It Was All An Accident (Frerard)

Chapter Twelve: This Gift of Mine

Frank’s P.O.V:

As time went on, everything went into a form of normal and routines. Routines, that if you’d scrutinize them, you’d see nothing out of the normal. And it was because nothing was out of the normal, Gerard and I sometimes worked as an old couple, except for the fact that we weren’t. I would be the one who woke up early in the morning, preparing breakfast for the kids and Gerard, as well as coffee for us both. When the breakfast was done and served, the kids would normally stumble down the stairs with tired eyes and smiles across their faces with Gee stumbling behind them, even more tired. The kids would instantly go to the table, sit down and eat their breakfast in peace, not saying much. Gerard on the other hand would pad over to the counter where his coffee was in his usual cup. Once everyone was in their places and I was assured that Gerard really was awake, I would go and check that everyone’s school bags were in order with lunch boxes and school books. When it was all checked, I would grab my thermo cup filled with coffee, say ‘goodbye’ to them all and head out the door for work. The day at work would be nice enough, since I got to work together with new bands while they were recording their albums. I would give them advice when needed or asked for it, and in the meanwhile, Gerard would drive the kids to school, go home and work on whatever art project he had going on. Then he would go to the store, pick up the groceries I had requested for dinner, go pick the kids up from school, and then go home. Normally, I would be home at this point, waiting for them to rush through the door with excited voices, telling me about their days. Gerard would come trailing in behind them with shopping bags in his hands, dropping them down on the counter for me. Then, he would sit down with the kids to help them with homework while I made dinner. Our nights would then be spent in peace while the kids would play with each other, or their friends, depending if they had come over. It was usually spent on the couch with some TV show on, barely paying attention and easily accessible for the kids if something happened. Then, when bedtime came around for the kids, we would go up, tuck them all in, sing or read a story, whatever they asked for really, and then go back down. The next hours would be spent watching horror movies, usually at least, since we couldn’t do that when the kids were up.

Yes, we were like an old married couple, but we liked it like that. It gave us stability.

***

I stumbled down the stairs groggily, my eyes barely open to see if I missed steps on not, and padded slowly into the hallway to pick up the morning paper on the ground outside of the door. Once in hand and scrutinized for some interesting news, I got out into the kitchen, putting the paper down on the counter where Gerard would see it later.

Five minutes later, and the usually clean and neat counters had all the ingredients for pancakes lined up on them, me running over them, taking what I needed and putting them up in a huge bowl. Once mixed perfectly due to Gee’s recipe, I took foil, covered it, and stuffed it into the fridge. It would be for dinner tonight. Moving on, I started finding eggs, tomatoes and chives, mixing it all up in a bowl before pouring it into the frying pan.

Shortly after, the scrambled eggs with tomatoes were done and neatly placed on plates with slices of bread and placed on the table. Just as I sat down on one of the chairs by the counter, I heard soft thudding noises. Surely enough, as I looked up, four very tired heads were looking at me with droopy eyes and full on bed hair.

“Good morning,” I said, “Breakfast is on the table.”

All four of the kids padded over to their respective places, sitting down, picking up their utensils, and starting to shovel food into their mouths with as much enthusiasm you’d think tired kids could muster up on an early morning. I took a sip of my fresh coffee, and looked back to the stairs where Gerard was now coming down, looking more ruffled and tired than ever. With a nod he made his way to the counter beside me and grabbed his cup of coffee.