Guys My Age ~ Christopher Velez

I'll Kill You

"Miami is currently under lockdown as of 10:30 this morning..."

Nine people were all piled into the De Jesus/Velez living room, all staring ahead at the news playing out on the tv. The PRETTYMUCH boys were piled on one couch, Zabdiel and Richard on the floor, while Christopher sat in the rocking chair with Zoe on his lap. A sickness had started to spread across the world, putting each and every town on lockdown. There was even a set amount of people that were allowed in a room at once, ten, which they were almost at the limit of. In public, you had to stay six feet away from strangers. The world was going to hell, and they were all terrified.

"We have to go to the store," Zoe blurted out, everyone analyzing the panic on her face. Both of her hands cradled her belly, breathing intensifying. "There's stuff we need to get for the baby, we don't know how long this will last-" Zabdiel moved closer to his sister, Christopher sitting up in his seat. "Oh fuck," She swore, scrambling off of Christopher's lap and into the bathroom. Christopher and Zabdiel followed closely behind, the former pulling back her hair. He made soothing sounds, rubbing her back in small circles.

"Shh, Amor," Christopher shushed her, Zabdiel walking back down the hall to leave them alone. "Everything will be okay, I promise," Zoe looked up from the toilet bowl, tears sparkling in her eyes. "We will get everything you and the baby need, the boys and I," She opened her mouth to argue, silenced with one look. "You will not be going to the store, especially not when you're carrying our child." Christopher gave her a hard look, Zoe knowing that what he said was not up for debate. 

She sighed, standing up to brush her teeth for the millionth time that week. "I'm scared, Christopher," Zoe admitted, rinsing her mouth out. Christopher came up from behind and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder. They looked at one another in the mirror before them, sighing softly. "What if I get sick? What if you get sick?" Her voice shook during the second question, more terrified with the thought of him being ill than herself. "Christopher-" Zoe started breathing rapidly once more, Christopher hugging her tighter. 

"Zobeida, shh," He'd read somewhere that applying pressure to someone when they were panicking could help calm them down. Or maybe he'd seen it on an episode of Grey's Anatomy, the world may never know. "We'll be fine, all of us will be." Zoe's breathing had started to slow to a normal rate once more, a small twinge of pride weaving through Christopher. 

"Joel and Jade are gonna stay with his family, Erick and Edith are just down the road. Alyson's driving in later today to stay with Richard, Zabdiel's here too. And so are Brandon, Nick, Zion, Austin, and Edwin. Maybe Maggie and Ansley too," Christopher smoothed his hands up and down her arms, adding the girls's names as an afterthought. She turned in his embrace, burying her face in his chest. "We have everyone we need and we're all safe," 

"What about Mamá? Have you talked to her yet?" Zoe questioned, worry shining in her eyes once more. He couldn't explain just how much he absolutely loved it when Zoe called his mom 'mamá'. "We should call her and make sure everything's okay-" Christopher sighed before leaning down, silencing her words with his lips. She melted into him almost instantly, cupping his face in her hands. "Okay, I'll shut up now," Zoe relented, Christopher huffing a laugh against her lips. 

"She's okay, they all are." He assured her, carefully smoothing back her hair. "Now, we're gonna make a list of everything that we need, okay?" Zoe nodded, smiling softly. She liked when he took control since he was always respectful about it. Christopher moved away, pulling her with him. "Guys, do you wanna help us with the nursery?" All seven boys perked up at the idea, smiling widely while they nodded like bobbleheads. "Great, amor, let's plan it?" She brightened at the prospect of designing the nursery, which was exactly what Christopher was going for. He wanted to get his mind off of everything. 

"Where's my laptop?" Zoe basically sprinted to her bedroom, leaving eight boys grinning behind her. Christopher chuckled, shaking his head from side to side. "I'm gonna marry her someday," He sighed, all seven boys turning to look at him in shock. Zabdiel gaped, Richard looking between them nervously. Christopher almost had a heart attack when he realized he'd said that out loud, slowly spinning on his heel to look at Zabdiel. "I mean, uh, well, carajo,"

"I'm glad she's with you, Chris," Zabdiel blurted, shocking everyone including himself. "You make her happy, and that's all I want." Christopher smiled from ear to ear, eyes sparkling with hope. Zabdiel stood up from the floor, wandering up to Christopher. He reached out one arm, pulling him into a bro-hug. But he held Christopher there a little longer, whispering low enough for just the two of them to hear. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you. Bueno?"

Christopher swallowed thickly, nodding his head at a rapid pace. "Si," Zabdiel pat him once on the back before going back to his original state, everyone sitting silently until Zoe returned. "Amor? Did you find it?" Zoe grinned, flashing him the silver laptop covered in stickers from different places around the world. "Excelente," She sat down on his lap, oblivious to the conversation they'd been having a few moments earlier. Pulling up her Pinterest page, the two of them scrolled through countless ideas while everyone else watched tv. 

"Aus, would you like to paint it?" Austin lit up at Zoe's question, almost shouting yes. "I asked Linda, she said we could." They technically rented their place so it wouldn't typically be theirs to paint. But, Linda had a soft spot for the couple and had told them to do whatever they wanted with the apartment. "Great! So, I was thinking..." She'd landed on one image, her favorite one, when Christopher pointed it out himself. "Dios, I'm so glad we think alike." Christopher grinned at Zoe, squeezing her hips.

"It's perfect, amor,"