The Spare Room (Frerard)

A Full House

The house was a standard, bigger than necessary, American house.

Nothing much had changed over the year, apart from a lot. The kitchen was finally getting some use. Gerard often arrived home to a cooked meal and honestly, the first time he was a bit surprised. Frank had found some old recipe book his mom had bought him and now he never had his nose out of the thing.

The dining room was actually used now. Frank said he wanted them to start eating like a proper family. Gerard could have argued that they had always been a proper family but he kept his mouth shut. Anything to keep Frank happy.

The box room was completely different. The wardrobe had vanished. Well, not vanished. It was in the guest room.

The box room had been painted one of the hundreds of shades of white. Honestly. Since when were there so many shades? It had actual curtains and a lamp shade on the main light. The furnishings didn't stop there. In one of the corners, there was a box of cuddly toys. Gerard and Frank had only bought a few. The rest were presents from practically everyone they knew.

In another corner was a dresser with a baby monitor, spare bottle and another teddy on top. There was a baby changing mat on the floor and a bag full of diapers and wipes. A floor lamp was by the opposite wall and next to that was a cot. A cot that usually had a small family member inside. He was a sleeper.

The rest of the house looked more or less the same as it had a year ago apart from some small changes, such as: a highchair in the dining room, a baby carrier by the front door, new pictures in frames on the mantle place and kitchen window, and many more toys scattered on the floors of the living room and Gerard and Frank's room.

Neither Gerard nor Frank looked back at all.

It had been five months since the surrogate had given birth to a baby boy and they had brought him home. That day had been very emotional to say the least.

Even though it didn't seem like that long ago, this way of living was the norm now. It felt like they hadn't been alive before now. Besides for each other, they both had another reason to live.

Gerard wasn't getting the hang of this whole 'parenting' thing. Okay, sure, he hadn't originally thought it would be easy, but it seemed a lot harder than Frank had said it would be. And let's face it, Frank usually knew everything.

Frank seemed to know what he was doing at all times. He was in his element. That was probably a good thing because as he was always at home, he was the one to watch the baby most of the time.

Gerard was always so tired when he got in and he felt bad for not helping out as much as he should. Truthfully, the tiredness wasn't the reason he left most things to Frank. The real reason was that he was scared. What if he did something wrong? What if he messed this kid's life up? He didn't want to take those chances.

Gerard knew he should probably voice his concerns to Frank but he didn't have the guts. It wasn't like Frank would be angry or anything. Gerard just didn't like to admit his weaknesses.

During the weekends, Gerard helped out more so that gave him a bit of practise. Frank seemed to understand that Gerard felt a little overwhelmed because if he asked Gerard to do something, he stood on standby ready and talked him through it just in case. Frank was considerate in that way.

"Gee?" Frank called from upstairs.

Gerard was drawing in the living room, some show was playing on the TV in the background. He didn't know what it was though. Lifting his head, he listened to make sure he had heard Frank call.

"Gee?!" Frank called again.

"Yeah?" Gerard stood up and dropped his sketchpad on the table.

"Could you help a sec?" Frank asked.