I still don't own these characters. Fran's lawyers haven't found the boat yet, so I'm still safely in hiding, messing with the lives of Fran, Max, Niles and C.C.
A special thanks to Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson, for their 1986 hit, Friends and Lovers, which was the inspiration for the title of this story. Also, once again to MRB, my precious niece and pirate baby, for giving me enough material on the mishegas of a two year old to keep me writing for years. And, to the mispucha of TS Productions, you ladies know how I feel. This just wouldn't be possible without you. I'm proud to call you my sisters! LYL!
FRIENDS AND LOVERS
Chapter One
January 22, 1989
Fran stood in her kitchen with her screaming six-month-old daughter on her hip. She stirred the pot of chili on the stove, and then turned her attention back to her daughter. "Oh, Sweetie, those teeth must really be hurting." She walked to the freezer, pulled out a frozen washcloth, and placed it on the child's throbbing gums. Her five-year-old son came barreling through the kitchen door, wearing his New York Giants helmet and Phil Simms jersey. She laughed. It didn't matter to him that the Jets had knocked the Giants out of the playoffs, and that it was the 49rs and the Bengals playing in today's Superbowl. That boy was ready. He circled the table twice before running head first into the wall, making a dent with his helmet.
"Tony, would you come get your son before he busts through the kitchen wall? Anthony, Honey, STOP, please! TONY, did ya hear me?"
"Yeah, Baby, I heard ya." He walked into the kitchen with his car keys in his hand. "I'm headin' down to the market." He ran his hand over his daughter's dark curls. "Her new teeth hurtin'?"
Fran nodded. "And I can't give her any more Tylenol for two hours, poor thing. Anthony Bergman! Tony, take him with you...PLEASE? I'll never get everything ready...and I still have to get changed."
"What? You look fine. You're always beautiful." The pot started to boil over on the stove. Fran deposited the baby in her father's arms.
"Damn! Tony, it's either Reenie or Anthony, but you are taking one of the kids with you."
"Frannie..." He was interrupted by his son slamming his helmet-clad head into the kitchen door, pushing it open and running through. The next thing they heard was a crash. "All right...I'll take him, IF you can get him out of that damned helmet."
"Hey, YOU bought it for him, Mister!" She headed the living room to see what had broken.
"Yeah, last year, when the Giants were IN the Superbowl!" He followed his wife into the next room. "Ah, great, my AOP award. Anthony, get your coat, we're going to the store...let's see what you can break there." He handed the baby back to Fran.
"TONY! He's only five!"
"And if his mother had been home raising him instead of running all over Europe, he'd know better."
"I was working. It paid for this house, if you recall. While you were picking and choosing your jobs to earn your precious Association of Photographers awards, I was working my touchas off! I left Anthony with you. He learned all this mishegas from YOU." She shifted the baby to her other hip and headed out of the room.
"Yeah, Frannie, that's it, run away. Things get tough for you, you just take off."
She stopped cold, and looked down at her daughter, who had begun to scream again. "For your information, I am NOT running anywhere, except into the kitchen to finish making the chili to take to YOUR friend's house." She stroked the baby's head and tried to comfort her.
"That's right, play the dutiful wife and mother. You know damned well you didn't even want her."
Tears welled in Fran's eyes, as she hugged her daughter. "That's not true, Anthony Bergman, and you KNOW it," she hissed at him. "I may have wanted to wait before we had another child, but I never ONCE said I didn't want this baby." She turned away from him and stormed into the kitchen before letting the tears fall. She stood in the middle of the kitchen holding and rocking her daughter. "I love you, Reenie, don't you EVAH let anyone tell you any different."
Tony appeared at the kitchen door holding Anthony's hand. "Frannie, Baby, we're going. We'll be back in a few minutes. I'm sorry, Honey. I love you."
She leaned down, hugged her son, and tapped the top of his helmet. "Be good, don't get into trouble, or you'll miss the football game, ya hear?" She stood up and hugged her husband. "Be careful, the roads might still be icy."
She returned to the stove and stirred her chili. She heard the front door slam and the Jeep Waggoneer start up. A couple of minutes passed, and she heard the engine shut off, and then the front door opened. Tony was yelling, Anthony was crying. God, NOW what? She walked into the living room and saw Anthony sitting in his time out chair, facing the wall.
"Sorry, Baby. His mouth got him in trouble again. He's got a ten minute time out coming."
I wonder just WHERE he learned THAT? "What happened?"
"Your son still seems to think you need protecting from me. Once we got out to the Jeep, he told me off, but good." He walked over and put his arms around his wife. "Hey, I may be a first class jerk sometimes, but you know I'd never hurt you, right?"
Sure, whatever you say, you unfaithful ass. No, she couldn't actually say that. "Right." She hugged him quickly, and then pulled away. "Be careful. We should all be ready to go when you get home." She watched him go out the door, then walked to the window and watched him drive slowly away. She felt a chill and suddenly felt like crying. She shook the feeling off. It had to be the fight. There had been so many of them since she came back to him. She thought that maybe the fighting would stop after being separated for a year, but nothing changed, except she learned a valuable lesson about make up sex. At least that's what Tony called it. She looked at her daughter's tear stained face. As much as she loved this child, it was not the time to have another baby, not with her marriage so rocky. She'd loved Tony since she was fifteen, but she was growing, and he was still a teen at heart. After a year away from him, she knew she was never really IN love with him. She looked at the clock. Tony would never know that she cut the time out short. She washed her daughter's face, and gathered both children onto the sofa and cuddled them as she began to read their favorite story.
Sarah Sheffield descended the stairs with her 16-month-old daughter in tow. She could hear her son and her husband arguing in the living room.
"WHY can't I go with Anthony, Daddy?"
"Because he's going with HIS parents, and you are going to stay here with YOURS. Your mom has the afternoon planned."
"What's going on, Max?" She picked up the toddler and looked between her two men.
"He wants to call Anthony and go with him to some Superbowl party."
"Brighton, Sweetie, we talked about that, remember? It's a school night, we'll do something here."
"But, MOM..."
"Brighton Millhouse, that's all I want to hear about it. You can invite Anthony over next weekend."
"OK. Can we have hamburgers for dinner?"
"I was just going to talk to Daddy about that. Honey, I thought I'd run to the market and pick up some things to make burgers and fries for dinner. That way we can all watch the game like we're at the stadium."
"That sounds wonderful; do you want me to go?"
"No, I'll go. Do you want me to pick you up some beer?"
"I want some!" Brighton's eyes sparkled with mischief.
"All right, that's root beer for Brighton, and Guinness for you, Honey?"
Max kissed his wife. "That would be wonderful, Sarah. Why don't I have Niles drive you?"
"You're sure he won't mind?"
"Of course not, you know he'd do anything for you."
"Great. Keep an eye on these two, Maggie's upstairs on the phone. I'll go find Niles."
"Last I saw, he was in the kitchen." He kissed his wife before she went off in search of their butler.
She opened the kitchen door and found him chopping vegetables. "Niles, would you mind running me to the market?"
He looked up and smiled. "Not at all, Mrs. Sheffield. Can you give me five minutes?"
"Absolutely, I'll run upstairs, get my purse, and change my shoes. You'll have to park the limo across the street while I shop."
Ten minutes later Sarah was in the limo on the way to the local market. Her heart began to race as she saw the familiar forest green Jeep Waggoneer parked out front. Was it Tony? Or could it be his wife? No, she always drove the Range Rover, or her Mercedes. It had to be him. She wished for a moment she'd brought Grace with her. He hadn't seen her in months.
"Would you like me to come with you?" Niles was smiling as he opened the door for her.
"Oh, no thank you, Niles. I see a friend's car, and I'll probably end up boring you with girl talk." God, she hoped he bought that one. Why should she worry? Tony was a friend, nothing more. The boys were in school together, they played together on weekends from time to time. He was a friend. She crossed the street and went into the store. There he was, looking as handsome as ever. For a split second, she found herself feeling jealous of his wife. They did make a beautiful couple. The too-handsome-for-words photographer, and the drop dead gorgeous model.
He looked up and smiled when he saw her. "Sarah! Great to see you!" He looked around. "No kids?"
She smiled and hugged him. "Good to see you, too. No, I left the kids at home with Max. How are Anthony and the baby...what's her name?"
"Irene...Reenie. The kids are fine...well, Reenie's teething, Fran's having an awful time with her, and Tony is...well, Tony. I left him sitting in time out, but I'm sure Fran pulled him out as soon as I left."
"Are things any better?" She wasn't sure if she should approach that subject, but she missed their talks, and this was the best way to get him talking.
"Yeah, most of the time, if I'd just quit pushing her. I keep bringing up the separation, the fact that she didn't want another baby right now. God, Sarah, you should've seen the look on her face, when I said she didn't want our daughter. I think I would've hurt her less if I'd slapped her."
"Tony, you didn't..."
"No, I'd never hurt her like that. So how's Grace?"
"She's fine. She's home with her father."
"Sarah..."
"Tony, that's how it has to be, for now. It would kill Max, and your marriage."
"You're right. We need to get the kids together soon, Reenie would love to play with Grace, and the boys love spending time together."
"I told Brighton he could invite Anthony over this weekend. I'll talk to Max, maybe you and Fran could come over for an early dinner, and the kids could play. Fran and Max could get to know each other better; they rarely see each other, with their work schedules."
"Well, with the baby, she'll be home more. She's agreed to take local assignments for awhile."
They walked through the store and shopped for a few more minutes, catching up on the latest news and gossip. Tony paid for his purchases first, and carried them out to his Jeep. He returned to help Sarah carry her bags. They walked out to the sidewalk, and Tony laid the bags on the hood of his Jeep. "Where's your car?"
"Across the street, Niles drove me." She pointed to the town car sitting in the parking lot.
"Nice. I ride in those for the premieres. Fran insists."
She laughed and gave him a hug. "Tell Fran I'll call her early in the week about next Saturday. And Tony...buckle you seat belt BEFORE you drive off." She laughed again.
"Now you sound like Fran. She's always on my touchas to put the seat belt on before I start the car. I'll see you soon, Princess Grace."
She looked around. "Tony!"
"Sorry, old habits die hard. Have fun with the family this afternoon."
"I will, you have fun at your party. It's at Steve's right?"
"Yeah, well, with the Giants not playing, Reenie teething, and Fran not wanting to go, this should be one dull evening."
"So stay home and make up with your wife."
"Are you nuts? This is the Superbowl! No football until September!" He hugged her and kissed her cheek.
"Be careful driving home."
"Careful is my middle name." He handed her the grocery bags and climbed into the Jeep. He started the engine and eased the car slightly out of the parking space. He smiled and waved at Sarah as he inched the vehicle a bit more into the travel lane. Damn, Fran will kill me if I don't buckle this belt! He reached back to grab the buckle just in time to see the truck come swerving around the corner and head right for him. Oh, God, NO. Fran! My kids! He felt everything go black as the truck slammed into the driver's door. As he lost consciousness, the Jeep rolled over twice, before coming to rest upside down in the crosswalk. The pain was unbearable. He opened his eyes; they focused on someone lying amongst crushed groceries. Sarah! He used all the strength he could muster to pull himself out of the wreckage and towards his friend. He reached for her hand, and felt her fingers twitch in his hand. She was alive. He could hear voices around him, someone was calling to Sarah. He looked over at her and she mouthed one word to him. MAX. Then Tony's world went black.