I'm the Last One That You'll Ever Remember
Chapter 194: The Showdown
The majestic paradise that the Bahamas gave Gerard and his husband, Frank, was short-lived when the younger of the two became homesick for his parents and their children. Somber to bid farewell so soon but also keen to see his baby's faces again too, the couple hopped onto the first plane to land them back in New Jersey. Gerard got to revel in a day with them before departing to provide his family with some much needed groceries. Jovani didn’t want him to leave him behind, and so he and his brother Milo tagged along for the quest. Gerard was so preoccupied with his day-to-day tasks as a father and provider that he didn’t ever detect he was being watched.
Observing his big brother from afar with two little ones bundled in their plush winter coats, Michael closed the distance between them. He had been spending nights on watch at his brother’s house from his car, awaiting his return from his honeymoon. Through binoculars he’d seen two more kids with whom he presumed were Frank’s parents. Not wanting to jump to conclusions or confront his brother right then and there and make a scene, Michael decided to wait until his brother left the house alone, specifically without Frank at his side. Marching across the parking lot, he reached his destination after his brother finished unloading his groceries into the trunk of his car and was now buckling one of the children in their car seat. Not bothering to keep his voice down, Michael shouted at him. “GERARD!”
The blast of the voice shouting his name had Gerard unsheathed a stashed knife on him with lightning speed in preparation of an onslaught, but when he whirled to his left he only spotted his little brother, Michael. The jolt that should have been there was replaced with nothing but fury at being founded out. Sheathing his weapon, Gerard expeditiously finished buckling Milo in before shutting the door of his car where his children were left eating their bakery treats for having excellent behavior in the store. Striding over to his brother, Gerard growled down at him. “What the FUCK are you doing here, Mikey!?”
Spreading both arms wide open, Michael broadcasted his reason with a tight smile. “Oh, you haven’t heard? I’m here to meet my niece and nephew. You know? The very same ones I’ve never fucking met before in person much less knew even existed in the first place, BIG BROTHER!”
Gerard took the jab his brother gave him because he definitely deserved it. Now the shock was finally sinking in. Speechless as to how to handle this showdown now, he stared forlornly at his enraged brother with pain in his eyes that mirrored his own. “Sable told you…”
“She let it slip on accident, but she has nothing to do with this right now!” Michael snapped at him, his hands curling into fists at his sides, ready to knock his brother’s deplorable face right off of his head. “What you should be asking yourself is why the FUCK I didn’t fucking know about them from YOU!? ME, Gerard! Your only fucking brother, your only fucking family you had left! The one who has always been there for you! The one who has always had your fucking back through thick and thin no matter what!”
“I…I wanted to tell you, Mikey!” Gerard began, struggling to explain his poor choices that only ended up putting Sable in a precarious position that could have jeopardized her relationship with his brother, and also putting his brother into such a state of hurt and aggravation that Gerard didn’t know if any amount of penance would make him forgive him. “I just…every time I tried to pick up the phone and tell you, I just…I just couldn’t go through with it!”
“WHY THE FUCK NOT!?” Michael yelled at him, needing answers as to why he missed out on such an imperative tender chapter of his brother’s life. His big brother became a husband and a father of two. This was an unforgettable hurdle that everyone KNEW Gerard would never make it over. And look at him now! He’d done the unthinkable. He succeeded past everyone’s expectation. He’d accomplished all this and had made sure to keep his little brother out of the loop the entire time!
Why?
Out of all the people in Gerard’s life, why would he exclude his own brother of all people?
“Because my baby mama would never have agreed to it!” Gerard blurted out, becoming frustrated with the demands for answers and his shortage of acceptable excuses. There was no way he felt like he could condone his own actions. All his reasonings seemed preposterous when he thought about it.
Gerard’s baby mama, Michael chanted in his mind. One again, it dawned on him that his brother had two kids with his husband that didn’t physically come from HIS husband. That meant these children had a mother out there somewhere.
Did this woman have any say on these kids, or was she only a surrogate for them?
Had Frank even met the woman, did she keep in contact with him?
Michael supposed he’d find out during this encounter. “And who the hell is this baby mama of yours?”
Becoming blanch, Gerard felt nauseous at the thought of his husband being the new topic of discussion. Averting his eyes, he said. “I…I can’t talk about that right now.”
Infuriated by Gerard’s dodgings, Michael snapped at him. “Why the fuck not!? You scared I’m gonna go tattle to your precious Frankie-poo on who the woman is or something!?”
The threat of his brother accosting his husband the way he was accosting him now regenerated the temper back in him. Closing the space between them to bump chests, Gerard ordered his brother through clenched teeth. “Read my lips, Mikey! Stay. Away. From. Frank.”
“Does Frank know about these kids or are they some secret from him too?” Michael investigated, not listening to his brother’s worthless warning. “Does this baby mama of yours even know who Frank is, or that you’re married to him now?”
Befuddled by where these questions were coming from, Gerard demanded him to clarify. “Wait, slow down! What the fuck are you even insinuating here?”
Ignoring his question, Michael went on because he had a truck load of questions since he’d learned of his niece and nephew’s existence. “How old are these kids, huh?”
“What does their age have to do with anything?” Gerard asked him, glaring.
“So I can know when they were conceived…” Michael paused for suspense. “Before or after you were fucking around with Frankie-boy.”
Once again forgetting he and the Ieros were the only ones that knew about Frank’s ability to conceive a child, Gerard detonated like a volcano at his brother’s cheating accusation. “Are you alluding that I fucked around on my husband while I was with him!?”
“Why are you so surprised?” Michael laughed cruelly at his brother before walking down memory lane with him. “You fucked around with Pastel, didn’t you? Who’s to say you didn’t fucked someone else on the side a second time?”
“That was just a meaningless fucking lay and you fucking know it!” Gerard disputed, now giving his brother a jab back. “Nothing more!”
“I guess you should have told Pastel that then cause that crazy bitch has been mighty depressed and psychotic since you left!” Michael growled at him, stepping back into his spot. “She fucking cut my girl!”
Taken aback by his news, Gerard fled back into his fury to better stay planted on his feet. But the immediate concern he felt for the safety of Sable was deep-seated enough to show brightly in his eyes. “She…she hurt Masika!? When!? How!? What happened!?”
“Yeah, she did, a day or two before Halloween. It was minor but that doesn’t make it any less of a situation.” Michael told him with a glare. “Pastel lost it and attacked her out of some random rage. Masika held her own long enough for that maniac to take off running. We haven’t seen her since.”
Gerard was relieved that the cut hadn’t been severe but now he was pissed at Pastel for hurting one of his loved ones. Glancing around him, Gerard shuffled around to level out the erratic waves of fury that were igniting in him like fireworks. “That fucking bitch! If I see her again, I’ll…” Exhaling deeply a few times, Gerard returned his attention to his brother. Pastel would be dealt with another time. Right now it was all about him. With his light brown eyes softening, Gerard whispered to him. “Look, I’m so sorry for all this, Michael. I know my actions say otherwise, but…I genuinely didn’t intend to keep the twins hidden from you for so long. For a moment, yes, but not this long. Being a father, it’s changed me in ways I hadn’t expected. I have this constant paternal instinct to protect my kids at all times! Everything around them triggers it and I can’t think of anything else but them. You were never the problem, it was me.”
Observing his big brother from afar with two little ones bundled in their plush winter coats, Michael closed the distance between them. He had been spending nights on watch at his brother’s house from his car, awaiting his return from his honeymoon. Through binoculars he’d seen two more kids with whom he presumed were Frank’s parents. Not wanting to jump to conclusions or confront his brother right then and there and make a scene, Michael decided to wait until his brother left the house alone, specifically without Frank at his side. Marching across the parking lot, he reached his destination after his brother finished unloading his groceries into the trunk of his car and was now buckling one of the children in their car seat. Not bothering to keep his voice down, Michael shouted at him. “GERARD!”
The blast of the voice shouting his name had Gerard unsheathed a stashed knife on him with lightning speed in preparation of an onslaught, but when he whirled to his left he only spotted his little brother, Michael. The jolt that should have been there was replaced with nothing but fury at being founded out. Sheathing his weapon, Gerard expeditiously finished buckling Milo in before shutting the door of his car where his children were left eating their bakery treats for having excellent behavior in the store. Striding over to his brother, Gerard growled down at him. “What the FUCK are you doing here, Mikey!?”
Spreading both arms wide open, Michael broadcasted his reason with a tight smile. “Oh, you haven’t heard? I’m here to meet my niece and nephew. You know? The very same ones I’ve never fucking met before in person much less knew even existed in the first place, BIG BROTHER!”
Gerard took the jab his brother gave him because he definitely deserved it. Now the shock was finally sinking in. Speechless as to how to handle this showdown now, he stared forlornly at his enraged brother with pain in his eyes that mirrored his own. “Sable told you…”
“She let it slip on accident, but she has nothing to do with this right now!” Michael snapped at him, his hands curling into fists at his sides, ready to knock his brother’s deplorable face right off of his head. “What you should be asking yourself is why the FUCK I didn’t fucking know about them from YOU!? ME, Gerard! Your only fucking brother, your only fucking family you had left! The one who has always been there for you! The one who has always had your fucking back through thick and thin no matter what!”
“I…I wanted to tell you, Mikey!” Gerard began, struggling to explain his poor choices that only ended up putting Sable in a precarious position that could have jeopardized her relationship with his brother, and also putting his brother into such a state of hurt and aggravation that Gerard didn’t know if any amount of penance would make him forgive him. “I just…every time I tried to pick up the phone and tell you, I just…I just couldn’t go through with it!”
“WHY THE FUCK NOT!?” Michael yelled at him, needing answers as to why he missed out on such an imperative tender chapter of his brother’s life. His big brother became a husband and a father of two. This was an unforgettable hurdle that everyone KNEW Gerard would never make it over. And look at him now! He’d done the unthinkable. He succeeded past everyone’s expectation. He’d accomplished all this and had made sure to keep his little brother out of the loop the entire time!
Why?
Out of all the people in Gerard’s life, why would he exclude his own brother of all people?
“Because my baby mama would never have agreed to it!” Gerard blurted out, becoming frustrated with the demands for answers and his shortage of acceptable excuses. There was no way he felt like he could condone his own actions. All his reasonings seemed preposterous when he thought about it.
Gerard’s baby mama, Michael chanted in his mind. One again, it dawned on him that his brother had two kids with his husband that didn’t physically come from HIS husband. That meant these children had a mother out there somewhere.
Did this woman have any say on these kids, or was she only a surrogate for them?
Had Frank even met the woman, did she keep in contact with him?
Michael supposed he’d find out during this encounter. “And who the hell is this baby mama of yours?”
Becoming blanch, Gerard felt nauseous at the thought of his husband being the new topic of discussion. Averting his eyes, he said. “I…I can’t talk about that right now.”
Infuriated by Gerard’s dodgings, Michael snapped at him. “Why the fuck not!? You scared I’m gonna go tattle to your precious Frankie-poo on who the woman is or something!?”
The threat of his brother accosting his husband the way he was accosting him now regenerated the temper back in him. Closing the space between them to bump chests, Gerard ordered his brother through clenched teeth. “Read my lips, Mikey! Stay. Away. From. Frank.”
“Does Frank know about these kids or are they some secret from him too?” Michael investigated, not listening to his brother’s worthless warning. “Does this baby mama of yours even know who Frank is, or that you’re married to him now?”
Befuddled by where these questions were coming from, Gerard demanded him to clarify. “Wait, slow down! What the fuck are you even insinuating here?”
Ignoring his question, Michael went on because he had a truck load of questions since he’d learned of his niece and nephew’s existence. “How old are these kids, huh?”
“What does their age have to do with anything?” Gerard asked him, glaring.
“So I can know when they were conceived…” Michael paused for suspense. “Before or after you were fucking around with Frankie-boy.”
Once again forgetting he and the Ieros were the only ones that knew about Frank’s ability to conceive a child, Gerard detonated like a volcano at his brother’s cheating accusation. “Are you alluding that I fucked around on my husband while I was with him!?”
“Why are you so surprised?” Michael laughed cruelly at his brother before walking down memory lane with him. “You fucked around with Pastel, didn’t you? Who’s to say you didn’t fucked someone else on the side a second time?”
“That was just a meaningless fucking lay and you fucking know it!” Gerard disputed, now giving his brother a jab back. “Nothing more!”
“I guess you should have told Pastel that then cause that crazy bitch has been mighty depressed and psychotic since you left!” Michael growled at him, stepping back into his spot. “She fucking cut my girl!”
Taken aback by his news, Gerard fled back into his fury to better stay planted on his feet. But the immediate concern he felt for the safety of Sable was deep-seated enough to show brightly in his eyes. “She…she hurt Masika!? When!? How!? What happened!?”
“Yeah, she did, a day or two before Halloween. It was minor but that doesn’t make it any less of a situation.” Michael told him with a glare. “Pastel lost it and attacked her out of some random rage. Masika held her own long enough for that maniac to take off running. We haven’t seen her since.”
Gerard was relieved that the cut hadn’t been severe but now he was pissed at Pastel for hurting one of his loved ones. Glancing around him, Gerard shuffled around to level out the erratic waves of fury that were igniting in him like fireworks. “That fucking bitch! If I see her again, I’ll…” Exhaling deeply a few times, Gerard returned his attention to his brother. Pastel would be dealt with another time. Right now it was all about him. With his light brown eyes softening, Gerard whispered to him. “Look, I’m so sorry for all this, Michael. I know my actions say otherwise, but…I genuinely didn’t intend to keep the twins hidden from you for so long. For a moment, yes, but not this long. Being a father, it’s changed me in ways I hadn’t expected. I have this constant paternal instinct to protect my kids at all times! Everything around them triggers it and I can’t think of anything else but them. You were never the problem, it was me.”