I'm the Last One That You'll Ever Remember
Chapter 117: Iero-Way Clan?
“What in god's name have I done?” Frank whispered to himself wear he sat on the back step leading into his backyard with his head propped up on a hand balanced on his knee. Out across the lawn, he watched Gerard crouched on the grass growling in a quick cardboard-made dragon outfit he had put together sometime in the night in the guest bedroom he was now staying in. While creatively inspired, he also invented a knight's armor made of cardboard too for their son Lorenzo, while Venetia was wearing a Princess costume unearthed from one of the Halloween boxes down in the basement. Together, the trio were playing 'Meanie Dragon' game as doth by the twins while their little brother watched completely enthralled from a distance by Frank's feet.
Sighing to himself, Frank watched his grinning son whack his father, the dragon, with a giant blue foam sword, and then his happily screaming daughter held high over her father's head as the damsel in distress played their game in bliss. It was perfectly painted family picture that anyone would find difficult to believe they all just met the day before. It was strange to him that his children welcomed Gerard so damn effortlessly. They were quiet and alert at their age with most strangers, but the moment they met their father it was like they reverted back to their old ways where they were overly friendly with every stranger they met and boldly shaking hands with unfamiliar figures before striking innocent conversations with them. It took awhile for him and his parents to train them not to speak to strangers so openly and to keep a distance of people they don't know. The last thing Frank wanted was to relive what his parents had gone through with his own kidnappings.
Speaking of kidnappings, Gerard snuck back to the huge castle-themed play set their grandparents bought the kids for round 2. It was where his daughter, Princess Venetia, resided and effortlessly he plucked her back out of the top floor and over his head with an evil cackle. “MUHAHAHA, I GOT THE PRINCESS!”
“AHH, SAVE ME!” Venetia let out a shriek before bursting into giggles when her daddy lowered her back down in his arms to tickle her. She comfortably wrapped her arms around his neck as she heard her brother come running to the rescue.
“I SAVE YOU!” Lorenzo assured her as he charge over with his mighty foam sword in hand.
“TRY IF YOU CAN, MIGHTY WARRIOR OF THE IERO-WAY CLAN!” Gerard instigated, beckoning for his tiny boy to bring it on with a wave of his hand.
Beside Frank, Jasiah let out a piercing squeal of excitement at the sight of battle taking place. He was sporting a open mouth grin with teeth coming in as he laughed up at his mother, his teething ring gripped in his two chubby hands. Frank didn't want to smile at such a wrong display of fun but he couldn't resist with Jasiah looking up at him all cutely. Now the reason he felt this was a wrong display was because he heard as clear as day what Gerard just said. Iero-Way Clan? He put their names together as if...they were already married or something...as if their kids last name was no longer just Iero.
“TAKE DAT AN DAT!” Lorenzo smacked his daddy's sides with the foam blade, one eye on him and the other on his little brother Jasiah who was laughing his little butt off at the game they were doing for his entertainment.
Gerard feigned cries of pain as he lifted Venetia back over his head. “N-NOOOO! YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME SO EASILY!”
“Iero-Way?” Frank muttered to himself, still locked on the idea of Gerard calling the clan his son belonged to as Iero-Way Clan. It used to just be the Iero clan but now it was Iero-Way Clan? “What the hell is this guy up to?”
Since staying for two days so far, Gerard has been...Frank was afraid to admit it, but perfect. He's been an absolute saint and genuinely a help from God himself. Raising three kids on your own was no easy picnic and created a whole other stress Frank has never faced before, however he wasn't planning to turn his back on his kids and allow them to be raised by anyone else other than him alone. They were his children, and so he was going to bring them up himself. But now Gerard was in the picture and was trying to go about keeping Frank off of his feet as subtly and politely as possible. Frank knew it was because he was pregnant again and Gerard didn't want anything to happen to their fourth child. Meanwhile, the house chores, the errands, and the watching of the kids all fell onto Gerard and the damned perfect being that he was was handling it all like a champion! Not once did he appear stressed with all the work loaded on his shoulders. He made parenting in the last two days look as easy as...well, blinking!
“GAH!!” Gerard threw his head back before dramatically falling to his knees, lowering Venetia safely to the ground onto her tiny feet, before ending his final scene by falling onto his stomach. “Y-You have defeated me, mighty warrior.”
Because red-faced Jasiah was literally going to kill himself by laughter, Frank reached down to rub his belly to calm him down. His own hazel eyes narrowed on Gerard when he said his last words, expecting to hear another mention of this 'Iero-Way Clan' that was just introduced to the game. He calmed down a little when it wasn't mentioned again, feeling Jasiah's tiny hands grab onto his before including his teeth. Frank winced a little, glancing down Jasiah who was indeed gnawing on him. “Do you mind, pumpkin? I'm not a chew toy, you know?”
“Yay! I beat you!” Lorenzo bragged, swaggering on over to place his foot on Gerard's back and launch his sword up in the air in victory!” I KILL DA DAGON, MOMMY! YOU SEE?”
Frank lifted his head and waved a hand to confirm he had witnessed the slaying of the magnificent beast.
“Or did you?” Gerard growled out before reaching out with both hands to grab Lorenzo and drag him down with another evil cackle. “MUAHAHA, NOW I GOT YOU, MIGHTY WARRIOR!”
“NO FAIR! MOMMY HELP ME!” Lorenzo cried out from within the confinement of his daddy's arms. He had a hint of a smile as he reached out towards his mommy.
Before Frank could react, Venetia ran over to Lorenzo's sword and used it to whack her daddy on the back. “LE HEM GO, YOU MONTER!”
“NOOOOO! I CAN'T BE BESTED BY A PRINCESS!” Gerard rolled over onto his back with Lorenzo on his chest before letting the young man go. He threw an arm over his eye and pretended to die again.
Venetia's eyes were shining as she jumped with excited and announced to Frank. “MOMMY, DEE YOU SEE DAT? I SLEE A DAGON!”
“I saw, princess.” Frank once again confirmed as he put Jasiah's teething ring up against his lips so he'd gnaw on that instead of him.
“Wha!? Gurls cont slee dagons!” Lorenzo objected angrily, crossing his arms over his chest as he stood his ground to argue with his sister.
“DON'T!” Frank warned them both loudly, before pointing his thumb towards the back door. “It's time for lunch anyway, or else you want to be grounded to your room for the rest of the night?”
Both twins shook their heads as they slowly headed into the kitchen, sneaking glares at one another. Gerard was right behind them until Frank blocked his way with his arms over his chest.
Gerard lifted both brows at him as he swept his cherry red hair out of his eye. “Everything okay?”
“Iero-Way?” Frank repeated suspiciously, arching a brow.
Leaning down, Gerard lifted Jasiah up and into his arms from his swing chair. His light brown eyes locked on his lover. “Can't a man dream?”
“Absolutely, but not when he's mentioning that stuff around the kids. I don't want them to get any ideas that aren't gonna happen.” Frank explained.
Gerard nodded in understanding though his heart ached in response. “Understood, not another word on Iero-Way or Way-Iero.”
“Thank you.” Frank cooled down before leading the way into the kitchen where their lunch awaited.
Sighing to himself, Frank watched his grinning son whack his father, the dragon, with a giant blue foam sword, and then his happily screaming daughter held high over her father's head as the damsel in distress played their game in bliss. It was perfectly painted family picture that anyone would find difficult to believe they all just met the day before. It was strange to him that his children welcomed Gerard so damn effortlessly. They were quiet and alert at their age with most strangers, but the moment they met their father it was like they reverted back to their old ways where they were overly friendly with every stranger they met and boldly shaking hands with unfamiliar figures before striking innocent conversations with them. It took awhile for him and his parents to train them not to speak to strangers so openly and to keep a distance of people they don't know. The last thing Frank wanted was to relive what his parents had gone through with his own kidnappings.
Speaking of kidnappings, Gerard snuck back to the huge castle-themed play set their grandparents bought the kids for round 2. It was where his daughter, Princess Venetia, resided and effortlessly he plucked her back out of the top floor and over his head with an evil cackle. “MUHAHAHA, I GOT THE PRINCESS!”
“AHH, SAVE ME!” Venetia let out a shriek before bursting into giggles when her daddy lowered her back down in his arms to tickle her. She comfortably wrapped her arms around his neck as she heard her brother come running to the rescue.
“I SAVE YOU!” Lorenzo assured her as he charge over with his mighty foam sword in hand.
“TRY IF YOU CAN, MIGHTY WARRIOR OF THE IERO-WAY CLAN!” Gerard instigated, beckoning for his tiny boy to bring it on with a wave of his hand.
Beside Frank, Jasiah let out a piercing squeal of excitement at the sight of battle taking place. He was sporting a open mouth grin with teeth coming in as he laughed up at his mother, his teething ring gripped in his two chubby hands. Frank didn't want to smile at such a wrong display of fun but he couldn't resist with Jasiah looking up at him all cutely. Now the reason he felt this was a wrong display was because he heard as clear as day what Gerard just said. Iero-Way Clan? He put their names together as if...they were already married or something...as if their kids last name was no longer just Iero.
“TAKE DAT AN DAT!” Lorenzo smacked his daddy's sides with the foam blade, one eye on him and the other on his little brother Jasiah who was laughing his little butt off at the game they were doing for his entertainment.
Gerard feigned cries of pain as he lifted Venetia back over his head. “N-NOOOO! YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME SO EASILY!”
“Iero-Way?” Frank muttered to himself, still locked on the idea of Gerard calling the clan his son belonged to as Iero-Way Clan. It used to just be the Iero clan but now it was Iero-Way Clan? “What the hell is this guy up to?”
Since staying for two days so far, Gerard has been...Frank was afraid to admit it, but perfect. He's been an absolute saint and genuinely a help from God himself. Raising three kids on your own was no easy picnic and created a whole other stress Frank has never faced before, however he wasn't planning to turn his back on his kids and allow them to be raised by anyone else other than him alone. They were his children, and so he was going to bring them up himself. But now Gerard was in the picture and was trying to go about keeping Frank off of his feet as subtly and politely as possible. Frank knew it was because he was pregnant again and Gerard didn't want anything to happen to their fourth child. Meanwhile, the house chores, the errands, and the watching of the kids all fell onto Gerard and the damned perfect being that he was was handling it all like a champion! Not once did he appear stressed with all the work loaded on his shoulders. He made parenting in the last two days look as easy as...well, blinking!
“GAH!!” Gerard threw his head back before dramatically falling to his knees, lowering Venetia safely to the ground onto her tiny feet, before ending his final scene by falling onto his stomach. “Y-You have defeated me, mighty warrior.”
Because red-faced Jasiah was literally going to kill himself by laughter, Frank reached down to rub his belly to calm him down. His own hazel eyes narrowed on Gerard when he said his last words, expecting to hear another mention of this 'Iero-Way Clan' that was just introduced to the game. He calmed down a little when it wasn't mentioned again, feeling Jasiah's tiny hands grab onto his before including his teeth. Frank winced a little, glancing down Jasiah who was indeed gnawing on him. “Do you mind, pumpkin? I'm not a chew toy, you know?”
“Yay! I beat you!” Lorenzo bragged, swaggering on over to place his foot on Gerard's back and launch his sword up in the air in victory!” I KILL DA DAGON, MOMMY! YOU SEE?”
Frank lifted his head and waved a hand to confirm he had witnessed the slaying of the magnificent beast.
“Or did you?” Gerard growled out before reaching out with both hands to grab Lorenzo and drag him down with another evil cackle. “MUAHAHA, NOW I GOT YOU, MIGHTY WARRIOR!”
“NO FAIR! MOMMY HELP ME!” Lorenzo cried out from within the confinement of his daddy's arms. He had a hint of a smile as he reached out towards his mommy.
Before Frank could react, Venetia ran over to Lorenzo's sword and used it to whack her daddy on the back. “LE HEM GO, YOU MONTER!”
“NOOOOO! I CAN'T BE BESTED BY A PRINCESS!” Gerard rolled over onto his back with Lorenzo on his chest before letting the young man go. He threw an arm over his eye and pretended to die again.
Venetia's eyes were shining as she jumped with excited and announced to Frank. “MOMMY, DEE YOU SEE DAT? I SLEE A DAGON!”
“I saw, princess.” Frank once again confirmed as he put Jasiah's teething ring up against his lips so he'd gnaw on that instead of him.
“Wha!? Gurls cont slee dagons!” Lorenzo objected angrily, crossing his arms over his chest as he stood his ground to argue with his sister.
“DON'T!” Frank warned them both loudly, before pointing his thumb towards the back door. “It's time for lunch anyway, or else you want to be grounded to your room for the rest of the night?”
Both twins shook their heads as they slowly headed into the kitchen, sneaking glares at one another. Gerard was right behind them until Frank blocked his way with his arms over his chest.
Gerard lifted both brows at him as he swept his cherry red hair out of his eye. “Everything okay?”
“Iero-Way?” Frank repeated suspiciously, arching a brow.
Leaning down, Gerard lifted Jasiah up and into his arms from his swing chair. His light brown eyes locked on his lover. “Can't a man dream?”
“Absolutely, but not when he's mentioning that stuff around the kids. I don't want them to get any ideas that aren't gonna happen.” Frank explained.
Gerard nodded in understanding though his heart ached in response. “Understood, not another word on Iero-Way or Way-Iero.”
“Thank you.” Frank cooled down before leading the way into the kitchen where their lunch awaited.