Work Text:
Gerard and Frank had decided they were ready for a child, two years after they married. Well, Gerard decided, really. Frank was still uncertain, but as soon as he saw Avery’s face, he was sure that he could handle it. Of course, she was only two at the time.
Four years later, she was a little hellion, but, as Gerard liked to remind him, she was their hellion. Which made all the difference. It also helped when he saw Avery curled up at his husband's side as he told her a story about some odd creature or person he had made up, staring up at him in adoration. Those were always the moments where he wished he was sappy, and carried around a camera at all times. However, he was not, but the moments weren’t rare, so he just enjoyed them whenever they came around.
However, lately she had been cranky because of school starting back up last month, complaining about getting out of bed and just generally throwing a fit whenever they tried to usher her into the car to drive to her school. Honestly, it made Frank feel like ripping his hair out, because he knew he had to be a good dad or Avery would get taken away, but as soon as she gave him this look, he wanted to crumble.
Come bedtime though, Avery returned to being a little shit, who just wanted to stay up five more minutes, which would lead to ten more minutes, until finally she was up all night, or at least until she passed out from pure exhaustion, and Frank had done that enough in the past that he knew she wouldn’t be fully rested in the morning. Since she didn’t have a full rest, she would fall asleep at school, and that would reflect badly on her home life, and if it happened enough, she might get taken away because they were ‘unfit parents’ or some other bullshit.
It was Frank’s turn to put her to bed tonight, and he had already been pretty tense the past couple days, so when she begged for five more minutes, he managed to gather his resolve, and firmly said no, laying her down on her bed as he sat down on the chair beside her bed.
They had a routine, Avery and Frank. She would settle down in bed, and Frank would play his acoustic guitar for her until she fell asleep. It worked every night, as the routine started from the first day they got her home. Frank had been playing his guitar on the couch, Avery resting on the floor, and Gerard had been quick to point out that his playing made her sleepy. So, it became a routine.
Once Avery had finally fallen asleep that night, Frank left his guitar beside the chair, gingerly placing it on the stand so it didn’t make a sound, and left the room on quiet feet, shutting the door behind him. Gerard was standing there, smiling at Frank as he entered the living room again, ready to flop onto the couch and not move for another three hours. Gerard, however, would not let him do that.
As soon as he got close enough, he was hit across the chest with a pillow, jumping back in surprise. When Frank looked back up, Gerard had a huge grin on his face as he stood there, clutching a pillow.
“What the fuck?” Frank hissed, scared of waking Avery up, even though he knew she was an extremely heavy sleeper, only waking after she was completely rested, or someone was physically shaking her awake.
“Come on Frank, you need to loosen up a little.” Gerard replied, placing one hand on his hip, the other falling by his side, still clutching the pillow. “You’ve been really tense lately, and not acting like yourself. Which is usually pretty childish. Hence, the pillow.”
“Well you can’t just hit me with a pillow...” Frank trailed off, scowling for a moment as he walked towards the couch where a small pile of pillows lay. He picked one up, whirling around to hit Gerard in the side, almost knocking him to the floor. “Not without giving me a chance to fight back!” He was grinning now as Gerard pushed his hair out of his face, confused for a moment before he got what Frank meant, and soon they were in a full out battle, barely having time to gasp air back into their lungs as they laughed and had the wind knocked out of them by the others pillow.
Eventually, pillow fighting lead to making out on the sofa like teenagers, to Frank falling asleep on Gerards chest.
When Avery came downstairs the next morning, rubbing sleep from her eyes, they were still asleep on the couch. She walked over to them, picking her away across the floor, which was littered with small pillows. Once she had reached them, she looked curiously at Frank, before poking Gerard in the side.
He yelped, starting away at the sudden poking, and Avery only giggled. “You’re silly!” She said, Frank waking up slowly from Gerard’s noises and movement.
“Shit, what time is it?” Frank asked groggily, rubbing at his eyes as he pulled himself up to his side, still on top of Gerard, who leaned back to look at the clock on the stove, just in view of the couch.
“Um… Like, 1?” Gerard said, nervously.
“Fuck…” Frank mumbled, yawning widely. “Well, guess you’re staying home today, Ave.” She cheered, jumping onto the couch beside Frank, who had fully sat up finally, though Gerard was still trapped laying down, now under not only Frank, but their daughter as well.
“Who want’s pancakes?” He said weakly, breath having been knocked out of him. Avery thrust her hand into the air as if she were actually in school.
“ME!” She screeched, and jumped off his chest, the air he had managed to gather being pushed out again. Avery raced to the kitchen, and Frank only continued laughing, almost falling to the floor on his ass when Gerard sat up, pushing him back towards the other end of the couch with a grin.
“Love you.” He said, and Frank smiled back, pecking him on the lips as he got up from the couch, walking towards the kitchen.
“I love your pancakes, now come on, Avery’s hungry.” Frank looked over his shoulder, and Gerard flipped him off, before pulling him off the couch.
“I knew you only loved me for my food.”
“Right, because you can cook anything besides coffee and pancakes.” Frank shot back, snickering to himself as he pulled the pancake mix out of the cupboard for him, placing it on the counter as Gerard entered the kitchen, shaking his head, but still smiling.
“I’m hungry!” Avery whined from her place at the counter, having climbed up onto one of the bar stools, and was now kicking the counter in front of her. “I want pancakes.”
“It’s coming Ave, just hang on.” Gerard replied, and set about cooking, as Frank took a seat beside Avery to keep her occupied while their ‘breakfast’ cooked. He always felt his stories weren’t as entertaining as Gerard’s, but Avery seemed to disagree, always listening eagerly, captured by whatever tale he was spinning in her mind.
Breakfast was made and eaten within the hour, and neither Gerard nor Frank felt like washing the dishes just yet, so they just left them for later, in favour of pulling out their old comic books, and showing them to Avery.
Frank watched from his seat on the couch, as she sat beside his husband, looking through the pages of comics he read when he was a child, and smiled, content. Though there was times when he was terrified of being a bad dad, there was also times when he knew he would never hurt his little girl, or let anything happen to her.
He shuffled down onto the floor where they were sitting, and nuzzled forward until he was laying across Gerards legs, head in Avery’s lap.
“Daddy!” She chirped cheerfully, giggling as Frank settled in, smiling up at her.
His life, at that moment, couldn’t get any better.