FicWad

Christa smiled as she stood back to survey the bedroom. She was pleased with how it had turned out and she couldn’t wait for Ray to see the fruits of her labors. Happiness filled her heart. He would be home tonight and she couldn’t wait.
As she was walking back downstairs the doorbell rang. She was surprised to find Alicia on her doorstep. “Hey, come in.”
Alicia grinned, “Don’t you just hate it when people just stop by.”
“Well if it was anyone but you.” Christa answered honestly. “So what’s up?”
They walked into the living room and sat down. “I was just out doing some errands and thought I’d stop by. So how did the doctor’s appointment go?”
Christa smiled, “I’m definitely pregnant. Ray never should have taken me on tour with him.” She giggled.
“You told your mom yet?”
“No, Ray wants me to wait until he can go with me to tell her.” Christa tucked her feet up under her on the sofa. “He told me not to worry about it; that he can charm my mom.”
Alicia laughed, “Yeah, he probably can. Fuck, I can’t wait until Mikey gets home.” She stood and turned sideways. “Can you tell?”
Christa nodded. She truly could see a small baby bump. “Bet you can’t wait for Mikey to see.”
Alicia plopped back down on the sofa. “Yep. So I wonder how Monica is doing? I found the pictures of Gerard and Eliza on the Net this morning. Shit, I wonder if Monica has seen them?”
“I hope not.” Christa frowned, “I haven’t talked to her since Monday night. Wonder how her job is going?”
“Kara called me this morning.” Alicia said, “She and Bob are happy to be home but she’s worried about her Mom. She said that when she called her yesterday that Monica was having lunch with Paul.”
Christa sat back and sighed, “What did Kara think about that?”
“She’s worried. She knows how vulnerable Monica is right now. She surprised me by saying she hopes Gee gets back and the whole mess gets settled.”
“Why did that surprise you?”
“Cause she thinks if Gerard really does love Monica that they should be together. I mean I know Kara has had some bad feeling towards him but she seems to realize that maybe she was wrong. That they do belong together.”
“I think she likes him. She’s just been so protective of her mom and I can understand that. We all knew that when Liv died there would be trouble. It’s just none of us saw how bad it would be.”
“True. I just hope Monica gives him a chance and that they can work things out. Shit, I just know that they belong together. They both love each other so much and have been through a lot together.”

Gerard sat down and silently cursed the airlines. Why of all days did their flight have to be delayed? He needed to get home. He drummed his fingers on the arm of the plastic chair and tired to get his thoughts in order. There was so much he needed to do. He pulled out his phone and called his mom.
“Hey.” He said tiredly when she answered.
“Hi, Honey. Where are you?”
“Still at the airport. Our flight as been delayed and no one seems to know for how long. So how’s Dad?”
“He’s fine. He just left to go pick up Elle and Kelly.”
“How come?”
“Just for a visit. I thought we’d take them shopping and out to eat. I miss seeing them both.”
Gerard sighed, “Me too. Have you seen Kara and Bob?”
“They stopped by yesterday before they left town.”
“Oh I didn’t realize they were going to Chicago already. I really wanted to talk to Kara before they left.”
“You could call them.” Donna said wondering why he wanted to speak to Kara.
“No, I really need to talk to her in person.” Gerard saw Ray walk away from the counter with a disgusted look on his face.
“Hey, Ma. I gotta go.” He couldn’t help but ask before disconnecting, “Have you talked to Monica?”
Donna lied. “Not for a few days.” She wasn’t going to tell him about her conversation she’d had with Monica. It would just upset him to know that she’d seen Monica and Paul having lunch together.
“Oh, I was just wondering how her new job is going.” He said softly.
“Son, get yourself home. It will all be okay.” Donna said kindly.
“I’m trying, Ma.” Gerard answered unhappily. “I’m trying.”

Monica glanced at the clock again and sighed. This day seemed to go on forever. She was nervous about Gerard coming home and was having trouble concentration on anything else. Paul had been very understanding earlier when she’d declined his invitation for lunch. He had smiled kindly and had given her hand a quick squeeze. Monica jumped when he leaned down and broke into her thoughts.
“Why don’t you go ahead and leave for the day? It’s almost time anyway.”
“Oh, but I’m not done.” Monica glanced at the stack of papers waiting to be filed.
“They’ll be here tomorrow.” He said kindly. “And so will I.” He whispered.
Monica didn’t know what to say so she stood and quickly gathered her things. She turned to leave when he spoke again. “You have my number, right?”
It bothered her to realize he must be thinking things would go badly with Gerard and that she would need his support. Still she was touched by his concern. “Yeah, I have it.”
He nodded, “Good. See you tomorrow.” With that he turned and went into his inner office.
Monica was driving home when she suddenly made a decision. Making a quick turn she took a deep breath and prayed she was doing the right thing.

“Have you heard from him?” Don asked as soon as he walked into the house.
Elle, who was in his arms, yawned tiredly. “Mes tyrod.”
Donna shook her head. “No, I don’t know what happened about the flight.”
Kelly knew they were talking about Gerard. She tried not to appear concerned but she knew they were both worried. Gerard had called earlier in the day saying the band’s flight had been delayed and had not called back since. She sat down at the kitchen table and sighed.
Donna moved over to Kelly and gave her a quick hug. “I called your mom while you guys were out and told her I was going to make you dinner. I asked if she wanted to join us but she said she had some things to take care of.”
Kelly shrugged, “Okay.”
Donna hated how despondent Kelly had become. “Wanna help me with dinner?” She asked her.
“Sure.” Kelly said.
Don set Elle down. “I’m gonna go water the flowers out back.” He announced.
“Mes too.” Elle said seeming to forget she was tired.
“Okay, come on.” He took her hand and they moved off towards the patio.
Donna waited until they were gone before she spoke to Kelly. “Hun, I understand how hard all of this has been for you.”
Kelly shrugged.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Donna asked softly.
“I don’t know what to say anymore.” Kelly confessed. “I thought I knew him.”
It hurt Donna that Kelly was feeling like this because of her son’s actions. “Sometimes there’s more to the story then we know.”
Kelly realized she couldn’t tell Donna that she really did know the whole story. She knew what had happened that had made Gerard act like he did. If only things could have been different. She sighed and said nothing.
“He’s gonna be home sometime tonight.” Donna reminded her. “He and your mom will talk. I truly believe in my heart that things will be okay.”
Kelly wished with all her heart she felt like that but the truth of the matter was she didn’t feel anything.

Monica pulled into the driveway and cut the engine. For several moments she sat looking at the house. What if he was already home? The thought caused her heart to race. She took a deep breath then opened the car door.
At the front door she stood a brief moment then rang the bell. It hurt deeply that she was standing on the porch of what had once been her home and was now a visitor. There was no answer. After several minutes Monica pulled out the spare key she’d kept in her purse and opened the door. The house was eerily silent. It was obvious Gerard hadn’t returned home yet.
A terrible feeling of sadness filled her as she walked through the rooms on her way to the kitchen. She bit her lip trying not to let the tears that filled her eyes fall. Quickly she took out a piece of paper and penned a short note.

Gerard
I understand we need to discuss Elle. Here is my cell number.

She added the number then left the note on the kitchen table. She had to get out of the house before she completely broke down. It had been stupid to come here she told herself. It had been a pathetic attempt to see him. She swiped at her eyes, pulled open the front door and moved out onto the porch. She pulled the door shut and made sure it was locked then turned and ran into the body standing behind her.