KISS: Road Trip

Ch 55: Driving Me Bananas (Gene)

I gave Nick a smile, holding out the spoon in front of him. "Here, open up and eat this," I said, trying to get him to eat the baby food. But he pressed his mouth into a thin line, turning his head away. "Come on, Nick, eat up! You can't live on milk forever."

But once again, no dice. "Aw come on Gene, you gotta be more fun than that!" Ace said, looking up from the stove. I grinned, looking at Nick. "Here comes the airplane," I said, moving the spoon toward him again while making the corresponding plane noise. To my immense relief, he bit down on the spoon, eating the mush before looking me dead in the eye and spitting it right back out again.

Heaving a sigh, I dropped my head to the table. "Nick, come on! Eat up!" I said, getting another spoonful and trying to get him to eat it. He tried spitting it out again but I scooped it off his chin and fed him again. "Eat itttt, Nicholas. Eat the stupid mush," I muttered. He slapped a tiny hand down on the high chair tray and spit it out again.

"Ace, you have younger brothers. How the hell do you do this?"

He grinned, ladling some mac and cheese into a bowl and sitting at the table. "Uh, yeah, but they weren't my kids! So I didn't have to do this part of raising them. I just played with them and stuff."

"Thanks, Ace. Incredibly helpful."

"Just keep trying! He'll eat it eventually! What is it?" I sighed as Nick spat out another spoonful. "It's just mashed bananas. He's eaten them before and I really don't understand why you won't eat them right now, Nick," I said, shaking my head.

He burbled back at me, slapping his hands down on the tray excitedly and smearing mashed bananas everywhere. "Nicholas Tweed-Simmons, you are gonna eat these bananas if it's the last thing you do," I grumbled, getting together another spoonful. "Alright, open wide." But of course, all he did was slap the spoon out of my hand and start screaming.

Ace just sat and watched and ate his stupid mac and cheese as I tried over and over again to get Nick to eat the stupid bananas, until at last he caved and ate a spoonful, eyes immediately widening. "Finally," I muttered, feeding him another one. "Yeah, look at you, eating the bananas? Yeah, you like them, huh? What a surprise." Eventually Nick gave up on the bananas again, slapping the high chair tray and shouting at me in his own little baby language.

"Alright, alright, calm down!" I said, wiping his face off and lifting him from the chair. "Ace, do me a favor, would you? Could you clean up the high chair since you just waltzed into my house and made yourself some of my food?" He grinned, nodding, and got to work as I brought Nick to my room. "It's naptime for you, bugaboo. So shut up and go to sleep so your dad can take a nap too, would you?" I murmured, kissing him on the forehead as he yawned.

I tried to lie him down in his bassinet and get him to go to sleep but he just started to cry. Heart sinking, I held him in the crook of my arm, rocking him back and forth gently. "Shh, it's okay," I murmured. "You're just tired, cutie pie." I continued to rock him back and forth as he cried before sitting with him in a chair and starting to sing again.

By the time I finished the song, he was fast asleep in my arms. "Yeah, you're a darling baby, aren't you? Yes you are. Yes you are," I whispered, kissing him on the forehead and lying him gently down in the cradle, tucking the blanket around him before walking back into the hallway and smacking into Ace, who was giving me a huge grin.

"Aww! You sang your son a lullaby!" he said gleefully. My ears turned bright red and I shook my head. "So? He's my son and I love him and you're not going to tell anyone about it," I muttered. "It's what my mom used to sing to me when I was a kid, it's a nice song." "Adorable," he said, shaking his head. "I mean hey, you might not know how to feed your son, but you can at least put him down for a nap!"

My stomach twisted into a knot and I forced a smile. "Yep. At least I can get one thing right," I mumbled.

Later that night, long after Ace had gone home and Shannon had returned from shopping, I still couldn't get his words out of my head. Heaving a sigh, I slid out of bed and walked downstairs. I couldn't sleep, couldn't get my heart to stop racing, so I started to warm some milk up on the stove.

"Gene. It's one in the morning darling, what on earth are you doing?"

I jumped, turning to look at Shannon who was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed. "Sorry if I woke you up, dear. I couldn't sleep," I mumbled. With a quiet sigh, she walked over from the door, slipping her arms around my waist and resting her head on my shoulder. "Gene. Talk to me, love. What's on your mind?"

I kissed her on the forehead, pouring the milk into a mug. "I'm sorry. I'm just scared. I love Nick, love him with my whole heart, and I want the best for him and I'm terrified of being a bad father for him and a bad husband to you. I just...like my dad walked out on me and my mom before I was even born and--"

Shannon grabbed my hands, shaking her head. "Gene. Listen to me. You are not your father. You need to let that go. You're a wonderful man who cares about our son and who cares about me and I can understand that you're nervous! I'm terrified too! I want to be a good mom and give Nick the best life he can have. We'll do things right and we'll do things wrong, but it doesn't matter, because we're doing this together."

"I-I-I know b-but look at what just happened! You stepped out for two days and I had no idea how to take care of Nick! I completely fell apart, I had to call up Paul and Eric and Bruce! Bruce doesn't even like kids, and he knew more about taking care of them then I did! And I'm a fucking father! And then today I had no idea how to even get Nick to eat his lunch and I mean even Ace was saying that--"

"Gene. Take a deep breath and calm down and listen to me. Shut up. I have no idea how to raise a child. You have no idea how to raise a child. You can bet your ass Ace has no idea how to raise a child. And that's okay. Just take a deep breath and breathe, darling. You're stressed out, and I understand! I am too! And you've been doing so much for me and Nick and you're always my strong silent husband and you never let me see how worried you are and so it just eats you up inside and it's okay, it's okay you're stressed, because I am too and we'll get through this together."

I nodded, giving her a tight hug and kissing her. "Thanks, love," I murmured, before drinking the mug of warm milk. Smiling softly, she grabbed my hand. "Come on, it's lonely in bed without you," she purred, kissing me. With a smile, I scooped her up in my arms, carrying her up to our room and climbing in bed with her.