It's a Hard life | Hardzello♡

56. Gina

Two days later, Mary is still in the hospital. This is mainly because of the little Gina, but also because her bloodplates were a bit too low.
Joe can see how hard it is for his younger sister to deal with her daughter's diagnosis, although she's doing a pretty good job hiding it. The ginger preferred to stay at the hospital, to support Mary and admire his newborn nieces.
But the red-headed girl assured him that she and Matt can manage alone, and sent Joe and Ben home.
Both boys were totally exhausted, due to the long nights in combination with their jetlags. Which is why they're now, at 3 pm, lying on their bed curled up against each other.

Ben fell asleep right away the moment he closed his eyes.
But no matter how exhausted Joe feels, the boy can't manage to fall asleep. He has a feeling deep inside that tells him to stay awake.
So the ginger just lays there, deeply absorbed in his own thoughts.
Which is why he slightly jumps when he feels Ben's hand on his cheek.
"Are you okay Joey?" The blond mumbles, his eyes still closed, his hand gently caressing Joe's cheek.
Without saying anything yet, Joe snuggles deeper into Ben's chest. "Yeah, just tired." He mumbles.
His heart starts to glow when he feels Ben putting his strong arms around him. For a while, the ginger just listens to the sound of Ben's heart pounding. "I love you angel." He mumbles without even thinking about it. He can feel Ben's lips push into a smile.
"Did you just call me angel?" Ben asks, melting over this new nickname his boyfriend just gave him.
Joe can feel himself starting to blush, and buries his face into the fabric of the blond's sweater. "Maybe." He mumbles, although it gets muffled away by the sweater.
With his index finger Ben lifts the ginger's head, and he presses his lips against Joe's.
The boy lets out a sleepy giggle before putting his head on Ben's chest again.
When the blond starts caressing his cheek again, Joe can feel himself sinking deeper and deeper.
Before he knows it, he is fast asleep.
Finally.

••••

About two hours later, Joe wakes up from the sound of the front door falling into the lock.
Still a bit sleep-drunk, Joe tries to think who that could be. His brother left for his baseball game hours ago, and his Dad is with Mary and Matt in the hospital. He doesn't pay much attention to it, and closes his eyes again.
He smiles when he feels that he and Ben have switched positions while they were asleep. This time Ben is the one lying with his head on Joe's stomach.
The ginger enjoys the sound of Ben's slow and peaceful breathing. With his eyes closed, he starts playing with Ben's hair.
Ben lets out a pleased noise in his sleep and crawls a bit closer to Joe's body.

But Joe's eyes open immediately when the sound of a baby crying fills the house. The boy sits up, gently shoving Ben's body off his own and hurries to the living room. He freezes in his place when he sees Mary and his Dad standing there.
But there's only one maxi cosi. And one baby. That can't be good.
When Mary turns around, she sees her brother standing there, completely speechless.
The girl opens her mouth to say something, but Joe sees that she doesn't know what to say. So instead of saying anything, Mary walks over to Joe to hug him.
Joe closes his eyes and bites his lip when he hears his sister sob softly during the hug. When Joe opens his eyes again he sees his father swallow.
"Gina. She- she." Mary sobs while she is still holding Joe close.
When Joe feels her tremble, he lets the two of them sink onto the ground gently.
"She's gone." Mary whispers.
The ginger rubs his hand over her back to comfort her. "Then mom will watch over her. I'm sure about that." He says softly.
He lets out a shaky breath when he sees his words have calmed down Mary a bit.

٭٭٭٭٭

Despite the tense atmosphere, they all tried to make the best evening out of it. Pizza is on the way, and they're all watching tv together.
When Mary is standing in the kitchen to make the little Liz a bottle, Ben walks into the kitchen as well. "Is Matt at home?" The blond asks.
Mary shows him a small smile and nods.
"Yeah. He actually wanted to stay with me, but I could see he is exhausted. So I convinced him to go home so he can get some sleep. And maybe to grief a little too. I know he wants to stay strong around me." She says.
Ben smiles while pouring some drinks. "He's a great Dad, I can see that already. The looks he gives your little girl say enough." He says to cheer her up a little.
Mary chuckles and nods with a smile. "Yeah I really picked a good one, didn't I." She says with a small grin.
Ben giggles and nods. "Yeah you did. We both did."
Mary raises her eyebrow. "Well I'm not so sure about yours." She grins as she looks at her brother in the living room.
Ben rolls his eyes with a smile before leaving the kitchen with their drinks.

In the living room, Joe is sitting on the couch with Liz in his arms.
The baby girl is making some whiny noises, trying to let everyone know she's hungry.
Mary sits down next to her brother, and takes over Liz from him. But as soon as Liz is taken away from Joe she starts crying. "Shhh. I know you're hungry baby. But look, I made you a bottle." Mary says softly to her daughter.
Liz stops crying and closes her eyes with satisfaction once the bottle is in her mouth.
Meanwhile, Ben has sat down next to Joe. Both he and his boyfriend look at Mary with a big smile.
When Joseph enters the room with the pizzas, Ben giggles at the eager look on Joe's face. "Are you hungry sweetheart?" He asks with a smirk.
Joe chuckles and nods against Ben's chest. "Starving." He mumbles.
Joseph rolls his eyes with a big smile before handing Joe a pizza box.

+++

"I think we're going to bed." Mary says later that evening when she sees that Liz is getting drowsy.
Ben, Joe and Joseph nod and shoot her a smile.
Joe can see the bit nervous look in her eyes. "Goodnight. And if you need any help during the night, you know where to find our room. Then Ben and I will be your night nurses." The ginger says with a wink.
Which earns a bunch of laughter from all of them.
'Thanks.' Mary says with a smile before walking to her room.

"Alright boys, I'm going to work." Joseph says half an hour after Mary went to bed.
Joe frowns. "Is there really no one that can cover your shift?"
Joseph shakes his head with a sigh. "I'm afraid not." He says. "Please look after your sister."
Joe nods, as well as Ben. "Of course we will." The ginger says as he intertwines his fingers with his boyfriend's.
"Good." Joseph smiles.
Joe places a kiss on Ben's cheek. "Good." He grins when he sees he made the boy blush.

\\\

With a naughty smile on his face, Joe locks the door of their bedroom behind them. He turns to Ben, the latter doesn't hesitate and starts a hungry kiss.
First, their lips move slow. But once their lips meet, the kiss grows more heated and passionate.
Joe breaks the kiss, but only to push Ben onto the bed with a big smirk on his face. He starts another kiss before getting Ben's sweater off. He lets his fingertips roam over the blond's chest, following every single outline of his muscles.
Ben bites his lip and enjoys the feeling of Joe's touchings. He lets out a soft gasp when his boyfriend starts grinding down on him. "Joe~" He whimpers. After pressing his lips against Joe's, Ben starts taking off the boy's hoodie.
"Fuck you look hot." Joe groans.
The blond chuckles when the sound of a baby crying is heard from the room next to them. "At least your sister won't hear us now." He says with a smirk.
"And John and my Dad have both gone to work so we're lucky today." Joe adds with a grin.

As Joe is unbuckling Ben's belt, suddenly a loud bang is heard.
And Liz starts to cry even harder.
The two boys look at each other, and don't need words to agree that something's wrong in the room next to theirs.
They quickly get dressed again, and hurry to Mary's room.

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Holaaaa

Guess what? A little while ago I mentioned that I might write an extra chapter, so that this story will have 65 chapter instead of 64. And I did! So you'll have one extra chapter to enjoy

Kisses from me♡