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

Gerard let out a deep sigh, and closed his eyes. Masika was right when it came to his brother. He would never harm his niece and nephew and yet...he was still hesitant to let him know that he was a first-time uncle. Opening his eyes to look down at the brunette beauty, he nodded in accord. “I know, Masika, I know. I’m just...scared to take that chance. I have to protect my family at all costs, you understand, and that means anything that has any ties with the Killjoys. My family is the sole reason I quit that lifestyle I’d mastered for so many years and began an entirely new one that is the complete opposite of it! My kids need me.”

“Hey, I get it, Gee. I totally understand what you’re saying, and you’re absolutely right. Your family does need you.” Masika agreed with him, reaching out to deposit her hands on his upper arms and rub them up and down to comfort him. She felt the tension gradually leave him, and felt relieved herself. His voice had begun to pick up into a state of panic at the mention of his family. She hadn’t seen him so vulnerable before, it was beginning to make her feel uneasy. Still, her mind was curious about these two children of his, and so she tenderly prodded. “So, how old are these little angels you brought into this world, eh?”

“Two.” Gerard answered, the corner of his mouth softly turning up at the sweet thought of them. “They’re two years old. Twins.”

“Twins!? Wow!” Masika exclaimed in amazement. Now that he confirmed for himself that he had indeed fathered two children of his own, Masika began to mentally do the math. The timing of when these twins had been conceived had to have been around the time he first kidnapped his precious Black Opal, Frank. But how was that possible?

Gerard wouldn't have been able to find the time to conceive a child in the throes of his obsession with Frank. No, these children had to have been created AFTER Frank, not before or during. Up to that point he had become as transparent as a sheet of glass. Poison was typical Poison before Frank, but had become obsessed during Frank’s capture, and after his departure he had withdrawn deep within himself. He had been absent from the Killjoy hovels majority of the time soon after giving the lad up. No one knew what the guy was doing, or where he was going, or when he was coming back. If there was an opportunity to pump a baby into some random chick then that would have had to have been the precise time. Masika’s brows furrowed as she stared up into Gerard’s eyes. The man was still living with Frank as far as she knew so...was Black Opal aware of these two young ones? “So...does Frank know about your twins? Does he know they exist outside of your little home, or is this also a secret from him too?”

Completely forgetting that no one else knew that Frank had the capability of conceiving children, but him, Gerard became defensive. Tensing up, he glared venomously down at Masika so maliciously she jerked her hands off of him as if he burned them. “Now just what the fuck does that mean, huh?”

Seeing that she greatly offended him somehow, Masika held up her hands and took a couple of steps deeper into the corner of the bookstore where they kept their romance novels. “Whoa whoa whoa, calm down here, Gee! I didn’t mean to upset you!”

“NO, what the FUCK does that mean, Masika!? Go on! SAY IT!” Gerard snapped, his voice getting dangerously louder. They were currently discussing this in the very establishment he was employed at. If he didn't watch himself, he could lose his first job before he even gotten started. But the anger evoked by her query had him bristling nearly out of control.

“Jesus Christ, Gee, can you blame me for fucking asking?!” Masika demanded, giving up the peaceful act cause it clearly wasn’t simmering him down. “I’m just learning today that for the past two years you’ve fathered twins! TWINS, Gee! And you had somehow done it right under our noses! I’ve only been able to calculate that you had to have conceived them around the time you met Frank, the very man you claim to be fucking in love with!”

Gerard remained silent, seething underneath his flesh.

“All I’m trying to ask you here is if Frank fucking knows about them!” Masika pushed for more, impatiently waiting for his answer. “Wouldn’t want to let the truth slip next time he and I meet.”

Clenching and unclenching his fists at his side, Gerard tightly emphasized. “Of course, Frank knows about them!”

“Okay.” Masika backed off, letting that settle in. It was surprising to hear that Frank knew the twins were Gerard’s offsprings and had accepted them into their lives. His answers still didn’t seem to appease her for long though because more questions were surging up to take its place, eating away at her insides. “Who’s the mother, Gerard? I sure as hell know it isn’t Pastel, as much as she would love to be.”

“That’s it! I’m done! Meeting over! Get the hell out of my store!” Gerard snapped, throwing his hands up as a sign of him quitting, beginning to walk past her. He was over her questions that were looking to be a billion more of them. He didn’t have a long enough lunch break to answer them all, and even if he did, he didn’t want to. His family was none of her concern!

“Oh no, you don’t! Get back over here right now!” Masika hissed, charging forward to grab his arm in an attempt to stall him. “I promise I’m not gonna say another word about them if you’ll just come back and calm your angry little ass back down again. Not a fucking word, I swear on your brother.”

Gerard always yielded to her plea when she swore on his brother. He knew that she would keep her word especially when she swore on Michael. She loved that boy to pieces. Allowing her to guide him, he took a seat close to hers, propping his elbow on the tiny table between them.

Sitting down in the opposite seat, Masika was silently rubbing her palms together for a while. She was trying to figure out what she could ask him about. Obviously the kids were off the table. She wasn’t sure if that included Frank too, but didn’t want to push it just in case it was. Figuring she’d return back to Michael, she turned her head to look at Gerard. “Are you going to tell your brother about...you know.”

Groaning with annoyance, Gerard rubbed a hand over his face and sighed wearily. “I don’t know. I don’t think I wanna do that just yet.”

“Well, I hope you don’t expect me to keep my mouth shut for your sake!” Masika remarked, offended. She hadn’t expected him to still be on the fence against telling his brother he was an uncle to two year old twins he’d never even met yet nor knew existed. Gerard agreed he knew his brother wouldn’t hurt them, yet and still he refused to budge on that much needed conversation. He couldn’t expect her to keep this a secret from her man forever!

“Why the fuck not?” Gerard demanded to know, sneering at her. Masika had always had his back and looked out for him when he didn’t need her to. She was either like a mother figure or a big sister figure to him. Then again, he wouldn’t know. He never had a big sister and his mother didn’t live that long for him to know. Was it asking too much for her to keep her mouth shut when it came to her man?

“In case you haven’t heard, your brother and I are trying for an open and transparent relationship for once and so far things have been going great. The last thing I want is to fuck it all up by holding secrets from him!” Masika complained, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Again, why not?” Gerard reiterated. “You had kept your pregnancy from the guy.”

“That was before he wanted to have an open relationship, and that doesn’t count!” Masika disputed heatedly, not thinking of her next words. “But THIS pregnancy he’s gonna know about, mark my words! I’m gonna do it right this time!”

“THIS pregnancy?” Gerard echoed inquisitively. It took him mere seconds to piece together what she meant, and when it dawned on him, all of his anger dissipated. He gaped at her with wide hopeful light brown eyes as he slowly sat himself up. “Masika, you’re...you’re pregnant again?”

Irritated with how she published the good news, she closed her eyes and exhaled loudly, internally cursing herself. A second later, she met his gaze with similiar hopeful eyes and a warm smile. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant. I plan on getting myself checked out first to be sure just in case.” She was surprised when Gerard knocked the table over to embrace her. She smiled when he gave her a kiss on the head before she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Breaking apart, she pulled it out and read it before lifting her eyes to his. “Look, I’m gonna be honest with you, Gee. I don’t think I can keep this news from your brother for long so you gotta tell him soon or else I might accidentally.”

“Have you forgotten that I know you? I'll try and find the time to tell him myself, don’t worry too much. Just focus on you and this baby’s health.” Gerard ordered her firmly as he helped her from the chair. Giving her one last embrace and a pat on her flat hopefully pregnant tummy, the two separated the second they exited the corner of the romance section. Masika exited the store, and he went back to work at his job that was easily becoming a place he was enjoying along with his newfound life.