My Father, My Brother

It had been two months since I got my boys, and already they responded to their names, and were currently running freely around my room. Luka was halfway up my curtains, while Puzzle was exploring one of my shoes. Meanwhile, I was running around in a panic, having lost one of my white dolly shoes. Gerard knocked on my bedroom door, and I checked the rats were out of harms way before saying he could come in. I whistled, impressed, when he came in. He looked wonderful in a black suit with the crisp white shirt. His hair was now short and white blonde. He closed my bedroom door behind him and picked Puzzle up, scratching his little fuzzy head before setting him down on my bed and smiled at me.

"You look beautiful Sugar, anyone would be proud to have you as their bridesmaid." I smiled at him in my full length mirror, making sure my white sleeveless dress was flawless. My golden blonde hair had been curled delicately and a silver tiara sat atop my head. I finally located my escapee shoe under my bed, where Puzzle had dragged it. Impressive for his small size. I slipped them on over my white stockings and twirled in the mirror. I then scooped up Puzzle and took Luka down from the curtains and put them back in their cage.

"I'll be downstairs, five minutes, then we have to go." Gerard reminded me before leaving the room. I went to the bathroom and gave my teeth a last brush, then returned to my room to pick up the purse that matched my dress, and make sure I had everything. I glanced at my boys who were both staring at me. I fed them both a treat before skipping lightly down stairs to join Gerard. We then went out to the car to drive to the wedding.

*Time Elapse*

Alicia looked stunning as I followed her down the isle, along with Alicia's two friends who were also bridesmaids. Mikey stood proudly at the alter, not even trying to hide his proud grin. Gerard stood beside him, smiling at Alicia and looking proud of his little brother. I went and stood beside him when we reached Mikey and stood aside to let them say their vows and be proclaimed husband and wife. Everyone applauded when they kissed and made their way down the isle arm in arm. Gerard and I followed with everyone else behind us row by row. I wasn't really a wedding person, romance wasn't really up my street.

Gerard drove us home after the photos outside and all of the chats and congratulations, (I was happy cause I got to throw confetti at them) to get changed and ready for the after party. This was much more my thing. I was also happy cause Mikey and Alicia told me I could bring a friend to the party and I had chosen Kieran since Kayleigh was away for the weekend.

I ran upstairs to my room, immediately opening the boy's cage door and then going to pick out an outfit. The boys came out and began exploring my room while I dressed in a knee length black dress with short sleeves. I wore it with my black ankle boots and black tights, which Puzzle climbed up to sit on my shoulder while I brushed through my hair to rid it of confetti. I threw my wallet into my black and white backpack but just before I was about to put the boys back, an idea struck me. Instead of putting them back, I put their little harnesses on them opened my bag on the bed to let them both wander in and curl up in the bottom. I threw in one of my shirts so they could make a nest out of it and zipped it up, leaving a small gap so the bag was still ventilated. I put the leashes in my pocket just as Gerard knocked on my door.

"You ready Ellie? We'll have to leave in a minute if we're picking Kieran up." I opened the door and followed him out to the car, grabbing my black jacket on the way out.

Kieran was wearing gray skinny jeans and a decent cream coloured sweater when we picked him up. He jumped in the back of our car after greeting Gerard and I. Under his arm he had a wrapped gift with silver ribbon.

"Whatcha got there?" I asked, turning in my seat.

"It's 'contratulations' champagne glasses for Mikey and Liccy." He smiled.

"Aw that's nice of you Kizz." He tucked it safely under his arm.

"Why do you have your backpack for a party?"

"It's got my wallet in it." I said, perhaps a little too quickly. I thought Gerard might over react if he knew I'd stashed Puzzle and Luka in there. I pressed my hand against the bag to feel them, and knew they were sleeping cause I could feel them curled up together.

Once we were at the venue, I confessed to Gerard about having them with me.

"Ellie! What were you thinking!? What if you lose them!? They better not get near the food! Someone's gonna freak out, and I aren't taking the blame for this!" He wasn't shouting, but he had raised his voice a little and seemed genuinely frustrated with me.

"Don't worry Gee, I've got their harnesses on and I have their leashes with me; I'll keep them around my wrist I promise." He sighed and walked inside. Kizz had yet to meet the boys and he came upto me.

"You really brought rats to a wedding party? Can I see them?" I smiled and set the bag on the ground of the parking lot. Kneeling down and opening the bag, two little noses twitched out from under my shirt and they came out to see what the fuss was about. I reached in and clipped their leashes on before letting them climb up my arm and onto my shoulder before I picked my bag back up. I let Kizz hold them while I put my bag over both shoulders and let them ride up there again. I handed Kizz Luka's leash and let Luka ride on him. We must have looked an odd sight. Mikey and Alicia greeted us at the door, noticing our two little stowaways immediately.

"I see you both brought plus ones." Mikey grinned, scratching Puzzle's little head.

"Make sure they don't get near the food." Liccy laughed and petted Luka. Both little rats were loving the attention. I promised I'd keep them both well away from the buffet table and we followed them inside. Mikey pointed to where Gerard was sitting with Lyn-Z. Frank and Jamia, Ray and his girlfriend Christa and Bob and his girlfriend Katelyn were also sitting around that table. Kizz and I joined them at the two spare seats beside each other.

"Who do we have here?" Bob grinned, while Katelyn leaned away.

"Rats are so gross!" She cried and shimmied away slightly.

"I think they're cute." Ray backed me up. I about to reply when Alicia announced to everyone that the buffet was open. There were over a hundred people in this room so I allowed them all to go up and get food while I held the rats in my lap, allowing Kizz to get his too. When he returned I gave him the leashes and went for my own. I returned with two cheese sammiches, a chicken leg, two sausage rolls, and various pieces of salad. I shared all of this with my boys.

"How can you share a fork with a rat! What if they carry diseases!?" Katelyn asked, still grimacing.

"They're pet rats, they haven't ever come into contact with disease, plus I gave them a bath two days ago." I smiled at Luka, who was sitting patiently awaiting my next offering, while Puzzle was making his way through the centre of my sausage roll.

"On another, less ratty, topic. When are we releasing The Black Parade guys!?" Mikey asked, coming to sit with us. He patted down a bit of the table cloth absently.

"Well you're getting your laser eye surgery first." Frank reminded him from two seats away from me.

"Yeah but that's in two days, and I'll be fine after that!"

"Okay, how about we release it at the end of next week, then tour it next month?"

"Deal! Yes!" Mikey seemed so excited. Bless him

"Does this mean you're pulling out of school again?" Kizz asked me, the disappointment evident in his face.

"Possibly. If I'm allowed to take this tour with them it does." He sighed and sulked for a few minutes.

"So what's it like having Miss Ballato with you all the time? It feels a little weird just sitting here with her and I never see her out of school."

"Lyn-Z's great I guess. She's a good one on one teacher, and she makes Gerard happy."

"Urgh, gay." He was smiling as he said it so I let him off.

"Says the gay kid." I joked back, and he hit my arm playfully. This proved to be a big mistake. The slight jolt startled Puzzle and Luka, and they scampered down my leg and across the room before I had the chance to grab them. I froze in shock.

"A rat!" Someone screamed across the room. Gerard's head snapped to me and I couldn't even look at him as I got up and shot across the room to the screaming woman. In turn, more people began screaming, running and jumping on chairs.

"Kill it! Kill it!" A man screamed. My heart jumped into my mouth as I dropped to my knees as I crawled under the tables looking for my boys.

"No! They're pets! Don't kill them!" I cried, hoping to be heard over the chaos. I spotted Puzzle trying to climb up a metal chair leg and crawled quickly towards him, grabbing him by his harness and clutching him close to me. I glanced around quickly in search of Luka, and saw him a few metres away scurrying across the skirting board. I called his name and he came scurrying over. I lifted him up and tucked them both in my shirt, crawling away before anyone had the chance to notice me escaping with them. I quickly sat back in my chair and clipped the leashes on before people had a chance to notice that the panic was over.

"I told you this was a bad idea. I'm not taking the blame for this Ellie, this is all on you!" Gerard hissed at me, leaning over the table. My cheeks burned with humiliation, upset that I'd caused such a scene at Mikey's wedding. Mikey himself, however, was doubled over laughing at the scene. He stood up and called everyones attention.

"Guys, there's no need to panic. The rats are very friendly pets that belong to a guest and they're now back under control."

That night, in the car after we'd dropped Kieran off at home, Gerard started his lecturing again.

"You're just lucky that Mikey has the sense of humor that he does! That little stunt could have ruined their entire night. Would you really want to take the blame for that!? What the hell possessed you to bring two rats to a wedding reception!? Seriously Ellie I thought you were smarter than that." I stayed quiet as he continued to rant at me, just grateful that he'd waited until after we'd dropped Kieran off. I didn't argue with him because I knew I deserved it. His yelling at me lasted until we got home. Although I wasn't too happy cause Lindsey was coming home with us and she was sat beside Gerard up front.

"Right, when we get in I want you to get a drink then go straight to bed, no computer tonight." I signed and nodded, accepting my punishment. I knew he had the right to do so much worse. I gently picked my bag up off the car floor where my little boys were sleeping and carried them inside. I did as I was told and got a glass of water before heading upstairs; but not before I heard Lindsey tell him he shouldn't have been so hard on me. I carried the rats from my bag to their cage and closed it up before changing into my pyjamas and slipping beneath the covers once I'd fed Puzzle and Luka and got them fresh water. I hated going to sleep while Gerard was still angry with me. I fell asleep listening to the boys scuffling about in their cage, and Gerard singing softly to himself in the next room.

*Time Elapse - 3 months*

I sat on the step of the bus with Frank while he had a cigarette. I leaned against him and sighed, Gerard ran a hand through his now slightly longer black hair. Apparently Frank had told him that he looked a little gay with blonde hair and although he pretended not to care, he was back to black two days later. I hopped of the step and announced I was going to explore, leaving the two of them alone to smoke.

"Actually Ellie... there's something I wanna tell you. Both of you." Frank said, blowing out smoke as he talked. I stopped and turned, as did Gerard, waiting for him to continue.

"I proposed to Jamia." He said softly. I noticed him tense up, waiting for one of us to blow up at him. Neither of us did, I nodded slowly, then walked away to continue my plan of exploring.

Frank was getting married? Married! I kicked the closest thing to me with all my might, which happened to be an empty beer can, and it sailed away. If Frank got married, then it meant my little family would never be back together. I'd have a stepmom! I thought back to all the fairy tales I was told as a kid growing up in the orphanage, about the princess who got a wicked step mother. That was how I felt in this situation. I felt like the princess stuck in the middle, expecting Jamia to turn nasty as soon as Frank put that ring on her finger. It meant that I'd be living between two homes. One with Frank and Jamia and one with Gerard and Lindsey whenever she was over, which was pretty much all the time now.

*Gerard's POV*

"Frank, are you sure about this?" I whispered once Ellie had walked away. He nodded slowly and took another drag on his cigarette.

"Yeah I'm sure."

"What about Ellie?"

"What about her?"

"She still cries on a night Frank, she still hopes there'll be something between us again and that she can have her family back together."

"Then one of us needed to put her straight. You kicked me out remember Gerard. It was you that wouldn't take me back."

"I was hurting, but Ellie needs her dads!"

"She'll have us Gerard! Just not under the same roof." He threw his cigarette onto the grassy ground and stubbed it out before he turned and stalked back inside the bus. I heard him sigh and I didn't have to look at him to know he just ran his hand through his hair again, pushing it back. In the way that made him look all hot, flustered and... sexy. I shook my head and took a walk to Lindseys bus. She was sitting on the steps with her bass over her lap. She grinned when she looked up and saw me. Knowing now that Frank was no longer interested in getting back together, I took the plunge.

"Hey Lindsey, how do you feel about marrying me?"