[about seven months later]
"What's gotten into you lately?" Trent asked as he stood bent over heaving for air, "A few months ago I had no trouble outrunning you…"
Metal chuckled as he jogged in place, "Bet I'll win if we run to the shore."
"Of course you'll win…" Trent chuckled, "I'd be dead halfway there… But I repeat, what in the fresh hell has gotten into you?"
Metal stopped bouncing from foot to foot and shrugged a little.
"Come on, gotta be something."
Metal shrugged again, "If you race me to the shore and win, I might tell you."
"Gimme a chance to catch my breath first, alright?"
Metal smirked, "Alright. But you better win, you want to hear this."
"Anyone ever tell you, you're the biggest tease ever?" Trent chuckled and straightened up, intertwining his fingers at the top of his head, still breathing heavily.
Metal just grinned in return and wiped away some sweat.
A couple of minutes later they had agreed on what was gonna be their finish line by the shore, and started running again.
SEALTEAM
Trent had realized he was about to lose when they were halfway there. He felt like roadkill. He wanted to blame some cold or something he hadn't realized he had yet, but deep down he knew the reason Metal was winning was because he was the master of comebacks. This one being no different from the previous comebacks of his career. He had always managed to come back better than ever before.
SEALTEAM
The last few hundred yards of the run, he hadn't even seen Metal. He had lost him right around Chicho's pizza, and hadn't seen him again before he saw him standing a few yards away from the Neptune statue they had deemed their finish line.
"Hey, bro…" Metal called as Trent rounded the corner, "You've still got a chance to win."
"Don't tell me…" Trent asked when he got a little closer so he didn't have to shout, "Win the race back? If that's it, I might start swinging."
"Nope." Metal shrugged, "Just touch the base of the statue."
"You're kidding? Right?" Trent felt like he was about to puke and let his pace slow from exhausted jog and down to a normal walking pace.
Metal shook his head, so Trent walked over and touched the base of the statue.
"For real?"
"Yup, you won." Metal grinned.
"Want to tell me what has turned you into the energizer bunny this last week? You've been doing good for a while now, but this last week has been like… Like you never were injured at all."
Metal chuckled a bit as he stepped over to the railing separating the walking path from the beach, "Just got some good news."
"Yeah?" Trent raised an eyebrow, "If this mean's you requalified, I won't be surprised."
"No, better." Metal took a deep breath, his whole face glowing with joy. "But I'm up for the test next week."
"You'll definitely ace it." Trent chuckled as he walked over and leaned against the railing next to Metal.
"-You know how… How Em and I have been trying for a baby since her last operation."
Trent leaned away to get a better view of Metal, "You're…"
"Almost three months now." Metal beamed, "We're not ready to announce it to everyone yet, but… Figured my best buddy should know."
Trent pushed off the railing and moved the few feet it took to get close enough to hug Metal, "Congrats man!"
"Thanks." Metal grinned as Trent stepped back to where he had been leaning earlier.
"So, what was the moment which turned you into the energizer bunny? Almost three months, you've probably known it for more than a week then…"
Metal nodded, the same proud smile stuck on his face.
"Gonna tell me or not?" Trent jabbed his elbow at Metal.
Metal nodded. "Sonogram."
"You finally saw the baby?"
"Finally saw them." Metal nodded.
"Wait." Trent leaned forward a bit, "Did you just say…"
"Plural, yeah." Metal chuckled, "We're having twins."
"For real?"
Metal nodded, "Can you believe it?"
"My brain is using a hot minute to process it." Trent chuckled, "Man, that's… Awesome. You know if it's boys or girls yet? Or one of each?"
Metal shook his head, "No. Still too early. But they looked like they were doing well. They're gonna follow Em up even closer now. She was gonna have a few extra appointments due to the endometriosis thing, but now that we know it's twins, it's gonna be even more."
Trent nodded, "How's she feeling?"
"So far, really good." Metal chuckled, "So we're hoping she'll have an easy pregnancy."
"I hope so too…" Trent nodded, "Both of you deserve that."
Metal chuckled a bit, "I wouldn't complain if everything went as smooth as possible for once."
"Man, that's literally the best news I've heard all year…" Trent reflected with a smile.
Metal nodded and winked, "Told you that you had to win this race…"
Trent chuckled, then nodded.
"Bro, I have no idea how we're gonna survive having twins…" Metal chuckled and kicked at the fuse between the boardwalk and the end the railing was on, "I mean, knowing my luck… We're gonna have young Scott Carter squared."
Trent chuckled at the thought, "Good thing your parents are fairly young. And have experience with kids being high and low and all over."
Metal chuckled, "My sister has this theory. They're going to learn to walk way too soon, like when they're only ten months or so… And then they are going to hate sitting in a buggy from that point on, and they are going to realize that if they run off in different directions, it'll take us longer to catch them."
Trent chuckled, "I support that theory."
Metal nodded as well, "I wouldn't be surprised. Mom and dad rarely knew exactly where I was. I'm gonna get payback."
"-Let's hope for everyone's sake they're more like Emily than you then…"
Metal nodded, "I imagine things would be a lot easier if that how it turns out."
"So, what do you hope it is? Boys? Girls? One of each?"
Metal shrugged, "As long as they're healthy, I don't really care. But imagine me being the dad of two girls, oh boy…"
Trent almost collapsed laughing at the thought. "I think I just had a vision of how that would be…"
Metal chuckled, "Yeah?"
"Curfew by 8 p.m.. -Even late in their teens." Trent started, "If you hear ANY rumor about a date, you're probably going to be cleaning weapons by the kitchen table. You'll definitely put the fear of GOD into some poor innocent teenage guy or two. Oh, and you'll be more comfortable being shot at than with the thought that they're actually gonna date."
Metal nodded, "I can't find any lies in that."
Trent chuckled, "You'll be a good dad though."
"You think?"
Trent nodded.
"Thanks."
"It's just the truth." Trent shrugged.