Telling Alice {ManxMan} | MPreg

Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven:

Freshly imported beans created the perfect blend to create just the right flavor profile. Infused in his very own homemade raspberry syrup, he'd spent months perfecting the syrup alone. Not to mention the time he'd spent figuring out which beans would absorb the syrup the best and just how much syrup should be used. The aroma had been amazing when they came out of the roaster and grinding beans had never been more exciting. Eshe couldn't begin to explain the amount of happiness he felt as he carefully poured the boiled water over the coffee grounds.

"You just forget the rest of the world when you do this, huh?" Cyro mumbled shuffling closer to get a better look at how Eshe prepared the coffee. He'd watched Eshe move around the pale orange kitchen, taking the beans out of the roaster. Eshe had put some into the grinder while others were stored in containers. The loud hum of the grinder had made Cyro wonder how Eshe could stand the noise but after studying him for a while longer he realized that nothing seemed to bother Eshe while he was making coffee.

Eshe only shrugged in reply to Cyro's question as he finished pouring the water into the brewing cone. Cyro smiled shaking his head slightly as he took the two cups from the counter as Eshe began putting a few things away. Setting them on the table he sat, fixing his coffee with cream and sugar as he waited for Eshe to join him.

"You ruin good coffee by not drinking it straight." Eshe grumbled finally sitting across from him.

"I hardly do anything straight anymore." Cyro grinned causing Eshe to roll his eyes. It had been three days since the text message fiasco and Eshe hadn't heard from Jerome since. Honestly, the last three days were more relaxing than anything. Alice was content with knowing the little bit of information Eshe had given her about her father, Lauren seemed to be too busy to come and bother him at the shop, and Jerome had seemingly disappeared, minus a few brief text messages. Today was the first time he'd seen Cyro since he'd tried to reach Alice's father on Monday.

"Can I tell you something kind of awful?" Eshe asked Cyro who simply nodded while taking a small sip of his coffee. "I feel like Lauren is overly involved in this situation, like, it almost seems like she has an ulterior motive but I can't think of what it could be."

"Well in her defense, we really were talking about Alice's father when she sent that text. I don't think she means any harm."

"Yeah well we both know how family tends to hide how they really feel." Eshe mumbled unthinkingly, a tense silence passing between them before Eshe realized his blunder. "Fuck, sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that."

"It's fine, I'm over it. I'm just trying to figure out what Lauren could possibly want from this or what grudge she could be holding against you for this." Cyro smiled slightly shaking his head. He couldn't think of a single reason why Lauren would have any bad intentions in this and honestly neither could Eshe. It was just an odd feeling he had. The more he thought about it the less reasons he could come up with, which strangely only made him worry more. Sighing heavily Eshe decided he needed to stop thinking about it completely.

"So Alice has decided she wants to have her birthday party at the grand rose pavilion this year." Eshe stated hoping to change the subject.

"That place is so popular this time of the year, are you gonna be able to book it for a party?"

"Yeah, I already booked it last month when she was still deciding. I know my kid." Eshe laughed, it was true Alice had always been obviously predictable. Except in situations Eshe had never seen coming like when she asked about her father but there he went again letting his mind wander to the ticking time bomb. "Do you think I should invite him if he ever gets back to us?"

"I think that's a really nice idea, but I have to ask why do you always refer to him as 'him' or 'Alice's father' isn't his name Aiden?" Cyro asked leaning his elbow on the table as he settled his face in his palm. The gesture made Eshe frown if only for the fact that he realized he'd opened a can of worms. Leaning back in his chair Eshe thought on the question before replying slowly.

"Maybe cause it makes the situation too real and unavoidable? Maybe cause his name is associated with a lot of memories I don't want to think about right now? Maybe cause I'm trying to make this about Alice and not myself?"Eshe rambled off staring up at his pale orange ceiling as he tipped his chair back ever so slightly. "Honestly Cyro I just don't know, I'm dreading when my phone rings. The thought of an unknown number popping up on my screen is just so, ugh, I don't know. Stressful maybe."

"I think we should do something fun, to get your mind off of this whole situation." Cyro decided pushing away his half finished coffee as he sat up straight waving his hands excitedly. "Let's go into the city and get into some adult trouble. I'll call up Amy and Stella, we can leave Lauren out for this one. We'll go clubbing, we can go to Extra. Oh, no, let's go to Lush! They have the table dancer's on Friday's!"

"I don't know Cyro-"

"No. Absolutely no buts, no excuses, I'll get a babysitter to watch all of the kids and they can all have a sleep over at Stella's place. We're doing this Eshe we're going out tonight." Cyro cut him off and Eshe didn't even bother try to say anything else. He knew when Cyro got fired up like this it took a whole lot of effort to get him to back down. A lot more effort than Eshe had right now. He was already on his phone texting away, no doubt rounding up more people than just Stella and Amy. He was just grateful he would have Saturday to recover.