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

Everything went by in a haziness within that hospital. Gerard faded in and out so he couldn’t be sure what had gone down for a while there. He was driving Frank and his father to the hospital for the birth of their son, then he was pulling up to the entrance where Margo must have called ahead because a Frank Sr.'s medical team flooded out with a gurney to assist in transferring Frank from the car and into the hospital, and finally Gerard found himself being coerced by Frank Sr. to sit in the waiting room to catch his breath because he was having a panic attack. Left behind with a nurse to soothe him, Gerard complied with being parted from Frank’s side only at the promise that he would be able to see him again if he calmed down. Once composed, the nurse steered him to his pregnant lover’s room only to be impeded when the same team rolled a whining Frank out of his room and down the hall. Gerard started forward, but was interrupted by a hand on his arm. Light brown eyes witnessed Frank depart from his sight as he heard himself at the same time demand the owner of the hand. “Hold on, where are they taking him!?”

“To the operating room. It’s time for the C-Section.” The nurse informed him behind her mask. “Come with me, you have to be properly dressed and scrubbed if you want to go with him.”

Gerard’s eyes zoned in on hers above the mask, floored. “I-I can go in the room with him?”

“Yes, you can be there to watch your son being born.” The nurse confirmed with a smile behind her mask.

His skin turning blancher, Gerard murmured softly. “M-My son being born?”

“Yes, your son. Although I’m starting to think you’re not in any shape to do that right now.” The nurse said, retracting on her offer. She looked him up and down, not understanding how the man was still standing on his two feet when he looked to be about two seconds from disintegrating into a boneless heap at her feet. “Perhaps you should wait in the room for them to come back when it’s all over.”

Gerard shook his head, opposing that idea staunchly. Clearing his throat, he took a deep breath and straightened his spine. No one was going to keep him from being one of the first faces to meet his son. “No no, I’m fine, I promise.” Turning to face her, he evenly asked. “What do you need me to do to gain access into that room?”

Both brows raised in surprise at how swiftly he seemed to restore himself, the nurse looked him over one more time to be sure. Quickly convinced he was in fact ready, she gestured down the same hall. “This way, sir.”

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Gerard didn’t remember hearing the announcement that the rest of the Iero family were waiting in Frank’s room for their return. He didn’t remember the process he had to undertake in order to be in the delivery room. The moment he entered, all he saw was Frank on a table in a hospital gown with Frank Sr. all donned up on the other side of a blue sheet that prevented the mother from viewing the C-Section. Light brown eyes going wide with horror, Gerard barely breathed his lover’s name before hastening over to him and taking the stool parked beside the table. “Baby! I’m here now! I’m here!”

Frank couldn’t help but giggle up at Gerard’s frenzied and overprotective nature. Reaching out a hand, he cupped it on the one that was desperately caressing his cheek. “Calm down, Gee. It’s going to be okay. I’ve literally done this twice already. It’s nothing.”

“B-But…” Gerard sputtered, seeing this as a colossal deal. His Black Opal was about to get sliced open!

“Trust me, Gee. Just hold my hand and talk to me. Daddy will keep us informed if anything goes wrong.” Frank advised him with tender eyes and an affectionate smile. “If you freak out, it’ll just make me freak out and that could harm the baby.”

“No need to say more. I understand.” Gerard nodded firmly. Leaning his head down, he tried his best to spark up a conversation and keep it going even throughout Frank’s Sr. 's voice cutting in to announce he was making the first incision. Overlooking the man’s voice, he solely focused on Frank who kept him just as absorbed in the conversation.

Right when his father was burrowing into his stomach for his grandson, Frank frowned up at Gerard when he came to remember something. “Oh Gee, we forgot to come up with a name for the baby!”

“Fuck, you’re right!” Gerard groaned, discouraged with himself. They had been so centered on settling back into New Jersey they hadn’t thought of any names for the new baby. They just kept putting it off in belief that they’d have more time to think of it later. Now, they’ve run out of ‘laters’. “We’ve been so damn busy with the move!”

“I know, but...I kinda thought of one while they were preparing for the operation.” Frank said, a grin growing across his face. “Wanna hear it?”

“Of course I want to hear my son’s name!” Gerard laughed down at him, not wanting to think of his lover’s lower half being carved a few feet away from him. “Tell me, what is it?”

“Milo Ivone Iero!” Frank gushed. “How does that sound?”

“No, I don’t like it.” Gerard spurned immediately, his smile collapsing.

“What, why not?!” Frank whined, not seeing what the dilemma was. “I’m giving birth to him so I should be able to name him what I want!”

“Yes, but he’s MY son too. His last name should be Way.” Gerard spoke sternly, determined to put his foot down in this one. He had no say with Venetia, Lorenzo and Jovani because he wasn’t there, but now he was here for Milo.

Mulling over it, Frank pouted. “Yeah, but...that would be breaking tradition. HIs brothers and sister are Ieros, he’d be the only Way.”

“Don’t worry, I plan on making a change to that as well.” Gerard assured him, brushing his hair from his eyes.

Frank frowned, turning his head to the side inquisitively. “Making a change to what exactly?”

“Jovani and the twin’s last name.” Gerard answered candidly.

“Seriously? You plan to erase MY name to replace it with YOURS?!” Frank demanded, starting to get irate.

“No, I plan to change their last name to Iero-Way.” Gerard corrected him rapidly to keep him calm. “If that’s what I gotta do to have my children have my last name, then I’m willing to split it with you.”

“Iero-Way…” Frank repeated softly, a smile spreading across his face again. “I like it.”

Grinning at each other, the couple shared a kiss through Gerard’s mask at the same time Frank Sr. declared their baby’s gender. “IT’S A BOY!” The room exploded into Milo’s wailing next, making everyone in the room laugh. Lifting his head, Frank Sr. called out to Gerard for his aid with the umbilical cord, expecting the boy to swoon dead on his feet when he attempted to implement it. “Gerard! Get on over here and cut this umbilical cord for us, will you?”

Gerard surprised him by dashing over and efficiently snipping the cord without a wince in sight. “There we go, my son.” With an enormous smile and eyes glazed with tears, he returned to Frank’s side with their crying son in his arms. They cooed and loved all over him for a minute before the nurses whisked him away to be washed up. The couple couldn’t wait to see their son, even when they were reunited with the rest of the family back in Frank’s room.

As Frank cuddled their son against his chest while everyone else leaned over the bed to observe him, a nurse came in with a clipboard. “Alright, has this little angel got a name yet?”

With both the twins in his arms, Gerard winked down at Frank who winked back at him before he answered. “His name is Milo Ivone Iero-Way.”