I'm the Last One That You'll Ever Remember
Chapter 196: We're Missing Something
Michael hadn’t been serious when he told his brother he would randomly drop by his place in order to get Frank used to his presence enough for him to grant him visitation to his niece and nephews. Gerard had taken his quip seriously though and gave him his full consent to go ahead and help himself.
At first, Michael wanted to laugh his honesty off, but then again…the hope that Frank would accept him into his niece and nephew’s lives wasn’t a realistic one for good reasons. Cooperating with Frank’s way wouldn’t work either because he’d never grant him access to the kids.
What if him showing up unannounced worked out in the end?
If it did then he’d be more than happy to assist his brother and himself in order to be able to meet his niece and nephew face to face without starting any conflict between the two parents!
Retreating himself out of the subjects of the kids, Michael brought up another matter that needed to be discussed while he rocked both his quiet, well-behaved nephews, Milo and Jovani, in his arms. “Hey, have you by any chance received any more of those threatening letters since we last spoke about it?”
“No. We stopped getting those before I got married.” Gerard briefed him with a shrug, hoping that that drama was over and done with finally.
“Strange. Whoever it was wasn’t a Killjoy.” Michael reminded them both as they stood there in the parking lot of a grocery store that Gerard just finished shopping at.
“I figured that when you never got back in touch about it.” Gerard surmised with a sigh, lowering his light brown eyes to his shoes.
“I’m willing to bet all your food shopping that it’s somebody on the outside.” Michael shared his belief, leaning his head to one side to avoid Jovani’s hand from grabbing a tiny handful of his hair. He knew children enough that once they got a grip on your hair, it was hard to get them to let go.
“If not the Killjoy then who!?” Gerard demanded his brother as mildly as possible considering his children were between them. He couldn’t go bellowing his frustrations out to the world with them present or else it’d end up making them bawl their eyes. “Who thought it’d be so damn funny sending those letters to my family?”
“Haven’t got a clue.” Michael told him, feeling defeat. He had failed his brother in identifying this mysterious troublemaker. Something he had never failed to do before. Love was truly making him weak it seemed, but he was also the happiest he’d ever been before in his life at the same time. “Whoever they are, no one that we run with is aware of their existence.”
“And everyone that we did run with are skin and bones by now so they can’t be associated with them. We left no trace.” Gerard grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest as he shifted in place. This didn’t make any sense. There had to be more, he was positive of it. Shaking his head to himself, he told his brother. “No, this can’t just be it. We’re missing something. There has to be something we’re missing.”
“We are. The question is, what is it?” Michael pondered, his brows furrowing in deep thought. He turned his head further away from Jovani when the boy began to stretch himself out in his arm, determined to grab a hold of his hair. “I don’t suppose your darling husband has any enemies, by any chance? It’d certainly make this easier on us if he did.”
Gerard didn’t even give it a second’s worth of his time to mull over it. There was no way on God’s Green Earth that his beloved husband would have enemies. All you’d have to do is look at the young mother of four and he’d automatically have the room liquifying to his will. “Of course not! Frankie is lovable by all that knows him.”
Michael resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his brother’s allegiance to the little guy. “Then I haven’t the faintest idea of what to do here. I’ve checked all the boxes. Nothing links together.”
“What about recruiting the other Killjoys in this? We can use them to hunt these bastards down so my family can rest easy.” Gerard proposed, not caring at how nonsensical and dangerous that idea was. He still wanted these monsters to pay for the distress they caused his husband. Since he couldn’t get his hands on them or find them even with his brother's help, then there was only one other risky weapon they could use in their arsenal and that was the Killjoys.
“Are you fu-” Michael cut himself off, remembering that he had two little children in his arms listening in on their conversation. They may not understand what the two adults were discussing, but they were cognizant enough to repeat words. Out of all the words in the English language they could use right now, he didn't want it to be the F-word. “Are you kidding me? No, we can’t use the Killjoys!”
“Why not?!” Gerard demanded, not seeing the controversy here. Together, they’d make an imposing army, an unstoppable force to be reckoned with! The bloodthirsty Poison within him craved this diabolical operation to come true.
“Cause there is too much dissension in the group right now! In case you haven’t heard.” Michael briefed him, not wishing to go into it right now.
“Dissension? How come? Is it because of me?” Gerard interrogated him, not giving him the time to answer each question before throwing out another.
“Yes, in fact, it’s because of you!” Michael verified for him, giving him a knowing look just as a steadfast Jovani finally prevailed over him and grabbed onto his hair to tug on. He winced but proceeded on with the conversation. “Need I remind you you are the one that forsaken the Killjoy family and lived to tell the tale? They’re still bitter over that! Believe me, I have to hear about it every-damn-day.”
“Everyday? Damn.” Gerard frowned, not expecting his departure to leave everyone in such a rotten state for so long. “It’s that bad?”
“You have no idea. It’s a living nightmare.” Michael lamented, rolling his eyes to the heavens in remembrance. “These days it’s taking everything in me to maintain a healthy relationship with Masika AND keep those delinquents under control.”
Gerard felt like someone cut him with a blade of guilt. This was all his fault. The Killjoys wouldn’t be behaving like a bunch of rebellious outraged teenagers if it hadn’t been for him quitting the team. They were resentful that he was living large and still remained unscathed for his desertion. He couldn't blame them. He’d feel the same way. The Killjoy was a code for life, one that wasn’t so easily shelved like a job. It shouldn’t have been easy for him to walk away but it had. Frank made it easy. Gerard was definitely one of the lucky ones.
Still, he was dismantling his brother’s life in the process and giving him more stress than one man could deal with forever. “Focus on the Killjoys then. They are the most trouble for the both of you. Masika would understand, we both know this. That’s why we love her so much. She’s always been understanding, patient, and chill when it came to our responsibilities as Killjoys.”
“But what about this stalker of yours?” Michael inquired, adjusting Jovani a bit so he could let his hair go. Milo was curled up against his chest now, sleeping soundly and drooling on his coat.
“I’ll wait for their next move and then let you know, okay?” Gerard vowed to his brother. “Until then, my only focus right now is to get Frank to agree to you meeting the rest of our kids.”
And Michael thought he had it bad. Suddenly feeling like his big brother had the world’s burden shouldered on him compared to his burdens, Michael chuckled at him. “Damn. I wish you all the best of luck with that, big brother. You’re gonna need it.”
“God, I know. Thank you for that.” Gerard sighed wearily, running both hands through his dark hair. He was getting a headache just thinking about the mountains he’d have to climb, and oceans he’d have to swim across to get his beautiful husband to concede.
“There'll be no hard feelings if he doesn't agree to it, Gee. I don’t want you getting too upset over it and getting into fights over me. What you two have sounds pretty special and I hate to be the reason that magic gets splintered into a thousand pieces.” Michael told him, his light brown eyes filled with his sincerity. “If ever you feel the need to argue, just remember how you two first met. Remember where you and I came from. Remember what we did to him. That’ll help you understand his perspective.”
“Thanks, Mikey. I will.” Gerard thanked him. As always his little brother was 1,000% right. It didn’t make it hurt any less that he may never get the two in the same room together ever again though. Frank was pregnant again. Would his brother get to meet the new member of the family?
At first, Michael wanted to laugh his honesty off, but then again…the hope that Frank would accept him into his niece and nephew’s lives wasn’t a realistic one for good reasons. Cooperating with Frank’s way wouldn’t work either because he’d never grant him access to the kids.
What if him showing up unannounced worked out in the end?
If it did then he’d be more than happy to assist his brother and himself in order to be able to meet his niece and nephew face to face without starting any conflict between the two parents!
Retreating himself out of the subjects of the kids, Michael brought up another matter that needed to be discussed while he rocked both his quiet, well-behaved nephews, Milo and Jovani, in his arms. “Hey, have you by any chance received any more of those threatening letters since we last spoke about it?”
“No. We stopped getting those before I got married.” Gerard briefed him with a shrug, hoping that that drama was over and done with finally.
“Strange. Whoever it was wasn’t a Killjoy.” Michael reminded them both as they stood there in the parking lot of a grocery store that Gerard just finished shopping at.
“I figured that when you never got back in touch about it.” Gerard surmised with a sigh, lowering his light brown eyes to his shoes.
“I’m willing to bet all your food shopping that it’s somebody on the outside.” Michael shared his belief, leaning his head to one side to avoid Jovani’s hand from grabbing a tiny handful of his hair. He knew children enough that once they got a grip on your hair, it was hard to get them to let go.
“If not the Killjoy then who!?” Gerard demanded his brother as mildly as possible considering his children were between them. He couldn’t go bellowing his frustrations out to the world with them present or else it’d end up making them bawl their eyes. “Who thought it’d be so damn funny sending those letters to my family?”
“Haven’t got a clue.” Michael told him, feeling defeat. He had failed his brother in identifying this mysterious troublemaker. Something he had never failed to do before. Love was truly making him weak it seemed, but he was also the happiest he’d ever been before in his life at the same time. “Whoever they are, no one that we run with is aware of their existence.”
“And everyone that we did run with are skin and bones by now so they can’t be associated with them. We left no trace.” Gerard grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest as he shifted in place. This didn’t make any sense. There had to be more, he was positive of it. Shaking his head to himself, he told his brother. “No, this can’t just be it. We’re missing something. There has to be something we’re missing.”
“We are. The question is, what is it?” Michael pondered, his brows furrowing in deep thought. He turned his head further away from Jovani when the boy began to stretch himself out in his arm, determined to grab a hold of his hair. “I don’t suppose your darling husband has any enemies, by any chance? It’d certainly make this easier on us if he did.”
Gerard didn’t even give it a second’s worth of his time to mull over it. There was no way on God’s Green Earth that his beloved husband would have enemies. All you’d have to do is look at the young mother of four and he’d automatically have the room liquifying to his will. “Of course not! Frankie is lovable by all that knows him.”
Michael resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his brother’s allegiance to the little guy. “Then I haven’t the faintest idea of what to do here. I’ve checked all the boxes. Nothing links together.”
“What about recruiting the other Killjoys in this? We can use them to hunt these bastards down so my family can rest easy.” Gerard proposed, not caring at how nonsensical and dangerous that idea was. He still wanted these monsters to pay for the distress they caused his husband. Since he couldn’t get his hands on them or find them even with his brother's help, then there was only one other risky weapon they could use in their arsenal and that was the Killjoys.
“Are you fu-” Michael cut himself off, remembering that he had two little children in his arms listening in on their conversation. They may not understand what the two adults were discussing, but they were cognizant enough to repeat words. Out of all the words in the English language they could use right now, he didn't want it to be the F-word. “Are you kidding me? No, we can’t use the Killjoys!”
“Why not?!” Gerard demanded, not seeing the controversy here. Together, they’d make an imposing army, an unstoppable force to be reckoned with! The bloodthirsty Poison within him craved this diabolical operation to come true.
“Cause there is too much dissension in the group right now! In case you haven’t heard.” Michael briefed him, not wishing to go into it right now.
“Dissension? How come? Is it because of me?” Gerard interrogated him, not giving him the time to answer each question before throwing out another.
“Yes, in fact, it’s because of you!” Michael verified for him, giving him a knowing look just as a steadfast Jovani finally prevailed over him and grabbed onto his hair to tug on. He winced but proceeded on with the conversation. “Need I remind you you are the one that forsaken the Killjoy family and lived to tell the tale? They’re still bitter over that! Believe me, I have to hear about it every-damn-day.”
“Everyday? Damn.” Gerard frowned, not expecting his departure to leave everyone in such a rotten state for so long. “It’s that bad?”
“You have no idea. It’s a living nightmare.” Michael lamented, rolling his eyes to the heavens in remembrance. “These days it’s taking everything in me to maintain a healthy relationship with Masika AND keep those delinquents under control.”
Gerard felt like someone cut him with a blade of guilt. This was all his fault. The Killjoys wouldn’t be behaving like a bunch of rebellious outraged teenagers if it hadn’t been for him quitting the team. They were resentful that he was living large and still remained unscathed for his desertion. He couldn't blame them. He’d feel the same way. The Killjoy was a code for life, one that wasn’t so easily shelved like a job. It shouldn’t have been easy for him to walk away but it had. Frank made it easy. Gerard was definitely one of the lucky ones.
Still, he was dismantling his brother’s life in the process and giving him more stress than one man could deal with forever. “Focus on the Killjoys then. They are the most trouble for the both of you. Masika would understand, we both know this. That’s why we love her so much. She’s always been understanding, patient, and chill when it came to our responsibilities as Killjoys.”
“But what about this stalker of yours?” Michael inquired, adjusting Jovani a bit so he could let his hair go. Milo was curled up against his chest now, sleeping soundly and drooling on his coat.
“I’ll wait for their next move and then let you know, okay?” Gerard vowed to his brother. “Until then, my only focus right now is to get Frank to agree to you meeting the rest of our kids.”
And Michael thought he had it bad. Suddenly feeling like his big brother had the world’s burden shouldered on him compared to his burdens, Michael chuckled at him. “Damn. I wish you all the best of luck with that, big brother. You’re gonna need it.”
“God, I know. Thank you for that.” Gerard sighed wearily, running both hands through his dark hair. He was getting a headache just thinking about the mountains he’d have to climb, and oceans he’d have to swim across to get his beautiful husband to concede.
“There'll be no hard feelings if he doesn't agree to it, Gee. I don’t want you getting too upset over it and getting into fights over me. What you two have sounds pretty special and I hate to be the reason that magic gets splintered into a thousand pieces.” Michael told him, his light brown eyes filled with his sincerity. “If ever you feel the need to argue, just remember how you two first met. Remember where you and I came from. Remember what we did to him. That’ll help you understand his perspective.”
“Thanks, Mikey. I will.” Gerard thanked him. As always his little brother was 1,000% right. It didn’t make it hurt any less that he may never get the two in the same room together ever again though. Frank was pregnant again. Would his brother get to meet the new member of the family?