Hey guys! Look, I'm posting a chapter! A miracle, maybe? Anyways, this is a fun chapter that brings up something our boys haven't talked about yet. I hope you like it. Don't forget to leave a review! They keep me motivated. Happy reading! ~HeartQueenVivaldi
The Choice We Make
Chapter 7
Levi and Eren stumbled through the front door with arms full of their suitcases and other bags. They had been gone for almost an entire month and were glad to be home. Eren's tan skin was another twenty shades darker than when they left, but Levi looked like the same, pale ghost he had been when they left. Probably because of all of the sunscreen he used to avoid getting sunburnt.
They had visited three different countries over the last four weeks and had the time of their lives. First was Paris, France. They made friends with a server in their hotel restaurant that was there every morning to serve them breakfast. He had found them amusing, attempting to speak French. Really rough French, and it made him like them. He laughed at them and frequently corrected them.
They climbed the Eiffel tower, and toured much of Paris. But really, they spent more than half of their time in their hotel room. They could hardly keep their hands off each other for that entire first week.
Next came Venice, Italy. There was so much to see and do that they rarely even sat down outside of meals and sleeping. And the occasional round of sex. Two weeks in Italy seeing everything they ever wanted to see exhausted them to the point that when they arrived at the last country, they wanted nothing to do with sight-seeing.
The arrived in Spain and spent the entire week laying around on the beach, having more sex than they had in France, and the occasional hour or two of snorkeling or Kayaking. Eren had loved the clear, blue waters in Spain and was completely fascinated by the reefs of colored fish, patrolled by little sharks. When the two of them weren't being lazy or sexy, Eren spent his time in the water.
Spain became their favorite part of their honeymoon and leaving on the last day had been much harder than anticipated. But arriving home also felt amazing after so long away. Eren dropped his bags in the entry way and went to flop down on the couch in the piano room.
Levi scoffed, standing in the doorway. "Hey, Brat. Take your shoes off the couch. And we should really get unpacked and do some cleaning before we relax."
"No." Eren whined, holding the "o". "We just got back from almost 24 hours on planes and in airports, and I have jetlag. Can't cleaning wait until tomorrow?"
Levi raised a brow and opened his mouth to speak, but Eren interrupted him.
"We can just take a shower and chill for the day and watch TV. Then tomorrow I'll let you boss me around as much as you want. Deal?" Eren looked at Levi hopefully.
Levi sighed, giving in to his adorable husband. "Alright, fine. But tomorrow we are cleaning, and you're not getting out of it."
Eren grinned and stretched on the couch. "Great! Why don't we start with a nap?"
"Not on the couch. Let's go take a shower, then we can lay down for an hour or two, but we shouldn't sleep more than that or we won't sleep tonight." Levi said reasonably.
"But I'm so tired…" Eren whined.
"Whiny brat. Come on, let's go take a shower." Levi walked toward Eren and held out a hand to him. Eren took it and Levi pulled him to his feet. They took their things up to their bedroom and put a few things away before taking a shower together.
After a quick shower they both collapsed, naked, on the bed and fell asleep, but not without an alarm that would wake them up after only 2 hours, much to Eren's dismay.
When they woke up, Levi suggested ordering a Pizza for dinner, which Eren wholeheartedly agreed to. They lazed around on the couch, watching movies all afternoon in sweatpants. Levi nudged Eren to make sure he was still awake occasionally, making Eren grumble.
After their pizza dinner, Levi walked outside to throw their pizza box away and was stopped by his next door neighbor; a tall man with sandy blond hair and bright blue eyes. "Hello!" The man called, making Levi turn.
"May I help you?" Levi asked after throwing the empty pizza box in the can. The man held out a hand to Levi for him to shake. Levi took it and gave it a firm squeeze.
"My name is Chad. I live next door. I saw your car pull in this morning. It said you're just married. Is that true?" The man asked, all bright smiles and friendliness.
"Yes. Almost a month ago now. We've been on our honeymoon."
"Well, congratulations! Exciting news. Have you just moved in?"
Levi rolled his eyes lightly. He didn't often interact with neighbors, so naturally they wouldn't know him, but it wasn't like he had a different car every week. "No, I've actually lived here for over 8 years now. But I've been going to school, so I haven't been here much."
"Oh! Sorry it's taken me so long to introduce myself. I feel a bit bad about it now. Not very neighborly, huh?" The man laughed and Levi shrugged. He wasn't offended.
The man continued. "My wife and I were wondering if you wanted to bring your significant other over for dinner tomorrow. We would like to get to know you."
Levi looked back at the front door that he left slightly ajar. "I'm not sure. I would have to ask."
"No worries. There will be plenty. If you two decided you would like to join us, it'll be ready around 6. If not, then don't worry about it."
"Are you sure?" Levi asked, "I would hate for you to have made extra food for us to not show up."
"I get the feeling that won't be an issue. Even if it is, I quite like having leftovers that I can take to work with me. It's a win-win situation. Hope to see you there!" And with that the man walked away. Levi just shrugged and walked back into the house.
Eren looked up from his sketchbook when Levi walked into the living room. "That seemed to take a long time just for taking the Pizza box to the garbage. Did you get lost?"
Levi rolled his eyes. "No, you goof. The neighbor flagged me down to talk to me." Levi sat next to Eren, who used his husband as a pillow, leaning back against his broad, strong chest. He continued his sketch of the Eiffel tower.
"What did he want?"
"He invited us to dinner tomorrow if you're up to it. At 6." Levi told Eren.
"Sounds good to me. Is there any reason we wouldn't?" Eren asked, looking back and up at Levi.
Levi thought about it for a minute, reviewing the conversation in his head. "I don't think he realized my new spouse is actually a husband, not a wife. Could be a bit of a shock."
Eren shrugged. "Well, if they don't like it, I guess we won't be friends, will we? And we will be uninvited."
Levi chuckled. "I guess that's true. So, you want to go, then?"
"Why not? Free food. We could take a nice bottle of wine or something to thank them." Eren said, and Levi agreed with a kiss to Eren's temple.
They went to bed early that night, too tired to stay awake too much longer.
The next day, Levi kept good on his promise to not let Eren get out of cleaning. They hadn't been there for a month, so it was a little extra dusty. It took up the majority of the day to get the house back to Levi's standards. They quit just in time to shower, change, and walk next door.
They knocked on the door ten minutes before six, a bottle of wine in Eren's hands. The door opened, revealing the man who had invited Levi the day before. "Hey! Glad you could make it! Please come in."
Levi followed Chad into the house, followed closely by Eren, who closed the door behind them. Waiting for them was Chad's wife. Chad began introducing them. "Darling, this is…" he paused. "you know, I don't think I asked for your name." He then looked behind Levi and spotted Eren. He looked shocked for a moment, but he smiled pleasantly after only a split second.
"My name is Levi, and this is my husband, Eren." Levi introduced himself and Eren, then Chad introduced his wife as Lisa. The woman stood at an average height for most women, had dark hair and brown eyes. She hobbled around; her belly swollen from pregnancy. She was a kind woman, and Eren seemed to take an instant liking to her.
She invited them into the kitchen where she had six plates set at the table. Two of the plates and cups were plastic, telling Levi they had children running around somewhere. This surprised him a bit, since he had never heard even a single cry or scream from this direction. His other neighbors, however, had three very loud children.
"You have kids?" Eren asked, a new light in his eyes that made Levi a bit nervous.
"Yes. We have two already. And a third on the way, as I'm sure you guessed." Lisa rubbed her massive belly tenderly.
Eren grinned. Lisa continued, "Chad, will you go get them? Dinner will be ready in just a moment."
As Chad walked away, Eren handed Lisa the wine. "Well, I guess we got you the wrong gift. We wanted to say thanks for the invite and for dinner. But you can't exactly drink it now."
Lisa took the wine. "I guess we will just have to save it for another time, then. Interesting." She said, examining the bottle. "You got my favorite. I'll definitely be saving this for a later date." She stored it in her wine holder on the counter, thanking them as she did.
There was a sound of scampering feet coming down the stairs at a quick pace. Two, identical kids came barreling into the kitchen and hoisted themselves up on their chairs, not even taking notice of their guests.
Eren laughed at them, and Levi had to reign himself in from inspecting the table for sticky fingerprints as both kids made themselves comfortable. Chad came into the room seconds later, looking a bit exasperated, but happy. "These are our twin boys, Michael and Zeke. Boys, these are our neighbors, Levi and Eren. They'll be having dinner with us tonight."
Both boys beamed up at them, their brown eyes shining and their blond hair a mess. Eren was clearly falling in love with these twins and that made Levi yet even more nervous. He knew Eren loved kids, but he hadn't seen him around them yet. At this rate it was only a matter of time before that conversation happened.
They all sat around the table and Lisa placed a delicious looking lasagna in the center of the table with some corn and garlic bread. The lasagna was clearly homemade and smelled divine. Chad dished everyone up and scolded the twins for eating too quickly. He gave Eren seconds when he ran out and they all ate until they were bursting at the seams.
All of them collapsed back in their chairs, the twins were excused, and they fell into pleasant conversation, just getting to know each other. Chad and Lisa had been married ten years and had lived in their neighborhood not much longer than Levi had. The twins were almost 5 years old and incredibly well behaved for their age. They would politely ask their mother when they wanted something, waiting for a lull in the conversation before interrupting.
By the time Levi and Eren left they felt as if they had made new friends. They offered to help clean up before leaving, but Lisa wouldn't let them, insisting that she could do it. Regardless, Eren looked to Levi, asking silently for permission before inviting them to come over some time. They agreed to plan something, then Levi and Eren left, satisfied.
"They're nice." Eren said as they walked in the front door, kicking their shoes off. "and those twins are simply adorable."
Levi hummed, not really agreeing or disagreeing.
"What, don't you like kids?" Eren asked, noticing Levi's noncommittal response.
"I don't really have an opinion of kids. I haven't been around enough to know, really."
"Well, you can't say you didn't like those ones. They were cute, well behaved, respectful, and clean. What more could you ask for from kids?" Eren said, watching Levi walk toward the kitchen.
Eren followed him, waiting for and expecting a response. Levi simply pulled two wine glasses from the cupboard then opened a new bottle of wine. He poured them each a glass and handed Eren one of them. He took a sip and Eren continued to watch him with an expectant gaze.
"What?" Levi asked.
"You didn't answer me."
"I didn't think it needed answering." Levi countered.
"Alright, then how about this. What do you think of having your own kids? We've never really talked about it."
Levi sighed. He knew this was coming. "I don't think we need to be having this conversation just yet, do you? We've only been married a month."
Eren laughed. "I'm not saying now, silly. But eventually. I've always thought I would adopt or something."
Levi took a deep breath to prepare himself then said, "I've never seen myself as a parent, Eren. I'm too messed up. I've got a lot of baggage, and I don't even know what proper parenting looks like."
Eren scanned Levi's face then spoke slowly, as if unsure if he should be saying anything at all but doing it anyways. "Are you scared of being a dad, Levi?"
"Eren, look what I was raised with. My uncle who neglected or beat on me with nothing in between, my brother who betrayed me, and teachers who ignored the obvious signs. I don't know what it's like to grow up in a loving household like you. Yes, I'm scared. I'm scared I'll turn out just like Kenny, that I'll ignore all of the signs. I don't know how to be a good parent." Levi voiced his concerns quickly and with a sort of finality in his voice that made Eren nervous to try to counter his argument.
But Eren couldn't let Levi think like that forever. He couldn't just drop it and never speak of it again. After giving Levi a few seconds to take a sip of his wine and lean into the silence a little, Eren spoke up. "I think that's what would make you a great parent. Because you are scared. You don't want to be that, so I don't think you will. And that's why we would do it together. If you ever toed the line, I would be there to pull you back from it. And vice versa. No parent is perfect. Not even mine, believe it or not."
Levi looked to Eren before answering. "I don't know, Eren. I don't expect to be perfect, but if I were to have kids, I just wouldn't want them to end up as messed up as I am. They say kids tend to imitate their parents, and I'm not exactly a role model they should be following."
Eren didn't know what to say to that and fell silent. They stood in the kitchen together, sipping on wine, neither sure what to say to the other. Levi finished his own wine, placed his glass in the sink, put the bottle away, and excused himself. He walked upstairs by himself, needing a few minutes to himself.
Levi knew his fear was somewhat irrational. He wasn't a bad person anymore, but he didn't want kids finding out about his sordid past and thinking that anything like that was cool or okay in any way. Levi sold drugs for hell's sake. He could have spent time in prison for that.
Not to mention his still-present love of alcohol, and occasionally the reliance on it. Eren had helped with that a lot over the last couple of years, but not totally. Halloween was still hell and typically the day after was still tainted by a hangover headache.
Levi ran a hand through his hair and turned to sort some of the laundry spilling from the closet to try and distract himself. He was about halfway through sorting when Eren sat down next to him unexpectedly and started helping.
They sorted in silence, turning clothes right side out and putting them in their respective piles, both of them still thinking, or trying not to in Levi's case.
Eventually Levi spoke up. "I know I'm being stupid and irrational."
"I don't think so." Eren said contemplatively. "You grew up in a really rough situation. The kind of situation that most people don't come out of without issues of some kind, much less functioning. I'd say you're one of the lucky ones, both you and Eric. You are both functioning adults with minimal damage, and that's already impressive."
Levi groaned, "yeah, I know." They fell silent again, then Levi continued on a new path. "Why don't we just get used to being married first. We can address this again in a year or two. Or maybe three." Levi tacked on at the end, just for stalling purposes.
Eren laughed once through his nose. "I agree. I don't want kids right now anyway, I told you that. The twins just made me realize we hadn't talked about it yet."
Eren changed the subject then. "So, I opened the mail today. There was a lot of stuff. We got some gift cards and such from people who couldn't make it to the wedding, bills, and one other thing I found interesting."
Levi lifted an eyebrow at Eren. "What's that?"
"An invitation from Kenny. It's to a barbecue at his house this coming Saturday. Nanaba sent it, clearly. She wrote a little note with it saying he had remodeled the house recently and wanted to show it off a bit. She also said it was a celebration because the cancer was contained solely to his tumor and it could be removed. He wanted to have this little party before his surgery next week." Eren explained as he piled their white clothes in a laundry basket to take to the washing machine.
Levi thought back on his two most recent encounters with Kenny: one at the restaurant and one at his wedding. Both had gone well, and Kenny had seemed truly repentant of his past wrong-doings. "I guess we are going to a barbecue this weekend then." Levi said nonchalantly.
Eren hummed. "I think it's good of you to give him a chance. He's different than the first time I met him. Really different. I don't think he'll disappoint."
"I hope not." Levi replied, thinking back to some of the instances where he thought Kenny might get better only to be let down, or punched down is more accurate. "I hope not."