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A funeral. A fucked up one, at that. I could not even begin to describe the things we saw or what happened that day. Demons, spirits, those kinda things that I could've lived the rest of my life without seeing. So that day had come to a strange enough ending, and the next one began.

We all slowly tried to transition to the way things had been before..all that. But soon an important day would come for me. And to say the least, I wasn't sure how to go into this safely. Funny, someone like me, trying to be safe about something. But this had to be the one thing that would happen without a hitch.

Hopefully luck was in my favor this time. So I thought the best thing to do would be to go someone older for advice. Gerard would be the one I went to, him being the only other person in this situation. But in all technicality, this wasn't exactly one of those times.

"Hey, you got a minute?" I asked Gerard. We were at my house, where everyone was hanging out. And then right after I asked him, I told everyone else to scram for the day. Not before I stopped Nic on her way out and told her I'd meet up with her later today. Gerard agreed to a talk, and I sat him down in the living room.

"Well, you kicked everyone out. So I'm taking a guess and saying that this is something important?" he asked. I didn't say a word, just nodded quickly. He wasn't trying to say anything, and for once, I couldn't feel him trying to creep into my thoughts. That was a new one for him.

"It's about my life. At least, the one I plan to start, the one I plan to spend with someone." I told him. Gerard took this in slowly. "I'm not trying to check your thoughts out, I hope you know that. So I would know you're talking about Nic, for one. And my other guess being that you plan to do something big with her?" he said.

All of what he had just said was true. Even though he wasn't taking a peek as to what I might be thinking, he was still pretty damn good a guessing."Yes. To all of the above. I had planned to..to ask her to marry me." I said. Now that I had actually said it aloud, the thought scared me a little less.

Gerard had a small grin playing across his face. "Well then, I'm very happy about that. Surely you've thought long about this decision before you start getting second thoughts?" he asked. What he said registered with me quick, for I had already done what he'd asked. "I'm sure as I'll ever be. There's no one else I would ever want to be with. In any lifetime." I replied. He was more than pleased with this answer.

He stood up as if to leave but stood still for a moment, thinking. "Hold on just a sec..." Gerard said, leaving th room. I heard him leave through the back door, and just like that he was back again. But now he was clutching something in his hand. I couldn't tell what it was; it wasn't visible through his hand.

"I thought you might like to give this to her.." he said, opening his hand to reveal a ring. The design was like something out of the early 20th century, with a old-European style setting. He placed it in my hand and I studied it carefully. "My grandma gave to me when I was just a kid..Said one day I'd know someone I trust enough to give it to." Gerard told me.

A part of me felt grateful that he would give this to me, the other felt what he said was pretty amusing. I couldn't help laughing at the thought. "Guess she wouldn't expect that you'd be giving it to me." I said. He took a second thought at what I had said, and also found it funny. But even still, I did greatly appreciate the gesture.

He trusted me enough with this antique ring, to give it to Nic. It made me feel like really cared, not like he didn't already. "Wow, I mean, I'll never be able to repay you for this.." I said, still looking at the ring then up at Gerard. What I c ould tell was that he was probably happy with me.

"Just promise me that you'll never hurt her again, and that's what you can do in return." he said. I would promise that, a million times over; I had no reason to ever hurt her ever again. I didn't have it in me to hurt the people I loved, even if it meant hurting them or dying. Then I'd know I died for good reason.

Maybe because I wasn't saying anything did I feel him come creeping back into my thoughts. When I knew he saw what I'd been thinking at the moment, it was quick but I saw a grin on Gerard's face. What I didn't expect was for him to pull me on for a hug. Him being taller then me always made me smile. Then I felt him shaking a bit.

I pulled myself away a bit to see what was the matter. He was purposely trying to look away from me. But I knew what was going on. "Hey, now why are you even thinking about crying?" I asked. He laughed a bit and attempted to wipe his eyes without me seeing. I turned him so we were face to face.

"You are going to tell me what's wrong, and then I'm going to try to make you feel better." I said. He just shook his head. Now I didn't wanna force the answer out of him. "You just..make her happy. Everything in your mind says you will; it just caught me off guard, how much you love her. I didn't know someone like us could feel like that." he said.

It was hell hearing him and not be able to finish. He was the most guarded person I knew. Then I figured what it was that made him like that; he didn't like feeling 'weak'. "Hey, you.." he said, picking my head up to look at him, "Just go find her. Of course, after you find a box for that ring."

I nodded and told im my goodbyes. Thinking more about this, now that I had a ring..It was one of the scariest thing's I'd ever do. Ironic, huh?
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"Nic, hi! Yeah come over now, if you could." I said into the phone. She quickly hung up and was coming over. The ring in my pocket felt like it had a spotlight on it, it was that obvious. It was also making me impatient, waiting. So I started to head out the door when I almost ran face first into Nic. She came in looking confused and very nervous. "I have something that I have to tell you." I said.

"Ironic, cuz I do too." she said, laughing nervously. Something about her tone worried me, just by how scared she sounded. She followed me up to my room and I locked the door behind me. I sat her down and attempted to start speaking. "I asked you over here because.. well, this is something that's important to me.." I started out. She stared expectantly at me. I took her left hand in the both of mine and got down on one knee.

She gasped, surprised to say the least. "Know that I've thought long and hard about this. And I realized that there's no one else I could ever be happy with. So, what I'm getting at is..." I said, pulling the small velvet box out of my pocket, "Will you marry me?" I saw that when I asked, her smile only grew brighter. "..Yes! Frank, of course!" she replied. I stood up and hugged her tightly.

Maybe it wasn't best to hug her like that when she was sitting on the bed..I had knocked both of us over so both of us were now laying down, her looking up at me. She laughed at me, now embarassed and red-faced, and hugged me once again. I didn't push away, just stayed where we were. Then I remembered two things.

"Oh yeah, here's the ring." I said, pulling up the box and opening it for her. Her mouth was gaping. "Gosh, I love it..I don't know when you'd ever have time to get it..." she said aloud, allowing me to slip the ring on her finger. I'd get around to telling her that story one day. But there was something else I remembered.

"I nearly forgot. You said you had something to tell me as well?" I asked, looking up at her. She was wearing the same smile, until I had asked her that. Now she was avoiding looking me in the eye. It once again started to worry me, that awkward silence. I put a finger under her chin, making her look at me.

"Hey, whatever it is, it can't be that bad. Well...you're not leaving me, are you?" I asked. Part of me was just joking, the other very serious. She almost smiled but it quickly disappeared. "No I'm not leaving you, I wouldn't even think about doing that. It's just.. something else." she said, turning on her other side.

It was so she wasn't facing me, then put both hands to her stomach, which I didn't notice at first. I pulled her closer, wrapping my free arm around her waist and rested my head on her shoulder. "That something else..What else is it, what can't you tell me? I won't get mad or anything, I promise." I told her. She took a moment before answering me. "Well, I wasn't sure if you noticed but I've felt really sick the past couple mornings. And, I can never get enough sleep, it seems. Usually the only answer to those things would be... would be.." she trailed off.

Call me crazy, but I think I knew how that was supposed to end. Instead of saying something, I waited for her to answer. Then when she turned around, she quickly buried her face in my neck. "I hate the word but..I'm pregnant. With outr kid. I don't know how it's possible, but it's happening.." she said. As best I could, I comforted her while trying to hide my fear.

"Having a kid? Well, that would mean we're startnig our own family. Is that such a bad thing?" I asked. She just shrugged underneath me. "I'm not sure, it's just..I'm human. You're not. How is this happening.." she said, more to herself. I had to admit, she had me there. These kind of things just weren't happening everyday.

"What I do know," I said, hugging her close, "Is that this child will be brought up by parents who will always be there, no matter what it ends up being." When I said that, a feeling arose in me that caused my throat to almost close off. Nic looked up at me, smiling but also crying at the same time. I reached out and as gently as I could, wiped away her stray tears.

"Hey now, don't be crying.." I said. What I didn't get why everyone was crying on me today. She simply smiled and shook her head at me. "I'm not crying about the child anymore. It's just how well you spoke of the child. You'll be just like the kid, I know it, and you didn't once call it a monster." she stated. I couldn't help agreeing with her, and smiling at that fact. "It's because of you. When I'm with you, you make me feel things a monster can't feel. Unconditional love." I said quietly.

She looked at me with the most innocent, yet most alluring grin. "Oh I love you too, Frankie.." she said. When she said it like that, it felt as if my heart had started itself again then skipped a beat. It made me happy, and so much more.

Neither of us said a word, just staring into each other. Something took over me and the next thing I was aware of, I was holding either side of her face and kissing her. Not like the obnoxious way you see it most times; this time it had much more passion added to it. Her hands found their way up and locked around my beck.

We could've stayed that way forever. There was no other place I'd rather be. So now, we had a life to look foward to, to spend together. And even though we weren't all too sure, we would happily raise our child together. Love it like no other parents could love their child.

This moment started the beginning of the rest of our lives.