I'm the Last One That You'll Ever Remember

Chapter 113: Won't Be Leaving

Frank couldn't believe this...he couldn't freaking fathom that he and his children were downstairs right now sitting at his dining table having breakfast with his kidnapper, baby daddy, and ex-boyfriend as if they were one big happy family. He couldn't remember what he could have been expecting when he came running downstairs like a madman to find his missing children downstairs eating breakfast made by the hands of their biological father. And the kids they were behaving so...normal! As if Gerard had always been there from the beginning like a true father would be. They weren't shy or nervous or nothing. Oh my god, did Gerard tell them the truth!? Did he tell the children that he was their father?

Paranoid hazel eyes darted around to analyze each of his children's, studying their behaviors again. Other than getting them ready for the day, it didn't appear like Gerard had harmed them in any way. His children were in their usual good spirits, nothing at all seemed amiss about them despite the fact they were sharing their dining table with a complete stranger! If Gerard did tell them he was their biological father, his children would have been hounding Frank the second they saw him to celebrate it. But they hadn't. His children were scarfing down their meals trying to tell him...something simultaneously at once. Frank closed his exhausted eyes that felt sore from crying upstairs earlier that morning when he found out his baby daddy stole away from his bed and abandoned him again. He couldn't concentrate on a damn word his twins were saying at the moment. His ears seemed to have gone temporarily deaf...but at least it gave him time to think. His eyes were drawn to the butter melting on his toast as the first question in a nest of millions rose to the forefront.

What did this all mean? Them sitting at the table having a family breakfast together...what did it mean? Poison wasn't trying to hold them hostage here at this dining table with horrifying threats towards their lives or their loved ones so what did this strange almost peaceful scenario mean? Frank wanted to ask Gerard now that they were face to face again, but he didn't want to bring it up in front of his children and have them overhear what they shouldn't know yet...or see their mother emotionally break down. So then what was he suppose to do, let it all go? He might actually have to for now. Frank wasn't certain he even had a clear mind to face Poison...or Gerard, or whatever he calls himself right now. There was so many questions rampaging through his aching mind, and no answers in sight for any of them. But before he ever receive those answers, Frank had to make sure he was in control of himself emotionally and mentally in order to face Gerard because right now the game has changed. Now his children were officially involved.

“Do you like me har, mommy?” Venetia's sweet voice floated up through the various questions typhooning through his mind.

“Huh?” Frank looked down to his left at his only daughter staring up at him with big hopeful light brown eyes that were...the replicas of their father's. Averting his eyes for a painful minute, Frank flashed his daughter a faint smile. “Sorry, Princess, what did you say? Mommy is still trying to wake up.”

From at the end of the dining table, Gerard lifted his eyes with interest to watch the man he loved interact with their child. He was enthralled by the scene before him, his attention on his plate completely forgotten.

“Psst!” A small voice whispered from beside him.

Gerard raised a brow and glanced at Lorenzo who was pointing a little finger towards the last piece of bacon on his plate. Leaning closer while Frank was distracted by the other twin, Gerard whispered back. “What's up, little man?”

“I axed if you like my har?” Venetia repeated patiently before whipping her long hair from side to side.

For the first time that day, Frank finally noticed her princess hairdo and was stunned by the intricate fish tail braids that curved outside the ponytail before meeting back in only to curve back out again in the form of a chain. It was gorgeous and yet so complex! At the top where the hair gathered in a ponytail was a diamond barrette with tiny pink pearls that gave a off a...Princess feel. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, Frank aimed them at Gerard, convinced he had to have something to do with their daughter's hair because there was no way Frank did it, he'd been passed out in the bedroom!

“Backon?” Lorenzo summed up quickly, making a grabby hand towards the delicious delicacy.

“What do you say?” Gerard asked him, leaning back into his seat and picking up the bacon with his fork. He purposely turned it this way and that to entice the young boy.

As if this was something familiar to father and son already, Lorenzo pouted before replying. “Peas.”

“You most certainly can.” Gerard reached out to deposit the bacon on the beaming boy's plate sitting back to watch him devour it with what he assumed was a father's pride.

“LORENZO, DON'T!” Frank ordered him with a voice mixed with sternness and fear. He didn't know what he was thinking or why he reacted so frantically to his son eating the offered bacon belonging to his kidnapper, but whatever it was wasn't a good feeling. Reaching out, he snatched the end of the bacon before his son could get the piece in his mouth and held it away from his son as if it was dangerous. “Don't eat it!”

“Aww but mommy! He wet me has it!” Lorenzo whined like a little baby, his hazel eyes widening in preparation for tears as he reached out towards his mother for it. “I say peas!”

“It's alright, Frankie.” Gerard spoke softly, seeing Frank's reaction and understanding it immediately. The mother of his child was greatly confused by what was happening, and if he had to be honest he'd be too if he was in his shoes. Hell, their relationship has been a roller coaster ride from the start, more for Frank than he. His ride started when he realized he couldn't move on from Frank and refused to do so. It only got worse last night when a nightly visit and confrontation became the revelation of a lifetime for him. He found out he was a father to Lorenzo and Venetia who he babysat at one point in the past and also little Jasiah who seemed to have a knack for staring at people because he refused to look away from Gerard. Last night changed everything, and right now nothing made sense to either parties involved. “It's just ordinary bacon, just like yours. There's nothing wrong in it, I promise you.”

Frank would have roared at the audacity of this man had it not been for his soft tone. Something about his calm and peaceful aura made some of the chaos raging within him relax, but only a little. He shot his baby daddy a murderous glare before returning the bacon to Lorenzo's plate. He sat there in silence for a long time like a brooding teenager as everyone at the table slowly got back to eating again.

Lorenzo munched happily on his bacon all the while staring at his mother much like his twin was doing. They sensed something was wrong, and Gerard could see that. He didn't want them to ask questions yet because he had yet to speak with Frank properly about their...newfound situation and all that he's decided last night. Before he could begin to think of what to say to help distract the kids from their mother's obvious distress, Frank finally addressed him.

“What's going on here?” Frank whispered softly from where he was pushing his eggs around, his eyes locked on their scrambled form. He knew he wasn't suppose to talk about what was happening around his children, and by god he didn't want to, but he couldn't hold it back any longer. He was dangling in a web of suspense woven by their biological father and only wanted freedom from all the damn questions screaming in his mind. The only person holding all the answers was sitting right there next to his first born son.

Gerard turned his light brown eyes from little Jasiah to his beloved Frankie. He hadn't heard what he said since he was lost in his own thoughts and so blurted. “I'm sorry?”

Exhaling loudly through his adorable button nose, Frank repeated his question with a more aggressive tone. “I said, what's going on here?”

Gerard immediately knew what he was asking. He wanted to know he was up to this time. Would Frank believe him if he told him that there was no sinister plan involved in their meeting this time? Probably not what with his track record. But still, Gerard was going to be honest with Frank even if his words sounded too far-fetched to believe. Placing his fork down on his empty plate, Gerard reached for his glass of orange juice. “What's going on here, Frankie, is that I'm here to promise you that from here on out I won't be leaving you anymore.” He gestured with his glass towards the kids despite the fact that Frank refused to look him in the eye. “And that includes the kids, I won't be leaving their side either.”

“Won't be leaving!?” At his promise, tears began to fall from Frank's eyes as he shook his head in disbelief. His hand gripped his fork with anger as he lifted his eyes to shoot another glare at his baby daddy, and the man that he was stupidly in love with. He had to hold back his emotions because his kids were sitting there beside him but it proved too difficult for him to manage. As the tears fell, his daughter's face began to scrunch up too while his son, Lorenzo stared up at him with concern. “Forgive me if I find that hard to believe!”

“And I completely understand your doubt in me. I've never given you any reason not to from the very beginning.” Gerard admitted wholeheartedly, fully aware that Frank's reaction to him was all his own doing. All those years of kidnapping, rape, abuse, and torture wouldn't earn him his Frankie's love and open arms. No, he'd have to work hard for that.

Frank scoffed at Gerard's words and looked away, not wanting to hear his pathetic apology. “Exactly, and so why would you stick around this time, hmm? What makes this time so special that you feel the need to settle?”

“Because this time I plan on marrying you.” Gerard blurted out, not seeing a need to beat around the bush. Lifting his glass, he took a generous gulp of the citric liquid, needing it to help calm his sudden anxious belly. Last night he had made his mind up to remain at Frank's side, and this was how he planned to do it. Never in his wildest dream did he think he'd marry a living soul much less a man.

Lorenzo's eyes whipped to gape at Gerard in surprise. Frank let out a gasp, the fury from his eyes dissipating in smoke to reveal that he was, for a moment, touched by Gerard's words. Venetia gasped too, but with joy at the mention of a wedding. Her hands clapped together in surprise. “A webbin, mommy!? You get murry! Aww, that so lovey!” She then turned her mirrored eyes to Gerard and tilted her head to the side. “Wat you name gain?”