Live-in Nanny Wanted!

During the night, I was woken up three times by my restless girls. I was exhausted, needless to say, as I sat down with both of them propped up on my lap. As their eyes seemed to get heavier, I laid them down next to one another on the sofa and slowly got up as to not wake them. I quickly dialed Jamia’s number.

“Hey, Frank,” she answered.

“Hey, so I ended up finding a nanny,” I told her.

“That fast? You only put it up yesterday.”

“This guy seems like a really big influence,” I said.

“Guy? Does this guy happen to be hot?” She asked.

“Well, he’s certainly not ugly, if that’s what you mean,” I coughed, looking around my kitchen.

“You wanna have sex with this guy, don’t you?” She sighed. I laughed.

“Come on, Jamia, this guy really was the perfect pick. He graduated as Valedictorian and he’s seriously polite and caring. Yesterday, when I couldn’t find a way to calm the girls down, he came right over and rocked them to sleep. He’s obviously good with kids. Why don’t you meet him first?” I asked. She was silent for a while.

“Fine. Log onto Skype and call him over. I need to see who will be taking care of my babies,” she said. Even though it were almost a new day over in the UK, I knew she couldn’t wait any longer to see Gerard. Honestly, neither could I.

“Okay. I’ll log on when he gets here. Just be online,” I told her. She hummed in agreement and then hung up. Taking a deep breath, I dialed Gerard’s number. It rang a few times before he picked up.

“Hello?” He answered. I bit my lip at the way his voice sounded over the phone.

“Hey. It’s Frank. Mind stopping by for a bit to meet my ex-wife?” I asked.

“Sure. I don’t mind at all. What time?” He asked. His voice sounded so cheerful. I then noticed the sound of the Doors playing in the background.

“As soon as possible. And is that the sound of Morrison I hear?” I asked. I was impressed. Polite, intelligent, singer, and has a good taste in music? Where has this kid been all my life?

“You bet. His lyrics are amazing. I wish him and Kurt Cobain could’ve collaborated. Can you imagine that?” He asked.

“I’ve never thought of those two performing together, but I can see that working out beautifully,” I said. This kid knew his stuff.

“I’m on my way right now, okay?”

“Do you live far?” I asked, remembering how quickly got here yesterday.

“No. We live a few blocks away from each other. I would walk, but it’s a little too cold for me out right now,” he explained. I heard him start his car.

“Well, I better let you go. Being on the phone is dangerous while driving,” I said. He gave a little laugh.

“Are you sure the band you’re in is a rock band, Mr. Iero?” He laughed. I chuckled in response.

“I can still be punk rock and, like, about safety. Don’t crush my dreams,” I said. He laughed louder, causing me to smile big.

“I’ll see you when I get there. Are the girls asleep?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’ll be there in, like, two minutes,” he said.

“I’ll be waiting.” As soon as we hung up, I rushed over and, one after the other, put the girls in their cribs in my room. I ran down the stairs and cleaned up as much as I could after I realized the place looked like shit. When I was repositioning a pillow on the couch, I heard a very light knock on the door. I smiled at how considerate he was of Cherry and Lily as I walked over and opened the door.

“Hey, Mr. Iero,” he greeted with a small wave. I wanted to hold this man, but refrained from doing so and, instead, waved and stepped aside to let him in.

“So where is your, um, ex-wife?” He asked as he looked around, noticing the empty home. I led him to sit on the couch and opened up my laptop.

“Jamia lives in the UK. She relocated herself there for her job after requesting a divorce,” I explained. He nodded in understanding as I opened up Skype and video called her. Almost instantly, she answered. I swear to God if she does anything to embarrass me, I will virtually kick her in the ass.

“Hey, Jamia. This is Gerard,” I said as I gestured to him, “Gerard, this is Jamia.” He smiled and waved at her.

“Nice to you meet you, Ma’am. I’d shake your hand, but I’m afraid the distance is a bit of a problem,” he chuckled. I smiled at his goofiness and so did Jamia.

“It’s nice to meet you as well, Gerard. Frank here tells me you’re the perfect pick for taking care of our girls. You’ve convinced him, so now it’s me that needs convincing. So far, all that black isn’t helping your cause,” she said sternly. I gave him an apologetic look as he glanced nervously at me. He then chuckled in the same manner, and sat up a bit straighter.

“I had this same conversation with Frank yesterday afternoon. He’s in a rock band and going on tour, and you’re in the UK, right?” He said. Well, the kid had guts to be sassy to Jamia.

“Excuse me?” She said, completely baffled. He turned to me with a serious look.

“Is the mic working properly on your laptop, Mr. Iero, because I’m sure I said that perfectly clear?” He asked. If not for the serious look, I would be completely sure that he was purposely being a little shit. He was like Jamia in a way and it made me smile a bit.

“It’s good, Gerard,” I laughed. He smiled and nodded as he turned back to the screen. The look on her face was a look of, well, she looked impressed.

“Wow. Sassy, aren’t you?” She asked as she gave a little smirk. Gerard shrugged his shoulders and smirked back.

“People shouldn’t judge other people based on appearances. It’s, like, the silver rule,” he said. Jamia then turned to look at me.

“Frank, I like this kid. You chose correctly! Now, Gerard, I was told you graduated highest of your class?” She asked. Gerard nodded.

“Yes, ma’am. My best subjects were English and history. I struggled a bit with math, but after a whole lot of tutoring, I managed to understand. I had very good teachers.” Jamia nodded in approval.

“So I trust you can teach our kids some things you learned while Frank is out?” She asked.

“I was planning on it,” he responded with a smile.

“Great!” She says. She turns to me, yawning. “I’m gonna get some more sleep. You did good, even if you did it because he’s super attract-“ My eyes widened and I slammed my laptop shut. Gerard gave me a questioning look.

“Won’t she be mad at you for that?” He asked, completely unaware of what she was in the process of saying. I forced a laugh and shook my head.

“Nah, she’ll just send me a text telling me that I’m an asshat or some shit.” Just then, my phone vibrated in my back pocket, indicating a text. This caused Gerard to laugh.

“You two seem close. If you don’t mind me asking, why did you two separate?” He asked. He had a look of guilt on his face, as if he knew he shouldn’t have asked that, but his curiosity got the best of him.

“She’s my best friend still, you know. Very understanding. She completely understood when I told her that I was attracted to men,” I explained, waiting for his reaction. He didn’t look surprised. Which, actually, wasn’t very surprising. People were becoming more accepting of gay men and women.

“I’m glad she understood. When I told my parents I was into both, they became super overprotective. Even more so when I came home with a beat up face,” he laughed.

“What happened?” I asked. I leaned back into the sofa.

“Some of the other kids caught me and another boy making out by the bleachers, and, well, they weren’t very open minded,” he sighed. “Oh, well, those days are behind me, you know? I’m free from that place.” I nodded in agreement. I understood that feeling all too well. I used to be shoved into lockers and pushed around until the day I graduated. I wasn’t even sure why I never fought back, but I suppose it was because I didn’t know how to fight. Attempting to fight back would only cause me more problems, so I just let it happen.

“Well, at least you’re out of there. Other than babysitting, what are your plans for the future?” I asked. His eyes seemed to brighten up.

“Comics! I wanted to sit at my desk all day with great music playing, coffee in my hand and pen in the other, just drawing all day,” he said with a dreamy sigh. I felt my cheeks heat up. The way he spoke about his passion made him seem ten times more attractive.

“So, I suppose your dream is coming true with the tour and all?” He asked. I smiled.

“I’ve always wanted to be in a band. Forever, that’s all I’ve wanted. But, now, thinking about it, I think I just want to make my mark on the world. One day, I’ll just be a memory to some people, but right now is all that matters, you know?” I said as I smiled at him.

“I’m sure you’ll leave a mark, Mr. Iero. If it’s all right, I’d like to hear some of your work?” He asked. Instantly, I got up and pulled out a CD and put it in my DVD player. Call me old or whatever the fuck, but I found it fun listening to music that way. As the first song started, he was watching the ground very intently, as if focused on everything that was happening in the song. All the instruments, the voice, the lyrics, and the vibe the whole band was giving off about a heartache. I watched as his head started bobbing with along to the beat, and smiled to myself.

“Dude, this is some good stuff,” he exclaimed as we made it past another song. I smiled proudly. All of our hard work had paid off, and we were about to spread our wings and fly. Insert other motivational shit you’d like to hear about how long we’ve waited for this here.

So I found myself talking music, art, the world, the system, and the future of my band and his comics with Gerard for a few more hours before we both reacted to the sound of Cherry and Lily crying from my room. We both headed upstairs and each picked up a baby.

“It’s okay, little Cherry, we’ll get you and your sister some food, all right?” He asked the crying baby as he bounced on the balls of his feet, quickly calming her down. I did the same as him, and, soon, Lily was also calm.

“Hey, you can tell them apart,” I realized. He gave a soft laugh as we headed downstairs and into the kitchen.

“Of course,” he responded.

“But, like, how?” I asked as I walked over to the cabinets and pulled out some baby food, and a couple of little spoons. I sat down next to Gerard, who was sitting down at the kitchen table with Cherry in his lap. I refrained from ‘aww’ing and handed him a jar of the baby food and waited for him to answer.

“I’m not really sure. I just kind of knew who was who,” he shrugged. I watched as he became completely focused on feeding Cherry. I snapped to and also opened the jar and began feeding Lily. We sat in silence for a while after feeding the two and played with them on the living room floor for a while until Gerard got a call.

“Oh. It’s my parents. Hello?” He said as he answered.

“I’m at Mr. Iero’s house. His ex-wife wanted to meet me. Yes. Oh. Now? Like right now, right now?” He sighed. “All right. I’ll ask him.” He turned to me and gave me an apologetic smile.

“My parents want to meet you and the girls today for dinner. Is there any way that can happen?” He asked. I felt my stomach twist into a knot. Why was I so fucking nervous? I’m just meeting the boy’s parents, jeez. I smiled at him and nodded my head.

“Yeah. I just need to get them bundled up nice and warm and I’ll be on my way,” I said. He smiled and repeated my words to his parents. He helped me take the girls back to my room before turning to me.

“My parents want me to get home and help prepare the dinner they’re so eager for you to have,” he laughed. I nodded my head.

“I’ll see you in ten?” I said as I walked in to the door.

“Yeah. Drive safe,” he said as he walked over to his car.

“Same goes for you,” I said before giving him a wave and closing the door.

“Well, shit, I’m meeting his parents! What do I wear?!” I exclaimed to myself as I sprinted up the steps.

Notes

I have all the character development planned out and everything, but not the direction of the story. Huh. I thought that was very strange of me. Well, I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter!

Feedback would be very... yay :D

-OAIF <3