myself. "You're right, you're right. We need names though! What do we want to call it if it's a boy?"

She gave me a smile in the dark. "I was thinking Charles? I really like Charlie as a nickname." My heart absolutely melted and I felt like crying again. "Aw Carrie," I choked after a pause. "And maybe Catherine for a girl? There's a lot of nicknames from that! Like Kat and stuff." "I think that would be perfect! Or, here me out. We name the baby Race."

There was a second of silence before Carrie burst into laughter. "Eric we are not naming our baby Race Carr! That's fucking ridiculous!" she shrieked. "Aw, damn, fine. We can just be lame I guess. We're going to have to tell people though! About the baby."

Giggling, Carrie wrapped her arms around my neck, giving me a kiss. "Yes, you can tell Bruce tomorrow." "You know me too well," I said with a sheepish grin, closing my eyes and falling asleep with her in my arms.

The very next day, I ran up the steps to Bruce's apartment, hammering on the door. "Bruce, Bruce, Bruce, answer the fucking door!" I said, bouncing up and down on my toes. Finally, he pulled open the door with a yawn, giving me a look. "Eric...it's...it's 6 AM. Shit, who died to get you up at this hour?" he asked.

I just grinned like an idiot. "Bruce I have two very important pieces of news and you're my best friend and I want you to be like probably maybe the first person who knows but if you're not that's not my fault and you can't be mad at me for it." With a laugh, he just held open the door and motioned for me to come in.

"Okay let me get myself some coffee. And I'll get one for you too," he said, moving off to the kitchen and returning with two mugs. I accepted mine gratefully, taking a sip, unable to stop smiling. "Alright Lisa's still asleep so don't be too loud. What's up?"

"Okay! Okay so smaller things first! Gene asked me to be a part of Kiss! I'm finally gonna be a rock star!" He gave me a huge smile despite how tired he obviously was, leaning over to give me a hug. "Hell yeah man! Damn, you deserve that. You're the best drummer and the best person I know and I can't think of someone who'd be a better rock star than you. What's the other news?"

"I'm gonna be a dad!" I said gleefully, absolutely beaming. He choked on his coffee, staring at me in shock. "Say that again?" he said. "I'm gonna be a dad! Carrie's pregnant!" There was a long pause as he just stared blankly at me before a huge smile spread across his face. "Eric, seriously?! Congrats!" he cried. I nodded, so excited I was shaking. "I'm so happy man, I honestly can't believe it. I'm so excited to be a dad! Damn, I hope I'm a good dad." "You will be, don't you dare even worry about that. Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"No idea yet! If it's a girl we're gonna name it Catherine Shandi but if it's a boy we're gonna name it Charles Howard! She vetoed Race," I said with a grin. Bruce smiled, eyes filling with happy tears, and I felt immensely satisfied to see his reaction. "At least your wife has enough sense to stop you from naming your kid Race Carr. And...Howard's a pretty solid middle name," he said softly.

I gave him a wide smile. "Howard is a pretty solid name, I stole it from my best friend who is the greatest person I know and who saved my life and who I really want to be Charlie's godfather," I said hopefully. "You know damn well I'm going to be Charlie's godfather. Or Catherine's." "You're sure? I mean I know you don't like kids, I mean you don't have to raise it or anything but--" I started, but he cut me off. "Eric. I'm fine with kids. I just don't want to have any myself. I'm really honored you asked me to be godfather! And I'm really happy for you."

I nodded, still bouncing up and down on my toes, before setting down my coffee and throwing my arms around him, giving him a tight hug. "Oh man I can't believe I'm actually gonna be a dad! Like damn, I'm gonna have a kid! And it's gonna be my kid!" He laughed, hugging me back, lifting me off of my feet. "You're going to be a fantastic dad and I'm really happy for you! Damn man, I'm really happy for you."

Unable to stop smiling, I took a step back. "And Bruce you know what?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow. "What?" "None of it would've happened without you." He bit down on his lip, turning away. "Stop you're gonna make me cry," he mumbled. "I'm serious though! Really, it never would've happened without you! You took me under your wing in high school, you helped me to make friends, friends I still have, friends who asked me to join their band! And you helped me find a date to formal which introduced me and Carrie and now we're married and we're gonna have a kid! And of course you saved my life when I got stabbed. So Bruce Howard Kulick, from the bottom of my fucking heart, thank you."

He nodded, still not looking at me, and I could see the gleam of tears on his cheeks. "You deserve your happiness, man. I just gave you a nudge, none of it would've happened if you weren't the amazing person you are. I mean shit, even if I introduced you, Carrie wouldn't have kept dating you if you weren't so fucking fantastic. Besides, don't even get me started on how much I owe you," he said quietly.

Grinning, I gave him a huge hug, burying my face in his shoulder and trying not to cry myself.