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January 23

Blake paced his living room, tiredly humming a bunch of notes that barely resembled a lullaby at this point, but sounded soothing enough to his own ears; and therefore, hopefully, was soothing to his son’s as well. They had just finished Luc’s mid-morning feeding and he was now in the process of rocking and singing him back to sleep in the hope that he too could get a little rest.

Pressing his mouth into his opposite shoulder, Blake yawned and fought back another wave of fatigue as Luc made a few little snuffling noises and then whimpered a bit. Oh, for God's sake, no; please no more crying baby. Daddy really needs some sleep. Blake resumed his absentminded, off-key humming and nearly sighed with relief when Luc settled back down to making little, sucking noises with his mouth.

Running a hand through his hair, he cast a longing look at his favorite deep, over-stuffed chair, but dared not sit down for two reasons. One, Luc would likely wake up and start crying yet again; and two, he’d likely fall asleep as soon as he did sit down. It was days like this that he was glad that he hadn't had any clue as to just how much work and attention a baby needed, as it was very likely that he would have said screw the whole thing.

Closing his eyes, he walked a now familiar circuit down to one end of the living room, around the chair, skirting the sofa that jutted out just a bit, and down to the other end of the living room and back around the sofa and another chair, to begin it all again. He was pretty sure he could do the circuit in his sleep by now.

A few dozen circuits later, Blake forced back another yawn and opened his eyes. He looked down at Luc and sighed with relief to see him sucking on his fist and soundly asleep. Walking over to the blue, white and green sleeper, Blake gently laid Luc down into it and held his breath for several seconds to see if he’d remain asleep. And when the all too familiar unhappy screeches from the night before didn’t pierce the air, he sighed in relief. As much as he loved his son, he was just as thankful for the peace.

Scrubbing his hand over his face, Blake glanced at the couch, briefly considering a quick lie down, but then looked at his watch and realized that he might as well wait. Ted would be up in an hour and then he’d have his nice, warm, snug bed all to himself. And that was far more appealing than their comfortable, but slightly too short sofa.

Instead, he began straightening out the living room, throwing used burping clothes and clothing into a laundry basket, taking empty bottles to the sink, and picking up random baby items like diaper wipes and diapers, powder, formula canisters, and other items. It often amazed him how quickly his typically neat house could resemble a disaster area in ab hour.

Adding the last few things to another basket, Blake stooped and picked it up and then carried it over and set it down on a table by the hallway.he could take that back when he went for his nap. He yawned for a third time and stretched and was once again considering that nap, when there was a light tapping on his front door. Frowning, Blake walked towards the door wondering who it could be as neither he nor Ted were expecting any visitors; and they were remote enough that door-to-door salesmen weren’t typically a problem.

Opening the door, Blake was surprised to see Justin standing there, as he knew from their conversation yesterday that the blond had no intentions of leaving Britin today. Something about needing to work on the last two pieces for his February show. He opened his mouth to greet his friend, but quickly closed it when Justin just flounced inside with a pout and flung himself on the couch.

“I can’t fit into my pants,” he groused before slamming a cushion over his head.

“Hello to you too,” Blake said, fighting back a smile as he glanced over at Luc and was happy to note he was still sleeping.

“Can’t you see I’m having a crisis here?” Justin huffed, raising the cushion long enough to glare at Blake before slapping it back on his face.

“It was a bit difficult not to notice; what with you storming in here in a high dudgeon and throwing yourself onto my couch like the world was coming to an end,” Blake noted wryly, sitting down in his favorite chair right next to Luc, who just snuffled and slept on, oblivious to their visitor. “Thankfully it didn’t wake Luc up or I would have killed you and happily dealt with Brian’s wrath afterwards.”

“Sorry, hello,” Justin winced, and then cast a sheepish smile his and Luc’s way. “How are you and Luc today?

“Tired.” Blake dug his fingers into his eyes, trying to ease the ache behind them. “Luc had a rough night; and even with us sleeping in shifts, neither of us got much sleep. I can’t wait until Ted is up in an hour, so I can get a few more hours of sleep.”

“Do you want me to take over so you can go now?” Justin asked, sitting up with a concerned frown.

“Nah,” Blake said, fighting back another yawn and dismissing Justin’s concern with a wave of his hand. In all reality, it sounded marvelous, but he hadn’t seen his friend in days and it was nice to talk face to face with someone other than Ted. “I’ll be fine for another hour or so.” He cast a sly smirk in Justin’s direction. “Besides you mentioned a crisis and I can’t abandon you in your time of need.”

“Yeah, make fun of me now,” Justin groused, the scowl returning to his face as he flopped back down into the cushions. “But I seem to remember you coming over and crying on my shoulder when you couldn’t wear your favorite shirt any longer.”

“Fucking hormones,” Blake agreed, fist bumping Justin as he stuck his fist out.

He cringed internally as he remembered running to Justin and sobbing his heart out because none of his clothing fit anymore. It had been made all the worse by some bitchy queen telling him that he was looking a little pudgy, as if the bitch hadn’t been well aware that Blake was pregnant. Luckily, she learned very quickly not to fuck with him again. Although, he felt kind of bad that Justin had accidentally gotten caught in the backlash and didn’t realize it to this day. 

“I’m really not going to miss that part,” Blake muttered, hoping Justin never found out about his part in them getting arrested. “So, this crisis…”

“I can’t fit into my pants,” Justin whined, and then screwed up his face in disgust; Blake had to agree as that was a very Michael-like whine. Shaking his head he continued in aggrieved tone of voice. “It’s like I’ve suddenly grown overnight, and even my loosest pants don’t fit anymore.”

“That’s what you get for liking pants that plaster to your ass like a second skin,” Blake snorted, getting up and walking over to the kitchen to get them some water.

“Oh, but the results they give me,” Justin leered, snickering when Blake just rolled his eyes. He was all too aware of those results sadly, having walked in on them on more than one occasion. Shy Brian and Justin were not. “And not just because Brian loves them; but if someone so much as breathes on me while I'm wearing some of those pants, Brian’s primal side goes berserk and it leads to many a satisfying night.”

“You’re terrible,” Blake mock lamented, shaking his head at his friend as he pulled out two bottles of water. He walked over and handed one to Justin and then sat back down.

“Yes I am,” Justin said a touch smugly, and then deflated and sighed. “At least they did; not so much anymore if I can’t even zip the damned things up.”

“You knew that was going to happen, so I’m not sure why you’re surprised,” Blake pointed out, his head cocked as he studied the other man. His inner counselor kicked in, sensing there was more to it than Justin was saying. “So, what’s the real problem?”

“I hate shopping,” Justin spat vehemently, drawing an amused chuckle from Blake. “I just know that Brian is going to gleefully drag me from store to fucking store; and it’s going to be an all day process that’s going to leave me tired and cranky and wanting to kill him by the end of it. He’s been dying to go shopping for weeks.”

Blake snickered again; that made much more sense. He was quite aware that Justin hated clothing shopping with a passion and would happily wear his clothes down to rags if he could get away with it; much to Brian’s absolute horror. He had always been most comfortable in a pair of cargos and a knit shirt or sweater, and no amount of living with Brian ‘Fashion Queen’ Kinney had changed that.

“Ah, the true crisis comes out,” Blake nodded knowingly, smirking when Justin just flipped him off in response. He shook his head; he couldn’t believe his normally bright and resourceful friend hadn’t hit on the obvious solution yet. “So; go shopping before he comes home. He’s not back until tomorrow night, right? Aren’t you going to lunch with Daphne tomorrow? Make it a lunch with a shopping trip.”

“Brilliant!” Justin sat up looking far more chipper. “You are a brilliant, brilliant man; and I would kiss you if I didn’t think Ted might just end me. I knew coming to you was the right idea. Although, I thought it would more about us bitching about pregnancy and our changing bodies. But this could work.”

“Well, we can bitch about that too,” Blake conceded; and he was more than willing to do that as he was still dealing with baby tummy issues and he was not happy. “But first, I have a gift for you.” Blake got up and walked over to the hall closet, pulled out a bag and handed it to Justin. “Sorry, I didn’t wrap it; but that would have meant that I actually had the time to do anything other than eat, sleep, bathe and live for Luc.”

Justin just waved him off as he dug into the bag like a kid at Christmas.

“Ted saw those when he went shopping for formula and diapers one day,” Blake continued, nodding toward the bag. “He sent me a picture and I made him buy them.”

“I thought you had a diapering service?” Justin asked, his brow furrowed with confusion as he stopped going through the bag and looked up.

“We do, but we forgot to tell them that Peanut was born so that it would start up,” Blake said with a sheepish smile. “It was a communication failure; I thought Ted had called them and he thought I’d called them. So, we had to get some disposable diapers to get us through as I didn’t want to attempt washing the ones from the service and screw something up.”

“Ah,” Justin said, returning his attention to the bag. “We’re probably going to do the same thing. I really liked what I read about Green Cheeks and it will be one less thing for me and Brian to worry about.”

Justin pulled out the first outfit, making happy noises over the pair of black, fitted maternity cargo pants; just as Blake suspected he would. And the he laughed as he looked at the shirt that had been paired with them.

“Really?” he asked as he held up the short-sleeved, black knit shirt that had a thought bubble silk-screened on it with the words Feed Me leading away from where his baby bump would eventually be.

“Are you trying to tell me that’s not an accurate depiction lately?” Blake asked, snickering when Justin rolled his eyes and refused to answer.

Instead, he pulled out a second set of clothing, this time a pair of maternity jeans, paired with a blue shirt with the words Due in June printed on it in black.

“That should cover you until you can go shopping and wash your new clothing,” Blake said with a tired smile, happy that Justin seemed to love the gift.

“These are great,” Justin said with his wide Sunshine grin. “Where did you find them?”

“The Big Q,” Blake said with a laugh, knowing full well what Brian thought of the store. But what he didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt him.

“Oh, Brian’s going to hate that,” Justin laughed, and then stood, walked over and enveloped Blake in tight hug. “But I love them. I will definitely have to go there and take a look around. I refuse to spend hundreds of dollars on clothes that I'll only be wearing for four months.”

“Just do me a favor,” Blake smirked as Justin went to sit back down. “Don’t mention where you got the idea from when he finds out. Because you know that he will the minute he comes back and sees them. I’d like to live to see Peanut’s first birthday.”

 

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