FicWad

Monica was still awake and waiting for him to giver her the details of Kelly's performance. "She has a beautiful voice," he told her as he walked into the hospital room. "You would have been so proud, I was."
"What did she sing?" Monica was still surprised Kelly had sung in the show.
"Cancer" he answered before placing a kiss on her lips. "She was the last act of the show. I hope she really didn't mind but she seemed a little nervous so I sang part of the song with her. The audience loved her."
Monica read between the lines, Kelly has lost her nerve and Gerard went on stage and helped her through it. "That was sweet of you." She said softly.
He shrugged, "Hey, she just needed a little help, she really does have an awesome voice." He sat down, "Anyway, it's late and you should be sleeping. Dad recorded it so you can see it tomorrow if they release you."
"When, when they release me." She told him frowning." Besides I'm not tired."
"Look Monica you need to get to sleep. If you lay down and close your eyes I'll tell you a story." He pulled out one of the pillows from behind her head and pushed the button to lower the top half of the bed.
She smiled, "You're gonna tell me a bedtime story?"
"For sure, now close your eyes and let me get settled in my chair and I'll tell you one of the best bedtime stories you've ever heard."
Monica giggled, "OK but I need a goodnight kiss first."
He leaned down and gently brushed her lips with his. Monica reached up put her arm around his neck. The kiss she gave him in return was not gentle nor sweet it was a kiss of passion. Her tongue ran across his lips until they parted. He felt himself becoming lost in the kiss and he forced himself to break away.
He smiled at her then moved to the chair where he settled himself and covered with a blanket. "So are you ready for your story?"
"Does it have a handsome prince?"
He laughed, "I don't know about handsome but there is a guy in the story. Ok, now once upon a time there was a prince who thought he would never find true love. He believed that no one would ever love him for the true man he was that women only loved him because he was a prince. He became very disenchanted and decided he would never marry. This of course upset his mom, the Queen, very much. She knew the prince just hadn't found his true love yet.
"Was her name Queen Donna?" Monica asked.
"OK, I'm not gonna tell this story if you keep asking questions."
"Sorry, please continue." she rolled on her side so she could see him in the shadows.
"So one day, the Queen was at the marketplace when she suddenly spotted a woman in distress. There was just something about the woman that touched the Queen's heart so she spoke to her. The woman told the Queen all about the hardships that had befallen her and the Queen was touched by her plight. She asked the woman and her children to come to the castle to live."
"Don't hear about too many of these where the woman has kids."
"Monica, I'm warning you, be quiet and close your eyes." He waited a moment then continued, "So the woman and her children moved into the castle. Now the prince had been away and when he returned he was surprised to find that his mother had invited this woman and her children from another kingdom to move in and he was confused."
"I think he was more leery than confused."
"Who is telling this story?" Gerard asked.
"Sorry"
"The prince wasn't very nice to the woman at first but the more time he spent around her he could see she was very special indeed. In time he fell in love with her but much to his distress she told him that she didn't love him in return. Now the prince didn't know what to do. He wanted this woman to be his princess, to marry him so they could spend the rest of their lives together. So they could have."
"The Happily Ever After" Monica whispered in the darkness.
This time he didn't reprimand her for talking, "For sure, The Happily Ever After." He sighed. "I'm gonna have to cut this story a bit short cause you need to sleep but lets just say that many tragic events befell the prince and his love. Events that would have torn other couples apart but they had the strongest love imaginable. Nothing or no one could part them." He paused a moment then continued, "So after all they went through the woman finally agreed to marry the prince and they set out to find a castle for themselves and their children."
Monica smiled at what she knew would be the ending to the story. She could just make out his smile in the darkened room.
"One day as they had been out looking they stumbled upon their dream castle. It was everything they wanted but someone else laid claim to it. Just when they thought all was lost the chance to get the castle came to them. They believed that they finally were gonna have their dream castle. But once more tragedy struck and the castle was forgotten."
"This sounds like a fractured fairy tale, Gee."
"Monica" he tried to sound stern but she just laughed. "OK, now where was I? Oh yeah, tragedy struck but their love, which could conquer anything, stayed strong and they were rewarded once more with the chance to get the castle of their dreams. This time the prince wouldn't let anything stand in his way and he got the castle for his love. Now he just has to marry the woman, make her is princess and his new family will live in the castle and they will all live Happily Ever After." He looked over at Monica and saw the tears glistening in her eyes.
"I love you so much Prince Gee."
He got out of the chair and crossed to the bed, "I love you, honey. I talked to Carla after the talent show. The house is ours."
At Frank and Jamia's apartment the mood was tense. Frank paced the living room while Jamia watched him. "Frank please sit down, I'm getting tired just watching you."
He turned to look at her, she was lying on the sofa and he couldn't help but smile when he saw the baby bump that had appeared on her once flat stomach. "How are you feeling?"
She sighed, "Well I think my feet are swelling and I'm sort of tired," she told him. "But I'm more worried about you than anything. Frank did you talk to the guys about Ray? Did you tell them what he asked you to do?"
"I tried to call Gee but his phone was off. When I called Mikey he told me that they were all at a talent show Kelly was performing in. I'll talk to them in the morning, I guess." He crossed to the sofa, gently lifted her head and sat down. He put a pillow down on his lap for her head. Still thinking about Ray he absently stroked her hair." I'm scared, Jamia."
"I know, honey." she looked up at him, "Do you think he will be able to play?"
"Fuck, I don't know. I just wish he wasn't pushing himself so hard. If he tries and can't play tomorrow that doesn't mean he won't be able to next week. I'm just worried that if he can't he will give up."
"I don't think he would give up. Ray is always so determined; I can't see him just giving up like that. Besides he has Christa at his side and I don't think there is any way in hell she will let him give up."
Frank smiled, "Yeah, she seems like a strong woman. You can tell how much she loves him."
"And how much he loves her" Jamia added.
"Yeah, that's true." He smiled down at Jamia, "How about you talk a long bath and when you get out I'll rub your poor feet?"
"That's an offer I can't refuse." she slowly got off the sofa and went to take her bath. In the living room Frank shook his head. He tried to imagine how he would feel if he suddenly couldn't play the guitar. It was a feeling he couldn't begin to fathom. His Catholic school teaching suddenly came back to him and he did something he rarely did anymore, he said a prayer for his friend.