Work Text:
Frank can count on one hand the number of weddings he’s been to, but Ray and Mikey’s is definitely the most stressful. And here him and Gerard were looking forward to it as a bit of a vacation for the way they’ve been running nonstop since July. But, of course, there’s traffic.
“I have no idea what possessed them to get married down the Shore,” Gerard says for the millionth time.
“Are we there yet?” Asher says for the million and first time.
Frank wonders how long it would take to go blind if he stared into the sea of brake lights before him. Instead of a rewarding reprieve from all the adulting they’ve been doing, they’re stuck in this bumper-to-bumper Hell. Oh, woe is Frank Iero.
“Dad, I’m hungry.”
“We just stopped at Wawa.”
“Other Dad, I’m hungry.”
Gerard whips out a second Taylor Ham, egg, and cheese sandwich and hands it to Asher with a satisfied smile. Frank rolls his eyes, but they’ve gotten pretty damn good at planning ahead lately, haven’t they?
While Asher has his gob stuffed with New Jersey’s finest, Gerard reaches over and takes Frank’s hand. “I hope we don’t miss the ceremony. There’s only so many times you get to see your little brother get married.”
“As long as there’s champagne at the reception, I don’t care when we get there.” The car rolls forward an inch. Frank kisses Gerard’s knuckles. “I wish we could’ve come down last night after work, though. The hotel everyone’s staying at looks so nice.”
“I know, honey. But, hey, at least everything with the house went okay. That’s one less thing on our list to worry about.”
God, the list. Frank doesn’t think he’s ever followed something so vigorously in his life, except for the directions on all of Asher’s baby formula way back when. But, now that the closing on Gerard’s house was successful, all they really have to worry about is their own wedding, which is already planned out thanks to Mikey so graciously giving them the names and numbers of his and Ray’s vendors. That’s why this weekend was supposed to be a break. A part of Frank thinks Mikey decided to get married on Labor Day Weekend on purpose.
Get engaged, get married, have a baby. That’s what’s left on their big boy list. October, November, December. It’s definitely fast, but, hey, at least it’s all in order. And besides, they had a lot to get done, most important of which was adopting their daughter and moving into a bigger house, both of which were also successful. Oh, and heading to the courthouse to get (legally) married, but that was a cakewalk. With Ray and Mikey as witnesses since Asher was still in summer camp, they said their vows, signed their names, and got roaring drunk at Dave and Buster’s. It was a pretty good day.
“So when are you guys gonna get married?” Asher asks from the backseat when it’s been quiet for a hair too long.
Frank looks over at Gerard, and they both bite back smiles. Not even Asher knows everything that’s been going on, since he was at camp for the bulk of it. Frank doesn’t feel so guilty about keeping things from him this time around, though. Everyone will find out in due time. It’s all perfectly planned.
“After your uncles and cousin get back from their honeymoon,” Gerard tells him, not for the first time.
Asher hums in that pouting way of his. “I wish I could go to Disneyworld with them too. It’s not fair that Della gets to go. She’s too little to remember anything!”
“We’ll get there one day, bud,” Frank tells his son, fully aware a trip to Disney is already on the agenda for their own honeymoon.
Out of the corner of his eye, Frank catches Gerard fiddling with his wedding ring, which they both have on chains around their necks under their suits, and he elbows him. I can’t wait to actually wear them, taking his hands off the wheel to say in sign language.
Me neither, my husband.
They make it to the ceremony by the skin of their unbrushed teeth.
Asher gets shoved into the back room where Frank and Ray’s mothers are so he and Adeline can get ready to be the subsequent flower girl/ring bearer, and Frank and Gerard haul ass up front with the rest of the groomsmen and -women. But they made it, they’re all in their places. God, Frank can’t wait for the open bar.
Not long after they stop nervously sweating, the music starts, and from the back comes Asher in his handsome little tux, pushing Adeline in her decked-out stroller. She’s holding a pillow with the rings tied to it, and Asher is the one to throw the rose petals from a basket attached to the back of the stroller. Embarrassingly enough, Frank is overcome with emotion and has to wipe at his eyes, and one of Ray’s brothers steps discretely on his foot. Once at the front, Asher parks fussy little Adeline next to Gam-Gam Annie and runs to Frank’s side with the rings, which Frank helps him untie.
And then the music swells, everyone in the folding chairs stands, and in walks Ray on his mother’s arm, followed by Mikey on Frank’s mother’s. Gerard starts crying in earnest, and no one steps on his foot. Mikey does smack him upside the head when they get up to the front, though.
As Ray and Mikey hold hands, a thrill goes through Frank at the thought of him and Gerard being the only ones in the room who knows they’re already married, and visa versa. They’re married. They’re married men! What the hell!
The ceremony is short and sweet, a succession of brief exchanges — vows, rings, kisses — and finally the party is let loose into the next room for the long-awaited reception. Frank goes immediately to the bar and orders two tall glasses of something mixed and fruity. Luckily Asher is gone when he brings them back to their table, and he and Gerard don’t share a single word until their glasses are empty.
“We made it,” Frank finally says, a double, triple, quadruple entendres. Gerard pats at the back of his hand, looking flushed and happy and so beautiful. His hair is long and straight tonight, almost touching his shoulders now and held back by his glasses, and the five o’clock shadow he’s sporting makes Frank wish they had a hotel room under their name.
“Look how far we’ve come, my baby,” he sings in a hilarious baritone. “Ash, get away from the window, please, honey.”
“But there’s a pelican!”
“I don’t care if Bigfoot himself was out there, I don’t want you by the windows.”
“Farts.”
Gerard turns to Frank, eyebrow quirked. “What did he say?”
Frank leans over to kiss him. “He said you’re the best dad a kid could ask for and that he loves you so much.”
He laughs. “Aw, who needs a hearing aid when I have you?”
They both laugh just as their food arrives, bringing with it their eight-year-old hellion in his unbuttoned dress shirt. This is exactly why Frank put him in an undershirt this morning. What is it with kids and taking their clothes off at the most inoportune times?
“And now, may I introduce: Mr. and Mr. Ray and Mikey Toro and Way!”
“Oh, that was awful,” Gerard groans. “How much do you want to bet they paid the poor DJ to say it like that?”
Frank doesn’t get to make an estimate, because through the double doors, to “Eye of the Tiger” of all damn songs, comes the grooms and their daughter, walking slowly and happily between them like this is her event and her event only. Ray has on a nice button-down and slacks, but Mikey is in one of those tuxedo T-shirts and a pair of old blue jeans; Frank hears his mother from across the room hiss, “Michael.” Ray hoists Adeline onto his hip, and the three of them disappear into the crowd of clapping friends and family.
Frank, Gerard, and Asher waste no time in stuffing themselves with good food and even better drinks (Asher, of course, downing sparkling Welch’s), and when the dance floor starts filling up, Mikey appears at their table, a gleam in his eye, and drops a key into Frank’s hand.
“So you don’t have to take an Uber home,” he says with a wink.
Gerard snatches up the key and puts it in his pocket. “I love my brother.”
While Asher goes and dances his little heart out, Frank and Gerard stay back at their table to let their food digest and relax for the first time in what feels like two straight months. Frank scooches their chairs closer, puts his hand on Gerard’s thigh, and thinks, not for the first time, We’re married. For as long as Frank can remember he thought that being married would feel different, somehow, like when you get a new tattoo or wear nail polish, but ever since he met Gerard all those months ago, everything has just felt so normal, like this is how it’s always supposed to have been. Like Gerard was the missing piece to the jigsaw puzzle that makes up Frank’s life. Gerard, Asher, and their new daughter, who they still haven’t come up with a name for yet. But that’s okay, they still have a few months.
The DJ puts on a slow song, announcing Ray and Mikey’s first dance as husbands (ha-ha), and everyone files off the dance floor except for the two of them. Somehow Adeline gets passed into Gerard’s arms, who stands her up in his lap, his big hand securely around her little round tummy. Asher, always jealous when there’s a new baby in the family, crawls into Frank’s lap and slumps down like he’s tired or bored or both.
Frank accidentally watches Gerard and Adeline instead of her dads. She really is the cutest thing ever, with her curly brown hair and big smile that makes her look like she shares DNA with the Toro side of her family, and the first time Frank saw Gerard hold her, he almost melted into a pile of glitter glue right there on the floor. He might just die at the sight of him holding a newborn.
“Are those your daddies?” Gerard asks Adeline, kissing her on one of her chubby cheeks. “Yeah, Della? Are they dancing?” She babbles happily, bending her knees like she’s trying to jump up and down, and Gerard mouths at the side of her neck. She squeals, and Ray and Mikey look over with twin smiles.
When the floor opens back up for a collective slow dance, Ray whisks Adeline into his arms and the three of them head out to change her diaper. Frank gets up from his chair, arm wrapped around Asher’s chest, who he drops to the floor. “Is it okay if Dad and I go dance?” he asks him.
“As long as you don’t kiss too much,” Asher says with a serious point of his finger, and runs off to go play with Ray’s nieces and nephew.
“Well, you heard the man.” Frank holds out a hand for Gerard to take. “Not a lot of kissing.”
“That’s probably for the best. We can’t have everyone knowing we’re married.” Frank pinches Gerard’s side and he laughs on their way to the dance floor.
Frank wraps his arms around his neck and Gerard puts his hands on Frank’s hips, and they side step to the slow song, surrounded by most of their friends and family. Frank vaguely wishes Gerard and Mikey’s side of the family were here, despite their rocky history.
“Do you think they’re gonna sneak off to Florida now, or in the middle of the night?” Gerard asks, bumping his forehead against Frank’s to get his attention.
“They’re probably halfway to the airport already. We’re gonna wake up to a FaceTime call from Epcot, just watch.”
They kiss, going for it at the same time like they were both thinking it, and when they pull back, cheek to cheek like that old Fred Astaire song, Frank sees an older woman lingering by the doors, watching them. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize her with a surprised jolt as Gerard’s mother. They have the same nose, the same posture, and Frank has no idea how the hell she got in here, but when she smiles faintly at them, a smile that has so much regret in it, he’s suddenly glad she’s here and hopes she got to see the ceremony.
“God, these next few months are going to be crazy,” Gerard says into his ear. “I can’t wait.”
Gerard’s mother nods at Frank and he nods back, and she disappears around the corner like she was a mirage all along. Somehow he knows that she’s going to show up at their wedding too, whether or not she’s invited.
“Me neither, baby. Me neither.”