Gerard's Little Sister (COMPLETED)

29. Nineteen and Seventeen

Shit. Frank's birthday is today. Halloween. The cruise trip doubled as my 17th birthday gift, but I forgot to get Frank a present. Since I just woke up and Frank is still asleep I might as well just head out. I threw on some clothes, put my hair in a ponytail, applied a little mascara and lipstick, and headed out. What the hell do I get him? Clothes? No. That's lame. A gift card? No. That just shows that I'm lazy. Oh, I got it! A new guitar. That never goes out of style. I pull into the mall and head to the music store.
"Hey Scarlett! Whatcha looking for today?" Jackson, one of the workers, asked. Everyone knows me here. Small city, talented brothers. Can't get away from it.
"It's Frank's birthday. I need a nice guitar for him,"
"Ah, totally. And, uh, congratulations. The last time I saw you you weren't, um, pregnant," Jackson said awkwardly. Here we go again. Every time someone sees me. Yes, I'm pregnant at 17. What a whore. Let's move on.
"Oh yeah, thanks. So I just want a really nice guitar that's not too expensive. The guys make a ton of money touring and everything, but with a baby on the way and a house payment I gotta keep some of it," I said.
"Well I got a nice one for ya. It's a Standard Stratocaster HSS with Floyd Rose. Comes in a silver and black coat. Made with Rosewood. Would you like to see it?" Jackson asked.
"Sure. Sounds great," If Jackson thinks he's gonna try and pull one over on me, he's not. I know a lot about guitars. I can play well, I just don't. He comes back with the guitar, and holy hell is it beautiful.
"Wow, that's amazing. Can I test how it sounds?" I asked.
"Sure. I'll plug it into the amp," Jackson plugged the guitar in and I played only a few chords and the sound was great.
"I love it. How much?"
"$699.99," that's about normal for a nice guitar.
"I'll take it. It's perfect," I said.
"Sweet, I'll ring it up," after I paid I jetted home, hoping Frank would still be asleep. As I got home, he wasn't downstairs, so I took a red gift bow from the closet and slapped it on the front of the guitar. I took Frank's old guitar off the stand and replaced it with the new one. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, so I quickly sat down and waited to surprise Frank. As he came into the living room, I jumped out.
"Surprise! Happy birthday!" I cheered.
"Aw, babe, thank you!" He embraced me. Obviously he hasn't seen the real present yet, so I stood by it to steer his attention to it.
"Holy shit. You didn't!" Frank said.
"I did. Jackson sold it to me this morning. Isn't it beautiful?" I asked.
"Yes! Like, seriously this is the best gift I've ever gotten. Scarlett, thank you so much. I love you," Frank embraced me again, then gave me a big kiss.
"I love you too. So much," I said.
"Hey, you wanna go out tonight? Like maybe go eat dinner or something? I'd stay home to hand out candy and stuff but I'd much rather spend time with my beautiful wife," I blushed.
"Sounds great, where would you like to go?"
"I feel like Casserole Bistro. In Bloomfield," Frank said.
"That sounds great. Anything for you," I said.
Before leaving for dinner, Frank and I made pizzas (again) for lunch and hung around the house a bit. Frank played me a few songs on his new guitar, including a song called "Translucent Eyes" that he wrote specifically for me. My favorite line said, "She says she's not worth anything, I say she's worth practically everything." It was the sweetest thing I ever heard. It made me cry, I'm not gonna lie. After hours of songs, chats, and movies, we finally hit the road.
"You know, I really like Bloomfield. A lot," I said as Frank turned onto the highway.
"I do too. It's pretty nice, and not too far from Belleville," he said.
"And our house is a bit small. Especially now that we have a baby on the way," Okay, I really wanted to move to Bloomfield. Something about it just makes me feel happy. Frank laughed a bit.
"Babe, if you want to move there, we can start looking at houses. I mean it's not like I don't make any money or anything," he said.
"Really? I'd really like to find a nice home for our family there. If you feel the same,"
"I think that sounds wonderful. And we don't own our house, we're just renting, so it'd be easy for us to move if we found something right away," Frank said.
"Ah, I'm so excited!" I said. Frank laughed again.
"You're adorable," he said.
"Stop. I look like a giant gumball with hair," well, I kinda did.
"Scarlett don't you dare say anything bad about yourself. I fell in love with you because you're perfect,"
"Okay okay," Frank pulled into the parking lot and we got inside. They quickly sat us and gave us our drinks.
"Happy birthday my love," I said.
"Thank you beautiful," Frank said.
"Hi, are you two ready to order?" The waitress asked.
"I'll have the Eggplant Involtini," I said.
"Alright. For you sir?"
"I'll have the Chicken Cacciatore," Frank said.
"Alright. I'll have those out in a bit," the waitress said, then left.
"Two more months," I said.
"Wow. That's fairly soon, I'm excited," Frank said.
"Yeah. But I'm also scared,"
"Why babe?"
"I don't know, I'm just so young and it's supposed to be the worst pain you could ever experience, and I don't know I guess I'm overthinking it but I'm really scared," I said.
"Babe, I assure you that you will be ok. The day you deliver I will hold your hand the entire time. I will not let go. And don't you worry yet love. It will be ok, alright?" Frank really calmed me down. God I'm so in love with him.
"Okay. I believe you. I shouldn't worry yet," I said. Our dinner came soon. It was really good. I also tipped off our waitress that it was Frank's birthday so she brought him a nice dessert. After dinner, we drove around a few neighborhoods to see which houses were for sale. We saw a few really nice ones and got the phone numbers to call for them. After house hunting, we headed home and slept in each other's arms after another great day.