Closer 2

60.

"Hey there princess!" Ray smiled as he entered Brett and Eddy's house as if he lived there, kicking off his shoes and lifting their daughter off the ground to give her kisses all over her face. She squealed, flailing her arms in excitement from seeing her favourite uncle.

"You're early," Eddy said with a small smile, looking up from his laptop where he had been trying to answer some emails for a while now. It was difficult when he kept getting distracted by Elise asking for his attention, especially because Brett was out getting them some lunch, so he couldn't just shoo her off to him.

"Yeah, May had to go to class early so I figured I'd come bother you guys for a bit extra," Ray chuckled, tickling Elise to make her laugh. "Where's Brett at?"

Eddy checked the time on his laptop.
"Hopefully on the way back with some lunch," he sighed, putting his laptop on the table. He of course made sure to have it a bit off the edge as they had too many incidents of Elise trying to grab things off their coffee table in an attempt to pull herself up on her feet.

"I see. Does Li-Li need any lunch?" Ray asked as she placed her snall arms around his neck for a hug. "Or has she eaten?"

"No, we thought she'd eat with us. Want me to call and have Brett being you something too?" Eddy asked, but Ray shook his head.

"Nah, I ate before I got here. I'll feed her, though, if you guys want to actually eat warm food for once," Ray chuckled, hugging Elise back. "How's that? Want uncle Ray to help you eat today?"

"She actually eats mostly on her own, with some encouragement," Eddy informed Ray with a small smile. "She's really caught onto this spoon-thing."

"Spoon-thing," Ray chuckled jokingly, going to sit down in their comfy chair with Elise in his lap. "But that's really good! You bet she's got the hang of most things by the time number two arrives."

Eddy blinked a few times at that. Right, they hadn't told Ray that yet.
"Two and three, actually," he mumbled, standing up to go fetch both of them some coffee. Ray furrowed his brows.

"Two and... Three?" he asked, tilting his head slightly. Elise patted his cheek, but Ray caught her hand to let her know he had noticed it but was talking to dad.

"Yeah I uh... We're having twins," Eddy said with a small shrug, shifting slightly. He was a bit nervous about letting other people know.

"That's so exciting! Two more! You'll have your hands full, for sure!" Ray grinned, looking to Elise. "Are you excited for that, big sis?"
Elise babbled back at him, and he kissed her forehead.
"Of course you are, princess, it's gonna be great!"

"Yeah, we've been a bit worried about that, actually," Eddy said with a kind of sad smile before turning away to head to the kitchen. "You want coffee?"

"Yes please," Ray said, reaching for Elise's shark on the couch and pretending it would bite her foot. She giggled at that, reaching for the shark. A few moments later Eddy came back with two cups putting them down on the table. Ray gave Elise her shark the so he could talk to Eddy.

"You know I'm willing to help you guys, though, right? As long as I am in town, I'm here for you," he said softly, grabbing the coffee cup. "Just call."

"I know, and we're really grateful, but you already do so much and we still aren't really managing. I worry I've talked Brett into something that will tear us apart and it's honestly eating me up."

"Honestly though, Eddy, I can definitely help you out more than I do. And I'm sure your parents are more than willing to take them more often," Ray said, reaching over to place a hand on his shoulder. "You got this, yeah? I believe in you."

"Thanks, Ray. Your help is honestly what's keeping us afloat right now," Eddy sighed, reaching for his cup and taking a sip.

"Of course, Eddy. No problem," Ray smiled as they heard the front door open.