Death-Wish Kids

Mitchell and Noah were watching a movie in the living room when I heard Frank and Mikey pull up in the driveway. My dad called out to us from the kitchen, calling out the color of the car in front of our house.

"It's Mikey's older brother!" I called back to him, remembering that Gerard's car was the only blue one parked outside their house when I was there.

From her room, Ryder shouted something that I couldn't make out. Before I'd even gotten to the front door from the couch, she was racing to the window, practically pressing her nose against the glass as she tried to catch a glance at the twenty year old she'd heard so much about.

I shoved her shoulder away from the door so she'd get out of the way. "Knock it off," I demanded, "You're going to freak my friends out."

She backed away from the window with her bottom lip jutted out. "He drove off too quickly," she grumbled, crossing her arms as Mikey and Frank made their way up the narrow path to the door, "I couldn't even get a glimpse of him."

"Good," I stated, brushing past her, "If he saw you staring out the window at him he'd think you're mental." I pulled the wooden door open and smiled at my friends through the glass door.

Ryder peered over my shoulder at them. I elbowed her in the side before she could say anything. The glass was thick enough that the boys wouldn't be able to hear, but I didn't know how well they could read lips.

She backed off as I pushed open the second door. "Hey, guys," I greeted, putting my hands in my pockets as they walked through the door, their eyes glancing around at the people in the room.

I snuck a look at Mitchell, who was turned around towards us on the couch, the movie paused as he waited and Noah held Micah.

"Cyren!" Frank greeted, immediately brightening my mood with his excited one. He walked over and bumped his arm against mine as he spoke, "Where's the party?"

I smiled easily and waved a hello to Mikey. "You made it," I greeted, not looking towards the kitchen as my dad walked through the swinging door.

Mikey's eyes moved towards my dad as he replied. "Yeah, Gee brought us over since my mom was in the middle of some parent thing."

"It was some club where all the moms get together and read some steamy romance novel so they can pretend they don't spend their lives cooking dinner and changing diapers," Frank added, grinning as he spoke - picking on Donna even though she wasn't in the room.

"Hey now," my dad spoke up with a smile on his face as he walked closer, "No picking on the parents."

"Or what, Dad?" Ryder questioned sarcastically from the bottom of the stairs, "You'll stop letting us be your guinea pigs for your new recipes?"

Dad turned towards her and gave her a playful look. "You should feel honored that you get to eat my food before anyone else."

Noah handed Mitchell the baby quickly, unsteadily, and raced around the couch and straight into our dad. "That's not even food!" he shouted, pretending to punch him, "It's gross!"

Mikey and Frank automatically stepped back a foot as my dad lifted Noah upside down, the boy's feet flying into the air as he whipped around. Noah screamed loudly and grabbed onto Dad's shirt, begging for the man not to drop him.

"Sorry," I whispered to Mikey and Frank, pushing my dad back as Noah kicked his feet, "They're a bit insane."

Noah landed on his knees on the ground, looking as offended as an eleven year old little brother could. "I'm not insane!" he shouted, pushing himself up to his feet. He looked between our dad and me. "Right?"

"Right!" Dad agreed, pulling him back towards him, "But we should let Cy and her friends hang out for a little while." He offered the guys and I a smile.

I smiled back. I turned to the guys and pointed at Noah. "Frank, Mikey, this is my little brother, Noah. Noah, this is Mikey and Frank." I pointed to each of them as Noah smiled a wide, dimpled smile.

I tried to move away, but before I could lead the boys even an inch, Noah had grabbed onto both of their wrists and was trying to drag them towards the stairs. "Do you guys wanna see my room!?" he asked loudly, managing to get them to move a couple feet in that direction, "It's Star Wars!"

"Noah, nobody-"

"Yeah, of course!" Frank interrupted, sounding more enthusiastic than was possible to fake. He pulled his wrist from my brother and grabbed Mikey's jacket sleeve.

I watched with my mouth slightly parted in surprise as the three of them clambered up the stairs and disappeared from sight. My dad hummed in acknowledgement behind me.

"What was that?" I questioned, glancing around to the gazes of the people in the room.

Ryder stood leaning against the banister, her arms crossed. "Looks like our little brother just stole your friends," she commented, glancing at the empty steps.

"I'll get them," Dad said. He walked between us to get up the stairs.

When he was out of sight, Ryder lazily walked over and wrapped am around around my shoulders. She pulled me over towards Mitchell and Micah, who were still on the couch.

"What do you want, Ryder?" I questioned, pulling away from her grasp, "I don't want to hear anything about Gerard or my friends."

"I wasn't going to say anything about them," she defended, holding her hands up in the arm like there was a gun pointed right at her, "I was just going to let you know that I'm glad you've got someone interested in you who's worthy of your attention."

I rolled my eyes at the Mitchell-directed jab and reached for my son. "Just leave us alone, Ryder." Mitchell got to his feet and side-stepped my sister when I motioned for him to follow me.

I made it to the top of the stairs just as Mikey and Frank came walking out of Noah's room with my dad on their heels. Frank started on about how cool Noah's themed room was and Mikey smirked at the rant.

Frank went quiet when Mitchell appeared by my side, seeming to tower over me as he stood up tall, his hands folded under his arms.

I glanced between the three boys nervously while my dad slid tromped down the stairs and left us alone. I moved Micah to my other arm and took a step towards Mikey and Frank. "Guys," I started, gently rubbing Micah's back, "This is Mitchell, Mitchell, this are my friends, Frank and Mikey."

"Nice to meet you," Mikey said politely, smiling at the tall boy next to me.

Frank stared hard at him, his eyes darting between Mitchell and Micah. Just before the atmosphere got awkward again, he spoke up, a finger pointed towards Micah. "I was expecting you to look more like that," he admitted, eyebrows raised, "But I guess we really won't know until Micah gets past the baby fat and drool stage."

"Yeah, I don't really know where all the chub came from," I replied, rubbing my thumb against Micah's cheek.

"He'll out grow it," Mitchell stated, sounding sure of himself, "It's just a little baby fat."

I nodded, agreeing silently before I changed the subject. "Well, do you guys want to go start another movie? I'm sure my dad will let us kick Noah out of the living room just as long as we're not in my room."

Mikey nodded easily but Frank walked up next to me and raised his eyebrows. "You already have the baby," he muttered, "What else could happen?"

"That's what I said!" I stated loudly, grinning as I stopped on the stairs to high-five the short boy, "But I guess my dad just doesn't want another one around."

Frank looked offended. "Come on, Cy, you have to admit that a baby Iero would be the cutest damn thing you'd ever see."

Mikey slapped Frank's arm when the curse slipped out. Frank apologized quickly but was back to the subject of baby Frank within seconds.

"I mean, these eyes and this face in miniature form? Baby Iero would be so cute that your head would explode just by looking at him," he exclaimed, shaking his head like the idea was unbelievable.

Mikey chuckled. "I feel bad for what ever girl has to have your baby in the future."

Frank shoved his shoulder roughly. Mikey laughed as he caught his balance. "Shut up, Man," Frank demanded, glaring at the lanky boy, "At least I'll get a girl someday. You'll be forced to live in the basement with your brother."

"Please," Mikey replied, shaking his head at his best friend as he stepped down the last stair, "Gerard will be out of that house before either of us can blink. His girlfriend is already talking about them getting a place together."

Frank turned to me and shook his head. "Gee's not going to go for that," he said directly to me, glancing at the other two, "He won't even call her his girlfriend. There's no way he'll move in with the chick."

"Commitment issues?" I offered as I plopped down on the couch next to Noah and grabbed for the remote with my free hand. The three of them each found their own spots while Noah shouted for me to put his movie back on.

"Noah, get lost," Dad directed as he 'randomly' walked through the living room, his eyes ghosting over the four of us as Frank skimmed through the movies on the shelf below the TV. Noah poutingly pushed himself off of the cushion and raced into the kitchen.

"Thanks," I called back to him, laughing as Frank began to pluck movie after movie off the shelf. "We're not going to have time for all those!" I laughed, swinging my foot towards his growing pile, "You can't live here."

Frank's eyes widened as if he'd just got a great idea. He slowly turned to look at my dad and put a huge Cheshire grin on his face. "So... Elliot..." he trailed off, covering his hands as he laughed.

"Sorry, Frank," dad replied, leaning on the back of the couch, "You seem like a good kid. But thanks to this little man," he mused Micah's hair, "We don't have any room for you."

Frank neatened his movie pile. "That's alright," he replied, "I'm sure Mikey would miss me too much if I started spending all my time here instead with him and Gerard." He stuck his tongue out at Mikey when the lanky boy lazily rolled his eyes.

"I'll talk to you guys later..." Dad trailed off as something crashed from him kitchen, "I've got to go see what trouble my son is getting into."

"Don't kill him!" I called as he hurried away, "It's just a kitchen! You can buy another. You only get one Noah!" I chuckled as I heard my dad's angry words directed towards my trouble-making younger brother.

As Frank and Mikey tried to narrow it down to just one movie, I carefully laid Micah on the cushion next to me and folded my legs under me. Mitchell sat on the chair next to the TV but his eyes were on me instead.

In the past, he'd never seen me with my own friends before. Mostly because I didn't have any worth letting cheat off me let alone spending time with. He sat with his elbow resting on the chair and his fingers twirling a curl absent-mindedly.

"Mitchell, why don't you tell them about school in Florida," I encouraged, trying to be nice to him since it seemed he was so out of his element here.

Frank and Mikey glanced to him as he leaned back in his chair, emanating an aura that said he was noticeably uncomfortable. "Sure," he replied with a shrug, "Although I'm sure it's not much different than here."

"It's a lot different," I stated, holding back a cringe as I recalled all the time I'd wasting pretending to belong in Florida.

"We're watching this one!" Frank shouted, holding up a blue and yellow case with a name that I couldn't read. Before anyone could accept or deny, he had it in the player and he was carefully climbing back onto the couch, pulling Micah into his lap as he did so.

Mikey gently sat down on my other side, offering me a silent smile as Frank cheered while whispering, trying not to disturb the baby in his arms.

As the commercials played, my mind wandered back to the blue Nissan that pulled into my driveway earlier. Just like my sister, I hadn't been able to glimpse the driver either and my curiosity was rising. I turned towards Mikey just slightly and leaned back against the plush cushion.

"Your brother didn't mind driving you over here, did he?" I questioned, unknotting my hair with my fingers.

"Nah." Mikey shook his head. "He didn't have anything else to do."

"He never has anything else to do," Frank pointed out, nodding once.

"I mean, you guys didn't tell him about Micah, did you?" I asked, touching the baby's foot as he lounged in Frank's arms. "Because, it's not that I don't want him to know, it's just that I don't want your parents and everyone at school to think -"

"To think what?" Mitchell interrupted, crossing his arms. "Have you been hiding Micah from everyone?"

"That's none of your business, Mitchell," I replied, crossing my own arms, "What I do with my life and my son is none of your business."

"You're keeping him a secret!" he exclaimed, looking almost sincerely outraged, "So what, what do you tell people when they see the car-seat in your car or when they want to know why you can't hang out after school? Are you going to start telling people he's your little brother?!"

I was on my feet within seconds. "It's not like you go up to people and explain that you're a father every time you meet someone, Your Highness. Just because I take care of him doesn't mean he has to dictate my entire life!"

Mitchell stood up, just two feet between us as he looked down at me. "You're ashamed of him," he stated, shaking his head like he could hardly look at me, "I bet you didn't even tell these two until they figured it out, isn't that right?" He glanced back at them for some sign of confirmation.

I took a deep breath and stared at the boy in front of me, trying to control the burst of anger that was fighting inside of me. I pushed my hair out of my face and glanced back at my son before I replied. "I love my son," I spoke honestly, "He means the word to me, but I'm not going to walk around announcing that I'm a teenage mother of your baby. It's my life and I don't want the same reputation you bestowed upon me back in Florida." I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at him with hardened eyes, daring him to say anything more on the subject.

"I didn't do anything to you," he replied venomously, "You did all of this to yourself, Cyren." He frustratedly tangled his fingers in his hair and groaned loudly. He stepped away and shook his head. "You are so frustrating."

"And you aren't?" I challenged, "You come back into mine and Micah's life whenever you want and I'm supposed to pretend that everything is okay?"

Micah fussed in Frank's arms and the short boy worriedly called out my name. "Cyren, I think he's going to explode," he stated, his eyes wide as he held Micah away from him.

"Frank," Mikey chastised. He pulled Micah from his friend and held him correctly. "He's not going to explode, he just needs a new diaper."

I met his expectant gaze and took the baby from him. "Thanks, Mikey," I replied, patting Micah's back. I turned to Mitchell and nodded to his son. "You going to take this one, Daddy?"

Mitchell sighed and rolled his eyes. He took Micah from me and headed to his room without another word.

I groaned and dropped down between the boys when Mitchell and Micah were gone. "I don't know how I got myself into this," I muttered, dropping my head back against the couch.

Frank dropped his head on my shoulder and shrugged his own. "If it makes you feel any better," he whispered, "Mikey is never going to get any, so he'll never have baby-mamma issues."

Frank laughed loudly as Mikey reached around me and smacked his cruel best friend. I laughed too, shielding myself from them as they pushed each other from either side of me.