Sequel: All Kinds of Time ›
Status: Done! Sequel up!
Everything Has Changed
16
Six months later, Oliver was beginning to crawl and make vague, talking sounds. Gerard had brought a high chair into his studio so that he could be with Oliver while he worked on the comic he was collaborating on with Grant. He could hear Oliver gurgling from beside him as he chewed on a plastic toy they’d bought for him. He had started teething a few weeks ago, making him drool everywhere and chew everything.
“Ya-ya!” He shrieked happily, kicking his legs against the chair. Gerard turned to look at him.
“Yeah, Ollie, ya-ya!” Gerard repeated, a smile across his face. He continued drawing out his character carefully, using the expensive black brush pen to mark the paper. He spent most of his days like this, drawing in his studios with Oliver or meeting his editor for Umbrella Academy with Oliver or meeting colleagues with Oliver. He pretty much went everywhere with his son.
At around one Oliver started to get whiny again and so Gerard took a break to feed him and to check if he needed changing.
“Hey, Ollie,” He laughed, dragging out the ‘l’, picking Oliver up and blowing a raspberry on his stomach. Oliver shrieked and gurgled, drool spilling down his chin. Gerard wiped it off with a wet wipe and carried Oliver around for a bit, bouncing him up and down. He set Oliver on the floor as he made some coffee and watched him roll around, pushing himself up and staring at everything, his now brown eyes wide and curious. His hair had grown and was brown and messy around his head. He waved his chubby fists at Gerard and made a face, opening his mouth wide. Gerard laughed and scooped him up after he’d finished his coffee.
“Are we going to go and see daddy at work now so we can say buh-bye to him before he goes to England?” Gerard asked Oliver in his ridiculous baby voice. Oliver grabbed his hair and mouthed at his face in response. Gerard kissed his head and kept trying to bounce him as he picked up his house keys and his car keys.
“Baby, baby,” He sing-songed, balancing Oliver on his hip and smiling at him fondly. He strapped Oliver into his child seat and brushed his forehead with a kiss before leaving to see Frank before he had to accompany three of his bands as they toured together across Europe and so that he could speak to some record companies over there too.
It was a half-hour drive to Frank’s office with Oliver gazing everywhere as Gerard drove. He was always very curious and alert and ready to take things in. He stared at Gerard with wide, wide eyes when they stopped at traffic lights and Gerard laughed at his expression. He parked in Frank’s office car park and picked Oliver up to rest on his hip, poking his nose.
He came into Frank’s office pretty regularly, so he found it easy to navigate through the various floors and corridors, but what wasn’t so easy was trying to get to Frank’s office without people stopping him to ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ over Oliver. He finally managed to get to Frank’s office after being seriously waylaid by a group of women who were intent on picking up Oliver themselves and looking at him. Gerard finally knocked on Frank’s office door and waited for the ‘come in’.
“Hey, Frankie,” Gerard greeted him, “We came to say bye.”
Frank looked up from his stack of paperwork and beamed at them.
“My two favourite boys!” Frank exclaimed. Gerard laughed and held Oliver out to Frank.
“What time are you going?” Gerard asked, glancing at the suitcase in the corner.
“About five, I think, and I’m going to join up with the tour in London,” Frank said, standing up and bouncing Oliver in his arms, “I’ll miss you two.”
“We’ll miss you, too,” Gerard smiled, going over to Frank and leaning on him. Frank kissed him and let Oliver tug at his hair.
“Hey, hey, hey, Ollie,” Frank chided, ducking and trying not to let Oliver rip his hair out. Gerard laughed and prised Oliver’s fist open, “How about we go out for lunch before I go.”
“Sounds good,” Gerard said, “Just let me get Ollie’s bag and we can go to that Italian down the road.”
“Exactly,” Frank said, reaching behind him to turn his computer off while balancing Oliver in his grip, “Does that sound good, Ollie?”
He blew a raspberry onto Oliver’s stomach, causing Oliver to shriek and giggle.
*
Frank had been gone for two weeks before Gerard started to feel unwell. He had just dressed Oliver into his pyjamas and had set him down in his cot when he felt queasy. Mikey had been round the day before and they’d had Chinese, so he just assumed that it was bad noodles or chicken or something. His stomach cramped painfully and he only just made it to the bathroom before he vomited. He leant his head on the toilet bowl and groaned, because he was probably going to have to get up in a few hours to tend to Oliver and he felt awful, and Frank wasn’t there to help. Frank was usually around and really did try his best to work normal hours, but sometimes working abroad or late was unavoidable, and Gerard really didn’t blame him.
Gerard woke up at five to feed Oliver and change him, his stomach still turning. He spent the day drawing and playing with Oliver, as he usually did, but he didn’t feel very well. He chatted to his mom and Mikey and Frank, though he didn’t mention how unwell he’d been feeling. His illness carried on for a few days before he finally gave up and called Doctor Blige.
He went to his appointment with Oliver, his eyes dark and sunken as he felt so tired, any extra weight he wished to lose from after Oliver’s birth gone due to how ill he had been; the nausea mixed with the discomfort made it hard to eat anything without immediately throwing up.
“Hello, Gerard,” Doctor Blige greeted him. Gerard gave him a tight smile before sitting down, placing Oliver in his carrier on the floor, “I see Oliver’s doing well.”
“Yeah,” Gerard smiled, “He’s really growing now.”
“What was it that you wanted to see me about?” Doctor Blige asked. Gerard shifted in his seat.
“I’ve just been really unwell over these past few days,” Gerard sighed, “I’ve been vomiting and feeling awful - at first I thought that it was some dodgy Chinese takeaway I’d had but this has been going on for nearly a week now and I’m worried it’s something more.”
“Okay,” Doctor Blige frowned, “Well, I’ll check your chest and do a blood test and if that comes back fine then maybe we’ll have to do some further tests.”
Gerard nodded and waited for Doctor Blige to come back with the blood test kit and a stethoscope.
“Cough for me,” He instructed. Gerard coughed loudly and Doctor Blige frowned.
“Well I can’t hear any build up,” He said, “So we’ll do a blood test to see if it’s a virus and then if it is, you’ll have to just wait for it to pass, unfortunately. If it’s bacterial, I can prescribe you some antibiotics.”
Gerard nodded, almost falling asleep from sitting down so long and being so tired, as Doctor Blige strapped some material around his arm and told him to take a deep breath. He looked away as the needle filled up with blood and then relaxed as it was taken out and held a cotton bud to it.
“Okay, if you stay around I can have the results back to you in twenty minutes,” doctor Blige said. Gerard smiled warmly and picked Oliver out of his carrier as he started to mewl quietly.
“Getting lonely?” Gerard cooed at him, hugging him to his chest and stroking his cheek. Oliver whined again and Gerard huffed playfully and rocked him from side to side.
Doctor Blige came back after twenty minutes with a small smile on his face and Gerard frowned.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, sitting up a bit straighter with Oliver looking at the doctor curiously. Doctor Blige smiled wider.
“Nothing’s wrong - in fact, the exact opposite,” He said.
*
Frank’s bands had finished playing and he was pretty tired and ready to sleep for hours. He had more bands to watch and maybe sign and the bright lights and loud noise were really starting to get to him. He couldn’t wait to be home with his husband and his baby and to hold them both again.
After taking a quick shower, Frank changed into his pyjamas and and lay in bed. God, he was so old now. He was just about to drift off into sleep when his phone rang. He sat up sleepily and picked up without checking the caller ID.
“Hello?” He asked, rubbing his eyes.
“Hey, Frankie,” Gerard laughed down the phone. He frowned. He’d spoken to Gerard only a few hours before and everything was fine.
“Hey, how are you? Is everything okay?” Frank asked quickly. Gerard laughed again.
“Yeah I just - I wasn’t feeling well and I visited Doctor Blige and, um,” Gerard broke off. Frank’s anxiety levels shot up.
“What happened? What’s wrong?” Frank asked, sitting up straighter.
“Nothing’s wrong, I’m just - um - well, how do you feel about - about having a second child?” Gerard asked breathlessly. The cogs took a few seconds to turn in Frank’s brain.
“We’re having another child?” He asked excitedly. Gerard laughed, sharp and bright.
“We’re having another child,” He confirmed. Frank let out a whoosh of breath and laughed too.
“I’m coming back home as soon as possible,” Frank said.
“Okay,” Gerard whispered, “We miss you. Me, Oliver and baby number two.”
“Ya-ya!” He shrieked happily, kicking his legs against the chair. Gerard turned to look at him.
“Yeah, Ollie, ya-ya!” Gerard repeated, a smile across his face. He continued drawing out his character carefully, using the expensive black brush pen to mark the paper. He spent most of his days like this, drawing in his studios with Oliver or meeting his editor for Umbrella Academy with Oliver or meeting colleagues with Oliver. He pretty much went everywhere with his son.
At around one Oliver started to get whiny again and so Gerard took a break to feed him and to check if he needed changing.
“Hey, Ollie,” He laughed, dragging out the ‘l’, picking Oliver up and blowing a raspberry on his stomach. Oliver shrieked and gurgled, drool spilling down his chin. Gerard wiped it off with a wet wipe and carried Oliver around for a bit, bouncing him up and down. He set Oliver on the floor as he made some coffee and watched him roll around, pushing himself up and staring at everything, his now brown eyes wide and curious. His hair had grown and was brown and messy around his head. He waved his chubby fists at Gerard and made a face, opening his mouth wide. Gerard laughed and scooped him up after he’d finished his coffee.
“Are we going to go and see daddy at work now so we can say buh-bye to him before he goes to England?” Gerard asked Oliver in his ridiculous baby voice. Oliver grabbed his hair and mouthed at his face in response. Gerard kissed his head and kept trying to bounce him as he picked up his house keys and his car keys.
“Baby, baby,” He sing-songed, balancing Oliver on his hip and smiling at him fondly. He strapped Oliver into his child seat and brushed his forehead with a kiss before leaving to see Frank before he had to accompany three of his bands as they toured together across Europe and so that he could speak to some record companies over there too.
It was a half-hour drive to Frank’s office with Oliver gazing everywhere as Gerard drove. He was always very curious and alert and ready to take things in. He stared at Gerard with wide, wide eyes when they stopped at traffic lights and Gerard laughed at his expression. He parked in Frank’s office car park and picked Oliver up to rest on his hip, poking his nose.
He came into Frank’s office pretty regularly, so he found it easy to navigate through the various floors and corridors, but what wasn’t so easy was trying to get to Frank’s office without people stopping him to ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ over Oliver. He finally managed to get to Frank’s office after being seriously waylaid by a group of women who were intent on picking up Oliver themselves and looking at him. Gerard finally knocked on Frank’s office door and waited for the ‘come in’.
“Hey, Frankie,” Gerard greeted him, “We came to say bye.”
Frank looked up from his stack of paperwork and beamed at them.
“My two favourite boys!” Frank exclaimed. Gerard laughed and held Oliver out to Frank.
“What time are you going?” Gerard asked, glancing at the suitcase in the corner.
“About five, I think, and I’m going to join up with the tour in London,” Frank said, standing up and bouncing Oliver in his arms, “I’ll miss you two.”
“We’ll miss you, too,” Gerard smiled, going over to Frank and leaning on him. Frank kissed him and let Oliver tug at his hair.
“Hey, hey, hey, Ollie,” Frank chided, ducking and trying not to let Oliver rip his hair out. Gerard laughed and prised Oliver’s fist open, “How about we go out for lunch before I go.”
“Sounds good,” Gerard said, “Just let me get Ollie’s bag and we can go to that Italian down the road.”
“Exactly,” Frank said, reaching behind him to turn his computer off while balancing Oliver in his grip, “Does that sound good, Ollie?”
He blew a raspberry onto Oliver’s stomach, causing Oliver to shriek and giggle.
*
Frank had been gone for two weeks before Gerard started to feel unwell. He had just dressed Oliver into his pyjamas and had set him down in his cot when he felt queasy. Mikey had been round the day before and they’d had Chinese, so he just assumed that it was bad noodles or chicken or something. His stomach cramped painfully and he only just made it to the bathroom before he vomited. He leant his head on the toilet bowl and groaned, because he was probably going to have to get up in a few hours to tend to Oliver and he felt awful, and Frank wasn’t there to help. Frank was usually around and really did try his best to work normal hours, but sometimes working abroad or late was unavoidable, and Gerard really didn’t blame him.
Gerard woke up at five to feed Oliver and change him, his stomach still turning. He spent the day drawing and playing with Oliver, as he usually did, but he didn’t feel very well. He chatted to his mom and Mikey and Frank, though he didn’t mention how unwell he’d been feeling. His illness carried on for a few days before he finally gave up and called Doctor Blige.
He went to his appointment with Oliver, his eyes dark and sunken as he felt so tired, any extra weight he wished to lose from after Oliver’s birth gone due to how ill he had been; the nausea mixed with the discomfort made it hard to eat anything without immediately throwing up.
“Hello, Gerard,” Doctor Blige greeted him. Gerard gave him a tight smile before sitting down, placing Oliver in his carrier on the floor, “I see Oliver’s doing well.”
“Yeah,” Gerard smiled, “He’s really growing now.”
“What was it that you wanted to see me about?” Doctor Blige asked. Gerard shifted in his seat.
“I’ve just been really unwell over these past few days,” Gerard sighed, “I’ve been vomiting and feeling awful - at first I thought that it was some dodgy Chinese takeaway I’d had but this has been going on for nearly a week now and I’m worried it’s something more.”
“Okay,” Doctor Blige frowned, “Well, I’ll check your chest and do a blood test and if that comes back fine then maybe we’ll have to do some further tests.”
Gerard nodded and waited for Doctor Blige to come back with the blood test kit and a stethoscope.
“Cough for me,” He instructed. Gerard coughed loudly and Doctor Blige frowned.
“Well I can’t hear any build up,” He said, “So we’ll do a blood test to see if it’s a virus and then if it is, you’ll have to just wait for it to pass, unfortunately. If it’s bacterial, I can prescribe you some antibiotics.”
Gerard nodded, almost falling asleep from sitting down so long and being so tired, as Doctor Blige strapped some material around his arm and told him to take a deep breath. He looked away as the needle filled up with blood and then relaxed as it was taken out and held a cotton bud to it.
“Okay, if you stay around I can have the results back to you in twenty minutes,” doctor Blige said. Gerard smiled warmly and picked Oliver out of his carrier as he started to mewl quietly.
“Getting lonely?” Gerard cooed at him, hugging him to his chest and stroking his cheek. Oliver whined again and Gerard huffed playfully and rocked him from side to side.
Doctor Blige came back after twenty minutes with a small smile on his face and Gerard frowned.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, sitting up a bit straighter with Oliver looking at the doctor curiously. Doctor Blige smiled wider.
“Nothing’s wrong - in fact, the exact opposite,” He said.
*
Frank’s bands had finished playing and he was pretty tired and ready to sleep for hours. He had more bands to watch and maybe sign and the bright lights and loud noise were really starting to get to him. He couldn’t wait to be home with his husband and his baby and to hold them both again.
After taking a quick shower, Frank changed into his pyjamas and and lay in bed. God, he was so old now. He was just about to drift off into sleep when his phone rang. He sat up sleepily and picked up without checking the caller ID.
“Hello?” He asked, rubbing his eyes.
“Hey, Frankie,” Gerard laughed down the phone. He frowned. He’d spoken to Gerard only a few hours before and everything was fine.
“Hey, how are you? Is everything okay?” Frank asked quickly. Gerard laughed again.
“Yeah I just - I wasn’t feeling well and I visited Doctor Blige and, um,” Gerard broke off. Frank’s anxiety levels shot up.
“What happened? What’s wrong?” Frank asked, sitting up straighter.
“Nothing’s wrong, I’m just - um - well, how do you feel about - about having a second child?” Gerard asked breathlessly. The cogs took a few seconds to turn in Frank’s brain.
“We’re having another child?” He asked excitedly. Gerard laughed, sharp and bright.
“We’re having another child,” He confirmed. Frank let out a whoosh of breath and laughed too.
“I’m coming back home as soon as possible,” Frank said.
“Okay,” Gerard whispered, “We miss you. Me, Oliver and baby number two.”