Baby, Just Hold On - Chp. 31
Title: Baby, Just Hold On
Author: Jamie jamieall_over
Pairing: Jalex
Rating: NC-17 Overall
Warnings: Mpreg
Summary: “You don’t know how fantastic it feels to hear you say that,” Alex admit as he finished wiping his stomach clean.
“How’ve you been, Alex?” Dr. Cooper asked when he walked into the room housing the ultrasound machine and the small family. He’d told the family that when the four weeks of rest after the surgery had come around, he would gladly do the check-up to make sure that everything had healed the way it was supposed to. They were going to politely decline, but then he’d also said that he’d do it for free; that it’d be the least he could do. Since the Gaskarth-Barakat’s really couldn’t afford another hospital bill, they’d agreed.
“Great, actually,” Alex said after a moment of consideration. He doubted that the doctor wanted to hear about the couple’s home life. That hadn’t changed much since the argument about jobs and money. “It doesn’t hurt to move anymore. The staples and stitches fell out a few days ago, so I’ve stopped wearing gauze. I feel like I’m starting to get more energy back, too. They’re sleeping much longer at night than they used to, and that’s been such a helpful relief for the both of us.”
Dr. Cooper smiled as he set the files in his hands down in favor of washing his hands. “That’s very good! I’m going to assume that they’ve recently gone to their two-month pediatric appointment. How did that go?”
“We went just last week,” Jack said, speaking up before his husband had the chance. “Dr. Leedy, their pediatrician, said that they’re growing just fine. Ashley’s just a little behind Perspicacity in the development stage, but she said that’s nothing to worry about for now.”
“Oh?” Dr. Cooper said as he dried his hands. He then moved over to get the machine all set up before continuing on to ask, “In what way is he behind?”
“He just has trouble lifting his head like she can. He’s actually gotten a little better at it since then, but he can’t look around as well as Cacity can. He’ll get his head up for a few moments before it drops back down.”
“Well, as long as he’s showing improvements, I’m sure that there’s no reason to be concerned. Now, Alex, if you could lift your shirt for me… I’m sure I don’t need to remind you of how cold this is going to be,” the doctor said with a chuckle as he grabbed the gel and transducer.
Even with knowing full well how cool the liquid-based product was going to feel on his bare skin, the young man still took in a heavy gasp and shivered under the touch. Only a chuckle was given in response to the action, and then the room fell quiet as the black screen turned grey and grainy.
Tensions grew high as the seconds passed. The only thing that let both Jack and Alex know that time hadn’t stopped was the blubbering of the babies from where they were snuggled in their seats on the floor.
Minutes seemed to tick away around them as the transducer was moved across the area of Alex’s large scar (the one he still steadfastly refused to look at), but then Dr. Cooper was lifting it from the Briton’s skin to clear the gel with a tissue. One was handed over to the impatient and near-nauseas man lying on the examining table as well.
Then, once everything had been returned to where it belong, the doctor was giving a few short claps of his hands. “Everything seems to be back in order, Mr. Gaskarth-Barakat! You can officially come off bed rest now! I would advise that you still take it a little easy as often as possible, but you’re free to go about your life as you would normally!”
There was an audible sigh of relief from both younger men as they slumped back against wherever they were sitting. “You don’t know how fantastic it feels to hear you say that,” Alex admit as he finished wiping his stomach clean. It was a bit difficult to do, seeing as how he wouldn’t look down to make sure there was none of the gel leftover on his skin, and soon enough, Jack was grabbing a new tissue to wipe up whatever his husband had missed.
“I can only imagine,” Dr. Cooper said as he gathered up his things so that he could move on to the other appointments and things he had to do for the day. “Do you have any final questions for me before you leave?”
The couple looked between themselves for a moment before they shook their heads.
“Very well,” the doctor said. His hand reached for the handle on the door, but he paused for a moment and turned to give a smile at the other men. “I hope this whole experience doesn’t affect anything. I can see more children in your future, and I’d be more than honored to deliver for you once more.”
Alex and Jack both gave smiles as they gathered their own things, and they were more than relieved when Dr. Cooper left without waiting for a response. Not only were they unsure about having any more babies, but they were also unsure as to whether or not they’d want that man cutting into the elder a second time. Sure, the odds of a cut to the bladder were about one in a million, but who’s to say that Alex wouldn’t be that million a second time? Nine months (and whatever amount of time would pass before that pregnancy would be) was a long time.
When the diaper bag had been slung over Jack’s shoulder and each parent had their fingers wrapped tightly around a handle, the small family was leaving the office for a final time… at least, the final time for a while, if Dr. Cooper’s (and the nurse from the hospital’s) prediction was true.
“Jay, do you think we could stop by the gym for a few minutes before we go home?” Alex asked as he climbed into the passenger seat of the car. Jack was still having a little trouble with making sure that the car seat clicked itself into place, and he looked up from where he was leaning in through the back door.
“Why do you want to go to the gym?” he asked curiously, glancing down when he heard all of the pieces fit together properly.
Alex shrugged. “I told Zack that when Dr. Cooper told me I was perfectly healthy and all healed up that I’d text him to rub it in his face. I just think it’d be better to, y’know, do it in person.”
Who was Jack to deny that request?
--- ---
“What’re you listening to, dude?” David Desrosiers asked as he pulled one of Jack’s headphones from his left ear. It was a Tuesday afternoon, and Simple Plan had been in the back recording for most of the day. Normally, Jack wouldn’t have bothered with plugging headphones into his computer, but he figured it’d be polite to keep the front area quiet with the back worked just a few rooms down.
He paused the song playing on his computer and took the other bud from his right ear. With a mere shrug, he was replying, “It’s nothing much, really. When my husband was younger, his parents paid for him to spend a day recording here. That was the day we met, actually. Dylan just found all of the files a few weeks ago, so he put them on a CD for me. It’s pretty much the only thing I’ve been listening to since.”
David gave a hum as he reached out for the discarded earbuds. “So I take it he’s good?” he asked with a glance over to make sure that what he was doing was okay. When he saw no objections, he reached for the mouse next and hit the play button once more.
“Well, Dylan and I always thought that he could’ve made it big. Apparently he was contacted about being signed not too long after this was made. I don’t know how interested in it you’ll be since, like, you probably know more about what sounds good and what doesn’t, but-”
“I like this,” David said, cutting Jack off in the middle of his sentence. Really, he’d stopped actually listening once the music had started to play. It was with his following question that he took one of the earphones out. “Does he still sing much? His voice has probably matured a little more. How long ago was this recorded? I don’t think you ever really said.”
There was a few moments’ pause as Jack counted through the years. “Seven years, give or take a few months,” he finally answered. His hand reached out to turn down the volume on the computer, then reaching for the bud that had been abandoned. “He doesn’t sing much when I’m around. I don’t think he likes to really dwell on what could’ve been. I hear him sing to our kids sometimes before they go to bed, and I think he’s gotten better with age. Last time I was actually around for one of his ‘performances’ was… maybe three years ago.”
David nodded, and the pair went silent as they listened to Alex’s voice. Three songs had passed by them before Pierre was joining them. Of course, neither man heard him sneak up behind him, and they both jumped as he bent down behind them and whispered in their ears, “What’re you listening to?”
“Jesus fuckin’…” David trailed out as he stood straight and clutched a bit dramatically at his heart. Jack response to the shock had been much the same, but instead of standing, he slumped down into his chair and let his head loll back against the headrest. “It’s an EP, I guess, that Jack’s husband made when they were younger. It’s actually really good; you should give it a listen.”
Pierre gave a shrug before reaching out a hand to pluck up the earplug his bandmate offered to him. Within moments, his head was bobbing from side to side with the beat. When the song came to an end, he pulled the bud from his ear and placed it on the desk. “He’s not bad at all, dude. Let him know that I think he should make more music or something.”
Jack gave a smile and nod, though he knew that he wouldn’t be letting Alex know any such thing. The older man didn’t even know his husband had his old EP, never mind that he actively listened to it or showed it to anyone who so much as showed a passing interest in it.
“Anyway,” Pierre said as he turned away from the receptionist and turned to his bandmate, “I came to let you know that Cody called and said that he doesn’t think he’ll be able to record anything for Freaking Me Out by the time it’s supposed to be released because his band manager just told him about some festivals he and the other guys have to play. We figured we’d talk to you about it, too, before we make a decision about whether or not to add someone else to it.”
“Are you serious?” David asked. His head fell back as he gave a groan. “Well, at least we never actually said he was going to be the one in that song. Have you guys started thinking about who’d be a good replacement? Who isn’t on a tour right now?”
“I don’t know. We can always just find someone else, make a statement explaining what happened and put off the release a little longer until he can find the time, or make a different statement and just take out his parts altogether.”
Another groan of annoyance. “What does everyone else want to do about this?”
Pierre shrugged. “I told them I’d talk to you about all of this before we made any sort of decisions.”
David huffed out a sigh as he shook his head. “It’d probably just be easier to find someone else. I think a lot of people are on tour now, but maybe someone could find the time to-”
He stopped himself abruptly, and Jack had to pretend that he wasn’t listening to every word said behind him. That didn’t last too long, however, before his chair was being spun around to face the other men.
“What do you think your husband would say to being featured in one of our songs?”
And all Jack could do was sit there and stare.
Author: Jamie jamieall_over
Pairing: Jalex
Rating: NC-17 Overall
Warnings: Mpreg
Summary: “You don’t know how fantastic it feels to hear you say that,” Alex admit as he finished wiping his stomach clean.
“How’ve you been, Alex?” Dr. Cooper asked when he walked into the room housing the ultrasound machine and the small family. He’d told the family that when the four weeks of rest after the surgery had come around, he would gladly do the check-up to make sure that everything had healed the way it was supposed to. They were going to politely decline, but then he’d also said that he’d do it for free; that it’d be the least he could do. Since the Gaskarth-Barakat’s really couldn’t afford another hospital bill, they’d agreed.
“Great, actually,” Alex said after a moment of consideration. He doubted that the doctor wanted to hear about the couple’s home life. That hadn’t changed much since the argument about jobs and money. “It doesn’t hurt to move anymore. The staples and stitches fell out a few days ago, so I’ve stopped wearing gauze. I feel like I’m starting to get more energy back, too. They’re sleeping much longer at night than they used to, and that’s been such a helpful relief for the both of us.”
Dr. Cooper smiled as he set the files in his hands down in favor of washing his hands. “That’s very good! I’m going to assume that they’ve recently gone to their two-month pediatric appointment. How did that go?”
“We went just last week,” Jack said, speaking up before his husband had the chance. “Dr. Leedy, their pediatrician, said that they’re growing just fine. Ashley’s just a little behind Perspicacity in the development stage, but she said that’s nothing to worry about for now.”
“Oh?” Dr. Cooper said as he dried his hands. He then moved over to get the machine all set up before continuing on to ask, “In what way is he behind?”
“He just has trouble lifting his head like she can. He’s actually gotten a little better at it since then, but he can’t look around as well as Cacity can. He’ll get his head up for a few moments before it drops back down.”
“Well, as long as he’s showing improvements, I’m sure that there’s no reason to be concerned. Now, Alex, if you could lift your shirt for me… I’m sure I don’t need to remind you of how cold this is going to be,” the doctor said with a chuckle as he grabbed the gel and transducer.
Even with knowing full well how cool the liquid-based product was going to feel on his bare skin, the young man still took in a heavy gasp and shivered under the touch. Only a chuckle was given in response to the action, and then the room fell quiet as the black screen turned grey and grainy.
Tensions grew high as the seconds passed. The only thing that let both Jack and Alex know that time hadn’t stopped was the blubbering of the babies from where they were snuggled in their seats on the floor.
Minutes seemed to tick away around them as the transducer was moved across the area of Alex’s large scar (the one he still steadfastly refused to look at), but then Dr. Cooper was lifting it from the Briton’s skin to clear the gel with a tissue. One was handed over to the impatient and near-nauseas man lying on the examining table as well.
Then, once everything had been returned to where it belong, the doctor was giving a few short claps of his hands. “Everything seems to be back in order, Mr. Gaskarth-Barakat! You can officially come off bed rest now! I would advise that you still take it a little easy as often as possible, but you’re free to go about your life as you would normally!”
There was an audible sigh of relief from both younger men as they slumped back against wherever they were sitting. “You don’t know how fantastic it feels to hear you say that,” Alex admit as he finished wiping his stomach clean. It was a bit difficult to do, seeing as how he wouldn’t look down to make sure there was none of the gel leftover on his skin, and soon enough, Jack was grabbing a new tissue to wipe up whatever his husband had missed.
“I can only imagine,” Dr. Cooper said as he gathered up his things so that he could move on to the other appointments and things he had to do for the day. “Do you have any final questions for me before you leave?”
The couple looked between themselves for a moment before they shook their heads.
“Very well,” the doctor said. His hand reached for the handle on the door, but he paused for a moment and turned to give a smile at the other men. “I hope this whole experience doesn’t affect anything. I can see more children in your future, and I’d be more than honored to deliver for you once more.”
Alex and Jack both gave smiles as they gathered their own things, and they were more than relieved when Dr. Cooper left without waiting for a response. Not only were they unsure about having any more babies, but they were also unsure as to whether or not they’d want that man cutting into the elder a second time. Sure, the odds of a cut to the bladder were about one in a million, but who’s to say that Alex wouldn’t be that million a second time? Nine months (and whatever amount of time would pass before that pregnancy would be) was a long time.
When the diaper bag had been slung over Jack’s shoulder and each parent had their fingers wrapped tightly around a handle, the small family was leaving the office for a final time… at least, the final time for a while, if Dr. Cooper’s (and the nurse from the hospital’s) prediction was true.
“Jay, do you think we could stop by the gym for a few minutes before we go home?” Alex asked as he climbed into the passenger seat of the car. Jack was still having a little trouble with making sure that the car seat clicked itself into place, and he looked up from where he was leaning in through the back door.
“Why do you want to go to the gym?” he asked curiously, glancing down when he heard all of the pieces fit together properly.
Alex shrugged. “I told Zack that when Dr. Cooper told me I was perfectly healthy and all healed up that I’d text him to rub it in his face. I just think it’d be better to, y’know, do it in person.”
Who was Jack to deny that request?
--- ---
“What’re you listening to, dude?” David Desrosiers asked as he pulled one of Jack’s headphones from his left ear. It was a Tuesday afternoon, and Simple Plan had been in the back recording for most of the day. Normally, Jack wouldn’t have bothered with plugging headphones into his computer, but he figured it’d be polite to keep the front area quiet with the back worked just a few rooms down.
He paused the song playing on his computer and took the other bud from his right ear. With a mere shrug, he was replying, “It’s nothing much, really. When my husband was younger, his parents paid for him to spend a day recording here. That was the day we met, actually. Dylan just found all of the files a few weeks ago, so he put them on a CD for me. It’s pretty much the only thing I’ve been listening to since.”
David gave a hum as he reached out for the discarded earbuds. “So I take it he’s good?” he asked with a glance over to make sure that what he was doing was okay. When he saw no objections, he reached for the mouse next and hit the play button once more.
“Well, Dylan and I always thought that he could’ve made it big. Apparently he was contacted about being signed not too long after this was made. I don’t know how interested in it you’ll be since, like, you probably know more about what sounds good and what doesn’t, but-”
“I like this,” David said, cutting Jack off in the middle of his sentence. Really, he’d stopped actually listening once the music had started to play. It was with his following question that he took one of the earphones out. “Does he still sing much? His voice has probably matured a little more. How long ago was this recorded? I don’t think you ever really said.”
There was a few moments’ pause as Jack counted through the years. “Seven years, give or take a few months,” he finally answered. His hand reached out to turn down the volume on the computer, then reaching for the bud that had been abandoned. “He doesn’t sing much when I’m around. I don’t think he likes to really dwell on what could’ve been. I hear him sing to our kids sometimes before they go to bed, and I think he’s gotten better with age. Last time I was actually around for one of his ‘performances’ was… maybe three years ago.”
David nodded, and the pair went silent as they listened to Alex’s voice. Three songs had passed by them before Pierre was joining them. Of course, neither man heard him sneak up behind him, and they both jumped as he bent down behind them and whispered in their ears, “What’re you listening to?”
“Jesus fuckin’…” David trailed out as he stood straight and clutched a bit dramatically at his heart. Jack response to the shock had been much the same, but instead of standing, he slumped down into his chair and let his head loll back against the headrest. “It’s an EP, I guess, that Jack’s husband made when they were younger. It’s actually really good; you should give it a listen.”
Pierre gave a shrug before reaching out a hand to pluck up the earplug his bandmate offered to him. Within moments, his head was bobbing from side to side with the beat. When the song came to an end, he pulled the bud from his ear and placed it on the desk. “He’s not bad at all, dude. Let him know that I think he should make more music or something.”
Jack gave a smile and nod, though he knew that he wouldn’t be letting Alex know any such thing. The older man didn’t even know his husband had his old EP, never mind that he actively listened to it or showed it to anyone who so much as showed a passing interest in it.
“Anyway,” Pierre said as he turned away from the receptionist and turned to his bandmate, “I came to let you know that Cody called and said that he doesn’t think he’ll be able to record anything for Freaking Me Out by the time it’s supposed to be released because his band manager just told him about some festivals he and the other guys have to play. We figured we’d talk to you about it, too, before we make a decision about whether or not to add someone else to it.”
“Are you serious?” David asked. His head fell back as he gave a groan. “Well, at least we never actually said he was going to be the one in that song. Have you guys started thinking about who’d be a good replacement? Who isn’t on a tour right now?”
“I don’t know. We can always just find someone else, make a statement explaining what happened and put off the release a little longer until he can find the time, or make a different statement and just take out his parts altogether.”
Another groan of annoyance. “What does everyone else want to do about this?”
Pierre shrugged. “I told them I’d talk to you about all of this before we made any sort of decisions.”
David huffed out a sigh as he shook his head. “It’d probably just be easier to find someone else. I think a lot of people are on tour now, but maybe someone could find the time to-”
He stopped himself abruptly, and Jack had to pretend that he wasn’t listening to every word said behind him. That didn’t last too long, however, before his chair was being spun around to face the other men.
“What do you think your husband would say to being featured in one of our songs?”
And all Jack could do was sit there and stare.