Time Warp: Step By Step (Gabe)

[Deleted]

Dated 2019

Kiara had never been a very carefree person. There had always been something on her mind when younger, always something to worry about. Quite often it had been the most mundane problems – issues others hardly ever stressed about. The blonde never understood how they could stay so calm, until she grew older. Older as in at the age of 25 with a two-year old toddler running around the apartment she and Gabe lived in. Life had been so simple back in college, and it made her sad to never have been able to acknowledge this before. In comparison to her current routine, it had been a piece of cake.

The fact that Gabriel was away for two weeks was not helpful either. Of course the blonde was incredibly supportive of his attempts at pursuing a music career, but she had never expected just how tough it was to keep their son entertained on her own. To combine this with her job and the household. In addition, another unexpected detail had popped up at the surface, making it even more of a struggle to sanely make it through the two weeks that her fiancé was off to record an album.

He was, however, deemed to return home within the next hour. It explained why Kiara had been in such rush all day. Not having been able to get a day off of work, she had had to pick Oliver up from daycare. A trip to the supermarket took place after that, and then an attempt at keeping the apartment clean till Gabe was to arrive. The latter, sadly enough, proved to be difficult to combine with preparing dinner.

To keep Ollie sweet and occupied, Kiara had given him some crayons and color markers, along with a couple of papers from the printer. It seemed to please the little one. Add to this that she had also switched on the television to a channel with kid shows all day long. It should provide some extra distraction to keep him from constantly clinging to his mother.

At first Ki had deemed it to be a success. She managed to prepare most of dinner without any problems. Oliver was quiet… Up to the point that he was too quiet. With a frown, the woman placed down the spoon that was used to stir to spaghetti sauce, lowering the fire some and dragging the kitchen towel off her shoulder before stepping out and into the living room.

While the tot had been there just seconds earlier, blue optics didn’t manage to land on him right away. “Oliver?” Despite no response, Ki could hear the sound of a marker moving up and down a surface. It merely intensified the frown as she stepped over, only to be faced with her son creating a ‘masterpiece’ on their newly painted wall.

“Oliver James!” Her voice abruptly stern. It didn’t catch the kid off guard as much as he realized what big trouble he was in. The color marker fell down on the carpet, joining the many others that lay scrawled all over the place – all opened. Eyes wide and watery; a mixture of purposely acting pathetic and the sudden surprise.

“You can’t draw on the walls!” Hands scooped under his arms, placing him down with both feet on the floor. “And look at your hands!” So many colors mixed that it ended up being an ugly brownish color. Her hands holding onto the smaller ones as she was squatted down in front of him. “Come on…”

Picking him up, however, was enough to provoke a fight. And, in turn, the little kicking legs hitting her tummy were enough for Ki to place him down again. “Oliver!” Her voice raised, but at the same time also vulnerable and hurt at the stubbornness coming from the little one. The fact that he ran away screaming and crying to where he had been drawing didn’t help it either.

Kiara tiredly rubbed at her face, struggling not to cry as well. She didn’t want to be the awful parent, but she didn’t want a child out of control either. “Ollie…” The blonde tried with a small sigh and a couple of steps closer. It only made the screams louder though, and for the toddler to start throwing the color markers in her general direction.

It made her groan. Whoever said kids were a handful was still underestimating it.

[Gabriel James]

It was the first time Gabriel James had been away from his family for so long, and he was still upset that he had to do it. Kiara had convinced him that everything would be fine, and that he needed to go to New York and continue to chase his dream. So he did. And while at first, the trips had only been for long weekends at best, the recording studio Gabe had been working with insisted he take an extended trip to get some serious recording time in. So to New York Gabe went. By the second night, the man was homesick, and he couldn't get to be without hearing his son's voice each night.

That was why Gabe was so excited. Tonight he was finally going back home to his fiance and little Oliver. He was quite tired from a busy morning, wrapping up some last minute work, and then running to the airport to catch his flight, but he was still wide awake as the taxi he took pulled up in front of the apartment building his little family lived in. A smile graced his face as he paid the cab driver, and pulled his luggage - full of dirty clothes and some small gifts and souvenirs that he couldn't help but buy for Kiara and Oliver - out of the trunk.

He pulled his rolling suitcase behind him into the building, and up to the fourth floor, walking a bit quicker down the hall than he normally would, digging in his pocket for his keys long before he reached the door. As he put the key in the lock, he could hear a heartbraking cry coming from the other side of the door. Reality of having a 2 and a half year old son sunk in, but Gabe still couldn't help but smile. He opened the door to a scene that made the man raise his eyebrows in surprise.

"Daaaddyyyy," Oliver wailed, running past an exasperated looking Kiara. Gabe left his suitcase behind and squat down before Oliver could even make it to him. He took the crying toddler in his arms, and hugged him close, kissing his face all over even though the child tried to bury his face in his father's shoulder.

"Looks like someone's been giving mommy a hard time, huh?" Gabe said, quickly pulling his bag into the apartment, and closing the door behind him. He walked over to Kiara and before he could say anything about the walls, the carpet, the couch... he wrapped his free arm around the blonde and pulled her in close, kissing her long and hard to make up for the past two weeks that he couldn't (though there would be much more of that later). He finally pulled away, and even though Kiara still looked upset and tired and so many other emotions, Gabe couldn't stop smiling.

"God, I missed you guys," he said, beaming. Gabe took a step back to look around the living room as Ollie finally settled down a little bit, still crying lightly in his father's arms. "I thought we were done with all the redecorating," Gabe joked, looking at what his son had accomplished in the moments before Gabe had walked through the door. Clearly what Oliver had done had upset his mother, but Gabriel wasn't too phased. Sure, it was important that Oliver understand what he did was unacceptable, but they were just things. Things could be cleaned, repainted, replaced. What was most important to Gabe was he was back in this space with the people he loved most.

[Deleted]

Fingers had been pinching the bridge of her noise as Kiara tried to steady her breathing pace. While partially succeeding, the sobbing of their son still filtered through the background. It was when a key could be heard turning in the lock that she lifted her head again, opening eyes for them to land on Gabe. They didn’t linger longer than a second though, immediately dragged to the toddler rushing past his mother to practically throw himself into the arms of his father. Of course… Typical timing for the man to step into the apartment. Kiara could only wonder about what impression this created – her lacking control over the little one.

With a small sigh, Ki slightly dipped her head to the side. Despair practically dripping from tired features. Giving her a hard time was quite an understatement. The smile that tugged at her lips was incredibly weak, but it hardly mattered. Soon enough a hand settled on his cheek during the kiss; the other on his shoulder. For as long as it lasted, it did help distract her thoughts some. At least until the contact was broken and eye contact was made with Oliver as his head rested against his father’s shoulder.

Exhaling deeply, her gaze drifted up to Gabriel again while he scanned the room. And then he had to go and make the most useless and ridiculous remark. The look on her face immediately shifted into one of pure agitation. “Seriously?!” Her voice full with disbelief as a hand slapped at her fiancé’s chest. With an annoyed groan and a roll of the eyes, the blonde abruptly turned and headed into the kitchen again to focus on dinner.

“That’s not supposed to be funny.” She grumbled while stirring the sauce again. It helped her get rid of some tension. “It’s not a joke.” And the fact that Kiara hadn’t gotten a real chance to lecture Oliver, surely would feel like another feat to the tot. This probably was not how Gabe had imagined coming home, but by going over it so lightly, he practically pushed the blonde over the edge. It had made her breathing increase again, which was the last she wanted to make her body go through at this moment.

“The neighbors probably think I have been butchering him all week..” The young woman grumbled, to give him some insight on how hard his time away had been on her.

[Gabriel James]

Gabe couldn't help but chuckle at Kiara as she slapped him and made her way back into the kitchen. He understood her frustration. Oliver was a handful right now, and he'd basically abandoned them for two weeks. However, he still found the situation a tiny bit funny... despite his fiance's instance that it wasn't. Gabe shook his head a little bit and steped over to the couch, sitting his son down on the end that wasn't covered in marker. "Oliver," Gabe said as sternly as he could, through the joy he felt in being able to see his son again, "Do you know what you did?"

The little boy shook his head, clearly having not taken the time to understand what his mother was upset about. Crying only because he knew he was in trouble, not because he understood why. "Look at the couch, bud!" Gabe said. "And your hands and the wall!" Gabe said pointing out each place the marker had ended up. "And the carpet!" Wow... that would be fun cleaning up. "You know that's not where you color," Gabe insisted, as stern of a look the man could muster on his face. Oliver only responded to his father with a pathetic, teary look. There was no way to know if the two year old truely understood Gabe, or if he'd remember this conversation in a few weeks - but it was still a lecture worth having.

"Let's go say sorry to mommy for being bad, ok?" he said, taking the boys hand and tugging him off the couch, leading him into the kitchen. Gabe had to take much smaller steps so Oliver could keep up, but the man didn't mind. He brought Oliver around near where Kiara was working on dinner. "What do you want to say Oliver?"

The boy looked up at his mom with still slightly watery eyes. "I sowee," the boy said sweetly.

"What're you sorry for?" Gabe asked - his way of making sure his son really did know what he'd done wrong.

"I maked the mess," Ollie said in his own words, still not able to put together complicated sentences. He talked more than an average 2 1/2 year old, though. He liked to let people know his opinion. His favorite word was "no".

"I'm sorry too, mommy," Gabe said in his version of Ollie's sweet voice. "For leaving you here with this little monster and laughing at his artwork," Gabe said, giving Kiara the same puppy dog eyes his son had inherited from him.

[Deleted]

Gabriel was not taking her serious, and it only increased her annoyance. It also sort of hurt. He might not realize it, but the feeling of being left out in the cold grew. The man should be on her side instead of making fun of her attempts to control the situation. So when he did not follow the blonde, instead opting to focus on the toddler, she didn’t take it in her hands to bother with it anymore. All it did was keep her revved up, inwardly mulling on what had happened just minutes earlier and just where her approach had gone wrong.

The faintness of the conversation taking place in the living room did reach her ears though. It slowed the stirring of the sauce some while she attempted to keep track of what was being said. Of course eavesdropping given the distance was not too easy, so half of what was said only could be heard as a whisper and, in turn, not too clear. When the talking was cut short, blue eyes tore away from the door opening and down to the stove.

At least until Ollie and his dad entered the kitchen. Letting go of the spoon, Kiara turned just enough to let blue optics make brief eye contact with Gabriel before falling down to the little one. The look on her face a combination of being stern and sad, but also vulnerable to the cuteness and innocence being radiated by their son. It visibly squeezed at the mommy’s heart to see him stare up at her with those big watery hazel eyes, making her own blue ones respond in the same manner. A smile was being fought as well, but eventually the effort seemed to have been worthless and an downward arch formed her lips – touched.

Slowly Kiara sat down on her knees to match Ollie’s height better; hands momentarily resting on her lap before one drifted over to lovingly cup his chubby cheek, and for the thumb to smooth out some of the tears. Gabe’s imitation drew a genuine chuckle from her lips and earned him a quick glance upward, but it was Oliver who received her affection at that moment.

“Can I get a big bear hug?” Arms held open. Whenever the tot was stubborn, he would refuse to do so. The fact that he, while inhaling a small whimpering sob, stepped forward and wrapped his short arms around his mommy’s neck was enough proof that his previous attitude was slowly fading. The second Kiara returned the embrace, he clung a bit tighter, acknowledging that mommy quite possibly wasn’t that upset anymore. Or perhaps he was afraid of seeing an angry face again when pulling back.

She pressed a kiss to the side of his head; one hand soothingly caressing up and down his back while the other had fingers smooth through the dark curls. “I love you, sweetie.” Another peck on his forehead and then the blonde slowly rose to more decently face Gabe again.

The best way to describe the blonde at this point was ‘tired’. Despite the loving look on her face, the fatigue and frustration still left their marks. “You’ll have to do more than apologize to make it up to me,” a playful tone to her voice as a finger poked his chest. “Far more.” There was no foulness though; no accusations nor hatred for him having gone to New York. Just her way of saying that, hey, he better made good use of the time they would have to themselves once the child was asleep.

Just being able to fool like this now, however, lifted her spirit some. Loneliness and lack of affection got the best of her.

[Gabriel James]

Gabe smiled warmly as Oliver squeezed his mother tight. Their sweet interactions were always enough to warm the man's heart. After so many years without a proper one, he finally had something he was proud to call his family. As Kiara stood again, Gabriel looked lovingly in her tired eyes. Even with slightly messy hair, and light bags under her eyes, he still found her beautiful. His warm smile morphed into a smolder and a smirk as Kiara poked his chest, suggesting the man would have to make up for lost time.

"Oh, I can promise there will be more 'apologizing' to come, darling," Gabe said with a little raise of his eyebrows. He stepped forward, wrapping both arms around Ki's midsection, and planting another kiss on her lips - just as longing as the first. "Far more," he agreed as he pulled away again, pecking Kiara once on the lips before stepping away. "I think we may just have to push bedtime back an hour tonight," he joked, taking a little too much joy in his son's confused and concerned face. Gabe chuckled and picked the kid up again, happy to see that his tears had dried.

He squeezed Oliver and kissed his face all over again. Despite the boy's wriggling and giggling, Gabe held tight, and made sure he couldn't get away. "I missed you so much!" Gabe exclaimed, kissing Ollie some more, before letting the child settle down and relax in his arms once more. While Oliver was getting to a stage where he demanded independence, and didn't like to be held for long, it was clear the boy had missed his dad too, because he was quite content with being held and snuggled for now. "Dinner smells great," Gabe noted, taking a step over to the stove, using his finger to taste some of the sauce that was on the spoon Ki had left on the counter. He was definitely hungry after such a long day.

"So aside from our neighbor's judging us for our son's vocal exercises," Gabe joked as he maneuvered himself away from the stove so Kiara could finish preparing the meal, "How was the last two weeks?" Of course, Gabe had talked to Kiara (and Oliver) nearly every night while he was away. However, they were somewhat brief conversations just before bedtime. He was sure that there was more than one story to tell - and Gabe had plenty to share as well. His trip had been incredibly busy, informative, and productive. Sometimes in better ways than others. There were things he planned on discussing with his fiance later - when Oliver was occupied and an adult conversation could be had without having to worry the little guy with the tones of their voices. Nothing too incredibly important, but possibly inconvenient. The record company was already planning Gabe's next trip, and he had to keep it in the back of his mind - even though all he wanted to do was enjoy being home.

[Deleted]

If it weren’t for the food and the fact that their young son demanded a giant portion of the man’s attention, Kiara would have protested when the kiss came to an end. While such simple gesture, Gabe probably didn’t know just how much it meant to her. To feel just how much he longed for her, helped the blonde’s self-esteem that had suffered some severe blows inflicted by Oliver. Hardly having succeeded at combining it all, along with his unpleasant mood swings, she felt rather useless, unproductive and even unattractive. The latter feeling being stirred now that Gabriel was home again and she hadn’t even had a chance to dress up nicely for him.

“I’m not opposed to pushing bedtime back,” Kiara replied with a little smirk. While her fiancé might have been mostly joking, she wasn’t. Of course she didn’t want to limit the quality time of father and son, but Ollie’s misbehavior justified it, along with the fact that the blonde could use the little breather. And surely there was a lot for them to discuss. Perhaps they could even get away with it since she doubted Oliver had heard his mom’s reaction while giggling and snaking around in the man’s arms. The shrieks were still relatively loud at some points, but it was definitely more pleasant than the screams out of sadness. “Maybe you want to give him a bath before bedtime?”

Gabe offered a hand in the household, but given his busy two weeks and flight back home, Kiara didn’t want to burden him too much. She didn’t want to request a lot at once. Nevertheless, it would also mean more time for them to spend together for she could get the kitchen and rest cleaned in the meanwhile.

With a smirk, Ki gave his hand a little slap after he had already succeeded at running a finger over the spoon. “Hectic,” she mused in all honesty while attempting to fish some of the spaghetti from the boiling water to check if the pasta was ready to serve as well. “People aren’t joking when they talk about The Terrible Two’s. Oh, and I couldn’t get off at work today.” While balancing a noodle on a fork, waiting for it to cool down some, the young woman mulled on what else to tell him. Most daily details had been shared over the phone. There was one thing Gabriel had not been informed about, but this hardly felt like the right timing to drop the news on him.

“My parents also asked if we wanted to come over for the weekend, but I declined.” With that, she ate the noodle and decided that it was well done. So, switching off the stove, Kiara took off the pot and poured the pasta into the colander in the sink before picking that up all together and placing it in the pot again. “I figured it would be nicer to just spend it with the three of us.”

Since Gabriel was standing nearby, she didn’t need to tell him dinner was ready. So Ki just placed the pasta and sauce down on the table before plucking the bib from the back of Oliver’s chair, putting it down on the table for his dad. In the meanwhile the blonde tended to cutting some pasta on Ollie’s plastic plate, mixing it with some sauce. The minced meat had been rolled in small meatballs for she knew how much their son loved it like that.

“How about you? How was New York?” Blue eyes drifting over to across the table.

[Gabriel James]

"Let's see how long that bath takes," Gabe said as Kiara started putting food on the table, offering Gabe Oliver's bib. "I don't think two year olds understand the difference between 7 and 7:30 anyway," Gabe swiftly managed getting the bib on the wriggling toddler. Although Oliver could feed himself now, he was still quite the mess. He lifted Oliver and put him in the booster seat he'd graduated to after he turned 2 - seeing as he had gotten much too big for his highchair. He buckled the kid in so that he couldn't slip out, and pushed him close to the table, sliding the bowl of pasta and his fat plastic fork his way. "With spaghetti and meatballs, we might need extra time," Gabe pointed out. While the mean was Ollie's favorite - it was also the messiest.

"We'll have to visit them soon, then," Gabe noted, understanding why Kiara declined the offer to visit her parents. He wanted some family time to make up for the time away too. But he also believed in including Kiara's parents in Oliver's life as much as possible - especially since Gabe's parents made much less of an effort to know their grandson. "It'll be nice to actually have a weekend just to us, though," Gabe agreed, using a napkin to wipe Oliver's face, since he'd already gotten sauce in his hair. The child protested, but Gabe won the struggle.

The father rolled his eyes and started on his own mean which Ki set before him. "Ollie, you really need to learn how to get your food in your mouth, kid," Gabe said with a slightly joking tone - even though he was completely serious. Never before had the man seen so much sauce on such a little surface.

"New York was also very hectic," Gabe said after a bite of his dinner. "I pretty much recorded non-stop for the first 10 days," he said, knowing he'd tole Kiara a bit about it, but those first days the man only had little bits of time to spend on the phone with the woman. "Then we had way too many meetings about way too many things. And way too many negotiations," Gabe stated with a bit of a groan. It was a hard business. It was even harder when you had a family and a second job in Pilot Ridge Vermont - nowhere close to any national music capitol. Of course, the man had priorities, and his family always came first. The record companies weren't always the biggest fan of that. Gabe never stepped down, though. Which is why he wasn't taking another two week trip next month - despite the producer's pleading. "They're trying to schedule another two week trip soon... too soon," Gabe explained with a roll of his eyes and a sigh. "I thought maybe I could try to push them all the way back to the summer break... make it a family vacation?" Gabe offered. "We'll see though. I'm trying not to think about that at all right now. I just want to enjoy being home."

[Deleted]

“Maybe Uncle Ev might want to watch him a couple of hours during the weekend; give us a chance to ‘redecorate’.” In other words, to clean up the mess their son had made. If he were to be around, it would quite possibly end in a disaster for the tot felt the need to be included into every activity. This was why the blonde usually limited important matters to when naps were being taken.

Either way, when Gabriel answered the question, occasional nods were given to indicate she hadn’t stopped listening halfway through the talking. In the meanwhile she ate, and combined that with keeping an eye on Oliver. Being a mom had definitely helped her develop some multi-tasking skills, but those didn’t always suffice. It was the mention of another two week trip which got blue optics to drift over to the man. A thoughtful look appearing on her face while inwardly something was being calculated. “Yeah, maybe.” A subconscious frown on eyebrows as the reply felt a tad bit strained. Family vacation during summer break sounded awesome, if it were not for the fact that it would quite possibly end up quite an uncomfortable one for Kiara. Heck, she didn’t even know if women in that stage of a pregnancy would be allowed to fly. Without being aware of it, a hand dropped to her lap with fingertips gently smoothing over the belly. The one twirling a fork through the spaghetti before eating some more of it.

“No wild parties then?” Her smile more lighthearted and less distance as the other topic was put on the backburner. Knowing his younger years, Kiara couldn’t help but wonder if there had been any temptation. After having given birth to Oliver, despite it having been unexplainably easy for her to regain her normal weight and figure, her self-image contained some flaws. Of course possible temptation would have included girls as well. “No cute background singers?” It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him though! The blonde would give her life for him, and she knew Gabe would do the same. It just… felt like an automatized question given the context.

The mother got up then, stepping into the kitchen to pour some water into Ollie’s plastic cup. “Do you want some wine with your spaghetti?” Now that she was moving around, eyes fell on a bottle. It was worth asking. In the meanwhile their son received his drink, but not without a struggle Ki also won to get his hands somewhat clean to keep the cup from slipping from his grip.

[Gabriel James]

"I'm sure Ev would be down for some baby time," Gabe noted, knowing it had been a while since they asked the services of their brother/best friend. While Ev still wasn't the greatest disciplinarian, he sure knew how to entertain his godson. He spoiled Oliver rotten, but Gabe assumed that was what uncle's were for. Gabe reached over to his son to pull a piece of spaghetti out of his hair, sighing inwardly, hoping that Oliver would be able to prefect the act of eating soon. That and potty training. Until that happened, bath time was going to be quite an event.

"One wild party that I only attended briefly," Gabe told Kiara honestly. He didn't want to attend the loft party, but one of the guys from the recording studio convinced him to come and be his wing man. Once the guy seemed to be content with a couple choice women, Gabe slipped out and headed back to his hotel. "And you know... there's always cute background singers," Gabe teased, "But they were brunette. And you know I have a thing for blondes. And the mother of my child," Gabe added, shooting Kiara a small smirk between bites of pasta.

Gabe would joke about it, but he understood why Kiara asked these questions. And while sometimes it hurt a bit, she had every right to check up on Gabe. He'd proven to be well less than perfect in the past. She could ask as many questions as she needed to be comfortable, and Gabe would answer them 100% truthfully. He was just happy that after the mess his past had been, the blonde woman before him still found it in her heart to forgive him.

"I think I'll pass," Gabe said to the wine, picking up the cup his son quickly tipped over soon after his mother handed it to him. "I'm already exhausted, and a glass of wine won't help my cause," Gabe said with a laugh, eating some more spaghetti. He'd cut back severely on the amount of alcohol he'd consumed since becoming a father. It took some help, and he still slipped up every now and again, but he tried very hard to limit himself. Even when he slipped now, he realized it, and had enough will power to simply get home and go to bed. "Don't let me stop you from having a drink though," Gabe noted, wondering if the reason his fiance had offered was because she wanted a glass herself.

[Deleted]

Even though Gabriel mentioned one wild party, no further questions were asked. Kiara trusted him more than he could possibly assume. Digging deeper might make it come across otherwise. Having faith in her fiancé, however, was not the same of trusting whoever came near him. The man was attractive, cute, witty, a musician… It would surprise her if he did not receive any attention from women. Despite that topic, however, a smile still managed to grace her lips. He always knew how to twirl her twirl her right around his finger again. “It would be shocking if someone could ever compare to the mother of your child,” she decided with as must confidence as possible, while also attempting to keep a joking tone to it.

As for the wine, the blonde shook her head and gave his shoulder a small squeeze before returning to her chair. “Exhausted as well,” she chuckled. While not a lie, a more important reason was kept from him. At least spaghetti was quite an energetic dish, and Kiara was positive that having Gabriel around again would help her stay awake as well. For now, the amount left was being wasted by Oliver who could pass as a red pasta monster as this point. The plastic bag that the young woman had cut open to put underneath their son’s chair was starting to prove its worth for the day. The meatballs were clearly promoted to be the one and only ingredient to reach his mouth without a fault.

When he began to poke at them with his plastic cutlery though, rolling them all over the plate, it was Kiara’s cue that he was done eating. At least Kiara had managed to get more bites in than the last couple of days during dinner. Often she had to catch up on eating something once the toddler was asleep. The fact that Gabe was around to help keep it under control definitely took a burden off of her shoulders. And the prospect of the kitchen being cleaned at the same time as Ollie getting a bad… It was nice.

So, with that in mind, Ki ate a couple more bites of what was left on her plate. Oliver, in the meanwhile, began to protest some. “No, sweetie. You’ll have to stay seated till daddy is done eating. I’m not going to risk sauce stains all over the place as well.” At the same time she used the bib to clean his mouth and hands some, but of course it would require more drastic matters like a bath to get him squeaky clean again.

Luckily it didn’t take long for the man to finish as well though. “Maybe you can bring out son back from underneath that layer of food while I clean a bit around here?”

[Gabriel James]

Gabriel chuckled and nodded in agreement when Kiara joked back with him. He was glad she could find humor in it as he could, now. There was certainly a point in time where that wasn't the case. Gabe tried to entertain Oliver by tickling his sides while he attempted to finish his meal. All the adults needed was for the child to wriggle free and go "redecorate" some more. Spaghetti sauce on the carpet would not be appreciated by either parent at this point. "When you learn to be less of a mess we'll be able to set you free before bath time," Gabe joked, knowing his son probably didn't understand his request. Gabe still found it funny.

The man couldn't quite finish his dinner while trying to keep Ollie's whines to a minimum, but he managed to eat most of what was on his plate before Kiara suggested a bath. "I can certainly try," Gabe said as he stood, taking a second to wipe his hands on a napkin. He unbuckled Oliver from his seat, and lifted him up, trying to avoid getting his son's spaghetti sauce mask all over his own clothing. "BATH TIME!" Gabe sung as he lifted Ollie over his head, bringing the toddler toward the bathroom.

Oliver only wriggled around a little bit while Gabe undressed him. He turned on the water to a reasonable temperature, and lifted the child into the tub. It took just moments before Gabe was wet, too, since Oliver spent more time splashing than trying to get clean. "Oh, Oliver," Gabe sighed with a chuckle, as he squatted next to the tub, using washcloths and gentle soap to get the grime off of his sons face. Each time he inturrupted the child's playing with his rubber duck and boat, he was met with loud protests and more splashing. "Could you just let me wash your face? Then you can keep playing," Gabe bargained, bringing the washcloth to Oliver's face one more time. Unfortunately that wouldn't even be the hardest part of bath time - it was only going to be moments before Gabe had to pour a few cups of water over Oliver's head to clean the thick curly hair upon the child's hair.

Gabe got through the tough part, Oliver only crying briefly as his dad rinsed out the shampoo from his hair. He let his son play in the water until it became lukewarm, and then a few more moments while he convinced the toddler it was time to get out. He finally convinced the child to get out of the tub without much of a fight. He wrapped oliver in his towel, a small yellow one with a hood that had a duck face. He picked up the child as the tub drained and he headed back into the main part of the apartment. "Squeaky clean," Gabe announced to Kiara as he presented his much more put together son. "I even managed to get the rest of the marker off his heads," the dad said proudly.

[Deleted]

Kiara assumed Gabriel might end up reconsidering the current statement once their son would indeed learn to be less of a mess. In addition, once that time arrived, his mommy would protest for she would want him to learn to stay seated. If they were not consistent on that, going to a restaurant would prove to be rather impossible. For now, she let it slip and instead enjoyed the rest of dinner. And despite the fact that neither of them managed to eat at a somewhat normal pace and their usual amount of food, it was no real issue. Ki had grown prepared on that, always having a snack around, ready to be eaten once the child slept. Gabe would not go to bed with a growling stomach.

With the man tended to Ollie, the blonde got everything from the table before smoothing a moist cloth over it. The kitchen itself required some more time to get everything all clean again, but having a dishwasher definitely did help. When Gabe had been in New York, she usually didn’t use it though. Not only did it cause an increase on their electricity and water bill, Oliver and she didn’t use too many dishes throughout the day. Just cleaning them by hand once Ollie slept kept her busy. Anything had been better than watching television on her own.

With the kitchen back to its original state as well, Kiara began to gather the color markers that lay scattered all over the carpet. In the process, much to her annoyance, she managed to step on a lid or two, crunching and ruining them. Those were placed back in their box before his other toys earned her attention. As long as everything would be out of the way, she was happy though. There was no way the apartment would be clean for longer than twelve hours.

She had just been moved his kid-sized colorful walking bike when the two of them reappeared in the living room. Ki, in turn, smirked. “You better put him in a diaper and some pajamas because he already managed to wet a towel after bath earlier this week.” It was no lie, but at the same time there was no real rush behind her statement. Instead the woman stepped over to indeed inspect the tot’s hand.

“Way to go daddy!” Her grin wide before leaning in and stealing a little kiss. A hand then patted Gabe’s butt to get him moving again. “Ollie and mommy got him a new pajama. It’s in the top drawer in his room. I promise he could wear it the day you came back home.” For one specific reason he would find out about soon enough. “Don’t forget his undershirt and diaper, alright?”

[Gabriel James]

"Ugh," Gabe groaned upon hearing that the child wet a towel that week. They were just in the beginning stages of potty training, and Oliver still seemed to struggle to grasp the concept. "Yeah I don't want to have to start my weekend washing pee soaked sheets," Gabe noted, "Trust me, I won't forget a diaper." He chuckled as Kiara pat his butt, leading him toward Oliver's room to get him ready for bedtime. The kid did seem to be getting tired, since he'd laid his head on his dad's shoulder as they made their way into his small bedroom.

"Alright, kiddo, PJ time," Gabe said as he walked into the room, setting him on the changing table he was quickly outgrowing. Gabe skillfully put on his son's diaper, and grabbed an undershirt from the nearby chest of drawers to pull over the kid's head. He used the now free towel to dry the curls on Oliver's head. Gabe set Oliver back on the floor so he could retrieve the pajamas his fiance had talked about. It was pretty clear which ones were the new ones, as they were still neatly folded in the top drawer, as opposed to the sloppily thrown in pajama pants and shirts that occupied the rest of the space. Gabe pulled out the light blue shirt, and the dark blue pants with baby blue pinstripes.

When Gabe turned to dress Ollie, the toddler had escaped from his room, and made his way back into the living area. "Oliver!" Gabe called after him, walking into the living room, pajamas in hand. "Come on! PJs!" he said, showing the boy the clothes in his hand.

"NO!" Oliver yelled cheekily with a laugh, running further away from his father's grasp.

"Ok so we're playing this game tonight?" Gabe asked with a chuckle, taking two large steps toward Oliver and scooping him up, tickling him mercilessly as he pinned him on the couch. Ollie seemed to think he could escape his parents despite the fact that at any point in time they were only a few steps away from him. Gabe continued to tickle the boy, holding his feet so he couldn't kick Gabe in the face like last time. "PAJAMA TIME!" Gabe insisted over the little boys squeals as he took the pants and wrestled them on the the child's squirming legs.

"Kiara, why does your son insist on going unclothed?" Gabe asked as he grabbed the shirt from behind him and began to pull it over Oliver's head, having to again wrestle the boy into the clothing. Ollie was laughing, though, because it was all a game to him. Gabe didn't mind the struggle as long as it was in fun. He knew if he raised his voice Ollie would stop and get dressed, even though it would cause a few tears. Frankly, Gabe couldn't do that tonight. He'd missed this far too much to raise his voice about the matter.

He finally managed to pull Oliver's second arm through the shirt, and tickled him some more, kissing his face and belly as he pulled the light blue shirt down. He hadn't even really gotten a good look at it, until he pulled away laughing, letting Oliver catch his breath. Gabe's face dropped when he finally really looked at the shirt. He read the text probably three times before it really sunk in. "Oh my god," he said, a smile forming on his face.

He couldn't quite follow the directions on the shirt though - Keep Calm. I'm going to be a big brother. Keep calm? How was Gabe supposed to keep calm. "Oh my god," Gabe said again a little bit louder as Oliver slipped away, trying to play some more. Gabe got up from the couch, ignoring his son momentarily as he walked into the kitchen where his fiance was washing something in the sink. He walked over to her, spun her around and planted a long kiss on her lips. Pulling away from her, he smiled, "Really? This isn't some sort of joke right? That would be an awful joke," Gabe rambled, as Oliver tugged on his pant leg trying to regain his dad's attention.

[Deleted]

The second Gabriel disappeared out of sight, Kiara could feel the beating of her heart increase. It picked up a pace she was positive would not be healthy for their unborn child if the organ kept it up for a long time. The hand that drifted to her belly was an attempt to comfort herself, to relax for the sake of the baby. The veins in her ears dilated as well, making her hear the beats while desperately trying to focus on whatever was going on in Oliver’s room. Just standing there got her all revved up though, causing the young woman to turn and to head into the kitchen again. Everything was clean by now, yet that didn’t keep her from grabbing the cloth again and to smooth over the surfaces for a second time.

In all honesty, Ki was terrified of how Gabe might react to the news that they would be expecting a second child. One way or another, they had managed to get pregnant without having had the intention. Oliver had been planned, but in this case it had come as a surprise. A pleasant surprise, sure, but one which would also complicate their lives even more. At some moments, the blonde already struggled to keep control over their toddler – even more so than what her fiancé was going through right now.

She could hear their son shriek out laughter, followed by his daddy’s more childish tone of voice – the kind Ollie loved for it added to the game. With them in the main area of the apartment, instead of in the child’s room, Kiara grew more tense. What if Gabriel didn’t want this? It would quite possibly interfere with the recording for his managers wouldn’t appreciate it. They had never discussed it either, so perhaps he didn’t want a second child. What if…

With the question asked, it tore her away from the deep thoughts for a second. “So he’s my son when he’s a nudist?” She managed to add a playful tone to it, but features soon enough grew worried again. The longer it lasted, the worse it became. If Oliver could have stuck to the normal routine, Gabe would have known by now and Ki wouldn’t have to try and steady her nerves by rubbing the cloth over the same surface in the sink for the millionth time now.

The scrubbing even managed to intensify the second she could hear footsteps behind her – amazingly enough, despite the unhealthy heartbeats in her ears. “I’m s-“ Sorry. The sentence never got a chance to be finished for Gabriel twirled her around and plastered his lips upon her own within that same second. Eyes were still a bit widened when the man pulled back, and she didn’t immediately succeed at registering and acknowledging his happiness.

At first a meek nod was given, and immediately after a shake of the head. “I… You aren’t mad?” Kiara wasn’t sure what she had expected to begin with, but it definitely hadn’t been such positive reaction.

“I found out about four days ago and I didn’t want to tell you while you were away.” Afraid that it might push him to alcohol and other girls, perhaps. “I mean, it isn’t planned and maybe this isn’t what you want. And if it isn’t, you should tell me and…” Kiara rambled on, not even sure how to finish that sentence. Despite how complicated things might become, abortion never crossed her mind. So, in other words, if the man was not fond of a second child, it was doubtful their engagement would make it through.

“I'll get fat and unattractive and so emotional and it wouldn't be fun for you to come home to that and... I mean...” Ki sighed and looked up at him with almost an apologetic look. Then down at Ollie. “Sorry.”