In Case You Didn't Know

Chapter 2

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Nathaniel

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I glance down at little gift bag I'm holding while I wait outside Roger's door. He and his wife welcomed his first son earlier this month; I wasn't in Chicago at the time, so I am only meeting him today. After many minutes spent on the internet and a few text messages to my mother, I ended up buying him a baby blanket. I wanted to buy him a green one with dinosaurs stamps on it, but then Alexia said that the blue looked better.

Alexia Saunders, who I had not seen in at least two years, was shopping at Pottery Barns at the same time as me. What are the odds? If at first I was surprised to see her standing there in front of me, the bewilderment was heightened by tenfold with the realization that she was shopping for a baby of her own.

Footsteps approaching from the other side of the door force me to stop the train of thoughts that have not left my mind since I saw her an hour ago.

"Look who it is! It's uncle Nate!" Roger says as cheerfully as ever as he stands on the threshold, a baby with a mop of dark hair in his arms. When I met him, although already engaged, he was a party animal trying to fight his fear to commitment. Now, seeing him with his son in his arms makes me feel like a proud older brother. That doesn't mean that I won't take the piss out of him, though.

"God, he does look like you. Poor thing." I give him a one-arm hug, patting him on the back as I step inside. He sends me a death stare but is so busy staring at little Mika that is now stirring in his arms that he can't even be bothered to think of a comeback.

"Nathan!" Amelia, Roger's wife, greets me enthusiastically, circling me with her arms and planting a sound kiss on my cheek. "We're so happy to have you back."

"I'm happy to be back. I kind of missed you guys." I really did, California was nice and almost felt like a vacation, but it wasn't the same without my people. "I got this for Mika, hopefully he doesn't have enough blankets to last him a lifetime yet." Amelia chuckles as I hand her the gift bag.

"Thankfully you didn't get him socks." Amelia's mirth intensifies as she gazes over at Roger, who blushes all shades of red, shaking his head profusely. "Roger freaked out like a week before Mika was born and got him at least twenty more pairs of socks."

"I read that babies get cold easily! And you know how the winter is here."

"Dude, is July." I mock him as I occupy a seat in the couch next to Amelia.

"We don't need this kind of negativity." He murmurs coyly looking down at his son. "I'm going to see if he stays in his crib." He addresses Amelia before retreating upstairs. She nods with an endearing, soft smile before turning to face me.

"Motherhood looks good on you Milly." 

I didn't get to meet Amelia until a few weeks before the wedding. Roger said that she wasn't very fond of most of his friends, but that she was very accommodating and tried to keep things civil whenever they hung out. Since I carried on my promise to take care of him and returning him home safely after his bachelor's party, I moved on to be her favorite. Enough said Roger and her have become my closest friends.

"Thanks," her smile only intensifies, although accompanied by a shaky sight. "It's been really hard, truly. But Roger has been marvelous, and we're making it work."

"You changed him for the best, you know."

"Fatherhood did."

"Certainly. I can't believe this is the same man that threw up in my shoe once and cried about it." We both chuckle at the now very well-known anecdote.