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

As her Gerard swiftly passed by his deprived Princess, a very upset Venetia stomped her foot on the floor like the spoiled princess she was and cried aloud to his retreating back. “PAY ATTENSHUN TO ME, DADDY!”

“Netia, come in here!” Frank called to her, catching the frail tone in her voice and knowing it meant trouble. Venetia was about ten seconds to wailing if neither parent didn’t act fast to her demands. So far two kids hadn’t cried this morning, and they wanted to keep it that way. Adding on another wouldn’t do for a pleasing morning. As he made the morning coffee with one hand and bottle-fed Ophelia in her bouncing chair up on the counter with his other hand, he tried his best to pay attention to whatever Venetia wanted to say, nodding to this and that. It seemed to work, the little girl felt seen again.

Upstairs, Gerard set a more relaxed Milo down on his bed and then a stinky Marcella onto the changing table across from it. Reaching up, he plucked a laughing Jovani up from his shoulders which he had ridden on on the way upstairs, and lowered him down onto his feet again. Now that neither of his boys was crying anymore, the whole house felt like it was falling back into order again! Jumping around, Jovani threw his arms up to his dad, chanting. “Again! Again! Again!”

“Daddy has to change your sister’s diaper, Jovani, and then it’s Milo’s turn to ride on my shoulders. You already agreed to this.” Gerard reminded his young son, ignoring his frustrated whine. Turning his attention to Milo as he changed a crying Marcella’s diaper, he asked him. “Milo, how are you feeling? Does your knee still hurt?”

“Yes.” Milo blubbered out, wiping the last remnants of his tears from his eyes with chubby little hands before making a face of perplexity. “No.”

Gerard arched a brow at him, taking Milo’s confusing response as a yes as he withdrew Marcella’s stinky diaper from her before quickly chucking it into the small bin built into the changing table. “Okay, buddy.”

Supervising everyone in the room diligently from the open doorway, Lorenzo asked his dad as soon as he was done checking on his little brother, Milo. “Daddy, do you need help?”

“Daddy’s good, little man, but you can go check on Mommy and see if he needs any help with your sister downstairs.” Gerard smiled at his son with pride as he wiped Marcella’s bottom region clean as she continued to wail out of hunger. He really admired how Lorenzo had stepped up to the plate as the big brother. He wanted to be Daddy and Mommy’s big helper now. But he was still a child so he wasn’t always a steadfast aid. Sometimes he wanted a day off from being a big brother. Either way, both parents valued his help whenever he offered it freely.

“Okay.” Lorenzo answered with a nod before dashing off to help his mom downstairs.

“Slow down, Renzo!” Gerard called out to his speedy son, hoping he heard him and would follow his command. The last thing they needed was Lorenzo falling down the stairs from running. This morning had already taken a disorderly turn, more than usual. Yes, it was probably because Frank was determined to handle all six kids on his own without Gerard’s support. Though this was all his husband’s doing, Gerard couldn’t be furious at him for not wishing to be around him, he had run off to be a Killjoy again last night. But it’s not like he was gonna sit back and let his brother die at the hands of his prior gang when he could do something about it. Frank had to understand that, right?

Marcella arched her back as she howled, tears running down her red cheeks as her hands lightly flapped around.

“Shh, it’s okay, my little mermaid. Daddy’s got you.” Gerard cooed as he fastened the clean diaper on his baby girl then lifted her into his arms to give her a kiss on the cheek. Reaching down, he swiped up a teething ring and handed it to her before glancing down at Milo. “Ready to go for a ride on my shoulders next, buddy?”

“Yes!” Milo exclaimed with excitement, stretching his arms out to his daddy to be picked up from where he sat on their bed.

“But daaaaddy!” Jovani lamented with a pout. He had wanted another ride on his father’s shoulder.

“You already had your shot, Vani.” Gerard reminded Jovani but in a firmer tone this time. Anytime any of his kids heard the stern shift in his voice, they knew they were heading into uncharted waters with him and would likely find themselves in trouble if they kept going against his wishes.

“Fine!” Jovani snapped, stomping a tiny barefoot on the floor and crossing his arms over his chest. He was so infuriated at his father and brother that he vowed to himself he’d never speak to them again for this betrayal!

Grabbing ahold of Milo, Gerard guided him with one hand up onto his shoulder where the giggling boy held on tight to his dad’s long hair, his sparkling eyes took in the new elevated surroundings of his parent’s bedroom. “Cool, huh?”

“Yes!” Milo laughed with joyfulness and much like he’d seen in the Disney film Aladdin, he released his father’s hair to spread his arms wide like he was on that magic carpet ride. “Weeeeeee!

“Careful, buddy. Hang on so you don’t fall off.” Gerard chuckled, his ears picking up the sound of Marcella getting fussy all over again followed by a roaring growl of someone’s empty stomach. Glancing back down, he looked at Jovani who was staring down at his own belly in surprise. “Hungry?”

Lifting his head to his dad, Jovani forgot all about his vow to never speak to his father again. He gave the older man an exhilarated nod for delicious breakfast and rushed forward to lean the weight of his entire body on his dad’s leg. “Yes! Food, pwease!”

Marcella burst out crying again, finally parting ways with her teething ring to toss it to the floor at Gerard’s feet. Something about the sound of crying made Milo suddenly feel like he should be crying as he too felt hungry for some breakfast. Beginning to blubber all over again, Milo tugged with both hands on his father’s hair and whined. “I’m hungry too, daddy!”

Reaching up, Gerard rubbed Milo’s back and shushed him. “Hey, it’s okay, buddy. No need to cry.”

Uniting with his father to console his brother, Jovani assured Milo from down below. “It otay, Milo! Stop crwying!”

“Aw, thank you, Jovani. You’re being such a good brother.” Gerard commended the older of the two and then reached out a hand to him. “C’mon. Let’s get downstairs to eat.”

Slapping his tiny hand into his father’s much larger one, Jovani beamed up at him. “YEAH!”

With his strength, Gerard swept Jovani off of his feet, into the air, and then into his arm with ease, making the boy laugh from the fun of it all. With all the kids accounted for, Gerard headed down the stairs with Marcella wailing again, Jovani much calmer, and Milo wavering between laughing from the fun of riding on his dad’s shoulder and crying from hunger.

Downstairs, Venetia observed as Lorenzo fed Ophelia from her rocking chair now set on the floor. Like he was told, he was now his Mommy’s helper only he didn’t think his job would include a smelly diaper. Glancing over her shoulder at her daddy, Venetia pointed to Ophelia with a look of disgust. “Daddy, the baby stinks of poop!”

As soon as Gerard stepped off the last step, Frank was there to take the crying Marcella, barely glancing at his husband as he told him. “I got her from here. You can change Ophelia.”

Lowering both Milo and Jovani to the floor, Gerard went to retrieve Ophelia and only focused on his daughter. His need to speak to his husband can wait until after their children are tended to first. Heading back up the stairs with the now fussy baby who just caught a whiff of her own poop, Gerard got the changing done a lot faster without his other kids present. In record time, he was back downstairs with the rest of his family and with a quiet Ophelia fighting to stay awake.

Frank had just put Marcella into her rocking chair where she quickly dozed off. After Gerard settled Ophelia down next to her, the parents went to get their children fed while slurping down their cups of coffee from time to time. But they didn’t have time to make a bountiful breakfast, so they settled for cereal. The parents found themselves settling for it as well, and after the kids were done they wanted to play outside. Getting them dressed, they were led outside while the parents remained inside to clean up.

Even though Frank kept his eyes off Gerard, he couldn’t do the same to him. His eyes were locked on his short husband. Stepping forward, Gerard took advantage of their moment alone to finally talk it out.