Telling Alice {ManxMan} | MPreg

Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen:

Jerome wasn't shocked to find Cyro sitting on a counter top, eating cereal straight from the box, doing something on his phone with his free hand when he rounded the corner to his fiance's kitchen. What shocked him was that Eshe was not standing next to the younger blonde man with a cup of coffee in his hand. Jerome stood still for a moment taking in how weird the situation felt, him alone with his fiance's best friend, then after a moment cleared his throat causing Cyro to look up from his phone.

"Uh, hey?" Jerome offered when Cyro shoved another handful of cereal into his mouth not bother to acknowledge his presence. It was obvious whatever was on Cyro's phone was millions more important than anything that Jerome possibly had to say. He moved closer, wondering if he could get a peek at the screen or if Cyro would hide it but as he crossed the space of the kitchen he noticed that the phone in Cyro's hand wasn't the one he normally saw Cyro toting around. "Is that Eshe phone?"

"Yeah." Cyro nodded as he began typing something into the phone, frowning for a second, erasing the message then typing something else. Jerome froze a few steps away from the blonde suddenly no longer interested in peeking at what was on the phone. Cyro didn't seem to be on edge about anything he was typing and it certainly wasn't the first time Jerome had seen Cyro freely use Eshe's phone, Eshe often did the same thing with Cyro's phone.

"Why do you have Eshe's phone, is this about Alice's dad?" The question was a thought he'd meant to keep in his mind but the way Cyro looked down at the phone as he sent yet anther text twisted Jerome's stomach. It was uncomfortable and he didn't like it. There was always this strange foreboding when Alice's father was mentioned, he could never tell why he got the feeling or where it even really came from but no matter what he did it always came.

"So, Eshe got this call last night from an unknown number right?" Cyro snorted, shaking his head slightly as he remembered the way things had happened last night. "Turned out to be some marketing scam, and Eshe was so pissed because he was really nervous when the unknown number came up. We start drinking and Eshe goes downhill faster than I've ever seen, he's usually so uptight about that stuff I figure just to let him do what he wants. Next thing I know we're calling this guy over and over, which was pretty stupid but it was funny. We must have left at least twenty voice mails on the guys work number last night."

"And now what? You're texting him?" Jerome asked, shocked by unconcerned Cyro was. The younger man actually seemed to find the situation funny. Eshe wasn't a big drinker, and truthfully neither was Cyro but when they went out together it seemed that Cyro always pulled Eshe into the most ridiculous situations and then he thought it was funny. It made Jerome angry but Eshe always shrugged him off whenever he brought up how reckless he thought that the blonde was.

"Yeah, he called this morning but Eshe is too hung over to talk to him so I told him we can text so Eshe can read the messages later when he feels better." Cyro shrugged as if it what he just said was an everyday occurrence, laughing slightly at the idea. "Eshe is upstairs in the tub by the way, you should go check on him."

He nodded slightly, checking on Eshe was his reason for coming over in the first place but now he wasn't sure. Jerome didn't have anything to say, he didn't know what he should say, if anything. For some reason when he thought of this situation anything he could think of saying to Eshe seemed childish and unnecessary. Turning away he nodded once more, more to himself than to Cyro this time, before walking out of the kitchen. He walked back down the hall towards the stairs mentally reminding himself he had promised Eshe he would try harder just the day before. He paused at the bottom of the stairs, nerves seemingly gluing him in place.

"This is fucking stupid." Jerome mumbled to himself as he forced himself to start up the stairs, passing family pictures as he ascended. They were mainly of Alice: her first chorus recital, her first bike, her first moments. He stopped there, staring at the photo of Eshe holding Alice probably moment after she'd been born. He'd seen the photo so many times before, he knew that Eshe's mother had been the one to take the photo. She was a shutterbug especially compared to Eshe. At that moment staring at that photo, everything seemed in his world seemed to tilt.

He forced himself to look away from the photo, walking up the last couple of steps. He could see the steam flowing from under the bathroom door as he stood at the top of the stairs, taking a deep breath he reminded himself to be positive, even as a nagging voice in his mind kept reminding him of all the things he'd rather forget. He knocked lightly on the door before entering. He smiled slightly seeing Eshe laying in the tub, his hair twisted into a messy bun a cold compress over his eyes.

"You feeling okay?" He kept his voice low, closing the door behind him when Eshe nodded as he sat up in the tub, removing the compress from his eyes. He looked over at Jerome for the first time, openly studying his fiance as he stood up from the tub.

"Cyro told me about you guys wild night, I always say he's a bad influence you know."

"Well, blondes have more fun." Eshe replied with a lazy shrug causing Jerome to clench his teeth, stopping himself from saying something he shouldn't. He'd know Eshe would brush it off but it still irritated him. Eshe sighed pulling a peach colored bath sheet of the wall, wrapping it around himself as he stepped out of the tub. "You promised you would try to be more understanding."

"Of Alice's father, not Cyro's weirdness."

"He's my best friend and he's helping me get through this, he's the only reason I was able to go through with finding Aiden in the first place. I know you don't like Cyro, or this whole situation, but you promised me." Eshe replied pulling his hair down from the bun he'd tied it up in as he moved over to the sink searching for his hair brush. Letting out a sigh he turned back to Jerome forcing himself to smile and calm down. "Everything is going to be okay, we're going to be okay. We just need to get through this and then everything will be okay."