They all called one another at the same time. Francis decided to have both of them come over to his house, so they could all discuss what they called each other about. None of them knew about each others' situation.
The doorbell rang, Francis walked to the front door and opened it. On his porch was a sad looking Gilbert with a backpack. Gilbert walked into Francis' living room and put his bag down. The doorbell rang once again. Francis quickly walked over to the door. He gasped as he opened the door and saw what was strapped to Antonio's chest.
"Gilbert is already here. Who is that," Francis said.
"Him? I'll explain when we all are in the same room," Antonio replied.
They walked into the living room, where Gilbert was filling in some important documents. Gilbert looked up from his paperwork and got up. He went over to his fellow friends and gave them a hug. They have been friends for years, ever since they were in high school together. Gilbert was the youngest of the three. He is nineteen while they are twenty four years old.
"So what's up with the baby," Francis asked Antonio.
"Baby," Gilbert replied with a perplexed expression. He looked at Antonio and saw the baby sleeping.
"Oh, he's my son, Lovino," Antonio replied them without skipping a beat. He looked at his other two friends, they were a bit surprised at the admission.
They all paused for a moment, and stared at Lovino and then back at Antonio. Francis cleared his throat, and his friends all looked at him. He began to speak. "We are all here for a reason, we all needed to talk to each other. Antonio already started us off, so I'll go next and tell you my news. Jeanne has passed away and I have a son."
They both looked shocked when they heard this news. They never thought of Jeanne dying, it just made them very upset just thinking about it. Francis loved Jeanne with all his heart, they were so in love that he proposed to her around eight months ago.
"I also have a funeral to plan, mother died. But my brother lived, so I'll be taking custody of him when I fill in my packet of papers," Gilbert said.
"So it seems that we are all experiencing the same situations. And knowing all of this, I know we can't all do this alone. So, how about we all team up? That way, we will be able to take care of the kids and spend less," Francis suggested.
"Yeah, that's sounds like a good idea but where would we live," Gilbert answered and Antonio nodded in agreement. They both looked at Francis waiting far a reply.
"You would both live here. This house is big enough for all of us. We could put all of the boys in the same bedroom and all have our own room," Francis replied.
"Sounds fair enough. Do you have any furniture for the bedroom? Because I'll make a list of what we could need to furnish it," Antonio offered.
"You should do it. I haven't planned anything but how to paint the nursery," Francis replied.
"Can we see the nursery," Gilbert asked Francis. He was wondering what it looked like and how he was going to paint it.
All four of them walked up the stairs and down the medium sized hallway. At the end of the hallway, was the nursery. Francis opened the oak door and gestured for the others to enter the room. Antonio and Gilbert were in awe when they entered the room. The room had a huge set of bay windows that overlooked the backyard of the house. The men then all met up in the middle of the room and began to discuss.
"How is the room going to be separated," Antonio asked.
"We'll each pick a wall and mark it with Gilbert's pencil," Francis suggested.
They all went to a different wall and wrote their kid's name (or in Gilbert's case, his brother's name). They each wrote the name and also what they were going to decorate the wall with.
"What were those papers you were filling out before, Gil," Antonio asked.
"They were legal papers to have custody of my brother," Gilbert explained to Antonio.
"What is his name? What about yours, Francis," Antonio asked his two friends. He looked at both of them, expecting their answers.
"His name is Matthew," Francis answered.
"His name is Ludwig," answered Gilbert. His friends gave him a weird look. "What? I named him myself, just like you guys."
"It's just very old-fashioned," they replied.
"But it's a nice name," they added in very quickly. They watched him react with a smile. They sighed, they thought they were going to get hit for their criticism.
They stayed in the nursery for a while and decided to chat for awhile. Gilbert leaves the room to get his thick stack of papers. When he returned, the floor had some pillows and a couple of inflatable matresses in the middle of the room.
"I guess that we are staying the night? Where is Lovino going to sleep," Gilbert asked Francis. Francis looked a bit confused in where to put the child. So he left the nursery and came back with a laundry basket.
"This should do for now," he said to him and Antonio.
He left the room and went to the linens closet. He opened the closet and pulled out some small blankets. 'This should do,' he thought to himself as he walked back to the room.
When he entered the room, Antonio had already went to sleep with a list right next to him. Francis made a makeshift bed for Lovino and put him to sleep in the laundry basket. He looked at Gilbert and saw that he was still writing in answers for the custody documents. Francis looked at the list that Antonio has already made, and smiled. Antonio had made quite a list, and he looked pretty prepared to build some furniture. It looked like they were all going shopping tomorrow.
Author's note:
Hello readers,
I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter. I had a bit of trouble with writer's block, but I have overcome it. Next week, like many of you, I will be going back to school. So, if my next chapter is taking forever to update, it is due to homework and/or graduation preparations. If you are to review, I will actually reply to them.
I shall start writing the next chapter. So, until next time.
shadow-of-doubtfulness