If your heart stops beating

~*Frank’s Point of view*~

Two weeks later, while I was visiting Alec, Cheryl walked in, leading Katie by the hand. I was slightly surprised by Cheryl’s appearance- she was redheaded, with brilliant blue eyes and pale skin. She also had a rather upturned nose and a handful of freckles across her face. When she saw me, she stopped and stared, blinking.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Frank. Frank Iero.” I stood up and offered her my hand, which she shook.
“Ah. Carson talks – talked, I should say – about you a lot.”
“Did he now?”
“Yes. Not all of it was flattering.” It was clear she was not a woman who thought very carefully about the effects of her words.
“Anyway, I’m here to see Alec.”
I smiled and stepped aside.
“Hello Alec.”
His response was monosyllabic.
“Hi.”
“Oh, come on now, that wasn’t very enthusiastic. You’re going to have to be a bit more polite if you’re going to be coming back to Oregon with us.”
Alec gave me a meaningful look, and I realised now was the right time to speak up.
“Um, Ms...”
“Linton. But, please, call me Cheryl.”
“Okay, Cheryl. I’m afraid Alec isn’t going back to Oregon with you.”
Her eyes widened.
“He’s not? But Carson said-”
“You guys weren’t married. You’re not my legal guardian.” Alec spoke confidently.
“Oh, sweetie, but your father said-”
“What are you going to do about it? You’re not my legal guardian, I have no next of kin- I’m open for custody. I’m currently classified as an orphan. Frank’s going to apply for custody, then there’ll be a court hearing and an inspection of his home and neighbourhood to make sure he’s a good person, responsible and everything, and then, if there are no hitches, he’ll be granted custody and I’m his.”
Cheryl looked slightly bewildered. Katie, meanwhile, had grabbed my hand and was inspecting the letters on my fingers. She turned my hand over, looking for the rest of the word, and when it didn’t appear, she ran around me and grabbed the other one, read the letters, then tried to put them together, mouthing the word. Then she looked up at me, pride written all over her face.
“You have HALLOWEEN on your hand!”
I laughed.
“I know I do.”
Alec sighed and rolled his eyes.
“She’s really immature, for eight. Sometimes she acts more like six. She’s midgety too.”
Katie turned around, glaring at Alec.
“I am not midgety!”
“Are so.”
“Am not.”
“Are so.”
“Am not!”
Katie obviously didn’t understand the meaning of the word immature.
“Okay, break it up.”
Alec stopped and looked at me.
“Hey, Frank... I didn’t think of something.”
“What?”
“What about Katie? Are you going to get Katie as well?”
Cheryl gasped and bent down to throw her arms around Katie.
“Please don’t. I love her so much. She’s all I have left.”
I looked from Alec to Cheryl to Katie. Katie was looking around, completely lost. Then realisation dawned on her and she turned to Cheryl.
“Is that man going to take Alec away?”
Cheryl’s response was fierce.
“Not if I can help it.”
I looked at Alec.
“Do you want to be with your sister? If you do, I can’t really... well, I mean, she and Cheryl want to be together, and I can’t take a little girl and put her in a house with five guys-”
“Five guys?” Cheryl sounded incredulous.
“Yeah, five guys. Me and my band-mates.”
Alec grinned.
“Oh, no, I wouldn’t want to make her unhappy. It’s ok, she can stay with Cheryl. We never used to see each other except in the school holidays anyway.”
Cheryl frowned.
“This isn’t over. I’m going to keep Carson’s family together, and I will fight tooth and nail to keep Alec with us.”
I smiled pleasantly at her.
“What you seem to be missing, dear lady, is that I will too.”