Frank’s phone rang loudly from the hallway.

“Hello?” I questioned.

“It’s Jamia, is this Frank?”

“No, do you want me to tell him anything when he wakes up?” I asked, biting my lip hard.

“Umm sure. Ask him if he wants the kids to come over.” She said. “Also, who is this?”

“It’s um James,” I lied. “Why?”

“It just sounded familiar, I thought it was Gerard for a second.”

“Oh. Alright, so I’ll have Frank call you back once he wakes up, good?”

“Yeah, thanks Dewees.” She responded, hanging up quickly after finishing.

I walked towards Frank’s office/recording studio area, where he had his camera. I looked at it for a minute, and I was really thinking about looking through the pictures. Frank and I used to show each other our drawings and pictures. We didn’t keep secrets from each other at all. I quickly walked out of the room and walked up the stairs, where our room was.

“Frank?” I smiled. “Get up.”

“Why?”

“Jamia wanted to know if you wanted to have the kids over for a while. Thought you’d want to call her back. I told her I was Dewees in case you didn’t want her to know I was staying here”

He bit his lip. “Alright. Where’s my phone?”

“Living room.” I answered. “I’ll go get it.”

“Thanks, Gee.”

I sprinted to the couch and grabbed his phone, quickly walking back towards our bedroom. I handed it to him silently. He unlocked his phone and went through the contacts, quickly selecting Jamia’s contact and hitting call.

“Hey Jamia. Dewees told me you called about the kids— yeah! When’s a good time for you? Tonight works fine. I’ll get their rooms cleaned up real quick.— What ti— Five works great! Thanks! I’ll pick them up tonight.” He hung up the phone and looked up at me. “Do you want me to see if Bandit can come over too?”

I stared at him for a while. “Do you have enough room?”

“The girls’ room has two beds and I have another bed in the garage.” He stated. “I can get it out if you want her to come over, my girls haven’t had a friend over in a while.”

“I’ll call Lindsey.” I said, smiling and walking towards the kitchen, where I left my phone. I quickly dialled in Lindsey’s number and waited for her to answer.

“Hey Gerard,” She greeted. “Are you better? Bandit’s starting to miss you.”

“Yeah. I’m staying with Frank for a little while and he’s having his kids over tonight. I thought the girls might want to have a little sleep over tonight.”

“Can I come over there first?” She asked. “I want to make sure it’s safe for her first—”
“I know what you mean, Linds, feel free. You can both come over now if you want, Frank has to leave soon to pick up Cherry, Lily, and Miles from Jamia’s house in two hours.

---

Once Frank and I finished cleaning the kids’ rooms, we went to the garage, pulling out a twin size bed frame. “Where’s the mattress?” I asked.

“It’s in the storage downstairs. I didn’t want it to get all nasty in the garage.” He responded. We lifted pieces of the bed frame, taking each piece into the room. Once we got all the pieces into the room, we heard a knock on the door. I left Frank to build the bed frame as I answered the door.
“Hey Lindsey.” I greeted, noticing she was alone.

“You look a lot better. I had Bandit go to one of her friends’ houses for a little bit.” She announced. “Can I come in?”

“Of course. Frank’s putting together an extra bed in Lily and Cherry’s room for Bandit so it might be a little messy in there—”

“Hey Lindsey!” Frank interrupted. “The bed’s almost finished, if you want to go check the room.”

I led Lindsey to Cherry and Lily’s room, where a bed that was only short of a mattress sat next to a bunk bed in a large room with a toy box, a bookshelf, and an armoire. The walls were painted with a magenta tone with a neon pink ceiling. A night light was plugged in next to a CD player which sat on the bookshelf.

“This is the room.” I commented.

“Wow!” Lindsey observed. “This room is huge!”

“I know!” I responded. “Want me to show you the rest of the—”

Lindsey kissed me. “I’m sorry, Gerard.” She said, covering her mouth. “I know we’re not together anymore and I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s okay, Lindsey.” I reassured. “We split up a month ago, you’re still used to being with me, I get it. It’s okay.”

“No it’s not. You’re with someone else, and I need to respect that.”

“I’ll show you the rest of the house.” I said, changing the subject. I led her to the kitchen and opened the fridge. “No alcohol, just food.” I commented.

“Do you want to pick her up on your way to pick up Cherry?” Lindsey asked. “I’m going out with Alicia tonight to catch up.”

“Of course.” I replied. “How’s 4:40ish?”

“Sounds great, I’ve gotta run.” Lindsey commented, racing out the door.

Notes

Chapter title from "Unbelievers" by Vampire Weekend.
Happier chapter but Lindsey kissed Gerard.
But she apologized.
And Gerard accepted it.
AND NOW THE KIDS ARE COMING INTO THE PICTURE!
Maybe I'll have Christa and Kristin in the next chapter too?