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

That evening, after much deliberation, Frank tracked Gerard down just as he was coming out of the master bedroom from putting Jasiah to sleep. His hazel eyes brightened up when he pinpointed his baby daddy down the shadowy hallway as he hissed out. “Gee! Over here!”

Snapping his head in his lover's direction, Gerard strode down the hall to him to meet him, whispering back. “What is it, baby?”

“I just thought of a legit fool-proof fiction we can tell my family about how we met here in Washington. I went over it again and refined the details so there'll be no way they can pick it apart. Come downstairs with me and I'll tell you all about it!” Frank frantically grasped a hold of his lover's hand and tugged him down the stairs behind him and into the living room below that expanded into the kitchen and dining room.

“Alright, so what's the plan?” Gerard inquired, perching himself onto the couch and hauling Frank this time along with him, so he could straddle his lap. Draping his arms around him securely, his light brown rose to his lover's face. “I'll play along with whatever you got.”

Loosely wrapping his arms around his neck, Frank nestled himself close to Gerard and began. “Okay, so you saw me on my break leaving a coffee shop, and recognized me from back in New Jersey when you babysat our kids, right?”

“Right.” Gerard nodded, leaning forward to trail his lips along the silky warm skin of Frank's neck.

Trying to overlook the tickling sensation of his lips tenderly kissing down his throat, Frank progressed on. “So, you found me on social media, and we got to chatting. We decided to meet up over the weekend since we were too busy with work and such throughout the week. It turns out, we lived close by. We quickly got back to being friends again, and one night of hanging out at my place one thing led to another and we slept together.”

“Before dating?” Gerard queried right before suckling on the spot where his neck met his shoulder. He felt Frank shudder in his arms, coercing his hands to move up and down his sides.

“S-Should we have had sex after dating?” Frank sputtered, battling to fixate on his fable. “Would t-that be better?”

“I think so. Don't want your parents thinking badly about you because of your choice to jump into bed first and then date later.” Gerard murmured, his hands slithering underneath Frank's shirt to meander the warm silky flesh underneath.

“Okay fine, we got to kissing then.” Frank rectified, gasping instantly after when both of Gerard's hands snagged his behind greedily to propel his hips against his to bring attention to his erection. “Gee, baby, I need you to concentrate right now.”

“Mmm, I am. I can multitask.” Gerard ensured, his tongue coming out to accompany his open mouth kisses. “Do you need to wear clothes to tell me all the rest?”

“Yes, damnit!” Frank resisted, placing his hands on Gerard's shoulder and spurring himself back. “Now, will you listen? This is important.”

Sighing dramatically like a teenager, Gerard slumped back against the couch with a pout. “Fine, go on.”

“Thank you!” Frank sarcastically retorted, rectifying his shirt that had ridden up due to Gerard's ministrations. “So, we ended up kissing, and decided to take the first steps in going out.”

“That very night?” Gerard interjected with a mistrustful arch of his brow. “You don't think that's too soon for their liking.”

“We gotta match up with the length of time I've been living here though. If not, they'll do the math themselves and think we're lying which we are, but they can't know that.” Frank pointed out. “Besides, who cares what my parents approve of. You're here. This baby is here. That's what matters in the end.”

Gerard nodded in agreement. He needed to stop thinking of what would sound best to the Ieros. With the time they had to toil with to forge a fake story up, there was no way they could compose one to make any one of them look positive in their eyes. “You're right as always, my love. So, we go out, you become pregnant, you share your secret with me and I accept it, because I love you more than life itself, and can't imagine it with you not in it anymore, am I right?”

Moved by his amorous dash to their phony tale, Frank placed a hand over his heart and gulped the emotions gurgling up back down. “Y-Yes, something like that. Absolutely.”

“Perfect.” Gerard grinned and gave him a thumbs up sign. “And while we're visiting your family I'll update them that I plan to marry their son with or without their consents as well.”

“What?!” With his cheeks burning red like two red tomatoes, Frank's eyes widen in astonishment. “A-Are you still serious about going through with that?”

Gerard frowned at the disbelief in Frank's voice. Did he not think he was genuine before when he mentioned it weeks ago? Sitting up, he reached out to gather his lover back against him...well, as much as he could with the bulging belly between them. “Of course I'm still serious about marrying you. Why would you ask me that? Did you not believe me before when I asked you?”

Dropping his hazel eyes to his big belly, Frank mumbled shyly as he reached up to comb his fingers through Gerard's still vibrant cherry hair. “W-We haven't really talked about it since I agreed to let you stay here for a week...that ended up stretching out to a month.”

“That's true, we haven't talked about it since.” Gerard nodded, his hands coming between them to rub his belly. “I became focused on other things, that's why. I was, and still am determined to make as many amends as I could in that time before bringing it up again.”

“How come?” Frank asked him. “Is it because you wanted to make sure I'd say yes to you living here with me and the kids first?”

“That too, and also because when I ask you to marry me the next time you'll say yes without hesitation, without seconds thoughts, without what ifs.” Gerard confided, his hands back to traveling up and down Frank's sides.

Frank's hazel orbs rose to stare deeply into the light brown shade of his lover's eyes. He wasn't sure if he was comfortable asking the man if he was sincere all outright. Perhaps the authentic answer dwelled within his eyes and would reveal itself in there. However, no matter how long the young man inspected, he couldn't see anything. Either, Gerard naturally wasn't an easy person to read, or he was profoundly trained not to be learned so easily. Taking a deep breath, Frank forced himself to ask him anyway. “So...you're serious about this then? Like SERIOUSLY positive about marrying me?”

“Yes, Frankie, I'm SERIOUSLY positive about marrying you.” Gerard recited with a delighted smirk. As a little unnerving that it was that Frank couldn't believe that he would want to marry him, it was adorable the way the young man was trying to be certain.

“As in SERIOUSLY SERIOUSLY positive for a lifetime?” Frank went on, needing 100% clarification that Gerard meant to make a lifetime pledge to him. “Or do you mean for the next 5 years until you grow tired of me?”

“Grow tired of you?” Gerard restated incredulously. “Is that even possible?”

“Gerard, I'm being serious about this!” Frank pressed him, giving him a cute pout.

“So am I!” Gerard defended with a chuckle. “Frank Anthony Iero there is not a single question in my mind that you are the one human being on this planet made for me.”

Believing him this time, for now, Frank gave him a shy smile and looked back down to his belly. “You know...we don't have to tell my parents straightaway about getting married if you don't want to. We have plenty of time on our side.”

Leaning forward, Gerard brushed his lips against his, breathing. “I want to inform them as soon as possible. The sooner the better so I can finally and officially make you all mine, and no one else.”

“Oh, Gee.” Frank moaned softly before Gerard forged his lips against his, stripping his last words away. The young man wrapped his arms tightly around his lover, softening against him just as fast as his heart did for him.