FicWad

"Mom you are going to sleep away Thanksgiving" Kelly said as she bounced into the room. Monica looked over at the clock and was surprised to see she had slept for over an hour. She sat up and happily discovered her headache was gone. After running a brush through her hair she followed Kelly upstairs. Now the house was really full of people. Most she knew but some were strangers to her. Gerard spotted her as soon as she entered the living room. He motioned for her to come over to where he and an older man were standing.
"Feeling better?" he asked.
Monica smiled "Much better". She turned to the man and said, "You must be Don."
The older man with glasses smiled "And how did you know that?"
She laughed and looked at Gerard "I can see the resemblance." This pleased Don "I'm not sure my son here would agree. Actually we were just talking about his looks." Monica noticed Gerard rolled his eyes.
"Not this again, Dad " he said to his father. He knew his dad hated his blond hair.
Don waved his hand "Now don't get all upset. I just want to get his lovely ladies opinion. What do you think of his blond hair?"
Oh great, his dad was just like his mom when it came to asking questions you really didn't want to answer She thought a moment, "It 's very nice" was all she could come up with.
Don laughed "OK let me ask you this way "Did you like his hair better dark?"
"It looks very nice both ways," she answered diplomatically. Gerard looked at her and smiled.
"Nice answer but he will keep at you until you give him you real opinion." He looked over at his father and laughed. "So you might as will say what you really think"
Monica rolled her eyes "But I did. I think it looks nice both ways. When it was dark you had that "bad boy" look going. The blond makes you look...." Oh crap she couldn't think of a word to describe it.
"The blond makes me look...how?" He was enjoying her discomfort. He knew she was trying to be nice and not say anything that would offend him. And she was trying to please his dad too. Watching her search for a way to describe his hair was so funny.
"Well the blond hair makes you look.... pretty". As soon as the word left her mouth she began to blush. Telling a hot guy he looked pretty just wasn't cool. Don burst into laughter. "Oh, Gerard you look pretty."
Monica glanced at Gerard. He was laughing as hard as his dad. "Monica you have wounded me. I'm just pretty? Man, I thought I was beautiful"
Now she began to laugh too "You Way men are evil." She was about to say more but Donna made the announcement that dinner was ready. The cheers were deafening.
It was by far the best Thanksgiving she had ever celebrated. The food was marvelous. Donna had outdone herself but it was more than just great food. It was the warmth of family. Everyone made Monica, Kara and Kelly feel as if they belonged.
All too soon the dinner was over and the dishes cleaned away. Frank and Jamia stopped by briefly as did Ray. The band members were truly one big family. Mikey, Alicia and Bob were preparing to leave when Kara found Monica.
"Can I go over the Mikey's and hang for awhile? Alicia and I want to talk" Monica had kept an eye on her daughter and Bob most of the day so she had a pretty good idea why she wanted to go. Alicia came over to where they were standing "Did you ask?" she looked at Kara.
Kara grinned "Not yet. Hey, mom is it OK if Alicia dyes my hair?" This came as a surprise to Monica. Kara had never dyed her hair or even mentioned she wanted to before now. "What color?" she asked
"Just a bit darker. This brown is just boring" Alicia nodded in agreement. Monica knew it was important to let Kara make her own decisions. At her age it was nice she still thought to ask her mother. "Sure, just not purple, OK"
Both of the girls laughed and took off to where Bob and Mikey were waiting. She watched them walk to Mikey's car. Bob and Kara were holding hands. Damn, she didn't need another problem to deal with right now.
Donna looked out the window, "You have to let them make their own decisions sometimes even if they aren't what you would choose. That is one of the hardest things for a mother to do."
Monica frowned, "You think it is OK for her to be with Bob? I like him, I really do. The guy is sweet and I saw how he treated Kara today. It's just she is so young."
"My advice would be just to wait and see what happens" Donna sighed, "that probably isn't what you want to hear. Anyway would you like to go with Kelly and me to the Christmas tree lighting here in town? It starts in twenty minutes. Kelly is already getting her coat and gloves."
"I'm really sort of tired, I think I will just take a shower and relax." She watched them leave then turned to go downstairs. Briefly she wondered where Gerard had gone. She found him when she got to the bedroom. He was sitting on the bed looking thru some papers.
"Oh sorry I thought you were going with mom and Kelly" he started to gather up the items on the bed. Monica could see it was some of his artwork. "It's OK I was just going to take a shower and put on my sweats. You don't need to move." She got her stuff and went into the bathroom. When she emerged fifteen minutes latter Gerard was still there. He was shaking his head. He looked so unhappy.
"Gerard are you alright?" she walked over to him and without thinking ran her hand through his hair.
It was almost as if he didn't hear her. He just kept flipping through his papers. Suddenly he took the one in his hand and tore it in two. "Don't do that," she cried. As he grabbed another picture she pulled it from his hands. "What are you doing, Gerard? Don't destroy you work"
He finally looked at her "It's shit, all of it. The kid who did this is dead, he was just a stupid fuck who hid from the world"
Monica pushed the papers to the other side of the bed and sat next to him. "What happened, why are you so upset? "
He ran his hand through his hair "I need a cigarette" he stared to get up but Monica pulled him back down.
"Tell me what is wrong" she demanded. She hated seeing him so upset and didn't know how to help. "I just want to understand what is going on"
He fell back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "I was such a fuck up. I hid in this room; I hid, I would draw and make up my own world. Instead of facing my demons I would create a nice place for them."
Monica was confused, "I don't know what to say. I don't know how to help you, Gerard. Please let me know what is going on in your head"
He looked over at her. Now his expression was sad almost defeated "Just a bad day, I'm remembering what my life was like before. I was a fucking mess. I hate what I was. Shit I was 24 and living in my mother's basement. What if everything we have is taken away tomorrow? I'll just be the stupid fuck in the basement again"
She began to understand "You are not going to loose anything and even if you did you would be OK." He looked at her as if she was crazy. She reached out and touched his hand "the person you were before is who you still are. That part of you is still there and it is OK. Learn to make peace with him. He did what he had to so he could escape what he couldn't deal with. He was an artist and a poet who survived. He saw the horror of Sept 11th and coped by writing a song, creating something from such horrendous loss. Learn to accept who you were and who you are."
He linked his fingers with hers and squeezed her hand. Slowly he sat back up and looked into her eyes. Monica watched as he leaned closer. She knew she should move but couldn't will herself to. His lips lightly touched hers then stopped. His tongue darted out to caress her bottom lip. Monica closed her eyes enjoying the feeling, the heat that was coursing through her blood. He slipped his arms around her and pulled her to him. The kiss deepened and his tongue met hers. Softly she moaned.
The sound caused Gerard to shutter. "Moan for my again honey" his raspy voice commanded. She couldn't think she could only feel. He broke away from her mouth and left a trail of kisses down her neck to her collarbone. The second moan that escaped from her seemed to shake him to the core. He gently ran this tongue along her collarbone and nipped at the skin.
Monica ran her fingers through his hair pulling him even closer. He moved up her throat again gently sucking and nipping at her flesh. Slowly he fell back on the bed pulling her down on him. He reached up and grabbed her hand. As she watched he kissed her palm then gently took one of her fingers into his mouth and began to suck. It was one of the most erotic things she had ever seen. His eyes never left her face. He wanted to see her reaction and it pleased him. His other hand slid down her back. He pressed her to him and she gasped as she felt his need. A sound of pure pleasure escaped her lips. That was when they both heard the back door open.