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

“Careful...no, Jovani, watch how your sister is doing it.” Gerard gingerly criticized his second son who was crouched in front of Lorenzo because he was holding Milo in his little arms. Venetia was on her knees beside Jovani holding the bottle up that was nourishing the baby. All this was being done under Gerard’s acute eyes while Frank had gone out to get the mail. It had been just the three of them working together to tend to Milo, but now Jovani was interested in joining. This had Gerard’s alarms going off because Jovani was still learning how to be delicate with baby Milo. Yesterday he had smacked him on his head in greeting and that didn’t go well. “See, how sissy is holding the bottle?”

Jovani had his hand in his mouth as he observed Venetia holding the bottle for Milo while Lorenzo patiently sat steadily holding his brother. Removing his glistening hand, he pointed a wet finger at the bottle of milk and babbled words Gerard didn’t understand.

“That’s for your brother. Not you.” Gerard explained softly, frowning when Jovani reached out to slap a hand on the bottle with a possessive whine and nearly popping the nipple out of Milo’s mouth. “Hey! That’s not yours, Jovani. Let go of the bottle.”

“Daddy!” Venetia lamented as she tried to halt Jovani’s hands from taking the bottle out of Milo’s mouth. It didn’t work, and her baby brother’s face began to scrunch up. Irked her other little brother was getting in the way and messing things up, she chided him. “Staaaaap Jo-jo!”

Reaching out, Gerard swept Jovani away from the baby and coerced the bottle from his hands to hand it back to Venetia. He left her with one order as he got to his feet with a squeamish Jovani who was about to start howling. “Feed him. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Okay.” Venetia nodded compliantly, satisfied her little brother had been dealt with accordingly.

Leaning his head over to watch a serene Milo drink, Lorenzo muttered. “You do it rung.”

“Na-uh!” Venetia pouted, affronted by his erroneous observation. She was doing it exactly like their daddy taught her. Her twin was just being petty. Lifting her head, she called down the hall. “DAAADDY, LO IS MEANNN GAIN!”

In the kitchen, Gerard smirked to himself and rolled his eyes at his little Drama Queen squealing on her brother. Every little thing got under her skin and Lorenzo knew it. “You’ll be fine, Princess!”

As he poured some apple juice for his unruly son, he felt Jovani descend his gums into his arm in the form of a bite since his father wouldn’t let him go no matter how much he wriggled in his hold. Depositing the drink on the counter with a sigh, Gerard grabbed a hold of Jovanni and set him on the counter next so he'd look him eye to eye. Making sure he wouldn’t try and slither off the counter to escape, he enclosed him in by bracing both hands on the counter. “Listen here, Jovani, that bottle is NOT your bottle. It belongs to your brother, Milo.” Overlooking the scrunching face before the bawling for his mother, Gerard went on by picking up the sippy cup that had Jovani’s drink and extending it to him. “THIS is your drink. Do you understand? You can have this one if you’re thirsty, but you can’t have Milo’s bottle.”

Jovani didn’t want to take the bottle, it was evident on his face that he wanted to have his way and defy some more. That was his plan until his daddy took the sippy cup that he offered him back. Lurching forward with both hands for the sippy cup, he would have fallen off the counter hadn’t his father’s chest been there like a wall of stone to catch him.

“Careful, now.” Gerard cautioned Jovani, helping to rectify him back up. Arching a brow at the wet cheeks, bloodshot eyes of his child drinking fervently from his cup, he asked. “Are we okay now?”

Jovani merely looked at him over his sippy cup as he drank. Taking that as a yes, Gerard picked him up and lowered him back down onto his feet. Like a hawk, he monitored the young boy waddling his way back to the others. He noted that Venetia wasn’t feeding Milo anymore, but was standing in front of Lorenzo looking down at the baby. “Venetia, is he done with his bottle?”

Venetia spun her father’s way and nodded. Lifting up the bottle, she showed him. “See! No more!”

“Good job, you guys.” Gerard praised, earning excitement from the twins as he headed on over. Sitting down beside Lorenzo, he took Milo from him and began to burp the baby. The children watched curiously, and laughed when their little brother belched. Gerard couldn’t help but join in on their laughter too until he felt another presence regarding them. Snapping his head in that direction, he watched a dark figure advance into the bathroom near the front door. Narrowing his eyes, he called down the hall. “Frankie? Honey, is that you?”

“Mommy!” Lorenzo exclaimed with excitement as if he hadn’t seen him in weeks. He bounced to his feet and began to bolt towards the hall, but was suspended in the air by his father’s hand curving around him to press against his chest and lift him off his feet.

“Wait!” Gerard snapped, stilling his little ones with his ringing command. He had all their attention now. “Let me go first. Stay here.”

Frozen in their spots, all their round little eyes watched him get up off the floor, settle Lorenzo back on his feet and place Milo in his hanging basket before starting down the hall. They didn’t know why he had suspended Lorenzo from greeting their mother, but they weren’t going to oppose him to find out.

“Frankie?” Gerard called as soon as he reached the closed bathroom door. When he got no answer, he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. He was comforted to see his lover there, but hadn’t expected him to see him getting up off the bathroom floor before the toilet to flush it. “Baby, are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah just...felt nauseous all of a sudden is all. Don’t worry about me, Gee. I’m feeling better now.” Frank soothed him, lying through his teeth. Stepping over to the sink, he extracted an extra toothbrush and toothpaste from one of the drawers and brushed his teeth.

Gereard remained quiet, trying to bury the excitement from showing on his face until Frank was finished. Only when the young man turned to face him did he note the dark circles that were afflicting him from restless sleep, pale skin that seemed blanched all the time and a hollowness to his eyes. Reaching out, he tenderly cupped his face in one hand, appreciating how he seemed to relax in his touch. “Baby, something has been bothering you. Everytime I ask you what it is you tell me you’re fine, bu-”

“That’s because I am. I promise.” Frank assured him, placing his hands over his as he further melted into the warmth of his touch. A warmth he couldn’t seem to generate himself. Since concealing the secrets of all these threatening letters they got almost everyday, he’s been icey cold to the touch. But he couldn’t let Gerard know about them. He couldn’t lose him. His children couldn’t lose their father whom they’ve grown to cherish just as much as he. “Like I said, don’t worry about me.”

“Then why are you throwing up?” Gerard prodded, filling up the doorway so Frank couldn’t move past him. “Is there something you wanna tell me?

Frank felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach. His hazel eyes widen in horror. Did he know? “Wh-”

“Are you...are you pregnant?” Gerard whispered, his eyes magnifying with excitement. “Oh my god, that's what it is, isn’t it!? You’re pregnant again! Oh, Frankie, why didn’t you tell me, baby?”

“What, no!” Frank denied, shoving the cuddly jubilant man from embracing him. “I’m not pregnant!”

Gerard was lost. He had almost been positive when he walked in to discover that his lover had vomited. “Well then, what’s going on with you? You hardly sleep, you’re pale as death, you’re quiet, and spacey all the time.”

“I...I..” Frank grappled for a lie, any lie! His mouth opened and closed for a minute until a light bulb went off in his head. “Um, I think I might be...coming down with something. I don’t know.”

Brows furrowing, Gerard lifted a hand to Frank’s forehead to check his temperature. “You are a little warm.”

“I think I should go lie down. Just in case.” Frank replied, lowering his eyes and shaking his head to hide behind his fringe.

Gerard sensed he was fibbing, but decided to let it go for now. Stepping aside, he nodded towards the stairs. “Yeah, you look like you could use some sleep. Don’t worry about us, I’ll look out for the kids. You just focus on getting some more sleep.”