I'm the Last One That You'll Ever Remember
Chapter 197: It's Time, Gee!
Months had passed since Gerard’s little brother, Michael, had met two of his four children.
Months.
Months had passed and Gerard was nowhere close to approaching his husband to ask him to meet up with Michael. He desperately wanted this family to be whole. Technically it was already whole but Gerard really wished to make it greater than it ever was before. In order to do that he had to get his husband to sit down with his brother who thankfully now was much more understanding of his big brother's predicament now. Gerard credits that to the fact that he was now keeping in contact with him practically daily and was keeping him up to date with what was going on with himself, his husband, and the children. Now that he was being informed, Michael seemed to quiet down and has become much more patient when it came to his desire to meet Lorenzo and Venetia next, the only two left he hadn’t yet met.
Glancing over at his pregnant husband, Gerard let a tender smile stretch his lips. This pregnancy had proven to be incredibly delicate than the previous ones before, and so Frank had to take more time off work to keep his feet up the majority of the time. Other than the sensitive state, neither couple knew anything more about the baby. When it came down to the ultrasounds, the couple decided to make everything a surprise for the delivery day and so the grandparents were the only two left to snatch up the photos for their own greedy selves.
Because of Frank’s delicate state, Gerard decided to leave the subject of his brother for another day. Specifically after the baby was born. It wasn’t a hard decision to make when it came down to the safety of his baby…and his own cowardliness. Out of all the things to be frightened of, why did simply requesting his husband to form a relationship with his brother evoke such terror within him?
Outside of his dilemma, the couple and their family were utterly overjoyed. Lorenzo and Venetia were now three years old and in Preschool, Jovani was two years old, and Milo a year. Gerard and Frank were proud parents that kept detailed documents on each child through home videos, and photo albums. A lot of the moments were also recorded on Gerard’s phone that he promptly sent to his brother whenever he could. That too was a reason his brother stopped breathing down his neck.
Other than the division between Frank and Michael, life was sublime as these days counted down to their newest baby’s birth.
Flopped on the lounge chair Gerard bought him during this dire pregnancy, Frank lazily watched the Disney movie playing on the TV screen while Lorenzo and Venetia were dozing off on each side of him and Jovani laid between his legs, using his belly as a pillow to prop his head on. He too was out like a light. Enjoying the relaxing lounge chair, Frank’s eyes flitted over to Gerard on the couch. “Hey, Gee?”
“Hmm?” Gerard responded back, glancing back at Frank with adoration as Milo slept on his chest in his diapers. He too had barely been watching the movie. His interest was in his little son slumbering on him and how both he and the man he loved were blessed enough to create him together when all the odds should have been against them.
“I know you told me that you got this couch for this particular pregnancy.” Frank began, earning a nod from Gerard that he was listening. “But then you muttered something about ‘other’ pregnancies afterwards. So my question to you is…what makes you think that there’s gonna be any other pregnancy after this one? I’m pretty sure we agreed this would be the last.”
Gerard gave him a shrug, and averted his eyes to hide the cocky grin on his face. “Oh, I don’t know. I guess I just believe that you will.”
Narrowing his eyes at him, Frank decided to drop the subject with an opposing eye roll to the back of his husband’s head. Lowering his eyes to his burgeoning stomach, he made a frown. Frank was evidently showing, quite enormously, in fact. The size did nothing to help his rising concerns that there was more than one baby in there than they originally suspected. Sighing warily, Frank dropped his head back against the lounge chair and shared his concerns aloud to his husband. “Gee. I’m scared.”
“Scared!? Of what?” Gerard demanded, instantly becoming active and hyper-aware to any danger that might be lurking in or outside his home.
“Shh, calm down! You’re gonna wake the kids.” Frank hushed him sharply, lifting his head to glare at him before lowering it back down with another sigh. “If you’d let me finish, I was gonna say that I’m scared that there is more than one baby inside me.”
“Another baby? Really?” Gerard glanced over his shoulder at him, his light brown eyes shimmering with a child-like excitement followed by a smug grin. “Why? What makes you think so?”
“My belly was pretty big when I had the twins.” Frank recalled, ignoring the urge to lob a pillow at his thrilled husband. “This time my belly looks just as big as when I had them and not as small as when I had Milo or Jovani.”
Gerard’s light brown eyes veered off to the twins sleeping at their mother’s side. In seconds he replayed a fast forward clip of the first moment he met them to now at three years old. He did the same when he glanced lower at Jovani then down at his own chest where little Milo slept with his mouth open and drool dribbling out. He playbacked everything while Frank rubbed a hand over his large belly.
Letting out a mournful sigh, Gerard gave in. Five kids should be enough to quell his baby-making desire. It wasn’t, but it should be. Diverting his somber face, Gerard cleared his throat and told his husband. “Hey, don’t worry about anything, Frankie. This baby or babies can be our last one if you want.”
“It would be the smartest decision we’ve ever made for our family…even though I wish I could have a million more sometimes.” Frank said, muttering that last part to himself. “I kinda like being pregnant.”
“And I love having a big brood of my own that’s made from both you and I.” Gerard confided warmly, smiling softly down at his drooling son. “If I could have my way, we’d keep going forever and ever and ever.”
“I don’t know why I’m so surprised you want such a huge family.” Frank pondered aloud. “Maybe it’s because of the life you lived before us. Or maybe it’s because you didn’t really have one when I met you. And no, Killjoys don’t count so don’t even think about mentioning them!”
Gerard chuckled. “You’re right to think that. I never wanted kids like everyone else did. Come to think of it, I never wanted marriage or anything of that nature either.” Glancing over his shoulder again at his husband, he went on. “But when I disguised myself to be a babysitter for the twins in order to get close to you, it had me questioning myself on whether or not I want to be a father one day. The second you told me these kids were mine…there wasn’t a single doubt in my mind that I wanted to be a father. I never wanted to be anything else as strong as that.”
Frank’s cheeks flushed pink as he looked away from the back of Gerard’s head and his touching words. If he wasn’t careful, his hormones would get the best of him and he’d end up sobbing from his romantic confession. Taking a couple of breaths to compose himself, Frank suddenly felt something else that didn’t fit the current equation.
A sharp pain shot through Frank, making him gasp aloud and lurch forwards in his lounge chair.
All three surrounding children were jerked awake with heavy slumberous eyes and dazed brains
“Mommy!” Both twins simultaneously went off while rubbing their eyes, adorable pouts on their faces.
Remembering that Milo was on his chest, Gerard secured an arm around his frame and a hand protectively on the back of his head as he sat up, his eyes on his husband. “Frankie, what’s wrong?!”
“It’s t-time, Gee!” Frank gasped out before what he identified to be a contraction came right back, making his face scrunch up as he grit his teeth in pain. Both hands clutched his burgeoning belly as if he could somehow get a handle on the discomfort while the three children watched on in horror as their mother suffered.
“MOMMY!” Jovani cried out, scrambling back onto the couch and placing his hands over his mother, his eyes glistening with tears threatening to fall.
“DADDY!” The twins shouted again in unison, looking desperately to their father to save their mother from his agony. It was clear they felt helpless.
Paling under the situation, Gerard raced to grab the phone to call his father-in-law for help.
Months.
Months had passed and Gerard was nowhere close to approaching his husband to ask him to meet up with Michael. He desperately wanted this family to be whole. Technically it was already whole but Gerard really wished to make it greater than it ever was before. In order to do that he had to get his husband to sit down with his brother who thankfully now was much more understanding of his big brother's predicament now. Gerard credits that to the fact that he was now keeping in contact with him practically daily and was keeping him up to date with what was going on with himself, his husband, and the children. Now that he was being informed, Michael seemed to quiet down and has become much more patient when it came to his desire to meet Lorenzo and Venetia next, the only two left he hadn’t yet met.
Glancing over at his pregnant husband, Gerard let a tender smile stretch his lips. This pregnancy had proven to be incredibly delicate than the previous ones before, and so Frank had to take more time off work to keep his feet up the majority of the time. Other than the sensitive state, neither couple knew anything more about the baby. When it came down to the ultrasounds, the couple decided to make everything a surprise for the delivery day and so the grandparents were the only two left to snatch up the photos for their own greedy selves.
Because of Frank’s delicate state, Gerard decided to leave the subject of his brother for another day. Specifically after the baby was born. It wasn’t a hard decision to make when it came down to the safety of his baby…and his own cowardliness. Out of all the things to be frightened of, why did simply requesting his husband to form a relationship with his brother evoke such terror within him?
Outside of his dilemma, the couple and their family were utterly overjoyed. Lorenzo and Venetia were now three years old and in Preschool, Jovani was two years old, and Milo a year. Gerard and Frank were proud parents that kept detailed documents on each child through home videos, and photo albums. A lot of the moments were also recorded on Gerard’s phone that he promptly sent to his brother whenever he could. That too was a reason his brother stopped breathing down his neck.
Other than the division between Frank and Michael, life was sublime as these days counted down to their newest baby’s birth.
Flopped on the lounge chair Gerard bought him during this dire pregnancy, Frank lazily watched the Disney movie playing on the TV screen while Lorenzo and Venetia were dozing off on each side of him and Jovani laid between his legs, using his belly as a pillow to prop his head on. He too was out like a light. Enjoying the relaxing lounge chair, Frank’s eyes flitted over to Gerard on the couch. “Hey, Gee?”
“Hmm?” Gerard responded back, glancing back at Frank with adoration as Milo slept on his chest in his diapers. He too had barely been watching the movie. His interest was in his little son slumbering on him and how both he and the man he loved were blessed enough to create him together when all the odds should have been against them.
“I know you told me that you got this couch for this particular pregnancy.” Frank began, earning a nod from Gerard that he was listening. “But then you muttered something about ‘other’ pregnancies afterwards. So my question to you is…what makes you think that there’s gonna be any other pregnancy after this one? I’m pretty sure we agreed this would be the last.”
Gerard gave him a shrug, and averted his eyes to hide the cocky grin on his face. “Oh, I don’t know. I guess I just believe that you will.”
Narrowing his eyes at him, Frank decided to drop the subject with an opposing eye roll to the back of his husband’s head. Lowering his eyes to his burgeoning stomach, he made a frown. Frank was evidently showing, quite enormously, in fact. The size did nothing to help his rising concerns that there was more than one baby in there than they originally suspected. Sighing warily, Frank dropped his head back against the lounge chair and shared his concerns aloud to his husband. “Gee. I’m scared.”
“Scared!? Of what?” Gerard demanded, instantly becoming active and hyper-aware to any danger that might be lurking in or outside his home.
“Shh, calm down! You’re gonna wake the kids.” Frank hushed him sharply, lifting his head to glare at him before lowering it back down with another sigh. “If you’d let me finish, I was gonna say that I’m scared that there is more than one baby inside me.”
“Another baby? Really?” Gerard glanced over his shoulder at him, his light brown eyes shimmering with a child-like excitement followed by a smug grin. “Why? What makes you think so?”
“My belly was pretty big when I had the twins.” Frank recalled, ignoring the urge to lob a pillow at his thrilled husband. “This time my belly looks just as big as when I had them and not as small as when I had Milo or Jovani.”
Gerard’s light brown eyes veered off to the twins sleeping at their mother’s side. In seconds he replayed a fast forward clip of the first moment he met them to now at three years old. He did the same when he glanced lower at Jovani then down at his own chest where little Milo slept with his mouth open and drool dribbling out. He playbacked everything while Frank rubbed a hand over his large belly.
Letting out a mournful sigh, Gerard gave in. Five kids should be enough to quell his baby-making desire. It wasn’t, but it should be. Diverting his somber face, Gerard cleared his throat and told his husband. “Hey, don’t worry about anything, Frankie. This baby or babies can be our last one if you want.”
“It would be the smartest decision we’ve ever made for our family…even though I wish I could have a million more sometimes.” Frank said, muttering that last part to himself. “I kinda like being pregnant.”
“And I love having a big brood of my own that’s made from both you and I.” Gerard confided warmly, smiling softly down at his drooling son. “If I could have my way, we’d keep going forever and ever and ever.”
“I don’t know why I’m so surprised you want such a huge family.” Frank pondered aloud. “Maybe it’s because of the life you lived before us. Or maybe it’s because you didn’t really have one when I met you. And no, Killjoys don’t count so don’t even think about mentioning them!”
Gerard chuckled. “You’re right to think that. I never wanted kids like everyone else did. Come to think of it, I never wanted marriage or anything of that nature either.” Glancing over his shoulder again at his husband, he went on. “But when I disguised myself to be a babysitter for the twins in order to get close to you, it had me questioning myself on whether or not I want to be a father one day. The second you told me these kids were mine…there wasn’t a single doubt in my mind that I wanted to be a father. I never wanted to be anything else as strong as that.”
Frank’s cheeks flushed pink as he looked away from the back of Gerard’s head and his touching words. If he wasn’t careful, his hormones would get the best of him and he’d end up sobbing from his romantic confession. Taking a couple of breaths to compose himself, Frank suddenly felt something else that didn’t fit the current equation.
A sharp pain shot through Frank, making him gasp aloud and lurch forwards in his lounge chair.
All three surrounding children were jerked awake with heavy slumberous eyes and dazed brains
“Mommy!” Both twins simultaneously went off while rubbing their eyes, adorable pouts on their faces.
Remembering that Milo was on his chest, Gerard secured an arm around his frame and a hand protectively on the back of his head as he sat up, his eyes on his husband. “Frankie, what’s wrong?!”
“It’s t-time, Gee!” Frank gasped out before what he identified to be a contraction came right back, making his face scrunch up as he grit his teeth in pain. Both hands clutched his burgeoning belly as if he could somehow get a handle on the discomfort while the three children watched on in horror as their mother suffered.
“MOMMY!” Jovani cried out, scrambling back onto the couch and placing his hands over his mother, his eyes glistening with tears threatening to fall.
“DADDY!” The twins shouted again in unison, looking desperately to their father to save their mother from his agony. It was clear they felt helpless.
Paling under the situation, Gerard raced to grab the phone to call his father-in-law for help.