When can I meet the Connor to my Oliver?
Were you confused because of the last chapter events?.. I read your reviews and it made me so excited to write this chapter.. hehehe..
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Connor cursed as he thumped his head on the elevator's wall. "Why do I always have to fuck things up?" he asked, frustrated. He shouldn't have imagined Alexi as Mochi; he should have shut his fucking mouth, and not remind Oliver about their dead child. He should really stop hoping that he and Oliver can start a family again.
He should have, but he just couldn't help imagining how his life would have been if Mochi had survived.
The ding of the elevator made him stop banging his head repeatedly, indicating that he had arrived on Oliver's floor which is just three floors lower than his. One thing he learned from the last five years was that he should not waste any moment telling the people he cared about how sorry he was. He made that mistake with Oliver; he had waited until Gemma helped him stand up for his mistakes; he waited not knowing that it would have taken him years to see Oliver again and apologize to him. So this time, he did not need his sister to make him realize how stupid his action was, he knew what he did and he would try to make amends with Oliver once again.
The elevator opened and he immediately searched for Oliver's room number. Just like all other apartments in the building, Oliver's room has its own individual doorbell. He pressed the bell and patiently waited for Oliver to open the door.
Connor heard a muffled shout inside the room, and moments later, the door was opened, showing a tired and disheveled Oliver.
"Connor? What are you doing here?" Oliver asked with loopy eyes, fingers pressed hardly on his temple as he leaned one side of his body on the doorway.
"I—I came here to apologize." Connor started, but he was distracted by Oliver's physique, and couldn't help but be worried about the pale man who became paler than his original color. "Are you sick?"
"Urghh… I think I caught a virus while I was in the hospital." Oliver replied and heaved a dry cough.
Without any hesitation, Connor used the back of his hands to measure Oliver's temperature by putting it on the crook of Oliver's neck. "Oliver, you're burning up!" Connor exclaimed and pushed Oliver lightly back into the apartment, so that Oliver won't feel the chill in the hallway.
"Have you taken some medicine?" Connor asked.
The virus had clouded Oliver's judgment, so he had no qualms when Connor had touched him. "No, not yet. I just put Alexi to sleep," Oliver replied roughly.
"Where's your room?"
"Excuse me?" Oliver grimaced.
"You need to rest, Oliver. Let me take care of you," Connor pleaded. He knew he shouldn't feel glad that Oliver was sick, but having the opportunity to take care of Oliver again just like when he was pregnant with Mochi was a rare opportunity.
"I really think that's a bad idea," Oliver protested and turned his back to Connor. "I'm fine Connor, you should just go…" But when he staggered in his steps and Connor caught him, Oliver finally agreed to Connor's idea. "My room is over there," Oliver pointed to a wooden door at the other end of the hallway.
Connor put his left hand on Oliver's back and guided him towards his room. Connor didn't have the time to admire Oliver's room because his mind was reeling at the idea that he is inside's Oliver's room. 'That's progress,' he mused.
Connor gently laid Oliver on the queen sized bed and covered him with the comforter. "Wait for a minute," Connor said and then went outside the room, searching for the bathroom. He opened the medicine cabinet to look for cold medicine and a thermometer, and then he proceeded to go to the kitchen to get a cup of warm water. Once he had the things he needed, he quickly went back to Oliver's room.
He opened the door gently, and paused for a moment to admire Oliver's sleeping figure. He walked towards him and emptied his hands by placing the things he gathered on the nightstand next to Oliver's bed. Connor then sat at the small space on the edge of the bed and slowly lifted Oliver's upper body, so that Oliver's back would rest on his chest.
"Shh... it's okay," Connor comforted Oliver when he heard the latter grunting. "You have to drink your medicine, baby," Connor couldn't help the term of endearment coming out from his mouth. He was taking advantage of Oliver's situation because he knew Oliver wouldn't even remember this in the morning. 'Last one… Just let me have this moment with him,' Connor cried in his thoughts.
Connor cradled Oliver's jaw and gently pushed it open. He put one capsule in Oliver's mouth, and then he shivered when his thumb was slightly grazed on Oliver's teeth, and then with his other hand he grabbed the cup of water on the nightstand to help Oliver swallow the medicine he just took.
Connor exchanged the cup of water with a thermometer, and then opened Oliver's mouth again. "Under your tongue baby," Connor quietly instructed and put the thermometer inside Oliver's mouth. He rocked Oliver gently, humming a few notes, as he waited for the annoying beep of the thermometer. When he heard the sound, he softly popped the instrument from Oliver's mouth and checked for his temperature.
"You have a mild fever, Baby," Connor concluded and he once more laid Oliver on the bed. Going outside of the room to go to the bathroom again, he searched the sink cabinet for a clean cloth. He poured isopropyl alcohol he found in the medicine cabinet on the white cloth and squeezed it slightly to remove the excess liquid.
Going back to Oliver's room carrying a basin with the cloth in it, he placed it beside Oliver's head, and removed the blanket he covered Oliver with earlier. "Shh… I'm just going to clean you up," Connor said as he rubbed Oliver's forehead with his thumb when Oliver shivered from not having the blanket on him anymore. Connor then knelt beside Oliver and began unbuttoning his dress shirt.
"Hmmm… Connor… what are you doing?" Oliver complained a little, with one eye trying to open. His body still felt heavy because of the infection he contracted earlier in the hospital. He halted Connor's action by grabbing the hand which was currently undoing his buttons.
"You have to change clothes… it still has the germs from the hospital," Connor answered, gently removing Oliver's hand from his.
"It's okay… it won't matter."
"I need to get rid of the germs on your skin, or Alexi might be infected with your fever," Connor protested and then he smiled lightly when Oliver slumped down to the bed and gave an affirming sound to let him continue cleaning his body.
Connor nervously continued to open the shirt, and he paused for a moment, mesmerized by the beauty that Oliver still held. He wanted to touch him and kiss him then and there. He wanted to ask why he didn't wait for him, why did he leave him alone? There were questions that still haunted him; questions that he didn't dare to ask because he knew it would put a strain on their current relationship; questions he knew would break him if he heard Oliver's answer.
He let a tear fall before he continued removing Oliver's upper garment and then carefully wiped the damp cloth over Oliver's sleeping body. Once he was finished with Oliver's torso, he proceeded to clean his lower half; he swallowed his saliva as he tried to think of unsexy thoughts as he unbuttoned Oliver's pants, but leaving the boxers on. 'That is just the border line for being a perverted asshole if I also remove his boxers.' He berated himself.
Unlike with the cleaning of Oliver's upper body, he hurriedly cleansed Oliver's lower body; afraid that he would pop a boner with the image of an almost naked Oliver. He then quickly but gently wiped Oliver's creamy white legs and thighs, careful not to graze Oliver's intimate parts.
Connor walked to Oliver's closet and grabbed a pair of pyjamas and came back to his previous position on the bed to help Oliver dress in his night wear. He covered Oliver again with the thick blanket and tucked him in. Connor felt like he was the vampire from the movie he had watched in high school before, for watching the love of your life sleep soundlessly. He knew what he was doing was creepy, but he wanted to remember the image of a peaceful and serene Oliver in his mind; not the hurt expression that Oliver had the last time they saw each other five years ago when he almost raped him.
He put a stray hair behind Oliver's ears and leaned forward to kiss his forehead. "I love you," Connor whispered. 'That was the last, I may not stop loving him, but I'll give up on the idea of being together with him, I won't be a home wrecker and destroyed Oliver's new family.' Connor promised to himself and stood up from his position to exit Oliver's room. He closed the door behind him, screwed his eyes shut as he let some of the tears to drop from his eyes, and slid his body down on Oliver's door.
Connor's musing was disturbed by a lovely voice he was very familiar with, a voice that his mind said he should hate because she was one of the reasons that he couldn't get Oliver back, but his heart told him otherwise.
"Sticky hair?" Alexi asked tiredly as she scratched her eyes with the back of his hand. The little girl was wearing a yellow tiger onesie with the hood—the tiger's mouth—became its night cap.
"Alexi… Why are you still up?" he asked as he discreetly wiped his tears from his cheeks, and knelt in front of the cute little girl.
Instead of answering Connor, Alexi grabbed Connor's hand and dragged him to the kitchen. She let go of the short man so that she could pry open the refrigerator door with her two tiny hands.
Connor just stood in the kitchen awkwardly; waiting for Alexi to find what she was looking for. Finally, after a few minutes of disgruntled sounds, Alexi emerged from the refrigerator and gently closed it. She walked towards Connor with her hands behind her back so that Connor won't see her gift.
"This is for you," Alexi then thrust a box of mochi at Connor when he crouched down to her level. "So don't be sad again, okay?"
"Wha—what?" Connor asked; perplexed why the girl would give him such gift.
"Because you said you love mochi, and I thought that eating mochi will make the boo-boo in your eyes fly away," Alexi reasoned out and touched Connor's cheeks which are still slightly damp from his tears.
'Fuck! You see what I'm dealing here. How can I hate such a lovable and innocent child?' Connor thought woefully, trying really hard not to cry in front of the kid. "Come on here, you little tiger," Connor chuckled instead and lifted Alexi in his arms after putting the box on the top of the kitchen counter. "Thank you, Alexi, but I was referring to another Mochi," Connor explained as he carried the little girl back to her room. "Come on, you have to go to sleep now."
When Connor opened Alexi's door, the little girl tightened the embrace she had on Connor's neck and buried her face on Connor's shoulder. "I don't want to sleep. I want Papa… Papa makes monster under the bed go away," Alexi cried and shook her head fervently.
"Shh… there there, baby tiger, you can't go to Papa now because he is sick," Connor informed the little girl as he patted her head.
"Papa is sick?" Alexi asked worriedly, and snapped her head to face Connor properly. "Did you give Papa his pics?"
"Uhmm… no, sorry, I forgot about that…" Connor apologized. "… but if you sleep now, I'll go back to Papa's room and gave him his locket so he'll heal faster, and then you can sleep beside him again if the monsters won't still go away, okay?" Connor compromised when he felt Alexi tried to wiggle out from his embrace.
"Okay," Alexi agreed, and let Connor rocked her in his arms. "Sticky?" Alexi asked, cheek still pressed on Connor's shoulder.
"Hmm?"
"You don't like my gift?" Alexi asked curiously.
"No, baby, I love your gift," Connor answered with agitation, hating the sound of sadness in Alexi's voice.
"Then why didn't you eat some mochi?" Alexi asked and used her hands to push from Connor's shoulder to part their bodies, so that she could look at him in the eyes.
"Uhmm… when I said I love mochi, I was referring to my Mochi," Connor explained as he looked at Alexi's eyes, which he now discovered is a splash of grayish green colors, but it becomes greenish blue or greenish brown if you look at the girl in different angles. "My Mochi is not a vegetable, he is a person."
"Where is your Mochi now?"
"I…uhmm... Mochi is gone," Connor admitted sadly; unsure if it was proper to share death stories with a four-year old.
"Is that why you always cry? because you won't see your Mochi anymore?" Alexi probed more, not knowing how this conversation made Connor's heart clench every time they uttered his child's name.
"…Yeah." Connor answered truthfully and pushed Alexi's head to his shoulders; hinting that they should stop this talk before he became a nervous wreck in front of the girl; he then continued rocking Alexi to sleep.
Alexi let out a long yawn; breaking the silence in the room and asked Connor again. "Can I be your Mochi?" Alexi asked tiredly, making the short man still his actions. "…so you won't be sad again."
'I would love to.' Would have been Connor's answer, if there are no constraints restricting this kind of relationship with the boy, Connor would have said yes, but then…
Alexi was Oliver and Thomas's daughter.
Mochi was his child with Oliver, and no one could ever replace the beautiful being that he and Oliver had created. Even if it was just an accident at first, Mochi was still Connor and Oliver's most beautiful mistake.
"I don't really think your Papa Oliver and your Daddy Thomas would appreciate me calling you Mochi," Connor gently rejected Alexi's offer to be Mochi, even though he knew that the girl didn't know that Mochi was his dead child.
"He's not," Alexi's clipped answer was preceded by a long yawn.
"Who is not what?" Connor questioned Alexi, but the girl in his arms only answered him with a light snore.
He chuckled at the girl, and continued rocking the toddler to sleep.
Oliver was awoken by the blinding light that passed through his closed eyelids. He stretched his arms above his head as he let a loud yawn. Then he realized that instead of feeling sick and tired, Oliver felt light and energetic. He was confused for a moment, but when he glanced at the nightstand next to his bed and saw the bottle of medicine there, memories of last evening had slowly crept to his mind. His memories were still a little bit foggy but he still remembered how Connor fed him the medicine, changed his clothes, and took care of him.
He blushed profusely when he stood up from his bed, and saw the neatly folded dirty clothes on a recliner in the corner of his room. He went out of his room, and part of his morning routine after waking up was to check up on his son. As he padded to Alexi's room, he made a mental checklist to thank Connor later for last night.
'Or I can thank him right now.' Oliver thought when he opened Alexi's door and saw Connor laid on his daughter's bed. His daughter's body was lying half on top of his ex-husband; his little arm draped over Connor's stomach, and his face resting on the man's chest.
Oliver's heart skipped a beat as he stared at the image in front of him; the budding friendship between Connor and Alexi made Oliver really uncomfortable.
He didn't want them to have that kind of bond, not when he and his daughter would have to leave the states for Paris in a couple of weeks; he was adamant he wouldn't stay here longer than one month, and he sure as hell knew that it would break Alexi's heart to not see his newly found friend for a long period of time.
'This is so wrong in so many ways!' Oliver thought, glancing at the clock that said 10 am, and decided that it was time for them to wake up. He silently trudged forward so he could rouse the two. He crouched down to their level, and gently shook his daughter's shoulder. "Dre, baby… wake up sleepy head." Oliver cooed and watched as Alexi and Connor started waking up by his high-pitched voice.
"Papa!" Alexi exclaimed and threw his arms around Oliver's neck making Connor's body catch all of Alexi's weight. "You're not sick anymore?" The little boy asked excitedly.
"All healthy now!" Oliver replied as he stood up and lifted Alexi in the process. "Thank you, Connor," Oliver said to the curly haired man who was now situated on the edge of Alexi's bed.
"You're welcome," Connor said shyly and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry about sleeping here. I might have fallen asleep when I was trying to make Alexi fall asleep."
Oliver just nodded in understanding. He turned his head back to his child and instructed her to go to the bathroom and brush his teeth. Once they were alone, Oliver turned to Connor.
"Thank you again for last night," Oliver said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"It's nothing really. Are you really alright now?" Connor asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine… I think it's just a 24-hour bug or something."
There was a moment of awkwardness between them before Connor remembered his sole purpose of going to Oliver's. "I'm so sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have called Alexi, Mochi. I'm really and truly sorry about that," Connor just apologized; he didn't dare explain why he had said those things because he was also confused. Maybe he felt an adrenaline rush because other people think of them as a family, and he can't help letting himself be indulged for a second in the domesticity of their goodbyes.
"I know… but please don't do that again. It's making me really uncomfortable," Oliver said truthfully while rubbing his arm.
"I promise," Connor swore, and then the kid's door room opened abruptly causing the two adult heads to snap in its direction.
"Papa!" Alexi shouted and ran towards Oliver, who automatically lifted her up. "Papa! Papa! Guess what?"
"What?" Oliver asked curiously.
"It's Tuesday!" Alexi exclaimed, and Oliver immediately knew what Alexi was talking about because the pale man just repeated Alexi's words giddily.
"What's with Tuesday?" Connor couldn't help but be curious why Alexi was excited for such a normal day.
Alexi looked quite offended - which Connor and Oliver thought was cute—that Connor didn't know what Tuesday meant, but he still answered him nonetheless. "Tuesday is when he will be here with us!"
"Who?"
"Thomas is coming," Oliver replied.
"Oh…" was Connor's only reply.
Connor watched as the little boy in the bright yellow shirt run around the Chuck E Cheese restaurant. This kind of environment wasn't really his taste, but being an uncle to a four-year old can change his perception.
"Hey Squirt, you okay?" Gemma asked her brother who was intently watching her son. Gemma had finally gotten pregnant. At first, they didn't want to share the good news about the pregnancy with Connor, thinking that it might damage him more, but Connor had surprised them by being happy and supportive of the new life added to their family. Connor was there in every first baby step that Kevin took, spoiling her in every possible way.
Connor turned his head back to the table where his sister and brother-in-law are snuggling. "Uh… yeah..." Connor nodded. "Thanks for the distraction Gemma. I really needed this. Where's the twins by the way?"
"At a sleepover," Gemma replied and patted Connor's arm. "So now tell me why you needed a distraction. Did something happen again between you and Oliver?"
"Uh… no no no…" he denied. "Everything with us is fine… well I think everything is fine. I just really need to take my mind off of him for a minute or I think I might have exploded," Connor admitted without shame.
Gemma held Connor's hand which was resting on the top of the table, conveying silently that they would always be here for him.
Connor gave her a little smile and mouthed a thank you to her. "It's just that… I—I really wanted to talk to him, but he is always busy with Alexi and Thomas. They are always going outside, so he really hasn't had the time to stay for five minutes and just have a little chat with me."
At this point, he began rambling about Oliver, but Gemma and her husband still listened to him. It had been a long time since Connor had talked this long, he was always so clipped in replying, except when he was with Kevin or when he was crying over his husband and child, but otherwise, Connor always remained silent.
"And I really can't talk to him during business hours because that is so unprofessional, and you don't know how strict he is with business matters." Connor let out a sigh as he remembered how stunning Oliver looked when he was being so authoritative and controlling. 'Okay… bad thoughts Walsh, don't go there. It's time for you to start not loving Oliver Hampton.'
He then continued his explanations to Gemma. "I really thought we could start rebuilding our friendship during his stay here in Philadelphia, but it's like he is avoiding me and I also rarely see Alexi in the day care for the past week."
Gemma didn't immediately give Connor any brotherly advice because his eyes were drawn to the couple who had just entered the restaurant. 'This is bad.' she thought when she saw Oliver, Thomas and Alexi talking to the hostess. 'This is fucking bad.' she thought again when Alexi approached his son giddily and they started talking animatedly. 'Mother fucker, this is so bad.' she cursed in her mind as hse watched his son drag Alexi towards their table, with Thomas and Oliver in tow.
"Daddy! Mommy!" Kevin shouted as he run towards her parents. "Meet my new best friend, Alexi," Kevin introduced him to his parents. "Alexi, this is my mom, my dad and of course you know my Uncle Connor," Kevin said while pointing at each person.
"Hello!" Alexi waved giddily at Kevin's parents. "Sticky!" Alexi shouted and run around the table to Connor and leaped onto his lap. "I miss you so much!" The girl said as she wound her arms around Connor's neck and squeezed it.
"I miss you too," Connor chuckled and let down Alexi when he saw Thomas and Oliver approaching their table. "Hi!" He greeted them. 'So much for distraction.' Connor thought woefully as he eyed the grip of Thomas's hand on Oliver's waist.
"Daddy! Daddy! Can Alexi sit at our table?" Kevin asked pitifully and used his puppy dog eyes that he knew that no one can resist.
"Yeah! Papa! I miss Kevin and Sticky! Can we eat with them?" Alexi asked excitedly as she run towards them, knowing that Papa wouldn't deny her because she had been a good girl for the whole day.
"Yeah… yeah… okay," Gemma nodded when Connor jerked his head slightly as an agreement. "If it's okay with Oliver and Thomas," he asked the other couple.
"Yeah sure no problem." It was Thomas who answered and leaned on Oliver's ear to whisper, and when Oliver nodded his head, Thomas lifted his hand up and gestured for a waiter to come to them. "Could you put an extra table and chairs here?" Thomas instructed, and the staff of the restaurant hurriedly did what he was ordered to do.
The table's arrangement was supposed to be the Walsh seated across the table facing the Hamptons, but the two toddlers cried that they wanted to sit beside each other, so they had rearranged for Kevin and Alexi to be seated next to each other at the end of the table. Gemma seated adjacently to her daughter and beside her is her husband, while Connor was seated across the other side of the table, next to Alexi and beside Oliver, and Thomas was seated on the other end of the table, adjacently seated to Gemma and Oliver.
Oliver was reluctant when he wasn't seated next to his daughter, but when Connor quietly assured him that he'll take care of Alexi, he automatically agreed with him. He should've said no, knowing how much Alexi and Connor were getting attached to each other, but somehow he couldn't refuse Connor's silent pleading to not be seated next to Thomas. Oliver didn't even know how he understood Connor's mind with just one look. 'Oh God! It's starting over again. I need to stop this kind of thoughts towards him,' he reminded himself.
On June 21, 2027, at exactly 7:30 in the evening, the most awkward dinner that could be documented in the Guinness Book of World Records had commenced.
It was fairly innocent at first, Gemma and her husband were talking to Thomas and Oliver about California, and Connor was kept busy handling the kids. Connor knew what their conversation was about, but he didn't have the guts to join them entirely, so he focused his attention to the toddlers beside him as they waited for their food to arrive.
Oliver was busy catching up with Gemma; he didn't deny to himself that he missed them. He knew from a small conversation with Gemma a week ago that he finally had a child and he was happy for him. He was surprised that the Kevin that Alexi was talking about who she had met at the day care center last week was also Gemma's son. He kept chatting with the couple, but he couldn't help but steal glances at Connor and the toddlers. He watched as Connor told the kids funny stories, making them laugh hilariously, and watched Connor as he spoon fed Alexi the lasagna he ordered whilst his daughter continued talking to Kevin who was also being fed by Gemma's husband. He watched him curiously and couldn't help but point out the change in Connor. 'How could the man who didn't want Mochi before be so good with children now?' He thought to himself.
"You're really good with children," Oliver blurted his thoughts aloud, making the other occupants at the table halt their conversation.
Connor was in the middle of wiping the red sauce from the corner of Alexi's mouth when he heard Oliver's compliment about him. He glanced at the pale man who now had spluttered in his seat, also being surprised why he had complimented his ex-husband. "Thank you, Oliver," Connor said bashfully and ducked his head downward, so no one, especially Thomas and Oliver, would see the grin on his face.
It was Kevin who shouted something that made the dinner more awkward. "Oliver?" He shouted his question like he was trying to remember where he had heard that name before, and then he suddenly remembered. "Oliver! You're Prince Oliver! You're Uncle Connor's Oliver!" he shouted excitedly and kept repeating it, making all the adults freeze in their seats, not knowing how they should stop the boy's mouth.
"Prince Oliver! Prince Oliver! You're back! You're back to save Uncle Connor!" Kevin said giddily and chanted Prince Oliver over and over again, and then of course Alexi mimicked him and joined him in chanting the new nickname she had for her papa.
"Oh my god!" Connor whispered disbelievingly. He forgot how he told those made up bed time stories to his nephew before. It was only meant to entertain him, but not make things more awkward between him and Oliver. Connor didn't dare look at Oliver, but he could sense that the man beside him had tensed when Kevin vocalized about him being his prince. Connor then leaned forward over the table and tried shushing his nephew. "Shh.., Kevin… okay… he's here now, but please eat your food first," Connor begged her favorite nephew
"But your prince is here, Uncle Connor. Shouldn't you be kissing him and telling him that you lo—"Thank god for Jenna for covering her daughter's mouth in time.
"Okay sweetie… we got that, but eat your meal first," Gemma told her son, and fed him pasta before he could say something that would make the situation worse for her brother.
But then, it was now Alexi who didn't shut her mouth. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" she chanted, head turned towards Kevin, asking for his approval so that she could continue her chant. She grinned when Kevin lifted his thumbs up while still chewing the food that his mom put inside his mouth.
"Shh… Alexi… please, please eat your food," Connor begged for the toddler to stop making this dinner become another nightmare for him. He could feel Thomas's and Oliver's eyes on him, but he still didn't look at them, knowing that they are giving him death glares.
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Alexi continued to chant, pleased with himself that it was making Kevin laugh.
It was Thomas who satisfied Alexi's needs by leaning over to Oliver and grabbed the back of the pale man's neck and kissed him hard on his lips. He then leaned back immediately to his chair when he heard Alexi shout 'Yay! Kisses!'
The kiss that Thomas had given to Oliver made the latter wake up from his incredulous stare at Connor, and look helplessly at Thomas. The man placed his hand on top of Oliver's and murmured something in his ear, and it made the tension in Oliver's body to go away.
"Aw! No! I want Prince Oliver and Uncle Connor—"Fortunately for all the adults, Kevin's words were interrupted when the waiter arrived at their table to serve their desserts. The waiter placed small bowls of fruit salad for every person at the table and placed the big bowl at the center of the table, so they could refill their own bowls if they wanted another serving of fruit.
Connor, who had been dying of embarrassment and heartache, wanted to distract himself from thinking about the kiss that Oliver and Thomas shared earlier. He was not ready to see that, or better yet, he would never be ready to see Oliver loving another man. He fiddled with the spoon in his bowl, and unconsciously brought it to his lips so he could feed himself with the fruit salad.
"Connor stop!" Oliver grabbed Connor's hand that held the spoonful of fruits. "It has cherries in it," Oliver informed him in a matter of fact way, ignoring the tingle he was feeling when his hand had touched Connor's.
It was then that Connor had noticed the little red ball of fruit in his spoon. "… that was close." He muttered, and then blushed at the idea that Oliver still knew that he was allergic to cherries. He wouldn't deny that it made a summersault in his stomach when he glanced at Oliver and said thank you to him.
He was still reeling with the idea that Oliver still somehow cared for him when he was interrupted by Alexi's exclamation. "Me too! Me too! I can't eat cherries!" Alexi said, pointing at the cherries on Connor's spoon. "Papa said that I'll turn red if I eat little red fruits," she informed them, but mainly to Kevin.
Connor felt Oliver tense once again in his seat but ignored it because he wanted to intercede that eating cherries would also make his skin red, and make his face swell like he had been repeatedly stung by bees, but Alexi wasn't quite finished with his explanation.
Alexi then turned to Kevin "You can't cook little red fruits when we are married, okay?" she instructed him with full authority like they really were a couple, and then she grinned when her crush nodded his head frantically and then Kevin repeated 'No cherries' to himself.
"No! You can't marry a Walsh!" Oliver didn't mean to shout his thoughts aloud, he knew that they were just playing house, but seeing Alexi and Kevin together was so bad… in so many many ways. He didn't know; however, how his statement could shatter Connor's heart.
"I… uh… excuse me," Connor said as he stood up from his seat and ran towards the comfort room in a hurry.
Gemma was also about to stand up and comfort her brother when Oliver suddenly stood up and asked Thomas to watch Alexi for a minute, and then he strode gracefully towards the direction where Connor had run off.
He didn't know why his sentence made Connor make the same face he had seen on him when Alexi unintentionally mentioned mochi during their dinner in San Fran. He twisted the door knob and breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't need to beg Connor to open the door. He walked in the room, closed it behind him, and approached Connor who had his hands pressed on the counter sink, resting his whole weight on his arms.
"Hey…" Oliver said as a start.
"You said you already forgave me," Connor stated, his eyes still closed, and head bowed down.
"I do… I did Connor. I have forgiven you," Oliver said and slowly stepped behind Connor, noticing on the mirror in front of them that there were tears continuously dropping on the counter sink.
"Then why are you avoiding me?" Connor's head snapped upwardly, looking at Oliver's eyes through the mirror's reflection. "Why is it that whenever I take a step forward, you'll always make two steps backward. I'm really really trying to make it up to you, but I can't do it when you are always avoiding me."
"I… uh… I…"
Connor then swirled around and faced Oliver. "I know I made terrible mistakes in my life, and I know that I can't change the past… but now I have the chance to make it different… but… but you won't let me," Connor finished dejectedly.
"Con…" Oliver whispered the nickname he hasn't uttered for so many years. Oliver didn't realize that he was avoiding Connor; he just wanted to finish his business in Philadelphia without any more drama.
"Was it really hard to be associated with me again? That all Walsh are black listed from you? Fuck, Oliver, was it really horrible for Alexi and Kevin to be together because of how I treated you? They were just kids!" He grabbed Oliver's shoulder and looked him intently in the eyes. "Please Oliver look at me. I'm not the Connor of five years ago. I have changed now. Please look at that Connor now, not the Connor who made your life miserable before," Connor pleaded as tears streamed down from his eyes.
"Connor—"Oliver was about to apologize to Connor for making him feel like that, but his action was interrupted when the door of the comfort room was slammed open by a worried Gemma.
"Oliver! Alexi is—" Gemma only managed to utter three words when the two men inside the room hurriedly and frantically ran outside the public bathroom, and saw that an unconscious Alexi was being cradled by Thomas on the floor of the restaurant.
Connor didn't know what possessed him to grab Oliver's hand and rushed forward to the scene, and then without any hesitation he knelt in front of Thomas and scooped Alexi on his arms and ran towards the exit of the restaurant, with Oliver closely behind him, so they could drive to a nearby hospital quickly.
Gemma told her husband to take a cab and go home first with their son as she, together with Thomas, followed Connor's car to the hospital. The ride was awkward because it was Thomas that was supposed to be with Oliver and Alexi, not Connor who was driving urgently to the hospital. But somehow she knew that she shouldn't feel weird that Connor acted that way towards Alexi.
It was even more awkward when they arrived at the hospital and saw Oliver crying in Connor's embrace as the ex-couple watched the little girl being rolled inside the emergency room.
"Shh… it's okay… Alexi is a strong girl. She'll be okay," Connor comforted the crying Oliver in his arms.
Gemma knew that she should have been more worried about the child's health, but he couldn't help but think that something big would be unraveled as he watched from the corner of his eyes how Connor kept on comforting Oliver, and he knew that Thomas, who was standing beside her, was watching the same scene. Gemma was about to ask Thomas why it wasn't him who was the one comforting Oliver about their child when, finally, the emergency doors opened and a beautiful woman strode towards them, and all adult automatically huddled around the doctor.
It hadn't even been an hour since Connor and Oliver had first arrived at the hospital, but it really felt like it had been days that they were waiting for the doctor to exit the double doors and inform them about Alexi's condition.
"Is my baby okay?" Oliver asked Dr. Lowell frantically. "Please tell me she is okay," Oliver begged as he unconsciously pulled Connor towards him, needing a warm body to comfort him.
"She is physically fine, Mr. Hampton," Dr. Marley Rose assured him. "She just tired himself out because her body had drained her blood and lowered her blood level. She just needed a lot of rest."
"Oh thank god!" Oliver and Connor said in unison.
"But…" she started again, making the adults in the room tense again. "For the betterment of the young child's health, we need to transfer blood to your daughter so she can replenish the loss blood faster."
"I'll donate!" shouted the four adults to the doctor, all worried about the girl's health.
The doctor gave a small smile to them before continuing her explanation. "I'm sorry but only AB negative blood type can be transferred to Alexi."
"My blood is AB!" Connor exclaimed and let go of Oliver's shoulder to step forward to the female doctor.
Dr. Lowell had dealt with many anxious relatives of her patients, so it didn't bother her that they kept on interrupting her explanation. "Mr. Hampton," she addressed Oliver and looked at the sobbing man in front of her. "There had been a complication during your pregnancy with Alexi, so to prevent more risk on the girl's health, her body can only accommodate blood that is directly related to her. In other words, Mr. Hampton, non-relatives cannot donate blood." She then turned towards Connor and asked the curly man. "Are you a relative of Alexi?"
"No, I'm not." Connor said dejectedly at the same time Oliver answered the doctor. "Yes he is!"
Connor snapped his head back to face Oliver to know if he heard him right. He was dumbstruck, eyes and mouth open wide, as Oliver held his face, looked at him in the eyes, and brokenly begged with all his might.
"Connor p—please… S—save our baby… Save Mochi."
MAJOR CLIFFHANGER!
Title Reference: The Switch – Bateman found out that he was a father
Story Reference:
-the tiger onesie is Darren's costume at the end of the Teen Choice award.
-eye color referred to Oliver's glasz eyes and Connor's hazel eyes
-I don't even know if chuck e cheese is serving fruit salad. Just pretend that it did, okay?
Story Outline:
-Awkwardness with Thomas & Connor
-Dinner with Coop, Thomas, Jean & Connor
-Jean's accident
Scenes Included:
-Alexi ask Connor for help because Oliver is sick (modified)
-Allergy of Jean & Connor to Cherries
-Oliver complimenting Connor for baby skills
-Gemma's daughter with Jean
-Connor acts with fatherly instinct
-"Uncle Connor's Oliver"
Trivia: when I'm writing this, I made so many mistakes in writing Mochi name instead of Alexi. It had been really confusing for me too.
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