Drop Dead Gorgeous (Frerard)

Chapter 18

Frank wasn't the biggest fan of Christmas but he always tried to keep his spirits high to help make his mom feel better. She worked everyday of the year to pay bills and try and buy Frank the nice things that he wanted.

"Good morning and Merry Christmas," Linda said cheerily, opening the curtain to his room.

"Merry Christmas, mom," Frank said.

"Come on, let's get going, we can't let a happy day like this go to waste," she said.

Frank followed her out, sitting on the couch with her.

"I didn't wrap the gifts, I hope you don't mind," she said. "We ran out from last year and I didn't want to pay for another roll."

"No, of course it doesn't matter," Frank said.

Linda handed him a pair of jeans and a package of socks. That's what gifts were typically like in the Iero household. Usually things needed, not wanted. Occasionally a new book or maybe a DVD found at a thrift store. Jeans were a common gift, he got them every year. His mom was always angry at him when he would fall while skating and rip a hole in his jeans, making her patch them up when she got done with a fourteen hour shift. He usually got socks every other year, alternating between socks and underwear.

"Thanks, mom," Frank said, kissing her cheek.

"Check out the jeans, the lady at the store told me they were the newest style," Linda said.

Frank held them up and saw a simple pair of dark blue skinny jeans with fake rips and black patches underneath it.

"Figured you're always making me patch up your jeans, why not give you some pre-patched ones?" Linda asked with a small chuckle.

"These are pretty cool, mom, thanks," Frank said.

"I kept the receipt if you don't like them," she said.

"No, mom, these are really cool, I'm serious," he said. "There are a lot of kids wearing these nowadays at school."

Frank went to his room and came back with a little neatly wrapped box.

"Jamia helped me pick it out, I will admit that," Frank said.

Linda opened the box, expecting to see something like a package of new pens (which she went through like water as a waitress) or maybe some homemade art project from school. She certainly wasn't expecting a velvet box and a pair of nice earrings inside.

"Baby," she sighed.

"I've been at the job for over a year now so I got a Christmas bonus this year," Frank said. "And you always work so hard, you deserve something nice for once."

Frank knew that the nicest thing she owned was her old wedding ring, something she couldn't find within herself to part with. The next nicest thing was an old Walmart necklace.

"Where'd you get this?" She asked.

"Kay jewelers, I know you always like to look in there when we go to the mall," he said. "I was gonna go with these earrings that had these purple gems but then Jamia told me I should get these instead."

They were circle with a gold rim and a silver gem in the center.

"It's 14K yellow gold," Frank said.

"Baby, this is amazing," Linda said with teary eyes. "How much did this cost you?"

"It doesn't matter, it wasn't even my whole bonus," he said. "I put the rest of my bonus in the cookie jar with the rest of the rainy day money."