18 Chapter 18: Baby. 

(Another try as the first one became weird)

-3rd Person POV-

Mitchell and Cameron's finally arrived at their duplex after getting dropped off by Pepper who picked them up from the airport. The guys were living in the lower half of the duplex, and the upper half belonged to someone else.

Mitchell and Cameron entered the house, and after checking the nursery with an angelic mural of themselves as an angel painted by their friend, Cam finally told Mitchell about getting his family to dinner to announce to them about the baby.

"All right, look. I- I- I never told my family we were adopting a baby." Mitchell confessed. "And-"

"I know." Cameron interjected.

"You do?" Mitchell said in surprise.

"Yeah, and I don't blame you. I know your family. You'd tell 'em. They'd say something judgmental." Cam said in understanding.

"Exactly." Mitchell exclaimed, extremely touched by Cam.

"You'd get mad." Cam supported him again.

"I know. And then something that's supposed to be nothing but joyful… suddenly turns into this huge fight." Mitchell said.

"And who wants a big, emotional scene like that?" Cam said.

"Thank you. Thank you. I'm so- I'm so relieved you understand." Mitchell said in relief.

Cam nodded and waited for Mitchell to be at peak relief, and then dropped the bomb, "I invited them over for dinner tonight.

"What?" Mitchell said in shock.

"I had to. This would have gone on forever. You're an avoider." Cam said as he walked away from Mitchell to get stuff ready for the party.

Mitchell started to freak out, " No. No. No. Cam, I'm calling them right now and cancelling!"

"No, you're not. You're telling your family you adopted a baby tonight. Even Ed is coming to join in the celebration." Cam said as Mitchell ran after him.

"The kid is coming…but why?" Mitchell asked in confusion. He was more confused by Edward coming than Cam's sudden invitation toward his family.

"He'd prepared some gifts, and even helped Claire with the cake to welcome the baby. Get this, he didn't share to your family about your baby just because of our promise. How adorable is that?" Cam said in excitement.

Mitchell broke into a soft smile and said, "That's…really mature of him. But maybe…he also thinks about the judgement we'll face from my family…and wants to give us more time to prepare? And Not today?" Mitchell quickly pushed his agenda to Cam.

"And let a themed cake go to waste? What kind of a person does that?" Cam asked in confusion. Mitchell opened his mouth, but he couldn't find the words to refute Cam even when he was a lawyer.

For the gays, there was nothing more offending than to show disrespect on a party theme. Mitchell gave up and finally started to get ready to welcome the guest in his house.

The party will be held in their living room. The guest would sit on the green sofa, and the chairs that Mitch and Cam had prepared. Cam also fixed a mechanism in the living room so that Lily would be underneath a spotlight as she entered the room.

Finally, the doorbell rings.

" Oh, God." Mitchell muttered as he anticipated the worst as he placed a plate of snacks on the table in the living room.

"Okay, I'm gonna go get Lily ready." Cam said.

"Okay." Mitchell nodded, wiping his face full of sweat.

"And I want you to just come straight out with it." Cam said.

"All right." Mitchell replied.

"Okay. You can do this."

Mitchell exhaled longly? and walked to the front door. He opened the door and saw Phil with Alex in the front of the door and Luke who's right behind them.

"Hey. Hi." Mitchell greeted and welcomed them inside.

"Hey." Phil greeted Mitch happily. But then, he remembered something and patted Mitch's shoulder. "Whatever is it, just remember. Your family will get your back. Always."

Phil then suddenly pulled Mitch into a hug and embraced him tightly. Luke joined in and said, "We will support you Uncle Mitch."

"Guys. Get off him!" Claire said and pushed Phil out of the way after seeing him losing his composure as to not let it affect Mitchell more. She then pushed Phil and Luke inside before they could expose anything.

"What's going on?" Mitchell widened his eyes in shock. He wondered why they were being so friendly today. Even Claire didn't open her greeting with a mean way as she entered the house.

"Whatever it is, just know that I will be here to support you…"Claire said and kissed Mitchell's cheek lightly as she hugged him. As she released him, she said, "The cake is with Haley."

"I couldn't wait to see it?" Mitchell said in a puzzled tone as he was unsure of what he should be feeling right now. "What's going on Claire?" Mitchell asked whisperingly, afraid that the cat's out of the bag – that Edward had told Claire about the baby.

Claire stared at Mitchell, trying hard to control her expression from breaking down.

[Claire's commentary]

"From the clues that Edward heard – about Mitch doesn't like the way Cam looks right now, and they are considering breaking up…I don't know for sure…but I'm pretty positive that Cam got into a terrible accident in Vietnam."

Claire was troubled, and her eyes were glassy.

"I already told my dad, and asked him to be on his best behaviour today until we know for sure."

[Claire's commentary ends]

"Dad is here." Claire said, changing the subject and running away as Mitchell was distracted.

"Hello Hello." Jay greeted cheerily while wearing a younger man's clothes and cap.

[Jay's commentary]

"I never told this to Mitchell, but when he dated Cam, we all knew that this was the person he would spend the rest of his life with. Cam's makes him happy…like no one else did before."

"Until he's telling me what's going on, I will pretend like everything is fine…and won't say a word about his decisions…"

Jay crossed his legs and was sitting with a glass of scotch in his hand.

"But… If Cam…really got a sex-change operation…I don't know if I can continue to pretend everything is okay."

As Claire only told him the hints and not her hypothesis, Jay got into a conclusion of his own.

[Commentary ends.]

Mitchell was confused when he saw his dad in younger clothes, "May I take your multicoloured coat and bejewelled cap?"

"Yeah. Yeah." Jay already predicted that someone will bring up the matter, and he dismissed Mitchell quickly by giving Mitchell his hat.

"Wait. I want to try it on." Edward said as he entered the house while holding a gift in one hand, and a guitar on the next.

"Here you go." Mitchell said and helped Edward put the cap onto his head.

-Edward POV-

I was heading to the car trunk to get my guitar and my gift after Phil parked the car. Haley joined me and grabbed the cake, which shocked me as I didn't think she would ever volunteer to do some work herself.

"What? The cake is so pretty! Mom almost bangs the cake on the car when she was putting it in, so I don't trust her to take it out." Haley defended herself after I stared at her suspiciously.

I didn't know then, she had posted a picture of me decorating the cake on Facebook, and she was trying to tell me about it privately. The post had received more than 200 likes, and the likes were still increasing.

[Haley's commentary]

"Ugh. Why did I do that?!" Haley groaned. "I put it in, but I wasn't going to post it. I was just trying to scare him!" Haley explained.

"But then, I found out that the picture had been posted while we were on our way to Uncle Mitch's house."

"Before I could delete it, it already had 200 likes, and all of my friends were texting me about it." She said in a sad tone. "I'd deleted it now, but it was too late."

"Now. Dylan kept texting me and asking about Edward, panicking!." Haley groaned again, deeply regretting her actions. She covered her face with her palm, not knowing what to do next.

[3rd Person POV.]

While lazing around in her bed in her freakishly pink room, a girl wearing only a piece of satin underwear widened her eyes as she saw the post .

"He bakes?" Jenna McKenzie – the popular girl who has a crush on Edward saw the image online after Elsa forwarded it to her. She threw away her brand-new Iphone to the wall, destroying it.

"Why is he in their house!? ARE THEY GOING OUT?!! ARGHH!!" Jenna swept away all of the stuff in her makeup desk with her hand, causing them to crash on the floor.

"HE'S MINE! HE'S MINE! HE'S MINE!" Jenna yelled hysterically as she destroyed most of the stuff in her room. Feathers were flyings, dresses were ripped, and the mirror in her room was shattered.

After she had calmed down, she called her mother using the landline and said cutely, "Mommy. My room is destroyed."

Her mother sighed from the other line and said in a loving tone– not getting mad at all, "Again? Okay. Nevermind. Mommy will buy you all new things, kitten."

"Thank you mommy. I love you!" Jenna said cutely.

[Ends commentary and POV]

-Edward POV-

I saw Gloria, Manny and Jay parking their car and getting out as I closed the car trunk.

"What are you doing here?" Jay asked instantly and with dissatisfaction as he saw me.

"Yeah. Nice to meet you again. Also, nice outfit." I replied facetiously as Jay greeted me. Gloria interjected and said, "Hi Edward. So Nice to see you again!"

Jay grumbled and walked inside while Gloria admired the cake. She was wearing a light orange coloured, one-piece dress that accentuated her figure…as usual. Manny smiled at me before he turned to what I was holding and said, "Guitar? You're playing here?"

"No. I don't know. Cam asked me to bring it." I replied.

"Ayy. It's so beautiful!" Gloria snatched the cake from Haley, making the girl speechless. Even Manny's attention was turned to the cake as his mother reacted to it.

The delicate purple petal lotus on the top of the cake had aroused Gloria's interest, and even the commenters on Haley's post. Most of the comments were asking if I really had created the cake or I had bought the cake someplace else.

"You can see the details and hard work put into the flower at the top. Whoever the person who created this was, he's sure is skillful." Manny said.

Haley smiled mischievously and said, "Edward made it."

"Let's go inside. We're late." I said and quickly turned away from a gasping Gloria. Haley giggled and followed me together with Gloria and Manny.

I took Jay's hat instantly as I saw him giving the hat to Mitchell as I entered the house, causing the gruff old man to become more grumpy.

"Here." I handed the box of gifts to Mitchell. "Hmm?" Mitchell looked at me in confusion. He pulled me close and whispered to my ear, "Did they already know?"

"No." I replied calmly, but still maintained my smile.

Mitchell slumped and asked in desperation. "...Why not?"

Finally, the extended family took their places and they faced Mitchell who's preparing for his announcement. Me and Jay were standing together while the rest of the family was sitting.

"Why are you standing?" Jay asked as I stood next to him. "Why are you not sitting?" I asked back. Jay sipped the wine in his hand and said in a low voice, "Give me back my hat."

He then snatched the hat off my hand and threw it at the cabinet nearby.

"Aww… shucks." I exclaimed fakely, continuing to get onto the grumpy man's nerve. I kept waiting for the announcement to arrive, but everyone was totally silent. No guests in the house had spoken any words, and they kept staring at Mitchell.

"So how was your trip?" I asked as everyone was too cautious to ask questions now.

"It was good. It was good actually." Mitchell turned to me and mouthed the word 'Thanks' with his mouth as he didn't know how to start.

"But, um, about that, I- I have something that I need to tell you guys." Mitchell said. "Something…" He took a deep breath in between "...happened."

"Oh God." Jay muttered and needed another drink.

"Is Uncle Cam really gone?" Alex asked with a shaky voice.

"No. He's in the bedroom." Mitchell turned to Alex, all confused by the question.

"Then, is he hideous now…you know, after the accident?" Claire said in a hushed tone – trying to not startle Cam.

"He might be hideous now, but with some plastic surgery, he may return back to being himself again." Phil shouted his ideas out.

"What accident?" Mitchell contorted his face as he was so confused. He turned to me for an explanation as he knew I knew and wondered what the hell I told these guys there.

"I don't know what she is talking about." I explained, shrugging my shoulders as if I'm innocent in this matter.

"Um- Uh, we didn't just go to Vietnam for pleasure. We, uh, kind of have some big news." Mitchell finally got to the point, trying to move away from the depressing topic.

"It is…about Cam?" Claire asked after realising that her accident theory was wrong. "Did he have boobs now?" Jay said after being silent for a while.

"Why will Uncle Cam have boobs?" Luke muttered. Haley and Alex turned to him, not knowing what to say to explain.

"It's…for the both of us." Mitchell said. "Anyway, um, so, about a year ago, Cam and I started feeling this longing, you know, for something more, like, uh, maybe a baby?"

"Ooh, that's a bad idea." Jay exclaimed in a sharp tone.

"What do you mean, 'bad idea'?" Mitchell got confrontational against his dad.

"Well, kids need a mother. I mean if you two guys are bored, get a dog." Jay continued.

"Okay, we're not bored, Dad." Mitched said in disappointment.

"I support you, Mitchell." Gloria interjected.

"I-I-I-I think what Dad is trying to say… is that, Mitchell, you're a little uptight. Kids bring chaos, and- and you don't handle it well." Claire spoke up.

"That's not what Dad's saying. That's what you're saying. And it's insulting in a whole different way." Mitchell turned to Claire and argued.

"Okay, people. Let's all chillax." Phil said, trying to ease the heated atmosphere. The room fell into a silence, and I could sense that the situation had become tense.

"Voy a ser la brisa en tu espalda, no quien te escupa en la frente." I suddenly said.

"What?" Jay looked at me in confusion. Gloria brightened up and asked in excitement, "Ay, You know that too?!"

"What is it?" Claire asked Gloria.

"It means… Ayy… Edward explains." Gloria said.

"I'm going to be the wind at your back, not the one who spits in your face." I said. "It's a saying from Colombia. When it comes to your family, it's better to support than to insult."

"But I noticed that the Pritchetts family has a unique way of being both at the same time." I added teasingly.

"That's true." Phil agreed. Gloria nodded in agreement too, causing both Claire and Jay to be speechless.

I turned to the pathway behind Mitch and said, "Cam. It's time. Don't wait anymore."

Suddenly, the circle of life song suddenly played and, and Cam –who had been listening to the entire conversation, walked into the living room with Lily in his hand – presenting Lily to the family similar to Rafiki from the Lion King movie when he presented Simba.

"Oh, God." Claire shouted in surprise and awe as she saw the baby in Cam's arm. Cam was wearing a red satin robe with asian features as he walked to introduce the baby.

[Music- Circle of life from the Lion King]

♪ It's the circle of life ♪

"We adopted a baby." Mitchell explained.

Cam raised Lily up, and a spotlight that he had set up before was switched on, showing Lily's face to everyone. She was an adorable Vietnamese baby with chubby cheeks and an expression of 'what the hell is going on here' as she was suddenly raised upward.

♪ And it moves us all ♪

"Her name is Lily." Mitchell introduced. Then, he said to Cam, "Just turn it off."

"I can't turn it off. It's who I am." Cam said defensively.

"The music." Mitchell said in a tired voice.

"Oh, yes, the music." Cam chuckled and pressed the switch in his hand, shutting the music down.

"Come say hi to Lily." Cam said in excitement. All the family members except me and Claire ran toward the baby to look at her more closely.

"Ay, miren a la princesita. The little princess." Gloria said as she caressed the baby's hair.

" She's so cute!" Haley said excitedly.

"Let me see her. Let me see her. Let me see her." Claire couldn't wait in line anymore and grabbed Lily from Cam's arm.

"Hi there, Lily." Claire said while holding Lily. As the family members were fussing for Lily, I saw Jay being conflicted as he stood at his initial spot.

"Feeling sorry for your words? Or a Vietnam flashback, grandpa?" I asked carefully.

Jay scoffed, turned to me and asked, "What did you say before?...in English."

Jay called everyone's attention, "Okay, I know that I said I thought this was a bad idea. But, uh, what do I know?"

"I mean, it's not like I wrote the book on fatherhood. Been trying all my life to get it right. I'm still screwing up."

"Anyway, I'm happy for you. And, uh, you should know that, uh, I'm not here to spit in your face, I'm here to… blow at your back…Or whatever it was the kid said before."

Mitchell was smiling happily at his dad's effort, and suddenly, Lily started to cry while being in Claire's arm. Mitchell took over and brought Lily to meet her grandpa, which in turn made her stop crying.

As I smiled at the side, suddenly, I was called by Cam.

"Special thanks to Edward. He knew about the adoption for a week now, and he has been nothing but supportive to us."

I was surprised when a stranger like me was suddenly mentioned, and Phil called me afterward, "Eddy, come meet Lily." I was hesitant, so Mitchell brought Lily closer to me.

The little baby suddenly reached out to me, asking to be in my arms, shocking everyone here.

"She likes you!" Mitchell said happily. "She hasn't been this proactive since we brought her back here." Cam added.

Lily kept reaching for me, so I cautiously held her in my arms. She calmed down and rested her head on my chest. She grabbed my shirt, and not letting anyone else took her away from her position. Slowly, her eyelid became heavy, and she let out a big yawn.

I didn't know then, but an agent of the afterlife has a high affinity with babies and small animals. Right now, I was just enjoying the feeling of hugging the baby.

"Aww…She's so cute." Claire said, trying to snatch Lily away, but Mitchell stopped her. "Let her sleep first. She hasn't slept at all since the flight."

Claire stared at me with greedy eyes the whole time I was holding the baby, trying to find the perfect moment to snatch Lily away.

"He has brought a gift, let's open it together." Claire said, finally figuring out why I was bringing a gift to Mitch and Cam.

"Oh right. Eddy, can I open the gift now?" Cam said excitedly, but with a hushed tone as Lily had fallen asleep.

"Sure." I said. Cam opened the gift box carefully with glee and excitement.

"Wait, Cam! There's glitter!" Claire whispered hurriedly as she remembered what I had said before. However, only a popup banner appeared with the words, 'Congratulations on your baby!' written in a celebratory font.

"Awww Edward." Mitch and Cam were touched by the performance.

"...Where's the glitter and confetti?" Claire was confused.

"Do you really think I will put that in? With a baby around?" I asked. Claire glared at me and said, "You little liar."

"I told you he's a liar." Jay intercepted.

I shrugged and said, "I won't need to lie if you weren't a….."

"A what?" Claire narrowed her eyes while looking at me.

"A busybody." Phil blurted out unconsciously. Claire turned to Phil looking offended. "Phil!" She yelled – still with a whisper.

"I'm sorry Claire." I said. "But I need to keep the baby matter a secret, so I need to keep your nose out of the box. Well, you and Haley."

"I am not a busybody!" Haley interjected as she was within earshot. "SHH!" Alex shushed Haley quickly as she used her normal voice. Everyone turned to Lily, but found out that she was unbothered by the noise and was still sleeping soundly in my arms.

"Okay calm down. Let's see the present." Phil said, turning the attention back to the box. Cam removed the wrapping paper on top and took out the small outfit that I had sewn for Lily personally, out of the box.

"This is?" Phil asked.

"It's an Ao Dai. It's a traditional Vietnamese dress for celebrations." I explained as I patted Lily's back softly to help her sleep. "The lotus flower is their national flower, and it was the same flower I put on the cake."

Mitch and Cam finally realise it. "Hey. it's like the dress I saw some girls wear in Vietnam." Cam said.

"You really thought hard about this." Alex complimented. "Yeah. Who knows you're so sensitive." Haley said mischievously. Then, she got a text and she groaned as she read it while walking away from the rest of the family.

"Ayy! It's so cute!...and so soft!" Gloria said as she felt the fabric of the baby dress.

Mitch and Cam were extremely touched by the gifts. "This gift. The cake, and the song you're about to sing…Thank you so much Edward." Cam said.

I was confused, "I will be singing a song?"