My Miserable Romance

"Oh, dear god, my boys are finally home!" my mom exclaimed happily as she opened the door. She looked just the same with her dyed blonde hair, hazel eyes and small, thin body. She hasnt aged a bit, even though I haven't seen her in a year. "You look so different...! What happend to your face?"
"My face?" I asked, confused. What about my face?
"You look so handsome! I haven't seen you like this in years" she fondly and patted me on the cheek. "Got yourself a boyfriend that takes good care of you, I guess?"
"Actually, yes" I laughed and gave her a big hug. "I've missed you"
"I've missed you too, son. And don't you dare making this a habit! I know that you have a lot going on now when you're famous, but if I won't see you until next year I have to start stalking you"
"Ah, don't you worry about that. I'll get over on my birthday to pick up my presents"
"Hold on to that attitude and you won't get any!" she laughed. "Where's your brother?"
"Here!" Mikey squealed and jumped up infront of her. "Hi mom!"
"Hi Micheal!" she laughed at his excitement and gave him a hug. "You haven't changed a bit, I see"
"Ha, she said that I was more handsome but you just look the same" I teased and Mikey smirked at me.
"That's because I can't get anymore handsome, dumbass. You looked like shit one year ago so of course you're more handsome than before"
"Aw, you're both handsome. I've missed your stupid arguments... Well, come in, come in!" mom said and opened the door even more to let us in. Frank had been standing behind me, so my mom had apparently not seen him yet.

"We brought Frankie too, if you don't mind. I didn't want him to stay home all alone" I said and smiled at Frank, knowing that he felt really uncomfortable with "intruding" our family during such an important holiday. Important, my ass. We never invited any relatives over at christmas, we just spent time with each other, me, Mikey, mom and dad. That's how we always had done and that's how we wanted it to stay - I mean, Frank's okay and we use to invite grandma too, but otherwise we had our own, cosy evening.

"Pffh!" my mom snorted. "You're always welcome here and you know it"
"Thank's Mrs Way" Frank beamed and gave her a hug. "Merry christmas"
"Merry christmas to you too, sweetie. How's life?"
"Good. Great. Actually, it's awesome"
"So things are good between you and Lisa? I've always liked that girl, she's so down to Earth " mom said without noticing the quick glance Frank gave me.
"Uh no, we're not together anymore. She dumped me like... Eight months ago"
"But of course no one cares to fill me in! Oh well, come on in, your father's just upstairs. I told him to get changed one hour ago but of course he couldn't do that, he had to watch some stupid football game first"
"Football's not stupid, mom" Mikey laughed and pushed himself through the door, disappearing inside.
"Oh right. Grown-ups kicking around a ball, that's very mature" she sighed.
"I agree with you" I said and sympathically patted her on the cheek like she had done to me a few minutes ago. "Let's go inside, it's freezing out here"
Mom gave me a weird and confused look before gesturing for us to go inside. Their house hasnt changed at all, which was kind of a relief. So much had changed this year, so this was like a sanctuary for me.

"Hello son! Long time no see, ey?" my dad said and embraced Mikey. "Your band is on the cover to every damn magazine in the city, you have no idea of how many paparazzis that have been here, wanting us to tell them about your childhood and stuff"
"Just tell them to fuck off" Mikey laughed. "And don't you dare tell them anything embarrassing that I've done!"
"We'll see about that" dad grinned. "And I saw you on Ntv!"
"You mean, Mtv?"
"Uh... Ntv, Mtv, Stv, whatever! It was on that music channel anyway"
"Yeah, Mtv. We made a live performance there. That must've been our worst show ever"
"I thought it was good though... But I've never known too much about music" dad said and then he saw me standing in the doorway to the living room. "Ah, Gerard!"
"Hi dad" I said and walked up to him. "How've you been doing?"
"Just fine, just fine" he said and waved in the air, as to show me just how fine he had been. "What about you? I read somewhere that you've stopped drinking, is that true?"
"Yeah" I said and laughed. "But really, stop reading articles about us, I don't want you to know what we do on tour"
"So you've done some stuff that you're embarrassed about?"
"No, but it's freaking me out to know that my father's reading teenage magazines"
"I don't read them! Just the pages that your band's in"
"But still, don't. If you wanna know something, just call, okay?"
"I guess that's a bit more normal, so okay, I will. But you should know that I will definately stand up for you if they accuse for something you havent done"
"I can live with that" I smiled. My dad had always been very protective, but not in a bad way. Or well, when I was a teenager I thought that he was being way too nosy, but who's parents's not? I turned around when I heard Frank enter the room and my dad quickly walked up to him and gave him a hug.
"Merry christmas, Iero!"
"Merry christmas, Way!" Frank laughed. "Mikey, your cellphone's ringing"
"Where is it?" Mikey asked him as he felt in his pockets.
"In your coat"
"Ah, thanks" he said and ran out in the hall just as my mom appeared in the doorway.
"Where's he going? Food's ready"
"Don't worry, he'll be back soon" I assured her. "Frankie, I'll show you to the dining room"
"Gee, I'm quite sure I know where the dining room is" he laughed and I gave him a knowing look. "Or wait, I think I've forgotten..."
My mom looked at us with a smile and I silently wondered if she knew what was up. I shrugged it off, took Frank in the arm and led him to the dining room, which was in the other side of the hall.
"Nothing has changed in here" he said and looked around in the room, which only had a big table and eight chairs surrounding it.
"I know" I said and wrapped my arm around his waist. "Feels good to know that something will always stay the same"
"Changes can be good though" he said and turned his head to look at me.
"Well, I consider you to be quite a good change in my life"
"That's nice to hear"
I laughed and bent down to kiss him, but jumped away when I heard someone cough in the background. I spun around and sighed in relief when I saw that it was just Mikey, but got worried again when I saw his face. His eyes were red by tears but he looked happier than he's ever done before.
"What happend?" I asked, referring to the call he got, assuming that it has to be the reason of his facial expression.
"I... Gee, I'm... I..." he said but was unterrupted by his own hysterical laughter. "She called... I still can't believe it..." he continued as he slumped down on a chair. My parents entered the room, but stopped as soon as they saw Mikey.
"Micheal! Why are you crying, son?" dad asked but Mikey just laughed.
"I'm fine! My girlfriend just called... I... I'm gonna be a father!"
The room fell silent and we all just stared at him. He beamed at us and then jolted up from the chair.
"I'm gonna have a son! Or a daughter, I don't know... I can't believe it!"
When the shock had finally disappeared, both Frank and I jumped at him, hugging and screaming our congratulations and he happily hugged back.
"I'm gonna be an uncle!" I shrieked. "Wiie, I'll be the best uncle ever!"
"I'll be a grandma!" my mom laughed and ran up to hug Mikey as well.
"And I'll be a grandpa!"
"I'm sorry y'all, but I have to go and see Annie, I hope you all understand" Mikey said, clearly feeling bad for leaving his family at christmas.
"No, not at all" I said and gaved him one last hug. "Tell her I said hi"
"Hey, tell her we all said hi!" Frank laughed and a few seconds later, Mikey were out the door. "That was... unexpected"
"Well, sorry to snap you out of your bliss, but dinner's served" mom announced and I could tell that she was trying to calm us down even though she was just as excited. I mean, shit... My brother's going to be a father!