My Chemical War

~One Month Later~ ~POV: Gerard~
“Hey, good to see ya up and about,” Bob said as I walked up with Mikey to the table. Marissa, Frank, and Ray was with him. Marissa looked as if she could pop any day now.

“Hey girl,” I said to her, hugging her gently.

“Hey Gee, how you feeling?” she asked, wrapping on arm around my neck.

“A little busted up still, but nothing to bad.” I admitted. “You look like that kid can come at any time,” I commented.

“I hope so, she’s killing my back.” Marissa winced as she rubbed her lower back, taking in deep breaths and letting them out slowly.

“You don’t want her out too soon,” Mikey pointed out.

“True,” she shrugged. I looked over at Frank, who hasn’t looked up from the table since I got here.

“Hey Frankie, I’m alive!” I exclaimed, trying to get him to at least smile. He did smile, but it wasn’t filled with humor, more bitterness. “What’s up?” I asked him, as he let his head fall.

“I don’t know, he’s been like this since last night. He got a phone call, but he won’t tell me anything.”

“I-I wanted you all here to hear what is going on,” he finally muttered. “The call was from the United States Army. The president gave permission to draft people to the army, meaning they have no choice but to join.”

“Okay, what does…” Ray started, but I didn’t hear the rest.

“They can’t do that, not now.” I said. “You have a kid coming any day now.”

“I know,” Frank whispered, her voice cracking.

“Frankie, what?” Marissa asked, looking between the two of us.

“They drafted me Rissy. I have no choice, I leave on the next bus to Florida for combat training in two days.” Marissa’s hand flew to her mouth in horror.

“They can’t do that,” she muttered, tears springing to her eyes and down her cheeks. “N-no,” she stood up from the table as fast as her stomach allowed her too and rushed for the bathrooms.

“Marissa!” Frank called, following after her. There was silence from the table as everyone absorbed what Frank just said.

“He’s being forced into a war, with his baby coming any day now, what is wrong with this government?” Mikey asked, shaking his head gravely.

“I don’t know Mikes,” I replied, picking at the napkin in front of me.

~POV: Frank~
“Rissa,” I said, knocking on the bathroom door. She came back out, her face pale and shock in her eyes. She looked down, so I followed her gaze. Her jeans was soaked through, even dripping onto the floor.

“Frankie, my water just broke,” She muttered, fear in her eyes. My heart completely froze as I realized what this meant.

“Let’s go,” I said, grabbing her hand.

“Guys, we gotta go!” I called to the others. They looked confused, but when Marissa stopped in the doorway and started panting, they knew what was going on right away.

“Her water broke?” Bob asked as he helped me get her to my car.

“In the bathroom,” I replied, rushing to the driver’s side. Grabbing my keys, I took off the key to mine and Marissa’s house and handed it to Mikey. “Go to our place, in our closet is a suitcase, grab it and bring it to the hospital.” I told him. He nodded and he and Gerard took off right away. Ray and Bob got into their own cars and took off as well.

“She’s coming baby,” I said to Marissa. Marissa smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes like all her other smiles have. She was scared, not only of the baby coming, but of what I was forced to tell her.

“Oh well, at least you get to be here when she’s born.” Marissa whispered.

“Yeah, I get to see my baby girl being born.” I agreed, grabbing her hand. Driving as fast and as carefully as I could, we made it to the hospital in record time, but somehow, Mikey and Gerard beat us there.

“Thanks so much you guys,” I said, taking the bag from Mikey. Marissa was in a wheelchair, getting ready to be taken to the maternity ward. Mikey and Gerard was forced to wait in the waiting room for now, so Marissa could relax and prepare for the long road ahead of her.

~POV: Ray~
“Hey, anything yet?” I asked Mikey as I walked into the waiting room. Mikey shook his head, rubbing his tired eyes. He had been here since they got here, which was probably about seven hours ago.

“Dude, go home,” I said. “I’ll be here for a while.”

“I’m fine,” Mikey said. “Gerard went to get coffee for the both of us.” Just then, Gerard walked back into the room, carrying a tray with three cups of coffee.

“Oh, hey Ray.” he said, handing Mikey his cup. “I got this for Frank, so I’ll be right back,” he said, taking the last cup down the hall.

“This is so fucked up,” I muttered, looking around me.

“We should be celebrating the arrival of a new Iero, not wondering if our best friend will be coming home to us or not,” Mikey agreed with a sigh.

“You know, I keep forgetting you’re 21, you act older.”

“Thanks,” Mikey muttered, a small smile forming on his lips. The smile vanished as soon as it appeared though.

“At least he’s getting to see his daughter being born before he leaves,” I said as Gerard came back in.

“That’s all their worrying about right now, is that Frank gets to see his little girl before he goes,” Gerard said, sitting next to Mikey.

“Yeah, but how long will it be before he gets to see her again?” Mikey asked. “It could be months, years before he can see her, hold her, again.”

“Yeah, but you know Marissa will make sure she knows her father. You have to think Mikes, Marissa never knew her father. Her father died in a war. She won’t keep the baby from knowing anything about Frank because she doesn’t want her daughter going through what she had to.”

“That’s true,” Mikey muttered. “It’s just stupid we have to be preparing for Frank to leave.”

“Believe us, we know,” I said as Frank walked into the room.

“Hey Ray, when did you get here?” he asked, rubbing his tired and red eyes.

“No too long ago, just a few minutes,” I replied. “How’s things going in there?”

“Could be better, but I’m not complaining,” Frank answered as he sat down next to me. “Marissa’s asleep so I came out here to stretch my legs a little.”

“Yeah, better get that time in now, because what you’ve been through isn’t the half of it,” Gerard said. “Believe me, I was in the room when Mom had Mikey.”

“No you weren’t,” Mikey piped up.

“How do you know?” Gerard asked his little brother. Mikey looked uncertain for a minute before closing his mouth and walking from the group. I knew he was going to call his mother to find out if Gerard had in fact been in the room when Mikey was born. I laughed as Frank and Gerard did when Frank stood back up.

“Better get back in there,” he groaned. “I’ll come back out either when I have a minute, or when she arrives.” Gerard and I both nodded and watched as Frank left the room.

“Things are so fucked up,” Gerard muttered as he watched our best friend leave.

“Tell me about it,” I muttered back, shaking my head darkly. “How you doing bro?”

“I’m fine Mikey, just worried about Frank. No pain, no nightmares, nothing.” I just nodded my head and let the subject drop.

~POV: Frank~
“That’s it Marissa, push,” I said gently as Marissa’s body tightened up even more. She groaned as she bore down, and screamed as the nurses and doctors rushed into action.

“Okay, one more good push and you’ll have her out,” the doctor said. Marissa took in a deep breath and gave the longest, hardest push so far, and she relaxed so suddenly, I would of panicked if I hadn’t of looked up.

There in the doctor’s hands was my beautiful baby girl. She was tiny, red as a beet, and wrinkled more than her grandma Linda, but she was still beautiful and it took my breath away looking at her.

“She’s beautiful,” I said to Marissa as the doctor placed the small little girl in my wife’s arms. Marissa cried as she looked from the baby to me. I couldn’t stop the tears from escaping my eyes either.

“At least you got to see her before you left,” Marissa said, smiling up at me.

“Yeah, this is the best day, but in two days it’s going to be the worst one.” I muttered, letting my head hang as I thought of the hell I will soon be put through. I didn’t want to have to leave my wife and daughter, but I knew I didn’t have a choice. I had to leave them, and I had to make sure I survived whatever they put my through so I can come home to them.

~POV: Bob~
“They had a little girl, they’re naming her Asia Nichole Iero.”

“That’s pretty,” I nodded my agreement.

“I guess they’re nicknaming her Annie because of her initials. ANI.” Gerard spoke up in the background.

“That makes sense,” I muttered as my brother walked into the house carrying the mail. “Hey I gotta go, tell them I said congratulations and I’ll be over a little later.” I said. Nathan flipped through the mail, and stared at one letter for a long time.

“What’s that?” I asked him, walking up behind him. He looked up at me with wide eyes filled with anger.

“How could you?” he demanded, throwing the mail on the floor before running up the stairs. I heard his bedroom door slam as I bent to look through the envelopes. There was one that caught my attention automatically. It was from the United States Army and it read “confidential” across the front. Looking up toward the stairs where Nate had disappeared, I opened the envelope, and my heart completely froze. Grabbing the phone from the table I placed it on, I quickly dialed the Gerard and Mikey’s home number.

“Hello?” a female voice answered.

“Mrs. Way, this is Bob Bryar, is Gerard or Mikey there?” I asked. I remembered Gerard saying he and Mikey was heading home after they visited Marissa and Frank for a while.

“Gerard!” Donna shouted. Gerard’s voice came from the phone a second later.

“Hey, we just got done talking,” Gerard answered the phone with.

“I know, something just came up.” I said, staring at the letter still in my hand. “Frank’s not the only one leaving tomorrow,” I breathed.

“What are you talking about?”

“I just got a letter today, I’m supposed to be on the bus too. Gee, I was drafted into the army as well.”