We Will Never Be the Same

Vic ~

“Aw, look how cute these are,” Kellin said and held up a pair of socks. They were tiny and covered in little cats. “Mhm,” I smiled at him, watching as he picked out all of the little outfits. His mom had said to get all different sizes of clothes because she would grow quicker than we could buy stuff for her.
“Your mom said to get at least one pack of diapers and baby stuff,” I said to him. “Why? She won't even be born for another four or so months,”
I shrugged lightly. “Maybe so we can stock up our baby shelter,” Kellin laughed and put a set of baby onesies into the cart.
“Your mom did say we could paint, right?” Kellin nodded and pulled the cart along behind himself. We had gotten a lot of stuff already, and it wasn’t even half of what we needed. Thank god we still had time to buy all of this.
“Do you think we should stop for today?” Kellin asked. “We already have a lot,” I nodded, Kellin turning around to smile at me. Kellin's mom had offered to get some of the more expensive things for us, if we bought the car seat. She was going to come with us after we had painted everything so that we could pick out a crib, changing table, and a mini dresser. “Okay,” I pushed the cart while Kellin walked beside me up to the register.
The cashier looked at us funny as she started ringing it up, probably wondering why two boys were buying baby stuff. It wasn’t really hard to see Kellin's baby belly now, but people still found it strange.
“Um, sixty-eight, fifty-seven,” the girl said after ringing all of it up. The boy at the end of the lane bagged all of the things up as I paid, using the twenty Kellin had given me.
Kellin put them back into the cart and then looked at me. I smiled and put my wallet away. I pushed the cart for him again, smiling as Kellin followed me out to my car. “Baby, you have to unlock the car,” Kellin said, standing beside the trunk. I smiled and unlocked it for him, helping him put the bags into it.
Kellin got in the car then, waiting for me while I put the cart back into the return. I got in and smiled at him, leaning over to press a kiss to his lips.
“Do you think we could make Mike help us paint?” he asked. “We don’t have a ladder, and there’s no way either of us could reach the top of the walls.”
I laughed and nodded. “Call him for me?” I asked. Kellin nodded and laughed too as he tried to wiggle my phone out of my pocket.
He finally got it free and called Mike, putting it on speaker phone. He rested his arm on the separator between our seats, holding my phone up for me.
“What?” Mike asked, instead of a hello. “Where are you?” I asked back. “At home, why?” Kellin leant closer to me, crossing one of his legs over the other.
“Could you come over to Kellin's?” I asked. “Why? What do you want?” I laughed lightly. “Could you help us paint?” Mike groaned quietly.
“Why can’t you find another Mexican to do your slave labor?” he whined, making Kellin and I both laugh. “Because Copeland wants to see you,” Kellin said for me.
“She keeps kicking,” I grinned and turned onto our street. “I’ll even pick you up,” Mike sighed and agreed. Kellin hung up for me, and then we carried all of the bags inside.
We left them on the floor before I went to pick up Mike. “Hey,” I said, walking in without knocking. “Hi. Mom, I’m going to Vic’s,” he called. She peeked her head into the kitchen and smiled.
“Hi honey. How are you?” she asked and held her arms out for me. “Good. I’m stealing Mike to make him paint for me,” she laughed and kissed both of my cheeks.
“That’s nice sweetie. Are you doing the baby’s room?” I nodded and smiled. “Yeah, Kellin and I just bought all of the paint, so we want to get it done and dried. Kellin's mom offered to buy the crib and stuff, and we want to get it put together as soon as possible,”
She nodded and hugged me again. “You should bring Kellin over sometime. I miss you, and I’d love to see Kellin again,” she said. “Sure mom. Whenever I get another day off. And tell dad I said hi. He’s never here when I am,”
Mom laughed and nodded. “Well, you two get going,” she said. I smiled and opened the door, following after Mike. He got into the passenger side, ignoring his seatbelt.
“So what color did you pick?” he asked. “Purple. Kellin wanted to do gender neutral colors,” He nodded a little and smiled.
“That sounds just like him,” I laughed and nodded too. “Yeah, but it’s a sweet idea. I like that he wants her to be whatever she wants,”
We pulled up outside the house, Mike following me inside. Kellin was in Copeland’s room, stirring the paint around. He looked up and smiled. “Hi Mike,” he said.
“Hey,” I helped Kellin up, knowing he wouldn’t be able to stand by himself. “So purple, huh?” he asked.
“It’s lilac, actually,” Mike rolled his eyes and picked up the roll of painter’s tape. “Do you have, like, a stepladder?” Mike asked. “I can reach, but not enough for it to be precise,”
I nodded and went to get the little ladder that Kellin's mom said. It was only a three step ladder, and even with it, Kellin and I couldn’t reach.
I set it down for him and then picked up one of the paint rollers. Kellin picked up another roll of tape and lined the walls and frames that he could reach with it.
He picked up a small brush then and sat down, painting the one corner. “What do you think?” he asked and turned around to look at me.
“It’s pretty. I like it,” He smiled happily and turned back to continue painting. I started painting beside him while Mike moved around us to tape up the rest of the parts of the walls that Kellin hadn’t been able to reach. We painted quietly for a while before Mike turned on some music on his phone.
“Do you have your music?” Kellin asked and leant back to look at him. “Uh, yeah, why?” He smiled lightly. “Because Copeland likes it. I play it for her all the time,”
Mike laughed a little at that and started painting. We did that for a while, just painting quietly while listening to our own music.
“Vic? Can you help me up please?” Kellin asked and held his hands out. I nodded and set my roller down to take both of his hands.
I pulled him up, getting a little kiss as a thank you. He started painting above his other spot. I kissed his hair, wrapping my arms around him.
Both of my hands rested on his stomach, and I grinned, feeling Copeland kicking lightly. I kept kissing his neck playfully and making him giggle.
“Mike,” Kellin said and moved around in my arms to see him. “Come here,” Mike raised an eyebrow, but walked over, setting his paint roller down.
“Feel,” Kellin took both of his hands, resting them on the middle of his stomach. His mouth fell open as he felt her kick. “Aw, that’s so cool,” Kellin grinned and moved one of his hands slightly. “Does she do that all the time?” He nodded and leant back against me.
“She’s so little,” Kellin's mom walked into the room then, smiling as she saw us. “The color looks really good,” she said.
Kellin grinned at that. “Thanks. Vic picked the shade,” His mom smiled and nodded.
Mike moved his hands back and smiled again. “That’s probably the coolest thing I’ve ever felt,” he said. “Right? It’s incredible,” I said.
Kellin laughed quietly and rubbed his stomach. “She must be really happy,” he said. “She keeps kicking,” His mom nodded a little.
“You were like that too. You were always either moving or sleeping,” Kellin laughed and nodded again. “She sleeps really well when Vic sings to her. Or when you just keep your hands there for a while,” he said to me.
I smiled and pressed my hands to his stomach gingerly. I could feel Copeland moving, her little hands and feet kicking. She settled a little with my hands there and then moved to lie where my hand was sitting on the side of his tummy. “I love you,” I said and kissed Kellin's jaw. Copeland moved again as I spoke.
“See? She loves you so much,” Kellin said to me and kissed me once. I grinned and hugged him, finally letting go to pick my brush back up.
Kellin picked up one of the unused brushes and dipped it into the white paint. I helped him ease onto the floor, and smiled as he started painting the frame white.
“Mike, are you staying for dinner?” his mom asked. “Um, probably not. Thank you though,” She nodded and kissed his cheek.
“Well then, what do you two want for dinner?” she asked. “Pizza,” His mom sighed and rested her hands on her hips. “Kellin, pizza isn’t a healthy food. Besides, you know it’ll make you sick,”
He whined quietly. “No it won't,” he whined. “Yes it will baby. How about some chicken and dumplings?” He looked up at her, his expression hilarious.
“Why did you ask me what I wanted if you already had something planned?” he asked. “I didn’t have anything planned. I figured I would ask you first. But then I remembered that we still have that chicken breast in the fridge.”
Kellin nodded a little and sighed. “Okay,” I laughed a little and continued to paint. “Well, alright then. We’ll have that. I’ll let you know when it’s done. And Kellin, I want you to take breaks. Don’t overwork yourself, okay?”
He nodded slightly. “Yes mom,” she laughed as she left the room. “You’re adorable,” Mike said to Kellin, making him laugh. “Thanks,” I laughed and leant down to kiss his hair once. “Love you honey,” I said. “Love you too,” ~