FicWad

“Dude, what the hell?” Mikey looked over at Ray. “You’ve been preoccupied all day. Something going on?”
Ray handed his guitar to the tech then turned to Mikey. “Come on, let’s talk.” He moved off stage where they had been doing the sound check and walked down the dimly lit hallway. Mikey followed him and they ended up backstage in the dressing room.
“So?” Mikey asked when they both were seated, “What’s going on?”
“I’m gonna be a dad.” Ray said smiling. At first he was going to keep the news to himself but Christa had said it was okay if he wanted to share it with his friends.
“Whoa.” Mikey laughed, “Okay, that is definitely surprising news. Did you just find out?”
“Christa told me last night.” Ray admitted. “She was gonna wait until I got home but I could tell something was bothering her and when I asked she just blurted it out.”
“Shit, do you realize we both have pregnant women waiting at home for us?” Mikey laughed. “Oh, man. Frank is gonna tell us horror stories about how it is dealing with pregnant women and the hormones.”
“You know he will.” Ray agreed. “Shit, I can’t wait to get home. I felt so bad cause she actually thought I’d be upset.”
“You weren’t at all?” Mikey asked wanting to know the truth.
“I was shocked but not upset.” Ray explained. “I mean it’s not what we planned but hell, it’s okay. I’m gonna try to convince her to marry me as soon as I get back.”
Mikey remembered his earlier conversation with Frank, “Hey, Frank told me he and Jamia are gonna get married in a couple of weeks. You guys should go for a double wedding.” He teased.
Neither of them had seen Gerard walk into the room. “Who’s getting married?” He asked.
Ray smiled, “Christa is pregnant. I’m gonna try to get her to marry me as soon I we get home.”
“And Frank finally convinced Jamia to marry him.” Mikey added.
Gerard tried to be happy for his friends, “Oh, man. Toro’s gonna be a dad.” He smiled, “That’s great, man.”
“Thanks.” Ray stood up. “Hey, I’m gonna go talk to James. See you guys later.” He walked by Gerard on his way to the hall.
Gerard sat down on the sofa by his brother, “Talk to Alicia last night?”
Mikey nodded, “Yeah.”
“Uh, she mention me?” Gerard wasn’t sure if she had told her husband that he had called her.
Mikey gave him a strange look, “No.”
“I asked her to talk to Monica for me.” Gerard lit a cigarette. “I was just wondering if she did.”
“When did you call her?”
“Friday.” Gerard said. “I was sorta hoping she’d call me and let me know if she’d gotten a chance to talk to her.”
“What did you want her to tell Monica?” Mikey asked.
Gerard looked uncomfortable. “I wanted her to warn Monica that there would probably be pictures of me and Eliza on the Net.”
“Fuck.” Mikey shook his head, “Are there?”
Gerard had checked several sites earlier but so far none had been posted. “I didn’t see any but I know a guy was taking pictures of us when you showed up in that coffee shop.”
“And you don’t want Monica to be upset.” Mikey guessed.
“I don’t want Monica to be hurt if she sees the photos. I want her to know that I’m not seeing Eliza.”
Mikey looked at his brother closely, “It’s all gonna work out, Bro.” He wanted Gerard to keep a positive attitude.
“I’m not sure about that but I’m gonna do everything I can to try to fix things.” Gerard admitted. “Fuck, I just want this tour to be over so I can get home.”

Monica hung the phone up and looked at the pile of medical files she needed to work on. She had been told she would be a receptionist / office assistant but so far all she had been doing today was filing. She sighed and picked up another file. It wasn’t rewarding work but it was a job. It was a way to make some money so they didn’t have to dip into the savings any more than necessary.
“Monica, after you get that box of files done there are two more in the back.” Karin, one of the nurses, said as she walked by.
“Okay.” Monica answered. “I’ll get to them as soon as possible.” She sighed again. Her stomach rumbled from skipping lunch but she wanted to get the filing done. It was important to her that she made a good impression on her first day of work.

Kelly walked over to the sofa where Luke was sitting watching T.V. “Bug’s finally asleep.” She told him.
“She really didn’t want to take a nap.” Luke grinned. “I kept thinking the kids gotta nap sometime.” He pulled Kelly into his arms. “I’ve been wanting to do this all day.” His lips found Kelly’s for a long, hard kiss.
Kelly pulled away after a few minutes, “Mom said no making out while I’m watching Elle.”
Luke laughed, “Yeah, I figured she’d say that. So how long does Bug usually nap?”
“About an hour, sometimes a little longer.”
“Well, we better get busy.” Luke said before leaning down and kissing Kelly’s neck. Soon they were so lost in each other that when the phone rang they both jumped.
“Shit.” Kelly pulled herself out of Luke’s embrace. She reached over and grabbed the phone. “Hello”
“Hi Kelly.” Donna said warmly. “How are you, Honey?”
Kelly scooted away from Luke slightly. “I’m fine. How are you?” She wondered if somehow Donna knew she’d been at her house yesterday.
“I’m good. I was wondering if I could talk to your mom.”
Kelly realized Donna didn’t know that her mom had gotten a job. She explained. “Mom started a new job today. She won’t be home until six.”
“Oh.” Donna was surprised. “And you’re watching Elle?”
“Yep.” Kelly laughed, “I’ve got Bug watch.”
“Well maybe one day this week I can come by and pick you and Elle up and we can spend the day together.”
“Sure.” Kelly liked that idea. “Do you want me to have Mom call you when she gets home?”
“Yes. I need to talk to her about Christa. She called me earlier and said she really needs to talk to your mom.”
“Okay, I’ll tell her.” Kelly promised. After she got off the phone she turned to Luke. “So where were we?” She teased.
Luke smiled, “Here.” He said before pulling her back onto his lap.

“I can’t believe I just blurted it out.” Christa told Alicia. “I really was gonna wait until he got home.”
Alicia laughed, “Welcome to the world of pregnancy. One minute you have everything all settled in your mind and the next you think and do something completely different. Mikey was asking me about names for the baby and I tried to explain to him that every time I think I’ve decided on a name I change my mind a few hours later.”
“I’m just glad Ray wasn’t upset.” Christa admitted. “I know it had to be a shock to him.”
“Hey, he loves you.” Alicia reminded her gently. “You two are gonna be great parents.”
Christa sighed, “Yeah, I guess.”
“You don’t sound convinced. Aren’t you happy?”
“I think I’m still in shock.”
“Have you been to the doctor yet?”
Once more Christa sighed, “No, and I really should have waited to tell him. What if the test was wrong?”
“Uh, I’m pretty sure it was right.”
“Yeah, I’m sure too. I never miss a period. As soon as I did I just knew.”
“So have you told your family yet?” Alicia asked.
“No, not yet.” Christa frowned, “I’m not sure how my mom is gonna take it. She loves Ray and is thrilled we’re getting married. But still she’s a bit old fashioned. I’m afraid she’ll be upset.”
Alicia understood her concern. “So you have made a doctors appointment haven’t you?”
“Tomorrow at three.” She looked out the kitchen window. “You know I really want to tell Monica. I want to talk to her.”
“It’s stupid we don’t have her number. She’s got to realize it’s wrong to try to distance herself from us. We’re her friends.”
“Yeah, but I kinda understand why she’s done it. It’s got to be hard for her. I did call Donna earlier and I asked her to have Monica call me.”
“Then I’m sure she will.”
“Donna called back and said she’d talked to Kelly. Evidently Monica started a new job today.”
“She did?” Alicia was surprised. “What’s she doing?”
“She’s working in a doctors office.”
“Wow. I guess Kelly must be watching Elle.”
Christa agreed, “Yeah, I guess so.”
“You know this whole situation is so messed up. She has Gerard’s daughter but they are broke up. I wonder how Gerard is gonna handle that situation. He’s got to know how much Monica loves Elle. Shit, I hope he doesn’t come home and take her from Monica but Elle is his daughter.”
“Do you really think he wants to fix things with her?”
“He told me he still loves her.” Alicia said sadly, “I just don’t know. Breaking up with her like that was pretty vile. I’m not sure Monica can forgive him. She went through so much taking care of Liv and then he does that?”
Christa thought a moment, “Yeah, I just can’t figure it out. Ray said at first after he went home to see Liv he was so angry. Now he says Gerard just seems really sad and defeated.”
“I just can’t wait until they get home. This tour has been brutal.”
“I agree.” Christa said, “I just want Ray to get home.”

It was almost time to go on stage but Gerard decided to call his mom. He wanted to hear any news about what was going on back home.
“Hey, Ma.” He said raising his voice to be heard over the noise.
“Hey Son. How are you?”
Gerard lit a cigarette before speaking, “I’m okay. Just wondering what’s going on back home.”
Donna understood he was wondering about Monica. “I talked to Kelly earlier. Christa wants to talk to Monica and I tried to call her but she’s a work.”
“Work?” Gerard repeated. “She has a job now?”
“According to Kelly she’s working in a doctors office.” A beep interrupted her. “Honey, Monica’s on the line. Can you hold a sec?”
Hearing that Monica was on the line caused him to pause. “Oh, sure.” He needed to be getting ready to go onstage but he wanted to hear about Monica’s conversation with his Mom. He knew he was pathetic but he didn’t care. He just wanted to hear anything about her.
After a few minutes Donna came back on the line. “She was returning my call about Christa. She said she’d give her a call as soon as she got home tonight but she wasn’t sure when that would be. She said her new car wouldn’t start when her boss tried to send her out to pick up some supplies for the office.”
“New car?” Gerard frowned, “She has a new car?”
Donna sighed, “She left your car at the house and bought herself a small, used car.”
“Damn it that’s stupid. Why did she do that? The car she was driving was new and safe.”
“Honey, she did it because it’s your car.”
Gerard tried to contain his anger. “Well what the hell is she gonna do?”
“I asked her if she wanted Don to come take a look at is but she said the doctor she’s working for already did and he said it’s the starter. He’s gonna give her a ride home tonight and she’ll get it taken care of tomorrow.”
Jealously flared through Gerard’s mind. “Oh so this guy can know where she lives but I can’t?”
Donna understood his anger but still warned, “Gerard, calm down.”
He took a deep drag of his cigarette, “Whatever. I’ve got to get ready to go on stage.”
“You’ll be home soon.” Donna reminded him. “You’ll talk to her then.”
“Maybe.” He said angrily, “If she’ll talk to me.”