Have Faith in Me (Ianthony)

Chapter 4: Yuck!

“It’s…nice.” 

“Shut the fuck up, Ian. It’s shit and you know it.” 

“Anth-”

“It’s shit, Ian. Admit it.” Anthony tossed his screwdriver down as Ian entered the walkway of what had been, at one point, their editing room. Now, it was where Audrina was going to sleep. They’d moved all of their editing equipment both into the living room and Ian’s bedroom. Granted, it wasn’t a convenient arrangement, but in all honesty, none of this was. 

Whilst Ian had put away all of Audrina’s new things, Anthony had attempted to assemble her crib. It didn’t look bad, per se, but it didn’t exactly look like the crib on the box, either. 

“It’s fine,” Ian repeated, “Audrey will love it.” 

Ignoring Ian, Anthony pushed himself off of his knees and pushed past him, out of the doorway.
“Where are you going?” Ian asked. 

“Out,” Anthony retorted. 

Ian glanced at his his back. “Out where?” 

Anthony spun around and glared. “Who the hell are you, my mother? Goddamn it, Ian, I’m just gonna go for a walk, okay?” 

Ian eyes drifted to the floor. “Oh, okay.” 

Anthony could tell that he’d hurt Ian’s feelings somehow, but that could be dealt with later. He walked out towards the door and grabbed his red jacket off of the hook beside the front door. Before he opened it, he looked back to the middle of the living room where Audrina sat in a bouncer, watching an old Pokémon VHS tape. She wasn’t smiling, but then again, she never did. However, she seemed to be really into it and her eyes weren’t as sorrowful as they had been. Granted, they were nowhere near shining, as a child of six months should be, but this actually made Anthony smile a little. 

He hung his coat back on the rack and went over to the little girl. He bent down beside her and grinned. “I guess Ian thought this would be the only appropriate cartoon we have for you to watch. Anyway, you’ll like it, it’s awesome.” Audrina watched him intently as he continued, “that little guy, that’s Pikachu. You’ll see him a lot.” 

He ignored the fact that no one really knew what sex certain Pokémon were. 

“And that’s Jigglypuff, Audrey. She looks really cute, but if you fall asleep while she’s singing, then you’ll definitely regret it. She’ll draw all over your face with a marker!” 

Audrina’s eyes shifted back to the TV and Anthony saw that she was intrigued by Psyduck. He laughed. “That’s Psyduck. He’s a duck with physic powers. And I honestly have nothing else to say about him.” 

Unbeknownst to Anthony, Ian had entered the living room minutes earlier and had witnessed the whole scene, with a big smile on his face. Maybe Anthony couldn’t love him, but it was clear to Ian that Anthony could love Audrina. And that was just as good, because Ian already loved her, too. 

Suddenly, Anthony’s nose caught a whiff of something terrible. He stood up and looked around, seeing Ian standing near the hallway. “When did you get in here?” 

Ian shrugged. “Just now. Why?” 

Anthony made a face. “Did you fart?” 

Ian shook his head, then noticed the repulsive odor in the air. “No…did you?” 

For a moment, the two men stood in confusion. That is, until everything clicked for them. They both looked to Audrina and understood exactly what the scent was.